Two more characters are introduced here. Like the last chapter, these new characters aren't major additions, though they will be more active than the cast additions from the last chapter. Oh, and excuse the grammar.
Act 2, Chapter 3 (7)- Lucas's Gang
Cyclops stood at the front steps of the mansion, finger on his visor's trigger. Wind rustled the grass on the front lawn and clouds overhead cast a shadow on the mansion ground. He stood with Jean, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Rogue, all watching and waiting for any sign of the intruders. The automated laser turrets had all been destroyed, but the intruders were nowhere to be found.
"Stay alert," Cyclops said. "Defend this line. Whatever happens, don't let anyone in."
And then, their first guest appeared, a giant red form crashing through the front gates. Of all people, the unstoppable Juggernaut took the direct route, screaming as the bent metal bars flew to either side. Immediately, Jean Grey lifted him off his feet and propelled him upwards.
"Simple enough," Nightcrawler commented.
"Not to worry!" Pyro yelled, now a bit taller than the last time the X-Men had seen him and with wilder hair, though he was dressed in his bright orange Acolyte uniform. Standing on the Institute wall, the trees around him burned and the fire spread, quite literally like a horde of snakes slithering down the wall and across the grass. A hooded cobra grew out of Pyro's flamethrower, growing in size and hissing down at the team, its eyes glowing blue eyes and its voice drawn from the fire that created it. Cackling, Pyro wiggled his fingers, playing an imaginary flute for a moment as the snakes danced.
"YOW!" Nightcrawler jumped away from the path of the snake and teleported onto the wall, pushing Pyro over. Pyro wiped the grass from his face and looked up with a sneer. Nightcrawler pushed him back down as he landed on his back, looking to sabotage his tank, but an invisible force pulled him away and slammed him against the wall.
"HahahaHAHAHAHA!" Pyro yelled. "It's not going to be that easy today, mate!" Juggernaut landed harshly in front of Jean and threw her aside.
"Hey, why'd you let him go?" Cyclops asked.
"I didn't!" Jean reached for Juggernaut before he could make it to the mansion, but she found it very difficult to grasp him. A team of fiery knights on horseback rode across the lawn, burning the grass and leaving a trail of smoke behind them. Pyro ran after his creations, practically skipping with child-like excitement.
"We need some help on the south end!" Cyclops announced.
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"There's nobody over here," Storm replied through her communicator, guarding a similar line at the north end of the estate, standing in the back yard near the swimming pool. "I can send some of my team, but I don't want to leave the north end vulnerable. Colossus, you're needed at the front gate." Storm waited by the pool with Kitty and Iceman. Colossus nodded and headed off.
"Looks like we've got company!" Iceman alerted the others. A third mutant appeared, a disgusting man whose skin and muscle tissue were made of a thick, blue jelly, allowing his black skeleton to be seen as well as his bulging yellow eyes. Iceman's beam froze the mutant Sack's left arm and the jelly shattered, but it immediately grew back, oozing out of Sack's skeletal joints and forming a new layer of jelly as if nothing had happened.
"Gross!" Iceman yelled. Sack continued forward until he grappled Iceman with his gelatinous form and pressed against him, absorbing Iceman into him and surrounding him with his skin. Once trapped inside, Iceman was completely immobile, pinned against Sack's skeleton. Sack raised his arms, also raising Iceman's, and released a white ice beam against the X-Men. Storm countered it with a bolt of lightning.
"No good, he's got all of Bobby's power," Kitty said.
"I'm going to blast him, Kitty, get ready to catch him!" Storm redirected the lightning upwards and blasted Sack back a few feet, where Kitty phased and grabbed Iceman's body and effectively held Sack in her grip. Sack's skull shifted inside his gelatinous head, spinning vertically until it was staring at Kitty upside-down. Startled, Kitty released the blobby mutant and fall backwards on the floor.
