→ FOUR!

◜ korg and miek ◞

"HERE, C'MON. YOU'RE GONNA LIKE THIS." The Grandmaster chuckled, walking away. The two chairs followed behind him nonetheless, after the man received word of finding his cousin.

They were brought to sit beside another unknown man, who was physically shaking in his chair; afraid.

The burly woman held a staff with an orange sphere on the end.

The aged man tapped the arm of his cousin. "Here he is. Hey, cuz. Almost couldn't find you. What, you've been hiding?"

Thor and Amber sat on either side of the fearful person. Thor looked over, nodding politely. "Hi."

The man whimpered in return.

The Grandmaster pushed up his blue sleeves before taking the staff in his hand. "So, Carlo..." he held up two fingers together. "I pardon you." he raised the staff, pressing the ball to his chest. "You're officially pardoned from life."

Carlo yelled in pain as a blue hue took over his body, and disintegrating it. Thor and Amber both jumped in their seats.

As Carlo's body went up in a heap of smoke, Thor cringed away from it. "Oh my gosh!"

Amber yelped, tucking her head the other direction to look away from it.

The Grandmaster lifted his foot. "I'm stepping in it, ugh! Look! Wow."

Thor gagged. "Oh, the smell!"

The Grandmaster looked over to his assistant. "What does it smell like?"

"Burnt toast." She mumbled, before taking back the staff from the Grandmaster.

"What happened to my manners?. I haven't properly introduced myself. C'mon!" He walked away, with the chairs following.

⌁ ⌁ ⌁

THEY ENTERED A MORE POPULATED AREA, WITH BEINGS ROAMING AROUND AND CHATTING FREELY.

"My name is Grandmaster, and I preside over a little harlequinade called the Contest of Champions."

He moved to stand behind a table, seeming that controlled the room's music.

"People come from far and wide to come unwillingly participate it. You, my friends, just became part of the new cast. What do you say about that?"

"We are not friends, and I don't give a shit about your games. I'm going back to Asgard." Thor snapped, looking to his left at the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster laughed at Thor in return. "Ass-gard."

Amber stuck out her head, enough to peek over Thor's chest to look at their capturer. "I can't stick around either. I have duties to fulfil! I have a Sanctum to look over with Stephen. He probably thinks I'm dead by now."

The Grandmaster pouted his lip at her mockingly. "Oh, I'm so sorry." he reached out, placing his hands on the turntable he had in front of him.

Amber suddenly yelped in glee. Thor glanced over at her, watching as she squirmed in her chairs anxiously. "What are you doing?"

Amber looked at him with bright eyes. "Look over there! It's your brother. Locky!"

"Loki?" Thor asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Amber nodded. "Yeah! Look!"

They both peered over to see Loki sit in a crowd of others, sharing a story before causing the group to share a laugh.

Thor broke into a big smile. "Loki! Over here! L-Loki!"

Loki met eyes with the two, before his face dropped. He stood up stiffly, shuffling away of the group before rushing over to them.

He rushed in front of Thor, shushing him loudly. "You're alive!"

"Yes, of course, I'm alive!"

"What are you doing here?" Loki questioned in a harsh whisper.

Thor shook his head confusingly. "What do you mean? We're stuck in these stupid chairs! Where's your chair?!"

"I didn't get a chair!"

"Well get us out of these chairs!" Amber pressed, leaning closer to them as much as she could. Loki shifted his eyes, becoming physically uncomfortable under the eyes of Amber.

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I've made friends with this man. He's called the Grandmaster."

"He's crazy!" Thor hushed back, shaking his head.

"Loki, that was a stupid idea! And I've only known the guy for, like, ten minutes!"

"I've gained his favour," Loki replied calmly, glancing between the two blondes. "The Bifrost brought me out here weeks ago."

"Weeks ago? We just got here."

The Grandmaster leaning over his table. "What are you whispering about?"

Loki jumped away from the two, swallowing nervously. The Grandmaster chuckled. "Time is different in these parts. On any other world I'd be like, millions of years old. But here in Sakaar..."

He trailed off his words, giving Loki a look. Loki avoiding eye contact briefly before awkwardly meeting eyes with him with a heavy tension in the air.

"In any case, you, uh, know these two? What is it...Lord of Thunder and Amber?"

"God of Thunder." Thor correctly harshly.

The Grandmaster gave a sarcastic look. "Okay then...And who are you? Some cat lady dressed in her bathrobes? What are you even wearing?"

Amber shot him a sharp glare that even made Loki uneven. "First off, I am totally a dog person! And these are not bathrobes! They're―"

Loki forced a laugh over her talking. "I've never met these two in my life."

"He's my brother!" Thor exclaimed.

Loki shrugged. "Adopted."

"Are they fighters?" The Grandmaster asked him.

While Thor gave a fake laugh, Amber continued to squirm in her binding, glaring at the Grandmaster. "Take this thing out of my neck and I'll show you."

The Grandmaster smiled, adjusting his tall collar. "Aw, look at that, he's threatening me. Hey, Sparkles, here's the deal; you wanna get back to, uh, Ass-place?"

"Asgard!"

"Any contender who defeats my champion, their freedom they shall win."

"Fine! Point me in the direction of whoever ass I need to kick!"

"That's what I call a contender! Okay, right this way, Lord and Lordess." the Grandmaster said, waving a short stick. The chairs jerked into movement, pulling them away from the crowd.

They were brought to a large metal door, before getting hauled from their chairs and thrown into the circular room.

Thor was the first to spring to his feet, rushing to the door to pound against it.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Thor and Amber both spun around to see a large figure that was made of rock sitting on the ground, holding out a hand.

"Take it easy, man. Over here! Pile of rocks waving at you!" he said in a calm voice, raising his hand. "Actually, I think I'm a being. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Korg. I'm kinda the leader in here. I'm made of rocks, as you can see. But, don't let that intimidate you. You don't need to be afraid. Unless you're made of scissors."

"Just a little rock, paper, scissors joke for you. This is my friend Miek. He is an insect, and has knives for hands."