Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, or any of its original characters. Nor do I have any type of claim to those characters. However, the characters of my creation belong to me, and cannot be used without my permission.

Unlikely Heroes

By

Moonchampion

Todd Tolansky moved down the corridor as fast as his legs could carry him.  He leapt from one side of the corridor to the other.  Fear was etched clearly on his face as he fled for his life.  Just as he rounded the corner, he heard an explosion from behind.  The force from the explosion pushed Todd forward, throwing him into a vase next to the stairs.

"Oh," moaned Todd.  "Yo, like did somebody get the number of that truck?"  Todd then felt himself being lifted into the air, and thrown upside down against the wall.  "Ouch, yo!"  Todd was plastered against the wall with his head a few inches above the floor.  "Come on, put me down!  Please!"

"Give... it... back!" exclaimed Wanda as she walked up towards Todd.  She held Todd in place with her hex powers.  Wanda leaned over and held out one of her hands in front of Todd.  "Now!"  Wanda's eyes were filled with anger.  "I mean it!"

"Okay, okay, yo!" said Todd.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick of deoderant.  "I... I was only borrowing it, really."

Wanda's narrowed as she glared at Todd.  She snatched the stick of deoderant from Todd's hand and released her hex.  Todd then fell head first onto the floor with a loud thud.  "Ow!  You couldn't let me down any easier, yo?!"  Wanda turned towards Todd again, the fury clear in her eyes.  Todd looked up and chuckled nervously.  "Uh, just kidding.  Really."

"Don't... ever... touch my things... again!" declared Wanda.  She reached down and grabbed Todd by the collar and hoisted him up.  "Got it?!"  Todd nodded his head quickly, and Wanda released her grip on his shirt.  She stared down at him one last time, before rolling her eyes in disgust and turning away.

"Now, why would you of all people want deoderant?" came Lance's voice.  Todd turned towards him, and saw that Lance, Pietro and Fred were all standing on the steps looking at him.

"Yeah," agreed Fred. "You never made it a pri– uh… pri–  uh… you never used it before."

"Wait a minute," interrupted Pietro as he snapped his fingers.  "I got it!"  Pietro dashed over towards Todd in a blur, and draped his arm around Todd's neck.  "It's a girl, isn't it?  Come on, don't deny it."

"Hold it," said Lance.  "You mean, Todd's got his eye on a girl?"

Fred looked over at Lance and then started to laugh.  "Heh heh," Fred chuckled.  "It isn't Wanda is it?"

The smile on Pietro's face quickly disappeared.  He turned to face Todd and grabbed him by the color.  "Hey, you aren't checkin' out my sister, are you?  Because if you are…."

Todd smacked Pietro's hand off his shirt.  "Knock it off, yo!" said Todd.  "I ain't checkin' out your sister!  I prefer my women without a warning label, ya know!"  Todd leapt past Pietro and over Fred and Lance.  "I'm outta here!"  Todd opened the door and stepped outside, shutting the door behind him.

Lance, Pietro and Fred all looked at each other.  After a few seconds, smiles began to appear on their faces.  "Come on, guys," said Lance.  "Let's follow him.  I've got to see who this chick is that's got Todd's eye."

"What makes you so sure he's interested in a girl?" asked Fred as he looked from Lance to Pietro.

"Trust me," said Lance.  "I Todd is even thinking about putting on deodorant, its definitely because he's got an eye on a girl."

"I think you just want to make sure that Todd doesn't have his eye on Kitty," teased Pietro.  Lance sighed as he turned towards Pietro.  Pietro held his hands up defensively and shook his head.  "Easy, Lance, you know I'm only kidding."

Lance watched Pietro as he apologized.  Finally, he started down the stairs.  "Okay, guys," said Lance, "let's go."  As Lance reached for the doorknob, the light above his head in the foyer exploded.  Lance ducked and covered his head as the shards of the light bulb fell to the ground.  "Hey, what gives?!"

"I'm going too," said Wanda from the top of the stairs.  As she started down the stairs, Pietro quickly sped out of her way.  Fred pressed himself as closely as he could against the wall.

"Geez, Wanda," said Pietro now standing next to Lance.  "If you wanted to go, all you had to do was ask."

