A/N- Well... this is chapter 13. And in all my actual novels, something bad always happens in chapter 13. This is a chapter I've been dying to write. I hope you enjoy it after such a reflective piece by our dear Lance.
The phone was ringing again that evening as the Brotherhood suited up for the first time in over a month. No one picked up the phone nor did they listen to the message. Kitty's voice swam to the surface as Pietro double checked to make sure the new uniforms worked with the mutant's new bodies. None of them were in usual uniforms. They all were something like Wanda's. Tight fitting clothes in a color to match their personality with 'armor' at wrists or ankles or both; Lance in black, Fred in orangish, Toad in green, and Pietro in silver. As the speedster adjusted the suits, their leader surveyed his team with a small smile on his face. For once, they all looked official and comfortable, ready to reek havoc of the completely unsuspecting X-Men.
The mission that evening was highly simple. They were testing their fighting abilities now that their bodies had shifted. True, they could've just as easily asked to use the Danger Room or train with the goody-goodies. However, that was neither their style nor their personal desire. They preferred to do things the hard way and be able to annoy someone while doing it. And they all knew this would annoy the hell out of Scott when he realized the fight was a mere game and they were only trying out old moves and searching for new ones. Yet, they were going through with the plan and their personal tailor had made them 'bitching' outfits, as certain members described them. With the plan set, what little plan they'd bothered to come up with, and their outfits deemed fine, Lance broke into a wide grin and announced that it was time to set off.
" Time to kick some X-Geek ass!" he cheered, causing the others, save for Wanda, to roar with approval. Deep down, they all knew they were going to be coming home the losers, but that didn't really matter at the moment, " To the Jeep!"
" This is gonna be so much fucking fun!" Pietro exclaimed as he clapped innocently. Toad nodded, quietly tugging on the part that hugged his chest, " Aw, is the whittle baby nervous?"
" Shut the hell up! I ain't nervous an' I ain't a baby!" he snapped, punching Pietro in the arm and missing. They glared at one another before Fred shoved them into the back seat to hush the bickering they all knew would eventually spill over. The rest climbed aboard and Lance slammed on the gas as a shadow of night fall washed over the car that was now speeding towards the Institute.
In a matter of moments, they were parked outside. Although it felt a bit funny to literally pull up in front of the monitors and get out in full uniform, the Brotherhood did just that. Knowing they'd been spotted already, Toad hopped the fence and Pietro took it at full speed. As for the others, Wanda and Lance were heaved over by Fred, with the rock tumbler crashing onto the toad and Wanda stumbling forward. Lastly, the Blob pulled himself up and over as alarms began to go off and lasers pointed in their direction. The gang steadied themselves, their hearts racing for the first time in so long.
The beams fired and instinct took over.
Pietro bolted, creating a zig zagging effect almost breathtaking. Lance's eyes rolled back into his skull, an enormous amount of energy plummeting down his spine and into his feet, falling into the ground in rolls that collided with solid tree and rock. Wanda created a force field that blocked herself, her hands glowing with a warm blue fire. Fred held up his arms and the rays had no effect whatsoever as they bounced off. Toad dodged them without hesitation, his senses telling him when to go and when to stop and which way to twist.
The ground tore up and machines were crushed. Blue fire ripped through the air and broke those that remained. Those on the defensive avoided injury and moved the party forward, blocking and alerting those on the offensive to new devices about to go off. The first to reach the doors the X-Men were bursting out of was, of course, Pietro and he smugly grinned as the rest of his team soon joined him. Behind them, the grounds laid in ruins, a pile of burned and cracked nature.
" What do you think you're doing!!!" Scott bellowed, marching over to where Lance was standing. The rock tumbler slyly grinned, mocking him at every turn, " What the hell is going on, Alvers!"
" The name's Avalanche, Cyclops," he sneered, hands on his hips. The other went to snatch up the Brethren's shirt, but stopped short when he saw that curved chest, " You've got no problem fighting a bunch of chicks, do ya, huh? You'd of beat us into next week before, Summers. What's wrong?"
" This has nothing to do with you being turned into girls!" he protested, voice growing slightly uncertain.
" Maybe it does!" Pietro jumped in, casting a vicious look in Evan's direction. None failed to notice that gesture, " Maybe this is to prove we haven't changed! Maybe this is revenge for turning us into chicks! For not bothering to fix that damn machine! Maybe that's why we're here, Summers!"
