Colossus carried Toad all the way up to Magneto's lab. Magneto was there,
along with Mindbender, Gambit, Wanda, and Pietro.
"Wanda, sweetums, will you tell your father that this is all a misunderstanding?" Toad said, trying to appeal to her sympathy. He got nowhere.
"Sorry, Toad," she said coldly. "You should have left when you had the chance,"
"Take him down to the subject pens and secure him," Magneto instructed Colossus.
Colossus walked over to a side door and went down a short flight of stairs. He opened a small door and dropped Toad inside. Then he shackled Toad's leg to a post inside the room, shut the door and left.
Back upstairs, Magneto addressed Wanda and Pietro.
"Children," he said. "It is time for you to meet your new sister,"
With that, a door in the side of the room slid open and a glowing blue figure stepped into the room. Both Wanda and Pietro were astonished to see the figure, and even more astonished when it walked up to them and began to speak.
"Hello, Wanda. Hello, Pietro. I am your sister, Livewire,"
Pietro found himself enraptured by the sound of Livewire's voice. Her voice had a gentle, beautiful, electric quality to it and it filled up the entire room, like she was speaking into a microphone. It sounded purer than any human voice Pietro had ever heard in his life. However, despite its texture, it not sound vibrant and full of life. Rather, it sounded empty and monotonous, almost like a machine that was trying to mimick a human voice. Pietro hardly noticed, however.
Pietro gaped at her in awe, taking in her barely human form. He took in her thinly-defined, face, the slightly feminine curves on her torso and around her waist. Aside from these thin vestiges of humanity, she appeared to him as a pure figure of light and energy.
"H..hh.hhi, um, sis?" he finally managed. "W..what are you?"
"Livewire, I believe your brother has many questions. Why don't you enlighten him?" Magneto said.
"Yes father. My name is Livewire. I am not human, as you can clearly see. I am a being of pure energy. I was created here, in this laboratory, three days ago by my father, Magneto," she said to Pietro.
"But you. no body!" Pietro stammered. He tried to come to his senses. "How can you exist without a body?"
"I do not need a body," Livewire replied. She seemed very happy to say this. "I have no need for substance. I am only energy. How this is possible, I do not know. My father Magneto created me to be this way, and I love him for doing so,"
Pietro turned to Magneto, a lecherous grin on his face. "Wow, pop! I don't believe this!" he said ecstatically. "I gotta hand it to you, you have a hell of a knack for finding mutants,"
"Haven't you been listening to what your sister has been telling you, Pietro?" Magneto asked him gently. "I did not find your sister. I created her,"
Pietro's eyes got even wider. "Are you serious? You actually MADE her?!" he asked.
Magneto grabbed Pietro's hair and pulled him very close. "No, I did not make her, boy. But she must continue to think that I did!" Magneto whispered in his ear.
"Oh, right. Gotcha," said Pietro. "Too bad, though,"
Wanda walked up to Magneto. "Do you mean that she used to be human? Father, is this the girl you had Gambit kidnap?"
"Wanda, we cannot discuss this now," Magneto whispered sternly. "For your sister's sake, you must keep up the ruse, at least for now. I promise I will tell you my reasons for this later. But for now, please do as I tell you. There is too much at stake right now. Do you understand?"
"Yes, father," Wanda said.
"Good," said Magneto. Then he turned back to Livewire.
"Daughter!" he called. "How are you feeling right now?"
"I am feeling perfectly well, father," she responded in an empty monotone.
"Good," said Magneto. "Then why don't you give your brother and sister a demonstration of your powers?" he asked.
"Certainly, father," she replied.
Magneto gestured and one of the hatches. It opened up and a table full of small appliances
"Show them what you can do," he said.
Livewire raised her arms. By this point, she was so comfortable with her powers that she scarcely needed to think about what she was doing. Beams of energy shot out of her arms, and the appliances all came to life.
"Woah," said Wanda, impressed. "But can she control them like I can?" she asked Magneto.
"Watch," said Magneto.
Livewire gestured at the table, and a nail gun slowly raised into the air. It slowly began to spin around.
"Uh, she does know what she's doing, right dad?" Pietro asked a little nervously. He felt very uncomfortable with the nail gun floating around like it had a mind of its own.
Suddenly the nail gun came to life and began shooting nails. Pietro screamed and covered his head in his hands. A few moments later, the noise stopped.
"Is it over? Am I dead?" he asked, his body shaking.
"You can look up now, scardy-cat," Wanda said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Pietro nearly jumped through the ceiling when she did so.
