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Act 1, Chapter 4- David
Professor Xavier usually had little trouble with Cerebro. With the helmet and supercomputer amplifying his telepathic powers, he could detect, track, and with minimal effort even communicate with almost any being on the planet. The Professor would never admit it to anyone, because of the possible moral implications of such an idea, but Xavier greatly enjoyed the power that Cerebro gave him. It felt soothing to him, relaxing. Sometimes, he would use Cerebro just to feel better, but never told anyone this. The calming sensation of Cerebro's amplification almost cancelled any thirst for its power Xavier might have had, and to him, resisting the temptation to use Cerebro as a weapon was actually very easy.
But there were moments, though few, where Cerebro caused Xavier nothing but frustration. The majority of these incidents came when he tried to find Magneto, who had enough knowledge about Cerebro to cloak himself from it, and counter any upgrades. But recently, and even before Magneto had come to the Institute, David Haller had been the subject of Xavier's frustration. David's psychic powers, though undeveloped, had the potential to rival Xavier's. To Xavier, the fact that David was already able to mentally cloak himself from Cerebro showed that his skills were growing at an alarming rate. David had probably long surpassed Xavier's best student, Jean Grey.
"Nothing," Xavier sighed, removing his helmet. Storm waited behind him patiently. "I fear that as time passes, finding David will only grow harder."
"You mustn't lose hope, Charles," Storm assured him. Storm's voice could be much more soothing than any breeze she could create. "If we wait long enough, he'll reveal himself."
"But by then, it may already be too late. We have no clue as to his ambitions. Does he want revenge? Does he want global domination? I don't know anything about my son." Xavier lowered his head. "And that's a horrible feeling."
"It wasn't your fault, Charles. Hopefully, David will come to see that."
"I should be talking with him, laughing with him, getting to know him. Instead, I'm looking for him and fearing what he might be up to." There was a chime on the Cerebro console, a specific chime that noted that a mutant had been detected moving around the Institute grounds without permission. "Hmm?" Xavier checked it, and brought up a file on the screen. "It's Toad... and Mastermind?"
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Todd sat on the couch in Xavier's study, in his usual frog style, alone with Magneto. Mastermind had already been taken to the infirmary. Professor Xavier would be along shortly, but until then, Magneto had Todd to himself.
"So it's too late," Magneto lamented to himself, standing near the fireplace. "It's done." Todd had not yet admitted to what had happened. Magneto had already guessed when he saw Mastermind's condition. "Why did you do it, Toad?"
"You told me to!" Magneto seized Todd by the neck and held him up. "You told me to!"
"I gave no such order!" Magneto threw him to the floor roughly. "What made you think that I would want Wanda's memory returned to her? She-" Magneto paused when he came to a realization. "Of course. Mystique. I should've known. She doesn't let go of grudges so easily."
"Look, I gotta say somethin'. Whatever reason this happened, I'm glad it did. What you guys did to Wanda wasn't cool."
"No, it wasn't 'cool', but undoing it has put us at serious risk... and if you want to take the moral high ground, Toad, you've waited for too long for that. It might not be too late. Once Mastermind heals, I'll-" Magneto heard voices in the hall. "Not a word of this to Xavier."
"He's in stable condition," Professor Xavier reported to Todd. "What sort of accident did you say he had, Todd?"
"He... uh... I dunno, really, he was like that when I found him." Todd nodded, partially to himself. "Yep. I was havin' a little walk, more like a little hop, right? And I find him like that on th' street. I figured, him bein' a mutant and all, a regular hospital would be askin' all kinds of questions."
"I appreciate your spirit, Todd, but once Mastermind's condition improves, we'll need to take him away from the Institute," Xavier said. "We only accepted him today because it was an emergency. Mastermind isn't a serious threat to us, but he has shown some hostility. If that's all, then, Todd, you're free to go."
"Yeah, cool. Uh, thanks." Todd hopped around Xavier and left for the door, closing it behind him. Magneto kept his back to Xavier, but he could feel his eyes piercing him.
"You've done a horrible thing, Magnus," Xavier said gravely to Magneto.
"How did you find out?" Magneto asked, knowing it was useless to deny it.
"I scanned Mastermind to see what had happened to him. You should have told me about this. What you did to Wanda is unspeakable, but with my help, I might have been able to ease her memories back to her. With Mastermind, she's experienced them all at once, and I don't think that's a trauma she'll forget easily."
