...
Third Person P.O.V.
Reality is weirder than fiction. This paraphrased quote of Mark Twain was something that Hector had doubted since arriving in this universe.
It doesn't really make sense; fiction can be anything that humans imagine, anything. It has the potential to be really weird.
But at the same time, he has to admit that human imagination doesn't come from nothing; any fiction created always has a smidgen of foundation in reality.
When fiction became reality to him, he worried a little about the fusion of the two. Not even the humans with the greatest imagination can create a fictional world like reality, with the same amount of details and everything else, really.
So now, in a fictional world, the gaps of Fiction, the plot holes and unknown factors, have to be filled… It has to be filled with Reality.
Weird Fiction plus Weird Reality exponentially increases the weirdness of the universe he is now forced to live in.
The common sense of reality can be thrown in the trash immediately. And logic in fiction is no longer important… the plot is of no concern. There is no writer holding back the main characters anymore.
There is no one holding back the "background characters" either.
It is not hard to imagine how chaotic a world with superpowers, aliens, sorcerers, demons, and the like would be. Much more chaotic than a person can write on paper.
Hector, in his original world, saw some writers who went in that direction—trying to show a more realistic/pessimistic vision of the superhero genre. The Boys and Invincible are the most famous that he knows.
The result is ugly, to say the least.
It is like how Dr. Abraham Erskine once told Steve Rogers: "… bad becomes worse."
It is not only the good of humanity that appears through the superheroes when they gain their powers, but the evil also gets even more disgusting when they become above consequences.
And how much it is shown depends on the type of fictional universe. Marvel and DC tend to downsize how evil humans can be. Only in some alternate universes do they dare to display a little of the true evil of humanity.
But reality is sometimes worse than fiction…
It goes beyond the written villains.
It is only natural that normal people would yearn for the amazing powers they see others wielding, just as they desire the money, fame, or anything else they see others have…
Superpowers easily become the most desirable thing in the world.
And while the average person with a good head on their shoulders will easily accept that they may not be meant to have powers and would not risk their lives trying to acquire them.
The same can't be said about the elites in power.
They have everything; they are at the top of the world, but there is one thing that can flip the tables and destroy the status quo that benefits them… superpowers.
They are so shortsighted that they can't even think that there are many more dangerous things beyond Earth. That maybe they should not meddle with things beyond their comprehension, and that acquiring powers will put a target on their back to things bigger than Earth, bigger than what it is worth.
And no one really imagines the downsides… People always think that if someone has a desirable thing in abundance, their life is easy, and they are super happy. Money, fame, and now superpowers…
In the end, their new ambition and the immediate danger to them and their comfortable lives are humans with power.
It is what they fear and what they envy.
No money in the world can buy immortality, the ability to fly, or any other amazing ability that would make them rise above the masses.
Or maybe money can indeed buy all that…
They at least tried.
Since the success of Captain America's creation, it is clear as day that the rich people would try to replicate it; it is obvious that they would also want to be over 6 feet tall, muscular, and have all the other benefits.
With the discovery of mutants and their powers that came from their genetic makeup, it is also obvious that they would try to get to them. And when they couldn't, they would make the rest of the world ostracize the mutants.
After all, mutants are the greatest threat to the status quo. A person can exponentially awaken a power that puts them above others, without the need for a billion-dollar lab or anything else. They see it as an unfair advantage.
And finally, when everything else failed… or when their efforts bled too much money, many of those elites turned to the last option… occultism. Or maybe someone (or something) offered them this option. It will be difficult to find an answer to that, maybe not even the elites in the middle of all that know.
Magic… the fantastical ability that humans have dreamed of since antiquity, long thought to be just a creation of our imagination. And again, of course, the elites would try to meddle with that too.
But once again, it proved to be a difficult challenge. Magic is not just for anyone; it requires talent and effort… Rich people don't waste time when they think throwing resources around can get them everything they want.
That is when the "easy way" is presented to them. The taboo way of acquiring power with magic without training, with expertise… sacrifices. Not on their part, of course. People are also resources to be thrown around.
