"Professor Charles Xavier, I presume." Xavier turned to see a strange woman appearing from the crowd to stand beside him. She was young looking, not more than 25 or so and dressed plainly but smartly in a black pants suit. Small glasses framed brown almond-shaped eyes and her straight black hair was pulled back in a bun. "I'm glad we finally have a chance to talk."
"You came alone?" Xavier asked, on his guard, but in the crowd it was hard for even him to have a totally clear picture of everyone who was around him.
"That was the arrangement. I don't know what kind of person you are used to dealing with, but I generally find it a good possibility to keep my word honest."
Xavier held his hands up. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to imply..."
She raised her hand to quiet him. "We had something to discuss, I believe?"
"Yes, yes we did."
Inside the cafe, the two sat at a corner table next to the large picture window that looked out onto the street. After the waitress had brought them their drinks, Xavier leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "Who are you?" he asked bluntly.
"Well," she leaned forward as well. "I'm blue, I have red hair and have a tendancy to borrow other people's shapes. I'm Mystique."
Xavier sighed. "You know this puts me in an akward position."
Mystique smiled. "If you don't believe me, read my mind. Go ahead, you've got permission."
"No, I don't think that will be necessary." Xavier shook his head. "You're willingness to submit to a mental scan is enough warrent the belief that you are who you claim to be. But how is it possible?"
Mystique simply shrugged her shoulders. "I was enjoying a nice quiet moment back home one minute, the next thing I know I've ended up in Mayberry where there happens to be a weird variant of everyone I know. But since I'm stuck here, I decided on at least doing what I could to improve things."
"And what exactly would that be?" Xavier asked. "I have to tell you that was my primary reason for agreeing to the request to talk to you. The children, Todd, Freddy, Pietro, Lance and Wanda. Mystique, the one I know, used those children horribly and after doing that she abandoned them to their own devices. What do you plan on doing with them? Why should I stand by and let you possibly use them again?"
She was quiet for a moment. It was obvious that Xavier was sincerly concerned for the Brotherhood. Typical. Xavier had always placed the well-being of younger mutants before anything else. Why else would the Xavier Institute have security systems that required a full blown tatical military strike force to break through? "Those children are broken in many ways, Xavier." Mystique started. "They've never really had a family that would stand behind them, support them and help them to come to terms with their abilities and use them to their fullest extent. For now, that is all I am doing. No fights with X-Men, no attacks on humans, nothing. Pietro and Wanda are not having any contact with Magneto, and all the children are enrolled in school and are under instructions to not use their powers at all while they are there."
"You would have me believe that you are doing this out of the pure goodness of your heart?" Xavier asked cynically.
Mystique smiled. "I'm doing this because they need someone to do this. They're good children who need someone to give them guidance. Besides, I enjoy the feeling of family. I've never really had it before. It's nice. Comradre, yes, family, no."
Xavier wasn't quite sure what to make of Mystique. Her musings on family were odd. He wondered if perhaps there was no Kurt in her dimention or if perhaps the Mystique of this world hadn't been entirely truthful on the subject. The memories Rogue had siphoned weren't the clearest or most complete. As for her other statements, from everything he could read she was being truthful. It was true that the Brotherhood had returned to school, how Xavier didn't know or was sure he wanted to know, but he had little doubt that Mystique was involved in some way. His own students reported that the Brotherhood were not using powers at school and were actually doing well in classes. Logan had taken a few short passes near the Brotherhood's home and had reported that it was indeed looking more like a proper living area and not a condemned building. In all respects, it looked as if this Mystique was genuinely concerned with the childrens' welfare.
Charles Francis Xavier was at a loss.
He was about to say something when a sudden breeze flited through the cafe and Pietro was suddenly standing at the side of the table. He looked quickly from Mystique to Xavier and then back to Mystique. "Youalmostdonehere?" he asked, his words running together as they tended to do when he was in a hurry about something. "We'reallgonnagoovertoIHOPwhenyou'refinished."
Mystique gave him an amused look. "I think I'm just about done here. Unless the professor has any last minute thoughts?"
"Just know that I'm not going to ignore the situation. If I feel that things are going down a dangerous path, I will take action."
