BOOM!
Another clash, another futile strike.
From the roiling sea, two figures burst forth, Lothar and Hela. A mocking grin curled at the corner of Lothar’s lips, a grin that sent Hela’s frustration into overdrive.
"Co on. Again."
Landing effortlessly on the beach, the one-ard Lothar extended a hand toward Hela, curling his index finger in a gesture that scread provocation.
His black combat suit, soaked by seawater, now clung tightly to his body, outlining his sharply defined musculature. Droplets trickled from his luminous hair, scattering a prismatic shimr across the sands.
"Huff..."
"I refuse."
Hela rejected him outright, no hesitation, no pretense.
Fighting soone who knew nothing but combat? She’d only end up worse off.
More importantly, she couldn’t win anymore.
After thirty minutes of rest, Lothar had recovered enough strength to far surpass the barely even match he was before.
He could now overpower her, with just one arm.
That stark difference shattered Hela’s composure. She had no choice but to back off.
"You’re afraid."
Lothar frowned, then twisted the blade of words deeper into her psyche.
As expected, Hela froze mid-step, turned, and glared at him with fury. "What did you say?"
"The death energy leaking from your body accelerates my regeneration," he said flatly.
"So, yes, you’re afraid."
His left arm hung loosely at his side as he stepped toward her, slow and deliberate. His gaze looked down from above, imperious, forcing Hela to involuntarily retreat several paces.
"Are you dreaming?"
She scoffed, retorting sharply.
"No. Just stating a fact."
Lothar stopped before her and leaned in slightly.
Hela could feel his breath brushing against her skin.
Which confused her, he was a soul entity. Why could he even breathe?
Must be the work of that Sorcerer Supre’s freakish magic...
Lothar raised two fingers between them.
"What, not this again? Still think I need twenty thousand more years?" Hela t his gaze, utterly unfazed.
As much as she hated to admit it, Lothar’s ridiculous one-liners were etched deep into her mory, alongside his insufferable fondness for choking her during fights.
In over two decades, Lothar was the only peer who had ever beaten her.
And ever since eting him, she found herself growing disturbingly fond of choking others in battle.
Her mother had been right: people always beco the thing they despise most.
Just like her.
"No," Lothar said, voice even. "These fingers an you have two choices."
His proud posture, combined with that haughty stare, made Hela scowl.
Here we go again...
She hated when Lothar looked at her like that. She was the princess of Asgard! Even her parents had never disrespected her like this.
"One, use your power to help recover."
"Two, use your power to help recover."
"...How is that any different?!" Hela snapped, laughing from sheer rage.
Lothar didn’t answer.
Instead, he calmly raised his left hand. A dense orb of energy coalesced instantly, its terrifying pressure turning Hela’s expression pale.
"Now, choose."
She bolted.
THUD!
Only to trip over sothing and faceplant into the sand.
"...Thanks for your generosity."
Lothar quirked an eyebrow, sauntered over, and casually sat atop her back.
He seized her right hand, interlocking their fingers.
The touch of death, the divine deathforce, flowed freely from Hela into his soul-form, nding his fractured essence, repairing his broken shell.
"You freak!"
His weight, supernaturally heavy with power, pinned her completely.
She could only watch helplessly as Lothar closed his eyes, feeding on a torrent of strength she couldn’t control.
"Why?!"
She was losing her mind.
Why could Lothar absorb her power out of nowhere?!
And why couldn’t she do the sa to him?
Sure, what he was taking barely scratched her reserves, but the sense of powerlessness, of being forced, infuriated her.
At the very least, she wanted to be on top.
Zzzzz...
Hmm?
Suddenly, Hela heard a strange crackling noise.
In the blink of an eye, her vision went dark.
When she opened her eyes again...
She stood on a shattered, lifeless planet.
Before her, a woman with a tail smiled warmly into an escape pod.
The woman’s expression wavered, and she began to cry.
Hela followed her gaze, inside the pod was a baby.
A baby with a red tail.
"...That tail..."
The mont she saw it, Lothar ca to mind.
And then...
She heard the infant’s shrill, desperate wailing.
BOOM!
The planet exploded.
A lone man soared skyward, trying in vain to deflect the catastrophic blast.
The language, the screams, they were all unfamiliar. Alien.
"What... happened here?"
As confusion gripped her, the scenery around her unraveled into flickering light, rewinding.
On the barren world of Titan, Thanos in golden armor cradled a struggling baby.
And vanished before her eyes.
CRACK!
The vision collapsed into black.
Her consciousness snapped back to reality.
An indescribable pressure coiled within every cell of her body.
"You... what did you do?!"
Lothar snarled low, pinning her beneath the ocean water, his pupils burning red.
SPLASH!
Hela opened her mouth to reply, only for seawater to rush in, choking her into silence.
"Cough! Cough-cough!"
"I don’t know! I was just thinking, what if I reversed it—"
Dragged out from the water, Hela sputtered her explanation, but her words froze in her throat.
She rembered what she had been thinking before the visions began: Why couldn’t I absorb Lothar’s power instead?
Her eyes darted to her hands.
No glow.
No gold hair.
No sign of his energy at all.
Was it because his power far exceeded hers? That she couldn’t absorb him, only glimpse the mories sealed in his soul?
Realization struck, and her face darkened.
This universe was clearly out to get her.
"Reverse what?"
"What did you see?"
When Hela didn’t respond, Lothar’s body pulsed with raw power.
A storm of killing intent burst forth like a tidal wave.
The mont he sensed soone peering into his mories, he had severed the soul link.
But he didn’t know how much Hela had already seen.
"I saw... Frieza."
"Who is he?"
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