Hell is what you make it

[Erinyes]

The group finally made it through Blink's portal to what Erinyes had hoped was just the other side of the wall, but they found themselves in a dank, smelly basement filled with old lab equipment. "Is everyone OK?" Erinyes asked as she and Carlos finally let go of Joshua's arms. "Major Domo? Are you OK?" she asked her friend as the Cybercide members spread out to check the basement.

"Does your power work on others people's memories or something?" Joshua asked Blink as he stared at the teleporter. "Because this used to be home for us. And I never wanted to see this place again. This is where they took Jer away from me..."

Erinyes looked back to see her brother fall to his knees as members of his team surrounded him. "I'll go to him in a minute," she said to Major Domo. "We're in The Tank. This is where I was born. Not in this room, I mean. But here...and it hurts so much to see it again."

[Joshua Kincaid]

Joshua was still on his knees when Freyja came over to him and handed him a small flask. "No, I don't need your Asgardian crap," he said as he shoved the flask back into her hands. "I don't want to forget. I want to feel this pain."

"Stop being mean to the lady," Carlos growled as he cleared off a table so Gar could set Britt down. "Freyja, could you help us with Britt once I got this damned collar off?"

Freyja nodded and walked over to Carlos and Gar as Joshua stayed on his knees and stared at Bethany. "Mom said they killed you."

"I was sold to slavers, and then they sold me to an alien television programmer named Mojo. Major Domo and I were sent to another dimension to find one of Mojo's servants who went off on her own. Luckily the X-Men found us, and they have helped us ever since," Erinyes explained as she looked at her brother. "Where is Jericho?"

"A man named Abaddon has him. Jer is Abaddon's field general, I guess. With Ronan dead, there will be a power play for his throne. Abaddon will use Jer to help him take it. With all the heirs dead, or at least the ones that count, this world is going to fall into chaos."

   

[Major Domo]

Major Domo found himself out of the portal. He turned to Erinyes and nodded. ''To answer your question, I am indeed OK.'' The android glanced at Joshua as the latter fell on his knees. *So this place is The Tank* he mused. He frowned after Mojo was mentioned.

[Erinyes]

"I'm glad you're OK, Major Domo," Erinyes said as she smiled at her friend before turning back to her brother. "I do not want us dragged into some stupid war for the monarchy. We'll find Jer and get him and you our of here," she said to Joshua, but he violently shook his head in reply. "What? You can't stay here! You'll both get killed. Frankly, you all can come back with us as far as I'm concerned." 

"Whoa, slow down your roll," Duke said as he, Paris and Deion kept sweeping the area. "Let's take this step by step, Bethany. Your brothers are a given, but dimension hopping might screw the pooch, if you get my meaning."

Erinyes glared at Duke and sighed as she turned back to Major Domo. "I don't care if that guy is an X-Man and wearing some tricked out armor. I think anybody who wants to cross over should be able to. I can't sentence anyone to be stuck in this nightmare."

[Major Domo]

''Maybe the rebellion in The Tank won't fail,'' Major Domo said with a shrug. His frown remained on his face. ''In Mojoworld, rebellions almost always failed. Longshot got lucky. Then again, maybe that's why he is called The Lucky One in my world. I guess luck was on Longshot's side another time after he defeated Mojo 2. Then again, I helped.''

Major Domo smiled for a few moments. His frown returned. ''We shouldn't be reckless with our rebellion. I am assuming Longshot's reckless behavior got him into trouble before he killed Mojo. Then again, Mojo somehow returned after Longshot killed him. We have to think our actions through.'' 

[Erinyes]

Erinyes nodded to Major Domo before she turned her gaze back to the crew from Cybercide. They had sort of come along for the ride, but Bethany had no idea why until she thought of what was done to Jericho. "I'm sorry, Major Domo. This whole situation is bringing back so many bad memories," she said quietly as she picked up a small box that rattled as she moved it. She looked inside and saw bits of bone and pieces of metal. She shoved the box back quickly and started to realize that there were all sorts of lab tables at one end of the room. "I think they did experiments down here..."

"They did," Paris said as she passed a flashlight over the far wall where there were empty stasis tubes and a row of lockers. "Wait. This is the morgue?" she asked as she shined her light on one area where they had body lockers. "Great."

"Josh..." Erinyes started to say as the lights started to come up slowly at the opposite end of the basement. "What is going on?"

