Misfitverse: The Korvac Saga
Disclaimers: OCs are mine. Canon characters belong to Marvel or DC Comics, and here's your quote: "I can't go to Pankot, I'm a singer!" - Kate Capshaw as Willie Scott, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Chapter 28: A Force to Reckon With, Part 5
The planet Klattu
"We want the virus." Interface told the Avengers. "Let us obtain it peacefully, and we shall take our leave."
"You really think they're just going to let us take the virus and walk away?" Brahl snorted.
"Your purple friend's right, Interface." Commander America confirmed, taking a battle stance, his legendary shield at the ready. "We can't let you do that."
"Besides, we outnumber you clowns." The Tachyon Torch smirked. "There's seven of you and eight of us."
"Superior numbers do not guarantee victory, Mr. Storm." Interface answered as he held out his hand. "Not with our powers." The air above the Avengers turned into a green gas that floated down above them. The gas made the heroes cough and retch.
Activate armor seals! Iron Man mentally commanded his armor.
"Ya should let me take 'em out for good, 'Face." Brahl warned. "They'll find a way through this."
"You bet we will!" Sam coughed. "Yera! Jo!"
"You got it!" The Durlan and nanobot hive nodded. Using their powers, they morphed into giant fans to blow the gas back at Force.
"Take this, Force!" Randall Pierce, Iron Man, snapped as he fired his repulsors.
"Ughn!" Broadside grunted as the repulsor blasts knocked her back. "You really are something, Iron Man. I never figured you were the type to blast a lady."
"For some reason, I can't imagine anyone considering you a lady." The futuristic Golden Avenger retorted. Broadside snarled.
"YOU LITTLE-!" A glow enveloped her body as she called upon her powers. Using Klattu's mass to increase her already great strength, she slammed her fists on the ground, creating a shockwave that slammed into the armored hero, knocking him into a wall.
"Some people can't handle the truth." Iron Man grunted, shaking his head.
"You gonna pay for that!" Chameleon Girl yelled, charging at Broadside. As she charged, she turned her fists into large mace heads, and she proceeded to pound Broadside with them.
"The lady's got the right idea, people!" Commander America yelled. "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" A pair of cannons emerged from a wall, and the nozzles started to glow. "What?"
Bzzow! Bzzow!
Commander America managed to get his shield up in time to block the cannons' laser blasts. "Blast! I forgot about Ultra-Max!"
I tire of you organic beings always trying to foil me! Ultra-Max snarled. More cannons emerged from the walls, and started firing at the Avengers and Force alike. The brawl started to degenerate into utter chaos.
"Great!" Brahl rumbled as he allowed a laser beam to pass through him. "First, the damned Avengers, and now this!"
"Uh, Boss..." Eightyfive turned to Interface. The Kree mutant was using a magnetic shield to protect himself from the lasers. "What now?"
"I knew this would occur." Interface grunted as he turned a cannon into water. "I just was unaware of how angry Ultra-Max would truly be."
"Wonderful!" Photon growled as the Centaurian fired beams of green destruction from her eyes at one cannon. "Is this job even worth nearly getting blasted by a virus-crazed planet?!"
"Hey, for several million creds, you gotta expect some risk." Broadside shrugged as she smashed a cannon.
"Easy for her to say, she's practically invulnerable." Photon grumbled.
"A three-way fight." Kid Razor grumbled, firing at Scanner after dodging a laser blast from a wall cannon. "Those are always so much fun."
"They are for me, kid!" Brahl smirked as he tried to ambush Razor. However, the blonde heroine heard him coming.
VROOM!
"YAHHHH!!" Brahl screamed as a rainbow-colored energy blast slammed into him and sent him flying through a wall. Razor smirked.
"Mystical energy, nassbrain." The blonde Asian smirked triumphantly. "Your powers can't protect you from that stuff."
Wham! Wham! Wham!
"Dammit!" Danielle Moonstar cursed as she whacked at the energy bubble's wall with her bow. "SAM! LET US OUT OF THIS THING!"
"Take it easy, Dani." Doug tried to calm the enraged Cheyenne girl. "You'll most likely break that bow before you break that wall." She sighed at Doug's statement.
"Fine." Dani sighed.
"Aie!" Marie screamed as a laser blast slammed into the bubble's wall.
"You know, we can do something!" Dani grumbled. "I can understand why Sam did this..." She watched the three-way battle between Ultra-Max, the Avengers, and Force.
"Uhn!" Harry grunted as he got knocked against the bubble wall. He shot a glare at Jennifer, and then raced back into the battle.
"Next time, I'll ask Fitzroy to impale me for ya, ya jerk!" Jennifer yelled angrily. "Will that make you happy?!"