"I would expect nothing less." Mystique replied as she got up and exited the cafe with Pietro at her side.
Xavier sat there for a few moments before realizing that Mysitque had just left him with the check.
The day was unusually warm for mid-September. The sun was still high in the sky as the X-Men headed towards the Bayville Municipal Park and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, much to Kurt Wagner's dismay. "I thought it was supposed to be fall now!" he complained as he hurried up to catch the others who had gotten ahead of him while he ducked into the public library to get a drink from the water foutain.
"Jeeze, Kurt, it's not that warm out." Kitty laughed as Kurt shot her a dirty look.
"Ja, but you're not the one who has a fur coat on 24-7." he muttered under his breath.
Evan turned around and walked backwards while bouncing a soccer ball on his head. "Quit comlaining and let's get going! The soccer field isn't gonna be open for long on a day like this."
"Yes sir, Mr. Summers." Rogue smirked. Evan shot her a look.
"Hey! I didn't have something crawl up my ass and die!"
Scott looked annoyed. "Hello, I'm right here."
Jean laughed and gave Scott's arm a gentle squeeze. "Don't let them get to you, Scott." she smiled. "They're just jealous of your natural leadership abilities."
Rogue hooked her arm around Kurt's elbow and did her best Jean impression. "Yes Scott, you show them how many dedicated hours in the Danger Room it took to get that stick jamed up your ass."
Scott stopped suddenly, his hands flying to his temples in a motion like what Professor Xavier or Jean would do when using their mental abilities. "Jean! I think I'm developing precognitive abilites! I... I see extra hours in the Danger Room running training simulations at five am!"
"Woah, is this, like, one of the signs of the apocalypse? Scott developing a sense of humor?" Kitty cut in as she and Evan rushed ahead towards the soccer field. They had almost reached the field when Kitty and Evan stopped short. "Bummer." Kitty sighed.
"What's wrong?" Jean asked as they caught up.
"The Brotherhood beat us to the field."
Mortimer had the rest of the Brotherhood standing in a loose huddle around him. Under one arm was a soccer ball that he would occasionally drop and then juggle it off both knees before catching it again. "Alright, Mystique wants you all to work on your teamwork. We're going to try a game of football, no powers allowed, just to kick back and see where we stand. Since we've got an odd number of you, I'll play goalie on one team."
"Why do we need a soccer ball to play football?" Todd asked.
"And why do we need a goalie?" Lance crossed his arms over his chest.
Mortimer sighed and ran his hand through his hair and up and under his hood. "Bloody hell... Join the rest of the world. 'Football' is 'soccer' to every country except you and maybe one or two others. Anyway, Wanda, Lance and me are one team; Freddy, Pietro and Todd are the other. Lance," Mortimer tossed the ball to Lance, "would you be so kind as to set the ball up for kick off?"
Lance nodded and headed towards the middle of the field. As he reached mid field, he smelled a familar odor of sulfer and turned to look upwind. He was hard to see, but sure enough, Lance caught sight of Kurt perched up in a tree nearby. The other X-Men appeared shortly after as Lance grinned to himself. "Hey, Mort! We've got company!" Turning back to look at the knoll that the X-Men were currently huddled on, Lance called over to them. "Know you're over there. Might as well quit lurking around, wouldn't want to get mistaken for us, would you?"
Pietro suddenly appeared beside Lance. "Looking for a field?" he sneered. "Sorry, got here first."
Under his hood, Mortimer lifted his gogles and smiled slightly. As the X-Men made their way to the field, Mortimer strolled over to Lance and Pietro and draped an arm over each. "Here, now lads, no need to be rude. This pitch is big enough for all of us." He looked over to the X-Men. "What would you all think to a no-powers game of footie?"
"Say what?" Kitty screwed her face up into a confused look.
"Soccer." Kurt explained. "'Footie' is short for 'football' which is what most Europeans call soccer."
"Hey now, I'm British, not European." Mortimer waved a finger in warning. "No need to start throwing insults around, after all."
"So how about it?" Lance asked, "Game of soccer? Think you can take us?"
Scott glared at Lance. "I don't think we can, Alvers, I know we can. This team is a well-oiled machine."
