Infinity Era

by JDPrime22

Chapter 18 – Broken

Pain was nothing new to Nebula. Since her world and her people were slaughtered at the hands of her adoptive father, the intergalactic warlord, Thanos, all she experienced her entire life from that moment on was pain.

Nothing else.

From the moment Thanos began training her, day in and day out she was beaten, cut, stabbed, dismantled, and transformed into a weapon. The very few parts of her that remained—the parts of her that were still Luphomoid—were completely overshadowed by her infused cybernetics. Every time, Thanos would have her face her sister, and every time Nebula would lose. And every time… he would remove a piece of her and replace it with something he deemed better. Until she was better.

Nebula was no stranger to pain. It had become a part of her as closely as the machinery that crowded her bones, muscle tissue, and heart. All of which were pulled apart as Nebula lay suspended several feet above the ground, the field of energy keeping her frozen in place, but fully awake and endearing every shred of ripping pain that flowed through her veins and circuits.

Standing beside her, a lone Chitauri Elite guarded her, checked her status, and made sure she experienced just enough pain to feel the full weight of the punishment Thanos deemed necessary, but not too much so she remained conscious for the whole ordeal. As the Chitauri Elite strode in front of her, checking her brain status, Nebula realized just how different the Elite were from the regular Chitauri fodder.

For one thing, they were much larger and much taller, wearing bright golden and dark blue armor. They never showed their faces, a slick golden mask and bright blue visor shielding whatever instrument of terror remained beneath. The weapons they carried were much larger than the standard Chitauri gun, and much more powerful, as well. Short swords rested on the Elite’s belt from what Nebula could see. Nebula sent a glare its way as it observed her brain, the Elite growling at her before retreating to the back of the room.

Unveiling the two individuals standing just by the entrance. Nebula’s remaining eye narrowed, the other suspended outwards and hovering in place. Slowly approaching, and chuckling manically as he did so, the Ebony Maw paused just mere feet in front of Nebula. Behind her, Cull Obsidian rested his hammer on his shoulder, glaring down at the suspended Luphomoid.

Nebula glared right on back. Back at her two adoptive brothers.

“And how is our guest doing today?” Ebony Maw asked, his fingers tapping gently with each other.

Nebula spat at him. Tried to. The spittle was frozen in the beam the second it exited her mouth.

Grimacing only slightly, Ebony continued. “May we find it to our surprise to see our least favorite sister pay us a visit after… so long. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Cull Obsidian just growled, meeting Nebula’s glare with an especially heated one of his own.

Such beasts, Ebony thought. Sighing, the Maw continued. “Be that as it may, you came with ill intentions this time around, sister. What was it again? Oh, yes, I do recall now.”

Ebony Maw waved his hand, and doing so caused Nebula’s body to be dismantled even further apart. She screamed in agony as she felt her body being torn from her, the very structure of her face, arms, legs, and body broken up and forcefully pulled apart. The torture yielded for a brief time, Nebula struggling to catch even her breath as her mechanical lungs were outstretched beyond what was practically functional.

“Nearly killing our father in his sleep!” Ebony hissed, standing in closer and nearly smacking his head against her broken one.

Seeing her seethe in agony, wriggling about as to try and make a difference to her current situation, the Maw just shook his head displeasingly and stepped back. “What have you to say for yourself, sister?” he sighed.

“Thanos…” Nebula managed to say, her vocal chords pulled to their limit, “… will never win.”

The Maw smiled. “He already has.”

As he watched her angry eye slowly cool, saw what remained of her facial expression that once held wrath and now only be filled with concern, he continued. “You thought it safe, didn’t you? You thought the Outriders would have failed. Oh, no, sister. We are simply here to tell you that the Soul Stone has been found.”

