The VIP suite had the perfect vantage point, and lavish couches and chairs lined the section. A long couch stretched almost its entire length. Seated there was the Grandmaster himself. He motioned to Loki, who was mingling among the other guests farther inside the suite, indicating the Asgardian should sit near him.

  “Shall we start this?” The Grandmaster was grinning from ear to ear, rubbing his hands together.

  Loki could barely contain his enthusiasm. Finally his arrogant brother would be brought to heel. “To say I’ve dreamt of a moment like this would be a gross understatement.”

  “Excellent. Let’s give the people what they want, then.”

  In the center of the arena, a sixty-foot-tall projection of the Grandmaster suddenly appeared, arms outstretched. “People of Sakaar, travelers, lovers of great sport: Welcome to the Contest of Champions, the greatest show in the galaxy!” The crowd roared in excitement. “It’s main event time, and do I have a show for you. First, your challenger.” The audience was mixed with both cheers and boos.

  The Grandmaster motioned for silence. “Now, now, let’s show some sportsmanship. Hailing all the way from Asgard, I present the self-proclaimed god of thunder, Thor!”

  Thor emerged from the shadows, battle ready. His hair was cut close to the scalp, his beard trimmed. He wore armor that resembled that of his Asgardian suit. Sheathed on his back were two swords, with a well-worn shield strapped to one arm, and a large mace in his other hand. He kicked at the floor, testing its density and the sand on it. There was no give, so any fall could—would—be brutal.

  The crowd erupted at the sight of him. In the seats, people were placing bets on how long this newcomer would last. Thor looked around, trying to take in the enormity of his surroundings.

  “And the legend that requires no introduction,” the Grandmaster continued as the doors across the arena began to open slowly. Thor swore he could already hear the creature’s breathing through the din of the audience. He placed a helmet on his head and assumed a fighting stance, facing the doors.

  The Grandmaster’s projected image gestured toward the opening door. “Your undefeated Champion, the wonder you all come back for time and again, to see him smash his foes. The one, the only Incredible—”

  An enormous roar split the air, cutting off the Grandmaster’s introduction. Without waiting for the doors to open completely, a behemoth exploded through the gate, demolishing the entrance. The gigantic figure was nearly ten feet of solid muscle. He wore a Spartan-like helmet, armor covering one shoulder, a battle-axe gripped tightly in one hand and a large war hammer in the other.

  And he was green. Oh-so very green.

  The audience rose as one to their feet, a deafening cheer filling the arena. The Champion let out a cry that seemed to overwhelm that of the crowd’s as he beat his war hammer into the ground. The Grandmaster’s projection vanished. Back in his suite, he turned to Loki and smiled.

  “A beauty, isn’t he?” the Grandmaster asked Loki.

  For his part, Loki was trying to sink as far down into the lush couch as possible. His face paled. This Champion was no stranger to him. He nodded weakly to the Grandmaster in agreement.

  In the arena, Thor took in the sight of the Champion and felt the last thing he expected: hope. The figure before him was equally familiar, but unlike Loki, this was a friend. In fact, he would know the creature anywhere, no matter the setting or attire. Before him, the Champion was none other than the Hulk!

  Thor raised his mace and let out a shout of excitement. The audience quieted, clearly caught off guard by Thor’s reaction. The Grandmaster looked at Thor quizzically as well.

  “We know each other!” Thor looked up to the Grandmaster’s suite, a broad smile crossing his face. “He’s a friend from work!” He turned back to face the Hulk. “Banner, come, let us team up and—”

  The Hulk let out another roar at the sound of his alter ego’s name. He pawed the ground like a steed readying itself to charge. He exhaled loudly. Thor began to realize with a heightening sense of dread that there was no look of familiarity in his fellow Avenger’s eyes, only a bloodlust. Still, he pushed on, confident there must just be some sort of misunderstanding.

  “We needn’t fight, Banner. You know me, remember?” Thor’s arms were outstretched in a calming manner, but the gesture was lost on the Hulk.

  “No Banner. Only Hulk!” he bellowed.

