Chapter Seven - DEMON
'Kitty!'
Rogue saw the gas engulf the girl and whirled to help. Before she had a chance, however, she found herself caught in the Sentinel's grip. Her arms were pinned to her sides and the Sentinel's grip was getting tighter. She had always assumed she was invulnerable as a result of the abilities she had stolen from Ms Marvel. Guess Ah'm about to find out.
She tried to push outwards against the vice, but with her arms pinned she could not find anything to push against.
'Rogue, darlin', fly!' Logan shouted at her from below.
Black spots were appearing in front of her eyes.
'Straight up,' Logan was shouting. 'Fly straight up.'
And she did. With a last desperate burst of strength, Rogue forced herself upwards powering all her effort into one last flight. The Sentinels arm was wrenched upwards, but when it reached the limit of its reach it held and Rogue could go no further.
'Keep climbing,' Logan insisted. 'You can do it, darlin', we're counting on you.'
She could no longer see where she was going, but she did not need to. She just kept climbing. Gears ground, metal twisted and then, all of a sudden the whole arm came free, dragged skywards by the flying mutant. Released from the Sentinel's control, the grip relaxed and Rogue was finally able to force her way free. She turned and flew back to land where Logan was pinned.
'Well, how was I?' she asked.
'Disarming,' Logan replied. 'Got any bright ideas, Carol.'
'How did you know?' the ghost in Rogue's body asked.
'You move differently and your accents changed a bit,' Logan explained. 'Not much, but I tend to notice. Where's Rogue?'
'Taking a nap,' Carol Danvers explained. 'One advantage of a split personality – there's always on of us to pick up the pieces. Can't say I think much of the kid's dress sense, though.'
'Them's the breaks,' Logan replied with a grin. 'So, any ideas.'
The one-armed Sentinel refused to be defeated, continuing remorselessly towards them with long slow strides. Logan was still pinned to the wall and both Rachel and Kitty were unconscious.
'Fresh out,' Carol replied. 'Guess it's all down to me then?'
'Unless you can figure out a way to get me unstuck,' Logan responded.
'If only I could get close enough to hit it,' Carol complained, 'but Kitty was the only one who stood a chance at that.'
'Notnecessarily,' Logan said slowly.
'You're not serious? It's bad enough I'm trapped in here because of what she can do. Now you want to turn me into a vampire as well.'
'You got any better ideas?'
Carol did not answer.
'Okay, I'll give it a go,' she said at last.
'That's my girl,' Logan said.
The Sentinel was firing laser blasts at her now. Carol was unconcerned, they simply bounced off her impenetrable skin. She ran across the street to where Kitty was lying.
'Sorry, kiddo,' she said, 'but you'll thank me for it later. I hope.' Then she removed her glove and placed her bare hand on Kitty's cheek.
It was exhilarating and frightening at the same time. The theft of energy gave her a buzz, like a drug, but she already knew what an overdose could do. No one knew better. But with the energy cam the images, the memories. So this is what it's like for you, Carol thought. Oh, Rogue, I never knew. She could hear Kitty in her head. Her thoughts were Carol's thoughts now. She could see her memories. Her first taste of ice cream. The first boy she had kissed. They first time her mutant power had appeared and she had fallen through the bedroom floor. Her first meeting with Lockheed, the dragon who was to become her pet. That time, all too recently, when she had been mugged on campus.
She tried to force the flood of images to one side. There was not time to deal with that now. Instead she focussed all that pain she was picking up and channelled it into her fists, allowing them to lead her as she flew like a cannonball straight at the Sentinel. The Sentinel thought it knew what to expect and raised its shields in response, shields Carol was not strong enough to knock down. But she did not have to. At the last moment she found herself concerned that she would not know how to use her phasing power, but there was Kitty's voice in her head showing her just the right way to shift her molecules to pass straight through the shield. Carol kept going plunging straight into the robot's torso. She could here the sparks as her phasing disrupted the thing's circuits, but the robot had been well constructed and it would take more than that to shut it down. Carol smiled, she preferred it this way. She found a space in amongst the machinery where she could solidify and then she started to use her great strength to tear the thing apart from the inside out.
* * *
Tomas and Caven had removed the dining-room table and drawn a large chalk circle on the wooden floor. Then Isabelle had drawn a second circle inside of this one with a pentagram in the middle. Between the circles she began to draw runes, copied from a book. Caven placed the candlesticks at the five corners of the pentagram and lit the candles. Tomas took a compass from his pocket to find which way was north. At that point on the circle he placed a bowl of water. At the east point he put a bowl of sand. South he placed another candle, this one as thick as it was tall and formed from a black wax, and west he lay a feather.
