Yay! *jumps up and down gleefully* 85 reviews!!! ^_^ I saw Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King today! It's an awesome movie! If you haven't seen it go see it! Anyway . . . thank you all so much and sorry for the long wait! Here's the chapter!

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Blaze woke up groggily, her head screaming with pain. She groaned and was about to put a hand to her head when she realized she couldn't. Her hands were chained with iron to a metal chair she was strapped on. She tried to create a flame but in dismay found that she couldn't, due to the fact that iron covered her entire hand.

She twisted her head to one side, searching for the others. To her horror, she found the adult, EVIL, Pyro staring at her, awake and chained next to her.

"What the-?" She exclaimed.

Pyro rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have been captured unless I wanted to, which in this case, I did."

"And why would you want to be captured?" Blaze asked coldly.

"What are you so pissed about?" Pyro asked, eyes narrowing.

"You . . . you almost killed Marie! And you sold us out! I think that's a perfectly good reason for being mad!" Blaze said, shouting now.

Pyro just stared at her and didn't speak.

Suddenly it dawned on Blaze. "You . . . you did kill her, didn't you?" She said surprisingly softly. Thought it was stated as a question, her tone was a statement.

Pyro stared at her with emotionless eyes. "Might as well. Anyway, it's more like I did a favor for her. Now she's with precious Bobby-"

"Go to hell!" Blaze snarled.

Pyro smiled. He enjoyed playing with people's emotions-especially when they got angry. Then things get interesting . . . and they're weak and likely to spill information. Part of the reason why he'd allowed himself to be captured was because he wanted information about how exactly his past self and the lovers got to be in this time. He would have to tell his boss . . . and his boss would have to travel back in time again to make sure Pyro makes the decision to accept the "Devil's Bargain".

"Are you sure you really want me to go there?" Pyro taunted. "Because of course, that means you're condemning the past John too, you know."

"He's different from you."

"Is he? Because no matter how you or Iceman or Rogue deny it, he's me. He will make the same decision I made."

Blaze just glared at him.

She started to retort when the steel door swung open. A man in a business suit surrounded by two bodyguards in black and a military officer walked in. A woman followed them from behind. The two bodyguards stared at the two firestarters behind black sunglasses. But Blaze could feel the heat of his hatred behind them.

Her eyes wandered over to the business-like man and the one dressed in military garb.

Blaze's eyes widened as she recognized the three. The man in the business suit was none other than the President, her father. The military man was the Colonel . . . known to her as Uncle Bryce. He wasn't really her uncle- but he and her father had been really close friends, and he was considered part of the family. He had a wife but then she disappeared. And the woman? Her mother.

She was not surprise when Uncle Bryce had merely glanced at her with no warmth in his face. If Blaze remembered correctly, he hated mutants too.

Blaze felt intense anger at her father and mother, her so-called family.

"Like I always said . . . your misbehaviors always come back to haunt you." President Johnson said.

"Misbehaviors?" Blaze said, "So being a mutant is MY fault? It's your genes too!"

The President frowned. "Scientists have confirmed that that is a false statement-it's a mutated gene-hence the name 'mutants' or more commonly 'muties'".

Pyro snickered.

The President's mouth widened a little, as if disbelieving that someone would question his authority.

"Do you really wish to die, mutant?" He asked incredulously. With a nod of his head the two bodyguards cocked their guns at Pyro's forehead. He merely smiled.

"Don't really care about that, Mr. President. You see, I'm already dying. But I'd rather go with a fight."

Blaze stared at him. How could he be dying? His powers were still so strong . . .

President Johnson couldn't care less. "I may need you later." And the bodyguards put down their guns.

Suddenly, he turned to the Colonel. "I've changed my mind. I want you to inject it into her." He pointed to his former daughter.

The Colonel's eyebrows knitted together and he said, "Are you sure you don't want to reconsider that Dan?"

President Johnson's eyes narrowed menacingly. "It's Mr. President when we're doing business Colonel, and I'll be making the decisions around here. Inject her. That's an order."

Blaze glanced at her Mom, and wasn't surprised to see that she showed no sign of helping her out. So. This is interesting. Uncle Bryce is the only one that shows any sign of worry about this "injection."

Then, all of them left. They were alone again.

"What do you mean you're dying?" Blaze hissed.

Pyro smirked. "I didn't think you cared."

"Tell me!" Blaze insisted.

"It's called the Legacy Virus . . . it slowly kills mutants . . . I don't know how I got it. But there were many mutants dying from this virus, and I have it. I'll get weaker and weaker until my own power consumes me. This 'Devil's Bargain' that you all condemn me for taking is the only thing that's kept me alive for this long."

