Toad did not allow Mortimer possession of their seemingly-shared body just yet. The sadistic mutant whispered to himself:

"I need to make absolutely sure that you're going to go exactly where we want you. Then when we get to Mystique, it will be my time to sit back and watch. Mind you, you'll have to be somewhat quick, Mort, me friend. The Wolverine won't be easy to distract, nor will the others. Now, there's a good lad. Just relax until I hand over our body."

But Mortimer did not want to relax. He did not want to kill the girl. If only there was someway that he could stop everything from happening! If only there were some way that he could pretend to kill Rogue... But alas, there was no such thing that would ever fool the Brotherhood. Mortimer was in his final stages of decision.

But what if he refused to kill the girl? The Wolverine, a mutant the Brotherhood particularly despised for his keen senses, was not easily strayed and Mort knew that the wild mutant would come for his X-comrade.

The amphibian thought even further.

What if he sacrificed himself?

Ridiculous. That would not solve a bloody thing! Not one. bloody. thing.

And Toad, no doubt, would be keeping close watch on Mortimer's actions. His worse half knew how to override Mortimer. He knew how to make Mort stumble and release his hold upon his own body. Toad knew this and took particular relish in the fact that he had so much power over his... better half.

'And so it begins', Toad said mentally to Mortimer. 'Soon, her blood will spill on the cold ground. Soon her life will be dripping from your tinted hands! Her sacrifice is our survival.'

A minor pause broke apart Toad's vicious speech. But then perhaps for added flair, he spat into Mortimer's brain:

'And there's nothing you can do about it.'

But oh, how Mortimer wished it wasn't so.

Mystique ran rapidly through the dense foliage, her disguised hair whipping slightly behind her in the almost nonexistent wind. The daft teenager ran unsuspectingly behind her, pushing her way past the stinging wood of the tight branches. She whimpered softly as every branch punctured her clothing and connected with her fragile skin. Some sharp limbs pushed themselves completely through her nightshirt, drawing eager blood. Tiny bits of leaf clung to her mussed hair and undoubtedly, tiny creatures began to crawl through her strands of hair to her very scalp.

The shape shifter was indifferent to the small gasps and cries that Rogue was uttering. But Mystique didn't even know the girl as Rogue; she simply knew her as another objective.

After some time, Rogue's body could no longer keep up her own weight and she felt herself beginning to fall toward the ground.

"Professor!" Rogue said, trying desperately to keep up with who she thought was Jean. "Professor, I can't run any more; my legs are tired! Why are we running so far anyway?"

Mystique sneered as every question was emitted from the teenager's horrid mouth. But nevertheless, she had to play like she was the teacher and Rogue was her student.

"It's only a bit farther, Rogue," the imposter yelled behind her. "Xavier told us all to meet at a safe location far from here. He saved this for any time that we might be attacked unexpectedly. After all that has happened, he was worried that another invasion could do much more damage."

But Mystique had not realized that Rogue had stopped running and was now looking at her like she was some sort of ghost.

After a moment of not hearing a reply, Mystique spun on her heel and faced the trembling student.

"Rogue, we must get there quickly! The other students are coming as well; we've got to get away!"

But Rogue simply stood there, her lips twitching at the corners of her mouth as if she wanted to speak. Mystique clearly had no time for this at all. She began to walk toward her objective.

"Rogue, please! The Brotherhood is attacking the mansion. Xavier wants all students escorted to safety!"

Finally, the teen made eye contact with her presumed teacher and spoke quietly:

"Professor X never told us about this "safe place". He always said if we were to hear anything like that, we were to know that it wasn't true..."

Mystique felt herself shake internally. She could kill the kid right now if she wanted to... Trying not to snarl the words, the shape shifter reached out a hand and put on her best sympathetic face. If she wanted the objective completed, she had to do her part and perform it correctly.

"Rogue," she pleaded, "I'm not leaving this spot without you! If you're not going to follow me, then I have no choice but to stay here and fend off anyone that comes near." Taking a hopeful breath, Mystique waited for the girl's reaction.

And then suddenly, a smile appeared on Rogue's face.

"I knew it was you, Professor! For a second, I thought you were Mystique and I was expecting you to tell me that you were going to leave me here while you went ahead..." She smiled wider. "But that's what makes you and her different. You know who you are and Mystique doesn't even personify her victims at all!"

Mystique took a sharp inhalation of air. It took all of her strength, everything within her to not rip the girl's head off. It was a good thing that she hadn't gone with her own idea of doing things. She had a feeling that Rogue would relate more to her plans if she had used a sickening speech like that. But no matter what had just happened, she had nearly completed her part of the mission and Mortimer's turn was just around this corner...

Toad bounded off in the direction that he had gone over with Mystique. She, of course, had taken the longer route to confuse the girl. Toad, however, would simply travel the miniscule amount of space and free Mortimer to fulfill his part of the mission at hand. Yes, everything was going exactly to plan.

In no time, the amphibian had made his way to the discussed location and he now skulked in the shadows, awaiting his comrade's signal. He heard her disguised voice sound just meters away from where he waited.

"I suppose we're the first here," Mystique said softly, taking a seat on a ponderous boulder. She gestured toward another large rock and Rogue quickly sat down upon it and tucked her feet underneath her. Looking around, she noticed that she had never seen any of these surroundings before.

There were numerous boulders littering the ground and barely any grass was in sight of the circular clearing the trees made. One rock formation was behind her that was roughly five feet tall and two feet wide; it sloped toward the ground and looked somewhat like a child's slide.

And then she heard rustling inside some trees just to her left. Quickly, she peered over her shoulder and caught sight of nothing. Nothing but more rocks and trees. Worriedly, her head snapped in the direction of her professor, but Jean Grey was gone.

"Professor?" The girl yelled cautiously. "Professor, where are you?" Her voice grew more anxious and suddenly she spun around and saw the exact mutant who had been terrorizing the mansion some time ago.

He stood there, arrogantly poised in front of her, his green skin enhanced by the brilliant moonlight. Rogue wanted to run, but she stood stock-still, afraid for her life.

After a moment the mutant smiled at her cruelly and whispered, "Hello, my dear."