A/N I only own Crystal, the species of dragons, and the planet of dragons. Everything else is owned by Disney and Marvel.

ThatCrazyLion: I'M SORRY!

Sana: That WOULD be something to consider, except Crys can't really control herself in her True Form, and wouldn't be able to get her usekh back on (the others would have a lot of trouble getting it back on her two) Plus, who's to say she would go after Ronan alone? Still a good idea to consider, just not practical in the long run.

Wanli8970: That's fine. Hope you had fun on vacation.

Everyone backed away from the approaching Kree, whimpering and clutching one another in fright. Standing, Rocket growled, "You killed Groot!"

Crys let out a loud angry roar from where she stood. Rocket charged at Ronan, but the Kree simply knocked him back several feet with a shock-wave from his hammer. Crys fired an ice beam at Ronan, having learned her lesson about attacking him back on Knowhere, but the same thing happened again. The dragon spread her wings and covered her head with her arms as the shards of ice flew back to her.

"Behold!" Ronan exclaimed mockingly. "Your guardians of the galaxy! What fruit have they wrought?! Only that my father, and his father, shall finally know vengeance! People of Xandar, the time has come to rejoice, and renounce your paltry gods!" He raised his hammer, which had started glowing purple, up over his head. "Your salvation is at hand!"

Crys's eyes widened. He's going to destroy Xandar!

"Ooh-oo, child," a voice began singing, "things are gonna get easier."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Crys turned to the voice, only to see Quill standing on his feet, staring at Ronan, as he moved in place. As he continued singing, Ronan lowered his hammer, though not to strike the ground, but to stare at the Terran in utter confusion. Crys glanced at Gamora, and saw she had a look of confusion on her face as well.

"What are you doing?" Ronan asked as Quill began dancing harder.

"Dance-off, bro," he answered, as if it were obvious, "Me and you." He turned to Gamora and held out a hand. She shook her head quickly. "Crysy, c'mon," he tried the dragon, but she simply stared at him, cocking her head in bewilderment. Shrugging, he continued dancing.

"What are you doing?!" Ronan asked again, sounding angry.

"I'm distracting you, you big turd-blossom," Quill grinned cheekily, glancing behind the Kree.

Ronan looked over his shoulder, and Gamora and Crys saw what, or who, were behind him: Rocket and Drax, the latter of whom was holding the Hadron Enforcer.

Rocket shoved two raw wires against each other, and the weapon fired straight at Ronan's hammer, destroying it, and releasing the Stone. Both Ronan and Quill leapt for it, as Gamora shouted, "No!"

As soon as Quill grabbed the stone, he,and everyone else, fell to the ground, and were surrounded by billowing dust and clouds of black and purple. Among the loud sounds that she was sure were coming from the Stone and dust, Crys could hear Quill screaming in pain. She pushed herself to her knees, which was no easy task, and was horrified t see Quill's clenched left hand was glowing purple, and the flesh was peeling away from his face. He slowly stood up, still screaming painfully.

"Peter!" she heard Gamora shout desperately, reaching out to her friend, "Take my hand!"

He slowly turned to her, and Crys saw his expression subtly change from pain to shock and...mourning? And he muttered something, but she couldn't hear what it was. By now, there were cracks in his skin, which were glowing purple, as if he had always glowed purple from the inside-out.

"Take my hand!" Gamora yelled again.

Quill slowly took her hand, and they both threw their heads back in agony; Gamora began glowing purple as well.

"Once, for a moment, a group was able to share the energy amongst themselves, but even they were quickly destroyed by it." Crys's eyes widened when the Collector's words rang through her ears again. She crawled towards Gamora, and saw Drax approach Quill, grab his left shoulder, and throw his head back as well. She pushed herself to her feet and grabbed Gamora's upper right arm.

Pain engulfed her entire body, causing her head to involuntarily snap back, and a scream to bubble through her throat. It felt nothing like when she lost her usekh and turned into her true form. She felt like her entire body was on fire and frozen at the same time, and she felt her skin beginning to peel from her body on her face, neck, and arms.

Suddenly, Crys found the pain was becoming bearable, though still there. She looked forward and glared at the Kree, still standing in front of the group. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Gamora, Quill, Drax, and Rocket—who was gripping Drax's finger—were, glaring as well, and were all glowing purple, and had dark eyes with purple irises; eyes like Ronan had before.

"You're mortal!" Ronan gaped in shock. "How?"

"You said it yourself, bitch," Quill said coldly, "we're the Guardians of the Galaxy."

