Misfits In Time
Written by The Mighty Floyd
Special thanks to Red Witch for use of the Misfits, and to L1701E for introducing me to them in the first place.
Warning: I am familiar only with selected episodes of Season 1 of X-Men: Evolution and one GI Joe movie, so if these characters seem a little off, that's the reason. Oh, and the title may be a bit misleading, but I like it.
Disclaimer: XE characters belong to Marvel. GI Joe characters belong to someone, possibly also Marvel. Misfits created by Red Witch, who also owns Althea, Trinity, Xi, and General Whithalf (who has to be my favorite supporting character).
And now, with no further ado, on to our tale...
Chapter 1: "How could this happen?"
Bayville, 20 years in the future...
Two figures creep silently past the burnt out husk of a building. Rubble litters the ground, making each fall of a foot treacherous. Small fires burn here and there, black, acrid smoke rising into the sky like a tribute to some dark god.
The two pause. Crunching footsteps approach. Quickly, they take refuge behind a mostly demolished wall, crouching trying to make no sound, breathing as shallowly as possible, willing themselves invisible.
The footsteps approach. Out of the mix of fog and smoke appear about twenty new figures, men, women, it is impossible to tell. Each wears a heavy, grey, camouflage suit, heavily armored against any attack. A helmet open only for goggles rests on each head. Thick black gloves clutch Uzis, M-1s, and straps hold ammunition, pistols, and knives. Heavy black boots turn the rubble underfoot to dust.
These new figures are indistinguishable, save for small black badges of rank on the left torsos. One, highest ranked, gives a gruff order: "Spread out. Them muties is supposed t'be 'round here somewheres. Shoot t'kill." The others nod, silent acknowledgment of their orders, and split into groups of four. Each covers his teammates, and is covered in return.
The two tiny figures huddle together, trying to draw from each other the strength not to break. They press themselves against their wall, trying desperately to avoid detection. All is for naught, as they hear the footfalls behind them too late.
Close enough to see their eyes through the goggles are four of the pursuers. Triumph is clearly visible in those cold eyes. Weapons are raised as one of the pathetic figures gives out a short, small cry.
Rapid gunshots echo through the ruin of the town, accompanied with short screams of pain, quickly silenced. One of the armed figures activates a link in her helmet. "Two confirmed terminated," she reports. "Good," comes the reply. "Look for any more." "Affirmative," she says, and motion to her team to continue their search. Behind them, they leave a wall splattered with blood, brains, bits of flesh, two pathetic mutants lying dead in their own gore on the ground.
"How did things come to this?"
"I don't know, but it wasn't through the fault of GI Joe."
General Hawk and Roadblock sat across a desk from each other in Hawk's office. Duke and Scarlet were seated in the room, as well. The four consisted the core of the remnants of the once-proud elite antiterrorist unit known as GI Joe. The others remaining on the decreased team were Jinx, Falcon, Bazooka, Spirit, and Lady Jaye. Everyone else had either died or left the unit during the fifteen year civil war.
"It was the war," said Duke. "Or, it was the Mutant Registration Bill that started the war." The Bill, which had passed almost twenty years before, had sparked a violent response from the mutant population of the United States. A civil war had followed, with mutants and humans doing their best to wipe each other out. For a long time it had looked like the mutants would win, but that changed with the capture and public executions of Magnus Lensherr and Charles Xavier, co-leaders of the mutant militia. Mutant resistance had fallen apart after that, with massive division of forces and rifts in ideologies. It had been child's play to take out most of the remaining resistance after that. The President, militaristic dictatorial successor to the one that had been killed by a team of mutant assassins at the start of the war, declared a new law allowing the extermination of mutants as a subhuman species. There were still protesters, such as GI Joe, but they were ignored, made to disappear, or killed outright.
After half the Joe force had been killed in a raid by supporters of the President, most of the rest had left the team. They claimed that no ideal was worth the destruction their division was causing. The remaining Joes hadn't been able to believe their comrades could feel this way, until another attack had decimated the survivors and resulted in the final annihilation of the Pit, the traditional Joe base.
With only nine Joes remaining, their last hope was based on the survivors of a mutant military team that had come into existence shortly before the war. Officially known as "Freedom Force", and more commonly known as the "Misfits", the team had helped the Joes try to keep peace during the war. However, shortly before the end of the war, most of the team had disappeared on a mission with the remaining X-Men, leaving only Avalanche, Xi, and Trinity.
Their last hope chose that entrance to come in through the door.
"Yeah," Lance Alvers said bitterly. "It was that Fing Bill."
The humans in the room sat in uncomfortable silence, until Trinity spoke.
"The device is completed," they said, eyes glowing white with the use of their mental connection. "We should now be able to successfully send a team back through time, to stop this mess from ever occurring."
"I volunteer," said Xi. "I am the one least changed by time. They should have little trouble accepting me."
"Same goes for me," said Lance, moving past his bitterness for the moment. "Except that changed part."
"We would go too, if we didn't have to stay to monitor the device," said Trinity, looking mournful at being left out of their own experiment.
"I'll go, too," said Roadblock. "I owe it to Shipwreck, after what happened to him and the babies. Now, with this device, there are no maybes, right?"
"If our data is correct, it will perform perfectly," Trinity told him. "There is only one problem. If you succeed, you will be stuck in the past unable to return. And if you don't succeed, well... you'll be dead anyway."
"Thanks for that cheerful thought," commented Roadblock. "Tactful you three are definitely not. Still, I'm going."
The other two agreed.
"Very well," said Trinity. "Put these helmets on your heads." They handed each of the three a weird looking helmet.
"Is this the device?" asked Xi.
"No," said Trinity. "This is to keep your heads from bursting like an overripe melon when we use the device." The three quickly jammed the helmets onto their heads.
"A last word of advice," said Trinity. "Remember the rules of time travel in the 'Terminator' movies? About the nonliving matter? You might want to head to the nearest place you can grab some clothes." They grinned.
"Wait a minute-" started Lance, as the three began to glow.
"Good luck," said Hawk.
There was a flash of light. When it faded, the three were gone.
"Homing in," said Trinity, studying their device. A few moments later: "They've arrived."
"Good," said Hawk.
Suddenly, the pounding of feet could be heard through the underground corridor outside the office. Before any of the room's occupants could react, the door flew open, and bright blue laser beams cut them down.
Next time: Our travelers arrive in the present. What awaits them? I'll give you a hint: it's where the "Humor" part of that genre area comes in. Tune in again, for chapter two of Misfits In Time!