Chapter Text
Run from me, darlin'
Run, my good wife
Run from me, darlin'
You better run for your life...
-Timber Timbre
~~~
The first thing I remembered hearing when I became fully conscious was the loud siren wails of a hull breach warning. The next thing I heard were the screams.
My eyes squinted open, suddenly flush with flashing red lights. My head ached, and it felt like I’d had the worst hangover in the entire galaxy. With a grunt, I rolled off of my stomach and onto my back, staring up at the ceiling as the noises and lights continued to alert the passengers of danger. However, my mind was disconnected from the instinct to get up and run, and I felt like I was floating in space. I didn’t want to get up; I wanted to lie here and wait until it was all over, whatever it was.
After a few moments, my brain started to pound harder, forcing me to wince at the blooming pain at the back of my skull. My hand slowly reached up and brushed the base of my neck and held my fingers up to my face.
Blood. I must have hit my head.
That was all the motivation I needed to roll over and push myself up on wobbly knees. My muscles all felt sore and abused, but I forced myself to stand anyway. The room looked like living quarters, maybe mine, with a my bag spilled out onto the floor next to a cot. I saw the blaster peeking just out of the bag, and I scooped it up quickly and pushed the other items back in. Whatever was happening out there, it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.
I slung the bag over my shoulder and made my way to the door. I opened the latch and slowly peeked my head through to check my surroundings. My breath caught in my throat, and my blood ran cold.
Bodies. Eyes open and staring up at nothing. Men, women, and children, all dead. These people had tried to escape, and some monster had left them all to die.
Before I could assess the situation further, run for the transport pods, anything that could get me out of here, my finger thumbed the safety off of my blaster and I stepped over the bodies towards the sound of the shrill screaming in my ears. It was a man’s voice, and no words were coming out, just a long, inhuman scream. I didn’t know what exactly I could do, but I wanted to save someone on this ship. No one deserved whatever had happened to these people.
As silently as I could, I passed through the hallway, sidestepping the bodies that slumped over on the floor. In any other situation, my limbs would be trembling, and yet I trekked on. Perhaps it was the head wound talking, but I was experiencing a sense of heroism I’d never felt before. I’ve always been running away from danger, sneaking away in the chaos of battle. I mean, I’ve always known my own strength, and I don’t really pick battles where I know I might lose. As a human I’ll always have the disadvantage. No powers, no nothing. Just a mediocre shot. Thankfully, that’s all I’ve ever needed, until maybe now that is.
After wandering the claustrophobic corridors for a while, the walls opened up in the form of a broken door, circuits flashing and hissing with failure. I held my body against the wall and shut my eyes, almost afraid to peek inside and see exactly who or what was causing the man to scream in such sheer unearthly pain. I held the blaster tighter, lifting it up against me in a defensive position. Breathe in. Breathe out. With one last big gulp of air I slowly shifted my weight over to the door and inched my face just enough so my eye could catch a sliver of what was held inside.
I saw the man suspended in the air first. His limbs were stretched out, almost as if on a medieval rack. His face was twisted and contorted in such anguish, his hoarse voice continuing to carry out of his slack jawed mouth. Something glinted beside him, and for a moment I couldn’t decide what it was. Suddenly, things were beginning to click as I spotted them; long, thin, sharp, glass-like spears pressing into the man’s body. Whatever it was, the man was being stabbed from every angle on every part of his body.
And then my eyes landed on the tall figure before the man. He wore a dark black robe with gold and silver trim winding in a geometric design, his pale blueish purple hands clasped behind his back with black rings on each gnarled and twisted finger. His head was tilted to the side, admiring his handiwork. I couldn’t see the rest of his head past his thin silver-white hair, but if it was anything like his fingers then I wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to find out.
“Did you really and truly believe you could escape us forever?” the tall figure asked, his voice sending chills up my spine. They were cold, collected- and the most frightful of all- tinged with amusement as he watched his prey squirm and cry. “My father doesn’t appreciate scoundrels that run away from their deals. You ran, and now you must pay the price.”
