RougeFanKC: After this chapter, I get the feeling we'll be finding out. As for the character, check out the web site I have in my profile, and look for "Tetsukaeru". You'll understand.
Red Witch: More trouble ahead, I'm afraid.
I dislike it greatly when people kill a character, then bring them back to life. I feel that if a character dies, they should have the decency to stay dead. But what defines death?
Chapter 10: Death of a Misfit
As wounded Cobra troopers moaned in agony around them, the other Misfits could only look on in shock as Althea raced over to Todd.
He had crumpled like a limp rag doll, and now she sat, holding his head up in her arms, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Lifeline!" she screamed. "LIFELINE!"
The medic came out. He paled as he saw the situation. Curtly, he ordered some Joes to help him move the wounded boy inside for immediate treatment. Bazooka and Lady Jaye picked up his small form and carried him carefully into the small hospital.
Althea was held outside. She started screaming his name.
"Todd! TODD!"
Wanda reached out to her, and gently pulled her in, wrapping her arms around her comfortingly. Althea clung to her friend, huge sobs causing her whole body to shudder violently.
Fred's cheeks were wet with tears, streaks of pink running through the grime that had collected on his face during the battle. Lance stood silently, quivering, mind carefully blanked, knowing what would happen if he allowed himself to be overcome by the feelings sweeping turbulently through him. Xi also stood silent, his grief plainly etched across his face for all to see, for all to fear, for his eyes were filled with rage and hatred for those who had hurt his friend. Even Pietro was subdued, standing off to the side without a word.
The X-Men were shellshocked. Most of them didn't really like Todd, but none of them honestly wanted him to die. Kurt seemed to be taking it worst of the group, since he had been the one teleporting Todd around, keeping him out of danger for the most part. His blue face was as pale as it had ever been.
Scott walked over to Lance. Silently, he rested a hand on his enemy's shoulder. Lance nodded to him, but said nothing. Jean stood next to the weeping Althea and Wanda, unsure of what to do. Gambit and Rogue held each other close, Remy wincing slightly under her tight grasp, but not saying a word of complaint. Xavier sat with his head bowed, Logan still next to him.
Lifeline returned. "How is he?" demanded Lance.
Lifeline shook his head. "Not good," he told the gathered group. "He's lost a lot of blood, and the bullet is lodged in next to his heart. Even I can't work a miracle."
Althea screamed then, long, wordlessly, full of pain and rage and fear, and no one around could bring themself to look at her. Wanda rocked her back and forth like a child, trying to whisper comfortingly through her own many tears.
"Perfect!" laughed Lord Zartan, watching them secretly. "They are ripe for phase two!"
He switched on a comm link. "Send in Group Beta!" he ordered.
"Yes, sir," came the reply. "Group Beta deployed."
"Excellent," laughed Lord Zartan, switching off the link. "This never happened in my time. With the Joes, Cobra, and X-Men all wiped out together, there will be no one left who can oppose me! I shall rule all!"
As his laughter echoed throughout their hidden base, Zanya shivered to herself. She could hear a distinct tone of madness she had never heard before.
"What the-?" shouted Quake, as bullets suddenly began to whine through the air around them once more. "What's going on?"
"We're under attack!" came the reply. "They followed us somehow!"
"Joes!" roared Hawk, standing out with them. "Defend this base!" The Joes leapt to their defensive positions.
"Cobra!" screamed Cobra Commander. "Defend the Joes!" He paused. "Did I really just say that?" he wondered to himself.
The enemy swarmed into the compound, opening heavy fire on the battered group inside. The Joes and Cobra returned fire.
Althea blinked. She looked around her. Greenshirts and Cobras were dying side by side. Her eyes narrowed. A rumbling could be heard.
"What-?" wondered one of the attackers.
Like an apocalyptic flood from Biblical times, a huge wall of water rushed at the Pit. Gathered from all sources within a hundred miles, it came, at hundreds of miles an hour, millions of gallons, all under the command of a furious Wavedancer.
"DIIIEEEEE!" she screamed, and the huge wall of water surrounded the attackers. Great spikes of it shot into the air, destroying approaching helicopters. Men tried to run, but were quickly caught, their air cut off by the surrounding liquid. Before the horrified eyes of everyone watching, hundreds of men drowned only a few feet from air, their eyes bulging, wide, terrified, as they suffocated, their lungs filling with water.
"You have to stop!" yelled Roadblock, but Althea couldn't hear, the roar of the water no louder than the roar she could hear in her ears.
There was only one way they could stop her. Rogue moved up behind her, took off a glove, extended her hand, grabbed Althea by the back of the neck. Both gasped, Althea releasing control of the water, causing it to rush everyone, sweeping friend and foe alike off their feet. She collapsed, unconscious.
Rogue gasped for breath, her eyes wide from the horror of the thoughts running through her mind. She screamed in pain, and Xavier turned off her consciousness, releasing her into blessed darkness.
"No!" screamed Lord Zartan. "No! No! No! No! No!"
He raged around his command room. "This is impossible! She doesn't have that much power! Nobody has that much power! I am Lord Zartan! I cannot be defeated!"
"I'm sorry," said Zanya.
He whirled, and glared at her. "For what?" he hissed.
"For this," said Zanya, and she shot him between the eyes. With a very surprised look on his face, he collapsed to the ground, and rolled onto his side. Blood was already dripping down his forehead, a small amount. The rest was pouring out the back of his head, matting his hair, staining the ground crimson.
Althea regained consciousness. The first thing she saw was Lifeline, watching her with concern.
"Todd?" she asked.
He lowered his head. "Even I can't work miracles," he said quietly.
She was numb, and couldn't say or think anything as he prepared a needle, and gave her a sedative. As she slipped back to blackness, only one word ran through her mind. "Todd..."
Next time: With the apparent death of one of their number, the Misfits learn some disquieting truths about one another, and about the adults that lead them. But life goes on, as Lance and Piotr are sent on a joint mission to Washington to try once again to get the President's help. What will happen? Tune in again, for chapter eleven of Misfits In Time!