Misfitverse: Korvac Saga
Disclaimer: "Now try to get some sleep out there!" - Tom Tucker, from the Family Guy episode "Petergeist".
Chapter 6: Angst and Arrivals!
Captain Marvel's Mansion, Forest Hills, the 31st Century
Sam Guthrie, the immortal hero known as Captain Marvel, was standing on the balcony of his home in Forest Hills. He had his hands on the railing, and his head was down.
"Penny for your thoughts, beloved?" Sersi inquired as she walked up to him. "Your friends are downstairs, enjoying your video games. You should talk to them."
"...I thought I put it behind me." Sam shook his head. "I thought I put that damned day behind me...Seeing them again...after one thousand years, it comes back to haunt me...why me?"
"Why what?" Sersi blinked. The dark-haired Eternal possessed telepathy, but she didn't use it to pry into minds.
"Why do I have to be the one to watch over them?" Sam sighed. "I got duties."
"Sam..." Sersi put a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "They're familiar with you. You're the only link they have to their home in this time. They'll need you."
"Yeah." Sam scowled. "They'll need me to screw up and let them get killed again."
"That wasn't your fault, Sam." Sersi tried to reassure the blond hero. "You didn't kill them. And there was nothing you could've done."
"But I couldn't even try!" Sam countered. "I mourned them for a long time. Even the Hellions. Even when we got new students at the old Institute..." The External sighed.
"I was around during that dark day, too. Don't you forget that." Sersi reminded. "We didn't meet then, but I heard about that day. That psychopath Fitzroy killed them. He came out of nowhere, and he had the elements of surprise and preparation on his side. But he got what he deserved. You couldn't try because you weren't given a chance to."
"I know that, but a part of me won't listen." Sam admitted. "What if...what if something happens and I can't save them again?"
"I...don't know." Sersi admitted. "But I do know this. You are not the same man that you were at the Massacre. You were an inexperienced New Mutant. But now..." She put an arm around him. "You're stronger. You learned to use your powers in new ways. You've done a wonderful job protecting this world and the galaxy beyond. You've garnered the respect of heroes of many generations. You've done a lot for this world in only one thousand years. Charles Xavier would be very proud." The dark-haired Eternal looked at Sam. "Talk to them, Sam. Make your peace with them. This is your chance to finally put that black day behind you once and for all. You have a wonderful opportunity in front of you. Don't waste it." With a sigh, Sam got up.
"I gotta make a call."
Avengers Mansion, the 31st Century
Suzi Lee, the young fearless heroine known as Kid "Rock 'n' Roll" Razor, streaked through the skies of New York City, finally landing in front of Avengers Mansion.
The mansion looked like a large red-brick building, the size of an entire city block. In general, the building's design and materials indicated that it was built during a long-gone era, and the building seemed to speak many a tale of the past. However, the building's looks also indicated it was willing to change with the times, and its design welcomed the 31st Century. The front had a large white A in the front of the building, and there was a glass dome on the roof of the building.
"Here at last." Suzi pointed out the obvious.
"Really? I never noticed." Lorelei DeYoung appeared, flicking her long dark hair.
"You're a load of laughs." Razor rolled her eyes. "You're as fun as Monica sometimes."
"You know that both Monica and me are just looking out for you." Lorelei smirked at her protege. "Remember when we first met? I was wielding the magic guitar at the time."
"Yeah." Suzi smirked. "Hard to believe you could still sling and swing the magic axe at your age." Lorelei laughed.
"Hey, seventy-three is the new thirty." Lorelei smirked. "When I became a ghost, I decided to assume the appearance I had as a younger woman, when I was at my greatest at the guitar myself. Plus, I knew that you'd never listen to me as an old woman."
"I listen to you." Suzi frowned. "I just don't find anything you say interesting or useful."
"Cute, Suze." Lorelei rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's get inside." The Fearless One walked into the Mansion. The doors were clear, with the A logo stenciled on them. A little black round gadget emerged from the wood above the doors. A glowing red light switched on, and pointed itself at Razor.
"Vocal print identification, please." The machine requested in a feminine voice. Razor sighed.
