The Fall of the Misfits

Part the Second

Swan Song

By Nick Maro

Roxy rubbed the sleep from her eyes then poured herself a cup of coffee and turned on the morning news. She was putting the bread in the toaster when she heard news that made her stop and listen.

"…and in business news today, Gabor Industries has put all of their companies and stocks up for sale, this move comes one week after the funeral of Harvey Gabor, the founder and president of Gabor Industries. The set price is as yet unannounced. There has been no comment as of yet from Phyllis or David Gabor; the twin son and daughter of Harvey Gabor. Now we turn to a story of the little squirrel that could..."

Roxy turned off the television and leaned against the counter in thought. Who should she call first; David or Pizzazz? She sipped her coffee as she thought about it. She grabbed the phone she dialed. "Hello. Gabor Estate, Hitomi speaking. How can I help you?"

"Hitomi, its Roxy. Is David awake?" she asked quickly.

"Roxy, how are you? Yeah, he's doing his morning routine though. You know, practicing, meditating, and finding inner enlightenment. I keep telling him he just needs a bran muffin. Boom! Instant inner peace." Hitomi rambled on in her increasingly annoying tone.

"Hitomi shut the hell up and go get David! It's an emergency!" Roxy snapped at the young woman. She bit her lower bit lip in instant regret at being short with her friend.

"O-okay, sorry, I'll go get him." Hitomi apologized and put the phone down. Roxy heard her voice getting more distant as she yelled David's name. She paced the kitchen while waiting when she saw Jetta standing by the fridge asking soundlessly what was wrong. Roxy just mouthed the words in a minute.

"Roxy, what's the matter? Hitomi said you bit her head off for no reason," David asked when he finally came to the phone.

She cleared her throat and told David what she had heard on the television. "I just heard on the morning news that all of Gabor Industries is up for sale? What the fuck is Pizzazz thinking?" Roxy said louder than usual.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked sharply and quite confused.

"The business report for the morning news said that all of Gabor Industries companies are up for sale. I take it that you have no idea what is going on either."

David was quiet for a short period. "Shit, nothing about Misfits Music, right?"

"No, it's just Gabor Industries. Are they separate or something?" Roxy asked, her turn to be confused.

"Yeah, Pizzazz owns everything for Misfits Music and the name to Gabor Industries. That's why just the companies are for sale. Okay, come on by if you'd like. I have to sort this out. Thanks for letting me know." David hung up the phone.

Roxy clicked her phone off and leaned against the counter again. She picked up her coffee and looked at Jetta. "It's gonna be one of those days, I just know it"

"Are you sure this will look good?" Kimber asked Clash uncertain if she had made a good choice.

Clash finished rising Kimber's hair into the sink. "It's going to look great. I think this will be a great new look for you." She finished and told Kimber to sit up. She towel dried Kimber's hair, brushed it out and stood her in front of a full length mirror. "Meet the new Kimber Benton."

"wow. It does look great. Thanks, Clash. Mary, what do you think?" Kimber asked turning to her new roommate.

Stormer smiled broadly and gave her best friend as thumbs up. "It's awesome, Kimber. I love it." Kimber grinned and looked in the mirror again. Her hair now looked like dancing fire. It began at the top. It was red which blended into gold that blended into yellow. Stormer stood behind her. "Like I said, you have to take your change slow."

"I was thinking of taking a stage name," Kimber said quietly. "It's kinda stupid, but ever since I found out that I died and came back I've felt like a new person. I've been thinking about the legendary bird, the phoenix. It rises from its own ashes every time it's killed." She turned to the two women with her. "That legend has comforted me throughout my recovery. I'm thinking of calling myself Phoenix when I start performing again."

"Phoenix. I like the sound of that." Clash threw out the bottles of hair color.

"C'mon, Kimber we're going to show off your new look to The Misfits," Stormer said while dragging her out of the bathroom. "Now get your shoes on, Phoenix." Stormer winked as she slipped her shoes on and the two friends were on their way.

