The Bongo

Bishop and Shaitan, in the guise of Gambit, walked into the club full of men looking for one person. They were after the super killer Rebirth. From what Shaitan had told Bishop the killer had a taste for young men especially ones of the same sex preference. The private eye and the former Avenger kept close to one another as the walked through the club that was full of booming music and dancing men. They didn't want to lose sight of one another. The flickering lights, moving bodies, and loud music made that task extremely hard to accomplish.

As they moved through the crowd a young Puerto Rican man reached for Bishop's butt. Before the kid even got the chance his hand was caught in the vice grip of Bishop. Looking back the private eye said in a voice that could make John Wayne piss himself, "Don't even think about it kid."

Shaitan smiled at the display a little as he continued to move onward towards Bishop and his destination. Finally the two of them reached the bar. There were three bartenders at work tonight. One was a middle age black guy with short, curly hair. Behind him cleaning out glasses was a 20 something year old Chinese guy who was of a heavy build. He made Bishop look tiny in comparison. The last of the bartenders working was a short, bald Mexican. It was this bartender that Bishop and Shaitan decided to talk to.

"Excuse me sir, but have you seen this man?" Shaitan asked as he held out a picture of Rebirth. He looked like he was about 25. He had pale colored skin and long, straight brown hair. Rebirth's eyes were a light blue, but you could see through those eyes a hard soul.

The bartender had to lean forward to look at the picture. After about 30 seconds of staring at the picture the bartender leaned back and popped open a bottle of beer. He poured it into a glass and passed it to a gangly Goth at the end of bar. Looking back at the two he said, "Yeah I saw him. He left out of here a minute ago with a friend of mine. I was surprised the guy was interested in Big Frank as good looking as he was. He is in trouble or something?"

Bishop shook his head and replied, "But Big Frank might be. If you have anyway of contacting your friend I suggest you tell him to get away from this guy as quickly as possible. Do you have any idea where the two of them were headed?"

"The nearest Motel 6. At least that's what Frank told me," the bartender said his voice straining over the loud noise of the club. As "Die Another Day" came on almost all conversation ceased. There was no point really. Everyone was going out on the dance floor.

"Is there a backdoor we can take around here somewhere? The faster we can get out of here the better for your friend," Shaitan said.

"Sure. It's right around the corner," the bartender directed as he leaned over the bar again and pointed the two men in the right direction.

"Thank you," Shaitan said as he left a 50-dollar bill by the bartender in appreciation for all of his help.

"Was that really necessary?" Bishop asked as he walked with Shaitan out of the backdoor.

"If you want to make connections you've got to be generous. I bet the next time you need that guy's help he'll give it to you."

Bishop remained silent. In all honesty he didn't want help. He wanted to do things on his own. That's the whole reason he came out here to Chicago in the first place. He was here to get away and do things on his own. But Shaitan did present a good point. He was going to have to start making connections in this town if he wanted to get anywhere when it came to future cases.

"So where is the nearest Motel 6?" Shaitan asked sheepishly.

Cairo

Martinique picked up the ringing phone as she arose from her bed. Mystique was already up and taking a shower. The two women had finally managed to get into a half decent hotel. Jason hoped this was the person on the phone she had been waiting for.

"Hello," Martinique said as she moved a piece of her brown hair out of the way of her eyes.

"Is this Martinique Jason?" the woman on the other end of the phone asked.

"Yes it is."

"Good news Ms. Jason. I have two tickets for you and your friend for a flight to New York. The flight leaves tomorrow morning at 8. If you can come and get your tickets we can work out any complications," the attendant.

"Of course. I'll be there immediately," Martinique said excitedly as she hung up the phone. She looked down and grabbed her clothes from beside her bed. She threw on her clothes quickly as she could without looking ridiculous and walked out of the door.

As soon as Jason had closed the door Raven stepped out of the shower with a white towel around her body. She was drying off her red hair with another towel when she noticed that Martinique was gone. "Probably went to go and stuff her face. I don't see how she maintains that shape."

