~~ Todd ~~
The darkness gave way to a faint light. Confused and disoriented, Todd fought his way through the absolute nothingness that surrounded him to the light.
And then he was falling into it, but it wasn't light, it was hot, too hot, and it burned every little part of him- ate away his skin and his hair, gnawed at his bones when it got done with his flesh. As Todd thrashed in the pool of fiery liquid he noticed a ladder. He fought for the presence of mind to swim to it and pull himself from the pool. Todd looked down at what may have been his doom and caught his breath. Then he looked down and fainted dead away.
~~ Evan ~~
The water was tainted beyond red, it was so bloody that Evan swore that it may as well have been blood itself. Just when they got the bleeding to stop, Todd's back arched and he screamed even more painfully than before. Right before their eyes, his skin flared bright red and then just melted away. Evan and Felin backed away as Todd's legs and the bottom of his torso slowly melted into nothing. Evan began hyperventilating as he saw the raw flesh hanging limply over the places where the rest of Todd was missing. Then Todd unceremoniously burst into fire.
~~ Todd ~~
It was like all his pores just decided to spit fire at once. Todd jerked from the darkness of his faint to the darkness of his torture chamber, the only thing that had changed was the temperature. It had only gotten hotter. Todd vaguely remembered going to South Carolina with his foster parents once in mid summer. They had mistimed the whole thing, so they ended up driving in a car with no AC in the middle of noon on a day that was 105 degrees in the shade.
As he burned, Todd wondered what he had done to deserve something like this. Which got him thinking about his life as a mercenary, meeting Pietro, giving up his title and joining the Brotherhood. That led him right down that awful memory lane that preceded that very moment.
And as simply as that, Todd knew what he had to do.
~~ Evan ~~
Once the fire burned out, all that was left was a blackened skeleton.
"Not safe." Felin said after a painful moment.
"I… had no idea." Torma stuttered. She had lost all pretense of haughtiness and just looked scared. Quite a crowd had collected to see what was going on and now that the show was over, they all looked to the same person.
The human who had been the Mage's friend. He didn't seem concerned at all. With a forced air that made it obvious that he wasn't as disturbed as they were, Evan sat down next to Kurt and waited. The crowd left quickly after that and Shir dragged Torma away.
Felin looked at the human, who was doing his best to ignore the fact that anything had happened. Without another word he sat and began to pray.
~~ Bobby ~~
Bobby ran a hand through his hair for the millionth time. He had managed to get about two hours of sleep, thanks to an overdose of Tylenol PM, but then woke up certain that something was wrong. He went downstairs to find Pietro zipping around, checking doors and windows.
"Bad dream." Was his explanation as he settled in the kitchen again.
"About Todd?" Bobby asked as he dropped into a chair too.
"Hm." Pietro said noncommittally.
"You think Logan made it out yet?"
That drew a chuckle from Pietro. "Unfortunately, yes, he has. Arrived about an hour ago. I woke up and saw him staring at me with those damn claws."
"Hey." They looked up to see Lance and Mystique in the doorway. "Couldn't sleep. I gave up trying." Lance sat down and propped his feet up on the table.
Mystique made a beeline for the coffee machine and then proceeded to open every closet, drawer and cabinet in the kitchen, though what she was looking for was anyone's guess. It would have been that much easier to just ask Pietro where it was. After she catalogued everything in the kitchen she nodded to herself and fixed a pot of coffee. By then, Jean had given up trying to sleep as well. They all looked at each other and silently wondered what happened next. There was a TV in the kitchen, a little black and white, but everyone steadfastly avoided looking at it.
"'Mornin'." Remy muttered almost eight hours later, startling everyone, even Mystique, out of a deep sleep. They all looked at each other, confused. "Kept seein' 'er face. Or lack of it. Ah shoulda' done sumting. But just… too slow." Remy stared out the window before dumping out the cold coffee and preparing a new pot. By the time Logan came down half an hour later, Remy had dumped almost a pint of ~something~ in the pot and was complaining about how coffee doesn't taste right if it's brewed in a coffee maker. Logan made him share, and between the two of them they polished off three more pots like it.
Finally, after Storm and Remy broke down and fixed breakfast, Logan got tired of pretending.
"So why aren't we out fightin'?"
"We aren't ready yet." Bobby said.
"When do you intend on being ready?" Wolverine asked, voice dripping venom.
"I intend on being ready as soon as possible. Tell me, what are this thing's weak points?" Logan growled because he knew deep in his core that it had no weak spots, or at least none that they were strong enough to take advantage of. "Just give it a rest. We'll just have to wait until people smarter than us can figure out what to do."
"And how will we know when that happens." Logan drawled.
"We'll hear the explosions." Mystique answered for Bobby. Logan settled in with another growl.
