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Post by mystique on Jul 23, 2006 12:14:29 GMT -5
The Land of Eternal Night.
It was a good place, a quiet place they'd often retreated to when they didn't want to be found.
Selby Alaska, a small facility on the edge of a pristine lake, tucked away from tundra winds by a ring of mountains; it once was a safehouse for explorers, trappers, and fishermen. Now it was their home. At least until Eric felt safe enough to allow them to leave.
The mirror-like surface of Selby Lake reflected the calm of Mystique's mind. They had escaped Alkali having failed one mission, but succeeded in another. And Magneto had won himself a prize. He was so pleased with himself Mystique could hardly stand to be around him for a few days.
And so at first, little John Allerdyce was left to his own devices. The Gentleman had shown Pyro to a room- a closet-sized space more akin to a cell than anything. The Selby facility was not created as a summer home; they stayed here when they needed somewhere to gather their thoughts.
But those thoughts were constantly interrupted by Pyro's presence. His questions, his wandering, the incessant metallic ting of that damned lighter... it was making her crazy. She was glad he was here; he would do better with them than at Xavier's. But maybe, as Eric suggested, he was still a little rough around the edges.
Who better to smooth them out, he'd said.
Dammit.
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Post by Pyro on Jul 23, 2006 12:27:22 GMT -5
'Little' John Allerdyce couldn't help it. He was excited. He was excited in the way a kid was excited on Christmas Eve. He was aware that he was on the edge of a great adventure and that if he could pluck up the courage, he could take the leap of faith necessary to dive in and be carried along in its current.
So yes, he wandered. He questioned. But above all else, and the one thing that people always falsely believed he didn't do, he listened. He listened to everthing he overheard, he listened to what were otherwise normal snippets of conversation.
He seemed to have the unerring ability to be everywhere almost at the same time, particularly where he wasn't particularly welcome.
John had spent a useful morning tailing The Gentleman, pestering the tall, stately man with mostly unanswerable questions and receiving what seemed like eternally patient replies. He learned nothing new and yet at the same time he felt like he knew everything.
So yes, he was excited.
He was, after all, barely nineteen years old.
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Post by mystique on Jul 23, 2006 12:33:35 GMT -5
Mystique found him in the kitchen late on the afternoon of their fifth day at Selby. But it may as well have been midnight, as the sun had not been up for three months, and it always took some getting used to. She didn't mind that much. And it was going to make her task a little easier.
"Pyro." She spoke from the doorway. He'd yet to see her in clothing still, even though the weather was frigid. She seemed conditioned enough to drastic temperatures not to notice. "Come with me." Her eyes lingered on him just a moment as she turned, heading down the hallway.
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Post by Pyro on Jul 23, 2006 12:38:20 GMT -5
He didn't respond, merely set down the bread that he had been buttering and left the kitchen after her.
John was still teenage boy enough to appreciate the view as he followed Mystique down the corridor. After all, what wasn't to appreciate about a beautiful rear end swaying in front of you, even if it was blue?
He'd not really had much of an opportunity to talk to Mystique and he felt the familiar excitement and enthusiasm bubbling up inside him. He had no idea what she had in mind, but he was looking forward to finding out what it was.
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Post by mystique on Jul 23, 2006 12:43:35 GMT -5
Mystique moved them out to the front storm doors, not looking at him as she stepped out into the snow. Her bare feet made no sound as his boot crunched against the ice.
They walked a decent distance away from the building, nearly at the edge of the water.
"Magneto wants to know what you can do." She levelled her gaze on him, then turned to face the lake. She gestured out over its surface. It was definitely a challenge; as if she were saying 'impress me'.
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Post by Pyro on Jul 23, 2006 12:58:59 GMT -5
John's eyes narrowed briefly and he contemplated. His ability to command fire was still fairly rudimentary, although he'd discovered on the porch of Bobby Drake's parents that it was getting easier every time he used it.
