.........…
Avengers Tower
"...then now that I am trying to go back to my career, it is hard because people waste my time looking for She-Hulk instead of Jennifer Walters." Jennifer vents to the girls between sips of her large drink. "I know that I was not anyone important before, but damn! I lost the opportunity to elevate myself through my own effort. Do you get what I am talking about?"
The women nod, especially Harley and Pamela.
"So now it doesn't matter what you do, people will always think you only got there because you became She-Hulk." Pepper adds her thoughts
"That too! The attention is obviously good for a business that needs a reputation, but I didn't even have the chance of working through that, giving it a try." Jennifer exclaims and sighs
"I can't relate much…" Shego starts "I was glad that I could abandon my previous life after I got my powers. I kinda think I made the wrong career choices, so… A second chance that fell from the sky, literally, yay!" She explains before talking to She-Hulk "But at this point, to you, it is gonna be a waste if you don't capitalize on this She-Hulk thing. People are already gonna talk anyway… Now is about how much you can profit. If I were you, I would put up a billboard flexing my biceps and leaning into the green thing."
"Ugh… I know that you are right, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth." She-Hulk cringes
Shego shrugs "Just giving advice…"
"Jen, I have to agree with Lady Jade here. Even though people would come from the She-Hulk, they would only stay if Jennifer Walters were a good lawyer." Natasha starts speaking "You only need to work hard to get back your reputation on the path that you want."
"...maybe you guys are right. It is just gonna suck till I establish myself as a good professional instead of the hot female version of the Hulk." She says with a self-deprecating smile
"Yes, it will be, but eventually, you will get through it." Pepper speaks after taking a sip of her drink "When Tony put me as CEO, you all can imagine what the people thought about me getting the position and why I am so trustworthy to Tony."
They all snort and roll their eyes in unison, easily guessing what everyone thought.
"But I just did my work without taking any bullshit, and eventually everyone understood that I was qualified for the job." Pepper concludes
"Everyone?" Pamela asks slyly
"Everyone who remained after I fire the stupid assholes." Pepper scoffed "There are always some combative idiots that didn't stop challenging me… So I need to show that I am not a pushover, or I would not have survived as the CEO."
"You go, girl." Pamela praises with a smile "I would have done worse than simply firing some pigs that disrespected me, to which their own, I guess."
Pepper laughs nervously at the former villain's words.
"Conciliating the normal career with hero business must be challenging." Janet Pym says "In my case, the two are more or less connected, so…"
"I get it." Susan Storm nods "Some extra responsibilities are added to my life, but deep down I still work and study the same things from before."
"I guess that it goes with every aspect of civilian life, not only career." Helena finally speaks. "It is hard to balance the two worlds, dangerous even, in some cases. Time is the worst to manage… You start putting aside social interactions, friendships, love…"
"Ugh, don't even remind me." Jennifer groans "Because I will probably break someone I am still holding back, but damn, I am horny!"
"Jen!" Susan exclaims, scandalized
"What? It's the 'Gamma Hormones'!" She-Hulk jokes
"You can't blame it all on those recently discovered and not proven hormones." Susan says with a smile
"I can and I will." Jennifer nods without shame. "But on a more serious note, I can already imagine that my love life will be complicated even after I have enough control to no longer castrate a normal man between my legs."
"Some are into it…" Pamela comments on the side
"It is the same thing with the career. I received some messages, and they want the She-Hulk, not plain and boring Jennifer." She-Hulk looks annoyed. "Some of those bastards are hot, so maybe I can use them… and castrate them afterwards, like… a black widow." She points to Natasha with a smile
"I eat them. It tastes great." Natasha jokes
"You would be more like a mantis… You are green." Darcy adds, making them laugh
Between laughs, Jennifer says, "So, not only would I have to find a nice guy who wants more than the She-Hulk, he would need to be strong enough to not have his pelvis crushed. That will be hard. My civilian identity is already in the open… I envy Eidolon's people in this aspect. He has the right idea."
"You could just train to learn to go back to being Jennifer at will," Susan suggests
"But what would be the fun of that?? I also want to break a bed or make some earthquakes." Jennifer exclaims passionately, making the girls shake their heads while some nod in understanding. She saw one in particular and decided to tease her "Oh, looks like Jane here knows what I am talking about… So, how many beds did you break with the powerful god of thunder?" She asks with a sly grin while putting her arm around Jane Foster's shoulders
The astrophysicist splutters "I-I-I don't know…"
"Ah c'mon, girl. With that Asgardian beefcake, I bet that thunder clapped on your bedroom." Jennifer teases the shy woman
"I can confirm that things are at least loud." Darcy says while Jane was still looking for a place to hide.
"Darcy!"
"What? Why are you ashamed? You should be bragging."
"That is personal…" Jane whispers
"Then you should be quieter, because I could hear everything." Darcy whispers back
The women around laugh at the two friends bickering.
