Chương 17: A BREWING STORM

Thanos paced within the throne room inside the Sanctuary II. His purple face clearly burning with barely suppressed rage. All members of The Black Order, the Outriders, and the Chitauri stood before the Titan with their heads bowed in deference to their master's wrath.

"Gamora...," the Titan's voice rumbled across the throne room, one could feel the weight of sorrow and anger that covered the words. "Captured by these insignificant mortals. She who is my daughter, taken from me like a common prisoner."

The Titan's face ran through those of the Black Order members, none dared meet his angry eyes... well, except the one who spoke next.

"My Lord, we clearly were wrong about the humans, they proved to be more formidable than anticipated. We were..."

"Silence," the Titan's voice rang, making most of those before him recoil. Ebony Maw, who had been the bold speaker, now shut up and cast her gaze on the deck.

Thanos would hear none of it. His twin orbs blazed with righteous fury. Slowly, the Titan walked towards his throne and lowered himself. His gaze was now fixed upon the Space Stone, which was in the possession of his minions.

"The only reason your lives are spared is because you brought back the Tesseract," he motioned to Proxima, who held the cube.

A growl of frustration escaped his lips as he took the Tesseract, glaring at the Gauntlet in his hand. Thanos' face contorted further in anger... only one slot was occupied... the Power Stone was now in his hand, and with it, his plan too had begun... through the help of the silent figure that stood next to him, he had wiped out half of life in Xandar as was the plan. Now that two of the Stones were in his possession, all his plans had changed.

While his warriors were on that tiny planet getting their ass kicked, he had captured yet another of his lost children... Honestly, his love for all his children was true, though he did not show it the way they might have wanted it, it was nonetheless true. Nebula, however, had sided with his enemies; she was now a hindrance to the greater plan, and everything that was standing on that path had to be eliminated. Her attempt to murder him had brought her to him and thankfully, he... he now knew that it wasn't just her... Gamora too had decided to side against him. His daughter knew the location of the Soul Stone... his daughter that was now captured on some puny little planet.

The dim lights of the throne room cast shadows across the assembled figures. Proxima Midnight's gaze remained unwavering despite the weight of their situation; her eyes stared in malice at the figure standing next to her master; there was clear loathing in those eyes.

"But we must not forget the betrayal of the man you trusted with the scepter. It was he who led us into this predicament."

Ebony Maw's eyes narrowed as well, his accusatory gaze turning towards The Other. "And it was you who trusted him with the scepter, despite the risks."

The Other met Ebony Maw's gaze with hard resolve.

"Our ally's motives may have been his own, but he did not act against us. He allowed the Chitauri to fight alongside you despite his possession of the scepter."

A ripple of acknowledgment spread through the chamber; they all knew that whoever held the scepter had complete control of the Chitauri. If Loki was really against them, he could have used the Chitauri to fight them. Ebony Maw, however, refused to buy that explanation; he did not know Loki's logic, but Loki had fought them when they were supposed to be together, which alone made him and whoever defended him traitors.

"Why do you insist on defending him... is it that you are conspiring with him as well?"

The Other's face transformed into fury; he was about to yell at the perceived insult when Thanos' voice yet again silenced his minions.

"Enough"

Grabbing the cube in his hands, he got up with a determined look in his eyes.

Thanos' gaze was now fixed upon the Space Stone; he knew that he too had made grave errors in splitting his forces; that mistake would happen no more; from now on, they would gather the Stones one by one as a united force led by him.

"The past is irrelevant. What matters now is our next move."

Many things of late had been going against him. The fact that Gamora was now among them complicated it even more. In fact, now that he thought about it, Gamora might not have been captured at all. Thanos had watched her develop into a fierce warrior; of all the ones he would expect to escape a human assault, she would be the first one... unless... unless she had allowed herself to be captured.

Of course, that had to be the reason... having known that he would eventually learn the location of the Stone from her, his daughter was now doing everything to run from him, even surrendering to the enemies. It was stupid. She should know that nothing could stand in the way of his universal goal. Nothing. He would overturn the little planet until they threw her back to him.

With a decisive nod, Thanos turned towards his minions, his resolve evident in his eyes.

"We all return to Earth. We will not rest until every Stone on that planet is in my possession, and Gamora is returned to me."

There were no questions asked...those words were the law. Lowering himself back to his throne, he watched as his army dispersed to prepare for the forthcoming war.

it was a choice he had to make, first deal with the humans and when all the three stones were in the gauntlet, it would now be the turn for Asgard to hand him the last piece...

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