Chapter 156
Arc 10 - Ch 5: Body Snatcher
3000 B.C.
Location: Egypt
Tyson opened his eyes. Jean still sat across from him, her hands clasped in his, speaking with Jessica. Reed stood nearby, scribbling notes while Sue peered over his shoulder.
He didn't speak immediately. Having Jean inside his mind still clung to him, like waking from a dream that didn't want to let go. Two Jeans. Two complete consciousness sharing a single psychic space, one of them locked behind barriers she hadn't chosen and couldn't break. He flexed his fingers in Jean's grip.
Jean turned to him. "How did it go? Is everything okay?"
"Uh, everything is fine."
"Yeah, I doubt that." Jessica crossed her arms. "Your tone says otherwise."
Reed and Sue turned at this.
He exhaled slowly. "The barriers Xavier put up in Jean's mind created a second personality over time. When I used my power, there were two Jeans. The repressed personality is going by the name Madelyne." He paused. "We came to an agreement. I'm going to get a body for her. So Jean can go on being Jean, and we'll have Madelyne, who is also Jean, in a sense."
"That sounds like the worst idea I've ever heard," Jessica said.
"It's not ideal, but—"
"Not ideal? Tyson, you're talking about splitting someone into two people."
Jean squeezed his hands. "Jessica, I feel her. She's been locked away for years, experiencing everything I did but unable to respond, unable to act. It's cruel."
"It's also dangerous," Jessica countered. "What if she's unstable? What if she blames you for locking her away?"
"She doesn't blame Jean," Tyson said. "She blames Xavier. And she's right to."
Reed cleared his throat. "Actually, Rama-Tut had a device that could recombine two people."
Tyson straightened. "What kind of device? How does it work?"
"It seemed like he was planning on condensing two different versions of the same person into one." Reed tapped his notes. "But I had no idea why it would be useful. The technology is fascinating, though. It operates on principles I've never seen before."
"Nathaniel Richards was a prolific time traveler," Tyson explained. "Rama-Tut was only one version of him. The Iron Lad that we fought alongside was another." He paused, remembering his encounter with Kang. "I've run into another version before. The device must be a way for him to recombine with himself."
"You're saying there are multiple versions of the same person running around through time?" Sue said.
"Right. And sometimes they need to merge back together."
Reed stroked his chin. "That would explain the temporal stabilization matrix I found. I thought it was just shielding, but if it's designed to prevent paradoxes during recombination..."
"Can you separate that device from the ship?" Tyson asked.
Reed considered briefly. "If you had a power source, sure. Otherwise, it would be useless. The energy requirements are substantial."
"If it can run on electricity, do it. It'll give you something to do."
Jean shifted, drawing his attention back to her. "So you're going to find another body and transfer the other me, Madelyne, into it?"
"That's the gist of it."
Sue hesitated. "Where are you going to get the body?"
"It's already covered. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill anyone. There's already a body in Limbo. I just need to... prepare it."
"Prepare it?" Jessica uncrossed her arms. "I want to be there for that."
"It might take a while to get everything set up. Limbo is a timeless space, and humans can't stay there more than a few days before being affected. I'll need to hunt a demon. Did you still want to come for that, or just the ritual?"
Jessica's jaw set. "Both. You're not doing this alone."
"It's dangerous. The demon I'm hunting is called Vilsteth. It can meld with stone and travel through it. It fought Logan and Illyana's brother at the same time."
"Then you might need backup." Jessica's tone left no room for argument. "Besides, someone needs to make sure you don't do something stupid."
Reed looked up from his notes. "What kind of demon are we talking about? Like biblical?"
"More like high fantasy. It's faceless, has claws made from a stone-like material. And it had a resistance to psionics."
Sue turned to Jean. "Are you okay with this? With being separated?"
Jean nodded slowly. "I think I have to be. Madelyne isn't going away. She's part of me, but she's also her own person now. Trying to force us back together would just create the same problem Xavier did." She looked at Tyson. "You're sure this will work?"
"The body is viable. The ritual is complex, but I've done similar work before." He left out the part where last time, he'd had the lwa guiding the whole thing. "Once Madelyne has her own form, she'll be able to develop independently. You'll both be whole."
"And what if she decides she wants my life?" Jean's voice was quiet. "My friends, my place at the Institute?"
Tyson squeezed her hands. "She's been watching through your eyes for years. She knows who you are, what you've built. She doesn't want to take that from you. She just wants her own chance to exist."
Reed cleared his throat again. "I'll need detailed specifications if I'm going to extract that device. And we should discuss power sources. The Marvel-1's reactor was destroyed, but there might be alternatives."
"Electricity is the only requirement," Tyson said. He held out his hand and created a lightning spark. I can make wires and such, so that isn't a concern. Something that can moderate the power would be good, though. I'm not as great with the fine control. "First things first. Jessica and I need to go to Limbo."
"When do we leave?"
But Sue picked up that Tyson hadn't relaxed. "What's wrong, Tyson? Wasn't this the plan?"
