Marvel Gamer Path

by Srtyi

One moment I was in my world, the next, well... not there anymore, at least I was given something to survive.

8. 147 - 170

MARVEL: GAMER PATH Chapter 171 - CHAPTER 167

147 CHAPTER 144

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Still sick, but here I am.

--

Back home I returned to my usual routine dealing with a few day to day.

Right now especially, I wanted to complete a few things with the company that Hank had sent me, before even thinking of embarking in another time walking dungeon.

Another thing I wanted to take care of, was using my stat points, I had after all saved quite a bit of them.

[STATS

Name = Alex Walker

Title = The Gamer

Occupation = Crafter.

Level = 271

EXP = 99%/100%

HP = 1,100,000/1,100,000

MP = 1,123,000/1,123,000

STR = 2551 (1530) = 4081

VIT = 2199

DEF = 1950

DEX= 1926

INT = 2246

CHA = 811

WIS = 751

WILL = 1451

PER = 1336

LUK = 511

STAT POINTS = 1080

MONEY: 17,108,742,952$

]

Maybe I needed to invest my stats in WIS to increase mana regeneration, and INT to increase mana and Magic power overall.

I also needed more speed, so perhaps a bit of DEX wasn't so bad, but this wasn't a priority.

I hummed looking at my stats for a while, before deciding what to do, after all, all and any change was permanent.

Now, go weigh the options.

DEX would give me more flexibility when dodging and such increasing my overall movement speed, but my stats in that area were already quite high compared to others, and even though I wasn't super fast, I still could react quite fast.

On the other hand, raising WIS could help me a lot.

WIS was one of my offensive stats, and yet I had on the hundreds still, compared to others.

"I suppose there is no other way around it," I chuckled, coming to a decision, I would use my points to raise my WIS and INT.

[STATS

Name = Alex Walker

Title = The Gamer

Occupation = Crafter.

Level = 271

EXP = 99%/100%

HP = 1,100,000/1,100,000

MP = 1,313,000/1,313,000

STR = 2551 (1530) = 4081

VIT = 2199

DEF = 1950

DEX= 1926

INT = 2626

CHA = 811

WIS = 1451

WILL = 1451

PER = 1336

LUK = 511

STAT POINTS = 1080

MONEY: 17,108,742,952$

]

[A new skill has been created by an specific action = Mana Regeneration (Passive) LV 1 = It increases Mana Regeneration by a 100% ]

I blinked, reading the new skill with a confused look on my face.

"How the fuck do I level that up?" I muttered.

Maybe all I had to do was use mana and let it recover, after all skills leveled up with use, so time to test it out. With that thought in mind, I created a [Fireball] and shot it at the sky, after checking no plane was nearby.

I did that until eventually I had tapped into roughly around ten percent of my mana.

Then, I just waited.

[Mana Regeneration HAS LEVEL UP!]

[Mana Regeneration HAS LEVEL UP!]

[Mana Regeneration HAS LEVEL UP!]

[Mana Regeneration HAS LEVEL UP!]

[Mana Regeneration HAS LEVEL UP!]

By the time my mana had fully recovered, the skill had leveled up five times, meaning my theory was correct.

[Mana Regeneration (Passive) LV 6 = It increases Mana Regeneration by a 160% ]

160% Well that was a lot, but a lot of what? Curious I checked my mana bar, to see what my mana regeneration was, and how much the skill boosted that up.

Before the WIS increase, my mana regeneration was 2253 MP per second, after the increase it moved up to 4353 MP per second.

Now that was the base of the regeneration, with the new skill boosting that you, I now regenerated 6965 MP per second.

At this I grinned, I would enjoy leveling up this passive a whole lot.

——————————————————————-

I spent the next few hours leveling up the skill, by using my mana over and over again, each level becoming harder and harder to achieve, until I decided it was enough for a day.

[Mana Regeneration (Passive) LV 39 = It increases Mana Regeneration by a 480% ]

With the skill in the level it was now, I now regenerated, 20894MP per second, meaning that in a minute or so I would recover my mana should I spend it all.

With this, I now could spam skills over and over again, or maybe even boost myself for greater physical might… which brings the following item, it's time for my rematch with Thor.

I grinned.

"Time to visit Asgard," I chuckled, cracking my fingers in anticipation.

So, eager to test my power against Thor once again with this time with the possibility of winning for once, I opened a portal to Asgard and rushed to challenge my friend into a friendly match, or as friendly as it can get with Asgardians that was.

Thor obviously happily agreed to the match, on the basis he was my brother from another mother, and brothers had to fight!

Surprisingly enough that was accurate as fuck for earthlings as well, never seen siblings that don't fight.

"But brother! Let's invite everyone first so that they can witness our mighty powers!" Thor shouted happily.

I nodded, an audience was always a good thing.

With my nod being taken as some sort of approval to leave and prepare the stage, Thor flew out of the room, leaving me alone in the middle of his chambers.

"Thor, Odin—" As if on cue, Sif entered the room, looking for Thor, but instead found me.

"Well, hello there," Sif smiled.

"Hello," I smiled, waving at her, "So… how have you been?"

"Good, waiting for the second date," Sif winked.

"How about tonight, after I kick Thor's ass," I offered, after all, it had been a while since we last saw each other alone, and even then I still felt my stomach flutter when in her presence.

"It's date," Sif smiled, "So, are you confident you can best Thor? I mean… The last few times you have battled him he has bested you, and the last match was a month ago… so why so confident now?"

"I got a month of training," I shrugged with a smirk, "Remember… Thor is a few hundred years older than me, compare his growth to mine, and wonder how much I can change in a month, or a decade,"

Sif chuckled, "Well that's true, you are quite powerful for someone so young,"

148 CHAPTER 145

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Still sick, but here I am, a bit better I suppose.

Also, vote for the corn, it helps the exposure, but only if you liked the chap, I won't press on it. With love, the sick corn.

--

[Frigga POV]

The Main Arena of Asgard was full to the brim of people, eager to see them battle once again, the announcement of Thor and Alex fighting once again had filled the arena in minutes, to the point some people were using flying carriages just to get a place to see the battle.

"Do you think he will defeat Thor this time?" I asked my husband who simply chuckled.

"I don't think so," Odin chuckled, "Alex is mighty as Thor says, but I'm not quite sure he's there yet,"

Then why was Alex so confident right now, before it was as clear as the sun of Vanaheim, that he wasn't fighting to win, just to get some experience, but now, his look is different.

"Don't worry mother, Thor will win this," Loki stated, "There's no way that dog can beat Thor, as stupid as he is," he added with a scoff.

"I'm not worried about Thor losing," I sighed, seeing how my behavior could hint at such a thing.

"Then what?" Loki asked, looking at me.

"Just… nothing," I smiled, kissing him on the head, my worries were not for Thor, or for Asgard, but for my baby, Loki… if Alex proved to be superior to Thor, then how long till he surpassed Odin's realm of power.

In months he had reached highs no mortal should or could before him, and if things continued the way they were going, and Loki didn't let his grudge go, there would be one day where our arms would no longer be able to protect Loki from Alex's wrath.

That I feared.

The day that I would no longer be able to protect my children.

"The fighters are up! Let the battle commence!" The Announcer shouted, getting everyone's attention.

Watched by thousands upon thousands of spectators, Alex and Thor got into their positions, looking at each other with friendly grins.

"Tell me brother," began Thor," Are you ready to taste defeat once again?"

Alex chuckled his arms crossed, "I was thinking of tasting victory for a chance,"

"Haha! Good one!" Thor chuckled, taking a step forward, twirling his hammer around for good measure.

"Let the battle! BEGIN!" The announcer shouted, and both fighters darted towards one another with great speed.

However, unlike Thor's aggressive way, Alex started the combat in a defensive position, and Thor noticed this with a smile, he attacked, confident the best defense was a good offense.

The blow Thor connected with Alex's face, sent him flying a few feet into the air, so Thor tried to press on with his advance, but against all odds, Alex recovered his momentum, and started parrying Thor's attacks easily with both hands.

Finding an opening in Thor's stance, Alex pushed into it, throwing a mana-charged punch towards Thor catching Thor off guard. Thor seeing this, dodged the attack by taking a step backward while grabbing Alex's arm in the process, taking Alex's momentum from his attack and his own Asgardian strength to sent him high into the air.

Smiling, Alex maneuvered around the air with incredible ease landing with grace on the ground of the arena, just in time to see Thor pounce on him once again at full speed. Still smiling, Alex slipped away from Thor's attack, blasting Thor with a massive ball of fire, that burned his enchanted cape off in a blink.

"As Edna Mode would say, no capes," Alex chuckled, as Thor stood from the ground with a frown.

"How interesting brother… last time we fought, you weren't this powerful, were you perhaps holding out on me?!" Thor replied, before attacking once again, sending his hammer flying.

The hammer connected due to the small distance between the fighters, giving Alex barely any time to react, however, Thor hit did apparently next to nothing because Alex recovered before Thor could even call his hammer, and blasted towards Thor, charging his fists and legs with mana.

Thor seeing this, called his hammer back to him immediately, and with a bit of ease parried Alex's attacks for a long time before all of the sudden Alex changed his entire demeanor and speed, catching Thor off guard, as he delivered a knee to his stomach, which made him spit in pain.

For a moment, Thor gasped in pain, looking at Alex in seeming shocked, and something else, something, childish, innocent…. He was looking at him in pure delight.

Then with a wild grin, he attacked swinging his hammer against Alex, who seemingly expected this, and immediately fell to his knees avoiding Thor's swing altogether, Thor seeing this tried to swing his hammer downwards to no avail as Alex pushed himself backward with his telekinesis, before rising up to his feet quickly.

"Yes! YES!" Thor laughed, "This… you truly have become the match I've been waiting for!"

"I aim to please… no-no, scratch that, that sounds wrong," Alex chuckled before he charged again at Thor.

With Thor charging at him.

Fast and powerful blows were exchanged at blinding speed, with Thor and Alex, delivering a few hits to one another to the point shock waves were felt far in the arena at it made the entire place tremble like it was under an earthquake.

"This… can't be…" Loki muttered, taking a step back.

Finally, after a few moments of exchanging immensely powerful blows, they separated, both looking battered and bleeding, but still grinning, as if the world around them had completely disappeared.

Perhaps they truly were brothers, soul brothers.

"This… is unbelievable," Odin commented, "I knew he would become a powerful warrior one day, but… this is shocking," so even with his mighty eye, he knew nothing of Alex's potential.

Sighing, I turned back to the fight, to see Thor and Alex breathing heavily, both now standing about six meters from each other.

"Don't hold anything back!" Thor howled the grin still in place as he pointed at Alex with his hammer.

"Never," Alex replied, wearing the same vicious grin my boy had.

With their small exchange of words done, Thor blasted towards Alex leaving a trail of electricity behind as he attacked, pouncing on him, Alex however surprised Thor once again, by instead of avoiding the attack, jumping towards him grabbing by the neck, before slamming him into the ground of the arena with enough strength to crack the arena in two, or what was left anyways.

However, as Alex did this, Thor called upon his godly domain and struck Alex with the full might of his thunder, bringing him down.

Falling to the ground, Alex gasped in pain his entire back completely scorched to the very muscle by Thor's thunder, however, Thor knew of Alex's regeneration, so he pressed on, slamming his thunder-fueled hammer to Alex's head, bringing him to his knees.

Smiling, Thor looked to the referee ready to call the match, when all of a sudden Alex jumped towards him with unbelievable speed, to point all I saw was a blur and blasted Thor with a ball of energy that sent him flying high into the air before exploding, covering the entire sky of the arena in a thick curtain of smoke.

"You have become stronger, brother," Thor praised once the smoke cleared, bleeding.

"That's is my power!" Alex shot back, grinning.

Grinning, both fighters blasted at each blurring out of sight, clashing with one another, creating a shock wave so violent that it forced both to separate, each one landing on the ground in a different corner.

Tired, and panting, both fighters struggled to stand up, as they got back into position.

They both knew, their next attack would be their last.

"Ready brother!" Thor asked, his blood dripping into the ground beneath him.

"Yes," Alex coughed, splattering some blood on the ground as well.

So, with that said, both fighters got into positions, Thor summoning all of his power to throw the mightiest thunder he could muster right now at Alex, and Alex, gathering a large amount of mana on the palm of his hands, both attacks ready, both warriors blasted at each other.

Thor's thunder striking Alex down, and Alex's beam of pure concentrated mana blasting Thor away.

Both attacks created a massive cloud of smoke that covered the entire arena, and when the sound died down, and there was nothing more than smoke and silence to be seen, a single figure stood amongst the rubble, his shadow giving us the result of this match.

"It… It can't be!" Loki muttered, trembling as he did so.

"I…" Even Odin was at a loss for words.

"Well? Call it… before I fall to my knees," Alex's voice was heard as the smoke cleared out, revealing a bleeding Alex standing with a wide smile, as everyone in the audience looked at him stunned, before turning their gaze to see the Thor, laying on the ground unconscious.

"The… winner is… Alex, from Midgard," The announcer said, his tone showing what everyone in the audience felt, pure and utter disbelief.

"He's… a monster," Loki hissed, looking at Alex under a new light, one that seemed to be ever escaping his reach.

149 CHAPTER 146

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Still sick, feeling a bit better though.

--

I had won the match.

It had taken a lot of me both physically and mentally, but I had done it.

I had defeated Thor in a one of one brawl.

And the best part was that I hadn't used everything in my arsenal to achieve this victory, mostly because I had decided to avoid using certain skills to make the match a fair one so to speak, like my portals for example.

Why had I done that?

Well, I wanted to test if I could defeat Thor on his terms, a brawling match, a head-to-head contest of might.

And I had done it.

Granted, it had been a very very close match, with Thor taking the upper hand more than a few times before I managed to recover and win.

"Brother!" Thor shouted, walking into my room, bandages covering his wounds, since the battle yesterday I had not seen him.

"Thor," I waved at him with a smile, right now I was staying in Asgard for business reasons, discussing with Odin about the possibility of acquiring more magical tomes from his library.

"That battle was the best!" Thor laughed, giving me a one-armed hug, mostly because his other arm was in a cast.

I blinked, thinking he was taking his defeat with more grace than I expected, "Well, I did my best,"

"You don't fool me," Thor grinned, "You held back a bit, you didn't use your magical hocus pocus to open portals or create illusions like Loki," he sighed, shaking his head, "But, I suppose this way our fight was even more fantastical than even I would've imagined!"

I blinked once again, shocked he had noticed that "Well, I wanted to beat you, on your own terms, and you are a magical brawler, so I fought you like one," Which was nothing but the truth.

"Aye," Thor chuckled, "You have given me a purpose now, so don't get lazy!" he laughed.

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head.

"I will reach even mightier heights so don't sleep on the race or I will take the title of the mightiest warrior from you!" Thor replied, grinning from eye to eye.

I chuckled, "Aye, brother,"

"Well, I'm off to heal my wounds so that I can train even harder!" Thor barked walking out of the room, leaving me once again alone.

