Chapter 242

Jen walked through the orange portal and arrived right in front of Madripoor's palace.

She looked around with a bit of nostalgia; it had been over a year since she had been there, and although she had communicated by phone, she hadn't shown up in person to anyone other than the masters of Kamar-Taj.

Jen started walking towards the palace as she usually did, but this time she was stopped.

"Stop, who are you?" asked one of the palace guards.

Jen was noticeably surprised before realizing that she looked totally different, and it was normal that they didn't recognize her.

"Just a moment," said Jen before taking out her phone and quickly calling Sophia.

"Hello, Jen," said Sophia on the other end.

"I'm outside, the guards won't let me in," said Jen directly.

"What? That's strange, wait for me there," said Sophia, frowning.

Sophia quickly walked to the palace's exit, preparing to give the guards a piece of her mind; even if Jen hadn't been there for a year, it wasn't enough for her to be forgotten.

Upon arriving outside, Sophia opened her mouth to ask the guard what was going on, but she could only freeze upon seeing a total stranger in front of her.

"Jen?" asked Sophia hesitantly.

"It's been a while," said Jen, smiling slightly.

"What happened to you? Why do you look so different?" said Sophia, still amazed.

"This was my appearance when I was young, although of course, now I look much better than back then," said Jen with a smile.

"Forget about it, come in and tell me," said Sophia, taking Jen's hand and leading her inside.

From excitement, she didn't even say anything to the guard, who, to begin with, it wasn't his fault; even she wouldn't recognize Jen if she saw her like this.

Sophia and Jen walked until they reached the room where they both sat down.

"Tell me, what happened?" asked Sophia, looking at her.

"My body was corrupted by dark energy, you knew that, right?" said Jen, looking at Sophia.

"Yes, that's what allowed you to live for almost a thousand years," said Sophia nodding.

"I purged the dark energy from my body while rejuvenating with magic, that's why I changed so much," said Jen, smiling.

"I see, I'm glad, you look much better, and I don't just mean your appearance, you seem more lively," said Sophia, smiling happily.

Jen just smiled slightly; she actually felt much better too.

"Is Damian here?" asked Jen, looking at Sophia.

"I'm afraid not, he'll be away for a few days, from what he told us," said Sophia, shaking her head.

"I see, he told me his son was born; let's go see him," said Jen, smiling, not feeling too disappointed.

"Let's go," said Sophia, laughing slightly as they both went up the stairs.

Sophia quickly guided Jen to a room next to the girls'.

Opening the door, they both saw Natasha sitting in a chair while reading a book.

Upon seeing them arrive, Natasha stood up a bit confused.

"Is he still asleep?" asked Sophia, smiling.

"Yes," said Natasha, standing up and standing next to the crib before looking between Jen and Sophia as if asking who she was.

"Hi, Nat," said Jen, smiling slightly before looking at the little baby.

"It's Jen," said Sophia, laughing softly.

"Jen? But... what happened?" said Natasha a bit incredulously.

"I just rejuvenated a bit," said Jen.

"He really looks like Damian," said Jen, laughing slightly as she looked at the baby's hair.

"His name is Nathaniel," said Natasha, smiling almost proudly, setting aside the topic of Jen's physical change.

"He's very cute; I'm happy for you," said Jen, smiling at Natasha.

....

Monica, along with the rest of the group, quickly arrived at Xandar.

"What's the situation with Xandar? Did they say anything?" asked Monica, looking at Peter.

"The message got through, but I don't know if they'll believe it," said Peter.

"Damn," said Monica before taking out her phone and sending a message to Nova Prime.

She really didn't want to contact her since there was a possibility she would complain to her father; it would be embarrassing to tell him that all this happened because she wanted to have fun.

In the message, she simply told her to take Ronan's attack seriously, have the ships ready, and evacuate the people.

She quickly put her phone away, not wanting to see her response.

Xandar immediately went on alert, and the ships patrolled the skies.

"What about Yondu?" asked Monica.

"They're about to arrive; they've detected Ronan's ship; it'll be here in a few minutes," said Peter.

The tension could be felt in the ship for the upcoming battle.

"Let's review the plan then," said Peter.

"We'll fly over Ronan's ship, and you'll jump to create a hole before the rest of us enter," said Peter, looking at Monica, who nodded.

"While you fight Ronan, the rest of us will control Ronan's ship to prevent it from reaching the ground."

"Yondu and the Xandarians will take care of Ronan's ships."

"I still think this plan is crazy," said Rocket, shaking his head.

"Ronan is very powerful with the Power Stone, but in the end, it's an external power. If I manage to take it away, the problem will be solved," said Monica.