"Are we really losing to a tub of Jell-o?" Kitty remarked, rubbing her head. The fourth mutant had been hiding on the roof the entire time- she jumped off with a graceful flip and kicked Storm in the back, landing gently on the back steps of the mansion. This was Psylocke, a beautiful Asian fighter with a dark blue one-piece suit with a red belt and a long, ceremonial sash hanging from it. She wore long gloves and leggings and on her upper arms and a mask over her mouth. Her dark violet hair had light purple streaks and was held back in a long tail. Each hand held a small sword, both adorned with red ribbons that matched her sash.
"We have a fourth one," Storm announced. "Stay alert, I don't think we've seen them all just yet." Storm flew forward, kicking Psylocke and knocking her against a tree and dropping her swords. Storm let the wind guide her gently back onto the grass, only to find that Psylocke was already on her back, clinging to her torso with her legs and pressing her fist against Storm's temple. A reddish-purple spark later and Storm dropped.
"We need some help back here!" Kitty yelled into her communicator.
"Did someone say help?" Toad said as he jumped out, ordered by Magneto to assist the team. Watching Iceman trapped in slime and Psylocke standing over a defeated Storm, Toad remarked, "What the... what's goin' on here?"
"She has some kind of psychic knife," Kitty noted. Kitty rushed at Sack and flew into him, pulling Iceman out in the process. He began to cough up blue ooze, but was otherwise alright. A dagger-like blade of light extended from Psylocke's fist. Kitty tried to punch and kick her, but Psylocke swiftly dodged Kitty's attack, moving with an almost carefree grace. She kicked against a tree and jumped away just before an ice beam froze the branches.
Toad, meanwhile, spat a glob of slime at Sack's face. Sack only absorbed the slime, which quickly dissolved inside Sack's skin.
"Oh, sick! That thing eats slime!"
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"HEEEY!" Pyro cried as Jean threw him against Juggernaut, who only caught him and threw him back. Jean flew out of the way, but Pyro landed right on Nightcrawler, knocking him out. Before Pyro could gloat, he was lifted into the air by his flame tank. He looked over at Jean, who shrugged.
"Enough," Magneto bellowed, standing at the school's entrance, wearing his helmet. Behind him was Professor Xavier.
"No, no!" Pyro protested. "Not NEARLY enough!" He aimed both flamethrowers at Magneto and fired, but tank suddenly crumpled inward, exploding. Pyro fell to the pavement, rolling to put out the fire on his back. Juggernaut, the only remaining mutant on the front lawn, was lifted into the air by Magneto. Rogue flew up to him and reached into his helmet, touching Juggernaut's face. After a few moments, Juggernaut went limp, and Magneto let him drop. Rogue clutched her head, feeling faint after absorbing Juggernaut's power and memory.
"That's it for the front," Cyclops said.
"Guys, we need help over here!" Iceman said through the communicator.
"Right. Jean, Colossus, follow me," Cyclops ordered. "Rogue, take a break. Magneto, can you hold the front side?"
"Yes, go," Magneto replied. Cyclops motioned for the others to follow him, with Rogue carrying the unconscious Nightcrawler, to be left at a safe place. Magneto and Xavier were left alone with the unconscious Pyro and Juggernaut, waiting on the front steps of the mansion, Magneto standing halfway down the steps and Xavier at the top landing. From the right perspective, they almost looked to be about the same height.
"Show yourselves," Xavier demanded. "It's just us now."
"Were you afraid we'd hurt your precious X-Men?" Lucas mocked, leaning against the angel fountain's rim. Lucas had been using his telepathy to cloak himself and his second-in-command from the X-Men; but Xavier had seen right through the ruse, as had Magneto. "That's what we brought friends for. Now, it's just the two of you, and the two of us."
Next to Lucas was his partner, Wanda Maximoff. The Scarlet Witch's basic outfit was a strapless bodysuit made of tight-fitting red vinyl and decorated with black belts, two of which hugged the area beneath her breasts and raised them slightly. Long leggings, made of the same material as her outfit, reached up to her thighs, and a red coat covered her arms and shoulders. A black choker bore an ankh and several plain, silver rings adorned her fingers. Her raven hair reached down to her shoulders and seemed more well-groomed than it had been before, but most noticeably, her figure had improved, growing from that of a cute teenager to the shapely curves of a grown woman. Her decision to wear red only served to highlight her beautiful, grayish-blue eyes.