"Be careful not to break your pelvis." Natasha also teases with a smile
"That… Thor is not… Ahem we are careful…" It is what Jane was able to say amidst her embarrassed moment
"Beyond Jane and the others that already secured their boys, now I'm noticing that the roster we can choose is pretty small. Of people with powers, I mean…" Jennifer comments
"Eidolon said that we are at the Dawn of Superheroes, so more should appear." Helena speaks
At the mention of the hero, Jennifer's eyes glint "Talking about him… You girls who are from his group, do you know if he is single?"
"...." The four that came to this party with Eidolon turn to look at her in an eerily synchronized fashion.
"Give up."
"It is complicated…"
"Go for it, girl~"
"Don't waste your time on that bastard."
"....."
"Eh… these are very different answers." Jennifer says with a confused voice.
"Well, he is complex like that…" Harley shrugs with a mysterious smile
"C'mon… You can tell me more than that!" Jennifer nudges in a gossip tone "How is that guy for real? Like… do you know him? Civilian identity? Only coworkers or friends? Or more?"
"Oh, we know him. Not that it will help you track him, Ms. Spy." Harley says to them before addressing Natasha directly
"At this point, I am just acting like I am still trying to figure out his identity. I gave up already." Natasha throws her hands into the air. "No one can blame me for failing, so I will just pretend."
"Good move. He has all of our minds protected against telepaths." Shego says
"Did you know that some of the SCP can't physically say his name or describe him?" Helena comments with a smirk
"He and Fury would really be friends in other circumstances…" Natasha takes a sip of her drink
"Ah, but he is getting better." Harley comments while filling her cup again "We talked about it in therapy, he allowed me to be lax with my own secret identity, and he said that he doesn't care that much anymore…"
"Really?"
"Yeah, even said that is inevitable, people are going to figure out at some point… Some precog person can figure it out, or another dimension crisis where a version of him that doesn't hide will be careless, or even a time traveller… There are a lot of possibilities." Harley explains
"Time travel?"
"Yeah, he can do all the precautions he can, but something can always happen. He is ready for that day."
"That sounds ominous…" Natasha comments with a half-smile "He is not gonna wipe everyone's memories if that happens, right?"
"He could... but he wouldn't." Harley answers
"He would never do that." Shego adds
"It is one of his self-imposed rules." Helena nods
"He has self-imposed rules?" Susan asks curiously
"With all that power, he needs to draw a line on the ground in things he shouldn't do."Shego says "What are they again? He has a lot… Like, no altering anyone's mind."
"Not doing anything to anyone for anything they are gonna do in the future." Helena helps.
"No time travel to fix his mistakes…"
"No jumping dimensions for too long and abandoning this one."
"No pineapple in pizza." Harley jokes.
"..." Shego gives the clown woman a deadpan stare before talking again. "It is a bunch of them, but you can shorten the list by saying that he doesn't mess with people's minds, souls, or sense of being… And does not do anything that can mess with the fabric of reality or space-time continuum." 'He prefers to end their lives before messing with this for some reason.'
"But the neat part is that…" Helena says before doing a dramatic pause "...he can always break his own rules if the situation asks for it." She says menacingly to scare them.
"..."
"If someone does some horrible things, they forfeit their protection of his self-imposed rules." Shego explains
"So do not get caught killing babies or anything like that… I saw him altering the memories of a guy who beat his sick old mother to death, by changing the face of every woman he slept with in his life to the face of his mother. The guy can't get a boner anymore." Harley laughs
"Damn!" Darcy exclaims
"It is when he goes Old Testament on them before bringing them to justice." Shego laughs
"That is horrible." Susan says, a little shocked.
"Ah beat it, Barbie." Shego rolls her eyes. "From your Ivory Tower, you can't see it, but he goes waist deep in all the horrible things humans can do, and only does what he does to protect the ones that couldn't protect themselves. Do you think a normal rapist can hurt him? Obviously not, he traumatized them, going against his own morals, so that other people would not suffer anymore. I, for once, think he doesn't go hard enough. Like that 40-year old guy that was marrying an 8-year old girl and was gonna consummate his marriage in the same night…'
"..." That made Susan's stomach churn
"He just turned him into a little girl himself and threw him in a house with similar people to him… In the end, it was just a scare, and Edidolon saved the guy at the last minute. I would not." Her tone is hard at the end.
Susan gulps "...I understand the anger at the situation, but the law-"
"Oh, he respects the law; it is what prevents him from killing a lot of people." Shego says in a condescending tone. "But what should he do when the law allows those atrocities? Or when the law fails?"
"..."
"So… just some pranks on those bastards is a low price they pay." Shego knows that in some cases he does more than simple pranks, but she is not gonna say anything.
"..."
"As a lawyer, I have to condemn any and every act outside the law or against it." Jennifer starts "But as a human and woman… Can't say that I disagree. I saw some shit too, there is a minority of humans that… Geez, the chair is letting them out easy." She says somberly
They can't disagree with that. Any person with a minimum of empathy would feel sorry for victims of brutal crimes and anger against the perpetrators.
