"How utterly pathetic."
From the spectator's balcony, Hela crossed her legs and let out a sigh as she gazed at the lifeless body of Frolas lying in the arena.
"This was supposed to be your strongest gladiator?"
"Not even close."
Hela stood up, disdain etched across her face, unimpressed by the combat standards of Sakaar.
If the so-called champion couldn't even withstand a single punch from Lothar, then these god remains might as well be handed out for free.
There wasn't even the slightest thrill.
"Hey, where are you going?"
Jennifer called out in confusion as she saw Hela rise and head toward the exit.
"Bathroom," Hela replied without turning back, disappearing down the arena corridor.
She had no interest in the godly remains, nor in participating in these battles.
Right now, she had only one goal: find the Grandmaster and go home.
Sakaar was surrounded by numerous cosmic gateways that ordinary spacecraft couldn't traverse. Asgard's Bifrost hadn't yet reached the planet, so if Hela wanted to return, she'd have to rely on the Grandmaster's personal vessel.
As she turned a corner in the corridor, an unexpected figure blocked her path.
A golden robe, silver-white hair, and that unmistakable validation mark on his chin, none other than the Grandmaster himself.
Ruler of Sakaar. Architect of the arena. Brother to the Collector. A mysterious elder entity that had existed since the birth of the universe.
"A pleasure to meet you at last, Daughter of Odin."
The Grandmaster offered a warm and almost grandfatherly smile, his tone friendly, deceptively so.
"Grandmaster," Hela responded cautiously, instinctively stepping back.
Even her father, Odin, knew little of this enigmatic being. She couldn't afford to drop her guard, especially when he came to her of his own accord.
"No need to be so tense. I merely wish to extend an invitation, for you to represent Asgard in a grand event."
As he spoke, the Grandmaster raised his index finger and tapped the air. A wave of invisible psychic pressure immediately forced Hela to bow involuntarily.
"This isn't how one usually offers a friendly invitation," she said through clenched teeth, her expression darkening as the divine essence of death erupted from within her.
Her hair tied back in her battle form, Hela spread her arms, unleashing a storm of spectral blades toward the Grandmaster standing calmly with his hands behind his back.
"It seems Odin trained you well," the Grandmaster mused.
To him, Hela's power was still raw, yet the visible potential she radiated fascinated him.
If he could keep Hela here, and Lothar too, and make them clash periodically... wouldn't his arena become a true battleground of gods?
His eyes flickered, a spark of excitement flashing in their depths.
As for offending Odin or Thanos?
After witnessing the power both Lothar and Hela had displayed, the Grandmaster no longer saw that as an issue.
If those two had a problem, they were welcome to come and face him.
He was just about to make his move when a flash of light burst from his robe, a holographic screen flew out, unbidden.
On the screen, the Collector, bearing a striking resemblance to the Grandmaster, was crouched amidst ruins, trembling in terror.
"...Huh?"
The unexpected interruption halted the Grandmaster's mental assault.
"Did that just connect?"
"It really connected?!"
"Thank the cosmos! Help me, please, help me!"
The bloodied Collector, seeing the Grandmaster's face on the screen, clung to the hologram like a lifeline.
"You... what happened to you?"
The Grandmaster casually paused Hela's movements to prevent her from escaping, his brow furrowed as he watched his brother panic onscreen.
"It's Thanos and Odin!"
"It's Thanos and Odin!"
The trembling Collector failed to explain coherently, so instead, he aimed a mini-projector at the battlefield beyond the ruins.
In a flash, the Grandmaster saw it, three figures amid a field of shattered mech fragments.
"Where is my son (daughter), Ego?" roared two simultaneous voices, both thick with fury.
Across from them, Ego's expression was as dark as pitch.
"And why would I tell you?"
WHOOSH!
A long spear materialized beside him, impaling the condensed mass of his flesh and nailing it to the ground.
"Want a taste of Asgardian punishment?" Odin's tone was icy, lightning crackling from his fingertips as he floated above, cutting off all escape routes.
"Or perhaps... the justice of the Black Quadrant."
A flash of steel cleaved through the air as a massive blade embedded itself at Ego's feet. Clad in golden armor, Thanos advanced slowly.
In the frigid gleam of the blade, Ego's rage-filled face was illuminated.
"Thanos! Odin! You're both going too far!"
"No, Ego. You went too far," Odin said, his one eye burning with murderous intent.
"Everyone pays for what they've done. I don't know what Lothar's price will be..."
"But you, your life is the price you'll pay."
Thanos, face emotionless beneath a sky of thunderbolts, stepped forward. His titanic form seemed relaxed, yet unstoppable. And without warning—
BAM! BAM!
His twin fists struck Ego squarely in the chest, sending him flying uncontrollably.
BOOOOM!!!
Even as Ego hurtled backward, Odin acted. A golden bolt of lightning surged from the sky, striking him dead-on.
"ARGHHHH!!"
Assaulted by two diametrically opposed powers, Ego screamed in pain as he crashed to the ground.
"You... both of you..."
"Unforgivable!!!"
Enraged beyond reason, Ego broke all self-imposed limits. His power surged, and his eyes burned an oceanic blue.
He fired a beam of silvery energy straight at Odin, still airborne and clad in his Destruction Armor, then charged directly at Thanos.
"Die!!!"
Empowered by his fury, Ego launched himself at the Titan, right fist crackling with explosive energy. But Thanos remained expressionless.
"Is that all?"
With a casual step aside, Thanos ducked the blow. His own fists once again hammered into Ego's chest, followed by a brutal knee to the gut.
Staggering from the pain, Ego couldn't even guard himself properly.
"AARGHHHH!!!" Ego howled, veins bulging.
Then—
Descending like judgment itself, Odin came crashing down from the heavens, cloaked in roaring wind and thunder. With a thunderous stomp, he drove the weakened Ego deep into the ground.
"I will not ask a third time."
"This is your final chance."
Thanos stepped past Odin, seized Ego by the head, lifted him high—
—and with a single blow, smashed the once-proud Celestial into the ruins of Gafa.
BOOM!!!
"Where is my son (daughter)?"
A Titan. A God-King.
Two of the most powerful forces in the cosmos, fathers enraged over their missing children, united to unleash divine retribution on a Celestial.
Iron Fist Thanos. Fully Armed Odin.
The most fearsome father duo in the universe.
Meanwhile, the Collector huddled amid the rubble, arms over his head, shivering in terror.
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