I do not own theX-Men, the Brotherhood, or their pretty, pretty Toad. sniff

The Daddy

Chapter 1: Invitation

Toad was looking at his webbed toes wearily. He gave them a small wiggle, and giggled at them. God, I must be bored. He normally worked in his shop to keep himself busy, but he had already taken apart, fixed, and put back together everything in the mansion. He shot out his tongue across the room to retrieve his can of pop, spilling at least half in the process. My punishment for being lazy. A small knock on the door brought him out of his semi-vegetative state. He sat up, and called "I don' wanna talk to ya, Pyro."

"It's Mystique," said the shape-shifter, stepping into the room, "You, ah… have a phone call, I guess…" He lifted an eyebrow at her, and she answered with a shrug.

"Hello?" he said into the mouthpiece, shooing the blue woman away.

"This is Mortimer Toynbee, I presume?" said an unfamiliar man.

"Wha's it to ya?"

"Mr. Toynbee, this is Fredrick Hoytes of New York Business and Financial Law. I know quite well of your… shall we say social standings, and I have no intention of turning you into the authorities. Do you recall a Miss Sandra Williams?"

Mort sighed. Sandra… he recalled her quite well. She was a cute little thing he picked up for a bit while testing his image inducer- a machine that made him look normal. They dated for a month. Oh, God, what a month it had been… They had a messy break-up when the machine malfunctioned when they were in bed. Yes, a very messy break-up. "Yes," he answered plainly.

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you, but she's passed away recently. A car accident. The reason I'm calling you is in regards to her will. She's left you something rather important. If you could come to our offices on Saturday..." Mort wasn't listening anymore. Shock. It ran through just about every fiber of him. The fact that she was dead didn't faze him, but the fact that he was in her will! He, the "lying", "minipulative", and "disgusting" one. What could she possibly want to give him other than a punch in the nose?

"I'll be there, I s'pose, bu' no bobbys."

"No cops. I'll see you there."

Toad hung up, dumbfounded. "Something important?" he asked aloud.

"Toad?" asked a small teenager through the door.

"What do you WANT, Pyro?" Toad said irritably.

Pyro inhaled and looked up as if trying to remember. "Mystique said for me to tell you that Magneto wants to know if we can do a break-in on saturday."

Mort put on a happy face. "Well as much as I'd love to have some quality time with you, I'm actually busy that day."