Alpha Flight #4: "In The Limbo Once Again, For..."

From the pages of Alternate Marvel!

First I'd like to direct you to the first 6 issues on this forum:
Alpha Flight #1: To Rise Once More.

Alpha Flight #2: Down to the Wyre/

Alpha Flight #3: 10,0000 Leagues Below.

Alpha Flight #4: Alpha Omega

Alpha Flight #5: Reborn.

Alpha Flight #6: New Flight.

That said, here begins series 2:
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(Sorry about the formating, blame eGroups!)

Alpha Flight #4: "In The Limbo Once Again, For The First Time."
By: Tawmis

In a time of darkness, heroes stood up and fought for their country
that they loved so much. Hated by their own government, questioned
by the people of Canada – Alpha Flight never stops to ask why they do
what they do. They are heroes. It is their duty. Welcome –
Vindicator! Guardian! Sasquatch! Northstar! Aurora! Shaman! Puck!
Snowbird! Welcome to – Alpha Flight!


Shaman hovered several inches from the floor, his hands closed and
resting on his knees. With his eyes closed and head tilted back, he
reached outward with his magic.

Something had seemed off balance for quite some time, and like a
festering wound, it seemed to only become further infected.

As his mind reached into the astral realm of magic, he took the time
to reflect on all that had happened.

Snowbird had returned and claimed Walter's body. Walter's soul had
been placed within Tarnaq. Marinna had been found alive, and Master
and Llan had both been defeated once again. Smart Alec had managed
to free himself of Shaman's bag and resumed control over the Box
armor and became, after a brief fight, a member of Alpha Flight. It
had been revealed that the strange, young, girl known as "Ghost
Girl" with the name of "Lilli" had actually been an experimental
clone of Diamond Lil, with Department H, attempting to alter her
genetics by reversing Diamond Lil's own DNA, and had done so
successfully. Another member drafted into Alpha Flight to be trained
beneath Lil and Madison's home.

Change had seemed to be something that Alpha Flight had grown all
too familiar with, or be swept under her cruel heels.

Beads of sweat formed on Shaman's forehead. His brows came together
as he fought what felt like an unseen hand of flame, wrapping its
searing fingers around his body.

He thrust his arms outwards, as if to break the hold of the unseen
hand and rapidly stood to his feet.

"Something's off balance," Shaman looked around. "That wasn't an
attack, but someone reaching out for help."


[ In the new Alpha Base Meeting Room ]


"So you think this was someone seeking mystical help?" Vindicator
stepped forwards, hands on his hips.

"Yes," Shaman nodded. "And it was strangely… somehow, familiar."

"Will you be able to trace it?" Guardian asked her voice soft with
concern. "I mean to find out where it originated from?"

"I've already done that," Shaman replied, laying down a parchment on
the floor. "It took some time, as it seems to be out of time and
space. But this is where it came from."

"Where's that?" Sasquatch looked.

"It is called, The Limbo. A realm ruled once by Colossus' young
sister, Illyana Rasputin. From the records I was able to attain, it
seems that Nightcrawler witnessed Amanda, who had taken on the new
name of Magik, kill Belasco. Amanda, however, was believed to be
dead as well. However, she has since emerged, which stands to reason
that somehow Belasco has also survived the experience."

"Yet you mentioned something familiar," Snowbird sat across the
room, her arms folded across her chest, looking onward, guarded.

"The magical signature that seemed to be reaching out was not that
of Belasco's, but that of Witchfire."

"Witchfire?" Guardian sat up. She winced as her broken leg reminded
her of the wound she had suffered from the latest battle with Omega
Flight.

"Indeed," Shaman nodded. "It would seem that when she left us here
(1), she headed for the X-Men, seeking out Amanda's help."

"Amanda?" Sasquatch asked. "Kurt's old girlfriend, the magic user
one?"

"That would be her," Shaman nodded. "But, the last records I had of
Amanda was that she had perished in a battle with Belasco, during
Devil's Night. (2) It would seem however, from the files I was able
to get from our American friends, the X-Men, that Amanda survived
her fight with Belasco. The two of them had apparently merged.
Amanda housed Belasco's soul, but over time became tainted by his
power. It would seem Witchfire recruited Nightcrawler, and the two
of them fought this merged being; and in the end, Witchfire took
Amanda's place, and freed Amanda, but damned herself." (3)

"So it's Ananym who is reaching out then?" Sasquatch asked.

"It would appear so," Shaman agreed, with a slight nod. "I suspect
she too is now feeling the influence of Belasco's dark power, and is
in dire need of being saved."

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Vindicator stood. He looked to
his wife, "You stay here, Heather. I've heard about the Limbo, read
the files. It's not a nice place." He looked around, "Going in will
be Sasquatch, Northstar, Aurora, Shaman, Snowbird and myself. The
rest of you stay here."

