Chapter 147: Return of the Guardians Part 2: Ravager Ambush
A few hours had passed since the group had seperated and the repair work on the Milano was slow, very slow as both Spyro and Rocket were working to repair as much of the damage as possible to make the vessel space worthy again for the Guardians while Midnight kept a close eye on Nebula, making sure she didn't do anything that was deemed suspicious that would put their lives in jeopardy. As Spyro was lifting the wing of the ship, Rocket was busy spraying the stuff that was being used to repair the damage, both of them working together as if they could ready each others minds, Spyro tossing tools and Rocket catching them, Spyro using the Force to lift up multiple parts to him while also repairing the damage as Rocket inserted what needed to go where, working in tangent until they decided to take a break, sitting down to allow themselves to rest and eat something as it was getting closer to night.
"So, what do you think of Quills dad?" Rocket asked.
"You ask me, I don't trust him." Spyro replied. "There's something off about him. I can feel it."
"Heh, guess even you have worries about the guy." Rocket said. "So why do you think something is off about the guy?"
"He's hiding more than he's letting on." Spyro replied. "He's powerful. Very powerful, but also there is something dark about him."
"Dark?" Rocket asked. "Dude, I think you're being too paranoid. You need to relax."
"I'll relax when we have this ship repaired and the girls are back with me safe and sound." Spyro replied. "Besides, I think that..." A second later, the bracers went off, letting him know there was something there, so he looked at them and his eyes widened, horrified by what he saw. "Oh no. Oh lord no."
"What's wrong?" Rocket asked.
"The energy reading, it was coming from Ego." Spyro replied. "These readings are off the charts. And I allow the girls to go with him!"
"Spyro, cam down." Rocket said. "The other guardians are with them, they're safe and sound."
"Well, I suppose you're right." Spyro said.
"Of course I'm right." Rocket said. "Come on, let's get back to-" An alarm then went off, alerting them that something was coming when Rocket pulled out a device to look at what was coming. "Oh boy, we got company. And it's not exactly the friendly kind either."
"The Sovereign?" Spyro asked.
"No, Ravagers." Rocket replied. "And they're Yondu and his crew."
"Great, that's all we need." Spyro said. "Now what?"
"Well, we can set up some traps and ambush them." Rocket replied.
"Really?" Spyro asked.
"You got a better idea?" Rocket asked, getting up. "If not, then come on, we got work to do."
Spyro knew this might not end well, but decided to follow Rocket anyway to help out with setting up the traps for the ravagers, hoping to run them off without getting killed. On Ego's ship, everyone was gathered around with the insectoid like alien, wanting to find out more about her other than her name, which was Mantis according to Drax after being told, hoping to find out a bit more about Ego.
"Mantis, could we ask you a personal question?" Peter asked.
"No one's ever asked me a personal question before." Mantis replied. "What would you like to know?"
"Your Antennae, what are they for?" Peter asked.
"What are their purpose?" Mantis asked.
"Yes, Quill and I have a bet." Drax said, making everyone groan as Gamora rounded the corner.
"Seriously?" Twilight asked. "You guys are betting on what her Antennae are for?"
"Twilight, trust me, they do this about all the time." Rosy said. "Besides, I also made a bet and Drax wasn't supposed to say anything about us making bets."
"I say, if you're about to walk through a doorway that's is too low, your Anntenae will detect this and prevent you from being decapitated." Drax said.
"Seriously?" Twilight asked.
"And I made a bet that it had something to do with one's feelings." Rosy said.
"And if it's anything either than those two things, I win." Quill said.
"Well, Rosy is correct." Mantis said, making both guardians groan while Gamora just smiled, finding it amusing. "My antennae help me with my empathic abilities."
"Wait, you're an Empath!?" Twilight asked.
"What's an Empath?" Gamora asked.
"They're special beings that can sense someone's emotions at the cost of their own emotional well being." Twilight replied.
