Misfitverse: The Korvac Saga
Disclaimer: "We're outta here! Smell ya later!" - Jimbo Jones, The Simpsons.
Chapter 15: Roulette's Revelation
The Xavier Institute, the 21st Century
In the room shared with Sharon Smith, the ex-Hellion codenamed Catseye, sat her new roommate: Greer Grant-Nelson, the teenage cat-girl codenamed Tigra. She sat on her bed, her knees up to her chest. Normally perky and upbeat, the catgirl was depressed.
She wasn't able to make any real friends on the team, except for Catseye. Some were nice to her, like Kurt Wagner, and Jean Grey. However, the surviving members of the New Mutants, especially Tabitha Smith and Jubilation Lee, made it clear to her that they didn't want her there. She was recruited not long after the Massacre at Xavier's, and it was obvious that the survivors were not ready for new recruits. It saddened the normally happy and upbeat catgirl.
"Why the long face, kitty?" A sweet-sounding English-accented voice asked.
"Huh?" Greer blinked. She turned her head and noticed a young pale-skinned Goth woman sitting on Rahne's bed. She was dressed in black from head to toe: leather jacket, top, jeans, and boots. Around her neck was a black necklace with a silver ankh pendant. Under her right eye was a marking similar to the Eye of Horus. Her head was covered by a floppy black hat. Her black lips were curved in a smile. For a second, Tigra thought it was Rogue, but realized that she looked quite different from the Mississippi-born power absorber. "Who-?"
"Actually, I'm here to visit a friend of yours." The woman explained. "But I saw you, and you seemed a little down."
"Yeah, I am." Greer sighed. "I only have one friend here. Catseye."
"Ah." The woman nodded. Oh yeah, she's a special order.
"The others..." Tigra sighed. The catgirl didn't quite understand it, but for some reason, she felt very comfortable talking to this mysterious Goth woman. "Well, some are nice. Jean, Scott, and Kurt...they're okay. It's just...the other New Mutants..."
"Not making friends with them much, huh?" The Goth woman smiled.
"They hate me." Tigra sighed. "I talk to them, and they ignore me. I try and help them, and they glare at me. They act like I did something bad to them."
"I highly doubt you have." The Goth woman shook her head. "You seem very sweet."
"The New Mutants lost a bunch of their friends a short time ago." Tigra explained. "I was brought in not long after their deaths."
"Yeah, bad timing." The Goth woman winced. "That does not help. Have you talked to the teachers here?" Greer shook her head.
"No." She admitted. "I'm afraid if I do, the others will hate me more. Catseye likes me, and I'm happy about that, but I wish the others would."
"Well, since it's not your fault, I'm not going to go into the timing of your arrival here." The Goth woman advised. "I know you feel frustrated, and that you never will be accepted here. But keep in mind, your new teammates are still struggling with the loss of their friends. It's even worse for them because those very same lost comrades became family. Losing family is a devastating experience. I have family myself, and if I lost any of them..." She sighed. "Greer, you must give them time. They need a chance to heal from their emotional wounds. They will emerge stronger, I promise you." She sat next to Tigra and put a hand on the catgirl's shoulder. "You just keep trying. You'll win them over." The Gothic woman's face turned serious. "You must remind them, Greer Grant-Nelson. You must remind them that with the life they have chosen, the risk is great. That loss is always around the corner, and they will have to accept the changes in team rosters that result."
"It'll take some time, right?" Greer asked. The Goth woman nodded.
"Yes. But don't stop trying to win their friendship. They need you, Greer."
"Wait..." Greer frowned as she realized something. "How'd you know my name?" The Goth woman smiled and got up.
"It doesn't matter. Just remember what I told you. Do you know where Sam Guthrie is?" Greer thought for a moment about the woman's question.
"He's in his room. He spent a lot of his time there since the massacre." Greer sighed. "Poor Sam. He's got zero confidence in himself since. I try and talk to him, but he doesn't answer me." The Goth woman smiled.
"Well, I'll see if I can cheer him up. Remember, Greer. They will accept you. Just give them time. Cheerio!" Right before Tigra's eyes, the woman vanished, making the catgirl's jaw drop.
