ViciousAssassin: Yep, that nightmare would have freaked anyone out, but it led a very nice Romy moment. Yeah you can thank Slickboy for that Scott/Mystique scene. I never thought about it like that either, but it works. Oh yeah Kitty's new attire will be very nice. You'll see what August does soon.
Kaliann: Wow, you really thought it was happening? Cool, guess I did a good job. Yep Rogue and Remy are in love. Kitty's outfit will be soon I hope and it should be good.
Mark C: It will take a bit longer but she will get over her intimacy issues. Yeah Mystique and Scott have ironed out a few things not all but a few. Yep you'll see her outfit that Kitty will wear soon trust me.
Craaaaazy: Thanks I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. Yeah, it is a bit long, but hey, it's an epic. More August will come up although I would like to hear your thoughts on the other chapters if you could.
IvyZoe: Long time no see! Nope, there's more Romy to come and you'll see Mystique in a more 'mom' fashion. Rogue still has all those powers deep within her like when her powers went nuts in the show but she can't access them for a few reasons we listed. Besides it would make her too powerful.
Aaron: Thanks, I wanted a nice Romy scene, and I'm glad you caught that in the Scott/Mystique scene. Selene is gearing up alright and we're about to enter the end game.
Doza: Oh trust me, the end will be something to remember. Well I doubt if Scott and Mystique will be 'friends,' but they can tolerate each other.
Coldqueen: Well if anything happens with Mystique and Slayer you will soon see. Thanks I really wanted to write a nice Romy scene there. Kiotr will show up later with her new outfit.
Jenskott: I know how you feel about romy (same here at times), but I think they work out nicely in this fic. Yep, Scott was kind of blinded with Jean back then, and you can expect him to bring that up with Rogue too. Yeah, I loved the 'Telepath Club' get togethers.
The Uncanny R-Man: Yeah, that is a word, but just a nightmare. Yep, things will work out with Rogue/Remy later on. Yeah,oddly enough she did do him a favour, expect Scott to ask Rogue about her crush on him in this chapter. I'm not commenting on the last part in case people are reading.
GothikStrawberry: Yep major nastiness is on the way, more Romy to come later. I love the telepath club scenes too they're just so mush fun.
Sparky Genocide: Hey I was wondering what happened to you. Yep I'm proud of that Romy scene I did. As for Emma well, you'll have to wait and see.
Thanks to: X00001, Quillian, Silver Warrior, Simba317
Hellfire and Brimstone
CHAPTER 64: ENTER AUGUST
-Dinning Room-
It was breakfast at the Xavier Institute and a few of the earlier risers were already eating up their morning meals. There was X23 trying out a few things that Logan was giving her. She could still smell Ororo all over him and guessed they had been together again last night. She didn't understand this need for this type of closeness that Ororo had explained to her. Although the thought that the male anatomy was designed that way to interact with the female one was a concept she had never considered.
She had a long talk about that and the subject of sex with Ororo and had learned a lot. Although she was sure that she felt no such feelings of attractions to anyone, she wondered if she was capable of such feelings. Well, if she ever felt strange about someone then she could just ask them later. She did, however, also picked up on a few other things. There was still a tense atmosphere with the blue woman, but it wasn't as bad though. Plus, all the New Mutants seemed to be in the kitchen and the smell of fear was about them. She guessed they were avoiding her.
Ororo was besides Logan as she was talking about Vivian's offer. Hank and Sage sitting across from them seemed to enjoy the idea. It hadn't taken Sage much prodding to get Hank to go. He did miss just going out now and then like a regular person. Logan, however, was being the stubborn one, not being one for social events. Laura was actually a bit interested in meeting Ororo's sister and Logan knew that because he had two women in his life tying to get him to change his mind so he had to be even more stubborn.
"Logan just please do this…For me?" Ororo asked him gently and placed a hand on his arm. Logan hated it when she played off his feelings for her like this. She knew that he would do almost anything for her, but he also hated these social gathering stuff. He gave a low growl as he thought it over and then she leaned in close to him to whisper something, "Logan I want you to meet my family. Snd if you don't want to do this then you can just sleep alone for a few weeks…If not months." The kindness gone from her voice and he knew he was dealing with Storm now and not Ororo.
Logan considered this as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. On the one hand he could put up with a few hours of being 'social' and he guessed she would make it up to him later that night…Or going back to sleeping alone in his bed again.
'Damn it…I should have known this would happen sooner or later…' he thought to himself. He had gotten used to having her by his side, the scent of her hair filling his senses in the morning, the warmth of her body against his, could he go back to not having that?
