(A/N: Chapter Ten has arrived, here to tie off the Mephisto's Realm story arc and end the first half of the story!! Fireshifter: Your concerns have been noted, and so I've put in a bit of Logan face-pounding.)
"Kitty? Oh, Kitty? Wake up, little cat. Face the lion." Kitty's eyes opened, stung. She closed them tight again. "Aww, did the wind sting your wittle face?" A malicious laugh. Azazel's laugh. "Well you'd better get used to it. You're going to be here for a while."
Kitty shivered as the demon walked off. She looked around. Now there was a large pentacle on the ground. Her stomach did a flip. Was Azazel planning to sacrifice them? She whimpered a bit behind her gag. Blackheart was busy picking his fingernails. Her heart fluttered. She should just give up.
~NO kitty!~ Jean's voice rang through her head. ~Don't give up. You can't give up!~
Kitty shook her head dismally, tears running down her face. ~Jean… Why not? Kurt is dead, we're all tied up, and that monster… thing is going to eat our friends when they get here!~ Jean's mind sent comforting thoughts into hers.
~Can you see John letting that thing eat him?~ Thinking about that made kitty want to laugh. ~Haha. No, I can see your point. But still.~ She put her chin on her chest in thought. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by a loud 'BOOM!' A man flew over the camp, casting lightning from his hands. Kitty knew him as Dr. Strange from a previous encounter. He was wading through the throng of demons, blowing them to powder left and right. Kitty was amazed.
Blackheart got to his feet, his eyes glowing bloody murder. ~STRANGE! You DARE interfere!?~ It began to sprint towards the sorceror supreme. But a low roar, like that of a fire, ran through the air.
A motorbike appeared out of nowhere, slamming hard into Blackheart. "YOU'RE MINE!!" Ghost Rider drove the beast into a wall, making a loud 'BOOM' and a billowing shroud of smoke and dust.
While Strange fought the Demons, Azazel was floating towards him. "The sorceror supreme… what a pleasant surprise."
Strange turned to face Azazel. "When this is through, you'll be banished again, Azazel. Don't think otherwise."
The Demon King simply laughed. "I find that hard to believe." Then they engaged in combat. Thunder shook the sky. Lightning rent the earth and fire scorched the world around the two combatants. And while this went on, something snuck up behind kitty. It pulled her gag down and she started to scream, but a hand clamped over her mouth. "Kitty, Shh! Do you want to get us all killed?" Laura's voice. They came. Laura got her down from the cross. John and Bobby were busy untieing Cyclops and Jean. "Help us get the others." Laura whispered. "We're taking this fight to them!"
Kurt could see it all. He couldn't stop any of it. "See this Kurti… This is why your father had to get a new body." A flash of lightning. Strange's hastily thrown up shield of energy. "To deal with human scum like this."
Kurt ignored him. He could feel Azazel's strength weakening from Strange's onslaught. The chains that held him were- was it his imagination?- fading away to nothing slowly. He grimaced, straining against them while his father was preoccupied. Then he felt a lance of anger from his father. He looked up. Eyes wide as he saw Kitty and the others free. John, Laura, Jamie, and Iceman with them. They were shaking the weariness off of themselves and preparing for a fight. He cheered silently, but his happiness turned to dread as Azazel swatted Strange aside and turned towards his friends, anger rippling through him.
Kurt looked away, biting his lip. He couldn't watch this. A loud, angry cry of "X-MEN! GO!" And the sounds of movement. He tore his hand away from his face and watched as the X-Men sped at him. "Kurti, your friends are most determined. Ich werde sie zur halfte reiben.
Kurt screamed in agony as a million points of fire were ignited on his skin, something he recognized as a Psychic attack. Then a farmiliar voice. ~Kurt?~ Kurt had only the energy to send a mental affirmative.
~Oh, god, Kurt! You're alive!~ Jean's voice. He sent her the impression of pain. ~Kurt, hold on, we're going to get you-~ Jean's head snapped backwards, as if she were hit.
Azazel raised a hand and sent her toppling into Logan, who slammed into the ground. Kurt heard Azazel speak through him. "Pathetic! Try to get in as much as you like, you pitiful monkeys, but-"
A red beam of kinetic force slammed into his stomach, cutting off his speech. Kurt ignored the pain, cheering silently for Scott. "Will you PLEASE shut up?" Scott snarled, his visor smoking. There was a loud, angry roar as Beast leapt for Azazel. Kurt's eyes widened. Nein. Too late. Beast was sent hurtling away with a flick of Azazel's wrist. Then, a great, ominous force assaulted Azazel. It took Kurt a moment to realize that it was Professor Xavier. He'd never realized just how powerful the professor's powers were.
Azazel jerked back with a shriek. "DAMN you Xavier!" It roared. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" A great, dark primal scream rent the air as Azazel retaliated, a psionic wave of such force it sent everyone tumbling backwards. Then, a furious snarl rent the air and something tackled Azazel to the ground. It was Wolverine! He slammed his fists into Azazel again and again, claws sheathed. Kurt cheered more, silently.