He closed his eyes. "In case we don't make it back."


[ Inside the Limbo ]

The shimmering light vanished with a wave of Shaman's hand. Eyes
quickly attempted to adjust to the ill lit caverns that made up the
limbo. "Beware of the light disks that appear on the floor," Shaman
warned, as several appeared and disappeared in a matter of
seconds. "They're capable of teleporting you through time and space,
for here, such laws do not exist."

"Sensors are picking up something strange," Vindicator looked
around. "Get the twins and tell them to begin checking out the halls
for anyone."

Suddenly, before he could react, a twisted version of what had once
been Nightcrawler appeared before him. Missing an eye, and fangs
more animalistic than James had remembered, hissed at him, as its
blue, furred face emerged from the crimson brimstone.

Claws, razor sharp on the end of each of this Nightcrawler's hand,
raked at Vindicator's armor. Sparks flew from the armor as
Vindicator stared in disbelief. "Kurt, what are you doing here?
What's your business here?"

Vindicator tapped the communicator to summon the twins, Aurora and
Northstar, back. "Vindicator in! I have found him! Take him down!"

It was clear this was not the Kurt Wagner that Vindicator had come
to know as a member of the X-Men. This … Nightcrawler had been
twisted and turned by foul magic.

The pair of fists from Aurora and Northstar struck the disfigured
Nightcrawler with incredible force. Unable to retain consciousness,
the mangled Nightcrawler collapsed.

"Should we wait till he regains consciousness and ask him some
questions," Sasquatch leaned over to examine `Nightcrawler.'

"We could," Vindicator looked the body over. "But I don't think
there's anything left of his mind. Whatever we know, probably does
not hold true, as Michael had said. That is probably a Nightcrawler
of another time and place, twisted by Belasco."

"You dare enter Belasco's Realm?" another voice boomed.

Vindicator turned, a surprised look on his face. "The… The New
Mutants?"

Indeed, there, standing in flesh and blood was Sunspot, Wolfsbane,
Cannonball, Mirage, apparently led by an aged Storm.

"Boss ain't gonna be too happy having all these party crashes,"
another voice from the other side, casually commented.

Vindicator turned to see a massive form, of pure, rippling, purple
muscle step out of the shadows, wearing a small black vest. "The
name's S'ym chum. Make a note of it, because pretty soon, that's
gonna be the name you're screaming out, when you want mercy from me!"

Before Vindicator could react, a blast of black energy struck him
from the back. He turned to see Sunspot's fists lit up with black
and yellow beams of light. Vindicator looked to the rest of Alpha
Flight. "Those aren't the New Mutants we know! They're just like
the `Nightcrawler' we ran into! Take them down!"

Vindicator took to the air, surprised to see that Sunspot was
capable of launching blasts of powerful, searing energy from his
fists.

The woman, who appeared to be Storm, now stepped into the light.
Adorned with the white mohawk and leather straps, with small red
horns and fangs; it was now clearer than ever, that who they faced
was not the people they knew.

Launching a spell of magic from her hands, Shaman barely managed a
spell to deflect it at the last moment.

"When did Storm learn magic?" Sasquatch asked, as he and S'ym became
a tangled mess of flying orange and purple fists.

"The records I obtained from the X-Men," Shaman began to
explain, "say that when Storm was down here the first time, that she
felt a strange bond to magic. And the reports of Illyana's time down
here show that she encountered a version of Storm that was capable
of powerful magic; and that there had even been one that had been
turned by Belasco!" (4)

"I am guessing that's where these versions of the New Mutants came
along!" Vindicator commented.

Several more plasma based blasts struck Vindicator's
armor. "Incredible," he muttered to himself. "He's actually
beginning to over heat my armor!" Vindicator blasted at Sunspot, who
allowed the beams to pass through him. `If memory serves me right,'
Vindicator thought to himself, `Sunspot gets all his powers directly
from the sun… but there's no sun here… must be Belasco's doing… as
well as being able to blast right through him!'

Before Snowbird could react, what appeared to be a browned furred
wolf had jumped on her. Shoving the vicious creature from her body,
Snowbird took to the air to stare down at the beast. Fearsome to
behold, the wolf bared its white fangs.

Suddenly the wolf took form, of something between woman and wolf,
and with amazing speed, agility and grace, sprung from the ground
and was once again upon Snowbird. The two spiraled and crashed into
the solid, cavern floor. Snowbird extended her arm outward,
attempting to keep the werewolf from digging its fangs deep into her
throat. This fearsome creature had once been the placid, shy, timid
Rahne Sinclaire.