Well, he was sure he could last a week or two, but she had said months and to be honest, he wasn't sure he could go that long without her. He also knew she'd do anything else she thought appropriate 'punishment' for him. "Alright fine, but I make no promises to like it, only to 'behave' got it?" She smiled and said it was good enough for her.
Mystique had to snicker at all of this. The Wolverine brought down by a woman. It was just too funny not to take some kind of pleasure from this. At that moment a few of the older students filed in, or in Kurt's case, teleported in with Wanda. She had to watch as his son actually pulled out a chair for Wanda as she sat down and she also smiled at him. She had never seen Wanda smile before and watching her son and his girlfriend interact was just another reminder of how much she's missed in their lives. Although as much as it killed her to admit, the Wagners had done a better job of raising her son then she could have. She doubted if she had raised him, that he would be such a kind and caring person.
Then walked in the other older ones Warren, Betsy, Jean, Scott then of course Emma and Vincent.
"Emma are you sure you're alright?" Vincent asked her as they sat down together.
"Yes, I'm sure it was nothing," he signed sitting with her meal.
"I don't call holding your hair back as you were over the toilet 'nothing'."
Betsy looked at the blond telepath, "You're not sick again are you?"
Emma just waved it off, "It was nothing, most likely just something I ate."
"Well no wonder," Jean said to her, "Given what you were eating yesterday, I'm surprised you held it this long. You should be more careful what you eat, cause you never know."
"Well Kurt does it all the time Jean and he doesn't get sick. Just take a look at his breakfast," Emma pointed out to all the different foods he had on his plate.
Kurt swallowed his meal and shrugged, "I can't help it. It's just ze vay mien mutation vorks."
"Besides, this is only his starting meal. He usually eats more then this," Wanda said cutting up a pancake.
Mystique got up and took her empty plate, "Well, I have to go and prepare the New Mutants for the morning exercises."
"Just try to leave them in one piece this time," Logan growled out, "I know Chuck gave ya the time to 'train' them for the next few days, but it won't do anyone any good if they won't live to see tomorrow."
"You're just jealous because I can be more sadistic then you in the Danger Room and they fear me more then you know," she smirked at his scowling face as she left.
Scott had to shake his head at that. Although the New Mutants had this coming for going a bit overboard with the pranks, he was starting to feel sorry for them. He looked at the flirting going on with Remy and Rogue and for some reason she seemed a bit more cheerful then normal. He was wondering what was going on, but he was also wondering about what Mystique had told him. He and Jean had talked about it and even she hadn't known that Rogue had a crush on him for a long time. It hadn't been when Rogue had once blown up at her about her having everything and about having Scott. That had been before they were a couple and it had been there that she suspected that she felt something for him.
Now Scott was thinking back and all those times when he thought they were just friendly and now he was seeing them in a different light. There were times like how close they were during the New York trip when they met Angel, and other times like when she was still with the Brotherhood and they had been rehearsing that Shakespeare play. Times like that made him think to how blind he was he was also kind of mentally kicking himself for ignoring those. Sure, he was too hung up on Jean to have anything happen, but he shouldn't have given her any false hopes. He knew how that was like. Although for him, things had eventually worked out. Rogue, however, was noticing that Scott was looking at her a bit strangely.
"What?" she demanded.
"It's nothing," Scott shrugged.
Rogue didn't think so. She had been having a good morning so far. Waking up to Gambit had been very nice and she slept very well. Best of all, she had managed to tell him that she loved him and that he also loved her back. She hoped that one day she could take their relationship to another level, but she wasn't ready. And at the moment, Scott was looking at her strangely and she wanted to know why, "Spill it Scott."
"It's nothing really…I uh…Just learned that well…You used to have a crush on me," he muttered a bit.
Rogue's moth hung open. At that moment she felt like finding a rock to crawl under. Scott was her first major crush and she really didn't want anyone to tell him that. She swore Kitty to secrecy when she had once confided in her. And no one else dared to mention that. She also noticed that a few others were taking an interest in this.
"You what?" Remy asked with an amused look on his face at this, "Yo' must have a ting for de older boys eh chere?"
She gave him a short glare and then turned it towards Scott, "Who…Told…You!"
"Uh…Well…"
"Scott, Ah still got my absorption powers! So we can do this tha easy way or Ah could drain ya. What's it gonna beh?" she told him in a flat tone that said she wasn't kidding.
Scott gulped and looked at Jean, A little help here?
Sorry Slim, you're on your own for this one she sent back and Scott swore, for he heard her laugh for a bit.
