The "G" Shield

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Nidavellir [July 2015]

–Jack Sullivan–

Uhh. Good news, Nidavellir was still standing. The Dyson Sphere was still active, the Dwarves were still working.

Bad news. Asgard had stopped responding to Eitri's pleas for over a year now, forcing the Dwarves themselves to defend against the unending stream of pirates that lusted after the mythical weapons that the Dwarves made and stored on Nidavellir.

Even Worse news, after a year of inactivity from Asgard's side and after the first casualty on the Dwarven side, Eitri decided to go to another God King of another Pantheon to gain protection since Odin himself was clearly not going to provide Nidavellir with the protection that was promised to them when the Nine Realms swore fealty to Odin Borson, as the All_Father of the Nine Realms.

That meant that Eitri, along with two of his finest Dwarves were currently on their way to Omnipotence City, the place where most of the powerful gods of the Marvel Universe resided, including Zeus, someone who was touted to be almost as powerful as Odin himself in his prime. That was the person whose protection Eitri had gone to obtain so that none of his Dwarven brethren had to die.

The moment a Dwarven life had lost, Eitri had gone ballistic and had actually weaponised the Dyson Sphere that was also their home and had basically vaporised all the pirate ships that had even come close or were just waiting for the other pirates to wear down Nidavellir's defenses. That had actually spooked all the waiting pirates so the attacks had ceased to come but the Dwarves were still worried, something that had not happened for over a thousand years now.

They had enjoyed an unprecedented era of peace under the rule of Odin but now that Odin was off the throne, not that anyone knew of it, their protection was gone and Nidavellir was once again exposed to the cold harsh dangers of space.

The younger Dwarves had huddled all around Thor, clearly knowing him, and were relieved that now that Asgard's strongest was here, they didn't have to constantly worry about dying or being taken against their will. The Older ones were relieved clearly, but they were also wary of the Crown Prince, probably because they had just admitted to what amounted to Treason because their King had now gone to a foreign rival power for protection, not that anyone blamed them considering that Asgard had gone silent for years now.

"We must make haste, something is afoot on Asgard and I need to understand why we have abandoned our allies in their time of need," Thor, after he was done addressing the crowd of Dwarves and assured them that their would be no action taken against Eitri just because he wanted to secure his people, had taken him aside and whispered to him with a sense of urgency.

He agreed, obviously but it was clear that they had to do something to make sure that the Dwarven population was appeased because trust in Asgard seemed to be at an all time low, justifiably so.

"We need to do something before we leave because they are clearly in danger and while I have not sensed any pirate ship nearby, it is only a matter of time before the deterrence of their giant Sun Ray runs out and pirates come out in droves because of their greed," he advised Thor who nodded at that, clearly already knowing it.

"I know. I'll do something but for that, I need more power than I currently have. Can you lend me the Power Stone?" 

Thor's words brought him to a halt because how the fuck did the man know that he had the Power Stone and just how was he going to use the Infinity Stone to power something?

Nevertheless, he acquiesced to the request of the vastly powerful ally, and hesitantly floated the Power Stone out of the container, clad in his barriers.

Thor just kept his palm open and looked at him. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. I am positive that nothing will happen to me. I am hardier than I look," That was not what he was worried about but Okay. He shrugged and dropped the stone on Thor's waiting palm.

The result was…not that dramatic.

Thor's body was shrouded in the same blue and white lightning but streaks of purple were now visible, but only barely. Thor's eyes were also the same blue colour. Mjolnir was floating by his side, not being used at all, in the massive spell matrix that had appeared in front of Thor.

The surrounding Dwarves, who were all clearly listening in on their conversation, surrounded him and the now floating Thor as Thor mumbled and waved his hands, creating and changing the spell matrix that had appeared in front of him. It was all Nordic magic and he was not even close to an expert in this regard.

Yet, he could read some of the symbols, and the runes and he was pretty sure that most of it was related to barriers, protection, energy, explosion. That was all he could read before Thor roared and punched in the centre of the spell matrix, with the hand that held the Power Stone. Seriously, Asgardian physiology was seriously busted because Thor didn't even get the Purple veins all along his arm when he used the Power Stone.

He watched in awe as the spell matrix, which was mostly golden with a dash of white in it, glowed Purple before it exploded in a wave that passed over all of them. The energy of the spell was so potent that he was almost overwhelmed with the energy feedback he got from his barriers as the wave of purple washed over all of the people present.

Although the wave of energy just passed over him, he looked at the surrounding Dwarves as they now had a purple glow all over them. They were understandably wary and he was about to tell them that it was just a localised protection spell when Thor descended from the sky, tossing the Power Stone at him, which was actually smoking, as he spoke.

"Do not fret, my Dwarven friends. That is a protection spell that is a smaller part of the larger one that I have cast all over Nidavellir. It is a barrier that will protect you but will also make sure that any attacker does not get out of this situation scot free. It will also instantly warn me if any attack happens and let me assure you, I will be here as fast I can be, once the spell matrix is triggered."

The Dwarves looked mollified by that guarantee, especially since they could now see the massive purple wave that now filled their skies.

"Really? A spell of that level and reach? Even Odin couldn't have cast it without external help," He couldn't help but comment on the spell that Thor had just cast.

"Don't be silly, Jack. Odin has external help. It is called the Odin Force," Thor commented before he stepped forward into the gaggle of younger Dwarves who were much more agreeable with the Crown Prince, explaining the spell and its benefits to everyone and how it will be activated on its own for protection.

