Chapter 3: Past Reflections.

Things quieted down at Starlight Music after the release of the albums. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after the work was done and with the lull, everyone had time to pause and reflect on recent events and events long passed.


It was raining and she looked for someplace, anyplace, where they could get out of the downpour. She spotted a rundown warehouse and steered her younger cousins in that direction. It wasn't much to look at, but at least the structure offered protection from the elements.

"Roarin, I'm hungry." Six year old Dan curled up against his older cousin, clutching his stomach in pain.

"I know, kiddo. We all are. Try to get some sleep," said Roarin putting an arm around him and holding him close.

Her own stomach was knotted up and she'd thrown up bile an hour ago from not having eaten in a week. She knew her family needed food and soon. She could endure it; being Mutants she and her cousins could go for a couple months without food, but they were kids. They needed to eat. She turned and looked at her cousin Rex, his golden eyes locking with her ruby ones. Ever since Roarin's mother, who had cared for all six of them ever since they could remember, had died two years ago in a fire, Roarin and Rex had taken on the roll of parents for the four younger Firehearts. They did their best, but it wasn't easy living on the streets, even with their powers.

"Rex, I'm going to get food. Watch the others," said Roarin standing.

Rex nodded and held Dan as Roarin vanished into the rain.


"Roarin, you ok?"

Roarin snapped out of her remembrance.

"Kimber, you startled me," she said rubbing her forehead.

The younger Benton sister sat on the couch beside her. "Sorry. You were completely zonked out. What's eating you?"

"Oh, just ghosts of the past." Roarin stood and headed into the kitchen to help Mrs. Bailey fix dinner.


Midnight at the Gabor mansion...


She could hear the gunshots coming closer as she huddled under her bed. She heard her parents scream in the living room as bullets shattered the windows.

After several hours she slowly uncurled and crawled out from under the bed. Her eyes were met with horror as she saw her mom and dad lying on the living room floor in a huge pool of blood, their bodies riddled with bullet holes.

"Mommy? Daddy? Wake up! Please wake up!" she shrieked as she stood there frozen with terror.


Roxy screamed as she woke up and fell out of bed, taking a face plant to the floor. She curled up into a ball crying, sobbing uncontrollably. This was the second time she'd had the nightmare in as many nights.

"Roxy, what the heck! I'm trying to sleep… Roxy? What's wrong?" Pizzazz was shocked to find her tough-as-nails band mate curled up on the floor, crying like a terrified child.

She knelt beside her and gently got her up into a sitting position.

"Hey, hey, calm down will ya?" Pizzazz held Roxy, gently stroking her platinum blond hair, trying to calm the distraught woman.

After a few minutes Roxy's sobs quieted down and she just held onto Pizzazz like she was her life line. Pizzazz was rather shaken by the whole ordeal, but simply held Roxy until she was able to compose herself.

"Pizzazz, I didn't know you cared," said Roxy trying to sound sarcastic and failing utterly.

"What the heck happened, Roxy? Between that shriek you gave, the loud thump, and finding you curled up on the floor crying like a baby, I don't know what scared me more!" Pizzazz sounded angry, but she didn't deal with emotional moments or people very well.

"I've been having nightmares about the day my parents were killed in a drive by shooting. I was nine at the time and I've been on my own ever since." Roxy felt the old emotional wounds reopen and start to bleed.

"When did it happen?" Pizzazz asked.

"It'll be the anniversary of their death tomorrow. The nightmares started the other night."

"You gonna be ok? You're not gonna decide to take a high-dive out the window are you?"

Roxy actually laughed. "No, I like living too much to be suicidal. It's not the first time I've had these nightmares. I'll be fine."

"Good. Now I need to get some sleep." Pizzazz got up and headed for the door.

"Hey, Pizzazz."

"What?"

"Sorry I woke you. And thanks." Roxy crawled back into bed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The door closed behind Pizzazz and her footsteps faded down the hallway.

