Disclaimer: I don't own anything. So piss off.
Writer's Note: Just to clarify, Toad is Todd, unless it's said to Mort by someone. Mort is the movieverse Toad.
The Brotherhood walked tiredly into the mess that was supposedly Mort's workshop. He had just called a meeting in there, a rarity in itself. After the liberty island incident he had locked himself in, only to be seen outside it to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom. That was almost a year and a half ago, and he had told everyone to stay out, even Magneto.
It was nine o'clock in the morning but everyone was still tired. With no plans in the works everyone had been catching up on the missed sleep and had always all slept in till past noon. Well in Mort's mind, they could all miss a few more hours of sleep to see his machine. Magneto especially should like it, or Mort hoped so.
"This had better be good Toad." Pyro grumbled. Sabertooth yawned and Mystique sat down and fell back into a light sleep. Magneto nodded, his hair messy from not having been combed.
"Don't you worry. It'll be good." Mort said, looking at the machine to make sure everything was in order. It looked like an LCD projector, only without a case and bigger. Mort jumped over to the back of it, then with a huge smile, he typed something into what sounded like a keyboard from a computer. The machine started to hum, then a light flashed onto the wall Mort was facing, waking up Mystique. She grumbled, then stood up and moved out of the bright light.
"You made a giant flashlight?" Sabertooth asked with an amused grin on his face. He never had much belief in Mort's inventions. But the grin was wiped off when he saw the light start to shimmer, then shift into a picture of an empty closet.
"You woke us up to show us a picture of a closet?" Pyro asked. Sabertooth growled, not liking this. He didn't enjoy being woken up, especially if it was for no reason, or a really stupid one. If this didn't turn into something interesting soon, Mort would be in rehab for a little while.
"Musta gotten something wrong..." Mort muttered, typing more. The picture shifted to show a living room, with four boys sitting around a TV, and two girls. Mort smiled, knowing what they were seeing was something extraordinary, but he was the only one with a smile.
"What is this? Toad tell me exactly what this machine is before I dismantle it and make you eat the parts." Magneto said, Mort gulped, not really wanting the machine to be taken apart.
"This machine lets us see into alternate dimensions. In another dimension, that is the brotherhood." Mort said, pointing at the picture on the wall.
"Why can't they see us?" Mystique asked, finally awake enough to understand what was going on. She walked up to the picture and touched it, her hand going into the wall. She gasped, and jumped back.
"Now this is interesting." Magneto said with a sly grin on his face. He turned his attention to Mort, who was looking at the machine with love, making sure everything was still working right. He looked up at Magnetos grin with a scared look on his face. Everyone knew that something was going to happen to someone, and that they probably wouldn't like it.
"Go in there and bring them back here Toad." Magneto said. Mort shook his head.
"I can't go Mags. If somethin' goes wrong I'm the only one who can fix it." Mort said, trying not to smile.
"Then come back quickly. Mystique can watch the machine." Magneto said, the grin still on his face. Mort tried to quickly think of another reason not to go, but couldn't so he walked over to the living-room scene. They were all laughing at something on the TV. Mort got a nervous feeling in his stomach. He hadn't made the machine to go and bring people from other realities into this one, he hadn't even planned on doing anything with it. He just thought it would be cool.
He took a deep breath, and stepped into the picture, praying that everything would turn out okay in the end.
Mort arrived in the house, flying out of the rift and hitting the wall opposite with a loud bang. He groaned, and rubbed his head. He half-noticed the sounds of feet running towards him, but was still trying to stop the room from spinning.
"Who is he, yo?" someone asked, jerking Mort back to his senses. He jumped up, hitting the person closest to him by accident. The boy was pale, and had white hair in a style similar to Wolverines.
"Idon'tknowbutletsfindout." The pale boy said quickly, appearing next to Mort in a blur. Mort backed up into another boy, only this one was huge, at least three times as big as Mort himself (in every way) The giant grabbed Mort, holding his arms pinned to his sides. Mort tried to struggle free, but couldn't manage it. And he was facing away from the person's face so he couldn't slime them either.
Another boy, with brown hair and was seemingly the leader, walked forwards. He had a look on his face that said that you didn't want to piss him off. Mort returned the look best he could.
