Author's Note: I do not own any characters from X-Men: Evolution and G.I. Joe; they are the respective properties of Marvel Comics and Hasbro Entertainment. Original creations for the Misfit-verse are property of the talented and gracious authoress, Red Witch, who has given me permission to use her characters: Althea, Xi, Trinity, Blind Master, and Lina. Any references to Dinosaucers are owned by DiC Studios and Cola-Cola Entertainment, but I DO own the OCs Justin (Whitelighter), Plateo, Montacera, Compy and Raptor. The group "H.A.T.E." is actually not mine; it's from Mirage Comics and Studios and comic creators Eastman and Laird; I'm just twisting it for this story (grins). Also, the crossover-universe for this installment of my series is owned by DC Comics. With that said and I have credited everyone, enjoy the first chapter of…
Apokolips Deferred
CHAPTER 1: Weird Life Forms Are Not Just From Space
"This is Trish Trilby, reporting live from New York City," spoke the sandy-browned brunette in her microphone on the Channel 6 News broadcast, her back to the riots and angry, roaring demonstrations in Times Square, hordes and hordes of individuals gathered around as a massive herd of spectators, "What you are seeing now is another historic moment in the never-ending propaganda battle between mutants and humans as both social-reform groups, the Friends of Humanity and H.A.T.E., also known as Humans Against The Extraterrestrials, have declared an alliance of goodwill in their efforts to terminate all mutant and now, alien-kind. Yes, you have heard me correctly folks, the Friends of Humanity has now expanded their agenda to wage war and defend the Earth against not only mutants such as Magneto, Acolytes, and the X-Men, but against extraterrestrial alien-life as well. To all of those who are skeptical, to say the least, about such a merge between two world-wide organizations, Mr. Graydon Creed and Mr. Leonard Tonka have this to say…"
The cameras cut to a previous recording as the two men spoke to their rally of rancor, numbering in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands, all converged in Times Square with numerous anti-mutant and anti-alien banners and signs, consisting of men, women, and children, ranging from the elderly to an anonymous seven-year old girl with blond hair riding on her father's shoulder while holding a effigy of a mutant on a noose. Graydon Creed, a tall, striking man with a strong, hardened face and malicious eyes of cold steel, wearing a burgundy suit with dark-green pants and wearing a black, FOH armband on his left arm, spoke on a podium underneath the spotlights next to his partner Tonka, the main leader of H.A.T.E.
"We publicly declare this partnership between H.A.T.E. and the Friends of Humanity to give those mutie freaks and their delusional supporters the warning they no less deserve! Too long have the human race been endangered by the presence and the existence of the unnatural plagues, threatening to contaminate our gene pools and wipe out all of the natural ways of life! And now as if Earthly freaks weren't enough, we now are threatened by the inclusion of freaks from other planets and galaxies! First we have to worry about mutants wiping out the human race, and now aliens visitors who probably have plans of taking over our homes and land for themselves or harvesting us as some slave labor? The government has already proven that they aren't worth a damn in dealing with the mutant crisis, so it's of course natural to expect that they'll do absolutely nothing over the alien crisis as well! My fellow human brothers and sisters and children, I assure you that these threats are very real and very dangerous! Are we to trust our lives and welfare on the foolish notion that there can be peace and co-existence between all races? Is that what we want, people? Do we want to share this planet with those freaks? Do you want alien abominations to associate with your towns? Do you want dirty, perverted mutants turning your own children against you? Do you want aliens and mutants to have what we have, what we earned through our own sweat and blood, every right and prize we hold dear to human life?"
A loud, unanimous roar answered back, full of force and resolve, heard by everyone throughout within a five-mile radius. Apparently, the Friends of Humanity and Humans Against The Extraterrestrials had no problem in finding supporters and recruits for their respective causes.
"NO!"
The screen then cut to Mr. Leonard Tonka, a raven-haired man with cool blue eyes and a black goatee, dressed impeccably in a black suit and tie, as he spoke in an eloquent voice, silky and refined. What was most noticeable about him was the air of self-assurance and confidence he always seemed to wear, his mouth seemingly carved into an indelible smug smirk.
