A Misfit Should Be...
Chapter Three: Jeremy
“The Misfits have done what?”
Rory Llewelyn, better known as Riot, the
attractive and charismatic lead singer of the Stingers turned to gaze
at his keyboardist in surprise, a look of decided displeasure on his
face. “How can they? They’re
supposed to cut a record with us…how dare they insult me in
this way?”
“From what Rio has told to me it was Jetta and
Pizzazz who did the insulting.” Minx, the flirtatious German-born
keyboard player of the band told him in her delicately accented tones,
her expression one of decided amusement. Minx was not fond of the
Misfits or the Holograms, but
if they provided her with entertainment she was always glad to join in
the
fun and turn it into even more chaos. “Apparently Stormer is staying
with
Jem at the Starlight Mansion.” Her eyes became big. “Do you think that
it
is for always?”
“For always? Of course not.” Riot dismissed it
with a wave of his hand. “I’ll go have a word with Pizzazz and it will
all be sorted
out…but the negative publicity is not good for the image of someone as
physically
flawless as myself. I must ensure that she understands that it must not
happen
again so long as the Misfits are part of the Stingers’ plans.”
“You think of everything.” Minx told him,
well-practiced in the art of keeping Riot’s ego happy. “I know that
Pizzazz will listen to
you, Riot. The silly girl will jump through a hoop if you tell her to
do
it.”
“Well, that’s as it should be.” Riot shrugged,
getting to his feet and moving across to examine his reflection in the
mirror, something
he did fairly often in each day. “Still, it cannot be allowed to
happen,
Minx. Thank goodness the Stingers have a sense of professionalism – it
would
greatly displease me should you or Rapture ever act in that way.”
“We belong with you.” Minx shrugged, as if there
was
no other answer to make. “Where else would we go?”
Riot smiled.
“Indeed.” He agreed. “Where is Rapture, any way?”
“Oh, she’s gone to some palm reading thing.”
Minx shrugged
her shoulders, idly flicking a lock of her long blond hair over her
shoulder.
“I think she wants some tips – she said to me something about a new
hobby.”
“Or a new way to make money.” Riot looked
appreciative, for Rapture was one of the best con-artists he had ever
set eyes on, not to
mention a capable guitarist. “Very well. I must go, Minx, I have
something I must do. Don’t wait up, all right?”
“If you go to chase after Jem once more you will
have
no luck tonight.” Minx pulled a face. “She is out with that drip Rio…I
do
not know where they go.”
Minx had never forgiven Rio for being the first
man
to ever resist her obvious charms, and Riot disliked him because of his
clear
closeness to Jem, the object of his own affections. He frowned at this.
“Jem should be with me.” He murmured. “Can she
not see that a perfect man such as myself needs a perfect woman to
accompany me?”
“I think she needs her head read.” Minx
responded, rolling her eyes. “Maybe Rapture could do it for her – I
think she would make
it an improvement.”
“Indeed.” Riot laughed. “Now I must leave, Minx.
I
must speak with Pizzazz about this ridiculous behaviour right away,
before the press get to know about it. I will not have the publicity of
the compilation record slurred by a childish tantrum. Excuse me.”
And he swept out of the room, full of his own
importance, leaving Minx behind him to hide a smile.
“But Riot will sort that idiot Pizzazz out with
no
trouble.” She said to herself, settling down on the sofa and flicking
on
the television set. “Now…what is this? Bah, the news. Is there never
anything
interesting on?”
Her hand on the set to change the channel,
something in the reader’s tone made her pause.
‘Jeremy Burns, the Kensington Jewel Thief is
free from
jail for the sixth night after breaking bounds at a maximum security
London
prison. It is believed he has fled abroad, possibly to America under an
assumed
name. Police in London are believed to be offering a substantial reward
to
anyone with information on the whereabouts of this thief, and the F.B.I
have
been contacted to join in the investigation.”
“A substantial reward?” Minx looked thoughtful,
toying
with the ends of her long, blond hair as she considered the situation. “Very
interesting. I wonder whether or not this jewel thief is anywhere near
here?”
*********
“That’s a nice greeting.”
The intruder eyed his driver with a lazy smile,
making
himself more comfortable in his seat as he did so. “Don’t you have a
hug
or a hello kiss for your own brother then, Sheila?”
“Who let you out?” Jetta demanded. “And don’t
call me that! You know I go by Jetta now…I’m not your little
Sheila anymore, so you’d better remember it, else I’ll knock your block
off. Got it?”
