Chapter 3

Peter didn't see a single bit of Nebula after that. Where she had been taken, he didn't know, it wasn't his place to ask though. Besides, he had more important things to focus on, specifically that they were approaching the Asgardian's ship.

He narrowed his eyes and activated his mask as they got closer. His father rejoined him at the helm, a helmet and armor on his body. Peter's mask doubled as a helmet, except it protected his entire head. The mask had been built from some salvaged nanites that Peter had reverse engineered in order to create more. His mask was capable of retracting to the back of his head, applying extra protection to a specific part of his head if he was anticipating an attack, and could form into a small cube for easy storage. Why his father refused to use one, he didn't know. Then again, Ebony, Corvus, Proxima, and Cull didn't have one either- not that he offered.

His father brought up the same hand signal he used to fire on Nebula's ship and the cannons began their assault. It didn't take long for the refugee's ship to start breaking apart. Large cracks quickly grew until bits of the ship were snapping off. As chunks broke away from the ship, the interior became exposed. Peter's lenses widened slightly at the sight of children and he cursed himself mentally for his softness towards them. At least on Xandar, Peter had not seen any children as they were hidden away behind parents or in homes.

A loud resounding snap sounded through the ship as the entire back half of the Asgardian's ship broke off. Debris was floating all around both ships. Out of the corner of his eye, Peter thought he spotted a small and circular golden ship emerge from the broken back half, but it was gone by the time he turned to fully look at it. Suddenly, a panicked noise came over the small radio that Peter had insisted on installing.

"This is the Asgardian refugee vessel. We are under assault, I repeat, we are under assault." Here, the voice sounded a little muffled, as if the speaker had moved slightly away from the microphone. It began again. "Requesting aid from any vessels within range." After this, Peter tuned the voice out. It was clear that no ship would come to their aid, whether they were nearby or not.

Thanos' ship docked on the remains of the refugee's vessel. Almost immediately, Ebony Maw's group descended. They attacked anyone who was still moving. Cull even managed to get himself into a fist-fight with a muscular male with short, golden hair who was missing an eye. However, it appeared that the assault on the vessel had already injured him, as Cull was easily able to overpower him.

Peter descended down the ramp beside his father, his eyes scanning the wreckage. He noted a few survivors, including some males and some females. He watched as Corvus stabbed his glaive into one of them. He let out a very quiet groan when Ebony began talking, one that thankfully went unnoticed by his father. Still, Peter couldn't help but listen to him. It was always interesting to hear what kind of bull he could come up with this time. He wondered if anyone would ever interrupt him. He would pay to see the look on his face when someone did.

"Hear me and rejoice," He began. "You have had the privilege of being saved by the great titan. You may think this is suffering. No, it is salvation. Universal scales tip towards balance because of your sacrifice. Smile, for even in death you have become children of Thanos."

Peter let out a sigh of exasperation. Was just anyone invited to the club now? He looked up from where he had been watching Ebony and that is when he spotted him: Loki. He was standing in the center of the wreckage, looking unnerved at his comrades. It was partially his fault though, if he had not stolen the space stone, then they could have waited for his father to snap instead of being slaughtered.

They locked eyes briefly, blue eyes gazing into white lenses. Peter had to look away, he had trusted the man and still saw him as family. His father noticed his gaze and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Peter hoped he wouldn't press the topic, but it was most likely dependent on the outcome of what happened now. His father turned to look entirely at Loki, glancing down at the blonde man before doing so. Peter shuffled closer to Ebony Maw's group, waiting to be signaled.

"I know what it's like to lose," His father began. "To feel so desperately that you were right, yet to fail nonetheless." Here, his father bent down slowly and picked up the blonde man by the front of his armor. He began to drag him backwards towards Loki, the man's feet hovering just barely over the metal flooring. The man groaned and reached up, grabbing at Thanos' gauntlet. "It's frightening, turns the legs to jelly." His father continued.

"If I ask you to what end, dread it? Run from it? Destiny arrives all the same. And now, it's here. Or should I say, I am?" His father lifted up his gauntlet and curled it into a fist, showing off the power stone that they had already obtained from Xandar.

Peter rolled his eyes behind his mask, mostly because he knew that it wouldn't be seen. His father could be so cliché, especially when he seemed to follow along with Ebony. He must be extremely happy at this moment to go along with it, or perhaps he was starting to believe what Ebony kept saying. Honestly, Peter hoped that that wasn't the case, although he knew his father had been… slightly unhinged since Gamora had abandoned them. Nebula returning just to uselessly fire at them only helped it along.

He noted that Proxima was now aiming her own weapon at Loki's upper chest region. Loki's eyes were locked onto Thanos, or maybe it was on the man that Thanos was carrying. Thanos swung the man around so that he was facing Loki while kneeling on the ground. The man looked at Ebony's group and then spat, "You talk too much." Blood dribbled down his chin as he did so.

