章節 55: Battle In The Limbo (Part 01)
Disclaimer: I own nothing. This history has no interest in offending any party. Having the sole objective of only entertaining the readers. Enjoy~
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"There's no other way to go but forward."
- Sabito, Kimetsu no Yaiba
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Recap: In the last chapter, Eidolon and the rest dived on Limbo to search for Illyana. They explore this new place, Eventually discovering that she already spent years on it. Now, they're on the way to Belasco's city to the final confrontation.
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A.N.: Well, well.
Webnovel has a limit of 20k words by chapter. What a bummer. So this first part will have 13K. I stopped in a cliffhanger, to mess with your guys too.
Anyway, this messed up my plan. But I will release the rest still this week, the problem is I have things to do, you know? So I don't know when.
But I will release till Friday at least. I don't have time to edit, other priorities.
Fun Fact: Did you guys know that there's a demon in lImbo that idolizes Peter so much that he uses a symbiote to become Spider-Man?
Keep this information in your mind. This and the connection between symbiotes and the limbo.
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Eidolon P.O.V.
We are again on my flying nimbus produced by Shirakumo's(Kurogiri) original quirk.
The mood is a little heavy now. The fact that Illyana spent six Years here all alone left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
I, on the other hand, am pondering one more time about this multiverse where I ended up.
Again, assumptions are dangerous.
Even meta-knowledge can't be taken as a face of value anymore.
Ah, Marvel~ A big company that was active for over 80 years when I came here. One of the great names of entertainment. Passed some bad times during the 90s but survived.
Where I want to go is... Existing for this long allows a variety of canon things and source material, creating some inconsistencies, contradictions, and other problems.
The most common is the fluctuation of the power level of the characters.
Discussions about who can defeat who are sometimes unsolved because of these inconsistences. One time a character is fighting cosmic threats and in another moment is having a hard time against someone mid.
But other things can differ too. Like origin stories as an example...
Rogues was originally a villain. And she one time absorbed a little too much of Ms. Marvel, gaining her powers. Because of this Rogue of the 90s cartoon could fly and had super strength in her base form.
Did Peter's parents experiment on him to make him compatible with the spiders in this universe?
Jean died like 7 times in the comics. But there are decades of time that allow the opportunity for these sagas to happen... In real life how this will work?
And Logan... Another rabbit hole...
Origin stories... Are probably closely related to Fate.
Fate... This invisible force that I had no idea how powerful it is. Is Illyana now being protected by it?
I remember reading once that Illyana disappeared for months to the X-men before returning. But on another time I read that they haven't even noticed her disappearance, it was like a second.
Did Fate adapt the time dilatation to this place, to give her time to grow into what she should be? Did Fate take into consideration my existence and interference?
Or this is all a coincidence?
I tested fate when I killed the Green Goblin. Still waiting to see if he returns.
But should I go out of my way to impede someone's origin story just to see what happens? What the consequences will be? Testing is essential to me to understand this world... This is a big deal, it's my life after all.
I want to know if higher forces are toying with our destinies.
With who can I test it? Recently I heard a report of General Ross spending a lot of time in a hidden military facility. And I bet that he is becoming the Red Hulk right now. I would be worried if I didn't know that the Red Hulk has a weakness to the Negative Zone energy and for some reason bladed weapons. I'm lucky that I read it in the wiki on my former life.
But Betty Ross becomes a Hulk too, right? Should I constantly work against her to become a Hulk just to see if Fate will be forceful to turn her?
Hmm... Well, this is all just speculation. I just need to remember to keep an eye open to all possibilities and my mind open to unpredictable things.
I decide to turn to my temporary team and start some small talk to alleviate the mood "Well, Scott. It appears that you're not that wrong in coming. Considering the time dilation, when we come back, not even a second will have passed then." I comment
He only grunts in acknowledgment at my words.
Is he still mad that I called him out about his overprotectiveness of Jean when we first met? Or is it about the talk I gave him earlier? You are a little petty, my dude.
I'm trying so hard to not let my distaste for your fictional representation get on me, but I have to say... You're not making it easier.
I'm not blind to the motives. It is his little jealously that becomes even uglier when amplified by whatever conditioning Sinister did to him.
After my talk with Jean, aparently she really listened to some of my advice and started act more independently. She also told me that she connected more with the girls. Previously she was closer with Scott. The two of them are the first students and bonded over the fact that they couldn't turn off their powers.
Now, they are more distant... And for some reason is my fault. Like I did something to the girls get together.
Meh, probably they talked about me in a good way and he doesn't like it.
Whatever, don't care. I will be civil at least.
"Let's talk about the rescue plan..." I said attracting everyone's attention again "Let's be sneaky and kidnap Illyana." I say
"Sneaky?" Kitty asks
"Kidnap?" Piotr raises a eyebrow
I go to answer them in order "We still don't want a war." I say looking at Kitty
"Even after we know that this guy has Illyana under custody?" Scott asks
"Belasco threath level increased severalfold after our discovery of the time dilation." I say calmly "He is here for seven centuries to OUR time..."
I see their eyes widening in realization.
"One night being six Years... He must be alive for hundreds of thousands of Years..." Jean says a little shocked.
"Yeah... And this is the thing about sorcerers... They fight by preparing themselves. With this much of a time, and the resources of this dimension..." i left the rest unsaid.
After some time, I decide to relax them a little. "Well, he must have reached a power roof after some time, if not he woud have escaped using his own strenght" I comment
"So... The best way is still to rescue Illyana stealthily." Mikhail says
"Are we really not gonna talk with the guy before?" Kitty asks unsure "Maybe we could solve this peacefully..." She says optimistically
"No. And we are gonna kidnap her. "I say determinedly
"There you go again with kidnaping..." Kitty says
"We need to consider all the possibilities... Illyana was brought here at a young age. High chances of a brainwash." I say shocking them again
"Even if not slowly, maybe she was enlaved though magic. So we couldn't just go there, find her and say: 'Illyana we came to rescued you!'... Maybe she would snitch on us, think that we are the enemies and putting everything to lose." I explain and watch they face change in a large array of emotions
"We kidnap her first and ask questions later." I conclude and then wait them to nod.
"What is the plan?" Saeko asks
"Simple. We will create an escape teleportation route with three steps. First I will invade, take her and teleport her to Mikhail which will be a little farther. Then Mikhail will teleport again to Kurt. And then you guys alternate in teleportation to move as far aways as possible..."
"The other will wait in certain positions to prevent ambushs and will be joined by the two that will continue to teleport away. I will stay behind to create a distraction, clones and bait whoever is in the Belasco's castle in the opposite direction and then I will join you all.
"After this, when we arrive far enough we will stop and examine Illyana..."
"Examine?"
"Who know how her body is right now..." I shrugh my shoulder "Maybe she has a tracking spell, a magical high infectious disease, a curse or other thing that connects her with Belasco. We will not be taking her to our world without cheking that first." I say
"..."
"You really is cautious..." Jean comments.
Again I shrugh "I say something similar to the Avengers, but I will say to you all now. We are strong. And we can affect many people easily. And I'm not talking about powers only. Every decision you make can have big consequences..." I take my time to look at everyone to convey my seriousness.
"In the worst-case scenario, we could facilitate Belasco escape and subsequent invasion of our dimension. A invasion much worse than the Battle of New York. Are we gonna allow this when everything that takes to avoid it is being cautious?"
I let them think about my words "We will plan the details after seeing the layout of the place where Illyana is located." I say and go back to look at my hand.
Is not like my hand is interesting, but there's a change-
"I noticed that you're looking at your hand contantly since we arrived in Limbo... Is there a problem?" Jean voice interrupt my thoughts
I look at her, everyone is also looking at me with various level of interest
Well, no harm in telling. Is just one of my many powers.
"Do you know that I can turn into animals, right?" I say and for some reason Kitty giggles.
There's some sort of inside joke about me? Whatever...
After Jean nod, while admonishing Kitty with her look I continue.
"Well, is more complicated than that..." I start "Apparently , my Animal Shapeshifting in truth connects with the biosphere of the place I am."
I then raise my hand. My fingers elongated, nasty claws grew and some spikes appear in my knuckles.
"So my power connected with the Biosphere of the Limbo when I came here..."