Mystique sat down on the bed and flicked on the measly TV. Though it wasn't a highly known fact Raven knew over a dozen languages. Arabic happened to be one of them. She listened to the CNN news and on one of the bylines she read something that she just had to repeat to herself to make sure she heard it right.

"Albert Drainston is found floating alive in a ravine after 15 years of being missing," Raven mumbled to herself.

You can hardly believe it huh? People you kill usually don't come back from the dead do they? Well, Albert seems like quite the powerful one. Isn't that why you killed him back in South Dakota in the first place? Or do you have no memory of that either?

Raven ignored Crow, but he was right. Albert had to be powerful two survive two shots to the head. Why was he back after 15 years though? Did it take him that long to get himself together? Mystique knew she should have made sure there was no way of him ever coming back, but once again she underestimated Albert.

She had first met Albert when she was going to form the Brotherhood. It was before she met Blob, Pyro, Rogue or any of the others. The only one she knew then was Irene. Albert was going to be the first recruit to her Brotherhood. She traveled to South Dakota to meet him, but what she found there shook her.

He did have quite the power didn't he Mystique? Albert sucked the souls out of children to give him immortality. That just didn't sit with you. You were a monster by then of course, but I guess it takes one to know one.

"Shut the hell up Crow!" Mystique exclaimed. She remembered her first reaction to Albert's powers. Utter disgust was strong enough to describe the feeling she felt. Instead of bringing Albert to her side she murdered him without even the slightest bit of remorse. Raven had never told anyone about what happened to Albert, not even Irene. It was going to be her secret until the day she died, but now it seemed that she was practically ageless.

It's sad that you barely even know the surface of who you are. How far can you remember back Raven my dear?

Mystique rose up from the bed, dropped off her towel and got out some clothes to wear. She slipped on her sleeveless black midriff and black hip huggers. "I remember as far back as 1922. Everything else beyond that is a fuzz. It's like the memories are there, but I can't reach it."

Because deep down you don't want to reach it my dear. Never fear though. I'll find it all for you. We can find it together.

Syria

Shinobi walked down the rickety bridge to the excavation site. He was being lead by the leader of the excavation site, Dr. Maria Benton. She was one of his head researchers at Shaw Inc. He put her in charge of this project because he knew he could trust her and he she could provide him with results.

"What progress has been made so far Dr. Benton?"

"We've run across a few tablets leading talking about these Books of Hellfire. I'm sure you must want to see them," Dr. Benton said as she led him down the bridge to the gaping hole in the ground where a group of excavators were working hard. They were chiseling away at rock and dusting away artifacts.

Maria walked over to one of the men and grabbed a dusty book from him. She looked over to Shinobi and handed the brown cover book to him. "This is the only Book of Hellfire we've found so far. From my studies I believe there is actually only one book and the myth of their being many books was developed to send people on wild goose chases."

Shaw opened the book. "Perhaps this is the case, but keep at it. If you find anything significant contact me again. I want to get back home before this sand storm hits."

"Of course Mr. Shaw. I'll have the site covered up before the storm comes."

"Good Dr. Benton. You're doing good work out here. I like it when my employees do good work," Shinobi said as he winked at the doctor and walked off.

Yemen

All Shard saw was darkness. That feeling was the worst thing out of this entire ordeal. To be in total darkness like she was so long ago when she first was at XSE HQ West. Hecate had put her in a null light field and all Shard felt was darkness. She had been scared out of her mind, but Bishop was there to save her. He wasn't here to save her now.

Then a light shone through the cell as the metal door was opened. Shard turned her head away from the light, but in truth she was embracing it. It was a temporary relief from all that she was feeling. After a minute Shard looked back to see that a visitor that was a woman. It was quite the surprise for Shard considering she had only seen men so far. And she had been in here for a while. She had been caught only shortly after she left with Malcolm and Randall.

The woman was of Egyptian descent. Her beautiful eyes and complexion were evidence of that. She was wearing her long, sleek black hair in a ponytail. On the tops of both of her arms she had black spider tattoos. She had on a sleeveless white midriff to accent her tattoos. She also had a spider tattoo on her belly and in the center of her shirt was the picture of a tarantula. The woman walked over to Shard and held the former Xavier Security Enforcer's head up with her hand.

