Angelo looked up warily. When Belladonna's beam had struck the Princess, he had thrown himself on the ground, covering his head with his arms. But instead of the explosion that he had expected, there had only been a blinding light, and then he found himself here.

"Wherever this is," he muttered. He slowly got to his feet, one hand rubbing the wound on his shoulder. All around him were the other members of the Guild, in varying stages of consciousness. He took a moment to survey the surroundings. Everything looked wrong.

Though it appeared to be daytime, there was no visible sun in the sky, which was an ugly mass of dark swirling colours. The ground was contoured strangely, sharp ridges protruding from every which way. The few trees he could see were gnarled and ancient, their trunks the colour of midnight, their empty branches reaching out to scratch the sky. The whole area looked like something out of a nightmare. He walked over to Gambit, who had just risen.

"What happened, jefe?"

Gambit bent over to help Candra to his feet. "Don' know, Ange. But wha'ever it was, least the Assassins aren't here, non?" Jamie and Dazzler joined the rest of the team, holding up Copycat in between them. A worried look crossed Remy's face. "You okay, Vanessa?" She smiled weakly.

"I'll be fine. Just need some rest."

"Doesn't look like we'll be getting rest anytime soon," Allison said. Everyone turned to see what she was talking about.

A large group of...beings, was rapidly approaching the small band of thieves. If Angelo thought the landscape was nightmarish, then these things were something all together different. They ranged in size, some as small as chickens, some as large as a house. A few of them flew on leathery wings, and a couple slithered along the ground. All of them were unlike anything the thieves had ever seen before, except for Angelo. When he was a young child, he remembered reading a book once that was filled with medieval paintings of Hell. A countless number of souls were tortured in those pictures, tormented by the most bizarre and horrific-looking demons. They looked exactly like the creatures headed for them.

Angelo quickly crossed himself. "Dios," he whispered, "Mama was right. I've gone to Hell."

Dazzler snorted. "Kid, I've been there and this is nothing."

She rose into the air and fired a laser beam at one of the flying demons. It let out a shrill cry before falling to the ground, its body burnt to a crisp. Its companions paused for a moment, and then charged ahead.

Gambit, Candra, Allison, and Jamie formed a tight circle around the two wounded thieves. Candra used her telekinesis to tear the demons apart while Gambit charged up his throwing spikes and flung them at their adversaries. Jamie disposed of several the old-fashioned way, with armed dupes. But despite their best efforts, the demons kept coming.

Jamie wiped the sweat from his eyes, trying to ignore the nausea that washed over him as another of his dupes was killed. He took another demon down, but then there were two more in its place. "Gambit," he shouted, "I don't think we're gonna last much longer!"

Angelo clung to Vanessa in the centre of the circle. His eyes were shut tightly, his lips moving in silent prayer. A demon flew overhead and Vanessa shot at it with her gun. "Christ, how many of these things are there?" she wondered.

Remy hissed as a demon managed to claw his arm before he could dispose of it. His eyes darted around, meeting Candra's. Her face was set in fierce determination, and he knew she would fight for their lives till the end, even though she herself was immortal. She blew him a kiss and then tore the head off a demon that had leapt towards her. He returned his attention to the fight. Something's gotta give soon, he thought.

As if in answer to their silent prayers, a glowing disc appeared before him. A figure clad from head-to-toe in armour jumped out and began slashing its way through the demons. A noisy, fearful murmur passed through the crowd of monsters and they quickly dispersed, a few unlucky ones falling under the flashing sword as they retreated. As the last ones disappeared into the growing shadows, the figure walked over to the thieves.

Angelo peeked out from behind Vanessa. "Dios, an angel!?"

Their saviour removed her helmet, revealing long blond hair framing a grinning red face and glowing yellow eyes. A pair of horns grew out from her forehead, and a tail whipped around behind her.

"Hardly."

Belladonna woke up groggily, trying to recall what had happened. There was a rustling to her right, and she reacted quickly, her hand closing around someone's throat. It was a small creature of some sort, with a bulbous nose, green skin, and large yellow eyes. "Where am I?" she hissed at it.

"M-mistress, please, mercy. We are in the Master's fortress, safe, safe!" it sputtered, its tiny legs kicking in the air.

"Master? Who dat? And where's de rest of my Guild?" She squeezed tighter.

"Eek! No, please, I tell all. The Master is his high lord of demons, N'astirh. Your friends are safe, sleeping, safe!"

Belle threw the small imp to the ground. "Take me to dem," she demanded.

"In time, human, in time."

She jumped, cursing herself mentally for letting someone sneak up on her. She looked at the speaker and blinked. Before her stood a creature covered in shadows. She moved away from it.

"Do not fear me. If I had wanted you dead, you would be."

