Faces in the Stone
By: Andrea the Spiky Sithster
Excerpt from Eric Lehnsherr's recordings:
He was only a young man, a young mutant. He had never seen the world nor heard a word of civility spoken to him, not even once in all his fourteen years. He could hide his powers, but that didn't matter. Being as poor as he guaranteed him a life of the cold shoulder from the moment he was born.
He was powerful, so powerful, but his mind was a thin wire that could be bent and twisted and manipulated whether one had the power to control metal or not. He came and went and left a stain on our lives like blood on floorboards, which can never be removed no matter the scrubbing and bleaching and wishing and regretting.
The Mutant Registration Act was never passed, but I still feel that the war is coming. I told this to Charles as I sat within my plastic prison. And over a game of plastic chess, he said he'd always be there. He's right. He will always be there, indeed he will, and so will I.
That was one year ago.
Since then I have broken free, but the authorities have no hope of finding me and they know it. Perhaps they haven't even a wish to- I know how frightened of me they are. And since then I have remained silent. I have fostered no malicious intent on my human neighbors. For the time being I am content to wait, to plan and to think. There is always time for action. I have learned this the hard way. This war is slow in coming, and this time I shall not rush up to greet it.
And yes, my Brotherhood is still the same members, all having survived their ordeals. Even I had no idea of exactly what they could withstand, but they have proven to me that I had severely underestimated them. My respect is deep for Toad, Mystique, and Sabretooth, but of course I will not show it lest they become too accustomed to being rewarded for every little thing they do. They work for a greater cause; rewards have no place within my Brotherhood.
But when he came, I nearly lost my respect for them. It's funny what people will do when they are slaves to their emotions. One day they appear to be an enemy, a traitor, and all because they work to save that which they appear to fight.
Alas, the world works in mysterious ways.
One year prior, New York City, New York. 4:47 PM.
It was after a regular day of publicly supporting mutant rights as Senator Kelly, and Mystique was glad to get away from the melee of people screaming praise. She quickly embarked down the hallways of the expensive hotel, headed for her suite, and politely refused her bodyguard's assistance.
" Go and get yourselves a meal," she said as Kelly, and watched with dim but relieved satisfaction as her request was followed gladly. She stuck her hotel key into its lock and smiled to herself as it clicked quietly, allowing her to pull the door open and disappear into the sanctuary of her room. Leaning against the closed door, she let a sigh of relief escape Kelly's lips.
A movement in the shadows to her left brought another smile. " You can come out now, Mortimer," Mystique said. " I'm alone."
Mortimer Toynbee, alias the Toad, slowly eased himself from the shadows of the darkened bedroom. No one ever questioned Kelly's requests for at least one dark room waiting for him in his suite. He was a busy man with a lot on his mind. And besides, meditation was all the rage these days.
" Magneto wants you back as soon as possible," Toad informed her in his soft voice. He was always there somewhere, always close by, acting as her silent bodyguard, even though Mystique, on occasion, could not help but wonder how he hid himself and remained so close to her in even her most public of moments. But he was always there, wrapped snugly in a cloak of shadows or perched in rafters, his eyes always gleaming, watching her.
" Did he say why?" Mystique asked, knowing full well the answer. Magneto worked in evasive tactics. Mysterious, yes, but a real hassle to cooperate with.
" No. He never does."
She eyed him briefly, still crouched there in the shadows, and raised an eyebrow. " Why don't you come all the way out of there?"
" Are you kidding?" Toad snorted. "You never know where they put the bloody cameras in this country."
He had a point. That was the same reason Mystique never morphed back into herself when she was in her hotel rooms, not even for a moment. She nodded, more to herself than to Toynbee. " We'll take the helicopter tonight. Leave for the takeoff point half an hour before I do."
" Righto. Same drill."
" Seven o'clock."
" Till then?"
" I'm taking a nap," she informed him wearily. " I've had a busy day. Wake me up in an hour. I've got dinner here with the mayor at six."
" Okay," Toad agreed, amiably enough. He never slept unless in the sanctuary of the lair, and even then she had only seen him do so a couple of times. She padded into the dark room and threw herself upon the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
Toad watched her intently for a moment; the rise and fall of her- Kelley's- chest, the furrowed brows, the eyelids darkened with fatigue. He felt sorry for her, although she never complained, and although they didn't really know each other on a personal level. But still…he knew the constant morphing took a lot out of her, and being there in the public eye all of the time, making speeches in the body of a man she knew was dead. She was a tough woman, he knew that, but everyone had their limits…
He shifted his position on the wall and rested the side of his head against the cool surface, hearing and feeling his own naturally rapid pulse thudding in his temples. The sound of two men talking outside the door came then and his heart leapt up and tap-danced in his throat, but the footsteps and voices faded away down the hall and he breathed a sigh of relief. He could never feel safe around humans. Only in the lair did he find some semblance of solace, but even then he could not always escape Magneto's grasp when a cruel mood happened to take him.
And so he perched there and watched the minutes tick by on the wall clock, basking in the shadows that had held him all his life.
* * *
" Where are they?!" Eric Magnus Lehnsherr demanded to no one as he paced the stark metal and rock room of his lair. Sabretooth had gone out to do whatever he did when Magneto didn't need him. And half the day had vanished into a gaping void where nothing had been done and no one had returned. Eric was angry, but he understood that as Senator Kelly Mystique was not as readily at his disposal. This frustrated him, and he took out his anger by using his power to fling the metal tiles peppering the walls of the lair with all his force, making them shower flickering sparks as they struck rock and steel. He strained his ears for the sound of a helicopter's approach, but nothing came.
