I think it says a lot about my life these days that I'm not even fazed when I run toward an exploding building.
Well. Exploded was probably the better word.
I grimaced as I took in the damage. The entire left wing looked like a bomb had gone off. Flames devoured the wooden beams while metal and brick had melted into ugly slag, ruining what had once been a picturesque building. The only saving grace was the lack of bodies.
That small relief vanished the second I saw the giant steel titan grappling with a red-horned figure in a cloak.
Fuck. Mephisto?
No. If it were him, we'd already be dead. My mind trawled through the list of magical enemies the X-Men had, and I scowled as only one came to mind.
Belasco.
Logan didn't hesitate. He charged, claws out, going straight for the demon. Beside me, Anna conjured a small mandala that twisted midair and shot forward as a rope of glowing force.
Behind us, the winds rose as Storm smothered the spreading fires, air whipping ash and sparks away from the rest of the mansion.
My lightsaber flared to life with a sharp snap-hiss, but I didn't join the charge. If Belasco were here, then—
A little behind the grappling figures, half-hidden in rubble, I saw a ragged form and a head of blonde hair.
I blinked.
Space folded, and I reappeared beside her.
Illyana was a wreck, covered in dirt and grime, dressed in little more than torn cloth. A deep gash cut across her chest, blood soaking through what remained of her clothing.
Shit.
I tore the Ring of the Sun Princess off my finger and slid it onto hers. The magic flared instantly. Maybe it was her affinity for magic or some weird demon synergy, but the wound began closing in real time, faster than it ever had for me.
Potential X-Man saved.
I looked back toward the fight and paused.
Anna's skin had turned crimson. Small horns curved from her head as whips of eldritch power coiled around her arms, snapping out to bind Belasco. Logan and, judging by the metallic bulk, Colossus were working in tandem, hammering the demon sorcerer with everything they had.
Red power pulsed over Belasco's body, forming a shimmering barrier. He looked more irritated than endangered.
I frowned. I wasn't sure my lightsaber could cut through that.
"Swo…" a weak whisper reached me. Illyana had pushed herself upright, barely. "Sword… need it… can banish him."
"Where?"
Her trembling finger pointed.
I followed the gesture and spotted the Soulsword lying almost directly beneath Belasco's heel.
…Goddammit.
"I've got it. Just be ready."
I stepped forward and drew in a slow breath. The air around me crackled faintly, thunder breathing filling my body with strength.
Then I blinked and went in.
I slashed straight for Belasco's eyes. His clawed hand snapped up, red force shrieking as it caught my lightsaber mid-arc. The impact jarred my arm, but I was already shifting angles, pressing the attack before he could counter.
Colossus slammed into him from the side, metal shoulders driving into demonic armor. Logan followed an instant later, claws carving for joints and throat. Belasco roared and backhanded Colossus hard enough to send him skidding through the earth.
I blinked back out, boots grinding against scorched ground, then surged in again. Every strike I threw went high.
Eyes. Temple. Skull. Had to keep him focused on me.
As I shifted left, I sharply pointed toward the sword below him.
Anna caught on immediately.
A blast of force exploded from her hands, smashing into Belasco's flank. The gout of power forced him back a step, then another, eldritch flames flaring wildly as he tried to catch his footing.
That was my chance.
I lunged.
My hand shot toward the yellow blade, fingers stretching as the air burned with heat and pressure.
Belasco screamed, rage and incantation blending into one. A wave of writhing violet power tore toward me, warping the air and bending reality in its wake.
Too slow.
My hand closed around the hilt.
Searing pain exploded up my arm the instant I lifted it. The blade reacted violently, violet energy lashing against my skin as if rejecting my touch outright. It wasn't meant for me. I felt it in my bones. Still, I gritted my teeth and held on.
The blast of power smashed into the ground where I'd been—
—but I was already gone.
Another blink carried me back to Illyana.
Soulsword in hand.
"NO!"
I turned just in time to see Belasco engulfed in flame, roaring as he struggled against Anna's bindings. She conjured more chains of crackling power, lashing them around his limbs. Logan and Colossus rushed him again, only to be blasted back by a violent surge of red force.
Bolts of lightning rained down from above, each strike slamming into Belasco with enough force to crater stone. Storm wasn't holding back.
Yet the damn bastard stood in the center of it all, wreathed in fire, unharmed.
"Better be quick," I said, shoving the sword into Illyana's hands.
Magik's fingers closed around the hilt, and the air immediately began to shimmer.
"Atier Fobos Ala Qaran—"
Belasco froze mid-struggle as the chant rolled across the battlefield. For the first time, a flicker of real concern crossed his face.
"STOP!"
He slashed a hand outward. A shockwave detonated from him, tearing through the yard and sending debris, Logan, and even Colossus skidding across the earth.
Then he lunged for Illyana, a sword of flame forming in his grasp.
Thunder cracked as I blinked into his path, my blade arcing for his head. The lightsaber screeched against his crimson barrier. It wouldn't pierce, no matter how I wove my strikes. I hammered him with a dozen cuts, trying to keep him off balance.
Something yanked my legs out from under me.
Infernal chains coiled around my ankles, slamming me onto my back.
