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For the rest of that day, Harry worked on preparing himself, Jean, and Ororo for their assault on Mephisto's realm. Most of this was preparing load outs of 'battle rattle', the items they would carry into battle, so called because of the sheer amount of stuff marines and other soldiers the world round carried every day. With space expansion charms, however, they could carry a lot of stuff without rattling. Especially since, with Harry's new level of power behind those charms, they would be particularly long lasting, possibly even permanent, given the fact they were spending so much time in Hogwarts and its environs.
For Jean and Ororo, he created protective pouches containing several potions, a few burn pastes, several pepper-up potions, and several pain relievers. He also added as much Orihalcum scales as he could to Jean's outfit around the chest and back. Actually, it was basically two suits. One was the one Jean had designed with the mark of the phoenix on it in red on a gold background. This was worn over an equally skin tight suit that covered her from right above her knees up to her neck and down her arms to her elbows into which was sown the tiny Orihalcum scales, smaller than a fingernail. The unstable molecules of the suit's outer cover would aid in stopping any impact, and the Orihalcum would stop anything it couldn't or, at the very least, most things. Harry had tested his new powers on a chunk of the metal, and had been rather pleased when most of his spells hadn't left a dent.
Ororo's uniform had already had some scales added to it and Harry finished that project, protecting her just as much as he could. Harry would wear his crysis suit covered by the chest plate and vambraces he had stolen from Balthakk, which was made of the same metal as Juggernaut's armor, although not nearly as heavy. He also worked on Ororo's headpiece and Jean's mask, adding as many protective spells as he could to them to defend their heads during combat. Both women knew not to be overconfident in those defenses. The best defense was not getting hit, something their training would emphasize to everyone on the team.
After that was done, Harry sent Hedwig down to that roof in Barcelona to drop off a message, then to where he wanted to set up the dimensional gateway. In fact, he was debating whether or not to keep Hedwig utterly away from Dr. Doom from here on out, since the idea of Doom having access to her odd and, in Doom's words, uniquely excellent teleportation abilities was something Harry wasn't willing to allow. Moreover, Harry was certain Doom had a drone or other device trained on that roof and he needed to know where they would be meeting, which was an uninhabited mountain in Switzerland. Harry thought that this was good idea since Switzerland was considered neutral territory and Harry definitely didn't want the gateway anywhere near any humans.
The trio arrived by air at the place he had designated, flying up there with Dr. Strange and the portal itself from the nearest hotel, which was on an entirely different mountain, much more picturesque than and not nearly as rocky as this one. Jean however continually checked their surroundings for thinking minds, making certain no one was around while the two magic users carried the gateway.
Steven had decided to be on site for this event, just in case, as well as wanting to get the story of the events on Thursday from Mr. Potter, which he had gotten out of the younger man upon their meeting up together that morning. It had amazed and astounded him, yet in the end he found himself agreeing with Harry, that the Octoessence were gods whose ability to act in this realm needed to be sharply curtailed.
He wasn't willing to go with them through the portal but he would remain here to guard it. He and Harry had also set up a very simple method of communication in order to tell Steven when to open the portal to let them back through.
The portal was a large crudely made triangle of oak, with the runes inscribed into its surface. The wood had been chosen on purpose; oak had magical properties linking it to Earth, Water, and Spirit, making it the best wood for this kind of portal. The array of ritual runes had forced them to go with a triangle shape. Both magic users had already destroyed their notes of its creation. While it would allow an individual to enter any realm and not be bound by its laws, the reverse was also true, Mephisto and other Demon Lords/Dark/Elder gods were tough enough when forced to obey the local rules. Demon Lords, for example, were stuck into the religious shapes they resembled could be dealt with like those shapes/characters could be, gaining many of their weaknesses.
They touched down in a small snow covered clearing high up on the mountain, backed by a sheer wall of rock. On the other side was an equally sheer fall down a cliff. After Jean nodded her head to indicate no one was within eyesight of them, Steven and Harry set the portal down, making certain it would stand there by sticking it firmly to the ground with a sticking charm, after clearing the snow away.