  Without warning, the Hulk quickly stomped across the arena toward Thor. Thor nimbly flipped over the rampaging beast’s back. The Hulk stopped and turned.

  “I guess reasoning is out of the question here,” Thor muttered to himself. He began to twirl his mace as the Hulk readied himself for another charge. As the green Goliath bounded toward him, Thor hurled his mace directly at the Hulk’s face. The Hulk swatted it away and raised a fist. Thor dodged to the side, barely avoiding being pummeled into the ground.

  Thor pulled the two swords from their sheaths on his back and prepared for the Hulk’s next onslaught. Lifting his war hammer high, the Hulk swung the weapon down. Thor blocked it with the two swords. A loud clank echoed in the arena and the swords broke in two, but Thor was saved. The crowd gasped as one.

  The Grandmaster turned to Loki. “Your Asgardian comrade is quite impressive, I have to admit.”

  “He certainly likes to think of himself as such,” Loki said, rolling his eyes.

  The Hulk began twirling his battle-axe and war hammer in an intricate and deadly pattern. Thor tossed aside the now-broken swords and backed away, watching and searching for an opening. This time, he swiftly lunged at the oncoming Hulk and stopped the war hammer with his shield. The weapon flew out of the Hulk’s hand. A punch to the arm caused the Hulk to drop his axe. Thor kicked his enraged opponent away, and the two rolled to opposite ends of the arena.

  “Hulk! We are friends!” Thor called out across the arena. “We need not entertain this any longer!”

  The crowd booed Thor’s attempt to cease the Contest and began to chant “Champion!” over and over. The Hulk lowered his head, preparing to dash. Thor crouched in a runner’s stance, ready to meet in the middle.

  The two friends-turned-opponents sprinted toward each other. Just as they reached the middle, the Hulk leaped up, both fists raised high. Thor, anticipating this approach, timed his jump so he was just under the Hulk as he jumped off the ground. A powerful uppercut from Thor connected with the Hulk’s jaw, and the crowd gasped as the blow knocked the helmet off their Champion’s head.

  With the Hulk caught off guard, Thor began to land blow after blow on his big, green head. The Hulk began to swing wildly, missing each time as every punch thrown by Thor landed, knocking the Champion more and more off balance. Thor could feel the Hulk weakening, and even as he wanted to stop and force the Hulk to recognize him as his friend, not his adversary, Thor knew he had to keep going so he could win the Contest and get his wish, and get home to Asgard.

  Suddenly, a jolt of electricity shot through Thor. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain, his stride broken. Looking toward the Grandmaster’s suite, he saw the man hold up a control in one hand as he waved his finger back and forth.

  It was the Obedience Disk.

  Seizing upon Thor’s moment of weakness, the Hulk grabbed the Asgardian by his feet and began to swing him back and forth, slamming Thor into the ground left and right and left and right. Loki, having been on the receiving end of this move before, stifled a grin in the VIP suite.

  Thor lay on the ground of the arena, bloodied and bruised. He watched in paralyzed pain as the Hulk launched himself in the air, nearly as high as the ships hovering above. The brute began his descent, fists-first. At the last possible second, Thor rolled away, a hairbreadth from being smashed to a probable death.

  “Hulk,” Thor gasped. “Banner, remember who you are. We are friends.”

  The Hulk paused for a moment. “Friends?”

  The Grandmaster stood with the rest of the audience, clapping, cheering for his Champion to deliver the final blow. But the Hulk looked at Thor, lying helpless in the sand at his feet.

  “Yes… friends. Hulk and Thor.” The Asgardian begged the fates for his words to get through to the Hulk.

  The Hulk reached down and grabbed Thor by the chest.

  “Friend,” he whispered into Thor’s ear, right before he hurled Thor back down one final time, and the last thing Thor saw was the floor of the arena rising up to meet him just before everything went black.

  CHAPTER

  The dull roar in his ears certainly wasn’t the audience—that much Thor knew. How long he had been out was a different question entirely. As was the question of where he currently was. As he drifted in and out of consciousness, his eyes began to take in the room around him. He was laid out on a soft leather sofa built for someone of a much greater size than he. There was thick-looking carpeting lining the floors, and lush red velvet curtains that blocked out any light that might try to filter through. A massive four-poster bed sat in one corner of the room. As the roaring in his head died down, Thor thought he could hear bubbles. Maybe he was suffering from a concussion.

