Chapter 7

  Arc 1 - Ch 7: Limbo

  Date: Friday, June 4, 2010.

  Location: Limbo

  Limbo was a nightmare realm, unlike anything oh. The sky ed with fiery es and deep purples, sporadically lit by crag white lightning. Jagged obsidian spires jutted from the ground, t over a hellish ndscape of rocky crags and bubbling magma. The air pressively thick with the stench of brimstone and sulfur.

  In the distance, bone-chilling roars and agonized screams echoed through the empty void. Grotesque creatures stalked the nd, horrors beyond imagination. Patches of murky green water glowed with an eldritch light, refleg the apocalyptic sery above.

  He o escape this pce, to return to Earth, to the Institute.

  Tyson tapped into Magik's power, visualizing the portal that would take him home. He pictured the basketball court at Xavier's school, and the faces of his friends; Jean and Jubilee. But nothing happehe portal refused to open. Panic surged as he felt the silver armor that had maed on his arm fall away into nothingness.

  The realization dawned. Magik's power had already faded.

  Her touch had beeing, the fall from the sky, and his healing had used up the moment of borrowed power. Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself. Panic would only make this worse.

  But he was trapped.

  "Think, Tyson, think," he muttered under his breath.

  His knowledge of this pce was limited. Tyson didn't retain memories from those he absorbed unless he had thought about them while he had them. And Magik's memories were already gone. But he still held a st few tidbits of knowledge that he'd thought of as he fell through the sky.

  Time flowed differently here. Minutes could stretto eternity unless Magik willed otherwise. No sun, no moon, no way to mark the passage of time. He could be trapped for eons.

  That thought was more terrifying than any monstrosity roaming the bleak ndscape.

  Wait.

  Another piece of knowledge he'd gleaood out in his mind.

  There were no creatures in Limbo.

  In all her time in this hellish realm, Illyana was certain of ohing. Limbo was empty. It's why she'd hidden here when she was a child. There were no animals, no life...

  Aainly none of the horrors he now sensed in the distance.

  Tyson's options were limited. Waiting for Illyana to return and rescue him was not a viable choice. From their brief enter, he was uain if she would be in any hurry to help him, especially after he had iently used his power oyson refused to nguish, hoping for a rescue that may never e. He would take an active role in finding an escape from this hellish realm. The first step was to learn more about Limbo and its inhabitants. Perhaps he could find someone or something that might help guide him.

  "Time to meet the locals," he decred aloud.

  Tyson's enhanced senses gave him acute enviroal awareness. Sifting through the brimstone and ash, he detected a putrid odor remi of rotti and damp, moldy soil. Guided by the stench, he found himself atop a jagged outcrop, gazing down at its source. The creature below was a wretched, pathetic sight. It stood barely higher than four feet, with a corpulent, bloated frame. Mottled blue-gray skin hung in loose folds, hairless and marked by oozing sores where maggots fed. A round, bald head sat atop its body, dominated by a drooling maw filled with jagged teeth. Spindly arms ending in sharp cws scraped futilely at the barren ground, probing its bleak surroundings. The being resembled a morbidly obese, tiny old man given cws to make him seem a threat. The creature acted almost feral, lost, and without purpose as it moved through the lifeless ndscape.

  As Tyson observed, flig emotions rose within. Sabertooth's predatory instincts viewed it as easy prey to be ended. But Tyson wondered if uniight be possible; whether this wretched creature might offer knowledge or aid in navigating Limbo.

  Whehing finally caught Tyson's st upon the wind, its rea was instant. With an ear-pierg shriek, it turned and charged toward the rocky outcrop.

  "Easy now," Tyson called out, raising a pg hand. "I just want to talk."

  The creature appeared oblivious, focused only on its perceived prey. To call its attack a 'charge' erhaps aatement. The thing moved in a slow, lumbering shamble like an obese killer penguin. When it finally reached Tyson, each attack was btantly telegraphed through clumsy, uncoordinated movements. The sight might have been ical, if not for the wicked cws that could easily rend flesh.

  Tyson easily sidestepped each swing, staying well beyond the creature's grasp. "Last ce. Stand down," he demanded after evading another reckless swipe.

  He muttered resigned, "Of course, the drooling demon wouldn't be ied in helping iving dires."

  The creature's beady eyes glinted with a mindless fervor as it shambled toward Tyson.

  Tyson suppressed a sigh, settling into a defeance as the creature approached. unication appeared off the table. The thing was relentless, growing mgressive with each failed attack. The creature lunged with a gurgling shriek, oblivious to its ck of speed or skill. Tyson pivoted smoothly, allowing its momentum to carry it stumbling past. As it filed tain its bayson flexed his fio extend talons from eaail. When the creature charged again, maing, he sshed, opening a deep gash along its side.

  It stumbled, wheezily, but quickly gathered itself for another assault. Tyson flowed forward, plunging his cws deep into its chest. As the creature gasped, Tyson's mind flooded with disjoihoughts.

