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Chapter 9: The Mad Titan
The cold, empty vacuum of space buzzed with an eerie silence around the Viltrumite spaceship, pierced only by the faint hum of invisible cosmic energy and the distant shimmer of stars. Nolan, Thragg, Kregg, and Anissa were preparing for the inevitable clash as they soared through the stars. The wounds they had sustained in their previous battle had been extensive, but thanks to the advanced medical technology of the Viltrumites, coupled with their inherent regenerative abilities, they had almost fully recovered in just a day. Normally, they wouldn't use any medical technology, as it was seen as a sign of weakness, but time was of the essence.
Nolan clenched his fists, feeling his muscles flex and contract as the healing continued at a cellular level. They were stronger now, prepared for what lay ahead.
"Nolan, are you sure we're going in the right direction? Our navigation systems say there's nothing but empty space out there. Also, are you sure we can't wait until we're fully healed? Conquest could survive until then—or he'll slaughter his captors," Kregg asked, his disapproval of the hasty rescue plan evident.
Nolan glanced at Grand Regent Thragg, who looked at him, silently waiting for his response.
Nolan sighed and replied, "I'm not worried about the abominations or their commanders. I'm worried about the children of Thanos and the Mad Titan himself. Ever since their ship approached our planet, the ring has been updating me on the history it was apparently missing. The true horrors of Thanos have been revealed to me. If given enough time, the Titan will break Conquest and turn him into a mindless slave, while also using our biology for his own gain or for his minions. For the first time, someone other than us will be able to tap into the smart atoms and modify them to their will."
"Impossible!" Kregg shouted in surprise. "No one but us can do that. You really think some mad alien can?"
Nolan paled as the ring fed him more information about Thanos' accomplishments and the rumors surrounding him.
"Yes, Kregg. He can, and he's done many biological manipulations before. The ring confirms it. He will come back to attack us, no doubt. He's never retreated from an enemy without returning with a vengeance. Leaving a specimen for him to experiment on and discover our weaknesses is utter foolishness."
Thragg, ever the battle-hardened Grand Regent, interrupted. "Enough, Kregg. We're already halfway there, and now you want to retreat? Conquest is not some weakling we can afford to leave with our enemies. He knows our secrets, our tactics, our fighting style. We will retrieve him—dead or alive—and cause as much damage as possible to Thanos' infrastructure and army."
He then turned to Nolan. "Does your ring have any information about Thanos' combat capabilities?"
"According to the rumored feats," Nolan began, "it's not advisable to fight him one-on-one. He's physically stronger and more durable than us, with many esoteric powers with unknown limits."
Thragg remained silent for a few moments, then gave his order. "Kregg, Anissa, only Nolan and I will engage Thanos. In this case our flight speed is the most important advantage we have over our enemy. We'll use our speed to obliterate anything in our path."
Kregg and Anissa nodded in agreement.
However, they were already behind. Far ahead of them, in an uncharted sector of space where no one dared to venture, Thanos had already achieved half his plans.
Thanos sat on his Space Throne within the asteroid Sanctuary, watching through the hologram generated by his technological marvel of a throne, the body of Conquest laying chained to a table in their experiment room. Ebony Maw hovered nearby, his eyes gleaming with curiosity as he studied the subject. Thanos observed the Viltrumite's body, which had healed remarkably, though it had failed to regenerate the vaporized fist.
By the time Gamora reached the Sanctuary, Conquest was out of immediate danger, though Thanos' daughters confirmed they had done nothing medically to help him. His tenacity and rapid healing intrigued the Mad Titan. Blood, flesh, hair, and all the necessary DNA samples had already been extracted and stored, while Ebony Maw continued his experiments.
"Great Thanos, I have completed the experiments and discovered surprising details," Ebony Maw said as he bowed before the floating throne.
Thanos, though his throne displayed all the data, gestured for Maw to speak.
