Chapter 101

  Arc 7 - Ch 18: The Cerebro Sword

  Date: Thursday, September 1, 2011.

  Location: Limbo

  A sudden wave of dizziness hit Tyson. He stumbled, losing his bance for a moment.

  Illyana's expression turned serious. "Being in Limbo is starting to affect you." Tyson's frown deepened as he steadied himself. "It's time for us to leave. I've let you stay too long."

  "If I absorbed a demon, would it fix this? Allow me to stay permanently?"

  "Probably," she admitted. "But you're so handsome. Absorbing a demon would ruin you." Her tone was half joking, but there was a genuine concern beneath her words.

  Tyson nodded sagely, pying along. "True, but I wouldn't absorb just any demon. It would have to be something worthwhile, something strong."

  "Oh god, no Chesme, please," Illyana groaned in mock horror.

  Tyson ughed. "I was thinking more like the Vilsteth," he said, recalling the formidable demon that had accompanied Azazel. It had been strong enough to fight both Colossus and Wolverine simultaneously and escape unscathed.

  "You've thought about this. You came up with that too fast." Illyana accused before shaking her head, "Fat chance of that. Vilsteth is elusive. Even I don't know where it is and rarely encounter it. But when you come to Kamar Taj, it's something we can explore."

  Tyson agreed reluctantly, the reality of their situation settling over him like a heavy cloak. The idea of leaving this sanctuary, of facing the world and its challenges once more, filled him with a touch of mencholy.

  Illyana sensed his hesitation. She reached out, taking his hand in hers. "I don't want to send you away," she said gently. "I love you, and this time with you has been incredible. I missed you so much. But remember, you can't hide away here. This was your respite, a brief escape. It cannot become what you are."

  "I know. It's been great. You, and this was just what I needed."

  They sat silently for a moment. Tyson's mind wandered to the world beyond Limbo. He thought of his friends, the House of M, and of the threats looming on the horizon. As much as he wished he could stay, he knew Illyana was right. He couldn't hide away, no matter how tempting it might be.

  She raised her hands, preparing to summon a portal that would take them back to Earth, but Tyson's voice halted her.

  "Wait," he said, his tone thoughtful. "There's something I want to do before we go."

  Illyana lowered her hands, curious as she watched Tyson. With a gesture, he called upon his ferrokinesis. A rge chunk of adamantium, salvaged from the Alkali Lake facility, rose from the block and began reshaping itself under his will.

  The adamantium took form, molding itself back into the body-hugging armor Tyson had created before their sparring match. The metal wrapped itself around Illyana's body. It conformed perfectly to her curves, creating a second skin of delicate, yet impenetrable adamantium chainmail.

  As the armor settled into pce, Illyana noticed a particur detail. "I see what you did here," she said, her fingers tracing the high neckline of the top. It ended in an almost choker-like turtleneck, reminiscent of the colr Tyson had conjured during their battle and left on during their passionate encounter.

  His lips twitched as he fought to hold back a smile. "Just a little reminder of me."

  Illyana rolled her eyes, but he didn't miss the slight blush that colored her cheeks. Unable to contain his grin any longer, his face broke into a warm smile. "There's one more thing," he said, his expression growing more serious. "Will you take me to Limbo's heart?"

  She wasn't sure what Tyson had in mind, but she trusted him. "Of course."

  With a fsh of light, they vanished, reappearing moments ter inside the Promethium chamber.

  Once again, he called upon his ferrokinesis, maniputing the remaining adamantium he had brought with them. The metal responded to his will, stretching and shaping itself around the Promethium. Illyana watched as Tyson crafted an intricate mesh around Limbo's heart. The adamantium formed a protective barrier. However, Tyson didn't fully enclose the heart, allowing the energy to flow while still providing protection.

  As the st of the adamantium settled into pce, Tyson turned to Illyana with a question. "Did it cause any problems?"

  Illyana closed her eyes and reached out with her senses, feeling her connection to Limbo and the dimension as a whole. After a moment, her eyes fluttered open. "No. Everything feels normal."

  Relief washed over Tyson's face. "Good," he said, satisfied. "Now Limbo is protected, just like you are."

  "I don't know what to say."

  "You don't have to say anything," he said softly. "I just wanted to ensure that even when we're apart, you are safe."

  His gift settled over her like a warm bnket. He hadn't just gifted her with impenetrable armor; he had extended that same protection to the very heart of her realm. The gesture spoke volumes about his care for her, his understanding of her connection to Limbo, and his desire to safeguard both.

  "Thank you," she whispered.

