"Who would have thought, that three month sentence in prison would actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise."said Javier, as he put some money away behind a portrait. "Everything is going excellent! And it's all thanks to you guys here, who helped make it all possible. You three with your hard work that helped us get our start, and you, with that voice. It's only a pity we can't get good Cuban cigars around here. You'd have to go to Cd.Juarez to get them, or somewhere there. Juarez, I know for sure, because I remember seeing them at a store, but here? What have these people got against the Cubans, anyway? Just forget your differences, I say, and try to beg them to import those cigars."
"What were you in prison for, anyway?"asked Lance.
"Theft."
"You stole?"asked Pietro.
"Yes. Not something valuable, unfortunately, but rather just a little bit of money here, a little bit there. Hopefully nobody finds out, but if they do, well, we'll think of some plausible lie, or something. Someone's coming."
"They probably want an interview!"said Pietro.
"Don't you think that it's a little too soon. Or maybe quiren un contrato."
He was about to go and meet whomever it was, when the door opened, and a woman stepped in. She was unlike anyone Javier had ever seen and looked very angry.
"Is it Halloween already?"he asked her, just as he had when he had first seen the Brotherhood. "Nice costume, however, I bet that took a lot of make-up. I don't know if it was worth it, or maybe I just haven't seen you without it. Guys?"
He turned to the Brotherhood who all looked frozen at the sight.
"What's going on here?"asked Javier.
"Guess who's back."she said to them.
"I couldn't guess."he said. "Who?"
"Is that really you?"asked Toad.
She threw him on the floor.
"Yeah, it's you."
"Okay, I don't understand a thing! What's going on here? Listen to me, I don't think you can come barging in here, just like this! You better get out, before I call the police, and accuse you of trespassing!"
"And I'll accuse you of breaking out of prison."
Now Javier was very mad.
"For your information I never broke out of anywhere! They let me go. Some stupid old lady, got me out. I don't know why, and I don't care. She just disappeared, thankfully. Wait a minute, how could you know I spent time in prison. No one knows except…oh, no!"
Great, just great, he thought. He knew how she knew. Ma.del Carmen could be such a gossip sometimes. Oh, no, he thought, now probably half the town knows.
"Did she send you here, or something?"he asked.
"No one sent me here. This is my home and my rules."
"What is this bitch talking about! Listen, maybe I should call an ambulance."he turned the Brotherhood. "You guys stay right here, I don't know, offer her some water, I don't care. You stay here, and I'll go make the necessary arrangements."
"I wouldn't suggest you do that. The only one who might end up locked up might just be you."said Lance.
"No digas disparates! Don't you see the lady needs help? She seems to be a little confused, I think."He pulled Lance closer. "And then the fact that she knows a bit about my past, could be disastrous. You will do what I tell you, if you don't want all our plans and hard work to go to waste!"
"But this is the same lady who got you out of prison."Lance told him.
"That was my biggest mistake."she said.
"Please!"exclaimed Javier. "Look, I know I can't remember everything, however, I remember that woman, and it wasn't this one."
She changed her appearance in front of him, and he immediately recognized the same woman with the dark hair, dark eyes, and glasses.
"But this isn't possible! You guys said she was dead! Don't tell me you lied to me!"
"Well, we thought she was dead."
"How could she be alive?"
"That's not your problem."
"This is just great! So now what are going to do?"asked Javier angrily. "You know, maybe we just can't go on living here. Just pack your bags, and we'll go stay at a hotel."
"For reals?"asked Toad.
"Does it look like we have another choice?"
"No one is going anywhere! Gentlemen, meet your new secret weapon."
Behind her was a girl. Javier thought that she reminded him of the children who lived on the street. She certainly looked like she had no one to care about her.
"Wanda!"
"Pietro!"
Before they knew it, everyone ran to find a hiding place, as the whole building started going haywire and seemed ready to collapse. When they stopped and they came out, apparently, the whole place was almost back in what Javier like to call it pre-Javier state.
"Oh, no, and all the money we've invested in this place!"He gasped. "La caja fuerte!"
There was the money he always kept hidden, thrown on the floor.
"Hey, hey , that's my money!"he said as Mystique bent to pick it up.
"You seem to have been doing very good for yourselves."
"Well, of course we have."Javier told her.
"This isn't half of it."Toad told her. "The rest is invested in the stock market, and at the bank, part under Javier's name, and the other part under Lance's. You see, they sort of have a band, or something."
Mystique didn't listen, but started to tell them about her plans.