That is how it all started, when they started consorting with the dark mysteries and demons. Practicing horrifying things for benefits, for health, for success in their endeavors, for the failure of their rivals.
It is a small club, very small, that even when it grew in size over the years, only the ones in the core of it have access to all its secrets and benefits. But that didn't stop the rest from practicing those horrible sins, even without anything to gain, only for the sake of it.
What initially had a reason, even if it was disgusting, becomes just something they do to satisfy their dark desires… maybe that is what the people who originally "sold the method" to them were aiming for.
They "pay" without gaining anything in exchange beyond falling more and more into depravity.
It becomes a rite of passage, a form of baptism, the only way to enter the club… The benefit came from being part of this exclusive club; they help each other with their earthly powers, nothing special, and none of those taboos need to be crossed.
But they do it all the same.
There is no magic anymore, or nothing even meta-related; it is something a little away from the battle between superheroes and villains, a gap in fiction that was filled by a shitty portion of reality, hidden in a particular dark spot of this "story"…
…but Eidolon can't ignore it anymore.
His existence put a stop to all of this, or maybe a pause, and after saving the many victims, he never went too deep to arrest the powerful people behind the scenes. He was thinking about the big picture and the chaos that would fall if those powerful people were arrested or killed.
Unfortunately, they hold a lot of power, and in some way, many lives depend on them- people's jobs, etc.
He focused first on the metas, destroyed the hidden facilities that tortured and researched them, attacked powerful elites, saved many people… That scared the evil people who are not really involved with the "superhero" side of the world and stopped them in their tracks.
He thought it would be enough.
It was also at that time that Eidolon didn't mess too much with magic; he didn't even go to talk with the Ancient One yet.
Now, nothing is holding him back.
He has free time, and he gave them enough time. He gave them the opportunity to turn themselves in, and obviously no one took it.
Not even when the elites doing inhuman experiments with metas were arrested… Not even when the many elites involved with cartels and gang lords are exposed…
Now is their turn. The little elite group that messed with human trafficking will have their comeuppance. Eidolon already dismantled their schemes months ago, and they just cut their losses by abandoning their criminal activities, acting like it had nothing to do with them.
And they really thought they were safe.
How laughable…
Eidolon had a little plan to do pretty evil things with those people. Maybe kill them all secretly and replace them with robots wearing their faces, slowly controlling the world…
But he changed… he is more of a hero than a schemer nowadays, or at least he tries to act the part. He will do it the hero's way first.
And seeing some of those people in Stark's past brought them back to the front of their minds.
He almost doesn't want to expose this disgusting side of humanity to the rest of the world… almost, but he would like to know if he were in the civilians' shoes. It will turn their stomach and make them angry…
But Hector believes it is a necessary step humanity must take.
As a collective, to acknowledge how evil we can be, denounce that, and unite ourselves against this ugly side of our race.
This will also reveal how much of the world's problems are manufactured by the people above to keep the masses struggling and never truly rising. In the end, what they feared happened: a superpowered person is about to shake the world again.
...….
"I'm all for a little villainy, but those people take this too far." Shego comments after taking a small peek at the files Hector made available for them.
Hector and his people are all together for one last meeting before everyone is deployed to their respective locations. They are suiting up and making their final preparations in this room at Isabella Infinite Castle.
"There is a thing called Court of Owls in my universe… I never had the opportunity to investigate it too deeply, and I discovered it by chance, but I ask myself if it was this bad." Helena says, showing a disgruntled expression.
"Probably, but on a city scale, this is on a global scale." Hector answers on the side, going over everything in his mind again. He always wanted to be 100% prepared before every big move.
"But at least those people are normal, right? It will be easy." Pamela says while looking around, itching to test her new powers.
"I wanna smash their heads already." Harley is not smiling, a show of how unamused she is with her situation.
"Too bad it will not even be a challenge." Saeko mumbles, looking at the edge of one of her katanas, "But it is always nice to find people who deserve to become mince meat."
"I predict three or four heavy hitters, depending on whether the demons behind the core show up… but at most, you may find some Enhanced bodyguards." Eidolon informs her. "It will be a very easy operation. Ah, Cortana and I calculated that there is a chance of another Invasion, so maybe you will have your chance."
