X-Men: Black Fire

By Paradox

BOOK I

Nine

“Okay, we’re five minutes out, everyone ready for a little party?”

Ash smiled and opened the good sized foot locker in the back of the van. Inside was an arsenal of weapons ranging from a 9mm automatic pistol to an M60 heavy machine gun. “Take anything you need, I got plenty.” He pulled the M60 from the foot locker and loaded a belt of ammo into it. He took the small duffel bag the belt ran into and slung it over his back. Taking a few pistols and a sawed-off  shotgun, he strapped the weapons to his body in easy, quick release holsters.

Priest looked into the foot locker and shook his head. “Jeez Ash, you expecting a war or something?”

The younger vampire only shrugged and smiled. “You can never have too much firepower.”

Priest shook his head again with a laugh and drew out a pair of MP-5 submachine guns. He took several extra clips and stuffed them into the pockets out his coat before cross-slinging the weapons. “You need anything Cole?”

The mage slowly opened his eyes until they were barely slits, regarding his two friends. For a moment, he remained still, as though asleep. Then, he drew out both of his guns in the blink of an eye, pulling the slides back on both and letting them snap back into place. “I only need my guns.”

“You sure?” Cole simply ignored the vampire and glared out the window. “Well fine, be that way.” Ash looked over to the driver of the van. “Jake, you be ready to back us up.”

“Always,” the large man said from behind the wheel.

Priest moved to the captain’s chair beside Cole, drawing out a pair of cigarettes. He offer one to the mage, whom took it silently and lit by conjuring a small fireball in his palm. Priest looked at his young friend for a long time before speaking. “All right, spit it out.”

“What?” Cole growled in annoyance.

“Dammit Cole, I can’t have you going in there like you can take on the world!” The vampire Prince swiveled so he was facing the young mage. “Tell us just what the hell is bugging you so much?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Cole said in a low, dangerous voice, “Those kids’re dead before the night is out.”

Priest shook his head in disgust. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Cole, last time we mixed it up with these guys you nearly had your spine ripped out! Will you just stop and think for a second about this.”

“You already took care of the werewolf, he was the main problem. The only ones left are the vampire, the Hellfire girl, and the demon. They’re only kids and we can take them in the blink of an eye.”

“I know that, but just tell me what’s eating you up, I’ve never seen you this way.”

For several long moments, silence filled the van. Being soundproofed, no one hear the buildings and traffic whip by. Finally, Cole spun and looked Priest directly in the eye. “Dammit Priest, it’s Kitty! I think I love her!” he yelled.

For a moment, the Prince was taken aback. Even Ash spun around at Cole’s words, his eyes wide. “Did I just hear what I think I heard?”

“Yeah Ash, you did.”

“Boy,” Cole said with sarcastically, “You two are sure supportive.”

Priest put a hand on Cole’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “Look, Cole, I’m not saying I’m not supportive. It’s just, well...” He looked at Ash for help.

The younger vampire came to the rescue, and Priest wished he hadn’t. “Well damn Cole, it’s just that you’re a living, breathing, killing machine. Who the hell would love you back?” Both Priest and Cole punched Ash in the face before any of the three knew what was happening. Ash’s head hit the side on the van and he let out a yelp. “Ow! Hey, what’d I say?”

“Ash,” Priest said slowly, “Don’t help.” He turned back to Cole. “Listen Cole, The way I see it, there’s a problem here, and a sollution.”

“Spit it out, oh wise one.” Cole remarked cryptically.

Priest chuckled despite himself. “Well, the way I see it, and I have been watching mind you, Kitty, the girl you’ve fallen in love with, has been captured by a band of supernatural freaks. It is now up to us to rescue her by inflicting incredible amounts of pain on those that took her. How am I doing so far?”

“Sounds good to me,” Cole said, his expression lightening ever so slowly.

“I’m getting goose bumps,” Ash quipped.

“After such rescue, the two of you find yourselves a nice quiet corner and have a long talk over a bottle of fine red wine, which I will provide of course, where by the end of it you two are kissing passionately in a consummation of the profound love you have for each other.” He stopped and smiled. “That sound about right to you Cole?”