Growling, Ronan wound back his hammer. Quill opened the hand that was holding the Stone, and bright-purple energy flew out from it, and seemed to grab Ronan and levitate him a few feet into the air. He began glowing bright purple as well, and exploded with an agonizing scream.

The energy returned to the Stone, and Gamora, with Crys still holding her arm, slammed her containment unit onto Quill's still open-palm, sealing the Stone inside. The pain ebbed away, and the dust cleared, revealing the newly-christened Guardians of the Galaxy to all of Xandar. The group let go of each other, panting tiredly and glancing at each other, happy that it was all over.

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice rung, "quite the light show."

Quill, Gamora, and Crys turned to see Yondu, as well as the rest of the living Ravagers standing at the lip of the crater the Stone explosion had created. Chuckling, Yondu remarked, "Ain't this sweet? But you got some business to attend to before all the nookie-nookie starts." He looked pointedly at Quill.

"Peter, you can't," Gamora pleaded.

"You gotta reconsider this, Yondu," Quill said. "I don't know who you're selling this to, but the only way the universe can survive is if you give it to the Nova Corps."

"I may be as pretty as an angel, but I sure as hell ain't one," Yondu shook his head. He held out his hand, and said, "Hand it over, son."

Glancing down, Crys noticed Quill holding the orb behind his back, tapping one finger against it. Quirking an eyebrow, she moved her tail in front, though still behind Quill, wrapped the tip of her tail around the orb, and moved it behind her. Quill took another orb out from under his jacket and gave it to Yondu, acting reluctant. Chuckling, Yondu signaled for the other Ravagers to move out, having gotten what they came for; or so they thought.

"Yondu," Quill called out as the Ravager captain began to leave, "Do not open that orb...you know that, right? You've seen what it does to people?"

Yondu pointed a finger at Quill with a knowing expression, and followed his men out of the crater and to their ships. Everyone watched as the Ravager ships rose and flew off, disappearing into the atmosphere.

Crys tossed Quill the orb with her tail with a smirk. She heard him remark about how Yondu was going to be pissed when he found out the switch as she joined Rocket, who was sitting on the ground again, gently holding a twig in his hands, and sniffling. Crys sat down as well, feeling her heart break with grief, remembering that one of her best friends was gone. She let the tears fall down her snout as she nuzzled Rocket, who was still crying.

Drax sat down slowly between the two, holding an arm against his abdomen, and looked knowingly at Rocket. As the furry alien continued to sob, clutching the twig against his chest, Drax lifted his right arm and gently ran his hand down Rocket's head. He flinched at the physical contact, but didn't stop Drax as he continued to stroke him. The tattooed alien turned to Crys, and laid a hand on the back of her neck.

The dragon tensed, still feeling a tiny twinge of fear towards the alien. But as she stared at him with tear-filled eyes, it quickly melted away as his hand ran up her neck to the back of her head, and rubbed behind her ear, just as Groot had done. With a mournful sob, Crys buried her face into the crook of Drax's neck and cried against him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and continued to comfort the two grieving creatures, perfectly understanding the pain they were going through.

Several hours later, the group had been healed, cleaned up, and given official Nova Corps. Clothing. Rocket had placed the biggest piece of Groot in a pale of dirt, hoping something would happen. "He is a plant alien, after all," Quill had shrugged, hoping inside that the Flora Colossus would somehow regrow. He already missed Groot.

Now, Crys, Rocket, and Drax had been released after a full check-up, and were being led to the main conference room, where Quill and Gamora were. Thinking back on something, Crys asked, "Drax? Back on the Dark Aster, what you said...did you mean it?"

"Indeed," he nodded. "You are all my friends."

"I figured that, but I meant what you said about me being cowardly." She chuckled at the confused expression on the tattooed alien's face. "I'm kidding! I'm only joking. But...I am glad you meant what you said, about us being friends. I never really had friends growing up."

"C'mon, Crys," Rocket groaned, "don't go sappy on me! 'Sides, you had me and Groot!"

Smiling again, she nodded, "I know, but it's nice to have more than two friends."

"What'd I say about going sappy?"

Crys just laughed more, with the furry alien eventually joining in with a few chuckles. The three of them stepped through automatic doors, and found Quill and Gamora, along with the rest of the Nova Corps., standing and looking at a Terran hologram. "Your friends have arrived," Nova Prime said to Quill. She stood before the ragtag group and said, "On behalf of the Nova Corps., we'd like to express our profound gratitude for your help in saving Xandar. If you will follow Denerian Dey," she nodded to the officer, "he has something to show you."