"As long as he doesn't go too far." Peggy Carter finally comments. She is old and has seen things, so she can understand. Many times, she always wished for more power to do more.
"Don't worry about that." Harley laughs "That guy is The Restraint in person!"
"When compared with what he can do, someone would even say that he is a little too passive." Shego sighs
"Changing subjects, I wish he didn't have all of this restraint…" She-Hulk bit her lips while looking at Eidolon across the room "Mama would like him being active in my pants." She says to light the mood.
The girls groan and laugh at the sudden change in the conversation.
"Really?" Susan shakes her head with a smile "You are unbelievable."
"You can't blame me for thinking about it." She-Hulk gets defensive. "The guys that can match… this. Are Thor and Ben, who are in relationships…" She points at Alicia and Jane "...My cousin. Gross… And him. Everyone has to admit that the guy is a catch…"
"There is that new guy." Darcy points out "Wonder man."
"He shoots energy blasters, but he is also pretty durable and strong." Natasha adds
"We can introduce you to Gigantomachia." Shego says with a smirk
"I don't think Machia is interested in those things." Helena laughs
"There are other options in the SCP… do you like hairy guys?" Harley asks
"I don't mind, but why so eager?" Jennifer smiles widely at the women of the SCP, "Want to keep the guy all to yourselves?"
Unfortunately for Jennifer, her teasing is useless against someone shameless, and Shego learned to be shameless with Hector.
"Something like that…" Shego replies with a straight face "I mean, customizable dick, multiplication, infinite stamina, and the things he could with his tongue… I would be a fool if I let that escape."
"The Vibrating Hydra Tongue!" Harley declares with crackle, entering the joke.
The women around started blushing and thought they were joking. Jennifer laughs loudly, and Darcy asks more.
'Can't believe that beast has such a pristine reputation.' Pamela rolls her eyes while seeing that. No one thought that Eidolon was really banging all of them, except for Helena.
"Now that we are on this topic…" Natasha starts with a smirk "So, Peggy… How was it to get acquainted with Steve? Are you teaching him some modern techniques?" she wiggles her eyebrows
"Uuuuuhhhh~" The woman says in unison while Peggy holds back a blush
Across the room, Hector decides to stop eavesdropping on the conversation.
'And they say we talk about dirty things…Women are worse than men…' He shakes his head before entering the conversation in front of him
"Instead of putting everything in charities that are not all that, we should reserve most of what is gained from selling merch to reimburse the people who have their properties destroyed in our fights. Insurance is a scam, after all."
...........
Bayville High School
The Halloween party around here is happening without any trouble for now.
"That is the most low-effort costume ever, Kurt!" Jubilee jokes again with her blue friend.
"You call it 'low-effort', but I call it smart." Kurt replies with a smile. He simply turned off his holo-watch, stopped disguising his appearance, and showed his true blue self to everyone. "And I am hiding my tail, that should count for something."
"Hahaha! If there were a contest, you can't accept any prize."
The group of X-Men doesn't mingle too much with the party. The truth is that they don't have many friends outside the Xavier Institute, even when they study at this High School.
Their secrets and responsibilities as X-Men keep them at arm's length from everyone else.
If not for the younger kids in the institute, they would have had a private party in the mansion. Anyway, it is not like they don't have any friends at Bayville High School; they can still enjoy the night like any other teens, without worrying for once.
"Girl, let's dance!" Kitty pulls Cassandra to the dance floor after noticing the girl just looking around. "Did you ever come to a party like this?"
"No…" Cassandra answers calmly while wearing her ninja costume
"Really??!" Kitty pauses, surprised
When Cassandra nods, Kitty remembers when Eidolon asked them to be good friends to Shadow because she didn't have a "normal childhood".
It was not a hard task being friends with the girl, Cassandra, who is just a little quiet. Laura Kinney is similar but much more eccentric. So they forgot about the "no normal childhood" part.
"Okay!" Kitty claps once. "Pro tip about dancing at a party… Move your body however you want and don't mind if people are watching. That is it! It is this easy!"
"No, it is not…" Rogue comments on the side, as one of the introverted girls, she understands that it is not easy to ignore the people around and what they could think about you.
"Bleh! We are all in costumes! That is the time to do embarrassing things!" Kitty laughs "Ah, do you want to absorb me a little?" She asks. Once Rogue touched the tip of her finger, just to get a little of her expertise in dancing.
"Are you implying that I can't dance?" Rogue raises an eyebrow
"Well… Yes." Kitty says immediately "You are like an action figure, one of those that don't even have joints."
"For your information, I got better." Rogue says with a deadpan voice, crossing her arms.
"Hm? Oh! Aaaah~" Kitty face changes from confusion to realization. She was almost asking where Rogue had trained in dancing, but then she remembered "The Eidolon Juice!"
