Rebirth of a Pyromaniac, Special Edition!
Author's Note: Hey. You'll be seeing Pyro's flames do something interesting here in this chapter. I'm assuming that Pyro's abilities work like this: He puts a telekinetic field around the flame he's shaping, and the field forms the shape the flame takes, like water taking the shape of its container. The fields can also work like the forcefields that the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four employs, allowing John to, for example, use a flame sword to cut through something.
Disclaimer: "Screw you guys, I'm going home." - Eric Cartman, SouthPark
Chapter 7: Capture and Blame
The convention hall, New York City
"PYRO?!?!" Shiva screamed. "It can't be!! You're dead!!" Pyro smirked, and cackled.
"I'm like the phoenix, baby! I just get reborn! WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!" Pyro laughed insanely. He fired his flamethrowers, directing the flames to surround Shiva. "Like the new ring I bought ya?" Shiva paced nervously in the ring of flames.
"I'm gonna ram ya!" Ramfist ran towards Pyro.
"Ramfist, you were always full of bull!" Pyro laughed as he created a charging bull from flames. Ramfist and the fiery bull ran towards each other.
"You think yer flames can stop me?" Ramfist laughed. The fiery bull hit him, sending him flying into the ring of flames, nearly crushing Shiva. John shook his head, the impact causing some mental backlash.
"Watch it, ya walking roast beef slab!" Shiva snapped. Ramrod stood up, holding his head. He saw John and he was not happy.
"Decided to become a GI Joe pet, huh?" Ramrod tried the same attack his brother did. The fiery bull knocked him into the fiery ring too. John glared.
"I'm no one's pet!"
"Time to fry, traitor!" Bolt fired a thunderbolt. Blob jumped in front of the blast and blocked it with his own body.
"Thanks. Now, it's my turn!" Pyro laughed, commanding the fiery bull to take out Bolt. The flaming bovine charged and hit Bolt, sending him flying into a wall. "How can I be a traitor if I'm dead, ya walking battery? WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"You shall pay for your treachery!" Cortez charged John. Pyro didn't need his flaming bull to take care of Cortez: He knocked the healer/boot-licker into next year with a single punch. The other Misfits gathered around John.
"Nice one, Johnny." Paul grinned.
"Maybe you aren't lying after all." Wanda smirked.
"Told ya, mates." John laughed.
"You know John, maybe you could work as a Misfit." Todd admitted.
"No worries." John laughed.
"Oh, I would worry." A voice boomed. The Misfits turned and saw Magneto. He stood there, no field up.
"About time." Shiva grumbled under her breath. Pyro growled. Magneto smirked under his helmet.
"St. John Allerdyce. I thought you didn't survive the warehouse collapse." Magneto said with some mock concern.
"I must have, because I'm standing here, talking to you!" John snapped.
"It was a shame that you became a bungler." Magneto said.
"Hey, I'm no bungler, mate!" John yelled, firing his flamethrowers at Magneto. "I AM PYRO!!! HEAR ME BURN!!!" The flames raged towards Magneto, but he put up a field. John grumbled.
"You aren't so tough without your EM field, you bloody clown."
"That coming from a mutant who was beaten by an infernal Joe." Magneto grumbled.
"Barbecue saved my life! He didn't have to, Magneto! He was a human! He could've left me to die! But he didn't! He made me realize that not all humans wanted to see mutants destroyed!" Pyro exclaimed. "You don't care about mutants at all! You only care about power!"
"I have noticed the skill you've gained. Not bad. Maybe it was a mistake to kick you out of the Acolytes." Magneto tried to change the subject. "I heard you found a master." Magneto waved his arm, and what came to him shocked the Misfits. It was an unconscious Barbecue with a girder wrapped around him. John seethed.
"Put Barbecue down, Magneto!" Althea yelled.
"Leave him alone, you walking fridge magnet!" Pyro snapped.
"What'd he do to him?" Paul wondered out loud.
"This." Magneto held out his hand. Suddenly, intense pain racked the mutant teenagers.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" They all screamed.
