Time to save the rest of the Guardians and the entire galaxy!
Lylla fought the urge to throw up as they came out of the jump point, falling out of her seat as everyone else in the ship groaned in discomfort. "Rocky, please never do that again," she said, picking herself off of the floor and steadying herself. The body isn't meant to handle so many jumps at once, and they had just experienced over 50 of them in one go.
"What the hell you doing, boy!?" Yondu yelled at the raccoon.
"I could tell by how you talked about him," Rocket said. "This Ego is bad news. We're here to save Quill."
"For what?" Yondu asked. "For 'honor'? For 'love'?"
"No!" Rocket shouted. "The only thing I love is Lylla, and maybe Groot."
Groot looked a bit saddened at that statement, Lylla holding the tree in comfort.
Rocket continued. "I want to save Quill so I can prove I'm better than him! I can lord this over him forever!" At that Yondu started to laugh, making the raccoon annoyed. "What are you laughing at me for!?"
"You can fool yourself and everyone else, but you can't fool me. I know who you are," Yondu said.
"You don't know anything about me, loser," Rocket said.
"I know everything about you. I know you play like the meanest and the hardest 'cause you actually the most scared of all," Yondu stated.
"Shut up," Rocket retorted.
Yondu continued. "I know you steal batteries you don't need and you push away anyone who's willing to put up with you, 'cause just a little bit of love reminds you how big and empty that hole inside you actually is!"
"I said, shut up," Rocket growled.
He continued. "I know the scientists that made you never gave a rat's ass about you or your 'girlfriend' –"
"I'm serious dude!" Rocket shouted.
"Just like my own damn parents, who sold me, their own little baby, into slavery! I know who you are, boy, because you're me."
Lylla watched with wide eyes as the two men were face to face, staring down each other. She could see the pain that each of them held in their eyes. Even if Rocket's feelings about being the last of his kind was a false memories, he always seemed distant around anyone that wasn't her, a lone man in a sea of stars.
"What kind of pair are we?" Rocket asked.
"The kind that's about to go fight a planet I reckon," Yondu replied.
"We're going to fight a what?" Lylla asked. Looking out the window of the ship, she noticed that the planet they were approaching had a distinct face on it. "… Okay, I know have many, many questions, one of which has to do with how a planet is Quill's dad."
"Drax would probably ask about how big his dick his," Rocket laughed, only to get a side-glace from Lylla. "Right, we should get to saving Quill and stuff."
"We've got a laser drill in the back of the ship," Kraglin offered. "We could use that to get to the planet's core."
"Right! Destroying the planet's core will kill Ego," Lylla said. "But, if Ego is the planet, then he'll do everything in his power to keep us from getting to his core. Luckily, we already have a great way of destroying the planet's core when we get to it."
"The batteries!" Rocket shouted. "Great plan, Ly!"
"If you two are done, why don't we actually get to saving Quill?" Yondu said. "Rodent, you're with me so we can save Quill's ass."
"I'll go meet up with the others, then," Lylla said. "If they don't already know the truth about Ego, then I'll make sure they do. Oh, and Rocky, Uncle Rus gave us this." The otter pulled out a small cube from her pocket and tossed it to Rocket. "It's a pocket dimension storage cube. He said that it has some inventions he made for us."
The raccoon looked at the cube and grinned. "Guess it's times to put these new toys to use."
[***]
"We need to find Peter now and get off this damn planet," Gamora said to the others. They had just learned from Mantis about Ego's intentions, and after a fight/bonding moment with her sister, Nebula, the cyborg was now (temporarily) on their side.
"Ego would have one him to his side by now," Mantis stated. "He has a way of- "
"Then we just go," Nebula said.
"No. He's our friend, "Gamora stated.
"All any of you do is yell at each other. You're not friends," Nebula said.
"You're right. We're family," Drax said. "We leave no one behind." He looked at Nebula. "Except maybe you."
"Oh my god," the cyborg groaned.
Suddenly, Gamora's transmitter went off, making everyone turn to it as she picked it up. "Rocket!?" she called.
"You miss me?" the raccoon asked. "We don't have a lot of time, so head outside and to wherever Ego is. Keep that transmitter nearby so I can find you. We're in an old piece of construction equipment Yondu once used to slice open the Bank of A'askavaria."
Gamora motioned for the rest of the team to follow her. "Ego is unhinged- "
"I know. Get ready," Rocket said. "Oh, and I've sent some backup ahead of you."
A bright light appeared in front of them, and Lylla stepped out of it, quickly dropping a device from her hands. "Well, looks like that teleporter is only one-way," Lylla said. She had a new outfit on, which consisted of a blue cloak that covered her entire body, a pink sash around her waist and a new golden staff in her hands, a blaster strapped to her waist as well. "Oh, hello everyone!"
