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Toad sat on his bed, wrapped tightly in his straight jacket...a mask fastened around his face. He was beginning to see clearly again. His medication from that morning was beginning to ware off. He could hear and see the birds outside barred windows. How pretty. These sights were the same every day. He had made a routine of them all year. His daydreaming was interrupted by the familiar sound of his door being unlatched. " You again? Why do keep coming to visit me?" Pietro sat next to him, " If I didn't, you'd probably be alone." " Thought by now, you'd want to be rid of me." " Yeah." Pietro smiled. " I've never been a big fan of yours. But, y'know, it's not really my place to say who's worth my time anymore. That's what happens when you become one of the good guys." " Hmph." " I spoke to Xavier. He says you're welcome to go there if you want out of here. Being a telepath, maybe he can help you with your problems." Toad glanced at the sheets and then sighed, " Y'know, Pietro....I...I don't even remember my problems." " A year of the same four walls can do that I guess..." " No...it's like...I'm not angry anymore. Even when I am....I'm not. It's like...the little things don't bother me anymore." Pietro frowned, " Is that honestly how you feel, Toad? Or are you just jerking me around?" " Really. What are they giving me?" " Records say 5 mg of xannex twice a day." " Damn." " Surprised you're not drooling." " I think I did the first day. I like it." " Of course. It's a narcotic." " Pietro....I want to go home. I...I miss my kids....Ren....Jeremy.....I miss Jasper." He looked out the window again, " And I miss....my people. I miss them all. Ezra, Carolinus, Mortimer, Fiver, Sawyer, Angelo, Nicodemus, Quartus, all of them." " Maybe a little balance was all you needed the whole time?" "Why are you here?" " Reason why not? Came to wish you a happy birthday...though I guess it doesn't mean very much." " Pietro...can you get me out?" " Sorry, but you're wanted for murder. If you end up diagnosed sane....you go to prison to carry out your term." " Figures. Never hurts to ask though." Pietro nodded. He felt a small twinge of sympathy....but nothing else. He knew Toad was a criminal and he planned to treat him like one....a criminal he just happened to know very well personally. Toad had spent a lot of time thinking that year. Of all the things he thought about, he worried about the impression he left on his children. Would they resent him for his absence? "Excuse me," from the nurse. " Mr. Tolansky is due for his examination and medication. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave now." Pietro nodded and stood up, " Hey, try to hang in there, alright?" " Eh..." Pietro nodded to the nurse and was led out by the rest of the staff present. The nurse glanced over at Toad, " Todd, you're up." Toad nodded and stood up and walked over to the nurse who led him down the hall. He often peered back over his shoulder....and finally smiled when he could see no one. " What took you so long?" " Shut up. I'm not talking to you until we get back to the ship. Do you know ‘ow ‘ard it was to get in ‘ere?" Jasper whispered. *** A swift slap to the face, " Damn you, Todd! ‘Ow the ‘ELL could you do that to me?!" Jasper demanded angrily. A group of the mutant frogs crouched by the door listening in to the wrath of Mala-Sa. " Paige, I'm alright. I'm fine. And I think I may have found a good medication." " Don't you Paige me, you ass!" Jasper pounded a fist onto the table. " I can't tell you ‘ow ‘ard it is to lie to our children, Todd. ‘Ow could I promise you'd be ‘ome fine when I didn't even know ‘ow you were?" " Do they resent me?" " No. They think you were on some grand adventure and plan to tell them great tales when you return. Unfortunately, we could ‘ave used you ‘elp ‘ere while you were taking a jolly ‘oliday in the looney bin." " What happened?" There was a long pause and Jasper sat down on the cabin's bed, curling up and beginning to cry. " Jasper, answer me." " I couldn't stop ‘im, Todd. ‘Is ‘elmet...I couldn't penetrate it with my powers." " Who?" Jasper turned around, " Magneto." " Bullshit. Magneto's dead. We killed him ourselves." " ‘E survived, Todd. We couldn't stop ‘im. And ‘e ‘as Jeremy." " What?!" " Ren came flying into the ship but Jeremy.... ‘oo knows what Magneto did to ‘im." Toad frowned. " Rally the troops, Jasper. I'm going after my son." *** " I must say, you look just like him." Magneto smiled, admiring the scowling child. " How do you know my dad?!" " Ah, your father used to work for me." He chuckled. " I'm amazed he could ever find