Nebula screamed, trying to break from her bondage but ultimately failing. The only eye that remained in her skull kept its heated and hate-filled glare locked with the Maw. But the Maw saw differently. She tried to put on a strong face, and she nearly hid it well behind the hatred and the fury. But deep down, he saw it clear as day. The fear in her eye, the increasing speed in her pulse, and the terrified breaths she tried so desperately to hide all showed.

“We have found it without having to tear you apart, piece by piece. We have found it conveniently resting on the same planet holding two other Infinity Stones. And most importantly…” Ebony Maw leaned closer, much closer than he had before, and whispered to her, “… we have found it without the help from our traitorous sister.”

Nebula knew they weren’t talking about her.

Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian left her alone with the Chitauri Elite. Left her as she screamed at their backsides every step of their retreat.

“The time is nearly upon us, sister. Pray you are spared alongside us.”

For hours, the Chitauri Elite spent that time reassembling her. He took his sweet time, making sure that every second was as excruciating an experience as Thanos wanted his daughter to have. And finally, Nebula was finally completely reassembled, every mechanical piece that hovered within the beam now attached and locked to the rest of her.

As the Elite was ready to initiate the sleeping gas on his prisoner, he was momentarily paused by the sound of a short but prominent pop.

Lifting his head, the Elite growled, looking back to the daughter of Thanos suspended several feet from the ground. She was motionless, as before, but something stuck out. It was her eye. The Elite could have sworn he locked that in place. Hissing as he approached the front of her, the Elite pressed his claw onto her mechanical eye, locking it back in place in her skull.

He turned to make his way back to the console, only to hear that same pop.

Turning about once more, he growled even louder when the same eye came undone. He stomped his way in front of her, pushed his claw into her eye even harder than last time, and died instantly. It was so fast, so unpredictable that the Elite couldn’t even react in time. She shot out her hand and gripped his forearm, bringing the Elite into the beam with her and snapping his neck in the process. Just before the body could fall, Nebula managed to reach down and snatch one of his short blades from his belt. She flung the blade towards the console, destroyed it upon impact, and disabled the beam that kept her suspended.

Both her and the body of the Chitauri dropped, but only one rose again. Nebula breathed, malice ripe on her tongue.

Her first instinct was to take hold of Thanos’ ship, find her father, and ram it right into the Mad Titan himself, but then the recurring thought of how many Chitauri Elite she would have deal with came quickly. Dealing with one was no problem, but the thousands of others that were on board would be impossible. Not to mention having to deal with Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian, two of the most dangerous members of the Black Order.

Another thought came to her cybernetic mind. Thanos knew of the location of the Soul Stone, which meant he knew where all six were now. Either he already got to Gamora or was going to find her soon enough. Either way, Nebula couldn’t let that happen. She focused on that thought and affirmed to herself that she was going to see it through, to find her sister before Thanos did. Which meant she needed to escape as soon as possible.

Quickly, she ran from the room, snatched her Electroshock Batons dangling from the wall before she did so, and sprinted through the many corridors of the Sanctuary II.

The inner sanctums and halls within Thanos’ personal ship always managed to scare Nebula when she was younger. As part of Thanos’ sick methods of perfecting her, he would leave her within the ship for days, forcing her to find her own way out, survive by herself, and escape the ship without the help from her father. Strangely enough, Nebula still remembered her way around. The maze-like corridors were pitch-black near the ceilings, but Nebula knew the way.

Just beyond the next corridor, the hangar bay would be directly ahead of her. And from there, she would steal a ship and make her escape. That was the plan, at least. The many Chitauri Elite rounding the corner nearly ruined that.

Silencing her breath, Nebula leapt back into the shadows, waiting as silently as she could manage as the several Chitauri strode down the corridor. They passed her, one by one until they had vanished, only their footsteps remaining echoing across the walls. When even those were silenced, Nebula finally caught her breath.

She exited the shadows and turned her eyes back to where the Elites had gone. And there was nothing. The ship was so silent she could practically hear her own heartbeat in her cybernetic eardrums. Turning the corner, she faced the long hallway directly ahead of her, and immediately stopped.

