"Darn it's getting late..." I sat on the porch of the mansion waiting to great the new student along with Crest and Liam who sat next to me petting the wolf absentmindedly. I stared at my list trying to find the room to fit the tour, while Liam rolled his eyes at me along with Crest.
"So he's a bit off schedule, will it be so bad if we just show him around?" I glared at the guy and punched his arm making him gasp in pain.
"YES IT WILL! Magneto will be here in two hours, if he is going to end up attacking the institute I want him to at least see that there could be good things to being here and not an outright bad decision." Liam sighed and patted my shoulder.
"You told me you were sure that was not the case. You looked into his heart and saw his intentions, trust in your assessment." doubt rushed through my heart, he kind of changed on a whim and he could very well change just as easily. His heart was near broken and cold as ice, one kind deed can't change a person's whole outlook on life… can it?
'You'd be surprised what effect you have on others Devlin. And speaking of others.' Crest rose from his spot and pointed to the gate as it opened. 'He's here.'
Driving inside the gate was the X-van carefully making its way to us. The van came to a stop just a few feat from us, I could see Remy in the driver's seat. He smiled my way and blew a kiss my way. I cringed and faked a smile waving at him. Liam glared at him and put his arm around my shoulder.
"He still hitting on you?" I nodded my head as Remy drove away leaving a young man standing with a ragged backpack hug from his shoulder. He wore a dusty gray tee shirt and torn black jeans. A zip up hoodie clung to his tall muscular and yet skinny frame.
"Hush! I don't want to talk about it right now." I stood up and walked over to the guy extending my hand which he shook. "Hi I'm Devlin, welcome to the institute."
"Thanks, I'm Thorn… this place is huge, do I really get to live here?" I smiled and nodded my head.
"Yep! You'll get your own room and furniture, you might end up with a roommate sooner or later but they won't bother you to much." he smiled and nodded his head.
"That's great it's been a long time since I've slept under a roof." I was going to ask him what that meant but I could sense a familiar longing and appreciation within his heart. He was just like me… we showed him around the mansion and brought him down to the danger room as the professor asked me. We walked into the large metal room and I called out to the computer.
"Run simulation, target practice!" the computer buzzed to life and began changing the room filling it with target dummy's. I turned to Thorn and smiled. "OK the professor asked me to take an assessment of your powers and ability's. So what can you do?"
"Oh… um." he rubbed his arms and pulled up his sleeves showing off a pair of powerful arms and amazing tattoos of a pair of throned vines rapping itself around his arms going down to his palm. He flexed his arms and to my amazement the tattoo's moved around like a snakes as it pulled itself away from his arms and into his hands. They writhed around of their own accord and whipped around with out him even having to swing them. "I can summon these from my arms and use them as second arms or even staffs if I straighten them out."
He did so flicking the vines which stiffened into staffs which were nearly twice as long as his own tall body. He span them around himself using them like a master martial artiest. He turned too one of the targets hanging from the walls and swung his staffs out as two long thin blue thorns out which embedded themselves inside the center of the target.
"I can also fire those thorns out as projectiles and even use them as a defense, I once used them to get away from a bear hug by poking them out of my own body… they aren't very durable though and they break very easily but are fire proof… also," he picked one of the thorns from the vines and popped it in his mouth and chewed. "They are edible."
"Awesome! Can I have one?" he nodded picking a thorn from his vines and handed it to me. The thorn was bright blue and seemed to glow a bit compared to the thick black vines. I took a bite of the vine and chewed, the vine itself tasted like a sugar cane only a bit fruity. "Not bad, is that it though?"
"That I know of, I only ever used my powers when I needed them and haven't got much practice in using them." I nodded my head and motioned to Liam to help me out.
"OK then, Liam and I will be testing your accuracy, control, and limits. First I want you to hit all those targets as they move, Liam if you would." smirking Liam charged a fireball and easily tossed it at each and every target on the wall only missing a few. "Just like that, now it may be a little hard at first but I'm sure you,"
With out a word as the targets reformed Thorn quickly swung his staffs out firing needle like thorns at every target getting each one directly in the center not missing a single one. Liam and I gawked at the man who smiled triumphantly.
