21 Festive Brawl

It didn't take long for their faces to fill up with hatred, disdain, and overall contempt purely because of my gender.

I didn't know anything about my past world, other than having the vaguest of feelings about it, but I do know that Marvel is directly based of off that world. From its cities to its countries, all the way down to its culture and the magnificent variety of it all.

So, I did know that while Sexism was still prevalent in certain places, it was mostly frowned upon by the world and that goes for Sexism against both a man and a woman.

So, for me to be looked down upon because of my gender, actually really annoyed me.

Is this how women felt before issues such as Gender Equality were brought into the light? Well damn, I have a whole new level of respect for women who fought for their rights.

If before they were slowly walking over with a more regal aura, then now they were stomping over with the grace of a drunk elephant.

The front of the group was Superia, the black-haired, olive-skinned and beautiful women.

Knowing the incoming trouble, I was a bit peeved but when I thought about a possible fight...let's just say I might have gotten a tiny bit excited.

Before I had time to wipe the stupid grin off my face, Superia had arrived next to me. I was at the end of the table, so it was easy for her and her cronies to surround me.

She slammed her hand on the table, causing the hall to go silent and look in our direction. I tried my best not to show my battle lust but it didn't seem to work as her face warped from hatred to self-righteous fury pretty quickly.

"You dare to sit with your superiors, then you think to fight against them!? Impudence!" she went to grab my throat but a simply hand grab from a person stopped her hand like a car hitting a metal wall.

"I would ask that you don't touch him, Superia," I looked up and saw Thrud who had lost her usual playfulness. Instead, she now looked like a lioness defending her cub. Looking to the other Valkyries I saw they had the same sharpened expression of anger on their faces as well.

Superia didn't seem to think this was possible as she scoffed, barely getting her sentence out because of her disbelief and anger, "P-Princess Thrud, what is the meaning of this? Why do you stand up for this lowly being?!" her blue eyes squinted as she looked into Thrud's.

Thrud scoffed herself as she looked at Superia, "This 'lowly being' is my Shield-Brother! And if you wish to hurt him, you will have to go through all of Asgard!" with her sentence, the other Valkyries stood up before spacing out around the Femizonian women.

A stare-off commenced as I looked in between the two groups with a slight dissatisfaction. They had taken away my opportunity to fight and it left a sour feeling inside me. But still, seeing them getting so protective over me was...nice.

My earlier thoughts of these girls being my family were further solidified, like quick-drying cement.

However, no matter how grateful I was to their interception of the crazy women trying to gut me, it was my own job to look after myself, no else's. I'd stand and fight on my own two feet with my own power.

"Thrud, it's okay, let the lady do what she wants. Not like she could hurt me," with my ending taunt I threw in a smirk while shooting a glance at Thor and Sif.

Thor looked mildly amused while Sif had her head in her hands, muttering something about this being a repeat of the Frost Giants all over again.

Superia flexed her tight muscles even further and pushed Thrud back a little. I know Thrud wasn't using her full strength, her lax body giving away the impression that she was humoring a child. She wasn't even paying attention to Superia, instead of looking at me with both worried and curious eyes.

"This is no game, Michael, these women are trained Warriors similar to the Valkyries. I hope that you stay out of this," she had a slight tone of admonishment as she seemed to realize my battle lust. We continued to stare at each other before she shook her head with a reminiscent expression, "Fine, have it your way...but if you need help, we'll enter the fray and put a stop to this farce, got it?"

Seeing Thrud this serious was interesting. With the way she had her hands on her wide hips while leaning slightly forward, unknowingly showing her abundant cleavage to me as I was taller, she really gave off the air of a big sister looking out for her little brother.

If only I knew her real thoughts as she looked at my battle lust...

Anyway, she walked past me, swaying her hips as if to hypnotize me away from the battle. But I kept my mind steady and turned to Superia who was looking at me with disdain.

"You've thrown away your only advantage, you dolt! I would never be able to hit a fellow sister of mine, but you are a man, a mindless savage who I can do what I want with!" her words not only annoyed me but also most of the other men in the room. Some boos came from the surrounding audience but they were quickly shut up with a glare from the giant Thundra.

By now the other Valkyries had returned to their seats, so there was nothing stopping the Femizons from running and hitting the Asgardians. Well, other than them only being guests, but such logic wouldn't stop these crazies.

Before I even thought of replying, I turned to Thor, "Thor, may this Lady and I have a brawl? We seem to have some differences after all," I smiled when I saw Superia instantly pale a little when she remembered where she was.

She also turned to Thor, trying to see if he was about to kill her or not for her outburst into the Hall and against someone of authority judging by the closeness of his seating to the throne.