"My dear comrades, it warms my heart to see you make your stand for the greater good! As such, it is obvious that for the good and benefit of all humankind, we all must band together despite our different targets and eliminate all ties to such monstrosities! Already, we have begun to see such sickening and disgraceful integration into our precious ways of living! Those fools in Anaheim allow those avian invaders, the Mighty Ducks, to live and even play professional hockey of all things when they should clearly be sent to the first government concentration camp and treated as trespassers! Let us not forget what had happened in this very city when the Triceratons had tried to capture and imprison thousands of New Yorkers for their own, twisted purposes while using their fleets to cripple various military bases throughout the world! Had it not been for human intervention and splinter freedom forces such as H.A.T.E., the Triceratons would have succeeded in making all of us their slaves! And let us not forget those pathetic lapdogs in the United Nations and in our own American governments that foolishly encourage such farces of superficial heroics such as the forming of the Justice League, even though Superman and Martian Manhunter have been proven to be unstable and should not by any means be trusted! How can we be so sure that having aliens as our allies will not result in our downfall? How do we know that having mutants as our friends does not result in our deaths and extinction? To all those who oppose me, this is my final cry! Earth is only for humans! Not mutants! Not extraterrestrials! A mutant freak is just as good as an alien freak, and we shall all be infinitely better off when all such freaks are dead! Begone forever! Ceased of this realm! To all mutants and invaders observing this, the Friends of Humanity and H.A.T.E. send a message: this planet shall never be yours! You shall all die before seeing coexistence!"
The crowd roared with approval, unanimous and extreme prejudice and loathing at its highest. The cameras then turned back to Trish as she tried to voice her report to her station over the maddened mob.
"Despite some controversy over the merge, recent national polls have indicated many of the United States favoring such a coalition, especially when sources from the United States military and the FBI have indicated that H.A.T.E. is quite well-off, both financially and ordnance-wise. Already, Tonka has been reported to have established partnerships with high-ranking business associates such as Lex Luthor, Wilson Fisk and Sebastian Shaw, while H.A.T.E.'s arsenals of weaponry are some of which have never been dreamed nor heard of before by weapon specialists from around the world. Statistics have estimated that H.A.T.E and the Friends of Humanity have enough munitions to qualify as a Third World Army in itself, and that is only in the United States alone! It has even been discovered that H.A.T.E.'s supply of weaponry even outmatches high-ranked military and terrorist organizations such as S.H.I.E.L.D. and Cobra, though no details have been provided. Though many splinter loyalist branches have been growing at an abnormal rate throughout the world in largely populated areas such as Hong Kong, London, Moscow, and Paris, Tonka and Creed have established their main headquarters for H.A.T.E. in Gotham City and Metropolis. Also not surprisingly, crime rate by Intergang and various high-ranking syndicates have multiplied by more than twenty-fold, and many of Gotham and Metropolis' police forces have done little to quell the sudden increase in crime. Rumor has it that such crimes have been committed by the very same technology H.A.T.E. and the FOH have, a black market for weapons being traded underground, yet no proof has been made. Commissioner Gordon of Gotham City and Chief Maggie Sawyer of Metropolis have declined to comment. Yet with the recent invasions of the Triceratons from three years ago and the near-success of the invasion of the Imperium that resulted in the formation of the Justice League in the first place, this reporter has to wonder if Tonka and Creed have a good point in that we must take matters into our own hands if we are to defeat both the mutant and alien crises once and for all? This is Trish Trilby, reporting live, Channel 6 News…"
000-
Back at the X-Mansion, the X-Men adults and kids were watching the report on the news with a mixture of fascination and horrified wariness.
"This isn't good," murmured Jean as she unconsciously gripped Scott's hand in her palm with nervous anxiety. All the X-Men, from the instructors to the New Mutants, were seated in the lush and cozy den around the big screen TV as they watched Trish Trilby finish her report with growing interest…and worry.
It wasn't every day that the goal for mutant-human peace took a big step backwards before being kicked down and shot to death for good measure.
"Just what we need: another bigot just like Graydon Creed," Rogue muttered darkly while glaring at the image of Mr. Tonka on the wide-screen.
