[center][h2]THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY[/h2] [b]IN[/b] [h2]BALLROOM BLITZ[/h2][/center] [hr] The blasts continued to pepper the side of Despero's flagship, sending tremors through the interior. The shaking allowed Thor to keep one step ahead of the Destroyer as it attempted to crush his bones into dust. The Destroyer was bigger and stronger than he was, but the Asgardian was fast and more sure footed in the current conditions. Still, the hulking mass of metal was able to get in a few shots, and Thor was beginning to tire. There was a reason his father had created this horrible weapon, and it was becoming clearer by the moment. Depsero, on the other hand, seemed distracted by the attack. That may have been the only reason Thor was still alive, if he was being honest with himself. For that he was thankful for his friends. Thor now understood why Despero wanted to separate Thor and the Guardians. It had nothing to do with sparing mortals. He just did not believe he could defeat all of them. Good. All he had to do was survive until his friends came to help him. The Destroyer barely missed with a devastating downward blow, and Thor managed to sever both arms as they were stuck in the steel of the ship's floor. They would reconnect shortly, but at least it allowed him to put some distance between him and the weapon. Not wasting any time, he took off towards Despero, hoping to get a few licks in before his magical lapdog could protect him once again. "Despero, time to die!" the Thunderer yelled as he rushed at the villain. Before he could reach the red alien, however, he was shoved by an invisible force. Despero had raised his hand, and his third eye on his forehead had begun to glow. With a flick of his wrist, Despero showed his full power and sent the Asgardian shooting across the throne chamber. "I think not, Asgardian," the red alien chuckled slightly. "Again, you underestimate the ability of mortals. You think I am helpless without my weapon. But I am a match for you, Thor." "It is not I that underestimates mortals, Depsero," Thor wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. He was hurting. That much was obvious. But he needed to continue to stall until the others could make it to him. "Nay, no more will I fail to see the worth in the short lives that burn hotter than any sun. No, it is you who failed to see the worth in the bonds between those mortals. The very bond that has brought you under attack as I speak these words." By this time, The Destroyer had regained its advantage and drove its knee into Thor, knocking him down. As his vision started to blur, he scrambled away from strike after strike from the Destroyer. Then the alarms started to go off in the ship. [hr] The sounds of happiness coming out of Rocket as the Hasselhoff tore through the Chitauri fighters that buzzed around them like a squadron of stinging insects. Quill had heard many guttural battle cries over his years with the Ravagers, but a raccoon yelling as he mowed down ship after ship was something the man who called himself Star-Lord would never forget. It was almost keeping him from piloting the ship correctly if he was being honest. "Don't shoot any of the Ravager ships you maniac!" Quill half-yelled, half-laughed at the little creature manning the guns. Luckily they weren't alone in this assault. "Would someone shut that rat up!?" Yondu Udonta's gravely voice came over the comms as his massive Ravager cruiser, the Constellation, overtook the smaller Hasselhoff. The bigger ship looked like a mix between a trash truck and an asteroid, but Quill knew it packed a punch. As if on cue, the main, circular canon on the front of the ship fired. The single, uninterrupted, red beam slammed into the side of the main ship in the enemy fleet. The old mining laser that Yondu had installed to punch into the holds of cargo ships did its job, punching through the hull of the capital ship in short order. "Quill, you're set. Remember our deal!" "Yea, yea," Star-Lord waved his hand even though he knew the blue alien couldn't see him. "You get whatever tech you can salvage from the ships." "Including that superweapon, boy," Yondu reminded Quill about the Destroyer. "That's gonna fetch one hell of a price on the black market." Quill killed the comms to the Ravager ships as he made his way towards the hole that was now their way into the ship. He looked over his shoulder as he did, finding Hawk's disapproving glare meeting him, "What?" "You're giving a magical god-weapon to a space pirate," she responded dryly. "No I'm not," he rolled his eyes. "Thor's just gonna destroy the...Destroyer. Yondu will never come close to it." "Oh so we're gonna have another price on our heads?" Rocket asked in between gunning down fighters that had moved in to try and block their way to their destination. "Thanks Quill." "I am Groot," the tree added in from his seat. "Yea well we needed help or we'd all be space dust at this point," Quill grumbled. "Can we