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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟏
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄

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When Primrose finally came around from her forced slumber, she could hardly believe her eyes. The Dark Aster was in pieces scattered around the Xandarian dirt with small fires burning around them. But what really made the Quill woman's blood run cold was seeing a circle of sticks surrounding her and her allies. The sound of Peter's music that somehow survived the crash was the only thing that could be heard as everyone began coming around and taking in their surroundings.

It wasn't long before Primrose's attention fell on Rocket, who was sitting on his knees while staring at the twigs in his hands. The Quill woman just stared at the raccoon as he mourned his friend before a hand appeared in front of her face. When she looked up, she was greeted by Peter staring down at her with a blank expression on his face. Primrose didn't hesitate to take her brother's hand, allowing him to help her to her feet. It was at that moment when she realized the Xandarians came out of hiding to see what was happening. Just as the brunette girl started to believe they had won, her ears were greeted by the whimpering of the civilians.

The Quill siblings instantly exchanged a knowing look before following everyone's gaze. Primrose's blood ran cold at the sight of Ronan emerging from his ship's ruins with the Stone still attached to his staff.

"You killed Groot!" Rocket shouted after he turned to face the Accuser. The next thing anyone knew, the raccoon charged at the man, only for Ronan to use the Stone to send the raccoon flying across the wreckage.

"Behold! Your guardians of the galaxy!" the blue man called out to the surrounding Xandarians as he gestured toward the remaining heroes in front of him, "what fruit have they wrought? Only that my father and his father shall finally know vengeance. People of Xandar, the time has come to rejoice and renounce your paltry gods! Your salvation is at hand."

While Ronan continued addressing the Xandarians, Primrose's attention moved to Rocket. She did her best to suppress her smile when she saw the raccoon rapidly rebuilding the Hadron Enforcer. It wasn't long after that when she locked eyes with Drax and Gamora, who sent her a small nods. That small gesture caused Primrose to nudge her brother with her foot. The Quill siblings only had to lock eyes for them to communicate what to do. Not even a second after that passed when their attention returned to Ronan.

They watched for a moment as the Accuser spoke in his native language while raising his staff into the air. The higher he brought the object up, the brighter the Stone glowed. That was all it took for Peter to spring to his feet and initiate his and Primrose's plan. The second the Quill man began singing along to the song that was faintly playing in the background, the glow of the Stone faded and Ronan's eyes landed on Peter. Primrose did her best to suppress her smile as her brother started tapping his foot along to the beat before his singing got even louder. It wasn't long after that when he began dancing along to the music.

"Listen to these words," Peter said as he pointed straight at Ronan before going back to singing along with the song. Primrose had to bring her hand up to her mouth to hold back her laughter after watching Peter's dancing became more aggressive. However, when the Quill woman's eyes landed on Gamora's shocked face, a small chuckle forced its way past her lips.

"What are you doing?" Ronan questioned while continuing to stare at Peter with a confused look on his face.

"Dance-off, bro. Me and you," the redheaded man announced before switching to an even stranger dance move and pointing at Gamora. The Zehoberei woman just blankly stared at him for a long moment before shaking her head in response. That caused Peter to retract his arm and go back to dancing. "Subtle. Take it back."

"What are you doing?!" the Accuser exclaimed while Primrose looked over at Rocket just in time to see him and Drax prepared to fire the Hadron Enforcer.

"I'm distracting you, you big blue idiot," the Quill man stated, causing Ronan to turn around to face Rocket and Drax right as they power up the cannon.

Before the Accuser had a chance to react, Rocket brought the cords together and fired at Ronan. Everyone watched as the projectile soared through the air and hit the Stone in the center of Ronan's staff. A light brighter than the one on the Dark Aster emitted from the staff before it shattered into a million pieces. Primrose's eyes widened to the size of small planets at the sight of the Stone falling to the ground.

Just as she was about to race for the glowing object, Peter pushed her to the ground before diving for the Stone. Gamora's screams filled the air as Primrose looked back to find her brother squirming on the ground in pain with his hands brightly glowing. Tears ran down the Quill woman's cheeks as her brother's agonizing screams cut through the air while a purple cloud formed around them. Her eyes stayed glued to Peter for a moment longer before Gamora appeared at her side and pulled her to her feet.

The two women forced themselves through the purple smoke and toward Peter. His screams soon stopped as the Stone began to tear him apart. As soon as Primrose and Gamora were close enough to the Quill man, they stretched their arms out as far as they could toward him.

"Peter! Take our hands!" the Zehoberei woman shouted while holding her hand out to him, only for him to blankly stare at her. When he didn't make a move to follow her request, Primrose forced herself to take a step closer to him despite the wind pushing her back.

