Cable's spear-like psimatar begins to bend under the pressure of Belasco's trident. Belasco is the ruler of the demonic hell-dimension known as Limbo. Cable has ventured into Limbo with the intent of freeing the Twelve from their hellish prison, literally. All twelve mutants, plus the enigmatic Witness are bound with leather wrappings and encased in a black metal cage, dangling by an old chain over a large pit of lava.

"You should have thought twice about coming here, Goblyn Prince!" Belasco spits as he forces the psimatar out of Cable's hands and backhands him, sending the Askani'Son through a stone pillar.

Cable lies on the castle floor, gripping his lower back. His telekinetic shield went up too late. He could feel that one of his spinal discs had a crack in it. The only thing he could do now was keep the bone held tightly together with his thoughts, hoping it won't shatter any further.

Rachel, meanwhile, jerks awake after being flung into a brick wall with a magical push from Belasco. Gambit is still unconscious from the same feat. Rachel's telepathy kicks in as she lightly taps Gambit's frontal lobe.

"WAKE UP!"

"Gah!" Gambit shouts, his eyes shooting open a second later.

Rachel smiles slightly, "Sorry." She points to the cage over the lava, "Are they the Twelve?"

Gambit nods, "That's what Nate said. De old guy, he ain't one o' them...to tell ya the trut'...I think he's me, somehow...only older."

"Well, he's still an innocent in this," Rachel says. She and Gambit run over to the cage, stepping over the unconscious bodies of Nightcrawler and Psylocke along the way.

Gambit cups his hands over his mouth, "We're gonna help ya!" The Twelve don't respond. They seem too frightened for words. "Can ya use your powers? Anyone?"

Witness jerks to life as he shifts his body weight from side to side from sitting in the corner of the cage for so long. "De metal...it's magic. Can't use our powers."

"Great," Rachel sighs, rubbing her hand through her buzzed hair. "No problem, I think I can just--"

Suddenly, there is a great gurgle from the lava pit. Six green-skinned demons explode from the pit, splattering magma all over the floor. Rachel deflects some of it with her telekinesis to protect herself and Gambit.

"What the?" Gambit shouts as the six demons cackle. They seem to phase into the cage. The Twelve, save for Witness, register little emotion. The demons then point to six respective members of the dozen mutants and possess them. One man with wrappings over his eyes jerks to life and tares the leather off with a sharp optic blast. A small boy grins devilishly. A blonde man smiles as his skin turns blue and his hair begins to glow as glowing wings appear from inside his back. A young man's eyes glow red as his entire form shifts into the pure fridgedness of ice. Another two women as also possessed, one with brown, curly hair and one African goddess with silvery hair.

The other six scramble to the walls of the cage. One gray-skinned teenager with red hair appears to be unafraid. His eyes are glowing with an eerie violet energy.

Suddenly, the combined might of the possessed Cyclops, Franklin, Storm, Scarlet Witch, Iceman, and Archangel blast the cage apart, sending the other six and Witness plummeting into the lava.

Rachel, acting fast, kicks her telekinesis into overdrive, holding the six mutants in mid-air.

"Put me down! AHHH!!!" a red-headed woman screams.

"They're green! They're always green!" an ironically green-haired woman cries.

"Don't let the one with the stare of death look at you!" a blonde man with a goatee shouts.

Another, older blonde man, pleads, "I never got to see Alaska!"

A lavender-skinned teenaged girl with tattoos over her face shrieks, "Lemmeoutlemmeoutlemmeout...!!"

Meanwhile, the red-headed teen and Witness hover side by side. "You said these were great warriors," the boy sighs.

"Oh, dey are," Witness says as he begins to cough, "dey're jus' a lil' insane or possessed by demons at the moment." He searches around in his trench coat, "Where de hell is my medicine?"

"You mean those tar-filled sticks? I threw them into the hellfire," the boy smirks. "Those things'll kill ya."

"Damnit, boy--WAH!" Witness shouts as Rachel's grip apparently couldn't handle the strain of having to fight her father, Cyclops. The six pure Twelve members fall to the floor. The redhead boy performs a kip up and brushes dust off his gray forearms. He helps Witness to his feet. Witness' eyes flash slightly and a sword hanging on the wall next to a Medieval-looking coat of arms floats to his hand. He hands the sword to the boy.

"Do what I taught you, pup," Witness whispers as he puts a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"For the last time, old man, the name's Apollyon!" the boy shouts as he charges into battle. Witness rolls his eyes.

Blink trips in front of him, trying to get away from the bona fide war going on in the entire castle. Witness smiles. A twinkle in his eye reminds the young girl known as Clarice Ferguson of something, but she can't put her finger on it.

