Malibu Mall Madness
Hey there, folks! L1701E, and with a brand-new story set in RogueFanKC's Misfitverse! The X-Men try to take a break, but fate has other plans for them.
Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel Comics. So does Lila Cheney of the Superstars. The Superstars members Paul Starr/Starchild, Craig Starr/Darkstar, and Kyle Wildfire/Thunderbolt are mine. And Jenni Starr/Shining Star are the property of Aaron Whitaker.
Continuity Note: This story is set between chapters 31 and 32 of RogueFanKC's "Kingdom Hearts: Mutants of Twilight".
The Xavier Institute
"The Mutant Question: Threat or Menace?" The voice of Hector Rodriguez announced. "Find out on Twenty Questions!"
"Uch." Scott Summers groaned on the couch, changing the channel.
"The Justice League: Pawns of manipulation, or corrupt wannabe overlords? We debate this tonight on-!"
"Oh, God..." Scott groaned again, changing the channel.
"It doesn't surprise the Kid of Rock!" He heard Kid Razor, the Local Hero of Cleveland, rant on a talk show. "Don't get the Kid of Rock wrong, he knows he's gonna get blasted for this, but he doesn't care. He doesn't believe the League blew anyone up. But he does believe the League set themselves up for it by putting up the damn cannon in the first place. Oh, and don't get the Kid of Rock started on the X-Men! Those clowns claim to fight for mutant-human peace, but let's just be honest with ourselves, huh? Have they made any real progress in that? There are quite a few mutants who live in Cleveland, and they all say the same thing: The only thing the X-Men and Misfits have done is do a better job than the federal government has on making things WORSE for them! Hell, there's this mutant heroine I know, and she says all the X-Men and Misfits ever do is make mutants look like out-of-control lunatics."
"Even other heroes are bashing us. Wonderful." Scott sighed, changing the channel.
"Hey, Scott." Jean Grey greeted with a smile as she walked into the room.
"Hey, Jean." Scott waved. "How's Kurt doing?"
"Still resting in the infirmary. Otherwise that, he's doing fine." Jean explained. She then put a hand on Scott's shoulder. "You seem a bit down."
"The famous telepathy?" Scott blinked.
"I don't need to be a telepath to see you're a bit down." Scott sighed at Jean's statement.
"I'll admit it, I'm..." Scott rubbed his head. "...frustrated."
"It might help if you talk about it." Jean smiled, wrapping her arms around Scott. Ever since she nearly lost Scott thanks to Axel, the redheaded telepathic telekinetic had been working at enjoying her relationship with Scott as it is, and not worry about keeping up with Althea and Todd. "I know it's been a pain to see the Misfits with the Keyblades..." 1
"It's not that this time." Scott explained. "It's just..." He struggled to find the words. "I feel we don't get appreciated, you know?"
"Scott, we are appreciated." Jean explained. "The Justice League appreciates us. So do the Titans. They appreciated our help in the battle against Trigon..."
"Jean, people are calling the Justice League 'maniacal overlords'." Scott countered. "And the Titans are getting their fair share of public backlash over Starfire, a Tamaranean, and Raven, a human-demon hybrid, being members. It just seems that no matter how hard we try, no matter how hard we fight, nothing gets better."
"It does seem that way, doesn't it?" Jean agreed. "I know it's been hard, but we can't give up. Not with the Heartless, the Organization, and the Hellfire Club out there."
"I know, but..." Scott sighed. "...sometimes, seeing how us heroes get treated...I ask myself if it's worth it. Will winning this war change anything? I want to think it will, but...I can't help but think it won't." Meanwhile, as Jean was trying to get Scott out of his funk, one of the New Mutants was lounging around outside.
"Oh, man I'm bored." Tabitha Smith sighed. The young bomb-making mutant was lying back on the grass on the grounds of the Institute, staring up at the clear blue sky. "All we have ever done lately is train, train, train!"
"I agree." Amara Aquilla concurred. Like her friend, she was lying on the grass, staring up at the sky. "I have grown rather dull with it." A sigh escaped her lips. "I wish we could do something."
"Yeah, but we can't go to a mall or anything like that because everyone on the planet is out to kill us or God knows what." Tabitha agreed with a sigh of her own. "I am so fed up with Scott's endless training sessions. We need a break from this!"
