"Let's go too!"
Karl looked at Gwen and the other two beside him. The Ultima Weapon instantly appeared in his hand, and with a sweep of his cloak, he charged toward the creature as well.
The monster noticed them immediately and smashed a massive tentacle down at the group.
Suddenly, a crimson force froze the tentacle in midair. Scarlet energy erupted violently, and the appendage exploded with a bang. Thick slime poured down like a torrential rain, drenching everyone below.
"Ptooey! Ptooey! Wanda, take it easy! This is disgusting!"
Gwen and Skye, who had just been showered in slime, immediately turned and yelled at Wanda. No one escaped it. Every single person had been baptized by the creature's sticky bodily fluids.
Tony shot into the air at once. His gauntlets transformed into massive energy cannons, unleashing a barrage of firepower at the creature.
Unfortunately, the monster's hide was absurdly tough. The explosions only slowed it down slightly. The cannons were nowhere near as effective as Wanda's Chaos Magic.
A flash of sword light streaked through the air, followed by countless wind blades roaring forward. Two tentacles were severed instantly and flew skyward before crashing heavily to the ground.
The creature let out a shriek and opened its giant maw, spewing out a cloud of pink mist while its remaining tentacles lashed wildly at everyone. Every strike shook the entire plaza.
"This is what you call a parasite?! What the hell is it parasitizing?! This is obviously a monster!"
Tony dodged the attacks while continuously firing energy blasts, specifically targeting weak points like the creature's wounds and mouth.
"How should I know? That's what the mission briefing called it! Damn it! I'm definitely charging extra for this!"
Quill fired nonstop while cursing loudly.
"Skye! Get ready!"
Wanda suddenly shouted. The three girls had already come up with a plan. Gwen would use her webbing to launch Skye above the monster, Wanda would forcibly pry its head upward with Chaos Magic, and then Skye would blast straight into its mouth with her vibration powers.
In theory, the plan was perfect.
But reality quickly threw them a curveball.
For some reason, Gwen's webbing had been affected by electromagnetic radiation. Its durability and tensile strength dropped dramatically, making it impossible to restrain the creature properly.
"Karl! Help me pin down those damn tentacles!"
Seeing her webbing fail, Gwen immediately called for backup.
Although Karl had no idea what the girls were planning, he still waved his hand. A biting cold wind instantly swept across the plaza, followed by the appearance of a breathtakingly beautiful giant ice flower.
Bzzzt—!
The ice flower pulsed rhythmically.
In an instant, white mist spread outward, freezing everything it touched. The creature's tentacles were immediately frozen solid against the ground.
"Everyone back off!"
Gwen shouted.
Karl instantly teleported aside, while Quill and the others instinctively retreated.
Then Gwen fired a strand of webbing around Skye's waist.
"Wanda, now!"
At Gwen's signal, Wanda unleashed a massive surge of Chaos Magic that formed into a gigantic crimson hand in midair. It grabbed the creature's head and violently forced it upward.
The monster struggled frantically, but with all its tentacles frozen, it could only thrash helplessly.
Chaos Magic wasn't something it could break free from so easily. As Wanda exerted more strength, the creature's resistance weakened and its head was gradually forced higher and higher.
"Skye!"
Gwen shouted again, then swung her arm violently. The webbing launched Skye high into the air, directly above the monster's open maw.
Bzzzzzt—!!
Skye thrust both palms forward. Endless vibration waves erupted from her hands and blasted straight into the creature's gaping mouth.
The violent vibrations instantly shredded its internal organs. Its body began swelling and distorting as the tremors spread through it.
The monster's struggle became even more violent.
Wanda gritted her teeth and maintained her hold, but the creature thrashed harder and harder. Every convulsion sent massive amounts of fluid spewing from its fang-filled mouth.
"Not good! Everybody move!!"
Tony instantly flew to Skye's side, grabbed her, and shot upward into the sky.
Karl teleported in front of Wanda and Gwen and waved his hand, instantly erecting a towering wall of ice before them.
Quill and the others weren't nearly as fast. Only Gamora, who happened to be closer to Wanda, managed to dive behind the ice wall in time.
BOOM—!!!
A deafening explosion erupted.
The creature's body was completely torn apart from within by Skye's vibrations, bursting apart into chunks as yellow-green fluids sprayed in every direction.
Tony and Skye were far enough away to avoid it. Karl's group was protected by the ice wall. Groot quickly transformed one arm into a shield.
Only Quill, Drax, and Rocket got hit full-on.
"Damn it!! Damn it!! You people are unbelievable! Damn it all!!"
Covered head to toe in foul-smelling slime, Quill and Rocket immediately started jumping around and swearing furiously.
Both of them actually had jetpacks, but neither had realized the creature would explode, so they got caught completely off guard.
Drax, on the other hand, didn't care at all. After wiping slime off his face, he burst into loud laughter, utterly unconcerned about the disgusting fluids covering his body.
Tony descended with Skye, while Karl's ice shield shattered at the same time.
Everyone who'd managed to stay clean instinctively kept their distance from Quill's trio. Even Groot looked unwilling to get close to them.
"So what exactly is this thing?"
After Quill and the others finally cleaned themselves up, the group gathered around a giant battery-like device. Tony was the first to speak.
"Harbulary batteries."
Quill answered casually.
"?? What kind of dumbass battery name is that?"
Drax replied without even looking up, still wiping down his knives.
"Were you even listening to me? Harbulary batteries!"
Quill was speechless. Sometimes he genuinely wanted to crack Drax's skull open just to see if his brain was even larger than a peanut.
"One tiny battery like this is worth tens of thousands of credits. That's why the Sovereign hired us to exterminate the parasite and offered such a huge reward."
Rocket casually pried one battery loose. It was about the size of an ordinary AA battery, but the golden liquid inside contained absurd amounts of energy.
Tony secretly pocketed several of them and immediately stored them inside his armor. The nanotech sealed itself shut instantly afterward.
Aside from Karl, no one noticed what Tony had done.
And Karl already knew Tony would definitely steal a few, so he said nothing. After all, Rocket was the same kind of person—he'd secretly taken several too.
"You've gotta be careful dealing with these people. They're insanely sensitive and can't take the slightest insult. Offend them, and we're finished."
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