Pete stepped back, giving up on getting the door open. He blasted the thing, letting out the searing spines of heat that were his mutant power. The door rocked off its hinges, the alarm blaring throughout the entire complex.

"Kurt?" came Rahne's worried voice over the comm unit.

"It's nothing, fraulein," Kurt said quickly, bounding through the door after the two black haired men. "It'll be fine."

XXX

Lockheed's head jerked up as he heard the door bash open, then the alarms go off. Well, they were through. Now all he had to do was get them to Kitty. It was always left up to the dragon.

He launched himself off Kitty's shoulder, racing through the air. He saw the demon-thing out of the corner of his eye and dodged, barely escaping and only because it wasn't expecting him to leave so suddenly.

"Lockheed!" Kitty cried, turning back.

David snarled, almost wrenching her arm out of its socket as he pulled her along. "Forget about the dragon," he panted, dragging a screaming girl behind him, "It can take care of itself!"

XXX

Lockheed flew down the corridors, twisting and turning as he followed his memory. They had turned right, then left, then left, right, straight, faster. He whizzed around the corner, slamming straight into a hard chest. Definitely not Pete's, he snorted to himself. He looked up into Kurt's face and almost shouted for joy. Just the person he wanted to see!

Lockheed grabbed the hem of the team leader's tunic, flying backward as hard as he could.

"All right, Lockheed, lead the way!" Kurt said, prying off the sharp little teeth and pushing the dragon away. Lockheed twisted in mid-air, flying off again as the three men raced after him.

XXX

Belasco snarled as his prey eluded him--AGAIN. His head turned slowly until he could look at the two fleeing people, the girl crying for her dragon. He smiled. In a second he stood in front of them, blocking the path. "I think," he said softly, "That the girl is right. You should wait for the dragon."

David's face paled as he recognized the being before him. His breath came in with a rasp, and he blinked a few times.

Footsteps could be heard pounding around the halls now, and the flap of wings was clear.

David glanced down at his watch. Only three more minutes. He only needed three more minutes! Quickly he pulled his gun from its holster, cringing as he shot at the god. It took the beast by surprise and David was able to grab Kitty and slide past, dodging down a hallway and into a tunnel.

"Let me go!" Kitty cried, wrenching free of the man and starting back the way they'd come. He grabbed her arm again, slamming and locking the door for all the good it would do. He could hear the beating of wings, the dragonic screech as the beast met the god. He sighed and turned away, dragging the girl down the dark tunnel.

XXX

"LET HIM GO!" Rick cried, blasting all the power he could in this confined space at the god that held the small dragon in its grip. Next to him Pete snarled, hating it but knowing that the only way they would find Kitty was if the little . . . THING . . . led them to her. He unleashed a flurry of hot knives, striking Belasco in the center of his massive chest. While the thing stumbled Kurt teleported in, grabbing Lockheed and teleporting out, behind the red demon god. Pete and Rick showered more blasts his way, then slid past him and ran down the hall after the dragon.

XXX

Kitty tried to wrench her arm free, only to find that David's hold simply tightened. She reached down, fastening her teeth on his hand and bit as hard as she could.

David cried out and released her, letting the girl run back to the door, opening it as her little dragon flew into her arms.

Behind the dragon David saw Shadowcat's teammates--Pete Wisdom and Nightcrawler, and lifted his gun. Only one minute. One minute, blast it! Kurt saw the weapon lifted and quickly 'ported out of the way, knowing already that it was aimed at him and wouldn't hit the others. He arrived beside David, knocking the gun from his outstretched hand.

"ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE!" Belasco snarled, sending Pete and Rick sprawling down the hall with a flick of his wrist. "I want the dragon!"

Kitty turned her back, protecting the little thing with her own body.

Belasco's eyes narrowed. "Then I'll just have you both," he said, picking up the girl as though she weighed no more then a fly.

"KITTY!" Pete cried, watching in horror as the god, girl and dragon disappeared.

David, on the floor from where Kurt had kicked him, started to laugh. "Oh," he said at last, still in hysterics, "isn't that perfect! I get her to the point where she won't ever care about you again, and he takes her away!"

Pete was next to the man in a flash, his hand wrapped around David's throat. "What do you mean?"

David stared at Pete, unafraid. "You remember the brainwashing techniques. If they don't see the people they care about for a certain amount of time, they forget them and do what we say." David smiled slowly. "She disappeared on the last chance you had to reclaim her."

XXX

The stone walls seemed almost to seethe with dark power, something only barely holding them back from choking the life out of the daring travelers.

"Belasco's back," Season said quietly, stepping closer to the wall as she tried to figure where he'd "landed."

"To the left. Down about a quarter mile," Amanda said, getting the area faster then the black haired woman. She frowned suddenly, her perfect features marred. "He has Kitty!"

