NOTE: There will probably be granmar mistakes that I will fix later.
"Crap-crap-crap-crap-crap-crap-CRAP!" Mikey started to panic as Ego awoke from his slumber, his gigantic vines arising from the walls once again. "This is really bad!"
Drax picked up the limp Mantis and checked her over. "She's just unconscious!" he told the others.
"How long before the bomb goes off?!" Quill urgently asked Rocket.
"In the unlikely event that Groot doesn't kill us all, about six minutes!" the raccoon guessed.
"'Unlikely'?!" Leo said incredulously.
Suddenly the surface of the planet unfolded above their heads, revealing the bright sky and the sunlight.
"Look!" Mikey cried out as he pointed to the opening. "A way out!"
Yondu spoke into a communicator on his lapel. "Kraglin! We need the Quadrant for extraction in T-minus five minutes!"
Aye, Cap'n! Kraglin responded.
"Someone's gotta be up top when Kraglin arrives!" Quill took off his Aero-rig and slapped it on Drax's back. "Drax, take Mantis!"
The Aero-rig automatically wrapped itself around Drax's upper body. "Ow!" he yelled as he ascended to the top with Mantis in his arms. "My nipples!"
The chasm upon which the rest stood started to crumble and collaspe, and Gamora and Nebula fell through a crack but landed safely on another chasm far below. The others were surrounded by Ego's glowing vines which wiggled violently and angrily, and his huge face appeared before them with a furious expression.
PETER! he roared in a thunderous voice.
"Well, he's not happy," Mikey gulped.
"Ya think?!" Rocket yelled sarcastically as he began to fire his gun at the vines that were coming at them.
Mikey and Leo used their ninja weapons and skills to defend themselves against the vines while Yondu used his magic arrow. Quill aimed for Ego's face but the Celestial easily deflected the blasts with his tentacles.
Come now, Peter, Ego scorned. I know this isn't what you want. What kind of father would I be to let you make this choice?
"Oh, yeah!" Mikey yelled angrily at him, taking his focus off the vines for a second. "You're totally Father of the Year! Oof!" He grunted as a vine collided with his body and sent him flying.
Ego became more enraged as Quill continued to resist and fight him. Soon, Peter, we will be all there is! So STOP! PISSING ME! OFF!
A vine hit Quill in the face so hard it split his space mask in half and he fell to the ground with a gash on his left temple. When he got back on his feet, he turned and saw his father's normal-sized skeletal form slowly walking toward him, the muscle and tissue growing back.
The vines managed to snap Yondu's arrow in half and one of them pinned the blue pirate to the ground. Yondu cried out in pain as he was slowly being crushed. Another vine wrapped itself around Rocket and started to squeeze the life out of him.
Mikey saw that his furry little friend was in danger and used his Aero-rig to fly toward him. "Hold on, Rocket! I'm-!" A large rock that was as big as he was suddenly came down on him from the roof and was so heavy that it not only pinned the Turtle down but it also damaged his Aero-rig. Mikey groaned in pain and tried to get up, but the weight of the rock was too much.
Leo stopped fighting off the vines when he noticed his injured brother lying on the ground. "MIKEY!" He started to run to the other Turtle, but then a vine grabbed him by the ankle and threw him off the chasm. Thinking quickly, he drove both his swords into the wall and used them as anchors. He stopped falling, but he wasn't safe for long as more vines came from out of the crust and one wrapped itself around the ninja, trapping him.
Ego continued to walk toward his defiant son. "I told you, I don't want to do this alone. You cannot deny the purpose the universe has bestowed upon you!"
A large tentacle of light sprouted up from the ground and stabbed through Quill's torso, sucking the light out of him. The planet's core began to glow brightly as it absorbed Quill's energy. Quill screamed in pain as smaller tentacles stabbed into his body and face.
"It doesn't need to be like this, Peter," Ego began to appear more human as the skin and hair grew back. "Why are you destroying our chance? Stop pretending you aren't what you are. One in billions. Trillions. Even more."
From under the rock, Mikey glared at Ego. "Dude," he said weakly, "you talk too much." In response to the Turtle's insult, the Celestial had one of the smaller vines wrap itself around Mikey's lower face, both silencing and suffocating him.
Ego stood before his son in his fully restored form. "What greater meaning can life possibly have to offer?"
Quill could feel himself fading away as the tentacle continued to drain his life force. Then he heard Yondu calling out to him.
"I don't use my head to fly the arrow, boy!" Yondu yelled. "I use my heart-" He was silenced as the earth covered his face and body and buried him.
The human's eyes widened and filled with tears as he looked deep inside himself and the memories came flooding in.
His younger self lying on a field of grass with his mother, the both of them listening to music on his Walkman.
Him doubling over as he laughed hysterically with Drax on the Milano.
Him flying through the clouds with Rocket using their Aero-rigs, the wind blowing in their faces.
