Categories > Movies > X-Men: The Movie > I'm Not Like Everybody Else
The Blackbird cut through the clouds like a blade.
Lightning flashed across the cockpit windows, briefly illuminating the faces inside; tense, focused, silent. Storm piloted with her usual calm precision, though the muscles in her jaw were tight. Behind her, Rogue sat buckled in beside Bobby, who hadn’t said a word since they’d taken off.
She could feel his tension radiating through the seat between them, like frost before it forms.
On the monitors above them, a holographic map of the Helios facility pulsed red. Energy readings spiked higher every second, enough heat and pressure to vaporize a mile of land if the system failed.
At the center of it, the small blip marked Pyro.
Bobby broke the silence first.
“What’s our plan when we find him?”
Rogue glanced at him. His tone was clipped, too steady, that kind of calm people only manage when they’re trying not to crack.
“You mean before or after he tries to torch us?” She asked quietly.
He met her eyes.
“Both.”
Before she could answer, Storm’s voice came over the comm. “We’ll breach from the north access tunnel. Contain first, engage only if necessary. Charles believes there’s still a chance to reach him.”
Bobby scoffed under his breath. “He’s been gone too long.”
“You don’t believe that," Rogue frowned.
“Maybe not,” he admitted, his fingers flexing unconsciously. Frost gathered faintly at his fingertips. “But believing won’t help if he decides to prove Magneto right.”
The Blackbird jolted as they hit turbulence. Storm steadied the craft and glanced back. “Brace yourselves. We’re entering the containment perimeter.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________
The facility inside of Helios.
Pipes groaned under the strain. Steam hissed from the floor vents, curling like breath from a beast about to wake. Red warning lights strobed through the corridors.
John stood at the main console, the lighter open in his hand. The flame burned steady now, a small sun feeding off his focus. His other hand hovered over the control valve that would push the geothermal system past critical.
He could hear Magneto’s voice again in his ear; calm, unwavering, persuasive.
“Do not hesitate. The old world only understands one language, destruction.”
Suddenly, beneath that voice, another rang faintly in his mind.
"John...stop.
It wasn’t just a memory anymore. It was her.
“Get out of my head,” he muttered, shaking his head. The flame wavered. “You don’t know what this is.”
"Then tell me," Rogue’s voice urged. "Tell me why you’re doing this."
He laughed bitterly.
“Because it’s all that’s left. Because Magneto is right. They’ll never accept us, not after everything.”
"You don’t believe that," she whispered. "You just need to believe something."
He froze.
That voice, that tone hit somewhere deep, beneath the armor he’d built. The lighter trembled.
Then the doors behind him exploded inward.
Bobby was the first through the breach, ice spreading under his boots as he swept the room with both hands raised. Steam crystallized midair, the temperature dropping ten degrees in seconds.
John spun, instinct kicking in. Flame burst from his palm, colliding with Bobby’s ice in a shower of sparks and mist.
For a moment, they were back where they’d started, fire and ice locked in violent symmetry.
“Still hiding behind your powers!?” John shouted over the roar.
“Still hiding behind Magneto!?” Bobby shot back, sliding to cover behind a console. “Guess some things never change.”
John’s eyes narrowed. The lighter flame flared.
“At least I’m not pretending to be a hero.”
“You’re pretending you’re not scared,” Bobby snapped, stepping out from cover. “But I can see it.”
“Bullshit.”
“So prove me wrong.”
The fire in John’s hand surged, hot enough to melt the control rail behind him. Before he could unleash it, Rogue’s voice cut through.
“John!”
He turned and froze again.
She stepped forward through the heat, her hair catching the firelight, her gloved hands raised but not in defense. “You don’t have to do this,” she said softly. “It’s not too late.”
He laughed, but it broke halfway through.
“You think this is about me?”
“I know it is,” Rogue responded. “It’s always been. You’re angry at the world, at the Professor, at all of us. But mostly at yourself.”
His hand trembled. The flame flickered. The pressure alarms around them screamed.
“You don’t get it!” John shouted. “I am the fire! It’s all I’ve got left!”
Rogue took another careful step closer.
“Then control it. Don’t let it control you.”
Bobby watched from the edge, ready to act but knowing he couldn’t interrupt this. The heat was rising, his power weakening in the steam.
“You don’t understand," John balled up one of his fists. "If I stop now, Magneto-”
“Magneto doesn’t own you!” Bobby then yelled, his voice rising with the alarms. “You’re not his weapon! You never were!”
John looked down at the lighter, the thing that had been his focus, his comfort, his curse. The flame danced, wild, uncontrolled now, reflecting the chaos inside him.
Then, in a motion that felt like tearing himself apart, he closed his fist around it.
The flame vanished.
The room fell silent, except for the low rumble of the reactor beneath their feet. Rogue let out a shaky breath.
“John…”
He looked up at her, eyes wide, lost. “I can’t stop it.”
Bobby stepped forward.
“We'll stop it together.”
John hesitated. His hand opened, revealing the lighter, dented, blackened, dead. For the first time in years, there was fear in his voice.
