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Dante had faith that Illyana wouldn't mess this up, but Limbo had other plans in mind. The realm's chaotic power had corrupted her, and it fed her alter ego until it gained the strength to overpower her. She was still inside, but she wasn't the one in charge anymore.
"Illya!" Piotr moved toward her from behind. "What happened to you? Why is this… happening?"
"Piotr, stay back." Dante kept his eyes on Darkchylde. "That's not your Illyana."
Laura grabbed Piotr by the back of his jacket and yanked him back. She didn't need instructions to know Piotr had to be kept away.
"But, comrade—"
"I'll get her back."
Dante tried the same strategy he had used to suppress Darkchylde before—using the focused threat of death. Darkchylde just laughed, her voice like Illyana's but surrounded by a dozen others. It was as if Limbo itself spoke through her.
"It will not work now." She stalked to the right in that feral crouch position, glowing red Soulsword held low in her grip to launch an attack any second. "In Limbo, I am the Queen. I will not bow, even to death."
He shook off the thought of killing off Illyana's alter ego. Darkchylde was born from her soul just like her Soulsword. Her soul would be left incomplete without either of them.
So he switched to Hyperion's Resonance instead. The Helio Reactor hummed to life with solar radiation.
"Guess I'm doing this the old-fashioned way."
He never thought the day would come where he'd have to beat up his friend's little sister. Yet here they were.
Darkchylde circled to a spot where she could watch all three of them at once. Her tail lashed behind her. "You have chosen to stay."
"Give Illyana control and I'll leave."
"I don't want you to." She bared her fangs. "You'll miss the celebration."
"Hmm? We have a celebration?"
She pointed the sword at him as a stepping disc spun open behind her. "The queen and her minions will have a feast of blood and carnage in your realm."
Darkchylde knew Dante was the only real threat capable of putting Illyana back in control. That was why she threatened to take the fight to Earth. The only way to force his hand was to make him choose between stopping her and protecting the planet.
"You'll be weaker there," he said. "You know that."
"Does not matter. My discs open anywhere on Earth." She chuckled. "It is only fitting to carve out a piece of her homeworld and name it after the queen who claimed it."
Piotr looked like he'd been punched in the gut. "Illya… What are you saying?"
Darkchylde turned those crimson eyes on him with pure disgust. "Illya is not here, vermin. There is only me. The Demon Queen. Learn the difference."
"Piotr," Dante said. "Let me handle it."
Piotr looked at him. The weight behind his eyes was heavy. After years of separation, the reunion only gave him a small moment with Illyana. The fear of Illyana never returning was there, along with the helplessness.
"Comrade…" He clenched his fists. "Please… don't let anyone take Illya away."
"I won't."
Darkchylde pushed her hand through the spinning disc, daring him. "What is the verdict, Skeleton? I am becoming bored of your silence."
"Why not settle it one-on-one here in Limbo?" Dante crossed his arms. "If you can't deal with me in your own realm, do you even deserve to call yourself the Demon Queen?"
Just her way of speaking showed how full of herself Darkchylde was. Someone who saw herself as an absolute ruler wouldn't swallow insults well.
As expected, she narrowed her eyes in a glare. "You are a ballsy man."
"It's hard not to be when you can't die."
"Shall we make it a best of three then?" Her demonic face revealed a twisted smile. "First round here, second in your realm, and third in another dimension."
If they were going to settle this, this sadistic demon wanted to humiliate him as much as possible. As for the thought of losing, it probably never crossed her mind.
'I have to settle it here.'
He only had one shot to bring Illyana, which was in the first round, or Earth's map would need to be redrawn. Darkchylde, with Limbo supporting her, was easily stronger than Natasha when the Spirit of Vengeance had taken control of her body.
The Ancient One should be ready for threats like this, but he had no trust in her competence. If she was competent, she wouldn't have allowed Belasco to take away the Sovereign symbiote.
Darkchylde tilted her horned head. "Why the silence? That is a fair duel. Or does the skeleton lack the courage?"