But for offense, they need to activate it manually. And what a genius it was. Thor had installed a module in the spell that would borrow from the giant reservoir of Power Stone energy that was now suspended mid air, which was probably made from Uru, and then allow the Dwarves to use that same energy to attack, creating a scenario where the Dwarves can now attack using the Power Stone energy which is highly lethal to almost every single living being in the universe and then also use that same well of energy to power the massive barrier that now covered the entirety of their Dyson Sphere.

It was genius, and also at a skill level that was more along the likes of Odin, Frigga or the Sorcerer Supreme, not Thor, whose main fighting way was that of a complete and utter brute with phenomenal battle instincts.

"Let's go," Thor, after having explained the spell that had most of the Dwarves cheering, came to him and held his hand, making him look up at Thor in confusion. DIdn't they need to find the old ways portal nearby to head to Asgard?

His confusion must have been visible on his face because Thor chuckled and answered, "Normally, I wouldn't have anywhere near the power required to brute force a portal to Asgard but fortunately, I have way too much energy right now, courtesy of the Infinity Stone you are lugging around," 

Oh. Oooh.

Thor chuckled once again and waved his hand in the air, slashing the space itself and creating a portal that led straight to….wasteland?

They passed through the portal, which closed with a pop as soon as they cleared it, and came face to face with what could only be called a giant dry mountainous wasteland. It was dry brown rock as far as his vision could go.

"By the Gods, what has happened," he heard Thor mutter before the resident Crown Prince flew away. He rolled his eyes and followed suit.

He soon caught up with Thor who slowly landed in front of a hut, something that was built by the resources that they had scavenged from the nearby areas, scarce as they may be.

"Um, Thor? Why are we here? Last I remembered, Asgard was more…shiny," He commented on the location but Thor's focus was on the hut and the lack of a door on it. He too looked and then he immediately reared back, as..Heimdall stepped through the hut.

He had clearly been in a very bad situation.

"By Odin's beard, Heimdall!" Thor exclaimed and flashed across the space to help Heimdall, who did not look as if he needed help, aside from his ribs clearly being visible. 

Damn, what did they do to the handsome face of Idris Elba here?

"My Prince, you *Cough* have finally returned," Heimdall exclaimed, although his eyes were not looking at Thor. They were looking straight up.

He promptly took out water and dried meat from his hammerspace and handed it to Thor who immediately began feeding it to Heimdall. Heimdall, after drinking a bit of water, sat upright, his condition visibly improving.

Just what in the hell has Loki been doing here? He could remember him being mischievous but not this cruel, to sentence a man, someone who was the right hand man of Odin, to this fate, a fate worse than death, slowly dying of thirst and starvation.

"The supplies, they dwindled after a few moons, and then they stopped coming altogether. Axl, I had to send him away for his own safety," Heimdall said in between mouthfuls of food and water, and the weather above them grew stormy, even though Thor's face remained placid at the plight of Heimdall.

Asgardian bodies were very resilient but even they had to give in once they were without adequate food, water, and even magic for over a year. This area was devoid of magic as well. He could feel it in the way, his barriers couldn't even sense residual magical energy in the air.

A wasteland, in all meanings of the word.

"Heimdall, what has happened to Father? What is this madness? Why do this? I have not sensed his gaze on me, even now. He should have been alerted to my arrival immediately and yet, nothing," Thor's words were not almost desperate, pleading. He had probably realised something and was only waiting for Heimdall to confirm it for him.

Heimdall finished swallowing his food, drank a good gulp of the water, and then slowly looked into Thor's eyes, the look in his eyes giving even him chills, as Heimdall slowly and clearly spoke.

"My Prince, you clearly have your answer, why bother asking a dying man? Odin….isn't here anymore," Heimdall said so and then his eyes rolled back in their socket as he collapsed back.

He promptly covered Heimdall in his barriers and then placed him down on a bed he was also carrying in his hammerspace. He was kind of a fan of overpreparation so he had everything that he could ever need, in his space.

Thor took one look at Heimdall's chest, with his ribs sticking out, and his face contorted in rage, the skies above crying in protest as strikes of lighting struck out at every single mountain around them as rain poured down in this wasteland, probably for the first time.

"Jack, I need to have a talk with someone. Can I trust you to take care of Heimdall?" Thor's words had gained a gravelly tone to it, with Mjolnir grasped tightly in his hand, his eyes glowing blue and arcs of lighting barely covered in his aura.

"Sure. But are you certain that you won't need my help?" 

Thor smiled at him, and it was not a good smile. No sir, not at all.

"You have helped enough, Jack. Leave the rest…to me," Saying so, Thor's form disappeared. He didn't fly up or flew fast enough to leave afterimages. No, he just straight up…disappeared.

Damn, Loki was probably not going to be in good condition once they finally made it to Asgard.

"Come on, buddy, let's get to Asdgard before our Prince here ends up destroying the damn city," He muttered to Heimdall as multiple healing spells were cast on the man. The problem was that his spells were basic tier and they were basic tier, even for humans.

No way they were going to do anything worth a damn to an Asgardian, and a pretty high tier one at that.

So, they were going to need Asgardian Healers for this.

"Let's go," he muttered as he broke down a CHI stone on top of Heimdall's chest and covered him entirely in his barriers, heading straight towards the large congregation of dark clouds in the sky, the ones that were constantly barraging down lightning on the ground.

Sigh, he just hoped Thor didn't actually kill Loki this time. He was certainly going to answer for treating Heimdall like this but the God of Dreams was probably necessary for the timelines to survive and for Kang to be defeated.

Damn, that was another headache that his future self had to deal with.

Welp, there was always more to deal with. Such was his life.

Word Count - 2462

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