In the main room that had housed the great machine only a month before, Sabretooth lay in the sparse grass, trying to nap. He heard his leader raving in the other room, and was silently glad that he was not there to witness whatever was being done to make those clanging noises. Better the walls than him to take the wrath of Magneto's frustration, he reasoned. Hopefully Mystique and Toad would return soon so that the tempest would end.
And hopefully Toad would stay out of his way. The two of them could not conceal their hatred for one another, and a storm was brewing between them.
Another crash echoed from the other room, and Sabretooth frowned. It was unlike his boss to display such violent impatience. Silently he tried to will the sound of the helicopter into materializing in the cold, salty air, and pictured what wrath his counterparts would face when they finally did return.
* * *
" Mystique, wake up. You're gonna be late!"
Mystique opened her eyes to see Toad hanging upside-down from the ceiling above her, hissing his wakeup call. She sighed and willed herself into forcing the last of her restful dreams from her still weary mind, and scrubbed her fists into her eyes to help force them open.
" Cor," Toad said, slightly out of breath, " you sure are difficult to wake sometimes."
" What time is it? " she asked groggily.
" Quarter to six, just like you asked."
" All right," Mystique sighed, and stood up, smoothing Kelly's suit and patting down his hair. " How do I look?"
" Just like the ugly bugger, as always."
" I mean, am I presentable?"
" I guess so." Toad shrugged. " Whatsit matter, anyway?"
" I dunno. Just forget it." She squinted up at him. " Now you get some sleep while I'm gone. If you doze off when you're flying me home you'll get us both killed."
" Don't need sleep," Mortimer grumbled.
" Fine," Mystique shrugged, " have it your way. But as soon as you start dozing on that helicopter I'm going to hit you where it hurts. Got it?"
" Sure, whatever. You're gonna be late, then."
" All right, I'm going." She opened the door as Toad vanished into the shadows again, and noticed her two bodyguards walking towards her. Forcing on a smile, she went to them. The game had gotten old. She no longer relished the knowledge that she had everyone fooled. Now it was just a small pain among a myriad of pains, one of which was probably wondering why she wasn't back at the lair yet. But still she held his rigid schedule; still she deceived the world.
Sometimes Mystique even surprised herself.
* * *
The dinner had been long-winded and uneventful, full of promises and explanations mixed in with a hearty dose of good old-fashioned preaching. Mystique had born it as Kelly with good humor and had returned back to the hotel room in a foul mood. Toad had gone already to take his place in the helicopter. He needed time to do it before Kelly showed up- outside the cockpit a flight helmet could only hide so much. And so she waited ten minutes in the company of her bodyguards before yawning loudly and announcing her desire to depart. The sleek black car took her to the chopper without hesitation, and she bid goodbye to her followers before disappearing into the aircraft. Out the window she saw one man give the pilot the thumbs-up, and instantly they were in the air.
When the ground below her started to move Mystique morphed back into herself and breathed a sigh of relief.
" How're you doing up there?" she called to her counterpart.
" Just peachy," Toad hissed back with ill temper. " We're bloody late. Magneto's gonna-"
" Don't worry about Magneto. I'll talk to him. He understands the schedule I'm running." She smiled at the snort that followed from the pilot's seat, and went up to join Toynbee, sinking down into the padded seat and casting a glance in his direction.
" You're tired," she said. " I can see it in your eyes."
" So?"
" So you'd better not fall asleep. Better late than never, you know."
A very un-Toadlike growl issued from her counterpart, and Mystique decided to drop the whole thing and enjoy the ride in silence. A few heartbeats passed, and then there was a slight thump sounding from the back of the helicopter. She glanced at Toad again, but he was studiously looking down at the controls, apparently uninterested in the noise.
Maybe it's my imagination, she thought, but before she could further assure herself the noise came again, louder than the first time.
This time Toad heard it, too, and his head snapped up and around. " What was that?" he hissed.
" I don't know. Is there something wrong with the engines?"
" No, it's in the passenger compartment. Go check it out."
Mystique nodded and rose from her seat, morphing back into Kelly as she did so, just to be on the safe side. She shut the cockpit door behind her and peered round the compartment, listening intently.
A faint glimmer of movement just behind the last seat caught her keen eye, and she crept forward until she could make out a leg, clad in dirty bluejeans. Eyes narrowed, she reached forth and with Kelley's hand grabbed it, eliciting a startled shout from the owner, who sat up and looked directly at her.
Two cornflower blue eyes peered out from a youthful face, a face that held ample fear and confusion.
" S…Senator Kelly!" the boy gasped.
" What are you doing here, son?" A critical eye surveyed the tattered and grimy clothing.
" I…um, I just wanted to see what the helicopter was like. I swear, it's all I wanted!"
" I believe you. Go on."
" Well, no one was around so I came in to have a look, and then the door closed suddenly and I hid so no one would see me. I'm really sorry, I really, really am! I just wanted to-"
" It's okay," Mystique said in her best I-understand-but-don't-particularly-approve voice. " What's your name?"
" Jacob."
" Well, Jacob. You certainly got yourself into quite a mess today, didn't you?"
The boy nodded. " But I'm glad I met you. I mean, you're helping a lot of mutants." He gazed at the floor, when a dime had fallen from someone's pocket and lay gleaming with the last of the sunlight. Almost imperceptibly, he pinched his two fingers together, and the dime bent in half. Jacob kept his eyes on the floor, not caring about what he had just done, as though he always did it when he was nervous.
Mystique gaped. " Do that again!"
" Do what?"
