Jen Walters, now in her more manageable human size, was traveling over the Bay Bridge to catch her return flight when she saw a peculiar sight. A mailbox sat crooked on the shoulder of the road, with a kicking pair of legs hanging out of the dropoff chute. As the car neared, she could see the pinpoints of two yellow eyes lolling around in a rusted gap in the top.
"What the heck is that?"
"Insufficient postage, I suspect," the driver said blithely.
"Stop the car," Jen snapped, grabbing her bags.
You get out early, I'm still charging you for the whole ride," the driver said, his eyes blinking vertically just out of Jen's field of vision.
"Whatever," she grunted, kicking the back door open.
What was this thing? A robot? Why make it look like a mailbox? As she approached she could see that it was moving much more organically than any of the robots she had ever heard of. Metal skin flexed and dented as it gnashed ragged teeth into the man, starting to fray his pants.
The mailbox chuckled through his full mouth when he felt the legs go out from under him.
"Hey, buster," Jen said, gaining height as she hefted the animated box up. Her clothes split along the seams, revealing her white and purple costume underneath. "It's not your lucky day. I liked this jacket."
She shook the box upside down until the man tumbled out, the strange creature protesting all the time.
"This is a federal offense, you hear me? Federal!"
"I know a good lawyer."
Jen pitched the mailbox into the bay and turned to the man.
"G-g-get away from me," he shuddered, scuttling backwards with his hands and feet.
"You're probably in a little bit of shock," Jen said carefully. "That's a healthy reaction to almost getting eaten by a mailbox. But I'm here to help."
"Just… leave me alone!" The man bolted back down the bridge the way she came.
"Hm. You're welcome," she muttered, watching him disappear into the fog. She could see it rising, encircling the city. Not the usual fog that made it onto the post cards, this was something… darker. Something strange was happening, and its origin was somewhere in San Francisco.
"Downtown it is, then," she said to herself, and began her journey into the center of town.
The X-Men and Avengers moved towards the deepest part of the city. The whole urban sprawl seemed to sizzle in the heat, a deafening white noise encroaching on the heroes. It was broad daylight, but everything felt dark and close. They chatted as they marched, going over the last of their preparations.
"There will likely be injured people in need," Elixir said, adjusting his glove.
"Hope you're ready to do some serious healing, Chris, my friend."
Triage watched Captain Marvel float overhead, keeping vigil on the party. He knew people that could fly, of course. But there was something particularly surreal about the whole thing.
"Do you think they ever get used to it? The constant world-ending threats, the people counting on them to save their lives?"
"Don't sell yourself short, Chris," Josh replied. "No one likes to think of themselves as a hero. Well, no one should, anyway. But there are people who are alive today because of you, and me, just as with Captain Marvel up there."
"Don't like this one bit, fuzzy elf," Kitty whispered to Kurt. "It feels like we're being watched."
"We do have a lot of ants in the area," Scott said glibly. "Maybe you're feeling those eyes."
"I… wouldn't bet on it," Valkyrie muttered.
"Lady Moonstar," Thor jogged up to Dani. "You have a keen eye. Can you see through this devilry, find the source?"
"It's not one of my powers," Dani frowned, deep in thought.
"Not your mutation, maybe," Rachel said. "But you do have a certain insight. Maybe I can help you amplify it."
She put her hand on Dani's shoulder, her eyes welling up with magenta energy. Dani's vision went fuzzy, then sharpened to reveal many strange currents of energy rushing between the buildings.
"Hmm."
"There," she said, pointing up towards one of the skyscrapers. His crimson cape billowed in the wind as he went about his work. Even at this distance the occasional flash of color could be seen.
"Captain," Thor called out. He swung out his axe and took to the air.
"We have our heading."
The elevator carried the man to the 39th Floor. If he was concerned that his office building only had 16 floors the previous morning, he didn't mention it to anyone. He hurried through a corridor of cubicles filled with whispering, shadowed figures, until at last he reached his desk - where his manager was waiting for him.
"You're late," the manager pointed at the clock on the wall, which now spotted three hands spinning wildly around a ring of eldritch runes etched into the face.
"My office, now."
