Quivering Quasars!
Disclaimer: All characters belong to myself, Marvel Comics, Red Witch, or Hasbro.
Hello, Misfitverse fans! L1701E here! Enjoy this story, which introduces a new hero to the Misfitverse! I hope you enjoy it!
The Pit
Five teenagers, three boys, a girl, and one rather genderless, walked down a hallway. They were members of the Misfits, the young mutant wards of the elite military anti-terrorism unit known as GI Joe.
"What a great day!" One of the boys, an Australian with orange hair cackled madly. He was dressed in an orange uniform with red-and-yellow flame highlights. Born St. John Allerdyce, his codename was Pyro. A former member of Magneto's Acolytes, he was now a member of the Misfits. He also found two other ways to make himself famous: He was a writer of Gothic romances, and he was also the drummer of the Kiss-inspired group known as the Superstars, the world's first all-mutant rock band. He had the mutant ability to manipulate flame. "We did some awesome recording, and now we're gonna kick some evil arse! It's gonna be bonzer!"
"Ever the excitable type, huh, flamebrain?" A brown-haired boy chuckled. His hair was in a mullet, and he was clad in a dark blue and silver uniform. Under his arm was a helmet. Lance Alvers, aka Avalanche, was an earth-manipulator. He also was the Superstars' lead guitarist and occasional vocalist. A former member of the Brotherhood of Mutants, he was now a member of the Misfits in good standing.
"Yup!" Pyro nodded, a wide smile on his face.
"I have to admit, we had a pretty productive recording session today." The lone female of the group smiled as she tinkered with what looked like a futuristic black-and-gold crossbow. Her wild feathered black hair framed a pretty face, her voice showing her Cockney roots. The girl was clad in a black-and-gold costume with golden combat boots, and a chest emblem of a five-pointed silver star. On her back was a quiver with arrows in it. She was Lila Cheney. A British mutant, Lila had the power to teleport across interstellar distances. Another member of the Superstars, she contributed keyboards, additional guitar work, and was another occasional vocalist.
"I've sat in on a few of your recording sessions." A fourth voice spoke up. This one was of a humanoid reptilian, his dusty blond hair tied in a ponytail, and his skin covered in scales. He wore a green jumpsuit-like uniform with black combat boots, gold highlights, and a yellow belt. Strapped across his back were a pair of scabbards with a katana in one and a staff in the other. His name, Xi, was a bit of a pun. He was number eleven on a series of Cobra experiments the Toad had found in a jungle. Xi, an artificial mutant, had the power of invisibility and could read a person's genetic code with a touch. "They are always fun experiences."
"Xi, you just watch them record their songs! It's not exactly interesting!" A silver-haired boy grumbled. He was wearing a uniform in two shades of blue, with a silver lightning bolt crossing the chest from his left shoulder to his right hip. The collar of the uniform was pulled up. Pietro Maximoff, Quicksilver, was a speedster. He also was the son of the mutant terrorist Magneto, something that didn't exactly fill the boy with pride.
"For you maybe, Mr. Ambiguous, but I think it's nice that Xi has taken an interest in our recording process." Lila smiled in approval.
"Pietro, you can't sit through one of our sessions because you have no patience." Lance reminded.
"That, and he has no musical talent." Pyro cackled.
"Says the guy who claims the ghost of Keith Moon gave him drumming lessons." Pietro scoffed.
"Who is Keith Moon?" Xi blinked. The Australian's jaw dropped.
"How the bloody hell can you not know who Keith Moon is?!" Pyro exclaimed. "He's like, one of the best drummers ever!"
"He was the drummer for The Who, Xi." Lance explained.
"You know, I remember sitting in when you guys tried to record a cover of AC/DC's 'Big Balls'." Pietro snickered. "God, that was funny! You guys couldn't get through the song without laughing."
"Yeah, I remember." Lila chuckled. "We had to scrap it because we couldn't do it! Every take turned into bouts of laughter!"