"Please, Peter!" the Quill woman shouted, causing her brother to look over at her before she continued speaking, "just take our hands!"

It wasn't long after that when Peter stretched both of his arms out. Gamora instantly grabbed onto his hand while Primrose wrapped hers around the wrist of the hand that contained the stone. The second her fingers touched his arm, an agonizing pain worse than anything she'd ever felt before coursed throughout her entire body. A blood-chilling scream passed over her lips as she looked up to the sky above them. Another tear slipped down her cheek while the pain continued to flow through her veins. What felt like an eternity passed when she felt someone take her other hand.

Despite wanting nothing more than to close her eyes and give in to the pain, Primrose looked to her left to find Drax's hand in hers. His screams soon mixed with hers, Peter's, and Gamora's as the Stone's power continued to course through them. The next thing anyone knew, Rocket wrapped his hand and Drax's finger before his screams joined theirs. That went on for an eternity before the pain stopped completely. A power that none of them had ever felt before flowed through their veins as they looked back at Ronan in unison.

"You're mortal!" the Accuser shouted while keeping his eyes glued to the group standing in front of him, "how?"

"You said it yourself. We're the Guardians of the Galaxy," Peter responded before Ronan raised his staff.

Right as he was about to strike them, the Quill man opened his hand and sent a beam of light at the Accuser. The power from the Stone entered Ronan's body and caused it to crack like a rock. The Accuser's screams began to cut through the air as the Stone's power raised him high into the sky. That continued for a moment longer before Ronan evaporated right in front of their very eyes.

As soon as their job was finished, Primrose used one of the Orbs she created to capture the Stone. The moment the glowing object was secured within its container, the power coursing through the five of them vanished. The only thing that could be heard was their rapid breathing as the purple storm surrounding them slowly faded away. Light greeted them once again before the Guardians of the Galaxy looked at each other with relieved expressions on their faces. However, their moment of victory was soon cut short when a familiar voice greeted their ears.

"Well, well, well. Quite the light show," Yondu spoke before letting out a small chuckle as he looked around at the group of five, who finally turned around to face him and his followers, "ain't this sweet. But you got some business to attend to before all the fun starts."

"Peter, you can't. Peter," Gamora pleaded with the Quill man while Primrose nonchalantly hid behind her brother. As soon as she knew she wouldn't be seen, the Quill woman carefully reached into a compartment on her belt to grab another Orb.

"You gotta reconsider this, Yondu," Peter told the Udonta man in an attempt to buy his sister time to finish whatever she had planned, "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, but I sure as h*ll ain't one," Yondu said before pushing his jacket aside to reveal his arrow and holding his hand out toward Peter, "hand it over, son."

The Quill man hesitated while keeping his eyes glued to the leader of the Ravagers. That continued only for a moment longer before he felt Primrose switch the Orbs. As soon as he caught her taking a small step back out of the corner of his eye, Peter brought the silver capsule out from behind his back. Gamora just stared at the redheaded man with disbelief in her eyes before watching him hand the Orb over to Yondu.

A large grin instantly appeared on the Udonta man's face before he let out another small chuckle. His eyes stayed glued to the Orb for a moment longer then signaled to his men to move out. Yondu's eyes met the Quill siblings' gazes one last time before he turned to follow them.

"Yondu," Primrose called out to the man who took her from her home, causing him to turn around to face her once again, "you know not to open the Orb, right? You've seen what it does to people."

The only response the Quill woman received was another smile from the leader of the Ravagers. The two of them just stared at each other for a moment longer before he turned and walked away. The Guardians of the Galaxy simply watched the Ravagers as they made their way back to their ships. The only thing that could be heard was Yondu's laughter. As soon as the Ravagers' ships were out of sight, a giant smirk appeared on Primrose's face before she brought out the real Orb.

"He's gonna be so mad when he realizes I switched out the Orb on him," the brunette woman announced, causing everyone's attention to land on her and Gamora to let out a relieved sigh.

"I can't believe you managed to do that! All of them were watching us like hawks!" Peter exclaimed as he let out a laugh and slung his arm around his sister's shoulders.

"I learned from the best," Primrose responded with the biggest smile on her face. Their attention was soon drawn to Gamora when she began speaking.

"He was gonna kill both of you," the Zehoberei woman stated while her hand moved up to hold her side.

"Oh, I know," Peter responded without a care in the world before Primrose felt his grip around her tighten, "but he was about the only family we had."

"No," Gamora stated as she took both of the Quill siblings' hands into hers, "he wasn't."

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