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Chapter 65
Technomancer in MCU
The Asterisk
–Ed–
He smiled a wide happy smile once he felt the link that connected his soul to Alfred’s soul come back online. It felt different, a bit more equal so to speak. He could not quantify it but the bond he had with Alfred before he left was lopsided. It definitely became more and more stable over the years, as Alfred grew in both intelligence and maturity but it never quite became equal. He had a hunch that it was mainly due to Alfred’s digital nature and lack of a physical body that housed his soul that hindered him from taking the final step and today his hypothesis was proven correct when he felt the link come back alive with a bang.
He could actually feel the strength of Alfred’s soul and it shone brightly like a sun, nearing his overall soul strength. In fact, he felt that the only reason Alfred had not surpassed him was due to his age and inherent blessings from ROB, something that Alfred was deprived of since he was not whole when they crash-landed in this universe.
He was tempted to use his powers to truly feel the depth of his connection with Alfred but refrained from doing so as it would reduce his already precariously low lifespan, bringing it down to abysmal levels. So, instead, he decided to go meet Alfred in his new body and since Alfred was back, continued their plans of public revealing of their organisation as he no longer needed to postpone that bit of their H.Y.D.R.A. removal plan. Oh, he was giddy just thinking about it. They had been planning for that moment for a long time and when all the pieces they could account for had been gathered in place, arguably the most important part of the plan went missing.
He had a few theories as to why Alfred decided to drop everything and pursue building his body but none that could be confirmed independently without consulting either the Ancient One or Alfred himself. His best guess involved a mental attack of sorts on Alfred but that was near impossible to do for most entities in the universe or multiverse simply due to the fact that Alfred’s mind functioned at a speed and level that most beings simply wouldn't be able to keep up with. But before his abrupt leave, Alfred had abstained from practicing runes and stopped doing any personal rune work, a thing he loved doing. He also knew that ALfred’s mystical defenses mainly relied on runes and since he preferred active runes that could be altered in a moment during live combat, his sudden loss of abilities in the rune department could have lowered his defenses down enough for someone of considerable strength and expertise in the mental department to strike Alfred where he was the most vulnerable.
But now was not the time for that. Right now, he needed to see with his own eyes the body Alfred must have built for himself. They had not yet finalised every aspect of his body when he left but he was sure that any deficiencies in the design had been already corrected by Alfred before he even thought of integrating them with his body. Getting up from the bed, he scoffed internally as red alarms began blaring almost immediately in the ward he was in and the doors and windows began locking themselves automatically, effectively boxing him in the medical ward as if telling him to get back on the bed.
He smirked at that. It would seem Daisy had gotten some backbone but he had not come so far solely on the basis of Alfred. So, he got to work.
Frank and more importantly, Maria had insisted on replacing his war-ready usual suit with something more hospital friendly so for the time being, he was without his most trusted weapon that could hold its own against an entire army all by itself. If he had that, he could have just blasted the doors apart to get out of the medical ward. Come to think of it, that must be the reason they had removed it entirely instead of just putting on the modular hospital suit he had lying around in storage. Of course, that didn't mean he was out of options. He had built an entire organisation spanning multiple planets and solar systems solely on the basis of overpreparation and extreme paranoia.
Reaching around using his arm, he tapped the suit’s back where all the main components were stored. As it opened up on his command, a thin wire came out of it and he swiftly jammed it into the entrance console. The hub made a few beep-boop sounds and within a few seconds, voila! The Door was open.
Before exiting though, he wore his signature dreary grey clothing. No way he was going back on camera with his hospital scrubs. That would be so lame. As he exited his ward, he came to a scene of total chaos. Somebody was yelling at all the attendants present in front of him, evident by the collective wince they all shared from time to time but nobody had the courage to actually come and try to stop him. He internally nodded at that. It was good to see he was not immediately discarded from the pedestal these people put him on.
So, without missing a beat, he just carried on his way. Along the way to the Hangar, all the doors began closing on him but they never could completely stop him as he had the handy dandy master access he had built into every component of every system that the organisation ever installed into any of their bases or assets. It was quite intelligent only until someone hijacked it from outside.
..
..
He might have to remove all the backdoors with Alfred’s assistance after he comes back.
Speaking of Alfred, as he arrived at the Hangar, his personal jet was already up and running and when it came into his view, it immediately turned around and presented its backdoor bay for him to enter. Shaking his head, he turned around and waited for a beat or two before a rectangular package came barreling through one of the walls to slam onto his torso roughly. He slowly turned around and gave a deadpan stare at his personal jet, knowing that Alfred was watching. Amusingly, the jet titled its wings from one side to the other, expressing that it did not know anything. He chuckled, “Oh, come on. There was no way you didn't do that on purpose. We built that thing and its homing systems together. There is no possible way that it did not recognise a pre-coded path in our HQ and instead came barrelling through a wall, which might I add, was right next to the actual door.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Just get in the jet and get your old wrinkly ass down to Earth, will you?” came the rough hoarse voice from one of his suit’s speakers. He stared at the jet, astonished that Alfred would speak with him in such a tone. “Don’t make me put you over my knee, Alfred. Especially since I can do so with your physical body and this time, it could actually make you feel the pain instead of just limiting your access to the high-speed time dilated servers.” When he received no response, he nodded to himself as he took it as a sign of Alfred being sufficiently chastised.