"Ok, ok, I'm calm. Really," he said, then caught sight of what Livewire had done. He saw her standing against the wall. Above her several dozen nails had been driven into the wall. He could see they spelled out words.
"Hello, Pietro. I am Livewire," Pietro read.
"Pietro, I think she likes you," Gambit said, nudging him in the ribs playfully.
"Wow, she's something! Let's see some more!" Pietro said.
Livewire pointed at the table of whirring appliances again. This time, a pair of drills rose up and faced each other. Livewire gestured at them again, and the drills began to fight a mock duel, making passes at each other in midair and trying to drill holes in each other's cases.
"This is incredible!" said Wanda. "She's almost as powerful as you, father!"
As if she heard this comparison, Livewire gestured again. The drills stopped their duel and began to fly around the room. They headed straight for Wanda and began circling around her head. Unlike her brother, Wanda retained her composure, even as the whirring machines came to a stop just inches in front of her eyes, their bits spinning wildly.
"Now now, Livewire. You don't want to frighten your sister, do you?" chided Magneto.
"Of course not, father. I am sorry, sister," Livewire said, and returned the drills to the table. She shot more beams out of her arms and the appliances shut off.
"Let's move on to the next part of our demonstration," Magneto said. "Your sister's powers go far beyond simply controlling appliances,"
He gestured again, and a hatch opened in the ceiling. A small drone robot dropped out of it and began to hover in midair.
"Daughter, take care of that, will you?" Magneto said.
Livewire didn't say anything. She pointed her arm at the drone and shot a bolt of energy at the drone. The bolt hit, and the drone began to short- circuit. It deactivated and fell to the ground in a heap.
Gambit was just as impressed as the other mutants in the room were at seeing this. This new mutant would be a great benefit to them indeed. He was already planning out battle strategies for her for the next time they encountered the X-Men.
"Daughter," said Magneto. "We have a few more uninvited guests," He pointed up to the ceiling where four more drones had emerged. Then he turned to the other mutants. "You may want to stand back," he warned.
These drones did not wait to be shot but started flying around the room, shooting at Livewire. The drones fired bullets, acid jets, and flame tongues. Livewire simply stood there motionless, absorbing the drones' attacks harmlessly.
"As you can see, she is completely impervious to fire, solid projectiles, and toxins," Magneto yelled above the noise.
Livewire began firing energy bolts up at the drones. Her aim was not quite perfect, but soon three of the drones wound up on the floor beside the first one.
There was just one more left. This one changed its attack and became very evasive. It also began to shoot energy bolts at Livewire. Livewire recognized the danger she was in and began to dodge. The two engaged in a spectacular duel for a few moments before Livewire got off a good shot and sent the drone crashing to the floor.
"She'll be perfect for us the next time we fight the X-geeks!" Pietro said, very impressed with all of this.
"Yes, she certainly will," said Magneto. "Livewire, you have performed very well so far. Would you like some energy?"
"Yes father," she said. "My levels are getting a bit low,"
"Of course. Go over to the panel there and recharge yourself," said Magneto.
As she did so, Magneto explained to the mutants about Livewire's aura and her constant need to consume energy. Then they prepared for the final stage.
"Livewire, so far you have only used your powers on machines," said Magneto. "Now we're going to expand their use a bit," He gestured again, and another floor hatch opened.
Down beneath the lab, Toad saw a small ray of light emerge from the ceiling above him as the hatch retracted. "Hey, what's goin' on?" he asked nervously. The hatch finished rising and the platform he was on began to rise, taking him up to the lab.
X
Wanda gasped as she saw Toad emerge from the floor, his leg chained to a post, and immediately realized what was about to happen.
"Go on, daughter. Try out your powers some more," Magneto said, pointing at Toad.
Livewire stood still. "But father, that might hurt him," she said, sounding a little confused despite her monotone voice.
"Livewire, your brother and sister are very curious to see what your powers would do to a living person. You don't want to disappoint them, do you?"
"No, father. But I don't want to hurt this person, either," she said.
Magneto quickly reached inside his cape and pulled out the control for her collar.
"Livewire, I thought we were clear that you had accepted your powers and that you would obey me," he said angrily.
"I have, father," she protested. "But you're asking me to hurt him!"
"Livewire, if you do not do as you are told, the pain this person will suffer will be nothing compared to what I do to you!" Magneto thundered.
"Yes, father," she said meekly. She walked to Toad. "I'm sorry about this," she said, and then placed her hand on Toad's exposed shoulder.