fight about this after we kill the God-murdering alien general?" "Sounds fair," Rocket shrugged. "Coming up alongside, Peter Quill," the deep, powerful voice of Heimdall alerted the maneuver. Quill looked up to see the yacht that had been stolen from Warworld at the same time as the Hasselhoff. "Let us avenge our fallen people together." "You take care of disabling the ship, we'll find Thor," Hawk assured the Asgardian. The two ships passed into the enemy capital ship, where they found themselves in the hangar. Rocket didn't take any chances. He opened fire on the fighters that were still docked. Since the air had been sucked out of the hold, the ships merely disintergrated, their pieces floating in the lack of gravity. The attacking ships set down, and the Guardians stepped out in their space gear. On the other hand, the Asgardians stepped out of their craft in gleaming gold and silver armor, each one more ornate than the last. They wielded swords that gleamed in the starlight, and it was one of the most beautiful things any of the Guardians had ever seen. "Is it weird that I'm turned on right now?" Quill asked. "No," Hawk answered. "Good hunting, Guardians," Heimdall nodded to them as he turned to head towards the bridge. As the airlock opened as they approached, he yelled out, "For Asgard!" The Asgardian warriors poured into the ship, fanning out and cutting through all that stood in their way. The sight of a battalion of gods fighting the creatures that had killed most of their kind was a sight to behold. It wasn't ferocious or haphazard. They all seemed to know where the other was and how they were moving. It was more of a dance than a battle. When they came to a junction, the Asgardians went one way and the Guardians another. Hawk led the way, swooping into columns of Chitauri and Brood, smashing away with her Nth metal mace. This was where the Thanagarian was at home. Not in a skirmish, but in a proper battle. The other three Guardians picked off any stragglers that needed taking care of, but she plowed their way to Despero's inner sanctum. When they broke through the door, they found Thor suspended above a throne, a hologram of the galaxy swirling around him. In the throne, the tired, red form of Despero looked at them smiling with needle-like teeth. He merely muttered, "Kill them." With frightening speed, a mammoth figure to Quill's left rushed at them, scattering the Guardians. Groot was the first to step to the black, armored figure. He wrapped the being in vines of wood and leaves, attempting to allow Hawk to swoop in for a head shot. Instead, the Destroyer burst from its wooden cage, shattering it so hard that Groot's very arms splintered and cracked, sending the living tree stumbling backwards. Meanwhile, Hawk was spiked out of the air into him. Rocket ran at the weapon, firing with his pistols, their projectiles bouncing off harmlessly. The Destroyer reared up to smack the little creature into oblivion, but Quill managed to snatch up his friend just in the nick of time with help from his rocket boots. Unfortunately the Destroyer grabbed Quill by the feet, crushing the boots and tossing the two of them on top of Hawk and Groot. "Hm," Despero mused. "I expected more. Well? Finish it." [hr] As the Destroyer's head began to open up, revealing the glowing, crackling energy within, Thor struggled as strongly as he could against the grip of Despero's mental vice. The powers gifted to the being by the Eternal Flame was incredible. Thor thought it may have been a divine trick by the flame to teach the Asgardians the folly of their past ways. Whatever the reason for Despero's for power, now was not the time to wonder about it. He reached, clawed, and strained against the psychic bonds that clasped against his arms and legs. There was no use, but he continued to fight. He was not going to sit by helplessly as his friends were vaporized by the weapon of his father. "After the Destroyer steels their essence," Despero laughed as the idea came to him, "I'm going to have it kill you with them. Yes, I think that's an acceptable punishment for all of you." Thor thrashed against the invisible bonds, managing to move violently, but still unable to escape. Despero looked up at him with the same, smug smile from earlier. The sound of the Destroyer powering up for the final stroke was hall he could hear as he screamed internally . No. That was a lie. There was something else he could hear. A low, drumming hum that seemed to be getting closer and closer. As the sound continued to increase, Thor realized what it was. But it was impossible Nothing more than a figment of his desperate mind. At least that's what he believed until the wall of the chamber shattered like glass. A small, speeding projectile flew low through the room and smashed through the Destroyer's chest, exploding the metal outward and discharging the energy into the ceiling of the atrium, causing even more of the chamber to come raining down around them. The hammer found