anyone to have children. Or...are you one of his cloned creations, like those frogs." " Watch your tongue!" Jeremy spat. " My dad's a king and a god. He'll make you so very sorry when he comes for me!" " You've got so much spirit....Let me clue you in on something...Jeremy, was it...?" " You have no right to call me by my birth name. You will call me Mala-Ka!" " Mala-Ka? Ah, yes. I do believe I heard those mutant frogs calling for you by that name." Magneto smiled. He was amazed at just how much Jeremy looked like Toad...yet acted completely different than the Toad he remembered.....minus that exploding thing. " What do you want with me?" " Well, I had planned to use you as bait. Your father and I...we have some unfinished business together. Planned on killing you before his eyes....making him suffer in ways one can only dream of." " Kill me? Puh, in a cowardly way. You'd use your powers to do it...and shield you from the rest of the world." Jeremy accused. " You can't even face me without them. You do nothing but hide. I'm sure if I could live my life in a bubble, I'd be indescribably cocky too." Magneto scowled and removed his helmet, setting it on the steel table beside him and watching Jeremy carefully. " You have a very wicked tongue....much like your father." He leaned in with a sly smile, " I had also planned on changing my mind when I saw just how much spirit you have...how you act in the face of danger." " You don't scare me." " Exactly. You don't snivel and cower away. Join my group, Jeremy...er...do forgive me...Mala-Ka. When I win this war on earth, I'll give you a spot of power in my new Brotherhood." " I don't want a spot under you!" Jeremy replied, turning up his nose. " I don't see why I should bow down before you on earth...not when I can rule a whole planet as king elsewhere. My parents are coming for me and they are going to bring you down!" Not even a hint of tears....or fear. Magneto was silent, trying to find something in Jeremy's body-language that would suggest weakness. Even admired the toady crouch....but there was nothing in his posture except pride and aggression. He truly wasn't afraid or worried in any way about Magneto. Why should he be? He was raised his entire life to believe his father was a god...an immortal spirit...and that he was the son of Mala-Ra....destined to rule an entire world. Why should he worry about some puny earth mortal if his parents were gods? *** Toad hopped along the field, taking a short-cut. Jasper had taken on a winged form he had seen somewhere and kept an eye out from the air. The army of frogs were in full force, spread and clustered as needed in teams. Toad was only halted momentarily by mutant in front and behind. He had been herded without even realizing it and led into a dead end...Avengers on one side...and the X-Men on the other. He scowled, recognizing so many faces. " Get out of my way," he said simply. " We can't do that, Toad," Pietro replied. " I told you already..." " Screw your damn earth laws! I'm not playing games anymore!" " Toad..." He turned around, seeing a full grown Jean Grey. Seems even now they all were momentarily stunned by his lack of aging. It was as if they'd expected a chubby middle-aged, ugly man but instead got the slim, not too horribly ugly for hope Toad. Jean pressed on, " What is it that you want here? We're not going to let you wreak havoc on earth just for your pleasure." " I admit I came back our of pure anger and wanted to make those who hurt me suffer. I don't think I'd be able to find them all. Kids will be kids. I can make the rage from my past go away....but the present...that's a whole new ball game." " Toad..." " Shut up!" He pointed to Jean, " I will make no negotiations! I will have no trouble whatsoever to bring more of my people from my planet to yours! I want my son or I will destroy the planet earth!" " Be realistic," Vision spat, obviously, and with good reason, not liking Toad one bit. " Realistic?" Toad hissed. He had no chance to say anything else before Vision fell to his knees. The psychic force pushed through the crowd as Jasper stepped beside Toad. " Last chance. Either ‘elp us or get the ‘ell out of our way. I want my son. And I'm not leaving until we get ‘im back. And I don't care if it means a war of the worlds. We ‘ave two planetary kingdoms to fight for our cause." " So, it's your choice," Toad smiled. " Magneto's defeat and my son's release.....or the total destruction of this worthless hell-hole of a planet." " Shall we force a path for you, Mala-Ra?" Carolinus suggested, holding a strange alien pitchfork. The two teams seemed as if they were thinking hard about what to