A sheet of water slapped down and hissed on the hot stone, followed by Illyana and Valeria and one of the dark figures.

"Three escaped," Valeria said, her legs shaky. "Not bad at all. That was a big 'port," she managed, and she gracelessly slid down to sit on the ground.

Valeria saw a pile of demons, and a waving arm and twitching foot sticking out. "The other one?" she asked, nodding.

"Yeah," Illyana said. "Standing orders that if anyone comes through without me they are to be 'restrained' until further notice," she said. She looked over at the remaining assailant. He was crouched, ready for combat, deeply unsettled.

The sky was a dark sheet of eternally roiling flame, the ground was hot stone, dark and blasted, and pools of lava roiled and belched in the darkness of the steaming landscape. A dim miasma hung in the air, and thin smoke curled and twisted free of rents in the earth. Surrounding the four who came from the stream was a ring of demons, their knobby hides and twisted claws and ferocious leers considerably more unsettling than the scenery.

"Welcome to my world, ninja twerps," Illyana said as her feet twisted back into cloven hooves, her shins and calves slimming further and sprouting fetlocks. She rolled easily to her feet, replenished by this place. "Boy did you pick the wrong gals to mug."

"Ninja?" Valeria asked, her face troubled.

"See, you need to watch more movies," Illyana sighed. "Sic 'im, boys."

The remaining standing ninja yelped as demons uncoiled at him from all directions. He leaped and spun, blades slashing. Valeria and Illyana ignored the combat; it was foregone that he would lose. Both of them knew from unpleasant experience.

Illyana formed a claw with her fingers, and the stone rippled up and around the captive ninja. The demons backed off; one of them licked at his wounds.

"Heya, bub," Illyana said, squatting in front of the ninja. "Mind telling me what's the big idea here?"

His eyes were cold as she ripped his face mask off. His mouth was shut in a thin line. She slowly smiled.

"I hope you don't say much," she says, "because I have ways of getting information out of you that you won't like nearly as much as I will."

"Illyana," Valeria said softly, her eyes stern. "Please."

"You're right," she sighed. "Get him boys," she called to her demons. "When you've got him pinned, get Sym to rock 'em up until I get back. Okay?"

"Yeah boss," came a grunt from one of the demons, and scattered "Yes Queen" and "Will do" echoed back too. The ninja cried out as one of the demons bit his calf. Illyana was smiling as she teleported herself and Valeria home.

"You enjoy that far too much," Valeria said. "It is one thing to have darkness within you. All of us do, to one degree or another. But you must not ever revel in it," she continued. "If you do, then it will claim you. If that happens, then Strange has made a mistake and I urged him to make it. I believe you are better than that," she said earnestly, putting her hand on Illyana's shoulder. "Please. For all our sakes."

Illyana met her eyes, and for a moment there was uncertainty.

"Not to interrupt," came a voice from the doorway to the bedroom. Both women spun to see someone in their apartment.

The newcomer was trim, toned, with smooth Asian features and sleek black hair. She was dressed in a business pant suit, a purple deep enough to pass for black. Her mouth smiled, but her eyes were serious.

"Who are you?" Valeria asked as she and Illyana shifted, ready to fight. Valeria faced the newcomer, Illyana looked the other direction.

"As you may have guessed, I am a ninja," she said, holding her hands out, palms facing Valeria. "I mean you no harm. Hear me out."

"You have an odd way of meaning us no harm," Valeria said, anger creeping into her voice.

"All ninja do not have the same allegiance, any more than all sorcerers do," the woman said pointedly. "Call me Lock. I am here to help you."

"At least hear her out," Illyana said.

"Very well. Say your piece. Make it both quick and convincing," Valeria said, her eyebrows lowering.

"The ninja who attacked you are members of a secret clan known as the Hand," Lock said. "They trained me, and I abandoned their ways and their teaching. They have been shadowing you for days, and I have been shadowing them. They have an interest in you two."

"What interest is that?" Valeria asked.

"I don't know," Lock said simply. "Whatever it is, it's big. I have gathered that the Jonin, their leader, has come here from Japan for some purpose that involves the two of you." She paused. "That is not common. Whatever he wants you for, it's critical to him."

"Sounds a lot like 'good ninja, bad ninja' to me," Illyana said.

