Post by Pyro on Aug 8, 2006 12:18:31 GMT -5
[[OOC thanks to Kaylan for RP'ing Python and helping me with the transition from hallway to cell. KISS!]]
---------------------
The voices in his dreams made Python's brow furrow, and it wasn't until he realised that it was Pyro and Mystique talking, rather than the people he was smiling down at, that he woke up. He was the always first on his feet, the first to check out any disturbances, but a big part of him knew that a lover's quarrel between those two was not something that he wanted to interrupt. Standing and pulling on a shirt, the lanky mutant waited, listening, in his room until he heard doors slamming, John's loud yelling, a thud, and then nothing.
"Oh, shit." He didn't know which of them had ended on the ground, and he burst out of his room and down into the next corridor hoping to god that he wouldn't find Mystique standing still. His eyebrows shot up in surprise at the scene that he did find, and he wondered if maybe he should have come out earlier. Scorch marks on the ceiling, open doors, and Pyro on the floor unconcious.
"What the hell did you do, John?" The lighter, the young mutant's constant companion, was lying, open but without a flame, down the hall. Ducking his head into the open room, Python saw Emma's things missing, and across the hall, Mystique's too. Bending down and turning over the unconcious leader of the Brotherhood, Python checked his vitals and breathed a sigh of relief. Not unscathed - which was to be expected if Pyro had indeed had a fistfight with the shape-shifter, but alive and in no immediate danger.
It was a full ten minutes before the boy regained consciousness and when he did, Python instinctively knew that it was not good. His eyes were wild. He'd seen John angry before, but this was something altogether different.
With the return of consciousness came the discovery of the absolute pain in his head left over from Emma's psychic attack and he clutched at the side of his head, pulling at his hair until a chunk came off in his right hand.
He looked around desperately and saw his lighter, then scrabbled on all fours across the floor to reach it.
Shit, but the boy could move quickly down on all fours. Python lunged, snatching up the lighter and throwing it into the open door, hearing it land on the bed with a soft thud. "Pyro." He grasped the boy by both shoulders, trying to gently guide him down the hallway. All the rooms in the base could be turned into cells if need be, but there were too many sources of flame down this way to trust John with. The look in his eyes was scary - not because Python feared for his own safety, although John was dangerous - but for the young mutant's own wellbeing. "Shit, what did she do to you?" The words were only a soft murmur, but the lanky mutant raised his voice when he spoke again. "Come on, Pyro, come and have a lie down."
Rage and madness gave Pyro a strength that he'd not had before and he struggled against Python's firm but gentle hold. He began to shriek obscenities, mostly against Mystique at the top of his lungs and tried to get past the obstacle of the taller mutant to get to the lighter in his bedroom. Saliva foamed at the kid's mouth and he tried his utmost to punch Python.
Though he may have been tall and skinny, Python could certainly not be called weak. John's rage-enhanced strength might have been enough to match him, if the kid was actually thinking straight, and the older man dodged first one punch and then another, ducking out of the way in a fashion that might have been called serpentine by an unknowing onlooker. Doors were starting to open, now, thanks to the fresh wave of noise, and Python quickly spun the struggling young mutant around and started frogmarching him away from the lighter and toward the cells, his grip tight enough now that his knuckles were white. Don't make me knock you out and drag you, kid.
About thirty seconds later, the insane pyromaniac actually somehow managed to break free of Python's grip and began to run at full pelt back down the corridor, still yelling at the top of his lungs. Any grip he'd had on reality was long gone now, it seemed.
He was calling for Mystique to come out and finish the fight, or at least that was what Python was able to glean from the raving emanating from his mouth.