By the time he finished speaking, his old suit had replaced the medical one and he gave the mental command for it to float but instead of entering the jet that he had hated from day one that was waiting for him, he instead activated the suit’s deep space mode and rocketed off the Hangar, probably generating a ton of energy due to the vibranium on the floors absorbing all the energy from his violent lift-off. “Oh, come on,” Alfred said exasperatedly while the jet was cruising alongside him right on their way to Earth, more specifically, Washington D.C. He took his time and performed stunts with the jet Alfred was controlling as a way to pass the time since he was feeling incredibly free and lightweight after a long long time. After all, Alfred gaining a physical body in accordance with his standards meant that almost all his future troubles were washed away. With his mind and now physical strength, he would be able to handle all of the things he was worried about. Especially since he had a hunch that with an actual body that could channel dimensional energy properly, Alfred would reach heights never thought of in the field of the Mystic Arts. The Ancient One herself had confided in him that should Alfred get his own body, as we were planning to, he would have all the tools and more importantly, the capability necessary to become the Sorcerer Supreme. He had been shocked at her statement back then as in his mind, sorcerers with potential like Dr.Strange were hard to find in multiple generations, especially with their plot armour but when he thought about it, he could see her point. And now, as he felt the metaphysical weight of Alfred’s soul, something that is crucial to becoming a competent sorcerer, he was sure that Alfred would go on to become the defender of Earth, as the Sorcerer Supreme or as the Lord Alfred of hundreds of millions of aliens or as the Head of the organisation.
Only time would tell, but the only thing going through his mind as he rocketed towards the smoking wreckage of the carriers was that Today was going to be epic.
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The Asterisk
–Maria Castle–
She saw the scene of Ed just bulldozing through all the measures they had put in place for him to remain on bed rest with a bittersweet smile. On one hand, his body had been weakened considerably in the last few days and he was simply in no condition to move around, let alone travel to Earth and carry out the plans they had planned and set into motion years ago but on the other hand, she hadn’t seen him smile and walk cheerfully like that ever since Alfred left. Maybe, just maybe, this could be good for him?
“Alfred, I hope you are seeing the same thing I am seeing and are suitably prepared to safeguard him?” she said out loud, knowing that Alfred was listening to her.
After a while, a “Yes, Mam,” sounded in her ear and she smiled subtly as she nodded.
“Any intake in my department that you have foreseen due to this event?” she asked Alfred as usually any time they carried out any of their plans, they managed to encounter underprivileged individuals who were in dire need of help and she had taken it upon herself to do so. So she was asking that so she could better prepare for anybody that needed to be admitted into her department. Her department took care of anybody who was rescued by their organisation, be it children or the elderly.
That was her duty.
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–Eric Diggle–
“So, how are the preparations going, Aniki?” He asked Jake since he had heard from the bridge gossip that the Superclass carrier had already been activated along with a new and improved N-reactor being delivered right to the carrier through a portal made by Alfred.
He wasn’t even aware it was possible to make a portal even near the carrier, let alone inside of it. But apparently, Alfred had a body now so he could ignore all the laws of physics(which he read after they were updated by the scientist when they got a better understanding of the universe after interacting with the Masters of the Mystic Arts) and make reality his bitch.
“Oh, the preparations are in full swing but it is not in our hands. I might as well have been watching a movie right now since Alfred has shut down all manual access points and is piloting the entire ship remotely. We should be converging on your location in T-minus 20 minutes. Be ready. Alfred has warned us about possible combat scenarios.” His brother, Jake, always the responsible one of the two, replied.
He rolled his eyes, “Oh, loosen up. With nearly all of the top-tier combat list of the organisation here, even the Avengers would have a hard time going back alive let alone defeating us. So, chill and remember to bring my special beer when you reach here.”
Jake scoffed and closed the transmission.
Rude.
There was no way anything could come close to threatening them now, especially on Earth since all the major players were now their allies.
So they were safe, weren't they?
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After a while
As he watched the madman shrugging off all their blows while laughing like a maniac as he held the head of the Ancient One in his hands, he cursed himself for taunting Murphy like that. Especially since Ed had woken up now after being knocked out by Alfred of all people and after seeing the scene, a strange golden glow began to suffuse his body as his entire being began screaming at him to run away from this place, from Ed.
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Word Count - 2247
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A / N : Hello guys!
Like the ending? That fight is going to be awesome but you guys will have to wait for it. Teehee!
In this chapter, Ed is back up on his feet due to his buddy Alfred coming back all the more stronger for it.
Alfred is completing his chores(WENWU) before coming back to the Triskelion for the big reveal.
The superclass carrier has been activated by Alfred to show the full might of the organisation to anyone that could be dumb enough to threaten them.
The world is not going to be ready for their public reveal and it might not go as smooth sailing for them as they had hoped as a big variable in their plans has been introduced that they themselves are not aware of.
Stay tuned!
Toodles!