Rising Starrs!

To Raliena: Hey Rae! Yeah, Ol' Cobra Commander always ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm very glad that you like the story so far, and I really do hope you like this here brand-new chapter!

To Sparky Genocide: Hey there Sparky! I thought that Cobra Commander getting marooned would make a nice funny semi-subplot. Hmm…Craig dreaming about Wanda in her swimsuit and Paul stumbling in on it, huh? Yeah, I can imagine that happening. I like your ideas of Cobra Commander torture. I'll see what I can do. I hope you like this new chapter!

To Red Witch: Hey there, Red Witch! Yeah, you gotta love Cobra Commander torture. Anyway, I've been keeping up with the new chapters of "This Soap Opera called Life" and I do believe Creed hates mutants out of jealousy, not bigotry. I'd be mad and bitter too if all my family got superpowers and I didn't! Anyway, I'm glad you liked the last chapter as well as this story so far. I hope you like this new one!

To soulstress: Yeah, that's their background. The brothers are practically complete opposites, yet their mutant powers give them a special bond. Oh yeah, Paul and John will end up reunited very soon. Maybe they will start a band. Who knows? What is Cobra up to? You can bet everything in Pietro's closet that it's not going to be good. The word diabolical is funny when you think about it. Why are desert islands always in the middle of nowhere? I don't really know. They just are, I guess. Weird. Very weird indeed. I can imagine the Misfits doing a little matchmaking down the line. Oh yeah, I loved the new chapter of "Tempest". I was very touched you dedicated it to me. It was very nice of you, and thanks. It was a real funny chapter, ha ha! I hope you like this new one!

Disclaimer: "DUNCAN MATTHEWS IS IN LOVE WITH SCOTT SUMMERS?" - Lance Alvers, from soulstress's fic "Tempest".

Author's Note: This chapter is for soulstress. She gives out some funny reviews. This is inspired a little bit by a suggestion she gave me.

Chapter 5: The Witch and the Thug

The beach

Craig scowled as he saw Paul and the Misfits chat. He snorted and stomped off. Wanda noticed and walked after him.

"Hey! Hey!" Wanda caught up with Craig. "Where are you going?"

"Away from that lovefest." Craig grumbled.

"Cobra could still be after you." Wanda said. "Maybe you should stick around."

"I'm not afraid of some snake-worshipping clowns!" Craig snapped.

"Good for you." Wanda mocked. "Do you have any idea who Cobra are?"

"Don't know, don't care, don't matter." Craig replied. "But you're going to tell me anyway."

"Yeah." Wanda nodded. "Cobra is a terrorist organization. They're an evil group out to rule the world."

"So are the Crips and the Bloods." Craig let out his equivalent of a joke. Wanda blinked in confusion. "It's an L.A. thing. You have to have grown up in L.A. to understand."

"Ah." Wanda nodded. "Cobra is more than just a street gang. Sure, their top brass are a bunch of insane morons, but they're still dangerous."

"I fear nothing, Witch woman." Craig growled.

"What about your brother? Aren't you afraid for him?"

"You should talk. You smack your brother around all the time based on what I heard from the others." Craig retorted cockily. Wanda thought about what Craig had just said.

"You do have a point…" Wanda admitted. "But that doesn't mean I don't worry about the big screwball."

"I…suppose." Craig shrugged. "Why are you following me?"

"Well, someone has to watch your back in case Cobra tries to re-capture you." Wanda responded.

"I don't need anyone to watch my back. I've survived on these streets since I was twelve." Craig said. "I've run with a gang, I've done lots of things. I've stolen, I've scraped, and I've lived in boxes. I hated it, but I accepted it. As far as I was concerned, it was a heck of a lot better than living at home."

"What do you mean?"

"I grew up with jerks for parents. My old man thought of me and the old lady as the living embodiment of all the frustration he ever suffered in his life. The old lady…she was a dumb old broad. Half the time, she thought I was a potted plant or something. She made a dinosaur look like Einstein. She did teach me one good lesson though…"

"What?" Wanda asked. Craig looked at the LA skyscrapers.

"Never hit a woman." Craig answered. "My old man used her as a punching bag. When he wasn't using me or was in the mood. He'd hit me for no reason, or as he was fond of saying: 'My reasons, boy, and you don't need to know'. When I was 12, I got sick of it, beat the old man ten ways to Sunday, packed my stuff, then got the heck out of there. I've been living like that ever since. I did get quarters living with a street gang for a few months, but I grew bored and left."

"Not much better than how I lived." Wanda sighed. "I spent many years in an asylum. You thought your old man was bad? Mine's the genetic terrorist Magneto."

"I've heard around. Some local mutants have joined his 'cause'." Craig scowled. "The man's a joke. No offense."

"No, I agree. He claims to want to help mutants, but he really is a madman. He's experimented on his own people. I should know. Thanks to his experimentation, I end up with a big dysfunctional family. I have a half-brother who looks like a blue demon, and a Southern half-sister who can't touch anybody. It is a real pain."

"I guess having a brother who half the time has no idea what's going on and spends the other half of the time with his head in the clouds isn't so bad." Craig admitted. "Whenever we lived in that studio, Paul would always talk."

"About what?" Wanda asked.

"Getting a real home. He said someday, we'd get a real home and a real family." Craig scoffed. "As if that will ever happen. I'm no fool. I know that not every cloud has a silver lining, despite what my ever-happy brother thinks."

"I thought the same thing you did Craig." Wanda nodded. "Until I was brought into the Misfits. Back when I was brought in, we were the Brotherhood of Mutants, working under Magneto. It was me, Toad, Avalanche, Blob, and Quicksilver." Wanda smiled as she remembered some of the old Brotherhood antics. "We were crazy, always screwing up. Pietro was loyal to Magneto. We slowly began to see him for what he really was: a madman." Wanda explained how the Brotherhood became the Misfits.

"So you found yourself family." Craig noted. Wanda nodded.

"Yeah." Wanda smiled. "The Joes didn't think of us as monsters. They saw us for what we were: Shattered, scared kids." She looked up at Craig. What is going on here? What is it about this guy? I look at him and I feel…weird. When I see his eyes, they show he's been through so much. It's…it's…I think I need to talk to Cover Girl. As the two walked, a Cobra peeked out from under the sand of the beach. He produced a walkie-talkie.

"Viper to base. I've found one of the escaped mutants."

"Alright. Follow and wait for further instructions." Dr. Mindbender's voice came from the device.

Uh oh! Looks like Craig and Wanda are in trouble! What will happen next? Will Cobra catch Craig? Will the Misfits be able to save the day? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!