I slowly slid back into place, trying to gulp down the lump in my throat. An entire passenger ship slaughtered, all for the sake of killing one man that went back on a deal. This creep was off his fucking rocker.
A flash of anger started to bubble up in my throat. Why did this jackass have to board the same ship as me and get everyone else killed? Why did this gigantic fucking pencilneck not wait to corner the jackass on his own instead of slaughtering everyone in the vicinity? And why on earth did I feel so compelled to save the jackass from his fate anyways? I have no idea what he did, he could have been a murderer like the tall dude. However, no matter what he did, he didn’t deserve a fate like this.
I didn’t even have a chance to decide if I was going to act on my gut and save this guy. My blaster, almost as if an invisible force, yanked out of my hand and flew towards the end of the hall at the speed of light and destroyed on impact. My hands began to tremble, and suddenly my foot slid out from under me.
I let out a shriek as I was sent flying through the air by my right foot, my surroundings flashing so quickly by me that I couldn’t even figure out what was happening. My hands flung out instinctively in front of me, hoping to break my fall on whatever I landed on.
Suddenly I hit the floor with a thud, my throat croaking as the wind knocked out of me. I lay there for a moment, trying to lift myself up and run for my life, but with the lack of air I was panicking. I was all out of options.
The man’s body fell in front of me with a thud, his eyes glazed over and his mouth forever open in a silent scream for no one to hear. If I’d been able to, I’d probably have cried out in fear. My mind was running through hundreds of thoughts, the most prevalent being, ‘I’m going to die here.’
Suddenly, I felt a yank on my hair as I was hoisted to my feet. My eyes clenched at the surge of pain coursing through my skull, my hands immediately clasping on the knotted fingers of my tormentor. I was almost afraid to open my eyes.
“What do we have here, a Xandarian perhaps?” the voice hissed out. “And a woman no less. I’m surprised you’re still alive from that. You’re much more durable than the others were.”
I finally let my eyes flutter open. Just inches from my face was his, a scowl pulling at his lips, only adding to the wrinkles that creased his face. His brow was pronounced, and his eyes were a pale green, staring into mine coldly. He didn’t have a nose either, which added a foreignness and unease to his appearance.
Out of nowhere, I felt the words falling out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Well first of all, asshole, that was pretty sexist of you,” I hissed, leaving the creature to cock his brow at me. “Second of all, I wasn’t even going to do shit! Don’t go assuming I was going to come in here guns blazing-”
The creature snorted and my body flung itself against the wall on the opposite side of the room. I cried out as I fell back to the floor, and he chuckled. “Don’t be sore that I was aware of your presence before you could get the drop on me,” he said before flicking his wrist and sliding me back over to his feet. He leaned forward, his mouth twisting into a gruesome smile. “Such a shame you didn’t account for your opponent to possess telekinetic abilities, hmm?”
With a lack of a better comeback, I replied, “Oh, get over yourself, fuckface.”
That earned me another lap around the room, my body slamming into every surface I came into contact with. God, if I somehow got out of this alive, I would be sore in the morning.
I crashed back down on the floor below me, aching and throbbing in pain from every part of my body. Somehow, my bag was still strapped to me by whatever ounce of luck that took. I felt blood drip off of my brow, though I couldn’t muster enough strength to lift my hand up to check the damage. Before I could roll over to protect myself, his foot pressed down onto my chest. He smirked as I cried out in pain, putting just enough pressure to cause discomfort but not enough to cause true damage.
Leaning forward slightly, he spoke again, “I find it’s always the cocky ones who are unable to back up their claims. I’m unsurprised that you are no different.” He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something more, but his mouth just hung there slightly open. His brow furrowed slightly, his eyes narrowing. I winced as his hand snapped near my face, but the blow didn’t come. Instead, his fingers swiped at my forehead.
Confused, I opened my eyes again. My heart dropped as I saw what had intrigued him so much. Rubbing his fingers together, my blood stained the tips of his fingers. Slowly, his gaze looked back upon me. After a moment of uneasy anticipation, he spoke again, “How interesting. Red blood. We aren’t Xandarian, are we?”
