X-Men #3

It was late at night and walking alone through the city of San Francisco was a young mutant woman. She had just left a concert and unbeknownst to her, she was being trailed by a group of men calling themselves the Hellfire cult.

The same men who had attacked Pixie earlier.

" They've made me." The woman raised her hand to her ear and said through the radio.

The woman eventually walked into a narrow alley way with no way out and when she did, the Hellfire cult made their presence known.

" Hey. Hey Mutie. We're gonna cut you, Mutie. This Alley is humans-only." One of the men told the woman.

The woman smirked and turned around to face the men. Her name was Xi'an Coy Manh, Karma. One of the New Mutants. She was bait and the men took it, hook, line, and sinker.

Out of Nowhere, Kurt teleported himself and Logan in front of the men and started beating the crap out of them.

" Whatever tech is in those Helmets is blocking me out. I can't get to them." Karma told the two men.

" No worries, girl." Logan told the woman.

" Fall back to safety, Meiun Frau." Kurt spoke.

Neither Kurt nor Logan needed Karma there. The two men made quick work of the attackers. Though Scott made sure to tell Logan repeatedly not to kill the men.

" Why is Scott so convinced we're suddenly killers?" Kurt asked. He grabbed two men and slammed their heads together before teleporting on to the next guys. " This is all fun and games."

" Guess Slim just likes givin orders." Logan replied. He sheathed his claws and punched one of the Hellfire members in his face, knocking his mask off and knocking him out. " The survival of the species on the line, can't say I blame him." Logan stated. He turned towards Kurt and saw one of the cult members pulling a gun. " Elf Gun!"

Kurt narrowly dodged out of the way at the last second, and grabbed the man from behind and choked him out.

" Easy there, you're gonna hurt somebody. And then there'd be hell to pay."

" Let's wrap this up, Kurt." Logan stated. He dropped the man in his arms.

And then the two men turned to the last of the cultists.

" Please. Don't kill me. Please don't." The man dropped his weapons and started begging for his life, even wetting himself in the process.

"Elf, did you wet your pants?" Logan asked the man.

"Nein." Kurt replied.

" Well. It ain't me. I guess that just leaves you boy." Logan and Kurt grab the man and then Kurt teleports them all back to Gray Malkin.

........

Back at Gray Malkin,

The poor Cultist, who had the unfortunate pleasure of getting kidnapped by Logan and Kurt, woke up to find himself strapped to a table, with Scott, Ian, Xi'an, and Mr. Xion, a mutant acupuncturist, standing over him.

" Who's that? Who's there? Where am I?" The man asked.

" You're in hell. Hi." Scott replied. " These are my friends. Mr. Xiong here, was a mutant acupuncturist, before he lost his powers. He would create tiny psionic needles that would literally drain psychic toxins from his patients. You'd go in to see him because you were worried, or anxious, or because you thought your girlfriend hated you, and you'd come out feeling like a million bucks. This other guy right, his name's Onslaught, a little on the nose. But hey, we let the new kids choose their codenames." Scott joked. " A little tidbit about his powers, he can control the electrical energies your body sends to your brain to tell you how to feel pain. Which means, he can make these tiny needles here, feel like a thousand tiny needles. Make it feel like your entire body is on fire. Quite exciting. It's a good thing he doesn't use that ability too often. And finally, this young lady here, the one you tried to attack? She's a mind reader." Scott explained.

" He's afraid of needles, Scott. I can feel it." Xi'an told Scott.

" What's worse? She's a mind reader that's very heavily into revenge." Scott explained. " Take care Xi'an." Scott excused the woman from the room. She had already told Scott everything he needed to know about how to torture the man.

" Any time, boss." Xi'an replied with a smile on her face.

Ian placed his hands on both sides of the man's head, and Mr. Xiong started punching needles into the man's face.

" The optic blasts that come out of my eyes don't generate heat, just concussive force. And the visor allows me all kind of focus and control. So, tell me: Who runs the Hellfire Cult?" Scott asked the man.

" I-I-I." The man stuttered over his words, he didn't know what to say, he was too scared of the needles being pushed into his skin.

" Don't think. Just answer." Scott told the man. He used his optic beam to slam one of the needles into the man's face and the man burst into a screaming fit of agony and pain.

........

It didn't take long for the man to spill everything he knew. In fact, after having suffered the first blast from Scott, he immediately told the man everything he wanted to know.

" You know what to do." Scott told Ian.

" Right." Ian nodded and left the room ahead of Scott who stayed behind to help Mr. Xiong.

" Thank you, Mr. Xiong. You and your family are welcome here any time." Scott told the man.

" Thank you, Mr. Summers." Xiong replied in

As he walked Mr. Xiong out of the building, Scott was approached by Emma.

" Well, did he talk?" Emma asked the man.

" He did, thanks to Xi'an learning he was afraid of needles and putting on a little light show, and an otherwise lovely acupuncture session. He gave us everything he knows." Scott told the woman. " We know where they're headquartered and when they're staffed up. The bad news are those hellfire helmets. All their goons will be shielded from Psionics. On this raid, you'll just have to be muscle."

Emma turned her form into pure diamond and flexed her rather impressive muscles.

" Good. I'm in the mood to beat down some savages." She told Scott.

" One problem. Where'd these savages get Psionic-blocking Helmets?" Scott asked the woman.

" Does it matter right now?" Emma asked.

" No, I guess not." Scott stated. " Let's go."

..........

