Chapter Four

THE OUTCOME

‘A man is an island.’— The Genocider.

A’lars stood in silence. His eyes roamed over the wreckage of the damaged domicile, his son’s domicile. He had been away on the other side of Titan, seeing to administrative duties that needed his personal attendance and full attention, upon his return he was made aware of the fact that an attempt was made on his son’s life and the boy was subsequently abducted by his assassin.

He grinded his teeth hard enough to crack them. This was his son, his Thanos. He had failed the boy on so many levels and occasions as a father, he was well aware of that. It did not mean however that he hated the child. A’lars was a man who trusted logic more than emotions, this tended to make him appear robotic and unfeeling, but deep inside the Mentor felt. He felt things he could not say. Things that would go against his role to express. Things that would make him vulnerable. 

Millions of lives looked up to him for guidance and purpose. How could he, their support and spiritual pillar, in turn show them that he himself needed guidance and support? Who would he seek it from? Who could understand just what he wanted for his son? His wife was broken, she hated the baby she swore to love. His citizens saw the boy as an omen of death. The boy’s own brother treated him with less regard than a womprat. And it was all his fault. All of it. They never should have commenced the—no, he left the thought for another day. It would be just another entry on his failings. 

He could however not allow anyone to harm his child. No, no he would not. He needed to find his son. He needed to show the boy that he had a parent that loved him and would seek him out through even the depths of hell. A’lars was ashamed that he could not have spoken to the boy of this, he was ashamed at cowering away from the issue.

How could he be a father to an entire civilization and yet could not even be half of that to his own child?

“Father, thank Kronos, we’ve been ridded of Thanos.” His adopted son, Starfox said with laugh in celebration. Gone was the error of Titan, gone was his vile beast of a brother, gone was the bastard who took their mother away. “Father?” Starfox back stepped upon meeting Mentor’s cold eyes. He’d seen them cold before but never like this, not this frigid with disgust. 

“You disappoint me.” Said A’lars with uncharacteristic emotion, walking past the young adult and stifling the urge to slap Starfox’s teeth in. 

He was going to get his son back. He was aware that would not make up for the years of neglect and pain, but he hoped to at least make an attempt at amends. The pain that ate through his heart told him that he cared more for his son than he had even presumed.  

He closed his eyes for a second and offered a heartfelt prayer to his father’s name, something he swore to never do, not to that bastard of a man, yet, A’lars set aside his hate for the sake of his child. He prayed for his son’s safety and to be able to find the boy swiftly. He entered his lab and arrayed himself in the necessary tools and equipment to trace the assassin and kill them if necessary. Finding the assassin would be easy, since they were clearly enhanced with the power cosmic and left a trail of lively emissions in their wake, catching up would be more difficult. 

“I will find you Thanos, I promise.” He whispered, boarding his raptor class space vessel, the Vilon, a two person spacecraft that was the only one remotely capable of going fast enough to even attempt catching up to the assassin.

A’lars boarded the Vilon, he ignored the urgent comms attempts from his delegates who needed his ever present attention in managing Titan. His son needed him more. 

-.-.-.

A’lars followed the trail through an expansive map of star systems. It led him past a destroyed world, the ash from the broken planet was still warm, the bodies floating in the detritus stained vacuum appeared fresh enough to confirm that its end was recent. He lamented at being unable to stop and offer aid, not that there would be any alive to receive it. 

He followed the map, keeping on the trail with his eyes peeled. A’lars thought of what to say to his son. Would he apologize first? How would he go about it? 

I’m sorry for everything Thanos. He thought to say but it didn’t feel right to just say it, even if he meant it. He thought back to his younger years, to a time when he would’ve wanted his father to hug him and tell him of how much he was loved. Would Thanos want the same? Despite the boy’s age, he was quite mature, too mature even. And A’lars did not know how to go about his amendment.

He chose to set it aside till he saw the boy.  

The trail led him to a barren outer rim world just on the edge of the Exolon latitude. He’d heard horrendous things about the latitude, most prominent being that it was the waste bin of a dark god’s failed experiment. 

His ship landed silently, as near to the energy signatures as it could, it was his plan to arrive covertly as to scout out and apprehend the assassin while they were unprepared. 

In the distance he saw two figures. A man with a burning skull who held a high caliber weapon in his grasp and beneath that man’s feet was his son. His son! His own Thanos, about to be executed!

A’lars ran, faster than he even thought possible, his feet cracked the dry earth as he shot forwards, propelled by rage and dread. He hadn’t exerted himself to this degree, nor channeled such rage since the last war which seemed an eternity ago.

Once he was within range, A’lars pointed his mobile plasma cannon at the burning skull, allowing the weapon’s target systems to mark the man. He pulled on the trigger and with a deep, bone rattling hum that sent him stumbling back, the plasma bolt dug into the assassin’s back and careened them into the horizon, exploding into a blue fiery haze as its secondary state charge detonated. 

“STAY AWAY FROM MY SON!” He roared, running for the boy as his heart pounded in his chest. His throat was dry, sweat soaked his bodysuit enough to wet it, his lungs felt as though aflame. Yet all this pain was nothing to seeing his child in rags and on his knees like a common criminal. 

A lump formed in his throat, he grit his teeth to stop whatever thing threatened to fall from his eyes, refusing to acknowledge that it was tears.

 “Mentor?” The boy asked, in clear disbelief. Had he not expected anyone to come for him? Had he truly believed no one cared for him? I care, Thanos, I care very much for you. A’lars said within. 

“Thanos!” He hugged the boy. 

“Mentor?” The boy said, almost testing if this was real. “Am I dead already? Is this but an illusion?”

“It is real my son. I would never abandon you.”

