Remember that little plotline back in BFTD? The one where Deadpool was hired by Cobra? I'm finally going to conclude it in the next couple of chapters!
DISCLAIMER: I own Derrick Bolris and Ri'ann Parrn. The Misfitverse this story takes place in belongs to Red Witch, and so does Trinity. The characters of G.I. Joe belong to Hasbro, and everything else belongs to Hasbro.
Chapter 22: Cobra Strike
One month after the Runaways' battle with Ultron, at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters in Bayville, New York, a girl with dark brown hair was sitting at a computer, clicking her mouse every now and then. As she continued to look through her e-mail, she paused to sniff the air. Growling, she turned her head and shot a glare into the shadows. When she did so, a young boy with lighter brown hair fell out.
"Uh, hi?" whimpered Jamie Madrox, the young X-Man named Multiple. "What are you doing, Rina?"
"Sorting through my e-mail," replied Rina Logan, the former Hydra project named X-23.
"Really?" Jamie asked. "You get e-mail?"
"For the past few months, now," Rina responded. "I have a friend in Los Angeles."
She looked at one e-mail, and a small smile spread across her face.
"Here he is," Rina said.
"Can I—" Jamie began, but a screaming voice interrupted.
"JAMIE!" a girl's voice cried, and the boy in question instantly paled.
"WE'RE BAAAAA-AAAACK!" cried another girl's voice.
"KISSY TIME!" cried a third girl's voice.
"Oh, man, it's Trinity!" he cried. "Gotta hide!"
Jamie ran off to hide from the trio of Misfits collectively called Trinity, while Rina simply clicked on the e-mail she wanted to read. Once it opened, she began to silently read it. Smiling slightly, she began to type a reply to the e-mail, fingers dancing across the keyboard. After several paragraphs worth of typing, however, a noise caught her attention.
"Logan!" cried the voice of Deadpool. "How you doing, buddy?"
"I'd be a lot better if you and your Cobra pals left, Deadpool!" snarled back Logan. "I knew you had low standards, but this is ridiculous!"
Rina hurriedly typed up a miniature message within her own reply, before clicking the "send" button. She had accomplished this not a minute too soon, for immediately afterward she was knocked out by Deadpool.
"This is your clone, Logan?" Deadpool asked the unconscious form of Wolverine. "Weird, she doesn't look anything like you. And she isn't wearing Stormtroooper armor, because we all know that clones wear Stormtrooper armor, especially the sci-fi geeks who stood in line at midnight to see Episode Three!"
****
In Los Angeles, Derrick clicked through his own e-mail, with Victor and Molly next to him.
"Vic, is there a reason you're looking over my shoulder?" Derrick asked.
"Nico wanted you and Molly to keep an eye on me in case some latent Ultron program kicks in," Victor answered. "You can absorb my electricity and Molly's the only one strong enough to take me down if I go rogue."
"Besides that," Derrick said.
"Uh, I wanted to see if you really knew X-23," Victor said. "You know, Wolverine's clone?"
"Wolverine stinks!" Molly shouted.
"I don't believe it!" Victor gasped, looking at the sender of Derrick's latest e-mail. "You actually get e-mail from X-23?! X-twenty-freaking-three?!"
"Actually, turns out she's been named Rina," Derrick said. "But, yeah. I met her back in New York, and 'met' Morbius right after that."
Derrick clicked the e-mail, and began to read it. Molly and Victor peered over his shoulders to read as well, much to his annoyance.
Dear Derrick,
If I didn't know the Misfits—and the occasional chaos that happens over here at the Institute—then I would say you've had some insane events happen to you and your friends in LA. Seeing as I know better, however, I'm going to say that you've actually had some comparatively tame days.
I've actually been all right lately. Things are unusually quiet here at the Institute. By now we'd have fought off some alien invasion or something. After the disbandment, the Misfits don't come over and try to prank us as often anymore, though Trinity is still stalking Multiple. Speaking of which, Multiple just ran off. He heard Trinity calling for him.
Don't ask. Just don't.
If you can, get to Bayville ASAP! Cobra just showed up and they've got someone named Deadpool with them, along with something that actually took out everyone here! Got to go!
"Wait, Deadpool?" Victor asked. "As in, 'the Merc with a Mouth', Deadpool? The craziest mercenary ever? That Deadpool?"
"I take it you've heard of him?" Derrick asked.
"A little," Victor said. "He doesn't really show up much. But, if he's working for Cobra and attacking the Xavier Institute, we need to find a way to get to Bayville!"
"Oh, no need," a voice said. "You'll be reunited with your mutant friend soon enough."
Victor, Molly, and Derrick sprang up, and saw a man with a metallic head standing beside a group of Cobra troopers. Some of the troopers were holding the unconscious forms of Chase, Nico, Karolina, Gert, and Xavin, with Old Lace's jaws and claws held together by chains.
"Who's he, Doctor Doom?" Molly asked.