"Yes, but in order for me to use such abilities, I must make physical contact with someone." Mantis replied, looking to Peter. "May I?"
"Uh, sure, of course." Peter said.
Mantis reached down and took Peters hand in hers, which her antennae started to glow, Twilight's interests peaking as she took out a parchment and quill and began writing everything down as Mantis was feeling Quills emotions, smiling.
"You feel love." Mantis said.
"yeah, well, I sorta feel a sort of unselfish-" Peter said, trying to play it off.
"No, a romantic kind of love." Mantis said, looking to Gamora before pointing to her. "For her!"
"No, no, no I don't!" Peter said, his face turning red while Gamora looked away, trying to play it off, but Drax started to laugh extremely hard, even Rosy was snickering.
"She just told everyone your deepest, darkest secret!" Drax said, still laughing.
"Come on dude, aren't you overreacting a little?" Peter asked.
"Dude, if I was exposed like that, I'd be embarrassed too." Rosy said.
"Do me next!" Drax exclaimed, still laughing.
Mantis did as ask and when she touched Drax, she started laughing too, feeling his emotions of joy and laughter, both laughing incredibly hard, which the laughter soon became infectious as Rosy started laughing before Twilight started to laugh, everyone but Peter and Gamora laughing as Mantis got up to touch Gamora, but she just grabbed her arm, stopping her and ending the laughter.
"Touch me and all you'll feel is a broken jaw." Gamora said, letting Mantis go.
"Gamora, no need to threaten her." Twilight said, Besides, she's our friend."
"It is alright little pony." Mantis said, not phased. "I can also alter emotions to an extent."
"Really?" Twilight asked, getting her quill ready. "Like what?"
"Well, if someone is sad, I can ease them into contentment for a short while." Mantis replied. "I can make a stubborn person compliant. But I mostly use it to help my master sleep."
"Why help him sleep?" Rosy asked.
"Well, he lies awake at night, thinking about his progeny." Mantis replied.
"Progeny?" Twilight asked. "What progeny?"
"I do not know." Mantis replied. "But what I do know is he worries about it every night, causing him to loose sleep."
"Oh, oh, do one of those on me!" Drax said.
Mantis smiled, walking over as she placed her hand on his head, closing her own eyes as she then made Drax fall asleep instantly, making Midnight and Peter laugh while Twilight was writing everything down, finding it all fascinating as they made their way to Ego's world. Back at the Milano, Ravagers were slowly approaching the downed vessel, weapons out and ready to capture the guardians and get paid a large fortune for their capture with a small added bonus from a special client, but little did that know, Spyro was already above them, smiling as they were approaching the Milano, activating a screen on his Bracers to get the little surprises that he and Rocket had set up earlier. As one of the Ravagers took another step forward, he stepped on a small trigger, unveiling hidden dart traps that they had set up and released a storm of darts with a special kind of anesthetic that knocked them out instantly, dropping them as they fell and one fired his weapon, waking Nebula up while Midnight and Groot were waiting inside, waiting for the Ravagers to come.
"They're coming!" Nebula said.
"So they are." Midnight replied.
"We need to fight back!" Nebula said.
"We don't need to do a thing." Midnight said, calling her blade. "We're fine here."
"But they'll kill us!" Nebula pointed out. "Free me and I can help."
"Yeah, I free you, you stab me in the back." Midnight said. "No thanks. Besides..." She then looked over to Groot, who was standing next to a radio transmitter Rocket was using to hum to the tune, tricking the Ravagers to think they were inside. "Dad and Rocket have us covered."
As if to prove a point, Spyro activated a few of his own traps, unleashing a storm of electricity on the Ravagers he had near him while Rocket was using some of the mines he had set, using them to shoot the Ravagers into the air and cause them to fall to the ground, landing hard and repeating several times as they continued to fire at him, leading the remaining Ravagers that were still standing to chase after him as Spyro leapt down, landing on the ground and hearing a gun click, so he moved his head quickly and avoided the attack as more of them opened fire on him, but Spyro just smiled, doing back flips and flipping backwards away from the ravagers, avoiding their fire while also redirecting their bullets away from him as he jumped onto a massive rock, smiling as they came up.