"I accept." He walked over to Piotr, opened a quick portal back to Oscorp Island, and nodded for them to go. "Come on."
Laura grabbed the folded flaps of his long coat. "Let me fight. I'll soften her for you."
He shook his head. "Not now. I have an arrangement with her."
Laura was strong, and the symbiote suit made her stronger. But Darkchylde was the ruler of Limbo. She could twist the land in whatever way she wanted. Laura lacked the power to win against that.
She held his gaze with a stubborn look. "Why not let me do what I was trained for? You should use me—"
He put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer. "You wanted a normal life away from blood, Now you want to go back in. Are you an addict or what?"
She snorted, chuckling against his unexpected words. "I just want you to be safe."
He made his mask disappear and cupped her face before leaning down to kiss her lips. Her fingers brushed his jaw as she closed her eyes to savour the moment.
He pulled back just enough to meet her eyes. "I won't die or collapse for two days again."
"We'll see about that."
Smiling, she punched his chest and walked into the portal. He was definitely catching a beating if he showed up half-dead.
Piotr put a heavy hand on his shoulder, too wrecked to tease him about the kiss. "Friend, I'll leave Illya to you."
"Just wait for the good news."
Piotr nodded heavily and followed Laura into the portal. Once the portal closed, he turned to the demon. She was patiently waiting for him, Soulsword resting on her shoulder like she had all the time in the world for him to conclude his business.
"Your face is not entirely unpleasant," she cackled. "Your strength should suffice to be a general of my demon army. Once I have broken you, of course."
He shook his head. What was with every villain's desire to subordinate him as their general? Someone like him should be the last person to lead an army—that was such a waste of his fighting capabilities.
"Can we just fight?"
Darkchylde vanished into a stepping disc right at his provocation. Golden mystical chains sprang from the ground, dozens of them, and coil around every part of Dante from behind.
The Queen had exerted her authority on the Limbo to bind him.
The heated wind of Limbo shrieked as her Soulsword came down from a portal and struck Dante's head.
The ground sank beneath him, cracks spreading in a wave for as far as eyes could see. He was left unharmed in a mile-long crater.
"What?!" Darkchylde landed behind him, tapping the blunt of the blade against her palm like she was checking if it had suddenly gone dull.
He pulled his arms forward and the chains cracked into thousands of golden fragments. The bindings weren't anything to the current him.
"Your sword is useful against magic and supernatural entities," he said, turning slowly. "I don't use either."
Not during his Hyperion Resonance.
She scratched the side of her horned head with one claw, genuinely confused. "Magic or not, how are you unharmed? That attack would have slaughtered even Apocalypse. I am certain of it."
Illyana had been through a world that had both Laura and Apocalypse. He noted that information for later.
"And your previous appearance screams mysticism. The skull and fire."
"Appearances can be deceiving."
She pointed at his hand. "You used sorcery to send them away."
He conjured a whip and brandished it. The whip lashed out and coiled around her horn. "Magic is a tool. I don't use it to fight."
She cut the whip away with Soulsword and dropped her sword. Rather than fighting with the sword, she lunged and slashed at his belly with her sharp claws.
He grabbed her wrist. "We haven't discussed the winning condition."
She twisted, planted her palm on his forearm, and flipped him over her shoulder with raw demonic strength. He landed on his feet like it was nothing and answered with a back elbow. Her face snapped sideways, but there wasn't any damage. Her skin, flesh, and bones were insanely tough in this form.
Ghost Rider could heal from anything, but Darkchylde was sturdy enough to never be injured in most circumstances. Her raw strength was utterly ridiculous as well.
He struck her face again, and she staggered a step back. The small opportunity allowed him to establish some distance between them.
"Darkchylde, we should establish the winning condition first."
She brushed the back of her hand over her mouth. "Until one of us can't stand for ten seconds."
"Sounds fair."
Darkchylde crouched low and dashed at him again, her tail whipping behind her. The ground exploded under her speed. She slashed in wide, animal arcs, trying to open his stomach, behead him, mutilate his limbs, and split him apart.
