With Logan out of the way and Summers most likely D.O.A.,they were expecting some resistance,but not anything they couldn't handle.Okay,the Belial,the Stansin,and Xavier were considered the biggest threats-the telekinetic seemed to have a natural aversion to violence,so could probably be overwhelmed,and the little girl (demon,mutant?No one was sure) was an unknown quantity,but who could consider a little girl a threat?

Still,Black surrounded himself with all the living Ressiks still on the payroll,and some weird ass kind of demon that he referred to as 'Hai'satcha',a "natural deterrent to all telepaths",whatever that meant.All Tony knew was the thing smelled like kelp rotting in the sun on the Jersey shore,and it was just fucking creepy-seven feet tall at the very least,and fireplace poker thin,he was wrapped up in a long black coat that could not conceal that he appeared to be hovering,the tips of his five or six tentacles(!) barely touching the ground as it seemed to glide instead of walk.It also wore a large black hat,and wore some kind of white cloth wrapped around his big face,so he looked sort of like that guy in that old 'Invisible Man' movie.But Tony figured it wasn't that there wasn't anything there,but something so hideous that it was probably better no one saw what was underneath.

There was no resistance as they went inside the mansion,except for some routine automated security systems and locks,which was no problem at all.Some of  the guys who were vulnerable to telepaths suddenly chickened out and ran off,but for some reason he remained untouched.Maybe because he was between Satchmo (his own nickname for the creepy crawler...er, hoverer) and Black,who said he was resistant to human telepathy.News to him.Black wasn't human?

There was noise in the large front room beyond the foyer,but it was just the t.v.,and no one was currently watching it.
It was a really big place,and with the twenty of them remaining it was going to take some time to search.He sort of wished freakly old Reddick was here,but he hadn't returned from the Logan capture,yet his body or pieces of it hadn't been found among the remains.Although,as Black pointed out,Beezel demons had a tendency to dissolve upon death,their own acidic secretions eating them alive.Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.But how did that homicidal fuck ever get himself sliced and diced by Logan?Maybe,when the psychos came head to head,the bigger psycho won.Survival of the vicious.

It was a cliche,but it really was too fucking quiet.He really didn't like it.Where the fuck were they?He expected the Stansin and the Belial to do something by now,if not the telekinetic.

"They're below us,"Satchmo hissed.If a tire with a slow leak could talk,it would sound just like Satchmo.

"The plans for the house included no basement,"one of the Ressiks,the one in the strangely colored Versace suit said (it was like a violent lilac,wedded with aluminum foil-and why the demon thought it went with his scaly green skin he had no idea. Maybe Ressiks were color blind).

"Oh,like he was going to tell the bad guys where to find him,"Tony said in reply.

"There has to be a way down,"Black said calmly."Find it."He then added,"Or we blast our way down."

Now that was more like it.

They had fanned out,and Tony didn't like tailing Satchmo (he swore he left a slime trail,like a slug),but he didn't mind acting as the front guard for the boss.They were in a large wood paneled hall that seemed to lead to an endless amount of doors and atria (it was the biggest fucking school or house he had ever seen),and suddenly they all felt a rumble-distant,but still strange.

Satchmo glanced up at the high,vaulted ceiling,as Black took his radio out of his pocket and said into it,"Murok,what the hell was that?"

The Ressik in charge of the rear guard covering the mansion said,"Some weird kinda plane,flyin' really low,just passed overhead.It's gone now."

Satchmo turned his hidden,oddly shaped head towards Black,his head almost doing a full one eighty that would have snapped the neck of anything with a spine.How fucking creepy was that?"What kind of plane?"It hissed.

"What kind of plane?"Black repeated into the radio.

"We got us an elevator,"a Ressik called Kulek shouted from the end of the hall."It's locked down,but we can get through the shaft."

"Do it,"Black agreed,waiting for Murok to respond.He then gestured with his head for Tony and Satchmo to go join them in cutting a hole into the shaft.Tony nodded,and let Satchmo lead,trying to stay as far away from him as possible without seeming obvious about it.

"Uh,not sure sir,"Murok finally responded."Fret thinks it was a Stealth bomber,but there aren't any military bases around here, are there?"

