Jenskott: Look I'm sorry, but I wasn't up to writing several major fight scenes okay? I can't be perfect all the time, but yes eventually they will.

Sparky Genocide: Well Deadpool is complicated not to mention insane so his ethics are a bit warped.

The Uncanny R-Man: Technically they are in Sinister's grasp not Selene's, but glad you liked that running gag with Emma and that talks.

Mark C: Yep he can be ruthless when he needs to be and you'll see his plans in this chapter. Yeah Scott, Jean, Emma and Vince are the four oldest minus Rogue. You'll also see Slayer's reaction to all this in this chapter too.

ViciousAssassin: Glad you liked this and trust me X23 and the others will escape eventually.

Kaliann: In Sinster's mind as long a she behaves he'll treat her well and if she doesn't then anything he does is fair. But then again this is a guy who calls himself sinister. Maybe they were taking a bit easily in a few places, but since X23 took out the entire mansion once this was better then that I think.

Doza: Well they needed to be for the plot to go on and I wanted them to face Sinister on his own ground but it won't be as bad as at the Hellfire Club. Slayer was made by Slickboy444 and his power is the ability to draw mystical and non-mystical energy and use it to enhance himself.

Thanks to: X00001, Simba317, Wen1, Quillian, GothikStrawberry, Aaron, Cold queen, japanesegirl101

Hellfire and Brimstone

CHAPTER 41: MEETING SINISTER

Xavier Institute

Professor Charles Xavier had just found out that which he had dreaded the most…Once again, his students were missing. After only having gotten them all back safe and sound after a truly horrific ordeal that left many of them very scared both physically and emotionally, they were once again in the custody of the heinous organization that hurt them so much before. Scott, Jean, Emma, Vincent, Kurt, Wanda, Kitty, Piotr, and Remy…All captured once again.

Word spread quickly and the institute was soon thrown into chaos as a result of the news. Sage and Ororo were working hard to try and comfort some of the students while Hank and Logan quickly began to draw up a battle plan for finding and rescuing their missing friends. Naturally, he tried to find them with Cerebro, but he knew in his gut that he wouldn't find anything…For the enemies they were dealing with were just too crafty and stealthy.

For the past few weeks, a mysterious individual in samurai armour calling himself Slayer had visited the institute. And with each visit, he spoke to them about a great challenge that lay ahead of them…A challenge even more horrific than the one they faced with the Hellfire Club before. His only clue as to what sort of horrors he was talking about resided within an ancient book that Slayer had given him that had become an outright obsession for him. Rigorously, he tried to translate and decipher it with all his knowledge and skill, yet out of everything he managed to ascertain…He only got worse and worse omens as the book spoke of truly dark forces.

Yet out of everything he had deciphered, none of it had ever alluded to something like this happening. Was this another test? Was this some sign he hadn't read about yet? Barely twenty percent of the book had been successfully translated and there still remained more questions than answers, but those issues would have to wait now…For his students were in danger.

Xavier stayed in the lower levels in and around Cerebro and the vast computer array that could find and seek out data that few systems could, hoping to find any sign of his students' whereabouts. It would be by no means easy, but his students were in danger and that's all the motivation he needed.

Memories of the horrors that the others had undergone as a result of their previous capture still hung strong in the Professor's mind. Having had to work with the victims and listen to their anguished recollection of such brutality, he had felt like a failure for having been unable to protect them from such horrors. His students had undergone rape, torture, and mental manipulation that still resided with them today. And just when it seemed that everybody was learning to live and cope again…This happens. This horrific event that had been hinted at by Slayer had finally come to pass…And there was nothing they could do about it.

As he went over the scans from Cerebro and cross-referenced some of the readings with his data gathering systems, he kept the ancient book that Slayer had given him close by. He wasn't sure why he wanted to keep it around him at a time like this…But to him, this book was the only window into the darkness they were up against. It was a great enigma of foreboding that spoke of a powerful darkness that threatened to wipe out everything and everybody on the planet…Yet no amount of darkness or evil could keep the Professor from fighting to save his students. He made them a promise to protect them and he sure as hell was going too keep it.