"Geez, could you imagine what could happen with Creed and the Friends of Humanity if they're able to use H.A.T.E.'s resources?" Ray muttered to Sam and Amara who were sitting on the carpet next to him, "I've heard about that Lex Luthor guy. He's got enough money to make Donald Trump look like some amateur intern! And unlike a lot of businessmen, he's not stupid! To have Luthor be a supporter of H.A.T.E. is definitely going to take Creed places! Big places!"
"Not to mention that Fisk creep," Tabitha added, nervously playing with a lock of her blond-hair before turning to the Professor, asking, "I mean, didn't you run into him when we helped Spider-Man fight off those nutcases over at the museum? Isn't he really some sort of criminal kingpin mafia boss in disguise? We were able to figure out his ties to Cobra's Extensive Enterprises and those Hellfire guys." (See Author's Note)
"Yes, Tabitha, and I suspect that it would also explain why Intergang has been so prevalent as of late," Xavier murmured as he brought his hands together in a steeple and lightly rested his chin on his fingers, "And with H.A.T.E. having such incredible displays of technological warfare, this could truly be as much of a threat as the Sentinels."
Forge then said as he nervously typed away on his laptop, nearly bludgeoning the keyboard, "It gets worse, I'm afraid. I was just able to use some of our hacking software and programs to see if we could enter into H.A.T.E.'s computer mainframes and databases to see exactly what we might be up against, but no such luck! I tried every possible angle, but they're airtight! To tell you the truth, they could give the Joes and S.H.I.E.L.D. a run for their money in their encryption algorithms!"
"They're that good?" Remy asked, his eyes raised in slight surprise, "Mon Dieu! And you're naturally a whiz at this sort of stuff, Forge! Remy don't ever remember you ever having trouble hacking into a site if you really wanted to, homme! I mean, you were even able to get those blueprints and statistics stuff about Buckingham's security network around the Crown Jewels for me on Saturday!"
"And why exactly would ya' be needing something like that, swamp-rat?" Rogue finally perked up as she glared at her boyfriend in warning, growling, "If you get yer butt in jail again, we're not posting bail like we did with Bobby three months ago with the fountain incident."
Remy chuckled weakly as he also found out that Storm and Wolverine were giving him warning glares as well, though deep down, he was wondering if it was too late to make a run for it and lock himself in the Danger Room before he put the proverbial foot into his mouth even further. Bobby then luckily shifted the attention of the conversation.
"Yeah, but on the upside, they're against alien-life forms, so if we ever have invaders from outer space like those Triceratons that Tonka was going on about, it might be a good thing if they could help focus on protecting people from future wars like that. I mean, if evil aliens from outer space are going to get bombed, it's probably not a bad thing," Bobby suggested.
Roberto then snapped in anger, "Yeah, and I'm sure that gives the FOH the same justification for us, Ice-Boy! How can you even say that? How the hell can you even think about agreeing with that slime-ball? You're such a hypocrite!"
Bobby was completely flustered and defensive as he growled at the Brazilian mutant, "Hey, what's with you! I'm just saying it might not be such a bad thing if H.A.T.E. can stop threats from other planets that could try attacking Earth and invading them! I mean, this is our planet, and aliens should keep that in mind before attacking us or trying to live here! I mean, who wants something to happen to us like in the movie Independence Day? I mean, isn't our job to protect before things get out of hand? What's so bad about that then? I mean, if we should do it to Magneto and the Hellfire Club, then there's no reason we shouldn't be fighting alien freaks too!"
Sam then got into Iceman's face as he said heatedly, "Drake, did you ever stop to think that maybe it's wrong to do this stuff to aliens too? That how Tonka and his H.A.T.E. group threatening to fight and strike against people from other planets is just as bad as Creed and his group doing hate crimes against mutants? No matter how you look at it, hate's hate, Bobby!"
Jamie then piped up, outraged, "And what about good aliens? They'd be targets for both Creed and Tonka now, and you know those jerks won't take any prisoners! Killing aliens isn't a good thing Bobby, especially if they just want to live on Earth in peace!"
