Loki and Sigyn, His Glorious Purpose

Chapter Forty-Nine

LOKI'S POINT OF VIEW
Yes, I was on a mission to return to Asgard in order to save Hela and Sigyn but at the very least I could enjoy myself along the way. Afterall, time passes differently in Sakaar, I doubt Hela was even in Asgard as of yet. 

The day had come for my brother to face the famed beast everyone had been talking. Of course, I was very excited to see Thor absolutely pummeled by the Grandmaster's champion. I wondered how it would occur, peehapas through impalement or maybe good old fashioned squishing? Didn't matter, I had the best seat in entire arena to watch it all unfold. I had been invited to the Grandmaster's Luxury Suite, a VIP box attached to the fighting arena. Golden Ladies and Skaar's most notable gamblers were all in attendance. In order to fit in, so to speak, I took petty wagers on the fight card. Hopefully Thor was bound to lose, otherwise I'd be short quite a few units.

In the sandy collosseum below, the Grandmaster walked to the middle of it arms outstretched and clothed in lustrous golden fabrics. Thorugh a complex hologram, the man quickly grew to over seventy feet tall, with one shoe taking up nearly half of the arena. The audience erupted into cheers at the sight.

"Wow! Look at all of you. What a show, WHAT-A-NIGHT! Who's having fun," He asked, laughing happily as he looked upon all of his subjects, "Please, I'm your host. Big round of applause for all of our undercard competitors... who died so gruesomely. Good sports. What a show! What a night! This is what you've come for and so have I."

The crowd went wild as her introduced the night, beer went flying and banners went up gallantly.

"And now, without further ado...it's main event time!!" He continued as the roar of applause grew louder, "Making his first appearance, though he looks quite promising, got a couple of tricks up his sleeve. I'll say no more, let's see what you think. Ladies and gentlemen...I give to you...Lord of Thunder!"

I rose from my seat and gave a polite applause as Thor entered the stage. Surpirsingly, Thor had a shaved head and trimmed beard. I was the first time I had seen him so clean cut. He was adorned minimalist armor and absolutely covered in weapons with two swords on his back, giant mace in one hand, and spiked shield in the other. He certainly looked the part of gladiator.

The Grandmaster chuckled and chided, "Watch out for his fingers. They make sparks."

Thor looked up at the throngs of screaming fans as he held a stoic expression. He put on his helmet, an ornate gladiator variation of his classic winged helm. Bearing his sword and shield, he signaled to the Grandmaster that he was ready to battle.

"Okay, this is it," the Grandmaster said giddily, "Let's get ready to welcome this guy. Here he comes! He is a creature. What can we say about him? Well, he's unique. There's none like him. I feel a special connection with him."

Suddenly the floor beneath Thor's feet began to lower as a gate on the east side began to slowly open wider and wider. A slow tension grew as the audience's volume rose alongside the gate. The entire crowd was on its feet, the anticipation was more than palapable. The spotlights shifted to bright stadium lights.

"He's undefeated. HE'S THE REIGNING...HE'S THE DEFENDING...Ladies and gentlemen... I give you..."

The gate exploded thus revealing the Champion. The great green beast ran into the stadium lights and I immediately recognized the monster. Hulk. The sight of him practically sent me into orbit, my body stung as it remembered the mighty way in which he pummeled me. I could feel my complexion go ghost white as traumatic memories of being Hulk-smashed flooded my brain. Gone was all my joy.

He wore an armored shoulder guard and a Spartan helmet. He carried a warhammer in one  hand and a battleaxe in the other. Hulk pounded his chest and roared, further energizing an already frenzied crowd. That was when I decided, I had finally had enough of Sakaar.

"I have to get off this planet," I said hastily, trying to make my exit from the viewing box.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going?" the Grandmaster said, pushing me back down into a front row seat. I rubbed my face and tried to look away. This was a nightmare.

Down below, Thor was having the time of his life.

