Post by Drake on Aug 31, 2015 21:22:17 GMT -5
#14: Prelude to Infinity: Rise of the Mad Titan
By Drake
Long, long Ago…
Dust caked the pores of a broken body that lay upon the flat ground of a gray desert. Indigo blood seeped from wounds littered across the being’s sandpaper-like, purple skin, slowly burying him in a pool of his own blood. A single tattered hand reached up to the night sky, as the being’s glazed, ice blue eyes stared up wistfully at the beautiful, azure orb in the distance. Gradually, bloodlust and rage replaced pain and sadness in the being’s eyes, and he twisted his hand into a tight fist, crushing the blue planet, at least within his sight.
”Do you wish to live?” came a soft, feminine voice over the sandy moon’s plains.
The question shocked the being. He believed himself to be alone, left to his own demise. Even still, surely he was not imaging the voice—one he had never heard in his life. A mind as great as his did not fail, even in death. After a few moments spent pondering the question, the being relaxed and lowered his hand, only to expectantly and yet disappointedly discover the blue planet remained intact. It was in that moment that the being realized his answer.
“I would prefer that they die,” he replied, still gazing up at the blue planet.
The ethereal voice quietly laughed, sending a chill down the being’s spine. He strained his neck, searching for the voice’s source, but couldn’t manage to move enough to look far. He considered the possibility that maybe the mysterious speaker would kill him. However, something in the back of his mind dissuaded that notion.
”You’re an unusual Titan,” the voice mused.
“So I’ve been told,” the dying being grumbled. To be ridiculed as he died was far from a pleasant experience. ’They say you live as you die,’ he darkly thought.
”I do not speak of your appearance, young one, but of your behavior. With that knowledge, answer me properly: do you wish to live?” the voice continued, but with the same soothing tone as ever.
The being did not speak for a moment. Truth be told, he had known a proper answer before he had given his prior response. It was quite simply, really.
“No,” the being growled. Why had he not yet died? At least death would mean a kind of peace, an escape from his eternal torture, or, at the very least, this woman’s pestering.
Oddly enough, almost as if to answer his wish, the voice did not return. The being waited for a few moments, but silence remained. He began to thank the gods, only to have his prayer mocked, as usual.
”Titan, you are quite mad. To wish for death, particularly at such a young age, it is unusual…” the voice stated, and before the being could speak up, ”…and wonderful.”
The being could not bring himself to respond to that statement. Certainly the woman was teasing, but there was no hint of jest in her voice. The being soon realized that may have been the kindest thing he had ever been told, the first compliment he’d received.
“Who are you?” the being wondered.
To his surprise, a beautiful, fair-skinned woman wrapped in a purple cloak faded into existence before his very eyes. She smiled down at him, like a mother would to her child, ”Who do you think?”
Just as he knew he wished to die the second she first asked him, the being immediately knew who the eerie, floating woman above him was. She seemed like an old friend he had long forgotten, a companion he had encountered time and time again, only to ignore her very existence whenever she left his side.
“Death…” the being whispered in awe.
”Yes, my sweet Thanos.” Death embraced the broken Titan, and leaned in to whisper into his ear, ”I have one last question for you…”
…
“Why? Why go so far, and destroy so much, Deviant?” The speaker in question was a red and gold armored man standing at only half the purple behemoth’s height. The near-dwarf’s golden hair stuck to his head with sweat. Sapphire blue eyes burned not with rage, bloodlust, or fear, but curiosity. In his left hand, pointed at the Mad Titan, was a sleek pistol, and in the other lay a glowing orange orb.
Thanos’ lips flicked up into a toothy grin. ”Love.”
“Love…” The golden-haired Spartoi grimaced, “Such an emotion should be used to bring hope, not crush it.”
”Enough banter, Star Lord.” Thanos, the Mad Titan, boomed. Over decades he had changed considerably. No longer was he the meek Deviant of Titan. Now, he stood well above the tallest of his kind, far more enormous than most humanoid beings he had encountered. His power did not stop at his strength, however. He had been gifted aplenty, his Celestial-given abilities enhanced. That, of course, was without even mentioning the crimson orb in his hand…
Raising the Infinity Stone to the sky, Thanos unleashed a torrential blast of energy that destroyed everything it touched—even the air. With that said, the Star Lord still fired his Element Gun at the onslaught, only to discover far too late that none of the elements could succeed in stopping the blast.
“Drat,” the Star Lord muttered, before his body became enveloped in orange energy, and then red.
As the dust and Infinity energy cleared, Thanos was displeased to discover the Star Lord appeared unharmed.
“Why? Why go so far—“
”Silence, whelp,” Thanos grumbled. With the Infinity Stone in the Star Lord’s possession, he could not kill him. The individual orbs were created to equal out the others. No Infinity Stone owner could defeat another—not with one of the orbs, at least.
