The Mutant Massacre
Prologue: Run For Your Life
The characters in this fic, by and large, do not belong to me. The X-Men, and related characters, are the property of Marvel Comics. GI Joe, and related characters, belong to Hasbro. The Delgado children (Althea, Brittany, Daria, Quinn, and Claudius), Xi, Sgt Snuffles, and the Eloi belong to Red Witch.
The title of this fic should tell you which X-Men storyline gave me the inspiration for this fic (forced the idea upon me may be a more accurate description, though). I will be adding characters not present in the actual storyline. Some roles need to be filled, after all, and others will need to be altered slightly.
Red Witch: I'm glad you've like my takes on the Misfits so far. You wanted more, and here it is. I just hope you like it as much as my other two. You've stated in the past that you've got a whole backlog of ideas for Misfit fics coming up for us unworthy readers. If you have any plans to adapt the Mutant Massacre storyline, tell me and I'll discontinue this, no problem.
RogueFanKC: I really do like Scott. However, I saw Joyride before I wrote the ending of 'Enter the Psylocke,' and I had to punish him. But don't worry- there'll be some more torture in this fic. I don't know where I got the idea of relating Psylocke to Bree, but I'm glad you like it. Yes, Betsy's attracted to Pietro. Will he feel the same way? And will there be a fight about it? You'll see… Oh, and re. the naked Lifeline story- I'm sorry, but you'll find out. It's not that bad!
L1701E- You're giving me permission to use the Starrs? Thanks. Just for that, if you want to use my version of Evo-Psylocke, her family, and her history, be my guest. I don't know if I'll use them in this fic or not- it's kinda crowded as it is, but I'll see if I can fit them in. And for ideas… you could always go to old X-Men or GI Joe storylines and expand them as you see fit. Or you could do movie parodies- todd fan, for example, has done some awesome parodies. Or, if you're feeling really ambitious, you could do what Soul Reaver has done and cross the Misfits over with other fandoms. For example, a Ranma ½ (Duncan no baka!) or Jackie Chan Adventures (One more thing!) crossover would be hilarious if done properly.
And now, on with the prologue of The Mutant Massacre: Run For Your Life.
"Run for your life," the cruel voice whispered.
Tommy complied. She ran farther and faster than she ever had before. She sobbed as she ran. She only wanted to visit her friends in their forest home! She even found a back way there that the Outriders didn't seem to know about. Why did this happen? How did these cruel people know how to find her?
The laughter followed behind her. The ground sometimes shook and ruptured, knocking her down. She heard gunfire just over her head. Throwing stars missed her by less than an inch. Spears landed mere feet ahead of her. Sometimes, she got so dizzy that her insides felt like they were going to turn out. Beams of light shot beside her, and ahead of her. Sometimes, they went to her sides, and showed silhouettes of her attackers. And all around her, that frightening, mocking laughter.
'This has to be a nightmare,' she thought desperately. 'Please,' she prayed to the God she never quite stopped believing in, 'please let this be a nightmare!'
She ran until her sides ached and breathing was almost impossible. She was tired even before she was attacked. Her visit had taken her across a few states, and she felt every mile. She was running on pure adrenaline, now, and she knew she was dead the moment it ran out.
Finally, after so very, very long, the trees began to thin. Hope added speed to Tommy's feet. She could just barely make out the road ahead! It was a fairly busy highway- there were bound to be lots of cars using it. Finally, the road was about twenty feet, and a large shape stretched out of the trees. Another flash of light illuminated it. It was a large, bald man, with a horrifying grin on his face. Tommy was running too fast to change course, and she knew that if she stopped running, she could not start again. He raised his fist.
'He's going to hit me!' she thought. Suddenly, a wild idea came to her. She had never done this before, but she had nothing to lose. She gave one final, desperate burst of speed. As she drew closer to the man, she jumped, and then used her powers. She became thinner, flatter, and aerodynamic. The wind picked her up like a leaf- or a sheet of paper. Her idea worked.
She remained airborne for a time. The wind whistled over and under her, tickling her, causing her to giggle in spite of herself. She knew she would hit ground again, and when she did…
Looking down, she spotted a truck that was- she hoped- going south. Slowly, she shifted herself so that she would dive to the ground. This would require timing, and lots of it, but…
She aimed for the open back. She thinned herself to her absolute limit- now, unless a person was looking precisely down or up at her, she would be invisible. One of the advantages of turning yourself into human paper. She descended slowly, achingly so, but soon she was at the truck. Closer… closer… yes! She managed a safe landing. She knew she had to stay in her paper form at least until the driver stopped, but she was safe! She was safe, and she would never leave the Alley again!
