Chapter Nine- Crappy Destiny

He sat down on his bed, tapping his fingers impatiently. He hoped this Strain person wasn't one obsessed with time.

The lock clicked at exactly 11:30. Obviously she was. The black haired cat woman gave him a grin. "How are you feeling, Mortimer?" she asked.

"Fantastic." He said, getting up to meet her. "So are you going to tell me what this is all about?" he took the somewhat crumpled note out of his jacket pocket.

"We are quite like your Brotherhood, Mortimer. Except we are more efficient, less known, have more hands, and we don't live on a rock in the middle of an ocean." She said, smiling. "We picked you because of your mental and physical prowess- you're a diamond in the rough, Mr. Toynbee."

"So what is exactly IEP's duty?" he asked, a hint of sarcasm hidden in his voice.

"We're battling human kind. Especially another group called 'The Friends of Humanity'. They're lead by a bunch of right wing militarists, who want us all dead. They're lead by a man named Alan Doyle."

"The 'Friends of Humanity'?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. We spend most of our time hacking in to their databases, 'convincing' employees to find work elsewhere, and disposing of administrative members. Another group on our hit list is the Brotherhood." She said.

"Why them?" he said, looking at her coldly now.

"They are a danger to our work. Erik Lensherr would be a valuable ally; but if he doesn't join us, we must dispose of him." Toad didn't necessarily object to this; although Erik had employed him, he had treated him like just another grunt worker.

Sometimes he felt the only member of the Brotherhood Magneto respected was Mystique. He supposed there was a reason for that- but banished the thought as quickly as he possibly could. He had a very photographic mind and he didn't need that kind of imagery- too late. "We are also working against an agency called SHEILD. They are an airborne vigilante agency. They have enough power to do what they want, when they want, and they must be stopped. They could decide any moment of the day to attack anyone they please; and that includes us, and other pro-mutant organizations. They were once known to kidnap Spider-man in broad daylight while he was in the middle of preventing a crime, so I can't imagine what they would do if they found out about us."

Mortimer nodded, and then remembered about the issue of his clothing. "Where did you find these?" he asked. He wouldn't bother to ask how they had got on him.

"Your battle fatigues? We did a little research." She said with a wink. "Now c'mon. Let me show you around."

"This isn't one of those "you must join, it is your destiny" things, is it?"

Jaye put an arm around his shoulder, and he stiffened. He wasn't used to being touched. She smiled cattishly. "If it was, it'd be a pretty crappy destiny."

Shmank you, everybody for the reviews. Unfortunately, I feel writers block looming. Although....a few reviews might get the creative juices flowing....