Disclaimer: Furor Paxx and VulgateOfEarth do not own the X-Men or any affiliates. All are the property of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc and its various affiliates and partners. Phoenix Malcolm, Haiden Malcolm and all irregular characters are the sole property of Furor Paxx and are being used with permission.
~~ Pietro ~~
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! NonononononoNO! It'll cave in!" Pietro wailed. Nevertheless, the 'demolitions expert' blew the rocks in the entrance to little pebbles. Further in the cave, there was the sound of more debris falling. "Idiots!" He yelled and then raced inside the dark cave, leaving the other people to follow him.
"Todd!! Lance!! Dad!!"
"Hey, 'Tro. What took ya so long?"
"I had to make sure my hair was straight." Pietro called, nearly laughing with relief. "Where are you?"
"Dunno. You're probably stepping on us now. There was this cave in and all I know is that if it wasn't for Jean I'd be a flat toad."
"Just hang on, we'll get you out."
"Who's we?"
"I convinced some general guy to help out."
"Really? What's her name?" Pietro tried to follow the voice as he answered.
"I don't know his name."
"His? You mean you didn't seduce someone in the process? How unlike you."
"Who says I didn't?"
"Okay, man, I don't even want to think about that one."
"Is Jean with you?"
"Yeah. She's doin' her y'know, that thing where she picks up trash cans and throws them at us thing."
"Oh, that one."
"Yeah, she can't hold on long either, so any day you wanna do this is fine."
"I think I found you." Pietro looked up and was blinded by a flashlight.
"Sorry, kid. Are they here?"
"Two of them. Yo, Toad, where're the others?"
There was a long pause.
"Todd? You still alive?"
"We don't know where they are. We... couldn't reach the Professor, but Kitty was near him, I think they may be just kind of sitting in the middle of the rock here somewhere. And Haiden, I think he can teleport and he's got Lance and Logan with him. Kurt, Scott and Evan are at the Insititute."
The soldiers had been digging industrially through all of that and soon uncovered Jean's protective sphere.
"Geez, never thought I'd think your face was a welcome sight, yo." Todd looked up at Pietro, who was beaming down at the two of them.
"Same here." Jean and Todd were pulled out of the hole in short order and the search for the other mutants resumed.
"Come with me." The nameless general ordered the three teenagers. They had no choice but to obey. Once out of the closet, they were led to the lab that they thad trashed in their escape. "This is Doctor D. He's going to check out your cuts and get you back in working order. Stay here. If we find any other people down there, this is the first place we'll bring them, even if we have to use a sponge." He left with a nod to the man standing by the door.
"That was extremely unneccesary." Todd muttered.
"Are you a mutant too?" Pietro asked 'Dr. D." Todd turned around and saw him with his hands just barely touching Jean's shoulders. A closer look showed that the hundreds of tiny cuts that covered her body were disappearing.
"No, and let's leave it at that." the man answered as he finished with Jean and walked to Todd. Todd kept still, decideing that if the man was going to hurt anyone, he would have hurt Pietro first.
"Oh, another one of those 'more than just a mutant' people." Todd rolled his eyes. Suddenly the Doctor's hands clamped down hard on Todd's arms and he felt himself give a yelp as his feet left the ground.
"What do you mean by another one?"
"It's just, you know, give someone a cool gizmo and they think they're God." The man squeezed tighter as though Todd didn't weigh 159 pounds and was made of jelly. "Not you of course. Very responsible man, I can tell these kinds of things y'know."
Doctor D's eyes narrowed and Todd felt as though his brain was being plowed through by a bulldozer and his lungs were being wrung like a pair of damp towels.
"Haiden Malcolm is here..." Dr. D whispered. "Then Pheonix must be as well." he dropped Todd and turned away absentmindedly. Pietro caught Todd as he fell and glared at the doctor.
"What's your issue? I thought you're a doctor for crying out loud. You didn't have to hurt him."
"I'm not a doctor and Haiden is definitely not a mutant. He is the pinacle of the human race, the greatest that any of your kind will ever be. You should feel honored to have met him."
