an. Hey guys, i'm back. I took a little break from this story because I recently had to put my childhood dog down and just hadn't had the motivation to do much of anything over the last two weeks.
thanks to the following for favoriting: fictionfangirl1
review replies:
Kitten: I'm glad you like my take! When I first thought up Dara, I never knew I'd like her this much either. I do have a arc planned out for her so this isn't the last we'll see of her.
Arianna Le Fay: I have a lot planned for her now that she has her memories back ;)
Chapter 25: She Still Can Hear Him Say
Yondu glared at Peter as he sent them all plummeting toward a fissure in the earth below. The hole was clearly narrowing and there was no way the ship would make it out of there in one piece. He hissed at the sound of metal scrapping against the rock was the only thing he could hear, sending chills up and down his backside.
"We need to go up!" He warned.
"We can't. Ego wants to eradicate the universe as we know it. We have to kill him." Peter explained, knowing that there was no turning back regardless.
"Well we won't be able to kill 'em if you kill us all first, boy!" Yondu replied, taking control back from him, trying to pull the ship to a halt.
"No!" Skadi exclaimed, reaching as if to grab his hands.
If they stopped Ego would get to them faster. She extended her hand out, locking his control in place by freezing the metal, using the moisture in the air to do so. He grunted at her in frustration, wanting to give her a smack upside the head but stopped when he saw her eyes glazing over.
Outstretching her hands out to either side of her body, she pushed as hard as she could, freezing the sides of the rocky walls enough to let them shatter, making just enough room for them to push though without causing too much damage to the ship in the process.
Peter uses this to help plummet them through the twisting tunnel and around all the corners. From below Rocket manned the lasers, shooting any piece of earth that Skadi missed, helping her clear the path from them. Together all three of them managed to get them out of the tunnels and losing Ego on the way.
"So, we're saving the galaxy again?" Rocket shouted up to the cockpit.
"I guess so." Peter smirked, turning back to wink at Skadi, earning a groan and an eye roll from her.
"Awesome! We'll really be able to jack up our prices now if we're two time-galaxy savers!" Rocket replied, grinning from ear to ear.
"That's seriously where your mind goes?" Gamora squinted at him. She still held on to whatever she could in order to not be tossed around the cargo hold carelessly. Looking at Rocket, she couldn't help but shake her head at the rodent.
"It's just a random thought. Of course I care about all the planets, the buildings, and all the animals on the planets." Rocket shrugged, making eye contact with Groot. The little guy was resting on his shoulder, holding tightly onto Rocket's vest. Groot replied to him, narrowing his eyes at his fury friend. Rocket chuckled at his response before responding back. "Yes, and all the trees too."
They finally reached the center of the planet, all trying to think of a plan to destroy the core. Skadi let out a huge sigh, relaxing her muscles and cracking her fingers. She would usually be burnt out by now but surprisingly she felt not as tired as she usually would be.
"Why'd Ego want you here?" Skadi perked her ears up as Yondu turned to face Peter.
"He needs my genetic connection to that," Peter nodded towards the shining light in the center of the cavern, "to help destroy the universe. He tried to teach me how to control it but,-"
"Could you?" Yondu cut to the chase, knowing Peter all too well. He was smart, and talented but it took forever for the kid to apply himself. It took Yondu forever to get the kid to pick up basic pick locking, let alone learning how to control strange, cosmic like powers.
"He made a ball." Skadi chuckled, remember Peter running to her yesterday all excited about what his father had showed him.
"A ball?" Yondu turned to scrunch his nose up at her.
Peter scoffed, offended by his response. He had worked really hard to make that ball. He wasn't like Skadi were she always knew how to use some semblance of her powers or like Yondu were he was trained for years in using his Yaka arrow. "I thought as hard as I could, that's all I could come up with."
Yondu chuckled, shaking his head lightly; the boy never learned. "You think when I make this arrow fly I use my head?"
"Well I mean yeah," Peter said, motioning to his fin.
The pair were looking at each other instead of where they were going as Skadi looked between the pair. She frowned for no particular reason besides really somewhat awkward hearing Yondu's words. She looked away, feeling like she was interrupting a moment only to let out a yell, putting a hand on either one of their shoulders to grab their attention.
"Look out!" She shouted, tightening her grip.
Peter and Yondu snapped out of it, turning forward to see that they were about to crash into an overhanging rock. Peter swerved to the right, causing the ship to side swipe the rock. The entire side door was ripped off, screeching as the ship jerked about from the impact. Peter hits the breaks, falling forward into the wheel. Everyone let out a groan, either from the shock and whiplash they'd just experienced from Peter piloting skills.
"Is everyone alright?" He called, standing up from his seat.
He helped lead Skadi down the ladder to join the others, leaving Yondu to keep watch. The pair walked down to see Gamora, Mantis and Drax, and even Nebula standing near the open door, all staring out into the open space. The center of the planet wasn't too far off, the only issue was figuring out a way to destroy it. The ore surrounding it was thick and it appeared as if the only way to get to it was from a small tunnel.
"That's Ego's core." Mantis confirmed, her voice sounding almost excited to finally see it after all these years.
