Pyro loved fire. Everyone knew that. He was the Pyromaniac. It was soothing. Pyro particularly liked to watch the fire when he was feeling anxious. It was soothing. Like right now.

Once again Pyro was dwelling on some of the less pleasant parts of his life. When his powers manifested and he accidentally burned down the neighbors house. When he found out their dog was still inside. When his parents threw him out. When they didn't take him back. He didn't really like thinking about these things, but sometimes it was hard to help himself. That was where it helped to burn things.

Currently, Pyro was sitting under a tree in the backyard of Magneto's base. Magneto always made sure that his bases had some land around them that they could train in without being discovered. This also made a good place to go to get away from Colossus and Gambit, when he wanted to be alone. Pyro was sitting under his favorite tree, burning some twigs and leaves and trying not to think about his memories, when a thought occurred to him. He loved fire, the sight, the smell, the sound, but Pyro didn't know what fire felt like. Even when he held it, it merely hovered over his hand, and he felt nothing. He had burned other people, lots of times, but he had never felt fire himself.

Holding out his left hand, palm down, Pyro lit his lighter underneath it. How strange. He thought. It doesn't feel like anything. He realized with a start that he was still using his power. Now making a conscious effort, and let the fire reach his hand. It's warm. It really did feel warm. Then hot. The flickering of the single flame was continually licking his palm, like a faithful dog. It burned, but Pyro didn't take his hand away. He loved the fire, even if it hurt a little, he wouldn't abandon it. Besides, the pain felt good. It was like all the bad thoughts left him as he watched his skin start to blister from the heat.

Finally, Pyro removed his hand when he started to smell the skin burning. He turned it over and saw that his skin was pink and shiny and blistered. It still felt like it was burning though. Like his hand was a part of the fire. It was exhilarating. Feeling much better, Pyro pocketed his lighter and stood, brushing off his pants. Giggling slightly, he thought about how it would feel to be burned like this all over, like one of his victims. Maybe he would try that sometime.