Author's Note: This is intended to be a prequel to the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Only some information was pulled from the comics as a source material I used when developing the story. Enjoy!
Warning(s): Descriptions of children being forcibly pitted against each other to fight. Descriptions of torture used on children. Descriptions of violence used on children.
So This Is Sisterhood
Day 1
Thanos told them they are to call one another sisters now, that they were their only family now. Nebula and Gamora, approximately aged between four and five on a human scale, were nothing more than frightened children, abducted in the amiss of their war torn homes, and taken far away out into the stars to a vast and foreign planet.
They did not know each other, but the two still clung to the other in order to offer some form of comfort as the one they were supposed to call Father explained to them that they were given a second chance at life and to not take it for granted. It would be their duty to please him at all times from now on.
"What do they call you?" a boy who shared the large space with them snapped, startling the girls who huddled in the corner of the small prison-like room.
The two girls were introduced to a boy named Korath, he appeared to be about ten years old, and had a cold outward expression permanently etched into his dark features.
"N-Nebula."
"Gamora."
The girls watched as his bright blue eyes narrowed at them. Gamora noticed some strange tube-like things protruding from his head when he turned it to the side and she wondered what they were. Were put there by someone, and if so, why? Was this a fate she was going to endure?
"Get your rest. You will need it," he grunted out before he moved to another small room that connected to theirs.
The opening was quickly sealed off by a wall, separating their quarters with a loud, locking click. The room didn't feel so big anymore, it felt cold, empty, and more like a prison.
They were told he was going to be their trainer and tutor from now on and were ordered to listen and obey whatever he tells them. Asking questions was not going to get them anywhere, but they were too frightened to think of any to begin with, so the two hesitantly nodded. Despite the three being merely children, the girls were naturally inclined to listen to the older boy out of fear and distress. Finding the guidance from and older child was a strange comfort as the two relived their families executions in their nightmares.
"I'm scared," Gamora whispered to Nebula one evening.
The blue girl looked to the younger girl. She was shaken from the traumatic events that unfolded that day, understandably so. Nebula had endured the experience only three days prior to Gamora's capture and was kept isolated until now because she was so violent toward her handlers. She gently wrapped her arms around Gamora and pulled her into a hug.
"It's okay, I will protect you. Will you protect me?"
"Y-yes."
Day 14
The girls were given the bare minimum to eat at premeditated times, it kept them alive, but it quickly left them catatonic after the first few days into the routine. It was soon all they thought about – when their next meal was. The boy seemed accustomed to the routine and appeared to have had far more time to adapt to the several deprivations that were thrust upon the girls. He watched them in silence when they ate, and he never answered their questions despite they being told to not ask about anything. It didn't hurt to try, at least not yet.
Gamora assumed he knew just as much as her and Nebula did – next to nothing despite his age.
Soon Nebula learned why he watched them so intently during meals. They were not meant to share their meager portioned food with each other. She cried out as her hand was almost broken by Korath's when she tried to offer her leftovers to Gamora. She claimed to not feel very hungry and didn't want to waste it.
"You need to eat!" he demanded while nearly crushing her fingers with his own bionic ones.
The two never tried to share after that terrifying incident. Silence blanketed the three young children during mealtimes now, they had to keep their unused hand flat on the table to avoid anything suspicious occuring.
Thanos was sparsely seen by Nebula or Gamora since they were taken. Occasionally he was spotted spying through the narrow window in one of the walls, silently observing them as they idled in their rooms, bored among the emptiness. The girls would talk from time to time, but they mostly moped in the silence.
Day 30
When they were seen pacing the room was when things were starting to get tense between the two. For some unknown reason their portions shrunk even more. The hunger gnawed at them for hours until they fell asleep. They were becoming agitated and irritable with each others company. It was time for their training to start.
Gamora and Nebula were abruptly shook awake and dragged from their beds by two very large guards. Gamora struggled feebly against her handler while Nebula obediently followed with hers, merely flinching against the firm grip he held on her small arm. She did not want to encounter another incident that would cause her harm like with Korath. She gave Gamora a silent, but stern look, hoping the one she was supposed to considere a sister would stop trying to resist.
They were lead to a large room where an ornate chair was seen resting at a fair height on a platform in order to see the arena. Thanos was standing beside it, watching as the girls entered and soon left standing at the center with the handlers on the outskirts.
"I want to see how well you can fight for your needs, for your wants. Show me your strengths, and the victor will be greatly rewarded."
