........

Shiklah

The Succubus Queen watches Eidolon leave, her eyes glued to his back.

'Too bad he uses this cloak to cover his hot body…' She bites the tip of her little fingernail while thinking about the obscenities she would do with him if she had the chance.

After her guests are finally out of sight, she plops on her throne and sighs loudly.

"If only he were a little dumber… I like turning smart men into fools, but when they are too smart, it becomes annoyingly difficult." She leans back

During this brief conversation, Eidolon exposed all her thoughts and cut her plans while they were still in her mind.

She absolutely planned to do some subtle manipulation and borrow his power to eliminate some old enemies and thorns on her side. But now it is a risk that she doesn't know that she wants to put herself in.

"Hmmm~ Maybe not everyone…" She ponders.

Eidolon himself hinted about making an example of someone; she just needs to "choose" this example.

There are easy ways to do that… To the ones that she has good relations, she could personally explain how things are, warn them to be quiet for now, and wait… Now, the ones that she has a vendetta or a minor grudge… she can word the call a little ruder than normal to make them come already angry.

Hell, she even knows that if she does nothing, they will create trouble for themselves. Even the lack of words could be considered rude by some of the most prideful monsters.

"Who do I choose? Who do I choose as the sacrificial lamb?" She singsongs while tapping the armrest of her throne with her nails.

Monsters stronger than her? Envious women? Old lovers that she snubbed? The opposition?

"Oh… I had a lot of enemies." She suddenly realizes that she is thinking about. Shiklah always prides herself as a friendly monster, a creature of love, but it seems reality is different from what she imagined.

In the end, there is only one answer… She should make sure to eliminate the monsters that will be vying for her position.

Shiklah will make a list of the best options between the candidates, so she will deal with her competition even before it starts, even before they know that there is a competition, and even before Eidolon can meet them.

No one is gonna rule the monsters beyond herself.

........

Eidolon P.O.V.

"Illyana, open a big portal to the Limbo, enough for a car to pass." I instruct after we leave Shiklah's palace and step on the streets of Monster Metropolis

"Are we gonna go there now?" She asks while raising her hand casually to create a circular portal with a diameter of two meters.

"Yes." I nod before turning to my people "Death Dealer, you stay here until further order. I am preparing some helpers to support Shiklah, but you will be in command of them."

Selene nods silently

"Do you two want to come to the Limbo with us?" I ask Raven and Shego.

"I am interested in this Limbo place." Raven admits

"Yikes, I already live in hell with all of you." Shego jokes "Throw me at your home, I'm gonna eat that dessert you made last night."

"It was passion fruit mousse, and I froze it immediately; you could have eaten it already." I shrug before opening a dark portal for her.

"Bye, and bye to you all too, suckers." Shego waves at both my people and at the X-Men.

"She has an interesting personality." Jean says sarcastically

"Lovely, right?" I answer in kind.

"Oy, can't we go already?" Illyana asks me while keeping the portal open

"Just a minute…" I say. Let's see when she will notice.

I, now, address the X-Men. "I want you all to do something for me."

"Hm?" They look confused

"Go do some sightseeing, there is an open market and some stores in that direction." I point to them

"Eh? That is it?" Kitty frowns

"I thought it would be something more serious." Bob comments

"It is not because it is not that serious that it is not important." I smile "I just want to get some review from you guys on what you think of this city. Just go around and later tell me what you found cool, weird, horrific, gross, what you don't like, or like… I just want some other opinions on this issue."

"You wanna know the reaction of 'normal people' to this place." Raven gets what I am aiming for.

"Like a beta test before opening to the public." Kitty hits her fist on her palm in realization. "Got it."

"I mean… we are not exactly normal, but…" Scott comments while looking around.

"Compared to Eidolon, that must have seen all kinds of weird things and be used to it…" Jean completes "Mentally, we are closer to the average person than him, at least."

"Exactly." I nod "Just go around experiencing the atmosphere, buying things, but don't eat any food without me checking first. Don't worry, I will give you the money, just go, and the money will appear."

"We can't accept your money." Jean immediately says

"I can." Paige raises her hand shamelessly, receiving a slap from her brother

"Don't worry, the currency here is weird, like gold, blood, and other strange things to exchange… And consider it payment for the job. Buy some souvenirs for the people at the mansion, too."

"...if you say so." Jean eventually agrees after sharing a look with the X-Men.

But I can feel they plan to try to buy with their own money before depending on mine.

Too bad, the monsters here rarely accept any currency like the dollar. I don't think they have any gold coins, and I will not let them use their body parts as currency, even if there are some drops of blood.

