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" For the last time, WHERE is he?" Stranger demanded, eyeballing Toad angrilly. Toad turned his head silently in reply. " What will it take to get an answer from you?" At that, Toad turned back to him. He'd always hidden his inner self....but there was no one to judge him now..so why hide it? " Release me. I can help you find Magneto. He left after everyone had turned in and is probably anywhere on earth with the way he moves." " Where would he go?" " Anything's possible," Toad smiled. " Release me. I will work with you on obtaining him." " Should we trust him, Sir?" The guard asked. Stranger crossed his arms. " I can find him." Toad shook his head, " But at what cost? I've been with Magneto. And...I know how to draw him out." " How do I know I can trust you?" Stranger growled, leaning inward. Toad smiled with ruthless evil, " Is it not better to be the right hand man of the devil, Yo? Or to be in his path?" Stranger thought a long moment on it and then snapped his fingers for the guard to release him. " Give him a uniform. I'm putting him on the bridge." *** Toad admired himself in the metal. " Spiffy. I look good in silver." " We're waiting." From one of the aliens. Toad smiled and walked with him to the bridge and glared at the gadgets. " On the other side of the country, there is a group of people like me. Mutants." Stranger sat in his seat and tapped his fingertips together, " That so?" " There, you'll most likely find....some valuables of his." " Valuables?" " A pair he almost always ignores...but never forgets. Get a hold of them...and he is like putty in your hands." Stranger let out a laugh, " Such a cruel way to think...Toad, was it? A true strategist....letting no mercies hinder the very depth of conquest within you." Toad simply remained quiet as Stranger went on the with wicked praises. He smiled, getting a poisoned sense of satisfaction from the ordeal. " I want Magneto....or no one will have him." " Eh?" " He is not unknown. He was who we were looking for to begin with." " As always, I'm just along for the ride?" Stranger stood up and placed hands on Toad's shoulders, " My boy, I like the way you think with stragety. If you aren't pulling my leg, I'll make you an official. It's hard to find great minds." Toad nodded, " I won't let you down." *** " I never thought there'd be so many of them still alive," Xavier muttered. " What will you do?" Pietro asked, looking over the rooms. The mansion never seemed to be crowded as in crowded. In fact, perhaps it had something to do with the clean and roomy stuff. He'd have to remember to spout orders about renovating the Brotherhood Boarding House when they got back. He wanted nice things too. " I'm sure I'll be able to think of something. I know of a few people who might be interested in helping out in this kind of situation. Eighty lab mutants is quite a handful. " Seventy-eight," From the hall. Duke crossed his arms and scowled, " Todd was one of the eighty. Jasper too. And ‘oo knows where ‘e ran off to." " He went to look for him," Wolverine replied. " He's done nothing but insist on it. And when we woke up on the island...he was gone." " Shouldn't we go look for them?" From Wanda. Pietro began to get dizzy. Too many faces and too many voices. " You do what you want. I need a break." He whined, zipping past them and out the door. It was chilly but he didn't care. The wide open feeling was a lot better than the cramped feeling inside. He wasn't even at the gate when he felt someone following him, " Wanda why are you following me?" " You've been acting funny since we got back." " Toad nearly crushed my airway shut. He's always been a push-over. You don't think I should feel worried about the issue of bringing him BACK?" " He attacked ME too, Pietro!" Wanda insisted. " He may have tried to kill you but he tried to rape me! I know exactly what fear you have inside...knowing we have to find him...and bring him back. To live with him as though none of this has ever happened. We can't do that....but somehow, it's expected of us." " I don't want him back, Wanda." Pietro said quietly. She blushed and lowered her head, " Me neither." " He was fun at first but..." " You're scared, Pietro. Admit it. He scares you. We've only has the tiniest of tastes of what he's honestly capable of....and who knows what Black Womb II did to him. Who knows what's happening now." " We can't win. If we don't find him, that guilt is gonna be in our guts forever." Pietro admitted. " But if he comes back, who's to say he won't flip out again? Next time he attacks, there may not be the luck of having six people to save us." *** " Sir, look look!" The alien at the controls cheered. " He wasn't lying! I'm picking up ‘mutant' signatures from this place!" " Very good," Stranger replied, placing a hand on Toad's shoulder. " I think this will prove most interesting." Toad gave a nod. " Three days....and nothing. Look at them. Ready to go home and move on." " Are those two them?" Stranger asked. " Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Aka Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Spawn of Magneto. His errand boy...and his little princess." Stranger tapped his fingers together, " Excellent." He turned to his crew, " I want them. Catch them alive. Use caution. They could be tricky." *** Wanda roped Pietro within an arm and dragged him back, " How