All characters herein are trademarks of Marvel Comics. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copy write to me.

Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at

mark_shakespeare@lineone.net

This is the fourth sequel to 'Heart of Darkness', after 'Homecoming', 'Damnation and Hellfire' and 'A Death in the Family'- please read those first! Please note that this story jumps viewpoints, and I don't actually say who the thinker is, though hopefully it should be obvious!

Judas

So, there are in fact six of them to deal with. Wagner, the two Rasputins, Rogue, and Scott and Rachel Summers. I have to admit to surprise over the last two of those - I had thought that he would return to his wife in the aftermath of the death of his mentor, whilst she was so agitated about killing that I thought she would leave too. Ah well, I will just have to deal with them in due course. In fact, Scott's desertion of his wife may well be the lever I need to destroy him. But what is certain is that I must remove the biggest threats to me - the blonde sorceress and the redheaded mindwitch. The Rasputin girl seems to be watching me closely for some reason, and with her magic powers, she may well be able to interfere with my continued use of this body. I think it time, therefore, to make my move against her. The same applies to the other girl - as a psychic, she might be able to undo my possession of this body. They will both have to be dealt with if I am to be safe.

But I believe I may take an oblique approach to my problems .......

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Okay, Summers. You're in charge now. So what do you do? You've got only six people to work with here, one of whom is unstable, and at least two of those are children. Okay, Kitty's been an X-man for a while now, but Illyana's inexperienced at working with the rest of us in combat situations, and she's not familiar with the West and America in particular. Kurt had better be deputy team leader, just in case. Rogue's got experience. So's Kitty, young as she is. Illyana, well, I guess she's going to have to be on the team's active roster , given that there isn't a junior team anymore. Rachel, God only knows. Ever since she destroyed Selene, she's been getting darker, according to Kurt and Rogue. We saw a bird of fire destroy Selene. I just hope that the 'Dark Phoenix' disaster isn't about to repeat itself. Oh Professor, I really wish you were here now, you'd know how to draw her out. But you're not, and I'm the only one left who can make a difference - I hope. So do what you can, Summers.

God, I miss you, Madelyne. I hope you understand, I need to be here, I need to lead this team, or everything we fought for over the years will fall apart. Don't hate me for doing this, my love. I'll have to ask if you'll move here, with us. I pray to God you will.

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This .... this is not how I wanted things to be. The Professor, dead, Ororo, dead, Logan, dead, so many dead. My little snowflake still lives, it is true, but she grows darker, more distant, day by day. And Katya, she too is not what she was, she has grown colder. She does not want to be around me, that I understand, not since I ended things between us.

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Just when it seemed as if we might be able to find the time to properly grieve, to get over our losses, we have to do this - go and keep an eye on Juggernaut. Seems he thinks that, with the Professor out of his way, he doesn't have to worry about runing into the X-Men anymore. Dammit Scott, we should've let the Avengers do this! We're hurting, we need time to adjust to losing so many friends. Even though this isn't my time, even though in this reality my mom, Jean Grey, is dead, I'm hurting inside, and the others must be even worse! Let someone else play hero today .... Daddy.

So, here we are in the bank, watching Cain Marko do his thing, and I'm trying to keep everyone linked together telepathically, which isn't made easier by the number of people around right now, their thoughts all pressing in on me.

Scott, Illyana, Peter, Rogue and Kurt are waiting some distance away, near enough for Illyana to 'port them in if it becomes necessary. Kitty and I are inside the bank. It feels ... odd, being around Kitty. This isn't my Kate, she's much younger. But why do I feel like there's something about her that's not quite - what's that sound? Who the hell's attacking the bank now??

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Aw shoot, I dunno who this yahoo is, but he's made the wrong move, pickin' on th' X-Men! But shit, he's strong! He knocked Juggy flyin', like Ah never saw before! Asshole's rantin's somethin' about protectin' people - well, if ya that concerned, why the hell y'all pick a fight in a public area, dumbass?!

