Todd sauntered up to the counter, looking so casual that most would find it suspicious. After whistling for another long moment, taking his time looking at the menu, he turned to look at the girl at the register. He tried to give her an innocent sort of smile, but judging by her reaction it didn't go over to well.
"Hi. Yeah, I'd like... uh... a double bacon gutbomb, an orange sizzle soda, some fries... and everything in the register."
The woman, who'd started ringing up his order, paused to look back up at him.
"Ya heard me right! Now make it snappy, toots! This is supposed to be a fast food place!"
Removing one of his hands from the pocket of his baggy jeans, Todd flicked open his old, rusty switchblade, holding it carefully in front of him so that not too many other patrons at the restaurant would see. The girl nodded timidly, fear present in her eyes, as she opened the drawer of the cash register and started to add the money to the bag she'd taken out for his food.
"And don't forget my meal too, sweetie."
From behind him came the sound of the door opening as a group of teenagers entered.
Jubilee, Amara, Bobby and Roberto walked up behind Todd, all talking rapidly together about their day at school. Todd cringed, holding the knife closer to his body and scrunching his head down low. He suddenly wished the lady would work faster. If the X-Men got involved in all of this, things would get a lot more complicated than he'd planned for. He motioned subtly with the switchblade for the woman to speed up, leaning in over the counter as best he could to try and seem more threatening.
Come on, come on...
"Hey, what's the hold up here?"
Todd froze as Jubilee turned to face him.
"Aren't you that guy from the boarding house?"
Ah shit...
Soon Bobby had joined her, trying to look over Todd's shoulder.
"Wait... what's going on? Hey, I think he's trying to rob the place!"
And at that loud exclamation, everyone in the restaurant looked directly at Todd.
What do I do what do I do? Should I grab the money and run? No, they'd catch me if I tried... Should I back down? No, I could never go back to the boarding house after that... What would Wanda do in a situation like this?
Wanda... he couldn't let her down. She was the whole reason he was doing this. He just had to pull this off! No snot-nosed little X-punks could stop him from earning the heart of the woman he loved! Even he hadn't sunk so low as to be beaten by an amateur super hero wannabe.
Not a. Four. There's four of 'em, genius. Still think this is a good idea?
No, but here it goes anyways...
Todd whirled around, knife held out to swipe menacingly at the mutants. His eyes narrowed, hoping that he could stare them down from trying anything at least. With his luck he'd get locked up for stealing and property damage after they started using their powers.
"Just shut up, all of ya, and stay back! I don't want any trouble, so just but out! This doesn't concern you."
No, it concerned Wanda, and these guys were going to ruin it.
"Not a chance, Toad! We're not about to let you get away with robbing our favorite burger place!"
Bobby snorted, smirking at Toad as one of his hands iced over. Jubilee was at his side, fingers crackling with colored sparks. Roberto timidly brought up the rear, while Amara stood to one side, looking somewhat horrified.
"M-maybe we shouldn't, Bobby. Maybe we should call the others, or the police..."
"Oh stop worrying, Amara!" Jubilee stepped to the side, circling Todd in hopes of surrounding him. "We can handle this jerk no problem."
Knees shaking, Todd forced himself to swallow. He pointed the blade from one kid to another, still trying desperately to look threatening.
"Back down, you kids. I'm warnin' you ta stay outta this!"
A screaming firework rocketed past Todd's head, just to the left of his ear. Startled, he jumped straight up in the air, landing atop the counter to see Jubilee laughing at him. Soon Bobby joined her, followed by the rest of the group. Todd's fear was slowly replaced with anger. They really didn't consider him any sort of threat, did they? Well he'd show them...
Lunging forward, he slashed at Jubilee, this time intending to cut her arm. She jumped back in surprise, but the shoulder of her yellow coat tore open and a few pieces of black hair fluttered to the ground. Stunned, the group of X-Men looked from the hair, back up to Toad.
"Oh," said Bobby carefully. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh?"
"Sure is, ya little X-geek. So just run on home now an let me finish things up."
Bobby flung a shot of ice towards Toad suddenly, which Todd easily deflected as his tongue flicked out of his mouth like some kind of whip. The shard of ice clattered against the floor, sliding off into a corner as Todd's confidence rose. Roberto then jumped forward, grabbing Todd's wrists and pushing him back on the counter.
"Just let it go, already! You can't take us all on!"