(A/N: I know in the comics John does die of the Legacy Virus *sob* but I'm not sure that's exactly how he dies so for anyone who reads the comics sorry if I get the effect of the virus wrong.)

"Who did you make that bargain with?!" Blaze demanded.

Pyro smiled. "Do you really think I'll tell you that?"

Suddenly, the door swung open, and the Colonel and some military officers came in. The Colonel motioned them and Pyro was taken out.

Uncle Bryce kneeled down in front of Blaze, ignoring her glare. He seemed to look over her head, behind her. When he was satisfied, his eyes strayed onto Blaze's face.

And then he hugged her.

Blaze's eyebrows went straight up into her hair.

" . . .?" Blaze was surprised. She expected to be yelled at, and poked at with a needle but not being embraced into a tight hug. This world is just so confusing!

Uncle Bryce let go of her. "Elizabeth! Glad to see you're still alive!"

Blaze couldn't stand it anymore. She cracked up and started laughing.

The Colonel stared at her and was probably wondering if she was crazy.

"This . . . is so . . . stupid . . . it's funny!" Blaze gasped into between laughs.

A smile crept up in Uncle Bryce's lined face. "This is why you were my favorite of Dan's kids."

But then his face became solemn again and Blaze stopped laughing.

"All right. I don't have much time, but I was able to get the guy in charge of the security cameras to disable them for ten minutes so I can talk to you."

Blaze got serious too. "Speaking of which, I thought you hated mutants. So . . . why again are you happy I'm alive?"

"It's a long story, and we don't have much time-"

"No. I want to know." Blaze insisted.

Uncle Bryce sighed. "Okay. I did hate mutants. Despised them, as I was taught to. It's amazing as I look back and see that we were really brainwashed to hate them no matter what. Anyway, I met Claire, my wife. Do you remember her?"

Blaze nodded. "Sort of."

"I loved her so much," He continued, "and we had a happy five year marriage. I always sort of had this feeling like she was hiding something from me, but I ignored it. I didn't expect her to tell me every single detail of her life and past. In fact, I didn't know much about her past, except that she was an orphan.

One day, I caught her in the kitchen. I was going to surprise her, so I went in through the back door instead of the front, so she didn't hear me come in. I saw a cup moving from the cupboard into her hand. Her eyes were on it the entire time. I was in shock. My wife was a mutant! She turned around and saw me staring at the cup in her hand.

She started crying and kept on apologizing, saying that she knew my opinion on mutants but she didn't want to lose me. At first I was angry. But then I realized that I had been blind the entire time. If I could love a mutant that must mean that not all of them were bad. I told her it was okay and she told me everything. But then, I realized how stupid I was. My mike on my uniform automatically turned on every hour. New standard procedure just in case someone was captured. I should have turned it off before Claire told me everything, but I completely forgot.

Once I realized it, I shut it off. Then I told Claire that she . . . that she had to leave the country."

Uncle Bryce stopped a moment and tears brimmed out of the corner of his eyes. Blaze could tell that this was a memory he had not shared with anyone else.

"So I arranged for her to secretly go over the border to Canada. Before she left, she . . . she told me that she was pregnant."

Blaze gasped, she couldn't help it. She felt so sorry for him!

"Since she was a psychic, sometimes in my dreams I get images of her in Canada. I also get images of my little girl . . . she's about seven years old right now I believe. I got to watch her grow up . . . but only in my dreams."

"I-I'm sorry." Blaze said uncomfortably. What else could you possibly say to this?

Then, Uncle Bryce forced himself into Colonel-mode. "I have to inject this in you-I have no choice. Otherwise your dad will be suspicious."

"He's not my dad." Blaze said coldly.

The Colonel sighed. "I'm going to have to fill you in on a lot, aren't I? First of all, your dad loves you. That's why he disowned you-"

"Do you realize how weird that sounds?" Blaze interrupted.

"No. Because when you set your birthday candles on fire lots of people saw it, and if he hadn't disowned you, you'd be dead right now. He had to let you go so that it kept up his image AND you'd have a chance to survive."

"Then why does he want to inject me with . . . what does he want to inject me with?"

Uncle Bryce scowled. "Greed. It's the thing that destroys both human and mutant alike. Over the years he began to like the power, and would do anything to keep it. The thing I have to inject you with is a steroid. Rage is what triggers the effect. Once rage takes over, your powers are increased to the height of its extent. You'll have no control over yourself and will probably burn up half of New York."

"But why would he want to do that? I'd probably kill the whole world!" Blaze said, suddenly scared.

"Because, I don't know what you mutants know of, but people's opinions of mutants are changing rapidly. Many have had experiences like me, where they've married mutants, or their kids have grown up into mutants. And your dad has been so against mutants, he could hardly change his mind now. Or so he thinks. Anyway, he wants a mutant to cause chaos so people will think: 'Maybe I was wrong. They are evil" And as for you burning the whole world . . . there's a safeguard in the steroid. Using so much power for so long will burn out your cells and you will die."

