Wanda
My hands shone crimson as I raised a shield, blocking the onslaught of darkness spears as Captain America unloaded his pistol into the mass of darkness in front of us. The entire building rattled and boomed under the intensity of the assault of the Cambion.
Kurt joined in, firing from an energy gun I'd not even noticed him raise.
I'd read the data packet that Nick Fury sent over like everybody else on the team, but it was one thing reading about the demons, and it was another thing fighting them.
Cambions were apparently at the very top of the food chain. Fighting them now, I could understand why.
Suddenly, I felt the demon's presence vanish and dart behind the telekinetic bubble I'd raised to protect us.
'Behind you!' I screamed into their minds telepathically, and they both reacted. The Cambion appeared from the shadow beneath the Captain, swinging. Before the Cambion's fist could connect to the Captain's jaw, he raised his shield. The metal vibrated like a gong, stunning the Captain briefly and allowing the Cambion to sneak in his real attack. Several tentacles of shadow snuck up the Captain's legs and pinned him to the ground.
Kurt materialized behind the Cambion a moment later, gun pressed against his skull. He pulled the trigger, but the demon raised a wall of darkness in time, blocking the shot. Tendrils speared out of the ground, trying to ensnare him, but Kurt teleported beside me and transported me behind the bastard.
It took all my focus to hold back the avalanche of shadows threatening to overwhelm us, but I found the strength to attack the Cambion.
I seized him once more, much to his annoyance. His white eyes met mine as I closed my fist, pitting all of my telekinetic might against his body.
He seemed nonchalant at first, comfortable enough to speak, even.
"Perhaps you're worth keeping alive," he mused. "Psions of your strength are rare. Think of how much further you could go with a body like mine."
"I'm going to enjoy breaking you," I said as I tightened my fist, bringing down the full force of my telekinesis upon him. To my and the Cambion's surprise, I hit my mental limits and easily pushed beyond them.
His face suddenly warped in surprise, and without needing to tell Kurt, he teleported as the tentacles of darkness holding the Captain faltered. He whisked away Captain America as he deposited the grenade that Rin provided. Kurt appeared beside me, and a second later, I let go of the outer shield protecting us and focused all my energy on keeping the demon in place as Kurt carried us a floor up.
The floor underneath us split apart as a section of the building collapsed. Kurt teleported further back again, far enough that my mental hold of the Cambion failed.
"Did we—" Captain America started, but I quickly gave him his answer.
"Yes," I said. "I felt the concrete crush him before we disappeared out of range. I can't sense his mind anymore."
"Are you sure?" Kurt asked. "He could've teleported away."
"I don't even think that Dante's kid could survive a building coming down on him," the Captain said, breathing hard. "And if the Cambion survived, he's likely too wounded to retaliate right now. We need to get back to the third floor. We're down to our last minute, and Coulson has been holding the horde on his own."
"I wouldn't be too worried about him," I said. "Clint has joined him behind the barricade I raised."
The Captain nodded. "Kurt, take us up."
The blue-skinned mutant didn't respond. He stood there, frozen, staring at the wreck.
"Rin's body. I couldn't get his body out before the collapse." The grief and anger poured out of him in waves. In his eagerness to avenge his friend, he set off the grenade but did not foresee the full extent of the fallout.
"I will personally help you look for him after," I said, placing my hand on Kurt's shoulder. There was a flash of surprise in his eyes before he nodded.
That was when I felt it.
A wave of energy rippled out, deeper and nearly as potent as the Cambion we faced, yet not quite the same. I sensed a familiarity in the outpour, and I sputtered out in shock.
"Rin?"
"What!" Kurt exclaimed, looking at me.
The building groaned and shifted as the ground underneath us cracked and sunk into the growing wreck.
"Get us out of here, now!" I yelled at Kurt, and he obliged despite his reservations. He teleported the Captain and I to the third floor, just behind the barricade.
Clint was shooting through a hole in the barricade with two rifles in his hand as he struggled to keep the beasts back while Mystique tended to Coulson, who had several long pins sticking out of his stomach. There was a dead demon dog in the corner.
We were gone for seconds, and things had gone so badly, so fast.
I raised my hand and shut my eyes, reaching out to the three remaining demons holding them in place. Clint took their heads off gladly. He heaved a sigh of relief as he dropped the guns and climbed down from the heap of clinical refrigerators, machines, furniture, and stone I'd erected.
"Thanks for the assist. A few more seconds and things could've gotten bad," he said, then looked at Coulson. "Well, worse than it's already going."
He scanned our group, eyes settling on the blue-skinned Teleporter. "Kurt, would you mind popping back to headquarters with Coulson? We need the help, and Fury has already scrambled reinforcements. He's been briefed on the situation—Wait a minute, where's Rin?"
Clint could tell something was wrong when we didn't answer immediately.
"No--" he gasped. Although Mystique worked in the back, the joy and satisfaction rolling off her were unmistakable. She was happy that Dante had lost somebody, even if he was ultimately innocent.
"He died on my watch," Captain America said, his voice thick with emotion. "He insisted we call the demon's bluff despite the risks. I should've known better. He was just a kid."
"Jesus," Clint rubbed his forehead.
"Dante won't take this well."
"He's not dead," I blurted out before the conversation progressed any further. Kurt was just about to ask me about it anyway.
"What!" Clint blurted out, while Captain America shot me an incredulous and confused look.
"I knew it!" Kurt grinned.
"That is not possible. We saw him die."
"And I felt him return to life," I affirmed. "He's the one that caused the second collapse." I paused to choose my next words carefully. "I think the demon might've done something to him because the energy rolling off him feels a lot like what I've sensed from Dante and that Cambion."
"You think he could've been infected like Bucky?" The Captain made a face, asking Clint, who shook his head.
"I don't know," he admitted. "It's happened before."
"Does that mean he's a Cambion now?" Coulson asked, and every eye in the room swiveled to him. His words were labored and slow. "He's what they're all desperate to make. That's why they were capturing mutants, wasn't it?"
"That is one hell of a coincidence," Clint said. "Something is not right here?"
"I'm just glad he's alive," the Captain said. "The question now is, is he in his right mind, or has he been taken over like Bucky?"
"I suppose we'll soon enough," Mystique spoke finally, drawing all attention to herself. Her eyes glowed yellow, reminding everybody she was not exactly who she presented as. It visibly unsettled everybody.
"Wanda, is he coming after us?" she asked. I frowned, searching for him telepathically to no avail.
"No," I said. "Whatever is happening to him is still going on."
"Good," she said. "I suppose we can focus on bigger problems. Coulson needs treatment, and we need to bolster our defenses for a second approach. If Jean Grey doesn't beat that mutant outside, we will have to handle this 'Kilgrave' ourselves.
(Read up to Chapter 132 on Patreon.com/artandcreativewriting)