Hey everyone! I know it has been a LOONNGGG time since I updated the story - since last May, holy cow! I am sorry for the huge wait in updating, I had an internship this past summer and then my fall semester was pretty crazy. I have written past this chapter, I just wanted to have more than one done before I updated again! Thanks for waiting so long and I hope you enjoy!
I felt the rhythm of the horses as we flew. And flew. And flew. I couldn't tell how long it was, however. What I could see was the sky changing from light blue, to gray, to black and starry. I noticed the Big Dipper and Orion's Belt. Thor's astronomy lessons had paid off.
I guess we're in space now... I thought, too frightened to question how I could still breathe in the vacuum. I would have thought the stars beautiful if it weren't for my impending death and the doom of the entire universe.
I heard Thanos whistle, and after a stomach-dropping descent I felt the chariot touch down and heard the horses' hooves rumble on what felt like rocky ground beneath. The chariot jostled on the uneven surface. Are we on the Moon? I wondered as we slowed to a stop. Though we were in space, I could breathe, wasn't cold, and definitely alive.
"Get out." Thanos commanded. I stood up, and noticed that my clones had disappeared. He isn't worried about me running away out here. Looking around as I stepped out of the chariot, I noticed the rocky gray surface littered with craters. Off in the distance, I saw a sun-bleached flag still against the dark sky. I bet Buzz or Neil never expected this...
I turned around, and saw the Earth, my beautiful home. The blues, browns, and greens were partially hidden behind the swirl of bright clouds. I began to fully appreciate what all the astronauts said about feeling small when looking at the Earth from space. I felt so, so, tiny. And our planet seemed so fragile. As if at any time it would just fall into the void of space. But, I suppose it kind of was.
My throat closed up with the realization that I would never be back, but I was thankful for the time Thanos gave me to look at my world. I knew I would need it in order to deal with what was to come. I felt a sad pang in my heart as my eyes found the general area of New York on the landmass of North America. I grabbed onto my locket, and felt the familiar wave wash over me. I purposefully didn't think of my family and new friends. I could only focus on not breaking down.
"Though feeble, your planet is quite remarkable." Thanos said, and I turned slowly to look at the warlord. He was lounging on a giant golden throne, and was tapping the fingers of his gauntlet hand on the arm. Thanos appeared quite relaxed and at home. But, I suppose he was in control. How did that get here? Has it always been on the Moon?
"What do you mean?" I asked, focusing on lessening the shaking in my voice and legs. The locket continued to calm me, and I thought it strange how Thanos hadn't take it away from me yet. I guess I'm not really much of a threat.
"Humanity itself. So soft and easily defeated, and yet you believe in your strength with the confidence of a race much stronger." he explained, and his throne shifted to the left. I saw behind him a carved slab of stone that was raised and tilted at an angle, with what I could only assume were shackles. Nausea washed over me, but I was too scared to throw up.
"You are going to need that belief for what is to come." he said. I whimpered, knowing that I was going to die. And by the looks of the slab, a very slow and painful one.
Thanos stood, and suddenly my clones were back, and pulled me onto the gray stone. I focused on breathing deeply to try and quell the fear inside. Whatever bravado I had displayed to the Skrull in that interrogation room was gone now that I was actually face to face with Thanos. You're doing this for them. You're doing this for them. You're doing this for them. I repeated in my mind as the shackles were fastened onto my wrists and ankles by the other Beths. I was tilted up enough at an angle to where I could see my planet before me. Tears rapidly fell down my face.
You've done this before, Beth. You can handle it, I thought to myself, recalling the torture I went through by Davenport at Medicorp. But, he was just a man...My clones stepped away, and Thanos stood in between me and my view of the Earth.
"Please..." I whispered through my tears and pulled against my restraints. "Please let me see it." I pleaded, figuring it was no use but I wasn't exactly thinking logically at this point.
Thanos chuckled. "Your comfort is not a concern to me, Bethany." he explained. "Now, where did you find my locket?" he asked, and leaned in close to my face. His breath smelled like rotting flesh, and I purposefully chose not to think about how it got that way. The warlord's meaty forefinger brushed my cheek.
