More Than a Mortal

Taking Matters Into His Own Hands

Fatality Eclipse had witnessed Acrimon's defeat just before he departed Atillan. The small, one-person craft carried him out of Uranus's unforgiving atmosphere and he made his way home, to Thanos.

Acrimon had been a fool. Fatality and his siblings had seen this the moment they'd laid eyes upon him. Like Loki and Amora, he was weakened by his own agenda. Why they couldn't just pledge their undying loyalty to Thanos and embrace his plan wholeheartedly, Fatality would never know. Perhaps if they'd been taken in and raised by Thanos they might see things differently. He and his siblings had been. And their vision was clear.

His ship moved with agility through the far reaches of deep, cold space until he arrived. The bleak landscape of their home greeted him. He approached Thanos's throne and the titan stared at him expectantly.

"Acrimon has fallen, father," Fatality explained as he bowed before him. "I witnessed it with my own eyes."

Thanos shook his head. "His ambitions were his undoing."

Fatality looked up at his father in reverence. "I am sensing a trend with these lapdogs you've enlisted."

Thanos stood from the throne and walked toward a panel on the far wall. It slid open at his command and he reached inside. When he retracted his arm, the golden gauntlet was covering his fist, the Power Stone glowing upon.

"Fine," he said in a bored voice. "I'll just do it myself."

Fatality stood as his other siblings slowly moved into the room with him. He smiled excitedly at them. Finally, their time had come. One of them, stepped forth, her spear clutched in her hand. This was Proxima Midnight, the only female member of the Black Order- Thanos's adoptive children and most-skilled followers.  Her tall and powerfully built body was clad in dark, fitted bodysuit with pieces of white armor adorning her. Her face was pale from the tops of her cheeks down. Above, though, her face was a dark blue and strange, horn-like structures jutted out of her temples, growing close to her head and framing a curtain of blue hair that fell to her back. Her eyes, malevolent and dark orange. "Where will we go?" she asked.

Thanos turned and smiled. So eager for blood, his children. "I want to pay a visit to our old friend on Asgard. I don't believe the lies he told. The Space Stone is there." He looked down at his golden glove, eyeing the empty socket where the Space Stone would fit. It was only a matter of time. His dream would soon be realized- a balanced universe.

"The Reality Stone was last encountered by the Asgardian," Proxima's husband, Corvus Glaive, spoke in his deep rumble. Of the same height as his wife, Corvus's build was lean and hungry. His face was comprised of pale purple flesh and sharp, angular features that gave him a harsh, violent appearance. His armor, all black with adornments of gold, clung to his lean body.

"Yes, the Inhuman prince was possessed by it before the Dark Elf took it for himself," Thanos recounted, his tone bored. "Since then, knowledge of its whereabouts have been a closely guarded secret. But Asgard holds answers for this."

"When do we leave?" the largest of the Black Order, Cull Obsidian, asked in his plain, gruff speech. The big creature was heavily armored, his broad-chested body closely resembling a reptile. The mind within the behemoth warrior may have been simple, but his allegiance was unquestionable.

If Cull Obsidian were considered to be the muscle of the Black Order, the fifth and final member must be the brain. Ebony Maw was different from his siblings. He wore no traditional armor and his thin body was clad in simple clothing that covered him from the neck down- black fabric with panels of white and gold. His flat, nose-less face was fixed in a permanent scowl, his wide-set eyes always appearing irritated. A shock of sparse white hair grew out from the back of his head, like the tails of ghosts. He remained silent, his hands clasped in front of him.

"Soon," Thanos promised his children. "Soon you will taste blood, I promise you that. We just need to wait for a few more...obstacles...to die."