Toad screamed as he felt a jolt of electricity rush through him. Livewire removed her hand and Toad saw that the skin on his shoulder was smoking and there was a burn mark in the shape of a handprint left behind.
Wanda grimaced as she watched Livewire torture Toad at her father's urging.
"Good," said Magneto. "Give him some more,"
Livewire took a few steps backwards and shot an energy bolt at Toad. Toad screamed louder as it hit him in the center of the chest, and his body began to shake. Despite the pain he was feeling, he was still standing.
"Cool!" said Pietro. Wanda looked at him like he had just grown another head.
"Stop holding back, daughter! Use your full power!" Magneto insisted.
Livewire hesitated again, and it wasn't until Magneto reached for his control that she complied. She shot a bigger, sustained bolt at Toad. Toad screamed and his whole body spontaneously jumped into the air. Only the shackle around his leg kept him on the floor.
"Hey, whaddya know? Just like in the movies!" Pietro quipped.
"Pietro!" Wanda shouted at him in disgust. She walked up to Magneto.
"Father, stop this! She'll kill him!" she pleaded.
"He betrayed us, Wanda," Magneto said coldly. "He was here spying for Xavier. He is a traitor and he deserves his fate, the same fate that befell his accomplice, Kurt Wagner, not too long ago,"
"You didn't kill Kurt, did you?" asked Wanda. Magneto said nothing in reply.
Wanda walked up to Livewire. "Livewire, sister, please, stop this. You don't have to do this to impress me,"
"But father has asked me to do this," Livewire replied.
"But you're hurting him! "I don't want you to hurt him! He's my friend!" Wanda shouted. Did I just say that, she thought immediately afterwards.
"Your friend?" Livewire asked, sounding uncertain.
"Yes, my friend!" said Wanda. She was feeling desperate at this point, and she could smell Toad's skin beginning to char as he continued to scream in agony. Here goes nothing, she thought. "I like him," she said. "And it's hurting me to see you do this to my friend,"
Livewire looked more and more uncertain. "I don't want to hurt your friend," she intoned. "I don't want to hurt anybody,"
"Sister, please. You're going to kill him. Stop this," Wanda pleaded softly.
Livewire paused, looking as if she was going to release Toad from his agony.
"I am sorry, but I cannot stop," she said. "Father would not approve,"
She turned back to Toad, who continued to scream as Livewire's energy bolt continued to sear his chest.
X
"Wanda, sweetums, will you tell your father that this is all a misunderstanding?" Toad said, trying to appeal to her sympathy. He got nowhere.
"Sorry, Toad," she said coldly. "You should have left when you had the chance,"
"Take him down to the subject pens and secure him," Magneto instructed Colossus.
Colossus walked over to a side door and went down a short flight of stairs. He opened a small door and dropped Toad inside. Then he shackled Toad's leg to a post inside the room, shut the door and left.
Back upstairs, Magneto addressed Wanda and Pietro.
"Children," he said. "It is time for you to meet your new sister,"
With that, a door in the side of the room slid open and a glowing blue figure stepped into the room. Both Wanda and Pietro were astonished to see the figure, and even more astonished when it walked up to them and began to speak.
"Hello, Wanda. Hello, Pietro. I am your sister, Livewire,"
Pietro found himself enraptured by the sound of Livewire's voice. Her voice had a gentle, beautiful, electric quality to it and it filled up the entire room, like she was speaking into a microphone. It sounded purer than any human voice Pietro had ever heard in his life. However, despite its texture, it not sound vibrant and full of life. Rather, it sounded empty and monotonous, almost like a machine that was trying to mimick a human voice. Pietro hardly noticed, however.
Pietro gaped at her in awe, taking in her barely human form. He took in her thinly-defined, face, the slightly feminine curves on her torso and around her waist. Aside from these thin vestiges of humanity, she appeared to him as a pure figure of light and energy.
"H..hh.hhi, um, sis?" he finally managed. "W..what are you?"
"Livewire, I believe your brother has many questions. Why don't you enlighten him?" Magneto said.
"Yes father. My name is Livewire. I am not human, as you can clearly see. I am a being of pure energy. I was created here, in this laboratory, three days ago by my father, Magneto," she said to Pietro.
"But you. no body!" Pietro stammered. He tried to come to his senses. "How can you exist without a body?"
