107 Technomancer in MCU #86.2

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Chapter 86.2

Technomancer in MCU

The Asterisk

–Loki–

Honestly, the one person who loved him unconditionally was the same person who he had hurt, in his quest to prove himself to Odin.

Because that was what it all was, a way to prove. To prove that he was not the inferior son of the House of Odin. To prove that his beloved mother's magic could also be used to the same devastating effect as Thor's physical might could.

He was lost in his thoughts when his body didn't jerk itself to one side on the regular time and instead just kept falling down into darkness.

Oh, great.

Before he could try to do anything though, not that it would have helped, he landed on what seemed like a hard floor, hard.

"I have been falling for 30 minutes!" He shouted and stood up from the ground, trying to conjure his knives only for his magic to fail him once again.

"Release my magic this instant, you fools!" 

"Honestly, what was Odin thinking?" He heard the machine speak.

"Sigh, Alfred, just release the manacles, will you?" 

With a clicking sound, the chains binding his legs disappeared into motes of light.

He surveyed the room only to see the Singularity and its Guardian along with the person who had quite literally attacked him on sight.

The odds didn't look good for him this time.

However, before he could raise his hands for surrender or call Heimdall, the bindings on magic disappeared. A rune floated out of his chest and dissipated into a greenish glow.

Even with his magic back, he was not sure if he could get out of this place alive but it would seem that there was no need to do so.

"Relax, we were just surprised by your visit. We are ready to go to Asgard now. You can call Heimdall now, I have lowered the spatial defenses now, not that those stopped you from coming here unannounced before." The machine spoke as he kept on looking at something on a metal coffin that was placed behind the Singularity and the person beside him.

The Singularity facepalmed for some reason and the person behind him bared his teeth at him.

Leaning back slightly from that, he shook the extended hands of the Singularity.

'Hello, I am Ed, as you probably know. This is-" He then pointed to the demon beside him, '-Toby and I apologize on his behalf for knocking you out. He was just startled."

He didn't need to rub that in.

"Ahem, yes, I can understand. Now, are you ready to go to Asgard? Because the Allfather's summons have little patience when it comes to tardiness. I can attest to that personally." He said while rubbing off imaginary dust from his regular outfit that he had summoned using his magic.

Magic that he was using to constantly probe his surroundings, as any Magic user worth his salt would. The results only confused him more.

It was as if the area he was in ended with the walls surrounding him. No matter how much he tried, he failed to get any reading beyond the four walls he was in.

The people in front of him, on the other hand, were a different story altogether.

The person that stood out the most to him was not the Machine, as he had expected, but the demon who was standing beside the Singularity.

And the demon was strong too. Overwhelmingly so.

Not even Thor could give him this feeling of danger this demon did, simply by standing there and smiling at him.

It would be unwise to bring him to Asgard but he was sure that no matter how strong he was, the All-Father would smite him if needed.

Then, the singularity was the one who confused him the most. He could see him standing in front of him but upon further probing, his soul seemed to be somewhere else. The body in front of him seemed more like a hyper-realistic puppet than his original body. The puppet had a soul tether that was much harder to track without actively casting spells and that was something he wanted to avoid for his continued well-being.

The next was the Machine who, frankly, felt more like an Asgardian than he did Machine or a mortal. 

A ridiculously strong Asgardian for that matter. The amount of magical energy flowing through him would put him on the same level as the likes of Frigga or the Ancient One when she was still alive.

Speaking of the Ancient One, "I am sorry for your loss. Know that the Ancinet One was a respected member of the Mystic community across the galaxy and her loss was a monumental blow to the community, not to mention the loss of knowledge and expertise when an expert of her level dies."

He truly was sorry for that. While her morals did hinder her from going deep into certain magical territories of research, the ones she did explore were where she shone brightly. In some fields, his mother told him she was able to match Odin himself. 

Not to mention her feats of being able to match Odin himself during the battle against the Frost Giants which had spilled over to Midgard. Now, that was someone he could respect. If not for their morals or actions, for their power and their sheer will to face Odin, the strongest being in the nine realms, all by their lonesome.

As soon as he said those words, the atmosphere in the room they were in darkened. It was just for a flash but the overwhelming killing intent that rose out of the Machine would have put Fire Demons to shame.

It was a sensitive topic, then. Noted.

As he received no reply from any of them after that, he nodded and looked towards the sky, which was not visible since they were in an enclosed room, and called out, "Heimdall,"

The next moment, a light of rainbow fell upon all of them, transporting them directly to Asgard.

Contrary to what many people thought of, it was not instant. 

Of course, considering the distances involved, it might as well have been instant but there were a few seconds to a minute at most when the people in the Rainbow Bridge can experience the magnificence of the complex magics involved.

That was exactly what the Machine, Alfred, was doing. He was examining the outer ranges of the Rainbow Bridge and while he would have warned him about the dangers of doing that, he wasn't someone he particularly liked or cared about so he let it be.

Then, he looked over to the demon and the Singularity, or at least the puppet that was being operated by the Singularity. They were standing guard over the metal coffin that contained someone, that much he was certain of now.