"Don't phrase it like that." Rogue immediately corrects
"Damn, do you still have… I don't know, lingering echoes of him inside you?" Paige Guthrie, who was already enjoying herself dancing, pauses to ask Rogue
"Also, don't phrase it like that… it is just some muscle memory combined with a little body enhancement… I am a little more flexible now…" Rogue explains while choosing her words carefully, knowing that a wrong answer will start a stream of teasing from her friends.
"I see… then show us!" Kitty urges Rogue.
Without reason to deny and nothing better to do, the southern belle meta starts feeling the music and slowly moving the body to the song till she gets into the animated rhythm, each move perfectly synchronized with the beat, even if it is an original dance.
After even the introverted Rogue started, there is no reason for the other "X-Girls" not to start moving on the dance floor.
"..." Cassandra stares at them with her head slightly tilted, like she is trying to understand how to dance.
The many independent movements confuse her; there is no pattern, so she doesn't know who to copy.
"C'mon, girl! Dance! Just move your body!" Jubilee urges her
"You are trained by Eidolon, so you should know how to move your body, right?" Kitty tries to tease her "Even Rogue is moving, and she only has a little Eidolon inside her."
"Shut it!"
'Just move whatever I want…' Cassandra thinks she understands. With a final shrug, she gives up trying to find the right way to dance and just decides to do something impressive.
She knows that the harder the move, the more amazing it looks, so she will use her trained and enhanced body to compensate for her lack of experience in dancing.
Curious enough… She does the exact move Hector used in Midtown High. She opened the space and started with a backflip, then stayed upside down for a moment before rolling on her shoulders with her legs open. The influence of her teacher is greater than expected.
She stands up fast by throwing her legs in the air and jerking her body a little to plant her feet on the ground.
"Damn!"
"Wow!"
"Who is that?!"
The normal students are amazed by the sudden moves, nothing short of a professional breakdancer.
"..." Even the 'X-Girls' are looking at her with open mouths.
"A little too much…" Paige shows a small space between her thumb and index finger
"Hahaha! That is what I am talking about!" But Kitty finds it amazing "I think I can do half of it… let me try!"
She goes to attempt, half to have fun and half to take the attention away from the quiet Cassandra. Kitty has enough emotional intelligence to fear that Cassandra could feel embarrassed after doing something so eye-catching.
She is athletic enough to really copy a little, but not enough to not embarrass herself a little. But she doesn't care, laughing with the girl after she failed to prop herself straight and her spin felt short and weak.
"Then you fucking try!" She shouts to Rogue from the ground.
"Hmpf, then watch and learn."
"You are just cheating with Eidolon's Juice inside you."
"Don't phrase it like that!"
......…
On this Halloween night, it is natural for the Gym to be the center of activity; the whole school remains mostly dark, with some exceptions like the teacher's lounge, where some of the teachers go to rest after their turn to chaperone the students.
But youngsters will always be youngsters, and they will always find ways to sneak around the surveillance. And it is not like a few teachers can keep their eyes on hundreds of students either.
And right now, a couple is walking through empty hallways together.
"Amanda, I don't know if we should be here…" Kurt says while nervously looking around.
"Please, relax a little… No one will notice us." Amanda Sefton drags Kurt by the wrist. She and the teleporter X-Men have been having a thing going on for a few months. They are not exactly dating, but they are just an inch away from making things official.
If it depended on Amanda Sefton, they would already be boyfriend and girlfriend, but Kurt Wagner is a Christian gentleman who wants to take things slow… And there is also the issue of him being a blue demon-looking meta.
Luckily for him, she is patient enough to wait while he makes up his mind to break up with her or tell her everything.
That is the main issue for Kurt. If he is gonna commit, he is gonna go all out and tell the truth from the beginning. That is why the first step is such a big one for him to take.
"It is Halloween Night, Kurt. Stop being a good boy for once, be a little naughty~" She teases while pulling him harder.
"..." He can't deny that he is being affected by her. How could he not? Amanda is a beautiful girl whom he has a crush on. A lesser man would have already lost control. "Where are you taking us?" He asks to distract himself and hide his embarrassment.
"Who knows?" She answers with a giggle "Somewhere we won't be interrupted…" She whispers
"God free me from temptation…" Kurt makes a small prayer in a low voice, making Amanda giggle hard.
She enjoys the effect she has on the upright Kurt.
"Hm? Did you hear that?" Kurt suddenly stops and looks around.
Amanda, who now can't drag him, rolls her eyes. "Don't get cold feet now, Kurt."
"No… it is not…" His head is turned to the side, and he finally notices that slivers of red light are escaping through the cracks of a door.
Seeing where he is looking, Amanda finally notices the strange phenomenon.
"That is weird… Do you think someone got there first and is watching something on their smartphone?"
"That light is too strong… and… is getting stronger…" Kurt's eyes narrow. That light is giving a familiar feeling, like he saw that tone before.
What would not make sense, tons of red are too common to invoke this feeling in him.
