This chapter had me excited. One of the two new members mentioned in the summary debuts here.
DISCLAIMER: I own Derrick Bolris. The Misfitverse this takes place in belongs to Red Witch, the characters of G.I. Joe belong to Hasbro, and everything else belongs to Marvel.
Chapter 9: Touching on Some Other Issues
After the Runaways' brief adventure in the zombie dimension, the group spent the next month dealing with other low-level supervillains. The Wrecking Crew made another attempt at making Los Angeles their stomping grounds, only to find their efforts about to be repulsed once again.
The Wrecking Crew consisted of four men. One wore a dark green trenchcoat and had dark pink gloves, boots, and equally dark pink bandages wrapped around his head. He held a crowbar in his hand, specifically a crowbar enchanted with Asgardian magic. His name was Dirk Garthwaite, but he was more commonly known as the Wrecker, the leader of the Wrecking Crew.
The other members consisted of Brian Calusky, Elliot Franklin, and Henry Camp, known respectively as Piledriver, Thunderball, and Bulldozer. Piledriver wore a dominantly white costume with a red mask, red gloves, and red boots. Thunderball's costume was of a similar coloring, but was green with yellow gloves, a yellow mask, and yellow boots. Bulldozer had an orange costume with grey gloves and boots as well as a metallic helmet.
The Runaways confronted this colorful four at a bank one evening. Wrecker pounded his crowbar into his hand, Thunderball prepared to swing about his personal wrecking ball, and the pair of Piledriver and Bulldozer prepared for old-fashioned melee attacks.
"Okay, guys," Nico began, "is there a reason you're back?"
"Yeah," said Wrecker. "Nobody makes fools of the Wrecking Crew, especially a bunch of stupid kids!"
"Well, we made fools of you a few months ago," Derrick pointed out. "So we're guessing you're here to have that happen again."
"Shows what you know!" snapped Wrecker. "Boys, get 'em!"
"How incredibly original," Gert said calmly as the Wrecking Crew charged. Old Lace quickly tackled Piledriver, who found himself in the same panicked state as Kraven had earlier.
"WHOA! HELP!" cried Bulldozer as Molly picked him up over her head and threw him high into the air.
Derrick used electricity he had drained to electrify Thunderball's wrecking ball, leading to the dark-skinned Wrecking Crew member being literally shocked. Chase simply shot Wrecker with a flame blast, which Karolina added to with a beam of her own, instantly downing the Crew's leader.
Just as quickly as had been done before, the Wrecking Crew was entirely unconscious.
"Well, that was quick," said Gert as Old Lace prodded Piledriver with her nose.
"Yeah, gives us some free time," Chase smirked.
"Which means we take a break for a little bit," Nico said with a relieved sigh. "We really need to de-stress."
"I said I was sorry!" Derrick yelled. "I had some electricity stored and I didn't notice you standing behind me!"
"Let's just go," Karolina said as the Runaways piled into the Leapfrog again.
****
Twenty minutes later, Derrick strolled through the park alone. Much as he liked being with the other Runaways—indeed, they took up the majority of his few friend groups—he always had a penchant for being aloof. He had been that way for three years. Derrick looked at his hand, which discharged several small sparks. He always kept some electricity with him in case of some kind of attack. He had always done that, even in New York.
Despite his mutant power, no one bothered him. No one even looked harshly at him. This was rarely how it was in New York. Derrick smirked. This was a decent place to be.
And then he heard sobbing. He looked in the direction he heard it coming from, and he noticed a familiar rainbow glow.
Karolina.
Although he assumed Karolina was comforting a crying person, as it was in her nature to do so, Derrick nonetheless directed his travels towards the forlorn soul. When he arrived, he was slightly shocked.
Karolina, sitting on a rock, was the one crying.
"Kar?" he said softly.
"Go away!" she snapped, unusually harsh for her.
"I'll think about it if you tell me why you're not your usual hippie self," Derrick said, leaning back against a tree.
"You'll hate me for it," Karolina sniffed. "I'm a freak."
"Did someone insult about your rainbows?" Derrick asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's not that, it's…it's different," Karolina said. "I'm different."
"So?" Derrick said. "So are mutants. Believe me, I'd know, and so would Molly."
Derrick sat down next to her, though not on the rock.
"Look, Kar, it doesn't matter if anything about you is messed up at all," he said. "You're not a freak. Honestly, you're not that much different from mutants, none of which are acutal freaks. The main difference is that you don't have an X-gene."
"So…you don't mind that I'm…" Karolina trailed off.
"Come on, it can't be that bad," Derrick said. "Listen to me, you're the eternal optimist, not me."
"Well…don't say I didn't warn you," Karolina said, and after a long pause, she finally revealed the source of her sorrow.
"I'm gay."
"That's it?" Derrick said.
"What do you mean 'that's it'?" Karolina asked.
"That's what you're crying about?" Derrick asked.
"Well, uh…no, actually," Karolina said. "I, uh…tried to kiss Nico."
"And she turned you down," Derrick said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Karolina Dean, you're an extremely honest and generous person whose only problem is that she has a limited selection where dating is concerned. That's all."
"You really think so?" Karolina said, and Derrick nodded. She then looked up. "Wow, a wishing star."
"I have the feeling I'll know what you'll wish for," Derrick said.
The star suddenly veered towards them.
"Wrong wish!" Derrick cried, grabbing Karolina's arm. "MOVE!"
Derrick yanked Karolina away, but the star made no crash. Instead, the ship that had scouted space for a Majesdanian energy signature hovered where they once were. Out of the ship stepped a dark-skinned boy with short black hair and a purple-and-black jumpsuit.
"Who the hell are you?" Derrick growled.
"I'm afraid that isn't your concern," said the boy, and with a wave of his hand, an invisible force field surrounded Derrick, imprisoning the electrokinetic mutant. "Karolina, come."
"Who are you?!" Karolina demanded. "How do you know my name?!"
"Didn't your parents tell you of the arrangement between our two worlds?" asked the boy.
"They're dead, and they didn't mention any arrangement!" Karolina snapped.
"Oh, I see," said the boy as his skin began to turn green. "Then, allow me to explain."
The boy's ears became pointed, his chin became rigid, and his eyes turned red.
"My name is Xavin," said the boy, "and I'm your fiancée."