Chapter Eight
Percy sat on a box now in full ravager gear and prayed, "MaD" He prayed to Chaos. "Please let this go well, please give me the strength to go through one last sacrifice. Please save my new friends and at the very least if we do die, please let them be reunited with their loved ones. Bring Riptide back to Terra and tell them I died as a hero and not a traitor."
A voice ran in Percy's head, A female voice letting him know it was a mom day, "I will be beside you and help all I can Percy." He felt a feather light touch on his forehead, "be careful my son."
"I will mom," He opened his eyes and ran a hand over his face, "please let us survive."
"We will," a new voice assured him. In the doorway was Quill, "We'll live through this kid, promise," He smiled nudging his shoulder.
"I'm not much younger than you Quill," Percy laughs, pushing his hair back. "But thanks, sometimes you need to be reminded that no everyones bad, and sometimes I need to remember that not everyones gonna turn their back on me."
"Did they kill you because they were afraid of you?" Quill asked.
"Maybe deep down. Someone claimed I had betrayed the gods. I didn't, but even after everything I did they chose to believe her."
The Automated voice rang though the ship, "Ronan's fleet has been spotted, and will arrive in T-minus fifteen minutes."
"Let's go get 'em, boys!" Yandu yelled over the comms.
Hundreds of Ravagers ships were deployed just outside of Xandars radius, "This is a terrible plan," Gamora realized.
"Hey, you're the one who said you wanted to die among friends," Quill teased.
Yondu's ship fires at Ronan's, creating a cover, "Cover it down. Submerge!"
Quill and Percy at the controls do a full on Nose dive straight on to Xandar then back up.
"Rocket, hurry!" Quill yells out to Rocket and his team Just as the cover goes down, not a moment later it seems all of Ronas pilots dive.
"This looks like the most intense game of galaga ever." Percy quips, making Quill look over at him with a grin.
"Quill! Yondu! Now!" Rocket yells as they break through the side of the ship. They make their way forward. ducking and weaving thigh fire.
Percy sees Yondu fall back "Awe Hell! I'm going down, Quill! No more games with me, boy! I'll see you at the end of this!"
Quill doesn't even react, just continues on. "There are too many of them, Rocket!" Gamora calls "We'll never make it up there!" Percy thrust forward determined to get the stone back and keep it out of villainess clutches for good.
Suddenly a ton of ships flank around Percy and Quill's ship, "Peter Quill. This is Denarian Saal of the Nova Corps. For the record, I advised against trusting you here."
"They got my "dick" message!" Percy opened his mouth to argue against the wording but shook his head and continued on.
"Prove me wrong."
Their ship ducks into the hole in the side of Ronan's ship, the wings breaking off the sides "Yes!" Drax calls as if this is a ride. Guards flank the sides trying to take down the ship, Quill turns them as best he can with the wings gone and shoots them all dead. The three up front just stare at each other in shock, considering they actually survived that "Yes!" Drax cheers again.
Gamora looks at the two, "We're just like Kevin Bacon."
"Kevin Ba- Did you explain Footlose to her! Of all movies Footlose!"
They exited the tattered ship and snuck along the corridor, "I can barely see," Drax said, squinting.
Groot extended his arm and released what looked like little glowing dandelions, "When did you learn to do that?" Drax asked as Percy's mind raced back to Terran, back to Half Blood hill, back to the Apollo cabin more specifically.
"Pretty sure the answer is "I am Groot."" Quill answered but it was clear that he was impressed.
Gamora smiled and nodded ahead, "The flight deck is 300 meters this way."
They continued on, "I want you all to know that I am grateful for your acceptance after my blunders." Drax started snapping Percy out of thoughts of home "It is pleasing to once again have, friends. You, Quill, are my friend."
"Thanks," Quill said unenthusiastically, not entirely paying attention.
"This dumb tree, he is my friend," Groot hummed with a smile, "you Jackson the Terran warrior are my friend once more." Percy gave a small smile over his shoulder but said nothing "And this green whore, she, too..."
