Attract attention

With the TVA gone, she didn't have any way out before the TVA came. If it was even possible to cause a nexus event in a situation as chaotic as this - she wasn't sure anything sh ecould do would have any actual effect.

But, Sylvie reflected, it would probably be a good thing for the TVA to arrive. They were the only possible source of a new TemPad. And if it was going to happen sooner or later...

A camera drone buzzed down lower. She swatted at it, only for it to back up out of her reach; flushing, she quickly brought her arm back down, crossing it over her bare breasts.

If it was going to happen, she'd really like all memory of this particular incident to be purged from the timeline as soon as possible, all things considered. If they were showing up. Any time now.

One of the combatants ran at her, apparently assuming she was part of this show. She tried to take a step back, only to bump back into the wall. Screw it, it wasn't like she couldn't defend herself, this was just a very bad time for it.

He tried to punch; she sidestepped, and used the muscle memory of the move to power through the self-consciousness she felt at lifted both arms, grabbing his arm and pulling down. As he reacted to the shift in his center of mass, she tripped him, elbowing the back of his head for good measure.

It drew too much attention. Suddenly two more warriors were charging at her, not giving her any time to put her arms to better, more modest use. She didn't consider them much of a challenge - not only were they clearly of a species physically weaker than hers, this seemed to be a testing grounds for amateurs or would-be gladiators more than for professionals. The skills she'd picked up to survive did the trick.

It wasn't even like she could enchant them. She wasn't yet adept enough to do it quickly in the heat of battle. It always took a couple of seconds to **** an idea through, even into a simple mind.

Though the feel of the air rushing past her skin was always a distraction, the unavoidably awareness of her surroundings when she lifted a leg to do a kick, or slid past someone, the friction against too much bare skin was impossible to ignore. She just had to push past it, rely on her memory of each tricky to deal with the chain of idiots.

When she had a breather, she couldn't help but look back, and falter for a moment as it really sunk in how many people had seen her revealing display. Bright red, Sylvia sprinted for the wall of the arena, putting more distance between herself and the melee - who cared if they saw her butt at this point? She felt humiliated enough for that to be small fry.

She leapt, pushing off with enough strength to get past the initial metal wall and into the stands. She landed, relieved to be out of there, before realizing how close she was to part of the audience. For a frozen moment, she stared at what looked like an alien family. Their antennae twitched; a small child loudly slurped at their drink.

Eyes wide, Sylvie quickly lifted her arms back up, covering herself with them in a manner that was becoming too familiar.

"Okay, I'll just... be going."

She started to slowly move to the side, making her way past the front row of the audience, spotting a stairway a little way down. At least that would give her a little more privacy, and time to think. And hopefully enough time to trigger enough variance to call the TVA there so she could get out.

And then there was a thud. Sylvie stiffened, as if the TVA had already arrived - instead, she turned sideways, to see someone having landed neatly, apparently after having falling from one of the ships levitating overhead. She stood up, swaying a little.

Sylvie straightened, then squirmed for a moment, not sure how best to stand. She settled for twisting her upper body to face the stranger, but having her butt face the arena as opposed to the audience.

A woman. Dark skinned, with armor that was faintly familiar to Sylvie. Maybe she'd seen it somewhere before. Huh. Not too far off her size, at any rate, if she could enchant it off her.

"How did you get down there?" the woman said. "You weren't one of the in-takes. Would've definitely remembered you if you were, in that get-up."

Sylvie was getting rather used to blushing.

"Does it matter?" Sylvie said.

"The Grandmaster thought it was fun," the woman said. "But apparently some other people have appeared through the same portal as you, and them he doesn't like."

The same portal? Well, same type at any rate - Sylvie's eyes widened.

"Where are they?" Sylvie said.

"Friends of yours?"

"Definitely not," Sylvie said.

"Probably a good thing," the woman said. "Grandmaster set his champion on them."

"Where?!" Sylvie said again.

The woman gestured vaguely off to the side; Sylvie squinted.

She could just see a small team at the far side of the arena. They looked a little caught off-guard; apparently they weren't used to a nexus event quite this crowded. She didn't have a clue how they planned to set a reset charge with all that chaos going on around them.

And behind them, a large gate was slowly rumbling open.

Sylvie hesitated a moment. Okay, they were her out at any rate, if she could avoid their pruning sticks and grab their TemPad. She just had to make it across the arena again. She doubted even this chaos would dissuade the TVA for long; they could always send a bigger team.

Although...

A green fist grabbed one of the TVA agents. Sylvie raised an eyebrow, admittedly impressed by the gigantic newcomer as he swept through the agents. Brute ****. Pretty impressive. In another life, Sylvie was sure they could have been great friends.

Then she turned her attention back to the woman.

"Thanks, you've been a lot of help," Sylvie said, and reached out to brush the stranger's shoulder.

She was met with a stronger mind; immediately, Sylvie changed tack, insinuating herself more than overwhelming, shifting the stranger's perception to some relevant memory. She saw a lot of things in the woman's mind - she even saw Asgard. Something of a surprise, though it explained the armor. A Valkyrie. Wouldn't have called that.

Valkyrie was tired. It had been a long day, sparring with her sisters, training drills, all the usual preparations. She let out a long, exhausted breath, making her way back inside. On the way she spared a nod for a blonde - another Valkyrie, she was sure, even if her name escaped her at that moment.

Oh well, they were all comfortable around one another. Hard not to be. She needed a shower to wipe off the grime of the day; she wiped her brow, and loosened her breastplate, discarding it to the side. She left her clothes in a small pile, noting the blonde staring at her still. Valkyrie winked over at her, guessing at the reason for her staring, before standing up straight again and striding into the showers, eager to freshen up. The moment the water hit her body was a relief, a-

Valkyrie blinked, suddenly finding herself no longer in the restful showers back on Asgard, but in the rather less relaxing arena of Sakaar. She screwed her eyes shut, shaking her head to try and clear her head.

The cheers were unusually loud. Valkyrie blinked again, and looked up. She was in the crowd. Right, there had been the stranger she was meant to ask after. A stranger who'd gone...

Her thoughts trailed off as she became aware of an unusual expanse of brown in her peripheral vision. She looked down. Then looked up. Then looked down again, and hurriedly crossed her arms over her suddenly very naked body. Wait, her armor...

She caught sight of the blonde, already landed in the arena - she was pulling the tunic down, it just sliding over her admittedly toned butt (Valkyrie was always fair - she looked good, even if just then Valkyrie was rather annoyed with her) as she ran through the fracas. Most of the rest of Valkyrie's armour was bundled under her arm.

She was making a beeline for the place the strange portal had been.

"Hey!" Valkyrie shouted. She jumped down, giving chase, and trying not to think too hard about the sudden stares she was getting. "Hey!"

The stranger crouched, picking something up off one of the battered bodies, and creating a rectangle of light. It had closed by the time the very naked Valkyrie reached her.

And then another portal opened. Valkyrie turned, half-hoping the woman was going to come back and she could regain her armor. Instead, more bizarrely dressed strangers trouped through.

"_Another _naked variant? What is this?" one said, with a weary sigh. "Alright, high risk scenario everyone, you know the drill."