"No, but he is my distant cousin," replied the metallic-headed man.
"Wait, Destro from Cobra and Doctor Doom are cousins?" Victor said. "Wow, talk about your family resemblance."
"Ah, you must be Victor Mancha," the Cobra operative named Destro said. "I had been hoping to find you along with your new little street urchin friends."
With a smirk, Destro snapped his fingers.
"We have been planning many weeks for this, ever since your electric mutant friend there left New York," Destro said as some troopers brought a large cannon-like device forward.
"Wait, you've only been planning for a few weeks?" Victor asked. "If you've been planning since Derrick was picked up by the other Runaways, why'd you make your move just now?"
"We wanted to move sooner," Destro groaned, "but Deadpool kept making us stop for ice cream or some infernal snack food every time we tried to capture a target. We figured it would be significantly more productive if we went across the country to capture many super-powered targets simultaneously…with devices like this one."
Several Cobra troops brought forward a cannon-like device, aimed at the three remaining Runaways.
"Fire!" Destro ordered, and the cannon released a wave of pink energy that washed over the Runaways. Surprisingly, the remaining Runaways seemed to be completely unharmed.
"What was the point of that?" Derrick asked. "Vic, can you lend me some power?"
"Sure thing," Victor said, pointing his hand at Derrick, but nothing happened. "What?! Why can't I…?!"
"Simple," Destro smirked. "The cannon we used neutralized your powers for the next few hours…"
The Cobra troops surrounded Derrick, Victor, and Molly.
"…and a few hours is all we need," Destro finished. "Take them to the truck. When Deadpool meets up with us at the rendezvous point, I'll need to talk to him about the pink color of the cannon's blast."
****
A dark blue truck marked with the insignia of a red cobra sped down the streets of Los Angeles. Inside, the Runaways slowly stirred into consciousness. Across from them were Rina, along with another pair they knew. The pair consisted of a blonde girl in a white bodysuit and a dark-skinned male shrouded by a large cloak.
"Nice to see you guys again," said Dagger, "much as I wish that it was under better circumstances."
"I take it Cobra captured you with their weapon as well?" Cloak asked.
"Yeah, it sucked," Chase muttered. "Knocked out Old Lace and shorted out my Fistigons."
"Espera un minuto," Victor said in Spanish, "you guys know Cloak and Dagger?"
"Mostly," Xavin said, currently in her male Skrull form due to having no access to her shape-shifting power. "I have never met them."
"We haven't met you, either," Dagger said.
"Well, uh, my name's Victor Mancha," said Victor. "The Skrull here is Xavin. How do you guys know the others?"
"It was back before the Pride was taken down," Dagger began. "A cop who worked for the Pride contacted us, telling us that Molly was kidnapped by the rest of your friends."
"I had no intention of going there unless it was important," Cloak growled.
"Sorry about Cloak," Dagger smiled, "east coast-west coast rivalries. Anyway, we fought a little bit before Gert and Molly pointed out that the cop lied to us."
"Which was after Nico and I got sucked into Cloak's psycho dark-world," Chase snapped. "I'd swear I saw sharks in there! Sharks! In space!"
"Space sharks?" Molly asked.
"That reminds me," Dagger said. "What happened to Alex?"
Nico then looked rather solemn.
"Oh…sensitive subject?" Dagger asked.
"Alex betrayed us before trying to help his folks and Nico's wipe out all of humanity," Gert said bluntly.
"Oh…sorry," Dagger winced. "Guess you were close?"
"Do not press the subject any longer, Dagger," Cloak cautioned.
"Yeah, you're right," Dagger said. "Oh, sorry Rina, didn't mean to leave you out."
"That's fine," Rina shrugged, despite the metallic gloves on her hands and feet. "I'm usually not that much of a socialite, even this long after Hydra."
"Why are those gloves and boots there?" Karolina asked. "Aren't your powers shorted out?"
"My only mutant powers are heightened senses and an accelerated healing factor," Rina explained. "My claws aren't mutant-related. Without my healing factor, though, I'll end up dying from adamantium poisoning, and these restraints are made of adamantium. I can't shred them."
"What about the other X-Men?" Nico asked.
"Yeah, can't they do something?" Victor added.
"They were all captured, too," Rina shook her head. "Wolverine has the same restraints I do, and the team is pretty small these days."
"So, all we can do is hope for someone to give us a hand?" Nico said, narrowing her eyes. "Not sure that's likely."
"Oh, come on, Nico!" Dagger said. "I'm sure G.I. Joe or somebody will take notice and knock Cobra around."
"Or just come to grab some more soldiers for their Misfits," Derrick spat.
"I'm not sure who's going to come," Rina said, "but I do know this…despite public sentiment against mutants, the X-Men have plenty of allies. One of them is bound to notice that the entire population of the Institute has gone missing."
"You're from Bayville, a.k.a 'the town founded for mutant hate'," Derrick said. "It's not that likely."