Rising Starrs!

To Sparky Genocide: Hey there, man. How are you doing, dude? Cobra Commander on vacation? Gets marooned? Cursing the travel company? Hey there, you just may have something cool going there. I like that! I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

To Red Witch: Oh yeah, it'll be good. I've never read the miniseries, so I have no idea what's going on with that. Anyway, I hope you like the new chapter!

To soulstress: Well, it's how Althea thinks of her boyfriend. Keep in mind, even though Althea is technically one of the saner members of the Misfits, she's nuts as well. And besides, Althea adores Todd, so you really can't blame her for thinking that way about everyone's favorite amphibian-boy. Don't ask me soulstress, I just write the stuff. And they were my sister's. Yeah, the villains never do run out of crazy diabolical schemes, do they? Oh well. If they didn't think up evil schemes, there'd be no heroes to stop them from carrying out those plans and to prevent those plans from becoming successful.

To Raliena: Hey Rae! I'm glad you liked my advice. I'm also glad it helped. Here's the new chapter for you! Enjoy! Here we go here we go here we go!

Disclaimer: "Yoda is one kooky puppet. He looks like mix of the Hulk and an old dwarf crackhead!" - Kyle "Thunderbolt" Wildfire on Yoda.

Chapter 4: Origins Revealed!

The beach

"This is some serious stuff." Recondo said to the Starr brothers.

"We barely got out of there alive, pal." Craig spat. "Those Viper clowns are madmen." While Craig was talking to the three Joes, Paul was talking with Lance.

"You play guitar, too? Awesome!" Paul grinned. "So do I! Where'd you learn?"

"I learned by listening to Aerosmith and Van Halen." Lance shrugged. "How about you? You had lessons."

"Me? No. I learned by listening to Kiss." Paul grinned. "They're my favorite band. Craig is a bass player. He learned the same way I did: He listened to music."

"Yeah, too bad we have no drummer, otherwise we'd have a band going." Lance sighed. "It's a bit of a dream of mine, to be in a band."

"Mine too. I want to be on that stage, singing my heart out and playing my guitar, to the delight of millions." Paul smiled. "It's good to have a dream."

"Yeah. Hey what's that?" Lance noticed something stick out of Paul's pocket.

"Oh, this?" Paul pulled out a picture. "It's of me at eight." Paul handed Lance the picture. Lance examined it.

Hmm…the blond kid in the picture looks a little familiar…Lance said. "Hey Paul, who are the kids in there with you?"

"The blond guy is my friend John. He was from Australia. The girl is named Jennifer. Her dad was a sheriff right here in LA." Paul laughed. "The three of us had all sorts of misadventures together and things. John was always a little cracked in the head. Jenny was a real nice girl, although she lived in a strict household. Her father hated me and John." Paul then sighed sadly. "I haven't seen either of them in a long time." Lance was listening, but his mind was going crazy with a train of thought.

It can't be! It just can't be! Lance's mind screamed. No way! There's no freaking way could this guy have grown up a friend of that lunatic! There's just no way possible! Nah. It can't be. But what if it is true? …Nahhhhhh. No way. This guy would be an Acolyte right now if that was true. It's a weird bunch of coincidences.

"How'd you end up living in an abandoned movie studio?" Lance asked.

"Well, it's quite a story. As babies, Craig and I were abandoned and separated. You see, I was adopted as a baby by this rich family living here in LA. I lived a life of celebrities and champagne, if you will." Paul started to tell his story.

"Wow." Lance's eyes widened.

"My dad was a successful toy company executive and my mom did a little acting work. However, they were killed by gang members. They were members of a gang that were rivals with a gang that my brother Craig was a member of. A week later, my powers emerged. Some unscrupulous people in my dad's company used legal means, and I was screwed out of my inheritance and put out on the street."

"Sheesh. That's harsh."

"Yeah. But luckily, my mutant gene gives me a telepathic link with Craig. It allows us to track each other and communicate with each other telepathically. Using it, I was able to find Craig and he let me live with him in this abandoned movie studio he found."

Under protest. Craig grumbled telepathically.

"We lived there for a while, until those Vipers caught us and trashed the place." Paul sighed. "We barely managed to escape and you know the rest."

"What about Craig?" Lance asked.

"Well…Poor Craig's had it rough. He grew up in a broken home, and it made him very bitter. He got into fights all the time at school, and he broke the law a lot. At age 12, he left home and joined a gang. His powers emerged the same time mine did. We both felt a strange urge to find each other. And that's what we did."

"Wow." Lance said. "But what of your friends Jennifer and John? Surely they…"

"I lived with Jenny's family for a while, until my powers emerged. And John…disappeared." Paul replied.

"Ah." Lance said. He noticed Paul had paused before saying John had disappeared, as if there was something more, but he couldn't say. Lance decided to let it drop.

"Hey guys." Althea said. "Hey Paul, can I tell you something?"

"Yeah."

"I think your brother has gotten the attention of my friend Wanda over there if you know what I mean." Althea smirked. Paul chuckled.

"I sensed it from Craig. He's spellbound by her, although he wouldn't admit it." Paul grinned. Althea burst out laughing, confusing Paul. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just you said the word 'spellbound' in reference to Wanda." Althea laughed. "We call her the Scarlet Witch because she wears red all the time and sher mutant powers allow her to mess with probability."

"That's a weird power." Paul blinked. Wanda walked up.

"Not really. Sometimes, it's a pretty cool power. Watch." Wanda pointed at a screaming Pietro running up and down the beach. Wanda waved her hand and suddenly, a tidal wave rose up and doused Pietro.

"AAAGH!!! HEY!!! WANDA!!!" Pietro screamed. Wanda laughed happily.

"Oh man, I never get tired of that!" Wanda laughed. "I love being a hexcaster!"

A desert island in the middle of nowhere.

"&$#!! &$#!!! &$#!!!" Cobra Commander screamed, jumping up and down. He was clad in his regular blue helmet, a Hawaiian shirt, and shorts. "I am going to KILL my travel agent! I hate him!"

Well, looks like we learned more about our two new friends! What insanity will happen next? What more will we learn about the Starrs? What is Cobra up to? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!