The Misfits Vs. The Viper, Special Edition!
Disclaimer: Red Witch owns Althea and Xi. I don't own the GI Joes. The ex-Brotherhood is Marvel's. The Starr twins are mine, however.
Chapter 3: West Point Attack!
The Misfit Clubhouse
The Misfits were hanging out in the clubhouse, getting some rest and relaxation. The young mutants were seated around a table, conversing amongst themselves about their misadventure in Antarctica...except for Todd and Fred.
"That was totally weird, you guys." Paul Starr remarked as he leaned forward and lied his head on his arms. "I mean, why would anyone send us coordinates to what was essentially a Cobra rest stop?"
"Maybe it was some kind of prank." Wanda suggested. Althea shook her head, a frown on her face.
"I don't know." The black-haired teenage girl said. "I doubt anyone would do anything that ridiculous."
"You've ever been to Florida?" Pietro cracked. "Crazy is the norm there..." He sighed and tapped his foot against the ground impatiently. "And where the hell are Toad and Blob? How long does it take for someone to get pizzas? I could've gotten them here faster!"
"Be patient, Pietro. For once in your life." Wanda grumbled at her twin brother. "And besides, it's not like you can rush the pizza makers."
"Yeah Pietro, you'd have to wait for them to make the pizza." Althea added with a smile. "Takes time, Speedy." Craig stretched his arms.
"If you ask me, I think this was done to make fools out of us." The former gang member reasoned. He glanced at his nightstick, which was attached to his belt thanks to a special custom-made leather loop. "This definitely was someone's idea of a sick joke." He pulled his nightstick out of his belt loop and smirked at it. "I would love to find the person behind it and choke the mother out."
"You know, for once, I'm with Darkstar." Pietro grumbled in agreement, crossing his arms petulantly. "I nearly froze my beautiful butt off out there in Antarctica."
"Oh, quit whining about it, man. You and your butt got through it in one piece." Lance rolled his eyes.
Paul smiled. "You know, it's too bad we didn't see any penguins. I like penguins."
"You like penguins." Lance muttered to Paul in a disbelieving tone, looking up him.
"Well, yeah." Paul grinned. "Penguins are cool."
Lance thought about it for a minute. "Yeah, I guess you got a point. Penguins are kinda cool." Wanda scratched her head in confusion.
"Do penguins even live in the South Pole?"
In response to the hexcaster's question, Paul whipped out his phone, which had a purple case with silver-and-black star stickers on it. The young mutant then looked it up on his phone's web browser.
"Yeah, they do, actually." Paul explained.
"Okay, when did this conversation go to penguins?" Althea wondered.
"This is normal for us, boss." Lance explained to the water-manipulating mutant. She rolled her eyes.
"No wonder Magneto thought you guys were too goofy to be useful."
Craig groaned and smacked his fist on the table. "Oh, get off the penguins already!" He snapped in frustration, wanting to change the subject. "We got more important things to worry about than stupid penguins!"
"Welcome to being a Misfit, Craig!" Pietro laughed. "This is normal for us!"
"Do you have a hatred for penguins?" Xi asked Craig curiously. "I do not understand this. They are quite cute creatures, especially when they are young." Craig growled at the artificial lifeform.
"We have this mysterious 'Viper' clown to worry about, and you guys would rather discuss penguins!" Craig yelled out in frustration. "I'm the only person here who is remotely concerned." The tension was dispersed by the sound of the doors closing.
"Ladieeeees and Gentlemen! And Craig." Todd announced triumphantly. "The Toad and The Blob have arrived! And they have brought pizza!" The amphibious mutant hopped into the clubhouse and up to the others gleefully, Freddy behind him. The large mutant known as The Blob was lugging around twelve pizzas as the group greeted him.
"Alright, pizza! Thanks, guys!" Paul whooped.
"About time, you two!" Pietro took a slice.
"You're welcome." Fred responded dryly. "Any leads, guys?" The Texan mutant asked as he put the pizzas down on the table and the group gathered around the boxes, grabbing slices and chowing down on them.
"Not really." Althea admitted, shaking her head. "And I don't think the Joes have any clues, either."
"We had gotten sidetracked into discussing penguins." Xi told his large comrade. Craig groaned and thumped his head on the table. "Darkstar doesn't like penguins."
