Chapter Thirteen

"I wouldn't have thought this was possible," Namor whispered. "We just left Hell... and I think we have found someplace worse."

The Brood homeworld was a nightmare come to life. The heroes felt as if they were inside a giant beehive. All around them, the vile, disgusting creatures known as the Brood crawled, slithered, and flew around them. The stench was almost as overpowering as the deafening droning sound of thousands of pairs of wings buzzing around over their heads. So far, at least, none of the Brood seemed to have noticed their presence.

"Game plan, Cap?" Logan asked. "I don't suppose you want us to stop one of these overgrown mosquitoes and ask them if they've seen Dr. Bruce Banner, physician, scientist, tryin' to hitch a ride to the next town, eh?"

"The game plan, Logan," Steve replied, coolly, "is we follow Ghost Rider's lead, since he seems to be able to hone in on Mephisto. Meanwhile, we cut through as many of these dirty disgusting bugs as we can."

Ghost Rider revved the engine on his flaming motorcycle. "Follow me, boys. Mephisto's not far away. I can feel him in my bones." With that, he reared back on his motorcycle as if it were a mighty steed, then tore off, blazing a flaming trail behind him.

Logan let out a wild, savage battle cry and gave chase after the bike, blood glistening off his claws as he tore through a nearby Brood. The creature let out a pained screech in the throngs of death as Logan eviscerated it.

This attracted the attention of the other Brood. They descended upon the group like a swarm of locusts.

"Perhaps asking nicely wouldn't have been such a bad idea," Magneto said, dryly. He levitated himself into the air, using his control over magnetic forces on the metal that SHIELD had lined his black leather suit with. Energy crackled and fizzled around his hands as he drew metal particles from the air around them.

Cap swung his mighty shield back over his head, and brought it down hard on the back of one of the creatures, breaking its neck in one chop. Another dove at him from behind, and Cap spun around, slamming his shield into its face, breaking teeth and drawing blood.

Prince Namor ripped a hunk of boulder from the ground, sweat pouring from his brow. He had been away from the water for a long time, and the heat of this disgusting planet was sapping his energy. He was working on pure adrenaline now. He heaved the boulder at a pack of swarming Brood, hitting one right in the head and cracking the creature's skull. It fell to the ground with a splat. The thrill of the fight sent a surge of energy through Namor. He lifted off the ground and took to the sky next to Magneto, fighting the dirty creatures with his bare hands, punching and hitting them as they dove at him. He couldn't help but laugh.

One instance of Jamie Madrox stayed at the back of the group, punching himself in the face over and over and over again, adding to the already hundred or so multiples that had been created during the fight in Hell. He had never made this many multiples before. He'd always wondered if there would come some point where he would max out, and his consciousness would not be able to handle being split any further. Well, today just might be the day he found out. Either way, he was going down fighting. A dozen Madroxes tackled a Brood and beat it to a pulp, even as it thrashed and bit and spit at them. Another group climbed up a gooey, sticky wall of sludge, then dove at passing hordes of the fliers, throwing punches on their way down. Another ten or so joined in right beside Captain America, fighting alongside the super soldier himself.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Nick Fury paced as Reed Richards stretched himself across the room, checking monitors and typing in calculations on the enormous machine that had been constructed to send the team into the next dimension.

"Are you sure our boys are still alive, Richards?"

"Yes, quite sure," Reed replied. "Though we have no way to keep a visual monitor of their activities, I'm still getting a readout of their bioelectric energy signals. They're all still intact, though I have to admit, Madrox isn't making this easy for me. There's about a hundred and fifty seven of him, as of my last count. It's hard to keep the energy balance between the two worlds stable when I have to keep readjusting the levels every time he multiplies. Oops... wow. Make that a hundred and eighty three."

Fury started to light another cigar, when Reed stretched his neck around so that he and Fury were face to face, despite being on opposite ends of the room.

"Please don't," Reed said. "This equipment is very sensitive." He retracted his neck and went back to monitoring the screen.

Fury sighed and put the lighter back in his pocket, and set the cigar down on the table. Begrudgingly, he had a seat.

"Funny, isn't it?" Fury said aloud. "Mephisto turns out to be behind this, and Cap ends up picking Danny Ketch for the team. Didn't realize the two of them had any history together, really. And yet Ghost Rider has some kind of link to Mephisto. Damn lucky that Cap thought to pick him."

Reed turned away from the monitor. "Come again?"

"I said, it's damn lucky that Cap thought to pick Ketch for the team, being as the kid has a connection to Mephisto."

"But, Nick..." Reed said, confused. "I spoke to Cap when you all first got here today... when he explained to me everything that had happened since his last visit, he told me that you were the one who picked Ketch for the team."

"What the hell are you talking about, Richards? I left the team up to Steve. I told him he could pick anyone he wanted."

Reed and Nick just stared at each other for a moment.

"Oh my God..." Reed said.

Fury sprang to his feet. "Richards! Get those boys out of there, NOW! It's all a blasted trap!"

TWO DAYS EARLIER...

Steve Rogers rode the elevator down to the ground floor of the Baxter Building, as Nick Fury barked into his ear over his cell phone.

"I'm assigning a member to your team, whoever you decide to pick, and I might mention you leave tomorrow at midnight, this person is also going with you," Nick said. "Head over to Hell's Kitchen and find Danny Ketch, he should be drinking his life away at some bar."

Steve sighed, trying to remember if Ketch even still had his powers or not.

"So we need him then? So Nick, what is this other supernatural force we're talking about?"

"Well Cap, let's just say Hell might finally be pissed off enough to come out and play. Get moving."

The call ended. On the other end of the line, the man who had been speaking as Nick Fury shifted forms. He stroked his beard and laughed to himself.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Danny," Mephisto mused. "Your soul will be mine at last."