Random art and vote with power stones!!!
Dante moved into Limbo through Illyana's stepping discs, and the world on the other side wasn't a typical hellish sight. They stepped into a throne room built from black-red stones. Braziers burned with dark red flames. Somewhere outside, demons roared as if celebrating their queen's return.
At the head of the hall sat a giant throne, and beneath it, on the lowest step, knelt a woman. Her arms were spread wide as her wrists, elbows, shoulders, and neck were wrapped in chains. Her messy black hair hung down in a curtain, completely concealing her face. Beneath the tatters of what had once been a bodysuit, her pale skin was covered in bruises.
The pose was utterly humiliating and that was by Illyana's design. Limbo's queen never forgave those who slighted her.
The sight should have been catharsis for Gwen. This was the Spider-Queen, Adriana, the woman who had utterly humiliated Gwen today, now kneeling like a prisoner. This was supposed to be a feel-good moment for Gwen, yet he felt Gwen's hand tremble in his grip. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her face turn pale as if she had seen a ghost. The fear of having her body against her will had been ingrained in her.
He didn't wait for Adriana to look up and quickly activated Death's cloak. The dark veil bloomed outward and settled over Gwen, isolating Gwen from Adriana's world. She still remained visible to him and Illyana. She couldn't be affected by Adriana's control if she wasn't visible at all.
"She can't see you."
Hearing his whisper, Gwen let out the breath she had been holding. "Thank goodness. I despise her powers."
The chains rattled as Adriana raised her head. A pair of brown eyes found them through the curtain of black hair. There was nothing human left in those eyes, only a seething hatred.
"I will…" Adriana's voice came out dry and hoarse. "Kill you."
The sheer hatred in her voice was spine chilling and focused entirely on Illyana, yet it managed to make him uneasy.
The blonde Russian laughed as if someone had told her a joke. "A Hell-Lord took a swing and missed. Who do you think you are?"
"Release me," Adriana growled, yanking at the chains. The ground beneath her cracked, but the chains remained unscathed. "If you have the guts. I will fill your lungs with silk and let spiders lay eggs in your womb. You will wish you were never born in the same universe as me."
"Awww." Illyana pulled her mouth down into a dramatic upside-down frown and pressed one hand over her heart. "Who is crying like a little baby? Who got dumped by her man and made a mess of it? I feel so bad for you, I really do."
"Illyana, that's enough," Dante said, holding back a chuckle. "We don't need to waste time on a dead woman."
Illyana paused, then grinned, completely unapologetic. "My bad, Leader."
Dante ignored the viciousness Adriana was channeling toward him, thanks to Illyana addressing him as a leader. He invaded her mind with telepathy and read through her memories, which he immediately regretted. Her mind was like a nest with layers upon layers of spider instincts and grievances of over a century.
He tried looking for something useful, only to be disappointed. She had been a tool for Nathaniel and tools were never given the crucial knowledge. Nathaniel had kept the Spider-Queen in a lab and only let her out when he wanted someone dead. So, she had no information on the location of Sinister's main base, where Sinister Prime would be found. He didn't get much information from her memories apart from one crucial thing.
He turned to Illyana. "This universe's Kitty Pryde is working for Sinister."
It wasn't a big deal for him since he could handle a phaser without much difficulty. The same couldn't be said about others. A mind-controlled Kitty Pryde could assassinate any of his allies. Her phasing was just that overpowered. Then there was the guilt in Illyana's heart, which surfaced in her expression at the mere mention of Kitty.
"Yeah. About that..." Illyana looked a bit hesitant to share her thoughts, which was quite rare for her. "I had a run-in with her."
Illyana told the whole story of her and Jean's meeting with Kitty Pryde, how Kitty had been sent to assassinate Illyana but couldn't go through with it, how Kitty begged Illyana to stay still just so her parents wouldn't be killed by Mister Sinister.
Even under a villain's command, she still refused to kill an innocent.
"You don't have to worry about Kitty," Illyana said. "I'll figure something out for her."