" Okay, team. We've pulled the blueprints from the city and have the whole building covered. So, here's the plan. Peter and Emma guard the two-street doors, Emma will be our diamond, so our commlinks are being run by Hank back at Graymalkin." Scott explained. The team consisted of Wolverine, Angel, Emma Frost, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Onslaught.

" Hello, team." Hank spoke.

" Warren will be our eye in the sky, the rest of us are going below and sweeping up the trash. SFPD have the area barricaded and blocked off. They'll catch any runners we happen to miss. On your marks. Get set. Go!"

With the briefing done, Scott and the others descended the building.

Ian decided to take the more direct root and punched a hole through the ceiling of the building.

" What the hell? It sounds like a truck just drove through the front door." One of the cultists spoke.

Soon after Ian and the other X-men all came bursting into the room. Ian from the ceiling and the others through the front door.

And the fight was on.

It was a slaughter, actually.

For all their talking, none of the Hellfire cultists, knew how to fight.

The X-men took them down quickly and with relative ease.

" They're killing us." Empath, one of the men behind the whole Hellfire cult and one of Emma's former students apart of the Hellions, exclaimed. " We should go, before they find us." He told his mistress the newly crowned Red Queen.

" They'll never find me worm." The woman who had been controlling Empath suddenly vanished from sight, leaving the man behind to fall all by himself.

" No, mistress. Mistress!" Empath yelled for the woman but received no answer. Instead, all he got in return was Wolverine.

" Hiyah, Manny." Wolverine spoke.

" Bad dog." Empath scrambled Logan's brain for just a moment, forcing the man to the ground.

" Scott, Slim. Empath. The kid from the Hellions. He's... He's gotten better, Tricks are bigger. Got into my head and ran." Logan told the man.

" Kurt, get down there. See where it goes." Scott pointed down the hole Empath ran through and ordered Kurt to follow after him.

" On it." Kurt teleported away and moments later, he radioed to the others. " Empath's powers are profoundly enhanced.... Scott... I need to catch my breath.... There's a tunnel." Kurt said.

" Tunnels? Ian get him!" Scott yelled. He did not want to lose Empath.

Ian raised his fist and slammed it into the floor, shattering the ground they were all standing on, causing them all to fall into the tunnel below the building. Ian exploded down the tunnel, alone, following the long hall, until he could see Kurt, still lying on the ground struggling to breath. Ian stopped for a moment to check on the man. " Kurt are you alright?"

" I'm fine... Go get him." Kurt replied.

Ian didn't hesitate to leave the man behind.

" Ian continued down the hall and eventually he reached the exit.

" Scott, I see empath. He made it past the cops. He's on a bike and heading straight into town." Ian radioed.

" Take him out!" Scott replied.

" Can't! Too many people! He ran right into the crowded part of the city. And... Hang on..." Ian went quiet for a moment, and that worried Scott. " Holy fuck, he's got the police. He's using his powers to mind control the police. Be careful." Ian told the others.

" Shut him down, turn off his powers." Scott told the man.

" I'm trying, but I can't. His power is all over the place. I try to shut down the source and I can only get the civilians. And if I'm not careful, I can do damage to the minds of the people." Ian told the man.

" It's quite alright, Mr. Sinclair. I've called in back-up, Sam, Xi'an, and Dani are nearby." Hank told the group.

" And I am with you." Storm rose high over Ian's head and started raining down bolts of lightning near Empath.

" Careful Storm, there are other cars on the road." Ian told the woman.

" Don't worry, I'm not trying to hit him. I'm trying to steer him." Storm told the boy.

" Steer him? To what?" Ian asked.

Ian looked at Storm and followed her finger as she pointed at the oncoming New Mutant, Sam Gutherie, Cannonball.

" Never could cotton you, Manuel." Sam told the man as he barreled towards him. While Sam used his powers, he was invulnerable, meaning nothing could touch him. Physically.

" Dead baby brother." Empath used his abilities and forced Cannonball to crash into a car on the side of the road.

" Okay, that's enough of this. Storm, Kurt, Logan get the civilians off the road." Ian told the group.

" What are you doing?" Logan asked.

" We tried, asking nicely. Oh this is gonna suck." Ian sped up and landed right in front of Empath, he slammed his shoulder into the motorbike. The bike exploded on impact and Empath went flying.

" Damn, kid. Not bad." Logan stated. " Now then, Manny. You wanna come quietly or are we gonna have to hurt you more?" Logan asked the man.

" You think you're future? You think you're our leaders? We are doomed and wretched. It is not our place to integrate with these apes. We are Armageddon. We are holocaust. We will be the end of man as surely as man would be the end of us...

Manuel shouted.

His powers began to flare and go wild.

" Everyone, cover your eyes. I'll handle this. His powers can't affect me." Ian told the others. Anyone who so much as made eye contact with Empath became his to command.

But one thing neither Empath nor the X-Men counted on, was Pixie.

" Stop messing with my friends!" Pixie, still covered in bandages and bruises, rushed Empath. She slammed the palm of her hand against his throat and slammed him on the ground. " Give up!"

" Dead dad. Dead dad. Died all alone. Down in hell where dead dads go. Never said goodbye to his freak disappointment of a daughter. Dead disappointing daughter. Down in hell." Empath spoke. Megan began to cry a little. But.

"Y'know. I've been to hell. You wouldn't like it there." Megan told the man. She picked up her soul dagger and jammed it into Manuel's head, shutting off his powers and destroying his eye sight.

The X-men watched as Megan got to her feet. Honestly quite surprised.

" Who's next?"