"Are you enjoying your stay here Shard?" the woman asked sarcastically. Shard replied by spitting on the woman's tight white pants.

"You still got some fight in you. I like that. It shows you're strong Shard. Oh forgive me. I know your name and you don't know mines."

"I honestly don't give a damn," Shard managed to mutter out.

"The name's Anasi. I guess that explains all the tattoos huh? We'll be seeing more of each other as time goes on," Anasi smiled as she got up and walked out of the cell leaving Shard once again shrouded in darkness.

Anasi was walking down the bare hallway when a man dressed like a Victorian doctor walked around the corner. He had an insane smile on his face, a black trenchcoat, and thick glasses. Anasi smiled at the man's sudden appearance. She was just about to give him a call.

"Nice to see you Dr. Crow. I was suspecting that you might have forgotten about me. How go things with Mystique?"

The doctor smiled showing his yellow teeth. "All goes well with Raven. Soon she will be with us. I can feel it in these old bones."

"Good because we need to be prepared for when the Heavenrain come. We'll need everything we can muster," Anasi said.

Chicago

Detective Reiger's car pulled in the parking lot in front of Bishop Investigations with a loud screech. Burnt rubber could be smelled all across the small parking lot. Jack turned off his car and quickly got out of it. The Sisters of the Womb followed behind him. They had explained everything to Jack about the history of this Yani woman and how she was connected to the four women. Their history with the woman was quite colorful.

To Reiger's and the Sisters of the Womb's surprise Yani was standing right outside the entrance of Bishop Investigations with her companion Maurice beside her. Yani was the first to say something, "Fancy meeting you here my children. I didn't think you would follow me here."

"I can't see why you wouldn't. You really think we were going to stand by idly and let you take over this dimension?" Akaya asked.

"No I didn't, but I thought you would have sent King Daloa or some other weakling after me. A shame really that now I'm going to have to kill you."

"You won't have a chance!" Kenyata yelled as a spear materialized in her hands and she leapt into the air. She sent the red spear careening towards Yani. With shocking ease Yani stretched out her left hand and the spear crumbled into a ball of metal. While Yani was destroying that spear Kenyata had sent four more at the woman. Yani erected a yellow shield around Maurice and herself. The two of them dodged all the spears and the one that did hit Yani bounced harmlessly away.

The rubies on Sierra's head began to glow brightly as Yani's shield melted away. Akaya leaped into the air and kicked Yani in the head. The force of Akaya's blow knocked Yani into a nearby green truck. The vehicle seemed to implode in on itself. Yani had hit it just that hard. Maurice seeing what happened to Yani grabbed Akaya's ankle and slammed her naked body into another nearby car.

"You have strength child," Sapphire exclaimed after she saw what he did to Akaya. She punched the boy in the head with her ring. It left an imprint of her name in the boy's forehead. With that the boy was now under her mental control.

"How many components of the Great Engine has Yani gotten so far?" Sapphire asked as she kneeled down in front of Maurice.

The boy mumbled something at first, but it couldn't be heard. He was trying to fight off the control of Sapphire, but it was useless. Looking forward with blank eyes the boy said, "She only has the Feeder so far."

"Who is she going to be using as the other components?"

"Bishop is the Harvester. Reiger is the Plow and Greenwood is the Sickle."

"Go to sleep now."

Maurice's body fell limp and he hit the ground hard. Sapphire rose from her kneeled position to see that Yani was on her feet again. She had a couple of scrapes and cuts, but for the most part she was unharmed. "My children why do hold such hate for me? Did I not after all create all of you?"

"You betrayed us Yani! You nearly killed all of us or do you not remember the battle at the Black Tower of Inay?" Sapphire asked with an accusing tone. It was true that Yani did create the Sisters of the Womb, but she had tried to kill them when they stood against her.

"Let the past be the past Sapphire. I can take away all the pain, all the hurt, and all the sadness if you just give me a chance!"