"Father," she muttered. "It's over."
Lucas and Wanda had clashed with the X-Men before, but each time, were defeated by the combined strength of Magneto, Xavier, and the X-Men. This time, they returned with renewed confidence. Now they had a small team to keep the X-Men busy. Now their months of training and further honing their skills would pay off.
"Boys, join the party in the backyard," Lucas said. He snapped his fingers, and Pyro stood back up. Juggernaut was beginning to shake off the effects of Rogue's touch. They ran away from the front yard, leaving the four completely alone. "Now for a little family reunion."
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With Juggernaut and Pyro back in the mix, things in the backyard got wild. Psylocke threw a matchbook to Pyro and he was back. He lit a match without missing a beat and waved it, creating a giant fire whip. Iceman took it upon himself to take Pyro down.
Psylocke had already set her sights on Jean. Jean tried stopping her telekinetically, but whenever Psylocke waved her psychic knife, Jean lost control for a moment.
Juggernaut and Colossus were going head to head, grappling and exchanging punches. Neither seemed to have an obvious advantage.
Kitty had tried to phase Sack into a tree, but the plan backfired when Sack absorbed her. Rogue was trying to clobber him using the strength borrowed from Juggernaut, but Sack just kept phasing through her fists.
Toad was nowhere to be found.
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"Wanda, we don't have to fight," Magneto said as Wanda fired hex bolts at him. Magneto hovered around the blasts, creating small electromagnetic shields with his hands to disperse any stray hexes. "I've reformed. We can make everything right again."
"No, you're the same as ever!" Wanda yelled. "You'll never change, and that's why I'm going to finish you!" Though Magneto and the Scarlet Witch were active in their duel, Xavier and Lucas, by contrast, didn't move at all. The two simply stood there, staring each other down, as if waiting for the other to make the first move. In reality, their battle had shifted to the psychic plane;
"David, I know you're still in there," Xavier called, standing in the stormy psychic void, free from his wheelchair. "Fight him. This isn't you. Lucas is not real!"
"I'm as real as they come, father, and it's time I showed you just what I'm made of!"
"Lucas, you do not want to do this."
"I've wanted to do this longer than you can imagine!" Lucas, or rather, David Haller with a transparent image of Lucas superimposed over him like a hollow shell, lunged at Xavier, attacking with every ounce of strength he had, delivering Juggernaut-like blows and knocking his father around like a rag doll, but Xavier only returned to his feet, allowing Lucas to bring another barrage to his face.
"David, please stop this," Xavier pleaded. "I can help you."
"And where were you when I needed your help the most?!" Both David and Lucas screamed. "What kind of a man abandons his own child, just so he can go off and live his own dreams? Didn't you think that maybe your own boy needed you?!"
"What do you want? Do you want to kill me, David?"
"Isn't it painfully obvious?" Lucas smashed his fist into Xavier's face.
Outside, in the physical world, Magneto was trapped in a hex field powered by Wanda, caged like an animal. Despite his struggles, he couldn't break out; his powers were gone, and his physical strength was leaving him.
"Wanda, please!" Magneto pleaded. "Look at what you've become! If you kill me, you'll drive another wedge into your soul, you'll be tainted with the stain of murder!"
"Something you're very familiar with!" Wanda screamed. "How many people have you killed, father? One? Ten? A hundred?! You damned hypocrite, don't you lecture me about murder!" The hex only intensified. Magneto felt every inch of his body sting. She could've killed him much faster, but he realized that she intended to torture him first. He collapsed to the ground on all fours, unable to hold himself up. "I'm going to show you the pain you caused me! You locked me away so you wouldn't have to deal with my power, do you have any idea what it's like to be treated like a prisoner your whole life?!"
"I do, Wanda..."