do. By law, Toad belonged in a prison or asylum cell. Morally, it was right to find this innocent child. " We'll make a deal with you," Cyclops suggested. " No negotiations!" " We'll help you find and retrieve your son. But, your people must return to your planet. You, on the other hand....must stay behind." " What the f.." " You are a criminal who has not yet served your time for the crimes you committed. Your wanted for murder, you attacked a pregnant woman and you escaped from..." " Whatever," Toad scowled. " My son...alive!" He stood upright, " If anything happens to him, everyone will pay for it." With that, Toad turned to the Avengers, " And if anyone tries to take me down, I'll be sure to let you all meet my wife, personally. I'm sure she'd love to show you how quarrels are settled at home." He turned to the frogs, " I think I'm done here. Let's go." " Toad..." " Forever the prick, Summers? The more you jabber-jaw the more likely Magneto will do something to my son. I'd like to see your precious X-Men...and these pathetic Avengers take down a war-planet and a planet of genetically engineered mutant frogs." *** " You honestly think your a god-prince, don't you?" Magneto smiled. Jeremy had been given free run of the room, possessing no powers more than the leap he inherited from Toad. " It's what I was raised to believe and I don't think my people would lie to me." Magneto sighed and pulled a file from the cabinet and sat at his desk. He turned to Jeremy and smiled, " Come here, boy. I'll tell you about your parents on a professional level." Jeremy did as he was told, glancing at the papers as Magneto went on, " I have here the files of your parents. Todd Tolansky....Toad....the one you call Mala-Ra...is no god." " Take that back!" " Nor was he born on your planet. Toad was born here on earth." " Lie!" " It's true. Born in Europe and used for scientific experiments by curious men and women doctors who perhaps strengthened him...weakened him....contributed to what he became as a humble human being." " He can't be!" " But, he is. He worked for me when he was a little older than you are now. And, though very impressive, he wasn't very much to be proud of. I honestly thought he'd never amount to anything. It still amazes me that he could found a planet, a new race and have a family with his disgusting disposition." " My father if a great man," Jeremy insisted. " Nothing you say will make me think otherwise. He gave my people life and a home. He gave life to me and my sister...and he has governed a successful kingdom for twelve years!" " Your people...your family....none of that power would have ever come about without me, Jeremy." " Pathetic fool that you are! How dare you talk to me with such disrespect!" Had he been anyone else, Magneto would have probably reprimanded him a long time ago for that mouth. But, he was so amused by it that he ignored the anger and inwardly laughed. " It was I who made it possible for your parents to meet. I created the laboratory where the two met for the first time since they were toddlers. You and your sister are both children born of science projects....and you both belong to me....the creator of Black Womb II." " I belong to no one and no one will give me commands." " He must get this from his mother," a female voice sighed. " Perhaps. But, it is very possible his father had more to him than we had him figured for," Magneto smiled as Mystique stepped out of the shadows. " Everything is going according to plan." She said. " I knew if we took the brat that Jasper would free Toad from the asylum. I'm sure they are on their way." " They may have destroyed Black Womb II, but I still have control over that slimy fool and that psychic." " I want to help." " Patience, Mystique. I have a feeling it won't be that simple. Toad will be after us...and the authorities will be after Toad." *** " There it is." Jasper gasped. " I can trace him." " Fine, the let's go," From Scott. " Wait!" Toad spat. Two bullfrogs got on either side of Scott and held the alien forks towards his neck. " Mortimer, Poseidon, leave him be and come over here." He glanced at the tree frogs on the branches, " What do you see up there?" " As clear as can be, Mala-Ra," from Sawyer. " Not a single obstacle for miles around," from Fiver. " Quiet on the frontier," Angelo remarked from the ground...not being a tree frog, he couldn't see as far as they could. " Mala-Ra, that's more suspicious than if we had a full-scale battle on our hands." " This is ridiculous," Scott sighed. " Quiet you," Carolinus hissed. " Show a little respect." " I agree, Angelo," Toad said, ignoring everyone else. " He knows