scorch the earth

"Sweetie, if and when somebody shuffles me off this mortal coil, you can scorch the earth avenging me, but for now, every so-called "evil" kid deserves the benefit of the doubt as much as we did. I mean, I appreciate the whole Tom Sawyer gimmick of getting to attend my own funeral, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. Apparently, I've still got an annoyingly long life to live."
-Brian K. Vaughan, Runaways