113 Chapter 113: Shadow Steppers

Sweden came quicker than Nightcrawler expected. Being born in a time when vehicles were barely a staple in human life may have exacerbated his awe at the world's current technologies.

They never landed on solid ground or even stopped moving.

Magik simply threw a teleporting disc at the floor of the Quinjet and one by one, the stealth unit stepped through.

Nightcrawler's bare feet met solid ground and midnight air. They were in the mountains, surrounded by dark peaks tipped by white caps of the past winters snowfall. The winds cut through his robes like sword slashes and forced him to ignore the oncoming shiver. It almost reminded him of home. His first home.

He looked over to Mystique wondering if she felt the same.

She stood in the silence making sure her silenced handgun wasn't jammed.

"Guess not." Nightcrawler surmised before turning to Magik, "Are you ready?"

Magik cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders, causing her long platinum blonde hair to dance in the darkness. "I am."

Without a moments hesitation, Magik held her arm out. A blast of blue illuminated the dark forest as one of her teleporting disc's opened. Larger than any others he'd seen her make. It was impressive. Better than anything he'd managed. It gave it him hope.

"Let's go." Nightcrawler led the group in jumping through the portal.

It was the same as always.

Despite traveling across countries and entire bodies of icy waters, it felt like nothing more than a step. One step. Suddenly the air was colder— crisper. Nightcrawler could smell the water in the air. The winds were even harsher, but the greenery laid before him was infinitely more vibrant than the dark lands a step ago.

He could tell it was beautiful under sunlight.

The rest of the team hopped through, finished by Magik. She looked tired, but played it off well with a calming exhale as she studied the area.

"It looks the same as before…. Good." She said aloud.

"Where are we?" Nightcrawler asked.

"Zakopane. My brot— Colossus, took me here once when we were younger. We swam in that lake until it got so cold I got sick…. Then he got in trouble." Magik said as she pointed to the massive lake at the bottom of the hill they stood on. The reflecting stars looked like irradiated gems beneath the shallow waves.

"Beautiful story, why are we out in the open and not in the Limbo Dimension?" Mystique questioned.

Magik irritatingly side eyed her, "I need to get a feel for the land first so I know where we're going."

Mystique's red eyebrows twisted in confusion. Along with some SHIELD Agents who quickly looked away like they didn't care and went back to aiming their weapons into the night.

Magik began walking. The others followed.

"Think of it like having to walk somewhere with your eyes closed. You'd do a lot better avoiding obstacles and staying on track if you got to see where you were going first….. so you save the image in your mind. Plan out where you're going." Magik explained.

"So….. this Limbo-Earth Parallel travel plot is like walking with our eyes closed? Fantastic." Mystique mumbled.

Storm stepped to the front of the group as they walked. Her dark Vibranium-weave suit and threaded cape ignored the biting winds.

She placed her hand on Magik's shoulder as she spoke, "Despite Mystique's near constant complaints, I have complete faith in you. No, I have confidence." She lowered her words to a whisper, "Bronte speaks very fondly of you and I'm beginning to see why."

Magik was suddenly thankful for the dark atmosphere that hid her face.

They walked a mile in the silence. Magik was focused to a point. Mystique was…. Bored. Nightcrawler stuck by Magik focused on faith and past experience. The SHIELD Operatives, led by Yelena, stalked the perimeter with their eyes peeled for any sight of bats…. Or worse. Brother Voodoo and Storm held the rear end with Brother Voodoo slinging stealth spells and things unknown at one of the Agents.

No one questioned it.

Eventually Magik came to a stop.

Nightcrawler was the first inside as Magik introduced them to the Limbo Dimension.

From what he already knew of hellish dimensions full of demonic figures, The Limbo Dimension wasn't all that shocking.

The skies were dark— illuminated by red arcs of lightning and flaming rainfall. Comets soared behind the edgy backdrop and entire city-scapes of living breathing buildings loomed on the horizon. They all roared a welcome in unison.

Well, more like an accentuated "get the hell out!" No pun intended.

