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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟎
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑
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It wasn't long after that when the five of them got out of their seats and got everything they needed before they exited the Milano. Primrose walked behind Peter and in front of Drax with Gamora leading the way. Her blasters were in hand as they walked through the Dark Aster until they reached a door. It immediately opened as soon as they were close enough before they made their way further into Ronan's ship. Once they set foot into the next room, the door sealed shut behind them.
Silence surrounded them as the group of five continued to walk across the metal floor. The nerves within Primrose doubled as the world around her grew darker. Her grip around her blasters instantly tightened and she kept her eyes glued to Peter's back, not wanting to get lost on the unfamiliar ship.
"I can barely see," Drax muttered what they were all thinking under his breath.
It wasn't long after his statement when Groot held one of his hands in the air. The moment he opened his palm, thousands of small light spores left his arm and flew into the air. Everyone watched in awe as light suddenly filled the once pitch-black room. A small smile appeared on Primrose's face as a group of them surrounded her before dispersing into the air.
"When did you learn to do that?" the Quill woman asked without taking her eyes off of the magic happening around her.
"Pretty sure the answer is 'I am Groot,'" Peter responded before sending his sister a small smile and turning his attention back to the mission at hand.
"The flight deck is 300 meters this way," Gamora announced while gesturing toward the space in front of them before she began leading them toward their next destination.
"I want you all to know that I am grateful for your acceptance after my blunders. It is pleasing to once again have...friends," Drax told them, making Primrose silently wish she questioned Gamora more about what happened back on Knowhere before the Kylosian man continued speaking, "you, Quill, are my friend."
"Thanks," Peter responded with a hint of boredom in his voice while continuing to look around at the walls that surrounded them.
"Lady Quill, you are my friend," Drax continued, causing Primrose to send him a small smile before the former's attention turned to Groot, "this dumb tree, he is my friend."
"I am Groot."
"And this green woman, she, too-"
"Oh, you must stop!" Gamora interrupted as she looked back at the Kylosian man with an annoyed look on her face.
Before any of them could say another word, a battle cry came from somewhere in front of them. They instantly turned toward the source of the sound to find an angry blue woman blocking their only way to the flight deck. Despite her being around her height and build, Primrose would be the first to admit that the newcomer was the most terrifying creature she'd ever faced.
"Gamora, look at what you have done. You have always been weak," the newcomer hissed while keeping her eyes glued to the Zehoberei woman, "you stupid, traitorous-"
A blast came from somewhere near them, causing Primrose to jump. It wasn't long after that when they watched a ball of fire soar through before hitting their opponent in the chest and sending her flying backward. Their eyes stayed glued to where the woman once stood before they turned their attention toward Drax, only to find him slowly lowering his cannon from his shoulder.
"Nobody talks to my friends like that," the Kylosian man stated as he looked over at Gamora and sent her a small smile. The raven-haired woman just stared at him for a second longer before returning the gesture.
"Head to the flight deck," the Zehoberei woman told them after turning her attention back to the situation at hand, "I'll shut down the power to the security doors."
The group of five shared one last look with one another before they sent each other nods. Gamora instantly turned around and headed in the direction of the power source while her allies watched her go. It wasn't until she made it up the small flight of stairs that the angry blue woman was once standing on that the remaining four sprinted down a different hall. As they made their way toward their next destination, Primrose silently hoped once again that Peter's plan would actually work.
Primrose stayed between Peter and Drax as they ran through the halls in the direction Gamora told them the flight deck would be. The Quill woman was surprised by the minimal amount of guards they encountered on the Dark Aster. One would think that a ship that big would have soldiers stationed at every corner. The only time any of them had seen Ronan's men was when they first arrived on the large ship. It wasn't until they turned another corner of one of the halls that Primrose wished she didn't even think about it.
Standing in front of them was a group of Sakaaran soldiers led by one of the men Peter encountered back on Morag. Both groups were surprised to see each other, causing everyone to slightly jump before coming to a stop. Silence surrounded them as the enemies studied one another before the Sakaarans' leader's eyes landed on Peter.
"Star-Lord," the man hissed, making a smile appear on the Quill man's face while Primrose did her best to suppress an eye roll.
"Finally," was all her brother was able to say before the man in front of him lifted him into the air and threw him across the room.
That was when the craziness began.
The Sakaarans sprinted toward the three still standing with their swords held high in the air. Drax instantly began using his blades to take out as many as he could while keeping a smile on his face. Primrose used her blasters to take out her enemies before they got close enough to her while Groot simply used his arms to take them out one by one. That was going great for the three of them and they were able to take a lot of Sakaarans out of the fight. That was until Primrose saw their leader slam Peter against a wall.
The Quill woman's veins overflowed with anger as she took out three more Sakaarans. Once that was finished, she turned her full attention toward the man who was standing over her brother with his swords unsheathed.
"Hey," Primrose called out, drawing the man's attention to her before she started firing her quad blasters like there was no tomorrow. To her dismay, her enemy simply dodged the blasts, which only led to more of his men getting taken out. That continued for another moment before Drax's battle cry cut through the air. A smirk formed on the brunette woman's face as she stepped to the side to allow the Kylosian man to charge at the leader.
While Drax took care of the man that neither of the Quill siblings could defeat, Primrose blasted a few more Sakaaran and rushed to her brother's aid. The brunette woman grabbed Peter's hand and pulled him to his feet before they turned just in time to see the Sakaarans' leader knock Drax to the ground.
"You will never make it to Ronan," the man declared after he spun around to face the Quill siblings once again.
