Chapter 16: Enemy Within
"Come on," said one. "We need to get there before it's too late."
"How do we know he's here?" asked another.
"We have to hope we're lucky," said a third.
The fourth remained silent, reserving comment till it was necessary.
"Can't catch me!" laughed Todd, hopping up to the ceiling of the cafeteria and running along it upside down. Below him, Xi and Althea were laughing and chasing him. Xi leapt, and used his claws to dig into the ceiling, pushing himself along at an unbelievable rate.
Hank and Roadblock were watching from a table at the other end of the room.
"I can't believe Toad is so powerful," Hank shook his head, amazed. "He's always been so... well..."
"Crazy?" suggested Roadblock with a smile. "Speaking of crazy, what's this I hear about a kiss?"
Hank's face turned slightly purple, the red of a blush running under his blue fur.
"Nothing," he muttered.
"Look at me," Roadblock told him. "I love Wanda like a daughter, but she's old enough to know her own mind. I know it looks like you're in a bind. But there's no ethical problem involved, and I'd like to see this situation resolved."
Todd shrieked with laughter. An invisible Xi had tackled him down from the ceiling, and the three kids were rolling and laughing across the floor.
"Are we almost there?" asked the second.
"It should be getting close," said the first.
"I remember it being closer than this," said the third. "What about you, Komodo?"
The fourth shook his head, remaining silent.
"Fine," said the first. "Komodo, you and Blaster scout ahead. I'll bring up the rear with Slice."
"I wish you'd stop calling me that, Piranha," muttered Slice. "I liked my old name better."
"We all had to change after the war," said Piranha. "Believe me, I didn't like it any better than you."
"C'mon, Ko'!" exclaimed Blaster. "Let's get going!"
The two bounded ahead, leaving the other pair behind.
The group was assembled once more. For the sake of clarification, they were:
For the Misfits: Althea, Todd, Lance, Fred, Pietro, Wanda, Xi, and Arcade.
Their handlers: Roadblock, Low Light, Cover Girl, and Shipwreck.
The time travelers: Block, Quake, and XI.
The other Joes: Hawk, Flint, Duke, Lady Jaye, Scarlet, Jinx, Lifeline, Bazooka, and Bree.
The X-Men: Xavier (who was now sober), Logan, Hank, Scott, Jean, Kurt, Piotr, Kitty, Rogue, and Remy.
The Cobras: Cobra Commander, Destro, the Baroness, Xamot, and Tomax.
"What's up?" asked Todd.
"There's still the small matter of stopping the civil war to attend to," said Hawk, looking at them all. "I realize a lot of us don't like each other, but we have to work together on this."
"Yeah," Destro muttered. "So what's that mean?"
"It means," glared Hawk, "that we need to pool our combined resources to keep Congress from voting. The President refuses to help without evidence that someone is pulling the strings, so I've decided to go over his head."
"Who could be over the President's head?" asked Hank.
Surprisingly, it was Logan who answered. "The Jugglers."
"Precisely," nodded Hawk. "I've been in contact, and the situation is under consideration."
"Consider this," came a voice from behind the group. As they turned, there was a collective gasp.
"I hope we're not too late to join the party," grinned Piranha.
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"Althea?" gasped Todd, looking between his girlfriend and the interloper.
"I haven't been called that in years," grinned Piranha. "Not since you lost the ability to speak."
As she spoke, the other three dropped down beside her. They were dressed identically in sleek black special ops armored outfits.
"Allow me to reintroduce Slice, Blaster, and Komodo," Piranha told the group airily.
"It's Wolverine, Boom Boom, and Toad!" gasped Scott.
"Quick, ain't he?" grinned Slice.
Komodo leapt into the air. Leathery wings spread out behind him, and he flew swiftly to where Todd was standing, mouth open in amazement.
"What's going on?" demanded Hawk.
"We've come to stop the traitor from preventing you from stopping the war," growled Slice. "Give it to us."
"It?" asked Hank. Realization dawned, even as XI grabbed Lance and held a claw under his chin.
"You'll never take me alive!" he snarled.
"Fine with us," shrugged Piranha. "Get him, Komodo!"
Even as XI started to whirl toward Komodo, the silent warrior reared up and grew. Flames rushed out of his mouth, as his body distended beyond recognition. The transformation took only a moment, and when it was done, Komodo resembled nothing less than a huge, black, deadly dragon. He roared, and spat huge globs of black spit at XI. It was all the engineered mutant could do to avoid the spit, and in dodging it, he released Lance, who immediately rolled out of the way. When the spit landed, it burst into flame, eating away at the ground and part of a nearby building.
"Cool," blinked Todd.
XI snarled, and tried to leap at Komodo, but the huge dragon swatted him to the ground and held him there, where he lay, twitching, struggling to free himself.
"What's going on?" demanded Block. "We thought you were dead! That's what intelligence said!"
"The reports of our death were wishful thinking," grinned Blaster.
"The reptile here sold us out," growled Slice. "We were caught in an ambush. The only reason the three of us made it was because Komodo here decided he'd had enough and blew up."
"He can do that?" asked Fred, wide-eyed.
"Looks like it," grinned Piranha.
"But he was our friend!" protested Quake.
"So was the Professor," growled Slice.
"What about the Professor?" asked Xavier.
"We should tell him, to keep it from happening," said Blaster.
"Fine," sighed Piranha. She turned to Xavier. "In about an hour, Magneto is going to come and tell you that the President has had everyone at your mansion executed. In our reality, you snap, and force old One-Eye, Red, and Blue Boy to assassinate him. They all die, which is the final straw that makes you join Magneto and wage war on humanity. In about ten years, you're both captured and executed."
"What?" exclaimed Xavier, aghast. "I could never do that!"
"Apparently you don't know yourself as well as you think," Block told him.
Xavier whirled on him in a rage. "Why didn't you tell me before?" he demanded.
Block shrugged. "We were hoping it wouldn't go this far."
"Well, obviously it did!" snapped Xavier.
"But everyone at the mansion is alive and well," concluded Piranha. "Trust us. We were on the mission together. Magneto is lying."
"Soon, all will come to pass exactly as I have planned," said Zartan. "And I shall rule the country, and then the world!" He laughed menacingly.
And in the sky, rapidly approaching the Pit, flew a single silvery orb, drawing nearer with each passing moment.
Next time: The arrival of... Magneto! And the fate of XI. With only four chapters left, how will this story end? Tune in next time, for chapter seventeen of Misfits In Time!