After that, the group made small talk, with Steven talking with Ororo about his girlfriend Clea and her apprentice Wanda. Neither of them were on this trip, having been left in New York to deal with a small issue there, a rather insane sorcerer who seemed to be into blood magic and virgin sacrifice, though they had stopped his first few attempts to abscond with his 'chosen virgin'. Steven wasn't really interested in why's for such a thing but seeing as the man kept on going after the same girl, it seemed more like a jilted lover than anything else. Clea had requested that she and Wanda deal with it, though the glint in her eye when she did worried Steven ever so slightly.
Steven also wanted Ororo's advice on if he should and, if so how to, introduce Clea as well as Wanda to the wider world beyond magic. Her advice was to sit down with them both, find out what they wanted, and go from there. She also warned him to keep an eye on Wanda if they chose to let her go to school as a normal child, since her powers reacted to anger and the teenage years were tough enough without that. Once Hogwarts was set up, maybe they could teach her there, though at present it looked like they would be an elementary school, at least at first.
Jean and Harry sat at the edge of the cliff staring out over the vista and discussing cars. The trip to the hotel from Bern had been the most Harry had driven his car in a while and both had decided to drive more just for the fun of it in the future. Jean, however, wanted her own car. Probably not that one, no matter how well she was being paid for her job as chief engineer that would probably be too much money. Perhaps a McLaren MP4-12C or maybe an Aston Martin DB9, she was still undecided.
When either woman turned their heads, heavy golden chains could be seen hanging around their necks, each of these had specific charms and defensive spells on them to augment the defenses on their suits. Many of them were low-key and were already working. These protected their senses from outside interference. Harry fully expected that Mephisto would be able to create illusions that could get through, even so, but this would help.
Harry's own crysis suit had the same spells and he had already activated his Magia Erebea, further enhancing his defense with five percent of his full magical power behind it. Normally, he would add more but after he had drained as much as he could from Balthakk, his power had skyrocketed so the total amount of power charging it was more despite the percentage being smaller.
The quartet continued to make small talk while waiting for their erstwhile ally in this endeavor to arrive. Jean was the first to notice, her head coming up and turning to look Northeast towards Latveria. "He's coming over the mountains now." she said calmly. "He's got some kind of mental defense and what little of his mind I can feel is insanely regimented, in the shape of a maze with fragmented mathematical equations on the walls. That man's mental control is utterly phenomenal! I really wouldn't want to have to try to get into it."
"Good thing you don't have to." Harry replied dryly. "I wouldn't put it past Doom to have more defenses actually implanted into his mind to defend against telepaths, myself."
Ororo nodded but said nothing, staring in the same direction as the others were now. All of them waited, tense and ready but only Doom appeared in the sky, heading down towards them, his cloaking device deactivating as the armor clad man caught sight of them waiting below. Harry glanced quickly at Jean who nodded her head signaling that this was indeed Doom. She might not be able to get into his head but she could damn find it.
As soon as the man was within ten feet of Harry, he could tell that he was the real one as well. Even in the air, he moved like danger personified. His armor was different than the last time Harry had seen him. There were several dozen runic symbols scrawled here and there on its visible surface. His equipment now included several pouches around his belt, one along his left forearm, and another on a thigh. Doom also had a sword sheathed at his side.
From what Harry could see, it was a simple European-style longsword, the hilt unadorned save for what looked like a garnet or another purple gem set into the hilt right above where it went into its sheath. From the feel of it, however, it was anything but normal. Harry wondered if Doom had begun to create his own magical items or had found that sword someplace else. It certainly felt as if the spells on it were intended to strike down demons. It felt like a mix between holy spells (an area Harry had only begun to study from Strange's books since it did not exist back home) and light spells, such as the Patronus, possibly closer to the Praetorian version. Perhaps an old religious relic turned into a weapon?
Harry nodded cordially. "I see I'm not the only one going into this prepared for any eventuality. "My I ask about the sword, though? I have read your file that Reed Richards keeps on you and your physical skills are part of that but what made you choose that specific sword?"
Doom shrugged, before bowing to the two women in a regal manner, one hand sweeping along the ground. "Ladies. As for the sword, Mr. Wizard, you must allow me to keep some secrets. Might I ask in turn where you come by the armor?"