“I don’t know how.”
Lightning flashed across the cockpit windows, briefly illuminating the faces inside; tense, focused, silent. Storm piloted with her usual calm precision, though the muscles in her jaw were tight. Behind her, Rogue sat buckled in beside Bobby, who hadn’t said a word since they’d taken off.
She could feel his tension radiating through the seat between them, like frost before it forms.
On the monitors above them, a holographic map of the Helios facility pulsed red. Energy readings spiked higher every second, enough heat and pressure to vaporize a mile of land if the system failed.
At the center of it, the small blip marked Pyro.
Bobby broke the silence first.
“What’s our plan when we find him?”
Rogue glanced at him. His tone was clipped, too steady, that kind of calm people only manage when they’re trying not to crack.
“You mean before or after he tries to torch us?” She asked quietly.
He met her eyes.
“Both.”
Before she could answer, Storm’s voice came over the comm. “We’ll breach from the north access tunnel. Contain first, engage only if necessary. Charles believes there’s still a chance to reach him.”
Bobby scoffed under his breath. “He’s been gone too long.”
“You don’t believe that," Rogue frowned.
“Maybe not,” he admitted, his fingers flexing unconsciously. Frost gathered faintly at his fingertips. “But believing won’t help if he decides to prove Magneto right.”
The Blackbird jolted as they hit turbulence. Storm steadied the craft and glanced back. “Brace yourselves. We’re entering the containment perimeter.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________
The facility inside of Helios.
Pipes groaned under the strain. Steam hissed from the floor vents, curling like breath from a beast about to wake. Red warning lights strobed through the corridors.
John stood at the main console, the lighter open in his hand. The flame burned steady now, a small sun feeding off his focus. His other hand hovered over the control valve that would push the geothermal system past critical.
He could hear Magneto’s voice again in his ear; calm, unwavering, persuasive.
“Do not hesitate. The old world only understands one language, destruction.”
Suddenly, beneath that voice, another rang faintly in his mind.
"John...stop.
It wasn’t just a memory anymore. It was her.
“Get out of my head,” he muttered, shaking his head. The flame wavered. “You don’t know what this is.”
"Then tell me," Rogue’s voice urged. "Tell me why you’re doing this."
He laughed bitterly.
“Because it’s all that’s left. Because Magneto is right. They’ll never accept us, not after everything.”
"You don’t believe that," she whispered. "You just need to believe something."
He froze.
That voice, that tone hit somewhere deep, beneath the armor he’d built. The lighter trembled.
Then the doors behind him exploded inward.
Bobby was the first through the breach, ice spreading under his boots as he swept the room with both hands raised. Steam crystallized midair, the temperature dropping ten degrees in seconds.
John spun, instinct kicking in. Flame burst from his palm, colliding with Bobby’s ice in a shower of sparks and mist.
For a moment, they were back where they’d started, fire and ice locked in violent symmetry.
“Still hiding behind your powers!?” John shouted over the roar.
“Still hiding behind Magneto!?” Bobby shot back, sliding to cover behind a console. “Guess some things never change.”
John’s eyes narrowed. The lighter flame flared.
“At least I’m not pretending to be a hero.”
“You’re pretending you’re not scared,” Bobby snapped, stepping out from cover. “But I can see it.”
“Bullshit.”
“So prove me wrong.”
The fire in John’s hand surged, hot enough to melt the control rail behind him. Before he could unleash it, Rogue’s voice cut through.
“John!”
He turned and froze again.
She stepped forward through the heat, her hair catching the firelight, her gloved hands raised but not in defense. “You don’t have to do this,” she said softly. “It’s not too late.”
He laughed, but it broke halfway through.
“You think this is about me?”
“I know it is,” Rogue responded. “It’s always been. You’re angry at the world, at the Professor, at all of us. But mostly at yourself.”
His hand trembled. The flame flickered. The pressure alarms around them screamed.
“You don’t get it!” John shouted. “I am the fire! It’s all I’ve got left!”
Rogue took another careful step closer.
“Then control it. Don’t let it control you.”
Bobby watched from the edge, ready to act but knowing he couldn’t interrupt this. The heat was rising, his power weakening in the steam.
“You don’t understand," John balled up one of his fists. "If I stop now, Magneto-”
“Magneto doesn’t own you!” Bobby then yelled, his voice rising with the alarms. “You’re not his weapon! You never were!”
John looked down at the lighter, the thing that had been his focus, his comfort, his curse. The flame danced, wild, uncontrolled now, reflecting the chaos inside him.
Then, in a motion that felt like tearing himself apart, he closed his fist around it.
The flame vanished.
The room fell silent, except for the low rumble of the reactor beneath their feet. Rogue let out a shaky breath.
“John…”
He looked up at her, eyes wide, lost. “I can’t stop it.”
Bobby stepped forward.
“We'll stop it together.”
John hesitated. His hand opened, revealing the lighter, dented, blackened, dead. For the first time in years, there was fear in his voice.
“I don’t know how.”
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