Aurora flew at Sunspot, only to find herself struck by some force
that slammed her against the wall. Aurora, through a hazy gaze,
looked to see who her attacker had been. A young, blond boy – whose
skin was pulled tight over his skeleton. Empty eyes looked down at
her. Samuel Guthrie, formerly one of the leaders of the New Mutants.

Northstar witness the attack and immediately reacted. However, at
that moment, he saw his sister slain before his own eyes. There was
an explosion after the car crash. Only he had been thrown from the
car. He ran to the inferno of the car that held his parents and
sister, and saw the flesh melt from their bodies, like burning
candles. Northstar fell to his knees, hands in his hair as he
screamed towards the heavens, where he could not see beyond the
cavern. If he had only seen that it had been a twisted version of
Mirage who had manipulated his mind.

S'ym slammed Sasquatch against the wall. "Chum, I'd give it up if I
were you. I have fought you and the rest of your `Alpha Flight'
squad and killed all of you, repeatedly! Mind you, fight if you
want! I certainly don't mind being mildly amused," S'ym brought his
fist down on Sasquatch's bloody face. "But for your sake, it'd be
best just to die, really."

S'ym brought his fist upward and down one more time, however this
time it did not connect to beaten face. Instead, Sasquatch's massive
orange hand caught S'ym fist. "You know," Sasquatch replied, kicking
S'ym feet from under him. "You talk entirely too much."

Vindicator shouted, "Northstar! You need to get up man! She's
messing with your mind!" Another blast struck Vindicator. His meter
went critical.

`I need Northstar and Aurora together,' Vindicator thought to
himself. `If I am right about Sunspot and the signature readings my
armor is generating from his blasts…'

Vindicator blasted at Mirage, who had twisted versions of everyone's
nightmares dancing around her in corporeal form.

The second blast struck Mirage, sending her flying into a wall.

The images melted away from Northstar's mind. Standing up, eyes
locked forward, a vengeance burned in Northstar's eyes.

"Get to Aurora! Clasp hands!" Vindicator shouted. "I need you two to
do that beam of light!"

Northstar flew to Aurora's side, and struck the unsuspecting
Cannonball. Without him blasting, Cannonball rapidly fell victim to
Northstar's fists. One hundred and thirty six blows to the head and
jaw in two seconds, sent Cannonball crumbling like a severed puppet.

Reaching out his hand to Aurora, the two clasped hands, sending a
bright line through the cavern. The light reached Sunspot, who
suddenly screamed at the pure energy of the light. When the light
faded, Sunspot was no more.

"Just as I thought," Vindicator noted. "Knowing the sun did not
shine here in Limbo, Belasco reshaped Sunspot – made his powers
derive themselves from the darkness… and he became, in essence, a
living shadow. With the pure light, he could not last and he
dissipated!"

Sasquatch caught S'ym fist again and grinned. "Man, tell me this
ain't the best you got?"

S'ym growled. "How is it you still stand?"

"Probably because you ain't fought me before," Sasquatch brought his
fist slammed into S'ym's face, sending the purple demon stumbling
backwards. "You see, you probably fought versions of me that were,
technically, still `human.' But you see, this body? It's not human.
I can't even shift to human." Sasquatch pounded his orange fist into
S'ym's chest. "I have tried, but can't. Because, you see, there's no
human form in me. It's my human soul inside this Great Beast's
body." Another fist sent S'ym tumbling back again. "And that, my
friend, is why my strength reaches above 100 tons, easily. I don't
even break a sweat anymore. But let me tell you, I can break you."

Sasquatch grabbed S'ym by the throat and held him at arm's length.

"Now to snap that thick neck of yours," Sasquatch growled.

S'ym kicked off from Sasquatch, using his powerful legs to launch
off Sasquatch's chest. S'ym fell back into a light circle and
teleported away.

"Son of a," Sasquatch growled.

He turned.

Next to him, Snowbird still fought Wolfsbane. Sasquatch kneeled
down, picked up Wolfsbane by the scruff of her neck. "Bad doggy,"
Sasquatch put Wolfsbane to his face. She snapped at him, trying to
bite his face. "Time to teach this ***** some manners."

Sasquatch slammed her against a wall, and broke her ribs and robbed
her of her air.

She yelped, and crashed to the ground when he released her, lapsing
into unconsciousness.

"My thanks," Snowbird nodded, as Sasquatch helped her up.

Snowbird then took wolf form herself, and ran past Storm's magical
barrier. Wolf fangs tore into Storm's throat and ripped her jugular
from her neck.

Storm gasped, holding her throat, she fell to her knees, dying
quickly.

Snowbird took human shape and looked down as Storm gasped, dying,
drowning within her own blood.

"There could have been another way," Vindicator landed next to Storm.

