Part 4

Toad, meanwhile, feared for his life...

"What do you want with me?" he asked his mysterious captor.
"Your blood."

"My WHAT?"

"Your mutant DNA will create an army of super-powered slaves for me."
"Couldn't you use someone else's? I'm kinda attached to my DNA."

The woman (he could see it was a woman now) glared at him. "You don't have a choice. Either give me what I want, or wind up in an unmarked grave..." Neither of those options particularly appealed to Toad.

"You're not gonna take all of it, are you?"

"That is not your concern."

"Whaddya mean? You're not gonna kill me, are you?"

The woman glared at Toad as if he'd insulted her mother. "You will hold your tongue! Or I'll cut it off."
Eewww. Toad's tongue was too much a part of him to lose, so he kept quiet, wondering how much longer he had to live.

He didn't notice when the crazy woman left. How much time had passed? Hours? Days? Hard to tell in here.
Suddenly there was a noise from the far end of the cell. He scooted down to find out what it was.
Probably a rat.
No, not unless rats grew to the size of German Shepherds. There was a great gray lump in the far corner of the cell, and as he watched, it moved.
I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!
The lump turned over . . . and he found himself looking into the face of a girl about his own age.

"Hey," he said softly. "You okay?"
She looked up at him. She was pretty, underneath the dirt. "Who are you?"
"My name's Todd. I just got here. You been here for a while, yo?" It was a stupid question, but maybe her sense of time wasn't broken.
"I don't know," she moaned. "Seems like I've always been here."
So much for that theory.

"Daddy?"
Magneto looked down at his son in surprise. Pietro hadn't called him Daddy since he was . . . what, four or five?
"What is it?"
"I need you to--" He started coughing, and it seemed like forever till he caught his breath. "I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?"
"Find Wanda."
Magneto sighed. "I've been trying for years. She's lost in the system."
"You have to find her! She's in trouble!"
"How do you know this?"
Pietro shook his head. "I just know. Please find her."

Professor Xavier didn't know what to think when he saw Mystique standing outside his front door.

"It's an emergency," she explained. "Todd is missing, and we need someone who can help find him."
"Do you think he's in some sort of trouble?"
"I think he may be starting trouble somewhere. He's been nothing but trouble all night. When we were at the hospital--"
"Wait a second," Scott Summers interrupted. "Hospital? What happened?"

"Pietro was really sick," Blob said, "and the docs might have to operate on him. We didn't know until now because Toad kept bugging Mystique about his stupid ice cream..."

"Pietro's ill?" Brenda asked. "I hope he's all right."
"He will be," Mystique said. "Toad, on the other hand . . ."

Toad cowered in fear before his mysterious jailer . . .

. . .but she wasn't after him.
She reached out for the girl at the far end of the cell. "Come on, little girl. Your time has come."
"NO!" the girl screamed, and shrunk back as far as she could.
Todd stepped in front of her. "Keep away from her!"
The woman glared at him. "When did you get loose?"
"I dunno . . . a while ago. I had to do something! You can't keep us here!"
"Don't tell me what I can't do!"

"Wait just a cotton-pickin' minute here, bub." growled Wolverine. "You sayin' somebody grabbed Toad?"

"Yes. It looks that way, anyway. We have no clue who or why. I'd almost say they could have him . . . if it weren't for this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that he's in trouble." Mystique was pacing back and forth in the entry hall, beside herself with worry.

"What kind of trouble?" prompted Jean Grey.

"I wish I knew. I don't know who has him or what their intentions are."
"What makes you think somebody has him?"

"When we came back from the hospital..." Lance explained about the disorder in the house.

"Ouch!" Kitty said. "Did whoever grabbed him leave any kind of note or anything?"

"No, nothing. It was like he just vanished off the face of the Earth."
"Not that that wouldn't have been a good idea."

"Shut up, Fred." Lance snapped.

"Hey!"

"Do you have any clue where he might have been taken?" Professor Xavier questioned Mystique.

"None at all. I don't have any idea who it might have been--"
"He's close by," Brenda said.
They all looked at her.
"He's inside some kind of abandoned building."

They all stared at her. "You're kidding!" gasped Kitty.

"Hang on . . . he's just on the limit of my range. Either that or something's blocking me."

Toad frantically beat on the walls of his prison after the woman locked him back in. She had taken the girl and left him there. But she hadn't tied him up again, so maybe there was hope.
Todd, are you there?
The voice in his head made him jump.

"Wha....who's there?"

It's all right, it's only me.

"Brenda?"

You have to tell me where you are so we can come and get you.
"I don't know. I didn't exactly see the outside."

Then he paused. "What do you mean, we?"

Your friends are all worried about you.

"Which ones?"

He had a sudden coughing fit which seemed to last forever. Lying on the cold stone floor didn't really help much.
"You still there?"

Yes, Todd.

"Good to know somebody's looking for me. I didn't think they liked me anymore."

Toad's companion in the cell looked at him strangely....

"Who are you talking to?" she asked hoarsely. What had that crazy woman done to her?
"It's all right," Todd said. "Someone's coming to rescue us. I think."

"Who?"

"Some . . . ah, friends of mine. I think."
Who's there with you? I can't get a clear reading.
"Uh . . . she didn't exactly tell me her name. Not that it matters, since we're both gonna die."
Not if I have anything to say about it.

"C'mon,do something!" Fred moaned at Kitty.

"What do you want me to do?"

Back in their dungeon,Toad and his companion nervously fretted,hoping the woman wouldn't come back....

"So what [b]is[/b] your name, anyway?" Todd asked the girl.

She looked at him with clouded eyes. "I can't remember."

Professor Xavier had just seen the rescue party off when the doorbell rang again. He opened it to find . . .

. . . the last person on Earth he'd expected.

"I need your help," Magneto said.