'Don't worry my students…' thought Professor Xavier to himself as he pushed his mind and crippled body further in his search, 'I will not fail you…I will not let you suffer at the hands of an darkness. Whatever force has apprehended you…Whatever evil threatens to harm you…I swear, I will find you…I will save you. I swear it upon my life and soul…I will not let evil harm you…I will find you…And we will triumph.'

-Sinister's Base-

Scott felt the cold metal against his back as his eyes slowly opened up as his vision unblurred. He was looking at a strange metal ceiling and he was wondering where he was and how he got there. He was trying to remember his moments. He remembered the coffee shop and then…Falling. There was also something wrong with what he was seeing and then it came to him. He was seeing in color!

"Motherfucker!" Scott bolted up and saw others there with him in a large metallic like cell with many beds and Vincent trying to get off something on his neck that looked like those collars he saw in the Hellfire Club and he was pissed off and swearing both in English and in other languages.

"Vincent calm down," Emma said sternly to him.

"I'll calm down once I rip this God damn thing off my neck!" he said angrily and Scott was surprised he had never heard him curse so much before or act like this. Normally, he was calmer then this, but he guessed from what he knew he hated being locked up like this it brought back bad memories. Then he felt a touch on his shoulder and turned to see a worried Jean.

"Jean! Are you okay?" he asked her giving what happened to her last time and because he didn't know how long he was out, he was too worried to notice how beautiful she looked without all the red that he usually saw.

"Yes I'm fine…For the most part," she told him, having unpleasant flashbacks from being in the Hellfire Club. She felt Scott take her hand and she smiled at him feeling his strength with it even though she couldn't feel their bond with the collars on.

"I can't believe we were caught…Again!" Vince said angrily punching the wall and hurting his hand. He was upset for many reasons…One, for being captured and imprisoned again, and also that Emma was here stuck with him in the same fate. But what resonated the most for him was not acting sooner. He had gotten too relaxed with his new life and with Emma and he let his guard down and now they would all suffer for it.

He looked at his hand and felt pain as he saw his slightly bloodied knuckles, "Oh that was just brilliant," Emma chided him taking his hand in her delicate hands looking it over.

He sighed, "I know it was stupid. I'm just…" He shook his head looking down. He felt her hand on his face and he looked into that face of the person that he had given his heart to. There was so much he wanted to say and to do with her. So much that was left undone and how now it might all end. He was thankful for the time he had with her, she had made his life seem so full of life and complete. But he didn't want that to end he wanted to go on and live the rest of his life with her. She had become his life.

She kissed him lightly on the lips and pressed her forehead against his both their eyes closed, "I know…Please stay strong…I need you, you give me strength," she whispered to him.

"I will if you will, you're my strength as well," he whispered in return.

Piotr was holding Kitty who was having all these thoughts of what was in store for them. She still remembered what Selene had threatened to do to her and she was afraid that she was going back into that dungeon. Gambit was just glad that Rogue wasn't here this time and was in the corner calm with his hands crossed over his chest. He wished he could have put up a better fight, but then not only would Piotr his best friend, would have gotten killed then Kitty might have as well. He held no illusions that Deathstrike would have slit her throat. He didn't want to see either of them killed and they had used their friendships against them. In a fair fight, he was confident they would have stood a good chance, but they had used their one weakness against them.

Kurt had an arm over Wanda who looked both pissed and scared. She herself was thinking of how much this room reminded or her of the asylum and of that vault thing they had kept her in when her powers went crazy. She hated that room and this place was not helping. The only reason she wasn't completely losing herself to her anger and fear was Kurt next to her, for she had to stay strong for him too. She knew that being captured again, he was mostly likely thinking that Selene would have him again. She still remembered that horrible experience feeling so helpless seeing him like that. She didn't want him to get hurt again like that no matter what.

Scott himself was beating himself up, for they should have been more prepared, but they hadn't thought they would strike so soon and so fast. They shouldn't have been so vulnerable, but he was more worried about Jean and the other survivors they had increased the training, but hadn't increased their security. Although they couldn't have seen themselves walking into a trap like that, they were expecting more of those cyborg mercenaries or something not gas them while they were in a coffee shop.

The door slid open and everyone stood up and were surprised by who came through. Later they would all agree that if evil had a face, then this would be it. This man bore black armor and pale face with sharp teeth and red eyes that gave off a truly evil vibe. He grinned at seeing their reactions and it was quite a chilling sight. "Well I'm glad to see you all awake again…And to see a few familiar faces."

