Chapter 4: Look what the Toad dragged in
Lance wandered through the rain with an umbrella in hand, he knew that Todd was weak he wouldn't stand a chance if mutant haters found him or worse tried to kill him. Pietro was looking around the city and Fred was checking high school. Lance was about to turn around and go back when he heard a spluttering sob, he looked to see a little huddled figure soaked to the bone near a tree.
"Todd?" Lance called "Is that you?"
"Yeah…" came a whimper "What do you want?"
"I want to talk to you" Lance said knelt down and held the umbrella over them. "Oh man look at you, you're completely soaked, nearest thing we're ever going to get to you having a shower huh?" he laughed but Todd looked away and Lance sighed at his pathetic attempt of getting Todd to cheer up.
"Look Todd we're know you're ill, and we know that whatever Harold is doing to you is probably the cause"
"Yeah Harold makes me churn out at least thirty pints of slime a day now, no wonder I'm so screwed up I can't make a slime ball now to save my life he's totally drained me out yo" Todd muttered "Hell my skin is as dry as anything cos my skin isn't making slime and …uugh" He moaned as he slumped to one side and Lance caught him "I'm totally spent y'know?"
"Pietro, Fred and me we've been talking and we think its best if…y'know…if you quit this job" Lance muttered and Todd looked at him.
"What about the money?"
"Look most of your debts have been repaid and every time you got some money I put half of what you gave me in the bank, I think I've got at least $2,000 saved up" Lance explained.
"A…and you won't chuck me out yo? Even if I'm useless in battle?" Todd mumbled and looked away and Lance ruffled his soaked hair.
"Dude that was Pietro talking, by his calculations if you can't run as fast as he does we're all useless" Lance laughed "Besides you are useful, for stealth and stuff I mean we would have never got our normal clothes back when the police were looking for us if you hadn't sneaked in and got them" Todd sniffed and smiled happily, Lance got up and brushed down his trousers.
"Come on let's head home" he chuckled and helped Todd to his feet, they walked home and for once Todd actually felt excepted.
The next day Todd walked to the factory and knocked down the door and looked at Harold angrily. Harold looked very flustered as he and the doorman started to pack away their equipment.
"Toad! Listen Todd my boy we need to get out of here one of my spineless fucking dealers grassed on us and we have to make tracks!" he cried grabbing Todd by the shoulders.
"Good cos I quit!" Todd declared "Just came here for my last payment"
"Oh really? You think you can just run out on me?" Harold laughed and held out his mobile "well let me tell you this little toady you won't be going anywhere!" he snarled and the doorman grabbed him when Toad tried to leap away.
"You can't make me give you the slime!" Todd cried angrily.
"Oh I won't be so sure about that!" he sneered and held up the mobile "The police are looking for the people who make the drug, and who better to blame than mutants? Right now there's a hidden batch of chemicals, your slime and a whooping big batch of elixir in your house, which I snuck in while you were all asleep" he explained and Todd looked up in horror.
"So imagine this, my boy, the police get an anonymous phone call giving them the names and address to the drug dealers and what a surprise it's at the Brotherhood Boarding House where the infamous Brotherhood of mutants live. With any luck someone might shot them!"
"You can't do that!" Todd screamed and wiggled as hard as he could.
"I can and I will, but only if you don't supply me with what I want!" Harold declared and Todd hung his head.
"I can't…"
"You can and will, maybe you would like to be put away for a while!" Harold declared and clicked his finger, the door man dragged Todd away as he screamed.
"My friends will come and get me! They're gonna kick your arse!"
"My dear boy that's exactly what I'm banking on!"
Lance looked out the window and Pietro paced back and forth while Fred sat there.
"He should be back by now" Lance grumbled.
"Wanna check on him?" Fred asked.
"You bloody well bet it" Pietro declared.
They walked to the ally way to see Harold standing there, Fred growled and towered over him.
"Where's Toad?" he bellowed.
"Come in we really should just talk about this, I think there's been a horrible mistake" he said gently and they walked in cautiously, the Door man slammed the door behind them. Lance spun around to when he heard rattling chains, Toad was tied to the wall and had duck tape covering his mouth.
"Let him down!" Lance roared and the ground rumbled.