Her worries were, of course, unneeded as Thor had a jovial smile on his face, "Yes, yes, it's okay Michael but if you're to have a match in front of so many people, you must win, do you understand? The pride of Thor, your teacher, is riding on your back!" he stood up before letting out booming laughter. When the laughter ended he looked to the people on the tables near us, "Move the tables and make space for this brawl," he lifted his mug of alcohol which looked more like a big jug rather than a normal-sized mug, "What would a feast be without a few rounds of fighting, ay?!" his shout was returned by multiple booming shouts of affirmation.

The tables moved quickly and Superia and I got into position near the middle of the impromptu square.

Superia continued to disdainfully smirk at me and I found myself wondering if she knew any other expressions. Knowing exactly how to wind her up, I looked back at her with the same looks as she gave me. They were fake, of course, I wasn't a complete sexist like she was but still, they did the trick.

She went red-faced from the anger she was feeling and the ground around her shook and cracked from the power she was exerting on the floor.

As we waited, I took my shirt off, not wanting it to get damaged by either Superia's attacks or my own fire.

This action garnered a few whistles from the surrounding crowd. I guess not every woman in Asgard had seen muscular men, huh? Wouldn't have thought that.

Obviously, it wasn't like that, it was more like they hadn't seen a man with such a perfectly sculpted body. Muscles which were both big and robust enough to exert inhuman power, while still being lean and lithe enough for it to allow unnatural speed, agility, and grace. Stature and posture which was reminiscent of a spear; tall, straight, unbending and poised to pierce the heavens.

Everything about his body was something which set women off. Not in a romantic way but definitely a lustful way. It's not just men who get turned on or appreciate the opposite sex's body, after all.

Even Superia and Thundra seemed a bit taken aback by the body in front of them. Even thinking it would be worthwhile trying to take him as a slave...

Meanwhile, the slightly oblivious me was standing there, slowly letting the Strength Force flowing to my hands and forearms. I packed so much Strength Force into my arms that the unique armor given by the Strength Force started to form on my forearms and hands.

The plate armor gave off a holy feeling, looking like it had been forged from a perfectly white metal which had a unique heavenly glow.

The hand part of the gauntlets covered my hands and arms like a second skin neither looking too bulky nor too thin; it was just perfect. I manipulated the armor and made my fingers end in sharp points, looking like five claws. Satisfied with my control over the armor, I flexed my hands and moved them about at the wrist joint.

Mysteriously, despite them being covered in strong-looking metal, I didn't seem to lose any maneuverability with my arms which was a massive plus.

Suddenly something started spreading across the gauntlet. Red Lines which were similar to my Burning State Tattoo spread across the gauntlets seemingly heating up them up.

For some reason steam started to rise from the gauntlets but after that nothing changed so I lowered my arms as I saw Superia getting ready.

She looked at my gauntlets, with would you guess it, disdain. Seemingly thinking this was some kind of normal metal she could tear apart with her own hands.

How I was going to love proving her wrong.

I swung my fists back and forth getting a feel for their new weight and subsequent density. Low thrumming noises rang out as my fists split the air with their new sharpened and armored look.

Instead of two arms made of flesh and bone, it felt like I was waving around a pair of clubs. Some very heavy clubs.

I'd found out how to do this when I was testing out my own punching power. You see, the upper limits of my strength would most of the time leave my fists, wrists, and arms hurting, with minor hairline cracks running throughout both my muscles and my bones.

To combat this, I realized I had to increase the toughness of my fists to match the output I released in a punch.

It took a hell of a lot of testing to find the right amount, but I got it right. The density was strong enough to resist the impacts, while not making my arms weigh so much that moving them felt odd. In the process, I discovered that once I fill a certain body part up with enough Strength Force, it'll become armored. Hence my hands and forearms being in gauntlets at this current moment.

Superia had just finished her stretches before letting out a shallow laugh and suddenly charged at me, bringing me from my thoughts.

She appeared in front of me with blinding speed but in my eyes, it seemed a bit slow. An incoming left hook brought my focus to the max as I ducked and went under it.

With my head ducked I sent a punch of my own at her stomach.

Superia seemed shocked with my reaction time as she thought I was just another Asgardian, some of which she'd probably beaten by now. Nonetheless, she backed away from my punch.

What she wasn't expecting was a sudden rush-in by me.

I pushed off the stone ground with my toes, leaving a small crater where I once was. My fist, still stretching outward, buried itself in Superia's stomach, causing her mouth to open wide and her expression to twist in shock, confusion, and pain.

Her grounded feet skid back a few meters as she slightly hunched, gasping for breath after her's had forcibly left her lungs.

Seeing her shock, I smirked, "I hope that'll teach you to come at me with your full power instead of those mocking strikes...if you don't, I'll take you out with my next punch~" my teasing tone not only riled her up but also the other women who had come with her.