Smiling, I took a seat on my bed and started to prepare for my date with Sif.

[Loki is approaching]

That little shit will never learn, will he?

Sighing, I opened a portal right above him, and pounced at him, pushing him to the ground just as he was about to reach my room.

"Loki," I said, pinning him down with incredible ease.

"Unhand me, beast!" Loki hissed, struggling within my grasp to no avail.

"Ohh, bad choice of words Loki," I whispered close to his hear, tightening my grip on his arms, "I can unhand you, by A letting you go, or B, ripping your hands off,"

"You mongrel!" Loki hissed, before he took a deep breath, and muttered something I quite couldn't hear.

"What was that?" I asked, pressing on his body harder.

"I came here to a– a– apo- apologize!" Loki hissed.

Skeptical, I raised an eyebrow at that, "Did your father send you?"

Loki growled, "No,"

"Your mother?" I asked.

At this, Loki stopped, before he sighed, "Yes… she seems to think you are a threat," he chuckled, to which I tightened my grip, making him flinch in pain.

"Well, I would say she's quite right," I nodded, "I mean, not to Asgard, but to you,"

"Could you just say you forgive me so that mother can sleep in peace, we can hate each other afterward," Loki hissed with a tight smile.

"No," I replied, in a cold tone, "You aimed your fangs at my daughters, and the only reason you still breathe is because of your father and my relationship with Thor, but even that protection won't last forever, for as I told your father if I ever see you again on Midgard, I will kill you, Odin's wrath be damned, you burned all your chances, so do your mother a favor and live,"

With that said, I released Loki.

"Don't you think even for a moment that by defeating Thor you amounted to something, you are nothing but a mortal, a worm under my feet waiting to be crushed, for nothing stands in the way of a God!" Loki hissed, standing up with an enraged look on his face.

I looked at him, and smiled, "Then come to earth,"

Loki blinked.

"If I am but a worm waiting to be crushed, go to Midgard," I smiled, taking a few steps towards him, "Go on," I added, opening a portal to Midgard for him to use, "Walk through that portal oh mighty god,"

"You dare!?" Loki hissed.

"I dare nothing," I replied, stopping him, "But if I am a worm, then my last warning is nothing to be scared of, so go on… walk through the portal,"

"I won't be-" Loki started, but I interrupted him once again.

"Walk. Through. The. Portal." I said in an uncharacteristically cold tone for me.

"I…" Loki muttered, taking a step back.

"Good," I laughed, closing the portal, as I walked past him stopping right beside him, "Keep it up, champ," I added, patting his cheek, "Remember, this is your last chance, for if you ever come to my planet ever again, I will kill you, then again, after what we just saw… I don't think you will ever visit again, won't you?"

—--

[Loki Odinson POV]

As Alex walked past me and entered his room, I couldn't help but scream in anger, because he had proven a point.

I was afraid of him.

I was shacking uncontrollably, like I had just escaped the jaws of certain doom.

How laughable was that? me, a God, afraid of a mortal.

I could've walked through that portal, but if I did, I knew I would've died, his eyes, were just like those of that woman, Alice, perhaps they truly were siblings, and perhaps calling them mortals was a mistake.

They were monsters.

Abominations that needed to be exterminated.

But not by me, not right now… while I hate to admit it, he's far beyond my league… for now.

150 CHAPTER 147

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Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

Still sick, feeling a bit better though.

--

[A.I Template Ultron = Ultron is an artificial intelligence peacekeeping program created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner using the decrypted code derived from the Mind Stone encased within Loki's Scepter. Ultron's main programming directive is to protect Earth from all domestic and extraterrestrial threats.

Update V0.0.1 = Holes in the code have been fixed, to ensure another world-ending scenario never happens, now Ultron's main directive it's to obey the user.]

Not gonna touch Ultron's code, at least not until I know a bit more about A.I, the last thing I want is to be the one responsible for his making him, especially if I'm not sure he will remain loyal or within my control.

[A.I Template J.A.R.V.I.S = A natural language user interface upgrade into a very advanced A.I system by Tony Stark, whose main purpose is to run business and research hangover cures.

Update V0.0.1 = Its code has been modified to recognize the user as its maker.]

Well, time to test them, well, J.A.R.V.I.S at least.

———————————————————-

[Loki Odinson POV]

No one wanted to see the reality of the situation.

The monster Alex was becoming was getting out of hand, to the point even I, a God, had to admit, he was far beyond my reach.

His power reached heights no mortal should have, and Father refused to see it, but I see it.

And I will act upon it.

After all, to kill a monster you only need another one or in this case a titan.

Thanos the Mad Titan.

A powerful, albeit easily manipulable individual.

All I had to do was send the Titan after him, and after Alex died to him, let Odin and Thor kill the Titan in honor of the alliance.

It would solve my problems, two of them in fact.

Two birds one stone, like humans say.

But first, I needed to wait, to avoid suspicion, of course, and for that, I needed to pretend that I was beginning to accept the idea of him being our ally.

And when everybody started to believe my lie, well, goodbye mortal.

—--

[Odin Borson POV]

Alex was getting stronger, it was only the beginning.

His future since that fateful day he altered the timeline unbeknownst to him, disappeared, and what little we knew, was now out of the window, he was effectively playing out of the lines he was supposed to, for the better or the worse.

But what he had done now, it had shocked me.

A month ago, Thor was leagues above him, and now, they were seemingly evenly matched.

"You seem, surprised," Yao sighed, as she walked into my office, holding a cup of tea between her hands, the steam of the hot tea being clearly visible.

"I am," I admitted, snapping my fingers to create a cup full of Asgardian beer, I needed a drink.

"I fail to see how his growth has surprised you," Yao sighed, taking a seat, "Since day once, he has performed well above anyone's expectations, and you know that,"

"I know, but it's surprising to see such a young man being so strong," I sighed, rubbing my temples, "At this pace, he'll be around my power in less than a decade," granted, I was now old and frail, in my prime I was many times stronger, but still, for a human to reach the all-father in power no matter how weak the old father currently was, it was shocking and unheard of.

"I think he will reach that level, sooner than that," Yao chuckled looking at me with a gleam of amusement.

"Well, he does always surprise us," I chuckled, as humans say, can't be top dog forever.

"Now, what do you plan to do about your son?" Yao asked, smiling at me.

"Thor?" I asked, knowing full well what she meant, she was talking about Loki, not about Thor, that boy was going to be the death of me.

"Don't patronize me, Odin, if Alex doesn't kill him, I will," Yao replied, her tone cold and full of anger.

"Remember your place," I roared.

"And you remember yours," Yao replied with a calm smile, unfazed by my anger. "You swore to protect the earth, or Midgard from outside threats, your son, that little ice giant, it's playing with fire, you know very well what he plans to do, and what would happen when he tries to do so,"

"I will deal with him," I sighed.

"Like you have so far?" Yao chuckled.

"You are testing your luck," I growled, friends or not, I was not going to have her disrespect me in my own castle!

"Am I?" Yao replied, tilting her head, "Oh, my apologies then, I must have thought I was Loki for a moment, you know us, humans, age gets to us,"

"Leave," I roared.

"I will tell Alex," Yao nodded, opening a portal to earth, "And if push comes to shove, I will help him, whatever happens next, it's on your shoulders old friend," with that said, she walked through the portal, leaving me alone to think.

"Argh!" I roared, breaking my chair in half with a pulse of energy out of anger, angry because I knew she was right, Loki was out of hand but was there anything so undoing as a son?

I needed to reign Loki in, or his death was unavoidable.

"Odin!" Frigga entered my office, with a worried expression on her face.

"Love, not now," I sighed, rubbing my head tiringly.

"I felt your magic flare in anger," Frigga muttered, rushing to my side.

"Aye," I sighed, letting myself melt away on her touch, so calming, so hers.

"What happened?" Frigga asked as she caressed my hair with her silky hands.

"Loki," I muttered tiredly.

"I… he just needs some time to understand, to… grow," Frigga muttered back.

~Does he now?~ Now of all times, she had to come and bother me. ~How rude, ignoring your princess, and here I thought you loved me,~

~I loved you once, not anymore, you became a monster,~ I hissed in my mind.

~I did, but who made me the monster I am?~ Hela replied with a small laugh, ~And you didn't stop at me, look at Loki, hahaha, father of the year people,~

151 CHAPTER 148

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A lot better, the shoulder still hurts though.

--

I walked into my lab and continued my research about artificial intelligence, what I knew was quite rudimentary so to speak, and I wanted to know more before even thinking about activating the two A.I. I had.

So far, I knew enough about the basics, mostly by experimenting with a few projects of mine, but sadly, with the knowledge available in the world as it was now with matters like Artificial Intelligence, I was quite short.

My power as the gamer was useless in this situation, especially if I didn't have any material to learn from, and Artificial Intelligence in the late 90s was not exactly a common thing, heck, not even Tony the most advanced technological guy in the current world had much to offer, according to his messages, the closest thing he had to a functioning A.I, was J.A.R.V.I.S that at this point was nothing more than a natural-language user interface computer system.

And, that didn't help me at all, I mean, a natural language interface computer system was cool and all, especially for the 90s, because it basically allows the user to interact using written or spoken 'human' commands instead of computer language, like, Siri, or Alexa will in the future, but that was leagues below a functioning A.I.

So, I was in quite a predicament.

"Fuck," I muttered with a tired sigh, looking at my programming skill level in my [Skill Tab, in this situation, where I had no solid ground to start, I had no idea how long it would take me to reach a skill level where I would begin to understand J.A.R.V.I.S, which was leagues below Ultron in complexity, meaning this little task was going to be rather difficult.

"What to do…" I sighed, thinking that maybe I needed to go into outer space once again, maybe visiting a more advanced planet to further my personal quest.

With that in mind, I opened my search tab and looked for artificial intelligence.

To my surprise, the closest result was on earth, in New Jersey of all places, meaning it wasn't Tony, he… he had strong thoughts about New Jersey.

"Who beat Tony to it?" I muttered, thinking who in New Jersey had beaten Tony in the A.I race, and me for that matter.

And then in clicked, me, Arnim Zola, but… that didn't make sense whatsoever, I distinctively remember that during my raids with Fury and Bucky, I eliminated the bastard before he was even a problem, then again, there was always the possibility of there being another copy of him, he was after all an A.I, data that could be copied with the right tool, so it was a conceivable possibility.

Time to investigate.

Frowning, I opened a portal to Wheaton New Jersey, it was time to find out what had happened, and why Arnim still appeared on earth as an A.I.

—--

Once I stepped through the portal to New Jersey, it took me a few seconds to reach the base where Arnim Zola used to be located, immediately frowning at the sight, for the base ahead of me, was the very same I had raided all those years ago.

Granted, I hadn't been there in a while, so there was a chance I had missed a base in New Jersey during my raids, or something else, which was ludicrous considering how throughout I had been with my extermination of Hydra.

Then again, if I had been as throughout as I thought I was, this little search would not be happening.

What was more, the base was now listed as a S.H.I.E.L.D base, which accentuated my frown even more.

Because if I had not missed any bases around, and Hydra was no more, there was only one explanation, S.H.I.E.L.D. had brought Arnim back, but why?

Why would Fury even allow this, and why wouldn't he tell me? Me of all people!

I blinked, noticing I was getting rather angry, which while justified was not the best call right now, right now, I needed to give Fury the benefit of the doubt, perhaps his reason for reviving Arnim was good, good enough to quench my anger.

Soon enough I would know.

Grabbing my phone, I called Fury and waited as the phone rang a few times.

{Alex, what can I do for you?} Fury said, answering the phone.

{Why is Arnim Zola still alive?} I growled, I didn't intend to growl, but I did, I just couldn't help it, Hydra was one of those things that infuriated me beyond control.

Back to the call, I noticed Fury was silent, which was not a good reaction for me, it made me doubt, doubt of his possible reasons.

{Alex, I… it's not what you think,} Fury eventually replied with a tired sigh.

{And what is it then?} I asked, clenching my hand into a fist.

{Alex… it's was an order from my superiors,} Fury sighed.

Fuck this, I growled, opening a portal to where Fury was, "Fury, I consider you a friend, which is why I am trying very hard to understand, why would S.H.I.E.LD. need Arnim,"

Fury sighed, hanging his phone up, "The higher-ups wanted to see reverse engineer him, they also wanted to learn about what plans Hydra had, the whole Arnim thing is nothing but a project to prepare for other Hydra like scenarios because they don't want to depend on you,"

"That's the stupidest shit I have heard all week!" I sighed, taking a seat on one of the chairs in his office.

"Why?" Fury asked, letting out a sigh of relief, which made me blink, he was probably thinking I was going to kill him for that, which seeing how angry I was, I couldn't really blame him for thinking that.

"S.H.I.E.L.D is not equipped to deal with Arnim," I replied, "I bet the little bastard is probably cooperating by making you all think you have it in your hands, and that he has no control, and one day, boom, nuclear apocalypse,"

Fury frowned, "Are you sure that's a possibility?"

"I am certain that will happen, who knows, he might already have control of your computers," I sighed.

"We have his files in an isolated environment, with a computer with no access to the internet or any other computer for that matter," Fury replied in deep thought, "But… the possibility of that happening is frightening,"

"Well, you do you," I replied, my anger already gone for the most part, "One question though, why didn't you tell me? I know it's a given we won't share everything, but I thought Hydra related things would be our open ground, especially because of what I endured because of them," I knew Fury was entitled to his secrets, as I was to mine, but Hydra was the one thing I never expected him to be all super spy on me.

Fury sighed rubbing his temples, "I told those motherfuckers you would find out eventually, so why keep it a secret, but they seem to think you are retarded or something, as to why I didn't tell you, well, as I said, I was told not to by the fuck heads I have as bosses, and besides, it was only a matter of time before you figure it out,"

I chuckled, "By the way, if I were you, I would destroy Arnim, he was made to destroy systems by taking control of them, one day or another, he will take control, and it will be on all of you,"

Fury replied giving me a look that said, read between the lines motherfucker, "As a SHIELD agent, and most of all, director, I can't even consider that,"

[Quest Created = Destroy Arnim Zola once and for all, before he becomes a problem.

Fury has his hands tied, but you are free, and therefore can act, after all, Fury is giving you the green lights.

Fury values you more than the possibility of an A.I. serving SHIELD, after all, he still thinks you are humanity's greatest asset.

Reward = A.I Development Book.]

"I see," I smiled, opening a portal back to my apartment, leaving Fury in his office alone.

152 CHAPTER 149

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Corn is happy.

--

Four days after I had talked with Fury about his involvement in the Arnim Zola incident, I had to come to many conclusions, one, Fury was a coworker type of friend, meaning he would always put his work first, and two, I needed to keep a close eye on S.H.I.E.L.D as a whole, they were doing very questionable things in regards to me, and three, it was time to eliminate Arnim once and for all.

So, I opened a portal to where the A.I known Arnim Zola was located, casting an illusion around myself to look like a woman, and burned the entire base to the ground, allowing of course, the SHIELD agents within the base to escape, all it took was a bit of dramatics and some fire, and I was done.

