281

Obedience Disk

"You'd better cooperate," Red Ghost warned, tossing the Rivendell Sword to Forseti and keeping his distance.

Forseti retrieved the sword, stood up, and followed the masked gang outside.

True to Red Ghost's words, Sakaar was an interstellar junkyard, where daily arrivals included all manner of refuse and criminals.

Stepping out, Forseti was greeted by towering piles of garbage that filled the air with a perpetual stench.

Glancing back, he noticed the building he'd just left was an abandoned spacecraft, minimally repurposed as the stronghold of Red Ghost's band of raiders.

Outside, hundreds of masked figures—resembling Red Ghost's crew—stood armed, facing off against another group similarly armed, clearly in hostile standoff.

Nearly a thousand raiders stood at odds. Red Ghost stepped forward, confronting their leader. "Wag, have you lost your mind, attacking me?"

Wag, an insectoid humanoid without a mask, his mandibles twitching, retorted, "Quit stalling. Hand over the prisoner you snatched. He's my haul, you ambushed my men and took him."

"Do you have proof?" Red Ghost scoffed.

Wag sneered, "Red Ghost, breaking scavenger rules? That guy landed in my territory—my catch. You crossed lines and challenged all scavengers on Sakaar!"

Red Ghost countered, "You claimed the cyborg last time, and now again? Quite a stroke of luck for you."

"Ha!" Laughter erupted among the bandits.

Wag growled, "Are you up for a fight?"

"No need for me. Him," Red Ghost gestured.

The crowd parted, allowing Forseti through, Rivendell Sword in hand.

"Wag," Red Ghost mocked, "I'm not as foolish as you, giving away a powerful gladiator to greedy Carlo."

"Big man, show him why crossing me was a mistake!" Red Ghost commanded, holding the surrender disk's remote.

"Chuck," Forseti drew the Rivendell Sword but didn't attack. "You caught a cyborg before."

"That was weeks ago," Varg replied nervously.

Forseti frowned.

Though he'd been comatose briefly, it hadn't been weeks. Could the cyborg they caught not have been Beta Ray Bill?

Thinking it over, he asked, "Did the cyborg have a horse-like face?"

"Yes, you know him?" Varg replied.

It seemed to be Beta Ray Bill, but the timeline didn't add up, leaving Forseti puzzled.

"What are you waiting for? Kill them!" Red Ghost shouted.

Forseti glanced at him, eyes cold.

Red Ghost recoiled, hand on the surrender disk's button. "You've tasted the disk's power. Don't make me use it again."

Forseti said nothing, igniting divine flames and lunging, summoning the Holy Shield.

Red Ghost pressed the disk's button, but Forseti showed no effect.

No one expected Forseti to resist, and no one dared intervene. He swiftly dispatched Red Ghost, catching the remote and deactivating the disk.

"Crack."

The disk disengaged, and Forseti stowed it in his dimensional space along with the remote.

Turning to Red Ghost's bewildered men, Forseti smirked, wielding the Rivendell Sword and charging the remaining raiders.

"Scream for mercy!"

"Run!"

The Holy Light enhanced the Rivendell Sword, cutting swathes through the raiders.

Most were sinners, triggering the Sword's vengeance, restoring Forseti's mana.

After decimating the raiders, Forseti stood, mana restored to full. Some survivors trembled before him.

"Find what Red Ghost took from me," Forseti ordered.

Scared, they returned with the Flame Gloves and the silver box, handing them to Forseti.

Forseti ignited flames, burning away blood, then approached Wag, leaning on his sword. "Tell me about the cyborg."

Wag and others, witness to Forseti's slaughter, trembled, fear palpable.

Wag wiped sweat, voice trembling. "Weeks ago... Sakaar sees daily drops, scavengers like us collect and sell to High Lords."

"Grandmaster hosts Champion Fights, buys gladiators for millions."

"The cyborg, named Bill, has a horse-like face, wields a powerful warhammer. It was a struggle to control."

Forseti nodded.

A cyborg with a horse-like face and a powerful warhammer named Bill... undoubtedly Beta Ray Bill.

But how had he arrived half a month earlier?

"Are you're sure it was weeks ago," Forseti probed, though questioning Sakaar's time was futile.

Varg realized, "You don't understand Sakaar's time rules. A month here may be a moment or five hundred years out there."

"Maybe you arrived just after Bill," Wag suggested, trying to explain the discrepancy.

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