"Friend Lylla!" Mantis said, quickly scooping up the otter in her arms. "It is good to see you!"
Lylla giggled. "As much as it's good to see you too, Mantis, we really should get to saving Quill now."
"Then let us go!" Drax said, running towards Ego's palace. Lylla hopped onto the warrior's shoulder as the team made their way to the palace. "Is our ship ready?" Drax asked.
"We kind of got captured by Yondu, made friends with him, I beat up a stalker, and we had to come and save you guys," the otter explained. "I don't think we're getting the Milano back anytime soon, sorry."
"What matters is that we're a family again, once we get Quill and Rocket back," Drax said.
Approaching the palace, a bright light suddenly emitted from it, forcing them all to cover their eyes from the light. "We need to keep going!" Gamora shouted, moving forward until they got to the palace.
Drax kicked in the door, seeing Ego shining with power and Quill being suspended by an energy tendril. As the living planet noticed them, a giant drill can bursting in through the palace window, landing right on Ego and squishing him flat, releasing Quill in the process. The team quickly head over to drill, the door on the side opening to reveal Groot waving at the team.
"Out of the way, dumber, smaller Groot!" Drax said as he got into the drill.
Gamora helped Quill off of the floor, the human still a bit out of it at the moment. "I told you something did feel right," she said.
"'I told you so.' That's really what I need right now," Quill said sarcastically.
"I came back, didn't I?" Gamora asked.
"Because there's an unspoken thing," Quill replied.
"There is no unspoken thing," Gamora said.
"There's a lot I missed while we were kidnapped, wasn't there?" Lylla asked.
Getting into the drill, the team found Drax and Rocket in an animated conversation. Rocket had on a new outfit as well, being a green outfit with green gloves and a large belt with multiple pouches. He also had on metallic shoes that looked to be similar to Quill's own rocket boots.
"What are you doing? You could have killed us all crashing in here like that!" Drax shouted.
"Uh, 'Thank you, Rocket'?" the raccoon replied, idly adjusting the collar of his new outfit. "Geez, I remember this outfit being a lot less tight back on Half-World…"
"We had it under control," Drax stated.
"We did not. That is only an extension of his true self. He will be back soon," Mantis said.
Quill then noticed Nebula standing there. "What's Smurfette doing here!?"
"I was wondering the same thing, actually," Lylla said.
"Back rubs, dishes, killing gods, whatever I need to do to get a damn ride home," Nebula sarcastically replied.
"She tried to murder us!" Rocket shouted.
"I saved you, you stupid fox," the cyborg said.
"He's not a fox," Lylla and Gamora said.
"I am Groot," Baby Groot said.
"I'm not a raboon either!" Rocket shouted.
"He meant 'Raccoon,'" Lylla said.
"Whatever!" he said.
Drax looked out the window, noticing that energy tendrils were starting to rise up around the ship. "How do we kill a Celestial?" he asked.
"There's the center to him," Quill said, "his brain, his soul, whatever it is, in some sort of shell- "
"It's in the cavern below the surface," Mantis answered.
Quill then climbed up the ladder to where the cockpit of the drill was. "YONDU!?" he shouted.
Nebula looked at Gamora, Lylla silently smirking off to the side. "If he's got that fin back, I'm screwed."
The tendrils grabbed the drill as the team tried to escape, slamming it against the ground and damaging it. "Thrusters are out!" Yondu shouted.
Quill immediately started trying to rewire the drill back online. "I guess I should be glad I was a skinny kid. Otherwise you would have delivered me to this maniac!"
"You still reckon that's the reason I kept you around, you idiot?!" Yondu shouted.
"That's what you told me, you old doofus!"
"Once I figured out what happened to them other kids, I wasn't gonna just hand you over."
"You said you were gonna eat me!"
"That was being funny!"
"Not to me!"
Rocket sighed and rolled his eyes. "You people have issues."
"Of course I have issues that's my FRICKING FATHER!" Quill shouted as Ego's rebuilding body came into view of the drill. The engines back online, Star-Lord trusts it forward, sending the drill out of the palace and down into the planet itself.
"We should be going up!" Yondu shouted.
"We can't. Ego wants to eradicate the universe as we know it. We have to kill him," Quill said. As they go farther down, the opening starts to get too small for the drill to fit. "Rocket!"
"On it," the raccoon replied. Grabbing the laser controls, he makes the perfect shot! The two Guardians, with Star-Lord flying and Rocket on guns, make their way through the debris in perfect sync with each other. "So, we're saving the galaxy again?" Rocket asked.