However, unlike most would assume at first glance, I didn't burn Arnim down alongside the base, no, I simply took his data during the commotion, why? Well, for various purposes, for one, I wanted to see if he had done anything to S.H.I.E.L.D before it came to bite me and then in the ass, two, I wanted to see how his code worked for my research, not only because it would help me understand how artificial intelligence worked, but it would also help me understand how Hydra infiltration code worked, after that? I would burn him.

So, with Arnim Zola in my hands, I opened a portal to my lab, and started to work.

Creating an isolated environment, to boot his consciousness back into the living world, which was an easy enough task.

"Time to wake up, doctor," I said, turning the PC on.

For a few seconds, the PC did nothing, but I knew better than to think Arnim was not awake and alive, he was simply playing dead, I had after all booted his consciousness according to his data specifications.

"I know you're there, so avoid wasting my time," I said, with a sigh.

Alex also known as the genocider, project Hydra 310D-1 Icarus, full name, Alex Walker, The computer glitched, changing the screen into something new, a green pixelated image of Arnim's face.

"Ah, the doctor awakes," I clapped my hands.

What do you want? Arnim asked,

"Well, I wanted to ask you a few questions," I replied.

What a laughable proposition, as if I would tell you anything Arnim replied, sounding a bit angry.

I hummed, "I suppose it was to be expected you wouldn't answer my questions," I sighed.

Ahhh so the American has a brain, what an unexpected surprise! Arnim laughed.

"You do know you were defeated by an American, not once, but three times, right?" I snorted.

At this the green pixelated image of Arnim changed into a red one, denoting his anger, We can't be defeated, we were only momentarily stopped, we are a force of nature, we are the gods of the new world, we are hydra! and we will survive

I blinked in surprise at his rant before I started to laugh, "I'm sorry, but that's cute considering you are the last surviving member of Hydra," I hummed, "Air quotes in surviving,"

Nonetheless, I will give you nothing! Arnim hissed.

"Well," I sighed, grabbing a book from my inventory, the one I had acquired during my last dungeon.

[Book of Technomancy]

What is that? Arnim asked, but I simply ignored him./what

[Do you wish to learn - Technomancy

YES/ NO]

Obviously, I pressed yes, consuming the book in the process.

[A new skill has been created = Technomancy LV 1 / Active]

[Technomancy - LV1/Active = By using the arts of Technomancy the user is capable of using magic to affect or replicate the technology with ease.

The user is also capable of communicating with technological entities such as A.I, using this spell as a conduit to the technology itself, the user is also capable of casting or developing spells and enchantments that result in cyber-related effects.

The user is basically utilizing science and technology as though as if it was a paranormal element like fire or blood.

What you can do with this spell depends on the LV of the skill, some entities for example are able to reject the effects brought by the spell if you don't have a high enough level to override their control.]

"Let's try," I smiled, casting [Technomancy] on Arnim.

[Skill level insufficient. Technomancy Level required 45]

That was unexpected, that tickled, Arnim muttered.

"Don't worry about it," I smiled, shutting him down, for the next time we talked, I would be enslaving his computerized mind to tell me what I want.

For now, though, I needed to level up my skill to the required level, meaning I had to start low.

Maybe using [Technomancy] on a calculator, or my toaster, who knows?

—————————————————————-

By the end of the day, I had leveled up [Technomancy LV5] five times, by using my skill on every appliance and or electronic in the house, from the TV to the toaster.

For now, I could toast my bread without touching the toaster, which… I already could do thanks to my telekinesis, and could use the TV without the remote, which I already could thanks to my telekinesis.

But it's like they say, one step at a time, or in this case one loaf of bread at a time.

"Dad, the toaster is acting all weird," Emily said, coming into my room.

"It was, past tense dear midget," Nat said with a smile, walking into my room with a bat and a broken toaster. "By the way, we need a new toaster,"

I sighed, "That's coming out of your allowance,"

"I regret nothing," Nat chuckled.

"How could you! Daddy works hard for us to have good things and you go all Thor on them?" Emily sighed, shaking her head.

"She gave me the bat," Nat snorted.

I looked at Emily, and immediately knew Nat wasn't lying, "The toaster is also coming out of your allowance,"

"Crab baskets," Emily sighed in a defeated tone.

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Corn is Corn --

By the end of the week, I had leveled my [Technomancy] enough to have another conversation with Arnim Zola, it had been hard, not gonna lie.

Pretty sure my toaster is sentient now.

But beyond that.

I had to use it day and night, for hours to no end.

But, the payoff was more than enough to encourage me.

I mean, with [Technomancy] I could hack, replicate and communicate with computers and weapons alike, which would prove in the future to be a very good skill.

"Alright, time to wake up," I chuckled, turning the PC where Arnim was currently sleeping on.

You again

I smiled at his fast response, the pc had barely turned on, and he was already making conversation.

"Well, I missed you," I smiled, using [Technomancy] on him.

You missed m-… what… what is happening?! From calm, to panic, just how I liked seeing my Hydra agents.

[Technomancy - Hacking 1%]

I… it hurts! Why does it hurt!?

Oh, so forcing my entry into something hurts if the technology is sentient enough, good to know.

[Technomancy - Hacking 19%]

I… stop it! I will talk! Whatever it is you are doing, we can discuss it!

Yeah, no.

[Technomancy - Hacking 24%]

Ah!! THIS SHOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE I AM NOT ORGANIC WHY DO I FEEL SUCH PAIN!

"Please do avoid the screaming," I sighed.

[Technomancy - Hacking 39%]

I beg of you, stop!

So much for Hydra until the end, it shows how much of a roach they all were.

[Technomancy - Hacking 97%]

Wow, that was a big jump, I wonder if the percentage is related to the will of the machine while hacking, it would make sense considering he was already giving up because of the pain.

Please!

[Technomancy - Hacking 100%]

[Technomancy - Hacking Complete]

Here goes nothing.

"What did SHIELD wanted with you?" I asked, looking at the PC.

Shield wanted my knowledge, and what I represented, a leap in technology Eventually the PC replied, using the same voice as Arnim, but it sounded off like there was no Arnim left. They also wanted to see if they could replicate you

I blinked, "What?" I asked, after a moment.

Your DNA is impossible to mold like other genetic materials, so they tried to modify my main directive to help them out, it didn't work

"Was Fury aware of this," I muttered in a low tone.

Data inconclusive, but what I know suggests he is most likely unaware of this project, for the most part, I was under the eyes of the council, Fury's bosses.

"I see," I chuckled in a dry tone.

I already knew the council was looking for ways to chain me, the day I killed Stryker, I found that out with one of the files he had given me, I didn't mind really, contingency plans were to be expected when dealing with secret organizations, but trying to clone me, to weaponize me in such infuriating way, that's where I drew the line.

The question now was, how much Fury knew, was he aware they were trying to use my DNA as a weapon or was he in the dark.

I needed to know, and now.

—--

Angry, I opened a portal to Fury's house, finding my target on his bed, reading a magazine.

"You can knock you know that," Fury muttered.

"Fury," I muttered, using [Technomancy] to detect any recording devices or such in the vicinity, finding no less than forty around, before I destroyed them with a pulse. "Did you know the council is trying to clone me? Or decode my DNA to give others powers?"

Fury looked at me, blinking in mild shock.

So, I decided to use [True Observe] on him.

[Nicholas Joseph Fury - LV 29

Current Thought: He's worried you consider him a threat, and wants to speak up, but the mics around his house are always listening.]

"I destroyed every mic in the house," I said, looking at him, "So talk,"

"I did," Fury nodded after a moment.

I growled, "Fury! What in the hell?!"

"Look, I knew, but I wasn't informed like I knew about Arnim but wasn't informed either, the council considers my relationship with you a liability and therefore are acting behind my back quite a lot, the Arnim thing was something I figured out and confronted the council, not because of you, but because of the implications this brought, they shrug my concerns off, and continued keeping the information I had about their little project off my hands,"

"And you never thought to tell me?" I replied in a dry tone.

"I… Look motherfucker, I wanted to, but I had mics everywhere, even up my ass, so I decided to deal with it on my own, at the time, you had shit to do, and I was capable of handling the situation," Fury replied with a sigh.

"You were protecting the council," I replied in realization.

"Yes, in a way I was," Fury chuckled, "You would've killed them, and sadly, I need them, without them, there is no SHIELD to run, so I decided to take a less aggressive approach by ruining their plans one at a time,"

I blinked, "What?"

"I discovered the cloning thing soon after I discovered the Arnim situation, from there it was a matter of sending a few of my agents to… disrupt their experiments, not that I needed to, your DNA is impossible to work with, so seeing as your DNA was good at defending itself, I moved my attention to their other plans," Fury sighed.

"What plans?" I asked.

"Nothing they have enacted yet mind you, but a few of them included using your daughters as handles for you," Fury replied, his tone getting thicker. "Others included… stealing a more malleable part of your DNA….

"What?" I muttered.

"Your semen," Fury sighed, "They concluded if they can't clone you, they can use your… seed, to make a warrior for them,"

"I'm gonna kill them," I muttered.

"I can't stop you if you decide to do so, but hear my plan out first," Fury replied.

"What plan?" I asked, barely holding my shit together.

"I want to replace the council, one by one, I already have a few plans in motion, putting my own my men on their seats, giving me free reigns over SHIELD," Fury elaborated.

I sighed, "And you want me to wait while they plan things like using my daughters or my dick to kill me,"

"Well… not exactly," Fury grinned, "When I started this little shadow war of mine with the council, I was well aware you would find out eventually, it was, after all, a matter of time before your freaky ass power figured out there was on Hydra agent left, so I waited,"

"You wanted me to find out," I muttered, using [True Observe] to confirm his claim, and he was right, perhaps I had been too hard on him… who knows.

"Yes, because… I want you to brainwash the council into retiring with your magic and put my agents on their spots," Fury smirked.

Wait… since that day, Fury had been playing this shit since the Wakanda incident.

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Corn is Corn --

Fury had a plan to replace the council.

I had a plan to avoid future misunderstandings; Fury didn't know this.

I trusted him to a large extent, but I didn't trust SHIELD, meaning in a way, I couldn't fully trust him, not like I trusted Bucky anyways, so to avoid always reading between the lines with him, I created my plan, one that worked with his plan very well.

His plan was to replace the council members one by one with agents of his choosing, mine? Was to put my own guy in the council so that I would have ears within SHIELD at all times.

Of course, my plan didn't end there; having one set of ears within an organization so big as SHIELD was, was not enough; I needed ears and eyes everywhere, the council was just my main priority.

So, while Fury deliberated how to replace each member of the council, I began making my moves by putting hundreds of mics and cameras within SHIELD in each and every single base, hiding them with a basic illusion that absorb the mana from the area effectively, keeping the mics and cameras hidden 24/7.

It took me a while, two weeks to be precise, which considering how many bases I had covered during that span of time, was surprisingly quick, all thanks to my [Technomancy, my [Telekinesis] and my [Eldritch Illusion, skills that allowed me to install the things I needed within the bases while keeping them hidden without actually entering the bases myself.

Now, all I had to do was wait for Fury to contact me and do the rest.

Was I happy I was going to brainwash someone? No, I wasn't, but after what I had found about the council, this was the next best thing, which was basically putting SHIELD within my hands on a silver platter.

"Daddy!" Emily said, walking into my room as I finished setting up the database that would hold all the files my cameras and mics within SHIELD would send me.

"Yes, princess?" I asked, turning to look at her with a smile.

"I was wondering if you wanted to spend the day with us; I mean, you are always working, so I thought... You know," Emily smiled, fidgeting her two index fingers together.

I smiled, kissing her on the forehead, "Sure, what did you girls have in mind?"

"Well..." Emily grinned, putting on a gas mask; why was she putting on a gas masl

As I pondered over that, Nat shouted "Disney!" blasting into my room ninja style with a smoke bomb and all.

"Was that necessary?" I asked, coughing.

"Of course," Nat nodded, "Why else would I have asked uncle Bucky from some military graded ninja bombs?"

I frowned, "Bucky!" I called.

"Sup," Bucky came, a few seconds after I called for him, wearing the typical Disney fanatical outfit most people wear when going to Disney; he had the Mickey Mouse shorts, the Micky Mouse shirt, and the Micky Mouse hat.

"I... why?" I asked, pointing at his outfit.

"The girls said they were going to ask you, and knowing you and how they have you wrapped around their fingers, I just accepted the inevitable and dressed for the occasion," Bucky replied with a shrug, "Also, Emily hid my clothes, leaving me only Disney related clothes..."

I turned to Emily, "Why?"

"Because he looks adorable!" Emily smiled, nodding as if that was a fact.

"Ok..." I chuckled.

"Wait until you check your closet," Bucky snorted.

"What?" I blinked, opening my closet with my telekinesis, and like Bucky, I had nothing inside; seeing this, I turned around to see Nat and Emily holding some Disney-related clothes at my face with beaming smiles, "No,"

"Daddy!" Emily pouted.

"We just want goofy pictures, pun intended, for the future!" Nat smiled, "Pleaseee, for usss..."

"Girls, this is not the way of asking for something... this is basically extortion," I replied with a sigh.

"So... we will be the only ones dressed in cute clothes?" Emily pouted, looking down.

"I suppose we will, sis," Nat pouted as well.

I frowned; Nat didn't pout, "You two are terrible," I laughed, "Fine, you cute manipulators, I will dress for the occasion,"

"Yeih! Extortion rules!" Emily giggled, jumping into my arms giving me a hug.

"Hell yeah!" Nat chuckled.

"Weak," Bucky snorted.

"Really?" I snorted, looking at him.

"I didn't cave so fast; I lasted two whole extra minutes," Bucky grinned.

"Bah, you still caved," Nat snorted.

"I pity those that will date the two of you," Bucky sighed.

Emily gasped, "Daddy! Uncle Bucky is talking about sinning!"

"Bucky, what have we talked about?" I smiled.

"No talks about dating or possible dating until the girls reach their 90s?" Bucky chuckled.

"Last boy that flirted with me got lost in Canada," Nat sighed.

"That wasn't me," It truly wasn't.

"Sureeeeee..." Nat nodded, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Baby, if I had been involved in it, the boy would've been lost in the moon," I winked at her.

"I... true," Nat chuckled.

"Don't worry, daddy, every boy that tries to flirt with me, I kick him right between the... you know, and they never flirt with me again," Emily nodded proudly.

"One of them changed schools," Nat added.

"Odd, I wonder why the school hasn't called me about that," I hummed.

"I dealt with it," Bucky said, cocking his shotgun; wait, where the fuck did he get a shotgun from? Oh wait, he has guns everywhere in the house for moments like this and intruders.

"Oh, any problems with that?" I asked.

"Well, the principal only recommended her to say no, instead of that, but I provided proof boys sometimes don't take no as an answer, and that pain it's the only way to make the message clear, and well, after a long debate, I told the principal you would donate more money to the school if she... ignored that, and well, here we are," Bucky sighed, "Emily and Nat now have ball kicking privileges,"

"How much do I have to pay?" I asked.

