The Stone Man and the other two beings introduce themselves. The Stone Man pointed to a monster with blades in both hands and said, "This is my very good friend, Miek. He's an insect and has knives for hands."
Thor stared at the two people and said, "You're a Kronan, aren't you?"
The stone man answered: "That I am."
Thor was surprised: "How'd you end up in here?"
The Stone Man said righteously: "Ah, well, I tried to start a revolution, but didn't print enough pamphlets."
Thor walked forward along the passage while the Stone Man continued: "So hardly anyone turned up, except for my mum and her boyfriend, who I hate. As punishment, I was forced to be in here and become a gladiator. Bit of a promotional disaster, that one. But I'm actually organizing another revolution."
Thor started running. It didn't take long to find out that he actually returned to the previous place as he appeared from behind the Stone Man.
The Stone Man looked back at him and said, "I don't know if you'd be interested in something like that. Do you reckon you'd be interested?"
Thor pointed at him and said in wonder: "How did you..."
Stone Man said: "Ah, yeah, no. This whole thing is a circle. But not a real circle, more like a freaky circle."
Thor frowned, "This doesn't make any sense."
The Stone Man calmly said, "No, nothing makes sense here, man. The only thing that does make sense is that nothing makes sense."
Thor did not answer, but asked: "Has anyone here fought the Grandmaster's champion?"
The Stone Man pointed to the corpse on the ground and said, "Doug has. Doug! Our luck, Doug's dead. That's right, everyone who fights the Grandmaster's champion perishes."
Thor looked at the stone man and said, "What about you? You're made of rocks."
The stone man spread his hands and said, "Perishable rock. There you go. Another one gone." As he spoke, a stone fell from him. "Yeah, no, I just do the smaller fights, warm up the crowd, and whatnot. Wait. You're not gonna face him, are you?"
Thor walked to the edge and said firmly, "Yes, I am. Gonna fight him, win, and get the hell out of this place."
The Stone Man said lightly, "That's exactly what Doug used to say. See you later, new Doug."
The conversation between the two entertained the audience.
"It's the first time I've seen a talking stone man."
"I didn't expect such strange creatures to exist in the universe."
"The battle seems to be quite interesting."
"Stone Man, hit him!"
"I don't know if these strange creatures still exist."
"It's still interesting."
"This stone man is kind of cute."
"His brain is full of muscles."
"I want to see Thor fight against the champion..."
"It will probably be interesting."
Screen jumps.
In the palace of Asgard, Hela walked in the passage surrounded by dead soldiers. Behind her, Skurge followed suit. Hela looked around and said, "Does no one remember me? Has no one been taught our history?"
Under the ceiling, the two looked up. Above is the central building of Asgard and the surrounding peaceful pattern. The rainbow bridge flickered and fluctuated. King Odin and Frigga stood in the center. In front are Thor and Loki. There is no trace of Hela.
Hela sneered: "Look at these lies. Goblets and garden parties?. Peace treaties? Odin... proud to have it... ashamed of how he got it."
There are many types of patterns. Most of them are Odin's once-rich, meritorious achievements. There was anger and dissatisfaction in her expression. Sword light flickered in both hands, and a blade shot through the ceiling. The plate of the pattern shattered, the ceiling burst, and all the drawings were broken.
In its place is another pattern. The surroundings are depicted as places Odin once conquered. It was Hela who charged with Odin and the Asgardian Army.
Hela said with anger in her voice: "We were unstoppable. I was his weapon in the conquest that built Asgard's empire. One by one, the realms became ours. But then, simply because my ambition outgrew his... he banished me, caged me, locked me away like an animal.
In the new pattern, Hela held Thor's hammer aloft as she rode with Odin.
"Before that, Asgard's warriors were honored... their bodies buried as heroes beneath this very palace."
Hela brought Skurge to the Asgardian treasure vault. The two walked over to a huge golden glove, and Skurge looked around in amazement. "Odin's treasures."
Who knew that Hela didn't care and pushed the huge golden glove to the ground.
Hela said expressionlessly, "Fake. Most of the stuff in here is fake. or weak."
She keeps going as she has no interest in these treasures at all.
Seeing Surtur's horns, Hela laughed: "Smaller than I thought it would be."
Standing in front of the Tesseract, she pointed with her finger and said, "That is not bad."
"Hela is too much, so many treasures are so despised!"
"That's the Tesseract! One of the Infinity Stones in the universe! There are only six in total, but it's just 'not bad'?"
"I lost it! Is that glove the one on the purple monster's hand?"
"It seems so, but it's just a model."
"It seems that this golden glove is extraordinary; or it would not have been put into Odin's treasury."
"There seemed to be an ice box from an ice giant just now."
"If you don't even take the Tesseract, she really doesn't know value."
"Hey, what is Hela doing?"
