The Boy Who Destroyed the World
an original X-Men Movieverse fan fiction
written by: jennifer s. a.k.a. assassinelektra
Disclaimer:
I do not own the X-Men movies or comics, or their characters. This is a fan fiction story meant only for the enjoyment of myself and other X-Men fans.
Title: The Boy Who Destroyed the World
Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance, Angst
Setting: Right after X-Men 3: The Last Stand
Pairing: John/Kitty
Rating: Teen
Author's Note: Ready for some more inner turmoil in John's mind? You're gonna love this chapter. Oh and it may help to read Plato's The Allegory of the Cave if you want to get the full affect of what I'm trying to say in this chapter. And, sadly, we are reaching the end of this fic. A few more chapters and then I'll get to start working on the sequel!
"Once there was boy who had vibrant glow, but as it goes, someone took it from him."
AFI "The Boy Who Destroyed the World"
"A life without love in it is like a heap of ashes upon a deserted hearth - with the fire dead, the laughter stilled, and the light extinguished."
Unknown
Chapter 25
It was a classic story: boy meets girl, girl saves boy, boy realizes there's nothing he can ever do to make up for all girl has done for him, girl is in danger, boy offers himself in her place, boy saves girl and still doesn't make up for all she did for him.
Or maybe it wasn't such a classic. But whatever it was, it was currently the story of his life. Let the X-Men take their time and find a way to sneak into the place. John knew his way around enough to use the front door.
And he did.
The funny thing was, that when he walked into the room, Magneto didn't seem at all surprised by his appearance. Kitty did, however. She gave him a questioning look at first, not sure that he wanted Magneto to know he was there right away. But John spoke.
"Are you okay?"
Magneto looked up from his book—George Orwell's 1984—and glanced at John. It was interesting that right at the moment when Eric had been wondering where the boy's loyalty truly lied, that he would appear. It was a bit ironic, and irony usually either forecast the future or warned you of it.
"Decided to join us, did you." Magneto commented, looking back down at his book.
Kitty stood up from the chair where she'd sat and walked over to John, carefully keeping her eye on Madrox the entire time. She knew that if he made a sudden move, she no longer had her usually easy escape of letting him phase through her.
"Let's go." John said quietly to Kitty, taking her hand and leading her towards the door.
"That door leads to a path you're not ready to walk, John." Magneto didn't even look up from his book, and John was a bit taken back by the use of his first name from the mutant who had always insisted he refer to himself as Pyro. "And once you open it, there is no returning."
Magneto looked up at them finally. "Allegory of the Cave." He said, as if that was supposed to mean something to them. "She's going to help me whether you want it or not."
"No, she's leaving right now." John told him coldly.
"And what about you?" That question, coming from Magneto seemed to bite at all of their souls in that moment. It was time to know the answer to the question that Kitty had been wondering since Magneto's return.
John let go of her hand slowly, letting his arm hang at his side. His lighter was a split second away from reach where it rested in his pocket. He could almost feel it in his hand already. But he did not reach for it.
"You feel safe in small dark places?"
"When I have control over the situation, yes."
"What do you even want her for?" John asked, completely avoiding answering the question. "She's done nothing to you that you didn't deserve, so just let her walk away."
"Everyone in this room knows that can not happen." Magneto told them. "You are not a lighthouse, though you do light the way at times." He glanced towards John's pocket, knowing the lighter was there.
"Now if I couldn't get out real quick if I needed to, that would be a problem."
"Okay, that's it, I'm fucking tired of you…" Kitty started walking towards Magneto, and Madrox grabbed her roughly, holding her tightly so that she couldn't move or get away. She struggled for a moment, but paused when she realized John wasn't helping her. He was looking down at the Zippo in his hand.
"John…?" It was whispered because in that moment she was completely afraid.