"Geez, you guys have worse aim than a Stormtrooper." Spyro said, taunting them.
He then did another back flip, jumping right behind the boulder and making them come after him, but as they rounded the corner, they instantly fell down a canyon, tumbling down the slope as they all rolled around in pain while Spyro was just sitting on the ledge reading a book, checking from time to time how may fell down the slope before pushing another to finish the group. With Rocket, he had just gotten a bag full of devices and when he had enough, he jumped down onto the entire group, jumping from Ravager to Ravager, attaching one device to each one of them until he had used them all up, pressing a switch that electrocuted them all at once, bringing them to the ground as he just snickered, but then he heard another cannon click, sniffing the air to notice of Ravager behind him as another came out front, grinning.
"Not so tough now without your toys, are ya?" The Ravager asked, his buddy aiming the cannon.
However, Rocket wasn't phased as he just leapt at the Ravager in front of him and started to lay down the law on him as his friend aim the cannon, firing, but the blast hit his friend instead right as Spyro came out of the woods, clothes lining him and grabbing him by the leg and slamming him into the earth, burying him in rubble.
"Spyro smash!" Spyro said, smacking himself in the head. "Why? That was just bad."
"Yeah, maybe leave that line from someone else kid." Rocket said.
They both heard someone whistle, looking around when they saw a streak of red fly around, heading straight for Rocket when it stopped, levitating in the air as Yondu came out laughing.
"You have got to be kidding me." Spyro said.
"Hey there rat!" Yondu said. "Hey there your highness! Long time no see!"
"How's it going you blue idiot?" Rocket asked.
"Yondu, it's good to see you again." Spyro said, standing up as the ravagers got their weapons trained on them. "Is all the hardware really necessary?"
"Oh, it's necessary alright." Yondu replied. "You see, this golden gal with a very high opinion of herself is willing to pay a a large sum to deliver you and your pals to her so she can kill ya. And, someone else wanted something special from you Spyro. Willing to pay a massive sum as well. We'd be hella rich with these two combined!"
"Dad's in trouble!" Midnight said.
"Your friends will die without help." Nebula said. "But I can help. Free me and I can save them!"
"No, as soon as I do so, you'll betray us." Midnight said.
"What choice do you have!?" Nebula asked. "Are you willing to let your father die because you wouldn't do the right thing!? Please, free me and I'll help."
Midnight was hesitant to trust her, looking back outside to see the massive army of Ravagers there and her father surrounded, having no choice, but to walk over and tapping the cuffs, hearing a click as Nebula was now free.
"Don't make me regret this." Midnight said.
"Oh, don't you worry." Nebula said, sucker punching Midnight and knocking her out. "You will."
"Gotta hand it to ya, tracking you was real easy." Yondu said. "I put a tracker on the Milano back during the battle of Xandar."
"Please, give me your word you won't hurt Groot and you can have the batteries." Rocket said, Spyro not having a choice but to stand down.
"Heh, lucky for you my word don't mean squat." Yondu said. "Otherwise I'd actually hand ya over and give that ugly purple thing some of Spyro's blood."
"Wait, purple thing?" Spyro asked, getting chills up his spine.
"Yeah, purple thing." Yondu replied. "Real ugly Mo fo. Offered half a million units in gemstones. So instead, we'll take those batteries. Must be worth... oh... quarter of a mill."
"But the Priestess offered a million for the Guardians!" One Ravager said, his face deformed and purplish red. "A quarter is only one third!"
"Uh, no it's not." Spyro said. "A quarter is-"
"A quarter is twenty-five units!" Another shouted, making Spyro face smack himself at how dumb Yondu's crew was, causing a disagreement in the crew.