Back in her own room, Pizzazz had her own flashback.


It was a sunny morning as five year old Phyllis ran down the stairs of the Gabor family mansion.

"Good morning, Mommy!" she exclaimed cheerfully, not really looking as she skipped into the kitchen.

When she looked up, she saw her father sitting at the table looking sad. Her mother was nowhere in sight. Phyllis walked over to her father and stood next to him.

"Where's Mommy, Daddy?" she asked, looking up at him with her soft green eyes.

Harvey Gabor looked at his little daughter and sighed. "Mommy left, sweetie," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"When is she coming back?" Phyllis asked, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Phyllis, honey, Mommy's not coming back." Mr. Gabor didn't know what else to say.

Phyllis started crying and ran to her room. She locked herself in and threw herself onto her bed, crying her eyes out.


Pizzazz walked over to her dresser and picked up a photograph. It was of her and her mother, taken when she was four. She was on the swing in the back yard and her mother was pushing her. They looked happy. Pizzazz set the photo down and walked over to her bed. She sat down and sighed, holding her head in her hands. Even though her mother hadn't exactly been the nurturing type, she and Phyllis had been close. To Phyllis, her mother had been the sunshine in her world. When she was gone it was like someone had ripped out a piece of her heart.

With her mother gone and her father being a workaholic, Phyllis had no one to help her deal with her emotions or give her the true love and affection her young heart starved for. So she found vent in translating all the hurt, pain, and loneliness into anger, hence her temper tantrums, that she continued to throw even now at the age of 24. It was also the reason she started the Misfits and was the real inspiration for the name. She just wanted to be loved but felt like she didn't belong. She'd felt like a 'Misfit' all her life.

"It was 19 years ago today. Mommy, why did you leave?" Phyllis sighed and crawled under the covers, crying silent tears.

Meanwhile in a suburban neighborhood, Stormer was reliving part of her own past.


She awoke to find her brother Craig shaking her. He looked scared and told her to get dressed and come down quickly. When she got down stairs there were two police officers in the living room and a police car in the drive way.

"What's going on, Craig? Where are Mom and Dad?" she asked.

"Mary, your parents were killed in a car crash a few hours ago. Do you understand what that means?" one of the officers asked.

Mary nodded, feeling a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes.

"Come on, Mary. We have to go identify them," said Craig as he put an arm around his kid sister's shoulders.

In the cold morgue, Mary shivered as the sheets were pulled back revealing…


Stormer jolted awake and sat up in bed, sweating and breathing heavily. She hugged her knees for a minute or two, then swung her legs over the side of her bed and got up. She went into the kitchen and made herself some tea. As she sat at the kitchen table sipping it, she remembered that night, the night she and her brother had become orphans. Craig had taken care of her until she graduated high school when she was almost 17, then he went to Europe. Mary joined the Misfits a year later.


The next day at Starlight Mansion there was excitement in the air. Moonlight's album was a hit and they were scheduled for a big concert along with Jem and the Holograms! Only one thing slightly dampened the high spirits; the Misfits would be there. True they had called a truce at Ba Nee's going away party, but they pretty much resumed their rivalry, albeit with a lot less fire, afterwards.

"Oh well, guys. All we can do is pack our 'in case of disaster' gear and do our best at the concert," said Ally, getting a laugh out of everyone.

Only Roarin didn't seem at all concerned about the Misfits. "I don't think the Misfits will cause trouble. Or at least not much," she said, leaning back in her chair.

"You don't know the Misfits, Roarin," said Aja.

"I know two of them. Stormer and Roxy."

"What?! How do you know Roxy?" several people exclaimed at once.

"Me and the rest of the gang met Roxy when we were teenagers and helped her out a little."

"Well, I guess we'll find out if the Misfits are going to be trouble at the concert," said Aja as she went upstairs to finish packing.


A few days later all three bands met as they boarded the ship that would take them to the island where the concert was being held.

