Back in Bayville, Lance reclined on the sofa. The boarding house was very
quiet with three of its occupants halfway around the world. Lance was
wondering where Toad had gone. He hadn't seen him for a whole day.
"Hey, Fred, have you seen Toad around lately?" he asked.
"Uh, he said something about going to the airport yesterday, and I think I saw him driving over to Xavier's place a little later," Fred said, scratching his head in recollection.
"Oh," said Lance. "Wait, you said he drove?"
"Yeah,"
Lance sprung up from the couch and looked out the window. "I don't believe it!" he shouted, looking out at the empty driveway. "That little slimeball took my jeep!"
"Funny, I never knew he could drive," said Fred.
Lance sighed. "C'mon, let's head over to the freak school and get my ride back," He and Fred walked out the door and began searching for a bus.
X
About a half hour later, they arrived at the Institute. They decided not to wait to be invited in. Fred pulled the gate off its hinges and the two mutants made their way towards the mansion. Lance used his powers to destroy the security devices scattered around the yard.
Inside the house, the intruder alarms began to sound just as the mutants were preparing to leave.
"Great, now what?" asked Scott as they made their way upstairs.
They got to the den, expecting to see Juggernaut or some other formidable foe waiting for them. Instead, the place was empty. Then, there was a knock at the door.
Scott opened the door slowly and saw Lance and Fred standing on the porch.
"Lance, what do you want?" asked Scott. "We really don't have time for this,"
"Hey, chill out, Summers," said Lance. "I just came by to get my jeep back,"
"You know, you could have like, called first," said Kitty. "How'd you know Toad drove it over here, anyway?"
"So he was over here!" said Fred. "What was he doing, anyway?"
"Oops," said Kitty.
"Why are you guys all dressed up like you're going on some mission or something?" Lance asked suspiciously.
"For your information, Lance, we're going over to Germany to investigate some new mutant Magneto's found," Scott replied impatiently.
"So Pietro was telling the truth for once," said Fred. "So where's Froggy and your little fuzzy teddy-bear, anyway?"
"Kurt and Toad are already over there, scouting for us," said Xavier. "Now if you'll excuse us,"
"Hang on!" said Lance. "If you're going to tangle with Magneto, then we want in. We've got a score to settle with Gambit and Pietro,"
"Yeah!" said Fred.
"Fine, have fun walking," said Scott. "If you leave now, you might get there by the time you're 100," He started to close the door. Xavier stopped him.
"Wait, Scott. They could be useful to us on this mission. Besides, if we encounter Magneto's entire group of mutants we'll need all the help we can get,"
"Geez, Professor, what is this, 'Be kind to evil mutants' week or something?" Scott asked sarcastically, then turned to Lance and Fred.
"Ok, you can come. But don't cause any trouble!"
"Dude," Fred said to Lance. "We're going on vacation!" The two boys exchanged high fives while Scott sighed.
A few minutes later, all of the mutants were loaded into the X-Jet and they were en route to Germany.
X
Kurt and Toad had climbed up the side of the castle wall, and were now making their way inside. Their footsteps echoed softly off of the stone floors. The halls were narrow and dimly lit. The air had a very dank feel to it.
Toad ducked as a bat flew past his head. "Man, this place is like somethin' out of a horror movie, yo," said Toad. "So what exactly are we lookin' for, anyway?"
"Magneto will probably have some kind of lab in here someplace," said Kurt.
"Gotcha," said Toad. "Well, if I see any mad scientists lurking about, I'll give a yell," He saw a spider web hanging in a doorframe, and flicked out his tongue, catching a quick snack.
They made their way to the end of the hall and found a large wooden door. Opening it, they found that the setting on the other side was vastly different. The walls and floors were made of solid metal, giving the place a very futuristic look. It was a stark contrast to the gothic hallway they had just been in.
"Looks like we're on the right track," said Kurt, and they walked through the door.
X
As the two mutants made their way down the hall, they heard voices coming the other way.
"Quick, get out of sight!" said Kurt, and pulled Toad into a small room. They crouched by the door and listened.
"Man, Father sure has some weird tastes in decorating," they heard Pietro say.
