Chapter 102: Welcome to the Mojo Show
Third Person P.O.V.
"Well, here we are." Eidolon declares while he, his people, the X-Men, and Psylocke arrive at the Mojoworld. The group emerged high in the air, on a platform created by Eidolon's powers… By experience, the hero knows that the sky is a good place to stay and observe… people rarely look up, after all.
"Not that different from Earth." Someone comments
"We can breathe just fine…"
"Oxygen is pretty common overall…" Eidolon says to them offhandedly while looking around "Worlds like those are perfect, enough technology to facilitate my search but not advanced enough to pose a threat…" With a flex of his will, he and Cortana invade the internet of this world, they connect themselves with the satellites and start snooping around for all relevant information.
Cortana is fast enough that it only takes a few seconds for her to filter what is important, Eidolon then organizes it just as fast. In the next few seconds, he makes appear some holo-screens on the air.
"Well, let's divide ourselves now. There are many locations that we need to go to rescue the slaves, but the main ones are the many studios and zoos around the world, the Colosseum, and the base of Mojo, which is also the biggest studio." He says while showing the images of the places "This world is only one big continent… Like the Pangea before being divided."
He then starts pointing to each specific place "I, obviously, will go deal with Mojo alone. The Colosseum is the place with the high probability of you finding resistance, so the more direct fighters will go there…"
"I can go there." Lady Jade interrupts with a raise of her hand
"Fine." There's no reason to deny her request "I'm gonna distribute some wrist devices to all of you so that we can keep in touch. You just need to save the slaves and then activate the ejection button."
It's as simple as it can get, almost casual… But there's really no need to overcomplicate a rescue mission like this one. They don't even need to worry about secret identities or collateral damage.
"Is that you?" Eidolon turns to Psylocke and then points to a specific screen showing a woman with purple hair. The hair and some features are similar, but only that. Different from the Asian ninja Psylocke that stands in front of him, the woman(who apparently was forced into a similar sexy attire, or it by choice) is a white Caucasian female with an austere face, despite not losing in looks.
But if asked, Eidolon would… well, first avoid the question, but if pressed he will say that Asian Psylocke makes more his type.
"Yes, that's me!" Finally, Psylocke shows some emotion, her eyes not leaving the screen while she stares at her long-lost face.
"Surprisingly similar…" Kitty comments
"Must be why their body swapped in the first place." Jean guess, as an Omega-level Telepath, she can understand things more easily in this situation. She already felt that Psylocke was also an Esper/Psych meta.
She doesn't know the specifics, but she is almost sure that the exchange of bodies was not random.
"Then you go there, like you, I bet she will be happy to see her old face." Eidolon nods to himself.
He divides the groups, putting an older X-men in charge of a batch of the young ones. In just a few seconds he devises a battle plan where they would attack fast and rescue the slaves and then move away just as quickly.
Quick movement in the enemy territory is crucial during a mission like this one, and he wants them to understand that, everything is a lesson to them.
...…
After efficiently passing the specifics for everyone to understand, Eidolon moved solo. He gave the information chewed enough that there was no chance of misunderstanding, one simple task for the group.
At the same time, he separated himself in two, and kept his other self in the air to observe and protect the rest. After all, they are his responsibility now. And the ones like Dust, Mercury, Husk, Cannonball, Sunspot, Magma, Havok, and the rest of the second-generation X-Men don't have field experience.
They are just one or two years younger than Jean and Scott's group, but in those formative years, this difference is enough to make them worlds apart. They barely started growing a person, let's not talk about developing as a Hero.
Illyana tried to follow Eidolon, but he sent her with her senior, Shadow. The silent sidekick only gave a calm thumbs-up in response.
Now alone, this body of Eidolon, that wears his mantle, cuts the sky as he moves to the central point of this continent, world, and even universe… To the Mojo Studios.
The Mojo Studios is easy to identify. It's a huge, mismatched, and dystopian amalgamation of anything and everything. If the studios of Holywood stretch through a big area in a somewhat organized way, the Studios of Mojo are messy and grow in all directions, even up. Like a beehive made of cubes… Those huge cubes being the film sets, that Eidolon can easily see that are periodically added without much thought about the infrastructure.
With a glance, Hector can see that Mojo has some compulsive and impulsive behavior. Each huge block has a different scenario inside, but there's no organization… Mojo probably has an idea, builds it, and then drops the film set on this huge infrastructure like how someone would put a Lego piece.
He probably does everything alone too… Too arrogant and conceited to ask for other people's opinions.
With just this first contact, Eidolon gauged Mojo's personality. "I can already see that interacting with him will be a pain in the ass…" He allows himself to sigh a little before speeding up.
He uses his visual powers and super-senses to check the living things inside that mess that Mojo calls Studio.
He saw everything inside and noticed the robots and slaves, which will make him hold back a little. He also easily finds Mojo in the central most part of the structure, but he finds something even more interesting…
"Traces of magic?" he frowns. Mojo is a sorcerer?
He really doesn't have much knowledge about this specific and obscure X-Men villain. Well, even with this discovery, nothing changes in the end… And he doubts Mojo is a Sorcerer Supreme-level threat.