  Fshes of hunger, rage, and fear. He felt no plex emotions or yered experiences, just base urges. He experiehe cold, relentless drive of aence where survival was the sole motivator.

  Tysoracted his cws, pulling back from the motionless creature. It y dead, its life ended by the damage done by his cws before he could absorb its esseyso out a relieved breath. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he permaly absorbed the twisted psyche of this demon. Its primal memories still echoed in the ers of his mind, impressions fading like a disturbing dream upon waking. He had glimpsed the rawness of its existence, driven purely by vicious instinct rather than scious thought.

  Shuddering, Tyson pushed the lingering influence away and rose to his feet.

  He tinued his cautious exploration, senses primed. The pu odor of the demons had bee familiar, allowing him to avoid the packs. But as he ventured deeper, an overp new st assailed his nose.

  Tyson's hackles rose instinctively. Whatever lurked ahead was far more dangerous thahetic creature he had easily dispatched. He moved stealthily between jutting rocks and stagmites.

  Up ahead, led between jagged rocks, stood an enormous creature that made the other demons seem like flies in parison.

  It towered at least eight feet tall with a frame covered in coarse ebohers. The creature's head resembled a vulture, with a cruel curved beak and beady yellow eyes. Enormous draigs sprouted from its back. Taloned feet scraped against the harsh ground as the demon shifted, bones rattling from a belt of skulls around its waist.

  Tyson tensed, ready to fight or flee. But something about this demon uled him. While hideous in appeara had an unnerving intelligen its gaze. This was no mindless beast.

  They sized each other up in tense silence before Tyson spoke. " you uand me?" he asked evenly.

  The demon tilted its head, sinewy wisting grotesquely. It let out a rasping ugh. "Uand?" it croaked, voice dripping with malice. "Yesss. But why speak with my food? You are merely a morsel that has lost its way."

  "I may be lost, but I'm no one's meal," he replied, holding the creature's baleful stare. "So if you're thinking something, think again."

  The demon unfurled its powerful wings to their full span, revealing itself like an unfolding threat.

  Steeling himself, Tyson said "Here's my offer. Answer my questions willingly, and for eae, I'll awo of yours iurn. Or I'll pry the answers from you by force." He drew on what he knew of demons from supernatural lore he'd ed in his previous life. In stories it was on for demons to profit from deals, he leaned on that hoping he might exge information.

  But the demon only ughed, a grating, bone-chilling sound. "Such bravery from a snack," it mocked.

  Lunging forward, the demon sshed at Tyson with razor-sharp talons. But his mutant reflexes allowed him to narrowly dodge the attack, the wind from the demon's cws brushed his cheek. It struck again, aiming a sweeping kick with a taloned foot. Tyson ducked and rolled away, avoiding the blow and coiling for a terattack.

  — Rogue Rept —

  The glowing portal swirled open before Illyana as she stepped through into Limbo. The foggy pulsion that had clouded her mind at the Institute melted away, repced by a surge of power as Limbo's essence flowed into her. This pce was hers, her domain; a sanctuary where none could and her will. Here, she drew strength from the very fabric of the dimension, her abilities magenfold. Limbo was aension of her being.

  She was in trol once more, mistress of this realm. Strong enough now to resist the ands that had tried to bind her, bending her will to another's. Though Jean had pelled her through raw psychic force, Limbo's energies had burned away that crude trol. Here, her mind was her ow regardless of her strength, Illyana did not interpret Jean's manipution as a telepathic attack. To her, it had seemed only a request from a friend in need, not a viotion.

  Even Limbo's emp influence could not reveal the truth that her will had been momentarily stolen.

  Oblivious, she retaihe iion Jean's and had etched into her psyche. She would still seek out Tyson, believing it to be her own choice... spurred by by her distressed cssmate.

  Jean's pulsion became Illyana's iion.

  Limbo's swirling energies embraced their mistress as she closed her eyes. Illyana could seyson like a piece of him was of Limbo like he belonged. She'd retrieve him aurn him to the institute.

  But there roblem.

  Unease crept over her as she gazed around the fractured ndscape. Strange presences lurked here, their auras harsh and intrusive pared to the subtle currents native to Limbo. She could feel them slithering across the dimension, sullying it with their unnatural imprint.

  There should not be anything here.

  The only presehat has ever inhabited Limbo were those she brought or sent here, like Tyson.

  Anger simmered in Illyana's chest. How dare these interlopers invade her domain? Limbo beloo her and her alone, bound to her very soul. She would purge them from this po matter their power or purpose. The nd trembled in ae, cracks spread through the earth as she called on Limbo's essence.

  First, she o find Tyson. His presence shone like a beaidst the ination. With a thought, she teleported to his location, ready to front whatever awaited them.

  She materialized atop a jagged rise, spotting Tyson below locked in battle.

  He was locked in fierbat with a misshapen form vaguely resembling an enormous vulture. It possessed a jagged, bony beak ahery wings. Lunging at Tyson, it emitted an ear-pierg shriek that seemed to momentarily stun him.