"You don't know what you're talkin' about, kid!" Toad's tongue extended again, this time to grab the knife from his restrained hand, flailing it towards the boy's face. Roberto immediately let go of him, backing away. Just as Todd grabbed the handle of the switchblade again, Bobby darted forward to punch him in the gut, winding him. This was followed by a kick to his back from Jubilee, who had moved behind the counter now. Todd fell forward off the counter and onto his face, sliding a few feet. Again came the laughter.
"Stop fuckin' laughin' at me, a'ight? It's not funny!"
Todd looked over at Amara, narrowing her eyes. She was smiling, though hiding it politely behind one hand.
Maybe it would be easier to get outta here if I had a hostage...
Jumping to his feet, Todd dashed towards her with his knife held away to the side. He hopped into the air, hoping to land a kick to her chest to stun her. Really, he didn't want to hurt the girl, she seemed all right to him, but he'd been put into a difficult situation.
"Amara! Duck!"
She dropped to the floor just as an attack of blazing fireworks hit him in the side, knocking him off course so that he crashed into a table in front of the window. Coughing, Todd lay there for a moment, trying to catch his breath. The impact had hurt a lot, and he guessed that he must have bruised his ribs some. Still, he just shook his head to try and fix his vision, and hopped up onto the table, readying for another attack at the group. This time, the counter attack came from two directions at once.
As the barrage of ice and fireworks hit him straight in the chest, the force knocked Todd backwards towards the window. Rather than stopping against the glass, however, he somehow kept going as suddenly everything started to slow down.
The sound of tinkling glass against the pavement clued him in that he'd broken through the window, accompanied by several painful points on the rest of his body where the shards had cut into him. Despite the pain, to Todd it seemed his body was sailing backwards at a leisurely pace, as if he had all day to contemplate what was happening. He saw several of the customers inside standing up as the X-Men all made a slow-motion run towards the window, looks of horror etched into their faces.
Funny, I just wanted to hold up a fast food joint...
His feet were through the window now, a large piece of glass catching his calf, tearing it open. Eyes wide, he could almost see himself from the point of view of one of the bystanders.
Damn, I left the money inside. There's no way I'm gonna pull this off now... This means I'll have to go back and Wanda won't think any different of me... she'll still pity me, while everyone else will keep thinking I'm a screw up...
The wind felt pleasant as it rushed through his hair, causing several of the greasy strands to cross his vision. He looked up to see the sky, blue and clear without a cloud in sight.
Should have offered to take Wanda to the park today instead. Maybe she'd have let me. I could have told her some things, then... gotten her a flower or somethin' like that, told her how much I liked her... maybe that would have cheered her up. Maybe she already knew how I felt about her.
Flashes of the orphanage he was raised in passed his mind's eye. The lonely days spent in that closet the staff tried to hide him in, the days when every kid his age would gang together to beat him up for being ugly... he saw the day he traded that hellhole for another when Mystique took him in... all the times he'd screwed up in the fights against the X-Men... the day Wanda arrived... The day he saved her from Magneto and had stolen that kiss... and today, when she'd called him Todd.
When I get back, I'll tell her straight up what I feel! Even if I don't get the money after all, even if-
Something cold slammed into Todd's shoulder, just where his neck met his collarbone. In the pleasant silence he heard a sickening crunch, and then suddenly everything sped up once again. His neck twisted, wrapping around the lamppost he'd hit, followed by the rest of his body. The metal rang like a bell being struck as he dropped to the pavement, his head bouncing once before falling to an odd angle. Half his head leaned off the curb into the gutter, tilting him so he had no choice but to continue looking at the sky. All the noises around him suddenly seemed hollow, like he was listening through a cardboard tube. People were screaming, some were running over to him, others just running away. A girl was crying.
Wonder if Wanda was going off to cry by herself... probably not... I hope she knew that if she wanted to cry, that I'd be there for her...
A blurry yellow and black shape hung over him, blocking out part of the blue sky.
"Oh my God... are you alright? Bobby, quick... we need to call an ambulance! Hurry!"
The sounds echoed through his throbbing head. He wasn't sure how the rest of his body faired, since he couldn't really feel it, but his head felt like his brains were about to leak out his ears. His vision started fading, making it easier for him to imagine that one of the figures leaning over him was Wanda.
"I... I'm sorry, Wanda... guess I screwed up again, huh? Sorry... wanted to say that... that I love... I..."
His words were cut off as he coughed weakly, the sound coming wet with the blood in his throat. He felt scared as the darkness started rushing in on him, feeling like he was drowning in the black and the blood. Though he couldn't see anything, his eyes opened wide in fright. Gasping one last time, his body went limp against the sidewalk, just as the sound of ambulances rang out in the distance.
