Chapter 4
As the ship pulled away from the wreckage, Peter's eyes remained focused on it. His mask did well to conceal him, but anyone who looked at him could see that it bothered him. No matter how neutral his face may seem, if his eyes are hidden then there was no hiding where his eyes were looking due to the design of his mask. He retracted the mask towards the back of his skull, there was no use trying to hide now. He knew father had seen.
"They have been saved, you know. They have been granted the title of Children of Thanos for their sacrifice," the slimy voice of Ebony Maw resounded behind him. "They were granted… salvation."
Peter's lips tilted down slightly in annoyance, he despised the man. Or, whatever species the man was. He turned around to face Maw, his face once again neutral. He crossed his still-armored arms and quirked an eyebrow.
"And why should I care? They were in the way of our goals and eliminating them removed that obstruction," He said carefully. He saw father out of the corner of his eye and watched to make sure he had answered to his satisfaction. Despite already getting the no-go from him on going to Earth to retrieve the time and mind stones, Peter still hoped that he could get father to change his mind.
Ebony Maw's grin dropped to a frown and Peter felt a small, internal moment of satisfaction. Father, it seems, either did not hear or did not care about their conversation. Instead, he began to address the small group that consisted of Cull, Proxima, Maw, Glaive, and Peter.
"My children," He began and Peter inwardly scowled. Ebony's group had no claim to the title of a child of Thanos. They had not been raised by him for Galaxy's sake! He made sure to only briefly retreat to his head to complain in order to prevent himself from missing any vital information.
"It is time for you to depart. The time stone has been located in a city known as New York. Proceed there and claim it, then have Ebony Maw meet me on Titan. The rest of you will need to fight Earth's defenses." He finished, gesturing towards the ship bay.
Ebony's group bowed and began to head to the bay. Peter quickly took the chance to address his desire to his father.
"Father, if I may?" Peter began. His father raised a brow, but gestured for him to continue anyway. "I believe it would be beneficial for me to raid Earth with Ebony Maw." He spoke calmly and neutrally, so as to not give away his excitement.
"Peter, I have already said that you and I were going to be obtaining another stone elsewhere," His father said, with an equally neutral tone. He had taught Peter how to use a neutral tone after all. For all he knew, father could see right through what his tone was disguising.
Peter took a small, quiet breath. "If it is merely one stone, Father, then would it not be more helpful for me to attend to Earth where we are aware that both an army and two infinity stones reside?" He asked. He was always fairly good at using a logical argument and he knew that his father knew that.
Thanos looked at Peter for a moment and brought his hand to his chin. A very human-like reaction to when someone was thinking hard. Peter's face and posture remained neutral. He noted that Ebony's group had paused in their descent in order to see what father's decision would be. Good, it meant that his argument was sound and actually made sense.
After a few tense moments, his father let out a sigh of resignation. Peter almost, almost smiled. He knew that meant that his father had agreed with his argument.
"Very well," his father said. "You may accompany my other children to Earth to retrieve the stones. However, you are to return to Titan with Ebony Maw once the time stone has been retrieved."
This time, Peter let a smile shine through his mask of neutrality. "Thank you, Father." He said, giving an extremely slight bow of respect. He put his fist over his heart just to seal the deal a little more.
His father nodded, but did not look entirely pleased at the outcome. Frankly, Peter did not care that he wasn't pleased. He turned and proceeded towards Ebony Maw's group. He wiped the smile off his face as he approached them. He nodded to them and they nodded to him, letting him and Maw take the lead towards the ship bay.
The walk there was uneventful. They passed many chitauri and outriders alike, the outriders themselves looked like they were ready to rip something apart. They were beasts though, so nothing quite new for them.
Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, and Peter all boarded one ship. The design was rather odd, but aero-dynamic. It was essentially a giant circle with a big hole in the center. Peter imagined that it would be shaped like a donut to man-kind, but he had never seen one himself. As they boarded, they glanced back at Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight, who were boarding another ship. The two groups nodded to one another before turning and closing the hatches.
On board, Ebony Maw immediately went to the controls for the ship. Cull Obsidian went to stand next to him and watch the stars go by as they flew. Peter leaned against one of the side panels and activated his mask. His armor made a slight clang as it hit against the metal of the interior panels, but nobody on board paid it any attention. Peter crossed his arms and stared at the galaxy as it went by.
There was not much conversation as they travelled, but Peter was annoyed at how long it was taking. He would have asked if the ship could go any faster, but he knew it couldn't. He had designed them after all. Clearly he needed to take a look at the speed capacity when they finished on Earth. He could make some improvements more suitable for long-distance travelling.
Finally, after hours, the blue (more like brown) and green planet came into view. They were still a good distance away, but Peter knew it wouldn't be long before they were right on top of it. He moved from where he was leaning (yes, he had been there the entire time) and headed closer to the windshield.
Maw and Cull took note, but again said nothing. They may consider talking around father in order to keep up the pretense of being able to work together, but they were only barely civil when they were alone.
Peter took the time he had before they reached Earth in order to observe the planet. Their culture was rather odd. They both destroyed and celebrated their planet. They both welcomed and rejected people who were different from one another. They both adored animal species and killed some of the most magnificent species out there. Man-kind seemed to be very hypocritical from what Peter could tell. Then again, he had never actually met someone from Earth. Sure, he himself looked like one of them, but he wasn't actually one of them.
Peter shook himself out of his thoughts as the ship broke through the atmosphere. It wasn't long before the ship was hovering above a city and began its slow descent. His enhanced hearing could pick up the screaming from beneath the ship as terrified humans raced to escape the incoming danger.
Right before they could even touch any buildings, there was a blast of power from beneath them that stopped the descent of the ship. Maw, Cull, and Peter all looked at one another. It was obvious that the resistance was here and the fight was about to begin. Peter extended every one of his legs to full length, lifting himself off the ground. Cull grabbed his axe and met up with Peter next to Maw. Then, they were beamed down to the surface of the planet.
Hi again! This is a shorter chapter, only about 1.3k words. There is a second part to it that will be posted soon (if not today)! I decided to break up my chapters rather than having few long ones and have more shorter ones. I hope you enjoy! Please comment, it fuels me.
