Chapter Twenty-One:

            The following evening, after Sebastian had spent his daylight hours considering Erik's request, he came up from the basement to find Rebecca and Sid sitting on one sofa watching the most interesting program they could find on television, which consisted of homemade robots pummeling each other in the most violent fashion imaginable.

            Sid was loudly criticizing the construction and workmanship on both machines while Rebecca was reiterating over and over how it did not matter because the robots were about to be sawed and hacked apart.  Sebastian rolled his eyes but grinned in spite of himself.

            "Oh, come on," Sid muttered, "The balance on those tires is way off!  It would have gotten a lot more traction if they would have increased the tread depth a little..."

            "All the tires on the thing are flat anyway," Rebecca shot back, and then considered the screen for a moment before continuing, "Maybe I should try out for this show...I've kicked the ass of bigger robots than that."

            "No way," Sid said, "They require a measure of intelligence in the contestants that, I'm not sorry to say, you do not possess..."

            "Are you guys going back to sleeping at night again soon?" Sebastian announced as he walked up to them, and the twins glanced backward at him with identical grins.

            "I've decided to take night courses," Rebecca said, at the same time Sid said, "I'm working on a car that can be solar powered in the dark."

            "Can you guys shut that off a second," Sebastian said with annoyance, "I've got something we need to talk about."

            "Again?" Rebecca asked, "We spent all last night talking about what happened..."

            "No," Sebastian said, "This is something else.  We might have...a new addition to our household..."

            Sid's eyes lit up comically, "Oh, Uncle S...Are you expecting?"

            Sebastian scowled with annoyance, "I'm being serious.  Erik...Magneto...has asked me if Pyro can stay with us for a while.  To help with his training...and with your rehab," he pointed at Rebecca, "And I know what you'll say...you don't need help...which is bullshit so don't even argue about it."

            Rebecca sighed, and folded her good arm over her injured one.  Sid simply regarded his uncle with silent curiosity.

            "I talked to Charles Xavier last night," Sebastian continued, "Turns out Pyro is an AWOL student of his.  So I figured maybe we could help the kid out.  Show him there's more to the world that being angry and blowing shit up..."

            "There is?" Rebecca said with mocked outrage, "Since when?"

            "Since fuzzy bunny slippers and pudding pops," Sebastian shot back.

Sid chuckled and glanced at his sister, "Yes...pudding pops...those do sooth the soul..."

            "Agreed," Rebecca said, and then shook her head sadly, "You're saying the poor kid has never had a pudding pop?"

            "What kind of island is Magneto running that they have no pudding pops," Sid said in agreement.

            Rebecca nodded, "And what kind of school does Xavier have to be without..."

            "Shut up about the pudding pops!" Sebastian said with annoyance.

            They both shrugged and Sid mumbled, "You brought it up, Bas..."

            Sebastian sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes.  When he looked up again, he spotted Erik and Raven coming through the front door, quickly followed by Toad and Pyro.  They had been taking several things back down to the car in preparation for their departure.  Magneto had no doubts what Sebastian's response would be to his 'favor.'

            Sebastian leaned forward and spoke low to the twin, "I just wanted to know what you guys thought before I said yes or no..."

            The twins nodded, and replied in turn.

            "Fine with me," Sid said.

            "Yeah, no problem here," Rebecca added, and then her eyes widened, "That would be...two pyretics versus two idiots..."

            The Malloys glanced back at their 'guests' as Magneto and Mystique walked over toward them.  Rebecca noticed Sebastian and Mystique giving each other cold glares, so she decided to make this easy and just let Pyro know what the 'grown-ups' had been discussing behind his back.

            "So," Rebecca called over toward him, "You're gonna be hangin' out for a while, John?"

            Pyro frowned, and shook his head, "I don't think so...we're..."

            He paused as he saw Sebastian put his hand to his temple with obvious annoyance, and Magneto nod as a pleased smile appeared on his face.

            "What are you talking about?" Pyro asked with confusion.

            "I've asked the Malloy family to allow you to stay here for a time," Magneto replied, "In order to help you further your training.  Apparently...our host is in favor of this as well.  So, the final decision belongs to you..."

            Pyro's eyes had widened as Magneto spoke, looking both anxious and excited.  He glanced between his leader and the others.  The idea of staying in the city (and being away from the mostly empty island) appealed to him immediately.

            "How long could I stay?" he asked, unable to keep the enthusiasm out of his voice.

            "We'll see..." Magneto and Sebastian said at the same time, and the twins began to chuckle, as the two men shot each other annoyed glances.