Rogue made like she was going to reach for him so he figured he might as well. Better stay awake to finish his cereal then fall face first into it, "It was Mystique."
Rogue's eye twitched a little and Kurt winched. He really didn't want to get in the middle of this one so he just went back to his breakfast.
"Ah'm goin' ta kill her!" she stood up and walked out to catch up to her mother and have a few words with her about telling the others of a few personal things about her.
Kitty phased in with a yawn and saw an angry Rogue storm out of the room, "Like what did I miss? Why is it that Rogue looks like she's on the war path?"
"It's a long story," Warren sighed, shaking his head at what was to come. "Apparently Scott found out about her crush on him."
"Wait! You knew too?" Scott was taken aback by that.
Warren just smirked at him, "I saw it at the hospital. I thought you knew back then so I didn't comment on it." Scott just hung his head and sighed, muttering something about thinking about getting new shades to fix certain blind spots in them.
Xavier's Office – Slayer & Xavier
Professor Charles Xavier had been going over the enigmatic text of the Gates of Hell for nearly an hour after he had woken up, still feeling the deep need to decipher the lingering mystery concerning the mysterious text. His progress was slow, but he was slowly moving ahead with his studies and beginning to get a true feel for the immense darkness that this book symbolized. However, his usual extensive studies would be cut short this morning by the urgent calls of the institute's second most enigmatic mystery.
"Professor!" yelled Slayer as he came barging into his office doors, not even taking the time to knock.
"Slayer…" he said, closing his book and immediately taking in his urgent demeanor.
"Professor…We need to talk. Something's come up."
His words were wrought with exasperation, mystery, and urgency. Looking at his poise, it was easy to tell that something was definitely amiss. He hadn't slept a single wink last night. And while that wasn't at all rare for him, it was what kept him up that made the true difference.
"Jack, please calm down," coaxed the Professor, seeing that he was clearly very stressed, "Just sit down and talk to me. What's wrong?"
Slayer took a moment to catch his breath. He was still so disturbed by the visions that it was hard to keep his thoughts together. He began rubbing his sore temples, feeling so exhausted and tired from having been haunted by images of such darkness and evil that it bore down on his already fragile soul. The Professor may not have been able to sense what he was truly thinking due to his powerful mind, but he didn't need to be telepathic to sense that something was truly wrong here.
"I had a vision…" he said in a lower voice that seemed thick with dread, "My eye…It…It saw something…Something truly evil."
"Was it the darkness?" asked the Professor, immediately growing concerned since he had been speaking about this for some time now.
"I'm…I'm not sure. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was. I felt it…It was calling out to me! I swear…I never felt something so evil before in my life! And believe me, I've faced some pretty evil shit before!"
Jack Robinson was never one to exaggerate and the Professor clearly saw that. This man had gone head to head with Selene and didn't flinch, so if something there was something that truly got him this worked up…Then it had to be major.
"Jack…What exactly did you see? Can you show me?"
"No…" he said quickly in response, "Believe me, Professor…You don't want to see this. This evil…This…This force…It's yearning to be free. It's been bottled up for so long now that it can't stand containment any longer. This isn't just any darkness…This is THE darkness…The force that gave birth to all other dark entities. Dormamu, Apocalypse, Shadowking…You name it, this thing is a part of it. And it wants out."
This news came as grave news for Professor Xavier, who knew some of those names from the mysterious book. He had managed to decipher only a few key parts, but the information they presented was far from comforting.
"This…Darkness…Was contained my mystical forces older than the Earth itself," explained Slayer, once again going over the haunting details that still hung so clearly in his mind, "I saw it in my vision…This powerful force containing it in a barrier of immeasurable magic."
"You mean the Gate…" said the Professor, quickly ascertaining some of the connections that he knew from his reading.
"Yes…Exactly. It's been trying to get out for millennia…Yet it's only been able to get through in small, limited pieces."
"Hence the demons and entities that it spawned…" concluded Xavier, who was beginning to make more sense of all this.
"Yes…Many of which I've personally faced. And let me tell you, even in limited forms…This thing is beyond deadly."
The memories of the beasts he had slain and the demons he had gone up against all hung strongly in his mind. Yet in all…They had but one common trait…The source of their darkness. Alone they had manifested, but their darkness came from this…This entity that seemed to transcend all understanding.
"I see that it's close…Too close to being released," he continued, his words ominous and grim.
"But…How?" asked the Professor, thinking this was all just too sudden, "The celestial alignment mentioned in the book is still a ways off."
"I know…And that could only mean that somebody is helping this thing. Somebody's been trying to release it into our realm."