"I. Don't. Care. About. Penguins. Right. Now." Craig groaned, not bringing his head up from the table.
"Yeah, he's too busy dreaming about Wanda." Paul quipped. A blush formed on Craig's face, but fortunately for the young mutant, his long black hair combined with the fact his face was still on the desk helped to hide his blush.
"Shut up, Paul." Darkstar mumbled, the desk nearly completely muffling his voice.
"Can't blame you guys for getting sidetracked. Penguins are pretty cool." Blob smiled as he scarfed up a pizza.
"Yeah, they are." Todd nodded in agreement. "You know, it's too bad you Starr boys weren't around when Iceberg had a whole mess of 'em here for a while, yo."
"Oh yeah..." Althea recalled happily. "Those little baby penguins were sooooo cute! We have some pictures of them. Remind me to show them to you two."
"That is a shame. I've never seen a baby penguin up close before." Paul nodded. "I'll have to do that sometime." Hawk walked into the clubhouse.
"Hey there, Misfits." The commander of GI Joe greeted. The kids waved back and greeted Hawk back. "Celebrating?"
Craig grunted and put his head back up. "Yeah, we blew up an oversized Cobra rest stop. Cause for celebration, alright." He cheered sarcastically.
"It certainly was a most...unusual operation." Xi remarked.
"Uh-huh." Paul added with a nod. "We went all the way to Antarctica and we didn't see a single penguin. If this were a field trip, I'd want my permission slip back." Hawk blinked in confusion.
"Penguins. Right." Hawk sighed. Not surprising, these kids seem to have the attention spans of a gnat unless it's something completely random.
"These idiots are more concerned with stupid penguins than with this 'Viper'!" Craig groaned, putting his head in his hands. "I can't stand it."
"You really should not be surprised at this kind of thing by now, Craig." Wanda snickered.
"Please stop." Craig sighed. Hawk cleared his throat.
"As much as I am really enjoying this whole thing, 'Viper' sent us another message." Hawk gave a note to Xi. The other Misfits gathered around the reptilian experiment as he read the note.
"Hmmm…" Xi blinked in confusion by the note's message. "Left-most corner."
"Maybe it's a code?" Lance suggested.
"Probably..." Althea scratched her chin in thought.
"An anagram of some kind?" Blob wondered out loud.
Althea's brow furrowed as she scratched her head. "Maybe...what could 'left-most corner' be an anagram for?"
"Ooh! Ooh!" Paul raised his hand excitedly. "I know! I know! I love anagrams! An anagram for 'left-most corner' is 'Some felt n-corn'!" The mutant musician frowned. "No, that doesn't work. 'N-corn' is not a word..."
"Yeah, you may love anagrams, but you're no good at them." Craig told his twin.
"It can't be an anagram, then." Wanda shook her head. "As Starchild has just shown, it doesn't make any sense. Maybe the meaning is hidden in the words themselves. Like in their meaning." Pietro immediately snapped his fingers.
"Yeah, maybe!" The silver-haired speedster piped up. "A corner is where two sides meet."
"Alright, speedy. So what sides is he talking about then?" Craig mocked.
"Maybe it's a reference to a shape." Paul stated. Hawk rubbed his chin.
"Maybe it could be a bit of fun with synonyms." The leader of GI Joe suggested. "What other words can be used for a corner, for example."
"So, someone is leading us around by making us play word games." Craig sighed. "Terrific."
"I got a dictionary/thesaurus app in my phone." Todd pulled out his phone, which had a green case with a cartoony picture of a frog on it. He turned it on and put on the thesaurus app.
"You have a thesaurus and dictionary on your phone." Hawk blinked in disbelief.
"Hey, you need it, there's an app for it." Todd grinned. "This thing saved my life when it comes to writing homework."
"Well, at least it's something that can help you be productive." Hawk shrugged.
"Okay, what you guys want me to look up again?"
"The word 'Corner', honey." Althea reminded. Toad quickly typed the word in and pressed search.
"Good thing Frog-boy is playing on his phone." Pietro rolled his eyes. "I shudder at the idea of him licking a finger before leafing through a book. He'd leave slime all over it."
"Shut up, Pietro." Althea ordered.
"Ha ha. Real good, funnyman." Toad drawled in a monotone. "Here it is, yo! A synonym for corner is…point."
"Point." Xi thought. "Interesting."
