Retaliation

Chapter 25 Memory Lane

I woke up in a room filled with clear mist and warm yellow light. There was a table and a set of chairs. There were a couple of toys on the ground. I didn't recognize any of it but it felt familiar somehow. 

Just a second ago, I snapped my fingers, wishing Thanos and all of his troops to disappear. My hand was even still up with my thumb and index finger still connected. Yet... it didn't even feel like I was in my own body. 

Did I fail? Did I die? Where the hell was I? 

"Hello." Before me were a couple of Skrulls holding hands. A wave of nostalgia flooded over me. It was as if I should know them but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. They both smiled at me. 

"Do-do I know you?" I questioned. 

"You did. A very long time ago," the woman answered. 

"Who are you? What is this place? Where is Elara!?" I began to panic and cry. 

"It's alright, my little one." The mysterious man explained. "This is just the place you're brought to when you use all the stones. You can leave whenever you are ready. It won't even appear to be a second in the real world." 

"You didn't answer the question of who you are." 

"They're our parents." That voice. It couldn't be...I turned around and there my brother stood before me. 

"V-Vylikin?" I gasped. 

"Yup. It's me." 

"But how!? How are you here!? How are they here!?" 

"It's hard to explain. We're here but we're not really here. It's us but it's not exactly the real us. We're currently in a realm that defies logic. This place, it shows you your biggest regrets." 

"Vylikin...I'm so sorry. I tried, I really did. But I couldn't stop myself," I wailed. 

"It's ok. I know now that it wasn't your fault." 

"But your daughter-" 

"I know."

"I tried to protect her," I sobbed. 

"You were scared. You did what you thought was best at the moment. You tried to make it right." 

"I may be mad at you now, but I will learn to come around." I turned to my right and saw Ryrni. She looked a couple of years older. She had her right arm back, but it was made of black metal.

"Ryrni... are you-" 

"Dead? No." 

"I'm sorry. I should've done better." 

"I was lucky I only lost an arm at the time." 

"What about them?" I pointed to my supposed parents. 

"Thanos slaughtered us. All of us were on a completely different planet when he came. We begged him to let you two live in exchange for our lives. He agreed and said it was an equal trade. Before he chopped our heads off we quickly sent you guys back to our home planet in an auto-piloted ship hoping Thanos wouldn't come after you," the woman explained. 

So that's what Thanos meant by sparing me twice.

Rage. Depression. Self-hatred. I was feeling all of it right now. I couldn't recall anything even as they explained it to me. It was like the spark was there but no lights were turning on. 

There were too many holes in my memories. Holes I can never fill. 

I remember Folxex and Dr. Zromatz messing with my head. They operated on me. They electrocuted me. All I knew was that I had no memories of who I was or where I came from. I had no control over my body. I had no control as they experimented on me. They conditioned me to believe and listen to everything Folxex said under a special code. They forced me to do things I didn't want to do.

I didn't even know I had a brother until I was killing him, and even then, Folxex only let me keep this information as a form of torture. 

These were supposed to be my memories but they felt foreign. It was all too overwhelming. My head began to throb in pain. There were just too many pieces missing.

"We know this is a lot to take in. You've been through so much that nobody should ever have to experience. But what you did today, you should be proud of that. We are all proud of you," The man spoke. 

"I just finished what they started." 

"You proved yourself." 

Everything that's going on, is this Folxex's doing? Is this an old form of torture that I just unlocked? Is this new? Is he in my head right now? Messing with me? 

What if this is my new prison while Bombshell is in control? 

"This isn't real...this isn't real. This doesn't make sense this can't be real." I cried. 

"X'ennon, baby?" The woman asked concerned.   

"Don't touch me!" I slapped my so-called mother's hand away. "I'm not falling for this, Folxex!" 

"X'ennon, we're not Folxex. We're not DRAKO," Vylikin pleaded.

"Shut up! Get out of my head! I don't want to be Bombshell! I don't want to hurt anyone else!"

"Stop. You're having a breakdown." 

"Who are you going to show me next Folxex!? Who!? I already know of everyone I killed with my bare hands! You won't let me forget despite taking everything else away! Why must you rub it in!? Why must you torture me!? Were you planning on us having a sweet moment only to reverse it into a nightmare as soon as I fell for it!?" I screamed at nothing. 

My whole body was on edge and shaking. My face was flushed with blood. My chest hurt from my heart rapidly pounding. My eyes and nose leaked with a mess of tears and snot. My forehead was drenched with sweat. My eyes filled with rage. Everyone backed away from me in fear. They said so themselves, this wasn't real, they weren't real. 

I didn't deserve forgiveness and I was far past the point of it. A situation like this was just too good to be true. 

"I want out! I want out!" I roared. 

And then everything went black. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I blinked and saw that Thanos was sitting defeated in front of me. His entire army was already gone. Before he disappeared he looked up to me, his face a mix of disbelief and acceptance. 

My entire body hurt. It was bittersweet. It's been a long time since I felt this much pain. I screamed at the sky as I released the stone's energy from me, sending the rainbow display into the atmosphere. 

I hastily ripped the glove from my arm and collapsed to my hands and knees. The power stone was still morphed into my cheek. I dislodged the damn thing and set it on the ground next to the glove. 

I dragged myself over to a nearby rock and sat there with my back leaning against it. I looked down at my arm, it was fried entirely black. I violently coughed up some blood. It was almost surreal.

"Jasmine?" Elara cried out. I didn't even notice her run up to me. Even though I was sure I wasn't in that place anymore, I had to be sure. 

"Elara?"

"I'm here." She placed a hand on my good shoulder. "I'm here. You did it."

"I did?"

"Yes." She looked down at my seared arm.

"I-I saw things."

"What?"

No. I don't want to tell her. Not yet.

"I'm-I'm...." I coughed out more blood. "I'm tired."

I was exhausted, though sleep was the last thing I wanted. Sleep meant more nightmares, more fake and twisted realities, and more time spent away from Elara. It pained me to see Elara looking at me like this, though I'd much rather go through the pain than her. 

"It's ok. You can rest now...you're going to be fine." I wasn't sure what it was as I had already closed my eyes, but I felt something soft briefly make contact with my forehead as I drifted off into the darkness.