The first to go up was Drax.
He jumped out of the ship with an almost-space protector—just a dome covering his head and nothing else. No suit. No armor. Just his skin and his knives and his complete lack of concern for things like "vacuum exposure" and "freezing to death."
And he was still somehow not freezing.
Eli didn't understand it. He didn't think he ever would.
Drax launched himself at the monster with his two knives—the same ones he had stolen back in the Kyln prison. He grabbed onto one of its tentacles and started stabbing and cutting, his arms moving in a furious rhythm.
But the monster didn't even flinch.
It just kept pushing through the crack in space, tentacles writhing, colors shifting. Drax's knives were doing about as much damage as a mosquito biting a mountain.
Back in the ship, Peter was furious.
"Drax! That idiot! We were supposed to come up with a plan of attack, not just jump—"
Before he could finish, a rocket blast shot past his head.
Then followed by Rocket and Groot.
"Alright, Groot! Let's go blow up a space monster!" Rocket shouted, his rocket launcher still smoking.
Groot ran toward the ship's exit, every step shaking the Milano like an earthquake. "I am Groot!" he said, which probably meant something like "This is going to be fun" or "I hope I don't die."
The blast from Rocket's rocket seemed to annoy the monster. It turned its attention toward the small raccoon and the tree, and with one of its other tentacles, it swatted at Drax like he was a fly.
Drax went flying.
He hit his back against the Milano's front window, leaving a small crack in the glass. He landed on the ground, holding his back in pain, but his eyes were still bright.
"What a fierce beast!" he said, getting up.
Then he yelled, "AGAIN!"
He jumped up again.
While he jumped, Rocket was dodging tentacles left and right, his small body twisting and weaving through the chaos. Groot extended his arms, making them almost as long as the monster's tentacles—but they weren't doing anything. In fact, they were getting ripped apart like they were made of cotton. Chunks of Groot's branches floated through space, and he made a sound that might have been pain or might have been annoyance.
Peter, still in the ship, was rubbing his forehead in annoyance.
He looked at Gamora and Eli, who were sitting there looking relaxed. Neither of them had moved. Neither of them seemed worried.
"At least you guys have some common sense," Peter sighed.
He straightened up and his expression shifted from frustrated to focused.
"Let's come up with a plan of attack. Gamora, you and I will draw its attention. Eli, you try pushing it back from the planet. Slam into it. Push it. Whatever you have to do."
His helmet covered his face, the mask sealing with a soft hiss.
"Alright team, let's do this!"
He flew out of the ship, blasters firing at the monster's eyes. Gamora followed, her sword drawn, landing on the monster's head and starting to stab and cut.
But all of it seemed to not be doing anything.
In fact, it seemed to annoy the monster even more. It started swinging its tentacles all over the place, focusing on the ones who were attacking. Peter dodged. Gamora rolled. Drax got swatted again. Rocket dove behind a piece of debris.
And through it all, the monster kept pushing. Kept coming. Kept glowing in those impossible colors.
Eli was still observing, standing on top of the Milano.
He looked at the thing. Then at the planet. Then at the planet's defense force, which was getting wiped out by the monster's tentacles. Ships exploded. Soldiers died. The line was breaking.
They were lucky the Guardians were here. Without them, the monster would have already invaded. The planet would already be lost.
He was occupied with his thoughts when Peter's voice shouted in the comms:
"Eli! NOW! It's distracted! Push it back!"
Eli moved.
He shot up into the void, space stretching around him, stars blurring into lines. The monster seemed to notice him immediately—or maybe it had always noticed him and just hadn't attacked. Maybe it had been watching. Waiting.
It started swinging tentacles at him, massive limbs moving faster than something that size should be able to move.
Eli didn't mind.
He shot his lasers at full force—blue beams cutting through the darkness, slicing through tentacles like they were paper. Back on Xandar, he had been low on energy. Careful. Conservative.
Not anymore.
Now he didn't have to worry about energy that much. The Dark Aster's internal energy core hummed inside him, feeding his abilities, keeping him powered. The energy wasn't infinite—nothing was—but it was plenty. He could shoot his lasers at full power for at least an hour without being drained dry. (Before you alls say anything remember that at full power it's hotter than the sun's surface so the energy needed for something like that is a lot)
A blue light shot through space, cutting off extended tentacles. Purple blood sprayed into the void, freezing instantly into crystals.
This thing is almost as big as the Dark Aster, Eli thought, and that thing almost crushed me. I should use full power immediately. Don't let it get close to the planet.
He increased his speed.
Mach 10. Mach 20. Mach 30.
The void screamed around him or maybe that was just the blood rushing in his ears.
He slammed into an extended tentacle.
It exploded into pieces chunks of meat and purple blood scattering across space. Eli didn't stop. He kept going, following the tentacle all the way through its underside, tearing through it like a bullet through flesh.
Then he passed right through it.
And came out at the top of its head.
Every part he went through exploded. Purple blood. Chunks of meat. The monster's body ripped apart from the inside, its glow flickering, fading, dying.
Everyone went silent.
All eyes turned to Eli.
They couldn't believe what they were seeing. That thing had been so hard to scratch Drax's knives had done nothing, Gamora's sword had barely left marks, Rocket's rockets had only annoyed it even the planet's defiance force had done nothing to it
And Eli had just killed it.
Easily.
Like it was nothing.
Even Eli himself was confused. He looked down at his hands. At his body. At the purple blood covering him from head to toe.
I guess I got really stronger now, he thought. Huh.
He looked at the floating chunks of what used to be a planet-killing monster. At the crack in space, which was already starting to close. At the planet below, still intact, still alive.
Guess I should be considered an alfather now.
He whispered it in disbelief, the word feeling strange in his mouth.
Alfather.
Like Odin. Like the kings of Asgard.
He didn't feel like a king. He felt like a kid who had gotten lucky. A kid who had smelted the right things at the right time. A kid who was very, very far from home.
The Milano floated toward him, its ramp lowering.
Peter stood at the opening, staring. "Dude. What the hell."
Eli looked at him. At the purple blood dripping from his white hair. At the chunks of monster floating in the void behind him.
"I pushed it back," he said simply.
Rocket's voice came from inside the ship. "'Pushed it back'? You obliterated it! You turned it into chunky space salsa!"
"I am Groot," said Groot, which sounded impressed.
Drax landed on the Milano's ramp, clutching his back but smiling. "That was a glorious battle. You fought well, Eli."
Gamora said nothing. She just looked at Eli with an expression he couldn't quite read.
Peter shook his head. "Come on, space god. Get in the ship. You're dripping monster blood everywhere."
Eli smiled tiredly and floated toward the ramp.
As he passed through the threshold, he looked back at the crack in space one last time.
It was almost closed now.
The planet was safe.
He had done that.
He stepped inside the Milano, and the ramp closed behind him.