"This is why the Kid of Rock gets so annoyed with the Avengers. This damn security thing." The Kid of Rock grumbled. She sighed and looked up.
"Let me in or I blast you!" She demanded.
"Just say the phrase." Lorelei groaned.
"Incorrect. Entrance denied." The electric eye told the Kid of Rock 'n' Roll. Razor scowled and pointed her guitar at the eye.
"Razor, no!" Lorelei yelled.
Vroom! BLAM!
Razor plucked her guitar, and a beam of rainbow light erupted from the guitar's head. The beam slammed into the eye.
"Nobody denies Kid Razor entrance anywhere. She goes where she wants." Razor smirked. The young woman then kicked down the seemingly-glass sliding doors. The doors were made of a near-indestructible clear plastic-like material, but the mechanisms that held the doors and moved them were not, allowing the blonde Asian to kick them down.
"Razor! Did you really need to do that?!" Lorelei snapped.
"Yeah." Razor shrugged. "I did."
The Meeting Room of Avengers Mansion
"I'm here!" Razor announced to the other Avengers. "Avengers, rejoice! The Kid of Rock 'n' Roll has arrived!"
"About time, you loudmouth." Harry grunted, crossing his arms. He was still in his seat.
"What took you so long?" Jhen smiled, looking up from the handheld video game she was playing. "Satisfying your fans and teasing the autograph hounds?"
"A little of this, a little of that." Razor smirked, Lorelei floating right behind her. Commander America sighed as he reviewed the security footage of Razor blasting the Mansion front door's electric eye.
"Razor, must you destroy the electric eye?" The super-soldier grunted at the rocker.
"Why am I not surprised?" Monica sighed, putting down her PDA with her eBook in it and pinching the bridge of her nose.
"For an eye, that thing is blind as a bat. That's the only way it couldn't have recognized me." Razor scowled.
"I'm sorry, Commander..." Lorelei smiled apologetically at the patriotically-clad super-soldier. "But the Razors have always been wild ones. I should know. I was the one before this one." Like all the ghost guides, Lorelei gladly helped keep Suzi's identity a secret. She'd only reveal it if Suzi wished.
"The Razors are wild, alright." Monica frowned. "My family has a long history with them. It's been kind of traditional for the Razors to team up with my ancestors over the years."
"Ah, you know your family loved it!" Suzi winked.
"The Razors can be destructive, Commander." Thor reassured. "But they are truly on the side of good." A beeping was heard.
"That had better be Captain Marvel." Harry grumbled.
"I hope so." Lonna nodded. She got up and walked up to a monitor and pressed a button. On it was the face of Sam Guthrie. "Captain Marvel!"
"Hey, my Cosmic Awareness told me you guys would need me." Sam explained. "Sorry I haven't called. I've had business. I know about the missing Legionnaires."
"That Cosmic Awareness of yours makes it so hard for us to plan surprise parties for you, you know that?" Jhen teased. Lonna giggled. Sam let out a slight chuckle.
"Yeah, Sersi hates it, too."
"Yeah, the Kid of Rock heard about them." Razor nodded. "Which ones are missing? I know about Saturn Girl..." She punched up an image on another monitor. The image was of a beautiful blue-eyed blonde teenage girl,dressed in a pink costume with a large white stripe down the center of the costume, with white boots and gloves. The costume had a white chestplate with an emblem of a yellow ringed planet on it. Her blonde eyebrows were slanted upwards, similar to Professor Xavier's. Her ears were decorated by a pair of pink earrings in the shape of ringed planets.
Saturn Girl, born Irma Ardeen, was a native of Titan, a moon of Saturn. She was one of the founders of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Like a lot of Titanians, she was blessed with great powers of the mind, mainly telepathy and the power to control minds.
"Why am I not surprised that you wouldn't be aware of that little detail?" Monica scowled at her friend. Razor chuckled.
"Don't blame the Kid of Rock, Monny. You can't keep track of their numbers, there's so damned many of them."
