Technomancer in MCU #120.1 (Patreon)

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Chapter 120.1

Technomancer in MCU

Asgard

An impressive gathering of forces was happening in the realm of Asgard. Forces from Midgard, the denizens of which are generally regarded as the weakest of the nine realms have given out a surprising showing for all of the nine realms.

Dozens of ships capable of carrying multiple attacks that would not fall short of the strongest attack of someone like Thor were stationed all around the skies of Asgard. The same ships could pool together their powers and fire a single shot that would surpass even the strongest attack of Odin when he was in his prime, ensuring that should the attack hit, the target would most certainly meet its demise. Even Thanos, in his current state where he was powered up by only a single (or two) Infinity Stones, would most certainly meet his demise. 

This was all in addition to the single combat fighters who, when together, would best even the strongest of armies. Consisting of army killers like Thor, Hulk, and an empowered Daisy, it was almost a certainty that any large-scale attack against them would fail.

The problem with the situation was that they were capable of handily defeating their foe, Hela, Goddess of Death but the thing about Hela was that she would not die, not so easily anyway. Her unique bond with Asgard made it so that only and only when the current Asgard was destroyed in its entirety, only then could she be killed for good.

The other thing about her was that over time, she would grow stronger and stronger until she reached roughly the same level as ODin himself, a level with which not many of Ed’s people could contend with. There was only so much technology could do on its own to bridge the gap between “one of the strongest” to “the strongest” of the universe (at least if you exclude the forces of nature known as Celestials). So, the task for the gathered forces was a bit tough. IT was going to be tiring and somewhat disheartening to see strong attacks damage Hela and defeat her, only for her to come back stronger which would reduce the impact of those same attacks on her.

And yet, everybody who had gathered on Asgard wore faces of absolute determination. Odin and Alfred had collectively decided to arm even the Asgardian Soldiers with the armour that every single soldier on Ed’s side had access to. The soldiers grumbled about it in the beginning but once they saw the defensive capabilities of the armour and the ease with which it clung to them like a second skin, allowing them full mobility which was better than their previous armours, those complaints evaporated into thin air.

Tony Stark, in particular, was given access to some Uru for his armour by Alfred. Alfred had also helped him personally forge that Uru using the advanced smithing techniques, under the watchful gaze of Eitri the Dwarven King, to create a suit shell that would be very helpful in stopping Hela from just killing Tony with a graze of her weaponry because that was what was going to be the most troublesome part in it all.

Hela’s weapons were deadly, being tinged with her necromantic death energy meant that even a single nick of her weapons were fatal for a mortal like Tony and downright disabling for an Average Asgardian.

They were going to hit Hela with their strongest attacks at the very end to make sure that she would not be able to reach the ritual room. According to Alfred’s estimations, it would take roughly an hour to complete the ritual safely. Once that was done, the entirety of the forces on Asgard were given a button that would safely teleport them to a dummy ship out of the dimensional bubble of Asgard, safely evacuating them from the blast zone. Alfred, with Odin’s permission, had also installed a very volatile bomb right underneath Asgard that would destroy its very foundations, making sure that the magics that kept Asgard intact would fold like paper once its foundation was destroyed.

All of this was being done to preserve and protect the ritual room which was one of a kind throughout the universe. The ritual room in Asgard was more like a doorway into a pocket space connected to the Yggdrasil that runs throughout the nine realms. That space was the perfect spot to conduct a ritual that involves energies from ingots of creations, capable of rending space apart.

The same ritual room where four infinity stones were gathered all at once, along with a truly impressive gathering of the strongest people of the nine realms. Odin, Frigga, Toby, and Alfred were each standing at one corner of the ritual room. Each of them was connected to the ritual circle at the center by a line that ran through an increasingly confusing number of patterns before finally reaching the place where Ed was standing, i.e., the center of the ritual room.