"What are you talking about?" Emma asked him, "I've never seen you before!" Everyone, but one nodded their heads in agreement.

He smiled at them and he was loving all of this. "My name is Nathaniel Essex," he saw Emma register that name and nodded to her. "Yes my dear I'm from the Hellfire Club in England. But I am also called Sinister."

He walked over to Gambit and smirked at him and Remy felt his blood go cold, "I see you remember me…Don't you Mr. Lebeau?"

"What's he talking about?" Scott asked him, but Sinister spoke for him as Remy glared at Sinister at a face he never wanted to see again.

"You see he was having trouble controlling his mutation, and so while looking for something to help him, he found me." He smiled looking down at Remy's face, "You see, I had to remove a part of his brain, but then he had to work for me. I had him steal a fwe for me and well let's just say it's the reason of what he stole that he can no longer go home again."

"Oui and dat was when Magneto found me," Remy told them all, but still staring at him. He always had a feeling that he knew he would somehow be caught with it. When he stole this thing from his old guild, it was like they had been tipped off and he always guessed that he had set him up for it.

Then Sinister looked to Scott, "And I know your family very well, I even knew your grand father Scott."

Everyone was shocked by that Scott understandably the most, "What? But he died before I was born and that would make you-"

"I'm centuries old boy…I've been alive for a very long time. I'm immortal, I don't sleep, eat, or even breathe. But I digress, you see I knew there was something special about your family and for three generation I've been watching you. It wasn't until you were born that I finally had what I need, but I also needed to get your parents out of the way."

Scott's eyes grew cold for a moment at that statement. "What do you mean by that?" he said coldly.

He just grinned at him, "Please, your father was a great pilot…Did you even think for once that he would take his entire family up in a plane that he felt unsure about or hadn't checked it out? Or that there would have been more then just two parachutes on board?" He nearly laughed seeing Scott's expression on his face and the horror as he realized what he was talking about.

"Plus don't you think it was odd that somehow you and your brother were separated and such a mistake like both believing that you were dead was strange?"

"You…You did all that?" Scott said not sure if he could believe it all, it was just so much. That this one man had planned out the most painful event in his life. His head was swimming with thoughts and emotions as he was reeling from it all.

"I was the one who owned the orphanage you were sent to, I used it as one of my bases to test young students. Don't you remember the nightmares?"

Scott thought back and his eyes widened. Back then there was a tale of the Bogyman in the place and the kids also whispered of nightmares of a dark man with red eyes. Scott had those nightmares too with a dark man with red eyes with him in strange machines. He had always thought it was just the runaway imagination of a child, but looking at Sinister and those eyes. He realized that those eyes he had seen before, in those old nightmares that he had nearly completely forgotten about. Only now they might not have been nightmares.

"It's a pity Xavier took you in, but I knew that you would get the training you needed. It's also too bad that the plane crash damaged your brain to prevent you from using your powers. But luckily that's not hereditary."

He left Scott shaken by all that news and went to Vincent and smiled, "You know when I heard from Selene about your past I smiled. I had thought all of my work in Project Prodigy was lost. I can't tell you how happy I am that one of you survived after all. You truly were the best out of that twelve."

Vincent's eyes narrowed at him, "How did you know about that Project?"

"Ah, I guess you might not recognize me in this form." Then, he turned into his human form that looked like how he was only with normal skin, blue eyes and normal teeth and in a white lab coat, "How about now?"

Vince thought back to those horrible three years of his life and tried to match the face and there it was. The Director of the Program, the one that had run it all. He remembered seeing him there now and then overlooking things and supervising and he had remembered him being called 'Director'. Vince got out of his memory and looked at Sinister with a dangerous look on his face.

"You…" he said in a low voice his eyes filled with hate.

Emma had ever seen such a look in his eyes, he looked like he wanted to kill him and would try to, but given the memories they had shared, she couldn't blame him as she looked at Sinister with revulsion knowing what he had done to not only Vincent, but all those other children as well.

