Say Hello To Mister Lizard

"All right Misfits! Let's settle down," Roadblock ordered. "We have a mission from the top brass. So settle down and show some class." The Misfits were in their briefing room preparing for a mission.

Hawk and Eddington walked in. "Oh great," Pietro whispered. "Our personal ray of sunshine has arrived."

"All right listen up," Hawk nodded to Roadblock who began handing out folders to the Misfits. "These folders contain all the information you need for your next mission. It's a big one so pay attention. General Eddington has personally come here to debrief us. General."

Eddington nodded. "For a long time we've had our top scientists in the country working on ways to solve the energy crisis. This time we may actually have something." An image came up on the screen of a man with brown hair, glasses and a beard. "This is Dr. James Power. Current residence, Bainbridge Island ten miles south of Seattle, Washington."

"Dr. Power is also the man who pioneered the Broadcast Energy Transmitter back several years ago," Hawk told him. (From GI Joe The Movie) "This device is a serious upgrade on that."

"Dr. Power sought a new means of deriving large quantities of energy inexpensively for peaceful purposes. He discovered a method of converting matter to antimatter without large expenditures of energy," Eddington told them.

"Huh?" Todd scratched his head.

"It could open a small portal into another universe, which had different scientific laws than our own," Eddington said. "The machine could then project a small amount of matter, held within a magnetic force field, into the other universe, where, through unknown processes, the charge and spin of the matter's atoms would be changed, causing the matter to become antimatter. The machine would then withdraw the antimatter back into our own universe, and remove the magnetic held, allowing the antimatter to contact matter under controlled conditions. Matter and antimatter annihilate each other upon contact, each being entirely converted into vast amounts of energy. Dr. Power called his machine, which was built under a government grant, a matter/antimatter converter."

"Huh?" Todd blinked.

"It makes energy by taking stuff out of another dimension and bringing it to this one," Althea explained.

"Oh," Todd nodded. "That makes sense."

"In other words this device has unlimited potential," Roadblock said. "It makes the B.E.T look like a simple battery."

"About a year ago the first prototype was destroyed along with its blueprints in a mysterious series of events," Eddington told them. "We want to prevent a repeat of that. So part of your assignment is to protect the Matter Antimatter Converter or the MAC."

"Part of our assignment?" Pietro asked.

"What's the second part?" Angelica asked.

"To try and find out who was responsible for the first MAC being destroyed," Eddington said.

"Are there any leads?" Althea asked.

"Well…" Eddington looked a bit doubtful. "There is a source that claims the culprits are Dr. Powers' own children."

"What?" Althea asked. "How?"

"There is a rumor going around that they are mutants and used their powers to destroy the prototype," Eddington said.

"Who would come up with such a cockamamie story like that?" Low Light asked.

"Colonel Douglas Carmody," Eddington coughed. "He was the officer in charge of the original project."

"You mean Coco Puffs Carmody?" Hawk looked at him.

"Coco Puffs Carmody?" Lance asked. "Why is he called that?"

"Because the man is cuckoo," Hawk groaned. "Absolutely cuckoo!"

"I admit the Colonel is a bit…" Eddington sighed. "High strung."

"High strung?" Hawk yelled. "The man had to be sedated by his own troops!"

"He was under a lot of pressure at the time," Eddington looked uncomfortable.

"He blew up half of his own base and took a tank downtown," Hawk stared at him. "Then he proceeded right up to the steps of an elementary school and started screaming at the top of his lungs about how kids were helping lizards from outer space take over the planet!"

"Man that guy sounds like a freak!" Todd laughed. "And that's me talking!"

"He then proceeded to run though the school shooting out silly string at the kids shouting, 'Where's the white horse? Tell me where the talking horse is!' It took twelve men to capture and sedate him!"

"All right! The man is a lunatic! He makes the Misfits look normal! Happy?" Eddington snapped. "The fact is the man still has a lot of friends high up so we have no choice but to take this allegation seriously."

"I'm amazed he wasn't demoted!" Hawk shouted. "Or drummed out of the army altogether!"

"He had some doctors claim he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and battle fatigue," Eddington said. "For the record I don't buy it either. I mean Hawk you get more stress dealing with the Misfits day in and day out and you haven't snapped. Quite frankly, I'm impressed."

"I've come pretty close some days," Hawk admitted.

"To be fair there have been reports of some kind of superhuman activities around the Island for the past year," Eddington coughed. "But nothing has been proven…yet."

"I get the message. Fine we'll check on the Power Kids," Roadblock sighed.

"How do we find out if they're mutants?" Pietro asked.

"And you call me dumb?" Fred rolled his eyes. "Xi can tell, remember?"

"All it would take is a single touch and I can scan their genetic codes," Xi said.

