Hellfire in New York

Hellfire in New York

Chapter 17: Peter Pettigrew's Last Supper

In the alley at the side of the Hellfire Club, Fleur and Sirius kept the Disillusionment Charm active while Seamus opened the door. Havok led the group in with a final admonition. "Remember, the ones in Regency costume are legit Club security - go easy on them!"

Fortunately, they met no opposition on the way to the wine cellar, though they quickly discovered that their communicators were useless.

"I was worried about that," admitted Emma, "There's a Comms Suite in the penthouse that has a full jamming array." She concentrated for a moment, then grimaced. "They're also using the Psychic Jammer Donald and I developed. My telepathy is only line-of-sight right now, I'm afraid."

"Don't worry 'bout it, Emma," Rogue told her. "We're countin' on you more for your knowledge of the layout here than anythin' else."

It was at that point that they met their first opposition, a troop of blue-clad mercenaries armed with the usual array of stunners and small arms. The scrap was short and very one-sided. The mercs found their weapons either frozen in ice, wrenched from their hands, or transfigured into a variety of interesting but harmless objects. Thus disarmed, they were easy prey for Wolfsbane and Wolverine, who set about merrily knocking a few heads together! Rahne, in particular, was in the mood for a fight; Sam was still confined to Sickbay, and she was feeling more than a little frustrated.

Wolverine's enhanced senses led him directly to the concealed door, where two careful slices with his claws allowed him to lift it away from the wall. Sirius magically overrode the elevator controls, and the group made its way to the bottom. By this time, they were sure their presence was known, and this was confirmed by the sudden emergence of opposition forces into the corridor.

This time, Dazzler and Psyche took the initiative with a bewildering light show followed by a series of terrifying illusions. As the mixed force of mercs and wizards churned in confusion, Wolverine yelled, "Switch one!"

In an agreed strategy, Seamus, Sirius and Fleur concentrated their efforts on the mercs, while their Mutant allies tackled the wizards. Already confused and shaken, the Hellfire forces were taken completely by surprise, and the fight was over almost before it began.

Wolverine himself, however, pushed through the fray. He had caught an alien scent, and he didn't like what his senses told him. At the back of the enemy group were two demons. Physically, they resembled the msira Remus had described to him, but around each demon was a purplish haze that stank of death. As Wolverine approached them, one spat virulent purple fluid in his face. The stuff clung, burning his skin and filling him with nausea. Logan felt his heart beat like a trip-hammer as a fever coursed through his veins. This was venom - a venom he had never encountered before!

For a moment, the feral Canadian swayed on his feet, then his healing factor kicked in, flushing the poison out of his system in seconds. But, in one sense, the damage was done. Snarling, Wolverine lunged forward, the berserkergang fully on him. Within seconds, the demons lay slashed, bloody and dead at his feet. For a moment, he stood over them, panting, glaring around him for more prey, then he took a deep breath, and came back to himself, suddenly aware that the others had been waiting for him.

"Sorry, folks," he muttered. "Guess I get a little cranky when somebody tries to kill me."

"Don't we all!" remarked Sirius. "Where next, Emma?"

She pointed ahead. "Through that door. We should come to Selene's throne room at the other end of a corridor, but she keeps on changing the layout so we need to watch ourselves!"

The solid wooden door was locked, but before any of the wizards could try to open it, Havok raised his hands and simply blasted it away with his cosmic energy bolts.

"Obviously, they know we're here," he said, "so no point being discreet!"

They went through, avoiding the rune set into the floor, and went down the corridor, which suddenly opened out into a vast open space.

"I haven't seen this before!" exclaimed Emma. "Be careful!"

The group fanned out, a standard training manoeuvre that proved their undoing. Without warning, the floor began to erupt, and thick, thorny hedges sprouted with unnatural speed, forming a maze that separated them from each other.

Wolverine and Sirius found themselves in a blind alley. The magical vegetation proved too resilient even for Logan's claws to cut; where he did sever a stalk, it grew again with astonishing rapidity.

"Crap!" grunted the Canadian. "Looks like the only way out is through."