"I don't know who you are, sir, but you'll have to--AHH!" Rachel screams as an optic blast sends a concentrated force of energy into her stomach, propelling her twenty feet into the air until she slides to a halt, just inches from the lava pit.

Cyclops smiles, "Wretched Hound Mother! You're a traitor to us all!" With that, Scott Summers opens his eyes, unleashing a crimson fury. Rachel's eyes light up as she applies an equal force of telekinesis. The two energies are blunted against each other like the water from two fire hoses. Cyclops concentrates and eventually delivers enough force to outweight Rachel's beaming power.

Back to the Belasco-Cable battle. The Lord of Limbo stands over a battered and broken Nathan Summers. Belasco jabs his trident into the floor, just inches from Cable's face. "The war is over, Cable. Concede and either Apocalypse or I will give you a quick death," Belasco says with a smirk. "Or should we get your mother to do it, since she's the newest Horseman of--"

"Grrraarrrhh!!" Cable growls, tackling Belasco to the ground. He forms a techno-organic blade from his fist and jabs it into Belasco's neck. Belasco gags, flicking his tongue, which seems to grow into a giant serpentine version of it, knocking Cable in the temple.

Belasco grips his neck as he drive-tackles Cable out through the door of the castle and outside. Belasco keeps pushing as they both fall over the edge.

Gambit, meanwhile, shouts as he dives and skillfully flips out of the way of oncoming photo-fletchettes from Archangel. Storm's eyes crackle with electricity as she causes a miniature electrical storm. Lightning strikes the floor all around Gambit, "Jesus! AH!"

Remy is knocked back by the electric pulse. Iceman approaches him from above on his ice slide. Bobby Drake holds out his arm as it transforms into a large ice skewer. As the large spike reels back, there is a slicing sound and the clunk of the ice hitting the stone floor.

Iceman looks to his right and sees Apollyon with sword in hand. With a quick flick of the wrist, he slices Iceman across the chest. He grips the wound and staggers backwards before tripping over his own feet. Apollyon brushes his hair out of his eyes and gives a little nod to Gambit, who is on the floor on his back.

"Um, thanks," Gambit says as he winces in pain.

"No problem," Apollyon responds as he grabs onto Remy's forearm, pulling him up.

"Have we met before?" Gambit asks.

"Well, sort of---YARGGHH!" Apollyon shouts as he's distorted by the power of Franklin Richards. Cyclops smiles as he delivers multiple blasts from his eyes. Gambit had no chance of dodging them. He's hit in his shoulder, then an instant later in his hip. The force of the blasts and the places that hit cause Gambit to twirl around a full 360 degrees.

Apollyon observes his mentor (from a certain viewpoint) lifeless on the floor. His eyes glow with violet energy. He grits his teeth as a blast eminates from his body and into the young Richards. Franklin screams as the demon within him is exorcised. His reality warping powers cease and Apollyon's body returns to its natural form.

Apollyon generates a similar blast in Cyclops. The demon rises from Scott's body and is immediately fizzled into flame. Scott collapses on the floor. He rises to his feet, panting. He grips his head and realizes his ruby quartz visor was missing. The demon inside of him had somehow gained full control of his powers.

"Where's my visor?" Cyclops asks, probing the area around him by lightly touching it with his hands. Franklin, dazed and confused, approaches Cyclops.

"Mr. Eye Beam, sir...where's my mommy and daddy?" Franklin asks.

Scott recognizes the voice, "I...I don't know, Franklin. Stick close to me." Franklin does so by clinging to Cyclops' leg. "Not so tight. This leather's riding my ass crack."

Apollyon seems confused over what he's just done. He did more than just exorcise the demons, he lifted the veil Apocalypse blanketed the world's minds with. Gambit blinks a few times, limping to get himself up.

"I really can't do this anymore," he mutters. "Ow," he winces, pulling out a small black visor. "How'd that get there?" He observes Cyclops' naked face and hands him the visor, "I found it in Jerusalem."

Cyclops puts the visor over his eyes, "Gambit? What's going on here? It's like we are in a dream world? Who the hell's this?" Scott gestures over to the gray-skinned carrot top with a sword.

Gambit scratches the back of his head and rubs the bruise on the side of his face, "Um...what'd you say your name was, homme?"

"Apollyon," the boy responds.

Cyclops peers closer, observing the skin tone and hair color, "Oh...you." The unconscious body of Rachel is thrown into Apollyon's arms by the remaining four mutants possessed. "Oh God, Rachel...I'm sorry," Scott says.