"But…Who would do such a thing? Who would be so evil as to…" however, Slayer didn't let him finish.
"Selene…" he said simply, his words thick with the venom of his despise for that woman, "It could only be Selene. Only she has the power and the madness to do something like this."
The mention of that name was enough to send a chill down the spine of the wheel chair bound man, for he knew Jack was right…Only Selene could be capable of such deeds. She was truly evil on a level all her own, that much she had shown them with the atrocities she committed upon his students. And to learn that she was back again did not sit well in the slightest.
"I take she's out for revenge again…" he said in a serious tone.
"Oh no…It's more than revenge this time, Professor. This is truly the end of the line. All bets are off this time…No more taunting, teasing, or manipulation…Just pure, unabated rage. She lost to us twice already. She's not going to hold back this time."
Professor Xavier needed to digest this new information. For some time now, Jack had been telling them all about a coming darkness so powerful that it threatened to consume their entire realm. Now it seemed as though it was finally beginning to rear it's ugly head, drawing them closer and closer to a confrontation that was sure to put everything they held dear on the line. And once again…Selene was at the center of it all.
"Now it's beginning to make sense," said the Professor as he looked back at everything that had happened since the Hellfire Club came into their lives, "Now I see the connection…The Hellfire Club and this gate the book speaks of."
"And it makes sense why my visions always seemed to involve the both of them," said Jack, who was beginning to understand as well, "This…This evil is calling out to whomever is crazy enough to set it free. And Selene definitely fits the bill. With the celestial alignment growing closer, it needs a powerful ally on the other side to aid in it's release. And who better than the immortal Black Queen?"
Everything was falling into place now. It was all coming together…The Hellfire Club, Selene, and the Gate…It was all beginning to make sense. Their paths were now irreversibly entwined and they had managed to survive thus far…And for that reason, it was up to them to fight back. Only they, the ones who had bested her twice before, stood a chance at stopping her. Only this time, Selene was just a pawn of something much more powerful. And if they were to have any hope of stopping a literal hell on Earth, then they would have to overcome her before she overcame them.
"We cannot take this lying down…" said the Professor in a stronger tone, "We must act quickly if we're to have any chance at stopping this thing before it starts."
"Agreed, Professor. And that means staying a step ahead of her and keeping tabs on the text in the book."
"Yes, but I'm afraid the book is still tenaciously guarding it's secrets. I'll increase my efforts, but I'll most certainly need help."
"You've got it…" said Jack in a determined tone, "That book is the key. It's the only insight we have into Selene's plan."
"And from what I discovered so far, the details are far from comforting. But tell me…Is there anything else about this text that I should know? After all, you were the one who gave it to me."
"I'm sorry, Professor…" said Jack, shaking his head in remorse, "But the only thing I knew about that book from the moment I found it was that it should be given to you. Other than that, I know about as much as you do. So if we're going to make some progress, we'll have to…"
Then suddenly, the mutant warrior was cut off in mid sentence by yet another vision that hit him like a wrecking ball. The symbol on his eye began to glow and his senses were quickly inundated with a new wave of sensations. They soon overwhelmed his system, causing him to keel over in agony.
"AHHHHHH! NO! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! I CAN'T…AHHHHHHHH!"
"Jack!" exclaimed he Professor as he tried to wheel himself over towards the downed mutant warrior, cursing his legs in the process.
He could see them all so clearly…As if he was right there along with them. It wasn't like the other vision he had, but he could still feel the darkness as being a part of it. Around him, he suddenly saw a new area the likes of which he hadn't seen before. It didn't look some hidden ancient place…It looked like a completely modern structure in the middle of the big city. With his all seeing eye, he quickly ascertained location and identity of the building. But that's not what had overwhelmed him so much…It was what was on the inside that evoked such pain. And it wasn't just that…It was also who was after it.
"Jack…"
"Professor…I can see it," said Jack in an enigmatic tone as his pained cries suddenly stopped and the meaning of the vision became clear to him.
"See what?" said the Professor intently, "What did you sense?"
"Selene…And her minions. I know where they're going to strike next!"
"Where?"
"The New York Metropolitan Museum of Natural History! There's something in there she needs…A relic that the Gate needs in order to open."
"Then we have to stop her!" said the Professor strongly as he grabbed the book and began to wheel himself out, "I'll gather the team…You gather what information you can."
"Don't worry Professor…" replied the mutant warrior in a deep tone, "All we need to know now is that Selene is about to make her move. And it's up to us to stop her. Because if she opens that gate…Then all will be lost."