"You pesky—"
I grinned up at him and flipped him the bird.
Behind me, Illyana's chant rose higher. Power swelled, climbing toward a crescendo that made my teeth vibrate.
"Ini, redi ad initium, redi ad finem!"
The ground beneath Belasco liquefied, turning to black quicksand. His legs sank first, then his waist, the earth becoming a yawning void that dragged him down inch by inch.
"I shall not be denied my prize again!" he howled.
And then the crazy bastard reached into his own chest.
He tore out his heart.
Even as he sank deeper, the thing floated above the pit, pulsing with foul red light. It reeked of sulfur and blood. Then it snapped apart, reshaping midair into a barbed whip that lashed toward Illyana.
It wrapped around her waist and yanked.
She screamed as she was dragged toward the void.
I lunged and caught her arm, boots digging furrows into the broken ground as the supernatural force pulled us both forward.
"Shit—come on!"
We slid closer and closer to the hole Belasco was vanishing into.
Anna shot in from the side and slammed into the floating heart. Power flared from her hands as she pushed back against it, teeth clenched, horns faintly visible.
With a sharp crack, the heart shattered.
The pull stopped.
But the hole didn't close.
Reality twisted instead.
The ground vanished beneath us. Colors fractured into a violent kaleidoscope. In the distance, Logan and Ororo blurred at the edges of my vision as the world folded in on itself. Up became down. My body felt weightless and wrong, like I was swimming in the deep sea.
And then we were falling.
I looked beneath us and saw the sky.
We burst through clouds, hurtling through open air. Far below, patches of green vegetation spun and tilted like someone had flipped the world upside down.
My head snapped around.
Illyana and Anna tumbled through the air nearby, unconscious, bodies spinning as gravity took hold. No one else had been dragged into whatever spatial mess Belasco had triggered.
I grit my teeth and blinked.
Then blinked again.
Each jump closed the gap. I snatched Illyana first, then Anna, hauling them in as wind screamed past my ears. We were still dropping, faster and faster.
I could stall the fall by blinking in intervals.
Probably.
"Ah, fuck. This was going to hurt."
—
Ugh…
If I moved my head even an inch, it felt like it might roll off my shoulders. Not having the Sun Princess Ring to keep the vertigo at bay was absolute misery.
"You alive?" Anna asked somewhere to my left.
"No," I groaned.
She chuckled and walked over to Illyana's still unconscious form. I shut my eyes and focused inward instead.
[Feat Achieved! Skyfall Survival]
[+1 Silver Gacha Ticket]
Please. Something for this headache.
[Rolling Silver Gacha Ticket]
[Deus Eggs Machina]
|Trash Trait|
You will be able to find a regular chicken egg anywhere at opportune moments.
I stared at the notification.
Fucking gacha.
Seeing as Deus Eggs Machina wasn't going to fix my vertigo, I forced myself upright and staggered over. "Is she alright?"
Anna knelt beside Illyana, one hand hovering over her chest, a faint glow pulsing from her palm. Her skin was still tinged red from siphoning Belasco's power, though the color was already fading.
"She'll be fine… I think," Anna said slowly. "The knowledge I picked up from the demon says it's just exhaustion from overusing her power. As long as she keeps the ring on, she should recover."
"Good."
Relief loosened something in my chest. I glanced up at the sky. The bleeding hole in reality we'd fallen through was gone, as if it had never existed.
"Any demon knowledge about how to get back?" I asked.
Anna shook her head. "Stopping that sacrificial spell destabilized the space around us. That's what caused the fall. He might've known a way out, but…" She pushed her hand outward. The eldritch energy flickered weakly before fading. "I'm almost empty. Didn't get much of a drain off him."
Well. Crap.
I pulled out my phone on the off chance—
No signal.
Of course.
"Can't get a sling ring out of here either without a phone," I muttered. "Best bet might be waiting for her to wake up."
Anna looked down at Illyana with curiosity. "You know her?"
"Yeah. She's a mutant. Can make portals." I frowned. "Although the timeline's weird. She's in rags like she just escaped Limbo, but she looks older than she should be. Either things are out of order… or we're not where I think we are."
God, why did continuity have to be such a bitch.
Anna adjusted Illyana in her arms. The last traces of red were fading from her skin. "We should find shelter then. You wouldn't happen to know where we are, do you, sugar?"
I rolled my eyes. "It's not like I know every place on Earth. Just a few. And what are the chances—"
An explosion thundered in the distance.
We both snapped toward the dense stretch of jungle ahead. For a brief second, the thick vegetation shimmered like a heat mirage.
And vanished.
Behind it stood a massive city. Towering skyscrapers of sleek metal and glass rose into the sky. Sleek ships zipped between them in tight patterns, their designs painfully familiar from screens I'd stared at more than once.
Then, just as quickly, the holographic vegetation snapped back into place, perfectly hiding the city once more.
There was only one nation on Earth with tech advanced enough to cloak an entire city like that.
Anna glanced at me, smug. "What are the chances, huh?"
"Not. Another. Word." I lightly punched her arm, then sighed and rubbed my temples. "Alright… let me tell you about the asshats known as Wakanda."
***
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