Always and Forever

Chapter 11

After changing my illusion's outfit to something more appropriate for Sakaar, Loki led me to the VIP box of the guy that ran the place, the Grandmaster. "Stay close to me, ok? This guy is a lunatic," Loki said.

"You say that like I'm actually here," I said.

"Oh, right. I'm going to have to get used to that."

"You will eventually."

A few minutes later, a huge hologram of who I assumed was the Grandmaster appeared in the middle of the arena. "Wow! Look at all of you. What a show, what a night! Who's having fun?" The audience cheered. "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. And now, without further ado... it's main event time!!" The crowd once again burst into applause and cheers. "Making his first appearance, though he looks quite promising, got a couple of tricks up his sleeve. I'll say no more, see what you think. Ladies and gentlemen... I give to you... Lord of Thunder!"

The crowd booed as Thor walked out, his hair short, his beard trimmed, and his armor painted with war paint. "Gotta admit, I like Thor better with short hair," I said to Loki.

"Watch out for his fingers, they make sparks," Grandmaster said. "Okay, this is it. 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."

The floor of the arena started to descend. To my left, I could see a smug look on Loki's face. The crowd was setting off green powder bombs, and that was when I realized who Thor was going to fight. "Shit," I muttered.

"He's undefeated," the Grandmaster continued. "He's the reigning. He's the defending. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... your incredible Hulk!!"

Hulk came bursting out of the door across from Thor. Thor dropped his defenses and laughed before screaming, "Yes!!"

Next to me, Loki had gone stark white, the joy immediately draining from his face as I'm sure he recalled Manhattan, where Hulk had smashed him into the floor. "I have to get off this planet," he said, but as he turned to leave, the Grandmaster was behind him.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going?" Grandmaster asked, ushering Loki to the front row.

I sat next to Loki, who was trying to hide his face in his hands. I laughed as I sat next to him and watched Thor as he excitedly yelled, "Hey! We know each other! He's a friend from work!" He turned to Hulk. "Where have you been? Everyone 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. Loki! Loki's alive. And Stark and I share a niece, can you believe it? They're up there." Thor waved to Loki and I. "Loki! Allie! Look who it is!"

Loki was petrified, which made me laugh. I just waved down at the arena. The Grandmaster looked over at Loki and I, confused. "I knew Banner was alive!" I told Loki. "He was in the vision I had earlier!"

"You had a vision earlier?" Loki asked, but it seemed like he was just trying to take his mind off the fact that the only thing between him and Hulk was a piece of glass.

As I went to respond, Hulk started attacking Thor. Thor dodged the first few attacks, but then Hulk shattered Thor's shield, sending him flying across the arena. Thor drew one of the swords from his back and dug it into the ground, slowing his momentum. Once he was at a full stop, he drew the other sword and faced Hulk. "Banner, we're friends!" I could faintly hear Thor say. "This is crazy! I don't want to hurt you!"

Hulk ignored him and charged. Thor ended up in the wall, and a few seconds later, so did Hulk's giant warhammer, which stuck in the wall next to Thor. Starting to get tired of being knocked around, Thor ripped the hammer out of the wall and hit Hulk with it, sending him crashing along the edge of the arena. "What?" Grandmaster asked unbelievingly.