Institute Den – New Mutants
Despite all the activity throughout the Xavier Mansion, the New Mutants were unable to be a part of it. Even though it sounded very important with the way everybody was running around, they were all still too tired and sore. Since Mystique became their 'special instructor,' they had undergone the kind training that even Logan found a bit harsh at times. But after having pulled so many pranks on the shape shifter and pushing her to her limits, the consequences caught up with them and they gave Mystique plenty of reason make their lives a living hell.
Now, with no training and everybody else scrambling about, the New Mutants found themselves holding up in the den, trying to recover their strength and their energy, which seemed to have been sapped dry.
"Ugh…Bobby, change the channel, will you? I don't know how many more game shows I can take." groaned Ray, who was slumped over on the couch, barely moving any of his limbs.
"No way man! I can't even feel half my body."
"Oh big deal, I can't feel my body, period!" said Roberto, who was trying to rest his eyes, but was too sore to even sleep, he was also pissed that he had to cancel his date tonight.
"Oh will ye all just shut up!" groaned Rahne, who was lying on the floor, resting her head upon Jamie's lap, "I've got a headache that could down Juggernaut! And whining isn't helping!"
Jamie tried to alleviate her mood by rubbing her temples a bit, which did help to some extent, but the affects of Mystique's so called 'training' was still having plenty of far reaching affects on all of them.
"Man…Ah had no idea anybody could be rougher than Logan, but Mystique sure takes the cake," commented Sam, resting with his back up against the couch with a half sleeping Tabitha leaning up against him.
"Yeah, no kidding…" said Amara in agreement, who was resting on one of the chairs, too tired to even hold herself upright, "I'm sore in places I didn't even know I had."
"Yeah, me too," replied Sam, "And that's sayin' a lot given my invulnerability powers when Ah'm blasting. Lot a good that did me…"
"Yeah, well SOME of us didn't have that luxury," said Jubilee, who was sitting on the couch next to her boyfriend, "Hey Bobby, how about another pack?"
"Sure thing babe…" he replied, using his ice powers to make a few ice chunks for her to keep on her shoulder, which had taken a rather heavy beating during their last session.
Nobody had the energy to even change the channel on the TV because of their exhaustion, so they just sat back and enjoyed yet another game show. At this point, they were so sick of seeing tacky hosts and stupid contestants that they would have rather watched kiddy shows and given how tired they were, it was pretty damn tempting.
"Man, I can't take anymore of this shit," said Ray, as he managed a weak spark with his powers that effectively turned off the TV.
"Ah…That's better," said Rahne, smiling at the silence.
"Yeah…I think we all just need to get some rest after all this," said Jamie, as he found himself stroking his girlfriend's short, red hair.
"Yeah…Like a week's worth," commented Amara.
"I'm thinking a month…" added Bobby, unable to hold his body upright any longer as he began resting against his already half asleep girlfriend.
"Mmm…That sounds nice," said Jubilee, smiling at the sudden warmth of his presence, "Makes me sort of glad that we aren't going on the mission with the others."
"Tell me about it," said Roberto in agreement, "I doubt we'd be much use anyways."
"Yeah…Hey, what do you think they were all so worked up about anyways?" inquired Sam.
"Mmm…Does it matter?" groaned Tabitha, shifting her position a bit so she could get more comfortable, eventually resting her head upon his shoulder.
"I don't know…It looked kind of serious," said Ray.
"Yeah, and it usually takes quite a bit to mobilize all the regulars like that," added Roberto.
"You…You don't think that means the Hellfire Club is back…Do you?" said Amara, her thoughts immediately drifting towards Selene, which sent a wave of chills up and down her spine.
"I pray to God it's not," said Sam, trying to cast his friend a reassuring look.
"I don't know guys…I mean, what else could it be?" asked Bobby.
A heavy silence fell over the group of young mutants as they thought of the possibilities. Having fought with the regulars in the battle against Sinister, they saw first hand just how deadly the Hellfire Club was. The effects they had left on many of their friends, namely Jean, Rogue, Vincent, and Kurt, were still very apparent even though they had made some major progress. Sinister had also left his own mark, particularly on Scott and Vincent.
But the possibility of the Hellfire Club mobilizing again was definitely a scary thought for all of them. They knew that these people were evil in a way that made Magneto look like a novice. They had already caused so much harm and once more, they had defeated them twice already. And if any part of them was still alive…It was a pretty save assumption that they wanted revenge.
"So…If by chance it is them…What should we do?" asked Jamie, having not directly faced them, but had heard enough horror stories to understand how serious it was.
