Passing the Torch
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "Apparently, squirrels can have as many lives as they think they can get away with"
Toby's middle name is Norton, after Beasts father in the comics.
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Chapter 6 – Scirurus vulgaris
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A few hours later, and the Brotherhood were walking through Central Park. Pietro sighed boredly.
"I'm bored, bored, bored", he said, "this is pointless, the trail's gone cold"
"Shut up, Pietro", said Eileen, "we have to keep looking, or Fury won't pay the wages, and we won't eat"
"Don't the X-Men have a mercenary?", asked Todd, "I think we should just go straight ta him an' see if he's workin' for Hydra"
"The guy who sounds like Demi Moore?", blinked Freddy (1)
"Fury said he was clean already", said Wanda, "then he muttered about him being too stupid or crazy to do something predictable like this and HEY!"
Wanda narrowed her eyes as a guy pushed past her, a handbag under his arm as he ran down the pathway.
"Unless he's of a certain persuasion, I'm guessing that purse isn't his", observed Todd.
"So?", said Pietro, "it's not our problem, we're busy"
"Do you have any sense of morals at all, Quicksilver?", asked Elieen.
"No", said Pietro, "it comes from having fifty percent of my DNA from a super villain"
"Pyro, scorch 'im", said Eileen, nodding at the thief.
"Why him?", asked Pietro, "I can catch him. You just like things being burned, you're almost as bad as him"
He paused.
"Almost"
Pyro let out one of his maniacal laughs, opening his flamethrower nozzles, sending a blast of flame out and into his hand. It flickered for a moment, then died. Pyro blinked at his now empty hand, confused.
"Wha?"
"What's wrong?", frowned Wanda.
Pyro tried again, not able to keep a flame going.
"I don't know"
"Oh, fine, I'll do it", snapped Eileen, flicking her hand out, causing the thief to fly into a tree, hitting the ground with a thud, "there, done"
Pyro, meanwhile was still trying to manipulate the fire from his flamethrowers.
"Guys…I'm getting a bit creeped out here", he said with a nervous laugh.
"If his powers have stopped working, can we kick him off the team?", asked Pietro hopefully.
"Pie, he's your brother-in-law, you're not going to get rid of him", said Freddy, "you should know this"
"A guy can dream", said Pietro, walking over to the thief, giving him a poke with his foot, "I bet the Flash doesn't have to cope with stuff like this"
"Hey, get your own villains"
A figure landed from the trees in front of the Brotherhood. Curly red-brown hair, brown eyes…it was her oversized incisors, small claws and a 3 foot fluffy tail made her an obvious mutant.
"The squirrels of Central Park have mutated!", screamed Pietro, backing away.
The woman watched him flicking her tail in annoyance.
"I'm not a squirrel, I'm a human", she said, "idiot"
She smirked, her front teeth showing even more.
"Name's Doreen Green, known in these parts as Squirrel Girl, and this is my patch", she said, puffing out her chest proudly, "I keep the park clean"(2)
"Squirrel Girl?", Pietro snorted, "what kind of lame-ass codename is that?"
"Says 'Quicksilver'", said Wanda dryly.
"Hey, my codename is cool!", said Pietro, "and not a mouthful, 'Scarlet Witch'".
"You'll have to ignore them", said Freddy politely, "they're twins"
"…I see", blinked Doreen.
"So, how do ya fend off bad guys?", Todd arched a brow, "by throwin' nuts at 'em?"
Something furry landed on Todd's head, making him give a girlish scream. The thing in question was a squirrel, which chinnered at him angrily, before hopping over onto Doreen's shoulders.
"No, I get my squirrel army to deal with them", she smirked, "right, Monkey Joe?"
"Chrin, chink", replied Monkey Joe.
"Oooooooh", said Pietro sarcastically, "a squirrel army, scary! I think I'll run to the bomb shelter now!"
Doreen narrowed her eyes.
"They helped me defeat Dr. Doom once", she said, "They'd kick your skinny ass" (3)
"I'd like to see the vermin try", challenged Pietro.
"See, it's this sort of talk that makes women hate you", pointed out Eileen, before looking at Doreen, "don't suppose you've seen anyone who looks like a mercenary around, have you?"
Doreen blinked, flicking her tail thoughtfully.
"Can't say I have", she said, "but you know, they're supposed to blend in really well. Why you guys on a job or something"
"We're Freedom Force…..", Pyro trailed off, "which compass direction is it now? I forget"
"We're the Brotherhood", said Wanda, patting her husband on the shoulder, "we work for S.H.I.E.L.D, albeit grudgingly"
Doreen grinned.
"Cool, you got any openings?", she asked, "I'm getting a bit sick of sleeping in the park"
"For a mutant with a decent ability? Yes", said Pietro, "For you? No"
Eileen gave Pietro a shove.
"Yes, we do have an opening", she said, "if you're interested, you're more than welcome to join us"
"That'd be great!", grinned Doreen, "oh…but only if Monkey Joe can come too"
"He's gotta be better than that Demonic-Evil-Cat was", grumbled Pyro, earning a glare from Wanda.
"Of course", smiled Eileen, "Welcome to the team"
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In New York, Celeste landed at the Worthington Mansion's front door, smiling happily. She looked at the letter in her hands, giving it a hug, before steeping inside.
"I'm home!", she called, heading into the study, where Jason was, or rather had been, sleeping with a book over his face.
She chuckled, picking it up.
"Hey Gramps", she said, "I'm home"
"So I see", said Jason dryly, sitting up, "was getting some sleep, didn't get much last night"
"You're still not feeling well, Grandpa?", asked Celeste, concerned.
"Don't worry about it", smiled Jason, "it's just a flu. I'm not as young as I used to be, you know, my body takes longer to fight stuff like this"
"..I guess", she said, "you should get some rest, though"
"I've rested all day", said Jason dryly, then blinked at the letter in her hand, "what's that?"
