"Prince Lothar?"
"It's really you?!"
"Why?!"
As the fusion of core data and Infinity Stone energy solidified, The Other opened his eyes once more, utterly stunned.
He clearly remembered being thoroughly and undeniably dead. So how was he alive again?
"Shut... up."
Amidst the violent clash of two Infinity Stones, Lothar gritted his teeth, forcing himself to endure the waves of pain wracking his body. His glare at the resurrected The Other was as cold as deep space.
Golden aura, entwined with crackling lightning, roared violently around him. Beads of sweat streamed down Lothar's brow, a sign of strain too severe to hide.
He wasn't a god, nor did he wield a medium to harness the Stones' power.
And yet, using nothing but his own mortal Saiyan body, he had forcibly merged and wielded the energy of two Infinity Stones. A miraculous feat, but one that exacted a brutal toll.
According to legend, the six Infinity Stones were born at the dawn of the universe. Each possessed the power to elevate a mortal to godhood, their energies beyond comprehension.
Even Thanos, with his formidable Titan physiology, would suffer under the raw force of a single Stone without a conduit. Yet Lothar had drawn on two, simultaneously.
"Tch…"
"GET BACK!"
The Reality Stone surged and churned inside his body, while the Mind Stone bucked wildly in his grasp.
Two cosmic forces, utterly incompatible, collided within him. Were it not for his awakened Super Saiyan physiology, he would have already been reduced to dust, his atoms scattered to the void.
"I said BACK!!"
With a roar that tore through the heavens, the volatile storm of energy exploded outward, obliterating the entire estate.
Cowering in a corner, Zora clutched her head in terror, eyes wide with disbelief as she watched Lothar engulfed in a maelstrom of divine fury.
The luxury villa provided to Lothar by the Cosmic Auction House vanished in an instant, leaving behind a barren wasteland that starkly contrasted the elegance of its surroundings.
"Prince Lothar!"
Just revived, The Other struggled to understand. He took a step forward, but froze under Lothar's frostbitten glare.
"Idiot. Stay away from me."
"But..."
Before he could finish, something streaked across the sky.
A comet?
No, energy. Fiery red-gold light, shaped like a blazing meteor, slammed into Lothar's shoulder.
CRACK!
The intricate balance of the two Stones wavered for a moment, and in that fleeting instant, Lothar forced the Reality Stone out of his body.
"Meow!"
Lounging casually beside a massive orb of energy, the plump orange cat lifted its eyes. Then, in a flash, it opened its cavernous maw, black tendrils whipping forth to snatch up the expelled Aether in one swift gulp.
A loan repaid is a loan renewed.
Purring softly, the orange cat resumed licking its energy ball contentedly, its crescent-shaped eyes crinkled with delight. It was very satisfied with its past decision to swallow the Aether.
"Hah!"
With the Reality Stone gone, the rogue Mind Stone no longer had enough chaotic force to suppress Lothar.
His hand reached out, summoning a golden, scythe-like scepter into his grasp. Without hesitation, he embedded the Mind Stone back into its rightful place atop the staff.
BOOM!
The power surge rippled outward, whipping through Lothar's golden hair. Drenched in sweat, face pale but eyes sharp, he turned toward the source of the fiery comet.
A woman in a skintight black battle suit walked slowly toward him, arms crossed, fingers tapping lightly against her biceps, a sly smirk dancing on her lips as she surveyed his disheveled state.
Her long black hair fluttered freely in the wind-stirred energy field.
Hela, Goddess of Death. Daughter of Odin. From Asgard.
"Like a ghost that never leaves."
Lothar rose to his feet, his frigid words instantly darkening Hela's expression.
"First, don't flatter yourself, I wasn't chasing you."
"Second, if I hadn't intervened, you'd be dead, torn apart by the Stones' backlash."
"Third… never mind. You wouldn't listen anyway."
She exhaled in frustration. Arguing with a man as egotistical as Lothar was like diving headfirst into a pit of cosmic quicksand.
No matter how reasonable her argument, he would always manage to drag her logic down to his level, and defeat her using his own brand of irrationality.
"Busybody."
Lothar tossed the scepter into The Other's dazed arms without even looking at him. His sidelong glance, cold and ungrateful, made Hela's eyes flash with ice.
"P-Prince Lothar, w-what… what just happened?"
Still struggling to process everything, The Other looked lost, the scepter clutched awkwardly in his hands.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What the hell is going on?
"So good to see you again, Mr. The Other," chirped Woz, who popped out of the circular device on Lothar's wrist. Too short to reach The Other's shoulder, he settled for patting his waist.
Back on Svartalfheim, The Other's unexpected heroics had earned Woz's respect.
It didn't matter what he had once been or where he came from. As long as he was willing to give everything for Prince Lothar, they were brothers in arms.
That was the simple, unwavering creed Woz lived by.
A floating blue screen displayed a brief summary of everything Lothar had done to revive The Other. When he spoke again, The Other's voice trembled.
"P-Prince Lothar, I—"
"Shut it. If you can't even finish a sentence, don't start."
Hela was standing right there. The last thing Lothar wanted was some emotional reunion turning into a cringe-fest.
How embarrassing.
"Mn!"
The Other grinned like a fool. Biochemical emotion circuits surged with activity, and before he could stop himself, he reached up to wipe the tears trickling down his cheeks.
"Pathetic."
Under Hela's astonished gaze, Lothar, clearly uncomfortable, nonchalantly tossed a planetary resource card prepared for him by his adoptive father, Thanos, in Zora's direction.
A topic shift, plain and simple.
"What's this…?" Zora, hair and clothes a wreck from the earlier storm, didn't even bother fixing her disheveled appearance. Her eyes were locked on the high-tier planetary resource card in her hands.
"That's the highest-grade planetary resource card. Take it to your King Gafa. He'll know what it means."
With the excuse in place, Lothar turned to leave.
He had accomplished what he came for on Gafa. It was time to return to the Black Quadrant.
"Two resource cards won't be enough… Son of Thanos."
A voice deep and rich enough to drown in echoed through the air. King Rodus of Gafa descended slowly from the sky, clad in regal violet armor that shimmered with cosmic luster.
A prominent cross-shaped scar slashed across his otherwise refined features, while streaks of silver at his temples bore the weight of age and battle alike.
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