"I did what I had to, Charles. I was a different person then. I did it to save myself at first, but then I saw the greater potential of what I'd done. Wanda would be free of her baggage, and I could start a new relationship with her."
"That was the easy way out," Xavier said. "All you did was lock her away for a second time. But I can still help her. I've had sessions with Wanda before. If I could calm her, and continue these-"
"She would still hate me," Magneto lamented. "Nothing I could do would help her to forgive me. It's a lost cause now, Charles."
"No, it isn't," Xavier insisted. "With some therapy, I think Wanda could be rehabilitated. She could-"
"You're naive, Charles. Whatever relationship I had with my daughter is gone. But you have no right to judge me, when you have no relationship at all with your own son." Xavier wanted to say 'but it wasn't my fault', but guilt continued to gnaw at him. "If you had the chance to erase all of David's trauma and start over with him, wouldn't you?"
"Of course I would. But... but not at the cost of his memories. I want to be a good father to him, and I want him to accept me, but I would never do something as unethical as wiping his memories just to make it easier on myself!"
"It's no different than the time you erased the memories of the human students after Avalanche and the others revealed themselves."
"It's very different!" Xavier shouted. "What I did was to protect the privacy of my students and of all mutants, not to save myself from my own mistakes!" Magneto looked away, ashamed. "We should find Wanda, and see if we can still help her."
"Yes. Maybe you're right after all," Magneto said. As they started out the room, the perimeter defense alarm went off.
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The front gate of the Institute was torn open by a single hex bolt. The hidden cannons on the grounds were quickly disabled, some shorted out, some with their barrels bent, and some completely shattered into smoking ruins. The first line of defense had failed. The second would not.
Cyclops rushed out of the mansion and immediately fired an optic blast, which dissolved into thin air before it could hit Wanda. Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Iceman and Colossus had also answered the call, but... Professor Xavier called them off.
"I'll handle this," he said to Cyclops.
"Professor, I think-"
"Trust me, Scott." Professor Xavier wheeled up to the Scarlet Witch, who stood near the front steps. The X-Men waited behind him, prepared to strike at a moment's notice. Wanda's coat flared behind her as hex energy built up in her hands. "Wanda, is there something I can help you with?"
"Where is he?" Wanda demanded. There was a beep on Cyclops's wrist. He turned away from the conversation on the front lawn and answered it.
"Cyclops," Cyclops identified himself (since he's Cyclops, of course!). "What is it?"
"Pyro's gone," Beast reported.
"What?! How did-"
"I don't know. He just... vanished. I saw it with my own eyes."
"Hang on, Hank. Jean, Iceman, Colossus, stay here. Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, come with me." Cyclops led them back into the mansion.
"If you're looking for your father, he is here," Xavier said to Wanda. "I'd be more than happy to take you to him, if you'll agree to calm down."
"You're not taking me anywhere. WHERE IS HE?"
"Wanda, please, calm-"
"GET OUT OF MY WAY-" Wanda waved her hands, but in an instant, she dropped to the ground, unconscious. Professor Xavier sighed.
"I didn't want to do that. Piotr, could you take her inside?" Colossus nodded and walked down the steps, but suddenly, she vanished in a bright, white flash. Xavier covered his eyes and Colossus backed away slightly. When the light disappeared, there was no trace of Wanda.
"Where did she go?" Colossus asked. "She can teleport?"
"No, she can't," Xavier replied with a hint of alarm in his voice. He looked around frantically. The others, not knowing why, began to look around as well, hoping for some sign of Wanda, or whatever else Xavier might've been looking for.
"I'm up here."
Lucas hovered in the sky above them with his arms crossed, reveling over his small victory over his father. "Don't worry about Wanda. She'll be alright."
"David, why are you-"
"My name is Lucas," he shouted angrily. "David is the name of your son. But you've been no father to me. I know I'm not welcome at your little school, Professor. I'll be on my way now."
"Lucas, wait!" But Lucas had already flown away. Professor Xavier rubbed his forehead. He had found David again, only to lose him.
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On his way down the hall, Fred noticed Todd leaning against the doorway of one of the bedrooms. Even if Fred didn't know the layout of the house, he wouldn't have had to guess whose room that was.
"C'mon, man, you know I hate seeing you like this," Fred told him.
