A God Among Insects......(Pyro)

[Pyro]

”Fuck no”

Just like that, Magneto gives him all the encouragement he needs because, petty as it is, Sherridan’s not getting one over him until one or other of them is stone-cold-dead, regardless of what it takes. Besides, this is something like revenge (which despite all this crisis of confidence shit – hell, what was that?- is still a highly attractive proposition) - and there’s no way the X-Men are going to be there, so there’s no problem, right?

”Sher-Ferr..” (he’s not sure which to settle on, because there’s this agreement that they don’t use real, erm, slave names… but still, he can’t quite show enough respect to call the guy by his *real* real name, because regardless of how good his coffee is it can’t cancel out how he’s trying to buy his way into Pyro’s spot at the devil’s left hand) ”Cat boy’d be useless. I doubt the Grim Reaper takes American Express.” Pyro grins, unable to resist another dig at Mr. Money’s universal solution to everything.

”And I’m not scared” – maybe that’s a little too emphatic, but whatever – ”It’s just… after Kaytraz n’all…” He lets it trail off, the meaning obvious; hell, he wouldn’t trust himself to lead anything after that debacle either.

[Magneto]

Magneto smiled a little at Pyro's new found enthusiasm, glad to see the boy still had plenty of fight left in him. For a moment, Magneto had begun to think that his protege didn't have it in him any more, that the whole cure fiasco had made him gun shy, had took some of the edge off of him, good thing the old man was wrong on that assumption as well. Pyro was young and eager, devoted to putting the homo sapiens in their place and to putting homo superior where they belonged....on top.

"Kaytraz....," the old man repeated with a whimsical look, "What an interesting name," he said as he stepped to the Pyro's side, stopping to rest one hand on the boy's shoulder, "The homo sapiens didn't beat us my boy......it was our own kind who turned on us.......," he said driving his point further home. The humans had thought those little plastic toys and needles could save them and for a mere second....they had, but it was short lived as Magneto and his Brotherhood had shown them. Had it not been for the intervention of those traitorous X-Men, then perhaps Alcatraz might have gone off a bit differently.

[Pyro]

”We still lost” he shrugs – meaning, of course, I still got my ass kicked by Iceman - though there’s no real fight there because he’s caught Magneto’s meaning (and, though he won’t admit it, because he’s more distracted trying to fight off the urge to grin insanely at the hand lighting on his shoulder because dammit he’s not that lost little boy looking for a hero he can hide behind, or the slightly older version trying to find the best place in the limelight to prove just how dedicated and useful he is except that he still is, that and everything else he’s ever been)

If he’s going to be playing leader, though, he’s going to have to start acting slightly more serious than he has been so far. Part of that means stopping thinking of this as *playing* because it’s not a game and leader isn’t just a *role* he’s playing but something he has to completely *be* (because he can't ever do anything by half-measures), and part of that means knowing what he’s doing, which necessitates yet another change in tone, addressing Magneto as not-exactly equals and trying his best to forget that he’s a kid with some nifty toys and act professional. ”What’s the story with this base?”

[Magneto]

Magneto gave Pyro's shoulder a bit of a squeeze, the leather of his gloves giving the eerie sound such material tended to make. He could feel how the boy seemed to sit a bit straighter and how he seemed to tense up a bit more, tightening his muscles somewhat in an attempt to impress the boss. Magneto removed his hand and smiled ever so slightly, pleased with this one brief moment of acceptance between he and the boy, pleased with the way things seemed to be getting back on track.

Magneto had always been a loner of sorts, never really calling anyone friend or family, even if those he surrounded himself with were called Brothers. Magneto had spent so many years hating the humans and enduring their persecution and even being forced to endure the many murders of those he had held so close. All that torment and suffering had warped and twisted a once loving and peaceful young man into the revengeful and human hating mutant he was today.

"The Naval base is but a side step to a much larger agenda my boy. Its a chance for you to show the others just why you stand by me and a way for us to show the homo sapiens that its not safe to sleep at night once again......for them anyway," he said with a bit of laughter.

[Pyro]

”Standard kick ass, burn shit, then?”

Good. That he can cope with, because it’s still easy to pretend it’s a natural as breathing. Anything more complicated risks awakening parts of the John-psyche to remind him why sticking his neck out for the Master of Magnetism is a very, very bad idea, but distractions and diversions… well, they always were his forte. He knows better than to ask what the *larger agenda* is, seeing as how those enquiries were met last time; if he’s meant to know, he’ll know, and anything else he doesn’t have to worry about, which makes things simple (and simple is good - black and while lines he can cope with… )

”You and Mystique’ll be… doing something. Anyone else going with you? And d’ya want us all there to make the point, or just, y’know, a strike team or something?”