Chapter 24: Fathers and Daughters Vol. 2

Gamora heard the sound of her transmitter going off. Rocket finally heard their call.

"Finally," Gamora snapped. She answered her transmitter. "Rocket!"

"Keep that transmitter nearby, so I can find you, Gammy," Rocket told her. He and Peyton were the only ones who ever called Gamora by that nickname. Other than that, Gamora would kill anyone who called her "Gammy." "We're in an old piece of construction equipment Yondu once used... to slice open the Bank of A'askavaria."

"Yondu's there with you?"

"Yeah, you didn't think we're the only ones saving Peyton, do you? I mean, he is your idiotic adoptive father, after all."

"I can hear you!" Yondu shouted from the cockpit and ordered Kraglin to drop their ship onto the living planet. And Rocket was disturbed to find the planet with Ego's face. . "Look, let's talk about our feelings later, especially that Green girl you're talking to. We've got a kid to save!"

Gamora and Rocket rolled their eyes.

"Rocket, be careful. Ego is unhinged," Gamora said.

"We know. Get ready!" Rocket yelled at his friend as they made their way into the planet's atmosphere.

Peyton was so weakened after the entire ordeal with her father. Ego saw the Walkman she always had in her possession. However, Ego took the music box and heard the next lyrics of "Brandy, You're a Fine Girl." He looked at Peyton.

"My love and my lady is the sea," Ego recited the lyrics. "Peyton, this is the sea."

With one swift move, he crushed Peyton's Walkman and her headphones.

"No," Peyton said, but her voice was too tired to yell. Her father's tentacle continued to ruin her entire body. Suddenly, Drax kicked down the door, with Nebula, Mantis and Drax were standing there. Just at that moment, the glass to Ego's sanctuary, shattered. Yondu looked down at the man currently hurting his daughter. Nobody, not even someone like Ego, ever hurt his little girl!

"HEY THERE, JACKASS!" Yondu shouted, man, he wanted to say that for the past ten years.

After Yondu landed his ship on Ego, the tentacle through Peyton's chest immediately disappeared. Drax, Nebula and Mantis rushed onto the ship. Gamora hurriedly rushed over to Peyton and put her arm over Gamora's shoulders. Peyton collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

"I told you something didn't feel right," Gamora said.

"I told you so." Peyton said with an annoyed look on her face. "Just what I need to hear right now."

"Well, I came back, didn't I?"

"Because there's an unspoken thing."

"There is no unspoken thing," Gamora said. Suddenly, Peyton nearly fell to her knees, but Gamora caught her and placed an arm right under Peyton's legs. .

"Peyton, it's alright. I've got you, " Gamora said. She swung the shorter woman up and carried her bridal style making her way to the ship. Peyton grunted, a bit surprised at the woman's strength. However, this was the woman who could pick up a 200 ton laser engine from an M-ship we are talking about.

What are you doing? You could've killed us all!

"Uh...Thank you, Rocket?" The obviously not a raccoon offered up.

"We had it under control," Drax said.

"We did not,"Mantis said. " That is only an extension... of his true self. He will be back soon."

Gamora entered the ship and put Peyton down. The seventeen-year-old girl looked at Nebula.

"What's Smurfette doing here?" Peyton said.

"Whatever I need to do to get a damn ride home," Nebula hissed.

"She tried to murder me!" Rocket cried.

"I saved you, you stupid fox!" Nebula snapped.

"He's not a fox," Gamora sneered, giving her sister a deadly glare.

"I am Groot," Groot said. (Or a raccoon either.)

" I'm not a raboon, either," Rocket shouted.

"I am Groot," Groot said.

"Raccoon. Whatever," Rocket said, rolled his eyes.

"How do we kill a Celestial?" Drax wondered.

"There's a center to him. His brain, his soul, whatever it is... Some sort of protective shell," Peyton said. Mantis knew what she was talking about.

"It's in the caverns below the surface."

Peyton climbed up the stairs where she noticed a very familiar figure. She only knew one blue man with a red fin anywhere. It was Yondu.

"Dad?" Peyton said.

Peyton buckled up next to her adopted father and began hotwiring the controls.

"Thrusters are out," Yondu informed her. He didn't have time to happily embrace his daughter. They were all being nearly killed by a maniac who just tried to hurt his daughter and use her as a battery. Now, these were one of the reasons why he didn't give his daughter away.

"Guess I should be glad I was a skinny little girl," Peyton said. "Otherwise, you'd have delivered me to this maniac."

"You still reckon that's the reason I kept you around, you idiot?" Yondu shouted at her. She still believed that after all this time?

"Well it's one of them. Besides, that's what you told me, you old doofus."

"Once I figured out what happened to them other kids... I wasn't just gonna hand you over," Yondu said.

"You said you were gonna eat me."

"That was being funny!"

"Not to me! besides, you beat up all my friends!"

"Only to keep you from doing something stupid with them!"

"You people have issues, " Rocket called up.

"Of course I have issues," said Peyton. She lined up to see her bio dad reform in an appearance that looked like Drax's. "That's my freakin' father!"

Peyton and Yondu tried flying up but Peyton took control and dived down.

"Peyton, what are you doing?" Yondu asked. "We should be going up!"

"We can't, Daddy!" Peyton said to her adoptive father. "Ego wants to eradicate the universe as we know it. We have to kill him. Rocket!"

"Got it, kid!" Rocket yelled. He pushed several buttons, activating the lasers on the sides of the ship. It cut through Ego 's hard core. Peyton was having the time of her life with her old man. Her real old man. She yelled a wohoo as both of them raced down the rocky slide.

"So, we're saving the galaxy again?

"I guess." Peyton answered

"Awesome!" Rocket shouted. "We're really gonna be able to jack up our prices... if we're two-time galaxy savers."

"I seriously can't believe that's where your mind goes," Peyton said.

"It was just a random thought, kid," Rocket yelled. "I thought we were friends. Of course, I care about the planets, and the buildings... and all the animals on the planets."

"And the people," Peyton added.

"Meh." Rocket said. Peyton rolled her eyes.

"The crabby puppy is so cute," Mantis cried. "He makes me wanna die!"