"Hey! Can't we go already??" Illyana calls me, a visible strain in her voice. Her arm stretched toward the big portal, is trembling.

"Yeah, yeah… just a minute." I say to her, but then I do nothing. Just stare forward.

"..."

"Ah, you guys can go…" I shoo the X-Men away

"...."

They slowly start to move, but are still looking back.

Illyana is still keeping the portal open, while I just ignore her.

"...is this a fucking test?" She asks, very annoyed

"Took you long enough to notice." I say while checking my nails while wearing gloves.

"..." Her arms tremble, and she sweats a little as I ignore her glare. I wave at the X-Men, getting farther and farther from us.

"Is that your limit?" I finally ask after a good minute

"...n-no." She lies

"I believe in you, but you are too used to open brief and small portals."

"Why would I even open one as big as this and for so long anyway?" She questions, trying to hide the strain

"To transport your friends… an army… who knows?" I shrug "The fact is that this shouldn't strain you this much. It is a matter of concentration instead of raw power and control. You are better than this."

After that, I finally passed through the portal, followed closely by Raven and then Illyana. The red sky of Limbo greets us, the barren land with nothing but pointy mountains and a fortress city on the horizon.

The portal closes when Illyana crosses it, taking a deep breath of relief.

"Do you understand this weakness of yours now, Illyana?" I ask, pausing our main mission to give her some teachings.

"Yeah, yeah… I have trouble keeping it up, not that big of a deal." She says dismissively, making me fully turn to her

"Then you don't understand." I cut her off

"..."

"You are strong, Illyana, and with the potential to get even stronger. But the most common way that strong people lose to enemies weaker than them is by not keeping themselves at their full power." I explain "Either be by getting caught distracted, underestimating your enemy, blinded by anger, emotionally traumatized, or simply tired… That is how you lose. And it happens in an instant, you will only have yourself to blame when it happens and regret deeply afterwards."

"..." She finally seems to get serious

"It is hard for anyone to fight at full power all the time; everyone tends to let their guard down at some point, and the chances of that happening increase if you are mentally tired. That not only creates more openings to be defeated but also decreases your fighting power… getting tired like this in a fight is a slippery slope that takes you straight to a very embarrassing defeat. So… do you understand how serious it is that you get tired and frustrated that you can't keep a portal open for more than 5 minutes uninterrupted?"

"...yes." She finally admits in distaste

"Good." I nod lightly to not show that I'm disappointed or angry at her "Patience is not your strong point..."

"Hey."

"...But that comes with age. More important than cleaving mountains with a swing of your sword is the ability to keep yourself in top shape even through long and strenuous situations. It helps a lot when you get jumped by multiple enemies. The most basic strategy they can employ is to try to wear you out so that some sneaky bastard among them delivers a fatal blow to at least lower your fighting power even more. In this situation, I can imagine you getting angry and frustrated by their cowardly tactics and committing even more mistakes… am I right?"

"..." She can't deny that. This is her exact personality.

"Don't worry, we are gonna work on that. Your body already has the stamina to fight for an entire day."

"Really?" She asks, surprised

"Yes, but your human mind still hasn't caught up with that." I say while tapping my temple "We are slowly gonna bring balance between body and mind through practice and exercises."

"Okay." She nods

I pat her head, seeing the eagerness. She never complains about training, she even asks me to be much harsher, saying that she is not made of glass. "It is much better being invincible against anyone weaker than you than being super powerful."

I gesture at Raven with my thumb "Look at Raven, she has many similarities with you and is much stronger, but she can still be taken down by someone weaker if she lets her guard down. That also comes from the fact that she is a magic user while you are a close-quarters fighter. You are not gonna die to a normal bullet, but you can still fall in a bad situation if some sneaky enemy slaps a power-suppressing item on you, or uses an adamantium bullet."

"I see…" Illyana's eyes look distant as she imagines the scenario that I paint.

One thing I know about her is that she is prideful, so when I talk about ways that she can be defeated, she takes personal offense at that, and remembers those scenarios to never make theme reality.

"Don't use me in examples." Raven says from the side, her eyes covered by the hood, giving me a side glance.

"Why not? The two of you are really similar. I hope you can give her some points later." I say. Illyana looks between us.

"I am in no place to give advice to anyone…" Raven says in a self-deprecating tone.

"You are getting better at that, and Illyana is still too young… You can take the steps before her and make her path a little easier." I say softly

"..." Raven looks at me intently. Despite the dark, brooding theme, she is a softie. She looks at me and then at Illyana "A half-demon too, huh?"

"Some crazy demon sorcerer kidnapped and made experiments with her."

