And so begins the Victor Mancha arc! Raise your hand if you've been waiting for this!

DISCLAIMER: I own Derrick Bolris and Ri'ann Parrn. 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 17: Blast from the Future

"Who the hell are you?" Gert asked, a confused Old Lace staring down the newcomer.

"I'm you," responded the other Gert. "Or at least I will be. Call me Arsenic, mainly for the purposes of telling two Gertrudes apart."

"And you're here for…?" Derrick asked as the two Old Laces began sniffing each other.

"There's…a threat, in my time," Arsenic began, "he killed the rest of my team, along with the Avengers, the X-Men, the Misfits, the Fantastic Five…all of them…dead."

"Who could have such power?" Xavin asked.

"His name is…Victorious," Arsenic answered.

"What? 'Victorious'?" Chase snickered. "Who calls himself that?"

"Someone you shouldn't underestimate," Arsenic said, pulling a photograph out of her pocket. "This is Victorious when he was in this time."

Nico took the photograph and looked at it. The photo was of someone they had never met, but in truth, he had not been in Los Angeles long enough for them to meet him.

It was Victor Mancha.

"You guys…have always been my closest friends…and one of you even more than that," Arsenic said, looking to Chase. "Please, you have to take down Victor Mancha before he grows too powerful."

"His real name's Victor?!" Chase laughed. "Man, now 'Victorious' seems even lamer!"

"Chase…" Arsenic smiled. "Seeing you so alive makes me feel…so much better…"

Arsenic suddenly fell to her knees, Chase coming to her as quickly as possible.

"Nico, get over here!" Chase said. "Use a spell or something!"

"No, Chase," Arsenic said. "Let her…save her spells…for when she really needs them…like when you take on Victor's father…the greatest evil in the universe…and the one who controls Victorious in his efforts...to wipe out all heroes on the planet."

She looked into Chase's eyes.

"Chase…Talkback…" Arsenic said. "I love you."

And then Arsenic died, the older Old Lace following suit.

"Damn it, I hate seeing people die," Derrick swore. "Reminds me of that army lab."

"Yes," Xavin said. "Your experiences are a testament to the cruelty of some humans, Derrick. But what will we do about…Arsenic?"

"We do what she wanted us to do," Chase said, holding Arsenic's body in his arms. "We find this Victor Mancha kid…and we take him out."

"Shouldn't we bury her first?" Karolina asked. "You know, make sure she has a proper burial or something?"

"I don't know," Gert shook her head. "This might be another of our parents' mind-freaks. This is my parents' time machine. What if this is some messed-up trick?"

"But what if it's real?" Molly asked. "What if there is some freaky guy that'll beat up all the superheroes?"

"Molly's right, Gert," Nico said. "It's a chance worth taking. If we don't, we may as well end up like Arsenic."

"Exactly," Gert said. "What kind of future was Arsenic from, anyway? For all we know, she could be working with the nutjobs of S.H.I.E.L.D to hunt down people like us!"

"We should still pursue this Victor," Xavin said.

"Fine," Gert grunted.

****

Michael Morbius was tired of being proven wrong all the time.

He had believed that the blood-transfusion experiment would cure his blood disease, but instead it turned him into a living vampire. He had believed that his newfound power made him invincible, but the Runaways and X-23 of the X-Men disproved this theory. He had honestly thought that his life could get no worse when he first became a vampire.

Sitting in the Avengers HQ, Morbius was proven wrong once again.

"Don't you dare touch that bottle, Thor!" yelled Hawkeye. "I mean it!"

"She-Hulk, Warbird, stop wrestling!" Iron Man cried. "You're going to put a hole through the wall! Again!"

"Falcon, stop drooling at Warbird and She-Hulk!" Captain America ordered. "Women are not objects! And put that camera away!"

"I hate it here," Morbius mumbled, his head in his hands. "I hate it here so much. Why can something not happen to get this madness to stop?"

"Michael, don't talk like that," Captain America said. "You need to be optimistic about your situation."

"How?!" Morbius snapped. "Look around you!"

"Point taken," Captain America said, observing the insanity that surrounded him. "Still, there's something I'll need your help with."

"And what would that be?" Morbius sneered.

"S.H.I.E.L.D gave us the all-clear," Captain America said. "The Avengers are going to Los Angeles."

****

Can anyone guess what's going to happen next?