Pizzazz had just finished her shower and was getting dressed when a knock came from the door. Quickly putting her shirt on, she opened the door. "Morning, David. What's goin' on?" she asked trying to get some water out of her ear.

"Did you put the companies of Gabor Industries up for sale?" David got straight to the point. He tried his best not to look like he was accusing her of doing it on purpose.

Pizzazz laughed at what she thought was a joke. "No, why would I do something stupid like that?" She finally got a good look at his face. "You're serious. I swear I didn't put them up for sale." David paced the room thinking while she sat on her bed thinking. "that bastard," she whispered after a few minutes. David stopped, turned from the window and gave her a questioning look. "When I went to see Kevin the other night he had me sign some papers. I have the copies here." She went to desk and grabbed the copied documents. "He said they were mandatory paperwork. Transfer of ownership rights or something like that. I took his word for it and didn't read what I was signing. I thought he meant it was giving me the rights."

"It says here that you authorize Kevin Ross to sell all stocks and assets under the name of Gabor Industries. But it also states that the personal savings of Harvey Gabor will go to Kross Medical Industries as payment for setting up the sale." David looked at Pizzazz as she sat on the bed. "Why didn't you read this? We both know that you read what you sign! I mean, I could handle losing the companies but the personal savings? Misfits Music was relying on that until we could get in the black. Our personal savings can't support this house and Misfits Music! Dammit, Phyllis, you've really fucked up this time! It seems like I have to hold your hand with everything!"

Pizzazz bolted off the bed and got in his face. "Fuck you, David!" She punched her brother in the jaw, taking him by surprise. She ran out of the room and down the stairs, nearly knocking Roxy and Jetta over, who had just arrived. She continued out the front door feeling the tears fall down her cheeks.

David came running down the stairs after her. "Phyllis! Wait! I'm sorry I said that!" He ran past the confused Misfits. When he got to the front door he watched his sister speed off in her van. "damn."

"Okay, what the hell was that about?!" Jetta asked in confusion. "Better question is what the hell is goin' on here?!" David looked back at her and Roxy. Eiji, Hitomi and Ken were coming down the stairs looking just as confused. Jetta walked up to him, put her arm around his waist and pulled him away from the door way. "C'mon, luv, let's go and sit down and talk." Jetta comforted him after seeing the worry and concern in his eyes.

"Pizzazz and I are in really deep trouble," David said quietly as he let Jetta guide him to a couch and sat down. He was still holding the papers. He handed them to her. "Read for yourself. I'm giving up. I've tried so hard and gained so little." He closed his eyes and just leaned back.

"You self-righteous asshole!" Roxy yelled throwing a pillow at him. The pillow hit him in the stomach and he doubled over. "How dare you say such bullshit! Is that all you care about? Yourself? You preach and preach and preach about how we should try harder and be a better person. You hit one snag and you give up. You fucking hypocrite." She took the documents from Jetta and started to read them herself. Jetta had been helping her with her reading since they returned from England. Roxy gave him a glare after understanding only a little bit of the lawyer jargon. "So, poor Little David is broke. Well, guess what? I've been there! I've survived and I'll continue to survive. You can go rot." She took off in her anger out the back door.

David and Jetta sat in silence while she read the contracts over. "Look who's got a new look!" Kimber said standing in the entry way of the living room. She had arrived late and didn't hear the arguing. It was then that she noticed the look of concern. "What's wrong?" Jetta told Stormer and Kimber about the sale of Gabor Industries. Kimber sat next to David and hugged him.

After a few minutes of thinking, David stood and addressed his friends. "Okay, first things first, I'm sorry for what I said and I'll be back." He went out the same back door that Roxy had left. He found her sitting in the pool house with her feet in the water. "Roxy, I'm sorry. I was being selfish. It's just the whole situation is crazy. I'm confused about what to do." He took off his socks, shoes and rolled his pant legs up a bit. He sat next to her, putting his feet into the pool. "But you are right about everything. I am a hypocrite and I do smell like cheese." He looked up at her with a smirk. She was still staring at the pool water, slowly kicking her feet.

