Ah...the last chapter. My first Misfitverse fic comes to a close, even though I initially expected it to be longer. Oh, well. Them's the breaks.
DISCLAIMER: Derrick Bolris belongs to me. Althea Delgado/Wavedancer, Trinity, and Lina Chakram/Dragonfly belong to Red Witch, along with the Misfitverse this fic takes place in. G.I. Joe and Cobra belong to Hasbro. Everything else belongs to Marvel.
Chapter 12: Fall of the Curtain
The X-Men had agreed to bring the Runaways back to Los Angeles in an effort to gain forgiveness for their actions. With the Runaways and Derrick—who had requested to go—aboard the Blackbird, the X-Men took off. The Runaways were in a group alone, discussing whether or not they should allow Derrick to join with them.
"He took out Colossus to help me!" Molly reminded them.
"The question is 'why'," Nico said.
"I talked to him a little right before we took off," Karolina said. "The X-Men tried to recruit him, but he refused. He didn't want to see Molly get recruited against her will either."
"So?" Chase said. "How can we be sure he won't wind up another Alex?"
The minute Chase finished the sentence, Nico glared hard at him.
"Oh…sorry, Nic," Chase said, wincing. "Please don't turn me into a fish again."
"I say we give him a chance," Karolina suggested. "Take a vote?"
"For!" Molly shouted, raising her hand.
"Against," Chase said.
"Abstain," Nico said.
"Where?" Chase asked, looking down at his shirt.
"She doesn't want to vote, honey," Gert corrected. "Personally, I vote for. Can't be much worse than Topher or you-know-who."
"I vote for, too," Karolina said.
****
As requested, the X-Men dropped off the Runaways in front of the La Brea Tar Pits Museum. Derrick departed the Blackbird as well, Rina waving good-bye as the jet took off. When the jet was out of sight, Derrick remained on the mossy hill near the tar pit. Most of the Runaways went back into their lair, but Nico stayed behind.
"Hey…Derrick?" Nico said.
"What?" Derrick said, sitting cross-legged as he stared at the horizon.
"Want to talk?" Nico asked, sitting next to him.
Derrick hesitated.
"Lot of trauma, huh?" Nico guessed. "You're not the only one."
"What would you know?" Derrick asked. "You're not a mutant. You don't have to put up with the racial crap, since your power is a magic stick in your chest."
"For starters, my parents were evil," Nico said. "And so were all the others' parents. The Pride controlled LA and had a lot of police working for them. We took them out, but what we didn't know was that it would leave behind a power vacuum. Now all of the nutjobs from New York want to fill that vacuum. On top of that, people like the Avengers want to throw us in foster care. So don't tell me my life is awesome. It's not."
"Bet mine's worse," Derrick said with a bitter smirk.
"How?" Nico asked.
"Well, let's see," Derrick began, "I was experimented on by my parents when they found out I was a mutant, I accidentally killed them and everything else in the room, and I had to deal with racism in New York before I met you guys. Top that."
"I was betrayed by someone I loved," Nico said. "He thought his parents were heroes for wanting to wipe out all life in the world."
"Ouch," Derrick winced. "You win."
"Win what?" Nico sighed. "I think our lives are equal in terms of the crap we've gone through."
She put her hand on his shoulder.
"You can hang out with us if you want," Nico offered. "Might be able to help you deal with it all."
"I don't know," Derrick said. "I've been on my own for a few years. I've always wanted to just be left alone. I always hoped that there was some kind of special place where there was nobody to throw their racist crap at me. When Molly told me that LA wasn't as anti-mutant as New York, I thought that it might be that place."
"It might be," Nico said, "but maybe not in the way you expected. Derrick, we look out for each other. No matter how stupidly one of us acts or how badly they mess up, we roll with it. We're a family."
Derrick looked at her.
"We're not like the X-Men," Nico assured him, "and don't even get me started on the Misfits. We don't care what kinds of powers people have. We only care about what kind of person they are. From what I can tell, you're a good person, you've just seen too much crap. Trust me, there's a lot less of said crap in LA than there is in New York."
"…maybe," Derrick said. "Are you sure humanity's worth fighting for?"
"New Yorkers really aren't the most grateful guys around," Nico agreed, "but like I said, things are different here in LA. The people here aren't stupid and paranoid. They're actually halfway-decent."
Derrick stared at the horizon, pausing to take all this in. Maybe humans were worth guarding? The Runaways had the same sort of idea as the X-Men…and yet, the X-Men had the futile hope that humanity would eventually accept mutants through their deeds. The Runaways wanted no part of the mutant conflict.
And neither did Derrick.
The electrokinetic glanced at the people entering and leaving the museum. They wanted to live freely, and whether they acknowledged it or not, the Runaways fought so that they could keep living in such a way. In Los Angeles, humans and mutants were generally equal…why not use his powers to protect his equals? Why not defend those who would never reject their heroes?
He was far from the racism of New York and Bayville, now. And he wanted to keep it that way.
"Okay," he said, "I'll stay."
"Welcome to the team," Nico smiled. "Try not to die."
****
"We hired Deadpool as you suggested," Cobra Commander growled at a man on a television screen, the latter being shrouded by shadows. "He's a complete lunatic! He was more focused on trying to give Destro brain surgery than work for us! He took none of our goals seriously!"
As if on cue, Deadpool rode by on a shopping cart, with a cadre of Cobra troops in pursuit.
"For he's a really good butt-head!" Deadpool sang. "For he's a really good butt-head! For he's a really good butt-head! Who the heck am I kidding?! Destro really sucks!"
"Yes," the man said, apparently ignoring Deadpool's song, "I anticipated that."
"What?!" Cobra Commander snapped. "Why did you have us hire him, then?!"
"Because," the man replied, "Deadpool's state of mind may cause him to be irritating, but it also assists in his skills. For our alliance to work, Deadpool must be in your control. You control the world…I control Los Angeles."
"What's so special about that little city?" Cobra Commander scoffed.
"With the Pride no longer in control, the city is…how does the expression go?" Cobra's unknown partner said. "Ripe for the picking. That city contains greater power than you realize. Just ask the Pride's children."
"Those brats?!" Cobra Commander snapped. "What do they have to do with this?!"
"Trust in the wisdom of the Black Tarantula," said the mysterious man. "All will be revealed in time."