  Tyson shook off the shriek just in time to evade the creature's attack, dodging cws and beak alike with effortless agility. Whehing did mao nd a blow, his mutant healing ability swiftly knit wounds back together. He rained heavy sshes upon the creature leaving it howling in pain. With a sudden burst of speed, Tyson darted behind the fiend. He leaped upon its back, sinking his cws deep into leathery flesh in one smooth motion. The beast thrashed wildly, desperately trying to dislodge him, but Tyson held fast. Then, swinging around its front, he brutally tore out the creature's throat in a spray of dark blood. It stumbled and colpsed heavily, its death throes sending tremors through the ground.

  Illyana watched this gruesome dispy from atop a craggy rise, her boots g on the gravelly surface. She had found Tyson. Now she o discover how these vile things had invaded her domain and purge them no matter the cost. As she approached, shock raced through Illyana. While still unmistakably Tyson… he had transformed.

  His once-human faow bore aviaures, a promi beak protruding where his nose and mouth had been. His fingers were vicious talons, ahery wings unfurled from his back.

  "What in the seven hells was that thing?" she demanded, "What was it doing here? And what happeo you?"

  Tyson's uling gaze met hers, his wings flexing as if testing their span. "You sent me here," he rasped, accusation heavy in his tone. "You don't know?"

  Illyana watched in stunned disbelief as the inhumaures dist Tyson's face slowly receded. The beak protruding where his mouth and nose had been softened, ref into the rugged yet handsome profile she reized. His hands still sported talons, but they'd regaiheir human shape and looked more like vicious nails than something found on a bird of prey. Most astonishingly, the immense leathery wings that unfurled from his back appeared to dissolve, melting into his skin until no trace of them remained. Within moments, the transformation reversed itself entirely.

  Tyson stood before Illyana once more, looking as if the past few minutes had been only a nightmare. He stood motionless, his eyes closed as he took a deep breath. The remnants of the savage demon's psyche still lingered in his mind, but he pushed them aside, regaining trol.

  "Illyana," he began, "My powers... they're not like other mutants. I absorb memories and skills when I toueone, but it's more than that. I take on their physical traits and their abilities. All of it bees a part of me temporarily." Tyson gnced down, his voice growing distant. "It's always active, this power. I 't turn it off or trol what flows into me. Each touch opens a floodgate of memories, emotions, fragments of their very self."

  He looked up, holding her gaze ily. "And it causes pain to those touched. This curse is part of who I am. But I didn't mean to hurt you earlier."

  "I uand," she said, "Our powers ma in ways we ot choose. But we learn to accept them as part of ourselves."

  "I accept your apology, Tyson. Each of us bears scars from the maions of ifts."

  Tyson blinked in surprise. "Uh, thanks… I guess." he managed.

  He waited for her apology for toug him against his wishes, but it did not e. Then he frowned.

  Why had he apologized?

  Illyana was just as much at fault as he was, if not more. Sabertooth had been influeng his as, making him quick to anger and lust. But this was different. Why was he suddenly so… remorseful?

  Instead of apologizing in turn, Illyana's attention had moved on from Tyson to the motionless demon, its grotesque features frozen ih. "You said you absorb their memories. Did you learn anything from this creature that might expin its presence here?"

  Tyson's expression darkened. "Yes. This thing is called a Vrock. They usually hunt in small packs, but this one was alo was drawn here, to Limbo, I mean, by another. A demon, or a devil, who found this realm." His hands ched into fists.

  "The demon is seeking to quer Limbo. His name is Azazel."

  "And I know where he is," Tyson added grimly.

  Behind the Ses

  - After I wrote the first chapter of this story, I sat down and created a full timeline of events from X-Men to Infinity War as a guidelihe story is frontloaded with non-MCU stuff because it is a bit empty from the start of Iron Man to the events of Fury’s Big Week (Iron Man 2, Thor, Incredible Hulk). The official MCU Timeline book will be released on October 24th, which will help crify a few dates, but likely won’t affect my timeline muless I was way off with something.

  - I wao write some fantasy and superheroes as a break from my other story. Luckily Marvel tains both. While you might not think of Fantasy when you think of Marvel, sider all the fantasy-esque aspects seen even in the films. Thor and the Nine Realms; dwarves, ice giants, and dark elves, are directly shown on s. Magic users like Doctor Strahe Scarlet Witch, Loki, Frigga, and Agatha. Bde and Vampires. Gods and gods like Bast and Khonsu, and Odin and Zeus. Greater magical beings like Cyttorak and Watomb are mentioraly. We see a dragon as the Great Protector in Shang-Chi. You could sider Groot a trea, or K a golem, etc. Dweller-in-Darkness in ics is a mind fyer. I will strive to make any ges seamless.

  - This story’s version of Limbo is closer to the version seen in New Mutants (2020) than the one from ics. More details will be released in the chapter.

  - The first demon Tyson entered was a Mane Demon. Shoutout to the nerds who could tell from the description or picked up the Vrock before it was named.

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