"We need to move. Now!" the archer yelled as he looked to see Carlos, Gar and Freyja were still trying to get the collar off Britt. "Carry her if you have to!"

Slowly the locker doors started to open and the cadaver trays slid out. "They must have been on some sort of timer!" Erinyes yelled as she waited to see what was getting out of the lockers. "Wait. Those are not for dead people! Those were pods to grow more slaves! They started using these right before I was sold off."

As they stood and watched, a girl wearing a tattered and bloody hospital gown hopped off one of the locker beds and started to walk toward the group. She had black demon's wings and dark black hair, and her footing was unsteady as she inched forward. "Help us," she whispered as she passed out at Major Domo's feet.

[Major Domo]

''The Tank is giving us all bad memories,'' Major Domo said. He faced the archer after the latter said they had to move. He tilted his head to one side in curiosity. His eyes widened the minute cadaver trays slid out. Major Domo turned to Erinyes again. ''Pods to grow more slaves?'' he wished to know.

Major Domo gasped at the sight of a girl hopping off and wearing a bloody hospital gown. He wondered if she was born with her black demon's wings. He stepped back at a snail's pace. His eyes remained large after she fainted by his feet.  

[Erinyes]

"Oh, this is bad," Erinyes said as she looked down at the girl. "I remember flashes about this place..."

"Blink, I think we better get out of here before this turns into an episode of The Walking Dead!" TJ yelled as more children started to exit the pods.

"They aren't zombies!" Erinyes yelled as she knelt down and put her hand on the girl's throat. "She's alive, but I'm not sure for how long. Help me pick her up, Joshua."

"No, we can't take them all with us, Bethany," the archer replied as he turned to watch Blink prepare to open a portal. "And you can't just pot shot teleport us out of this place! There are traps in here..."

Erinyes was ready to just grab the girl and run when she noticed two other girls, both in their teens, start moving toward the group. They, too, had the odd looking black demon's wings, but they also appeared to have some sort of cybernetic implants as well. "Crap. Who are they?"

"Oh nuts," Carlos said as he helped Gar and Freyja finish getting the collar off Brit. "Those are Death Angels. Latest model. Assassins of Ronan the Everlasting. We are screwed."

"I am not buying that!" Erinyes yelled as she grabbed Major Domo's hand and started to run toward Blink. "I can't save them all, but I can save Jer, and then we are getting out of here!" she said to her friend as she suddenly felt the floor shift. A trap door opened under her and Major Domo. "Grab the edge!" she said as she tried to use her mystic telekinetic powers to keep him from falling until he could grab the side of the hole.

[Major Domo]

Major Domo shook his head in disbelief after additional pods opened. ''I thought Spiral's Body Shoppe clients were terrifying!'' he muttered. He stepped back when he saw two other teen girls with wings. Major Domo gasped as soon as a trap door opened. He grabbed the edge. His eyes remained large.

[Joshua Kincaid]

"Oh shit!" Joshua yelled as he ran after his sister and her friend. "Carlos, make with the rock and roll and buy us some time!"

"I do not work for you, but yeah, you may be right!" Carlos shouted back as he started to rock the room a bit so some of the pods would fall on the advancing Death Angels. "Won't last long, folks! Hoof it!"

"Give me your hand!" Josh said as he held out his hand for Major Domo to grab onto. "I'll get him, Bethany. You levitate up!"

"I'm trying, but something is blocking me!" Erinyes yelled to the archer as he helped Major Domo. "Those assassins must have triggered a mystic dampener. The mutants don't seem to be affected!" she said as she clung to the side of the trap door as well.

"Just hang on!" Joshua said as he looked to see Freyja fall to her knees. "Carlos, grab her. Head for the portal chick!"

 

[Major Domo]

*Nothing is going right for us at all* Major Domo thought as he bit his lower lip and worried. He looked up and noticed Josh. After nodding, he took the latter's hand. Major Domo turned to Erinyes until he worried again. Was anyone able to help her?

[Joshua Kincaid]

"Don't worry," Josh said as he looked at Major Domo and lifted him to safety. The guy named Deion had run over and helped Bethany up and out of the trap as everyone started to run toward Blink. "I just got her back. I am not about to lose her. But if I let you get hurt, it would be worse for her than getting hurt herself. Go to my sister. I'm right behind you."