Brian's head snapped around. "I thought the others were going to get her!" he cried, praying that Belasco wouldn't use the girl as a hostage.

"Rick says there was a problem in the plans," Season said, her black eyes seeming almost to swirl. "They had some trouble--the demon god wanted her dragon." The sorceress's face paled. "He has a dragon. We must hurry. The four Weapons of Power take time to learn to use properly, but not much time." The mutants walked swiftly down the hall, shoes clacking on the stone. Season stopped, scowled and snapped, "Quiet!" A moment later the footwear went silent.

After a few moments a teleport field opened, letting out both Pete and Rick.

"Where's Kurt?" Amanda asked even as Pete said "Where's Kitty?"

"Kurt went with Rahne to find a place to leave the 'Runner, he'll port in here as soon as they do," Rick answered quickly, falling into step beside his short mother.

"We haven't seen Kitty," Frost said, walking up to her cousin, "But Amanda says she's with horn-man."

"An' where's he?" Pete snapped, picking up the pace and leading the little group faster.

"Close," Season answered shortly.

"How close?" Pete countered, used to this back and forth with his aunt.

"Around that corner, where it's glowing, would be my bet," she whispered, slightly sarcastically.

Pete spared a glance to glare at her, then flattened himself against the wall and crept closer until he could see into the brightly lit room.

XXX

"Let me go!" Kitty shouted, clutching the dragon and twisting away from Belasco, only to have him grab her and shake her hard.

"Let the creature go," he roared, "Or I'll kill you!"

Lockheed reached down and snapped at the god's hands, drawing blood with his sharp little teeth.

"Blasted--" Belasco snarled and dropped both, reaching behind him as his hand closed on a golden arrow that floated in the air above a pedestal. Smoke hissed from his skin as he touched the Weapon of Good, and he pulled back quickly. His eyes narrowed and the Soulsword flew toward him, the two Weapons binding together.

Out from the hall stepped mutants, the whole team moving quickly to stop him before it was too late. Belasco smiled rakishly, the two Weapons whirling in mid air and pulling the Black Stone closer to bind.

"Leave it be, Demon!" Season shouted, green power shooting from her fingers to stop the Stone from moving.

Belasco shook his head slowly, tsking. "Don't you people know you're not supposed to challenge the lion in its own den?"

Pete tuned out the others, running as fast as his legs would carry him to the other end of the room, where Kitty crouched in a corner with Lockheed. "Kitty!" he cried, sliding to his knees and pulling her head up and away from the dragon. "Please be all right, please remember," he whispered hoarsely, praying with all he had that David had simply counted wrong and it wasn't too late. But the instant he looked into her brown eyes he knew he was wrong.

Kitty Pryde screamed, lashing out at the unfamiliar face that was staring at her so intently. She clutched the small dragon tighter, trying to move back farther into the wall to get away from the demon god and now this man who hovered over her, knowing her name and what else she had no idea.

Pete went down hard, too shocked to use his hands to break his fall. Her heel had connected sharply with his chest, and he'd felt an ominous crack. Whatever else she didn't remember, her body still knew how to fight, he realized as he dragged air through his protesting lungs. For whatever strange reason, he was oddly pleased at that.

From a distance he heard Frost shouting at him to move, that the Weapon was going to bond with the dragon, killing him if he didn't get out of the way. He dimly saw the golden/black thing racing toward him, its point that of the Soulsword and exceedingly sharp. But the only thing that ran through his head was the fact that his Kitty was gone.

Meggan and Brian were both flying through the air, racing the Weapon to see which would get to him first. It was no use, thought some detached part of his mind, the Weapon was obviously closer and traveling faster. He sat up on his elbows, thinking to roll out of the way, but quickly found that if he did so Kitty would be caught in the middle, instead of him. A moment of indecision caught him, the first since joining Black Air.

The choice was taken out of his hands as he was jerked out of normal time and space, and he gasped as he realized that he was still alive, when he shouldn't be. He was also halfway across the room. And very high. "Kitty," was the first thing he managed to choke out, but the girl was right next to him, still clutching Lockheed. Then they re-appeared somewhere else, a haze of red clouding his vision though he could still see that they were very close to the ground this time.

"Hold on," grunted a Germanic voice before they teleported back behind the first line of defense. "Do you have any idea," Kurt cried, grabbing Lockheed and teleporting again, "How hard it is to teleport into--" {bamf} "--another dimension and then--" {bamf} "--have to 'port two people and a--" {bamf} "--dragon all over the room, trying to save your worthless hides?" He stopped on a rocky ledge high above everyone else, looking around quickly for where the Weapon might be now as it chased he and the dragon around the cavern.

"I don't believe it," Belasco snarled, tossing Rahne aside as she jumped him, "I'm being overrun by rodents."