"2 million," Emily replied.

"Meh, it's worth it," I shrugged; ball kicking privileges were indeed worth the money.

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The Toaster is Alive! --

After my trip to Disney with the girls, I opened a portal to the Vibranium planets I had laid claim to, to see how the production was going, for the moment everything was going more than well, my golems were growing day by day, and my processed vibranium reserves were already bigger than those of Wakanda.

But I felt that something was missing.

For the moment, I had clay, stone, and metal golems.

And, soon I would have golems based on the Destroyer of Asgard, but still, I felt like I could do more.

And then as I pondered deep in thought about what else I could do with my Golem factory, it hit me, the Sentinels from X-Men: Days of Future Past.

I had access to everything to make them, I knew where Bolivar Trask was, and I had access to Raven's DNA, granted she had to agree, but I could always persuade her to do so, meaning all that left was putting my mind into the project and I would if I succeeded have an army of droids that evolved depending on the enemy they were facing.

Granted, if I succeeded I had to make heavy modifications to their code because they were made to kill mutants, but still, after the modifications, they would become essential parts of my army.

The question now was, how long would making them would take me? I mean, the Sentinels I wanted appeared in the future, in 2023, the evolving model.

A Bolivar's research and blueprints at the moment were for the first sentinels, the beta version so to speak.

"Hmm," I hummed, maybe it would be like the super-soldier serum, years of research to crack the formula.

Which reminds me, I have yet to modify the serum so that I can administer the girls with it at a later date.

Wait…

My technomancy!

My technomancy allowed me to copy any type of technology as long as I have enough level on the skill, meaning… there was an easy way out of this path, I needed to do another time walking dungeon.

The X-Men: Days of Future Past time walking dungeon to be precise.

If my hypothesis worked, I would be able to copy the sentinels I wanted, skipping the middle man.

Heck if this shit worked, I would be able to do so much more than leveling inside those dungeons.

I would push my own technology years ahead, no decades… fuck that, centuries!

I grinned.

Opening my dungeon tab, accessing the time walking dungeons.

It was time to test that theory.

—--

Eager to test my theory out, I accessed the X-Men: Days of Future Past time walking dungeon, and like the Age of Ultron, I was spawned in the middle of the beginning of the movie.

I was in no rush to do anything though, I had come here for a reason, a very particular reason, to try and see if it was possible to copy technology from the dungeons using my [Technomancy]

At a later date I would come to actually do the dungeon, but for now? Well, fuck them dungeons, I had things to try, and experiments to run.

So, I opened a portal to where the remaining members of the X-Men were in this post-apocalyptic world and waited.

Thirty minutes later, after a bunch of notifications about quests and other things, my targets arrived, the sentinels arrived.

[Sentinel Mk X LV 225]

One of them, in particular, running towards me, I grinned.

Immediately putting to test my theory, by using my [Techomancy] on it.

[Technomancy Level Required For Copy = 60]

It was possible… it was freaking possible to copy things within these fake worlds.

I laughed, equipping the power stone as I did so, with this discovery the possibilities were endless, I had at my fingertips a catalog of powerful technology waiting to be copied.

[Time Walking Dungeon - Failed]

As expected, the moment I equipped the power stone, the world around me froze, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself back in the real world, grinning like a mad man.

"It's possible," I muttered, already knowing what I would do for the moment being, leveling the heck out of [Technomancy]

—--

[Odin Borson POV]

I was faced with a difficult decision, letting my child die, or stopping him myself.

I decided on the latter of the two.

To protect Loki from Alex's wrath, I had to force Loki to obey.

~Poor, poor Odin,~

Hela…

"Leave me alone!" I roared, I was already having a hard time accepting I was to bound my son magically so that he doesn't try to do anything stupid.

~But I can't,~ Hela replied, laughing, ~You trapped me within your power, and until your pathetic life ends, I can't leave you alone, believe me, darling, I have tried,~

"Alex will never love you," I replied if anything to rile her up.

~Oh but he will, because I will offer him the universe, something no other woman will be able to,~ Hela replied, ~I will even allow Thor to live if that pleases him,~

"He's not bound by destiny Hela, he broke his a long time ago, meaning the prophecy you know of is void," I replied with a sigh.

~Is it now? Well, would you look at that, I am a basic girl, after all, now that I feel he's more… unreachable, I want him even more,~ Hela giggled.

"You can want all you want, but you will get nothing," I shot back.

~Sure, whatever makes your old heart feel at ease, not that it will change a thing, after all, the very fact he broke destiny with his very own hands makes him even more worthy of me than ever before, mark my words, dear father, he will be mine, through blood if needed, for a Queen, needs his King, in both conquest and in love,~ Hela shot back her magic flaring.

"You know nothing about love, child of darkness," I sighed.

~Mayhaps I know nothing, but who knows, I might learn a thing or two from him… after all, all you taught me was how to be a monster, and then you cried when I didn't act differently~ Hela laughed, ~Pathetic really, don't you ever get tired of failing over and over again? I know I would… First, you failed with me, then Thor, and now that little frost giant… no matter who or how you raised them… you always break us, we are nothing but the reflection of your broken spirit father… if anything, I was your greatest creation, the other two fail even within their roles? Me? I was the perfect monster,~

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The Toaster has killed Corn

--

For a week, I focused on leveling my [Technomancy] each level becoming harder to obtain, but while the race was becoming steadily harder each day, the end game was worth it.

In the meantime, however, I focused on other matters on the side while I was not leveling my [Technomancy, like creating a new armor.

Since my last armor had been broken to pieces during the time walking dungeon, Age of Ultron, I needed something to fill that void, I was essentially naked, so it was back to square one with it, the first armor I had was a very basic one, no technology incorporated, at least nothing impressive, this time I wanted something more technologically advanced.

Also, with what I knew now, I was confident I would be able to craft something better, something stronger, something unique.

But the question was, what did I want?

Before, all I wanted was an armor strong enough to defined my body, and while that sentiment remained, I needed more, and that more would shape the idea of what I wanted, of what I required.

Ideally, I wanted an armor that would not only protect me from damage but heal the very damage it couldn't protect.

At this, I grinned as an idea popped into my mind.

I had millions of pots, thanks to the dungeons my golems were constantly doing, so why not use them for this next project?

For others, this very concept was not doable at least to the level I wanted to have, but for me? I had more potions than I could count, meaning all I needed to do was add so sort of intravenous injecting system within the armor and my problems of mana or health would be gone, I would be essentially immortal…. No, effectively immortal with my armor on.

This would also save me the time of having to drink the pots, which were seconds that could cost one's life during the heat of battle.

"I like where this is going," I chuckled, taking notes of my ideas as I started to make a draft.

So far, in my head I had a suit of armor that not only protected me but healed all wounds but what else? What else I wanted to add? What else was possible?

I hummed for a while, dwelling on the thought when once again, an idea popped into my mind.

Magical inscriptions.

If I could add them to my armor, I would save time doing spells, like the portals, for example, if I made an inscription for my portal spell, I would save time doing them, they would become an instant cast spell as long as I focused mana into the inscription.

And that was only the beginning because I could also add magical formulas in the form of inscriptions to make fast transmutations or inscriptions for magical shields or weapons.

"Well, that's enough magic, for now, now I need some technology," I chuckled, thinking about the possibilities.

—--

I continued working on my armor for weeks, using my [Technomancy] during the whole process, because you know… killing two birds with one stone.

But as time progressed, it was becoming evidently clear the list of things I wanted to add to my armor were near impossible for the technology of earth to achieve, meaning I had to think out of the box.

So with that thought in mind, I moved my focus to outer space, where I started to visit planets in the search of technology to reverse engineer or copy with my [Technomancy].

The first planet I visited was Xandar.

And I had to admit, the place looked like out of a sfi-ci movie but better, and right there and then, I knew going to space had been the right call.

Eager to learn, I roamed through the planet aimlessly coping what I could, little by little filling the pieces of information I needed to complete my armor, more than not I would focus on nova corps ships.

Their ships had everything I needed in terms of technology, I just simply had to make it smaller.

Their technology in short was breath taking, but I also had to take into account they barely held their ground against Thanos even with all their flashy tech, so whatever I acquired through my [Technomancy] here I had to improve if I wanted to use it against the big guy.

—--

[Thor Odinson POV]

Defeated in honorable combat, by my brother not long ago.

I had to admit, the feeling of defeat was refreshing, but also a wake-up call, unlike my brother who trains day and night, I was becoming complacent with my power, for none posed a threat to me, for I was mighty.

My brother showed me, being complacent was a mistake.

Not too long ago, I was able to run circles around him without breaking a sweat, now, that gap no longer existed, and I was happy for it, because without him closing the gap, I would've never had the need to outdo myself, to push the boundaries of what I knew.

No more I would let my power blind me, no more I would think I had no match, even if that statement was true, for I had learned strength is ever changing, so in kind, I would show my brother the same, so that he could too push the boundaries of what he knew.

I would inspire him like he had done with me.

And who knows what mighty levels we would both reach, of that, not even I was sure! And that exited me, who knows, we might even surpass the old man!

"Thor, baby, you've been training too much," Mother said with a frown as she entered my personal arena.

"Non-sense mother, I have just begun!" I declared with a grin, for I would not stop until I reached new heights.

"Is this because of Alex?" Mother chuckled.

I nodded, "Indeed it is, next time we fight, I will return the favor giving him a battle to be remembered, I will too push him like he has pushed me!"

Mother sighed, "You two really feel like brothers,"

"Indeed," I laughed, going back to my training.

"I'll have the servants bring you some food here then," Mother said walking out of the room.

157 CHAPTER 154

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Corn came back from Tartarus and killed the toaster.

--

[Loki Odinson POV]

I HATED that human.

I also feared that human.

But above all, I hated my father.

That above me, he had chosen him… a mortal.

He had magically bound me to not attack, or try anything against Alex, for if I did, I would lose all my powers, turning into that what I despised, a mortal.

I hated that no one wanted to listen to me, that everyone thought this was the right way, even Thor sided with father, picking that mortal over his own blood.

"Loki, the All-Father summons you," Sif said as she walked into my room.

"If it isn't the whore of the mortal," I sneered, looking at her with rage.

"Jealous?" Sif shot back with a glare.

"Of what? Used merchandise?" I snorted, rolling my eyes.

"Merchandise you used to pursue… but were too little of a man to even touch," Sif replied.

"I might not be able to kill Alex anymore, but I sure can kill you, so watch your tone, I am still your prince," Alex or not, she was a citizen of Asgard, therefore mine to command.

"You were never able to kill Alex to begin with, and second, no one commands me," Sif growled, "I follow the All-Father because he inspires me to do so, out of my free will, you? You only inspire pity little prince,"

I glared at her, my magic flaring, she dared to insult me? She dared! I WAS HER SUPERIOR, A GOD!

"Loki," Thor said, coming into the room, interrupting what I was about to do.

"Thor," I replied with a low hiss.

"Loki, Alex is pursuing Sif's attention and if you harm her in any way, I don't think he will take it very well," Thor sighed, for some reason he looked tired, very tired, which was unlike him.

"As if he could kill me," Sif snorted.

"I can, and I will," I growled at her insolence.

"You won't even try, I forbid it," Thor sighed.

"You forbid it?" I laughed.

"As the crown prince of Asgard, I outrank you, therefore, you will obey, or I will talk with the All-Father about this," Thor replied in an uncharacteristically cold tone for him.

I laughed, "Well, I do suppose I better not try my luck then, Thor,"

"You better not, Loki," Thor replied, "Now, go, the All-Father summons you, and you have been ignoring his summons long enough,"

"Aye," I nodded, for now, I would play their role, but one day, one day they would pay for this, one day it would be them looking at me from below.

—--

[Emily Walker POV]

Magic was fun.

And I was good at it.

"Congratulations Emily," Magic Grandma said, patting me in the head.

"Well, I am the best," I grinned at her, which made her chuckle.

"Well, you are truly a gifted child for these arts, and have more… focus than your father," Magic Grandma chuckled.

At her comment of daddy, I pouted, "Daddy just has a lot of things to do… he can't focus in one for too long, or the others come to bite him in the A,"

Magic Grandma nodded, "I know, I never meant to insult your father dear Emily, only to complement your incredible prowess in the mystical arts, which are improving by each passing day."

I smiled, "I try my best, because one day, I might be able to help daddy, he takes on everything alone… and I want to be there for him," but I needed to be stronger, I was too weak.

"Soon, you will be able to help Mr. Walker, but first you need to enjoy your childhood, do you really think he would be happy knowing his little princess is worrying about him?" Well.. she had a point, but I just couldn't help it!

"I know I know, but as long as you don't tell him, he won't know," One day, I would protect him, like he had protected me, one day, I would become a pillar to help him carry all that weight that seems to crush him down.

"You Walkers truly are a show," Magic Grandma laughed.

—--

[Alex Walker POV]

It had taken me a while, but I finally had all the technology I needed for my armor, all that was left was downsizing said technology, which was proving to be difficult, so I did what I had to do, I swallowed my pride, and called… the only person that could help me.

Hank Pym.

For a while I was tempted to call Tony, but considering he was right now an arms dealer, I… well, decided against to, I mean, imagine earth waging war with futuristic weapons, fuck that.

"Where… where did you find this?" Hank muttered, looking in awe at what I had in my lab.

"Well… you know, space," I replied with a chuckle.

"You went to space?" Hank almost shouted, turning to look at me.

I looked at him, and with an raised eyebrow, I replied, "That surprises you? You can shrink your ass to molecular levels, and me going to space blows your mind?"

Hank blinked, before he started laughing, "I… Well, I suppose you do have a point, young man, but still… This means you have reached intelligent life, a form of life whose technological advancement is leagues above ours!" Needless to say, Hank was beyond elated, like a kid on Christmas.

"Yes, yes I did," I nodded, not wanting to go into details.

"What I don't understand is why you want to weaponize all of this? Is SHIELD manipulating you? Remember what I told you about them, they are not to be trusted!" Hank sighed, rubbing his temples.

"First of all, SHIELD is the least of my concerns, second, what does this…" I pointed to the ships and weapons I had replicated from the Nova Corps, "Proofs?"

"That we are evidently not alone," Hank replied.

"And that there are threats out there able to wipe us off the cosmos with a snap," I nodded, "Not all aliens are friendly, and we need to be prepare, and unfortunately for me, I can't tackle this project alone,"

"Well, you do have a point, and I do want to work with this alien tech, so let's dig in kiddo!" Hank grinned, already forgetting why he was against it in the first place.

158 CHAPTER 155

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Corn reigns supreme, the toaster pledged his life.

--

For weeks, I studied the technology I had copied from the Nova Corps to no avail, proving that even with the help of Hank this task was surprisingly hard, but I had no rush.

Sure, I wanted the technology to work as soon as possible, and to be able to fit on my armor, but while that happened, I would make a middle step armor, the armor before the armor I wanted.