"I told you on the plane. I can manipulate fire," he said, reaching into his pocket. "Unfortunately, I can't create it, so I have to carry fire making equipment around with me, or draw from other fires." He snapped the Zippo open and lit it, taking the flame into his palm in much the same way they'd seen him do on the Blackbird.
"I'm still learning," he said, not a modest statement, merely a simple truth. "The Professor said that there is probably a lot more to my talent, but that I'm not mature enough to embrace it yet." The last was said with biting contempt and scorn.
The flame in the boy's palm grew and he fired a plume of heat across the water, concentrating on it. He maintained control of it for about a hundred yards before it was out of his range of control. He fired a second plume out, this time concentrating on intensity rather than range.
The water began to steam.
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Post by mystique on Jul 23, 2006 13:20:49 GMT -5
He was good. Untested... but good. Eric and she had gone over the footage of his spree in front of the Drake household. Magneto believed Pyro was capable of even greater things.
"Again, only this time farther." She watched him. He needed to calm and center himself, but she wasn't sure he was up to the task.
Something in her began to take its own pleasure from pushing the boy.
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Post by Pyro on Jul 23, 2006 13:42:58 GMT -5
He glanced over at her and nodded, a frown creasing his otherwise smooth brow. He took a deep breath and loosed a dual plume of flame which again, didn't last that long, but went maybe an extra fifty yards or so.
He swore and loosed again.
It seemed that one hundred and fifty yards was about his limit for now. It didn't stop him trying though and after a few minutes, she could see the telltale signs of a mutant pushing themselves too hard. His face went white and his eyes began to glaze over slightly.
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Post by mystique on Jul 23, 2006 13:47:35 GMT -5
Mystique crossed her arms, lifting her chin a bit. Eric wouldn't approve if she wore Pyro out, but it was good to see him making such an effort to prove himself. It meant he'd fall in line. Something that was very important until he could be trusted.
"Stop." She let him catch his breath a moment.
"Can you fight?"
When he didn't answer, she grasped his arm and turned him to face her- a little roughly.
"Can you fight."
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Post by Pyro on Jul 23, 2006 13:50:10 GMT -5
He was a little light-headed from the over-use of his powers. "I can," he confirmed. "We had some hand-to-hand training." He'd actually proved better at it than people had expected. He was fairly lean and quick and good at dodging body blows. He didn't particularly enjoy fighting with his fists though, considering it almost beneath him.
John shook his head to clear it of the post-power buzzing.
"I'm willing to learn more though," he said, easily.
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Post by mystique on Jul 23, 2006 14:02:45 GMT -5
She'd almost certainly have to take it easy on him, but there was no sense in sparing him any pain.
With a turn of her hips, Mystique kicked Pyro square in the ribs. Without lowering her leg, she planted her heel into his sternum, knocking him backwards.
"Let's see it then."
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Post by Pyro on Jul 23, 2006 14:05:46 GMT -5
He went over on the ground with a resounding 'thump', winded from the suddenness of her attack. Instinct kicked in, however, and he scrambled to his feet quickly. He'd be sporting a fantastic bruise on his chest later, but he put that thought to the back of his mind as he began to size her up as an opponent, watching the way she moved, how she fought.
John's fighting style was not what could be called graceful. He was a street rat, at the end of the day, and that reflected in the way he fought, launching himself at her, fists flying.
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Post by mystique on Jul 23, 2006 14:20:06 GMT -5
Mystique ducked his first punch, sidestepped the second, and- just to make him feel better- let the third land, a soft grunt the only recognition that his fist hand landed the blow against her ribcage.
Grabbing his wrist and turning in a maneuver that looked a great deal like dancing, she pinned his arm behind him and put her forearm against his throat, cutting off his air.
This was beginning to be more fun than she'd expected.
"Slow down," she hissed. "I'm not going to kill you. Yet." Mystique shoved him forward, releasing him.
Her hip turned sideways, and she waited, a hint of a smile on her dark lips.