"Duly noted..." Superia's face went dark as she charged at me once again, this time significantly quicker.

Quickly, I tilted my head to the left, letting a fast jab go past, before sending a kicking a punch back at her.

She ducked under it, turning her back to me, before grabbing my wrist and getting ready to throw me over her shoulder. With my momentum and her strength, she successfully pulled me over her shoulder and tried to slam me into the floor.

What she wasn't expecting was for me to flip my legs over and press them into the ground. With my legs firmly planted, I flexed my core bringing my body upward. As I was doing this, I grabbed the arm which had me by the wrist and brought it with me, lifting her up and into the air above me before I slammed her into the ground.

*BOOOM!*

A shockwave spread out as she collided into the stone floor, cracking and sending chips into the air.

She didn't waste a second as she wrapped her legs around my arm and wrested them across my back. She flexed them, making her thick thighs condense into pure athletic muscle. She was trying to get me into an armbar.

But with my arm's current density, you'd be forced to go through some pretty drastic means to break it. Translation - Her armbar was useless and instead opened up for something else.

I lifted my arm into the air and before she could let go, I brought it down using my gravity manipulation to increase the momentum even further.

*BOOOOOOM!*

Another shockwave, although bigger than the first rang throughout the room. The previous cracks got even bigger, stretching for meters from the initial spot where I was slamming Superia into the ground. Because of the force, bigger chips of stone flew up into the air before falling back down with little pitter-patter sounds echoing throughout the thoroughly silent Hall.

I looked down at Superia. Clear disappointment flooded my face when I saw that she was barely conscious. Did I go too hard on her from the get-go?

Honestly, I was expecting her to be stronger. I didn't even have to enter my Burning State.

"This fight is over, take your leader out of here, please," I forcibly unwrapped Superia's legs from around my arm before carrying her to Thundra.

The woman in question looked down at me with a mix of pure malice and fear. Nonetheless, she took Superia before grunting and walking off. The other Femizonians glared at me, burning my face into their retinas before following Thundra.

Once they'd left, a massive cheer went through the room as fists banged off the wooden tables surrounding me creating a drum-like beat which made my blood boil with pride.

Looking around I saw the utter wonder and admiration on the Asgardians faces' around me. Whether they were male or female, they all looked at me and were in awe at my physical display.

A majority of them had seen the woman I'd beaten manhandle a group of Asgardian guards when she first arrived, which while unknown to me, made my achievement all the greater in their eyes.

I slowly turned my eyes toward the Valkyries and Thor who were all looking at me with a certain degree of pride and joy.

Thor was the first to speak out as he stood up, "Well done, my boy! You didn't mess around and directly overcame your opponent with raw power and skill, no matter what she tried!" despite him knowing the fight wasn't hard for me, he didn't seem any less excited that I'd won.

I dispersed the gauntlets and marched over to the table of Valkyries. Without saying any words I picked up a jug of alcohol before turning to the room and thrusting the jug into the air, my eyes burning with the meager amount of excitement I'd gathered in the earlier fight.

"To the first victory of the night! And may there be many more that follow it!" I roared, my voice coming out deep and booming like that of a war horn.

My roar seemed to shake the bodies of the people in the room as they each scrambled to pick their own alcohol up and returned my toast with just as much, if not more vigor than I, "TO VICTORY!" with this, we all drank from our mugs, or in my case jug.

Feeling the burning sensation hit the back of my throat, I relished in the reality I was in - in a Hall filled with festive Vikings, enough alcohol to kill a herd of Elephants, and enough food to make the Blob say "No thanks". This was a wonderful night, or at least it's going to be.

I continued to chug the contents of the jug, making sure I savored every last bit of fruity flavor in the liquid. When I was done I slammed the mug back down on the table and heard another round of cheers. I looked around to see everyone had joined me in my chugging, with certain dwarf-like men looking at me with newfound respect.

As if a fight hadn't just taken place, the tables were pushed back to where they originally were and festive and upbeat music filled the Hall.

I sat down as the Valkyries around me started to congratulate me on my win with pride in their eyes. Pride in their new Shield-Brother.

What I failed to notice was the weird lights in Thrud's eyes and how it looked like she wanted to jump me then and there.

Oblivious to the near-harassment I nearly just underwent, I continued to enjoy the night ahead of me.

(A/N - Pretty long chapter at around 3000 words. Well done, me.

Anyway, this fight was to set up some future stuff and to also show off some of his Strength Force powers - namely the armor and a tiny bit of Gravity Manipulation. He vastly outmatched Superia, so it was never gonna be a long fight, and unless her and Thundra teamed up, she (Superia) wouldn't be able to take him down in his base-form with his gauntlets (which is what he was in for this fight). Even then it'd only be a fair fight, she wouldn't win outright.)