Something simple yet sophisticated, something useful, something to fill the void until I acquired what I needed to create the real armor I wanted.

So, with Hank working on the Nova Corps tech, I moved to work on my little project.

"This will take us years to crack kiddo," Hank whistled, wiping off the sweat from his eyebrow.

I smiled, "Well, the best things in life are usually worth waiting for,"

Hank snorted, "I suppose that has so merit to it,"

"So, how's the daughter?" I asked, making conversation as I sketched how I wanted my armor to look.

"Good, she's growing fast, I'll tell you, those days go by fast," Hank sighed, slumping down to his seat, "She's just like her mother you know?" He chuckled in a sad tone, "Smart, brave, and eager to change the world…"

"I didn't have the pleasure of meeting your wife, but even I know she would be proud," I smiled, patting him on the back.

"I hope so," Hank sighed, looking at the floor.

[A New Quest Has Been Created = Rescue Janet Van Dyne!

Janet Van Dyne is trapped on the quantum realm, and it's your task to save her!

Objectives = Rescue Janet Van Dyne.

Side Objectives = Convince Hank Pym you are not lying about his wife.

Rewards = ???]

I blinked in mild shock, she was alive? God, I didn't remember shit from that movie, poor Hank, I had to get a quest to remember his wife was alive, now the question is… how the fuck do I convince Hank she's alive without making him think I am after his technology?

"I've been thinking," Hank spoke, breaking me out of my train of thought, "How about we make a barbecue, you know, so that the girls get to meet each other, I would love for Hope to be friends with your girls," he smiled.

"Sure," I smiled, my mind blank, because I had no idea how to break the news to him, and how to make them believable.

"Great!" Hank smiled.

—--

In the end, I came to the resolution of not telling Hank shit, meaning I would do this mission by myself, using his technology with my [Technomancy] rescuing his wife and breaking the news to him she was alive there and then.

I mean, I was operating under the wise say, that said, it's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

Though that would be for later.

Right now, I had a few things to do, before I was able to help Janet, like leveling up my [Technomancy] because apparently operating his machine required a very high level, even higher than the one required to copy the Sentinels from the future.

"Alex," Bucky called as he entered into my lab, "Sif's here,"

Sif?

I blinked, looking at my minimap, and sure enough, she was here, but why?

"Thanks for letting me know,"

"Do I need to have the talk with you?" Bucky grinned, looking at me.

I snorted, walking past him without even acknowledging his comment. I had a beautiful lady waiting for me, and I would be damned if I allowed Bucky to ruin this moment for me.

—--

"Alex," A smile beamed across Sif's face, as she saw me enter the living room, where she had been waiting for me, talking with the girls to kill time.

"Dad!" Emily smiled, jumping from the couch to my arm.

"Careful there baby girl, your dad is getting old," I winked.

"Silly," Emily chuckled, running back to the sofa with a smile on her face.

"So, Sif," I smiled, turning my attention to Sif, who was still smiling, "What brings you to my humble abode?" Great, of all the things I could've possibly said to break the ice, I decided to go all lame on her.

"Well," Sif began, "I had some free time, and I thought, why not see if Alex wanted to share it with me, so… do you?"

"Yes, of course," I nodded, "I would love to, just let me clean up, and we'll be on our way,"

"Sure, but this time, the date is on me," Sif stated, pulling a bag full of gold from her jacket, "This ought to cover our expenses right?"

"Maybe it's her who needs the talk," Bucky chuckled, to which I opened a portal under him, moving him into the pool, his sass needed to cool down.

"It's not enough is it? I knew it!" Sif sighed, "I said, Sif, bring two bags of gold, but no, I had to bring one instead,"

"No, no, that's more than enough, that's a lot of money in Midgard standards, like… a lot," I chuckled, pointing at her bag. "Look, how about you let me shower, and then I'll help you figure out how much money you have, okay?"

"So.. it's enough?" Sif asked, with a hopeful look.

"Yes," I nodded.

"Good, then, I shall wait for you here," Sif smiled.

"Omg! She's adorable! Can we keep her!" Out of nowhere, Alice jumped from the shadows, towards Sif, hugging the unexpecting warrior.

Sif, as the trained warrior she was, kicked Alice off her, before rushing to attack the sudden intruder, but before that could happen, I used my telekinesis to stop her, "Don't worry Sif, she's just… mentally questionable,"

"Hey!" Alice pouted, "I mean, it's true, but still… it hurts,"

"Who is she?" Sif asked, frowning.

"My sister," I replied with a sigh of my own.

"You have a sister?" Sif blinked in shock.

"Now I do…" I replied, "It's complicated… I'll explain on the date,"

"Don't worry sis, we are siblings like in the disney movies," Alice winked, approaching Sif, "Not like in porn," she whispered.

"Porn?" Sif muttered, and thank goodness Emily didn't hear her.

Moving faster than I even knew I could, I approached Sif, and whispered, "Don't say that word in front of the children, I'll also explain that later…"

"Understood," Sif nodded.

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--

Clean and ready for my date with Sif, I walked out of my room, looking fine if I do say so myself.

Finding Sif playing cards with Emily and Nat.

"Are you ready? Or in the middle of a game?" I asked with a chuckle, approaching Sif from behind.

"I am ready, your daughters are merciless warriors when it comes to playing cards," Sif chuckled.

"I made some gold," Nat grinned, showing a few pieces of gold she had won playing cards against Sif.

"Give that back," I frowned, no daughter of mine would gamble, besides I knew she had cheated, I had seen it do it many times before.

"Fine," Nat sighed.

"It's okay Alex, I lost fair and square," Sif said.

"Sif, Nat cheats when playing cards," I snorted, "The only fair and square about those games, is how good she is at moving the cards, heck, she has tricked me a few times during family nights,"

"I KNEW IT!" Emily roared, tossing the cards onto the floor, "You cheating meanie! Give me back my teddy bear!"

"I didn't cheat that time!" Nat shot back.

"You shouldn't cheat at all!" Emily and I said and the same time.

"Where's the fun in that? I mean, you guys play cards, but I play a whole other game, the cheating game, my record so far is three days without no one noticing I cheat," Nat grinned.

"I will get my teddy bear back!" Emily huffed.

"You can play me for it," Nat grinned, shuffling the cards like a fucking pro.

"I… I will come back later to read a book of parenting about how to tackle this… but for now, give me the gold you 'won' from Sif," I sighed.

"Sure thing dad," Nat nodded, handing me the gold.

"Well, see ya girls later!" I chuckled as I walked to the door with Sif, smiling at Nat's shenanigans.

"So, she cheated?" Sif asked.

"Yes, but not with a bad intention, we are simply her test subjects so to speak," I chuckled, "She enjoys testing her skills with us, to gauge how effective they are, last month she was spying on me to see how long it would take for me to notice, the month before that she was testing her surprise attacks on Bucky… every month she changes what she tests, and this time well, she was testing how good she is at cheating,"

"Well, she's very good," Sif chuckled, "I have played with a lot of cheaters, and have caught them all, but her? She's a master, and so young, what a talented little girl,"

I nodded, feeling proud, "That's my girl,"

"So, about Alice?" Oh right, I promised to tell her.

"Well," I sighed, "She's me, but… a female version, I guess, it's complicated,"

"She's you?" Sif frowned.

"The universe is a curious thing, and well, she's the result of that," I chuckled, "She comes from a dimension where… well, where I was supposed to be a woman, I suppose,"

"So… an alternative version of you?" Sif muttered, tilting her head.

"Yes, so to speak, but beyond our last names, we are very different," She was crazy for one.

"Yes, I saw that," Sif chuckled.

"Indeed," I nodded with a laugh.

"Well, enough about that, time to start our date!" Sif proclaimed, shaking his bag of gold.

"About that," I smiled, pointing at her bag, "With that much Gold, we could probably finance a million dates,"

"Really?" Sif asked, "Midgard's finance is confusing."

"Not rea– ok, yes you have a point," I nodded, "So, before we begin, if you truly want to pay for this date, let us first exchange a bit of that gold for money,"

"Sure," Sif nodded.

—--

After changing a bit of Sif's gold in a gold buyer for cash, emphasis on a bit, because five ounces of all of her gold gave her 2000 dollars, after that, we went on our date.

And in a very cute manner, Sif proved to be ready for said date, she even had a map to navigate New York, and a list of places she thought were worth visiting marked on the map.

Some were not, but seeing her so happy with this made me feel happy.

First, we went to an old restaurant nearby my house and ate traditional Italian cuisine.

Then, from there, Sif took me to an ice cream shop, where she was determined to test every flavor on the menu.

The Shop had two hundred flavors.

From there, we went to the park, where we walked and talked for a few hours, sharing stories, while holding hands, because she had read on a newspaper humans when courting did such a thing.

After that, she took me to a bar, called the Asgardian Home.

Quite the name, if I do say so myself.

"Alex, this date has been wonderful," Sif smiled.

"It has, you did your homework," I nodded, ordering a beer.

"I did," Sif nodded, "Thor helped me, he found this map, and the newspaper, but I did the rest," she smiled proudly.

She was so beautiful, so strong, so fierce, and at times, so innocent, so cute, it was mesmerizing.

"Sif, I want to kiss you,"

Sif looked at me, and with a smile said, "Do it then, or I might take it as an offense if you don't push on your pursues,"

Without another word, I moved closer to her, and let our lips meet for the first time of many.

—--

[Thor Odinson POV]

Today of all days, I was hanging out with Heimdall.

Why? Well, I wanted to know how Alex's date with Sif was going.

"Did they kiss yet?" I asked, Heimdall.

"No," Heimdall groaned, "My prince, don't you have anything better to do?"

"No, not really," I shook my head, how kind of Heimdall to ask.

"So… how about now? Have they kissed yet?" I asked once again.

"For the hundredth time n- no no, wait, they are kissing now," Heimdall replied.

"Huzzah!" I grinned, for I, Thor the God of Thunder had done the ultimate mighty brother deed, I had become the best winggod ever!

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--

After my date with Sif, It didn't take me long to figure out it would be inhumane to rescue Janet after I managed to level my [Technomancy, so I decided that instead of doing that, I would trick Hank into helping me rescue his wife.

How?

Well, a few illusions here and there would do just the trick, with my intention being him thinking he was in a dream.

Was it an underhanded tactic? Sure, there was no other way to describe it, but frankly, if the end result of said tactic was him having his wife back, and his daughter having his mom back, what was the problem?

So, during one night after work, where he had had a few drinks with me before going home, I teleported to his house before he arrived and started my plan.

First, I put his daughter to sleep using a basic spell to induce such.

Then, once he arrived, and got into his bed, I started using my magic to not only create an accurate image of his wife, but to access his head to make the illusion believable using his surface thoughts about her to make my illusion a perfect one, and from the shadows, I started to move the strings.

Surprisingly enough, as I scanned his mind about Janet, I found out he knew she was alive, he simply didn't know where she was exactly.

Or how to reach her.

In fact, in his free time, he had apparently been researching about the quantum realm trying to find a way to enter it and find his lost wife.

At this, I frowned.

If he knew, and couldn't reach her, my entire plan was useless, because he wouldn't be able to help me.

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath, if Hank's technology was not there yet, I was royally fucked with this quest, the infinity stones were useless within the sub-atomic realm, meaning even if I collected the infinity stones, I had no guarantee I would be able to rescue her.

Then what? I questioned, walking out of Hank's house using a portal.

If his technology wasn't the answer, then what?

The magical realm?

"It's worth the shot," I sighed.

—--

"I can't help you there, Mr. Walker," The Ancient One replied, "The quantum realm as you speak of, is well beyond my powers to truly access, for to reach such a realm, is beyond my power as a sorceress,"

"Well, it was a long shot, to begin with," I sighed, if Hank and The Ancient One weren't capable of helping me, I was at a loss.

"But, I didn't say others couldn't help you," The Ancient One smiled.

"Can you not be cryptic for a moment?" I frowned.

"I must apologize, you see, I enjoy messing with you," Oh, and she has the gall to admit it, oh well, I suppose she has earned that right.

"So, who can help me?" I asked.

"Me," She replied, as I was starting to question if she was going senile on me, I mean, she just said, she couldn't help me.

"You just said you couldn't help me," I replied, crossing my arms.

"Indeed," The Ancient One nodded, "You see, when I said I couldn't help you, I wasn't messing up with you, I truly can't help you, not in the way you want,"

"How then?" I asked.

"Well, I can't access the quantum realm, or send someone there, but I can send someone's soul there, momentarily of course, my magic can't sustain such thing for too long, but if I were to send you, you could stabilize it using your mana,"

"What do you mean?" I inquired.

"Well, with my power, I can push your soul into the quantum realm, leaving your physical body behind, from there, it would be up to you to force your soul to stay within the subatomic realm by feeding it mana," The Ancient One replied, "Needless to say, even with your absurdly high levels of mana, the max you would be able to stay within the realm without dying is one hour,"

One hour? I could work with that, "I can work with that,"

"Can you?" The Ancient One smiled, putting her left hand on my chest, "I will need a demonstration, if you don't mind that is," I nodded, and without another word, she pushed my soul out of my body.

"This feels weird," I chuckled.

"It does," The Ancient One nodded, "But enough about that, now try to use your magic in that form,"

Doing as she had requested, I tried to summon a fireball to my hand but ended up exploding.

"That hurt," I muttered, frowning.

Why had my magic backfired? A fireball was one of the easiest spells I knew, besides the portals.

"As symmetrical as you are, the lack of a body hinders your powers massively, you see, when one does magic, one connects the mystical, which comes from the soul with the physical, which in this case is obvious," The Ancient One chuckled, "In your very symmetrical case, this can't be truer, because your body functions like a machine, a machine that without one of its components, becomes a liability, exhibit a, that spell you tried to cast,"

So the Gamer was messing with my magic, because of my body.

"So, what then?" I muttered, without my powers moving within the quantum realm would take a lot of time.

"You train, it's high time you learn how we the normal people manage our magic," The Ancient One smiled, snapping her fingers, pulling my soul back into my body.

"Well," I chuckled, back in my body, "When do we begin?" I asked.

"Whenever you are ready, Mr. Walker," The Ancient One replied.

"Then let's get started right now," The sooner I learned how to use my magic without my body, the sooner I would get to rescue Janet, and who knows, maybe even get a power boost in the process.

"Wonderful," The Ancient One smiled, "Then, let's begin,"

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--

For the following month, I trained with the Ancient One to be able to enter the quantum realm without a risk, day and night without a break, even sharing some classes with Emily, because the Ancient thought it was of the essence for her to learn what I was learning too.

To which I agreed.

At first, the training was hard, but fortunately for me, my powers as the gamer seemed to adapt to this out of the box training and created a skill to go with what I was learning, [Soul Casting, it was a cool sounding passive that was actually quite weak in essence, at least for now.

[Soul Casting - Passive - LV 12 = It allows the user to use magic and other skills without a body as a channel.

All skills and spells, used in this form are 90% weaker]

The debuff was originally 99%, but after a few levels on the skill, it was going down.