His face hardens, going full "Eidolon Mode". He changes directions of his flight and drops down at hypersonic speeds, zooming straight to the building. In the last seconds before hitting it, he becomes intangible and passes through the many film sets till he reaches the Command Center where Mojo is…
*Bam*
He does a superhero landing that shakes the whole structure, startling Mojo, his soft body jiggling like jello before he turns around to see the hero standing up slowly from the small crater.
"E-Eidolon?!" The Spineless One exclaims, shocked.
"So you know me…" Eidolon replies "If you already know of what I'm capable of, release all the slaves and-" He starts demanding, not negotiating… Even if Mojo obeys his instructions he will still beat him up.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Did you just do a superhero landing?! Damnit! I lost it! Did any camera capture the moment???" Mojo ignores Eidolon and starts shouting and moving in all directions with his robotic spider legs.
"..." Even Eidolon is a little flabbergasted.
The villain ignores the real issue and focuses on getting a great shot of his… landing? That is some strange commitment…
'This is some Batman villain-type shit…' The hero shakes his head and doesn't waste more time
He disappears from his spot and dashes at, the without focus, Mojo at neck-breaking speeds, wanting to end things here and now… But something weird happens…
"Hm?" He starts… slowing down? Something is going against his movement… He immediately pays attention to identifying the problem.
He noticed some parts of the floor shining brightly, some TVs hanging on the wall emitting a strange invisible wave.
"Kinetic dampeners…" He speaks in a somewhat surprised voice
"BWAHAHA! Do you like it? I prepared specially for you! I knew that one day you would come! I just didn't expect that it would be so soon…" Mojo declares, moving on the wall with his spider legs, taking distance from the hero.
"You made your research…" Eidolon comments
"Of course! I'm a big fan!" Mojo declares proudly "I know everything about you! And you always say to be prepared, right?"
"..." Now this is strange…
This is really some Batman thing… Not only his obsession is strangely similar to the rogue Gallery of Gotham, but Eidolon was just "Batman-ed". He proved from his own medicine.
"Well, it was bound to happen at some point…" He moves on quickly.
Being a hero and working in the limelight, it is obvious that people would start creating countermeasures against him. He is prepared for that too… That's why he hides a lot of trump cards under his sleeve.
"Nothing is easy." He says while watching Mojo rambling about his invention.
"...then they activate when an object here reaches a certain speed, when you cross that threshold the kinetic dampeners will emit a wave that solidifies the air, taking away the kinetic moves of the molecules. Basically, it locks space." Mojo brags
"So if I limit my speed, I will be good." Hector identified the problem easily enough too
"I knew that you would catch fast! That's why I will establish the limit as Mach 1!"
Those kinetic dampeners even stop his intangibility, after all, he really didn't disappear out of existence, it is just that his molecules vibrate at a certain frequency that makes him avoid all obstacles… Now Mojo's devices even successfully forced him to become tangible.
But despite all that, Eidolon remains calm, analyzing his next move. 'He kept people around to stop me from destroying everything… that device on his head blocks telepathy too… And he uses magic…'
"You know that this will only delay the inevitable, right?" Eidolon asks after thinking for a while. In the end, despite complicating things, nothing can really stop him.
"Excellent! Then the show will last longer!" Mojo shouts while opening his thin arms.
Then the whole place starts rumbling, and the walls and floor start moving. A passage opens behind him where his robotic spider legs take him away, at the same time the environment blocks Eidolon.
"Come and get me, Eidolon!" Mojo's face appears on all the TVs around the hero "Now starts the great game of Hero&Villain! Being broadcasted to all the world!!"
Eidolon doesn't doubt him, he can see the cameras pointed at him.
"Cortana…" He calls
"You must have noticed, Master. Every time I hacked something, he instantly cut it from the Main System. He apparently made a program to do that…" His trusted AI reports.
Mojo is not even trying to fight him for cyber dominance, he is cutting his losses at the first sign of hacking. He knows Eidolon too well…
The hero sighs tiredly "Haah~ It was just a quick rescue mission…" Then he advances.
...….
All around the Mojoworld, the countless TVs interrupt whatever they are transmitting to show Mojo's face. They can see him move fast, the camera showing the background over his shoulder being destroyed and covered by more layers of walls and force-fields.
"Happy citizens of the Mojoworld! I interrupt your transmission to an emergency and spontaneous show!!" Mojo speaks like a showman to engage the viewers "We are being invaded by heroes from Earth! Exactly! That Earth!!" He reveals, shocking the watchers.
He points over his shoulder "The one pursuing me now is literally the greatest of them… Eidolon!! Will he be able to surpass all the obstacles and reach me? Will I be able to escape?? Stay tuned!!" He says while moving quickly away from the destruction behind him.
He is literally putting his life in line for the content… It's almost respectable… In a twisted way.
But that is what Mojo is, that is what he represents… Even as a villain, he is a fan of Earth and the heroes, but he is twisted.
He is the representation of the Toxic Fans.
A fan that is a hater, that wants things to go his way, that thinks he can do better, that always has some criticism, is never happy… He is the toxic fanbase of Marvel Comics given form. Even the design… A couch potato.
"Final Boss of Discord Mods… or maybe is a Redditor…" Even Eidolon is getting a little annoyed by his tricks. He is like the boss of a video game that is not the hardest but is so annoying that makes you not play again.