She saw that look in his eyes; the one John had given the night of Alcatraz. It was the need for absolute carnage, the craving for freedom, for release. He flicked the lighter open, staring down at it, still resting in his hand, opened but not lit.
"Now you see where you belong." Magneto said, watching John carefully. Kitty was watching him even more carefully, tears in her eyes as she realized what she had been terrified of was about to happen.
He still said nothing in reply to either Magneto or Kitty. The lighter shined, light flickering off of the smooth metal casing that contained the fuel. His entire soul incarnated into one of man's greatest creations—fire. John looked up at Magneto, who seemed quite pleased.
"With her help, we can stop these Sentinel's from attacking our kind, and focus them on those who truly deserve to be 'cured'." He explained.
"You brought me here to reprogram them?" Kitty yelled, focusing all of her rage and frustration on Magneto as she began to struggle against Madrox's hold again. "You bastard!" She looked to John for some help, the reassurance that he knew Magneto was truly evil now. But he was still staring at his lighter.
Only now it was floating in the air in front of him.
Magneto stood up and walked over to them. "You have a choice to make." He told John, speaking to him directly. "You can live the rest of your life with them, pretending that perhaps someday you will actually become someone they can trust. Or, you can return to the Brotherhood and help us gather once more those who still stand for our cause."
To this, John responded for the first time, looking from his lighter to the man who controlled it. "Our cause?" At this simple phrase, Magneto tensed and seemed to worry. But Kitty relaxed, at least a little. She was still wary of John and what his possible next move would be, but she wasn't holding her breath waiting for him to go evil anymore either.
"You nearly killed everyone in the name of your cause—you even let the one man you actually considered your friend to be killed for your cause, and as much as I hated the man, Professor Xavier didn't deserve that!"
The lighter flew through the air, snapping into Magneto's hand where his fist clasped it tightly. "You're not one of them! You never were and you never will be!" Magneto's voice was deep, resonate, demanding that all present listen to it, but he spoke directly to John.
John's glare intensified and his hands closed into fists at his side. If he only had some fucking flames to throw at the man! It pissed him off more than anything that Magneto had taken his lighter away, just like that.
"Stop lying to yourself." Magneto continued, his voice a bit softer this time. He was using his paternal tone again; the one he'd often given John advice with. And the advice, though at time a bit unorthodox, had always made sense. "Stop lying to her. She deserves better, you know that. All you can bring her is pain."
John's glare wavered as he glanced at Kitty, as if actually considering what Magneto was telling him. His mind flew across the idea that she could have phased away from Madrox's hold by now but hadn't. Why hadn't she?
And she was not going to lose him again to his inner doubts and self-hatred. Kitty could see the thoughts running through his mind as he looked at her. He was trying to figure out if what Magneto said was true. "No, damn it!" Kitty screamed. "John, don't you listen to him!" Things had almost started to look better, and then this moment…How was Magneto so annoying and yet persuasive at the same time?
"Shut her up." Magneto said, and Madrox had his hand over Kitty's mouth in an instant. She struggled against his hold on her, but ultimately lost in the battle to get away. She wasn't used to having to fight to get free, and it felt odd. John kept his eyes on her, more uncertain suddenly by what he was being told by Magneto and how true it actually was.
And all at once Kitty stopped struggling, and she just looked at him, the tears that had formed in her eyes minutes before, falling down her face.
"Your place is at my side." Magneto told John, sensing the moment of emotional vulnerability.
John tore his gaze away from Kitty and looked at Magneto.
XXXXXXXX
"Where's John?" Storm asked suddenly, and they all stopped walking. Bobby got the proud look on his face that screamed 'I fucking told you so, you idiots!' And Logan was more surprised than anything that he hadn't noticed the kid leave. But then he'd been focused on trying to catch Magneto's scent.
"Doesn't matter." Rogue said, and Bobby looked at her in shock. "We've gotta get her outa' here and we won't do tha' standin' around."