we're coming. It's too easy." " You think ‘e lured us into a trap?" Jasper asked. Toad hummed a moment, " I want a message sent back to the ship." The tree frogs crawled down to hear it. Though they weren't ordinary frogs, they still knew the language and would be able to pass the message along through the ordinary frogs back to the mutant frogs on the ship. " Keep your eyes peeled, Fiver. I want you out here to watch from a distance. If things get bad, I'll try to have a telepathic message sent to you. If you see something happen to us, send a swift signal back to the ship. Get Ren home...and return with our full army and have Ezra man the lab. There are enough collected, I'm sure, to ensure a victory on our side." Fiver nodded and began to let out melodious clicks and chirps. IT wasn't long before a chorus picked up. " Ren may be taken care of, but what about Jeremy?" Jasper asked. " We will fight to the death for Mala-Ka, Mala-Sa." Poseidon replied. " We'll have to make due with what we have." Toad sighed. " Anyone got any ideas? Pietro?" " Don't look at me," Pietro shrugged. " My father and I are completely different people." " You're no help at all, you bastard!" Toad hissed. He turned around. " I want everyone here to spread out into a dense formation. I'll go down myself. Everyone else...cover me. Jasper, you be careful. The kingdom can do without me, but it needs at least you to bring up Ren if I can't get Jeremy out." Before anyone could protest, Toad hopped off into the valley. The two teams whispered to each other only to be pushed by the aggressive mutant frogs, demanding their king get respect. " Hard to believe this is the same Toad," Wanda remarked. " It's not," Jasper replied. " ‘E's grown up, despite not looking a day over ‘is age when we left all of you." " What happened?" " ‘E's been acting strange since the ‘ole Black Womb thing. But, ‘e's also grown into responsibility. An entire world depends on ‘im. ‘Is family depends on ‘im. ‘ E ‘as to be strong for us...for us to be strong for ‘im." *** Toad disliked the quiet. The closer he got the more tense he became. When the doors to the building opened he was ready to pounce, but waited to see what was in store. He scowled to see Mystique. " Glad you've come back. Look at you...all grown up and ruling a planet. I suppose I raised you up well after all." " Can the gab, Mystique. Where's my son?" " Is that any way to talk to someone who was like a mother to you your entire life?" " Some mother." " I was more of a mother than yours ever was! I even volentarily put up with you and dragged you along with me." " And you used and abused me. Once I knew who and what you were...you weren't the kind, loving mother-figure anymore. I was just one of your stooges. I didn't need a boss to control me, Mystique. I needed a mother to love me." " I could have left you to rot in that orphanage. No one would have ever wanted you. Your parents were so quick to give you away. Instead of having someone who treated you rudely...you would have had no one but those who wanted you dead and mutilated. I kept you off the street and gave you a home." " So...what? Now, you want to put the guilt trip on me? Make me cry and apologize...forgive you for your poor choices and say I still love you? Still want you to respect me? Want you to like me? Love me? Even pretend? Indeed, that's what you expect from humble, stupid, submissive Toad. Mystique, I'm so sorry. Don't be mad at me anymore. I promise to do better, I swear it. Just don't be angry....I don't want a mommy to be mad at me." Mystique frowned at the mocking voice Toad used. " Face it, you screwed up. As a mother, you suck. You were unable to be a mother to me...you were too obsessed with being my boss. You couldn't even care for your own chidren. You spoiled Rogue....15 years of vacancy and all of a sudden you are the great heroine. Blue-boy....after 16 years, you decide you want to apologize...maybe win his love back. You play mother way too late in life. But, it was okay if you couldn't have them, I guess....you always had me. Unlike them, I could never hate you or resent you. I may have disliked you but I always had a deep and hidden love and respect for you. You were, after all, my mother for a few years. I suppose looking back, you were like my mother since I was born. My parents rejected me and you became my nurse...my nanny at your own free will." Toad smiled and chuckled. " And now?" " Why?" " Why what?" " Did you honestly love me the way I loved you? Were you really my mother or did you just continue to play nanny until Mangeto called for me? That was your plan, right? Create this deep bond between