"...but we can help." Dani sighed. "We can face them. We've faced worse than these Force guys..." She shot a look at Haroun. He was shaking his head slightly. "Jetstream? You okay?"
"Danielle..." He looked at her. "Something is wrong."
"What do you mean?" Dani asked.
"Guy's got metal in his skull." Jennifer explained. "Maybe there's some interference that's messing him up or something."
"My mind..." Haroun blinked. "I think something is wrong with my mind."
"Oh, great." Ray groaned. "We're stuck in a bubble with a cyborg that is going insane."
"Be nice." Marie chided.
"It is just..." Haroun blinked. "My memories of my time in the Hellions..."
"What about them?" Jennifer blinked.
"Jennifer, Marie..." The Moroccan mutant cyborg. "Think back to your days in the Hellions! Something is wrong!"
"What?" The two girls blinked.
A garden on Haven
Ember McLain was hovering slightly over the ground in a garden. She was sitting in a lotus position. A soft yellow glow had covered her body. Her cloak was blowing, revealing she was wearing old clothes. Observing her was Rancor, Oracle, and Batwing.
"What is she doing?" Batwing blinked.
"She is communing." Oracle answered.
"Communing?" A confused Batwing blinked.
"You know that she's a necromage, right?" Rancor reminded. "She's communing with the dead. Her powers allow her to also communicate with those who've died and returned." Her red eyes opened slowly, and a small smile formed on her face.
"Yes..." The former X-Girl smiled. "He's beginning to see..."
"Who? What?" A confused Rancor scratched her head.
"He's beginning to see..." Ember's smile widened. "The deception of the past is being lifted..."
Klattu
Jennifer and Marie immediately did what Haroun ordered them to.
"What're they doing?" Amara blinked.
"I think they're thinking." Ray scratched his head. The two girls' eyes widened in shock.
"Ohmigod..." Jennifer mumbled.
"Mon Dieu..." Marie stammered.
"What's wrong?" Doug asked the redhead. She looked at Doug, horror etched in her face.
"Our actions..." She stammered. "The things we did as the Hellions..."
"It's like..." Jennifer mumbled.
"It's like you're simply watching." Haroun finished.
"Yeah." Jennifer agreed. "It's like we're cars, but someone else was in the driver's seat."
"What in Hades are they talking about?" Amara whispered to Roberto. The Brazilian mutant thought for a moment, until it hit him.
"I don't believe it."
"What?" Ray blinked.
"Mind control." Doug sighed. "The Hellions must've had their minds controlled."
"You gotta be kidding." Amara groaned.
"Mind control?" Ray snorted. "Come on! That's just an easy out in comic books!"
"You may believe I am insane." Haroun countered. "But I do think something happened to-guh!" The cyborg Moroccan then became still, his eyes turning solid black and glowing yellow.
"What was that?!" Roberto blinked.
"Haroun?" Dani blinked.
"Marie!" Doug yelped. He noticed that the same stillness and eye change had affected Marie.
"It's hit Blondie over here, too." Roberto jerked his thumb at Jennifer.
"SAM!" Dani screamed at the battle in his direction. "Something's wrong with Marie, Haroun, and Jennifer!" Sam quickly blasted a flying drone sent by Ultra-Max.
"What?!" Sam turned his head towards Dani quickly, not quite catching what she said. "Uhn!" He got punched hard in the jaw by Broadside.
"Gotcha!" The powerful orange woman whooped.
"Whoops." Dani winced.
"Ooh, that hit looked nasty." Ray added with a sympathetic hiss.
Location Unknown
"What the-?!" Jennifer blinked. She, Haroun, and Marie found themselves in a strange void, blackness all around them.
"Mon Dieu..." Marie gaped in amazement.
"Fascinating." Haroun raised an eyebrow.
"Where are we now?" The blonde ex-Hellion groaned.
"You are in the Astral Plane." Ember McLain announced as she walked up to the trio of confused ex-Hellions A blue streak in her black hair glowed slightly, hr green-skinned face showing warmth. "I know it's not the Plane you remember, but do not worry. It changes appearance all the time, based on who you meet here." Marie gasped in shock.
"You are one of the X-Men we encountered at that concert!" Marie remembered. (1)
"Yes, I was. Back then, I was called Dead Girl." Ember explained. "My body and spirit were separate then. Now, they are one once more. My name is Ember McLain."
"Ember McLain?!" Jennifer gasped. "You were the one who mind-controlled us at that concert!" (2)
"Again, guilty as charged." Ember nodded solemnly. "I did not realize it at the time, but when my spirit used her power to control you and Marie-Ange...I had discovered that the three of you had already been through a form of mental alteration."
