Death Was Arrested - Chapter 10
*Titan 2*
It was another picturesque day. The sun shined brightly in the clear blue skies, providing warmth on the green grass on the surface. It was lush, full of life. Thanos felt that warmth melt into his core, a sense of peace and joy that rattled up and down his soul. He looked out from his make-shift abode, which was barely held up by a few beams and spare wood, and looked out on his latest project. His farm, full of choice crops. He stepped further towards his latest project, entering its outer edges and taking his hand and stroking some of the plants, which looked like a form of wheat, with his one hand.
He continued to stroll through the crops, though not without a noticeable limp. He made it to a point in the crops where he reached a wooden post. He looked up to find the armor that he had worn during his great victories. It was gold-plated, with deep blue armor all around. It was crooked at the moment and so he lifted his other hand, which wore the mangled infinity gauntlet, which was complete with all six stones, and grasped hold of the wooden pole. With a grunt, he jostled it around until it was finally even with the ground.
"Doing a good job keeping the crows out," he muttered, though there were no signs of crows to be found. Nor any other birds for that matter. He took his other hand and wiped the sweat from his brow, and then continued to walk through his creation.
As the sun began to set, he finally made his way back to his home. As he reached his dwelling, he saw a light in the distance. It burned closer and closer, until it made a massive thud a few miles away. "They're early," he whispered. He raised the gauntlet and the blue gem began to glow, and he was transported to the sight of the crash. He recognized the ship immediately. An old ravager ship, which had been given to a certain daughter of his. As he walked around it, he recognized that its pod was missing. He grimaced a bit as he limped around a bit more. He finally began to approach the front of the ship. When the hatch opened, Nebula leapt out at Thanos, brandishing one of her long blades. However, her step-father merely raised his glove and accessed the power stone, and she was held in mid-air, unable to move.
"Murderer!" She choked out.
"Didn't you try to help Ronan wipe out all of Xandar?" He scoffed. A sly grin crept on his face as he paced around her.
"How did I get here?" Nebula asked.
"I knew the remaining Guardians and Stark would be on a Ravager ship," he replied knowingly. "Ayesha and the rest of her gold-skinned race wanted revenge on the Guardians of the Galaxy. I mainly just pointed her in the right direction. I gave them enough information on one condition, that they bring you to me."
"Good job, you got what you wanted," she scoffed.
"Not exactly," Thanos groaned. He limped towards his adopted daughter and placed his gloved hand around her chin. "Where's Stark?"
"I don't know," she spoke defiantly. The answer did not please him, so he continued access the power stone, and pain filled her body. Her screams progressed further, pain that she had never felt before enflaming her, until there was relief.
"I'm going to ask you one last time. Where is Stark?"
"I told you, I don't know," she replied. "When we were attacked, his pod was jettisoned. We lost contact. I don't know where he is." Thanos removed his hand from Nebula's face and turned away for a moment. "Why do you want him?" The question hung for a while, with no answer coming. Until Thanos turned back towards his daughter.
"Stark and I have some unfinished business."
"I thought you finished whatever you started when you destroyed half of the universe," she scowled.
"That was my life's work," Thanos replied. "Not that you would understand. I saved the universe from destroying itself. The population will be able to live with abundant food and resources, they will never run out. I was merciful to them."
"You weren't merciful, you're a plague! You killed your own daughter!"
"Salvation has a high cost," he growled. "Unfortunately, no one is coming to save you."
"Wha..." Before she could finish the word, Thanos lashed out his anger, and she was decimated by the gaunlet. However, the power unleashed brought Thanos to his knees. The pain was excruciating, as he gasped for air.
*Upstate New York*
The countdown clock read four hours until Red Skull was supposed to make it to the earth's surface. Steve stood alone in the common room, watching each second tick off methodically. He was wearing his old uniform, the one he wore back when he helped the Avengers save New York.
"You know, Thor let slip that you had a beard," Tony quipped in the background as stepped into the room. "Didn't say it was particularly flattering, and to be honest, I never really pictured you as a mountain man type of guy." Steve turned to look at him with a bit of an incredulous look. "All I'm saying is, I appreciate you clean-shaven."
"You do realize the beard was due to me being on the run, right?"
"Huh..." Tony realized. "I hadn't thought about that." The genuine reply brought silence to the pair. "I... I screwed up, Steve."
"What?"
"You're going to make me say it again, aren't you? I knew this wouldn't be easy..."
"Easy for who?"
"I'm sorry, Cap!" He cried. "I messed us up, I broke up the Avengers, this is..." A moment of sadness washed over Stark. "If we had been together when this happened, maybe we make it out on top." He paused for a moment, and then looked up at his friend.
"I'm not sure there was anything either of us could do," Steve calmly responded.
"You know, I haven't had much time to reflect, you know, since being in space, and then getting here and going immediately to work on the zeo crystal, but I had an epiphany."
"You going to church on me?" Steve asked quizzically.
"My eyes were opened."
"To what?"
"When we were fighting Thanos on Titan, we had him down and out. Me, Strange, the kid, and Rocket's team had worked together, and we almost had the gauntlet off. We had him hypnotized, I think. I'm not sure what the alien girl could actually do, but he was out. And Quill, he was their leader, he strutted proudly. We had won. And then he lost control."
"What happened?"
"He found out Thanos killed his girl," Tony replied. "And he slammed his gun into Thanos' face, and he woke up and he... well... we lost. In the midst of that, before Thanos woke up, I told Quill not to react. I told him to keep his emotions in check. And, looking back, I can't forget that the same thing happened to me in Siberia. You knew about my mother. About my father. And you knew how I would react. I couldn't think, I couldn't reason, I just responded. All heart, no reason. My emotions destroyed the Avengers."
