Post by Pyro on Oct 6, 2006 6:04:35 GMT -5
[Python gloriously NPC'd by Kaylan xx]
John came out of the training compound coated in a light film of sweat and dust, having worked himself hard out there. He had also picked up more than one scorch mark through his own inattentiveness to his fiery creations, which simply served to make him feel angry - mostly at himself.
Whilst he was in this mood, he decided it was time to address another matter that he had to tackle. He headed down towards the workshops where Python spent most of his days looking for his older friend and mentor.
Sure enough, Python was there, welding mask in place, working on something. "Python," said Pyro. "Python, we need the plane back to New York in a couple of days. There's this guy I knew, some time ago - Dominic Petros. Another mutant. He called up, wants to join the cause, and he's got some others enlisted. So, I'm going to fetch him. Myself. In two day's time."
Eyebrows shot up beneath the welding mask, but Python pulled them back down before he pulled the mask off and killed the arc welder.
"I don't think so, Pyro."
They'd already been this discussion. John was still the FBI's Most Wanted - literally, number 1, top of the list - and it was far too dangerous for him to be going back to the US. Particularly if he was going back to New York, since the kid had spent years there.
"Too many people that could recognise you and turn you in. I'll take the girls again, they'll be fine."
"Python, New York is a hellishly big place. Most of the people I know - or knew - there are either dead or at Xavier's. I'm literally going in, picking up Dom and his colleagues and coming out." And seeing Kitty, but Python didn't need to know the last.
"Plus, I don't look the same now as I did at Baltimore." This was true enough; it was almost impressive how different the kid looked simply by dint of not cutting his hair and no longer shaving every last hair from his face.
"Uh, yeah, but New York's finest will still have your face burnt into the back of their skulls. You're the FBI's most wanted, Pyro, it's not safe. You'll compromise the whole Brotherhood."
Python decided against pointing out the obvious - that Xavier's was in New York state and that they'd all be looking for the slightest whiff of the Brotherhood. He had a feeling the altercation at Baltimore was just a fan for the flames. No more Charles to keep tempers in check and all.
"I won't. Bloody hell, Python, what do you plan on, keeping me on Genosha forever? I'm not some little kid or some helpless guy who needs protecting from the world. I'm supposed to be the leader of this outfit. I have to get back out there and lead from the front!"
He folded his arms across his chest. "This isn't a request, Python, it's an order. Day after tomorrow, we're flying to New York. You, me, Cain."
"I know you're not helpless." Python had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Honestly, the kid was... Such a kid sometimes.
"You planning on leading us from jail? You're not infallible, Pyro, and I for one don't want to see the Brotherhood die because you're being stubborn."
He wanted to take Cain? How the hell was he planning on blending in with the Juggernaut around?
"So when?" Pyro positively glowered at Python. "When are you going to stop the mothering? And let me just remind you that you're no longer the only pilot on the island. If you won't take me, she will."
A pause.
"I'd rather it was you."
"When it's safe."
It seemed that Python had infinite patience. He didn't comment on Mystique, or why Pyro would avoid her when they had seemingly patched things up to be perfectly cordial to each other when she'd stepped out of the plane. Perhaps issues there ran deeper - but Pyro's love life had nothing to do with him.
The rest of his life did, though.
"You just need patience, John. It hasn't been that long since the announcement, they don't have anyone new to concentrate on yet." They couldn't be a very effective group without leadership. If Pyro was caught now... Well, that could be disastrous.
It wasn't that Pyro was avoiding Mystique. It was that he was hoping to appeal to Python. But right now, his patience, which Python was telling him to display, had run out, totally.
"You might be the pilot, Python," said John, his tone mild as he turned on his friend. "But I'm the leader here. And I'm telling you what to do. Get it? TELLING you. Not asking you. If I get caught, you can lecture me then. Not before."
He'd had enough of Python and Gill - but particularly Python - cossetting him on this island.
"How am I supposed to lecture you when you get taken down by some trigger-happy cop? Sorry Charlie, you're not going anywhere."
