Episode IX: Just a touch of... Magik!
The gigantic vessel moved slowly towards Earth. Piloted by the combined efforts of humans and mutants, the ship returned to the planet below. However, as they got closer, Anthony Stark shouted.
"What's wrong?" asked Storm as Stark used his elastic powers to stretch his hand towards the ship's controls.
"We have to stop! We cannot go home yet!" he tried to take the controls from Gwen Stacy, but she did not allow him to.
"Why? What's wrong?" she asked surprised.
"The flare! There's a solar flare in our path! We can't go through it! The radiation alone would be enough to kill all of us!" he said pointing at a screen monitor.
"Good reason..." mumbled Dazzler
Gwen Stacy didn't hesitate. She began to stop the ship, pressing the buttons. However she soon found out something she did not like. "Crap... it was going on automatic... I wasn't piloting it."
"Are you a retard? How did you not realize this?" shouted Dazzler
"I... I don't know how this happened... I thought I had complete control..." said Stacy as panic began to take over her. She began flipping every key, and Sunfire and Dazzler imitated her. "I can't... I can't turn it off."
"Perhaps... perhaps I can absorb the radiation." mused Sunfire
"How long?" asked Storm "How long before we hit the flare?"
"Seven or eight minutes top." said Stark looking at the screen.
Storm turned to Lila. "Lila listen to me. Ten thousand humans depend on us. No they depend on you. You need to go to where the stasis chambers are and teleport them all to safety. You power works between planets, so go to Terra and then to Earth."
"Ororo ... I ... can't... you know... I ..." she said, shivering in her uncertainty.
"Lila, there is nothing wrong with your powers, only a lack of confidence. I trust you Lila. I know you can do it." said Storm looking in her eyes. "You don't need Braddock to guide you. It's all in you. If you don't do it... no one will."
Slowly, Lila Cheney agreed and Storm spoke again. "Stark take her to where the humans are. She'll save them."
"And what about us?" said Doom, entering the room as the two left.
"I know!" said Gwen Stacy, she flicked a switch. "Ms Braddock... can you hear me?"
There was no response from the intercom. "You have to stop. Stop powering the ship." There was no reply whatsoever.
Doom turned to the door. "Bah! I knew you mutants would be the death of us. I'll make those two stop." But the door closed before him with a metallic swishing sound, stopping him. "What madness is this?" he said turning around.
A voice was heard all over the ship, more ominous than thunder. "You have stolen one of Apocalypse's most prized possessions. You will all die."
"Rasputin!" said Doom in shock, recognizing the voice as the ship increased its speed.
Elisabeth Braddock stopped the energy flow, releasing Exodus's mind. "I know that voice"
Exodus screamed, his eyes wide open and flashing with energy, feeling a deep attack. And then, as suddenly as the attack began it ended, and Exodus fell unconscious, as energy continued to pour from him to the machine.
Betsy run towards the door, but it shut before her, and she began pounding on it with no effect.
"What now?" asked Pietro from his wheelchair
"We're all dead..." said Gwen Stacy sinking in her chair.
"As I said before, I might be able to absorb the radiation." said Sunfire, levitating slightly, his body burning once more.
"Might is not good enough, mutie." said Doom
"I can save us! But... but I can't reach Ms Braddock or Paris..." said Illyana lowering her head.
"What do you mean child?" asked Storm
"I have powers! I can bring us home!" the seven year old said.
"You are too small, too young...you can't do it!" said Pietro
"I can try!" she said frowning her brow.
"Demonchild only help!" shouted Jamie Braddock as loud as he could, smiling broadly.
"You are too young Illyana. The effort might kill you." said Storm
"We're all dead anyway..." said Dazzler
"I can! You'll see!" and then a circle of white light erupted at her feet, and she fell through it.
"Illyana!" shouted Pietro, extending his hand, feeling useless in her chair.
Five unbearable seconds later a light disc appeared below every person in the ship's bridge, and they all fell through them, leaving the ship silent, with only the faint pounding of Elisabeth Braddock echoing through it.
