Beyla ~ (Loki)

26.

 Thor, strapped to the chair, suddenly finds himself slowly moving forward. After a beat, the walls light up and a soothing voice speaks to him. "Fear not, for you are found. You are home, and there is no going back. No one leaves this place." Thor struggles against his restraints. "But what is this place? The answer in Sakaar." The tunnel walls show images of Sakaar's place in the Cosmos.

"Surrounded by cosmic gateways, Sakaar lives on the edge of the known and unknown." Images of the wormholes that cover Sakaar's atmosphere. "It is the collection point for all lost and unloved things. Like you. But here on Sakaar, you are significant. You are valuable. Here, you are loved."

"What...the hell?"

"And no one loves you more than the Grandmaster." Images of the Grandmaster, in silhouette, arriving on Sakaar. "He is the original. The first lost, and the first found. The creator of Sakaar and the father of the Contest of Champions." Images of the arena where aliens battle to the death. "Where once you were nothing, now you are something. You are the property of the Grandmaster. Congratulations! You will meet the Grandmaster in five seconds." Images around the tunnel begin speeding up. Chaos, violence, and confusion mixed in with Grandmaster's face.

Thor, already bewildered, looks on the verge of panic.

"Prepare yourself." Thor's breathing becomes rift. His panic level rising.

"Prepare yourself. You are now meeting the Grandmaster." Thor screams every cell from his lungs.

Suddenly Thor is somewhere else, surrounded by weirdos and insanely dressed palace guards. His scream dies down self-consciously. The Grand Master sits in golden robes. He doesn't know what to make of Thor. He's curious, thrilled, revolted, and titillated. "He's wonderful. It is a he?" Val nods, "It's a he." "Yeah. I love when you come to visit 142, you bring me the best stuff." The Grand Master looks to his servant, "Whenever we get to talking, Topaz, about Scrapper 142...what do I always say? "She is the..." and it starts with a B." Without a beat Topaz responds, "Trash."

"No, not trash. Were you waiting just to call her that? It doesn't start with a B." The Grandmaster scoffs. Topaz opens up again, "Booze Hag." Val glares at her. The Grandmaster shakes his head, "I'm so sorry. No, "best." I was thinking about best. Because I always say you're the best. She brought me my precious beloved Champion, you know."

Topaz rolls her eyes, "You say that every time she's here." "What have you brought today? Tell me."

"A contender."

Thor's voice rings from his seat, "A what?"

"I need to go closer. I want a closer look at this. Can you take us closer? Thank you." The Grandmaster advances on Thor. Examining him closely and strangely. "Pay this lady." Thor flips out screaming, "Just wait a damn minute! I'm not for sale!" Using all his might, Thor breaks out of his shackles, but Val zaps him again. Paralyzed by superheated veins.

"I'll take 10 million." Topaz scoffs, "Tell her she's dreaming." The Grandmaster rolls his eyes. "For heaven's sake, transfer the units." Topaz transfers the units. Without sympathy or ceremony, Val makes her way to the exit. Thor points to her as his muscles tense. "You'll pay for this!" She scoffs, "No, I got paid for this."

Thor claws at the obedience disk, trying to rip it out. Thor eventually has to let go. Grandmaster holds up his fob device and uses it as a wand to guide Thor's chair, which follows Grandmaster around as he speaks.

"Here's what I wanna know. Who are you?" Thor huffs, "I am the God of THUNDER!!!" Thor thrusts his arms into the air but only a tiny bit of static electricity pops within Thor's fingers.