fifteen - "i need to get off this planet..."

Mira barely got any sleep that night. It was almost like the night Loki had arrived on Sakaar - she was stressed, tired, and worried for the god (this time it was Thor). When Cora came into the room, she found Mira already awake and pacing near the window.

"Are you ok, Mira?" she asked, making the bed.

"Sorta," said Mira. She twisted her hair, then untwisted it, then twisted it again.

"Who is that man that you and Loki saw?" Cora said, fluffing a pillow.

"A friend," Mira replied with a small smile.

"One of those Avenger people?"

"Yep," Mira nodded. "We used to work with each other all the time."

"You miss him," Cora said. Mira sighed and nodded again.

"Yeah, I hadn't seen him in like years. He showed up in New York a few days ago, then I sort of kidnapped him and Loki, and stuff happened and then I showed up here."

"He's a god, isn't he?" Cora widened her eyes.

"A real one, yes," Mira gave a small laugh.

"I heard that he said that Mr. Loki was his brother," Cora said, sitting on the bed. "Is that true?"

"Loki is adopted. It's a complicated family," explained Mira. "They also have a sister, who we all just met. She's crazy and kinda looks emo, but like it looks good on her."

"She sounds interesting," Cora said.

"Hey, Cora," Mira turned to the Lady, "could I get someone out if they're a contender or whatever?" Cora shook her head.

"Sorry but no. Those are the only people you aren't allowed to help. The Grandmaster doesn't like to call them 'slaves,' but they don't get any pay. They are mostly aliens from other worlds."

"Could you get anyone out?" Mira said. Cora thought for a second but shook her head one more time.

"No. I'm not usually allowed to go in there either." Cora bit her lip. "There is one person though..."

"Who?" Mira said almost frantic. She ran over to sit next to Cora.

"Bruna," Cora replied hesitantly. "Although she probably won't help. I heard that the newest contender was her catch, which means she got paid a lot. Especially since the Grandmaster seems to like him."

"Well he's going to fight the grand champion!" Mira threw up her hands. "And that's Bruce! I gotta warn him!"

"Mira, Mira, calm down please," Cora said rubbing the edge of the blanket nervously. "I can talk to Bruna, but I overhead that the fight will be soon."

"Like today?!"

"Tomorrow, if the other Ladies are correct," Cora said. "The Grandmaster is very excited for a fight against the grand champion. He really likes him."

"This is bad, this is bad," Mira said with frustration.

"What is bad?" Loki interrupted, walking into the room. Mira narrowed her eyes and walked over to him. "Uh..."

"You are going to help me get Thor!" she said, mad. He put his hands up in defense.

"You heard him, Mira," he said. "Thor doesn't want my help."

"Because you were being an ass!" Mira crossed her arms. "And I, unfortunately, can't escape this planet without you."

"Who said I wanted to escape?" Loki responded. He began to walk around the room while Cora kept cleaning. Mira gasped and followed him, still upset.

"What?!"

"I said, I don't want to escape," said Loki, calmly. Mira's whip was sparking like a newly lit fire.

"You don't?! But-why-Loki!" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I mean what I said."

"But we need to go and rescue Asgard or whatever!" Mira waved her hands around. Loki reached out to put her hands down.

"Mira, if you can't tell, I like it here. And Asgard is not my home. It never was." Mira looked dejected.

"But...we could be superheroes!" Mira said, trying to keep up her hopes. "Like fighting all the bad guys, Hela in this situation, and saving the world!" Loki frowned.

"I am usually the villain, so no thanks..."

"I find your lack of enthusiasm disturbing."

"Mira, don't pull out demeaning quotes on me," he said. "And don't you think it would be better if I stayed here?"

"No," she said, stubbornly. "The Grandmaster isn't going to listen to me if I leave you behind!"

"I can't help you save Thor," Loki said. "That's it. Me and him are just not compatible."

"I disagree."

"I have a story for you," he cleared his throat.

"Hope it's not boring as usual," Mira smiled cheesily. He rolled his eyes but continued.

"You know, when we were kids, I used to transform into snakes. It was one of my favourite hobbies."

"Snakes? That's not weird at all..."

"Will you let me continue?"

"Yeah yeah sure."

"Alright. Thor was not the brightest brother, and teasing him was very easy. I would transform into a snake, crawl up his arm without him suspecting anything, and then," Loki made a stabbing motion, "I would plunge a dagger into his stomach!" Mira facepalmed.

"How kind of you."

"But there was more!" Loki grinned. "Thor would always fall for the trick because I would turn into different snakes. And he never noticed. It was very fun."