"Okay…Now left-most." Lance ordered the amphibious boy.
"West." Hawk realized with a smirk. "It's a direction. Left-most corner means West Point. It's the nation's top military school. There are a group of generals there to see the graduation ceremony."
"You think that's where the Viper would strike next?" Wanda asked.
"Do moths like flames, Wanda?" Craig quipped..
"Or Lewis and Clark explored the Louisiana Territory?" Paul laughed. "Don't forget, General. We have to get back early. Craig has to get ready for his date tonight."
"Shut up, Paul..." Craig groaned, a bright red blush coloring his face. Wanda snickered slightly at the sight of it.
West Point Academy
At the legendary military academy known as West Point, a group of generals and other VIP's were watching the cadets march in unison to a grand brass beat. Unbeknownst to them, a batch of Cobra troops, led by the mercenary Major Sebastian Bludd, was waiting in the bushes beyond the grounds to attack. Bludd watched the march through a pair of binoculars.
"Heh. The perfect ambush. Those idiot Joes have no clue that we're here. And if they have no clue, then neither do those stupid mutie pets of theirs." Bludd smirked. "This is gonna be fun." Hopefully, I can get a rematch with the frog boy. The mercenary's face twisted into a sneer. Little bastard blasted my face with acid, and I had to go through a lot to get it repaired. Got a special bullet for the little monster...
Unfortunately for Bludd, and fortunately for the unsuspecting generals, the mutant heroes known as the Misfits, as well as Roadblock, Barbecue, Cover Girl and Spirit, were observing the Cobra forces.
"Right on target." Xi frowned, putting down his binoculars.
"The great hero known as The Awesome Quicksilver, accompanied by his faithful sidekicks, the marvelous Misfits, are here to protect the innocent generals from the evil scourge of Cobra." Pietro said in an old time radio announcer-style voice, putting his hand on his chest for dramatic effect.
"Why do you get to be the great hero?" Todd grumbled, narrowing his eyes at Pietro. "Why can't I be the great hero?"
"You can't be the great hero, Todd." Pietro explained. "You're the clumsy comedy relief. That's your thing. You're good at it."
"I'm a ninja-in-training, yo!" Todd snapped.
"Only because the Joes didn't know what else to do with you."
"You're just mad that I have taken better to it than you!" Todd argued. "Not my fault you can't aim a damn shuriken!" He then eyed a black briefcase next to Pietro. "What you got in there, man?"
"A little surprise for the snakes." Pietro smirked.
"Knock it off." Cover Girl sighed. "So, this Viper was right on. Who knew Cobra would attack West Point?"
"Not really surprising when you think about it." Althea shrugged. "There's some important people there. Would make a major psychological blow if anything happened to them."
"It would help ferment an environment of fear and irrationality if such an event were to go down." Blob concurred with a nod. Pietro sighed.
"Must he psychoanalyze everything?"
"Leave him alone, Pietro." Lance told the speedster. "Fred likes it, and it's not hurting anybody."
"Can we just beat 'em up now?" Craig asked, yawning in boredom.
"Not yet. It's Cobra's move. Let them make it." Spirit replied.
"Let them make their move? But we aren't playing chess with these guys." Paul joked. Barbecue chuckled in amusement.
"Kiddo, I would not give up the day job."
"That's okay." Paul shrugged with a smile. "I always considered myself a better musician than a comedian." Still smiling, Paul cocked his head at the Joe fireman's helmet. "You know, that helmet makes you look like some kind of metal bird monster."
"And your outfit makes you look like a glam rocker." Barbecue shot back good-naturedly. Paul looked down at his outfit.
It was a purple bodysuit with white boots. A black stripe ran down the center of it, and a silver 5-pointed star was on the chest. His outfit had a purple leather jacket with black sleeves. The sleeves had fringe on them, and they were peppered with purple and silver stars. A silver 5-pointed star was on the back. His brother Craig had a matching outfit, but the black and purple were reversed, and the sleeves of his jacket had no fringe and no stars.
"You say that like it was a bad thing." The young mutant grinned widely. Barbecue smiled.
"You got a point, kiddo."
"Hey Barbecue, you ever considered becoming one of our handlers?" Paul wondered. "I mean, we do see you around quite a bit thanks to all the fires we deal with."
