Welcome Back Lance

Another week passed with relatively few incidents. If one didn't count the obstacle course being destroyed several times. One day Todd and Fred were waiting for the others at the exercise field. "I wonder what's keeping them yo?" Todd scratched his head.

"Dunno. Maybe Pietro and Shipwreck are arguing over who's the better ladies man again?" Fred shrugged.

"Boy those two have some real stupid arguments don't they?" Todd asked. "Remember that time we went over and they got into a pudding war over what flavor was better?"

"Do I?" Fred laughed. "That was really dumb. Everybody knows chocolate is the best!"

"Come on Freddy," Todd looked at him. "Sure chocolate is great, I'll give you that, but for those of us with truly sophisticated pallets, vanilla goes down much nicer."

"Sophisticated my butt Toad! You eat bugs!"

"So does Roadblock!"

"Yeah those gourmet things covered in…CHOCOLATE!"

"Chocolate just happens to go better with insects," Todd sniffed. "If you want pudding by itself after a big meal, vanilla is better. In fact, you can even have vanilla for breakfast if you mix it in with fruit and granola."

"That's vanilla yogurt!"

"Same difference."

"Well chocolate is better anyway."

"No vanilla is!"

"Chocolate!" Fred shouted.

"Vanilla!" Todd shouted.

"Well it's nice to see that the two of you haven't stopped having philosophical debates."

They turned to the direction of the voice and to their surprise saw Lance standing there with a huge smirk on his face. He was wearing a black T-shirt, brown pants with black boots. "I don't know what I've missed more," He snickered. "Your intelligent grasp on the issues or your sparkling wit."

"Lance!" They both screamed.

"Buddy!" Todd hopped up and leapt onto Lance, nearly knocking him to the ground. Lance barely escaped Todd's embrace when he was crushed by Fred's bear hug.

"Aw man get off me!" Lance gasped.

"Oh man!" Fred sniffed. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry! Are you okay? Did they hurt you? They didn't give you electric shocks did they?"

"Fred you've seen too many movies!" Todd rolled his eyes. "They don't do stuff like that!"

"Yeah Blob its no big deal," Lance finally escaped Fred's embrace. "It wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

"Told you," Todd told Fred. He turned to Lance. "You okay?"

"Yeah well," Lance shrugged. "As well as can be expected, you know?"

"Yeah I know," Todd sighed.

"Sorry we're late," Althea came up with Pietro, Wanda and the Triplets. "The Triplets and the Twins got into a screaming war. Hey!" She saw Lance. "Welcome back."

"LANCE!" Pietro cried out with joy and jumped into his arms. "Miss me?"

"Like I'd miss a cold," Lance said sarcastically dropping him. He gave him a mock punch in the arm. "So I hear you guys are all living together with Shipwreck. How's that?"

"Like a three ring circus," Althea groaned. "Every day these nuts go crazier and crazier! And my dad is the ringmaster!"

"Now the triplets all have a crush on me!" Pietro groaned. Quinn and Brittany were hanging on each arm.

"I don't," Daria sniffed. She looked at Lance. "You on the other hand seem more like my type."

"Oh no…" Lance blinked. "Uh…I'm still recovering from my last relationship."

"I could help," Daria grinned.

"Why don't the three of you go help set up the obstacle course," Althea shoved them away.

"Spoilsport!" Daria stuck out her tongue.

"Now I'm starting to know how you felt Wanda when Toad had a crush on you!" Pietro groaned, rubbing his arms trying to get some feeling back.

"You used to like Wanda?" Althea asked. "What were you a couple or something?"

"Not exactly," Wanda groaned.

"Hey it wasn't like what you and me got babe!" Todd told her. "No offense Wanda. I just outgrew you, that's all."

"None taken believe me," Wanda waved.

"You never told me about this," Althea raised an eyebrow. "I want details."

"Okay he drove me crazy," Wanda sighed. "That detailed enough for you?"

"WHAT?" Althea flared.

"Not that kind of crazy!" Todd protested.

"I wasn't interested in him at all," Wanda explained.

"Why not?" Althea asked.

"I've wanted to ask you the same question," Todd remarked.

"All right everybody!" Roadblock came up. "Time to exercise!"

"Yes sir!" They all shouted and stood at attention. Soon they had completed the obstacle course. A few of the obstacles were even left standing when they had finished.

"Well you are all getting better," Roadblock sighed. "Some things are actually left standing this time. All right, all of you to the dojo! Off you go!"

They went to the changing rooms where they put on their white training uniforms. Lance took something out of his locker. It was a bottle with blue pills. He took one and washed it down with some water from the bubbler.

"What's that yo?" Todd asked.

"Just my medication," Lance told him. "Helps counter the side effects of…my condition. I'm probably gonna have to be on it for the rest of my life."

"I'm sorry," Pietro said.

"Hey," Lance shrugged. "No big deal. Way I see it, I'm lucky to be alive."

