Warning: Spoilers for X-Men Infinity Comic #36 ahead!
One of the X-Men's strongest and most formidable leaders, the psychic mutant Emma Frost, was just brutally beaten by the psychic power of a mutant slug in the pages of X-MenUnlimited Infinity Comic #36. The slug-creature, named Eany, is actually one of two slugs that live inside of the cult-favorite X-Men member Maggott, who is currently starring in the X-Men Infinity Comic arc.
Japheth is a South African mutant who debuted in 1997’s Uncanny X-Men #345 - created by Scott Lobdell and Joe Madureira - and was originally meant to be the coolest new 90s X-Men before he was relegated to backstories most likely due to his unique and quite frankly, gross, mutant ability. Maggott's powers transformed his digestive tract into two sentient techno-organic slug-like creatures that Japheth names Eany and Meany, who use their enzymes to devour anything, which is then converted to energy inside of Maggott, giving him greatly enhanced stamina, endurance, and strength, while also turning his skin blue and his eyes red.
The current arc of the X-Men Infinity Comic - written by Alex Paknadel with art by Julian Shaw and Dono Sanchez-Almara - has followed Maggott as he is asked to support the core X-Men team led by Cyclops and Jean Grey. Maggott ends up getting eaten and killed by the monster, and seemingly Eany and Meany are as well, before being resurrected by The Five. Maggott immediately notices that something is wrong with Eany, he won't eat and he viciously bites off Laura Kinney's finger, so in X-Men Infinity Comic #36 he requests psychic "therapy" from Emma Frost. Emma tells Japheth that she will not be doing therapy with him but with Eany himself, since he is a sentient being, and Frost quickly dives into Eany's mind without really thinking of the potential danger. Emma Frost is endlessly confident, to a fault, but she quickly realizes that she has got more than she bargained for when Eany immediately takes control of the psychic invasion.
Emma Frost is a psychic with years of experience who may not have the brute strength of an X-Men heavy hitter like Jean Grey or Charles Xavier, but certainly has the strategy and talent required to engage with most psychic minds and stay in control, but the minute she enters Eany's head she is overwhelmed by the slug's psychic presence. It turns out that when the sludge monster "killed" Japheth, Eany, and Meany he actually never killed Eany, so while Eany was resurrected by The Five the original Eany has been out in the world, devouring humans and property, growing stronger and bigger as it tries to come back to it's home in Maggott's bowels. Frost has been beaten by very few psychics in her day, but Eany's psychic energy has become so strong in the outside world that not only can Emma hear him screaming that he wants to come home but she can also hear the terrifying psychic residue left behind by Eany's human victims. Eany becoming a Kaiju-level threat, who is now headed directly to Krakoa, raises some fascinating points around Krakoan law, highlighting why it is so important that the X-Men confirm a mutant is truly dead before resurrecting them.
Additionally, if Eany is killing humans does that mean that Japheth is guilty of breaking Krakoa's "Kill No Man" law, which would get him sent into the Pit like Sabertooth? Maggott's sentient stomach Eany being able to easily defeat Emma Frost shows that this underrated X-Men member, long considered one of the weirdest mutants, is way more powerful than anyone ever thought!
Look for the latest issue of X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic available now from Marvel Comics!