Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Author's Note: I had this written up and decided to post it DESPITE my new rule on no updates until I get five reviews. But I know that you all MEANT to review, but just didn't have the time. We all have those chapters. But If you don't review I'll stop writing and updating because I'll think you don't like me anymore. You don't want that do you?
BeastBoyBlitz: Yeah, I liked the idea of Kitty (of all people) getting a crush on Morty. Just wait until Lance finds out... /joins sniggering/
0o0o0o0o0
Toad, Tabitha, and Emily sat in the food court of the Bayville mall. They were all eating subs from Subway while they made fun of the X-men sitting across the food court from them. Toad and Emily had purposely sat themselves with their backs to said X-men for fear of Scott and Logan recognizing them – particularly Toad.
"So, Chip, where we going next?" Tabitha asked, still using the name Toad had given Kitty. He rolled his eyes at her with a scowl that had made even Sabertooth back down once but did nothing to the over-energetic teen.
"Daddy, can I have a puppy?" Emily asked, pointing to the pet store across from the food court. Toad glanced up, looking at the puppies without moving, shivered from a bad childhood memory and shook his head.
"No." Toad replied simply. Emily shrugged and decided to ask again later. She hadn't noticed the shiver that had raced through Toad but Tabitha had. She kept quiet about it though as she figured that it was something he didn't like talking about. He finished his sub and and started people-watching those that passed them and were sitting close by. He watched a family with a mother, a father, a daughter around Emily's age, and a brother that looked to be around thirteen. They looked happy, and were all eating meals from McDonalds. They were all wearing jeans and t-shirts of varying colours and had shopping bags sitting underneath the table they sat at. Toad couldn't help but wonder what his life would have been like if he hadn't been born so visibly different.
"Daddy, can we go look at the puppies?" Emily asked. Toad looked at her and shrugged.
"Yeh can go, bu' I ain' goin' in. I'll wai' 'ere fer yeh." Toad said. Emily grinned and ran off to look at said puppies. Toad watched her go, not knowing that Tabitha had given Emily a hundred dollar bill with the intent for Emily to buy herself something. Tabitha had taken it out of a man's pocket along with a two more and three twenty dollar bills. The man hadn't even noticed.
"So why don't you want to go into the pet shop?" Tabitha asked Toad. Toad shrugged.
"No reason." He said quietly. He hoped that she wouldn't ask for more details, and he kind of got his wish.
"Hey Tabitha." Scott walked by followed by Logan and a few of the new recruits for the X-men, including Kitty.
"Hi Tabby!" Kitty said happily. "Oh! Logan! You have to, like, meet this guy!" Kitty grabbed Logan's arm and started leading the man towards Tabitha and Toad's table, unaware that doing so would cause a big fight and get Toad, Scott and Logan permanently banned from the mall.
"Why?" Logan sighed.
"'Cause he's, like, Canadian too! Maybe you'll, like, know each other!" Kitty replied as she pulled Logan closer and closer to Toad and Tabitha's table. Toad was suddenly very grateful that Emily was in the pet shop.
"Doubt it." Logan muttered as Kitty stopped pulling him.
"Like, don't be such a downer Logan!" Kitty sighed with a smile. "Chip, this is Logan. Logan this is Chip." Kitty said with a smile that Toad was sure couldn't be humanly possible to keep on her face and wonder if phasing was her only mutant ability. Toad tried his best to not look at Logan, despite the fact that he knew Logan would recognize him from his smell. Tabitha also knew this and was desperately trying to think of a way to get Toad and herself out of there without seeming rude.
Logan stared at Toad with a confused grin on his face. He sniffed once, then twice, trying to remember where he had smelled that odor before. One of a swamp and a hint of pine. A very outdoorsy smell that he knew he recognized but couldn't quiet place. Then in one instant, he remembered where he recognized that smell and who it belonged to.
