Disclaimer: The Outsiders and its fantastic array of characters are the work of S.E. Hinton. Misfits, which provides the basis for this story, is the brainchild of Howard Overman. I merely own the words for this measly fanfic.
Ponyboy Curtis tilted his head back and squinted.
"Looks like rain," Sodapop said, coming up from behind him and swinging an arm around his shoulders.
"Probably," Pony agreed, still looking up at the ominous, swirling dark gray of the clouds that loomed over their heads.
"If it's going to rain, you should put on a jacket," Darry called to him, looking up from where he was fixing his truck. "You'll catch a cold, and I don't want you running around like an ornery donkey with a runny nose."
"I'm fine Darry," Ponyboy grumbled, but then bristled as a chill wind swept by, and Soda laughed, bringing him in closer and using his other hand to rub Pony's hair affectionately.
"Aww, wittle Pony cold?" Steve laughed from his position next to Darry, and missed Pony's glare while dodging Darry's attempt at a swat.
"It does look like really bad weather," Johnny said softly from his seat on the Curtises' front steps, and Pony slipped out from under Sodapop's grip to sit next to him. "You think it's going to be some kind of storm?"
"It'll probably just be a little rain," Soda said, ever the optimist, and he started to walk back inside the house. "I'll go get you a jacket anyway, Ponyboy."
Pony nodded his thanks, leaning against Johnny's shoulder comfortably and giving his friend a concerned look. Johnny looked rather unnerved.
"You okay, Johnnycake?"
"I just have this feeling like something bad's about to happen," Johnny muttered, black eyes narrowed.
"It's like Soda said, it's probably just rain," Pony shrugged, not seeing what the big deal was, but Johnny just shook his head, and they sat in comfortable silence as Steve and Darry continued to bicker over fixing the Curtis truck.
"Superdope, that doesn't go there—"Steve said irritably. "You're gonna mess up the truck's—here, let me do it—"
"I can do it just fine," Darry said, rolling his eyes. "Steve, lemme just—"
Suddenly, Soda burst from the house, stumbling over himself.
"Darry! Two-Bit just called. He and Dally are in some kind of mess with the cops!"
Darry cursed under his breath. "What for?"
"Stole something from the store, apparently," Soda said, seeming impatient to leave already. "Dally had a heater on him, and Two-Bit says it's unloaded, but of course the fuzz won't know that. We have to hide them!"
"Well, let's go already!" Steve said, jumping up on his feet, as patient as Sodapop was.
"Alright we'll go," Darry readily agreed, and then he pointed at Ponyboy. "Except I don't want you going, no need for you to get mixed up with the police."
"Soda's going!" Pony protested rather loudly, never liking it when Darry left him out of something, and Johnny jumped at his friend's sudden increase of volume. "That's not fair, Darry!"
"Soda can handle himself!" Darry stressed, and Pony felt his anger spike when Steve smirked at him. "Pony, just do what I say and stay here and out of trouble, okay? Keep him company, Johnny. We won't take too long."
Pony bit his lip as he and Johnny watched the others leave to collect Dally and Two-Bit. Darry always left him out, and it pissed him off to end. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself! He was fourteen now, for God's sake, and Soda was only two years older than him. Johnny rubbed his shoulder in his sympathy, but Pony hardly noticed.
"Johnny, let's go after them."
"What?" Johnny stepped back, a little startled by the suggestion. "Didn't Darry just say—"
"I don't give a rat's ass on what Darry says," Pony huffed, tugging on the sleeve of Johnny's denim sleeve. "I'll be perfectly fine, I know we can help them!"
"Pony—"Johnny began in objection, but Pony widened his eyes pleadingly, and his resolve crumbled. He looked sheepishly at the ground. "I, um, guess we could go…"
Johnny winced as Pony's face lit up with a blinding beam. Why on earth did he ever say yes?
"Johnny, you're the best! Come on; let's go catch up with them!" Pony said, grabbing Johnny's wrist and taking off.
Johnny Cade, you are such a wuss, Johnny thought desperately as he struggled to keep pace with the track star of his friend.
"Two-Bit, you crazy sonuvabitch," Dally panted from behind him, and Two-Bit cackled with laughter.
"At least I'm a sonuvabitch who knows how to have fun!" he yelled back gleefully, and he laughed again as Dallas let out a string of colorful curses. "Is that anyway to talk to your loving best friend? It's not my fault you decided to give the gun to me and I panicked and pointed it at the cops!"
"Just keep running, ya fucker," Dally growled, and Two-Bit complied, the sound of feet slapping the ground ringing in his ears.
He enjoyed the adrenaline he got from this; the pure rush from danger literally right at your heels.
"Stop, you punks!" he heard one of the fuzz call after them, and Dally cursed again.
"You'll never catch us aliiiive!" he taunted, rounding a corner, with Dally and the fat cop right behind him.
"TWO-BIT! DALLY!" yelled a familiar voice, and Two-Bit's head looked up to find Sodapop, Steve, and Darry waving over at them.