He actually snapped the welding mask back down. As far as he was concerned, the discussion was over. If Pyro wanted to go that bad, he could get Mystique to take him and deal with whatever his issue was there.
The pair of them together could deal with whatever engineering issues the plane happened to have, too. It was a crochety old thing sometimes, unpredictable and not always easy to deal with.
In that instant, Pyro understood more about Python than he'd learned in nearly two years.
So that's what this was about.
He continued, nonetheless.
"I appreciate the concern, Python," said John, still in that same cool, detached tone. "But surely the decision is ultimately mine to make? Nobody ever stopped Magneto leaving the island when everyone knew his face - why is it a different set of rules for me?"
A pause. Then: "I'm not Charlie. I'm not your son."
He pushed up the mask again.
"Magneto ended up in jail, didn't he? Being fed some potion by Stryker, and he would have betrayed us all if the bastard had just thought to ask." Not to mention the fact that Magneto's powers were considerably more useful in a confrontation - a wall of fire didn't do much to stop bullets, even if the kid had been working on some pretty impressive stuff.
It was hard to keep his tone calm when Pyro had just pulled out a name he hadn't heard in five years. He almost never mentioned his past. There were one or two people at the base who knew he'd had a son, but they were the sort that wouldn't pry too deeply into his business.
"You think I have a problem remembering reality, Pyro?" He could have lashed out, was almost tempted to, but didn't bother.
"I know you're not him. I have to live with my memories every day - you think I don't know exactly who you are? Every day I wish I'd done more to protect him. I'm not going to sit back and let you get yourself killed, too."
"I didn't know, Python. I'm sorry you lost your son. But you are treating me that way." Pyro ran a hand through his hair. "You're the best friend I made here on this island, you know. You've been good to me. You sat there and refused to budge when I was sick - Angie told me all about it."
He sighed.
"Let me grow up. I have to go out there and be Pyro. I have to go out and be the leader of the Brotherhood. I have to do this. It's going to happen eventually, so stop finding excuses."
"Let you grow up? Let you be a leader?" Python was starting to get agitated, and obviously so. Maybe it was because he suspected that Pyro was just a little bit right in what he was saying. Maybe it was just a way of avoiding the pain that came with the memories.
"The only thing you have to do is keep yourself alive and safe - what the hell are we supposed to do without you? You want to get yourself killed? Fine. You want to be our goddamned leader from jail? Fine." The last word was almost hissed, bringing to mind all manner of cliches. He couldn't be distracted for long, though.
"You're that determined to do this, you can do it without me. I won't sit back and watch the worst happen." He shook his head.
"Your fucking confidence in me is awe-inspiring," Pyro spat back, his own temper frayed and his patience long since out the window. "It's great to discover just how much you really think of me, Python. Helps me evaluate things far more clearly."
He levelled a finger at the older mutant.
"You've been my most staunch supporter. Why no more? What's changed?"
"Nothing has changed, John." His jaw was tense and every word was said deliberately.
"I'm still here to support you to the end."
He paused.
"I won't let that end come any sooner than it has to, though. You want to rot in jail while the Brotherhood rots without you?"
"It's not gonna happen." Pyro felt the use of his given name as more of a sting than a comfort. "I won't let it happen. I have no desire to be caught, so I won't let myself be caught. One thing I learned on the streets and I learned it well - was avoidance. I'm not going there to torch anything, I'm going to pick up some friends. Nobody's gonna even notice I was there."
He began to calm down again. He hadn't wanted this to descend into a fight, but he'd known that Python would resist the idea.
"It's that easy, is it? You were wanted by every law enforcement officer in the city back then, were you?"
Python knew he was being unreasonable. He didn't know how to apologise now, though. The kid was the leader... At least they hadn't had this discussion in front of anyone this time.
"Keep your head down, don't do anything stupid." His jaw was still set stubbornly.
"If we get to an airport and I judge it too dangerous, we're turning around. You may be the leader, but I'm the one with experience there. Right?"
"OK," conceded Pyro, aware that the conversation could become too heavy and emotional if he pursued it now. "I'll accept that."