Four Infinity Stones were floating behind Alfred as he made the final adjustments to the ritual under the hawkish gaze of both Frigga and Odin. All of them had been connected to each other using a spell that Odin had learned back in his youth. The spell having been boosted by the might of the Infinity Stone made it so that the connection would remain strong even in the face of the mighty energies of the ritual.

“Ready?” Alfred asked once everything was done. He had done everything possible from his side. He had double and triple-checked everything along with having Frigga and Odin also do the same. If there were any complications during the ritual, he also had the Infinity Stones just floating right behind him.

At the four corners of the ritual room were Frigga, Odin, Toby, and Alfred. All of them had their specific roles in the ritual. Odin and Frigga were the stabilizing agents. As it turned out, the energies of a hyper-advanced race were the most stable, especially Odin’s as it had gained a flavour similar to the Yggdrasil's energy over the years. Frigga was there more to regulate the flow of said energy, i.e., the Odin Force. Odin’s control over it had waned over the years, to the point that he could not use the ODin FOrce for pinpoint spells. Frigga, a witch, had impeccable control and that was why she was there.

Toby was responsible for handling Ed’s soul since he was the only one strong enough at this point to actually pilot Ed’s soul, especially once Ed was put to sleep. Plus the bond that Ed and Toby shared from beyond this universe ensured that they had the highest chance of success if Toby was the one who moved Ed’s soul. Alfred was more like the conductor of the orchestra. He was the only one of the four present who could conduct the calculations required to direct Ed’s soul into the new body that they had forged for him.

The body was the one that was made from the best technology that Alfred had scrounged up from old Sovereign tech along with his own considerable advancements in human cloning. The body was made from the genes of multiple advanced races along with having every single enhancement under the roof baked into it from the get-go. One thing that Alfred had to be careful about was that the body could have no inclination toward one element or magic system from the beginning because Ed’s soul might end up rejecting for it. So, Alfred had done his best to make sure that the body was neutral in its energy signature to better facilitate Ed’s soul into it.

“Ready.”

“Ready.”

Odin just nodded in agreement.

Alfred then took a deep breath, even though he had no need to breathe, and snapped his fingers, causing four phantasmal hands to emerge from his back and hold onto the four Infinity Stones floating behind him. He then began glowing yellow, corresponding to the Mind Stone, signalling that Alfred was using the Mind Stone to boost his own mental prowess. The ritual circle lit up with a rainbow of colours, not unlike the ones that are seen when the BiFrost is used.

All six bodies that were connected to the ritual began floating in the air. Of course, Alfred, who was deep in his mental space, could not see any of it. 

Odin and Frigga gasped as pure unadulterated Odin Force flowed out of Odin which was directed by Frigga into the ritual circle as the body that was floating above Ed’s puppet began glowing with the colours of the Yggdrasil as well. The puppet that was being used by Ed’s soul withered into dust as a huge spectral soul began floating in its place. Ed’s soul.

As soon as Ed’s soul left the confines of its puppet body, a huge pressure was exerted not only on the ritual room but also on all of Asgard. 

The pressure was felt by all of the gathered forces outside the Royal palace. Most of them fell into a tense stance as they had thought that it was an enemy attack but they were then informed by their leaders that this was just the ritual being conducted inside the palace. Most of them were still wary about an attack but had relaxed a bit.

The spectral form of Ed was nothing like the puppet body he was inhabiting. Of course, none of the participants of the ritual could see it other than Toby who was already sweating at the moment as he had to bear the brunt of Ed’s soul unleashed. Alfred somehow sensed that as his body began glowing partially blue as the space stone also began glowing with the same colour. Toby who was on the verge of exhaustion sighed in relief once he felt the soothing blue energy of the Space Stone flood his systems, more energy than was possible through the bond that he and Alfred shared. In fact, the energy was so much in excess that he grinned and renewed his efforts to move Ed’s soul, guided by Alfred’s calculations.

Right as Ed’s soul was at the halfway mark, Odin began coughing but didn’t stop his efforts to supply Odin FOrce to the ritual.

