The New Mutants
By: Joey
Disclaimer: Sorry, I don't own these characters, Marvel Comics and I believe KidsWB! (or at least they do for the Evo version) does, and I'm only using the characters for entertainment only, no harm meant.
will be used for language translations in this chapter.
Chapter 7
"Do you believe in Magik?"
Previously: We got to see a little more insight into the pasts, and the motivations of each of the Hellions, and their mysterious teacher, Emma Frost.
******
It had been a few days after the Towering Inferno festival, and the team was back on the road. Their plan was to try and make some sort of permanent home on the West coast, where they could all go to school and still be as proactive as they could be. Currently the team was in Denver, Colorado so that the van they were traveling in could be serviced. Initially, James, who had grown to be the team's driver and mechanic had been apprehensive to have the van professionally checked on, since he had grown very fond of it, but after a lot of discussion (and Roberto having to use his solar enchanced strength to drag him away from his beloved van) the van was taken to an auto shop.
So now, the entire group was at a nearby diner, ready to have some food and plan on where to go next.
"Hi, my name is Ben Reilly, I'll be your waiter. What can I get you all?" said the waiter, who looked to be about the James's age, with bleached blonde hair, and a friendly smile.
"Hamburger and a 7up." Sam said, looking up from his menu.
"I'll have a coke and a B.L.T" James said.
"I'll just have a salad." Amara said, not bothering to look at the menu.
"Just some water will be fine." Rahne said.
"I'll have the turkey sandwich." Doug said, handing his menu over to the waiter.
"You have a steak, right?" Roberto asked, when Ben nodded his head, he replied, "Excellent. I'll have that, medium rare."
"I'll have a hamburger too." Dani said.
With that, Ben left to go place their orders, and the team turned back to one another to discuss plans.
"So, where do y'all think we should go? We've been on the road a few months now, heading westward." Sam said. "But we gotta have some sort of destination other than the West coast."
"How about California?" Robert said, "Nice weather, friendly people, and probably in need of some mutant hero assistance."
"Awe, you're probably hoping to scope out some babes in skimpy bikini's man." James said, grinning.
"An added perk." Roberto said, leaning back.
"Well, that may be nice, but there is some pretty high land cost there too." Doug chimed in. "I did some research on home costs in local states." He explained.
Rahne sighed. "There goes that idea. Some place warm would have been nice too." She said.
"Hey, hey, let's not lose hope here. I can just pay for the thing." Roberto said casually.
"What?! How?" Dani said, shocked. "It's a house for crying out loud!"
Roberto shrugged. "My folks are millionaires, so I have a small fortune in my bank account," he said, still very casual, despite everyone else's exasperated looks. "What? Didn't I tell you guys?"
"NO!" the others said in unison. "Sorry. Sheesh." Roberto said sheepishly. "If it makes you feel any better I'll pay for the meal..."
******
About an hour later, everyone had finished their meals, and left the diner, so they headed back to the auto shop. When they arrived James immediately went to check on the van.
"So, what's the damage?" he asked as he walked up to the mechanic.
"Well, the carburetor isn't shot, Mr. Proudstar, but it has seen better days, so in my opinion, it'd be safer if you got it replaced now, and not have the hassle of doing it later." the mechanic said, pointing the auto part to illustrate his point.
James nodded his head in agreement. "Right, sounds like a good idea," he said. "So how long will it take to put the part in?"
The mechanic sighed. "Well, that's the bad news son, you see we're out of carbs at the moment, and if we order it now, we'll get it a new one by tomorrow" he then gave a shrug, "Sorry son, hope you and your friends weren't in a hurry."
James crossed his arms and sighed. "Well, not anymore we're not."
******
"So, what's the verdict Jimmy? The van ready?" Dani asked as James walked out of the garage.
"Sorry to tell you guys but we're getting a part replaced, so we're stuck here for another day." He replied as he walked up the assembled group.
Sam snapped his fingers. "Dang. Ah was hoping to get back on the road as fast as we could," he said. "Looks like that idea's been shot down."
"Aye." Rahne said, nodding her head. "But what will we do paying for the part? I'm not exactly a mechanic, but it must be expensive."
The others turned to Roberto. "Ok, ok, I'll pay for it," he said, and pulled out his wallet, grumbling to himself. "Sheesh. You don't tell your friends your a millionaire and they hold it to you forever."
******
Once the new carburetor was prepaid for, the team walked to a nearby motel, where Roberto "volunteered" to pay for two separate rooms, one for the boys, and one for the girls. A few hours later, the boy's were awakened by a knocking on the door.
"Oh, man. What is with the noise! Roberto, did you order room service or something?" James asked groggily, shooting his friend with a nasty look.
"No way amigo! Even I wouldn't do something that stupid!" Roberto said, wrapping a pillow over his head in a futile attempt to try and damper the noise.
"Ah don't care, Roberto, just someone answer the dang door!" Sam yelled, he had been having a great dream, and wasn't very happy with it being so rudely interrupted.
Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Doug got out of the bed and sleepily walked over to the door. "Hello?" he asked, and was soon surprised to see a blonde haired girl standing outside the door. "Um, what can I do for you?" he asked, not really sure what to say.
"Excuse me.....I am....looking for Piotr, my brother. He.....has been gone a long time...My English isn't very good....have you seen him?" the girl asked in broken English with a Russian accent. She held up a photo of a young man who looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. "This is him."
Doug shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anyone like that." He said. Quickly stepping aside, he said, "Please, come in, it's cold out."
The girl gave a quick nod of thanks and stepped inside. Doug quickly pulled out a chair for her to sit in, which she gratefully excepted.
"What's goin' on Doug?" Sam said sleepily, "Who's she?"
"Well, you see she's looking for her brother, and I thought she shouldn't stay out in the cold..." Doug replied, a little sheepish.
"Right, right." Sam said, "Well maybe y'all should take her to the girls room, huh?"
"I must find Piotr!" the girl said, pleadingly. "I followed the light to find him!"
"Light? What light?" Sam said, a little confused.
"I wanted to find him so badly.... I miss him greatly...and a few days ago...a light came to my aid, at my beck and call." She said.
"Doug, do you think she's a mutant?" Sam asked
"Maybe.....miss? Is it all right if we speak in Russian?" Doug asked, like this
Why, yes. Thank you. the girl said. But how is it you speak my language?
It's sort of a gift, I'm a mutant. Doug replied, smiling
Really? I believe that is why Piotr left! Although he was a gifted artist, one day he found that he could become steel, and left for America to seek his fortune. The girl replied. Then her eyes widened. Oh! Excuse my rudeness! My name is Illyana Rasputin.
It's nice to meet you Illyana. My name is Doug Ramsey. Doug said But you said something about a light, right? What do you mean by that?
Well, one day, I was wishing with all my heart to see Piotr again, and then suddenly, right before me, was a circle of light. she explained, And so I stepped onto it, and then the next thing I know I'm in this wasteland...but right near me is another circle of light, and when I stepped into that one, I found myself in America.
Well, it sounds like you might be a mutant too. Doug said, hoping she'd take the news well.
Really? How wonderful! I can find Piotr easier now, can't I? she replied, surprisingly happy.
Well, I guess, you can definitely get to him quicker if you can teleport, but you'd have to find him first. Doug replied.