"Hmm." Sirius frowned. "Normally, in a maze, I'd change into my Animagus form, but I doubt if Snuffles' nose is any keener than yours."

"You're right," Logan agreed. "Besides, I'll bet there's more things here than just hedges. Keep your wand handy!"

The two men advanced cautiously; neither was loquacious by nature, so they communicated where necessary with gestures. Suddenly, Wolverine raised a hand, beckoning Sirius closer and speaking in a low tone that, unlike a whisper, didn't carry.

"Someone up ahead. I got the scent - human, male, scared."

The two rounded a corner to face a long, straight stretch of the maze that ended in a stone archway. In the archway, a man was waiting for them, a small, skinny wizard in shabby robes. In one trembling hand he held a wand; the other was gleaming silver, and he had a face that reminded Logan of a rodent.

"WORMTAIL!" Sirius roared, and charged towards the wizard, with Wolverine a breath behind. Pettigrew gave a half-hysterical laugh and gestured with his wand. In a blaze of unnatural violet light, a dozen Hell Guards appeared between him and the two friends.

Sirius' fury was so intense that he simply blasted the first of the skeletal demons aside. That gave Wolverine a chance to come level with him, and the pair crashed into the hellspawn like a pair of thunderbolts. The Hell Guards were vicious, powerful creatures, but they were hemmed in by the confining maze and utterly unprepared for the savagery they met.

Wolverine had encountered other creatures whose rage in battle matched his own: the Hulk, the Wendigo, Sabretooth. But right now, Sirius was possessed of a fury that matched anything Logan had ever seen. Wolverine smiled grimly as he advanced, shoulder-to-shoulder with his wizard friend - it had been too long since he'd been in a good scrap with a worthy ally at his side! Wand and claw, they demolished their unhuman opposition in ferocious style!

Finally, Wolverine slashed a Hell Guard in two while Sirius disposed of the last one, causing its skull-head to explode in a shower of grey dust. The archway before them was empty.

"Gone!" Sirius snarled. "Run off again, the snivelling little shit! Where'd he go?"

"Cool it!" snapped Logan, grabbing his friend's arm. "He didn't teleport. He ran. I've got the scent; he won't get far. But first, Sirius, who is he?"

"Peter Pettigrew." Sirius spat the name bitterly. "He's the -"

"I know," Wolverine cut in. "He's the guy who betrayed Hawk's folks and framed you."

"Then you know I'm going to kill him, Logan. Don't try to stop me!"

"Stop you? I'm gonna be there to enjoy the show. Hawk's a buddy of mine, remember, and so are you. But," Logan continued in a tone that brooked no contradiction, "I'm not about to let you go chargin' in half-assed. I got the sonuva bitch's scent, and we're goin' after him quick but careful. No sense gettin' killed before we reach him. Get me?"

Sirius took a deep breath. "You're right, Logan. No sense rushing. Just don't lose him!"

"I won't. C'mon!" Logan led off, Pettigrew's scent in his nostrils. As they went, he told Sirius, "There's an old proverb that goes 'Revenge is a dish best served cold'. So let's be cool, buddy!"

The stone passage they now found themselves in ran straight ahead and slightly downward. After a while, other passages began to open off it, but Logan never lost the trail, even when it turned off onto a long spiral staircase that led further down than should have been possible. The two men ran silent, like hounds on the scent. Wolverine was tireless and Sirius determined so, before long, Wolverine's keen ears, then Sirius', caught the sound of hurrying footsteps ahead.

"I can smell water," muttered Logan, "and something else."

They came out of the stairway into a vast cave. Some yards ahead was a sheer drop-off, from the bottom of which came the sound of water. Pettigrew was standing on the edge, looking down, but some sixth sense warned him, and he spun, raising his wand. "Avada Kedavra!"

Wolverine dived at Sirius, knocking him down, and the curse expended itself on the stone wall. Still prone, Sirius pointed his own wand. "Expelliarmus!" Pettigrew's wand flew from his hand and over the cliff. Desperate, Wormtail leaped forward, slashing down with his silver hand, but Wolverine neatly severed it at the wrist. Pettigrew howled, then screamed again as Sirius sealed the stump with a flash from his wand.

