New Members of the Family
The next day the Misfit adults were discussing their newest charge. "I'm glad we put in an infirmary in the Misfit House," Roadblock said. "The kid can rest and recover here. How is she?"
"We were lucky we found her when we did," Cover Girl said. "Lifeline told me that she's suffering from severe malnutrition as well as exhaustion. If she was out there any longer she could have died within a week."
"I can't believe Xavier didn't pick her up earlier or something," Shipwreck shook his head.
"Hey even Cerebro wasn't perfect," Arcade admitted as he and the other Misfits showed up. "It did miss an occasional mutant from time to time, mostly if their powers were low level or just beginning to evolve."
"And he hasn't exactly had time to go recruit every mutant out there," Todd remarked. "Let's face it, there are just too many of us out there for him to get 'em all. But that's where we come in!"
"You did a good job Arcade," Althea put her hand on his shoulder. "So did you find anything out about the kid?"
"She wouldn't say anything much about her family but what I gathered was that she's not exactly missed by 'em," Cover Girl said. "She was abandoned the very day the Sentinel attacked and mutants were revealed."
"Oh man that's rough," Lance folded his arms. "So she's been on her own all this time?"
"Yeah, which explains her attitude," Cover Girl said. "And her potty mouth."
"Really?" Althea raised an eyebrow.
"She didn't like having a bath," Cover Girl smirked. "And that hair of hers we have got to do something with it. She's pretty wild actually."
"Cover Girl she's twelve," Shipwreck waved. "She'll be fine."
"That's the same attitude you had with Althea and the triplets," She reminded him. "Speaking of which those three are in there already making friends." She indicated with a nod. Inside the room the triplets were happily chatting with Spyder.
Spyder was on the bed wearing hospital pajamas that seemed way too big for her. You could see the bones through her skin. An IV unit was running in her arm. Yet despite her condition she seemed to be quite animated. Her waist length hair was shinier now that it was clean and her eyes seemed to sparkle more.
"HEY YOU TRICKED ME!" Spyder shouted as Althea and Todd walked in. "You said you wouldn't use your powers but you couldn't use them anyway!"
"Well you should have asked what my powers were in the first place should you?" Althea grinned. "Not that I needed them…"
"Show off!" Daria snapped. "She's always like that just because she's older…"
"And bigger…" Quinn rolled her eyes.
"And stronger than us!" Brittany finished.
"Don't forget greater, faster, more attractive and just plain smarter," Althea grinned.
"In your dreams!" Quinn stuck her tongue out at her.
"Spyder this is Roadblock," Cover Girl introduced. "He's in charge of the Misfits."
"Are you the one that's a mutant?" Spyder asked.
"No that's Low Light," Daria explained. "Enhanced mutant technically."
"What's that?" Spyder asked.
"Someone who's born with a dormant X-gene but it was activated by artificial means," Quinn told her.
"In English?" Spyder raised an eyebrow.
"It was turned off at birth but later scientific stuff turned it on," Brittany said.
"Weird," Spyder shrugged. "Course I've always been gray. The crawling on the walls and the web thing I've only been able to do for the past few months. But every time I use my webbing I get tired."
"It takes a lot out of your system," Cover Girl explained. "You need to eat more than normal humans do to keep up your strength."
"Could barely eat at all on the run," Spyder grumbled. "And I was stuck in that town. No trains or anything and I couldn't hitchhike. Town was surrounded by desert so I couldn't walk. I was lucky to find a warehouse to hide in."
"Don't worry baby girl," Roadblock waved. "We'll fatten you up in no time."
Spyder glared at him. "I am not a baby!"
"Yeah you're a tough little kid all right," Arcade snickered.
"I am tough," Spyder glared at him. "My uncle taught me martial arts before he died. Only member of my family that gave a damn about me."
"I can relate to that. Look I know how scary it is coming into a new situation," Arcade told her. "Especially when everyone you thought cared about you ditched you. But it's not so bad here. Look at me."
"Well…" Spyder looked around. "I guess if they'd take you…I mean a human. No offense."
"None taken," Arcade grinned. "So what is your real name? Mine's Webber Torque."
"You're kidding?" Spyder looked at him. "And I thought Ollie was bad."
"Ollie?" Pietro raised an eyebrow.
"Short for Olivia," Spyder admitted sheepishly. "Olivia Osnick. But I hate my name! My dad called me Ollie for short before…" Her lips shut quickly.
"Okay, so we'll call you Spyder," Althea waved, picking up her uneasiness. "No big deal. A lot of mutants dump their original names."
"Spyder fits you better anyway," Todd waved. "Kinda like that dude Spider Man in New York."
"You know about him?" Spyder blinked.
"Yeah some of us even met the guy," Pietro told her. "He's pretty cool for non mutant with superpowers."
"He's not a mutant?" Spyder looked disappointed. Then she brightened. "Oh well. He's still cool! That's how I decided on my name! I saw some magazine articles about the guy! They're in my bag! How do you know him? How did he get his powers? Is he a good fighter?"
"Slow down," Lance laughed. "One question at a time."
"You'll answer them all later," Cover Girl said. "She gets tired easily and needs a lot of rest."
"I'm fine," Spyder yawned. "Okay maybe I'm a little tired." She lay back on the bed.
Lance pulled the blankets over her. "Come on kiddo," Althea told her. "You get some sleep and after your nap I'll tell you all about Spider Man."
"Really?" Spyder asked sleepily. "Promise?"
"Promise," Lance nodded. He mussed up her hair. "Now get some rest."
"Well…" Spyder closed her eyes. "Maybe I'll just rest my eyes for a few minutes." She dropped off to sleep almost immediately.
The Misfits quietly filed out. "Poor kid," Pietro frowned. "It's lucky we found her."
"Arcade found her," Todd pointed out.
"Well he's one of us so same difference!" Pietro snapped. "Come on, let's play video games!"
They went off to relax. Cover Girl and Roadblock stayed behind. "Did you hear that?" Roadblock raised an eyebrow.
"One of us," Cover Girl repeated. "We've made a lot of progress."
"One kid getting along with mutants may be small, but it's better than nothing at all," Roadblock told her.
"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Arcade could be heard laughing in the next room.
"Arcade! Stop dancing on the table will ya?" Althea shouted.
"Of course let's not forget the kid's a few microchips short of a computer," Cover Girl groaned.
"Well let's just say he still has a ways to go in that department," Roadblock sighed. "Just like the other Misfits."
A hundred Brownie Points to those of you who can figure out where I got the inspiration for Spyder. (Hint, think about her name from some of the old comics)
Well there are the first two new Misfit recruits. Don't worry, there will be more!