'Have you got the artefacts?' he asked Caven.
Caven opened the cardboard box and began passing items to Tomas. A wand. Half a skull. A book bound with human skin. Tomas laid them reverently in the centre of the circle. Caven went to stand at the window and put a spyglass to his eye.
'How are the stars?' Tomas asked.
'Looking good,' Caven replied. 'They'll be in alignment in a little under half an hour.'
'He can tell that just by looking through a cheap telescope?' Storm said.
'Don't be silly,' Tomas replied, 'he can tell that because he's a seer. Now do us both a favour and shut up. I'm trying to concentrate.'
'Are you ready, Isabelle?' he asked.
Isabelle was looking a bit frantic. She was looking around, under chairs, in the cabinet, everywhere.
'Isabelle, my dear, whatever is the matter?' Tomas pressed.
'I can't find Roger,' she moaned. 'Oh, Tomas, you know I can't concentrate without Roger.'
'Caven,' Tomas ordered, 'go upstairs and find that wretched teddy bear of hers, would you?'
'But' Caven began.
'Just do it, will you,' Tomas snapped. 'If she says she can't concentrate then we're going to have to humour her, okay. And do it quickly, we're running out of time.'
Tomas took Isabelle's hands in his. 'Now, my dear, is there anything else you need.'
Isabelle thought for a moment. Tomas could tell by the way she screwed up her face. If she was not so powerful, Tomas would have had her put done long ago. It would have been a mercy killing.
'A drink might help,' she said at last.
'White wine?' Tomas suggested.
'Oh, Tomas, you know that makes me all tipsy.' Isabelle giggled.
'Better make it water then,' Tomas said. 'Would you like anything, Storm.'
'No, thank you,' Storm replied.
'Very well. 'He opened the drinks cabinet and poured a couple of brandies for himself and Caven and a glass of water for Isabelle. 'You know, Storm, there's one thing I've neglected to mention. This demon we intend to summon doesn't have a physical body as such so it will need to use one of ours. Caven was going to make the ultimate sacrifice, but the arrival of you and your friends has suggested a delicious alternative. What do you think, Isabelle, shall we turn the demon into a demon?'
Isabelle clapped her hands like a giddy schoolgirl. 'Ooh, yes, let's. I'd like that.'
'There we are then. Nightcrawler it is.'
Storm was horrified. 'Take me instead,' she insisted.
'I intend to, my dear,' Tomas replied, savouring his brandy, 'but Nightcrawler still belongs to the demon.'
Tomas put down his glass and starred at the circle. Then he snapped his fingers. 'The bell,' he announced. 'We've got the book and the candle, but no bell. Shan't be a moment, my dear. Try and keep Miss Storm amused, won't you?'
Tomas kept a collection of bells in a room at the far end of the house. It was his trophy room where he kept all of the items he had won (stolen, he admitted to himself) from rival magicians. Many of them were just trinkets with no power whatsoever, but one or twoHe grinned as he passed a stuffed parakeet. The creature talked, but only on alternate Thursdays. It was amusing, but Tomas fully intended to find a way to drain its magic and use it in something more practical.
The bell collection was hanging from the window frame. On a whim, Tomas picked up one of the wands and started striking bells to make a tune. The wand emitted sparks every time in struck a bell, but Tomas had no ear for music and his 'tune' was just a jumble of notes. In the end he just ran the wand across the lot and then threw it back on the pile. Tomas was easily bored. He needed new challenges, new excitements. To tame a real live demon, now that was exciting. He scanned the bells for one he liked and finally settled on a large copper one with a lion crest on it.
He met Caven coming back down the stairs.
'Good, you've found the bear,' Tomas said. 'Maybe now we can finally get started.'
They returned to the dining room.
'Tomas, look,' Caven shouted, grabbing his shoulder and pointing at Storm's chair.
Storm was gone.
Tomas glanced around. The window was open and the drapes were fluttering in the breeze.
'I thought I told you to keep an eye on her,' he snapped at Isabelle. He raised his hand to strike her, but Caven caught hold of it.
'Don't,' he whispered. 'We need her. We'll just have to carry on as planned. It's too late for Storm to do anything now anyway.'
Tomas relaxed and sat down cross-legged on the floor. 'I hope you're right,' he muttered.
'Keep an eye on who?' Isabelle asked dreamily.
'Doesn't matter,' Tomas sighed. 'Let's just get to work, shall we?'
