This story features Neo-X and related characters, which are characters of Psipher and Shaylinn; X-men are
trademarks of Marvel comics. This is an unauthorized work and no profit is being made on this work.
This work is © of Psipher 2006. Please do not archive without permission of creator.

"What the fucking shit just happened?" Hooligan shouted.

"OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!" Cradle was in hysterics. An unknown intruder had appeared with a pack of ravenous wolfhounds, abducted band mate, Fortune, and disappeared in a flash of blinding light.

Cayenne stared absently at the "Magician" tarot card pressed against the control room window. "This Hoodoo-Voodoo shit gives me the heebie-jeebies." Her fists were clinched tightly and her brow was furrowed. "I know one thing though. It's on. Don't nobody come up in our house and disrespect us like that. Y'know what I'm sayin'?" Her unruly shock of braided hair seemed animated when she turned from the window. "Somebody gonna bleed for this, you can bank on that shit."

"So who the fuck is this magician we're supposed to find, and more important, where the hell do we start looking?" Hooligan was on his feet and pacing the control room floor.

"Don't know who, and really don't give a shit." Cayenne reached for her shoulder bag and fished out her cell phone. She kicked through her presets until she found the number she was looking for. She waited impatiently while the line rang, and her indignation rose when it forwarded directly to voice mail.

* * * * *

"Truth be told, I haven't a clue as to young Jade's ongoing malady." Hank McCoy confessed. He and his son Richard spoke privately with Warren Worthington while the girl rested in the infirmary.

"Her bio-scans are clean. Her EKG is normal. Brain function is normal. The nanites that invaded her body have been eradicated, and though they did considerable damage initially, there is every indication that nothing was beyond Anodyne's ability to self-repair." Richard continued - frustration underscoring every word.

"So the big question is..." Warren started, but was cut off by the elder McCoy. "What's slowing her innate healing faculties?"

"Jade is an empath." Warren pointed out. "Do you think that whatever is impeding her redactive abilities is linked to the psychic static that has popped up everywhere? I know I have to work harder to keep my psi-shields up or else I think I'd go mad from the 'noise'. Do you think it could be affecting her as well?'

The doctors McCoy raised arched eyebrows at one another.

"Interesting." Each adjusted his bifocals and unconsciously mirrored the other's mannerisms. "Perhaps a localized psi-damper would shield her from the static storm." Richard offered.

"Worth a shot." Hank agreed, and the two set off to make the appropriate calibrations.

* * * * *

Seated in lotus position, Transit hovered squarely a few inches above the center of the "X" mural in the atrium floor. His palms faced outward and down with thumbs touching the middle fingers while his index fingers and pinkies stretched forward. The gesture accentuated the fact that he had only four digits on each hand. Eldritch arc light cascaded around the young man's body; his breathing was slow and shallow. Daniel had lost all track of time while he prepared himself for his spiritual journey; freeing his mind of all thoughts, save one.

"Speak to me, Nikola Piotrovich Rasputin. Guide me once more to your side."

A gentle tugging swelled in Daniel Wagner's chest, like the thinnest thread being pulled taught. His back arched and his head dropped back as a final tug sent his spirit rushing skyward. For the briefest moment he saw his body seated in the middle of the floor while his astral form rose swiftly through the ceiling, passed through the rooms above and was catapulted into the blue sky over Westchester County.

A single tether pulled Transit forward at blinding speeds. The landscape below rushed by in a blur, slipping from countryside, to New York's concrete jungle, to the azure majesty of the Atlantic Ocean and finally to the rolling terrain of the European continent and ultimately into the foothills of Wundagore Mountain where daylight was turning to dusk.

As abruptly as the journey began, it was as unceremoniously halted when Transit's astral body came to rest in the dark space that indwelled what used to be Nikola Rasputin. It grieved Daniel's heart to see his friend's spirit shackled by massive lengths of chain, the weight of which had forced Nikola to his knees.

"Go away, Daniel. You cannot save me." Nik's voice was faint and filled with dread.

"Nein, mein freund. You shall be set free. Forgive me for not acting sooner." Transit took a step forward, summoning his mystic blades, Spellbinder and Spellbreaker. With confidence beyond measure, he struck down towards the chains binding Nikola, but to his amazement and total befuddlement Nikola deflected the blows.

Chaos and despair permeated the dark space; the chains binding Nikola dissolved into nothingness. His form shifted, transforming from organic steel to opalescent blue flesh.

Malevolence stared at Daniel through blood red eyes. The hulking figure stood, towering over the startled boy, who paled in comparison. Aubergine robes billowed around the ghostly specter, dancing on an unseen wind.

"Samhain..." Transit gasped, pronouncing the name "Sow-en" according to its Celtic origins.

"Indeed, Daniel Wagner. I have been watching you, watching us." Samhain cut a Cheshire smile. "I must say, the conflict within you has been most delicious and I have feasted upon it to full measure." With a casual gesture from the specter, shards of scrying crystals appeared, reflecting images of the past, present and future.

"She is quite the beautiful young woman." Samhain pointed to a shard displaying a despondent Katya Rasputin. "You have grown rather fond of her, have you not?" Samhain grasped the crystal and caressed it gingerly. "Yes. I can see it. Do not deny it, my boy. And she is as equally fond of you only has yet to acknowledge it. How admirable unrequited love can be. I wonder, however, what she will say when she discovers that you have known the whereabouts of her family all these many months." The crystal shattered in his massive hand, splintering into smaller shards of glass and dust.

"Stop it!" Daniel shouted. "You leave her alone!" Psionic armor wrapped itself around Daniel's astral form in thick layers of protection. He lunged forward with his sword, Spellbreaker, but the blade struck empty space.

