Chapter 114: Backdoor BAMF

Ever since the Demons of Limbo showed their interest in a rebellion against Magik's rule, their trek through the Otherplace grew more rushed than before.

Their walk became a jog joined by spinning eyes and strained senses.

Around them, spanning for miles, Storm conjured an electrical blizzard, cutting them off from any distant stragglers driven by the urge to riot.

N'astirh was an incredibly powerful demon. At least in comparison to the others of its kind, so any others that approached failed to make it past Storm's ….. well, storm.

That didn't stop the tense nature of it all, leaving everyone sighing in relief when Magik came to a stop.

Until they remembered what came next.

"We're near Chernobyl."

Nightcrawler felt like he could almost feel the quality of the air change to something more. It breached dimensional barriers. Something irradiated with violence in a way completely unlike Limbo. A unique hell.

He didn't notice everyone staring at him until Storm walked over.

"Remember, two doors."

Nightcrawler nodded, "Yes. I know this place. I can get us through unseen."

"I know you can." Storm put her thumb in her mouth and bit down hard enough to break the skin.

Nightcrawler ran a three fingered hand along the sleeve of his robes. Immediately his palm was covered in dark dust from his first teleportation to save the SHIELD Operative. He let it sprinkle into a pile at his feet where Storm could drop her blood in all its magical brilliance.

As soon as it hit, the portal to the Brimstone Dimension ripped open in a burst of purples, blues and pungent sulfurous dark-flames.

It was no bigger than a trap door in an attic. But that was big enough.

"We took down a number of Neyaphem on Krakoa. But like StormWolf said back at SHIELD HQ, we didn't get them all. Daken wouldn't waste an entire faction on a side-mission of sorts. So when we go inside, expect numbers. Possibly many as guards. Even so, everyone follow me. Have faith." Nightcrawler jumped inside.

Immediately the physics of his world shifted to the opposite of what it once was and he was suddenly falling upward in an alleyway.

Brick and stone walls close enough to touch blurred in his peripherals. He reached out with his hands and feet and stuck to the surface like a spider.

Magik came in next with Mystique.

Nightcrawler caught the Demon-Queen with his tail wrapping her arm while catching his mother in a handheld grip.

Once Storm came through, they all jumped and let gravity take them, assisted by her winds.

The portal closed and the world around them remained.

The Brimstone Dimension. One part of the whole Isla Des Demonas. A war world.

From their alley, they could only see a portion of the secondary demon dimension.

It was of the old world in design. Where Otherplace had skyscrapers reminiscent of New York grown grotesque and light poles of the modern era, The Brimstone Dimension was far more old fashioned.

Castles topped by unholy spires sat atop black grass hills with chained dragons screaming dark-fire into a sky of midnight and cruel pink clouds.

Neyaphem riding skinless dark horses melded with metal and things far worse ran the perimeter like nightmarish knights.

White feathers swayed with the winds, collecting dark dust as they fell to blend in with the shadowy grass.

It was no different then when he first came. When his father took control of him and his siblings minds in a plot to return to earth and slaughter the Mutants of the Xavier Institute.

But he was no more.

He committed such a sin for that very reason.

So Azazel would be no more.

So maybe his faith could prevail even in hell.

Footsteps closed in. The pitter patter of horse hooves followed by exhales from a chest as deep as a cave.

Nightcrawler turned and dove deeper into the alley-way with the rest of his team, hunkering down behind a trash heap just as a Neyaphem on Horseback walked by the alley.

A woman with one bat-like wing tipped by claws in silver armor. She wore a mask of bloody Cheyaraphem feathers and had the head of three dangling from her horses mount.

The sight of them reminded Nightcrawler of Angel.

The demon passed.

"We need to get closer to the castle. That's the nexus point." Nightcrawler said, "The best of my fathers brood reside there, they don't come down here. Not to mention these Neyaphem can't teleport. Our shot into Chernobyl is in Castle Azazel."

Everyone nodded in understanding before following Nightcrawler out of the alleys.

The old world city was vast. Since the Neyaphem forces were shrunk by the Mutants of Krakoa, it gave it a desolate— almost abandoned feel. Something about it was wrong.

Nightcrawler knew his father commanded many more. More than what appeared on Krakoa and even more than what resides in the Brimstone Dimension currently.

He kept that thought at the back of his mind. There were more pressing matters, like dodging the guards that came in waves— like a dark tide. One moment there were none for miles— as far as he could see over the black grass valleys. Then, dozens rode by speaking of fleeing Cheyaraphem.

They were still at war.

Nightcrawler took advantage of that and led his team to Castle Azazel.

It was no more than a mile from where they started but the travel was spent in a crouch. In a game of peek and dash while trying to ignore the skeletal remains of angels and something even more horrifying. Hybrids. It wasn't supposed to be possible but when a Cheyaraphem weak enough got with a Neyaphem of similar strength, their polarizing effects were nullified.

They created giants. The Nephaylem.

The team climbed over their bones as they lay over crushed castles and cliffsides like structures that fell from the sky.

Sooner than later, they found themselves walking along the castle walls.

Nightcrawler at the front of the line looked back to Storm.

She gave a nod and held her hand to the sky.

A shower of lightning illuminated the dark lands and lit the falling feathers ablaze. It looked like it was raining fire.

When the thunder came, they set to climbing the wall, now unable to be heard by even Vampires.

The courtyard of the castle was empty. But he could hear them inside, moving around…. drinking. Dining on their enemies. One of the voices was even familiar.

