I can only hope people will like this. I know it's not that good, and I know it's cheesy. Bear with me, will yas?
Disclaimer: I don't own anybody in this story except "the girl".
She stared from the blackness of the citadel, a gypsy of the darkness at most. Every world she looked into, whether written in ink or graphed on a screen, acted or lived out, she saw people that drew her attention to them. And in her dark heart, she longed to have them near her…alone in her dark enclosure and afraid of the light; what if one of them could show her the way, perhaps a path to a better life? Most of them had cold hearts or a personality portraying something she knew they were not. All of them seemed unusually kind...
If only one of them might slip away from their world to her's; a cloud of darkness protected from the very light she tried so hard to reach. If only she could bring them…
Yet, all of them had cold hearts which desired to find warmth or a light of some sort. What if they should yield to the darkness, perhaps allow her into their very spirit to guide them to her dark domain… She breathed steadily.
"This prison must have some redeeming qualities or exits." said the woman in exasperation. She glanced from wall to wall… just that one beam of light always shining through the crack in the marble black sky. "Why does God do this to me? I've done naught but offer him the bargain of henchman to save one man's life…" She glanced about again; always the same dark walls and chains, and always but one cot to sit on when the floor became too hard on her stiffening back. She sighed.
"What is wrong with you? You got what you want, did you not?" a voice boomed from the black heavens above. The girl looked up and narrowed her eyes in rage.
"I wished to save him and become a henchman of Heaven, killing the workers of Satan who dwelled upon the Earth! I wanted but to save him, to guard him! You took my offer, but with it my natural life; though I wished my life gone to prolong his, does that mean I must be cast into an abyss of only unpleasant thoughts and memories! Who do I serve sitting here in this broken palace? Satan perhaps?" Her words were rash, and God held her fast to her spot with tight binds. The invisible threads of wire squeezed her tightly; so much so that she bled at the arms and ankles.
"You asked of me mercy on his soul each night and each day, and so I granted it to him. You seemed to feel that his life might still be in danger, and so you cast yourself to the abyss to keep him happy… How is it you know he is happy now you are gone?" God thundered from the heavens. He shook his head unhappily, and stared down at her form, placed in solitary confinement for an eternity. "You thought only of what your mind tricked you into believing, and never once considered what some people might think or say or do if you were suddenly gone. What if your efforts prove fruitless? What will you do then?"
"I could barter with Jesus…" She trailed off even as she spoke the words. God's bindings did not seem to harm her any longer. God sighed.
"I can see that you are truly lonely here. In your mind, you were doing what was right for everybody in your life… because he was everybody to you. I suppose I can grant you some company, and a look into your previous world to see the man you gave everything up for. This would fill your desire, I presume?"
"Yes God! Yes it would, very much so!" the girl shouted joyously. God's eyes passed through a smile of sorts, and with a wave of his hand, a mirror appeared before the girl's eyes.
"This mirror will show how he is fairing and how your other friends are fairing as well… You know, it is not easy to watch a friend die and have no control over what is happening; they may not be as well as you favor." God said with remorse in his tone.
"There is no idiot on Earth that could honestly miss me if they were not related to me… Please, how are they?" she asked with anticipation. God nodded as if seeing in her mind the protest within herself, screaming at herself that she was truly worth nothing. He wished to help her away from this, but now was not the time to do such. He looked up, and projected the image of the others into the mirror. The others… he and her other friends… "Oh, how I pray they are happy. Please say it is so…" The girl looked down solemnly.
She was repulsed by what she saw when her gaze met the looking glass. None of them seemed happy. They all looked morbid and as if they no longer cared for their lives. Her eyes shimmered with tears.
"This is what I've done to them? I meant not to harm them…" She was in complete and utter shock. She held her eyes shut painfully tight and then burst into rage and confusion, mixed with dashes of sorrow. "Stop! You were better off without me; stop your mourning and moping! Please, I meant no harm!" She breathed deeply and unsteadily, unsure of what to do or to say. Cautiously, the girl looked towards the gloomy and broken sky; she looked to God. "Why…" was all she could manage.