"Alteration?" Haroun blinked.
"Indeed." Ember agreed. "The Hellfire Club changed your personalities. They made your darker sides dominant so you be better soldiers for them. But I see I contacted you at a bad time. I shall explain to you more later on. I am on a place called Haven."
"We've heard of this Haven." Marie recalled. "It is the Mutant Homeworld, yes?"
"Yes." Ember nodded. "It is where many of the mutants now reside. After this battle ends, you must go to Haven. There, I will explain more." She vanished and a flash of white light erupted.
Klattu
"Ugnh!" The three ex-Hellions shook their heads.
"You guys okay?" Dani blinked.
"Yes..." Haroun shook his head.
"What happened?" Doug asked.
"We saw...Ember McLain, she called herself." Jennifer answered.
"Ember McLain?! The Ghost Rocker?!" The former New Mutants yelped.
"Makes sense she'd still be around, being a ghost and all." Doug noted.
"She said she was re-merged, and that she was once called Dead Girl." Jennifer added.
"Dead Girl and Ember...re-merged?" Amara blinked.
"Man, the future just gets weirder and weirder." Ray shook his head. The rest of the New Mutants tried to process the revelation.
"Dead Girl and Ember." Roberto shook his head. "They were the same person?"
"That...makes sense." Doug admitted with a nod. "Dead Girl was a zombie. Ember was a ghost."
"Ember McLain tried to kill us once." Amara scowled, crossing her arms. "How do we know that she is trustworthy now?"
"For the love of God, Princess!" Jennifer screamed in frustration. "Can't you get it through your thick damn head?! We're not the bad guys here!"
"Uh..." Ray raised his hand. "If you intend to kill each other, can you please keep in mind we're stuck in this bubble with you?"
"She is correct, Miss Aquilla." Haroun glared at Amara. "All you have done during our time here is call us monsters. Sociopaths. Accuse us of having no regrets about the things we have done. What Ember had to tell us just may change that."
"Hold on one second." Dani tried to calm things down. "Haroun...what exactly did Ember tell you?" Haroun looked at the Cheyenne girl.
"She said the Hellfire Club...changed us."
"Changed you?" Doug blinked.
"Yes." Haroun answered with a nod. "They...changed our personalities. Altered our minds." He looked down in shame. "Shut off our consciences."
"Mae de Deus..." Roberto gaped.
"Son of a..." Ray growled in disbelief.
"They did it so we'd be good little soldiers. So we wouldn't morally object to what they'd have us do." Jennifer snarled in anger. She shot a look of rage at Amara. "We heartless monsters now, Princess?" The Nova Roman could only stare with her mouth open. Tears came down Marie's eyes.
"They...used us." She sniffed.
"Dear God..." Doug shook his head. He put his arm around Marie's shoulders in comfort. Dani's face grew hard.
"Hey, hear that hissing noise?" Roberto realized. The Lost Mutants turned and saw a large hole open in a wall. The noise was air being sucked in. "Uh oh."
"Oh, crud." Dani blinked. The hole sucked the screaming Lost Mutants in, energy bubble and all.
"No!" Sam yelled, rocketing after them.
"Captain Marvel, what're you doing?!" Commander America yelled, throwing his shield at a drone, and also smashing Photon.
"I have to protect the Lost Mutants!" Sam yelled. "If anything happens to them, we are all screwed!" He rocketed in the hole after them.
"Lost Mutants?" A confused Mainframe mumbled as he incapacitated the Gammazon with a gas attack.
"WAHHHH!!!" The Lost Mutants screamed as they were sucked down a vent.
"My brains are going into my feet..." Roberto moaned.
"I think I'm gonna hurl." Ray groaned.
"Don't do it in here!" Jennifer screamed. The young mutants found themselves in a large silver room. The room was covered in panels and had the occasional screen. There were small colored LED's and control panels everywhere. They hit the ground so hard, the bubble construct dissipated, and the all grunted in unison as they got up.
"Now where are we?" Jennifer wailed as the Lost Mutants got to their feet.
"Somewhere else in Mainframe's body." Sam explained as he flew up. "I gotta get you all out of here-!" A group of fearsome-looking tentacles sped towards the Lost Mutants.
I tire of you organics! Ultra-Max wants revenge!
"Uh oh..." Ray winced. "We're toast."
Well, well, well! Looks like business is picking up, and shocking revelations have been made! What insanity will happen next? Can the Avengers stop Ultra-Max and Force and save Mainframe? What will the former Hellions do about the revelation of the Hellfire Club's meddling with their minds? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!
– In NebulaBelt's "Misfit Mania"
- Again, in NebulaBelt's "Misfit Mania"