"ENOUGH!" Yondu shouted. "Point is, we aren't;t stupid enough to kill the Guardians of the Galaxy. And definitely not dumb enough to try and kill the Prince of Light and Darkness. Dude can literally kick our asses before a drop of rain can hit the ground! Hell, the whole dang Nova Corp would be on us!"
"That ain't right!" One Ravager said, getting everyone's attention. "It just ain't right! No matter how many times Quill betrays us, you always protect him! Like none of the rest of us much matter!" The other ravagers were in agreement, all cheering for him. "I'm usually the one defending you captain, but not anymore!"
"He's gone soft." The first Ravager said, looking at Yondu. "He's not fit to lead anymore. I think it's time for a change in leadership!"
As he said it, the ravagers started to point their weapons at Yondu, but a few other ravagers pointed their weapons at the mutineers, ready to defend their captain as Yondu got his arrow ready for a fight.
"Woah, woah, woah, calm down everyone!" Rocket said, surprising Spyro. "There has to be a peaceful resolution to this conflict! Or a violent one where I'm standing over there."
It was a literal Mexican stand off with two different sides, pointing their weapons at one another and before Yondu could whistle and get the arrow moving, a blaster went off and destroyed the fin on his head, causing his entire nervous system to short out and collapse to reveal Nebula was standing there, a blaster pointing at Rocket and Spyro.
"You got to be kidding me." Rocket said.
Nebula then fired her blaster at Rocket, knocking him out with a stun bolt before aiming it at Spyro, but he grabbed both Lightsabers he had, igniting them, but then those siding with the traitorous Ravagers pointed their weapons at Spyro and open fired, but Spyro's speed combined with his skills started to slice and destroy the bullets as they tried to hit him, his speed unlike anything the Ravagers saw as he went through the barrage of bullets, dodging and cutting through them as he sliced their weapons up, jumping and slamming into the ground to knock them down and pull their weapons away to disarm them all before looking to Nebula to take her down, but she held up an unconscious Midnight, pointing the blaster at her as she had her hostage.
"Midnight!" Spyro shouted.
However, nebula took the chance and fired her blaster, hitting him with a stun blast, knocking him to the ground as the Sabers hit the ground, deactivating as Spyro laid on the ground, stunned but alive as all the ravagers looked at Nebula, who tossed the pony to the ground as she got the unripe fruit.
"Well, hello boys." She said, taking a bite from the fruit, but then spat it out at how terrible it tasted. "It's not ripe."
Back with Twilight and the Guardians, they had finally arrived at Ego's world, which when they looked out they saw how beautiful it looked, the ship descending until it reached the surface, landing on several tendrils of pure energy before opening up and allowing for them leave, Ego using a hover ad to allow for them to leave the ship as they got to see the surface of the planet itself, filled with life, floating stones, orbs of water, basically a perfect paradise, leaving Twilight stunned.
"Through the Force, I can sense you are amazed by the planet, aren't ya?" Rosy asked.
"It's... beautiful." Twilight said.
"Welcome to my planet." Ego said. "No bigger than the Earth's Moon, but it's home."
"Humility, I like it." Drax said, looking around. "I too am extraordinarily humbled."
Everyone was taken aback by how amazing the world looked, even Gamora was smiling, looking at the floating bubble when Drax touched one of them, which it turning into hundreds f colorful bubbles of water, making him laugh while Twilight was lost for words, wanting to document everything, but couldn't, her feelings a of joy increasing as she looked around as the platform they were on was making it's way to Ego's massive palace made of crystals and plants.
"Ego, could you teach me how you did those water bubble things?" Twilight asked. "Spyro would love to see it."
"Of course." Ego replied. "I'll write down how you can do it in a form that will work for you." Ego replied.