Logan was proud of her. She'd grown up quite a bit since he'd found her lying in the back of his truck. Rogue even had some possible leadership qualities about her, though she doubted them, and that would be the reason she could never truly lead.
And she, of all the people in the room, truly understood what Magneto was capable of.
Storm looked at her for a moment, then nodded to Logan, that yes, they would continue without John and deal with trying to find him later. So they all started walking again. But Bobby was uncomfortable.
He spoke quietly so that only Rogue—and unknown to him, Logan—could hear him. "Why are you defending him?" Bobby asked.
"I'm not defendin' him, sugah, I'm just pointing out tha' we…" She turned her head and looked at her boyfriend. "Are you even listenin' to me?"
"I just don't understand how you can all be so fucking forgiving. He was on Magneto's side! I saw him burn down an entire building with one damn explosion!" Yeah, that memory was still clear in his mind. Had he fought John the way he'd taunted him, maybe the innocent people in the building that provided the cure would still be alive. Then again, they had been providing the cure…
"I never said I forgave him." Rogue said darkly, glaring at Bobby. "But I'm tryin' to get to the point where I can." And that was one of the reasons Bobby loved her so much. Rogue tried to see the best in people—a lot like Kitty, actually.
"I'll never get to that point." Bobby muttered bitterly.
"Cause you're not tryin'." Rogue pointed out.
"Logan?" He broke away from listening to Bobby and Rogue's conversation and looked at Storm.
"Yeah?"
"What do we do if he went back to Magneto?" She asked. They both knew that she already knew the answer to that. But this was one of those moments, one of those pivotal choices that made being a leader difficult.
And Storm had truly hoped that John was back, that he'd finally come home after years of being the wayward son. He had been a student of hers—a trouble-making, sarcastic, always-had-an-attitude student, but a student nonetheless, and she cared for each of those she taught.
"I don't know." Logan lied, looking ahead. They were walking carefully through Magneto's make-shift lair. It was eerie, like something out of a horror film. He pulled out his lighter and lit a cigar, getting a glare from Storm. "What?" Logan asked. "It's not like he can smell it."
Warren watched them all quietly. Thus far he'd learned more about these X-Men just by observing than he ever could have actually speaking to them. Not that he wouldn't have minded a little conversation. But it was in his nature to watch quietly, taking in details they probably weren't even aware of.
And his hawk-like eyes kept a careful watch ahead and around them. He'd see any time movement, eyes meant for hunting, the predator of the skies mixed with human DNA to become an Angel.
He'd gone from spoiled, yet very independent boy to a dependable man who walked beside heroes. He'd saved his father when others would have let him fall. And he hadn't even rubbed it in his father's face later how he'd used his wings to save him.
If his father could only see him now.
XXXXXXXX
John held out his hand, waiting for Magneto to give him his lighter back, but he didn't say a word. And Magneto raised an eyebrow in response, making no move to give the lighter back. He glanced at Kitty, still held tightly—almost painfully—by Madrox, then back at John.
The older mutant seemed to consider it for a moment, the shook his head. "No." He said. "Not yet."
John's glare was instant. He was downright furious with the fact that Magneto was denying him his own lighter. "What, do you want me to prove my fucking loyalty?" He asked angrily. "Again?"
Magneto's lips curled into a smile. Kitty hated his smile, the way it reminded her of her grandfather and Hitler all at once. She hated the way his grey eyes told of years of experience, tales she would never want to hear but could probably learn a great deal from, things she'd never want to imagine but could maybe survive from knowing. And she hated that right away, he'd picked up on her greatest weakness. Peter. And now, John.
What was he playing at? Magneto was just confusing her, trying to regain John's allegiance while trying to force her into reprogramming the Sentinels to attack humans rather than mutants—she assumed that's what he wanted. "I won't help you." Kitty said suddenly, and Madrox realized too late that he'd let his hand slip from her mouth.