“…The ground wasn’t so demolished a second ago, unless…” the Star Lord nodded knowingly, observing the cracked desert environment around him, the remains of his once grand palace. “I used the Time Stone. Again.”
Before the warrior could continue, Thanos appeared before him, his free hand glowing with purple energy.
“Oops. Got distracted,” Star Lord noted, ducking under Thanos’ swipe. “I really need to stop talking—“
His incessant blabbering resulted in the Mad Titan snagging him out of the air. The Star Lord grimaced, but didn’t active the Time Stone. He had to finish this.
”Your end is nigh,” Thanos growled, attempting to knock the Infinity Stone out of the Star Lord’s hand. However, before he could reach him, the Titan found himself frozen in pain. The Star Lord had used the Element Gun to blast a hole through Thanos’ chest.
“Ha! Try…” The Star Lord’s face paled as he realized Thanos appeared relatively okay, considering he had a hole in his chest. “…again.”
”I cannot die, boy. That is my curse,” Thanos explained, his eyes burning with energy. He looked at the Spartoi’s Infinity Stone-wielding hand.
“I don’t know if I’d call it a curse,” The Star Lord quipped. He glanced around, scrambling for an idea—any idea. “Really, it’s more of a—“
”Consider yourself lucky. You will get to see Her now,” Thanos said.
The Star Lord frowned, an idea clicking into place, “Shut up, will you?”
Wind burst out of the Element Gun, enveloping the two in a tornado. Thanos, his hands caught between two different objects—the orb and the warrior—could not fully grip either, losing both in the process. The Star Lord, similarly, lost his hold on the Element Gun and the Time Stone. However, he had practiced this maneuver a thousand times. Even with an angry, desperate Titan attempting to blast him with cosmic energy, the Star Lord managed to twist his body around as the tornado slowed so he was launched in the same direction as the Time Stone and caught it.
The Star Lord may have crashed into the ground, hopelessly breaking his back, but he was not doomed. The Time Stone allowed for certain corrections to be made. Thanos, on the other hand, while uninjured was unarmed.
The Star Lord stood up off the ground, eyeing the situation carefully, “Time Stone, eh?”
Thanos looked the man in the eyes, finally realizing he had just lost. Unless…
“It’s too late, Thanos.” The Titan froze in place, surrounded by an orange aura. The Star Lord casually approached him, Stone in hand.
“You can’t hear me now. You will never hear me, in fact,” the Star Lord admitted, “But I do so love to hear myself speak, so I’ll explain what’s about to happen to you anyway. You will be locked, frozen in time for as long as the Stone will allow—that is to say, until it has been activated again. I will do my best to make sure that never happens, but I’m confident it will. I can only pray that when it does there will be another hero who is able to stop you. Until then, Thanos…”
…
25 Years Ago
Thanos collapsed to the ground amidst a dusty, dark temple. He was nearly alone with the exception of one being, one man whom he recognized all too well kneeling before him.
“Master…?” Corvus Glaive slowly looked up, unsure whether to believe his eyes.
”Corvus,” Thanos greeted. He looked around. Cobwebs shrouded the darkened room. It had been abandoned for decades, at least. ”What happened?”
His loyal servant stood to meet him. “The Star Lord, master, he—“
”Not what happened to me, but the galaxy. I know of the Star Lord’s curse,” Thanos spat. It had taken him less than a second to recognize what had occurred to him, all that time ago…which begged the question: how long had it been?
“Yes, master.” Corvus bowed apologetically. “It’s been over a millennia.” Thanos frowned at that statement, but showed no other sign of frustration. “I have spent much of the time at your side—“ That caught the Titan’s ire.
”What??”
“Your agents, master! I sent them out! Used them! There’s an empire awaiting you—an empire made up of three,” Corvus explained.
”I have no use for a petty empire. Where are the Infinity Stones?” Thanos growled. ”Where are they?”
“The G-Gauntlet, I have located it, and two of the Stones…” Corvus stammered.
”Pathetic…” Thanos muttered. ”Over a thousand years to act, and you bring me nothing.”
“Take my life if you wish,” Corvus bowed, offering his head.
”No. I have much work to do, and I could use your…loyalty,” Thanos growled. He allowed himself to smile, however slightly, considering the possibilities. ”Let us begin, Corvus.”
“Yes, master.”
”I have slept for ages. It’s time I renewed my mission.” A confident grin ghosted over Thanos’ lips. ”I believe a direct approach was the incorrect course of action. Now, with a new, more mature view of things, I have concocted the perfect plan.”
…
20 Years Ago
Praxl had not expected to see the green light of day for the rest of his life. After all, a Spartoi slave camp sentence in the mines of Yoz lasted anywhere from a thousand million years to until the birth of the new universe. The Spartoi really thought themselves clever with that one. Praxl had accepted his fate—the fate of a Badoon slave, demoted from his seat of power to simple laborer. However, it appeared his destiny was not set in stone. Praise the Celestials!!