Before Illyana could reply however, there was a loud crash outside, causing the other boys to groggily get out of their beds.
"Now what's going ?!" James cried out.
Doug quickly checked the window, and turned back towards the others. "Well, guys, uh....it appears dinosaurs are attacking."
******
They knew their mission. They were to find and retrieve the intruder. They had failed in their last attempt, when a different intruder had invaded their master's realm, but this time, they're prey would not elude them. Roars and screams rang across the night.
******
It didn't take very long for the team to assemble together and try and assess the situation.
"Unbelievable. Dinosaurs." Amara said, at a loss for words.
Roberto turned to Sam and Dani, and asked, "Well you two are our co- leaders, what should we do?'
"Well, Ah figure we should go and wrangle up some dinos, don't y'all think Dani?" Sam asked.
Dani nodded her head. "Sounds good to me, better not split up though, we'll just take them down in one large group."
"Uh, guys, sorry to interrupt, but Illyana thinks they followed her." Doug said, approaching the group.
"What do ye mean Dougie?" Rahne asked, concerned.
"Well, Illyana saw these things wandering around the area where she first teleported to, so she thinks they followed her when she came here." he replied.
"Say, come to think of it, remember that incident at the school dance a year or so ago?" Roberto said, "You know, when we first came to Xavier's? Weren't some dinos involved with that too, after they followed Kurt from one of his teleports?"
Sam snapped his fingers. "You're right! They got to be connected!" he said, "So we gotta get'em back to their realm and lock the door on them, right?" The others nodded in agreement. "Let's do it!" he said, and they ran to fight the overgrown lizards.
The team fought hard, their job made easier once they realized that the dinosaurs seemed to not be able to take attacks very well.
"Not half bad for a bunch of kids in their pajamas huh?" Roberto called out, punching one of the lizards in the head with his solar-powered strength. "Good thing these guys go down so easily, I'm not sure how long I can last without sunlight!"
Before anyone could respond however, a scream rang out nearby. The dinos were dragging a young blonde girl near a dimension tear, created from forcing their way through Illyana's teleportation portal.
"My daughter! Help! Anyone!" a nearby man cried out, and the team ran to his aid as fast as they could, but to no avail, the girl had been dragged through the portal which immediately closed.
"Oh man!" James said, "We're too late!"
"I'm sorry sir," Amara said, kneeling down to help the man get up. "We just couldn't get there in time."
"My daughter...." the man groaned, on the verge of tears, "My little Tiffany..."
"Hey, did you notice that the girl looked a bit like Illyana?" Doug observed, "Something tells me that they grabbed his daughter, mistaking her for Illyana."
"Do you...think so?" Illyana said, struggling with her English. "I-I...am sorry...."
"It's alright,we'll get her back." Dani said, reassuringly. "Do you think you can create another portal?" she asked the Russian girl.
"I...believe I can....." she replied, wiping away some tears.
Sam nodded his head. "Good. Everybody, get ready, we're gonna head out and get that girl back!"
The others nodded their head, and ran to go get changed. All except Doug, whom Sam had held back.
"Look, Doug...Ah'm not sure how to really put this, but we need you to stay behind." He said, trying to break the news as easy as he could.
"What?! Why?" Doug said, shocked.
"Well, it's your powers, y'all would just be too much of a liability, and none of us want to see you hurt, is all." Sam said.
"....Fine....I understand." Doug replied, depression evident in his voice.
"Thanks for understanding. We're gonna need ya to be our communication's man, you'll be our lifeline to outside, ok?" Sam said
"Right...gotcha."
******
A few minutes later, the team reassembled. Sam, Rahne, Roberto and Amara had changed into their old recruit uniforms, while lacking anything else to wear, James, Dani, and Doug were in street clothes, while Illyana was still wearing the winter clothing that she had been wearing when they met her.
"Ok, Illyana, you're up." Dani said, "You can do it." She added, hoping to reassure the nervous girl.
Illyana nodded, and then concentrated, soon a disc of light appeared.
"Please...step on..." Illyana said, motioning the others forward, and stepping into the light. The others followed, immersing themselves in the light.
"Good luck everybody!" Doug yelled out. *And I wish I was going out there with you.* he added to himself.
Soon the group slid down into the light, and then they were gone.
******
After Illyana's teleport had finished, the team found themselves in what looked like a demonic wasteland, lava flowed in the rivers, there was no sign of plant life, and the air was dank, reeking with the stench of brimstone. Doug's voice then cracked over Sam's comspeaker.
"Everyone ok you guys? I'm getting traces of carbon dioxide from sensors of your combelts, even though there's a generous supply of oxygen, I wouldn't stay any longer than you need to."
"No problems so far Doug, and you're coming in loud and clear." Sam said, "We'll keep you informed ok?" he turned to Rahne, "Think you can sniff out of those uglies furtop?"
Rahne nodded, "Aye, I'll do my best Sam." She said, and the shifted into her wolf form, sniffing the ground. Once she found the scent she gave a low bark, indicating for the others to follow her.
The team ran, until Rahne came to a stop. "What's up Rahne?" Roberto asked. "You lose the scent?"
A low growl was her reply, while James perked up. "I don't think we're alone guys," he said, "I got enchanced senses myself, and I've been having the uneasy feeling that we've been followed.
Doug voice cracked aloud over the comspeaker. "Guys watch out! Something coming!", but his warning came to late, as suddenly a giant demon jumped down behind them from the high shadows, knocking James out in a single blow!
The demon was large, easily dwarfing the Beast at full height, his purple hide extremely muscular. "Sy'm always likes it when intruders come into Lord Belasco's realm! Because Sy'm gets the fun of kicking their hides back to where they came from!" he said, giving a low chuckle, while cracking his stone sized knuckles.
"What makes you think we're gonna let you?!" Roberto said as he charged up into his sunspot form. "Time to kiss the pavement ugly!" with that he quickly ran at the giant demo.
"Roberto, NO!" Sam yelled but it was too late, Roberto tried to attack the demon, but was swatted away easily. He flew into a nearby rock formation, with a sickening crash, and fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Something tells me that solo fighting isn't going to get us anywhere." Amara said, "So we need to hit all at once and hard!" she quickly powered up, and summoned a lava flow, aiming it at the demon called S'ym, who, despite his size, quickly dodged out of the way, grabbing Dani tossing her straight into Amara, the collision taking the two girls out of the fight.
Sam quickly flew into Sy'm, his blast shield protecting him from the impact, and staggering the beast, and Rahne quickly followed up on the attack. She had shifted into her werewolf form and tore into Sy'm clawing and biting at his throat. The demon fought her off, and knocked her out with a blow to the skull.
Sam looked towards Illyana for help, but the girls seemed scared out of her mind. *Looks like Ah'm the only one left then." Sam thought to himself. *and mah best only staggers this guy! But what else can Ah do?* He blasted off once more, and slammed straight into Sy'm's gut, pushing his powers as much as he could, driving the demon into a nearby rock wall, until he had to stop from sheer exhaustion. "Outta...gas..." he gasped out as fell to the floor.
"Too bad. S'ym thought you were fun." The demon said mockingly, before kicking him into the wall. He then turned his attention to Illyana. "Now then, be a nice girl and don't resists S'ym, ok?" he said as he approached her. Illyana screamed as his hand came nearer....
