Symbiote 0325: Earth-68403D (1/2)

Sometime before the formation of Wanda's Chaos Tower, when Alex was finished dealing with things on the Hydra-dominated Earth, he and Laura took a small break on Farm Earth, hanging out with Felicia and resting for a couple of months. After having sufficient rest and relaxation time, they moved on to their next adventure — discovering the Scarlet Angel's origins. Having just encountered a variant of the Scarlet Witch with such an interesting persona, both Alex and Laura were curious about her.

…

A mystic arts portal appeared in the space outside the cluster of multiple variants of Earth. A sleek figure dressed in a black jumpsuit with yellow streaks came through. Even though she didn't have a mask covering her face, there didn't seem to be any adverse effects on her due to the vacuum.

[What now? I thought you could just bring me to that planet via your inventory thingy in case mystic arts portals can't bypass the planetary protections.]

[For that, I need to be on that planet. It has a physical barrier barring entry to all life forms. The same kind as the ones on both of Gaia's planets. It's not as robust as my barriers, but any intrusions will be detected.]

[So how do we get in?]

[With Chaos-based mystic arts, of course. The library in Kamar Taj has quite an extensive array of magical techniques for many purposes.]

[I get it. So you need to act from outside the planet.]

[Precisely.]

As they communicated telepathically, their destination finally came into view. A variant of Earth surrounded by a shimmering translucent barrier made of Chaos energy.

Alex led Laura closer to the planet, using lightning to propel her forward through the empty space and closer to their target planet.

[I feel like I'm being pushed away from the planet by some kind of wind …] Laura commented as they approached the barrier.

[You can think of it as a sort of ionic wind. It's a side effect of a planetary barrier. It is one of the many reasons that even the continual maintenance of a planetary barrier takes enough energy I had to place the power source inside the core of the planet.]

[Doesn't there need to be matter for ionic wind? Our current position should be barely within the exosphere right now.]

[Kind of … that's why I said it's not exactly ionic wind. The sheer energy radiating off that barrier is enough that you are feeling that repulsion. Considering that the energy that I'm talking about is Chaos energy, that means its subatomic particles are the thing pushing you back.]

[I don't get it.]

[It's going to take longer to explain than it's worth. Just think of it as the barrier emitting irradiated subatomic particles charged with Chaos that are colliding with you and pushing you back, making you feel like you are being pushed away by ionic wind. Under normal circumstances, you would've turned into an Eldrich mutant by now.]

[This whole Chaos business sounds dangerous … Are you sure we should be doing this?]

[I would be concerned about it, only if I didn't have Chaos powers myself. Unless I get into a direct confrontation with that Scarlet Witch variant, there isn't much that can harm us.]

[We might end up getting into a direct confrontation with her, Alex …]

[Unlikely. She isn't even on this planet at the moment. She is on her conquest to take over her fifth planet at the moment.]

[Fifth? It seems that she is winning …]

[Not for long. That is why we are here. To figure out how the hell she can sustain the kind of consumption required to maintain four planet-wide barriers.]

As they conversed, Laura was finally close enough to the barrier that Alex could attempt to pass through it without alerting the caster of the barrier.

[Quiet now. I need to focus if I want us to resonate with the barrier and pass through without detection.]

With those words, Laura felt her hands involuntarily being raised as Alex controlled her body like a puppet, channeling a controlled amount of Chaos energy through her body. Her lips moved involuntarily as she chanted something she couldn't quite understand. Her hands extended themselves as a shapeless mist moved around her fingers, gathering between her hands.

Soon, she pushed her hands forward, sending the gathered mist toward the shimmering red barrier in front of her.

A silent yelp escaped Laura's lips as she was immediately propelled forward and into the barrier. She panicked and tightly closed her eyes, bracing herself for the upcoming pain.

[I'm offended by how little trust you have in me.]

She heard Alex's voice in her head and flinched instinctively, hesitantly opening her eyes. The view reflected in her irises left her breathless.

[Woah …] She responded, finally seeing the real view of the planet without the filter of the translucent red barrier. While the blues of the water and the greens and browns of the ground were all normal, the whites of the clouds were crimson.

[Woah indeed … I thought that the red was just because of the barrier. Apparently not.]