“Okay, okay, I got it.” Jeremy shrugged his
shoulders, seemingly not at all concerned by his sister’s agitation.
“And as for who let me out – noone. I let myself out.” He grinned.
“What can I say, I missed my family so much.”
“You’re a fugitive?” Jetta’s eyes widened.
“Hell’s bells, Jeremy…what have you done? And why are you here? I can’t
be seen with
a fugitive, I have a reputation to consider!”
“Charming.” Jeremy observed. “Three years has
changed you, little sister. You never used to be so mouthy with me as
this.”
“You let us all down when you got banged up.
I’ve nothing
to say to you now.” Jetta’s voice was low. “Get out of my car, Jeremy,
before
I turn you over to the Police.”
“I don’t think you’ll do that.” Jeremy’s grin
widened.
“Why not?” Jetta looked suspicious. “Why
shouldn’t I?”
“Well, I’ve been tracking you for the last
couple of
days, ever since I discovered where you were and what exactly you were
doing.”
Her brother responded. “You’ve done good for yourself, Sheila.”
“I told you, don’t call me that!” Jetta
brought her hand across her brother’s face hard, her expression one of
anger. “And so what if I have? It’s no business of yours what I do.”
“I thought you might have some cash to help out
your
poor brother.” Jeremy responded, touching his cheek gingerly. “Well,
you
still have a mean right hook.”
“How dumb do you think I am?” Jetta demanded.
“Dumb enough to leave your car unlocked.” Jeremy
responded.
“In any case, Sh…Jetta, I know where you’re staying, and I paid a
little
visit there myself just before I joined up with you at that luxurious
mansion
you seem to have an attraction for. All my stuff is there – if you go
to
the Police I’ll tell them you shielded me and when they search your
room…”
he made a beheading motion. “That’ll be that for Jetta of the Misfits.”
Despite herself Jetta’s heart skipped a beat. As
a
child she had allowed herself to be coerced by her older brother, after
all,
she had idolised him, not realising how dangerous and manipulative he
could
really be. She had learnt a lot of her tricks from him, but he was
still
the expert, and she knew that he had her. She sighed heavily.
“If I give you some dosh, will you leave me
alone?” she demanded.
“That depends.” Jeremy shrugged. “On how
generous you’re
feeling.”
Jetta scowled. For a moment she hesitated, then
she
scooped up the bag of money she had ‘borrowed’ from Pizzazz’ home (Most
of
the money had been owed to her from the music company’s swindling on
payments,
she had reasoned), tossing it in his direction.
“There.” She snapped. “Happy now? Thanks to you
I
ain’t gonna have even a roof over my head tonight. Now get lost…I don’t
want
to see or hear from you again, you got that?”
“We’ll see.” Jeremy swung open the car door,
getting out. “Thanks for your kindness, little sister.” He smiled. “And
you needn’t worry about the hotel. That was all a bluff – what kind of
stuff do you suppose
an escaped convict has to dump, anyway?”
And with that, he was gone.
Jetta let out a cry of rage, thumping on the
steering wheel in her frustration.
“When I get my hands on him…” she threatened out
loud.
“Now what am I supposed to do tonight? Camp under a bridge? God I wish
I’d
never been born into that waste of a family, I really do. So much for
coming
to America to get away from it all. Choose a new name, they told me. Be
someone
else, they said. Hah. Fat lot of good it’s done me. First I get
humiliated
by that blighter Pizzazz and now my own brother…” She let out another
cry
of anger. “I hate this world!”
“Are you all right?”
She glanced up to see someone looking at her,
and as
she recovered her composure she realised with a heavy heart that the
someone
was one of the Starlight brats that Jerrica Benton thought so much of.
She
had no idea which one, and cared less, but it unnerved her rather to be
stared
at like that. She hoped the kid hadn’t heard her exchanges with
Jeremy…or
seen him, for that matter. That was one twist she did not need.
“I’m fine.” She snapped. “Didn’t anyone ever
teach you not to pry into other people’s business?”
The girl merely grinned at her.
“You’re a Misfit, aren’t you?” she observed.
“What’s it to you?”
“Well, one of your band is staying at my home.”
The
girl, whose name was Deirdra, responded. “And…”
“Stormer’s at the Starlight Mansion?”
Despite herself Jetta’s eyes almost popped out of her head. “How come?”
“She’s a friend of Kimber’s.” Dierdra eyed Jetta
thoughtfully.
“Don’t you have anywhere to stay either?”
Get lost, kid.” Jetta responded darkly. “I don’t
have
time to sit around chatting to you.” She put the car in gear. “Go on,
scram.”