The platform them arrived at Ego's palace, everyone disembarking as they walked to it, passing a fountain with fish that were spinning around, amazing Twilight even more as she walked and looked around, wishing Spyro was actually there with them.
"So, you own a world and can destroy a dozen or more ships without a space suit?" Gamora asked. "What are you exactly?"
"Well, I am what is called a Celestial." Ego replied, making them stop.
"A Celestial, like a god?" Peter asked.
"Well, small G's more like it." Ego replied. "At least when I'm feeling just as humble as Drax."
They were all in stunned silence, unable to fully grasp what they were hearing as they walked into his palace, following the Celestial into a massive corridor where there were dozens of pods, all containing some kind of image.
"So, if you're a Celestial, where did you come from and how are you able to manifest yourself as... this?" Twilight asked.
"Good question." Ego replied as they came to the first pod with a brain in it. "I don't know where I came from, all I remember is... flickering. A drift... and utterly... alone." The image then started to change to show the brain as now surrounded molecules and the crust of the planet. "Millions of years later, I learned to control the molecules around me, growing smarter, stronger." He then started to walk to the other pods, everyone following as they all shifted. "Over time, I continued to build, layer by layer, until I created the very world you walk on now."
"Amazing." Twilight said, speechless.
"But I wanted more." Ego continued. "I wanted many. I figured there had to be some life out in the universe." They walked on, past every pod to show them everything he ever did. "So, I created what I believed Biological life would be like, so that I could discover other worlds. Down to the smallest detail."
"Did you make a-" Drax said.
"DRAX!" They all shouted.
"What is wrong with you?" Gamora asked.
"Well if he's a planet, how could he make a baby with Quillz mother?" Drax asked. "He would smoosh her."
"I don't think that's a story we want to hear." Rosy said.
"Why not?" Drax asked. "My father would tell me stories of how he impregnated my mother every winter solstice."
"That's disgusting to hear." Peter said.
"It was beautiful." Drax said.
"To answer your question Drax, yes, I have a dick." Ego said. "And it's not half bad."
"Ok, can we please move on and stop talking about dicks please!?" Rosy asked, clearly uncomfortable.
"I also have pain receptors, a digestive system, basically all organs and stuff needed for biological life." Ego replied. "I wanted to experience what it truly meant to be human. Once I was ready, I set out amongst the stars until I found what I was looking for... life." The pod then showed his human form with an alien species, smiling. "It was then I found out I wasn't alone in the universe."
Ego went silent for some time, smiling as he looked at the pod while everyone starred at him, Twilight getting a bad feeling about this as she felt something off about the planet, looking around as the Force was telling her something was wrong with the place.
"So, when did you meet my mom?" Peter asked.
"Not long after." Ego said, walking to another pod that showed him with a blonde woman in a green flower dress. "It was with her I first discovered love. I called her my river lily." The pod then changed to show the woman was pregnant with Peter, surprising them. "And from that love, came you Peter." Everyone was in stunned silence, looking to Peter who was just as shocked as they were amazed. "I search for you for so long and when I heard of a man from Earth that held an Infinity Stone without dying, i just knew you were the son of the woman I loved."
"If you loved her, why did you leave her?" Peter asked, hitting a sore spot.
Ego was silent, wanting to tell him everything and nodded his head, motioning for his son to follow him, Peter following his father while everyone else remained behind, wondering what they were going to talk about. In space, on the Ravager Mothership, the mutineers were celebrating, having Groot in a small cage while Yondu and Rocket were tied to chairs, but Spyro and Midnight were restrained using Dark Aether Crystals as the Ravagers were making fun of Yondu, even throwing out those who were still loyal to him out the airlock into space, Spyro feeling the fear and despair coming from each one as they were tossed out the airlock, infuriating him as he felt his own blood boil as they tossed their own friends out into space to die.
"Their deaths are on your hands!" The taster outs leader said. "You're the one that got them killed, leading them down the wrong path! Because you're weak." The traitor then punched his former captain, the crowd cheering for him as he continued to punch him. "And stupid! It's time for the Ravagers to rise again to glory! With a new captain! TASERFACE!"
