Freddy Dukes sat in a steel chair wringing his hands nervously.
"Name," the Voice said slowly and clearly.
"Frederick Jack Dukes," Freddy said quickly, "My… my friends call me Freddy."
"Codename?" the Voice requested.
"I'm the Blob!" Freddy exclaimed in excitement, "And nobody moves the Blob!"
"Do you have any hobbies or interests we should take into account?" the Voice asked with a sigh.
"Well… I may have accidently…" Freddy started rubbing the back of his neck, "Uploaded a virus in your system before I got here," he said quickly.
"That was you!?" the Voice exclaimed in disbelief.
-The very next day in the Boarding House-
Wanda sat lazily on the couch, enjoying that time in motherhood that every parent prays and hopes for… nap time. She smiled stretching out on the couch in complete relaxation, a relaxation that was cut short by a fellow Brotherhood woman.
"Idiots!" Regan exclaimed stomping into the living room and plopping down in Lance's favorite arm chair.
"Mmm… What they do this time?" Wanda asked refusing to open her eyes.
"They turned my breast pump into a bong!" Regan exclaimed crossing her arms in a huff.
"Sounds like them," Wanda said lazily opening one eye to see the blonde turn an interesting shade of red.
"I can't believe they did that!" Regan responded now shaking with anger.
"Really?" Wanda asked reluctantly pulling herself up into a sitting position, "You really can't believe the Dream Team converted your breast pump into a bong?"
"Well…" Regan trailed off, calming considerably.
"The same 'idiots' who once welded a beer can pyramid together so it would 'stand up against the forces of nature for all eternity', but proved to be no match for Mystique's car," Wanda stated with a playful smirk.
"Oh my god… What did I marry in to?" Regan asked in realization.
"Marry? I'm still trying to figure out if it's hereditary," Wanda explained with a lazy shrug.
"I believe it only affects the male half of our little family."
The women looked up to see Raven standing by the couch.
"It was Lance's way of telling the boys that he's decided their futures," Raven said leaning against the couch.
"Did you piss him off until he did what you wanted?" Regan asked with a knowing smile.
"I took a more hands on approach," Raven answered examining her nails.
-Flashback-
Lance had just settled into his old room, he laid on the bed mulling over the events of the past forty-eight hours. He let out a sigh knowing full well that he was on the short list of an equally short redhead.
The bedroom door was thrown open, an irate Raven standing in the doorway, "What the hell is your problem, Avalanche?" she asked in a dangerously low tone.
Lance swung his feet off the bed and stood up, "I'm in over my head this time," he said clenching his fists.
Raven walked to her protégé and placed her hands on his shoulders, she then threw him across the room, "What are you going to do about it!?" she exclaimed trying to glare a hole through his head.
"I'm gonna put it to a vote and see where the boys stand," Lance exclaimed slowly getting to his feet.
"A vote? You think this is a democracy Lance? This is a damn dictatorship and you need to step up and be Hitler! You lay down the law and they will follow you," she paused for a moment taking a calming breath, "I didn't make you leader because of your pretty tan skin, I made you leader because they will follow you to Hell and back for no other reason than because you told them to," Raven said in a much calmer tone than when she started.
"Shouldn't they think for themselves?" Lance asked looking up at his leader and mentor.
"Not when you trust your leader and he's always had your best interest in mind," Raven responded as she left the room.
Lance could only stare as the blue woman left him alone with his thoughts.
-Present Time-
"And that's how you spur the boys into action," Raven said with an arrogant nod, "They'll tell you all about your new future soon."
Amara walked into the living room, "Why are the boys in the front yard with a bicycle and a ramp?" she asked pointing out the window.
"A future they'll never get to live in, cause I'm going to kill them!" Raven exclaimed throwing open the drapes.
Wanda returned to her original position on the couch, "At least the garage will be safe," she said with a lazy yawn.
"They still haven't fixed that hole," Raven said turning to face the resident witch.
As if to further annoy the blue woman, a loud thud sounded from atop the roof followed by a crash from the backyard.