Thanos ignored him and continued. "The tesseract," He paused and then lifted the blonde man's head a little more. "Or your brother's head." Ah, so that was the brother that Loki had mentioned a few times while under the stone's control. Peter couldn't really see the resemblance, but he supposed that was due to Loki being adopted. They both had the same look of defiance though, so at least they probably both got that from Odin.

Loki hesitated and Thanos responded by squeezing the brother's- Thor's, he believed the name was- skull. "I assume you have a preference," Father said. Loki's eyes locked onto Thanos' and for a moment, Peter believed he would give the tesseract up. Then, Loki surprised them both by responding. "Oh I do. Kill away."

Thanos responded by holding the power stone up to Thor's face and powering it up. Peter wasn't entirely sure how the power stone worked, so he couldn't tell for sure what his father was doing to the man. Peter crossed his arms, slightly annoyed at the expected, but still frustrating reaction.

After a few moments, where Loki's eyes went from Thanos' to Thor's before shouting, "Alright! Stop!" Thanos removed his gauntlet from the side of Thor's head, the power stone powering down. Peter gaped at Loki from behind the mask. From how that man had spoken back when he knew him, he would have let Thor die and be grateful about it! What had changed after he was freed from the stone's grasp?

"We don't have the tesseract," Thor proclaimed. Did he really believe that, Peter wondered. This was Loki they were talking about after all. "It was destroyed on Asgard," He claimed. Loki glanced down at Thor before looking back up at Thanos before stepping back and summoning the tesseract out of what Peter assumed was a pocket dimension, and into his hand. Thanos grinned.

"You. Really are the worst brother." Thor wheezed out to Loki. "I assure you brother, the sun will shine upon us again." Loki responded, stepping closer to Thanos with the tesseract held out.

His father chuckled. "Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian."

"Well for one thing, I'm not Asgardian," Loki said, stepping back slightly. Peter tensed up, something was about to happen.

"And for another. We have a Hulk," Loki said, dropping the tesseract and diving for his brother. He covered Thor with his own body as this 'Hulk' barreled into Thanos.

Peter launched himself at the Hulk and his father. His father was moved and on the ground, but he barely seemed fazed by the attack. The hulk roared and Peter aimed his wrists, fully prepared to use his webbing to subdue the creature. Before he could, though, his wrist was grabbed by Proxima. He glanced over to Ebony, who held his hand up to Cull, who had also seemed about to attack. "Let him have his fun," Ebony said, glancing at both Cull and Peter. Peter lowered his wrist and Proxima released it.

His father was slammed into the wall, but barely seemed touched by what happened. His father grabbed the Hulk's wrists, pulling them out to the sides before punching him in the face. The hulk attempted to retaliate, but Thanos parried the attacks fluidly. This creature seemed to rely on brute force, barely thinking at all before throwing a punch. His father parried multiple more attacks while landing punches on the Hulk's chest, head, and groin. He even punched the creature through a supporting column before grabbing him and kneeing him in the head. He held the creature over himself before slamming it onto it's back, embedding it into the metal. The creature laid still and did not get up.

The Children of Thanos and Peter had been so engrossed in the fight that they failed to notice Thor running up to Thanos himself. He hit the titan across the face with a metal pipe and Peter scoffed. After defeating a creature of that size in such a small span of time, did Thor really think that would have any effect on him? His father kicked the man, sending him flying. At the same time, Ebony finally acted, using his telepathy to secure metal bindings around the man. Peter enforced it more, using his webbing to wrap the metal.

The man glared defiantly. Peter's attention was shifted to another man who was laying on the ground. This man had darker skin and yellow eyes and was clearly too injured to move any significant distance. This new man gripped a sword then began to speak. Peter wasn't entirely sure what the man said, as it was mostly whispered. Clearly, however, the man did something because rainbow light quickly engulfed the creature before vanishing and taking the creature with it. Proxima watched as it passed her, but it was too quick to react to, even by Peter's standards.

Thanos walked over to the man and picked up Corvus' glaive. "That was a mistake," He said, with anger lacing his voice, but still managing to sound calm and unconcerned. The man looked over at Thor and then back up to Thanos just in time to be stabbed in the chest by the glaive. Thor screamed in denial, but nothing he could do would change anything.

Peter watched from the side, his annoyance growing. They were not meant to be here long. He understood Thor's pain at losing someone close (at least, he assumed him and the man were close), but he could not act on it. Peter's eyes went to his father's, who twisted the staff still inside the man. Peter blinked in surprise. His father must be furious. He does not cause suffering, he is normally quick with his kills unless he needs information. His father must have wanted either Thor, the man, or both to suffer. The man went limp.