"Got plenty of confidence." Wanda commented as she and Todd joined the group. "Care to back it up?"
"Anytime!" Evan shot back. "The day the X-Men can't take on the Brotherhood is..."
"What happened just a few months ago." Wanda retorted. "As I seem to recall there was that little incident in the shopping mall..." She smiled an uncharicteristic, but by now familiar, Maximoff smile as she waved generally with her hand.
"Okay, that's it! You guys are going down!" Evan growled.
"Is that a 'yes' to that game of football?" Mortimer asked, a large smile creeping over his face.
Moments later, the two teams were out on the field and facing off against each other. On the Brotherhood's side Freddy was garding the goal and had no intention of letting any ball through. Pietro, Todd and Wanda were playing forwards, and Mortimer and Lance were the sweepers. On the X-Men side Rogue had the goale position with Kitty and Kurt in as sweepers. Evan, Scott and Jean were the team's forwards. Evan and Pietro were faced off head to head and when the countdown reached zero, Pietro shot forward and hooked the ball out from under Evan's foot. He kicked the ball over to Wanda and then headed down field towards the goal. Recieving the ball, Wanda started dribbling, quickly sidestepping around Jean as she plowed towards the goal. "Hey, for someone who was locked up in an institution for most of her life, Wanda's pretty good at soccer." Lance said with a tone of admiration in his voice.
"You know, if this whole mutant super-team thing doesn't work out, we could always go into professional football." Mortimer mused.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the field, Wanda kicked the ball back to Pietro. Before the speedster could get recover it, Kurt darted between them and punted the ball back down field towards Scott. Carefully stopping the ball with his chest, Scott pivoted and rushed both Lance and Mortimer. Lifting the ball slightly off the ground, Scott slammed the ball towards the goal. Catching it with one hand, Freddy easily hurled the ball back to the other side of the field, directly to the waiting Todd. Running backwards for a few steps, Todd caught the ball with the front of his foot and sent it flying towards Rogue. The ball slammed squarely into Rogue's chest as her arms folded over it in attempt to block it. Unfortunately with the force behind the ball, Rogue was sent flying back into the goal. When she sat up, she realized that she was half in-half out of the goal. However, the part of her upon which the ball was resting was just on the inside of the goal. "Aw, damn..." she groaned, slightly stunned.
"Woah! Nice shot, Todd!" Pietro came to a halt next to Todd and the two high-fived.
Scott made a face. "I thought this game was no-powers." He glared at Todd, who shrunk a little under the ruby-quartz gaze.
"Hey, I wasn't using any, yo!" Todd protested.
Rogue got up and rubbed her still-sore chest. "Coulda fooled me."
"Easy there mate." Mortimer quickly approached the teens, knowing that his presence would lessen the possibility of any sort of outburst. He carefully positioned himself halfway between Scott and Todd. "Not all mutants can 'turn themselves off,' so to speak. Enhanced strength isn't something you can just chose not to use." Mortimer's tone was soft, but dangerous. It was enough for Scott to back down.
Thankfully Jean chose that moment to lay a hand on Scott's shoulder. "He's right, Scott. Toad could have knocked Rogue clear through the net if he's honestly wanted to."
"Man, never thought I'd see the day, I'd be thankful to have a mind-snoop around." Todd whispered to Pietro.
"Well, if you've had enough of getting your butts handed to you..." Lance started.
"We got the hint." Even growled as the X-Men turned and left.
The Brotherhood watched in silence as the other team of mutants walked out of the park. Finally, Freddy broke the quiet. "Heh, that was pretty fun."
"The Flash?" Pietro's eyebrow arched as he was having a hard time believing what he was hearing. "You want me to dress in a red spandex costume and spend Halloween as the Flash?"
Lance shrugged. "Not like it's that far off the mark, Pietro."
"Why don't I just put on a giant sombrero and be Speedy Gonzales?" Pietro snorted, crossing his arms. Wanda and Lance gave each other evil grins as the image prossessed.
"You know, I think Freddy has that sombrero from when he visited South of the Border..." Lance mused.
Pietro shook his head vigorously. "Uh-uh, no way!"
"... and an old white shirt and pants wouldn't be hard to find."