"Peter, Peter," said Sirius, climbing to his feet. "I've waited far too long for this just to let you gently bleed to death. You owe me for Lily, for James, and for all those years in Azkaban, as well as the ones on the run! Crucio!"

For a while, Pettigrew screeched and writhed on the ground, while the two other men watched dispassionately. Then Sirius released the curse, and Pettigrew looked up at him with sick triumph on his face.

"You've lost, Sirius! When you take me to the Aurors, and I tell them you used an Unforgivable Curse, you'll be back in Azkaban! Maybe we'll be cellmates! Of course," Wormtail's voice took on a wheedling tone, "if you let me go, none of that need happen."

Sirius chuckled, wildly amused. "Who says you're going to the Aurors, Peter?"

"He does!" Pettigrew crowed, pointing at Logan. "He's an X-Man, committed to all that truth, justice and the American way rubbish! He won't let you kill me, will you, X-Man?"

Wolverine gave a nasty grin. "Which X-Man d'you think I am, bub?"

"I don't know," Pettigrew whined. "Iceman? Cyclops? Any one of them! I never read those Muggle files."

"You should've," Logan told him. "I'm the one they call Wolverine, scumbag. I'm more committed to what they call 'natural' justice." In a blurred movement, Wolverine darted forward and caught Pettigrew by the front of his robes, holding him effortlessly off the ground with one hand. "I don't know no curses, but I do know every pressure point on the human body, every nerve center. If Sirius gets tired of cursin' you, I can teach you brand new kinds of pain!"

By way of demonstration, Wolverine pressed his thumb into a precise spot on Pettigrew's neck. Pettigrew screamed and squirmed in his grip. Then Logan dropped him, and the rat-like wizard fell to his hands and knees, vomiting.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You've some interesting skills, my friend!"

"You don't know the half of it, pal," said Logan grimly.

Then a slimy, green tentacle reached up over the cliff and grabbed the Mutant round the waist. Sirius flash-burned it to ash, before being seized by another tentacle and hearing a hiss rising from below. Wolverine bounded forward and severed the limb that had captured his friend. Both men moved to the edge and looked down.

Below them was a wide, round pool, ringed with fang-like rocks. In the centre of the pool, a huge, squid-like monster glared at them from yellow eyes, waving its maimed tentacles and bubbling in misery and anger.

"Think it can still reach us?" asked Sirius.

"Nah," said Wolverine. "We got its two long tentacles. The other eight will be shorter."

"Hmm," Sirius said reflectively. "Unless someone falls in there, it's going to go hungry. It'll have to scrape them off those rocks even then."

Wolverine shook his head. "Those other tentacles are plenty long enough to catch anyone that fell before they hit."

"But are they fast enough?" asked Sirius. "I've a bottle of Old Ogden's Firewhisky that says they're not."

"An' I got a bottle of Yukon Jack says you're wrong," Wolverine countered.

"You're on!" Sirius turned to Pettigrew, who lay curled and whimpering in a foetal position. "Peter, old chum, care to settle a bet for us?"

There was a brief scuffle, a scream suddenly cut off, then some more screams that became gurgles before stopping altogether.

"Damn!" said Sirius. "I was sure he'd make it to the bottom. I owe you a bottle of Firewhisky, mate."

"We'll share," Logan offered generously. He wrinkled his nose. "That thing's sure a messy eater!"

"Mother always told me not to play with my food," Sirius quipped.

"Your mom probably didn't serve you food that was still wriggling," Logan pointed out.

"You never met my mother," Sirius returned. He pointed his wand to cast a Boiling Spell on the water below them. There was some hissing and thrashing around, then after a while, nothing.

As the two men turned to go, Logan said, "That reminds me - there's a place in town serves the best calamari you ever tasted. If you can stick around a day or two, I'll buy dinner. You, me, Mariko and 'Roro, huh?"

"Sounds good. But where do we go from here?"

Just then, the communicators both men had been wearing crackled.

"Attention all X-Men. This is Cyclops on command frequency. Report in!"