"What's…he…doing?" Pyro moaned.
"Iron…messing…" Todd tried to answer.
"Did you know the living body contains trace metals?" Magneto explained. "Human and mutant blood is iron-based. I can manipulate that iron, causing great pain."
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" One by one, the Misfits started to lose consciousness. Magneto turned to an unconscious Barbecue. The Master of Magnetism glared at the Joe.
"Hhmph. You aren't worth it." Magneto made the girder un-twist, dropping Barbecue. Magneto manipulated a fire extinguisher to free the Acolytes. John and Craig slowly came to. Magneto turned to his Acolytes. "Let's go."
"YAHHH!!!" Both John and Craig leapt at Magneto. The Master of Magnetism used the iron in Darkstar and Pyro's bodies to hold them in place and knock them unconscious. He put their bodies in the Ram Brothers' arms.
"Take them." Magneto ordered, summoning the metal balls that the Acolytes used as transport. "I may have use for them after all." The Acolytes and Magneto left, leaving the rest of the team sprawled out.
The Pit
"Ohhhhhh…" The Misfits moaned in the Joe infirmary. Paul was the only one still asleep.
"Where are we?" Wanda moaned. She looked around. "Where's Craig?"
"And where's John?" Todd asked. Lifeline and Bree walked in.
"Thank God you kids are alright." Lifeline sighed in relief.
"What happened?" Lance asked.
"The Acolytes got away." Lady Jaye walked in. "John and Craig are gone."
"What?!" Pietro snapped.
"We think Magneto…" Lady Jaye started.
"I KNEW IT!!!" Althea screamed, interrupting Lady Jaye and jumping to her feet. "I knew that crazy Aussie was double-crossing us! I knew it!" Paul woke up.
"What happened?" Paul moaned.
"Your 'old buddy' gave us the royal screwjob and kidnapped your brother, that's what!" Lance snapped.
"Nice work, Paul!" Todd grumbled. "You are so gullible, Starchild! You'll believe anything anyone says!"
"You guys…" Lady Jaye tried to cut in.
"Now Craig's in Magneto's hands no thanks to you!" Althea snapped at Paul. "This is all because of you, Paul!" She stared at Paul, who turned his head away shamefully. "I can't believe you would fall for something like this! You're smarter than this!"
"You guys…" Lady Jaye called a little louder.
"John may have been a friend of yours at one time Paul, but he's not the John you remember anymore." Blob crossed his arms. "A leopard can't change its spots, Paul." Paul started to tear up.
"YOU GUYS!!!" Lady Jaye yelled. "KNOCK IT OFF!!!" Paul started crying. "You don't know for sure if John lied to you. Don't judge him until you get all the facts."
"We know when someone's lying to us, Lady Jaye." Wanda crossed her arms. "John lied to us."
"Leave him alone." Paul moaned. "I was only trying to help. I thought I could convince John to leave Magneto."
"Now no thanks to you, Magneto's got his claws on your brother! Who knows what he's gonna do!" Lance yelled.
"Leave me alone." Paul moaned. Lady Jaye sat down with Paul, and comforted him. "I only wanted to help. Why is everyone mad at me?"
"Because you brought that double-crossing Aussie here, that's why, you gullible blockhead!" Todd snapped. "Who knows what Magneto knows about the Pit now because of you!"
"Knock it off, now!" Lady Jaye had enough. "You don't know if John lied to you for sure. This isn't Paul's fault. Magneto has attacked the Pit before Paul came along. We'll get Craig back. I want you guys to stop blaming Paul and start trying to get all the facts before you judge John. Paul couldn't help but try to help John. Wouldn't any of do the same thing if you had a friend in that situation? Don't any of you dare make judgments like that again!" Lady Jaye said with a little anger and annoyance. "Remember, most of you worked for Magneto. Pietro, Wanda, you two are his kids! Magneto may have captured Pyro. I know you Misfits don't like it when the X-Men make assumptions about you. Look at how Paul is feeling. John is a friend of his. He knows him a lot better than you! Think about that." The other Misfits drooped their heads shamefully.