He looked at each of them before speaking. "Alright. I need everyone's attention for a few minutes. I'm going to put on a show for you, and it'll be the most important one yet. Jean, I know you can't take off Magneto's helmet, so I'll use magic illusions this time so you can follow along. Jessica is used to my shows, and so is the Fantastic Four. I put on enough of them at Project PEGASUS. Jessica knows a lot of this already, and a part of Jean knows it too, but I'm going to tell everyone so we're all on the same page."
The group settled into a rough circle on the chamber floor. Even Reed, who normally would be lost exploring the ship's capabilities, joined them.
"This isn't my first time time-traveling," Tyson began. "It happened right before I arrived in the Marvel-1. That's how we caught up with you in space."
He raised his hands, and the air shimmered. Outer space unfolded around them, the moment he'd launched them toward safety, the Marvel-1's engine beginning its activation sequence.
"After I launched you guys, when the engine activated, I was left adrift. You saw that." The display showed Tyson floating in the void. "What you didn't see was that the lightspeed engine activated, leaving me behind."
"That's not right. You're here; you were on the ship." Johnny said.
Tyson nodded slowly. "I was. My past self, the me from your present that launched the shuttle, was left behind."
"I know it's confusing, but let me explain." The illusion shifted, showing two versions of himself. One floating in space, another materializing inside the ship. "I was rescued from space by Amora. You remember her."
Johnny perked up. "The goddess who was watching over you."
Ben's rocky features shifted into what might have been a smirk. "Of course you'd remember her, Johnny."
Tyson continued, his illusion expanding to show Amora's portal pulling his past self from the void. "Turns out the lightspeed engine initiated because the Tesseract activated. It opened a portal, letting Loki through to Earth."
The display transformed, showing a cube of brilliant blue energy. "I suppose it's time to explain what the Tesseract really is."
The cube opened like a flower, revealing a stone of pure azure light.
"An Infinity Stone. A physical embodiment of a fundamental aspect of creation. There are six stones, each an object of immense, almost limitless power over their aspect. Space, Time, Mind, Power, Reality, and Soul."
The illusion expanded to show six stones arranged in a circle, each pulsing with its own unique energy signature. The Mind Stone was highlighted next, a brilliant yellow gem that seemed to peer into the souls of those who looked upon it.
"Loki brought the Mind Stone with him, within the scepter he wielded. His goal was to retrieve the Tesseract and bring it to Thanos, the Mad Titan." The display shifted to show a figure with purple skin. "We managed to stop Loki," Tyson continued, "but Thanos, just think of him as a galactic conqueror, arrived to handle things himself."
The illusion showed the other Infinity Stones as Tyson's explanation continued. "Thanos had already acquired the Soul and Power Stones, and during the fight, he obtained the Space Stone as well. Giving him three of the six Infinity Stones. His goal was to collect them all so he could wipe out half of all life in the universe."
Sue had gone pale. Reed was already somewhere deep in the math.
"We fought him. The Avengers and I. Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, and others. We weren't a match."
The illusion offered glimpses of an epic battle that culminated in Illyana's death.
"The Ancient One used the Time Stone." The green gem pulsed, indicating which Infinity Stone they still had control over. "She sent me back. But she only sent me back a few days. I realized it was our only chance, and that I was meant to join you in the Marvel-1." His voice went quieter. "When I was losing consciousness after launching you into space, I had sensed adamantium within the ship. It could only be me. So as the engine activated, my future self teleported inside. While I'd traveled to what was my past, I gathered Jean and Jessica, the only allies I could remember not being at the fight, because bringing them with me wouldn't change the timeline and events that had already occurred."
The illusion faded. No one spoke.
Ben's gravelly voice cut through first. "So what are we going to do?"
Tyson looked at him. "I'll be honest. I had no idea how to beat Thanos with three Infinity Stones.
The Ancient One had the Time Stone, and the Mind Stone…"
His future self apparently had Mind. That left one unaccounted for. Reality. But that wouldn't show up until the events of Thor: The Dark World, and that was like a year in the future after the Battle of New York, with the Convergence.
Wait…
Tyson sat up straighter as a memory surfaced. His conversation with Stan in the park. As far as he understood, Stan Lee was the God above gods. The One Above All. Tyson had gotten pretty good at replaying events using his illusions, but it always seemed false to him. This time, he used Loki's power to recreate the scene in the park.
The air shimmered as Central Park materialized. The chessboard appeared first, weathered wood and peeling paint. The trees followed, branches swaying in a breeze that existed only in memory. Then Stan Lee himself took shape, that familiar face creased with lines of wisdom and mischief.
The scene played out exactly as he remembered it. Stan's voice, warm and knowing, filled the air as they discussed reality, choices, and the burden of knowledge. Every word, every gesture, exact. But this time, Tyson really listened. He paused the illusion, rewinding to a particular moment. Frowned. Fast-forwarded. The conversation had seemed philosophical at the time. Now it felt loaded.
He paused, rewound, and went over several parts again and again until he boiled the conversation down to what he thought might matter.
The others didn't interrupt. They watched and absorbed.
"Power isn't everything," the old man countered, taking Tyson's knight with a quick move. "Sometimes it's about being in the right place at the right time."
A squirrel darted across the path nearby, pausing to watch them before scampering up a tree.