As he is debating whether he should ignore or check on it, the door is suddenly forced off the hinges because of a huge force.
BamCrack
"Roooooaaaarrr!" A purple monster with a horse head, horns, and a humanoid body pokes half of its torso through the destroyed door.
"Aaaaaaaah!" Amanda screams in terror, seeing that monstrosity.
'Is that… a demon?' Kurt's eyes are wide while he tries to see behind the monsters. From the small spaces, he can tell that there are more of them behind him.
Cracks appear in the wall, like the room is a jar about to break because of the overcapacity.
Boom
The wall finally can't take it anymore, exploding and propelling debris mixed with dust in all directions.
Kurt winces and throws himself to hug Amanda. He hesitated only for one second about whether he should use his power, but he would never bet her safety, so he carefully teleported only a few meters away to be farther from the blast.
Bamf
He also threw himself on the ground while covering her with his body to shield Amanda from the small pebbles that could hit them.
"Kurt!"
"Amanda!" Kurt calls back, worried that she is hurt. "Are you okay?"
"W-what is happening??!"
"Trouble! Let's get out of here!" He pulls her from the ground and starts dragging her away 'What a bad time… I need to warn the others!'
There is a sea of monsters emerging behind them, too many to be contained by that small room. Some start following them, but most of them disperse in all directions.
While Kurt is worried about his friends, Amanda, and all other people in possible danger, he is not paying attention to his tail, which was previously tucked into his pants.
Now his tail is moving around as he runs… And Amanda is looking at it as she is dragged by him.
.......
It took some time for the demons to be noticed, which is due to the fact that most of the people are concentrated in the gym, with loud music and the vibrations of people dancing.
Inside that little chaotic place, not even the trained X-Men noticed before it was too late, when a bison demon busted through the double doors.
The shocked silence lasted three seconds before the first scream of panic cut it, and with that, it spread through all the students.
People started running away from the demons, slamming into others and generating chaos. The X-Men are trained enough to react pretty quickly, but there is still a small problem.
"Jean! Disguise us!" Scott shouts to the redhead psychic.
They can't use their flashy powers while surrounded by their classmates and other students.
"I can try, there are too many of them…" Jean replies, closing her eyes, a big frown on her face as she brings her fingers to her temple "Don't expect me to help in the fight."
"It will be enough." Scott says, his hand already brings his visor from the pocket on his jacket and exchanges it with his glasses.
They don't have time to suit up, but if Jean uses her Telepathy to confuse everyone's minds and cast an illusion over the X-Men, people will not discover they are metas.
She trained, so she should be capable of doing that, or making everyone ignore it by riding in the chaotic situation, amplifying everyone's lack of focus.
In the worst-case scenario, the Professor can later erase everyone's minds to protect their identities.
The first to make a move was Cassandra.
Amidst the chaos, she really moved like a shadow, invisible and untouchable, delivering a punch at the demon that just barged into the Gym.
Thwack
The attack was precise and sharp, with minimal dispersion of force, sending the demon flying back in the corridor where it came from, hitting the demons behind him, and revealing that there are many more from where this came from.
"I had my fill of demons in the Limbo." Kitty tries to joke while more and more demons appear.
"Let's hold them here while the people run in the other direction!" Scott shouts and starts blasting the demons with his eyes
"Thermopylae!" Rogue shouts while jumping to punch a flying demon, and the landing is close to another, so she grabs his tail and spins him to throw him back in the corridor.
"What??!" Paige asks in confusion as she removes her own skin to reveal a metallic body underneath. "Ah, I spent so much time on that costume…" She whines
"Is the battle where… Whatever, just use the fact they came from a straight passage to our advantage!" Rogue starts explaining, but gives up as another demon tries to sneak up on her.
"Good idea. Hold the ground here!" Scott commands while the X-Men disperse a little to deal with the wave of demons.
The strategy is good, but there is a problem…
"Outside too." Shadow says to them and immediately disappears in a blur.
Like on cue, the ceiling breaks and some demons roar to enter the Gym, but Shadow reappears and kicks them, this time with much more strength, creating a shockwave and wind pressure that pushes the flock of flying demons to the sky.
Without another word, Cassandra started fighting the demons in the air, being the ultimate barrier.
"We don't know where they are coming from! They could be dispersed in another direction!" Rogue shouts as she easily overpowers a demon, using him to hit another. Since absorbing Eidolon two times, she had become a very competent fighter.
"I will investigate!" Kitty shouts and immediately starts running through the crowd of demons, leaving behind very confused enemies that can't touch her.
"Iceman! Rogue! Jubilee! Go outside and deal with any monster that you meet!" Scott commands, choosing someone good with crowd control, a brawler, and a long-range fighter to go to the open area. "Protect the people evacuating!"
They follow his lead, and when the gym is almost empty, Jean can finally help them.
"I will establish a telepathic link with Kitty." Jean says "Depending on what she found, we can decide our next step.
Scott has no problems with the idea and just nods while continuing to blast the demons.