When I didn’t answer him, he continued. “Ah, clamming up as soon as you’ve been found out. How fitting. Well, it is your lucky day, little Terran, my father has been desiring one of you for his harem for many years. You’ll be a lovely addition to his collection.”
My blood froze in my veins. Being a human woman in the vast stretch of universe, this was always my greatest fear: not dying before someone discovered my origins. I’d heard of many horror stories of humans being sold on intergalactic black markets for whatever cruel fate their masters had in store for them, but a harem? I’d rather be dead.
Against my better judgement, the words that came out of my mouth were another jab at my captor. “You’re telling me you bring your father bedmates? I think Freud would love to pick your brain for a while.”
“How unfortunate the first Terran I come across is a foul mouthed little whore,” he hissed. “No matter, my father will enjoy teaching you to do as you’re told. He surely won’t mind breaking you in.”
“Try me, fucker,” I growled, spitting right into his face. I gritted my teeth as I watched his eyes fill with silent rage. I just only hoped I could egg him on enough to kill me instead of slapping a bow on me and giving me to the orchestrator of my soon-to-be personal hell.
Instead, he raised himself back up to his feet and used the back of his hand to brush back the spit. “Oh you’re not getting out of this so easily, Terran. Consider yourself blessed, you’ll be serving the greatest being in the galaxy and living out your life comfortably. So long as you fall in line,” he added through gritted teeth.
He then began walking away, his hands behind his back as he moved out of the room. My body, through his mind, lifted again into the air, though this time it was far more gentle. My feet brushed against the body of the man on the floor as I floated past, and I felt a tinge of fear. My arms and legs were seemingly glued to my sides, unable to kick or try to escape the invisible binds.
I continued to try my best to squirm or do anything as my body slowly followed my captor down the hallway. I began to feel sick again passing the corpses of the departed. In some sick way I’d prefer myself dead over everything else, just to escape the torture that awaited ahead.
Out of frustration, I screamed incoherently at the creature’s back, slinging every curse and obscenity I could muster. I would have let myself go hoarse too, if not for my lips slamming shut. All I could do was muffle my disdain now. Even with all the space around me, I felt confined, as if shoved in a high school locker and locked inside. Except I could see everything, and there was nothing in my surroundings that would stop this from happening.
There was nothing I could possibly do.
That thought rattled around in my brain as I was lifted up into his spacecraft, the inside about as empty and cold as the creature’s eyes. He opted to ignore me as he turned to his console, both of his arms sliding into place as he prepared to dock out. All at once, images flashed before my eyes, but I was hardly conscious enough to keep track of them at once. Mechanical arms prodded my wounds at one point, the next he was leaning down and fixing his gaze upon me as his grip checked for broken bones. Another moment the creature was back at the console, the screen displaying docking visuals.
Suddenly, the creature was back in front of me, jerking my chin up to look at him. “You can choose to arrive to my father with dignity, or held by a short leash like some sort of beast. Which do you prefer?” he asked.
My mouth suddenly opened, allowing me to speak. “I want to walk, please!” I cried out, wanting desperately to be back in control of my body. Instantly, my legs fell out from under me, hitting the metal grate with a thud. I wrapped my arms around myself instinctively, ignoring the creature looming over me. I didn’t care that this power he had over me pleased him, I wanted to feel comfort again any way I could.
“You will address me as Ebony Maw. None of this “fuckface,” you’re ever so fond of,” he said. The curse sounded so odd between his overly eloquent language. “How should I address you to my father?”
I stayed silent. I didn’t care if his father wouldn’t know my name, the last thing I wanted was my name on any of my captors’ lips.
After a moment Maw shrugged, turning to head out of the ship. “No matter, you’ll simply be just another one of his whores. He won’t care either way. Now come, don’t keep me waiting or I’ll have to carry you again,” he said over his shoulder.
I quickly scrambled to my feet, not wanting to be told twice. There was a part of me that hated myself for giving in, but I needed to play nice until I could figure out how to escape this place. I needed to remain calm before making any big moves.
The interior of this new ship was just as dark and unwelcoming as Maw’s ship. Some aliens milled around outside, their eyes fixating on me as I stepped out of the ship.