Wolverine snarled. "Get- OUT- of- the- ELF!" He accentuated every word with a punch. When he had finished, he sat back, chest heaving. His knuckles were raw, and bits of metal showed through the skin. Azazel smirked up at him, cracking his neck. Then he waved his hand and sent Wolverine sailing towards the warzone where Blackheart and Ghost Rider were fighting. He disappeared in the smoke and dust.
Kurt felt rage start to simmer inside him. Rage was an uncommon occurrence in him, and it made him feel… icky. But he felt it begin to boil inside him. John was slammed into a stone pillar. He watched as Scott's own optic blast was reflected back on Laura, and Jean was hit with a psychic wave. He watched his friends drop, one by one, and his rage grew. Then, Azazel reached for Kitty, dazed by a blast of psionic energy.
"NOT MEIN KATZCHEN!!" He screamed, unleashing all the rage built up inside him in a furious retaliatory strike directly on Azazel's mind. He watched Azazel straighten up, shriek, and grab his head in agony. Kurt screamed in fury again, and Azazel shrieked in pain again. "GET OUT OF MY BODY!" A cry mirrored both by Kurt and Azazel. "GET OUT! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!!"
Kitty looked up in shock and fear as Azazel fought against Kurt in his mind. Kurt screamed through his father's control. "GET OUT!" He said, in Kurt's voice. "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" He staggered against a spire of stone, then screamed. The horns on his head exploded into red light. His blood red fur fell from his body like a winter coat, revealing Kurt's cool blue fur. His tail lashed violently from side to side, as a figure began to from beside him.
Azazel began to materialize as his features fell away from Kurt. Kurt screamed once more in agony, and then Azazel was whole. The demon surveyed the assembled X-Men, then turned to his son. "I have no use for you anymore." Kitty screamed in fear, felt her heart break, felt horror fill her, as the Demon King flung a very exhausted Kurt into a column of flames. "KURT! NO!!!"
Azazel turned back to the others. Spouts of flame geysers were beginning to sprout up everywhere now. The X-Men looked on in horror. Kurt, their loveable, fuzzy blue elf, was dead. Azazel had finally won. Kitty's heartbroken cries washed over them as they stared in disbelief. Kitty was curled into a ball. Rogue could not believe her eyes. Then it began to hit her. Sadness welled up in her. She gave a heavy sob. Her brother was dead. No more having to put up with his ridiculous pranks, or his incorrigable smiles, or his constant brotherly concern that annoyed her so much… He was dead. She sobbed again, and cried out.
"YOU KILLED MAH BROTHAH!" She screamed, hate and rage coursing through her, tears streaming down her face. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Her voice broke, and she fell to her knees, covering her face. Azazel's laugh caught her ears. She wanted nothing more than to beat him to a pulp.
Dead silence enveloped the scene, save for the spouts of flame and the screams of the damned in the distance. Strange had finished with the demon minions. Ghost Rider and Wolverine were standing over a broken and defeated Blackheart, glaring daggers at Azazel with murder in their eyes. John had a look of grim hatred nobody had seen on his face before. X-23's face was contorted with rage, and Scott's visor was smoking as he curled his hands into fists.
Rocks and pebbles rose from the ground around Jean, shuddering in midair as her fury threatened to disintegrate the ground under her. A fine layer of frost coated Bobby's arms, and he exhaled furiously, ice coating his chest and back. All around the Demon King, X-Men were picking themselves up, looks of grim hate, rage, and murder covering their faces. Scott stood upright, ignoring the pain in his side.
"X-Men." A single, icy calm, hate packed word. "Beat his mother F%$^ing ass." Furious howls broke out on every side, as every X-Man except for Kitty, Jamie and the Professor launched furious attacks on the bastard who had killed their friend. Azazel was overwhelmed, attacked on all sides by magic, hellfire, ice, solar rays, electricity, and every other concievable type of attack anyone could think of. Furious screams of hate and rage accompanied by Azazel's futile attempts to escape the tide of anger.
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" He roared. "I AM AZAZEL! DEMON KING OF THE-" His sentence was cut short by Scott, who tore off his visor and gave Azazel the shock of his life, standing a mere foot away from the furious X-Man. He went flying back, and John stopped his rapid motion with a well-placed knee in the spine. Azazel gave a strangled choking noise, and was attacked by Logan, X-23 and Rahne, clawing and scratching and biting wherever they could. Laura kicked him in the stomach, and he staggered over to Logan, who whipped his hand out and nailed Azazel in the side of the head with a metal laced fist. Azazel stumbled over to Ghost Rider, who smirked, cracking his knuckles.
"Bein' alive's a bitch, aint it?" He growled. A wave of hellfire knocked him into the air. He was juggled around by electricity, solar rays, and energy firecrackers for a while before Sam slammed into him. "This time I REALLY HOPE I break somethin'!" He roared, flinging Azazel to the ground. He winced and covered his eyes with his arms, but no impact came.