......….
Illyana Rasputin can be considered a rebellious teenager, and there are just a small number of people that she would listen to in this world.
So it's no surprise that she completely ignored her curfew and is wandering around Halloween Night, stealing some candies, scaring some kids.
"This is a little fun… Just a little." She comments while spinning her pumpkin bag, filled with candy, around the neighborhood.
She is trying to see what it is to be a kid after years lost in Limbo, but she is not feeling the appeal.
"I guess it really passed, and I lost the chance of being a kid…" She sighs, but not really that regretfully "Forcing it now is no good and cringe."
She doesn't care; she enjoys being a mature girl. If she could, she would even age herself more to be an adult. Illyana is in an awkward spot where she is not a kid and not an adult, unsure of what she is and of what she can or can not do.
Eidolon and Ororo said that this is called "puberty" and everyone goes through it. But Illyana still thinks she is a little special…
"Hmm?" She was ready to poler a portal disc and return to the mansion when she noticed something.
In the horizon, above the rooftops, there is a red light… Weak, but she can recognize that tone everywhere until the last day of her life. She will never forget it.
Illayan doesn't hesitate, Eidolon training kicks in, and her body is already moving, powers answering to her call, and her mind tries to understand the situation.
'That direction… the high school, the party!' A portal disc opens in front of her, and she disappears on it, leaving her candy behind, the pumpkin bag losing its place to her soulsword.
.......
Back in Bayville High School, the situation escalated to a warzone.
Cassandra and the X-Men are competent enough to deal with this swarm of low-level demons, but they are simply too numerous, appearing faster than they can deal with them.
"We really need to get to the root of this problem!!" Rogue shouts.
Everyone is able to listen because Jean has already established a telepathic communication between them all.
"Kitty, any good news??" Scott asks
"There are so many that I can barely see where I am going! The school is toasted!" Kitty shouts as she runs through demons. The creatures destroyed the walls, and she can barely make sense of which part of the school she is walking through.
"I accidentally stumbled on what I think was the first wave…" Kurt finally speaks through the link "Check the Equipment Room, or the area around."
"Kurt! Where are you?"
"Sorry, guys, I am with Amanda, and I don't think she will leave me out of sight to help… I will try to take her far away before coming back, but…"
"Don't worry, take her to safety before anything." Scott dismisses his apology
Even the group inside the Gym can't use the Thermopylae strategy anymore because demons are appearing from everywhere. Now, the best course of action is to protect each other's backs while trying to discover how to stop this seemingly infinite flood of demons.
"Those things have no end!!" Samuel Guthrie shouts while flying around with his powers, hitting a lot of demons in the process. Because he can move in the air, he is not aware of the great quantity of them.
"They can't be really infinite, right?" Tabitha asks while throwing a bomb at one of them
ZwoonWhoosh
A blue light shines above them, and Illyana appears already throwing a blue slash at a group of bat-like demons.
"Illyana! What are you doing here?" Jean shouts at her
"Those demons are from Limbo!" Illyana ignores the question and says while moving among the slashing demons
"!!!"
"Are you sure?" Scott asks
"Absolutely!" Illyana confirms
"And know that helps how exactly?" Paige asks amidst her own battle
"Can you close the portal if Kitty finds it?" Rogue asks Illyana
"That is not how my power works! But maybe I can do it through another means!"
"I found it!" Kitty suddenly exclaims "It's a cliche demonic circle! Jean, can you pinpoint my location?"
"Yes, and sending it to Illyana already." Jean answers.
"Got it!" Illyana stomps on the head of a demon and uses it as a platform to propel herself to where she can feel Kitty's presence. "You can move away now!"
"Okie dokie." Kitty does not need to be told twice; she has never been attacked so much in her life. If her powers were not this easy to use, she is sure she would have slipped and would have been hit at some point. More than walking, it was like she was swimming into a sea of demons.
With some well-placed portal discs, Illiyana moves in diverse angles in the sky and finally emerges above the demonic portal. She grips her soulsword tightly and dives in with a strong downward slash.
Swish
It is a super bright attack that vaporizes the poor demons that just appeared.
For once, the area is clean of demons, and Illyana can finally see the demonic circle.
"Shit!" Instead of being happy, she cursed.
"What?" Jean asks, relaying whatever she is gonna say to the rest
"I know that thing… I should have struck with all my might. Fuck the school…" Illyana grits her teeth.
The answer to why she looks so angry with herself appeared in the next instant.
The demonic circle with a diameter of two meters trembles and floats out of the ground. Then it radically grows and shoots to the sky. When it is high above in the air, the circle is so big that it can cover the whole school, its red light shining down, creating a world of red.
"That circle has a defense mechanism. When it is in danger, with imminent destruction, it will accelerate whatever process it is doing to complete the task faster." Illyana clicks her tongue
"So…" Kitty starts
"It is gonna spill all the demons it can… all of them." The blonde half-demon says gravely.