Gamora whipped around immediately "You must stop!"
A yell was heard and down dropped what Percy thought looked like a cross between a woman and a cyborg, a gorgeous one at that. "Gamora, look at what you have done. You have always been weak. You stupid, traitorous..." She was blasted back painfully by a ball of flames.
The other four looked to Drax whose weapon was trained on the woman, "Nobody talks to my friends like that."
"Head to the flight deck. I'll shut down the power to the security doors."
Percy smirked as he walked alongside Quill, "Definitely one of the hotter psycho's that had tried to kill me."
Quill snorted, "does that happen a lot,"
Percy nodded, "You'd be surprised a lot of enemies back on Terra. And I got a lot of crazy one nighters out in the universe."
"Yeah I get that," he laughed. "The crazy one nighters, I lived a pretty normal life on Terra."
"Gods I wish but then again I wouldn't be here otherwise," He smirked.
The four men ran up towards the flight deck only to be stopped by Ronans troops, "Star-Lord." The man grinned.
Quill smiled, "Finally." The man threw him and a fight broke out.
Percy uncapped riptide and got busy. He knew how to shoot a gun it was much easier than a bow and arrow and as good as they were when taking a life they weren't really his style. If he missed with his powers even by an inch here he risked hurting Quill, Drax or Groot. With blades he was up close so alway knew he was getting a kill. He slashed through one guard's neck ducked under a shot from another sweeped their legs out from under them, making them drop their weapon, which Percy kicked away. And made quick work of watching the light leave their eyes.
"You will never make it to Ronan."
He let Drax take on the leader while he, Groot, and Quill took on the Guards that just kept coming. "Percy step aside," He did as told just in time so see Quill sliding past on his back shooting the ones headed towards the demigod.
"Nice improvisation."
Drax pinned the man to the wall, "finger to the throat means death." Percy tilted his head with a small laugh, he pulled out the wiring from the side of his head making him short circuit and fall limp, "metaphor."
Quill shrugged "Yeah, sorta." he looked ahead "Oh no."
A hoard of guards ran down the ramp towards them. Groot extended one of his arms with a shout and plunged it through a line of guards. He tosses them around like a rag doll, smacking the rest down unconscious. Drax grinned, and Percy was left agape at the normally docile tree's behavior. He turned back to the three men and smiled.
"Quill, you gotta hurry. The city's been evacuated, but we're getting our asses kicked down here,'' They heard Rocket through the comms. Percy pulled water out of the air and threw several icicles out stabbing the remaining surrounding Guards.
"Gamora hasn't opened the door!" Quill answered frustrated.
A less than two minutes later the door opened and a section of the floor inside blew up allowing Gamora in. She took out one guard with another blast and Percy ran riptide though the second. They ran in the room and Quill took aim on Ronan. A missile fired on Ronan from Rocket's weapon as soon as he turned around. Smoke filled the hall and for a moment they thought they had won, "You did it!"
But only for a moment. And the smoke cleared there stood Ronan still alive with only a burn mark on his armor to show that he was hit. He thrusted out his mallet and an energy pulse from the power stone threw the five back.
Drax was barely affected and Stood up Immediately running straight for Ronan, "Drax!" Percy screamed wincing as he got to his knee.
Ronan grabbed Drax by his neck holding him in the air as he struggled, "I was mistaken. I do remember your family. Their screams were pitiful. I..."
A ravager ship crashed straight into Ronan and Drax, catching Percy's whole right side as well but not bad enough to put him out of commission. The ship was going down. That much was clear. Gamora dragged Drax over, Goot helped Percy stand as he healed his leg, and Quill unbuckled an unconscious Rocket out of the ship and held him close.
They all kneeled down next to each other. Percy stopped healing himself and realized that this was how he would die. Of all the powers he had, force fields were not one of them. He sat his They all glanced at one another as rubble crumbled around them accepting that this would be the end. Not many could say that they would die among friends. It seemed fate wanted to be good to this pack of losers for once in their lives.
Published: Sep 27, 2021
Updated: May 1, 2023