"Master, no type or amount of radiation affected the specimen. No biological viruses impacted him either, and even debilitating ones only slightly increased his recovery time. We unleashed powerful energy blasts, and subjected him to excruciating pain through focused heat beams. Each time, he healed rapidly, his enhanced biology resisting most of the torture."
"So you're saying his body adapts to almost anything ordinary? What else have you learned about his species?" Thanos asked.
Ebony Maw hesitated, then answered, "I'm sorry, your eminence, but I've discovered nothing beyond that. His healing abilities are astonishing, and he seems to have developed a high pain threshold. Only the highest forms of cosmic energy cause lasting damage. His cells regenerate faster with each injury—almost as if he's growing stronger."
Thanos' expression remained unreadable as his hands rested on the control panel. A hologram appeared, streams of data flickering across the screens.
"Cosmic energy… intriguing," Thanos muttered. "Let's see how much he can take."
Without further warning, the Mad Titan activated the teleportation feature of his throne. Both he and Ebony Maw appeared in the experimentation room, where Conquest was strapped to a vibranium table with vibranium chains. His body was a wreck, but a nutritional IV and his natural healing kept him alive. The burns from the planet-buster bomb were almost healed, leaving only the fresh wounds from Ebony Maw's torture and the restraints.
Conquest grinned savagely as his captors entered.
"So, you're the so-called Mad Titan that Nolan warned us about. Let me out, and let's match our madness," he snarled.
Thanos didn't even acknowledge the challenge
"Silence, fool!" Ebony Maw snarled, waving his hand. Telekinetic force slammed into Conquest's body, but he didn't react. Maw focused harder, sending tendrils of telekinesis inside Conquest's body, squeezing his organs.
At first, there was no response, but as Maw increased his power, Conquest's grin faltered. His smart atoms adapted quickly, but they couldn't keep up with the mounting pressure.
"Enough," Thanos ordered, and Maw stopped.
"Conquest… an interesting name. Tell me, what planets have you conquered to earn it?" Thanos asked calmly.
Conquest scoffed. "Yeah, I'll tell you right now."
Thanos sighed, tired of the game. His floating throne moved closer to the table, and he raised his hand. White-blue light began to coalesce, forming a blast of cosmic energy that hit Conquest square in the chest. The burns returned with a vengeance, as his smart atoms couldn't adapt fast enough to the cosmic energy.
Conquest screamed, his body writhing as the energy seared his flesh. His healing factor fought back, pushing his limits with each second.
Thanos paused, asking again while his telepathy probed Conquest's mind. Yet, it wasn't enough.
Conquest merely smirked through the pain, spitting in Thanos' direction. The spit never reached, as a telekinetic wave sent it back to his own face.
"It seems you believe that we cannot harm you permanently. Let's change that," Thanos hissed with a gleeful expression.
Thanos raised both of his hand and the cosmic energy surged, concentrating on Conquest's hand. His flesh melted, sizzled, and evaporated entirely. His bones, sturdy and seemingly indestructible, cracked under the immense pressure. And then—his hand was gone, vaporized completely from the elbow.
A moment of silence followed.
Conquest slumped in his restraints, breathing heavily. Even though he was in agony, he did not break. His teeth were gritted, his eyes blazing with defiance. But he remained silent.
"Impressive, as always sire, you have already broke his mind with your telepathy." Ebony Maw said with a soft clap.
"No," Thanos replied coldly. "This one is different. Stronger. He does not fear death, nor does he yield to pain."
"What did you learn from his mind, sire?" Ebony Maw asked after getting over the surprise that someone's mind didn't break against the Great Thanos's skill.
Thanos turned to his child, his eyes glowing with cosmic power. "There are things we can learn beyond knowledge , Maw. His mind is fractured, filled with blood and conquest. I can't reach it fully. Increase the nutritional intake. Let him heal back so I could break his body again and finally his mind to learn all the secrets hiding in it."
