The ventilation shaft fell silent for half a second. Then, a man in a red leather jacket tumbled out. He landed with what he thought was a very dashing pose. Or at least, he thought it was dashing. Peter Quill. Alias: Star-Lord. Member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, half-human, half-Celestial, a long-time fixture of the cosmic black market, and carrying a bounty of 40,000 units.
He glanced around the throne room, now reduced to scrap metal. He looked at Shiki the Golden Lion, whose abdomen was still bleeding even as he laughed like a maniac. Then he looked at the livid, blue-faced Ronan the Accuser and Corvus Glaive, who was gripping his black blade. Star-Lord fell silent for a moment before forcing a smile.
"Take your time fighting, big shots," Star-Lord said. "I'll just do you a favor and keep this orb safe for you."
With that, he reached out and grabbed The Orb wedged at the edge of the bridge. He moved fast. He was even bolder. Whether his brain had caught up with his actions was another story entirely.
Rocket Raccoon leaped out of the vent, shouldering an energy blaster larger than himself. Rocket Raccoon—member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, genetically modified bounty hunter, expert in firearms, demolitions, and trash talk, with a bounty of 10,000 units. He pulled the trigger the second his feet hit the floor. Blue energy bolts swept horizontally across the room, sending the lunging Outriders tumbling backward.
"Run, you idiot!" Rocket yelled. "Do you think you're stealing bread from a bar's kitchen?"
Star-Lord had already grabbed The Orb. Just as he was about to tuck it into his jacket, the shattered metal plate beneath his feet abruptly tilted upward. Shiki had merely twitched his finger. The metal plate launched Star-Lord straight into the air. His legs kicked wildly, the smile completely vanishing from his face.
"Whoa!" Star-Lord yelped. "I didn't rehearse this entrance!"
Shiki looked up at him, his face dark and ugly. "Who gave you the guts to touch my spoils?"
Star-Lord hugged The Orb tightly, dangling upside down in mid-air. He looked down at the dizzying drop beneath his feet, then back at Shiki's murderous, weathered face.
"Let's not be hasty now," Star-Lord pleaded. "I was just trying to help out."
Shiki let out a cold laugh. "Help me twist your head off your shoulders?"
Rocket cursed continuously as he fired his blaster. "A giant golden-haired geezer, a blue-faced lunatic, and some bone-sword freak! You aliens have the worst taste! Every single one of you looks like a failed experiment dragged out of a dumpster!"
The throne room quieted slightly. Even Ronan glanced sideways at the raccoon. A vein throbbed violently on Shiki's forehead.
"A tanuki that ate a Devil Fruit?" Shiki growled.
Rocket's fur immediately bristled. "I'm a raccoon! A raccoon! You damn flying golden sea urchin!"
Shiki pressed a finger down heavily. The metal conduits beneath Rocket's feet instantly coiled upward, hoisting him and his oversized gun into the air. Hanging upside down, Rocket continued to struggle wildly.
"Put me down!" Rocket demanded. "Do you know how much this gun is worth!?"
Shiki ignored him completely. Raising his hand, he yanked Star-Lord forcefully toward himself. The Orb drifted along with him. Witnessing this, Ronan's face twisted into an ugly mask of rage.
"That power is mine!" Ronan roared. Ronan the Accuser, Kree Empire extremist leader, commanding the fleet attacking Xandar in an attempt to obliterate the Nova civilization using the Power Stone. Blood was still pouring from his chest, and his warhammer was cracked, yet he lunged for The Orb like a rabid dog.
Corvus Glaive moved too. His black glaive swept mercilessly across the floor, aiming straight for Shiki's wrist. Corvus Glaive, one of Thanos's Black Order, a vanguard commander of the Titan legion whose very life resided within his blade.
Shiki stomped his foot down hard. Floating fragments of the ship crashed down layer by layer, firmly blocking Corvus's path. Twisting his upper body, Corvus thrust his blade through a gap like a venomous snake. Shiki sidestepped the attack and countered with a heavy backhand punch against the flat of the blade.
Clang!
The black glaive was violently repelled, but a bloody gash split open across Shiki's palm. He glanced down at the wound, the brutality in his eyes deepening. "I'm going to tear that piece of scrap metal of yours into pieces sooner or later."
Corvus didn't talk back. With a wave of his hand, a tidal wave of Outriders flooded in through the breaches. The beasts crawled frantically along the walls, ceiling, and broken steel beams, lunging for The Orb.
Still hanging upside down, Rocket didn't stop running his mouth. "Hey! Big guy! Get to work! Don't let these ugly freaks touch the orb!"
Groot forced his way out of the ventilation shaft. Groot—member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, a Flora colossus who only spoke the words "I am Groot." His bounty records were a mess, with most interstellar wanted systems simply classifying him as Rocket's accomplice.
His arms suddenly extended, the branches whipping out like thick ropes to send several Outriders flying. One Outrider clamped its jaws tightly onto his branch. Groot stared at it expressionlessly.
"I am Groot."
The branch tightened abruptly, snapping the Outrider in two on the spot.
"Nice job, buddy!" Star-Lord shouted from mid-air. "But can you get me down first?"
Rocket screamed back at him, "You're hugging the stone and expecting someone else to save you? Did deep space freeze your brain or something?"
Just then, a green figure sprinted in from another broken corridor. Gamora. Thanos's adopted daughter, member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, one of the last Zehoberei survivors, known as the deadliest woman in the universe. Bounty: 80,000 units.
Wielding a longsword with clean, decisive strikes, she hacked down the Outriders blocking her path and made a beeline for The Orb in Star-Lord's hands. Seeing her, Star-Lord's eyes lit up instantly.
"Gamora!" he cheered. "I knew you couldn't bear to let me die!"
Gamora slashed through a piece of flying debris, her tone urgent. "Shut up, Quill! Give me the stone!"
Hearing this, Shiki's gaze turned even more murderous. "Another fly with a death wish."
Gamora paid Shiki no mind. Her eyes were locked onto the black glaive in Corvus's hand, her expression shifting drastically. "Corvus. Thanos's people are already here."
Corvus Glaive looked at her coldly. "Traitor."
Gamora gripped her sword hilt with both hands. "I was never his daughter."
In a flash, Corvus moved, slashing his black glaive directly at Gamora's slender neck. She raised her sword in a desperate block. The two weapons collided with a deafening crash, and the immense force pressed Gamora back several steps, her arms sinking from the weight.
She knew all too well how troublesome Corvus was. He wasn't a fool like Ronan, driven mad by the stone. Corvus was the sharpest butcher's knife in Thanos's hand. If the Power Stone fell into his grasp, Thanos would descend upon them personally in no time.
Gamora forcefully deflected his blade, using the momentum to flip backward in a rapid retreat. "The stone cannot stay here!"
Still suspended in the air, Star-Lord looked unusually serious. "I completely agree. Which is why it makes perfect sense for me to take it."
Rocket cursed from the sidelines. "Makes perfect sense, my ass! You look like a salted fish hung out to dry in a red leather jacket right now!"
Shiki had finally had enough of the noise. With a sweeping gesture, he sent Star-Lord and The Orb crashing heavily toward the deck. Just before impact, Star-Lord triggered his jet boots, barely managing to roll and dissipate the force. However, The Orb slipped from his grasp, rolling straight toward Ronan.
Ronan lunged forward with a maniacal laugh. "Supreme power belongs to me!"
He grabbed the fragments of his warhammer, delusionally attempting to embed The Orb back into it. But Groot's branches drilled frantically out from the cracks in the floor, wrapping tightly around Ronan's ankles.
"I am Groot."
----
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