"Oh", she smiled, "Skylar managed to get me a admission form for LaGuardia Arts! Isn't that great? It's just where I want to go"
"So you've mentioned, several times", said Jason, amused.
"I can't help it, I'm getting crushed in that snot nosed girls school", Celeste grimaced, "I want to be able to pursue what I want to be, not doing what Dad wants me to be"
"He's only trying to protect the family business", pointed out Jason, "but, you're right, he needs to let you do your own thing"
"I need Dad to sign this", she said, looking at the letter, "but if he know what it is, he'll completely freak out and won't let me go"
Jason gave a defeated sigh.
"Okay, okay", he said, "I'll try and 'convince' his mind that it's some business form instead"
Celeste grinned, hugging him, kissing his cheek.
"Thanks, Gramps!"
"Uh huh", said Jason as Celeste walked off to raid the kitchen, "don't thank me just yet"
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In the Institute, Toby was trailing his fingers over one of his Braille books, trying not to think that Imara would be on a date with that Axle jerk, and probably having a good time. Unfortunately, trying not to think about it only made him think about it more.
"This is not my lifetime", he sighed.
"Woof woof"
Toby paused.
"And now I'm hearing dogs", he said, "yep, I'm off the deep end"
"Son, you're hearing a dog because I have one", sighed Hank.
Toby blinked.
"Dad?", he paused, "…..How did you get into my room without me knowing?"
"You were so engrossed in something that obviously wasn't your homework that it really wasn't all that difficult", smirked Hank, then pushed a labrador towards his son's hands, "Meet Bingo"
"You got me a dog?", Toby paused, "I thought pets weren't allowed here…you know, after Ebony and Lockheed were in that fireball fight to the death thing"
"Charles made a special exception for a seeing eye dog", said Hank with a grin.
"I thought they refused seeing-eye dogs to mutants", said Toby, stroking the dogs' coat in awe.
"They did", said Hank, "but Warren Worthington has a blind lawyer friend in Hells Kitchen. He soon...persuaded them otherwise" (4)
"That is so cool", said Toby with a grin, "I can't wait to tell Imara!"
"Uh huh", said Hnak, "do your homework first, Toby, then we'll talk free time"
"Okay, okay, doing it", sighed Toby, picking up his book.
He waited until he heard the door go, pausing a little more to listen for any Dad-like noises, before, satisfied Hank had left, petted the dog again.
"So, you're Bingo, huh?", he chuckled, "maybe with you, Dad'll let me out of the house more, huh?"
"Woof"
Toby paused.
"Yeah, talking to the dog, almost as bad as talking to myself", he sighed, going back to his book.
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Elsewhere in the mansion, Logan looked in awe as Madison and Kirby slept peacefully on the couch. There had been no screaming, no uncontrollable blazes, they had just gone to sleep. Peaceful as.
"Okay, I give", he said, looking at Magneto, "how'd ya do it?"
"I drugged their cereal", said Magneto dryly, not looking up from his newspaper.
Logan blinked for a few moments.
"WHAT!"
Magneto sighed, putting his paper down.
"Joking, Logan, joking", he shook his head, "why would I drug my own grandchildren?"
"Well, considerin' ya put yer daughter in an asylum an' then had her memories wiped…"
"Point taken", said Magneto, "Look, after Wanda and Pietro, those two aren't all that bad. Once you've raised one set of twins, it's like you graduate from twin-wrangling school. It's easy after that"
"I don't wanna swim the jam", muttered Kirby in his sleep, "the piranha's will eat me"
Logan arched a brow.
"This is why crazy people shouldn't be allowed to reproduce"
Suddenly, the room began to shake, violently.
"Ya know, I might have insulted yer daughter an' all, but there no need ta throw a strop", growled Logan.
"It's not me, you idiot", said Magneto, sighing as the twins jolted awake, "…goodie"
"Well, if it 'aint you, an' if Shakedown's in Chicago", said Logan, "then what the heck's causin' this?"
"I'd say it's the giant bear in the driveway", said Tag dryly from the window, "just a guess"
"Giant bear?", asked Logan, walking to the window, "Kid, there 'aint no bears in Bayv…..oh look, a bear"
Sure enough, in the driveway stood an enormous black bear, the same height as the mansion itself. It gave a snarl of rage, looking to the side as the door opened, Deadpool and JP stepping out. It growled, stalking towards them.
"Sorry, Yogi, I 'aint got no pic-in-ic baskets", said Deadpool, "now you go back to your cave before I get the Ranger out"
"Wade, don't antagonise the giant, angry bear", said JP as it snarled, "umm, guys? We'd really appreciate some help here…"
In the infirmary, Dani screamed, sitting up in her bed, waking Kurt with a jolt. Before either mutant could speak, the bear roared again.
"….Oh no, it has come", she whispered.
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(1) – In-comic joke who read the Cable and Deadpool series. It's De-Mee. :D
(2) – Squirrel girl is a Marvel character, an obscure one, but one she is. You know me, I love little-known characters. Monkey Joe is also cannon.
(3) – Also true. Just Google Squirrel Girl, and eventually you'll get the panel of Doom covered in an army of squirrels. It's not to be missed. "Confound these wretched rodents!. For every one I fling away, a dozen more vex me!"
(4) – Cookies to those who know who this is.
Cliffy! For those that don't know, the Demon Bear is a cannon thing. It is what it says on the can….almost. I'm not spoiling the surprise for those that haven't read the comics. The chapter title is the Latin name for the Red Squirrel. I admit, I wrote it mostly for the cheap thrill of not having to put it in italics like I do with coursework. Sad, I know, but let me have it.. Well, do review. Until next time….