And, like the toxic fans, he doesn't shut up…
"Look at Eidolon moving… You can see that he is more than his powers, he really trained. But isn't his power level a little inconsistent? Shouldn't he be able to deal with me already with the feats he showed in the past?"
"..." 'It's just because I'm saving the people from the Studio… I will distract you till everyone is safe…' Eidolon answers only in his mind.
"I mean, he has so many powers… Does he even keep track of all of them? What is the point of so many powers if he doesn't use them??" Mojo continues to criticize him
"..." This time Eidolon doesn't answer even in his mind.
Never argue with haters, they have more free time than you, and it's impossible to convince them. They just wanted your attention, in a twisted way...
So Eidolon will not engage.
"There are better ways to do things, Eidolon… For example..."
"..." But he can't deny that annoys him a little.
...
While Eidolon allows himself to be annoyed by Mojo, the other heroes of Earth continue with their mission.
On a certain isolated area, normally used to film big action sequences, a trio of girls landed, after being carried there by a big beast.
"I will learn how to fly myself…" Illyana says as much to the others as to herself. She is now wearing the most standard version of her new attire. A black feminine armor with some red details, and a headdress.
"..." She could very well be really talking with herself because the other two are not great talkers.
Shadow and X-23 jump from Rover's back a little later. Eidolon wanted the three to get along, but things were a little awkward, so they focused on the mission at hand instead of socializing.
Looking around they notice the scenario, it's like a huge city that was modeled to be a prop for a movie. They can see a train that simply goes around without destination, some small mountains, some covered in snow, buildings of the most varied styles, many cars stopped at the side.
"Creepy place." Illyana comments as they walk into the city. The empty streets and buildings create an eerie atmosphere. "Is this place really empty?" She starts second-guessing herself.
"No…" But to her surprise Shadow finally answers, leading them to a certain area, after walking left and right through the fake city, they finally reach a separate place that appears to exist for the sake of storage.
The layout features huge warehouses properly spaced; most are closed, but workers are filling some, revealing diverse materials inside. From clothes to airplanes… And even humans.
The ones moving things inside and out look human, but the three noticed that they move strangely unnaturally. Some look miserable and appear to be prisoners, held in cages, while others work without changing expressions.
"Mind control? Brainwashing?" Illyana tries to guess, the three hiding to observe and have a proper idea of the situation.
X-23 growls at her side, but she doesn't understand what she means… Maybe she doesn't like brainwashing.
It is Shadow that answers the question "Not human." She says simply and in an emotionless voice.
"Not human?" Illyana thinks hard about what she means… "Are the ones working not humans? Or is it mixed? If it's mixed, things will get complicated… "She sighs, differentiating friend from foe will make the mission problematic.
As she is thinking that, Shadow once again speaks one word while pointing in a certain direction "Leader."
Illyana's eyes move to where she is pointing to see a tall woman wearing a silver helmet, but the more eye-catching feature is the fact that the woman has six arms.
The melee weaponry close to her also makes some memories resurface in Illyana's mind, despite not being a centaur this woman remembers her of Necrosis, the Spirit of Corruption, one of Belasco's subordinates.
"I'm gonna deal with her." Illyana says without allowing a response, she then turns to her company of mission "Shall we go?"
When thinking about it… Why are they acting stealthily again? You know… They're good at it… X-23 has the skills, Illyana can teleport around without being noticed, and there's not even a need to talk about Shadow…
But they're strong, they should simply attack head-on.
Shadow stops the eager Illyana and points at her "You. Save." She says in a no-nonsense tone.
"What?" I called dibs on that six-armed woman.
"You save. Portal." Shadow doesn't back down.
Illyanna glares at her, acting as menacing as she can…
"..." But Cassandra is Eidolon's sidekick… She will not be intimidated by a 12-year-old girl, it doesn't matter what kind of experiences she had.
Cassandra has just as bad a past too.
"You. Save." Shadow pokes Illyana's armored chest
"..."
"..."
The two stare at each other, Shadow's calm half lower uncovered part of her face against Illyana's full-face snarl. And eventually, Illyana is the one that takes a step back…
"Tch. Whatever…" She turns her head away after clicking her tongue. She can understand the logic behind Shadow's words and she also doesn't want to appear childish in the middle of an important mission.
What if Shadow rat her out to Eidolon? He would be disappointed, right? After all that talk about not being a kid, she can't be caught acting like one…
"I'm gonna save the ones that are imprisoned while you all create a distraction." Illyana gives some instructions to regain some ground.
"..." Shadow doesn't contest her decision and just nods.
"..." X-23 on the side doesn't look like she is thinking deeply about anything. When they tell her to attack, she will attack. In some ways, she is not that different from Rover.
And Rover just received the order… Cassandra pats his head as a signal and he opens his mouth while gathering energy inside, Shadow uses him like a weapon, even pointing him to where he wants to shoot.
*Boom*
The energy blast hits an open warehouse with only items, exploding it to smithereens. The objective of attracting attention is achieved as everyone who is not a robot turns to see what happened.
Spiral, the six-armed woman also turns around while taking her weapons. As she turns around she feels a chill, Shadow is already behind her snaking between her armpits and going straight for her head and neck.