[I'm suddenly not so sure about this, Alex … If she has the power to alter the planet to such an extent, that means that she isn't some weakling that we can easily beat up.]

[We aren't going to fight her. Don't worry. I have enough escape means planned that even if she decides to confront us, we can escape unscathed.]

[I hope so … Where do we go now?]

[Kamar Taj. I want to see how much Wanda has influenced the planet's witchcraft and mystic arts presence.]

[Does that mean I get to learn that stuff as well?] Laura was suddenly excited.

[Sure. If you want to, I can easily help you tap into the other dimensions so that you can freely channel magic.]

Soon, Laura descended into an isolated alley while also mystically camouflaged to make sure that some random mystic arts used wouldn't suddenly detect her presence.

[You not going to accompany me with a real form?] Laura asked Alex.

[No need. I can support you better this way. Plus, we don't really plan to do anything that would require my physical presence at the moment. We just need to explore and see how this planet works.]

"If you say so," Laura mumbled before stretching as her previous space-safe outfit modified itself and revealed her face and head before receding further, leaving her in a crop top with a jacket and some jeans.

Laura finally walked out of the alley, curious to see what the deal was that made Alex so curious about the culture of this planet's inhabitants.

The first anomaly her eyes were drawn to was a food stall. At first glance, the vendor was a simple laphing seller, but something seemed very off about him. Whenever someone came up to the vendor, a suppressed flare of magical energy was followed by serving the customer.

"Is that guy using magic?" She mumbled to herself while approaching the small stall placed in the middle of the pavement.

[Something along those lines. Ask him what he's selling. Let's see what that flare of magic is all about.]

Laura moved closer to the vendor, looking like a typical tourist.

"What's that?" She asked the man in English.

"This, my lady, is a Thukpa," The man's English was far too fluent for him to be a Tibetian native. "These are noodles made from rice flour, rolled up with chili oil and some other condiments."

"Give me one," Laura said. "You speak very fluent English."

The man let out a slight chuckle as the flare of magic appeared again. This time, Laura was close enough to see that the man had pressed his palm on some kind of scanner at one corner of his cart. Once the magical flare disappeared, he raised his palm and opened a compartment within the cart, pulling out an already-plated set of rolled noodles.

"I have spent my entire life in this country, my lady," the man explained as he picked up the disposable plate and handed it to Laura. "I was just lucky enough to be able to afford a language translator rune."

"Oh," Larua acted nonchalantly as if she was perfectly aware of the rune the man mentioned. "This is pretty good," she praised, quickly finishing the few rolls.

"Thank you," the man said.

"How much?" Laura asked as she took the last bite.

"Five chips," he said, giving Laura a slightly scrutinizing look.

[Try to bargain down to three.]

"Five? For a single plate of this ... Laphing?" Laura acted flabbergasted. "Two chips. I saw you selling it to others at the same price."

"Tourist tax," The previous amiable conversation seemed to mean nothing to the mam.

"I'm not paying a chip beyond two," Laura said.

"Then you should've asked before eating," The man said flatly. "It costs five."

"Try again, old man," Laura's tone grew menacing. "I'm not beyond talking to the authorities for a meager sum of money."

Laura's slightly intimidating aura would've only agitated the man, leading to him calling the authorities. With some support from Alex, her intimidation factor was suddenly amplified, making the man shake in his boots.

[You're shit at bargaining.] Alex chided her.

"I can't sell it for lower than three chips," the man caved.

"Hm," Laura expressionlessly extended her arm and three crimson chips fell on the man's counter.

[You look like a rude entitled brat. And now we have the authorities after us.]

[What?! You are the one who told me to bargain.]

[Bargain, not threaten. Do you think the cops here will believe the hot naive-looking tourist chick who got overcharged or the local vendor who regularly pays them protection money?]

[Yeah, well … Being with you has dulled my espionage skills. Especially the months we spent in Gaia. I didn't think of any of that stuff and thought you would just take care of everything like usual …]

[I'm already doing that. But it's something you should be mindful about.]

[You're the best.] She beamed smugly. [Now what's the deal with those crimson chips? They are condensed Chaos energy, right?]

***

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