Then a horde started sprinting for Nightcrawler and his growing team in the distance. Despite them standing on a cliff side, his nerves heightened until suddenly—

Stillness.

Magik stood at the rear with SoulSword raised. Her skin took on a smokey grey color matching the singular demon horn sticking out of the left side of her forehead.

She almost looked like.

"Neyaphem…"

"What?" Her voice was even deeper.

"Nothing. Do you feel adjusted?"

Magik nodded. "We can start our hike. But the Demons have been….. off, for the last few months. Be on your guard."

"Red flags everywhere!" Mystique raised her handgun and followed everyone else.

The walk was unlike their trek through midnight Poland. It was hot. Sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes it got so cold, Nightcrawler could see the living veiny skyscrapers breaths flow in gusts from gaping alleys full of drunk demons.

They cursed and snarled from the shadows.

Streetlights made of reptilian eyes removed from sockets in the ground jingled with crushing flesh sounds as they traveled beneath their glow.

"You…. Lived here?" Mystique questioned after twenty minutes of walking.

"I did." Magik replied flatly as they fled further from the previous city and into a coldly flaming forest. If you could call it that. It smelled like noxious fumes and cracked coals.

"That must've been….. well, you know wha—"

From the tree's a hairless monkey looking demon with fiery eyes descended on a SHIELD Operative with a hellish roar.

Before it could reach him, Nightcrawler teleported in a puff of dark dust and crashed into the creature, kicking it in the face so hard it bounced off the tree it crashed into.

Nightcrawler landed soundlessly with his blade raised.

"Magik?"

He half turned and found her— and everyone else, looking to the skies. Above the trees the monkey-demon fell from. Up in the clouds where a winged shape circled.

"N'astirh…. Dammit." Magik commented.

"Who?" Yelena questioned.

"He's a high ranking Demon. He tried a rebellion against Belasco…. He helped me defeat him. Then when I became queen, he tried to do the same to me. I thought I killed him…" Magik spun her blade in preparation for the giant dragonoid demon.

As the clouds dissipated with each swat of its wings, more of its body became visible. Even for a Demon it was grotesque. The demons muscled humanoid body was wrapped in thick green scales that shifted and twisted like writhing snakes. Hands and feet caught between hooves and fingers dangled with a very visible weight.

"QUEEN DARCHYLDE!" N'astirh bellowed from a face that looked like a mix of horse, goat and lion wrapped in scales, "LIMBO NEEDS A NEW KING!"

A small horde roared in agreement, surrounding the small forest. The ground shook at their voices.

"What a time for the demons to stage a rebellion….. Could my suspicions of Varkis' involvement be founded in reality or only fear?" Brother Voodoo questioned as he continued building a figurine of the demon out of charred sticks and sewing string.

"I'm not sure." Magik replied as the ground continued to shake.

It took a moment for Nightcrawler to realize the demons weren't the cause.

It was the lights.

Flashes of lightning falling from storm clouds collecting in the distance. Stealthily converging on the winged demon above them until the clouds it once beat away had returned, spiraling and angry. By that time, the demons once surrounding the forest were nothing more than charred ashes. They died in a blink.

"Your magic alone isn't enough, Weather Witch!" N'astirh dove through the collecting storm clouds, unaware of his erased horde.

Brother Voodoo ripped the arm off his doll without looking up.

A flesh tearing sound emanated from above as N'astirh's arm partially split at the shoulder in a burst of blood and chipped black bone.

"Damn…" Brother Voodoo's disappointment at his own faulty attack was overshadowed by the upwards gust of wind from Storm that threw N'astirh back to the angry clouds like he was weightless.

From there, the elements of Limbo ate the demon whole in a chaotic light show of natures fury unbound by dimensional difference.

The demons corpse hit the ground ahead of them covered in holes and cuts outlined by glowing embers of flame.

Everyone except Brother Voodoo looked to Storm with respect.

"…. I don't think that was me." Storm muttered with her eyes on the sky as everyone else pushed ahead.

"Perhaps we have a guardian spirit with us. I'm sure we'll need it with where we're going…."