"You gave your life for them. That leaves an awful feeling of guilt and remorse hanging over people. If only you had let life take its normal course, they may still be happy."
God's response left her feeling empty, and no longer like a complete person. Had she done this to them, for real…?
"And what of him… what of the one I gave my life for?" She seemed unable to cope with this new revelation.
"He is not quite over this yet, but he seems to be trying to cope better than the others…"
"And of the two I can recall right now? How are they doing without me…? Better a question, do either of them even know I'm dead yet?" She hung her head low, as if unworthy of any form of life at this point in time. God fought within himself of what to do. Instead of complicating things, he responded to her with as little melancholy delight as possible.
"Neither of them know of it yet, but the one on the left is to learn soon."
"And the one on the right?" she asked with a voice weighed down by displeasure.
"He will not know for quite a while…"
"Good… I want him to stay happy and healthy. But then, I want out of this death trap as well." The girl let out a slighted laugh and stared again at the far wall; its one window was placed squarely in the center of premises, positioned just above the cot. "But at least he is still okay… At least he still lives… Right?" asked the girl, looking back to the sky through the crack in the roof.
God was not sure how he should respond to this; for it was true, no serious physical harm had yet come to him. But inside, at seeing her die for him and hearing God speak to him about her promise, he had become broken and was no longer the person he once was.
"Well? Is he fairing with happiness and peace or not, God?" she asked a little less blissfully.
"Truth be told," God began, "seeing you die for him and hearing me speak of it un-nerved him a little… it also crushed the cheerful spirit within him. Though no serious physical injuries befall him yet, he has not been happy in weeks. He blames himself for your death, and he did not hate you as much as you presume most people do… You judge yourself far too harshly you know? You do not give credit yourself for anything. You never have and never will…" God trailed off into his thoughts and looked down at the girl, sitting on the hard floor of the tower.
"I shall grant you a fantastic ability." God thundered loudly from the heavens. Closing his mighty hand, the mirror before the girl dissipated and he surrounded her in a ring of blackened fire; the tongues of flame licked at her, then curled back into yet another dark retreat. "Before you, you see an encirclement of fire so hot that simply touching it could burn off your finger. It is blackened, like the heart of Death or the Devil. Using the power of this fire, I shall grant to you that whoever you wish cometh unto this dark palace to be with you, you may bring forth."
"God… How could I ever thank you for this gift…?"
"You could not, in your mind, for you would never stop praising me for it. The only condition is that they may not hail from your previous world; the planet called Earth. They must come from imagination or from the works of another."
"So you're making this into a land where my imagination may flourish… This is excellent!" She smiled grimly and absorbed the energy of the vortex of hot, dark power around her. Narrowing her eyes in realization of her newfound strength, the girl spoke to God: "Thank you for this… and good-bye!"
She laughed darkly and shrouded the crack in the ceiling and in the sky, blocking God's entrance.
"I should have known she would do this… I have prevented her from the pact she wished to make, and now using my own power, she will lock me away from her and invite who-so-ever she pleases to come with her in her black prison. I get the feeling they won't have a choice either." God sighed and locked the black section of clouds that served as the girl's prison. "I wonder if I can ever trust her again…"
As the sound of the lock closing rang out in her large and empty citadel, the girl realized that God intended her no harm at her action.
I'm sorry God… This is not me… I… I did not lock the door… My imagination… is no longer held in check… and I fear this prison might become a whirlpool of shadows and lost memories… Please… He is the only one who can save me now…Isn't that right, Ru-…
The dark soul within her unleashed and left to meld with her human spirit, the girl was quickly corrupt by power of the most awesome source: God himself. Her heart burst forth, and her wild dreams and fantasies were unleashed into the courtyard of the massive looming structure in which she was held captive…
The girl smiled, finally able to release herself from God's tight binds. Her eyes had darkened, and the cloak she wore fell over her face hauntingly…
"Their souls are precious to me… but only few may survive down here. It will be those who posses the strongest hearts…" the girl spoke into the air with a ghostly voice the echoed in the chamber where she sat.