"It's not supposed to be a resort, brother," Wanda replied. "Whatever Father's doing here, it's got some pretty high tech stuff involved,"
"Hey, Wan-mmmph!!!" Toad started to say, but Kurt wrapped his hand around the boy's mouth.
"Quiet! You'll give us away!" he hissed.
Pietro stopped in the middle of the corridor. "Hey, you hear something?" he asked Wanda.
"I didn't hear anything," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe this place is haunted," she said and giggled.
Pietro sniffed the air. "No, ghosts don't smell that bad. It smells more like, Toad!" he said.
"No way!" said Wanda. "How could Toad be here?"
"I don't know, but I smelled the same thing on the airplane on the way over. Keep your eyes open. I'm going to tell Gambit," Pietro said, and walked off. Wanda stayed behind.
Toad stood up.
"Where are you going?" Kurt asked.
"I'm gonna go say hi," said Toad.
"Are you nuts? Get back here!" Kurt insisted.
"Hey, she's all by herself. She's not gonna turn us in. Besides, I won't even say anything about you," Toad said. With that, he walked out into the hall.
"Wanda! Sweetums!" Toad said happily.
Wanda cringed in recognition of that voice. She turned around and saw Toad, as expected.
"Pietro was right. This place IS haunted!" she said. "What are you doing here?"
"You don't think I'd let my sweetie go off around the world without even saying goodbye first, do you?" Toad asked sweetly. "How about a kiss for old time's sake, huh?" he asked, leaning in close.
"I'd rather drop dead," said Wanda, and shoved him away. Toad landed on the ground and looked up at her sadly.
"Ok, fine," he said sadly. "I can see the magic's gone. I'm just glad I got to see you one more time," He gave her a puppy-dog stare that was so blatant it was practically nauseating.
Wanda rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on," she said, pulling him up.
"I knew it. No woman can resist my charms," said Toad.
"Don't kid yourself," said Wanda. "Now look, you'd better get out of here. My father's doing some very important work here, and if he catches you, who knows what he'll do. He might hook you up to one of his machines or something. Now tell me the truth. Why did you really come here?"
"I just came to get a look at this new mutant Magneto found," Toad said.
Oh no, thought Kurt.
"What do you know about her?" asked Wanda suspiciously.
"Um, nothin' really, other than what Gambit told us," Toad said. "Oh, and I guess she's supposed to have some kind of strange powers, and that's why Magneto kidnapped., oh, wait, I wasn't supposed to say that part,"
Wanda backed away. "You've been spying on us!" she shouted.
"Well hey, you were the ones who walked off and left us!" said Toad. "It's not my fault I had to go ask Professor X what was going on,"
"You went to Xavier!?" Wanda asked incredulously. "That's it! I'm telling my father you're here! I'm not going to let you ruin everything for us!" she shouted. She turned around and walked right into Kurt's fist.
X
Wanda crumpled to the floor as Kurt punched her right in the temple, knocking her out.
"Great going!" said Kurt. "Help me get her out of sight!"
They both dragged Wanda into a nearby closet and shut the door.
"We'd better get out of here before anybody else finds us," said Kurt.
"Good idea," said Toad. "I think I've seen enough of this place,"
X
Up in the control room, Mindbender had observed Kurt and Toad on the security monitor. He activated the intercom. "Magneto," he said. "We have intruders,"
X
Kurt and Toad ran quickly down the corridor, hoping to escape from the castle undetected. As they approached the door that led out of the lab section, there was a loud hum and it slammed shut. They turned around to see Magneto, Pyro, and Colossus standing at the other end of the hallway.
"Oh no!" said Kurt.
"So. It seems we have some unwelcome visitors," said Magneto menacingly. Colossus and Pyro advanced towards them.
"Hey, don't just stand there, get us out of here!" shouted Toad.
Kurt grabbed his wrist and closed his eyes in preparation to teleport. Nothing happened.
"C'mon, what are you waiting for?" asked Toad desperately.
"Something's wrong!" said Kurt. "I can't teleport!"
"Yes," said Magneto. "That's just one feature of my security system. As you can imagine, I'm not particularly fond of guests here, mutant or otherwise,"
Kurt and Toad looked at each other. "We're doomed," they said simultaneously.
"Take them!" said Magneto, and the two acolytes charged down the hall.
