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.
~~ At the Institute ~~
It was incredible how a common enemy could turn the tables, Todd thought to himself. As soon as they had shown up at the Institute, the soldiers had parted like water, a few offered consolation, others turned their heads-though Toad was still working out whether it was in shame or disgust. Yeah, he decided, disgust. As he looked back at Pietro and Jean he actually started laughing.
"What's so funny all of a sudden?" Pietro demanded.
"I was just thinking that I, Todd the Toad, am leading for a change. Not only that, but Bayville's two best dressers are following me and look like they fought World War Two all by themselves."
"Yes, Toad. It's hilarious." Pietro droned. If life was a circus they both knew that Todd had to be the lamest clown in it.
Todd paused in the Great Hall to get his bearings. He and Pietro both knew their way around the Institute. They had hacked into Xavier's computer dozens of times, accessed files, altered them... they had even used it to take a virtual tour of the place.
And then they went and took a real tour of it.
Of course they knew where the hidden paths were, oh and those passwords- there was nothing on a computer that Todd couldn't get to.
Jean was more than a little disturbed when they reached the airtight vault to the underground bombshelter. Both Pietro and Todd looked at her expectantly.
"Yo, we ain't Mystique or nothin'. We need you do this part."
Jean blinked. The verification phase...
"Jean Grey, power- telepathy." she spoke into a grill beside the door and placed her hand on the doorknob. the delicate sensors within it read her handprint.
A second later, the doors slid open quietly. Behind the three mutants, several of the soldiers gasped. Todd and Pietro just smiled. They had been here before, though it had taken them much longer to get in.
The hall was bare, but it was huge.
"We'll check the infirmary, you find the others. They're less likely to attack you than us." Todd said to Jean. Then he and Pietro and two military doctors walked away.
"How do they know where..." Jean shook her head. It didn't matter. She headed in a different direction, trusting the soldier to follow.
~~ Bobby Drake ~~
"This is not good. In fact, its awful."
"Who is this kid again?"
"Bobby, I think."
"Bobby, c'mon, I need you to come with us. We're going to Jean." Someone touched his shoulder and he slowly looked up. Whoever it was had brown hair... Scott? But his visor was gone...
"What happened to your glasses? I didn't know you had brown eyes. How'd you do it?"
Scott looked behind him at someone else, it looked like Pietro, and shrugged.
"C'mon, yo. I don't like the way this place feels."
Scott pulled Bobby up, and Bobby noticed how tired and beaten Scott looked.
Of course, I probably don't look much better, he reminded himself.
They passed Evan and Dr. McCoy, now surrounded by people in uniforms, and a table with...
"Scott?"
"Yo, I'm Toad. Stop calling me that already."
Bobby looked from the table to the man standing beside him. True, the other guy was shorter looking, and his hair was lighter, but... how could there be two Scotts?
"Let's just find Jean."
That was something Scott would say. Bobby nodded. Jean would tell him what was going on.
~~ Jean Grey ~~
The kids were scared, but relieved to see her. How could she tell them that so many of their friends may be dead... and the Professor...
"Yo, Jean. Tell him I'm not Scott. He keeps insisting that I am. Its annoying."
She turned around with a sigh and saw... Scott?
Jean looked closer, no, the visor was missing, and his hair was too light.
"Why ya lookin' at me like that?"
"Well, you do look a little like him. After a rough day..."
Todd made a disgusted noise. "You guys think you're so funny."
Pietro started coughing uncontrollably- Jean sensed he was covering a laugh.
"They said he's alive, though. They're taking him upstairs for now. There's... well," Todd's voice grew heavy. "Can we talk away from all the little people?"
Jean began trembling, but she followed Todd out of the room.
"Evan and the big blue guy... they didn't make it. Kurt's not in there, either."
When Jean didn't respond, Todd ran a hand through his hair. "How are we gonna tell the little ones?"
"You say that as if you care." she said, voice devoid of emotion.
"I do. Its just us. Me and Pietro, you and Bobby, Scott's alive, but just barely. We have to stick together. We have to beat Valzinameku, or everyone else's dieing will be for nothing. I know this is like some really bad movie, but we have to do this. I remember I would watch those things and think to myself, Why do they always run upstairs? Why don't they just get a gun and shoot the monster? Why? But I know. They run because they're too scared to do anything else. Up, because they can't think of anything else to do, because deep down they hope that an angel will come save them. For so long, they've seen movies and heard stories of how normal weapons don't work on monsters. When reality hits them, they're just too stunned to do anything. We can't afford to do that, Jean. We have to pull together for this. If we don't, everyone else will run and fight this with their bare hands. We have the weapons," he gestured towards the ever growing collection of soldiers who had gathered to hear his speech. "I have the courage. If I have to hold your hand the whole way, I'll give you enough to come with me. I won't have to though, will I?"
