Okay, so some serious stuff is going down - I'm yelling "Timber!" - in this chapter. We won't get to Nadia until the next, but this is also important.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Inner and Outer Demons

When a demon's body undergoes massive damage, it does not lose consciousness like flesh creatures. Instead, the demon enters a state of semi-consciousness. Meaning, the demon is vaguely aware of its surroundings, but its physical body shuts down to recover.

After the Electrode self-destructed, Starclops was still aware of two things: she had somehow been taken into the mindscape, and she was not alone. At first, she had thought that maybe Tad had been sent there with her. Then, she opened her eye and found someone else with her.

...But, it couldn't have been…

Maybe, I'm not fully awake, yet. Yes, that made sense. That was the only possible reason that Bill would be here. Somehow, the thought was more disappointing than comforting.

"You're up," Bill - now she was sure it was him - said blankly.

"Bill?" Starclops blinked a few times, trying to fully awaken herself. "Did you bring me here?"

"Yes."

Okay...Bill was acting weird...er than normal. Like, his mind was somewhere beyond the mindscape. Starclops let a nervous laugh. "What? You only gonna answer with a max of two syllables?"

Bill blinked, and suddenly he seemed more lucid. "I, uh…" He pointed at the floating shape behind him. "I brought Tad here, too. He hasn't woken up yet; I think he might have a concussion. But, other than that, he's okay."

As if on cue, Tad's eyes blinked open and he gazed curiously at his surroundings. Then his gaze landed on Bill, and he was, quite literally, at Starclops's side in an instant. His dark eyes blazed as he demanded, "What in Beelzebub's name are you doing here?"

Bill raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, man, I come in peace. I was just-"

Tad leaned into Bill's face. "We don't give two damns about what you want, Bill! Now, get your angular ass away from us! Or, else!"

Fortunately, Tad had enough sense to back off, when Bill's yellow darkened to an angry red. "Is this where I say, 'Or else what?'"

Unfortunately, Tad was apparently still planning on talking back. "Don't turn my own phrase against me, you son of a-"

"Will you two stop being dick-heads!?" Starclops finally shouted. Men! Honestly, men! "And, Tad Strange, since when are you the one who starts arguments, and since when am I the sane one?"

"Starclops!" Tad snapped. "This is Bill Fucking Atbash!"

Bill pointed out, "Actually, I kept the Cipher last name, because people kept calling me that, and it just has a better ring to it than A-"

Now, Tad was the one turning red. "Quiet, you monster!" He grabbed an understandably startled Bill by the bow tie. "Don't think for one second that I've forgotten everything you've done to my family!"

Smoke started rising around them. Starclops seemed to be the only one who noticed. She tried to say something, but she was far too shell-shocked. Thaddeus Strange was a calm, mild-mannered guy by nature, but even he could lose his temper.

Also, he apparently did not have a concussion.

Another also, no one else seemed to notice that, as Tad kept talking, something else started happening around them. "First, you destroy Stella's heart! Then, you trick Ford into building something so that you could do who-knows-what to his dimension. The same thing, I might add, that pulled him from his own dimension! And, you then invade Nadia's mind and force her to be stuck with everything she's scared of!"

"Tad…" Starclops didn't know her voice could sound so small.

"You've been fucking up for too long, Atbash! And, if you think for one second that I'm letting you go easy, then-"

"Tad!" Starclops shouted. "Look around you!"

Tad glanced up from Bill and immediately let the triangle go, gazing in shock at the white flames that burned walls around them. His fists were still clenched, his eyes still glaring daggers at Bill, but his shaking fists were what told Starclops that he was freaked. "Why are you here?" he asked.

Bill straightened his bow tie and top hat and awkwardly made a throat-clearing sound. "I, er, I brought you guys here. I was trying to lend a hand. I, well, saw the explosion. Hard not to, actually. Those Electrodes sure pack a wallop, huh?" He forced a laugh at that last sentence.

Starclops couldn't help the hope rising in her heart. Bill was...himself. He actually, genuinely seemed like himself. Was he off the elixir? Or, was he just sober at the moment? She prayed for the former.

Then, Bill's image flickered and glitched like a cheap VHS tape, and he suddenly doubled over and let out an agonized moan. Starclops was at his side in an instant. Tad hesitantly flew closer.

"Bill?" Starclops grabbed his shoulders and shook him gently. "Billy? Come on, man!"

After a moment, Bill blinked up at her and squinted. "One...One-Eyed Star?" Starclops blinked. Bill didn't seem to be talking to anyone. "No, that's...the Gleeful kid. Yeah."

Even Tad seemed anxious, as he took down the flames and asked, "Bill, are...are you okay?"

Bill's black gaze was clouded and fixed on absolutely nothing. "The...The elixir. It wants me to find it. But, I won't find it. It died in my head. Or, maybe my head died in it."

Starclops stepped back, shaking hard. She had heard that withdrawal from drugs was horrible on the psyche. But, withdrawal from a magical substance? Um, how much worse was that, exactly? "B-B-Billy?"

"It's clear now." Bill suddenly exploded in a laugh tinged with the faintest trace of madness. "I totally get it! Reality is nothing but an illusion! The universe, a mere hologram! I get it!" Bill's insane laughter echoed around them, until Starclops couldn't take it anymore and pulled herself and Tad out of there and into the MindScape.

The one, true MindScape, where they could do whatever they wanted, however they wanted.

Where Bill wouldn't find them, unless they wanted him to.

And, Beelzebub knew they didn't want him to.

Starclops sank to her knees on the soft grass and let out a loud groan. "Why!? Why with this!?"

But, of course, the one time she actually wanted Tad's words of wisdom, he just had to go off into his own little world. "All that fire… Did I really do that? I-I'm so sorry, Star. I shouldn't have lost it, like that. It's just, Bill's been hurting people we love, and I was just...so angry."

Starclops shook. Then, screamed in fury, as she conjured up a small yellow pyramid and extra arms for herself. "Biiiiiiiilllllll!" She punched it at a merciless speed, needing to hit something out of pure frustration and agony and rage and sorrow and everything else in her heart. Without an outlet, she feared that she might hurt someone. So, she kept punching the stone even when it was reduced to dust and Tad started calling her name.

What was happening? How did everything she cared about shatter like stained glass? First, Bill - her sweet, funny, mostly level-headed Billy - got addicted to his own potion or whatever the hell it was. Then, Nadia's mind got jacked with and she and her unborn baby had gone missing, Echo got killed, Ford was either dead or seriously hurt, Tad went off the deep end, Bill tried to get better, only to get worse…

Starclops barely registered when Tad yanked her away from her and held her as she kicked and clawed and screamed profanities at him, only to melt into nothing but hysterical, sobbing mess.

NRHGZPVH SZKKVM. HLNV ZIV QFHG DLIHV GSZM LGSVIH.

Only slightly more angst-y than I'd anticipated. But, I think it works. Review!