The beaten, bloodied demon lord looked up at a VERY pissed, VERY powerful redhead telepath. "Oh shit is right." She snarled, and sent him rocketing into the air. Azazel screamed in sheer fear, all his original suave arrogance gone. Rogue caught him by the scruff of his robe, and glared into his eyes. "Mah name is Rogue. Nice to meet ya. Y'all killed mah only brothah. Prepare to get an ass whuppin' y'all'l never forgit'." She punched him in the face so hard his robe tore a bit. She proceeded to pound his face in untill her knuckles bled. Then she kicked him in between the legs as hard as she could, happy that she wore combat boots, and hurled him at the ground. He landed so hard the ground cratered out from under him, sending a violently large cloud of dust into the air. He crawled out of the hole and the clearing dust to find himself face to face with a very angry Professor Xavier. "Good evening Azazel." He said quietly. Azazel's pupils contracted, and a psychic attack so strong it would literally overload a normal human's brain assaulted him.
He screamed, trying to escape the professor's furious mental onslaught. He ran, his body healing of any bad wound. He bumped right into the one person he had REALLY been hoping to avoid, however… Dr. Strange. "Azazel. Your time is at a close." He said smoothly. Azazel turned from him, to the pack of furious X-Men, and back again. "Take me with you then." He said, trying to regain some dignity. His voice betrayed him, though, as his voice wavered with fear. "I'll make no objections." Strange nodded. "I'll be right back, X-Men. Tend to your wounded." He said. Then, he and a very terrified Azazel were gone.
Kitty knelt over Kurt's prone body. She felt numb inside. How could this happen to her Kurt? She sobbed, putting a hand on his chest. Then he twitched. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, prodding his chest. He squirmed again, emitting a pained moan. "K-Kurt?" She whispered. "Nngh… Keety… Vhy am I all… hurty?" He groaned hoarsely. Kitty cried out in happiness. "YOU'RE ALIVE!!" She screamed, wrapping her arms around him. He cried out in pain. Kitty hastily drew back. "Oops… my bad…" She put a hand on his cheek. He flinched in pain. "Keety… tell zhe ozhers…" Kitty frowned a bit. "Don't be sorry Kurt… nobody blames you."
"No… Eet's not zhat…please tell zhe others…"
"Kurt, shush. Rest. Nobody blames you."
"Keety… Tell zhe ozhers I'm ALIVE, vill you?" He wheezed out. "I vant zhem to… relax." Kitty blinked a bit. "O-oh."
"Yeah."
"You just wanted me to-"
"Mm hmm."
"I'll go do that then." Kitty frowned as her heart broke for her poor elf. He put his head back and closed his eyes in pain, as a bright light washed over him.
Kitty was worried about Kurt. Even though it had been three days since Strange had brought them back from Mephisto's Realm, Kurt hadn't woken up. His burns were severe, and the Professor had informed them that he had suffered severe psychological trauma. Bottom line was, he may not make it. Kitty stayed by Kurts side, watching him as he struggled for life.
"Please wake up Kurt… Please wake up." She whispered. The fire had burned his hair short, and as she ran her fingers through the dark, almost black blue color she sighed. His fur had regrown a lot darker than it was before, and while she liked it, she wished it would have happened naturally. She blinked away a tear, kissing Kurt's forehead. She waited for three more days before Kurt woke up. She was eating dejectedly in the dining room with the rest of the X-men. Dinner was quiet now, somber.
She was about to ask to be excused when a surprised shout came from the bathroom upstairs. "MEIN GOTT!" Kitty was out of her seat and up the stairs so fast that Pietro would be envious. Rogue was right behind her, followed by the rest of the X-Men. Kurt was in his bathroom, poking and prodding his face and hair. "KURT!!" She cried out, tackling him and wrapping her arms around him. She kissed his face over and over, and he laughed.
"Katzchen, easy, easy! I'm still sore!!" She sobbed into his chest. "I thought you weren't going to wake up…" She whispered into his chest. Kurt frowned, and she looked up into his eyes. But they too, had changed. Now, they were a solid, brilliant gold color, no whites or pupils to speak of. They glowed slightly, and when he opened his mouth, a faint glow came from his throat.
"Kurt…" Kitty turned, saw Rogue standing in the doorway. She moved aside, and Rogue hugged her brother carefully. "Ah'm so sorry Kurt… Ah never realized what it really meant to have a brothah 'till you almost died." She sniffed. "Can y'all forgive me?" She said.
Kurt, surprised, put his arms around her. "I already have, mein schwester. I already have." He closed his eyes, and they hugged for a few seconds before Rogue broke away, clearing her throat and rubbing her eye. "Ah got some makeup in mah eye… 'scuse me." She said. Kurt smiled, and Kitty slid back into his arms again. Kurt was back. Everything was going to be ok.
(A/N: Hey, I actually gave a chapter a happy ending for once! Hurrah! No cliffhangers or nothin'. Well, thanks to Avitala, LinkFangirl, and of course, Nightcrawlers Shadow, for their unwavering support and… friendshiphood… yeeeaaahhh…. Well that's the mark of the first half of the story being done folks! I can tell you all this now I think… Just one word, but I think it'll make a bunch of you excited. TRILOGY!!)