Hela's Dowry or Thanos's Deliberations

A minute, or a century?

Beckett couldn't remember either.

The concept of time had vanished from Beckett's mind at that moment.

Under Hela's relentless onslaught, the usually valiant fighter was at a loss for how to retaliate, and could only clumsily follow Hela's steps.

So when Hela finally relented, Beckett was like a refugee who had fallen into a vacuum and found an oxygen mask, greedily inhaling the oxygen that flooded his lungs.

His chest heaved beneath his loose black Battle Suit, and the glistening threads of silk from Hela still lingered at the corner of his mouth. His eyes were filled with shock and bewilderment.

This was the first time in his life that a woman had kissed him so intensely.

Previously, whether it was Hela from over a thousand years ago or Mera, whom they should never meet again in this life, they only pecked at each other like a dragonfly skimming the water, and that was all.

[Why...]

Why do I feel so hot?

Why do I feel like all the power within me is sealed away?

Panting heavily, Beckett lowered his eyes, the renewed energy within him bringing him immense confusion.

Why couldn't I push Hela just now?

What about his power?

"I think I already know the answer," Hela said with a smile, leaning closer to Beckett with her hands behind her back.

"Why, why did you even think about marriage?"

After gathering his thoughts, Beckett, who still had some understanding of the concept of "marriage," was quite puzzled.

"In fact, strictly speaking, our wedding was arranged more than a thousand years ago, if Odin hadn't interfered."

Beckett looked directly at Hela, and Hela looked back at him without wavering.

"This time, no one will interfere." Hela explained her plans in detail to Beckett.

She chose Asgard, after its reconstruction, as the location for the wedding.

The Dark Order is too desolate and cold, lacking any warmth or liveliness, and is not suitable for a lively wedding.

She believed Beckett wouldn't care about these minor details, and as for Thanos, she had her own plans to persuade him.

She plans to hold the wedding a month from now.

The reconstruction of Asgard is progressing rapidly and is now nearing completion. A month is plenty of time for Hela to prepare for a grand wedding.

Hela arranged everything meticulously from the wedding preparations to its conclusion, just waiting for Asgard to be rebuilt so that it could seamlessly transition into the next phase.

Having saved Asgard from the Fire Giant Surtur, she was even able to enjoy the cheers of the Asgard people at her wedding.

"Cowry--"

"Meow!"

Hela, who was smiling, wanted to continue speaking, but was interrupted by a shrill meow from a cat.

A small dried fish with its head bitten off fell from the sky. The orange cat, which was lying on the beam, stretched out its paw to catch it with lightning speed, but it missed.

The only solace in its heart fell to the ground and gathered dust. The Energy Devouring Beast, slumped on the beam, let out a heart-wrenching cry. Its rosy little lips bit its soft tail, and it put on a dramatic act to attract Beckett's attention.

Hela squinted, suddenly craving to eat the Energy Devouring Beast.

"Meow..." Perhaps sensing the fleeting killing intent emanating from Hela, the orange cat stopped howling and blinked its teary eyes, looking pitifully at the dusty dried fish at Beckett's feet.

Until Beckett rubbed a silver ball of energy into his hand.

"Meow!"

The Energy Devouring Beast's eyes lit up, and with a "whoosh," it landed on Beckett's head. Its pink little paws took the food from Beckett, and it happily wagged its tail behind it, happily opening its mouth to nibble.

Her big eyes curved into crescent moons, a far cry from her previous teary-eyed appearance.

"Lady Hela, Lord Thanos requests your presence."

Hela, with an unfriendly look in her eyes, was led away by the butler Woz from the side hall, leaving Beckett standing there in confusion. "Father is looking for Hela?"

"You're going to marry Beckett?"

Inside the main hall of the Dark Order base, Thanos, seated on his throne, looked down at Hela, his theoretical future daughter-in-law, who had been brought there.

"Yes," Hela readily admitted.

The Dark Order is Thanos's base, so it's not surprising that Hela would know about what just happened.

"Why?"

"Beckett and I are engaged, I think you should remember that." Hela looked up without the slightest fear, meeting Thanos's scrutinizing gaze.

"Odin is dead." Thanos's tone remained unmoved.

"Yes, Odin is dead, but my mother is alive, and Frigga is alive. You didn't break off the engagement, did you?" Hela countered, as if she had been prepared.

The engagement hadn't been officially dissolved before all those events happened. Strictly speaking, Hela's claim of abiding by the agreement wasn't wrong.

Thanos didn't speak again, but simply stared silently at Hela beneath the throne.

After a long silence, perhaps due to the immense psychological pressure Thanos exerted on her, or perhaps for other reasons, Hela broke the silence. "The Time Stone."

"Beckett said that you've always wanted to collect Six Infinity Stones."

"The Soul Stone has strict requirements for obtaining it, so I can't help you with that. However, I can help you get the Time Stone."

Hela unleashed her trump card.

"The Time Stone?"

And just as Hela had predicted, after she unleashed the Time Stone, Thanos's unchanging tone finally showed a slight change.

The Soul Stone clearly has its own independent thought and its own set of rules, making it difficult to fool.

But the Time Stone is different.

Hela was confident she could get it.

After all, the Ancient One is already dead.

Hela, blessed by the World Tree, was certain that the unfathomable Sorcerer Supreme was dead, and that her successor was merely an Earthling who had only recently begun his ascension—Stephen Strange.

"I'm waiting for your good news, Hela."

Thanos waved, Hela bowed and left.

Only after Hela's figure completely disappeared from the base entrance did Thanos, sitting on his throne, bring up Beckett's virtual image model again.

Thanos hadn't anticipated that absorbing Hela's power would prevent him from breaking the rules and becoming a god.

"Where exactly did things go wrong?"

Thanos pondered, continuously flipping through Woz's database of entries about Beckett.

"Using emotions to trigger changes in the body's cells—the approach isn't wrong, but why...?"

"Or perhaps, the emotions weren't strong enough?"

While Thanos was still pondering what kind of emotion would trigger Beckett's full outburst, The Other, who was in the Dark Order's logistics department, had already completed the registration process with Pietro and Wanda.

The name and code were entered by Ebony Maw himself.

Scarlet Witch - Wanda;

Quicksilver – Pietro.

"Alright, from now on you will officially become His Highness Beckett's subordinates. I will be responsible for helping you quickly familiarize yourselves with all the rules within the Dark Order in the near future."

"And, Pietro, this is what His Highness Beckett prepared for you."

Finally, The Other can be the powerful and influential boss. He's very proud of himself.

At the same time, he handed Pietro a chip.

The chip contains data that Woz compiled after he trained Barry Allen, the Flash, in another universe.

Beckett's meaning was clear to The Other, who was a key advisor—he wanted to try to mold Quicksilver into a Flash.

As for Scarlet Witch Wanda... magical abilities are not Beckett's forte.