Kurt and Toad had been in the dark hold of the plane for what seemed like
an eternity. It had been several hours since they took off, and Kurt could
feel his stomach growling. He imagined Toad was just as hungry as he was.
"Toad, I'm going to teleport upstairs and try and get some food," he said. There was no answer.
"Toad, where are you?" he asked. He could normally see in low light, but the hold was pitch black and Kurt could barely see past his face.
"Toad?" he asked as he moved around the hold. He was feeling around with his tail, hoping to get lucky and find the boy.
"Where are, ooof!" he grunted as he stumbled over something skinny. He had found Toad.
"Hey, what gives, yo? I was sleeping!" Toad complained.
"Took you long enough, too," Kurt said. "We're lucky nobody up there heard all your screaming! Anyway, you getting hungry?"
"Yeah. I haven't eaten a thing since this morning," Toad said.
"Ok, I'm going to teleport upstairs and see what I can find," "Hey, wait a sec!" said Toad.
"What is it?" Kurt asked.
"Could you take me up with you? I, uh, kinda have to use the bathroom," Toad said shyly.
"Oh great!" said Kurt. "Can't you just go in Pietro's suitcase or something?"
"C'mon man! I've been holding it for hours!" Toad said.
"Alright, fine. Hang on," Kurt said, taking Toad's hand. The hold lit up briefly as Kurt teleported upstairs.
Kurt and Toad reappeared upstairs in one of the plane's tiny bathrooms. They were very cramped. Kurt quickly locked the door and climbed up on the sink while Toad sat down on the toilet.
"Man, I hope all your smoke doesn't set off the smoke alarm. Hey, how about giving me a little privacy, huh?" Toad asked.
"Believe me, I'd love to," Kurt said. "Hurry up, will you?"
Toad twiddled his thumbs while he went about his business. Kurt wrinkled his nose at the disgusting smell.
"Hey, it ain't supposed to smell good, yo," Toad said.
Suddenly they heard the door rattle. "Hey, is somebody in there?" they heard from outside.
"Pietro!" Toad gasped.
"Sshh!" Kurt hissed. "He'll hear us! You done yet?"
"Yeah," said Toad and reached for the handle.
"No, leave it!" Kurt said. "You'll give us away!" He grabbed Toad's hand.
"Hang on," he said. He unlocked the door and teleported to the back of the plane. A second later, Pietro walked into the bathroom.
"Oh, man!" he said, looking down at the toilet. "Who was in here last?" He reached down to flush and then recoiled, overwhelmed by the stench.
"Ugh!" he said, turning a little green. He took a deep breath and flushed the toilet. A second later, the toilet was clean, although the stench lingered a bit.
Pietro quickly went about his business and walked out of the bathroom, gasping for breath. "Nobody go in there for a while," he said, then sniffed the air again. "Wait a sec, I know that smell," he said, recognizing the familiar odor. "But it couldn't be him, could it? Nah. No way could Toad have gotten on this plane without being seen. He's not even smart enough to find his way out a paper bag, let alone sneak onto a plane. Eh, oh well," Pietro shrugged his shoulders and walked back up to his seat.
"Man, I'd love to throw him out a window right now. Maybe next time I will go in his suitcase," Toad grumbled as he listened to Pietro's insults.
"Let's worry about that later, alright?" said Kurt, and turned towards the plane's pantry. "Now, what do we have here?" he said, looking through the plane's stores. "Aha! Perfect!" he exclaimed as he found a large supply of pretzels, peanuts, and cans of soda. The two mutants gathered as much as they could carry and then teleported back down to the hold.
X
Electra had managed to make her way to the second highest floor of the castle without being spotted. Now she found herself at a crossroads in the corridor, unsure about where she should go. A wrong turn at this point could be disastrous.
As she tried to decide which passage to take, she heard voices coming from behind her. She looked around for a place to hide and found a small storeroom. She hid behind a large crate and waited. A moment later, Magneto and Mindbender walked past the room and stopped near the doorway. Electra could overhear their conversation.
"I am very pleased with Electra's progress so far," she heard Magneto saying. "Our little Livewire will be incredibly useful to us once she fully accepts her powers,"
"Of course," Mindbender said. "And just think how powerful the two of you could be together. Her as a being of pure energy, and you, with your enhanced powers. Nothing would stop you!"