He's got some kinda sonic attack. Juggy's reelin', an' th' yahoo looks like he wants ta finish the fight, then hit us - least, that's what it sounds like. Guess the X-Men're goin' ta haveta stop the metal-plated shit.

Cyke's optic blasts ain't doin' squat ta him, so I guess it's the Southern Belle Express ta th' rescue!

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Rogue's on a power dive, but just in case it doesn't work, I'll use a teleportation disk, summon a few demons as backup I don't know who this metal idiot is, but he's picked the wrong fight! I see my big brother moving to the attack as well, followed by Kitty.

There's a loud BOOM as Rogue hits - she was flying at as high a speed as she could get up to with little room to accelerate. But the new enemy doesn't fall - in fact, he simply bashes her aside. Now Piotr tries his luck, even though he probably won't have any more luck than Rogue did. Meanwhile Kitty moves round behind him. You watch yourself, roomie!

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Rachel, where's Rachel? There, good. < Rachel, can you hear me? >

< Yes, I can hear you, Scott. >

< Link us all telepathically, then use those steel girders to wrap up Nimrod, try to apply crushing pressure. >

< I'm on it. >

< Peter, Rogue, when Rachel starts crushing Nimrod, I want you to seize part of him and try to pull him apart - between you, you may be able to overstress his armour. I'll use my optic blasts to cause localised catastrophic failures. Kitty, try disrupting his electronic systems. Kurt, you're backup. >

It'd better work first time, otherwise .... What's that? Oh, Illyana's demons making an appearance. I doubt they'll be able to do anything useful, but if they can slow Nimrod down, they'll have achieved something, at least.

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I would prefer not to get involved, in fact to allow this new enemy to destroy more of the X-Men. However, firstly, it would make them very suspicious if I made no effort to intervene, and secondly, this newcomer, this 'Nimrod', seems to be an enemy of all mutants. Since Katherine's body is that of a mutant, it follows that Nimrod will try to kill me. Therefore, it is better to defeat him now, and worry about killing the X-Men later.

According to Katherine's memories, her phasing power affects electronic equipment, which is presumably what Nimrod is wearing - some kind of battle suit. So if I punch deep inside it, the suit should - no, not a suit, there is no person within -

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Nein, Kaetschen has been stunned by some kind of - ach, Rogue is going to catch her and prevent her from being hurt. Gut. Unfortunately, that means that Peter's attack is no longer being supported apart from Rachel's telekinesis. There is something I think may be able to stop this metal assailant. It is a trick I have not tried before, but I think it might be able to stop this 'Nimrod' as he has named himself.

It seems that Piotr has distracted him. Zehr gut. I need an instant of distraction to be able to finish this, and he has provided the perfect opportunity. Now to jump atop Nimrod, make sure that I have a good grip on part of him, and -

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Kurt! No! Damn you, Kurt, why didn't you stop to think!? If the plan didn't work, then Rogue could've absorbed your power and used it against Nimrod - her physical resistance to damage might have kept her alive! You could have grabbed Kitty and allowed Rogue to carry through with her part of the plan. But you had to play the hero, and it killed you.

Kitty's down, Rogue's got her, Peter's still trying to bring Nimrod down by force. Dammit, this was just what I was afraid of, the team acting in an unplanned way and paying the price!

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Kurt! Ah don't believe it! Th' fuzzy-elf's dead! He tried ta break Nimrod up bah 'portin' part o' the sucker away, an' it killed him! An' it's mah fault. Ah grabbed Kit when Ah shoulda been goin' after Nimrod, so Kurt jumps in ta help an' pays th' price! Mah fault, Ah didn't stop ta think. Ah didn't do what Scott wanted, didn't follow th' apln, an' the elf's dead 'cause o' me. Mah fault what went down. Shit, shit, shit!