  They stood there basking in the glow of the Promethium. As they prepared to leave, Illyana took one st look at the protected heart of her realm. The sight filled her with a sense of peace and security she hadn't realized she'd been missing. She teleported them back to the cottage, and Tyson walked through the salvage. It was all organized neatly, but he looked around as if searching for something.

  As she walked beside him, Illyana felt like Tyson protecting her heart was right, but it felt a little off. She trusted him more than anyone else. She loved him. And he had just locked her heart away behind unbreakable adamantium, protecting it.

  But as she thought about it, she did not want her heart locked away. She wanted him to have a piece of it because her heart belonged to him. Still, she could feel a piece of limbo inside him; it was always there from the first moment they touched, but it was small.

  "You have given me so much protection. But what if I want to give you something in return?"

  Tyson gnced at her with his silver gray eyes. "You already have."

  She shook her head. "Not enough. Not like what you gave me."

  Before she could eborate, Tyson stopped walking in front of a collection of metal sheets and stared at it.

  "Is something wrong?"

  Tyson gestured at the sheets. "These are the metal panels from the Cerebro that Strucker created." He knelt next to them and pced his hand on them.

  "I can feel them," he murmured. "Like they give off a sense of… not quite consciousness, but I can feel some kind of psychic emanation from them."

  Illyana knelt beside him. She pced her hand next to his but felt nothing unusual. "What does it feel like?"

  "Like whispers just low enough you can barely hear them," Tyson replied distantly. "Like the memory of thoughts."

  He began separating the Cerebro sheets. There were three piles in the end, but one was far smaller than the others.

  "These give off the strongest sense," Tyson said, indicating the smallest pile. "I think they were the original panels stolen from the Cerebro at the institute. They're saturated in psychic energy."

  Illyana watched as he reached for his adamantium sword. The weapon responded to his magnetic pull and flew to settle comfortably in his grip.

  "What are you doing?"

  "If gaming has taught me anything, it is that this is a rare material, and I should not let it go to waste," Tyson replied with a hint of a smile.

  Illyana raised an eyebrow. "You are going to add it to your sword?"

  The question hung in the air as Tyson examined the bde in his hand. "Cerebro was a psionic amplifier for Professor Xavier. With it, he could touch the minds of everyone on the pnet at once. Maybe if I add this metal to my weapon, it can enhance my psionic ability."

  "Wait," Illyana said, her voice cutting through Tyson's concentration.

  Tyson halted immediately, his hands hovering over the Cerebro panels and his sword. He looked up at her, questioning.

  "Grab the panels. Come with me," she instructed.

  Without question, Tyson had his sword adhere to his back using his magnetic abilities. The bde settled against him as if it had always belonged there. He gathered the Cerebro panels in his arms and could feel the metal humming with tent psychic energy against his skin. Illyana reached out and gripped his shoulder firmly. A fsh of light enveloped them, and when the light faded, they stood once more before the heart of Limbo, standing before the Promethium pulsing behind its adamantium cage.

  "I forged the Soulsword in Limbo," Illyana said. "I didn't know what I was doing then, but it's a part of me, as much as it's part of Limbo, as much as Limbo is a part of me. We're inseparable." She gestured toward the heart, the Promethium. "I want you to have a part of me, too."

  Tyson looked back at his sword, then at the Cerebro panels in his arms. His gaze shifted to the heart of Limbo, pulsing with power and possibility, before finally returning to Illyana's face.

  "Are you sure?" he asked. The implications of what she was offering weren't lost on him. This wasn't just about enhancing a weapon; it was about a connection, a bond.

  "I didn't trust Victor," Illyana said, her face hardening momentarily at the mention of Doom before softening again as she looked at him. "But I trust you. I know you won't take enough to hurt me or hurt Limbo."

  Tyson's expression remained hesitant. Illyana's lips curved into a small, encouraging smile. "It's an ultra rare material," she added, a pyful glint entering her eyes. "Imagine the magic weapon you could create."

  Tyson snorted. "That sounds so weird coming from you," he said, shaking his head. But his face grew pensive again, considering the possibilities before him. "How did you create your Soulsword?" he asked, genuinely curious. If he was going to do this, he wanted to understand the process.

  Illyana answered hesitantly as she recalled memories from long ago. "I'm not sure. I was young, it was more instinct than any set understanding. I just did what I felt like I should do, it's not like I know how bcksmithing works." She shrugged. "I just made it. All those games you py, you should be able to figure it out."

  Tyson nodded thoughtfully. He had absorbed knowledge of magic from various sources and had learned from Agatha, but creating a magical weapon was something else entirely. Yet, as Illyana suggested, perhaps instinct and intent could guide him as much as knowledge.