"Yes," said Magneto. "Even if Apocalypse were to return, he would be powerless against us!" "I want to proceed as soon as we are ready,"
"Yes, Magneto," said Mindbender. "It will be a few more days until the next storm comes along, however,"
"No matter. We have the time," Magneto said confidently. "Let Apocalypse return. I will crush him! And then I shall be able to deal with that meddling Xavier and his little band of brats. I shall make Kurt and Rogue return to their true family or else watch as I kill the rest of their friends before I finish with them. Humanity WILL know that their time has ended and that mutants will rule this world,"
My god, he's crazy! Electra thought. She subconsciously stepped backwards and walked right into a stack of crates, which began to rock.
Don't fall, don't fall!, thought Electra. The boxes settled back down, but just as Electra began to relax, they toppled over with a loud crash.
Magneto instantly looked over at the source. "Who's there?" he called into the darkness.
Nobody, just go away!, pleaded Electra in her mind.
Magneto clenched his fist. There was a loud hum, and the crate Electra was hiding behind flew across the room, exposing her hiding spot.
"So," said Magneto. "Our little prodigy is more resourceful than we thought. It seems she is not as loathe to use her powers as she led us to believe,"
Electra tried to run, but Magneto grabbed his control pad and activated her collar. Electra screamed and fell to the ground as the collar's power draining effects kicked in.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please, just make it stop!" she screamed, trying unsuccessfully to pry the collar off of her neck.
"I see that I have been too trusting of you," said Magneto. "You have abused my trust, and for that you must be punished. Mindbender, go find Colossus and tell him to bring the capacitor up here. And take your time,"
Mindbender nodded and walked casually away.
Magneto looked down at Electra, who was now in too much pain to even scream any more. Her aura was starting to grow dim.
"I am starting to question whether it was a good idea to give you this gift," he said. "You are very stubborn, very willful. I don't think you realize just how fortunate you are to receive this gift. In fact, I think you may be little more than a mistake. You are clearly not worthy of the gifts you have been given,"
Electra tried to raise herself up, but could barely get up to her knees. "Please, don't kill me," she begged. "I'll do anything you ask!"
"Very well. Come over here. Now!"
Electra slowly crawled over to Magneto's feet and looked up at him.
"From now on, you will have to work very hard to earn your freedom. When you are not in training, you will spend your time confined either confined in your capacitor or inside a special containment field we have developed. It will render you motionless, but it will let you retain your corporeal form, and for that you should be grateful,"
"I understand," Electra said softly.
"I'm not finished yet. If you want to go on living, you can no longer cling to the notion of being human. You must accept what you have become. Electra, repeat after me. 'I am no longer human'"
"I, I am no longer human," said Electra.
"I never was human,"
Electra hesitated. Magneto immediately increased the power on the collar, and Electra writhed on the floor.
"Say it, or I will leave this on until you're drained dry!"
"I never was human!" Electra forced herself to say.
"I have always been pure energy," he led her on.
"I have always been pure energy,"
"I was created here, in this laboratory. Magneto is my creator,"
"I was created here, in this laboratory. Magneto is my creator,"
"My name has always been Livewire,"
"My name has always been Livewire,"
"I am grateful to my creator, Magneto, for my powers, and my existence,"
"I am grateful to my creator, Magneto, for my powers, and my existence,"
"I will always be faithful and loyal to Magneto, my creator, my father,"
"I will always be faithful and loyal to Magneto, my creator, my father,"
"I will always obey everything my father, Magneto, my creator, tells me, without question, without fail"
"I will always obey everything my father, Magneto, my creator, tells me, without question, without fail,"
Magneto grinned as Electra, now Livewire, surrendered to him and accepted her new identity and her new life. Pain could be a very useful persuader indeed. He did not think Mindbender's powers would be necessary for Livewire to remember who she was and where she had come from. Just then, Mindbender and Colossus returned with the capacitor.
"Now, Livewire. Very soon, the rest of your family will be arriving here. You will meet my other children, Pietro and Wanda. They are your brother and sister, and you will greet them as such. Do you understand, my daughter?"
"Yes, father," Livewire said softly. "I understand,"
"Good. I will let you out when they arrive. For now, you can rest inside your capacitor,"
"Yes, father. Thank you," she said, and then disappeared as Colossus activated the capacitor.
"Take my daughter up to the lab for now," Magneto said. "She'll meet her brother and sister soon,"
Colossus and Mindbender picked up the capacitor and carried it up to the lab, leaving Magneto alone by himself.