" Ve're trying to fix da machine!" Kurt cut in, waving his arms angrily, " Vou're the ones vho broke it! Vou should be helping!"
" We don't have to fucking help! You did this to us and you need to fix it! I don't know their damn reasons for being here, but I'm here for revenge!" Pietro shrieked, clenching his hands into fists, " I'm here to face off with you, Daniels. To prove to you I can whoop your ass, even as a girl!" he took a few steps forward before Jean held out her arms and all of them stopped.
" This is ridiculous! We shouldn't be fighting! We're supposed to be on the same team here!" she shrilly reminded them, though her words fell on deaf ears. Sparks were basically forming between the glares of Lance and Scott, so much so, they could put Storm to shame. Pietro was closing the gap between Evan and himself and Kurt had just disappeared. Before the redheaded mutant could rally for peace, the fight broke loose on both sides in screaming and punches.
Evan's head jerked to the side repeatedly as blurs of silver slammed into his cheek. Lance and Scott tackled each other to the ground, lasers shooting up to the sky and the ground cracking dangerously whenever the rock tumbler's feet touched the Earth. Toad let out a yelp as Kurt grabbed him around the shoulders and thus their infamous wrestling broke out. Kitty rushed forward in an attempt to help someone but was knocked twenty feet backwards from an unseen blow from a much faster moving Fred. Jean was then locked in a battle with Wanda, whose power was cracking down on the physic and on Rogue, who was trying to get to her to drain her of said power.
Kurt pinned Toad to the ground as a storm cloud crackled over head and spikes shot into the air. Those red eyes glowed in the darkness, but the elf held onto that body as tightly as he could. Both were breathing deeply and glaring at one another.
" Toad! Stop it! I have something I need to tell vou!" he gasped right before he was head butted and knocked to the side. Toad hopped into a predator like position, his long hair falling into his face, " I don't vant to fight vou!" he begged, rubbing dirt from his cheek.
" Funny, 'cause I do,"
Thunder boomed and rain began to pour down as Lance kneed Scott in the stomach not far in the distance. Kurt blinked as the water caused that tan hair to become slick and that outfit to reveal the line of the panties this creature in front of him was dressed in. He wasn't sure why he was noticing this, but he did, and he cleared his throat and motioned down. Toad didn't even flinch. Clearly, he'd learned not to fall for such obvious tricks. Swallowing hard, then, Kurt vanished and reappeared behind the mutant. As he was about to be punched, he leaned in close.
" I can see vour panty line," the punch halted an inch from his face and the other's eyes were suddenly gold, though the face was red, " Vou might vant to get out of the rain,"
" DAMMIT, KURT!!!! WHY'D YA HAVE TA SAY THAT!!!" Toad yelled, before he uncharacteristically smacked him across the face before hopping to his feet. Kurt sputtered right as a foot collided with his skull and his body lurched to the side. He crashed into Pietro, who slammed into the muddy ground with a loud thud. They skidded for a moment, then came to rest, both moaning and twitching where they laid in a puddle. Evan stared as Toad pulled at his uniform. Then, like the true boy he was, the X-Man jumped to his feet and shot two spikes at the mutant.
And the most horrifying thing happened as the others turned when Pietro and Kurt hit the floor. Everyone screamed in disbelief, shock rendering powers useless as hands reached forward to stop the unstoppable.
Toad stood there as the spikes sliced through his body. His watched them being fired and didn't move. One went through his right shoulder, the other cut through the left half of his stomach. Blood gushed forth from the wounds as he was jerked off his feet and plummeted backwards to the ground. He landed with a deafening thud and was motionless as the others broke free and rushed forward, radioing in for immediate medical care. The red liquid was pouring from the wide open wounds and oozing out of his mouth. His eyes fluttered in and out of focus, looking from one face to the next. Hands covered the wounds, powers lifting his shaking body off the ground and moving him inside.