"Rodents are easier to get rid of," Brian said, tearing down an entire wall and letting it fall on Belasco's head. The god simply shook off the excess rock and looked around for the next hero to kill.

"Kurt!" Season shouted, flying up toward him, "Watch out!"

Nightcrawler looked around sharply, seeing the Weapon too late as it flew straight for him, changing its shape as it wrapped around his body, going with him as he teleported. An unearthly shrill filled the cavern as Lockheed was wrapped in the black/golden mess. Kurt's tunic shredded as the Weapon pulled brutally away from him, shredding fur and skin in the process.

"That's my dragon!" Kitty shouted, running forward as she watched in horror while the little beast was merged with the Weapon, until nothing resembling him remained. "What did you do?" she whispered, dread in every word.

"I'm destroying the world, so it doesn't really matter what happens to your dragon," Belasco laughed, the conglomeration flying into his body and suffusing him with light.

"Demon God," Season said as the light faded, leaving behind an omnipotent being, "I may be self serving and cold hearted. But I like this world very much, and I'm not going to let you ruin it." Her eyes blazed, green lightning seeming to shine in the depths. "Long ago I learned of the Weapons. I learned about how they worked. How to use them." Her head cocked, black hair spilling down her shoulders. "And I learned how to defeat them."

Belasco smiled, shaking his head. "Girl," he said quietly, "You do know how to defeat them. I know that. But I also know that you need another god to do so. For all your power, you're no god."

Season smiled slightly, bowing her head. "Amanda?" The sorceress took a deep breath, lifting her hands and closing her eyes as she prepared her mind for what was to come.

"Brian," she whispered, "Lend me your strength." Captain Britain frowned, but nodded, placing his hand on her shoulder. Kurt appeared, doing the same though he didn't have any idea what was going on.

"When I learned what I needed to defeat you," Season continued, turning to Kitty and pulling her near, "I also learned how to get that." She smiled, looking over her shoulder at the god. "Even beings like you can have children."

Pete's eyes widened as he looked from Belasco to Maverick, who stood to one side and behind the god. The boy's long black hair shimmered around his waist, the gargoyle-like feet balanced perfectly on the uncertain ground, when everyone else tripped and kept shifting their weight. The demon god's feet also were gargoyle-like in his natural form, and like Rick spines grew from his shoulders and arms. Both sets of eyes glowed dully red, on Rick one black eye mirrored his mother.

Belasco followed Pete's gaze, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the son he never wanted. "Even so," he snapped, growing worried, "You'd have to have the right--"

"Setting?" Season finished. "You're right. I'd need someone wanting vengeance for something you did." She smiled. "I think Kitty here, no matter how little she remembers, is very angry still about you "killing" her dragon."

"You need more then that," Belasco said, smiling.

"Yes. I need something to combat each of the four Weapons, and a god--or a descendant--to help. I have revenge. That's one." She smiled ferally. "Love?" she pointed to Pete as Meggan swooped him up, taking him quickly away from the angry god, "That's two. Innocence. Rahne. Frost. Meggan. Someone who's seen the worst of human kind. Kurt." Her eyebrows came up as Amanda wove a field around them, protecting the humans from the god's wrath. "I think that's all of them," Season said, smiling nastily.

Belasco threw three bolts at the field, and it fell on the third, Amanda crying out. "You forgot, Season. You need to merge the humans to make a Weapon."

Season's face became set. "I know. I have the power to do so. I'm sorry I don't have the power to wield the Weapon."

Pete let out a choked cry as suddenly he wasn't whole, his spirit wrenched from his body as though it were nothing more then a molecule of air. His consciousness seemed to be swallowed up with the others, all of them merging whether they wanted to or not. "The best part about killing humans for eight hundred years," Season snarled as she strove to hold the new Weapon together, "is that a few more people don't matter!" The humans took form again, Rick guiding the power into one body. Kitty rose up, her anger at the only thing she could truly remember being taken from her the overriding force in the mass of energy. Season took a shuddering breath, stepping away from the things and letting it take shape. Belasco struck as soon as he could, which she expected and countered quickly, buying time for the Weapon to be born.

Rick was next to the thing, weaving fast shielding spells as his mother fought--and lost to--Belasco.

"You bastard!" the thing screeched in all the voices of humanity, taking residence in Kitty's vacant body, "You took the only thing that felt right!" A blast of pure white light shot out, hitting the demon god full in the chest and sending him flying backward, though the cave wall.

"'At's tellin' 'em, girl!" Rick crowed, following the two things out into the next room, knowing the newborn Weapon was going to need help. Righteous anger was great, but it wouldn't hold up against something that had been around and fighting since the beginning of time.