“How ‘bout we just go in there, kill every one of those sons of bitches, get Kitty out of there, and worry about the rest of that stuff later.” He paused. “I’ll take the alcohol though.”

All three of them laughed.

“Hey,” Jake called from the driver’s seat, “We’re here.”

Cole drew out his guns from his coat and shifted so he could leap out the sliding door once it was opened. “Give me two minutes and then follow me in,” he instructed.

“Your show,” Priest said with a shrug, grasping the handle to the door, “Ready?” Cole nodded. Tugging on the handle, the van side door slid open, revealing the blurred images of the buildings rushing by. Priest looked out at the streets and shook his head. “You know, this is something I would expect from Ash, not you.”

“A stopped van draws too much attention to itself. Slow down a little Jake,” he called up front. Almost instantly the van’s speed decreased by ten miles an hour. Taking a deep breath, Cole threw himself out of the van. Instantly, he used magick to slow his momentum while simultaneously contorting his body to better absorb the impact of landing on the asphalt. The moment he felt his shoulder touch the ground, Cole, tucked up his legs and rolled along the ground, gritting his teeth against the small bits of concrete that dug into his exposed flesh.

Upon completion of the roll, Cole slid to his feet and broke into a run, using the momentum of the roll to carry him even faster across the small space between the street and the broken down warehouse where Cole sensed Kitty being held. He stopped just beside the door, pressing his ear to the wood, and tried to hear anything from inside. Only deathly silence greeted his ears, which sent his heart into a tight spin. Bringing up his guns to a ready position, he spun, lifted a foot, and kicked in the door, using a little magick to tweak the effect. The giant sliding door snapped off its tracks and flew into the room. Instantly after, Cole dove in behind the flying piece of wood and rolled into a kneeling crouch, snapping up his guns and scanning the room. Instantly, he saw Kitty, bound to a chair in her lace nightie, a square piece of metal over her mouth. He was about to charge over to her when the four shapes appeared out of the shadows.

The demon dropped down right behind Kitty, causing her to look over her shoulder and issue a silent cry. The vampire girl appeared on the right side of the room, seeming to materialize from a group of crates. The Hellfire wielding girl blazed to life on the left side of the room, the magickal flames sheathing her in a corona of searing heat. From behind the demon stepped a blond-haired boy with glasses, totally encased in some form of power armor. The energy and missile weapons systems all targeted on Cole as a smile lit his face.

“Welcome to your death,” the demon rasped with a smile.


Kitty’s eyes went wide as demon, fire girl, and blond boy with the cybernetic armor all attacked. They did not run up and engage him hand to hand, as Kitty had thought they might do. Instead, the demon fired a purple beam of energy, the fire girl unleashed a gout of pure flame, and the cyber boy fired all of his energy weapons and missiles. Kitty screamed as the entire area around Cole erupted into one big explosion. The ground seemed to vomit up concrete into the air, vaporizing into dust as it did so. The grouping of crates that had been near Cole splintered and shattered, throwing their own wooden forms into the mix. What was left of the attack was nothing but a fog of concrete dust and falling splinters of wood. The demon looked over at her and smiled. “Do you see how easy it was, little girl?”

Kitty could only scream silently behind the gag.

“Hey,” the vampire girl cried, “Look there!”

The other three turned to see a form slowly walking out of the dust and debris. As it drew closer, its shape began to take on detail. A single shoe stepped from the cloud, followed by an arm covered with black leather. The gentle swish of a thigh length leather coat followed after that, along with a pair of black jeans. Finally, the head revealed itself to all. Kitty screamed again, this time with joy.

“You think,” Cole said dangerously, a dome of crackling blue energy around him, “That a bunch of pansy little upstarts like you can get the drop on me?”

The demon hissed something Kitty could not make out and said, “Foolish mortal, we will kill you now anyway.”

“Dream on,” Cole growled, diving out of the way of one of the fire girl’s blasts of flame. As he slid along the ground, he opened fire with both guns, riddling her body with energy shots. Kitty watched as the girl was thrown back into the wall, sliding along the metal until she slumped upon the ground. Her flames died away, leaving her a charred, broken corpse. Rolling to his feet, Cole spun to face the remaining three. “Next.”