Voices swam around his head as he was rushed inside the very bright Institute. Toad closed his eyes against it, confused and coughing. His body was on fire with agony, every thought in his head shrieking about why he hadn't avoided such an obvious attack. He'd stood there and let it happen. He wasn't even sure why. Was he truly that conditioned by Wally that he wouldn't even avoid death anymore? Did he want to die? His head hurt and was drowning in fog. He couldn't think. To be honest, he didn't want to. He was so tired of thinking. It was nice to be in such warm arms, being cared for instead of beaten. But he didn't really care. He didn't care. He just wanted to sleep and never wake up and never hear that voice again and never see that smile again and never think again.
Never again. Never. Never.
Everything was dark, cast in shadows upon shadows. The moon was gone, the stars as the only source of light at all. The road stretched on and on, nothingness creating the feeling of complete detachment from reality. Just the sky and it's wicked faces in stars and a sidewalk that couldn't be seen and a road untraveled. No lamp lights appeared to be working, but then this was the neglected part of Bayville. If they'd ever worked, he didn't know. All that mattered then was that the house behind him had a phone that kept ringing and the darkness did not. That was enough comfort to brave the void before him.
A ringing echoed in the distance. Once, twice, a shudder went down his spine. Three, four, five times, he clenched his hands at his chest. Six, click, voices swam to the surface, he turned away from the home. As a voice boomed out, it's words drowned out by distance alone, he tore away from the dirt road and pounded down the sidewalk, forgetting his mutation entirely. At that moment, he was just human.
The air had turned to ice. When had it gotten so cold? He wasn't wearing his jacket. He was just in his pajamas, which consisted of a T-shirt and loose knee length pants. His feet were freezing. Where had he put his shoes? Had he left them there? He couldn't remember. But his feet were cold and starting to hurt from how hard he was running. He didn't stop, though. He didn't even slow down. If anything, he sped up, turning the corner at the end of the block.
Light nearly blinded him, a car tearing by. He bolted behind it, running across the street, to the other side, just in case that ringing followed him and figured out where he was going. He had to get away, he had to lose it. If he didn't lose his mind first. Why hadn't he unplugged the phone? Would he have noticed it wasn't plugged in? What would he say? He didn't want to know, didn't want to know what that man on the other end of the phone would say when he pulled up in front of the home and found it deserted. Would he buy the excuse that he'd gotten afraid of the dark and left before he got there?
The road veered to the right, suddenly well lit and painful that way. He shielded his eyes, cutting across a street he hadn't noticed was full of cars until he was running through it. Horns blared, people slammed on the breaks, but he just kept going. He could see the perfectly white lights of the haven up ahead. Just a little more, a little more and he'd be away from the ringing and the phone and the screaming of his name and the agony of knowing that man was on his way.
Gates rose up out of nowhere and Toad Tolansky slammed into them.
Letting out a scream, Toad banged and clawed at the gates. Then desperation and mutation came over him and he climbed up them. In a second, his feet touched the wet grass behind the bars. The second they did, he ran towards the huge building towering over the grounds. He felt danger, knew he was going to be shot at, and kept going. The biggest danger lurked back where he'd come from, he knew. So he hid behind the fountain instead, crouching down and shaking violently.
Red lasers slammed into the ground near him and he bolted. The lasers followed, hitting the stairs as he ran up them. The doors would be locked. They would be locked, but he knew the X-Men would come for him. He could already see Jean's hair coming around the upstairs corner. But they weren't Quicksilver and they couldn't get there in time. In a moment, a second even, that man was going to get there and take him away from everything and kill him. Slit his throat, beat him. It didn't matter. It was going to happen before those mutants got down the stairs and that wasn't good enough. That wasn't enough. The darkness had been, but now, against the cold glass of the Institute, it wasn't enough.
He could hear the car door slamming shut in the echos of his mind, over the sobbing cries pouring out of his mouth. Wally was behind him and they weren't there and they couldn't save him now. He saw them coming, but it wasn't enough. They weren't enough. He was already done for.
Toad sat up screaming in the middle of the hospital wing of the downstairs section of the Institute, causing Storm and Hank to jump from where they were reviewing medical records. The heart monitor was soaring, everything racing in a panic as the mutant thrashed and began to rip wires out of his body. Before he could, however, Hank grabbed his forearms and held him at bay. After a couple of seconds, it dawned on the toad that he wasn't in front of the Institute and he was in some serious pain. A moan escaped his mouth as he collapsed backwards against the pillows and glanced around the room he was currently being kept in as the blue man in front of him reinserted the needles.
