Part Three.
At the Xavier institute, an alarm was going off. Professor Xavier went over to a massive computer called Cerebro.
A red light was blinking on a section of Bayville High.
"So...out in the open."
The phone started to ring.
"Hello, Scott."
"Professor, you know it always weirds me out when you do that."
"Sorry. What are you calling about?"
Professor Xavier hit a series of buttons until a unique headpiece came up.
"One of the students. He's...uh...kinda like us."
"Yes. Todd Tolansky," the Professor said putting the headpiece on.
"You know him?"
"Cerebro just got a reading. Must be using his powers openly."
"Anyway, he's not exactly the kind of guy you'd wanna share a room with. I mean, he's got the personal hygiene of a dead pig."
"We cannot turn our backs on anyone, Scott. You know that."
"Yeah. Should I bring him in?"
"Yes. I'll speak to you later."
As Scott and Professor Xavier ended their phone conversation, Kurt=2 0went over to Cerebro.
"What's that thing, Professor?"
"This is Cerebro. It detects the manifestation of special powers. That's how we found you."
Todd Tolansky was on the screen.
"So that guy is one of us?"
"That remains to be seen."
The Professor used his telepathy to reach Storm in the greenhouse.
"Storm?"
"What is it, Professor?"
She used her weather abilities t o create a small cloud to water the plants.
"I need you to audition someone for me."
Todd and Melanie were walking through the town after school. She noticed that if he stood up straight, they would be the same height but he was hunched over.
"There ain't exactly a lot to do in this town. Its an hour from New York City and that's it."
"Better than before. I was up b y Lake Ontario in Ogdensburg. I think it was close to seven hours to get to New York City."
"Seven hours?!"
"I used to live closer but my house caught on fire and we had to move. It killed my grandparents. My parents died a few months later from thier injuries. My brothers and sisters were all fine though."
The two walked into the park. Most of the elementary schools didn't close yet and the park was empty. Along the path, they found a small cat trapped in a tree.
"Poor thing. Hold on."
Toad looked around nervously. He could hop up there in an instant but could he risk showing her?
Melanie raised her hand up and formed a bubble.
"Keep a watch for people, okay?"
He stared at her as the bubble took the cat inside of it and brought it down to Melanie.
"There we go."
"How did you-"
"The same way you can use your powers. Its instinct."
"How'd you-"
"I listened in on your conversation with Principal Darkholme. What can you do?"
Toad sat down in his usual toad stance.
"They call me Toad."
He used his long tongue to grab a branch and hang from it.
"Way cool!"
That was the last thing he expected her to say. His face turned a slight tink of pink as he jumped down and retracted his tongue. The cat hissed and scratched Melanie. She dropped it and the cat ran away.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
The two kept walking as she used a tissue to dab away the blood.
"So...how many siblings do you have?"
"I'm one of a set of quintuplets. We all look somewhat identical but each has a different trait. I'm the youngest. Megan is first and she has a small birthmark in the center of her chest. Melody is second with a small birthmark on her=2 0left cheek and is identical to Mandy except Mandy's birthmark is on her right cheek. Finally, the one before me is Maya. We also have seven brothers. Three older, Malcolm, Maxwell, and Martin the III, and four younger, Marcello, Marc, Mitchell, and Myles."
"Why all of the 'M' names?"
"Everyone worshiped my grandfather, Martin. He was a mutant, like us. His power was to alter DNA. He could change a person's eye and hair color or even bring out their X-genes faster. He met my grandmother, Abigail when she was a nurse in the hospital and he was a doctor. They had my father, Martin Jr. He has the X-gene too. He has X-ray vision and can see through anything. He met my mother, Kim, when she was a lawyer. They were against each other, fighting to find the truth in the disappearance of a man. It was so weird! It turned out the guy faked his death, pinned it on his brother, and was planning on running away with the brother's wife!"
Melanie turned red.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm talking way too much."
Todd started laughing.
"Its cool. Don't worry about it."
"Maybe you should come over and che ck out the institute out. Maxwell told me its great for people like you and me. Crap! I was supposed to call him after school! I better go."
She pulled out a slip of paper and wrote something down.
"Here's my cell phone number. Call me if you want to check the place out...or if you find something interesting to do in this town."
She winked at him as she ran down the path.
Toad stared at her with a strange expression.
"She's weirder than me, I think."
He looked at the paper in his hand. His talk with Mystique replayed in his head.
"Yeah. Maybe I will check this place out."