She turned to him slowly with an angry look still on her face. "Never said you smelled like cheese. But that doesn't mean I forgive you." She pushed him into the water and started laughing. "Now I forgive you."

David treaded the water. "Yeesh, I think I'd be safer having you pissed at me," he said with a relieved smile. She began helping him out of the pool when he braced his feet against the cement wall. He pushed back and sent her flying into the pool. "Like I said, I'm safer with you pissed at me." Roxy splashed him and laughed.

Clash knocked on the door of the Rat's Nest. The door opened automatically. She entered avoiding various scraps of metal and pieces of junk. "Yo, Techie, where are you? C'mon, 'Rat. Quit playin' around." Clash thought she saw a blur of movement out of the corner of her eye. When she looked in that direction it was gone. She went to Techrat's workstation to see if he was there. His stool was empty. Again the same blur out of the corner of her eye. Clash cautiously sat on the seat.

"And what do you want for Christmas, little girl?" Techrat's voice rang from behind her, making Clash jump off the stool and looked behind herself. Techrat sat on the stool with a mischievous grin.

"God dammit, don't do that shit with me. Scared the hell outta me," Clash said clutching her chest and breathing quickly. "How'd you do that anyway?"

Techrat held up a little metal box. "With this, it's a personal cloaking device. It works by bending light around you. So far the only visual side effect is that it causes a blur of motion when you move. But when you stand still you're practically invisible. I'm still perfecting it."

"Cool. Like the Predator. So that's what those phantom movements I saw were." Clash was impressed with the way his mind worked.

"Actually that's where I got my inspiration, from the Predator movies. I figured these would make a good entrance gimmick for the Misfits. You know how Pizzazz loves those outlandish entrances," Techrat said smiling about his latest invention.

"Yeah, don't I know it? By the way, I never got an answer from you the other night. Do you want to go out on a date?" She tried changing the subject. It had been bugging her ever since she asked. She figured because it was noisy when she asked that he didn't hear her. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Just I want to be with you outside of this environment." She tried to hide her nervousness about his answer.

"I don't know. I'm not good on dates. I tend to say and do the wrong thing," he said softly after he went back to work on the device. He looked like he really wanted to do it. After a minute of fidgeting he let out a sigh. "Okay. But don't say I didn't warn you. And this has to be a secret!"

Clash let a huge smile cross her lips. "You mean it? Alright! Don't worry about me telling anyone. The Misfits would tease us both for months. They probably think we're all ready dating."

Techrat picked up his cloaking device and started packing a few tools. "Let's go show Pizzazz. This should make everyone's day," he said over his shoulder to Clash. He finished gathering what he needed and they both headed for the door.

Still dripping wet from their impromptu swim, David and Roxy walked through the back door chuckling. "What the hell happened to you two?" Jetta asked from the living room. Roxy just started laughing harder with David joining her shortly.

Roxy's laughter slowed down long enough for her to speak. "I forgave David. I-I pushed him into the pool. Then…then I tried to help him out. He pulled me in!" Her laughter began to go out of control again. Jetta and Kimber looked at each other confused. Roxy caught her breath after a few deep breaths, "He said he was…was safer with me pissed at him. I'm, I'm sorry. Guess you had to be there."

"Yeah there in the pool with us! Forgiving each other so much it got so stupid. Oh man, I needed that. Roxy, seriously, thanks. You helped clear my head. Next time I need to clear my head I hope I'm not on a building's edge. You'll push me off!" David started laughing harder then tried to regain his composure. "Shit, we forgot to grab towels in the pool house. I'll go grab a couple."

While they were waiting the phone rang. After a few seconds Eiji came down with the phone. "What's with you two," he asked handing David the phone as he handed Roxy a pair of towels.

"Roxy and I forgave each other," he said with a chuckle.

Eiji just looked at the two of them. "The phone is on mute. You're even weirder in America than you were in Japan." He went back into the kitchen shaking his head as he went.

David took the phone off mute. "David Gabor speaking," he said politely and in his well rehearsed business voice.

