Toad sat hunched behind the wheel of Lance's jeep, wishing he actually knew
how to drive a car. He had stalled the vehicle three times already and was
in danger of losing Gambit in traffic.
"Lousy piece of junk!" shouted Toad and pounded his fist on the dashboard. "How does Lance manage to keep this thing running?"
He pulled the clutch and hit the gas, and the jeep shot forward. Toad screamed as he was slammed back against the driver's seat. He swerved as he nearly hit a tree on the side of the road, careened across the divider for a moment, and finally got the Jeep under control. "Man, I am never getting a driver's license after this! It ain't worth it!"
As Toad followed Gambit to the airport, he could see the sky starting to fill up with dark storm clouds. "Oh great," he muttered as the first few drops started to fall. "Lance had to get a car without a roof," He grumbled and drove a bit faster, hoping to find cover before the storm got worse.
Toad saw Gambit pull into the parking garage of the airport. He decided to be discreet and took the next exit. He circled around the back of the airport and saw Gambit's car drive out onto the tarmac where a small plane was waiting. Toad parked the jeep behind a small hill and got out to observe the mutants.
Gambit glanced angrily at the darkening skies above. He scowled as the rain began to fall on his head. If this storm got worse, they would be delayed in taking off. Sure enough, a bolt of lightning confirmed his fears.
"Great," he grumbled, and opened the passenger door where Pietro and Wanda were sitting. "We're going to have to wait a while for the storm to clear. You might as well stay here for now and keep dry,"
Pietro scowled at the delay, but not even he could change the mind of Mother Nature.
Up on the hill, Toad sat shivering as he pondered as to where Gambit and the others could be going. Pietro had said that Magneto had summoned them for something very important, that they were going to meet a new mutant who was supposed to be very important to their cause.
"Man, I'd sure like to know what's going on down there," Toad said. Then, he got an idea. "I just hope he'll help me out again," he said, and hopped back in the car and drove off, heading back into Bayville.
X
So far, the day at the Institute had been quiet. Xavier had had no more visions, and Cerebro's checks had turned up nothing out of the ordinary. Jean was relieved that nothing was wrong, but Xavier still remained slightly edgy. He sat in the den and tried to shake off the visions as Logan sat by the fire.
"I tell ya, Chuck, things have been pretty quiet since that trip to England," he said. "I'd have figured that Mesmero would have gone right after that last key after the fight we had with that giant spider,"
"You can be sure wherever he is, he is not sitting idly by," said Xavier. "He'll turn up again. Hopefully just not too soon,"
"Too bad ol' chrome-dome had to go zap that thing," said Logan, watching the rain roll down the windows of the den. "The beating that thing gave out, I don't think anybody would want to stick around for too long,"
"Indeed. Magneto was too blinded by what he thought was right to understand the creature's true nature. Let us hope he does not become involved in the search for this last key. If he does, his fear may aaggghhh!!!" he suddenly cried out as a wave of mental pain seared through his head.
Logan looked up at Xavier and saw him holding the sides of his head in pain.
"What is it, Charles? You getting' something?"
Xavier looked up at Logan, his eyes aghast. "Something terrible has happened," he said softly. "I just saw somebody. transformed somehow!"
"Do you think this is related to what you saw last night?" asked Logan.
"It might be. I didn't get a clear enough vision in my dream last night, but this was much stronger. I think the two events are related somehow. I have to go check Cerebro to confirm this. I'll let you know as soon as I have something,"
Xavier turned his wheelchair around and headed off towards the elevator. He fired off a mental message to Jean to come down to Cerebro as soon as she could. Logan got a glimpse of Xavier's face right before the elevator doors closed. The man looked like he had just seen a ghost. Logan growled and then got up to collect the other X-Men. If the situation was anywhere near as bad as Xavier seemed to think it was, they would all need to be ready to act.
X
Electra rested inside of the capacitor. She was totally bereft of substance and body; she existed as pure energy and consciousness. She tried to exert some kind of force on the metal walls containing her but could not make them budge. She resigned herself to contemplating her new existence.
I'm not human, she thought. I'm just. energy. being. How???