As Pryo broke out of his grip, Python swore in frustration, feeling his venom glands filling in an instictual response. He'd never stick the kid, but he was getting to the end of his tether, and he pelted down the hallway after John with a look on his face that would have scared people, if they'd actually seen it. Steve was normally a very calm guy, easy going, was the one that you could depend upon to get things done for you with a minimum of fuss. He wasn't quick to anger, and certainly not where other people could see, and he rarely lost his head. His long strides caught Pyro quickly enough, and he grabbed the boy, spinning him around, opening his mouth and dislocating his jaw with an angry hiss to show fangs glistening with ready poison. There was a look in his eyes that said he'd do it, that he could kill the young leader of the Brotherhood if he put them all in danger, but instead of doing anything stupid, Python lifted one fist and smacked John right across the face, putting considerable force behind the blow.
"You fucking idiot, John." He started to drag the kid back down the hallway.
The blow wasn't quite enough to knock Pyro unconscious, but it left him dazed enough that the screaming and yelling stopped and he was like a dead weight in Python's arms as he was dragged down the metal hallways. There were a series of rooms that Magneto had also kept free to use as 'cells' if the event ever arose (and it had done). They were comfortable enough, but totally basic, consisting of a bed and nothing more.
If he'd managed to actually knock Pyro out, Python would have picked him up and carried him, but he wasn't going to risk the kid coming out of his dazed state and getting violent again. Taking him to the very end of the corridor where the cells were, as far away from the usually inhabited parts of the base as was possible - while still having the ability to lock him up, Python uncerimouniously threw Pyro into one of the cells. Patting John down to make sure that he didn't have any source of fire on him, the older mutant's face softened and lost the dangerous look. "What the hell did they do to you?" There was every possibility that the young mutant had just finally snapped, but the fact that the blonde telepath was missing too made him hope that maybe it was something she'd done, something that could be easily fixed. Realistically, he knew it was a false hope, but it was still easier to face than the prospect of John having become a permanent evictee from the house of the sane.
John just stared at him.
If he comprehended Python's words, it certainly didn't show in his eyes. If he could have answered, his own inability to form a coherent sentence prevented him from doing so. He turned around and slammed his fist into the wall with an audible 'crack'.
His face went bright puce as he struggled, clearly struggled to get past whatever was afflicting him and regain his conscious grip on reality. He slammed his fist into the wall again, then ripped at his hair. It was the pain. The pain made him connect with reality, even if fleetingly.
"Mmmm...Mmmmm...." He was struggling to get the word out. It was not coming.
*SLAM!*
"MYSTIQUE!"
*SLAM!*
"Is she...?"
It was lucky for the walls that they were metal, rather than plaster. Not so lucky for Pyro's knuckles, though. Some might have moved to stop him, but Python just watched, calm and detached once more. The young man was obviously trying to get someting out, but he couldn't articulate whatever it was, and Python watched and waited, observing each blow to the wall with what looked like indifference. Though his face was blank, his mind was buzzing. When the kid finally managed to ask the question, Python looked down at him, his expression inscrutable. He only said one word.
"Gone."
The single word had an electrifying and instant effect on the boy. He fell to his knees and began to sob loudly. Mere seconds later, the sobs degenerated to whimpers, then finally rose to a cry of such a crescendo that it would put any Kirk 'Khan' moment to shame.
Then came the worst of all.
The silence.
It was such an odd thing, to watch someone break down and lose themself. Not something that Python had done before, and not something that he ever wanted to do again. This kid - this fucking kid! - who reminded him so much of the past... There was nothing he could do to help, nothing that he could do to help the pain that John had, for the most part, brought upon himself. With sadness in his eyes, though the emotion touched no other part of his face, Python slowly considered his options. Maybe the kid just needed to cry, to express his remorse over a stupid fight and call her to come back to him. But maybe not. Under the circumstances, it was looking more and more like this had gone beyond a little tiff that could be easily patched up, beyond anything that could be easily patched up.
"Pyro?"
At the sound of his name, the boy looked up, confused, disoriented, in pain, lost, frightened, angry, furious, scared - all these and many more, all at the same time.
He screwed his eyes shut, attempting to speak again. He beat at the floor with his fists like a child throwing a tantrum. Finally, he got the thought out. Two words.
"Help me."