*****

Marie found herself alone, cut off from the rest of the party. The hedges seemed to deaden sound, so shouting was useless. Sighing, Rogue began to thread the maze, coming in the end to a wooden door. As she approached, it opened slowly to reveal a grey-skinned demon with golden fire flickering around its body. Too fast for her to react, it bounded forward and grabbed her with its burning hands.

It grabbed her face.

Rogue felt the familiar disorientation as her Mutant power took hold, and heard the demon scream. She reached up and grasped its wrists, keeping its hands on her face. Part of her craved this, this sucking up of another's skills, memories and life. It was a dangerous hunger, one only kept in check by Marie's memories of her hard-fought battle to retain her own integrity when all the world seemed against her. Having almost lost her selfhood, she would not steal another's on a whim.

But now, stern necessity and survival drove her, and she drained the demon. It had no name of its own; it was simply grumsira, one of many. It existed to burn, to inflict pain like its own on the souls of the guilty, and all were guilty of something. For a moment, the two stood face-to-face, the demon grey and shrunken, Marie wreathed in golden flame. Then the demon dissolved into smoke and sank into the ground.

Rogue whimpered; the fire burned. It wasn't harming her, but it hurt, as the demon tried to drive her onwards, to force her to share the pain. Almost without volition, she went through the door to face a ring of wizards. She heard shouts of alarm, saw wands being raised, and leaped forward. The grumsira's unnatural strength coursed through her, and she had its agility as well. The enveloping fire protected her from the wizards' spells, and before anyone could come up with a more effective one, Rogue had downed them all. Then she collapsed as the grumsira's power left her.

She must not have been out very long, because the wizards around her were still unconscious when she woke, shivering with cold. But this wasn't a physical cold, it was a chill of the spirit, and a familiar one. As all of Marie's worst memories rose up in her mind, she dragged herself upright to face the figures gliding silently across the room toward her, tall figures draped in black robes, with shrouded faces, figures she knew - Dementors!

Marie remembered that only one thing would turn aside a Dementor, and only a wizard or witch could do it. She looked around her. There were plenty of witches and wizards here, but all were out cold. Rogue could not use her power unless the person was conscious. If she touched one of these people, she herself would pass out - easy prey for the terrible Dementor's Kiss.

But it wasn't in Rogue's nature to give up so easily. She had absorbed the powers of three magical people on different occasions: Harry Potter, Bellatrix Lestrange and the unknown witch who had tried to capture Wolfsbane. Rogue knew that in sharing Wolverine's abilities, she had somehow permanently heightened her own senses, so perhaps some of the magic of these people had also stayed with her.

It was a slender thread, but it was hope, and Marie seized it, stooping to pick up a dropped wand. From a pouch on her belt, she plucked out another object that was never far from her. It was a little crystal globe, given her as a parting gift by her Hogwarts friends. Imprinted on it magically were impressions of the personalities of those friends; Neville, Lavender, Parvati, Seamus, Dean and Ginny had all put their thoughts, their affection for her into the crystal. Now she touched it with her bare hand and felt warmth flood through her. Hope flared higher in her, and she reached deep, pulling out her most precious memories.

The Dementors hesitated, and now Rogue concentrated hard, bringing up all she could recall of the times she had used magic. Most strongly in her mind was a sense of Harry, when she had taken on his powers to free his godfather. It had been this charm they had cast, and anyone who knew them both would have heard a hint of Harry's tone in her voice as she pointed the wand and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"

The tip of the wand glowed silver, and as Marie's heart blazed with hope, so the light grew. Sometimes, she thought, you just have to want something bad enough! With that thought, the glow became a glare, and a shape erupted out of it! It was a shape she had seen before, once, and only vaguely. Now it was fully formed, a three-foot silver dragonfly that darted at the Dementors, driving them back.

Triumphant, Marie advanced into a shaft of golden light coming down from somewhere above. Rogue took no notice, concentrating on the Dementors. She almost had them on the run, and then....

This one was taller than the others, perhaps older, certainly colder, hungrier and more powerful. It bore down on her, reaching for her most hurtful memories, swatting at her Patronus with a grey-fleshed hand. The dragonfly tried valiantly, but it was overmatched, hovering angrily overhead but unable to stop the Dementor King's advance.