"And that is why you're cooperating with the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D." Shego says
"Yep, mostly because the boring cleanup will be their responsibility." He shrugs
"Good, I hate politics." Shego huffs "And damn! This is a fucking mess."
"At least it will be over today." Eidolon stops his preparations, and the Shaed moves to settle on his shoulders. "Ready to put an end to this?" He asks everyone who is gathered here
Only his closest subordinates are here; the rest of the people he plans to use on this operation are in other locations.
"Yep! Let's kill those bastards!" Harley exclaims and raises her hammer.
"Keep the key people alive… we need them to be hanged by the people." Eidolon points at her and the other "murder-hobo" of his people.
"All of this also aligns with your plan of getting the people a little desensitized to heroes, especially you, killing villains." Isabella says to him
"That was never any big plan… it would eventually happen if I keep things honest and expose how horrible the villains are." Eidolon shrugs, "The truth is, the average person feels much safer when psychopaths with powers that want to hurt them are six feet under instead of in prison." It would only take a few prison escapes, and the people would get fed up with the status quo and demand stronger retaliation.
"We know about that." Pamela scoffs "People in Gotham would love to hang the Joker, or any of us dead."
"But Batsy had a code." Harley comments with a fond smile.
"But I don't." Eidolon speaks with his eyes dead serious "If I see that evil person is irredeemable, I will put them down as I would a dangerous beast. It is time to make the world used to it before this universe becomes like yours, where if even a hero accidentally kills a villain, it would look bad and become a big deal."
Hector remembers that eventually, even Captain America, a war hero, is "contaminated" by this heroic disposition; he openly condemned people like the Punisher for killing horrible people.
Hector understands that genuinely good heroes like Spider-Man should exist, but he also knows that vigilantes like the Punisher are also necessary, even if the guy is crazy.
"The problem is the power imbalance." Isabella points out, "A super strong hero deciding to kill a weak human, even if he is guilty, can scare the masses and open you to criticism."
"And that is why we are doing due process, and we will capture all the perpetrators that we can alive." Eidolon says, "We are gonna make people call for their heads first. The justice system should execute them…"
"And if they do not?" Shego raises an eyebrow
"Then they will start trusting my judgment much more." The hero answers
"Heheh, look who will be 'Justice' now." Shego laughs in amusement. "You are expecting those rich bastards to still be protected, right?"
"They will be… initially… but eventually they will be abandoned by their allies that are not connected with this shithouse." Eidolon says "They will at least try to buy time… but with me, Captain America, and Stark, together with the whole population, the ones in power will immediately correct themselves and just throw the perpetrators under the bus."
"A multi-layered checkmate to expose everything that is wrong with the system." Helena whistles
"It is not enough to clean the house; we also need to prevent it from getting dirty again." Eidolon looks at them. "People in power should know that the game changed and they can't escape the consequences because they literally judge and protect themselves. Time to start being good or stepping down."
A world where good is incentivized and rewarded, and evil is punished, is slowly being created.
Unfortunately, that is not something easy to accomplish; the system is brutal and crushes anything that tries to change it.
It needed someone with the powers of a god, a crazy moral compass, and the desire to change. Hector still thinks it took too long, and it sucks that the responsibility fell on his lap… but he is gonna do it.
No matter what.
...
S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
The Helicarrier used by S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't changed since the Avengers first met. The bridge is still filled with agents operating in their own stations. A very picturesque night sky adorns the scenery, bathing them in starlight through the glass.
But no one is looking at the beautiful sky, as their screens are filled with a foreboding message.
You are invited tonight.
Every single screen on the bridge is flickering with the same message, and many document files have appeared on the home screen without any warning.
"What am I looking at?" Fury asks from his usual position, surrounded by holo screens, his single eye darting over what just popped up on them.
"A possible hacker attack, but…" Maria Hill answers immediately
"It has the symbol of the SCP and is too good an attack to be made by just some nobody." Fury completes "Are the scans already done?"