The ghost-like man in a cloak blacker than the mines’ darkest depths came first, ordering the Badoon workers to leave. Naturally nobody obliged. Just another Spartoi obedience test, right? Wrong. The ceiling quite literally disintegrated, and that was when Praxl saw the green sun again. Much to his surprise, natural light was not the greatest sight to behold that day.
The corpses of the Spartoi enforcers littered the mountainous landscape for as far as the eye could see, which, on Yoz, was admittedly not far. Even greater, however, was the sight of the Badoon’s savior, glimmering in the sunlight. His outward appearance resembled the Badoon’s so much in its roughness and cruelty that Praxl immediately considered him their God, even though his purple skin, and body shape betrayed the truth. Thanos the Mad Titan was no god. However, he had one hell of an army at his command.
Praxl gazed in awe at the fleet of thousands of starfighters that floated in the atmosphere. He turned to the Badoon’s as of yet nameless savior, and mustered the courage to speak.
“(Bless you, my lord. Bless you. We will serve you for all time.)”
”(Moron.)” The words burned into Praxl’s very being. ”(Have you no spine? Did the Spartoi rip it from your body? Look up to the skies, look up to my gift to you, and fight. Take back your courage. End your oppressors.)”
“(If that is what you wish…)” Praxl bowed. Other Badoon followed his example. Thanos sneered at the sight.
”(I pray you are worth my time, as so many others have disappointed me,)” Thanos growled.
“(We will not fail you, my lord.)”
”(Prove it.)”
…
18 Years Ago
Zen Whoberis, once a beautiful planet covered in startling crimson forests, was dying. Its lifeblood—gray magma—leaked from its pores. Its capital, Zenith, lay in golden ruins, as its peace-loving people awaited the inevitable. One such man, resigned to his fate, did not struggle in his behemoth captor’s grip.
”The Infinity Stone—where is it?” Thanos demanded.
“Gone, you fool, as I’ve told you twice now. A glowing woman stole it, sentencing our world to death long before you and your Planetkillers arrived,” the king monk of Zen Whoberis, a lithe, green-skinned man with a head as bald as Thanos’, said.
Thanos tightened his grip on the man, causing him to cough out blood. ”Lies! Your world is hidden within the domain of the Innerverse, unknown to most of the Universe—“
“You—found it—ggk—didn’t you?”
The words stung true, and Thanos loosened his grip for but a moment. With a monstrous roar, he cracked the monk king’s neck, ending his life in one fell swoop.
“FATHER!!”
Thanos threw the corpse aside and turned to the new arrival: a little girl that resembled the monk king in more ways than one, her eyes the same empty white but her head full of dark hair. Yellow markings around her eyes designated her as one of the monk king’s daughters, a princess of Zen Whoberis. However, unlike her father, the girl had bloodlust in her eyes. Thanos smirked as she charged him.
Before the little green girl could reach him, a nimble blue form landed between them and held a blade out to the girl’s throat, freezing her in place. Nebula, a bald, blue-skinned girl with cybernetic enhancements implanted throughout her body, stared at the little Zen Whoberian coldly.
“Stay away from my father, child,” Nebula growled in her metallic voice, ignoring the fact that was only a few years older than the girl before her.
“I am no child,” the girl retorted, before ducking under Nebula’s sword, catching her by surprise, slugging the cyborg in the stomach and leaping onto Thanos. The Mad Titan simply pulled her off of him by her collar and held her out like a doll, leaving the little Zen Whoberian to struggle and scream.
”The lone warrior in a peace-loving society. You are unique, girl. I like that.” Thanos admitted, before asking, ”What is your name?”
“Father—“ Nebula began, but a hand silenced her. She gazed away, frustrated, her grip on her sword tighter than ever.
“I am your slayer, monster! I am Gamora!!” the child cried, not even a hint of a tear in her eyes.
Thanos eyed the child for a moment, amused, before turning to Nebula, little Gamora still struggling in his grasp. ”Nebula, introduce yourself to your new sister, Gamora.”
Both girls’ cries of ‘what?!’ echoed over the dying world.
…
15 Years Ago
“Raksor. A Skrull heretic with connections to the Empire’s royalty. The irony,” Corvus muttered after reading over the Skrull’s holopad entry.
”Over one thousand years and nothing has changed. The Skrulls still bleed hypocrisy,” Thanos mused, staring at his captive’s irate form in a projector.
“Master?”
”Torture him for another month before offering him his freedom in exchange for servitude,” Thanos ordered.
“Yes, master,” Corvus agreed, flipping the holopad screen to the next profile. Upon reading the prisoner’s name, Corvus’ face fell. He looked up at Thanos once before gazing down at the screen. “The next prospect, master, he is…Spartoi royalty.”
