The Valkyrie leapt towards Loki and Mobius, smashing the end of her empty bottle and hurling the jagged end at Loki's head, who pushed it back into her ship with telekinesis. Brunnhilde instantly drew her own knives before the two warriors of Asgard swung at each other, Loki gracefully dodging the knives, and in turn those knives blocking his sword. The main melody of "Ride of the Valkyries" looped back around throughout the arena, minus the lyrics from Loki's damaged duplicate, who directed the audience to the real battle taking place in the Grandmaster's booth and subsequently vanished. They grabbed the other's wrists, trying to disarm the other until Brunnhilde knocked Loki backward with a headbutt. Loki caught a kick aimed for his chest and flipped her over, but she quickly got back on her feet and lunged for the jugular as he ducked. Loki stunned her with a magic blast and looked into her memories, curious to find out what became of the other Valkyries and why this one chose such a dishonorable profession.

"Oh no, he's gonna see that memory." Mobius winced.

The scene unfolded in the dark realm of Niflheim as an army of female Asgardian warriors in bright armor, mounted on beautiful winged horses, fought valiantly against a lone woman in black and green, wearing a helmet of many sharp, angular horns. She released a horde of black swords, slaying every warrior that opposed her except one, who was shielded by her brave teammate.

Loki, horrified by the merciless slaughter, let go of his enchantment on Topaz to go deeper into Brunnhilde's mind, moving the location to a bar in the far reaches of space. Loki sat next to her, ordering himself a glass of champagne as the last remaining Valkyrie chugged a shot of beer, her head hung in defeat.

"I'm so sorry for your loss: I know what's it's like, to lose everyone I care about, to lose everything, in the blink of an eye."

"I don't need your pity." She replied, not looking at him.

"No. You need a friend." He smiled. "I did."

"Not from Asgard: I want nothing more to do with Odin or his people! If it weren't for him, my sisters would still be alive: he sent us to our death, to deal with the problem he created!"

Loki nodded. "Yes, he has a habit of doing that; you'll get no argument from me. But enslaving people for money, forcing them to fight for their lives with no chance of winning, and you're no better than Odin. Maybe even worse."

Brunnhilde sighed, squeezing her eyes shut in shame. "Maybe I am. I should be dead. It should have been me."

"But it wasn't. Don't let your friend's sacrifice be in vain, Brunnhilde: live your life with honor. Carry on the noble legacy of your brave sisters, and preferably work for someone who isn't a raving lunatic!" Loki paused for a moment as she hesitantly nodded. "That woman in black and green, you fought her in Hel: is she dead?"

"No." Brunnhilde downed another shot. "She is Death."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "And people call me dramatic. Now, how about we leave this dump and return to our previous dump?"

Suddenly, they were back on Sakaar. Brunnhilde sheathed her weapon and stepped aside for Loki to hold his short golden sword to the Grandmaster's neck.

"…you caught me! But you had fun beating me, didn't you? We should make a thing of this: next year's prize will be…" Loki grasped him by the throat before he could think of something and held him dangling above Korg and his army.

"How about your head? Or maybe you'd like to take my place in this Contest of Champions? Or maybe I'll just kill you myself, excruciatingly?"

"Hey, come on, don't be like that!" The Grandmaster rasped. "You're not a killer: you have such a charming and gentle aura, Boris!"

Loki raised an eyebrow and loosened his grip slightly. "Say that again? The last two words!"

"Uh… 'gentle aura!'"

"No, aura and the name after!"

"…'aura, Boris?'"

Loki grinned. "Congratulations, Grandmaster! You finally pronounced my name right!"

"Oh goody, what do I win?"

Loki set him back down into the booth. "Oh, you've won a great many things! First, you've won the right to remain silent…" Loki handcuffed his hands above his head, reading the rest of his rights. "Second, you win a frisking, just in case you've any more bizarre weapons on your person!" Loki patted him down, just like Mobius showed him earlier, finding just about everything in his pockets but a weapon.

"Yeah, heheh, you don't wanna know what some of those things are used for."

"You really don't." Mobius confirmed.

Loki also searched the Grandmaster's shoes and found a dormant obedience disk in his left shoe. Loki smirked and held it up for Mobius to see, who didn't look that surprised. "Should we put the Grandmaster through a bit of obedience school?"

"No, let's not use the obedience disk on him: he actually likes it, he finds it… erotic. No, I have something a little more… poetic in mind."

"Go on." Loki encouraged.

"How about we send this troublemaker to his big brother, the Collector? He'd fit right in with all the other junk he's collected, and that would show him how it feels to be on the other end of the enslavement!"

"Not 'enslavement,' 'recruitment!' And could you please not: he's not gonna want me around, we hate each other!" The Grandmaster complained.

Loki smirked. "Then you finally have a chance to patch things up with your brother. And if not, your 'ex-recruits' will no doubt find a suitable punishment for you."

As Korg, Brunnhilde, and the others were getting ready to escape the planet in the Grandmaster's spaceships, Loki and Mobius were approached by Beta Ray Bill, who volunteered to take the deranged dictator into custody. "Again, I am grateful for all you have done for the people here: perhaps I can one day return the favor?"

"Perhaps: I could use a noble steed." Loki quipped.

"Very funny. Nevertheless, I wish you luck, and if we cross paths again, I shall give thy brother your regards, Loki." Loki raised his eyebrows. "What? It doesn't take a detective to recognize you with a reputation such as yours."

"Actually, could you send out a message for us, when you get the chance?" Mobius requested. "Tell the Shi'ar people of the heroic sacrifice Bloodwing made for us, how he helped us free you and the other prisoners and put an end to the Grandmaster's tyranny!"

Bill grinned and nodded. "Certainly, and I will make sure the Grandmaster does not escape justice. Farewell."

"Farewell. Good luck with the revolution, everyone!" Loki called to the former gladiators.

"Thanks, mate!" Korg called back. "Good luck with the detective business!"

As the detective duo stepped back through the time door to the Null-Time Zone, Mobius remarked, "Well, that was pretty crazy: too bad we never ended up getting paid!"

"Oh, didn't we?" Loki grinned. "Just before Topaz deactivated the obedience disks, she transferred the units of payment back from Brunhilde's account into the mainframe, and then to us. Her captured men did escape, after all, and she hardly earned any reward for that!"

"Wow, that is a lot of units! Heh, you tricky little devil!"

Loki's grin widened. "I prefer 'mischievous scamp!' Besides, it was Topaz's idea: those ladies really aren't fond of each other at all. So, do you think it's enough?"

Mobius grinned in return. "It might be, Loki, it just might be…"