Snowbird did not even turn around as she wiped the blood from her
mouth. "As you said, these are not the people we know."

"They're still people," Vindicator snapped back.

"No," Snowbird shook her head, still not looking back as she walked
on. "They ceased being human long, long ago. You do not have the
benefit of sensing their evil within them."

They stepped into the throne room, and there, upon the throne sat
Witchfire. Her long red hair, flowing to the middle of her back.
Small horns peered from the top of her head, yellow eyes peered
forward. A tail swayed back and forth.

Witchfire stood. "So you have finally come, have you?"

"Ananym," Shaman stepped forward. "I sense Belaco's influence within
you. You are stronger than he is. I've seen your true power
potential. You can fight him. You can beat him."

Witchfire's fists ignited. Her eyes flashed. Then she fell to her
knees.

Shaman reached into his pouch and rapidly threw dust onto Witchfire.
A circle of pure white light formed around her.

"Spirits of the North," Shaman raised his hands. "Purge that which
lies within her! Give her light of hope, and drive the darkness of
despair! Give her a chance to live as any person should live!"

She tilted her head back and screamed, then slumped forward, caught
by Shaman.

Weary eyes looked up, "Michael?"

"I am right here, Ananym," Shaman replied. "I am right here."

Looking around, ensuring his team had gathered around him, Shaman
then cast the spell to return to Earth.

[ Alpha Flight's Medical Center – Three Basements Down in the
Madison Home ]


Ananym laid in bed, with Michael tending to her.

"All the readings appear normal," Shaman concluded.

Ananym sat up. "Thank you for everything," her voice was soft and
compassionate.

"It is the least we could do," Shaman answered. "I am glad to see
that you are safe. So," he paused, "have you decided?" Though he
asked the question, he could see it in her eyes.

"Yes," Witchfire swung her legs over. "I am going to go and study
under Stephen Strange."

Shaman nodded, knowingly, and smiled. "I have already called him and
made arrangements. They will pick you up at the New York airport."

She slid off the medical bed and hugged Shaman. "Thank you again.
Just for… everything."

"Anytime," Shaman answered. "Anytime at all. I hope you find
whatever it is you're looking for."

"Me too," Witchfire smiled. "Me too."


[ In the Limbo ]

S'ym brushed himself off and shook his head. "I can't believe I had
to let that orange fuzz ball beat on me like that." S'ym turned his
head towards the shadows. "I assume you're feeling better, boss?"

Belasco stepped out of the shadows and sat upon his throne. "Yes.
Yes. Much better. You did an excellent job, S'ym. I will reward you
by sparing your life."

Belasco stared at his hands and watched them glow. "I have managed
to absorb power from both Amanda and Witchfire, my own daughter!
Now, I am infinitely more powerful than ever!"

Belasco tilted his head back and laughed.

The eerie sound echoed throughout Limbo.

Throughout space.

Throughout time.

And the shadows grew dark once more.


1. Witchfire left Alpha Flight in Alternate Marvel's Alpha
Flight #5: "Reborn."
2. Amanda apparently died during the Devil's Night Crossover in
Alternate Marvel's Uncanny X-Men #361: "The Devil Went Down To
Manhattan."
3. Sound insane? Well, it's true! Check out Alternate Marvel's
Uncanny X-Men #367: "Into the Limbo."
4. See Marvel's Most X-Cellent Limited Series, entitled MAGIK.
What Shaman speaks of happens in Marvel's Magik #3.
5. The New Mutants appeared briefly, in their car, into the
Limbo in Marvel's Magik #3. Apparently these versions of the New
Mutants did not manage to escape and became twisted versions of
themselves!


Well true believers! This is it for me and ALPHA FLIGHT – for now!
It's time that I pass the reigns off to Ken, who you might know from
the title he's doing for us here at ALTERNATE MARVEL called BLADE!
If you have not checked out BLADE, I'd highly recommend taking a
look over there!

What does Ken have planned for the members of ALPHA FLIGHT? You're
going to have to keep your eyes glued here! But I will give you a
hint! Expect to see the IMPERIAL GUARD, from the pages of UNCANNY X-
MEN! Expect some new characters to make their appearance here in the
pages of ALPHA FLIGHT, as well as expect a roster shake up! If that
isn't a hint that he's got some big plans that have not yet been
seen here under my run – well, then I don't know what else to tell
you! But look for nothing but good things here!

And if you're wondering about WITCHFIRE – you can follow more of her
adventures over in the pages of THE DEFENDERS, written by none other
than me!

Until next time, take care all of you!

Sincerely,
Tawmis


Special thanks to DMK's Alpha Flight website for giving me the
resources I needed when I was tired of flipping through my endless
pages of notes! Please feel free to visit DMK's website at:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Labyrinth/5525/