Mikey handing him a pizza box with a smile, the first pizza he had in years since his abduction.
Gamora looking into his eyes as they danced on Knowhere.
Yondu teaching him how to shoot a gun in a forest.
He finally understood; he already had a family before he met Ego. And right now, his family needed him more than ever. His clenched his hands into fists as the urge to protect them gave him the strength to push back against the tentacles. Bits of the earth were drawn to them as though he were magnet and they swirled around him.
Ego realized that his son was breaking from his grasp and became worried.
Quill glared at his father. "You shouldn't have killed my Mom and squished my Walkman," he growled.
BOOM!
He broke free from the tentacles and slammed into Ego with great force. The two wrestled with each other as they dashed throughout the entire center, smashing through columns of rock. As he struggled to defend himself, Ego lost focus and therefore his grasp on the others.
Mikey coughed violently as the vine released his face and retreated back into the ground. He heard Rocket calling his name and weakly lifted his head to see the raccoon running toward him.
"Hold on, kid!" Rocket struggled to push the rock off Mikey's shell but it was too heavy. Luckily, Yondu came to his aid and the two managed to free the Turtle. Rocket immediately checked his friend's shell, and to his relief, there appeared to be no damage since Mikey's Aero-rig protected him but was destroyed in the process.
"You alright, Turtle?" Yondu asked as he helped Mikey up.
"Peachy," Mikey groaned, feeling sore all over but thankful to be alive.
Rocket flew up to the core and yelled into the blast hole, "Groot! Groot, if you can hear me, hurry up! I'm not sure how long Quill can keep him distracted!"
Deep within the core, little Groot stood before the Ego's true form, the cosmic brain, which pulsated and flashed blue and red lights and was surrounded by a transparent placenta. Groot carefully placed the bomb on the protective layer and flipped the switches as Rocket instructed, but then he got to the two buttons.
"Groot, hurry!" Rocket yelled outside the core.
Groot stared at the buttons, trying to remember which one he was supposed to push. He lifted his finger and was about to pick the cracked one. But then he remembered Mikey's words, This is the bad button. Bad button. If you press the bad button instead of the good button, we all go boom-boom.
After thinking for a few seconds, he pushed the other button and the countdown began on the bomb's timer. The little tree creature then ran as fast as he could toward the exit.
...
As soon as he was freed from the vines, Leo began he climb up the wall using his swords. But the walls began to crumble and crack and the ninja lost his grip. As he fell, he hit his head on one of the rocky columns and was knocked out cold. But a green hand reached out and grabbed him by the nuchal of his shell just in time.
Gamora and Nebula stood on a rift of land that was rising to the top, and the former spotted Leo as he fell from the above. Gamora caught and pulled the unconscious Leo to the safety. He had a large head wound but was still breathing. Nebula noticed his swords coming down and managed to grab one, but the other fell to the bottom and was lost forever. The sisters made it to the surface and carried Leo to the Quadrant.
...
Back in the center, Yondu and Mikey watched as Quill and Ego continued to fight fiercely. Rocket flew down to them with Groot on his shoulder.
"Guys, we're about to blow!" he yelled.
"We gotta get outta here!" Mikey grabbed Yondu's arm. "Come on!"
But to his confusion, the Ravager pulled away. "Get to the ship!" Yondu shouted as he pointed to the top.
"Not without Quill!" Rocket said.
Yondu pushed Mikey toward the raccoon. "You need to get the kid outta here! His Aero-rig's busted!"
Mikey looked up at Yondu shocked. "But what about-"
"I'll take care of Quill!"
The Turtle turned to Rocket. "You have more Aero-rigs, right? And spacesuits?"
Rocket's face became somber and he shook his head. "I only have one of each."
Mikey's heart dropped once he realized what Yondu was preparing to do. He turned back to the Ravager with pleading eyes. "Yondu," he said softly, "you can't."
Yondu's lips tightened into a thin smile and he shook his head. "I ain't done nothin' right my whole damn life." He looked up at Rocket. "You need to give me this."
Rocket silently stared at him with sad brown eyes as he reached into his belt bag and pulled out a spacesuit disk and an Aero-rig.
Yondu pulled the Troll out of his pant pocket and handed it to Mikey. "I finally get it now, Turtle." He patted Mikey's arm with a nod. "Thanks."
Mikey could feel the tears coming and he could only nod back.
Rocket dropped to the ground after he took off his Aero-rig, which he gave to Mikey, then he handed the spare Aero-rig and spacesuit disk to Yondu. Mikey slapped Rocket's Aero-rig onto his shell and picked up the raccoon, carrying him with his left arm, while Groot stood on his right shoulder.
The three stared sadly at Yondu for a brief moment, none of them wanting to say goodbye to the Ravager. Then Groot squeaked, "I Am Groot."
"What's that?" Yondu asked.
Rocket grinned a little. "He said, 'Welcome to the frickin' Guardians of the Galaxy.' Only he didn't use 'frickin''."
