Life is never easy for those who are different, but for Mortimer Toynbee, it had never been anything other than a living Hell.
From the day he was born, there had never been a moment of rest or respite for him, his body twisted and misshapen by the mutation in his genetic makeup, branding him forever as an outsider by a world who had no place for those who didn't fit in. Born to parents who abandoned him to face the cruelties of society alone, Mortimer never really had a chance to be anything other than a misfit. Rejected and tormented by everyone who laid eyes on him, he tried to flee to the fringes of society, scrounging up a miserable existance in the shadows, until the day the tall man in the cape had found him. Told him who he was, WHAT he was. Gave him purpose. That he was a mutant, that he was one of the chosen ones who were destined to rule the world, that normal humans abused him because he represented something they feared, their own obsolence and extinction! And for the first time in his life, Mortimer had found a place where he belonged, where he was accepted!
He hated himself for getting his hopes up, he should have known it was just another cruel trick the world had played on worthless, ugly Mortimer.
The Brotherhood hadn't been a new start at all, it was just a different hell, led by a virtual slaver who took his failures out on whoever was closest, usually Mortimer himself. Teammates who looked on him with varying levels of pity and disgust. Even a new name that was just as much a mockery as everything else he'd had to endure through his miserable life. Toad. That's who he was now. Toad. Repulsive, useless, weak Toad! Magneto hadn't seen him as a valuable ally, as an equal, at all, he'd just seen a useful punching bag!
And yet, he'd stayed. Because where else was there to go?
So Toad had stayed with the Brotherhood, through the beatings, and the humiliation, and the rejection, because it was now clear that was to be his lot in life, to be the lowest of the low no matter where he went. And he listened with decreasing interest at Magneto's screeds about mutant supremacy, about their destiny to rule the world that had rejected him, knowing full well that even if his insanity came to fruition, there would be no change for poor Toad. He'd still be nothing, no matter who ran the world. And then one day, Magneto decided to put his plans into action and, they set out to carve out a homeland for the mutant race, by taking it from someone else already living there, as conquerers had always done.
Watching from above as Mastermind terrorized the people of Santo Marco, somehow, it wasn't as satisfying as Toad had expected to see someone else be the victim for once.
And now, as the plan came apart, as it was always going to do, Toad stood by the side of the Scarlet Witch, cowering in the face of Magneto's fury, which for once was not directed against him, but rather, at the people who had shown up to stop the coup. The X-Men, who Magneto had raged about before, and the Sunshine mutant who had refused to even consider joining their Brotherhood, something Toad had begun to see the wisdom of. And in front, Captain America, standing tall even in against the maelstrom of Magneto's rage, even as he made the palace shake and the walls crumble in his madness.
And in that moment, he saw Magneto in a different light. And instead of the man who had pushed him down for all this time, someone who had the power to crush the world if he so felt like it, Toad only saw a madman, an angry, spoiled child throwing a tantrum because he wasn't given what he demanded at every turn.
And Toad's fear turned into anger.
His eyes fell on one of the larger chunks of rock that had fallen from the ceiling, even as Magneto threw the stolen shield....
.....
The room goes completely silent as the shield clatters to the ground, knocked out of the air before it even got close to it's target. A cloud of dust and stone shards is all that remains of the projectile that stopped it, even before the rest of us had a chance to react. I let the light I was about to project into a shield in front of Steve disippate in my hand.
"...well, that works too, I guess."
Nobody answers, too busy staring at the person who threw the rock. Even Magneto seems stunned, his earlier furor drained from him in a second, his face looking almost slack with surprise. Gotta admit, I wasn't expecting this turn of events either.
Toad stands there, still in a half-crouch from his throw, seemingly somewhat surprised at his own actions. He stares down at his hand, his expression showing no sign of the resigned misery it held just moments ago. Finally, he looks up again, his face changing to a determined scowl.
In for a penny, huh? Good for him.
"...Toad?" Wanda says hesitantly, like she still can't quite grasp what just happened, and that seems to break the spell over Magneto as well, his shock giving way to a familiar anger.
"You... you dare?!" Magneto chokes out between gritted teeth "Have you lost your feeble mind, Toad?! Explain yourself, and if I don't like what I hear, you will regret the fact of your own miserable birth!"
There's a flash of fear as Toad shrinks back a little, almost falling back into familiar patterns, but it's quickly gone again "Fine, you want an explanation? I'm sick of these stupid plans, I'm sick of the Brotherhood, and I'm sick of YOU!! Captain America is right, you're not a leader, you're insane! I'm done following you or your bullshit!"
"You miserable little traitor! I picked you up from the GUTTER, and this is how you repay me?! You were nothing, NOTHING, before I found you!"