"Take that little fella," the old man nodded toward the squirrel. "Not powerful by any means, but he's got a part to play in the grand scheme of things. Planting seeds that'll grow into mighty oaks long after he's gone."
Tyson smiled slightly. "You think everything has a purpose?"
"I know it does." The old man winked. "Even chaos has its place in the universe. That fellow with the horns and the fancy helmet? He thinks he's writing the story, but he's just another character on the board."
Tyson's hand paused over his queen. "You heard about him?"
"Hard not to. Been all over the news. Quite the showman, that one."
"You know what I've learned in my many years?" the old man continued, not waiting for Tyson to answer. "The universe has a way of balancing itself. For every action, there's a reaction. For every beginning, an end."
Tyson nodded, taking one of the old man's pawns. "And for every end, a new beginning."
"Exactly!" The old man slapped the table lightly. "You catch on quick, son."
They played for several more moves, the game growing more complex. Tyson was genuinely challenged; the old man's strategy was unpredictable but felt like something he should have recognized.
"The thing about endings," the old man said, capturing Tyson's rook, "is they're never really the end. Just the setup for the next chapter."
"What do you think the next chapter holds?" Tyson asked.
The old man looked up at the sky, where the tear in reality had been just hours before. "Bigger things. Much bigger. That hole in the sky? Just a peek through the keyhole. The door's still there, waiting to be opened."
"Doors can swing both ways," Tyson observed.
"Indeed, they can." The old man nodded sagely. "And what comes through might make those aliens look like a Sunday picnic."
Tyson moved his bishop. "Check."
The old man smiled, blocking with his queen. "Not so fast, son. The game's just getting interesting."
A shadow passed overhead.
Just a cloud, but Tyson looked up instinctively.
"The stars are changing," the old man said quietly. "New players entering the field. Some have always been there, watching, waiting."
"For what?"
"For the right moment." The old man tapped his temple. "The Mind is a terrible thing to waste, but it's an even more terrible thing in the wrong hands."
"And the right hands?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" The old man's voice grew serious. "Power corrupts. Absolute power..." He trailed off, gesturing for Tyson to make his move.
"Corrupts absolutely," Tyson finished, moving his knight.
"Usually," the old man agreed. "But not always. Sometimes, the right person with the right power can change everything."
The old man countered Tyson's move, putting his king in check. "The trick is knowing which is which."
Tyson extricated his king from danger. "And how do you know?"
"You don't. Not until the moment comes."
They continued playing. Neither spoke for several moves, each locked into the shifting geometry of the board.
The old man's fingers hovered over his bishop, then changed direction and moved his queen instead.
Tyson studied the board. His strategy was starting to fall apart. The old man played with surprising creativity, forcing Tyson to counter, moving his remaining knight to protect his vulnerable flank.
The old man chuckled behind his tinted glasses. "A week ago, nobody believed in aliens. Now they're cleaning Chitauri parts off Park Avenue." He gestured broadly at the park. "Reality is what we make of it."
Tyson advanced his bishop, threatening the old man's queen. "Check."
"Nice move," the old man nodded appreciatively, shifting his king to safety. "Take this park. Beautiful, isn't it? But it wasn't always here. Someone had to imagine it first, see the potential in what was just ordinary land."
"That's the power of vision. Seeing what could be instead of what is."
Tyson moved his rook, setting up for an endgame strategy. The old man's queen slid diagonally across the board in a move Tyson hadn't anticipated. "Check."
Tyson frowned, forced to move his king back. "That doesn't sound like you're talking about vision; it sounds like you're talking about something bigger than chess."
"Everything's bigger than chess, son."
The old man grinned. He gestured toward Stark Tower in the distance, its damaged façade already under repair. "That fellow with the fancy suit, he imagined something nobody thought possible, then made it real. The green fellow? He's the result of someone trying to recreate something thought long lost." He tapped his temple.
"Imagination's cheap. Everybody's got it. The trick is making it stick."
"Making it stick requires resources. Time."
"Everything requires time," the old man agreed, capturing Tyson's last bishop.
Tyson saw the trap. His king had nowhere to go. "I think that's checkmate."
"Indeed, it is." The old man leaned back, satisfied. "Good game, though. You've got potential."
"Thanks," Tyson said, studying the final position before placing his king on its side. "I didn't see your strategy until it was too late."
"That's how reality works, too," the old man said, beginning to reset the pieces. "By the time most people see the change, it's already happened. The real power is seeing it before it occurs, or better yet, making it occur."
The old man studied the board for a moment. "You know what most people get wrong about chess?" he said. "They think the endgame is about the pieces you've still got. It's not. It's about the ones you were willing to lose. That, and timing. Timing is the whole game, really. Doesn't matter if you see it coming if you're a move too late." He stood. "Well, I should be going. Places to be, people to see." He extended his hand. "Thanks for the game, son. Been a while since anyone gave me a real challenge."
Tyson shook his hand. The old man's grip was firmer than he'd expected. "Thank you. It was... enlightening."
"That's what I aim for." The old man winked.
As the old man turned to leave, he said over his shoulder, "Excelsior and all that."
Tyson cheekily called after him. "I feel like I keep running into you, but I never caught your name."
The old man looked back, his mustache twitching with his smile. "Most people just call me Stan. Take care of yourself, Tyson. It'll be a long, long time before we meet again."
