"He's just too ugly."
This was the reason Blake gave for killing someone.
Yondu's lips twitched. If Blake hadn't just demonstrated his incredible speed, the yaka arrow that was itching to fly in midair might have already been unleashed.
"We're Ravagers. Are you trying to provoke the entire Ravager alliance?"
Realizing they stood no chance in a fight, Yondu pulled out the Ravager alliance card.
Blake smiled faintly but didn't bother exposing the fact that Yondu had long been expelled from the alliance. Instead, he gave a small flick of his right hand, and a wormhole materialized out of thin air. Blake reached into it and, with a single motion, pulled out Star-Lord, who was still waiting inside the *Milano* for Blake to rescue him.
Grabbing Star-Lord with his right hand, Blake conjured a katana in his left, placing it directly against Star-Lord's neck.
Before Star-Lord could process what had happened, he was yanked from the safety of his ship and found himself with a blade pressed against his throat.
"Wait, you—"
"Shut up! Play along, or I'll hand you over to them and let them deal with you!" Blake whispered sternly into Star-Lord's ear, cutting him off.
Although Star-Lord hadn't seen what transpired outside, Blake's tone made it clear that cooperating was his best option for now.
So, without giving Yondu a chance to speak, Star-Lord launched into a dramatic act.
"Yondu! It's so great to see you! Look, I've been caught by this guy—I swear, I wasn't trying to avoid you! In fact, as soon as I got what I needed, I was planning to find you. But then this guy showed up out of nowhere, and now I hear you've put a bounty on me. By the Celestials, you don't trust me? That's... really heartbreaking."
Star-Lord shrugged dramatically, feigning innocence.
Yondu, despite being worried, kept a calm exterior. He'd seen plenty in his time and wasn't about to let his emotions show.
"He's a traitor to my team," Yondu said flatly. "I can give you his bounty right now. If there's anything on him that interests you, take it. But *he* is mine to deal with."
"I take what I need myself," Blake replied coldly. "I'm not interested in your bounty. I have a rule—no loose ends. I'm here for him today; it has nothing to do with you. Your man shot at me, so I killed him. Now, take the rest of your people and leave this place immediately. If anyone fires again, I promise none of you will leave here alive."
To emphasize his point, Blake swung his katana toward one of Yondu's landing crafts in the distance.
A massive fire dragon roared forth, engulfing the entire landing craft. It melted, vaporized, and disintegrated into nothingness, leaving behind only some thick, molten magma as evidence it had ever existed.
Yondu's already narrow eyes squinted even further. This man had speed beyond his reflexes, the ability to tear open space, the power of flight, and devastating external energy projection. He wasn't someone Yondu or his crew could contend with.
Before Yondu could say a word, one of his crew members spoke up.
"Boss, let's go. After all, the point of catching Quill was to kill him anyway. This guy looks like serious trouble. We can't risk the whole crew for Quill."
Most of Yondu's crew were opportunists. That was why so many of them had betrayed him in the past.
Hearing someone voice this opinion, the others quickly chimed in, agreeing. Even those who remained silent showed expectant expressions as they looked at Yondu, their meaning clear.
Sacrifice the entire crew for one person? They weren't interested in making that trade.
This approach was undoubtedly the most logical choice for a team—sacrificing the pawn to save the king. However, the decades-long bond couldn't be dismissed so easily.
Yondu clenched his teeth and opened his mouth as if to speak but ultimately said nothing.
Instead, he let out a sharp whistle, sending the yaka arrow hurtling straight toward Blake's forehead.
In the movies, the arrow's speed seemed manageable for the sake of visibility. But in reality, it was as fast as lightning. Blake had only a split second to react before the arrow was nearly upon him.
Even before it physically reached him, he could feel the intense pressure aimed squarely at his brow.
Blake's reflexes, however, were extraordinary. Instinctively, his left hand slashed out with his katana, striking later yet landing first.
"Clang!" The sharp sound echoed, startling Star-Lord, who flinched in shock.
The yaka arrow was deflected by the blade, sent flying off course. But before it could go far, Yondu's whistle commanded it to arc back in the air, circling around and returning at an even faster speed—at least 30% quicker than before.
Whatever material the yaka arrow was made of, it was incredibly advanced. Even at such high velocity, it produced only the faintest sound as it sliced through the air.