"I've had a lot of practice on the streets. You'd be surprised what you can learn when your on your own." Liam looked confused.
"On your own?" Thorn sighed and nodded his head.
"I'm some what of an orphan. My parents kicked me out of the house when I was thirteen for… reasons." just from saying that his heart burst with sorrow and resentment, I had to hold my self together and not out right cry from the pain he was emanating. I decided to change the subject.
"Lets get back to the test, next is control. All you have to do is maintain your power while using every ability you have in tandem.. basically using your powers all at once for as long as you can. Are you ready?" Thorn nodded and we began the test, which he flew through with flying colors. After that I decided to test his powers out myself. "Computer! Password: Azure Flames run program, Glade of the Fallen!"
In an instant a wave of light covered the room shifting the world around us forming a clear open night sky filled with shining stars and a bright crescent moon, below grew a glade of flowers that shine just like the sky.
"Wow… it's so… so… I have no words for it." I smiled at Thorn and took my stance.
"Thanks but its time to battle! I will be testing your limits myself. Don't you dare go easy! Come at me like I was your worse enemy or be burned alive!" I gave no room for error and dashed right toward him claws extended and ablaze I thought I got him off guard but it turned out he was ready for me. Before I could reach him he summoned his staffs and used them to push off the ground and leaped right over me sweeping his staff at my feet tripping me and used his other to knock the wind out of me by striking my chest.
"You want my all then don't hesitate!" he rose his two staffs over his head and brought them down, in the last second I twisted my body to evade and launched a wave of fire at him. He thought quickly and span his staffs around like propellers forcing the fire to part at the points. "you'll have to do better then that."
"Crud!" I jumped up in the air and summoned two fire balls at the sides of my feet keeping me afloat while I charged a concentrated fire ball to blast him with when he smirked and slashed the air sending a flurry of thorns at me braking the balls of fire that kept me in the air making me fall to the ground with a thud. He moved so fast I could hardly keep up as he swung his staffs relentlessly, there was only one choice for me.
'Howl' I surrounded Thorn with a pack of wolves who circled around him before launching themselves at his limbs and biting down hard. Even pinned to the ground Thorn just smirked under his hood as he asked me a question.
"These are fake wolves right? Some kind of power?" I nodded my head and he laughed. "Then I wont go easy!"
Out of his limbs sprouted long blue thorns that pierced the wolves through their heads turning them to smoke. Once gone Thorn quickly swung his legs out and stood up running back at me to slash once again with his staffs. I could only back away from the guy as he relentlessly strike me, nothing I could do would affect him. I had to do something anything or fail and I would not allow that to happen.
"RAAGGHHH!" I roared as I engulfed my body in darkness and toss Thorn back from the shear force I emitted. The shadows and smoke coated my skin in armor as the wave of power concentrated. I took a look of my armor, all over myself were black bone like armor plates that covered over a thick layer of molten blue plasma. I lowered myself on all fours and charged at Thorn burning the flowered ground around my claws. I pounced at him clawing the ground as he once again used his staff to dodge as I cut through the ground leaving five long burning imprints on the ground.
"Crap!" It was finally Thorn's turn to run for his own life, the tables turned as I slashed at his staffs severing them into pieces. I grabbed him by his shoulders and headbutted him sending him flying into the durt ground. I clawed at my forehead feeling some kind of thick dust lodged in my plasma. I looked at my claw to see small black splinters that I shook off and roared reading myself for another attack.
"Enough!" my eyes widened when I heard the professor's voice, the danger room changed once again in a wave of light and the metal walls returned along with the professor and Magneto who stared from the entrance with amused faces. "You must really stop making these duel's of yours so intense."
"My bad professor." I took a deep breath and released my power letting my body return to normal. And greeted the professor and Magneto. I looked into said man's heart and felt no ill will sending a wave of relief through me. "Good to see you again Erik."
"You as well, Devlin." the professor looked at me impressed.
