Southside Smackdown!
Disclaimer: "I ate the whole thing!" - Scooby-Doo
Chapter 2: Sending Messages!
Metallix's junkyard
"Hmm hm hmmm hm hmmmm..." Ringer hummed to himself as he wrote on a piece of paper. He smiled as he finished his writing. Then, he folded the letter and placed it in an envelope. "And I am done!" Rhinox walked up to Ringer, holding an envelope.
"Hey, mon. I got my note done." The rhino-like mutant grinned, holding up his envelope.
"Alright!" The blonde mutant whooped in delight. He picked up a large toy dump truck. "And I got the delivery machine right here. It also can makes noise."
"But how you gonna get the truck to their places?" A blinking Rhinox inquired.
"No problem." Ringer whipped out a remote control. "It's remote controlled! With this, we can use the truck to deliver the notes. We can't afford to let either the Southsiders or those Shadowatch idiots see us. Let's go!" Rhinox held on to the letters as Ringer grabbed the truck.
The Southside Misfits' Firehouse, Chicago, Illinois
Some distance away, Rhinox and Ringer stood in an alley a distance away from the firehouse. The two Metallix members dared not venture too close to the firehouse. Knowing that the Southsiders had a certified genius on board, Rhinox and Ringer shuddered at the possible security system the old firehouse had been modified with thanks to him.
"You got the letter, man?" Ringer asked Rhinox.
"Got it right here, mon." Rhinox grinned, holding up a letter with "Southsyderz" scrawled on it. "Is the delivery system ready?"
"Ready to rock, brother!" Ringer grinned, placing his dump truck down on the ground. "Put the note in." Rhinox placed the note in the dump truck's bed. "Okay, let's do this!" Using the remote, Ringer made the dump truck drive towards the front door of the firehouse. The truck's bed lifted, allowing the note to fall onto the ground in front of the door. With a press of a button, Ringer made the truck emit a very loud beep. The truck then drove back to the blond energy ring-making mutant. When the truck arrived, Ringer grabbed it up. "Let's go!" The two mutants fled. Meanwhile, an African-American teenager opened the door. His black hair was messy, held back by a blue headband.
Jason Vincent, aka Kid Superstar, the leader of the Southside Misfits, blinked in confusion as he noticed no one was at the door.
"Hello?" He asked. "Huh. Wha-?" He blinked as he noticed the envelope with the word "Southsyderz" scrawled on it. "What is this?" He walked back inside.
"What's up, babe?" A dark-haired Caucasian girl with red streaks in her hair, dressed in a red t-shirt and shorts wondered. Around her neck was a necklace with a small guitar-shaped pendant. Vicki Stephens, aka Vixen, had the mutant power to charm people, and manipulate probability. Her odd pendant could transform into a guitar that granted her additional powers. She was also Jason's girlfriend.
"Somebody left a note." Jason explained, opening the envelope. He read the note inside. "Huh. Hey, Vicki. Get a load of this." He passed the note to the dark-haired girl, who blinked as she read it.
Dear Southsyderz,
You clowns think you are tuff? You ain't tuff! You aren't nuffing! Weere the tuffest bunch in alla Chigaco! We can kik yur butts from here to Canada! We want to fase you all at Washington Park! At 9 PM tonight! Weere gonna kik your heads to peeces! We can melt your braiyns, we can beat u up and fly, and one uf us maybe a vampyre! Weere gonna stomp yer brayins to peeces!
Come tayk us on, if u have eny gutz whutsoevar!
Shaddo Watch!
"Who's 'Shadowatch'?" Vicki blinked.
"I have no idea." Jason frowned, scratching his head.
"Hey, what the #&#& is going on?" Eric Phillips, the superstrong invulnerable powerhouse codenamed Trouble, yawned as he walked up. The muscular tall African-American, clad in a heavy metal t-shirt and black sweatpants wondered. He yawned and brushed some of his dreadlocks from his face.
"Get a load of this." Vicki handed Eric the note. The drummer/mechanic took a look at the small piece of paper.
"Who the #&#& wrote this, a five-year-old on crack!" Eric blinked.
"Eric, language. Please." Jason groaned.
"Yeah, we can't believe it." Vicki shook her head. "Whoever these Shadowatch guys are, they clearly never heard of spell-check."
"First thing we have to find out is, who are these guys and what is their deal with us?" Jason realized.
"We'll probably find out tonight." Vicki remarked. "They do want us to meet at the park."
"Mm." Jason nodded, arms folded. "We'd better get the others. I want to know exactly what we are dealing with."
Burnout's Custom Cycles, Chicago
"Not too close, man!" Ringer hissed as he and Rhinox approached the back of the garage, holding out an arm to stop his rhino-like compatriot. "Remember that fight with these guys? One of those guys can read minds! She probably has like brain radar or something!"
"Oh, right." Rhinox realized.
"Alright." Ringer placed the truck down with the note in the bed. "Let's do this!" Using his remote, he had the truck drive up to the back door. Like with the Southside Misfits' firehouse, Ringer had the truck dump the note and honk loudly. The truck then drove away, back to its owner.