Amara then said hesitantly, defending Bobby who was feeling as if he was being ganged up, "Stop it, you guys. Bobby's got a point. I mean, mutants we can be comfortable enough with since we're in the same boat. But I know I wouldn't feel right if I was to be in the presence of some alien or weirdo from another planet. I mean, how do we know all aliens are good to begin with? What if one attacked the mansion or even hurt hundreds of innocent people like the Imperium did?"
Tabitha gasped as she blurted out in shock, "Amara!"
The Roma Nova princess shook her head at her friend as she stubbornly carried on, raising a hand to allow Tabitha to gracefully finish her conviction, "Tabby, I know you might not agree with me, but with the war going on between mutants and humans, the last thing we need are extraterrestrials from other galaxies. It's just going to add more trouble and make life more complicated than ever. To tell you the truth, I can kind of see what Mr. Tonka meant when he said Earth is meant only for Earthlings and that it should stay that way."
Jake then sighed sadly from the sidelines as he looked at Amara, who was sitting next to him, with a bit of hurt, asking with a meaningful tone, "So should that mean that I'm not welcome here on Earth either? After all, by all counts, unlike the rest of the X-Men, I'm not an Earthling but a kat from another dimension. I'm just as good as some foreign invader."
Amara was immediately ashamed as she backpedaled in embarrassment, "Oh! I…I'm sorry, Jake! I didn't mean you! You're different because…because…"
"I know what you meant, Amara," Jake said, but he smiled warmly as he draped an arm over the younger mutant's shoulders, letting her know he wasn't offended before he continued in a grave voice, "but then the same should be applied to all the good aliens that come to this world. Even in my past adventures as a SWAT Kat, there ARE some good aliens. The Aquain was named after the alien kat race that helped me and Chance with Mutilor, if I should remind you kittens. And it's not right to say all aliens are bad and that Earth should be closed to visitors or other races who want to live here under terms of armistice; it isn't anything person on this planet can claim."
"But since when will all aliens be good? Hate to say this, hairball, but the Princess and Ice-Cube's got a point in that we'd all be better off without E.T. wannabes making things more difficult for us. Besides, after what I've been through, a good alien wanting peace is probably just as wishful and unreasonable as thinking Creed's gonna turn over a new leaf for mutant support or that Magneto would surrender himself to G.I. Joe," Logan said gruffly, and with this, Jake shot Logan an annoyed glare. It seemed that no matter what side Jake took, it was certainly a given that Logan would be on the opposing viewpoint.
"Last time I checked, you weren't always in the right, Badger," hissed the kat, and Logan grit his teeth with a snarl as he popped out his claws at the insinuation.
"Calm down, both of you," Ororo warned with exasperated impatience before she turned to the grizzled Wolverine and said in an offended tone, "And really, Logan, I'm surprised at you for making such a statement. Any amnesty that extends to all mutants should also be given to those who deserve and need it desperately, especially if they are just as badly persecuted and unfairly targeted by bias and not of the norm. And that applies to life forms from outer space as well."
"If you think about it, none of us, not even humans like Senator Kelly and Graydon Creed can be considered normal. Normal is relative, isn't it, Ororo?" Piotr asked as he cradled Kitty and Lockheed gently in his wide lap on the couch next to Rogue, Remy, and Kurt.
"You are correct in that observation, young Rasputin," Hank sighed as he removed his glasses off the bridge of his nose, wearily rubbing his eyes with one hand, "And I will agree with Ororo and Jake, Logan. Despite some proverbial bad apples, it is absolute poppycock to believe that all such encounters with life from other planets and galaxies may be harmful and dangerous. If we followed those beliefs, we would be no better from what the Friends of Humanity do to mutant rights."
"I really doubt it, Beast. I mean, what are the chances we'll even run into good aliens? With our recent history, we'll probably not be that lucky," sighed Kurt in uncharacteristic pessimism.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, Kurt," Scott exhaled wearily as he stretched, ready for bed, "The last thing we need are bloodthirsty, maniacal megalomaniacs with infinite powers and abilities for us to get on their bad sides."
000-
Back the Pit, the very same feelings of sentiment could have been echoed throughout everyone's minds as not only the Misfits but all of the soldiers of G.I. Joe and even General Hawk looked on the announcement with disdainful thoughtfulness and concentrated suspicion.