"Your very fortunate Mr. Mercer, Erik does not enjoy being called by his birth name without retaliation." Magneto smiled at me and I smiled back. But then I frowned remembering the resgin he was here to begin with.
"As much as I want to trust you." and I do. "there is still the issue with one of your 'Acolytes' nearly burning down the institute… care to explain?"
"Believe me I have no intention of harming you or Charles, whatever Pyro has done it was not my by my orders." I glared at him for a moment but I smiled.
"I believe you." Professor Xavier frowned.
"As do I, but I would like to know what is happening in the mind of your subordinate. I have tried to read his mind yet there was no effect. Have you placed a mind block on him" Magneto nodded.
"I wanted them to be free from telepathic attacks. Just in case you would use your powers on them…" Professor Xavier gave him a look but Magneto shook it off. "now where is he? I would like to have a word with him."
"Just a word?" I asked, I felt pure hate when he said that emanating like a tidal wave. "your heart says otherwise."
"Sigh… I promise he will not be harmed." I glared at him and smiled regardless.
"OK, but I don't trust you on your own with him so I'm coming too." I grabbed Liam's arm and Thorn's who look very tried. "Liam take Thorn to his room, I'll be with you guys in an hour."
"Then let us be off." I followed behind professor Xavier as he led us deeper into the mansion until he came to a large room with a glass box inside the middle consumed in fire. I looked on confused as the raging inferno burned along the walls. "He has been doing that for hours on end. He can not melt the box, I have made it to be immune to almost all elements. It can only be broken through a process of high frequency sound waves."
"Marvelous work Charles…" Magneto made his way to the box and knocked on the glass. "Pyro!"
at his name the great inferno subsided into nothing as the man sat there facing the wall with eyes wide and tired. His hair was a mess of orange spikes that drooped much like his stare. He looked much older then he did when I first saw him. Magneto glared at the man and backed away from the glass.
"Something is wrong." he banged on the glass and shouted at the man inside. "Pyro answer me! What have you done!?"
"…." Pyro looked… I guess the word would be blank. Like there was nothing going on in his head or even his heart.
"I've tried to look into his heart but found nothing. Not a memory or even a single emotion other then confusion," I placed my hand on the glass and closed my eyes for a moment before turning to Magneto. "Was he always like this?"
"No, much like his powers, he is is flamboyant and wild. His mind itself is a mystery to me, it took the telepathy hours to place a single ward in his mind having to get past all of his… enthusiasm." 'basically he's nuts.' I thought as I stared at the man. Something about him was off… like whoever he was wasn't really there, all that he was, was nothing but an empty shell. I reached out again to try to find anything inside him when I felt something only to flinch in fear as the inferno returned with a vengeance. The fire burned around the box burning like an intense furnace.
"I felt something!" I shouted standing back form the glass. "right before he through the fire out again."
"That's impossible..." he said touching the glass.
"I did I," he shook his head.
"No not that. The fire, he cant summon flames he can only control them!" He turned to me and grabbed my shoulders. "Whatever you felt please try harder to find what is doing this to him."
"You got it!" I turned to Pyro and used all my concentration to find what was doing this to him. I felt my own heart reach out for him yet got nothing… there was only one way to do this. "I have to go inside the box."
"Out of the question," said professor Xavier. "It's to dangerous."
"His power is fire and I'm pretty sure I can burn stronger then him." the professor sighed but relented.
"I'll give you one chance. But if you falter I will have no choice but to incapacitate Pyro, and I would very much like to avoid that." I waited for the professor to open the box, he approached the control computer and waited for me to take position. I stood in-front of the door and charged a ball of fire, ready I nodded to the professor and he pressed a button making the glass door open and sending a stream of fire toward me which I countered with my own.
The fire was so intense I felt like I was going to melt. I covered myself in an armor of fire and pushed my way through once inside the door slammed shut behind me and I forced my way closer only for the fire to push me back. I pushed my way closer feeling my fire being smothered by his intense flames. It moved past the fires of my arms and burned the skin making me scream in pain as I pressed on regardless. I finally reached Pyro and grabbed his shoulders feeling the flesh burn from my bones. I screamed as I pushed my hand to his chest and instantly felt his heart and the thing blocking it from me.
