Hi Xi!
Two days later the kids were relaxing outside. Well Fred and Pietro were relaxing by watching Todd and Althea practice with their Bo staffs. "Man those two are good!" Fred remarked.
"Ah that's not so hard," Pietro yawned.
"Lance is right," Fred grumbled. "The only thing as bigger than your ego is the universe. And even that's a tight call."
"Where is Lance anyway?" Pietro scratched his head.
"He said he needed to talk to someone," Fred sighed. "Three guesses what about?"
Nearby Lance was having a conversation with a certain someone. "I really appreciate you listening to me. You know you're the only one around here who's willing to let me talk without making fun of me or going nuts or something. Yeah I know I've been talking about Kitty for a while but I just needed to talk to someone. You know what I mean?"
Claudius simply looked at him. "Gaaaah?" He tilted his head.
"Yeah I know," Lance sighed. "But I never felt like that with anyone before. I dunno. It was almost… magical."
"Poopie," Claudius blew a raspberry.
"My sentiments exactly," Pietro ran up. "What is the matter with you? It's bad enough you're torturing the rest of us, but at least we can complain about it. This poor kid can't even defend himself!"
"Well at least he listens to me unlike the rest of you!" Lance snapped.
"He can't even make a sentence! He doesn't have a choice!" Pietro told him. "Lance I'm begging you, forget her! For all our sakes!"
"It's not that easy you know!" Lance snapped. "You've never been in love with anyone but yourself! You have no idea what I'm going through! I should talk to Toad. At least he knows what it's like to care about someone!"
"Oh please!" Pietro snapped. "I care! Well not in that way but I care!"
"Yeah right!" Lance grumbled.
"I do! It hurts me to see you torn up over that ditz buddy!"
"Of course it hurts you. You keep complaining that you can't get a decent night's sleep with my whining!"
"Well yeah but besides that…" Pietro began when something whizzed by him. "What was that?"
"I don't see anything," Lance looked around. "You must be imagining things."
"I'm not imagining that!" Pietro pointed.
Off in the distance a figure in black appeared and was now fighting furiously with Todd and Althea with a Bo staff. "Come on!" Lance cried as he put Claudius in his playpen. "Let's go!"
"Why are we all just standing around here while they're being attacked?" Pietro shouted as he ran up to Fred.
"They said they could take him," Fred told him. "I guess it's working."
They watched at all three of them went at it until they stopped. They stood there standing, staring at each other for a few seconds in fighting positions. "What are they doing just standing there?" Pietro asked.
"I think it's a ninja thing," Fred said.
The intruder removed his headgear. It was a mutant with green skin and a tan mane barely tamed by a ponytail. Its eyes were yellow and looked like a serpent's and there were gold marks around them. It licked its fangs as it stood between the two.
Immediately the three of them engaged in a battle with the Bo staffs. The three of them fought furiously as the others watched. "Shouldn't we do something?" Lance asked.
"Don't worry," Shipwreck came out. "Let them have their fun. It's been a while since they've seen each other. Let 'em play."
"Play?" Lance asked. Then he noticed that all three of them were now laughing as they fought.
Wanda walked over with Psyche-Out and a man dressed all in white. "Hey guys we have company! Psyche here says that there's a new mutant…" She watched the mock battle. "Never mind."
"Hey Stormshadow!" Shipwreck waved. "Psyche! Good to see you!"
Stormshadow tilted his head in a slight bow. "It is good to see you as well my friend. I see the young ones have progressed in their fighting skills. I am most pleased."
"Xi ain't looking too shabby either," Shipwreck said. "Come on, let's let the kids get to know each other while we have some brewskis!"
"Dad do not get drunk!" Althea shouted as she fought.
"Yeah, yeah!" He waved as the adults left.
"Another ninja?" Lance scratched his head.
Xi made a leap at his two opponents and landed on top of them. They rolled around laughing for a minute. "Xi!" Todd laughed and hugged his friend. "Good to see ya buddy!"
"Hey Xi!" Althea hugged him as well as they stood up. "Man did we miss you!"
"I see you have been busy," Xi said.
"And how," Althea laughed. "It is a long story!"
"So you do know this guy," Lance said.
"Hey guys this is Xi!" Todd told them. "He's a mutant too!"
"No kidding," Pietro deadpanned.
"Xi these are my old buddies from the Brotherhood," Todd said. "That's Pietro, Freddy, Lance and Wanda! Guys this is Xi!"
Immediately Xi's eyes turned cold. "I've heard of you."