"I am, he's a decent guy and desrves better than what he's got. Let me tell you, if you plan to hurt him, I'm gonna show you why my father is the most feared mutant on the planet."
"Magneto's son? A mere mutant would never defeat me. You simply aren't on my level."
"Enough of this. Man, it's like hearing you and Evan argue, yo, neither wants to give." Todd complained. "It's just a bruise and I doubt Satan could hurt Haiden if he didn't want to be hurt."
"His sister sure got him good."
"What?"
"Pheonix is his sister. She's running around in his body."
"But... that means he's a she."
"She customized it a little."
Todd gave a crooked grin. "I noticed the nice racks."
Pietro looked at him funny for a second before he got the really, really bad joke. "I didn't know you noticed furniture like that."
"Ha, you think you're the only carpenter here." They both started cracking up.
"You two are disgusting." the doc interupted.
"What's wrong with Jean?" Todd asked abruptly.
"Shock, I guess." Pietro shrugged. "She's an X-Man. You know how they get."
"I can't believe this is still about X-Men versus Brotherhood."
"It'll always be about that, Todd. You know they'd never accept us."
"They'd accept you."
"And I wouldn't abandon you guys like that. You're my family."
Todd didn't say anything at that.
"What? You embarassed to be related to me?"
"No, I guess, I guess I have to be the one to tell you... Magneto's dead. He died protecting Lance." Pietro blinked several times. "We tried to bring his body back, but it's probably buried now."
Pietro sat down hard and stared deep in Todd's eyes. "Oh, God, you're serious."
"Yeah." Todd's voice broke. "Ain't much of a family without him, y'know."
"He's really dead, protecting... Lance. He did that?"
"Yeah."
Pietro pulled himself into a ball. "Really?"
Todd couldn't speak through his tears. He couldn't figure out why the death of such a cold-hearted man as Magneto bothered him.
"You crying Todd?"
"Yeah." He whispered.
"Okay. I guess I can't let you cry alone, huh?"
"I just didn't want you to feel stupid when you started up."
"Whatever."
Todd glanced at Pietro. His face was buried in his lap, but yeah, he was crying too.
"Lance is never gonna let us forget this, eh, Pietro?"
"I hope so. I hope he reminds us every day."
~~ Pietro ~~
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! NonononononoNO! It'll cave in!" Pietro wailed. Nevertheless, the 'demolitions expert' blew the rocks in the entrance to little pebbles. Further in the cave, there was the sound of more debris falling. "Idiots!" He yelled and then raced inside the dark cave, leaving the other people to follow him.
"Todd!! Lance!! Dad!!"
"Hey, 'Tro. What took ya so long?"
"I had to make sure my hair was straight." Pietro called, nearly laughing with relief. "Where are you?"
"Dunno. You're probably stepping on us now. There was this cave in and all I know is that if it wasn't for Jean I'd be a flat toad."
"Just hang on, we'll get you out."
"Who's we?"
"I convinced some general guy to help out."
"Really? What's her name?" Pietro tried to follow the voice as he answered.
"I don't know his name."
"His? You mean you didn't seduce someone in the process? How unlike you."
"Who says I didn't?"
"Okay, man, I don't even want to think about that one."
"Is Jean with you?"
"Yeah. She's doin' her y'know, that thing where she picks up trash cans and throws them at us thing."
"Oh, that one."
"Yeah, she can't hold on long either, so any day you wanna do this is fine."
"I think I found you." Pietro looked up and was blinded by a flashlight.
"Sorry, kid. Are they here?"
"Two of them. Yo, Toad, where're the others?"
There was a long pause.
"Todd? You still alive?"
"We don't know where they are. We... couldn't reach the Professor, but Kitty was near him, I think they may be just kind of sitting in the middle of the rock here somewhere. And Haiden, I think he can teleport and he's got Lance and Logan with him. Kurt, Scott and Evan are at the Insititute."
The soldiers had been digging industrially through all of that and soon uncovered Jean's protective sphere.
"Geez, never thought I'd think your face was a welcome sight, yo." Todd looked up at Pietro, who was beaming down at the two of them.
