Rex relaxed just an iota. Sam was no longer adopting the threatening posture of before. Rex noticed the warmth from his spell was not being overriden by Sam’s elemental control. No men of ice were forming around them, and there were no more threats.

Thank you Mary and all the saints. Samuel had not succumbed to the temptation of fear and torture.

The woman in Rex’s hold started answering anyways. While it seemed as though she’d been acting earlier when accusing Rex of trying to kill her, she was sold on Cold Steel’s willingness. Rex frowned, which only deepened after Cold Steel snarled and left, acting on the information and leaving Rex alone with the woman.

What was he to do with her? He had no doubt that she’d cast more magicks the moment he deactivated his sword. Perhaps he could--

An explosion interrupted his thoughts. “Cold Steel!” Rex shouted. Sam was already in another room but that massive THUNK Rex heard didn’t sound good.

That settled it.

Rex let go of the sword and it vanished. Now it was no longer preventing the woman from accessing magic, but it was also no longer immunizing her to magic either. With his free hand landing on her forehead, he rapidly recited, “There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.”

A red glow emerged from his hand as energy flowed into the woman and began altering brainwaves. Alpha waves were suppressed, theta and delta waves took center stage. Then the woman fell asleep and slumped in Rex’s arms.

Rex gently set her on the floor even as a migraine lanced through his head. From his experiments with the spell, he was lucky a migraine was all he now faced from using it. It was hard learning how to use magic, but in situations like this, it was worth the time and even the pain.

Then Rex ran over to find Cold Steel. “Sam! Are you okay?” Rex barked.

”****ing magic.” Sam groaned. Most of his armor took the brunt of the impact but the damage to his front where the trap exploded was pretty obvious. Ice started to cover burns that were exposed. Wincing in pain he looked down to gauge how much damage.

His toes moved first, then his legs. Fingers next and arms. Everything hurt. It was a small explosion. One that his ice mostly withstood. Mostly. His shoulder was covered in a burn and his shirt around the chest had patched holes in it. The skin behind it blackened with soot. He’d see Doc later. The pain now was motivation.

>>>“Sam! Are you okay?”

”I hate magic.” he said pushing himself out from impacted drywall and broken studs. Thankfully this house seen some years. Water logged, meaning everything was softer... well it could have been softer. ”Where she at? I want to thank her.” he coughed from the impact expelling his lungs to catch his breath.

His thermal sense reached out. His head hurt. ‘Hard to focus. Concussion?’ he thought as he stood upright. Slowly his thermal sense came back on line. She was downed. Meaning Rex put her to sleep. It didn’t matter how. There was a trap. She could have been aware of it.

Placing his hands on his knees he shook his head and took a second. ”That hurt. Need a drink.” he said in response to Rex’s question finally. ”You good?”

The groaning was a good sign. Sam was able to string words together. Rex nodded as the man in shattered ice pulled himself out of a wall. He cast a practiced medical eye over Cold Steel. Wounds, burns, coughing. Unlikely anything was broken. Ice absorbed most of the damage and neutralized the worst of the explosion. The man was lucky.

”Don’t worry where she is,” Rex said sternly, unconsciously placing himself between Cold Steel and the door back to the room where the woman slumbered. His arms were loose and at his sides, still radiating warmth but ready to call on fire if needed.

Rex watched Sam’s recovery for a moment longer. ”I’m fine,” Rex said. ”We need to move. Are you able to pursue the last target?” If he wasn’t, that was going to be an issue. Rex didn’t want to leave the man alone with the people in the house - he wasn’t sure they’d remain alive. Sam had always struck him as an upright, solid man, used to fighting his demons and winning. Rex knew that nobody was perfect, though, and even good men could fall to temptation.

Perhaps he could put Sam to sleep as well….

>>>”Don’t worry where she is,”

The icemancer glared at his A.A. buddy for a moment then gave up on it. Rex said not to worry about her. Fine. He’d thank her later. Maybe she could be held in Mirror world till they finished tracking down all of her friends. Worked for Afoie.

”Can I pursue the last target.” Sam was still a little woozy from the explosion but stood up straight. ”Not the first time something blew up and sent me through a wall. Child’s play.” he might have been overconfident in his ability to work through pain and head injuries but that was only because he was doing it since he was a kid. T.A.T.M.A.H. was good like that.