I swallowed bile. "I... found my locket - AAAHHH!" I screamed out as Thanos snapped my right femur as easily as I could snap a toothpick. He didn't break eye contact with me. I sobbed as pain erupted throughout my leg.
"YOUR LOCKET?!" he cackled. He actually laughed. "You foolish mortal..."
"I'm sorry - I'm sorry - I didn't mean... It's yours..." I said through heaving breaths. "I found it at a flea market in New York. Some lady... sold it to me..." I finished, and felt my vision go fuzzy as I began passing out. Thank you, I thought. I was foolish to think it would be that easy.
Thanos smacked me hard across the face with the gauntlet, and I felt the side of my head slam against the rock and tasted blood in my mouth. My jaw was cracked, and I felt a molar loosen. I bit back another scream, as a fresh jolt of pain shot through my leg as my body recoiled from the slap. "You do not get to ease your suffering by fainting." he said.
I nodded and continued to cry. Fresh adrenaline coursed through my veins, and my vision lost its fuzziness. You're doing this for them. You're doing this for them. You're doing this for them.
"From who did you purchase my locket?" Thanos asked. I swallowed again, and felt blood go down my throat.
"She was just some lady..." I began. I concentrated on that memory that seemed years ago compared to now. "She was really tall and bony. Her cheekbones were really, really defined. Her eyes were dark - purple-ish. She was...beautiful. But in an other-worldly way." I told him, and braced for another terrible injury. I scrunched my eyes and tried not to move my injured leg as I tensed up. Moments passed, and nothing came. I opened my eyes.
Thanos had stepped back from the slab and in his eyes was, what I couldn't believe, but was sure was, elation. This was infinitely more frightening than any anger I had seen. "She is finally here." he whispered, looking off into the distance. "After all this time. My efforts will be realized." he spoke.
I was able to see some of my planet from over Thanos' shoulder, and it filled me with enough boldness to speak. "Who...is...she?" I asked, and by this time all the crying had made my voice scratchy. I was utterly confused and frightened about who - or more likely, what - he was referring to. I spit out some blood onto the rocky surface below. If Thanos noticed, he didn't see it as a sign of disrespect. I was thankful for that too.
He looked to me again. He kneeled slowly down so his head was at my eye level. I tried to take deep breaths again, but the pain everywhere made it hard.
"Death." Thanos answered, a stomach-turning smile on his face. My mind was reeling.
Death? That doesn't make any sense...
"To you mortal humans, death is merely a concept. An ending. But Death is so much more than that. She is a part of the universe, and has been since the beginning of time. My possession of the Stones has finally romanced her to me. She has seen my power and accepted my gifts."
A brick landed in my stomach. Gifts. I thought, and shuddered. I assumed it was safe to ask another question, even though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer. "These gifts are...?"
Thanos chuckled. "The dead, of course." he replied, with a sinister grin. "Their souls. With each destroyed population, each annihilated planet, I have proved my worth to Death. Why she chose to spend her days on your planet I do not understand. And, with the final stone-" he paused, and pointed to my locket, "I will be so powerful that she will be utterly intoxicated." he explained, and elongated 'intoxicated'. I felt sick.
This. Is. Unreal. An alien warlord is in love with Death itself. I thought. I watched the clouds swirl on Earth, and was lost for a moment in their beauty.
Thanos punched me in the stomach and brought me back to reality real quick. I groaned and spit out more blood, my writhing from the blow sending more pain from my femur. Hot tears filled my eyes. I didn't think I had any left.
"I have no use for you any longer, Bethany. I have obtained what I wanted." he said. I whimpered. This is it. I thought, and braced myself for the end. My eyes were glued to Thanos.
"All that is left is to watch your family suffer. Because of your foolishness they were involved." he said, and with a wave of his gauntlet a giant 'screen' appeared in front of me. It was kind of shimmery and nearly blocked my view of Earth. I saw my family, still held by their clones. They weren't moving, but were staring up at the sky. They knew that attempting to fight would result in the deaths of their comrades. Oh God...
"Wait! NO!" I shouted and struggled against my shackles. Anger washed over me so intensely it distracted me from the pain of my injuries. I glared at Thanos and spat blood at him. Some landed on his face, but he didn't even flinch. "I did what you said! I cooperated! YOU SAID THEY WOULDN'T GET HURT!" I shrieked, ignoring the intense pain taking over my jaw. I yanked even harder on my shackles, and I could feel the bruises and cuts that were forming. I didn't care.