"I'm pretty sure I've got a red scarf somewhere." Wanda drumed her fingers on the couch arm. "All we'd need are Micky Mouse ears."
"Hey, I got a pair of those." Todd quipped as he hopped into the room. "Whatcha need 'em for?"
"Pietro's gonna be Speedy Gonzalez for Halloween." Lance grinned.
"Am not!"
"Are now." Wanda laughed. Then she looked over at Todd, who had a pair of devil horns on his head. "Todd, what are you doing with those?"
Todd hopped onto the back of the sofa, still a tad clumsily due to the leg weights, and pointed to the horns. "These? Just playin' around with ideas for Halloween. Whadda think?"
"I donno, what are you supposed to be?" Lance asked.
Todd grinned. "Horny Toad!" The boys broke out laughing and Wanda just rolled her eyes.
"Aw, how cute." Mortimer ambled into the living room. "Getting ready for All-Hallows Eve? Well, you'll have to finish that up later. We're going to try some basic physical training today. Meet me outside in five."
"Basic training, eh?" Lance flipped the TV off and set the remote down. "This could be interesting."
When the teens exited the house, they saw Freddy and Mystique already out there and Mortimer finishing up the final touches on a makeshift punching bag. Mystique had shifted into a black unitard, while Mortimer was in loose pants and a white t-shirt. "Ready for some pratice?" Mystique asked as she watched Mortimer working up in the tree, enjoying the view.
"Guess so." Pietro replied. "What exactly is the plan?"
"You're going to be learning how to fight properly." Mortimer explained. "And we're not talking Marquis of Queensbury, either." He did an easy backflip off the tree branch he had tied the punching bag to. "Todd, Wanda, Pietro and Lance are going to be working with me on some kickboxing techniques."
"And Freddy is going to be working on fighting styles more suited to his particular build with me." Mystique finished. "And if you all do well in this session, we're going to have a fun little exercise on Halloween. Good luck you four, Freddy, follow me."
Mortimer turned to his group. "Alrighty mates, today we're gonna just work on the basics. Any of you done anything in the martial arts before." The Brotherhood just shook their heads. None of them had recieved anything in the way of combat training from either Mystique or Magneto. "Good, good. Then I hopefully won't have too many bad habits to break. Now, Wanda." He stood next to her and watched her hand. "Let's see a fist."
"Just a fist?" Wanda aksed. Mortimer nodded. Shrugging, Wanda made a fist of her hand and Mortimer looked at it. Then he wrapped his own hand around her fist and slowly started to squeeze. "OW!" Wanda exclaimed. Mortimer realeased her hand.
"Lesson one." Mortimer held his hand up for the teens to see. "Never put you thumb on the inside of a fist. If you thought that hurt, just think what it would have been like if you hand actually been hitting something."
"Couldn't make your point any other way?" Wanda hissed.
Mortimer turned to her with a wry smile on his face. "Sorry, luv, more effective with a visual demonstration. Now, let's all get in a line and we'll try running through some drills." Lining the four teens up in a row, Mortimer again showed them the proper way to form a fist. He then demonstrated a good, solid fighting stance. Once the teens looked comfortable, Mortimer started running them through their drills for the day. "Hope you were all rested before we started this." Mortimer grinned. "Because you're not going to be able to lift your legs above your waists after I'm done with you.
"I... can't... feel... my... legs..." Lance flopped back down on the sofa.
Pietro fell down beside him. "I don't want to hear about it." he groaned, "You didn't have to do it with extra weight."
Mortimer came into the house and looked at the boys. "It's going to hurt for a while, sure, but after a while I guarentee that you'll be able to handle that with no problem."
"I think Todd's dead." Freddy said as he dropped the smaller teen down in the armchair.
"Nah, the little blighter's just tuckered out."
"Well, I have to say I'm proud of all of you." Mystique said as she slipped into the room behind the others. "You all did well today. Considering that none of you have had anything in the way of training I am pleased with just how much you progressed today. Mortimer gave the four of you a glowing report and Freddy has shown me that many of the techniques that he used in his previous work will translate well." She cast a steady gaze over the tired young mutants. "This is what you have to look forward to in the future. Nothing that Mortimer and I are going to ask you to do is something that we wouldn't or haven't done ourselves. You're getting the same training that we did."
