"What?"
"Who?"
"Who's back?"
Frigga, awakened by her husband, stared blankly out the window. Asgard's starry sky was as brilliant as ever, showing no sign of anything amiss. Frigga was perplexed. She hadn't seen such a solemn expression on Odin's face in a long time; the last time was because of Thanos's son—
Wait a minute!
Forgotten memories surged like a tide, instantly jolting Frigga wide awake!
"Odin, are you saying... Lothar?"
Frigga suddenly felt her lips unusually dry. She suddenly wanted a drink of water.
"Ah, yes."
"He's back."
A hint of worry creased Odin's wrinkled, aged face. The universe, stable for over a thousand years, was about to boil over again. Odin knew better than anyone what that boy would do when he returned. Was the Ragnarok that Thanos had once boasted about before Agamotto truly upon them? Odin's mood was melancholic.
"No, this is impossible. How did he do it?" Frigga shook her head, still finding it hard to believe. How had Lothar, whom the fully armed Odin had painstakingly banished to another universe using the Space Stone, found his way back? Had Lothar's power reached a level where he could casually break through multiversal barriers?
"I don't know." Odin threw off his covers and got out of bed, walking to the window in his pajamas, gazing at the distant, peaceful starry sky. "Besides the power bearing Lothar's aura, there's also an energy not belonging to our universe constantly fluctuating."
"It must be new power he collected in another universe."
As a capable Asgardian, even though the aging Odin's normal physical condition wasn't as peak as it once was, the power he wielded had significantly improved compared to over a thousand years ago. The Mother Box energy Lothar used to breach the multiversal barrier naturally couldn't escape Odin's perception.
"Odin..."
"Where's Thor?"
"He should be sleeping. You know, Loki falling off the Rainbow Bridge greatly affected him." Speaking of her son, a trace of sorrow appeared on Frigga's face. "Thor always believed that Loki's transformation was his responsibility."
"Call him."
"Now?" Frigga paused.
"Yes, now." Odin sighed, turning to look at his wife with utmost seriousness. "I cannot leave Asgard right now. I'll only feel at ease if Thor goes to Midgard to retrieve the Space Stone."
"But, you said when you made the deal with Agamotto that as the price for him stopping Thanos, you wouldn't touch the Space Stone again." Frigga was worried about violating the agreement with Agamotto.
"Of course."
"Otherwise, why would I send Thor?"
Odin lowered his eyelids, rubbing the knuckle of his right index finger, beginning his shameless act.
Extraordinary circumstances called for extraordinary measures.
Odin was not a pedantic man; otherwise, he wouldn't have adopted Laufey's son and raised him himself back then. Frigga had even once suspected that Odin had reverted to his old ways and cuckolded Laufey, the Frost Giant King, but subsequent paternity tests proved that Loki had absolutely no biological relation to Odin.
"I understand. I'll go arrange it now." Frigga nodded worriedly, then got up and left the royal chambers.
"Thor, you must return to Midgard now..."
...
Centauri Galaxy, Thanos's main base, Black Quadrant HQ.
Thanos, sitting alone on his throne, toyed with the Cosmic Switch that Ebony Maw had just presented, holding a few yellowed old papers in his hand.
Time had given them a new color, but it hadn't erased the content on the paper. The title, "Self-Reflection," struck Thanos's eyes as particularly glaring.
Lord Thanos, Gamora and Nebula's mission performance is excellent. Although their efficiency isn't as good as Lothar's once was, but...
Thanos closed his eyes, Ebony Maw's previous mission summary casually echoing in his ears.
"Since that's the case, then let Gamora and Nebula continue to be responsible for the search for the Power Stone," Thanos said after a long pause.
"Yes, Lord Thanos."
A cold electronic voice respectfully responded, then compiled Thanos's verbal command into extremely official written language and disseminated it to the personal information terminals of the Black Order and the sisters Gamora and Nebula.
"Lord Thanos, your meeting with Ronan the Accuser is about to begin, please—"
"Wait, don't speak." The dutiful AI hadn't even finished speaking when Thanos raised a hand to interrupt it.
"?"
Thanos offered no explanation, but closed his eyes, continuing to capture the fleeting feeling he had just felt in his heart. That feeling, Thanos was intimately familiar with.
"Lothar..."
After a long while, Thanos opened his eyes. A rare smile spread across his usually stoic face. He knew his adopted son would never disappoint him. Although the wait had been a bit long, still...
He was back.
"Send word: all of the Black Order are to assemble. Bring Gamora and Nebula too."
...
At the same time, somewhere else in the universe.
Ego, who had just turned his biological son into a pile of bones, suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes.
Lothar!
Deep-seated hatred instantly surged into his heart. The humiliation he had endured for over a thousand years had almost given Ego a heart condition.
RUMBLE!!!!
An energy storm that directly destroyed nearly ten planets!!!
...
When Lothar, having detonated all the energy within the three Mother Boxes, successfully flew out of the mysterious black hole, the true Darkseid, far away at the end of the DC Universe, seemed to sense something...
"We, we succeeded, Your Highness!"
"We're back!"
"We're back, Your Highness Lothar!!!!"
Although the time spent in the other universe wasn't long, Woz, returning to its original universe, still felt as if it hadn't been back in a very long time. It danced excitedly within the bracelet's space, its emotions stirred.
"Ah, we're back."
Tapping the light screen, the familiar galactic map once again appeared before Lothar's eyes.
"What doesn't kill me makes me stronger."
"Are you ready, Odin?"
Lothar, his golden hair flowing, stared intently at the region on the galactic map named Asgard, a fierce glint erupting in his eyes.
BOOM!!!
Lothar brazenly increased his power. He wanted this universe that had rejected him to know that he was back!
"Your Highness, Woz has successfully connected to the Black Quadrant information database, reporting to Lord Thanos—"
"No need, Woz. Father already knows I'm back."
Lothar, arrogantly streaking through the cosmos, stopped. He looked at the familiar avatar displayed on the light screen in his right eye, a smirk playing on his lips.
When Gamora and Nebula, filled with apprehension and curiosity, descended from the main ship with their adopted father Thanos, they saw a figure with golden hair and golden eyes. Black combat attire, a cold, stern face.
"Welcome home, Lothar."
Thanos, with the Black Order lined up behind him, flew slowly towards Lothar, his hands clasped behind his back. Though his tone was calm, the smile and affection in his eyes were undisguised.
Lothar bowed in a long-unseen gesture of respect.
"I'm back, Father."
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