And as she said, the circle trembles again and demons start flying from the sky like a waterfall. The magic circle is a giant demonic mouth vomiting hordes of demons on them.
Everyone starts using everything they have to attack the demons coming down on them.
"Hold the ground! It is so chaotic that not even the demons are confused, strike before they recover their bearings!" Illyana instructs, releasing a giant slash in the waterfall of demons.
The rest of the X-Men also start using their most destructive attacks. In some way, it becomes a little easier because the demons don't have time to even settle in their new circumstances, much less fight back.
"What kind of idiot did that?" Illyana curses. To her, it makes no sense to put a mechanism like that in an invasion ploy like this one. "Unless, invading is not really the objective… a distraction manye? To where? Fuck it… Focus on the now, Illyana!"
Iceman freezes a good chunk of the demons, and Scott destroys them with his concussive blasts. Tabitha throws bombs. Jean uses telekinetic blasts. And all others do what they can.
It is at this moment that Cassandra reappears while performing giant rankyakus, slicing dozens of demons with one move.
She was a little out of the heat of the battle because she flew around hunting any demon that separated from their main group and could cause trouble in some other area.
"I asked for reinforcements." She says in a deadpan voice, just before performing an uppercut that destroyed almost the whole waterfall of demons.
"Eidolon is coming?" Kitty asked, already getting relieved.
"...outsourced." Cassandra replies with an even voice.
"Outsourced? What do you mean by 'Outsourced'?" Jubilee asks, confused.
It didn't take them long to understand. A dark portal appears in the air, swirling slowly, and a figure slowly emerges from it.
Because of the dark cloak, for a second the X-Men thought that it was Eidolon, but as more of the figure appeared, it became obvious that is another someone else.
The cloak is of a dark purple instead of completely black, and the figure is smaller and still feminine, even if she is fully covered.
That is none other than Raven, floating in the air after grumpily coming here after Hector told her to come, but seeing the situation, she can understand why and immediately acts.
Flap
Raven opens her arms widely, her cloak billowing in the wind, like the wings of a black bird. Darkness covers her two hands, coalescing into orbs, her eyes shining with power beneath the shadow of her hood.
She starts moving her hands in a circular motion, and darkness starts swirling around the whole school. It rises and grows, and quickly becomes clear that she is closing a dome around the area to prevent any demon from escaping.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"
Her eyes shine even brighter, stopping her hands and making a claw motion. As a mirror to her movement, two giant bird claws appear on each side of the giant magic circle.
She closes her hands, and the giant claws do the same, digging it in the demonic circle.
Her objective is obvious; the claws are trying to rip off the demonic circle, the portal distorting as Raven puts more effort into her arms and magic.
As a response to danger, the demonic circle shines even more brightly and starts spewing more demons. It even released two giant building-sized demons that immediately flew to Raven, as if sensing she was the greatest danger.
Illyana and Cassandra immediately move and attack the two giant demons to protect Raven. One punch and one slash, it all took to destroy the demon aggressors.
"Hold on! It is almost over!" Illyana shouts to the rest. Now, they need to give everything to stop the desperate increase in influx.
Raven is also putting more effort; her arms tremble as she pulls, the demonic circle and portal even more distorted and strained, almost giving in…
"Azarath metrion… Zinthos!!" With that final word, she finally ripped the portal like it was a piece of cloth.
But she is not done, the portal was dispersing into motes of light, and space started breaking because of the instability… Raven opens her pals and claps harder, the giant bird's claws turn into two human hands and do the same, smashing the remnants of the portal like it was a mosquito.
That also deals with the unstable space, like she closed a window forcefully. A dark shockwave spread with that move, destroying the red light that was bathing the place and hitting all the demons that were still around.
For some reason, the demons stilled and started collapsing like they were puppets and their strings were cut off suddenly.
"That is the same fuck mindless army of Belasco…" Illyana says with disdain and anger in her voice as she watches the demons disappear into motes of red light.
That is why it was more or less easy; those demons had no sentience, they were simply zombie creatures that were ordered to sow chaos and destruction.
Raven slowly floats down to look at the place where the demonic magic circle first appeared. She frowned hard but then relaxed. She also found this situation strangely meaningless, but she couldn't do much more.
Maybe there is someone like a demonic sorcerer Joker that just wants to see the world burn.
"...my job here is done." She says dryly and turns around to open a portal.
Unfortunately, Raven was not ready for Hurricane Katherine, which hit her fast and stopped her in her tracks.
"Damn girl! That was fucking cool! Are you from Eidolon's group? Why haven't I heard of you? I think I saw this cloak at Edna's house. Is that magic? That is magic, right? Cool~" Kitty says without one pause to breathe while hugging Raven.
"..." The gothic girl was suddenly having flashbacks of her big-mouthed friends. She has a love-hate relationship with this type of person.
Now it is awkward to run away.
.........
Somewhere else, deep down underground, in the tunnels below Bayville, another magic circle very similar to the one that shone above the high school is trembling inside a small room.