Blaze didn't say anything. This was too much to absorb.

"So I have to ask you to please keep your temper in check: they will defiantly try to tempt you. And I will contact your friends at that mutant rebel group and tell them. Hopefully they can set you free."

"Wait! How will you contact the X-Men?" Blaze asked, confused.

"Oh I've known the location of your base for years. It's a lot of work trying to ward the rest of the military off on learning the location too. Sorry."

Blaze winced as he poked a long needle into her arm.

* * *

(A/N: HA! You thought I forgot about them, huh?)

Rogue woke up, rubbing her head with gloved hands. She saw Bobby lying next to her. She shook him. "Bobby! Bobby wake up!"

Bobby sat up, nearly knocking into Rogue. "Why are we in a cell?"

Rogue looked around, suddenly noticing her surroundings. "Oh. We got captured. Again. You know, why do we always get captured?"

"Bad luck?" Bobby guessed.

Then Rogue heard a metallic clicking sound. She turned her head and saw John flicking the cap of his lighter. He was leaning against the damp cell wall.

"John! Good you're awake too. How come you didn't try to escape? How long were you awake?" Rogue asked rapidly.

John raised his eyebrows. "You just got smacked in the head. How come you're so hyper? I was awake for a while. I guess they didn't hit me as hard."

"Well, go melt the bars or something." Rogue insisted.

John just stared at them.

Rogue rolled her eyes and turned to Bobby.

Bobby nodded and stretched his hands out towards the bars, intending to freeze them. Nothing happened.

"Told ya." John said.

"You didn't say anything." Bobby retorted, annoyed.

Rogue hesitated, and then suddenly touched her boyfriend's face with her hands. Nothing happened.

A smile crept up onto her face. "How did this happen?"

John rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal a bracelet. "It must block our powers somehow."

"John . . ." Rogue said, "You might want to turn around."

"Why?" John asked suspiciously.

Rogue and Bobby suddenly started kissing. They both liked it. This was different. Bobby felt no pain, and Rogue couldn't feel Bobby's personality in her mind.

John made a disgusted face and looked out of the cell. "Only Bobby and Rouge would even think about kissing while being locked up in a cell."

After what seemed like forever to John (but it was around five minutes) the cell bars were finally opening, and Blaze was thrown in. And the guard snarled to Bobby and Rogue, "Get a room you two."

The guard had thrown Blaze right onto John.

"Sorry." Blaze said weakly.

John was about to respond sarcastically when he saw her pale, sweaty face. "What did they do to you?"

Blaze smiled. "At least it wasn't torture." She meant it as a joke, but neither laughed. The effect of the steroid was taking place, and she felt like her entire body was on fire. It was unbearable, even for a firestarter like her.

Then Bobby and Rogue grabbed her attention, and she forgot to answer John's question. " . . . What are they doing?"

"Kissing. They gave us bracelets so our powers won't work." John explained.

"Oh. Oh!" Blaze's eyebrows knitted together. "They have really weird timing."

Suddenly, a bunch of guards came back and swung open the cell bars.

Bobby and Rogue finally stopped kissing. The guards grabbed each of them painfully by the arms and forced them out.

* * *

"Well, this is comfortable." John remarked as the guard placed a rope around his neck. "And we have an audience too." A large crowd of people circled around the gallows, talking excitedly. But despite his joke, he was scared to death.

"Knock it off, John." Rogue snapped, not in the mood.

Bobby's icy blue eyes scanned the crowd, feeling numb. The X-Men must know . . . they'll save them somehow . . . he could always count on them.

Evil Pyro was standing on the sidelines. Apparently they only had room for four. His hanging would come later. Now surprisingly, he looked bored.

In the meanwhile, Blaze was finding it hard to keep control. The fire was so hot . . . she hoped the Colonel would hurry! She tried scanning the crowd, desperately searching for Cyclops, Jean, any of their children, heck, she'd take Wolverine.

Then . . . she saw him.

Her dad was stepping up in front of her. The fire inside her rose up at the sight of him. "Saved" her before or not, he's prepared to kill her and her friends now, and she can't forgive him.

President Johnson cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Four mutants have been found. It was also just discovered that these four were the culprits of the jewelry break-in . . ."

"What?!" John demanded angrily, looking to his right to a panting Blaze and to his left to a confused Bobby. "We didn't break into anything! That's bullshit!"

President Johnson turned around irritably and told John to shut up.

"Make me." John sneered.

President Johnson sighed. "If you insist,"

The executioner knocked John on the head with a shovel. Don't ask why he had a shovel.

"Ow!" John complained.