"Well that's settled," Eddington nodded. "Your assignment is clear. Protect the Matter-Antimatter Converter and determine if any of the Power children are mutants."

"And if they are?" Althea asked.

"Find out what their powers are and what they do and we will take it from there," Eddington said crisply. He walked out.

"In other words he wants to find out if he can use the kids for the military," Lance grumbled as he looked at his file. "Geeze! One of them's only six years old!"

"Let's not put the cart before the horse," Hawk said. "Protecting the MAC is our top priority. If the Power kids do happen to be mutants I'll think of something."

"They could be Espers," Xi spoke.

"Possible but unlikely," Roadblock said. "We'll just have to wait and see."

"And I thought this week wasn't going to be fun," Pietro mocked. "Well it could be worse. We could be going to school. Nothing's more boring than that!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Okay Jean, you can do this, Jean thought to herself as she entered the large classroom at Empire State University. It's your first class on your first day at a new college. This is a new beginning. A fresh start. Maybe people won't recognize you and you can blend in.

That hope faded when a few students gave her some hard looks and moved away to other seats, leaving her alone. So much for things being different.

"Excuse me. You're one of the Xavier Institute students aren't you?" A young man asked.

"Uh, yeah…" Jean hesitated.

"I met some of your friends at a museum about a year ago," He stuck out his hand. "I'm Peter Parker."

"Oh…" Jean shook it. She sensed no hostility from him. "Jean Grey. Wait was this the one where the Kingpin's henchmen tried to rob that museum?"

"The very same," Peter nodded. "And then the X-Men and Misfits helped Spider Man. So I've heard."

"I remember now," Jean told him. "I wasn't there. I wish I was."

"You wish you were in the middle of a fight between Spider Man and some of his most dangerous enemies?" Peter was surprised.

"Considering the equally weird situation I was in back home…" Jean sighed. "Trust me, that's the more normal of the two." (See the classic fic Another Week of Random Madness for the whole story! Go on! Read it when you have a chance!)

"So what are you doing at Empire State?" Peter asked as he sat down in the seat next to hers.

"Taking classes. I transferred from Bayville University after…I had some problems with some of the faculty there," Jean said tactfully.

"From what I've heard Bayville's not exactly the most mutant friendly town in the world," Peter frowned. "Must have been rough."

"You have no idea," Jean groaned. "I remember Kitty talking about you. You're the photographer for the Daily Bugle."

"It's something to pay the bills," Peter shrugged.

"Doesn't Spider Man mind you always taking his picture?"

"Let's just say he gets a cut," Peter told her.

"All right class settle down," A clean shaven, one armed man entered the room. "I'm Dr. Curt Connors and this is Neogenics 101. Neogenics is basically the science of genetic manipulation through artificial means. It's also becoming one of the most rapidly developing fields of study in recent years."

"Gee I wonder why?" One male student gave a sharp glare at Jean when he said that.

Mr. Connors gave him a sharp look. "Let me make this perfectly clear. This class is about understanding science and how genetics work. It is not a place for politics and personal bias. I will not tolerate any type of racism against anyone."

"But it's not like she's human!" The student shouted. "Mutants are monsters!"

"No, they're not!" Peter defended. "People like you are monsters."

"I'm outta here," The student got up in a huff. "I ain't staying in a class full of mutie lovers."

"Anyone else agree with his sentiments?" Dr. Connors asked. Two more people left the room. "Fine then if no one else has a problem, we can get on with the class."

Inside Jean let go a sigh of relief. It was dissolved when she accidentally caught a stray thought from Mr. Connors.

These people have no idea what a real monster is.

Jean blinked but decided to ignore it. However she wasn't the only one picking up a strange vibe.

My spider sense is starting to go nuts! What could be causing it? Peter thought. Oh no…It can't be…

After the class was over Jean looked at Peter. "Thanks."

"It was nothing," Peter told her. "I'd show you around campus but I'm late for work. Uh, I'll see you later." He ran out.

Jean was about to leave as well but something made her uneasy. Something about Dr. Connors seems a little…off. Maybe it's just my imagination. She saw him go back into his lab in the back of the classroom. He didn't look well.

"Aggggghhhh!" She heard him grunting.

She decided to investigate. "Dr. Connors?" Jean asked as she looked inside the lab.

To her horror Dr. Connors was in the middle of some kind of bizarre transformation. "Go away…" He grunted. His eyes turned a bright yellow.

"Dr. Connors what's going on?" Jean cried.

Suddenly Dr. Connor's entire body began to change and thrash. He grew a long scaly green arm where there was none before. His hands turned into claws. He grew a long reptilian tail and his face turned into a lizardlike snout with very large fangs. He had transformed completely into a crocodile like beast and roared with savage glee.

"Great! Another one of my teachers goes berserk on me!" Jean rolled her eyes. "What am I? Cursed?"