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Toad reclined in the hammock of his quarters. This whole officer thing was great. Good food, good exchange. His quarters weren't much. No larger than his room at the Boarding House, but more space was available do to the hammock rather than a bed. He liked the levitated feeling, to be able to rock himself to sleep. He was given a small wardrobe, but who knew how long he'd be available on this ship. It was clean....save a sock hanging here or a towel there. He sighed after taking a sip of some drink similar to coconut milk. He pulled the leather book onto his lap and opened it, examining the files made from the harvest. Lance Alvers aka Avalanche Male Geological abilities C-Grade, possible B-Grade * Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler Male Teleportation D-Grade Abnormal structures. * Fred Dukes aka Blob Male C-Grade * Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver Male D-Grade Other experiments prohibited at this time * Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch Female A-Grade Other experiments prohibited at this time. * Rogue Female S-Grade Handle with gloves. * Todd Tolansky aka Toad Male A-Grade, possible S-Grade. Potential not yet confirmed. Further experiments prohibited. Toad smiled at that last part. So long as he worked for Stranger, he was that...an employee...not some experiment. He set the book aside. He felt a small twinge of pity for the harvest, but only a twinge. After all, he had bigger fish to fry. He'd spent the last week floating in Stranger's ship, awaiting Magneto's return. " I'm growing impatient," he heard as his doors opened. " Stranger?" " Where's Magneto?" Toad flipped from the hammock and skipped past Stranger. " I've got an idea." He hopped down the hall and into the Harvest cells. They all looked at him in disgust. He approached Pietro's cell and smiled. " Rise and shine, Valentine." Pietro said nothing but eyed him angrilly. Toad nodded for him to be zapped while he entered, removing the cell phone from him. He handed it to Stranger and stepped past him. " I'm sure he has it stored in there. The number I mean. He always squeals to daddy when things look promising or bad. He's been holding out on us." " I don't need my father to fight my battles for me," Pietro growled. Toad grabbed the wand and zapped Pietro's collar. " This is MAGNETO'S fight! I won't let him get away with what he did to me. You will call him and you will tell him that you need his help to get out." " If I don't?" " If you don't call...or he doesn't show up in 3 days...I'll retract the experiment prohibition. And I'll see to it that you are the top choice to those painful tests. You don't have a lot of body fat, Pietro. You wouldn't last long...believe me." Pietro had never been struck by Toad's words before...but for once he feared the intentions of his former team mate. He took the phone from him and dialed, leaving a tortured and frightened message for Magneto to receive. At that, Toad shot out his tongue and grabbed it. " Sorry, one phone call allowed." " You're gonna pay for this, Toad, I swear it!" Lance called out. " Yeah yeah," was the reply he got. " I know I know...I've seen enough cartoons to know this dialogue." He glanced at Stranger who offered him the chance to walk out first. Once in the hall, he felt the cold stare. " Something wrong?" " I wonder how long your loyalties will lie with me, Toad. These were once your friends." " Everything's fine," Toad smiled back at him. " So long as I'm not treated poorly, I have no reason to object to this agreement." He narrowed his eyes, " But what about after Magneto? Kick me to the curb?" " I'm questioning just how expendible you are," Stranger remarked. " And, the answer is not what I thought originally. Toad, I want for you to continue your employment after this mission." Toad's eyes went wide. " Excuse me?" " We could use a mind like yours back on my planet. Join with us...and I'll offer you a seat of power. When we conquer the earth, I'll name you it's Overlord." Toad couldn't help but squeal, " No contest!" *** " The conditions are changing, Sir." One of the aliens remarked, pressing buttons. " He's coming." Toad replied. He sat in the seat reserved for Stranger. Seemed Toad had become a very swift favorite of the Alien overlord. " Prepare for attack?" " No...not yet," Toad chanced. " Second chamber. Ready an ambush and throw him in there." " Where are you going?" The alien asked, seeing Toad stand up. " Changing. I don't want him knowing who I'm working for." " We'll keep tight survelance." *** " Nice to see you back." Magneto got up and glanced at Toad. " You're still alive?" " Missed you too." Toad scowled. " Why'd you come back?" " He has other prisoners. They set me up. Used them to lure me here." Toad pretended to be surprised. " That's awful!" " No matter. No one can keep me prisoner for long." " I'll yell." "What?" Magneto gasped. " You left me once. You'd risk your lives for anyone else...but not me?" " You sick pile of slime." He sighed, " Very well. Keep quiet and I'll take you with me." " Then what? Throw me over a cliff?" Magneto was silent and then scowled, " Keep quiet or I will." Toad frowned. Still as careless as ever. No more words were spoken, but the scientists came in to retrieve the new subject. When gone, Toad exited his cell. " Change your mind?" He turned to the guard and smiled, " Of course not. Why sip nectar when I can have the whole hive?" " I think the Wart Gas in your system has changed your perception." " It's not the gas, it's....wait a minnit." He turned and eyed the guard who began to shift. " Jasper!" " Hush." Jasper hissed, stepping closer and hugging him, " I knew I'd find you." " What are you doing here?" Toad demanded. " You could be..." " I couldn't just leave you. We have a chance to leave." " I'm not leaving." Jasper looked surprised. " I'm staying with Stranger. And I'll be going with him back to his planet." " Todd...you're just going to leave everything behind?" " It's all worth leaving." He glanced at Jasper who looked hurt. He smiled and leaned in to him, " I'm taking the best parts with me." " You mean it?" " You said it yourself. The two of us together can create great things." Toad repeated with a smile. " If that's what you want, I'll follow you all the way." A long silence before Toad laughed. " What?" " How'd you get a name like Jasper if you don't have a gender?" Jasper blushed and chuckled. " Nickname...just as Toad is yours. It means wasp." " You know my real name. What is yours?" " It's Paige. A unisex name. Paige Banks. But, I've come to really enjoy people calling me Jasper." " And I've come to enjoy people calling me Toad." *** The sweet sounds of Magneto's screams made Toad smile in his hammock. Jasper seemed uncomfortable about the whole matter. " You think I'm doing the wrong thing?" " No. And I feel bad because of that." Why?" Toad sat up to look Jasper in the face. " You deserve your chance to be on top. Everyone ‘as kept you from it. Feels good to see you're finally taking the initiative." Toad smiled. " I love it when I'm told I'm right." "What will you do with the others?" He shrugged. " Dunno. They have a good a chance as me. I wasso worried about Magneto that I never stopped to think about it." " You better think of something...before you don't have any say at all." Jasper warned. Toad gave a nod, " There is just one more thing I have to take care of....then we can worry about other issues." To Be Conitnued | ||||