With that, he strolled away down the path, surprisingly spry for his age, whistling a tune.
Tyson remained at the chess table, turning the fallen king over in his fingers. The old man's words kept circling.
He tried to place the tune and couldn't, which bothered him more than it should have. It finally struck him, though he'd never heard it in this life. It was the Avengers theme. But something about it was off; though it was being whistled, it had more gravitas, a greater lead-in, and it was just the intro. Like, there was more to it, but it was cut off. It definitely wasn't the Avengers theme he remembered from the first movie.
Tyson shook his head, stopping the illusion around them. Stan's knowing smile was plastered on his face, frozen in time.
"He was giving me the blueprint. He told me what I needed to do, what would happen. But I didn't see it."
Sue spoke first. "What do you mean?"
Tyson rewound the scene, the park dissolving and reforming around a specific moment. Stan's voice filled the air once more.
"What do you think the next chapter holds?"
"Bigger things. Much bigger. That hole in the sky? Just a peek through the keyhole. The door's still there, waiting to be opened."
The illusion paused. Tyson turned to Whiteclaw. "This man is a—" How could he explain who Stan Lee was? "Well, he's a god. Before our conversation, the Chitauri, an alien force, attacked Earth through a portal created by the Space Stone. We managed to close the portal. But after this conversation, Thanos, the Mad Titan, arrived. Stan warned me what was coming, but I didn't have the context to understand it."
"So, this conversation, you think it was a warning?" Jean asked.
"Not just a warning. Hints on how to prevent disaster."
Tyson pulled up another segment of their chess match.
"The universe has a way of balancing itself. For every action, there's a reaction. For every beginning, an end."
"Power isn't everything," the old man countered, "Sometimes it's about being in the right place at the right time."
He pointed at the frozen scene. "Thanos is all about what he believes is balance. It was a warning and I missed it. But now I have a chance to fix things, to prepare for what's coming, and to be ready for it. I just need to be at the right place at the right time."
The scene shifted again.
"The stars are changing," the old man said quietly. "New players entering the field. Some have always been there, watching, waiting."
"For the right moment." The old man tapped his temple.
Tyson's jaw tightened. The pieces kept falling into place. "I think he was talking about Thanos, but he was also talking about me. Thanos arrived earlier than he should have. I've now been sent into the past, but if I'm right, I was always there all along, waiting for the right moment to change things. I didn't mention the Mind Stone, but I had it before the battle with Thanos. I brought it to Limbo for safekeeping, but when I went back, it was gone. One of the demons, a trustworthy one, swore that it was me who took the Mind Stone. I believe her, but it was me from the future who did it, following my preparations. Or rather following in my own footsteps."
Jessica's features creased with confusion. "I don't understand. It was your future self who took the stone? Why?"
Tyson went back to the scene, pulling up the segment about the Mind Stone's true nature. The warning had been right there. He'd just missed it.
"The Mind is a terrible thing to waste, but it's an even more terrible thing in the wrong hands."
"Sometimes, the right person with the right power at the right time can change everything."
He fast-forwarded to another crucial moment.
"That's the power of Vision."
"I tried using the Mind Stone, but it was overwhelming. It's basically unlimited thought coalesced into an object. It has a will of its own. Stan was telling me that it wasn't meant to be in my hands. It was meant to be in Vision."
"You say 'Vision' like it means something besides seeing." Johnny pointed out.
Tyson smiled. "Oh, it does."
Ben hummed noncommittally. "Is that all? How do you know it isn't some coincidence? Looks just like a chess game with an old man rambling to me."
"Hardly," Tyson said, pulling up other segments.
"I didn't see your strategy until it was too late."
"That's how reality works, too," the old man said, beginning to reset the pieces. "By the time most people see the change, it's already happened. The real power is seeing it before it occurs, or better yet, making it occur."
The scene shifted. Stan looked right through the illusion at Tyson.
"And how do you know?"
"You don't. Not until the moment comes."
The scene continued.
"Reality is what we make of it."
He fast-forwarded to the end of their chess match. Stan stood from the table, that familiar smile on his face as he turned to leave.
"Take care of yourself, Tyson. It'll be a long, long time before we meet again."
The illusion dissolved. Tyson stared at the empty space where Stan had been.
Sue asked, "What does that mean?"
Tyson's answer came without hesitation.
"It means you need to go home."
"You think the four or six of us will make that big a difference?" Johnny asked.
Sue shook her head slowly. She'd already caught it: the tension in his jaw, the way he held himself apart from the group.
"Why did you say 'you,' like you're not coming?" Sue asked.
"Because I'm not. There's too much that needs to happen before Thanos arrives. I'm not strong enough, and can't get strong enough in days or even months. I need years. This is the only way."
"It's over five thousand years from now." Reed pointed out. "You won't be around for Thanos's arrival."
"Dr. Banner confirmed that I'm ageless," Tyson countered. "My healing factor doesn't just repair damage. It maintains my cells in a state of perpetual renewal."
"His telomeres don't shorten. His regeneration is perfect." Jessica clarified, "Tyson is effectively immortal, outside of someone finding a way to kill him."