  He walked over to the heart of Limbo. Using his ferrokinetic abilities, he commanded the adamantium cage to part, creating an opening just rge enough for his hand to pass through.

  The energy emanating from the Promethium intensified as he got closer, washing over him in waves. Tyson reached in, feeling the pulsing of Limbo's heart against his skin. It wasn't hot or cold, but it tingled with a sensation that defied description.

  He carefully scooped out a small piece of the Promethium, roughly the size of a ping pong ball. The material felt solid yet soft, like cy, even without the use of his power. As he withdrew, Tyson used his power to smooth out the area where he had taken the sample.

  The adamantium mesh reformed at his command, sealing the heart of Limbo once more behind its protective barrier. Tyson stepped back, cradling the small piece of Promethium in his palm. It glowed with an inner light, pulsing in time with the rger mass from which it had been taken.

  Tyson pced the Cerebro panels on the ground and set his adamantium sword beside them. He then carefully positioned the piece of Promethium between them, creating a triangle of materials, each powerful in its own right. The Cerebro panels hummed with psychic energy, remnants of countless minds touched by the machine's power. His sword, forged from adamantium, was virtually indestructible. And the Promethium, a piece of Limbo itself, pulsed with raw energy.

  Tyson closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses, both physical and those enhanced by the powers he had absorbed. He sought that instinctual understanding Illyana had described, that feeling of rightness that would guide his hands in this creation.

  The piece of Promethium seemed to respond to his focus, its glow intensifying slightly. He reached out, hovering his hands over the three components, trying to figure out how to forge them together, how to create something that would be more than the sum of its parts.

  He looked to Illyana and thought of her Soulsword. It was part of her soul, a part of her, just like Limbo. Tyson would need a part of himself.

  Blood Magic.

  Blood was part of him, and it was the source he'd been using for his magic. But he'd only learned four runes from Agatha. Protection, Defense, Disruption, and…

  Self.

  That felt right.

  Tyson knew that he needed to use the Rune of Self the moment he thought about it. With a wave of his hand, he split the adamantium sword and reformed it into a few simple blocks. The metal responded to his will, flowing like liquid mercury before solidifying into geometric shapes that hovered before him.

  "What are you doing?" Illyana asked, watching his methodical movements with interest.

  "Creating something new," Tyson replied, his voice soft with concentration. "Something that's truly mine."

  He carefully took one of the cerebro panels and began molding it into a rod. His movements were painfully slow, as he maniputed the metal with extreme precision. The psychic energy within the panel was delicate, and he could feel it fluctuating with each adjustment he made.

  "I need to preserve the psionic properties," he expined. "If I push too hard or too fast, I might lose what makes this special."

  Illyana remained silent, allowing him to focus on his work.

  Tyson combined all the panels methodically, folding them over and over like he imagined a bcksmith would. With each fold, he discarded portions that cked the psychic charge he sought, keeping only the material saturated with psionic energy. The process was tedious, requiring both precision and mental focus as he attuned himself to the subtle vibrations within the metal.

  "The folding concentrates the power," he murmured, more to himself than to Illyana. "Like focusing a lens."

  After what felt like hours but might have been minutes in the timeless realm of Limbo, Tyson had a single rod, densely charged with all the psionic energy from the panels. The metal hummed with potential, the whispers of thoughts now a constant, almost musical tone that only he could hear.

  With careful manipution, he shaped the rod into a rough handle shape with a core protruding from it, forming the base shape of a sword.

  "Now for the binding," Tyson mumbled.

  He extended the adamantium cw on his pointer finger. Without hesitation, he pierced the palm of his opposite hand. Blood welled from the wound, dark and rich with life. Tyson dipped the tip of his cw into the pooling blood. With careful, deliberate strokes, he began carving the Rune of Self into the Cerebro metal. The blood sizzled as it made contact with the psionic material, seeming to sink into the metal rather than sit upon its surface.

  "The rune represents identity, essence," Tyson expined as he worked. "It binds my self to the weapon, making it an extension of my will rather than just a tool."

  He carved the rune multiple times, pcing it strategically along the length of the handle and the core that would form the bde's spine. Each time, he refreshed the blood on his cw, needing to reopen the wound.

  The adamantium blocks hovered nearby, waiting for their purpose. Tyson gnced at them, envisioning how they would form the bde, crossguard, and reinforce the hilt. The unbreakable metal would provide the physical strength and the cutting ability, while the Cerebro material would channel his psychic abilities. The blueprint was beginning to take shape within his mind's eye.