Kit, ya awake after -

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I make contact with the one known as Rogue, and allow her to absorb me. I enter her mind, and find echoes of others already there. They are shadows, mere echoes of the people who this mutant once absorbed. I have no difficulty with pushing them aside. I find the psyche of the X-Man, Rogue. It is still in charge here, at least until I make my move. I study how powerful she is, how able to control the multiple psyches washing around inside her head. It is clear to me that she will be no match for me when I come to seize control of her. She will, after all, be the perfect host for me. She can absorb the powers of those she makes contact with, permanently if the duration of exposure is sufficient. I can take control of her, and use this body to add the powers of her team-mates to me.

Then I shall be invincible, as well as immortal .....

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Bozhe moi! My fists are having little or no effect on this enemy! Whatever this robot is constructed from, it is very strong indeed. But then, so am I, and there are few enemies who can withstand the armoured might of Colossus! I will avenge Kurt, you monster!

Hah, he is staggered by one of Cyclops' optic blasts, and that has allowed me to get hold of his arm. Now, if Rogue or Rachel can strike him while I have him pinned, we can find out just how resistant to damage he actually is ......

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Funny, Kit's mind didn't feel like Ah'dve thought it would. It felt - Ah dunno, older somehow. Hey, wait a minute, Petey's got that armoured sucker held, an' Ah got Kitty's phasin' ability! Lessee how he handles a power dive inta him while Ah'm phased! This is fa Kurt, ya shit!

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I watch the battle in a scrying pool. The rest of the team are holding their own against this 'Nimrod', but little more. I wish I could do more to help, but my powers are strictly limited outside of Limbo. I can send my demons to lend a hand, but the ones I've dispatched so far have made little difference. Perhaps S'ym would be the best choice? After all, he has his eyes set on becoming the next ruler of Limbo. If he beats Nimrod, then the rest of the team are safe, including Kitty. If S'ym dies, well, that'll be one less rival for my throne, won't it? I call him forth.

"Yeah, boss? Got a job for me?"

I smile sweetly - he doesn't fool me for an instant. I point to the scrying pool. "You see that armoured figure fighting my brother?"

"You want me to trash him, boss?"

I nod. "Go and enjoy yourself, S'ym." I smile to myself as he vanishes, and watch him reappear in the scrying pool.

Then I sense something else, something I have not seen before, yet somehow familiar to me. A vague, shadowy figure begins to form close by. I do not know who or what this is, but I will not allow myself to fall victim to some demonic assassin sent by Belasco! I reach out with my magic and imprison this newcomer in a mystic cage.

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Wh-what's happening to me? I felt a tugging, and I followed it, and now something's holding me prisoner. Logan, Yukio, Ororo, anyone! Is anyone listening to me, can anyone hear me? Who's holding me prisoner, who ARE you??

Help me, please!

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Well, Rogue's attack worked. She phased straight through Nimrod, and his systems crashed. Then she and Peter tore him apart, with help from one of Illyana's demons that appeared at that very moment - apparently Nimrod was a robot, rather than a man in a suit, as I'd expected him to be. Unfortunately, he teleported away, reassembling himself as he went. I guess we'd better expect him to come back some time, and we'd better be ready for him, ready to finish the job once and for all.

The few of us who are left, that is. Kurt's gone now, another X-man fallen.

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I look at the other X-Men around me. They are shaken by the death of their friend. Ah, if only they knew what I was planning to do to all of them! I have decided that the woman, Rogue, is the best weapon to implement the elimination of all of Katherine's remaining friends and associates who might be a threat to my long-term plans. She has the potential to be a far better step to take towards ensuring my continued survival and mastery than the blonde girl. Her powers will be the weapon that will give me all the power I need. I now know that I can control her when my psyche is in her mind. So, I transfer myself into her body permanently through a prolonged physical contact, then use her body in turn to absorb the redheaded mindwitch. If possible, the blonde-haired sorceress should be the next to fall, then the remaining two will be of no danger to me whatsoever.

Yes, tonight I will go to the bedroom of Rogue, and begin the final part of my plan for mastery ........

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FIN