After communicating with the resistance fighters in Limbo, Peter discovered a very surprising fact: Illyana from Earth-616 was not the first Magik to be brought to Limbo. In fact, many Magiks had been captured there.
But unlike the 12-year-old girl from Earth-616 who was captured before her powers awoke, Magiks from other universes were usually captured after awakening their abilities. Due to one or two instances of losing control of their powers, they mistakenly entered Limbo while merely trying to pass through it. Belasco would then seize the opportunity to invade their universes.
Life forms in those universes would fight back fiercely. In some universes, heroes would pay a heavy price to sever Belasco's connection to their world, while other universes were completely conquered by Belasco, with the entire Earth being thoroughly corrupted by Limbo's power.
Even the survivors would gradually have their souls corrupted by Limbo's power and ultimately become demons. Some heroes had been completely corrupted and became Belasco's dogs, like the large wave of Nightcrawlers Peter took out. Some, though transformed into demons of their own memory and consciousness, would not obey Belasco and became wild, monstrous demons.
The last group were the heroes who were still resisting Belasco and had not been fully demonized. They gathered, contemplating how to stop Belasco. In short, this wretched place now felt a bit like the Boneyard from the Deadpool & Wolverine movie, except their enemy seemed much more powerful than Cassandra Nova.
In addition to four different-universe versions of Storm, Shadowcat, Wolverine, and an elderly Magik, there were two others: Blade and Strange, whose universes were unknown.
So, this handful of people were going up against Belasco.
At least everyone felt a sense of despair. But Peter's arrival offered them a tiny glimmer of hope: on Earth-616, there was a very powerful Sorcerer Supreme who might be able to help, and a whole team of uncorrupted X-Men as potential allies.
"You don't look very happy?"
Peter found Illyana practicing her sword skills. She was taking out her frustrations on the demons surrounding the camp. The girl, who was just a 12-year-old child to Peter a few minutes ago, sliced the demon in front of her with her greatsword and said without turning around:
"The moment you arrived, everyone found a reason to seek death. Otherwise, they might have lived a little longer, at least not rushing to sacrifice themselves."
As Illyana spoke, she stepped on the bisected upper half of the demon's body and cleaved the demon's head in two. She hadn't awakened any mutant abilities yet; she had merely followed the demonized Storm to learn magic for a few years and struggled to survive in this place.
"Everyone knows their end is a dead end, but as long as no one mentions it, they won't actively seek death. You've given them a meaning to die. You're burying them."
"Or saving them." Peter understood Illyana's attitude towards him: "You still don't want to believe me."
"I... I've been in this place for three full years! I fight these monsters every day. My brother, the X-Men who looked after me, were frozen solid the moment they stepped in here! Then you show up! You arrive and say only three minutes have passed outside, and now you want to... want to take the people who helped me to their deaths!"
Illyana shouted at Spider-Man: "And you're asking me to believe you?!"
"Whoa, calm down, calm down, kid."
Peter quickly took two steps back, then thought of the simplest way to prove his words were true: "Alright, if you won't believe me, look at this."
As Peter spoke, he took off his mask, revealing his face: "My name is Peter Parker. I'm a sophomore at Midtown High. I should be about the same age as you now. If I were really lying to you, I would have become Spider-Man when I was only... 12? If you count from when I got my powers, maybe 11."
Peter saw Illyana freeze for a good while. Just when he thought she still couldn't grasp the situation, Illyana finally reacted.
Still standing on the demon's corpse, she stabbed her greatsword into the ground and burst out laughing. Peter didn't immediately understand what was happening and watched as Illyana held her stomach and laughed for quite some time, until tears came to her eyes.
He genuinely couldn't figure out the punchline.
"Can you just..."
"Sorry, sorry. You mean you were only three years older than me, and now you're the same age."
"Yes."
Illyana wiped the tears from her eyes and controlled her laughter a little.
"But you're Spider-Man."
"Yes?"
"I mean, you're Spider-Man. You're an Avenger, a member of the world's strongest hero team. You saved the world, remember? You turned into a giant somehow and ate an alien dragon that invaded New York!"
"Actually, my symbiotic suit partner did that."
"My point is... you're a high school student. You're my age. This is too—it sounds too ridiculous. I've been killing demons in this awful place for three years. I've learned magic, survival skills, and fighting techniques. I had Ororo teach me magic, and Logan teach me swordsmanship. Even now, I wouldn't dare say I can handle the guys you fought. And you?"
Peter answered honestly.
"I took six months of combat training from my uncle, who's a Marine Corps veteran."
"See? That's completely absurd."
"Or maybe it's just because we can win. I have an ability called Spider-Sense. When there's danger, it rings really loudly."
Illyana knew what Peter was getting at: "And now?"
"It's unusually quiet. So, can you believe me now? Don't worry, I have a plan, one that can save everyone. I'm not the kind of guy who loses his head and throws himself right at Belasco."
Peter did have a good plan for fighting Belasco: "As long as we can launch an offensive, everything will turn out fine."
"...If I could only awaken my powers, maybe everything would turn out fine."
Peter paused, then shook his head. It was highly likely that Belasco's entire goal was to make Illyana awaken her mutant powers so he could invade Earth-616.
And Peter had another idea.
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