"Pretty little thing, so shiny, so clean," N'astirh's cadence rolled like a sort of song. "How long can you go untarnished? Let's find out."
A huge shape dropped from the roof of the building and slammed a thick arm into N'astirh's head. There was a flash of red, and the demon howled with pain. A splash of caustic ichor splashed onto the floor of the alley, hissing and bubbling. N'astirh wasted no time in fleeing, spreading his wings and retreating to the mist-filled air.
The figure watched him leave. They were dressed in a large hooded rain jacket, their features inscrutable save for their size. They turned towards Cessily.
"Um, thanks?" She offered. This wasn't necessarily the end of her problems.
"I didn't think there was anyone else left in the city."
"There won't be," he said, removing his hood. "If we don't move quickly."
Cessily had seen him for the first time a few months ago. Then, he had a thick, unkempt beard from his long captivity. Now he was clean shaven, evident even through the thick coating of metal surrounding his body.
"You're Illyana's brother!" She cried. "Colossus!"
"Da. I feared one of Belasco's wizards was behind this. So I came to see who needed help. I found you first."
Cessily looked at the sizzling puddle on the ground.
"What did you do to him?"
Piotr held out his hand, showing the length of red leather softly glowing between his fingers.
"This band contains the power of someone or something named 'Cyttorak.' the man who gave it to me did not speak much sense. Magicians rarely do."
"You probably met Mr. Wong."
"Perhaps. In any case, it seems to work as intended. Where is my sister?"
"I don't know. But we should find Dani. She's good at dealing with illusions."
"I'm sorry," Rogue said, adjusting the bomber jacket around her costume. She took one last look at the building she had left Carol in. Rogue hadn't felt her pulse. She had killed Earth's mightiest hero.
"I was doing better, I really was. But I hurt people. I guess I can't change that. But I swear to you, I'm going to finish what you started."
She looked to the sky. Happy thoughts were off the menu, but maybe…
"Up?" She said.
Her body glowed, then floated into the sky.
"Whoa," she whispered. She closed her eyes, and willed herself to go faster. She shot into the air, soaring high above the city.
"I can fly," she shouted. "I'm not gonna waste this chance, Carol!"
She saw another wave of cyclopes wading through the city. Her fists clenched.
If Captain Marvel was gone, someone had to step up.
"There," Piotr pointed. Through the mists they could see Mirage crouched low to the ground.
Cessily approached carefully.
"Dani? Are you… you?"
"I am," she said coldly. She turned, her bow drawn.
"Can you say the same?"
"Enough," Colossus crossed his arms. "We do not have time to squabble with each other."
"Colossus?" Dani lowered her bow. A wave of relief visibly washed over her.
"Rahne knew you would come. How did you find us?"
"Your friends in Kitty's new mutant team transported me to the city after I arrived in Westchester. They are hoping to aid the others. I knew I would be needed here."
"Our metal bodies make us resistant to the magic here," Mercury explained.
"I think my natural affinity for seeing through things helps me," Dani nodded. "I wish I could say the same for him."
Cessily then realized that the shape she was standing sentinel over was the curled up form of Beast.
"Doctor McCoy! Is he…"
"He's alive. Practically catatonic, but alive."
They could just barely hear him chattering to himself, shaking his head and whimpering.
"No. Not again."
"The doctor has experience with Limbo's influence on the mind," Colossus said.
"As have I. Once is enough."
"If all we needed was metal, this city would be a terrible place to start his invasion," Dani said. "Your biology has to be a component."
Cessily knelt at Hank's side.
"Then maybe I can still help. It will be a little gross, but he'll thank me later."
Her hands melded over his face, forming a shell around his temples and ears.
"I'm shielding his brain. Like a tinfoil hat. Guess we'll see if those really worked."
After a few moments, Hank's twitching subsided.
"Oh, I really don't like that fellow," Beast groaned.
"Danielle. Miss Kincaid. You've been a great help."
He saw Colossus and flew to embrace him.
"Peter! We thought we'd truly burned the bridge with you."
"Some things are more important than grudges."
"Like freeing the rest of the X-Men and Avengers from N'astirh," Dani said, interrupting the reunion.
"Where do we start?" Hank asked. "Might I suggest our Asgardian friends?"
"I'm not fighting Thor," Dani shook her head. "Though perhaps his friend Valkyrie might be able to talk him down."
