INTERLUDE - PAY BACK

Sui-San looked into the mirror and wondered if they would come for her. She wondered if she could escape their grasp for much longer for she knew their arm had grown long indeed. As tears flowed from her eyes, she felt that she was somehow being watched and then she had a vision of a terrible realm. A realm she had seen but once before. A realm that had made such an impression that she had lived in terror since his last visit, and in an esoteric globe, she saw him, the one she had duped. Then her body began to tremble and her head smashed against the glass, cracking it down the middle.  Only her son could help her now, only an agent of death could save her from the forces of madness. She felt guilty for having brought her son to this point but it was the only way. She could feel the forces of chaos peeling away her thoughts. Her mind being suddenly thrust into the mouth of madness. And when she looked into the cracked mirror once more, she saw the avatar of insanity, and so terrible was the sight her, that very breathe was tore away from her breast by his unseen hand.

He sat in a prison forged of solid insanity, it’s great globe of depravity completely encircling the servant of Chaos and Order. His veiny, bald pate seething with indignity at having been duped by a cosmic cube and having been humiliated by Sui-San in front of his masters. His cylinder of madness hung just between the twin polarities of actuality. Two great triangular constructs that were the physical manifestation for all extremes in reality.  "Retsam redro lliw ton yalp yna erom," came the mouthpiece of Lord Chaos. When the In-Betweener turned, he saw a child walking upside down and in her hand was a red balloon with a fearsome face and jagged teeth. The In-Betweener bowed his head as the mouthpiece of Chaos chided him, “Ouy era a loof reneewteb-in," But then the mouthpiece showed him Sui-San looking into a broken mirror speaking aloud to herself as the vision sent by Lord Chaos had overwhelmed her. The In-Betweener placed his face against a floating piece of glass that materialized in his cell and he looked through the looking glass with great anger at the one who had put him in this position. The little girl began to dance in a twisted version of a childhood dance, all things were normal except the child's limbs moved opposite of how they should, folding in instead of extending out.

Sui-San was afraid and through the mirror, he could taste her fear, how she only wanted to be free. But the In-Betweener now knew what he must do and as the prison vanished, he knew that he had another chance. He then stepped through the looking glass and was gone, leaving the twisted child laughing wickedly as the balloon began to grin.

THE GIFT

"If Marylyn Monroe was alive right now, what would she be doing? Clawing at the lid of her coffin.”

- Tyler Durden, “Fight Club”

My mother was the last person I thought I would see but this didn't disturb me for I wanted to see her eventually but the timing was premature and yet there was something unusual, perhaps this was a ploy to set me up but I am not so easily duped.

"Greetings, mother, how may I be of assistance?” I waited for her to make the first move and then she spoke.

"Thanos, I wish to die."

 Had it been any other this statement would have likely shocked or paralyzed, it was almost believable but as I studied her sudden bewilderment and the way she raised her hand to her mouth as if she were trying to cover something, I knew immediately that she was attempting to deceive me; any dullard would have picked up on that.

'To do that mother would violate Titan’s most sacred law. I’m sorry, I am unable to assist you, perhaps mentor or Eros.”

Then the unexpected happened as all the exits were locked by what I could only perceive as magic, a science that I had only begun to study in its fullness.

"I WILL ASK YOU ONLY ONCE MORE, SON, WILL YOU KILL ME?!" The words caught me off guard and now I truly wondered if I could accomplish such a horrific task. But it was not out of evil that I considered it, for was the worshipping of one force over another simply a matter of biased and relativity to the independent observer? I knew my purpose and if I truly was worthy of death this would be my baptism, I knew at last I would have to become the spider or be devoured by my own hesitation. But could I kill even my own mother? The severity and tone of her words bit through my normally stoic demeanor as the emotional outbursts were unusual volatile, normally she was more disciplined and not prone to such violent behavior. But when she grasped me with a strength nearly equal to my own and then hurled me against the wall with enough force to completely shatter a body twice my mass, my suspicions were confirmed and I sensed other forces at work within her as well. My mother had come to be purged and as a good son I would not deny her wishes

“Did I not give you birth?! And how do you repay me?! By disobedience!" Vomit spewed from the mouth of my mother and her head began to contort. She was beautiful in her depravity, an icon of dementia, my mother had become art and I the artist.

But it was most interesting that I pictured her holding me in her arms when I was a child and now I was going to kill her, but even this thought did not disturb me. Was I not Thanos?

I looked at my monitors overhead and saw Mentor and Eros attempting to breech my fortress, time was now of the essence.