They walked past the copier, careful to step around the woman sticking her head inside, laughing hysterically as the flash went off again and again. The manager led him into a lavish corner office. Windows from floor to ceiling thrust out to a view of the Financial District, its buildings stretching up to ludicrous heights and twisting impossibly about their center lines. The manager took a seat and tapped the desk with one of his talons.
"Late again. Late, late, late. Latelatelatelatelate. What are we going to do about this?"
"Sir, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"No. I think not."
The window became pliable, melting off of the wall and letting the wild, hot wind churning outside.
"Go."
"Sir?"
"Go!"
He put both hands on the man's shoulders and started pushing him towards the void beyond. That was when the sky exploded.
"Belasco!"
The Lord of Limbo screamed as he felt a bolt of lightning lance through his back. Turning, he saw a huge bearded man with a billowing red cape and a large axe.
"Ah," Belasco said, catching his breath. "For a moment, I thought you were someone else."
A dark-skinned fist entered his periphery with gale-force speed.
"Looking for me, demon?" Storm cracked her knuckles.
"I love this," Belasco whispered hoarsely. "All the forces of Earth, conspiring against the Inferno."
"Hit him again."
Thor loosed another blast, but Belasco burst into smoke and reformed a few yards away. Carol Danvers was ready for him, however, catching him in a powerful grapple.
"You're wasting your energy,"
"After years of planning, I find myself at the precipice.
"The depths of Hell will rip open Heaven's heart!"
"Scott," Emma murmured.
Cyclops launched a blast of energy from his eyes, far up to where Belasco floated. The Demon King fired a beam of green light from his hand, cutting Scott's attack in two before it reached him.
"Naughty, Mr. Summers. Very naughty. It will cost you."
Fiery runes encircled Belasco's fingers, and the ground quaked beneath Scott and several of the X-Men. The street collapsed, sending Cyclops, Rachel, Emma, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Ant-Man, and Polaris plummeting down below.
"Nightcrawler!" Kitty shouted, running to the edge of the chasm. "Rachel! Talk to me!"
"Scott, do you copy?" Hope radioed down. While their attention was turned elsewhere, Belasco vanished into thin air.
Above them, the sky seemed to visibly sag, as though it were straining against a terrible weight. Then an orange, glowing rift began to strain open, bassy rumbles permeating the air.
Reappearing on the top of the Transamerica Pyramid, Belasco watched the fruits of his labor and cackled.
"Haha, yes! The Inferno begins!"
The fissure spread through the sky, blurring the air as superheated gas spewed downwards.
"Where is the army?" Wolverine asked as the amber glow enveloped the city.
Mercury squinted, looking around.
"I think it's already here."
She was right. For weeks, Belasco had been seeding San Francisco with his fiendish kin, infesting every corner, gradually swelling my influence. And now that the rift was open, they could finally awaken…
The city exploded with kinetic life around the Avengers and X-Men. Streets and buildings roiled with eyes and teeth as faces materialized in every window, every streetlight, every crosswalk. The skies above became clouded with alighting flocks of winged demons. The entire city was under siege.
"This isn't going well," Thor murmured.
With a puff of blue smoke, Nightcrawler and Rogue appeared back on the street.
"Kurt!" Kitty ran over. He shook some soot from his fur.
"You okay?" Carol asked.
"We are unhurt. Just a little shaken. This leads down to the subways."
"Perhaps your cohort should remain below," Beast adjusted his glasses.
"They're going to pick us off if we stay clustered like this."
"Can you get a message down there?" Carol asked.
No worries, dear. We're the X-Men. There's always a telepath around when you need one.
"Emma," Kitty said out loud. "Good to hear you're alright."
I think he played us, Miss Pryde, Rachel's voice echoed as well.
"This isn't weird at all," Carol muttered.
"Tell Scott we're thinking a pincer formation. Lead the team through the subways to the east waterfront. We'll make our way there overland. Kill anything that looks like it's from Hell you find on the way."
"I'm going to go back down there and assist," Kurt said. "Can you take care of Anna?"
"We'll take care of each other," Anna said. "Don't worry about me."
"We took some hits, X-Men," Storm announced from where she floated on high.
"Now, we return it in kind."