Post by Spider-Man Beyond on Sept 9, 2007 16:43:48 GMT -5
Namor: The Sub-Mariner #10
Thanos Part 2 of 2
Thanos Part 2 of 2
Written by Mallet
Edited by Daniel Dyer (Spider-Man Beyond)
In a flash Dr. Strange's team had teleported from their former position to this new strange locale. The walls were a vibrant purple metal, shaped like a great dome, all around them screens floating at various positions in the air, each with a different image. Most showed various places on Earth, some clearly not of this world, all floating around a central platform that floated silently between them all. Only one other being besides them resided in this room. He stood on that same floating platform, his back to the team. Whatever he was, he was huge. He easily stood eight feet high, deep purple skin and a bald head, bare arms hanging like logs beside him, each as big as Namor's thigh. A black sleeveless jacket and pants covered his body; his very presence radiating a dark energy, like a shadow constantly covered him in even the brightest sun.
"This is Thanos," Mar-Vell spoke softly.
A purple ear twitched and the Titan turned his head from the screen, his dead black eyes staring at them. All of them, even Namor, suddenly realized what sort of force they fought against today. What monster they battled today.
"And who are you all?" came a voice far too gently from one so large.
All in the group hesitated before Namor stepped forward, the monarch's body still bruised and broken from the fight with Destim. He had somehow gained another wave of confidence.
"We are here in the defense of Earth! You have trespassed here and declared yourself our new ruler?! This will not stand, I am Namor, First of the Blood, Prince of Atlantis, ABSOLUTE RULER OF TWO THIRDS OF THIS WORLD! I will not allow you to take these actions unopposed!"
"Oh? Very well then mighty "Defenders". Try to stop me." Thanos raised a hand and a door behind the group flung open. There sat Thanos' personal legion, kept ready at all times.
Dr. Strange sprung into action and gave out the orders. "Zombie, Shang, and Black Knight, stop those troops! Mar-Vell and Namor with me!" Whatever weariness or fear that might have seized them earlier had long since vanished and like the heroes they all were, they charged forward into battle.
Mar-Vell was the first to engage Thanos, raw energy firing from his photonic band, the same energy that had blown through the nearly indestructible Kree Sentry. It did take Thanos by slight surprise, it did actually hurt. Not enough to truly register but enough to tingle. Still Mar-Vell was but an annoyance. Dressed in the Kree uniform of a Capitan and fluttering around through the air, hitting him over and over from every angle, he resembled the Silver Bugs of Hala, the Kree home world.
Dr. Strange was next, so frail looking compared to the other two but at least he was an interesting sight to behold. Tall and thin but wore a sweeping red cape, offsetting his blue full sleeve shirt and bright orange gloves. Thanos was a slight bit saddened he'd have to kill him; opponents who would dress so well for a battle were hard to find. Strange had other thoughts. He had fought beings of pure raw hate before, things that would scar a lesser man's soul forever. This "Thanos", however, was something else. He wasn't filled with hate, or insanity, or anything else, and he just did because he could. It was a frightening prospect; a being that just "does", even in the farthest reaches of space and beyond even the mightiest beings had a REASON. So Strange raised his hands and began casting one of his most powerful enchantments, a binding spell of mystic energy.
"With all the forces at my hand I call for you to hold my foe back. I call on the Unmovable, Unbreakable, and Unstoppable bands of Cyrrotorak!"
And with that three rings of bright crimson energy circled and closed around Thanos, pinning his extremities down.
Within those few moments the final Defender attacked in the form Namor's fist crashing into Thanos' face, sending him flying off of the floating platform. Perhaps victory wasn't so far fetched; they had taken Thanos down immediately maybe they could win this. The three appeared hopeful until the laughing started.
From the ground Thanos smiled and kept on laughing. "You honestly think you can beat Thanos? He who is the strongest of all Titans?" With that he strained every fiber in his body, every muscle and suddenly exploded outward, shattering the mystic bands.
Dr. Strange stood dumb struck. No being had ever broken the Crimson Bands of Cyrrotorak before now. They had even held the Dread Dormammu!
Thanos rose and started walking towards the three, when Namor charged him again. "Not this time," spoke the Titan, who promptly swatted Namor into the wall. He smiled, directing his movement at Strange's position, heading straight for the sorcerer.