The triangle chokehold was applied masterfully in the split second that Spiral attention was on the explosion, Cassandra is good enough to consider the extra arms and doesn't hold back… She is aiming to make her opponent unconscious in a second by removing her air supply mercilessly.
She also hit some points of Spiral's elbows with her knuckles to give her some cramps and weaken her arms.
The execution is excellent and Cassandra didn't underestimate Spiral, any other similar opponent would have fallen right there and the battle would have ended, but Shadow doesn't have all the information…
*Swish* *Swish*
Spiral arms glows in a yellow light and Shadows jumps back, back flipping till she is at a safe distance.
"Sorcery…" She says in a low voice after observing Spiral's energy attacks.
She jumped back because of the uncertainty of the effects of the magic.
While Cassandra is analyzing her, Spiral doesn't waste time… Her arms move in a strange pattern and some magic attacks fly at Shadow.
On the side, X-23 and Rover are attacking the plethora of slaves.
In the Mojoworld there are Slaves and slaves. The last one means exactly how the word is used on Earth, people being forced to do some labor without payment or freedom. Those people are the kidnapped ones, mostly the ones without abilities, good appearance, or anything that can make them valuable to the Shows.
Now, there are Slaves, those are robots created as images of the "demons in their visions", the humans. A certain Spineless One scientist created those androids to help the Spineless Ones with their lives and use the image of humans in a way to lower their fear of the Human Race.
X-23 and Rover are now killing the Slaves, after paying attention is not that hard to separate the two kinds. The Android Slaves don't have very good combat power, they are simply more resistant than normal people and unafraid of pain and death. Their sheer numbers are also significant; in a world ruled by a single person, resources can be allocated at will.
There is also no waste in useless things like wars in the Mojoworld.
But X-23 adamantium claws and Rover's heavy attacks easily dispatched those Android Slaves. The poor soulless androids are not even equipped with weapons… They only know how to fight based on the choreography of movies and TV Shows.
Illyana also completes her task, albeit disgruntled, she opens a portal big enough for a car to pass inside the prison of the slaves.
"Let's go! You are free now!" She emerges from the portal and urges everyone to enter the portal.
"..." But to her surprise, they don't move, appear to be in a state of shock. Some even move away from her fearfully.
She doesn't know, but the people are under heavy mental torture for a long time. A producer would try to create some authentic feelings on their shows, right? Mojo obviously tried that…
With surprised escape challenges, survival challenges, forced into dangerous situations… Sometimes things similar to what is happening right now happened before… Someone coming to save them only to be a prank in the end.
Once bitten, twice shy…
"C'mon, people! Run!" Illyana can't understand why they are making things difficult tho.
But no one moves, Illyana is about to use force, after all, they will discover her good intentions later anyway, but she stops herself halfway through…
Maybe that is not the right way, even without the full backstory, with one glance anyone can see that they are living subpar lives. Illyana puts into practice the anger management sessions with Dr. Harley Quinn and takes a deep breath.
"Don't worry everyone, I'm here. You are all safe now…" She forces herself to smile, talking with them softly but with confidence, trying to replicate how Eidolon does this.
She approaches a woman, to help her to her feet and shows, not only with her words, her good intentions…
"Hiih!" But she barely takes two steps before the woman recoils like she just hit her.
"..." Illyana's patience dries at that moment…
She stares at everyone before flipping the switch.
"Ah for fuck's sake! Move, you fuckers! Or do you want to die now?? Huh???" She shouts, her foul mouth making another appearance after a long time. She makes her sword appear and points at the slaves "If I wanted you dead, you would be dead! Move! Move!" She moves around, conducting the prisoners like a flock of sheep. She is even poking them…
In the end, it was not the ideal but she got the job done, moving everyone away… Her anger management sessions still have a long way to go.
Back to the fight of Shadow versus Spiral, the conflict ended pretty abruptly.
After observing Spiral way of attack, Shadow understood that her enemy uses the movements of her six arms to conjure her magic. She also checked that there were no hidden effects that could be dangerous to her.
Then she goes to end things fast.
She uses her super-speed to attack Spiral, dodging the energy projection attacks, all the slashes and balls of energy hitting nothing… Cassandra goes for a tackle but is something hard to do when your opponent has 6 superior limbs.
Spiral prepares her weapons, it's impossible to Cassandra dodge all of them… But Cassandra has no intention of dodging them.
She goes straight ahead… And becomes intangible.
The weapons phase through her in a harmless way, she didn't use them before because she doesn't know how the magic energy emitted by Spiral would interact with her intangibility.
"Remember, even if you become intangible, you still exist… Certain things can still affect and touch you. You're not invincible" Eidolon's lesson surfaces in her mind "But you also can use it as a weapon… I think you are talented enough to do what I'm about to teach you…"
*Whoosh*
Shadow tackles Spiral, but her body goes through the six-armed woman in a harmless way too. Shadow dashes through her and stops some meters away from her opponent.
Spiral was confused by the "non-attack", but suddenly it hit her…
"Bleeeerghhh!" She drops to the ground on all fours(all eights?) and pours the contents of her stomach out.
"..." Shadow approaches her silently, her fist raised and coated in darkness, she at least waits for Spiral to empty her stomach before *Thud* Hitting her on the head. "Done." She nods to herself seeing her opponent unconscious, laying on her own vomit.