Just as the leader of the Sakaarans took a step toward Primrose and Peter, the Kylosian man got to his feet and lunged at the man. On the other side of the room, Groot continued to throw his soldiers across the room without a second thought. The Quill siblings instantly shared a look and a small nod before pressing the buttons behind their ears to bring their masks down. They then readied their quad blasters before turning on the rockets on their boots to fly high into the air.
As they soared through the air, they took out a fair amount of Sakaarans with their blasters before kicking four of them to the ground in sync. Their final blow caused them both to land hard on the stone floor. It wasn't long after that when they used their blasters to take down more of the Sakaarans while they slid across the room thanks to their rocket boots. Once the Quill siblings got to their feet, they stood back to back as they continued to fire at their opponents. As soon as they were taking down the surrounding Sakaarans, Primrose looked up at her brother, only to find him smiling down at her. That caused a similar smile to form on his sister's face before they high-fived each other.
When they turned their attention back toward their allies, they found Drax standing over the fallen leader of the Sakaarans. They just stared at the scene in front of them after Groot stopped next to Primrose before they made their way toward their last ally. As soon as they reached the Kylosian man, he sent them a large grin then the four of them continued on their way to the flight deck.
Right as they were about to enter the next hallway, another group of Sakaarans appeared in front of them. Primrose immediately let out a long sigh and prepared herself for another fight, only for Groot to take a step in front of them. The Quill siblings shared a confused look before looking back just in time to see Groot use one of his arms to grab five of the Sakaarans. He then swung his arm back and forth and used those five men to take out the remaining Sakaarans. Primrose, Peter, and Drax simply watched with their jaws slightly ajar until Groot was finished. Once he was satisfied with his work, Groot turned back to look at them with a proud smile.
"Quill, you gotta hurry," Rocket said over the comms while Primrose, Peter, Drax, and Groot fought together to take out the remaining Sakaaran soldiers, "the city's been evacuated, but were getting out *sses kicked down here."
"Gamora hasn't opened the door!" the Quill man responded while banging on the one thing that was keeping them from accessing the flight deck.
Primrose took a step back along with Drax as Peter readied the Hadron Enforcer while Groot continued to bang against the door in front of them. It wasn't long after that when the doors slid open, revealing the large flight deck in front of them. As soon as they stepped into the room, a large bang came from somewhere to the right of them. When they looked over toward the source of the sound, they found Gamora jumping up through a hole in the floor before she blasted two Sakaarans.
The group of five instantly rushed to the center of the room before turning to face Ronan, who was standing in the center of the flight deck. He just stared at them while Peter powered up the Hadron Enforcer and aimed it straight at Ronan. The tension around them thickened as the Quill man pulled the trigger. Primrose was forced behind Peter and Drax as the rocket flew through the air before hitting Ronan square in the chest. They all shielded their eyes as a bright blue cloud formed where the Accuser once stood.
"You did it!" Drax shouted as they stared into the cloud that surrounded them, only for their joy to fade when they watched Ronan get to his feet like nothing happened.
Primrose's eyes instantly fell on the purple glow emitting from the blue man's staff. It wasn't long after that when she exchanged a worried look with Peter and Gamora. As soon as she turned her attention back to Ronan, she found him pointing his glowing staff straight at them. Before they could figure out what was happening, the Accuser twisted his staff, creating an invisible force that sent the heroes flying backward.
A groan passed over the Quill woman's lips as she used her elbows to sit up on the steps, only for a familiar scream to greet her ears. When she looked back where Ronan stood, she found the man holding Drax in the air with only one of his hands. Panic and anger coursed through Primrose's veins as she got to her feet and readied her blasters. However, just as she was about to fire at Ronan, a Ravager ship smashed through the front window. Primrose's eyes widened as the cruiser slid across the flight deck and crashed into Drax and Ronan and slid toward her. Before she had a chance to react, Gamora came out of nowhere and tackled her out of the way.
The two women slowly got to their feet before their eyes landed on an unconscious Drax near the wreckage of the ship. They immediately went to his aid and dragged him out of the burning parts while Peter grabbed a passed-out Rocket from the Ravager ship. It wasn't long after that when the four remaining heroes gathered in a circle and watched the Dark Aster fall apart around them. Once she realized there was no escaping their fate, Primrose looked over at her brother before sending him a sad smile.
Just as all hope was lost, Groot spread his arms out as wide as he could before small branches began growing out of his body. Everyone watched in awe as the branches continued to slowly grow until they were surrounded on all sides in a protective sphere. When Primrose looked back over at Peter, her attention instantly fell on Rocket, who was slowly coming around from his forced slumber. Once Groot finished creating the shield, he forced some of his branches to wrap around each of his allies to act as seatbelts.
"No, Groot. You can't. You'll die," Rocket said in a voice barely above a whisper as he stared at his friend with tears in his eyes. The raccoon just stared at the flora colossus for a moment longer before walking forward until he was right in front of Groot's face. "why are you doing this?! Why?!"
In response to Rocket's question, Groot brought one of his branches up to wipe away a tear running down his friend's fur. The flora colossus kept his eyes on the creature in front of him as silence surrounded them. It wasn't long after that when a small smile formed on Groot's face.
"We are Groot."
Not even a second after that passed when the world around them began to shake. That caused Groot to wrap one more branch around Rocket to make sure he was secure. As the shaking continued, Primrose looked over at her brother to find him already staring back at her. A somewhat forced smile appeared on Peter's face as he took her hand into his. The Quill siblings kept their eyes glued to each other before the world around them faded into darkness.
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