Bab 110: Spy Games Ch. 31
"AND NOW THE FIGHT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! IN ONE CORNER, OUR NEWEST CONTENDER, THE THUNDER LORD!!!"
As Thor is thrust out into the massive gladiator arena, he scowls up at the direction that the announcer's voice is booming from.
"God of Thunder! It's 'God of Thunder' damnit!"
To say that Thor was having a bad week would be a fucking understatement. It was also the capstone of a pretty fucking bad year. Ever since the Ultron debacle back on Earth, Thor had been hunting for the other Infinity Stones. Obviously, Vali had a few, and his father's treasure room held the Tesseract, but Thor's visions had shown him that they needed to pin down the location of ALL the stones if they wanted to avoid… well, Ragnarok.
And then he'd finally managed to get a lead from the supposed ignition of Ragnarok himself, the Fire Giant King Surtur. It was thanks to Surtur that Thor had learned how to stop Ragnarok, and just as importantly, that Odin wasn't on Asgard any longer. But Odin was on Asgard… except no, because as it turned out, that was Thor's mischievous brother Loki, masquerading as Odin after faking his death for the umpteenth time.
Alas, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Loki usurping Odin's throne and tossing their ensorcelled father in an old folk's home back on Midgard was bad enough. Odin dying on them both right after they'd managed to track him down to Norway, which in turn caused the release of Thor's elder sister Hela, locked away for longer than both of them had been alive… THAT was the icing on the rest of the shit cake.
Hela, who it turned out was a war-hungry, blood-thirsty megalomaniac, had then gone on to destroy Thor's hammer, toss him and Loki around like a pair of children, and hijack the Bifrost when Loki made the mistake of calling for a rescue. It was then categorically proven that shit could get worse when she'd batted both Thor and Loki out of the Bifrost.
Thor didn't know what had happened to his brother, but he certainly knew what had happened to himself. He'd experienced it all firsthand, after all. An encounter with a literal Valkyrie (and weren't they all supposed to be dead?) doubling as a drunken slaver had seen him captured and then sold to the ruler of this place, a man known only as The Grandmaster. His hair had then been shorn down to shorter than he'd kept it in CENTURIES, and he'd been tossed into some sort of looping prison with a bunch of other gladiators to await his next fight.
This was it though. Finally, Thor was sure he could take matters into his own hands. If he could just win this fight, said to be against the Grandmaster's supposed best fighter, the current Champion, then maybe Thor could leverage that victory into an escape attempt, or at least more freedom with which to figure out his next steps.
Of course, he still didn't know what to expect. Something about a wolf? Something about him 'already being dead, them's the breaks' according to the rocky guy?
"AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ARENA, YOU KNOW HIM, YOU LOVE HIM! HE'S THE GRANDMASTER'S CHAMPION, THE MONSTER OF MONSTERS, THE BEAST OF BEASTS! SHAPESHIFTER AND VORACIOUS EATER, GIVE IT UP FOR VALI THE WOLF!"
The name barely registers in Thor's ears before the doors on the far side of the arena open up and a massive wolf comes loping through. Blinking dumbly, Thor processes the name and finds himself staring into the wolf's strangely familiar eyes. There's no way though, right? It can't be. That just… what are the odds?
Slowing its swift gait to more of a walk then a sprint, the hulking wolf reaches the middle of the arena… and then transforms. Indeed, Thor's suspicions are confirmed, though he's still filled with incredulous disbelief as he finds himself face to face with Vali Masters, his Shield Brother, otherwise known as the hero Valiant of Earth.
Thor is stupefied for all of a moment before a look of pure elation spreads across his face and he thrusts both his sword arm and his shield arm into the air.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!!!"
There's a beat of dead silence at his strange happiness. Vali facepalms, while the rest of the Arena Audience look on in confusion. Thor just laughs and gestures to Vali.
"We know each other! He's a friend from work! Vali, tell them!"