***
When the driver stopped at a gas station, Tommy slipped out of the truck's… the open part of the truck (she had no idea what the specific names of cars or automobiles were- that's what happens when one grows up in a sewer).
Staying low to the ground, she slunk around the gas station, and listened in on people's conversations. She listened for anybody that brought up the name of her home.
"…yeah," one man said to another, "I'm goin' there, too, right after I stop in Bayville."
Bayville? Home!
Tommy followed the man who said he was going to her home. When he went to his car, Tommy thinned herself to her furthest limit. She crept into the man's trunk. She had only ever gone so thin once before, and only for a few seconds, but she managed to fully enter the trunk before she had to grow thicker.
She didn't know how long she remained in the trunk. From time to time, she thinned herself to her furthest, and poked her head out. Finally, as dawn was beginning to break, she was home. She exited the trunk when the man had stopped for a traffic light, and by reflex, she waved her thanks, even though she took care to remain unseen.
She entered the first manhole she found, and made for the Alley.
When she was almost there, she heard the sound of crying. She paused, and then went to investigate.
A few tunnels over, by an opened manhole, she saw a girl sitting, sobbing. She was a teenager, maybe sixteen, and crying her eyes out. The girl had green hair. Tommy watched for a while. There were a number of rules Callisto enforced, and 'No contact with humans' was the second. Only 'Don't let anyone know about us' was more important. Tommy turned to go, when the girl stopped crying, and made a hand gesture. The manhole cover beside her flew up into the air, and refastened itself. Tommy smiled- the girl was a mutant. Strange that Caliban hadn't picked up on her, but then, even he needed a break from time to time.
"Hello," Tommy said softly. The girl gasped and looked up.
"Who's there?" she demanded.
"I am," Tommy said as she made herself visible. The girl gasped again. Tommy knew why- she was multi-coloured. Literally. Always had been. Her parents raised her for a while, but when she died, no one would take the 'freak-girl' in. She fled to the sewers, where she met her new family, who not only loved her and accepted her, but taught her what she was. Now, maybe, she had the chance to help repay the favour.
"Hi," she said, coming over to the girl. "I'm Tommy. Who are you?"
"Lorna," the girl sniffed. "Lorna Dane."
"Hello Lorna. Welcome to the sewers."
"You live here too?"
"Oh, yeah. And I'm not the only one. Lots of people like us are living here."
"Hold on," Lorna said, suddenly rising. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not some kind of-"
"Mutant?" Tommy asked, smiling. "Yes, you are. I saw what you did with the manhole cover. And let me guess- you're parents kicked you out when they found out, didn't they?"
"Yeah," Lorna sniffed. "My dad- my real dad- he died when I was a baby. My mom got married to a real jerk. She died a few years ago, so it's just me and my step-dad. And when he found out, he went nuts! He- he kicked me out, a-and we only just moved to Bayville, and I don't have any other family, and I'm all alone!" Lorna started crying again, and Tommy hugged her. Tommy had heard this story a hundred times already. Only the minor details changed, but the theme and plot were the same. Mutant develops powers. Mutant is discovered. Mutant is exiled from home. Mutant winds up in the sewers. Mutant lives happily ever after with the Morlocks. Not many of the Morlocks would be happy about this- they were the ones that couldn't fit in topside, and wanted it to stay that way, but Tommy thought that was ridiculous. Some of the Morlocks looked completely human- Callisto did, and Annalee, Piper, Sunder, Healer, Ray back when he was with them, and others could pass if you managed to hide a feature or two. Masque was one of the ringleaders of the 'Morlocks only' faction, and he was an important Morlock, but he wasn't the one who made those decisions. That was Callisto, and she had never turned anybody away. Never.
"Come on," Tommy said soothingly. "There are friends just waiting to meet you." Lorna didn't respond. She just kept crying. "Let it out, Lorna," Tommy said, "just let it all out." She decided to try a different tactic. "Say, that's a really nice necklace you have there." Lorna stopped crying.
"It- it belonged to my mom," Lorna sniffed, and raised her neck so that Tommy could see it better. It was more of a choker than anything else, and it had the picture of a woman's face on it. It wasn't a nice woman, not at all. The woman was smiling cruelly, and her eyes had an insane light in them.
"I know," Lorna sniffed before Tommy could say anything. "I know that woman looks horrible, but mom said it was an heirloom, and it's all I've got that's hers. Where did you say these friends are?"
"Just through those tunnels over there," Tommy pointed. "It's not far. Our home- we call it the Alley- isn't hard to find if you know what you're looking for."
"That's all I needed to hear," Lorna said in a very different tone of voice, a split-second before someone knocked Tommy down to the ground from behind. She heard the twisting of metal, and felt something metallic bind her feet and arms and wrap around her mouth. She tried to thin herself, but she couldn't! Her powers were gone!
