An Asgardian storm couldn't possibly form for no reason. In Hela's mind, there was only one explanation: her useless brother.
"Thor!"
"It's Thor!"
"This is Thor's power!"
Inside the prison, out of respect for her mother, Hela had not put chains on Frigga's limbs. So, when Hela opened the prison door, Frigga could naturally see the sudden lightning storm in the skies above Asgard.
"It seems the Grandmaster knew he was my brother and, in his desire to experiment on him, provoked him and made him fully awaken," Hela said, closing the door. Her words made Frigga even more agitated. "The Grandmaster? What are you saying, Hela?"
Frigga knew what Hela had done on Sakaar because Hela had told her when she returned. The problem was, once the Grandmaster found out Thor was her brother...
"No, Thor will die!"
"You can't do this, Hela, you can't!"
Frigga slammed against the prison bars, her emotions running wild.
"When Odin was about to seal me away, did you plead with him like you're pleading for Thor now?" Hela asked, looking at her coldly.
"Or did you just try to talk him out of it for a moment, and when you realized it wouldn't work, you didn't do anything else because I wouldn't die?"
Frigga's pleas stopped.
Hela smiled. Her laughter was cold, yet it held a strange sadness.
"Do you know why I didn't kill Thor myself and instead sent him to Sakaar?" Hela knelt in front of the prison, watching the slumped Frigga with interest.
"Because he's not worthy of being killed by me yet. He's my brother. He can't be a coward. On Sakaar, under the Grandmaster's coercion, he has to change or die. Now, it seems he's doing well. At the very least, he knows he's the God of Thunder, not the God of Hammers."
Hela gestured towards the sky, where the storm clouds still crackled with lightning.
"What do you want, Hela?" Frigga asked, confused. Her tear-filled eyes looked at her daughter, who had become a complete stranger after her long imprisonment.
"To have Asgard rule the universe. Nothing more." Hela smiled, stating her goal.
Thor was still her brother, after all. Before their final break, she still held a glimmer of hope that he would see Odin's true face and join her in leading the Asgardians to their peak. This was why she threw Thor onto Sakaar.
The Grandmaster knew the kind of person Odin once was, and Hela wanted Thor's impression of Odin to be reshaped by the Grandmaster.
"That's impossible." Frigga shook her head, instantly dismissing Hela's dream.
To have Asgard rule the universe, one Hela wasn't enough.
"It's precisely because it's impossible that it's worth striving for, isn't it?"
"You won't even get past Lothar."
"Don't forget, Lothar will take over Thanos's throne sooner or later and sit in his place. When that happens, and if you have a conflict, what will you do?" Frigga went straight for the most practical issue.
Lothar and Hela represented two separate forces. If Hela wanted to rule the universe…
"I'd like to marry him," Hela responded with a knowing smile.
"?!" Frigga's head shot up.
"I think that guy's mind has been a bit twisted by Thanos, so I've decided to make my move first." Maybe it was because they were alone, but Hela leaned against the wall and sat down, confiding in her mother just as she had in the old days. She hid nothing.
"Why?"
"Why are you thinking about this now?"
Frigga was shocked, utterly shocked. She knew Hela had feelings for Lothar, she could see it. But she never expected Hela to be thinking about marriage so soon. The speed of it caught her completely off guard.
"In the Dark Dimension, he held me," Hela said, leaning against the cold wall and recalling the feeling. "He was very forceful because he thought I was about to die. But one thing really bothered me."
Hela's expression suddenly turned cold. "The way he held me was very practiced. So practiced that it felt like he had held someone else like that before."
Frigga's face froze, and she didn't know what to say.
"You and I both know Lothar's personality. Under normal circumstances, he would never actively hold someone, let alone in a bridal carry." Hela's expression grew colder. She knew better than anyone what that meant.
"His power is truly remarkable," Frigga said, deciding it was best not to comment without knowing the full situation.
"I know. That's why I have to be proactive. If I wait for that idiot to figure it out himself, it'll never happen." Hela understood Lothar well. So she felt that some malicious hussy must be plotting against Lothar. She needed to declare her claim. And marriage was the best way.
"I'll be there on your wedding day, dressed to the nines. I promise, no matter what happens." Frigga made a promise to her daughter. It was her debt to Hela, and she would make it up to her. Even if the groom was Lothar.
A promise was a promise, and Frigga knew the difference. Otherwise, she wouldn't have stood by Odin's side as queen when he conquered her home, Vanaheim.
"You'd better pray you don't kill yourself from hearing some bad news before then." Hela scoffed, stood up, dusted off her hands, and walked out the door.
....
"Lothar, where are you? We need to talk."
Outside Earth, a holographic projection of Hela suddenly appeared in front of Lothar on his spaceship.
"Just outside Midgard. I'm busy."
Lothar tapped his index finger on the armrest of his command chair, blatantly having Woz hack all the satellites. He watched the first mission of the Maximoff siblings' team.
"Midgard? Why are you there again?" Hela frowned, confused. Odin was dead, and he couldn't get the Time Stone, so why was he going to Earth?
"Watching a show."
Hela was already used to Lothar's brevity.
....
On Earth, in Washington, DC, Pietro and Wanda, who now considered themselves part of the Thanos's faction and Lothar's subordinates, appeared outside Tony Stark's mansion with a disguised Chitauri elite squad. Their eyes were burning with the flames of revenge.
Scarlet Witch.
Quicksilver.
Those were their codenames in HYDRA. Now, they were their codenames in the Black Quadrant, and for their service under Lothar.
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