Both Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian did, as well. Nebula stared silently at her two siblings, feeling her heart race faster and faster as the grin grew on Maw’s lips. Obsidian grunted, pulling his hammer away from his shoulder and smacking the face of it on his opposite hand.

“Well, well, well,” Ebony Maw chuckled. “It’s about time you found your way out.”

But before he could even raise his finger, Nebula whipped out her Electroshock Baton and struck the control panel to her right. The lights flickered on and off in the corridor all three of them stood in before eventually dying out. Several things happened. Cull Obsidian launched the face of his hammer right into the darkness, where he presumed Nebula to be standing. The chain rattled as it flew, the face of the hammer striking something solid. There was a feminine cry that could only come from Nebula, a gust of wind, and retreating footsteps. Ebony Maw flicked his fingers straight upwards.

Once the lights came back on, both brothers could see Obsidian’s hammer embedded within the wall at the end of the corridor, the chain lying on the floor. But Nebula was gone. Spinning towards the footsteps, both Maw and Obsidian could see their sister making a break for it. Straight for the hangar bay.

As Cull Obsidian yanked his hammer’s head free with a powerful roar and charged after her, Ebony Maw simply walked Nebula’s way. He took his time, smiling to her retreating form.

“You cannot run forever, sister! Your salvation is at hand!” he called to her. She vanished into the next corridor. Cull Obsidian gave chase, hammer in hand, roaring with every step he made after her. Ebony Maw continued with his slow approach, finally reaching the end of the corridor and turning accordingly.

All he saw was the door lock behind Nebula and Obsidian ram his shoulder into it.

Nebula fell forward, the impact from her brother charging the door causing her to fall flat on her face. She gritted her teeth, shot up her head, and stared straight ahead. And lying ahead, she realized that she made it. She was in the hangar bay. Quite possibly the largest section of the entire ship, the hangar bay held several Chitauri starships. They were a far cry to what the Chitauri fodder flew around in, those near-worthless chariots. The starships were something else entirely.

Piloted by the Chitauri Elite, the ships were constructed horizontally. Their wings shot out several yards across, exhaust ports resting on the bottom of their wings and at the back of each ship. The cockpit was large and circular, one in particular empty and awaiting Nebula’s arrival. So, she did just that.

Hopping inside and starting the ship, the cockpit’s covering fell over her, locking in place as the starship came alive. Chitauri language hovered in her line of sight, but Nebula waved it all away with just a single flick of her hand. She gripped the ship’s handles, throttling them forward and lurching the ship up and off the ground. The Chitauri starship hovered in the center of the hangar bay, slowly turning to face the massive doors that blocked her escape. The only thing that remained.

Red lights and sirens blared within the massive bay, the twin doors slowly splitting apart once the starship approached it. All remaining air and gravity within the hangar bay were gone, the starship floating within the weightless space. Nebula flicked several more switches and readied herself, pushing down on the throttles and launching the starship forward, out in the blackness.

And finally to her escape. Cull Obsidian roared, slamming his hammer repeatedly against the door.

“There is no need for chase!” Ebony called out, causing Obsidian to eventually give in and cease his pounding on the door. Good timing, too, because had Cull continued to ram his shoulder and hammer into the door just one more time, both he and Maw would have been sucked out into the vacuum of space.

But Obsidian didn’t know that. He turned to the Maw for an explanation. He finally reached Cull’s side, staring out beyond the glass window and pressing his hand down to the console beneath him. The red lights died. The sirens stopped. The twin doors slowly began to close.

Bringing his hand back, Ebony Maw smiled and said, “Let her go. She is of no use any longer. For now, we must focus…”

He stared from the glass window towards planet Earth, the twin doors slowly blocking it. He stared at the continent of Africa. It, too, vanished once the doors to the hangar bay finally closed.

“For now… we have our own mission.”