Above the circle, a glob of red liquid, similar to blood, is churning and being coalesced. Motes of red light and blood mist slowly move to the center of this demonic circle as it gets more agitated, increasing the size of the glob.
"It is done." A female voice says in this dark room, a little young and high-pitched.
"That soulsword and that witch that appeared in the end almost ruined the plan, but it ended well." Another female voice speaks, this one much more mature.
"Now we are even." The first voice speaks with a hard tone.
"Yes, dear. It was a pleasure doing business with you~" The mature voice says softly
"Hmpf, I don't care what you are gonna do with it, so let's not cross paths again."
"Oh? But I thought we made such a good team…" The mature voice looks like it is pouting.
"Tch, whatever… I am gonna do my own thing now that I am finally out of Limbo." The first voice moves "Last warning: Don't mess with me."
As she passes around the magic circle, the light finally shines on her, revealing who she is.
It is a young orange-haired woman wearing sorcerer clothes… She is Ananym, daughter of Belasco. She was finally able to leave Limbo with the help of the second woman.
And in exchange, she gave the woman control of one of her father's reserve armies. But the objective was never to attack the X-Men or create some mischief.
"Bye, bye~" The mature woman says with a casual tone.
"..." Ananym gives the woman a face, one last look before scoffing and walking away.
After she was gone, the mature woman giggles softly while approaching the demonic circle
"So young… it brings me back." Now her features are revealed as she stays just on the side of the demonic circle.
It is a beautiful and voluptuous woman wearing revealing dark clothes. Much of her skin is exposed, and if any of the people who fought the demons above saw her, they would be shocked after seeing her face.
It is a face they know very well, and that is just beside them… Jean Grey's face.
"There is enough… time to be reborn, my baby." Madelyne Pryor extends her hand
The famous clone of Jean Grey is not from this universe. In the past, after Eidolon helped the alternate versions of Ororo, Kitty, and Kurt go back to their own universe, Madelyne Pryor retraced their steps and went to Limbo.
That is why she is older, like the other alternative versions.
The demonic magic circle leaves the ground while trembling, and then starts circling the red glob in the middle. It spins around it so fast that it becomes a 3D image, a sphere of light, and glyphs.
It didn't take long for the energy of the demonic circle to merge into the glob of red, and something started being formed. The liquid becomes solid and takes shape, it elongates itself, becomes thin and tall like a staff… but then the edge grows sharp.
In the end, when the circle stops, and the item is fully manifested, it is revealed that it is indeed a weapon… a scythe.
That is the reason for the whole invasion of demons.
The objective was never to defeat the X-Men or even to create any trouble. Madelyne just wanted the energy of the demons to forge this scythe. She even brought Ananym to Earth from this.
The X-Men are just the grinder she used to get the raw material.
"The Scythe of Sorrows… Mwah" She says contentedly before kissing the red blade "New world, new chances."
To her, this universe is an enormous opportunity. It is too early in the timeline against someone as experienced as her; it's as if she has gone back in time with her whole knowledge.
"Someone already defeated Belasco, and conveniently, Illyana is too young to take the throne of Limbo… It is simply perfect! Destiny is obviously on my side." She smiles brightly while holding her new weapon
This time she will surely win… There is nothing that can stop her here.
......….
Avengers Tower
Eidolon is zoning out from the conversation while he sits on the couch, with some of the other heroes around him. Beneath his Darth Vader helmet, he is smiling because he successfully set up Raven to meet the X-Men.
'She needs some friends…' he chuckles 'And finally I have reliable enough people to handle things and do nothing.' He is happy, after all, his Endgame is having enough capable people in his group that he would not need to make a move unless things are really dire… Essentially retiring…
His happiness is short-lived because she just got another report, and this one calls for his direct intervention.
"They really come to me to make a cartoon, but I don't think we have enough story to tell, unless we start lying-." Tony was speaking before he stopped because Eidolon suddenly stood up.
It was not a casual stand-up to go get a drink; there was a different air about him.
"Something came up…" He says, and his cape falls from his shoulders, the rest of the upper part of his costume also falling off slowly.
"Is it serious?" Captain America asks with a frown
"Do you need help?" Thor offers with a big smile
"I will be back shortly…" Eidolon relies while slowly removing his Darth Vader helmet.
He is not wearing his usual hero suit, but to the disappointment of everyone, he still has half of his face covered. He is wearing a sleeveless black tight shirt that has a mask that goes all the way to cover his nose. Something he copied from Kakashi of Naruto.
"...I will just go kill Dracula… probably." He says before crossing a portal and disappearing.
"..."
"Did he say what I think he said?" Tony asks the people around while pointing to the place where Eidolon disappeared
"Yep, kill Dracula, that is what he said." Clint confirms while acting like it's no big deal.
"Wow! The guy really lives up the holidays, huh?"
"I am afraid what his plans are for Christmas now…"
......…
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