"Kiddo, I don't think I could be a handler. Besides, as you said, I already see plenty of you kids when at least one of you causes a fire."
"That last one was not my fault, yo!" Todd exclaimed. "Somebody didn't put a lid on that damn gas can!"
"This is why I'm the great hero and you're the bumbling comedy relief." Pietro mocked.
"You ain't innocent either, yo! What about that time you tried to make a special effect for a play and it blew up?!"
"Knock it off!" Althea ordered sharply. Paul winced, then glanced at Barbecue.
"...I see your point." Paul admitted to the Joe fireman.
"I just pray you guys never get a pyrokinetic." Barbecue sighed.
Funny, I knew a pyrokinetic once... Paul recalled. Meanwhile, Wanda was observing the Cobra troops.
"How many?" Spirit asked the teenage hexcaster.
"Not a massive force." Wanda answered. "Check it out." She handed the binoculars to Spirit. The Native American Joe observed the Cobra forces preparing to move.
"Indeed." Spirit remarked. "They don't have many tanks and troops."
"Makes sense." Althea nodded. "They probably had a heck of a time getting that stuff here."
"They're getting ready to move." Spirit noticed.
"Let's go!" Roadblock ordered. The mutants and Barbecue jumped into a tank that Cover Girl was driving. Roadblock and Spirit jumped into ATVs. An oblivious Bludd watched over the ceremony.
"Alright...the keynote speaker is about to run his mouth..." The mercenary remarked, watching a gray-haired man in a military uniform walk up to a podium and start speaking. "Okay! Let's do it! Attack!" Bludd cried out. Back at the ceremony, the keynote speaker was addressing the seated cadets, a smile on his face.
"As you young men and women know, you are entering into a new world, a world that some will say has become a-!"
BOOM!
"What the-?!" The speaker gasped in shock.
"COOOOOBRAAAA!" Cobra's troopers cried out as they ran towards the field, firing their weapons. They were backed up by a group of HISS tanks. The attack caused chaos as the cadets and guests fled for their lives.
"That's right, run ya cowards!" Bludd cackled. "Cobra can strike anywhere at any time!"
BOOM!
One HISS tank exploded.
"The hell?!" Bludd exclaimed.
"YO JOE!" Roadblock cried out as the Joes leapt into action.
"Watch yourselves when it comes to Bludd!" Cover Girl warned the Misfits as they disembarked.
"We will, Cover Girl." Althea nodded. "Pietro, try and disarm those troops! You got the speed!"
"And the style!" Pietro smiled as he opened the black briefcase and pulled out...a paintball gun.
"What's with the paintball gun, man?!" Todd exclaimed.
"Giving a bit of panache, froggy." Pietro grinned widely. "Watch this!" Pietro zipped into the battlefield.
"Try not to get shot, you hyperactive hummingbird!" Althea called out.
"Ah, I got this!" Pietro whooped happily, waving his paintball gun. "Whoo-hoo!" Pietro zipped around the battlefield, taking the troopers' weapons and shooting them with his paintball gun.
"Those bloody Joes and their pet mutants!" Bludd growled in frustration. "Concentrate on them, men!" A familiar mutant hopped up next to him. "YOU!"
"Hey, Major Bludd! How ya been?!" Todd waved with a wide, cocky grin. "Glad to see they managed to fix up your face." Bludd growled with rage.
"Oh, I've been itching to get some payback for what you did to me!" Bludd roared, a blade popping out of his cybernetic arm. Todd blinked at that.
"Hey, you got a new gadget. Awesome!" Todd grinned. "And to be fair about that whole acid in your face thing, I had no idea I could spit acid until you tried to kill me in the jungle." (1) Bludd gritted his teeth.
"I am going to carve your face into hamburger, you little bastard!" Bludd roared as he leapt at Todd, slashing at the young mutant with his arm's blade.
"Whoa, man!" Todd yelped as he flipped out of the way. "Dude, you need to calm down and switch to decaf, yo!"
"HOLD STILL, YOU BRAT!" An enraged Bludd roared as he kept trying to slash at Todd. However, the amphibious mutant's agility, reflexes, and his training was making it very hard for Bludd's arm blade to make contact with Todd's flesh. "What's the matter, boy?! Don't like it when you're on the receiving end, huh?!"
"You're acting like I intended to give your face an acid bath, man!"
"YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I WENT THROUGH TO FIX THAT?!"