******
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Doug recoiled in pain. The com-link had suddenly, and loudly, turned to static. He quickly tore off the headset that he was using, and uttered a curse in Swahili, which he had picked up from using his powers while watching an international tv station.
"SelffriendDoug, aside from losing radio contact with other selffriends, self cannot get a radar fix on selffriends." Warlock reported.
"Great. That means they're wandering blind." Doug said. " I have a bad feeling about this."
******
Illyana was the last one to awake. She found herself, with the others, in what resembled a Medieval King's court. Everyone was shackled up, bound by chains, that neither James or nor a powered up Sunspot were able to break, Illyana observed. Nearby was the young girl that had been abducted. The person on the throne was a being who actually looked the part of the devil himself, he was humanoid in appearance, but the horns atop his head, as well as the red hue of his skin were evidence of his otherworldly nature, and at his right side, was the large demon, S'ym, that had ambushed them. red demon stood up and spoke.
"Good to see that you all have awoken." He said, " I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Belasco. I am a demon sorcerer, and lord of this realm, known as Limbo." For a demon, he had a very eloquent voice, and his English was excellent. "It is because of my magicks that I speak you language, as you are no doubt wondering. Where was I? Oh yes, Limbo is my realm, as an odd quirk of fate, this realm is the nexus for teleporters, a way station of you will. For the most part, those who teleport, be it by magickal means or by mutant powers, are usually in and out of here in less than a second, however there are the odd times when a person overstays there welcome, a while ago, a blue furred mutant human and a man with claws were two such visitors. My underlings, the demon dragons, were sent to exterminate them, however they met very heavy resistance, and failed. Although curious, I decided to ignore it, as neither person ever had such a long trip here ever again. Until now. You see my dear girl," he said, pointing at Illyana, " you have a most interesting power. Instead of usually teleporting here in and out so fast we'd barely even notice you, you actually use your "stepping discs" to actually come here! and that you see, is unacceptable for me."
"And why is that?" Dani said, "She means you no harm!"
Belasco walked up to her. "Oh, but she is of great harm, you see, in our ancient lore, it is foretold that a hero shall appear, draw out the mystical Soul Sword, and liberate the realm from a tyrant's grasp. MY grasp, and quite frankly, we just can't have that at all."
"What does that to do with the poor girl? She dinnae have any sword with her!" Rahne cried out, all this talk of demons clashing with her strict catholic upbringing.
"Ah, but you see, as part of the prophecy, the hero is supposed to be an off-worlder, capable of visiting the realm for prolonged visits, precisely as she can!"
"Well, what about the other girl?!" James yelled out, " She didn't have anything to do with this!"
"A minor mistake made by my demon dragons." He said, and then, with a wave of his hand, the restraints holding Illyana in place fell off of her, he then pointed to a sword that was impaled to the floor. "Now then, let's get down to business. Please, go ahead young one, attempt to pull the sword out."
Illyana tentatively stood up and moved towards the sword. "Do not worry my dear, if you do not pull out the sword you and the others may leave." Belasco said, *They will leave, just not leaving alive, and should you fail, I shall just corrupt you into my own demon servant!* he added to himself.
"Boss, you sure this is ok? S'ym has a bad feeling about this." S'ym whispered to Belasco, concern in his voice.
"Do not worry simpleton, I have everything in control." Belasco whispered back.
Once she reached the blade, Illyana hesitantly grabbed a hold of the blade, and with all of her strength, she pulled, and to her surprise she actually pulled the blade out! "Bohze Moi!" she whispered to herself, her eyes wide with wonder, and fear. Suddenly, a light burst forth from the blade, surrounding the New Mutants, the shackles falling off harmlessly. "Did...I...do that?" Illyana whispered.
"Well, my dear, it seems you passed the test." Belasco said, "However, in this case, I am sorry to say that you've failed!" he yelled, mystical energy forming in his hands. Panicked, Illyana created a stepping disc, around herself and her new found friends, teleporting themselves back to Earth.
******
"Alarm! Energy surge!" Warlock cried out, before the entire team plus the abducted girl suddenly appeared in the parking lot of the hotel.
"Guys! What happened?! Why does Illyana have a sword?" Doug yelled, soon however another hole appeared, and out stepped Belasco and S'ym, a horde of demon dragons not far behind. "And who the heck are they?!"
"Long story buddy!" Sam said, "Just take the girl and keep her safe ok, we'll handle these bozos!"
Doug nodded and took the girls hand, and they both quickly ran back up the hotel room, which seemed to Doug to be the safest place to be.
James stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "Ok, ugly. You owe me a rematch for that bumrush you pulled earlier." He said to S'ym, grimly.
"Sy'm will be glad to accommodate you, weakling!" the demon growled out.
"Well, ok then, we'll handle the dragons." Dani said, "Since James wants to be the testosterone filled man."
"Sigh...men," Amara said, "and here I thought Roberto was the only one who was bullheaded."
"Yeah, that's right I'm the only one who-hey!" Roberto said, indignitly.
"Cut the chatter people, we got a job to do." Sam. He turned to Illyana, "You gonna be ok against Belasco?"
Illyana nodded. "I...will try." She said, leveling the sword. towards Belasco. Prepare yourself demon! she cried out in Russian.
"In the words of your world's youth, Just bring it!" Belasco said, motioning her forward.
******
The fight between James and S'ym was brutal, a slugfest in the simplest form of the word. Both combatants. James staggered S'ym back towards the portal with a few blows.
"I used to know people like you, buddy, getting your kicks beating on people who were smaller than you." James said, "My brother taught me to always stand up against punks like you."
"You don't who you're messing with! S'ym is the destroyer! Families quake before S'ym!" the demon yelled out, before using hit tail to give James a cheap shot, sending the boy over him and closer to the portal. "And when everything else fails, S'ym fights dirty!" he said, giving a low chuckle as he advanced on his fallen prey.
******
The main group was faring much better, as Belasco's Demon Dragons weren't much of a challenge aside from their large numbers. Dani's power inparticular was having an easy time of it, simply creating a giant, angry Belasco, the monster's deepest fear, sending them running back to the portal in terror.
Meanwhile, Roberto was finishing off the last of them, when his powers finally ran out. "Rats! I ran out of juice!" He cursed, his distraction costing him as one of the dragons snuck up on him. "Madonna!" he cried out, before the beast was felled by several bricks. Confused, Roberto looked up, seeing a smiling Doug, bricks in hand.
"Who says I'm no use in battle?" he called down to Roberto.
******
The duel between Illyana and Belasco was turning into a stalemate, whenever it seemed Illyana had the upper-hand, Belasco quickly used a trick to aid himself, and when Illyana was in trouble she quickly used a stepping disc to teleport herself out of danger. Illyana finally managed to find an opening to use the sword, when she feinting left into a portal and reappeared behind Belasco, who caught unaware. She swung the blade as hard as she could, but to her surprise, the blade shattered against Belasco's neck!
"No....." she whispered to herself, her confidence, just like her sword, completely shattered.
"Well, well, it appears the vaunted hero's blade isn't quite the threat I always believed it to be!" Belasco said, amused. "Since I don't think a mere sword handle can aid you now little one!" He then slowly made his way towards her, charging his energies into one final blast meant to annihilate her.
