"Prince Lothar, should we have Pietro and them take care of it...?"
In a side palace at the Black Quadrant base in the Centauri system, The Other, who was determined to become Lothar's top aide, proposed sending the siblings, Pietro and Wanda, to hunt down the traitor, Gamora.
Lothar turned around. The cold look in his eyes made The Other shiver.
"I-I was thinking," The Other said, his posture becoming more respectful. Undaunted, he laid out his entire plan. "Pietro and Wanda can use this opportunity to secure a good impression with Lord Thanos. At the same time, using Gamora's defeat, they can raise their status in the army and, by extension, increase your prestige."
As a Chitauri who used his brain, The Other believed his forward-thinking was the most important reason for his favor with Lothar. While Pietro and Wanda had just passed their test by "killing" Tony Stark, their reputations in the Black Quadrant were still virtually nonexistent.
Aside from Thanos and the Black Order, no one knew who they were. Normally, as Lothar's rare recruits, they would have to accumulate countless achievements to make a name for themselves.
But Gamora's defection presented The Other with a shortcut: a way for Pietro and Wanda to quickly become known throughout the Black Quadrant—by killing Gamora.
What could be a quicker way to gain fame than by killing Thanos's adopted daughter and a traitor to the Black Quadrant?
In the past, The Other would have never even considered this; it would have been a great disrespect. But now, things were different. She was a traitor. And she had let go of a captive Lothar had personally captured. These two crimes alone were enough to ruin Gamora's reputation in the Black Quadrant.
"Pietro and Wanda were personally brought in by you, Your Highness Lothar. This mission will also show everyone that you have a keen eye for talent..." The Other rephrased his plan, grateful for the book titled Emotional Intelligence that Woz had thrown at him after their last argument. Woz had supposedly copied it from a library in another universe, and the contents had been greatly beneficial to The Other.
"You will be in charge of this."
Lothar, furious over Gamora's betrayal, nodded in agreement.
The Other was ecstatic. So much so that when he walked with a swaggering gait to the Black Quadrant's training grounds, a look of smug satisfaction was still on his face. He loved this feeling of being trusted. It made him feel that Lothar had seen the sincerity of his efforts, even if Lothar didn't say it aloud.
"Stop getting acquainted with the equipment. I have an urgent mission for you two." The Other put on a stern face and, with his hands on his hips, told the two bewildered siblings about the mission to hunt down Gamora.
Wanda's eyes widened. She was so shocked she couldn't speak.
Thanos's daughter... had betrayed Thanos?
Why? Was it because of a power struggle?
Wanda, poisoned by Earth's political dramas, immediately imagined a scene of power-hungry siblings vying for control. It was a thrilling thought.
Wanda was lost in her fantasy until her brother, Pietro, nudged her with his elbow.
"Bro, you're—" Wanda started, then saw the menacing look on The Other's face and immediately fell silent.
"I will say this again: this mission is very important, because it concerns the prestige of His Highness Lothar!"
"Do you understand?!" The Other roared. Wanda and Pietro both flinched, then stood up straight and answered loudly, "Understood!"
"Good," The Other said, nodding in satisfaction. "Carol Danvers will definitely return to Midgard, the place you call Earth."
"And Gamora has nowhere else to go. The most likely scenario is that she will follow Carol to Earth."
"I don't care how you do it, but you will kill them both!" The Other's face instantly changed, and his overflowing killing intent made the two siblings tense up.
"Kill... them?" Wanda was hesitant. She had thought The Other would ask them to bring them back.
"Traitors have no right to live," The Other responded coldly.
That makes sense. The two siblings, who had been trained by Hydra, exchanged glances. After all, Hydra's way of dealing with traitors was even more ruthless.
"Now, go."
"To avoid being discovered by Carol Danvers, I won't send any Chitauri soldiers with you this time. Remember to be careful and don't disgrace His Highness Lothar."
"Understood."
With The Other's repeated warnings, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch boarded the ship to Earth.
....
Midgard, New York.
When the golden-haired Carol Danvers landed on Earth with Gamora, she found a New York that was buzzing with rebuilding.
The once-thriving metropolis had been largely destroyed during the great battle between Lothar and Odin, causing countless casualties and immense financial losses for the city government. If not for Stark Industries' help, the New York city government would have been a city in name only.
"If you don't have anywhere to go for now, you should stay here on Earth with me," Carol said. "Stay here and find a way to defeat Thanos."
Due to her unique physiology, Carol's face showed no signs of her imprisonment and experimentation. She was in excellent spirits.
"Thank you, but it's a wasted effort," Gamora said, shaking her head. She knew how terrifying Thanos was. That man could never be defeated by weak humans. Civilizations many times stronger than Earth had been "saved" by Thanos. Let alone the people on this planet.
"If you don't try, how will you know it won't work?" Carol countered with a smile, after sending a message to Nick Fury via her pager. Giving up was not the Earth way.
"Don't forget, you were completely defenseless against Lothar," Gamora said, her face cold, exposing the truth of Carol's capture.
"But it's because of that encounter that I have a clear understanding of Lothar's power, isn't it?" Carol didn't get angry, but instead smiled as she questioned Gamora. "Going from the unknown to a relative understanding makes all the difference for a human. The human mind can create unbelievable miracles." Carol pointed to her head.
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