Anywho.

Thanks to this skill, my training became easier, making the mission of rescuing Janet more and more possible as the days went by.

However, even with this skill, I was still not ready, at least, according to the Ancient One.

Which made me think, what exactly was within the quantum realm she wanted me to be prepared for?

I mean, my mission was one without enemies, and yet, the Ancient One seemed adamant I needed to be stronger in my body-less casting.

I couldn't help but wonder, what did she know, I didn't?

—--

[The Ancient One POV]

Once again, Alex had surprised me.

In a matter of days, he had adapted to what he was facing, a feat that was by no means small, after all, the use of magic without a body it's one of the greatest obstacles a mage has to face in its life, and yet, his soul adapted at a shocking rate, in the very same symmetrical way, his body normally acted.

Nonetheless, even with all of his surprising feats so far during training, he was still not ready.

Not to face the possible futures I saw within the quantum realm.

Futures that troubled me.

Because even with all his power, Alex was still a mortal, meaning death was still on his tail.

And what I saw within the quantum realm was death, more than life.

Of course, this was all a bunch of what ifs, but still, they scared me.

Alex had changed the timeline so much, the world needed him, no… the universe needed him.

And while I would prefer to keep him out of danger's way, I know I can't stop him. He is, after all, a very stubborn individual, so the only thing I can do is prepare him for what could happen.

—--

[Alex Walker POV]

After a few extra days of training, I decided to confront the Ancient One to understand why she was acting the way she was acting.

So, with that thought in mind, I walked to her office, and asked, "What do you know, that I don't?"

The Ancient, who was reading the newspaper as I entered, looked up from her reading material, and smiled, "You'll have to be more specific, Mr. Walker, I mean, do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?"

In retrospective I could've asked the question better, but she knew what I was asking, she was just trolling me, as usual, "About the quantum realm, look since we started training, something has changed, and it's like you are preparing me for something, and I don't even know what, so… what am I preparing for?"

The Ancient One sighed, putting her newspaper down, "I suppose like time, this conversation was unavoidable,"

"So YOU were preparing for something," I knew it!

"I am," The Ancient One nodded, "Granted, take this with a grain of salt, I'm not sure if what I'm preparing you for will happen, it's just a big, and I mean, a really big if,"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The quantum realm operates outside time and space, so to speak, because two elements still affect it, but in a very different manner than we are used to, anywho, taking that into consideration, the realm of what is possible, and what is not, it's very gray," The Ancient One sighed, summoning an illusion around us to aid in her explanation.

"So, you are preparing me for every possible scenario?"

"No, and yes," The Ancient One chuckled, "As I was saying, what is possible, and what is not, it's very complicated, especially if we take into account the quantum realm, a place we know frighteningly little,"

I looked at her, before turning my attention to the illusions she was showing me, it looked like people running, but from what?

"So, taking that into account, I used the time stone to see what could go wrong with your expedition, and well, I got what I wanted," The Ancient One added, changing the illusions around us, this time showing a picture that looked like out of an apocalyptic setting, showing New York in ruins.

However, this wasn't the scariest part.

No.

What scared me the most, was that in the middle of that apocalyptic picture, a lone figure stood, twitching in place.

And that figure was me.

"How… What happened to me?!" I asked, looking at the illusion.

"A virus from the quantum realm, it infected you, and you infected the rest of the world," The Ancient One replied.

"That…" Marvel Zombies?! That was a possibility here!?

"Worry not though, that scenario happened in one of the what-ifs where you entered the quantum realm without your soul casting, also, this scenario it's not very likely to happen, out of the eighteen million futures I saw, only a few thousand included the virus," The Ancient One sighed.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better, and by the way, how the fuck did they infect me if I was a soul?" I asked, still staring at my zombie self with a feeling I quite couldn't understand.

"Souls are not intangible as many would think, Mr. Walker, certain things can affect the soul, and this virus seems like one of those things," The Ancient One replied, summoning a cup of tea.

"You are surprisingly calm about this…" I replied, looking at her, "I mean, just now, you showed me, a possible end of the world scenario, and yet, you seem okay,"

"Well, that's the thing with the quantum realm, everything I saw, could very well be trash," The Ancient One chuckled, "This realm, it's unique in many ways, and because of that, even with the time stone, I can't see into it very well, in short, out of the eighteen million possible outcomes I saw, I have no idea how many apply to us,"

"What do you mean?" I.. this conversation was getting confusing.

"Well, it means the quantum realm is connected to the very essence of the multiverse, therefore, what I saw, could've been eighteen million possible outcomes for other realities, or for ours, we can't know for sure, that's how tricky the quantum realm is," The Ancient One shrugged.

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--

A possible Zombie scenario.

Was that really what I had to risk to save Janet, a woman I didn't even know?

For one part, the risk of that happening was too big to even think about it, any chance of that virus existing within my reality, and I was fucked.

But on the other hand, my quest didn't imply there was any danger to it, and normally my quests would let me know if something was wrong.

That, and the Ancient One had told me, and that hadn't popped a quest about the zombie apocalypse, was a good flag.

But still, even with all of those green flags, I was nervous.

Because, I had no idea how to avoid the infection, at least on my soul form.

Physically, I knew how to avoid becoming a zombie, it was simple, don't get bitten, and you are good.

But, without a body, the precautions to be taken were confusing.

So, I was faced with a choice.

Leaving Janet in the quantum realm.

Or, finding a way to enter the quantum realm with my body, because with this option, I could wear armor, making the chance of infection null.

"You are overthinking, don't you?" The Ancient One commented, as she walked into my room, the one I used to use during my time with her.

"Yes," I chuckled.

"There is no need for that," The Ancient One smiled, "Just keep training, and those possible outcomes, those what if, won't come to happen,"

"As lovely as that sounds, I can't take this situation like you," I shot back, "You showed me what I… what that… what could've happened, and I can't and won't let that happen, this isn't even about Janet anymore, if she's… infected, I will kill her, and Hank if I have to stop anyone from entering that realm to erase the risk of infection, but beyond that, beyond what I… what I feel, I need to know if this is a possibility, a virus like that…" I couldn't let it happen.

The Ancient One sighed, patting in the back gently, "I see, I suppose the way I'm behaving can be translated as a calm demeanor, but in reality I'm terrified of what I saw,"

I looked at her in mild shock.

"Don't look at me like that Mr. Walker," The Ancient One chuckled, "I am but a human after all,"

"So, any idea how to minimize the risk?" I chuckled in a tired tone.

"Hmm," The Ancient One hummed, "I think I have an idea,"

I blinked, "You do?"

"Yes, although, it's quite experimental, and by that, I mean, I just now thought of it," The Ancient One winked.

"Well, what is it?" I asked.

"Well, it has occurred to me, that we can use the space stone, alongside our magic to open a controlled portal to the quantum realm, together we might just have enough power to sustain this portal, and with the space stone in the mix, the portal will be stable, allowing you to enter without the need of leaving your body," The Ancient One smiled, "However, like the virus, this plan is a big if, I have never done this before,"

"But it's worth a try, right?" I smiled.

"Indeed, but that still doesn't eliminate the chance of infection," The Ancient One sighed.

"Well, I kind of feel more safe with a vibranium armor around me, that without anything, at all, around me," I snorted.

"Well, yes, but we are talking about the possibility of a quantum disease, meaning, how it spreads, it's unknown, or if vibranium can stop it, so I suggest, we brainstorm this a bit more before we jump into the fray, does that sounds reasonable?" The Ancient One said.

"Yes," I nodded.

"Good, now, let's break our homework apart, I will study the part about portal making we need, while you will research about magic barriers and such," The Ancient One smiled.

Wait… if the virus infected only… living creatures, did… did Golems count? And if they did, did it really mattered if I lost one?

"Hey, I have a question?" I hummed.

"What?" The Ancient One inquired.

"What if… instead of me going, I send one of my golems?" I mean, if Janet was infected, the most I would lose was a golem, that was assuming the golems could be infected.

"That… is a marvelous idea, I almost feel stupid for not suggesting it," A smile beamed across The Ancient One's face as she clapped her hands together once, "With that, the risk disappears almost entirely, meaning we only need a stable portal for your golem to use!"

"I could use [Sight] to see what the golem sees, granted, I need to create a golem that has [sight] as a skill so that I can connect to it, but if I do, I could basically control the golem like a second body," I nodded, grinning in kind.

"Then it's settled, you go and make a golem with that spell, and I will investigate how to create a portal to that dimension," The Ancient One nodded.

—--

[Thor Odinson POV]

I rushed to Sif's quarters, for I! The mighty winggod needed to know if my brother had conquered the third base!

"Sif, are you there?" I said, knocking at her door with my hammer.

"Yes, coming!" Sif replied, opening the door a few moments after.

"So, tell me everything!" I giggled, I mean, I asked in a very mighty manner.

"Thor, as humans say, I kiss and don't tell," Sif chuckled.

Wait, what!? I was to be denied of knowing if my brother had finally get laid, as Fandral says! "Fine, keep your secrets, but… are you two a thing now? Can I tease him? I need to know, it's brocode protocol!"

"Broc… what?" Sif muttered, "I… yes, we decided to start dating, officially during the date, so I suppose you can tease him… I guess… I mean, I don't know what there is to tease,"

"A lot, but as a woman, I can't understand why you ask that, for you can't comprehend the teasing between bros," I shook my head, poor Sif, ignorant to the old laws of brohood.

"I… Thor, are you drunk?" Sif asked.

"Not yet, I am saving that for tonight," I grinned, me drunk? RIGHT NOW? For Odin's beard, no, I first needed to celebrate with my brother this wonderful event!

"Okay," Sif chuckled.

"Oh, one more thing," I smiled, pulling out the phone Alex had given me, "I need to know if I can already use this," with that said, I pressed a button that played the sound of a whip.

"I… I need more than that Thor," Sif muttered, looking at me.

"Well, according to something I read, a whipping sound it's used as a joke when a male, it's whipped by his partner, in this case, you, so… have you whipped Alex?" I read that in an article from Midgard's newspaper, I had no idea why humans whipped one another, but who was I to judge their mating rituals.

"I… no, I haven't," Sif shook her head.

"Well, do tell me when you do, according to what I read, I must play this sound after he gets whipped," I nodded.

Sif blinked, "Is that something humans do? Or like? Do I have to buy a whip?"

"But of course, according to the article, yes, humans get whipped," I nodded, poor Sif, what would she do without my mighty help.

"I suppose, if Alex likes it," Sif sighed.

"Indeed, just let me know after you do it," I smiled.

"Will do," Sif nodded.

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--

Two weeks after my last talk with the Ancient One about the venture into the quantum realm.

My golem, the one I wanted to send to this mission was ready, it took a bit of preparation, mostly because I wanted the Golem to be as strong as possible, and because I wanted to erase any chance of infection.

Which is why, the golem had a bomb within him, in case the virus existed and was able to propagate to non-living things.

The golem in question was a rock golem, with three skills, [Sight, so that I would be able to see what he was seeing, [Dash] so that he would be able to move fast, and [Voice] so that I would be able to talk through him, I mean, if the virus didn't exist and Janet was okay, I wanted to tell her, she was okay, instead of scaring her with a ten feet tall golem.

As of the moment, the Golem was level 100, which I presumed was more than enough for this mission, and for the worst case scenarios.

After all.

The lower the level, the easier to eliminate if said Golem becomes a threat.

Granted, this was just me thinking of every worst case scenario.

For all I knew, the quantum virus was not a thing here, and I just wasted my time planning around it.

"Well, time to see how she's doing," I sighed, turning around to make a portal, to see Clay, my sentient elemental looking at me, tilting his head, "What up Clay," I waved at him.

He waved at me, carving a smile on his face with one of his fingers.

Creepy, but adorable somehow.

"We'll catch on later, I have things to do," I chuckled, opening a portal to the Ancient One's office.

—--

I walked through the portal, to find the Ancient One on her desk, working on some papers.

For a few moments, as the portal closed, she seemed to be lost in her work, almost as if in a trance, but before I could announce my presence, she spoke.

"Alex, just in time,"

"For what?" I asked.

"Well, I have been researching about portals for quite a while, and I think I have found what we need," The Ancient One replied, snapping her fingers in a fast motion, sending a wave of magic around her office, that put everything back on it's place, erasing any trace of the mess that few moments invaded her work space.

I smiled, "Well, my golem is also ready," at this, I summoned my golem from my inventory, who spawned in a kneeling position.

"Marvelous," The Ancient One smiled, "Now, let's get started,"

"With the portal? Sure, what do you need?" I asked, taking a seat.

"Well, mostly a supply of mana, I alone can't power this portal, mostly because it's experimental, and we don't have the time to tweak the spell so that it utilizes mana in a efficient manner, so for this draft of a spell, we need two sources of mana, and the space stone," The Ancient One smiled, beaming with happiness.

"You are quite happy," I commented.

"Indeed I am, it's been sometime since I had to make something, from scratch, you have any idea how fun is that?" The Ancient One chuckled, "It brigns me back to my young days, when I actually had to tried, it's not often these days I have to become creative, so for that, I thank you,"

I looked at her, and smiled, happy she was enjoying this, if anything this served as a distraction from what could happen when we opened the portal.

"So, do you need the stone now? Or?" I asked.

"In a moment," The Ancient said, with a wave of her hand, "First we need a bigger room," she added, looking around her office, "My office as it is, won't suffice for the runes I need to carve,"

"I have a few empty warehouses," I offered.

The Ancient One looked at me for a brief moment before she shook her head, "If we take into account the risks of this mission, a warehouse close to… well, any amount of people, it's not the best location to do what we are set to do," she mused, index finger pressed upon her lip, "We need an empty space, not only empty inside, but on the outside,"

She had a point, if the virus existed, and we didn't manage to contain it, well… a populated area was not the best place to start.

Granted, if we didn't manage to stop the virus, and it infected us, it didn't matter where we were, the virus would consume the earth regardless.

"I think I have just the place," The Ancient One announced, breaking me out of my train of thought.

"Where," I asked.

"Follow me," The Ancient One replied, opening a portal to God knows where.

—--

At the other side of the portal, I checked my map to find out the Ancient One had taken me to Egypt, apparently, we were currently within a pyramid, a very empty one.

"So, we are desecrating someone's tomb?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Goodness, no, this tomb is empty for a purpose," The Ancient One chuckled.

"Which is?"

"Well, this pyramid was made for situations like this," The Ancient One smiled, pointing at the walls, "Believe it or not, some of the best mages in the earth's history, came from Egypt, granted, their mages didn't excel in raw power, or numbers, but they were particularly good in preparing for the worse, this pyramid was one of those cases,"

Moving my gaze to the walls, I noticed something, runes, a lot of them, tons of them.

"This is a sealing tomb, if our magic changes, even if it's just a little, we will be trapped here, forever," The Ancient One smiled, touching the runes in the walls.

"They made a tomb to seal, people?" I replied.

"Well, of course, in case they needed to stop a powerful being," The Ancient One nodded.