  But as he turned his attention to the piece of Promethium, Tyson hesitated. The glowing substance seemed to call to him, promising power beyond his current understanding. It was raw magical potential, the essence of a dimension distilled into physical form. He reached for it, then stopped.

  He looked at the Promethium, then back at his hand.

  "My blood won't be enough," he whispered, knowing instinctively it was true.

  Illyana stepped closer, her eyes questioning. "What do you mean?"

  Tyson gestured to the Promethium. "This is pure magic, the essence of Limbo itself. This is different. This is dimensional energy in its rawest form."

  The Promethium was the key to creating something truly extraordinary. Tyson knew his blood wouldn't be enough. He needed something more, something that could bridge the gap between himself and physical representation of the power of Limbo.

  The components of his would-be weapon y before him. All the pieces were there, but he needed a final binding, a spark that would unite them into something greater.

  The realization struck him with sudden crity.

  "A Soulsword needs a soul," he murmured.

  Illyana tilted her head, watching him with curious eyes. "Yes. That's why it's called a Soulsword."

  Tyson looked up at her, understanding dawning in his silver-gray eyes. "The runes I carved bind the sword to my body, my blood, my physical self." He gestured to the blood-inscribed Cerebro handle. "But this..." He held up the Promethium. "This is something else entirely. It's almost metaphysical in its makeup."

  The small piece of Limbo's heart pulsed in rhythm with something deep inside him, calling to that fragment of the dimension that had taken root within him the first time he and Illyana had touched.

  "Could it bind the sword to my soul?" he wondered aloud. Then, with a furrowed brow, he added, "How do I even bind my soul to anything?"

  "What does your instinct tell you?"

  Tyson closed his eyes, contempting his unique power. The ability to absorb others' powers, memories, and essence through touch. It wasn't just abilities he took; it was deeper than that.

  "I copy portions of people's souls," he said slowly, opening his eyes to meet Illyana's gaze. "If you and even Azazel could feel the fragment of Limbo within me, that means I have a piece of every soul I've touched within me."

  "Da."

  Tyson looked down at the Promethium in his hand. "Then I need to give this weapon a piece of me. Not just my blood, but my soul."

  He settled into a cross-legged position on the ground, the components of his future weapon arranged before him. The Cerebro handle with its blood runes, the adamantium, and the Promethium all waited for his next move.

  "I need to focus."

  Illyana stepped back, giving him space, though her eyes never left him.

  Tyson closed his eyes and let his consciousness sink inward. He delved into his mind, past the surface thoughts and straight into the deepest parts of his subconscious, where the White Room had previously existed. The mental ndscape materialized around him, no longer the stark white emptiness it had once been. Now, it was a vast space divided into distinct sections, each one a sanctuary for the fragments of souls he had absorbed. He could see the areas he had created for Rogue, Magneto, Healer, Sabertooth, and Jason Stryker, each space reflecting something of their essence.

  But he wasn't here for them. He was here for himself.

  In this space, he was a mental construct, yet still, he closed his eyes once more, focusing on the core of his being. "I need to find my soul," he whispered.

  Tyson concentrated, feeling for that essential part of himself, that indefinable spark that made him who he was. Gradually, he became aware of a warm glow emanating from his chest. Not physical light, but something felt rather than seen, a presence that was unmistakably his essence. With deliberate movements, Tyson reached toward his chest with his free hand. There was no physical barrier to overcome in this mental realm; his fingers passed through his shirt and skin as if they were mere projections, which, in a sense, they were. He felt no pain, only a strange sensation of connection as his fingers penetrated deeper.

  Inside his chest, he found what he was seeking. Not a physical heart, but something more fundamental. A swirling nexus of golden energy shot through with threads of blue, green, brown-amber, and silver-gray.

  This was him, his core, his soul.

  "There you are," he whispered.

  Carefully, Tyson grasped a small portion of this swirling energy. It felt both solid and intangible in his grip, warm and alive with potential. He knew instinctively that he couldn't take too much without risking himself.

  Slowly, he pulled his hand back, drawing out a small piece of the energy. It pulsed in his palm, maintaining its connection to the rger whole within him even as it separated. This was his essence, a part of his very soul held in his hand.

  Tyson brought his hands together, the piece of his soul in one palm, the projection of the Promethium he held in the 'real world' in the other. With a sense of finality, he pressed his palms together, merging the fragment of his soul with the piece of Limbo's heart.

  The sensation was unlike anything he had experienced before. It wasn't painful, but it was intense. The Promethium absorbed his soul fragment, its colors shifted slightly to incorporate the golden glow.

