𝙁𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙎 - 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒙𝒚

Confidance

As soon as the last explosion rang out, Groot was nothing but a pile of twigs covering the ground beneath them.

Neyzira stirred and slowly woke to the sound of faint pop music. However, as she sat up she instantly lied back down, groaning in pain. Her whole body was aching, but her head was the worst out of it all. There was a throbbing and ringing pain as she finally sat up and all the blood rushed from her head, back into her body.

She looked around to see a group of Xandarians gathering around them. A few whimpers and cries rang out from the crowd causing her to whip her head in the other direction. There, from the rumble of the ship, Ronan walked out into the sunlight, smiling wickedly. "How in the hell?!" Neyzira shouted.

"You killed Groot!" Rocket charged at him but was pushed away by a purple force before he could reach him.

"Behold," Ronan announced, addressing the Xandarians. "Your Guardians of the Galaxy. What fruit have they wrought? Only that my father and his father shall finally know vengeance." Neyzira shifted nervously and in confusion, barely understanding Ronan's speech. She noticed Rocket fiddling around with some tech parts. It sprouted a bit of hope in her chest as Ronan continued. "People of Xandar the time has come to rejoice and renounce you paltry gods." As he spoke he looked up to the sky.

Ronan lifted his weapon and began to chant in his native language. His hands shook as he prepared to bring it to the ground and destroy the planet. However, before he could do so, he stopped, distracted.

Peter stood a few feet in front of him singing along to the music that was playing. "Listen to these words." He said pointing to Ronan. He continued to sing and dance. Meanwhile, the Xandarians and Guardians stared in denial, shock, and puzzlement.

"Now bring it down hard!" Peter exclaimed and broke into a ridiculous dance move. Neyzira slowly stood up and glanced over to where Rocket was working on the weapon, though now most of her attention was on Peter dancing. It was coming along pretty well and as long as Peter could keep Ronan distracted for a few more minutes without getting killed, they might just have one last chance.

"What are you doing?!" Ronan asked.

"Dance off, bro. Me and you." He answered and resumed his weird movements.

Ronan judgmentally looked him over while Peter reached out to Gamora. She shook her head, denying his request for her to join him in the so-called 'dance-off'. "Subtle. Take it back."

"What are you doing?" Ronan demanded again.

"I'm distracting you, you big turd blossom," Peter explained happily.

Ronan turned to where Rocket and Drax were standing. Drax was holding the weapon Rocket created and Rocket pressed two wires together. The gun was fired straight at the Power Stone causing it to go flying from Ronan's weapon.

Both he and Peter dived for it, Gamora shouting a "No!" as Peter grabbed it. He fell to the ground as the purple energy surged through him and the landscape. It created a cloud around them, but did not harm the civilians. A smile spread across Ronan's face while he watched him stand up, screaming.

"Peter! Take my hand!" Gamora shouted, reaching for him. Neyzira, knowing that the two of them couldn't hold it alone ran to Gamora and grabbed her hand, bracing herself for the surge of energy she was about to feel.

Peter seemed to ignore Gamora for a few seconds. He finally grabbed her hand and the energy traveled through Gamora and down her arm into Neyzira's hand. As soon as it entered her body she was put into a state of absolute shock. The pain was so intense that it made her go numb. It was somehow scorching and freezing at the same time.

Drax and Rocket slowly joined in on the other side and the energy was finally evenly shared enough that the pain significantly subsided and they stopped crying out.

"You're mortal!" Ronan shouted in bewilderment. "How?!"

"You said it yourself," Peter spoke. "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy." He opened his hand and a stream of purple energy hit Ronan causing him to float up in the air and scream in pain. Within seconds he had exploded and disappeared.

Gamora then closed the orb over the stone finally getting rid of the pain that was still ringing through all of them. Neyzira panted, finding herself grinning despite the aftershock from the stone until her hands went flying over her mouth. Peter grimaced as Neyzira ran off to loudly vomit behind some rubble.

"Well, well, well," Peter turned his head and saw Yondu and the Ravager gathering around them; weapons out and ready to attack if needed. "Quite the light show. Ain't this sweet." Yondu walked toward them casually. "But you got some business to attend to before all the nookie-nookie starts."

Gamora shook her head. "Peter, you can't. Peter."

"You gotta reconsider this, Yondu." Peter agreed, Neyzira finished her business and had walked back over, very confused. "I don't know who you're selling this to, but the only way the universe can survive is if you give it to the Nova Corps."

"I may be as pretty as an angel," Yondu chuckled moving his coat aside to show his arrow in the holster at his hip and making Neyzira immaturely laugh. "But I sure as hell ain't one. Hand it over son."

Peter fiddled with the orb hesitantly before giving it to him. Yondu motioned for the Ravagers to move out and they did so. He laughed, looking at the orb one last time and followed his group.

"Yondu," Peter stopped him. "Do not open that orb. You know that right? You've seen what it does to people."

He didn't answer and simply smiled and pointed. He then left with the rest of the Ravagers. The group watched as his ship flew off the planet, the orb still with them.

"He's gonna be so pissed when he realizes I switched out the orb." Peter joked.

"He was gonna kill you, Peter," Gamora stated, after laughing.

"Oh, I know." He sighed. "But he was about the only family I had."

Gamora put her hands over his, looking him straight in the eye. "No, he wasn't."

Neyzira smiled to herself, watching their conversation from a distance. They were cute. While Rocket gathered up what was left behind of Groot and sobbed, Drax made his way over and sat next to him, extending his hand and beginning to pett him. Rocket tensed up but then just sat there and let it happen.

Neyzira slowly nodded while wiping her bloody nose, a wide smile slowly forming on her face as she got more excited. All the other times she had felt joy after getting away with something or anything else was just empty compared to this. The feeling was sweet; knowing that she had won. She now had friends; people who cared about her. She wasn't alone. Not anymore.

"This is great. Xandar is okay, we beat Ronan, I not with my family!" Neyzira happily clapped her hands, jumping a bit where she stood. "This has to be favorite birthday yet!" Peter and Gamora gave her incredulous looks.

"It's your birthday?!" Peter asked.