"Someone left this door open." Todd looked inside. Wanda had only been gone for a day, but already, the room felt like it had been empty for months, despite its condition. Wanda hadn't bothered to return to the house after regaining her memories. The bed was left unmade, a few books were stacked on the dresser, and her writing journal was thrown on the floor, along with her favorite pen.
"I don't think she ever wants to see any of us again."
"I'm th' one who took her to Mastermind... that's gotta count for somethin', right?"
"You still kept it from her for a while."
"Maybe, but still..." Todd didn't finish the sentence.
"C'mon, Toad. We gotta get your mind off her. How about we go see that new boxing movie later?" Todd nodded, then grabbed the door handle with his long tongue and closed it.
"What? Wanda disappeared?" Lance asked, walking out of his room and stopping in the hallway with his cell phone pressed to his ear. Todd and Fred watched him. "Lucas? Who the hell is Lucas? ...What? Nobody told us. Nobody tells us anything! Pyro, too? What the hell?"
"We think Lucas took both of them," Kitty said from outside the planning room at the Xavier Institute, where Magneto and Xavier continued a heated argument. Every so often, she would hear someone slam something. "Magneto wasn't too happy."
"I'd be pissed, too. Well, do they-" Todd grabbed the phone with his tongue. "Dammit, Toad! Give that back!" Todd hopped away from Lance's reach and took over the conversation.
"Kitty? Yo. Toad. What happened to Wanda?"
"Well," Kitty began, ignoring his rudeness for the sake of emergency, "she came looking for Magneto, and then she disappeared. Lucas took her, he's... like the Professor's son and he has personality issues."
"Wait, is she-" Suddenly, the phone was seized by another guest.
"So, is she alright? Did this guy hurt her?" Pietro asked.
"Er," Kitty spouted, "As far as the Professor could tell, he just teleported her. She should be fine. Can I talk to Lance now?"
"Whatever." Pietro looked at the phone, rubbed the slime on Todd's sleeve, and returned it to Lance.
"Sorry about that. Toad's an ass. Anyway, do they know where Lucas is?"
"No, that's the problem. Lucas has some way of blocking himself from Cerebro. It's impossible to locate him. Even if we do, I don't think we're strong enough for him. We have no idea what he's up to. Most of us are a little on edge right now." Kitty ducked as part of a metal chair flew out the planning room door. "Things are getting a little hot in here, I'd better get going. Bye La-" Magnetic interference cut the call short.
"Hmm. Must've run out of minutes," Lance said out loud. He threw the phone back to Todd. "Clean that up, would ya? I'm gonna go have a smoke." Lance walked down the stairs, packing his box of cigarettes, when the front door flew open. Lance was too stunned to do anything when their visitor ran to him, took his cigarettes, threw them on the floor and smashed them with her heel.
"There is to be NO smoking in this house!" Mystique yelled, standing before him like the blue-skinned taskmistress he remembered. "Understood?"
"I was gonna go outside!" Lance protested, nonchalantly reacting to his boss's sudden appearance at their house after nearly six months.
"I'm sure," Mystique said. "Where are the others? Get them here. Now."
"Uh... guys, you should probably come down here."
"Why, are the girl scouts back?" Fred asked hopefully. Seeing only Mystique downstairs, his reaction was a single "Oh." He lined up next to Lance and was soon joined by Pietro and Todd. Mystique didn't visit them often. In fact, the last three times they had seen her were shortly before being trapped at Area 51, when Xavier turned her solidified form over to them, and when she re-appeared as a Horseman of Apocalypse. Still, she was the Brotherhood's actual leader. And more importantly, the house's actual owner.
"Good. You're all here," Mystique said to them. "I have good news for you. You're going to be a lot more active from now on. We have a new enemy, someone who could be potentially more dangerous than Xavier or Magneto."
"Lucas?" Lance asked.
"...Yes. Lucas." Mystique leaned in closer to Lance, her cat-like yellow eyes glaring at him. "Why? Do you know him, Avalanche?"
"Well... not p-personally," Lance stuttered. Ordinarily, the others would laugh at him for showing fear, but none of them were free from it. "I've just heard about him. That's all."
"Then you're ahead of your 'brothers'. If you've heard about Lucas, no doubt it was Kitty who told you," Mystique said the name with a sneer. "You probably already know that Lucas has Wanda and Pyro. She's reverted back to her old self, so she'll be much more useful to us. Our first priority is to get her back. Once we do, we're going to begin training to face Lucas as a team."