"Let him go!" I forced my power through him and the burning inferno subsided and calmed as I gazed in to his heart. My eyes clouded as I saw into his past. Before my eyes was a little child playing by himself. He had spiky orange hair and a sad smile on his face as he looked at the other children around him. The other children glared at the boy and paid him no mind. He sighed and let a small tear fall from his eyes as he picked the grass out of the ground placing it in a pile in front of him and pulling out a magnify glass aiming it just right to burn the pile, the boy smiled happily and watched as the fire burned.
"Burn..." he said and smiled to himself as the fire grew and grew until it was stomped out by an older man with thick glasses he pulled the boy up by his arm and dragged him away. "Let me go!"
"Quite!" the man dragged him inside the building and tossed him aside leaving him alone while he walked out of the room muttering under his breath. "Fucking little pyromaniac."
The world flashed to another scene, there was an older boy cold and alone in an empty street, he reminded me a lot of of myself when I was younger. He stood over a large metal trashcan alight with fire. He smiled holding his hands out letting them be licked by the flames. A group of men walked up to the boy holding bats hand metal pipes.
"There's the freak!" the boy frowned and the fire inside the trashcan burned brighter as he tried to ignore the group of people.
"Go away." he said with a scowl. The group ignored him as the rushed at him weapons at the ready. The boy turned with a roar pulling the fire out of the trashcan and sending it in an arch that through the people back. "BURN!"
the boy stood over the people who cried on the ground in pain smirking and chuckling to himself. The world around me changed again in front of me hung Pyro chained to a large rock molten chains, a blank look coated his eyes as he stared out into space his mouth hung open drawling in ridged breaths. I ran trowed him clawing and pulling at his chains only for them to melt and reform back into place.
"Dam it!" I cupped Pyro's face in my hands and tried to talk to him. "Hey wake up! Please!"
"..." he remained silent only his eyes moved as he stared at me blankly. I shook him and tapped his face trying to get him to react only to fail.
"What's wrong!? Why aren't you waking up?" his eyes and mouth closed and his head drooped sadly.
"Why should I?" he started to cry and shake in his chains. "There's no point in it. Whats the point when its gone?"
"What's gone?" his eyes opened up and he shouted at me his voice squeaking as if saying it made him feel pain.
"THE FIRE!" he limped back in his chains and cried. "My fire is gone… I cant touch it any more… I can't see it I can't feel it… there is no point in living if I can't have my fire."
"..." I thought back to his memory's and understood. I rapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. "I get it. Fire has been the only thing in your life that has been there for you… but it doesn't have to be that way, fire is more then just what you think it's inside you and everyone around you… all you have to do is look."
"What are you talking about!?" he asked insulted. I smiled and opened up my heart letting my inner fire ignite lighting the dark rock and burning through the chains surrounding him. I pulled away and he gasped in shock grasping at my shoulders and caressing the fire dancing around me. Tears of joy ran from his eyes as he hugged me thanking me. "It's back! It's back, thank you."
"It was never gone. You just lost sight of it." he looked into my eyes and smiled but that smile turned to a frown as a loud booming voice echoed through the world around us.
'How dare you free my prisoner!' he hid Pyro behind me nad let my fire surge stronger around us gaurding us from the voice.
"Who are you! Show yourself!" the voice chuckled and in the dark distance stood a man wereing a long purple cloak and face paint all over his face.
'It is none of your concern. I shall deal with you latter, know this young one, the false gods of your world will fall to the might of my lord! Soon all will fall under his mighty rule! And soon you too shall fall under his thrall.'
the man and even the world around us faded away as I returned to the real world inside the glass cage. Pyro fell into my arms and the glass door opened having Magneto rushed inside helping us to our feet. He looked my way and asked what happened and honestly I did not know.
"all that matters is that Pyro is safe..." Magneto just stared at him suspiciously as Pyro continued to smile widely at me. I walked to the professor and showed him a mental image of what I had seen. "What do you think it means?"
"i do not know… but I fear we are all no longer safe."