"Hi. Yeah, I'd like... uh... a double bacon gutbomb, an orange sizzle soda, some fries... and everything in the register."
The woman, who'd started ringing up his order, paused to look back up at him.
"Ya heard me right! Now make it snappy, toots! This is supposed to be a fast food place!"
Removing one of his hands from the pocket of his baggy jeans, Todd flicked open his old, rusty switchblade, holding it carefully in front of him so that not too many other patrons at the restaurant would see. The girl nodded timidly, fear present in her eyes, as she opened the drawer of the cash register and started to add the money to the bag she'd taken out for his food.
"And don't forget my meal too, sweetie."
From behind him came the sound of the door opening as a group of teenagers entered.
Jubilee, Amara, Bobby and Roberto walked up behind Todd, all talking rapidly together about their day at school. Todd cringed, holding the knife closer to his body and scrunching his head down low. He suddenly wished the lady would work faster. If the X-Men got involved in all of this, things would get a lot more complicated than he'd planned for. He motioned subtly with the switchblade for the woman to speed up, leaning in over the counter as best he could to try and seem more threatening.
Come on, come on...
"Hey, what's the hold up here?"
Todd froze as Jubilee turned to face him.
"Aren't you that guy from the boarding house?"
Ah shit...
Soon Bobby had joined her, trying to look over Todd's shoulder.
"Wait... what's going on? Hey, I think he's trying to rob the place!"
And at that loud exclamation, everyone in the restaurant looked directly at Todd.
What do I do what do I do? Should I grab the money and run? No, they'd catch me if I tried... Should I back down? No, I could never go back to the boarding house after that... What would Wanda do in a situation like this?
Wanda... he couldn't let her down. She was the whole reason he was doing this. He just had to pull this off! No snot-nosed little X-punks could stop him from earning the heart of the woman he loved! Even he hadn't sunk so low as to be beaten by an amateur super hero wannabe.
Not a. Four. There's four of 'em, genius. Still think this is a good idea?
No, but here it goes anyways...
Todd whirled around, knife held out to swipe menacingly at the mutants. His eyes narrowed, hoping that he could stare them down from trying anything at least. With his luck he'd get locked up for stealing and property damage after they started using their powers.
"Just shut up, all of ya, and stay back! I don't want any trouble, so just but out! This doesn't concern you."
No, it concerned Wanda, and these guys were going to ruin it.
"Not a chance, Toad! We're not about to let you get away with robbing our favorite burger place!"
Bobby snorted, smirking at Toad as one of his hands iced over. Jubilee was at his side, fingers crackling with colored sparks. Roberto timidly brought up the rear, while Amara stood to one side, looking somewhat horrified.
"M-maybe we shouldn't, Bobby. Maybe we should call the others, or the police..."
"Oh stop worrying, Amara!" Jubilee stepped to the side, circling Todd in hopes of surrounding him. "We can handle this jerk no problem."
Knees shaking, Todd forced himself to swallow. He pointed the blade from one kid to another, still trying desperately to look threatening.
"Back down, you kids. I'm warnin' you ta stay outta this!"
A screaming firework rocketed past Todd's head, just to the left of his ear. Startled, he jumped straight up in the air, landing atop the counter to see Jubilee laughing at him. Soon Bobby joined her, followed by the rest of the group. Todd's fear was slowly replaced with anger. They really didn't consider him any sort of threat, did they? Well he'd show them...
Lunging forward, he slashed at Jubilee, this time intending to cut her arm. She jumped back in surprise, but the shoulder of her yellow coat tore open and a few pieces of black hair fluttered to the ground. Stunned, the group of X-Men looked from the hair, back up to Toad.
"Oh," said Bobby carefully. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh?"
"Sure is, ya little X-geek. So just run on home now an let me finish things up."
Bobby flung a shot of ice towards Toad suddenly, which Todd easily deflected as his tongue flicked out of his mouth like some kind of whip. The shard of ice clattered against the floor, sliding off into a corner as Todd's confidence rose. Roberto then jumped forward, grabbing Todd's wrists and pushing him back on the counter.
"Just let it go, already! You can't take us all on!"
"You don't know what you're talkin' about, kid!" Toad's tongue extended again, this time to grab the knife from his restrained hand, flailing it towards the boy's face. Roberto immediately let go of him, backing away. Just as Todd grabbed the handle of the switchblade again, Bobby darted forward to punch him in the gut, winding him. This was followed by a kick to his back from Jubilee, who had moved behind the counter now. Todd fell forward off the counter and onto his face, sliding a few feet. Again came the laughter.
