Glory, Martha, Owen and Enrique
Glorificus had been watching the world. Seeing who had the potential for evil and who might be useful. She had both approached and abducted mutants, aliens, hybrids, gypsies and witches who she thought would come in handy. She had made alliances with Magneto and Owen Nelson, who she had imbued with new powers. Yuriko Oyama and St. John Allerdyce were there because of debts owed to Magneto. Glory loved to wonder around her beautiful penthouse. She had minions to do her bidding, and people to torture. SHe walked into the room where the girls she had taken were being held.
"Hello girls," Glory grinned evilly. "How are you enjoying your stay?" she asked. She had only taken the girls the night before.
"Drop dead," Jubilee hissed.
"I second that motion," Kat Black added. Martha Yoder, however, was quietly praying. Glory looked at Amy Madison, who was being held in a stasis field.
"And how about you, witch? You ready to work with me?" Glory waved her hand and removed the field. "I will not give in to evil," Amy replied. "I am so much stronger than Willow."
"And yet she's a goddess, and you're not." Amy looked down.
"I'll let you think about it," Glory said. There were two other witches, Fiona and Bettina being held in that room.
"I'll let you ladies get better acquainted. I don't want to hurt any of you, if you'll work with me. But if you don't, there are ways of making you comply." Glory warned, and she strode out of the room and into the one across the hall.
"Hello lads," she said. Owen was sitting there, grinning like a cheshire cat, and St. John looked uncomfortable. There were two male witches, Nicolae and Adrian, who belonged to the same coven as Fiona and Bettina, who were tied together to keep them from resisting. Enrique Alvarez was curled up in a corner, crying. "Leave," she directed to Owen and John, who quickly complied. She sat next to Enrique, and started talking in a sickly sweet voice.
"Aw, baby, don't cry. I'm not gonna hurt you, I just wanna know what you see," she said.
"Usted es el diablo!" Enrique shouted.
"Now now, I'm not the devil, though I do come from Hell, or at least, a hell dimension," Glory said, an evil look in her eyes. "Anyways, I just wanted to make sure none of you had tried anything funny." With that, she left the room, and went to take a bubble bath.
Friday
"Day?" called Troy Black.
"What?" Friday demanded.
"Have you seen Kat anywhere?"
"No."
"You haven't turned her into a boy again, have you?"
"No," Friday replied, rolling her eyes.
"Just checking."
Troy paused before leaving Friday's room. He wished he could find a way to make her happy.
Logan and Nyx
Logan prowled the Mansion, frown settled on his face. He could smell that something was off. Nyx appeared at his side, looking similairily worried. "Something's wrong."
what "Yeah, didn't we have more students?"
"That's what I thought. Professor!"
Prof. Xavier
Xavier wheeled down to Nyx and Logan. "Nyx, Logan, if this is about the missing students, I know. I believe that that god, Glory has taken them. Four are missing that I know of: John, Martha, Jubilee, and Enrique."
Nyx, Logan and Nathan
Nyx's face set in hard lines but Logan snarled. "GODDAMNIT, CHUCK! Why the *hell* didn't you tell us BEFORE?! We could have been looking already!"
~*~*~*~
Down in the infirmary, Nathan was cowering, hands over his useless eyes. "The snakes bite bite bite and the venom flows. Like blood. Over everything. Oh, glory, glory alluia!"
Prof. Xavier
Charles sighed. "I was coming to tell you when you called for me. Here, St. John left a note, so I do not believe them to be in any danger. I was about to check Cerebro and see if I can find them." Xavier handed Nyx the note.
"Professor-
I've gone with Magneto to repay a debt. I do not belive any
of us to be in immediate danger, I hope. Don't worry, I'll look after them
- St. John."
Logan and Nyx
"I am GOING TO KILL THAT LITTLE BASTARD!" Logan snarled. "He took Jubilee! And he's stupid enough to trust Magneto?!"