"That is worse than me." Raven comments

"It is not a competition, and even if you are born with it, the events that happened because of your heritage are still pretty bad too." Everyone involved with her always had horrific deaths, including her mother and the people of Azarath.

"Hm." She makes a sound that can mean both an agreement and a disagreement

"Anyway, that is something for the future; let's go meet some of my informants here." I open a portal to a specific location

"You have informants here?" Illyana looks surprised

"Since we saved you." I answer "I would not leave this place unsupervised after what happened with you. It is obviously not perfect, as seen last night. I just put some agents around here so that I have some eyes and ears in this dimension. It will save us some time, too."

"I see… smart." She comments with a contemplative expression.

The portal takes us to an alley near Loona's Inn. The city of choice to put her is a metropolis even bigger than Shiklah's underground kingdom. A fortress reigned by no one but the natural law of the strong, multiple strong people that simply keep the place balanced.

Obviously, groups are trying to expand their influence here and there, but this city is simply too big, and if one extends its head too much, it is cut by the rest. That creates this balanced situation and neutral area.

It reached the point that it became an unspoken rule not to engage in big fights.

As we walk to the Inn, we obviously see someone demon beating another at the end of the street, but this is normal. What can't happen is one of them taking it too far and destroying a block.

Basically, nothing beyond street-level is allowed here.

That is why I put Loona with Macht here; the demon can quietly turn his enemies into gold with minimal collateral damage, so his insta-win magic is still inside the rules, while no one can retaliate with stronger attacks.

We entered the triple-store building through the huge double doors(to accommodate big races) and found ourselves in a pretty full lobby, with many species of demons eating and drinking.

What hell? Since when have I created an Adventurer's Guild? This place was not to be popular… it is just a cover.

"Pretty successful." Raven comments dryly

"Yeah…" I say uncertain before moving between the tables to the counter at the end.

I can see some hot female demons working as waitresses, female demons that I did not hire. I put some robots here to help Loona with anything, but I am not seeing any of them.

Despite looking like humans, we do not attract too much attention from the customers. Some demons are very humanoid, and human sorcerers are nothing weird around here.

My dear Hellhound subordinate is at the counter playing with her phone when I arrive in front of her.

"I didn't expect you to have such a great business talent." I comment.

"!" She looks up fast after hearing my voice. "Son of a- Since when do you come from the front door? You know what… fuck it. You haven't visited for so long that I already forgot that you existed." She huffs

"Lies. I know that dogs feel very sad when their owners leave…" I tease

"I am not a dog!" She shouts a little too loud, attracting some attention. "And you are not my owner…" So she hisses this part in a low voice, embarrassed by her own outburst.

"Okay, okay." I don't discuss. I already had my fill of teasing; her angry expression is interesting and cute. Surprisingly, because she has a dog face…

She also looks surprised that I am not attacking her with a stream of rapid-fire teasing like always, but I have a reputation to maintain, and Illyana and Raven are here with me.

They are already looking at me strangely after the "owner" comment.

"Let's talk somewhere private." I say

"Follow me to the back." Loona nods before shouting to some demon girl, speaking carein Demonic Script, the language from here "Lix, take care of things while I am away! Only call me if super necessary!"

"Alright, Boss!!" The Lix girl shouts back. She is a purple hairless demon with 10 arms and small horns on the top of her head.

We follow Loona to the back, passing through a hallway and emerging in the backyard, where we settle in a circle of stone benches.

I can see the area where Macht taught me magic in the past from where we are sitting. But now there are a variety of demonic gold statues decorating the place.

Illyana sits by my side, Loona and Raven sitting by themselves on different benches, Loona at my front and Raven at my side.

"What do you want?" Loona asks pretty disrespectfully while leaning back. Even raising her snout to look down on me.

"Before that, introductions… Loona, this is Raven, a member of SCP like you and Macht. And this is Illyana, my apprentice." I gesture to the women who came with me, "And girls, this is Loona, she is a Hellhound, not really a fighter, so she is the one taking care of this little base I made here."

"Sup." Loona greets casually with a raise of her chin.

Raven and Illyana just wave their hands while saying "Hi."

"I put other people in this dimension. If we meet them, I will introduce you guys." I say before turning to Loona "I have to say…I am surprised that this little joke business got so successful." I comment.

"Nothing to brag about. That little self-sufficient farm that you created underground gives us food and drinks that people around here love. Your cooking robots do most of the work, too." She shrugs "Macht also protects the place, and it becomes a safe haven for anyone to hang around. And we could sell the people he turned into gold statues to alchemists and as ransom."