What she did before was alter the frequency of her intangibility, or it would be better to say that she altered the frequency of how her molecules vibrate, just in the right way to affect the fragile and sensitive ear organs and bones in Spiral's head.
The effect was even better than she expected, she was hoping that Spiral would lose her sense of balance and the impossibility of using her weird dance to attack, but the woman lost all her battle power instead, the only downside is that is…
"Gross." She comments while stepping away from Spiral.
...
The group of Jean, Sunspot, and Banshee arrived at a weird place of interest. It seems that Eidolon sent them to a laboratory where they make experiments on humans. Probably the least favorable place to visit in this world but he thinks Jean can deal with it, as the most mentally mature of the X-Men.
Sunspot and Banshee are good support to her because of their destructive powers and ability to fly. Eidolon already predicted that there's not much to save here… So they will just need to destroy this place.
But Jean still needs to make sure.
She advances, fingers on her temples as she concentrates on feeling someone's, anyone, distressed mind. At her side, Banshee shouts and destroys many Android Slaves, Sunspot opens the way through some thick walls with his heat powers.
They walk through this seemingly inconspicuous building only to discover that there's more underground.
"I'm already not liking this…" Roberto da Costa, aka Sunspot, comments seeing the huge elevator that heads down.
"I think I saw a horror movie that started like this." Sean Cassidy, aka Banshee, tries to add a little humor to the situation but is hard.
The elevator appears to be used to carry heavy loads, it is rustic and dark, not giving a reliable feeling.
"We have no other choice" Jean steps on it.
"Ugh, this is a cattle elevator…" Sunspot says, recognizing the style
"Then is that how the kidnapped humans felt…" Jean comments darkly, in an almost depressing tone.
And it only gets more depressing the more they see.
They stopped at each floor, only to return to the elevator disappointed and with grim faces. Jean who saw some of the labs of the Anti-Mutant groups, can assuredly say that here is even worse.
As is impressing it seems, the mutant haters treated their prisoners better…
"The difference between species…" Jean says after looking through the open bodies of some kids, shutting her eyes to take a deep breath.
"But this is too much." Roberto almost throws up.
"No human rights here…" Sean shakes his head, his eyes glassy.
"They don't even give us the courtesy of dignity." Jean centers herself with another deep breath and turns around to go back to the last level.
"I will enjoy burning this place when we leave." Robert says while following her.
She thinks that the idea is good, a pity she can't burn anything…
The last floor finally has something different, it finally looks like they are trying to someone imprisoned instead of just casually keeping them here after mutilating their bodies.
After destroying the last of the Android Slaves they find a huge double door.
"They must keep their valuables here…" Roberto says
"Maybe the results of their research." Sean tries to guess.
"Keep your guard up, it can be dangerous" Jean remembers them. The Android Slaves' low-level threat relaxed them a little, but dangerous things are more dangerous when you less expect. "Sunspot."
"Right away." Sunspot approaches the door and puts his hands on it, heating the metal that quickly gains a red-yellow hue, and starts melting, a door-sized hole slowly appearing as the metal falls on the ground like clay.
Jean uses her telekinesis to clear the path from the melted metal and the three walk inside, there they find only one person, it looks human but he is much taller than normal, almost 3 meters tall.
It's a thin man with a long combo of brown hair and a beard, covering almost all of his head, you can barely see his eyes through his thick eyebrows.
Jean narrows his eyes looking at the bound man. His mind… She can't read his mind, but she feels that he is not human… He is more like…
"A native? A Spineless One?" She tilts her head. It doesn't look like it, but is what her telepathy is showing to her.
"Exactly." The man answers "And you are really humans… First time I've seen your kind not in chains. And I wouldn't call myself a Spineless One either."
"You… How?" Jean asks
"It's an exoskeleton. Made at your image…" The man answers "My name is Arize, a scientist of my people."
"Marvel Girl." Jean gives the courtesy of saying her codename even though she barely uses it
"If you guys can use this why are you all still on those weird spider chairs?" Sunspot asks while gesturing to the man.
"Misguided pride and prejudice." Arize answers
'That's the name of a book…' Jean has some useless thoughts but focuses quickly "Seeing that you are here, imprisoned, I can guess that you are not on good terms with Mojo."
Arize chuckles dryly "You can say that… We had… conflicting views about the future of our species. I wanted us to do more, to be more… That's why I designed those exoskeletons so that we can live the world without limitations, but they are happy in being helped, coddled…" He sighs "Maybe it's partially my fault too… I'm the one who designed the Android Slaves, I was the one who first spoiled them… But Mojo… *Haah* He corrupted them. He doesn't want anyone able to go against him, he wants them weak. So I was painted as a villain, a traitor of my own race… As someone ashamed of it. You don't know him, but he knows how to spin a narrative."
"..." The trio observes in silence Arize's speech. His words shed some light on the history of this universe.
"I see… Well, we are just here to rescue our fellow humans. Good luck with… whatever you want." Jean finally says and turns around to her companions "Let's go."
"??"
The two male teens look at her strangely, but she is already moving away. "Let's go!" She repeats herself
"Jean?"
She only speaks again in the elevator, after they cannot see Arize anymore.
