Son of the Goblin Queen

Part I "A Kiss Before Dying"

Florida's southwest coast is a familiar target for one of nature's most destructive forces. Winds of up to seventy-five miles per hour demolish everything in the hurricane's path. From the most delicate sawgrass to the sturdiest mangroves. Gentle manatees and savage alligators alike flee for cover from the storm.
And amidst this wildlife, two others battle the elements, seeking shelter of their own

"Cable, it's no use! The wind's all around us!" Lee screams over the howling fury of the storm.
"Just keep moving, Lee! There must be someplace we can hole up 'till this blows over!" Cable replies.
"I don't know where you're from, X-Man, but this is the Everglades. And there's not a heckuva lot out here but willow and cypress trees." Lee tells him.
Suddenly a huge tree trunk is lifted by the wind and flies towards Lee. Cable leaps in front of her and takes the brunt of the blow with his arm, snapping the tree trunk in two. Cable then erects a telekinetic shield to keep out the worst of the storm.
"Don't worry Lee, it's bark is worse than it's bite." Cable tells her.
"It's bark is worse than it's bite?" Lee asks.
"So, I'm not a comedian, and I'm not an X-Man." Cable replies.
"In that case, I'd better take the lead. And watch your step." Lee tells him.
Lee's warning comes a little too late, as Cable finds himself sinking fast into quick-sand.
"Cable!" Lee screams and tries to reach out to him.
"Your timing needs a little work." Cable tells her.
"Oh, My God! Quick-Sand!" Lee says.
"I know that, Lee. I could use some help here." Cable tells her, trying to calm her down.
"You're too far out! I can't reach you! Just lie flat on your back and remain calm!" Lee shouts.
Flat on my back I can manage, but remain calm? Easy for you to say. Find something to pull me out with." Cable tells her.
"Yes, of course. Okay...I'm looking." Lee says, searching madly for a branch big enough to support Cable's weight.
"Um, Lee? Please hurry." Cable says.
"Hold On!" Lee screams.
"Hold On? To what?" Cable asks.
"This!" Lee shouts, extending the largest branch she could find out towards him.
"Good. Now pull." Cable tells her.
"I..." *ERRGH* "...am pulling!" Lee shouts back. "How much do you weigh anyway?"
*SNAP*
"Ohhhh!" Lee screams, as she falls backwards.
"LEE!" Cable shouts.
"Cable, it broke!" Lee screams.
"Don't blame yourself...don't..." *BLUB* Cable sinks below the quick-sand.
"NATHAN!! NO!!" Lee screams, as the full force of the winds returns with the disappearance of Cable's telekinetic shield.

PLOOM

Soon, as the eye of the hurricane passes over, and evening starts to fall, Cable and Lee set out again to find shelter from what they both know will be coming soon.
"Look! Up ahead, in the distance." Cable tells her.
"I see it...a light!" Lee replies.
"And where there's light, there's life!" Cable says, as they approach the cabin.
"The door's open. Hello? Is anybody home?" Lee asks, knocking on the door.
"There is...if'n ya' wants ta' call me anybody!" The elderly man, sitting in an old rocking chair and puffing on a pipe tells them. "Mah name's Desmond, but folks 'round here jus' calls me Gramps. You two look s'though y' need ta sit a spell."
"Yes, we'd like that very much...Gramps." Cable tells him.

An hour later, as the storm again rages outside, Cable and Lee finish their meal of beans and cornbread as "Gramps" stokes the fire in the fireplace.
"Burn, wood, burn...wood that once was a tree, knowin' blossom n' sheaf, nest n' singin'. Fire's a lot like life, wouldn't ya say, Friends?" Gramps asks.
"How do you mean, Sir?" Cable asks.
"Ah mean, the fire which seems extinguished often 'nuff slumbers 'neath the ashes. But the more the fire's covered up, the more it burns. What fire sleeps 'neath yer ashen soul, Aleytys Forrester? An' what kinda' holocaust are you tryin' ta' cover up wit' more n' more flames, Nathan Dayspring Askani'Son? When two ragin' fires come t'gether, they consume th' thing that feeds their fury." The old man says with a grin.
Cable's chair crashes back to the floor as he rises and approaches the old man.
"Who are you? How do you know our names?" Cable asks, towering over the old man.
"You risin' t' intimidate me, Boy? This how you'd repay the hospitality of an old man?" Gramps smiles and extends his gnarled hand towards Cable, and suddenly Cable finds the entire room fading away. "Look at ya'! Y' can hardly stand. Is all this posturin' worth it? Must you sacrifice yourself wherever you go? Ah, but then again, you're no stranger to sacrifice, are you, Cable!"
Cable doesn't even notice the sudden disappearance of the old man's accent, for he finds himself in the most dreaded place on Earth, on the most dreadful day of his life.
"The Grand Canyon?!" Cable shouts, as he finds himself in the midst war once again. "NO! JENSKOT! TYLER! I won't let it happen AGAIN!" Cable screams, as he turns and runs back towards the camp.
"JEN!" Cable screams, as he catches sight of her. "I made it! It's not going t--"