"I rather feel pain, hurt, and sadness in truth than live in a bliss that's a lie. Winds of time and change blow my enemies away from me," Sapphire said as the tattoo over her eye began to glow a light blue.

Yani and Maurice were suddenly lifted high into the air. Before Yani even had time to protest the two were thrown out far away from Bishop Investigations. Sapphire bent down on one knee and threw up. Using magic in this dimension was still a taxing task for her.

Reiger came over to her and lifted her up off the ground. She was near the point of passing out. Looking around him Jack saw that without a doubt the Sisters of the Womb were going to need some help against Yani. "So I'm assuming Bishop must not be here then or she would have captured him."

"Your assumption would be correct. Yani has only captured the Feeder," Sierra said as helped get Sapphire on Jack's shoulder.

"Well, then we had better find Bishop and fast. Yani is bound to go after him again," Kenyata said as she carried Akaya on her shoulder.

"No way. We have to get to Pamela first," Reiger exclaimed.

"Who?" Kenyata asked.

"The little boy said Greenwood was the Sickle. Pamela is Greenwood's first name. We have to get to her. She's only a regular human like me. Bishop is a fighter. He can handle himself. Pamela is the one I'm worried about," Reiger explained.

"Fine let's get here. Will you kindly take us there Reiger?"

"Yeah Kenyata. Get everybody in the car! We might not have much time left."

Hewan Dimension

"I am the King of Sorrow. I will not allow Yani to succeed in her quest," the man said to himself, as he was about to step through a red portal that would lead him to where Yani was. She had stolen his little brother, Maurice, away from him. The King of Sorrow would have him back. No matter what it took.

The King of Sorrow wasn't a term that Bimona enjoyed having, but it was what he was. He had been granted immense powers, but he would forever be able to feel any joy in his life. To be the King of Sorrow meant you were forbidden to love, forbidden to have children, and most of all forbidden to ever enjoy a true moment of happiness. If you violated any of these rules your status as the King of Sorrow would be ripped away from you and passed on to another. Your powers would be greatly reduced and the Souls of Sorrow'd forever hunt you until they killed you.

Bimona had only become the King of Sorrow by accident. He just happened to be walking home through the woods when the previous King of Sorrow was dying. He gave his powers to Bimona since he was the only one around. For a King of Sorrow to die without giving their powers to someone meant they would burn forever in a hellish dimension. That was not a fate the previous King of Sorrow wanted so he gave Bimona the powers.

"Wait King of Sorrow! Wait!" a young woman's voice called out.

The King of Sorrow pulled out his long, sleek metal sword with a black hilt. He turned around prepared to do battle. He honestly had no idea who was calling out his name, but it was very likely that it was an enemy. Upon seeing the person who summoned him the King of Sorrow was pleased. It was his the woman known as Tru. She was the daughter of Akaya, a member of the Sisters of the Womb.

"What is it Tru?" the King of Sorrow asked with his eternally somber tone. Bimona tipped his black hat back a bit as Tru walked up the stairs towards him. A strong gust of wind suddenly blew by and the King of Sorrow had to grab hold of his hat. His black cape billowed wildly in the wind.

"You better hope that wind doesn't pick up any further. It'll blow your skinny tail away," Tru laughed. She never told anyone, but she quite liked the thin frame of the King of Sorrow. And his long brown hair drove her wild. The only thing she would have changed was that pale white skin he had, and his all black outfit. He had on a black bodysuit that covered everything except his hands. Each one of his fingernails was made of an incredibly hard metal. He could extend the nails out two feet each. Tru had seen him do it when those werewolves had kidnapped her almost a year ago.

"Funny Tru. I do enjoy your wonderful humor," the King of Sorrow said sarcastically.

"Look I just wanted to tell you to watch out for my Mom once you get to this Earth place. I want her back here safe and unharmed. You hear me?"

"Yes, but with you stalling me I can't exactly do that."

Tru sighed, "Fine I'm gone. Take care of yourself."

As Tru descended down the stairs the King of Sorrow stepped through the portal that would take him to Earth.