"I've decided on a new code name, which is Guardian now." Harry said blandly, not answering Doom's question about the armor. Doom struck Harry as one who would not want Elder Gods sticking their noses into human business, yet he was an opportunist and a genius, so Harry wasn't willing to share the idea of there being links to them out there.
He waved one hand towards Dr. Strange, introducing the man before saying "And this, of course, is Storm, who you have already met, and Phoenix."
Doom having heard of the Sorcerer Supreme before nodded cordially to the man, then looked over at the redhead. He noticed with amusement that his new subroutine was able to allow his helmets computer to see through the magical defenses on the woman's visage and actually record her image after he turned away while his own senses still could not recall them. "The Phoenix, a most powerful bird in mythology as well as magic. Yet are you certain that bringing these ladies along with us on this trip is advisable?"
Harry shrugged. "It wasn't my choice really, both of them insisted on coming along and I agreed with the reasons. When facing someone like this, there is no such thing as overkill."
The armor clad man shrugged as if it was of no concern of his, then looked seriously at the portal. "Were you able to decipher a way to get us there magically without us falling under the rules of that particular dimension?"
Harry smiled a little, taking this as proof that Doom had much more magical knowledge than he had first implied, yet still lacked enough knowledge to create his own portal. "Yes, it took both Dr. Strange and me an entire day and well into the night to figure out but we were able to do it."
He looked at Doom and the others seriously, going into a pre-battle briefing. Both Ororo and Jean had heard it before but still listened. "This portal will get us there and will be able to keep us from being affected by the majority of that dimension's rules, such as no electricity, the gravity, any kind of radiation, or general background assaults like changing which direction we're heading, messing with our own senses of direction, our sense of smell, or anything of that nature. It will not protect us from active spells hurled through at us."
"Understand me, this hell lord controls his realm entirely. Everything there he created, unlike the dimensions controlled by most of the other Demon Lords. He can manipulate it and use it to attack us from well out of his own sight. The moment we appear there, he'll know we're there. The only way that wouldn't be true was if something else was taking the entirety of his attention and, considering he's a Demon Lord, that something would be rather major. So when we go through, be prepared for almost instant attacks both in forms of magic and his minions. I will defend us all from much his magical attacks as I can, most particularly any kind of illusions that he tries to cast. Those in my opinion would be among his most dangerous attacks."
Doom nodded and put in his own information. "I have a device that will be able to lead me to my mother's soul signature, I suppose you could say. In this area, magic and science mix, so the terminology is a little indistinct. I, of course, will be able to deal with physical dangers. Do the two ladies have any specialties that they are bringing to this activity?"
"We can all handle physical threats well enough, though when we there we'll form a diamond formation with you on one side of me and Ororo on the other with Phoenix following behind.
The redhead spoke up then. "I'll be able to help us block mental assaults. I would suggest also that we all stay in the air as much as possible. It might make us more vulnerable to attacks from long-range enemies but it will help us not get pinned down anywhere."
Harry nodded. "I have no idea where we'll come out the other side but we will need to keep moving, keep heading in the direction your device points us, Lord Doom, or else we'll be pinned down and overwhelmed by the lesser demons that serve our target." He breathed in deeply then nodded. "I believe that is everything, ready to go?"
Doom stretched his muscles, his fingers flexing as if he was preparing for a fist fight, but his eyes, which had been following Harry's movements closely, were hard and ready. There was a deep desperation underneath that none of the others could see though, hidden behind the wellspring of his self-control. This was the best hope Doom had to getting his mother out, freeing her soul from eternal torment by the demon who had tricked her, manipulating her from the start.
Oh, he had gotten the truth of the tale out of the so-called mystic, Dizzy, eventually. Cynthia Von Doom had gone for training to better help her people and the man had eventually duped Cynthia into calling Mephisto in order to make a deal with him. She had later repented and had been tormented for it ever since, her body and soul given up to the demon who had tricked her. Now Victor would have her freed; it was a matter of honor, pride, and family.
