Chapter 1 - Sudden Departure

The sun was setting in Bayville, New York. It had been an abnormally good day, at least by Todd’s standards. He had somehow managed to avoid getting picked on at school today, and Wanda didn’t seem to have a problem with him sitting next to her while watching TV. Even Mia, his pet hamster, had been kind enough not to keep him up the previous night with her constant running in her exercise wheel. [br]
Now he just had to find the perfect ending. He could come up with some plan to bother the X-Geeks, but he really didn’t feel like thinking a whole lot right now. [br]
Then, out of nowhere, it came to him. “Mia, wanna go freak out Pietro?”[br]
No answer, as usual.[br]
Todd looked over at his hamster’s cage. He couldn’t see her, but she was most likely sleeping underneath a pile of sawdust, or up inside the tower that he had himself custom-attached. He shrugged and walked toward it.[br]
[br]
Meanwhile, downstairs, Pietro was lounging on the couch watching a random episode of Beavis and Butthead. Well, he really wasn’t watching it, per se, it was just on. He was thinking about changing the channel, but that would involve moving. He sighed. “Blob? Will you please get your BUTT in here and CHANGE THE CHANNEL?!”[br]
He impatiently waited for an answer. He was about to shout a second time, when a sudden blood-curdling scream came from upstairs.[br]
Pietro’s first impulse had been to race up and see what was wrong, but then he recognized the scream as Todd’s, and knew it couldn’t be over anything that important. Sure enough…[br]
“MIA’S GONE!!!”[br]
“…What?” Pietro asked, his eyes widening.[br]
“I left her in her cage, just like I usually do, y’know? Then, I went to go ’n get her, and she wasn’t there!”[br]
“Well, what do you want me to do about it?” Pietro snapped.[br]
“Uh, maybe help me look?” Todd replied. He was definitely not in the mood for Pietro’s selfishness.[br]
“Ask Freddy.”[br]
Todd sighed in exasperation. Pietro was no help at all. Not wasting a second, he leaped for the entrance to the kitchen. “NOBODY MOVE! Mia’s loose in the house, yo.”[br]
Wanda, Freddy, and Lance simply stared at him. Fred was the first one daring to break the awkward silence. He took one step forward. [br]
“I SAID DON’T MOVE!” Todd shouted, looking the large teen right in the eye. Poor Freddy, shocked at seeing his friend so uncharacteristically rage-filled, did as he was told. “One false move…” Todd continued. “…and you could kill her.”[br]
Silence.[br]
Wanda got up and walked out suddenly, muttering about how stupid the whole ordeal was. Todd was not about to stop her. The consequences could, and most likely would be fatal. “What about you?” Todd asked, looking back at the two remaining boys. [br]
“Toad…” Lance began, on his way to the living room. “…she’s probably just around the house somewhere. No big deal. She’ll come out of hiding eventually.”[br]
“Not so fast.” Freddy said, gripping Lance’s shoulder. “Toad wants to find his hamster, and we’re gonna help him. Ya got that?” [br]
Lance stared up at Fred. He was serious. Lance hated being forced to do things, especially when he had already said he wasn’t going to do it. “Fine.” he growled. “There’s nothing better to do around here anyway.”[br]
[br]
About two hours later, Lance was hating life. Here he was, stuck looking for some stupid rat, and the only way out of it was through Freddy. Grumbling, he stomped over to the living room couch, where Pietro was still sitting, and Todd was looking frantically beneath. “She’s not in the bathroom.” he said upon arrival. [br]
“He’s got you looking for that hamster of his, Lance?” Pietro laughed. [br]
“Shuddup.” Lance warned. [br]
“Okay.” Todd sighed, getting up off the floor. “I’m gonna go look outside.” It was the only place they hadn’t checked, and Todd was getting desperate. [br]
[br]
During this time, Freddy was upstairs searching the bedrooms. It was a long job, considering the fact that he had to look in, on, around, and underneath the countless piles of junk scattered across the floors in each room. He was considering giving up, when he heard that easily-identifiable Toad-shriek coming from the backyard. [br]
[br]
Todd just stood there, frozen and trembling. Lance, Freddy, and Pietro raced toward him, each at his own speed. Upon reaching their amphibious friend, they stopped and stared in turn. There, lying under a tree was Mia…and she wasn’t moving. [br]
Now all eyes went to Todd. He didn’t even glance at them. He could feel tears welling up in his abnormally large eyes. He fought back, not wanting to look like a wuss in front of his teammates. “She was still alive, yo. I could’ve saved her. But some bird came and attacked her. I scared it off, but it was already too late.”[br]
“Look, Toad…” Lance began.[br]
But Todd was not in the mood for any of it. “Save it, Lance. Nothin’ you say is gonna change the way I feel. It was my fault. I should’ve noticed she was missing earlier. Then maybe she’d still be alive. But she ain’t. She’s gone now.” The tears began to become uncontrollable. Still trying to hide his sadness from others, he bent down and slowly lifted up his beloved pet. His heart ached more than ever when he felt her motionless in his hands. Mia never sat still. She was constantly feeling playful and energetic. [br]
Turning his back on the others, he began to walk away. [br]
“…You…you want us to help you?” Freddy asked, watching him go. [br]
“No.” Todd said without looking back. “This is somethin’ I gotta do on my own.”[br]
[br]
Todd finished filling in the hole he had dug. Night was not far off. The sky was turning a deep grey-blue, and rain was falling softly. It was a bittersweet moment. He and Mia were alone together again, one last time. Slowly, the boy rose from where he had been kneeling in front of Mia’s new resting place. He stood in silence for a long while, remembering; then, without any previous warning, simply walked away. [br]
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