Deus Ex Machina *HF*
By Nate
Chapter 1: Closer to the Flame (Prologue)
Hell just wasn’t what it used to be. It hadn’t been in quite some time. The fact of the matter was that Diablo had gone soft. It was these mortals. Diablo had forgotten that they were a lesser species. He was even consorting with them now. So maybe Hellgoat would still drop by every now and then to stir some trouble up, but it wasn’t the same. He almost wondered when they were going to put up roller coasters and start charging admission.
It was official. Life in hell had lost its luster. These mortals, though… they amused him to no end. All he had to do was weave a few lies… make a few veiled promises telling them what they wanted to hear and their souls were his to do with as he pleased.
Magneto, for example. The tragic hero. Or was it villain? Who really keeps scores on that sort of thing these days? He caused so much destruction, yet he was always so easily convinced that what he was doing “the right thing”. It was the only way after all he chuckled to himself.
That was their problem. Arrogance. These mortals always saw things in black and white. They were right, hence anyone who contradicted them was wrong. Right and wrong… no in between. What he convinced Magnus to do was “right”. He laughed at that idea. They simply didn’t get it… the irony of it all. There is no such thing as “right”.
Then there was Xavier. Another would be savior. All he had to do was cast a shadow of doubt over his work and sit back and watch as his fears and disappointments became an entity unto themselves. Onslaught.
Finally there was his most recent work. He had managed to infiltrate the Black Hellfire Club. It took him almost five years to position himself in his current seat of power amongst their ranks. But the years meant nothing to him. He was an ageless creature. He would soon take his place as the Black King. He got quite nearly giddy thinking about that prospect. Oh, what trouble he would cause, what havoc he could wreak! Not just amongst the norms, but among the other Hellfire Clubs. They amused him to no end. They were all such a suspicious and deceitful crowd. So many toys, so little time.
Belial smiled. Soon. Soon they would all know his corruption.
Chapter 2: Dazed and Confused (Oh yeah, and Insane Too)
He was lead into the room by men in white coats. They did their best to come of as resolute, but he knew what they were thinking behind that front. They were scared. The young man smiled. They should be.
There was an elderly man sitting behind the desk. The men in the white coats closed the door behind them. The elderly man said “Hello, Johnny. Have a seat.” And motioned towards the couch.
Oh, so that’s my name Johnny thought. He couldn’t remember these things exactly. He knew he’d been in this place for a while, but there were gaps in his memory. Johnny sat down as he was instructed.
“Are you still having trouble with your little problem?”
Johnny grinned “Yup, doc. You know me. Crazy to the last drop!”
“We’re not here to assign blame or label you, Johnny. You’re not crazy, you’re just… troubled.”
“Oh please, Doc. I know you think I’m freakin’ looney toons.”
The old man adjusted his glasses. “And just what would make you think that?”
“It’s not what you said, it’s what your thinking. I can hear it. And HE tells me that I shouldn’t trust you.”
The doctor shot Johnny a disapproving glance. “Do you remember where you are this time?”
Johnny thought for a second before coming up with a response. “The South Carolina Institute for the completely and totally schizoid. Or something like that anyways.”
The Doctor continued his questioning. “Do you know how long you’ve been here?”
Johnny looked distraught for a moment. There were certain things he had difficulty recalling. “I can’t rightly say. I don’t remember exactly. It seems like long enough though. At any rate I think it’s high time I get out of Dodge.”
“You can’t leave Johnny. Not until we’ve dealt with your little problem…”
“What you mean my unhealthy obsession with pie?”
The man frowned. “No. The voices.”
“Sorry, Doc I wasn’t exactly asking for your permission.”
“Johnny, we’ve been over this before. The only way in or out is through that door, and you know that there are two armed guards waiting outside. Escape is impossible.”
“Wrong twice, doc. First of NOTHING is impossible. Second, the door aint the only way to get outta here.” Johnny got up and inspected one of the walls. “This wall, for example should do nicely.”
The doctor gave Johnny a troubled look. “And you plan on just walking through the wall?”
Johnny turned to the doctor. “Don’t be silly doc. I can’t walk through walls.” One of Johnny’s eyes started glowing. A bolt of incredible force ripped through the wall sending it flying outwards. Johnny shook his head in disapproval at the doctor. “That is how I intend on leaving.”
The doctor gazed on at the gaping hole in the wall as Johnny walked through it and out in the world to do God knows what. He was unsure how to react. He thought about calling for security, but didn’t think it would help. That was the last that the good doctor would see of Johnny.
Chapter 3: Revelations
Nate awoke rather abruptly and with a splitting headache. A hangover. He looked around the room hoping to find some of whatever he had been drinking last night left over. He tried without much success to recall exactly what he had been doing the previous night. As he scanned the room in search of his illusive alcohol, he realized he wasn’t in his room at the BHC mansion.
