Author Notes: Sigh, yes this is the last chapter:)

Chapter 12

It was sad to think that even with a common enemy, most of the Brotherhood had still presumed that they were to destroy the X Men, refusing the join with them to stop Chaos. Not that they would have survived in doing so. She calmly walked through the carnage as if it was her home, summoning an array of different mutations in combination or single attacks. Reflux watched in growing fear as she made her way in his direction. She displayed none of the compassion or humanity that he had seen from Imogen; that person was gone. And the infuriating thing was that the only person who would have been able to stop her was Toad, but he was fighting for the other side; no one could get through to her now.

Indecision reigned within Reflux. He could fight or flee. To fight would be to die, but once Chaos got out into the world, the likely end would be death anyway. A sharp blow to his ribs made up the decision for him, as he found himself on the ground, staring up at the mutant he had once terrorised as a child. "Toad-" Reflux was cut off as the green mutant attacked him, only just saved as his waning power flung the man backwards. His whole body ached, and he had never felt this exhausted or helpless in his life, but as Toad flipped gracefully to his feet, Reflux's brain began to re-engage. Something was…weird, "Toad, stop! We have to stop Chaos!"

A flying leap and a punch at his head caught Reflux off guard, and he couldn't mount a defence fast enough, sending him rolling. This was wrong. Something was wrong. No one fought like this, especially not Toad. There was no cockiness, no backchat, just a complete blankness and a desire to fight. Even if he was in some sort of zone, or whatever assassin fighters might call it, there would be no way that Toad could resist some snarky remark when fighting his childhood bully. What if… "You." A simple remark, filled with a cold distaste. "You will die."

Both men turned towards the voice. Chaos stood facing them, her eyes a myriad of colours. Reflux's breath caught in his throat, "No! Chaos! Wait! I was wrong, okay? Toad never betrayed you. He-"

An inhuman scream pieced the air as white fire and black lightening gathered as one around Chaos' body. The collective energy radiated light and heat, making the air around them dance and crackle. Without any further thought, Chaos sent all her anger and all her power towards Toad, who simply stood there, facing the enemy. Simultaneously, Reflux jumped sideways, sending Toad's still form flying sideways, and catching the full force of Chaos' wrath. By pure luck, or perhaps simple spirit, Reflux managed to send back a small fraction of Chaos' power right back at her before he was engulfed and screamed his death.

Chaos staggered, slipping to one knee, but on the whole was unharmed. A few feet away, Toad sat up groggily, flicking his head to the side and blinking detachedly at the tiny pile of ash that remained where he had been standing. He remembered fighting, he remembered a pain in his neck, and he remembered…oh god no. Reflux. Imogen. He turned his head to watch his once best friend rise to her feet and crack her neck. Her eyes turned to him, cold and unfeeling, and it was all his fault. He had made a promise to himself to protect her, and he had done the complete opposite. This had to end. Now.

"Chaos, wait."

"No! You lied and you acted. You need to die. You want your war, Mortimer?" He flinched as she spat his birth name at him like a swear word, "Then you shall die in it!"

"Imogen please! I'm sorry! I should never have left you. You're right, I deserve to die, but you don't and that's the way you're going! If you carry on like this, it'll all be over, you won't be you anymore; you'll just be a monster like all those you despised."

"Stop it! Imogen is gone; she was weak and pathetic and couldn't control her power. I am Chaos."

Toad swallowed, knowing he was treading on a bridge of eggshells over a very deep hole, "You are both. One can't exist without the other." He took a deep breath, "You should be able to understand that, Psy."

Chaos blinked in utter shock, one part of her wanting to tear him to shreds, the other part of her trying to remember where she had heard that name before. She shook it off face hardening, "I'm going to kill you now, Mortimer."

Toad paled, "Oh fuck." He leapt out of the way, just as the ground was wrenched up in front of him, as if Chaos had simply shaken a rug, "Imogen, stop it! I'm sorry, I really am."

Lightening shot over his head as Chaos rose up into the air in a cloud of static. Everywhere, people were dying, running. It really was the end of the world. Toad looked up into his friend's eyes, making up his mind. Folding his arms, he held the gaze of the mutant, unblinking, "Fine then. So kill me. Kill you friend, Imy, because I will never stop loving you. I will never stop believing in you, even if you stopped believing in me." He closed his eyes, breaking her gaze, "I trust you."

And then the lightening hit and he was falling.

A light breeze blew across the hill and through the streets, heralding the coming autumn. Imogen shivered slightly in her thin t-shirt, smiling softly as a strong arm wrapped itself around her. "Ready to go home?" The soft cocky accent, still slightly raspy and raw from the incident a month previous, murmured in her ear.

Imogen smiled, "I want to see the sun set over the castle first. Katie recommended it."

Mort sighed mockingly, "It's only a bloody castle."

Imy hit him lightly, "But it's beautiful, and peaceful."

Mort didn't reply, only pulled Imogen closer to him and stared out towards Edinburgh Castle. He still could hardly believe that they were both still alive, safe, together, and, most importantly, in their right minds. They hadn't stayed long at Xavier's, just long enough for the memorial to say goodbye to Reflux and all the others. They had been damn lucky, hell, they should be dead. He still remembered the feel of electricity run through his body as Chaos' power had completely overloaded through her own emotion and desolation. There was now a huge crater in the grounds of the mansion. They should have both been killed by the power of the explosion, but, somehow, they had found themselves waking up a week later in the infirmary with Dr Jean Grey looking down at them. "Mort?" Imogen's voice punctured the quiet evening.

"Yeah?"

"What are we gonna do?"

"'Bout wot?"

"Everything. Magneto's still out there, and now with this cure…" She shivered again, "The war's still coming."

"We'll cope. If we were meant to die anytime soon, I think fate would probably have got bored and finished us off last month."

"This is going to be bigger than last time, isn't it? It's going to be worse, involve more people. The Phoenix is still going to rise. No one will be able to escape the war, will they? Not even us."

Toad sighed, "No, love. It's coming."

Imy curled into his chest, "Shit."

Mort let out a breathy laugh and kissed her lightly through her hair, "Yeah."

FIN

Author Notes: So there you go, all done:) Thank you for the lovely support you gave this story, and now I only ask that you take the time to give me one last review, even if you haven't before. Just let me know what you thought of it:)