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Post by Pyro on Jul 23, 2006 14:22:26 GMT -5
The lack of air had shaken him and he turned slowly to face her. The phrase 'I'm not going to kill you. Yet' had sent a shiver of anxious anticipation down his spine, and the boy squared his shoulders, a surge of pride rushing through him.
Instead of launching another attack on her, he asked questions instead. That, she hadn't expected of the impulsive youth.
"Tell me how I should react. Show me."
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Post by mystique on Jul 23, 2006 14:41:10 GMT -5
Mystique straightened a bit. No, she hadn't expected that at all. He seemed the arrogant, impetuous sort. The kind of boy that would no sooner admit he still had things to learn than he would go to his knees and beg.
Perhaps they would make something of him after all...
"It depends on who you are fighting." She kept her eyes on his. "People with long limbs and a build like mine have agility and speed over someone like you. Attacking first will almost always end in failure. Wait for them to come to you, if you can, and counterattack, using their momentum against them."
With a step forward, a boot hit the ground. From toe to head, she shifted to appear before him as Logan. Even her voice was a perfect mimic. "Now while you may never be an even match for Wolverine, because his talents lie purely in this area, it is still important to know how to fight someone like him." She held out her arm, the well-muscled forearm flexing in the moonlight. "Musculature built for strength slows the body down. You have an advantage there. Get him on the ground, and waste no time. Be as brutal as you are capable of being." It was an odd mixture, Logans husky bark with Mystique's velvet vernacular.
Another step forward, and she was Bobby. Bobby's voice made her words sound instructional. Unfortunately it also made Bobby sound like a homosexual. "Here you are evenly matched. Your... haphazard style will work here only as long as your opponent has little fighting skill. With someone like Bobby Drake, you will want to concentrate on causing injury." She touched each part briefly as she indicated them. "Ribcage, solar plexus, temple, jaw."
Her golden eyes flashed inside Bobby's skull.
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Post by Pyro on Jul 23, 2006 14:45:38 GMT -5
"I've fought against Bobby before," said John, confused, but impressed with the ease she demonstrated in shape shifting before. "He was my training partner."
And my best friend.
He followed her movements with his own finger, pointing to the corresponding parts on his own body. "Ribcage, solar plexus, temple, jaw," he repeated. "Ribcage and solar plexus are a good place to start, right? You can wind your opponent, like you did to me back there?"
Without warning, he struck out at her, hitting her right in - well, Bobby's solar plexus, not hers.
He was a fast learner.
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Post by mystique on Jul 23, 2006 14:55:00 GMT -5
Mystique tensed at just the right moment, absorbing the impact, though Bobby's eyebrow's furrowed. She sucked in a breath, and nodded.
Now she'd been waiting to do this for a week.
Lunging forward quickly, she landed a punch across his cheekbone. Though he'd never know it, she'd spared him the indignity of passing clean out from a strike to the pressure point in his jaw.
She slowed her movements a bit, allowing him to counter if he wished.
"You could have blocked that," she added.
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Post by Pyro on Jul 23, 2006 15:00:01 GMT -5
A cut had opened up where she'd punched and he put a hand up. It came away bloodied and his own brow furrowed in a scowl. "Yeah," he said, "yeah, I could've blocked it. But I didn't. I will next time, though."
He launched himself at her again, although this time he'd clearly paid a bit more attention to her own style and approach, succeeding in landing a couple of decent blows on her.
They sparred for a while until it became obvious to her that John was growing weary, having expended so much of his energy on his mutant power and was losing his concentration.
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Post by mystique on Jul 23, 2006 15:05:27 GMT -5
Mystique was breathless as well, shifting back to her natural form and half holding them both up for a second.
"Guess... we have some work to do." She almost laughed. Maybe she didn't have to hate him after all.
Shaking him a bit to get him on his feet again, she stepped back towards the doors, licking blood from the corner of her mouth. As she opened the steel hatch, she looked back at him.
"You did well."
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