******
Meanwhile, James teetered on the edge of not just the portal's opening, but consciousness as well. He groaned as Sy'm approached.
"Too bad pup, you weren't half bad, but S'ym's just that much better." The creature said, "But you did do a whole lot better than the people S'ym terrorizes in Belasco's name."
"You hurt, kids?" James, gasped out.
"Of course, they're the funnest of all." S'ym said, an ear to ear grin on his face.
"Monster..." James said, through gritted teeth. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw through the portal, due to Belasco's lack on concentration, it had shifted to a small village, it's people, demons themselves, had been watching the fight, they had seen someone stand against the unbeatable S'ym. They were inspired.
"Don't give up Offworlder!"
"You can do it!"
"Fight on!"
they yelled, and through their encouragement, James felt the power to fight on.
"You're open." He said, in a low tone of voice.
"What?" S'ym replied.
"This!" James yelled out, delivering a thunderous blow to the demons gut, then several more to S'ym head. "You like to hurt because they're weak, right?" James said as he continued his assault. "Well, let's see how you like being on the receiving end!" With that he grabbed S'ym and through him into the portal, where he landed with a loud crash right into the middle of the village.
"Strong....too...strong..." S'ym managed to croak out before he realized that he was surrounded by villagers who had lived under oppression for far too long, and that he didn't have the strength to fight back.
Soon, his screams filled the air, as James stoically walked away from the portal.
******
Illyana was frozen in fear, paralyzed, as Belasco closed in. *Piotr, how I wish you were hear to protect me...* she thought, and her mind wandered to her last memories before her brother left: He had taken her up in his arms, as he had done since she was young, he told her that he would always protect her, and even though he would be gone, in spirit, he would always watch over her.....
"Now DIE!" Belasco yelled, as he sent a huge beam of magickal energy at Illyana, who reacted by holding up the shattered sword hilt. "No!" she cried out, and suddenly a blade of light appeared from the sword, disrupting Belasco's attack.
"I-Impossible!" Belasco said, recoiling in shock. " It cannot be!"
You're reign ends now!' Illyana yelled out in Russian, and ran swung the blade, cutting through Belasco, who clutched his stomach and doubled over in pain.
"No.....NO! NOOOOOooooo!" he cried out as he slowly dissipated into nothingness.
Illyana lowered the blade. Finally....it's over.
******
The team reconvened in the girl's hotel room, tired from the battle and lack of sleep. The fact that it was almost sunrise didn't help matters.
"I'm tired, I ache, and my uniform is trashed." Roberto said. "Wake me up next week!"
"Ach, I dinnae believe the sites I've seen tonight!" Rahne exclaimed, "It's almost too much to believe!"
"Well, believe it furtop." Sam said, yawning. "C'mon guys, we better head back to our room, we need the rest, and besides, Ah think we've earned it."
Before anyone could get up though, a knock was heard on the door.
"Not again..." Amara said, "If it's another girl asking us to help look for her brother, I'll torch her!" Illyana looked nervous at that remark.
Doug went and opened the door, to see the girl they had rescued was standing outside.
"I will be quick, but to show you all his gratitude, my father would like to see you at his shop tomorrow afternoon." With that, she handed Doug a card, and then turned and left.
"Mackenzie's Tailor's" Doug read aloud. "Wonder what we'll get? Some expensive suits?"
******
The next day, still tired, but feeling better, the team arrived at the tailor shop, after picking up their van from the repair shop. They were greeted by the man and his daughter.
"Thank you all so much. I know mutants are not accepted very well these days, but you are all ok in my book!" he said. "I realize you must be some sort of hero team, like the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, so, I was wondering if I could create some uniforms for you?"
Everyone looked at each other and shrugged. "Sounds good to us Mr. Mackenzie." Dani said, speaking for the group.
And so, one by one, each of them had a turn at helping the tailor with their own unique uniform. James chose to go simple, red pants with blue trimmings, and red boots. His reasons for not needing a shirt was that it would "Just get torn up in battle anyway."
Amara chose a red and black body suit, the boots and gloves were also black/ "Feminine, yet practical.", she said as she displayed it.
Rahne chose a gold shirt with a blue trim, with blue shorts, and her gloves and boots were gold as well. While Doug chose a more masculine version of the same outfit, colors and everything, except instead of shorts, he had pants.
Roberto chose a blue and red bodysuit, but felt something was missing, so he cut out two eyeholes from a red bandanna. and used it as a mask. "Stylish, just like Zorro!" he added, upon trying it on.
Illyana chose a black bodysuit, with a white tunic over it. She also had a belt, where the hilt of her Soul Sword rested. Her boots and gloves were also white, and to finish the look, she chose a small pink facemask, and a white cloak with a hood.
Dani chose a more complicated outfit. Her pants and gloves were blue, while her shirt was gold, with a red trim. Her boots were also red, and to finish things, she wore a red bandanna to keep her hair out of her eyes.
Finally, Sam had blue pants with a gold trim, and brown boots and gloves. He also had a white shirt, which was worn under a blue jacket, which also had gold trimming, that he wore zipped up.
"You all look very nice. And don't worry, the uniforms are free of charge." The tailor said, upon seeing them all together in uniform. "But I never got your names, and where will you go to next?"
"Well, sir, we'd rather not use our real names, but we have codenames we use in battle." Sam said. "Cannonball."
"Wolfsbane."
"Sunspot."
"Magma."
"Warpath."
"Cypher."
"Mirage."
Illyana was the last to answer, but she finally added, "Magik."
"and as for where we're going sir, we're going where people need our help." Sam said, "The man who taught most of us had a dream, peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants, and it was a good dream, but sometimes, he didn't act quickly enough to get the job done, and that's what we're doing, because in this day and age, if we don't do it, who will?"
End of Seventh Chapter.
Authors Notes: Sorry for the delay on this one, everyone. Blame it on school and a bad case of writer's block. As for the story, well I sort of reworked and evolution-ized Illyana's origin (not to mention Limbo and it's inhabitants), though those familiar with comic Magik, I will still have her used a few limbo demons for use in battle like she used to! Also, this will be the team's stable roster, 4 boys and 4 girls. Sorry, no plans for Karma or a non-computer program Warlock for now. The team's costumes are pretty much entirely comic based, Sam's, Roberto's, and James's are all based off of the uniforms they wore in X-Force, from issues #19-43. Dani's is based off of the costume she wore in X-Force #43, as is Magma's costume, which is a reworked outfit that the character called Locus wore in the same issue. As for Illyana, her outfit is based from her New Mutants "graduation" uniform, as seen in Uncanny X-men annual #10. Rahne's is the reworked outfit she wore in during her stay as a member of both X-Factor and Excalibur, while Doug's is just a recolored version of his New Mutants uniform from the comics.
Looking to the future, next chapter will be one big fight scene, really (more on that later though.), while coming up we have a two-parter on Muir Island, involving the mysterious mutant called Legion! And after that, it's the return of the Hellions!
Next Chapter: Guest stars galore! After seeing the (biased) news footage of what happened at the Towering Inferno festival, Professor X sends the X-men to go get the New Mutants and bring them back home, but our heroes aren't going to give up their independence without a fight! Don't miss the "Fallout!"