Thanos cackled again. "Why would you believe me?" he asked, and shrugged. "Let us watch." he said, and grabbed my broken jaw in his hands and forced me to look at the screen. I cried out, and his intense hold squeezed more tears out of my eyes.
The sad and broken faces of my family quickly turned to ones of terror and anger as their clones began beating them.
Groot's clones began to tear at his limbs, and one of his arms was wrenched off at the shoulder. "I AM GROOT!" He yelled, the pain etched onto his wooden face.
Steve was being punched repeatedly in the face. His nose broke, and I saw blood cascade down his mouth and chin.
"No! Please! PLEASE!" I screamed, and continued to writhe under my shackles, my pain forgotten at the witnessing of my family's torture. "STOP!" I could hear their cries and felt anguish much worse than that in my body.
Thanos let go of my face and began to laugh, enjoying my mental torture as much as the physical. He had turned away from the show and was laughing deep-booming laughs that almost shook the ground.
I began to sob and looked away. I couldn't bear to watch, but that didn't stop me from hearing their cries.
"AH! PLEASE!" I heard Joseph shout. I wanted to throw up, but I had to look. He was being punched repeatedly in the stomach, and suddenly one of his clones pulled out a knife. "NO! PLEASE! AHHH!" he screamed as the clone began slashing his chest and arms.
Something in me snapped. I felt fury like I never had before. It surged through me, like the lightning I could command. "Leave. Him. Alone." I said slowly, my nostrils flaring. Thanos took one glance at me and laughed even harder. He turned his attention back to the screen.
Movement on Earth caught my eye. Thanos was too busy reveling in my family's torture to notice that I wasn't looking at him or the screen any longer. Looking harder, I saw gray clouds swirling on the surface, bigger and darker than any hurricane I had ever seen. What? The storm was covering all of North America and part of the Atlantic. Lightning was dancing across the surface of the clouds. There's no way...I glanced back at the image of my family. Thor was held down so tight that he wouldn't have been able to conjure the storm.
I felt a tingle in my fingers. Wait… I put the pieces together and tried to hide my smile from Thanos. He was too transfixed on my family. Warm energy began moving up through my hands and arms, and I focused on the storm and listening to the screams of my family. It broke my heart to listen, but it made me angry and I knew I could use that. You're doing this for them. You're doing this for them. You're doing this for them.
I forced myself to look at Joseph again. He was barely fighting back. So much blood...I felt heat pulse through my hands. It was almost time. The storm was coming to a head and the lightning was converging right above where I thought New York must be. You can do this, Beth.
I glared at Thanos again. "I said, Leave. Him. ALONE!" I screamed, anger rushing through me. I felt my hair begin to stand up on my scalp. Any moment now.
Thanos's laugh was so loud it would have echoed if we weren't in space. "You have no power here, Bethany! Once you watch them die, I will torture you until you finally succumb, and are added to my offeri- WHAT?!" Thanos bellowed. I looked at the screen.
By now the storm on Earth was so intense that the beatings had stopped and everybody, clones included, was staring at the vortex above them. Hair was blowing in the wind, but that was the only movement by the group. My smile mirrored their own.
"Thor? Is that you?" Tony asked, hope filling his voice. He had a black eye and a busted lip.
Thor shook his head, his giant grin taking over his face and shining through the blood soaked into his beard. "No." he stated.
"Beth's alive!" Rocket shouted with glee. Chunks of semi dried blood were stuck to his fur all over his body, but in that moment, he didn't care.
Thanos slowly turned to me. I was smiling, and I would have been unsettled if I could see it since I could feel the blood on my teeth and lips.
Fear filled Thanos' eyes. He began shaking his head slowly. You're doing this for them. You're doing this for them. You're doing this for them.
I sucked in a huge breath and clenched every muscle in my body. I was in so much pain, however I knew I couldn't stop. The locket grew so hot on my chest I could feel the skin blistering underneath. I screamed - partially in triumph and partially from fear - as I saw the biggest lightning bolt I had ever seen come rushing toward me at breakneck speed.
You're doing this for them.