Marvel: What If Thanos Adopted A Saiyan?-Chapter 218 - 219: Life-or-Death Velocity, A Blooming Beauty

"Super... Saiyan 3?"

"No."

"Could your vocabulary be any more limited?"

"Super Saiyan. Super Saiyan 2. Super Saiyan 3?"

"If you keep going at this rate, what’s next? Super Saiyan 4, 5, 6?"

The deep shock that Hela felt moments ago completely evaporated the instant she heard Lothar casually name his new form.

Yes, the long-haired Lothar had just displayed terrifying strength, effortlessly causing the Kree’s main planet, Hala, to begin collapsing with a mere wave of his hand. But the way he named it? Hela couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

At this rate, until he ascended to godhood, he’d probably keep slapping numbers on every transformation.

Not even remotely dignified. Asgardian myths had names more poetic than this.

Such a waste of a stunning look.

Despite her snide thought, Hela couldn’t resist stealing another glance at Lothar out of the corner of her eye.

That waist-length golden hair. That piercing gaze. That sharply defined physique...

If his previous Super Saiyan forms hadn’t made much of an impression on her, this long-haired version hit her right in the heart.

It was just a hairstyle change, color unchanged, yet somehow, it radiated an aura that even Hela found hard to resist.

She couldn’t quite describe the feeling.

Regal. Cold. Seductively dangerous.

Three completely distinct energies all merged in the subtle lift of Lothar’s lips.

Neither Super Saiyan 1 nor 2 had ever made Hela feel this strange tug. Only this, Super Saiyan 3.

"What are you staring at?"

Lothar’s voice snapped the dazed Asgardian princess back to reality. His face was now just inches from hers, startling her enough for her eyelids to twitch. "Your hair. Why? You got a problem with that?"

Her voice trembled slightly from surprise, but she quickly steadied it. Feeling she hadn’t done anything embarrassing, Hela met Lothar’s gaze head-on, only to see his hand rise, reaching toward her forehead.

What is he doing?

Reaching for something?

Why now of all times?

"You—!"

Just as she tensed for a counterattack, a sharp "snap" sounded, pain flared between her brows, and the Mind Stone slipped cleanly from her without resistance, landing in Lothar’s palm.

"Adventure’s over. Give that back."

"???"

Hela’s eyes widened. The instant the Mind Stone left her, an unbearable hollowness and weakness spread through every nerve in her body.

The silent craving threatened to drive her mad.

"No!"

"Give it back!"

"I need it!"

"Now!"

She needed to feel whole again.

That intoxicating power had thrilled her.

BOOM!!!

A volcanic surge erupted past Hela’s shoulder, its glow painting her face crimson.

She lunged like a starving beast, and missed entirely.

"Lothar!"

Failing to grasp the Infinity Stone, Hela spun toward him, eyes brimming with raw hunger.

"Give it to me! I want it, now!"

"I refuse."

Lothar stared directly into her desire-twisted gaze, and as if to drive the point home, he prepared to toss the Mind Stone toward The Other’s ship hovering nearby.

But in the next instant, two bolts of lightning shot down from the sky, crashing directly toward Lothar and Hela!

"?!"

They struck so fast even Lothar couldn’t evade. He took the blast full on.

BOOM!

Mountains split. Oceans reversed course.

The crumbling of Hala’s planetary core was accelerating its demise. As gravitational force surged, Lothar’s golden hair billowed wildly.

With the Supreme Intelligence gone, Woz reappeared before Lothar: "Prince Lothar, Lady Hela, scans confirm the planetary core of Hala is undergoing continuous fragmentation and detonation. Gravitational force is rising exponentially. I strongly advise immediate evacuation!"

"Repeat: you must evacuate now!"

The warning from the usually cuddly machine-cat snapped the thunderstruck Hela out of her daze. "What did you say?!"

"You’re back to normal?" Lothar glanced at her, far calmer than her now-panicked expression. He even had time to give her a look, a look that said, You really let a gemstone take over your mind, huh?

Hela shot him a suspicious glance.

Something about the way he looked at her felt off.

She looked down.

Her armor still covered her fully. No wardrobe malfunction.

Lower still, nothing unusual.

RUMBLE RUMBLE!!!

A deafening wave of destruction refocused her attention.

The continent shattered, plunging into oceans that flowed in reverse. Magma and mist surged from the collapsing crust, forming crimson mushroom clouds before Hela’s wide eyes.

"Prince Lothar!"

