IRONROOT – Chapter 20: The Seed of Xandar
Part I – Arrival Over the Blue World
The Benatar dropped out of hyperspace like a wounded comet.
Before them stretched the planet Xandar, blue and gold beneath the shimmer of its twin suns.
It was beautiful. It was dying.
From orbit, they could already see it — the dark stains spreading across the oceans, spiraling like ink in water. The infection had found new soil.
Billy stood behind the cockpit glass, silent.
His reflection looked alien — veins faintly glowing, eyes deeper than human. He felt the pulse of the Root inside him, eager, almost hungry.
Rocket muttered from his console, "Yeah… that's not ocean algae."
Gamora's voice was steady but cold. "The infection spread faster than expected."
Nebula turned from the sensor display. "We're too late. Half the eastern hemisphere's ecosystem is compromised."
Star-Lord exhaled. "We're never on time for anything, are we?"
Billy's eyes narrowed. "No. You're right on time. It's waiting for me."
The ship descended through the atmosphere, cutting through thunderclouds lit green by lightning. The energy readings spiked so high that even the Benatar's reinforced shields trembled.
When they finally broke through the clouds, the sight below froze everyone in place.
Part II – The Golden City in Decay
The once-glorious Nova Corps Citadel lay in ruins. Towers of golden steel were split open, overtaken by black vines that pulsed like living metal. The sky shimmered with dark spores, and the streets glowed with faint, organic light.
They landed near the main hall — or what was left of it.
Billy stepped out first. His boots touched the ground, and immediately, the soil rippled like liquid. The Root inside him reacted violently — half fear, half recognition.
Home.
He shook his head. "No… not home."
The Guardians followed close behind. Drax gripped his daggers, scanning the moving vines. "This place smells like death pretending to be life."
Rocket crouched, examining a cluster of roots near the base of a wall. He touched one lightly — and it twitched.
He yanked his hand back. "Okay, that's new."
Gamora looked around, her instincts on edge. "No civilians. No guards. It's too quiet."
Billy's voice was low. "They're still here. You just can't see them."
Before anyone could ask what he meant, the ground erupted.
Vines shot upward, forming shapes — human shapes.
Dozens of figures made of black and green roots stood where the people once were, their hollow eyes glowing faint yellow.
Rocket swore. "You've got to be kidding me."
One of the figures stepped forward — its voice mechanical, layered with static and sorrow.
"Welcome back… to the Garden."
Billy clenched his fists, vines swirling faintly around his arms. "Who are you?"
The figure's head tilted, vines writhing across its face. "We are what's left. The Nova Corps lives within the Seed now."
Gamora whispered, "They're fused. Their bodies… merged with it."
"We have become one," the being said. "The Root remembers all. It heals all. You will join us."
Billy's eyes flashed green. "I already did. And I broke free."
The ground rumbled as the figures lunged forward.
Part III – The Siege of the Seed
Energy blasts filled the air as the Guardians fought.
Rocket's plasma gun roared, burning through the vine-creatures' torsos. Gamora's blade danced, slicing through tendrils faster than the eye could follow. Drax charged with a roar, tearing through them with brute strength.
Billy moved like a storm — vines spiraling from his arms, slamming the ground and sending shockwaves through the horde. Every time his green energy met their black aura, the clash lit up the ruins like lightning.
But for every creature that fell, more grew. The infection was endless.
"Too many!" Quill shouted. "We're not gonna make a dent!"
Billy's voice echoed, deeper now — almost two voices speaking as one. "We don't have to. We go for the source."
The ground split apart near the citadel's heart.
A glowing pit yawned open, and from it rose a structure of living root and golden metal — a tree, massive and luminous, grown straight through the heart of the city.
At its center, encased in translucent amber, floated a woman — her body still, her armor cracked.
Gamora gasped. "Nova Prime…"
Rocket blinked. "Oh hell… she's part of it."
Billy stepped closer. "The Seed needed a mind to control the network. It chose her."
The vines twisted around Nova Prime's body, pulsing in rhythm with her faint heartbeat. Her eyes opened suddenly — bright yellow, glowing with inhuman clarity.
"You shouldn't have come here, Ironroot."
Billy froze. "You know me?"
"I know everything the Root knows. You are its chosen host. Its failed experiment."
Her voice layered with the Rootmind's echo — the same tone that had haunted his dreams.
"You could have been its god."
He raised his hand, green light forming around his palm. "I'm no god."
"Then you'll be its fertilizer."
The Seed roared to life.
The roots exploded outward, swallowing the ruins in a tidal wave of black matter. The Guardians barely dodged, leaping to higher ground. Billy unleashed a pulse of energy that tore through the first wave, but the second hit him like a wall.
He was thrown across the plaza, his armor sparking. The Root within him screamed — not in pain, but excitement.
She's stronger than you. Join her.
"No," he snarled, pushing himself to his knees. "I'm done joining anyone."
Part IV – The Fall of Nova Prime
Billy leapt into the air, green energy swirling into massive tendrils that clashed with Nova Prime's roots. The sky turned black, thunder roaring above as their powers collided.
The Guardians opened fire from below — Rocket's plasma, Gamora's sword strikes, Nebula's shock rounds — each attack cracking the golden bark of the Seed.
Nova Prime raised her hand. The roots shot toward them like spears. One impaled the ground inches from Rocket, another wrapped around Quill's leg, pulling him into the air.
Billy shouted, "Let them go!"
She smiled faintly. "You think you command life? You only borrow it."
He closed his eyes, the world slowing. For a heartbeat, everything was still — the screaming wind, the pulsing light, the sound of his own blood.
And then… something inside him broke.
The black veins in his skin ignited — no longer green, no longer red, but something deeper, like molten shadow. The energy roared through him, bending space itself.
Unite the roots… or die beneath them.
He let go.
A storm of black-green energy erupted from his body, tearing through the plaza like a hurricane. The Seed trembled. The sky cracked open.
Billy slammed his palms together, forcing his power into a single stream — a lance of light that pierced the Seed's heart.
Nova Prime screamed — not in pain, but rage — as the light consumed her. Her armor shattered, her vines burned away, and the Seed's golden bark turned to ash.
The shockwave flattened everything for miles.
When the dust settled, Billy stood at the center of a crater. The Seed was gone. Nova Prime lay motionless, the infection drained from her body.
The Guardians approached slowly, exhausted, weapons still raised.
Rocket coughed. "Okay… who votes we never go near another glowing tree again?"
Quill gave a weak laugh. "Agreed."
Gamora looked at Billy. "What now?"
He stared at the remains of the Seed. "It's not over."
She frowned. "You destroyed it."
He shook his head. "No. I destroyed one root. But the Garden isn't bound to one world. It's moving through space — through every planet that ever felt life."
Nebula's tone was grim. "Then where do we go next?"
Billy turned toward the sky. His eyes glowed faintly again, reflecting distant starlight. "We follow the pulse."
Quill raised an eyebrow. "And what's at the end of the pulse?"
Billy's answer was a whisper. "Its heart."
Epilogue – The Dark Horizon
Far beyond Xandar, in the deep shadow between stars, a massive shape drifted — neither ship nor planet. A sphere of roots and bone, large enough to swallow moons.
Inside, something ancient stirred — a voice like thunder whispering through eternity.
"The branches awaken. The heir draws near.
The Rootmind was only the beginning.
The Garden shall bloom in death."
A faint spark of green light flickered within the darkness — the echo of Ironroot's power.
And the universe, for the first time in eons, began to breathe.