Round two with Magneto, this time with Cloak and Dagger!
DISCLAIMER: Derrick Bolris belongs to me. Althea Delgado/Wavedancer belongs to Red Witch, and so does the Misfitverse this fic is set in. Everything else belongs to Marvel.
Chapter 7: Magnets and Daggers and Cloaks, Oh My!
"Magneto," Derrick growled. "And I thought the X-Men were persistent."
"He is a major mutant psycho," Dagger pointed out. "They do tend to not take a hint."
"Don't believe I never noticed your escapades, Cloak and Dagger," Magneto said. "Why not put your mutant talents to good use?"
"You mean," Dagger said, forming several knife-shaped light constructs in her hand, "like this?"
Dagger threw the knives at Magneto, who merely used a manhole to block them. Magneto then used his powers to launch the manhole at the trio in a manner similar to the way one would throw a Frisbee. Derrick shot a bolt of lightning at the manhole, blasting it out of the air. He then followed up with a second bolt directed at Magneto, but this time, the lightning had little effect on the master of magnetism.
"Wha—oh, crap," Derrick muttered.
"Do you honestly believe that I would not have learned from my mistakes and insulated my armor against your electricity?" Magneto asked. "Truly, you—ARGH!"
Magneto was interrupted by Cloak forming from nowhere behind Magneto, drawing the magnetically-powered mutant into a dark vortex within his cloak. Magneto barely managed to fly out in time, pulling various blunt metal objects to his side.
"Now I am rather upset," Magneto growled.
"As if you're the only one," Derrick snarled.
In a blink of an eye, Magneto flung a pair of lampposts at Cloak and Dagger, binding the two and lifting them into the air. Recognizing the need for quick action, Derrick used his lightning to launch himself again, drawing back his fist as he shot through the air...directly at Magneto.
"What?!" cried Magneto, quickly finding himself a victim of an electrically-powered punch.
His concentration broken yet again, Magneto dropped Cloak and Dagger. Both his captives landed roughly, their heads banging against the pavement almost as hard as their bodies. Magneto slowly rose, and Derrick clenched his fists again.
"There's plenty more where that punch came from," Derrick spat. "Are you going to leave me alone, now?!"
"You are quite lucky my Acolytes are stretched thin at the moment," Magneto sneered, another of his floating metal balls coming out of the sky, "seeking those worthy to join my cause. As potentially powerful as you are, Derrick, you may not be worth the effort. Besides, one way or another…"
Magneto levitated himself into his metallic orb.
"All mutants will come to my side, and rise above humanity," Magneto finished, the orb enveloping him and sailing back to whence it came.
"Gee, now why don't I like the sound of that?" Derrick asked himself sarcastically. He then turned to Cloak and Dagger. "You two all right?"
"D-dagger…do you remember?" Cloak mumbled. "The young ones…"
"Yeah…yeah, I remember them!" Dagger said, eyes widening. "Oh, God, I bet they think we betrayed them!"
"…what exactly are you talking about?" Derrick asked.
"Dagger and I suffered hard blows to the head when Magneto dropped us," Cloak explained, slipping out of his bonds and phasing Dagger out of hers. "The blow restored our memories of a group of runaway children, previously erased by a pair of telepathic mutants working for a group called 'the Pride'."
"Those nutjobs from LA?" Derrick asked.
"The one and the same," Dagger nodded. "We promised the kids we'd send someone as backup, but since they had to take the Pride out by themselves, Cloak and I will be going to LA to patch things up."
"Farewell, Derrick," said Cloak, shroud billowing again as Dagger walked into it. "May our paths cross again."
Derrick merely raised a hand as he turned and left, having no desire to watch Cloak fade through the pavement again. After draining electricity from a payphone to recharge, Derrick continued his travels through the back-alleys and streets of New York, wondering why in the world no one could simply leave him alone. Really, how hard would it be?
****
Night washed over New York. The stars twinkled in the sky as the light from the moon took on a somewhat lesser version of the sun's role. Some cars still roamed the streets, intent on returning home.
But the cars were not all that was roaming that night.
Inside an electronics shop, the owner was about to close up. He shoved the cash register's drawer shut, and was about to leave when he heard a ringing bell.
"Sorry," he said, "we're about to close. You'll have to come back tomorrow."
No response.
The man turned and saw his guest. The person in question appeared to be a rather tall man, though with the black trenchcoat and hood shrouding him, it was virtually impossible to see any discerning details.
"Can I…help you with anything?" asked the owner nervously.
A mouth opened within the hood, and the shop's owner gasped.
The teeth were yellow, and had pointed fangs.
"What the--?!" the shop owner screamed, stumbling back. "Y-you must be a mutant!"
The supposed mutant lunged, an eerily pale white hand reaching out from under the coat. The owner ducked behind his counter, just in time to see clawed fingernails slice through the cash register, destroying it in an instant.
"St-stay away!" stuttered the register. "Mutie freak!"
The creature again made no vocal response, but it then did something extraordinary. The supposed mutant dug its claws into the front of the counter, and with an inhuman growl, lifted the counter above its head. The owner, paralyzed with fear, scooted backwards on his rear end until his back met the wall.
The monster threw the counter aside, allowing it to smash into pieces. It then turned back to the shop owner, who was still frightened beyond belief.
"Wh-wh-wh-what are you?!" stammered the owner.
And this time the creature responded.
"Hungry," it said.
And then it lunged once more.
****
Before anyone asks, I'm well aware that I keep having Magneto get taken down easily. It's just fun to humiliate him by having one electric mutant kick his butt all the time. Sorry if anyone has problems with it.
Oh, and about our monstrous newcomer at the end? He's going to play a big part in a story arc that I've been intending to write ever since BFTD was in the "development" stages. Hope everyone who reads this likes it!