Muttering and murmuring breaks out amongst the crowds, while Thor looks over at Vali with a grin. Everything is looking up now- urp!
All of the sudden, there's a powerful knee buried in Thor's gut, lifting him clear off the ground and doubling over as he finds his vision swinging downward from the sudden sucker punch. Vali's hands come down and grip Thor by the back of his leather chest piece, barely giving the God of Thunder a chance to react before he throws Thor bodily away from him.
Landing heavily, the displaced Asgardian Prince rolls a few times before hitting the wall of the arena and coming to a stop. Groaning, he slowly gets to his feet, just in time for Vali to slam him back up against the wall and sock him across the face.
"Hey, Thor. I'd say it's good to see you, buddy… but it really isn't."
"Wha-? Vali! Why do you attack me so?!"
Another swing, but this one Thor manages to block, getting his shield up and grunting from the sheer strength behind Vali's haymakers. Letting out a laughter of disbelief, Vali just shakes his head.
"It's sort of the point of the Arena, 'work friend'. We are supposed to fight to the death, you know."
Ah, so it was like that. Vali had to keep up appearances, that was all. Though, glancing over his fellow Avenger, Thor could not see an obedience disk like the one attached to his neck anywhere on Vali's person. Still…
"I understand, friend! We must give a good show! I will stop holding back then!"
And so, Thor goes on the offensive… only to find himself still heavily on the back foot. Vali sneers at him, even as he overwhelms his defenses again and again, tossing Thor around the Arena like… like a child rather than the God he was supposed to be.
"You don't get it, Thor. If you don't start taking this seriously, I'm going to kill you here and now."
The certainty in Vali's voice finally gets through to him, and Thor's eyes widen even as he blocks another attack with his shield, skittering back a few feet.
"Why?! Have we not fought side by side? Are we not Shield Brothers?!"
Letting loose a deep, bestial growl, Vali's eyes glow a mixture of red, purple, and gold and Thor only has a moment to react before the Stone-Empowered Being is upon him, crushing the shield and sword he was given and tossing them aside like so much paper mâché.
"Do you not know why I am here, Thor? Did your precious friends back on Earth not get a chance to read you in on my 'crimes' yet? They betrayed me, Son of Odin! They betrayed me and cast me out, sending me away! Sending me here!"
Taken aback by this, Thor is stuck trying to process Vali's words while also fighting for his life. It sounds so crazy, that the Avengers would ever betray one of their own. Especially the men that Thor had fought alongside. In truth, for Thor, the world has always been fairly black and white. He's been trying to be better about it for a long time, ever since Odin banished him for sparking a war with the Jotun all those years ago in fact. He's learned a lot and grown as a person in a myriad of ways.
Which is why he almost instantly regrets that his immediate reaction to Vali's words is to look at the other man with a frown and speak with an accusatory tone.
"Vali… what did you do?"
He knows it's a mistake when Vali's eyes widen ever so slightly and then his nostrils flare in a way Thor can tell is FURY. He can certainly tell what Vali is feeling when the other man's fist buries itself in Thor's gut once again and Thor is thrown back across the Arena. The crowds, of course, are eating it up. The roars and cheers as Thor is beaten black and blue are near-deafening and the laughter whenever Thor takes a particularly large hit is as loud and jeering as anything else.
But Thor pays them no mind. His focus is entirely on Vali… it has to be, because as he's slowly being forced to come to terms with, Vali is actually, honestly trying to kill him.
"NOTHING! I DID NOTHING BUT PLAY THE GOOD LITTLE HERO! It was THEY who decided that my handful of mistakes meant I could not be trusted! It was THEY who tried to shackle me, and when I dared to turn their shackles back on them, it was THEY who turned all those I cared for against me before throwing me out into the yawning abyss! I tell you this, God of Thunder, the heroes of Earth will rue the day they made an enemy of me. When I get back there, I'm going to make each and every one of them SUFFER!"