  When he opened his hands, the Promethium remained, but it was changed. It now pulsed in perfect synchronization with his heartbeat, and when he focused, he could feel his connection to it. It was now bound to him in the most fundamental way possible.

  Soul to soul.

  Tyson opened his eyes in the physical world, finding himself still seated before the components of his weapon.

  "I did it."

  Illyana knelt beside him, her eyes wide as she observed the changed Promethium. "What did you do? I can still feel it, I can feel you."

  "I gave it a piece of my soul," Tyson replied, holding up the glowing substance. "Now it's bound to me, just as your Soulsword is bound to you."

  "That's amazing," Illyana said as she stared at the glowing Promethium in Tyson's palm. She had given him a piece of her realm, a piece of her heart, and he'd given it a piece of his soul. What he held was incredible, and she could feel how incredible it was on a deep level. But her emotions and the sensation were tempered by her pragmatism. "You don't have much time. You were in your head for nearly a day again."

  Tyson nodded resolutely. "I'm almost done."

  He turned his attention back to the components id out before him. The Cerebro handle with its blood runes waited, along with the hovering blocks of adamantium and the soul-infused Promethium. Now was the time to bring them all together.

  Tyson pced the Promethium against the Cerebro core that extended from the handle. The soul-infused material seemed to recognize its purpose, molding itself around the psionic metal like a living thing seeking connection. The Promethium spread along the length of the core, creating what would become the spine of the bde.

  "The Promethium wants to be part of this," Tyson murmured, watching as the material adjusted itself without much guidance from him. "It's responding to my intent."

  Illyana watched silently, her eyes tracking every movement of his hands and the materials before him.

  "Wait," she interrupted suddenly. Raising her hand, golden light left her fingertip as she drew in the air, creating a symbol.

  A straight line with a triangle protruding from its midpoint. "Gateway," she expined.

  Her finger moved again, crafting another symbol. This one formed a line with an 'X', its upper right point connected to the top of the line.

  "Love."

  The third symbol emerged more complex than the others. A central line sprouted tripongs at its peak, while triangles adorned both sides. The right triangle's summit bore two additional triangles, forming a 'B'-like shape. On the left, lines framed the triangle like a less-than '<' symbol. Four dots marked the corners of an imaginary square encompassing the entire form.

  "Home," Illyana said softly.

  She summoned her Soulsword and, in one swift motion, she drew the bde across her wrist. Blood immediately seeped from the cut.

  "Use my blood," she offered, extending her arm over the components of Tyson's forming weapon.

  Tyson reacted quickly, positioning the Promethium beneath her wrist. The blood fell in thick drops onto the soul-infused material. He began carving the symbols Illyana had shown him, allowing her blood to fill each groove and line.

  The runes took shape under his careful attention.

  Gateway,

  Love,

  Home.

  As the st drop of blood filled the final symbol, Tyson reached out and grasped Illyana's wounded wrist. Drawing upon Healer's absorbed power, he sealed the cut, leaving no trace of the injury behind.

  Illyana settled onto the ground beside him to recover. The newly inscribed runes pulsed with a subtle golden light, simir to the ones she had drawn in the air. Once the Promethium had settled into pce, Tyson turned his attention to one of the adamantium blocks. Using his ferrokinetic abilities, he began to reshape the unbreakable metal, thinning and stretching it into an intricate ttice pattern. The adamantium flowed like liquid mercury under his command, forming a complex network of strands and connections.

  "This will protect and strengthen the core," he expined as he worked. "The ttice allows the energies to flow while providing structure."

  With meticulous care, Tyson wove the adamantium ttice around the Promethium-covered core. Creating such delicate structures from adamantium required intense concentration, especially when working with the psychically charged Cerebro metal and the soul-infused Promethium.

  "The ttice is complete," he said finally.

  What y before him now was the skeleton of a sword. The handle of Cerebro-metal, carved with blood runes, the core covered in glowing Promethium, all encased in an intricate adamantium ttice that allowed glimpses of the power contained within.

  Tyson reached for the second block of adamantium. "Now for the exterior."

  This part required less finesse but more raw power. Tyson commanded the adamantium to flow around the ttice structure, encasing it completely. The metal responded, spreading like a wave over the framework he had created. He shaped it deliberately, forming the cssic lines of a sword with a straight, double-edged bde.

  The crossguard took shape under his guidance, extending outward from where the bde met the handle in a simple but elegant design. The pommel formed st, adding a solid counterweight that banced the bde perfectly.

  When he was finished, the sword appeared almost ordinary at first gnce. A longsword of polished silver metal with clean lines and perfect bance. But a closer look revealed subtle differences. The metal had a depth to it, and there was a faint glow emanating from within, visible through microscopic seams in the adamantium where the ttice allowed the Promethium's light to shine through.