BAARRROOOMMM

"Cable? Cable! What's wrong with you?" Lee asks, as she kneels by Cable in the floor of the cabin. "He looks so despondent. What did you do to him?" She asks the old man.
"Ahh, has my dear colleague been depressing you with tales of woe and misery again?" A tall slender man asks, as he enters from the storm. "He scares away more guests that way. Permit me to introduce myself, my name is Lucas, but folks in these here parts like to call me Sonny."
"Why, Sonny, I didn't expect y' here so...early." The old man tells him through gritted teeth.
"Of course not, Old Man. But I didn't want you to start the game without me!" The younger man replies, and then turns towards Lee, "You an' your frien' look plum tuckered out, Little Missy. Why don't'cha both jus' run along up t' bed?"
"Sep'rate rooms, o' course. Might not look right otherwise. Sharin'." The old man adds.
"Th-that'll be fine." Lee says, as she helps the still dazed Cable to his feet.
"Sweet dreams, Princess." The young man tells her with a huge grin.

Cable is silent, as Lee leads him to the bed and he is fast asleep before his head hits the pillow.
"Something's very strange here, Nate. There's something definitely wrong with those two men. But facing that storm again..." Lee reaches out and gently strokes Nathan's hair, "You look so sweet and innocent when you sleep...just like someone else I used to know." Lee leans forward and kisses him gently on the lips, and then rises and blows out the candle on her way out.

