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The palace entrance loomed before them. Golden spires scraped at the cosmos itself. Every surface gleamed with precious metals worked into impossible structures.
Thor's pride was obvious as they crossed the threshold. "The Hall of Valor and the Gallery of Kings." He gestured at murals and towering statues lining the corridors, ancient battles in impossible detail and rulers carved from materials that shifted colors like living things. "Every triumph of Asgard, preserved for eternity."
Jay's eyes tracked everything. Every corridor, every turn and every possible exit. His enhanced memory cataloged the layout automatically, building a mental map. Never know when you'd need to run from angry gods.
"That one is Buri, the first king." Thor pointed at statues lining the next hall. Each figure stood thirty feet tall. "And there, my grandfather Bor."
"Impressive," Jay murmured, though his tone suggested he was taking notes rather than admiring.
Thor continued. "The throne room lies ahead. Father will be in council."
The massive doors were already opening, pulled by guards in golden armor. Their expressions were carefully neutral, but Jay caught the hostility underneath. Seems like news traveled fast in the divine kingdom.
The throne room was everything Jay expected and more. Vast enough to house a stadium with columns stretched toward a ceiling painted with nebulae and dying stars. The floor was polished to mirror brightness, reflecting the cosmic tapestry above.
Odin sat on his throne at the far end, Gungnir held loosely in one hand. Around him, the court was assembled. Ministers in elaborate robes. Warriors in armor that probably cost more than Manhattan. Frigga on her own throne beside her husband, beautiful and terrible but radiating barely contained maternal fury.
The entire assembly was in heated discussion when Thor and Jay entered. Voices rose and fell, debating in languages that Asgardian Allspeak translated automatically. Then someone noticed them, and the conversation died like someone had cut its throat.
Every eye in the room turned toward the entrance.
Jay cataloged the expressions and fury and barely restrained violence. A few carried something worse. Calculation, and those were the dangerous ones, the courtiers already running scenarios about how to use this situation.
'A room full of powerful people who want me dead.' The thought had never been more accurate.
A herald stepped forward, voice booming with trained projection. "Prince Thor Odinson, heir to the throne of Asgard! And his companion, the mortal Jay, representative of Midgard!"
Thor moved forward immediately, dropping to one knee with practiced grace. His head bowed, fist over heart.
"Allfather. I have returned as promised."
Gasps rippled through the court.
Thor's head came up, confused. He turned to see Jay still standing near the entrance, head tilted back, studying the murals on the walls with genuine interest.
"The craftsmanship is remarkable," Jay said quietly. "Tell me, is that actual stellar matter worked into the ceiling, or merely an artistic representation?"
"The mortal dares!" A minister with silver threading through his beard stepped forward, his face flushed crimson. "He stands in the presence of the Allfather himself and shows such blatant disrespect! This is an outrage!"
More voices joined in, building toward a crescendo of offended nobility.
"SILENCE."
Odin's voice didn't rise in volume, but it cut through the noise like a blade through flesh. The court went instantly quiet.
The Allfather's single eye fixed on Jay with unsettling intensity. When he spoke, his words carried the weight of millennia.
"This mortal stands here as representative of Midgard, which we failed to defend when it was under our protection. Are you so consumed by so much shame that you need to demand fake respect for this palace to hide it?"
The silence that followed was absolute. Even the ministers who'd been shouting seconds before looked stunned. Frigga's hand tightened on the armrest of her throne, her knuckles white. Her eyes never left Jay, tracking his every movement with the focus of a mother watching a predator circle her wounded child.
Jay let his casual mask slip away as the Mastermind persona settled over him like a second skin. Although he'd lost Franklin's power, there was no need to let others know. Time to live the 'fake it till you make it' motto.
He clasped his hands behind his back, smile sharpening.
"The King is very perceptive. If only you could have passed that wisdom to your son."
A ripple of tension spread through the court. Hands shifted toward weapons, but no one moved. Not yet.
Frigga leaned forward slightly, her voice cutting through the tension like ice. "Choose your next words carefully, mortal."
The threat was gentle, almost motherly. Which made it infinitely more dangerous.
Thor stood quickly, moving close enough to whisper urgently. "What are you doing, Jay? This is Odin himself, the Allfather! You cannot speak to him this way!"
Jay's smile didn't waver. "Let's get straight to it. I don't like showboating."
"Agreed." Frigga's voice cut through the tension, sharp and commanding. "Release my son, whom you trapped as a plaything. Every moment he remains in your custody is another moment of suffering I must endure."
Jay laughed. The sound was exaggerated and dripping with false sympathy.
"I'm so sorry your genocidal son is inconvenienced by his imprisonment!"
The throne room stirred as warriors shifted and ministers opened their mouths to speak.
CRACK.
Odin slammed Gungnir against the floor. The sound was like thunder trapped in a bottle, reverberating through the massive space. Reality itself seemed to shudder.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" The Allfather's voice carried divine authority. "I caution you to watch your tone, mortal."
Jay's smile widened, then turned cheerful. "My bad. It's just my mind is still a mess from, you know, rewriting death for over a thousand people. Creating thousands of heroes, each with abilities that would be considered formidable even by Asgardian standards." He touched his temple, wincing theatrically. "Not to mention those Infinity Stones were really bright. Terrible for my astigmatism."
The casual tone made the words hit harder. The entire court straightened as they reassessed that this wasn't just some mortal who'd gotten lucky; this was the being who'd performed feats that even Odin would struggle to match, the being currently standing in the middle of Asgard's palace, surrounded by their greatest warriors, was still the biggest danger in the room.
The same being who held their prince in a playing card and could destroy him with a thought.
The silence that followed was thick with recalculations.
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