"So you can turn in the demonic animals from here now?" Kitty asks interested
"Yes. I was testing and is much harder. Probably because I don't know the animals from here and because I just arrived." I say
I notice that I feel like Im slowly losing "connection" with my home dimension and is become harder and harder to transform in normal animals.
But is not a big problem because I have other powers to transform into animals from Earth.
The thing is that after I leave Limbo I will probably lose the ability to transform into the demonic animals from here.
I think the crux of the question is that the Beast Boy card I absorbed is from him as an inexperienced teenager.
Should I dedicate a good time to train his ability? Or should I use some Power Boost Cards? I feel that I can gain the ability to "save the files" of animals that I encounter if I improve this ability.
When I use the next Travel Ticket I will train this ability.
"So you can transform in those things that we saw on the market?" Kitty asks when poking my hand
"Yes."
"So, can you gain their abilities like... I don't know. You said that there fantasy-like universes out there. So you can become a dragon if you go there? Or a unicorn?" She asks with her eyes twinkling
"I already can transform into a dragon. And animal transformation is useful when you try to take only the advantages, but is rare for a animal to have a power that I don't have already." I say calmly
"Whaat? You can transform in a dragon?? Can I ride you?" She asks excitedly
"..." I look at her "Phrasing, please..."
" ! Oh! Oooh~" Realization slowly hit her and she blushes a little
"It is not just anyone that can ride me. But if you are good girl I can allow you one day..." I put my face closer to hers and tease. Her face goes even redder.
Why is so fun to make girls blush?
Now the mood is better.
I will let them concentrate for now, while I focus on an interesting discovery.
Has'zy, the nice demon lady, gave me the currency of this world for me to play. No, she is not my sugar mama.
I initially thought that I could cheat and produce a lot of currency and buy a lot of things without a care. But is not possible to make a perfect copy.
Between my fingers rest the currency. Is a thin black rock-metal thing with strange proprieties. The literal translation of this would be "Shard of the Black Heart" in the language here.
This little rock/metal thingie has a lot of energy stored inside and... darkness properties.
Is used as a reagent, ingredient, and even in a way to empower the demons from here.
Dude... This place is a fucking cultivation world!!
This is like those Spirit Stones that are currency and can help with cultivation.
Makes sense that this is the currency. If we humans had something that we should just eat to live a little longer and grow a little stronger, it would be the most valuable thing in the world to us.
Gold is simply the best option because there's really no need to change and our ancestors liked the thing.
I use my All Seeing Eyes to look at the ground and I can detect reservoirs and veins of this metal. And the deeper I look, the strongest this energy signature gets.
So maybe the core of this planet is full of these things.
Observing a little more carefully, I notice that the place where we are going, Belasco's city fortress, is resting in a huge vein of this Black Metal. So this thing should be really precious.
Seriously, this Black Metal is just a little worse than Stark's Arc reactor when the question is energy. But the process to transform the energy inside into something usable to humans can be a little complicated.
Hmm~ My American side is getting antsy seeing all these resources sitting here. Maybe I should bring "freedom" to this dimension and "liberate" these guys from this...
Well, let's focus on Illyana's rescue now. In the future, I will come back here.
Hmm... Would be nice to gain a demonic summon to put on this place... Oh Raven, when you will come to me? I can only dream for now.
Hm? I turn my face abruptly to look at the distance
"What?" My action didn't go unnoticed by Jean
"Illyana's position changed..." I comment while focusing on the horizon.
Beyond the trackers that I put on Illyana's plushie that I gave her, and the nano trackers that I put inside her, I also registered her on my [Search] power.
[Search] is such a good power that even All For One wanted it. Seeing a person one time you can always reactivate the power and see the "light" of this person from miles away. Coupled with my super senses I can locate anyone on a planet with this.
Search can even point to weak points in a person's body... It is what that Wild PussyCat used to train Classes 1-A and 1-B. Like inform me this person has low stamina, that one has a bad knee and other things. Is another power on the list of upgrades.
"She is Moving? To where?" Piotr asks while I continue to observe
I raise from my sitting position without taking the eyes of Illyana's position
"She is being pursued..." I say making them gasp in shock and worry
But I continue calmly "Sometimes the unpredictable can be good news..." I comment "I'm going ahead. The cloud will follow me." So it's true that we wouldn't find Illyana in a castle or as a prisoner.
Without waiting for a response, I move. I become intangible just to ignore air resistance and fly faster and without a sound, a little trick of mine. Is cool to do sonic booms, but I can be stealthy when I want.
I move fast, to save Illyana. In no time I'm above the plains wasteland where she is running. She sometimes Blinks in a blue light, using her teleportation, to move dozen meters away.
But her pursuers are relentless. Seventeen demons, being led by a robed and hooded figure. A woman, for the shape of her body.
I could wait for the eventual cliche moment where Illyana would trip and the pursuers would get close and I would save her in the nick of a time.
Is not a bad approach. Wait would allow me to hear them talk and discover more of the situation. But...
Meh... Cliches...
I shrug my shoulders and release my Conqueror's Haki on the 18 pursuers.
The world trembles a little, the red clouds churn and look like the sky is pressing against the Earth.
The demonic pursuers fall on all fours while foaming. Their consciousness holding by a thread in the face of my controlled Haki.
The robed woman also falls, but she is in a better state.
Illyana notices the situation after turning back to check on the people pursuing her. She is the only one not affected by me.
I slowly descend between her and the others. When my feet touch the ground, I use my powers to make the earth envelop the demonic ones in a tight prison.
The robed woman is enveloped by my Lasso of Truth in an equally tight way. I squeeze the golden lasso in my hand, making it glow, ready to extract some answers.
"Don't hurt her!" Illyana suddenly appears in a flash of blue light between us. Protecting the woman.
Stockholm much? Well, I can understand a little because I know the face below the hood.
"Illyana... Do you remember me? I came with your brothers to save you." I say calmly.
I watch her patiently. Yep, 12 years probably. Her hair is longer now, a straight blonde hair that reaches her waist. A cute face with hits of sharpness show that she passed for some challenges here. She is skinny but doesn't look malnourished. I don't see signs of abuse either. Recent ones, at least...
Her brows furrowed a little. "You... You're that friend of my brother. Eidolon... You gave me a plushie." She says, remembering.
"Yes, we came as fast as we could. Only here we discovered that time passed differently. Only one day passed to us..." I say with a sad voice. I don't want her to think that her brothers abandoned her.
To my words, a single tear slowly slid down her cheek. The fact that her face remains mostly unchanged is another indicator that she is used to acting strong and has some good willpower.
"They are coming to this place right now, I came ahead because I'm faster..." I explain and she sniffs a little.
She turns around to hide her face, I can only see her hand wiping her eyes.
"You must have passed some hard times. You're so strong. We are all proud of you..." I say going to give her my characteristic head pats. "Don't worry, no one will hit you anymore. I'm here."
She starts bawling her eyes and turns around to bury her face in my mantle.
.....
After some minutes, holding Illyana's small trembling shoulders, she recovers herself. She is really resilient.
"So..." I start and look at the robed woman.
When I used [Foresight], I said that I saw three surprises. I only talked about two.
The third one is this.
" Alternative universe?" I ask telekinetically removing the hood of Ororo Munroe.
An older Ororo Munroe, in the late thirties at least. There are other small differences here and there. But yeah, is one of the many Storms.
It's too early to Multiverse bullshit.
X-men... Always with the crazy adventures of time travel, other universes, aliens...
"Yes. Ms. Ororo was my caretaker here..." Illyana answers me while Ororo looks at me silently.
"Oh... Is that so? Let me first-" I was interrupted by the distant sound of my cloud approaching "They're here." I say before grabbing my cloud telekinetically and yanking it to us much faster.
....
Jean Grey P.O.V.
Okay... I know that Eidolon said that surprises are common. And we should let any preconceptions at home before coming here...
But this is starting to get ridiculous.
First, this place... Limbo is not like I expected. The demons... People here are much more civil than I expected. I totally thought that we would have to fight hordes of demons to release Illyana from a cage hanging high on a tower of a demonic wizard or something.
Then we discovered that six years has passed here and Illyana was the apprentice of the guy. We change plans and suddenly she makes our job easy by coming to us.
And then another surprise...
There's an Ororo here.
Taking my eyes away from the wholesome reunion of the three siblings I look at the ... other Ororo.