This time, Yondu employed a clever tactic. The arrow appeared to aim for Blake's forehead again, but as it closed the distance, it abruptly curved, circling two meters around Blake and targeting his back instead.
This maneuver had fooled countless formidable opponents across the galaxy. But today, Yondu's calculation would fail.
Blake didn't even flinch.
In truth, it wasn't Yondu's miscalculation—it was Blake's deliberate decision. He wasn't planning to defend this attack. Since his goal was to repair Yondu and Star-Lord's relationship, prolonging the fight wasn't the way to achieve that. Blake needed to demonstrate his overwhelming strength, enough to crush Yondu's fleeting hope of winning.
As the yaka arrow curved mid-air, Yondu noticed Blake wasn't preparing to strike. At first, he felt a pang of despair.
Then he realized Blake wasn't even attempting to defend his back, and his eyes reignited with hope.
In that fleeting moment, as the arrow hurtled toward its target, time seemed to slow for Yondu. Frame by frame, he watched with mounting anticipation.
As the arrow closed the final half-meter to Blake's back, Yondu's lips curled into a smile. He thought victory was his. Blake couldn't possibly react in time.
He… was finished.
The plan sounded flawless, but reality was brutally unforgiving. Yondu's smile didn't even have time to fully form before it froze.
The yaka arrow didn't pierce through Blake as expected. Instead, it seemed to strike some invisible barrier, rebounding harmlessly and dropping to the ground, devoid of power.
It made no sound, as if a dull blade had lightly bounced off a tire.
"Huh?"
This puzzled sound echoed simultaneously in the minds of Yondu and all the Ravagers present.
Yondu's yaka arrow could penetrate even massive space warships with ease. Until now, nothing had been able to stop it.
The first thought on everyone's mind was that Blake must be wearing some kind of advanced defensive armor beneath his clothing.
Yondu shared this suspicion.
Refusing to admit defeat, he whistled again, and the arrow darted toward Blake with rapid-fire attacks, aiming for his neck, head, and body in succession.
Blake, growing bored, simply let down his guard entirely. He casually set Star-Lord aside, allowing the yaka arrow to repeatedly strike him.
The arrow clanged and clattered against Blake's body without causing so much as a red mark on his skin.
*******************************************
You can get access to early chapters on patr*on.
If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.
My patr*on account is S_Pandey_0170
Yondu stubbornly controlled his Yaka Arrow, stabbing it into Blake hundreds of times before finally giving up. Even Star-Lord was left dumbfounded by the scene.
"This is your last chance—if you don't want to die, leave now!"
Blake's sharp gaze swept across Yondu's subordinates, who exchanged hesitant glances with one another.
Almost simultaneously, they all turned and bolted toward the landing craft, leaving Yondu completely alone at the scene.
"Looks like you're not planning to leave. Is it your pride as a leader, or does this guy mean that much to you?"
Star-Lord tried to say something, but Blake yanked him back with brute strength, grabbing him by the throat and cutting off his words.
The action looked violently abrupt, and Star-Lord seemed genuinely hurt, furrowing his brow with a muffled groan.
This immediately shattered Yondu's composure. He instinctively took a step forward, raising a hand toward Star-Lord, his face filled with worry and affection.
"Oh? Seems like he's very important to you. Your... partner?"
Blake asked knowingly, while Star-Lord, as if realizing something, fell silent. His expression turned calm, but his gaze fixed on Yondu in the distance, filled with disbelief and a hint of confusion.
"My orientation is perfectly normal. Besides, as a partner, this guy's way too ugly—not my type!"
Yondu suddenly abandoned his attack. The Yaka Arrow returned to his side as he casually spoke, his tone calm.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
Star-Lord, who had been quiet, immediately tried to argue upon hearing Yondu call him ugly. But with Blake's hand still clamped around his throat, he couldn't get a single word out.
"Shut up and listen to him," Blake whispered.
This time, Yondu didn't argue further. Instead, he slowly pulled out a small flask from his jacket, took a sip, exhaled the alcohol-laced breath, and continued.
"Truth is, this guy was just a job. Someone hired me to take him from Earth and deliver him somewhere."
"Ravager rules say we don't harm kids, but the money was too good to refuse. So, I took the job."