"I'll kill you!" Vincent roared out leaping at Sinister his anger and rage getting the best of him. All he could see where all those children like himself experimented on, tortured, and all the deaths…Seeing the children who didn't survive the experimentation carried away or in training accidents. All those years, all that pain he carried inside of him and buried deep inside. All the horrors he saw and went through, all that he had to live with just came out as he saw the man responsible….The one that had took his life, his name, and his innocence. They had taken everything from him and he could never get it back. He wanted vengeance…He wanted to tare Sinister apart.

Sinister was prepared and sent a kick to Vincent's chest and with the collar on he was mainly just a regular human and Sinister's increased strength was enough to send him into one of the beds. Emma ran over to him then screamed in pain as she clutched at the collar. Vincent went to her and it stopped, he looked up at Sinister's grinning face with hatred in his eyes seeing a remote in his hand.

"No more of that unless you want to see her suffer for your mistakes." Then he looked over the rest of them, "Now if you behave, I won't have to hurt you, but if you do I swear I'll make you all watch one another pay for your mistakes. So just remember to obey and no one has to get hurt."

"So I take it Shaw wants his revenge," Jean said in a bitter tone.

"Ah yes he does, but he won't get it," he said as he saw the surprised looks on their faces and smiled, "You see, he won't get his hands on you…I have my own plans. In fact, I was going to take you from him anyways, since that fool nearly ruined decades of work."

"What work?" Piotr asked him holding Kitty close to him.

"Why…you of course. You see, some of you like Vincent and Scott are mutants that I have been molding for years without them knowing it. The human race is imperfect and is full of genetic faults. Just look at things like hereditary disabilities, or genetic faults that cause people to die from heart attacks at the age of thirty-five. These people should not have survived in nature, yet with modern medicine they do and they have weakened the human gene pool."

He continued his tirade to them, "Humanity, if it had selected specific people to breed with, would have bred out flawed DNA and even improve the species with only the best genes being passed on. Well, it's too late for humanity so I'm bringing it onto myself to ensure that a superior species doesn't fall into the same genetic mess as the humans."

"My god…You're talking about eugenics," Jean said realising what he was talking about, "Selective breeding for the mutant race? That's your plan?"

"In it's simplicity…Yes," he admitted to her, sound pleased she figured it out, "Take a look at yourself. You are an Alpha class mutant, you are physically perfect, and you have high intelligence. You are the perfect example of how mutants should be and your powers are still in development. You see, all of you have something. Vincent is one of my earliest works and look at him. Physically perfect with high intelligence and incredible powers."

"Emma, despite the things Shaw did to 'improve' your looks, you were still physically fit and your mind is sharp and intelligent. Piotr, just look at you, are a fine specimen as well," Then he looked at Kitty who really felt creepy about how he was looking at her.

"Miss Pryde, however, even though you are a Beta class and not as physically great…The rest your intelligence is very good. Which means that for some of you, I may need to try and improve your physiology like I did with Vincent."

"Don't you dare!" Vince yelled out at him knowing how painful that had been for him while holding Emma on the ground.

"My methods have advanced since then," Sinister told him, "But I just have to decided if you should carry children before or after I start to experiment on you."

"You're going to breed us like cattle!" Emma said with a snarl as she was helped up by Vince.

"If you must be so crude," he said and would have rolled his eyes if he could in his true form, "You see the children you all will have, by different males I hope, will be raised under my care then I will take other mutants to breed them with and the cycle continues until I have an army or the most perfect specimens of mutants the world has seen. With them, I will crush humanity and all lesser mutants to protect the mutant gene pool."

"Mien Gott," Kurt said remembering the things he had heard about with the Nazis and the things Hitler had preached to his people as that mad man had led his people into the darkest period of his nation's history.

"Ah, Mr. Wagner," he said as he looked upon the young man he had studied because of his uniqueness and the fact that he wasn't held up on physical looks. He may not have looked normal, but that wasn't what he was after…It was the physical abilities that he looked at. "So you are Magneto's first experiment…I must say the results have been interesting…For an amateur. You're teleportation powers are unique and I don't know whether to breed you or dissect you to see how you work."

"Don't you dare touch him!" Wanda shouted and took a few steps towards him, murder in her eyes.

Despite her threatening look, Sinister wasn't at all impressed or phased by Wanda, "Well, I see you care for him. Tell you what…Since you care so much about him before, I do anything I'll allow you to carry his child. That way, no matter what happens, you'll have something to remind yourself of him." Wanda backed away from him the fact that he was serious and the fact that he seemed to think that was fair and a good deal was sending her chills all over her body and a sick feeling in her stomach that he would do just that even if she said no to him.

