Chapter Twelve
"You realize the complications and risks involved in inter-dimensional travel?" the cool voice of Reed Richards continued as he stared down across the conference table at the most eclectic team of super heroes he had ever seen gathered in his life. "I can send you guys to 'hell' as you refer to it, but in reality it is a dimension of negative flux. Not the negative zone itself, however, a realm that involves the true an absolute negation of life. It is beyond comprehension really, but alas, it must exist for the life in our world and others to exist as well."
"Cut the explanations Richards, we don't have time for that shit. Just send the boys through," Fury barked from his position behind the briefing table. Sue Richards walked through the room and passed out coffee to the gathered men. Namor's eyes lingered on the woman longer than he should have and he cursed himself for still having feelings for a human.
"Fine Fury, and once again your tact is always appreciated," Reed quipped. The gathered men actually laughed aloud at the rare joke by the man known as Mr. Fantastic. "Okay then. Let's get started," Reed said as he and the men left the table and headed into an adjunct room filled with all sorts of machinery and technological devices.
"If they're going, you can count me in for this round. Now that that experiment is over with I want to do some clobberin' and get my hands dirty again," Ben Grimm chimed in from the lab.
"No can do, Ben. There's a catch involved with entering the negative flux environment," Reed said as he began to manipulate several devices at once.
"Of course, there's always a catch," one of two Madrox multiples said under his breath.
"No one can enter the negative flux zone that is a pure form of life energy. The zone itself dictates that life has to have been tarnished and or negated in order to have physical context and awareness in that particular realm. Thus, the negation of life is what is necessary for cohesion. What this means, in layman's terms, is you have to have killed someone in order to travel to the zone," Reed continued coldly as he looked at the others. "And I know you haven't killedm Ben. You guys?" Logan laughed heartily,
"Yeah, I've got that category covered," Logan said.
"Ditto," Namor and Magneto said in cold unison.
"I'm the same," said Steve.
"All I know is death," Danny said from his solitary position in the corner of the lab. All eyes turned to Madrox.
"What about you rookie? You don't seem like the killing type?" asked Logan.
"We need Madrox, badly, especially if we're heading into an encounter with the Brood," Steve said quickly.
"Relax Cap, I'm in too. A few years back, when X-Force disbanded, I kinda slipped into a depression. Well, I was drinking one day, and well, I shot one of my duplicates in the head," Madrox said quietly, looking at his feet.
"Jesus. Looks like you put the perfect team together for this mission," Namor said coldly.
"Fine. Hold tight. I'm sending you in. Brace yourselves," Reed said as the threw a final lever. There was a brilliant flash of light, followed by pain.
The pain and light finally subsided, and the rag tag team of heroes entered a world where they never imagined they could ever be. They were instantly surrounded by a horde of creatures that defied all sense of reason. The creatures were about six feet tall with clawed feet and hands. They had no faces save for a gaping hole in the center of what would have been a man's head, and the hole was filled with razor sharp teeth. Their numbers stretched as far as the eye could see in every single direction. About a few hundred yards from the group there was a wide red glowing light that was an opening of some sort, a doorway that led to another world. That was the destination that they had to reach. Danny could feel it inside of him. That was the doorway that Mephisto had gone through, but where it led he did not know. He assumed it was the Brood homeworld, but that wasn't much better than the hell they were in. The wild pack of creatures moved in for the kill.
"Alright team! Cut into them, make a perimeter! Cut loose!" Cap ordered as he whipped out his trademark shield from off his black clad back. He swung it with deafening force and sliced the throats of three of the mindless beasts.
"Finally. Been waiting for this chance for days," Logan said with a crazy smile. Two violent snikt sounds screamed out as six twelve inch blades sprang from the back of his hands. Logan cut loose with a beserker fury the defied logic. He cut, slashed, thrusted, dove, rolled, bit, kicked, screamed and came back up for air and more. Blood, limbs, and bile flew everywhere as Wolverine unleashed like he was born to do. He felt his muscles tense and his mind leave him as the beast took over and he knew and wanted nothing save the kill. The sweet, hollow kill. Adamantium claws tore through demon flesh like it was butter and the frenzy was unparalleled.
Namor threw demons through the air with a strength beyond belief. He flexed his muscles and tore through the demon flesh with his bare hands. It had been awhile since he'd been able to work out like this, having been bogged down by imperial duties under the sea, but now he was in hell and ready to punish these foul creatures. Plus, he was still in a rage from having seen Susan again and not having the balls to even say a complete sentence to her. So he let his rage do the talking through his fists.
Magneto was a god, and he was about to show this 'hell' what real pain was. His arms stretched left and right from him and allowed his magnetic powers to increase to their full potential. The demons were being crushed all around him with the weight of his powers. Their attacks, claws, and fangs were bouncing harmlessly off of his magnetic shields, which he was also kind enough to project around his teammates. He still didn't know why he was here with these "heroes", however, if his daughter could be helped that was enough. He had failed many times in the past, especially when he was considered by the world to be a villain. He would not fail in this. He would not fail Wanda.
Jamie Madrox was having the time of his life. Every single one of him. After only a few minutes of the altercation, he had been hit so many times and attacked so many different demons that there were at least a hundred some odd multiples of himself. Hitting, kicking, and fighting like his teammates at X-Force and X-Factor had taught him to. This was freedom he only dreamed about, every time his body split his mind was able to relax and experience even more, this was incredible! One of his multiples wandered too far out of Magneto's protective shield and was cut down. As the blood spattered to the floor and the Multiple returned to the man who was truly the Multiple Man, Danny Ketch was finally able to enter the fray.
"Bout fucking time," Ghost Rider said with a grin. "We don't have time for this. Come on." In an incredible display of strength Ghost Rider summoned his hellfire motorcycle to himself and, with his left hand, used his chain to wrap up all his teammates. He floored the engine of the bike, tearing up and burning demon's flesh in his wake, and sent the bike and his teammates into the red gateway. Again, there was a flash of light, and every sense these heroes had ever had vanished, and they entered a new world. The Brood Homeworld.