One moment they were floating in space, being propelled at speeds faster than anybody could perceive, the next moment they were standing in the Observatory of the Rainbow Bridge where Heimdall was waiting for them, having just removed Hofund from the command gate.

"Welcome, guardians of Midgard and host of a…Demonworld? I was of the opinion that none of your kind survived. Anyways, welcome to Asgard and the All-Father is waiting for you." Heimdall said as he gestured to the series of horses that were waiting for them at the gate of the observatory.

–xx–

–Alfred–

Fascinating.

He had always thought that the Rainbow Bridge was some sort of advanced FTL transport system that used the Gates that the wider galaxy used for Faster than Light travel but its underlying principles were completely different.

For one, the Rainbow Bridge can only be used with its full force, in the nine realms.

Anywhere out of that and all you can realistically do is transport people. No planetary destruction weapon outside the nine realms.

That was why Odin needed the Dark Energy to transport Thor directly to Earth because Dark Energy is the most efficient when it comes to manipulating space, especially in the nine realms as, for some reason, the space surrounding any of the nine realms is much sturdier than the rest of the Galaxy. That was why the only gate that comes even close to any of the nine realms is near the moon of Earth.

That must be why Odin needed the Space Stone to make the Bifrost because, to travel outside the nine realms, he would need the power to open portals.

Something that is notoriously more energy-intensive as the distance increases. The same principles also apply to the Sorcerers of Kamar Taj as they find themselves unable to open portals across the Galaxy. 

Even seasoned masters won't be able to do so without overloading their body and soul with dimensional energy. The soul would shut down any such operation long before the limit could be reached, it was in its innate safety protocols.

The Bifrost worked in tandem with the mystic highway that connected the nine realms to each other, also known as Ygdrassil.

Traversing the Yggdrasil is something that can be done by anyone. Manipulating it to the point of weaponising it has only been done by Odin so far.

Soon, in less than a minute, they were standing in the Observatory deck that Heimdall guarded and used to transport anyone to and from Asgard.

Almost immediately, his senses were bombarded by all the magic that permeated the very being of Asgard. Even the platform he was standing on, shone with so much magic that he would have been blinded by it if he wasn't already expecting it.

The most interesting artifact he found was not the Bridge in front of them but the giant sword that Heimdall held in his hands. 

It shone like a beacon to his senses. Senses that have been used to the energy signatures of an Infinity Stone.

That sword, Hofund, shone with a misty blue light to his senses. So, that was how they turned that sword into an essential key required to activate Bifrost.

It essentially jump-started the bridge using the same energy present in the Sword. Odin must have wielded the space stone using Gungnir sometime in the past so that it could also be used for starting the Bifrost.

All in all, a pretty safe mechanism because the only two keys to the puzzle were in the hands of people who could see you coming from miles away or could smite you from miles away.

Neat.

They were greeted by Heimdall and told to mount the horses to take them to Asgard.

Yeah, that was not going to be possible, especially due to Ed's body but it was not as if they were without options.

"Is flying allowed here?" He asked Heimdall even as Loki looked at him quizzically.

"I would advise against it but nobody ever listens to me," Heimdall replied as he turned his back towards him and assumed his guarding position over the Bifrost.

He grinned in reply and levitated the box behind him, Toby did the same with Ed's puppet body.

 Loki looked at both of them with wide eyes as he backed towards the horses, "I-I'll take the horses, thank yoooouuu"

That was all he heard as all of them rocketed towards the end of the bridge with Loki being held by a dimensional energy whip by his ankle as his face was whipped with all the high-speed air they were cutting through.

Ah, pranking the God of Mischief would always remain the highlight of his trip to Asgard, especially if the things he knew about Loki and the level of power he would eventually reach, would come true.

Halfway through, he sensed the rousing Thunder that came from one side of the Royal Palace, Mjolnir literally rocketing through the sparring grounds as Thor tagged along for the ride.

On the other side, he could sense Frigga's careful watch on her son and Odin's hawkish gaze on the box behind him and on Toby as well.

Thor looked awfully serious though so before he could reach them, he threw Loki at Thor who hilariously tried changing his path, only to bump directly into Loki's face, sending him careening down in the waters.

"Oh, brother. Fancy a swim?" He heard Thor ask Loki as he pulled a completely drenched Loki out of the water.

It helped that he had cast a curse on Loki that stopped his magic for a moment and in the moment, he didn't notice it.

Soon, they landed at the end of the bridge, in front of a small platoon of armed Asgardian Soldiers.

"Halt, they are guests," Thor said as he landed behind the soldiers with Loki slung over his shoulder like a bag of rice.

Plonking Loki on the ground, he faced them," Welcome to Asgard. Alfred, was it? I would appreciate it if you could cease your pranks, even if it is hilarious to watch Loki being outsmarted. Come, Father's court is in session. They should be calling us shortly."

He nodded and followed behind Thor as the soldiers made way for them, being especially wary of Toby as his demonic nature was much easier to sense for them. 

It didn't help matters that Toby made no effort to hide his true nature anyway.

He just hoped it didn't delve into a fight because of the giant ego of the person he was about to meet and also because of the person he had brought with him.

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Word Count - 2276

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