" The dime…"
" Oh." Slightly embarrassed, the boy spread his fingers apart. The dime flattened again, and folded the other way as his fingers met once more. " I can…I can bend metals and stuff, and make them move. I can lift myself, too, for some reason. I'm a mutant, Senator Kelly. I guess that's why I wanted to meet you in the first place. You're helping to make life easier for us, you know."
Mystique stared at him, speechless. The boy had control of metal…if what he claimed was true- and it certainly looked that way- then he was as powerful as Magneto!
" I gotta sit down," she muttered.
* * *
Magneto was already at the landing site when the chopper appeared. From the window Mystique could see the anger in his stately features, but right now that was the last thing on her mind. She rose from her chair and knocked thrice on the pilot's door, signaling for Toad to stay where he was.
From his own seat, Jacob watched the senator get ready to leave the helicopter.
" Who's that man out there?" he inquired, and watched the senator stiffen slightly.
" He's….a friend," Mystique replied, thankful to no end for the absence of Sabretooth at her leader's side. " Stay here," she commanded the boy, and exited the aircraft.
Magneto approached her immediately. " Why aren't you morphed back?" he hissed over the dying engines of the helicopter. " And why are you so late?"
" Listen, there's a boy in there who still thinks I'm the senator."
" Well, kill him!"
" No," Mystique said quickly. " I can't. You don't understand. See…this boy is a mutant. And from what I've seen, he's got the same powers as you."
If not for the circumstances, the look on Magneto's face that followed would have been priceless. His eyes popped and his mouth nearly dropped, the thin lips parting in frank amazement.
" Is that so…" he murmured.
" Yes. So what do I do now?"
Eric recovered quickly. " I'll go into the craft," he ordered, " and greet this…"
" Jacob."
" …and greet this Jacob. And as the good Senator you shall be with me, but don't say a word. Let me do the talking. Oh, and tell Toad to stay in the cockpit until you come for him."
" Okay." Mystique followed her leader into the craft, and as she passed the cockpit door she knocked thrice again, followed by a tap of her fingers. Toad understood the signal perfectly- no sound or movement issued from within.
Magneto approached the boy, his face in the rictus of a welcoming smile. " You must be Jacob," he purred.
" Where am I?"
" Welcome to my abode, fellow mutant." The smile was steadfast.
" You're a mutant, too?"
Without replying, Magneto spotted the crimped dime on the floor. He brought up his hand and pinched together his fingers, and all three watched as the dime bent the other way. Jacob's eyes widened.
" Wow!" he cried. " You can do it, too!"
" Of course. Follow me, young man. You needn't be afraid."
Apparently this went without saying, for Jacob hopped to his feet and without hesitation or mistrust followed Magneto and "Senator Kelly" out of the chopper. He took in his surroundings with the awe of a child who has not seen much of the world.
" Big place," he commented.
" It certainly is. And you ought to get used to it. You may be here for a very long time." The smile had not left Eric Lehnsherr's lips, and he added with relish:
" A very long time."
* * *
Toad watched as Mystique, Magneto, and a young boy exited the helicopter and disappeared into the rooms of the lair. He sat patiently within the helicopter. They did not want this boy- whoever he was- to see him. That much he understood; he was used to that. The sight of me would put anyone off, he mused. Especially a young creature like that boy. I wonder where he came from?
He waited there for nearly fifteen minutes, staring at the now black console that he had piloted to and from New York City more times that he could remember. Just as frustration began to creep into the borders of his senses, Mystique, now as herself, appeared at the entrance, and beckoned to him.
Toad wasted no time in extracting himself from the stuffy interior of the aircraft. He went to her quickly. " So who the hell is that?"
" He's a boy," Mystique replied, not noticing how obvious her statement was. " He snuck aboard the helicopter to explore it. He's a mutant, Mortimer. Got the same powers as Magneto."
" You don't say."
She nodded, her beautiful face serious. " I don't know what Magneto plans to do with him, but obviously he'll want to recruit him into the Brotherhood."
" A liddle sod like that? How old is he?"
" Fourteen. And if he's got powers that remarkable, it doesn't matter how old he is. Not to Magneto, anyway."
Toad shook his spiky head. " This is weird," he muttered. " I need a nap now. Go find Sabretooth and tell him to stay hidden."
" Already did. And the same goes to you, and to me, actually, because Magneto's briefing Jacob-"
" That his name?"
" Yes. Magneto's briefing him about whatever he needs to know, and I expect that when he's done we'll be able to go around freely. Until then, we stay clear. Understand?"
" Of course. I have no problem with that- I'm tired anyway."
" Good. I'll see you around, then."
" Right."
The two parted ways, leaving the silence of the lair unbroken.
* * *
Sabretooth emerged from the access tunnel into the main room that had once transformed Senator Kelly- the real Senator Kelly- into a mutant. He looked around the murky, watery darkness, and spotted with keen eyes a slight movement in the hollow in the rock, nearly ten feet off the ground, where Toad always slept.
" Toad," he called gruffly, anxious to know what had transpired this time in the city, besides this new boy, and whether or not Toad was expecting punishment from Magneto for his tardiness. There was no answer from up on the ledge.
" Toad?"
This time he heard a slight movement and a sleepy sigh. Sabretooth growled, but avoided his usual roar for fear that the boy Magneto was briefing might hear him. He would be in for it then.
Finally, a tousled head appeared over the rim, and a scowling green face took in the intrusion with sleepy indignance.
" What do you want?" Toad demanded sourly.
"Tell me what happened this time, at the city."
" And why do you care?"