Wanda turned to face her brother.  She looked directly into his eyes as she approached him.  When she was only a few inches away from her twin, she finally spoke.  "I don't ask… for anything.  If I want to go… I go."  She raised her hand, and hexed the front door.  The door fell forward off its hinges.  Wanda then stepped over the door and outside.  She paused and looked back at the others.  "So, are you coming or what?"

"Right behind ya," said Pietro.  Wanda turned around and continued towards Lance's jeep.  Pietro turned to Lance and Fred.  Both of his friends were looking at him, as if they expected an explanation.  Pietro only shrugged.

"You know," said Fred, "I think Mystique's gonna be mad about the door."

Lance sighed.  "Then, let her take it up with, Wanda.  Now, come on," said Lance as he stepped over the front door.  Pietro quickly sped after him and Fred followed as well, only stopping to set the door back in its frame.

***

Dr. Bolivar Trask stood in his office looking over the production of the Sentinel prototype below.  He was almost hypnotized by the sparks flashing below as the workers welded the metal together.  However, the sound of his office door opening captured his attention.  He turned around, only to have a smile appear on his face as his daughter entered the room.

"Tanya!" said Dr. Trask.  He turned away from the construction of the Sentinel prototype to greet his daughter with a hug.  "Tanya, what are you doing here?"

"You know why I'm here father," said Tanya.  The seriousness in her voice caused the smile on Dr. Trask's face to disappear.

"We've been over this before, Tanya," said Trask.  "This is the only way to find every mutant out there, and capture them.  They're dangerous!"  Trask looked in his daughter's eyes.  "I'm doing this to protect you too!"

"You're spending millions on a robot that you're not even sure will work," argued Tanya.  "I've got another way.  Something that I've been working on."

Trask turned to face his daughter.  He arched his eyebrow, intrigued by her words.  "Really?  And what exactly did you have in mind?"

"We fight fire with fire," said Tanya.  As she gazed into her father's eyes, a sinister smile began to spread across her face.  "We use a mutant, to catch mutants."

Dr. Trask sighed and turned away from his daughter.  "Tanya, I really expected more from you.  First of all, I seriously doubt we could find a mutant that would be willing to help us in our endeavor.  Secondly, the mutant would have to be extremely powerful…."

Tanya stepped up towards her father and placed her hand on his shoulder.  As he turned around, she placed her finger against her lips.  "First of all, we already have a mutant capable of doing the job, and secondly… he's definitely powerful enough." 

Dr. Trask gazed at his daughter who pressed a button on her watch.  The door behind her slid open and a young teenage boy stepped into the room.  The boy had long white hair that was wrapped in a ponytail, and was dressed completely in black.  Tanya raised her hand and waved the boy in.  He stepped into the room, and started towards her.  Tanya smiled and turned back towards her father.  "Who is that?" asked Dr. Trask.

"This is your solution," said Tanya.  "He is a clone, created from a DNA sample we were able to obtain from the mutant Magneto.  Therefore, it's obvious how powerful he is."  Tanya smiled as Joseph stopped in front of her.  She circled Joseph once, and stopped when she was standing on the opposite side of him.  "And, he's been programmed to be completely loyal to me."

Dr. Trask studied Joseph from a distance.  He then turned towards his daughter.  After casting a final glance at Joseph, Dr. Trask nodded at his daughter.  "I see you're as determined as ever to make your point."

Tanya beamed as she looked at her father.  "I wouldn't be 'Daddy's little girl' if I weren't," said Tanya.

Dr. Trask sighed in approval as he watched his daughter.  "All right, you want the chance… you've got it," he said.  He reached on his desk and picked up a file and handed it to his daughter.  "This is the target.  If he can bring her back by tomorrow… we'll consider adding him to the Sentinel program.  Does that sound fair?"

Tanya tilted her head to the side.  "Well, I was hoping for all or nothing, but… it'll do."  Tanya took the file, opened it and began reading.  "Interesting… Bayville, New York… telepathic talents…."  Tanya looked up at her father and smiled.  "Consider it done."  Tanya then turned towards Joseph.  She snapped her fingers to get his attention.  "Joseph, let's go."

Dr. Trask watched as Tanya and Joseph left his office.  As the door shut, Dr. Trask couldn't help but smile as he watched his daughter.  He was truly proud of her.  However, he knew that he wouldn't have been the only one with those feelings.  "If your mother was here, she'd be proud of you too," said Dr. Trask to himself.  "But we'll make them pay.  We'll make every last mutant pay for taking her away from us."

TO BE CONTINUED…