"God, how did AC/DC get through recording that song?" A smiling Lance shook his head. The quartet then found themselves at their destination. Beach Head, a Joe drill sargeant, was standing at a door. He was leaning on the wall next to it, his arms crossed. The green balaclava-wearing Army ranger glared at the quartet.
"You're late." The Ranger grunted.
"Hi, Mr. Pickle-Man!" Pyro waved at Beach Head.
"...where's the other two members of your little rock show?" Beach Head scowled.
"Paul and Craig are still in the studio, Beach Head." Lila explained.
"Yeah, they have to do some finishing up of their parts of the new songs we're working on." Lance added.
"We're done, so we're here." St. John added.
"Fine. Get inside." Beach Head ordered. The five young mutants walked into a room.
"Hey, a theatre!" The insane Australian whooped in delight. The room greatly resembled a small theatre, with a large screen in the front, and a few lines of seats in front of it. In front of the screen was a podium. Standing at the podium was General Hawk. Sitting in the seats were Shipwreck and Cover Girl, two of the Joes' handlers.
"Thank you for coming in, kids." The general thanked sincerely.
"You're welcome, nice boss lady!" Pyro grinned.
"John, shut the hell up." Pietro groaned as the five young mutants walked into the room.
"Hey, kids." Cover Girl greeted. "How'd the recording session go?"
"Awesome." Lance chuckled as they sat down. "I think the new album's got a couple more hits on it."
"Considering who we are competing against on the charts, we aren't exactly going to have a hard time hitting number 1." Lila rolled her eyes and crossed her legs. "I mean, Katy Perry? Give me a break! Not all of us can get by on big boobs, thank you very much. Some of us actually have to be able to sing."
"You're just jealous." Pietro snickered.
"Careful, Maximoff." Lila warned her silver-headed teammate. "I've shoved people's heads through walls for less."
"I love playing drums." John smiled, twirling his drumstick. "Drums drums drums..." Xi turned to Shipwreck.
"How are Althea and Todd, Shipwreck?" The Cobra-created warrior inquired. "I do worry about them, since they went off to New York City for that sightseeing tour..." (1)
"I just got a call from her, Xi. Don'tcha worry." Shipwreck chuckled. "They're fine. They were just getting some hot dogs. If something goes down, I'm sure they'll call for help." Xi smiled, showing he was reassured.
"You are right. I should not worry. Althea and Todd are among the most highly trained of us Misfits. They will be alright."
"Yeah, what could happen on a sightseeing tour?" Pietro shrugged.
"May I please get started with the briefing?" Hawk sighed. St. John raised his hand.
"I thought we were gonna see a movie." The Australian blinked in confusion. Hawk sighed.
"No John, we're not gonna show a movie."
"Awww! I thought you were gonna show Gone with the Wind. Those costumes are so funny." John pouted.
"You like that movie! Oh-ho!" Pietro chortled. "That's hilarious! I'd love to tell the tabloids this!"
"Everybody knows about it already." Lance explained. "Somebody decided to give the flamebrain a Twitter account."
"I did!" Pyro grinned widely.
"A-hem." Hawk cleared his throat. "If I may?"
"Go ahead, Hawky." Lila grinned.
"Alright." Hawk pressed a button. The screen behind him showed a large dome-like mountain. "Does anybody know what this is?"
"It's a mountain." Lance remarked.
"It's the Paramount logo! Yay! We are gonna see a movie!" John whooped, clapping his hands.
"No, Pyro." Hawk sighed. "This is Whiteface Mountain."
"If this involves mountains, shouldn't Alpine be involved in this mission?" Cover Girl remarked. "His specialty is mountain combat." The door opened and a mustached African-American man, dressed in climbing gear, walked into the room.
"Sorry I'm late, everyone." Albert Pine, aka Alpine, apologized sincerely. An accountant from Idaho, he was the Joes' resident mountain trooper, and he was also a skilled accountant.
"Hi, Alpine." The Misfits greeted.
"Hey, guys!" Alpine grinned, taking a seat. "What's going on, Hawk?" He noticed the screen. "Hey, Whiteface Mountain. I've always wanted to go to the Adirondacks."