Joshua pulled three arrows from his quiver and strung them in his bow. They were trick arrows. These were ones designed to seek out cybernetics. In a world where you ran into a lot of people who had been clockworked up by that crazy scientist who worked for Ronan, you had to be prepared for anything.

"Just shoot them already!" Gar yelled as he finally got Britt to her feet. "We need to fend them off."

"I know that!" Joshua snapped as he let his arrows fly. Only one of the three hit its intended mark. "Not good!"

By now the Death Angels were free of the traps set in motion by Carlos' seismic maneuvers, and with Joshua's arrows not making much of an impact, the only thing they could do was run. "Wait. You have no idea where you are going," he said to Blink as he ran up beside her. "Bethany, we can't just blindly..." he said and then suddenly stopped as a blade went into his back. He turned to see that, behind them the whole time, was a cloaked group of Death Angels led by his brother Jericho. "Jer?"

"Take them all to Abaddon," Jericho, who was in full demon form, said as he picked up his bleeding brother by the neck and tossed him to one of his fellow assassins. The demonic Jer then reached out for Bethany and the person closest to her, Major Domo. "No point in you running, android. Bethany needs to go see her daddy, and you might as well go along for the visit. The rest can go to the labs until we can figure out what they are."

By now there was a battle raging between the cybernetically-enhanced Death Angels and the combined X-Men and resistance forces. The demonic Jericho smiled as he glared at the android and his sister, putting a force field around them until he could get them out of the battlefield.

[Major Domo]

''Thanks,'' Major Domo said after he was lifted to safety. He frowned after he heard what he said about Bethany's possible emotions if he was injured. He ran to Bethany. Major Domo's eyes widened in shock as soon as he saw a demonic Jericho. With wide eyes, Major Domo shook his head the minute a demonic hand reached for him. Everything happened so fast.

[Jericho Kincaid]

"Do what your robotic pal does, sister, and things will go just fine," Jericho said as he flexed his demonic wings. "If your father wanted you dead, you would have been dead a long time ago."

"Jer, you can fight this!" Erinyes yelled as she stayed close to Major Domo. "Who did this to you? Maybe if we kill them, it will set you free."

"Your father," Jer snarled as he watched his squadron of Death Angels starting to fall to these newcomers.

"Abaddon is not my father!" Erinyes shouted as she tried to break the force field around them with an eldritch blast. "Major Domo, be prepared to run!"

"Abaddon is not your father," Jer replied as he put a fiery hand on Erinyes' shoulder.  "And he is not the one who transformed me. We're leaving. Then all your questions will be answered."

Erinyes screamed in pain as the fire bit into her skin, but she seemed to use the pain to boost her power. That was not something Jerciho counted on.  Her second blast was aimed at him, and it sent him flying backward, causing the force field to collapse. 

[Erinyes]

Erinyes looked at Major Domo, and tears started to well in her eyes. "I am going to kill whoever did this to him. I swear I am. I know he's my baby brother, but it's like I'm looking at a nightmare version of him," she said as she grabbed her friend's hand and started to run toward Joshua. "But first I have to help Josh," she said as she saw Paris Summers standing over Josh with a med kit. "Oh God, this is..."

"Keep moving!" Joshua yelled, gritting his teeth as Paris injected something into the area where he was wounded. "We'll follow you!"

"I want to heal you!" Bethany screamed as she suddenly realized that only that damned force field had allowed her powers to ignite. "Somebody find the thing dampening the mystics and take it down!"

"That would be me," a dark haired girl with metallic demon's wings said as she sent out a pulse from the palms of her hands.

"Who the hell are you?" Erinyes asked, and already she dreaded the answer before it came.

"Kadian Athonlea," the Death Angel smiled as she aimed another blast right at Erinyes and Major Domo.

"Get down!" Erinyes screamed as she ducked down with Major Domo. "I am so, so sorry I got you into this mess!"   

[Major Domo]

Major Domo tilted his head after Jer snarled about his companion's father. He faced Erinyes before he nodded. ''What about you? I won't be able to bear the memory of you being killed. You said we were going to save your brothers and that's what we'll do.'' He gasped when he heard Bethany's cries after Jer touched her shoulder.

A small smile materialized on Major Domo's face after a blast from Erinyes  caused the force field to collapse. He allowed her to grab his hand and run. His eyes increased in size again after Kadian introduced herself. Major Domo ducked with Erinyes after they avoided the blast. He smiled at Erinyes. ''Don't be sorry. I was willing to go with you to save your brothers.''