Nightcrawler held a finger to his ear and pointed to the castle walls.

Everyone listened.

"—ather was supposed to die! You shouldn't have to ask why, fool. He was too ambitious. Azazel saw himself as the king of everything. He couldn't keep his head down. So Varkis fed him to the wolves…. To bad he couldn't get the Telepathic scum along the way. We can, though. Then he'll make me a ranking Vampire and I'll get us everything we deserve."

Nightcrawler cringed at his brothers voice. He hadn't seen Kiwi Black in years. The way time went it probably didn't feel so long for him. Weirdly enough, It didn't feel that way for Nightcrawler either.

"But, Lord Black….. I heard the StormWolf already knows where we are. Isn't that why Varkis is gathering our numbers? Why would we need the telepa—"

A slap quieted the one talking.

"Quiet, fool! I know what I'm talking about. I'm leaving to convene with our leader soon. If I come back to any less than six angels to dine on, you're dead."

Everyone shared a look and moved deeper into the castle. Nightcrawler strained his senses to try and stay near Kiwi Black.

It didn't take long for them to breach the near empty castle. The smells of sulfur and brimstone compounded inside.

Whole piles of dark-dust collected in the corners of rooms and hallways, speaking to how often Nightcrawler's siblings bounced to and from Dimensions.

The longer they traveled, the more obvious it was they did other things as well.

Nightcrawler led them down a stone hallway in the basement, headed towards a laundry chute he hoped they had the strength to climb.

He reached the chute and quietly pulled open the doo—

"Help!" A quiet voice to his left pleaded.

Everyone spun around to face the perceived threat.

Nightcrawler's stomach sank at the sight of the Cheyaraphem woman.

She'd lost her wings. He could smell the old blood crusting down her naked back as she crawled out of the small closet.

The dark robes draped over her shifted as her thin body struggled. Her golden hair was so dirty it almost looked black.

"Stay quiet. We can get you out of here." Nightcrawler rushed over to her and began helping her to her feet.

The levels of trauma within must've been immense because she started to laugh.

"Wh—"

"AAACK!" The woman suddenly wrapped her arms around Nightcrawler and dragged him back into the closet, screaming to alert the guards the whole way.

"BREAC—"

The air warmed at the use of complex magic. Voodoo magic. The Vampire strangling Nightcrawler was suddenly muffled. He took the opprotunity and head butted her so hard he heard a crunch.

She was a Vampire. She'd be fine until the Montesi Formula was finished.

Them on the other hand….

"Double agent?" Magik questioned in a whisper.

"Wouldn't be the first." Mystique replied.

"Please don't say that." Nightcrawler dusted himself off and exited the closet.

"What's all the racket?" A Neyaphem castle member yelled from above the spiral stairs.

Nightcrawler descended on the dirty pile of robes beneath the chute door and began tying them.

In the silence they could hear the guard waiting atop the stairs.

The hairs on Nightcrawler's arms stood on end as he fastened the knots with Brother Voodoo and Magik's help. Storm prepared to blow it all to hell if things went anymore south.

"Hey! Why you so quiet down there?" The guard began moving down the steps.

Nightcrawler grabbed the rope and made his way up the chute, soundlessly motioning for them to follow.

They tied as much as they could without knowing the length of the chute only for Nightcrawler to step into a corridor going all the way to the heavens.

"Mein gott….." Nightcrawler mumbled as he peered up into the endless dark.

The others didn't know and simply climbed on to escape the incoming guard.

Nightcrawler strained against the slim walls as more and more bodies climbed into the chute.

In seconds, beads of sweat dotted Nightcrawler's forehead. He stood in a perfect split, both feet holding each side of the walls while his hands held the rope with all ten members onboard.

They could hear the Neyaphem in the basement. They could hear others coming.

Nightcrawler was an acrobat before he was a powerlifter. His muscles felt on the verge of snapp—

A calming wind filled the chute, turning it into an air vent. The wind was strong enough, yet silent enough, to make climbing the rest of the worlds easier. So easy, he skipped the first series of doors and aimed for the apex.

A series of minutes passed before Nightcrawler reached the top, poking his head out of the chute door.

Another empty room awaited him. Little more than a vantage point at the top of a castle spire. There was only one wall, the rest was all stone railings running the entire way around.

He rolled out into the room and began pulling everyone else fre—

"BREACH!!"

"CASTLE AZAZEL HAS BEEN BREACHED!" Neyaphem guards yelled from the basement they just climbed out of.

Kiwi Black yelled in anger somewhere outside the castle below them.

Nightcrawler ran to peer over the railing and found him stomping across the courtyard, grabbing his guards and shoving them towards the castle.

"Find them! Capture them! I'm going to alert Varkis. Unlike my father I am smart. This is all expendable. GO!"

"Perfect timing." Mystique sighed.

"Yes."

Nightcrawler dropped a handful of dark dust.

Ororo bit her finger again, and they all waited.

Nightcrawler held his hand out in wait as he watched Kiwi hesitate. He hadn't aged much. He was still his same middle aged grumpy self covered in dark face tattoos and a cowlick of dark hair. He looked more human than most Neyaphem until you saw his eyes.

As if on que, Kiwi looked up at the castle. Nightcrawler dropped to the floor.

He waited a few seconds before peering out again just as Kiwi opened a rift back to earth.

Nightcrawler motioned for Storm to begin.

She dropped her blood, and in a flash they were gone.