She is like, 95% similar to our Ororo. She is older, okay. But there are some other differences too. Small... you wouldn't notice if you don't pay attention.
It is like... Twin sisters that lived in different places and these differences molded them differently too.
"By the way... Why did you tied her like you're into some BDSM play?" I ask Eidolon at my side with a raised eyebrow
"It is called Kikkou Shibari, the Turtle bondage rope." Kitty says while nodding "Masterfully Applied. Good job." She gave Eidolon a thumbs up.
I'm not even surprised that she knows these things. I shake my head before looking at Eidolon again, waiting for an answer.
"What? It is efficient." He says calmly with a shrug of shoulders. The alternative Ororo still glaring at him "Violence and sex is the human race's favorite things. This knot is years of evolution and research have given form..." He explains.
"..." I'm surprised that he can convince me with his bullshit.
"I can't release her before we discover if she is not an evil version..." Eidolon says
"She is not bad!" Illyana suddenly says from between her brothers. The 12 years old Illyana still amazed me a little. Yesterday she is a cute child and now she is a pre-adolescent.
"For you, I will give her the benefit of the doubt." Eidolon says "This lasso compels the one bound by it, to tell the truth..." He declares before squeezing the Lasso "Did you take care of her?" He asks Ororo in robes.
"Yes..." She answers without even thinking. Her eyes widen after the word leaves her mouth.
"Did you do it by Belasco orders?"
"... Y-yes. This too..."
"Are you genuinely good to her?" Eidolon asks after the ambiguous answer
"Yes..."
"Any Hidden motive?"
"She is a child... There's a need for a motive to help her. But..." The Ororo struggles a little. "I was still hopeful that one she would help me go back to my universe..." She confesses.
"What are you to her really?" He asks
"Her caretaker... Babysitter... Whatever. I took care of her between Belasco lessons and protected her of abuse and other things... I couldn't defy Belasco... He... He has Cat... Kitty Pryde and Kurt under his spell." She confesses giving Kitty and Kurt a look.
Kitty and Kurtgasps are at my side.
There's another Kitty and Kurt here too.
"Hm... It appears that you are not that bad... The last question before I release you..." Eidolon pauses and looks at the demons that are enveloped in the earth like statues "Are these guys of any importance?" He asks. His eyes grow cold.
Ororo looks at him "No."
"Very well..." He takes the Lasso back and puts it away in some place.
Then, he turns to the demons. In his hand appears a huge... Sword? No, I chainsaw? A chainsaw sword.
That thing looks impractical. At least six feet in length and thick as my torso
*Vrrrre* The thing turns on.
Eidolon's arm blurs and in the next moment the upper body of all the demons disappear in a rain of gore that was taken far away from us by the wind.
I notice Eidolon eyes in Illyana. Because of that, I look at her too, her eyes show neither shock nor disgust. My heart clenches a little, imagining everything she has been through.
"Is the chainsaw sword really necessary? You could have ended them more cleanly..." Murasaki asks with some mirth in her voice. I feel a weird emotion come from her... something I can't put my finger on it.
"Well, I have a chainsaw sword, so I need to use the chainsaw sword." Eidolon answers like is obvious.
Kitty is nodding at my side for some reason, even with her face a little pale from the display of blood.
"Why do you even have a chainsaw sword?" I can't help but ask
"Why didn't you have a chainsaw sword?" He asks back "I have a chainsaw sword for the same reason anyone would have a chainsaw sword if they could." He says a lot and nothing at all.
But Kitty is still nodding like he said the obvious "He is right. I wish I had a chainsaw sword." She comments wistfully
"Here. Take the kid's version." Eidolon says and pulls from who knows where a small version of his chainsaw sword, only three feet in length
"Kid's version?" I ask slowly. My mouth twitched a little, when I see Kitty all giddy holding the thing.
"Yeah, this one doesn't have the flamethrower imbued." He says again like is something completely normal while teaching Kitty how to use the monstrosity.
For some reason, the mental image of Eidolon taking his child to a hell dimension to kill demons as a Father-sons bonding time appears in my head.
Hehe. I pity the mother of that family.
"So... Magic Ororo, can you tell us more about the whole situation. Illyana come here, let me examine you. I will need some samples by the way." Eidolon says urging Illyana to get close.
I watch Eidolon take a little saliva and blood from Illyana. Then his arm opens like he is a cyborg and he puts the sample there.
Seriously... Does this guy have a power to everything? I will not even ask. I know the answer... 'Yes'.
Magic Ororo, as how Eidolon calls her, starts telling the story.
She ended up here in Limbo years before Illyana.
"Only you and your Kitty and Kurt?" Kitty asks
"Yes. The three of us are sucked into a dimensional fissure." Magic Ororo says
"Later we discovered that this was no accident at all. We are purposefully brought here by Belasco." Magic Ororo says
"But why? Kurt asks
Eidolon answers this without taking his eyes from his open cybernetic arm "Kurt can teleport, probably using some hell dimension as a medium, Kitty can phase... Matter and energy... Ororo has a connection with an Elder God... Seeing your clothes, make me think that you are much more attuned to your magic potential than our Storm, right?" Eidolon glances at Magic Ororo briefly
She nods slowly. "From what I talked with Illyana it appears that my universe is a little more magical connected than yours." She says
Eidolon nods and goes back to his examinations "He wants to escape." He concludes. "He wants to use your guys' powers to escape... Let me guess again. There's no Illyana in your universe." Eidolon asks without even looking.
"There's no Rasputin family in our universe." Ororo says
!
"What? What happened to them?" Scott asks
Magic Ororo shrugs "Who knows? Never heard of them before. Maybe they simply never existed, maybe they died... I can't know from here either." She says
"Hm... Did you know of a Belasco from your universe?" Eidolon asks
"No..."
"Interesting... He is from our universe. But Limbo appears to be connected with other parallel universes too. One Limbo to multiple alternative realities, how this works in the space-time continuum? Ah, don't mind me... Just thinking... Go on, please." Eidolon waves his hand and Magic Ororo continues.
"Belasco is too strong and put us under his power using Kurt's life to threaten me and Cat. He uses a spell on Kurt that made him more an animal than a human, so we would need to act obedient till we have a chance to escape." She says to our horror.
"Six years ago Illyana is brought to us. I'm horrified because she is so young and I could imagine what she would go through. I would teach Illyana common magic and Cat would teach her how to fight. Belasco himself would teach her other thing and do... experiments and rituals with her. S'ym, a subordinate of Belasco, was also a sadist that beat her in disguise as a test several times. I tried to protect her the best I could through the years..." She says calmly, but I can feel my anger boiling.
Everyone is angry.
"In the beginning, she thought that Belasco was not that bad of a guy, her young mind thought that he would help her get back to her Family. But with time this innocence was carved out of her." She says heavily, Piotr hugs Illyana tightly
"Two Years ago Illyana got a good grasp on her power and starts escaping. She did several attempts. All of them were unsuccessful and she would be punished by S'ym every time. But Belasco never appeared to care too much. He has Illyana under... control too."
"She never stopped trying to escape. I sometimes bring her back, to try to alleviate her punishment. I tried to say to her to be more patient... But in this, she doesn't listen to me." She sighs
"This time we are found by you..." Magic Ororo finishes looking at Eidolon
"..." Eidolon doesn't even look at her, while he ponders. "Well, the situation changed again. But not by much. We still need to invade Belasco's place..." He finally says. His arms are back to normal
He continues "First, let me share what I discovered about Illyana's situation." We pay attention to his words
"There's a problem with her?" Mikhail asks
"Yes. First, she doesn't have any disease or anything dangerous to other people on her body. But..." He pauses "She is not totally human anymore." He reveals
"She looks pretty human to me..." Rogue comments while we look at Illyana
"Yeah, even this will not be a problem. She is a part demon now... Not a problem really. I think will bring more advantaged than disadvantages. Long life, strength, better magic affinity. She is even less demonic than Kurt. No offense, dude." He says a little jokingly to alleviate our worries
"None taken." Kurt says good-naturedly
"She is more or less 10% demon now. But as she grows this could change. Can also change if she decides to accept this... heritage and use it. We must watch her attentively from now on." Eidolon says "This is the good news..." He says immediately a little more seriously
He turns to Magic Ororo "Could you explain to us why her soul is not complete?" He asks and Ororo sighs
"I would get there." She says heavily "When she was younger, Belasco convinced her to do a ritual that put a piece of her soul on a Bloodstone."