"We're gonna need a bigger laser." Rocket plopped down from his seat to join them. "The ones on this ship are practically fried."
"We must hurry, it will not take long for Ego to find us." Mantis informed him, trying not to squeal at his cuteness.
Rocket scurried back to his chair, trying his best to mod this lasers so they'd all turn into one big one, hoping that it'd be enough power. He shouts up at Yondu, telling him to keep the ship steady as he tried to fire off the laser. The laser begins to make a dent, filling the Guardians up with hope. It didn't last long though, because moments later the ship lurched backwards, causing the laser to aim at the ceiling. Rocket cursed as rocks were now raining down on them as he quickly rushed to turn of the machine.
Drax, Mantis and Gamora were forced out of the ripped apart door, tumbling out. Peter and Skadi called out for them but were unable to help, as they were tossed backwards into a heap. Nebula and Dara quickly grabbed onto the floor, trying their hardest to not be thrown out. As the ship settles, they all stood up, Skadi rushing to check outside to see if the others made it out alright. She could see them from down below, staring back up at them.
"It's the Sovereign!" Rocket shouted, having been able to see them begin to surround them. "They managed to blow out the generator! I think I packed a small detonator, give me a second." Rocket began to pour out the contents of his satchel.
Groot jumped off of him, rushing to Skadi's side. She, without a thought picked him up again, letting him stand on her shoulder and hold on to her hair to keep himself steady as more hits crashed against the ship. "You'll need something to set it off though, right?"
"I have this!" Rocket smirked slyly revealing the Anulax batteries he had stolen from the Sovereign from what had already seemed like forever ago.
"Will it be strong enough?" Quill asked, watching him mess around with the detonator and wires.
"Probably," he admitted. "If it is, it will cause a chain reaction throughout his entire nervous system."
"Meaning?" Dara finally spoke up, coming out from the shadows, eyeing them all angrily. She was tired and not feeling the least bit heroic enough to save the galaxy again.
"The entire planet will explode. We'll have to get out of here fast." Rocket told her, not still over how she sold him out. "I rigged a timer."
Peter nods, offering to go with him. Skadi goes to follow them as the two slapped on their aero rigs. Peter looked at her as if he was going to protest but closed his mouth when he saw her face. She looked hell-bent on helping, her eyebrows narrowed, her forehead creasing. Her eyes were already glazed over, telling him that she was going and he wouldn't be fussing over her.
Without a word the three flew out of the ship, Groot now being held by Skadi so he wouldn't fall off. They swerve as they flew to their destination, only just avoiding the gunfire. Zooming as fast as their aero-rigs could go, Skadi kept at pace with them not wanting to chance anything happening to them if she left them behind. Messily, they all land into the small cavern. Rocket wasted no time, already shining a flashlight inside the cavity, exposing the interior.
"The rock is too thick, for the bomb to work we'd actually need to place it on Ego's core." Rocket moved forward being the only one of them to fit any further. He moved as far as he could go, stopping and turning back to them. "Our fat asses ain't fitting through those tiny holes."
Peter frowned underneath his mask, having activating it before exiting the ship. He didn't have time to think of a way they could fit any further. Placing his hands on his hips, he turned to look between Rocket and Skadi. His eye caught baby Groot, who was nestling into Skadi's neck while absentmindedly playing with a leaf on his arm. Quill looked between the little tree and the hole and then back to Groot. An idea began forming in his mind; it wasn't a great idea but it was the only one he could think off.
"Well…." Peter motioned to Groot.
Rocket and Skadi's jaws dropped. That was a terrible idea. Rocket remembered only hours ago when it took at least fifty tries to get Groot to find Yondu's fin. Groot wasn't capable of doing something this dangerous alone yet. He'd only been grown and out of his pot for a little over a month. Skadi silently agreed with Rocket just by knowing what he was thinking from the distraught look on his face. Skadi refused to let her little Groot do something like this alone.
"Absolutely not." She stomped her foot, putting her hands in front of Groot defensively as if preparing for Peter to rip him out of her gasps.
"Babe, it's the only idea we got, unless you can think of something else." Peter's eyes pleaded with her harsh ones. "We don't have much time."
Skadi bit her lip as she turned her head from him, pouting her lips out. She tried thinking of another plan. Maybe she could do what she did before? She could break the rock with her ice and make more room for them. It would probably take time since they didn't have a ship barreling down it to help smash it all. As she tried thinking of a plan she felt a soft tug on her hair.
Looking down she saw Groot eyeing her with big eyes. He pushed her hands away, letting himself jump down and plop onto the ground. He began walking to Rocket, explaining how he could handle this, and that she had nothing to worry about; he had been the reason why they were able to escape the Ravager ship before after all.
Skadi frowned after him, trying to trust him and his cute little voice trying to reassure her. She smiled down at him, nodding her head in approval before turning to Peter. Peter gave her a gentle smile back before telling Rocket to explain the bomb to Groot while he and Skadi defended the cavern from the Sovereign and Ego, whenever he decided to show up. The pair began to exit the cavern overhearing Rocket muttering under his breath about how he had to do everything. Peter shook his head, tired and ready for a long nap.
"Uh, what a day."