"Stop fuckin' laughin' at me, a'ight? It's not funny!"
Todd looked over at Amara, narrowing her eyes. She was smiling, though hiding it politely behind one hand.
Maybe it would be easier to get outta here if I had a hostage...
Jumping to his feet, Todd dashed towards her with his knife held away to the side. He hopped into the air, hoping to land a kick to her chest to stun her. Really, he didn't want to hurt the girl, she seemed all right to him, but he'd been put into a difficult situation.
"Amara! Duck!"
She dropped to the floor just as an attack of blazing fireworks hit him in the side, knocking him off course so that he crashed into a table in front of the window. Coughing, Todd lay there for a moment, trying to catch his breath. The impact had hurt a lot, and he guessed that he must have bruised his ribs some. Still, he just shook his head to try and fix his vision, and hopped up onto the table, readying for another attack at the group. This time, the counter attack came from two directions at once.
As the barrage of ice and fireworks hit him straight in the chest, the force knocked Todd backwards towards the window. Rather than stopping against the glass, however, he somehow kept going as suddenly everything started to slow down.
The sound of tinkling glass against the pavement clued him in that he'd broken through the window, accompanied by several painful points on the rest of his body where the shards had cut into him. Despite the pain, to Todd it seemed his body was sailing backwards at a leisurely pace, as if he had all day to contemplate what was happening. He saw several of the customers inside standing up as the X-Men all made a slow-motion run towards the window, looks of horror etched into their faces.
Funny, I just wanted to hold up a fast food joint...
His feet were through the window now, a large piece of glass catching his calf, tearing it open. Eyes wide, he could almost see himself from the point of view of one of the bystanders.
Damn, I left the money inside. There's no way I'm gonna pull this off now... This means I'll have to go back and Wanda won't think any different of me... she'll still pity me, while everyone else will keep thinking I'm a screw up...
The wind felt pleasant as it rushed through his hair, causing several of the greasy strands to cross his vision. He looked up to see the sky, blue and clear without a cloud in sight.
Should have offered to take Wanda to the park today instead. Maybe she'd have let me. I could have told her some things, then... gotten her a flower or somethin' like that, told her how much I liked her... maybe that would have cheered her up. Maybe she already knew how I felt about her.
Flashes of the orphanage he was raised in passed his mind's eye. The lonely days spent in that closet the staff tried to hide him in, the days when every kid his age would gang together to beat him up for being ugly... he saw the day he traded that hellhole for another when Mystique took him in... all the times he'd screwed up in the fights against the X-Men... the day Wanda arrived... The day he saved her from Magneto and had stolen that kiss... and today, when she'd called him Todd.
When I get back, I'll tell her straight up what I feel! Even if I don't get the money after all, even if-
Something cold slammed into Todd's shoulder, just where his neck met his collarbone. In the pleasant silence he heard a sickening crunch, and then suddenly everything sped up once again. His neck twisted, wrapping around the lamppost he'd hit, followed by the rest of his body. The metal rang like a bell being struck as he dropped to the pavement, his head bouncing once before falling to an odd angle. Half his head leaned off the curb into the gutter, tilting him so he had no choice but to continue looking at the sky. All the noises around him suddenly seemed hollow, like he was listening through a cardboard tube. People were screaming, some were running over to him, others just running away. A girl was crying.
Wonder if Wanda was going off to cry by herself... probably not... I hope she knew that if she wanted to cry, that I'd be there for her...
A blurry yellow and black shape hung over him, blocking out part of the blue sky.
"Oh my God... are you alright? Bobby, quick... we need to call an ambulance! Hurry!"
The sounds echoed through his throbbing head. He wasn't sure how the rest of his body faired, since he couldn't really feel it, but his head felt like his brains were about to leak out his ears. His vision started fading, making it easier for him to imagine that one of the figures leaning over him was Wanda.
"I... I'm sorry, Wanda... guess I screwed up again, huh? Sorry... wanted to say that... that I love... I..."
His words were cut off as he coughed weakly, the sound coming wet with the blood in his throat. He felt scared as the darkness started rushing in on him, feeling like he was drowning in the black and the blood. Though he couldn't see anything, his eyes opened wide in fright. Gasping one last time, his body went limp against the sidewalk, just as the sound of ambulances rang out in the distance.