Jake Long, the American Dragon, flapped his wings as he looked over the scene. "Are you wack? Bringing this jazz into my neighborhood? You are so asking for beat down, American Dragon style! Ya dig?" Vladimir just blinked and whispered to Amira.

"Who teach him English?" He asked dryly not understanding half of what Jake was saying. Amira shrugged.

"Look yo, I'm the defender of the magical community of New York City and I don't like it when other wackos decide to have a gang war right in front of my grandfather's shop!"

"We thought you were a mutant. We're here to save you from becoming the latest specimen of the American military." Vladimir said. "If they take you, the magical community will be exposed and you'll be a laboratory specimen!"

"Yeah, and I'm the Te Xuan Ze." Jake snorted in disbelief. "I know those guys, or at least, I've heard of them. They're the Miscreants."

"That's Misfits!" Althea shouted. "What? Do we need to take out ads?"

"Whatever. Point is; they're the good guys." Jake said, "You're fighting with them. That makes you the bad guys." He grinned. "And I toast bad guys!" He spat a burst of flame out at the Hellions.

"Scatter!" Vlad shouted as he fired back. As the streets of New York quickly became a battlefield for the Misfit vs. Hellions fight, Round 27, Vladimir decided that he could handle Jake Long himself. Big mistake.

"OOOF!" Vladimir grunted as Jake's tail smacked into his chest, sending him sprawling into some trashcans. "I hate dragons." He muttered.

"Aww, now where's the love?" Jake smirked.

"I don't know who told you that bantering with your enemy was a good idea." Vladimir breathed heavily. "But whoever it was is an idiot."

"How so?" Jake asked.

"Well you see it's simply a matter of—attack now, Cheap Trick!" Vladimir shouted, apparently to someone behind Jake.

"Huh?" Jake asked as he started to turn around before he really processed what Vladimir had said. "Waita—oww!" He winced as Vlad blasted him. "Hey yo, that stings!"

"Not as much as this will!" Althea promised as she used her powers to draw a stream of water out of a fire hydrant to blast the Hellions.

"Megawatt!" Vlad ordered. "Now!" Megawatt nodded and sent a stream of electricity at the water pudling under the Misfit's feet. Althea, having been caught once by this trick, managed to leap aside. Some of the other Misfits weren't as lucky.

"YIEEE!" Pietro yelled as he was electrocuted. He didn't seem hurt that badly, though he did scream again when he saw his static-filled hair in his reflection in the water. "My hair!"

"Oh brother." Wanda shouted. "Great, now I get to hear him whine about his hair for the next three days. Thanks a lot you bums!" She shouted at the Hellions. "Take this!"

'This' was a concentrated blast of Hex bolts that sent everyone's power haywire. Jake shot a fire blast at Vladimir only to end up lighting his tail on fire.

"YOOWWW! HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT!" Jake shouted as he splashed down in the water, trying to extinguish himself.

"Let's get out of here!" Vladimir said, taking advantage of their enemies' confusion. Vortex opened a portal and the Hellions started running through it. But just before it closed, a glass bottle with a white piece of paper inside fell out of the portal and landed on the street. Roadblock sighed as he surveyed the damage to New York.

"Battles always leave a mess, but it was worth it, I guess."

"Great. They got away again." Low Light muttered.

"Well on the plus side we have a dragon watching our backs." Todd said, pointing to Jake.

"Better him than Lockheed." Lance agreed.

"Hey, what's this?" Arcade asked as he picked up the bottle with the note. He took the note out and started to read it. "It's from Lina!"

"What? Give me that!" Cover Girl said as she snatched it from him. She started to read aloud.

'Dear everyone, I want you to know that I'm okay. The Hellions have kept me locked up in their base—where that is I still have no idea—but I haven't been hurt and have been treated well. I'm trying to escape but it doesn't seem possible, portals and teleportation seem to be the only ways in or out. The Hellions are not what we thought they were. They're…confused and mislead, but they are not psychopaths or killers. They're just misinformed. I wish I could be there to help you. Whoever's reading this, please tell Fred…tell everyone…that I miss them very deeply.'

"Love, Lina." Cover Girl finished.

"Well, at least we know she's okay anyway." Althea sighed. "It's more than we knew beforehand."

"Um, I hate to interrupt but can someone please tell me what this was all about?" Jake said, pointing a claw at the wrecked street. "Do you have any idea how much of a headache this is going to cause me? Oh man, I just know Rotwood is gonna come snooping around here after this…"

"Sorry, but I think we can make it up to you." Althea offered. "Tell me, what do you think of the chance to lay a smack-down on some creeps on a regular basis…?"

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LATER

"That was some quick thinking, offering to make Jake an honorary Misfit." The Blind Master said as the Misfits returned back to The Pit. "It's good to have as many allies as possible."

"Who don't want to kill us," Shipwreck chimed in.

"And whose fault is that?" Roadblock asked.

"Still, it was weird whenever we find out about the magical world; the Seftons, Strange and Barumpbump, the Charmed Ones, the Slayers, werewolves, demons, and now dragons!" Todd said.

"Yeah, that talking dog was weird!" Pietro agreed.

"How so?" Lance asked.

"You forget that not all of us see a talking coyote on a regular basis." Angelica drawled.

"We do when my sisters play around with the McGuffin Device." Althea corrected as she walked in the door. "It's a good thing that they were…too…sick…?" She shouted when she saw her sisters and Spyder—who were not sick with the flu—and the room around them was in shambles.

"What happened?" Althea growled at them. Trinity and Spyder coughed and looked sheepish.

"Um…long story?" Trinity offered.

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What DID happen to the Misfit Manor? What have Trinity and Spyder—and who knows whom else—been up to while the Misfits were gone? Find out in an upcoming side-story called "Days of Our Childhood"