Belasco recovered quickly, throwing out bolts of black fire at the thing, searing its "body" and making it scream. Rick grit his teeth and moved closer, taking to the air as he borrowed from the Light Weapon's storage of battle experience, using that knowledge to hit out at the god with his own power blasts. His mother was there, then, cracking at the god with a whip made of fire, wielding it like a professional.

"You can't kill me," Belasco snarled at her, backhanding her across the room.

"I know that, beast," Season snarled back, "But I can distract you!"

The Kitty Weapon shifted, its form changing as the Brian-like psyche gained the upper hand, using his understanding of the body to strike at nerve clusters, sending Belasco onto his knees as he screamed.

Season bit her lip, trying to keep the fighting people meshed into one while they each tried to stop her, the fundamental souls knowing instinctively that something was wrong.

But still the Light Weapon fought on, giving as good as it got as Maverick tried to both protect and help it. Belasco's control slipped, and the Great Weapon that he held--that which was also fighting because each was its own thing--started to unravel.

"It takes another god," Rick snarled, yellow power building in his arms and shoulders as he reached into his father, grabbing a fraying strand of power and tugging, "to wield the Soulsword!" This was his. It was his heritage, and he knew that as well as the sword did.

The thread tugged back, pulling itself away from the amalgam that was the Great Weapon, climbing slowly along the power lines to another semi-god, not a woman, perhaps, but something that could wield it, and was less crowded than this place of darkness.

Belasco screamed as he felt the Great Weapon tearing and he moved to get it back, only to be hit by force from the Light Weapon. The thing came free inside of him, the Four flying out into their own once again as Season let the spirits slip back the way they wanted to go.

Kitty's breath came in with a shudder, her body cold from lack of life. Tears of pain slid down her cheeks as memories of what had just happened haunted her, not quite ever landing long enough for her to get the whole picture. Her eyes fluttered open in time to see the boy--Rick?--battling the red man/thing, her dragon flying free above her. She rolled to the side as the man/thing fell, almost landing on the frail girl.

Kurt gasped and didn't wait for the freezing feeling to leave his limbs, teleporting back out to where Belasco and Rick fought, one with god power, the other holding tightly to the Soulsword. Season lay, asleep, in the corner of another room, her ageless face at peace for the time being. Kurt grabbed Rick's arm, teleporting him around and behind the god until they stood in back.

Rick leapt forward as the 'port ended, stabbing at the god with the Soulsword, only to have him turn around and knock the thing out of Maverick's hand. Kurt whipped it up off the ground, stabbing Belasco himself and getting the god away from the warlock-boy even as he felt the sword sear his hand for touching it.

"Here!" Rick called again, already standing and ready to fight. Kurt threw the sword to the boy happily, grabbing the golden arrow that lay nearby and keeping the god's attention.

"Enough! All of you, die!" Belasco shouted, flinging first Rick and then Kurt away, both men landing against rock and laying unmoving. Rahne went next, with Meggan and Brian, and the god continued on to where Kitty sat.

"NO!" Pete cried, picking up the sword that Rick had dropped and leaping forward, protecting the girl that had so recently known and loved him.

Belasco laughed loudly, reaching down to kill the small Englishman who stood in his way.

"Laugh this off, you bloody wanker!" Pete snarled, hot knives shooting up through the blade and out the other end, the sword itself carried up by the force of the heat and embedding itself in its once creator.

Belasco looked stunned, then slowly, like a giant tree that doesn't want to fall, collapsed. As he hit the ground he disappeared, leaving behind only the sword and a pile of ash.

"So much for him," Kurt groaned, eyeing the sword as the others who were able slowly stood up and gathered around, with the exception of Kitty, who still stood back, shaking.

Rick rubbed the back of his head before picking up the Arrow and letting its light shine as only one of a god's blood could do. It awakened the few who still were unconscious, bringing his mother out of her corner and to the others.

Pete didn't watch, moving slowly over to Kitty as she cradled Lockheed.

"Luv," he said softly, holding out one hand. She shook her head, her eyes fearful.

"Stay back. I'm telling you now, and this is the only warning you'll get," she said, her voice strong though she shook all over.

Season looked at the hurt in Pete's face and shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, dahling," she said quietly, her accent growing stronger as weariness settled itself comfortably about her shoulders.

Pete's jaw clenched as he fought back tears, moving still to Kitty and where she stood. "We're goin' ta take you home," he said calmly, as though talking to a refugee, "An' give yer a nice cup o' coffee, an' take care--" his voice broke and he took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Take care of yer. It's all right. No more of this will happen." A droplet of water slipped out of his control, sliding silently down his face. "I promise you'll be fine."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Heh heh. Next chapter's the epilogue. It's been fun! >:D

Rick, Frost and Season belong to Jenna B. McDonald
Everyone else doesn't.

Back to the X-Mansion
Back to the living room