No… he was somewhere else. It wasn’t entirely foreign to him. There was a certain familiarity to the place. He remembered it. Suddenly there was quite a bit that he remembered. Something in his mind snapped. He remembered everything. For the first time in quite a while he remembered. But it wasn’t something he should be too happy about. Not just yet. He knew what he had to do, and he knew he was going need help to pull this off. He had to warn the BHC, and most of all Darkwolf.
He needed Monet’s telepathy if this was going to work. He’d also need the help of Agahnim, the current Black Mage. It was odd that he choose to recruit him. Mystics usually weren’t the type that he dealt with. He knew there was a reason that he had recruited a mage… he just didn’t fully realize it at the time. He hadn’t remembered it all yet. Not exactly. But he did now, and he had to act quickly… No telling how long before HE took back over.
_ _ _ _ _
He stumbled out of bed. This was his loft apartment in New York. He remembered breaking out of the institute in South Carolina, but didn’t remember coming to New York. Oh well. There were lots of thing he didn’t remember. His name, for example. He rifled through the drawers of his dresser for a minute until he found his license. Yes, that was it. Johnny. Johnny Socko.
He’d gotten used to going through the day in this sort of a half asleep state. He never was too sure of where he was going or where he had been. The missing time was annoying. It happened every so often. Johnny had almost gotten used to it, though. He was crazy, after all. But he hadn’t always been crazy. He remembered that. It was someone’s fault… if only he could remember who did this to him.
Nagging in the back of his mind there was something that he had to do. He just couldn’t quite recall yet. Johnny threw on an old shirt and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Caffeine. That would help. No coffee. He was never too fond of coffee. That was Gregg’s poison of choice of choice anyways. The Godd of Coffee he called himself. Yeah, right. He opened the fridge and grabbed a Dr. Pepper. That should do the trick. He noticed a “to do list” under one of the refrigerator magnets.
#1 Grocery shopping… check.
#2 Laundry… check.
That was it! He remembered now. That was what he had to do!
#3 Assassinate the Black King… working on it.
Chapter 4: The Set Up
Johnny approached the Black Hellfire Club mansion. It was a virtually impregnable fortress. He knew that because he lived there. Lived in the past tense, at least. Now? Well that was on of those annoying little things that wasn’t quite clear.
He accessed a concealed computer terminal that was concealed on the outer wall of the wall surrounding the fortress. Impregnable was apparently a bit of an overestimation. He then proceeded to enter high level access code that few knew, disabling the sensors in key sectors, giving him a window to slip in undetected. He picked up his brief case. Oh. I have a briefcase… When did that happen? He slowly faded from view as he used his telekinesis to bend the light around him to make himself invisible. Neat trick.
Don’t you just hate it when you can’t seem to recall things that you should be able to? Like precisely where you are and what you’re doing? No? That doesn’t happen to you? Oh well. As many things as Johnny was in fact confused about there were a few he was clear on. He knew he knew Darkwolf should not be wearing the Black Crown. He was a pretender to the throne. That crown was rightfully his. But now he had a chance to fix that. All it would take is one little shot.
He unpacked the contents of the brief case. He assembled the sniper’s rifle with practiced precision. Oh. Where’d I learn how to do that? He checked the ammunition, confirming that it was in fact hollow point adamantium. Darkwolf was no normal human, his skin was nearly impenetrable. NEARLY. However this ammunition should do the trick. It was also particularly untraceable. Plenty of people had a grudge against the BHC, and plenty of people could get their hands on adamantium. It couldn’t even be proved that the assassin was a mutant. All he had to do was show up and look surprised and no one would be the wiser.
Johnny accessed another one of the concealed computer terminals that were strategically place around the mansion’s ground. Tapping into the mansion’s sensor grid again he used it this time to locate Darkwolf. This was going perhaps easier than he had even suspected. He was able to quickly locate Darkwolf, who was ever-so-convenient sitting right next to a window. Staring on at the Black King he carefully took aim. Johnny fired three shots in rapid succession all striking Darkwolf in the head. Darkwolf fell to the ground bleeding profusely.
Belial smiled. Everything had gone off precisely as planned. Without a hitch
About this time the alarms began blaring. What? They couldn’t have caught on this quickly… not with the sensors disabled… unless… somehow they had known he was coming? But how? That shouldn’t be possible unless Nate had found somehow found a way to warn them. Scanning Johnny’s mind he found no indication of betrayal… the black prince was still completely duped. But he must have betrayed him somehow… that was the only answer.
Neither Belial, Johnny or Nate (who happen to all occupy the same body) had a considerable amount of time contemplate possibilities and impossibilities as the bulk of the Black Hellfire Club were quickly closing on his position.
Chapter 5: Showdown
Belial took control of Johnny/Nate’s body, completely possessing him. He didn’t know how Nate managed to betray him without his knowledge, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. Raising a telekinetic shield he prepared for the oncoming assault.
The first to find him was Storm! Her lightning bolt was effortless deflected from his telekinetic shield. Easy enough Belial thought and retaliated throwing her against a nearby tree. Next came Hellfire Pheonix leading most of the combined Marauders and Upstarts. Belial knew when he was outmatched. “I believe the term is ‘exit stage left’” Belial quipped as Hel came within earshot. Using his telekinesis Belial took to the air and was followed by the team members who could fly. Belial sent a telekinetic shockwave in the direction of his pursuers hoping to at least keep them at bay.