"Can you snap de others out of it, kid?" Gambit asks.

"Are you kidding, this should be a snap," Apollyon grins.

Cyclops tries hard not to shudder. Apollyon's smile looked exactly like his father's.

"They had as their king the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek Apollyon." -- Revelation 10:11

Giza

Apocalypse casually sits on his throne, overlooking the Egyptian desert. He holds a fig of red grapes in his hand. The sun, which has a sort of red appearance in the auburn-colored sky and greenish clouds, is just about overhead. It was, for all its intents and purposes, noon.

The shard of the M'Kraan Crystal which Apocalypse stole from the Shi'ar months earlier in his Eric the Red guise * floats and spins on its edge above a small pedistal. It had rhythmic hum to it as it spun and refracted the light from the sun.

(* Check out the final installment of M2K's Team-X mini-series -- Brad)

There is a change in the dry air as a small breeze passes by Apocalypse's exposed skin in his Egyptian noble garb. A red-skinned man with long black hair, a knight helmet, and maroon armor over his body, appears, kneeling before the Eternal One. He was the Horseman of War, formerly known as the telekinetic-telepathic Exodus.

Apocalypse's countenance becomes greeting, "Ah, War. What brings you, my loyal soldier?"

War opens his eyes, revealing a crimson glow within them, "My Lord." He rises to his feet, "I come with news."

"About the Twelve?" Apocalypse asks.

"No. There is a small resistence being formed in Eurasia, near what was once Prague," War responds. "It's the remaining superhumans that weren't put into camps or sentenced to Limbo."

Apocalypse looks at the spinning crystal shard, rubbing his chin. He smiles, "Send them to their graves, Bennet."

War's eyes widen at the sound of his name, his true name. Apocalypse had rarely called him that. This must have been important, it was a grand assignment. War forms a psionic sword which is the same color as his armor, "Shall I take the other Horsemen?"

"If you wish," Apocalypse states. He takes a single grape from the fig and chews it, "They are not busy at the moment. You have your orders, War."

War nods, teleporting in a flash of light.

Limbo

Storm hovers in midair, calling forth an electrical storm, sending a shock into the systems of Apollyon, Cyclops, Franklin, Rachel, and Gambit. Cyclops' mutation actually allows him to absorb the energy with little pain. Franklin grips his chest, tears streaming down his face, "It hurts, it hurts!"

"Damn it, kid!" Cyclops shouts as he craddles his time-lost daughter, "finish this now!" Franklin is also in his arms, screaming in pain.

The gray teen grabs his chest, his eyes pulsing with purple energy, "My name's...Apollyon!"

Scarlet Witch blasts Gambit down with an arcane explosion of energy. Iceman generates multiple ice shards and pierces Cyclops in the shoulder. Archangel thrusts his wings forward, unleashing a barrage of photo-fletchettes. They pierce through the skull of Apollyon, but he just shrugs off the taring of his psyche.

Using his mutant power to control people's emotions through an accute psionic connection, the son of Apocalypse and Phoenix generates a pulse of radiating energy through Archangel, Iceman, Scarlet Witch, and Storm. The four mutants scream as their minds regain control of the demons within them. The green-skinned goblins are rejected from the mortal shells and are incinerated.

However, Apollyon misjudged the amount of energy needed and the wave of purple energy continues to expand, coursing through the minds of Phoenix, Polaris, Havok, Cannonball, and Blink as well.

The five mutants stand up and stop trying to claw through the door in fear. Suddenly, the fear is gone and the void that was once their minds fills with years of training and experience. They were X-Men, past and present. They were whole again.

Cyclops grits his teeth as he pulls the shard of ice out of his shoulder, "Everyone gather round." The eleven mutants, even little Franklin, seem hypnotized by Scott Summers' commanding tone. "We need to find Cable."

Phoenix rubs her temples, "He's outside, fighting Belasco. He's not doing too well."

Both Psylocke and Nightcrawler awaken from their possession. "Wot is this...?" Psylocke asks as she runs her hand through her purple hair. The Mark of the Dawn flashes for a moment.

"Vas...? Where are we?" Nightcrawler asks with trouble. He still had a burning wound in his chest.

"Rachel and Gambit don't look too well," Cyclops observes as he kneels to the floor, gently lying Rachel next to Gambit. Witness suddenly appears from the surrounding mugginess that engulfs Belasco's lair. He places his hands on the foreheads of his younger counterpart and the former Mother Askani.

"Don' worry. Dese two'll be fine, jus' gotta stimulate some beta-endorphines in dere blood," Witness says with a cigarette dangling from his lip.