"So you know where he's got her?" Todd asked.
"No. You're going to help me find him, Toad. In the meantime, I want Blob and Avalanche-"
"Wait a minute," Pietro said. "How do you know Wanda has her memories back?"
"That's not important" Mystique said without flinching. "What's important is that we get her back on our side. "
"You know because you're th' one who ordered it!" Todd yelled. Mystique turned and gave him such a glare that he almost fell back. He gathered his bearings and stood up to face her. "It was you disguised as Magneto, wasn't it?"
"She deserved to know the truth," Mystique admitted. "That's also how you felt, Toad." Todd couldn't disagree, and shrunk down slightly.
"But that's not how I feel," Pietro protested. "Maybe this doesn't matter to you, but she's my sister. She didn't need your help. She was just fine the way she was."
"Ah, Pietro. Your loyalty is still to your father, no matter how much you deny it. Tell me, are you more afraid of him, or me?"
"I'm done working with you," Pietro yelled. "And I'm done working with Magneto! All the other stuff you made me do, fine! But messing with my sister's head, that's where I draw the line."
"You didn't complain before," Mystique scoffed, completely unthreatened. "Since when did you grow a conscience? It doesn't matter. You're not a part of this team anymore. Get out of my house, Pietro."
"Fine! I'm out of here!" Pietro, like his sister, didn't bother packing, or even going back to his room. He simply walked to the door, opened it, and closed it behind him.
And just like that, Pietro Maximoff was out of the Brotherhood.
"That leaves us a little shorthanded," Mystique noted. "While Toad is doing recon work to find Wanda and Lucas, I'm going to need Avalanche and Blob to help me recruit some new members. I have a list of confirmed mutants across the world as scanned by Cerebro, and plenty of them have turned down Xavier's offer to join the X-Men. We'll start with those."
"You know what?" Lance said, emboldened by Pietro's decision. "No. I'm not doing that."
"You're disobeying me?" Mystique asked. "I'm not surprised. After Quicksilver, you were the least loyal to our cause, and we have Kitty Pryde to thank for that."
"It's not about Kitty," Lance defended. "It's about you. I'm sick of taking orders from you. You leave us to fend for ourselves in this rat-hole you call a house while you're off doing who knows what, and you don't even have the decency to tell us why. You just show up and want us to obey you like you own us?"
"I do own you!" Mystique yelled. "I'm your legal guardian and if you ever want to be free of me, you'll do as I say."
"Guess what? While you were off playing spy, I turned eighteen." Lance left the foyer and went up the stairs. "I'm packing my shit. You guys can stay if you want, but I'm out of here."
"Don't you even think about it," Mystique said to Todd and Fred before they could say anything. "If you want to remain losers, you can go with Lance. But so long as you're living under my house, you will obey my rules."
"You know something?" Fred said. "I ain't afraid of you. 'Cuz guess what? I'm eighteen, too. If you want me to stay on this team, you'd better start paying me."
"Fine," Mystique compromised. "I'll pay you per mission. Both of you."
"Sellouts," Lance said to them as he passed by, without looking. He carried a duffel bag with him and his electric guitar. He was out the door and out of the Brotherhood just as quickly.
"Alright. Toad, you have your assignment," Mystique ordered. "Blob, you're coming with me. The first three names on my list are Karl Lyk-"
"How much are we talking?" Fred asked.
"We'll talk about your salary later."
"You know what? I've changed my mind," Fred exclaimed. "I'll be out of your hair, too."
"Fine! Go, you dumb brute!" Mystique yelled. She crossed her blue arms and looked at Todd. "Well?"
"W-well what?"
"Are you staying or are you so weak-willed that you'll just follow the others?" Mystique asked. "Who am I kidding," she then groaned.
"I dunno..." Todd sat down on the ground. Mystique had put him through such a dilemma once before, disguised as Magneto. Now he had to consider his future. He wanted to find Wanda, and he knew staying with Mystique was his best chance. But like the others, he was tired of her abuse. It didn't help that she had manipulated him into restoring Wanda's memory just so she could be used against Lucas, and now that he thought about it, he was sure Mystique had also done that because Magneto was at a specific place now, along with Xavier, and if left unchecked, Wanda would probably destroy them both at once. But he had nowhere else to go.