"I agree." Amara nodded. "Constant combat and endless training is not good for any warrior. Even Hercules needed rest to perform his trials."
"Yeah, but what can we do to relax?" Tabby sighed. "There's only so much to do here at the Institute."
"...Perhaps we can create a game out of the Danger Room. I have heard that Forge has bee modifying it for that purpose." Amara suggested, sitting up.
"'Mara, what 're we, game designers?" Tabitha rolled her eyes. "Nah, you know what? Let's just face it, it's not the Organization that'll kill us, it's not the Hellfire Club, it's not the FoH or the Hellions, it's the boredom." The blonde mutant sighed as she pulled out her cell phone and started to surf the net on it. Meanwhile, Ray and Roberto were passing by in the background arguing about something.
"You're wrong!" Ray snapped.
"No, you're wrong!" Roberto snapped back at his rival.
"Captain America would make mincemeat outta Batman!" Ray snapped.
"No, he wouldn't!" Roberto scoffed. "Batman's got a utility belt with all sorts of weapons and stuff! What's Cap got? Just a shield! A shield!"
"An indestructible shield! That shield has taken punches from a pissed-off Hulk!" Ray retorted. "Batman can't do jack against it!"
"Oh, please!" Roberto laughed mockingly. "What's Cap got once he throws it! He's got no other weapons! But Batman's got his utility belt! He's got all sorts of stuff! If one thing he's got don't work, he's got something else!"
"Even Batman can be taken down by a big punch to the mouth!" Ray snapped. Tabitha continued playing around with her phone, she and Amara not noticing the escalating fight. The blonde girl's eyes widened at her screen.
"Hey, 'Mara!" The bomb-maker grinned widely, pointing at her screen. "Check it out!" Amara propped herself up slightly and looked at the screen of Tabitha's phone. "There's a new mall in Malibu, California opening up today!"
"Really?" The heliopath blinked.
"Yipe!" Roberto screamed as he ran off.
"Come back here and take your beating, ya punk!" Ray roared.
"Oh yeah!" Tabby grinned. "Some of Malibu's big bigwigs will be there, and..." She scanned further down the article. Her jaw dropped when she happened upon a revelation the article contained. "Oh. My. God."
"What?" Amara grew more curious.
"'Mara...you may want to sit down." Tabitha warned. Amara looked down at herself, and she realized...
"Uh, Tabitha..." Amara responded. "I'm already sitting down."
"YAHHH!" Ray screamed as he ran by.
"Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Roberto cackled madly as he chased after him, firing a cannon he was also pushing.
"Oh." Tabby blinked. "Well then, guess who will be there?"
"Who?" A wide grin formed on Tabitha's face in response to Amara's questions.
"The Superstars!"
"By the Gods, are you serious?" The Nova Roman mutant squealed in delight.
"Yup." Tabby grinned madly. "The Superstars are going to be there!"
"But...after what happened at that concert...I doubt the Superstars will want to see us again." Amara sighed. 2
"'Mara, they didn't hold us at fault for that whole disaster." Tabitha reminded. "I'm sure they'd be happy to see us again." She sighed dreamily. "Not to mention that gorgeous Paul Starr."
"Yeah." Amara supplied her own dreamy sigh.
"Come on! WE gotta get the adults to take us there!" The two girls leaped to their feet and ran into the mansion. Meanwhile, a screaming Roberto was flying by.
"OH MY GOD! HOW DID HE GET ONE OF THOSE?" The Brazilian mutant screamed as he dodged paintballs from a machine gun. The machine gun was actually a 30-millimeter M230 chain gun, and it was mounted under the fuselage of...a Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, flown by Ray.
"Bwa-ha-ha-ha!" Ray cackled madly in the cockpit. "Didn't think I'd find one of these, huh pal? Yeah!" He pressed a button on the control panel, and the cockpit was treated to the horns and strings of Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries. And Ray had some perfect lyrics for it: "Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!"
"AHHHHHHH!" Roberto screamed.
Well, well, well! Looks like the X-Men are going to be involved in a new adventure! What insanity will happen next? How will the Superstars react to meeting the X-Men again? Where did Ray get an Apache attack helicopter? Will Roberto escape the paintball barrage? Will I stop asking stupid questions? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!
1 – In Chapter 22 of "Mutants of Twilight"
2 – See Chapter 29 of "Mutants of Twilight"