There were several other things he wanted to say, but chose not to. "Thanks, Python," he said, simply, and turned to leave.
John came out of the training compound coated in a light film of sweat and dust, having worked himself hard out there. He had also picked up more than one scorch mark through his own inattentiveness to his fiery creations, which simply served to make him feel angry - mostly at himself.
Whilst he was in this mood, he decided it was time to address another matter that he had to tackle. He headed down towards the workshops where Python spent most of his days looking for his older friend and mentor.
Sure enough, Python was there, welding mask in place, working on something. "Python," said Pyro. "Python, we need the plane back to New York in a couple of days. There's this guy I knew, some time ago - Dominic Petros. Another mutant. He called up, wants to join the cause, and he's got some others enlisted. So, I'm going to fetch him. Myself. In two day's time."
Eyebrows shot up beneath the welding mask, but Python pulled them back down before he pulled the mask off and killed the arc welder.
"I don't think so, Pyro."
They'd already been this discussion. John was still the FBI's Most Wanted - literally, number 1, top of the list - and it was far too dangerous for him to be going back to the US. Particularly if he was going back to New York, since the kid had spent years there.
"Too many people that could recognise you and turn you in. I'll take the girls again, they'll be fine."
"Python, New York is a hellishly big place. Most of the people I know - or knew - there are either dead or at Xavier's. I'm literally going in, picking up Dom and his colleagues and coming out." And seeing Kitty, but Python didn't need to know the last.
"Plus, I don't look the same now as I did at Baltimore." This was true enough; it was almost impressive how different the kid looked simply by dint of not cutting his hair and no longer shaving every last hair from his face.
"Uh, yeah, but New York's finest will still have your face burnt into the back of their skulls. You're the FBI's most wanted, Pyro, it's not safe. You'll compromise the whole Brotherhood."
Python decided against pointing out the obvious - that Xavier's was in New York state and that they'd all be looking for the slightest whiff of the Brotherhood. He had a feeling the altercation at Baltimore was just a fan for the flames. No more Charles to keep tempers in check and all.
"I won't. Bloody hell, Python, what do you plan on, keeping me on Genosha forever? I'm not some little kid or some helpless guy who needs protecting from the world. I'm supposed to be the leader of this outfit. I have to get back out there and lead from the front!"
He folded his arms across his chest. "This isn't a request, Python, it's an order. Day after tomorrow, we're flying to New York. You, me, Cain."
"I know you're not helpless." Python had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Honestly, the kid was... Such a kid sometimes.
"You planning on leading us from jail? You're not infallible, Pyro, and I for one don't want to see the Brotherhood die because you're being stubborn."
He wanted to take Cain? How the hell was he planning on blending in with the Juggernaut around?
"So when?" Pyro positively glowered at Python. "When are you going to stop the mothering? And let me just remind you that you're no longer the only pilot on the island. If you won't take me, she will."
A pause.
"I'd rather it was you."
"When it's safe."
It seemed that Python had infinite patience. He didn't comment on Mystique, or why Pyro would avoid her when they had seemingly patched things up to be perfectly cordial to each other when she'd stepped out of the plane. Perhaps issues there ran deeper - but Pyro's love life had nothing to do with him.
The rest of his life did, though.
"You just need patience, John. It hasn't been that long since the announcement, they don't have anyone new to concentrate on yet." They couldn't be a very effective group without leadership. If Pyro was caught now... Well, that could be disastrous.
It wasn't that Pyro was avoiding Mystique. It was that he was hoping to appeal to Python. But right now, his patience, which Python was telling him to display, had run out, totally.
"You might be the pilot, Python," said John, his tone mild as he turned on his friend. "But I'm the leader here. And I'm telling you what to do. Get it? TELLING you. Not asking you. If I get caught, you can lecture me then. Not before."
He'd had enough of Python and Gill - but particularly Python - cossetting him on this island.
"How am I supposed to lecture you when you get taken down by some trigger-happy cop? Sorry Charlie, you're not going anywhere."
He actually snapped the welding mask back down. As far as he was concerned, the discussion was over. If Pyro wanted to go that bad, he could get Mystique to take him and deal with whatever his issue was there.