“Your soul will scream for mercy when I am through with you,” the demon snarled.

Cole remained silent, his guns ready. In truth, he was nearly exhausted. The amount of energy it had taken to erect a shield strong enough to withstand the group’s initial attack had nearly depleted his magick resources. He would need time to build them back up before casting any truly effective spells. Also, the wounds he had received from the werewolf were no where near healed. Every time Cole twisted or deftly moved, the slash wounds screamed in protest. There was a definite dampness on his back and he was sure the wounds had ripped back open. If he wasn’t careful, he would pass out from blood loss. As it was, sweat beaded upon his brow, dripping down his face. His guns were effective enough, but Priest and Ash needed to hurry their undead asses up!

The demon charged at Cole, swiping at him with its gruesome claws. Cole leapt out of the way, vaulting over the creature, spinning in mid air, and dumping several rounds into its back. The demon stumbled a few steps forward with the impacts of the rounds, but it immediately spun and resumed its attacks. Cole swore and dodged out of the way, rolling along the ground until he ran smack into another set of legs. Looking up, he saw a pair of red, glowing eyes smiling down at him. “Hi sweetie,” the female vampire purred, seconds before she raked her claws across his chest.

Cole howled in agony as he kicked out with both feet, catching the girl in the stomach and throwing her back. He scrambled to his feet and leapt forward in an attempt to dodge the incoming energy blast the blond boy fired at him. The concussion threw him across the room, slamming him into Kitty. The two of them went tumbling, the chair she was tied to shattering to pieces. As soon as their uncontrolled rolling ceased, the ropes that bound Kitty instantly slithered around Cole, pinning his arms to his sides and legs together. “Damn,” he hissed, struggling against the ropes, “Where the hell did they get this stuff?” He spat out a magickal word and almost instantly, the ropes evaporated.

As soon as her hands were free, Kitty reached up to the metal piece over her mouth and tried to pry it from her skin, yet the adhesive held firm. She looked at Cole and saw the vampire girl charging towards them. She tried to cry out something, but her voice was still captive behind the gag.

As soon as Cole saw Kitty’s eyes go wide, he pointed both of his guns over his shoulders behind him and emptied the clips from both. A scream pierced the air, letting the mage know he had hit his target. A smile slipped onto his face for a moment and then disappeared. He reached out and touched the metal on Kitty’s mouth, hissing out a word as soon as his fingers touched her. To Kitty’s surprise, the metal plate fell from her mouth as though nothing held it on in the first place. The collar around her throat that suppressed her mutant powers also unlocked and fell away, clattering to the floor. She was about to ask how he did that when she noticed not only his wounds, but how weak he looked. “Cole, you’re bleeding everywhere, we have to get you out of here.”

“No time,” he gasped, “Gotta take these guys out or they’ll just come back.”

“Cole, you’re dying!” Kitty screamed at him.

“Wrong,” a voice roared before them, “You’re both dead!”

She looked up to see the demon, cyber-armored boy, and the very much alive vampire girl all smiling at them with devilish glee. “Hope you liked the reunion,” she giggled, baring her fangs.

“Unfortunately, it will be cut short by your impending funeral,” the blond boy added.

The demon took a step forward and lifted a huge hand, pointing a wicked-looking talon at them. “Kill them and bring me their souls.”

Before anyone could blink, the east wall of the warehouse suddenly vaporized in a fiery explosion. As the three supernatural foes were flung across the room, Kitty threw herself on top of Cole to keep the debris from getting in his wounds. When the dust settled, everyone looked up to see a single form walk in, some form of weaponry in his hands that no ordinary human could hold. “I hope no one minds, but I brought a few party favors to the shindig.”

“Yeah!” Cole shouted with adrenaline-filled joy, “Take ‘em out Ash!”

