MAL86 - Rose is definitely determined, and I wouldn't want to be in anyone's shoes her messed with James :) . And now the battle is joined, hope you enjoy the begnning of the mayhem :) . Thanks for reading and reviewing as always :) .
(Nothing much to say, the X-Men jump into battle with Ogun's forces of darkness, hope you all enjoy :) )
Chapter 18
What had been the open park before the white functional buildings and apartment complexes, all rectangular cuboids, alone or interlocking into larger complexes and simple rectangular towers of the Soteria town, where once an X-Men team had landed looking for a suspected Logan raised from the dead, was full of howling vampires. All emaciated, twisted bodies and tight white faces with cracks and tears running across their bodies as though they were breaking down and falling apart from within, leaking black blood. Their eyes burning with blazing fire and flaming claws they boiled furiously out of the town, howling, yammering, roaring and laughing manically with unnatural demonic voices interlaced with voices screaming in agony, flinging themselves with wild abandon to attack the X-Men, attempting to rip, tear and shred them to pieces. Hell-fire blazed towards the X-team from gathered mobs, as they stopped in unison one would vomit forth a breath of hell-fire that streamed to engulf them, and the demonic vampires at the rear would cast flaming javelins that appeared in their hands at the gathered mutants. These were countered by the combined protective telekenetic shields of Jean and Rachel, a distorting shimmer in the air around the X-Men, strengthened by Illyana's sorcery, the protective hurricane winds of Ororo, the glowing wings of Rose, and disc portals from Illyana that re-directed flaming streams of flames and javelins back at their attackers, the flames to little effect.
As the demonic horde attacked, they were met by the raging fury of Ororo, Jean and Rachel, lightning and telekenetic psi-blasts searing and blasting through the massed infernal hordes, while tornado winds and telekenetic claws picked the hell-fire vampires up, slamming them together and casting them aside like broken rag-dolls, lifting broken masonry, tearing lamp and telephone poles to smash into the demonic ranks pouring towards them. They were joined by brilliant ruby-red optic beams and brilliant blasts of magical energy from Scott and Illyana, rapidly spearing and breaking through the onrush ranks, conclusive and magical force tearing, burning and flinging vampiric bodies aside.
Above them, the blazing angelic form of Rose outshone the gloom, soaring on high, diving, energy blades hacking, slashing and burning through the surging vampiric ranks with furious clashes of golden golden energy, heads and limbs flying, wings and armour deflecting fangs, claws and blades, casting aside flaming javelins cast at the strike team. Her shining wings joined her crackling blades in cutting through the infernal ranks and clashed together, pushing outwards, blasting back packs of the demonic horde in brilliant thunderous clashes of psionic force, and burst aparting the torrents of hell-fire that poured at them.
She was joined on the ground by the combined fury of Kitty and John Howlett, phasing through the massed ranks of hell-fire vampires. Kitty's moving in a deadly dance of flashing blades, light and dark, augmented by the strength and speed granted by the Black Blade. The demons howling in pain as the magical blades cut, thrust and slashed rapidly through the possessed bodies, phasing back and forth in coordination with the luminous White Ghost that was John, eyes glowing red, howling, his white hair flowing widely behind him. Ripping and tearing all before him in a blinding fury of claws and Hellblade, phasing and impaling blackened hearts and lopping heads with his claws, cutting and thrusting home the Hellblade, at which the demonic vampires gave an ear-splitting and unearthly scream, flames flaring from their eyes and mouths as the bodies collapsed empty to the ground, the demon spirit cast back to Hell.
Kurt teleported rapidly across the chaotic and swarming battle field in bursts of 'bamfing' sulphur in an acrobatic dance, in co-ordination with his allies, striking with blade, feet and fists, pulling away enemies about to strike one of his team-mates to teleport them high in the sky to fall to crash into the ground below.
The gleaming metallic form of Piotr the Colossus stood back to back with his sister Illyana, knocking the demonic hordes back with titanic hammer blows, shattered bodies flung back to ram back to the boiling hordes, his sister's Soulsword striking down any demonic vampire getting close, corpses falling to the floor unmoving as her blade broke the magical demonic power animating the dead bodies.
The team had appeared in the open park to see that the sky and clouds overhead were tinged blood-red with tendrils of black lightning flickering through it, the buildings that had once been white were now dirty, decay, worn and broken, overgrown with twisting, oily, organic black tendrils that had spread across the town like a suffocating, parasitic web. Grass and plants looked twisted, deformed, everything looked warped and corrupted. All but John and Illyana hand dropped to the ground, both being more shielded from magical assault than the others, coughing against air that seemed to choke and burn them, feeling themselves growing weaker as their strength seemed to be being leached from them. Illyana's hands had glowed, glowing pentagrams had appeared over her team-mates, sinking into them with a warm glow, countering the dark sorcerous spell that had been worked throughout the island against intruders.