"As if things weren't bad enough," sighed B.A., the Joes' chef, as he watched from his sitting position on the pool table where Ace, Quick Kick, Recondo, and Big Lob were playing a game, not that their minds were really on cues and billiards. Every one of the Joes in the recreation room was deeply troubled from the newscast.
"Well, why not?" griped Wanda with malice, "After all, with the mutant population being hated by the general public, why not include everyone else who doesn't meet to Creed's standards such as aliens or people like the Joes who support mutants? God, those people make me sick!"
"And not just from Tonka," Duke said as he continued gazing at the TV screen, "I mean, Lex Luthor, we haven't been able to prove, but Wilson Fisk and Sebastian Shaw I can definitely have misgivings about. I'd rather have a thousand people like Creed who are all talk and no action as opposed to those three. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two of the current Jugglers are on their payrolls. And with Tonka and Creed's men and technology at their hands, it could mean for some rough times, for mutants, humans, and aliens."
"I know," Justin murmured worriedly, "I'm just glad General Hawk is hiding the Dinosaucers' location from the military and protecting them. I can't imagine what would happen or how I'd be able to go on if Mr. Tonka tried to wipe out the Lavadome like Major Cliffton tried to do when we first met each other."
Blind Master draped an arm over his son's shoulders in a soothing gesture, wordlessly, giving Justin a small hug.
"I dunno if that'll ever happen Justin, but I can kinda see what you mean about that Tonka guy. I mean, I just thought of something…" Fred said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin as his face was slightly twisted in deep thought, which of course, was a grand opening for Pietro to mock him.
"Wow, Freddy is thinking of something else besides food! This is probably worthy of a news flash! What next, he'll finally manage to stop his daily impersonations of a blue whale or be able to brag that he no longer has boobs bigger than Pamela Anderson's?"
"Har har, smart-mouth," Fred drawled, giving Pietro a good wallop with a pillow cushion on the couch that sent the poor albino flying across the room, screaming, before finally voicing his opinion, "But, I mean, didn't anyone think that it's not really a coincidence that Tonka and his H.A.T.E. groups are centered right smack-dab in Gotham City and Metropolis, especially since Superman's from Metropolis and he's an alien or somethin'…"
"Hm, I can see what you mean, Freddy, but then why Gotham City? I don't recall any aliens who reside there," Wanda asked.
Todd then answered, "That's true, yo, but you're forgetting that the Bat-Dude lives there, and he's part of the Justice League along with one of Superman's best buddies!"
"Bat-Dude? Who's he? I have never heard of either him or Superman for that matter, and I am curious to see why they are such a huge interest in this recent development with H.A.T.E. and the Friends of Humanity," Xi announced.
Althea then explained, "It's Batman, not Bat-Dude, Xi, and basically, Batman and Superman are famous crime-fighters and world heroes that fight against threats and criminals like the Joker or the Imperium parasites that came about five years ago from a distant galaxy that planned to infiltrate our planet from within and feed on us like cattle, like they did with Martian Manhunter's planet on Mars centuries ago. That why they formed the Justice League with several other members not too long ago, so that by teaming up, they'd be able to stop future threats to come to Earth."
"That's odd. How come I don't recall ever hearing about this?" Lance asked Althea as he looked at her.
"The Imperium stuff happened five years ago, so this was probably around the time you guys were first discovering your powers as mutants, so it's pretty understandable that you were all probably too preoccupied to even pay attention to outside events. Plus, the United Nations and the Jugglers did everything they could to cover it up and make sure that the less said about those encounters, the better. And we didn't hear about those Triceratons either in New York because that was a week or two before Magneto had you all fight that Sentinel Trask built and exposed all of your guys to the world, so it makes sense how we were all too worried about trying to lay low from drawing attention to ourselves. And plus, with the sudden rage of mutant-hysteria that popped up from the Sentinel incident before you got ousted in Bayville, all the worry about the Triceratons' attacks were lessened when the general public focused on mutants as the next and newest threat."
"Gee, lucky for us," Low Light growled sarcastically as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"And apparently, people haven't forgotten about those incidents either, especially if H.A.T.E. and the Friends of Humanity were able to gain so much support and popularity in so short of a time," the auburn-haired Joe, Scarlet, added as she allowed the Joe ninja, Snake Eyes, to hold her hand. An act that did not escape the furious Duke's attention.