This was not the Valiant that Thor had known. This was not the Shield Brother he'd fought alongside, not the man that he had stood alongside and claimed was of good moral character to his doubting father. Surely not, right? This… this Vali was simply hurt. He was wounded on an emotional level. He needed compassion and understanding, but Thor was wary and weary both. He was burnt out from his own personal issues and didn't even begin to know how to approach Vali from a place of understanding and comfort.
Especially not when the other man was trying so fucking hard to kill him.
"You must calm down, Vali! We can talk about this! I'm sure there's an explanation! I'm sure that there's a path of reconcile-grk!"
Once again, that damnable fist finds Thor's abdomen. This time though, the sound of a crack echoes out through the arena as one of the God of Thunder's ribs gives way as he's sent flying back. The broken bone is a shock to Thor. Asgardians are… durable as a matter of due course. He can't remember the last time he broke a bone.
As he tastes more and more blood in his mouth, something almost feels like it's awakening in the back of Thor's mind. A crackling feeling spreads through his body, a low hum and a tingling that leaves him feeling… strange.
"NO MORE TALKING! FIGHT ME, O GOD OF THUNDER! FIGHT ME AND BE THE FIRST OF THE AVENGERS TO DIE BY MY HAND!"
Vali… could not be reasoned with. This was not Valiant, Hero of New York and all of Earth. This was, as the announcer had called him, Vali the Wolf. Champion of Sakaar. Monster of Monsters. Beast of Beasts. Shakily staggering to his feet, Thor wishes for his hammer to still be with him so he could call upon the Lightning and Thunder that were his birthright.
And as he wishes… electricity crackles on his fingertips. The Asgardian Prince blinks down at his hands dumbly as he sees this, surprised and amazed. That was… he'd never been able to use his powers without his weapon before and yet…
Vali, meanwhile, far from using the speed Thor KNOWS he has, is stomping towards the stupefied God of Thunder still shouting and screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs.
"FIGHT ME! QUIT STANDING THERE LIKE AN IDIOT AND FIGHT ME!"
As Thor spits out some blood, a tendril of fear fills him. It leaves a bad taste in his mouth, because he's always thought of himself as the Strongest Avenger. But Vali is right. If he doesn't fight back, if he doesn't give this his all… Vali Masters will kill him. And Thor, who still has to get back to his people and save Asgard from his sister, CANNOT die here.
And so, as Vali approaches, Thor calls upon that tingling sensation in the back of his mind. The power jumping from his fingers across his hands and up and down his arms intensifies. His eyes glow with the unbridled energy of the storm, and just as Vali begins to sprint to close the rest of the gap between them, Thor thrusts out both hands and shoots the largest Lightning Bolt he's ever managed right at his former Shield Brother.
It hits center mass and Vali is stopped in his tracks, tensing up as his eyes go wide, as his jaw drops open. And then… parts of him begin to flake off. Thor tries to cut off the energy flowing from his hands into Vali but finds that he can't. No matter how hard he tries, the power just builds and builds and builds. It's only belatedly that he realizes he's somehow made a conduit between himself and the Infinity Stones inside of Vali Masters.
It's far too late for him to do anything about it, as the immense sources of power that Vali has been carting around inside of him all this time quite literally burn him up from the inside out, supercharged and disintegrating him on the spot. By the time the electric current pouring from Thor's hands is finally allowed to cut off, Vali is gone, nothing but ash remaining. And as Thor stares at the ground where he once stood, the three glowing gemstones in the pile of ash that was Vali's body flicker and then blink out of existence… like they were never there.
The Arena has gone dead silent and remains so for a few moments longer as Thor collapses to his knees, horrified by what he's done but seeing no other way to stop the former hero's murderous rampage. Vali Masters had needed to die for the safety of the Universe. Thor just wished it hadn't had to be him who did the deed.
"… WELL, THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS! VALI THE WOLF IS SLAIN! THE MONSTER OF MONSTERS IS NO MORE! SAKAAR! YOU HAVE A NEW CHAMPION! GIVE IT UP FOR… THE THUNDER LORD!"