"...Would it help if I said was sorry?" Todd grinned innocently. Meanwhile, one Cobra Viper had spotted a cadet, a girl with short brown hair, trying to help up a general. The Viper smirked under his mask and held up his rifle, aiming his gun at the two.
"Got you..." The viper peered down his scope, but the two would have a pair of guardian angels.
FZAP! FZAP!
"Agh!" The viper screamed as a pair of purple laser beams lanced through the air, one hitting his gun, the other hitting his hand. He turned his head and saw a nightstick hit him in the face, knocking him cold. Paul and Craig Starr stood over the fallen soldier.
"Well, that was awful rude of him, waving his gun around like that." Paul remarked, looking at Craig. Craig nodded in answer.
"Yeah."
"Thanks!" The cadet waved. "Who are you boys?"
"Oh, allow me to introduce ourselves." Paul bowed to the cadet and the general dramatically. "I'm the Starchild! Sensational Superstar Extraordinaire!" He grinned and gestured to his brother. "And this right here is my twin brother, the Darkstar! Street thug turned superhero! We are the Spectacular Starr Twins!" Craig rolled his eyes and lightly smacked his twin in the shoulder. "Hey!"
"You are hopeless sometimes." Craig shook his head. A blur zipped by the boys and over the Viper, taking his gun. The blur then stopped at the cadet.
"Well, hello." Pietro greeted smoothly at the brunette cadet. "Who might you be?"
"Paula Baines." The girl replied. Pietro smirked and took her hand gently.
"Pietro Maximoff. Call me Quicksilver." Pietro kissed her hand.
"A smoothie, aren't you?" Paula remarked.
"You could say that."
"Oh for God's sake." Craig groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Maximoff, you girl-crazy idiot!"
"And you make fun of me for my popularity with girls." Paul whispered.
"At least you know when to pack it in." Craig retorted.
"Quicksilver, quit playing Casanova and give me a hand here!" Cover Girl ordered. She had been in a firefight with some Cobra troopers.
"You got it, CG! Gotta run, babe." Pietro winked at the cadet, speeding to Cover Girl. Paula giggled. He zipped up to Cover Girl.
"For God's sake, Quicksilver. Can't you give it a break?" Cover Girl sighed.
"Hey, I can't help it if I got a face and body that makes girls swoon."
The ex-model groaned. "Just go and disarm the troopers. Be careful, and try not to get shot."
"No problem, Cover Girl!" Pietro saluted jauntily. He then zipped up to the troopers.
"It's one of the Joes' pet freaks!" A Cobra trooper shouted.
"Shoot him! Shoot him quickly!" Another trooper yelled.
"Nope!" Pietro laughed as he zipped by them, taking their guns nad blasting them with his own paintball gun. "Think of the paint as a bit of payback for interrupting my favorite hobby: sweeping pretty girls off their feet!"
"I always thought looking in the mirror was your favorite hobby." Cover Girl snickered to herself, A Cobra trooper tried to ambush the tank driver, but she dealt with him with a judo throw. She saw a pair of West Point cadets try to fight off a couple of Cobra troopers, but they were becoming outnumbered. "Hang on, guys! Pietro!" The model and the speedster raced over and evened the odds out.
"Thanks!" One of the cadets said gratefully as Cover Girl helped him up.
"No problem." Cover Girl smiled. The other cadet quickly ran behind Pietro and punched out another trooper. "Looks like we're even, then."
"Guess so." The cadet nodded. "Hey listen, everybody here loves talking about you guys, and quite a few of us hope to become Joes one day."
"Being a Joe is going to require a lot of hard work and grit." Cover Girl explained. "We only accept the best."
"Oh yeah." The cadet nodded with a smile. "Hey, uh..." He shyly pulled out his phone and blushed. "Can I take a selfie with you?" Cover Girl smiled.
"After this, okay?"
"Okay." The cadet nodded, putting his phone back in his pocket.
"Go gather your fellow cadets and see if they are alright." The ex-model ordered. The cadet and his friend snapped to attention.
"Yes, ma'am!" He answered with a salute, and the two went off to check on their comrades. Pietro frowned.
"I don't get it. Why do they want to take selfies with you and not me?" The speedster pouted. "My face is perfect for selfies!"