Magneto motioned for him to let her speak, and he did. "Not after this." She said through angry tears, glancing at John. "Not after all you've just destroyed for me."
"A broken heart drives fear to its worst." Magneto commented, as if to agree. He looked up at John. "But do you think he was ever really yours, Miss Pryde?" John looked at the ground, glaring at it as if it was the thing that had done all the wrongs in his life and led him up to this moment.
"Did you really think that in those moments when he seemed to care, that he wasn't merely taking what he could get? You live a lonely life, and you learn to stay lonely. When the chance comes along to take from another, you do not hesitate." Magneto was speaking from experience. Kitty could tell in the way he said it, the way he was completely sure of what he was saying.
"A mind like his is not that easily changed." Magneto continued. "His thoughts remain the same while he goes through the motions to make you think that perhaps there really is—"
"Shut up!" John yelled, and everyone looked at him. Madrox seemed surprised. Kitty and Magneto did not. She was hoping that maybe, by some miracle, this was a wake up call that would bring him back to her.
"I'm standing right here!" John added, fists bunching so tightly now that his skin was turning white from the pressure. "I'm in the fucking room!" He looked back at Magneto. "You gave me the closest thing I had to a home, and I'm back now. So do me a favor and quit referring to me as something to use against her!"
Kitty's heart fell to the ground and shattered all over again.
…and I'm back now
"Now give me my lighter back." John added darkly. And there was a warning in his eyes that even Magneto couldn't disregard as nothing.
He smiled at John, letting the lighter float in the air between them. "Nice to have you back." He commented as John snatched the lighter up. "Now," He looked at Kitty, moving on as if what had just occurred meant nothing, "Miss Pryde, I believe we had an arrangement. It's time for you to carry out your part of the deal." He nodded to Madrox, who released her from his hold, and Kitty shoved him away, looking at the mutant in disgust. Then she glared at Magneto with such hatred that her face literally turned red.
"There aren't words to describe how much I hate you." Kitty told him through clenched teeth. "The deal's off. You've just taken the one thing I cared about." John flicked his lighter open and looked at her. And she returned his indifferent glance with a hurt glare. How could he do this to her? After all that she'd done to help him, after all he'd seemed to become and realize, and after what she had just begun to finally admit to herself. How could he do this?
"I haven't taken him away from you." Magneto argued calmly, looking at Kitty as he spoke. "You can not steal something from someone who does not own it in the first place." John gave the older man a warning glance as he began to refer to him as if he weren't there again.
Magneto gave him a slight smile, and then narrowed his eyes as he looked at Kitty. "Then again…" He added, standing up from his chair.
"What are you doing?" She asked nervously, backing up against the wall in a futile attempt to get away from him.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Magneto said, as if she should just believe him.
And what was that she saw out of the corner of her eye? A flicker of concern, of nervousness on John's part as he pretended not to care? She wasn't sure, but she could always hope…
"Pyro." He looked at Magneto at the use of his nickname, flicking the lighter open. "Do you want to give Miss Pryde the reasons why she should help me, or shall I?" He looked at John, waiting for his answer.
And this wasn't going at all how John had thought it would. He'd figured he'd go in there, return to Magneto, and everything would be fine. But he was still trying to get Kitty to help him with whatever the hell he needed her help for, and he almost didn't seem to be buying that John had truly joined him again.
Time to fight fire with fire. John moved his thumb to flick his lighter open, but it didn't budge. He looked down at it with wide eyes. "Do you really think I would trust you after all the rumors I've heard lately?" Magneto asked, looking at Kitty while he spoke to John.
"I am not a moron." Magneto added.
"Yeah?" John asked sarcastically, trying to open his lighter again. But it wasn't doing any good. Magneto's hold on the metal was stronger than any force he could have used to pry it open.
"When you care about a woman," He finally turned to look at John, "Your way of thinking changes. And there is no going back to the way you were before. "Allegory of the Cave." He said, smiling at John.