As they had gotten back up, Illyana looking at the sky and ground with a troubled look on her face had said, 'looks like the presence and the rituals the demons have been conducting here, now centred and anchored through Logan, have caused Hell to partly manifest and possess this island. That also means this place is currently more part of the realm of Hell than of Earth, and I can feel it activity countering magical power drawn from other realms. I won't be able to drag most of these demons to Limbo and easily deal with them there, and much of my more powerful sorcery won't work here. But though a little blunted I should still be able to use some spells and abilities, such as limited magical energy projection in magical blasts and shields and my Soulsword, armour and of course mutant ability are unaffected.'
'We had to expect complications.' Ororo had replied, 'besides, while useful they weren't key to our plan, and at least you were able to counter the magical assault that hit us upon arrival.'
A blinding flash of golden light had announced Rose's transformation into her warrior angel form, soaring above them on golden wings, energy blades crackling from her hands, as she said, 'well, looks like our welcoming party has arrived,' as the edge of the park had lined with the possessed vampiric corpses, their hell-fire eyes glaring balefully at the X-Team, who assembled themselves into a defensive formation, Jean, Ororo and Rachel soaring up to join Rose, as with a combined unholy howl the demonic forces had tore towards them.
Now, as the initial assault thinned a little, burnt, torn, sliced and pummelled corpses of the once possessed dead, lying strewn across the ripped up grass of the battlefield, black blood staining and smoking on the ground, the churning horde parted and pulled back as two larger, horrific and nightmarish forms came forward. Both were a warped and unholy union of many vampiric bodies united and melded together, in a wet, glistening and fleshy monstrosities. One possessed a large gaping burning maw filled with uneven nine to ten inch fangs, dropping smoking saliva, on a squat, deformed body set on four thick fleshly legs with flaming talons, and two small grasping arms jutting out just below its burning maw. The other appeared as a massive fleshy spider, a large burning pincers surrounding it's toothy maw rushing towards them on long, crooked, taloned spider legs. Both stopped and with a choking cry sent forth a swarm of burning insects, that rushed towards them to engulf and consume the group, Scott shouting, 'everyone, draw close, Jean, Rachel and Storm, cover us, Illyana, re-enforce them!'
The air around them shimmered and distorted as Jean and Rachel weaved and intertwined there combined psi-shields, Ororo's conjuring titanic winds swirling around the telekenetic shields at breakneck speed, Illyana raising her hands glowing with pentagrams, the telekenetic shields and winds glowing faintly with blue light, the fiery swarm caught and broke upon the wind and pisonic barriers like a wave crashing upon a rock, before reforming to strike again.
Eyes blazing with fury, Rose soared to join Jean and Rachel yelling, 'we don't have time for this!' and briefly looked at Jean and Rachel, communicating for a moment telepathically, she linked hands with them. Then Rose flew up, mother and daughter reaching out their hands towards her as Rose placed hands and the tips of her glowing wings upon their combined telekinetic shield. Rose along with Jean and Rachel began to shine brighter and brighter, golden psionic energy pouring into the combined shield, until it was as intensely brilliant as the three red-heads above, blazing like stars, as Rose began to fold her wings around her, pulsating with the three psoinics' combined power. Then the wings burst open with a deafening explosion of power, the entire blinding shield of radiate golden light bursting outwards in a thunderous shock-wave of golden psionic energy blasing the swam apart, the two demonic monsters slammed back with roars of agony.
The light of the psionic explosion fading, burning tongues of fire snaking around the burnt grass around them, the two monsters stumbled back to their feet with new roars of rage. 'Now!' Scott yelled, looking to Jean who transmitted his command instantly to the group, Scott's visor glowing ruby red, and burst forth in a torrent of overwhelming ruby-red concussive force, that was united with a focused almighty sustained psi-blast from Jean that slammed into the squat, tooth mawed monster, ramming it into the ground with crushing force, it's bones audibly snapping, the demonic creature howling in pain, as Kitty, mystic swords, light and dark, out, burst into a run, phasing through the destructive torrent of optic and psi-burst. At the same time, tornado winds summoned by Ororo wiped around the spider beast, as Rose soaring high into the sky while the luminous white form of John Howlett rushed towards it, phasing through the raging winds of Storm of the X-Men. Piotr alongside Illyana and Rachel held back in defence as Kurt watched the vampric mob holding back as the ground rumbled beneath them, before exploding open in a hail of earth. A fleshly serpentine monster of combined merged and melded vampiric bodies surged from the ground, long and elongated arms opening wide, fleshy cobra-like hood of merged fanged faces flared out behind the large fanged maw hissing at them. It's long fangs dripping, it's large flaming eyes burned malevolently down at them as it struck down, rushing at them. Piotr dashed forward and caught it's arms in a titanic clash of strength, pushing the monster backwards as Rachel locked it's thrashing body in place, as it attempted to wrap around Piotr, grasping it with claws of telekinetic power.