"Judging by the way that boy was looking at me, I think it was hormones that made him want to take a picture with me." Cover Girl chuckled. "And besides, I once did get photographed for a job..."
"You know, I'd be a damn good model." Pietro struck a pose. "Girls drooling over my picture? Sounds wonderful."
"Pietro, why not go show those cadets where you put those guns you took from the Cobra troopers?"
"Why do you...oh...right." Pietro nodded. "Gotcha." He zipped off after the cadets. Cover Girl activated her Joe-Com.
"Guys, I got Pietro working on a little project..." Meanwhile, the Misfits and the Joes managed to demolish most of the Cobra tanks.
"Surrender, Cobra!" Althea called out to Bludd and the remaining troopers over a megaphone. "You're done!"
"We'd stick forks in you to show that, but we don't have any, yo." Todd added with a laugh.
"I have these." Xi offered, pulling a pair of small kunai daggers out of his belt. "They are not forks, but we can stick them in those snakes."
"Never!" Bludd yelled. "There's about 5 of us to every one of you!" Althea smirked.
"There were." Althea retorted. "You see, Major, while you were getting your ass handed to you by my little froggy here, we've been beating up your men. And we got ourselves a little help anyway..." The dark-haired mutant girl waved to emphasize her point. The sound of rifles cocking could be heard as the cadets pointed their rifles at the Cobra troopers and Major Bludd. Cover Girl and Pietro ran up to their fellow heroes.
"Hey Bludd!" Pietro taunted. "Those cadets there? They aren't exactly very happy with you guys wrecking their little ceremony. So, we thought we'd let them help us restrain you guys...with your own guns, of course."
"Hey, glad you guys finally made it to the party." Paul waved happily.
"Sorry we're late. Traffic was murder." Pietro quipped.
"Thanks, Althea." Cover Girl patted her shoulder. "We'll take over from here."
Althea bowed dramatically. "Be my guest."
"Okay, Cobra! You have five seconds to surrender!" Cover Girl counted down. "One…" The Cobra troopers kept their weapons ready. "Two…" No change. "Three…" The Cobra troopers started to look around at each other. "Four…" They got more nervous. "Five!"
"We surrender!" The Cobras threw their weapons down and raised their hands up. The generals and guests cheered. Pietro blew a kiss to the general's daughter he met earlier. Craig rolled his eyes.
"Oh brother." Craig sighed. He then realized something. "Right."
FZAP!
The young mutant fired his eye laser at Bludd's arm.
"AGH!" The mercenary screamed as the laser made his arm explode in a blast of sparks.
"There you go. He should be easier to restrain with his arm disabled." Craig told the security as they restrained him. He then looked at Pietro, who was chatting up a female cadet. "Pietro is an idiot."
"Let him be, bro." Paul told his brother. He looked over at Todd, who was smirking at Bludd. The mercenary was glaring right back at him. "What's up, frog man?"
"Just enjoying seeing ol' Bludd get what's coming to him, yo." Todd snickered. "Careful of his face! He's rather sensitive about that!"
"SCREW YOU, FROG BOY! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" Major Bludd yelled as he got dragged away.
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Todd waved. "Bye, Felicia!"
The Pit
"Ahhhh, It's great to be back home." Lance smiled in relief as the Misfits walked back into the Misfit Clubhouse.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages…and Craig..." Paul boomed in an old-time radio announcer-type voice.
"Ha ha, Paul. You are hilarious, brother." Craig rolled his eyes.
"The Misfits are back in town, baby!" Paul continued, ignoring his brother.
"I think this guy needs to cut down on the caffeine." Pietro joked.
"I like him. He's sunny." Fred smiled.
"You would, Fred."
"He also doesn't make jokes about my weight." Fred gave Pietro the side-eye.
"Home sweet home." Wanda smiled as she leaned back on her couch. "By the way, what time is it?" Althea checked her watch.
"1 PM."
"Ah! Seven hours until my first date!" The witch smirked at Darkstar, who was walking towards one of the arcade machines "Be ready, Craig. I know I will." Craig started muttering.
"Razzum frazzum stupid pool game…" A blushing Craig grumbled as he put on the Namco machine and started playing Bosconian. Paul laughed as he threw his arm around his brother's shoulders while he played the game.
"My lucky brother is going on his first date! And it's with a certain sorceress in red, baby! Whoo!" Starchild laughed. Craig lightly pushed Paul's arm off his shoulders and lightly swatted his shoulders.