"Now then…As for Jean and Scott," he turned to the two of them, "Don't worry you two, I plan on keeping you two together. I've ran simulations on the DNA of your two since I first saw that you two were living together a few years back and got hold of your DNA."

"What? How?" Jean demanded trying to think if she had seen his face anywhere.

"Well I already had sampled from Scott and all his data from the orphanage, but it didn't take much to get your sample from the Bayville High blood donation drive that you went into. And of course, not all flu vaccinations were to inoculate you…There was ample time for someone I paid to get your sample." Jean thought back to one where there was an accident with one of the needles, at least she believe so at the time and how the nurse there had quickly pressed a cloth to her arm to stop the bleeding while she fixed her up. That was an opportunity for him to get her blood she realized.

"Now as I was saying," He continued, "The DNA you two have will create very powerful mutants…So I'll keep you two together for as long as you can still have children. The same goes for the rest of you, in time you will learn to live here. You will all be comfortable and will have everything you need."

"Except Freedom," Gambit said to him in a dark tone.

"And the ability to love the person we want," Piotr said just as darkly to him.

"Well you can still love, but you'll have to be flexible," Sinister said waving a hand in the air in a lazy circle. "But you will mate with who I tell you to…Or else."

He turned to leave them and to let them think on things, "I suggest you all get comfortable with this arrangement…Because from now on you will live how I tell you to live," he said as he left them in the cold metal room to think on those words.

It was awhile until someone spoke, until Gambit broke the silence, "I d'ink…Dat we are in de presence of a true mad man," Everyone nodded their heads and wasn't sure which was worse…The Hellfire Club or being some mad scientists pet project.

-Xavier Institute-

Rogue was in the back of the mansion by the gazebo…The same place she had pushed off that statue of Mystique. But since then, it was also a place she came to reflect or be alone. Right now she was being eaten up inside with worry, not only were her friends taken so was her brother and a man…That even though she wasn't sure how she fully felt about him, was close to her heart.

She had been training the New Mutants with Logan when it happened. They weren't aware of it at first yesterday, but while the Professor, Hank, and Sage were busy, the others had been attacked. The police called about a disturbance at a clothing store and Gambit, Kitty and Piotr were described as the ones involved alone with what sounded like that same guy that tried to kill Scott at the hospital and Deathstrike. After that Xavier tried to find the others, but couldn't…And after a head count they found out who was missing.

Logan said that Kurt and Wanda had been taken in the woods, but he looked disturbed about that for some reason, but he never said. Only that when she saw Logan looked in Xavier's direction in a way to 'talk' to him with Xavier's mind did the Professor register surprise. She had no idea what they were talking about, but she knew it wasn't good.

They later had found Emma's new car deserted outside a coffee shop with the staff locked up in the back. There wasn't any sign of a struggle and that was worrisome. She was trying to think how the hell anyone could sneak up on not one but two powerful telepaths and not to mention Scott and Vince could have easily levelled that place. She looked over the lake as the sun was setting and felt like either crying or ripping something to shreds, for they had gotten too comfortable and paid for it again.

She remembered all too well the horrors they had done to them…How they had tortured Vince, and Emma, who had been there longer. How Jean and her had their minds filled with the nightmares of killing their friends and family and of how Jean's mind was altered so she gave herself to Shaw, something she knew that would always sicken Jean. Then there were the nightmares she had of Selene and how she had punished Rogue and had the guards rape her.

She was getting better like Kurt was after his own encounter with Selene, but now he was back with them and now Remy too as well as the others, "It's not fair!" She yelled out and slammed a fist onto the rail shattering it. "Damn it," She muttered to herself.

"You should be more careful," Came a voice ad Rogue turned to see Sage walking towards her in a plain pair of jeans and a dark blouse on. "You mind the company?" She asked not looking at her, she knew that some of the students still were a bit uneasy with her, but she had been making progress with the younger ones.

Rogue shrugged. She knew now that Sage had been an old friend of Xavier's and Ororo's and she had a lot of time to think on her. On the one hand she had sat back and done nothing to stop them but then she also knew that if she had she most likely have failed and then she would still be back there and that was a fate worst then death to her.