"I loved you, and I thought that you loved me!" Wanda's attack intensified and tears, tinted with tiny blue sparks, began to fall from her face. Magneto continued his struggle, but his power was nothing compared to Wanda's rage. The hex energy began to sting him like millions of tiny swords jabbing him at every point of his body.
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"I won't fight you," Xavier resigned. He stood up, perfectly calm, ignoring the violent swirl of clouds around him in the psychic plane. Lucas only growled in frustration.
"Are you trying to humiliate me, old man?" Lucas yelled.
"I'm trying to avoid fighting you, Lucas. I could hurt David."
"You'd be doing me a favor," Lucas replied. He flew at Xavier once more, but this time, Xavier countered- he shoved his arm into Lucas's head and reaching his son David. Lucas was stunned, unable to move. He could feel David growing stronger inside him, and his own strength was quickly fading. Lucas knew that if he persisted, he could free David.
Then, he felt someone behind him, in the real world.
"Wanda! Wanda, watch out!" Lucas tried to shout, but the words didn't come out. He gathered as much of his power as he could and reached up, taking hold of Xavier's arm and trying his best to force it out. Xavier quickly retracted it, not because Lucas had forced him, but because he feared Lucas's interference could damage David's psyche.
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Watching the battle, Toad hesitated. He knew where his loyalties were, and he knew what had to be done, even if he hated himself for the rest of his life. Toad took a deep breath and ran.
As Wanda continued to power the blue hex cage over her father, Toad jumped at her with an outstretched leg, connecting to Wanda's back. The blow spun Wanda around three times as she fell to the ground, landing on her back. With the hex cage gone, Magneto was free again and his power began to return. He saw his daughter Wanda on the ground, unconscious; sitting nearby was Toad, looking very much confused and startled.
"I'm sorry, Wanda," Toad said to his fallen friend. "I had to." Just feet away, Lucas snapped back into the real world when he realized Wanda was down. Now he faced not only his father Xavier, but Magneto, who was mostly immune to Lucas's attacks.
"It's not over!" Lucas yelled, panicking. He sent out a mental signal to whatever goons were still awake and ordered a retreat. He turned to Wanda, only to find the disgusting Toad sitting over her, checking her life signs. "Disgusting little pest, keep your slimy paws off of her!" Lucas telekinetically threw Toad aside and carried Wanda over to him. In a flash of light, they vanished.
Professor Xavier watched as Pyro, Sack and Psylocke retreated. A telepathic message from Jean told him Juggernaut was unconscious.
"Are you alright, Charles?" Magneto asked as he leaned on Toad as a crutch.
"I'm not hurt, if that's what you're asking... Magnus... your face..."
"What?" Magneto felt his face. Toad hadn't noticed it until then; Magneto had aged several years, wrinkles appearing on his face and bags under his eyes. His entire body had thinned slightly. Magneto pulled off his helmet and felt the rest of his head. "I... I'm old... Wanda hexed my enhancements, she must have started to reverse them... Charles, did you make any progress with David?"
"I tried to reach him, and in the process, I damaged Lucas's psyche," Xavier explained. "That should weaken him, and hopefully make him easier to find."
"He is our priority," Magneto reaffirmed, standing on his own and pushing Toad away. "Once Lucas is gone and David restored, we can work on rehabilitating Wanda, this time in a more safe manner."
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Lance sat on his couch, looking through the course catalog for Westchester Community College with an open beer on the folding table nearby. He wasn't too far into it before he had a knock at the door. He put down the catalog and answered.
"Hey, Lance!" Pietro Maximoff exclaimed, throwing his arms out. Pietro wasn't a heavily built man, but his body was well-toned and well-defined, showed off by the tight jeans he wore and the tighter burgundy button-down shirt hugging his chest, though the top few buttons were undone, revealing both the top of his chest and a small gold necklace. The first thing he noticed about Lance was his hair. "Still in need of a haircut, I see."
"Uh, Pietro! Hey..." Lance sputtered, genuinely surprised. He hadn't seen his old teammate in years. "Uh, what have you been up to?"
"Oh, just playing an important role in modern society by being a social deviant. How about you?"
