Chapter Two
The Goddess of Fire

When we last left our hero, he had begun an odyssey to the nearest 7 Eleven. Sheila's life was at stake. As he trekked the twenty miles, he mentally kicked himself for setting the bike aflame. About five miles from the base, he came upon a rather pretty woman with red hair and brown eyes, sitting on a -highly flammable- custom Harley. Sadly though, he did not notice her because he was too busy trying to coax his lighter to ignite.

* * *

"Come on, Sheila. I know you can do it. Light up for Daddy..."

"He's talking to a lighter," the woman on the Harley muttered. Although Pyro hadn't noticed her, she had noticed him... especially the sexy orange hair!

He looks so familiar, she thought. Familiar and cute... but vaguely familiar... did I mention cute? Yeah... mentioned cute...but GAWD is that hair sexy!

Suddenly, Pyro jumped. "I saw a spark! You can do it, Sheila! Don't surrender to the dark side. I have faith in you!"

Ok, she thought, so he's a little weird... Who cares?!

* * *

Back at the base, Gambit and Jennie were snuggled up on what was left of the sofa and watching TV.

"You know," Jennie said during the commercial break, "Pyro's out there -by himself- with nobody to watch him."

Gambit picked up a handful of popcorn. "You t'ink he made it to da 7 Eleven yet?" "Probably not." Jennie grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. "Let's go find him."

Gambit rolled his eyes. "Every time Gambit sit down ta watch TV, somet'in' like dis gotta happen..."

Jennie grabbed his arm. "Oh, just come on."

* * *

"HAHAHAAAHAAAAA!" Pyro cackled, staring at the flame dancing back and forth in his hand. Suddenly the flame snuffed out... he was out of lighter fluid.

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

Gambit and Jennie approached as Pyro fell to his knees on the side of the road.

"WHY?!"

Jennie elbowed Gambit in the stomach. "I told you so."

* * *

The next morning, Colossus awoke bright and early. Sabertooth was still out, Gambit and Jennie were asleep, and poor Pyro was rocking back and forth in the middle of the kitchen floor.

"What is wrong, Comrade?" Colossus asked, genuinely concerned for his teammate's well being.

"I haven't lit anything on fire in... five hours!" Pyro whined. "You remember what 'appened the last time I went that long without burnin' something."

Colossus remembered. How could he forget? In one of his frenzies, Pyro actually caught Sabertooth on fire. The rabid cat-man almost tore poor John to bits... he was only saved because Colossus had stepped in and suggested that St. John turn off his pyrokinesis for twenty-four hours. After six hours, the base needed a new kitchen, dining room, living room, and several pieces of electronics. Not to mention, Sabertooth was on the warpath for a week and a half.

"Well, my friend, why don't you leave the base and have some fun at the abandoned rock quarry? I'm sure there'll be plenty of tiny woodland creatures to incinerate." Colossus regretted the words as soon as they exited his mouth.

"Really, mate?" St. John looked hopeful. "Where's me jumper? I'll be feelin' betta in no time!"

Pyro jumped to his feet and made a beeline for the laundry room.

Colossus turned toward the toaster and sighed. "I am afraid this is going to be a long day."

* * *

"Get him!"

"Come back here!"

Cyclops and Spike were chasing after Pyro. After the Professor told them about the mutant activity near the abandoned quarry, they decided to investigate.

"This is bleedin' ridiculous! Just because I muck around with a couple bunnies, I got the X-Men on me tail!" Pyro panted as he ran towards the Bayville city limits. Unexpectedly, Pyro turned and opened fire -literally- on the X-Boys.

"Look out!" Cyclops pushed Spike out of the way and then shot an optic blast in Pyro's general direction.

Pyro jumped out of the way and returned with a stream of fire and a maniacal cackle.

The woman on the Harley stepped out of a coffee shop just in time to see a bright flash of orange. "Hey... wasn't that...?"

Cyclops and Spike pushed past her and she decided to follow. While they were preoccupied with another flame assault, the woman followed Pyro when he ducked into an alley.

Pyro watched from behind a dumpster as Cyclops and Spike ran down the street and someone else stepped into the alley.

"Um, excuse me?" a woman called. "Are you back here?"

"No."

"Ok, someone had to have said 'no'."

"Damn," he muttered, "that always works in the bloody movies."

The Australian accent struck a chord. "Do I know you?" the woman called.

"Don't think so, love."

"Love? Well, that's a funny thing to call somebody you haven't met yet."

Pyro fought the urge to set her on fire. As a kid, he got in trouble at school for that one. "Well, love, what would you like me to call ya?"

"Anything but 'love'," she replied. "It's startin' to freak me out."

Pyro thought for a moment. "Well, ok then. 'Ow 'bout this: you let me outta 'ere, and I'll think of somethin' else to call ya, eh, sheila?"

"Sheila?" The woman looked confused. "You mean the Zippo?"

Pyro's eyes bugged out of his head, nearly coming into contact with his goggles. "How do you know about my Sheila?"

"I saw you going to the 7 Eleven the other night... talking to her, it, the lighter!"

"That was a private moment, I'll 'ave you know!"

"I'm sorry! But I couldn't help noticing the crazy man talkin' to his lighter. I mean, the orange hair isn't that hard to miss."

"That's it! First, you bust on me girl, then you bust on me hair!" Pyro stood up and let loose a wave of fire on the poor, unsuspecting mystery woman.

She jumped out of the way. "That's how I know you! You're that fire starter from the news!"

"Well, it's nice to know that I'm publicly known," Pyro said, shooting out another wall of fire, which she dodged. "I 'ope they got me good side!" He cackled again.

After that wave of fire had ceased, the woman popped out from behind the dumpster. "Hey! Watch this!" The woman picked up an aluminum can and held it in her hand.

Out of sheer curiosity, Pyro lowered his guard to see what she would do.

In her hand, the pop can began to glow redder and redder until it burst in a ball of flame.

"Woo!" she yelled. "Haven't done that one in a while!"

Pyro's mind was racing. Could she be a pyrokinetic?

"Well, sheila, get a load o' this one!" He created a giant bull elemental that almost ran her down. But, to Pyro's surprise, she didn't try to dodge the 2000-degree bovine.

Her eyes began to glow red on black and the bull vanished as it neared her.

"All rightie, then," Pyro rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "I'm gonna 'ave to whip out the big guns, eh?" He created an entire herd of fire elemental horses, chuckling all the while.

Her eyes glowed like embers and she began waving her hand, as if conducting a band. The horses made an about face and charged after their creator.

Pyro stared in disbelief. "She's turned me own guns against me!" When he realized that a disabling blast of is own pyrokinesis wouldn't stop the horses, he ran for cover.

The woman's eyes returned to normal when she heard voices approaching the alley. She scaled the wall at the end of the alley, leaving Pyro cowering in the corner as the horses got closer. When he finally regained control of his power, the horses evaporated in a puff of smoke.

Gambit and Jennie ran up to Pyro, who was still huddled in the corner. "Are you ok, mon ami?"

"Crickey! What a woman!"

Gambit, puzzled, looked at Jennie. "What a what?"

"She's bloody amazing!" Pyro's eyes grew larger with each word.

Confused, Jennie arched an eyebrow. "Is he talking about that stupid lighter again?"

"A regular Fire Goddess!!!"

"Gambit sure hope not, chère."

They both decided that it would be a lot safer to escort the googlie eyed Pyro back to the base for the night.