"I have no reason to hide my motive from you," Lock shrugged. "I was trained with the understanding that I would serve the interests of the Hand. I have managed to evade their control, and I have no intention of serving them. I must be silenced, so I do not teach others what I know. By my very existence and knowledge I am a serious threat to them. My intention is to reach and kill the Jonin, the one who rules their clan. He is very old and very powerful. As long as he is alive it is only a matter of months before I am caught by his agents. He is invulnerable in Japan. Here, though," she said with a gesture, "I might be able to get to him."

"You are an assassin," Valeria said with distaste.

"For what it's worth, I'm not for hire," she said. "It really doesn't matter what you think of me. Either you can profit from my skills and knowledge or you can serve as bait. Either way you serve my purposes. Say the word and we never met." Her eyes were hard. For a long moment, she and Valeria looked into each other's eyes, gauging resolve. Valeria nodded.

"Very well. What do you suggest we do?"

"Tell me about that light under the bridge," Lock said.

"I can teleport people," Illyana said. "I got two prisoners."

"Really," Lock said, a new respect in her eyes. "I would like very much to speak with them."

Illyana grinned. "Here we go," she said.

The disk slid up around them, and Valeria was alone. She walked to the window and looked down over the street, watching the passersby, feeling the traces of paranoia deepen within her. She absently rubbed her arm, feeling a slight chill. Maybe it was time to meditate.

xXx

Strange drafted down through the leafy canopy of the shifting forest. He settled to his feet and adjusted his coat. A faint giggle rippled through the surrounding greenery.

"Nyat tomaris Schaelin," Strange said, with a short bow. "My greetings to your court."

"Whassamatta?" squeaked a little pixie, dancing out on goat legs, almost tall enough to rest her chin on the top of Strange's foot. "Earth spirits get too boring?"

"Not at all," Strange said, kneeling. "But your Queen sees many things, knows many things, and I am searching for her wisdom. Can you tell her?"

"She knows," came a voice like cool mist from the shadows of a tree. Strange slowly stood, not turning.

"I have come because something is trying to enslave Prime," Strange said softly. "Not trying to break in; no, seeking a more subtle passage, and so far my every search for the invader has been countered."

"It has been long since I looked upon you, mortal wizard," the voice said. "Face me."

Strange turned and faced the tall willowy shadow, made of breeze and stillness. "You can speak for the Queen, I know. She expected I would come?"

The shade nodded. "She can not help you, mortal. The force that threatens your world is beyond her powers to counter. It could destroy this realm, corrupting our magics against us until we were thinner than air."

For a moment Strange was silent. "But she told you who might be able to tell me more."

"Of course," the shade nodded. "Kutori, Sage of Ether. You know the way to find him?"

"He does not grant audience lightly," Strange said.

"The Queen has vouched for you. He will see you," the shade said.

"I am most grateful," Strange said with a bow.

"See that you remember that, mortal, if we ever have need of you," the fey creature said. Then Strange slipped sideways out of their dimension, sailing into the ether between worlds.

xXx

To her credit, Lock only seemed stunned for a few seconds. "Where are we?" she asked, breathless in the sudden heat.

"This is an underspace, a dimension outside what you're used to. I call it Limbo," she said. "There are deeper places," she added with a shrug.

"Indeed," murmured Lock, her eyes still wide. "And where are the prisoners?"

Illyana gestured toward two columns of rock with heads poking out the top.

"Oh," Lock said. She walked over to them, smiled, and bowed slightly. She greeted them in Japanese.

"I didn't want to know what you were talking about anyway," Illyana said. She squatted down on her goat legs and watched.

"Where is the Jonin going to stay?" Lock asked in fluent Japanese.

Both of them stared at her, unresponsive.

"I am going to kill him," Lock said. She nodded. "You know who I am. You know I can do what I say. You have two choices. Either you can tell me where he will be and we will keep you snug and safe here until he is dead, or I can have you released right now and find the Jonin on my own." She raised her eyebrows.

Both of them stared at her, unresponsive. She saw fear in the eyes of one. She sighed.

"Either you can talk to me," she continued in Japanese, "or I can leave you to this witch and she can feed you to her demons. I will succeed. You have the chance to save yourselves. Protect the body. Do so you may live, or have a chance to go down fighting. But here?" she gestured. She shook her head and sighed. "My friends, you are dead men. Nothing more than meat. Last chance."

"All I know is that August the eighth will be the day of the Great Ceremony, which the Jonin himself will preside over," one of the ninja blurted in Japanese. "That is all I know! Spare me!"

"Why the eighth?" Lock snapped. "Speak quickly!"