She tried to grasp one of the remaining human thoughts in her mind to figure out how such a transformation could be possible. She recalled the endless hours she had spent in her physics lectures and the countless pages of her textbooks, but could come up with no kind of explanation for what she now was, or how she had become this way.
As she sat in the capacitor, another kind of thought entered her consciousness. She felt a hunger throughout her whole form.
But how can I eat, she wondered. No, her form told her. It was not food that she needed. It was something else. Something stronger.
Electra tried to make sense of this urge, and then felt something pulling at her. She felt herself being drawn out of the capacitor as Magneto released the machine's containment field, and a second later she was standing back in the real world.
"Hello, Electra," said Magneto from inside a booth. "It is time to begin your training,"
He threw a few switches and the room lit up. Electra saw that she was in a large, circular room. She assumed she was still in Magneto's castle. The walls were reflective, and Electra saw her reflection all around the room. She noticed that her glowing aura was a bit dimmer than it had been the last time she had seen herself. She also saw that she was wearing some kind of collar around her neck.
"First, let me tell you about your powers. As an energy being, you can possess and activate certain kinds of machinery. For now, I don't expect you'll have much luck controlling anything bigger than, say, an electric can opener, but when your powers mature, you should be able to control an airplane or a tank with just a thought,"
"I feel hungry," she said, feeling herself growing weak. Her aura had now grown very dim.
"Ah, of course," said Magneto. "That is another aspect of your transformation I was about to mention. As an energy being, your body, such as it is, must absorb power from time to time to maintain its cohesion. If you do not, you will dissipate into nothingness. In essence, you will die,"
"Please, help me!" she begged him.
"All in good time. I assure you you are in no danger of dying just yet. Why don't we try a few tests and see how you can control your powers," said Magneto. He pulled a lever inside the booth and a panel in the floor of the chamber opened up. A small table with a few simple appliances pushed itself up from the floor.
"Electra, I want you to try and activate that blender. Focus on using your own energy to turn it on. I promise you it will be worth your while,"
"I don't want to do this! I don't want any kind of powers!" she protested.
"Electra my dear, I'm afraid you really don't have any choice in this matter," said Magneto sternly. "This procedure is irreversible, so you should make the best of what I'm offering. But I can see you need further persuasion,"
Magneto picked up a small control device and activated it. The collar around Electra's neck lit up, and Electra screamed in pain.
"This collar transmits energy throughout your body that is of a different wavelength than the energy you have within you. The conflicting wavelengths will cancel each other out and cause your energy to drain away. As I'm sure you've noticed, it is a very painful experience,"
"Please, make it stop!!" Electra begged as her vision began to cloud up. She could see herself fading away into nothingness as her aura began to disappear.
"Of course," said Magneto. "I don't want to cause you any undue pain," He deactivated the collar. On the floor, Electra's aura began to brighten again.
"Are you ready to continue your training now?" Magneto asked subtly, his voice dripping with menace.
"Yes," Electra said softly, her vision coming back.
"Good. Now, try and turn on one of those appliances," said Magneto.
Electra looked at the table, which had a small blender and a cordless drill sitting on it. She focused her attention on the blender and tried to make it turn on. Nothing happened for several moments.
"I don't understand what I'm supposed to do," she said.
"You have a great amount of energy inside of you. Move it from you into the blender," said Magneto.
Electra was very confused by this, but she didn't say anything out of fear that Magneto might turn on the collar again. She looked at the blender again, and as she did so, she became more aware of the energy moving around inside of her.
An image from her physics lectures popped into her head. In her mind, she saw a battery and a light bulb with cables attached to them. One of the cables was unattached to the light bulb, leaving the power unable to flow.
Electra began to realize what she needed to do in order to activate the blender. "I just complete the circuit," she said to herself.
She extended her arm towards the blender and focused on moving the energy inside her down her arm, out of her body and into the appliance. She saw the thin glowing rods that used to be her fingers get brighter. For a second, nothing happened, and then a narrow bolt of electricity shot out of where her fingertips had been and struck the blender. The blender switched on with a loud whirring sound.
"Excellent!" shouted Magneto. "Try the other one!"