"Good morning, Mr. Gabor. Mr. Ross has invited you to lunch at the Adonis Men's Club. Will you be able to make it?" Kevin Ross' secretary asked him.

"Yes. What time shall I meet him at?" David asked quickly while he looked for a pen and paper. At least this way he won't have to go searching for Kevin Ross he figured.

"Is one thirty this afternoon good for you?" the polite secretary asked.

"Yes, I have an opening there. Tell Kevin I look forward to seeing him," David said as he promptly hung up.

Kimber gave him a questioning look. "What was that about?"

"We have a meeting with Kevin Ross. He wants to meet with me at the Adonis Men's Club," David told the three women in the room.

"We? But isn't that an exclusive men's club? As in men only?" Roxy asked toweling her hair dry.

David had one of the smiles on his face that only meant he had a devious plan. "Sure as hell is. Ladies we're gonna go shock some old men and have a chat with Kevin Ross. He lied to my sister and tricked her into this whole sale fiasco. I'm going to get my father's companies back one way or another." He wasn't laughing anymore and had that determined look that his friends had seen many times before. He turned to Kimber and ran his fingers through her hair gently. "I love your hair, Kimber. I noticed it when you came in but I was distracted." He kissed her cheek causing her to smile.

David had just finished changing into dry clothes when he heard Pizzazz's room door close. He figured now was a good time to apologize to her for how he reacted. He went to her door and softly rapped on it. He opened the door a crack after waiting a moment and heard her sobbing. He walked in and found Pizzazz on her bed with a gun in her mouth. She looked up at him startled with fear and confusion in her eyes. "Go ahead, take the coward's way out, Phyllis," he said calling her bluff. He shut the door and sat next to her on the bed.

David gently took the pistol from her hands and out of her mouth. She immediately hugged him tightly and cried into his chest. He returned her hug just as tight while making comforting sounds. After a few minutes he checked the pistol. The safety was still on and it wasn't primed to fire. He took the magazine out as a precaution, set it down on her nightstand and went back to holding her. "Phyllis, you need help. It seems I can't be that help. I've tried to help you," he said quietly. David pushed her gently away from his chest. "You're my sister and I love you. But now you're scaring me. I come in here and find you trying to kill yourself? Why? I don't understand. Just do me a favor and talk to someone who you think can help you."

Pizzazz's crying slowed and she wiped the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hands. "I'm sorry, David. It's just that with Daddy dying and me fucking everything up I've been depressed." She continued wiping the tears from her eyes. "When you yelled at me earlier it hurt. It hurt a lot. So I took off and thought about what you said. It just made me even more depressed. I don't know why I got Daddy's gun but I went into his room after sneaking back in. I just hurt so much without him." She began crying again.

"I'm sorry I said those things, Phyllis. I was upset and not thinking. I know you're a lot stronger than you are right now. I've been dealing with the loss of Dad in my own way, mostly through my martial arts. I've also been talking with Jerrica about it. She's been telling me how she dealt with the pain of losing a parent. What she told me was the pain never goes fully away. You just have to get past it. But you need to take your time." He looked deeply into her eyes. "Find someone to talk to. Do it for yourself. Please."

She nodded her head slowly against his chest. "I will." He held her for awhile longer then got up taking the pistol and magazine with him. He locked the pistol in his personal safe and hid the magazine in his room. He would take care of the weapon later.

After a brief disagreement David convinced Kimber to stay with Pizzazz while Roxy, Stormer, Jetta, and he went to the club. They exited the limo one by one. The four friends wore tailored business suits and sunglasses. David held the door open for the three ladies where they waited for him to take the lead again inside the foyer. He led them to the front desk where he pulled out a card. "I understand that membership can be passed down from father to son. My father was Harvey Gabor, I'm his son David and I have a very important meeting with Kevin Ross. Where can I find him?" He asked without making any pleasantries.

The front deskman looked at the card, David then finally at the three women. "You may find him on the third floor in the west lounge. Those women may find their way back outside," he said in a very snooty tone while pointing at The Misfits.