"Aye, one of the big things about the Legion is their great numbers." Thor agreed. "How such a large team can be kept together is beyond e'en my Asgardian mind."
"It's their thing." Jhen shrugged.
"The roll calls must be a nightmare." Harry snickered. "So Saturn Girl is the latest missing Legionnaire. That makes her, Wildfire, Karate Kid..."
"I heard when he vanished , Princess Projectra went ballistic. She vowed to go to war with whoever kidnapped him." Lonna snickered.
"Indeed." Commander America sighed. "Bouncing Boy told me they had to sedate her."
"Ah, young love." Razor snickered.
"...Sun Boy, Star Boy, and Catspaw." Harry continued. (1)
"Who is Catspaw?" Loanna blinked.
"I know her." Monica remembered. "April Dumaka. She was kidnapped and experimented on by a hidden cell of Dominators on Earth." While imprisoned, the Dominators discovered Dumaka had a dormant X-Gene. When it was activated, Dumaka's ears turned leaf shaped, her canines became sharp and fang-like, and her finger and toe-nails grew out into retractable claws. Her senses also became superhumanly sharp, including gaining night-vision, and finally, she obtained superhuman speed, agility, and reflexes. After the Legion freed her and helped her learn how to handle her newfound powers, April Dumaka took the name Catspaw and joined the Legion.
"She's new, and greener than grass, but she's got potential. That's what Bouncing Boy told me." Lonna nodded.
"She reminds me a lot of a friend I once had back in the 21st Century." Sam remembered. "Speaking of the 21st Century, you won't believe what happened to me."
"What?" Jhen blinked.
"Another cosmic menace?" Razor rolled her eyes. Sam shook his head.
"No." The blond immortal answered. "Some friends of mine returned from the dead. The New Mutants and the Hellions."
"The who?" Razor blinked.
"They're rather obscure. The original teams anyway." Monica remembered. "The original versions of those two teams were very short-lived. Most of them got massacred. But the event had huge consequences. A prophecy claimed that when a great cosmic evil rises, the victims of that event will return and defeat the evil."
"That's an old mutants' tale." Suzi grunted. "Haven treats it like it's some kind of religious thing."
"The Prophecy of the Lost Mutants is a huge part of mutant lore, Razor." Lonna reminded. "Queen Rancor may not believe it, but a lot of her people do."
"Queen Rancor should come over." Sam shook his head. "Right now, in my home, I have Mirage, Magma, Berzerker, Sunspot, Cypher, Jetstream, Tarot, and Roulette. They've returned. I think the prophecy is starting to come true. And I got a feeling that the disappearances of the Legionnaires are connected to it."
"A logical assumption." Monica nodded. Razor rolled her eyes.
"So some people came back from the dead. That's not unusual." Harry rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, but eight at once, Tacky?" Jhen raised an eyebrow.
"Aye." Thor agreed. "On Asgard, prophecies are often taken quite seriously. They can be defied, but we do take them quite seriously. There hath been many a prophecy about Ragnarok, but we hath been able to stop it." Sam sighed.
"Yeah, Thor. But this prophecy is a good one." The blond countered.
"So you think that the disappearances are connected to the prophecy?" Commander America deduced.
"They have to be." Sam answered. "Look, I'll take them over to meet you."
"It will be kind of neat to meet actual natives of the 21st Century." Monica smiled. "I know Cosmic Boy would love to meet them, a history fan and all."
"Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the relics from an age when heroes cared more about imprisoning other heroes than villains." Razor snorted. Harry laughed.
"Ah, the 21st Century. The Age of Prejudice and Paperwork."
Well, well, well! Looks like the Lost Mutants will meet the future Avengers! What insanity will happen next? How will they get along? Can our heroes save the day? Where are the missing Legionnaires? What role will they play? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!
(1) – Catspaw/April Dumaka is a rather obscure character. She first appeared in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #33. Her Legion tenure was very short, as the Legion's entire continuity got rebooted thanks to Zero Hour. Post-Zero Hour, she made a very short (two panels) cameo as a possible candidate for the Workforce, a rival team to the Legion. She has not appeared in any form in the current version of the Legion.