CURRENTLY, ALL NEW CHAPTERS ARE JUST TO CATCH UP WITH WHAT I'VE ALREADY WRITTEN! THESE UPDATES DO NOT CORRESPOND WITH HOW I WILL BE UPDATING THIS STORY!
UPDATE STATUS: ON HOLD
THE DARKEST HOUR
JUNE 25, 2014
XANDAR — CAPITAL CITY OF THE NOVA EMPIRE
THE DARK ASTER, Ronan's ship, had entered Xandar's atmosphere just as the Ravager fleet approached. They stood with little manpower amongst them but with twelve percent of a plan on their side. Evan sat in her co-pilot's seat beside Peter. She turned to him with a small smile.
"We've got this," Evan stated, trying to assure herself.
"I know I do," Peter agreed, nodding his head with a smug smile.
"Submerge!" Yondu shouted, breaking apart their small moment of normalcy.
Peter and Evan pushed forward on their accelerators diving underneath the Dark Aster once Yondu set a firebomb to hide them from scanners and sight.
"Rocket, hurry!" Peter shouted as the fire cleared and a one-shot to the weak point in the Dark Aster was open.
Rocket's team maneuvered its way towards a weak point in the ship and sent their blasters spiraling to weaken the metal and form a tunnel through for the other five to get through.
Just as Rocket made his way to the ship, Ronan's fleet dived to the side. Small nuisances of ships rained on top of them, thousands of them, spitting out blasts at all the enemy ships.
"Quill! Yondu! Now!" Rocket shouted.
Peter and Evan shot forward through the warfare to try and make it to the Dark Aster in time to board. Evan held control over the right side of firearms while Peter took control of the left. They shot ship after ship but it seemed to barely make a dent in their fleet as plenty of enemy ships continued to flit through the sky.
"Hell!" Yondu shouted suddenly, his green dot on their radar fading as he fell from the sky after a major blow to his ship. "I'm going down, Quill! No more games with me, boy! I'll see you at the end of this!"
Evan and Peter frowned, a major component of their plan lost but they couldn't lose hope early on. Gamora didn't seem to have the same idea as she sat behind Evan with a frown on her lips as she watched the enemy ships swarm the sky and barely one of theirs. On Peter's side, the ship rocked roughly from a hit rattling them for a moment.
"There are too many of them, Rocket!" Gamora called. "We'll never make it up there!"
Suddenly, shots from behind them started to take over the sky knocking out dozens of Ronan's fleet out of their airway. Yellow and blue ships emerged from all sides the Nova Corps known colors as they continued to shoot Ronan out of their way.
"Evan Quill. This is Denarian Saal of the Nova Corps," a familiar voice called into their ship, the man who sentenced them to the Kyln. "For the record, I advised against trusting you here."
"They got your 'bitch' message!" Peter shouted excitedly, jumping in his seat as he turned to Evan with a wide grin.
"Thank God," Evan muttered. "Thank you, Denarian."
"Prove me wrong," the man answered back.
The Milano thrust forward with the sky now clearer than it had been allowing them a smooth flight to where Rocket and the other ships waited for them to enter. Peter flew them into the tight tunnel in the side of the Dark Aster, the Milano rocking from the tight squeeze and high speed the ship was moving out. Sparks flew from the scrapping of metal on metal and rattled the five inside the ship until Peter pulled back on the brakes forcing them all back into their seats. Evan took command of both guns, hitting most of the men in the room until they shuttered to a stop.
"Yes! Ahahahaha," Drax screamed in satisfaction, thrusting his hands into the air.
"We've just Kevin Baconed," Gamora noted with a small smile standing to her feet as she patted Evan's shoulder softly and made her way off deck.
The five walked onto the metal floor of the Dark Aster and found an entrance into the main hull that Gamora was able to open with a click of her armband that still gave her access even after she had fleed from Ronan and Thanos. They walked through and the door closed behind them sheltering them within the dark.
"I can barely see," Drax noted.
Tiny, golden lights started to fill the room and for a moment Evan thought that Drax was magical for saying something and it immediately coming true. She turned to see it was Groot instead, his arm lifted toward the ceiling as he sprouted small spores to light their way.
"When did you learn to do that?" Drax asked.