The girls looked from Thanos to each other, unsure of what he meant by this. Th handlers peppered around them were holding whips and electrically charged poles. The sight terrified them, and they each silently wondered why they would need such things.
When neither Nebula or Gamora initiated each other was when the whips were cracked and the electric poles were shoved into their sides. They'd cried out from the shock that tensed their muscles and sent their bodies into spazzing fits.
"Fight, or you will starve!" Karoth barked out from the crowd, stepping forward.
He was one of the handlers that now paced around them, and despite his young appearance, he was even more terrifying than the fully grown guards all around them.
Something seemed to snap in Gamora then. She was not handling the lack of food the most unlike the other. Without a second shock treatment to coax her, the small green girl went almost feral as she jumped Nebula without a second thought and started hitting her viciously.
It was only then did Nebula realize what this meant, and she quickly managed to throw Gamora off her with a snarl.
"Gamora! This is what they want! Don't give in!"
But the other girl didn't listen as she clambored off the floor and charged at Nebula once more. She was prepared this time and braced herself, grabbing Gamora's shoulders to push her off to the side. To a spectator, it wouldn't appear to be anything like a typical fight between children. However, with each deflection from Nebula it only seemed to infuriate the Zehoberei to the point where she no longer seemed to register anything else other than to win.
The scrimmage was dragged out because Nebula refused to show any physical attempt to subdue Gamora, but the other child snarled, clawed, and struggled to take down the Luphomoid with every ounce of strength she could muster. After what felt like ages, the blue aliens foot slipped from under her while preparing to block another feeble charge. Gamora managed to kick her other leg from under her and finally pinned her, much to the joy of their single onlooker as the slow claps echoed around them.
Day 37
Nebula was trying to understand the purpose to pit one another against each other for a bountiful reward. Karoth explained it was part of their training for their futures, but she didn't find starving over a loss showed anything but a terrible and neglectful punishment for her lack of will to fight back. She barely spoke to Gamora after their first fight, but she seemed to be coming back to a normal mindset after being permitted a proper meal after losing the consecutive losses.
Nebula finally couldn't stand to lose. Clearly Gamora didn't think the same way when it came to being fed and nourished properly. The blue alien was growing weaker because of these punishments, and she needed it to change.
"Gamora, please listen to me."
"I know what you will say, and I am sorry to have been so cruel. I just…"
"I'm aware you weren't yourself," Nebula reasoned, "but we need to work together to keep us from suffering. Please… yield for me next time?"
Gamora looked over at her sister and contemplated the request very carefully. "If we do this, we will have to make it look convincing. I do not think cheating will be taken kindly."
"Agreed."
Day 104
The changes would come so drastically and sudden it was difficult for the girls to keep up with them. Whenever they showed even a glimmer of a sign they were adjusted to one routine or schedule, it was promptly altered. Eating schedules changed, rewards were more enticing, punishments were more brutal, nothing could be predicted or anticipated. It placed uncertainty, lack of trust, and fear in both of them, and they each processed these new emotions and feelings very differently.
It took a great deal of effort to keep their sparring matches fair when their minds were constantly being messed with. Sleep deprivation was one of the worst stages for both Gamora and Nebula. It left them irritable, short tempered, and more viscous with each other when a tantalizing reward of getting a proper night's sleep was offered.
Another agonizing test –punishment?– was being isolated in the quiet of darkness. It messed with their senses, it terrified them as their mind was driven to recall horrid memories of their short lives. It left them disoriented and scared, it was enough to not want to go through it again.
By some miracle Gamora and Nebula were granted to be in the same living space again after being seperated for weeks. It made them feel awkward around each other, but the desire to talk to someone outweighed their discomfort.
"Nebula?"
"What, Gamora?" the Luphomoid hissed.
Nebula was not in a good mood that evening. She lost yesterday and had to suffer in the quiet, dark room hungry for an entire day. Nebula was supposed to win that time, but Gamora had allowed her desire to overthrow her sister once more to fuel her unmerciful attacks.
"Why are you denying that all of this, whatever it is, is our life now?"
Gamora was sincere in her question, clearly she had accepted it far quicker than the blue girl, but it still didn't soften the sting of their reality.
"Because, I don't want this. I just want my family back." A soft sob unexpectedly escaped Nebula.
Gamora hesitantly went to her side and pulled her into a loose hug. She didn't know why the Zehoberei bothered to try and offer comfort after what they've done to each other.