Hela saw something ahead and quickly walked over. There was joy in her expression as she gasped. "But this... The Eternal Flame"
In the burning brazier, she pulled out a flame with her hands. The flame was like a plaything in her hand. She walked into the lobby, reaching out and turning over, a heavy weapon appeared. Swinging it with both hands, a huge crater was smashed into the ground.
Holding the Eternal Fire in her hand, Hela looked at Skurge and said, "Want to see what true power really looks like?"
As she spoke, Hela tilted her head back and flipped down into a deep pit. The flames fell rapidly, sinking into unknown depths, and Hela landed on one knee. Under the firelight, she was surrounded by armored corpses, all long dead.
After a pause, Hela looked forward. "Fenris, my darling, what have they done to you?"
Not far away, on a platform, lay a massive corpse like a hill. Hela held the Eternal Fire and chanted: "With the Eternal Flame, you are reborn!"
The Eternal Fire in her hand slammed into the ground. Green flames spread in all directions with her at the center, and a terrifying surge filled the entire underground space. The corpses that lay silent began to glow green, then struggle. Countless armored warriors rose again as if resurrected.
A smile appeared on Hela's lips as she raised her hands. "I've missed you."
Green light ignited in Fenris' eyes. He rose and walked toward Hela. "I've missed you all."
"Good lord, this thing is insane."
"Feels like she came back just to tear everything apart."
"I see! Eternal Fire isn't about heat!"
"Wow! Is this what an undead army looks like?!"
"Burning Legion! Haha!"
"The goddess of death with an army of corpses…"
"What is she doing? Is she trying to destroy the world?!"
"Please stop! The world can't take this anymore!"
"Hela is unbeatable in combat. I don't know who can face her."
"I can only think of that golden glove… it already affected our real world before."
The screen flickered continuously, like fragments of past lives flashing by. After a while, it stabilized again.
Inside the circular passage, Thor faced the steel wall and prayed silently: "Odin... I bid you take your place in the halls of Valhalla... where the brave shall live forever. Nor shall we mourn but rejoice... for those that have died.. the glorious death."
Before he could finish, a voice came from behind. Thor turned around, and it was Loki's projection.
Leaning against the wall, Loki said, "Hurts, doesn't it? Being lied to. Being told you're one thing and then learning it's all a fiction."
Thor picked up a stone and threw it at him. The stone passed straight through Loki's illusion and hit the wall.
Loki said helplessly, "You didn't think I'd really come and see you, did you? This place is disgusting."
Thor said nothing, only throwing another stone. Loki lowered his hand. "Does this mean you don't want my help? Look, I couldn't jeopardize my position with the Grandmaster. It took me some time to win his trust. He's a lunatic, but he can be amenable."
Loki continued, "What I'm telling you is, you could join me at the Grandmaster's side."
Another stone flew past, and Loki didn't care. "Perhaps, in time, an accident befalls the Grandmaster, and then..."
He gestured to Thor and him, but in return, another stone came flying. Thor simply pursed his lips, signaling him to continue. Loki clearly knew he would keep doing that. What Loki said earlier had already cut deep.
"See? Thor is nothing without his hammer, but Loki still has magic."
"I feel like Loki is right, Thor is just a brute fighter."
"No wonder Hela said Loki resembles Odin."
"When someone ignores you, and you just keep throwing stones… that's you."
"Loki really lives up to the god of tricks. This plan actually sounds solid."
Seeing Thor like this, Loki asked: "You're not seriously thinking of going back, are you? Our sister destroyed your hammer like a piece of glass. She's stronger than both of us. She's stronger than you. You don't stand a chance. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?"
His tone rose, but Thor only leaned against the cold wall, staring silently.
Loki chuckled awkwardly. "Fine. I guess I'll just have to go it alone. Like I've always done."
He put on a dramatic, self-sacrificial expression. Thor, however, just smirked faintly.
"Would you say something?" Loki snapped.
Thor remained still, and Loki lost patience. "Say something!"
Thor finally spoke calmly: "What would you like me to say? You faked your own death... You stole the throne, stripped Odin of his power... stranded him on Earth to die, releasing the Goddess of Death. Have I said enough, or would you like me to go back further than the past two days?"
Loki replied: "You know, I haven't seen this beloved champion he talks of... but I've heard he is astonishingly savage. I've placed a large wager against you tomorrow. Don't let me down."
Thor grabbed a beer bottle and hurled it. Glass shattered, and Loki vanished instantly. Krog suddenly rushed over, kicking where Loki stood. "Piss off, ghost!"
The blade insect rushed over as well. "He's freaking gone."
Thor leaned against the wall again, expression blank. Staring upward, lost in thought.
Suddenly, the lights in the passage flickered. The arena battle was about to begin, and everyone was being taken to the armory to choose their weapons.