us...specifically from me to you....make me dependant on you...obediant, only to hand me over to Mangeto like some science experiment to grade? Some pet to do tricks? Let me tell you this, I may have been a science experiment....but I was concieved and born just like every single person here. My parents....I'm sure they loved each other. I'm sure when I was conceive, it was a result of an act of love." " And to hear that their baby was, from conception, a born mutant, they were so very quick to sign away their rights to you. Once born, you belonged to Black Womb." Mystique taunted. " Hmph, I was set up. Dozens of unborn babies were tested. Those who were never showing before-at-birth mutations....some of them grew up to develop mutations. Had I been one of those people...perhaps my parents wouldn't have been so closed-minded about having a mutant son." " What? The parental bond? The family ties between child and parents?" Mystique laughed. " Let me clue you in, since we're on the topic, Mr. Tolansky. Your parents were very wealthy. Very well-to-do pillars of the British community. Your father: owner of a very successful business. Your mother: ah, I forgot....you've never been able to watch television in Black Womb....and nothing but cartoons in the orphanage. I remember, you never got to watch real television until we moved to the United States." " My mother...she was on television?" " Reporter. She was so good at covering up her deal with Black Womb. ‘I am very unhappy to say that the birth was a hard one and the result was a baby who was an unfortunate victim of SIDS.' Of course our hospitals backed her up on that. You see, Toad, your parents would never have risked losing face raising a mutant baby or even having a mutant in their family. They wanted a baby to show off to the world. Not wanting to shame their image with you, accepted or not into the test-labs, you were alone. Had Black Womb decided not to take you in, you would have been dumped in some orphanage long before we put you there. Your entire life would have been spent alone, contimplating your meaningless existence." She had expected Toad to be hurt...possible scarred by those words. Yet, he only smiled and chuckled. " My meaningless existence? I gave myself meaning. I went from being the lowest form of scum on earth to being the most divine creature in another world...and I didn't even have to die in between to get there. What about you though, Mystique?" She stepped back. " What is your meaning in life? Though you do fine and dandy on your own, you seem to always fall back into finding people to do the work for you. You make enemies a lot faster than friends..and never seem to want be an equal to anyone. You take orders from Magneto, and when you disagree, you do something to cause a situation. Whether we're good or not to or for you, you show no positive emotion whatsoever. You always talk down to others...isn't it lonely up there on that pedastal, Mystique? I suppose you don't want anyone in a position near or above you to judge you. After all, I suppose no one wants to hear that they are worthless as a mother....losing all of her children and, when the opportunity arose to get them back....she didn't take full advantage of it. I don't like people like you. Life is hard enough as it is. Then there are people like you who just keep making babies and dropping them off like puppies. You play mommy until you grow tired or resentful then you just turn your back on them." His grin grew, " That's it, isn't it? If no one loves you...then no one can hurt you. Except for me." " You give yourself a lot of credit," Mystique growled. " Do I? We've been very close, Mystique. I may not know everything about you like you do me....but I've learned about you....through my own experiences. I'm a good observer. You have these spurts of confidence in me. You sometimes even, at one point, felt you had to sweet-talk me into things. Nevertheless, you knew I'd always do it. I not only felt like I owed it to you for repayment...but...you were right...it beat being alone in the streets. Despite how you treated me, at any moment in my life, I was always patient, loyal, and above all, forgiving. You pushed me around, yelled at me, insulted me, but I always loved you. I wasn't exactly the honor student of the Brotherhood. Never really made being a mother easy. I'll be the first to admit I'm just a pain in the ass." He stood upright. " But, I was still just your toy. It was either you or the street. I would obey because I had nothing better to do. You could always count on me to be by your side. But, you felt nothing. You had no real concern for me." " Who