"We can't just go to the future and leave you alone for five millennia." Sue looked around at the others for confirmation, but the Fantastic Four exchanged uncertain glances.
Tyson reached into his pocket and withdrew a small vial filled with golden liquid that he'd taken from House of M. "This is a potion made by Amora. She called it a Potion of Eternal Youth. The person who drinks it will be restored to their prime and remain there." He turned the vial slowly. "At least, that's what she promised. I have no reason to believe she was lying, but there is still some risk."
"And you only have one vial?" Jean asked.
Tyson nodded.
"So one of us could stay." Johnny declared.
"I wouldn't ask any of you to do that."
"But why stay the whole time?" Reed pressed. "Why not travel to a decade before Thanos arrived?"
Tyson reconjured his illusion, the six Infinity Stones appearing in the air between them. He highlighted the crimson Reality Stone. "There's the only stone unaccounted for. But Asgardian lore explains its whereabouts. Bor, Odin's father, confiscated it from the Dark Elves and sealed it away during the Convergence, a celestial alignment of the nine realms that only happens every five thousand years. The next Convergence would've been in 2013."
Reed straightened. "So that means the original Convergence is only a little over a decade from now."
"Exactly." Tyson's illusion shifted, showing the alignment of the nine realms. "I need to be there when it happens. I need to secure the Reality Stone. It's our only chance."
Jessica spoke up with quiet certainty. "I'm staying."
Every head turned toward her.
"Jessica—"
She held up a hand. "I'm a clone, Tyson. I don't have parents waiting for me."
Sue reached out to her. "You can't just throw away your life like this."
"I'm not throwing it away." Jessica's voice remained steady. "I'm choosing to spend it fighting for something that matters. Five thousand years to prepare for a threat that could destroy everything? That's not a sacrifice. That's an opportunity."
Ben's rocky features creased with concern. "Kid, you don't know what you're saying. Five thousand years is a long time to be stuck in the past."
"I know exactly what I'm saying." Jessica turned to face the group fully. "Tyson needs someone who can help him. Someone who understands science, who can assist with whatever preparations need to be made. Someone so he won't go insane from isolation." She looked at Tyson. "You were planning to do this alone, weren't you? You didn't come up with this plan just now. When the ship arrived here, you had to have known we were in the past, you would've sensed there weren't any satellites or communication waves when we were in orbit."
Tyson's silence was answer enough.
"That's what I thought. Five thousand years would break anyone, even someone with your resilience," Jessica crossed her arms. "You need a partner. Someone to share the burden with."
Johnny spoke up. "Then I'll stay too. We can split the potion, or—"
"No." Tyson's tone brooked no argument. "You have a family, Johnny. Sue needs you. The Fantastic Four needs to stay together."
Reed was already running scenarios. "There has to be another way. Some method that doesn't require either of you to spend millennia in the past."
"There isn't. I've thought about this from every angle. The Convergence happens in a decade. The Reality Stone will be accessible then and only then. If we miss that window, we lose. Thanos had the stones. To beat him, we need the stones."
Sue looked between Tyson and Jessica. "What about the potion? What if it doesn't work? What if there are side effects we don't know about?"
"Then I age and die like anyone else," Jessica said. "But at least I'll have tried. At least I'll have done something that mattered." Her voice softened as she turned to him. "I love you, Tyson. Before you, I had no one. I was a clone. An experiment. Spider-Man's DNA twisted into something else, someone else. The people on the street looked at me like I was a mistake that needed correcting. Even the scientist who created me abandoned me. I didn't know who I was supposed to be. Was I him? Was I myself? Every mirror showed me a stranger's face. Every memory felt borrowed, like I was wearing someone else's skin. Or like I was stuck in a strange woman's body. Then you showed up. You looked at me and saw Jessica. Not a clone. Not an experiment. Just me."
Sue's breath hitched. Her hand moved to her chest, fingers pressing against her sternum.
"You're the most important person in my life. You gave me purpose when I had none. You made me feel human when everyone else treated me like nothing. If the potion doesn't work, if I only get a normal lifetime, there's no one I'd rather spend it with."
A tear slid down Sue's cheek. She wiped at it quickly, but another followed. Small, private, like she hoped no one would notice. Reed placed a hand on her shoulder.
Tyson finally moved. He crossed the distance between them and pulled Jessica into his arms. "You're sure?"
"I've never been more sure of anything." Jessica's arms wrapped around him, fingers digging into his back. "We do this together. Five thousand years, or if the potion fails, fifty. Together."
Reed cleared his throat. "I suppose we should discuss the practical considerations. The potion's efficacy, potential side effects, the temporal mechanics of—"
"Reed." Sue's voice cracked slightly. She cleared her throat, tried again. "Not now."
Johnny moved to his sister's side. His hand found hers, squeezed once. Sue squeezed back.
Jean's voice emerged from behind Magneto's helmet, quieter than usual. "How long have you two been together?"
"Months." Jessica didn't pull away from Tyson as she answered.
Sue laughed, but the sound came out wet. She pressed her free hand to her mouth.
"Sue? Are you alright?" Reed asked.
"I'm fine." She wasn't. The words came out too quickly, too sharply. "It's just a lot to process. Five thousand years. Infinity Stones. Everything."
