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The lair was silent as Toad swiftly slipped through the security system and proceeded into the main hall that led to his home. He sighed deeply as he pushed away the door that secured his quarters.

At least I got out of their before her parents arrived. He thought miserably.

Slowly as to not injury himself more than completely necessary he took off his coat and placed it against a molded chair in the room. He threw himself face first on the mattress he slept on nightly, yet despite his attempts he couldn't get anything near confortable. The thought of a warm sofa plagued his thoughts and he mentally swore to himself at the memory.

This was a one time thing! He shouted to himself over and over yet with no avail he glanced at the calendar. Tomorrow was Monday, he would have to follow her to school and make every effort to figure out her class schedule, the names of her friends, teachers...He sighed once more. He should of gotten out of there when he had the chance. He sat up and folded his legs beneath him.

She not different.

Just because she took some pity on the freak that you are doesn't mean she's any different from the rest of them. Screamed the voice inside his head.

Yet the way..."No!" he shouted out loud. "Don't get attached, don't get attached..." He mumbled over and over. Not that it was really the issue, somewhere in the back of his brain he knew that the odds of Magneto's plan working out was not always great and although he had been known to take a life every now and again. They were usually all people he had never even spoken with. And that was completely acceptable, he didn't even know what their voices sounded like. It was always easier to kill another life form when you knew nothing about them.

He knew she could make a decent waffle...

The sharp pounding of footsteps entered his ears as the sign of someone about to come into his room and from the sound of the feet he would have guessed-

"Where have you been?" growled Sabertooth as he broke down the already vulnerable door.

Toad however had yet to answer and simply rolled his eyes as he took a cigarette and lighter from his pocket and proceed to light it.

"Awww what's the matter? All this concern for me?" The response was not light as a very large and violent grip found his was to his throat and firmly pinned him to a nearby wall, forcing several pieces of plaster to fall from the unsupportive roof.

"The check-in was makes things messy." Said the overgrown beast. Yet before his last word was barely spoken Sabertooth raised his nose in the air and his eyes widened with surprise. He let Toad fall carelessly to the floor.

"You smell like...dare I say a female?" He walked around he heaving Toad as the mutant struggled to catch his breath. "Almost like...the Jackson girl?" He said in nearly a whisper.

"You had better be careful pond scum, I won't let you screw this one up..." But acting as though a unwanted thought had entered his head he changed the subject with a fierce attitude.

"Magneto wants to see you. Now." And before Toad could finally register the hairy mutant was gone leaving him with his scared wall and an uneasy feeling quickly growing in his stomach.

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" You sure you OK?" Asked Jainy as she lazily flipped the page of some unknown magazine she had recently found under Eva's bed.

When Jainy didn't receive and answer she rose up from her friends bed that she had been lying stomach down on for several minutes. She paused before turning a gentle hand on her friend's unaware shoulder. Eva instantly turned to her left at the sight of affection and smiled slightly.

"Yeah I'm OK, just a little shook up about last night I guess."

"Well I would guess so!" Said Jainy as she took a seat in a beanbag chair next to her distracted friend.
"I mean...getting attacked like that, meeting that mutant, then having his disappear..." She attempted to finish but was cut off by a passionate response from Eva.

"His name is Toad." She said simply.

Jainy nodded and sighed deeply.

"I know your worried about him av.' but I think he can more than likely take care of himself."

"Yeah your probably right..." Said Eva sitting up and adjusting her sweater. "I just get this really bad feeling every time I think about what could of happened if he hadn't been there..."

"Oh eva," said her friends sympathetically as she pulled her into a sincere hug.

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Eva knew it was possible that she had lied more in the last 24-hours than she had in her entire life. But at that point she didn't particularly care. She knew that she could explain the way she felt a million times to Jainy.

Yet she would just never understand.

Only minutes after Jainy had gone home, Eva walked into the bathroom to release the braid she had created later, she almost regretted telling Jainy anything at all. The fact was that a part of her was afraid about the possibilities of what could of happened the previous night, but mostly she just had the extremely uneasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach about something she couldn't quite explain.

She was tired

That was it. That had to be it. She was just tired running for almost two days with no sleep was never a good idea and besides the day in itself had been a long one with running around the house trying to escape the evidence of any strangers being here, then Jainy insisting that she come over for a few minutes (which had turned into most of the day itself)

She just needed sleep...that was all.

So looking in the mirror she nodded to herself with agreement. And after changing into a sporty black tank-top and gray pajama pants she climbed into bed desperately wishing that the next day was one that included school. But as she turned off the lamp and her head hit the pillow she fell into a blissful slumber where she once again had dreams she couldn't remember when she later woke up.

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There was no doubt that the punching bad was being well...punched. In fact it was also being kicked and abused in other ways that it was not usually accustomed to. Yet Toad didn't particularly care. In fact he was actually very grateful for the hole-ridden piece of crap. Because if it wasn't for that small piece of equipment he might of broken the new t.v. Mystique had stolen earlier on in the day.

The conversation he had been a part of with magneto had indeed not been pleasant. In fact if anything else it had made his blood boil in way it wasn't even capable.

There he was standing in the middle of the metal theme room being stared at by Magneto as though he were some kind of dog. And Magneto was trying to figure out it he had made an accident or not.

"He right, you do smell like a female." He said calmly only to be followed with a throwing of a metal-bound book across the room.

"Do you have any idea how stupid it was to let this girl see your face? Or give her your name?! My God Mortimer I never realized how stupid you could truly be until this moment-"

"It wasn't my fault OK?" Said Toad who had been standing silent until that moment. "What did you want me to do? I had the opportunity so I thought maybe I could get some information out of her...How was I suppost to know she's overyfriendly-?" He started but before the sentence was finished Magneto's hand was raised into the air.

But the only really reason Toad stopped was because of the sudden look that had changed on this man's face.

And to Toad's horror he smiled.

"That's not a half bad idea Mortimer!" He said suddenly. "Yes, yes, yes..." He seemed to be mumbling to himself and Toad began to wonder if he had indeed gone mad.

"I realize that you didn't have the easiest pick of the litter to work with," He began gesturing at a chair for Toad to sit in.

"From what I understand this sort of this with older children is a bit more difficult..." He sat slowly and his smile faded from his face but not from his eyes.

"If you gain her trust and convince her to...oh I don't know maybe meet some of your friends this time next week..."

"No." Stated Toad.

"And why in the hell not?" Asked the older man with amusement in his voice.

"Because it's a bad idea." Toad stated simply.

"You'll do it whether you like it or not." Retreated the old man as though he had grown bored with the conversation.

Toad being in such the rage that he was decided that if he stayed there a second longer he might just have ripped the old man's head off. So instead of saying anything he retreated to his room where he sat silently and unmoving from his bed watching the sunset from the cracks in the corners of his room. His heart rippled inside his chest although he wasn't sure why.

He lye back and sighed. Closing his eyes for only moments flood shots of his life came back to him in a fit, colors mixing together, sounds becoming one with each other. However despite his awareness he could still make out images of his childhood: the beatings, the torment, the anger.
Without knowing it he clenched his fists.

He knew what he had to do. His eyes flew open and as they adjusted to the darkness of the room he became aware that he must of fallen asleep for the clock told him it was nearly 11p.m. And the darkest hour of the night was upon him.

Grabbing his jacket and leaving the lair with a strange hunger he couldn't quite defy he head out for the old Victorian house with the cream colored siding, black shutters and the dominating ivy that could easily be compared with his skin.