In an instant, the light and shadow around changed. Austin didn't even have time to react.
Even Pietro with super speed did not have time to rescue them. In just one-hundredth of a second, Austin only felt his body shudder, and then his consciousness and body plunged down sharply.
Austin's sense of survival made him look up, then he was shocked to find that he was like a camera falling to the bottom of the sea, falling down at high speed. Besides watching the sunlight on the sea surface gradually move away from him, there was no other way.
Austin wanted to turn his head to look at Pietro's position. If he remembered correctly, Pietro should have fallen into that purple light and shadow like himself. But to Austin's surprise, his perspective seemed to be fixed and he couldn't move at all.
Then, all the light disappeared in the distance. All observable matter and light around disappeared, leaving only Austin's consciousness drifting in this endless darkness.
"Where is this?"
Austin wanted to speak but found that he couldn't feel his body at all. Even the most basic senses of touch and taste had disappeared, which made him instinctively feel a little scared.
But soon, Austin forced himself not to think randomly or feel any fear. The most important thing now should be to think about why he would come here and why he was in this bizarre state.
Where exactly is this place?
He should have been teleported away by the Miss Minutes. Why did he end up in endless darkness? Most importantly, where did his body go?
If it wasn't the portal that had separated his soul consciousness from his body in an instant, then there was only one possibility - he should be in a dream at this moment.
Perhaps this was the only explanation. Austin was no genius and didn't understand physics at all. He couldn't scientifically explain his current state, he could only guess based on the experience most similar to what he had now.
So, This feeling at this moment is undoubtedly the most similar to the feeling in the dream.
Suddenly, a shimmering light came from 'behind', Austin only felt that something was glowing behind him, and the light was getting stronger and stronger, but he couldn't control his field of vision, much less turn his head to see what was behind him.
Just as Austin was getting a little anxious, he suddenly felt his vision shift a little. Austin was a bit confused, but he soon realized that he was actually turning his perspective, although very slowly, he was definitely "looking back".
Light gradually appeared from the right, and Austin's gaze slowly shifted from darkness to the direction from which the light came.
At first, it was just some faint starlight, which seemed to be a ribbon of streams of light converging like the Milky Way, glittering in the darkness.
As the perspective expanded, Austin found that there was not just one, but countless silk ribbons flowing by, composed of stars, looking like mirror shards reflecting countless chaotic spacetime, fused and gathered into an unimaginably huge "tree".
The World Tree?
This was the first word that appeared in Austin's mind, but although very figurative, it still couldn't compare to the magnificent scene before him. It was not a "World Tree" composed of multiple worlds and planets. Instead, it looked more like a terrifying time flow formed by countless mutually attracted and combined multiverses.
Then, these rays of light grew bigger and bigger. At first, there were only the glaring starlights in front. Soon, Austin even felt that many similar starlight ribbons had appeared around him.
Countless starlights filled Austin's sight. The amazing brightness made him unconsciously close his eyes.
The next moment -
Ding! Clatter! Slap!
A cacophony of sounds reached his ears, and along with it, there was also pain on his body and Pietro's scream next to him.
When he opened his eyes again, the light returned to Austin's sight. What he saw around was an empty alley, with a few alley cats rushing out of the trash can and disappearing around the street corner.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"Ah! My leg!"
Just as Austin was observing the situation around, a cry of pain brought Austin back to his senses. Looking over, he saw Pietro fall to the ground with his wheelchair overturned.
"Pietro, are you okay?" Austin got up from the ground, ignoring the pain from his body, and quickly stepped in front of Pietro.
"I'm, I'm fine." Pietro covered his injured thigh. "You didn't tell me our trip would be so exciting. My leg that was just about healed almost broke again from the fall!"
"You can still chatter like this, it doesn't seem to be a serious injury." Austin's words were harsh, but the anxiety in his heart dissipated. He picked up the wheelchair and then turned around to help support Pietro.
"It's okay, I can do it myself. This is a good thing, isn't it? At least it proves my leg is really healing fast, otherwise, it wouldn't be so sensitive. I guess a few more hours and it'll be fine, no later than tomorrow sunrise at the latest."
Struggling to get up with one limp, Pietro sat in his wheelchair. Austin somehow felt that he was talking a lot more than before, it seemed to have started after he found out that President X was dead. This was a good thing, after all, at least Pietro didn't look as decadent as before.