The pair of them together could deal with whatever engineering issues the plane happened to have, too. It was a crochety old thing sometimes, unpredictable and not always easy to deal with.
In that instant, Pyro understood more about Python than he'd learned in nearly two years.
So that's what this was about.
He continued, nonetheless.
"I appreciate the concern, Python," said John, still in that same cool, detached tone. "But surely the decision is ultimately mine to make? Nobody ever stopped Magneto leaving the island when everyone knew his face - why is it a different set of rules for me?"
A pause. Then: "I'm not Charlie. I'm not your son."
He pushed up the mask again.
"Magneto ended up in jail, didn't he? Being fed some potion by Stryker, and he would have betrayed us all if the bastard had just thought to ask." Not to mention the fact that Magneto's powers were considerably more useful in a confrontation - a wall of fire didn't do much to stop bullets, even if the kid had been working on some pretty impressive stuff.
It was hard to keep his tone calm when Pyro had just pulled out a name he hadn't heard in five years. He almost never mentioned his past. There were one or two people at the base who knew he'd had a son, but they were the sort that wouldn't pry too deeply into his business.
"You think I have a problem remembering reality, Pyro?" He could have lashed out, was almost tempted to, but didn't bother.
"I know you're not him. I have to live with my memories every day - you think I don't know exactly who you are? Every day I wish I'd done more to protect him. I'm not going to sit back and let you get yourself killed, too."
"I didn't know, Python. I'm sorry you lost your son. But you are treating me that way." Pyro ran a hand through his hair. "You're the best friend I made here on this island, you know. You've been good to me. You sat there and refused to budge when I was sick - Angie told me all about it."
He sighed.
"Let me grow up. I have to go out there and be Pyro. I have to go out and be the leader of the Brotherhood. I have to do this. It's going to happen eventually, so stop finding excuses."
"Let you grow up? Let you be a leader?" Python was starting to get agitated, and obviously so. Maybe it was because he suspected that Pyro was just a little bit right in what he was saying. Maybe it was just a way of avoiding the pain that came with the memories.
"The only thing you have to do is keep yourself alive and safe - what the hell are we supposed to do without you? You want to get yourself killed? Fine. You want to be our goddamned leader from jail? Fine." The last word was almost hissed, bringing to mind all manner of cliches. He couldn't be distracted for long, though.
"You're that determined to do this, you can do it without me. I won't sit back and watch the worst happen." He shook his head.
"Your fucking confidence in me is awe-inspiring," Pyro spat back, his own temper frayed and his patience long since out the window. "It's great to discover just how much you really think of me, Python. Helps me evaluate things far more clearly."
He levelled a finger at the older mutant.
"You've been my most staunch supporter. Why no more? What's changed?"
"Nothing has changed, John." His jaw was tense and every word was said deliberately.
"I'm still here to support you to the end."
He paused.
"I won't let that end come any sooner than it has to, though. You want to rot in jail while the Brotherhood rots without you?"
"It's not gonna happen." Pyro felt the use of his given name as more of a sting than a comfort. "I won't let it happen. I have no desire to be caught, so I won't let myself be caught. One thing I learned on the streets and I learned it well - was avoidance. I'm not going there to torch anything, I'm going to pick up some friends. Nobody's gonna even notice I was there."
He began to calm down again. He hadn't wanted this to descend into a fight, but he'd known that Python would resist the idea.
"It's that easy, is it? You were wanted by every law enforcement officer in the city back then, were you?"
Python knew he was being unreasonable. He didn't know how to apologise now, though. The kid was the leader... At least they hadn't had this discussion in front of anyone this time.
"Keep your head down, don't do anything stupid." His jaw was still set stubbornly.
"If we get to an airport and I judge it too dangerous, we're turning around. You may be the leader, but I'm the one with experience there. Right?"
"OK," conceded Pyro, aware that the conversation could become too heavy and emotional if he pursued it now. "I'll accept that."
There were several other things he wanted to say, but chose not to. "Thanks, Python," he said, simply, and turned to leave.