"Ok I know that you hate him," Mira said. "But for once in your life, can you try helping?" He sighed.

"The fight is tomorrow, Mira. I can't do anything about it. If he dies, he dies." He started to walk out of the room, and Mira furrowed her eyebrows.

"You gambled against him, you dirty, horrible, villain bitc-" The rest was cut off by her jumping onto him, trying to strangle the god. He yelped, and they both fell to the floor.

"Mira!" Cora said with shock and worry. She ran over and pulled Mira off with some difficulty.

"I hate you," Mira muttered to Loki as he stood back up.

"That's nice to know, firegirl." She lunged at him again, but Cora held her back. He dusted off his hands. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'm very excited." With that, Loki walked out of the room and Cora helped Mira to sit down.

"I hate him," Mira said.

"Yes, I know. But we all have to stay here together, so might as well get along with him," Cora said kindly.

"I am not ready for the fight tomorrow. Death, take me away."

"Mira, don't talk like that."

"Ugh..."

~

Mira walked into the room hesitantly. She did not want to watch two of her best friends fight to the death. It was like something from a nightmare.

"I don't want to be here, Cora," she whispered to the redhead.

"I know, but we have to, ma'am," Cora whispered back. "Oh I also talked to Bruna, and she said that Thor was being a bit odd to her."

"Sounds like him," Mira said to herself.

"Hello, Mira." They looked up to see Loki forcing a smile.

"Hi," Mira responded coldly. He offered an elbow to her, and she slipped her arm through.

"Shall we?"

"Sure."

"I'll be here if you need, ma'am," Cora said softly. She went to the back to help attend the guests.

"This will be quite fun to watch," said Loki.

"Mm," Mira bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from punching him. "Hey Grandmaster!" She waved to the golden-clad man to distract herself. He grinned at her and gave her a hug.

"Miss Goddess! Mr. Loki! I hope you enjoy today! I know I will!" He laughed. "Please, take some drinks and have a good time!" He walked off to talk to more guests. Mira could hear the screaming Sakaarians from the other side of the glass. It gave her flashbacks of the Hulk ripping an alien apart in the dirty sand.

"He's almost as excited as you are," she muttered to herself.

"Mira, listen to me," Loki turned her towards him. She reluctantly looked up. "I know that I was harsh yesterday, but I don't think we can save him."

"Obviously. He's fighting against-"

"That doesn't matter," Loki waved his hand. "I'm just...sorry. I realise you care about Thor a lot, and I apologize." Mira sighed but stayed silent. "If you hate me, that's ok. We aren't meant to be 'friends' in the first place."

"Yeah," she said softly. Their conversation was interrupted by cheering from the crowds. They both looked out the giant window and saw the Grandmaster's huge, holographic form in the arena. "It's starting."

"We can stay in the back if you like," Loki suggested, even though he wanted to go closer to see the destruction of Thor. Mira nodded gratefully and subconsciously held onto Loki tighter.

"Wow!" the Grandmaster grinned. "Look at all of you. What a show, what a night! Who's having fun?" The aliens clapped insanely. He pretended to be flattered. "Please, I'm your host. Big round of applause for all of our undercard competitors...who died so gruesomely." He motioned to the bloody ground beneath him.

"Gross," Mira muttered. Loki held back a laugh.

"Good sports. What a show! What a night!" the Grandmaster repeated.The crowd cheered again. "This is what you've come for and so have I. And now, without further ado...it's main event time!" He cleared his throat before grinning even more. "Making his first appearance, though he looks quite promising, got a couple of tricks up his sleeve. I'll say no more, see what you think. Ladies and gentlemen...I give to you: Lord of Thunder!" The Grandmaster waved a golden sleeve, and the Sakaarians booed loudly. Mira peered at the ground below.

"Wow, he got a makeover," she said. Thor now looked much different: his hair was cut sloppily, his beard was trimmed, and his amour was half-torn. He had two swords on his back, a mace in his hand, and a shield in the other.

"Watch out for his fingers! They spark," laughed the Grandmaster. Thor put on a silver helmet decorated with moveable wings. He seemed ready to fight.

"He looks ok," Loki commented. Mira rolled her eyes.

"Okay, this is it. Let's get ready to welcome this guy. Here he comes. He is a creature!" the Grandmaster introduced. The people had started to scream again. "What can we say about him? Well, he's unique. There's none like him. I feel a special connection with him." The doors below rumbled open slowly.

"He's undefeated. He's the reigning...he's the defending...ladies and gentlemen...I give you..." The doors suddenly were blown wide open by a big green creature. "The Incredible Hulk!"