"Hello?" A blonde girl, her voice spiced by an Italian accent, peeked out of the door. She blinked her blue eyes as she looked around. "Huh? Hello? Is anyone there?" The blonde girl, Regan Wyngarde, aka Lady Mastermind, frowned. "How awfully...huh?" She picked up the envelope. She noticed that the envelope just had the word Shaddo Watch scrawled on it. "Strange..." The blonde Italian opened the envelope and read the note as she walked inside. She would then notice a tall blue-scaled girl with blonde hair that had black bangs sitting in a chair, reading a magazine. The girl was Andi Creed, aka the liquid-manipulating, shape-shifting Atlantis. Atlantis and Lady Mastermind were members of Shadowatch, a group of rag-tag young mutants that were the wards of the mercenary biker group known as the Dreadnoks. Regan, the daughter of Jason Wyngarde, the Acolyte codenamed Mastermind, had inherited his telepathic and illusion-casting powers.
"Hey, Reg." Andi greeted. "What's that you got there?"
"It's a note." Regan explained. "Take a look." A blinking Andi took the note and read it.
Dear Shaddo Watch,
You guyz suck! You guyz have facez like deeformmd pigz after car accydentz! We think u guyz could uze a gud old fashuned beating! We ar gonna beet u down and make u cry lyke the buncha girlz u ar! If you thenk you guyz can tayke us on, meat us at Washingtun Park! At 9 PM! We will hert you! Hert you super badly! We will mayke you feel payne and smack you all silly!
P.S. Yo mamas all were fat and uglee!
The Southsyde Misfitz
"The Southside Misfits?" Andi blinked at the note. "The vigilantes?"
"Why would they send a note challenging us to a fight?" Regan frowned in confusion.
"Mmm." Andi nodded in agreement. "This doesn't seem like them." Since she had first heard about the Southside Misfits on the news, the blonde-haired shapeshifter had decided to keep tabs on the team to learn more about them. Using their powers, Regan and Kristen Mortisson, the dhampiric molecular manipulator known as Eventide, had learned that the group used an abandoned firehouse in the south side of Chicago asa headquarters.
"Hey, guys!" A chirpy voice greeted. The source was a short girl with black hair in a bob, tipped with teal. She had on a pink-and-purple t-shirt and jeans. She was the aforementioned Eventide. The dhampir blinked at the note. "Who's that from?"
"The Southside Misfits." Andi smirked. "At least that's what the note says." Eventide looked at the note and blinked in confusion.
"I do not blame you for difficulty reading it. The spelling is atrocious." Regan quipped. Kristen blinked.
"This doesn't seem like those guys to me." The dhampir frowned.
"Yes." Regan nodded in agreement. "In fact, my mental impressions of them were quite surprising..." The illusionist started remembering when she first observed the Southside Misfits...
Chicago, a week earlier
Kristen used the night sky and the shadows to help keep herself hidden as she observed Mike Baxter ride back on a green motor scooter, a magazine under his arm. She peered at him through a pair of binoculars.
"I have one of those Southsiders in my sights." The dhampir whispered into her watch. "Requesting permission to follow."
"Fine, but do not engage." Atlantis warned over the wrist communicator. "We want to observe these guys, not go around picking fights."
"Gotcha!" Kris nodded. She carefully, using her dhampiric speed, followed the unknowing WrongWay to the Southside Misfits' firehouse. The young mutant codenamed Eventide noticed another member of Shadowatch perched on top of a building closer to the firehouse: Regan Wyngarde, aka Lady Mastermind.
"Lady M, in position." Regan reported into her own wrist communicator.
"You know what to do, Lady Mastermind." Atlantis responded. "But be careful. One of them has adaptive powers. He may be able to sense your mental probes and respond back."
"Do not worry, Atlantis." Regan smirked. "It'll be like I was never there." Once she ended her communiqué, Regan proceeded to perform a very gentle mental scan of the firehouse. "I am detecting seven mental signatures. All very different." She scanned each of the signatures...starting with Kid Superstar/Jason Vincent. "This one's the leader, alright." Next was Vixen/Vicki Stephens. With her powers, the blonde telepath could tell they were watching a movie together. "This one has powers like the Scarlet Witch...and she and Vincent are a couple..." Regan giggled and moved on to one signature in the basement. John Bradley Goodwin/Johnny B. Goode. He was working in his basement lab, trying to program an old device. "...This one is of an immense intellect, although he is having trouble trying to program that old VCR he recently found and repaired..." She found another signature in the garage: Eric Phillips/Trouble. The super-strong powerhouse was doing some routine maintenance on a car he had rebuilt. "...this one's the powerhouse. He is strong and foul-tempered. But he is not to be underestimated. He is quite intelligent, especially in the field of mechanics and vehicular repair." She checked out yet another mental signature upstairs: Mike Baxter/WrongWay. The mutant tracker was checking out his new prize: The latest copy of Maxim Magazine. "Ugh. Tracking powers and a lech." She checked out a second metal signature: Lisa Blaze/Fyre. "This one is quite chaotic. We had better be prepared for anything with this one. She is a pyromaniac." She then noticed a final signature in the kitchen: Jennifer "Jenni" Hendrix Starr/Shining Star. She was in the kitchen, making herself a sandwich. "And this one is definitely not the aggressive type." She stopped her probing.
Burnout's Custom Cycles, the present
"From what my mental probes picked up, the Southside Misfits seemed nothing like those morons in Metallix." Regan shook her head. "In fact, they seemed...rather normal. Most of that group did not even reside in the firehouse."
"So why would they challenge us to a fight?" Andi frowned, looking at the note. "Unless..." The shapeshifter turned to Regan. "Regan, see if you can contact the Southside Misfits telepathically. I smell a set-up!"
Well, well, well! Looks like the plan just may fall apart! What insanity will happen next? Can the Southsiders and Shadowatch outsmart Metallix? Will Ringer and Rhinox end up in the hospital? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!