"Get aboard now!"

"Or we won’t make it!" The ever-loyal The Other was yelling into the comms from the pilot seat, his tone frantic. The energy released by the artificial destruction of a thriving planet could consume anyone present.

Even Lothar was not exempt.

"Oh?"

Hearing the comms, Lothar, still flush with his new Super Saiyan 3 power, looked down at the roaring vortex beneath his feet.

"Woz, take the ship to the nearest safe zone and wait for me."

"But Prince Lothar—!"

"That’s an order."

"...Understood, Your Highness." A rare trace of helplessness colored Woz’s voice, but he obeyed, taking The Other and jumping through space, leaving the doomed Hala behind.

Only Hela and a steadily grinning Lothar remained.

"Hey, Hela." He tossed the Mind Stone playfully before slotting it into his left ear as an earring. Instantly, an even greater surge of power coursed through him!

"What?" Hela instinctively stepped back. A bad feeling gnawed at her gut.

"Wanna try something... thrilling?" Lothar’s eyes sparkled, not with bloodlust, but with pure, childlike excitement.

That look...

It reminded her of herself as a child, discovering a brand-new toy.

"What are you—?"

"You don’t need to answer."

WHOOSH!

In a flash of golden light, Lothar swept Hela off her feet!

Her protests were cut short by a scream, her first ever scream.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"Lothar, you maniac!!!!"

Struggling wildly in his arms, Hela couldn’t break free. She could only watch in horror as Lothar flew, straight toward Hala’s exploding planetary core!

"Put me down!"

"NOW!"

"Lothar, you absolute lunatic!!!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosion after explosion roared around them. The heat made sweat bead on Hela’s forehead.

The vortex of energy at the core of Hala had just gained two unwelcome visitors.

"LOTHAR!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

Hela squeezed her eyes shut and instinctively clung to Lothar’s neck, pure survival instinct.

Their plummeting bodies were being sucked into the gravity well. The speed was so intense it nearly suffocated her!

"Ready?" Lothar whispered into her ear.

She opened her eyes, and saw the shattered planetary core looming right there in her pupils.

This is—?!

"Three... Two... One."

"Let’s go."

BOOM!!!

Empowered by the Mind Stone, a tyrannical golden aura surged out of Lothar. At the very last instant, he twisted in midair, veering away from the core’s impact zone with Hela in his arms!

She could feel death brushing past her!

WHOOOOSH!!!

The explosion seemed enraged by Lothar’s defiance, sending gravity waves clawing at them as they escaped.

"Lothar!!!"

"I know, stop yelling!"

An overwhelming burst of energy erupted from him again. The golden blur tore through every obstacle in its path, finally outpacing the full detonation of the planetary core!

"YAHOOOO!!!"

A race with death, and in the end, the wild and reckless Lothar came out on top!

Just as The Other disembarked from the ship piloted by Woz, stepping into the supposed safety of the landing zone, a violent tremor surged through the entire vessel.

Thrown to the floor, The Other had no time to think, he scrambled frantically across the floor, pressing himself against the windowpane. What he saw would be seared into his memory for the rest of his existence.

A planet’s explosion had triggered a catastrophic chain reaction, engulfing the surrounding region of the Kree homeworld in an all-consuming inferno.

The Kree Empire’s crown jewel, cultivated over millennia, was now reduced to the kindling for a cosmic fireworks display.

The brilliance of the blast, the splendor of the pyrotechnics, it defied description.

And at the heart of this apocalyptic pageant stood a man and a woman, their entire beings electrified, every cell in their bodies vibrating with a thrill that only the brush of death could inspire.

"Magnificent!"

...

Asgard, the Throne Hall.

Inside the royal bedchamber, Frigga lay with furrowed brows, her thoughts weighed down by turmoil.

Hela had stormed the Kree Empire’s capital, a development Frigga had never foreseen.

Events had spiraled far beyond her grasp. Even Heimdall could no longer perceive Hela’s situation across the stars. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

How could she not worry?

"Hela..." Frigga sighed deeply. After a moment of hesitation, she finally decided to rise and head to Odin’s Vault to retrieve the dowry she had brought with her long ago.

With Odin absent, she had to assume the responsibilities of the household, of the throne.

She rose, stepped off the bed, and opened the chamber door.

Creak.

A body suddenly collapsed at the doorway with a thud, startling Frigga half to death.

Bloodied. Pale. Barely clinging to life.

"Odin?!"

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