"That guy created the Androids… He absolutely experimented with humans. He is not a good person."
"!"
"Did you remember some floors where things look too big… That's for him. This is his lab." She explains her line of thought. "All those fucked experiments are at least started by him…"
"!!!!"
She is not so naive that she will immediately pity a prisoner. And not only because Arize seems to be an enemy of Mojo, doesn't mean he is a good person and an ally. Things are never so black and white.
*Rumble*
"Called it…" Jean whispers while looking up, the whole place is trembling and the lights are flicking. "Let's get out here."
"You are the boss, Ma'am!" They won't contest her words anymore.
Time to do their part and escape while raining destruction around this cursed place.
...…
Everyone has similar experiences, with some differences. Some only find normal people, others find people of interest even though they don't know it. Like Kitty that saves Dazzler and Wind Dancer from the Concert Zone. Cyclops rescued a little boy called Desmond, who one day will be known as Fauna, Rogue beat the crap of a cocky guy called Local before saving him.
And Shego is now stepping on a robot created by Mojo called Oni Queen.
"Boring~ Well, he warned me…" She shrugs.
As Eidolon said, coming here is not any challenge, so she can't complain.
"Let's save those suckers and go back." She walks to the back of the Colosseum to do her task
.....
Eidolon is also having a boring time.
"*Boom* *Bam* *Crack*
His eyes are serene as he advances while destroying the obstacles. In his hand, is the Anti-magic heavy sword that is swung by his strong arm. Anything that Mojo puts in front of him is swiftly dealt with with a simple swing of his arm.
The huge amorphous structure that is Mojo Studios moves like the stomach of a beast that wants to devour Eidolon, the film sets moving like parts of a Rubik's cube, each part destroyed being replaced by another in an instant.
But is all destroyed pretty easily as Eidolon flies calmly, almost bored…
The many magic traps and devices are also easily dealt with, the Anti-Magic sword doing quick work of it.
Tower guns, barriers, lasers, explosions, environmental magic, the Android Slaves… Everything only needs one swing.
*Swish* *Swish*
Left and right, like he is playing table tennis with those dangerous things thrown at him.
"Look at that! A new weapon from Eidolon!! What can it be??" Mojo continues to speak to the viewers as he is pursued. He has been running his mouth for a long time already "It seems that is something good against magic! Eidolon really has a counter to everything!"
*Bam* A nasty black flying slash almost hits Mojo but he teleported away to another part of the Building.
That is one of the reasons that he is still alive. He can teleport… His spider legs allow him to move in a three-dimensional way, he controls the whole building, it has many traps and other defenses, and he can teleport too.
Eidolon is taking it easy so that he do not destroy this whole thing, and not scare Mojo away.
He still needs to save the people inside too… After that and when everyone finishes their missions, he can end this facade.
'How long, Cortana?" He asks in his mind.
'Almost… Everyone is being successful on their tasks."
'Good. I'm almost rescuing everyone too…'
Left and right, left and right… he continues to leisurely destroy everything. He still can't move at top speed because of the kinetic dampeners.
"I'm gonna punch that jelly face so hard when I'm done here…" Hector keeps his calm when thinking about the beautiful future of him destroying Mojo.
"So, Eidolon… Interview time!!" Mojo suddenly declares and there's even some sound effects, like he is announcing another part of a show.
"No."
"Don't be like that. The public wants to know…" Mojo talks like Eidolon is not trying to kill him, teleporting away from a magic attack from Eidolon himself "Who is your love interest?"
"..."
"Silence, huh? Is Huntress? I heard that you with Invisible Woman are pretty popular…"
*Swish* Another flying slash and another teleport, Eidolon's attacks get heavier, the restriction on his movements straining his body but he continues.
"Myself… personally, I'm a pretty big fan of you with Shadow." Mojo says
"..." Eidolon frowns "Weirdo…" And another attack "You are really the representation of a Toxic Fanbase. Fucking Discord Mod."
"Hey, what is the problem? Just because she is a little young? She looks up to you! It's only natural that those feelings will develop! Do you want another someone to take the fruits of your labor training her??" Mojo shouts while spitting
"Stop talking like I'm grooming her…" Another attack and a good chunk of the Building is obliterated.
"I didn't say that! But she is the most similar to you… And I prefer her than shipping you with Lady Jade at least."
"What is the problem with Lady Jade?" Even Eidolon is curious now
"She looks like the type that doesn't like you for real and is only interested in what you can provide for her… That bitch…" Mojo says with venom
*BOOOM*
"Yeah, she looks the type…" Eidolon's eyes are cold, his body leaking darkness as he stares at Mojo "But she is not like that."
"You are being led by her!"
"..." Eidolon doesn't deign him with an answer and speeds his efforts to evacuate everyone… Just a few more seconds…
"Maybe I can shade some light in your eyes, Eidolon. I have a guy that can seduce her… I already sent him to-"
*RUMBLE*
Mojo finally shuts up… The whole world shut up, when Eidolon finally gets murderous. The wave of maliciousness directly struck him, causing his spineless body to shiver like jelly in a hurricane.
He just received images from Cortana… and his dark eyes show that he is not happy.
....
"Yeah, yeah… Just enter the flying things and we will take you out there." Lady Jade nonchalantly directs the gladiators to the flying shuttles prepared by Eidolon. She is not even looking at them, checking her nails while they move.