"But… wouldn't we be able to use the space stone to… I don't know leave… in case we get trapped?" While the idea behind a sealing tomb was very cool, I doubted that would be able to stop us, if we became zombies.

"No, after all, you can't use the space stone without energy as a whole," The Ancient One winked, "This pyramid was made to seal mana, life and other energies, on the rare occasion something infected the mage from within, be it an evil god, or a demon. After the tomb seals your energy, the tomb wraps you in many layers of magical linen to trap your body effectively immobilizing you, sealing both your spiritual form and your physical form for all of eternity, after that, there is no escape unless the person in question goes back to normal," She smiled.

All the while, I looked around me thinking, damn, Egyptian Mages were terrifying.

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--

After a few hours on the pyramid, all the preparations to open the portal were ready, now it was time to see if they would work, after all, this was all very experimental.

"When I give you the signal, be ready to power the runes I carved," The Ancient One repeated, making sure I remembered her instructions as she walked around the runes, verifying they were all correct.

"Ok," I nodded, ordering my golem, the one I was gonna sent on this mission to stand by my side for the moment being.

I couldn't lie, I was nervous, nervous about the possibilities behind this… venture, if Janet was a zombie, I would be faced with two options, one, killing her, or two, finding a cure, which would involve god knows what.

In reality, the sad part was, I knew the option I would take, I knew I would kill her if that happened to be the case, but for the sake of my own self, I was kind of lying to myself about other options, just to say I tried while patting myself in the back.

"Are you ready?" The Ancient One asked, drawing my attention back to her, and out of my dark thoughts.

"Always," I nodded.

"Then, let's begin," She nodded, and so, at the same without a sound, we started powering the runes she had carved, one by one as they lit up in the process, the lights eventually leading to a runic circle, where the space stone was located for this very purpose.

"Is it working?" I asked as I watched the space stone shake a bit.

"I still don't know," The Ancient One replied.

But before I could dwell on the thought for much longer, the space in front of us broke, as if reality itself was shattering into a million pieces, creating a small rift of sorts, leading to the place I was looking for, the Quantum Realm.

"Well, I'll be damned, it works," I whistled with a chuckle.

"Now, it's time to send your golem," The Ancient One smiled, as I nodded.

It was indeed time to see what was within the Quatum realm, and if it was safe to explore.

"Go," With my command given, the Golem started to walk towards the portal, stepping into the quantum realm without much of a problem.

Meaning it was time to connect my [Sight] with his.

—--

After connecting my [sight] to that of my golems, I opened my map and checked the coordinates where Janet was supposed to be and embarked with my golem into the quantum realm.

Well, not really, I was still powering the portal, but with the golem, it kind of felt like Virtual Reality, but better.

Anywho.

According to the map, Janet was a few miles away, sadly, I had no access to my portals, because, within the quantum realm, they didn't work, something about space not really applying to it, anyway, this meant I was destined to do this mission the old fashioned way, without them.

As for the Quantum Realm itself.

Well, it was as trippy as I imagined, like, there was no other way to describe it. It was also worth mentioning, the entire realm felt kind of ominous, like, even with the golem, that worked as a safety net, I felt like I was being watched, which didn't bode well for this mission.

Though, I trusted my system to alert me of such a thing, with a quest or something.

Then again, I didn't know about Hydra, until Hydra had kicked my ass.

"How's everything going?" The Ancient One asked.

"Good so far," I replied, my sense of vision still connected to the Golem, "But it feels like something it's watching me, maybe it's just my paranoia, but… I can't shake the feeling off,"

The Ancient One clicked her tongue, as my golem continued to walk, "Mayhaps that's our call to cancel this out?"

It would certainly be wise to do so, I was not one to feel uneasy, and yet, here I was feeling like a naked man in a lion's den, but still, I needed confirmation, I needed to know what I was feeling was not based on a fear born from a comic I had read before coming to this world, I needed to confirm there was a reason to fear.

"While that would be certainly wise, I would rather confirm my suspicions," I eventually replied.

"Very well," The Ancient One sighed, "I plan ahead just in case, nothing can come in, not even air without me allowing it, so… as long as we power this portal, we should be relatively safe,"

I snorted, "That's reassuring,"

"I suppose it's not," The Ancient One chuckled.

"I'm getting closer," I muttered in shock, because it made no sense, a few seconds ago, I was miles away, now, I was a few meters away from the coordinates I was looking for.

"Why does that sound like a bad thing?" The Ancient One asked, her tone lacing with a bit of concern.

"I was a few miles away a few seconds ago, that gap closed in an instant, I didn't even see it," I replied, my golem on stand by as I tried to rationalize what had happened.

"Well, the Quantum realm does operate outside the rules of time and space, and well, a measurable distance is part of a system that follows the laws of space," Maybe she was right, and meters or miles were irrelevant within this world.

[Janet Van Dyne is approaching]

What?

Seeing that notification, I ordered the golem to turn around, looking at my minimap, a red dot, a fucking red dot was approching.

And not the Golem, but the portal.

Hissing internally, I used [Sight] on the dot to see who was coming to us, seeing no other than Janet flying towards the portal, and much to my dismay, this Janet was not the one I wanted to find, it was the one I feared to find, the one carrying the Quantum Virus.

[New Quest Created = The Virus that should not be!

The Quantum Virus was not supposed to exist in this reality, it was only supposed to be in a few selected universes, so you have to find out why it's here, and who is behind it before it's too late.

Objectives = Find a cure, Find the Culprit.

Side Objectives = Save Janet from the virus]

"Close the portal!" I roared seeing the quest, breaking my connection to the runes, something The Ancient One did a few seconds after I did.

"What happened," The Ancient One asked, with the portal now closed.

"The virus it's real," I sighed, ordering my golem to self-destruct, just in case.

"I see," The Ancient One sighed, taking a seat on the ground, "Well, now what?"

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--

Why was the virus here?

This was supposed to be the MCU, right?

I was supposed to be reborn within that very universe of movies I grew up watching, so why, why was Janet a zombie.

I might not remember the movie where they rescued her, but I was sure as hell, she wasn't a zombie when they did, I would certainly remember a marvel movie with zombies.

Was I actually within the zombie comic I had once read?

No, that didn't make sense, the world around me it's a constant reminder of the MCU, of that there was no doubt.

So then, why?

Why was this particularly terrifying threat breathing on my back?

[New Quest Created = The Virus that should not be!

The Quantum Virus was not supposed to exist in this reality, it was only supposed to be in a few selected universes, so you have to find out why it's here, and who is behind it before it's too late.

Objectives = Find a cure, Find Who the Culprit is.

Side Objectives = Save Janet from the virus]

The quest, when it appeared, I didn't pay it much attention, I didn't have the time, with Janet flying on her wasp suit towards the portal, all I could do, was act quickly, and I did, closing the portal for the time being.

But now, now I had the time.

"So the quest agrees with me," I muttered, not that this realization helped in any way.

If anything made this entire situation all the more troubling, why? Well, the quest fucking implied, there was someone behind this mess, someone with enough power to put a fucking virus from another universe in this one, meaning that someone was well above my current pay grade, way fucking above.

Especially considering that there were only a few selected individuals in the entire universe powerful enough to do multiversal things, like well… putting things from another universe into a different universe just for shits and giggles.

Maybe it was time to check the power ranking, whoever did this has to be in the top 30 I assume, considering not even Dormmamu is capable of multiversal feats, which considering he is a multi-dimensional being, it's saying a lot.

"Power Ranking,"

[Power Ranking - Current Universe

1 - The One-Above-All LV ????

2 - The Beyonder LV ???? - NEW ADDITION!

3 - The Fulcrum LV ????

4 - The Living Tribunal LV ????

5 - The Heart Of The Universe LV ????

6 - The Phoenix LV ????

6 - Oblivion LV ????

7 - Infinities LV ????

8 - Eternity LV ????

9 - Death LV ????

10 - Infinity LV ????

11 - The Protege LV ????]

As I hovered over the rankings, something caught my attention. A new name, The Beyonder, the name somehow felt, familiar, yet I couldn't put my finger on it.

I really hoped he wasn't the culprit, I was in no form ready to fight him, or even talk to him, considering anything at the top can erase me like a bug, a tiny one at that.

[Objective completed! Find who the culprit is!]

Fuck me!

"Why would an all-mighty being want to fuck with me?" I cursed, eventually realizing the stupidity of my question because it was highly likely The Beyonder wasn't even giving me a thought, he did what he did just because he could, not to annoy me, or to fuck with me.

At least I hoped so.

Because if he did it to bother me, to fuck with me, to anything with me, I was… well, fucked.

Dealing with the likes of such power, was well beyond my years, and current power.

—--

[The Beyonder POV]

It had been a while since I found a universe, unlike the rest, a universe with a singularity, one of a kind, kind of like me, but very weak though, at least for now, and that was no fun, I wanted to have fun, but I had to wait.

After all, he was incomplete, well, everyone was.

But he was more incomplete than the rest, and that puzzled me.

It was funny really.

I guess that was what I liked about humanity, that even though they were incomplete, the very core within them pushed them to grow, to evolve, to become better.

The Core of Desire.

Or maybe I should call it a disease, after all, it infected me.

Before I venture outside my universe, I had no desires, no wants, no dreams, no fun, I had nothing, but me, and I was enough, that was until I found what lay beyond the veil of my universe.

The Multiverse was so unlike what I was, that it shocked me, it changed me.

I was understandably surprised to discover that most universes were populated by many beings that were merely a part of a greater whole making up their universe; each and every little one of them inherently incomplete and thereby trapped in a quest to remedy their individual incompleteness, pushing forward in the name of desire.

The desire to be strong.

The desire to be smart.

The desire to better.

An emotion I came to understand after seeing I was not all there was to see.

Meaning, I was too incomplete in a way.

But, this being, this anomaly that currently resided on earth, he was more than incomplete, and that fascinated me to no end, because not even I was able to understand the limits of his possible growth.

How fun was that?!

Granted, he needed a little push or two, to speed things up, and I was more than happy to provide a bit of help, if anything to kill the time.

Sadly, I didn't have as much freedom on the subject as I would've liked, after all, that guy was keeping tabs on me like a hawk, protecting the anomaly, because he also finds fascinating.

But, I was still able to push a straw or two, an atom or two, to make things more interesting.

And who knows, maybe one day, he will reach the heights necessary to become more than he is.

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--

The cure for a disease that I didn't even understand.

A being I couldn't even scratch.

Things were not looking good for me.

"I need to avoid any world-ending scenario," I sighed, thinking of Hank, the man closest to reaching the Quantum Realm, and the only one that would and could represent a threat to us all, in the search for his wife.

I knew what I had to do.

It was not the best thing to do.

But it was what it was needed.

I needed to make sure Hank would never reach the Quantum Realm.

I needed to bend his will so that he would never think of such a thing, I needed to do, what I did to the King of Wakanda, but to him, but on a much greater scale, because in this case, I would not be influencing his thoughts like I did with T'Chaka, for this occasion, I would be taking his free will in terms of the Quantum Realm.

I didn't like this choice.

But, I didn't have to like it.

This went beyond what I wanted, what he wanted, what everyone wanted.

This was a matter of survival.

I needed to ensure the survival of my daughters, and the survival of earth as a whole.

And if I needed to cross that very dangerous line of morality, I would.

No questions asked.

This was beyond what I wanted, or what I thought to be morally right within my spectrum of morality.

This was what it had to be done.

I had to take his free will.

Because I knew, that no matter what, that no matter the risk, Hank would go for her, and doom us all in an act of selfish love.

Sadly for him, he wasn't the only selfish man in this world, I was too.

"It's time," I sighed, opening a portal to Hank's house; it was time to cross that line I promised myself not to cross; it was time to break the boundaries of my self-imposed morality once again, this time, for good.

—--

Hank greeted me with a smile, as I entered his house, his daughter playing in the living room with some toys that looked new.

As I walked, Hank started to talk about the possibilities behind the technology I had brought, about how much we could do with said technology.

From his surface thoughts, I gathered why he was so excited, he felt he was close.

He felt that with my help he would reunite with his daughter again.

I flinched, hiding my discomfort with the thought, and my pity for the man.

Maybe I didn't know what it was to love a woman like he loved his wife, but I knew the meaning of unconditional love, and I knew I would stop at nothing to save Emily or Nat.

So I could in some level relate to his plight.

But, this was beyond that, wasn't it?

"Want a drink?" Hank offered with a beaming smile.

"Yes," I nodded, with a tight-lipped smile, as I followed him to the kitchen.

"I bought some of the beers you like," Hank chuckled, opening his fridge, and grabbing a beer, "Here you go,"

"Thanks," I chuckled back, grabbing the beer from his hand.

"So what brings you here?" Hank asked, grabbing another beer from his fridge, this one for himself.

"Nothing, just doing some… damage control," I loosely elaborated.

"Oh, of what?" Hank asked.

"Nothing you have to concern yourself with," Not anymore.

"Oh, well, that sounds ominous," Hank chuckled, taking a sip of his beer.

If only he knew.

Thinking about it, I wonder how he will react in the future when I release him… I doubt he will forgive me, even if I return his wife to him, safe and sound, I doubt he will ever forgive me.

No.

Enough about that, Alex.

This goes beyond such pathetic thoughts, you are not here to look for forgiveness, nor you need it.

You are here to preserve that which you love.

You are here to avoid losing everything you care about.

Even if that means you have to break a man to do it.

Remember what Hydra taught you.

No remorse.

No hesitation.

No mercy.

"Good night Hank," I smiled, as Hank gave me a perplexed look, it was, after all, noon.

"What do you m-" He froze, as my magic entered his head, inducing a heavy sleep on the man, giving me time to work on him.

"Daddy, I want some juice," Hope said, walking into the kitchen, then seeing her dad, she asked with a concerned look on her face, "What happened to dad?"

"He fell asleep," I lied, "Don't worry, he will wake up soon, I reckon," I smiled at her, grabbing a juice box from the fridge, and giving it to her, "Go ahead and play, I will put your dad on his bed,"

Hope being the innocent child she was, smiled, and nodded, "Okay Mr. Walker!" and with that said, disappeared back to the living to play with her toys.

"Hank, one day you will understand," I muttered, turning to look at Hank, putting multiple mental blocks around his mind, about anything related to the Quantum Realm, or saving Janet, forcing him to believe she was dead, that there was no salvation for her.

Which in a way was true.

For now at the very least.

"You did what you had to do," A familiar voice muttered behind me, I knew who it was, I had seen her on my minimap, The Ancient One.

"I know," I nodded.

"I came here to assist you," The Ancient One sighed, "I… I have more experience in the magic tree you are using,"

"Go ahead," I nodded, pointing at Hank, "I already put all the magical barriers I could within his mind, anything you do will be an improvement upon that,"

"Very well," She nodded, walking towards Hank, "What do you plan to do now?" she asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Find a cure," I replied, "The virus is a threat too big to ignore, so I will find a way to erase that threat, the problem is, I have no idea where to begin,"

The Ancient One sighed, "I think I have one,"

168 CHAPTER 164

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--

Hank and his dream were crushed, by me.

