//------------------------------//
// Terrax The Tamer (or the rock thrower!) 
// Story: The Road Trip of A-Holes! 
// by Sense of Humor 
//------------------------------//

The whole ship lurched to the side, taking its many passengers on a one way trip down. Groot managed to dodge just as the much larger form of Rocket crashed on his back.  Trixie and the other ponies managed to stabilize themselves  with their already flat hooves, something that no one else appeared to have on this ship. From underneath Drax, Gamora sent a look in the direction of the driver's seat and narrowed her eyes.

"Quill," she said as calmly as one could, buried as she was. "Why did you do that?"

Quill leaned back, proudly standing back up to his full height and leaning on the chair's backrest. "Oh, just your average every day crisis aversion--nothing to worry about."

Maud suddenly focused past him. "Is that achrondite?"

"Sh!t!" He dove back into the seat in time to just barely skim a much larger boulder hurtling through nothingness in an attempt to crash into the fragile metal. But the boulder clearly changed course from the corner of their view, trailing them at frightening speeds alongside the other.  Needless to say, Quill was worriedly puzzled. "Okay. Guess the reports were true."

Derpy leaned closer to the glass to get a better look. The coordination of the space rocks seemed too similar to be each rock having its own mind. Clearly somepony's idea of a good joke was at play here. "Maud, how do you suppose these big rocks are chasing us?"

"How is she supposed to know?!" Rocket barked.

"Asteroids like that could be attracted to some type of magnet on the ship, or controlled by a different type of magnet to do this. It makes sense, given that one of those Asteroids has a nickel core and the other an iron base." When the ship lurched again, she blinked. "Odd. Those new ones aren't magnetic at all. "

"Yeah, but they're starting to get good at their aim!" The leader of the Gaurdians yelped and sent a less than casual glance to the bow of the  ship that was previously struck, spinning the ship before he could get the flight pattern back to normal.  "Uh, serpentine maneuvers!"

"That sounds delicious!" Drax patted his back hard enough to pop his spine without trying. "We should prepare it with a cream sauce."

"He's not talking about food, he's talking about a way of losing the asteroids." Trixie paused to look at the leader's progress. "One that isn't working out too well. Any other way to lose them?"

"What about the rear weaponry?" Gamora lept to the back of the room,searching for the right seat against the wall, followed closely by Rocket. "You fixed it, right?

"You kidding? I fixed it three days ago."

Derpy trotted up to the two and noticed Gamora sitting before some type of light-produced imagery that actually had moving objects in it. They appeared to be the asteroids, and when Gamora pulled on a specific trigger, there weren't as many asteroids as before. "Wow! You're awesome at this! Look at you go!"

Gamora didn't smirk or smile, but she did acknowledge the praise. "I was trained for my entire existence to be the best fighter in close combat, and the best shot in long distance battle. Of course I'm awesome at this." 

"This day just gets better and better." Quill chuckled a little at something fast approaching, and turned to the others. "Ah, there's  the planet that sent in the complaints about this to begin with. A quick landing should wrap this whole thing up for us, asap!" He looked off to the side of the ship and his eyes widened. "...the fuuuuu€k?"

Just to the far right of the planet, massive shapes blocked the sight of space from view. They were Asteroids of all shapes and sizes and metal types, forming one large army. The army was silent and still in the black void, looking a huge audience awaiting something big. But one by one, each of those massive space rocks suddenly shot at them and joined the growing frenzy to destroy their ship.  Quill's eyes zeroed in on something before he had to veer away from the assault. "Uh, there's a guy out there."

"A what?" 

"There's a guy on --" The ship lurched upwards. "One of the asteroids. Doing some kind of hand motions, you know?"

Gamora listened intently, and managed a brief glimpse of what Quill had seen via her own holographic screen. Something of a tall, dark figure in red and brown garnments. From the distance, there were no discernable features to note, but he was doing some kind of attack motion with his hands. Grunting and grimacing, she gestured for Rocket to take her place before grabbing an O-pac and activating it. A thick film of invisible clothing appeared around her and supplied oxygen to her through an unseen mask. After attaching a temporary flight harness, she moved to a small hatch in the floor. "I'm going out to see if I can't subdue him. Keep him focused on you."

"Whaddaya  think I'm doing??!" A frantic voice rang out in a worried bellow. "Playing chess?!"

"Chess can't be played with those, Quill."

" Shut up, Drax! "

Maud circled her curiously before her eyes fell on the hatch. "Can I follow you? It would give me an excellent look at the many rock types and--"

"No. You're not experienced and you'll get in the way, or be killed. " Before disappearing into the depths of space, she offered one piece of advice. "Close the door behind me and do something useful for Quill."

Maud blinked slowly, her eyes falling on one of the O-pacs sitting at a reachable height. 





Gamora used her temporary flight sparingly, not certain if she could be stealthy enough with her suit making as much noise it did. Her focus fell on the figure as she calculated where his front is, before leaping amongst some of the Asteroids in an effort to get behind him. Quill's ship was thankfully weaving about in one general area, so she wouldn't risk her target noticing her soon. The closer she got, the more she details she could see in the figure's garnments. The clothing told of a familiar race of people, but she wasn't sure why he would attack such a distant planet from his own.

In anycase, she moved closer towards him from the back and made no sound except for the light skritches that came with landing on brittle surfaces. But just as she pounced at him, a ship sized boulder rushed up from underneath her. Not phased by the sudden movement, she crawled down its surface instantly and lunged for the figure once more...but he wasn't there anymore.

He was at her side, jabbing a hard fist into the spot where her ribs would be.





