Pyro walked back to the orbs. "Flappy says we need to fly."

Magneto sighed. "Where to?"

Pyro looked back while grinning maniacally. "The other side of town, where else?"

When they landed, it was in a neighborhood that was vaguely familiar.

Gambit blinked. "Isn't that Kelly's house?"

Pyro glanced around. "Yes, but Flappy says the one's we're after are two blocks that way." He pointed down the street.

Magneto sent the orbs away then they continued down the street. Mastermind kept up a constant image projection so people wouldn't try to stop them.

When they arrived, it was to a drunken party on its last legs. Most everyone was passed out in the hallways.

Magneto looked around as they walked in. "Well?"

Pyro walked over to one and flipped him over. "There's one." He tied him up and tossed him toward Sabertooth who caught him. "No sense waking up the sleepy heads. They'll need it when the police get here in 30 minutes. Now where's the Sheila?"

Flappy cawed and flew up the stairs. "Ah, there she is."

Sabertooth stood watch while everyone else went upstairs.

Megan had just gotten finished getting high, and drunk… it wasn't a good combination. Not to mention the fact that she was just realizing one of the men in the party had taken advantage of that. She vaguely remembered enjoying it, but it was still irritating. Then the bedroom door slammed open. She blinked.

The guy she was with started to wake up.

Pyro looked down and shook his head. Then he tossed the drunk guy against a wall, knocking him out again.

She screamed as he started tightly wrapping her up in the blankets and slung her over his shoulder.

"Mastermind?"

Mastermind shrugged and concentrated. She passed out.

Magneto looked around. "Where too?"

"Flappy says that first we get the one below awake and screaming, then we get the lady to confess. She didn't pull the trigger, so she doesn't deserve death."

"Ok."

The crow pointed out everything that was left of what had been stolen, then they lugged the man back to the spheres and on to the shop where everything had started.

-- - - - -- - -

Frankie woke up and looked around. "Wha…"

Pyro grinned at him from behind a mask when he looked down. "Hello Wabbit."

"What do you want man?"

"You killed my girl. The only one that loved me for who I am." Pyro gestured around. "In here to be exact."

Frankie looked around, and his eyes got wide. "What are you on?!"

"Nothing but grief…. Maaan." He looked around once more. As he did, Megan woke up where she leaned against Sabertooth who also wore a mask. She opened her mouth. Pyro put his hand over it.

He put a finger to his lips. "Shhh, just in case a friend doesn't clear your mind of a lot of this, you can't see our faces. Just be thankful that you actually wanted them to spare lives. Of course, Flappy still thinks that you need some punishment." Pyro grinned at her as she stared in fear. "So let me show you why you should confess."

Pyro put his hands to her head, and sent the memories of all the ones that had been killed into her mind. She tried to scream behind Sabertooth's hand then she passed out.

He shook her head. "If she doesn't agree to confess by tomorrow, I'll make them stronger. Take her away"

Magneto and the rest walked out as Pyro took off his mask and turned around.

"Here, let me show you what I showed her."

Pyro walked around the stolen items and out the door as Frankie screamed on the desk in the office. Then he lit his lighter and sent flames back to the gasoline on the desk. The crow had already said that the store would not burn down. He believed it.

Behind him, the flames wreathed Frankie in the shape of a crow.

Pyro cackled sadly as they all walked to the spheres and left. "Home again, Home again, jiggedy jogg…."

It wasn't until the fire department soaked it in water, that the flames went out. They were unable to explain why it continued to burn without fuel or spreading.

- - - - - -

Everyone at the mansion groaned as they lay in various places. Skull Cowboy looked at Xavier. "Well, your feral friend probably needs a ride. Once someone is well enough to drive, send him a van or something. As for why I was distracting you, it's over." He picked his hat up from the ground, put it on his head, and vanished.

Logan snarled as he struggled to get his claws out of the top of the torch.

Pyro stood at the new base, at the top of a large hill. The crow sat on his shoulder. He heard something and turned around. Joanna walked out of the trees.

She put her hand on his face, and they kissed. Then she said a few words.

"The best thing I love about you is your refusal to let life get you down. Don't try to hurry toward me, time won't pass where I am." She kissed him again as tears came out of his eyes. Then she vanished. The crow cawed and flew away. Behind it, a tree gained a type of rare phosphorescent moss out of nowhere. Each night, a woman's figure could be seen in the glow. People came from miles around to look and wonder at a tree that would not die or sag no matter how old it got. Only the acoloytes saw it at night, once a year, when they came to visit.

Megan turned herself into the police. Because of her age, and the fact that there was a female seen running out without a gun, she was given a year in juvenile. After getting out she received counseling, and two years of public service.

Pyro continued to annoy the X-men with his art. She loved it, why shouldn't they?

(Sorry for the long wait for the chapter, and thanks for sticking with me.)