And that's when Tony had a real bad feeling.Logan couldn't fly a plane,right?

They had reached the open elevator doors,where two really big Ressiks were just finishing cutting a hole in the floor,when he heard a crackle over Black's radio,echoing down the hall."Sir,I think we have a problem.I can't contact Lerik."

He was another one of those guys on the outside team."He could simply have turned his radio off,"Black replied coolly.It was like he was refusing to let anything bother him,no matter what.He just wanted Xavier,although he never exactly explained why.

"But I'm where he should be,and I don't see him anywhere,"the Ressik said,and even as he was helping put the section of elevator flooring aside,he heard a faint noise over the crackling radio that chilled his blood.It was a noise that was hard to describe,but eerie:it sounded like someone drawing a sword out of a metal sheath really fast,too fast to be human.

And the next noise was something punching wetly through flesh,a noise so loud Black dropped his radio,and it shattered into a dozen pieces on the polished hardwood floor.

"Plan b-we are under attack,"Black shouted,rushing to the elevator as the Ressiks moved past him,forming an attack pattern on either end of the hall.

Satchmo hissed then;it sounded like an angry cat reacting on a slow motion tape."Drai'shajan,"it spat,and Tony figured it was the demon equivalent of motherfucker.

"Shit,"Black said,and hastily started looking for a way down through the shaft,something to hold onto.What the fuck was he so scared of?

And that's when Tony heard singing.

"Here we're going back again,"a man sang,surprisingly loud and in tune."Act surprised when I come in.It's only me,it's only stupid me."It was the pretty boy,the Belial,who now appeared at the mouth of the hall,a silver plated semi-auto Glock in each hand."You could never figure out,what was all the fuss about,I know it's me,it's only stupid me-"

Nine Ressiks fixed their guns on him as Black scrambled down the shaft,and Satchmo quickly drifted down afterwards.Tony was picking up on the tension,but he didn't get it at all.It was only a fucking Belial,who was about to be cut down in a hail of bullets.Tony peered around the side of the elevator and aimed his own weapon at the pretty boy demon...and found he couldn't move.He was frozen like a statue,his body refusing to listen to any of his commands at all.Telepathy?Xavier?

The Belial gave the glowering Ressiks a shit eating grin,like nine automatic weapons weren't pointed directly at him."Mexican standoff,'ey?"He said,his voice betraying a thick Australian accent."You can't kill me with those,and I can't kill you with these."

Ressiks were hard to kill-unless you had copper (for some reason,that killed them),you could only decapitate them,break their neck,or maybe sever their spine (had to hit the right spot),otherwise they were as right as rain.

But what did he mean they couldn't kill him?He was only a Belial,and as demons went they were virtually powerless.The older they got,the more powerful they got,but by then they went nuts.

Except...

Black had mentioned there were rumors of a Belial in Australia who had gotten old and powerful,but hadn't gone nuts.In fact, he had become-

Australian.Ah shit.

"But you know what,mates?"The Belial-who probably wasn't quite anymore-went on cheerfully."I may not be that stupid after all."

He then opened fire with both guns.

The Ressiks instantly responded,but not for long-they fell like scarecrows,balloons suddenly burst,and he didn't know why until he realized the blur of bullets coming from his guns looked faintly gold.

Copper.The bullets were in copper jackets.

A couple of bullets hit the Belial before all the Ressiks went down,but they just made him stagger back a step or two;he didn't go down.He was right about bullets not killing him,or he was wearing a flak jacket under his purple shirt.

After all the Ressiks were down-for good,no matter where he hit them,because the copper hit their bloodstream like arsenic-he started walking towards the elevator...towards him.Now would have been a great time to move,only again he could not;he was frozen like an insect pinned to a board,and he knew suddenly it was not Xavier's fault but the pretty boy's fault.Shit shit shit.

He had never even looked at him,but he had 'caught' him  anyways.

The Belial did finally look at him,his bright blue eyes as luminous as miniature suns,and Tony really knew he was reamed when the demon smiled at him.There were dark patches on his shirt,maybe where some bullets got through,and there was a small spattering of royal blue liquid on his face,like someone had flung a paintbrush at him-was that his blood?"Ahoy matey.So tell me about you and your friends here.What's the frequency,Kenneth?"

