Technomancer in MCU #115

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Chapter 115

Technomancer in MCU

Deep Space, Sanctuary II [2013]

–Thanos–

"Well, how will you proceed now, Thanos?" The mocking in Tivan's message was not as subtle as he thought it was or rather it was his way of mocking him for the newest obstacle on his way towards universal salvation. Granted, the hindrance this time was of much more significance than all the other ones that he had known about and prepared for but he would not be Thanos, Son of Alar's if he simply gave up on his goal just because of a new player on the board that could not be killed or rather, should not be killed for the collective good of the universe. 

"Hmm? Why so silent now? Disturbing the Singularity will not only bring about the wrath of the Immortals on you, it will also earn you the ire of the Singularity. I don't have to tell you just how disastrous that would be for both you and your crusade," Tivan's voice was now grating on his ears so he just waved his hand and closed the transmission.

The Singularity was a ticking time bomb but not for the universe. It was a bomb for itself. That much was common knowledge amongst the sufficiently powerful people of the universe. Death of the Singularity by the hands of any such beings that reside in their universe would result in catastrophic damage across the multiverse and that was not something that any of them wished for. Thus, it was common consensus to simply avoid the areas where the Singularity had its recorded presence. After all, the universe was a vast place and you could get anything you wanted in multiple different locations. It was not as if the people behind the common agreement had any idea that he was after the Infinity Stones, which were not something that could be found multiple of.

"Sire, should I send Cull to silence Tivan, once and for all?" Maw hissed behind him, outraged at the insult at his father figure.

He smiled grimly at the devotion and loyalty that was transparent in Maw's voice. He had at least done the right thing while choosing the members of his Order. Cull Obsidian in particular was one of his favourite members, not because of his extreme loyalty but because of the way Cull saw the universe. Cull's species was now extremely devout to him and his cause, simply because he was able to defeat, in public, their King as well as their strongest fighters. Their culture followed the rule of "Might makes right" and thus, they didn't even utter a sound when half of their population was slaughtered and the rest were made to create the strongest possible soldier on their planet and then send them to him, to serve as a member of his Black Order. Cull, in particular, was the strongest of his species, even stronger than his grandfather, who was the King he had personally killed.

"No need, Maw. It would just needlessly stir the hornet's nest. Besides, killing an immortal will make a few ripple waves and we have to avoid all the unpredictable waves right now. His time will come, I will make sure of it," He added with a ruthless glint in his eyes.

Sure, Cull could probably crush Tivan like a fruit but the security surrounding his personal space was formidable. It would take Cull a long time to get through all of the security measures that Tivan no doubt has in place and by the time Cull got through everything, Tivan would have been long gone. Not to mention the various dangerous, now extinct, species that Tivan had in his museum that he could unleash at will.

No, their biggest priority right now was the Infinity Stones, and seeing that at least two of them, more likely three, are on a single planet right now. Retrieving them was the priority and yet.

Yet, he could not make the decision to assault the SIngularity's home base just like that because doing so would be the height of utter foolishness. No, he had to prepare for the eventuality that the SIngularity would become a thorn in his way. A thorn that can not be uprooted without even worse consequences.

If the problem cannot be uprooted, then maybe, it can be manipulated. Slowly, bit by bit, a plan began forming in his head.

"Gamora?" He called out for his favourite daughter.

"She is on a mission on Xandar, my liege," Maw helpfully informed him.

"I see. Tell her to come back right this instant. We don't have much time if we want to get ahead of the Singularity," He ordered Maw and left his quarters to go to his personal library. He had a few books on mental and soul manipulation that he had to read. 

If he couldn't get the Infinity Stones without the Singularity's notice, he would just have to make sure that the Singularity doesn't come in his way, and what better way to do that other than using the Soul Stone?

….

…

Odin's Study, Royal Palace, Asgard

–Ed–

"What is going on?" He asked once he ran into the room, afraid of the answer. He could see Alfred slumped over on the bed nearby and Frigga running multiple healing and diagnostic spells on him even as Alfred's face continued to contort in pain, no doubt due to the stupid move he had made earlier about the rune branding. There was no way something like that did not have debilitating consequences.

"Just take a seat," Odin sighed and said in an uncharacteristically resigned voice. The premonition in his heart became a little stronger at that. Odin then looked at him and cast a spell of some sort that washed over his puppet body. He looked at his body, only to see a thin orange glow in his vision that seemed to come from the top of his face.

"Somebody better explain what is going on right now," He nearly ordered the King and Queen of Asgard who disregarded his plea immediately and continued to do what they were doing with his puppet body.

"I see. So, it was like that," Odin sighed and slumped back down on his chair, the orange glow in his vision fading at that.

Before he could get a word in about the absurdity of the situation, Frigga took over, "Ed, we, or rather, Alfred has discovered something terrible. Thanos has the Soul Stone in his possession,"

The words sent a chill down his spine. Thanos, even without the Stones was a dangerous opponent, but now that he was armed with what was arguably the most dangerous of the stones? It was going to be ten times more difficult to defeat him without it. 

