Disclaimer: The disclaimer stating that I don't own X-Men Evolution and aren't making any money with this writing would be here, except Iceman decided to show off and it's currently under a heat lamp defrosting.


"Sons of Liberty"
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'


Underground Military Facility
Fort Wadsworth Army Base
Staten Island, New York
Outside The Brig

"I can't believe they dinnae have guards down here," Banshee was muttering, "How stupid can one get? ...Dinnae want ta know th' answer ta tha', methinks..."

"Everyone wants the illusion of security, everyone for their own reasons," Shadowcat shrugged.

"Sounds like ye know what yer talkin' about, lass."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Shadowcat admitted, not sure whether to elaborate.

"Don't," Banshee stopped her, "I'm nae askin'. We've all got our stories an' they nae all for tellin'."

"Uh... Thanks, I guess," Shadowcat shook her head, "Even if I'm not sure if what you just said is a good thing or not."

Toad looked over his shoulder, "You know, we can go in any time now, yo."

"Yeah, let's get this done with so we can get out of here, huh? You can flirt with the old guy later," Quicksilver sniped.

A knife that Shadowcat hadn't even been holding before was now pressing its tip to his throat, "Keep it up, Quickie, just keep it up..."

"You can't kill him, Pretty Kitty," Avalanche said, gently moving the knife away from the speedster's neck.

"At least one of you isn't a violent maniac," Quicksilver remarked, rubbing where the knife-tip had been pressed.

Avalanche glared at him, "At least, don't kill him here. We're trying to get mutants away from the army, we don't want to leave a body for them. Wait until we get home, then you can kill him all you'd like."

Quicksilver gulped, causing a flash of pain to shoot through his neck, 'I take it back, they're both psychotic.'

Toad rolled his eyes, "Fine, yo, you all play around and I'll go play the hero."

"Havenae known ye tha' long, but me thinks it be a bad day when th' frog be th' voice o' reason," Banshee added, "I'm with 'im, we'll go in ourselves if ye'd rather stay out."

Avalanche took a series of deep breaths and pointed at Quicksilver, "We're gonna finish this rescue, Pietro... then, when we get home, you need to decide if you're willing to stay if we're going to keep working for SHIELD, because I don't know about the others, but I'm not going to put up with this attitude if you are."

Quicksilver folded his arms in defiance, "Who the hell made you the boss, Lance? If this is what working for the humans does to you, maybe I should be in charge."

Shadowcat, Banshee and Toad stared at the speedster before the Irish mutant spoke, "Ye be jokin', right?"

"I'd rather the Toad be in charge," Shadowcat added.

"If I'm in charge now, my first order is to do this jailbreak so's we can bounce, yo," Toad announced, "Let's get to it."

"Yeah," Avalanche agreed, taking a step back away from Quicksilver, "Let's get to it."

"Yo, finally," Toad grumbled, as he fell backwards and balanced on his hands as he unleashed a double-footed kick to the door, breaking the locking mechanism and causing it to slide open before he sprung back to his feet, "Ladies first and all that."

"Thank you, kind sir," Shadowcat teased as she walked past him and then stopped in the doorway, "How far from the door did you say before the laser beams started?

"Two feet from the door and two on each side of the hall," Toad answered, "Yo, like the teacher would say, 'single file, please'."


The opening of the door had drawn the attention of the three prisoners.

"Why am I not surprised to see the Brotherhood here?" Bobby grumbled as five people walked into the brig, "Figures they'd be working with anyone that gives them a shot at us, even the army."

"Watch it, Bobby," Shadowcat hissed, "We're working with the goverment, all right - with the part that's working against the people that have you here."

"If you're not working with the guys that captured us, what are you guys doing here?" Jubilee asked, standing up and walking to the bars of her cell.

"What's the matter, yo? Don't you recognize a jailbreak when you see one?" Toad quipped, "Or do I gotta say 'my name is Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you'."

"Hey, no offense, but I don't think she's the Princess Leia type," Avalanche countered.

Shadowcat elbowed him in the ribs, "Now you watch it, handsome."

Avalanche shrugged, "Whatever you say, Pretty Kitty... Toad, you checked the blueprints while you were at it, right?"

Once more putting on a British accent, Toad gave his friend an annoyed glare, "I find that question, mate, 'ighly insultin'."

"Of course you did," Avalanche smirked, "I should've known. You mind?"

"Not normally," Toad shot back, "But I think I can follow orders for once, yo."

Taking a black device hanging by a lanyard next to the door from it's hook, Toad shook his head, "What kinda idiot keeps the magnetic key this close to the cells? They deserve to have a jailbreak, yo."

The device looked similar to a pistol, except the 'barrel' was squared off and only two inches long. It was this part that Toad inserted into a socket on the nearest cell door and gave the device a turn. A light turned from red to green and Toad removed the key and watched as the door slid open.