Yep. Definately not the kind of thing that was going be patched up easily. He was like a child, a mess of emotions, and a less patient man might have gotten frustrated waiting for the young mutant to express himself. Python's brow furrowed when Pyro finally managed to get the words out - head stuff wasn't his area of expertise. Cain had said they'd need minders for all the loonies that seemed to be cropping up on Genosha, but Python sure as hell hadn't thought it would be him when he'd agreed with the big man. Taking care of Pyro was much easier when the kid could manage to string together more than just a couple of words.
"How, John? What can I do for you? How do I help?" There was a tension in his voice that was unusual for the tall mutant.
He shook his head. He didn't know. All he knew was that whatever was happening to him was happening fast. He had an increasing terror that in a few very short moments this last ditch attempt at lucidity would flee from him and he clung to it desperately, curling up in a foetal position on the floor, his breathing coming in harsh gulps.
"It's all broken," he said, not elaborating. "All broken...need to put it back."
"Come on, Pyro." Python dragged the boy up off the floor and onto the bed. "Get some sleep, things will seem better in the morning." It was a stupid thing to say, didn't fool either of them into feeling any reassurance, but he just didn't know how to deal with this kind of thing. Pyro was declining quickly, and yeah - he was broken. Talking to the wrong person though - Steve wasn't the kind who could put it back even if he wanted to.
"'m sorry."
It was to be the last thing he said for the next five hours, which he spent various screaming, yelling, throwing himself at the door in a fit of furious rage, crying and pounding his fists against the door.
Shaking his head, Python walked out and locked the door. It was a precaution only - but one that he was thankful for over the next five or so hours, which were spent slouched down in a chair outside, listening to the poor kid screaming and pounding at the door. He'd tried to get Pyro to get some sleep, but in the end it seemed like none of them were going to get back to sleep, and he sloped off every now and then to fetch a coffee to keep him going. Poor kid. What the hell did they do to you? He'd ducked his head in and checked the women's rooms again, but they hadn't left anything. It seemed that Emma and Mystique were gone, for better or for worse. Well, at least one good thing might come of that - Cain was likely to be in a foul mood if they'd woken him up, but might cheer up when he heard of their departure.
Then, early morning, Pyro - and consequently the base fell silent.
---------------------
The voices in his dreams made Python's brow furrow, and it wasn't until he realised that it was Pyro and Mystique talking, rather than the people he was smiling down at, that he woke up. He was the always first on his feet, the first to check out any disturbances, but a big part of him knew that a lover's quarrel between those two was not something that he wanted to interrupt. Standing and pulling on a shirt, the lanky mutant waited, listening, in his room until he heard doors slamming, John's loud yelling, a thud, and then nothing.
"Oh, shit." He didn't know which of them had ended on the ground, and he burst out of his room and down into the next corridor hoping to god that he wouldn't find Mystique standing still. His eyebrows shot up in surprise at the scene that he did find, and he wondered if maybe he should have come out earlier. Scorch marks on the ceiling, open doors, and Pyro on the floor unconcious.
"What the hell did you do, John?" The lighter, the young mutant's constant companion, was lying, open but without a flame, down the hall. Ducking his head into the open room, Python saw Emma's things missing, and across the hall, Mystique's too. Bending down and turning over the unconcious leader of the Brotherhood, Python checked his vitals and breathed a sigh of relief. Not unscathed - which was to be expected if Pyro had indeed had a fistfight with the shape-shifter, but alive and in no immediate danger.
It was a full ten minutes before the boy regained consciousness and when he did, Python instinctively knew that it was not good. His eyes were wild. He'd seen John angry before, but this was something altogether different.
With the return of consciousness came the discovery of the absolute pain in his head left over from Emma's psychic attack and he clutched at the side of his head, pulling at his hair until a chunk came off in his right hand.
He looked around desperately and saw his lighter, then scrabbled on all fours across the floor to reach it.
