The battle between the Misfits, Static and the Dreadnoks was decidedly one-sided.
"OWWIE, OWWIE, OWWIE!" Torch yelled as Static shocked his rear. Fred was tossing Road Pig/Donald over his shoulder, Gear had bound Zartan with metal coils, and Althea was beating Zanya up.
"Come on you Dreadnok hussy, you hit like a boy!" Althea taunted as she ducked a right hook from Zanya; then she proceeded to punch the green-haired girl in the stomach.
"OOOF—!" Zanya whuffed as the air was forced out of her lungs.
"Give it up Dreadnoks!" Duke yelled as the Misfit handlers traded fire with the remaining Dreadnoks. "You're on your own and losing! It's over!"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK!" A voice yelled from above. The Omega Hellions dropped down into the fray, courtesy of Jacques telekinesis.
"What?" Althea yelped as Vladimir nearly landed on her.
"Surprise!" Vlad shouted as he fired red energy blasts from his hands. What was a nearly finished battle became a confused melee with the Dreadnoks and Hellions against the Misfits and Static.
"Come on!" Megawatt called to Static as he fired off a bolt of electricity. "Let's see whose the real master of electricity!"
Static calmly absorbed the electricity and sent it straight back at Megawatt. "Can you take what you dish out?" Static wondered as he sent back an even stronger bolt of purple lightning at Megawatt.
"Where's Lina?" Fred demanded as he Amria used her enhanced speed and dexterity to land on Fred's shoulder and nimbly avoided his efforts to dislodge her.
"Around." She said simply as she kicked Fred in the side of the head and leaped away right before Fred could slap at himself, as if she were an oversized mosquito to be squashed.
Althea and Static ended up fighting back to back. "This isn't good!" Althea shouted.
"I've been in worse fights!" Static said, misunderstanding her worry.
"I'm a hydrokinetic! If either of us uses our powers too close to each other…" Althea started.
"We end up shorting each other out." Static finished. "Great."
"I really wish my sisters were here." Althea muttered. "They could handle these guys no problem! We've really got to stop grounding them right before missions! Spyder too!"
"I'm just as soon glad my sister isn't here." Static grinned. "Even if she had powers."
Torch attempted to fry Angelica, which wasn't a particularly bright thing to try to do to someone with fire powers. "Yowch!" Torch yelped as Angelica fried his backside.
It was then that Zartan had a brilliant tactical insight. "Dreadnoks, retreat!" He yelled as he and his men headed for their vehicles. Zanya, despite wanting a chance for revenge against Althea, reluctantly joined the Dreadnok withdrawal.
Vladimir frowned when he saw the Dreadnoks start to run. "That's gratitude for you." He muttered, rolling his eyes. Vlad then ducked to avoid getting slimed. It was then that he decided not to push his luck any further than he already had today. "Vortex!"
"Right!" Semira called as she opened a portal back to their base. "Move it or lose it!"
"Not this time!" Lance said as he sent a tremor towards her. Semira fell over, hitting her head on the head ground.
"Vortex!" Jacques yelled as he telekinetically tossed Lance away. Amira ran over and looked her over.
"She's out of it!" Amira called to her comrades. "Without her the portal will close on its own! We have to go! NOW!"
"Everybody head for the portal!" Vladimir ordered, laying down cover fire as he and his team fell back. Amira and Jacques carried Semira through the portal, followed by Rodriguez. Takashi retreated very reluctantly, as it was un-Samurai like, but Vladimir made sure Takashi had left before he did, so he couldn't pull any banzai charges behind his back.
That just left Phelan and Vladimir to run for the wavering, shrinking portal. Vladimir reached the portal first. "Come on!" He called to Phelan.
Phelan ran. Just as he neared the portal Toad's tongue wrapped around his legs and he fell. Vladimir was about to run to get him when he felt a hand lie itself on his shoulder and yank him backwards into the portal. It closed behind him.
Vladimir fell backwards onto the floor. He stared up into the faces of his teammates. He was back home, at the base.
"We've got to go back for Phelan!" Vladimir said, getting up.
"We can't. Semira's got a concussion. She won't be opening any portals soon." Amira said softly.
Vlad clenched his fists tightly, glowing red with suppressed energy and rage. "Dammit!" He roared.
"I miss something?" Someone asked from behind him.
"We left Phelan behind! That's what you missed you nit—PHELAN?" Vladimir yelped as he turned around to see himself staring in Phelan's face. "But, how—?"
"I'm actually a clone. I leave a copy of myself behind whenever we have to leave the base. You know, get some extra things done, relax, loaf about…"
"Go through our stuff when we're not looking?" Amira asked dryly, folding her arms.
"That too." Phelan admitted. "So I got captured? Damn. That's gonna be some interesting memories to absorb."
"Are you still psychically linked to, uh, yourself?" Vladimir asked. Use of pronouns always became confusing when talking to someone who could make copies of himself. Phelan nodded.
"Um, what do we do with her?" Jacques asked, pointing to a prone form on the floor. It was the Misfit Dragonfly, Lina Chakram. Vladimir blinked.
"Where'd she come from?"
"Semira trapped her in that pocket dimension she can link her portals to." Takashi explained. "When she was injured, I suppose she accidentally linked that dimension to the portal home. She arrived when the rest of us did. Took a minute to subdue her."
"Hmmm…between Phelan's—or one Phelan's—capture and Dragonfly this situation could actually work to our advantage. For now, we'll have to leave the other you in captivity." Vlad said to Phelan. "Take Semira and Dragonfly down to the infirmary."
Vladimir smiled. "With luck, we may soon be calling Dragonfly 'comrade.' "