"I hate you sometimes. I really do." Craig grumbled. Paul grinned.
"Sure you do, bro."
"You excited, Wanda?" Althea grinned at Wanda.
"...Can I talk to you in private?" The hexcaster asked the hydrokinetic, a bit of nervousness in her voice. Althea nodded in understanding.
"Sure." Althea nodded. The two girls walked outside. "What's up, Wanda? You nervous about the date? I can't imagine you not being."
"I admit, I am a bit." Wanda confessed. "This will be the first time I was ever on a date."
"Ah, I see." Althea nodded. "Hey, I've been there. Todd is my first boyfriend, believe it or not."
"Really?"
"Yup." Althea confirmed.
"...Al, you've done this thing longer than me. What do I do?"
"You two really like each other. I can see it." Althea told Wanda. "Look, there's no need to rush anything. Just get something to eat and talk to each other."
Wanda nodded. "Okay, I'll give that a try."
"Just take it slow, Wanda." Althea explained. Meanwhile, Craig had been continuing to play Bosconian. Lance walked up to the ex-gang member.
"Hey, Craig." The geokinetic smiled, leaning against the arcade cabinet.
"What do you want, Avalanche?"
"I wanted to talk to you about your date with Wanda."
"It's not a big deal." Craig grumbled, a slight blush on his cheeks.
"By the way your cheeks are reddening, I think you think it is."
"Don't push it."
Lance held up his arms in a peaceful gesture. "I just want to help, man."
"Really?" Craig rolled his eyes. "I doubt you could. I know all about that demilitarized zone that is called your relationship with that Pryde girl."
"I'm just saying, I can give you some advice." Lance offered. Craig sighed and turned off his game.
"Thanks, but I'll go talk to Frog Boy."
"Talk to me about what, yo?" Todd asked as he hopped up to the two young mutants.
"Oh, God..." Craig groaned.
"Craig may need some help about his date." Lance explained.
"Oh, God..." Craig put his head in his hands.
"Well, when I first met Al, I was playing with Little C. She thought she was being mean to him." Todd explained. (2) "We started dating after we went for a swim."
"So you are saying you're not going to be any help." Craig realized.
"Well, the best I can say is it happens for different people." Todd suggested, rubbing the back of his head. Craig sighed.
"Can't believe I have to do this." Craig grumbled as he left.
"Where you goin', yo?"
"To talk to the Joes!" Craig slammed the door. Lance and Todd looked at each other.
"He must be desperate." Lance realized.
"Yup." Todd nodded.
Location Unknown, some time later
"And in other news, the Joes, aided by the Misfits, helped prevent a terrorist attack by Cobra at the prestigious West Point military academy..." The newscaster reported. Viper and Sidewinder watched this intently on television.
"Huh." Viper remarked. "That's something."
"These guys are crazy." Sidewinder shook his head. "Why did we agree to this job for them? They have their own mercs at their own beck-and-call."
"We'll get a ton of money for it." Viper reminded. "And Cobra said they didn't trust their mercs."
Sidewinder rolled his eyes. "Considering their mercs are a bunch of drunken dopey bikers who have their own group of mutants that are clearly the brains of their operation..."
"Yeah, yeah..."
"Might I remind you that this guy accused you of telling the Joes about their fancy base in Antartica? Come to think of it, how the hell did they manage to build a base down there without anyone noticing? It's not like the place is desolate or anything. Aren't there scientific outposts all over the place?"
"How should I know? And I cleared it up with him, Sidewinder." Viper explained. "How could we tell the Joes about a base we didn't even know about?"
"That's the thing, who did?"
Viper rubbed his chin in thought. "You don't suppose it was one of us, do you?"
"...I hope not." Sidewinder blinked.
"...do some checking." Viper ordered. Sidewinder walked off. Sidewinder may have a point. Maybe doing this job for Cobra wasn't the best of ideas...
Man, now that was a slobberknocker! What'll happen next to everyone's favorite insane, yet lovable gang of reformed merry mutant heroes? Will thye find the Viper or Serpent Solutions, or will they succeed in their job for Cobra? Find out in Part 4 of The Misfits vs. The Viper!
(1) – In "Ronin Toad"
(2) - Again, in "Ronin Toad"