Shit, but the boy could move quickly down on all fours. Python lunged, snatching up the lighter and throwing it into the open door, hearing it land on the bed with a soft thud. "Pyro." He grasped the boy by both shoulders, trying to gently guide him down the hallway. All the rooms in the base could be turned into cells if need be, but there were too many sources of flame down this way to trust John with. The look in his eyes was scary - not because Python feared for his own safety, although John was dangerous - but for the young mutant's own wellbeing. "Shit, what did she do to you?" The words were only a soft murmur, but the lanky mutant raised his voice when he spoke again. "Come on, Pyro, come and have a lie down."
Rage and madness gave Pyro a strength that he'd not had before and he struggled against Python's firm but gentle hold. He began to shriek obscenities, mostly against Mystique at the top of his lungs and tried to get past the obstacle of the taller mutant to get to the lighter in his bedroom. Saliva foamed at the kid's mouth and he tried his utmost to punch Python.
Though he may have been tall and skinny, Python could certainly not be called weak. John's rage-enhanced strength might have been enough to match him, if the kid was actually thinking straight, and the older man dodged first one punch and then another, ducking out of the way in a fashion that might have been called serpentine by an unknowing onlooker. Doors were starting to open, now, thanks to the fresh wave of noise, and Python quickly spun the struggling young mutant around and started frogmarching him away from the lighter and toward the cells, his grip tight enough now that his knuckles were white. Don't make me knock you out and drag you, kid.
About thirty seconds later, the insane pyromaniac actually somehow managed to break free of Python's grip and began to run at full pelt back down the corridor, still yelling at the top of his lungs. Any grip he'd had on reality was long gone now, it seemed.
He was calling for Mystique to come out and finish the fight, or at least that was what Python was able to glean from the raving emanating from his mouth.
As Pryo broke out of his grip, Python swore in frustration, feeling his venom glands filling in an instictual response. He'd never stick the kid, but he was getting to the end of his tether, and he pelted down the hallway after John with a look on his face that would have scared people, if they'd actually seen it. Steve was normally a very calm guy, easy going, was the one that you could depend upon to get things done for you with a minimum of fuss. He wasn't quick to anger, and certainly not where other people could see, and he rarely lost his head. His long strides caught Pyro quickly enough, and he grabbed the boy, spinning him around, opening his mouth and dislocating his jaw with an angry hiss to show fangs glistening with ready poison. There was a look in his eyes that said he'd do it, that he could kill the young leader of the Brotherhood if he put them all in danger, but instead of doing anything stupid, Python lifted one fist and smacked John right across the face, putting considerable force behind the blow.
"You fucking idiot, John." He started to drag the kid back down the hallway.
The blow wasn't quite enough to knock Pyro unconscious, but it left him dazed enough that the screaming and yelling stopped and he was like a dead weight in Python's arms as he was dragged down the metal hallways. There were a series of rooms that Magneto had also kept free to use as 'cells' if the event ever arose (and it had done). They were comfortable enough, but totally basic, consisting of a bed and nothing more.
If he'd managed to actually knock Pyro out, Python would have picked him up and carried him, but he wasn't going to risk the kid coming out of his dazed state and getting violent again. Taking him to the very end of the corridor where the cells were, as far away from the usually inhabited parts of the base as was possible - while still having the ability to lock him up, Python uncerimouniously threw Pyro into one of the cells. Patting John down to make sure that he didn't have any source of fire on him, the older mutant's face softened and lost the dangerous look. "What the hell did they do to you?" There was every possibility that the young mutant had just finally snapped, but the fact that the blonde telepath was missing too made him hope that maybe it was something she'd done, something that could be easily fixed. Realistically, he knew it was a false hope, but it was still easier to face than the prospect of John having become a permanent evictee from the house of the sane.
John just stared at him.
If he comprehended Python's words, it certainly didn't show in his eyes. If he could have answered, his own inability to form a coherent sentence prevented him from doing so. He turned around and slammed his fist into the wall with an audible 'crack'.
His face went bright puce as he struggled, clearly struggled to get past whatever was afflicting him and regain his conscious grip on reality. He slammed his fist into the wall again, then ripped at his hair. It was the pain. The pain made him connect with reality, even if fleetingly.
"Mmmm...Mmmmm...." He was struggling to get the word out. It was not coming.