"That will be the hottest night of the year," the ninja replied. "That's all I know!"

"Where are your headquarters now?"

"They move each day until the Jonin arrives! I do not know where he will be!"

"Silence fool!" snarled the other ninja.

"What hell will be worse than this?" gasped the talkative one. "What honor is lost in revealing so little knowledge to one who knows our secrets?"

Lock eyed the two for a long moment, then turned to Illyana. "Well," she said in English, "It's a start. They need you two for a great ceremony on the eighth."

"Let's see," Illyana said, "today is the fifth."

Lock nodded curtly. "Can you keep them intact until after this is over?"

"Sure," Illyana shrugged.

"Alright then," Lock said. "Send me back."

Lock stepped out of the disk and brushed at her clothes distastefully. "What a stink," she murmured.

Valeria sensed she was not alone. She opened her eyes, then stood in a fluid motion and strolled out into the living room. "Hello," she said. "Welcome back."

"I discovered that they need you on the eighth," Lock said simply. "If you can last the next few days, we should be past the danger point. Hopefully I'll get the Jonin and you two can return to your normal lives." She smiled.

Valeria tried to smile back.

Lock looked around and sighed. "Your place," she said. "It's been carefully picked over by ninja. They have learned everything they can know about you by examining your living space, maybe a bit more. They have ways of seeing." She shook her head. "I wouldn't stay here if I were you. It's vulnerable."

"Tell me more about these ninja," Valeria said with a gesture.

Lock sighed and seated herself gracefully on the couch. "Ninja were in a way a counter to the samurai of Japan. Samurai were creatures of honor and straightforwardness, where ninja had no scruples and were creatures of roundabout tactics and darkness. The yin and yang; yet while they complement each other there is still not the clean dualism that a westerner would like. Where one leaves off the other begins, and they do coil around each other. For more practical purposes," she said, "the ninja operate in secret societies, clans. To reach the level of skill they reach, they have to sacrifice much of their humanity." She stopped for a moment.

"The way of the ninja," she said, continuing more slowly and not looking at Valeria, "is the way of death. They must either give it or take it. There is no compromise. They sacrifice themselves that they may be whoever they wish to be. Their individualism is absorbed in the needs of the clan, and they become tools. Individuals aside," she said, "the ninja know no fear, no selfishness. The price they have paid to become what they are renders any punishment you can inflect on them secondary at best. They cannot be stopped short of death or a shift in the will of the clan. That is why I must kill the Jonin. His successor might be willing to recognize I am less dangerous if ignored than I am if assaulted."

"Does this describe you? You said you were a ninja," Valeria said, crossing her arms.

Lock looked up with a hint of a smile and haunted eyes. "This is what they tried to make me," she said. "I turned my back on the way of death. I have the skills they ingrained in me, yes. But I do not follow their path. According to their belief, if I turn from them they will kill me; if I turn from the Code I will kill myself."

"Is that what this is all about?" Valeria asked. "Escape through suicide?"
"No," Lock said. "No, I want to live. Very much. I have things I want to live for, you see. My world is bigger than their narrow focus of power and pain. For them, death is in its way a release, not something to be feared. They do not throw their lives away, but they do not protect them as jealously as a normal person would."

"So their prediction about you is wrong?" Valeria said.

"I hope to be the exception that proves the rule," Lock said, her gaze unwavering.

They lapsed into silence. Outside, the afternoon waned.

"Well, thank you," Valeria said, feeling a bit awkward. Lock stood, smiling.

"I'll be nearby," she said. "At least until after the eighth. That's when they'll make their move, if not before. Be careful," she said, her eyes solemn. "They adapt. They may look like anyone."

"Was it you that was pretending to be an old woman, who warned me right before the attack?" Valeria asked, suddenly remembering.

"No," Lock said, looking at her sideways. "I arrived at the scene right at the end. An old woman?"

"Forget it," Valeria said, shaking her head. She smiled. "Be careful," she said. "You may need caution more than I do."

"You may have something special about you," Lock said, "but if you get sloppy…" she shook her head. "Just don't get nailed." She stepped out the door and hit the street, taking ten steps and vanishing into the pedestrian traffic.

Valeria watched her go, shaking her head. She wondered briefly how they could have attracted the attention of a ninja clan, then she dismissed the thought. "Could have been anything," she murmured. "Who knows why these people seek us out. Maybe we are just freak magnets."

She cooked herself some supper.