"Thanks, I guess," Sam remarked stepping out into the hall. As he went to take another step, Toad stuck out his arm to stop him.

"Don't, yo, not all the security systems are down," the other mutant informed him, "Stick close to the walls."

Sam looked down at the floor where he had almost stepped, "Thanks again."

"Toad, the key," Shadowcat called out from the other side of the brig, holding out a hand.

With careful aim, Toad tossed the key across the brig and waited as Shadowcat opened another cell before returning the key. Seeing it falling towards the area of the floor covered by the laser tripwires, Toad darted out his tongue and caught it as Jubilee exited her cell.

"Whoever you guys are with now, we owe you one," the Chinese-American mutant stated.

"Whatever ye do, dinae let 'im hear tha', trust me," Banshee snorted, "Never forgets a favor owed 'im, he does."

Jubilee frowned, "Who?"

Shadowcat put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder, "It's a long story. Right now, let's just get out of here. Like Toad said, stay close to the wall and head for the door."

While Jubilee, Shadowcat and Sam made their way carefully back to the others waiting at the brig door, Toad moved on to the final prisoner.

"Come on, come on, get me outta here," Bobby insisted.

"I dunno, yo," Toad shrugged, "The way you were talkin', I might want to leave you in there for a bit."

"I'm sorry, okay?"

Toad smirked, it felt good to be the one with the power for a change, "Sorry for what?"

"What?" Bobby exclaimed.

"Just say it, Bobby," Jubilee demanded.

"Okay, okay," Bobby rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry I accused you of helping the army hold us prisoner, happy, Toad?"

"Sing me a song of my glory!" Toad commanded.

"Toad! Let him out so we can go," Avalanche instructed.

"Fine, fine, I'll let him out," Toad grumbled as he inserted the magnetic key, "Didn't have a camera for blackmail pictures anyway, yo."

Toad turned the key and took a step back along the wall, clearing the way in front of the door.

"Woohoo, the Iceman is out!" Bobby shouted, jumping up to grab onto the top bars of the cell doorway.

"Bobby, no!

"Bobby, don't!"

Jubilee and Sam shouted at almost the same time, not fast enough to stop their fellow Institute student from swinging out into the corridor and stumbling forward as he landed. Losing his balance, Bobby fell forward, landing face-first among the network of laser-tripwires down the middle of the brig corridor, breaking the beams and causing alarms to sound.

"Yo, we shoulda left you in the cooler, Snowman," Toad groaned, stepping out into the corridor now that their presence was known anyway and dragging the other mutant to his feet.

"We're going to Plan B," Avalanche announced over the sound of the alarms as Toad and Iceman joined the others, "Banshee, you take Jubilee and Cannonball. Quicksilver, feel free to give Iceman a rough ride. As soon as we have an opening, both of you go."


Outside the base, Blob looked around at the lights and sirens, "Pretty loud for a place that's supposed to be shut down. Guess that's our cue, huh, Boom-Boom?"

"Yep," the blonde agreed, creating a handful of time bombs, "Time to give them their opening."


Jubilee looked around, "You're all they sent, there's no-one else? And who's 'Banshee'?"

Banshee stepped forward and gave a sweeping bow, "'Twould be me, lass."

"And we're it," Shadowcat informed the New Mutants, "Got a problem with it?"

Sam took a step forward, "If they do, I don't. What can I do to help?"

Avalanche looked at him, "You want to help? You can clear a path ahead of the others; Boom-Boom and Blob are waiting for you outside... and try to keep Slushee from doing anything else stupid, wouldja?"

Cannonball glanced between Avalanche and Iceman a couple times, "Think I can do that..."

Surprising everyone, the Kentucky-born mutant spun around and punched Iceman, knocking the other mutant unconscious as he hit the floor.

"That do?" he asked.

"Boyo," Banshee grinned, "I do believe ye may earn a medal for tha'."

"The regular elevator's probably a bad idea... Two levels up and you'll find a couple vehicle lifts that go up to the surface, yo" Toad informed them, "That's your way out."

"Is that the way y'all came in?" Cannonball asked.

"No, but with the alarms going off, I give it three minutes at most before they discover the unconscious guard we left behind," Toad answered.

"What will you be doing?" Jubilee asked.

"What we're best at," Avalanche answered her, "We're gonna bring the house down."


Author's Note; Congratulations to demonic hellfire for being the one to figure out the reference in the previous chapter. For those still wondering, the reference is to Rachel Summer/Grey when Pietro challenges Lance on will he 'start hunting down other mutants like some kind of hound' if SHIELD wants him to. In the Days of Futures Past, Rachel was used as one of Ahab's mutant hunting Hounds before she escaped.