Jean stared at him, seeing in a different light. She couldn't read any emotions from Todd, but it was obvious that the humans believed him.
No wonder Bobby thought he was Scott, she reflected. He acts just like him. Maybe it took a crisis to bring it out.
"Will I, Jean? Please tell me I won't. I know you're not Scott or the Professor, but you're strong enough. We're so much alike, y'know. I pretend to be useless because I can't draw attention to myself. I've got a record in several places. You, you stay in the background, rely on other people to do the hard work because you're afraid that you'll get to the point where you can't control yourself. Pretenders. But we don't have to worry now. There's nothing that we could do that's worse than what's happening now. We can stop holding back. Don't worry. I'll help you. You won't lose yourself in it. I promise."
How could she say no? He was promising more than he knew, but there was a small cinder inside her that was warming to the idea. Pretenders, he had said. It was time to stop pretending. They weren't getting anything from it, and if they died fighting Valzinameku, then they would die free.
Jean straightened with a quick grin. "Let me go change into my uniform."
"Take Bobby with you, then. We're going to have to trust the government with the kids."
Todd turned and froze in place. All the mutants were there, as well as the humans. They had all been listening.
"He's got a point, boys. Let's go out there and give it our all. No more holding back." General Matthias said, drawing all attention from Todd to himself, but managing to slip a wink in for Todd.
As Jean and Bobby ran upstairs for their suits, Todd sighed.
"That was close. What were you thinking? You can't use that power on a telepath unless I'm around." Pietro was at his side in a flash.
"I was desperate. We can't afford for her to bail out."
"But still,"
"She would have gotten suspicious if both of us cornered her. She needs to think she decided on her own. After a while, I'll remove the influence and she'll follow along because she thinks she decided to."
"You take too many risks."
"You don't take enough."
"Dammit, Todd, I knew I'd regret tricking you into telling me about that other power of yours."
"I don't. It's nice to know that I can trust someone."
~~
A/N Alright, here's where it starts getting confusing. If you have any questions, click the button. I get the feeling that these next chapters will seem a bit rushed, but I'm not good at conveying time in stories, the basic point is thateverything is happening really fast and no one knows what's really going on. If someone seems out of character, it's because of one of two reasons; they're exhausted and near their limit(ie. Jean) or they were really just pretending before, and the stress is forcing them to drop the act(ie. Todd).
~~ At the Institute ~~
It was incredible how a common enemy could turn the tables, Todd thought to himself. As soon as they had shown up at the Institute, the soldiers had parted like water, a few offered consolation, others turned their heads-though Toad was still working out whether it was in shame or disgust. Yeah, he decided, disgust. As he looked back at Pietro and Jean he actually started laughing.
"What's so funny all of a sudden?" Pietro demanded.
"I was just thinking that I, Todd the Toad, am leading for a change. Not only that, but Bayville's two best dressers are following me and look like they fought World War Two all by themselves."
"Yes, Toad. It's hilarious." Pietro droned. If life was a circus they both knew that Todd had to be the lamest clown in it.
Todd paused in the Great Hall to get his bearings. He and Pietro both knew their way around the Institute. They had hacked into Xavier's computer dozens of times, accessed files, altered them... they had even used it to take a virtual tour of the place.
And then they went and took a real tour of it.
Of course they knew where the hidden paths were, oh and those passwords- there was nothing on a computer that Todd couldn't get to.
Jean was more than a little disturbed when they reached the airtight vault to the underground bombshelter. Both Pietro and Todd looked at her expectantly.
"Yo, we ain't Mystique or nothin'. We need you do this part."
Jean blinked. The verification phase...
"Jean Grey, power- telepathy." she spoke into a grill beside the door and placed her hand on the doorknob. the delicate sensors within it read her handprint.
A second later, the doors slid open quietly. Behind the three mutants, several of the soldiers gasped. Todd and Pietro just smiled. They had been here before, though it had taken them much longer to get in.
The hall was bare, but it was huge.
"We'll check the infirmary, you find the others. They're less likely to attack you than us." Todd said to Jean. Then he and Pietro and two military doctors walked away.
"How do they know where..." Jean shook her head. It didn't matter. She headed in a different direction, trusting the soldier to follow.
~~ Bobby Drake ~~
"This is not good. In fact, its awful."
"Who is this kid again?"
"Bobby, I think."
"Bobby, c'mon, I need you to come with us. We're going to Jean." Someone touched his shoulder and he slowly looked up. Whoever it was had brown hair... Scott? But his visor was gone...
"What happened to your glasses? I didn't know you had brown eyes. How'd you do it?"
Scott looked behind him at someone else, it looked like Pietro, and shrugged.
"C'mon, yo. I don't like the way this place feels."