"I'm sorry. I try to not think… about that. But sometimes I can't help it, and the only way I can get rid of all that anger is to just… let it all loose in the arena." Gamora explained. "Maybe you should do the same, it might help?"
Nebula tried to push her away. She didn't want to use anger and fury against someone that played no hand in the cause of the death of her family, she just couldn't. They were just children.
"You know, if you want… we can be our own family. Not like how Fa-Thanos wants us to be. He wants us to hate each other. We can do better. Can't we?"
It went quiet for a while as Nebula thought about the request. If this was really how their life was going to be like from now on, she should at least do her very best to win, even if it meant to win against the girl who she would like to call a sister. A sister who switched off when out on the arena, but it was better than nothing.
"Sisters?"
"Sisters."
The blue girl finally returned the warm, comforting hug.
Day 730
The two girls endured so much and prevailed through every daunting task, every punishment imaginable, every challenge thrown at them, and somehow they were only getting worse. They learned to predict each others moves, the two developed a sense of a fighting style that were slightly different from the others. Their bodies adjusted to the agility required to dodge, to execute quick hits, and to be strong and resilient. But it was always different. Everything only got more difficult the more they succeeded in their morbid training. It got even more unpredictable, more terrifying, and more excruciating punishments.
The two always lost when they had to spar against Korath, he was brutal, he showed no mercy until they yielded. He broke bones, sliced flesh, and left them a crying mess on the floor countless times. Their punishments were always the worst with these losses. Crying was a weakness and broken pieces of themselves was a weakness. Failure was a weakness.
Korath seemed particularly pleased one day, it had been what he called a graduation and an anniversary. Questions, of course, were always left unanswered, and Nebula decided that the anniversary could only mean that a certain amount of time had passed since they first arrived on the strange planet they now called home. Both girls had lost all sense of time by now in how long they had been in the hands of their captor. No. Their Father. Their Protector. Their Leader.
"Graduation I can only imagine is some kind of upgrade of sorts." Nebula puzzled out, not particularly speaking to her sister who laid on her cot nearby.
"So things will only get far worse for us," Gamora concluded with a defeated sigh. "But how can it possibly? When will it ever stop?
"If we have any reason to believe anything at this point, Gamora; it will be safe to assume it will never stop. Remember?" Nebula reminded bitterly. "We accepted this fate. We swore to look after each other. That is all we can trust anymore. If you are still in?"
"Of course I am! It is the only hope I have left to hold onto," she snapped back, running her hands through her unevenly cut and patched purple hair. This was evidence of how completely barbaric Korath was on them.
"It is all we have left…" Nebula whispered. "Each other."
A blue hand gently clasped the green one that dangled off the edge of the cot. The pair grasped hands in an almost desperate way until they fell asleep.
Day 2190
This sisterhood that the last living Zehoberei and Luphomoid had would constantly be challenged, broken, rebuilt, and shattered once more throughout the years. The almost sisters would go so far as nearly killing the other before yielding. Their punishments soon became physical loss of limbs with the sense that the modification put in place would improve their ability to defeat the other. It hurt, the pain was part of the punishment, the implant was supposed to be the reward. It no longer mattered what was considered a reward or punishment to the girls. It all blurred together, they just knew it hurt less if one of them won because they only had to listen to the loser scream and watch them writhe in pain.
These girls were soon unable to identify who they used to be anymore, they were broken down and rebuilt into something else far more useful and deadly. They were being molded into the ideal killers, groomed to become apart of the merciless assassins that hunted down their prey at any and all costs, even if it meant getting the other girl out of their way in order to achieve this goal
It was always a rollercoaster of hatred, desire, and the need to be appreciated that started to drive them. The rewards were far more intriguing when obtained, but the work to get them became more complicated, more brutal, and more desperate.
This is the life of Gamora and Nebula. Assassins in training, sisters at heart, killers for the one they were told to call Father. They no longer knew any better or knew anything else. They lived, ate, and drank to murder. They hated to love each other. They loved to hate each other. All they ever knew how to show it was to fight, to quarrel, to nearly kill the other. They only knew how to show it by saving the other, lookout for each other, help each other in a time of crisis despite it going against their order. It was all a blurred line, and they did not know how to separate anything anymore.
This was their life now. They had no way to take them back...
Written for the Fem Power March Challenge
31 Days of Fem Power: Day 5 - Sisterhood
Bonus Challenge: Bechdel Test
Word Count: 2,905