" Just because, you worthless little idiot," Sabretooth spat, his temper heated. He had never liked Toynbee; in fact, the two shared a mutual hatred for each other and it was never any secret. " You watch your step around me because I'm the one who has to suffer when you're late and Magneto gets upset. Now tell me."
" Wouldn't you like to know. We did more than you, that's for sure. Anyone could, what with you having your nose up the boss's arse all bloody day long."
The sneer on Toynbee's face was too much. Sabretooth snarled, his fury ignited. He leapt up onto the ledge and held his claws to Toad's throat, lifting him bodily off of the ground.
" What are you gonna do?" Toad challenged, hissing like a reptile. " Kill me? I'm sure Magneto would love that."
" Fuck Magneto."
" Yeah, I'd like to hear you say that when he's in the same room," Toad countered, openly unafraid of his larger counterpart. He bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes. " Just once I'd like to see you live up to your expectations, Sabretooth."
Sabretooth freed his right hand and brought it in a bloody swipe across Toynbee's face, feeling the small catch as claws met flesh. Instantly he felt a massive weight plunge into his gut and realized that he had been kicked. The air left him in a painful whoosh and his claws sank into Toad's right shoulder, in the soft hollow above the collarbone. He savored the warm and satisfying give and gave a wicked grin of pleasure.
Which was instantly replaced with a grimace of pain as Toad maneuvered his flexible spine and kicked him square in the face, breaking his nose. Sabretooth, robbed now of his balance, toppled from the ledge and landed on his back on the stone floor below.
Toad's face appeared above him, sneering, and the mutant hissed, " Now get out of here before Magneto comes and sees."
Sabretooth still thirsted for the fight, but he knew that he risked his leader emerging into the cave to witness. He closed his eyes briefly to get his bearings, wrinkling his nose at the drops of blood that fell and struck his cheek from above, where Toad sat stoically assessing the dripping wounds in his shoulder and the bloody bruise on his left cheek. He showed no sign of pain, and when Sabretooth opened his eyes again Toad was all too willing to grin at him in open derision. Their eyes met, and the promise there was wordless but needed no sound for its manifestation. The hatred that crackled like static between them was an assurance that no words could have done justice. There would be a next time, and there would be a winner in the end.
* * *
Jacob had taken his little lesson on who was who and what it meant to be a mutant with good humor, considering the things he had been told. Magneto was impressed and pleased- the shock that Senator Kelly was really a woman named Mystique had been minimal and well handled. The boy had only questions now, and a desire to learn more. This was satisfying for Eric, for he had feared that the shock of all these revelations was going to cripple Jacob's understanding of anything more this new mutant decided to reveal to him. Magneto had told him that two other mutants resided in the lair, but he had not said who or what they were, or whether or not they were dangerous. And Jacob, surprisingly, didn't seem to care. He revealed to Magneto some choice pieces about his past, one of which being the fact that he had been very poor all of his life, and thus was used to all sorts of discrimination. This was a key factor: the boy knew what it was like to be hated, though not feared, and even though the discrimination was not of the same sort, it was enough for Jacob to taste the same distance placed between himself and the rest of society. And so his hatred of humans could be nurtured like a tiny seedling, and Eric knew that with time this fragile thing could grow to be a mighty redwood, and they together would teach humankind the lesson that needed so dearly to be learned.
So a tour of the lair was in good order, and Magneto guided the boy into the main room in good spirits and high hopes.
" It's awesome," Jacob whispered, his head tilted all the way back to take in the immensity of the place; the brilliant melding of stone and metal, the high, cathedral-like walls, the inklike indigo of the water surrounding the clanging steel catwalk. For what seemed like an eternity he followed the upward stretch of the massive walls with his eyes. " Did you do this all yourself?" he asked.
" Yes," Magneto replied, unable to keep the pride from his voice. " And all thanks to my mutant powers. With time, Jacob, you could do the same."
" What made you build this place?"
" For shelter," was the simple reply. " Humankind does not take kindly to our kind, and you must learn this. We need to have a place where they cannot find us and cannot harm us. Here, mutants are safe."
" Is this the only place that's safe for mutants?"
After a thoughtful pause, Magneto replied, " Yes. The only place."
Jacob said nothing to this, but his eyes were full of thought. " So," he said after a time, " this is the only place where I can be safe?"
" It is."
" Then I guess I'll stay here with you," he said. " I've got no other place to go."
Eric could not hide the smile that rose up within him then.
* * *
Mortimer Toynbee watched from his ledge as Magneto entered, the boy from the helicopter at his side. He set down the chisel he had been polishing and peered out as they embarked across the long stretch of catwalk that sat above the dark water. He did not want to be seen now, not today, not when he was still dripping blood from his encounter with Sabretooth. He pressed himself against the far back wall but kept his eyes open and aware of what was transpiring between Magneto and his new friend.
The two of them were engaged in earnest conversation, and the boy- Jacob- seemed obviously impressed with the immensity and intricacy of the place Toad had called home for the last decade. But he could not help but feel a rise of jealousy and pity for this child deep within him, for ten years before it had been him with Magneto's arm around his shoulder, him full of wonderment and innocent curiosity. It had been him that mattered. And now….now that innocence was gone. He had killed more people than he could count, and had enjoyed executing many of his leader's violent orders, and now no word of praise or comfort was offered to him by the man he considered a father.
You're falling into his trap, child, he thought to himself. And soon you'll have fallen so far that you'll never even realize what is happening.
" And this, " Magneto was saying, his voice carrying majestically throughout the echoing cavern, " is the main room."
" Do any mutants live in here?"
