Driven Mad (Book 1 in the MAD Series)(An Avengers Fan Fiction)

BONUS CHAPTER: Artificial Light Prologue

The would-be God sat on his throne, staring out into what would be seen as stars by any mortal eye. To him, it was a telescope. He could peer in anywhere in the galaxy, anywhere he wished. But he was being interrupted by that incompetent fool, Ronan. He was rambling angrily, wishing for power, and destruction, a power he could not hope to weild. Thanos never liked the Kree very much anyways, especially not the power-hungry maniacs such as Ronan the Accuser. Ronan had power, but nothing compared to the all-powerful Thanos.

His fingers tapped impatiently against the arm of the chair. He was staring out into the infinity of space before him, the stars dipping and swaying before his eyes in a beautiful display of light. He even could not deny its beauty, though the beauty did not calm the rage that the titan harbored. Thanos listened to the whining of Ronan as his not-so-faithful servant the Other rambled back, trying to make the Accuser go home.

"I want you to destroy Xandar." He yelled.

Thanos, frustrated and full of cold rage, rubbed his temples. He turned around in his chair, disguising himself as the beast that he was known as. He scanned over his home, the Sanctuary being not much of a sanctuary anymore. The Other was fighting back and forth with Ronan, his adopted daughters, Nebula and Gamora, standing silently at attention. Gamora looked cold and stern as always, staring straight ahead like a good little soldier. Her sister, Nebula, however, was not the soldier that Gamora was. She never had been. She stood straight, but her eyes were staring over at Ronan with a hint of admiration in her eyes. 

Silently, the mad Titan shooed away the Other. His servant scurried away, and his two daughters started off, a bit of hesitation in Nebula's pace as she stared over at the Kree. He raised his hand toward them, silently telling them to stay, which they did obediently, falling back into their attentive stance. 

"What do you have to offer me?" He inquired curiously, finally taking the Kree's proposition seriously.

"An orb. There has been much talk of it amongst the worlds. I can get it for you, if you in turn for the destruction of Xandar. I can not let them..."

The Orb. The one that contained an Infinity Stone. He had sent Loki to get one of them, but the God of Mischief had failed, which had enraged him, and he still was getting revenge on the Jotun. He had failed to get one gem, but he still had a few others. He weilded the Soul, Time, and Reality Gems. There were three left to attain. The Mind, the Space, and the Power, and he needed the Infinity Gauntlet from the Asgardian weapons chamber. And this orb Ronan spoke of would get him one more gem.

"Take my daughters. They are weapons, skilled and created to murder. Use them to get the gem. And I shall destroy Xandar in turn." Thanos agreed.

He thanked the Titan quickly, though not a thanks of someone who truly owed the debt that Ronan did. Nebula shot Thanos a begging look, begging him not to abandon her so quickly, but it appeared to be too late for her. Gamora stood like the soldier she was, unfazed, following orders. That was why she was the Titan's favorite. Gamora hustled Nebula along kindly, trying to console her sister in some way, reminding Thanos that they were not just machines. 

Ronan quickly left the mad titan's presence, disappearing, back to his home. Thanos stood up, this meeting being annoying and tiresome. He needed to relieve the stress that was building up, and he had a new toy to play with. A smirk on his face, his hand flexing, practicing the slow but swift movements he would soon be performing. He headed toward his favorite room. The torture chamber. 

The titan walked in as the Other was hurrying out. Amora was lying against the metal slab, strapped down. She didn't need the straps because he had already made her too weak to fight back. But still, the straps were just a nice touch. She was stripped down to her underwear, bloodsoaked and torn. Her blonde hair hung in clumps, and her green eyes were dull and full of broken shame. To believe that she had once been beautiful was nothing more than a joke to him. 

Thanos turned and grabbed his favorite knife from the wall. He played with it between his fingers, tossing it in the air and turning into what he truly was, the pale-skinned man instead of the beast he was known as. As the knife dropped back into his hand, he turned back into the beast, making his appearance nothing more than a trick to the eye. 

He looked down at his prisoner, taking a closer look. Blood was clumping in her blonde hair, holding it in awkward clumps. She had been starved since he had stolen her away, and she was down to almost nothing. Open gashes and fading cuts were littering her skin from his other little sessions like this. Blood stained most of her skin, giving her this red look. Gashes and pink wisps spelled out words from his carvings. 

Yet her dull eyes harbored a dying fire. It was nothing more than dying coals now, but the flame was still there somewhere. Smothered by a cloth, or put out by rain. She was still harboring a powerful anger though, and it was written like a novel all over her features. She was a fighter, a lone soldier trying to win against a God. Maybe that was why Thanos liked her so much.

"You were once beautiful, Amora. You know that?" He whispered.

She didn't say anything, but there was a certain pain in her eyes.

"But I destroyed your beauty. It's what I do. I destroy."

He ran the flat of his knife across her bare skin, causing her to shudder, scared that he could flip it and drag it into her skin. She closed her eyes, trying to stay calm, trying to keep her fear from him, but Thanos could sense her fear. He could smell it. And what a beautiful scent it was. The reeking fear of his victims, his prisoners, was an aroma he'd never get used to, and one he'd never get tired of.

"Amora... Precious Amora... You were a killer. You killed so many, and attemped to take even more lives than you had already taken. Yet you make play you are a hero. You say you have changed, but to say you have stopped your evil ways is like saying that Jotunheim has melted, or that Muspelheim has frozen over. You are a sadist, a sociopath... You pretend you are an angel, a hero, but you are not. It's no wonder Laufeyson fell in love with you. He needed another psychopath to keep him company."

"Odinson." She coughed out, blood dribbling from the side of her mouth, coughing up red.

"What?" He hissed.

"His name... Is Odinson."

He laughed quietly and ran his blade over her skin, along the side of her face. He smirked, flashing a devillish grin as she closed her eyes, her lip quivering, her eyebrows tightly drawn together. He smiled and drew his hand back. He slammed his thumb into her wide, bloody gash from her last carving. She let out a deafening scream that felt more like music than screaming. He laughed loudly, drowning out the sound of her screams. 

"Do not correct me." He hissed.

He pulled up his thumb and she stopped screaming. He dragged his knife down and started drawing his favorite 2 words, the words that described her. The words that defined her. The words that described what she was to him, what she was to Loki Laufeyson.

PRESSURE POINT