"No" Harold declared "why would I let go my only trump card?"
"You do know we can kick your butt seven ways to next week don't you?" Pietro demanded and Harold just gave his creepy smile and pointed the gun at Toad.
"Yes well as fast as you are I doubt you can stop a flying bullet" he chuckled.
"I take that challenge!" Pietro exclaimed and Lance and Fred grabbed him before he gave Harold a reason to fire.
"So what do you want in exchange for Toad?" Lance demanded.
"Simple I want all of you to work for me, I could always use freak muscle, speed, and earthquakes when it comes to my business" Harold said calmly planting the gun gently on Todd's head, "it works well for you, you want to be with Toad and I want more workers. See we all win"
"Yeah except one thing we don't want to work for a scum bag like you!" Fred growled.
"Wait what's the pay? Do we get holidays?" Pietro asked.
"Pietro!" Lance cried "We're here on a rescue mission…remember?"
"Hey I'm just keeping an open mind that's all!"
"The answer is no pal, take your job and shove it!" Lance declared .
"Your funeral" Harold shrugged "or to be more correct his!" he pushed the gun harder into Todd's skull and then…
"click!" Harold froze and pulled the trigger again and again.
"Click, click, click!"
"Dude you don't think much of us do you?" Fred demanded, Pietro cackled and opened his hands to reveal a load of bullets.
"I might not be able out run a bullet but I can still steal from under your nose!" Pietro laughed. Lance growled and stomped his foot on the ground causing the earth to shakes, Harold stumbled and Todd swung at him and kicked him in the chest and sent him flying.
However he flew right onto a table with open syringes of elixir, Harold screamed as about five pints of elixir was pumped into his body at the same time. He stumbled down and collapsed on the floor shuddering, as Fred broke the chains off Todd and peeled the tape off.
"Well that take care of that problem let's go!" Pietro declared but as they headed for the door Harold got up, his skin bulged as muscles began to grow out of control, his whole body quaked and Harold's gurgling screams could be heard.
"Err…that don't look too good" Todd muttered a massive muscled hand lunged forth and tried to grab them.
A huge blood red creature twice the size of Fred loomed over them, veins pulsed horribley over it's taunt skin and ripples of muscles moved as the creature stood up. All that remained of Harold was an over stretched grin and a tuff of brown hair on top of a tiny head on a massive body.
"What…h…have…you…DONE TO ME!!" the creature roared and punched forward, Fred grabbed it and tossed it to one side, but it just kicked out and smacked him.
"B…blob DO SOMETHING!" Pietro screamed.
"Like what? It's been a while since I've taken down something bigger than me!" Fred cried.
"Well then let's chop it down to size!" Lance declared and held out his hands as the earth shook and buckled beneath them, Harold feet began to sink into the unstable earth and was soon buried. Toad and the others looked down the sink hole as the earth settled for a moment…and then began to move again.
"Lance please tell me you're doing that!" Todd whispered.
"Wish I could!"
The earth erupted up as Harold punched his way out; he clawed his way out of the sinkhole and roared. Todd looked up to see the chemical vat that laid there; he glanced to see that Harold was in the direct way.
"You guys get to higher ground!" Todd cried and hopped over the sink hole and grabbed a pipe that had snapped away from the wall, he began jabbing it into the vat until it slowly began to crack. Harold spun around to see what he was doing!
"YOU!" He bellowed and grabbed Todd, yanking him away and squeezing him tight in his large claw. "When I'm through with you there won't be enough slime to fill a tea spoon!"
"Ya want slime yo?" Toad demanded "Then have all da slime you want!" and with that lashed out his tongue and cracked the vat open, the chemical sludge poured out and cascaded down the sinkhole. Harold stumbled trying desperately to keep standing upright, he slipped and crashed down into the hole as the slime poured over him, and Todd wiggled out of his hand and hopped away but began to slip in as well.
"Toad!" Lance cried and Todd looked up to see Lance hanging out of the fire escape.
"Grab my hand!" Toad lashed out his tongue and grabbed his hand and pulled himself up, they stopped and watched the last twitching remains of Harold sink into the slime pit.
"Well…that was creepy!" Pietro mumbled.
"Todd next time you want to get some money…just get a paper route or something!" Lance muttered.
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