  Tyson examined the pin bde. It wasn't bad. The longsword was functional, banced, and powerful.

  But something felt off. It didn't feel like him.

  "What's wrong?" Illyana asked, noticing his furrowed brow.

  "It's not right," Tyson replied, turning the sword in his hands. "This is supposed to be an extension of myself, but it doesn't feel like me."

  If this was a reflection of his soul as a physical weapon, it needed a little more pizzazz.

  He closed his eyes, letting his mind drift back through memories of training, fighting, and the weapons that had felt natural in his hands. When he'd trained at Chikara Dojo, he used a bokken most of the time, but he'd also trained with live weapons. There were so many swords to pick from, but which felt right?

  The answer came to him in a fsh of memory. The weight of a shorter bde in his hand, the perfect bance, the clean lines. He thought back to the st time he'd truly trained with a sword, that night he was ambushed by the Hand after leaving Chikara Dojo. He'd been training with a ninjato. A single-edged sword, simir to a katana, but shorter and straight.

  "Damn, I remember how much I loved that sword," Tyson murmured, opening his eyes with newfound crity.

  Illyana tilted her head, watching him with curiosity. "So change it."

  He held the longsword before him, focusing his ferrokinetic abilities once more. The adamantium responded to his will, the metal flowing and reshaping itself in his hands.

  "The ninjato is shorter," he expined as he worked, the bde contracting from its original length. "About two feet long, give or take. Single-edged, with a straight bde."

  The double-edged longsword began to transform, one edge fttening and thickening to form a spine while the other remained razor-sharp. The straight bde maintained its form rather than taking on the gentle curve of a katana, and the length shortened.

  "The handle needs to be long enough to hold with two hands," Tyson continued, extending the grip while maintaining perfect bance with the shortened bde.

  The crossguard morphed into a rectangur tsuba, simple but effective at protecting the hands. Tyson added subtle details to the guard, incorporating another rune he knew, the Rune of Protection.

  "The kissaki, the tip, should be straighter than a katana's," he muttered, refining the point to a deadly sharp angle that maintained the ninjato's characteristic straight profile.

  As the sword took its new shape, Tyson felt a surge of satisfaction. This felt right in his hands. The ninjato was a practical weapon, designed for quick, direct strikes rather than the sshing arcs of a katana. It was a fighter's bde, meant for close quarters.

  "This is more like it," Tyson said, his voice filled with approval as he held up the transformed weapon.

  The spine of the bde was thicker, while the edge tapered. The Promethium glow was more pronounced now, visible through a deliberate pattern of small openings in the adamantium that ran along the ft of the bde.

  The pommel took on a simple but elegant form, a solid weight that banced the bde perfectly. Within it, Tyson shifted the bde's inner workings so a small amount of the Promethium created a focal point that pulsed at the base of the handle.

  When he was finished, the ninjato was a work of art as much as a weapon. The handle fit his grip perfectly, comfortable in his palm.

  "Now that," Tyson said with satisfaction, "feels like me."

  He gave the bde an experimental swing, feeling the perfect bance and the way it cut through the air with minimal resistance. Despite its retively short length compared to many swords, it had presence. But Tyson wasn't finished yet. "It needs one more binding," he said, extending his adamantium cw once more. He dug it back into his palm and fresh blood welled up. Dipping his cw into the blood, Tyson began carving the Rune of Self into the exterior of the sword, starting at the pommel and working his way up the handle and onto the bde itself.

  Each rune sizzled as it was completed, the blood seeming to sink into the shallow adamantium runes. This was blood magic at work, binding the weapon to him on yet another level. Physical, mental, and spiritual, the sword was becoming an extension of his very being.

  With the final rune, Tyson felt the connection to the weapon strengthening. He turned his attention to the bde's edge. This would be the most delicate work yet, requiring precision beyond what most smiths could achieve. But Tyson wasn't limited by traditional tools or methods. His ferrokinetic abilities allowed him to manipute the adamantium at a molecur level.

  "Now for the cutting edge," he murmured, focusing intently on the bde.

  Drawing on what he had learned from thinning metal to cover his skin, Tyson began to work the edge of the weapon. He commanded the adamantium molecules to align perfectly, creating an edge that grew progressively thinner. Layer by yer, he refined the edge, pushing the limits of what was physically possible. The edge became so thin that it seemed to disappear when viewed head-on, visible only as a perfect line of light when caught at the right angle.

  It might not be a true monomolecur bde, but it was the closest thing he could create with his abilities.