Quill and Gamora thanked her, and joined the group in following Dey out of the conference room. Gamora joined Crys and Drax, and said to him, "Your wife and child shall rest well, knowing that you have avenged them."

Crys nodded in agreement. "Yes," Drax answered. "Of course, Ronan was only a puppet. It's really Thanos I need to kill."

Crys and Gamora froze at the statement, before sharing a knowing glance, shaking their heads, and continuing on. "I think I'm more astounded that he knows not one, but two metaphors," the dragon remarked.

"Hmm," Gamora nodded.

Soon, Dey led them outside the Nova Corps. building. "We tried to keep it close to the original as possible," Dey said, gesturing forwards. "We salvaged as much as we could."

Everyone gaped at the sight before them: the Milano, rebuilt and good as new. Quill was stammering in shock, before saying, "Thank you."

Glancing to the side, Dey said, "I have a family. They're alive because of you. Your criminal records have also been expunged."

The group glanced among themselves, astonished. "However, I have to warn you against breaking any laws in the future."

"Question," Rocket said. "What if see something that I want to take, and it belongs to someone else?"

"Well, you will be arrested."

"But what if I want it more than the person who has it?"

"Still illegal," Dey shrugged with an amused smile.

"That doesn't follow," Rocket said stubbornly. "No, I want it more, sir. Do you understand? What're you laughing at?" he asked Gamora as she chuckled and nudged him towards the Milano. "Why? I can't have a discussion with this gentleman?"

As the two of them walked to the ship, Drax asked thoughtfully, "What if someone does something irksome, and I decide to remove his spine?"

Glancing at Quill, Dey said, "That's...that's actually murder. It's one of the worst crimes of all, so also illegal."

"What if I freeze someone in place, not actually killing them?" Crys asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Well...you could still possibly kill them, and freezing them alone could count as assault. Could still be illegal."

Both Crys and Drax hummed in thought, glanced at each other, and shrugged, before heading for the Milano as well.

Inside, Quill opened the colorful package he had yelled at Rocket for touching. He found a letter from his deceased mom, and a new "mix-tape,", as he called it. He placed it in the slot in the wall, pressed a button, and turned a dial. It began playing soft music, before getting louder as a man and woman sang. After a while of listening to the song, the group walked to the front of the ship, and sat into their seats. "Crys!" Rocket exclaimed.

Crys leapt forward off of her seat next to Drax and stood beside Rocket's, gasping with delight. The twig in the pot began to split, and a familiar face yawned from the main branch. The ends of two tiny branches split into tiny fingers. "It'll take a while before he's his original size," Crys chuckled, nuzzling the baby Groot gently with her snout. He wrapped his arms around her nose, squeaking in recognition, before turning around and smiling widely at Rocket.

Smiling, Quill asked, "What should we do next? Something good? Something bad? Bit of both?"

"We'll follow your lead...Star-Lord," Gamora replied, standing next to him.

"...Bit of both!"

The Guardians of the Galaxy
will return.

A/N Oh MAN! I'm glad this is done! Between writer's block, and getting used to a different keyboard (had to send my laptop to get fixed, and use my gaming computer for most of my stuff; I am NOT used to a chunky keyboard!) this took a while. But I managed to do it!

I figured after what happened when Crys charged Ronan the last time, she'd learn to attack from a distance. Especially since this isn't the time to lose her usekh.

Has anyone seen the blooper when Quill challenged Ronan to a dance-off? Funniest. Thing. EVER! I laughed my ass off at it when I first saw it XD It's easy to find on YouTube, and I guarantee it'll make you laugh, especially when you know how the scene actually went in the movie.

I really wanted to use Crys's "tail trick" somehow at this part, but couldn't figure out a way to do it just right.

I think my favorite scene, in this chapter, was when Drax was comforting Rocket and Crys; especially Crys. Not because she's my character, but because it shows her growth. Before, she wouldn't let Drax touch her because she was afraid of him. But because she got to know him better, and he knows what she and Rocket are going through, she's not afraid of him anymore.

I was motivated to finish and upload this chapter because of the GotG: Vol 2 sneak peak released today! It was awesome, funny, and cute :3 I'm SUPER excited for it next year!

So, this is finally finished! It took so long to finish mostly because of writer's block, but I did it. Not sure if there'll be a sequel right after this (I'll more than likely write one after seeing GotG: Vol 2; more than likely when I get the DVD) especially since I'd rather write for other franchised: The Grinch (the one I'm writing) Death Note, Undertale, and Zootopia. If there are any mistakes in this chapter...I BLAME MY CHUNKY KEYBOARD!