He'd gotten what he wanted. He'd won and was Champion now. Maybe he could leverage that into an escape. Maybe he could get that Valkyrie to help him out if he convinced her he was worth her time. But… why did this all feel like such a failure, if he had been victorious?
Woozy from the battle damage, Thor doesn't stay conscious much longer. He collapses onto his side and has to be carted out of the arena on a stretcher. When he awakens some hours later it will be in his new, spacious Champion's Quarters, with all sorts of sycophantic servants willing to look after his basic needs but a distinct shortage of actual would-be allies. When he asks after the dark-skinned woman who initially captured him, the news will not make him happy.
Scrapper One-Four-Two has left the planet, never to return.
-x-X-x-
On board the Warsong, flying through space away from Sakaar, I can't help but smile as I sit in the Captain's Chair. With the course plotted already and everything pretty much on autopilot, we were able to indulge. Which was why my precious pets were both on their knees before me, each of them licking and lapping along one side of my cock with a feverish devotion and adoration to their actions.
Heh, I had to admit, the Reality Stone had made everything with Thor so much more… FUN. Knowing that the God of Thunder was going to show up soon enough, I had started planning. Knowing that I probably wouldn't be able to leave without a fight if the Grandmaster didn't want me to, I'd looped him pretty early on in that planning.
As eccentric and self-centered as the Grandmaster was, he could be reasoned with. In fact, I quite liked Sakaar's egomaniacal ruler. He'd been nothing but good to me in a galaxy where everyone I hadn't mind controlled into loving me had ultimately decided to turn against me in the end. Hell, even the people I HAD mind controlled into loving me had turned against me. Can't rely on mind control for anything these days, I swear to fucking God…
Regardless, upon informing the Grandmaster of my imminent departure, I had immediately waylaid any worries he might have had by promising to provide my own replacement. After all, no Champion in all of Sakaar's history had ever gotten to RETIRE from the Arena. It was a position you held for life… however long or short that life might be before you died to the next Champion.
So yes, I had to die, and the Grandmaster had to get a cool new toy to play with or the Ruler of Sakaar wouldn't be happy. Luckily, it was easy enough to make happen. Waiting for Thor was the only downside of the plan, but he'd shown up a couple weeks after I traded out his brother for a hotter, more feminine model, and so everything was a-go.
Thor and I had fought, and Thor had won. Obviously, I'd let him win. I could have killed him a dozen times over. Frankly, was worried I was going to have to really ham it up to let him win. Luckily for me, like some sort of fucking Shonen protagonist, he'd unlocked a powerup at the perfect time. Him using Lightning without a focus was pretty cool, but I'll be honest… the vast majority of his incredibly flashy power display had been the Reality Stone.
The God of Thunder would NOT be able to recreate that maneuver anytime soon. If he worked really hard at it, he might be able to eventually lightning strike people on command, but at the time of our fight, he barely managed a few jolts in what he tossed at me. It was all theatrics with the Reality Stone that had made me light up like a Christmas Tree and had made Thor look like far more of a badass than he ACTUALLY was.
And so, Vali the Wolf had died, ending the reign of yet another Champion of Sakaar and starting the reign of a new one… the Thunder Lord. I'd advised the Grandmaster on keeping Thor very, VERY busy to avoid any escape attempts, but whether that would work out or not, I knew not. If I ran into Thor again, I'd probably just kill him outright. The only reason he still lived was because he'd been useful to me in taking my place on Sakaar. That was it.
Smiling, I slide my hands through the hair of Brunnhilde and Sylvie, looking down into their eyes as they gaze up at me, their mouths and tongues still equally slavish in their devotion and appreciation for my cock. I had my freedom again, and two lovely dames to share it with. What more could a man ask for?
… Ah, who am I kidding. The course was already set for Asgard. I wasn't going to just sit back and fuck around any longer. No… it was time to treat with a Queen.
-x-X-x-
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