Luckily this batch is more strong-willed than most, so she doesn't need to threaten anyone.
"Excuse me, who are you?" She hears a male voice addressing her.
"Your savior. Just enter the little ship and we can go away…" She continues to stare at her nails.
"But what about, Mojo?" The voice asks unsure
"Someone is dealing with him…" Shego continues to answer without a care
Her attitude doesn't pass any credibility so the voice continues urgently "You don't understand! You can't underestimate him!"
"Dude, shut up! We are saving you, so just act like a damsel in distress and don't interrupt!" Shego gets annoyed and answers while finally turning around.
But she notices something strange when she finally looks at that individual.
Longshot is a handsome blonde meta with strange powers and one of those strange powers that makes Shego frown.
"What did you do with me?" She takes a step back while clutching her head and chest.
"I need you to listen to me… Mojo can't be beaten that easily. We need to make a plan." Longshot continues, now sure that she will listen.
He has a power that makes women, and even men, fall in love with him at first sight. As a secondary effect of his Super Luck, that comes from his Probability Manipulation. He is a successful actor and stuntman here in the Mojo world.
"Mind control shouldn't work…" Shego gives another step back while her face crunches in confusion. Her mind is a mess, and images of Hector are flashing through it while he looks at this guy. "This is unnatural…"
Then Hell descends on Earth…
The skies of the Mojoworld get dark as an earthquake hits everywhere. Everyone stops what they're doing to brace themselves, the more perceptive ones just crouch down and wait it for to end, fearful.
To Shego's eyes, things happened in slow motion, even though it was only 2 seconds…
She watches the space behind Longshot distorting as the other Eidolon emerges, his eyes screaming murder… He moved with such brutality that he left a trail of destruction and chaos behind him.
His hand grabs the head of Longshot without saying a word… And without saying a word, it ends.
Longshot never had the chance to explain himself, to say that he has no ill-intent, to say that he is sorry… He feels the adamantium grip on his head, his eyes turning to meet Eidolon's shining in a red light, and *BOOM* he explodes.
That's it. Eidolon appears, grabs him, and explodes him… Turning Longshot in pink mist that moves in the air together with smoke and dirt.
"..." Even after being released from the unnatural seduction, Shego's mouth hits the floor. This… This… is that hidden side of Hector that she hadn't seen in a long time. Maybe she never saw it personally either.
There's no sight of the reasonable and understanding Hector. The calm and gentle Hector that has a big heart that can accept everything in the world.
It was only efficient murder.
She thought that he got even more soft after coming back from the One Piece World and having children. Good Guy Hector is the rule now, she thought.
She was wrong.
He only kept it under wraps… *Gulp* She can't deny that it was quite the show.
The brutality of it, the coldness… He didn't say a witty line or anything… Just murdered the guy that did something strange to her.
It's kinda hot…
"Are you okay?" He approaches. Her heart swells seeing the murderous look being replaced by a worried and gentle one.
"I"m good… I think I was having a panic attack." She hugs him
"He was making you love him with his powers." He says, hugging her back.
"Yew. It would never work…" Now she understands… But he was not able to erase him from her heart, so there's a fight there.
He nods "Hm, we can consider this unpleasant experience a good experiment. Later we are gonna check you." He says while hugging her tighter.
"Okay." She nods, enjoying his hard body "And Mojo?"
"Dead but breathing." He says in a cold voice.
...…..
"Vermin…" Eidolon spats. He stopped in the air.
"Oooh! Are we gonna see a rage moment?? I love those!" Mojo exclaims exhilarated.
"I told in a certain interview… That there's no prize in making me angry…" Eidolon speaks slowly.
He rescued everyone, now he is free to go all out.
"HAHAHAHA! Let's make it great!!" Mojo opens his arm and everything trembles.
The building surrounding Eidolon recedes and opens, finally allowing the hero outside.
"..." He continues to hover in the air while Mojo prepares himself.
The giant blocks that are film sets move around Mojo, creating something different… At the same time, a strange type of energy starts flowing at him through the many cables and wires.
'He is empowering himself with the people watching… Feeding on their thoughts…' Eidolon understands everything pretty easily by observing everything with his All Seeing Eyes of God.
This is not a rare technique, sorcerers use all kinds of energy to empower themselves. Even feelings over something
'It likes Faith and Worship in certain media.'
Mojo is getting pretty strong with the billions of Spineless Ones that watched him every day, all the time.
"Let's GOOOOO! EIDOLOOOON!!!!" The huge Mojo made of blocks shouts to the sky, he is the size of a mountain, shining like the night sky because of the many TVs empowering him.
"..." Eidolon simply raises his arm holding his Anti-Magic sword.
Mojo attacks by opening his mouth and preparing a beam attack…
Eidolon's body emits darkness, and when his arm drops, that darkness engulfs the world, eclipsing the shiny energy beam attack.
*BOOOOOOOOMMMM*
After the explosion of the contact, everything goes silent, like the crash consumed even the sound.
Eidolon is angry enough that he does not even make references like saying "I am atomic" or "Mugetsu". He simply attacked.