"Bloodstone?" I ask
"Bloodstones are what Belasco used to connect with Extradimensional demons and open a portal for them to come to our dimension. My acquaintance told me about them..." Eidolon says "There were five Bloodstones, I thought all of them are destroyed."
Magic Ororo scoffs "Not all of them. I know for sure that Belasco has two in his possession. Anyway, he tricked Illyana saying that if she put her soul there would make her stronger to go back to her family faster. At that time, she still believed that he was a good guy that care for her."
"Well, He didn't lie about making her stronger. But also bound her to him. While he holds the Bloodstone he has some sort of control over her. I don't know how much, he never used it..." Magic Ororo says
"So we need to retrieve Illyana's soul. "Scott says
"And rescue my and Kurt's alternative version." Kitty adds making all of us nod.
Eidolon is motionless, his chin resting between his fingers while his eyes bore into Illyana. The characteristic patterns of the All Seeing Eyes rotating. Three holographic circles even appear in front of his face while he stares at her.
The little girl squirms a little under his gaze, before recovering her bearings and staring back at him defiantly with her ching high. She is strong.
"There's another problem..." Eidolon says softly "There's something... extra on Illyana. Something demonic and foreigner." He says
"What do you mean?" Piotr asks worriedly
"Isn't this Ilyana demonic powers?" Kitty asks
"No... This signature... These glyphs... They mean... " He says slowly "I see... A trojan horse." He concludes and starts looking in the direction of Belasco's residence
His words jolted us. Even Magic Ororo was surprised.
"Do you mean..." I start
"Belasco didn't care about her escaping because he is hoping for it..." Eidolon says slowly "Or maybe even that we rescued her. He wants her to grow strong, he lets this S'ym guy beat her to encourage her in running away, and made her create bonds with Ororo, Kitty, and Kurt to make her want to save them... All so that she escaped this place..."
"...and consequently. Him following after her. Either in some sort of magical piggybacking by using the piece of her soul on the Bloodstone or another method."
This Belasco guy...
"What an asshole!" Kitty exteriorizes my thoughts
"Old sorcerers... Always annoying." Eidolon comments "Paranoia saves the day again..." he adds in a low voice afterward
"There's a way to help her?" Piotr asks
"There's always a way." Eidolon says to our relief "First, there's a chance of Illyana herself solving the issue if she recovers her lost piece of soul. I can see this... spell latching on her fractured soul." Eidolon says while Looking at Illyana with his eyes
"Second, If this spell is stronger than what I think, I will change my plan from distracting Belasco, to defeating him. I will go through his research or whatever. I and Illyana will stay here in Limbo for months or even years if necessary to break the spell. You guys return before us." He says like is no big deal.
But damn, these are one of these moments that you can't help but respect the guy.
He continues "The third method would be... a lot more invasive." He says taking out his famous Sword of Actuation.
The creepy blade glowed in a blood-red light.
"I don't want to do this. Could damage her soul. Is not like I go around dissecting souls to practice, you know? But is an alternative." He comments before putting the sword away
All this time, I notice that Illyana's eyes never left Eidolon. I can only barely hear her thoughts. Whatever change happened to her, made her mind more robust. But I can deduce that she has some sort of admiration and respect for the black-clad hero.
Sincerely, I was expecting a little fear when he talked about the dissection of her soul, but this works.
"So, the objective now is to rescue Kitty and Kurt's alternative version and recover the Bloodstone with Illyana's soul." Eidolon declares.
"I can somewhat feel where the Bloodstone is located," Illyana says suddenly
"Good, this makes things easier..." Eidolon says before trailing off and looking somewhere else
"What now?" Murasaki asks
"You can show yourself now." His eyes focus in a empty place
"We have company?!" Scott asks going to combat mode, everyone following suit.
Eidolon continues to stare before raising his hand and releasing a burst of air, strong enough to uproot trees, in an empty spot
The sand and dirt taken away by the wind are stopped by an invisible barrier. There's really a hidden enemy out there.
We move to stay around Eidolon, prepared to battle.
Then a blue screen appears in our field of view, and after some time it is lowered revealing two women to us.
I don't recognize them, but Kurt shouts
"Mami!?! Ji!?!"
Now what??
How many surprises this day is guarding to us?
.....
Third Person P.O.V.
Eidolon holds off the urge to massage his eyes. 'What now?' He thinks while watching the opposite party 'Who the heck are those people now? And Mami?? My meta knowledge is freaking out that I have no idea what is happening.'
The group consisting of Eidolon, Murasaki, Shadow, Mikhail, Piotr, Jean, Scott, Kitty, Rogue, Kurt and now Illyana, is facing the two newcomers.
They are two women. Hector doesn't know because there's a limit how much a casual fano f Marvel can know about the lore of the world.
But these people are Margali Szardos and her daughter Jimaine Szardos. In the old X-men comics, it was Margali that raised Kurt after he was abandoned by Mystique.
In this universe, Kurt's origins are a little mixed. He was abandoned in a church and despite his appearance, the priest raised him with love. Obviously, in a way similar to the Hunchback of Notre-Dame, the priest never allowed Kurt to show his face to others. But this was for Kurt's own protection.
When Kurt grew a little and become aware of his own situation, he run away to don't cause trouble to the priest. With his powers, there's no one that could hold him against his will.
As a side note, Kurt's heritage allowed him to use his power since he is a baby.
He ended up being found by a circus where he is adopted by Margali Szardos. Margali has a gipsy heritage, learning magic from her mother and knowing about demonology and other related things. He didn't find Kurt such an anomaly. She deduced that he was an offspring of a demon with a human and was abandoned because of his appearance.
Kurt was raised with Margali's two other children till an incident made them fall apart.
Her daughter, who right now is by her side is Jimaine Szardos. She doesn't have much of the looks of her mom. She is blonde with blue eyes while her mother has dark curly, almost bushy, hair with brown eyes.
Someone more knowledgeable about the comics would know that Kurt and Jimaine are recurrent lovers through the years.
Right now, Eidolon is analyzing the mother and daughter duo. He can feel the mother radiating hostility while the daughter looks a little... hesitant.
'What is the story behind all this?' He thinks
"KUURT!!" Margali shouts, gripping her staff tightly. "I swore the day that I met you again, would be your last!"
"Okay... What is happening here now?" Scott asks around
"Iz... Iz complicated." Kurt says a little down
Apparently, Margali is not waiting to solve things peacefully, because she raises her staff and points to Eidolon's group and forms a huge sphere of magical blue energy that she wastes no time releasing in the heroes direction.
The ball of energy, which must have one meter of diameter, moves incredibly fast.
"Incoming!" Mikhail exclaims while everyone prepares to defend, move away or counterattack depending on their own capabilities.
Eidolon keeps his calm and even signals Saeko that she doesn't need to move, she is already pulling a sword from the scabbard.
Taking a step forward Eidolon contemptuously bitch slaps the magical energy to the side, diverting it a little far away from the two groups where it makes a big explosion.
An Explosion big enough to engulf city blocks and raze them.
Eidolon looks at the explosion with a sideglance before turning his eyes to the mother-daughter duo ahead. Margali is equally looking at him more seriously now.
The two narrow their eyes at each other while taking their own measures against their opponents.
'Using only brute strength to divert that...?' Margali thinks while scrutinizing Eidolon
'That's some destructive power to a casual spell... This would make her an Avengers level threat... if we ignore Hulk and Thor.' Eidolon takes his own conclusions 'What is with these obscure and strong characters? Is she one of these strong ones that appear in one issue to never again?' He sighs mentally
Eidolon is not totally wrong. Margali Szardos is not weak by any means.
She was even a Sorcerer Supreme for some years to substitute Dr. Strange. In the comics, she even transformed herself into a demon to acquire more power.
So, as a Sorcerer Supreme candidate, she is obviously very strong. Is safe to say that she should be as strong as Strange during his early years as Sorcerer Supreme.
'Should I take her down now, and talk from a superior position?' Eidolon considers.
Even if a strong sorcerer appears, that doesn't mean that he is afraid.