Strange began casting everything he could think of, the Aural Bolts of El Alrond merely bounced off of the Titan. Summoning the Hosts of Hogarth only made him pause a moment to rip them apart. He even tried Tememili's Transportal which rips a being atom by atom into the Dark Dimension but Thanos simply refused the spell through sheer force of will. Thanos was about to reach the Sorcerer when something touched him on the back. Turning, he found Mar-Vell standing there, his Nega Blaster in one hand and the other wielding the power of the photonic band. The light lit the entire room as Mar-Vell pumped all the energy out of the weapons directly into the face of Thanos. When both had finally emptied and the smoke cleared, Mar-Vell still stared into the unblemished face of Thanos. Mar-Vell didn't even put up a defense as Thanos smacked the Kree INTO the floor, putting him out of this fight, and turning his attention back to Strange.
Thanos laughed and launched a backhand at the still stunned magician who barely managed to put up a defense but was still knocked into a nearby wall and into an unconscious state.
"So, these are the defenders of this planet? Pathetic," Thanos spat as his platform lowered down so that he may go back to watching the screen, clearly unable to fly. Namor's eyes watched groggily as he began to pull himself up.
"Yes, but you forgot us," came a voice from behind, and after a look, Thanos was greeted to the sight Shang Chi, Zombie, and the Black Knight as they walked back into the room. The personal legion of Thanos had been routed; apparently future technology was not prepared for a master Martial Artist, the Undead, and a suit of magic armor. Instead of working their way further in like they had planned, they came back, it was a good thing too. Shang Chi wasted no more time talking and launched into an attack by running straight at Thanos.
The Titan smiled again and threw a right fist that could take down a mountain, but that's what Shang Chi had planned. Shang sidestepped to the right, the fist just barely grazing past him, then in one fluid motion took his right foot and right arm on the back of Thanos’ right knee and the front of his chest, respectively. The slight appliance of pressure on the leg Thanos used to anchor himself while he punched and the added movement on the chest caused the Titan to tip back and fall. Namor who had just barely struggled to his feet looked on with respect. Shang Chi had just put Thanos on his back, something that had taken Namor, Dr. Strange, and Capitan Mar-Vell combined to do previously.
"Zombie, the legs! Knight, your sword!" With out hesitation the Zombie ran up and wrapped Thanos' legs tightly while the Black Knight brought his sword up high and aimed to stab the Titan’s stomach. Thanos quickly recovered from the fall and powered a leg up through the Zombie ripping off an arm and part of its chest, landing a foot on the back of the Black Knight, sending both flying off into the wall and out of the fight. Shang quickly tried to flip away but Thanos had swung an arm into his legs, breaking both instantly, dropping him to the ground in screaming agony.
The Titan rose once more and yanked Shang Chi up by an arm. "You thought you could defeat me?" With that he began squeezing Shang Chi's arm with the clear intention of breaking it.
Namor would not let that stand and launched himself at Thanos, plowing into him so hard he dropped Shang Chi to the ground. The Titan flew through the side of the dome, the whole ship shaking, before crashing down into what Namor realized was the inner hull. Namor stood holding him there, throwing punch after punch, the wall behind the Titan began to buckle and collapse, revealing a slight breeze. Namor's blows were resonating such force as to tear a whole in a space worthy ship.
Thanos suddenly reached down and grabbed Namor by the neck, and pulled him up face to face with him.
"Oh, little 'King', you should ask yourself if all the pain you and your friends are going through is worth it." Thanos chuckled, throwing the Prince of Atlantis to the ground in front of him.
Namor had come so far, fought so many beings, including Destim who had the power of gods, and finally had his people home only to find that an interstellar tyrant had chosen now to make a move on his planet! He had chosen the moment, unknowingly, when Namor was at his weakest, when he had the most to loose, and when his mind had been so preoccupied.
He had picked the wrong time to do battle with the savage Sub-Mariner!
"And you need to ask yourself, tyrant, 'Can I fly?'" Namor threw himself at Thanos, once more throwing them through the damaged hull of the ship and into the crisp New York sky nearly 20 stories above the highest building.
