Runaways, Recruits and Relaxation

The next chapter in the mad lives of the Misfits and X-Men began a few days after the Silver Surfer fiasco. Nick Fury and Captain America visited the Misfits on their base for a mission.

"Captain America, Fury," Roadblock nodded. "What brings you here?"

"We have a situation that's a bit too sensitive for SHIELD to handle. And since I'm putting together a new team I can't really devote much time to solving it," Captain America said.

"New team?" Roadblock asked.

"We're calling them the Avengers," Captain America told him.

"Another super hero team huh?" Shipwreck scratched his head. "I thought the government already had X-Factor?"

"This team will be made up of mostly non-mutants," Fury said. "For political reasons."

"Big shock," Pietro folded his arms.

"Maybe in the future we'll be allowed to have more mutants," Captain America told him.

"So why are you here?" Althea asked.

"We've discussed this and we feel that maybe your Misfits might be the best people for the job," Nick Fury said.

"What kind of job?" Lance asked.

"We have a little problem," Captain America sighed. "Do you remember the Pride?"

"Vividly," Wanda folded her arms. "But didn't they all get killed or something?"

"We believe so, and here are the people who took them down," Nick Fury punched up several pictures on the monitor.

"They're kids," Low Light said.

"More specifically, the Pride's kids," Nick Fury said.

"Hey now I remember…" Todd scratched his head. "Didn't they try to turn their own parents in or something?"

"Yeah they were evil villains that wanted to take over the planet," Fred nodded.

"We have so much in common already," Pietro folded his arms.

"They fought their own parents when they found out that they had a little habit of sacrificing young girls at a party they threw every year," Captain America said. "Long story short, their testimony and the paperwork they stole cleaned up a lot of corruption in the state of LA."

"Yeah a ton of cops were on their payroll as well as a few dozen gang lords," Nick Fury grumbled. "Unfortunately now that the Pride is gone, there's a huge power vacuum in the state. There are gang wars all over the place. People are trying to take over the Pride's turf. And maybe their kids might do the job."

"More likely try to clean up the mess their parents' made," Captain America said. "We're not sure. We tried putting them in foster homes and protective custody but…They escaped. At least one of them is a mutant. Maybe two…We're not exactly sure. The boys at the lab think she's an alien."

"An alien?" Pietro raised an eyebrow.

"Here's what we know," Nick Fury punched up files and scenes based on security cameras. "Gertrude Yorkes, age 16. Calls herself Arsenic. Apparently her parents were time travelers from the future that got themselves stuck in the past." A picture of a slightly overweight girl with glasses, purple punk hair and a brown outfit was shown.

"Is she the mutant? What powers does she have?" Angelica asked.

"She's human but her partner isn't," Nick Fury punched up a picture of a very big dinosaur. "Meet Old Lace."

"That's her partner?" Lance gasped. "It's a dinosaur!"

"A velociraptor to be exact," Arcade adjusted his glasses.

"It's not a velociraptor," Todd told him. "It's a Deinonychus." Everyone looked at him. "I watch a lot of shows on Animal Planet."

"Are you sure?" Arcade said. "It looks like a raptor to me."

"It's not a raptor," Todd said. "It's a close relative of it but it ain't a raptor."

"Yeah aren't raptors supposed to be reddish?" Fred scratched his head.

"Just because they looked like that in the movies…" Arcade began.

"It's a dinosaur for crying out loud!" Fury shouted. "Who cares what kind it is? It's got sharp teeth and a nasty attitude and that's all you need to know."

"But knowing is…" Arcade began. Low Light quickly put his hand over his mouth.

"Don't say it!" Low Light groaned. "It's a dinosaur and it belongs to Arsenic. We get it."

Fury said. "We think the two of them share some kind of telepathic bond. The kids broke it out of SHEILD custody a few weeks ago as well as a few other toys."

"Well all kids should have a pet," Low Light said flippantly.

