Deep in space, inside the "Devil's Anus" wormhole.
If Sakaar was a junkyard, then the inside of this wormhole was a high-speed washing machine stuffed with stellar debris and twisted timelines.
The War Song bucked violently through the raging spacetime currents. Alarms blared everywhere, and red lights flashed wildly.
"Hard left! Avoid that spatial fragment!" Jiang Li clutched the co-pilot's handrail tightly, feeling like his internal organs were about to be flung out.
"I'm trying!" Valkyrie's hands flew across the controls, her eyes blazing with excitement as though she had returned to the days when she charged into battle on a Pegasus. "This is flying! This is what it means to be alive! If you don't want to become paste, hold on to that damned handrail!"
In the back seat, Bruce Banner—Hulk had changed back into Banner—was pale as a sheet. He hugged his seat belt, trembling, his glasses crooked. "I don't think I should've come... I'm a scientist. I have seven doctoral degrees. I shouldn't be street racing in space..."
"Take a deep breath, Banner." Thor patted Banner on the back, though he himself was being tossed around. "Think of the people of Asgard. They need you. More precisely, they need the big guy."
"No, not this time." Banner pushed up his glasses and spoke stubbornly. "I can help too. I can fly a spaceship... probably."
Boom!
The spaceship jolted violently, as though it had smashed through an invisible membrane.
The next second, the turbulence vanished.
The view before them suddenly opened up.
They had burst out of the wormhole.
But what they saw instantly froze the smile on Thor's face.
Asgard.
The once-glorious golden realm of the gods was now shrouded in thick smoke and war. Half of the magnificent golden palace had collapsed. In the sky hung