A/N: For those of you who forgot, flashbacks are in italics…and I swear, the story does get better
Chapter 10: Relocating
(Juggernaut)
The last thing Cain Marko, the Juggernaut, remembered was feeling rage as that ungrateful X-Men girl called him a dickhead. Next thing he knew, he was covered in concrete and dust. He rolled out from underneath the rubble and stood, surveying the destruction around him. Portions of the building were dissolving before his eyes! Soldiers and mutants alike were suffering the same fate, or fleeing in terror. He even noticed the de-facto leader of the Brotherhood flee amongst the humans. After his brain registered everything, he too went to leave. He spotted Quill, Arclight, and Psylocke running away and watched in horror as they exploded into dust. Water was literally floating in midair, and he saw one of the X-Men plunge his knife-laden fist into the Phoenix, the source of all this chaos. As the life left her body, her killer cried out in sorrow, and anything that was floating returned to the ground, influenced by gravity again. As much as he wanted to fight the lone X-Man, especially the one he seemed to have quickly formed a rivalry with, he also wanted to avoid any unnecessary conflict. He decided to just leave, relocate. After all, there was no Brotherhood anymore.
He walked away from the crying mutant and spotted a body in the distance. As he got closer, he spotted the blonde hair and instantly knew it was the fire-thrower, Pyro. He looked on in pain as he saw the numerous wounds: contusions, abrasions, something that looked identical to frostbite, and not to forget, the large slab of concrete covering the lower half of his body. He lifted the slab with ease and tossed it aside, making a loud crashing sound. The noise attracted the attention of the X-Man, but also awakened Pyro.
The mutant he used to know as a cocky hothead awoke as a pained, confused boy. Pyro barely seemed to notice Juggernaut as he tried to get up, only to cry out in pain and collapse back to the ground. It was at that moment Juggernaut noticed how pale Pyro looked, and spotted a deep slice in his calf.
"I'm gonna get you out of here." he said, and was ready to pick up the younger mutant, but the X-Man arrived, stopping him.
"Let me take him." The X-Man said.
"Back off, Badger. He's not yours." Juggernaut said. Before he could move, the X-Man had his hand around the Juggernaut's throat, claws extending slowly.
"It's Wolverine, bub. And that kid may be a traitor to his friends, but he's still one of us." Wolverine said.
"Really? He left you guys because he wanted to be one of you so bad?" Juggernaut laughed and pushed Wolverine off him, then kicked him into the side of Worthington Labs. Juggernaut returned to Pyro, who had fallen unconscious again, and carried him away.
That was about three weeks ago. For the past three weeks, Juggernaut was able to find an abandoned, isolated shack to hole up in, and basically nurse Pyro back to health. Once the proper supplies and necessities were procured, the nursing part was much easier. The kid resented being treated like, well, a kid, but eventually just put up with it.
As soon as Pyro was able strong enough to be on his own, he left; only to come back 3 days later looking like he went through a barbed wire fence.
"What the hell happened to you?" Juggernaut asked.
"These, uh, robot mutant hunters ambushed me. Managed to kill two of them before I got the fuck outta there. God damn! Whatever those things were, they were like terminators!" Pyro explained.
"Did they follow you here?" Juggernaut asked.
"Hell if I know." was Pyro's reply.
'Oh terrific.' Juggernaut thought.
In the weeks following, Pyro stayed with Juggernaut, and brought back three allies: Mystique, Sabretooth, and Toad. The five of them soon became close and protective of each other, like a family. No one went anywhere alone in case of attacks, and if there was an attack, no one gets left behind. Those were the only two rules Pyro and Mystique laid down, and everyone agreed to them. They seemed like the two leader types, and Juggernaut was fine with them being the leaders; he had no idea how to lead, and he assumed Toad and Sabretooth weren't into giving orders. He actually enjoyed the little group, and he was glad he didn't go out…especially with those terminator mutant hunters lurking around. So far, those things didn't come anywhere near the lonely, isolated house.
So far, they were safe.