Scott pulled Bobby up, and Bobby noticed how tired and beaten Scott looked.
Of course, I probably don't look much better, he reminded himself.
They passed Evan and Dr. McCoy, now surrounded by people in uniforms, and a table with...
"Scott?"
"Yo, I'm Toad. Stop calling me that already."
Bobby looked from the table to the man standing beside him. True, the other guy was shorter looking, and his hair was lighter, but... how could there be two Scotts?
"Let's just find Jean."
That was something Scott would say. Bobby nodded. Jean would tell him what was going on.
~~ Jean Grey ~~
The kids were scared, but relieved to see her. How could she tell them that so many of their friends may be dead... and the Professor...
"Yo, Jean. Tell him I'm not Scott. He keeps insisting that I am. Its annoying."
She turned around with a sigh and saw... Scott?
Jean looked closer, no, the visor was missing, and his hair was too light.
"Why ya lookin' at me like that?"
"Well, you do look a little like him. After a rough day..."
Todd made a disgusted noise. "You guys think you're so funny."
Pietro started coughing uncontrollably- Jean sensed he was covering a laugh.
"They said he's alive, though. They're taking him upstairs for now. There's... well," Todd's voice grew heavy. "Can we talk away from all the little people?"
Jean began trembling, but she followed Todd out of the room.
"Evan and the big blue guy... they didn't make it. Kurt's not in there, either."
When Jean didn't respond, Todd ran a hand through his hair. "How are we gonna tell the little ones?"
"You say that as if you care." she said, voice devoid of emotion.
"I do. Its just us. Me and Pietro, you and Bobby, Scott's alive, but just barely. We have to stick together. We have to beat Valzinameku, or everyone else's dieing will be for nothing. I know this is like some really bad movie, but we have to do this. I remember I would watch those things and think to myself, Why do they always run upstairs? Why don't they just get a gun and shoot the monster? Why? But I know. They run because they're too scared to do anything else. Up, because they can't think of anything else to do, because deep down they hope that an angel will come save them. For so long, they've seen movies and heard stories of how normal weapons don't work on monsters. When reality hits them, they're just too stunned to do anything. We can't afford to do that, Jean. We have to pull together for this. If we don't, everyone else will run and fight this with their bare hands. We have the weapons," he gestured towards the ever growing collection of soldiers who had gathered to hear his speech. "I have the courage. If I have to hold your hand the whole way, I'll give you enough to come with me. I won't have to though, will I?"
Jean stared at him, seeing in a different light. She couldn't read any emotions from Todd, but it was obvious that the humans believed him.
No wonder Bobby thought he was Scott, she reflected. He acts just like him. Maybe it took a crisis to bring it out.
"Will I, Jean? Please tell me I won't. I know you're not Scott or the Professor, but you're strong enough. We're so much alike, y'know. I pretend to be useless because I can't draw attention to myself. I've got a record in several places. You, you stay in the background, rely on other people to do the hard work because you're afraid that you'll get to the point where you can't control yourself. Pretenders. But we don't have to worry now. There's nothing that we could do that's worse than what's happening now. We can stop holding back. Don't worry. I'll help you. You won't lose yourself in it. I promise."
How could she say no? He was promising more than he knew, but there was a small cinder inside her that was warming to the idea. Pretenders, he had said. It was time to stop pretending. They weren't getting anything from it, and if they died fighting Valzinameku, then they would die free.
Jean straightened with a quick grin. "Let me go change into my uniform."
"Take Bobby with you, then. We're going to have to trust the government with the kids."
Todd turned and froze in place. All the mutants were there, as well as the humans. They had all been listening.
"He's got a point, boys. Let's go out there and give it our all. No more holding back." General Matthias said, drawing all attention from Todd to himself, but managing to slip a wink in for Todd.
As Jean and Bobby ran upstairs for their suits, Todd sighed.
"That was close. What were you thinking? You can't use that power on a telepath unless I'm around." Pietro was at his side in a flash.
"I was desperate. We can't afford for her to bail out."
"But still,"
"She would have gotten suspicious if both of us cornered her. She needs to think she decided on her own. After a while, I'll remove the influence and she'll follow along because she thinks she decided to."
"You take too many risks."
"You don't take enough."
"Dammit, Todd, I knew I'd regret tricking you into telling me about that other power of yours."
"I don't. It's nice to know that I can trust someone."
~~
A/N Alright, here's where it starts getting confusing. If you have any questions, click the button. I get the feeling that these next chapters will seem a bit rushed, but I'm not good at conveying time in stories, the basic point is thateverything is happening really fast and no one knows what's really going on. If someone seems out of character, it's because of one of two reasons; they're exhausted and near their limit(ie. Jean) or they were really just pretending before, and the stress is forcing them to drop the act(ie. Todd).