Marvel Imagines ;)

valkyrie - contender

Frost_Wyvern requested: "Hiya! Could I request where the reader is a contestant on Sacaar because her parents dropped her off just as a baby. She hasn't had anyone care for her like family, and Valkyrie has been like watching her (but not creepily lol)."

I hope I captured your vision! :)

"Where are we going, Mommy?"

"Somewhere new." Your mother turned to look at you over a headrest. The engine of the spacecraft hummed comfortingly below you. "Somewhere safe."

That was enough to make relief flood your little body. Father was quiet—not unusually so, but the absence of his reassurance left your mind racing.

It was all a blur, when they'd come up to your room to tell you they were leaving your home planet in search of something better. You knew there were things they weren't telling you; they talked in hushed whispers during the night when they thought you were sleeping. You'd heard the word Sacaar, and that was it. And even though your mother had told you not to worry, you couldn't help it. You had a sense that something was very, very wrong.

"Are you tired, sweetheart?" your mother prodded when you yawned.

You shook your head, trying to rub the sleep from your eyes. Your mother took you up into her arms, and you snuggled into her warmth, finally feeling some semblance of safety.

"Everything's going to be okay, Y/N. Sleep now. When you wake, everything will be different."

. . .

"Are you ready?"

The voice of the guard shattered your fitful sleep, and you were out of bed within seconds.

"Of course."

You immediately began to tie your hair back in a tightly-coiled braid. You didn't need to change into your fighting gear; you always slept in it. Just in case.

The guard motioned for you to follow him.

"Do you know who it is I'll be fighting today?"

The guard shook his head. His gold-plated armor clanged with every step he took down the ill-coloured hall (it was painted red and white, as though whoever designed the place had absolutely no sense of style at all). "It'll be another easy fight. Something to rile up the crowd before the big ones."

You released an angry breath. "Again? I've been put against meager fighters every day this week."

A moment of silence. Then— "And you expect me to care because...?"

"Because I'm bored." You pushed the guard—you thought his name was Felix, maybe—against the wall, a hand on his throat. "And you know how troublesome I can be when I'm bored."

You heard the clicking sound first, and had enough sense to utter a particularly nasty stream of curses before the electricity was flowing through your body. It was like your heart was pumping broken glass into your veins, so painful you almost couldn't even feel it, and it only stopped once your knees hit the floor with a sickening thud.

"Don't test me, Lila. Not today. The Grandmaster said if you pull anything like you did last time–"

"He'll melt me with his big magic stick. I know, Felix. I was only joking." You weren't—but he didn't need to know that.

"Lead the way," you said, motioning him onward with the mere tilt of your head.

. . .

There was nothing that could get your blood thrumming like the sound of a hundred people screaming your name as you entered the arena.

You stopped to breathe it in, the cheering. You loved the clarity, that moment when it seemed the whole damn world was holding its breath for you.

"Here we go," you said to no one in particular as you strapped your double-edged swords across your back. The metal platform beneath your feet turned to gravel as you entered the arena.

. . .

Felix was right. This was no fight. It was barely even a warmup.

You twisted, dancing out of the way of an arcing blade with near religious grace. It was all so easy.

Your booted foot came up, hitting your opponent squarely in the jaw.

He was a monster of a man. Strength was on his side, you'd give him that. But speed was on yours. And speed always, always, triumphs over brute force. You'd learned that quickly during your time on Sacaar.

Your blades sang. As did the crowd.

And you let the thrill of battle wash away everything else.

. . .

She was watching her again.

Valkyrie hated watching the fights. The whole damned contest was rigged. The Grandmaster thwarted anyone who could prove to beat his beloved champion, and, though she wanted to hate him for it, she didn't particularly care for honour anymore; she didn't particularly care for anything at all these days.

The girl was the one exception. Lila.

Perched on a space craft, looking down on the crowd, Valkyrie was transfixed. She had been since the first time she'd seen the girl. In fact, the whole arena seemed to be captivated. It was the way she fought, Valkyrie thought: brutal—yet hauntingly beautiful. It wasn't just a battle for Lila. It was an art, and she was painting the ground of the arena red.

Valkyrie hated herself for letting out an audible gasp when Lila took a hit. The smack of the man's fist hitting her cheek made the whole arena wince. She went down—but not for long. Her opponent advanced, ax poised to run her through, but then Lila was twisting to the left, spinning so swiftly she became a blur. Before Valkyrie could figure out what she was trying to do, Lila jumped onto the man's back. Then she twisted away from him.

Lila landed gracefully on her feet, her opponent lying on the dirt before her, impaled on his own weapon. Dead.

The crowd cheered. Valkyrie couldn't help but let out a small whoop along with them. Lila looked up, as though she'd heard it. She flashed a dagger-edged smile at Valkyrie, their eyes connecting briefly, before she turned to face the rest of the arena.

She was devastatingly beautiful, Valkyrie considered longingly. She shut down the thought before it had the chance to settle. She hadn't felt that way about anyone in a very, very long time. Not since...

No! something inside of her screamed. Don't think about it. Don't think about her. Because she had spent so long—years—building up those walls. And she would be damned if she let something—or rather someone—rip those walls down.

So, Valkyrie watched Lila, until the booze made her vision blur, until the cheering of the crowd was a distant thing echoing in her ears, until she stopped feeling anything at all.

A/N
Soooo, it's been awhile. But hi, I'm alive. Or rather, back from the dead. Please don't hate me:))))