Teleportation. It makes sense, given what they already knew about Illyana's circumstances. But then to be fair, they hadn't known whether her vanishing and then reappearing in the Red Room Dormitory was of her own volition or not. Judging by the ease with which she summons the rapidly spooling pool of glowing light beneath her feet though, they now have confirmation.
Thaddeus won't deny being a little disappointed that she's just going to leave like this, but maybe it's for the best in the end. Neither he nor Emma had any intentions of trying to hold Illyana against her will, after all. If she wanted to leave, then that was her choice and they weren't going to try to stop her.
This in and of itself seems to give Illyana pause, however. She frowns slightly at their inaction… and then suddenly smirks in a manner that sends a chill down Thaddeus' spine.
"Thaddeus!"
Emma's shouted warning comes too late, as does the realization that the bright glow filling Thaddeus' vision isn't just coming from under Illyana's feet anymore. No, rather, it's coming from under his too. Too fast for either him or Emma to react, the ground opens up under him and swallows him whole at the same time that it does Illyana.
There's a sensation like falling for a split second, and then he's landing on his feet, steadying himself so he doesn't drop back on his ass or anything. Illyana is there too, but 'there' is no longer the place where he and Emma had woken the blonde mutant up. Instead, they're both somewhere else entirely… a dark, dimly lit gothic fantasy throne room, from what Thaddeus can see.
Illyana hums as she slowly turns in a circle.
"… Everything seems to be in order…"
Thaddeus' jaw clenches.
"What do you think you're doing? Send me back, now."
Turning to him, Illyana just smirks. But before she can respond, the doors to the throne room abruptly open up and they both turn in their direction. What Thaddeus sees beyond those open doors can only be described as a hellish wasteland of rock and plumes of fire and not much else.
Of course, the purple skinned likely-a-demon complete with tail, oni horn, and red eyes doesn't help that vibe much either. At least the demon looks as shocked to see them as Thaddeus is to see him, eyes widening as they fall upon Illyana.
"Mistress! You've returned…"
Thaddeus glances back to Illyana to see that the blonde has moved over to the throne and sat her pert behind down on it, smirking as she crosses one leg over the other.
"That's right S'ym. I'm back. Close the doors and attend me, will you? I have questions."
He rankles at being ignored, but admittedly Thaddeus is a little too curious for his own good. Obviously, he needs to find a way back to Earth sooner rather than later, but at the same time… well, this is all very interesting, isn't it?
Plus, would Lady Luck have allowed him to be brought here if it was truly detrimental to him? And Illyana was acting like she was the Queen of this place or something. Was this where she'd been all these years? In Hell or some equivalent?
The demon, this 'S'ym', does as he's told, closing the doors to the throne room behind him and coming forward to stand before Illyana upon her throne. Silence reigns for a moment before Illyana scowls.
"Kneel."
Thaddeus notes a reluctance in S'ym's posture even as he slowly drops to one knee and bows his head. Trouble in paradise? How had Illyana gone from a six year old captured by the Red Room to twenty-something and ruling over demons, exactly? He imagined there was quite the story there…
"How long have I been away, S'ym?"
"… Days, Mistress."
Well now, that was a lie. Thaddeus considers staying quiet for a moment, but when Illyana doesn't immediately call her servant out on it, he figures it's a way to get himself back into the conversation.
"He's lying."
Both Illyana and this S'ym fellow look over at him, with the purple demon snarling as he rises to his feet.
"And who are you to-gah!"
Thaddeus watches as Illyana clicks her tongue and does something clearly magical, pointing her massive glowing sword at S'ym and binding him to the floor once more. The purple demon is forced back to his knees as a result of whatever spell Illyana just used.
"He is my guest. And he's right, you just lied to me. You should know the cost for lying to me by now, S'ym. I spent plenty of time carving it into your flesh inch by inch. Do I need to give you a reminder?"
Through gritted teeth, the demon snarls.
"No… Mistress…"
"How long has it been? And what have you been plotting in my absence?"
Thaddeus watches as S'ym struggles against his bindings for a moment, seeming loath to answer. He also watches as Illyana's eyes narrow at this display of silent defiance. Rising from her throne, the blonde strides forward and plants the tip of her large, glowing sword against S'ym's chest, causing him to go abruptly still.
"You know what the Soulsword can do to you, S'ym."
Leaning forward, Illyana presses the aptly named 'Soulsword' an inch into the demon's chest. Flesh sizzles and S'ym howls for a moment before speaking.
"Years! You have been gone for years! We did not think you would return! I thought to become ruler of Limbo in your absence and have been working to gather support!"
There's a pause at that as Illyana grunts consideringly. Then, she pulls the Soulsword back, leaving S'ym panting in relief, still bound on his knees. That relief doesn't last long though… as a moment later, Illyana Rasputin swings her sword through the demon's neck, relieving him of his head and life right then and there.
Thaddeus raises both eyebrows at this, watching on as Illyana scowls down at the demon's corpse.
"… Should have done that ages ago. Fucker."
He can't quite help the bemused snort that leaves his nostrils at that. This, of course, draws Illyana's attention back to him, but Thaddeus stands his ground.
"This kidnapping doesn't seem to be going the way you intended, Illyana. Why exactly did you bring me with you?"
For a moment, she looks uncertain, biting her lower lip and looking off to the side. Then, she seems to find her nerve again, giving S'ym's body one last kick before stomping her way back to her throne and sitting down upon it as she glares at Thaddeus.
"I have questions for you, Thaddeus Cummings. Questions about the X-Men. You said you had communications with some of them. Which ones, exactly?"
Thaddeus frowns, hesitating for a moment. But in the end, it can't hurt too much, right?