"Look out!" Kurt shouted as Pyro shot a jet of flame at them. Kurt felt his fur singe as he jumped out of the way. The hallway was very narrow and they didn't have room to maneuver.
"Gotcha covered, yo!" Toad said and took a flying leap at Colossus. "Yaaaahhh!!!" he shouted as he flew kamikaze style through the air. He collided with the mutant with a loud clang and fell to the floor. He looked up to see Colossus glaring down at him.
"Oh yeah, forgot about that," said Toad, remembering the mutant's thick armor.
He tried to scramble away but Colossus quickly reached down and grabbed his leg. Toad screamed as Colossus dragged him out of the room.
"Toad!" Kurt shouted and tried to come to the boy's aid. Pyro cut him off and shot another jet of flame at him.
Kurt had no time to dive out of the way. He threw up his arms to shield his face from the fire and cringed as he felt his fur and skin burn. He looked up as the fire dissipated to see Magneto coming towards him.
Kurt desperately looked around for a way out as Magneto came closer. His eyes found a narrow window and he leapt into the air, diving through it and avoiding Magneto's grasp. Unfortunately, in his haste, Kurt hadn't realized how far of a drop it was down to the ground.
X
Kurt screamed as he fell and hit the ground with a loud thud. After a few moments, he dragged himself off the ground and took stock of his injuries.
He was bleeding from several small cuts. He winced in pain as he felt large patches of burnt skin on his forearms. He also felt very sore in his chest. He took a breath and screamed as his chest burned with the pain of broken ribs.
As he tried to walk, his left ankle gave way and he stumbled back to the ground. He thought about Toad, still trapped inside and now a prisoner of Magneto. He regretted not being able to help him. He thought about trying to make a rescue attempt but realized that in his current state, such an attempt would be suicidal. Gritting his teeth, he slowly crawled away from the castle. Until the Professor and the others arrived, Toad was on his own and totally at Magneto's mercy.
X
Back in the castle, Pyro looked down at Kurt from the window. "Looks like he survived. You want I should go and finish the job?" he asked.
"Don't bother," said Magneto. "We have what we need for now,"
"He could contact Xavier's bunch," Pyro said cautiously.
"Let them come, then, and they will suffer the same fate as Mr. Wagner," Magneto growled, and floated out of the hallway.
X
"Hey, Fred, have you seen Toad around lately?" he asked.
"Uh, he said something about going to the airport yesterday, and I think I saw him driving over to Xavier's place a little later," Fred said, scratching his head in recollection.
"Oh," said Lance. "Wait, you said he drove?"
"Yeah,"
Lance sprung up from the couch and looked out the window. "I don't believe it!" he shouted, looking out at the empty driveway. "That little slimeball took my jeep!"
"Funny, I never knew he could drive," said Fred.
Lance sighed. "C'mon, let's head over to the freak school and get my ride back," He and Fred walked out the door and began searching for a bus.
X
About a half hour later, they arrived at the Institute. They decided not to wait to be invited in. Fred pulled the gate off its hinges and the two mutants made their way towards the mansion. Lance used his powers to destroy the security devices scattered around the yard.
Inside the house, the intruder alarms began to sound just as the mutants were preparing to leave.
"Great, now what?" asked Scott as they made their way upstairs.
They got to the den, expecting to see Juggernaut or some other formidable foe waiting for them. Instead, the place was empty. Then, there was a knock at the door.
Scott opened the door slowly and saw Lance and Fred standing on the porch.
"Lance, what do you want?" asked Scott. "We really don't have time for this,"
"Hey, chill out, Summers," said Lance. "I just came by to get my jeep back,"
"You know, you could have like, called first," said Kitty. "How'd you know Toad drove it over here, anyway?"
"So he was over here!" said Fred. "What was he doing, anyway?"
"Oops," said Kitty.
"Why are you guys all dressed up like you're going on some mission or something?" Lance asked suspiciously.
"For your information, Lance, we're going over to Germany to investigate some new mutant Magneto's found," Scott replied impatiently.
"So Pietro was telling the truth for once," said Fred. "So where's Froggy and your little fuzzy teddy-bear, anyway?"
"Kurt and Toad are already over there, scouting for us," said Xavier. "Now if you'll excuse us,"
"Hang on!" said Lance. "If you're going to tangle with Magneto, then we want in. We've got a score to settle with Gambit and Pietro,"
"Yeah!" said Fred.