Fred lumbered down the stairs with an overstuffed suitcase with several bumper stickers on it. Among them, "Fred Dukes- World's Strongest Teenager," a memento from his days at the Texas State Fair.
"You coming?" Fred asked his smaller friend.
His mind was made up. Todd stood up, and gave Mystique his answer.
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Wanda woke up and abruptly sat up, part of her thinking she was still in front of Professor Xavier. Much to her surprise, she was somewhere else entirely. She was back in the theatre where she had met Mastermind, except she wasn't on the stage, but on one of the private viewing boxes overlooking it. She realized that she was already seated and stood up to look out at the stage. She could see the spot where she had attacked Mastermind, warped and bubbled like a piece of plastic left in an oven. She also noticed that the lights had been restored, more or less, to a brighter state than the last time she was there.
She also saw Pyro sitting at the edge of the stage, playing with the cap of his lighter. What was he doing there? He was one of Magneto's minions once. Was he still working with him?
"Pyro!" she yelled. Pyro looked up, nonchalantly, almost bored. "Where is Magneto?!" Pyro only shrugged, then turned back to his lighter. "TELL ME!"
"Calm down, lass," said a man sitting close by. Wanda had failed to notice him and stood up, her hands glowing. "No need to fear me. My name is Lucas."
"What do you want?" she asked. Her hands were still glowing.
"To talk, that's all." Lucas scratched the blond patch on his chin. "I've been watching you, Wanda. I know what Magneto has done to you. What he had done to you, and what he had undone to you. I like to think that I understand you."
"You don't understand anything!" Wanda's hex extended from her hands to two empty chairs in the box, instantly disassembling them and letting them fall apart in their separate components. She pointed her hand at Lucas, who remained calm. His blue eyes were fixed on her. His mane-like hair and striking features almost gave Wanda the impression of a lion. If she weren't so angry and suspicious of him, she would have said he was handsome. His fashion sense had to be admired, too, dressed in a formal white shirt with a black leather vest, pants, and studded bracelets, along with a studded collar. The top buttons on his shirt were unfastened, giving her a glimpse of his chest. As Wanda saw him, he was masculinity personified.
"I share your pain, Wanda," he continued. "My father was never there for me, either. I grew up without him. Without any male role model. But worse was the legacy he left me. I inherited his power. It developed at an early age. You see, I'm a telepath." Wanda raised her other hand as well. "No, no, don't worry, lass. I'm not the bad kind. I wouldn't dream of touching that beautiful head of yours without your permission," he said. "But, for a long time, I couldn't control my power. I looked through the minds of everyone I encountered, without trying, or wanting to. I don't need to tell you how disconcerting that can be. There were times when I thought I was going crazy. I couldn't remember who I was."
Wanda lowered her hands. She took a seat next to Lucas.
"My birth name was David Haller, but that's not my true name. All of those thoughts surrounded and trapped me. I developed multiple personalities, while the real me was trapped inside. The outer me was weak, naive, very foolish. I could only watch helplessly as this outer me, 'David', lived my life. The only one who could've helped me was my father, but he was never there for me. I was a prisoner in my own mind. Just like you were a prisoner of your father's neglect."
"Your father was Xavier, wasn't he?"
"Yes," Lucas said, a little surprised. "How did you know?"
"You just look like him, I guess."
"Aye, but with hair," Lucas joked. "He tried to pick up our relationship. He thought it was that easy. But he did me one favor. He set me free. The real me, Lucas, is in control now. And I can teach you how to be in control."
"I don't need you to teach me," Wanda said defiantly.
"Maybe, maybe not. That remains to be seen. But we both want the same thing. Revenge." Lucas waved his hand and some of the bolts and metal bars from the chairs Wanda had destroyed floated up to him and cobbled themselves together to look like a small, rough statue of Magneto, and a second one confined to a wheelchair, which Wanda assumed to be Xavier. "Your father and my father. They neglected us. They betrayed us. The patronized us. Now, they're both united. Allied. If either of us tried to face either of our fathers alone, we would face both Magneto and Charles Xavier. Alone, neither of us would stand a chance. But together..."
"Together..." Wanda wiggled her fingers and blew the statues apart. Lucas smiled and turned to her. Wanda's eyes were now more accepting. "What do you need him for, then?"