about we just worry about Jasper finding him. For all we know, he could be dead anyway." " Think I should call....y'know. Tell him what's going on?" " That would be a wonderful idea!" A voice hissed. Both turned to see a small group of creatures {aliens} surrounding them. " Back off, creeps!" Wanda spat, shooting them with hex bolts. Pietro zipped inside to alert the others. In no time, a small group assembled outside in costume and ready for battle. " Little green men from Mars!" Blob yelled, charging forth and knocking a bunch over like bowling pins. Ray guns shot at him and bounced from his mass. It started with that...and soon became a fray. A figure lurked in the shadows of a bush. He knew there was a chance of being discovered in the trees. He turned to look at the small group of aliens behind him. " Herd them over here. If he is close enough maybe I can catch him." The group nodded and were off for the ambush. Bouncing out to Pietro's surprise. Like clockwork, he turned to run, only to feel something by great chance catch him about the ankles and drop him to the ground, dragging his dizzy body away. " Pietro!" Wanda called out. " Vas ist das?" Kurt asked, teleporting into the tree over the questionable area....eyes growing wide. " YOU!" The figure turned and grit his teeth, " Rats." He smiled and spit out slime, dropping Nightcrawler, " Take care of him," from Toad to the band of troops. " We don't want him scaring the fish away." Wolvering turned, picking up the familiar scent. " Wait, we're being set up!" But before he could explain, he was bashed with something hard, dropping him unconscious. Needless to say, one by one the opponents were dropped. " What do we do now, Sir?!" One of the aliens called to the bushes. Lance, Blob and Wanda peered over as Toad stepped out. " TOAD?!" In unison. He replied by gritting his teeth angrily. " I got this one." " Are you insane?!" Lance spat. He summoned up a tremor which made Toad uneasy. " Time to..." " Rock and roll," Toad muttered, " Really, AVALANCHE, you need some new material...and lose the fruit bowl." He was offended by the comment, picking up juice. Blob did his best to run forward, but was greeted by slime in the face, making him stumble backwards and stip over Lance. Both down and dazed. Wanda narrowed her eyes at him, " You just don't know when to quit, do you?" " I'm not stalking you, Wanda, really?" He replied with an innocent face before letting out wild maniacal laughter. " You're slime won't effect me if I throw it back, Toad." " Can't throw it if I don't attack." He smiled widely, " I have Pietro. And...a majority of your aid is down for the count. Would hate to turn this into a bloodbath. Red if certainly MY favorite color...and yours...BUT...I don't think they favor it very much." Wanda was still and scowled. Their lives for hers. " What do you want, Toad? Pretty sad if this is the only way to get a woman for you." " Who says I want you for my woman?" Toad hissed. " I don't need you to make me feel good. You're a lousy hussy and the only need I have for you....is him." Wanda stumbled back. For some strange reason, she had always believed those words would be some relief to her if they came from Toad. It meant he'd leave her alone....but...they stung....bad. " What do you want with me?" " I'll explain later," he replied. " Just come over here and put on this lovely piece of jewelery I brought for you. Cooperate and no one gets hurt." Wanda sighed and approached Toad. She made no movement as he placed a collar about her neck and fastened it. Their brief silence was interrupted by one of the aliend running over. " Sir, Master says he wants a few specimens." " Take your pick, Yo" Toad muttered without interest. " I have the ones I came for." He gave an urging push to Wanda to move then glanced over his shouler, " I'll leave you to do as you please. Take your pick and hurry up. They won't be out of whack forever and we have things we have to do." *** Stanger examined the cells of captured mutants, all decorated with the negating collars. " Fine group, Toad." He made no reply. " Let's get this puppy in the air and get a bite to eat." " I'll meet you there, Stranger. Some loose ends I have to burn." Stranger nodded and patted his back hard, " Don't dawdle. We'll be celebrating a fine catch to take back with us." " And him?" " Of course. The harvest isn't complete without him." Toad smiled and gave a nod as the group and Stranger left him in the holding area. " You make me sick," Wanda hissed. " Even in the face of sure doom, you have a fresh mouth," Toad commented. " After all we've done for you...you set us up?!" " Nothing personal, Cuddlebumps," Toad chuckled. " But, let's just say I learned to be who I am...from the master himself." " What?" She asked with a hiss. " Magneto thinks he's the only one who can play this game? Toad's not as stupid as everyone thinks...and I'm tired of being treated like garbage." " You're using me and my brother...to get to my father?!" Wanda accused. " You're so smart, Babycakes. Yes....I'm afraid I owe your father a very big favor. And....I'm not one to hold off repaying others. Maybe after this whole thing is over...I'll convince them to let you go." He turned to the door and then peeked over his shoulder at her, " Maybe." With evil laughter, he shut the door behind him and left the "harvest" to their solitude. To be continued... | ||||