"Fine, have fun walking," said Scott. "If you leave now, you might get there by the time you're 100," He started to close the door. Xavier stopped him.
"Wait, Scott. They could be useful to us on this mission. Besides, if we encounter Magneto's entire group of mutants we'll need all the help we can get,"
"Geez, Professor, what is this, 'Be kind to evil mutants' week or something?" Scott asked sarcastically, then turned to Lance and Fred.
"Ok, you can come. But don't cause any trouble!"
"Dude," Fred said to Lance. "We're going on vacation!" The two boys exchanged high fives while Scott sighed.
A few minutes later, all of the mutants were loaded into the X-Jet and they were en route to Germany.
X
Kurt and Toad had climbed up the side of the castle wall, and were now making their way inside. Their footsteps echoed softly off of the stone floors. The halls were narrow and dimly lit. The air had a very dank feel to it.
Toad ducked as a bat flew past his head. "Man, this place is like somethin' out of a horror movie, yo," said Toad. "So what exactly are we lookin' for, anyway?"
"Magneto will probably have some kind of lab in here someplace," said Kurt.
"Gotcha," said Toad. "Well, if I see any mad scientists lurking about, I'll give a yell," He saw a spider web hanging in a doorframe, and flicked out his tongue, catching a quick snack.
They made their way to the end of the hall and found a large wooden door. Opening it, they found that the setting on the other side was vastly different. The walls and floors were made of solid metal, giving the place a very futuristic look. It was a stark contrast to the gothic hallway they had just been in.
"Looks like we're on the right track," said Kurt, and they walked through the door.
X
As the two mutants made their way down the hall, they heard voices coming the other way.
"Quick, get out of sight!" said Kurt, and pulled Toad into a small room. They crouched by the door and listened.
"Man, Father sure has some weird tastes in decorating," they heard Pietro say.
"It's not supposed to be a resort, brother," Wanda replied. "Whatever Father's doing here, it's got some pretty high tech stuff involved,"
"Hey, Wan-mmmph!!!" Toad started to say, but Kurt wrapped his hand around the boy's mouth.
"Quiet! You'll give us away!" he hissed.
Pietro stopped in the middle of the corridor. "Hey, you hear something?" he asked Wanda.
"I didn't hear anything," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe this place is haunted," she said and giggled.
Pietro sniffed the air. "No, ghosts don't smell that bad. It smells more like, Toad!" he said.
"No way!" said Wanda. "How could Toad be here?"
"I don't know, but I smelled the same thing on the airplane on the way over. Keep your eyes open. I'm going to tell Gambit," Pietro said, and walked off. Wanda stayed behind.
Toad stood up.
"Where are you going?" Kurt asked.
"I'm gonna go say hi," said Toad.
"Are you nuts? Get back here!" Kurt insisted.
"Hey, she's all by herself. She's not gonna turn us in. Besides, I won't even say anything about you," Toad said. With that, he walked out into the hall.
"Wanda! Sweetums!" Toad said happily.
Wanda cringed in recognition of that voice. She turned around and saw Toad, as expected.
"Pietro was right. This place IS haunted!" she said. "What are you doing here?"
"You don't think I'd let my sweetie go off around the world without even saying goodbye first, do you?" Toad asked sweetly. "How about a kiss for old time's sake, huh?" he asked, leaning in close.
"I'd rather drop dead," said Wanda, and shoved him away. Toad landed on the ground and looked up at her sadly.
"Ok, fine," he said sadly. "I can see the magic's gone. I'm just glad I got to see you one more time," He gave her a puppy-dog stare that was so blatant it was practically nauseating.
Wanda rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on," she said, pulling him up.
"I knew it. No woman can resist my charms," said Toad.
"Don't kid yourself," said Wanda. "Now look, you'd better get out of here. My father's doing some very important work here, and if he catches you, who knows what he'll do. He might hook you up to one of his machines or something. Now tell me the truth. Why did you really come here?"
"I just came to get a look at this new mutant Magneto found," Toad said.
Oh no, thought Kurt.
"What do you know about her?" asked Wanda suspiciously.