At this time Belial heard a voice in his (or was it Johnny’s? Or Nate’s?) head. It was a simple command. “Sleep.” He recognized the voice… it belonged to Monet. Normally Belial wouldn’t be so happy to oblige such a command, but that was one of the downfalls of a mortal body… it hard certain disadvantages, such as a mind. Having a mind meant a weakness towards telepathy.
Belial struggled against the command, but he knew it was a losing battle. Brought down by a mere mortal? It couldn’t be. And yet there it was. Belial lost consciousness and was sent plummeting back to the ground.
_ _ _ _ _
Nate slowly sifted through his crowded mind slowly gaining the upper hand and finally gaining consciousness. Ah, those few seconds before you remember exactly why you’re sleeping outside on the ground. Those were the moments Nate really enjoyed.
Nate slowly lifted himself back to his feet. He saw Darkwolf’s corpse lying nearby. “Justin?”
A familiar voice sounded from behind him. “What, think you can get rid of me that easily?” The voice oddly enough belonged to Justin Mills.
“What?” asked Nate in a decidedly confused manner.
Darkwolf tapped a few buttons on yet another computer terminal, sending his corpse shimmering out of existence. “It’s amazing what they can do with holograms these day. Gives me the willies… kind of like dancing on my own grave.” Darkwolf shuddered.
“Agahnim… where is he?” Nate inquired.
“Keep your pants on, I’m right here.” Agahnim said walking through the door. “Yeesh, a little more notice would have been nice. Soulstones don’t grow on trees you know!”
“Are you sure this thing will work?”
“Yeah. All it takes is a simple possession spell with a few slight modifications, and Belial will be irreversibly trapped in the soulstone.”
“All right, well let’s get this thing over with then.”
Agahnim began to chant in some forgotten language that this world had probably never seen. A bright red aura appeared around Nate. The aura began to turn a darker shade as Agahnim continued his chant. All of the sudden the aura left Nate, and was ripped into the soulstone. Nate screamed in agony, feeling almost as if his heart was being torn from his chest. Then it was over.
Chapter 6: What the Hell Just Happened? (Epilogue)
It was nearly 12 o’clock and the BHC rec room was deserted save Darkwolf and Nate. They both sat at the bar sharing a bottle of tequila.
“So how come you didn’t have your telepathy then, but you do now?”
“Well lets face it, as far as psionics go, I’m fairly badass. I thought if I toned it down a bit you guys would at least stand chance.” Nate smirked.
“Maybe it’s just because I’m drunk, but I still don’t get it.” Justin said.
“Okay, let me go over it again. I was inhabited by a demon named Belial. He’s the lord of lies. He convinced me into believe I was this other person, Johnny and then convinced me that I was insane and had to kill you.”
“But it didn’t work because you knew he was inhabiting you. All I’m saying is that if you knew, why didn’t you warn us sooner?”
“Because I didn’t know that I knew. If I did know then Belial would also have known that I was aware of his presence. For that purpose I had to compartmentalize part of my brain using my telepathy. So I put a resting suggestion in my mind that I ‘forget’ and not ‘remember’ until Belial was ready to make his move. He convinced me that what I wanted was power. So he maneuvered me into a position where I could usurp your crown. Being Black Prince, with you out of the way I would be King, and Belial could have caused all kinds of trouble with me in that position.”
“So what you’re saying is that in order for Belial to not know that you knew about him you had to not know that you knew that you knew Belial was inhabiting you?”
“Exactly.”
“Wow. Spank me with a spatula and call me Suzy!”
“No thanks. That’s a bit kinky for my tastes.” Nate replied. “But just maybe if you ask Monet real nice she might be inclined to.”
Darkwolf grinned. “I think I may just try that!” he said. With that he left the rec room presumably for Monet’s room, and presumably for rejection.
Nate poured himself another shot of tequila. So he was the man with the plan. He came through and saved the day. But at what price? With his telepathy returned his psionics would soon begin ripping his body apart again. So restraining his powers had probably bought him another 2 maybe 3 years. But would it be enough to find a solution?
Nate downed the tequila. Even with his renewed precognitive abilities the future was never quite certain. He didn’t know what it would bring, but he did know he’d sleep a lot better with that demon out of his head.
_ _ _ _ _
Agahnim finished placing the final ward around Belial’s soulstone. He gazed deep into the stone. It was for lack of a better word simply astounding. It radiated a bright crimson light. It was beautiful. But most of all it was his.
_ _ _ _ _
Belial watched the mage from his prison and laughed at his foolish attempt to contain him. Mortals all shared one flaw. Arrogance. This mage was no exception. His physical presence may have been imprisoned in the mystic soulstone, but not his lies. Corruption knows no boundaries.
Nate
"Never Doubt a Czar of Texas"
The Dark Lord
Czar of North Texas
God of Insanity
Emperor and Dictator for life