"That reminds me too much of the time about Trinity and Princess Fluffietta Tinkerbell," Angelica groaned. "And how they wreaked havoc all over Europe!"

"Princess Who?" Captain America blinked.

"Do I really want to know this story?" Fury put his hand on his head.

"No," Roadblock shook his head.

"Nico Minoru, AKA Sister Grimm," Nick Fury continued as the picture popped up of a dark haired girl with black clothes waving some kind of staff around. "Age 16. The daughter of two dark wizards. She seems to have picked up their talent for magic as well."

"An Esper?" Spirit asked.

"Without a doubt," Fury told them. He punched in a picture of a lanky blonde youth with an easygoing smile and beach bum clothes. "Chase Stein, 18. Code-name Talkback. He's not only the oldest but also the only male in the bunch. His parents were mad scientists so he might be the brains of the operation. Apparently he's got an aptitude for creating weapons like his folks." A shot of Chase using some strange gauntlets that created fire was shown. "He's also their getaway driver."

"Getaway driver?" Wanda asked.

"Yup," Fury showed them a picture of a huge two-legged frog like green vehicle.

"Yo that's one pimp ride," Todd whistled.

"So who's the mutant?" Althea asked. "And the alien?"

"The mutant is one Molly Hayes," Fury punched in a picture of an eleven-year-old girl with long brown hair wearing a pink top, jeans and a pink hat on her head. She looked sweet and happy, especially as she was lifting what looked like a twelve-ton statue over her head with ease. "Age 11. I have no idea what she's called. Keeps changing her name from Princess Bruiser or whatever."

"Oh goody," Althea groaned. "Someone new for my sisters to play with."

"Better call in Spyder and Trinity," Wanda told her. "We're gonna need 'em."

"Karolina Dean, age 17," Fury showed the last picture of a rainbow colored girl with rainbow swirls all around her as she was flying. "Her parents were those soap opera stars that happened to run a crime empire in their spare time. Tabloids used to say her folks were aliens. It appears they were right. Her code name is Lucy in the Sky."

"No diamonds?" Spirit raised an eyebrow.

"Hey I recognize that rainbow…" Lance pointed. "It's the same kind of powers that Pride lady had back when we had to rescue Mystique and Zartan."

"Well this looks like a fun little group of teenage maniacs," Low Light groaned. "Let me guess, you want us to bring them in before they cause too much damage?"

"Bingo," Captain America nodded. "When we separated them into different families and homes we thought it was for the best in order to protect them. There are still folks out there who might want them dead for what they did to the Pride."

"Well that was a stupid move," Lance grunted.

"What do you mean?" Captain America asked.

"If anybody tried to separate us Misfits, and I know people have tried before," Pietro said. "The first thing I'd do is run away with my crew."

"Your crew?" Althea gave him a look. "But he has a point."

"Think about it," Wanda said. "These kids were lied to their whole lives by their parents, had only each other to turn to and then at the end more adults interfered with their lives and split them apart."

"Meaning…?" Captain America asked.

"Meaning they don't trust anyone over 30 yo," Todd told them. "Or 21 for that matter."

"Kids have a point," Low Light said.

"I guess your instincts were right on this one," Captain America told Fury.

"Who better to track down a bunch of crazy kids with powers than other crazy kids with powers?" Fury shrugged.

"I have a question," Angelica asked. "What are you gonna do to them once we find them? I mean, if they really wanna be together, who are we to split them up?"

"Maybe we can recruit 'em?" Todd asked.

"That's not acceptable," Captain America said. "These kids deserve to have some kind of stable upbringing. Kids don't belong in the army."

"But it's okay for mutant kids to be drafted?" Lance raised an eyebrow. "I mean you guys don't seem to mind the fact that most of us and the X-Men are underage when the world is in trouble."

"Avalanche has a point," Low Light said. "Face it Fury, there's no way kids like these can ever have a normal life."

"Look why don't we try and find these kids first?" Roadblock suggested. "Before we assume the worst. No matter what a life on the street can't be good for them."