Dante had a feeling he'd run into Kitty tomorrow. Adriana's team had been living in Sinister's base until yesterday. Kitty might be present tomorrow and perhaps he would be able to get her out along with her parents.
He turned back to the kneeling 'thing' on the steps. Sinister had given Adriana a simple order, which was to bring Gwen Stacy unharmed as a hostage. Instead, Adriana Soria had gone against orders to enslave Gwen for her pleasure.
"How do you want to deal with her?" Illyana echoed the thoughts in his mind. "I can tell my minions to torture her if you don't want your hands dirty."
"Why do you hate her this much?"
He had his reasons but Illyana didn't have any beside the fact Adriana had targeted Gwen.
"Me?" Illyana raised two fingers, still looking down at the kneeling Spider-Queen. "Two reasons. She tried to ruin my friend's life."
"And?"
Illyana clenched her fist and turned to him. "Because of this bitch, I almost failed you."
"Huh?" It took him a moment to realize. "Oh."
He had asked Illyana to keep an eye on things in his absence. He hadn't meant it as some commandment carved into stone that she had to absolutely protect everyone, but Illyana had misunderstood it to be like that anyways.
"Make up your mind, big guy," Illyana said, shaking his arm. "How do we deal with her?"
He considered both options for a moment then turned to Gwen. "Let's leave this to Illyana."
Gwen acted like she hadn't heard him and continued staring at Adriana. Her fists were clenched so hard they were trembling. Slowly, she shook her head.
"Let me…" Her voice cracked even though she was whispering. "Let me end her."
He put his hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to."
"That's not the point." She shook her head again, harder this time, her hair swinging with motion. "I don't want to half-ass my commitment. I want to do this with everyone… and I have to get used to the ugly part."
A stepping disc opened in the air at Illyana's right. A disc wide enough to drive an SUV through. Unlike sorcerer's portals, the stepping discs made it impossible to see what was on the other side of Illyana's portals.
"Lil Sasha," Illyana called cheekily. "Throw me a sword."
From the other side came a roar that shook both Gwen and Dante. Metal rattled like someone was moving with chains attached to them. Shortly after, the tip of a sword emerged from the portal, looking comically tiny within the circle of light. The sword was being held pinched between the tips of two fingers triple the size of Dante's arms. And he was a well-built man with huge arms.
"Lil Sasha, my ass."
Illyana chuckled. "Everyone in Limbo is my child. I can rightfully call anyone little."
"Yeah, yeah, you're so great, Your Majesty," Gwen said, rolling her eyes. "Hand me the sword."
Illyana took the blade out from the giant's grip with a fond "thank you, sweetie," and pushed the hand back inside before closing the portal. She gave the sword a lazy spin and brandished it for style, showing off her techniques.
Gwen wasn't impressed in the slightest and kept staring at Illyana.
Illyana took a step to stand on Adriana's left side and laid the flat of the blade against the Spider-Queen's nape, measured her distance, and lifted it high.
With wind-slicing speed, she brought the sword down.
Gwen shut her eyes instinctively. Her fear was for nothing as the blade had stopped inches away from beheading Adriana and stayed there without so much as a tremor in Illyana's hand.
Illyana reversed the sword grip and offered it hilt-first to Gwen. "Did you enjoy my demonstration?"
Gwen stared at her. "Thanks for the lesson, Silly Yana."
Illyana went speechless at her new nickname.
Gwen snatched the sword from Illyana and walked around to the other side of the kneeling woman. She chose the furthest angle from the fallen hair, the side where she wouldn't have to look at the face. She steadied her feet.
"You know," Gwen whispered. "I—"
Adriana turned in Gwen's direction, stopping the joke from coming out of her mouth. "Gwen Stacy, obey me. Free me from these chains."
Gwen became tense then relaxed, realizing the isolation had stopped Adriana from affecting her body in any capacity. She shot him a look and a nod to convey her gratitude.