The crowd cheered for him, everyone liking their new leader while Spyro just felt hatred to the guy, clenching his fist as the crystals started to crack, though his elemental and Dragonic magic was being negated, he had some immunity to the Dark Aether Crystals to allow for his Force and Chaos powers to still work. However, as he was about to break himself free, both Midnight and Rocket started to laugh, confusing him as the crowd stopped cheering to look at the raccoon and the pony, both laughing uncontrollably.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry." Rocket said. "Y-your name is... Taserface?"
"That's right." Taserface replied.
"Why, you shoot tasers out of your ugly mug?" Midnight asked.
"Midnight." Spyro said, trying to warn her.
"It's metaphorical!" Taserface replied, the crowd cheering.
"Ok, now I'm getting involved in this." Spyro said. "What is it metaphorical for?"
"For?" Taserface asked. "It is a name that will strike fear into the hearts of everyone who hears it!"
The crowd gave their support, but some didn't get the name, but went with it out of fear of being tossed out the airlock.
"Eh, ok then." Rocket said. "Whatever you say."
"Shut up." Taserface said, pulling out a knife. "You're next." He then put the knife against Yondu's knife. "I have waited a long time to-" Rocket continued to snicker, getting Taserface's attention, annoying him further. "WHAT!?"
"Sorry." Rocket said. "I am so sorry. I just keep imagining you waking up in the morning, looking in the mirror all serious like and saying to yourself 'You know what would be a real kick ass name?' TASERFACE!" Rocket then started laughing uncontrollably, which his laughter became infectious as others started to snicker, trying not to laugh, even Spyro as he too was snickering, trying not to laugh while Taserface looked more and more annoyed. "I can hear you in my head! And you, what was your second choice!? Scrotum hat!?"
That was when the entire ship erupted into pure laughter, even Spyro couldn't contain his laughter as he completely lost it, laughing extremely hard as did Midnight, even the crew was laughing uncontrollably, making Yondu crack a smile as everyone laughed.
"New plan!" Taserface said, holding the knife to Rocket's neck. "We're killing you first!"
"Well, dying is better and looking at a moronic traitor who whines Taserface is a cool name." Rocket said.
"That's enough killing for today." Nebula said, walking over, which Taserface stood straight up, looking at her.
"I thought you were the biggest sadist in the galaxy." Taserface said.
"That was when daddy was paying the bills." Nebula said. The priestess wants to kill the fox herself. And he had bounties on his head in at;east twelve Kree provinces. And you need to deliver the princes blood to your second client, don't you?"
"We do." Taserface said, nodding his head as one of the Ravagers plunged a needle into Spyro's neck, taking his blood.
"Hey!" Spyro exclaimed, the Ravager running to the boss. "Who the heck would even want my blood in the first place?" He then got his answer when dark mist appeared on the ground and from it, three Grublins Orcs came out, two of them carrying bags full of gems as one carried a black crystal, activating to reveal Malefor. "Of course it's you."
"Well, hello again little Prince." Malefor said. "Like my new friends?"
"Hardly." Spyro replied, the Ravager giving the orc the vial with his blood. "Something tells me I'm not going to like what you have planned for my blood, am I?"
"Oh, trust me, you'll despise what I have in store for you." Malefor replied, laughing as the message ended.
The orcs dropped the sacs of gems before walking back into the dark portal, the portal closing as they left, the Ravagers going through the sacks to claim their prize.
"Now, for them." Taserface said, looking to Yondu and Rocket before looking to Nebula. "And you."
"You'll find I am not as easy of a mark as an old man with a magic stick or a talking woodland creature!" Nebula said. "I'll take ten percent of the bounties along with a few other things."
Taserface looked at Nebula, smiling as he looked to his men, nodding to get her what she needed before turning to their prisoners.