”I’m going to take the window though.” he said raising a hand to form an ice clone. One that was supposed to look like Sam but had some facial features distorted. Something he clearly wasn’t focusing on. Side effect of the concussion. It dove out of the nearest window towards the back of the house.

There was no explosion this time so Sam leapt out after it.

”Find them!” he said more to the clone than anything. It took Sam a bit longer than usual to form the chill front he pushed out but the grass froze instantly as he passed over it killing it in the process. His control was off, he didn’t notice it.

Sam ran towards the tree line behind the house where it was supposed lead to the next block where the car was supposedly waiting.

Rex was slower in following Sam. He was used to kicking in doors, not diving out windows. He carefully crawled out the window, suddenly wary of using the back door in case another trap had been left behind. By then, Sam was already a rapidly shrinking figure as he ran off with an iceman in pursuit of the van. Rex took off after them, muttering a verse as he went.

"The Lord is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. The Lord is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path," he said. Two fireballs burst into being in front of his knees and they began zooming along, just off to the side, casting firelight upon the ground in front of him. The trail of frost was easy to follow but at night in a poorly-lit neighborhood, Rex couldn't risk falling.

Rex was worried. Worried for Sam. The mutant didn't seem quite as focused as usual. A bit off. Rex was worried for the last cult member. If Sam found him first, something terrible might happen. Rex was also worried for the victim. What a hellish end that could be. He sped up, fire burning before him.

Frost and ice spread forward like a frozen wildfire. The icemancer wasn't going to lose the hostage. They almost had her too. Magic. All because of magic. He hated it. It was too unpredictable. He couldn’t plan for it and now because the concussion he was now sporting he couldn't think straight.

Two figures were ahead, he felt them. One was misshapen or at least it felt that way. Was it because of the concussion or was it a spell or something else the last cultist had done to himself. It didn’t matter. The one who was being dragged felt warmer. Like they’ve been struggling all this time.

A pillar of ice shot out under his foot sending him flying, the clone followed launching itself into the air after Sam... only in a forward direction. Sam seemed to drift to the side a bit. Was his angle off? No, that couldn’t be right. He corrected himself in midair with a slide and then charged onto the van that was open. One man was trying to push the hostage in the back, rusted doors were open and the woman screamed. “Let me go!!!! Please! I don’t want to die!”

Sam landed on the van with a loud thud indenting the top of the vehicle. ”Last warning! Down on the ground! Hands behind your head. No magic!” the clone landed behind the man and held it’s hands up, cold and blue surging from it’s hands thanks to it being so close to the source of Sam’s power. Himself.

Part of him wanted the man to start casting. If the trap on the door wasn’t the woman’s they left behind it was his. Sam had to thank someone.

Rex winced as he crossed under one of the few working streetlights in the neighborhood. The light stabbed into his eyes and deepened the migraine. That sleeping spell had been so tricky to work out in the first place. Rex had gotten the idea from Dr. Cama's grimoire, but the doctor's spell was mostly based on manipulating hormones and brain chemistry. Despite al of Rex's attempts, he just simply couldn't replicate those spells.

Instead, everything he did seemed to revolve around energy of one type or another. Thermal, radiant, kinetic. It made sense to him. He could make progress with those areas. So Rex had taken the fundamentals of Cama's spell and warped them into some for of encephalography technology, altering brainwaves to produce a similar effect. It had been taxing and ridiculously hard to figure out, but Rex had done it. He now had a nonlethal way of incapacitating someone momentarily. He didn't know how to do it without getting a splitting migraine at the same time.

Rex frowned as he approached the van. He saw Sam's aerial movement but for some reason it seemed off to Rex. More steps than Sam normally took, from Rex's assessment of the man. Sam wasn't one to play around. It was worrying, but it could be assessed later.

With fireballs hovering in front of him, Rex came to a halt several yards out from the van. "I'd advise you to listen to him," Rex barked. Then he began reciting another verse and soon his sword of pure light reappeared in his hands, a longsword held out in preparation to slice any magic that came his way or to be ready to neutralize the man's magic if Sam could distract him long enough.

“It- it was incomplete! The sacrifice hadn’t been made!” the knife the man wielded moved towards the terrified woman and the temperature dropped a few degrees. “The others... we’ll get them back and try again!” he spun when he heard Rex approaching. “Stay back! We are getting in the van and leaving and you will let me go! I have a hostage!”

The icemancer growled under his armor and took a step silently forward on the top of the van. The weight shift would have alerted the man if he wasn’t busy keeping everyone at a distance. He was clumsy, didn’t see the patch of ice on the ground behind him. One that Sam laid out while his back was turned.