"No I mean…" Pietro's voice was very small. "I'm sorry about…"

"I don't blame you Pietro," Lance told him. "I blame Magneto and Mystique for doing those things to us. And myself for letting it happen to me. There was nothing you could have done. I know, I tried to fight him and I failed."

"Don't blame yourself yo," Todd said. "Magneto's too strong to take on alone."

Lance leaned against the wall. "You were right Toad, the physical stuff was nothing compared to all that therapy."

"Why what happened?" Fred asked.

"Freddy!" Todd elbowed him. "You ain't supposed to ask him that! It's private!"

"No it's okay," Lance waved. "I just had to face some rather unpleasant facts about myself, that's all."

"Oh," Fred said quietly.

"The worst part of it was realizing how weak I was," Lance sighed. "After that…it wasn't so bad. I just needed some help you know?"

"I know," Todd nodded. "I still go to Psyche-Out to talk. But it does help."

"Yeah we're all going," Pietro sighed. "Personally I'm still not convinced it's not a big waste of time. That guy's crazier than we are."

"That's just his method," Fred told him. "I think it's to make us feel that he's not judging us. That we don't think he doesn't think he's better than us or something."

"That's pretty smart coming from you," Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Well I'm starting to read some of those self help and psychology books," Fred scratched his head. "Course Toad and Psyche-Out have to help me with some of the words. But I gotta admit, its interesting reading."

"The Blob studying psychology," Lance chuckled. "That is frightening."

"Not as frightening as my sister and Toad's psycho girlfriend," Pietro told them.

"HEY!" A voice came from the ventilation shaft.

"What the?" Todd hopped up and looked through. "ALTHEA!"

"What?" She asked. She and Wanda were watching through the vent. "It's not like I was looking at you in the shower!"

"You are so weird," Wanda groaned.

"Hey I can't help it if my Toddles' body is irresistible," Althea told her.

"Okay that is way too much information here!" Lance told her.

"Will you two perverts get out of here!" Pietro shouted.

"I wasn't doing anything!" Wanda snapped. "She was doing all the looking!"

"Except when Lance was in his boxers," Althea smirked.

Lance gave out a cry and the room started to shake. Both girls disappeared laughing. "Toad your girlfriend is totally nuts!" Lance snapped after the tremors subsided.

"I could have told you that," Pietro said. "She's becoming a bad influence on Wanda. Yesterday the two of them attacked me with whipped cream just because I accidentally happened to overhear one of their girly conversations."

"What were they talking about yo?" Todd asked.

"Trust me Toad, you don't want to know," Pietro sighed as they walked out of the lockers. They met the girls inside the dojo where the Blind Master also awaited them.

"All right," The Blind Master told them. "Today we'll be pairing up and practicing our fighting techniques."

"All right!" Althea grinned.

"Word of warning to whoever ends up fighting Althea," Todd said. "Stay down. Trust me on this."

"Then you'd better take your own advice," The Blind Master smiled.

"Aw man," Todd groaned.

"Today you two will be doing Bo staff combat," The Blind Master told them. "The others will be doing hand to hand."

"Oh well that's not so bad," Todd said, picking up his Bo staff. "I'm getting real good at this!"

"Now for the rest of you watch what they do," The Blind Master told them as they got into position. "Begin!"

The others watched in amazement as the two of them fought. They both managed to block the other's attacks easily. The clack of wood upon wood filled the room as they dodged, weaved and flipped around each other. "Man Toad is really good at this!" Pietro marveled.

"Althea's no slouch either," Lance admitted.

"All right," The Blind Master stopped them. "Very good. You both know each other's movements perfectly."

"Hey I could do this blindfolded!" Todd crowed.

"Good idea," The Blind Master smiled. "It's time you started that part of your training anyway."

"Oh me and my big mouth!" Todd grumbled as the Blind Master gave him a blindfold.

"Just use your senses," The Blind Master told them as they put them on. "Begin!"

"Hey how are we supposed to…" Todd began. "YEOWCH!" Althea whacked him on the head with her Bo staff. She then tripped him up and he fell to the ground.

"Good job Toad," Althea snickered as she cornered him with her staff. "Just keep talking. Makes it easier to find you."

"I think it's safe to say Althea wins this one," The Blind Master said.

"How do you do this?" Todd groaned as he removed the blindfold.

"You must learn to use your other senses," The Blind Master said. "See the world without your eyes. I do it all the time."

"Just when I think I got the hang of this ninja stuff," Todd grumbled. "I fall flat on my face!"

"Just keep getting back up," The Blind Master told him. "Okay now for the rest of you. Lance, Pietro you two first."

"We're not gonna have to do this blindfolded are we?" Lance asked.

"Not yet," The Blind Master told him. "Let's see how you do in hand to hand combat with your eyes open first. Remember no powers! This is about skill."

"Ha! I got skill to spare!" Pietro boasted.

"Begin!" The Blind Master called out.

"Prepare to go down Pietro!" Lance lunged at him. Pietro easily dodged. In fact he used his speed to lightly tap Lance from behind.