A worried expression replaced Major Domo's smile. His eyes were big another time. He glanced at Kadian. ''Who's going to rescue us?'' he muttered. 

[Erinyes]

"I think we may need to rescue ourselves," Erinyes said to Major Domo as she looked over toward Kadian. "Josh, they had only started the Death Angel garbage when I was sold off. What the hell was Ronan thinking?"

"You're asking me?" Joshua shouted back as he pulled his jacket back over his wound. "Thanks," he said to Paris as they both turned to face Kadian.

"Erinyes, she said Athonlea, right?" Paris asked as she slid her gun off her shoulder and started to open fire on Kadian. "Like Kendra Athonlea back home. Kari's daughter."

"The red haired avatar of the Goddess...wait," Erinyes said as she looked over at Major Domo. "Oh this makes all sorts of terrible sense. Major Domo..."

"Wait, you have a Kari, too?" Joshua asked as Paris nodded to him. "She and her husband Ryu helped train me after Mom died."

"We can all compare notes later!" Erinyes yelled as she felt a hellfire blast fly over her head. "Stay down, Major Domo. I think Jericho is trying to set us on fire. And I think I know who the genetic mother of these Death Angels was," she added as she looked to see how many more of these cybernetic women were in play.  "If Kari was the DNA donor for these assassins, maybe Britt can control them since Ronan was her father as well. I just wish they would go away!" 

[Paul Rogers]

Paul had been very quiet since that mess in the alley, and he wished he could just go back and undo what was going on now. He missed Sarah and his parents and even his crazy Uncle Tony right about now. And hearing his Mom's name used in reference to these freaky cybernetic harpies was too much for him to take.

"My Mom would never have allowed anyone to do this!" he yelled as he grabbed a broken pipe and lobbed it at one of the Death Angels. It hit that one in the side of the head and sent her reeling backward.

"Not your mother, kiddo," Carlos said as he started to rock the floor again. "Our version of your mother. A demon goddess badass..."

"Enough!" Paul screamed as tears welled in his eyes. "I am sick of this damned place, and I just want to go home! Or at least get the hell out of here!"

Paul started to mumble under his breath about wishing he had powers or at least some means to take down these attackers besides a piece of pipe. "Where the hell is Liam when you need him?"

"Liam?" Paris asked as she pulled out a magazine for her rifle and started the process of taking down these Death Angels all over again. "Your brother? Wait. Conall? Did he call you Conall? You look like what he said Conall looks like."

"You know Liam? Oh crap. This is just insane!" Paul yelled as he scrambled to get closer to Paris and Joshua. "When this is over, I want to get to my brother. Please. Wherever he is, I want to go there."

[Major Domo]

''I usually don't say this, but Spiral would be able to get us out of this mess,'' Major Domo said to Erinyes. He began to frown. ''Maybe not. Spiral must dance or gesture to cast spells. She wouldn't be able to teleport us out of here or use magic if she is disrupted during her dance. Spiral won't be able to help us at all if she can't use her arms. Then again, she will most likely abandon us to save herself.''

Major Domo tilted his head in confusion. ''Avatar? Goddess?'' He gasped after a hellfire blast flew over his head. His arms and legs were stretched on the floor. ''Are we going to wake up from this nightmare?''

[Erinyes]

"I certainly hope this ends soon. And as for Spiral, she would save herself first!" Erinyes shouted as she looked to see if Britt was able to do anything besides walk. "Carlos, can you see if Britt..."

"I am awake!" Britt screamed as she finally got to her feet, grabbed an automatic rifle from Gar and let loose on the Death Angels. "And I can't control these things! Ronan could. Abaddon can. At least the shots should slow them down!"

"Then all we have to figure out is how to fix Jericho," Erinyes said as tears started to well in her eyes. "I am not losing him."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Duke, the Cybercide operative, screamed as he pulled something from his rig. "Deion, Paris, get ready to rock and roll!" The Cybercide crew all pulled the same item from their gear--a disk that could temporarily cut off a subject's access to amped-up powers. "Might not totally stop him, but it should slow him down until we get out of here."

"We can't leave him!" Erinyes shouted as she tried to run toward Jericho, but the Cybercide bunch had already launched the disks, and two of them managed to attach themselves to Jericho. He started to transform back into a man and passed out on the floor. "We can take him now!"