Mentor was using a sonic drill, which was just as insignificant as his puny cosmic might against the shielding around my sanctum, but my sanctums senses had shown that Mentor had sent a signal to the main frame I.S.S.A.C.

Mentor had apparently signaled I.S.S.A.C. to use a virus to break the electronic coded lock, but my recursion loops would keep them busy while I finished my dark task.

I could hear them speaking as Eros was with his usual mindless self, "How much longer can we hope, listen to this conflict, before it’s too late. Surely mother is no match for that monster Thanos!”

I laughed at the irony of the statement, as my mother delivered a blow that nearly shattered my jaw never had I felt more alive. Mentor was calling in the force droids and spoke with his link to I.S.S.A.C. “It appears we will need as much firepower as can be summoned," he said. With that, I knew I had to finish this and quickly. I took out a mystic blade and prepared to be baptized into the supernatural.

"The blade struck deep down the middle and blood sprayed into my mouth, as I cut into her cortex with the dagger’s sharp point, but still she struggled against the inevitable and although I was loath to do it, I had little choice in the matter. I continued to cut until I severed the corpus callosum, an operation that cuts 200 million nerve fibers. The sheer number of fibers alone attests to the complexity of the operation, especially with a dagger. Finally, I had split her mind in half, separating the right and left hemispheres. For a moment she had regained her senses.

"I thank you, son, the In-Betweener had taken possession of this body, he sought to claim us both for Chaos and Order, that twisted god who rule another universe."

Her brain was hemorrhaging and it was quite clear that even an eternal could not survive much more damage without succumbing, but she showed remarkable fortitude and still she struggled to speak despite her obvious agony.

"Son, long ago I made a bargain with a great beast who called itself the Dragon of the Moon.” She tried to find the strength to continue but the loss of blood was taking its toll, “The great worm whose body is composed of dark matter. My people had been drawn into a great civil war. A war so brutal and bloody that it would haunt me even to this day. And after all had either left our world or had been killed, the dragon came to me and offered me a bargain."

She hesitated for a moment as she struggled to keep consciousness. I was impressed.

"In my moment of darkness, I accepted the price - my first born son - in exchange for escape from the world that was now my prison. But for the rest of my days, I studied the mystic rites and uncovered an artifact of great power, an object known as the cosmic cube. I sought to use its influence to deceive the forces of Chaos and Order by sending a doppelganger to them on the date of your birth, I encouraged Mentor with your fascination with Death, for I knew the day would come. You must finish the rites or I will be forever a prisoner of Chaos and Order’s realm. You must devour my mind so that it is beyond their touch. For it is that which they crave with their jagged teeth of lunacy and it is the last part of the rites in which even they must be bound by their own words and will have to abandon their plans for vengeance.”

But then the voice of the In-Betweener interjected, “Now you are both mine!” And the room began to spin and a great gate was beginning to open.

My body was shattering, but no sooner did I use my control over my molecular structure to regain my true self, then I found my body frozen, but it was all a matter of control. Soon I felt her breath against my neck and then I knew that she had chosen me. I smiled, as I knew my victory was now assured. With naught but sheer depravity and madness driving me, I was again upon my mother’s broken and bleeding body. It appeared that the In-Betweener had not expected me to keep my mind when it summoned its realm to this universe. I ended the conflict quickly as I completely vivisected her form.  The In-Betweener would again be sent back to his masters a failure.

Somehow, the vivisected form of my mother was still alive, the forces of Chaos and Order would not let go, truly they were terrible forces to behold. Then I realized the price of using mystic means. And though I was bound by the letter of the law, still would I take this lesson for later examination But I knew there was no other option and when I reached down and took her brain with all its nerve endings and neurons I opened my maw wide and devoured it, according to the mystic rites and performed as stated. It was the only way to ensure the conclusion, however no longer would I deal with mystic rites and spells, for they had left a bad taste in my mouth.

Thanos was then bowled over by a sensory overload as he struck the floor.

“Thanos, I have called you forth from this day on. You shall be my avatar,” said the skeletal figure, which hovered above Thanos’ chamber that was now painted with the blood of his mother.

“You are the balm that will soothe my burning heart, you are the one who will give me purpose. FROM THIS MOMENT ON I AM YOUR SERVANT AND I SHALL SPEND THE REST OF MY DAYS EITHER WORSHIPPING YOU OR DEALING DEATH OUT.”

Continued in Thanos: Dead Men Tell No Tales #6