Chapter Four:
John Allerdyce walked slowly out of the windy tunnel, and began to make his way along the edge of the 'Lawn' toward his own quarters. He had picked up a handful of stones and was throwing them, one at a time, against the metallic walls. Each impact resulted in a dull clang which reverberated around the room, but John could not hear it over the loud music playing in his ears.
The parcel which the Lady Deathstrike had given him was tucked deeply in his coat, and remained unopened. He took her warning about not listening to the new CD until his task in the gym-room had been completed. He knew the consequence for breaking Magneto's order would result in him losing his music privileges all together…or worse.
While the rules in the Brotherhood were never set down in stone, there was one simple principle John knew they all adhered to…Magneto's word was law, and no one would go against his orders.
John, known now by no other name than Pyro to his Brothers, quickly learned during the first few months with Magneto that the man expected more of him than Xavier ever had. There was no pretense of compassion or pity for what Pyro was here, no sympathy for his struggles to control his power. He was to follow and learn, but he would not be taught, he would not be instructed with every step he took. He was to either keep up with his duties, or be left behind.
His main responsibility was always to his mutant abilities. Practice them, master them, and in the end, be prepared to use them against their enemies. The more Pyro listened to Magneto's words, the more he was beginning to believe that war was coming, and the angrier he became at the lies Xavier's school had put in head. Fellowship with human beings, educating human beings about how normal mutants are, how much they belong in the world…
Bull shit. No one should need to be convinced that mutants have the right to exist. Humans do not question the right of other humans to be born yet they look on those with a slight genetic difference as wrong or unnatural. Well, maybe evolution is making it the other way around.
Neanderthals, Pyro thought with a smug grin, Just like Neanderthals.
He reminisced back on his last field trip with Xavier's school, with contempt. Storm had dragged them to the evolution exhibit, explaining how obsolete kinds of human beings had died out as another more powerful species appeared. The more evolved species survived…
Fuckin' A, he thought, unconsciously rotating his lighter in his hand, Human beings are standing around like Neanderthals…only they're a little smarter than the cavemen. They see the superior race that'll make them obsolete…make them extinct…They won't stand a chance, we have the firepower and they have rocks and sticks…
Pyro found a bitter amusement in this idea, and grinned. The Island may not be the most fun place in the world, a lot less cushy than Xavier's, but at least Magneto was honest with him, he did not candy-coat and kid-proof the truth. Pyro was treated like an equal here, like an adult, and if the others treated him harshly, it was only because he needed that discipline, making him strong, making him forget the pain of his past…
God among insects, he thought and with a snap and hiss of his lighter, Pyro pushed thoughts of the past away. He never wasted time thinking about it at Xavier's, no matter how any of his 'teachers' prodded him to express his anger at his parents, and he would not waste Magneto's time with it here. When the war came, he would be the most dangerous soldier any human army had ever faced.
But, they may not only be fighting human armies.
Pyro grinned to himself, the expression fiery and menacing. Eight months of work with the Brotherhood had changed his attitude on many things.
Xavier, under all his words of unity and peace, was collecting to himself a large arsenal of mutant weapons…and beginning to train them. Pyro wondered if they had ever completed that secret training room all the students once whispered about. He wondered how many of his 'friends' were training to be X-Men. He wondered which one of them he would meet in combat first…
Pyro walked down a narrow hall towards his room. He stepped onto a short bridge spanning the distance over a mass of water running towards a drop off, beyond which was a line of barred cells. At the end of the bridge was the door to his room, and he pushed it open and entered. Following his first days with the Brotherhood, it became apparent that giving him a room near water was beneficial for any accidents that may occur in his quarters.
He pulled the door closed behind him and sighed, dropping the heavy manual Toad had given him noisily to the floor. He could not wait until he finished repairing the walls in the gym so he did not have to spend every waking moment with the strange mutant. Pyro tried to keep up with Toad while they worked but it was fucking impossible, and the guy had less patience than Mystique when it came to Pyro's questions. He was glad he would be working with the Lady tomorrow, at least she had a small (very small) shred of humor.
Pyro kicked the manual once for emphasis and snapped his lighter with a chuckle.
Despite how vicious and strange his new Brothers could be, he still enjoyed being treated like an adult much more than being treated like a child under Xavier's rule.
With everything I've put up with, he thought, They should just canonize me now. St. John Allerdyce has a nice ring to it…