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Thanos simply...left.
He didn't bother to kill them all like Nebula expected, he just left them on Titan, and for what?
She surveys Gamora's friends and the three humans from Terran.
The wizard sits, eerily calm, head bowed. Stark and the teenager are having a quiet conversation. Gamora's friends seem to be unusually quiet (even the loud, ugly one) and she's not sure if they're mourning Gamora or their failure to stop Thanos.
Maybe they're mourning both.
She glances at Quill, who's sitting with his knees pressed up to his chest, his face buried in his arms.
She wants to be angry at him. They had almost got the gauntlet off if it wasn't for him.
"Where is Gamora?" Quill asks.
"...My Gamora..." Thanos mutters.
"Oh, bull-shit. Where is she?"
"He is in anguish...he mourns." Mantis says, voice shaking.
"What does this monster have to mourn?" The ugly one asks.
"Gamora. He came back from Vormir with the Soul Stone...she didn't." Nebula replies.
"No. Tell me she's lying. Asshole-! Tell me you didn't do it!"
"I had to..." Thanos mumbles.
"No you didn't," Quill says, eyes shining.
"Quill, we almost got this off. Don't engage!" Stark pleads, trying to get the Gauntlet off.
Nebula wants to grab him before he does something really stupid.
"No you didn't! No you didn't!" Quill yells, beating Thanos in the face.
The movement is enough to make Mantis loose her concentration, and everything they planned falls apart.
She wants to be angry at him, wants to punch him in the face, but when she looks at him, she just feels...pity.
"Quill," Nebula says.
He looks up at her, eyes red-rimmed. "What?"
She bites her lip, unsure how to word her thoughts. "Gamora was...she was…"
"Yeah, I get what you're trying to say." Quill mumbles, burying his face in his arms.
She gives him a sympathetic pat on the back, which Quill doesn't even react to.
"Alright, so what do we do now?" The Spider...Boy(?) asks.
Nobody answers him, defeated. What was the plan, anyway? What was there left to do? Thanos most likely had the final stone as they spoke.
"There is nothing to do," the wizard interjects. "We wait."
"W- We wait? Look, Strange, the others on Earth need everything they can get against Thanos! We can't just sit here and wait for nothing!" Stark says, indignant.
"... It's too late," Strange replies.
Nebula feels a chill run up her spine, imagining the horrific ways that Thanos would kill half of the universe.
And then, it happens. She watches as Gamora's friends, Strange, and the Spider Boy vanish into dust.
"He did it," She says to no one in particular.
She has accepted her death. It feels strangely right, to die rather than be reminded of her failure to stop Thanos. It was oddly peaceful, in a way,
Stark is still hunched over in shock, the Spider Kid's ashes caking his hand.
She waits for her turn, to finally feel the sweet kiss of death…
...and if never comes.
She waits for several minutes in silence, and it never comes.
Nebula could almost laugh at the bitter irony if she was in a better mood. She wanted for death and didn't receive it, yet, Gamora wanted to live and got death instead.
She could only hope her sister didn't suffer in her final moments.
Stark inhales shakily, wincing in pain as he tries to stand up.
"You need medical attention," Nebula points out.
"Thanks for reminding me, Smurfette." Tony grumbles. "Look, we need to get back to Earth."
Nebula chooses to ignore his attempted insult (she didn't even know what a 'Smurfette' was). "We can use Quill's ship. Titan is in the same galaxy as Earth. It shouldn't be that difficult."
Stark nods stiffly. "Right."
They make their way to the ship. "You lie down on that table. I'll start the Nav computer and then I'll patch you up the best I can. We should make it to Earth in about 7 hours."
Stark grimaces. "Awesome,"
Of course, they would've made it to Earth a lot faster if the ship had enough fuel.