"Oh, that is even better than I expected." I nod

"Sorry for disappointing you in not being a failure." She smiles sarcastically

"Don't be like that. It is not like I was not expecting much of you guys, I am just someone who measures people by their talents. Neither of you is a specialist in this type of business, so I would be satisfied even if it were empty." I explain. "I can't expect a fish to be good at climbing trees… But I am happy you all surprised me." I smile

"...hmpf. I am not giving you any of the profit." She turns her head, apparently embarrassed.

"Haha~, it is okay. You can keep all the money, unless someone pays with some strange, rare crystal." I say. Despite this place existing only because of me, I am not that greedy.

Yes, I am very interested in that Black Metal that can be found here, and that I even used in my armor. The "Shard of the Black Heart" is a very interesting fantasy metal that people can use as currency around here.

I already have enough of it, and if I need more, I can simply raid some local warlords.

"Now, to why I came here… Have you heard of any movements related to Belasco?" I ask, talking more seriously, for her to know that I mean business

"That guy that you told me to keep an eye on? You know, coincidentally, I heard that some losers of his army are reuniting somewhere… I was even gonna write that on the weekly report." Loona shows a thoughtful expression "But apparently it was a dud. Many people talked that maybe he was coming back, but meh… Just a bunch of stray dogs trying to relive their moments of glory, I think."

"Coincidence, huh?" I scoff. "But on Earth, someone related to Belasco suddenly appeared."

I wave my hand and make the full image of the woman accompanying Madelyne appear. I was able to hear their talk, and this witch has something to do with Belasco.

She looks young, 20-year-old max, with orange hair and fair skin. The lack of exotic skin color and any other strange feature suggests that she is human, but we can never be 100% sure. We can probably trust her clothes that scream "magic user" so we can deduce she is a sorcerer at least.

"Do you know her?" I ask "And you too, Illyana? Recognize this woman anywhere? She was with Evil Jean and probably came from here."

"She was? Why didn't you say anything at the time then?" Illyana asks

"Because the only one who would be able to recognize her would be you, and I already planned to bring you here to ask privately. No need to give the X-Men extra information, knowing that the Evil Jean could get from them. Let's make her underestimate how much we know." I explain "Never show your full hand, remember?"

"...makes sense." She agrees before taking a very good look at the witch "I don't think I even saw her… but Belasco received all sorts of guests, and he has many more subordinates than Necrosis, S'ym, and N'astirh… She can be only one of the many he kept in contact with."

She then looked at me. "Sorry if I can't help much."

"It is okay… I am also unable to get information from her because they teleported. So I don't know where she went and from which part of Limbo she came from." That is the weakness of [Moody Blues]'s power… teleportation. The Stand can't follow the instant movement to another place. "And what about you, Loona?"

Despite acting like a brat sometimes, she can be serious when I ask for it, so she stares at the witch carefully before "Can't say the appearance rings a bell… but I heard a rumor about Belasco's people reuniting because of a witch."

"Oh." That can be either her or Madelyne.

"Yeah, the main reason the movement got so much motion was that the witch has a strong relation with Belasco… An apprentice or descendant, I don't know. I just know that it is close enough that many demons went to the meeting to assess the truth of the matter. Some are talking about her succeeding the guy and retaking his territory." Loona gives more information than I expected.

"Hmm, a descendant or apprentice? Never heard of it… and you, Illyana?"

"Me neither… I thought that was the only one with this 'title'." He says, spitting the word like it's dirt, "But the guy is super old, maybe she is too… Like, a hundred thousand-year-old apprentice of his."

"That is a possibility, yes." I admit "But it would not be weird if he has some 'Plans B and C' lying around. You know, in case his investment in you doesn't pay off."

"That is horrible to say." Loona comments on the side.

"But it is reality, and something Belasco would absolutely do." I retort

"Yes, he would." Illyana agrees with me "Maybe it's because I was living in his main castle, I thought I was that special." She shrugs uncaringly.

"Well, you are… You are his perfect ticket outside this dimension that is a prison for him, but he absolutely must have other plans with a lower success rate." I say "Like trying to father a child with some vagrant female sorcerer that visits this place. Even if by force…"

"Ugh…" Illyana purses her lip. Maybe she already understood that if she was not rescued so early, horrible things would have befallen her.

It is an evil guy that we are talking about, and this is not a comic issue that would avoid touching sensitive topics; this is reality, and he would be ready to do anything to escape this place.

The less evil thing would be literally sacrificing Illyana through some ritual to take her power after she matured. He was already mentally abusing her by using the alternative versions of Kitty and the others, using guilt to control Illyana, and if she were not so headstrong, she would have been broken, so I can bet he would absolutely escalate things as she gets older.