"Beats me…" said Bobby as he closed his eyes and tried not to think about such things at the moment, using Jubilee's presence to help him along the way, "But if it really is Hellfire again…Then I think that's all the more reason for us to rest up and be ready for whatever happens next."
-New York-
The X-Men had taken a quick trip to New York and were outside the Metropolitan Museum of Natural History. The regular team was there as well as Logan and Storm since Beast and Sage had to stay behind with the others just in case also someone had to look after the New Mutants. Scott looked at Slayer since it was his vision that said they would be needed here. "So you're sure that Selene will strike here?"
"Definitely, but just remember, you won't be up against humans, cyborgs, or mutants this time. These are creatures of darkness so don't hold back and if they go down, make sure they stay down," Slayer told them all.
"So how are we going to get in?" Warren asked. He didn't want to break into this place, but then again they had to.
"Well Gambit could always by pass de security." Everyone gave him a look. "What? I was a thief."
"Vell, I could get a few of us in, but not all," Kurt commented.
"Don't worry," Slayer told him, "I got it covered," Then as a small chant came from his lips purple smoke started to appear, for a moment they couldn't see anything and felt like they were sliding to the right, then as she smoke slowly faded they were in a large open space of the museum with a few displays about.
"Well that was handy," Logan comment before turning to Slayer, "So what exactly are we looking for?"
"It was some type of sphere made out of gold and silver about the size of a basket ball. It would look really old and covered in Samarian in black writing." He told them as he looked around.
"Uh…What does Samarian writing look like?" Kitty asked him.
"Just look for strange writing then." He sighed, forgetting not everyone knew what that dead language looked like. He wished he could use his eye to pin point it, but some times he couldn't get the damn thing to work when he wanted it to and of course it wouldn't now. He had already put a glamour on the team so that no one would see them…Well no mortal eyes at least. Last thing they needed was to be seen by security, so as long as they didn't say anything, they would all go unnoticed.
They started to look around in the cases and displays, Gambit looked at a few things with a smirk on his face, "Remy always wanted to come here."
"Don't even think about it swamp rat," Rogue told him seeing him eye the items.
"What?" he shrugged with an innocent 'who me?' look to his face. She just crossed her arms giving him a hard look, "Chere you wound Gambit. He may have been a thief but dat's all in de past."
"It better beh. I don't want to put my own boyfriend in jail on general principle," she grinned at him. He raised an eyebrow at that, "What? Lahke Ah would let ya steal, let alone become an accomplice to that? Ah'm not an idiot ya know."
They went through the rest of the museum. Kitty, however, was a bit too preoccupied with her own thoughts. These weren't thoughts of the Hellfire Club or of her boyfriend next to her…It was about her faith. She had grown up in a fairly typical Jewish home and she believed in the teachings of the Torah and in Judaism. Now her faith focused more on life then the afterlife, so it was pretty open to personal opinion on what happens. Some believed that you did go to some type or heaven or were reincarnated into a new life, or waited until the Messiah came. A few did believe that evil souls were either destroyed or tormented by their personal demons of their own creation.
But for Kitty, she never really thought that Hell existed. Her parents didn't so that was how she was raised. But on the way, here Slayer filled them in on the dark gate he saw and that it literally held back the minions of hell. Everyone didn't like the sound of it, but to Kitty it was a blow to her personal beliefs. She always thought hell was just a concept and that when you died, if you weren't good you were sent back to try again. But to learn that hell actually exists, let alone Selene was trying to open the door…It was just a bit much on her.
Piotr had noticed how quiet Kitty was. He knew her well enough to know that when she wasn't talking then she was thinking of something that required deep thought.
"Katya are you okay?" he gently asked her.
Kitty woke up from her deep thinking, "It's…Nothing trust me." She gave him a smile so he wouldn't worry.
Kurt and Wanda were near one area with a large window to the streets. "You got any idea what this thing might be called in here?"
"None," Kurt sighed and then he used his tail to wrap around her arm, "But does zhat look like vhat ve should be looking for?"
Wanda looked at what he was pointing at and saw an object exactly what Slayer described to them. She read the name plate it was called the Orb of Weller, named after some guy that found it and no one knew what it was for. "Looks like it to me," she said and touched the small communicator all X-Men wore, "Guys I think we found it."
"Good, where are you two?" Scott came onto the other line. Wanda was about to answer, but then noticed that she could see her breath. Kurt noticed that the air had suddenly chilled and he looked around, for there had seem to be more shadows then he last saw.
"We're in the West side, and hurry…I don't think we're alone," Wanda told them and got ready, feeling her skin crawl as if something was watching her, "I really don't like this."