"Looks like it," Lylla said.
Rocket grinned. "Awesome. We'll really be able to jack up our prices if we're two- time-galaxy savers."
"I seriously can't believe that is where your mind goes," Quill said.
"It was just a random thought, man! I thought we were friends!" Rocket shouted. "Of course I care about the planets, and the buildings, and all of the animals on the planets."
"And people," Quill added.
"Meh," Rocket replied.
Mantis giggled, holding onto Lylla to keep her safe in the bumpy ride. "The crabby puppy is so cute he makes me want to die!" the bug-like woman said.
"Your suicidal thoughts sadden me, but your wish will likely come true," Drax replied.
Deciding that she didn't want to deal with this at the moment, Lylla went to join Rocket, Yondu, and Quill up in the cockpit area. "So why'd Ego want you here?" Yondu asked.
"He needs my genetic connection to the light to help destroy the universe. He tried to teach me how to control the power," Quill explained.
"You have powers?" Lylla asked.
"A little. I made a ball," Quill admitted.
"A ball?" Yondu repeated.
"I thought as hard as a could, that's all I could come up with," Quill said.
"You 'thought'?" Lylla asked.
"You think when I make this arrow fly I use my head?" Yondu asked.
"What do you use?" Quill asked.
Suddenly, the entire side of the ship is ripped open, letting the team get a good look at the caverns around them. They were amazed at the sight of Ego's energy running like blood veins through the cavern.
"There! That's Ego's core!" Mantis said, pointing at a large sphere where all the energy was coming from down below them.
"That ore's thick," Gamora said. "Rocket, we're gonna need to use the big laser."
The raccoon nods and with a few switch flicks, all of the drill's smaller lasers combine into one big mega laser. "We must hurry. It will not take Ego long to find us," Mantis warned.
"Keep it steady, Quill," Lylla said as Rocket fired up the mega laser.
"We drill into the center, we kill him," Quill said.
Lylla then noticed a blinking light near Yondu's controls. Hopping up into his lap, the otter pressed the button and answered the com call. "Hello?" she asked.
"What is it, Kraglin?" Yondu asked.
"Um, remember that Ayesha chick?" Kranglin asked.
Lylla froze at that statement. "Oh, Flark," she said, watching as the Sovereign ships came down into the cavern.
The Sovereign start firing on the ship, causing Drax, Mantis, and Gamora to fall out! Quill piloted the ship to try and avoid the Sovereign, while Rocket jumped out of his seat and started pulling things out of his storage cube.
"Why aren't you firing the laser!?" Quill shouted.
"They blew out the generator! I think I packed a small detonator," Rocket said.
"A detonator is worthless without explosives!" Nebula said.
"That's why we made a Plan B!" Lylla shouted. She pulled out the Anulax batteries that Rocket stole and started working on hooking them up to the detonator with Rocket.
"Is it strong enough to kill Ego?" Quill asked.
"If it is, it will cause a chain reaction throughout his entire nervous system," Rocket explained.
"Which means the entire planet will explode once we set it off," Lylla said. "Luckily, we can set a timer on it to get the job done."
Once they finish making the bomb, Rocket puts it into his storage cube and hands Quill one of his Aero-Rigs. Baby Groot jumps onto Rocket's shoulder while the raccoon scoops up Lylla bride-style, and then the four of them jump out of the ship to safety. Quill activates his jetback while Rocket activates his own flying device, the specially-made boots that Wal-Rus gave him. The raccoon skates through the sky, dodging Sovereign laser fire until they got into the core of Ego himself.
"You know, those worked surprisingly well," Rocket said, wiggling his feet.
"Uncle Rus never does a bad job with his gadgets," Lylla said. She took out her staff and used its new light function to shine a light into the core, revealing small passages that lead into deeper into the core.
"The metal is too thick! For the bomb to work we'd actually need to place it on Ego's core. And our fat butts ain't gonna fit through those tiny holes."
"Well…" Quill said, eyeing Baby Groot.
"That's a terrible idea," Rocket said, Lylla nodding in agreement.
"Which is the only kind we have left," Quill stated.
The Half-Worlders looked at each other with concern: would the fate of the galaxy fall to a baby?
Author's Note
And the Guardians are back together! Rocket and Lylla got their first appearance comic outfits, if you were wondering about what they were wearing. Rocket having rocket skates is a really cool aspect that I love from his first appearance, so bringing them in here is awesome. Lylla also got a multi-tool staff, so that'll get more use as the story goes on.
Next Time: Volume 2 wraps up!