Bobby and Rogue couldn't help but roll their eyes.

President Johnson kept on droning on about how mutants are evil and how they deserved their punishment. Neither of them listened to him. Bobby was scanning the crowd, desperately looking for the X-Men, Rogue was trying to see an alternative way out, John's head was spinning too much to do much of anything, and Blaze was trying to drown her father out. She knew he would be the one who would try to tempt her.

Then, he turned to Blaze. He said, "This . . . mutie . . . is my daughter. And you see, if I would hang this mutant, which must mean they are evil. They don't belong here." He cursed them, insulted them, until anger boiled inside her.

By this time, the rest of them were listening. John had a scowl on his face.

Blaze shut her eyes, trying to drown out his words, but she couldn't. They were meant for her, and she couldn't escape them. Suddenly, she was unaware at the tight rope tied to her hands or around her neck. Actually, she couldn't feel anything except anger. Her eyes burned with fire, and the ropes around her all fell onto the ground charred.

Her entire body was surrounded by flames, and she looked pissed.

The wind swept the flames behind her, and John got engulfed into flames. Of course, he didn't mind, but even to him, they were hot. Bobby felt the heat seep through his natural cold body temperature, and he began to sweat nervously. Luckily, Rogue was the furthest from Blaze, and she didn't get hurt. But she could still feel the heat. It was worse for her, since she was covered up.

But then, John felt a cool liquid on his wrist. He looked down and saw that the bracelet that had contained his powers were now a puddle of liquid metal at his feet. And that the ropes around him were weak. He yanked both arms to the side and his hands were free. Then he ripped off the noose and went to free Rogue. Bobby had noticed John and followed his lead. Bobby glanced over where Pyro was, and found that he was gone.

Blaze was smiling wickedly. She spread her arms out, palms up, and fireballs began appearing in her palms. Then, she raised them up into the air, and they began shooting at random people, causing chaos. People were rolling on the floor, trying to stamp the fire out. Many were running as fast as they could go out of there.

Blaze smiled. Her eyes turned upward, and a man's cigar shot up in flames, his hair now on fire.

All over the city, sources of fire were spreading uncontrollably. If there was a candle, it burned the room and the entire house or apartment. If someone was smoking, they were engulfed in flames.

And Blaze didn't care.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her dad looking scared and scrambling to talk to a guard.

"You idiot! How long until she burns out? I didn't want all of New York burned down to the ground!" President Johnson demanded.

"A-A couple of hours, sir. Like you said." The guard trembled, now seeing that Blaze was glaring down at him.

"I said nothing of the sort!" The President raged. "Get out of my sight!"

"Gladly." The guard mumbled as he scrambled to his feet and ran away.

Blaze started to walk toward her cowering father. Her mother was screaming. "Watch out Dan!"

Meanwhile at the gallows they had freed Rogue.

"I have to use my power and touch her!" Rogue said.

"What, like you did me?" John said dryly, remembering Rogue's comment when they went to retrieve the Time Machine.

Rogue glared at John. "This isn't the right time to joke, John!"

"No!" Bobby said firmly. "If you try and touch her, you'll get scorched before you even get ten feet close to her!"

"But why is she acting like his?!" Rogue asked.

"I don't know." John said thoughtfully, "She was going to tell me but then she noticed you guys kissing."

"Me and John will be a diversion. Maybe she won't notice you." Bobby suggested.

"It's worth a try." Rogue nodded.

Blaze was advancing slowly, occasionally sending a fireball here and there. Suddenly, she felt one of her fireballs turn around and hit her instead. She was caught off guard.

"What?" She scowled. Then she threw another one. And it came back.

It was only then when she noticed Bobby and John. John was manipulating her fireballs back to her! Now Bobby sent out ice, but it got melted way before it reached her. She smiled. "You really think you can stop-"

Then she sensed another presence behind her. It hit her.

"Rogue." She said. She turned around and let a thin line of fire at Rogue, hitting her right in the chest and slamming her into a brick wall.

"Rogue!" Bobby yelled. That's when he lost all common sense. He charged at Blaze!

Blaze rolled her eyes and let out another stream of fire at him. He was knocked into the wall next to Rogue.

"Idiot snowman." John muttered.

John was slightly offended when Blaze just turned her back on him and advanced to her dad. John made a move to stop her but then thought, "Wait, this guy's evil! Oh well, I let her do him in first. It'll give Rouge and Bobby time anyway."

Blaze smirked as she saw her father trembling in fear at the sight of her.

"What? Is the great mutant hating President scared?" Blaze teased.

President Johnson didn't respond, he just tried to crawl away. But Blaze had him cornered.

Fire surrounded her hands, and she gave it to him, full blast. The President put his hands up and screamed.

"Burn, you bastard, burn!"