"But with Batman and Superman, are they mutants? Like us?" Lina asked, her antennae bobbing up and down her head gently.
Althea shook her head as she clarified, "Actually, no. Superman is supposedly an alien from the planet Krypton that exploded and destroyed itself, and Superman is the only survivor who was able to come off that planet and make his home here on Earth, and apparently, from what we can guess, he likes living here so much that he wants to make sure what happens to Krypton doesn't happen to us as well. And Batman's really some masked human vigilante who fights crime in Gotham City. But I have to say that he's actually really gutsy and tough to be able to fight all those opponents."
"I'll say! The bat's got some impressive moves! He could be skilled enough to be a ninja from what I've heard of him," Quick Kick said. General Hawk then spoke next.
"But you're right about one thing, Duke. There's something about Tonka's recent alliance that I don't trust, and considering who his recent financial partners are, I can tell you my superiors would be more than interested about H.A.T.E. and their dealings, not to mention what kind of secrets they're trying to hide."
"Haven't you been able to find out anything on them already? I mean, H.A.T.E can't possibly be any more difficult to deal with than the Friends of Humanity or Cobra and the Dreadnoks. Can't you just bug their offices or try to trace their calls or break into their computer systems to get anything incriminating?" Lance asked. It was then that the Triplets, Daria, Brittney, and Quinn looked up from their laptop.
"Actually, we tried already, Lance," piped up Brittney. Althea groaned at the proclamation as she began her lecture.
"Not again! Didn't you three learn your lesson last time when you hacked into Martha Stewart's computer to get her recipes for her double-layer, cinnamon-cream, mousse cake and her Swiss bank account numbers! We were lucky the lawsuit only was regarding to the stolen cake recipe - !"
Daria shook her head worriedly as she said, "No, you misunderstand, Sis! We tried already, and we can't do it! We weren't able to hack into H.A.T.E.'s mainframes over at their headquarters!"
"Wait…you girls…can't get in? At all?" Shipwreck blurted out in shock, his eyes wide. That was certainly a new one; there was never a case when the Delgado Triplets could never solve or decipher something with their brilliant minds. Daria, Brittney, and Quinn weren't mutant geniuses for nothing. The rest of the Joes and the Misfits, including Beach Head and General Hawk, were stunned.
Quinn shook her head is disconcerted befuddlement as she explained, "We're not sure, but we can say that none of us have ever experienced this kind of programming before at all. Whoever designed their security measures for their computer network could give us lessons about encryption algorithms! We even used some of the alien formulas from the Dinosaucers, Dimetro and Plato, just to see if they could break it, but it even withstands their decryption algorithms! Plato said he had never come across such complex code before in his life last time we talked with him on the Dinosaucers' radio-communications!"
Todd whistled in awe as he said, "Wow, yo! These H.A.T.E. guys aren't fooling!"
Lina then pointed out the obvious as she commented, "And if Tonka is THAT determined to keep people out, then he and Creed must really have something they want to hide. Something that they don't want others to know about. Like maybe a new Sentinel program with Trask or something big with Cobra to overthrow Congress?"
"We'll probably be able to take care of it, Private," Beach Head said gruffly, "I mean, after the fiascos with the Hellfire Club, the Hellions, Magneto, Cobra, Hydra, and Serpentor and Cobra-la and God knows what else I'm forgetting, Tonka and Creed couldn't possibly any worse than those jackasses."
"Boy, if that's not an invitation for fate to screw us over again, I don't know what else will," snorted Gung-Ho.
000-
Meanwhile, it was past 3:00 A.M. over at the Metropolis Maximum Security Asylum on Stryker's Island…
"This freaking bites!" cursed Live Wire to herself as she walked around her cramped, padded cell in a circle for what she would consider for the thousandth time this week. And from what she could tell, it would be like that for her for a very long time, and the distinct smell of the rubber covering the walls and floor along with the lack of anything remotely electrical within a half-mile radius of her room was enough to drive her crazy. She was going to be in here for a very long time with no possible end in sight.