David turned to The Misfits with a smile. "Third floor west lounge, let's go," David said beginning to climb up the stairs. The three women started to follow but were stopped by the front deskman. "They're coming with me seeing that they're my guests. I'm allowed to bring three guests. I read the rules."

"The rules also state that no woman shall enter the club proper. It's been tradition since seventeen ninety-three," the desk clerk said in a very haughty voice.

"Outta the way, Yank!" Jetta said while pushing him to the floor. The three women proudly broke the longstanding tradition by walking up the stairs and following David to the first landing.

"No woman has stepped foot in the Adonis Club in over two hundred years! This is an absolute outrage, young ladies," the little clerk yelled from the foot of the stairs. He was starting to go into hysterics.

Roxy turned to him, pulled her sunglasses to the end of her nose and looked at him. "My heart bleeds. Really it does. Stupid damned tradition anyway." She scoffed at him.

"Look at it this way, you can start a new count when we leave," Stormer said smiling sweetly. They began following David again when they reached the third floor security had been alerted. Two hulking unarmed guards blocked their way. David knew he and The Misfits could handle them easily enough.

The first guard held his hand up. "Sorry, kids. You've done enough damage here. You're going to have to leave now." He tried to keep an authoritative tone in his voice. The second guard had his pepper spray out.

"If you step aside now you won't have a headache later," David said not at all intimidated.

"Kid, are you threatening me?" the first guard asked while trying to keep a chuckle out of his voice.

"No, just warning you." David took a step toward him as the second guard moved closer to the first guard. David gave a hand signal to Jetta, who came up beside him. He gave her an approving nod. "Just so you know you're threatening a legacy member of the club. I have witnesses that you are. We won't stand by and not defend ourselves," David said with a slight smile.

"Okay, enough of this shit. Karl, spray the black haired bitch, I'm going to take this little bastard to school," the first guard said and moved toward David while the second guard made a move toward Jetta. At the nearly the same time David and Jetta moved in sync. Each found the nerve cluster they wanted on the guard in front of them and applied pressure, knocking the guards out.

David and The Misfits looked down at the unconscious men. "I told them they'd have a headache later," he said walking over the downed men. They made their way to the lounge walking past shocked club members who balked and gasped at the three women. Upon reaching the two closed lounge doors, Stormer and Roxy stood in front of one door. Jetta stood next to David. He gave a nod and the two women pushed the doors open. David and Jetta walked through first while Stormer and Roxy fell in behind them.

While still walking, on cue, the four individuals removed their sunglasses at the same time. "Kevin, you wanted to talk," David spoke to the room without any formalities. "Well, here I am, let's talk. Oh, by the way, I had a little trouble getting my three friends in. That's okay it's a nice looking club and all, I think the blame will carry over to you. Hope you enjoyed coming here, I'm sure this is the last time you will." David sat down on a large couch with the rest of The Misfits.

Kevin was surrounded by Adrian Lassiter, Mr. Kite and Eric Raymond. He gave the young man gave a polite clap. "Very good David, I was watching your whole performance on the surveillance camera, very amusing indeed. I do agree about the tradition of no women allowed. It's a rather archaic rule but who am I to argue, it's a nice place to do business," Kevin said very cheerfully. "Now, let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?"

"Yes, lets." David pulled the copied documents out of his jacket pocket. "You lied to my sister and made her sign these papers. They say that you get all of my father's personal savings as payment for your assistance. They also state that she has given you permission to sell all of the companies that my father owned. It also states that the money from selling the companies will go to Stingers Sound. I hope you realize that these will not stand up in a court of law."

Kevin sat back and picked up a sandwich, after taking a bite he offered each of them some lunch. Stormer refused, Roxy gave him the finger, while Jetta told him where he could shove that lunch while David waited for him to reply. He finally did. "Can you afford to go through all of the legal fees? The waiting for the court dates? All your assets and stocks are frozen. Do you have enough money in your personal accounts to fund this legal venture? Enough to also support Misfits Music? I don't think so." Kevin stood up, walked to the bar and poured himself a glass of scotch. "Unless you can do all that don't come in here and make empty threats."