"Calm, Logan. At least they didn't take Dawn. Opening a dimension could be possibly more hazordous to her health. And there's other kids missing." She looked at Xavier. "If Glory's hding them, we won't be able to find them. She's stronger then me."
Prof. Xavier
"Can you get in contact with Willow?" Xavier asked Nyx. "And perhaps your sister as well? We can handle mutants and humans, but the X-men are not prepared to take on a god," he admitted.
Nyx and Logan
"Priss is not up to take on Glory. There...was an incident that has left her incapictated for some time to come." Nyx's eyes were bleak as she thought about her sister, crucified and spitted on a spear. If she ever found that woman, she was going to pull out every last one of her feathers. And then set her on fire. "I can contact Willow. We have planning to do before we go after them."
"You're right." A muderous rage showed in Logan's eyes. "Plan first, kick ass later."
Prof. Xavier
"Yes," Charles replied. "Can you gather together all of the X-Men, and the oldest, most experience students in the War Room, please? We have plans to discuss. I'm going to try Cerebro, just to see if I can get a read on anybody, and I'll meet you all down there."
NYx, Logan and Jono
"On it." Logan nodded and the two set out, splitting up. "Scott, Jeanie, War Room."
"Spike, Vortigern, War Room." The two looked up and nodded before going. "Oi, Mordred. War Room, wolf."
"What's up?"
"Missing kids."
"Goddamn."
"Mind your langauge," she scolded slightly. He just grinned, before going. "Dem, Tav, War Room. Dawn, I want you to stay out of this. It's Glory."
"Hank, War Room," Logan said abruptly to the blue furred medico.
"What's happened?" Even as he spoke, Hank was matching Logan stride for stride as they went back up to the surface.
"Missing kids."
"Oh my stars and garters!"
"Yeah." Logan headed up to the attic. "Jono, War Room."
Wot? Jonothon untangled himself from his guitar. Wot's up, guv?
"Kidnappings."
Jonothon's eyes widened slightly. Ooer. Can I suggest summat?
"What?"
Get Vulpe. She'll getcha in. She's a cracking Thief.
"Good idea. I'll run it by the professor."
"Bobby, Warren, Ororo, War Room," Nyx snapped before sweeping on. Quickly, the two contacted all of the students they thought they could take into battle and the X-Men.
Kitty, Scott and Jean
The teachers and older students followed into the War Room to find the Alvarezes and the Yoders very distraught. Kitty sat down, very pissed off that one of her best friends was missing. Scott and Jean came in and looked around.
"Okay, so do we know exactly how many are missing?" Scott asked/.
Nyx, Jono and Logan
Nyx saw Dawn creep into the room and rolled her eyes. Well, Spike and Scott would keep her out of the actual fighting. Nosey little brat. Made Nyx proud, Dawnie did. She was so willing to be corrupted...anyway, back to the topic at hand. "Jubilation Lee, Martha Yoder, Enrique Alverez have all been taken involountarily. Sinjean Allerdyce, however, has gone of his own accord. He must have opened my wards." Her fist hit the table, making some of the people in the room jump. "DAMMIT! I *can't* do my job if someone on the inside is sabotaging my work!" She bared her teeth in a feral snarl, ears flat against her skull, the feathery tips poking out from behind the ebony strands. "I am getting tired of Glory. I suggest we put an end to her entirely."
And 'ow do you suggest we do h'it? Jonothon asked.
"Feed her to the Abyss." Nyx's face was cold. "It is what happens when a god is deemed to have behaved so wrongly there is no recourse. It has only happened once in my knowledge. They vanish as if they have never been. Destroyed utterly."
"Sounds nasty," Logan said. She flashed him an unamused grin.
"Apparently it's horrendously painful as well. They say you can still hear the screams of the lost god echoing up from the Maw of the Abyss as it is slowly, slowly destroyed. Do we have any visions coming in?" She looked around. "Anyone been keeping a listen in on Serapth?"