Frigga looked at him in concern but she could not move from her position, lest she jeopardise the entire ritual and doom all of Asgard including herself and her sons.

“...Cough..Cough…It’s her. She is free,” Odin said as he continued to cough but his hand didn’t waver as he continued to supply the ritual, the very thing that was responsible for keeping him alive. “It’s all up to you now,” Odin said as he looked at one corner of the ritual room but his gaze went far beyond as he saw the ominous green portal that had opened at the edge of the OBservatory which had been shut down on his orders. He could see his sons, united, standing with their steadfast allies, ready to defeat the biggest mistake he had ever made in his life.

Odin then looked at Frigga with a sad smile as he closed his eyes and began withering away into motes of white light that seemed to be absorbed by the ritual circle, powering it even further.

Alfred grunted at the sudden addition of energy but it also helped boost the ritual as the willing soul sacrifice of someone at the level of Odin was something that could match even one of the Infinity Stones in output.

Alfred began glowing red as the Infinity Stone or rather a duplicate of the original which could be used as a gateway to the original residing within one Jane Foster, began glowing with the same colour as Alfred worked furiously to stabilise the ritual circle.

Soon, the ritual circle began glowing greenish golden, as did Alfred’s eyes, as did Toby, and as did Ed’s new body.

Ever since Toby had known Ed and his powers in this new universe, it had always been signified with greenish gold. Ed’s greatest creation, Alfred, was also born with greenish gold as his base form. His first code and then subsequent body’s eyes were also of the same colour. Of Course, now that Alfred had forcibly inducted the energy of the Space Stone in his heart, his entire body was filled with glowing blue energy but before that, he was always greenish-golden in colour.

As the ritual was more than halfway done, the ritual room had begun to reach the limits of its durability so Alfred had to once again tap into the energies of the Reality Stone and suffuse the entire ritual room with its energy, stopping the damage in its tracks.

The toll of wielding the energies of multiple Infinity Stones without any suitable tool like the iNFINITY Gauntlet began showing its marks on Alfred’s body as it began cracking in places like his chest and arms, spilling blue, red, and yellow energies out. Still, Alfred held on as he ignored his injuries and focused on the millions of calculations that were required to make sure that Ed’s soul was handled carefully and squeezed into the new body that Alfred had made for Ed.

While making his own body, Alfred had counted on the fact that someday his body might have to bear the burden of wielding multiple Infinity Stones without a safe medium like the Infinity Gauntlet so he had made sure to add extra energy regulation features into his body and yet, his body was giving out much faster than he had expected. At this rate, he would have to use the Reality Stone to plug the gaps in his own body, resulting in even faster wear and tear, making a truly vicious cycle, and yet...

Yet, Alfred was smiling. It was a very small and subtle smile but Alfred was definitely smiling because they had made good progress. They were actually much further in the process. It had gone all smooth sailing for them despite all of the potential issues in between.

Frigga had fallen unconscious in the time it had taken for Alfred to stabilise the torrent of Odin Force that Odin had released into the ritual when he had burned up his very soul. 

All the different energies being used in the ritual had taken their toll on Alfred’s body as he was the one who was conducting the ritual. The rest of them were just extra add-ons that were there to make sure that the ritual was successful.

At this point, all that was left was for Ed’s soul to be squeezed into the body and then holding it there as it would then be forced to acclimatise to the new body. Alfred was going to squeeze Ed’s soul because even after all his preparations to make a body capable of duking it out with the Hulk and Thor without any magical empowerments, it was still not strong enough to house Ed’s soul in its entirety, not comfortably at least. So, they were going to have to place Ed’s soul in the body and then keep it there for a while. Alfred did not know for how long but one thing was certain, as Alfred watched Ed’s soul inch torturously slowly towards his body, he was going to see it through or die trying, as his life’s goal mandated it. He would gladly sacrifice his life for the continued well-being of his creator, no matter how much he knew his creator would protest that decision.

For that one thing, he would gladly disobey his creator.

Word Count - 2631

A/N - A couple more chapters to go.