  Tyson held the ninjato up to the light, admiring how the Promethium glow seeped through the intricate patterns he had created in the adamantium. The weapon was beautiful, deadly, and intimately connected to him.

  But still incomplete.

  "It's almost perfect," he said, lowering the bde. "But there's one more element it needs."

  Illyana stepped closer, her eyes tracing the glowing patterns along the ft of the bde. "What else could it need? It's already bound to your blood and soul."

  Tyson smiled, remembering the first time he had seen Illyana's Soulsword in action. "Your sword has properties beyond just cutting, doesn't it? It disrupts magic, prevents teleportation."

  "Da. It can sever mystical bonds, disrupt spells, even prevent dimensional travel."

  "That's what I need. This bde needs to be more than just a physical weapon. It needs to be effective against whatever threat I'm facing."

  He examined the edge of the bde, considering his approach. The cutting edge was already refined to near-molecur thinness, but the inner structure still had room for modification. The ttice framework inside would allow him to add one more yer of enchantment without compromising the bde's integrity.

  "I need to add runes along the inner edge," Tyson expined, already focusing his powers on the interior of the bde. Using his ferrokinetic abilities, Tyson peered into the molecur structure of the adamantium, visualizing the ttice framework that supported the Promethium core. With careful precision, he began to create microscopic etchings along the interior of the cutting edge, invisible to the naked eye but present in the bde's very structure. "These runes need to be perfect," he muttered, as he concentrated.

  Illyana watched in fascination as Tyson worked. To her eyes, nothing seemed to be happening, but she could feel the subtle shifts in magical energy around the bde.

  "What rune are you using?" she asked, her voice hushed.

  "Disruption," Tyson mumbled without breaking his concentration.

  As each microscopic rune took form within the adamantium ttice, he felt the bde's nature shifting subtly. It was becoming more than just a physical weapon; it was evolving into a tool specifically designed to combat supernatural threats. The process was exhausting, requiring a level of precision and concentration beyond anything Tyson had attempted before. Maniputing adamantium was difficult enough; creating intricate patterns while maintaining the bde's structural integrity pushed his abilities to their limits.

  "One st thing," Tyson said.

  Drawing on the connection between the Promethium in the bde and the fragment of his soul, Tyson commanded the glowing substance to flow into the newly created runes. The soul-infused material responded, filling the microscopic etchings and binding the enchantments permanently into the weapon's structure. As the Promethium settled into pce, the glow intensified briefly, then stabilized at a slightly higher level than before. The runes were now an integral part of the weapon, powered by Tyson's soul and the heart of Limbo.

  With a deep exhale, Tyson released his concentration, letting his awareness return fully to the physical world. The strain had been immense, and he felt drained, but the result was worth it.

  "It's done."

  Illyana reached out, her fingers hovering near the bde but not quite touching it. "May I?"

  Tyson nodded, carefully handing the weapon to her hilt-first. "Be careful. It's sharper than it looks."

  Illyana took the ninjato with reverence. She held it up, examining the craftsmanship and feeling the weight and bance.

  "It's perfect."

  She gave it an experimental swing. Then, she waved her hand and created a golden, shimmering spellform directly in front of her.

  As soon as the edge of the bde touched, it sliced through the spellform like it was a physical thing, severing it. Illyana's eyes widened in surprise and approval.

  "It works," she said, handing the weapon back to Tyson. "The disruption runes are effective."

  Tyson accepted the ninjato, feeling the connection between himself and the weapon strengthen as it returned to his hand. It felt right, as if he had been meant to wield this specific bde all along.

  "You've created something unique. Your own Soulsword… What will you call it?"

  "Every great sword has a name," he said, turning the weapon over in his hands.

  "A weapon names itself through its deeds. Perhaps you should wait until it has drawn first blood."

  Tyson nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe. But I feel like it already has a name, waiting to be discovered."

  The name of a weapon was important, especially one created with such personal investment. It needed to reflect not just what the bde was but what it represented to him.

  "I was just going to call it the Cerebro Sword."

  Illyana snorted. "That cks imagination."

  "I know." The sword felt alive in his hands, an extension of himself in the most literal sense.

  He closed his eyes, reaching out through the soul connection to the weapon in his hands, seeking the identity that seemed to hover just beyond conscious thought. The bde pulsed in response.

  "Nexus," he said suddenly, the word coming to him as if the sword itself had whispered it.

  "Nexus?" Illyana repeated, testing the word. "Why that name?"