"Pretty sure the answer is I am Groot," Peter noted.
Evan sighed. The spores may have been beautiful but now was not the time to relish in them.
"The flight deck is three hundred meters this way," Gamora stated with a similar thought in mind as she led them down the hall, the spores left behind.
"I want you to all know that I am grateful to your acceptance after my blunders. It is pleasing to once again have friends," Drax said.
Evan's heart pounded at his words, they sounded like final words. Drax sounded like he was making sure they knew how much he appreciated them... before they died. Evan shook her head to rinse the thoughts out and continued to walk on without looking back at him.
"You, Quill, are my friend," he continued, catching Peter's attention.
Peter turned to look at him, but caught Evan's eye as she smiled stupidly and raised an eyebrow.
"Thanks," Peter said awkwardly, turning away from them and back to where they were headed.
"Your odd sister, she is my friend," Drax continued on, pointing to Evan. "This dumb tree, he is also my friend," he said, waving his hand toward Groot. "And this green whore, she, too─"
Gamora turned to him, stopping him before he continued on, "Oh, you must stop!"
Evan stopped in her tracks, even took a step back into Peter as a woman dropped from the ceiling. She was blue like the Kree with black pits for eyes, a shaved head and a clump of cybernetic metal on the right side of her face. She stood defensively before them in the light from the hole she created like some godsend from heaven, but Evan knew better that she was a demon ready for the kill.
"Gamora," the woman hissed. "Look at what you have done. You have always been weak. You stupid, traitorous─"
A shot from Drax's gun hit her square in the chest and flying backward from the blast.
"Nobody talks to my friends like that," Drax stated, his head tilting slightly toward Gamora.
"Head to the flight deck," Gamora told them, a silent comradery towards Drax in her tone. "I'll shut down the power to the security doors."
Evan, Peter, Drax and Groot hauled ass toward the flight deck while they left Gamora behind. They stomped up the stairs and at the top they were met with a command of Kree men with the one they recognized from Morag in the lead.
"This feels like déjà vu to me," Evan panted as they made their way to the men.
"Same here," Peter nodded, the four skidding to a halt in front of them.
The two smiled at each other, their first meeting on Terra coming into the forefront of Evan's mind as she readied herself for the oncoming fight.
"Star-Lord," the darker-skinned Kree hissed in satisfaction.
"Finally," Peter laughed from someone finally calling him by his 'Outlaw Name'.
"It's going to go to his head now," Evan complained as the leader picked Peter up by the shirt and threw him back into the crowd.
Evan watched as the room broke out into a fight, men coming at her from all sides. She ducked down to her stomach, pressing her necklace for her helmet to materialize. She stood back up and whipped into the skull of one of the Kree men. She turned to another taking a punch to the stomach before she was able to pull her blasters from her sides and knock the man with them down.
The adrenaline pumping through her veins helped kick off the pain that still bothered her leg, but between that and the healing remedies she had given herself had helped ease the pain away.
Another man stormed her, but Evan was quick as she slid to the side. The man turned back to her, punching the air where her head had been but she whipped her head out of the way so he only punched air. She sent a shot from her blaster into his stomach and sent him back into three other men.
Drax had been kicked to the ground by the dark-skinned Kree, growling out a quick determinant of their fates, but Evan had screamed over his roar and ran across the room into his side. She smiled at the parallel in which she had taken Ronan down in the same manner. Evan kept him down for a moment until Drax dragged her off of him and the two began to throw punches again.
Evan had taken on the men approaching her and Drax, Peter flying across the floor while shooting the men he passed and Groot gouged more with his branches. Once Drax had overpowered their leader, he slammed his head into the metal wall and whispered, "Finger to throat means death," and ripped out the cybernetic information enhancers on the side of his head out, electrocuting him to death.
Drax turned to the three approaching with a roguish smile, "Metaphor."
"Yeah, sorta," Peter said under his mask with a small laugh. "Oh, no," he muttered as more of Ronan's men filtered into the room.
Groot was quick on his feet, moving to the forefront of the group and stabbed a good amount of the men who had come in with his branch arm. He then swung his arm again and again against the walls.
Peter turned to look at Evan and Drax, shocked. Evan shrugged, her helmet still on as Peter's was and Drax smiled enthusiastically at the brutal sight.
