Contest of Champions

15

A chill runs down my spine as Thanos turns his back to us, signaling our dismissal. Our chariot starts forward, turning to follow the other districts in order of appearance. Contenders Tower, where the contenders will dwell until the Contest starts, looms before us as the chariots all roll towards it, the cheers from the crowd dying down as we leave them behind.

Thanos' words are still ringing in my head when I step down from the chariot with Sif, casting my gaze around the lobby of the building. There's a wall of windows looking out on Titan, and a large screen in one corner showing a collection of clips from the contenders' entrance.

The noise level in the lobby is deafening as mentors, stylists and prep teams collect their contenders. I see Tony Stark clapping Peter Parker on the back and Scott Lang giving Cassie a hug. Wanda Maximoff is conversing quietly with Pietro and Stephen Strange is directing Wong and Christine to the elevators.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and jump, turning to see Hela behind me. She's saying something about my entrance and I nod, unable to hear her over the noise. Jane is already steering the others towards the elevator, trying to get one of the two cabs before everyone else decides to leave the lobby.

Hela pushes me after them, stopping to speak with Ronan the Accuser, who has already shoved his contenders towards the other elevator. Jane and the others have crowded into the elevator with Tony and Peter. Veers and Yon-Rogg are in front of me, standing before the closing doors as Tony quips, "Hey, maximum capacity reached." He holds out his hand as if to stop us.

With a sigh, Yon-Rogg looks at Veers. "We'll just take the second one."

They turn toward the second elevator, but that one has also filled up with the Wakanda and Hydra contenders. Yon-Rogg shakes his head in frustration and he, Veers, and I proceed to wait along with some of the other contenders and mentors.

"What's yours is mine and what's mine is yours," I hear someone say behind me, and glance back to see Cletus Kasady addressing Eddie Brock. Then he lunged forward, his hands somehow snapping the restraints of the straitjacket, and he grabs Eddie's hand and sinks his teeth into it.

"Oh, look at that, he's free," Hela observes, as if barely interested, and then moves forward.

The next thing I know, Hela has seized Kasady and is thrusting him back, away from Eddie as members of the Black Order grab him and slap cuffs on his wrists, chains on his legs. Meanwhile, he's just looking at Eddie, perplexed and curious.

"I have tasted blood before," he says, as Eddie grips his injured hand and regards Kasady like he's a madman. "And that is not it."

Then a muzzle is clapped over his mouth, shutting him up and preventing him from biting again, one of the elevator doors slide open, and the two Kree and I board, followed quickly by Strange and his two contenders, Sharon Carter, and Scott and Cassie Lang.

There's awkward silence as we each punch in our destinations. The only buttons we're allowed to select on the panel are numbered 1 through 12, but Thor has told me that those aren't really the numbers of the floors. Those are just telling the contenders which buttons to press to get to their rooms. Just touch the one that matches your district number.

The keys numbered 3, 4, 5, 8, and 12 get alternately pressed and the elevator jolts upward, leaving the noise and the crazy serial killer behind – for now. He'll be our problem once we're in the arena, and I'm not looking forward to that.

But even with that threat, I can't keep my eyes from glancing to Veers. She notices my gaze and her brow furrows before she frowns.

Does she recognize me? I try to see if I can tell but she looks perplexed before she shakes her head and turns to Yon-Rogg. I feel a flash of hurt before I wonder why. Why would I be cut by her forgetfulness? I don't even know this girl.