Kurt nodded his head. Then it came out of the shadows, a creature just smaller then them only it was part human part spider looking. It moved fast and knocked Wanda to the ground as it went for Kurt, he teleported just as it took a swipe at him with a long clawed tipped arm. The creature looked confused and Kurt reappeared above it and slammed down onto it as hard as he could.
He felt one of Wanda's hex bolts past him and he looked to his left seeing another creature only this one being bigger and covered in scales being sent into a display case. He nodded his thanks to her, but soon the sounds of hissing and growls from the darkness told them that things were just getting started. The others tried to make it to them, but all of a sudden out of the darkness creatures and monsters that looked as if they came from horror movies and the deepest inner most fears and nightmares started to come out of the shadows as if they were using them as doorways.
Many of them were fighting their way through. Slayer's sword was doing the most damage as it was mystical in origin and so hurt the most, but the others did fairly well. Warren took the skies in the larger areas with Storm and Rogue as they fought the aerial creatures while the others stayed on the ground to fight. Emma was in her diamond form and doing fairly well. She may not have super strength, but she also hit pretty hard and could take a lot of damage. She was fairly proud of how well her fighting skills had progressed since she started to train.
She side kicked one creature in what looked like the gut, ducked under another and gave an uppercut that knocked it down. She did a spin kick to the temple of another as it fell hard to the floor from the impact. Yes, she was fairly proud indeed. She fought on with small smile on her face. She blocked the claws of one of the creature which then shattered against her arm and then did a left jab to the throat then face. She took a few steps back seeing Vince throw the creature and demons aside like they were nothing.
She was about to go and lend a hand when she felt dizzy all of a sudden. She felt a pain in her stomach and clutched in hissing in pain. 'Oh god…What's happening…' she thought to herself, no longer able to hold her balance as fell to her knees.
Vince could sense something was wrong with her and looked over to see Emma on her knees then fall to the floor her diamond form slowly changing back to normal.
"Emma!" Vince shouted out to her and went to aid her, but a demon threw a punch at his face. It only turned his head, but it really piss him off. He wiped his head back his eyes glowing with crimson light and punched the thing's head clean off it's body. He saw other moving onto Emma's form and he roared at them his hands glowing and formed a crimson blade in each hand as he moved with blinding speed cutting and slashing his way through them. He reached Emma as a large demon was lifting her up by her hair.
"Hands off!" He yelled out and jumped kicked the thing through a wall. He caught her and gently pulled her to a corner to defend her unconscious body. He didn't see any damage other then to her uniform so he didn't know what knocked her out like that. But he would defend her body until this was over, he just hoped the others were doing well.
The others were just holding. Logan, Slayer, Scott, and Jean had managed to hook up with Kurt and Wanda and help them to defend the orb. "How many more of these things are there?" Logan roared out decapitating a monster and then jumped onto another slashing at it.
"I have no idea. We just have to fight until they back off or they run out of demons to send at us," Slayer said slicing through three creatures.
"Well that's not good," Scott said blasting a demon into two others, "How about we just take the thing and get out of here?"
"Yeah, that would work I don't think they could follow," Slayer agreed.
"Scarlet Witch! You're up!" Cyclops order to her, she nodded and fired a hex bolt at the display and the glass withered and shattered. But as soon as the glass shattered, it was as if they sensed that they were about to lose the artefact and more of them rushed towards them as Wanda grabbed it.
"We're going to need some help here," Jean said straining herself trying to hold back many of them with her powers. She saw that Gambit and Psylocke were already busy as Shadowcat and Colossus were not too far from the other mutants as well, but not close enough to her and the others.
When it looked as though they were about to be overrun, there was a blinding light from outside and all turned to it. There was a roaring sound and then the glass of the window shattered as a motor cycle came crashing through it flying into the air. The rider jumped as the bike took out a score of monsters before it stopped. The rider started to fight the creature with inhuman strength as she punched, kicked and threw them around like they were nothing. The mysterious rider fought like a warrior as she tore through the demonic ranks.
Slayer's All Seeing Eye glowed for a bit and he smiled at the irony of it all, "Well…This was unexpected, but I'm not against it," he muttered to himself.
The rider took off her helmet and spun around smashing it over the head of a demon trying to sneak up from behind. Her long dark hair spilled free as the helmet broke apart against the force of impact, "Damn it…I really lose too many helmet that way," August muttered as the threw the remains of it away and started to battle the creatures.
"Who are you?" Scott asked her blasting away and taking advantage of the confusion of her entrance cased.