Groot finally finished with the dead men, pulling his arm back to his side and turned to the three, grinning. Evan could now see how Groot could get charged with gruesome bodily harmed while still holding his innocent façade.
The four made it to the flight deck with a clear path, the door still closed as they approached and minutes after as they fought off Ronan's men who had found them sooner rather than later.
"Quill, you gotta hurry. The city's been evacuated, but we're getting our asses kicked down here," Rocket called to them from outside of the Dark Aster.
"Gamora hasn't opened the door!" Peter called back, banging his hand on the door.
The door finally opened after some time, Peter powering a mega-blaster he had compacted in his pocket. Gamora shot a blast through the floor, jumping into the flight deck and took one of the guards out with a green blast. Drax made his way from the other side of the room and sliced the other man down the back.
They turned to the long hallway leading down to Ronan where he stood and watched the destruction of Xandar. At the sound of silence, he turned to stare at them. His purple eyes buzzing with electricity from the stone even from where Evan was standing.
Peter stood in front of the four with him, hefting the large blaster in both of his hands and leaned back from the weight of it. Evan stood directly behind him and set her hand on the small of his back to remind him silently that they were there too.
Peter jerked back with the force of his blast, sending it barreling down the hall and straight into Ronan who disappeared in the smoke. Peter let the guards of his helmet down and Evan joined him, smiling brightly up at Peter.
"You did it!" Drax cheered after a silent moment.
"Peter!" Evan joined Drax's excitement, shaking Peter's shoulders.
Slowly, the smile faded as the smoke cleared and the bright purple stone raised in the hammer Ronan held. He stood to his full height and stared them down wickedly, the hammer raising towards them and with the slightest of will the stone had sent them flying back.
Drax was the first to stand in fury, racing across the hall and straight into Ronan's awaiting hand as he choked Drax.
"I was mistaken," Ronan rasped. "I do remember your family. Their screams were pitiful. I─"
Evan noticed Ronan stop his words suddenly with the loud whir of an engine other than the one in the Dark Aster. Rocket's ship rammed through the glass at the end of the hall and right into Ronan and Drax.
Evan stood stock still at the sight of the ship flying for her, images of her and Peter before all of this, happy and innocent flashing through her mind.
Peter ran across the floor, shoving her to the ground and into Groot as Rocket barreled through. They all fell with a shout, the Dark Aster beginning to crumble at the sudden breach.
Once the initial shock wore down and things started to die down, Peter pulled himself off Evan.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly.
She groaned as he lifted himself, "My leg," she muttered, the wound where Ronan had shot her on Knowhere re-opened and pooling with blood.
Peter pushed Evan's hair out of her face, "You'll be okay," he whispered, kissing her forehead before he stood to his feet. "I'll be right back, I need to check on Rocket."
Evan nodded watching as Peter stumbled towards Rocket's ship where he laid limp. He pulled Rocket into his arms and returned to sit next to Evan as he cradled Rocket's body. Gamora dragged Drax to them who had been knocked out by the force of Rocket's ship.
Evan pulled herself up to lean against Peter as the ship began to plummet toward Xandar and watched with glazed over eyes as Groot's branches began to spread to cage them from the destruction. Evan was reminded of her and Groot fighting in the escape of the Kyln.
Golden spores surrounded them once again and Evan smiled faintly at the sight of them. Rocket rose from his sleep just as the barrier finished closing around them. His eyes shimmering with tears as the branches surrounded them fully. He moved away from Peter and towards Groot's face.
"No, Groot! You can't," he whispered. "You'll die. Why are you doing this? Why?"
"We. Are Groot," he assured Rocket with a warm smile.
Evan could feel her eyes prickle with tears from Groot's calm tone and squeezed her eyes shut, Peter's arms wrapping around her so he could cradle her now.
The Dark Aster crashed into Xandar, hitting against a structure that caused the whole ship to rattle, debris falling on top of Groot as they hopped and splashed into the ocean but still set on the mainland.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Ahhhhh! Only two more chapters and I'll actually be finished with this movie! Only 7,263,620 more movies in the Marvel universe to go... Thanks for bearing with me.
Until the next time!