Tyson and Jessica finally separated, though their hands remained linked.
"She's made her choice. We should respect it." Jean said
"Well. I guess that settles that." Johnny said.
Tyson summoned Nexus and slashed open a portal. The landscape beyond was dark stone and red sky. "Ready?"
Jessica stared at the portal. "No. But let's go anyway."
Tyson and Jessica materialized in the metal house's main room.
Jessica turned in a slow circle, taking it all in. "This isn't so bad."
Tyson crossed to the door and pulled it open.
The hellscape sprawled before them. Red sky pulsed with veins of black lightning. Jagged mountains of obsidian jutted from cracked earth. The air shimmered with heat, carrying the stench of sulfur and decay. Bodies littered the ground in every direction, demons of every shape and size.
Jessica stepped up beside him. "I take it back."
The nearest corpse was a hulking brute with six arms, its chest cavity split open. Beyond it, smaller demons lay in heaps, their blood staining the stone black. Most had been torn apart. A few human bodies were scattered around as well.
"What happened here?" Jessica's voice was quiet.
"The humans are the remnants from the battle against Thanos." Tyson surveyed the carnage. "The demons are Whiteclaw's doing."
Jessica knelt beside a smaller demon, its body no larger than a child's. "There are so many. You're hunting them?"
"We need to. By the time Illyana's powers manifest, there can't be any demons in Limbo. The dimension needs to be empty. But Whiteclaw is after one demon in particular." Tyson turned back toward the house. "We need to find her."
He focused on Nexus. The weapon's presence thrummed through his soul, a thread linking him to Limbo itself. The sword had been forged here, infused with Promethium from the dimension's core. That connection gave him a sense of the realm, though nothing like what Illyana had possessed.
Nexus had also been forged with a piece of his soul. That should have strengthened the bond, given him greater control. He reached out through the weapon, trying to feel the dimension.
Presences flickered at the edge of his awareness. Demons, scattered across Limbo's expanse. Some clustered in groups. Others prowled alone. He tried to narrow his focus, to pick out individual signatures, to find Whiteclaw among the masses.
Nothing. The presences blurred together, indistinct and overlapping. He couldn't separate one from another, couldn't identify specific demons. The connection was there, but his control was too crude, too unfocused.
Tyson opened his eyes and swore.
"What's wrong?" Jessica asked.
"I can't sense her specifically. There are too many demons, and I don't have fine enough control to pick out individuals. Illyana could have found her in seconds. She knew every corner of this place, every presence within it."
"But you're not Illyana."
"No." The admission stung more than it should have. "I'm not."
Jessica moved closer. "What can you sense?"
Tyson closed his eyes again, letting the awareness wash over him without trying to force it. "Presences. Demons. They're scattered, mostly in small groups. Some are moving, hunting, or fleeing. Others are stationary, probably hiding or feeding."
"How many?"
He concentrated, trying to count the flickering points of awareness. "Hundreds. Maybe thousands. It's hard to tell with the way they overlap."
Jessica turned in a slow circle. "And Whiteclaw is out there somewhere, hunting. And we need to find her?"
"She can take care of herself. I bonded adamantium to her skeleton, gave her enhanced strength and durability." Tyson called Nexus to his hand. "But you're right. We need to find her."
"How? You said you can't sense individual demons."
Tyson studied the landscape, noting the distribution of corpses. They formed rough clusters, with clear paths between them. "We track her the old-fashioned way. Follow the trail."
Jessica looked skeptical. "That could take days."
"We don't have much choice. I need Whiteclaw to transfer the demon into another body, and I need her body for the ritual for Jean, well, for Madelyne."
— Rogue Redemption —
They journeyed deeper into Limbo, Tyson tracking the remaining demons through Nexus. The sword pulsed with each demonic presence, guiding them through hills of obsidian.
At some point, Jessica's hand found his. He wasn't sure when. One moment they were walking apart, scanning the horizon, and the next her fingers were laced through his, tight enough to feel the tremor she was trying to suppress.
"You okay?"
"Define okay." She didn't let go. "Sue cried for us, Tyson. Did you notice that? She cried like she was watching us walk into a grave."
"I think Sue cried because she had a thing for me," Tyson said.
Jessica's grip on his hand tightened. "What?"
"Like a crush. We spent months together at PEGASUS, and she's... Sue. She cares about everyone, but there was something else there. If you hadn't agreed to come back with me, I bet she would have volunteered to take the Potion of Eternal Youth."
Jessica was quiet for a few steps. "You were at Project PEGASUS with them for all those months. Did you ever..."
Tyson shook his head. "Just flirting." She nodded, and some of the tension left her hand. Not all of it.
"I have a confession to make, though," he said. Jessica looked at him. "When the Convergence happens in ten years, I'm going to do a ritual to absorb hearts from those I've killed. It'll give me their strength, their abilities. Permanently. I have a lot of hearts stored. Some I don't need for myself. One of them is Sabretooth's."
Jessica stopped walking. Her hand stayed in his, stopping them both. "The mutant you got your healing factor and immortality from. The one we fought in the alley during the Mutant Massacre."