Electra pointed her arm at the drill, and with another bolt of electricity, there were two whirring appliances on the table. She then raised both of her arms. Electricity shot out of both hands, and the appliances switched off.
"Outstanding!" said Magneto, pushing the lever back up and sending the appliance table back where it had come from. "How did it feel?"
"I don't know," Electra said. "Strange, and yet, kind of good,"
"I'm glad you found it pleasurable," said Magneto. "After a while, I'm sure you'll come to appreciate all that you are and all that you can do. Now, I have something special for you. Look over there,"
Electra looked where Magneto was pointing to see a panel on the side of the wall open to reveal a mess of wires and circuitry. She felt the hunger pangs she had felt earlier return, stronger than ever. She subconsciously began to walk towards the wires, instinctively drawn to them.
"Yes, Electra, good," said Magneto. "This is how you can get more energy for yourself. It's very simple. All you have to do is merge yourself with that power box and draw the energy out of it and into you. Go ahead, try it,"
Electra had already reached the box by this time. Unhesitating, she thrust her hand into the circuitry and felt a surge of power enter her body. She gasped as she began absorbing the energy and felt herself growing stronger. In a strange way it seemed very much like drinking a thick milkshake through a straw. She pulled a little harder with her body and drew more energy out of the box.
All of a sudden, the panel snapped shut. It passed through her arm, leaving Electra looking at a very short column of electric energy where her arm had just been. As she drew back in shock, her electric appendage re-formed itself.
"Don't be startled," said Magneto. "You cannot be harmed by physical means. I could take a gun and shoot at you and the bullets would pass right through your body. Think about what this means for you. You no longer require food or water to survive. That energy is all you need,"
"Can I have some more?" she asked.
"In time. Let's practice using your powers some more first," he said.
He's using me like some kind of lab rat, Electra thought to herself, but for the time being there was nothing she could do but go along with Magneto's experiments. She walked back to the center of the room and got ready for the next part of her "training".
X
Toad pulled Lance's jeep up to the Institute's front gate. He shuddered as he recalled the first night he had been in this place. He had gotten a pretty bad reception from the X-Men and had nearly gotten killed when Kurt had teleported them both into the Danger Room. Since then he had generally made it a point to stay clear of the Institute if he could help it, but today he needed to be here.
He parked the jeep by a nearby tree and took a running hop over the fence. He kept right along the fence as he approached the house so as not to trigger any of the Institute's security systems. He made it around to the forest on the back side of the Institute and began to look around for the person he was seeking.
X
In another part of the forest, Kurt Wagner sat by a small pond, listening to his CD player. He had decided to get out of the house for a bit and enjoy the weather earlier, but the rain had changed his spirits a bit. Now he sat at the edge of the pond, tiredly watching the raindrops bounce off the pond's surface.
"And it was such a nice day out earlier," he said. He saw a fish swim to the surface of the pond and swallow a bug that was resting on the water before it dove back down.
His calm was disturbed by a rustling in the bushes behind the pond. "Who's there?" he asked.
His question was answered a moment later as Toad hopped over one of the tall bushes on the far side of the pond. One of his legs got caught in a branch and he went tumbling into the pond.
"Toad! What are you doing here?" Kurt asked him.
Toad spat out a mouthful of water as he climbed out of the pond. "Well I didn't come here to take a swim, obviously," he said.
"Right. What do you want?"
Toad hopped over to Kurt. "Look, I need your help," he said.
"Forget it!" said Kurt. "I'm still working the bugs out of my holo-imager from the last time I helped you!"
"Hey, look, I know the last time we worked together things got a little hairy, but I think this is serious," said Toad.
"What do you mean 'You think?'" asked Kurt.
"See, it's like this. Gambit showed up at the house today and took Wanda and Pietro with him. They said they were going to see some new mutant Magneto found or something,"
"So why is that so serious? Besides, if Magneto did recruit some new mutant, we would have detected it by now," said Kurt.
"Well, maybe you should get that fancy supercomputer of yours checked out some time," said Toad. "I'm pretty convinced that Gambit was tellin' the truth. And get this, he told Lance and the rest of us that Magneto didn't need us,"
"Didn't need you?" asked Kurt.
