By Maikafuiniel
Chapter 4
Disloyalty There comes a time when every team must learn to make individual sacrifices.
Lance, Pietro, and Freddy sat in the back of the car Mystique had driven them to Magneto's current hide-out in. The radio was off, and the riders were complete silent. Nobody knew what to say, or even if there was anything to say at all. For all intents and purposes, one of their team-mates had just died.
Pietro for one knew that if Magneto had told them that Todd Tolansky was no more, then he really wouldn't be. Magneto didn't make idol threats; a lesson he had learned at a very young age.
Their lives had just been changed drastically- and that was to say nothing of their lost comrade. They had always made fun of the little slime-ball, but he had taken up such a large part of their lives… He had been the first Brotherhood member. He was the one who made them feel welcome when they were new. He-
"Who cleans out his room?" Pietro said suddenly, as was normal for him, cutting off Lance's musings, "Call not it. Not it!"
Of course he knew nobody was likely to beat him at such a stupid game, and Lance opened his mouth to say so when he was interrupted again by Freddy. "Not it!"
Lance stared at the pair beside him for a moment with wide eyes as they gave each other high fives. "That would mean you Lance," Pietro said with a smug grin, "If you want me to find you a bio-hazard suit, I can't make any promises- but I'll make the effort for our little Toady."
"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" Lance sputtered as Mystique listened on, "We just lost a member of our team! Gone! Finito! And all you can think about is who cleans out his bedroom?"
Pietro snorted rudely before looking Lance right in the eyes and saying, "It's done. It's happened. It's sad, but it's not like it's going to be such a big thing. I've thought about it, and it's not my fault if you can't keep up. And you know what I stumbled on when I was thinking about it?"
Before Lance could say something rude in response, Mystique looked at the trio through the rear-view mirror and said, "What's the Pietro?"
"We're a fucked-up family." Pietro said simply, "Plain and simple. We got no money, we got no lives, we're wanted criminals, and if the Bayville police ever get off their asses we're sitting ducks." He stopped and took a breath, willing himself to talk slowly enough to have everybody understand him as he continued, "We fight constantly, and most of it is directed at him. It's not like we're being mean by leaving him with dad- it's not like he would have let us keep Toad if he had some secret agenda all planned out in his head.
"Father isn't just going to dump him into a pit of lions; if he was he would have done it one hell of a long time ago. He wants to use this to his advantage, and that always works one hell of a lot better when the person you're controlling is going along with it willingly. And that," Pietro concluded, "Obviously means that he's got to have a better life then he had at our house. Magneto has to give him something that will make him wants to stay there more. Frankly Lance," he said, "We know he'll have a good life there, but we can't keep the same promise with us. Don't you think we'd be being way bigger assholes to take him home then to leave him with this opportunity? To be, you know, human?"
Everybody digested the information slowly as Pietro picked up a book that had been left on the car floor, and started to flick through it quickly. It was Shogun, and was obviously his as nobody else had the time to read a book like that. Lance watched him with a bit of a frown, not knowing if there was a retort on earth good enough to fight Pietro's argument. It was… logical. It didn't mean Lance had to be happy about it.
Unfortunately however, that just made him feel more guilty. He wasn't sure anymore if he wanted Toad back at the house for his own good… or for the good of Lance Alvers.
The drive continued on, and Lance watched out the window at the passing scenery. He hadn't really paid attention to it on the drive there, his attention on his young friend.
"So… what does it feel like?"
"What do you mean 'what does it feel like' yo? How am I supposed to feel?"
"I just mean, does it feel different? Being human?"
"Just the physical mutation stuff… Not having my mouth full... the walking thing is really weird. I don't think I've ever had to balance like this in my entire life- and my back was bent so I hunched even when I was standing 'straight'."
"Well, at least you have good posture now."
"Amazing actually," they heard Mystique say, "You've probably reverted into who you were naturally… without the years of slouching as you learned to walk included. The perfect version of a human you. You had better not mess it up Toad."
"I don't plan on keepin' it long. If I can figure out how to be me again yo, that's it."
"Why? What's not to like? You're human man! Free of the war and all the shit that gets thrown at us for bein' who we are."
"I might not have liked who I was, yo. But I was me. I don't wanna' be anybody different, 'cause I don't know how to. Not really."
Lance was wrenched out of his thoughts again as he heard Freddy speak. "It's weird, you know?" He said sadly, "If we ever see him again… he's not Toad anymore. And he'll get used to it… the being human thing. He'll get used to it, and he'll have human friends and do things like them… He's not gonna' be Toad anymore. He's gonna' be somebody else."
"Don't be stupid," Pietro said as he poked Freddy, "He's Toad. Maybe he'll change the definition of that, I don't know. But the little wart will always be the little wart. Just because his looks change doesn't mean his habits will unless he wants them to."
"Don't knock him man," Lance agreed with Freddy, "He's going to get used to it, he just doesn't know it yet. He's gonna' figure out that things are easier like this. Better. And from then on he's not going to be himself. You notice how excited he was about just walking with his whole foot?"
"He hated it!" Pietro declared, "He kept falling over!"
