gamora (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
zenwhoberi) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
garbagechute2017-12-06 06:15 pm
zenwhoberi) wrote in garbagechute2017-12-06 06:15 pm
[closed]
[thanos takes. thanos destroys.
she watches the burning ruins of what was once xandar, and she knows this with as much cold certainty as she ever has. no amount of false platitudes will deny the truth — the who is as obvious as the what. there is only one being in the universe who takes such pleasure in annihilating worlds for no reason other than that he can, one being in the universe who will not stop until nothing good remains.
good — that's what she'd thought she'd managed to do once, saving these people from a fate that has befallen so many others, but in the end, all she'd done was stave off the inevitable. good — that's what she'd actually, foolishly started to believe could have a place in the small corners and ordinary days of her life.
it'll only be a matter of time before every last bit of it is gone.
because thanos takes. thanos destroys.
her hands are still shaking hours later, when the ship is flying through empty space on an autopilot course to nowhere in particular. she'd be useless with a weapon right now if she had need of one, comes an idle thought that does nothing to change anything; truth be told, she doesn't really think there's anything that can. but, comes another thought, she has two choices, and only two: she can lie in wait, do nothing but watch as everything she holds dear gets ripped away from her all over again, or, this time, she can do something about it — stand against him, and protect what is precious until she's no longer able.
she is a warrior. she will choose to fight.
the tremor steadies just slightly as she reaches for her communicator, types out one simple message. she doesn't know where her sister is, doesn't know if this will even be received, but:]
We need to talk.
[it's a start.]
she watches the burning ruins of what was once xandar, and she knows this with as much cold certainty as she ever has. no amount of false platitudes will deny the truth — the who is as obvious as the what. there is only one being in the universe who takes such pleasure in annihilating worlds for no reason other than that he can, one being in the universe who will not stop until nothing good remains.
good — that's what she'd thought she'd managed to do once, saving these people from a fate that has befallen so many others, but in the end, all she'd done was stave off the inevitable. good — that's what she'd actually, foolishly started to believe could have a place in the small corners and ordinary days of her life.
it'll only be a matter of time before every last bit of it is gone.
because thanos takes. thanos destroys.
her hands are still shaking hours later, when the ship is flying through empty space on an autopilot course to nowhere in particular. she'd be useless with a weapon right now if she had need of one, comes an idle thought that does nothing to change anything; truth be told, she doesn't really think there's anything that can. but, comes another thought, she has two choices, and only two: she can lie in wait, do nothing but watch as everything she holds dear gets ripped away from her all over again, or, this time, she can do something about it — stand against him, and protect what is precious until she's no longer able.
she is a warrior. she will choose to fight.
the tremor steadies just slightly as she reaches for her communicator, types out one simple message. she doesn't know where her sister is, doesn't know if this will even be received, but:]
We need to talk.
[it's a start.]
no subject
[ The message comes back to Gamora minutes later, probably quicker than she'd expected. It's short and skirts the edge of terse, which is not unlike Nebula's voice when she speaks.
After all these years, it's hard to speak any other way.
Nebula currently lies in waiting. She's been at this for months now, always in the darkness and always just one step out of sight, thinking of her revenge. She watches the destruction and the death, and her rage builds within her, one angry piece at a time until the strong, impenetrable fortress grows taller.
Thanos will be stopped; she will not be swayed from her mission. It is the only thing she wants.
But when her sister reaches out for her ... ]
no subject
the quickness of the response surprises her.
so much so, in fact, that for almost an entire minute, she simply stares at the screen. but even that minute is an indulgence that she can't afford, that no one can afford, not when thanos has means and is surely on his way to collecting more.]
He has it.
[a short pause (and a deep breath) between messages before she clarifies:]
The Orb.
no subject
The time it takes to consider these facts, facts she likely already knew without knowing, is long enough that she keeps her comms device hovering uselessly in her hand. The screen automatically shuts off.
She shakes it awake. ]
He took it when he destroyed Xandar.
[ That's what happened, isn't it?
It's a question she means to ask, but she knows how Thanos thinks, knows what he'd intended, so her statement really becomes more of a fact. She really wishes she hadn't spent some of that time gathering weapons and building up her own strength.
She should have been there.
She should have helped to keep Xandar from its ultimate end if only because a strong, surviving safeguard for the Orb would piss her foster-father off. ]
You guardians didn't stop him.
[ It's not quite an accusation, but ... also Nebula isn't really known for her tact. ]
no subject
she deserves every blow that her sister has to deliver.]
There was no distress call. Only silence from the Nova Corps.
[that's how they'd known something had to be wrong. denarian dey, at the very least, almost always takes their calls, and if he doesn't answer usually responds within the hour. denarian dey, who, along with his kind wife and smiling daughter, now exists among her countless dead.
she tries to shove the image out of her mind.]
We were too late.
no subject
Nebula even blames herself, at least in the part where it involves Thanos. For the people, she could hardly allow herself to care, but where it affects Thanos gaining another victory ... oh, she should have been there to stop him.
She will not fail again. ]
We were both late.
[ It's the closest Nebula can come to some kind of empathetic comment. Offering condolences are a little above her ability, and certainly all of this makes her uncomfortable, but Gamora had reached out and Nebula doesn't take that lightly. ]
We will not be late again.
no subject
it means resolve.
it means a united front in a way that has not been present between them since they were children.
for the first time in hours, her hands completely still. the tightness in her chest eases, the lump that had formed in her throat begins to dissipate, and she feels something other than helpless horror. she feels — she feels that maybe a concrete plan is actually possible.]
You've been tracking him more recently. That will only help us to determine our next move.
no subject
[ Nebula doesn't offer anything further than that. There's nothing she can offer, certainly not through a written text message, and she realizes she has to reassess what she knows in light of this news.
If Thanos has the Orb, he has another weapon. It is one less weapon that she has, and it's beginning to be clear that she might not be able to get to him on her own.
Not yet. ]
Where are you?