"Yeah. He said that Magneto only wanted people he could rely on. I think something big could be comin' up, yo," he said nervously.
"Where are Gambit and the others now?"
"They're at the airport, waitin' for the storm to let up," said Toad. "I was hopin' you could help me get on board the plane,"
"Do you have any idea where they're going?"
"Um, not really,"
"Are you crazy? You want me to just teleport us onto a plane when you don't know where it's going? We could wind up halfway around the world for all I know!"
"Hey, I didn't exactly have a whole lot of time to plan this out, yo!" said Toad angrily. "If this storm hadn't come along, they'd be long gone and so would be our chance of finding out what's going on,"
"Ok, you have a point there," said Kurt.
"Look, this storm could clear up any time. So are you gonna help me or not?"
Kurt thought about this. The last time Toad had asked him for help, it had nearly cost him his relationship with his girlfriend and had nearly gotten him killed to top it off. Where was THIS going to lead?
Before he could answer, his communicator rang. He took it out and heard Xavier's voice on the other end.
"Kurt, where are you?" Xavier asked.
"I'm out by the pond, professor," he said. After a short pause, he added, "Toad is here with me,"
"Toad?"
"Yes, professor. He's been telling me something about how Gambit took Wanda and Pietro to the airport. He says they're all going to see some new mutant that Magneto's recruited,"
There was a silence on the other end, then Xavier spoke again. "I see. Come back to the mansion immediately. I'm assembling all the X-Men in the briefing room in 10 minutes. We have a situation on our hands,"
"Yes, professor. Should I bring Toad with me?"
"Yes, bring him along with you," said Xavier. "He may be able to tell us more,"
"I'll be right in, professor," Kurt said, and turned off the communicator. He turned back to Toad.
"You may be right. Professor Xavier just told me that he's found something. He wants you to come and tell him what you just told me,"
"Ok," Toad said nervously. "But promise me that nothing inside that place is gonna try and kill me, ok?"
"Don't worry," said Kurt. "You'll be fine. Come on," With that, he grabbed Toad's hand and they teleported back to the mansion.
X
"Lousy piece of junk!" shouted Toad and pounded his fist on the dashboard. "How does Lance manage to keep this thing running?"
He pulled the clutch and hit the gas, and the jeep shot forward. Toad screamed as he was slammed back against the driver's seat. He swerved as he nearly hit a tree on the side of the road, careened across the divider for a moment, and finally got the Jeep under control. "Man, I am never getting a driver's license after this! It ain't worth it!"
As Toad followed Gambit to the airport, he could see the sky starting to fill up with dark storm clouds. "Oh great," he muttered as the first few drops started to fall. "Lance had to get a car without a roof," He grumbled and drove a bit faster, hoping to find cover before the storm got worse.
Toad saw Gambit pull into the parking garage of the airport. He decided to be discreet and took the next exit. He circled around the back of the airport and saw Gambit's car drive out onto the tarmac where a small plane was waiting. Toad parked the jeep behind a small hill and got out to observe the mutants.
Gambit glanced angrily at the darkening skies above. He scowled as the rain began to fall on his head. If this storm got worse, they would be delayed in taking off. Sure enough, a bolt of lightning confirmed his fears.
"Great," he grumbled, and opened the passenger door where Pietro and Wanda were sitting. "We're going to have to wait a while for the storm to clear. You might as well stay here for now and keep dry,"
Pietro scowled at the delay, but not even he could change the mind of Mother Nature.
Up on the hill, Toad sat shivering as he pondered as to where Gambit and the others could be going. Pietro had said that Magneto had summoned them for something very important, that they were going to meet a new mutant who was supposed to be very important to their cause.
"Man, I'd sure like to know what's going on down there," Toad said. Then, he got an idea. "I just hope he'll help me out again," he said, and hopped back in the car and drove off, heading back into Bayville.
X
So far, the day at the Institute had been quiet. Xavier had had no more visions, and Cerebro's checks had turned up nothing out of the ordinary. Jean was relieved that nothing was wrong, but Xavier still remained slightly edgy. He sat in the den and tried to shake off the visions as Logan sat by the fire.