Harry moved over to the portal, tracing a small indent that had room for a moment. For a second nothing happened. Then the air in the crude triangle standing there in the middle of the clearing began to waver, shuddering, as if reality itself had just twisted in some fashion. Following that, it became opaque before suddenly changing, showing finally the image of another realm beyond its doorway. "Once we pass through, Steven will close this behind us." Harry said quickly, pulling out what looked like a simple stone. "With this, I'll be able to tell him we're ready to go but we can't take the chance that anything will come through from the opposite direction."
They all nodded and Harry led the way through, charging forward, both hands already crackling with magical energies, followed swiftly by Ororo then Doom and lastly Jean.
The moment she was through, Dr. Strange set his own hand onto the same rune Harry had touched, shutting the portal down. He then sighed, pulled out a book from a pocket, conjured up a chair and sat down to await the outcome of this ill-advised adventure, come what may.
OOOOOOO
On the other side of the portal was a land that looked as if a normal landscape had been melted. There were large edifices around them, which the quartet of interplanar travelers could tell were buildings of some kind, made almost like that of any city on earth but they were melted, reddish brown as if they were entirely made of iron that had rusted before melting into the shapes they were in now. It was only when you looked closer at them that you could tell that the color was that of dried blood.
The sky above them was red, flecked with orange and yellow but not like a sunset because there was no sun in the sky. The light came from the sky itself, not from any one particular source. There were no clouds, though strange patches of green and dark blue could be seen in the distance.
"This place looks like something one of those Chaos Gods from that god-awful Warhammer tabletop game would think up." Jean quipped looking around them and trying to make light of the situation, while at the same time she could feel a sort of oppressiveness trying to get into her mind. Indeed, it was trying to get into all of their minds but those defenses that Harry had prepared kept almost all of its effect from touching them and Dr. Doom's own defenses kept it at bay for him. "Just so you know, if anyone shows up shouting 'blood for the blood God', I'm going to fry them."
Ororo and Harry didn't get the reference but her mild joke actually won a small chuckle from Dr. Doom. "I think that if you see anyone moving that is not us, my dear, that you should 'fry them' in any case."
The wizard nodded firmly as they all took the air. "Mephisto will already know we're here, anything you see will almost certainly be an enemy."
Jean's eyes began to crackle with power, green striations of light and fire. "Don't have to tell me twice, lover." Doom raised an eyebrow at that, glancing between Ororo and Harry for a moment, before filing it away for now.
Once in the air, they flew for a bare five minutes before they came under attack. Winged demons, looking like an artist's rendition of imps from hell that adorned many classic religious paintings, flew up from the buildings they were passing over. They spoke in some fashion but it was a constant animal jabbering that had nothing to do with any kind of intelligent dialogue that the quartet of humans could understand.
Harry didn't wait for them to be within range, flashing his hands out and shouting "Latinium Malleus!" A massive hammer made of gold and green lightning appeared, far larger than the ones Harry had created previously, smashing into the horde, attacking them from the front. Hundreds of demons died screaming under his assault, while Jean, Doom, and Ororo all began their own attacks.
For a time, they had it all their own way, most of the demons lacking any kind of long-range offensive ability, but a few of them did have the ability to toss flinging balls of greenish fire at them, which Harry blocked with his spells as often as he could. Jean began to do the same, allowing Ororo to be the offensive striking power along with Doom.
Doom's equipment was working just as well as it normally did, the repulsor blasts spot from his armored palms smashing into demons and flinging them broken out of the sky. At a simple mental command, small pieces of metal built around a small sphere in the center came out of one of the packets on his waist, circling around him and zooming forward whenever he saw a particularly dense clump of demons. When they got close enough, the metal bits exploded with stunning force to hurl demons everywhere.
Protective transparent shields had fallen down to cover his eye holes and now shot beams of concussive force, somewhat similar to Cyclops but in two distinct beams rather than one, smashing into his enemies. When one came close to try and latch onto his back, it found that his armor had other defenses. A force field kept it from actually touching the metal and, when it reared back, another field activated, this one electrical in nature, frying the little imp within seconds.