"Just triple-checking to make sure that is safe." Hill answers
"I don't know why you even bother; you know what this is about, Fury." Natasha Romanoff struts on the bridge confidently, immediately addressing her boss
Fury gives her a look
"Have you decided already?" Natasha asks with an intense gaze
"S.H.I.E.L.D. was not created to deal with the normal problems of the world." Fury replies with a steady voice, like he is reading from somewhere.
"You can't be serious…" Natasha looks appalled
"There are other spy organizations to deal with that." Fury turns around
"At this point they are already compromised." She presses "We can't stay out of it… Steve and Stark will not; better ride the bandwagon instead of turning our backs on them."
"..." Fury doesn't really have an answer to that, so he sighs, "It is not that simple. Depending on the outcome, we may lose funds and will not be able to help when real threats arise… I need to think about the big picture."
"Sir, we are ready to show the contents." Maria Hill interrupts the conversation
"Let's see everything before drawing a conclusion." Fury comments, "We just need to find one reason…"
"And if we don't?" Natasha raises an eyebrow
"Then S.H.I.E.L.D. will support the Avengers from behind the scenes. We are two different groups after all." The Director smirks. Using technicalities to operate beneath the rules is the basis of spy work, and sometimes you simply ignore that.
The problem is that S.H.I.E.L.D. is under a lot of scrutiny from many countries around the globe. Those are the consequences for receiving funds for everyone; they more or less have to listen to everyone, too.
Maria Hill gesticulates to the agents, and the files sent by Eidolon are transmitted to the holo-screens. It is a heavy reading, but the hero compiled what is important and highlighted what he wants them to see.
The contents are something that made even the faces of those trained agents change.
Fury remained impassive, though, moving page after page, ordering his subordinates to verify every claim and check the authenticity of the images and the identities of both victims and perpetrators.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is so powerful that it can keep tabs on everyone important, so they can check whether a certain person had an alibi on the day of the crimes, as recorded in the files.
And everything seems to be true. They even do some triangulation of pictures, comparing those in the files with others posted by the same people on social media, confirming they are in that location or nearby.
"Oh, Eidolon did his research." Natasha comments with an impressed look
"That is a disaster…" Maria Hill says "The names…"
"...are about to appear on the news." Natasha completes "Now is the time to decide if S.H.I.E.L.D. is gonna be cited as the ones that helped arrest them or the ones possibly covering for them."
"We don't do that." Hill looks offended
" 'How can a spy organization not know what they are doing?' It is what everyone will ask us, the CIA and the FBI, and we can't say that it is 'not our job' when we are allying ourselves with heroes." Natasha says in a no-nonsense tone "Like Eidolon once said, they will presume we are incompetent or evil. Maybe it was about this that he was talking at the time. This exact moment."
"..." Fury doesn't say anything, but he is considering it.
In truth, he is already thinking about the excuse he is gonna use.
"Fuck it, the mess will be so big that they will not have the balls to fire us." He finally exclaims "No one will want to deal with this shit."
"Maybe it will be necessary…" Hill speaks as she goes through the last pages of the files.
It is documented how some of those people are involved with demonic entities, making this issue bigger than it looks, it makes it… supernatural.
"Never thought I would be slightly happy from seeing some pentagram shit on my screen." Fury murmurs "What are you all waiting for? Move, MOVE! Check all the marked locations! Contact, Stark! I want a list of all the people we are gonna arrest and where they are, and organize who we are going for first!" He barks orders, making everyone move like headless chickens to obey.
"I am gonna regulate my bracelets to more painful electric shocks." Natasha says before walking away.
.....
Washington, D.C.
In a medium-sized house in the suburbs of the capital of the United States of America, a couple is sitting on a wooden bench in their backyard.
They are hugging each other while staring at the dusk sky.
They are Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter, having a little time to themselves
"You know… if we ignore the outside world, with you here, I can pretend that we are back in time." Steve says, half forlorn and half satisfied.
Peggy smiles sadly. "I can't imagine what you went through, Steve."
"I can't imagine what you went through all those years." He turns to stare at her. "Sometimes I catch myself thinking that I am keeping you here for my own selfishness."