"Throw them in a cage!" Taserface said, the guards taking them away. "We'll collect the bounties and celebrate like their's no tomorrow men!"
They all cheered as they grabbed Spyro and his friends, even his daughter, dragging them to the cells and tossing them in and closing the door.
"We'll deliver you to the Kree in the morning Yondu." Taserface said. "Neither of you will last much longer."
They then walked away, Spyro still having a couple of cuffs of Dark Aether on as Midnight had one on her horn.
"I'm so sorry dad." Midnight said, getting up. "Nebula... she-"
"It's ok honey." Spyro said, hugging her. "It's ok."
"Hey, can't you use your Keyblades of something?" Rocket asked.
"It's no good." Spyro replied. "These Dark Aether crystal cuffs block and absorb magic. We can't call our Keyblades."
"Now what?" Rocket asked.
"It doesn't matter." Yondu said. "I was a battle slave for the Kree for twenty years. Stakar freed e and gave me a chance to be a Ravager, all I had to do was adhere to the Ravager code. But I was young, and greedy, and stupid. Like you stealing those batteries."
"Eh, if you ask me, that was mostly Drax." Rocket said.
"Seriously?" Spyro asked, raising an eyebrow at the Guardian.
"Stakar, myself, and the other captains, we were just like you and your friends." Yondu said. "The only family I ever had. And I broke the code." Yondu looked disappointed, defeated. "This what I deserve."
"No Yondu, you don't." Spyro said. "No one deserves to be alone. We all make mistakes, even when we're young. Even though time hasn't been kind to ya, it's never too late to say you're sorry. Some mistakes can't be reverse, yes, but that doesn't mean that you should punish yourself for it. One day, I'm sure you'll see that and apologize for it and become friends again. A family, like you and Quill. Family isn't about blood Yondu, but about love and care and you care about Quill. Why else would you go against the Priestess to protect him?"
Yondu looked at Spyro, seeing how he was hugging Midnight and how he genuinely cared, smiling at him before chuckling.
"Man, you are way too mushy for my liking." Yondu said. "But... you're an a-ok guy in my book."
"Yeah, yeah, hugs for all, now can we get out of here?" Rocket asked.
"Where's Quill?" Yondu asked.
"He's with his old man." Rocket replied, making Yondu smile. "Ok, I had this warm and fuzzy feeling when Spyro was giving you the pep talk, but now it's ruined by those disgusting yellow teeth. Seriously, ever heard of a toothbrush?"
"You like a professional asshole or something?" Yondu asked.
"Pretty much a pro." Rocket replied. "So why didn't you deliver Quill to his father like you were mired to do?"
"He was skinny, capable of getting into places we couldn't, makes thieving easier." Yondu replied.
"That's one reason, but what's the other?" Spyro asked, ending the hug with Midnight. "There's another reason you didn't keep him just for thievery."
Yondu looked at Spyro, which he could sense that the blue captain was still hiding something, but then looked out, seeing the guard patrolling when he looked back at them.
"I got an idea on how we can get out of here." Yondu said. "And how to get them black crystals off of you two. But we're going to need the help of your little friend to make it work."
Back at Malefor's palace, Malefor was just given the vial of blood, though he couldn't smile through his statue, he was pleased with getting what he was promised and as he looked at the vial, Aphara came out of the shadows, carrying a bag and looking royaly peeved off as she approached.
"Aphara, you've returned." Malefor said. "Just in time too. I have the prince's blood. Do you have the bones?"
"I do." Aphara replied. "And you better be happy. You didn't tell me the swamp was filled with poisonous water."
She dropped the sack and the bones spilled out, rolling on the ground, but Malefor seemed disappointed, growling when he saw the bones.
"No, these won't do." Malefor replied. "These are indeed the bones of an Elder Dragon, but the skull is corroded."