Tony couldn't believe he could be this dead and still talking,even if it was completely against his will.

He looked very much like your stereotypical mob enforcer-verging on middle age,a small beer gut of hard fat,a nose broken so much it had flattened against his face,with a tiny extra bump of cartilage rising at the bridge of his nose,his eyes hard and small in a lined and fleshy face-and he was holding an impressively large and deadly machine pistol in his pudgy hands.Aimed at him,but of course harmless for the time being.Bob wouldn't have been surprised if he had worked for the human version of the Mafia before trading to this one.

His mind was a machine,clean of guilt,remorse,empathy-he took orders,did his bloody job,and did not ask a lot of questions,as that not only invited trouble,but could get you killed.To live in this business,you kept your mouth shut.

Luckily,Bob was in control,and keeping his mouth shut was no longer an option.

He smelled demons in the lift,but there were none.There was a big square hole in the floor behind him,though.Shit,they went down the shaft."Who went down?"He asked the man,who could have had a walk on in any Scorcese movie.

"Two Ressiks,Black,and Satchmo,"he reported,mouth as slack as his expression.But Bob doubted his face was ever very expressive.

"Black and Satchmo?"He repeated,putting one of his guns in the holster in the back of his pants.He kept one gun out in case more Ressiks showed their ugly faces,but he was sure that Helga and Logan had already cleaned up the outside guard.After running into so many Ressiks at Seventh Circle,it seemed prudent to ask Lia to tell Amaranth to zap them some of his special guns,the ones with copper bullets meant to take out Ressiks.The cocky bastards never seemed to expect that.

"Mister Black,the boss."Tony-that was his name,which seemed so damn appropriate-said.

"Is he Human?"

"I thought so,but I guess not."

"Satchmo?"

"Boss called him a Hai'satcha.Ugliest motherfuckin' demon I ever saw."

Hai'satcha?Oh fuck,there was a creature he never expected to meet.But...oh shit-it made a twisted sort of sense,if Black was who he thought he was.

He took the radio he had stolen from a Ressik on the way in off the waistband of his pants,and said into it,"Helga,Logan,come on down-we have some major shit going on here.Tell Scott and Jean if they're around they may need to get in on this too,but if they have no intention of killing,they can stay with the bloody jet."

He didn't wait for a response,simply clipped the radio back on to his leather pants,and after briefly wondering what to do with Tony,said,"As soon as you come to,you will renounce all violence,and run off to the Midwest,where you will become a farmer and never think about this life again."It wasn't like Tony had family here;his kind traveled light,with no Human baggage to slow them down or make them weak.But Tony's days in the 'game' were now over."You're out now."

Tony didn't fall to the floor than he collapsed,knees buckling,and he almost fell in the hole in the floor,but Bob grabbed him by the leg and pulled him out of the way,leaving him to sprawl like a small beached whale in the black blood slicked hallway.

He then looked into the hole and started down the dark shaft,not waiting for Logan,Helga,or anyone else.

A Hai'satcha was too dangerous to let loose near Xavier for long.

**

"What?"Logan asked,seeing the hole in the elevator floor,beyond the sole Human in on this raid (he didn't smell demon,but with the swampy smell of Ressik blood cloying the hall,it was hard to tell).

"We might be fucked,"she said.

"So what else is new?"

"Hai'satchas,given enough psychic energy,can rip holes in the fabric of time."He did a double take as she looked down the hole,and asked,"Do we climb,or just take the bloody thing down?"

"Are you serious?How the fuck does it do that?"

She shrugged."Ask Bob-he knows the mechanics.I just know how to kill them."

"And how do we kill them?"

She paused."With great difficulty."

"I had to ask,"he grumbled,pulling her into the elevator.Xavier had locked them down,but he knew how to 'unlock' them,so in a few seconds the elevator began its silent descent,which they could watch through the hole in the floor.The bad guys had to know they were coming anyways,so surprise was not an option anymore.

Logan noticed he had tracked Ressik blood into the elevator;he also had some of the stinky,viscous stuff on his chest.He had meant to at least grab a shirt,but hell,he'd fought shirtless and barefoot a lot of times-what was the difference now?Human,time ripping demon...yeah,all the same.