But so help her, Leslie "Live Wire" Willis would see to it that certain people would pay for her incarceration, regardless of who or how many she had to kill to do it.
Before she could even voice her next curse, she then was nearly jerked off her feet and onto the floor as the entire maximum security asylum was rocked by a furious explosion. The ground quaked furiously with unnatural tremors so forceful, it was like trying to stand on an unstable floor made of Jell-O. As Live Wire got up from the floor in a daze, she could hear the muffled screams of human carnage and nearly feel the heat of energy blasts from outside her cell as the silence in the peaceful night was ripped apart by gunfire, lasers screaming, and…the sounds of something mechanical barking.
"What the hell?" Live Wire gasped, but before she could decide what to do, her wall suddenly started to glow, completely engulfed with purple plasma energy before it melted into puddles and puddles of black tar and magma, smoking, thick, and completely noxious. Live Wire then looked up to see seven odd women standing in the opening of where he wall once was. The powerful light beacons from behind them cast gruesome pillars of light behind the troupe, casting and hiding them in the shadows as the lights also played upon the fifty or so dead bodies of the security guards of Stryker's Island. All of the men and women were gruesomely disemboweled, burnt to a crisp or pummeled and broken into pulp. There was not a single survivor, and the holocaust had been done in only less than two minutes.
Live Wire, despite her horror at the blood-bath, realized what the situation meant; these strangers, whoever they were, were setting her free. Still, the fact that they were so ruthless at killing made it very difficult for Live Wire to even consider entrusting her well-being with them, and from what she could tell, they were definitely the strangest-looking of all people she ever encountered (and she used to be a disc jockey for crying out loud).
"So, who're you?" the smart-mouthed girl smirked as she sneered disdainfully despite the excitement of finally being free, "Rejects from a photo-shoot at Crack-Whore Monthly?"
"I'd watch that pretty, little mouth of yours, you electric tramp," one woman growled in a deep voice, "Unless you don't mind having us rip out your tongue. Now come on and get going! We don't got all day!"
"What makes you think I'd go with you? Not my style! Not that I'm not grateful for you guys busting me out and all, but I work alone and without having members of the loser brigade to tag-along! I already learned my lesson from working with Parasite!"
One of the figures then stepped out of the dim shadows and into the light cascaded from the outside flood-lamps. It was a short, elderly lady with a very wrinkled and tan face that could make any right-minded child cry on sight, narrowed dark eyes and lips, and wavy white hair that was neatly brushed behind the nape of her thick neck. She was wearing a metallic green and yellow sort of armor, more complicated and futuristic that anything Live Wire had ever seen before in her life, and in her black, clawed hands was a golden scepter. In that getup, Live Wire could have easily nicknamed the baggy bat as "Toad Queen".
The old woman then smiled a very frog-like smile as she spoke in a deep voice that almost registered as a man's while being lethally sweet, like poisoned honey, "Simple, my little blue jailbird. You shall be using your powers to work for us from now on as repayment for having us give you a chance for this liberation. Our master has decided that your potential abilities could be quite useful in our plans for this planet."
"Hey, I don't work for nobody, you old prune!" snapped the blue-haired spitfire as she readied her powerful electrical surges from her hands, but a purple blast of pure, raw plasma from the old woman's scepter stopped her cold, sending her flying into the wall, only to come crashing down, unconscious.
The old maid wickedly smiled as Live Wire's prone form was lifted by another figure, crowing, "Oh, I'm afraid you really have no choice, my dear little sparkplug. Our master has a special need in mind for you to implement 'Phase: Restart'."
Author's Note: This actually happened, when the Misfits and X-Men teamed up with Spider-Man in Red Witch's fanfic, "Another Week of Random Madness". Go for a read, because it's actually quite well-written and funny! Read and enjoy, and I think it should be obvious what this crossover is; the fact that I'm crediting DC Comics in my disclaimer alone should be obvious (winks). And next Friday, we will see how things are faring with the X-Men as they receive an unwanted guest along with the plot thickening as evil is revealed and two new allies shall come to the inevitable showdown. Check back next Friday for the chapter "This Does Not Bode Well" and until then, read, enjoy and review!