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Harsh white light flooded my vision the minute I cracked my eyes open. I moved to push myself up, but found that I couldn't move my hands. I looked down. They were bound in cuffs. I looked around, blinking in confusion.

The last thing I remembered was hurtling blindly through space, and now I was... Oh Jesus. I was on a spaceship.

I groaned internally. Not again.

Around me, there seemed to be other captives tied and unconscious. I moved my gaze up. And then I saw the pale man, with shorn white hair who commanded the ship. Clearly, he hadn't just been saving us from a painful, cold death in space. We wouldn't be handcuffed if that were the case.

Discretely, I began to melt the cuffs that were shackled around my wrists, as I slowly moved toward the man through the pile of bodies and what appeared to be various items plucked from a junkyard.

When I could finally separate my wrists, I pushed to my feet, now positioned behind the man.

I began to summon a flame to wipe him out, but stopped short when he clicked his tongue in disproval. It was then that I noticed my reflection, and a pair of cool green eyes regarding me with amusement in a rear-view mirror.

"Now, that isn't the brightest idea in the world, sweetheart," he chided.

I growled, conjuring a flame to singe the hair from his head.

Before I could unleash it, a wave of electricity traveled the length of my body, and I convulsed, dropping to the floor. I groaned as my shoulder hit the hard surface of the ship, and wanted to scream in frustration when the man only laughed.

"Oh, the Grand Master will just love you," were the last words I registered, before the shock pulled me under.

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"Finally," that same, infuriating voice sounded low near my ear, "I was beginning to worry I'd killed you."

I opened my eyes as I came to, surveying my surroundings. I was seated in a cool metal chair, my wrists fastened to the armrests in thick cuffs. Across from me, stood a tall, slender man with strange makeup, who was shadowed by a stout, plump woman who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else. The man who'd captured me stood with his arms folded, a proud smirk across his face.

"Dammit, I just sent you through the introduction sequence, were you passed out the whole time?" The man across from me asked, with an air of disappointment.

"We can send her through again," the short woman suggested.

"But that means more waiting, and Scrapper 231 tells me I'm going to want to see what he's brought for me," the man, who I now assumed to be the Grand Master, knelt in front of me, "I'm an impatient man, sweets. Show me the good stuff."

I only scowled at him.

The man, Scrapper 231, who stood beside me cleared his throat, and I turned my gaze on him. He waggled a remote control in his hand, and for a moment, I frowned. Then I remembered the shock of electricity from before. He'd done that to me. And he was threatening to do it again.

I swallowed hard, turning back to the Grand Master. Between our faces, I summoned a flame that burned pink, blue, red, white.

When I let it vanish, the Grand Master's face was pulled back into a grin.

He looked over his shoulder to the woman behind him. "I think we've found our replacement for—Topaz, what was that last girl's name?"

"Detyah, the dancer girl," the woman filled in, and I frowned.

"What?" I bit out suddenly, looking between them all.

No one decided to answer me, as the Grand Master exchanged a few words with the Scrapper guy. Numbers floated toward me, and my frowned deepened. Was I being... Sold?

"Excuse me, what the hell is going on?"

The Grand Master suddenly looked down at me, a small smile on his lips. "You should have paid attention to the introduction."

"Kind of difficult to do considering I was unconscious," I shot, glaring at Scrapper 231 as he strode from the room.

"Lucky for you, I'm a good host," the Grand Master said, taking stride beside my chair as it began to gravitate out of the room and into a corridor. "I'll give you the run down."

"How gracious of you," I said flatly, but he smiled like I'd complimented him.

"My name is Grand Master, and I preside over a little harlequinade called the Contest of Champions. People come from far and wide to unwillingly participate in it."

"Sounds wonderful," I spat as we rounded a corner.

"It really is. If you're watching from the stands. This is where you thank me," he said. "Could've made you a Champion, boy would that have been something. But I've elected to bestow a safer, more flashy position for you."

"Thank you for your consideration," I said, sarcasm coating my words like acid.

We moved down several hallways, finally stopping at the door of a room.

"Well, you'll catch on quickly," the Grand Master said, smiling happily, "Or, well, there are always more of you."

The door was opened, and I was deposited inside. No one even seemed to notice me.

I didn't exactly find that surprising considering the chaos taking place in the room. People in frills, sequins, sparkles, and bright colours dashed in every direction, yelling at each other and tossing things across the room. A hat came zooming towards me, and I could do nothing but let it hit me square in the face.

Suddenly, a man who looked roughly my age all but collided with my chair, finally noticing me.

"You must be Detyah's replacement," he said, putting on a smile, "I'm Sun. What's your stage name?"

"Stage name?" I tilted my head, confused. "I have no clue what's going on, or where I am, or who the hell Detyah's was, or what I'm supposed to be replacing her as."

"Knocked out during the intro, huh? It happens from time to time," Sun nodded, the gold body glitter smeared across his brown skin glittering in the light, "This is Sakaar. It's the planet where all the unwanted trash and treasure of the universe winds up. And you just so happen to have been enlisted to the service of the Grand Master."

"The service..? Doing what, exactly?" I asked, my face starting to feel stuck in a permanent frown.

Sun frowned and looked around. "Isn't it obvious?" He asked me, gesturing at the chaos behind him. "You're an entertainer for the Grand Master's events. After the tournaments, people will gather to drink and celebrate, and that's when we go on."

I swallowed hard, butterflies going wild in my stomach. "I don't entertain," I argued, "I can't do anything."

"You're certainly entertaining me right now," Sun laughed, stooping to free me from the chair, "It's adorable you think any of us have a choice in this. We're prisoners with jobs, darling. There's no refusing. Just look at what happened to Detyah."

"What... What happened to Detyah?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

Sun grimaced, swiping a thumb across his throat. I gulped back my fear, as Sun pulled me to my feet.

"So I'd suggest you come up with an act, come up with a stage name, and hurry the hell up. We're performing tonight."

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