"I feel so low right now…" Todd said in a small voice.
"You have a point, Jaye…" Lance admitted. "You have a point."
"Yeah, we don't have all the facts." Blob agreed.
"What about Craig?" Althea asked.
"We'll get him back. We'll find Magneto. And if John was lying, we'll deal with him." Jaye said simply. "However, I highly doubt he was."
"Magneto might kill John." Paul sniffled. "I already lost my parents. I don't want to lose one of my first real friends as well."
"If John's in danger as well, we'll help him." Lady Jaye reassured. She glared up at the others. "All of you! Apologize to Paul! Now!!" The other Misfits looked at Paul.
"We're sorry." They chorused.
"Now, let's find a way to get Craig back." Lady Jaye suggested.
"And John." Paul added.
Undisclosed Location
St. John Allerdyce and Craig Allman Starr awoke slowly regained conciousness. The two found themselves chained to a wall.
Nice work, John. Really nice bloody work. John groaned to himself. Magneto kicks me out of the Acolytes, the Misfits won't accept me, and forget about the X-Dopes! Forget them! I'm really alone now. Why me? Magneto's gonna do God knows what, and what about Darkstar over here? What'll happen to him? Aw man, besides Paul, he's the only one that seemed to not mind me. I was the bungler, I deserve what Magneto's gonna give me, but he doesn't.
"Ugh. You awake, Pyro?" Craig asked. He noticed he couldn't open his right eye. "What?"
"Nice eyepatch." John smirked weakly. "Really brings out your hair."
"Ha ha." Craig muttered sarcastically. He tried powering up his eye laser. "What? Nothing's happening!"
"That patch must be blocking your laser." John figured.
"If my eye is blocked, I can't use my powers." Craig growled. He looked inside his jacket. "They took my nightstick!"
"Me flamethrowers and lighter are gone too." Pyro grumbled. "What a mess, mate. Sorry I got you into this." Craig raised an eyebrow. "I know Paul's worried, and knowing the others, they think I betrayed them."
"They'll find us." Darkstar said matter-of-factly. "I'll vouch for ya. Any friend of my brother is a friend of mine. I may be a thug, but I stick by my friends." They heard a door open. Magneto stepped in.
"Ahhh, the Misfit and the Reject. I trust you enjoy your accommodations?""I definitely would never recommend this hotel." John quipped. Craig glared at Magneto.
"Accommodate this!" Craig spat in Magneto's face. The mutant madman wiped it off his eye.
"Charming." He said sarcastically. "I didn't consider kidnapping anyone originally, but I had no other choice."
"I'm sure you didn't." Craig growled with mock sympathy. "You do realize that the others will come for us."
"For you, but most likely not for John. Knowing those pets, they'll think John betrayed them." John's head drooped at Magneto's statement. Craig growled.
"I know the truth. They'll listen to me. John's not rejoining the Acolytes." Craig snarled. John nodded his head in agreement.
"You left me for dead, mate. I realized then that you're nothing but a liar. You don't care about mutants, just yourself!" Pyro snapped. Magneto sighed sadly.
"What a shame. I was planning to ask you to rejoin my Acolytes I did some thinking, and I realized I made a mistake in throwing you away. But it looks like I'll have to convince you in…other ways." Magneto turned to Craig. "Perhaps I can persuade you to join the Acolytes. You would make a fine member of my army."
"My loyalties are already established, Refrigerator Man." Craig snarled.
"Like I'll ever rejoin you!" Pyro snapped.
"Perhaps." Magneto nodded. "I have business to attend to myself. Perhaps Mastermind can convince you to change your minds." Magneto walked away, Mastermind entering in his place.
"You lying sneak! Get back here, mate! You lousy excuse for a mutant!" Pyro screamed at Magneto as he walked away.
Aw man! Darkstar and Pyro are in huge trouble now! Will the Misfits rescue the two, or will Craig and John end up zombified slaves of Magneto? Find out in the next chapter of Rebirth of a Pyromaniac, Special Edition!