* * *
Storm crept around the side of the house. Orphaned at an early age, Ororo had become a street thief in order to survive. Now, moving silently was as natural as breathing. Which was all well and good, but she still needed to get back inside if she was to save Kurt, not to mention the rest of San Francisco. So far, all of the windows she had encountered were closed and could only be opened from the inside. There was not even a lock for her to pick. She considered smashing one, but that would give away her position and the advantage of surprise. Still, if she did not find another option soon
There, the back door. It was locked, but Storm still had her tools stowed in her boot. She had used to keep them in her headdress, but she did not have the hair anymore to support one. It was a matter of moments to get the tumblers to fall into place. She eased the door open and slid inside. She considered for a moment and then slipped off her boots. Her bare feet were almost soundless on the carpeted floor as she ran towards the dining room. Unfortunately, the layout of this building was chaotic and, though she knew where the dining room was in relation to the door that did not mean she knew how to cross from one to the other.
She stopped. She had to think this through. That door, she was sure of it. Then down this corridor. Left here. Then second door on the right. No, left. She was in the entrance hall. A wide staircase trailed towards the upper levels. The door to the dining room was open and she could hear chanting coming from inside. She glanced about for a weapon and retrieved a golfing umbrella from a stand by the door. Then she rounded the corner and burst into the room.
Kurt was lying on his back, head towards the circle. The three wizards were all sitting cross-legged staring at the artefacts laid out in the middle. Isabelle was chanting. The whole room was glowing.
Storm swung the umbrella and struck Caven across the shoulders. He shrugged off the blow. Both he and Tomas turned to face her.
'You're too late, X-Man,' Tomas shouted. 'We've just finished the incantation.'
As he spoke so Isabelle quieted. The light in the room coalesced about Kurt's body. He opened his eyes. Rather than his usual yellow, now they glowed red.
* * *
'Hey, Carol, I think she's coming round,' Logan said. Gradually, Kitty's vision cleared and she could see a face to go with the voice.
'Carol?' she asked.
Logan jerked a thumb in Rogue's direction. 'Rogue's having a little lie down, so Carol Danvers is in the driving seat for a while.'
'How's it feel to be up and about again?' Kitty asked, sitting up.
'Terrible,' Carol answered. 'It reminds me of all that I miss. You know, I can't even feel the wind in my face any more. It's odd that things that get you most, isn't it?'
'How's Rachel?' Kitty inquired, eagerly changing the subject.
'Sore,' the small redhead responded. 'What hit me?'
Kitty glanced at Logan. 'Dunno,' she said to Rachel. 'It was so bright I couldn't see properly.'
'Ah, well, guess it probably doesn't matter anyway,' Rachel said. Kitty smiled. Some things were best left buried.
Carol was eyeing the wrecked Sentinel. 'Shouldn't we report this?' she said. 'Get SHIELD or somebody to tow it away?'
'Uh, uh,' Logan said. 'You're not USAF anymore Carol and your not an Avenger either. The X-Men can't afford to play by the rules, what with us being outlaws and all. That thing gets left where it is. It's somebody else's problem now.'
'If you're sure,' Carol looked doubtful, but chose not to argue the point 'Well, if you all up to it, how about we head for home?' she suggested.
'Look, Carol, if you want we could find a bar and reminisce about old times,' Logan offered. 'I'm sure the kids can find their own way back.'
'Logan, I appreciate the thought,' Carol said, 'but to be honest I don't want to remember. All too soon, Rogue's going to take this body back and I'm going to become just another submerged memory. I really don't need to be reminded of what might have been.'
'Guess I wasn't thinking, huh?' Logan replied.
'You were being very sweet,' Carol said, 'something I don't remember you being like at all when I knew you. Maybe we can have a long talk next time I pop up?'
'I'd like that,' Logan said.
'Do those two know each other?' Rachel asked Kitty.
'I think so,' Kitty replied, 'but Logan's so tight-lipped about his past it's difficult to tell who he knows.'
'If there's one thing I've learned,' Rachel said, 'it's that there's no point dwelling on the past. There are always too many bad memories. Just keep looking forward and take each day as it comes.'
'Amen to that,' Kitty responded.
The two girls stood in companionable silence watching the stars and waiting for Carol and Logan to finish. Then Rachel nudged Kitty's elbow.
'Kitty,' she said, pointing to the skyline, 'is that who I think it is?'
'It can't be,' Kitty breathed.
But it was. It was thirty foot tall, had horns and breathed smoke from its nostrils, but the blue-furred features were unmistakable. Nightcrawler was attacking the city.