They saw their three powerful allies in the sky, thunder clashing between their every blow. Valkyrie soared past on a winged horse. Her hair was unpinned and flying wildly in the air, giving her a deranged appearance.
"Don't suppose you can stretch that high," Dani muttered.
"I could throw you," Colossus offered.
"Try this," Cessily held out her hand. The arm below the elbow receded into a thin arrow shaft, which she removed and handed it to Dani.
"More than most times, I hope I don't miss!" Dani said to herself as she knocked the Mercury arrow.
"You're getting rather good at manipulating your body," Hank patted Cessily on the shoulder.
"Thanks. Miss Pryde says my mutation is really versatile, so I'm trying to use it in more creative ways."
Dani let the arrow fly. Valkyrie caught it with a smirk, then turned an icy grin down towards the mutants. But as soon as she did, the arrow melted into silver fluid and began crawling up her arm.
"She's fighting me. But I'm almost there…"
With a final leap, the fragment of Mercury made it to the Asgardian's forehead, shielding her mind. The sudden relief of tension in her muscles caused her to tumble from her saddle. But the winged horse dutifully dove after her to catch his rider. It landed not far from Dani and the others.
"Woah. That was a trip. Thanks, Aragorn."
She looked at the others.
"What are you lot up to?"
"You had your brain scrambled by N'astirh. We just got you free."
"Oh… That could have been bad."
"It is bad," Dani said, crossing her arms. "And getting worse. I can see people all over the place here, in the corners of my vision. I don't know why but… I think they're dying."
Counter to the mood Dani had just projected, Valkyrie suddenly smiled warmly.
"You have the Valkyrie's sight!" The dark-skinned woman exclaimed.
Dani blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"There used to be an elite group of warriors, even by Asgard's standards, who fought at the vanguard of Odin's army and ushered the valorous dead to Valhalla. The Valkyries. They could see the auras of people about to die."
"But I'm not Asgardian," Dani said. "I'm not even Norwegian."
"Yeah, that's a weird one," she shrugged. "But who cares? This morning I was the last Valkyrie left. Now, I have a sister again! If that isn't weird."
"It is weird, but that's kind of my life. Um, we were actually hoping you might be able to knock some sense into Thor? You game?"
She grinned, more mischievously this time.
"It would be my genuine pleasure."
Emma coughed. Her outfit was caked with dust.
"Rachel?"
"I'm here."
"Oh, thank goodness."
Their voices came muffled by the layers of debris surrounding them. They were well and truly buried. Rachel seemed to be a few feet below Emma. She could see the red fabric of her coat through the dust.
"Can you move? I think I've got enough room to move these rocks out of the way."
A soft magenta glow filled the small cavity as the rocks expanded to give them some breathing room. Rachel floated cross-legged in the middle.
"There."
They were alone with the silence for a time.
"If you go diamond, can you break us out of here?"
"I may be able to," Emma's skin turned to many-faceted stone.
"But I'll need your help."
As Emma hefted chunks of concrete from the walls, Rachel floated them out of their path. Like this, they slowly made a crude tunnel in the collapsed station.
They worked in silence for a while, before Emma finally spoke.
"We haven't had a lot of chances to talk in the past year, you and I."
Rachel squeezed her eyes shut to focus her telekinesis.
"I'm not sure here is the best place to chat."
"If things don't go well with this Limbo War, this could be the last chance we have," Emma pressed.
Rachel sat down, keeping her psychic aura up only to cast a small bit of light in the chamber.
"What would you like to talk about?"
"I know it came as a shock to you when you found your father and I… together down in Sinister's layer. You were hoping to find your mother, and of course why wouldn't you?"
"Cerebro showed a man and a woman. I just, I had this feeling. But she wasn't there."
Emma sighed.
"I don't want to replace your mother, Rachel. I couldn't if I tried. She left an indelible mark on everyone she met, myself included. But none more so than your father. I used to resent that about our relationship, but now it's… fear, mostly. Fear that-"
"Stop."
"Rachel, please,"
"No, not that. I feel someone else."
Emma dropped her diamond form and concentrated.
"Yes. We're not alone down here."
The rubble shifted, and then a large pink hand emerged from the side of the cavity.
"'Ello poppets. In a bit of a jam?"