  But then, turning his head, Thor witnessed a sight he never thought he would behold: the Hulk lounging in a natural hot spring as though it were a hot tub, emitting a moan of deep and appreciative pleasure as the soothing water relaxed his battle-weary muscles.

  “Where am I?” Thor asked.

  “Hulk home. Thor friend. Friend rest.” The Hulk rattled off the statements as facts, no room to argue. Not that Thor would. He knew how close he came to dying in that arena. The Grandmaster’s meddling nearly cost Thor his life. Fortunately, Thor realized he had been able to get through to his friend. The Hulk had somehow managed to save Thor from total obliteration, and that meant some semblance of Banner clung to this gargantuan, battling Champion. Thor felt the small spark of hope flare once again.

  “Hulk. Thank you for sparing me. We are alone, yes?” The Hulk nodded. “May I speak with Banner?”

  The Hulk stirred in the spring, his brow furrowing. “No Banner, only Hulk.”

  His tone told Thor not to push the matter at the moment. “Very well. Good to know. How did you get here? How long have you been on this planet, Hulk?”

  The look on the Hulk’s face changed to one of confusion. “Hulk not know. A ship, then Hulk here. Hulk fight. Hulk win.”

  Thor’s heart sank. The ship must have been the Quinjet, on which Banner had left after the Battle of Sokovia. He’d turned off his comm, and that was the last the Avengers had heard of him… until now. Had his friend been here all these years since?

  “Hulk… we tried tracking you, all of us, to bring you home,” Thor began carefully.

  But the Hulk ignored him, standing up and splashing water everywhere as he climbed out of the spring, dried, and began to dress for battle. A newly repaired helmet hung alongside a wall of weapons.

  “Hulk home now.” He sounded resigned to the fact and even happy about it, or as happy as the Hulk could get.

  “It doesn’t have to be. We can leave here. Together! Please, Hulk, my home—Asgard—it… it needs me. Now more than ever. And with your strength, I could really use you there with me.”

  The Hulk had finished dressing. “Hulk home. Thor friend. Thor stay.”

  Thor warily got to his feet. “Hulk, please. At least release me. Convince the Grandmaster to set me free so I can leave and—”

  Thor suddenly found himself face-to-face with the Hulk, his large eyes narrowed. “Thor friend. Thor stay.”

  The tiniest of taps from the Hulk put Thor back on the oversize sofa.

  As the Hulk began to exit his chamber, Thor gave a weak wave. “Stay alive. Although you seem to be doing a fairly good job of that,” he muttered as his friend and savior left.

  Thor waited until he could hear the uproarious cheering of the crowd far in the distance as their Champion reentered the arena. Thor creeped to the door and looked around. The coast was clear. He went to the wall and chose a nasty-looking spiked ball and chain, and headed toward the exit. As soon as he passed completely through it, however, his body was hit with a massive jolt of electricity that sent him reeling. He tried to walk forward, but the pain from the Obedience Disk was too much, and he collapsed, falling back into the Hulk’s suite.

  “Plan… B?” Thor wondered aloud as he fell to the ground, losing consciousness once again.

  He came to a little while later, finding himself back on the luxurious sofa. Thor saw the Hulk pacing the room. “Congratulations, I assume?” Thor asked mildly.

  Hearing his friend awake, the Hulk marched over to Thor and pointed at the Obedience Disk. “Thor friend. Friend stay!”

  “Yes, yes, I know. ‘Hulk home,’ doesn’t want to leave. We’ve tried that route.” Thor’s mind raced. He knew there had to be a way out. Looking toward the door, he smiled. Of course, he thought. The way out is quite often the way in. An idea quickly formed.

  “Hulk, Thor friend, yes?” The Hulk nodded. “What if I told you I had a friend here, someone I would very much like to see? Could you get them for me? As a favor?”

  “Thor stay?” The Hulk sounded hesitant.