He is wary of magic. But he is wary of what he calls "bullshit illogical magical things" that can warp reality, attack the soul, banish or seal someone. And all the great array of possibilities that magic provides, the unpredictable type of trouble.
If all that a magic user can do is control elements or use energy projection... This makes them no different from a meta. And he can take them as easily as any meta.
"Woman... Did you know that I'm an advocate of true gender equality?" He says plainly while giving some steps forward
"Oh... Here we go..." Kitty whispers behind them
"I'm the type fo guy that always retributes what is given to me..." Eidolon says before raising his hand and swinging forward casually. The shiny sparks in his palm are the only warning of what is coming.
*BOOOM*
He releases a big explosion in a cone at Margali and Jimaine.
"..." Everyone shields their eyes or ears from the dust or the sound.
"Are they dead?" Rogue asks
"No." Eidolon is the one that answers even before the dust settles. He waves his hand again, but this time only to create a huge gust of wind to clean the place.
The group is welcomed by the sight of charred Earth that expands till their eyes can see. But in the Middle, the duo of sorcerers is still alive and healthy.
Apparently, Margali raised a Shield to protect herself and her daughter. No, not a Shield. Two screens of protection that formed a "V" in front of them.
'Well, they are not dumb...' Eidolon thinks seeing the efficient way to divert the explosion blast.
Margali continues to stare at the black-clad hero silently for some time.
"Are you gonna stay between a mother and her revenge??" She exclaims at him. Her Romani accent is more prominent now that she is not shouting.
"I'm not one to deny someone their revenge... But I have the feeling that this is all misunderstanding. You will be surprised how common misunderstandings are in this world... Always provoking unnecessary fights." Eidolon says in a carefree way "I also don't believe that Kurt, one of the most soft-hearted of the X-men, did something that warrants such hatred..."
He looks at her and then crosses his arms. "So yeah, till I'm sure what is going on. No one is killing anyone here." He declares.
Margali grits her teeth.
Sincerely, all-out fights are not something that anyone wants to partake in. Especially against an unknown strong enemy like Eidolon. And she is also outnumbered.
But she can't just let Kurt go like that.
Eidolon decides to take control of the situation. "Why didn't you start with your accusation and then Kurt will defend himself? Did you guys even have a proper talk about whatever problems exist between you two?" Eidolon hits the head of the nail
"..."
"Kurt... Who are those two..." Eidolon turns to ask
"Ehm... Margali szardos and Jimaine Szardos... They... They took care of me during a good part of my childhood..." Kurt says a little down
" 'Took care'?! I saved and raised you like mine own son! And how did you repay me?? Huh???" Margali shouts from her position.
'These names ring no fucking bells... The same thing with Mikhail when I met him. Seriously, I will find a world where Marvel Comics exists just to read the Wiki. Wait... Would still be the same Marvel?' Hector thinks while watching the drama and pondering if his plan is feasible
"What happened then?" Eidolon asks, trying to make the conversation progress
"He killed my son! And many other kids!!" Margali points her trembling finger at Kurt
"..." While everyone was surprised by the reveal, even Eidolon is, and looking at Kurt. Eidolon observes other things.
Like the fact that Jimaine, the daughter doesn't appear to hate Kurt, she looks a little lost. Like that awkward family member that wants to stop the fights but doesn't know how.
Eidolon also observes Kurt, his heart is beating fast after the reveal. And continues to do so. Normally, a liar when accused of something that he is guilty would have a rise in his heart rate for some time and then calm down.
But a man that is falsely accused is always nervous because of the thoughts that no one would believe in him. Kurt was strange, he is a little in the between. He didn't calm down but he looks... resigned.
"Did you see him doing it?" Eidolon asks
"No! But he confessed!" Margali says to his surprise
"Did you do it?" Eidolon turns to Kurt. He hears the heart of the blue meta spiking even more.
"Iz an accident!! I never wanted it... But... But..." He lows his head and doesn't speak anymore.
"Accident? As if..." Margali says slowly in anger
"That's weird Kurt..." Eidolon says attracting the attention "You know, I'm very good at spotting lies. You didn't lie when you said that you did it... I believe that it was an accident or the circumstances are special, but..." Eidolon turns to bore his eyes into Kurt's yellow ones
"You're hiding something." He says making Kurt lows his head even more "Normally people hide shameful things, mistakes... But you confessed that you killed someone... What is worse than that?" Eidolon tilts his head.
He is making the people around him accompany his logic.
"Maybe you're not lying for your sake..." Eidolon guess slowly and watches Kurt act like he was electrocuted. "Who are you protecting, Kurt?"
Kurt doesn't answer. He raises his hands to his face and cries.
The X-men go around Kurt to console him. Eidolon observes some changes in Margali, she didn't look so sure of her vengeance now.
"What do you think about all of this?" Eidolon asks, but not Margali. He asks Jimaine, the daughter that was silent all this time.
"Ah... Eh..." She stutters
"Do you think Kurt is guilty?"
"No!" She says fast "I mean... He said that he is, but... But must there be a good reason? Right? Kurt is not like that..." She says slowly.
"Jimaine..." Margali mutters looking at her daughter
"I'm sorry, mami... I've been looking for Kurt secretly all these years. I want to solve this without you. You... You are so full of anger and..." She tries to articulate, but she is apparently very nervous.
"You said that you raised him..." Eidolon addresses Margali "Why didn't you ask your own memories if the Kurt that you raised was capable of killing someone for no reason... His step-brother nonetheless." Eidolon says.
Margali eyes shake with confusion and conflict, a swarm of emotions on them.
'Time to the last push...' Eidolon thinks while going close to Kurt 'I will start charge for the pep talks...'
"Kurt, no matter how painful it is you need to face your past now." Eidolon says and then turns to address Margali while showing the Lasso "This is the Lasso of Truth. Anyone touching it will only say the truth. This can clear all misunderstandings. If you want to test..."
Eidolon observes Jimaine looking at her mother and the mother's expression changes a little
'Are they communicating with magic telepathy? I see... The daughter is more in tune with the mundane world and knows about me... She must be the one that stopped the mother from continuing Fighting.' Eidolon guess correctly
Margali initially doesn't want to go with Eidolon's suggestion, afraid of some trick. But Jimaine convinces her eventually. It appears that Eidolon's good rep can be useful even in these places.
After a minute of Margali trying to lie while holding the Lasso, she is convinced enough and Eidolon moves to Kurt.
"The truth can be liberating..." He says extending the golden rope to the blue meta.
Kurt looks at it for a moment before grabbing it with some hesitation.
What follows is Kurt telling everything about his story with Margali's biological son, Stephan.
Stephan and Kurt are good friends. In truth, Stephan was the first to discover Kurt's teleportation powers. Kurt hid it, his appearance was enough to make people scared.
During the time that this family of four was traveling with a circus Stephan discovers Kurt's secret power and in return, he revealed that his Family is also special. With his mother capable of using magic and talked about how he and his sister would eventually be capable too.
The family used the circus to hide from hunters or something. Stephan also revealed that the family had connections with demonic powers and confessed that he was afraid of becoming a bad person if used demonic magic.
He even asked Kurt to kill him if he become a bad person.
Kurt says that with time he noticed changes in Stephan. He was angry with him, jealous of the attention that his mother gives to Kurt. He becomes distant and started saying mean things to him.
With time, Kurt noticed that his hatred grew and also he started behaving strangely.
On the fated day, Kurt found Stephan after he had killed the children. Mutant children. He confronted his stepbrother. The two fought, and because of bad luck and a lack of control, Kurt ended up causing his death.
That's when Kurt was found by some people from the circus and some visitors.
Now, is not hard to imagine how it went. A demon all bloodied over the body of dead children. No surprise that they pulled their torches and pitchforks without asking questions.
From there, the misunderstandings piled up and snowballed beyond control, and the relationship of the family was destroyed.
Everyone has different levels of Shock hearing Kurt's tale.
The mother-daughter is kneeling and hugging each other. Knowing that Stephan committed heinous things like killing children shocked the two.
While the mood is sad Eidolon thinks about only one thing 'Irrational hate of mutants... This smell at Sublime...'
He sideglances the mother and daughter duo crying over the dead childre, Stephan and the others, they don't know what to feel.
For some reason, his heart aches a little and he sighs.