Sure.

"Can Bob handle it?"He wondered.The elevator came to a stop,and he instantly popped his claws while Helga pulled her gun. The place stank of Ressik so strongly he didn't know if they were waiting beyond the door or not.

"I don't know,"she admitted."They're gateway demons,they can channel lethal amounts of psychic energy."

"Bob amounts?"He wondered,as the door started to slide open,and a flurry of gunfire pierced the metal,filling the elevator with a deadly hail of bullets.

**

His contact with Jean confirmed they had rescued Logan and were on their way back,but he got the sense she was hiding something from him.These men were not the ones responsible for Logan's mutilation (that was true),and he was 'physically' all right (also true),and thanks to Bob there was virtually no violence at all (again true),but there was something she was holding back.It was about Logan,he sensed that much,and she found it painful-he could push it and see for himself,but that was not his way.Besides,Jean often wished to discuss things like that in person,and he had no problem with that at all.

Assuming,of course,there was a later.

Bob,Logan,and Helga were on their way,and Jean and Scott were not far behind them,which was heartening,but he felt Bob would be the key here more than anyone.It wasn't just that he was a demon-he was a very powerful demon.Anyone who could warp reality simply by wishing it so was probably a great threat to everyone,and Bob,for all his folksy demeanor,was clearly a dangerous man-and yet,most of the time he did not use his powers recklessly or selfishly.For a so called demon he exercised a restraint and common sense that he could only hope Erik would find half of someday.It made him wonder how old Bob really was.

They were in what Scott sometimes referred to as the 'war' room,where they usually discussed a plan of action (Logan's plan had been his plan alone-no 'modeling' was necessary).He suggested Rogue could leave through the back way,but of course she refused,even when it was possible to hear the faintest sound of multiple gunshots somewhere upstairs.He could have pushed her too,but again,not his way.He knew he might live to regret that.

Xavier sensed that type of demon again,or a kind much like it-one with a mind like black glass.But there was something else, something even more disturbing,a presence not unlike a psychic black hole;he could almost feel its malevolent tug even from here,and it was far away.But quickly getting closer.

Rogue must have see it on his face,because she asked,trying to be brave,"Something's comin',isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so,"he admitted,then added,"They want me,not you.I really think it would be best if you left,Marie."

"I'm not leavin' you,"she said firmly,showing off a stubborn streak that seemed terribly familiar.She then looked around the large room,which was lined with computer consoles,display screens,and precious little else,save for the large 'display' table that was the centerpiece of the room."If this is a war room,where are the weapons?"

There was no lock on the door here,so there was nothing to hinder them coming in.Cerebro had a lock that was hard to get past,so maybe that would have been the place to stay,except he did not think any lock would keep these 'men' out,and Cerebro was no place to fight."Get behind me and stay behind me,"he said,as the door slid aside.Xavier wasn't actually expecting her to completely obey orders;he knew better than that.

In the doorway appeared a rather bland looking man dressed in black,tall with a medium build and a lantern jaw,his blue-grey eyes like marbles set in a plastic face,his brown hair set so perfectly he could have been an anchorman on a local news channel.But the thing beside him...

Xavier remembered reading a horror story by H.P. Lovecraft,about a demon called Cthulu,some sort of dark being from another plane of existence who drove people mad.He didn't really recall much about the story,save for Lovecraft's tendency towards purple prose,except that Cthulu supposedly had no real arms or legs,simply tentacles.Xavier now wondered if Lovecraft made any of his stories up.

The thing beside the man-really a demon,he just didn't look it at the moment-was clad in black and hid his face with wrappings and a hat,but could not hide the fact that he had nothing but tentacles,and was also simply hovering a few centimeters off the ground.There was a strip of his face left uncovered,a strip that revealed three eyes set in a row,pure yellow (no whites,no obvious pupils or irises),that glowed like alien suns.Marie gasped and,for the moment,stood behind his chair.All that stood between them and the demons was the display table.

"Xavier,long time no see,"the one that looked like a man said,and Xavier felt a shock of realization like a straight shot of adrenaline to the heart.