  Thor nodded. “Yes, Thor stay. Right here until you return.”

  With that, Thor began to tell the Hulk who he needed to see and how to find them.

  “You must be kidding me with this.”

  Thor turned at the sound of the voice coming from the entrance. It was Valkyrie! The Hulk walked past her and plopped himself on the large sofa.

  “Thor friend,” he said to Valkyrie by way of explanation.

  “Not one of mine,” she answered, and turned to leave.

  “Wait!” Thor cried out. “Before I fell off the Bifrost, in the darkness that was consuming it, I feel like I may have seen something… a woman. She has been plaguing my nightmares, and now I fear she has Asgard in her grasp.”

  Valkyrie stopped at Thor’s revelation. She shook her head as she turned. “Where is Odin? Shouldn’t he be protecting his kingdom?”

  “He… I don’t know. He’s not on Asgard, though.” Thor moved toward her, taking hold of her arm. “You know something, don’t you?”

  “That you don’t know, or haven’t figured it out, shows how much Odin has prepared his heir. And what little he cares of the other Valkyries after . . .” Her voice trailed off.

  “What? After what? Tell me so I can fix whatever it is my father has failed to.”

  Valkyrie’s eyes flashed in anger. “That was our job! Odin tasked the Valkyries to drive back what has returned.”

  “And that is?” Thor was anxious. The answer was so near.

  “Hela.” Valkyrie spat out the name of Old Asgard’s ancient enemy. “Goddess of the dead, ruler of Hel. We fought hard to drive her back, and a curse was placed on her: As long as Odin sits on the throne, Asgard would be safe from her.”

  Thor’s head fell. “And because of my brother’s manipulations, Odin was dethroned and has been wandering Midgard for some time.”

  “Giving Hela the time and opportunity she needed. To raise an attack.” She patted Thor on the shoulder. “Sorry, but Asgard’s doomed, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

  Thor’s eyes lit up. “There is a way off this world. I know how. I just don’t know where. The vessel that brought my friend here, do you know where it is?”

  Valkyrie shrugged. “Probably in the old shipyard near the marketplace. Not that it’ll do you any good. It’s not like you’re going anywhere.”

  Thor suddenly grinned and squeezed Valkyrie in a tight hug, prompting a sound of disgust from her as she pushed him away and stomped toward the door. He walked after her. The Hulk had nodded off during their conversation, and Thor gave a silent wave to his sleeping friend as he walked through the doorway, unharmed.

  Valkyrie was stunned. “How—?”

  Thor held up the Obedience Disk controller, which he had lifted off her when he’d given her a hug. He’d used the controller to disable the Obedience Disk on his chest, which no longer glowed. He reached for it and popped it off his chest, slipping it into his belt. With that, he turned and raced out of the suite, leaving a speechless Valkyrie and a snoring Hulk behind.

  CHAPTER

  The shipyard looked like the galaxy’s version of a used car lot. Ships of all sizes and conditions were piled two or three deep, some on top of others, rusting away. Thor darted in and out of the rows until . . .

  There!

  He ran to a familiar-looking ship. It was slightly dusty but looked to be in one piece. “I could kiss you,” he happily told the Quinjet, the same ship that had brought the Hulk to the planet.

  He climbed into the cockpit and searched for the controls to turn it on. A voice suddenly came from the speakers. “Please speak the activation code.”

  “Yes!” Thor exclaimed. “Ummm, let’s try: Avengers, assemble.”

  “I’m sorry, that is incorrect,” the ship replied.

  Thor racked his brain. What would Tony Stark have programmed into this? Sighing, he tried again. “Tony Stark is a genius.”

  The Quinjet’s control board lit up. “Activation code accepted.”

  Thor laughed at his good fortune. He reached to fire up the engines when suddenly he heard a RIIIIIIIP from the back of the ship. Turning, he saw that the Hulk had followed him to the shipyard and was now in the process of tearing off the back end of the Quinjet.

  “Thor friend. Thor stay!” the Hulk roared at him.

  Before Thor could respond, the Quinjet, lights flickering, spoke once more. “Voice recognition. Bruce Banner, Hulk. Message retrieval activated.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9