"Hey, don't think like that." Peggy removes her head from his shoulder to look back at him "This extended time is a blessing for me… All those years, I lost count of how many times I dreamed of having you at my side."
"..."
"At every holiday, at every milestone, at every bad moment….'What if Steve were here?' Now I don't have to dream about it anymore…" She smiles sweetly
"I guess that things ended well… despite everything." He smiles too
"Yes. I am still surprised that Eidolon can do something like this."
"At this point, I will not be surprised by anything he does. Don't let me bet against him." Steve chuckles, "But sometimes I ask myself how he lives with all those… abilities. I would not be able to handle it; I would go crazy, probably."
"No, I believe that you would be able to handle it responsibly." She assures him, "You are the best person I know. And I lived longer than you." She completes with mirth
"I will listen to the voice of experience then." He says with a teasing tone
"Steve! Are you calling me old?" She looks outraged
"I can be young, my lady, but I am not so young that I would fall into this trap."
"Pleading the fifth… So American of you." She rolls her eyes
"Always." He gives her a casual salute
The two laugh together, and the mood is good as they joke with each other.
"And you have been feeling okay?" Steve asks in a little more serious tone
"How many times are you gonna ask it?" Peggy rolls her eyes "Yes, I am feeling like I am in my twenties again. Eidolon really rejuvenated me… it is incredible really."
"Really incredible." Steve gives her an appreciative look that makes her smile at him even more, and in the end he needs to look away a little bashful.
But then her face gets a little more serious. "You don't know half of it… Since you… were a success." She gestures, unsure of how to talk about the experiment that turned Steve into Captain America. "People have been trying to live longer since then… and Eidolon can do it so easily."
"That is why I am worried that something can go wrong… It looks too good to be true."
"I would say the same about you… No one has noticed that staying in the ice for so long has damaged your body. But Eidolon saw it."
"Not a big deal, it would just make me age normally instead of having super longevity or whatever." Steve doesn't look bothered by any hidden damage that he carried after decades in the ice
"Well… I am glad he checked up on you. Now that I am young, I don't want you having joint problems before me." She says cheekily, making Steve laugh.
When the two settle a little in a more relaxed mood, Peggy suddenly speaks again, head back on Steve's shoulders.
"Steve… did you ever think of stopping?"
"..." Steve knows exactly what she means by 'stopping'. "Sometimes… but I believe I woke at this time for a reason… It was just in time to meet you again and maybe do a little more."
"You are always like this…" She looks at him with eyes full of love. "I am worried, but I know that I can't change you, especially when it is one of the main reasons I fell for you," Peggy says with intense eye contact. She feels essentially retired, and even after Fury offered her a job, she refused.
Deep down, she wishes Steve would retire with her, too, but she understands that is difficult.
The mood is good; Steve doesn't need to say anything; he just leans down while she moves her chin up.
The couple kisses tenderly in the quiet backyard, disconnected from the world, as if decades hadn't passed since they met for the first time.
It is a beautiful moment for both of them. The kiss doesn't last long, but they remain close for many more minutes after stopping.
Only when they separated and went back to have a normal talk did another voice appear.
"Okay, now I can interrupt…"
The two trained fighters immediately went on full alert, standing up to look back, only to see Eidolon emerging from the shadows.
"First of all…" he raises his hand in a placating gesture "I was not eavesdropping; I came here, saw the good mood and went away… then I repeated it several times till I returned at a normal moment."
"Eidolon." Steve nods, not really bothered by the interruption. At this point, he should know that he would not come if it weren't something important.
"Why did you come?" Peggy speaks her mind, not in a rude way, but she can also feel that it is something serious
"Hmm, now I am a little hesitant about destroying your night…" The black-clad hero sighs, "But I believe that you would want to be involved."
"What are you talking about?" Steve asks
"Want to arrest some really bad people with me?" Eidolon pulls a tablet from beneath his mantle and gives it to Peggy. "It would help if Captain America were there."
The woman, who is a little more familiar with technology than Steve, immediately starts going through the information on the tablet. Her eyes widen and move between the screen and Eidolon, and then to Steve and to Eidolon again.