By: Joey
Disclaimer: Sorry, I don't own these characters, Marvel Comics and I believe KidsWB! (or at least they do for the Evo version) does, and I'm only using the characters for entertainment only, no harm meant.
will be used for language translations in this chapter.
Chapter 7
"Do you believe in Magik?"
Previously: We got to see a little more insight into the pasts, and the motivations of each of the Hellions, and their mysterious teacher, Emma Frost.
******
It had been a few days after the Towering Inferno festival, and the team was back on the road. Their plan was to try and make some sort of permanent home on the West coast, where they could all go to school and still be as proactive as they could be. Currently the team was in Denver, Colorado so that the van they were traveling in could be serviced. Initially, James, who had grown to be the team's driver and mechanic had been apprehensive to have the van professionally checked on, since he had grown very fond of it, but after a lot of discussion (and Roberto having to use his solar enchanced strength to drag him away from his beloved van) the van was taken to an auto shop.
So now, the entire group was at a nearby diner, ready to have some food and plan on where to go next.
"Hi, my name is Ben Reilly, I'll be your waiter. What can I get you all?" said the waiter, who looked to be about the James's age, with bleached blonde hair, and a friendly smile.
"Hamburger and a 7up." Sam said, looking up from his menu.
"I'll have a coke and a B.L.T" James said.
"I'll just have a salad." Amara said, not bothering to look at the menu.
"Just some water will be fine." Rahne said.
"I'll have the turkey sandwich." Doug said, handing his menu over to the waiter.
"You have a steak, right?" Roberto asked, when Ben nodded his head, he replied, "Excellent. I'll have that, medium rare."
"I'll have a hamburger too." Dani said.
With that, Ben left to go place their orders, and the team turned back to one another to discuss plans.
"So, where do y'all think we should go? We've been on the road a few months now, heading westward." Sam said. "But we gotta have some sort of destination other than the West coast."
"How about California?" Robert said, "Nice weather, friendly people, and probably in need of some mutant hero assistance."
"Awe, you're probably hoping to scope out some babes in skimpy bikini's man." James said, grinning.
"An added perk." Roberto said, leaning back.
"Well, that may be nice, but there is some pretty high land cost there too." Doug chimed in. "I did some research on home costs in local states." He explained.
Rahne sighed. "There goes that idea. Some place warm would have been nice too." She said.
"Hey, hey, let's not lose hope here. I can just pay for the thing." Roberto said casually.
"What?! How?" Dani said, shocked. "It's a house for crying out loud!"
Roberto shrugged. "My folks are millionaires, so I have a small fortune in my bank account," he said, still very casual, despite everyone else's exasperated looks. "What? Didn't I tell you guys?"
"NO!" the others said in unison. "Sorry. Sheesh." Roberto said sheepishly. "If it makes you feel any better I'll pay for the meal..."
******
About an hour later, everyone had finished their meals, and left the diner, so they headed back to the auto shop. When they arrived James immediately went to check on the van.
"So, what's the damage?" he asked as he walked up to the mechanic.
"Well, the carburetor isn't shot, Mr. Proudstar, but it has seen better days, so in my opinion, it'd be safer if you got it replaced now, and not have the hassle of doing it later." the mechanic said, pointing the auto part to illustrate his point.
James nodded his head in agreement. "Right, sounds like a good idea," he said. "So how long will it take to put the part in?"
The mechanic sighed. "Well, that's the bad news son, you see we're out of carbs at the moment, and if we order it now, we'll get it a new one by tomorrow" he then gave a shrug, "Sorry son, hope you and your friends weren't in a hurry."
James crossed his arms and sighed. "Well, not anymore we're not."
******
"So, what's the verdict Jimmy? The van ready?" Dani asked as James walked out of the garage.
"Sorry to tell you guys but we're getting a part replaced, so we're stuck here for another day." He replied as he walked up the assembled group.
Sam snapped his fingers. "Dang. Ah was hoping to get back on the road as fast as we could," he said. "Looks like that idea's been shot down."
"Aye." Rahne said, nodding her head. "But what will we do paying for the part? I'm not exactly a mechanic, but it must be expensive."
The others turned to Roberto. "Ok, ok, I'll pay for it," he said, and pulled out his wallet, grumbling to himself. "Sheesh. You don't tell your friends your a millionaire and they hold it to you forever."
******
Once the new carburetor was prepaid for, the team walked to a nearby motel, where Roberto "volunteered" to pay for two separate rooms, one for the boys, and one for the girls. A few hours later, the boy's were awakened by a knocking on the door.
"Oh, man. What is with the noise! Roberto, did you order room service or something?" James asked groggily, shooting his friend with a nasty look.
"No way amigo! Even I wouldn't do something that stupid!" Roberto said, wrapping a pillow over his head in a futile attempt to try and damper the noise.
"Ah don't care, Roberto, just someone answer the dang door!" Sam yelled, he had been having a great dream, and wasn't very happy with it being so rudely interrupted.
Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Doug got out of the bed and sleepily walked over to the door. "Hello?" he asked, and was soon surprised to see a blonde haired girl standing outside the door. "Um, what can I do for you?" he asked, not really sure what to say.
"Excuse me.....I am....looking for Piotr, my brother. He.....has been gone a long time...My English isn't very good....have you seen him?" the girl asked in broken English with a Russian accent. She held up a photo of a young man who looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. "This is him."
Doug shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anyone like that." He said. Quickly stepping aside, he said, "Please, come in, it's cold out."
The girl gave a quick nod of thanks and stepped inside. Doug quickly pulled out a chair for her to sit in, which she gratefully excepted.
"What's goin' on Doug?" Sam said sleepily, "Who's she?"
"Well, you see she's looking for her brother, and I thought she shouldn't stay out in the cold..." Doug replied, a little sheepish.
"Right, right." Sam said, "Well maybe y'all should take her to the girls room, huh?"
"I must find Piotr!" the girl said, pleadingly. "I followed the light to find him!"
"Light? What light?" Sam said, a little confused.
"I wanted to find him so badly.... I miss him greatly...and a few days ago...a light came to my aid, at my beck and call." She said.
"Doug, do you think she's a mutant?" Sam asked
"Maybe.....miss? Is it all right if we speak in Russian?" Doug asked, like this
Why, yes. Thank you. the girl said. But how is it you speak my language?
It's sort of a gift, I'm a mutant. Doug replied, smiling
Really? I believe that is why Piotr left! Although he was a gifted artist, one day he found that he could become steel, and left for America to seek his fortune. The girl replied. Then her eyes widened. Oh! Excuse my rudeness! My name is Illyana Rasputin.
It's nice to meet you Illyana. My name is Doug Ramsey. Doug said But you said something about a light, right? What do you mean by that?
Well, one day, I was wishing with all my heart to see Piotr again, and then suddenly, right before me, was a circle of light. she explained, And so I stepped onto it, and then the next thing I know I'm in this wasteland...but right near me is another circle of light, and when I stepped into that one, I found myself in America.
Well, it sounds like you might be a mutant too. Doug said, hoping she'd take the news well.
Really? How wonderful! I can find Piotr easier now, can't I? she replied, surprisingly happy.
Well, I guess, you can definitely get to him quicker if you can teleport, but you'd have to find him first. Doug replied.