Maybe some soul-slaving magic, he already got part of her soul, the one she used to make her Soulsword later, so that is the probable path he would take. He only kept her "free" so that she could train her power for his benefit.

"Do you know where those demons met?" Raven suddenly asks

"I don't remember it exactly, but it's somewhere south of here." Loona says with uncertainty

"It was in the Thuhull Stronghold."

"Hello, Macht." I greet him casually, even after he tried to sneak up on us.

I am only half surprised that he was able to sneak up on Raven and Illyana. I guess that even if he has less raw magical power than them, his control is much better than theirs.

"We are gonna train your awareness, Illyana." I point out, making her groan a little, but she can't complain after being caught off guard like that. "And this is Macht, a demon subordinate of mine that I keep imprisoned here."

"Imprisoned is such a hurtful word, sir." Macht tries to put some emotion into his voice as he stays behind me.

"Don't complain, if this prison is good enough for Belasco, it is good for you." After that mission to wipe out the mutant-hating groups, I don't plan to let Macht loose on Earth. "And this Raven and Illyana, Macht. Girls, Macht here is a true demon. Heartless and irreconcilable with us, humans."

"And you keep him around?" Raven raises an eyebrow at me

"As an attack dog. Fighting fire with fire, you get what I mean." I wave my hand dismissively "This guy is a good example of what I was talking about earlier… A demon that looks like us, talks like us, and can even live among us… but he will never be one of us. He can mingle but never fully integrate himself; it is all fake. Don't be fooled by his politeness and words; he would try to kill all of you eventually."

Not even the Essence can change what he really is… He only has feelings of loyalty towards me, I checked using some invasive powers.

Of course, if I want, I can alter him. Like messing with the chemistry of his brain, but I am not gonna do that… maybe in the future if he really wants to "feel".

For now, even his "desire to coexist" just comes from some small curiosity, like how a person would try to have some exotic animals as a pet just to see if it is possible to raise them. He never saw humans as equals before; he is not wired like that.

He put a real effort, though, I admit. He tried to "fake till he makes" it, but it is simply impossible for him.

Well, that is why I keep him around, the proof that he can be obedient.

"Tell me more about what you know." I order Macht

"Just what I heard here and there." He speaks with that serene tone of voice that never changes. "Apparently, there is a huge event where some broken parts of the Belasco forces reunited in this Stronghold in the South. We heard of it because of the demons travelling there that passed through here, but then nothing… No big moves were made, and no one returned to talk about it. Maybe they are still there."

"Maybe they are all dead." Illyana suggests with a grim hope.

"That is a possibility, but as a long-lived race, they could very well still be talking, taking things slowly." Macht speaks. From his viewpoint, spending an entire human lifetime playing the butler is nothing much.

"I guess we have a lead." I declare "We are gonna be there now."

"Want me to accompany you?" Macht asks

"No. But do you have anything else to share?" I stand up, Illyana and Raven following me

"Nothing valuable… But it was said that the stronghold was dangerous because a dragon lives there."

"A dragon? What relation does a dragon have to Belasco?" I frown. "And what kind of dragon? Flying lizards or something superior?"

"It is rumored that it is a Dragon God." Macht informs

"..."

"That is interesting." Illyana shows a toothy smile at my side

......…..

Third Person P.O.V.

Monster Metropolis

Back on Earth, the X-Men are in a strange place, partaking in some normal activities. They are sightseeing and window shopping through the city of monsters.

The group of teens quickly divided into small groups, as it always happens with people at their age; these are not kids on a field trip. Men and women have different interests, and even after the big group is split in half like that, they eventually break into even smaller groups.

Obviously, they would not move too far away from each other. In a strange territory like this one, the X-Men should be ready to help their friend if the situation calls for it.

And the commercial district is the most interesting place they could go to, everyone will be walking around this area instead of exploring some dangerous alley.

Kitty, Rogue, Jubilee, and Jean are one of those groups. They walk through a movement street, basking in the so familiar but odd place.

"Everyone is looking at us…" Kitty whispers to their friends as they walk close together.

"Ignore or look back even harder." Rogue says while looking around

"..." Kitty gives her friend a look. "You changed." She comments

"What?"

"You are less… shy? Confidence suits you, my emo friend." Kitty smiles brightly and pats Rogue on the back strongly

"...Thanks?"

"Love changes a girl." Jubilee says with a wishful sigh, the teasing undertones are not lost on Rogue.

"Shut up." Rogue hisses

"Now this is our Shy Rogue." Jubilee laughs, and Rogue rolls her eyes. "Don't be like that, girl. You didn't get the guy, but at least you got some… As Kitty would say: character development."