"Who are you?"

The creature bowed. "I am the one that Nimbug spoke of, the demon N'astirh." He straightened up. "I brought you here to help me."

"Help you? How? What is dis place?"

"Limbo. A dimension between time and space. A kingdom that rightfully belongs to me, but instead is ruled by an outsider. I need to be rid of her, and who better for the job than your assassins?"

"Wa's in it for us?"

The demon waved his hand and thousands of gold coins appeared. "Riches beyond your dreams."

Belle snorted. "Don' need dem."

"Then what do you need?"

She thought for a moment before answering. "Vengeance."

N'astirh grinned. "Ah, then we have something in common." He held out an arm to her. "Let us discuss then, our plans of vengeance."

Belle hesitated for a moment. She was in an unknown place, surrounded by unknown beings, and for an unknown amount of time. This could all be some sort of trick. But on the other hand, what did she have to lose?

She ignored the demon's arm and sat on the edge of the bed. "Talk."

"So who are you?" Gambit asked.

The woman sat on the ground before them. "My story is complicated. Even I still do not believe it at times." She paused, a clawed finger scratching thoughtfully at the base of one of her horns. "I am called the Darkchilde, and I am the ruler of this dimension, Limbo. I was brought here by the sorcerer Belasco to ensure his rule."

"Brought here?" Candra repeated.

She nodded. "I am originally from Earth. There I was known as Illyana Rasputina. My family and I lived in the Soviet Union, on a farm. It was peaceful there, and we were happy. It was wonderful, until the Sentinels came." Her voice wavered. "My older brothers and I were mutants, and for this crime, they killed everyone. Only my brother Piotr managed to survive somehow. The rest of us were slaughtered."

"If only your brother survived..."Jamie began.

"Then why am I sitting here talking to you?" she finished, flashing a smile. "That is an interesting question, with an even more interesting answer. But first, I must tell you of this place." She stood back up and gestured around her. "It is called Limbo. It is a place outside of time and space. From here, someone can travel to anytime or place using the portals found here. An infinite number of realities run through here, and as a result, sometimes an infinite number of versions of someone can be found." She furrowed her brow. "But years ago, something...happened. Things began changing dramatically. Even the demons themselves transformed. Belasco himself was unsure why these things were happening. As best as he could figure it out, reality had somehow been destroyed and remade, and as a result, everything that should have been no longer was."

She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "Belasco was determined to fix everything. He planned on using the stepping discs to pinpoint where and when reality shifted, but it would have been near-impossible for him to do so. The discs are unpredictable. No one had any way of knowing where they could lead. So that's where I come in. I was born with the ability to not only control the portals, but create them, too. But before Belsaco could bring me here, the Sentinels came and we were killed."

Angelo looked at her, a confused expression on his face. "I still don't understand. Are you a zombie or something?"

The demon girl chuckled. "Or something. When I died he managed to capture my soul and he transferred it to here." She waved her hand and her sword appeared. "He took my body and brought it here, intending to place my soul back into it. But my body was too damaged, broken beyond repair. So he somehow merged it with a demon's, and the result is what you see before you."

The thieves looked at each other, stunned at the story. "Where is Belasco now?" Candra asked.

"Dead. N'astirh finally managed to kill him. But he hadn't known about me. I rose up against him, and now I'm the current ruler of Limbo."

Gambit pursed his lips, thinking. "So how'd we get here, Illyana?"

She smiled up at him. "No one has called me that in years. Call me Darkchilde. As for your question," she stretched, her tail flicking behind her, "the gem you were seeking, the Momentary Princess, belonged to one of the Elder Gods that lived here at one point. It's sort of like a stepping disc, but it can only be opened by either magic or powers granted by magic."

Remy and Candra shared a knowing glance. "The elixir I gave to the Assassins," Candra stated. "It gave Belladonna her powers, and that opened up the portal."

Jamie looked around. "Speaking of the Assassins, what happened to them?"

Darkchilde shrugged. "As far as I can tell, you were the only ones that came through the portal."

"I think the important question here is, how do we get back home?" asked Angelo. Inquiring eyes turned to the demon figure. She smiled at them, a slow grin that raised the hair on their arms.

"I can send you home. But I need a favour first. I need you to help me be rid of N'astirh once and for all."

Gambit narrowed his eyes. "An' if we don'?"

"Then good luck surviving here." She turned her back on them, opening up a glowing portal.

The thieves looked around at the alien landscape. They looked at the demon corpses that littered the ground.

"Non, wait, we'll help."

"Very well then. Step through here with me." She stepped into the portal and disappeared. The mutants looked at each other, uncertain of what to do. Then Remy shrugged and leaped into the disc. The rest of the thieves followed closely behind.