"How long, Scrambler?" Lorna asked, in that same horrible tone of voice.
"An hour, Polaris," was the man's response.
"An hour? It won't take me that long," Lorna- Polaris- laughed, and Tommy heard footsteps move away. "Go on- I'll catch up."
Suddenly Tommy was jerked to her feet. She was floating a foot off of the ground. Lorna's face stared back up at her.
"You know," Lorna said conversationally, "when I heard the plan, I couldn't believe it. 'The sound of crying will attract the target,' the boss said. But, as always, he was right. See, he knew that you had to lead us right to the rest of you weaklings, and you had to do it without letting them know that we're coming. The Eloi, though- they were an unexpected bonus. We didn't know that there was a way to get to them that their precious Outriders didn't know about. For that, I won't take as long as I usually do."
Tommy closed her eyes. Tears began to leak out of them. She thought she was safe. She was home- she should have been safe!
Lorna raised Tommy directly above her, caused more bands of metal to float around her prisoner, and began to laugh maniacally. Tommy realized that it was Lorna's laughter that followed her during her flight.
Pain wracked Tommy's world, and then blessedly, it dissolved. But before she fell into the abyss, she heard Lorna's voice.
"Don't worry- you won't be alone for long. I promise you that."
The last thing Tommy saw was Lorna's necklace. The picture of the woman had changed expression. The woman was now laughing insanely.
***
Topside, in a secluded alley, Lorna rejoined her team.
Scrambler's eyes widened as he saw his youngest team-mate stride towards the rest of the team. Polaris was covered head to toe in blood.
"Christ," their tall and muscled guest whistled in admiration. "You really are one sick frail, ain't ya?"
"You noticed, did you, Sabretooth?" a female voice grumbled. Petite Vertigo liked the chase. She liked to hurt people- they all did. And she definitely enjoyed the kill- the more painful, the better. She didn't like getting dirty. She definitely didn't like Mal… Polaris.
"Well?" a tall, lean man demanded. Scalphunter was the field commander of their little outfit. He liked his authority, and didn't like having to go through a middle-man to get the boss' orders. "Did the order come in?"
"Change of plans," Polaris replied evenly. Scalphunter may have been in charge, but she was the one that talked to the boss. "He wants us to warm up first."
"Nice," Riptide, medium-sized and skinny, grinned. "I usually like to save the best for last, but right now I've got this craving for diced hippy."
"Some best," the tall and incredibly muscled Blockbuster snapped. "Six warriors and a pack of sheep."
"Flock of sheep, you cretin," Riptide snarled.
"Whatever! I wanna fight, not stomp people that ain't fightin' back. That's no fun. Besides- we're right here!"
"Oh I don't know," Prism drawled- an odd sound coming from his crystalline body. "The sound of confused people screaming in pain and horror is very… addictive."
"All fall in the hunt, weak and strong alike," the short, muscular Harpoon added. "It is the way of things that the weak fall first."
"And besides, this way the best really is saved for last," Arclight, a tall and powerful woman, added consolingly. "And maybe if we're lucky, some of 'em will put up a fight."
"Yeah, yeah," Blockbuster grumbled, giving in to his master's will.
"Well then, ladies, gentlemen, it's time to go," Lorna smiled. "So many hippies to kill, so little time."
"You should shower first, Polaris," Harpoon told her. "Any mutants with enhanced senses will smell you coming a mile away."
"Why Harp," she said, hurt, "can't you tell?" She stood in the light so that the blood could be more even more clearly seen. "I just took a shower."
Arclight, Blockbuster, Prism, and Riptide burst out laughing, Vertigo sniffed, and Scrambler began to snicker. The gang headed back to their transport. Sabretooth and Scalphunter hung back.
"All I can say is- this hunt better be worth it," Sabretooth grumbled. "I ain't had a vacation in years, and I ain't likely to get another one anytime soon."
Scalphunter grinned and clapped his friend on the back. "Have I ever let you down? By the time we're done, you'll be just as bloody as the little princess up there."
***
The Morlocks found Tommy later that morning. She had been torn to pieces. Many of the Morlocks cried. Several vowed vengeance on the marauders that killed their friend. Little did they know that they'd have their chance soon enough.
Well, that's the prologue. What do you think? Like it, love it, hate it- just don't flame me, please. Everything I did, I did for a reason. What's up with Polaris? Why is she a murderous bitca? Long-time X-Readers might remember, but for the rest of you- read and find out! Next up: One X-Man, two Joes, and the Far East. Put them all together, and what do you get? Find out, next time on "The Mutant Massacre": Chapter One: (Obligatory) Connections to Times Past!