The room was decorated with gifts from the Brotherhood and X-Men. Mostly stuffed animals as he couldn't eat candy and he didn't like collecting cheesy cards. Thus, a variety of multicolored frogs lined his bed, some with hearts that said 'I Wuv You' or 'Get Well Soon'. One, the biggest of the set, had a heart that read 'I'm Sorry'. Along with the frogs, there were flowers from nature, wild flowers that he preferred to store bought kinds.
Although it was nice to see such mementoes of affection for a change, Toad couldn't help but feel confused as to why they were there. Actually, he wasn't even sure why he was there. Slowly, he sat up and looked over at his old science teacher, who gave him a heart warming smile.
" Yo, Mr. MaCoy," he greeted him, waving a tiny bit.
" You're looking a lot better, Tolansky. Took a nasty hit, did you? Always were a careless fighter," he answered, patting him on the head and laughing at some private joke. Those gold eyes blinked a couple of times. As he'd been his teacher, Hank didn't need to be told that those eyes were confused and nothing he'd just said was registering. It was the same look he'd gotten for several months whenever he attempted to teach him about chemistry, " Perhaps the shock made you forget. You took two of Evan's spikes pretty bad when you attacked the Institute the other night. You've had a fever for the last few days,"
" Few days?"
" Is that a problem? You missing work, huh?" he joked, nudging the boy. He got a smile, finally. Hank let out a sigh of relief, " For a second there, I thought you'd lost your sense of humor,"
" Huh? No, not me,"
" Your friends have been in and out, as you can tell. I was quite surprised... I never knew Pietro would dye his hair... I guess a lot of things have changed since you lot turned into females..." as soon as he said it, a red flag jumped up in Toad's head. That tone, he knew it from somewhere. Before he could figure out where, though, his teacher continued, " You've lost weight, Tolansky. And you had bruises all over your body. And I don't think you've ever been injured in a battle before. Something you'd like to tell me?"
" No,"
" Todd, I may be old, but I'm not completely out of touch," he got a set stern look on his werewolf's face. Toad swallowed hard, the heart monitor showing that he was beginning to panic, " I'm gonna be straight with you: are you in an abusive relationship with you're new boyfriend?"
" N-no..." his voice shook as he said it and he hurried to cover his mouth.
Then his dream that had been spawned by the fever leapt to mind. He could see the street as he ran, desperate, for safety. It had seemed so real, so completely real, that he couldn't deny his feelings anymore. He couldn't deny the truth anymore. He was in need of some serious assistance. This man in front of him wasn't Xavier, he wasn't someone the toad would usually seek out for help. However, he was a doctor and he was a teacher and he was someone who cared. Yes, Lance and Kurt had both demanded to know the same thing. Both times he'd run away and found himself crying as Wally struck him over and over. Was it worth it for that kiss and to be held at night when everything was so dark and lonely? Was it worth it to lose himself on a battlefield and be seriously damaged? Was love worth that? He didn't know and he didn't know what would happen when he saw Wally again. All he knew really was that someone who had seen the stitches and the blackened eyes and bumps and greenish bruises was standing right there, giving him a look he hadn't seen since he was a child.
The look of a parent who cared. Who gave a damn.
" Yes..." Toad choked out, covering his face as he began to cry and shake. Two long, furry arms hugged him close to a chest with a kind heartbeat and he broke down in terrible sobs, " But he says it's l-love... h-he l-l-loves m-me... he's th-the only person wh-who eva lo-loved me..."
" That's not true, Todd," Hank whispered, feeling two webbed hands gripping at his shirt, " That's not true. So many people love you, you just don't know it,"
" N-not like W-W-Wa... him,"
" You're worth more then that, Todd. Trust me. You deserve so much better," he assured him, closing his eyes as he wondered how this could've happened to someone who'd once laughed and casually informed him he never did homework. He couldn't believe that he was witnessing Todd Tolansky, the unhurtable Toad of the Brotherhood, break down in sobs. In that sense, nothing seemed real. The world of all things sane had vanished and he was left standing on the edge of the surreal world the Brotherhood had constructed for itself, questioning what was behind the others' smiles and hardened eyes.
As Toad shook his head and cried, Hank could never have known that the worse was yet to come. This was just the tip of the iceberg that would mark the downward spiraling end to the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.