Kitty phasing, passed beneath the squat monster, it's clawed hands slashing harmlessly through her, as it struggled howling against the punishing force of sustained optic and psi-blasts. She repeated the hamstring move she'd used against the demonic beast on Krakoa, twin flashing of blades slicing through it's tendons. The creature, with a confused howl collapsed beneath the pounding from Scott and Jean's united assault, just as Kitty leapt, somersaulting in a black-flip, empowered by the supernatural strength of the Black Blade. Phasing through Scott and Jean's attack, Kitty landed on it's head, twin katana's slamming home with a loud wet crack, burying hilt deep, mystic blades piercing out of it's mouth, black blood pouring forth, the monster stiffened with a gurgling hiss of air, before dropping in a heap of shattered bones and flesh, before Kitty ripped the mystic swords free as the storm of optic and psi-blast relented, and leapt back to rejoin her team-mates.
At the same time, John Howlett roaring, coming out of Ororo's binding winds, tore, hacked, slashed and ripped through the creatures flaying spider-limbs in a furious storm of claws and Hellblade. The creature roaring in pain, it's remaining legs tried to strike him but passed harmlessly through his ghostly form, as it's torn legs were ripped away by Ororo's howling winds, flying to land scattered across the churned and burnt field of the park. Ororo cut her winds as John phased out from beneath the spider monster as it collapsed, legless to the ground, as Rose reached the high of her ascent. She spun and dived at the monster at breakneck speed, wings drawing close in, crackling blades thrust out, like a crashing meteor, radiant golden blades slamming home into the creature's skull with a resounding thunder-clap that rent the air, as the creature's head burst flaming apart, in an explosive burst of golden psionic energy.
And just as these monsters had been felled, as Piotr and Rachel wrestled with their serpentine ambusher, Ilyana's hand glowed, a disc portal appearing before her. She leapt, turning her Soulsword to stab downwards, with a battle cry through the portal, appearing right above the demonic snake creature. Thrusting downwards, her glowing sword hit home, plunging into the demonic monster's skull, tearing out of the bottom of it's jaw as Illyana landed on it's back. It gave an agonising yell, fading off as it collapsed, and released by Piotr and Rachel to crash to the ground. It's form falling apart into a collection of twisted corpses as Illyana's Soulsword broke the magic holding it together and possessing the assembled bodies. As it fell, the young Russian called forth another disc portal, jumped and landed back where she'd started.
The air was still, as the X-team regathered, Scott's visor gleaming as he watched the remaining crowd of demonic vampires glaring at them for a moment, taking the measure of them. Then the crowd cried out in union, unearthly moans and screams coming from their combined throats, their bodies flaring, and bursting into a balls of hell-fire that all began to rush together at the centre of the crowd, a large, burning figure building up as the crowd, flaming, began to merge together.
Scott turned towards Illyana, 'now Magik, this is it. Call forth the portal,' Illyana nodded and a new disc portal appeared, as he turned motioning Rose, Jean, Kitty, Kurt and John Howlett, 'go, get Logan. We'll keep whatever this new thing is busy!'
With a nod John moved through the portal, Rose hesitated for a moment before following him, while Jean, Kitty and Kurt looked uncertain, seeing the building threat facing their friends. 'Don't worry,' Scott said, 'it won't be anything we can't handle. This was the plan, if we fail to save Logan this was all for nothing.' Locked eyes with Jean, Scott communicated with her silently, as Kitty and Kurt nodded and followed John and Rose through the portal, before with a tight smile Jean nodded as well and joined them, the portal vanishing as she slipped through.
The crowd of vampires had disappeared into a towering inferno of hell-fire. Now the flames died down and drew in, resolving into a giant fleshy creature towering over them, it's lower half a centipede like body with clawed feet, from which sprang a large upper humanoid form, possessing long, elongated arms ending in flaming taloned hands. It was topped off with a pale head, mouth filled with massive, razor-sharp jagged teeth, long, twisted horns crowning the top of it's head and four flaming hell-fire eyes staring at them with pure rage and hate.
As the beast let forth a deafening roar Rachel joked, 'I'm not so sure he agrees with you Dad that we can handle it.'
Scott grinned, hand to his visor as his fellow X-Men formed up around him, 'well we'll just do what the X-Men always do, prove him wrong. X-Men, Attack!'