" Yes, as a matter of fact. Toad. He lives up above the ground, on the ledges. Mortimer," Eric called, raising his voice. The sound swirled up the walls like smoke and whispers exploded from the darkest depths of stone, as if murmuring their opinions of this man, this mutant, who had dreams of conquest that ascended higher than their celestial reach.
" Come out where we can see you, Toad." The voice lowered again, still calm and gently persuasive. " He's shy, you know. But useful."
Jacob nodded and watched the faces in the stone regard him with indifference. They had materialized out of the shadows the farther he walked down the path, and they looked as though they were made to be inconspicuous. The effect was thoroughly eerie, for some faces, set apart from the others, were gouged deeply, marred by angry slashes, mainly the portrait of a young couple. Their faces were melded and torn by furious lines, yawning gashes that belayed a hatred for them that was deeper than the inky waters of the cavern. One face, that of a young boy with curly hair, had its mouth open in a silent and grotesque cacophony of pain and horror. Above him, the face of a demon, eyes as blank as Grecian statuary, leered down and beckoned to him with a gnarled and taloned hand.
Jacob had not noticed them initially, as they were hidden mostly in the shadows, set deeply into the rough-hewn surface. Many possessed high cheekbones, angular, European faces, and enormous, inhuman eyes. And they were all trapped in their oppressive prison of rock, yearning to be free and yet hopelessly resigned to their fate, perhaps a metaphor of the life of he who had created them. After a while Jacob realized that a number of them were actually the same face, that of a frightened-looking young man with spiked hair and wrapped in a cloak of night. The rest were faces as normal as those seen in the midst of a crowd, but the loving way that they had been created suggested a deeper meaning to the people in the walls, and yet their high elevation hinted at a sad and yet infallible distance. They were mapped out upon the rock like voiceless martyrs- the span of a lonely and tragic life.
" Who did these?" he breathed.
Magneto looked to where the boy was pointing, and his brows lifted in surprise. "Well, look there. I hadn't noticed them before, actually," he said truthfully. "Toad must have done them. I wonder why."
A glimmer in the shadows arrested him, possibly a bird or lizard or frog, or perhaps Toad himself. He pointed, assuming the latter. " See there? Mortimer's there, watching us. I'm sure of it. Come on out now," he called.
There was no answer, and where the glimmer had occurred a pigeon arose flapping into the air, and ascended to the shadows above, a soft gray glint in the gloom. Magneto's brows furrowed, for he had expected Toad to answer to him immediately, but when he caught Jacob looking he quickly put on his placating smile again.
" Ah, well," he said. " He's shy, as I said. We'll try again later. Until then, why don't we go and meet Mystique and Sabretooth?"
" Cool," the boy said, nodding. " Let's go."
As he left the cavern, Magneto cast one more look over his shoulder. His eyes darkened briefly, like storm clouds blotting out a summer sun, and as suddenly as it had come the moment passed.
* * *
Alone again, at last.
Toad emerged from the shadows cautiously and dropped to the bank below, where he began to clean his wounds with the still, cold water of the chasm. His pain was a dull and throbbing protest, but his thoughts were elsewhere now. The boy had seen the faces he had carved over the years in the stone walls, and what was more, Magneto too now knew of them.
Everyone who had ever had an impact upon his life were somewhere in the shadows, set into rock to be an immortal testament to the emotions an abandoned mutant had felt for them. Some were bad, and marred by the angry slashes of his chisel, a silent revenge. His parents were among these. He did not remember what they looked like, for he had only been a tiny infant the last time he saw their faces, but he did the best he could, and the hatred for them that had been cast into the stone possessed no obscurity.
But most were the faces of those who had cared for him once, and even of those who he had once loved. Magneto was there, the highest in elevation; Mortimer's climbing abilities had been put to the test when he carved him there nearly ten years ago. Mystique was there, too, recently added, for her caring had surfaced only just now as their experience together grew and matured until they considered themselves partners in operations. And like partners, they took care of each other. To Mortimer, nothing could have made him more grateful for her.
He never considered his ability to be a talent, for it was the only way he knew how to keep his memories. His skills were not meant to be shared with anyone else, but were there upon the walls, safe in the shadows, to watch over his haven and whoever dwelled within. They were not gifts to anyone, but merely the stone scrapbook of a creature who had found people's mannerisms towards him harder than the substrate on which he kept the faces he wanted never to forget.
And now, someone knew.
An anger swelled up within him for Jacob then. The one who had pulled the shroud of ignorance away from the faces in the stone; the one who had uncovered them for all to see.
I'll destroy them, one by one, he thought. And with them my memories will fall into the water and that will be the end of it.
A noise to his left startled him, and he looked to the entrance of the cavern to see Mystique there in the doorway, framed by the light of the other room. She looked around for him and finally caught sight of him sitting by the water. He heard her sigh, and then she was at his side.
" I hear you and Sabretooth were in a fight," she said, careful to keep her tone neutral.
" He told you this?"
" It's pretty obvious, Mortimer. You broke his nose."
" He'll live," Toad replied coldly.
" Of course he will. It's healing as we speak. But no one gets into a tussle with Sabretooth without getting something in return. Are you all right?"
" Yes."
She leaned forward and scrutinized him carefully. " Your shoulder looks pretty bad."
" It's fine."
" And your face."
" Bugger off."
Her brows knitted. " I'm just trying to see if you're okay."
Mortimer sighed. " I know. I'm sorry."
" Jacob's met Sabretooth and I. Magneto's wondering where you went. I doubt he's happy that you didn't come out."
No reply to this. Toynbee looked at the ground, his jaw set firmly. Mystique placed a hand on his good shoulder and he flinched.