The darkness gave way to a faint light. Confused and disoriented, Todd fought his way through the absolute nothingness that surrounded him to the light.
And then he was falling into it, but it wasn't light, it was hot, too hot, and it burned every little part of him- ate away his skin and his hair, gnawed at his bones when it got done with his flesh. As Todd thrashed in the pool of fiery liquid he noticed a ladder. He fought for the presence of mind to swim to it and pull himself from the pool. Todd looked down at what may have been his doom and caught his breath. Then he looked down and fainted dead away.
~~ Evan ~~
The water was tainted beyond red, it was so bloody that Evan swore that it may as well have been blood itself. Just when they got the bleeding to stop, Todd's back arched and he screamed even more painfully than before. Right before their eyes, his skin flared bright red and then just melted away. Evan and Felin backed away as Todd's legs and the bottom of his torso slowly melted into nothing. Evan began hyperventilating as he saw the raw flesh hanging limply over the places where the rest of Todd was missing. Then Todd unceremoniously burst into fire.
~~ Todd ~~
It was like all his pores just decided to spit fire at once. Todd jerked from the darkness of his faint to the darkness of his torture chamber, the only thing that had changed was the temperature. It had only gotten hotter. Todd vaguely remembered going to South Carolina with his foster parents once in mid summer. They had mistimed the whole thing, so they ended up driving in a car with no AC in the middle of noon on a day that was 105 degrees in the shade.
As he burned, Todd wondered what he had done to deserve something like this. Which got him thinking about his life as a mercenary, meeting Pietro, giving up his title and joining the Brotherhood. That led him right down that awful memory lane that preceded that very moment.
And as simply as that, Todd knew what he had to do.
~~ Evan ~~
Once the fire burned out, all that was left was a blackened skeleton.
"Not safe." Felin said after a painful moment.
"I… had no idea." Torma stuttered. She had lost all pretense of haughtiness and just looked scared. Quite a crowd had collected to see what was going on and now that the show was over, they all looked to the same person.
The human who had been the Mage's friend. He didn't seem concerned at all. With a forced air that made it obvious that he wasn't as disturbed as they were, Evan sat down next to Kurt and waited. The crowd left quickly after that and Shir dragged Torma away.
Felin looked at the human, who was doing his best to ignore the fact that anything had happened. Without another word he sat and began to pray.
~~ Bobby ~~
Bobby ran a hand through his hair for the millionth time. He had managed to get about two hours of sleep, thanks to an overdose of Tylenol PM, but then woke up certain that something was wrong. He went downstairs to find Pietro zipping around, checking doors and windows.
"Bad dream." Was his explanation as he settled in the kitchen again.
"About Todd?" Bobby asked as he dropped into a chair too.
"Hm." Pietro said noncommittally.
"You think Logan made it out yet?"
That drew a chuckle from Pietro. "Unfortunately, yes, he has. Arrived about an hour ago. I woke up and saw him staring at me with those damn claws."
"Hey." They looked up to see Lance and Mystique in the doorway. "Couldn't sleep. I gave up trying." Lance sat down and propped his feet up on the table.
Mystique made a beeline for the coffee machine and then proceeded to open every closet, drawer and cabinet in the kitchen, though what she was looking for was anyone's guess. It would have been that much easier to just ask Pietro where it was. After she catalogued everything in the kitchen she nodded to herself and fixed a pot of coffee. By then, Jean had given up trying to sleep as well. They all looked at each other and silently wondered what happened next. There was a TV in the kitchen, a little black and white, but everyone steadfastly avoided looking at it.
"'Mornin'." Remy muttered almost eight hours later, startling everyone, even Mystique, out of a deep sleep. They all looked at each other, confused. "Kept seein' 'er face. Or lack of it. Ah shoulda' done sumting. But just… too slow." Remy stared out the window before dumping out the cold coffee and preparing a new pot. By the time Logan came down half an hour later, Remy had dumped almost a pint of ~something~ in the pot and was complaining about how coffee doesn't taste right if it's brewed in a coffee maker. Logan made him share, and between the two of them they polished off three more pots like it.
Finally, after Storm and Remy broke down and fixed breakfast, Logan got tired of pretending.
"So why aren't we out fightin'?"
"We aren't ready yet." Bobby said.
"When do you intend on being ready?" Wolverine asked, voice dripping venom.
"I intend on being ready as soon as possible. Tell me, what are this thing's weak points?" Logan growled because he knew deep in his core that it had no weak spots, or at least none that they were strong enough to take advantage of. "Just give it a rest. We'll just have to wait until people smarter than us can figure out what to do."
"And how will we know when that happens." Logan drawled.
"We'll hear the explosions." Mystique answered for Bobby. Logan settled in with another growl.