"So we at least get comiserations?" Wanda managed a tired smile.
"That and you all get to go get cleaned up." Mystique instructed. "We're all going out as soon as you're all presentable."
"Bayville Mall." Mystique looked around the food court. "Symbol of capitolism at its best." She was in a simple human-colored variation of her normal form as she led Wanda through the mall. "And no better place to get you a little diversity in that wardrobe of yours." She looked back at Wanda, who was actually looking a little uncomfortable. "Relax a little, Wanda. You know it is normal for teenage girls to go to the mall and shop." Mystique said softly.
Wanda huffed a little. "I've never been one for doing what's normal."
Mystique gave her a small hug and Wanda stiffened a little before letting herself relax a little. "I know what that's like. After my X-gene went active I couldn't go to school. It took me too long to figure out how to control my ability for me to go back." She looked down at the younger woman. "But come on. You're not a teenager for long. Might as well enjoy the time you have."
And with that, she dragged Wanda into one store that was a little... pinker than the others.
The blood drained from Wanda's face as she realized the store that she was being pulled into.
"Holy shit... Myst... Raven! I'm not going in there!"
Mystique shot Wanda a wicked grin over her shoulder. "Never been in a lingere store before?" she asked, doing her best to appear innocent.
"You know I haven't!"
"First time for everything." Mystique dragged Wanda the rest of the way in. "Besides, this is a very good way to begin understanding the fundamental truth that men are easy to manipulate given the correct stimulis."
Wanda scowled. "I don't like the way this converstation is heading..."
"Oh, not every man." Mystique retorted. "Just those special few that you eventually trust in that way."
"Trust a man? Not likely." Wanda snorted. "In case you've forgotten, I haven't had the best of luck when it comes to the guys that I get shuffled in with."
Mystique looked away from a rack of nighties and gave Wanda a curious look. "You think not? I think you've done fairly well." Wanda looked skeptical. "You have a brother who does care a great deal about you, dispite some rather rough times. I think his overwhelming desire to send that Mathews boy to meet his maker is a good indication of that. Todd is obviously crazy about you dispite being discuraged time and time again." Mystique bit her lower lip slightly in thought. "Now if I could get Mortimer in that sort of frame of mind... Anyway, the rest of the Brotherhood sees you as a member of the team and I have no doubt would do just about anything for you."
"If I just go ahead and agree with you do you promise not to mention anything about Toads in... that way again?"
Laughing, Mystique turned back to the clothes rack. "Your brain is really having a hard time processing the fact that there is a Toad out there who does something for you, aren't you?"
"No!"
"You're blushing, you know."
"Okay, okay... I like guys that are ripped. There I said it, can we drop it now?"
"You should have seen Mortimer when he first joined up with us." Mystique said slowly as she dragged Wanda from the nighties to the costumes. "Scrawny little thing. Once Magneto started to train him he got a lot better very fast. He's actually a quite good sparring partner."
"Sparring... We can stick to sparring." Wanda muttered. "Nice and nutral."
"Then he takes his shirt off to keep from overheating and..."
"Fuck you."
Mystique grinned. "You do realize of course that Todd can't be anywhere near finished growing. He's only, what, 17?"
"Yeah, I think so, but he's about ready to have a birthday I think."
"Oh yeah, the boy defenitely has at least one more growth spurt waiting for him."
Wanda shot Mystique a sideways glance. "Are you actually trying to play matchmaker, or something? 'Cause if you are, I'm telling you now that it just ain't happening." Mystique just smiled that 'never-say-never-you-silly-young-thing' smile.
"Oy, are you two done in there?" Wanda and Mystique looked out of the store to see Mortimer and the boys standing just outside the store. Each of the boys were doing their best to avoid actually looking at the store and Mortimer had his face hidden in the inky depths of his sweatshirt's hood. "We've been around this place twice already."
"Why don't you come on in and join us then?" Mystique asked casually, turning back to the clothes racks.
Wanda would have bet even money that Mortimer's face had turned bright red under his hood by the way he practically jumped. "No bloody way! Birds think that a bloke's a bloody pervert if he goes into one of those stores."