"Um, nothin' really, other than what Gambit told us," Toad said. "Oh, and I guess she's supposed to have some kind of strange powers, and that's why Magneto kidnapped., oh, wait, I wasn't supposed to say that part,"
Wanda backed away. "You've been spying on us!" she shouted.
"Well hey, you were the ones who walked off and left us!" said Toad. "It's not my fault I had to go ask Professor X what was going on,"
"You went to Xavier!?" Wanda asked incredulously. "That's it! I'm telling my father you're here! I'm not going to let you ruin everything for us!" she shouted. She turned around and walked right into Kurt's fist.
X
Wanda crumpled to the floor as Kurt punched her right in the temple, knocking her out.
"Great going!" said Kurt. "Help me get her out of sight!"
They both dragged Wanda into a nearby closet and shut the door.
"We'd better get out of here before anybody else finds us," said Kurt.
"Good idea," said Toad. "I think I've seen enough of this place,"
X
Up in the control room, Mindbender had observed Kurt and Toad on the security monitor. He activated the intercom. "Magneto," he said. "We have intruders,"
X
Kurt and Toad ran quickly down the corridor, hoping to escape from the castle undetected. As they approached the door that led out of the lab section, there was a loud hum and it slammed shut. They turned around to see Magneto, Pyro, and Colossus standing at the other end of the hallway.
"Oh no!" said Kurt.
"So. It seems we have some unwelcome visitors," said Magneto menacingly. Colossus and Pyro advanced towards them.
"Hey, don't just stand there, get us out of here!" shouted Toad.
Kurt grabbed his wrist and closed his eyes in preparation to teleport. Nothing happened.
"C'mon, what are you waiting for?" asked Toad desperately.
"Something's wrong!" said Kurt. "I can't teleport!"
"Yes," said Magneto. "That's just one feature of my security system. As you can imagine, I'm not particularly fond of guests here, mutant or otherwise,"
Kurt and Toad looked at each other. "We're doomed," they said simultaneously.
"Take them!" said Magneto, and the two acolytes charged down the hall.
"Look out!" Kurt shouted as Pyro shot a jet of flame at them. Kurt felt his fur singe as he jumped out of the way. The hallway was very narrow and they didn't have room to maneuver.
"Gotcha covered, yo!" Toad said and took a flying leap at Colossus. "Yaaaahhh!!!" he shouted as he flew kamikaze style through the air. He collided with the mutant with a loud clang and fell to the floor. He looked up to see Colossus glaring down at him.
"Oh yeah, forgot about that," said Toad, remembering the mutant's thick armor.
He tried to scramble away but Colossus quickly reached down and grabbed his leg. Toad screamed as Colossus dragged him out of the room.
"Toad!" Kurt shouted and tried to come to the boy's aid. Pyro cut him off and shot another jet of flame at him.
Kurt had no time to dive out of the way. He threw up his arms to shield his face from the fire and cringed as he felt his fur and skin burn. He looked up as the fire dissipated to see Magneto coming towards him.
Kurt desperately looked around for a way out as Magneto came closer. His eyes found a narrow window and he leapt into the air, diving through it and avoiding Magneto's grasp. Unfortunately, in his haste, Kurt hadn't realized how far of a drop it was down to the ground.
X
Kurt screamed as he fell and hit the ground with a loud thud. After a few moments, he dragged himself off the ground and took stock of his injuries.
He was bleeding from several small cuts. He winced in pain as he felt large patches of burnt skin on his forearms. He also felt very sore in his chest. He took a breath and screamed as his chest burned with the pain of broken ribs.
As he tried to walk, his left ankle gave way and he stumbled back to the ground. He thought about Toad, still trapped inside and now a prisoner of Magneto. He regretted not being able to help him. He thought about trying to make a rescue attempt but realized that in his current state, such an attempt would be suicidal. Gritting his teeth, he slowly crawled away from the castle. Until the Professor and the others arrived, Toad was on his own and totally at Magneto's mercy.
X
Back in the castle, Pyro looked down at Kurt from the window. "Looks like he survived. You want I should go and finish the job?" he asked.
"Don't bother," said Magneto. "We have what we need for now,"
"He could contact Xavier's bunch," Pyro said cautiously.
"Let them come, then, and they will suffer the same fate as Mr. Wagner," Magneto growled, and floated out of the hallway.
X