”J-Son the twenty-first, descendent of J, the demi-god Star Lord,” Thanos nodded. ”I know. I picked him for a reason.”
“Master, he is known for treachery…”
”Good. That means he’s intelligent,” Thanos mused.
“But Master…”
The Mad Titan turned his gaze to his right hand man, his eyes alight with fury, begging Corvus to continue. The white-skinned man shrunk back and stared at the floor.
“How would you like me to…handle him?” Corvus asked.
Thanos relaxed and looked at the hopelessly proud Spartoi King dangling in a cell, his chin held high. ”Do not break him. Simply offer him an alliance.” That word—alliance—made Corvus wonder if he was even talking to the same man he’d come to admire. Then again, surely the Mad Titan had a plan. ”The rest…I will mediate.”
That seemed to confirm Corvus’ suspicions, so he nodded and continued onto the next prisoner. “Next, we have a Deviant from—“
”Kill him and burn his corpse,” Thanos demanded, an uncanny rage suddenly burning throughout his body.
“Yes, master,” Corvus hurriedly said. He looked down at the holopad, and glanced at the spindly green creature on it once before flipping to the final prisoner.
“Last, we have a Kree Accuser, master. He’s a truly unique specimen, superior to his colleagues in every way, and unlike most of our…guests, he is empathetic, kind even.”
The enormous blue man on the projector screen fought against his restraints, unlike every prisoner before him. It had been days, and he still continued onwards, his situation hopeless yet the man himself hopeful. He proved amusing.
Thanos smirked. ”Leave the Kree to me. I wish to speak to him alone.”
“Yes, master.”
…
The doors to the cell slid open, allowing Thanos to casually enter the room, if such a meek, cold box could be called such a thing. Ronan the Accuser glared up at the Titan through bloodshot eyes, but otherwise did not react. Both giants stood in silence for a while, daring the other to speak first.
Eventually, Thanos broke the ice, ”Tell me about yourself, Kree.”
Ronan spat blood at Thanos’ feet, driving the Titan to sneer.
”Try aga-“
Ronan pulled his arms forward with all his might, breaking his hyper-locked chains and ignoring the electrical surge that came with the sudden failure of his restraints, cutting off Thanos’ words. He lunged at the Mad Titan, his gaze focused on his captor’s neck. Thanos merely swatted him to the side like an insect.
”As I was saying,” Thanos calmly continued as Ronan tried and failed to stand, ”Try again.”
“A Kree Accuser bows to no man,” Ronan growled.
”While that is certainly an interesting fact, you have failed to understand one simple truth: I am no man,” Thanos retorted.
“Then you are a monster, for no other being would resort to such cruelty,” Ronan spat.
”Yes, and do tell me about your millenia-long war with the Skrulls.”
Ronan let loose a guttural roar and pushed off his feet. Before he could stand, he found himself knocked to the ground by Thanos yet again. This time, the Mad Titan emphasized the chain of command with a blast of indigo energy, leaving Ronan in a smoldering ball on the ground. Metal restraints slipped off the wall and latched onto Ronan, trapping him again.
”We’ll try again tomorrow,” Thanos stated, turning to leave. Before he could go, however, the Kree stopped him.
“Why?”
Thanos looked back at his captive, his eyes twinkling with something odd.
“Why do you resort to such lengths? I fight for the glory of my Empire and my ancestors, but you—you have nothing!!” Ronan managed one last proud declaration.
Thanos’ lips twisted into a scowl. ”Your family will burn, Kree, if you continue to meddle in my affairs.”
At that, Ronan’s eyes widened in shock, and he slumped against the wall, defeated.
Thanos continued out of the room, his hands locked behind his back, unable to shake the anger looming at the back of his mind. Once he reached his relatively bare private quarters, Thanos looked grimly at a purple statue of a cloaked woman situated in the center of the room, and then roared like an animal.
Slamming his fist into the floor, Thanos shattered everything around him, including the wall separating him from dark, gloomy space. The void instantly sucked him out into it, a death sentence for nearly any being. However, Thanos was unusual. He merely floated in space, glaring out at the millions of shining planets and stars.
He could not die, even if he wished it. All he could do was live alone until such a time as his goal was achieved and he, at last, could be granted respite.
…
Then
Death embraced the young, broken Thanos, and yet the being could not feel her touch. He reached out to her, desperate for something he’d long given up on, but found nothing but the cold moon air.
“Would you die for me?” the ethereal woman asked.
Thanos struggled for a response. He barely knew the woman, Death, but he couldn’t deny her beauty or kindness. Death came at the best time. She promised something inexplicably wonderful. Maybe most important of all, she did not shudder at his sight.
Thanos offered a smile more genuine than he had ever known.
“For you, I would do anything.”