Mystique smiled a slightly sadistic smile that Wanda knew the boys couldn't see. "Well then how am I supposed to get an honest opinion on these? Having Wanda here is all fine and good, but a lady needs a man's opinion." Mortimer just crossed his arms and was probably glaring from under his hood.
"Hey, Pietro," Lance shoved the speedster in the direction of the store, "you're our resident clothes horse!"
"Ohnonononononononono! Wanda's my sister!" Pietro backpeddled.
"Are you deliberately trying to make their heads explode?" Wanda asked Mystique, who was doing her best to keep from breaking out in laughter. "Because if you are, I think you might be about to succeed."
"Oh alright." Mystique sighed melodramatically as she spun around on her heel and walked out of the store with Wanda close behind. She gave Mortimer a pat on the head as she passed by him and Wanda couldn't suppress a giggle as Mortimer drew himself further into himself.
"Not funny." he muttered as he turned to follow the two women and the other teens fell into step behind him. "Making a bloke feel like a pervert like that..."
"Well, you did do some peeping in that one woman's window..."
"Sabertooth cut my support line, and you know it!" Mortimer growled as Mystique laughed.
"Okay, this is starting to drive me fucking insane!"
"Evan! Language!" Ororo Munro tossed a stern look at her nephew.
Evan winced at the chastising. "Sorry, Aunt 'Ro. But come on! The Brotherhood's gotta be up to something. They've been quiet for months now."
"And what's to prevent them from continuing?" Ororo asked. "It is all that difficult to believe that they might actually have decided to do something with their time besides stirr up trouble?"
"Well, this is the Brotherhood we're talking about." Kitty looked up from her newest teen magazine. "It's not like they've ever really needed a reason."
"Rogue used to be with the Brotherhood." Ororo pointed out, lowering her book to her lap. "She seems to have made a good transition."
"The matter of the Brotherhood," Xavier finally inturupted, "is not an easy one. There are several factors that are playing into the equation right now and I am still struggling to understand them all."
The night of October 31st was cool and their was a thick layer of fog rolling over the city of Bayville. The breath of young costumed children could be seen in the air, and there was the promise of frost in the morning.
Climbing down the banister of the front stairs in the Brotherhood's house, Todd heard a noise coming from the living room. Hopping the rest of the way to the first floor, the younger Toad poked his head in and saw a flury of activity. "We gonna go trick or treatin'?" Todd asked as he spied Mortimer with a large handfull of sacks. Mortimer looked up at his younger dimentional counterpart and grinned.
"Well, half-right. We're going to do some tricking, and if you do well I suppose we can see what we do about a treat after."
Todd cocked his head slighly. "Trickin? I think I like this idea, yo!"
Mystique was looking over a list, her eyes darting occasionally over to the pile that Mortimer was building up. "Let's see... Do we have everything?"
Checking the bags again, Mortimer nodded. "I think so, luv."
"Shaving cream?"
"Check."
"Plastic forks?"
"Check."
"Toilet paper?"
"Two-ply, check."
"Good! Then I think we're all ready to go. Todd, be a dear and bring the others down, will you?"
Todd nodded and hopped back upstairs. He knocked on Lance's door and after a moment the older teen opened it. He had a pencil behind his ear, evidently in the middle of homework. "Yeah?" He sounded a little tired, and a little fustrated. Must have been math.
"Mystique wanted me to get everyone down into the den." Todd explained.
Lance sighed and stretched. "'Could use the break. Be down in a sec."
The door to Pietro's room was open, and Todd saw that he and Wanda were doing... something. Knocking on the door frame, Todd waited for the twins to look over. "Meetin' downstairs, yo."
"About what?" Pietro asked. Todd shrugged and quickly hopped down the hall to Freddy's room.
Todd rapped on Freddy's door and heard a "Come in!" from inside. Peeking inside Todd saw Freddy reading something. "Hey, whacha reading, yo?"
"Homework reading." Freddy replied. Todd hopped on his shoulder and looked at the book.
"Is that a cook book?" Todd asked.
Freddy nodded. "Yup. The class is going to make lunch the last day of class before Thanksgiving, so we all have to make something. I'm just trying to figure out what."