" What's the matter?" she asked. " Why didn't you come out?"
" Magneto would have known I was in a fight. You know how he feels about that."
" I don't think that's the real reason. Are you afraid of Jacob?"
Toad shook his head furiously. " Of course not!"
" He's done something to you, hasn't he? Is this why you're acting this way? What did he do, Mortimer?"
" He…nothing. It's just funny how Magneto sees him. Like a son. Like…"
" Like the way he saw us when we first came." She nodded understandingly. " I know. Sabretooth knows, too. It's upsetting. But it's for a greater cause. Jacob could really be of help to us."
" And how?" Toad demanded. " Magneto's not building any great machine. He's not planning to make any move on anyone right now. What bloody good can this child do?"
" He may incite Magneto to take action again," Mystique said softly.
" Wonderful."
" I thought you would be pleased to hear that."
" Well, you know what happened last time. Maybe a goddamn conquest is not what we need right now."
Mystique sat looking at him for what seemed like an hour. Finally, she sighed and got to her feet. " Well, maybe it's time to put more faith into your leader. He knows what he's doing."
Without another word, she turned and left. Toad stared after her long after she had gone, thinking on her words. Maybe she was right. Maybe Magneto did know what he was doing with this child, bit it didn't make him feel any better. The child was dangerous, and easily manipulated. On the surface this seemed to be a good thing, but Toad knew better. Jacob had been poor, Mystique told him. And being poor sharpened one's wits. He knew this well. Perhaps this fragile wire of a mind had a poisoned tip. The risk was great; Toad knew Magneto. His leader may soon decide that he didn't need a Brotherhood, not with another power like himself unleashed upon the world.
Angrily he scooped up a handful of water and hurled into the shadows, where it struck the stone and dripped down like blood.
He would be carving a new face into the rock tonight. And then, perhaps soon, perhaps later, he would tear down what he had worked so hard to build.
* * *
Jacob has impressed with the majesty and power of his new surroundings, and even more awed by the man who had created it, but now it was time to be alone.
Magneto had gone off to hold conference with the two other mutants, Sabretooth and Mystique, and he was left to wander round the lair as he pleased. He took his just liberties and explored the open rooms, but the faces on the rock walls kept coming back to him in his mind's eye and soon drew him to the main room again. He wanted to get closer to them, to touch them, feel the emotions there in the surface of the stone. The faces were unlike anything he had seen before, and now that he had gotten a taste of their hidden majesty he wanted more.
He had no trouble finding his way back, for living on the streets had enhanced his memory and navigational skills beyond normality. He entered as quietly as he could, hugging the shadows, and crouched slowly by the door as the sound of metal on stone became apparent in the air. He remained there, listening, until he could stand the suspense no more and crept forward ever so slowly, leaving the catwalk and embarking down the narrow stone ledge that rimmed the wall.
Suddenly he stopped and held his breath, for there before him, just visible in the gloom, was a figure. Jacob squinted and eased forward again, enthralled by the tiny scraping sounds of the metal meeting the stone, and of the mutant who appeared as though he were clinging to the wall itself somehow, several feet off of the ground.
He was nearly halfway across the main room when Toad spotted him.
Jacob's foot had grazed the stone wall beside him, and although the sound was minute, the figure heard it and its head snapped sharply to one side, catching sight of him. Instantly it vanished upwards into the draping shadows, moving like a giant black spider.
" Come back!" Jacob cried. " Don't be afraid. Please!"
He straightened and walked over to where the figure had been working. Looking up, he saw another face, unfinished and roughly hewn into the rock, but it was too much in the darkness for him to recognize.
Suddenly, the figure above him hissed, and the next thing he knew a powerful blow from behind sent him sprawling into the dirt. A gasp escaped his lips as his head struck the ground hard enough to make stars dance across his vision.
The weight remained on his back, holding him fast to the floor, as helpless as an insect transfixed upon a pin.
" What are you doing here?" his captor demanded. Jacob was surprised at the voice- soft and slightly youthful, and very English.
" I…"
" Speak up, then."
" I wanted to see the faces in the rock, the ones that I saw earlier. I don't want to hurt anything."
" Perhaps your looking is damage enough, did you ever think of that?"
" No, I didn't," Jacob replied, feeling strange. " I'm sorry if I intruded or if I wasn't supposed to see them. I didn't mean to harm anything, I really didn't. Please forgive me."
There was a silence, and then the weight blessedly removed itself from him. With a sigh of relief, Jacob sat up and faced the mutant that Magneto had referred to as Toad. He gasped at the eyes that glimmered at him in the darkness, and at the face that regarded him with warily. In the half-light Jacob realized that it was the same face that he had seen upon the stone walls.
The eyes, in real life, were even more amazing than their depiction. Luminous and froglike, they took in the sight of him with an almost childish curiosity. The head tilted sideways in an inhuman manner of alertness, and his skin and hair were green. The exotic body was crouched in what looked like an amazingly uncomfortable manner of sitting, the long fingers barely brushing the ground, but he showed no signs of discomfort, his long spine curved flexibly in the same arc as Magneto's smile. An ugly, painful-looking bruise darkened his cheek.
" So," Toad said slowly, " you've seen my creations."
" Yes. They're beautiful, if you don't mind my saying so."
" No one was to see them. Only me."
" But they're on the walls. They were bound to be noticed. Why did you put them there?"
" Because they watch over this place," Toad said coldly, as if the answer to Jacob's question was obvious. "They guard it, protect it from people like you."
The reproach in his voice was striking. Jacob considered this, understanding that perhaps this mutant really did hate him for discovering a secret that he had kept hidden in the shadows for who knows how long.