“You truly came for me? You A’lars, Mentor of Titan.”

“Your father. I did, my boy, I did. I always will. I have failed you in many ways, Thanos, but I will never abandon you.” A’lars unwrapped the chains, finding them impossible to break. 

Thanos was still unsure if this was real and if it was his father. How could A’lars come for him? A’lars of all people? He'd merely suggested it to the Rider as an unfounded threat, yet the man who was his father was actually here. The man who’d never once shown the boy a smile, the man who’s never once held his child’s hand after his birth, the man who never told him he was loved or even wanted, that same man was here for him. How? 

Thanos decided now was not his time to die, he needed answers and would have them before his demise. His purpose be damned, he would see to it however he damned pleased.

“I am aware of my errors, son I only ask that you allow me the chance to show you that I can be a better—”

“Mentor!” Thanos pushed A’lars away, causing a slug that would have eaten through him to instead form a crater where he once stood. 

“Rider, cease this!”

“I ain’t ceasing shit till you’re six feet under.” Frank Castle reloaded his weapon and aimed. He still felt the burn from the blast he took to the back. 

Thanos dashed to the side, avoiding another hell charged slug. The boy, in his dash, took the free chain off the floor and whipped it at the Rider’s chin. 

Frank tanked the blow that whipped his head to the side. “All this is doing is making me more pissed.” 

“It distracted you.” 

BANG!! “Fuck!” The Rider took a burning blast to the side, it sent him sailing into the desert floor in a pit. He decided to kill the bastard that was as stubborn as the purple bastard. 

Thanos was aware that he did not possess the firepower to take down the Rider, he had plans and formulations that would allow them to win against the spirit of vengeance, those plans however would require them to leave the planet. And seeing the Raptor class vessel in the distance, that would be futile as the Rider possessed a vehicle far capable in speed than theirs. 

Unless he destroyed the hellstead, but that would again yet be futile. It was a vehicle summoned and powered by hellfire, which the rider had in spades, it would only take a moment for him to repair any damage done to it. 

“Mentor!” 

“Yes son!”

Thanos stifled the urge to laugh. He found humor in the situation. 

“Do you have any devices capable of draining cosmic power radiation?”

“Boy, I am Mentor, of course I do.” A’lars had planned to subdue or kill the assassin and as such had armed himself.

“Keep them ready and allow me a moment to speak to the Rider, perhaps we will have no need for them.” Thanos said. A’lars, despite his concerns, trusted his son’s intelligence. The boy possessed an intellect to match his, nearly, after all. And if Thanos saw a way, then there most likely was. 

“Okay. Now I’m royally pissed off.” Said the Rider, storing away his weapon in favor of getting hands on and brutal with the two.

“Frank Castle.” Thanos began, he was going to make use of his most powerful arsenal, his words and knowledge. 

“Shut the fuck up kid.” It was bold that they refused to run, not that they could anyway, but Frank still found that it made what he was about to do easier. 

“Frank Castle, are you going to kill me in front of my father?”

“Damn fucking right I am. I’ll kill him too so you’ll have someone to accompany you to hell.” He neared the boy.

“Frank are you going to murder me before my own father? Are you going to take a child away from their parent? Are you going to be the cause of an unending pain, the same done to you when your own children were murdered in your sight? Are your hands going to be the bullet that takes my life just as another’s hands took those of your children?” 

Frank stood frozen. Silent and frozen as though forgotten by time. Thanos’ words ignited something with Frank. Memories raged within his head as he recalled what was once forgotten and buried, the smiles of his children, the laughter and joy and light they brought into his once damned and dreary life, the soft kisses they gave him when he held them both up that melted his heart. 

He remembered the pain of their death, the darkness it brought, the one he could never rid himself of. He remembered their blood in his hands, their trembling little bodies that grew colder regardless of how hard he hugged them.

The flames went out. Frank cupped his face, the images were burned to the back of his eyes. 

“Frank, I’m not evil and you don’t have to do this.” Frank Castle felt a comforting hand placed on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see the boy almost having to tiptoe just to tap his shoulder. 

“Heh.” He chuckled softly. He then looked at the boy’s father, armed and ready to fire at him. Yes, he had been a man like that once. Would he have created another just like him by murdering their child before them? Maybe.

Had he created many others by killing all those Thanos? Unlikely, those ones were evil. Pure evil. But a voice whisper asked that perhaps they’d been like this Thanos. Frank disagreed, there was no Thanos like this Thanos. 

“Make sure you stay good. The day you turn evil, I’ll be there to send to hell myself.” Frank whistled for his bike, jumping on it as it arrived. 

“Yes, yes, ever the dutiful man. Your chain.” The boy reminded him, gesturing at the weapon still in his hand.

“Keep it, I’ve got more.” He said, leaving Thanos with something to remember him by, something to keep him reminded of his unique path. “We’ll meet again someday kid!” The Rider laughed, hellfire igniting over his skull. He had a dimension in mind, one where he’d complete his mission but also save his kids. It was an adventure for another story. 

“Goodluck!” Thanos said, watching the Rider speed off and vanish into thin air as he had once appeared. 

“Thanos.”

“Mentor, we have much to speak of.”

“Yes, yes we do, my son. I suggest we do so on the vessel.”

“I thought the same.” Thanos said, walking by his father’s side as they trod for their spaceship. “Thank you for coming for me…father”

“My son.” A’lars found himself hugging the boy in a bout of deep emotion, unable to hold his composure. "My boy."

[-----]

This chapter wrote itself. I had an entirely different plan but once my fingers began running across the keyboard, the story spoke, the characters became flesh and whispered in my ears. I could not ignore the voice, here it is, presented to you as it came to me. I pray it was to your enjoyment. 

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