“Hey, I'm going..” Dierdra agreed, nevertheless
stopping
and watching as the car pulled, away. Then, grinning to herself she
headed
off home. It had been funny to watch Jetta momentarily lose her grip on
sanity.
Like most of the Starlight girls she had no love for the Misfits.
“Dierdra, where have you been!” Raya, the band’s
percussionist,
greeted her on the front steps. “You should have been back an hour ago
–
it is almost time for dinner!”
“I’m sorry, Raya, my watch has stopped.” Dierdra
responded,
hurrying into the house and leaving the Mexican-American girl to follow
her.
“I didn’t realise till ten minutes ago.” She slipped into the
recreation
room, settling herself down on the settee. “You’ll never guess what I
saw
in town, anyway.”
“What?” Ashley, Dierdra’s close ally demanded,
setting down her table-tennis bat and turning to look at her friend.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Dierdra was
determined to be infuriating.
“Tell us or we’ll tickle it outta you.” Krissie,
one
of the eldest Starlight girls demanded. Dierdra giggled.
“I saw one of her friends.” She said, pointing
at Stormer,
who was sitting and playing snakes and ladders with Laura, Kimber and
Marianne.
Stormer was a softie at heart with a love for children, and so she had
been
easily roped into playing to take her mind off all that was going on in
her
life.
“What, one of those dumb Misfits?” Ashley
demanded. “So what?”
“She was with a guy. I think they had a fight.”
Dierdra’s
tone became deeply confidential. “Maybe she has a boyfriend.”
“Which Misfit?” Krissie asked, her
curiosity piqued.
“The one with the weird accent.” Dierdra
shrugged. “I don’t remember her name.”
“Stormer!” Ashley raised her voice. “Stormer,
Dierdra says she saw Jetta in town and she was with a guy…does she have
a boyfriend?”
“Jetta?” Stormer looked up from her game, a
startled expression on her face. “A boyfriend? Not as far as I know.
Maybe he was just
a friend.”
“Didn’t look like it to me.” Dierdra said
smugly. “She
slapped him round the face and kicked him out of the car…she was in a
total
paddy.”
“That’s not unusual for Jetta.” Kimber
commented. Stormer
nodded.
“True.” She admitted slowly. “But not usually
with a guy.” She shrugged. “Well, her life is her life. Not our
business to pry.”
“You know, for a Misfit, you can be a real drag,
Stormer.”
Dierdra settled herself down more comfortably in her seat. “Don’t you
want
to know what’s going on? It could be hot gossip, you never know.”
“Dierdra, that’s enough of that.” Raya
intervened at
that point. “Stormer is our guest.”
“Spoilsport.” Dierdra pulled a face. “I want to
know!”
“It’s probably something boring, anyway.” Ashley
shrugged.
“Drop it, Dierdra. After all, it’s only a Misfit.”
Dammit.
From the shadows outside of Starlight Mansion, Jeremy uttered a curse
under
his breath. So someone had seen his fight with Jetta, had they? That
made
things messy.
He had come to the Starlight Mansion in the hope
of
finding something valuable to steal, but upon discovering that the
house was
occupied by so many people he had decided against it, and had just been
leaving
when he had heard his sister’s name mentioned.
“That stupid girl, making a scene as ever.” He
muttered. “Now I have a complication to deal with. That kid can’t be
allowed to find out who I am…she can’t be allowed to identify me.”
He frowned, considering. Abducting the kid was
not a problem, he had enough contacts on the dark side of society to
get away with it without any trouble. The problem was, what to do with
a hostage. She’d
only slow him down…
“I’ve no choice.” He decided finally, clenching
his
fist in rage. “Damn you, Sheila, for making that kid suspicious! It’s a
good
thing for you that I’ve not the time to hang around and deal with
you…else
you’d be for it, you really would.”
His gaze fell once more on Dierdra.
“But for now…there’s you.” He murmured.
Chapter One: The Fight
Chapter Two: Starlight
Mansiom
Chapter Four: The Reward
Chapter Five: Where Is
Dierdra?
Chapter Six: At The Concert
Chapter Seven:
Stormer...and Jetta
Chapter Eight: Kimber's Plan
Chapter Nine: Jetta Of The
Misfits
Chapter Ten: Conclusion
(The Misfits and Holograms and other animated Jem
characters are copyrighted to Hasbro Inc. All characters who do not
appear in Jem episodes
are my own creation. This story is copyrighted to E.A Woolley (2001)