"Who are you?" The boy asked. Mort smiled ruefully.
"I could ask you the same thing." Mort returned, looking the boy in the eyes.
"I'm Avalanche. The one you hit's Quicksilver. The one holding you is Blob." Avalanche said, pointing to each in turn. A shorter boy jumped over, with a grin on his face.
"I'm Toad." The boy said, obviously pleased with himself. Mort looked at the boy like he had two heads, before remembering that this was an alternate reality, so there probably would be another Toad. And another Sabertooth (he shuddered at the thought). And another of everyone he knew.
"Who are you?" Avalanche asked, pushing Toad aside roughly. Mort couldn't believe that the kid would put up with that. Mort was trying to think of what he should say when the radio in his pocket crackled to life.
"Toad!...taking you...long!...back...now,...machine's...off!" The radio said. It was Magneto, so Blob dropped Mort and everyone jumped back. They all knew that if someone was in direct contact with Magneto you don't mess with them.
Mort pulled the radio out of his pocket, surprised and glad that it still worked.
"Sorry Mags, little trouble with the sods. I'll be right back." Mort said into the radio, hoping he got through.
"Hurry...machines...countdown...explode...not sure...off!" Mystiques voice came over the radio, and Mort started towards the wall that he had been thrown out of. He touched it, finding it solid. This wasn't good. He had hoped this wouldn't happen.
"I can't get back, the machine on'y works one way! I'll have to build one on this end! Jus' pull the plug on it, I'll see you soon!" Mort said, hoping that Mystique had got it.
"Thanks...see...soon." He heard Mystique say. He turned the radio off, something he rarely did. He knew that he had no chance of talking to them without the machine on. He was surprised that she had been able to say something after it was off, but he quickly dismissed it with the explanation that it was some residue.
He pocketed the radio and turned his attention back to the four boys. Mort wondered absently where the two girls had gone.
"Who are you? How do you know Magneto?" Avalanche demanded, not seeming so sure of himself anymore. Mort smiled.
"I'm Toad, from another dimension." He said, laughing silently at the look on all their faces as they looked to their Toad, then back to Mort.
"Magnetosplayingatrickonus. Thiscan'tpossiblybeToad!" Quicksilver said resolutely. Toad nodded his head. Mort smiled.
"You can't be Toad. Toad's a loser. You're not." A new voice said. Mort looked up, to see the girls standing in a doorway.
"Snuggle bumps!" Toad said, jumping onto the wall next to the girls. The girl that had spoken looked at him with disgust, before shooting something at him and slamming him into the wall opposite.
"That's Scarlet Witch, and Boom-Boom." Avalanche said, pointing to each. Mort rolled his eyes at Toad's actions. He couldn't believe that was his alternate...
"Prove that your Toad." Scarlet Witch said, walking up to Mort and stopping inches from his face.
"And 'ow d'you expect me to do tha'?" Mort asked, allowing his accent through fully. This seemed to stump the group as they all tried to think of something.
"Toad knows how old I am. How old am I?" Quicksilver said with a grin.
"Tha' Toad does." Mort said, pointing to the boy still hexed to the wall. "I don't. I don't know you in my world." This seemed to tone down the questions about them, until Toad smiled.
"Scarlet, lemmie down." Toad asked. The girl looked at him, and he dropped to the floor. After wiping the dust off his knees he walked over to Mort.
"When's your birthday?" Toad asked.
"June 27th." Mort said, not afraid of telling them that much. They didn't need to know the year though.
"What year?" Mort smiled at the question.
"Never you mind." Mort said. "Now if you're done, I need to get going." Mort said, pushing past Toad and heading towards the door. Quicksilver stopped him though, appearing in front of the door. Mort was getting fed up with them. If they didn't want to believe him then fine. But he had things to do.
Mort grabbed the white-haired boy and threw him into the wall beside the door. He slimed his arms and legs, preventing him from getting down. Then as an afterthought he slimed the boy's mouth to shut him up, before he left.
"Even if he is Toad, he's okay in my books." He heard Scarlet Witch say as he walked down the road, wishing he knew his way.