"I tell ya, Chuck, things have been pretty quiet since that trip to England," he said. "I'd have figured that Mesmero would have gone right after that last key after the fight we had with that giant spider,"
"You can be sure wherever he is, he is not sitting idly by," said Xavier. "He'll turn up again. Hopefully just not too soon,"
"Too bad ol' chrome-dome had to go zap that thing," said Logan, watching the rain roll down the windows of the den. "The beating that thing gave out, I don't think anybody would want to stick around for too long,"
"Indeed. Magneto was too blinded by what he thought was right to understand the creature's true nature. Let us hope he does not become involved in the search for this last key. If he does, his fear may aaggghhh!!!" he suddenly cried out as a wave of mental pain seared through his head.
Logan looked up at Xavier and saw him holding the sides of his head in pain.
"What is it, Charles? You getting' something?"
Xavier looked up at Logan, his eyes aghast. "Something terrible has happened," he said softly. "I just saw somebody. transformed somehow!"
"Do you think this is related to what you saw last night?" asked Logan.
"It might be. I didn't get a clear enough vision in my dream last night, but this was much stronger. I think the two events are related somehow. I have to go check Cerebro to confirm this. I'll let you know as soon as I have something,"
Xavier turned his wheelchair around and headed off towards the elevator. He fired off a mental message to Jean to come down to Cerebro as soon as she could. Logan got a glimpse of Xavier's face right before the elevator doors closed. The man looked like he had just seen a ghost. Logan growled and then got up to collect the other X-Men. If the situation was anywhere near as bad as Xavier seemed to think it was, they would all need to be ready to act.
X
Electra rested inside of the capacitor. She was totally bereft of substance and body; she existed as pure energy and consciousness. She tried to exert some kind of force on the metal walls containing her but could not make them budge. She resigned herself to contemplating her new existence.
I'm not human, she thought. I'm just. energy. being. How???
She tried to grasp one of the remaining human thoughts in her mind to figure out how such a transformation could be possible. She recalled the endless hours she had spent in her physics lectures and the countless pages of her textbooks, but could come up with no kind of explanation for what she now was, or how she had become this way.
As she sat in the capacitor, another kind of thought entered her consciousness. She felt a hunger throughout her whole form.
But how can I eat, she wondered. No, her form told her. It was not food that she needed. It was something else. Something stronger.
Electra tried to make sense of this urge, and then felt something pulling at her. She felt herself being drawn out of the capacitor as Magneto released the machine's containment field, and a second later she was standing back in the real world.
"Hello, Electra," said Magneto from inside a booth. "It is time to begin your training,"
He threw a few switches and the room lit up. Electra saw that she was in a large, circular room. She assumed she was still in Magneto's castle. The walls were reflective, and Electra saw her reflection all around the room. She noticed that her glowing aura was a bit dimmer than it had been the last time she had seen herself. She also saw that she was wearing some kind of collar around her neck.
"First, let me tell you about your powers. As an energy being, you can possess and activate certain kinds of machinery. For now, I don't expect you'll have much luck controlling anything bigger than, say, an electric can opener, but when your powers mature, you should be able to control an airplane or a tank with just a thought,"
"I feel hungry," she said, feeling herself growing weak. Her aura had now grown very dim.
"Ah, of course," said Magneto. "That is another aspect of your transformation I was about to mention. As an energy being, your body, such as it is, must absorb power from time to time to maintain its cohesion. If you do not, you will dissipate into nothingness. In essence, you will die,"
"Please, help me!" she begged him.
"All in good time. I assure you you are in no danger of dying just yet. Why don't we try a few tests and see how you can control your powers," said Magneto. He pulled a lever inside the booth and a panel in the floor of the chamber opened up. A small table with a few simple appliances pushed itself up from the floor.
"Electra, I want you to try and activate that blender. Focus on using your own energy to turn it on. I promise you it will be worth your while,"
"I don't want to do this! I don't want any kind of powers!" she protested.