His attack not only cut Mojo's beam but dispersed it too. The blade attack is akin to a nuclear explosion hitting the ground, the space explodes in a circular manner before it was not able to contain the power, and a pillar of energy shoots to the sky… then the pillar starts growing in size, consuming the area and flattening everything. The region becomes a desert land, devoid of everything… Light, sound…
...
"Good job, everyone. Let's go back." Eidolon claps his hand to the the X-Men before turning to the rescued people "We will find your homes or new places to stay after we go back."
He gives a look to the two Psylockes, a look that says that he would exchange them back later.
They nod, there are a lot of people of other people that nod too. Dozens of thousands… He already healed the pens that are on the verge of death but he knows that is not enough. The emotional and psychological torture is the worst thing to heal.
"You are about to have a busy day, Eidolon." Jean laughs at him.
"Field work is so much easier…" He shakes his head with a good-natured expression. "Can you guys go ahead? I need to tie some loose ends here."
"Are you gonna check on that Arize guy?" Jean asks. She already told him about that and is waiting for him to make a decision.
"More or less… Now with Mojo gone, I will try to make sure that there will be no more kidnappings." He says in a calm tone.
"Oh, so you are gonna teach the next generation or something?" Kitty asks besides Dazzler, her new friend. She makes friends easily.
"..." Eidolon only nods
Shego gives him a look but says nothing.
Eidolon watches everyone leave through the Portal, disappearing before the portal is closed.
"..." He stops waving and his eyes harden like steel.
He disappears from his place and moves to somewhere else.
...….
In an unknown part of the Mojoworld, Mojo himself crawls on the ground, all wounded and on the verge of death but still with his crazy smile on his face.
"Hahah *Cough* *Cough That was awesome! I knew he was the best…" He says between coughs filled with blood.
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He teleported away in the last moment but even so, he almost died… But he will not live for long.
He stops when someone lands in front of him.
He looks up to see Eidolon's staring down at him coldly.
"Hello, Eidolon~ Here to arrest me? Hehe *cough* You really don't fail…"
"..." But he is only stared down.
"Haha, this is so you… The silence…"
Eidolon finally speaks "I thought about saying some lines like 'Humans are not yours to take', but I'm not in the mood. You and your race are truly disgusting, Mojo. There's not one redeemed one here… I checked."
"Heh, so what? We just live differently…"
"The problem appears when you mess with my home."
"..." Now even Mojo noticed that there was something dangerous going around here.
He watches terrorized as Eidolon's hair appears to recede and becomes dark and curly. His mask also recedes, his mantle disappears, and the spiral symbol on his chest too.
"You… You… What are you doing?" Mojo asks with his mouth agape in shock.
"Eidolon is a paragon of virtue… A noble hero… But Hector? Hector is human… And we know humanity's potential to be evil." Hector says showing his face to Mojo.
"Eidolon doesn't show his face!! Nononono! That is wrong!!" Mojo gets angry. As a fanboy, he can't accept such a huge out-of-character moment.
"Eidolon is not here anymore, Mojo." Hector says slowly and then sighs "I knew this day would come, at least will be with a bunch of vermin like you… You all failed evolution anywhere."
"..." Mojo now understands… But he can't still form the words to voice his thoughts.
"You all should stay crawling on the filth." Hector shows disgust, a face that Eidolon would not show.
*Boom*
Then he takes off. He goes through Mojo, but not intangible… He turns Mojo into mist, ending the villain for good.
And he doesn't stop there. He finally will let loose. He speeds up and speeds up… The air catches fire and the wind moves with enough speed to uproot trees, the shockwaves spreading around the region, making mountains tremble and skyscrapers crumble.
He goes to a city… and in an instant, he is out there. But behind he left a trail of destruction. The Spineless Ones that are enjoying their debauched lives don't even have the time to scream before they are vaporized.
He speeds up again, hurricanes and tempests are formed… And this is simply him flying.
If someone looked up, they would clearly see his path shining because he was burning everything in his path.
They would also see that he is writing something on the scorched earth of this Continent.
Eidolon
An autograph to his fans… Written with their blood, the paper is their home and his hand movements destruction.
He doesn't leave a stone unturned, he doesn't allow a blade of grass to remain upright, and he destroys everything… genocide. This is what he is doing. Plain and simple genocide of sentient beings.
But he doesn't care… They are all enemies that treated his species as toys. They are irreconcilable. Everything he saw confirmed that to him.
And he doesn't want to come back here every six months to rescue another someone, he knows they will never stop. Being merciful now would be too cruel to the poor unsuspecting people who will be kidnapped in the future.
The things he saw, he doesn't wish on anyone.
Eventually, he finishes with all life on the planet and moves up, to outer space… Before going down like a shooting star.
*BOOOM*
He goes through the planet and destroys it like a sand castle, the core exploding because of what he did when passed there. It becomes cosmic dust, cosmic trash floating…
"..." Eidolon floats there too… Silently.
He is completely unharmed and this whole act was easy for him.
"Cortana… What kind of face I am making right now?" He asks his AI.
"You… you are expressionless, Master." She answers, unsure if is the right answer, or what he wants to hear, but she can't lie to him.
"I see…" His hand goes to his face. Now is proven that he can make the hard decisions when he needs them, he is really simultaneously trailing the two paths "That's good."
.....
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