" Who are they?" he asked. " The faces, I mean."
" That's for me to know."
" And me to find out, right?"
" No," Toad said, turning to go. " They are my own memories; they belong to me only." He turned away then, receding back into the shadows from where he had come.
" Wait!" Jacob cried. " Wait, please don't go. I'm sure Magneto is looking for you. He was earlier. He said you were just shy, and that's why you didn't come out." He paused for a moment, thinking, and then quietly confided, " Magneto says that he and I have more power than all the rest of the Brotherhood combined. He said that he wants me to lead with him."
Toad stopped, and turned slowly around again to face the boy. His large eyes were cold, but deep inside them there was the flame of something Jacob could not recognize, smoldering there in the void. The intensity of it caused him to take an unconscious step backwards as Toad slowly advanced. His terrible gaze was fixed firmly on the boy's own hazel eyes.
" Don't believe everything you hear," he said slowly, deliberately. Jacob took another step back and felt a lump rising in his throat. Toad vanished without another word and the boy left the cavern, the mutant's words still ringing in his ears.
* * *
" He can't mean that. He just can't." Mystique sat upon the grass that grew in the meadow of the lab, crushing it beneath her fingers just as Toad's intense gaze was crushing her. He crouched beside her, his eyes burning as if with a fever, his long fingers with their sharpened nails thrust deeply into the loam of the earth, as if he could choke some answers from it.
" The boy himself said so. If what he said is true then Magneto may not have a use for the Brotherhood any longer. He'll destroy us."
" But what if what Jacob said isn't true?"
" We'd better hope like hell that it isn't, otherwise we may not have much time left here. But I have a sinking feeling that what he told me in the cave is true."
Mystique looked at the ground and said nothing. After a while, she picked a long blade of grass and began to fold it in her fingers. " Does Sabretooth know?"
" If you want Sabretooth to know, you tell him yourself," Toad hissed. " His opinion isn't exactly my top concern."
" I should've guessed." She rolled her eyes. " You know, you two are going to kill each other one of these days. Then you won't have to worry about what Magneto's planning to do with us."
" Let that be our concern."
" Fine. Get yourself killed. Waste your life on some stupid disagreement. I don't even know why you two hate each other so much." Mystique sighed. " How's your shoulder?"
" It hurts," Toad answered truthfully, and melted from his crouch to lie upon the ground. He could do that with her there; with Mystique he always felt safe.
He felt her fingers running through his spiky hair as she said softly, " I know you're tired, and I know you can't sleep. But really, you shouldn't be worrying about all of this. It could be nothing. I've told you before to have faith in Magneto. He only does what's right for the Brotherhood."
" But what if he thinks that what's right for the Brotherhood includes destroying it?"
She was silent for a moment, reflective. " Maybe what we fear isn't so much the loss of the Brotherhood, but the loss of Magneto."
Toad had to admit she had a point. " I never really thought of it that way," he said softly. " But perhaps you're right."
" He's a father figure to us all, to you more than to Sabretooth and me, I think. And I know you can't help caring about him sometimes, even though he's awful to you."
Toad sighed.
" But if you care about him," Mystique continued, " then you'll see the way he feels about Jacob. Here is a boy who has the same power as he does. Imagine how that must feel to him. Jacob is perhaps more of a son to him than anyone could ever be, even though they just met. That's the way things like that work. And Jacob's never had any support as a mutant and as a homeless kid, and then here comes a man who is so powerful and yet can do the very same things as he can. Maybe he's found a father figure in Magneto as well. So don't be so quick to condemn him. You were in his place once."
Toad sighed again, but he could not protest, for Mystique proved to have a valid point. He longed to tell her about the faces, though, and how Jacob had exposed them. He longed to tell her how it made him feel, like everything inside of him that he had worked so hard to push down and hide away was now exposed for all to see and to judge. But he could not, for then he would be even further exposing his work. In time, perhaps, when he had torn them down, he would tell her about them. In time…
He fell asleep then, lulled by Mystique's touch, for the first time in weeks.
* * *
In his office, Magneto sat gazing across his desk at Jacob. The boy was slumped in his chair, his eyes glued to the clacking balls on the tabletop.
" You seem glum," he commented. "Have you been enjoying yourself here?"
Jacob nodded and sighed.
Magneto frowned and leaned forward, carefully scrutinizing him. " You're all dirty. What happened?"
" Went exploring."
Magneto leaned back again and folded his hands in his lap. There was a pregnant silence, and then Jacob could stand it no longer.
" Magneto," he asked. " What are your plans for me?"
" Why, only to provide you a place where you can be with your own kind and safe from people," Magneto replied, surprised at the question. " Why?"
" Nothing, I guess. It's just that I was talking to…"
" You were what? Talking to who?"
Jacob shook his head, wishing that he had remained silent. " No one. Never mind."
" Tell me!" Magneto cried, furious now. Jacob shut his eyes tightly.
" I…"
" Yes?" Magneto urged, his gaze holding the boy in a vise.
" To Toad. I was talking to Toad. He's mad at me because I discovered those things he carved in the rocks. He said they were for his eyes only."
" And what does this have to do with your doubting me?"
" I never doubted you!"
" But you did," Magneto said, " just now. You assumed, even though I've said nothing of the sort, that I have 'plans' for you."
" Well, I told Toad that you may let me lead with you, and that you said I was really powerful, and he said that I shouldn't believe everything I hear."
" Did he." Magneto's eyes had gone dark; the clouds had covered the sun again.