"What the-?!"
The skies over New York City, the 31st Century
Sam Guthrie, Captain Marvel, streaked through the sky, towing an energy bubble behind him from his Quantum Bands. Inside the Q-Energy Bubble were three passengers. Two were friends of Sam's from the 21st Century: Roberto da Costa and Ray Crisp, aka the New Mutants codenamed Sunspot and Berzerker. The third was a robotic woman named Jocasta, another survivor of the era of madness that was the 21st Century.
Like Thor, Jocasta's connection with the Avengers was a long one. Created by the evil robot Ultron, Jocasta mind was based on the heroine Janet Van Dyne, aka the Wasp. He created her to be a bride for himself, but Ultron did too good a job creating her. Jocasta would turn on Ultron and eventually become an Avenger herself. Over the centuries, she upgraded herself as technology improved, until now, where she looked like a normal human, only with shiny silver skin and hair.
"Uhn..." Ray groaned, rubbing his head. He was leaning against the bubble's wall, "The voices are gone."
"That's because of the bubble." Jocasta explained. She was helping support the electrokinetic. "He made this bubble to block the holovision signals."
"Holovision?" Roberto blinked. "Is that like television?"
"Yes." Jocasta nodded. "...Roberto, correct?"
"Yeah." Roberto nodded. "Most people just call me 'Berto." Jocasta nodded.
"Then I shall call you 'Berto." Jocasta smiled. "Anyway, this bubble is blocking the signals transmitted by the holovision studios. My sensors indicated that his brain was sensitive to those signals."
"So, what're you saying?" Roberto frowned. "That Ray is some sort of human antenna?" (1)
"It appears that way." Jocasta nodded.
"It started after Livewire blasted me." Ray grunted, shaking his head. "I thought I could take a jolt, having electrical powers and all. I can handle some voltage."
"Livewire is capable of putting out massive amounts of electrical power." Jocasta put a finger to her chin. "My guess is that when Livewire blasted you, she hit you with an amount of voltage that even your resistance to electricity couldn't handle."
"No kidding." Ray winced, rubbing his head. Jocasta looked at the twosome.
"I do not recognize any of you." The robot woman admitted.
"Yeah, we're not from around here." Ray explained.
"We got blown away in the 21st Century, and now we agreed to come here to fight some cosmic evil, and it turns out we were part of some big prophecy." Roberto explained. Jocasta's pupiless green eyes widened.
"You two are Lost Mutants?!" Jocasta gasped.
"That's what they tend to call us." Ray sighed. "Damn, my head still hurts."
"Hmmm..." Jocasta frowned as she looked at the clothes Ray and Roberto were wearing. "I do not like those costumes."
"These aren't costumes, Robogirl." Ray grumbled. "These were the clothes we wore when we got blown away by Fitzroy one-thousand years ago."
"Hmmm..." Jocasta's frown deepened. "Well, to face this great evil, you must have appropriate costumes." The robotic woman perked up. "I shall make you new costumes once we return to the Mansion!"
"Jocasta, that's not important right now." Sam sighed.
"We could use some new costumes." Roberto admitted. "Our old ones are back in the 21st Century."
"Ah, Sam told me about the costumes you New Mutants used back in the 21st Century." Jocasta shook her head. "So very drab. Simple black. No unique designs. Nothing to indicate you were individuals with unique powers."
"Members of the main X-Men team got their own costume, Jocasta." Sam reminded. "The uniforms were for training."
"If these two have returned to life after one-thousand years, Samuel...then that means others are with them!" Jocasta realized.
"Yeah, there are." Sam confirmed. "Magma, Roulette, Jetstream, Mirage, Cypher, and Tarot."
"Oh, wonderful!" Jocasta grinned, clapping her hands in excitement. "I have been wanting to design new costumes for someone in a while!"
"Jocasta, they're back because of the prophecy." Sam reminded. Jocasta nodded in understanding.
"I see. I assume the prophecy is connected to all those vanishing superheroes I have been hearing about." Jocasta surmised. Sam nodded.
"You got it, Jo."
