"Damn it!"
Star-Lord's shout echoed inside his helmet as his body was hurled backward through the void. No matter how hard he fought the pull, no matter how far he pushed the thrusters strapped to his back, his body continued to spin helplessly, dragged toward the silver-white warship looming like a predator in the darkness of space.
Gamora's face twisted in alarm. "Peter!"
She lunged forward, but the force dragging him away was too great. The Guardians could only watch as their leader was torn from their reach, helpless against the overwhelming power drawing him in.
"Go! Bring him back!" Rocket snarled. He slammed a paw down on the controls, propelling their ship forward in a desperate attempt to intercept.
Before they could close the distance, a piercing blue light gathered at the prow of the silver warship. The brilliance was blinding. Gamora, Rocket, and Drax had only a fraction of a second to realize what was coming.
"Brace " Gamora began, but her voice was swallowed in the roar.
The energy beam detonated in front of them.
Their ship shuddered violently as the front end tore apart. Armor split, bulkheads caved, and fire raced through the corridors. The Guardians were thrown like ragdolls. Rocket's scream cut short as he slammed into a console, blood smearing across broken glass. Drax's massive frame smashed against the hull, while Gamora tumbled across the deck, limbs flailing before she crumpled, unconscious.
Only Groot remained dimly aware, his charred bark glowing faintly. Even he could barely move, his arms twisted and splintered, body half-shattered.
"No!" Star-Lord howled, watching his family fall one by one. His vision blurred with rage. His blasters flared again and again, pouring round after round into the silver ship.
But his weapons, mere toys compared to the target, failed to scratch the vibranium hull. The shots scattered like sparks against steel, nothing more than an annoyance.
Then, a hatch opened.
A figure emerged, stepping through the void as though space itself bent to his will. Clad in azure armor with a faint, spectral glow, Rowan descended. The faint hum of the weapon beneath his feet, the shuttle-like craft he used to fly, vibrated through the silence.
Star-Lord's instincts screamed at him. He leveled his guns and fired. Energy bolts streaked through the void.
Rowan did not bother to dodge. His eyes flickered with impatience. In the next instant, his body blurred into a streak of light.
Star-Lord barely registered the movement before a hand clamped around his throat. His lungs seized. His vision darkened. Then Rowan's other fist drove mercilessly into his gut.
"Ghkkk !"
Blood burst from Star-Lord's lips, mixed with fragments of shredded organs. Acid and half-digested food splattered inside his mask, painting the glass with a grotesque mosaic. His body convulsed, then went limp.
Rowan, unmoved, hauled the man by the collar as though he were no heavier than a child's toy. With his free hand, he rifled through Quill's gear.
A faint metallic click answered his search. Rowan pulled free a sphere the size of his palm, its surface silver-gray and etched with intricate grooves.
"The Orb," Rowan whispered, his eyes gleaming.
The Cosmic Orb.
Finally. After so many battles, so many diversions, it was in his grasp.
He considered crushing Star-Lord then and there, but his senses pricked. A massive shadow slid across the void.
From the distance, a titanic warship emerged, shaped like a black eagle with its wings spread wide. The fortress-ship blotted out the stars, its form a predator gliding silently through the deep.
Aurora's voice pulsed in Rowan's mind. "Master, be careful!"
Even as the warning left her lips, the ship's singular eye flared purple. A column of destructive energy erupted toward him.
Rowan narrowed his gaze. With a flick of his thoughts, the shuttle beneath his feet shifted, placing itself between him and the beam. The weapon shuddered violently but held, deflecting the worst of the blast.
The space behind Rowan warped into a ring of light from the stray energy. Star-Lord, caught on the periphery, was ripped from Rowan's grip and hurled away, his body shredded by the backlash.
The massive warship closed in, and a deep, arrogant voice filled the comms.
"Mortal, hand over the Orb. Surrender it to the great Ronan!"