'This is a little character but... Whatever, creating another enemy to Sublime can be useful in the future'
"Mrs. Szardos..." He called her. When she looks up at him with her tear-stained face, he decides to really go with it. "There's a chance that Stephan was not himself"
"What do you mean?" She asks. The exchange attracts the attention of the others.
"There's an enemy of the metas, or mutants if you're not entirely into the situation, that is secretly and discreetly turning the world against the metas." Eidolon explains "He... It is old and can affect people's minds and emotions. And he does everything that he can to make us the enemy of the world creating this irrational phobia."
"Wait... There's someone really doing it? But why? Is he a mutant too? He has powers, right?" Scott asks
"He is not human... I don't want o reveal too much because he is a slimy bastard, but let's say that he wants to dominate the world and we, the metas, are a thorn in his side because we are immune to his methods. He is not directly strong, he can only use these underhand methods." Eidolon turns to Margali again
"He affects people's minds like these... Maybe when Kurt and Stephan are children they stumbled upon something of him and he affected Stephan. Kurt being immune didn't notice a thing. Kurt, did you and Stephan went... I don't know, exploring just the two of you guys?" Eidolon asks
Kurt slowly nods, his mind Racing. "We always went around in the rivers, forests, abandoned houses... Anything that looked interesting where the circus passed." He says
"In one of these adventures Stephan was contaminated, probably..." Eidolon comments.
"How did you never hear of this guy?" Kitty asks
"He is old... Very old... He is ingrained in Society already. What he can't control with his powers he used of propaganda and influence to make the world hate metas. Because he is so old and his number of proxies is hard to trace him." Eidolon sighs "Do you know how many incidents are registered by the media about the metas?" He asks and people frown
"Four... In all history of humanity, there are only four moments where the metas are truly exposed by the media. In World War I, a certain massacre that was related with Wolverine and Sabertooth, Kennedy assassination, and the two times Magneto attacked... The last three are relatively recent. But the world hates metas for a longer time and appears that everyone forgets the why...Or doesn't care."
"It is all this guy. He is probably one of the greatest if not the greatest force anti-meta in the world. Many of our enemies in governments are influenced by him and they don't even know that." Eidolon describes this invisible enemy.
Needless to say, everyone was shocked by the revelation.
"Wouldn't be better for the world to know about that?" Kitty asks
"No... This is something that I need to say to you all, don't speak of this out there. Seriously, this guy is a hard bastard to track. I'm almost getting him and I don't him to escape. If he escapes, he will remain hidden and impossible to track for maybe a thousand of years... A hidden blade forever on our backs." Eidolon says, but he is not much hopeful about them keeping their mouth shut.
He already located Sublime. And he even started devising a "cure" for the sentient vírus. In the worst-case scenario, he will spray the world with it.
"So you are saying that someone affected my boy's mind and make Kurt have to kill him..." Margali says slowly and with a dangerous tone
"70% of chance... The symptoms check, but can be another motive. Or you boy is simply a psychopath." Eidolon says bluntly
"Eidolon..." Jean says in horror
"But I don't know him, you are the one to judge that." He continues without a care. "Now, unless you have time-based powers you can't change the past. But you can start improving the future in the present." He said before moving away a little and pointing at Kurt with his thumb.
.....
Later, the group waits for the family trio of Margali, Jimaine, and Kurt to talk in private, a little far from them.
The other family trio, the Rasputin's. are talking between each other two.
Eidolon is planning the next step when Jean elbows his side "Aren't you good with these things?" She teases with a smile while looking at the family hugging each other
"I was thinking the same... Maybe I should quit of being a hero and become a therapist." He jokes, making her chuckle
At this moment, Kitty, Magic Ororo, Scott and Rogue approach. Murasaki and Shadow are already close to Eidolon from the beginning.
"So Captain, what is the next move?" Kitty asks making a salute
"I distract Belasco and you guys recuperate the Bloodstone and the 'yours' from another universe. Now, let me ask you Magic Ororo..." Eidolon turns to the woman "Beyond Belasco who should we be worried for? We need to separate them and chose who will be their opponents. Tell us everything."
Magic Ororo nods and starts speaking "Beyond Belasco, there's his captain of guard Necrosis, and then his two main henchmen: S'ym and N'astirh. They are the strongest."
"How strong precisely? Use comparative with the heroes and villains..." He asks
"I never saw Necrosis fight, he is a centaur in armor that has six arms, apparently he uses all type of medieval weapons. Swords, shields, maces, spears..." She says "S'ym and N'astirh are strong. N'astirh is a sorcerer, never seen him fight but he should be at least equal with S'ym.
"And S'ym is a physical powerhouse. Maybe strong as the Hulk, but faster..." Magic Ororo says
"I doubt it." Eidolon comments "He must be strong as casual enraged Hulk." He puts his chin on his fingers and starts thinking about the match-ups.
Seeing his silence, Kitty decides to ask Magic Ororo.
"How is your world Ororo?"
"I don't know how to explain without knowing about your world" She smiles "There's the X-men, the Avengers and other superhero groups. By the little we talked, my world must be some years ahead of yours."
"Whoa... So you like, know the future. In what I should invest?" Kitty starts asking but is interrupted by Eidolon.
"Is useless to try to cheat like that... Her universe is not like ours, even a small difference can make everything different. You will just end up too tied with what you think will happen and suffering in some way." He advises
"Party pooper..." Kitty pouts but she suddenly smiles and turns to Ororo "How is the Eidolon from your world?"
"No... Never heard of an Eidolon... Or nothing similar." Magic Ororo reveals.
Kitty's eyes widen "So... About the metas, the battle of New York..."
"Metas, huh? We call ourselves mutants. And yeah, a terrible affair that battle, many died." Magic Ororo says
Jean frowns "How is the mutant situation there?" She asks
"Bad..." Ororo says like she is accustomed
"How many years ago the battle of New York happened?" Eidolon asks, but he appears uninterested
"8 years ago." Magic Ororo answers
"So is useless to talk, many disasters should have happened. Your world is very ahead of yours. With is a little worrying..."
"Worrying?" Rogue asks
"That means that the heroes and villains there are stronger, more experienced and in more quantity than us. If there's universal war, we would lose..." He says
"We don't want wars..." Ororo says
"Don't need to be your universe. Statically Half of the multiverse is with a timeline more advanced than us. Maybe just one second, maybe a hundred Years. I don't like it..." Eidolon frowns "It is good that I don't exist in your universe. With luck, I died in all other universes." He says casually.
Jean stares at him. She remembers the time that he is subjected to Danielle Moonstar's power. His fear... Himself.
'It is not only about him going crazy or being mind controlled. He is worried about an alternative evil version of him coming here.' She thinks
Hector is worried about that truly. But his way of having a meta power was not conventional. And he doesn't think all of his alternative versions have the Essence either. The Multiverse would be broken.
'With luck, I'm the only Hector with powers in all Multiverse...' He thinks 'But why do I feel like I will not be so lucky?' He sighs internally
He even prepared an excuse for this during the interview.
His fabricated origin story is based on Dr. Manhattan, where his power is too strong and he died. For all senses and purpose, if the other Hectors don't have his powers he can say that they didn't awaken in the same way. And if he doesn't exist, that means that they died.
Eidolon then claps loudly, making everyone look at him. "Okay, everyone. The break is over. Let's move to the Belasco fortress. I will say the plan along the way." He exclaims while producing the cloud again.
...
Flying in the cloud again. Everyone is sitting in a circle while Eidolon starts to explain everyone's task
"But... What are you two doing here again?" He pauses to look at the sorcerer duo sitting calmly.
"Kurt told me the gist of it... I want to help." Margali said simply, like is natural.
"..." Eidolon stare at her "And you three solved your issues?" he asks
"..." Margali frowns "It is hard to simply forget years of hate, but I understand that is unfair to blame Kurt. I... I just need time." She says and her two children put hands on her shoulder to Comfort her.
It is really complicated, even if Eidolon gave her someone to blame, must be hard to sort out her feeling in so little time.
"Hm... Well, these things take time. Just keep in touch." Eidolon comments "But are you here for the goodness of your heart or do you want something?" He asks suddenly
Not knowing the person by their fictional character, he will keep his distance.
Margali doesn't answer immediately "Are you sure that you want to fight Belasco? He is not an enemy that anyone wants to make so easily..."
