Letting Go
"Well that was an eventful morning," Cover Girl remarked when Roadblock told her and the other adults of the day's events.
"Actually in a way it's kind of good that it happened," Shipwreck remarked.
"Good?" Low Light asked. "You gotta be kidding me?"
"Now hear me out," Shipwreck raised his hand. "In the first place Arcade standing up for himself like that proved that he's no pushover. More importantly, he proved it to the others."
"Okay," Low Light folded his arms. "I'm with you so far."
"Second, our kids were mostly behind Arcade in the fight," Shipwreck said. "Not because he was human but because he was in the right, sort of. That proves that somehow our training is working."
"How?" Cover Girl asked.
"Hello? Humans and Mutants getting along?" Shipwreck asked. "Does that ring a bell?"
"Shipwreck…Both a human and a mutant boy were fighting," Roadblock pinched his nose.
"Yes but they were fighting over stupid things," Shipwreck said. "It wasn't exactly a race riot."
"I think I see what you are getting at," Spirit nodded.
"See Spirit gets it," Shipwreck said.
"Instead of fighting over humans vs. mutants they were fighting over insults," Spirit said.
"Well for these kids that's progress," Shipwreck frowned. "The point is the kids don't see Arcade as just some human kid. They're starting to treat him like one of them. Even to the point of insulting him over…well, personal issues rather than other ones."
"I kind of get the point you are trying to make," Cover Girl nodded. "Warped as it is, the kids have accepted Arcade in a weird twisted way."
"Well it's a start I admit," Roadblock sighed. "But that's just not it. That kid has a long way to go."
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"You would think that they would come up with something more original than peeling potatoes for a punishment," Pietro scoffed as he casually whisked through his stack of potatoes. "I dunno. Maybe its army tradition or something."
"Just shut up will you?" Arcade said as he was still trying to peel his first potato.
"Well I'm done," Pietro finished his huge pile effortlessly. Then he looked at Arcade's side. "Are you still on your first one? Oh man we're gonna be here all day! I think I'll do some of yours too."
"I don't need any help from you," Arcade hissed. "I'm doing fine!" With that his potato broke in half. "Oh great…"
"Who says I'm doing it to help you?" Pietro grabbed a potato from Arcade's pile. "I just don't want to die of boredom here!"
"Oh well I'm so sorry my problems are inconveniencing you!" Arcade snapped. "Clearly some of us don't have a life!"
"Look I'm sorry okay?" Pietro snapped. "I just say stuff you know? My mouth is faster than my brain sometimes."
"Obviously," Arcade grumbled as he picked up another potato and started to peel it.
"Well it's not like you're the only person I do it to," Pietro said.
"So you're an equal opportunity jerk?" Arcade asked.
"Well yes," Pietro shrugged. "Even I'm not perfect all the time. But don't tell anyone I said that."
Arcade slowed down on his peeling. "I can deal with the fact that I'm a human living with mutants," He said. "I can deal with peeling potatoes and training. At least here people talk to me. Not at me."
"Let me take a wild guess," Pietro said. "Your parents are self absorbed jerks who only care about themselves? Been there! Done that way too long! At least yours didn't perform experiments on you to increase your potential and try to help them take over the planet!"
"Don't be so sure," Arcade said. "My first five years of my life were a whirlwind of one stupid activity after another to see if I was genius material. Ballet school, art school, tap classes…you name it."
"I thought you are a genius," Pietro asked.
"How did you know that?"
"I read it on your file. I sneak in and read them from time to time. There's some real interesting reading material in there. But back to you. What? Being super smart wasn't enough for them?"
"No, they expected it scholastic wise. But they were looking for me to be more artistic and all that stuff. I don't really understand it myself. I think they just got bored of me after I turned six and dumped me on any nanny or preschool they could find."
"Well I can certainly relate to that," Pietro sighed. "My old man hasn't exactly done much for raising me or my sister. Not even a week after he locked her up in a mental institution he decides he can't stand the sight of me. So he ships me off to some friends of his to raise me. They were okay I guess. They were nice but not really hands on type of people. They let me do pretty much nearly anything I wanted so I got away with a lot of stuff."
"Same here," Arcade said. "Half the year my parent's weren't even home. Out travelling and going to parties. As long as I didn't interrupt their social schedule they didn't care what I did!"
"So we do have a lot more in common than I thought," Pietro said. "No wonder you bonded with Cerebro. I went a different route myself. The 'Let's Annoy Anyone in Sight' Route."
"She was the only person who really understood me," Arcade looked miserable.
"Right," Pietro rolled his eyes. "Oh crap. We're bonding aren't we?"
"It looks like it," Arcade looked at him. "We're not going to end up hugging and singing are we? I mean I'm not that far gone!"
"Don't worry," Pietro waved. "That's more like an X-Man's style."
"X-Men…" Arcade's eye twitched. "I hate them!"
"Me too," Pietro grinned. "Look we both have a lot in common. So why shouldn't we join forces?"
"What do you have in mind?" Arcade asked.
"Oh I'm sure we can think of a few things," Pietro told him. "But right now it looks like you have a bigger problem."
"I do?"
"Yes, you're stuck in the past about Cerebro," Pietro whittled on a few more potatoes. "I mean you can't really enjoy your revenge on the X-Men until you get past…Well, the incident. You have to put it in perspective. That way you can focus on annoying the hell out of the X-Men!"
"So what should I do?" Arcade was clearly interested.
"I think I know something that can help you," Pietro grinned.
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That evening there was a strange noise in the Misfit's back yard. "What the heck is going on here?" Roadblock asked as he and Shipwreck went out to investigate. There was Pietro in a priest's outfit. The rest of the Misfits were in black surrounding a small gravestone. A flower arrangement with a ribbon saying 'REST IN PEACE CEREBRO' was there as well.
"Brothers and sisters!" Pietro shouted. "Tonight we grieve the departure of Cerebro who has gone to that giant circuit board in the sky! Can I get an Amen?"
"Amen!" The Misfits shouted.
"Can I get an Awoman?" Pietro shouted. "Well actually I can get a lot of women but that's not the point."
"What is this?" Shipwreck asked.
"Arcade needs closure," Pietro said. "We're giving it to him."
"O-kay…" Shipwreck said. Then he whispered to Roadblock. "Back away slowly." They did so.
"What's going on?" Low Light asked. The other adults were with him.
"A funeral," Shipwreck told him. "For Cerebro. And they seem to be enjoying it."
"They're having a funeral for Cerebro?" Low Light blinked. "Oh god Arcade is fitting in better than we thought!"
"It's official," Roadblock groaned. "He's one of them!"
"I need a drink…" Cover Girl moaned. "Anybody else want one?"
"Make it a double," Spirit told her.