As the first wave of attackers began to come apart under their assault, the first magical attack struck as Harry had warned, from well beyond Mephisto's own ability to directly see. It was a spell of fear, made to make them afraid of anything and everything around them. It was accompanied by an illusion that tried to grab hold of each of them in turn, making it seem to each invader as if he or she was suddenly surrounded by greater devils rather than allies.
That spell shattered on Harry's magical defenses, although it took nearly all the power of the charms he had cast on Jean and Ororo to do it. Harry didn't let it go at just that, though, and shouted "Finite Incantatum!" Then he immediately began to shout out a counter-spell to the fear that was still trying to grip their minds. "Expecto Patronum!" Suddenly, all around them light began to spread, along with a feeling of goodness and wellbeing that pushed against the fear until it dissipated entirely, coming from a massive three stories tall stag that appeared in the midst of the adventurer's formation
"Well that was interesting." Doom murmured to himself, protected just as much from mental assaults as physical ones by his suit's defenses, the fear attack hadn't really affected him at all. Nor had it affected any of the others, even Ororo who was, in some ways, the least protected by her own powers of the quartet.
"I expect that was more in the way of a probing attack or maybe an instant response. Each assault will be different and I expect each successive one will be harder than the last. You're the one with the directions, Dr. Doom," Harry growled, all business now and much more serious than he normally was. "Power up that device of yours and let's get going."
Doom reached down to his pouch at his side, pulling out a spherical device as large as his gauntleted hand, holding it in the air before pointing in the direction they were supposed to go. It was built around a compass of some kind, though obviously it wasn't pointing true North. "That way."
Harry nodded then once more took the lead, with Doom falling back while still holding the device in one hand for a moment before putting it away in its protective pouch.
Ten minutes later, they came under assault again and this one lasted for much longer. This time, it was not just the flying imps but actual gargoyles, massive beasts made of stone that somehow flew, that came at them from all directions. Massive bone and stone horrors reached for them from the top of the buildings they were flying over with a flying demon of the same variety soon joined the melee. These larger foes came under special attacks from all four of the invaders. This assault was unrelenting, with more and more demons piling in despite the fact that the quartet kept moving.
Ducking and dodging two gargoyles that somehow nearly got to him, Harry spun, smashing one aside with a well-placed blow to the chest, while the sword of Gryffindor decapitated the other. Two spells shot out, smashing a group of imps back. Shouting to be heard above the clangor of battle, Harry said. "Mephisto knows we're here, like I thought, he's trying to divide our attention! I'm going to pull back; you three keep dealing with the demons so I can prepare to face any spells he tosses our way!"
Doom and Harry's two lovers nodded imperceptibly, most of their attention on their own individual battles. Doom was engaged in a close range duel with several large bone horrors, while using his eye beams to keep several more back. Jean had divided her attention already, swatting aside any of the long range fireballs the demons threw, while smashing out with jabs and blasts of telepathic power in every direction around her. Storm was untouchable in the air, using the air currents to snarl up any groups that tried to close, while her own attacks froze, slashed, blasted, or hurled demons away.
Yet, they moved into position around Harry just in time for Harry to turn his attention to a massive wave of pure flame that shot out from the ground towards them. He shouted "Aquamenti" for a moment, both stopping the flame from striking them and causing a lot of steam, which he silently banished towards the demons all around, boiling them alive. He then dove down to the ground shouting another spell to augment the first, washing out the fire and numerous demons on the ground.
At the same time, the wind picked up and lightning began to flare all around them. Ororo, pulling her attention from the demons around her, looked around, eyes narrowing dangerously. She flicked her hands from one side to the other of her body, pushing them apart. Ororo's control over the weather seemed to hold true in this plane and the attack dissipated around them, only slamming into the demons beyond her area of control.
"Well done, my lady!" Harry crowed before concentrating then slamming his hand down onto the ground below the other where the others were still fighting and shouting his "Shi Jundai!" spell.