Apollyon rolls his eyes, "I told you to quit that shit. Where'd you find that, anyway?"

"Papa needs his medicine," Witness mutters with a smile. "I got my ways, pup. Go save Cable, you losers. Cripes."

Cyclops starts running for the door as he blasts it down with an optic blast, "Come on! We're getting the Hell outta Limbo!" The rest of the Twelve follow. Phoenix grabs Franklin and encases him in a telekinetic bubble.

Belasco and Cable, who are still fighting outside the castle, grab each other and toss themselves over another cliff. They fall for about ten feet and hit another platform. Belasco takes a huge boulder in his hands and raises it above his head, ready to bring it crushing into Cable's skull. Nathan had a huge gash above his nose. The blood was so thick, it could have been black. His entire face was covered with bright red blood. He could barely open his eyes.

Belasco laughs as he rams the boulder upon Cable. Only it didn't connect with Cable's limp body, it was some kind of invisible force. Belasco is shocked to see the boulder disappear in a flash of pink energy. The demon lord looks upwards and sees twelve silohettes in the fiery sky standing on the ledge above he and Cable.

Belasco's eyes widen as his blood goes cold with utter shock.

Cyclops presses a button located on the side of his visor, "No mercy."

With the combination of the Twelve's various powerful abilities, Belasco's corporal form explodes in a flash of fizzling ash.

Cable lies on the ground and breathes a great sigh of relief, "Oath, I hate this place."

"Aw, come on, not even a thank you?" Iceman retorts.

"Any ideas on how to hightail it outta this dump?" Cannonball asks.

"I think I can link my portal with the gateway between Limbo and Earth," Blink ponders. "But I don't know where we'd end up. I don't know how accurate a transdimensional jump will work."

"Does it matter?" Havok asks bluntly. "Just get us back on Earthly soil and we can worry about the rest later."

As Cable is telekinetically lifted up to the Twelve by Phoenix, there is a rumbling noise that shakes the entire spiky mountain. A thousand-meter version of Belasco erupts from the fires that surrounded the landform.

"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THE ABYSS!!" Belasco's voice booms.

"Hey!" Iceman shouts, "Yeah, you. Belasco Meyer wiener! Your dingy's showing!"

Belasco looks down at his shorts, "What!?"

Iceman takes the opportunity to ice slide his way around Belasco's gigantic form and flash-freeze his optic nerves. The emense size Belasco has grown to causes the nerves to shatter. The Lord of Limbo was know the Blind Lord of Limbo.

"ARGH!!!" Belasco screams.

"Madeja look!" Iceman laughs. "Well, at least...for a moment...or two."

Suddenly, the side of Belasco's face is jerked back by a massive explosion. The Twelve turn to see Witness, followed closely by Gambit, Rachel, Nightcrawler, and Psylocke. "What are ya waitin' for?" Witness yells. "Clarice, use your pocket dimension as a focus between here an' Eart'. Go, now!"

"But, I--" Blink protests.

"Do what I taught you, pup!" Witness shouts. "Damn kids. When an old fart like me tells ya to do somethin', ya better damn do it!"

Blink shrugs off Witness' pestering and concentrates, opening a portal, "Everyone, go through! Hurry!"

Scarlet Witch, holding Franklin, runs through the portal first, followed by Polaris, Havok, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Cannonball, Rachel, Apollyon, Iceman, Archangel, Phoenix, Cyclops, Storm, and then Blink herself.

Clarice shouts to Cable, Gambit and Witness from within her pocket dimension, "Come on, I can't hold this thing open for much longer!"

Cable grabs Gambit by the shoulder, "Come on!"

"Not without Witness!" Gambit shouts as he pulls himself away from Cable's grip as Nathan goes through the portal alone.

Witness shakes his head, "Damn fool. Remember dat card I gave ya? It was the Ace of Hearts, not the Joker."

Gambit stops and feels like his every molecule being pulled backwards towards the portal, "No!"

"I done my part, Remy," Witness says. "All I can do now is observe and...witness what's to come."

With that, Gambit is pulled into the portal and it closes.

Prague

Gambit opens his eyes after hitting pavement. He sees the Twelve, along with Psylocke, Rachel, and Nightcrawler all witnessing the same thing.

"Fellow heroes assemble!!" a muscular man with a round shield shouts. A viking with a hammer, a green goliath, a blonde woman who seemed to be partially invisible, a silver-haired speedster, and a skinny punk with a pair of webshooters attached to his wrists rush into battle - against none other than the Four Horsemen.

Cable flicks his psimatar hilt, extending it to full size, "Looks like the Avengers could use our help, ladies and gents."