"Same," Lance replied. "Come on in, man, it's been a while. You want a drink?"
"No, I'm good, thanks." Pietro stepped inside and marveled at the surroundings. "Geez, this looks like the old house."
"Yeah, I found an interior decorator who was willing to do it for me," Lance joked, sitting back down on his couch. "I heard you were across the country."
"Please, I can be in SoCal one minute and Miami the next, you know that." Pietro helped himself to a seat on a nearby folding chair. "I've just been drifting from place to place. It's a lot more boring than I expected."
"What'd you think, there'd be a party everywhere you went?" Lance asked.
"Kind of. But anyway, I've got a new job."
"Really," Lance said, disinterested.
"Yeah, I'm with SHIELD now."
"Really? What a coincidence, I'm with the KGB."
"I'm serious," Pietro replied. "It's like this... I've been making such a nuisance of myself that SHIELD had to step in. They locked me up and gave me two choices. Rot in prison, or work for them. Naturally, I laid down some terms and we had a deal."
"No way," Lance shook his head. "That's your new job? You're dealing meth or something, right?"
"No, damn it, I'm not a dealer. I'm not making this up." Pietro lifted his pant leg to reveal a small tracking device attached to his leg. "I could get it off easy, but I think this is a nice opportunity. They have a mission lined up for me, too," Pietro explained. "And I'm putting together a team."
"A tea..." Lance stopped, a look of frustration quickly washing over his face. "Oh, fuck you, Pietro, I knew you wouldn't show up if you didn't want something..."
"Hear me out, Lance," Pietro insisted, leaning forward. "I'm getting the Brotherhood back together. All we have to do is a single mission for SHIELD. That would be our only obligation. After that, I've got a pardon and I'm free to go."
"Okay, what do the rest of us get?" Lance asked.
"A huge fee from SHIELD," Pietro assured him. "Don't worry about it, I negotiated with them. We're the only ones who can do this, so they're willing to pay you guys a truckload of money for doing this. I don't get anything except a pardon, but hey, it'll be fun."
"I'm not doing it," Lance replied, rubbing his forehead.
"Oh, come on, you didn't even hear the mission."
"I don't care, I'm not doing it. I said I was tired of this superhero shit. I haven't worn my costume since... hell, since Apocalypse. I don't even know if I still have it anymore. Fred's got his wrestling thing, Toad's been pretty successful with his job. We don't need this."
"Lance, that's why I need you. If I get you onboard, the others will follow... besides, we're going after one of our own."
"What?" Lance asked, confused.
"Wanda. We're going after Wanda. SHIELD says she's been hanging out with that Lucas guy. That's why it has to be us, because Wanda's our only lead to finding his hideout."
"Damn it..." Lance threw his head into his hands. "He was right..."
"What?" Pietro asked.
"Lucas came here yesterday. He wanted me to join some team of his. I told him to fuck off. I had no idea Wanda was still in with him."
"She is. Lucas is our target, but in order to find him, we need to find Wanda first."
"So go to Xavier!" Lance shouted. "This Lucas guy's shielding her, too. If in four years Xavier and Magneto couldn't find them, what makes you think you can?"
"I don't know!" Pietro yelled back. "But I've got to try. She's my sister, Lance. I'm not too happy that she's involved with this guy. And... I'm not happy that I went so long without trying to stop her. The sooner we get her and take him down, the better. I know I haven't been the most... moral person, but I do care about my sister. Toad'll probably agree, but I can't do this without you and Blob. I need my team, Lance."
Lance looked down at the half-folded course catalog on his table, and took another sip from his bottle. "How much is SHIELD offering?"
"$50,000. Each." Lance finished the rest of his beer and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket.
"I'm gonna regret this... I'm in."