She looks a little unsure whether to show it to Steve or not, but in the end, she sighs and passes the tablet to him.
"How did you discover that?" She asks while Steve reads everything with a frown
"I am a pretty good detective." Eidolon says with just a little bit of humor, "And I imagine that you had some clues but never knew how bad it is."
"No… never this bad…" She shakes her head, her gaze a little shocked
"That is natural; they would obviously hide this from incorruptible people like you. If they couldn't kill you, of course." He adds with a shrug, "They can't hide from me, though."
While they are talking, Captain America is frowning deeply, his face serious. His enhanced mind is going through the contents of what Eidolon brought to them at lightning speed.
"Is this real?" He has to ask because it looks pretty outlandish and unbelievable.
"Unfortunately, yes." Eidolon nods slowly. "Normally I would not make a big deal of something that doesn't involve metas… I would just go there and dismantle the whole thing as I did with the cartels and human trafficking rings… but this is serious. It goes bone-marrow-deep in our society. A strong stance needs to be made."
"And that is why you need 'Captain America'." She concludes
"It needs to be a day where Good triumphs over Evil. It is almost socially accepted that powerful people live with impunity; the world needs to see that justice can reach everywhere… That we use our powers for that."
"Count me in." Captain America doesn't need to hear more
......
Avengers Tower
Tony Stark and Bruce Banner are in a secret lab of the tower, working on a secret project of theirs.
"Do we still need to create it… I mean, you are getting better with your Hulk thing." Tony asks casually, sliding from one computer to another in a rolling chair.
"Better safe than sorry," Bruce replies while checking some schematics.
"I have to say, I think you are putting too little faith in the big guy. He is chill." Stark shrugs
"Even if that is true, maybe something out there can make him lose control…" Bruce argues, finally stopping typing. "And there are other dangerous things beyond him. Creating a suit of armor that can go toe-to-toe with the Hulk will be beneficial in a situation where you need to hit hard."
"That is true." Stark finally concedes, "We never know if Thor or Eidolon will be out of commission for some reason."
It was at that moment that a window popped up on the screen.
"Huh? What is this? A hacker attack?" Bruce asks
"Fucking impossible to be so blatant and reach this far…" Stark frowns and moves to another computer here, where he starts typing "Jarvis, what is happening?"
"Apparently, it's a message from Eidolon, sir."
"Eidolon? Truly?"
"I am 100% sure that is a safe message. Already checked the contents in a backup isolated server and I have to say… it is pretty disturbing." Even the A.I.'s tone looks a little strange.
"What is it now?" Tony asks, then finally moves to one of the screens to check the message.
"Apparently an invitation to a large-scale operation, sir." Jarvis answers the rhetorical question
Tony ignores him and starts to see what this message is about, and Bruce also appears to look over his shoulder.
The content gets straight to the point and is very well organized for Tony and Bruce to understand quickly; the proof is also pretty incontestable, making sense and easy to verify.
Not that they would doubt something that Eidolon would send.
Their faces change slowly, going from mortified to angry. In the last image, a map with some arrows points to specific locations and instructions; Tony doesn't hesitate
"Jarvis… prepare my armor." He says in a strong voice, his jaw clenched, without even taking his eyes off the screen.
"I think…" Bruce looks away and removes his glasses. "I think it's better for the Hulk to stay out of this… for the sake of everyone." He walks away, suppressing himself.
...…..
New Mexico
Thor is enjoying a good time with his human girlfriend, Jane Foster. As a god with responsibilities and a hero, he is a very busy person and can't always be on Midgard.
He is still enjoying his extended Halloween vacation, relaxed, knowing that if an urgent problem arises, his father and Heimdall will call for him.
Thor, Jane, and Darcy just finished a day of work, during which the Asgardian God accompanied them as "moral support," and then came back to eat something. They'd already ordered food and were setting the table when the doorbell rang.
"I got it!" Darcy shouts as she moves to the door. "Oh, Eidolon!!" She exclaims when she opens the door.
Jane can imagine that her assistant probably threw herself at the hero because the end of her shout was a little muffled.
And as expected, Eidolon walks inside while Darcy is climbing up to him like a baby Koala.