Cable jerks, bolt upright on the small cot, sweat pouring from him.
"Sounded like a scream. Better check it out. Find Lee and make sure she's all right." Cable thinks, as he rises and opens the door to his room and finds his heart suddenly pounding in his throat.
"Hello, Nathan Dayspring."
"Jenskot?!" Cable cannot believe his eyes.
"Oh, surely you haven't forgotten the wife you abandoned? Would you be happier surrounded by loved ones who have, in turn, abandoned you?" And before his eyes, Aliya transforms, "Like Redd Dayspring, the woman who raised you in your early childhood?" And transforms again, "Or Jean Grey, mother in spirit, if not in flesh." And transforms yet again, "And what about Rachel, your sister, who may never be born into this reality?"
As the figure of Rachel Summers transforms before him, Nathan feels a sudden calm settle over him. A serenity that he has known only a few times in his life, as he finds himself standing in the presence of the Mother Askani', herself.
"Be true to yourself in times of despair, Nathan. Your mind is your greatest gift." With this, Mother Askani'/Rachel reaches out and gently touches Nathan's cheek, still wet with the tears of despair, and reality restores itself around him.
"Mother Askani', I..." But Mother Askani' is there no longer.
Cable turns to find Lee standing in a daze behind him.
"Lee!" He shouts.
"Cable? Is it really you?" She asks as if waking from a dream.
"Oh, no! NO!" Lee suddenly screams, backing away from him.
"What's the matter?" Cable asks, and looks down to find himself clad in silver armor. "My God! He's turned me into Stryfe!"
"Who the heck is Stryfe?" Lee asks, still frightened by his sudden transformation.
"Quite simple, Ms. Forrester. He's Nathan's gene brother who had once integrated his consciousness into Cable's own. Witness the devastation that could occur should that event ever take place again." The old man says and changes reality with a wave of his hand.
"X-Force...dead at my feet! All because I didn't warn them! No! NOOOOO!! This isn't real! Stryfe was totally expunged from my mind by the most powerful telepaths on Earth. It can never happen again. Who are you?" Cable asks the old man.
"I think your girl-friend's already figured it out, because she and I have met once before! But her soul was so delightful that I came back for seconds! Such is the voracious appetite of D'Spayre!" The old man is gone, and towering over them is the true form of D'Spayre.
"Y' know something? I don't care! See what I'm doin' to this armor?" Cable asks, as he rips the armor from him as if it were paper. "Wait 'till I get my hands on you! Say g'night, Skeletor!!"
Cable rushes the demon, but D'Spayre meets his charge and with a touch, Cable stops dead in his tracks and falls to the floor.
"If you insist, Little Fool. I feed on living souls, Cable. And yours promises to be a rich repast." And D'Spayre laughs.
"I...live..I...fear..I..." Cable mutters on the floor.
"NO!! Stop It!! Why can't you just leave me, leave us alone?!" Lee screams.
"You must be joking! I have met some of your friends recently, the group known as Excalibur, and I am convinced that you have some of the greatest sob stories I've ever encountered! I could live off the nourishment you provide for years! Foolish girl! I've been playing you like a fiddle! Introducing elements of hope, then exposing them as mere illusions! Now ou have no idea where reality ends and illusion begins." D'Spayre tells her.
"C'mon, Cable! Get Up!" Lee shakes him, "I need to know what's real." Lee begins to sob.
"I thank you for your entertainment, 'Hero' I hope your lady companion serves me as well." D'Spayre laughs at the still muttering Cable.
Lee collapses on top of Cable's massive shoulders crying outright, and as her tears fall on Nathan's back he slowly grows quite and stops muttering, raises his head, pulls Lee close to comfort her and turns to face D'Spayre.
"No. You've pegged me all wrong, D'Spayre. I may feel fear, but I don't let that fear rule me." Cable tells him, and turns again to Lee, "Lee, listen to me. A wise woman, whom I loved dearly, once told me that you can't define yourself by what's around you. Be true to yourself and I'll show you what's real."
Lee stops crying at Nathan's words, and slowly leans in closer to him. He gently takes her face in his huge hands and returns her kiss with all the passion of life itself.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" D'Spayre screams, "This cannot be! THIS CANNOT BE!! I will end this charade NOW before it's--"
"Too Late!! You lose, D'Spayre! So, pay up." The younger man, Sonny, tells him. "Release them to me."
"NO! I'm not finished!" D'Spayre replies.
"Sorry, you had your chance. Now let the master take over. Your attempt to control Margali and the Winding Way failed. Just as you have failed again. You thought that you could overcome these two mortals with feelings of despair, but I believe I understand human nature more than a minor demon. After all, I've been studying it for over seven hundred years!" With this the figure of 'Sonny' transforms into a horned, red-robed figure, standing suddenly twenty feet high, who turns his back on D'Spayre to face Cable and Lee.
"Children, the time for fun and games is over. I am Belasco and our paths are about to cross, Son of the Goblin Queen. We have a mutual enemy that you may not be aware of." Belasco smiles down at them.
"Swell." Cable replies.