Sage saw her expression and placed a hand on hers, "We'll get them back."

"How do you know?" She asked her eyes slightly red with tears threatening to fall from her pale face.

Sage sighed and looked into her eyes, "Because I own a dept I can never repay to Xavier. I should have done something sooner. I wanted to and I have to live with my choices for the rest of my life. But I didn't sacrifice those years trying to worm my way in to take them out. I didn't suffer all those nightmares and the horrors I saw or the things I had to do…Or let that bastard do to me."

Rogue had never considered what she had to endure or what she had to do. She couldn't imagine having to do whatever it took to gain their trust. She didn't want to think about it really and guessed that Sage had her own personal demons from that place. Rogue couldn't even imagine what years there could do to someone.

"Sage…Ah know ya did what ya had to…Ah don't blame you at all for what happened."

Sage was touched to hear that form Rogue. She was glad to hear it. It made the burden she had to bare of all that a little less heavy to hear that, "Thank you…that…that means a lot to me."

Rogue looked back to the older woman, "Well…in a way ah also owe you. Thanks to you ah can touch…so…we're even." She said with a little smile on her face and Sage returned it. Both of them returned to looking at the water.

"I've missed this spot," Sage said out loud it felt like another lifetime ago, but in a way it was. "And I do promise you…We will get them back…No matter what."

Rogue strangely felt a bit better hearing that from her. Hell, she was an ex-SHIELD agent and she figured that if anyone could find out where they were kept Sage would be a very good person to start with. She just hoped that when they found them they weren't too late or that it didn't take too long. She had a glimmer of hope and she didn't want to let that light in this dark time die out.

Outside Hellfire Club

Outside the affluent Victorian style mansion where the Hellfire Club now resided, everything was bathed in an ominous calm. Within the walls of the building, the powerful organization that had exacted such great authority upon the world had been splintered as a result of their defeat at the hands of the X-men…Yet they were far from vanquished. Sebastian Shaw and Selene, the black king and queen, had survived the attack and were now re-establishing the club in all it's dark splendor, intent on punishing those that had dared to challenge them.

However, this aura of power and prestige was not without it's difficulties as the calmness of the night was suddenly disturbed by the appearance of a hazy purple mist that formed outside the secured boundaries of the mansion. The mist which seemed to have a mind of it's own, swirled like a mini tornado until a figure formed in it's wake. And as this mist faded, only the mutant warrior known as Slayer stood, looking over the vast facility before him with his all seeing eye.

"I know you're up to something…" he said into the darkness, the magic in his hands brimming with intensity and the look upon his face hardened with determination, "You hide behind a mystic veil…You cover your tracks with lies and deception…Yet I can see you…I can see the darkness that fuels your power…I just can't ascertain it. Time is running out…I must find out more…I must know what you plan to do…"

While he wasn't exactly sure who or what he was talking to, he knew it was there. This darkness…This evil…He barely knew anything about it, for his all seeing eye was only strong enough to tell him that it was there. As a mortal being with a mortal mind, there was only so much he could see and understand and all too often, this hindered him when it mattered. With every dark entity he had faced, his inability to see that which was most vital for victory had cost him dearly…Yet failure was not an option in this instance…For if he failed, the world itself would be consumed by fire and darkness.

With his superhuman warrior skill, Slayer leaped over the high stone wall surrounding the perimeter of the mansion, using his all seeing eye to guide him past cameras and sensors. Normally, he would have warped closer, but the mystical shielding had increased tenfold since his last visit here…Hinting that whoever was in there knew a hell of a lot about mysticism. And that alone was reason enough to believe that he was facing a force far more serious than he had imagined. The shielding was strong and advanced, more than he could ever hope to break even with his power. Yet this did little to slow him down as he snuck through the maze of elaborate security systems, some technical and some mystical, with relative ease. But this was just the outside…And once he made his way up towards the entrance, he knew it could only get more chaotic from there.

Then, his all seeing eye picked up a sudden wall of sensors surrounding the building…Sensors that would trip an alarm if a single fiber of his body interfered with them. However, Slayer was not willing to let this slow him down as he cast a spell that made him invisible using his powerful knowledge of magic and his mutant ability to make it work in ways few other practitioners could.

