"This thing doesn't even have weapons!" Rocket roared.
With no guns to fire, he rammed his mining ship straight into a Kree fighter. The impact knocked the enemy craft sideways and sent it crashing into a nearby structure in a fiery explosion.
Rocket pulled up hard—only to find another Kree ship charging head-on.
"Fine! We'll do it the old-fashioned way!"
He howled and accelerated.
The two ships collided.
The Kree fighter shattered under the reinforced hull of the engineering vessel, erupting into flames while Rocket's ship burst through the firestorm largely intact.
---
Elsewhere, Quill had landed his mining ship directly on top of a Kree fighter. Using the vessel's industrial claw, he pried open the cockpit canopy like cracking a tin can.
Then—insanely—he maneuvered the smaller ship inside the Kree craft's interior.
Moments later, the hijacked Kree fighter roared to life under Quill's control.
---
On the ground, Drax was being utterly overwhelmed.
Every strike he threw against Ronan felt like tapping stone.
Every blow Ronan delivered landed like a hammer of judgment.
Ronan lifted Drax effortlessly by the throat and slammed him into the ground.
"I do not remember killing your family," Ronan said coldly. "And I will not remember killing you."
He picked up a fallen blade and raised it to drive into Drax's skull—
A sudden wind blade shattered the weapon mid-swing.
Several ice spikes shot toward Ronan's face.
Ronan abandoned the execution and dodged, turning toward the attacker.
Karl stood calmly, frost spiraling around him. Several crystalline ice spears hovered at his side, the air within five meters frozen solid.
"You seek revenge as well?" Ronan asked.
Karl shook his head. "No. I'm simply here to kill you."
The ice spears launched in unison.
Ronan evaded and charged.
A dense mist of freezing vapor erupted around him, instantly reducing visibility to less than a meter.
An ice spike shot from nowhere.
Ronan dodged.
Another followed.
Then three at once from different angles.
Unable to evade all of them, he took the hits. Two struck his knees. His armor prevented penetration—but the shattered ice instantly froze his joints.
With a heavy thud, Ronan dropped to one knee.
Frost spread across the ground, sealing his legs to the surface.
Karl dispersed the mist. A final, massive ice spear formed before him and shot toward Ronan's head.
It stopped inches away.
A shimmering sonic barrier blocked its path.
A Kree ship descended overhead.
Nebula had arrived.
"I have the Orb," she called down. "We're leaving!"
A tractor-like field pulled Ronan upward into the ship.
They turned to flee—
But Karl's aura shifted.
The biting cold vanished, replaced by searing heat.
Several blazing fireballs formed behind him and launched skyward.
Explosions rocked the Kree ship. Nebula maneuvered sharply, avoiding most of the blasts—but one struck true.
The ship belched smoke, engines faltering.
Still, Nebula pushed forward at full speed. If she could reach Ronan's main warship, they would be safe.
---
Meanwhile, in open space—
Gamora floated unconscious, drifting among debris.
Frost crept slowly across her skin.
Rocket's voice crackled over comms.
"Quill… her physiology gives her a few minutes at best. We can't survive out there without suits."
Quill stared at her.
Then made his choice.
He activated his communicator.
"Yondu! Yondu, this is Quill! Coordinates 227-K! Come in!"
Rocket realized instantly what he intended.
"Quill, don't you dare—!"
Too late.
Quill opened the hatch and launched himself into space.
He reached Gamora and pulled off his helmet-mask, securing it over her face.
The mask contained oxygen and temperature regulation.
Without it—
Frost overtook Quill's skin instantly. His eyes reddened as blood vessels burst under the vacuum strain.
He began to lose consciousness.
Then—
A beam of light enveloped them.
Quill turned weakly.
Several Ravager ships hovered nearby.
A powerful tractor beam pulled both him and Gamora inside.
Seeing this, Rocket made a hard turn and fled. If he were captured too, everything would be lost.
---
Quill and Gamora tumbled unceremoniously onto the Ravager ship's floor.
Quill landed on top of her in a position that was… unavoidably intimate.
Oxygen restored, Gamora gasped back to awareness.
"What happened?" she asked, dazed.
"Found you floating out there," Quill said softly, brushing frost from her cheek. "Couldn't let you die. Heroic impulse. Very noble. Inspiring, really—"
"The Orb?" she interrupted.
Quill froze.
"…I think it got taken."
Her expression hardened instantly.
"What?!"
At that moment, several figures entered the chamber.
Leading them was Yondu's lean, mohawked first mate.
The Ravagers had arrived.
And the Power Stone was now in Ronan's hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoyed Marvel Manifestor, please give it a Power Stone and leave a review! Your support means everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~