"So we track these kids down and find out what they're up to?" Lance asked.

"And bring them in if possible," Fury said. "They did kind of break a few federal laws by stealing a dinosaur and some weapons. And quite frankly SHEILD is sick of being blown up, infiltrated and just generally being made to look like idiots!"

"Not one word Quicksilver," Roadblock headed Pietro off.

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

"I can't believe you're letting them go for two whole weeks…" Logan groaned. Ororo and Xavier were also in the briefing room with him. "So who else is going on this trop to Jubilee's aunt's house in California?"

"She's taking Rina, Kitty, Rahne, Paige, Tabitha, Amara and Danielle," Ororo said.

"Well Rahne I can understand," Logan nodded. "The kid needs a serious change of scenery after what that jerk Aiden put her through. With Tabitha gone the place will be a lot quieter. With Kitty gone maybe Colossus can stop moping for a bit. But why is Rina going?"

"Rina deserves to socialize more," Ororo explained. "It will be good for her to spend time with girls her own age. Besides, Jubilee is her foster sister."

"Yes, she has come a long way with her weekly sessions," Xavier nodded. "I've managed to help her control her Hydra conditioning."

"Kid still has a long way to go though with that temper of hers," Logan folded her arms.

"Logan I understand your reservations," Xavier said. "I even discussed this with Ms. Lee and we both agree that Rina needs to be around other girls. To act like a normal teenager. I think these two weeks will be very beneficial to her."

"Still…Eight mutant girls with no chaperone is a recipe for disaster," Logan grunted.

"Logan," Ororo gave him a look. "Jubilee's aunt will be there along with her butler."

"That young kid who drove her the other day?" Logan looked at her. "Oh yeah that makes me feel a whole lot better!"

"You must give the girls some credit," Xavier told them. "They are more mature than you realize. Besides, I will be giving them some extra responsibility before they leave."

"What kind of 'extra responsibility' are we talking about Charles?" Logan raised an eyebrow.

"Yo Professor!" Tabitha walked in with the girls that were leaving for LA. "You wanted to talk to us?"

"Yes I wanted a few words with you before Logan flies you to Los Angeles tomorrow in the Blackbird," Xavier began.

"Not that I'm complaining but why can't we just take a normal plane to LA?" Danielle asked.

"We can't exactly board a normal plane," Kitty said. "I mean Rina's claws won't pass through a metal detector."

"Trust me on this," Logan groaned. "I know from experience."

"And I'm pretty sure they won't allow Lockheed on a plane," Kitty added.

"You're taking the dragon with you?" Logan blinked. "Can't you get Jamie or someone else to baby sit it?"

"Lockheed gets lonesome without me," Kitty said. "Besides Jubilee's aunt won't mind."

"Wanna bet?" Logan rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying," Xavier decided to get back on track. "There have been a great deal of new mutant signatures popping up. This is a chance for you to find new recruits so I want all of you to keep your eyes open. Cerebro has some interesting mutant readings in California. One of them is this girl, Molly Hayes. Apparently she has super strength." He punched up the picture on the monitor. "She's been reported as a runaway along with another possible mutant."

"Possible mutant?" Kitty asked as Karolina's picture appeared.

"Cerebro isn't sure if she's a mutant at all," Xavier said. "Her readings are nothing like the others. But these are only two of several possible mutants."

"Several? Charles there are nearly 400 people on this list!" Logan gasped.

"Well then the odds are we're bound to run into at least one of them," Tabitha shrugged.

"Some of them we already have," Kitty pointed out. "Remember our friends from the theater?"

"I wonder how Rocker and the others are doing?" Rina thought aloud.

"We could always check up on them one day," Tabitha said. "Hollywood isn't that far from where Jubilee's aunt lives."

"Try to be discreet if you can," Xavier told them.

"Just try not to blow up the whole state will ya?" Logan said.

"No problem Badger," Tabitha waved. "We'll keep our powers under control."

"Famous last words…" Logan groaned.