"Where are we?" asked Gwen Stacy, looking around. They found themselves in a cavern of some sort, surprised and confused.
"Hulk confused." said the orange skinned behemont scratching his head.
"Damn muties..." said Doom rising from the ground.
Ororo looked at Pietro, his wheelchair had tipped over. She rushed to his aid, while Sunfire straightned his chair.
"Let me go... I can return to my own chair, I'm not that useless." he said, refusing her help.
Jamie Braddock's wheelchair, however, did not tip over, and he stared blankly at the cavern's ceiling.
"Where are we?" asked Dazzler, holding Lockheed in her arms, who seemed as confused as they were.
"And where is Illyana?" asked Storm, trying not to think about Pietro's rejection.
"That..." said a voice behind them "...is none of your business." a very tall being moved slightly towards them. He was very tall, skin was purple and he had claws and fangs, the only word fit to describe him would be demon. And then they saw several other demons behind him, circling them.
"Who are you? Where are we? Doom demands his questions answered!" said Doom, showing no fear as he adressed the demon.
"You're in Hell. I am your killer." said the demon, and with a gutural scream he hurled himself at Doom, who created a shield of invisible force before him.
As one, the demons attacked. Sunfire, Storm and Dazzler positioned themselves in a circle, protecting Pietro and Jamie, the first wallowing in self-pity, and the latter looking still at the ceiling, humming a tune. Gwen Stacy rose her body on flames, and she attacked the demons with no hesitation, flying around the cavern, followed closely by Lockheed, who imitated her.
"Hulk will smash puny demons!" said the Hulk, hurling himself with all his rage towards the demons.
The battle continued for a few moments, until an ominous voice sounded all over the place. "Now now Sy'm... this isn't Hell exactly... though it might look like it for some." He flicked his fingers and the demons vanished, except for Sy'm, the purple giant facing Doom, who stopped his attack. "Welcome mutants... welcome to my realm, welcome to Limbo."
"Not all of us are mutants." said Doom, his eyes never leaving Sy'm's Hulk scratched his head confused.
Pietro moved his wheelchar past Storm, adressing the one-armed demon in front of them. "Who are you? Where is Illyana?"
"My my my... where are my manners... I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Belasco, absolute ruler of Limbo." he said, making a mock reverence. "And this is my apprentice..." he said as a chain appeared on his hand. He yanked it forcefully and they saw it tethered to a young woman, a teenager, wearing a white cape and hood, with a shiny metal armor underneath, her face was unmistakeable.
"By the Goddess! Illyana!" said Storm surprised.
"We made it." said Tony Stark as he, Lila Cheney, and ten thousand humans in stasis tubes appeared suddenly near the city of Berlin, on a beach.
"O... Ororo was right..." smiled Lila Cheney as she began to faint.
Tony moved fast and prevented her from falling. As he wrapped his arms around he, he kissed her lips passionately. "Thank you."
"You... are ... welcome." she said, loosing conciousness, failing to hear the metallic sound of several sentinels dropping from the skies, surrounding them.
"How is this possible?" asked Pietro in shock
"Limbo, my dear pets, doesn't work like Earth. It touches all of time, and time passes her at the sam time, so, while you waited, in those fateful five seconds you thought you were doomed, young Ms Rasputin lived eight years trapped here." said Belasco, stroking the chain. "She was a wild one, even in those early days but in the end I tamed her and she became my unwilling apprentice."
A bolt of lightning erupted out of nowhere, striking at Belasco's feet. "Release her!" said Storm angrily.
"Make me." smiled Belasco, snapping his fingers and conjuring back the demons he had vanished.
"Great, get him mad." saiz Dazzler, releasing a blast of pure energy at a cluster of demons "...meanwhile PAris and Betsy are dying... or dead for all we know."
"Hulk happy, Hulk can smash demons again!" said simply the Hulk, swinging his fists all around.
"I do not believe we need humans in this melee, regardless how fantastic they are, don't you agree my dear?" said Belasco
Illyana's eyes flashed and three stepping discs cuased Doom, Hulk and Gwen Stacy to dissapear.