Before Illyana could reply however, there was a loud crash outside, causing the other boys to groggily get out of their beds.
"Now what's going ?!" James cried out.
Doug quickly checked the window, and turned back towards the others. "Well, guys, uh....it appears dinosaurs are attacking."
******
They knew their mission. They were to find and retrieve the intruder. They had failed in their last attempt, when a different intruder had invaded their master's realm, but this time, they're prey would not elude them. Roars and screams rang across the night.
******
It didn't take very long for the team to assemble together and try and assess the situation.
"Unbelievable. Dinosaurs." Amara said, at a loss for words.
Roberto turned to Sam and Dani, and asked, "Well you two are our co- leaders, what should we do?'
"Well, Ah figure we should go and wrangle up some dinos, don't y'all think Dani?" Sam asked.
Dani nodded her head. "Sounds good to me, better not split up though, we'll just take them down in one large group."
"Uh, guys, sorry to interrupt, but Illyana thinks they followed her." Doug said, approaching the group.
"What do ye mean Dougie?" Rahne asked, concerned.
"Well, Illyana saw these things wandering around the area where she first teleported to, so she thinks they followed her when she came here." he replied.
"Say, come to think of it, remember that incident at the school dance a year or so ago?" Roberto said, "You know, when we first came to Xavier's? Weren't some dinos involved with that too, after they followed Kurt from one of his teleports?"
Sam snapped his fingers. "You're right! They got to be connected!" he said, "So we gotta get'em back to their realm and lock the door on them, right?" The others nodded in agreement. "Let's do it!" he said, and they ran to fight the overgrown lizards.
The team fought hard, their job made easier once they realized that the dinosaurs seemed to not be able to take attacks very well.
"Not half bad for a bunch of kids in their pajamas huh?" Roberto called out, punching one of the lizards in the head with his solar-powered strength. "Good thing these guys go down so easily, I'm not sure how long I can last without sunlight!"
Before anyone could respond however, a scream rang out nearby. The dinos were dragging a young blonde girl near a dimension tear, created from forcing their way through Illyana's teleportation portal.
"My daughter! Help! Anyone!" a nearby man cried out, and the team ran to his aid as fast as they could, but to no avail, the girl had been dragged through the portal which immediately closed.
"Oh man!" James said, "We're too late!"
"I'm sorry sir," Amara said, kneeling down to help the man get up. "We just couldn't get there in time."
"My daughter...." the man groaned, on the verge of tears, "My little Tiffany..."
"Hey, did you notice that the girl looked a bit like Illyana?" Doug observed, "Something tells me that they grabbed his daughter, mistaking her for Illyana."
"Do you...think so?" Illyana said, struggling with her English. "I-I...am sorry...."
"It's alright,we'll get her back." Dani said, reassuringly. "Do you think you can create another portal?" she asked the Russian girl.
"I...believe I can....." she replied, wiping away some tears.
Sam nodded his head. "Good. Everybody, get ready, we're gonna head out and get that girl back!"
The others nodded their head, and ran to go get changed. All except Doug, whom Sam had held back.
"Look, Doug...Ah'm not sure how to really put this, but we need you to stay behind." He said, trying to break the news as easy as he could.
"What?! Why?" Doug said, shocked.
"Well, it's your powers, y'all would just be too much of a liability, and none of us want to see you hurt, is all." Sam said.
"....Fine....I understand." Doug replied, depression evident in his voice.
"Thanks for understanding. We're gonna need ya to be our communication's man, you'll be our lifeline to outside, ok?" Sam said
"Right...gotcha."
******
A few minutes later, the team reassembled. Sam, Rahne, Roberto and Amara had changed into their old recruit uniforms, while lacking anything else to wear, James, Dani, and Doug were in street clothes, while Illyana was still wearing the winter clothing that she had been wearing when they met her.
"Ok, Illyana, you're up." Dani said, "You can do it." She added, hoping to reassure the nervous girl.
Illyana nodded, and then concentrated, soon a disc of light appeared.
"Please...step on..." Illyana said, motioning the others forward, and stepping into the light. The others followed, immersing themselves in the light.
"Good luck everybody!" Doug yelled out. *And I wish I was going out there with you.* he added to himself.
Soon the group slid down into the light, and then they were gone.
******
After Illyana's teleport had finished, the team found themselves in what looked like a demonic wasteland, lava flowed in the rivers, there was no sign of plant life, and the air was dank, reeking with the stench of brimstone. Doug's voice then cracked over Sam's comspeaker.
"Everyone ok you guys? I'm getting traces of carbon dioxide from sensors of your combelts, even though there's a generous supply of oxygen, I wouldn't stay any longer than you need to."
"No problems so far Doug, and you're coming in loud and clear." Sam said, "We'll keep you informed ok?" he turned to Rahne, "Think you can sniff out of those uglies furtop?"
Rahne nodded, "Aye, I'll do my best Sam." She said, and the shifted into her wolf form, sniffing the ground. Once she found the scent she gave a low bark, indicating for the others to follow her.
The team ran, until Rahne came to a stop. "What's up Rahne?" Roberto asked. "You lose the scent?"
A low growl was her reply, while James perked up. "I don't think we're alone guys," he said, "I got enchanced senses myself, and I've been having the uneasy feeling that we've been followed.
Doug voice cracked aloud over the comspeaker. "Guys watch out! Something coming!", but his warning came to late, as suddenly a giant demon jumped down behind them from the high shadows, knocking James out in a single blow!
The demon was large, easily dwarfing the Beast at full height, his purple hide extremely muscular. "Sy'm always likes it when intruders come into Lord Belasco's realm! Because Sy'm gets the fun of kicking their hides back to where they came from!" he said, giving a low chuckle, while cracking his stone sized knuckles.
"What makes you think we're gonna let you?!" Roberto said as he charged up into his sunspot form. "Time to kiss the pavement ugly!" with that he quickly ran at the giant demo.
"Roberto, NO!" Sam yelled but it was too late, Roberto tried to attack the demon, but was swatted away easily. He flew into a nearby rock formation, with a sickening crash, and fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Something tells me that solo fighting isn't going to get us anywhere." Amara said, "So we need to hit all at once and hard!" she quickly powered up, and summoned a lava flow, aiming it at the demon called S'ym, who, despite his size, quickly dodged out of the way, grabbing Dani tossing her straight into Amara, the collision taking the two girls out of the fight.
Sam quickly flew into Sy'm, his blast shield protecting him from the impact, and staggering the beast, and Rahne quickly followed up on the attack. She had shifted into her werewolf form and tore into Sy'm clawing and biting at his throat. The demon fought her off, and knocked her out with a blow to the skull.
Sam looked towards Illyana for help, but the girls seemed scared out of her mind. *Looks like Ah'm the only one left then." Sam thought to himself. *and mah best only staggers this guy! But what else can Ah do?* He blasted off once more, and slammed straight into Sy'm's gut, pushing his powers as much as he could, driving the demon into a nearby rock wall, until he had to stop from sheer exhaustion. "Outta...gas..." he gasped out as fell to the floor.
"Too bad. S'ym thought you were fun." The demon said mockingly, before kicking him into the wall. He then turned his attention to Illyana. "Now then, be a nice girl and don't resists S'ym, ok?" he said as he approached her. Illyana screamed as his hand came nearer....
