Lost Our Minds |5| The Ascension

Chapter Thirty Three: Ain't No Rest For The Wicked But The Wicked Needs A Break

This is the Asgardian refugee vessel Statesman...

...under assault, I repeat, we are under assault...

...engines are dead...

...life support failing...

...requesting aid from any vessel within range...

...twenty-two jump points out of Asgard...

...made up of Asgardian families...

...very few soldiers...

...not a war craft, I repeat, not a war craft...

The dark and endless night continued, and no one was there to help.

***

The main chamber of the Ark was like the floor of a slaughterhouse. Blood stained every surface, bodies lay strewn across the floor, broken weapons and armour lay abandoned where they had fallen. The survivors, few though they were, wished to be otherwise.

Meanwhile, a tall, bony alien known as Ebony Maw stepped over the corpses, striding across the chamber. "Hear me, and rejoice," he declared. "You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No... it is salvation. Universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice." He crouched to put his fingers under a survivor's chin, tilting the woman's head up to reveal her ferocious, blood-stained snarl. "Smile... for even in death, you have become the children of Thanos."

McKenzie snatched her jaw out of his grip, glaring. She punched him in the crotch, and he struck her across the face, spraying yet more blood to the floor. Across the room where he was stood in the custody of the Black Order, Loki motioned discreetly with one hand, telling her to have patience. It did not do much—her patience had run out long before the blood of Asgardian innocents soaked her skin.

Thanos himself turned away from the viewing window, contemplative. "I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail nonetheless." He grabbed Thor's head in one huge hand, trapping him in place. "It's frightening. Turns the legs to jelly. I ask you, to what end? Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same. And now it's here. Or should I say... I am." He raised his left hand, revealing the Infinity Gauntlet with the power stone embedded within it.

Thor spat blood to the ground, exhausted from the battle. "You talk too much."

Thanos ignored him, looking across at Loki expectantly. "The Tesseract, or your brother's head. I assume you have a preference."

Loki narrowed his eyes slightly. "Oh, I do. Kill away."

Shrugging, Thanos touched the gauntlet to Thor's temple. The power stone glowed harshly, and Thor began to scream louder and louder.

Eventually, Loki yielded. "Alright, stop!"

Thanos stopped, dropping Thor to the ground, where he panted. "We don't have the Tesseract. It was destroyed on Asgard." He caught Loki's apologetic look and rolled his eyes as his brother pulled the Tesseract out of thin air. "You really are the worst, brother."

Loki smiled as he slowly walked toward Thanos. "I assure you, brother, the sun will shine on us again."

"Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian," Thanos sneered.

"Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian," Loki shrugged. "And for another..." He smirked. "We have a Hulk." He dove out of the way as the Hulk smashed through the wall, tackling Thanos. McKenzie saw her chance and took it, leaping into battle alongside her comrade, eyes blazing. Thor made as if to join in, but Ebony Maw forced him to the ground telekinetically, encasing him in broken shards of metal. Meanwhile, Thanos punched McKenzie square in the face, breaking her jaw with a sickening crack. She reeled back, and the Hulk roared, pummeling Thanos with all of his strength. Thanos retaliated with the power stone, and the Hulk crashed to the ground, groaning. Seconds later, McKenzie was on the floor too, blood discolouring her hair as she cracked her head on the ground.