Chapter 23: …I am God…
The Darkness had held me all the while I was unconscious. Once feared, I would soon cherish it as my only escape. But even when I held it dearest I feared it. Some things, comforting as they are, are wrong. The Darkness, I knew even then, was one of them.
But it soon faded, to my relief and dismay, as I came back to the world of the living and entered Hell…
Sunday: 11:32 AM
"She vas VHAT?!"
Jean and Emma had felt the attackers presence and had rushed to Leslie's room, but were too late too stop them. Jean had rushed Julia to the infirmary, where she was met by Kurt, demanding to know what had happened to Leslie. Emma had taken him to Xavier, explaining the situation to both of them, and had then gone to assemble any X-Man he could find in the war room. Julia had shortly thereafter revived informed Jean what had happened, who had just relayed it to the rest of the team.
"Kidnapped," Emma replied grimly, mentally cursing herself for failing another student.
"But by whom?" Hank asked quickly, cutting Kurt off. The smaller blue mutant was passing anxiously back and forth, trying to fight off the feelings of terror that were pouring out at him through the link.
There was silence for a moment before Jean answered softly. "The Church of Humanity."
Kurt froze, Bobby swore, and Logan growled, asking what the others feared to. "Ya sure, Jeannie?"
Emma answered for her. "Positive. I recognized the uniforms from Julia's memories."
"But why would they want Leslie?" Bobby asked.
Emma shrugged. "They called her the 'Beast.'"
Logan drew in a quick breath. "Fuck. They know."
Kurt whirled to face him, eyes glinting dangerously. "They know vhat, Logan?"
Groaning, Logan rubbed his eyes, telling them about how he'd interrogated the captured Church of Humanity member and the story he'd been told. "The 'Beast' was what the guy called a creature that the Pontiff's parents brought here from another reality. It killed the bastard's dad, then the Pontiff killed it and his mom. It sounded like he's their version of Satan."
"And they think Leslie's connected to him because she's from another time line," Jean whispered in horror.
There was silence for a moment before Kurt growled. "Vhat are ve vaiting for? Get on Cerebra and find her, dammit!"
Xavier looked at him, face haggard. One could believe now that he was as old as he was. "We can't, Kurt. Leslie's shielded from us. Cerebra won't work."
Kurt glared at him. "You could try!" He teleported away without waiting for a response.
Leslie awoke filled with pain. She tried to move, but found herself tied to something. Reaching out with her powers, she felt something evil and cold. She quickly drew back into herself, but her actions alerted her captors of her awareness.
"So. You're awake."
Leslie unsuccessfully struggled to turn her head in the direction of the voice. "Who are you?"
"Who am I?" The voice dripped with evil, sending a chill down her spine. "I am God."
Leslie froze, suddenly having a good idea who it really was, but hoping against hope that she was wrong. "I doubt it."
Her response this time was a sharp blow across the face, hard enough that she only barely kept herself from crying out in pain.
"If there had been a doubt about your identity before, your very insolence removes it. You may not have the form of your predecessor, but the same evil hangs about you that did him."
Leslie spat out blood, then tried to speak again. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Another blow, harder than the last if possible.
"You think we believe you, Mistress of Lies? You have come to corrupt this world. I shall not let you. I will purify it of you, then the mutants. But first…" and the evil she felt come from him then was enough to make her vomit.
"…first you shall tell me all you know."
Leslie's last conscious act was to scream, both aloud and emotionally, for help.
Chapter Twenty-Three (unposted)
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