"The Ancient One already told me many things about him" Eidolon interrupts "It is not that I want to make him an enemy, he IS my enemy now. Tell me what you want already..." He says
"Eidolon..." Kurt starts saying but Margali raises her hand
" So you met the Ancient One..." She says with a strange gaze "You're right. Sincerely I just care about Kurt and Jimaine." Margali says "I would accompany you guys just to keep him safe. If you want my help... I want something from Belasco too. Such an old sorcerer. He must have a mountain of useful things..." She says
"An hour ago we are almost fighting and now we are planning a raid together." Kitty comments
"There are no eternal enemies, only interests..." Eidolon quotes from somewhere
Margali smiles at his words "You look like a smart fella..."
Eidolon doesn't react to her patronizing words "Anything in particular that you want?" He asks
Sometimes is good to give someone the chance to make a choice. This will reveal their objective and ambition, and help you make a good map of their Character and intentions
Margali narrows her eyes a little at Eidolon "I want Belasco sword..."
"..." The two stare at each other.
Ororo and Illyana's reaction of surprise didn't go unnoticed by Eidolon even if his eyes never left the older sorcerer.
But in the end, he shrugs and says in a carefree way "Oh, just this? Okay." He accepts easily
Ororo try to catch his attention with her eyes, but he didn't look at her
"I just want you to hold off one of Belasco's followers and the sword is yours, if I get my hands on her. With my plan will be easy to kill the guy..." Eidolon says
'As if I'm giving anything that you want to you' He thinks to himself 'If this Limbo looks like a Walmart cultivation world I will act like Wang Lin. If you want the sword, fight him yourself...'
Nothing is revealed on his face, but now he has the plan that if even Belasco's invulnerability is too much, he wants to at least take his weapon and cripple him beyond recovery.
"Okay, now that this is settled... Let me explain the plan. It is incredibly simple." Eidolon says before outstretching his hand making a hologram appear.
Using the power [Chart] and [Hologram] together with other abilities, a perfect 3D image of Belasco city appears in the middle o everyone
"Is this Belasco's place?" Kitty asks
"Yes, I mapped it earlier." Eidolon says
"When?" Jean asks
"During our two wholesome family reunions... I don't like wasting time" It is all he says, he didn't explain his use of clones and other powers to scout ahead.
Belasco's fortress city looks nothing out of the ordinary when compared with a feudal city. A huge castle surrounded by all types of buildings. The only thing that sticks ups is some incredible tall towers all over the place.
"So, Magic Ororo... Where normally does our target stay in this place?" eidolon asks
"Necrosis normally stays here, in the barracks or in patrol." She points to an isolated place close to the wall. "Belasco and N'arstirh vary a little, N'astirh normally stays holed up in his tower. This one." She points to the specific tower "S'ym is completely unpredictable." She shrugs
"Where the Bloodstone could be?"
"In Belasco study probably..."
"But there's a chance that is with him? In this case, I will need to take it myself... And before he discovers that he can use it to threaten us with Illyana's life..." Eidolon comments darkly
"We will divide ourselves... First, there will be a group with Illyana that will await from my signal and the confirmation that the Bloodstone is not with Belasco before invading sneakily." He makes a light shine on the back of the castle
The faces of everyone appear on the hologram and he move them around the map
"This will be everyone's initial position... Illyana, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Shadow, Mikhail, and Magic Ororo will wait here to go retrieve the Bloodstone and rescue the other Kurt and Kitty." He shows the position
"Murasaki, Marvel Girl, Cyclops, and Colossus will attack Necrosis and the guards. Murasaki will take care of Necrosis and I want the three X-men to go crazy, I want chaos" He says showing the place
"There are civilians in this city?" Jean asks a little worriedly
"No, all of them are Belasco subordinates, but there are some slaves through..." Magic Ororo says
"Just attack the ones that hold weapons and attack you. I will leave this to your judgment." Eidolon says, seeing Jean's uneasy face.
After she nods he continues.
"Mrs. Szardos... Do you know how to set traps?" He asks
"Yes, if you give me some time..."
"Then you, your daughter, and Rogue will wait here. A little far away from the city. I will throw N'astirh to you guys." Eidolon says "Just hold him there if he prove himself too dangerous. Sorcerers are unpredictable."
She nods
"I will attack from the front. Attract attention and keep Belasco busy." Eidolon says pointing to the front gate "Any doubts or suggestions?"
"Isn't the group of Illyana a little fragile to the dangerous task? They had a great chance of finding that S'ym guy, that is strong as N'astirh." Jean asks
"I thought about this, I will give some useful things to Mikhail and Shadow later. But there's no need for them to be super strong, they need to be capable of running away fast. I don't want too many people to put a burden on Kitty and Kurt's powers." Eidolon turns to Illyana's group "If you guys meet S'ym or any other enemies, you guys have Ororo, Shadow and Mikhail to leave behind and continue forward with the task."
He tries to convey the seriousness "Your guy's mission is literally the most important, in the moment you guys complete it and we are getting out here. But no need to risk your lives, remember it." He says
"Any other question?"
"We don't need any help." Margali says signaling at Rogue
"Maybe... Better safe than sorry and I want you guys to defeat N'astirh fast. The fastest anyone defeats an enemy, the fastest they can move to help and we will snowball on them. We have the surprise element. If we go well, we can end everything in less than half of an hour." Eidolon says
"And this girl will be of any help?" She asks with a raised eyebrow
"Mami..." Kurt tried to mediate the situation
"She will..." Eidolon answers with hesitation "Rogue, come here." He then raises his arm. His suit retracts from his wrist to his shoulder. "I will allow you to take a lot this time." He says
Rogue eyes widen and she gulps before nodding.
"Sucking him in broad light... So bold~" Kitty jokes while making a show of spying on them between her fingers that are trying to cover her face.
This only makes Rogue, that is taking off her gloves, blush more.
.....
Later, they are high in the air looking down on the fortress city.
"Yes, N'astirh is in that tower. But is hard to see inside the fortress itself... Wards maybe. But there are two high signatures there and there... No barrier surrounding the city, a little arrogant..." Eidolon points
"That's the throne room and the dungeons. Belasco should be in the throne room." Magic Ororo says "S'ym should be underground."
"Good. Shadow.. Use those." Eidolon says taking off Beowulf of his Sky Poison Pearl "Just channel your energy and you will know how to use it." He says
Shadow put the pair of gauntlets and greaves. The Devil Arm adjusts to her size and she tests it a little.
"Mikhail... Put this." Eidolon takes off the almost forgotten E.D.I. Biomech suit.
"This looks like Thor armor." Kitty comments
"It's inspired in it... A prototype" Eidolon says
Eidolon has outgrown the item, but that doesn't that can't be useful. Together with Cortana, he is working on making a variety of Power Suits. He is combining Spartan armor with this Biomech suit.
In truth, this piece of armor and belt shouldn't even work. The armor would need the Battery that is contained in the hammer. But thanks to the Gacha, it works without it. But don't give the user flight of electricity projection.
And because Mikhail is not a summon, he doesn't give powers to him for now.
"This will give you a good level of durability and strength. Give me back later with a report of the use." Eidolon says like Mikhail is gonna test it. "Now go to your positions... When everyone is ready I will start."
"Rogue take this... It is an anti-magic weapon." Eidolon gives her the Nth metal mace.
She takes it and tries the weight, her moves precise now that she absorbed Eidolon again.
Margali that is giving a long stare at Shadow's Beowulf and Rogue's Mace turns to him.
"Belasco is a strong individual, killed all that challenged him..." She comments as a good-natured warning.
"He never fought me..." Eidolon says
"This is his world..." She continues
"Good... Very good..." He looks down on the city "I don't need to hold back then."
His eyes started glowing dangerously red and the X-men that know of his fight against Thor shuddered a little.
'Against Thor, he is in the middle of New York... And don't want to kill Thor... Now...' Jean thinks to himself
"Remember that we are still down there..." Kitty half-jokes
....
Later, Eidolon is floating alone now. He took off his mantle.
Waiting for Margali to be ready.
While waiting he pulls the Sword of Actuation from his Inventory and looks at it.
'Better be safe than sorry...' And he slowly starts to take off Power Boost cards and use them on the sword.
Hector is a little stingy with his Power Boost cards. Even if they are the "consolation prize" of the Gacha, because of his limited rolls, he can't waste them.