Then a figure touched down lightly beside Marie, and a well-known and loved voice said, "Well done, Rogue! Now let's see if I can do as well!"

As the Dementor King hesitated, Ororo raised her wand and called, "Expecto Patronum!" The light from the witch-Mutant's wand was almost as bright as the blaze Rogue had seen from Harry's, but the shape that emerged from it was no stag. It was the magnificent lion of the African plains. The great cat padded forward, shook its silver mane and emitted the superb guttural roar of its kind. The Dementor King stepped back a pace, and the lion charged, swiping at its enemy with a massive silver paw. Emboldened, Marie's dragonfly charged the lesser Dementors. With shrill wails of terror, the dark creatures fled, led by their King. The two Patronus spirits turned and made their way back to their casters. The lion faded before Storm could place a hand on its mane, the dragonfly just before it settled on Rogue's outstretched arm.

Trembling, exhausted and exhilarated, Marie turned to Storm and stepped gratefully into the older woman's warm embrace. For a moment, they clung together, then Storm stepped back, still holding Marie's shoulders and saying, "How are you? Is it gone yet?"

"Gone?" asked Rogue.

"The magic you absorbed. Whoever it was from, they're not waking up yet." Storm was glancing around at the prone bodies. Rogue shook her head.

"Didn't happen that way, Ororo. They were out cold. Ah jest had ta do it by m'self." Rogue's drawl was back; she couldn't help it.

Storm gazed at her in wonder. "But how?" she asked.

"Darned if Ah know." Rogue sighed. "Ah jest thought of all the other times Ah've used magic. Tried to 'member how it was, an' it jest worked! But that big one! Ah'd have been a goner for sure if not for you, sugah!"

Storm grinned. "Sweet Medea, Marie! You're halfway to being a witch yourself. As for me, thank Harry - he taught me how to do that spell, and nobody does it better than him!" Ororo lightly tapped the lion badge Rogue insisted on wearing on her uniform. "Anyway, it was the least I could do. I'm a Gryffindor too, you know!"

At that moment, Cyclop's voice sounded in their ears.

*****

Emma Frost was on her own again, parted from her new friends by the magical vegetation. For a moment, she felt an unexpectedly keen pang of loss, but she steeled herself. There was enough of the White Queen left in her to drive her forward, looking for a way out, a way to rejoin the X-Men.

She turned a corner, and came face-to-face with herself! Herself in the white basque, briefs, boots and cloak of the White Queen! The other Emma's face bore a sneer of contempt.

"You abandoned me!" she hissed. "Sebastian kisses another woman, and you wail and run away from all we were, all we could have been! Did you really think I'd let you get away from me?"

The real Emma shook her head. "You're not that much of a fool, Jason," she said with a smile. "You may have limited my power, but you didn't shut it off. You should have been subtler!" She stepped forward, and her other self faded, to be replaced by the slender figure of the White Knight, who returned her smile.

"If I'd been subtler, Emma, you wouldn't have taken that extra step!" He lifted his wrist and pressed a button on the control unit there. The floor opened up under Emma, and as she fell, she heard him say, "Erik sends his regards."

The trapdoor led to a chute, which deposited Emma, shaken but unhurt, into a large, hangar-like room. Around the edges were the vague shapes of shrouded machinery, but in the centre stood a single, inert figure, ten feet tall and made of dully gleaming metal. The Sentinel had its back to her, and stood so rigidly Emma assumed it must be inactive. Cautiously, she moved toward it, catching sight of a door in the wall beyond it.

Emma had ventured beyond any cover when the Sentinel suddenly twitched, then spun with blinding speed.

"Mutant detected!" it intoned. "Surrender at once, or lethal force will be applied. Resistance is futile."

Emma froze in place; her powers, even when free of the Psychic Jammer, were useless against a positronic brain. Then strong arms seized her from behind, and for an instant, she felt as if she were being squeezed though a rubber tube. Suddenly, she was at the other end of the hangar, behind a stack of machinery, and a familiar voice breathed in her ear, "That was too close!"