"Storm! We lost our backup!" said Sunfire rising slowly, firing a blast at Sy'm.
Ororo placed a hand inside her costume, retrieving a gun, hidden in her belt. "Here Pietro." she said, as she conjured wind to scatter the demons in front of them.
"Where--?" asked Pietro staring at the gun
"Stole it from Doom." she said smiling. He looked up. At last their eyes met again, but when Ororo Munroe saw the emotion in Pietro's eys, all she could feel for him was pity. She erased those thoughts. "Fan out! Bring them down!" she resumed her role as leader.
Sunfire blasted at Sy'm's feet and the demon did his best to avoid the blast, while Dazzler and Pietro kept the demons away from Jamie and Lockheed and Storm flew around the cavern.
"I love a good tussle..." said Belasco. "There's five of them and we happen to need five bloodstones, created from their souls... aren't we lucky? Go my pet... bring them down." he said clutching the chain ever harder. The mystic chain became invisible, and Illyana drew her sword, moving towards the battle. The demons moved aside as she walked towards her former teammates.
"Illyana stop!" said Dazzler, pointing her hands at her. "I don't want to hurt you."
"Don't call me that. My name is Magik." she said her eyes glowing with fury and energy. In less than a second she teleported, appearing behind Dazzler. Without hesitation or mercy she skewered the mutant with her soulsword. Dazzler emited a feeble whimper and fell. Magik turned to see Pietro, who was holding his gun.
"Illyana... stop..." he said. She smiled. He pulled the trigger, yet her sword absorbed the blast and re-channeled it at him. Pietro screamed and then she passed her sword through his heart, and he fell in the same way Dazzler did.
Her eyes turned to Jamie, who didn't say a word, though their eyes connected for a second. Magik almost lost herself in them, but she regained her stance, and stabbed him next.
"Fire can't hurt me for long..." said Sy'm, grabbing Shiro's hands. "Let's see what you do now."
Sunfire was held from his hand, his feet in the air. Without thinking too much he kicked Sy'm's groing, and he released him. "Something like that is ok?" he gloated
"It was excelent." said Magik behind him as she passed her sword through his heart.
Ororo turned to see Sunfire fall. "Shiro!" she shouted, her eyes fixed on Magik's. The teenager smiled and whistled. Lockheed flew at her side at once, rubbing his head against her arm. Ororo frowned, flying towards her. "You will not fell me easily."
"She might not..." said Belasco, conjuring bands out of thin air, binding her as she hovered. "...but with a little help, maybe..." and Magik threw her soulsword at Storm, who fell like the others, feeling a deep pain in her soul.
"Job's almost done my pet..." said Belasco, the chain reappearing in his hand. "Sy'm prepare everything for the ritual."
Sy'm clutched his groin. "Yes... master..." he said in a high-pitched voice unlike his.
"Hopeless... it's hopeless..." said Elisabeth Bradock, sitting against the door. After a couple of seconds she stood up and walked towards Exodus' unconscious form. "I hope I can save you at the very least." she said, entering his mind, using the last dregs os psionic power he possessed to telekinetically shield him. Betsy fell to the ground, defeated, feeling heat all around, the ship was on flames, the radiation of the solar flare bathing it completely, bathing her, and as she felt her life slipping away she cried her brother's name, hoping the X-Men would take care of him, now that she was unable to do it anymore...
Ororo opened her eyes slowly. She was chained to a wall, her hands and legs tightly held against it. She could see a star inside a circle, drawn in the floor, and Belasco sitting on a throne, with Sy'm at one side, and Magik with Lockheed on the other.
"Ah... you wake up at last! Cherish it, for it is the last time you will do so..." said Belasco, putting down a goblet
"Foul Demon! Spawn of Satan! Release us!" said Storm, writhing in her chains, unable to call the elements.
"Flattery won't get you anywhere. You are hardly in a position to make demands, Storm." he replied with a big smile
"What do you intend to do with us?" asked Pietro.
