"Gamora?"
"How is it you?"
When the Nova Corps soldiers pushed the four bound figures into the Xandarian Planetary Defense Center, Nebula, who had been standing behind Lothar's position, immediately recognized one of them. The distinctive green skin and that face she would never forget.
"Nebula? Lothar? Ronan?"
Gamora, whose eyes had been unfriendly moments before, was momentarily stunned upon seeing the figures on the dais. How had these three ended up together? And Ronan's position, was he actually a subordinate???
"Lady Gamora, the search for the Power Stone has been entirely entrusted to His Highness Lothar by Lord Thanos." The Other, ever mindful of his status as Lothar's most loyal subordinate, stepped forward and bowed to Gamora.
No matter how much he disdained Gamora's strength inwardly, he still had to maintain appearances. He was, after all, a subordinate, and Gamora was, for all intents and purposes, Thanos's adopted daughter. Disrespecting her would be akin to slapping Thanos in the face.
Lothar could criticize Gamora and Nebula because he was Thanos's most favored adopted son, the designated successor to the Black Quadrant.
"Is that so..."
Seeing familiar faces, Gamora somewhat let down her guard. With Nebula and Lothar here, she was safe, no matter what.
"Untie her." Nova Prime, observant of everything, immediately signaled someone to release Gamora.
"I've been tracking the Power Stone, and I followed this man all the way to Xandar." Gamora, who had maxed out her tracking skills, rubbed her aching wrists as she recounted her pursuit of Star-Lord to Lothar on the main dais.
"Wait, wait, what did you say?"
"What Power Stone?"
Star-Lord, who had never heard of such a thing, looked utterly bewildered. What he had taken was clearly just a ball!
"Still playing dumb?" Gamora ripped Star-Lord's jacket in half.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"I'm not that kind of person!"
Startled, Star-Lord made a move but was immediately pinned down by the soldiers behind him, unable to struggle.
Thwack!
As the jacket ripped, the bag containing the Orb fell squarely into Gamora's hand. And along with the bag, two photo albums with full-nude covers of Ego fell out. Posing suggestively, an eyesore.
"Uh... should I say that this was actually found in the ruins along with the Orb? Would you believe me?"
Facing the astonished gazes of everyone present, Star-Lord hesitated, his explanation weak and pale.
"Tsk, I didn't realize your tastes were so unique." The raccoon, also bound hand and foot beside him, couldn't help but mock, only to be secretly kicked hard by Star-Lord, yelping in pain.
"Shut up, you freak! No one will think you're mute if you don't talk!" Star-Lord snarled in a low, fierce voice. His reputation couldn't be ruined here.
"Your Highness Lothar, this is the Power Stone—uh, Your Highness Lothar?" The Other eagerly reached out to take the Orb from Gamora, turning to present it to Lothar for verification, but found Lothar's gaze elsewhere. Instead, he was staring intently at the raccoon currently trading insults with Star-Lord.
"Your Highness, is something wrong?"
The Other was confused. Holding the Orb, he scurried behind Lothar, descended the steps, and approached the raccoon.
"I—I... fuck!" The cursing raccoon turned around, and Lothar's emotionless, cold gaze immediately scared the curses out of him. His little heart pounded furiously. That gaze was simply too terrifying.
"Woz." Lothar effortlessly lifted the raccoon by the scruff of its neck.
"Woz scanning, Your Highness Lothar."
"Scan complete. Performing image comparison..."
"Image comparison complete."
"Your Highness Lothar, this raccoon's life signs are identical to the raccoon that appeared on Asgard back then." Woz's voice was unusually grave. "But from the life data, the active life energy within this raccoon has been less than a hundred years."
This was a huge deal. It was impossible for two creatures with entirely identical life signs to exist in this world. Even clones would only have identical basic life signs at best.
"Interesting."
Lothar looked at the raccoon before him, who acted as if it didn't know him, and with a flick of his hand, he tossed it to The Other's feet.
"The Other, take it back."
"I think Father will be very interested."
"This... Yes, Your Highness Lothar!" The Other, whose memories were unlocked by Woz's words, also recalled the raccoon he had encountered on Asgard back then.
A thousand years of memories; if not for Woz's scan, The Other would probably have forgotten the raccoon that had roared on the Bifrost.
"You... what do you want to do?"
Rocket Raccoon felt somewhat overwhelmed by The Other's gaze. He felt that the latter's grotesque face would give him nightmares at night.
"I—"
The raccoon, attempting to struggle further, was directly knocked unconscious by The Other's hand. Its eyes closed, its legs twitched.
"Groot..." The silent treeman tried to help but was immediately stunned by the ropes around him.
"Lothar, these two..." The observing Nova Prime didn't understand why Lothar was so interested in a raccoon. Seeing Lothar about to leave with his people, she pointed at the still-bound Star-Lord and Groot and asked.
"You can deal with them however you like; it has nothing to do with me."
Taking the Orb from The Other, Lothar glanced at the full-nude Ego photo album at Star-Lord's feet. With a strong exertion, the Power Stone, which he had encountered over a thousand years ago, came into view.
"Let's go."
With the objective secured, it was time to return.
...
Centauri Galaxy, Black Quadrant Base.
Lothar, carrying the unconscious Rocket Raccoon in one hand and the Orb in the other, walked into the base's grand hall and bowed to the figure on the throne: "Father."
"Has the Power Stone been found?"
"Yes." Lothar handed the Orb to Thanos, who descended the steps.
"That old man certainly knows how to hide things." The light of the Power Stone illuminated Thanos's eyes. Then, closing the Orb, Thanos turned his gaze to the raccoon Lothar was holding.
"A raccoon that's only lived for a few decades, Father." Lothar held up the small, unconscious body in his hand.
"But the strange thing is, I saw it over a thousand years ago, on Asgard."
"Are you sure?" Thanos's movement of toying with the Orb paused.
"Certain." Lothar nodded, then had Woz play the footage from when he caused havoc on Asgard.
Recording and saving footage at all times—that was a good habit Woz had maintained since his creation.
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