When Freyja observed Thor in the arena, she couldn't believe it.
That wasn't the proud Prince of Asgard she remembered.
Thor's golden hair once long and flowing had been brutally shorn into a military-short crop. War paint streaked across his face in crude patterns, masking bruises beneath.
And instead of Mjolnir, his hands clutched two ordinary gladiator blades… poor replacements for a god's weapon.
"Thor… what happened to you…" Freyja heart tightening.
Soren followed her gaze, his own expression unreadable. With a flick of his wrist, two crystal glasses and a bottle of chilled, golden champagne appeared in his hands.
"Here," He offers her a glass. "No need to panic, have a drink first."
Freyja blinked at him. "Soren! Thor is about to fight for his life!"
"And we're standing right here," Soren replied calmly. "Do you really think I'd let him die? Let him fight. If he's in danger, I'll stop it."
Freyja hesitated, but she knew Soren was right. With a slow breath, she accepted the champagne.
Soren looked over the arena with a faint curl of interest. "Besides… I'm quite curious about this 'Grandmaster.'"
"He seems to have found an amusing way to waste eternity. Unfortunately for him, he used the wrong toys."
Above the arena, the Grandmaster's projection flickered, a larger than-life hologram, shimmering in neon blues and golds.
"Citizens of Sakaar!" the Grandmaster boomed. "Prepare yourselves!"
"Today's spectacle will be unforgettable! Show your love for our returning champion!"
The crowd erupted. Fireworks burst in green plumes overhead… bang, bang, bang and the arena trembled with rhythmic stomps and roars.
Thor tensed, without his divine focus, his power was diminished and far closer to a mortal Asgardian warrior than the God of Thunder.
The ground shook again.
Freyja tightened her grip on Soren's arm. "What is that…?"
Soren's mind extended outward, a wave of psychic perception sweeping across the colosseum. "Hulk… and he's stronger than before."
Indeed, the hulking figure approaching behind the steel wall radiated far greater power than when Soren had last seen him. Hulk's aura had crossed into the S-class.
Every step he took made the arena floor thrum.
And yet… something was wrong.
Hulk's eyes blazed with fierce instinct, but beneath that fury, Soren sensed a mind that was not quite Banner's. Something fractured.
"Hulk's conscious mind… it's not entirely Bruce," Soren frowning deeply.
A mechanical groan echoed across the arena.
BOOM!
The steel gate on Hulk's side of the arena began to rise revealing a pair of glowing, predatory eyes staring from the darkness.
BOOM!
The gate wasn't even halfway up when Hulk lost patience. With a thunderous roar, he shattered the rest of it, tearing the metal apart like paper and charging into the arena in a frenzy of raw power.
The crowd roared.
"… no." Freyja's breath caught.
Soren lifted his champagne, watching with a steady eye.
The explosion thundered through the arena, and Thor instinctively stumbled back several steps. As steel gate crumpled outward a massive, armored shape burst from it.
"Hulk?!" Thor's entire face lit up, shock veering instantly into excitement, into relief.
A familiar face and a friend. The first since he'd fallen into this bizarre world.
"Banner! It's me!" Thor yelled, almost laughing.
"You wouldn't believe what's happened, my hammer's gone, I got a haircut against my will, and you…" He squinted, grinning.
"You look bigger. Did you put on weight?"
He raised his arms theatrically. "I'm happy to see you!"
"…" But the Hulk's expression did not change. His green eyes burned with raw instinct. His muscles swelled and slammed his fists against his chest… each impact echoing like a drum.
"HULK! HULK! HULK!" The crowd chanted from the stands.
"Uh… Banner?"
Hulk snapped his gaze to him, lips curling.
"No Banner," He growled. "HULK."
And with that, he charged.
He didn't hesitate didn't acknowledge their friendship.
Two colossal axes whirled in his hands, carving through the air. He leapt bringing both blades down toward Thor's skull with enough force to break Vibranium.
"What are you doing? I'm THOR!" Thor rolled desperately across the sand as the impact cratered the floor where he had stood.
The shockwave threw him sideways.
Before he could rise, Hulk was already on him again.
A sweeping blow from one massive axe caught Thor squarely in the torso. The god of thunder flew smashing into a steel wall hard enough to leave a human-shaped dent.
Freyja flinched.
Thor dragged himself out of the metal crater, coughing, face hardening with a rare flicker of anger.
"Hulk stop! We were comrades-in-arms. I don't want to fight you!"
Hulk didn't listen.
Seeing Thor still standing after that hit only ignited him further.
With a roar that shook the arena, he blurred into motion turning into a green streak as he launched himself at Thor again, axes raised for another devastating strike.
The champion of Sakaar was not holding back.
And Thor was in more danger than he realized.