Please… Oh how I hope none of them yield to me… Damn my dark imagination to Hell for this! I was blind at the start, and so may I be at the finish of these things that keep happening… Ru-… Please help me…
From inside her, the girl's true conscience tried to reason with what she did, but it had barely any effect. She could only linger, held in check by the true her… She that for all her life had only been permitted to exist in her mind…
"I plead…"
…with myself…
"…for life…"
The girl was somewhat dazed, and knew not what to do; the conflict within her steadily grew…until she no longer had control over it. Now, her broken spirit melded again, and some part of her made sense of her thoughts.
Behold! I have come to thy mind and thy kingdom to mend thy soul! Before you I stand, within you I live. Magic at my finger tips, I now save thou from thy own damnation, and bring within you peace of mind, and ignite thy plot to life so you might see him again… Least it be one time your eyes again meet.
The voice of reason within her spoke these words, and a balance of good and evil reinitiated itself within her. At this, her soul leapt gleefully, and from that moment forth, what she worked for became clear…
"Men of other worlds," she spoke in a clear and subtle sounding voice, "now come to me… comfort me, and in the darkness learn to live amongst one and other, and learn to please and mystify me… trick me to your freedom; if you can…" She laughed a little as she finished speaking, and she rose to her feet. Dark light in her eyes, be it for good or for worse, she began to stop and to steal things from other places…
"You are the first to come to me, Dante…"
… "Listen…you're a loon. I get that. Hell, one time I got so wasted I proposed to a mop. So I'm not one to judge. That said, nutty or not, I'll feng shui this room with your diseased brains if you don't give me the girl." Dante said, pointing the gun at the 'Mad Hatter'.
Suddenly everything froze and Dante lowered his pistil as he looked around in confusion.
"What the hell!" he said angrily. His heart skipped a beat as everything around him began to darken, until there was no color left but black. "What kind of trick is this, you bastard!" Dante growled with rage and an unsure air.
Dante looked over and saw before him a tall and black citadel. Everything else was gone, save for a single light originating from one small window on a high floor of the building.
"So glad you made it, Dante." A voice filled the air with these words, and Dante looked up and down, to the left then to the right. After finding nothing, he focused on the window ahead with the slight glow. This though, was the voice of a woman, not the 'Mad Hatter'. Dante wasn't sure if he should smile, or take on a defensive position.
"Hello! Who's here, and where are you?" Dante called into the bleak and depressing landscape. He now noticed above him that the only light-aside from the glow in the window- came from stars of fire high above the ground; the fire's blue color left it hard to identify the surrounding area as even a plain of black ground at first.
"I mean not to with hold information from you. I stand in the window which you see glowing high above and yards away from you. You stand in the courtyard of this citadel, and I'd like to welcome you here. You will not be going anywhere anytime soon, Dante. Welcome to your new home…" She trailed off and laughed a little at his look of complete surprise.
"Now wait just a damn second--"
"Hold your tongue for a change, Dante! I will explain all in good time." And with that, the voice of the girl in the high tower vanished and did not return… Not for a while at least…
"You will be next to come, Vergil…"
"Advice from a rag doll. That is insulting on so many levels…" Vergil hissed with displeasure as he broke the pair of glasses underfoot. Suddenly, everything around him froze; the small girl remained half-fallen to the floor in front of him. "What is this?" Vergil yelled angrily as he whipped around.
"Vergil…" The girl's voice reached him in the midst of the fading room. Vergil watched as the white of the floor tiles in a checkered pattern and the minimal light of the lit chandelier vanished into darkness tinted blue. In rage, the blue-clad twin gripped his sword as he saw his brother up ahead of himself.
"What trick is this!" Vergil demanded. The girl only laughed and gripped Vergil tightly with binds. Dante soon turned to the sound of his twin's voice; the red-clad twin immediately teleported in front of his brother. "You! Why am I here with you! Why are either of us here at all!"
