c-wolf: Thank you.

I apologize for the horrible pun that is this chapter title. Blame Xanth. It's not at fault, but blame it anyway.

Chapter 8: Tempus Fugitive

"Arrggh!" growled Lord Zartan. "Those nincompoops may have delayed me, but they will not be able to stand against me! Even with those three incompetents helping them, I will prevail!"

"Yeah, yeah," yawned Zanya, studying her nails for a moment before bringing the file back up to them. "Horrible vengeance, yada yada yada. Have you ever shut up in twenty years?"

Lord Zartan glared at her. "Foolish whelp," he hissed. "Give me one reason I should not dispose of you now."

Zanya looked at him with an extremely bored expression on her face. "Because you need me to help out with stuff you've forgotten."

"More's the pity," muttered Lord Zartan, glaring at her.

The Cobras and Joes had retired to a conference room to discuss strategy. The Cobras sat on one end of the table, and the Joes sat on the other. Each group was glaring hatefully at the other.

"Where is the Baroness?" snapped Destro.

"Last I saw, she was trying to seduce the X-Man called Colossus," snickered Mindbender.

"Cradle-robbing whore," muttered Destro.

"Enough!" snapped Cobra Commander. "We still need to figure out what to do."

"That's right," said Roadblock. "Zartan we all must fight. He's a threat to everyone. If he comes back, it won't be fun."

"When he comes back," Block told his younger self. "He's bound to attack."

"Okay," Cobra Commander snapped. "Am I the only one being freaked out by these two?"

"No," chorused the Cobras, and, surprisingly, several of the Joes.

"Look," said Low Light. "I hate you all. But this moron needs to be stopped. We need to figure out what to do."

"Wait," Cover Girl suddenly held up a hand. "I just thought of something. Where are the kids?"

Everyone was suddenly very, very nervous looking.

Meanwhile, the Misfits had rediscovered the joys of tormenting Cobra Troopers.

"Yeeearggh!"

"The sinks! The sinks are attacking!"

"Who painted me purple?"

"Oww! Who keeps giving me wedgies!"

"My eyes! I can't see!"

"Holy cow! I can walk again!"

"What?"

"It seemed like the thing to say."

"Purple! Purple! I HATE purple!"

"Water bad! Water very bad!"

"Slime bad!"

"Water and slime bad!"

"Yeah!"

"Where are these earthquakes coming from?"

"Gaahhh! It's Eleven!"

"Who ate all the food?"

"Who drank all our beer?"

"Watch out for that-!"

"OOWWW!"

"I tried to warn you!"

"Get him off me! Get him off me!"

"The pain!"

"The water!"

"The slime!"

The Misfits surveyed their handiwork. "Good job, team," Althea complimented them.

At the same time, the X-Gee... er X-Men were trying to save Piotr from a fate worse than death.

"Come, my Russian love muffin," cooed the Baroness. "Let us make beautiful music beneath the silvery stars."

"Thank you, but no thank you," stammered the metal behemoth.

"Come," coaxed the Baroness. "Don't worry about such considerations as age and alliance."

"It's like a train wreck," commented Kurt. "You want to look away, but you just can't."

"Ten bucks says she gets him," grinned Rogue.

"You're on," Jean told her.

"Jean!" Scott was surprised.

"What?" she told him. "It's an easy ten bucks."

Kurt grinned. "Fifteen says she tries and he goes metal," he told the group.

"Remy take that bet," smirked Gambit.

"Take me to a Russian Wonderland," cooed the Baroness.

Piotr tried to back away from her, but she kept advancing.

"Fine," sighed Scott. "Twenty that he avoids her without going metal."

"You're on!" chorused the others.

They settled back to watch the fun.

"So we're all agreed?" asked Xavier, looking at the two sides.

"Yes," sighed Roadblock.

"Very well," muttered Cobra Commander.

"Then it's an alliance," concluded Xavier. "And it just might work."

The aide chose that moment to run in. "Cobra Commander!" he gasped.

"What is it?" snapped Cobra Commander, in a foul mood from the necessary alliance.

"We just found out that the infiltrator sent out a number of communications before your return," the aide told him. "He used all your Congressional connections! They're going to pass the Bill!"

"What bill?" asked Xavier, dreading the answer he knew was coming.

The aide told him. "The Mutant Registration Bill!"

Next time: Things take a serious turn, as our heroes must try to stop the Bill from passing. They know that if they fail, it will mean... WAR! Tune in again, for chapter nine of Misfits In Time!