"And what am I now, huh?! Toad, the punching bag! Toad, the joke of a mutant! Toad, the useless pawn! You never cared about me, you don't care about any of us! All you care about is yourself and your ridiculous dream about mutant world domination! Well you know what, Magneto, fuck your dream, and FUCK YOU, you sanctimonious human garbage fire!!"
"Toad, please, he'll kill you-" Wanda tries, but Toad stops her.
"Oh shut up, Wanda, you know it's true! And don't pretend you're any better than him! You think I don't notice how you look at me? Like I'm something repulsive you just have to endure? ALL of you did! You, your snob of a brother, that creep on the floor behind you, and our GLORIOUS leader! So go ahead, take your best shot, atleast I'll die knowing I helped take you down with me!!"
There's an inhuman snarl as Magneto throws his arms forward, the metal refuse around him responding to his powers and begin to hover, the sharpened ends aiming towards us, but this I'm ready, and I make a sweeping motion with my hand, releasing a crescent-shaped wave of light towards him!
Magneto moves quickly, bringing some of the larger chunks in front of him to protect himself from the light wave, but my attack has spurred the others on, and the whole group goes on the offense. A red beam of light shoots from behind as Cyclops activates his visor, forcing Magneto to hastily throw up another shield. This leaves him open for Jean, pulling some of the debris on the floor and pelting him with it, breaking his concentration. Cap, already moving before we attack, snatches his shield from the floor, and in two quick strides, crosses the distance between them and belts Magneto right across the face with the disc. There's a loud clang as the red helmet is knocked from his head, sending it bouncing out of sight and sending Magneto reeling, a red cut opening up on the side of his face where the shield struck him. He stumbles, his knees buckling underneath him, and Cap presses the advantage, his fist smashing across Magneto's face, his lip bursting open and sending a dribble of blood down his chin.
Lashing out through sheer reflex, Magneto pushes out with a magnetic shove, catching onto Cap's shield and almost knocking him off his feet, throwing him off balance and making him stumble backwards. The metal shards around him begins to hover again, and shoot off in all directions as Magneto blindly tries to get as many of us as he can. Most of them don't even come close, but I hear a grunt of pain as something strikes Cyclops, and Jean gasps, trying to pull him out of the line of fire. Magneto moves again, pulling a large metal pole out of the ruined wall behind it, preparing to throw it, and I begin to focus my powers into my arm, to hit him before he can do anything else...
"STOP IT!!"
A red flash of... something shoots past me, striking Magneto in the chest in a cloud of crimson sparks, and the metal pole begins to... warp, somehow, like Magneto was losing control over it. Finally, it simply disintegrates into nothing, not even leaving any iron dust behind as it disappears.
"Scarlet Witch, you too?!" Magneto snarls, glaring furiously at Wanda, her hand still outstretched from her attack. "TRAITORS! I'm surrounded by traitors!!"
"I should never have gone along with this madness of yours, Toad was right! Look at yourself, you're not even fighting a war for mutantkind anymore, you're just throwing a tantrum! The coup is over, we lost! Just... just stop doing these awful things!"
"You should listen to her, Magneto" Cap stands up, strapping his shield back on his arm as he moves in front of us "It's over. Stand down."
"NEVER!! I'D RATHER TEAR THIS WHOLE ACCURSED PALACE DOWN ON OUR HEADS THAN KNEEL IN DEFEAT FOR MERE HUMANS AND RACE TRAITORS!! DIE!!" He begins to float, drawing on every bit of power he has left, which seems to form a shimmering sphere around him. The walls begin to make an omnious creaking noise, cracks forming in the stone, but even worse, this time the floor is following suit, the ground shaking as Magneto begins to pull at the foundations. The already weakened building can't take much more of this.
I have to get him out of here.
"Cap, if this kills me, please don't put one of those gaudy angel statues on my grave, they just look so tacky."
"Wha-"
I push past him, my body already transforming into my light form, and in a burst of speed, I shoot across the room. The magnetic sphere around Magneto seems to shatter as I pass through it, and I slam into him. I feel the armor he wears shatter, and something cracks inside his ribcage as both of us are sent flying, out the balcony door and over the broken remains of the railing, going even further as the inertia carries us out over the courtyard.
I return to my normal form, and I feel like I'm floating for a moment, staring down at Magneto beneath me. His face is red, both from blood and anger, but his eyes are wide, like he still hasn't caught up with what just happened.
Not giving him a chance to, either.
In a flash, I once again turn into light, and I strike downwards, right into Magneto's midsection, sending both of us crashing down towards the ground.507