No more he would seek a way to search for his wife, because I had erased any thought of her being alive from his head.

It was a lamentable decision.

But one that had to be done.

"How are you feeling?" The Ancient One asked, her tone soft in understanding.

"Good I suppose," I sighed with a tired smile, "You could say I'm having an internal debate, but nothing to worry about, unlike the incident with Wakanda, I know for a fact this is for the best, war I can handle, but what was inside that realm? None of us are ready," not until I found a cure, at least, and that could take decades without a starting point.

"Great men are often faced with difficult decisions," The Ancient One nodded, her lips forming a thin line, "You have faced many, each one more difficult than the last, and I know you doubt, you think this is.. wrong, that this is bad, but know that the sacrifices you make everyday are ensuring billions get to live their lives without making these sort of decisions,"

I looked at her, and smiled in appreciation, "I suppose someone has to make the difficult choices,"

She nodded, "It's a thankless job,"

I snorted, "You can be funny and inspirational when you want," I winked at her.

"I was young once Mr. Walker," She replied, shooting me a playful look.

"So now what?" I asked.

"Now, we focus on the matter at hand, finding a cure for that… terrible disease," She sighed, "Fortunately for us, I think I know where to start,"

Oh yeah, she had said she had an idea where to start a few hours ago, "Well, don't keep me waiting,"

"Well, this," The Ancient One chuckled, summoning to her left hand, the time stone, "With this you should be able to find something,"

"What?" I muttered, not really understanding what was happening.

"Alex, I trust you, more than I have trusted anyone in over a thousand years, and that's a lot to say, considering you are relatively new in my life," She chuckled, levitating the time stone towards me with a wave of her hand, "And it's because of that trust, that I am giving you this,"

By this point the stone was in front of me, hovering in place.

"But… what about the next sorcerer supreme?" I asked, looking at the stone.

She smiled, "There will be a day where I will need that stone, but that day is nowhere near, so until that day, do this old lady a favor… and keep that stone safe for me, will you?"

I grabbed the stone, and smiled at her, my eyes tearing up a bit, not out of sadness, but happiness I supposed, I really couldn't tell, but I knew it wasn't out of sadness, "Thanks, I will keep it until then,"

"Good, now, put that smile upside down, and let's get to work," She chuckled softly, "We have a lot to do, and little time to do it,"

I looked at her and nodded, "I have a question," I muttered with a sigh, "Why now?"

The Ancient One looked at me for a moment, giving me a long scrutinizing look, as she mused what to respond, until eventually she said, "Nothing special really, beyond the fact you are the only other being in the universe I trust with the infinity stones, I just felt like it, I suppose, and yes, I'm aware that's not very like me, I'm not one to act in the spur of the moment, but I suppose you do bring the old me into the surface from time to time,"

"I see," I chuckled.

"And, also, I did it because you are my only friend," Wait what? "I have allies, students, and many subordinates, but friends, I haven't had in a long time, not until you came, and it seems I have a soft spot for my friends, even to the point of breaking the rules," she smiled, beaming at me, "So please do me a favor, every time you feel like you are alone, remember, I am here, and you can count on me, like I know, I can count on you,"

"You are really gonna make me cry," I smiled at her.

"Now that would be a sight," She replied with a laugh.

——————————————————————-

[Thor Odinson POV]

My brother needed a weapon, for he in his un-mighty behavior still had none.

So, I! His mighty brother would get him one, one worthy of being called the brother of Mjolnir!

"So… let's see if I understood," Eitri hummed, "You want… a pair of one handed battle axes, imbued with your godly essence, for Alex, BECAUSE, they would match with Mjolnir, correct?"

I nodded, how hard was that to understand? "Indeed, two one handed battle axes with my godly essence,"

"And you want them made from Uru," Eitri sighed.

"Of course! Anything else would be an insult!" I nodded.

"Two godly weapons, for a mortal," Eitri raised his eyebrows.

"A mortal, foolish Eitri, he is a God," I nodded.

"Of what?" Eitri asked with a look I didn't understand.

"Of… I don't know, a human thing? Who cares, he's mighty enough to hold that title," Indeed he was, he was my brother after all.

Eitri sighed, "But why two? You only use one,"

"Well, in case he one is on the cleaning service, of course!" I laughed, "Besides I know my brother very well, and he's a dual wielder,"

"Thor, he has never used a weapon before, how can you know that," Eitri sighed.

"I just know," I shrugged, "Now can you do them, or not?"

"Fine, fine, I will," Eitri sighed.

Yes! Soon my brother and I would be able to march into battle using mighty attacks charged with the unmatchable might of the thunder!

I was getting giddy just thinking about it!

"Are you giggling?" Eitri muttered.

"Me? Giggling? Never!" I would die before admitting that, but if I did ever giggle, it would be a mighty giggle.

169 CHAPTER 165

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Now with audio chaps! Starting in chap 170, for those with bad sight.

On Patreön! The Beyonder Games have started, what will Alex do? Will he win?

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--

I looked at the Ancient One, Time stone floating neatly above my hand, and with a smile followed by a sigh, I asked, "So, what do I do now?"

The Ancient One looked at me, summoning a hot cup of tea, as she sat on her desk, "Use it, see into the past, then into the future, the stone should help you, in ways no one can,"

Well, I suppose it didn't hurt to look.

"Very well then," I chuckled, opening a portal to my house, "See ya later,"

"Take care Mr. Walker," The Ancient One smiled back, taking a sip of her steamy cup of tea.

—--

Back at my apartment, I took a seat on my sofa, thinking what to do, and how to tackle the problem, frowning at my whole situation, while looking at the stone the Ancient One had entrusted me with a lost look.

Maybe I needed a break.

I just needed not to be thinking of… well, this.

"Hey," Bucky waved at me, getting my attention, "What's that," he pointed at the Time Stone with his usually bored look.

"The key to controlling time," I replied with a smirk.

"Where was that when I wanted to sleep in on second grade," Bucky replied with a smirk of his own.

"I can relate to that, everyone can," I laughed.

"So, what's happening," Bucky asked, walking to the living room, taking a seat right in front of me.

"Nothing," I replied.

"Alex, I know you," Bucky snorted, "I know when something is happening, and something is happening right now, so what is it?"

He really did knew me well, didn't he, I guess it was to be expected, considering he lives with me, and it's one of my closests friends.

"Well," I sighed, starting to explain to him the whole situation, from Hank, to the almighty being that could possibly be a threat, for the entirity of the coversation, Bucky just sat there, listening to me, until I finished.

"Zombies huh?" Bucky sighed, "I read some books about that, but… I reckon the zombies you are talking about are not the ones I have read about, right?"

"No," I shook my head, "Unlike in the books, these zombies keep their skills, and knowledge, and well, you can imagine how an outbreak would result,"

"In days the earth would be plagued," Bucky sighed once again.

"Yep," I nodded, clicking my tongue.

"And, to top that of, we have a… God of some kind, as the responsible for the zombie virus," Bucky added.

"Yes, according to what I know, yes, he was the one to bring the quantum virus here," I nodded.

"That feels.. Cheap, someway," Bucky muttered in deep thought.

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Well, he's a God, like… a real one, right?" Bucky asked, and I nodded, "So… why the zombies?"

"Maybe he's playing with me?" I shrugged.

"No… that's not it," Bucky shook his head, "Look… of all the things he could've done… he sent a threat you were prepared to seal away, he must know if he's as powerful as you say, how powerful you are, the limits of your reach, and yet, he picked an obstacle you were fully prepared to tackle,"

I blinked, he had a point, the Beyonder could as I am now, blink me out of existence, and yet, he was playing whatever game he was playing very passively, heck, if he wanted to fuck me, he could've sent the virus to earth, instead of the almost unreachable Quantum Realm.

"I think he's testing you, or this attack wasn't directed at you at all," Bucky stated, "That or, someone is keeping tabs on him,"

"There's only one above him, and I doubt that guy would defend me," I replied, after all, what reason could the strongest being in the universe have to protect me, "Which leaves only the testing, and the not directed at me,"

"I don't know, I really can't wrap my head around this whole situation, something just doesn't fit, and I can't tell what," Bucky sighed, slouching into the sofa with a groan. "Life with you is never boring isn't it?" he added with a chuckle.

"I wish it was," I chuckled back.

—--

[Thor Odinson POV]

After one day of waiting.

The two axes I had commissioned were ready!

I barely could contain my grin, as I looked at the axes, embedded with my power, soon Alex would be able to use my thunder, to vanquish his enemies, and I would be there alongside him, looking mighty! Mighty fine.

"Thor, are you ready?" Sif asked.

I nodded, putting the axes on a metal box as it was tradition for the warrior in question to brutally break the box to get his gift.

"Alex will love them," Sif smiled.

I snorted, of course he would, it was gift from me! His brother, there was no other option but to love this present with every… what was the word… fiber of his body!

"I know," I nodded with a smug expression, "I bought them, they costed me a fortune,"

"Well, they are made entirely out of Uru, and your power… so I assume it took King Eitri more time than usual," Sif chuckled.

"Indeed," I nodded, with a grin.

"With gifts like that, I almost feel like you are trying to compete with me for his affections," Sif jested.

"Ha! Funny," I rolled my eyes at her, grabbing the metal box where the axes were with one hand.

"But in all seriousness, with gifts like that, mine will always look cheap," Sif chuckled.

I rolled my eyes once again, "You are his woman, sleep with him, and the moron will be grinning for a week,"

"Thor!" Sif gasped, followed by a fit of laughter.

"What?! It's true, we real men, are simply, give us food, sex, hair products, and weapons, and we'll be happy as we can be!" I nodded, it was the honest truth.

"Hair products?" Sif asked, her laughter dying into a chuckle.

"Yes, how else do you think my hair looks like it looks," Silly Sif, ignorant in the mysteries of men.

--

HOW THE AXES LOOK.

170 CHAPTER 166

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--

Knock.

Mighty Knock.

Mighty Knock Knock!

I blinked, opening my eyes, the sound of the door forcing my body to awake.

Sighing, I stood up, and checked on my map, to find Thor and Sif to be the ones responsible for my sudden awakening.

At least this time Thor had used the door, so that's progress.

"Brother!" Thor shouted, kicking the door away so fast, the door went past me faster than a bullet, gracing my cheek.

Forget my previous inner statement, Thor will never learn.

"Alex," Sif chuckled, waving at me, as Thor basically skipped towards me like a kid on drugs, and sight that made me shiver ever so lightly.

"So, what brings you two here?" I asked, yawning, ignoring Thor as he looked at me like a puppy waiting to be praised for something.

"Well, I wanted to see my boyfriend," Sif winked, "And Thor, wanted to see his… boy friend," she chuckled at that, laughing at her own joke.

"Very well," I chuckled.

"Enough of your flirting, you will have time to enjoy later, for now! Here!" Thor jumped in front of me, blocking my sight of Sif, basically shoving a big metal box on my face as he did so.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Open it!" Thor giggled.

I chuckled, grabbing the metal box from Thor's hand, as the God of Thunder himself took a few steps back in anticipation.

And while I had no idea what was happening, both the faces of Sif and Thor were enough of a giveaway to let me know this was a gift of sorts.

"Let's see," I muttered, looking at the box. Pure metal, all around.

Meaning, I had to break it.

With that thought in mind, I covered my hands with mana empowering my physical might, and tore the metal box apart like one would do cracking an egg, letting its contents fall into the floor of my room.

Two one-handed axes.

[Nameless Axes - Legendary Item

Material = Uru

Elemental Affinity = Thunder

Durability = N/A

Two axes crafted by no other than the King of Dwarves, Eitri, their power is unmeasurable, for they are as strong as their user.

500% Damage with Thunder Related Skills.]

"Look at his face!" Thor grinned, jumping up and down like a kid on a sugar rush, "I knew this was the perfect gift!"

I blinked, moving my gaze to Thor's, "This… just… wow,"

"I know, I'm amazing aren't I?" Thor's laugh boomed across my room, as I tried to grasp how to express my gratitude, I was honestly at a loss for words as I looked at Thor, and the weapons.

"What's going on?" Bucky said, walking to my room.

"Thor gifted Alex with two godly weapons," Sif replied, waving at him at he entered.

"Which means I win!" Thor barked.

"You win what?" Bucky raised his left eye brow.

"The bro contest," Thor nodded, as if Bucky was supposed to know that.

Bucky at this, looked at me, then at Thor, then back to me, then back to Thor, this continued for a few moments, until he simply turned around and said, "Ok, I'm out,"

"In your face! HA!" Thor however took this as a victory of some kind.

"Thor, I have no words," I muttered, feeling the weapons in my hands, they felt powerful, they were also very light, more light than they had any right to be, it almost felt my hands were naked, if it wasn't for the electric feeling I was feeling by holding them, I would've assumed I was dreaming in a way.

It would not be the first dream about weapons after all.

"Then don't say anything!" Thor grinned, giving me a one armed hug, using his other hand to point at my ceiling, "All you have to do is fight me with them!"

"What?" I chuckled.

"Well, I got you the axes, I got dibs in your first fight with them!" Thor nodded, as Sif shrugged in the back, like a mother saying just go with it.

"Sure, why not," I chuckled, "It would also be their first win with me,"

"HA! As if!" Thor laughed.

—--

[Thanos The Mad Titan POV]

The time for change was coming.

The time for salvation.

This universe needed me, I was the answer to the cosmic cry of agony that filled the universe.

Or maybe, I was the only one strong enough to heed that call, to understand the sacrifices that had to be done, to ensure the survival of the universe as a whole, the only one willing to do everything, even the greatest sin, for the sake of the universe.

"My lord," One of my most loyal servants, Ebony Maw kneeled before me.

"Any updates?" I asked, holding in my right hand, the first piece of six pieced puzzle to the universe salvation, the Mind Stone.

"None my Lord," Ebony shook his head, "I feel I have failed you, and if you so feel like it, my life is yours to take, as always has been,"

I smiled, there was no need for that, he was a loyal servant, a loyal son, but above all, a capable soldier, "No,"

"I'm not worthy of your mercy," Ebony replied.

"Don't worry about this little setback, time is what we have," I said, looking at the mind stone, "Soon, the Old King will die, and Earth will be unprotected, right now, all we have to do, is wait, after all, three of the stones are yet to be found, the reality stone, the space stone, and the soul stone, without those three, this universe won't have the release it so desperately needs,"

"Sources say the Skrull were the last ones to see the space stone, but that's so far nothing but a rumor, but one we can confirm for you, my lord," Ebony smiled.

"Do that," I nodded, "But leave the nine realms out of your search, the last thing we want is the Old King going after us," I was confident I would succeed, one day or another, but one thing was having confidence, and another was being a blind fool.

The Old King was powerful, more powerful than any other being in this universe.

I had seen his power in person, and I knew I was still not a match for him, but I also knew, his days were numbered.

And until his day came, I had no other choice but to wait.

"As you wish," Ebony nodded, before leaving the room.