"Soren help him!" Freyja's voice was panicked, her hand shook so hard the champagne spilled unnoticed onto the floor.
"Wait." Soren's expression tightened.
He was nervous too though he tried not to show it. His mental power was already spread across the entire arena, watching every detail, feeling every shift of energy.
While Thor appeared to be getting mercilessly pounded into the ground, Soren sensed something inside him… an immense, dormant force stirring ready to break free.
If that power triggers, he thought, the Hulk won't stand a chance.
But Thor was on the brink. Half-conscious and his skull was being rattled again and again by Hulk's relentless blows.
He could barely lift his arms anymore. His mind flickered in and out until, through the haze, he saw a vision…
Odin.
His final moments.
His legacy.
HIS TRUE POWER.
BOOM!
Lightning exploded outward from him.
Blinding arcs of electricity roared across his body, turning him into a blazing figure of pure thunder. The shockwave blasted the Hulk backward, ripping the air apart.
"AAAH!" Thor roared as the energy surged through him, launching him skyward like a comet erupting from the earth.
"…" The entire arena gasped as one. In an instant everything had changed.
The Hulk crashed hard onto the arena floor, his green skin singed black in places as electricity surged through him.
For the first time since the duel began, the champion was down and struggling.
Thor hovered above the battlefield, wreathed in lightning, feeling a power more exhilarating than anything he'd ever known.
Stronger than when he had wielded Mjolnir. This was thunder unbound.
Across the field, Hulk forcing his trembling body back to its feet. Paralysis faded bit by bit but rage remained… rage always remained.
The Hulk roared, a sound that shook the arena floor, and charged again.
Thor didn't retreat and became lightning itself.
He streaked toward the Hulk, blue-white arcs crackling at his heels.
The Hulk leapt to meet him, muscles swelling, every fiber of his being ready to crush.
Their fists met~
BOOOOM!
Wind blasted outward in a violent ring.
Lightning splintered across every direction slamming into the arena shield.
The barrier surface cracking like fractured ice. For a terrifying moment, it resembled a shredded net barely holding together.
The audience froze in shock.
One more hit like that, many realized, and the barrier won't hold.
And we'll die.
Back in the arena, the Hulk lay sprawled on the ground, his massive frame still twitching as residual lightning crawled over his skin.
He tried to push himself up, but only succeeded in slamming back down again.
Thor landed lightly, electricity circling him in violent halos twice as intense as before.
"Noo…" Grandmaster watched from above, eyes wide with dread. The outcome was obvious now.
Hulk could still fight but Thor was only growing stronger.
If Thor won, he would earn his freedom.
Freedom Grandmaster could not afford him. I can't let him win.
Even if it means destroying him.
Thor's lightning grew brighter devouring the air around him until he looked like a rising star ready to split the arena in half.
The audience stared in stunned silence, and even the ever-smiling Grandmaster felt a cold ripple crawl across his spine.
His eyes darkened, no more games.
In a flicker of movement, a small, metallic remote appeared between his fingers. Loki, seated beside him, stiffened but said nothing.
Grandmaster didn't hesitate and he aimed it at Thor and pressed.
Zzzt!
A sharp, unnatural sound cut through the arena.
Thor's thunder abruptly spasmed, his body jerking violently as if struck by an invisible hook. The lightning around him flickered and collapsed… Thor crashed unconscious to the ground.
"HUH!" Gasps rippled across the stands. No one understood what had happened.
No one… except Loki who pursed his lips and Sore, whose expression worsened.
"Shameless," Soren muttered, low enough that only Freyja heard. "He put a control device on Thor."
"When Thor was about to win, Grandmaster shut him down."
Freyja's heart clenched. Thor lay helpless, unmoving. And the Hulk whose rage knew no pause saw only a fallen enemy.
With a guttural roar, the Hulk leapt high into the air ready to smash the unconscious Thor into dust.
"THOR!" Freyja yelled, launching herself forward, wings of magic forming as she flew toward the arena.
But the Hulk was already descending, too fast.
Soren tensed. Freyja's speed was impressive but she'd never reach Thor in time.
Enough.
A ripple of power surged invisibly from him. Space itself bent, folding like glass under pressure. A shimmering barrier thin as a veil materialized right between the Hulk's falling form and Thor's body.
Bang
The Hulk's crash detonated against the barrier, a shockwave blasting dust across the arena. But the blow didn't touch Thor, not even a hair on his head shifted.
To the spectators, it looked like Hulk had landed a devastating final strike. None noticed the invisible wall protecting the fallen god.
And that was exactly what Soren intended.
The impact marked the end.
Arena drones swooped in instantly.
Thor's unconscious form and the still-roaring Hulk were both collected and dragged away.
Grandmaster, regaining his usual grin, stood and declared the match over and that a new championship round would begin once a new contender rose.
The crowd, buzzing with excitement, slowly dispersed chattering wildly about the fight, about the lightning, about how this was the most spectacular battle Sakaar had seen in ages.
They left wanting more.
Always more.
Above them all, unnoticed, Soren gently took Freyja's trembling form.
"Come," he said softly.
And without another word, he led her away vanishing from the arena before anyone realized.