Almost as soon as he did, he began to lose control of the spell and he canceled it with a curse, pulling back and zooming up into the air as the ground molded itself into a hand trying to reach and claw for him while around them several other spells struck. He had felt his power start to take something from the ground but it had been almost immediately counteracted by the spell coming through it trying to take over Harry's own spell. I'll have to try again to see if I can drain magic from the very weft and womb of this dimension, but for right now…
Now Harry had his hands full, canceling out the numerous illusions that suddenly appeared everywhere, this time getting through the defenses of his fellows. Harry canceled them quickly enough to offset the effect but it was a worrisome thing that Mephisto was learning to get around their defenses. That even shook Doom a little, having not expected that Mephisto would be able to so easily get through his technological and mental defenses like that, but he continued on grimly with the others, taking but a moment to send out another two dozen anti-demon smart bombs.
The mental and physical attacks came almost continuously now. Jean joined Harry in dispelling the ones that attacked the mind directly. Glowing specters, carrying what looked like strange demonic images of death, appeared. They were immaterial to the attacks of Ororo or Doom but able to be pushed back, repulsed, and torn apart by Harry's own anti-ghost spells and Jean's telepathic powers, the Phoenix power lending them that special something.
Hour after hour they continued, with Doom periodically falling back and Harry taking his place on the front line as the magical attacks abated for a moment to check their direction. "Unless Mephisto has played it smart and installed my mother somewhere far away from him, we are still moving in the right direction
"Good to know but I doubt Mephisto truly thinks us that much a threat. Given his personality, he'll want her to be there to see you die so he can do the whole evil megalomaniac gloating thing." Despite this moment of levity, Harry was still concentrating on the battle, smashing one demon that got in too close with a fist while spearing another demon through the eyes with the point of the sword of Gryffindor.
With both hands thus occupied, he had to block the next magical assault with a wave of pure magic without any gesture from his hands, which made it much more difficult. That illusion, that they were fighting their own friends and family members, stuck for a moment and he growled angrily seeing many of his dead comrades, somehow the memory of them taken from his mind or perhaps that was part of the actual spell, that they each saw someone they loved dearly dead by their own hands. Still, he was able to cancel the spell.
He moved back to take his place and Doom moved forward, also shaken by that spell, although not as much as Jean was. Her hands trembled for a moment and she almost let one of the telepathic ghost creatures through but at the last moment smashed it aside with a furious telepathic assault. "How, how dare you… RAAAAAAHHH" She screamed her rage, sounding more like a hunting bird of prey than human for a moment, her hands moving like claws now, giant claws of fire as the image of the Phoenix flared around her.
The sight actually caused the horde of demons all around them to quail and back away, despite the continued commands of their master urging them on. The Phoenix flame scorched, seared, and killed with an ease that terrified them and the light of the Life Bringer burned at their eyes.
"Magnificent." Doom murmured, taking in this show of power. "You do have a way of attracting immensely powerful women, Mr. Potter. I must admit to being both impressed and ever so mildly jealous."
Ororo laughed, the sound tinkling in the air of this hellish place in a way that was beyond bizarre yet put a smile on her lovers' faces. "Thank you for the compliment, Doctor, but I believe we have more important things to do then continued to pour honey down one another's ears."
Doom nodded regally and they moved on for once not under attack, Jean's enraged response having thrown the demons around them into disarray. "Your device should keep working," Harry informed him quietly, while readying himself for the next magical assault. His body was feeling the strain a little, though his magical reserves were almost untouched, thus far. He pulled a pouch on his belt open, which had been enlarged to several times normal size. He tossed small clear drink bulbs to the others and, as Doom caught his, explained. "They're called pepper up potions. They're supposed to cure the common cold but they also remove all feelings of exhaustion from your body."
"A rather childish name," Doom said disdainfully but lifted the bulb his ironclad mouth.
"By its very nature magic calls out to the child in those that use it. I suppose," Harry shrugged, rather whimsically. "Certainly, most of the magicals I dealt with in my home reality were childish in one way or another and, I daresay, the same is true of magic users here, though I admittedly haven't seen any sign of it in Dr. Strange. Dr. Druid, on the other hand, seems to have a fondness bordering on obsession with crossword puzzles and likes to make the words dance with his magic while doing them."
"Blood magic, demon summoning, cannibalistic rituals, virginal sacrifices?" Doom riposted dryly.
"No one ever said children were all sweetness and light, Doctor."
