I'm back.

I hope you all don't mind that this story is going by rather quickly. This story may actually be shorter than Flash:Dark Dimension, though the chapters will be longer.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 5- A New Team

Thor looks around desperately, trying to find Bruce. He fears that the massive crowd chanting "Hulk!" may be enough to make Bruce turn back into the Hulk.

Finally, he spots him. "Banner!" he calls out, making his way down the staircase towards Bruce. Bruce sees Thor approaching, but accidentally steps back into somebody.

Hearing a growling, Bruce turns around to see a fierce looking alien standing there, growling. Bruce takes a few steps back, and Thor hurries to protect his friend. But, before he can even get in between them, he hears a twang, a squelching noise, and the alien cries before falling to the ground. Behind him stand Oliver and Valkyrie.

"Hi," Thor says cautiously.

"You need to work on your speed, Thor," Oliver says simply.

Thor just looks at Oliver for a moment before glancing at Valkyrie and asking, "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here? I thought you were leaving," Valkyrie asks.

"We got held up. Plus, I promised Queen I would bring him with me," Thor responds.

"What's with the...?" Valkyrie asks, gesturing to the shawl Thor's wearing to cover his head.

"It's my disguise," Thor says.

"Can still see your face. Want my advice? Next time...wear a mask," Oliver says, grinning a bit as he remembers the last time he told someone that.

Valkyrie glances at Oliver, then back at Thor. She jerks her head and starts walking away. Oliver looks at Thor and nods before turning to follow her. Thor and Bruce hurry to stay with them.

"What are those things on her eyes? Are those people that she's killed? She's so beautiful and strong and courageous," Bruce says nervously.

"Who is this guy?" Valkyrie asks. Oliver glances back at Bruce, wanting to know the answer to that himself.

"Him? He's a friend," Thor says quickly.

"I'm Bruce," Bruce says as he cleans some green powder off his face.

"I feel like I know you," Valkyrie says. "Same," Oliver odds.

"I feel like I know you two as well," Bruce says.

Valkyrie leads them down a hall towards a door at the end. "Why are you here?" Thor asks.

"Well, Queen won our bet," Valkyrie says. Oliver grins a bit, making Valkyrie look at him and whisper, "I still beat you, even if you did last longer than Loki." Oliver still feels satisfied.

"And..." Valkyrie says, pauses, then turns to face Thor and Bruce. "Look, I've spent years in a haze, trying to forget my past. Sakaar seemed like the best place to drink and forget, and to die one day."

Oliver just watches her. he remembers times on the island where he felt the same way.

Thor looks at Valkyrie and says, "Well, I was thinking that you drink too much, and that was probably gonna kill you."

"I don't plan to stop drinking," Valkyrie says flatly. She pauses, then continues with a bit more determination, "But, I don't want to forget. I can't turn away anymore, so, if I'm gonna die, well, it may as well be driving my sword through the heart of that murderous hag."

Thor smiles, feeling his spirits rising. Valkyrie nods a bit before saying, "So, I'm saying...that I wanna be on the team. Does it have a name?"

Thor looks a little uncertain. "Yeah. Yeah, it's called the...the Revengers."

Oliver almost chuckles. He remembers Thor telling him about the Avengers, and knows this was Thor's attempt to get as close to that name as possible.

Valkyrie seems similarly amused. "The Revengers?" she asks skeptically.

Thor nods. "Because I'm getting revenge. Queen's getting revenge. You're getting revenge." Valkyrie nods to admit he has a point.

Thor turns to Bruce and asks, "And what about you? Do you want revenge?"

"I...I...I'm un-undecided," Bruce says with a stutter.

Valkyrie starts to smile as she butts in and says, "Also, I've got a peace offering." She then opens the door, and everyone looks into the room to see Loki strapped to a chair.

"Surprise!" the God of Mischief says sarcastically.

Everyone walks into the room. Thor grabs something and throws it at Loki. It bounces off Loki's head, accompanied by an "Ow!"

"Just had to be sure," Thor says before following Valkyrie and Oliver further into the room. Bruce follows slowly, looking intently at Loki.

"Hello, Bruce," Loki says with a grin.

Bruce walks up to Loki slowly before saying, "So, last time I saw you, you were trying to kill everybody. Where you at these days?"

"it varies from moment to moment," Loki says in a dangerous tone. Bruce looks a little alarmed before turning away from Loki.

"Is that a Dragonfang?" Thor asks in amazement as Valkyrie sets down her sword. Thor quickly walks over and removes the sword from its sheath, admiring it as he whispers, "The famous sword of the Valkyrie."

"So," Valkyrie says in 'let's-get-down-to-business-' tone, "Sakaar and Asgard are about as far apart as any two known systems. Our best bet is a wormhole just outside of city limits."

Oliver takes over. "It'll drop us off right near Xandar. We can refuel there, then get to Asgard in about 18 months," he says.

"Nope. We are going through the big one," Thor says, pointing to the massive wormhole outside the city.