He hadn't aged a day,and his face had changed,but then he was good at changing his face,wasn't he?"Stone,"he gasped, genuinely surprised.It had never even occurred to him that he might be still alive.

"It's Black now,but I'm flattered you remember me."

"So is that what this is about?Revenge?"

Stone/Black's face set into a cold,angry expression that made him look truly inhuman for the first time."You ruined me, Xavier. You were the big prize,and if I caught you,I could have moved up in the ranks.I could be controlling the entire fucking government by now.But no-your psychotic fuck of a friend had to kill my best friend,free you and make my name dirt.It took me a long time,but I finally figured out a way to set things right."

"Set things right?"He asked,both curious and buying time.He knew the others were on their way,and the closer Bob got he could feel it,like a small dull ache in the back of his mind.But it was possible Cthulu-or whoever he was-felt it too.

Black/Stone simply gave him a cold,sharp edged smile that gave him an instant feeling of deja vu."Don't worry,you'll see."

That was when Rogue came around to stand in front of him,throwing off her everpresent gloves,and raising her bare hands before her like the weapons they were."If you want him,you'll have to get through me first,"she said,with a surprising amount of bravery,especially since she was obviously terrified by Cthulu (hard to blame her there).

Black laughed."And that's a threat,is it Britney?"

"Touch me and you'll die,"she said.Not a threat,a point of fact.

Black stopped laughing when he realized that,and there was a sudden burst of gunfire,far down the hall but loud and much closer than before,making the already tense Rogue let out a startled yelp of a scream and jump back a bit,and then there was another noise.

It was a scream,loud and long and deep...no,not a scream-a full throated roar,of pain and,mostly,rage.That made Black jump and glance back down the hall,and if you didn't know better you might think it was an enraged tiger or an extremely aggrieved bear.But they knew better."Logan,"Rogue gasped,obviously frightened for him.

But Xavier wasn't too concerned for him;tonight had obviously taught Black nothing.Bullets were not going to stop Logan, they were only going to piss him off.And if he was pissed off-and he certainly sounded like it-it was highly doubtful either Black or his many tentacled friend would leave here alive.A pity,as he did not condone killing...but how did one stop an enraged Logan?

The roar stopped just a millisecond or two before the shots did,and there was a noise that was not so much a distant thud as it was a squelch.Even Black winced as he looked into the room once more,and eyed Rogue with great skepticism.

"Look,little girl,I'm sure you have some big,scary mutant power,but you have no idea what you're dealing with here.Do you honestly think I could ever be scared of anything?"

Suddenly there was a loud bang like a firecracker exploding just outside the room,and a part of Black's forehead exploded outward in a spurt of reddish black blood and tissue,and fragmented bone as white as snow.Rogue's startled shout was louder, but drowned in the rush of white noise after the gunshot.Black toppled to the floor,and revealed Bob standing outside in the hall,the smoking gun still in his hands.

"You should have been,"Bob noted wryly,and then,at Xavier's look,added,"Fresgah demons can't be pushed."

Cthulu turned his head to look at Bob,tentacles undulating like he was moving when in fact he seemed to stay in place,and considering he had swiveled his head around like an owl,Xavier wondered if it was a neck or conventional spine he was missing."Neither can I,Drai'shajan,"it hissed with contempt,its voice like the wind through a dead man's bones."Nor can you hurt me with your boom stick."

"True,"Bob agreed with equanimity,tossing the gun aside.He then reached down and pulled a knife out of his boot,an ornate, filigreed dagger with a wicked curved blade that gleamed as silver as the moon."But I can hurt you with this."

If it could be said that Cthulu recoiled,he did,his tentacles suddenly more busy centimeters over the floor,as if a sudden breeze had picked up that only he could feel."The Dagger of Bastet."

"Oh,is it Bastet's?"Bob asked."I knew some animal headed god blessed it,I just wasn't sure which one."

"You know what happens if you get near me,"Cthulu hissed-he sounded equally frightened and triumphant.

Bob gave him a cold grin that would have put Black to shame,then glanced past him at Xavier."With enough of a psychic energy boost,our friend Satcha here can open a rip in time."

"How?"Rogue asked,puzzled.