"Hmpf… didn't the guy… yet." Rogue scoffs

"WooooOOooo~" Kitty and Jubilee immediately make hype sounds while Rogue herself gets a little embarrassed about what she just said.

Even Jean, who was still a little distracted, smiled while watching the scene.

Rogue was saved from a barrage of teasing remarks by a clothing shop with very edgy pieces on display.

"Okay, Rogue will look great in that dark dress. She will be able to seduce Eidolon for sure." No, in the end, it did not save her from the teasing.

The group enters and is greeted with a sight that makes their skin crawl. This shop is dark and so full of mannequins and clothes that you can barely walk. From the dark ceiling, a silhouette slowly appears.

"Weeeelcomeee~" A human spider says slowly as she lowers herself to the ground with deliberate calm through a single web. Her six arms are moving almost in slow motion while she looks down on them with her eight red eyes, her two legs rolling the web.

Her face is long and monstrous, but still a little humanoid, and her body shape is a fusion of both her spider and human sides. Her skin is smooth without any fur, but she has some spikes in the many articulations of her limbs. She is wearing a pink dress that makes her look more human and civilized, but it was customized to her strange body

"Humans?"

"Eh… Hi." Kitty says robotically.

'I guess she doesn't need a lot of walking space if she uses the wall and ceiling…' Jean thinks

Even when they are pretty open-minded, what human being would not be creeped out by a human-sized spider monster moving in an inhuman way? It is unsettling…

"We are visiting the city… Talked with the queen." Jean immediately says that to avoid any trouble.

"Oh, I heard some rumours about humans coming here." The Spider Woman uses three limbs to scratch her head from different directions simultaneously.

"We saw the dresses in the front of the shop. They are so pretty!" Kitty, the social butterfly, immediately compliments the products

"Oheee~" The Spider seems to laugh, but a strange sound comes halfway from her throat. "Do you like them? I made all my products myself."

"From your own webs?" Jean asks curiously "Sorry, if it's a strange question to ask." She adds afterwards quickly.

"Heee~ It is fine, and yes, I use my own silk, it decreases the cost, and I dare say… increase the quality." The spider human says proudly, and protruding fangs on the corner of her mouth click twice.

The sound sends shivers down the girl's spine, but they suppress it.

"So they come from your butt- Gah!" Jubilee can complete her question before receiving a blow from Rogue on her side.

"Sorry about our friend…" Jean immediately says, wanting to facepalm "We are just ignorant about much of Monster Metropolis and its inhabitants."

The Spider Woman giggles while covering her mouth with her hands, all her eight eyes narrowing at the same time.

"Hiihiii~ Don't worry, you would be surprised by how inhabitants of this city don't know much about their fellow citizens either." She says magnanimously

The Spider Woman reaches slowly to their faces with her many limbs. "You are all so pretty, I can think of many of my pieces that are perfect for you all…" She passes a hand through their hair.

"..." The girls don't react, but find it a little weird

"Don't be so tense. I would never eat such a pretty thing like you all… it would be such a waste." The Spider Woman laughs and turns around to rummage through some of her pieces that are in hangers.

"....."

"She is joking, right?" Jubilee asks the rest in a low voice

"I… think so." Jean says telepathically "Not feeling any animosity from her… but I am not gonna dive deep in her mind."

"Like Eidolon, let's be civil, but not lower our guard." Rogue says through the telepathic link, and they all nod in agreement.

But time proved that their fears are unfounded. It is still unclear if this Spider Woman is from a human-eater species, but she acted like the perfect clerk, albeit a little too enthusiastically and touchy.

She makes the girls try all kinds of dresses, some are pretty weird, outdated, or even ugly to human standards, but equally, there are some great pieces that would not be out of place in a rich people's party, the red carpet, or on a model's catwalk.

Well, some of the dresses that can be used at a Gala are pretty weird, too.

But overall, it was a good experience for the girls to see the Monster's fashion style. Not that much different from humans, but more classy and with a hint of "fantasy".

"Some pieces have so much cloth that feels suffocating, and some have basically nothing." Jubilee laughs, after seeing Rogue refuse to wear a black dress that is barely straps.

"Seduction is a natural weapon as much as fangs." The Spider Woman says while helping the girls from dress to dress.

"I want this blouse, like… I barely feel the weight on me, so floaty and magical." Kitty says while spinning, a white loose shoulderless blouse is draped over her torso.

"You all can get one piece as a gift." The Spider Woman says generously

"We can't accept that." Jean rejects the idea immediately

"Relax, I had a lot of fun dolling you all up, and it's just a common way to hook a customer. Just promise to come back in the future." The Spider Woman waves three arms dismissively

"But even so…" Jean tries to argue

"We are still gonna buy some other things then, just give us a good discount." Kitty interrupts, making the Spider Woman smile

"But we don't have any money from here." Rogue whispers "What is even the currency again?"