The grid of sensors was easily bypassed by the mutant warrior as he leaped up towards a sealed window on the second level. It was air tight, so he could use his mist spell to seep through, so he decided to go with the more direct approach and took out one of his smaller katanas that he often used in certain situations where his main sword was unnecessary. With a great deal of care and precision, making sure not to trip the alarms and sensors his eye was seeing, he cut the seal at the bottom and corner of the window and cast a spell, engulfing his body in a purple mist and using the small crack he had opened to enter the building.

Now that he was actually within the building, his all seeing eye could make out a few new details since he was no longer outside the mystic shield. For the most part, he saw lots more security, but that's nothing a couple of disrupter spells wouldn't fix as he stayed up against the wall and raised his left hand towards one of the cameras. The mystical symbols atop his hand then glowed as he muttered a few words in a strange, unknown language that caused a mysterious bolt to spark from his fingertips and impact the camera. This would only give him a narrow window, since disabling them would only give him away, so he worked with greater urgency as he snuck down the halls, staying up against the wall as he used his all seeing eye to guide him past the obstacles and avoid the masked guards that prowled the area.

He stayed hidden and at times made himself invisible to avoid detection, but the deeper he snuck into the large mansion, the more powerful the presence of the darkness that he knew resided within. Upon getting a fresh batch of visions from his eye, he realized he had to work his way up the building if he was to find the source of the darkness since there didn't seem to be a lot of useful resources on the lower levels. His eye then guided him to an elevator that was hidden behind a statue…Which probably meant it went up to certain areas that most of the people within the mansion weren't allowed to see.

But as he stood outside the elevator door, he found out there were a couple of elite guards from the upper levels coming down. And before he could react and cast his invisibility spell, the doors opened from the concealed area and three masked guards looked back with shock as they saw the mutant warrior standing there before them.

"What the…" but that was all they got out as Slayer sprung into action, grabbing his two katanas from his side and with a few swift, smooth motions, cut through the flesh of the guards, slicing their throats and impaling them in the gut with his sharp blades before they could even think of reacting, spilling their blood upon the floor as their bodies hit the ground.

Not wasting any time, Slayer concealed the bodies in a nearby empty room and cast an deception spell that covered the blood stains.

'Shit…' he thought to himself, 'This is going to make things a bit more difficult…But I'm close…I'm so close, I can feel it in my bones. I have to work fast!'

Knowing the elevator was probably rigged with a camera or a sensor of sorts, Slayer cast an invisibility spell and opened the hatch in the roof, unveiling the large shaft that led up to the upper floors. As he looked up at the open path ahead of him, he saw laser sensors all over the area covering almost every square inch. However, in addition to that…He saw his destination…He saw the floor where he needed to be. Only there would he have a chance at finding out what he needed to know…Only there would he get what he came to this dark place for…And he wasn't about to let anything stand in his way.

"There you are…" he said into the quiet shaft, "You can run…But you cannot hide from the power of the all seeing eye."

The symbols on his hands once again began to glow as he shifted into a purple mist once again and slowly and carefully weaved his way in and out of the small opening in the vast grid of laser sensors. There was barely enough room for a rat to get through, less alone a body…Yet in his mist form, he managed to make his way up to the top floor where he knew it was most secured and least accessible.

Upon reaching the top floor, he seeped through an opening, which in turn led him into the most elaborate and decorative portion of the affluent mansion. The halls were riddled with expensive fine art, the floors were covered in the best of oriental rugs, and the ceiling was dotted with solid gold chandeliers. For a hallway, it was very spacious and luxurious…Almost big enough to drive a truck through.

'Wow…This is definitely a step up from the streets,' mused Slayer as he did a quick scan for security sensors and guards as he continued to work his way down the hall.

The mystic shielding seemed to be the strongest here and it was interfering somewhat with his all seeing eye, but he could clearly sense a powerful, evil presence close by. And the close he got, the closer he was to finding the answers he needed to know in order to stop the coming darkness that hung so strongly in the back of his mind.

Of all the floors, this one had to have been the most secure…Yet they weren't secure enough for a mystic warrior like Slayer as he passed more guards and had to work around more security systems. Cameras, sensors, and even a few mystic statues that had a protector spell upon them littered the area…Yet Slayer worked thoroughly and meticulously to make his way around each, casting deception spells to fool the guards and neutralizing spells to disable the statues.