”Can your demon regrow a head?” Sam asked stalling for Rex to finish drawing the magic sword. The one that could dispel the cultist magic. Sam reached up, blasted the knife when the mystic was turning towards him. It hit the man’s hand and the woman’s ear in the process and the both screamed.

Was his aim off? His head hurt. Maybe it was messing with his aim. He didn’t have time to respond to what had happened because he was already moving off the van diving to the cultist who turned towards Sam at the last second muttered a spell and sent the icemancer who was in midair flying backwards in a small explosion.

Right before he was hit again, Sam muttered ”Come on!” he hated magic, even as he was launched back fifteen feet. The clone charged and grabbed the man’s other hand and started to melt onto him freezing the cultist in place.

The sword in Rex's hand was like a ray of sunlight, spilling pure white light all over everything. While it wasn't as powerful as the sun itself, it was more than enough to light up everything around them. He dismissed the fireballs, as their lights didn't quite compare to the one in his hand and he really didn't need extra active spells. The pain in his head was already enough.

From his vantage and with the light of his sword, Rex could clearly see Sam's actions. Rex didn't even blink. Now to figure out the optimal placement for himself--

Events moved rapidly. Ice blasted knives, there were screams, and even as Sam lunged forward, Rex started charging toward the cultist, sword ready to skewer. Then a burst of magic knocked Sam away and the woman screamed again.

Rex made it to the two just after a man of ice froze itself to the cultist and formed frozen container around him. Rex stabbed his sword through the man's head just as he started uttering another word and Rex could feel energy draining from him as his blade grounded out the magic in the man.

At the same time, Rex yanked the woman away by her bicep, spinning her a bit in the process. Dazed, confused, terrified, sure, but right now he needed her away so the iceman wouldn't freeze her too.

In his next breath, Rex let go of the woman and stepped up to the cultist who was now screaming invectives. He withdrew the sword from the man's head as he slapped his other palm on the man's forehead and reached for magic once more, "There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.” As before, pain sharpened in Rex's head and this time he grunted, but the cultist's eyes glazed over and then he slumped, immediately falling into enchanted sleep.

This time he was ready for it. The explosion launched him, ice rapidly shifted towards the point of origin of the explosion and worked its way up resolidifying the armor. At least it wasn’t a shockwave, the ice would have been next to useless.

Landing in a roll he stumbled and then fell on his side wincing as he felt another shock to the body. The burns from the first explosion lit up causing pain where they were located. ”****!!!!” he grunted out through gritted teeth. He was alive, the pain told him that much. It was also momentary, Doc could heal him. His head swam and the icemancer looked up to see... Rex with a fire sword in the guys head.

Did... Rex just stab a guy in the head? Good. One less cultist mystic. The world needed less of it. At least now he didn’t have to repay the favor for hitting Sam with the same explosive spell twice. A third time would have just been embarrassing.

”She alright?” Sam asked grunting and pushing himself up, the armor fell around him revealing his burns and injuries. ”He dead?” Sam staggered over to the pair and looked to the woman. ”You’re safe. Rex saved you.” he pointed to Rex and then placed his hands on his knees and threw up.

”Hate magic.” he muttered as he finished.

Rex stepped back to inspect his work. Good. The cultist was motionless, even if Rex's head was pounding in pain. He grunted and opened his hand, naturally putting and end to his sword of the spirit and the brilliant light vanished. The darkness and coolness of the night settled on him refreshingly to his eyes.

He watched Sam return and Rex's frown intensified as not only did Sam's receding ice reveal a slew of injuries, but his remark struck something deep in Rex. The firefighter nearly bristled in response. "He's asleep," he said painfully slowly. "I will not kill."

Rex stared after Sam as he proceeded to vomit, before condemning magic. "I agree," Rex said with a nod. Sam was in terrible condition and had been through a lot. "We need to get you to a doctor. Does the doctor at the mansion still work there?" he asked.

Then he turned to the woman. "Are you okay?"

She blinked at him and then started talking fast. "Oh my god! oh my GOD! They were going to kill me! OH my god! Oh my god! I was going to die! I was going to die so some sick, twisted cult freaks could try to bring the devil here! OH my god! oh my god! Oh my god!"