"The Devil's Anus?" Valkyrie asks in disbelief. Oliver still finds the name slightly amusing.

"Anus? Whose anus?" Bruce asks from the kitchen area, his mouth still somewhat full.

"For the record, I didn't know it was called that when I picked it," Thor says.

Bruce walks up, very intrigued by the sight of the wormhole. "That looks like a collapsing neutron star inside of an Einstein-Rosen bridge."

"We need another ship. That will tear mine to pieces," Valkyrie says.

"She's right. We need one that can withstand the geodetic strain from the singularity," Thor says.

Bruce cuts in. "And has an offline power steering system that could also function without the onboard computer."

"And we need one with cup holders because we're gonna die. So, drinks!" Valkyrie says.

Oliver can't really disagree with her there. He could use a nice drink right now. He finds himself wishing he had the vodka given to him by Anatoly.

"Do i know you? I feel like I do," Bruce says as Valkyrie walks over to the kitchen area. Valkyrie turns around with a smile and says, "I feel like I know you too. It's weird."

Thor looks at Bruce and Oliver. "What do you say? Uncharted metagalactic travel through a volatile cosmic gateway? Talk about an adventure."

Oliver grins as Bruce confidently nods and gives Thor a fist bump.

"We need a ship," Bruce says.

"There are one or two ships. Absolute top of the line models," Valkyrie begins.

Loki suddenly cuts in. "I don't mean to impose..." Valkyrie responds by throwing a glass against the wall right next to him, making Loki shut up for a few moments before he continues with, "The Grandmaster has a great many ships. I may have even stolen the access codes to his security system."

"Really? Out of the goodness of your heart, you want to help us get out of here?" Oliver demands harshly.

"Heavens, no. I've run out of favor with the Grandmaster, and in exchange for codes and access to a ship, I'm asking for safe passage through the Anus," Loki explains.

"You're telling us that you can get us access into the garage without setting off any alarms?" Thor asks.

"Yes, brother. I can," Loki replies.

"Ok, can I just...a quick FYI," Bruce says, motioning for everyone to gather for a huddle.

"I was just talking to him just a couple of minutes ago and he was totally ready to kill any of us," Bruce says warningly.

"He did try to kill me," Valkyrie adds.

"Try, being the word there. He couldn't stand against all of us," Oliver says confidently.

"Yes. He has tried to kill me on many occasions. Never has he succeeded. Not even when when transformed himself into snake to get my attention before turning back to himself and stabbing me," Thor says, memories of that incident flooding through his mind's eye.

Oliver decides to return their focus to the more pressing matter. "There's too many guards around the palace. If we're going to do this and try to steal a ship, we're gonna need to draw them away. We'll probably have to split up."

"Why not set the beast loose?" Loki asks.

"Shut up," Thor says quickly.

Valkyrie seems intrigued by this. "You guys have a beast?" she asks, somewhat in excitement.

"No. No beast. He's just being stupid," Thor says. Oliver feels they're trying to cover up something here, but decides not to press questions.

Thor turns to Oliver and says, "We're going to start a revolution." Oliver, realizing what Thor's getting at, grins and nods his agreement.

"Revolution?" Bruce asks in confusion.

"I'll explain later," Thor says quickly.

"Who is this guy, again?" Valkyrie asks, more confused than ever as to who Bruce is.

"I'll explain later," Thor says simply.

Oliver grins. "Well, let's get to work, team."

(Catacombs under the arena)

Korg looks over at Miek and asks, "Is that some sort of protoplasm, all the stuff that's coming out of you, or are they eggs? Cuz they look like eggs."

Suddenly, the door is blown off its hinges. Before they can even react, all the gladiators feel their Obedience Disks fall deactivate and fall off.

Korg and Miek stand up, right as Oliver, with his hood up and mask on, walks in, his bow on his back, and a large energy rifle in his hands. He looks around, sees Korg, and says, "Korg!"

Korg looks at him. "Yeah? Who's asking? ...Well, I know you're asking. Is anyone else asking, or is it just you?"

Oliver grins a bit as he says, "The Lord of Thunder sends his best." He then throws the rifle to Korg.

Korg catches the rifle, looks down at it, then cocks it as he looks up and declares, "The Revolution has begun!"

Oliver grins more broadly. Finally, he's getting out of here.

I'll end there. I know that's a bit of a cliffhanger, giving what happens next, but I felt the whole escape and chase scene deserved its own chapter.

I'm going to announce this now. Given I've gotten several requests for it, I will be doing a story surrounding Bucky leading Team Arrow against Prometheus. However, since it will be drastically different from Arrow Season 5, I'll need some time to actually think of the plot, so that story won't be posted anytime soon. I may not even get to it until after my Avengers: Endgame story. So please, just be patient in waiting for it.

I hope you all liked that. And I hope you're excited for the next chapter. And in case I don't update again in the next 4 days: Merry Christmas, everybody!