While Thanos experimented on Conquest, far across space, the Viltrumites were drawing closer. They had followed the trail picked by the ring and their own spaceship and it led them straight into a hostile zone filled with debris, remnants of old battles, and heavily guarded outposts. But none of that mattered to them.
The Viltrumites flew through the defenses like it was paper.
Nolan and Thragg flew ahead, their fists clenched as they drove through ships, shattering metal and glass with the sheer force of their blows. Kregg and Anissa followed in their wake, their speed and strength a blur as they smashed through waves of enemies.
Inside the Sanctuary, alarms blared. Thanos and Ebony Maw turned toward the floating hologram projected by the Space Throne, seeing the approaching Viltrumites.
"They're here," Maw said with a dark grin. "They're coming for him."
Thanos remained stoic. "Let them come. This base has seen worse, and the shield has defeated even more powerful forces than these Viltrumites."
Nolan used the Ring to scan for Conquest and got his answer.
"Follow me," Nolan said to his comrades before flying towards the asteroid base.
Ahead of them loomed the massive asteroid base, Thanos' Sanctuary. It was heavily fortified, shielded by powerful energy barriers, but the Viltrumites did not care. Their mission was clear: rescue Conquest and destroy anyone in their path.
Before even halfway to the asteroid was crossed The Ring started blaring warnings to Nolan;
"Stop immediately. That Shield is more powerful than your combined power of four and you will not break through as it is."
Rage at their apparent powerlessness built, and willpower manifested at his beck and call. There were still thousands of miles to go, and a green light enveloped Nolan as he used his willpower to increase his durability and strength. The green light coalesced into a drill around him, with his fists as the point. As he increased his speed, he started rotating to increase the thrust.
"We must go in fast," Nolan said, his voice steady. "No holding back and copy me."
The others heard the telepathic message, and with a single motion, the other three also started rotating to increase the force.
Thanos was intrigued by the green light because he had never seen such a powerful weapon before. Even from this distance, his own telepathy could feel the unyielding willpower and the power behind it. A quick calculation, and he concluded that the shield would be destroyed by the combined attack, especially by the green light wielded by one of them.
"Sire," Ebony Maw said as he decided to use his telekinetic might to reduce the speed of the incoming battering rams.
"No, child," Thanos said with indifference. "You cannot stop them; their speed is beyond your strength now. And their combined might will destroy our shield. Let's give them a surprise. Use your powers to shove the girl. I will deal with the bald man."
Thanos used his Space Throne to deactivate the outer shield just as the Viltrumites reached it.
Nolan's eyes widened as he registered the Ring's warning of the shields being down, but it was too late to reduce their momentum. Before, they expected a powerful shield that would stop their normal powers, but now they were to go through an asteroid wall, which any normal Viltrumite could handle. This level of speed and technique was not needed for that and they couldn't stop the spinning momentum without taking time, which will lead them to being surrounded by enemies. They decided to reduce their spinning and momentum after hitting the wall and The Sanctuary trembled as the Viltrumites crashed through the outer walls, tearing their way into the inner levels.
Both Thanos and Ebony Maw used their telekinetic powers to shove their spinning targets. Kregg and Anissa lost control of their flight, went body through walls, bodies, machines until they broke through the other side of the asteroid, and the momentum carried them hundreds of thousands of miles before they could gather their senses. They lost all sense of direction as the impact on the walls had even knocked their breaths out, but luckily, they were able to take a breath before they lost themselves to space.
Anissa and Kregg were diverted to different directions and were lost in the darkness of space. There was no stars near the planet-sized asteroid base that is the Sanctuary. Kregg and Anissa looked around their positions as they tried to communicate mentally with their comrades, but they couldn't connect with anyone as they were distant. Luckily, they had a tracker to their own spaceship and decided to fly back to it before their breath ran out, deciding they would help Thragg and Nolan if they came across the asteroid on their flight path.