"Eidolon said that he would provide." Kitty replies calmly

"But are you seeing him here?" Rogue looks at her like she is an idiot

"Even if he comes later to pay, it would be wrong to use his money." Jean argues

"I mean… he offered." Kitty says weakly "I also feel that is a little wrong, but… Is it his suggestion? Does he even care? How much money can we even spend? Didn't he say that he wants us to bring some souvenirs to the people in the Mansion?"

Suddenly, and so discreetly that they almost missed it, a figure appeared from between the many clothes, sliding on the ground while down on one knee, his hands raised to present them with something.

"Is this… a ninja?" Kitty asks confused

The shadowkhan slides while kneeling to the ground and offers a bag that Rogues takes without thinking, and then he slides away silently, merging with the shadows beneath the mannequins.

"..."

"What the heck?" They are still confused when he was gone

""Guys…" Rogue calls them after opening the bag with her thumbs. When they turn to look at her, Rogue's face is shining with a golden light.

Shining because the chest is stacked with gold coins

"Eeeeeh…"

"What?"

"It is Eidolon." Jean reches is the only logical explanation

"Oh, so you all are part of a man harem? Why didn't you say before? I have a beautiful Harem Sistes collection, see-through but in different colors." The Spider Woman giggles

"What??"

"No, we…"

"No judgment here, it is a job like any other, and part of the job is to try to empty your man's wallet." The Spider Woman interrupts

"..."

"Those coins are even from different civilizations and time periods, enough to be accepted anywhere around here, even in the more elitist shops. The ones like me just accept money by the weight." The Spider Woman reaches to touch one of the gold coins. "There is even some drachmas."

The girls look around each other

"Well…" Kitty starts

"Haah~ Just a little… and we are gonna give it back." Jean sighs, but knowing Eidolon, he probably does not care. "And let's see if you can find a gift for him too."

"Yay!" Kitty celebrates

"A gift with his own money… we are acting like his women." Rogue jokes while face-palming

"Don't act like you are not enjoying it…" Jubilee looks at Rogue with a smug smile "We can buy some of those sexy clothes, and you can pay him with your body."

"Shut up."

......….

Limbo

Eidolon, Raven, and Illyana quickly arrived at the location described by Macht. They float above the place on a transparent platform made by the hero.

"It is built on a chain of mountains with a huge volcano in the middle… so cliche." Raven comments with an emotionless voice and a slight judgmental tone at the end.

"Well, it is a Hell Dimension; it needs to look the part." Eidolon smiles

"So, should we just attack?" Illyana suggests

"Calm down, girl. We are civilized people, due process is essential. First, we are gonna knock and ask for an audience with their leader." Eidolon says

"You just failed this whole civilized thing on that succubus' palace." Illyana points out with a dead face

"...true.

"Does acting civil even work?" She raises an eyebrow at the hero

"Rarely… people tend to be violent for some reason, but it's about the principle. You can't let the world corrupt you into becoming a savage." Eidolon admits before lecturing her.

"Boring…"

"No, it is not. Think this way… beating people while acting all polite is an excellent way to add salt to the wound; it makes their defeat even more humiliating." Eidolon smiles at her

"Hmm, I am seeing the vision." Illyana shows a thoughtful expression "Like we don't even want to beat them up, but they force our hand."

"Exactly." Eidolon confirms

"We can even use their own hands to hit them and say: 'Why are you beating yourself?'." Illyana has an easy time thinking of ways to bully people.

"..." On the side, Raven stares at the exchange and thinks that Hector may be a little of a bad influence. "Well, too bad you two will not have this option this time." She says after looking down.

She noticed that suddenly, a huge flying demon was coming at them, screaming in aggression.

"..." Eidolon also noticed and…

BoomCrash

Slaps the demon back to the ground with a telekinetic wave, creating a huge crater in the middle of the stronghold.

It was like throwing a stone at a wasp nest; immediately, a lot of demons started appearing from caves, buildings, and from the magma… They look up and start flying at them, throwing weapons or magic… and if they couldn't do it, they at least shout profanities.

"And here it goes your civilized way." Raven drawls, looking oddly happy that Eidolon's plan to play the civilized gentleman act is already destroyed.

"Too bad…" He sighs while his platform defends them from the attacks. "Illyana, do you remember what I said about strong emotions?"