"Electra my dear, I'm afraid you really don't have any choice in this matter," said Magneto sternly. "This procedure is irreversible, so you should make the best of what I'm offering. But I can see you need further persuasion,"
Magneto picked up a small control device and activated it. The collar around Electra's neck lit up, and Electra screamed in pain.
"This collar transmits energy throughout your body that is of a different wavelength than the energy you have within you. The conflicting wavelengths will cancel each other out and cause your energy to drain away. As I'm sure you've noticed, it is a very painful experience,"
"Please, make it stop!!" Electra begged as her vision began to cloud up. She could see herself fading away into nothingness as her aura began to disappear.
"Of course," said Magneto. "I don't want to cause you any undue pain," He deactivated the collar. On the floor, Electra's aura began to brighten again.
"Are you ready to continue your training now?" Magneto asked subtly, his voice dripping with menace.
"Yes," Electra said softly, her vision coming back.
"Good. Now, try and turn on one of those appliances," said Magneto.
Electra looked at the table, which had a small blender and a cordless drill sitting on it. She focused her attention on the blender and tried to make it turn on. Nothing happened for several moments.
"I don't understand what I'm supposed to do," she said.
"You have a great amount of energy inside of you. Move it from you into the blender," said Magneto.
Electra was very confused by this, but she didn't say anything out of fear that Magneto might turn on the collar again. She looked at the blender again, and as she did so, she became more aware of the energy moving around inside of her.
An image from her physics lectures popped into her head. In her mind, she saw a battery and a light bulb with cables attached to them. One of the cables was unattached to the light bulb, leaving the power unable to flow.
Electra began to realize what she needed to do in order to activate the blender. "I just complete the circuit," she said to herself.
She extended her arm towards the blender and focused on moving the energy inside her down her arm, out of her body and into the appliance. She saw the thin glowing rods that used to be her fingers get brighter. For a second, nothing happened, and then a narrow bolt of electricity shot out of where her fingertips had been and struck the blender. The blender switched on with a loud whirring sound.
"Excellent!" shouted Magneto. "Try the other one!"
Electra pointed her arm at the drill, and with another bolt of electricity, there were two whirring appliances on the table. She then raised both of her arms. Electricity shot out of both hands, and the appliances switched off.
"Outstanding!" said Magneto, pushing the lever back up and sending the appliance table back where it had come from. "How did it feel?"
"I don't know," Electra said. "Strange, and yet, kind of good,"
"I'm glad you found it pleasurable," said Magneto. "After a while, I'm sure you'll come to appreciate all that you are and all that you can do. Now, I have something special for you. Look over there,"
Electra looked where Magneto was pointing to see a panel on the side of the wall open to reveal a mess of wires and circuitry. She felt the hunger pangs she had felt earlier return, stronger than ever. She subconsciously began to walk towards the wires, instinctively drawn to them.
"Yes, Electra, good," said Magneto. "This is how you can get more energy for yourself. It's very simple. All you have to do is merge yourself with that power box and draw the energy out of it and into you. Go ahead, try it,"
Electra had already reached the box by this time. Unhesitating, she thrust her hand into the circuitry and felt a surge of power enter her body. She gasped as she began absorbing the energy and felt herself growing stronger. In a strange way it seemed very much like drinking a thick milkshake through a straw. She pulled a little harder with her body and drew more energy out of the box.
All of a sudden, the panel snapped shut. It passed through her arm, leaving Electra looking at a very short column of electric energy where her arm had just been. As she drew back in shock, her electric appendage re-formed itself.
"Don't be startled," said Magneto. "You cannot be harmed by physical means. I could take a gun and shoot at you and the bullets would pass right through your body. Think about what this means for you. You no longer require food or water to survive. That energy is all you need,"
"Can I have some more?" she asked.
"In time. Let's practice using your powers some more first," he said.
He's using me like some kind of lab rat, Electra thought to herself, but for the time being there was nothing she could do but go along with Magneto's experiments. She walked back to the center of the room and got ready for the next part of her "training".
X
Toad pulled Lance's jeep up to the Institute's front gate. He shuddered as he recalled the first night he had been in this place. He had gotten a pretty bad reception from the X-Men and had nearly gotten killed when Kurt had teleported them both into the Danger Room. Since then he had generally made it a point to stay clear of the Institute if he could help it, but today he needed to be here.