"I'm not finished with them yet, Belasco! I demand another chance!" D'Spayre screams.
"Have you learned nothing, D'Spayre? You have failed once again. Step aside." Belasco tells him.
"Never! As long as there is hope, there is D'Spayre!" D'Spayre screams, as he jumps to attack Belasco.
"Lee, while they're going at it, we're outta here." Cable tells her.
"Right behind you, Nathan." Lee replies.
"Um...this doesn't look like the way we came in." Lee says, as they come upon a long, winding stairway leading down.
At the bottom of the stairs is a single door leading out, but the sight that greets them upon exiting is not what they had expected.
"Lee, I think it's relatively safe to say that this is definitely not the way we came in." Cable tells her.
"Cable, what's going on? We ran into an old man's shack seeking shelter from a hurricane, but the old man turned out to be the demon D'Spayre and now the shack turns into this tower!" Lee replies.
"And the hurricane is now a swirling mass of God knows what. I'm not sure what it all means, Lee, but I intend to find out!" Cable tells her, as he observes the red mass of energy which passes for the sky in this place.
Sounds of a fierce battle continue to come from the tower they have just exited from.
"What do you think they're doing to each other?" Lee asks.
"I don't know, but I really don't think we should stick around to see how it turns out." Cable replies.
Suddenly D'Spayre is thrown out of a window near the top of the tower. He lands with a heave 'thud' at Cable and Lee's feet.
"You! Your pasts made it almost too easy! I know the depth of your pain and regret, of loved ones lost--" D'Spayre begins, but is interrupted by Belasco flying down to join them.
"Enough, D'Spayre. These two possessed the courage and compassion to find hope in one another. Hope that inspired them to overcome the greatest odds, even in the face of despair. I thought it might make an interesting prelude to have you meet, but time is running short and I have lost patience with this failed experiment." Belasco says and with a simple wave of his hand, D'Spayre fades away in to nothingness, screaming obscenities all the while.
"All right. Just what is going on here?" Cable asks.
"Ah, dear Cable, look around you. Quite simply, everything is going on. Welcome to the 'Nexus Of All Realities.' It's been expanding of late, and that concerns me. Which is why I have invited you here, Nathan Dayspring." Belasco replies with a grin of purest evil.
"Excuse me, Belasco, or whatever it is you call yourself, but I'm tired of these games! This little problem you're having with the Nexus is very sad, but I really don't see what I have to do with it." Cable tells him.
"Ah, I'm getting to that, young Nathan, and I do apologize for that little test I put you through. It was D'Spayre's idea, really. Ever since he read Faust, he thinks all demons do is play games. D'Spayre is a product of the Nexus, so why should he care if it swallows the Earth? It would only create more grief for im to prey upon." Belasco explains.
"Swallows the Earth? I should think you'd care!" Lee says.
"Let's put it this way, my dear, it's not the effect I care so much about, as it is the cause. The source behind all this is trying to upset the balance of power I have strived so hard to maintain. And I'm afraid I'm as much to blame as you are, Cable." Belasco's grin grows wider as he speaks.
"ME?" Cable asks.
"Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me explain. It began in a corner of the Nexus called Limbo, a domain I once ruled. Once upon a time I appropriated a girl named Illyana Rasputin to become my apprentice. I'm sure you're familiar with her. The Darkchilde grew up in limbo and eventually overthrew me, bless her sweet heart. But she relinquished her throne and Limbo fell under the rule of my former servant, S'ym. S'ym summoned his own servant, N'Astirh, to steal a number Earth's most powerful infants, to create a portal to Earth's dimension. You were one of those infants, Cable. Illyana and her team-mates, The New Mutants, thus returned to Limbo, where she was summarily defeated by S'ym. But N'Astirh challenged S'ym for the possession of Illyana, who by this time had allowed her Darkchilde persona to consume her. Remarkably, N'Astirh in turn conquered S'ym, but the Darkchilde hurled her Soul Sword back into Limbo, sweeping all the demons that had penetrated Earth back with it. Illyana also cast a spell which transformed her into a small child once again. Negating her existence as the Darkchilde. But N'Astirh remained on Earth, plotting to open a new portal between Earth and Limbo. To accomplish that, he awakened long-dormant powers within a broken and confused woman named Madelyne Pryor and transformed her into the Goblin Queen. You know her better as Mommy, Cable. A mother so in N'Astirh's thrall that she planned to sacrifice you atop the Empire State Building in an arcane ritual that would result in a permanent link between the two dimensions. You owe your life that day to the X-Men, who stopped Pryor. But your mother's death can be blamed only on the party who initiated the tragedy. I believe that same individual is trying to use the Nexus to once again link Limbo with Earth. And only the son of Madelyne Pryor can stop it." Belasco explains.
"Or facilitate it, if I'm captured." Cable adds.
"How do I hook up with these people?" Lee whispers to herself in amazement.