"That's the guy. But the one we fought was the clone." Tyson turned to face her. "I have the heart from the original. Fought him again with Calypso when he was raised by a necromancer. Never did find that necromancer…" He trailed off in thought for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, at that point, if you're willing to wait, the ritual will give you your immortality. No potion needed."
Jessica processed that. "So we don't need to use the potion. Will you offer it to Sue?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Tyson started walking again, pulling her gently along. "I don't really know her like that. Sure, we spent months together. Technically, we spent more time together than I did with Illyana. But I don't want her to spend her life trapped in the past because of a little crush on me and because she'd take it up as her responsibility to save the future." He looked out across the hellscape, the red sky bleeding into the jagged horizon. "Sue's got her own life to live. Reed, Johnny, Ben. The Fantastic Four isn't just a group I named on a whim. That's her world. Giving her the potion would be pulling her out of it for the wrong reasons."
"That's... surprisingly thoughtful."
"Don't sound so shocked."
Jessica smiled. "You do have a certain reputation within House of M, you know. Especially after our first night together."
Tyson glanced at her. "What reputation?"
"Illyana walked in on us. Naked. And Felicia didn't exactly hide her involvement. All three of us. Together."
Tyson groaned. "Wednesday snitched to everyone? No way."
Jessica laughed. "Our nights together weren't exactly secret, Tyson." She squeezed his hand. "Or quiet."
"I was discreet."
"You were not discreet. Felicia was intentionally not discreet, and I'm told I have a voice that carries." She stepped over a demon's severed arm without breaking stride. "Agatha gave me this look at breakfast one morning. You know the one. The teacher look."
"The disappointed witch look."
"That's the one. And Logan just clapped you on the shoulder and didn't say anything, which was somehow worse."
Tyson rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "I didn't know it was that bad."
"It wasn't bad. It was just... known."
Tyson sighed. "Well, now you know. Sue wasn't looking at us like we were dying."
"No. We're just skipping the part where we get to live a normal life, have normal problems, complain about normal things." Jessica's voice stayed steady, but the tremor in her hand contradicted it. "I'm never going to order takeout again. I'm never going to argue with someone over a parking space, sit in a waiting room, or watch a bad movie because nothing else was playing. Those stupid, pointless moments that don't mean anything until they're gone."
"Ask me something normal," Jessica said.
Tyson glanced at her. "What?"
"Something a person would ask on a date. Or at dinner. Or anywhere that isn't a demon wasteland where time doesn't work. I need to hear something that sounds like real life for about thirty seconds."
Tyson laughed. "My first date with Illyana was in Limbo, too."
"Tell me about it."
"We hunted demons. I got covered in demon stink." He stepped over a jagged outcrop of stone. "It ended with us getting ambushed by a fly demon the size of a truck. She passed out. I had to carry her back."
"That sounds like a terrible date."
"It was." He kept his tone light, but the memory sat heavy in his chest. "We made it back to the Institute. I showered for about an hour, trying to get the smell off. She slept in my bed." He paused. "It wasn't a great date. Awkward. Dangerous. You know how it goes."
Jessica snorted. "I really do."
"But it was the start of everything between us. So I guess it worked out."
They walked in silence for a stretch, boots crunching over cracked stone. Jessica was the one to break it.
"If we have all this time here, maybe we can find a way to save her."
Tyson shook his head. "Maybe. But Jess, I don't think we can. We can't change things. She's dead." He said it plainly, the way you say something you've already fought against and lost. "The best we can do is save everyone else."
Jessica didn't respond to that. He didn't expect her to.
"But you wanted something normal." Tyson adjusted Nexus on his shoulder. "So. What's your favorite food?"
"Peter liked pizza, so I think I like pizza, but I'm not sure if that's mine or his. That's a terrible answer." She kicked a loose stone, watched it skitter across the obsidian. "Ask me another one."
"What would you do with a day off? No patrolling, no classes, no demons, no one trying to destroy anything."
Jessica was quiet long enough that he thought she wasn't going to answer. When she did, her voice had lost the brittle edge.
"I'd sleep in. Not because I was exhausted or recovering or hiding, but because I could. Then I'd go somewhere with a window, drink coffee, and watch people. Just watch them live their lives." She glanced at him. "That's pathetic, isn't it? Five thousand years ahead of me, and my fantasy involves coffee."
"We'll grow the beans ourselves if we have to."
"You'd do that?"
"Jess, we have five millennia. Plenty of time to prep for Thanos and still learn agriculture."
The corner of her mouth lifted. It wasn't quite a smile, but it was close enough.
Ahead, the clash of combat revealed Whiteclaw, her adamantium claws tearing through a Vrock's leathery wings. The demon screeched, trying to take flight, but she yanked it down and drove her claws through its skull. The creature convulsed once and went still.
Tyson approached with Jessica at his side. "Have you found Vilsteth?"
Whiteclaw straightened, flicking demon ichor from her claws. "Nice to see you too, love."
Tyson rolled his eyes.
"I have bad news." She planted a boot on the Vrock's corpse. "I haven't found the demon you described. I've been interrogating all the intelligent ones, like this guy here." She kicked the body for emphasis. "Every demon I could track down that had enough brains to answer questions."
"And?"