"Don't got time for the long version," she said ducking and then punching was wolf-like creature in the snout as a loud crack was heard from her breaking bones, "Short version is this: I'm August, I'm on a quest to destroy the evil bitch Selene. I heard her minions were on the move here so came to kick their ass and piss the bitch off. That good enough?"
"For now yes," Scott took a shot to the golden chest plate and fired a blast at the creature taking its head off with it, "We can do the more in-depth stuff later."
"Hey what the hell am I supposed to do with this thing?" Wanda shouted out but then cried out as talons cut her shoulder.
"Vanda!" Kurt shouted and helped her up, he saw some blood on her shoulder but it didn't look too back, "Are you alright?"
"I…I think so…God damn that hurts…Shit! Where's the thing? I dropped it!" Wanda looked around and saw it on the floor a few feet away they made for it, but something swooped down and crabbed it with a dark laughter in its voice.
Jean saw this and tried to open a mental link with the others to see if they were okay and if anyone could bring it down, but as soon as she lowered her mental barriers and tried to reach out and find the others she felt a presence take notice of her. She looked to her left in the battle and there was this shadowy form there with red piercing eyes looking at her, it seemed to be made of shadows and didn't have any form to it. Jean was about to put up her mental barriers when it quickly flew at her.
She went in for a punch, but instead of connecting the thing actually went inside of her. Jean clutched her stomach feeling very sick at that moment, feeling nothing but cold all over her.
"Jean!" Scott yelled out he had seen the thing enter her and she slowly turned to Scott, her face puzzled as to what just happened. Then, Jean flew back onto a wall crying out as she seemed stuck on it.
The creature with the orb flew out of a skylight into the night at that point as many covered themselves from the falling glass. Scott yelled out to her as the other demons started to leave, for their job done. Jean flung her head side to side as if trying to fight something and she started to speak in a language Scott had never heard before. "Jean what's wrong!"
Jean slowly looked at Scott and grinned at him, "Sorry, but Jean isn't here anymore Slim." Jean's voice had taken on a demonic tone as she flung her hand and sent Scott flying with her powers laughing at it.
August noticed this and swore under her breath. She knew a possession when she saw one. She dung into the backs on her bike looking for something as the others tried to fight off the demonic Jean. She rummaged through it and found a long strip of paper with Chinese incantation on it. August then ran over to the tall red head, "Hey! She-Bitch! Christo!"
'Jean' flinched at the name of god in Latin. The name causing slight pain for the creature of darkness as August managed to jump and stick the paper on her forehead. But 'Jean' used the powers she possessed to fling August through the air. August tried to land on her feet, but the TK blast felt like a brick wall slamming into her and so she fell onto the floor knocked out. Jean, however, ended up falling to the floor like a puppet with it's strings cut.
Scott moved to Jean wondering what the hell was going on. He went to move the paper from her face when Slayer yelled out to him.
"Scott, don't! That's the only thing keeping the rest of us safe," yelled Slayer as he knelt down next to Jean and sensed her aura, but what he saw wasn't good.
"Jack, what the hell is going on?" Scott demanded of him.
Slayer sighed, "She opened her mind and it was all a demon needed to enter her and posses her body. Damn…I've seen this kind of demon before. They're parasites and live off the life force of their victims."
"Can't you destroy it?" Scott asked him getting worried.
"Not while it's inside. Outside the body it's easy to kill these things, but inside is tricky." Slayer pulled a potion out and then proceeded to pour it down Jean's throat, she coughed, but it went down. "That will buy us some time. Once these things get inside they're a bitch to get out…We'll have to take her back and perform an exorcism."
"What? Like in the movies?"
Slayer shook his head, "It ain't always that simple. But thankfully, we're dealing with low level demon scum here. I can pull it out, but it will take time and help." He looked over to August. "Someone take her. We'll need her I can sense magic in her plus I get the feeling we met her for a reason."
"I thought you didn't believe in fate?" Logan asked him picking up the dark haired girl.
"I don't, but that doesn't mean that higher forces are at work. You think anyone on this plane of existence or another want that damned door to open?" Slayer said as Scott gently took Jean into his arms. She felt so cold to him. The others showed up as well, Vince carrying Emma with a very concerned look on his face. Just then, sirens could be heard in the distance.
"That's our cue to leave. Selene may have won this round, but rest assured, it's not over yet," Slayer said with a determined expression as the purple smoke rose up around them and engulfed them all and soon after there was no trace of the mutants.
NEXT UP CHAPTER 65: THE EXORCISM OF JEAN GREY