"Oh, Pyro," Lucas remembered. "You and I will take the leaders while Pyro and a team of mutants keep their peons busy. We'll find some people to fill in, it's not important, really. What's important, is us." Lucas took Wanda's hand, and though it surprised her, she didn't resist. "What do you say, Wanda? Are we partners?"
Wanda wasn't interested in Lucas's help, but the more she thought about it, the more sense his plan made. Xavier had already stopped her single-handedly. Maybe Lucas's psychic powers could hold Xavier off long enough for her to find Magneto and make him pay for what he had done to her.
"Partners."
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"It's no use," Xavier said, putting down the Cerebro helmet and turning to Magneto. "He's blocking her mind as well. I can't find Pyro, either."
"Then we've lost her," Magneto lamented.
"It's not all lost, Magnus," Xavier explained. "David and Wanda will reveal themselves in time. No doubt, David will convince Wanda to help him. I'm willing to bet they've united to exact revenge on both of us."
"Then we must remain united as well." Professor Xavier rolled away from the Cerebro console with Magneto, walking through the halls of the lower levels in silence. Xavier's actions on Wanda and her abduction by Lucas had led to a rather violent argument between the two men, but it was quickly resolved. The pair walked to the control center for the Danger Room and watched a session led by Cyclops and Jean Grey, leading Rogue, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Iceman and Colossus through an obstacle course. Iceman's uniform was much like the standard trainee uniform, but with different boots and shoulder pads. Colossus had traded his trainee uniform for an official X-Man uniform, which looked very much like his old Acolyte uniform, only with permanent pants, a yellow x-belt, and yellow boots. The red chestplate and yellow shoulderpads remained. This was the first time the new roster of the X-Men had been assembled.
"Impressive," Magneto noted. "What about Beast and Storm?"
"They're still active, but with the planned expansions to the Institute, and the second campus we're planning, they've decided to take more administrative roles," Xavier explained. "I was thinking it would be nice to have two X-Men teams. One for each campus. The New Mutants are almost ready. By the time the second campus is built, I hope that they can take over as staff there."
"I agree. I'll take them to the new school and lead them there."
"Actually," Xavier interrupted, "I thought it might be a better idea if you and I were to stay close. "My plan, actually, was to give administrative control of the campus to Storm, with Beast running the second campus, and giving you command over the X-Men. I feel it's too early now, the team needs to get used to you, but that's my plan. I would remain here and help run both campuses from this central office."
"Do you trust me with that kind of power, Charles?"
"Yes," Xavier said without hesitation. "I do."
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Lance Alvers, Fred Dukes, Pietro Maximoff and Todd Tolensky met up at the empty parking lot where Lance used to smoke, staring ahead at the burned-down bookstore. They leaned against the jeep, though Pietro specifically stayed upwind of Lance as he exhaled cigarette smoke. It was past midnight and aside from a car or two passing by the nearby road, they were essentially alone.
"So that's it," Lance repeated. "That just leaves the four of us. No Brotherhood. No house. But no Mystique, or Magneto. So what do we do now?"
"I don't know," Pietro said. "I'm not too thrilled about mooching off my dad, you guys even less. You know what I'm thinking? I say we leave Bayville behind. Find a new place, start up again, get a new team going. What do you guys think?"
"I'm down," Todd said.
"I've got relatives in Texas," Fred suggested. "We could head there until we get back on our feet."
"That's too far for me," Lance complained. "I think I'm staying here in Bayville. I wanna take a break from the 'mutant team' thing and just be some guy for a while. Probably get a normal job and an apartment and just take it easy. Too much pressure from everyone else, you know?"
"Either way, I'm going home," Fred told him. "I've been away too long. I'm almost getting used to the climate here. My uncle Jack could probably let me work on his farm. Yeah. Home sounds good."
"Well wait a minute, we can't just split up," Todd said. "I mean, we've always been pretty tight. I figured... you know, maybe we could all still hang around."
"No, Lance is right," Pietro said, rubbing his chin. "We need a break from this. Well, great knowing you guys. We did some good work in our time."
"Yeah," Fred agreed. Lance nodded and exhaled some more smoke. Todd slouched a little. "Where are you going, then, Pietro?"
"I haven't figured it out yet. Give me some time to clear my head a bit, stretch my wings, get away from Magneto for a while. I'll get back to you on that."