*SLAM!*
"MYSTIQUE!"
*SLAM!*
"Is she...?"
It was lucky for the walls that they were metal, rather than plaster. Not so lucky for Pyro's knuckles, though. Some might have moved to stop him, but Python just watched, calm and detached once more. The young man was obviously trying to get someting out, but he couldn't articulate whatever it was, and Python watched and waited, observing each blow to the wall with what looked like indifference. Though his face was blank, his mind was buzzing. When the kid finally managed to ask the question, Python looked down at him, his expression inscrutable. He only said one word.
"Gone."
The single word had an electrifying and instant effect on the boy. He fell to his knees and began to sob loudly. Mere seconds later, the sobs degenerated to whimpers, then finally rose to a cry of such a crescendo that it would put any Kirk 'Khan' moment to shame.
Then came the worst of all.
The silence.
It was such an odd thing, to watch someone break down and lose themself. Not something that Python had done before, and not something that he ever wanted to do again. This kid - this fucking kid! - who reminded him so much of the past... There was nothing he could do to help, nothing that he could do to help the pain that John had, for the most part, brought upon himself. With sadness in his eyes, though the emotion touched no other part of his face, Python slowly considered his options. Maybe the kid just needed to cry, to express his remorse over a stupid fight and call her to come back to him. But maybe not. Under the circumstances, it was looking more and more like this had gone beyond a little tiff that could be easily patched up, beyond anything that could be easily patched up.
"Pyro?"
At the sound of his name, the boy looked up, confused, disoriented, in pain, lost, frightened, angry, furious, scared - all these and many more, all at the same time.
He screwed his eyes shut, attempting to speak again. He beat at the floor with his fists like a child throwing a tantrum. Finally, he got the thought out. Two words.
"Help me."
Yep. Definately not the kind of thing that was going be patched up easily. He was like a child, a mess of emotions, and a less patient man might have gotten frustrated waiting for the young mutant to express himself. Python's brow furrowed when Pyro finally managed to get the words out - head stuff wasn't his area of expertise. Cain had said they'd need minders for all the loonies that seemed to be cropping up on Genosha, but Python sure as hell hadn't thought it would be him when he'd agreed with the big man. Taking care of Pyro was much easier when the kid could manage to string together more than just a couple of words.
"How, John? What can I do for you? How do I help?" There was a tension in his voice that was unusual for the tall mutant.
He shook his head. He didn't know. All he knew was that whatever was happening to him was happening fast. He had an increasing terror that in a few very short moments this last ditch attempt at lucidity would flee from him and he clung to it desperately, curling up in a foetal position on the floor, his breathing coming in harsh gulps.
"It's all broken," he said, not elaborating. "All broken...need to put it back."
"Come on, Pyro." Python dragged the boy up off the floor and onto the bed. "Get some sleep, things will seem better in the morning." It was a stupid thing to say, didn't fool either of them into feeling any reassurance, but he just didn't know how to deal with this kind of thing. Pyro was declining quickly, and yeah - he was broken. Talking to the wrong person though - Steve wasn't the kind who could put it back even if he wanted to.
"'m sorry."
It was to be the last thing he said for the next five hours, which he spent various screaming, yelling, throwing himself at the door in a fit of furious rage, crying and pounding his fists against the door.
Shaking his head, Python walked out and locked the door. It was a precaution only - but one that he was thankful for over the next five or so hours, which were spent slouched down in a chair outside, listening to the poor kid screaming and pounding at the door. He'd tried to get Pyro to get some sleep, but in the end it seemed like none of them were going to get back to sleep, and he sloped off every now and then to fetch a coffee to keep him going. Poor kid. What the hell did they do to you? He'd ducked his head in and checked the women's rooms again, but they hadn't left anything. It seemed that Emma and Mystique were gone, for better or for worse. Well, at least one good thing might come of that - Cain was likely to be in a foul mood if they'd woken him up, but might cheer up when he heard of their departure.
Then, early morning, Pyro - and consequently the base fell silent.