"He was still in shock- he only found out he looked different about five minutes before you did. And besides which, what about when he's not falling over anymore?" Lance challenged, "What about when he gets to be just like everybody else? Hell, he'll probably have girls fighting over him, with a body like that!"
Everybody was silent for a moment before Mystique said quietly from the front, "You know, he might not like it. You lot all changed from who you were. You lost a bit of yourselves when you got your mutations, and saw life from both sides."
"You're point being what?" Freddy asked.
"Toad was born who he was. He was born with a tongue five times longer then a body. Born with that god-damned hop of his."
"You're kidding me," Lance said in stark surprise, "No way. No kid could ever deal with that."
"You call ending up with you three idiots, living in a delapated house, and working for a super-terrorist bent on genocide without even realizing it 'dealing' with it? I pity you Lance… you really are as dumb as you look."
Lance merely rolled his eyes skyward; the rest of the trip to school was spent in silence.
Forge sat behind his desk, nearly growling at every single person who passed him by. He wasn't angry. He wasn't mad. No, he was livid.
Gambit had dragged him towards the lab at top speed, knowing that if he took longer then expected he was going to be in trouble. Forge had thought that once they got to wherever they were going and Gambit took his hands off Forges shoulder (taking away the possibility of him getting exploded) he would be able to escape. However, it had not been possible.
It seemed everything in the building was made of metal, which wouldn't have been at all bad, if it hadn't of been adamantium. Forge knew it was because Magneto could control it but nobody else could destroy or alter it, and it made for one hell of a cage. Only moment after arriving his foot had been changed to the table leg.
Gambit had told him to wait patiently, though Forge could barely understand him through the heave Louisiana accent, and that one of the scientists would be along shortly. The room had been small and uncomfortably empty. There was nothing to do with himself but think- and think he did, about all the trouble he had caused. How would he ever fix this mess?
After about thirty minutes the door slid open, revealing a man clothed entirely in black. From his heavy, high boots, to the baggy pants tucked into them, and the long sleeved shirt- he was dressed entirely in the colour. But as Forge looked at him, it almost seemed to shift… to become a lighter colour. But as the man moved closer it changed again… lighter, greyer, darker, blacker. He realized suddenly that his clothing was changing with the amount of light, and where it was hit.
Forge forced himself to look at the mans face to try and memorize it, in case it became necessary later. He was uncomfortably pale, with dark short hair and a goatee- again pitch black. He had a pointed face, with thin dark eyebrows and slanted eyes. He looked like he was just a naturally angry fellow…
Dangerous.
"I'm Shadow," the man said quietly after letting Forge look at him for a moment. "A doctor. Physics, chemistry, and biology. I've got more PhD's then you could count, no matter the language. And believe me, I do know many. Mind if I sit down?"
Forge looked at the man with an odd look on his face. "Umm…" he said, "There are no chairs. You do know that, right?"
"No matter," he responded as he bent over, casting a shadow beneath him where the light couldn't reach. With one hand then, he carefully touched the edge of the shadow… and then… Forge couldn't really say what happened next, because he wasn't sure. The man seemed to grab the shadow, although he couldn't imagine how. He picked it straight up off the ground and stared at it, touching it in just the right areas to shape it into a chair. He waved one hand then, and all of a sudden it fell to the ground, solid as anything. Forge stared at him in disbelief, and then at the chair that hadn't been there only moment ago. "So," Forge said weakly, "That's your mutation then?"
"I can use shadows," the man nodded, "Use them. Meld them. Change them. Let it be a warning- I will be watching you, and if I find your work… let us say, unsatisfactory, I can create a gun or any sort of weapon quite easily. I am literally never without a weapon, so I suggest you take the lesson to heart."
Forge nodded, knowing that now was not the time to test his captor.
Quickly Shadow pulled a small picture out of his pocket, and placed it in front of Forge's face. "This." he said, "Do you know what this is?"
"That's a sentinel," Forge said as though he were talking to a small child, "Every mutant knows that."
"Not for long." Shadow said with a cruel smile, and his eyes shined. "You and me," he continued, "We're going to turn it into something much more… deadly."
Magneto watched the boy through a mirror that was invisible on the other side. A nice piece of technology if he did say so himself. "That," he said to the man beside him, "Is Todd Tolansky."
"Yessss…" the smaller man said slowly, "I can sssee that… but what about him?"
"I want you to change some of his memories; and your own afterwords."
"An why would I do ssssuch a thing?" Mastermind questioned with a querk of a smile.
"Because I pay you more then you deserve." Magneto said simply. "The job is quite straight forward. I need the boy to only ever remember people calling him Mortimer Toynbee. And that everyone around him speaks with a heavy British accent."
"Sssstrange request. Why?"
"I need to alter his speech some, and I think this will help quite a bit."
"I assssure you, it will…"
"And the name?"
"Easily done… but I mussst be able to touch him to do ssssomething sssso… intricate."
Magneto nodded and smiled, though nobody could see it behind his metal mask. "Good." he said, "Very good."
This chapter, I would like to dedicate to psychobunny410, who seems to be stalking me as well! Gotta say I'm loving it though. I love to hear 'fav lines' from you, and hope I keep getting to listen in. Knowing I had at least one really great qoute in each chapter... priceless. Thanks psychobunny410!