"Hey! We know each other. He's a friend from work!" he bellowed as he turned to the monster, "Where have you been? Everybody thought you were dead. So much has happened since I last saw you. I lost my hammer. Like, yesterday, so that's still pretty fresh."

Thor turned to the box and waved wildly up at me with an enormous grin on his face, "Loki!" he called, "Loki's alive. Can you believe it? He's up there. Loki! Look who it is!"

I grimaced as I looked down into the arena. I could almost feel the phantom pain of being hulk-smashed. God, that was awful. Good to know at least Thor was having a good time, meanwhile I was petrified. Stuck on a damn garbage planet and watching my brother battle my worst nightmare was not an ideal situation.

Thor was obviously trying to garner Hulk's attention but it was to no avail as soon enough, my brother was being beat around like a ragdoll. Thor was able to dodge the first few attacks, but before long Hulk shattered his shield and sent Thor FLYING. Thor drew a sword and stabbed it into the ground to slow his momentum from the fall. Immediately, he drew the other sword and faced the Hulk yet again. They engaged again. Hulk kicked Thor, sending him slamming into a wall. This was becoming far more entertaining.

Thor jumped down from the wall just in time to avoid Hulk's warhammer, which hit the arena so hard that it remained lodged in the wall. The monster was quick to charge again as Thor managed to rip the warhammer out of the wall and wallop Hulk with it. The beast went flying and crashed alongside the edges of the arena. He ended up sprawled out in a pile of rubble, slightly dazed. Thor now seemed to have the upper hand. Unfortunately.

Apparently, this temporary lead went straight to my brother's head as he walked through the arena with an immense swagger. He took off his helm and called out to Hulk, "Hey, big guy. The sun's getting real low."

The green beheamoth growled and threw off his helmet as he glared at Thor.

"That's it. The sun's going down. I won't hurt you anymore. No one will," my brother chided, seeming to only provoke him more. Swiftly, Hulk grabbed Thor by the leg and proceeds to whip him against the arena floor. Over and over and over again. Oh, how glorious the sight was. Finally, someone would understand the pain!

I jumped out of my seat, grinning madly. "Yes! That's how it feels!" I yelled before bashfully turning to the Grandmaster and explaining, "I'm just a huge fan of the sport."

Mercilessly, Thor was thrown straight into the wall causing a cloud of dust to errupt. Hulk charged at him with a mighty yell, bringing down his battle axe straight to my brother. Thor quickly rose his battle helmet, counteracting the blow. He unfortunately was getting the better of these exchanges, using Hulk's aggression against him. Thor continually hits and trips Hulk off his feet while evading all the attacks. One particular vicious blow disarmed Hulk, and Thor breaks the battle-axe with the warhammer. My brother then bashed Hulk in the chest, knocking him to the ground with a mighty thud. With a growl, Hulk stood up and hit Thor with a straight jab that sends Thor tumbling across the arena. Hulk immediately lept after him and directly landed on Thor! That had to hurt. Hulk rode on top of Thor as they slide across the arena, just battering Thor with punches. Left-right-left-right. Thor's head was sent snapping back and forth. In the carnage, Thor's eyes began to glow white with electricity. Like an instinctual defense mechanism, Thor suddenly knocked hulk back with a bolt of lightning! I did not know he could do that. Seething with electricity, Thor sprung to his feet and then blasted hulk with electricity! Hulk launched backwards and Thor ricocheted from the blast.

The crowd began to chant thunder, thunder, thunder over and over again before a swift hush fell over the audience. I turned to the grandmaster, absolutely amazed. I had to give my brother credit for the fight, I mean come on. To my surprise, the Grandmaster was seething. He reached for a small remote control as Thor and Hulk began to qquarrel once more. At a push of a button, Thor fell swiftly to the ground, halted by the Grandmaster's command. Hulk jumped up into the sky, the green mass getting far from view before he began to hurtle right towards Thor. I had to look away. I loved seeing Thor beat up but I didn't think he would be too attractive as a pancake.