"I'm gonna go to Xavier's and see if they'll let me crash for the night," Lance said. "I could pay for a motel, but I'm not gonna waste my money if I can get a free room."
"You do that," Pietro said. "I'm gonna go find me a hotel to sleep in. I guess I'll see you guys around, then." Not one for sentimentality, Pietro waved to them and sped away.
"What about you guys, you need a ride?" Lance asked his remaining friends.
"I... I guess it wouldn't hurt to try Xavier's for a night," Todd said.
"Eh, the bus station's nearby," Fred replied. "I've got enough for a bus ticket or two. I'm not wasting my money on a motel and no way I'm staying at Xavier's. I'm gonna walk and take a nap there until my bus leaves."
"So, this is it then, huh?" Fred nodded. Lance shook his hand and they patted each other on the shoulder. Then it was Todd's turn, who did the same, though Fred added a hug. No, not a mushy hug, a manly one. Fred's manly. So is Todd. "Listen man, when you get all set up over there, give Kitty a call, she'll know where you can find us."
"Yeah man, we gotta stay in touch," Todd added.
"Thanks, guys. You're good friends. That's all I've ever really needed." Lance climbed into his jeep, followed by Todd and the two waved to Fred, and drove away. Fred took his suitcase and began his journey back to his home.
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As Lance had predicted, Professor Xavier welcomed both he and Todd into the mansion, and offered to help find them new homes. Lance was too tired to discuss anything and took one of the guest bedrooms and quickly fell asleep.
Todd, however, had something else in mind. He met with Professor X and Magneto in the library, along with Scott, who had just been there to look at some books.
"What was it you wanted to ask, Todd?" Xavier asked.
"I... I want a job. Here," Todd said. "Any job. I'll scrub toilets if I have to."
"Todd, I'm sorry, but we... really don't have any job openings. If you wish to enroll-"
"No, I don't want to be one of th' X-Men," Todd said. "Or a student. I just want a job. I figured this was th' place to go."
"Toad, do you have any teaching experience?" Scott asked incredulously.
"No, but... well, I ain't gotta be a teacher. I could do small things. Odd jobs."
"You heard the Professor, we don't have any jobs available," Scott repeated.
"Wait..." Xavier said. Telepathically, he told Scott, "Perhaps we could give Toad a job here."
"Professor, you can't be serious," Scott mentally replied, "He has no job skills, no scruples, he's a known criminal... there's nothing he could possibly contribute to the Institute."
"Can I offer a suggestion?" Magnus said telepathically (or rather, thought, and allowed Xavier to hear). Todd watched in confusion as the three exchanged glances without exchanging words. Scott seemed noticeably upset by the conversation. At one point, he even sighed in frustration. Xavier and Magneto, however, remained perfectly stoic.
Finally, Xavier said to Todd, "I think there is something available for you."
"You will be my personal assistant," Magneto said. Todd's face lit up. "This will not be an easy job. You will be expected to be on-duty for a majority of the day. You will keep track of appointments, messages, parcels and obey all schedules. You will do exactly as I tell you, and you WILL take a daily shower. Do you understand this?"
"Shower? Uh... well... okay. Yeah. I can do that," Todd said hopefully. "When do I start?"
"I'll begin your orientation tomorrow morning. You'd better get some sleep," Magneto said with a hint of menace.
"Yes sir! Thank you. I'll get right on that." Todd hopped out of the room.
"I don't like this," Scott said to the two elder men.
"Relax, Scott," Xavier told him. "He will not get in your way. He won't even be part of the team. He's administrative staff, that's all, and he'll answer directly to Magneto."
"Well, okay. I'm gonna go see if he needs help settling in," Scott said. "And make sure he doesn't steal anything."
"I don't know why I'm agreeing to this," Magneto said to Xavier. "I think you overestimate Wanda's connection with Toad."
"Maybe her esteem for him, yes, but Toad knows things about Wanda that neither of us does," Xavier explained. "With the Brotherhood disbanded and the other boys going their separate ways, I think it might be a good idea to keep Toad nearby... and prevent him from trying to find Wanda himself. And besides, with the students still adjusting to your continued presence, it might be good for you to have an assistant who doesn't hold the same grudge against you, at least until others learn to tolerate your presence here."
"Don't expect me to show him any lenience," Magneto warned. "But he could be useful..."
END ACT ONE.
Now's a good time to take a break.
If you don't need one, we'll move on through, my friend.