"The ones I'm the most involved with are Talon and Mercury."
When that doesn't seem to register one iota of recognition in Illyana's eyes, he continues on.
"Following them, I suppose I'm also fairly involved with Shadowcat and Storm at this point."
Those names, on the other hand, get a much more pronounced reaction. Illyana's eyes widen and she snarls as she rises from her throne.
"What? That's not possible! Cat and Storm are dead!"
Dead? Thaddeus furrows his brow in confusion. He's already figured out that time between wherever they are now and Earth is fuck-y as all hell. Things don't make sense. But he definitely doesn't think Storm and Kitty have died when he wasn't looking. Or at least he hopes not anyways. On the other hand… his eyes widen slightly as he starts to put two and two together.
"Where exactly are we right now? Limbo, that was what the demon called this place right?"
Illyana tenses up, eyes narrowing into slits as she looks at Thaddeus.
"… Yes. This is Limbo. Formerly ruled by the demon known as Belasco. Until I killed him and usurped control of this realm myself, becoming Limbo's Sorcerer Supreme in the process."
Thaddeus nods, that tracked with what he was thinking right now.
"And this realm… is a different dimension entirely?"
"I… yes?"
"Then I have reason to believe that the Cat and Storm you're talking about don't come from the version of Earth that we just left behind."
Illyana looks flummoxed by that, blinking owlishly. So Thaddeus just shrugs and explains his reasoning. It's based on his own experiences, after all.
"I've had experiences with alternate realities in the past. One time, I wound up fucking two of the same woman because her mutation caused an alternate version of her to stumble through a portal into our bedroom right before we could do the deed. I fully believe that Storm and Shadowcat are alive and well in my dimension… though of course, we can always go back to Earth right now to check on them if you want."
That causes Illyana to narrow her eyes at him suspiciously.
"… You just want me to take you back to Earth."
Thaddeus narrows his eyes right back though.
"I fully expect to be returned to Earth sooner rather than later, Illyana Rasputin. Especially considering that I've done nothing but try to help you so far. If you intend to keep me in Limbo for any prolonged length of time, then we're going to have a serious problem on our hands."
Illyana stiffens, face coloring as she looks mulish for a moment. Thaddeus decides to capitalize on her indecision, stepping forward.
"If all you want is to know more about the X-Men, then fine. Let's go check on the ones you think are dead right now."
For a long moment, the blonde hesitates. Then, she shakes her head.
"That's… not all I want. Follow."
Thaddeus frowns harder at that, but in the end he follows Illyana out of the throne room and down a hall. He can't help but wonder what this is all about. The blonde had stolen him away from Earth for a reason. The X-Men were one thing. If she really had known alternate versions of Kitty and Ororo, and they had died on her, then Thaddeus could imagine why she might want to know more about the people they'd told her about.
Although… the fact that she didn't even seem to care about her brother was a little weird. But then again, she'd been stuck in Limbo for how many years? So maybe that made sense, all things considered. Still, what more could she want from Thaddeus specifically? Where was she leading him right now? And why was she walking so stiffly?
Finally, they arrive at their destination… a large, gothic bedroom complete with a four poster bed, a vanity, and a few other pieces of furniture. Thaddeus looks around the place curiously, even as Illyana turns to face him.
"You deserve a reward."
… What.
"You saved me like a princess trapped in a tower. Who knows how long I would have been stuck in that coma if it wasn't for you? So… I want to give you something."
There was no way, right?
Except… yep. Illyana reaches up and begins to remove pieces of her black leather ensemble, stripping right then and there while staring him down as if daring him to protest. He doesn't. He's too flabbergasted by all of this to say a word. Plus being far too inured to sex in general at this point to be embarrassed or flustered by a single naked woman.
Illyana Rasputin though… she's hiding quite a lot under that outfit of hers. More than he's expecting considering it was already showing a lot of skin to begin with. Still, much of the scarring, a lot of the curves, and some of the muscle had all been hidden behind the black spiky leather.
No more. She's laid bare now before him and she's staring at him hungrily.
"I want to give you… me."
It was just all so… cliché, wasn't it? And more than a little awkward. Thaddeus wasn't against the idea to be fair… especially since unbeknownst to Illyana, if they fucked then he was going to wind up with a copy of her powers, which should allow him to teleport back to Earth of his own accord.
… Was this why his Luck Powers allowed Illyana to kidnap him without a single protest? Because they knew she was horny for him? Still, what sort of woman went from a coma to kidnapping to propositioning someone in under an hour? Well, the ruler of a hell dimension might be that sort of woman.
And yet, there's also something… twitchy about Illyana. She's putting on a strong face and it's not like Thaddeus can read her mind, but he's been with a lot of women at this point. He can read most of them like an open book and Illyana isn't much different.
Is she a virgin? The thought strikes Thaddeus like a lightning bolt, but once it's in his mind it won't go away. And the more he stares at Illyana Rasputin, the more he thinks it's the truth. This woman standing before him, this Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo… has never been with a man before.
"Well? What are you waiting for? I'm giving you permission to have me however you like. Are you going to lie and say you aren't interested? I already know you don't bat for the other team, Thaddeus Cummings."
Good god, now he could hear the desperate twinge in her voice. She's some kind of virgin slut hoping to lose her virtue under the guise of giving him a 'reward'. This is so very different from the picture of Illyana he'd had in his head.
Especially after he just watched her mercilessly lop off one of her demonic subjects' heads for plotting against her.
… Of course, there's no doubt that he's going to take her up on the offer. He's most definitely going to fuck her for her powers at a bare minimum. The only question was, how exactly was he going to do it? What would she enjoy the most? Or perhaps more importantly… what would HE enjoy the most?