"Your emotions are what make you human, Tony," Steve consoled him. "Could you have thought through them better, sure. But you weren't the only one to make mistakes there. Every day, I've thought about how I should have told you, how I should have listened more. If you broke up the Avengers, then so did I." The pair sat in silence for a moment, before Tony broached the topic once more.
"I'm sorry Steve."
"Me too. And I forgive you."
"Likewise." Tony smiled as he patted Steve on the back. "Look... about your outfit..."
"I know, I know, it's old fashioned," he replied.
"No, it's just incomplete," Tony quipped. "I think you'll need this." He walked over behind the table and picked up Steve's old vibranium shield. The same one that Steve had driven into Tony's suit years before. He handed it to Steve, who held it with wonder.
"Thank you Tony."
"No thanks needed," Tony replied. "You're Captain America, and you're the leader of the Avengers. I'll follow your lead."
Elsewhere on base, Kim found Tommy resting in his quarters. She knocked on his door, and he let her in.
"Any word from Stark?" Tommy asked. She shook her head.
"It's possible we'll be grounded for the first fight," she replied. "He's working hard, and he's a genius, but he was still trying to work on the sixth shard to make my powers possible."
"Well, if we can't be out there, we can at least give support from in here," Tommy smiled. He went to place his hand on her shoulder, but she flinched at his touch. "Everything ok?"
"Kat told me what happened," Kim replied somberly. "You did the exact same thing that I did to you." She glared at him, a hint of anger flashed in her voice.
"Ok, if you're going to get mad at me for something that you in turn did to me..."
"Engaged, Tommy! You were engaged! How could you..."
"How could I?!" Tommy looked incredulously at her. "Look in the mirror, Kim!" Tommy quickly regretted his words, as he saw the expression on Kimberly's face change from anger to sadness. He breathed deeply, closed his eyes for a moment, and then made eye contact with her. "I'm sorry," he said calmly. "I... with all that's been happening, I haven't really told you anything. I'm not exactly the hero, or the man, you think I am."
"What do you mean?" Kim asked. He walked towards the window of his room and looked outside, and let out a big sigh as he turned back towards her.
"I never really kept in touch with you guys," he started. "Jason knew a little bit, but even he wasn't exactly in the loop on my life. All he knew was the little I could share with him when we went to the moon together."
"You guys went to the moon?" Kim was stunned.
"I figured he told you." She shook her head. "Machine empire came back, ten red rangers, we won, I went back to my own little world, where I shut most of the rangers out. Aside from Jason, who insisted on never leaving me alone, I was able to keep my distance." He paused for a moment, his lips quivered, and his hands shook. "No one knew this... until a couple weeks ago. I had a mental breakdown." The look of concern on Kimberly's face grew. Tommy tried to look her in the eye, but the feeling of shame overcame him as he stared down at his feet.
"I had asked Katherine to marry me when I was 19 years old," he nearly whispered. "I never really dealt with losing my powers, graduating school... breaking up with you." He finally mustered up the courage to look Kim in the eye. "Katherine made me feel sane. She was my calm in the midst of the storm, which felt good in the moment. But I used her. She was my coping mechanism, and I never knew it until she was halfway around the world. And here I was, engaged to this beautiful woman, but couldn't even begin to process all of the loss in my life. And I froze. I threw away every relationship, including Katherine. I shut all the rangers out."
"Why did you shut us out?" Kim asked gently.
"Because I was your leader," Tommy stuttered, as a tear threatened to fall. "And here I was, leader of the power rangers, the one you guys were supposed to count on, and I can't even lead himself. I was the one that hurt Katherine. I couldn't get out of my own way." Tears fell, staining his shirt. Kim grabbed a few tissues and walked over towards him, and she rubbed his shoulder to comfort him.
"Hayley was there for you, wasn't she?" Kim asked.
"She was the only one that knew," Tommy confessed. "I had to be strong."
"Tommy, that's not true," Kimberly replied. "I didn't fall in love with you because you were strong. I fell in love with you because you're gentle and caring, and you're honorable and brave."
"I don't feel very brave," he lamented.
"Bravery isn't just in fighting monsters," she comforted. "Sometimes, fighting yourself is harder. You know more of your own weaknesses than Rita ever did." They took a moment and moved towards Tommy's bed, where they both sat next to each other on it. She continued to rub his back, hoping to comfort him. "I was unfair to you. That letter, my accusations just now..."
"I'm sorry too," Tommy replied. "I shouldn't have thrown that back in your face."
"You're not wrong, though," Kim replied. "I... I don't really have a right to get angry when all you did was what I did to you. And to be honest, you had a much better reason."
"Look, regardless of who had the best reason, I still hurt Katherine," Tommy admitted. "And it's nothing I can ever undo."
"Sounds like I hurt you pretty bad too," she grimaced. "I think there's a lot of things we wish we could have back." The comment startled Tommy a bit. He gazed into her eyes, and hers explored his. He leaned down and kissed her. She eagerly accepted for the moment, until they were interrupted by someone who cleared their throat in their doorway. Their eyes shot over towards the one and only Tony Stark.
"Stark? We..."
"Look, if you know my reputation at all, you know I'm not going to give you crap for something like this," he quipped. "In fact... good job." The pair blushed at the comment. "Suits are ready, if you'd like to take a break." He turned around and walked away, but not without a parting shot. "But I wouldn't blame you if you didn't." They looked at each other for a moment with a bit of a blush.
"I'm sorry," Tommy replied.
"Don't be," Kim smiled, sublty chewing the bottom of her lip.
"We... we need to define what this is."
"Yes we do," Kim replied. "But later. Apparently I'm about to join the zeo rangers."
"Either you're a zeo ranger, or we're all becoming iron men."
To be continued...
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- Googz333