Yondu grinned and watched as they flew toward the surface, with Groot waving goodbye over Mikey's shoulder. "Bye, Twig."
As they got closer to the opening, Rocket said to Groot, "We're gonna need to have a real discussion about your language."
Mikey chuckled softly. "Yeah, Pottymouth."
...
Quill grunted in pain as he slammed into the wall, but he quickly pulled himself together and charged at Ego once again. He summoned yellow rocks and morphed them together into a giant version of Pac-Man, which opened and closed its mouth just like in the games.
Ego also summoned rocks and formed a giant Avatar of himself, which pulled its fist back as it prepared to punch its opponent.
The two giants collided and the rocks dispersed upon contact. Both Quill and Ego came tumbling down and landed on a chasm, extremely weakened.
...
In the loading bay of the Quadrant, Gamora tended to Mantis and Leo when she heard the roar of jets. She looked up and saw Mikey flying toward them with Rocket and Groot holding onto him. But they were still missing one more teammate.
"Where's Peter?" she asked them as they landed on the dock.
Neither Mikey nor Rocket could answer or even look at her. Mikey instead went to his brother's side while Rocket merely stared at the timer in his hands.
"Rocket, where is he?" Gamora asked the raccoon urgently. Then she started to yell, "Rocket! ROCKET, LOOK AT ME! WHERE IS HE?!"
Rocket didn't have the heart to tell her and merely shook his head. She then turned to Mikey for an answer, but he instead focused on Leo. Finally, Groot pointed outside with a sad expression.
Gamora stood up. "No," she snatched a large gun off the wall and started to walk out. "I'm not leaving without him."
"Gamora, wait!" Mikey called after her.
But she ignored the Turtle and was about to jump off the bay when an electric blast hit her from behind. She cried out before she dropped to the floor unconscious.
Rocket lowered his taser gun with a remorseful look. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I can only afford to lose one friend today." He then yelled up to Kraglin in the cockpit, "Kraglin, GO!"
As the ship started to ascend, a frantic Drax spoke to them through the intercom. Rocket, where's Quill? Rocket! Where's Quill?! ROCKET! WHERE'S QUILL?! WHERE'S QUILL?!"
Mikey stood next to Rocket and sadly watched as the bay's doors slowly closed. He clutched the Troll close to his chest, a single tear rolling down his cheek.
...
Ego knew that time was almost up for both of them and tried to get back up, but Quill kept him down. He desperately reached for the core. "No! We need to stop it! We need to stop it!"
But Quill wouldn't let up and threw him to the ground.
The Celestial sat up and grabbed Quill's jacket, pleading with him. "Stop. Stop. Listen! LISTEN TO ME! You are a god! If you kill me, you'll be just like everybody else!"
Quill stared hard at Ego. "What's so wrong with that?"
"NO!" Ego screamed in horror.
The bomb within the core went up, destroying the cosmic brain and sending energy waves throughout the entire planet. Ego went stiff in Quill's grasp before he turned into dust. Quill could feel the light within him fade away and looked around him.
Everything was falling apart and there were explosions everywhere, but he wasn't afraid. He had saved everyone and that was all that mattered. He was at peace...
Suddenly something tackled into him and he was flying toward the surface.
Yondu had grabbed him and was using his Aero-rig to carry them to safety. They narrowly dodged all of the explosions and falling pieces of earth until they got out of the center. They could feel heat of the planet's impending destruction below their feet as they soared into the sky.
"He may have been your father, boy," Yondu glanced at Quill, "but he wasn't your Daddy."
Quill just looked at him surprised.
Yondu continued in a voice that was uncharacteristically gentle. "I'm sorry I didn't do none of it right. I'm damn lucky you're my boy." He then slapped the spacesuit disk onto Quill and the force field instantly surrounded the human's entire body.
"What?" Quill gasped.
Yondu grinned at him and continued to fly into the planet's atmosphere.
When they entered space, Quill began to panic. "Yondu, what are you doing?! You can't!"
Frost began to form on Yondu's face and he gasped as he felt the last bit of air get sucked out of his lungs. Below them Ego's planet crumbled and imploded.
"Yondu!" Quill shouted pleadingly.
The jets in Yondu's Aero-rig lost their fuel and they gently floated in space.
Quill frantically tried to pull the disk off his jacket, but the spacesuit's protective field wouldn't allow him and all he could do was watch as Yondu slowly died in front of him. He began to scream and sob. "No! No! Oh, god! No! NOOOO! OHH, NOOOOO!"
As Quill cried and struggled, Yondu slowly lifted his hands and gently held the human's face, and with the last bit of strength he had left, he gave his adopted son a fatherly caress. Then frost settled over his red eyes and he went limp.
He started to drift away but Quill grabbed onto him and sobbed into his chest.
Sniff...
This scene always chokes me up. :,(