"We can't do that!"interrupted Javier. "See, we have a booking, and well, punctuality is something that I've always set a big store against. I don't like to wait for people, or keep them waiting."
"Well, that's too bad."
"See, Miss, these guys, this guy, anyway, now works for me."he told her. "While you were gone, I helped them not only get some money, but, well, get even more. Not to mention the fact hat we have plans, big plans, and we just can't ruin them, because you hold a grudge against somebody else. I don't know what this guy did to you, but whatever it was, you better forget about it, or else, find yourself someone else."
"Isn't there a way, we could do both?"asked Lance. "I mean, if we just cancel just one, it won't kill us. I've always wanted to beat the X Men!"
"Well, I guess…I don't know….all right. Perhaps I can help! I know I'm not a mutant, but…I don't know, maybe turn a spy? I've always been a good actor. I guess I owe it to you, you were after all, the one who got me out of prison, after all, and I don't forget those who lend me a helping hand. Besides, being in prison makes one appreciate friends. The only ones who would speak to me were my cousins Caramelo, and her brother, Fernando. If there's anything I can do, just don't hesitate. You need money, well, we have plenty. Anything. I don't like those stupid X Men, either. They get on my nerves. My cousin will be glad to do anything to help us also. She hates that darn Summers! Not to mention el Negrito Cucurumbe. So, we're ready. Just give us the order."
"That's more like it."said Mystique, who apparently seemed to be taking a great liking to Javier.
Really, the only problem with him was his lack of mutant abilities. Other than that, he really was very disciplined, and judging from how she found the house and the amount of money she had unearthed, very good at disciplining others, along with very useful ideas.
"We can get to the mall, using these little lockpicks. They can unlock any lock."he demonstrated what looked like a knife, only instead of a blade, it seemed to have a key.
He unlocked every door for them.
"Where did you buy this?"
"I didn't buy it. I invented it myself. They may take a while. Five minutes max, but, we're in no hurry. I hope to get them to where they'll be as good as the original keys."
"I never knew you invented stuff."said Pietro.
"Well, I just can't sit and without doing something for a long time. So, I busy myself, with this and that. Some of the things may just come in handy, you know."
"Yes, of course."said Mystique, taking it. "It might come handy."
"I've only got three good ones right now."
"That will be enough."
"I think it would be a good idea for me to go right now to visit my cousin. See, it might be a little suspicious that these guys leave here without me, and me not knowing. I'll take my car, go to cousin's now, you guys leave later, and we should meet back here, in about…three hours."
He picked up his keys and left. He told Ma.del Carmen everything about Mystique's plans, and how they were going to teach those idiots a lesson.
"It's a pity I can't be there to see the looks on their faces!"he said, laughing.
"So what are the lady and the girl like?"
"The girl is psycho. However, she seems to be getting better."
"Better! You think a decent young lady would ever live in a house full of men! And you say she's getting better. Ha!"
"Well, she's not an ordinary young lady. Like I said, she's psycho."He looked at his watch. "They must be at the mall already."
"How will they know?"
"Mystique will tell them, you see. She's impersonating the professor, isn't that wonderful. Those idiots will probably not even know that it's her."
"Hmm. Are all of them going, do you know?"
"Probably all of them. She said she wanted the whole team there."
"Including…"she began.
"Including that Kitty."
"Oh!"
"Don't you worry, hombre, after all, see, with Mystique, she won't stand a chance. See, she'd kill him if he went out with her."
"He does like her, doesn't he?
Lastima que no lo sabe cuanto lo amo
que media vida yo diera porque me amara!
Que sus ojos me enloquencen,
que siempre lo llevo en mi mente,
que siempre lo tengo presente a donde voy.
Si yo tuvier el valor, para decirle que lo amo,
segure que el estuviera hoy a mi lado!"She said, using the lyrics of one of her favorite songs, that always put Lance in her mind.
"Oh, geez, listen, Caramelo, maybe you should put some music on, otherwise, we're going to die of boredom."
"I can't. Apuesta Por Un Amor will be on soon, and I want to see whether Alvaro and Lazara succeeded in killing Julio Gabriel and Don Julio."
"They probably did. Alvaro almost always succeeds."
Later, when Javier was back at the Brotherhood house, he asked them what happened.
"What happened? How did it go?"
"We won!"said Pietro. "All thanks to our secret weapon, the Scarlet Witch."
Javier laughed.
"Excellent!"he turned to Mystique. "What next?"