Ash stepped from the smoke, theM 60 hefted easily in his hands. “With pleasure.” In the next second, the air erupted with the sound of the machinegun. The vampire girl was instantly cut in half, her two bodies turning into dust before they hit the ground. The blond boy took the rounds, which flung him back into the wall. When he looked down at his armor, only a few dents showed. He looked up at Ash and smiled. “I specifically designed this armor to withstand the force of a neutron bomb.” Ash stood dumbfounded. “Drop the gun and surrender now.”

Slowly, the vampire switched theM 60 so he held it in only one hand. Kitty was astonished to see that he was not even straining at the weight. still moving slowly, Ash began to lower the machine gun to the ground. At the last second, a .45 popped out of the sleeve of his free arm and slid into his hand. He sighted for less than a split second and fired. The blond boy’s head snapped back, a small entry hole between his eyes. There was not enough left of the back of his skull to be considered anything but mush. Ash smiled and stood straight, the .45 slipping back into his sleeve. “Next time, make some armor that don’t leave you open to head shots.” He looked at the demon. “You still wanna play?” he asked.

The green creature only smiled. “You cannot kill me with that puny weapon. You will never have the power to defeat me.” Ash said nothing, his smile only widening. “Why do you smile, fool. Your death is at hand.”

Before Kitty’s eyes, Priest materialized out of the shadows behind the demon, his eyes blazing red and a feral smile on his face that clearly revealed his fangs. Before the creature knew what hit him, Priest grabbed it by the back of the head and slammed its face into the metal floor. The demon grunted and swept its arm back, throwing Priest away. The vampire Prince slid to a halt next to Ash. “Shoot that damn thing!” Priest barked angrily.

Ash complied by opening fire, riddling the creature’s body with bullets. The demon stumbled back, but would not fall. When Ash stopped firing, it looked down at its perfectly healthy body and smiled at the two vampires. “Fools.”

Not thinking, Kitty sprang to her feet and rushed the demon. This creature was instrumental involving an attacked her friends, kidnapped her, and had Cole wounded so badly he might not survive another ten minutes. Her only thoughts were of rage. She knew she would probably die, but it just didn’t matter any more.

With a martial arts cry, she leapt into the air and slammed a kick into the demon’s face. The creature did not even flinch as she landed in front of it in a crouch. It grinned, yellow saliva dripping from its jaws. “How lovely,” it rasped, peering down the front of her gown, “Do you really think you can hurt me little girl?”

“I’m damn sure gonna try,” she shot back, phasing her hand and reaching for its chest. Faster than she thought possible, the demon spun out of the way and backhanded her across the back of the head. The impact caused her vision to spin. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Just as Ash and Priest moved to help, the creature gripped her head with one taloned hand. “Come a step closer,” it threatened, “And I will crush her head like a melon.”

No sooner had the words left its mouth, a blast of pure energy blasted the demon off its feet, sending it flying into a wall. When Kitty looked up, she saw Cole on his feet. He was hunched over and bathed in sweat with the effort it took to stand. Blood covered his chest and back, pooling on the floor at his feet. All around him, the air crackled with magickal energies. When Kitty saw his eyes, she gasped. They were no longer normal eyes, but black orbs with no pupil. They eyes focused on the demon as it slowly got to its feet. A large wound oozed a greenish like substance that Kitty guessed was blood from its shoulder. The creature glared at Cole and clacked its talons together once in excitement. “You were warned human, now the girl will suffer.”

A growl more animalistic than any sound Kitty had ever heard Wolverine make issued from Cole’s throat. Instantly, his eyes burst into black flames, licking at the air by his eyebrows. The magickal energies around him intensified so much Kitty scrambled back away from the pulsating energy. He lifted his arms and drew both his hands back to his right side, curling his fingers as though he held a ball. The red energy snaked down his arms to his hands, shooting from his fingers and coalescing into a call of crackling, red energy. Finally, he spoke.

“Never threaten her!” he roared as he thrust both his hands forward, sending the ball of energy hurling towards the demon. The creature had barely time to scream before the ball slammed into its chest, vaporizing it instantly. When the dust settled, Cole fell to his knees, his hands clutching his chest. His breathing came out in ragged gasps, hunting for life giving oxygen.