"But what does that have to do with Alfred's current state?" He questioned them right back. Sure, a Thanos armed with the Soul Stone was a daunting opponent but there was no need for Alfred to do something drastic at the last moment, with his healing ritual on the horizon.

"It would seem his soul's link with his body has weakened to the point that Alfred's banishment of the spell hasn't caught up with him yet," Frigga mumbled, mostly to herself.

?!!

"Ed, Thanos has cast some sort of spell. Probably aimed at the Nine Realms, otherwise he would have already been dead if he tried to cast that spell, pan universe," Frigga said/

"He used the Soul Stone, probably in conjunction with the Power Stone, to supercharge a very basic spell. The spell "Gleymsku Galdr" is a very basic spell that is taught to beginner sorcerer in Asgard. It has a very small effect radius and can only be used on weak-willed people, all to one effect: To make people forget something. Thanos, armed with two stones, must have cast that spell over the entirety of the Nine Realms, making sure that everybody concerned forgot about one small detail. The fact that Thanos was after the Infinity Stones to do something and would need some sort of vessel made by the Dwarves from Nidavellir to actually help channel all that power without instantly dying," Odin said.

As soon as Odin completed his sentence, he felt a jolt in his soul before his puppet body began seizing up. The seizing continued for a few seconds before he felt the link that connected him and Toby light up with power, allowing his puppet body to settle down.

As soon as he sat down though, his eyes widened in horror and fear. It finally made sense to him.

"What the fuck? What has he done?" He mumbled to himself in horror at the piece of information. Somehow, Thanos cast a spell that overcame all the protections that Alfred had with his runes and made him forget about an emergency protocol that he had personally hardcoded into Alfred's systems and then even made him forget about that as well. Apart from him and Alfred, there was nobody else who was aware of that one single, very important event that would happen in the future.

The creation of the Infinity Gauntlet.

A weapon, capable of handling and channeling the might of all 6 of the Infinity Stones without crumbling immediately. It was debated endlessly back in his college about how Thanos could have been stopped in his tracks, allowing the rest of the forces of the universe to catch up to him and stop him from accomplishing his goals because even Thanos, while definitely stronger than most of the forces of the universe, would not have survived the onslaught of everybody in the universe aiming their cannons at him.

The events that culminated in the Snap, happened in rapid succession, allowing Thanos to complete his goal without much opposition from the major superpowers of the universe. But if Thanos was not given the weapon he needs to complete his goal, he would have been stopped in his tracks. Sure, it would have taken a huge toll on the fighting forces but it would have been lower than half of the universe. There were also some extreme measures in them that would blow up Nidavellir and displace all of the Dwarves so that Thanos could never get his Gauntlet and yet, Thanos had gotten ahead of them.

Even with all the preparation they had done in anticipation of his arrival, just the fact that Thanos now had the Infinity Gauntlet that allowed him to easily wield at least two stones, meant that they too were going to need someone who could fight Thanos with another set of Infinity Stones.

God, this was so messed up.

How could Alfred of all people have forgotten to fortify his soul with runes? He was the expert in the subject of runes and he was the most paranoid bastard he knew. He should know, he created Alfred in the first place. 

The atmosphere in the room turned gloomy. Things just went from bad to worse. Now, with Alfred seemingly out of commission, how could they proceed?

"Uhh, what did I miss?" Alfred groaned as he sat upright. He noticed that he was mostly piloting his body using the energy of the Arc reactors. 

He winced internally at that. It meant that Alfred, the veritable Mystical powerhouse, did not have enough juice in him to even move his body without external help. At this moment, both he and Alfred were just puppetting their bodies to move, him with his soul and Alfred with his mind, with the help of the Arc reactor.

What a sad show for supposedly the strongest people on Earth.

"Ah, why is everyone so gloom and doom? Come on, we haven't lost yet. Look, it doesn't matter if Thanos has the Infinity Gauntlet if he never gets his hands on the other stones and I…I will make sure that doesn't happen." Alfred said passionately. His passion would have been more believable and contaminating if he wasn't struggling to even move his limbs to get down from his bed.

Even so, he smiled weakly and replied, "Yeah, it's not like this is the end. We still have our people and we will make sure that they are safe, right Alfred?" 

Alfred looked at him, genuinely surprised, and then smiled softly, nodding with his empty words of assurance.

Word Count - 2077

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A/N - If you guys don't remember. Ancient One actually sealed all of Alfred's knowledge regarding the mystics (CH 40) and that led to him being vulnerable by mental assaults of all sorts. He was affected by both Dormammu and even Thanos' spell. It was just that Thanos' spell was just a supercharged basic spell that worked way too well on both Ed and Alfred, making them forget a very important detail in THanos' plans for the Snap.

In my opinion, if Nidavellir was saved and the universe had gotten to know about Thanos' plan, there was no way he could have succeeded, at least not with the ease he did in the movies.

I am sure that hundreds of powerful people would have gladly thrown themselves against his forces if the entire universe knew that they had a fifty percent chance of surviving Thanos' crusade.

Toodles!