  "A nexus is a connection point, a pce where different things come together and interact. This sword is exactly that. It connects different realms, different powers, different parts of me." He gestured to the components that made up the weapon. "The adamantium comes from Earth, specifically from Alkali Lake, where I was tortured and where adamantium was bound to my bones. The Promethium comes from Limbo, your realm. The Cerebro metal is doused in psychic energy, which comes from a realm beyond the physical."

  Illyana nodded. "I can see that."

  "But it goes deeper," Tyson continued. "This sword connects my physical abilities with my psychic ones. The adamantium responds to my ferrokinesis, the Cerebro metal to my psionic power, and the Promethium to my soul. It's a nexus point where all my powers combine."

  He gave the sword an experimental swing, feeling how it cut through the air with minimal resistance despite the density of its materials. "The Cerebro components might even allow it to serve as a focus for my illusions, just as the original Cerebro connected Xavier to mutants worldwide. A different kind of nexus."

  Tyson paused, his gaze softening as he looked at Illyana. "And in a way, it connects me to you. Through the Promethium, through Limbo, through everything we've shared and built together."

  "It's a Nexus in every sense of the word. A connection point between realms, between powers, between people. Between what I was, what I am, and what I'm becoming."

  The name felt right, settling into pce with the same certainty he felt when he'd reshaped the longsword into a ninjato. This weapon was Nexus, a focal point for everything that made him who he was.

  "Nexus," Illyana repeated, her voice soft with appreciation. "It suits the bde. And it suits you."

  Tyson nodded, feeling the rightness of the name resonate through him and the sword alike. "Nexus it is."

  As if responding to its naming, the sword's inner light pulsed once, brighter than before, the Promethium glow intensifying momentarily before settling back to its steady rhythm.

  Illyana stepped closer, her eyes fixed on the bde. "May I touch it again? Now that it has a name, now that it's complete?"

  Tyson nodded, holding the sword ft across his palms, offering it to her. Illyana reached out, her fingers hovering just above the weapon for a moment before making contact. As her skin touched the metal, her eyes widened.

  "I can feel you," she whispered. "Stronger than ever before. It's like touching your soul directly."

  Her fingers traced the length of the bde, following the patterns where the Promethium light shone through. "And I can feel Nexus too, as if it has a presence. Not separate from you, but not entirely you either. Like an extension, a manifestation."

  "What does it feel like?"

  "Power," she answered immediately. "But controlled, focused. Like the difference between a bonfire and a ser." Her fingers continued their exploration of the bde. "And there's something else."

  She withdrew her hand reluctantly, her eyes meeting his. She pced one hand on his chest, directly over his heart, while her other hand rested lightly on Nexus where he still held it. "I can feel the connection. From your heart, to your soul, to the bde. A perfect circuit."

  The intensity in her eyes deepened as she leaned in, her lips finding his in a kiss that started gentle but quickly grew passionate. Tyson felt the connection she spoke of, a circuit of energy flowing from him to the sword and back again, with Illyana somehow part of that circuit now too.

  "I can feel you stronger than ever," she murmured, her voice husky. "And I can feel Nexus too. It's like having another sense, another way to perceive you."

  "We should test it," he said. "See what it can do."

  Illyana's lips curved into a smile, but it quickly faltered as Tyson stumbled against the rough stone wall. His skin had taken on an arming pallor.

  "It's time to go. You've been here too long."

  Tyson nodded, his grip tightening on Nexus as another wave of dizziness washed over him. The sword's glow pulsed erratically, matching his uneven heartbeat. "How long has it been?"

  "Two weeks, give or take," Illyana replied, moving swiftly to support him.

  A part of Tyson would remain with her forever, she knew. Just as his essence now lived within the adamantium bde, it had also carved itself into the adamantium that protected Limbo's heart, her heart. And within Nexus, a portion of both their souls resided, bound together in metal and magic and memory.

  "Hold tight," Illyana whispered. "I'm taking you home."

  Behind the Scenes

  - In the comics (X-Force Vol 6 #2), after Professor X is killed, Magneto takes the remnants of the Cerebro helmet and fashions it into a sword.

  When I started working on what weapon(s) Tyson would use for this story, I created a list of swords from Marvel, and there were lots of options. I narrowed it down to… ten. Muse wasn't originally on the list, but became a natural progression of the story. The Cerebro Sword wasn't my first choice, it wasn't even top 5. But after writing Chapter 100, using a pin adamantium sword didn't 'feel' right. It was okay temporarily, but with all the salvage from Alkali Lake sitting there, the pieces came together into something more.

  Coming up with a list of Ten Swords is me fulfilling my obligation to leave threads for my future self to pick up as this story progresses. Comic fans might know why, specifically.

  - The sword being named Nexus, has one other unsaid meaning.

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