"Chelsea's with him," Mordred said.
Dru
Drusilla skulked silently into the room. "She has a plan, she does. Wants to be in charge. She's plotting t destroy each god one by one until she rules the heavens and the earth." Drusilla fell back into Sabre's arms.
Nyx, Sabre and Jono
"Well, now that's just bloody great," Nyx said in disgust as Sabre caught Drusilla in one smooth move.
"She's ambitious, isn't she?" Sabre said.
"Oh yes, very. I don't see how she think she's going to pull it off though. There are hundreds of gods..." Nyx was a bit puzzled.
Better give 'em the 'eads up though, Jonothon said.
"If they believe us. They probably won't," Sabre sighed.
Dawn
"She's certainly gotten more ambitious than last time," Dawn said dryly. "I can warn Dagon and Januzs, they might be able to help bind her some. And I can talk to Diana as well."
Nyx and Sabre
"I'll talk to our family. Re will probably not believe us, both Set will and he'll sway enough of our family." Nyx sat down in a chair and leant back in it, propping her boots up on the table. "I'll send a message to Astrid and Sigurd as well."
"I could go see Freya," Sabre offered.
"You just want to lie on her...cloak."
"I resent that spurious implication."
"Sabby sweetie, I wouldn't trust you around that blonde featherhead as far as I could kick her. Goddess of fertility, remember?"
Sabre grinned. "Yes."
"Keep it in your pants, tom. Anyway. Maybe you could go to Olympus?"
"Yeah. Hermes will listen to me. Zeus is a stuck up bastard though."
"They're still pissed at me because of Atlantis. You'll do Rome as well?"
"Sure. Who gets the lovely priveledge of telling Jehovah?"
"Oh, spit. I so don't want to."
Nico
NIco looked up. "I've told Him in my prayers that my cousin is missing. I can tell Him of the plans, though I am sure he already knows."
Sabre, Jono and Nyx
"Thank you, Nico," Nyx said. "What about China?"
"Ergh, all that kowtowing. I hate China. You know one of their T'ien Lung went missing?"
Wot?
"Celestial dragon. They help guard heaven. I do not think I want to meet what could bring one down," Sabre said seriously. "Anyway. China?"
"And someone has to see Allah. I'll go do the houri routine."
"I'll do China then. Japan?"
"I'll do that too. And then there's all the little gods."
"Tribal gods of Africa. They're going to be hard to reach," Sabre sighed. "We should tell Coyote and Raven as well."
"This is going to take a lot of time..."
Kitty
"Oy," Kitty said. "I never realized there were so many! But wait, don't the Hindus, like, worship 100 different gods?"
Nyx and Sabre
Nyx started to hit her head against the table repeatedly. "This is going to take forever and seriously cut into my happy times. Glory is so dead."
"Ah well, Nyx. You'll be that much gladder to see him after a leave of absence," Sabre suggested.
"Just remember you can't take Dru with you either. Most gods don't like vampires, I have no idea why."
"And then there are the Loa as well. Baron Samedi, Erzuli, Papa Legba..."
"We should get started then. If me and Sabre take off, can the rest of you start on the actual plans for Glory?" Nyx asked. "If Glorificus manages to get any gods, she'll draw their power into herself. We do not want her to be stronger then she already is."
Dawn
Dawn thought. "Well, last time, when Buffy beat her, she had a Sphere of Dagon and Olaf the Troll-God's enchanted hammer. Do we have anything like that now?"
Nyx, Logan and Sabre
"We can ask," Nyx said.
"Whether they'll give them to us is another matter," Sabre sighed. "It's all a matter of politics, ye see..."
"They're gods, and they won't help because of politics?" Logan asked in a slightly disbelieving tone. The two cats looked at him.
"Mate, you haven't seen politics until you've seen all of the gods trying to work something out. The backstabbing can be literal."