He parked the jeep by a nearby tree and took a running hop over the fence. He kept right along the fence as he approached the house so as not to trigger any of the Institute's security systems. He made it around to the forest on the back side of the Institute and began to look around for the person he was seeking.
X
In another part of the forest, Kurt Wagner sat by a small pond, listening to his CD player. He had decided to get out of the house for a bit and enjoy the weather earlier, but the rain had changed his spirits a bit. Now he sat at the edge of the pond, tiredly watching the raindrops bounce off the pond's surface.
"And it was such a nice day out earlier," he said. He saw a fish swim to the surface of the pond and swallow a bug that was resting on the water before it dove back down.
His calm was disturbed by a rustling in the bushes behind the pond. "Who's there?" he asked.
His question was answered a moment later as Toad hopped over one of the tall bushes on the far side of the pond. One of his legs got caught in a branch and he went tumbling into the pond.
"Toad! What are you doing here?" Kurt asked him.
Toad spat out a mouthful of water as he climbed out of the pond. "Well I didn't come here to take a swim, obviously," he said.
"Right. What do you want?"
Toad hopped over to Kurt. "Look, I need your help," he said.
"Forget it!" said Kurt. "I'm still working the bugs out of my holo-imager from the last time I helped you!"
"Hey, look, I know the last time we worked together things got a little hairy, but I think this is serious," said Toad.
"What do you mean 'You think?'" asked Kurt.
"See, it's like this. Gambit showed up at the house today and took Wanda and Pietro with him. They said they were going to see some new mutant Magneto found or something,"
"So why is that so serious? Besides, if Magneto did recruit some new mutant, we would have detected it by now," said Kurt.
"Well, maybe you should get that fancy supercomputer of yours checked out some time," said Toad. "I'm pretty convinced that Gambit was tellin' the truth. And get this, he told Lance and the rest of us that Magneto didn't need us,"
"Didn't need you?" asked Kurt.
"Yeah. He said that Magneto only wanted people he could rely on. I think something big could be comin' up, yo," he said nervously.
"Where are Gambit and the others now?"
"They're at the airport, waitin' for the storm to let up," said Toad. "I was hopin' you could help me get on board the plane,"
"Do you have any idea where they're going?"
"Um, not really,"
"Are you crazy? You want me to just teleport us onto a plane when you don't know where it's going? We could wind up halfway around the world for all I know!"
"Hey, I didn't exactly have a whole lot of time to plan this out, yo!" said Toad angrily. "If this storm hadn't come along, they'd be long gone and so would be our chance of finding out what's going on,"
"Ok, you have a point there," said Kurt.
"Look, this storm could clear up any time. So are you gonna help me or not?"
Kurt thought about this. The last time Toad had asked him for help, it had nearly cost him his relationship with his girlfriend and had nearly gotten him killed to top it off. Where was THIS going to lead?
Before he could answer, his communicator rang. He took it out and heard Xavier's voice on the other end.
"Kurt, where are you?" Xavier asked.
"I'm out by the pond, professor," he said. After a short pause, he added, "Toad is here with me,"
"Toad?"
"Yes, professor. He's been telling me something about how Gambit took Wanda and Pietro to the airport. He says they're all going to see some new mutant that Magneto's recruited,"
There was a silence on the other end, then Xavier spoke again. "I see. Come back to the mansion immediately. I'm assembling all the X-Men in the briefing room in 10 minutes. We have a situation on our hands,"
"Yes, professor. Should I bring Toad with me?"
"Yes, bring him along with you," said Xavier. "He may be able to tell us more,"
"I'll be right in, professor," Kurt said, and turned off the communicator. He turned back to Toad.
"You may be right. Professor Xavier just told me that he's found something. He wants you to come and tell him what you just told me,"
"Ok," Toad said nervously. "But promise me that nothing inside that place is gonna try and kill me, ok?"
"Don't worry," said Kurt. "You'll be fine. Come on," With that, he grabbed Toad's hand and they teleported back to the mansion.
X