******
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Doug recoiled in pain. The com-link had suddenly, and loudly, turned to static. He quickly tore off the headset that he was using, and uttered a curse in Swahili, which he had picked up from using his powers while watching an international tv station.
"SelffriendDoug, aside from losing radio contact with other selffriends, self cannot get a radar fix on selffriends." Warlock reported.
"Great. That means they're wandering blind." Doug said. " I have a bad feeling about this."
******
Illyana was the last one to awake. She found herself, with the others, in what resembled a Medieval King's court. Everyone was shackled up, bound by chains, that neither James or nor a powered up Sunspot were able to break, Illyana observed. Nearby was the young girl that had been abducted. The person on the throne was a being who actually looked the part of the devil himself, he was humanoid in appearance, but the horns atop his head, as well as the red hue of his skin were evidence of his otherworldly nature, and at his right side, was the large demon, S'ym, that had ambushed them. red demon stood up and spoke.
"Good to see that you all have awoken." He said, " I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Belasco. I am a demon sorcerer, and lord of this realm, known as Limbo." For a demon, he had a very eloquent voice, and his English was excellent. "It is because of my magicks that I speak you language, as you are no doubt wondering. Where was I? Oh yes, Limbo is my realm, as an odd quirk of fate, this realm is the nexus for teleporters, a way station of you will. For the most part, those who teleport, be it by magickal means or by mutant powers, are usually in and out of here in less than a second, however there are the odd times when a person overstays there welcome, a while ago, a blue furred mutant human and a man with claws were two such visitors. My underlings, the demon dragons, were sent to exterminate them, however they met very heavy resistance, and failed. Although curious, I decided to ignore it, as neither person ever had such a long trip here ever again. Until now. You see my dear girl," he said, pointing at Illyana, " you have a most interesting power. Instead of usually teleporting here in and out so fast we'd barely even notice you, you actually use your "stepping discs" to actually come here! and that you see, is unacceptable for me."
"And why is that?" Dani said, "She means you no harm!"
Belasco walked up to her. "Oh, but she is of great harm, you see, in our ancient lore, it is foretold that a hero shall appear, draw out the mystical Soul Sword, and liberate the realm from a tyrant's grasp. MY grasp, and quite frankly, we just can't have that at all."
"What does that to do with the poor girl? She dinnae have any sword with her!" Rahne cried out, all this talk of demons clashing with her strict catholic upbringing.
"Ah, but you see, as part of the prophecy, the hero is supposed to be an off-worlder, capable of visiting the realm for prolonged visits, precisely as she can!"
"Well, what about the other girl?!" James yelled out, " She didn't have anything to do with this!"
"A minor mistake made by my demon dragons." He said, and then, with a wave of his hand, the restraints holding Illyana in place fell off of her, he then pointed to a sword that was impaled to the floor. "Now then, let's get down to business. Please, go ahead young one, attempt to pull the sword out."
Illyana tentatively stood up and moved towards the sword. "Do not worry my dear, if you do not pull out the sword you and the others may leave." Belasco said, *They will leave, just not leaving alive, and should you fail, I shall just corrupt you into my own demon servant!* he added to himself.
"Boss, you sure this is ok? S'ym has a bad feeling about this." S'ym whispered to Belasco, concern in his voice.
"Do not worry simpleton, I have everything in control." Belasco whispered back.
Once she reached the blade, Illyana hesitantly grabbed a hold of the blade, and with all of her strength, she pulled, and to her surprise she actually pulled the blade out! "Bohze Moi!" she whispered to herself, her eyes wide with wonder, and fear. Suddenly, a light burst forth from the blade, surrounding the New Mutants, the shackles falling off harmlessly. "Did...I...do that?" Illyana whispered.
"Well, my dear, it seems you passed the test." Belasco said, "However, in this case, I am sorry to say that you've failed!" he yelled, mystical energy forming in his hands. Panicked, Illyana created a stepping disc, around herself and her new found friends, teleporting themselves back to Earth.
******
"Alarm! Energy surge!" Warlock cried out, before the entire team plus the abducted girl suddenly appeared in the parking lot of the hotel.
"Guys! What happened?! Why does Illyana have a sword?" Doug yelled, soon however another hole appeared, and out stepped Belasco and S'ym, a horde of demon dragons not far behind. "And who the heck are they?!"
"Long story buddy!" Sam said, "Just take the girl and keep her safe ok, we'll handle these bozos!"
Doug nodded and took the girls hand, and they both quickly ran back up the hotel room, which seemed to Doug to be the safest place to be.
James stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "Ok, ugly. You owe me a rematch for that bumrush you pulled earlier." He said to S'ym, grimly.
"Sy'm will be glad to accommodate you, weakling!" the demon growled out.
"Well, ok then, we'll handle the dragons." Dani said, "Since James wants to be the testosterone filled man."
"Sigh...men," Amara said, "and here I thought Roberto was the only one who was bullheaded."
"Yeah, that's right I'm the only one who-hey!" Roberto said, indignitly.
"Cut the chatter people, we got a job to do." Sam. He turned to Illyana, "You gonna be ok against Belasco?"
Illyana nodded. "I...will try." She said, leveling the sword. towards Belasco. Prepare yourself demon! she cried out in Russian.
"In the words of your world's youth, Just bring it!" Belasco said, motioning her forward.
******
The fight between James and S'ym was brutal, a slugfest in the simplest form of the word. Both combatants. James staggered S'ym back towards the portal with a few blows.
"I used to know people like you, buddy, getting your kicks beating on people who were smaller than you." James said, "My brother taught me to always stand up against punks like you."
"You don't who you're messing with! S'ym is the destroyer! Families quake before S'ym!" the demon yelled out, before using hit tail to give James a cheap shot, sending the boy over him and closer to the portal. "And when everything else fails, S'ym fights dirty!" he said, giving a low chuckle as he advanced on his fallen prey.
******
The main group was faring much better, as Belasco's Demon Dragons weren't much of a challenge aside from their large numbers. Dani's power inparticular was having an easy time of it, simply creating a giant, angry Belasco, the monster's deepest fear, sending them running back to the portal in terror.
Meanwhile, Roberto was finishing off the last of them, when his powers finally ran out. "Rats! I ran out of juice!" He cursed, his distraction costing him as one of the dragons snuck up on him. "Madonna!" he cried out, before the beast was felled by several bricks. Confused, Roberto looked up, seeing a smiling Doug, bricks in hand.
"Who says I'm no use in battle?" he called down to Roberto.
******
The duel between Illyana and Belasco was turning into a stalemate, whenever it seemed Illyana had the upper-hand, Belasco quickly used a trick to aid himself, and when Illyana was in trouble she quickly used a stepping disc to teleport herself out of danger. Illyana finally managed to find an opening to use the sword, when she feinting left into a portal and reappeared behind Belasco, who caught unaware. She swung the blade as hard as she could, but to her surprise, the blade shattered against Belasco's neck!
"No....." she whispered to herself, her confidence, just like her sword, completely shattered.
"Well, well, it appears the vaunted hero's blade isn't quite the threat I always believed it to be!" Belasco said, amused. "Since I don't think a mere sword handle can aid you now little one!" He then slowly made his way towards her, charging his energies into one final blast meant to annihilate her.