"Hey, you! With the eyes!" Quill snapped and pointed his fingers at a nervous Derpy, gesturing for her attention. "C'mere, I'm gonna teach you how to shoot stuff!"

Derpy fluttered over with a shy beat to her wings, but sat in the seat specified, just in front of Quill. "Uh, okay."

"Good now--YIPE!" Starlord practically tore the handles off of his module to regain control after a hit had them spinning. A streaking asteroid caused a crack in the window of his ship, and he whimpered at the sight. "Now, see that green button between the handles? No, the other one. Yes. That's auto-aim. Pressing it and then press on the red triggers on the handles. Fire like Crazy!"

Derpy sucked in a breath as her eyes fell on all sorts of green buttons. Okay, Hooves. You can do this. He said the one between the handles...
 She focused through all of the noise and rattling of metal, enough to press the green button between the handles. She grasped the handles in the crook of her ankles and grinned as she suddenly saw a few of the asteroids explode in a hail of light beams. "I did it, Starlord! I did it!"

"Awesome. Good work!" He grinned, but mostly because someone had actually referred to him by the right name.

Trixie noted the work that was being done by Derpy with a frown. When she stalked up to another seat, she found that it looked entirely  different than what Derpy's controls were. "What about this orange button here?" She pressed it without quite listening to the frantic yelling of Quill. The ship lurched straight up as if pulled by a harpoon, and two asteroids crashed into each other below them. The unicorn blinked in surprise, but ultimately acted as if it were a normal deed. "Yep. I just did that."

"Yeah, but that coooulda killed us. I think I'll put your grey friend over there instead." Quill risked a look behind. "Where is she, anyway?"




Gamora wheezed; the breath knocked out of her at the same time that she tried to gasp in surprise. She whizzed into a flatter rock surface, almost cracking it with the force of her crash. A mechanical sputter told her that the flight harness was broken, and that her oxygen supply could have been next. She looked up in time to glare at the approaching, angered individual.

"I knew you and your allies would come." He grimly spoke, grey face hardened with a look of disgust and annoyance. "But to try and stop me was another thing entirely. Not to mention an attack from behind."

Gamora said nothing.

"Eventually you will all fall before my might, and I will soon be able to harness the destructive power of every asteroid in the galaxy. All of those rocks, floating with no purpose, can now be used to create something perfect. " He glanced to the planet behind. "And as soon as they whither into my grasp from the onslaught m, I will make sure that every other planet gets the same treatment...unless they bind themselves to my empire."

He looked down at her, gloved hands held behind his back. "Aren't you going to bow to me?"

Her eyes narrowed, lips drawing out of their angry grimace. "...Terrax the Tamer? I...remember you. You were trained under the eyes of Thanos, meant to become part of his Black order."

"Yes, Gamora. Meant to be. You know as well as I do that his Black Order is not set to unite until the time of The End." He sighed through his nostrils, clearly unhappy. "And I must constantly exercise my abilities to be ready for when brings upon The End. Subjugation of the entire galaxy will certainly please him."

"This madness I why left him for good. " Gamora shakily stood to her feet. "He is insane in his quest for the kiss of Death. And the rest of the order are insane to keep such a pact with him. Including you."

Terrax hummed. "I suppose your sister is insane as well."

Gamora didn't dignify that with a verbal response. Terrax was not quite expecting the kick to the head, but it phased him very little. His elbows managed to block the attacks of her fists until one of his giant hands caught one and then flung the rest of her body into the surface of Asteroid.  "Maybe when I finish slaughtering the Gaurdians of the Galaxy..." The villain clasped a hand around her neck, squeezing tighter and tighter and hoping to hear a snap over the sound of her choking gasps. "All will cower at the very mention of my na--What?!"

The grip loosened and when she wasn't fighting to fill her lungs, Gamora stared in surprised awe as a thick hook slammed into the side of his skull. His body briefly floating off, Maud gazed at the glove she had ripped off his other hand, nestled between her teeth. She glanced at the fingers and then shoved a hoof into the glove. An enraged Terrax took notice of this, grinding his teeth together. "You colorless swine! Do you really think you can weild the power of a thousand asteroids?!"

Maud stared. "Yes."

Then a gigantic boulder smashed him into the side of another, before both crumbled into regular debris and revealed his unconscious, groaning form. Gamora opened her mouth several times only to close it in the next second, eyes taking in the sight of the unconscious pawn of Thanos. Had anyone managed to do such a thing, with no skillset like hers?

"Inconceivable!" Gamora exclaimed while approaching Maud. It was a relief to see that the other asteroids had stopped moving, and Quill's ship stopped flying spastically in the distance. "How did you know your hoof would be able to work in place of a hand?"

"I didn't. " Was the simple reply, before the glove was turned over to reveal a glowing green piece of diamond. "But I figured with this strange gem, it didn't matter. He used this to substitute a magnet, shifting and pushing asteroids in any way that he pleased."

Gamora looked at her foe again, noting that the other glove was now broken and torn. Oh well. At least they had someone to turn into the Nova Corps for acts of terrorism. She studied the glove Maud had with wariness. This reminded her of another glove she had seen, one that could be billions of times more dangerous than this one. "I thought I told you to stay on the ship." She tried sounding angry, but couldn't quite shake off the impressed feeling she had.

"I like rocks." Maud apparently had a knack for stating the obviously and saying simple things. "And you seemed to need a little help."

Gamora broke out of her glove trance and locked eyes with Maud. She was a strange equine, no doubt, but at least a slightly likeable one. And helpful, to boot. "Well,let's get back to the ship with him. I'll bet there's a jail cell on that planet with his name on it."