"Heeeeey!" he yelled back happily, glad to see some friendly faces. "We're a little busy right now!"
"Head over to the lot!" Darry hollered, flapping his arms frantically, and he looked so funny doing so, Two-Bit had the urge to laugh at that, even though it wasn't appropriate given the situation. But then again, when did Two-Bit Mathews ever follow society's rules?
"Let's split up," Dallas said to him, and Two-Bit bobbed his head in agreement, veering off to the left as Dally ran off to the right.
Fat cop apparently decided it was more important to go after Two-Bit, probably because he was oh so more dangerous than Dallas Winston, who practically lived down at the police station.
"Need a break?" he teased, cracking up at the beads of sweat rolling off the red faced pig.
"You shut up that mouth of yours and get back here now!" the police officer barely gasped out instead.
Two-Bit shrugged, rushing toward the lot. Briefly he wondered what his mother would say about this. Oh, boy. A clap of thunder startled him for a second, and he looked up to a nearly black sky. Another clap of thunder, and it began to rain. Two-Bit looked back down, blinking rainwater out of his eyes. Just what they needed.
"There!" Pony cried, pointing at the lot, and Johnny could make out the figures of the gang crowding around their favorite hangout. Johnny glanced at Ponyboy, who was shaking like a leaf, clad in only a tank top that clung to him. It had begun to rain when they left the Curtis house, with it raining heavier and heavier at every second. Pony's auburn hair had turned a light brown with the water, and plastered to his head; apparently hair grease was no match for the storm. Johnny's own hair stuck to his forehead, and he gave it a flip to let the sopping bangs fly out from his eyes.
"Dally," he whispered, spotting the head of white blond hair dashing towards the lot. "Pony, look, it's Dal! And Two-Bit's here too!"
Pony peered over and nodded, and they both ran towards the lot for them. The first to see them was Sodapop, whose eyes bulged out of their sockets at the sight of his soaked little brother.
"Pony? Johnny? What are you two doing here? Oh, Pone, you're soaked!" Soda cried, immediately taking Pony in his arms. "Darry's going to be livid at this—"
"We've got you!" a triumphant voice announced, and everyone's heads whipped about to see a rather fat police officer who had come with two patrol cars. "Game over, boys."
"Officer can't we just talk about this—"Darry was saying, but the cop cut him off.
"What's there to talk about? Sideburns and Blondie over there robbed a store, threatened us with a gun—"
"It was unloaded!" Two-Bit shouted at him, but everyone ignored him.
"—and then proceeded to run and provoke us instead. We're going to have to bring them in."
"Sir, it was harmless—"Darry tried again, but the cop was shaking his head.
"I'm sorry son, but we're going to have to—"
Plink. Plonk. Everyone's eyes widened as a hard ball of ice dented the top of one of the police cars. And another one. And another. It was Steve who yelled out the obvious.
"HAIL!"
In a matter of seconds, hell had broken loose. The cops had quickly slipped into the safety of their cars and drove away, tires squealing against the wet cement of the ground. Johnny stripped his jean jacket off to hold it over his head as a makeshift umbrella. Dally cursed as a hailstone smacked against his leather jacket, feeling thankful for it at the moment. He followed Johnny's example and seized an unsuspecting Two-Bit narrowly out of harm's way. Steve tripped, and Soda helped him up, both of them falling over themselves. Thunder continued to roar above their heads, and lightning flashed in colors of blue and white.
"GET BACK TO THE HOUSE!" Darry screamed over the ruckus, and the boys scrambled to get back to the Curtis house. Darry caught glimpse of Ponyboy and his icy eyes narrowed. "Ponyboy! What the hell are you doing here? I specifically told you not to come out here!"
"You don't control me!" Pony screamed right back at me. "You can't tell me what to do, Darry! I can make my own decisions!"
"Like hell you can!" Darry started to argue, but then backed off, startled as hail smacked Pony right in the face. "Pony!"
"Oh…" Pony blinked, putting a hand to his forehead and pulling it away to find dark crimson on it.
"We'll talk later," Darry said hastily, grabbing his younger brother and sprinting back to their house.
"Darry—"
"Pony, this isn't the time—"
"Darry!" Pony screeched, and Darry finally let out a "What?" but the warning came too late.
A bolt of lightning struck them, and Darry felt Pony fall from his arms as his body spasmed and twisted. He felt his flesh burn and sizzle and the pain was so great, he couldn't even open his mouth to scream. As he waited for death to swallow him up in its blackness, he briefly thought: Ponyboy always got the last word in.
A/N: Aaaand that's a wrap! A little shorter than what I wanted it to be, but I wanted to get it out when I could. I apologize if any of the characters seem OOC or if the first chapter seems too rushed.I think the plot's pretty self-explanatory~ The boys get superpowers as the result of a mysterious bad storm, and they'll have to adjust to their new lives, yada yada. I'll try to roll out chapters as fast as I possibly can, I've got a good grasp on how I want this story to go, and hopefully everything will just turn out for the best. Thanks for reading, and see you all in Chapter 2! ~Essie