“Cole!” Kitty cried out, racing aver and sliding to her knees beside him. “How bad is it?”

“Nicked a rib,” he growled out in pain, not anger, “Probably punctured a lung too.” He coughed fiercely, blood flecking on his lips.

Kitty looked over her shoulder at Priest and Ash. “We need to get him to a hospital, now!” she cried urgently.

Both vampires rushed over, Priest quickly assessing the injuries. “We won’t make it in time.”

Kitty shook her head. “No way,” she said in fierce denial, “He’s going to live if you two get off your asses and help me!”

Ash immediately jumped in to help, grabbing Cole around the shoulders and knees and lifting him up. Cole snarled in pain, but did nothing else. “We need to hurry,” Ash said, his expression worried, “He’s losing too much blood too fast. That back wound’s ripped open and bleeding bad.”

“He’s got maybe ten minutes left,” Priest said ominously.

“Shut up!” Kitty yelled at him, slapping the vampire across the face, “Don't you dare talk like that! You guys are the only hope he has right now. You’re vampires, use your powers.”

“We could always bring him over.”

The group of three all spun around in surprise. Ash was just able to keep a hold of Cole, his hand involuntarily twitching towards his coat. Priest, unencumbered by carrying a body, reached into his own coat and yanked out a .45, immediately sighting it. Kitty dropped to a knee and scooped up one of Cole’s guns, aiming it at the new voice. “Who’s there?” Kitty demanded.

With dramatic flare, Dracula stepped from the shadows, his cloak fluttering around him in an unseen wind. He smiled and offered a deep bow. “Good evening all, I trust I have not interrupted anything too personal.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Priest growled. “I would think you’d have been halfway across Ohio by now.”

The vampire lord wiggled a finger. “Oh no, my dear prince, I have something that needs collecting, as you may well remember.” He looked around, eyes searching. “Now, where could it be? Ah, there it is.” He walked over to a corner and reached down. Kitty saw light glint off something metal just before he stood up. “Excellent, the Pendant of Ra. I have been looking for you, dear friend.”

Before Kitty could spit out an acidic comment out only having inanimate friends, Priest fired a shot that struck Dracula in the back. The vampire lord barely flinched as he looked back. “Now, was that supposed to hurt?”

Priest shrugged and smiled. An instant later, Dracula’s face switched to an expression of pain and he howled in agony. Kitty looked at the vampire Prince curiously. “What the hell was in that?”

“Hollow point filled with wooden slivers. Even a sliver of wood can hurt a vampire.”

“Ouch,” Kitty agreed. She focused her attention back on Dracula and fired a shot at him, striking the vampire in the shoulder. He grunted in pain and stumbled back.

“You must not be too concerned about your lover,” the vampire said with a smile, “I’m sure he’s dead now.”

With a growl, Kitty hurled the gun and rushed at Dracula, snapping a kick into his head as soon as she was within reach. The blow connected solidly, making his head snap to the side. “You don’t have the right to even lick is boots,” she yelled in his face just before her fist followed, snapping his head back.

The vampire lord smiled and shook his head. “Little girl, although you amuse me, I must depart. There are places I wish to go and cities in need of conquering.” He laughed and slowly started to fade into mist.

His laughter abruptly ceased when he suddenly became solid once more. Looking around in surprise, he exclaimed, “What is this?”

“Never count you chickens...”

Kitty spun and saw Cole on his feet, no evidence of wounds on his chest, magick crackling along his body. He smiled. “...And all that.”

“Cole,” Kitty gasped, “How?”

Cole only shrugged and grinned at her. “It’s a kind of magick,” he rasped, doing a fairly good job of impersonating Christopher Lambert from the first Highlander movie. “Put the medallion down Vlad.”

“I will do no such thing, young man,” the vampire countered, “This medallion gives me more power than you can ever hope for.”

Cole cocked an eyebrow. “How, by looking really expensive?”

All three vampires looked over at him in surprise. “Huh?” they queried collectively.