"Same here." Jean and Todd were pulled out of the hole in short order and the search for the other mutants resumed.
"Come with me." The nameless general ordered the three teenagers. They had no choice but to obey. Once out of the closet, they were led to the lab that they thad trashed in their escape. "This is Doctor D. He's going to check out your cuts and get you back in working order. Stay here. If we find any other people down there, this is the first place we'll bring them, even if we have to use a sponge." He left with a nod to the man standing by the door.
"That was extremely unneccesary." Todd muttered.
"Are you a mutant too?" Pietro asked 'Dr. D." Todd turned around and saw him with his hands just barely touching Jean's shoulders. A closer look showed that the hundreds of tiny cuts that covered her body were disappearing.
"No, and let's leave it at that." the man answered as he finished with Jean and walked to Todd. Todd kept still, decideing that if the man was going to hurt anyone, he would have hurt Pietro first.
"Oh, another one of those 'more than just a mutant' people." Todd rolled his eyes. Suddenly the Doctor's hands clamped down hard on Todd's arms and he felt himself give a yelp as his feet left the ground.
"What do you mean by another one?"
"It's just, you know, give someone a cool gizmo and they think they're God." The man squeezed tighter as though Todd didn't weigh 159 pounds and was made of jelly. "Not you of course. Very responsible man, I can tell these kinds of things y'know."
Doctor D's eyes narrowed and Todd felt as though his brain was being plowed through by a bulldozer and his lungs were being wrung like a pair of damp towels.
"Haiden Malcolm is here..." Dr. D whispered. "Then Pheonix must be as well." he dropped Todd and turned away absentmindedly. Pietro caught Todd as he fell and glared at the doctor.
"What's your issue? I thought you're a doctor for crying out loud. You didn't have to hurt him."
"I'm not a doctor and Haiden is definitely not a mutant. He is the pinacle of the human race, the greatest that any of your kind will ever be. You should feel honored to have met him."
"I am, he's a decent guy and desrves better than what he's got. Let me tell you, if you plan to hurt him, I'm gonna show you why my father is the most feared mutant on the planet."
"Magneto's son? A mere mutant would never defeat me. You simply aren't on my level."
"Enough of this. Man, it's like hearing you and Evan argue, yo, neither wants to give." Todd complained. "It's just a bruise and I doubt Satan could hurt Haiden if he didn't want to be hurt."
"His sister sure got him good."
"What?"
"Pheonix is his sister. She's running around in his body."
"But... that means he's a she."
"She customized it a little."
Todd gave a crooked grin. "I noticed the nice racks."
Pietro looked at him funny for a second before he got the really, really bad joke. "I didn't know you noticed furniture like that."
"Ha, you think you're the only carpenter here." They both started cracking up.
"You two are disgusting." the doc interupted.
"What's wrong with Jean?" Todd asked abruptly.
"Shock, I guess." Pietro shrugged. "She's an X-Man. You know how they get."
"I can't believe this is still about X-Men versus Brotherhood."
"It'll always be about that, Todd. You know they'd never accept us."
"They'd accept you."
"And I wouldn't abandon you guys like that. You're my family."
Todd didn't say anything at that.
"What? You embarassed to be related to me?"
"No, I guess, I guess I have to be the one to tell you... Magneto's dead. He died protecting Lance." Pietro blinked several times. "We tried to bring his body back, but it's probably buried now."
Pietro sat down hard and stared deep in Todd's eyes. "Oh, God, you're serious."
"Yeah." Todd's voice broke. "Ain't much of a family without him, y'know."
"He's really dead, protecting... Lance. He did that?"
"Yeah."
Pietro pulled himself into a ball. "Really?"
Todd couldn't speak through his tears. He couldn't figure out why the death of such a cold-hearted man as Magneto bothered him.
"You crying Todd?"
"Yeah." He whispered.
"Okay. I guess I can't let you cry alone, huh?"
"I just didn't want you to feel stupid when you started up."
"Whatever."
Todd glanced at Pietro. His face was buried in his lap, but yeah, he was crying too.
"Lance is never gonna let us forget this, eh, Pietro?"
"I hope so. I hope he reminds us every day."