"Hello." He says, nonchalantly ignoring the grown woman who has her arms and legs around his body, moving naturally despite that.
"Hello, my friend! You just arrived at the time to eat something!" Thor greets with a big smile while putting a plate down.
"Darcy, leave the man alone." Jane rolls her eyes in exasperation. "Seriously, you are embarrassing."
"Ah, he doesn't mind." Darcy waves her off with a big smile but is still hopping off the hero "Eidolon, and I have a connection~."
"Nice to see you too, Darcy." The black-clad hero chuckles while patting her head; the height difference is even more apparent now that she is on the ground. "And unfortunately, I didn't come here to join you all to eat, but instead to kinda destroy your plans…" He shows an apologetic expression.
"What do you mean?" Jane asks while the three raise their eyebrows
"So, Thor… want to help me destroy the satanist core of the little evil club of rich people?"
"I'm in." The god doesn't even hesitate. He raises his hand, and Mjolnir flies from the hat hanger to his hand.
Jane sighs loudly, massaging her forehead. "How bad is it?" She asks
"Very bad. Not in a sense that I really need help, so Thor can say no, but I feel that he would want to participate." Eidolon explains
"Jane…" Thor turns to her with a look.
"Haah~ I am just asking to see if I should save some food for you." She eventually laughs helplessly
"I would not even stay awake if I were you." Eidolon says from the side
"That bad, huh?" Darcy asks while patting his shoulder with a sympathetic expression
"It will be exhausting… especially the aftermath." Eidolon answers.
"If you are saying so… Tell me about it." Jane says before giving a peck on Thor's lips
"I will come back, my lady." he assures her before turning to Eidolon with a full smile. "Let's go, my friend!"
"Don't look so happy…" Jane frowns, but her tone is playful.
"Eh… nothing personal." Thor winces
"Don't worry, he is not gonna have fun if that makes you feel better." Eidolon jokes
"What girl would not like her boyfriend to have fun when he goes out with a friend?" Jane asks ironically.
"Like… 98% of them." Darcy answers as if it is obvious, even scoffing a little.
"What side are you on?" Jane asks while the heroes walk away
Outside the house, Eidolon turns to Thor.
"Follow me; I am gonna tell you the details as we move." And the two immediately shot to the sky, creating a sonic boom by how fast they were moving.
......
Atlantic Ocean
Two of the strongest heroes cut the sky like bullets, the ocean beneath them and the clouds above a blur, so it's no surprise when they arrive at their destination quickly.
The two heroes float above the inconspicuous island for a moment.
"It looks abandoned for some months… Since I debuted, I bet." Eidolon looks down, his eyes scanning everything, piercing through any barrier. "And what we are looking for is hidden underneath. Let me do the honors."
The black-clad hero raises his hand above his head, palm turned toward the sky, before bringing it down. A flash of light illuminates the whole place, enough to blind anyone looking at it, making them lose track of what happened.
BOOM
It is pretty much as if a god struck down that sinful place.
"Sodomah and Gomorrah simulation." Eidolon jokes a little before immediately going down on the destruction he caused, Thor following immediately.
They pass through the dust and debris to enter the hole created by Eidolon, and they go deep, very deep. The underground facility has so many layers, like an anthill, and the two heroes go through all the empty levels without taking a second look.
With their enhanced vision, the two can obviously take very good guesses as to what each level is used for even with just one glance, and everything they saw only made them angrier.
Boom
And that is why the two descend on the last layer, envoys of Heaven sent to punish the sinners.
The ground cracked, and dust was raised. The two landed in the middle of a very wide chamber, and as they straightened themselves, they could finally take a good look around.
It was dark and made mostly of stone; they were standing on a large platform, higher than the rest of the room, like a stage in a show or an arena in a fighting tournament.
Even though it is a very large platform, it is still just a small part of the room.
The atmosphere is oppressive because of how empty it is beyond this, and the only other objects are four high statues in the corner of the room, supporting the ceiling and made to stare down at everyone inside.
All the statues depict demons on their own altars.