"Outta the way, losers!" said Pizzazz as she pushed her way past the Starlight Music bands, almost knocking Erin over.

"Rightio, Yanks!" said Jetta knocking her suitcase into Rex.

"Yeah! Watch were you're goin', freaks!" said Roxy.

"Not gonna cause any trouble, eh?" Shana commented as the Misfits continued to their cabin.

"They haven't done anything yet," Roarin reminded her.

After they had all settled into their cabins, the groups went to explore the ship's activities. Roarin found the Misfits by the pool and saw Roxy get up to get a drink. She walked over and tapped her on the shoulder.

Roxy spun around. "Whaddaya want, freak?"

"Have you forgotten the 'freak' who made your life at least a little less miserable, Roxanne Pelligrini?" Roarin asked smiling, looking straight into Roxy's brown eyes.

As Roxy looked into Roarin's ruby eyes, she suddenly remembered.


It was a dark night and there was a steady, dripping rain. She was cold, wet, tired, and hungry. As she walked along the muddy street, she looked for a place to shelter for the night. She had hitchhiked from Philadelphia to the small town of Green Brook, Oklahoma. The trip had taken about five days and in all that time she'd had nothing to eat. Her stomach was in agony with intense hunger pangs as it gave voice to its wants. As she trudged down the street hugging her aching, empty belly, the sound of voices and the smell of food attracted her to a small pub. There was no one at the door to ask for I.D. so she went inside. At least she'd be out of the cold and the rain.

She stood in an inconspicuous corner of the warm room, just trying to dry off and warm up a little before moving on. She looked over at the bar to see a most unusual sight. A young Mutant girl covered in thick black fur that grew all over her body, not much older than herself, was standing beside to bar with a bottle of unopened wine (because Mutants were physically incapable of getting drunk, the age laws didn't apply to them). She cleared her throat to make an announcement.

"My good people, I wager that I can drink wine from this bottle without disturbing cork or seal and without smashing the bottle. Anyone care to wager against me?" she said boldly.

Several men took the bet saying there was no way she could drink wine from a bottle without opening it. The girl simply smiled a friendly smile and, taking an opened bottle of wine, turned the unopened bottle upside down, poured the wine into the depression on the bottom, and drank it, thus fulfilling her word and winning the bet. There was quite a ruckus and a few of the men refused to pay saying she cheated.

She simply stated, "I said I would drink wine from the bottle without opening it. I didn't say I would drink the wine inside that bottle specifically."

In the end the men had to agree and pay up. Roxanne was suddenly aware of the Mutant girl looking right at her.

She walked over and stuck out her clawed, furry hand. "Hi. Name's Roarin Fireheart. What's yours?"

Roxanne was so surprised by this girls friendly attitude that she simply said, "Roxanne Pelligrini." and shook her hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Roxanne Pelligrini. Say, I just got a good bundle from that wager, how 'bout me and my cousins treat you to a nice, hot meal?"

Roxanne just nodded and followed Roarin to a table in a quiet corner of the pub, where five other fur covered Mutants were seated. They ordered their food and Roxanne wolfed down a large cheeseburger, fries, and two thick slabs of apple pie, all of which she washed down with two large Pepsis. Roarin and her clan had even bigger appetites, but everyone got their fill. It was the first really good meal any of them had had in a long time. Roxanne leaned back in her chair and belched loudly, slapping her now full belly. Roarin, Rex, Ally, Erin, Ryan, and Dan laughed and Roarin slapped her on the back, making her feel like part of the family.


"Roarin Fireheart? You and your family are Moonlight?" Roxy was stunned. She hadn't paid that close attention to Moonlight.

"Yep. I'm glad to see you're off the streets. You look much better than when we first met." Roarin put a hand on Roxy's shoulder.

"Yeah. Can we go someplace a little more private?" Roxy asked glancing over at her band mates. Fortunately, none of them were paying any attention to her.

"Sure. We can go to my cabin." The two went off to catch up without any, unfortunate interruptions.