Moments later, they were attacked again, a horde of demons rising up from the buildings that they were flying over, as well as another spell that caused the light in the sky all around them to go out and the very shadows to start constricting around them. Even Jean's phoenix light couldn't burn that far into the darkness around them, though it kept the shadows away from her.
Doom's armor began to glow even before Harry could cast a spell. He shouted something in his native language that even Ororo couldn't make out. With one hand, he pulled out a metal object from a belt pouch, tossing it into the air where it exploded throwing a resounding "BOOOM!"
The demons that had been attacking them were blown away as Harry summoned up his light spell again, dispelling the attack. This time the attack kept coming, trying to drown the lights Harry created forcing him to pour more of his power into it. Eventually, the assault dissipated and the sky returned to normal.
It did so just in time for the quartet to realize they were about to fly face first into a mountain, which suddenly came alive, not only with demons swarming its surface but actually moving, as if it was a giant made of stone and earth, larger by far than even the largest golem Harry would ever make.
They couldn't escape it, slamming into the surface and, almost immediately, becoming surrounded by demons reaching forward with claws. Many of them were now armed with swords, axes, spears, and polearms, as well, all of them dripping green fire, which looked like a very nasty cross between poison and acid.
For a moment they fought there, unable to regain the air thanks to the press of bodies all around them, despite their powers but Ororo finally was able to raise a hand up into the air and summoned forth a phenomenal sphere of hurricane force winds that slammed all around them. Doom dispatched the demons around him with his blade, each blow killing a demon even if it wasn't a killing wound. Jean and Harry did the same with their own powers, driving them back.
Harry threw up a hasty Protego, blasting a large sword swinging demon, with a body made of bronze and what looked like diseased skin, back on its ass when it tried to charge Ororo, killing it with another spell before taking up position around the African woman. Thus protected, Ororo controlled the winds using them to push the horde back even as Mephisto in his distant castle tried to exert his power over the weather of his realm. Eventually, he would've won through but by the time he did it Ororo and the others were already in the air. The weather goddess rained down lightning on those below them as Jean did the same while Doom and Harry guarded their backs.
Once clear, they forced their way upwards high enough to fly over the mountain even as it reached for them. "That was unpleasant." Jean muttered, her eyes still alight with her power and her teeth grinding together. "You take us to the most fascinating places, Harry."
"Don't blame me for this one," Harry returned, "blame the bastard who has made a living out of stealing people souls for it."
"I intend to." Jean eyes now glinted with more than just her power; they also held a promise of retribution.
The flight continued and, thankfully, now that they were away from the massive demonic creature they weren't attacked for a few moments. Evidently, Mephisto hadn't stationed any troops here thinking that the mountain itself was defense enough. But the moment the group left its environs, the assaults continued.
The group battled onward, with Harry once again being called upon to block spells while the others took care of the physical assault. One of them had been almost a joke spell that almost caught him by surprise, intended to affect their clothing and making it attack them. Another was a teleportation spell designed to carry them back to their starting point. There were dozens of subtle spells cast at them, each one slightly tougher than the last. Harry stopped them all, his mage sight able to see the slight pulses in the underlying spell of hovering just under the surface of this dimension that signaled incoming spells. With the ongoing mystic assault, his cancellation spells getting a real workout. Only occasionally, did he join in defending against the purely physical assaults but when he did, he was even more devastating than Jean, his light emotion based assaults something that no demon could truly block and only the strongest could survive.
Now they flew over a plain, with no buildings in sight but an unending, almost boring looking surface below them. Until, that is, they took in what was actually making up the ground of that plain. From a distance, it looked like grass but close up it was thin sharp blades of red glass, interspersed with skulls and bones of those souls that had been consigned to death here. There were hundreds of them, or possibly more and their bodies had been simply scattered to the winds. Either way, it was not a sight that any of the four enjoyed.
Doom shook his head slowly. He was all for killing his enemies, seeing them flee or bow before his might but not this, this senseless torture for the sake of enjoyment. The only person he could honestly say he would enjoy torturing was Reed Richards or Mephisto himself. Jean and the others, however, merely looked horrified. What was worse for all of them was that some of them were still alive, raising their hands up feebly towards the four as they moved on.