"You say that as if it were so easy," said Peter, sighing.

"Stop complaining and let's get to work," said Monica, rolling her eyes.

"Ronan's ship is here," said Peter, looking at the controls.

"Let's go," said Monica as she closed her eyes and concentrated.

Peter quickly maneuvered the ship to be above Ronan's.

"I see you down there," said Monica, opening her eyes and jumping out of the ship; at the same time, a small meteor started falling alongside Monica.

"What the hell?" said Peter, quickly moving the ship aside.

"Can she make meteors fall?" said Rocket, unable to believe it.

Monica aligned herself with the meteor before standing on it; it wasn't very big and was only about the size of a small house.

Suddenly, from her body, an ethereal form emerged that looked like a whirlwind; it was one of her familiars.

Avis, is capable of controlling the wind.

With his help, she immediately reduced the friction of the meteor, causing it to stop disintegrating from the heat.

Using the wind tunnel, she quickly guided the meteor over Ronan's ship before jumping at the last moment, causing the meteor to impact forcefully against the ship.

A loud explosion was heard as Ronan's ship shook, being pushed downwards at the same time.

"Hey, the idea is for Ronan not to reach the planet; don't go destroying the ship," said Peter quickly over the communicator.

Monica didn't respond and quickly dove down through the hole made by the meteor.

The ship was a mess inside, and many places seemed to be on fire; still, it looked worse than it actually was.

Ronan's ship was colossal; this small thing wouldn't bring it down.

Feeling Ronan's great presence, enhanced by the Power Stone, it wasn't hard for Monica to find him.

With a kick to the door, Monica arrived in front of Ronan, who was sitting on a sort of throne with his weapon, something like a two-handed mace with the stone embedded in the weapon's head.

"Hey, I came to get my stone back," said Monica, looking at Ronan, who seemed to want to act as some kind of final boss.

"I was planning to find you on C-53 to eliminate you along with your family, but since you came, I'll kill you right here," said Ronan, looking at her calmly as if everything were under his control.

"Pff," Monica couldn't help but laugh upon hearing Ronan; the stone surely inflated his confidence.

"Do you really think you can beat my father? You're crazy," said Monica, shaking her head.

Suddenly, four snakes came out of her body, each one a different color, red, blue, green, and brown.

"Is today a snake-themed day?" murmured Monica with a slight smile.

Her four familiars were elementals and didn't have a defined size or shape; they liked changing forms every time they appeared.

"Enough," said Ronan, annoyed, standing up with his hammer in hand.

"There's nothing you can do to stop me," said Ronan, pointing his hammer at Monica before a beam of purple energy headed toward her.

Monica became serious and turned her body into mist; the beam harmlessly passed through her as she expected, although she was relieved that she could actually avoid it.

Although all vampires in theory could turn into mist to avoid harm, it wasn't the same for everyone; she had a specific familiar who had inherited the characteristics of Damian's familiar, making her almost invulnerable when she turned into mist.

Ronan stopped when he saw that the attack went through Monica.

"Where's your smile?" Monica chuckled lightly at Ronan's expression.

Immediately following her command, her four elemental familiars dispersed, each taking a corner of the room.

Before Ronan could react, a cube-shaped barrier covered them, with the colors of the four elements swirling around.

Monica grinned widely before launching herself at Ronan, the wind blowing in her favor, reducing friction and allowing her to move at incredible speeds.

As her fist struck Ronan's chest, a massive explosion of fire engulfed the cube, sending Ronan flying.

Only Monica remained in place, gently shaking her fist. A small burn could be seen on her knuckles, although it wasn't from the fire.

Monica suspected that the stone provided some form of protection.

The smoke cleared quickly, revealing Ronan standing up, his armor sporting a large, smoldering hole in the chest.

"There won't be even ashes left of you," Ronan growled angrily, charging towards Monica, his mace enveloped in purple energy.

Monica dared not make direct contact, so she dodged his attacks before countering.

"The gem may have amplified your attacks, but you're still sluggish," Monica taunted, striking Ronan repeatedly to infuriate him and lower his guard.

Ronan seemed furious as he slammed the ground with the underside of his mace, causing the power of the Power Stone to spread through the floor, breaking everything.

At the same time, a purple energy shield enveloped him, making Monica hesitate to attack directly.

Monica quickly felt her familiars draining vitality to resist the stone's energy.

Watching Ronan grip his mace with both hands, thinking he was safe behind his energy shield, Monica smiled as she summoned her magic circle, channeling most of her magic into it.

A small black hole quickly formed above the circle, expanding to the size of a basketball.

With her magic, she launched it, although it was challenging to throw it only a few meters.

She felt most of her magic directly drained by the spell.

