If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https://www.patreón.com/cornbringer
Discord invite: https://discord.gg/XHduApz
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I slowly opened my eyes, feeling a soft breeze brushing against my face as I dwelled on Tiamut's words, his sacrifice, and how happy he had been, by all means, I was his killer, and yet, he had welcomed his end.
I sighed, closing my eyes for a brief moment, taking the moment in, before focusing on the matter at hand, Alice.
With my objective at hand, I teleported to where Alice was, to find her clashing weapons with Hela, by the looks of it, Alice was winning, having Hela in a rather poor state, bleeding all over with various cuts and gash wounds decorating her body from top to bottom.
Even so, Hela wasn't giving up, fighting Alice with a wild grin on her face, welcoming the challenge.
"Enough," I commanded, using [Macro] to force both fighters to freeze in place.
"And the King arrives," Hela grinned.
"You… but, it should've taken you longer to overpower the big oaf!" Alice roared, but I ignored her, floating towards Hela.
"I have no doubts you did this for some ulterior motives, but thanks," I smiled, placing my hand on her shoulder, healing all of her wounds before realizing her from my magical hold that kept her from moving.
"What can I say, darling? I'm a warrior, and the moment Thor offered me a chance to fight a strong opponent, I hardly could say no to that," Hela smiled.
I nodded, turning my focus to find the Ancient One which according to my map, was a few meters away from here, laying on the floor in critical condition.
Without a second thought, I rushed to her side and healed her wounds.
"Are you okay?" I asked, helping her stand up.
"I am now, Mr. Walker," The Ancient One smiled, her gaze fixated on Alice.
"I didn't… imagine she would… overpower you this way," I sighed, feeling a bit guilty from letting her deal with her technically alone.
"Worry not, Mr. Walker, she simply prepared for me very well, it wasn't a matter of power, it was a matter of preparation, she damaged the part of my soul in Dormammu's dimension, using a rather vexing spell, that transferred that damage to my real body if it wasn't for Hela, and your potions I would've died the moment she arrived," She sighed, "I was simply too careless."
I had almost forgotten the situation with her soul, "I will fix that situation, don't worry."
The Ancient One chuckled, "As you are now, I suppose there's no reason to be afraid, at least not entirely," she smiled.
"Darling, not to interrupt a moment or anything, but crazy over here needs to be dealt with, and yes, I see the irony in that, but… it takes crazy to know crazy, and she's… leagues above me in that department," Hela interrupted, her cold gaze laying upon Alice who simply mumbled under her breath.
I nodded, walking towards Alice.
"You took everything from me," Alice chuckled in a deranged way, tears dropping like a dam that had just been broken, "You took my chance to recover it all. You are the reason I lost it all! WHY MUST YOU KEEP TAKING FROM ME!" she exploded in a wail, her eyes staring into mine.
I said nothing, putting my hand over her head. It was time to see, what drove her to this.
—-------------------------------------------------------------------
[Alice's Mind]
I peered into Alice's soul, reaching her memories, her first day on earth, filled with confusion, not only at her gender that for her seemed to be wrong, but at her sudden awakening.
Then getting kidnapped by Hydra, until that point, both of our stories were relatively the same, however, Alice's power developed exponentially, and soon proved too much for Hydra to control.
She, however, remained in Hydra just enough to love someone, Emily, with her being the catalyst for her sudden evolution into an unstoppable killing machine.
From there, she lived with Emily roaming the country, and she was happy.
It didn't matter anymore that she was a woman, all that mattered was the love she had for little Em.
For that love, she killed Jean before she could even reach a state of danger, for that love, she killed Fury, who tried in her universe to blackmail her.
At every turn, wondering, if what she felt was the love of a mother or that of a father. Eventually, she came to answer, and that was, she didn't care, she loved Emily, and Emily loved her back, and that was all it mattered.
She grew stronger, she trained for that every single day, after all, she had something to protect, she systematically killed everyone that represented a threat.
Then, the TVA came.
She didn't have time to react, her universe was simply gone in an instant, with it, the one person she loved.