"Remus," she whispered, letting her head fall back onto his shoulder. She could have stayed there forever, but he was asking her urgently, "Are you alright? Apparation isn't nice when you aren't used to it."

"I'm fine," she assured him. Remus suddenly seemed to realise that he was still holding her closely, protectively. Gently, he let go, turning her to face him. Beside him stood Nightcrawler and Beast, both looking anxious. "I'm fine, really!" Emma told them all again.

"Mutants! You will surrender immediately!" came the electronic voice of the Sentinel.

Beast shook his head. "We're trapped," he said grimly. "We can't get to the door without giving our metallic friend there a clear shot at us."

"No problem!" Nightcrawler told him. "That hunk of junk out there doesn't stand a chance of hitting either of us, Beast. You and I can distract it while Remus does his Alley-oop thing on the door."

"Alohomora," Remus corrected. "But that only gets Emma and me out. What about you two?"

Nightcrawler shrugged. "I can keep it dancing while Hank vacates, then I 'port out. Simple, huh? So, let's do it!"

He vanished with a bamf to reappear in front of the Sentinel, yelling "Hey, Laser-lips! Your mama was a lawnmower!" before dodging nimbly away from a laser bolt.

"The youth is, I fear, somewhat demented," remarked Beast. "I'd better go help. Remus, don't try anything silly."

"D'you think I'm demented as well?" asked Remus.

"I know you are!" Beast replied. "In fact, I suspect you were born with bats in the belfry!" With that, he vaulted over their cover to add his own measure of confusion to the Sentinel's frantic efforts to hit a target.

Remus turned to Emma. "I suppose we'd better go," he muttered, " but...."

"But you don't want to leave our friends in danger," she finished for him.

"Reading my mind again?" he asked with a crooked grin.

"Not this time," she replied, reaching out to touch his cheek. "Just your face, your eyes."

"We'd better go," Remus repeated, moving away from her towards the door.

Emma followed him, saying, "You're right. But you and I need to talk, Remus. Soon!"

Nightcrawler's plan almost worked. Remus had, in fact, opened the door, and was about to usher Emma through, when he heard an explosion behind him and spun round. One of the robot's laser bolts had struck some equipment close to Beast, causing it to blow up, and the force of the blast had sent the furred Mutant to the floor. The Sentinel bore down on him, ignoring Kurt's frantic efforts to distract it, and raised its hand again.

Remus didn't hesitate. He whipped out his wand and darted forward, yelling "Reducto!" The Sentinel's left knee-joint exploded and the thing fell onto its other knee, giving Hank time to recover and leap clear, but the robot had sighted Remus now, and lobbed a net at him. Emma grabbed Remus and pulled him away to cover just in time.

"Damn, damn, oh damn!" he growled. "Now we're stuck! It'll be watching for us!"

"Can't you blow it up with that spell?" asked Emma.

Remus shook his head. "It's too big. It'd take too long," he explained.

Emma squeezed his arm. "There must be something else!" she insisted. "Hunter destroyed a Sentinel with magic, surely you can?"

An idea sprang into Remus' mind. He remembered an afternoon spent looking at various devices and plans in Hank's workshop. Among them had been schematics of the wrecked Sentinels Beast had dismantled. There was one part he could clearly visualise. He patted Emma's hand, then broke cover to stand directly in front of the crippled robot. He pointed his wand and called, "Accio power-core!"

For a moment, the Sentinel twitched like a man in a fit. Then, with a terrible grinding noise, its chest ripped outwards, and a cylindrical piece of machinery floated out to land at Remus' feet. The Sentinel pitched forward to crash onto the floor, dead.

There was a moment's silence. Emma seized Remus and, before he could demur, kissed him fiercely, full on the mouth. "Told you!" she crowed when she had finished. Remus turned away, trying to control his jumbled feelings. He faced Hank and Kurt.

Kurt was staring in wonder. "Unglaublich!" was all he could say. Hank gave a wry grin and asked, "Ever consider a career in auto-wrecking?"

Before Remus could reply, they all heard Cyclop's call to report.