would?" " What makes Kurt and Rogue better than me?" Toad smiled. " Is it because Kurt is...how is that put....of your loins and Rogue...what's up with Rogue? You adopted Rogue...but me...you always had me. Didn't you, at any time ever love me?" Mystique was silent a long time. " You were a very cute baby." With that she fell silent again. Toad also stayed silent, analyzing those words. He smiled with an inward chuckle, " You did...didn't you? Before this whole teenage, school, Brotherhood nonsense. You did." " You dissapointed me," Mystique hissed, ready to fight. Toad sighed, bored and amused all at once. " I'm not here to have a debate or a family counceling session. Give me my son." " Jeremy? Or is it Mala-Ka? Heh, if you were anything like he is when you were little, Toad....maybe...." " Conditional love? Does it not make Mommy proud that her little boy grew up to rule a planet in another galaxy? That he is an expert on technical engineering and an inventor as well as a scientist?" Toad taunted with delight. Mystique eyed him angrilly, but her silence was louder than she thought. Toad smiled and walked right up to her. " I have no problem killing you, Toad. But I'd rather do it in the eyes of you son....to show him that you are nowhere near being a god.That even you can die.....and cry." " You want me to cry, Mystique? Have I ever cried for you? Ah yes, those school days before, when you were Ms. White. I cried for you then. Heh, you even held me. After finding out your little secret....I don't think I ever cried for you again." He took her wrists...to her own amazement, she had let him, " I'd love to sit and talk this out. But, I want my son." " Don't play heroic, Toad. I know you aren't here alone." " Heroic is that I'm here....even with my armies, I'm risking myself to save my child. A child that I helped to create...with an act of love...delivered from my wife...and raised." He narrowed his eyes, " And I loved him ever breathing moment of his life..and was never short of letting him know that. I think it's a wise choice, if you don't think it's a brave one." Mystique continued to scowl. Toad found it amusing. He'd hit her nerve. It took him his entire life...but he finally hit that one nerve. He knew now how to hurt her. What to do with that knowledge. When she learned how to hurt him, she knew she could do it all the time. And she did. He'd dreamed of being able to return the favor...and he finally could...but didn't...not yet. " Mystique, would you honestly let Magneto take charge of one of your children? After all the things he's done to you, you'd trust him with children? Hell, the man can't even give the time of day to his own children and be able to honestly call it quality time. And you're trusting him with my child." " He's planning..." " Planning...." Toad argued. " How many plans has he not carried out?" Mystique tried to hide that she was thinking of an answer. She had to admit it...Magneto was of no use. " All he does is fuel anger...makes people hate...become bitter." " Brainwashing?" Mystique gasped. She didn't know she had said the last part. Toad stepped past her and stopped, not even turning to look at her, " I'm taking my son home. What you or Magneto does to this planet, I couldn't care less. This planet knows nothing but pain and hate. Every time I think about it, I hate it more...think insane...harmful...fatal things. Not like home...so quiet, so content, so beautiful. Neither Jasper nor I have our biological parents, but that hasn't stopped us from following the instinct in living creatures to nurture a family. You have it too...but you let your hate and anger block out the fact that deep down inside, you might be someone worth loving." With that, he continued inside. Mystique was left dumbfounded outside, watching him vanish into the darkness. She tensed and trembled with anger...or was it frustration? Or pain? She grit her teeth to hold back flowing tears, balling up her fists and screaming into the darkness, " Damn you!" With that, she dropped to her knees to the dirt, trying to compose herself as sobs and sharp breaths escaped her. *** " Mala-Na, you can't go out there," one of the frogs called after Ren. " I have to, Delilah," Ren replied. " My parents are out there...my brother is out there. I don't want to go home without them." " You don't have any powers," from another frog. " Lydia's right," Delilah assured. " You don't have any way to protect yourself. Mala-Ka is in a lot of danger. You both have yet to be blessed with gifts." " I can't just sit here!" She turned to a tree frog listening at the controls. " Talia, tell me what's going on." " No