Madness and despair finally overtook her, as she realized someone had saved her and not Emily.
She knew that person had the power to do so, she felt it, and yet, he did nothing.
She was powerless, she felt powerless, and for a while, she wallowed in despair, jumping from timeline to timeline, seeing how every version of her, of the original, was being targeted by the TVA.
Was he even around? Did he even exist? Or had the TVA already killed him? She knew we weren't supposed to be, not as much as I knew, but she knew.
She wondered, in a flicker of her old self, was I suffering just like her?
No, the almighty being that saved her replied, appearing to her side, showing her my world, offering her a place in it, a chance to have what she had lost.
She raged, everyone else, but the cause of her existence were suffering, and the being that could've saved her offered crumbs!?
She wanted to kill him, but she knew best, and instead happily accepted his offer, coming to a new resolution, if the copies were destined to suffer, she would become the original, so that no one could take anything from her any longer.
From that point on, everything checked, falling into place like a solved puzzle.
—-----------
[Back to the real world]
It took me roughly one second to read her story, my mind absorbing every little detail, every event, every tear she had shed.
"I'm sorry," I apologized, I wasn't to blame, not directly, but I still felt petty for her, who knew what I would've done if someone had killed Emily.
"I hate you," Alice wailed, laughing every now and then, "I hate you all."
"I will avenge her, your Emily, every Emily and version of me that suffered at their hands," I promised, "I will destroy the TVA, and make them suffer, so… rest in peace, Alice." with that said, I offered her the best I could, a painless death by erasing her existence, seeing a small smile on her face on her last moments.
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https://www.patreón.com/cornbringer
Discord invite: https://discord.gg/XHduApz
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Race = Unknown/Celestial.
Title = The Gamer
Occupation = Prince of Asgard.
Ranking = 97th
Level = 1797
EXP = 0%/100%
HP = 314,447,500/314,447,500
MP = 357,740,000/357,740,000
STR = 559875 (+223950) = 783825
VIT = 628895
DEF = 321247
DEX= 479125
INT = 715480
CHA = 156625
WIS = 515478
WILL = 198215
PER = 176456
LUK = 6000
STAT POINTS = 21450
MONEY: 43,108,732,912.30$
]
Finally in the top 100.
I knew I would reach that line one day, but I never expect it to happen so soon.
I sighed, turning around to greet Thor.
Who teleported to earth using a beam of light that hit the ground with earth-breaking power, "Brother!" he grinned, approaching me with beaming eyes.
"How's Asgard?" I asked. If memory served me right, Alice had opened multiple portals to an eldritch dimension, that had monsters very similar to the symbiotes, monsters that were a bit more feral in essence.
"Good, it was more bothersome than hard to deal with, really," Thor sighed, "It just took some time," he added, turning his gaze to Hela.
"As you can see, I did what I was told," Hela smiled, her eyes shining in a prideful manner.
"She did," I nodded.
"Good," Thor nodded, before chuckling, "God, and by that I mean, me, competing with you is a rather exhausting task, brother, just a day ago, I was stronger than you, but once again, you leave me in the dust, quite literally, granted, you ate a planet baby to do that, but still…" he pouted.
I snorted.
"I doubt there's anyone strong enough to pose a threat to you now," Hela commented.
Poor ignorant child, "There are, exactly ninety-six beings above me in power," I replied, which was more than enough to make her eyes go wide.
"That monster is amongst them, right?" Thor asked, and immediately I knew to whom he was referring, the Beyonder.
"Of course," I nodded, his power was leagues above mine, even now, but, I was getting closer, climbing that ladder one step at a time.
"I figured," Thor sighed as he looked aimlessly into the sky before deciding to shout, "Oh well, time to train!"
I chuckled.
"I will reach your level soon enough brother! So just wait!" Thor beamed laughing like a madman while opening a portal to Asgard.
"Well, as much as I liked battling the lunatic, and the bit of freedom I was given, I'm afraid it's my time to go as well," Hela sighed, walking towards Thor, "I am… reluctantly ready for my punishment, Thor."