She turned back, drew a deep breath, and raised the sword over her head with both hands. Her chest rose and fell at an unsteady rate and her arms were shaking.
"Go on." Adriana began to laugh like a complete lunatic. "I dare you, Gwen. Nathaniel has cloned my body. I'm a precious slave to his whims. I am a telepath, little girl. Do you understand what that means?" The black curtain split, revealing a deranged smile. "I'll wake back up in that body. And the first thing I'll do… I'll walk into your house and control you into killing your father then Miles."
She hissed with delight as if she could vividly imagine such a scene taking place in the near future.
Gwen clenched the sword. "You're lying."
"You're a worthless woman, Gwen Stacy. A little loser who luckily got powers—"
Suddenly, Adriana lost her voice. Her mouth moved, her lips formed words, but no sound came out of her. Confusion flickered across her eyes and then realization as she turned to him. She angrily yanked at the chains, cursing him, but none could hear a word.
He gave her a smile. Biokinesis was such a handy power. Taking away someone's ability to speak only required a thought.
"You're the worthless garbage here," he said, raising his hand. "Gwen, end it."
He lowered his hand like a magistrate signaling an executioner.
Gwen took another deep breath and brought down the sword. The blade passed through Adriana's neck in one clean strike. Blood erupted and struck an invisible wall, spreading across empty air before it slid down the base of the psychic shield Dante had manifested physically. Nobody was stained with Adriana's blood.
The head rolled and stopped at his boot, face up. There was no defiance left in that and no hatred either, only bottomless despair. The woman who had been betrayed time and time again never found someone she could trust. She hated and envied Gwen for that very reason, and wanted to tear down Gwen's happy life. Unlike her, Gwen's powers never got her in trouble. Gwen found allies who wouldn't betray her. Adriana wished her life had turned out the same as Gwen.
'It didn't have to end this way.'
If Adriana had tried to fight off Sinister's orders the way Kitty Pryde had or thrown Sinister's leash back in his face like Gambit had, Dante would have gone out of his way to help her. She only needed to show one thread of resistance. However, the trauma of a century had twisted her heart, making her vile and evil beyond repair.
For a person like that, he had no mercy.
Clank! The sword slipped out of Gwen's hands and clattered to the ground.
He stepped over the head and pulled Gwen into his arms, blocking her view of the headless corpse on the ground.
Even though it was her second time killing someone, she was still shaky, stressed out of her mind, her heartbeat hammering against his chest like it wanted out of her ribs. Her hands came up and wrapped tightly around him as she buried her face in his chest.
Gwen wasn't raised as an assassin like Laura.
She wasn't made to hunt war criminals from a young age like Silvija.
She wasn't mentored by a Hell-Lord like Illyana.
She wasn't Felicia either, chaotic by nature and delighted in the face of danger.
Gwen Stacy was the most ordinary person around him. She was a university girl who was a bit of an introvert and a science nerd. A girl who was coincidentally blessed with powers. She'll need time to grow accustomed to this new phase of her life.
"You did good."
He never thought he'd be complimenting his girlfriend for decapitating someone, yet he was, speaking warmly to comfort her.
Gwen pressed her face into his chest, but this time, she didn't cry.
At Illyana's gesture, the stepping discs opened under their feet. Limbo's sulfur air vanished, replaced by the cozy scent of Gwen's bedroom.
The Russian woman walked toward the door and lingered there for a few moments before she turned back and approached them. She wanted to leave but couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Let it out, Gwen. You do not weep for that vile woman. You weep to mourn the parts of you that died today."
Illyana's innocence had been killed in Limbo a long time ago. She had a soft spot for a friend who had just undergone a similar experience in Limbo.
"You do it to mourn your lost innocence," Illyana continued, reverting to formal speech in her seriousness. "If you wish to continue this path, you cannot carry innocence in your heart. You must kill it little by little until you no longer feel anything for shedding blood."
Against his chest, Gwen shook her head, refusing to shed a tear.
***
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