Thor's hand, and the energy that surged through him was something he never thought he would feel again. Mjolnir had returned to him in the moment he needed the hammer most. Lightning exploded from the heavy metal head of the hammer, striking Despero and releasing Thor from his hold. He fell towards the floor, and landed in a crouch, the head of Mjolnir hitting the floor with a dull thud. Electricity crackled around the God of Thunder as his Asgardian armor and vestments appeared on him as if from thin air. His eyes shone white with power, and his cape fluttered behind him, animated by the energy. Despero attempted to reach toward him once more, but Thor spun and fired a bolt of electricity at the alien's third eye. It struck home, blinding the would-be despot's power source. In agony, the alien yelled at the Destroyer, "Kill him!" As the living armor turned to Thor, Despero ran. The Destroyer fired a beam of energy at Thor, who managed to bat it away with the mighty hammer of Asgard. The weapon of his enemy was charging up again, and Thor turned to his friends, "Get Despero! I'll take care of this!" Another, steady beam came his way, and Thor spun Mjolnir so fast that it became an impenetrable shield. The energy was scattered in a starburst as Thor made his way closer and closer to the Destroyer. Once he was within range, he ducked out of the way below the energy, and came up with a devestating uppercut with Mjolnir. It shattered the the metal of the armor's head. It swung an arm clumsily at Thor, who brought the hammer down onto it, shattering it as well. He went to work systematically destroying the armor bit by bit. He took out all his frustrations, all his failures, on the Dwarven creation. The metal split, splintered, and shattered like glass against the might of Mjolnir and his vengeance. None would ever be threatened by Asgard again, but he and his kind would make up for their failures. When there was nothing left of the Destroyer, he rose and headed towards where Despero had fled from the Guardians of the Galaxy. As he walked, he found the corridors of the ship were chaos. The Brood and Chitauri, without their new master, were slaughtering each other indiscriminately. Blood and viscera flew as the creatures were at one anothers' throats, and Thor beat back any that came close enough to he and Mjolnir. He found the rest of the Guardians standing in front of a destroyed escape pod, Despero bound by Groot's strong limbs. "Took you long enough," Rocket grunted. "Sorry, had to destroy a suit of enchanted armor," Thor smiled weakly. "You understand." "I hate it when that happens," Hawk responded with a sigh. "Fools! You're all fools!" Despero sneered. "I keep telling you, dick weasel, it's 'The Guardians of the Galaxy'. Get it right," Quill shot back. "You wanna kill him or should I?" "Oh let me do it!" Rocket pleaded. "Hehehehe," Despero laughed. "If I am going to die. You will all be joining me." Before any of the Guardians could say anything the ship rocked violently. Then again. And again. "Shit," Quill growled. "Self destruct initiated," an electronic voice called. "Run!" Thor called. Groot dropped the psychically blinded Despero as they fled. Thor looked over his shoulder to see the alien engulfed in the flame of an explosion. The Guardians and the Asgardians made it back to the hangar in the nick of time. While the Hasselhoff had been crushed by the collapsing ship, the combined group got in the armored yacht and escaped. As they took off, the ship began to shake apart. Explosions ripped through the capital ship. Its final shudder led to it coming apart totally. In turn, the Chitauri motherships also exploded, ending Despero's fleet. "Well, that was fun," Rocket rocked back and forth on his feet. "Who's hungry?" "Not now dingus," Quill hissed. "My friends," Thor turned to them, glancing down at Mjolnir for a second as he did. "You have helped me avenge my people. You have helped create a safe galaxy. For that, there will be songs sung in your honor for all eternity." "Cool, can we get Kenny Loggins to sing it?" Quill perked up. "Who?" "You know! [i]Fly in to the danger zone![/i]" Quill stopped as everyone looked at him sideways. "Aw you're no fun." "You have all also brought me back," Thor smiled. "You have taught me what it means to truly be a god. My purpose is to protect, not to fight and revel in the spoils of victory. And I hope...I hope we can do that together." "If we do, I'm gonna revel in some spoils of victory," Hawk shrugged. "I just have to be honest." "Oh yes, there's gonna be reveling," Quill nodded in agreement. "Can't live without the revels." "I am Groot." "Good question, pal," Rocket patted the tree's trunk-like legs. "What's next?" "Yes, Odinson," Heimdall approached the prince of Asgard. "Your people are assembled. What remains of us. And we look to your guidance." "I think a home will be needed," Thor pondered the question. "And I think I know just where we should go." "Plot a course for Midgard."