Ebony Maw was clearing his nose as blood started pouring down due to the strain of using telekinesis to just shove such fast targets. Thanos looked at his most loyal servant and scoffed.
"It seems you have to increase your training, Maw. Also, the new DNA we obtained from this species is going to help you even more. Your telekinesis is strong, but your body is weak if you can't concentrate enough." There was no strain on Thanos' face or body as he also used one of his lesser powers of telekinesis to push Kregg.
Ebony Maw bowed in deference.
Thanos pulled up the hologram of the base using his chair and saw the leader of the species and his general going through his base, destroying everything in their path.
Derision bloomed inside Thanos at the senseless and useless destruction of his property.
"This is a waste," Thanos said, and he used the chair to teleport and grab Conquest.
Thanos used his telepathy to issue an order to the rampaging Viltrumites.
"Fools, you have caused enough senseless destruction of my properties. Your friend Conquest is facing death in my hand." As his left hand enveloped half the face of Conquest, he continued, "Come to the center; you shall not miss it."
Both Nolan and Thragg were surprised that someone breached their natural mind defenses, but they got their target. Both of them, reached the center of the asteroid at almost the same time.
It was a great hall the size of hundreds of miles with a floating chair in the middle. An intimidating description of Thanos the Mad Titan, with Conquest in his hand.
It was a colossal chamber, stretching out over hundreds of miles, its vastness dwarfing even the mightiest of structures known across the cosmos. At the center of this cavernous space, suspended by unseen forces, floated a throne-like chair, its design intricate and menacing. Crafted from a strange, unidentified metal that shimmered with a thousand colors under the dim, flickering lights, it exuded an aura of dread and authority. Its seat was broad, enough to accommodate Thanos' massive frame, and it floated eerily, without any visible means of support, as if held aloft by the will of its owner alone.
Thanos, the Mad Titan, sat upon this throne, his presence alone filling the hall with a sense of dread. His stature was monumental, even for his kind. Clad in armor that looked both ancient and technologically advanced. His skin was a deep purple, his muscles rippling with power that seemed to defy the very laws of physics. His eyes, glowing with an inner fire, surveyed his domain with a mix of boredom and anticipation, as if he could see his triumph in the end, no matter who stands in his way.
In his massive hand, he held Conquest, the Viltrumite, almost casually. Conquest, despite his own formidable strength and power, looked diminutive in Thanos' grasp, his body limp, not from defeat but from the overwhelming presence of the Titan. Thanos' other hand rested on the armrest of his chair, fingers tapping rhythmically, each tap echoing like thunder through the hall, a reminder of the power he could unleash at any moment.
Nolan and Thragg came to the conclusion that Thanos was as worthy as the rumors said, as even Conquest couldn't overpower the hold of this Mad Titan.
"You've come for your weapon of conquest," Thanos said, his voice calm.
Thragg stepped forward, his fists glowing with barely restrained energy. "Of course, Titan," Thragg growled, his eyes narrowing. "You attacked us unprovoked and kidnapped one of us. Do you think there will be no consequences for that?"
Thanos chuckled, his deep laughter echoing through the chamber. A chill enveloped everyone who heard the laughter. "You are speaking of unprovoked attacks? I have seen enough to understand you have slaughtered millions in your conquests, just for the thirst of power. What I have done is for a higher purpose. Your planet's existence in my space is the only provocation I need. I will give you one chance. Surrender yourself and join my army, and I will forgive that you have damaged my asteroid and slaughtered my forces."
There was a visible pressure on the Viltrumites, and only the centuries of bloodshed they had engaged in helped them not tremble in fear at the malicious aura of the Mad Titan.
Thragg decided enough was enough, and he moved. Maybe it was due to how much Conquest understood Thragg, that at that same moment, Conquest, who had been almost unconscious, moved. His one good fist moved to punch Thanos in the face, and it was lightning fast. The punch from Conquest and Thragg should have landed at the same time.