"You expect me to know, you air-head. I ended up here the same as you, I'm sure of that much." Dante said, shrugging off his brother's attempt at an insult. "I think you should be asking where we are instead, don't you?"
"You, Vergil, are in the courtyard of the citadel which you see before you. I will tell you more when it is worth telling you more; I won't repeat myself. At least, not more then four times. Of course, then I'd just be annoyed." The girl looked over the two before her. "I will release you, but you must promise not to attack Dante. You will learn in time why you have come here." She finished and dropped her hold on Vergil, who fell to one knee; his ribs now hurt from the strong mental grip.
"What are we supposed to do then, brother?" Vergil asked Dante, barely looking up at him to ask the question.
"How should I know?" Dante asked, already exasperated. "I've been here ten minutes and had nothing to do but stare at the scenery."
Vergil looked around, now seeing that all there was for maybe miles around was a black darkness, with only just enough light.
"Wolverine… Logan… I can't stand to see your future unfold…come to me…"
"Prove it." Cyclops said to Logan, his hand at the side of his goggles.
"You're a dick." Logan said without hesitation.
Cyclops, now very convinced, moved his hand away from his goggles and said:
"OK, --" Cyclops stopped short and everything froze. Logan whipped his head to the side and his metal claws ripped through his skin, which quickly healed itself.
"Professor Xavier… is that you?" Logan narrowed his eyes and noticed that he could not smell anything. His eyebrows rose in bewilderment as the room darkened, and Cyclops and the others began to fade. Logan rushed forward only to go through the images of the other X-men, and everything turned black; blue fire-light above provided the lighting in the dark space where he now stood.
Logan whipped his head to the right, and caught sight of two men-one in red and one in blue-about several yards away. "What happened?" Logan asked himself under his breath.
The girl's eyes sparkled with happiness she never thought she could feel at seeing Wolverine stand before her. "Logan… I'm so very happy to see you…" she breathed, holding back tears of joy and disbelief.
"Who's there?" Logan screamed angrily; his rage slowly continued to build.
"Logan… I…" She paused, not sure of what to say to him. It was he that she had always wished to be so very close to. Now he was here, what was she to do? She could not begin to think of anything…
Abruptly, the man in red turned and looked at Wolverine. He gave him a puzzled expression, and then turned back to the man in blue. They talked for a short moment, and then the red one turned back and began to walk over to Wolverine. The red man stopped half-way to Logan's distance from himself and called out to him.
"Hey, take it easy. Put the knives down, huh?" the one dressed in red said, backing away a little.
Logan glared at him before growling: "I can't…"
"Fine, be that way." said the first of the two men as he pulled Ivory from its holster. He aimed it squarely at Logan's chest. "I'll give you another shot pal. Put down the damn knives."
"I can't." Logan protested, still angry and unsure of where exactly he was. "See?" he said, slowly moving his hands outward to emphasize his condition. Dante immediately shot at him, catching him square in his breastbone. Logan fell to the ground after being hit; Dante twirled his pistil and shoved it into its holster again.
"I will make you regret that, son of Sparda." The woman's voice growled loudly from the tower room. Dante looked up at the window; out of the tiny space in the bricks leaned the girl who held them captive in this dark place.
"What are you gonna do about it? Shoot me?" Dante asked, half laughing in amusement.
From the tower, a barely audible snicker sounded. "No," she began, "something much worse than that."
"Huh?--"
From behind him, Dante heard a slight groan. He turned to see Logan pushing himself up, and watched amazed as the bullet dropped from his chest to the ground. Unsteadily, Logan continued to push himself to his feet, cracking his neck and staring angrily at Dante. A small hole in the center of his black jumpsuit was all that remained of the place where the bullet had struck him. Wolverine shook his head at Dante and charged him head-on.
Unsure of what to do, Dante could only stand confused in front of Logan and take his claws to the chest. Dante moaned in excruciating pain as the hard metal ripped apart his skin; Logan was pleased with this outcome. Using the strength in his shoulders, Logan ripped open Dante's chest.