"The gods make the UN look like a classroom project." Nyx closed her eyes for a moment and massaged her forehead. "That we aren't gods ourselves will count against us."
"But they'll at least give us the courtesy of an audience. Most of them."
Scott
"Why don't you take Willow with you?" asked Scott. "Isn't she a god?"
Sabre and Nyx
Nyx shook her head. "She's too new. She's not respected. We at least have dealt with them all before."
"Besides, most of the gods are less then nice with single women." Sabre frowned. "The myths happen to be very right on that point."
"Willow doesn't have enough alliances to come out unscathed. I on the other hand can take care of myself. And I've slept with most of them anyway." Nyx shrugged. "But probaby best left up to us. We have a certain status. Willow...she doesn't have enough experience at this type of thing. And besides, she can't do sneaky."
"We're going to have to be 'diplomatic'." Sabre snorted in disgust. "We're used to it though. We know the right things to say and do. When to bow, what forms of address to use, all that kind of useless crap they come up with to make everyone else know how important they are. Deities have terrible egos."
Scott
"I would think so," Scott said. Then he looked at his wife. "Jean, I want you to stay out of this as much as possible. you're too far along, and we can't risk losing the baby."
Nyx and Sabre
Hank polished his glasses. "I would have to concur, Jean."
Nyx grinned. "Baby! Yay!" Sabre chuckled at her enthuasiasm. "I like babies. They're so cute and little. Mmm!"
"Anyway, so me and Nissie will go and see the gods. Give them a heads up." Sabre stood. "We'll do that and see what weapons we can come up with. The rest of you can decide how we're gonna deal with the mutants and aliens she's sure to have."
Dawn
"Okay," Dawn said. "I'm going to do an online search for Magick Shops around the country to see if anybody has a troll's hammer or a Sphere of Dagon," Dawn suggested. Suddenly, she panicked. "Nyx, if Glory's back, does that mean that the Knights of Byzantium'll come back too?"
Sabre, Logan and Nyx
"If they do, we'll peel them out of their little tincans. Or maybe roast them like chestnuts, Dawnie sweetie. I really don't like them. They've tried to kill me more then once." Nyx stood with her brother. "They can't get through my wards though. Not now."
Sabre took the hand she extended to him. "We shall see you all, later." Nyx pressed a kiss to Logan's forehead, waved at everyone and disappeared. Logan crossed his arms and stared at Scott.
"So, what's the plan, O Fearless Leader?"
Scott
Scott looked up. "Honestly, I have no idea. How do we go about fighting a god?" he asked, upset.
Logan
"I say we concentrate on the ones we know we can fight. Magneto for a start. Pyro." Logan ignored the upset on the faces of the people that actually liked the little troublemaker. "Rescue operations. While Nyx and her sibs are taking down Glory and the magic users, we get in, get the kids and get the hell out."
Scott???
"Okay. Well, Magneto's actually rather difficult to fight. Last time it took Rogue to take him out." he looked at Rogue. "Would you be willing to absorb him again, if you needed to?"
Rogue
"Umm, well..." Rogue hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "After absorbing Tate, I... I haven't been so afraid of absorbing people know for fear of being overwhelmed by people in here."
Scott
"Well, I'm not saying you will have you," Scott said. "Just that it could be a possibility. Now, the opponents we know that we're facing are Glory, Magneto, and Pyro. Also, possibly Mystique, because you knew know when she's going to show up, along with Sabretooth and Toad. What weaknesses do we know of theirs?" he asked, getting the brainstorming started.
Mordred, Vortigern and Logan
Mordred and Vortigern shared a glance. Logan shrugged. "I'll just stay away from him, shall I? Magneto is not good for those of us with metalcoated skeletons." Logan's eye's smouldered. He didn't like to feel helpless.
"If we can get in, me and Dem can 'port everyone out," Mordred offered.
"I can slip by, in the shadows," Vortigern said quietly. "I can walk the dark..."