After entering the planet, Clark finally understood why this place had given him the feeling that space was full of holes—like a sieve.
It was because the sky above the planet was dotted with multiple spatial portals, each one spewing garbage down onto the surface.
Yes, garbage. Just looking at the chaotic mess falling from the sky, Clark was certain none of it was treasure.
From the scene before him, Clark quickly guessed where they were: Sakaar—the garbage planet that appeared in Thor: Ragnarok.
"This place has such... unique scenery." Diana said, gazing at the junkyard-like ground and the dozens of garbage-spewing portals in the air.
"Yeah. And look at all these space portals."Perhaps because he had once absorbed the energy of the Tesseract, learned Kamar-Taj's portal magic, and now mastered Bifrost-like hyperspace travel, Clark had developed his own understanding of space.
But that understanding was precisely why the portals above Sakaar seemed so shocking to him—after all, any space portal required tremendous energy to create.
Space itself is an abstract concept—everyone can sense it, but no one can touch it.
Folding space to open a portal, even a temporary one, demands vast energy—and the farther the destination, the more energy it takes.
At first, Clark hadn't realized this. He remembered thinking, while watching the movies, that the sorcerers seemed to open portals effortlessly. But once he learned how to do it himself, he realized—it was far from easy.
As for the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, perhaps their ease came from the fact that their magical energy wasn't entirely self-generated. But even so, aside from the Ancient One, most sorcerers couldn't open portals beyond Earth at all.
Clark had tried it—using up all his energy, he could barely open a portal as far as Pluto, and no farther.
So now, standing under these massive, constantly active trash-spewing portals above Sakaar, he couldn't help but be amazed.The more you know, the more you realize your own smallness.
Just after Clark and Diana landed, they saw a spaceship flying toward them—long and stick-like in shape, though the "stick" lay horizontally.
Clark guessed that it wasn't likely to be scavengers or those traffickers who captured people to sell to the Grandmaster.
The ship soon reached them. The hatch opened, and out stepped a group of uniformed warriors in matching armor and long hair.
Clark could tell these weren't ordinary traffickers—such uniformity in weapons and appearance clearly suggested they served a powerful force.
Soon, the armored warriors formed two lines at the ship's exit—like an honor guard. Once they were in place, a short man—only about 1.6 meters tall, with features that resembled an Ultraman—stepped forward.
"Outsiders, come with us. The Grandmaster wishes to see you."The short Ultraman-like man did not walk toward them but stood above them, looking down and speaking with arrogance.
"The Grandmaster wants to see us?" Clark was surprised, even though the man's tone was obnoxious.
Clark, having seen Thor: Ragnarok, knew who the Grandmaster was: the first being to arrive on Sakaar, and the one who built a nation from ruins. In that sense, the Grandmaster was admirable.
But after founding the planet, the Grandmaster turned it into his private playground. He used an entire planet as a resource hub to create a gladiator tournament, promising the victor a reward.
Many had come to fight for that promise. But over time, everyone realized: surviving long enough to earn the Grandmaster's favor was next to impossible.
As participation dwindled, so did the audience. And so the cycle continued.
To feed his obsession, the Grandmaster eventually began forcing others to compete—mostly captured warriors. But that had little to do with Clark. He didn't believe anyone here could capture him and turn him into a fighter.
Still, he found it strange that the Grandmaster had specifically sent people to invite him. He didn't recall ever meeting him before.
When Clark and Diana didn't comply immediately, the short man was stunned, then irritated. He turned and gestured to his honor guard.
The last few guards in the formation raised their spears and charged toward Clark. At the tips of the spears, energy began to pulse—clearly, they were preparing to fire.
"Will you come with us now?"The short man smiled smugly as he watched Clark and Diana surrounded. He loved this moment—seeing fear bloom across his victims' faces, knowing they would soon break.
But he might be disappointed this time.
Though Clark did intend to meet the Grandmaster and learn why he'd been summoned, he had no intention of going under threat. Not with Diana at his side—and certainly not while being forced.
"Half each?" Diana asked calmly, already sensing Clark's thoughts.
"Nah. They're all mine." Clark shook his head. There were only a few of them—he could probably take them all out in one move.
But before he could finish, Diana had already turned toward one of the guards.
Seeing her in action, Clark could only smile wryly, then launched himself at the others.
Against enemies that were essentially regular humans, defeating them was no harder for Clark than swatting flies. One hit, maybe two, and it was over.
Within moments, Clark, Diana, and the short man were the only ones left standing—there wasn't another soul around still capable of getting back up.
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