Lance suddenly burst through the front door, "No need to be alarmed… Todd was wearing a pot on his head," he said staring at the women.
"Lance, the bike is ruined and there's another hole in the garage," Pietro said speeding into the room.
"Someone get me down from here!" Todd yelled from the roof.
"Oh and Todd is stuck on the roof," Pietro said pointing straight up with his arm fully extended.
St. John then ran through the door, "Did it work?" he asked a large toothy grin on his face, "Did we land a Brotherhood member on the moon?"
"I married that," Regan said with a sigh.
"I shared a womb with that," Wanda said refusing to open her eyes.
"I fathered that," Raven said slapping her forehead.
-Several hours later in the basement-
Karima and Pietro had snuck off to their room for a little alone time. The young couple spooned completely engrossed in each other's being. That is until…
"Pietro…" Karima reached back and ran her fingers through Pietro's hair, "What are we?" she asked worry etched onto her face.
Pietro stopped his ministrations to look her in the eyes, "An irresistible mutant male and a hot Cyborg chick about to engage in some vigorous rabbit like humping?" he said giving the girl his best dashing smile.
Karima promptly pushed him off the bed and across the room into the washing machine, "This is serious, Pietro!" she exclaimed her eyes betraying her anguish.
At that moment she noticed how Pietro looked into her eyes, as if he could actually see the fear wrapping itself around her heart.
Pietro slowly got to his feet, his eyes never leaving her own as if prompting her to explain her panic.
"I kind of have a thing with abrupt change," she explained thrusting her robotic hand into Pietro's face, "I just need something real to hold on to," she rested her fingertips on the side of Pietro's face.
Pietro took Karima's hand into his own and held it, "I'm Pietro, you're Karima and we're in love. What more is there?" he asked enveloping her into a hug.
She rested her head into the crook of his neck but the slightest hint of doubt would not leave her face.
-Later that evening in the X-Mansion-
Professor Charles Xavier sat next to his most trusted advisors at the kitchen table. The elder X-Men sat in the most important meeting of their young wards' lives, a meeting that involved tea and the company of General Fury.
"General Fury, I assume you still want to employ my X-Men as your new government sanctioned mutant team," Charles said examining the General closely.
"Actually, I've decided to go another route," Fury stated eying the Professor in return, "Why would I want to drop a bunch of mice in a snake pit, when down the street I have a gang of snakes ready to crawl around?"
"Snakes down the street?" Ororo repeated slowly, "You don't mean…"
"I'm almost certain he is implying them," Hank stated with a small smile, "Why, I bet at this very moment they're coming up with something absolutely diabolical."
-Brotherhood Boarding House Kitchen-
Lance walked into the Brotherhood kitchen in search of something to quench his thirst when something caught his eye.
"Wanda made brownies again?" Lance asked a small smile on his face as he approached the tray of delicious goodness.
Regan walked into the room and saw Lance shove a brownie into his mouth, "How long have you been eating those!?" she exclaimed trying to wrestle the tray out of her husband's grasp.
Lance placed the tray high in the air, just out of Regan's reach, "I don't know, a week?" he asked with a mouth full of brownie.
"Wanda's dating again," Regan said hoping up and down, "She hates how her birth control pills taste so she's been baking them into brownies."
"That's why my breasts are tender…" Lance said with a shrug as he ate another brownie.
-The X-Mansion-
"Why waste our time? If you're not going to use the X-Men, why show up at all?" Ororo asked in an annoyed tone.
"I enjoy free tea," Fury said picking up his cup.
"With all do respect..." Charles started before being cut off.
"Why choose those punks over my punks?" Logan asked with a low growl.
"Those punks…" Fury placed his teacup on the table, "They're the type of people that are going to walk right into your house, track mud on your clean floor, eat all of your food, drink your last beer, take your girlfriend upstairs, punch you in the throat and dare you to say something about it. In other words they have something your X-Men don't… they like to call it… 'Sway'," he said with a sly smirk.