"Ah I see our reputation has preceded us," Pietro grinned.
Xi said nothing, but simply glared at them. "Hey Xi how was Japan?" Althea asked.
"Interesting," Xi told them.
"My oh my," Roadblock walked up to them with Shipwreck. "If it isn't Xi!"
"Let me guess," Althea smirked at her father. "They were out of beer?" To this Shipwreck responded by sticking out his tongue.
"Hello Roadblock," Xi bowed respectfully. "It is good to see you again."
"Glad to see you're doing well," Roadblock said. "Well isn't this swell? I take it you've met the others by now?"
"Yes. Todd, Althea do you mind if we talk somewhere more…private?" He glared again at the others.
"Uh sure Xi," Todd said. "He's probably just tired and stuff."
"Hey um, maybe we can talk or something?" Fred asked.
"Yeah you can show us what powers you have," Pietro said.
"Perhaps later," Xi said in a voice that sounded something like a snarl. Immediately Xi grabbed both Todd and Althea by the shoulders and whirled them away from the group.
"Uh we gotta do some catching up with Xi," Todd called back. "We'll see you guys later!"
They watched as they moved off. "Well now I've met a mutant that's even less friendly than my sister," Pietro said.
"Watch it!" Wanda growled. "You'd better be talking about Rogue!"
"I dunno," Fred scratched his head. "Xi seemed pretty friendly with those two."
"There is something really weird going on here," Lance muttered. "Is it just me or does Xi seem rather…possessive when it comes to Toad and Al?"
"Uh yeah," Roadblock scratched his head. "About that, it seems that Xi kind of has a little crush on both of them."
"A what?" Pietro raised an eyebrow.
"Well first Xi had a crush on only Toad but now he's kind of got a crush on both of them," Shipwreck sighed. "I know that sounds strange…"
"No kidding," Lance said.
"But if you consider Xi's background it's not that strange," Shipwreck said. "Well maybe it is because he's not a he…"
"WHAT?" Pietro yelped.
"Oh yeah," Fred said. "Now I remember Toad telling me about him. Xi's not really a guy."
"Xi's a girl?" Wanda asked. "Who has a crush on Toad and Althea's okay with this?"
"Okay Xi isn't a girl either," Fred said. "Toad told me that Xi was created by Cobra without a gender."
"What do you mean no gender?" Lance asked.
"Exactly like it sounds kid," Shipwreck said. "No gender. Xi doesn't have any…parts like we do. So Xi also doesn't have the same…instincts we do."
"What do you mean?" Pietro asked.
"He means Xi isn't an oversexed maniac like any other teenager!" Shipwreck groaned.
"Shipwreck!" Roadblock said. "That's a little too simplified! You can put it in a better way if you tried!"
"Okay Xi doesn't have a sex drive. Is that better?" Shipwreck snapped.
"With no boy or girl parts I guess he wouldn't have," Fred said.
"He's not a he!" Pietro snapped.
"We call him a he because it's easier," Roadblock sighed. "But Xi is very…affectionate in his own way. It's a long story."
"Oh I can't wait to hear this one," Lance groaned. "So where's 'he' been all this time?"
"In Japan with Stormshadow," Shipwreck told him. "One of the ninjas here. Another long story."
"There's a lot of long stories around here," Pietro said.
"You'll hear 'em all eventually," Roadblock said. "Why don't we give them their privacy? Let's go and have some lunch. Psyche-Out will want to talk to all of you I have a hunch."
They walked back to the Slaughterhouse. "I'm telling you that Xi guy was definitely not very friendly to us!" Pietro snapped. "I thought the X-Geeks were cold but that guy could give them snob lessons!"
"Maybe he's just not used to us yet," Fred scratched his head. "I mean if he was a snob he wouldn't be so tight with Toad now would he?"
"You have a point," Wanda said.
"You know guys I just realized something," Lance said. "There is a whole side of Toad's life we don't know anything about."
"What are you saying Lance?" Pietro asked.
"Look we ain't exactly the warmest people in the world either," Lance told them. "This Xi is obviously very important to Toad. The least we can do is give him the benefit of the doubt."
"That doesn't sound like the Lance we all know," Pietro said.
"Well anybody who can fight that well and has been training with a ninja we don't want to tick off," Lance said. "We don't even know what his powers are. It's best to play it safe."
"That sounds like the Lance we know," Wanda said.
"Let's just let the guy settle in for now," Lance said. "Maybe we're just imagining things."
"Why do I keep hearing the phrase 'Famous Last Words' in my mind?" Pietro grumbled.