"And nothing." Whiteclaw gestured at the carnage around them. "No hints, no trace of Vilsteth. None of the demons have seen it since Azazel's death. It's like the thing vanished completely."
Tyson frowned. Vilsteth could meld with stone, travel through it. The demon could be anywhere.
"We need a body for you," he said finally.
Jessica glanced between them. "What kind of body are we talking about?"
"One that is sufficiently powerful. Something durable. Strong enough to match what she's become."
"The problem is finding one in Limbo. Most of what's here is lesser demons, and I'm not interested in becoming some monstrosity."
Most of the demons they'd encountered were too alien, too far removed from human form.
Tyson walked to the edge of the cliff they stood on, looking out over Limbo's landscape. Somewhere out there, Vilsteth lurked. The demon had survived Azazel's death, had hidden itself well enough that even the other demons couldn't track it. That kind of intelligence made it dangerous.
"Don't get discouraged." Whiteclaw held up a hand. "I know where we can find a suitable body."
She led them through Limbo. The ground shifted from obsidian to something that looked like cooled magma, cracked and glowing faintly from beneath. Jessica kept pace, her enhanced agility making the journey easier than it would have been for most.
The ruins appeared gradually, emerging from the perpetual twilight like broken teeth. Tyson recognized the shattered spires, the collapsed walls.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Whiteclaw glanced back. "Problem?"
"This is where the demons were building Azazel's throne." Tyson stopped, staring at the devastation. He remembered the explosion, the way Jubilee's power had torn through stone and demon flesh alike. "I destroyed this place using Jubilee's power."
Jessica studied the ruins. "When?"
"Just before Illyana killed Azazel." Tyson moved forward, following Whiteclaw toward a cave entrance half-buried in rubble. "We found a portal in here. It was one of the main sources of the demon infestation. One of the reasons Illyana went to Kamar-Taj was to find a way to close it."
The cave mouth yawned before them, darker than the surrounding gloom. Whiteclaw stepped inside without hesitation. Tyson exchanged a look with Jessica, then followed.
The passage descended steeply, the walls rough and uncarved. The air grew warmer as they went deeper, carrying a sulfurous tang that made his nose wrinkle.
They emerged into a large chamber. The portal dominated the far wall, a swirling vortex of crimson and black that pulsed with malevolent energy. Its light painted everything red and black. Tyson had seen it before. It still made his skin crawl.
"Oh, come on." He turned to Whiteclaw. "You can't be serious."
"What is it?" Jessica moved closer to the portal, spider-sense keeping her steps cautious.
"This is where the demons were coming from." Tyson gestured at the vortex. "This portal was pumping them into Limbo like a factory."
Whiteclaw approached the portal's edge. "The stronger demons can't cross. Lesser demons can slip through, but anything with real power gets blocked."
"That's why you want us to go through first." Tyson understood now. "You're not sure you can make it past the barrier."
"I can try. But if it rejects me, you'll be on your own." Whiteclaw shrugged. "The barrier's designed to stop things coming into Limbo. Going the other direction might work, might not. I'd rather not find out what 'not' feels like without backup on the other side."
Jessica looked at the portal, then at Tyson. "Is this safe?"
"Define safe." Tyson moved closer, feeling the heat radiating from the vortex. The magic here was old, primal. It predated Limbo itself, reaching back to something ancient and terrible. "We'll be going into hostile territory. Whatever's on the other side won't be friendly. If Whiteclaw can't cross the barrier from the other side, the sling ring or Nexus should be able to get us back."
"You'll have Mjolnir and Nexus." Whiteclaw gestured at his weapons. "Between the three of us, we should be able to handle whatever we encounter long enough to grab a suitable body and return."
They'd need to move fast. Get in and out before whatever was on the other side realized they were there, and the resistance grew too great. The barrier would protect them on the return, but only if they made it back to the portal.
"What kind of body are we looking for?" Jessica asked.
"Something powerful. Durable." Whiteclaw ticked off requirements on her claws. "Preferably humanoid, or close enough. I'm not interested in becoming some tentacled monstrosity. And it needs to be fresh, or at least intact enough for the transfer to work."
"So we're looking for a recently deceased demon." Tyson shook his head. "In whatever hellscape is on the other side of that portal. Fresh isn't as important, though. We can always fix a body up with enough time."
"Alright, a good body, dead or alive, or we could kill one." Whiteclaw shrugged. "I'm not picky about the method, just the result."
Tyson looked at Jessica. "You don't have to —"
"I'm coming." She held his look. "You'll need backup, and I'm not letting you go in there alone."
She sounded like Illyana. That same stubborn refusal to back down, to let someone she cared about face danger without her.
"One more thing." Whiteclaw's expression grew serious. "Whatever you do, don't let anything follow you back through. The barrier will stop demons, but there might be other things over there. Things that aren't technically demons."
"Comforting." Tyson stepped toward the portal, feeling its pull. The magic reached for him, recognizing something in his nature that resonated with its purpose. "Anything else we should know?"
"Yes." Whiteclaw looked at him. "Where it leads."
Tyson paused at the portal's edge. "Where does it lead?"
Whiteclaw's smile held no warmth. "To Hell."
— Rogue Redemption —