"Bah, don't worry, I will go easy on you, I mean, it's not the first time a sibling has tried to kill me, by the age of ten Loki had tried to end me twenty-eight times, twenty-nine if you count the snake incident! It's pretty much a family tradition at this point," Thor laughed, grabbing Hela by the waist with a single hand and throwing her into the portal like a fucking spear.
"Thor, have you considered… I don't know… therapy?" I asked, concerned about his… mental stability.
"No, why would I?" Thor replied, tilting his head to the side in confusion, "But talking about therapy, do you think Doctor Walker, will take Hela too? Maybe making it a package deal, two for one?"
"You mean, Emily?" I asked, wondering if he was high.
"Yes," Thor nodded.
"Emily wasn't charging you anything," I chuckled.
"At first, but then Nat came, saying she was her manager, and that Emily's premium services as a therapist were worth Volstagg weight, in gold," Thor chuckled, "So, I paid."
"I… I don't know if I should feel proud, or concerned," I muttered.
"Both," The Ancient One replied.
"Very well, I am proudcerned," I chuckled, turning to face Thor once again, "I will talk with Nat, maybe she will make an exception, family discount, and stuff," I nodded.
"Wonderful! I mean, Asgard is rich, but we only have so much gold," Thor chuckled, jumping into the portal with a wink, one that let me know he was okay with Nat taking his gold, he was just being extra for the sake of it.
"So, now what?" The Ancient One asked as the portal Thor had created closed.
I mused at her question for a bit, remembering something in the process, the mission to conquer earth, a mission I had not completed because at the time I was too weak to do so, something that was no longer a variable stopping me from taking action, "Now I conquer earth," I replied.
"...."
"Yes, I'm aware that sounded rather ominous, and that without context would leave me in a bad light," I nodded, feeling her judgmental gaze on my back.
"Very well then," The Ancient One chuckled, "How can I help?"
"Weren't you judging me like a second ago," I snorted.
"I would never," The Ancient One gasped playfully.
"But as for help, well," I smiled, as I started to describe in detail what conquering the earth entailed, and the benefits it would bring, like for example having the power to block the entrance to the planet to dangerous individuals as long as they were below my level.
"I see," The Ancient One nodded, "I like the idea, it would save us a lot of time if we could only keep undesired individuals out of the planet."
"Yes," I nodded.
"So, I guess the next question is, what to do with them?" The Ancient One asked, pointing at the unconscious Eternals around.
"Let's ask them," I replied, using a pulse of cosmic energy to not only wake them up but bind them in place.
"You did it," Ajak muttered as she came back to her senses, looking at me in utter shock.
"I did," I nodded.
"He will kill you all, you saved nothing!" Ajak shot back, probably referring to the Celestial that had ordered her to ensure Tiamut's emergence.
"Who knows," I smiled while using my map to locate the strongest Celestials. [Jemiah The Analyzer LV 1401], [Nezarr the Calculator LV 1489], [Hargen the Measurer LV 1390], [Esos The Searcher LV 1460], [Arishem the Judge LV 1701].
"You have no idea who you're dealing with," Ajak replied, "You ate…. One of them, and he will judge you accordingly."
I chuckled, "Maybe, but enough about that, I didn't wake you up so that you could tell me how death I apparently am, I woke you up, to talk about your future."
"We will never work for you, beast," Ikaris spat in clear anger.
"I… didn't ask," I replied, before continuing, "But, basically, my offer was, that if you guys want, you can stay on earth, no need for you guys to fight the deviants and stuff, I will deal with that myself, or rather my group."
"She killed them all," Ajak replied.
"But you are not her," Thena sighed, "Yet, you feel like her, no… rather, she felt like you but corrupted, I guess I didn't notice until now."
"What we want is inconsequential," Ajak sighed, her eyes staring into mine, "Earth is doomed, he will see to it."
"You think?" I hummed, not really worried about that, not because I was stronger than him, but because we both shared a common enemy that was about to wake up any day soon, Knull, "Let me ask him," I smiled, opening a portal to meet the Celestial, who I had a feeling, would be more understanding than Ajak imagined.
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT