"Mm…?"
"I…"
The effects of the sedative gradually wore off, and the princess of Asgard awoke from her deep sleep. As her eyes fluttered open, a haze of confusion was quickly dispelled by returning memories, followed closely by a surge of fury.
"Lothar!"
"What now?"
Reclining casually in the pilot's seat at the central control console, Lothar didn't even bother to turn fully around, he only glanced over his shoulder with nonchalance. His indifference only fueled Hela's wrath.
"Lady Hela, please remain seated. We're about to hit the next spatial jump point," Woz's voice echoed as his projection appeared before her, his mechanical arms retracting after previously restraining her.
Seatbelt safety isn't just protocol, it's survival.
The Other had already proven that principle firsthand countless times.
"The next… spatial jump—"
Whoosh!
The moment the ship reached the jump point, it accelerated at breakneck speed, cutting off Hela's sentence.
As expected, her unbelted body was hurled forward by the g-forces. Her exquisitely sculpted face was just inches away from colliding with the cold steel floor of the ship. Even The Other, still clinging to his seatbelt, wore a schadenfreude-laden smirk.
Then, a red tail lashed out like a whip, wrapping twice around Hela's waist and stopping her short of catastrophe.
"Meow~"
From the small seat beside Lothar, a chubby ginger cat with soft pink paws clutched its own seatbelt. It blinked curiously at the red tail behind Lothar.
"Meow~"
The perpetually plump cat glanced down, trying to mimic the tail's motion with its own stubby one. But alas, it was far too short. Frustrated, it pouted in silent indignation.
They both had tails, so why couldn't it be useful, too?
Buzz…
With a subtle shudder, the ship stabilized after completing its spatial jump. The red tail around Hela's waist gently released her. Having regained her reflexes in time, she rolled forward using her hands for support, landing in front of the control panel.
"Lotha—"
"If you're going to thank me, don't bother."
Lothar waved off her words and gestured at the bloodstains on her with a look of exaggerated disgust.
"You'd be better off starting with a shower and a change of clothes."
"You—!"
Hela followed his finger's point and looked down, seeing five bloody handprints branded across her torso like mountain peaks. She was too furious to speak.
Grinding her teeth, she stormed off, determined to scrub away this humiliating mess before doing anything else.
As she disappeared from view, Lothar allowed a small smirk to curl his lips.
"Woz, how far are we from the Skrull Empire?"
"Based on our current velocity, approximately eighteen days from their capital world."
"Eighteen days? That long?"
Lothar frowned as he examined the star chart projected by Woz.
The Kree Empire was vast, and the Skrull Empire, its ancient rival, founded even earlier, had once matched it in scale. Though recent years of corruption and poor leadership had led to severe territorial losses at the hands of the Kree, the empire still held formidable size.
Even a dying camel is larger than a horse.
"I—"
"Alert! Alert!"
"Unknown energy signature detected!"
"Unknown energy signature detected!"
Woz's normally cheerful robotic face suddenly turned serious. Out in the endless void of space, a blinding, seven-colored beam of energy surged directly toward the Lothar at terrifying speed.
Whoosh!
Woz activated the ship's Super Transformation Mode in response. Mechanical wings unfolded and auxiliary thrusters ignited, propelling the Lothar like a soaring eagle.
But even in this enhanced state, the ship was no match for the rainbow torrent.
Within seconds, the dazzling beam swallowed the mighty vessel whole!
Back inside the ship, Hela, who had just stepped into the shower, immediately sensed something was wrong. Without a second thought, she threw her damp clothes back on and rushed out.
The intense light forced her to shield her eyes.
Once the alarm finally ceased, she lowered her hand, only to be struck speechless.
"This is… Asgard?!"
She could never mistake the majestic scenery of her homeland. But she also clearly remembered: Lothar had set course for the Skrull capital, not Asgard.
...
Ten minutes earlier, Asgard, Royal Palace.
Helping Odin out of the healing spring once again, Frigga's eyes were filled with concern.
He had just finished recounting the details of his crushing defeat.
Had Heimdall not sensed Odin's peril and forcibly intervened, sacrificing a portion of his own life force to retrieve him, Odin might have been a corpse by now.
That intervention was why Odin had earlier ordered a total lockdown across Asgard.
He had no idea whether the god-like being he'd provoked would pursue him relentlessly.
All he knew was that he, and Asgard, needed to be ready.
Ready for divine wrath.
"Where's Hela?" Odin asked as Frigga helped him into his robes.
"She's raising hell with Lothar on Hala," Frigga said with a weary smile, then confessed her secret dealings with Thanos.
"Hala? The Kree homeworld?" Odin frowned.
"Yes," Frigga nodded.
"Reckless!" Odin bellowed, eyes wide with rage.
Hela hadn't yet reached her peak power, and she was on Hala?
That was suicide!
"Bring her back. Now. Immediately!"
Originally, Odin had thought it best for Hela to lay low off-world a while longer. But now he discarded that plan without hesitation.
"I tried. I can't reach her. She must be in a place with extreme energy interference."
"...Heimdall," Odin said after a long silence, gripping Gungnir at his bedside. "Bring Hela back. Now."
"As you command."
Heimdall's voice echoed through the palace as Odin, eyes heavy with exhaustion, closed them once more.
"Odin…" Frigga whispered, heart aching at the sight of him.
"I'm fine, Frigga," he said, reopening his eyes, this time, firm with resolve.
"Don't worry. I'll make all the preparations. Trust me."
Embracing his wife, Odin made up his mind.
He would seek out Laufey.
And speak with him, face to face.
Compared to the threat of that godlike being, destroying Laufey seemed almost trivial.
Asgard's off-world armies would need to return. Only then could the realm's strength be fully restored.
And for that to happen, he needed Laufey's cooperation to preserve peace in the Nine Realms.
True peace.
...
Elsewhere in Asgard...
As the seven-colored beam that had brought back Lothar and Hela faded, two other figures appeared in its wake.
One large, one small.
The large figure was burly, blond, and barely hidden by loose clothing stretched over a beer belly. The small one, a raccoon.
"Whoa! Sweet!"
"Thor, Asgard was already this majestic two thousand years ago?!" Rocket marveled at the splendor before him, jaw nearly on the floor.
"Actually… this is my first time seeing it, too."
Gulp gulp gulp… Thor downed a few mouthfuls of vodka, his heart filled with unease.
Father… Mother… from two thousand years ago…
And that… sister…
"Alright, that's enough drinking!" Rocket barked, kicking Thor in the shin.
"We've gotta figure out how to get this thing on the Flerken!"
"If the records were right, your sister's wedding with that guy is our best shot at taking the Flerken."
Thor groaned.
The wedding of Hela and Lothar… was that what it had come to?
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