"I recognize three of those demons." Eidolon comments while activating his All Seeing Eyes of God. One of the statues looks too inhuman to make sense. "And yes, they are really portals."
That is all the confirmation that Thor needs. "Come to face us, cowards!" he shouts to the statues
"Thor, those demons are little bitches that are not gonna do shit even if we slaughter their followers." Eidolon says, knowing that the demons must be hearing: "The thing is, those statues are pretty much connected with them, so I prepared something to make them come out."
Almost anything of a magical nature is a two-way road; if someone has an item of power that can affect other people, others can also use the item to affect the person. A curse can backfire, and any spell can be used against the one that conjured it.
Eidolon has done his research and is ready to end things today.
First, he waves his hands in the air, his movements leaving lines of light that form glyphs that slowly float toward the statues and disappear as if sinking into the stone.
Eidolon is humming happily "A little curse to you, and to you, and to you, a curse to everyone…"
"He spends minutes using the most varied hexes before he is satisfied.
"And now, no more benefits… time to sever the connection." He speaks loudly to bait the demons.
There is a spell that Eidolon was working on together with the Ancient One for some time.
Since Eidolon discovered that the best spells that this universe has to offer depend on innate power, his interest in the magic of the Marvel universe waned.
Either you are born with your type of magic, like Wanda, or you get it from some entity like Cyttorak. Of course, there are ways to cheat those entities and be able to use the strong spells without paying the price.
But having to do it every time, for just one spell, looks too bothersome for him.
His meeting with Cyttorak made him a little hopeful about finding his own way, but even so, annoying so many powerful people for some spells is still not worth it.
Then he starts researching ways to copy the spells, basically replicating them without the power of the entity behind them. It has proven to be a difficult objective because it essentially requires recreating a spell from scratch, with only the outline of the original as a guide.
He is gonna work on that as he lives, because he knows that he is gonna meet with those entities eventually, and then he can make some breakthroughs.
The Ancient One, on the other hand, suggested that he simply break the "connection" after getting the spells. Hector vaguely remembers that Dr. Strange did that in the comics.
He never went with this suggestion because it would still be as problematic as cheating them to get the spells in the first place. But that idea does not need to be wasted.
He already knows that a spell that severs the ties of a sorcerer with extradimensional entities is possible, so he can maybe repurpose it to be used in other situations.
Like this one for example…
All those demons feeding on the sacrifices and evil committed by their followers are about to lose their "income".
Eidolon joins his palms as he chants the Enchantment of Emancipation.
"Those who are connected to this unholy place
Who threaten my cherished world
Hark to this irrevocable decree:
Such oppression will not be permitted
Your claims on this land I now reject
All demands of servitude must be denied…"
Rumble
He is halfway through the enchantment when the whole place starts trembling, making Eidolon smile internally.
Thor also grips the Mjolnir tightly after the changes.
"Didn't know that you were so well versed in the more esoteric arts." The God of Thunder comments
"I try to know a little of everything." The black-clad hero shrugs and stops the enchantment because the desired effect was accomplished.
The two heroes stand back to back as changes happen with the statues: some crack, another glows, another starts oozing some pinkish-red liquid… It is obvious what is happening: the air trembles with demonic magic, and it even starts to stink of sulfur.
"So… two to each?" Eidolon says over his shoulder
"If you want, I can deal with three." Thor replies cheekily
"I can take the four if you want to go back to your girlfriend." Eidolon retorts with a laugh
"And without a souvenir? No! I am only coming back with the tale of our victory and the spoils of our foes!"
"A little morbid, but I think she will like it." Eidolon jokes.
The statues finally explode, and four vortices surrounded by magic circles and pentagrams appear from inside them, and four figures slowly appear.
Of course, they are not friendly.
The dark smoke from one of the statues coalesces high in the air, forming small clouds before coalescing into a giant demonic face that looks down on the heroes. Then another, and another, multiple smaller and deformed faces surround the main one, and they all speak together in a grating voice
"Who wishes to die and be consumed first?" The demonic voice reverberates through the whole place.
""Him."" Eidolon and Thor point at each other at the same time
"..." They pause before bursting out laughing, their casualness angering the faces greatly.
...
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