[ There can't be that many beings in the universe. Space seems so wide, so lonely. Maybe we are really alone. Long nights alone on Ego's planet had nurtured many such a thought in Mantis' mind as a hatchling. Ego said - and Ego's word, of course, was law - that there were planets beyond the stars she could see, all teeming with life, crying out to become one with him. She'd never questioned him, not openly, no matter how she felt after years of seeing nothing but his face and her own two hands. Even after meeting the Guardians and, with their help, rescuing herself from her former master's despotism, she had a hard time wrapping her head around being truly present with others.

Today, she'd been forced to process two closely related facts:
1. There were, at least, enough beings at home in this galaxy to fill a giant stadium with frothing, exuberant fans ready for bloodsport, and
2. A race of aliens was immune to her empathic abilities, leaving her powerless against her captors and relegated to their whims. Currently, their whims included: her being both the prize and the honoree of the furious tournament raging before her, her being "the mitochondrial eve of a new era," and her being less content with the way her day was going than she was when she woke up this morning. In a debatable order.

Gamora, in the kindest way the green woman could muster, had occasionally accused Mantis of being a doormat (though, these days, Mantis would probably be considered a doormat who could bunch up under someone's feet and throw them through a glass door if they threatened its companions), but she could only take so much. And seeing her newest ally be forced to deal finishing blow after finishing blow in a gladiatorial showdown was far too much. ]

Him! [ With a lurch towards the huge, wolflike creature to her side that appeared to be the leader of this pack of superstitious, violent bunch, Mantis cried out and pointed wildly at the person in the center of the ring. ] Him - he is the one I choose!

[ ooc: This starter is vaguely set up like a certain movie that came out recently. You might have heard of it. Here, the winner of a series of interplanetary games earns the honor of impregnating the celestial madonna figure; only, oops, somehow the folks in charge have mistakenly pegged poor Mantis as that role.

(Mantis, who also might have been harboring a Mantis-flavored little crush on her new friend, might not mind as much as one would think, again because human mores =/= alien customs.)

Any and all MCUs, no matter the team, origin, or species, are welcome. Crossovers can come, too. If this scenario's not to your tastes, I can also whip up something else along the lines of the prompt of your choosing. ]