Soon, he thought. Very soon, I shall have everything I need.
X
"Toad, I'm going to teleport upstairs and try and get some food," he said. There was no answer.
"Toad, where are you?" he asked. He could normally see in low light, but the hold was pitch black and Kurt could barely see past his face.
"Toad?" he asked as he moved around the hold. He was feeling around with his tail, hoping to get lucky and find the boy.
"Where are, ooof!" he grunted as he stumbled over something skinny. He had found Toad.
"Hey, what gives, yo? I was sleeping!" Toad complained.
"Took you long enough, too," Kurt said. "We're lucky nobody up there heard all your screaming! Anyway, you getting hungry?"
"Yeah. I haven't eaten a thing since this morning," Toad said.
"Ok, I'm going to teleport upstairs and see what I can find," "Hey, wait a sec!" said Toad.
"What is it?" Kurt asked.
"Could you take me up with you? I, uh, kinda have to use the bathroom," Toad said shyly.
"Oh great!" said Kurt. "Can't you just go in Pietro's suitcase or something?"
"C'mon man! I've been holding it for hours!" Toad said.
"Alright, fine. Hang on," Kurt said, taking Toad's hand. The hold lit up briefly as Kurt teleported upstairs.
Kurt and Toad reappeared upstairs in one of the plane's tiny bathrooms. They were very cramped. Kurt quickly locked the door and climbed up on the sink while Toad sat down on the toilet.
"Man, I hope all your smoke doesn't set off the smoke alarm. Hey, how about giving me a little privacy, huh?" Toad asked.
"Believe me, I'd love to," Kurt said. "Hurry up, will you?"
Toad twiddled his thumbs while he went about his business. Kurt wrinkled his nose at the disgusting smell.
"Hey, it ain't supposed to smell good, yo," Toad said.
Suddenly they heard the door rattle. "Hey, is somebody in there?" they heard from outside.
"Pietro!" Toad gasped.
"Sshh!" Kurt hissed. "He'll hear us! You done yet?"
"Yeah," said Toad and reached for the handle.
"No, leave it!" Kurt said. "You'll give us away!" He grabbed Toad's hand.
"Hang on," he said. He unlocked the door and teleported to the back of the plane. A second later, Pietro walked into the bathroom.
"Oh, man!" he said, looking down at the toilet. "Who was in here last?" He reached down to flush and then recoiled, overwhelmed by the stench.
"Ugh!" he said, turning a little green. He took a deep breath and flushed the toilet. A second later, the toilet was clean, although the stench lingered a bit.
Pietro quickly went about his business and walked out of the bathroom, gasping for breath. "Nobody go in there for a while," he said, then sniffed the air again. "Wait a sec, I know that smell," he said, recognizing the familiar odor. "But it couldn't be him, could it? Nah. No way could Toad have gotten on this plane without being seen. He's not even smart enough to find his way out a paper bag, let alone sneak onto a plane. Eh, oh well," Pietro shrugged his shoulders and walked back up to his seat.
"Man, I'd love to throw him out a window right now. Maybe next time I will go in his suitcase," Toad grumbled as he listened to Pietro's insults.
"Let's worry about that later, alright?" said Kurt, and turned towards the plane's pantry. "Now, what do we have here?" he said, looking through the plane's stores. "Aha! Perfect!" he exclaimed as he found a large supply of pretzels, peanuts, and cans of soda. The two mutants gathered as much as they could carry and then teleported back down to the hold.
X
Electra had managed to make her way to the second highest floor of the castle without being spotted. Now she found herself at a crossroads in the corridor, unsure about where she should go. A wrong turn at this point could be disastrous.
As she tried to decide which passage to take, she heard voices coming from behind her. She looked around for a place to hide and found a small storeroom. She hid behind a large crate and waited. A moment later, Magneto and Mindbender walked past the room and stopped near the doorway. Electra could overhear their conversation.
"I am very pleased with Electra's progress so far," she heard Magneto saying. "Our little Livewire will be incredibly useful to us once she fully accepts her powers,"
"Of course," Mindbender said. "And just think how powerful the two of you could be together. Her as a being of pure energy, and you, with your enhanced powers. Nothing would stop you!"