But Thanos moved faster than anyone anticipated.
He slightly moved his head, and the punch from Conquest just whiffed past his face. His hand shot out, seizing Thragg by the throat and tanking the fist to his chest.
Thanos looked down at his armor, which had a slight outline of a fist. He scoffed in derision at the weak punch.
"You both are weaker than expected. The only exceptional thing about you is that you can survive freely in space and fly faster than light. Without that, you are just infinitely weaker Kryptonians."
Thragg scoffed at the insult, and he used both of his hands to punch down on the hand holding him, while Conquest also punched the same hand of Thanos to help the Grand Regent.
A slight weakening caused by three punches was only needed for Thragg to shoot himself back from Thanos' hold.
"Well, it seems that we are in for a long fight then," Thragg grinned, the prospect of a worthy fight making him truly feel alive for the first time in a long time.
Nolan, who had been evaluating the situation while the ring analyzed everything around them and informed him the truth that the fight was not winnable for their side. He decided to make the loss for Thanos at least costly.
Thanos smirked, looking at the Viltrumites who wanted to fight him and seeing their true plans hidden in their minds. He knew they wanted to ensure their death would be too costly for him and his goals.
"You cannot win this fight, and the only result will be the destruction of this asteroid and your death. I don't want to set back my plans for centuries because of insignificant things like you. Let me show you." Thanos hissed.
He lifted the battered Viltrumite into the air, his fingers holding the face of Conquest glowing with cosmic energy. The white and blue light burned with enough heat that half of Conquest's face immediately melted, and he screamed in pain for the first time.
"You may have high defense against kinetic attacks, but this will be the endgame."
"I'll return him to you," Thanos said, his grip tightening. "But only if you leave now, without even breaking a single stone in your path? Otherwise, I will end you five, and personally travel to your planet and kill every last one of your species with my bare hands in the melee fight your species loves so much."
The Viltrumites tensed. Thragg's eyes darkened, and for a moment, he considered lunging at Thanos. But before he could, Nolan's hand gripped Thragg's wrist in a wise grip, with enough strength that even surprised Thragg.
Thragg looked back, and Nolan shook his head, while his eyes barely indicated the hand in which the Ring was.
Thragg understood the ring had predicted their end and decided their species' survival was better than extinction.
"I agree. Give us Conquest, and we will leave now," Thragg said, his voice sharp with displeasure at uttering such words.
Thanos' eyes glowed with cold amusement at the proud race admitting defeat.
Thanos tossed Conquest to the two vitrumites, his body motionless but alive. "Take him," Thanos said. "Leave this place and hope that you will not ever be present in my presence again.
Thanos tossed Conquest to the two Viltrumites, his body motionless but alive. "Take him," Thanos said. "Leave this place and hope that you will never be present in my presence again."For a moment, the chamber was silent.
Then Thragg stepped forward, gathering Conquest into his arms. He glared at Thanos, his rage barely contained. But he said nothing.
The Viltrumites turned and flew from the chamber, leaving Thanos standing there with Ebony Maw.
As they left, Thanos smiled, his gaze lingering on the spot where they had stood.
"They are the leaders of the planet. If they died, the others would flee before we reach the planet, and I would lose the thirty thousand lives I could give to my Lady Death. Thirty thousand lives who have escaped her for millennia and sent millions to her before their time due to their pride. Imagine how pleased she will be when I present all thirty thousand pseudo immortals at the same time." Thanos said with glee and a glint in his eyes.
Even Ebony Maw felt his spine freezing in terror at Thanos' explanation.
Suddenly, the terror was replaced by surprise as a yellow light entered through the opening left by the viltrumites. Initially it was blur in the eyes of Ebony Maw, but it came to stop before the Mad Titan.
"Thanos of Titan. You have the ability to instill great fear. You have been chosen"
Authors note: two chapters this month as i missed November update.
Looking forward to the reactions !!!
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