Rex held up a hand and spoke in a low voice. "I know, I know, it's all over now," he said. "Is there somewhere safe you can go? I can recommend a few places. We can take you to the police as well - I'm sure they'll need to take your statement to help ensure all of these people get what they deserve."

The icemancer still dizzy from everything looked back to the apparently asleep cultist. ”Fair enough, just... you stabbed a guy in the head.” he said pointing at him. His hands still on his knees. When Sam stabbed people in the head... there was no coming back from that. The demon was proof.

Wiping his mouth and standing up he waved it off. ”Doc will patch me up just fine.... her?” he was alive, and moving. That was enough for him. He could get back to the mansion. Or call for a ride if he couldn’t make it there but that was something to be dealt with later. Now he was focused on the former hostage.

She seemed in shock still but Rex was handling it. ”Already on it.” he said tapping the wrong ear as he spoke. ”This is Sam Joh-” he shook his head and tapped the other ear where the radio was. ”This is Sam Johnson of the X-men. I need an ambulance and a few squad cars at...” he spotted the street signs nearby. Half of it was missing but he managed to figure it out and explain what happened.

When he was done calling it in he looked back to Rex and the woman, ”We’ll wait with you. No need to worry about... whatever it was they were trying to summon. Took care of it.” he said a little proudly. Sam Johnson... Demon slayer.

Rex frowned again at Sam, but then his gaze softened and he nodded. "The sword was nonlethal," he explained. "It cuts magic and mentalism, not flesh or materials." The optics of the spell hadn't occurred to Rex before. Then again, hadn't Sam seen Rex previously impale the chain-casting woman with the sword yet still talk and behave in an unharmed fashion?

The man definitely had a concussion.

Rex guided the woman to a nearby bench as Sam called the authorities. He began a cursory examination of her to see if there were any obvious wounds or conditions, but so far she seemed fine. Shaken, deeply so, a little banged up from her capturing and getting trussed up, but so far nothing more severe. She'd likely benefit from some counseling but Rex, with his lack of resources, saw nothing out of the ordinary. Sam was a completely different matter.

"Sit down, Sam," Rex said. "Let me take a look at you. You're injured. I believe you are concussed as well." The paramedic fixed the X-Men with a no-nonsense stare.

A non lethal sword.... sounded useful. Then again any sword was non-lethal it depended on the one to wield it. At that moment even in his concussed state Sam got a glimpse into who Rex really was as a person. It reminded him a bit of Mirror. They were the best a reminder who he was and what he was okay with. His swords, while they protected people were also okay with killing.

”I want one.” he said finally after nodding his head not sure if it was possible. Maybe he could store magic in an item for Sam to use later? Could come in handy. Cutting magic...

”I’m fine...” Sam said at first then reluctantly sat on the curb as he caught a glimpse of Rex’s stare. ”Make sure she’s fine first.” the icemancer shot a beam of blue into his hand and then offered the woman some ice for the bruises she acquired until the other paramedics arrived. Not that there was anything wrong with Rex’s once over but he didn't’ have the tools to handle anything more serious.

”I am.” to both. The burns would be healed by Doc, along with the concussion ”We got the healer on standby at Haven. I’ll be fine once I make it there.” he said looking down at his chest which was burned in a few spots. There was also a piece of door still lodged into his shoulder. Just deep enough to cause some irritation when he moved it.

Sam spoke, but now that Rex was specifically looking for it, it sounded to him like Sam's voice was off kilter. Still, he wasn't delusional nor did it sound like there was cognitive damage, however minor. He shook his head. "It's not worth it," he said simply. In a world where magic (at least a power source that was being called magic) was emerging, it was bound to elicit fear and uncertainty, much liked when mutants became public knowledge mere decades prior. Having something that could level the playing field undoubtedly seemed advantageous, but if only Sam knew what Rex had been through for a sword like that.

As a consolation prize, it wasn't much.

At least Sam was aware of his condition. "She'll be okay," Rex said as Sam passed over an ice...pack. "Right now I'm more concerned about you. How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked, holding up three fingers.

The woman started shivering and Rex realized she wasn't wearing a coat. Sam was probably going to be annoyed by what Rex was about to do, but not everyone here was naturally immune to the cold December air. "Behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”

A small bush, not quite two feet high slowly sprouted from the ground about four feet away from the woman. The bush was made of solid fire and was covered in flames, radiating light and heat enough to combat with the wintry chill, yet not an undue burden on Rex and his current migraine. He himself was also grateful for the heat.