need to worry her, Talia," Delilah interrupted. " We don't want to make things worse," From Lydia. " Silence! Talia....speak!" " As you wish, Mala-Na." Talia bowed. " Fiver has sent word that Mala-Ra has descended to where Mala-Ka is being held prisoner by Magneto. Mala-Sa is with the army along with two earthling groups. Fiver also says that Mala-Ra has made no contact but that he sees no danger yet either. So far, so good. But, both Mala-Ra and Mala-Sa were intended to be led into a trap. With the two of them split, there is a greater chance of even a partial victory for out side." " If everyone doesn't come back....then we don't leave. Is that understood?" Ren ordered. " We have orders to leave if Fiver sends the order." " If anyone is left behind, I don't plan on staying home. Call Stranger! Earth is too complicated to be forgiven." *** " Hungry?" Magneto asked, offering a plate to Jeremy. He turned his nose up at it swiftly. " Suit yourself. It won't be long anyway." " I told you he'd find me." " Dear boy, I let him find me," he replied, tapping his head....which was without helmet. " I knew your....mother....would be able to track me with no trouble at all if I removed my helmet." " What will you do to my dad?" Despite Jasper's great power, Jeremy knew it would be Toad leading the charge...and would be the first in. Jeremy had always played submissive wife and mother, even in male form, always supporting his father's choices and actions. Yet, it was common unspoken knowledge that sometimes there were role changes. Nevertheless, it always remained the same. Father played father. Mother played mother. And in his mind, it was the father who would lead the heroic charge...and the mother who would cast fatal curses among victims. " Nothing if he cooperates. Nothing for you to see anyway." Magneto fiddled with something. " Your father tried to kill me, Jeremy." " I can see why." " Don't push your luck. Your armies are no match for me." " You are very confident....I believe concieted is a better word. You suck as a storyteller too." " Welcome home, Toad." " My ass. If you're going to tell a story, tell all of it. I tried to kill you because you...yes...you....tried to kill me first. A grown man, so quick to throw a child to his death. That's the kind of man my son doesn't need to associate with." " You're in no position to bargain." " Dad!" Jeremy cheered. He tried to run over to him, but Magneto used his powers to tie the boy's ankles together. " Jeremy, stay perfectly still." He approached Magneto and crouched...as he had always done. " Magneto, what is the purpose of this? You tried to kill me...I didn't die. I tried to kill you...you didn't die. I'd say we're even." " No. No, we're not even." Magneto scowled. " You can't hide from me anymore. You've proven you're a lot more than what you pretended to be." " That's no longer your concern. I don't belong to you." " Oh, but you do, Toad. You do." Magneto chuckled. " You were, even before you were born, the property of Black Womb. Everything Black Womb owned became property of Black Womb II. And, I, dear Toad, own Black Womb II. So, yes. I own you. You....Jasper....and your children." " My children were born on another planet. They are not Black Womb's property." " Black Womb II's property, Toad. The purpose of Black Womb II was a breeding program to select perfect traits to create the perfect mutants. Personality-wise, you were a poor pick from the original batch, but your potential was so great. Paired with Jasper..." he peered over at Jeremy, " I had hoped what he said was correct. Great offspring to mold into a perfect Brotherhood army to cruch mankind to make way for mutant superiority." " They've yet to develop their powers, Magneto. How do you know just how much or how little power they are capable of?" He frowned, " What do you want?" " I want a lot. I want you back as my little pawn...no more games. You can't play stupid anymore. No point pretending mental illness either or retardation. I've seen you play those games already. Your bluffs don't work. Hmmm, but in a way, I would really love to kill you. I'd love to make you suffer." " What do you want Jasper and Jeremy for?" " Jeremy is a lot of what I had hoped for you to be in your youth. Maybe I'll keep him on....form a new Brotherhood with him as the first member. After all, he seems so eager to follow in his father's footsteps." " If you hurt my dad, I'll never do a damn thing for you!" " You can do what you like with me," Toad said calmly. " But let my son go. Let him go to his mother and they can go home. It's me you're after anyway. It's me you want to take out your anger