"Do all you people from Centauri eat this much?"
Jennifer, finally settled back into her seat, clutched her wineglass and took a steadying sip of her favorite vintage.
As the leader of a rebel faction, her pockets were always light. Every time she went out to eat, she had to agonize over the menu for ages before settling on something modest.
And now? They'd practically emptied out the tavern's entire pantry.
A tenth, a full tenth, of what she'd scrimped and saved over the years through leading by example, living frugally, was now gone in a single sitting.
Jennifer looked utterly distraught.
They weren't rebels hoping to surrender to some outside force for an easy buyout. If their year-end report ever showed a surplus, that was cause for celebration with drums and fireworks.
And that was only possible because all their military supplies were either looted or stolen.
Without the backing of any external capital, the rebel army lived far less glamorously than outsiders might imagine.
"Is that a lot?"
Lothar cast her a sidelong glance and asked coolly.
He'd eaten like this his whole life, was that excessive?
No, these people just didn't eat enough.
"Forget it."
Jennifer suddenly remembered, this guy was technically the crown prince of the entire Centauri Galaxy. She waved her hand dismissively, figuring it was pointless to argue with someone who'd never had to worry about budgeting for food and fuel.
She'd give herself a stroke.
"Let's get back to business. The barkeep's heading out for more food anyway."
Jennifer forcibly shifted the topic.
She had hoped to talk things over during the meal, but at this point? Fat chance.
"I've gotten in touch with my master. Three days from now, I'll take you to meet him. If he agrees, we'll move straight on to the Gafa Control Center. That's where Rodus is hiding."
Her master possessed one of the Infinity Stones. Add the two already in Lothar's possession, and that made three. Jennifer refused to believe that even Rodus could survive an assault backed by the power of three Infinity Stones.
"Whatever."
Lothar wasn't particularly moved by Jennifer's plan. He had confidence in his own strength, plenty of it.
All that occupied his thoughts now was whether this exchange would finally bring him closer to acquiring the Soul Stone.
And also, the Power Stone… which, according to Woz's scans, was currently hidden within the woman sitting across from him.
As Jennifer tilted her head to drink, the light caught her ear-length golden hair through the bottom of her glass, burning the image into Lothar's eyes.
Woz's systems had already done the work. The power Jennifer used earlier almost certainly came from one of the six Infinity Stones: the Power Stone.
Two Infinity Stones in a single trip... Father will be pleased.
As Jennifer's voice faded into the background, Lothar silently sipped his drink and drifted deep into thought.
Of the six Infinity Stones, he already held the Mind Stone and the Reality Stone. He had a map to the Soul Stone. The Power Stone was here, in Jennifer's hands. According to Malekith, the Space Stone was with Odin in Asgard.
That left just one…
Where was the Time Stone?
The whereabouts of five stones were already known to him, so naturally, his mind began to circle the final one.
And yet, he drew a blank.
To this day, he hadn't heard so much as a whisper about where the Time Stone could be.
The two of them remained at the tavern well past sunset.
Lothar continued mulling over the puzzle in silence. Jennifer, ever the chatterbox, kept babbling on, until her mouth was finally silenced by the mountain of food before her.
With the tavern's food supply replenished, the evening's revelry resumed in full. Surreal, dreamlike lighting danced across the faces of every guest.
That was when Hela walked in.
Dressed, as always, in a black bodysuit that hugged her lethal curves, she sauntered to the bar with an effortless sway. With a flick of her wrist, she ordered a drink, her ink-black hair swaying gently to the music.
She looked completely at ease.
"You came back for something you forgot?"
A smooth voice, both refined and ghostlike, appeared beside her. Ego leaned casually on the bar, the cut of his tailored coat radiating aristocratic charm. His head tilted toward Hela, watching her movements as she froze mid-sway.
"Forgot what?" Hela asked, running her fingers through her long hair, twirling an ice cube in her mouth as it melted in the alcohol.
"This."
Ego placed a pair of sleek black sunglasses on the counter, just within her reach.
Hela raised a brow. "And how did you know I'd be back tonight?"
"I told you, didn't I? I'm a god."
He lifted the drink the server had handed him, raising it in a toast.
"What kind of god hangs around a place like this?" Hela turned toward him, elbows on the bar, smiling with bemusement as the bartender poured her drink.
"Who's to say? Isn't that right, Goddess of Death?"
She swirled her glass, letting the dancing lights refract through the melting ice. A kaleidoscope of surreal colors played across her face.
"Cheers?" Ego offered, raising his glass toward hers.
"Cheers." Hela clinked her glass against his. The sound of ice and liquor tapping glass was crisp and clear.
Thud!
A massive figure crashed down beside their feet from somewhere near the entrance.
The lighting, no longer dreamy, now cast a sharp crimson sheen across the blood-spattered floor.
Without a word, the bartender dragged the body away. In a place like this, beyond the reach of Gafa's law, bar fights that ended in death were nothing out of the ordinary.
Everyone here was a rogue of one kind or another. A little blood was par for the course.
"Anyone else?"
The voice made Hela pause mid-sip. It was… familiar. Unmistakably so.
She turned toward it.
Standing there in a loose combat suit was Lothar, casually holding up a burly man by the neck, one foot resting atop a motionless woman, his blood-red tail wrapped tightly around a struggling dwarf who was rapidly going limp.
"Pathetic."
He snorted, then snapped the lives out of all four assailants without a second thought.
Their bodies hit the floor with a chilling thud. The onlookers instinctively cleared a path.
"Lothar?"
"Hela?"
With no more obstacles between them, they spotted each other easily across the room.
"Jennifer?"
"Ego?"
Neither of them had expected this.
Ego never imagined that the woman he'd just dumped would be sitting in this very tavern drinking with some off-worlder.
Jennifer never imagined she'd run into Ego, fresh off a breakup, right here and now.
The lighting in the tavern was no longer surreal, it had turned ominous. Ego's expression darkened.
Especially after Lothar turned to Jennifer and said, simply, "Let's go."
"You know that guy?"
Ego's voice was low, his eyes glued to Lothar and Jennifer walking away together.
"Lothar, son of Thanos, ruler of the Centauri System," Hela said, watching Ego's face with thinly veiled amusement. "Why? You interested in him?"
She had seen Ego's little home video with Jennifer, after all. And thanks to Rodus's schemes, she knew exactly why Lothar and Jennifer were working together.
But Ego… seemed completely unaware.
Hela's smirk deepened. She casually snapped her fingers, signaling the bartender.
A fresh drink was placed before her—radiant green.
"Drink?"
She raised her glass toward Ego.
The drink shimmered like emerald fire.
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