"Oh, boy! I find myself very excited!" Jocasta grinned. "Another battle against evil alongside the Avengers!"
"Is Jocasta always like this?" Roberto blinked. Sam sighed. He liked Jocasta, but some of her personality traits, which were inherited from the Wasp, tended to irritate him.
"How much longer until we hit the Mansion?" Ray groaned.
Avengers Mansion
Jennifer Stavros walked down a hall. The hall had portraits on the walls of various costumed and non-costumed people that the blonde had no way of recognizing. However, the beautiful Hellion really wasn't in much of a mood to admire the pictures and paintings. She passed by a door that had a label on it.
"Kid Razor, huh?" The ex-Hellion codenamed Roulette blinked. She heard the noice of a holovision blaring, accompanied by laughter. She looked at the door. "Uh..." She slowly put a fist to the door in a knocking gesture. "Do I knock on these doors are what?" The blonde sighed. "Sometimes, I really am beginning to hate the future." She decided to simply knock. "Uh...hello?"
"Enter." A feminine voice on the other side commanded. The door slid open, revealing Suzi Lee, the Fearless Kid Razor, lying on a bed, laughing at the holovision she was watching. Her room was very much the room of a teenage metalhead, with black walls covered by posters of various 31st Century metal acts, a couple video game systems, and bookshelves filled with what may have been CDs, books, and other things. The blonde Asian looked over at the blonde Hellion. "Hey there, Blondie. What's up?"
"I kinda find it funny that you call me Blondie." Jennifer retorted, crossing her arms. Razor chuckled. "What're you watching?"
"Some sitcom. This family of Daxamites find themselves living with a family of Nucleons, and here's the kicker: The house's inside walls are lined with spikes of lead!" Razor burst out laughing.
"I don't get it." Jennifer blinked.
"31st Century humor. It's beyond you, time-jumper." Razor chuckled. "I'm also watching Intergalactic Gladiators. That show is awesome." She pressed a button on the remote she was holding, which switched to some arena.
"And Christine Velora makes it to the Finals with that decisive victory over Vanguard!"
"Awww, sprockin' hell!" Razor cursed, throwing her remote aside. "Now I know that Durlan fifty credits!"
"What's a Durlan?" Jennifer blinked.
"Oh right, Earth didn't make first contact with Durlans in your time yet." Razor remembered. "What's a Durlan? Think orange people with antenna on their heads. They got morphing powers." She stretched slightly. "What brings you to my parlor?"
"Meh." Jennifer shrugged. "Just had to deal with one of them stupid X-Men."
"Which one?" Razor blinked.
"Magma."
"Ah." Razor nodded her head. "Yeah, I've heard of the original X-Men. According to the stories passed down from the Razors, they were all clowns. Especially the one called Cyclops. He was a real stick-in-the-mud."
"You know what the problem is with them?" Jennifer grumbled. "Those X-Men are so high-and-mighty. They act like they're the damned cocks of the walk." Razor snickered.
"Heh heh, you said-!" She started to joke.
"Can I finish?" Jennifer grumbled. Razor nodded. "Anyway, those X-Men think they are so great! I bet you they all had perfect little lives before they became X-Men! They had no idea what it was like for me! They never had to go through hell like I did!" What the blonde did not realize was that as she was ranting, Amara was walking by and had happened to overhear. The Roma Novan princess stopped.
"Lemme guess, your old man threw you out when he discovered you were a mutant." Razor rolled her eyes. "Sorry Blondie, that's not the stylish thing to do in this century."
"No." The blonde's blue eyes grew hard. "Have you ever had a parent that hated you?"
"Nah, both my parents are cool with me." Razor shrugged. "They nag, but otherwise, they like me."
"Well...my father didn't." Jennifer admitted. "My father hated me. Because in his mind...I killed my mother."
"What happened?" Razor blinked.
"My mother...she had complications giving birth to me." Jennifer sighed. "My dad never got over it. As time went on, he turned his grief on me. Every damn day, he would tell me how much he hated me. And I got to know his belt quite well, too." Razor winced.
"Wow. That's harsh stuff." The blonde Asian winced. "Did you have any siblings that went through it?"