The black hole quickly made contact with the mace's handle and Ronan's hands, generating a powerful distortion.

The stone's protection seemed to resist for a moment before simply collapsing, brutally shredding Ronan's hands and shattering the mace.

The mace's head fell to the ground with force as Ronan screamed in pain, seeing his hands gone.

"My... my hands!" Ronan screamed in pain, feeling disbelief as if he couldn't connect the current scene with reality.

Monica slowly approached until she reached the Power Stone, her body slightly bending before she extended her hand and removed the gem.

Her face immediately changed as she felt the erosion caused by the stone.

"It hurts," Monica murmured. The stone soon seemed to recognize her physical strength, so it calmed down a bit. Nevertheless, Monica could feel the heavy burden on her body. If it weren't for her regeneration, she would have already been injured.

Now she understood why Ronan attached the gem to his weapon rather than simply holding it.

Monica turned to look at Ronan, who had stopped screaming but still looked at his hands incredulously. Seeing that everything was over, she simply approached him, grabbed him by the back of his neck, and dragged him away.

....

A few minutes earlier.

Peter, Gamora, Rocket, Drax, and Groot watched as Monica created a large hole in Ronan's ship.

"Hey, the idea is for Ronan not to reach the planet. Don't go destroying the ship," Peter quickly said over the communicator.

With no response, Peter could only sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, let's leave it to her. We have to do our part," Gamora said seriously.

"Why don't we just flee while she's not here to stop us?" Rocket suggested.

"I am Groot."

"What! It was just a joke. You guys are starting to grow on me," Rocket complained, seeing everyone's reactions.

"Alright, let's try not to die," Peter said, steering his ship directly towards the hole in Ronan's ship.

The ship entered roughly, its sides constantly colliding with the walls of Ronan's ship.

"Damn it," Peter winced as he saw sparks and pieces of his ship being left behind.

"We're here," Gamora said, her voice serious.

The group quickly prepared their weapons and disembarked from the ship, immediately running towards the ship's control center.

Suddenly turning a corner, they encountered Korath, Nebula, and many Sakaaran soldiers.

Drax quickly pushed Gamora and Peter aside to take cover, while Groot grabbed Rocket just in time to avoid a hail of gunfire.

"Alright, I guess it's time to set some explosives," Rocket said, quickly pulling out a grenade.

"Leave Nebula to me," Gamora said.

"Fine, then we'll take care of the rest," Peter nodded.

Rocket quickly threw grenades at the group of Sakaarans, causing several to run for cover.

A loud explosion filled the room with smoke, signaling the group to move.

Gamora ran through the smoke before kneeing Nebula in the chest; when she knocked her down, she didn't attack further, but ran, and as she expected, Nebula quickly got to her feet before running after her.

Groot and Drax took the lead, quickly decimating the Sakaaran army, while Peter and Rocket provided cover fire from behind.

Korath, who had been sent flying by the explosion, recovered before fixing his gaze on Peter.

"Star-Lord, you thieving scoundrel," Korath snarled angrily before charging towards him.

Despite the situation, Peter seemed encouraged to hear him called by his pseudonym.

Before Korath could reach Peter, Drax intercepted him, attempting to strike him.

Korath dodged the blow before hitting Drax.

Drax didn't flinch much at the blow and quickly went after Korath.

While everyone was engaged in a fierce battle against the Sakaarans, Gamora quickly ran, turning a corner before leaning her back against the wall.

Hearing footsteps, she calculated the moment before kneeing the air just as Nebula appeared.

To Gamora's surprise, Nebula blocked her knee strike with her hands.

"Don't become predictable, sister," Nebula said, sweeping Gamora's legs and knocking her to the ground.

Gamora quickly rolled on the ground before drawing her sword and engaging in a fight with Nebula.

"Come on, sister, time is running out. Help me stop Ronan," Gamora said after several minutes of fighting with no clear winner in sight.

"Why would I? The current course of events seems interesting. I'm sure Father didn't expect this," Nebula replied.

"You're stubborn," Gamora said before exchanging blows again.

Gradually, Nebula found herself at a disadvantage before Gamora took her wrist, twisting her arm and placing another arm under her neck.

"Surrender, sister," Gamora said.

Nebula just clicked her tongue before sending an electric current through her robotic arm.

Gamora immediately screamed in pain but didn't release Nebula.

With no other option, Nebula could only give up her robotic arm. Finally free, she quickly began to escape.

"Damn it," Gamora cursed, enduring the pain. Seeing Nebula flee, she could only shake her head before returning to help her teammates.

In the area, she saw that the situation seemed to have reached a stalemate, with both sides shooting at each other.

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