He found that for some reason, this whole area was brimming with enormous levels of metaphysical energy…The energy needed to cast mystic spells. Few places in the world could reach such levels and most of them were outside the dimensional realm, which definitely sparked Slayer's curiosity because he could feel it within his body and see it with his eye.

'Something's not right here…' he thought to himself, 'All this chi…All the energy…It's not natural. It has to be coming from a source…And a very large and hungry source at that.'

Keeping his all seeing eye as focused as possible, Slayer found himself now facing an elaborate corridor leading into the heart of the mansion. On the top floor in this most luxurious of levels…It was where Selene's room resided. It was here where the affluence of the hallway was replaced by something much more sinister. Down this path, mystic relics, most of them of an evil occult nature, dotted the area. It was also bathed in a mysterious glow, one that made it feel all the more ominous as Slayer made his way down the hall and towards Selene's room.

He knew this is where he would find what he needed…He knew that this is where the key to stopping the Gates of Hell resided. He didn't know what lay before him, but he knew for certain that it contained answers…And if he didn't get them soon, then it would be too late.

As he slowly worked his way down the hall…Suddenly, his eye began to glow a dark red color and he froze in mid stance.

"Oh shit…" he muttered as his all seeing eye sensed something truly evil and dark standing right behind him in the area where he had just come down.

Then, as his fists clenched with fury and the symbols on his hands began to glow with anticipation, Slayer turned around to see the dark presence face to face.

"I had a feeling you'd come…" said the icy cold voice of Selene as she stepped forth into view in her revealing Hellfire lingerie, bearing an insidious smile.

"Selene…The Black Queen," said Slayer with equal venom as he looked back at the evil woman that had caused so much suffering.

"I knew I sensed something…I knew there was a pestilent force lurking about in the shadows all this time," she said as she moved in to get a better look at the one force that had always seemed to elude her keen detection, "And now we finally meet…Face to face."

"You almost sound surprised," said Slayer as he glared back at the raven-haired woman with determination in his eyes.

"Well I have to say…I was expecting more," she said, not sounding at all threatened by the young warrior that stood before her, "I thought that something far greater was stalking my grand presence…Not some insolent little fuck in a samurai costume."

"Funny, this coming from a woman who likes to wear lingerie to work, so forgive me if I don't take offence to that," quipped Slayer.

The cold expression on Selene's face only grew as she smelled the stench of his good, pure chi radiating from his being. It sickened her in a way few things could, for it was so good…So painfully wrought with truth and light that it seemed the polar opposite of her darkness and lies. It was the clash of two forces…Good and evil. Yet in Slayer's mind, he tried not to think of himself as too 'good' in a sense…For he knew that Selene's cruelty could crush and taint any good as she so often had over the centuries. But for him…Light alone wasn't the way to defeat this woman…So for now, he chose the path of indifference…Knowing that if he died, it wouldn't matter whether or not he was good, for it would only matter if he triumphed.

"You are an ignorant fool, warrior!" she spat back with a cold tone, "The stench of your chi is no more than the buzzing of a fly to my power! You're pestilence in my meticulously crafted plan will not stop the end for which I seek…For you shall die and suffer the worst pain imaginable!"

"Been there…Done that…" said Slayer as he unsheathed his long, glowing sword that functioned as a part of his being and soul, "You don't scare me, Selene…I will stop you! I don't care how crazy or evil you are…But your darkness will NOT come to pass!"

Slayer then took a fighters stance as he gripped his sword firmly, prepared to tear into this insidious woman with every ounce of skill and power he could muster. She was the darkness…She was the evil…And even though he knew her power levels were greater than his, he would not allow a woman of such darkness to inflict her cruelty upon any more innocent souls.

"You can't stop me…Nobody can stop me," said Selene as she too prepared to fight this skilled warrior that had been able to elude her…For she could sense that he was a true threat to her ultimate plans.

"Wrong lady…I can…I will…And I must!" said Slayer with determination, "I am Slayer…The ultimate warrior…The embodiment and medium of the warrior spirit…And your evil ends now!"

NEXT UP CHAPTER 42: DARK MOMENTS IN MUTANT LIFE