"I do not need a body," Livewire replied. She seemed very happy to say this. "I have no need for substance. I am only energy. How this is possible, I do not know. My father Magneto created me to be this way, and I love him for doing so,"
Pietro turned to Magneto, a lecherous grin on his face. "Wow, pop! I don't believe this!" he said ecstatically. "I gotta hand it to you, you have a hell of a knack for finding mutants,"
"Haven't you been listening to what your sister has been telling you, Pietro?" Magneto asked him gently. "I did not find your sister. I created her,"
Pietro's eyes got even wider. "Are you serious? You actually MADE her?!" he asked.
Magneto grabbed Pietro's hair and pulled him very close. "No, I did not make her, boy. But she must continue to think that I did!" Magneto whispered in his ear.
"Oh, right. Gotcha," said Pietro. "Too bad, though,"
Wanda walked up to Magneto. "Do you mean that she used to be human? Father, is this the girl you had Gambit kidnap?"
"Wanda, we cannot discuss this now," Magneto whispered sternly. "For your sister's sake, you must keep up the ruse, at least for now. I promise I will tell you my reasons for this later. But for now, please do as I tell you. There is too much at stake right now. Do you understand?"
"Yes, father," Wanda said.
"Good," said Magneto. Then he turned back to Livewire.
"Daughter!" he called. "How are you feeling right now?"
"I am feeling perfectly well, father," she responded in an empty monotone.
"Good," said Magneto. "Then why don't you give your brother and sister a demonstration of your powers?" he asked.
"Certainly, father," she replied.
Magneto gestured and one of the hatches. It opened up and a table full of small appliances
"Show them what you can do," he said.
Livewire raised her arms. By this point, she was so comfortable with her powers that she scarcely needed to think about what she was doing. Beams of energy shot out of her arms, and the appliances all came to life.
"Woah," said Wanda, impressed. "But can she control them like I can?" she asked Magneto.
"Watch," said Magneto.
Livewire gestured at the table, and a nail gun slowly raised into the air. It slowly began to spin around.
"Uh, she does know what she's doing, right dad?" Pietro asked a little nervously. He felt very uncomfortable with the nail gun floating around like it had a mind of its own.
Suddenly the nail gun came to life and began shooting nails. Pietro screamed and covered his head in his hands. A few moments later, the noise stopped.
"Is it over? Am I dead?" he asked, his body shaking.
"You can look up now, scardy-cat," Wanda said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Pietro nearly jumped through the ceiling when she did so.
"Ok, ok, I'm calm. Really," he said, then caught sight of what Livewire had done. He saw her standing against the wall. Above her several dozen nails had been driven into the wall. He could see they spelled out words.
"Hello, Pietro. I am Livewire," Pietro read.
"Pietro, I think she likes you," Gambit said, nudging him in the ribs playfully.
"Wow, she's something! Let's see some more!" Pietro said.
Livewire pointed at the table of whirring appliances again. This time, a pair of drills rose up and faced each other. Livewire gestured at them again, and the drills began to fight a mock duel, making passes at each other in midair and trying to drill holes in each other's cases.
"This is incredible!" said Wanda. "She's almost as powerful as you, father!"
As if she heard this comparison, Livewire gestured again. The drills stopped their duel and began to fly around the room. They headed straight for Wanda and began circling around her head. Unlike her brother, Wanda retained her composure, even as the whirring machines came to a stop just inches in front of her eyes, their bits spinning wildly.
"Now now, Livewire. You don't want to frighten your sister, do you?" chided Magneto.
"Of course not, father. I am sorry, sister," Livewire said, and returned the drills to the table. She shot more beams out of her arms and the appliances shut off.
"Let's move on to the next part of our demonstration," Magneto said. "Your sister's powers go far beyond simply controlling appliances,"
He gestured again, and a hatch opened in the ceiling. A small drone robot dropped out of it and began to hover in midair.
"Daughter, take care of that, will you?" Magneto said.
Livewire didn't say anything. She pointed her arm at the drone and shot a bolt of energy at the drone. The bolt hit, and the drone began to short- circuit. It deactivated and fell to the ground in a heap.
Gambit was just as impressed as the other mutants in the room were at seeing this. This new mutant would be a great benefit to them indeed. He was already planning out battle strategies for her for the next time they encountered the X-Men.
"Daughter," said Magneto. "We have a few more uninvited guests," He pointed up to the ceiling where four more drones had emerged. Then he turned to the other mutants. "You may want to stand back," he warned.
These drones did not wait to be shot but started flying around the room, shooting at Livewire. The drones fired bullets, acid jets, and flame tongues. Livewire simply stood there motionless, absorbing the drones' attacks harmlessly.
"As you can see, she is completely impervious to fire, solid projectiles, and toxins," Magneto yelled above the noise.