on, punish, humiliate. You can have me, but you can't have them. These are children born and raised to think as gods...and will never see you as an equal...but inferior to them. They can not be brought down from the pedastal in which we put them when they were born. Myself....I'm an orphan boy...gone from rags to riches. To them, I'm superior to you....as Mala-Ra. But, as an earthling, I've always accepted the fact that I was inferior to you." " No, Dad! That's not true! You're Mala-Ra! You're Mala-Ra!" Jeremy insisted, " You're way superior! Don't become some worthless slave to him!" " Be quiet, Jeremy," Toad scolded quietly. " I wasn't born to be a god." " But, you created a people!" " I enhanced them with technology, genetics and other sciences. I'm an under-achieving scientist and technician from earth. I'm a giant lab-rat...a guinie pig...and was meant to serve as some pawn for mutants more powerful than I am." " That's not true! Look what you've done!" " Jeremy..." " Perhaps you're right," Magneto sighed. " He doesn't seem very obedient, just powerful....or potentially so. After all, it's you I want." He removed the bonds from Jeremy's ankles. The boy was up in a flash and leapt over to Toad and hugged him. " I'm not leaving without you, Dad. We need you." Toad muffled his hair, " You don't need me. All you need is.." " Faith?" Magneto smiled. " Touching father-son moment." " You wouldn't know one if it slapped you in the face." Toad scowled. " I'm not going to give into anything until my son is safe in the arms of his mother...and able to leave this place without any attacks." Magneto thought hard and stood up, " Jeremy, unless you want to be obliterated, I suggest you go outside to that pathetic little army that's waiting for you." Jeremy held tight to Toad, " You'll come home, Dad." " Perhaps." Toad whispered. " Go on. Get. Don't make your mother worry anymore." Jeremy wiped his face and sniffed as he darted from the tower and to the armies outside. Toad frowned and sighed. His children had never cried for a reason that touched him. They never had reason to. " You're a cruel person." " So are you. To kill without remorse is pretty cruel." " I killed two people, Magneto..." " And nearly four...my daughter...and her child." " Do you honestly care?" Toad smiled. " Now's not a good time to get cocky, Toad." He grew a wide smile, " I see you are very handy with mechanics. That ship...you built it?" " Designed it. The actual labor was done by..." " Your people?" " It would have taken 20 years or more if I built it alone." " With the design, I'm not surprised. Would you be able to create other mechanical marvels?" Toad lowered his head, " Depends." He stood up and went to the window, peering out and seeing the armies in the distance. He stayed there...and Magneto let him...until he lowered his gaze, satisfied and hurt. The armies retreated. " I admire your leadership skills and your effort," Magneto said suddenly. " You still can't defeat me. You never could...never will." " I'm not the same Toad as I was when I was in the Brotherhood the first time. Do you think I'll be so easy to command?" " I plan to break you and use your talents to benefit myself and my cause." " Can you?" Toad asked, peering back over his shoulder. " What can you hit me with? Between you, Black Womb and Mystique...and countless others...I've already been broken...and what's broken gets fixed." " You've lived like a god-king for a very long time....and had Jasper to protect you since we brought you to Black Womb II. You don't have anyone to protect you now." " I'm not afraid to be alone. I'll always have my family and my people in my soul." " Save the sermon. You don't remember what it was like to be lowly? To have a tortured self?" " I remember, and accept it. It no longer hurts." Magneto growled and grabbed Toad from behind by his hair and slammed him into an adjescent wall. " You may look like a kid still, Toad, but I know you've grown into a man. And a man is meant to take things hard. You've been pampered for so long, can you even withstand the pains of torture? This was what I wanted. If I can't kill you, I'll torture you until you can finally give in....break before me and admit that I am the mightier power...grovel in tears for my forgiveness." " You're sick." " Perhaps." " Why didn't you die?" Magneto smiled, " Takes a lot to kill me. Grown men can't even do it. I didn't expect some lowly little orphan boy to do it either." " I'm not afraid of you anymore, Magneto." " Then perhaps all I need is devoted respect." " Do what you like," Toad said flatly, " I won't break as easily as I used to." To be continued... | ||||