"Now there's a question I've been dying to answer..." said Belasco standing up. "See this five pointed star?" he said, pointing at the floor. "A Bloodstone on each tip will open a portal, a portal to Earth, so me and my army of demons can go and conquer, maim, kill, yadda, yadda, yadda..." He moved closer to his prisoners. "A Bloodstone is created from a soul, a human soul... well, mutant in your case..." He walked towards Magik and grabbed her soulsword. "And guess what is one of the abilities of this wondrous sword?" he said, aiming at them with it.
"Just kill us and be done with it. I hate it when the villains begin monologuing..." Dazzler said rolling her eyes upwards.
"You won't die..." said Belasco ominously. "... once your souls are extricated from your bodies, you will become souless drones, and I will reshape you in my image. You will be my generals, leading my demon army as we conquer Earth first, and then the Universe!" He lifted the sword high as it glowed. The X-Men braced themselves and Belasco pointed the sword at them, laughing madly as it released a bolt of eldritch energy.
However the crimson energy did not harm the mutants, the bolt split, changing its direction suddenly, striking at the chains, releasing the X-Men. At the same time, the sword burned Belasco's hand, who threw it screaming.
Without hesitation or time wasting, Ororo fired a bolt of lightning at Sy'm, followed by a gust of wind as Dazzler and Sunfire shoot Belasco, who fell hard from the combined attack.
"The sword only responds to its true master..." said Illyana, breaking the mystic chain around her neck. "...and that's me, Magik!"
The soulsword hovered and levitated towards Illyana's hand. "Furthermore, the soulsword belongs to the rightful ruler of Limbo, that's why you sought to bind me to you."
"How... how did you break free?" said Belasco, standing up slowly, his eyes revealing the madness within.
"Jamie did it. I don't know how, but when I looked in his eyes, the spell broke..."
"You... you'll pay for this." said the demon.
"Unlikely." responded Magik, lifting her soulsword abover her head. "X-Men, let's go home... he can't hurt us anymore." she added, swinging her sword above her head. The X-Men fell again through white discs, their eyes bathed in white light. And soon they found themselves on Earth at last.
Ororo smiled, feeling Mother Earth's touch on her mind, regaining her rapport with her home planet. And then they saw her, Lila Cheney, alone, unconscious in the sand.
"Lila!" said Storm surprised.
"Something's wrong here..." said Pietro, looking around the deserted beach.
"We're not alone." said Sunfire
Suddenly, a dozen sentinels became visible, as well as Doom and his allies. "Surrender mutants... you are all under arrest."
"Doom!" said Storm, holding Lila , her eyes crackling with lightning and the skies turned dark.
"I won't repeat myself mutant... what... what is that?" he said, poiting at the sky behind the X-Men
"Seriously, you don't think we'll fall for that one..." said Dazzler crossing her arms.
"Maybe we should." said Sunfire looking up.
A massive fireball fell from the sky. A couple of Sentinels tried to stop it, but they were incinerated by the heat as they approached it. With a loud thud, the fireball impacted deep in the Baltic Sea, causing a gigantic wave. Storm lifted her hands, creating winds to deflect the wave as it hit all around them. She found her winds supported by Doom's shield of invisible force. And when the wave fell, and the sea calmed, it happened. A lone figure rose from the crash site, from the middle of the sea. A woman, dressed in a bright green costume, her long purple hair glowing behind her. And Elisabeth Braddock shouted. "Hear me X-Men! No longer am I the woman you knew! I am fire! And life incarnate! Now and forever-- I am Phoenix!" and a fiery bird manifested itself behind her. The bird stretched its wings, enveloping the X-Men, lifting Exodus' unconscious form from the sea, and, in less than second, the Phoenix flapped its wings, flying towards teh south at its topmost speed.
When Doom reacted, Phoenix and the X-Men were far away already. "I'll find you some day muties... and you will all meet your Doom!" he said, closing his fists.
"You gotta recognize something Vic... they got style." added Gwen Stacy
"Indeed." smiled Tony Stark, looking the fiery trail left by the mutant's escape.
To be Continued...!