" I dunno what he meant…I guess it just made me wonder. But he was mad. He probably didn't mean anything."
Magneto nodded slowly, absently, as though he were in another world. After a moment he said, " Find Sabretooth, will you? Tell him I need to see him."
" Okay." Jacob got up and turned to go.
" Jacob?" Magneto called.
" Yeah?"
" You stay away from that Toad fellow from now on. Do you hear me?"
Jacob heard. He nodded and left the room, searching for Sabretooth.
* * *
Mystique woke abruptly from a light doze as a breeze whirled through the lab, stirring the blades of grass so that they bent and tickled her legs. She smiled, and looked down to find her fingers still in Toad's spiky green hair. He was fast asleep, and she felt a warmth rise inside of her with the knowledge that, flighty as he was, he trusted her enough to feel safe to sleep in her presence. She stretched and slowly sat up, propping her arms beneath her. The birds were singing and the smell of the sea was strong in the air.
Suddenly a shadow cast itself down upon them both, and Mystique looked up- right into the face of Sabretooth.
His black eyes stared down at her expressionlessly. She frowned up at him, confused, but before a breath could pass her lips Sabretooth had moved past her and clamped a massive paw around Toad's throat.
He came awake instantly, but by this time it was too late and he could not mount a defense. He kicked out savagely, but he found himself pinned fast to the ground and Sabretooth above his head, out of range. The hand around his neck tightened and his airway closed off. The world around him was dimming, and he could barely make out the form of Mystique rushing towards him, but she seemed a mile away, and before she could do anything to help him the darkness came crashing down on him like a tidal wave.
" Sabretooth!" Mystique cried. " What the fuck are you doing?!"
" Magneto's orders," Sabretooth replied, but the smile on his lips was unmistakable. He turned and began to drag Toad after him like a prize deer, and all Mystique could do was watch him go.
* * *
Toad woke to a light so profound that it sent spears of pain shooting through his skull. He reached up and rubbed his eyes, wincing at the pain in his temples. Then Magneto's voice filled the air around him, and from the sound of it echoing off steel he realized that he was in the office where Magneto worked.
" Look at me, Mortimer."
Mortimer looked, and recoiled at the steely glint of hostility in his master's eyes.
" What have you done, Mortimer?" The voice was low and ominous- he knew very well the answer to his own question. " What have you done?"
" I don't understand…"
" You talked to Jacob, didn't you?"
Toad's heart sank to the floor.
" And you told him things, didn't you? Like not to believe everything he hears…You know, that doesn't make me look very good."
Toynbee could provide no reply to this. He looked with fear into the gaze that had presided over his life ever since Magneto had discovered him, a battered and starving orphan. He had taken him in, yes, but there was never love in that gaze, only power, domination. Only the silver glint of steel, sharp as razorblades. They cut him up inside even now; his bravery and boldness flowed from the wounds…
Something dripped into his left eye just then, and he reached up to feel a long, deep cut on his forehead; the bone exposed beneath his fingers. Made with something very sharp. A claw.
" You've hit your head," Magneto said with vicious humor, and beside him Sabretooth bared his fangs in a horrible smile. He stepped forward at his leader's nod and Toad jerked back, but there was a wall behind him and he could go nowhere. The giant mutant bent, leaned forward, and reached out.
Toad flinched as the metal collar clicked into place around his neck, and then Magneto's laughter was in the air. Sabretooth placed his hands on Toynbee's shoulders and gave him a nice, hard shove before he returned to his place beside his leader. Toad struck the wall behind him, but he didn't care- shocked, his fingers were exploring the collar, pulling at it, trying to pry the hateful thing off of him.
" There," Magneto said with cruel enjoyment. " Collared like the animal you are." He held out his hand and brought it into a fist, and Toad felt the metal round his neck tighten until he could no longer breathe. He clawed at it more frantically and Magneto finally opened his hand again, blessedly releasing his subject from the terrible vise.
" Maybe now you'll think before you speak," Eric said, and his lips curved into the terrible rictus of his cruel smile. " And Toad…if you ever speak to Jacob again I won't hesitate to cut your head off with that thing. Understand?"
Toad nodded, tears spilling forth from his dark eyes. He understood, for he had no better teacher.
* * *
Jacob had returned from his walk on the beach and went straight to Magneto's office. His hand was nearly upon the tunnel that led to it when the office door opened abruptly. The boy leaped to the side and ducked behind one of the trees that stood closely by the entrance in the lab, and he watched as Toad emerged, Sabretooth following at his back.
As they neared Jacob could see the terrible wound on the smaller mutant's forehead, and even closer still he saw the glint of the halogen lights that illuminated a collar fastened cruelly around his neck. Jacob gaped, amazed at what he was seeing. There was a fine rill of blood bordering the collar, as if the inside were sharp. He remained still as Toad passed, his head down, but the amphibious eyes looked slowly and sadly sideways, meeting Jacob's own gray stare. They remained there for a moment; Toad's gaze spoke volumes of the pain and humiliation he was suffering. A heartbeat passed, and then he looked away, to the floor again. Sabretooth did not see the boy crouched in the shadows; he stared straight ahead, a small smile on his lips, obviously pleased.
Only one person could have put that collar there. Jacob sat down heavily in the dirt as he began to understand just what Magneto had done. No living thing- human, animal, or mutant- deserved to be treated this way. And it had happened here, of all places, in the safe haven for mutants that this man had created, claiming that the well-being of ones that formed his Brotherhood was the only concern he possessed. And here he was, using his powers over them as though he was their master, and they his slaves.
A safe haven for mutants, indeed.
* * *
TO BE CONTINUED…..