Hours later, as Belasco leads them ever deeper into the Nexus and the raging storm of energy grows ever stronger, Lee turns to Cable and breaks the long silence.
"Cable, why is Belasco Hardly fazed by this storm, while we're being buffeted around like birds in a typhoon?" Lee asks.
"Wish I knew. None of this makes much sense." Cable tells her, and turns to face the one-armed demon known as Belasco. "Hey, Lefty, hold up!"
"'Lefty'...? Do not presume too much with me, Cable, what lurks within the Nexus is fearsome indeed, but I warn you, I am no trifle!" Belasco tells him, as he grabs Cable by the neck and lifts him up overhead.
Cable lands a blow which knocks the demon lord back onto the ground.
"If that's true, Belasco, why do you need me?" Cable asks.
"Oh, foolish man, you have gone too far. My magic will....eh? How odd...my transmutation spell has no effect on you. You're immune to the effects of magic!" Belasco tells him.
"Well, isn't this my lucky day?! For the last time, what do you really want with us?!" Cable asks.
"You? Much, Cable. Much, indeed. As for Mistress Forrester, she makes for a delectable bit of leverage, wouldn't you say?" Belasco asks, as he turns his magic towards Lee and her mouth and nose disappear and she falls to her knees suffocating. "Pledge your services to me, Cable, or she smothers on her own flesh!" Belasco orders.
"Belasco, you piece of garbage! Stop it! Stop it! It's me you want not her! Alright, you win!" Cable tells him.
*GASP* "Y...you...should have...left me...be, Cable." Lee tells him.
"But he could not, Dear Lee. He is a noble fool from a family of noble fools!" Belasco tells her.
"Lee, are you all right?" Cable asks her.
"Fine. Terrified, but fine. Cable, don't do this! You're playing into his hands." Lee tells him.
"Not quite, Lee. Now that you have my attention, Belasco, are you going to tell us why an all-powerful sorcerer needs my help?" Cable asks.
"Oh, very well, if you're going to be so insistent. The Nexus is as much a product of magic as it is of science. Whatever's using it to create a dimensional rift is manipulating both." Belasco tells him.
"So? I'm not what you would call a man of science." Cable replies.
"No. But you are a product of science, aren't you? A human afflicted with a techno-organic incursion. You have an interesting heritage, Cable. I've long been watching you. Your name alone implies you are a conduit between mutant and human. Between present and future. And perhaps, just perhaps...between science and magic." Belasco explains.
Before Cable can comment on this Belasco is ingulfed in an explosion of fire with the heavy stench of brimstone and suddenly the huge, purple, cigar smoking demon known as S'ym is among them.
"Oops. Didn't mean ta interrupt yer speech, but I was gettin' bored." S'ym tells him.
"That voice...as I thought, you!" Belasco says, as he looks up at the huge demon before him.
"Hiya, 'Boss' long time, no see." S'ym laughs down at him.
"S'YM!" Belasco shouts.
"You were expectin' maybe Mary Poppins?" S'ym replies.
"You were defeated by N'Astirh, demon! By all the dark gods, you are like a boil that will not disappear! No matter, I can dispose of you as I would him." Belasco tells him, but before he can act S'ym backhands him back to the ground and places his foot on Belasco's head pinning him there.
"Yer an even bigger dope than Nasty was! This ain't Limbo, Belasco, and I ain't the same ol' S'ym I use ta' be! An' that means I ain't yer pet!" S'ym tells him.

"From what I remember, an X-Man wouldn't just stand by and watch someone get beaten to death." Lee says to Cable.
"I told you before, Lee, I'm not an X-Man." Cable replies.

"Okay, Belasco, who's he guy with the chippie?" S'ym asks, puffing on his cigar, "Izzat your champion who's gonna kick my tail back home?"
"More than a mere champion, S'ym, he is the son of the Goblin Queen!" Belasco replies, still pinned to the ground.
"Maddie? No kiddin'? Better go introduce myself." S'ym says, as he picks up Belasco and throws him aside like a discarded toy.

Cable stands his ground as the ten foot tall demon walks up to him and when S'ym is towering over him Cable looks the demon square in the eye, smiles and says, "Hi."
"So, you're the child of the Goblin Queen. I know time gets real weird in Limb, but I didn't expect you'd be grown already! No matter. Your death will still destroy the dimensional barrier separating Earth and Limbo, just like your dear mother tried to do." S'ym tells him.
"Madelyne Pryor's identity was not her own. She was manipulated until she no longer knew who she was." Cable replies through gritted teeth.
"Aww, don't get testy. Your mother, if you want to call her that, never knew who she was because she wasn't even a real person...so what does that make you?!" S'ym leans down low, cigar still in his mouth and exhales smoke straight into Cable's face, as he asks this last question and laughs.

"Oh, no, I don't like that look in Cable's eyes." Lee thinks, as she backs away.

"You're right, though, I put together the little fracas that led to her death." S'ym exhales another puff of smoke into Cable's face, "And yer about to join her--EH?!" S'ym exclaims, as Cable jerks the cigar from his mouth.
SSSSSSSSSSSSS
"AAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHH!!!!!" S'ym screams, as Cable puts out the cigar in S'ym's right eye!
Cable follows this up with a left jab using all of his awesome strength which sends S'ym reeling back.
"Are you through with the history lesson, S'ym? I think I've heard enough!"
Cable delivers a right-cross which sends several of S'ym's teeth flying in a bloody froth from his mouth.
"You think you know me because of Madelyne, but I've got news for you..." In a single fluid motion, Cable brings his right fist back and backhands the demon, sending another bloody fountain spraying in the opposite direction. "...you have no idea who you're dealing with!"
As S'ym reels from the last blow, Cable comes in with another right-cross, and is rewarded with a satisfying 'KRAK' as the demon's jaw breaks.
"This Limbo is highly over-rated! I guess garbage is garbage no matter where it comes from!" Cable says, as he swings his around into a spin-kick that Aliya had once taught him.
"OOPS" S'ym says, as he catches Cables foot and holds it, "You really put yer foot in it this time, Goblin-Boy." S'ym jerks Cable up by his foot and Nathan suddenly finds himself upside down and starring directly into S'ym's still bloody face. "You really want to see what a demon's capable of, do ya now?!"