David sat there and knew he was right. He and Pizzazz didn't have the money to fight what was sure to be a lengthy court battle. With desperation in his eyes he looked at his three friends with him. The look they gave him said they also came to the same conclusion. David stood from the couch with The Misfits following his lead. "I did accomplish a few things today. I ruined a standing tradition and history. Plus, I also learned what a bastard you really are, Kevin. It will hurt me deeply to tell Jerrica Benton about you. She really looks up to you. It's a shame really," David said putting his sunglasses back on. The Misfits did the same. "This isn't over. Not by a longshot."

As they started to walk out the door Eric Raymond walked up to The Misfits. "Regretting you fired me now, girls?" He had a smug smirk on his face.

Roxy whirled around and punched Eric in the right eye. "Does that answer your question?" she asked flatly then joined the rest of group. As they approached the doors they opened as if on cue, the two security guards from before stood there looking still dazed and complaining of a nasty headache.

"Told you should've stepped aside now you have the headache I warned you about," David told them as he walked past the two men. The Misfits laughed and pushed their way past the stumbling guards. The four friends made their way down the stairs and back to the lobby. David turned to the smiling desk clerk. "Before your smile takes over your head read who one of the founders of this club is. Herbert Gabor is an ancestor of mine. I believe the bylaws state that none of the future ancestors of the founders can be thrown out. Ever. My girlfriend is going to love it here." He took satisfaction in watching the clerk's joyful expression drop. David and the three Misfits walked out the front door laughing.

Kimber pulled up to the house and killed the motor on the car. She turned to her passenger. "You sure you want to do this?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, I have nowhere else to turn. Well let's do this," Pizzazz said getting out of the car with Kimber following her up the stairs. Once at the door Kimber opened it for her. She led Pizzazz down the hall to a door where she opened the door for Pizzazz. She spoke to the young woman at the home office desk who looked a bit startled to see the lead singer of The Misfits standing there. "Jerrica, I need your help. I need someone to talk to."

Jerrica got out of her chair and led her to a couch in her den. She sat next to Pizzazz. "Of course you can talk to me. I'd like to think of you as a friend." She kept her voice very soothing while Kimber left the room.

After a few minutes of getting her thoughts together Pizzazz began telling the woman she once hated her problems. It surprised her how easy Jerrica was to talk and confide in.

A shadowed woman sat at her office desk in her home. She looked at the business card for David Gabor. She had just heard on the Japanese business news report that Gabor Industries companies were up for sale. She knew that David or Pizzazz would never do something like that. She picked up the phone and dialed David's office line. It rang twice and a sweet voice answered. "Misfits Music, David Gabor's office. How may I help you?"

Remembering to speak in English the woman replied politely, "Is David Gabor in? I'd like to speak to him about the sale of his company."

"I'm sorry ma'am but he's out for the rest of the afternoon. Could you try back tomor-. Wait, here he comes now. Please hold," the secretary said before putting her on hold.

The phone made a clicking sound and a male voice came through. "David Gabor. How may I help you?" David asked in his professional voice.

"Hi, David I hope I can help you out of whatever troubles you're in," she told him.

Surprised at the voice he had just heard David could only whisper, "kasa."

Later that night David called for a meeting at the Gabor Estate. He was in a good mood. All was not lost after all. He looked over the papers he held in his hand. It was the Misfits' contracts. He looked at the group assembled before him. Pizzazz was smiling again which was a relief for him. "I just need to know if you trust me. Even if it looks like I'm doing something totally insane or stupid. Do you trust me?" Everyone nodded their heads and agreed.

"What are you getting at?" Clash asked.

"Just trust me," he said before throwing the contracts into the fireplace. The Misfits, except for Pizzazz, yelled at him in shock and anger.

"Trust him. He knows perfectly well what he's doing," Pizzazz told her band. He had told her earlier about the phone call and the plan. After thinking about it she quickly agreed to it.

David turned back to the group. "As of right now The Misfits are no more!" he announced to his stunned friends.

TO BE CONTINUED IN "REBIRTH"

PART 3 OF THE FALL OF THE MISFITS