"Well done, Logan. I am happy to see you doing well." The girl's voice intruded.
Logan looked around the room, his face distorted in rage; his nose wrinkled in anger and his hands clenched into tight fists, his teeth bared. His brow was pointing down and rippled with displeasure.
"Who are you, and what have you done with Rouge and the others!" Logan screamed. He pointed a finger at Dante, and at Vergil-who was on the other side of the back left area of the courtyard. "Who are these people?"
"They are demons. The one in red is Dante; the one in blue is Vergil. They are twins, fathered by a demon who fell in love with a human woman." She took a moment to stare at Wolverine in all his glory. "However, it is not what I have done with Rouge and the others, but where you now find yourself. Be not afraid, Logan. I will not allow harm to befall you here… no longer… I won't allow you to suffer here."
So beautiful… so rough and strong… so angry… me as a man in a nutshell. Logan… I will not use you to guide me back to him… you will not be used as a stepping stone to return to him… to Ru-… Wolverine, please…
Wolverine did not stand for her response. "Where am I?" he asked again, a little less kindly. The man in blue seemed to have no concern for his injured twin, and Logan wondered why; he turned to see Dante rising to his feet as well. "Crap…" Logan muttered.
"LOGAN!" the girl screamed. Dante pulled his guns from their holsters, but even as he did so, the girl was already protecting Logan. Vanishing and reappearing from the shadows, she tossed herself onto Logan, taking two direct hits to the back. Wolverine froze…
"No… you idiot!" Logan growled at Dante with rage boiling in his voice. He looked down at the woman against him, and caught her as she threatened to fall to the floor. "You could have killed her; then we might never get out of here!" Logan placed a hand on the back of her cloaked head, being careful not to hit her with his long claws.
"… Ugh, Logan? Are you alright… now…?"
Logan looked at her in astonishment and laid her on the ground; slowly he crouched over her. She threw an arm over her face to conceal it from the view of Wolverine and Dante. Logan, being a bit less of a pervert then Dante, said nothing about her body. She was against the black flooring, and the curves in her shape were just barely visible. Dante whistled.
"She's pretty fine." Dante said with a smirk. Wolverine glared at him.
"She's injured; leave her be." That said Logan quickly covered her with her own cloak to prevent Dante's eyes from wandering farther. Her breathing suddenly jumped.
"Logan… are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" The girl sat up against Logan's will; still she did not move her arm away from her face.
"I'm fine…" he responded hesitantly. "And yourself?"
She smiled brightly, from what Logan and Dante could see of her lips. "As long as you are unharmed," said the girl, "I will live with peace of mind and remain happy." Even as she spoke, the girl turned to Logan and threw her arms around him. "Please come… please come with me. I don't trust the two of them with you… They may try to murder you."
Logan could not protest; he watched as the space around rapidly became solid darkness, and he found himself in the citadel a few moments after.
"Please, put your claws away… I won't hurt you, I swear." The girl said as she rose and walked over to the small cot near the window. Logan was hesitant. How could he trust her? She had drug him into an entirely different world, so it might seem, and she was expecting trust? No… never.
"She must be one hell of a mutant to accomplish this… I wonder if the professor knows of her…"
"You may," began the girl "find it a bit difficult to believe that I won't hurt you, but think harder. Why would I- locked in this mammoth prison for all the time I feel confident to remember- save you and then kill you? That just doesn't make sense for one befitting my description, does it?" she finished.
"No, no it doesn't" Logan admitted. "But it also doesn't make sense that a mutant like you would create the prison anyway. Am I wrong?"
"You… you are never wrong. However, I am no mutant…" she smiled to herself as her plan began to weave into an undeniable web that would mystify even the least of naïve people into a pure belief. "I was trapped in an endless shroud of clouds by the Devil, and I need all the help I can hope to receive if I ever want to escape back to my life again." Fake tears welled in her eyes; fake tears filled by real and believable emotion.
Sure enough, Logan bought it…