Once again you were in the pre-fighting area were the prisoners would pick their weapons and prepare to fight. After your last fight, you had gotten used to being around the others but were still careful to sleep with an eye open. You weren't blind to the weird looks some of them gave you, so you stayed close to Korg and Meik who seemed to be the only genuinely nice ones out of the bunch.
As you put on your helmet and picked out a shield you would occasionally glance over to the bar area. You were secretly hoping a certain god of mischief would appear but after your exchange of words, he hadn't been showing up. Luckily you didn't have to depend on him for winning anymore. The substance he had given you hadn't left your system yet, in fact, it only seemed to become more apparent. Your eyes glowed a little brighter you almost couldn't see your pupils and your nails weren't returning to their normal state. It was worrying to think it might be permanent but if it helped you during your stay in Sakaar you tried not to think too much of it.
"Look," you heard one of the prisoners whisper to another, "It's the Asgardian."
You quickly looked to where he was gesturing but instead of seeing one of the princes you saw the familiar face of Scrapper 142 who had brought you to the Grandmaster. She was purchasing drinks from the bar. You had heard she had been the one who found the champion and if that was true perhaps, she would be able to get you in to see him. And if she was Asgardian perhaps, she would be willing to help you if you told her you knew Thor.
"Hey, you!" you ran towards the fence and waved over at her to get her attention. She simply grinned and waved her remote that controlled the obedience disk on your neck. "Wait I just want to talk. You're Asgardian, aren't you?"
Her smile dropped and she rolled her eyes clearly telling you she didn't want to talk about it. She walked up to another counter and ordered fuel for her ship. "That's none of your business."
"Well, are you the one who found the Champion? Can you take me to meet him?" She stopped and looked at you curiously.
"Do you still honestly think you can fight him, have you not seen what he's capable of?"
"No, we know each other! He's a friend!" The truth was you hadn't seen much of the Hulk even after all the time you spent with the Avengers. He was probably the one you interacted the least with. The last time you saw him he hadn't tried to kill you so you hoped that would be enough for him to help you out of here. "Tell him Animal wants to see him, he'll know who I am."
"I'll think about it." She grabbed her stuff and headed towards the exit. You hoped Hulk would remember you and that the Scrapper would at least mention you.
"Animal, you're up!" You sighed as a guard came to escort you to the arena. Hopefully, this one was easier than the first.
-_-_-_-_-_-_
It was worse. So much worse. You flinched as some guards roughly dragged you back your weird infinite circle cell. You were made to fight multiple opponents all of which had did not go easy on you. The only advantage you had was the extra strength and agility Loki's substance had given you, but you still came out with a few bruises. They would heal quickly but for now, your muscles felt tender and you just really wanted to sit down for a while.
As you cleared the trash on the ground so that you could rest for a while you heard the doors open again. Scrapper 142 walked through her arms crossed over her chest. "Are you coming or not?"
You grinned and followed her outside and through the hallways as she leads you to Hulk. On the way, you started a conversation much to her displeasure. "Are we there yet? Can we stop by the bathroom I need to go?"
"Do you ever shut up?"
"Not if I can help it."
When you finally reached your destination, she couldn't have been more relieved. She opened the doors and shoved you through. "Good luck."
As the doors slammed closed you looked around. The room you were in was giant and the walls were covered in red and white paint. There's furniture, large cushions, and a bed that looked to be made out of the skull of a giant beast. There's a bar stocked with various types of alcohol and in one corner there seemed to be a huge hot tub. What really drew your attention was the large window taking up space on the wall on your left. You walked up to it and took in the sight of Sakaar. Sakaar wasn't as elegant as Asgard but it did remind you slightly of New York with its skyscrapers although the architecture here was a lot more colorful and abstract.
You kept your eyes on Sakaar's skyline until you started hearing heavy footsteps coming from outside. You didn't have time to prepare yourself as the doors flew open and a familiar green figure stomped into the room. He was wearing his battle armor and looked very intimidating. At first, you thought he was going to crush you on the spot but the smile he gave you was almost friendly as he were happy to see you.
He walked towards you laughing and shoved you playfully almost making you lose balance. "Friend visit Hulk!"
You laughed relieved, "Are you kidding I couldn't be happier to see you. How did you even get here?!"
"Winning," he responded thinking you meant how did he get to have a room like this.
"No, like how did you get on this planet?"
"Quinjet." He mimes a plane landing and points out the window you had been looking out of. There in the middle of a bunch of rubble was a standard Avengers quinjet.
"It looks still intact! We can use it to go back to Earth!" You eagerly started to think of ways you could somehow get to it. You would have to get through the Grandmaster's guard which could prove difficult but with Hulk at your side, you would have a better chance. You also had to think about the obedience disk on your neck, that wouldn't be easy to get off without one of those controllers.
As you continued to strategize you didn't notice Hulk remove his armor and change into a more comfortable attire with beads hanging off his neck. He didn't speak until he sat on his bed with a large bowl of what looked like fruit. "Hulk no go to Earth. Hulk stays."
You looked back at him like he was crazy, "What why?"
"Earth hate Hulk."
"That's not true." It was kind of true. The world, especially the media, had very different opinions on the Hulk and many were bad. You hoped reminding him of the good ones would help change his mind. "You're a hero buddy. An Avenger. You got friends back there."
"Not Hulk's friends. Banner's friends. You're Banner's friend." He looked a little sad as he continued to eat his food.
"What, n-no," you lied, "I don't even like Banner. He's a doctor, I hate doctors. Like I seriously hate them."
"Friend goes. Hulk stays."
You looked over at him and realized there was no way you would have a chance of getting off this planet without him. If Loki was with you perhaps but he was who knows where right now, and you were losing hope on Thor or the other Avengers coming to help. Loki's words from before rang in your ear, what are you even going back to?
You took off your helmet and placed it on the counter of the bar. You then tiredly walked over to Hulk and sat next to him. "Maybe you're right, maybe we should just get used to it here."
Hulk perked up, "Friend stays with Hulk."
"Yeah why not," you sighed defeated, "Earth wasn't so great anyways."
Hulk cheers happily, "Friend and Hulk home!"
You smile at him, "Might as well take advantage of a bad situation."