Xavier wouldn't even pretend to understand how such a thing could work,but it brought to mind that twisting,Hydra like version of a wormhole Bob had sketched on the blackboard in his office.The world was far stranger than he could ever imagine."So that's what Black meant by set things right."

Bob nodded."Futz with time.Kinda clever-for a complete idiot."

"Would you like to open time,Drai'shajan?"Satcha hissed at him.

Bob's smile actually became more evil,and he advanced on Satcha."Yeah,I think it'd be a lark."

Xavier then understood that while Satcha could open a rift with Bob's energy,Bob was obviously sure he'd be able to control it, which wouldn't be the case if Satcha used him.

Satcha moved so fast it was unreal;it was as if he was already warping time around him.

He spun,pivoting like dancer,and his tentacles unfurled from beneath his black jacket and slammed into Rogue with a force that was hard to believe.Xavier heard the hit and winced,the force almost bone shattering,and Rogue flew across the room,crashing hard into a computer console on the opposite side of the room."Rogue!"He shouted,as she collapsed to the floor.She was at least unconscious,and it enraged him that he had hurt her...and that he could do nothing about it.

Bob had charged Satcha at the same time,but again,Satcha moved as if he was the only one not hampered by the laws of physics, in air while the rest of them slogged through molasses.

At the same time he hit Rogue,several other of his tentacles wrapped around the base pillar of the display table,and ripped it out from the floor,metal screaming and sparks spitting as its electrical cables were severed,and even though Bob saw it he could not move fast enough to completely avoid the table as Satcha slammed it into him,even harder than he had hit Rogue.Both Bob and the table went flying across to the right side of the room,where they impacted consoles so hard he heard glass and plexiglass shatter.

"Enough!"Xavier roared,so furious he could hear his blood pounding in his head like a raging river."If you want me that badly, so be it,but leave them out of it."Enough people had been hurt on his behalf;too many.

Satcha's eyes grew brighter,almost blinding,and Xavier figured he was smiling."I heard you were a reasonable man."

The demon seemed to flow across (above) the floor towards him,tentacles undulating like snakes,and Xavier didn't notice until the last minute a noise out in the hall,almost imperceptible,but Xavier's mind reached out and sensed...rage,as pitch black as a starless night and as boiling as lava.

Logan,shirtless and bloody (some of it was green blood,and black,but most was red) claws out,ran in the door and lunged at Satcha with a roar,his claws punching completely through Satcha's bandaged head.

He felt the bullets rip his skin,bounce off his adamantium skeleton,and as soon as he could he lunged out at their attackers,so enraged and in so much pain he felt like he was watching him from outside himself,his bloodlust back in control,inflamed by the stench of his own blood.

He slashed out blindly with his claws,shredding a Ressik's gun as well as his face,and as he screamed in pain (Logan got his eyes)he staggered back farther into the hallway.The second pumped bullets into his chest at point blank range,ignoring the fact that the bullets all seemed to be bouncing off and exposing his adamantium rib cage,and Logan lashed out violently,his claws slicing through rubber thick flesh and stone dense bone as he chopped the Ressik's head clean off.

His body kept firing the gun for several seconds until it hit the floor,his head bouncing down the corridor,and the other Ressik heard it and tried to aim his other gun at Logan again,even though he couldn't quite see,but Logan simply slashed out and decapitated this one too.He was surprised to hear himself snarling,and was disappointed there weren't any more Ressiks-or anything else-to kill.

Only then did a sudden wave of dizziness hit him and make him drop to one knee,and he felt the pain of healing,not only on his chest and abdomen but on his throat,and he knew why:a bullet had hit him in the neck and passed through to the other side without ever encountering bone.He felt the warm stickiness on his chest,and looked down to see a fresh gout of blood on his chest,where his skin continued to heal,growing over his exposed muscle and metal ribs,so much that it had stained the front of his torn and bullet hole ridden jeans black.If it hadn't been for his healing factor,he'd have bled to death;the throat wound would have been almost instantly fatal.The fact that he had lost enough blood to make himself dizzy,even though the wound had already closed,indicated it had severed a major artery.If he hadn't been too busy running on pure adrenaline he probably would have went down earlier.