"Thanksgivin'..." Todd mused. "Hey, you think we'll actually have one this year, Freddy?"
"Maybe." Freddy replied, noting the look of hope in Todd's face. He wondered if the smaller teen had ever had a real Thanksgiving. Hell, Freddy only remembered a couple. They had always been tense afairs, his mom and dad trying to hold together a marriage that was never really ment to be for the sake of their only son. Of course, Mystique and Mortimer had been the family that all of the Brotherhood had been missing, the cool aunt and uncle who would let you get away with stuff that your parents would never allow, but at the same time making sure you didn't get into any really deep shit. Maybe the holiday season this year wouldn't suck.
"Oh, hey, by the way meeting downstairs." Todd quipped as he hopped off Freddy and back out into the hall.
Down in the living room, the Brotherhood found Mortimer pulling on the same dark clothing that he had worn when he and Mystique had first arrived at the boarding house and Mystique had morphed into a rather Dianna Rigg Emma Peel-like black bodysuit. The bags that Todd had seen earlier were placed in the middle of the room. "So what's up, Mystique?" Pietro asked eying the bags. Wanda came in behind him, wiping something off her face with a towl. Lance arched a eyebrow.
"Pietro was helping me with a few Halloween makeup ideas." she explained.
"If you're all ready?" Mystique asked, getting Wanda and Lance's attention again. "In the grand tradition of Halloween, Mortimer and I decided that Bayville needed some tricking. In those bags you will find all the usual tools of the tricking trade. With them, we're going to have a little practice mission."
"A practice mission?" Lance asked. "What do tricks and missions have to do with each other?"
"Quite a lot," Mystique smiled, "if you plan on tricking at the Xavier Institute."
"You're serious?" Pietro squeaked. "Look, we took them at soccer, but getting onto the grounds? They've got a killer defence system,"
"Bloody hell, Pietro." Mortimer snorted. "We're just gonna TP the place, not level it. Well, TP and a few other things..."
"This will be an excersise in infiltration and covert operations." Mystique explained. "And by keeping everything nice and innocent, there is a very low chance that they'll engage in any sort of serious retaliation."
Mortimer picked up the bags. "Now at the risk of using a horrible pun, let's hop to it. We get through this without being caught and we go to IHOP afterwords."
The ride to the Xavier Institute was an unusually quiet one. As Lance came to a stop a good quarter-mile away from the Institute, the two Toads hopped out of the Jeep and Mortimer looked at the darkened building through a pair of bonoculars. Looking down at his watch, he saw the time reading midnight. The next day wasn't a school day, but all the Institute's residents seemed to have turned in for the night. A light breeze bushed past the two mutants and they suddenly found Pietro crouching next to them.
"Lights are out all round."
Freddy, Wanda, Mystique and Lance joined them. "Pietro, you're in charge of the forking." Mystique handed him one bag and directed him to the vast front lawn of the institute. "Freddy, Todd, the two of you are the TP team. Wanda, Lance, you get the shaving cream and the driveway. Try to think of something humorous."
"The Brotherhood has been quiet for months and when they finally do make a move they fork the yard, TP the mansion and write 'You've been tricked - B.O.M.' on the front drive with shaving cream! What is with those guys?" Scott groaned as he flopped down on the sofa. The X-Men had spent most of November first cleaning up the mess that they discovered in the cold morning light.
Evan was growling as he carried in a trash bag with the forks that had been frozen into the lawn by the night's frost. "Oh man, just wait until school on Monday..."
"Why? Do you plan on doing something?" Professor Xavier's voice came from the door to the living room.
"Aw come on, Professor." Rogue replied, "We're just supposed to let this slide?"
Xavier smiled and shook his head. "Yes, Rogue. After all, they could have done what they did last year and leveled a building somewhere. I think we should be greateful that their trick was of the harmless variety."
"Charles," Ororo lowered the morning paper wearing a wry smile on her face, "just who left that bucket of candy corn on the front step for you this morning?"
Xavier gave Ororo a smile. "Ororo, I have no idea what you're talking about." Then he turned and left the room
He had a peace offering of candy corn to take care of, after all.