Ch9
Magneto
spoke calmly from behind as he walked out of his bedroom and
headed
toward the staircase. Toad's fury was quickly replaced by
fear.
"Um…one of the x-men came ere looking for
trouble..."
Magneto raised his hand to stop Toad from
saying another word as he
started to walk down the stairs to see
which x-men was foolish
enough to walk into his lair. Erik's face
brightened and a wide
smile streaked across his face. "This
is the x-men you're so worried
about?" he chastised the
amphibinoid. "Why this one could make a
profession out of
pacifism." He mused as he continued to walk down
the
stairs.
"Please forgive my brother's rudeness, Night
Crawler isn't it? We so
seldom entertain guests that he forgets
his manners. Now exactly
what brings you here?"
Kurt
could feel his heart rate slowing and the adrenalin in his
veins
begin to ease somewhat as he began to realize that once again
his
life had been miraculously spared. "I have come here to ask
zhe
mutant called Toad if he vould return an item zhat he stole
from one
of Xavier's students."
"Stole?"
Magneto repeated defensively. "That's a very drastic
accusation
you are making Night Crawler. You have proof of this
crime?"
Kurt
shook his head. "No, but I assure you Herr Magneto, Toad
took
Marie's scarf and she vishes to have it back."
"That's
a ruddy lie!" Toad snapped. "The bird gave er scarf to
me
as a souvenir," he mocked sweetly. Kurt's face showed his
anger but
he courageously remained calm. "Vell in any case,
she vants it back!"
"Now that's a bleeding shame
ain't it! I'd like to ave a few things
returned to me, but you
don't see me whining about them now do you."
Toad retorted as
he went to the living room and turned the couch
upright. Ach,
mein Gott!When will this end!?!' Kurt began to wonder.
"Perhaps
Toad," Kurt spoke speculatively. "If you vould be so
kind
as to return Marie's scarf to her, zhen who knows? Perhaps
zhat vhat
you have lost, vill be returned to you." Kurt's
kind words only
brought dark memories to Toad's mind. "That's
not ow it works for
me, bloke. It never works out for me!"
he spat bitterly.
Suddenly, Kurt felt an over whelming sense
of compassion for the
young green man. "Tell me Toad, vhat
did you loose?"
For a moment or so, Toad stared angrily
at Kurt, suspicious of the
blue mutant's motives. "Oh, let's
see…" he snapped sarcastically. "…
for a start, MY
PARENTS! Oh, then there were all my childhood chums,
oh wait a
bloody minute…I never ad ANY! A decent ome where I grew
up…no
wait, I didn't ave that either! An encouraging tutor, a
caring
teacher oh that's right…I never ad one!"
"Waa,
waa, waa! See what you started freak," Sabretooth
interrupted
with a rude snort. "Now he'll be bitching about
his pathetic life
for the rest of the damn evening!"
Toad
turned his attention to Sabretooth and glared at the blonde
haired
brute. "I know…" Toad concluded. "I'd settle for
just getting
back me bloody Star Wars collection!" Sabretooth
chuckled as he
rolled his eyes. "You're STILL crying about
those dolls?"
"They're action figures!" Toad
stressed. "And it took me a bloody
lifetime to collect em
all."
"Vhere are zhey now, Toad?" Kurt
interrupted. Toad shot a bitter
glareat Sabretooth who grinned
maliciously while scratching his
beard. "Oh, I buried Toad's
toys somewhere out in the yard."
Kurt then took this
opportunity to weave a deal. "Toad, if
Zabretooth returned
your dolls, ah…I mean to zay, action figures…
back to you,
vould you zhen give back Marie's scarf?" But before
Toad
could reply Sabretooth interrupted. "Why the hell should I
give
back Toaddolls? He's always buggin' the crap outta me!"
"Oh
you're justsore cause Mags won't let you take off for
Christmas."
Toad sneered at Sabretooth.
Kurt sighed. "Zabretooth, if
you got the holiday off, vould you
return the action figures back
to Toad?" Sabretooth shrugged his
shoulders. "Whaddya
say Mags?"
Magneto looked at everyone in the room as they
looked at himholding
their breath waiting for his answer. "Why
does it all come down to
me?"