"That's not bad, I thought you would need a few months." Austin looked at Pietro's leg, which was wrapped up tightly, looking no different from before.
"Super speed, remember? I'm a Speedster, as long as it's not a fatal injury, I can recover within a week. I even think it's too slow now." Pietro grinned, but he looked around and asked Austin, "So did we make it?"
Hearing Pietro's question, Austin slowly picked up the TamPad that had fallen to the ground and nodded slightly.
"Ah, it should have succeeded, the TamPad is not an ordinary thing. It possesses the power to be able to travel through the multiverse, so no matter where this place is, we have already left the previous universe at this point."
As Austin confirmed this, Pietro's breathing became hurried, seemingly very excited, and his body trembled slightly.
"I, I can't believe we actually succeeded. No one has ever been able to activate this device before. How did you do it?"
"I don't know either." Austin looked deeply at the TamPad in his hand, with his face reflecting on its black screen. Recalling the experience just now, Austin rubbed his temples.
"Austin, are you alright?" Seeing that Austin was not in the right state, Pietro poked Austin's arm with his hand.
"I'm fine. The most important thing now is to see the situation of this world. Don't forget that we are illegal immigrants in this world. For safety reasons, let's first gather some information about this world."
With a wave of his hand, Austin walked behind Pietro. Although the two were very dirty now, overall they were still fine. Even if they met someone, they wouldn't attract too much attention.
Smiling and Searching for a more Lively direction, Austin pushed the wheelchair, and together with Pietro, slowly walked along the dark alley toward the street filled with sunshine and laughter.
Watching the street bathed in sunlight getting closer and closer, Pietro's heart was getting more and more excited. He hadn't felt this kind of light that brought a warm and cozy feeling to people for an unknown period of time.
And on Austin's tight face, a little smile finally appeared. Listening to the increasingly clear frolicking sounds and laughter, Austin's heavy heart also gradually relaxed.
Finally, the two walked out of the gloomy, enclosed alley and onto the lively and prosperous street.
Countless pedestrians were walking on the street, a few teenagers on skateboards were quickly walking through the crowd, and some women dressed in office wear were jogging with coffee in hand, rushing towards their destination. Everyone had their own goals, and everything was so natural.
Austin couldn't help but smile as he watched this busy street. Austin even wanted to shout out loud to vent all the anxiety and pain he had experienced recently.
Although there is not much difference between this and the foreign streets in his memory, but Austin still feels very novel.
At this moment, he could finally experience the beauty of different worlds with peace of mind. Without those terrible pressures on him, Austin eagerly wanted to enjoy the services of this exotic land.
Redirecting his gaze, Austin looked towards the large screen on the high floor, where advertisements of various novelty brands were being shown.
However, in the next moment, Austin's smile froze instantly, and his entire face became stiff.
Only to see that above the huge electronic screen of the building in the distance, the city slogan was written in colorful letters:
--Welcome to Metropolis!--
(End Of The Chapter)...To be continued.
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( T/N: Spoiler Ahead for Loki S2!!
The World Tree: Marvel continues to incorporate Yggdrasil in its Thor & Loki projects. In the Loki Season 2 finale, the titular character spoke with He Who Remains, Mobius, and Sylvie, finally realizing his glorious purpose. To protect his loved ones and allow everyone in the multiverse to have free will, Loki took it upon himself to sustain the Multiverse.
He replaced He Who Remains, exploded the Temporal Loom, and revived all the multiversal branches with his own power. Realizing his true potential, he took the throne at the end of time and held the multiverse intact with his own magical power. So, he literally turned the Multiverse into a tree of life, inspired by Yggdrasil.
So how can this work for the entire multiverse to be made up of Yggdrasil while the 616 universe is ALSO made up of Yggdrasil? If anything, the World Tree being a structure of alignment for various realms shouldn't be considered a thing for just one Universe. Think of the version of Yggdrasil that Loki is now seated inside of that, which holds the entire multiverse, as a house, and each timeline or universe is its own room. Each of these has its own version of Yggdrasil in a way (at least 616 does) since the Nine Realms in the 616 universe are basically just other planets.
Loki season 2 has not only redefined what Yggdrasil, the World Tree means on the whole in its own mythology but made the meaning even deeper by putting one of its key characters at the center of it all. )
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