Rowan raised his eyes. In the command chamber at the ship's center, framed by the glaring eye of the vessel, stood a towering figure clad in black armor. Blue skin gleamed beneath his helm, and in his hands rested the massive hammer that had broken countless enemies.
Ronan the Accuser.
Rowan's lip curled. "So it's you."
He tilted the Orb in his hand, his tone dripping with disdain. "Do you want the Orb… or the Power Stone within?"
The words cut through the silence like a blade.
Ronan froze, his expression twisting. He had not expected anyone outside Thanos's circle to know the Orb's secret. His grip on the hammer tightened, jaw clenched in fury.
"Mortal, I warn you hand it over, or "
"Or what?" Rowan's voice was cold amusement. "Something like this?"
Before Ronan could react, Rowan clenched his fist.
The Orb cracked.
A web of fissures spread across its surface. Brilliant violet light surged through the gaps, desperate to escape.
"No!" Ronan's roar shook the chamber, but it was too late.
The Orb shattered in Rowan's palm.
The void was drowned in purple radiance. Energy spilled into space like a flood bursting through broken gates. In the center of the storm floated a jagged crystal, glowing with unbearable power.
The Power Stone.
Rowan did not hesitate. His hand closed around it.
The cosmos shuddered.
A shockwave exploded outward, engulfing Ronan's warship. The city-sized vessel groaned, plates trembling as the tidal wave of raw force slammed against it.
Inside, Ronan clung to his hammer, teeth grinding, bloodshot eyes locked on the man now holding what he coveted.
"No one can wield it! No one!"
But Rowan already felt it. The force seared through his veins, scorching flesh and spirit alike. It was destruction incarnate, trying to tear him apart molecule by molecule.
His vibranium armor absorbed what it could, dispersing the excess in bursts of crackling purple waves.
Inside, Rowan's dantian his inner core of energy blazed with unbearable brilliance. His microcosmic stars, the foundation of his cultivation, swelled under the torrent. One cracked. Another reshaped itself. And as the minutes passed, new stars were born.
One… two… five… then nine.
His entire inner universe transformed, no longer crimson but violet, infused with the essence of the Stone itself.
Rowan's body split in places, tiny fractures spiderwebbing across his skin, but he endured.
From afar, Wanda pressed her hands against the glass of their ship, her crimson aura sparking wildly. "Aurora! What's happening to him?!"
Aurora's calm voice steadied her. "Do not fear, Wanda. My master does nothing without certainty."
But Wanda saw the cracks, the pain on his face, and fury overwhelmed her. She would not let him stand alone.
"Open the hatch."
"Wanda, wait "
"Now."
Aurora hesitated, then obeyed.
Wanda streaked out, a comet of scarlet rage. She smashed into Ronan's fortress like a living storm, tearing through soldiers with waves of chaos magic. By the time she reached him, her hand closed around his throat.
Rowan, opening his eyes, saw her silhouette in the distance, holding Ronan like a ragdoll. He exhaled softly, violet fire glowing in his gaze.
"Kill him."
Wanda obeyed.
The snap of bone echoed faintly across the comms. Ronan's body went limp, his eyes wide with disbelief even as life drained away.
Rowan raised his hand, the Power Stone glowing fiercely within his grip. He aimed at the fortress.
A single beam lanced outward.
The warship disintegrated in seconds, dissolving into nothingness as though it had never existed.
Rowan floated in the quiet aftermath, breathing slowly. His flesh still ached, his veins still burned, but the Stone was his. Its power pulsed in his blood, his stars reborn in violet fire.
"Such destructive force," he murmured. "The Power Stone truly lives up to its name."
Wanda drifted closer, her face filled with awe and relief. Rowan reached for her hand, his gaze still on the fading embers of Ronan's fleet.
"Let's go home."
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Already hooked? Tell me what reeled you in leave a review, spark the fire with a comment, and if we hit every 250 Power Stones, a bonus chapter drops!
The evolution's just begun. Dive deeper into Unbound Evolution and stay leagues ahead!
[email protected]/_tey
Change @ to a.