Contest of Champions

50

I hope Nebula has some tact. I remember her knowing about Gamora wishing to run away from Asgard, about trying to rope me into her scheme, and not telling Odin or the Other or Thanos. I think Nebula knows very well when silence is needed.

Perhaps it's better if Gamora doesn't find out I kissed Veers at all.

"Loki?" Veers' voice cuts through my guilty thoughts and I look over at her. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, of course," I find myself answering, the lie automatic and smooth. Just like Hela always wanted. I give her a smile. "I was just wondering what my parents are thinking right now, of me kissing a Kree girl."

Veers grins at that, but then she turns somber. I know what she's thinking: it doesn't matter what my parents think of our kiss, for only one of us can make it out of this arena.

The silence drags on and I want to break it. I cast about for anything to say and finally land on an unsolved mystery about my escape from the asteroid. "When I was flying away in my pod, after...after my battle with the Avengers pack, a blast of energy took out my pod. Was...was that you?"

Veers bit her bottom lip, looking pensive. "Yes, I'm sad to say it was. After you escaped and Brock, Okoye, and Clint chased after you, Natasha and Killmonger turned on me. We fought. One of my photon blasts accidently fired off into the sky when Killmonger jerked my arm up. I'm sorry, Loki."

A cannon goes off in the distance and we both jump, twisting to look toward the door. "Who could that be?" Veers asks, furrowing her brow.

I tick the other contenders off in my head. Pietro, Wong, Natasha, Clint. "I don't know. But that means there are only five of us left."

Five left. You're that much closer to home, Loki. Only three more need to die before you put your plan in action and make Father proud.

"What are we going to do?" Veers asks me in a low voice and I know she's wondering about the endgame for this Contest. She moves closer to me, the mattress sinking down as she does, and speaks in a soft voice pitched so only I can hear her. "I'm not going to play their games."

I meet her eyes. "Neither am I," I respond, thinking I'm going to play one of my own. "Don't worry, Veers, I have a plan."

"What?" she queries curiously, and I lean in and whisper it into her ear. When I draw back, she's grinning crookedly. "Are you sure?"

"It'll work," I tell her. It will have to.

Veers and I end up spending the entire day in the room, leaving the door open to watch the downpour. It rains all day and I'm glad of that, for it allows both of us to rest, tend to our various injuries, and mentally prepare to finish the Contest of Champions. While I slept, Veers had placed the canister that had held our shawarma and the empty thermos from my pack outside, to catch the pouring rain, and every now and then when they are full we bring them into the room and slowly sip at them, keeping ourselves hydrated. We talk on and off, exchanging various bits of information about our pasts, our homes, and previous events in the Contest. I find it interesting that Veers doesn't recount anything preceding six years ago.

Is that when she forgot her past?

I don't ask her about it, however.

"Tell me about your mission with my sister," I request as evening comes. We're sitting by the doorway, the raindrops that get blown through the entrance cool and refreshing on our skin, and I have my spear sitting by my side, just in case any of the three remaining contenders decide to get any ideas. I doubt anyone has fallen through a portal into a different location, judging by the fact that there are only five of us left now. No; the Children of Thanos and the Collector want us all in the same location. So either we all stay here, or everyone is transported into a different part of the arena for the final battle. And since Wong is the only one with the ability to summon portals of his own volition, the rest of us will have to abide with their decision.

Veers looks over at me. "The mission I worked with Hela?"

I nod. "Yes, tell me about it."

Veers sighs, her eyes flicking up as she recalls the mission. "It was a couple years ago. Yon-Rogg and I and the rest of our team headed out with Hela and Ronan to Torfa to extract one of our spies." She made a face. "I know she's your sister, but the way she acted when the Skrulls ambushed us...." Veers shuddered. "They'd simmed the locals, but Hela didn't kill them all at once, the way she'd done in the Contest. She swept through the crowd, killing and stabbing, just...having fun with it. And then after everyone had fallen, she walked through the sea of bodies with that odd walk of hers, acting like it was a stroll through the park. Acting like it was...fun."

The Kree paused, straightening up and spreading her arms out to her sides, rolling her shoulders slightly as she tilted her head back. I can't help grinning because I catch the impersonation of Hela instantly. When Veers sees me grinning, she stops and grins, too, and then the both of us are laughing, as I know the audience probably is, too. Hela's peculiar way of walking is quite famous.

"There was just something eerie about her," Veers finishes. "I have no love for the Skrulls, but there was something about the way Hela did it that was unnerving."

"Hela is quite the enigma," I agree, nodding. We sit in silence for several moments, watching the rain, and I wonder what we're going to eat. We have no supplies and have thus gone the entire day without food, the medicine being the only thing in the pack from the feast.

I hear thunder in the distance and think of my brother, wondering what's happening on the other side of the arena. I'm in the final five and the Contest will be over soon. Do my mentors believe I have a chance? Do my parents? Does Gamora?

Does anybody?

"We've got this," Veers says, as if reading my thoughts. "In that mission to Torfa, I saw Hela and Ronan fight together and that experience I would not trade for anything. Hala and Asgard may not get along, but Asgardians and Kree make terrific allies."

There's a soft thud from behind us and both of us turn, my spear in hand, her fists up, to see a canister drop out of a portal. With a smile, Veers gets up and opens it.

"No note," she says. "But plenty of food."

"Good," I say. "We needed some."

Inside the canister is an array of food, salt bagels slathered with cream cheese, deli sandwiches from Queens, hot hamburgers with bacon sticking out from under the bun, a tall thermos of coffee, an insulated carton of scrambled eggs and waffles, and small container of maple syrup.

Now this is a feast.

Veers and I exchange a grin. "Shall we dine?" I ask her.

"Yes, we shall," she returns with a small laugh, and we set to dishing out part of the food. We first eat the hamburgers and drink water that we've collected from the rain, the meal tasting better than I remember from outside the arena. Perhaps it's just that I'm starving.

The anthem begins as we're finishing and we head over to the door, looking up to see who else died today. Okoye is shown first, and then I feel a sinking feeling in my chest when Pietro's face follows hers, blowing away to dust like Peter and Cassie had. Veers places her hand on my shoulder in silent sympathy as I just stand there, staring at the dark sky, before I abruptly turn and stride back into our hideout.

"I suggest we have those bagels tonight, while they're still warm from being toasted," I advise, not wanting to dwell on the Quicksilver's death. It had to happen, unfortunately.

And tomorrow, we will end this.