"Hm? Something about… 'Pain, surprise, fear, anger… never let them spread outside your head'." She answers

"Yes. For example, last night, even though I was suffering from a terrible poison, I kept my stoicism… You should do the same. Despite any strong emotion trying to sway your focus, you should always keep yourself stoic. A burning heart, but a cool mind… that is how you keep yourself at your full fighting power in a fight." He lectures her "Never panic, never freeze."

When she nods, he continues. "Said that…"

"Eh?" Illayna looks surprised when Eidolon's hand grabs the top of her head.

He smiles at her and then, while holding her head, spins around himself. Illyana becomes a ragdoll before he throws her like a cannonball.

"Aaa-" Her shock was short because she immediately locks in and stops shouting after she understands that this is a test.

Despite the surprise, she immediately summons her sword, and instead of complaining about the rough treatment, she uses the momentum of his throw to go through the torso of a demon like a spear.

"Heh~" Eidolon smiles proudly, watching her go.

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Raven gives him a judgmental side glance.

"I used Tactile Telekinesis to protect her body; no bone would be dislocated, and the effect of G-Force was minimal."

"That was not about what I am talking about." Raven says while looking down on the chaos that is Illyana's battle.

"Relax… Illyana herself always asks for harsher training. I don't abuse her, I just push her to her limits sometimes, and she still thinks I am too soft." Eidolon shakes his head. "This is just a little test to see how fast she enters Fighting Mode and for how long she can keep it up while being jumped from all directions."

"..." Raven can't argue when she herself doesn't have any experience teaching.

The duo watches Illyana fight her way through the horde. She is doing well, using her mobility to never be surrounded, and none of her attacks are useless.

"You are a little different when you are Eidolon." Raven suddenly comments

"Hm?" Eidolon is surprised and looks at her. "In a good way?" He raises an eyebrow

"...maybe. You are serious, at least." She says dryly

"Ah, you just saw me goofing around because I needed to be the extrovert one between us." He realizes where this comes from. "There are many sides of me that you don't know, baby girl~" He changes his tone to flirty "Do you wanna discover them?"

"No." She answers immediately, without even looking at him

"Damn. Merciless. I thought girls like a mysterious guy…" He clutches his heart in pain

Eidolon didn't see, but the corner of Raven's lip quirked upwards for a fraction of a second before she schooled her features.

They continue to watch Illyana's efforts for some more minutes.

"She is already getting tired mentally…" Eidolon comments

"She is a child."

"Yeah… Illyana is young and inexperienced; she needs to make a conscious effort to keep her mind in the game and use her full potential. With time, she will fight much more effortlessly." Eidolon nods.

He is satisfied with her performance. Illyana is strong, and her flaws can be corrected with more training.

"She is a little quick to anger and gets frustrated if she fails something, which is shown when she finds an enemy that deals with her attacks in any way."

He saw her spending too much time in a nimble demon that dodged her sneaky attack. It became a matter of pride to Illyana to defeat that guy.

The confusion lasted long enough to attract the attention of the one they came here to talk to. The ground starts shaking, and the lake of magma on the top of the volcano starts trembling before rising.

"So it was really a dragon." Eidolon comments while watching the emergence of an enormous serpentine form from the lava, uncoiling itself to reveal its full length.

The wings stretch with enough force to send magma across a wide area around the volcano, the head slowly emerging while looking down, almost sleepy, the molten rock slides off the scales harmlessly.

"Wait…" Eidolon frowns heavily when the dragon opens his eyes to glare at the ones that perturbed his slumber. "Is that the Eye of Agamotto on its left pupil?" He is beyond confused, immediately activating his All Seeing Eyes of God to see if it's at least a good replica of the artifact in the hands of the Ancient One.

He won't believe, not even for a second, that the old sorcerer has the object stolen from him since the last time he saw it.

"He looks strong… is he famous?" Raven asks while feeling the power of the dragon

"...more or less. I saw this form in a book. Similar to Quetzalcoatl but not exactly." Eidolon sighs "This universe is really filled with crouching tigers and hidden dragons." He chuckles

"What is so funny?"

"Just a joke because the demons from here use a mineral to empower themselves and also as currency, like in some Chinese novels, and this guy is a dragon- You know what? Explaining makes it not funny." Eidolon gives up at the end.

"That is how jokes work." She deadpans "And you haven't told me who he is."

"If I am not wrong, that is Sadurang… An Asgardian Dragon that is also a sorcerer." Eidolon answers "What I want to know is his connection with Belasco… But everything will be answered when I beat him up." He smiles predatorily

"...What about acting civilized?" She asks with a small amount of sarcasm dripping from her voice

"It isn't every day that I can claim the title of Dragon Slayer. Never one this strong at least."

"...you and she are more similar than you think."

......…..

A.N.: Hello There

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