"Bruce..." Mira widened her eyes. The Hulk looked more vicious than last time. He wore an armoured shoulder guard, and carried a battle axe and a massive warhammer. His helmet reminded Mira of the Spartans. The Hulk pounded his chest and roared, causing the stadium to cheer even more loudly.

Meanwhile, Thor had started laughing. Mira facepalmed.

"Yes!" he shouted with joy. The stadium silenced - all the aliens were all confused. Loki had gone pale at the sight of the Hulk.

"I told you so," Mira said. His grip loosened on her, and she imagined that he was having traumatic flashbacks. "You ok, Laufeyson?"

"I need to get off this planet," he muttered. Loki tried to quickly exit, Mira going after him, but then the Grandmaster stopped Loki with a grin.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where you going?" he said brightly. He escorted the pair to the big couch by the window. Mira started to breathe quicker.

"T-thanks," she stuttered. The Grandmaster didn't even notice them sliding to the other side of the couch. He was too excited. Loki, on the other hand, did not look well. He tried to cover his face with his hand awkwardly.

"Hey!" Thor waved to the big window. "We know each other! He's a friend from work!" He turned back to Hulk and said some words with cheer. Mira wondered if he was talking about Hela. Of course he would.

"Loki, you better not throw up," she whispered to the person next to her. He rolled his eyes but continued looking pale. Thor suddenly turned back up to the window and waved again, a huge grin on his face.

"Loki! Mira!" he yelled. "Look who it is!" Mira facepalmed again. She noticed how tense Loki was.

"Don't faint on me, Loki," she mumbled.

"I-I'm fine," he stammered.

"Uh huh," Mira rolled her eyes.

"Banner, I never thought I would say this, but I'm happy to see you," Thor said. Mira sighed. She had to agree with Loki on one thing - Thor was never the smartest Avenger. He made it up with his arms though. The crowds were chanting for Hulk loudly.

"This is not going to turn out well," Mira said to herself. Hulk was eyeing Thor with confusion.

"Banner! Hey, Banner!" Thor called. The Hulk grimaced.

"No Banner! Only Hulk!" he shouted. All of a sudden, he charged towards the blonde and Mira covered her face.

"What are you doing?" Thor asked, shocked, "It's me!" He dodged the Hulk a few times, but then the green creature shattered his shield and sent him flying across the stadium. The Sakaarians cheered. Thor, luckily, drew his sword, stabbing into the ground and using it as an anchor. He pulled out his other sword and faced Hulk. "Banner, we're friends! This is crazy! I don't want to hurt you!" Hulk seemed to ignore him and proceeded to kick him into a wall.

"Oof," Mira winced.

"Here we go," said the Grandmaster, clearly excited.

Hulk swung his hammer at the god, but Thor jumped down and caused the huge hammer to be lodged into the wall. Hulk growled and charged again towards him. Thor finally seemed to have decided for a more violent approach. Grabbing the hammer, he flung it towards Hulk and hit him, making the green creature fly across the sand and into the opposite wall. It crumbled around him.

"What?!" the Grandmaster said, now confused. Mira grinned. Hulk was now lying in the stone debris, dazed. Thor walked over to him carefully, dropping the hammer on the ground and taking off his helmet. He reached out his hand, and the people watched in surprise.

"Hey big guy," he said. "Sun's gettin' real low."

"Oh my god," Mira whispered, memories of the Avengers crashing into her mind. It was so overwhelming that she almost started to cry. The emptiness of being without her friends was suddenly ripped open again.

While all the Sakaarians watched in an awed silence, the Hulk roared and took off his helmet. He looked upset but somehow more relaxed.

"That's it," Thor said calmly. "The sun's going down. I won't hurt you anymore. No one will."

Before anyone could react further, Hulk's arm flicked out quickly and pulled Thor to the ground. He roared more and whipped Thor around on either side of him, smashing him to the arena ground. Loki's mood suddenly shifted, and he jumped up happily, yelling out in joy.

"Yes! That's how it feels!" he shouted. Mira rolled her eyes, noticing the reference to when Loki had first fought the Avengers. The Grandmaster looked at them with raised eyebrows. Loki turned to him with a grin. "I'm just a huge fan of the sport." The other man nodded in understanding.

"This is going to be a long day," Mira muttered to herself.

A/N

ughhhhh

this chapter was overly long and overly boring ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

i'll edit it later buT IT KINDA BUGS MEEEE AHHHHHH *dalvie panicking*

ok welp i hope yall enjoyed it a bit ahah

please go and check out my peter parker story as well (cuz mira is going to come later)

OK BYEEE I LOVE YOU ALL THANKS FOR A WHOPPING 9K READS WTH