******
Meanwhile, James teetered on the edge of not just the portal's opening, but consciousness as well. He groaned as Sy'm approached.
"Too bad pup, you weren't half bad, but S'ym's just that much better." The creature said, "But you did do a whole lot better than the people S'ym terrorizes in Belasco's name."
"You hurt, kids?" James, gasped out.
"Of course, they're the funnest of all." S'ym said, an ear to ear grin on his face.
"Monster..." James said, through gritted teeth. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw through the portal, due to Belasco's lack on concentration, it had shifted to a small village, it's people, demons themselves, had been watching the fight, they had seen someone stand against the unbeatable S'ym. They were inspired.
"Don't give up Offworlder!"
"You can do it!"
"Fight on!"
they yelled, and through their encouragement, James felt the power to fight on.
"You're open." He said, in a low tone of voice.
"What?" S'ym replied.
"This!" James yelled out, delivering a thunderous blow to the demons gut, then several more to S'ym head. "You like to hurt because they're weak, right?" James said as he continued his assault. "Well, let's see how you like being on the receiving end!" With that he grabbed S'ym and through him into the portal, where he landed with a loud crash right into the middle of the village.
"Strong....too...strong..." S'ym managed to croak out before he realized that he was surrounded by villagers who had lived under oppression for far too long, and that he didn't have the strength to fight back.
Soon, his screams filled the air, as James stoically walked away from the portal.
******
Illyana was frozen in fear, paralyzed, as Belasco closed in. *Piotr, how I wish you were hear to protect me...* she thought, and her mind wandered to her last memories before her brother left: He had taken her up in his arms, as he had done since she was young, he told her that he would always protect her, and even though he would be gone, in spirit, he would always watch over her.....
"Now DIE!" Belasco yelled, as he sent a huge beam of magickal energy at Illyana, who reacted by holding up the shattered sword hilt. "No!" she cried out, and suddenly a blade of light appeared from the sword, disrupting Belasco's attack.
"I-Impossible!" Belasco said, recoiling in shock. " It cannot be!"
You're reign ends now!' Illyana yelled out in Russian, and ran swung the blade, cutting through Belasco, who clutched his stomach and doubled over in pain.
"No.....NO! NOOOOOooooo!" he cried out as he slowly dissipated into nothingness.
Illyana lowered the blade. Finally....it's over.
******
The team reconvened in the girl's hotel room, tired from the battle and lack of sleep. The fact that it was almost sunrise didn't help matters.
"I'm tired, I ache, and my uniform is trashed." Roberto said. "Wake me up next week!"
"Ach, I dinnae believe the sites I've seen tonight!" Rahne exclaimed, "It's almost too much to believe!"
"Well, believe it furtop." Sam said, yawning. "C'mon guys, we better head back to our room, we need the rest, and besides, Ah think we've earned it."
Before anyone could get up though, a knock was heard on the door.
"Not again..." Amara said, "If it's another girl asking us to help look for her brother, I'll torch her!" Illyana looked nervous at that remark.
Doug went and opened the door, to see the girl they had rescued was standing outside.
"I will be quick, but to show you all his gratitude, my father would like to see you at his shop tomorrow afternoon." With that, she handed Doug a card, and then turned and left.
"Mackenzie's Tailor's" Doug read aloud. "Wonder what we'll get? Some expensive suits?"
******
The next day, still tired, but feeling better, the team arrived at the tailor shop, after picking up their van from the repair shop. They were greeted by the man and his daughter.
"Thank you all so much. I know mutants are not accepted very well these days, but you are all ok in my book!" he said. "I realize you must be some sort of hero team, like the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, so, I was wondering if I could create some uniforms for you?"
Everyone looked at each other and shrugged. "Sounds good to us Mr. Mackenzie." Dani said, speaking for the group.
And so, one by one, each of them had a turn at helping the tailor with their own unique uniform. James chose to go simple, red pants with blue trimmings, and red boots. His reasons for not needing a shirt was that it would "Just get torn up in battle anyway."
Amara chose a red and black body suit, the boots and gloves were also black/ "Feminine, yet practical.", she said as she displayed it.
Rahne chose a gold shirt with a blue trim, with blue shorts, and her gloves and boots were gold as well. While Doug chose a more masculine version of the same outfit, colors and everything, except instead of shorts, he had pants.
Roberto chose a blue and red bodysuit, but felt something was missing, so he cut out two eyeholes from a red bandanna. and used it as a mask. "Stylish, just like Zorro!" he added, upon trying it on.
Illyana chose a black bodysuit, with a white tunic over it. She also had a belt, where the hilt of her Soul Sword rested. Her boots and gloves were also white, and to finish the look, she chose a small pink facemask, and a white cloak with a hood.
Dani chose a more complicated outfit. Her pants and gloves were blue, while her shirt was gold, with a red trim. Her boots were also red, and to finish things, she wore a red bandanna to keep her hair out of her eyes.
Finally, Sam had blue pants with a gold trim, and brown boots and gloves. He also had a white shirt, which was worn under a blue jacket, which also had gold trimming, that he wore zipped up.
"You all look very nice. And don't worry, the uniforms are free of charge." The tailor said, upon seeing them all together in uniform. "But I never got your names, and where will you go to next?"
"Well, sir, we'd rather not use our real names, but we have codenames we use in battle." Sam said. "Cannonball."
"Wolfsbane."
"Sunspot."
"Magma."
"Warpath."
"Cypher."
"Mirage."
Illyana was the last to answer, but she finally added, "Magik."
"and as for where we're going sir, we're going where people need our help." Sam said, "The man who taught most of us had a dream, peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants, and it was a good dream, but sometimes, he didn't act quickly enough to get the job done, and that's what we're doing, because in this day and age, if we don't do it, who will?"
End of Seventh Chapter.
Authors Notes: Sorry for the delay on this one, everyone. Blame it on school and a bad case of writer's block. As for the story, well I sort of reworked and evolution-ized Illyana's origin (not to mention Limbo and it's inhabitants), though those familiar with comic Magik, I will still have her used a few limbo demons for use in battle like she used to! Also, this will be the team's stable roster, 4 boys and 4 girls. Sorry, no plans for Karma or a non-computer program Warlock for now. The team's costumes are pretty much entirely comic based, Sam's, Roberto's, and James's are all based off of the uniforms they wore in X-Force, from issues #19-43. Dani's is based off of the costume she wore in X-Force #43, as is Magma's costume, which is a reworked outfit that the character called Locus wore in the same issue. As for Illyana, her outfit is based from her New Mutants "graduation" uniform, as seen in Uncanny X-men annual #10. Rahne's is the reworked outfit she wore in during her stay as a member of both X-Factor and Excalibur, while Doug's is just a recolored version of his New Mutants uniform from the comics.
Looking to the future, next chapter will be one big fight scene, really (more on that later though.), while coming up we have a two-parter on Muir Island, involving the mysterious mutant called Legion! And after that, it's the return of the Hellions!
Next Chapter: Guest stars galore! After seeing the (biased) news footage of what happened at the Towering Inferno festival, Professor X sends the X-men to go get the New Mutants and bring them back home, but our heroes aren't going to give up their independence without a fight! Don't miss the "Fallout!"