"You!" Logan roared. He pushed Kitty out of the way and jumped towards Toad, who had been tense and ready for a reaction like that. Therefore Toad jumped just in time and latched himself onto the ceiling, but not before one of Logan's claws cut into Toad's image-inducer and made it flicker and die to reveal his true appearance. The people in the food court went running and screaming, and caused those with cell phones to call 911.
"Toad! I should have known!" Scott exclaimed. He told all the recruits to handle the crowds while he and Logan handled Toad. Tabitha went to keep Emily away from the fight so that she didn't get hurt.
"Can' you two jus' bugger off an' le' me 'lone!" Toad shouted from the ceiling.
"What are you doing here, Toad?" Scott demanded. His left hand was holding the edge of his glasses for two reasons: to make sure Toad didn't steal them, and so that he could move them and shoot his eye beams at Toad should the need arise. Toad laughed and sent them a grin.
"I's a bleedin' mall, mate! Wot you think I'm doin'?" Toad laughed.
"Stealing candy from children? Robbing the stores blind? Setting up a bomb?" Scott offered.
"Come down here and we might not hurt you." Logan growled. The three could hear the police coming closer.
"Daddy!" Emily's screech caused the three mutant's to look towards her. She had lost her image inducer and was being pulled away by a group of police officers. Toad's blood ran cold and panic set itself into his stomach knowing that he had to do something but if he even moved Cyclops would blast him into next week. He glanced from Cyclops to Logan to Emily, who was trying desperately to fight the men off. Fear was written plainly on his face as the thought of what those officers might do to her. Tabitha had been knocked out from behind – a dirty trick to get at Emily by one of the officers – and was laying unconscious on the mall's floor outside the pet shop.
"Daddy! Help!"Emily had tears in her eyes. Toad could see many of the officers pulling out nightsticks and panic set itself to ravage his body as he was pulled into one of his memories. He suddenly didn't care about Scott and Logan waiting just below him, only wanting to get the officers away from Emily.
Toad dropped down from the ceiling of the food court. Scott and Logan didn't even stop him as he ran towards the officers, beating them away from Emily in any way he could. He even went as far as using his unnatural strength to pull one of the chairs attached to the food court's floor and throwing it at some of the officers. He fought in a blind fury until he got to Emily. He simply grabbed her and jumped up onto the wall and out of the reach of the police. He allowed a single tear to fall as he realized the police had indeed started beating her with their knight sticks and had caused her to fall unconscious. Now Logan and Scott were fighting the police and getting them to leave.
"Come down here Toad!" Scott ordered. He had obviously tried to make it sound angry but hadn't managed it. Toad could tell that Scott wouldn't do him or Emily any harm if he did go down (which, he told himself, he wasn't going to until they left) but Logan had a look that said he wanted to rip Toad to shreds.
"Bugger off!" Toad told them. The three stood there for a good ten minutes, neither side moving. Toad was holding Emily in his arms. He knew he couldn't stay there with her for much longer, as her extra weight, little as it was, was making him use more energy than it usually would for him to simply be holding himself on the wall.
"...daddy...?" Emily whispered. She blinked her eyes and looked up at him. He could see a bruise forming around her left eye and more bruises forming on her arms.
"Toad, she should be properly looked at. Where are you going to take her?" Scott shouted. Toad glared at him.
"No' ta you lo', tha's fer sure." Toad muttered. Emily smiled, evidentially hearing him.
"Can we go home now?" Emily asked. Toad sighed and nodded and shifted her onto his back. She held on with her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as he jumped down over to Tabitha. She woke up quickly and Toad told her he was taking Emily home. Tabitha looked around him to see Scott and Logan running towards them and nodded assuring him that she'd get the few bags of clothes that were still sitting on a chair at the table they had been sitting at.