“Alert Father of my arrival, and tell him I brought him a gift,” Maw told one of the aliens nonchalantly, and they nodded in understanding. Maw’s long legs carried him rather quickly, and I did my best to keep up with him as he slinked in and around the ship.
Other aliens made way for the two of us as we passed, all of them staring curiously at me. I felt like some trophy on display, like a lamb to the slaughter. It only made me fear for what creature I was being gifted to, and what he wanted me to do.
I slammed into Maw’s back with a grunt, not realizing he’d stopped. He turned around and looked down at me with a scowl. My stomach tightened, fearing the arrival at our destination.
“Be on your best behavior if you do not wish to be immediately corrected for your slights against my father. He does not take kindly to insubordination,” Maw said. I nodded, and he jerked his head back and urged me to follow behind.
The room was large, empty only for large slabs of stone arranged on a pedestal. Small pools of water formed in different areas on the floor, the ceiling letting in a small amount of light, illuminating the cold, cave-like room. I couldn’t imagine this was a nice place to stay.
Maw held his hand out, instructing me to wait there. I rolled my eyes but obeyed, letting Maw walk towards the structure in the center of the room. This need for theatrics was making me uneasy. I just wanted to rip the bandaid off and get it all over and done with.
Maw walked around the structure, disappearing behind it. His voice echoed over the walls as he spoke, “Father, I have completed my mission. He is no more.”
“I’m pleased to hear that, Maw. I knew you wouldn’t fail me,” a deep voice replied back. It suddenly occurred to me that the structure was a large throne, and that whoever his father was, he was sitting on it. “I was told you also found something else of interest?”
“A gift, father,” Maw said. My legs began to feel wobbly at the thought. “Besides that traitor, something else was hiding aboard that passenger ship. A Terran woman. I brought her to you.”
Silence hung in the air for an uncomfortably long while. My teeth were chattering in my mouth at this point, my brain racing in every direction possible. I simultaneously wanted to run for my life and stay here where I would be safe for the time being all at the same time.
And then the deep voice spoke again, “Bring her to me then.”
I began to feel a pull on my brain, like a warning that if I didn’t move now I would be dragged there. I moved one foot in front of the other, slowly testing that my legs wouldn’t fall out from underneath me. The short stretch to the throne felt like an eternity at this speed, but any faster and I wasn’t sure how well I would fare.
Closer and closer I came, the throne now so close that I could reach out and touch it. But I kept my gaze on the ground, I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of acknowledging either of them. My eyes stayed on Maw’s feet, my body now in clear view of the front of the throne and whoever sat there. I finally arrived by Maw’s side, my head down and my hands hanging limply from my sides.
“Don’t be rude,” Maw hissed, causing my body to jolt. “Look up, and rejoice in the knowledge of being in the presence of your new master, The Great Titan, Thanos.”
In an instant, the chattering in my teeth stopped, and my limbs stopped shaking. I froze in place. Did… did he say Thanos? As in… the Mad Titan Thanos? The same Thanos that everyone in the galaxy knows is the same man that slaughters half of every planet he comes across?
I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to think that I misheard Maw say what the worst case scenario would be. That I was just projecting my fears. But there was only one way to know for sure.
Slowly, I lifted my head inch by inch, revealing more of my face and of the man sitting before me. Just from the size of his golden armored boots, I could tell the figure was massive. His torso was wide, wearing a dark blue breastplate adorned with golden trim that looked almost as menacing as the size of his purple fists. One of his hands could probably wrap around my head if he really wanted to.
My eyes finally landed on his face, framed by the armored helmet he wore, the gold trim accentuating his features. His eyes bored into mine, studying me as I somehow held his gaze. I was almost too afraid of what would happen if I let him out of my sight, what Thanos would do to me, what Maw said Thanos would do to me.
“Tell me,” Thanos began with a low drawl. “What do they call you, little human?”
My mind didn’t register his words. Instead, almost as if someone had hit the off switch, my brain began to blur the world around me. My legs gave out from under me, and just as I was about to register my head hitting the craggy ground beneath me, my surroundings went black.