"I assure you, dear boy, that I have no intention of relenting. In fact, I haven't even begun to mete out the torment of which I have planned for you and this miserable planet."

Daniel swung the blade in the direction of the voice, but Samhain was again beyond its reach.

The creature held another shard. This one showed images of Daniel's sister, Chastity as she skipped along the water's edge near the boathouse on Xavier's estate. She and playmates Lleander Neremani, and Samantha Guthrie were finishing up a day of sunshine and merriment. Overseen by Sam Guthrie and Lila Cheney, the kids enjoyed a day of relaxation.

"We have such delightful plans for her." Samhain teased. He relished each moment of Daniel's fright. He grabbed another shard; one showing a glimpse of the future. The landscape was charred and fires spit flames skyward. Buildings seemed twisted and gothic. Legions of distorted, demonic figures wandered about, feasting on the flesh of the living while the skies were filled with equally grotesque creatures flitting about on bat-like wings.

"This is her future - her destiny." The demon hissed.

"You stay away from her!" Daniel warned. "Just keep away from my family or else..." Both sword and dagger were poised to strike.

"Or else what?" the ghostly figure spat in contempt. Another shard appeared. This one reflected the deception perpetrated by Perdition and Herne as they attacked and defeated the sorceress, Jemaine Szardos.

Dread shrouded Daniel's face. The overwhelming enormity of the situation engulfed him and his faith wavered.

"What's the matter?" Samhain asked. "Does the whelp need his mommy?" The phantasm taunted. "Shall I take you to her?" Talon-like fingernails pierced the mantle of Daniel's armor and sank into his neck, lifting him off of his feet. An ocean away, Daniel's physical form exhibited outward signs of the assault as stigmata formed around the base of his neck. Blood trailed slightly, running down his back and soaking into his tunic.

The infinite dark faded away to reveal the inner sanctum of the Horde. Hours had passed since the Blood Canticle had fully empowered the supplicants with power unimagined by most men. Now, systematically the Soul Harvest was being set into motion.

Gargantuan in stature, Maaxa and Herne stood head and shoulders above any normal person. With a steady confidence they entered the cavern, dragging an unconscious female behind them.

Daniel's heart sank. Even from a distance he recognized her.

"MOTHER!" he shouted. Daniel had never felt so helpless. His astral form was inert - frozen in the steely grasp of the demonic Samhain, who held the boy out like a rag doll.

Protoplasmic pseudopods snaked their way down from the mass of conjoined souls that fueled a whirring device that spewed dark energies into the chamber. The tendrils encircled Amanda Sefton-Wagner, the erstwhile Jemaine Szardos, and lifted her into the air where she was effortlessly grafted into the abomination. Her talents would be added to those of the other mystics, psions and reality shapers who had previously been absorbed.

"Resplendent, is it not?" Samhain pointed to the mass of gears and concentric circles that formed the Chaos Engine.

"I normally eschew such precision and beauty, but the device and the souls of your kindred shall herald a new age." The demon seemed enchanted by the ancient machine as it churned out its dark energies.

"Ages ago, the elder gods and their minions were locked behind a 'Wall of Forbidding'. Patiently they have awaited the time for their return and their day of retribution upon this world is at hand."

Daniel shuddered. The vile creature's touch was sapping his will and eroding his strength.

"Like peeling the skin from an onion, the Chaos Engine is steadily removing the complex layers of the Forbidding, and as it unravels, more of our brethren are loosed upon this world." He presented a final scrying shard that showed Nikola Rasputin, once called Alloy, now known as Siege leading a raid on a small Bavarian village. The carnage and devastation were appalling. Daniel became sick with grief.

For the briefest instant, the young man reached out to his mother mentally, but could not rouse her. His expanded consciousness did, however, make contact with his mentors, Clea Strange, Magik and the Scarlet Witch. Their minds and the minds of many others flitted in and out of obscurity, captive within the heart of the odd device that cast an ominous pall over the chamber.

Somewhere on the fringes - somewhere beyond the room Daniel sensed the presence of Kate and Piotr Rasputin, but their thoughts were not their own. They seemed tainted somehow and darkly overshadowed.

"I admire you, Daniel Wagner. Always the dutiful son, aren't you? Ever the little detective, and always the heroic protector." The apparition tightened its grip around Daniel's neck and leaned in close - hauntingly whispering in his ear. "Tell me, little warrior, where is your white steed? Hmmm?" The voice was as hypnotic as it was haunting. Daniel felt his bravado ebbing and his resolve weakening. He was only a little boy after all. A tiny, insignificant child playing the cavalier in a grown man's world. He was hopeless - pathetic. He was doomed.

"Take one last look, Daniel Wagner, for it is the last time you shall ever see your mother alive."

"God help us." Daniel prayed.

"There is no God save for Chthon!"

Samhain pulled has arm back and hurled Daniel forward. Instantaneously, Daniel's astral form snapped back into its physicality with crushing velocity. The impact sent the boy's body arcing backwards where it skidded to a halt just outside of his spell circle.

Ethereal ribbons of smoky Dark Force energies seeped out from Daniel's eyes, nose, ears and mouth. Even the cuts to his neck oozed the inky substance. Moments later, the extra-dimensional substance congealed into several distinct forms: Lord Beltane, Perdition, and Herne, followed by lesser creations of Hellhounds and minor minions.

"I shall join you all again as soon as my mission on Genosha ripens to fruition." Samhain's disembodied voice seemed to echo through the atrium. "Be relentless." Samhain instructed. "The final cogs within the Chaos Engine are ready for harvest. Show no mercy. The remaining four are here and shall be ours this night, and by dawn, our Master - our God shall walk the earth once more."


TO BE CONTINUED...

Issue 47

Issue 49

"Hell on Earth" continues in Genosha #6

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