Livewire began firing energy bolts up at the drones. Her aim was not quite perfect, but soon three of the drones wound up on the floor beside the first one.
There was just one more left. This one changed its attack and became very evasive. It also began to shoot energy bolts at Livewire. Livewire recognized the danger she was in and began to dodge. The two engaged in a spectacular duel for a few moments before Livewire got off a good shot and sent the drone crashing to the floor.
"She'll be perfect for us the next time we fight the X-geeks!" Pietro said, very impressed with all of this.
"Yes, she certainly will," said Magneto. "Livewire, you have performed very well so far. Would you like some energy?"
"Yes father," she said. "My levels are getting a bit low,"
"Of course. Go over to the panel there and recharge yourself," said Magneto.
As she did so, Magneto explained to the mutants about Livewire's aura and her constant need to consume energy. Then they prepared for the final stage.
"Livewire, so far you have only used your powers on machines," said Magneto. "Now we're going to expand their use a bit," He gestured again, and another floor hatch opened.
Down beneath the lab, Toad saw a small ray of light emerge from the ceiling above him as the hatch retracted. "Hey, what's goin' on?" he asked nervously. The hatch finished rising and the platform he was on began to rise, taking him up to the lab.
X
Wanda gasped as she saw Toad emerge from the floor, his leg chained to a post, and immediately realized what was about to happen.
"Go on, daughter. Try out your powers some more," Magneto said, pointing at Toad.
Livewire stood still. "But father, that might hurt him," she said, sounding a little confused despite her monotone voice.
"Livewire, your brother and sister are very curious to see what your powers would do to a living person. You don't want to disappoint them, do you?"
"No, father. But I don't want to hurt this person, either," she said.
Magneto quickly reached inside his cape and pulled out the control for her collar.
"Livewire, I thought we were clear that you had accepted your powers and that you would obey me," he said angrily.
"I have, father," she protested. "But you're asking me to hurt him!"
"Livewire, if you do not do as you are told, the pain this person will suffer will be nothing compared to what I do to you!" Magneto thundered.
"Yes, father," she said meekly. She walked to Toad. "I'm sorry about this," she said, and then placed her hand on Toad's exposed shoulder.
Toad screamed as he felt a jolt of electricity rush through him. Livewire removed her hand and Toad saw that the skin on his shoulder was smoking and there was a burn mark in the shape of a handprint left behind.
Wanda grimaced as she watched Livewire torture Toad at her father's urging.
"Good," said Magneto. "Give him some more,"
Livewire took a few steps backwards and shot an energy bolt at Toad. Toad screamed louder as it hit him in the center of the chest, and his body began to shake. Despite the pain he was feeling, he was still standing.
"Cool!" said Pietro. Wanda looked at him like he had just grown another head.
"Stop holding back, daughter! Use your full power!" Magneto insisted.
Livewire hesitated again, and it wasn't until Magneto reached for his control that she complied. She shot a bigger, sustained bolt at Toad. Toad screamed and his whole body spontaneously jumped into the air. Only the shackle around his leg kept him on the floor.
"Hey, whaddya know? Just like in the movies!" Pietro quipped.
"Pietro!" Wanda shouted at him in disgust. She walked up to Magneto.
"Father, stop this! She'll kill him!" she pleaded.
"He betrayed us, Wanda," Magneto said coldly. "He was here spying for Xavier. He is a traitor and he deserves his fate, the same fate that befell his accomplice, Kurt Wagner, not too long ago,"
"You didn't kill Kurt, did you?" asked Wanda. Magneto said nothing in reply.
Wanda walked up to Livewire. "Livewire, sister, please, stop this. You don't have to do this to impress me,"
"But father has asked me to do this," Livewire replied.
"But you're hurting him! "I don't want you to hurt him! He's my friend!" Wanda shouted. Did I just say that, she thought immediately afterwards.
"Your friend?" Livewire asked, sounding uncertain.
"Yes, my friend!" said Wanda. She was feeling desperate at this point, and she could smell Toad's skin beginning to char as he continued to scream in agony. Here goes nothing, she thought. "I like him," she said. "And it's hurting me to see you do this to my friend,"
Livewire looked more and more uncertain. "I don't want to hurt your friend," she intoned. "I don't want to hurt anybody,"
"Sister, please. You're going to kill him. Stop this," Wanda pleaded softly.
Livewire paused, looking as if she was going to release Toad from his agony.
"I am sorry, but I cannot stop," she said. "Father would not approve,"
She turned back to Toad, who continued to scream as Livewire's energy bolt continued to sear his chest.
X