Blackout
the lights are out in the city tonight...
ooo
The city was burning. Pyro surveyed the chaos he had caused. He had started by firebombing a small diner and, fueled by a sudden great rage, he had fed the fire, letting it spread and devour everything in its path. Now it was an inferno threatening to destroy a sizable part of the city. The power had gone out and the worst of humanity had come out to play: looting, rioting, killing. The police had been outnumbered and finally overrun. The military had been called in, but even they were having a hellish time trying to enforce some form of order. It was complete madness. The heat of the flames and the smell of blood in the air were almost intoxicating.
The enormity of what he had done was finally beginning to sink in. He remembered the last time he had set a widespread fire in a city. Magneto had been so furious that he had actually thought for a moment that the old man was going to kill him. But, with the way he was feeling right now, he would probably slit his wrists himself.
How had everything gone so wrong so fast? How had he become this monster?
He was so consumed by his anger and despair that he didn't notice the girl until he almost bumped into her. She was standing in his way, staring at him with a look of recognition and horror on her face. When their eyes met, she gasped. "Pyro," she said.
In the dim red glow of the flames, he recognized the uniform she was wearing before anything else. An X-Man. Instinctively, he flicked on his igniter and created a fireball in his hand, ready to attack. She quickly held up her hands. "Don't!" she cried out. The voice made him pause. Her face seemed to emerge from the darkness and he saw her clearly. "Don't," she repeated. Maybe it was because he was exhausted, both physically and emotionally, but he closed his fist around the fireball, extinguishing it. He simply stood there, waiting to see what she would do.
"Did you do this?" she asked, indicating the carnage around them.
He didn't speak. He just looked at her like he was daring her to do her worst to him.
"Oh, God. John." She looked like she wanted to cry.
"That's it?" he said when she just stood there looking at him with such pain in her eyes. "You're not gonna slap me, kick me, ask me why I never called?"
She did start to cry then. She just let the tears fall, not bothering to wipe them away.
"Damn it, Kitty!" he exploded when he couldn't take the silence between them anymore. "Say something!" He expected her to say that she hated him now, that he disgusted her. He expected her to accuse him of terrible things that were all too true. He didn't expect her to break the last piece of his heart.
"Come home, John. Please. It's not too late."
He shook his head. "No. It's too late. I can't go back anymore. And you should stop waiting for me." He turned and began to walk away from her as fast as he could.
"John!" She went after him and forced him to face her. Then she kissed him. Kissed him with all the sweetness and hope and love that she was capable of, kissed him with a desperation that begged him to please, please come back to her.
He pulled away from her arms. He stared at her face like he wanted it to be the last thing he saw before death. He started to back off slowly and she said his name. When he saw her mouth form the words "I lo -", he broke into a run. His sight blurred. As his own tears burned his eyes, the bittersweet taste of all he could never have still lingered on his tongue.
if i could have one wish tonight,
i'd wish upon a satellite
to bring me back to you...