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"So, how does it look?" Toad asked, holding a mirror for Magneto in his office. Magneto looked at himself, feeling his face again, tugging at it here and there. "I mean, I ain't sayin' you look bad, I just-"
"Quiet," Magneto ordered. Once he had finished inspecting himself, he said, "It's nothing to worry about. I couldn't have aged more than twenty years. I'm certainly not showing my true age. Even if my body is weakened, my powers haven't diminished. I'm not in the least happy with what you did, Toad, but given the circumstances, your foolish action may have saved my life." That was about as close to a compliment as Toad could expect, and he took it. "Now, go."
"Uh, go where?" Toad asked.
"Anywhere. Just get out."
"Right, boss. Whatever you say." Toad quickly hopped out of Magneto's office, just as Professor Xavier entered. "I've had no luck pinpointing his location," Xavier explained. "I had a trace of him in Canada, but it's gone now."
"And Wanda?"
"Nothing on Wanda, or any of their allies. Lucas already persuaded Cain to join him, something not even Mystique could do. I think he may be gathering more allies from a collection of our worst enemies."
"Your worst enemies, perhaps," Magneto said. "I've made sure to keep my list an enemies small."
"I don't doubt that at all," Xavier replied cynically. A door opened and Toad bounded in, landing in front of the older pair.
"You rang?" Toad asked. Magneto looked quizzically at Xavier.
"I did," Xavier replied. "As fierce and irritable as she is, Wanda is not a cruel person. Perhaps some of the hidden compassion Toad saw in her may help sway her away from Lucas's influence."
"That'll only work if Magneto ain't around," Toad suggested. "'Cuz just having him or Pietro around sort of makes things difficult. Hey, what if you two split up?"
"Separate, we are easier targets," Magneto said. "Wanda will have difficulty locating me, but I have no doubt that Lucas, or one of his associates, could find me with little trouble."
"I think Toad may have something," Xavier said. Magneto's eyes widened almost comically at the suggestion. He blinked a few times. "You can cloak yourself from psychic probing and even Cerebro. That alone makes you difficult to find."
"But what if they attack again while I'm not here..."
"That's a risk we'll have to take," Xavier stated. "If we can draw them out, your absence will likely keep Wanda from reacting too harshly to us."
"Well, she's gonna be more pissed if she finds out Magneto ain't actually here," Toad explained.
"What do you suggest, then?"
"I... I dunno. You're the brains here. This is hard enough as it is." Toad scratched his head. "Man, I feel like a traitor sittin' here."
"We're not trying to hurt her, Toad, far from it," Xavier explained. "You're helping us to help Wanda. If you take a leave of absence now, Magnus, it will make us seem overconfident. With any luck, Lucas will take advantage and try a second attack with little preparation."
"If that happens, the team should focus on distracting Wanda," Magneto said. "That should give you enough room to disable Lucas, and then Wanda."
"If I didn't know better," Toad interjected, "I'd say you guys had already thought this out."
"We're just very good at thinking on our feet," Xavier defended. "I think I should leave the details of your whereabouts up to you. The less I know about it, the better."
"Very well. Prepare to issue a statement to the press," Magneto said, standing up. As soon as Xavier had left the room, Magneto called his helmet and slipped it on. "Come, Toad. We have to prepare."
"Oh, I'm comin', too?" Toad asked, hopping up to Magneto.
"Yes. I have something I'd like to work on during my vacation."
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Fred walked through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport with Ellie, who carried a small backpack as her only luggage. Together, they were a rather comical sight; the massive man, dressed in a bodyguard's black suit, accompanying a small girl wearing frumpy clothing. For all anyone knew, she was the president's daughter. Fred had been rigorously searched at every checkpoint, as if he was somehow able to conceal weapons inside his large body. They reached the proper gate and sat down; Fred took two seats.
"I just can't believe that you've met so many famous people," Ellie said, now talking more openly to Fred. "Professor Xavier, the X-Men, Magneto, Apocalypse, Unus the Untouchable... how do you keep that from going to your head?"
"Ah, I'm just a simple country boy at heart," Fred chuckled. "Who knows, maybe they'll ask you to join the X-Men some day. You'll meet tons more people than I did."
"Well, I don't know if I wanna be an X-Man," Ellie said, "But I think the school might be fun. How come you never went?"