Cole laughed. “Yeah, that’s right, the damn thing is just a fancy piece of jewelry. The only thing it’ll do for you is maybe get you about seven hundred bucks; but no power, sorry.”

“Wait a sec,” Priest interjected, “Are you saying that that little trinket Vlad here has been hunting for and beating up my men for is nothing more than normal jewelry?”

Cole considered for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”

“So why do you wish it so?” Dracula asked cautiously.

“Because it was used by those freaks to call upon an evil deity that granted them the powers they had. They inadvertently imbued the medallion with magick that could cause some problems if the right person had it.”

Dracula smiled. “Someone like me?”

Cole laughed. “Vlad, you wouldn’t be able to access the power from that thing if someone took the energy and slammed it into your heart.” He paused, cocking his head to the side, “Kind of like a stake, huh?”

“What do y-”

Before the vampire lord could finish, Cole extended his arm out to his side, red energy crackling in his palm. With a throwing gesture that Kitty thought reminiscent of Gambit, Cole hurled the energy at the vampire. Halfway through its flight, the ball of crackling electricity lengthened and thinned, one end becoming a point. Kitty saw the energy take on the substance of wood a split second before it slammed deep into Dracula’s chest, burying itself three feet into his heart.

The vampire lord let out a gurgled cry and fell to the ground, completely motionless. The medallion dropped from his lifeless hand, clattering to the ground. Kitty slowly walked over to the gold circle and picked it up by the chain. She looked from Dracula to Cole, her eyes narrowed slightly. “Is he dead?”

“No,” Cole said with a shake of his head, “Just in torpor, suspended animation. He’ll revive once the stake’s pulled out.”

Kitty nodded and walked over to the group of two vampires and a mage and extended the medallion to them. “I guess you need to get rid of this.”

“Yeah,” Cole sighed, taking the gold circle and weighing it in his palm. “Damn shame though, I could get some serious cash for this.”

“Which reminds me,” Kitty said, putting her hands on her hips, “Two things.”

“Shoot.”

“One, how did you survive having your chest ripped open and your lung punctured?”

Cole chuckled. “It was all an illusion. True, I did get hit by the demon kid, but it was only a scratch that I healed up with magick almost instantly. I used some glamour magick to make everyone thing I was hurt bad so Dracula here would show himself. He knew that we would lead him right to the medallion and I needed him to think I was down for the count. One thing I like is surprises.”

“Obviously,” Kitty remarked, looking at the medallion, “So, you knew that the thing was just plain old jewelry the whole time?”

Cole cocked his head to the side. “Well, not really.” He smiled at Kitty’s surprised expression. “Before you ask how I knew when Dracula had it, let me explain this way. As soon as I broke in here, I was close enough to the thing to magically determine what it was. As soon as I did that, I realized it was just a simple broach that the kids used to summon a deity to give them power. The thing itself has no power, it just acted as an emotional focus for the kids.”

“So they had the powers themselves the whole time?” Ash asked, lighting a cigarette and tossing one to Cole.

“No,” he said, catching the cigarette and lighting it via a small fireball that formed in his hand, “Thanks. What happened was the deity felt their intense emotions and came down to this realm, granting them the powers. Fortunately, she’s not around anymore and can’t hurt us.” He smiled and held up the medallion. “I bet she’ll be pissed when I do this, though.” His eyes narrowed a millimeter in concentration and the broach imploded, turning itself inside out until nothing was left of it but empty air. “Well,” Cole said, “Now that that’s done, why don’t we go and get a beer and something to eat, I’m starving.”

Priest hoisted Dracula over his shoulder and smiled. “I think I can arrange that,” he said impishly, “Free food at Elysium.”

“Killer,” Cole said with a grin, “I’m gonna need a new coat again, too.”

“Yeah,” Kitty agreed, taking his arm, “And I would really like a change of attire, this thing has a heck of a draft.”

Priest laughed. “I’ve got you covered Kitty, we brought your costume along. It’s in the car, along with a trench coat for you to cover it with.”

“Course,” Ash piped in, “You don't need to cover up on our account.”

Priest howled with laughter as Ash yelped in pain after Kitty and Cole both punched him in the face.