"I don't want to kill you, sorcerer."
"That's encouraging."
"But you will not stop me. Now stand aside."
"I can't do that, Blythe. I won't." Why? 'Cause I'm an idiot. A fool who was about to throw his life away … and yet I couldn't stand aside.
Still … that didn't mean I had to make it easy for her.
"Vapors of Valtorr!"
Out of nowhere a thick fog sprang up, obscuring everyone, everything...
"No! You can't hide them from me!"
I felt something sweep across the room and the fog was pushed back … it didn't dissipate, but the immediate area was no longer hidden.
"You are as nothing to me, sorcerer. All your knowledge. All your power. And you are nothing."
"Believe me, I've heard that before! Rains of Raggadorr!"
A small thunderstorm materialized above Blythe's head and began striking her repeatedly with lightning bolts. Once. Twice. Three times. Four …
Blythe was knocked out of the air. She was driven to her knees.
"Kill her!" Metalyx screamed. "Kill her now while you have the chance!"
The sudden shout, the bloodlust … it momentarily broke my concentration.
The fog vanished. The thunderstorm faded to nothing.
Blythe rose to her feet. "Nice try, sorcerer. But now it's my turn." She held out her hand.
And I was suddenly five feet off the ground held in what felt like a grip of iron.
She brought her hand down violently to her side.
And I smashed into the deck with enough force to dent it.
My ward momentarily flared into visibility at the impact … a sign of just how powerful the impact had been.
But it held.
I hurt like hell, but I wasn't a bloody smear on the deck.
"Impressive, sorcerer."
She made another gesture and I was thrown across the room until I collided into the wall. Again my ward flared, but it still held.
"Most impressive. I wonder how much force it will take to shatter your little cocoon. Let's find out, shall we?"
She gestured, and the bars her cage were torn free, their ends aiming rather uncomfortably at my mid-section.
"Let's not, Cherie! You mess with one of my friends and you pay the price!"
Gambit leaped out of the ward I had placed on the X-Men and threw a deck full of cards into Blythe's face. They exploded with enough force to cause her to cover her face.
The bars dropped down.
Rogue flew out of the ward as well and slammed into Blythe, knocking her into the wall opposite mine. "Now y'all need to calm down! Those are mah boys you're knocking around and Ah don't appreciate it!"
Hank also leaped out of the ward … which made me wonder why I bothered to cast it in the first place. He looked up at me. "How are you, Kyle?"
I shrugged. "Oh fine. Just hanging around …"
And at that moment Blythe's hold on me faltered and I fell … right into Hank's arms.
"Ah, the young people who normally fall into my arms happen to be of the female gender, Kyle." He gently sat me back on my feet.
"Thanks, Hank. How's the Wicked Mutant of the Future doing?"
Rogue walked over, carrying the limp body of Blythe and tossed her onto the deck.. "Ah think she's down for the count."
Metalyx and Iron Horse had also been freed. The giant robot walked over with the dog's head helmet that he had used on her before. "This will put her back under control."
"No." Metalyx limped over, her cybernetic blade extended and so sharp that the edge seemed to shine. "She's too powerful, too dangerous. We have to destroy her now."
"Destroy her and we never return home," Iron Horse reminded her.
"Go home to a dying world? No! I'd rather stay here anyway—and even if this were hell and our world a paradise I would still give it up to kill her! She killed my husband! She killed my children! She dies—now!"
And Metalyx thrust down with her blade …
But it didn't connect. Blythe, her eyes open and glowing, looked up at Metalyx. "Too late, Metalyx. As usual."
The blade flew up and away from Blythe and embedded itself in Metalyx's head.
"No!" Iron Horse screamed.
"As for you, my dear Anthony, I think a worse fate than death would be to send you back to your future … without Rogue … without me. Without the power you need to save a world that deserves to die. Farewell, my once-love."
"Blythe! No! No!"
And the Iron Horse faded away in a shimmer of light.
Rogue, Remy, Hank, and I were suddenly hovering in mid-air again.
"You made a good effort, X-Men, but it was too little, too late. Metalyx, was right. I am a killer. And you know what? I like it. This is what I was meant to do. I am become Shiva … the Destroyer of Worlds. And your world … your world is next."
I stared into her eyes … her glowing, madness filled eyes, and knew what I had to do.
Even the Lady agreed with me. I could hear her in the back of my mind. Yes, Kyle. She is too dangerous to our plans. End this now. You have the power.
"Blythe?"
"You have last words, sorcerer?"
"Yes. I'm sorry."
"Sorry for fighting me? For resisting? It's far too late for that."
"No. For this. Demons of Denak!"
A gaping hole opened up beneath her … a Pit filled with fire, smoke, and the screams of the damned.
"Whatever you do, don't look into the Pit," I told the X-Men.
But I looked.
The X-Men didn't see what grabbed hold of Blythe, but I did. It's a memory that will haunt me all the days of my life. I still have nightmares about it.
Blythe screamed. She raged. She fought with all her power…
But it wasn't enough.
Even I couldn't save her from what I had unleashed.
She screamed as the Things I had called took hold of her. She screamed as she was pulled down … down into darkness … down into the Pit.
She was still screaming as the Pit.
And she screams even now. I hear her in my dreams.
"Kyle," Rogue whispered. "What did you do?"
I had no words for what I had done.
"Oh my stars and garters," Hank whispered. "Blythe was powering the Helicarrier. Without her, it has no power. Without power we'll …"
Hank didn't have to finish. We all knew what he meant. We could all feel it … the sudden lurching, as though we were in a rapidly descending elevator or rollercoaster …
The Helicarrier was falling …