"If you do that, he'll go demon later and kill us all!" Carlos said as he turned back to Joshua and shook his head. "We need to go dark now, Josh, and head to safe haven. We can't fight off all these Death Angels and the demon guy, too!"

Erinyes was in tears as she looked at Major Domo. "I can't doom everyone for my brother," she said as she looked back at the fallen Jericho. "I can't. But I can't leave him here either. What should I do?"

[Major Domo]

Major Domo focused on Britt as the latter grabbed an automatic rifle. *At least the Death Angels will be sort of defeated* he thought. He saw tears in Erinyes's eyes. Major Domo smiled at his companion. ''Don't worry. We'll save Jericho.'' A frown replaced his smile very slowly. ''We shouldn't abandon Jericho.''

[Erinyes]

Erinyes looked at Major Domo and nodded before looking back at Jericho. "How long do those things last?" she asked Paris as she motioned to the disks sticking out of her brother's body. "We can hex him until we figure this out."

"Hex?" Britt asked as she turned to Bethany. "Oh boy, you are a million puzzles in one box. Who was your mom anyway?"

"Forget about our mother," Erinyes said as she moved closer to Jericho. "Paris, how long?"

"Two hours, give or take, depending on body mass," the Cybercide telepath replied as she looked at Duke and Deion who concurred with her estimate.

"Great," Erinyes muttered. "Where is this safe haven you two were talking about, Joshua?" she asked as Carlos sent another shockwave at the Death Angels. "Can Blink get us there?"

"I can get us anywhere we need to go!" Blink shouted as she prepared lances to open up portals. "Just give me coordinates!"

"No, Freyja can do the teleport!" Joshua said as he saw the Cybercide guys go to lift Jericho. "Freyja, there and back again!" The petite brunette nodded as she started to open a portal as far away from the Death Angels as possible.

"Just get us out of here!" Erinyes snapped as she looked back at Major Domo. "Major Domo, stay close to me. I don't want us to get separated in this mess."

[Major Domo]

Major Domo heard every word between his companions. *I would like to know about the safe haven as well!* He turned to Blink. ''Many thanks, Blink,'' he said after the latter offered to get them out of the situation. Major Domo faced Freyja. ''A portal works as well,'' he said with a shrug.

Major Domo noticed Erinyes another time. ''Don't worry. I'll be with you at all times, Erinyes.'' He looked worried for a few seconds. *That is if we don't fall into traps and are separated!* Major Domo never bothered revealing his horrifying thought to Erinyes. Why stress her out even more?

[Freyja Bjornstad]

Freyja was usually the life of any party. Bubbly and friendly, she had been a bartender before this nightmare started and she got drafted into the resistance movement. No one could say no to Joshua Kincaid, especially after they learned he had been trained by the tengu warlord Ryu Harada and his Witchbreed bride Kari MacFeorais. They had become the symbols of the resistance after they were murdered by Ronan.

But the Freyja here now was as tough as nails and only wanted to get away from what she and her magical counterparts called The Clone Club--the army of Death Angels Ronan had been growing in vats across the world.

"You two first," Freyja said as she motioned to Erinyes and Major Domo. "Bethany, I need you to anchor things when you get to the other end. My brother usually helps me..."

"We will get your twin back," Joshua yelled as Deion and Duke pulled Jericho's arms over their respective shoulders and lifted him toward the portal. "Gar, you and Britt..."

"Arrow, shut your mouth and go!" Britt screamed as she traded guns with her boyfriend and opened fire on the Death Angels again. "Gar, Carlos, go behind them! I got this!"

"You have not got this!" Freyja shouted as she motioned for Gar to grab Britt and run. "I've got this!"



 

[Erinyes]

"You heard the lady, Major Domo," Erinyes said as she grabbed his hand and started to go through the portal. She hated being back in this world, but having her brothers with her again made it a tiny bit better. As they moved through the portal, Bethany thought about what Jericho had said about her father. She never knew who her father was, and right now was not the best time to find out. That much she was totally clear about.

As she and Major Domo stepped out of the portal, she was shocked by the fact the air seemed clean and that there were trees and plants all around them.

TBC for Major Domo and Erinyes in Safe Haven: The Last Place on Earth in this forum

TBC all other characters here for the moment