0o0o0o0o0
Toad arrived back at the house to find it in utter chaos. He had no idea of what was going on, only that whatever it was, was very very loud. He could hear Lance and Todd yelling at each other, Wanda yelling at Pietro, Pietro yelling at Lance and Todd to shut up, and Fred at all of them to be quiet because he couldn't hear the TV. Toad went upstairs, still unknown to the house that he was back, and put Emily in her room. He then made his way back downstairs to what he knew used to be Mystique's room and was now Tabitha's room and looked behind and under stuff until he found what he was looking for – a safe. He thought through all the lock combinations that he knew until he found the right one, put it in, and opened it. He pulledtwo things out – an air horn – before closing and locking it again. He alsotook out one of the many neat stacks of hundred-dollar bills, but completely ignored the candid pictures of the X-men at school (it was the summer so none of them were there right now) and files on new prospects for the brotherhood. He'd look at them later.
He made his way to the living room, where they were all yelling at each other for reasons unknown to him, and stood in the doorway for a few seconds unnoticed. He plugged one ear and let the air horn go. He knew that Emily had her ears covered because he had warned her ahead of time.
All the teenagers stopped their yelling to cover their ears until Toad stopped the air horn. They were all looking at him as if he was a ghost, as none of them had heard him come in. Toad knew all their ears were ringing as the one ear he hadn't been able to cover was ringing.
"What was that for, yo?" Todd demanded. Freddy was looking sadly at the spilled cheezies now on the floor. Everyone was now looking at Toad with mixed anger and confusion.
"I's no wonder you lo' can' bea' th' X-men! Yeh can' even ge' along wif each other!" This caused them all to look at their shoes with guilt. "Wot's the fightin' abou' this time?" Toad demanded after a few minutes.
"Who was going to go grocery shopping." Lance said. "We all have things planned and none of us want to do it but it can't be left off for tomorrow because tomorrow's Sunday and we have no food." Lance explained.
"We don't have any money either, which is why Pietro should go because he can just run in and out without anyone seeing him." Wanda said.
"ButIHaveADateThatICan'tBlowOff. ToddShouldGoBecauseHe'sGoodAtStealingStuff." Pietro said quickly.
"But I'm watching a Mythbusters marathon that I've been waiting for, for two months, yo. That's why Lance should go because he's almost as good as me." Todd explained.
"But I can't because I have a date with Kitty. So Todd should go because he's seen every episode they've ever put out twice." Lance growled at Todd. Very soon the shouting started back up and forced Toad to use to air horn again to shut them all up again.
"All o' yeh keep quiet! Emily's tryin' ta sleep!" Toad yelled at all of them.
"If she's trying to sleep then why d'you keep blasting that goddamn air horn!" Lance demanded. Toad grinned and pulled out a pair of simple plastic ear plugs.
"These. 'ow the 'ell d'yeh think I go' any sleep livin' wif Sabertoof?" Toad laughed under his breath. "Made 'em meself so tha' they block out any an' all noise." Toad explained. Wanda was grinning, because she had a couple sets up in her room. She had asked Toad to send her some because she hadn't been able to sleep living with the brotherhood.
"Oh." Lance said stupidly.
"Now. Yeh need th' shopping done? Why don' yeh all go a' once? Team bonding experience." Toad said. It was more of an order than a suggestion seeing as he had been left in charge by Magneto.
"But we don't have any money." Todd pointed out. Toad held up his finger and pulled the single stack of hundred-dollar bills that he had taken from the safe in Mystique's room. He pulled a few out and handedthem to Wanda (the only one of them that he currently trusted with that much money) without a single word. Everyone but Wanda was surprised that he had that much money on his person, figuring that he of all people would know the dangers of carrying that much money around with you.
"How..?" Pietro demanded. "My father doesn't give even ME that much money! Why'd he give YOU that much?" He demanded slowly. He had obviously remembered Toad's still withstanding threat.
"Never you mind." Toad growled. "Just keep your bloody traps shu'." Toad ordered. "and go ge' groceries." He yawned as he turned around and went back upstairs to his room. He could vaguely hear them arguing quietly with Wanda on who got to hold the money while they all left. Toad grinned as he lay down on his bed and put the ear plugs into his ears so that when they did finally get back they wouldn't wake him up if he still happened to be asleep.