"Well, you're in luck Alpine." Hawk smiled. "In the Adirondacks, there is a facility on top of Mount Athena, one of the peaks." He switched the image to another mountain. The mountain had what appeared to be a couple of buildings and geodesic domes on top of it. (2)
"What is that, some kind of supervillain lair?" Shipwreck blinked.
"Maybe it's Doctor Evil!" John piped up.
"Don't be stupid, flamebrain." Pietro scoffed. "You really think any supervillain would be dumb enough to have something this obvious as a lair?"
"You'd be surprised." Lance rolled his eyes.
"Actually, this is the location of Project Pegasus." Hawk explained. "Project Pegasus is..."
"It's a facility, a subsidiary of the American Department of Energy, that is dedicated to the study of alternative and unusual energy sources." Lila answered. "It also is used to occasionally house superhuman criminals. The name is actually an acronym. 'PEGASUS' stands for Potential Energy Group/Alternative Sources/United States."
"Very good, Starway." Hawk nodded in approval.
"How'd you know that, little lady?" An impressed Alpine crossed his arms.
"Trinity has done some research with Pegasus on occasion." Shipwreck explained. "Lila's got a bit of a thing for science herself, so she occasionally tags along."
"Anyway, Project Pegasus has asked us to help provide additional security for a project they are working on." Hawk explained.
"What kind of project?" Cover Girl asked. The screen switched to an image of a pair of golden wristbands lined by golden gems.
"These wristbands." Hawk answered. "They were collected from a battle the Fantastic Four engaged in a couple of months ago with some super-nutbar calling himself the Crusader." Another image showed a blond man in what appeared to be the early thirties in age. He was clad in a red-and-blue costume that bared his arms and legs, blue boots, a black headband around his head, the golden bands around his wrists, and a blue cape. The image showed him battling the Fantastic Four, firing a beam of golden light from his right wristband at the Human Torch.
"I have not seen this costumed character before." Xi remarked.
"You wouldn't have, Xi." Lila shook her head. "That fellow was old-school. Real old-school."
"Ooh, I like nutbars!" John grinned. He turned to the Joes. "Are we gonna go to a candy factory?"
"No, John." Shipwreck rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, this Crusader bore a remarkable resemblance to Marvel Boy, a superhero active for a period of time back in the 1950s." Hawk continued.
"Wasn't he one of those First Line guys?" Lance blinked.
"I think he worked with them, but he wasn't a member." Alpine remembered. "I remember hearing about their adventures way back in the day."
"They were a superhero team that started in the 1950s and suddenly vanished in the late 1980s." Lila explained. "I saw an episode of NOVA about them." (3)
"Anyway..." Hawk continued. "The government is concerned about security, so they asked us to help provide additional protection. Project Pegasus is concerned about Cobra or AIM or some other group getting their hands on them."
"Doesn't Project Pegasus have its own security force?" Cover Girl asked.
"Yeah. SHIELD." Pietro remembered. "Those guys are so fun."
"Indeed, but any additional security will only help." Hawk answered. "Avalanche, I want you to lead this Misfit force, as you led the Brotherhood once."
"He did?" Alpine blinked.
"I don't remember that..." Pyro blinked.
"John, you can barely remember what you did five minutes ago!" Pietro reminded.
"Oh yeah! Wait...what did I do five minutes ago?"
"Oh, for God's sake!" Pietro facepalmed.
"Me?" Lance blinked.
"Lance is an excellent choice." Xi smiled. "He has experience in a leadership role."
"I've never lead the team like this, though." Lance shook his head.
"You'll be fine, Lance." Lila smiled at her friend, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You got a good head on those shoulders."
"Any questions?" Hawk asked. "No? Then move out, Joes!"
Well, well, well! Looks like business is about to pick up! What insanity will happen next? Will Lance's leadership run be a boon or bust? Will out heroes be able to guard the mysterious bands? Will Pyro ever think straight? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!
– See "The Infant Terrible"
- In the real Adirondacks, there is no Mount Athena.
- A nod to Marvel: The Lost Generation