Okay, here we go. Like Hoodoo said, when in doubt, ANGST. Toad and X-men (c) Marvel. Brother Sensei is mine, though.

A Face from the Past

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Toad wasn't sure when the nightmares had started again. The water again. He cursed inwardly as he felt himself drowning, thrashing around in the dark sea of memory and then--

Everything changed.

He was on top of the Statue of Liberty, picking off clueless guards one by one ( Didn't this happen on the mainland? part of him asked, confused). But unlike before, there were dozens of them. After the tenth, one of the guards noticed him and yelped out a warning to his companions, trying to train his gun on the mutant. Toad grinned hideously and flicked the weapon from the terrified officer's hands with his tongue, relishing in the man's expression as he wet himself. Pteh. Humans. Others began shouting, gathering around. Toad's grin widened. All right! Time for some action!

He leapt into the air, landing on the first guard, crushing his spine. Before any of them could react, two vicious kicks had broken the backs of the nearest officers. From there, it was just a glorious blur of movement. Jumping, spinning, striking--completely in his element. He toyed with some, sparring playfully with them before twisting their necks around or striking their throats. And more kept coming. He wasn't tiring at all. In fact, he felt as though he could do this all night. It was his calling; it was what Magneto had told him to do. He smiled at his nearest opponent and watched the blood drain from her face. Now this was something he was good at.

The pile of bodies grew. Carcass after carcass lay strewn over the copper hair of the great lady. And suddenly, there was no one left. Toad stood victorious over his conquered foes, not thinking it odd that faces of childhood bullies and previous assassination hits lay mingled with guards and officers. He grabbed a club from one of the policemen's bodies and spun it around, laughing quietly to himself. See, that's what happens when you mess with Toad. Bloody humans, the whole stinkin' lot of you. Y'thought you all were better than me, didn't you? Well, who's on top now, eh?

He blinked and looked up. Oh, he'd been wrong. One last person stood just at the edge of the bloody pile. Toad grinned menacingly and twirled the club around, advancing. Last one...maybe I can have a bit o'fun. A real fight...

"Mortimer."

His breath caught and he stopped dead in his tracks, feeling as though he'd been kicked in the chest. It couldn't be... He staggered forward like a drunk man, both wanting and dreading to see the man's face.

"Mortie..." The stranger shook his head sadly, his voice filled with love and disappointment. A hiccuping whimper escaped Toad's throat. He reached out a trembling hand and the man cupped his larger, rougher hand around it. He stumbled and stopped. There was no need to see the stranger's face; he knew that hand.

"S-sensei," he choked out, hearing his voice catch. It was so hard to breath. The man smiled and laid his hand on Toad's head.

"Mortimer, what have you done?" The was no anger or accusation in the question, just a father's sorrow. Toad shook his head, his eyes wide and pleading, desperate.

"I-I..." Didn't Sensei know? He'd been fighting for the Cause, eliminating the humans who oppressed him and everyone else like him. It wasn't his fault, they had started it. They had all...The dead eyes stared up at him reproachfully. No longer were they faceless officers--as he looked at them he saw families, children and spouses and parents, mourning. Each corpse had so many. Every person he'd ever killed, ever wanted to kill, lay in the pile, and each one was surrounded by a ripple effect of grief. Grief he had caused. No! He'd only been following orders, right? He'd been told to do it! Magneto was right and the Cause was right! None of these people mattered in the long run anyway! No... Overwhelmed, he collapsed to his knees.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the ground beneath his hands. "I didn't..." He choked. No! NO! This was all wrong! Brother Sensei knelt down beside him and folded his arms around the child. Toad --nine again-- threw himself into the comforting safety of the embrace, with a sobbing, strangled gasp. "I'm so sorry, Sensei. I'm sorry," he wept over and over into the man's chest. Brother Sensei rubbed his head soothingly.

"It's okay, Mortie. It's okay." Toad shook his head and tried to bury himself in his Sensei's arms. "Shh, now, Todd. It's okay."



"'M sorry," he mumbled, not yet conscious.

"It's okay, Todd." The soft voice was not Brother Sensei's. Toad blearily opened his eyes, feeling hot tears on his cheeks. Someone was rubbing his head gently, like in the dream. Was it a dream? He craned his neck and squinted out of blurry eyes. The girl...for a moment, no name came, then...Gabby. He was lying against her shoulder and she was holding him as if comforting a child. He stared at her in confusion, lost. Seeing his eyes open, she smiled encouragingly at him.

"Shh...it's okay, Todd. Go back to sleep."

Sleep? Sleep? A look of consternation fluttered tiredly across his face; his mind wasn't working right. Nothing made sense. Brother Sensei had seen him...had seen what he'd become. He closed his eyes as a soft coughing sob forced its way from his throat. Cool fingers on his cheek, wiping the burning tears away and he relaxed, the awful weight he felt lessening slightly.

"Shh...it's alright." It was? Was it really? He couldn't think. Thoughts sank like stones or fluttered away when he tried to grab them. And yet, here in the darkness he felt that, for this moment, maybe, something was right. All he knew was that he was tired, so tired, of hurting.

"Shh...go back to sleep, Todd." Yes...maybe, for once... He just wanted it to stop.

"'s Mort," he murmured so quietly that she didn't hear him.



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Yay! We've finaly seen some of Brother Sensei. I have to admit, I like this character and I want to do a side-fic about Toad's childhood and his relationship with his Sensei. It stands to reason that it could be something like that *points up* Toad is an excellent martial artist, and therefore probably had a good sensei and years of training with him as well. Train with a sensei for a long time and you start to respect and love them and want to earn their praise.

...Maybe I write better when I keep it short...This chapter managed to almost be under 1000 words. I ramble to much when I don't know what to put, like in the last one. Frankly, I think I'm starting to run down a bit, which might be a good thing. This fic as eaten my life for the past 5/6 days, and with a convention and the final LoTR premier *snif* I should try focusing on other things. And then this'll be more fresh. Blarh...sorry, shouldn't write AN's at 2 in the AM.