"But when I found the kid, I regretted it. I couldn't bring myself to hand him over because I knew exactly what that bastard wanted to do with him!"
"I failed the mission and didn't know how to deal with the kid, especially with my crew. They're nothing but a bunch of scoundrels."
"So I told them the kid could access places we couldn't, that he'd be valuable to us. And I kept making excuses, dragging things out day after day."
"I'd even scare him with my crew, saying we'd eat him. Haha, Peter, that idiot, actually believed it."
"Days turned into years. The kid grew up, and I started to feel something strange. It was warm, something I couldn't understand. Until one day, I saw a father protecting his child on another planet, and I realized—I had already started seeing him as my own kid."
"Now you've gone out there and don't plan on coming back. My kid is leaving me, huh? Heh, Peter, before I knew it, you've grown up so much. But you shouldn't have taken the Orb. Do you know how many powerful people are after that thing? It's going to bring you trouble beyond your imagination. I even put a bounty out to find you, but damn it, you still got caught."
As Yondu spoke, he found a large rock nearby, sat down close to Blake and Star-Lord, and continued drinking from his flask. He recounted all the mischief and trouble Peter had caused over the years, one story after another.
The memories were filled with the comforting smile of an old father.
*'Plop!'*
Blake's hand, gripping Star-Lord's throat, felt a sudden wetness. A single tear had fallen from the corner of Star-Lord's eye.
The scene before him was moving. In Blake's mind, he could almost hear the background music from Yondu's death scene—the iconic *"Father and Son."*
However, sentiment was sentiment. There was still a task to finish.
"Nice story, very touching. I'll give you two a chance. Didn't you say you're his father? Fine, kill yourself, and I'll let him go."
Blake's gaze locked onto Yondu as he continued coldly,
"And drop whatever tricks you're trying to pull back there. Don't think you can sneak attack me and save this brat. If you try, you both die. I'm not joking."
As if to prove his point, a faint blue glow emanated from Blake's body, and a two-meter-wide protective shield materialized in front of him.
"I'll give you ten seconds to think about it. Ten… nine… eight…"
The appearance of the shield shattered the last glimmer of hope in Yondu's heart, but it didn't matter anymore.
His plan had been to launch a sneak attack and buy time for Star-Lord to escape.
But now, with no other options left, it didn't matter.
"Just remember what you said. If you don't keep your word, even in death..."
As Blake continued his countdown, Yondu looked him in the eye and spoke seriously.
"You talk too much," Blake interrupted, his tone impatient. "Relax, I always keep my word. But if you keep babbling, I might change my mind. Three… two…"
Before Blake could finish, Star-Lord rolled his eyes dramatically. *"As if! This guy locked the Collector in a tiny glass box earlier and said he'd let him go. And now he dares claim he keeps his word?"*
But soon, Star-Lord's attention shifted entirely to Yondu.
With every second of Blake's countdown, Yondu sighed deeply. A whistle pierced the air, and the Yaka Arrow shot out from his waist, slicing through the air toward its master.
"No!!!"
In that moment, Star-Lord seemed to forget it was all an act. Breaking free of Blake's grasp—though Blake allowed it—he lunged toward Yondu with everything he had, desperate to stop him.
To Yondu, however, it seemed like Blake was upholding his promise. His face softened with a fatherly smile as he looked at Star-Lord from afar.
*'Swish!'*
The Yaka Arrow suddenly accelerated, closing in on Yondu's forehead in an instant.
Yondu slowly closed his eyes, ready to meet his fate.
But then, a wormhole appeared in front of him, and a hand reached out, firmly grabbing the Yaka Arrow mid-flight.
The whistle continued to echo, but the arrow now struggled and trembled in Blake's grasp, the tip quivering as it tried to break free.
Yondu opened his eyes, sensing something was off. When he looked, he saw the arrow in Blake's distant hand.
Meanwhile, Star-Lord, tears streaming down his face, charged toward Yondu like an enraged bear.
*'Boom!'*
The two, with their contrasting skin tones, collided and rolled into a heap on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust several meters high.
"Such a heartwarming scene," Blake remarked with a sneer, casually playing with the Yaka Arrow from afar. "But Star-Lord's tackle? Ugh, how utterly disgusting to watch."
*******************************************
You can get access to early chapters on patr*on.
If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.
My patr*on account is S_Pandey_0170
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