Namor latched his arms around the Titan. He was going to force him to take a full on impact, even going so far as to use his power of flight to speed up their decent. Namor had turned them into an asteroid falling to Earth at an amazing speed. Whatever they hit would be lucky to leave dust as remains. He could have let go, let the Titan just fall and crash into the ground. It would have been easier, but to the Sub-Mariner, there was something more important that needed to be done. He needed to make the Titan hurt and he needed to be right there when it happened.
The impact destroyed nearly half a city block and ripped the street down into an abandoned section of the subway system, water lines broke and began pumping in. There, lying on the broken tracks, were the bodies of Namor and Thanos the Titan, both partially covered in rubble. Namor's arm clearly broken, more ribs shattered then when he had started, his body bleeding from all manner of cuts and scrapes. Thanos seemed unhurt and slowly rose; shrugging the rubble off of himself, and looked around for his foe, finally setting eyes upon Namor's broken body.
Yanking him up by an arm, the Titan held Namor up. "Are you through, yet, little 'King'?"
Namor's weary eyes glanced down but then in a refusal of defeat he looked his opponent in the eyes, but in doing so he spotted something, something wonderful. Namor's eyes gleamed in victory and he began laughing a hearty laugh of victory. Even while broken and battered he could appreciate it.
"What? What's so funny?!" demanded Thanos.
"Hehe, I may die here today, Thanos, but let them know. Let them know that even Thanos the Titan BLED for the Sub-Mariner! HAHA!"
Thanos looked at Namor as though the pain had finally caused him to go mad, that's when he felt it, the warmth on his lips. Using his free hand, he dabbed them, a liquid of bright blue coloring rested on his fingers. His blood. That impudent insect had given him a bloody lip!
In a rage Thanos threw the body of Namor against a wall at full force, collapsing more of the street into the sink hole, ripping apart yet another water main. Namor laid there. He doubted he could get up if he wanted to, his battle was done and, as he was now, his end sure to come. That's when he felt it, near his hand, the spray of water hitting his palm, seeping into his wounds, healing him. The water had always been his home, his source of strength. It couldn't mend his bones but it could restore his strength and speed his healing.
More then that, though, it seeped into his very soul, the memories of the battles he'd fought, some side by side with Captain America. Even earlier then that, though, he fought against Byrahha, his traitorous cousin, with the help of Namora another, loyal, cousin who always stood beside him. Then Namor remembered his first trip to New York, his first fight against the Human Torch, and then the friendship they formed afterwards.
What would they think to see him now? Broken and beaten, ready to give in to some petty tyrant? A tyrant like those they spent all those years fighting, would they give in to that?
Would Capitan America stay down?
Would Namora?
Would the Human Torch?
The answer was obvious and, as Thanos walked towards him, Namor crawled under the stream of water. Its restorative properties allowing him to climb to his feet once more. Gripping his broken arm, he pulled the bone into place. A temporary solution but the best he had.
Thanos smirked at the sight of his opponent struggling upwards and stepped forward, towering over his broken foe. He would not admit it, but he was hurt worse then it looked. He hadn't engaged in a fight like this for quite some time and he was ill prepared for the fall he had taken.
"You are a durable one, little 'King', but why not just stay down? You can't win."
"Because I will not let any damn fire bug out shine the PRINCE OF ATLANTIS!" And before Thanos could say, "What?" Namor had knocked him into a wall. Before Thanos could pick himself up, Namor was on him, slamming a fist into him, again and again. He threw his fists like most people wielded sledge hammers. Pick them up and drop them down.
Thanos fought back but this time he was tired and weakened as well, slowly his counter punches became fewer and eventually ceased altogether. Namor would not stop punching the fallen Titan though.
"Namor!" came a voice from behind, finally snapping Namor out of his battle.
Namor slowly turned, spying Dr. Strange and the rest of the group. The Zombie was holding his own arm and Shang Chi was unconscious and floating in a mystic bubble but they were all there.
"We've won, Namor. Apparently the Kree all over the city had been attacked, then when they learned that Thanos' flagship had been attacked and that the Titan had been thrown out they panicked! They're withdrawing, we turned out to be more trouble then we're worth."
Namor staggered towards them and looked back to Thanos. "What about him?"
"Now that he's unconscious it'll be a simple matter to banish him to the Dark Dimension."
Namor nodded, not for a moment understanding what that meant, and tried to step towards them again, but he collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
Dr. Strange caught him and smiled. "Rest well, friend."
The End.