Thor stared straight up at Thanos and proclaimed, "You're going to die for that!" Peter shot webbing over his mouth. Thor was only digging himself deeper into the hole dug by his brother and the actions of the man. When Thor glanced over to him, he held an armored finger up to his lips in a shushing motion. That would normally be Ebony's thing, but Peter was frustrated with being left out.

While Corvus went and retrieved his glaive, Ebony bent down to lift the tesseract. It hovered slightly above his hand. He bent a knee and offered the tesseract to Thanos. "My humble personage," He began and Peter mentally face palmed. Hadn't that man spoken enough today? Honestly, Peter was going to walk away from here with a headache. "Bows before your grandeur," He continued. Thanos removed his helmet and armor. "No other being has ever had the might, nay, the nobility to wield not one, but two infinity stones. The universe lies within your grasp" He finished.

Thanos reached out and grabbed the tesseract. He gazed at it for a moment before crushing the protective cube that surrounded the stone, creating a quick shockwave of blue. He picked the stone out of the glass shards and placed it into its spot above his middle finger. An even larger blue shockwave resounded around the area, but leaving almost as quickly as a flashbang. His father revelled in the success for a moment, glancing down at the two stones he now held in his possession.

"There are two more stones on Earth," he claimed. "Find them my children, bring them to me on Titan," He said to Ebony's group. They put their fists above their hearts and said, "Father, we will not fail you." Peter moved to follow them, but Thanos stopped him. "Not you, Peter. We are going elsewhere to retrieve another stone." Peter nodded at him and stepped back. He spotted Loki mere seconds before he announced himself. Peter sadly watched, he knew what was going to happen. If Loki had simply stayed quiet and hidden in the chaos, he might have been spared.

"Now, if I may interject. If you're going to Earth, you might want a guide," He said. A conman to the end, Peter quietly thought. "I do have a bit of experience in that arena," He said with a grin, walking towards Thanos.

"Am I to consider failure, experience?" His father asked, sounding amused.

"I consider experience, experience," Loki retorted. "Almighty Thanos, I, Loki, prince of Asgard," He hesitated before continuing. "Odinson," He looked back at Thor for that word. "The rightful king of jotunheim, God of mischief, do hereby pledge to you-" Peter tuned him out briefly, noticing the confused look on Thor's face. What was he looking at?

"-My undying fidelity," Loki finished. It looked as though he was about to kneel. However, he swung a dagger back up at Thanos at the last second. Peter didn't bother reacting, he knew that his father could stop it now that he had the time stone in his grasp. As expected, his father stopped the attack mid-air, a light blue sheen surrounding the dagger and Loki's arm.

Thanos smirked. "Undying," He said, amused. Loki's face was one of calm panic. He actually thought that would work? "You should choose your words more carefully," his father continued, grabbing Loki's wrist and bending it to his right before yanking down, causing Loki to drop the dagger.

He reached down and grabbed Loki around the neck with his gauntlet arm. He lifted him into the air and held him as he kicked and squirmed. Peter sharply took in a breath. He looked away towards Thor, he couldn't bear to watch Loki die, even if his father felt it was justified. Thor was watching with concealed rage. Peter didn't blame him, they were still family.

Peter heard Loki choke out, "You will never be. A God." Peter heard a small snap and he shut his eyes, waiting to hear Loki's body hit the floor. He heard Thor scream from behind his gag of webbing. It was a cry of despair, anguish, and rage.

He looked up and saw his father walking over to Thor, Loki's body still clutched in his hand. He dropped Loki at Thor's restrained feet. "No resurrections this time," He said. Peter really, truly, hoped his father was in the wrong on this one. He liked Loki. Even if he failed, he was family.

His father triggered the power stone and started destroying the ship. He then activated the space stone as well, creating a portal that would teleport them away from this terrifying scene. Peter caught a glimpse of Thor's bonds releasing and him crawling to Loki before the scene turned into the ship he was more familiar with.

He turned to look out the front window and watched as what had been the refugee's ship exploded in a blast of purple.


So, to those who didn't look at the updated chapters, Hi again! I went back and updated the previous chapters (nothing major, just spelling and stuff being fixed). I am sorry that it took me 2 years to update, but I've been busy with life. I am hoping it won't take another 2 years for me to update again, but then again, I'm only updating because I got sudden motivation to do so at 1am.

See, I promised! So, this is the longest chapter you will most likely ever get. I did actually go in and watch the movie. As the characters spoke and moved, I wrote it down. So if it seems like a written version of the beginning of Infinity War, but with Peter there, then that is why. That is the goal. Things will most likely be vastly different in the next chapter, as I have to use my imagination again. That is also why I will likely take a while to update it and why it may not be as detailed as this chapter.

Anyways, thanks for continuing to read and I hope to update again sooner than 2 years from now!