"Yes," said Magneto. "Even if Apocalypse were to return, he would be powerless against us!" "I want to proceed as soon as we are ready,"
"Yes, Magneto," said Mindbender. "It will be a few more days until the next storm comes along, however,"
"No matter. We have the time," Magneto said confidently. "Let Apocalypse return. I will crush him! And then I shall be able to deal with that meddling Xavier and his little band of brats. I shall make Kurt and Rogue return to their true family or else watch as I kill the rest of their friends before I finish with them. Humanity WILL know that their time has ended and that mutants will rule this world,"
My god, he's crazy! Electra thought. She subconsciously stepped backwards and walked right into a stack of crates, which began to rock.
Don't fall, don't fall!, thought Electra. The boxes settled back down, but just as Electra began to relax, they toppled over with a loud crash.
Magneto instantly looked over at the source. "Who's there?" he called into the darkness.
Nobody, just go away!, pleaded Electra in her mind.
Magneto clenched his fist. There was a loud hum, and the crate Electra was hiding behind flew across the room, exposing her hiding spot.
"So," said Magneto. "Our little prodigy is more resourceful than we thought. It seems she is not as loathe to use her powers as she led us to believe,"
Electra tried to run, but Magneto grabbed his control pad and activated her collar. Electra screamed and fell to the ground as the collar's power draining effects kicked in.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please, just make it stop!" she screamed, trying unsuccessfully to pry the collar off of her neck.
"I see that I have been too trusting of you," said Magneto. "You have abused my trust, and for that you must be punished. Mindbender, go find Colossus and tell him to bring the capacitor up here. And take your time,"
Mindbender nodded and walked casually away.
Magneto looked down at Electra, who was now in too much pain to even scream any more. Her aura was starting to grow dim.
"I am starting to question whether it was a good idea to give you this gift," he said. "You are very stubborn, very willful. I don't think you realize just how fortunate you are to receive this gift. In fact, I think you may be little more than a mistake. You are clearly not worthy of the gifts you have been given,"
Electra tried to raise herself up, but could barely get up to her knees. "Please, don't kill me," she begged. "I'll do anything you ask!"
"Very well. Come over here. Now!"
Electra slowly crawled over to Magneto's feet and looked up at him.
"From now on, you will have to work very hard to earn your freedom. When you are not in training, you will spend your time confined either confined in your capacitor or inside a special containment field we have developed. It will render you motionless, but it will let you retain your corporeal form, and for that you should be grateful,"
"I understand," Electra said softly.
"I'm not finished yet. If you want to go on living, you can no longer cling to the notion of being human. You must accept what you have become. Electra, repeat after me. 'I am no longer human'"
"I, I am no longer human," said Electra.
"I never was human,"
Electra hesitated. Magneto immediately increased the power on the collar, and Electra writhed on the floor.
"Say it, or I will leave this on until you're drained dry!"
"I never was human!" Electra forced herself to say.
"I have always been pure energy," he led her on.
"I have always been pure energy,"
"I was created here, in this laboratory. Magneto is my creator,"
"I was created here, in this laboratory. Magneto is my creator,"
"My name has always been Livewire,"
"My name has always been Livewire,"
"I am grateful to my creator, Magneto, for my powers, and my existence,"
"I am grateful to my creator, Magneto, for my powers, and my existence,"
"I will always be faithful and loyal to Magneto, my creator, my father,"
"I will always be faithful and loyal to Magneto, my creator, my father,"
"I will always obey everything my father, Magneto, my creator, tells me, without question, without fail"
"I will always obey everything my father, Magneto, my creator, tells me, without question, without fail,"
Magneto grinned as Electra, now Livewire, surrendered to him and accepted her new identity and her new life. Pain could be a very useful persuader indeed. He did not think Mindbender's powers would be necessary for Livewire to remember who she was and where she had come from. Just then, Mindbender and Colossus returned with the capacitor.
"Now, Livewire. Very soon, the rest of your family will be arriving here. You will meet my other children, Pietro and Wanda. They are your brother and sister, and you will greet them as such. Do you understand, my daughter?"
"Yes, father," Livewire said softly. "I understand,"
"Good. I will let you out when they arrive. For now, you can rest inside your capacitor,"
"Yes, father. Thank you," she said, and then disappeared as Colossus activated the capacitor.
"Take my daughter up to the lab for now," Magneto said. "She'll meet her brother and sister soon,"
Colossus and Mindbender picked up the capacitor and carried it up to the lab, leaving Magneto alone by himself.
Soon, he thought. Very soon, I shall have everything I need.
X