"Behind you! Right here! No! Right here!" Pietro cackled as he dodged.

"Hey! He's cheating yo!" Todd snapped.

"Why does this not surprise me?" Wanda asked.

"Pietro you're not supposed to use your powers!" Lance snapped.

"Nyahh!" Pietro stuck out his tongue dodging him. "Please, I'm barely using them at all! You're so slow!"

"Oh fine if that's the way you want to play!" Lance shouted, focusing on his powers.

"Hey!" The Blind Master shouted as the room shook. "Cut that out!"

"Your earthquakes may slow everyone else down, but not Quicksilver!" Pietro taunted as he raced towards him.

"Cut it out Pietro!" Wanda shot out a hexbolt at him, but ended up hitting Lance.

"Don't hit my sweetie!" Daria screamed, tackling Wanda.

"Cut it out you little brat!" Althea grabbed Daria. Todd tried to help her drag her off Wanda. The other two twins tackled the both of them. Pietro laughed at them. Unfortunately he didn't notice Fred behind him.

"That's not funny Pietro!" Fred tried to grab him, but at the last second he dodged. Fred fell flat on his face. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"Not if I get him first!" Lance got up and chased after him. Soon all the students were fighting amongst themselves.

"Ha! Ha!" Pietro zipped along laughing. "Can't catch me you slowpokes! Can't …WHOA!" Something struck him down. He looked up and saw the Blind Master standing over him. "How did you do that?"

"KNOCK IT OFF!" The Blind Master screamed. Everyone stopped fighting.

"Uh oh," Todd gulped. "I think we're in trouble."

"One of the first lessons in martial arts is learning self control. Obviously we have a lot to work on," The Blind Master growled.

************************************************************************

"Well that was fun," Lance sighed after they had cleaned up. The Blind Master had made them clean up the dojo as well as doing several exercises." Thanks a lot Pietro!"

"Shut up," Pietro grumbled rubbing his arms. "I can't believe he made me work with all those weights on my arms and legs!"

"It was the only way he could think of to slow you down!" Wanda snapped. "You deserved it!"

"More fun to come," Todd told him. "School after lunch."

"Yippee," Pietro said without enthusiasm.

"Hey what's that over there?" Lance pointed to several interesting small robotic objects loaded with missiles.

"Just some of the robots they have here," Todd told them.

"Robots?" Lance asked. "Cool!"

"Man my back is sore," Althea groaned. "Toad I said my back is sore!"

"Huh? Oh right!" Todd started massaging her back.

"You have him trained well," Wanda smirked.

"Well it's a two way street," Althea grinned as Todd started kissing her neck.

"Oh gross!" Daria grimaced.

"I think I am going to be violently ill!" Quinn groaned.

"Can't you two keep your hands off each other for one minute?" Brittany groaned. "Come on girls. Let's go ahead to school!" They left in a hurry.

"Hey where'd the others go?" Wanda asked looking around.

"Man look at these things!" Pietro started playing around with the controls of one of the robots.

"I don't think we should be doing this," Fred said nervously.

"Aw come on Blob," Lance told him. "We're just gonna look at them. What could happen? Hey what does this button do?"

The machine started to move on it's own. "Cool! It works!"

Lance's machine bumped into the robot Pietro was working on. "Oh a wise guy huh?" Pietro grabbed the control panel. "Take that!" He bumped Lance's robot.

"Hey! Robot Wars!" Fred grabbed a control panel. "Let's fight!"

"Hey you idiots cut it out!" Althea shouted as they began to have the robots bang into each other.

"Smash! Smash!" Fred cried out.

"I will crush you Pietro!" Lance let out an evil laugh.

"I will be the robot master!" Pietro crowed.

"You guys ain't supposed to touch those things!" Todd screamed. "I'm telling!"

"Pietro! You morons stop it!" Wanda shouted.

"What's going on here?" Beach Head shouted as he and Falcon ran over.

"Those battle drones are not toys!" Falcon shouted.

"Flint they won't listen to us!" Althea shouted.

"Who's the idiot that left those drones out here in the open?" Beach Head shouted. "They ain't even supposed to be out here!"

"Uh, that's not important right now Beach Head. BOYS KNOCK IT OFF!" Falcon shouted. They stormed up to the boys.

Right when Lance hit one button that caused the robots to start firing the missiles. "DUCK!" Falcon hit the ground as one missile soared past his head right into a nearby empty tank.

"Oops," Fred gulped. "That is not good."

"Uh oh," Pietro noticed that all the battle drones were starting to lock onto each other as targets. "Neither is this…DUCK!"

The battle drones fired upon each other. Soon nothing was left of them but smoking metal. The three of them were unharmed. A little scraped and singed, but unharmed. "I don't think that was the smartest thing we ever did," Fred gulped as some angry Joes and students glared at them.

"Oh man you are so dead," Althea told them.

"We told you not to touch them," Todd said.

"You boys are real trouble magnets aren't you?" Beach Head glared.