"Kind of a long story," Fred explained. "I might tell you sometime." The PA announced the next flight. "That's you."
"Thanks for setting this up for me," Ellie said. She gave Fred a hug, or as close as someone of her size could give to a man that large. "You're really cool, Fred. Let's stay in touch."
"Sure thing. Heh. Have fun!" Ellie waved one last time before heading out the gate. Fred sat back down to reflect. Sure, their conversations could've been a little more interesting, but he was new to the nice guy thing. Outside of the Brotherhood and Unus, she was about the only person he'd ever met who didn't treat him like a big, dumb freak. He liked that. Even if he got nothing out of it, he also liked helping Ellie.
It wasn't often that girls talked to Fred. Ellie didn't see him as the Blob, she saw him as Fred Dukes. No girl had ever really treated him that way, except maybe Wanda, who now hated him. And Ellie was pretty cute, too. But Fred considered her more like a little sister, albeit one he had only know for a few days; it never took long for Fred to become attached to someone he liked, and that wasn't always a good thing.
Fred moved to the window, where he saw an enthusiastic Ellie wave to him from her seat aboard the plane. Fred waved back, then a thought occurred to him.
He hoped nobody would tell the guys he'd sent her. After all, he had a reputation to uphold.
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Nearly an hour later, Fred pulled into the driveway of Unus's mansion in an upscale gated community. The two story house was probably much more than Unus needed, given that only he and Fred lived there. Fred parked his black pickup truck outside the garage and stepped out, letting the vehicle bounce as the weight shifted.
Upon entering the house, Fred was surprised to find that Unus was entertaining a guest.
"Fred!" Unus called, seated in the living room with none other than Pietro Maximoff, two glasses of beer lying on the coffee table (with Pietro's being the least empty of the two). "Your old friend stopped by for a visit. We've been talking for the last hour about your old job."
"Pietro?" Fred asked, scratching his head. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, as I was explaining to Angelo here," Pietro began, "I was in the neighborhood. We've been talking all about Magneto, and Mystique."
"Oh. I hadn't said anything about that," Fred told him, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, how come you never told me you rubbed elbows with these people?" Unus asked. "I knew about the mutant gang, and the X-Men, but I had no idea you and your friend here were working for righteous causes." Fred looked at Pietro, wondering what he had told Unus to get him to believe Magneto and Mystique fought for 'righteous causes.'
"It's kind of a long story," Fred explained.
"I've already told it," Pietro said. "Which brings me back to the reason I stopped by. SHIELD wants us to do a job for them. You'll get a paycheck for it, and you can come back here when you're done, no hassles."
"Wait, I can't just-"
"Fred, it's alright," Unus said. "Go ahead and do this. It's not every day SHIELD asks you to help them out. I'd kill for a chance like that. Don't worry about me. I'll get a temp. I'll be here when you get back."
Fred wanted to flat-out refuse Pietro, but Unus's support made it difficult for him to do so, especially with both men in the room. The truth was that even though they parted on friendly terms, he didn't want to work with Pietro again. What if the mission involved Magneto again? Or the X-Men? Fred didn't want to deal with any of that.
"But you'll never get the others to-"
"I've got Lance," Pietro boasted. "I'll meet with Toad later in the week."
"You got Lance to agree?" Fred wondered. "Well... I guess if he thinks it's a good idea..."
Pietro's face briefly turned into a sneer. Even when he was hundreds of miles away, Lance still had a greater pull on the Brotherhood than Pietro himself. Pietro quickly turned the sneer into a smile and said, "He does. And so will Toad. But we need the whole team for this to work."
"I... uh..." Fred hesitated, trying to think of an excuse not to go. But, he couldn't think of a reason not to. He didn't need to hear the particulars of the mission, either; he knew he'd be filled in later. "Alright. Count me in."
Okay, so who did we meet? Sack and Psylocke. Psylocke is self-explanatory, but Sack is an obscure character from a Morlock offshoot called Gene Nation. Scrap that, he's essentially a blank slate here. Also, he's mute.