He dodged every attack without much effort and smashed his fist in her face. She flew like a bullet and rammed into a distant hill, which collapsed under clouds of dust.
Just then, a claw slashed the back of his neck, coming from Illyana's stepping disc. He grabbed her arm, pulled her out of the portal, and flung her away. She flipped mid-air and planted her demon feet on the ground, skidding for a few meters before she stopped.
"Hey, Illyana," he called out calmly. "You really gonna make Piotr sad?"
She hissed and came at him with more ferocity. Her claws swiped the air inches from his face. He leaned back, dodging the screeching tail attack. She overextended to punch his throat, which was a rookie mistake. He immediately grabbed her hand and uppercutted her ribs.
"Ghhuk."
His fist launched her up in the air. Using her hand, he yanked her down and smashed his knee in her face, then smashed her skull with his elbow.
"NGH—"
Her groan was cut short as he stomped her back on the ground. The impact shook the entire realm.
"Illyana," he said in a soft voice. "Your brother's right there. He just wants his little sister back. You'll keep being a scaredy cat and let him suffer?"
Her horns flickered as Illyana fought for control. It only lasted for a second before Darkchylde rose up and threw herself at him in a whirlwind of claws and fangs. Stepping discs opened and shut left and right. Spikes erupted from the ground and the sky itself rained fire upon him.
Darkchylde tried everything in her power to harm him. Yet this hell-like scenario couldn't manage to scratch him.
'Marvel Superman's durability is on another level.'
This was only the 69% progress in Resonance Link. Hyperion wasn't one of the most powerful beings in Marvel for nothing.
"What are you…?" Darkchylde questioned, truly baffled. "How is a being like you even real?"
He smiled. "Illyana, Piotr didn't give up. He kept clawing around to find you."
Her left eye flickered, losing the beadiness that came from the demon side. The Soulsword on the ground trembled like it felt the shift.
"ENOUGH!" Darkchylde roared in pure rage, partially from being ignored and partially from being in such a humiliating position. She charged at him with another wild slash. That was a misdirect as she spun around at the last second and drove her tail in a sweeping arc at his legs.
The sound it made connecting with his shins was sharp like a whip.
He caught her tail right as it struck him and yanked her off-balance by it. Her white mane was grabbed, and using it, he slammed her head down into the ground.
The stone floor gave way, swallowing both of them. The Limbo had split open to protect Illyana from humiliation.
They plummeted into an endless abyss.
Wind screamed past them, carrying the howls of a thousand damned souls. Far below, the heart of the dimension glowed with molten rivers.
Illyana growled and drove both legs into his chest. A massive force hit him and drove him away. He regained balance quickly and launched himself back at her.
They fought while falling down into the core of Limbo.
She twisted mid-air and tried to kick him away again. He didn't allow it to graze him, so she resorted to closing the distance and clawing his face like a feral cat.
Darkchylde's fighting skills were non-existent. She only knew the feral, instinctive way of fighting. With her current strength, she didn't need anything else. Against anyone normal it would have been more than enough, but against Dante it was a nightmare.
He saw every telegraphed attack before it landed. While they fell, he blocked a wild overhead slash with his forearm and slammed his knee into her ribs.
The impact folded her forward, but she still thrashed and whipped her tail at him. When that failed, her claws slashed at his chest.
"Put in some effort if you want to beat me."
He grabbed a fistful of her wild mane and used it like a leash, flying back toward the surface again.
"You dare treat me like some common beast?!" She growled and clamped both hands around his wrist, sinking her fangs into his forearm with everything she had.
He felt tickles. She looked like a puppy biting steel. The gesture was unexpectedly cute even with that demonic face of hers.
"Demonic puppy. You're kinda adorable—"
Her cuteness distracted him enough to turn his head. A disc portal opened up ahead and swallowed them. The biting tactics' sole motive was achieved.
They ended up back on Oscorp Island.