"Siblings, yeah. Beaten, no." Jennifer scowled. "The old man loved my brothers. He loved my sister. But me...I was the one he never wanted." Amara put her hand to her mouth. "It's a wonder I didn't end up becoming a complete sociopath. I wonder how myself." Razor shrugged.
"You said you had sibs. They must've helped."
"Yeah, my sister pretty much raised me, since my dad didn't want to have anything to do with me. It didn't help that I look like my mother, too." Jennifer sighed. "Anyway, I know that I did some bad stuff as a Hellion. I'm no saint. I know that I'm going to burn in the eternal fires of Hell. I've accepted that. I've known that from the day I was born." Razor frowned.
"Sounds to the Kid of Rock like you let the garbage your old man spewed out get to you." Razor frowned.
"Hey, someone died because of me. What's the point of me being a hero?" Jennifer grumbled. "It's not like I can change my fate."
"Hey, that prophecy thingy wouldn't have chosen you to fight some cosmic evil if you couldn't do it." Razor countered. "You know what the Kid of Rock thinks?"
"What?" Jennifer grunted.
"The Kid of Rock thinks that you need to see something. Do you know what made the original Kid Razor a legend?"
"What?"
"He thought for himself." Razor smirked. "He answered to no one. And he didn't like answering to anyone. Not to that cornball Superman. Not to that old relic Captain America. He never cared what anyone said about him. They called him arrogant, cocky, and self-centered. But he knew that he was a true hero. And he proved it. He proved it by saving Cleveland and the world many times during his career. He showed the world that he was more than some Cleveland loudmouth with stylish threads, good looks, and a magic guitar. He was a good-lookin', hard-rockin', ass-kickin' machine, and he knew it! And he proved it!"
"If Kid Razor is so rebellious, then why are you an Avenger?" Jennifer frowned. Razor smirked.
"To be honest, the Kid of Rock is only an honorary member." The blonde Asian admitted. "I help out here and there, but they say I'm lacking the proper attitude to be a full Avenger. Pfft. Whatever." Razor laughed. "The Legion of Super-Heroes said the same thing. But I never cared what any of those bonehead Legionnaires think."
"Anyway, what does your talking about the Razor of my time have to do with me?" Jennifer groaned. "I can't believe I listened to that. No wonder they said Kid Razor was crazy."
"The Kid of Rock is saying that you have an opportunity to prove that you are more than what your punk-ass father said you were. Your sister believed it, and the prophecy spelled it out." Razor chuckled. "Blondie, it's time to stop letting your daddy's words screw with you. You got yerself the chance to show the whole effing universe that Jennifer Stavros is more than some nameless lackey for some evil organization!" She wrapped her arm around Jennifer's shoulder. "It's time for you to stop worrying about what your old man thinks of you. This is the 31st Century. This is your big chance, Roulette. Sure, ya did some bad stuff, but that was a thousand years ago. This is a clean slate. The universe believes you can be a hero, and it knows you can prove it. So prove it!" Jennifer rolled her eyes and pushed Razor's arm off.
"Yeah, yeah." The blonde luck-manipulator responded. "Whatever you say, rocker-queen." She walked out of the room, not noticing Amara standing near the door. The Nova Roman blinked as what the blonde New Jersey native said about her past replayed itself in her head. It shocked the princess. Then she realized that the Hellion had a point. Amara didn't know Jennifer. Not by a long shot.
"Think about what the Kid of Rock said, Blondie!" Razor called. "The Kid of Rock does know what she's talking about sometimes!"
Well, well, well! Looks like some revelations have been made here! What craziness will happen next? Who was the Goth woman that was talking to Tigra? Will Jocasta get a chance to design some new costumes for the Lost Mutants? Will Jennifer consider Kid Razor's advice? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!
(1) – In the comics, Berzerker could use his electrical manipulation powers to tap into radio and television broadcasts. When the writers of X-Men: Evolution were looking for characters with unique powers, Berzerker fit their needs perfectly (his bad boy personality helped), despite his obscurity (Berzerker's only appearance was in X-Factor #11 from December 1986. He was killed in the end of the issue.)