A/N: As promised, this chapter is much shorter than the rest. Basically, this one is for all you Brotherhood fans. Enjoy it because this is the one and only chapter dedicated solely to the Brotherhood. They'll be appearing in later chapters, but will never star in one again. I've taken some light attempts at humor in this thing simply because the Brotherhood seem to be the comedic relief of the show and besides, we could use a lighter chapter after all that killing and arguing in the last few, right?
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"Hey Lance, have you seen my brown shirt?" asked Pietro as he ran through the living room of the Brotherhood house. He was looking under, behind, and generally all around the furniture that cluttered the room.
"No, did you check your closet?" asked an annoyed Lance as he turned up the volume on the TV.
Pietro continued his search. "Yeah. It wasn't in there. That's my favorite shirt too. I gotta find it!"
He picked up a brown piece of fabric. "Found it! Oh wait, this isn't my shirt. What is this thing anyway? Oh well, nevermind!"
He threw the shirt over his shoulder and it landed on the TV, blocking the screen.
"Hey! Watch it! I like this movie!" shouted Lance as he got up to remove the mysterious brown garment.
Pietro looked at the screen quickly and scoffed. "You like The Hulk?! That was the worst movie of the decade!"
Lance looked up at the speed-demon defensively. "I happen to like it, okay. Now why don't you go look for your precious shirt upstairs."
"How could anyone actually like that heap of garbage?!" asked Pietro, enjoying this chance to annoy Lance. "I mean, the Hulk is the worst character in the history of American culture!"
Just then, Toad came hopping through the door wearing Pietro's shirt. "Hey guys, what's up?"
Lance glared at Toad as he turned the volume up again. "Y'know, I gotta disagree with you on that one, Pietro."
"Hey! That's my shirt! Whaddya-think-you're-doing-wearing-my-favorite-shirt?!"
"What, this old thing?" answered Toad. "I kinda like it. Besides, it looks better on me than it does on you, know what I mean, yo?"
Pietro rushed at Toad and ripped the shirt off of him before the boy could even flinch.
"Hey! That's not fair, yo!"
"Ugh! You got slime all over it! That's it, Toad! Stay outta my room!"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Speedy."
"If you two are gonna bicker, then could you please do it someplace else?" cried Lance desperately as he again turned up the volume.
"Nah, I'm cool, yo," said Toad. "Besides, I like this movie." He hopped onto the couch next to Lance and propped his feet on the table in front of them.
"You would," muttered Pietro as he sped upstairs.
Fred came down the stairs and entered the room.
"Hey guys. Whatcha watching?"
"Hulk, yo," said Toad.
"Alright! That's my favorite movie!" yelled Fred as he ran over and sat on the couch, causing Lance's end to noticeably rise a few inches into the air.
"That's it! I'm gonna go see what's going on upstairs," said Lance as he jumped off the couch and left the room.
Toad and Fred watched him leave, then turned back to the movie.
"Oh well. More popcorn for us!" said Toad gleefully.
Lance passed Wanda on the staircase on his way up.
"I wouldn't go down there if I were you," he warned her. "Fred's watching the Hulk and you know how it 'inspired' him last time."
"Oh! Thanks for the heads-up," said Wanda as she turned around to go back upstairs. She glanced over at the kitchen counter, which they had been forced to replace after Fred smashed it the last time he saw The Hulk."
Lance walked into his room and shut the door behind him. He lay down on his bed and grabbed a small rubber ball, which he began throwing against the wall and catching.
Soon, the door rushed open and a streak of light announced Pietro's entry into the room. The streak of light stopped in the corner of the room, where Pietro sat down in Lance's chair.
"Hey Rocky. Finally give up on your misguided hopes that the movie might actually be good this time?"
"Shut up, Pietro."
"Hey, don't kill the messenger. I told you it was bad."
"Where's your precious shirt?"
Pietro scowled. "In the laundry. I'm not wearing it right after Toad did! It has to be washed at least three times now before it'll be wearable again!"
"Good point." Lance bounced the ball off the wall again.
"So Lance, what do you think's gonna happen with this new law? I mean, should we be hiding or something?"
Lance grimaced at the thought of the Anti-Mutant Act and dropped his ball. "I think Kelly's gonna report us eventually. So yeah, we really should be getting outta here, but we got nowhere to go."
"So-you-think-we're-gonna-get-captured?!" said Pietro in one breath.
"I don't know, but it's possible, y'know what I mean?"
"Well-don't-you-think-maybe-we-should-be-trying-to-find-somewhere-to-go-just-in-case-we-gotta-leave?!"
"I think we should be ready to run at a moments notice. Always be prepared to get out of here fast. But hey, it's been 8 days since that law passed and nuthin's happened yet. So who knows?"
Pietro began to calm down a little bit. "Yeah, that's true. I heard they're taking the prisoners to Cuba or somethin' like that."
"Yeah, I heard that too. I don't know. Maybe we'll be fine here and maybe not. It's hard to say."
"Yeah. Hey, I'm hungry!" Pietro disappeared, then returned a few seconds later with a plate full of sandwiches. "So…" he took a bite from a sandwich, "where do you propose we go in case of government attack?"
Lance tried not to look at the half-eaten sandwich in Pietro's open mouth. "I don't know. You got any ideas?"
"Nah, not really. Maybe we could…" He was cut off by the doorbell. "Too late. Sounds like they're already here!" joked Pietro.
He set his plate on Lance's bed and rushed downstairs. As soon as he started to open the door, it was pushed open from the outside and Pietro was forced back against the wall. A man in a trench coat came in the room and quickly shut the door behind him.
"Pyro?!" said Lance from the top of the stairs. "What are you doing here?!"
Pyro looked up at Lance, then back at Pietro who was rubbing the back of his head where it had been knocked against the wall.
"Hey boys! How're things going?" he said jovially as he took off his coat. He was wearing his uniform under the coat.
"Not bad, yo!" said Toad as he hopped into the room.
"What's this about?" asked Wanda, who stood in the corner of the room with her arms crossed.
"Well, it's your lucky day! Magneto wants you guys to help him on his next project," he said in his distinctive Australian accent.
"What's the project?" asked Lance suspiciously.
"Destroying a city. Personally, I can't wait!"
"Which city?" asked Pietro.
"Chicago."
"Why?" asked Wanda.
"Why not?! It'll be fun and it'll be your first mission for Magneto. He really wants your help, so if I were you, I'd do it."
"Where's Gambit?" asked Lance. "Magneto usually sends him when he wants us to do something."
Pyro flinched. "Gambit's out of action and off the team."
"Why?"
"He accidentally led the army to our base," said Pyro nonchalantly. "So you guys in?"
The Brotherhood looked around at each other with quizzical faces.
"Yeah, we're in," said Lance with a sigh.
"Alright! Grab your things then. We're outta here."
