Side Effects May Include . . .

Chapter one A Day Like Any Other

Todd/Toad POV

The living room was a mess. The walls were barely holding up and the ceiling looked as if it might cave in at any moment. Since Mystique had vanished off the face of the planet, we have had a difficult time paying the bills. Usually the four of us had to choose between running water and heating. Food was a scarce commodity and there was never any in the cupboards. I was the lucky one though; at least I could snack on flies.

A gaunt figure staggered down the stairs. Lance was leaning heavily on the banister, trying to keep off his left leg. A bandage was wrapped around his calf, but this wasn't his only injury. His entire body was covered in cuts and bruises. Lance spared a glance for me, telling me not to worry about him.

Pietro came down after Lance; he was faring slightly better than Lance but still supported several bruises. As the two trudged through the hallway they ignored the coppery scent that the entire house stank of and the crimson splatter that decorated the wall. Finally reaching the door, Lance jerked it open and we nearly ran to the jeep. Lance and Pietro sat up front while I sat in the back. The three of us sat in silence, waiting for Fred

The drive to school was in silence. No one from the Brotherhood spoke. There was no need. The four of them knew that today would be no better than any other. Probably worse, as we pulled up in Lance's usual parking space. The X-Geeks were getting out of their car.

"Hey Lance, over there", Lance turned his head in the direction of Fred's finger.

The Principal was stalking over to the Brotherhood. Oh great we get blamed for everything. At times like this I actually miss Mystique. When she was Principal we never got in trouble at school. I still hated her but she wasn't that bad, not like Kelly.

When he reached us, Lance said in a condescending tone "So what have we done now?"

Kelly's face went red with anger, "I'll tell you delinquents that all of you are seconds away from being expelled"!

He was really pissed now. "Hey yo, tell us what we did", I didn't really need to ask. He probably just found out about us skipping detention again. I don't know why, it isn't that bigger deal.

"If you are not present this afternoon then expect to be expelled from this school!" Kelly turned around and strode off towards the office.

There was a look of annoyance on Pietro's face, but Fred didn't seem to be bothered by Kelly's outburst. Yesterday Lance woke up in a lot of pain. He tried to hide it from the three of us but it was fairly obvious when his vision blurred and couldn't drive us to school. We all decided to stay home because we couldn't get to school without Lance to drive except Pietro which is why we didn't go to detention. Lance had a difficult time admitting to us that he was in pain let alone to a idiot like Kelly.

"Anyway, I gotta split, see you at lunch" I said before walking towards my Social Studies class.

Damn, that was unfair. How am I supposed to know that we had a test today. This sucks. I probably failed and it wasn't even my fault. Then that fuzz ball kept laughing at me. Just because he has it easy living up in that mansion. He wouldn't last one day in the brotherhood house.

I stormed down the hallway, although no one ever bothered to move out of my way and I accidentally walked into Duncan Matthews. Oh no, this is bad.

"Hey, Tolansky, what the hell are you trying to do", the Jock smirked at my problem. He knows I am not strong enough to fight back. His arm reached down and lifted me up by my collar. Duncan was about to punch me but someone else attacked him, leaving me free of his grasp.

I looked up to see my rescuer was Lance. Fury blazed in his eyes. Even Duncan took a step back from the look in his face.

"I think you want to leave. Now". Growled Lance, the ground shook slightly to emphasise his words.

Duncan and the rest of the jocks broke into a run. Once they were out of sight the floor became stable again and Lance turned around. He face held no fury as it did seconds ago, instead it was replaced by a look of concern

"You, okay?" he questioned.

"Yeah I'm good, thanks man" Lance smiled slightly at that and I continued," so how about we go get some lunch, yo, I'm starving" Lance and I set off towards the cafeteria, I am sure we are both starving.

Since Principal Darkholme's disappearance we had lost all our money. Lance was able to shake the door to her room loose but the money and jewels only went so far. The city had already shut off our water and was threatening to do the same with the heating, this forced lance to get a job.

At the moment he worked at the local fast food outlet. It was bad pay but we needed the money. Usually if I don't understand something in my homework I ask Lance how to do it. Most people don't know how smart he really is, they just assume from his grunge appearance that Lance is a failure academically. Lance gets high test scores but it's the homework assignments that bring his grades down. Lance rarely has enough time to sleep and work let alone complete hours of schoolwork.

The sound of sizzling along with the smell of burnt food drifted from the kitchen. Oh no, smells like Fred has tried cooking again. He wasn't really that bad of a cook. Fred just had a tendency to get distracted and burn whatever food he was cooking. Lance was a decent cook but Pietro's food was just horrifying. Not even Fred had dared to touch Pietro's cooking if it could be called that.

"Dinner's ready," Fred's voice drifted up to my room.

Tin spaghetti sandwiches again. It was an extremely cheap meal. Even with Lance's job, money was tight. Dinner tasted fine but it was times like this I was glad I ate bugs as well. The flies especially add flavour to the bland meal.

I don't think Fred really tastes what he eats because he shoves it down his mouth so fast. When it comes to eating, Fred is almost as fast as Pietro. Quicksilver wasn't his usual hyper self tonight. Rather than shovelling food down an a barely visible rate, Pietro was playing with his spaghetti hardly eating at all. His eyes were laced with concern.

Pietro wasn't the only one worried. Lance's headaches were getting worse. He was now taking too many pills. He was going through a bottle every few days. If Lance kept going at this rate, he was going to overdoes and die.

That is the most frightening thing I can think of. Lance held the Brotherhood together. Without him, we wouldn't be able to get by. Once Freddy suggested we go to a hospital. Both Quickie and I had wanted to agree but who knows what would happen if they found out that he was a mutant. We had thought about asking Baldly to check Lance out. To be honest, Lance would rather die than ask him and Summers for help.

"Yo guys, I gotta get back to that homework", I couldn't stand the tension any longer.

Something is wrong. We all can feel it. I try telling myself that Lance is fine, he's at work so the X-Geeks wouldn't attack him there. The nagging feeling won't go away. I looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It suddenly struck me what was wrong. Lance should have been home over an hour ago. I leapt off my bed and ran down the stairs.

"Quickie, you have to go find Lance", Pietro was standing still.

Both Freddy and Pietro had horrified expressions on their faces.

"Todd, there's no need", Freddy's voice was quiet and low. "That was Baldy, Lance was in an accident".

As soon as those words left his lips I slumped down to the ground. My worst nightmare had come true.