The next several seconds are filled with awful sounds that Lee will remember 'till her dying day, and this time it is Cable's blood which flies through the air with each new blow. The awful meaty thuds finally stop and Lee opens her eyes to see S'ym holding Cable up, by the head this time, with his feet dangling a full four feet from the ground.

"What do you say now, Nate? It's been a joy, but now it's time to say goodbye." S'ym tells him.
"It's not gonna be that easy, S'ym!" Lee shouts, as she runs forward and beats on S'ym's back.
S'ym throws Cable aside and takes his index finger and flicks Lee on the chin, which knocks her back a full six feet, landing her flat on her back.
"Back off, Missy!" S'ym laughs, and turns back towards where he has thrown Cable. "Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, I was about to tear you limb from limb"
Cable smiles through bloody lips at the fast approaching demon, and through clenched teeth says, "Hey, S'ym, game's over!"
S'ym hadn't noticed the jagged edged log lift up into the air over to his right about twenty feet away. He does notice when said log impales him, through the chest. The huge demon falls forward, forcing the log through his body and leaving five of it's seven foot length standing straight up, through the center of his back. Cable stands and walks over to the dying S'ym.
"Don't be upset. You're not the first jerk to be taken down telekinetically in recent days." Cable tells him.
"Don't be...so..sure, Nathan. As..Belasco...found out..demons...are tough..to kill." S'ym replies, trying to get up from the pool of his own blood.
"I'll keep that in mind." Cable tells him, as he reaches down with his left hand, lifts S'ym up by the tuft of hair atop the demon's head and cocks back his right fist and smashes it into the demon's face, which sends S'ym flying in one direction and the log in the other.
S'ym lands with a dull, lifeless, thud and begins to melt away before Cable's eyes.
"Stab his eyes! He dissolved into dust!" Cable says.
"Don't look so surprised." Belasco tells him. "For reasons too complicated to go into, you offered precisely the right touch necessary to defeat him. This was most enjoyable! I offer you my most heartfelt congratulations."
"Stow it, Belasco! I lived up to my end of the bargain. Now close the portal." Cable tells him.
"Very well." Belasco replies.
"CABLE!!" Lee screams.
Cable spins around to find Lee holding to a small tree with the rest of her body straight up in the air, as she is being pulled into the portal.
"It's pulling me in! Hurry!" Lee screams.
Cable takes off at a run, and just as Lee is pulled free, Cable leaps into the air, grabbing the tree with one arm and Lee's outstretched hand with the other.
"Gotcha!" Cable tells her, and turns back to Belasco and says, "BELASCO! Close the portal now, or so help me, I'll--"
"Oh, please, stop your posturing. The portal is closed." Belasco replies and waves his arm.
Cable and Lee fall to the ground with the disappearance of the portal and the pull it had on them.
"Very generous, Belasco. Now maybe I'll think twice about mopping up the swamp with your face." Cable tells him, as he helps Lee to her feet.
"Now, now. Put aside your hostility. My little experiment worked. The threat of S'ym and Limbo is over, and the balance of power has been restored...for now. But I'll be watching you, Son of the Goblin Queen." Belasco says, as he disappears and reality is restored around Cable and Lee.
"The swamp! Everything's back to normal!" Lee says.
"Whatever that means." Cable adds, "Well, Lee, what's next? Have you had enough of the Everglades?"
"Cable, please, as much fun as this has been, I've got a life to get back to." She tells him.
"Yeah, guess you do. I've got a few people myself who are waiting on me, and since the psionic disruption of my psi-link with Professor has worn off, I can drop you off anywhere you'd like." Cable tells her, as he takes her hand in his and initiates the Body-Slide. A moment later and the swamp is empty and devoid of any sign that anyone had ever been there.

Our Journey Continues With
Shadows

Return To

Go to the Site Index For a complete mapping out of this site. From here you may jump to any point in the Askani'Son's history that you wish.

This page hosted by