He has a list of powers to upgrade, like [New Order] or even [Erasure], the power that he is keeping a secret to use against Apocalypse and make the eventual confrontation last 1 second.
But powers can be trained, can be improved by an increase in strength... So he is holding it for now.
But items... It is not simple to upgrade items. So is not a waste to use Power Boost cards on it.
He uses cards one a one. And no apparent changes occur, he feels like he is filling a reservoir that he doesn't know the volume of.
Obviously, he can feel the slight increase in the power of the sword with each card, but he is waiting for the... breakthrough or evolution.
In the eighth card, it finally comes... The sword shines and trembles a little
'Last time the Sword the blade changed from blue to red and I gained the ability to shift between hurting only physical or astral things... I used two cards...This time I use 8... If this continues in a geometric progression...' He frowns thinking about the huge amount of cards needed in the future.
32 in the next and 128 after it...
After the light subsided he inspect the changes in the sword.
Appearance-wise, there's only one. The thorny vines that composed the guard and handle changed from green to purple. The sword looks even more alive now, pulsating.
'Oh! I see...' He instinctively knows the new abilities and he tries one.
The thorny vines move around wildly before latching around his hand. But hey not stop there, the vines envelop his hand and continue to grow and grow till they are covering his whole arm.
In a makeshift thorn armguard that ends on his shoulder. Some vines still dance slowly at the end of it, above his shoulder.
'An anti-astral armor? And only the arm for now, huh?' Hector counts his body parts and feels a little headache knowing how much more upgrades are needed.
'Well, at least shows that this sword has great potential...'
He puts the sword away and makes his preparations.
"*Bzzt* In position..." Rogue reports to him in his earpiece.
"Copy that." He says before floating down slowly.
As he approaches the wall, some guards look at him and pointed but he ignored them.
"The One For All users said that named moves are stronger... And weirdly they really get out a little stronger. Must be the adrenaline..." He muses to himself while taking position. "How should I do it?" Some guards with wings fly to him
"First comes rock...?" He mutters
"No... Maybe a United States of Smash?" He muses again
"Nah... Talking about this, maybe I should accompany my moves with a word like Smash... Uvogin uses 'Impact' "
"Maybe 'Strike' "
"I should stick with the basic and go with a Serious Punch..."
The guards finally arrived and surrounded him. Shouting something about trespassing and going to kill him.
"Well, this cheap cultivation world deserves a palm attack..." he raises his hand, flexing many of his energy sources.
The sky darkens a little and the world starts trembling.
Taking the perfect angle he attacks.
From his palm, the Force and his telekinetic powers coupled with Nen emit a giants turbid palm that flies to the city.
The attack razes 25% of the Giants city as a collateral, because the real target is the tower where N'astirh dwells.
It is a testament to the protective wards the fact that the tower is not disintegrated, but it is uprooted and sent flying at a distance... To Margali, Jimaine and Rogue.
"Hm~ I will call it 'Cultivation Bullshit Palm Strike'." He nods to himself
...
"Well, that is our signal." Jean comments seeing the uprooted buildings and rubbles flying crazily on the other side of the city.
She, Saeko, Cyclops, and Colossus are on the roof of a building looking where can only be the barracks of the soldiers.
After the commotion, demonic people start pouring out of the buildings like ants.
Colossus rises from his crouched position while covering his body in metal. He Steps out the roof and loudly lands on the path of the soldiers.
While this, huge icebergs fall from the sky around them, conveniently blocking other escape routes. Eidolon doing trapped most of the soldiers in that part of the city.
Some demonic soldiers could fly, but they're hit by Cyclop's blasts. Jean helps attack the mind of the ones flooding Colossus and throwing what she can to the ones flying.
Murasaki is completely still even if the fight already started. She wants to join already, but she held herself back.
Her eyes focused on the buildings. At some point, a centaur knight steps out of one of the buildings shouting something, maybe orders...
Saeko smiles under the mask before disappearing from her spot.
She steps on Colossus's shoulder before moving forward so fast that she appears to be teleporting. Where she passes, demons receive cuts and fall.
She finally arrives at the back...
"Mist?" Necrosis, the huge centaur with six arms, looks around before hastily raising his shield.
The blow makes him slides a little before he steadies himself to look at his opponent.
"Wench! You will pay for your cheap tricks..." He exclaims while taking a variety of weapons.
Saeko raises his sword. "Im gonna enjoy it..." She licks her lips
....
Outside the city
"Good control..." Margali praises while watching the tower flying in her overall direction. Jimane and Rogue at her side.
When the tower falls and starts sliding in the ground, she times perfectly and hit her Wando f Power on the ground.
Blue glyphs shine on the ground and converge where the tower falls.
Then a huge explosion and a pillar of blue light emerge with enough strength to reach the clouds.
'A sky beam... Typical...' Rogue thinks... But is more like Eidolon than her. She shakes her head to focus again.
She absorbed a lot. Really a lot this time.
Eidolon controlled what powers she would absorb this time. Focusing on the quality of powers, but in the quantity of energy. She is almost glowing with strength.
After the light subsided, a creature that looks like a humanoid pterodactyl with a horse face emerges from the rubble. He is very hurt and enraged.
Looking around, he spotted his three enemies
"I'm gonna make you three wish that you never existed-" He starts saying before receiving an attack from Rogue Mace, he is sent flying to the ground. She doesn't hesitate before dropping down on his chest with her knee. And then taking a deep breath she releases a sonic scream close to his skull.
And then drops the mace on his chest again
"..." Margali watches this unfold.
"Are we really necessary here?" Jimaine asks unsure while starting to float, her hands glowing ready to give support.
.....
Back to Eidolon, he continues to rain down the destruction on the site, in a controlled way.
Targeting especially the towers, the place that Magic Ororo said are the core of the wards. He disturbs everything with the goal of making Illyana's group travel unnoticed.
At some point, he notices someone appearing from the balcony of a high part of the castle.
'Finally...'
Belasco looks exactly like someone would imagine a demon. Red skin, yellow eyes, and horns. He is using regal clothes also red, but some with some jewelry. In his waist was a sword.
He looks around unfazed by the destruction. Then he finally looks at Eidolon.
"I was already bored without suicidal people like you..." he drawls complacently
Eidolon doesn't answer him "Belasco is on the balcony of the largest Building" He mutters into his earpiece.
....
With Illyana group.
They received the message and looks at Illyana.
She closes her eyes in concentration.
"It was not with him..." She says after some time.
Everyone nods.
"We are invading right now, Eidolon".
If the Bloodstone is not with Belasco, Eidolon only needs to take the guy away now.
....
Eidolon raises his hand and releases a high concentrated blast of Air Cannon at Belasco.
The Upper part of the castle is destroyed, but Belasco is unaffected after he raised a shield.
"You're not bad... Will make a nice puppet." Belasco comments
To keep his focus on himself Eidolon emits his Nen and other energies. Ready to go all out.
"Oh... Are you a demigod? It's always these heroic types born with a golden spoon in their mouths..." He says condescendingly
Eidolon punches the air.
But before his motion is finished, a small portal appears in front of his fist. His arm disappears and reappears close to Belasco, already giving him an uppercut to the sky.
A convenient power that he took on the world of the Incredibles.
Eidolon doesn't stop there. It is not n his style to give enemies chances. He continues to punch the air like he is Shadowboxing.
His first disappeared and reappeared in different positions close to Belasco.
He punches almost every inch of his body... Face, stomach, crotch, liver, ribs, back. Belasco is treated as a ragdoll for some time. Throw around in the air by the force
"ENOUGH!" Belasco screams stabilizing himself in the air with a burst of magical energy.
He is panting in fury, but he looks just a little hurt.
Eidolon appears above, his arm already pulled back in a huge motion. His first is shining in a blinding light.
All this time he is not simply punching Belasco to accumulate damage.
He is using Fa Jin. Accumulating the kinetic energy of dozens of punches to multiply this one attack.
"First comes rock..." He says before burying his arm in Belasco's torso.
Belasco is shot at the ground like a bullet, Eidolon still connected with him while he caved his heart.
...
A.N.: Aah... I really wanted to end the arc with this chapter, but...
The characters talked by themselves. Their talk too much, I swer.
Bye, bye. This week I end this arc. I will even add the epilogue as a apology.
Till some day.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票