"So now what?" Aphara asked. "Chances are there are more of these bones with skulls, but they'd be useless. Anymore places where these bones are at, oh master?"
"Give me a moment." Malefor replied, thinking things over until he found what they needed. "Ah, perfect."
"What, you found more bones?" Aphara asked.
"Indeed." Malefor replied. "They're on another world. The Living Planet, Ego."
"Ego?" Aphara asked. "What kinda name is that? And why would the bones be on another planet?"
"It makes little difference to me." Malefor replied. "Most of the bones can be used for the ritual, but the important piece is the skull. Bring me the skull of that dragon and we'll get started."
Aphara nodded her head as a portal of dark mist opened up and she walked through it, leaving Malefor behind as she went to the planet, stepping foot on the world and looking around to see her environment, the land itself wide open for her to walk about and look for her prize.
"Pretty, gotta admit." Aphara said. "Alright, now where the heck is that skull?"
Back on the Ravager ship, Spyro and the others were sitting around, waiting for Groot to come their way, though Spyro was getting impatient and wanted to get out and teach the traitor a lesson. A moment later, Groot came walking around, though he was stuck in a Ravager suit, walking over to them, though he was drenched in what Spyro could smell as alcohol, knowing the scent all too well.
"Oh Groot, what did they do to you?" Rocket asked.
"Hey bud, you wanna help us get out of here?" Yondu asked, which Groot nodded his head. "Alright, listen, there is something I need you to get. In the captain's quarters, there is a Proto-type fin, the same as what I wear on my head. It's in the drawer next to the bunk. It's red. Get it and bring it back to me, ok?"
Groot nodded his head, running off towards the captains quarters, Yondu smiling as he looked to Rocket, who didn't seem so sure about this as he knew Groot better than anyone else. They waited a few minutes for Groot to come back and when he did, he brought back a pair of underwear, making Midnight snicker as she looked at the twig.
"Oh man, he just nicked someone's pair of knickers." Midnight said, laughing.
"Knickers?" Rocket asked.
"British word for underwear." Spyro replied. "Particularly, ladies underwear, which thankfully, those aren't. Someone's been watching too many episodes of Mrs. Browns Boys."
"Yeah, that's my underwear he took." Yondu said, making Midnight laugh harder.
"Yeah, I was afraid of that." Rocket said. "You need to explain it thoroughly or else he wont understand you."
However, when Yondu tried again, Groot brought back an alien rat, making them rethink this whole thing, so Rocket tried, this time explaining in detail what to look for, but then came back with a cybernetic eye, making Rocket laugh as he imagined the guy who owned the eye won't know where it was, which they sent Groot to look again, but this time brought a whole desk with him, making a lot of noise and making them worry with how loud it was. Rocket tried to explain how big the drawer was, but a moment later, Groot came back with a severed toe, leaving them stunned as they had no clue what to say about that.
"Please tell me you have a refrigerator with a bunch of severed human toes." Rocket said, which Yondu shook his head, indicating they didn't have such a thing. "Right, let us never speak of this again."
"Agreed." Spyro replied, kneeling down.
Yondu then took out a small icon, holding it up for Groot to see.
"The drawer you need to open will have this symbol on it." Yondu said, giving the symbol to the little twig, which he lifted it up onto his head to wear it on his head. "What!? No!"
"He thinks you want him to wear it as a hat. Rocket said.
"No I don't want him to wear it as a hat!" Yondu said.
"I am Groot." Groot replied.
"He's relieved to hear that." Rocket said.
"I am Groot." Groot said.
"He hates hats." Rocket said.
"I am Groot/" Groot added.
"On anyone." Rocket said. "Because he thinks one person has a really weirdly shaped head and the next, you realize it's a hat that is apart of their head. Wait, that's why you hate hats?"
"Is this really an important conversation right now?" Yondu asked.
"He's got a point." Spyro said. "Groot, find that drawer and get the fin back to us, quickly. It's almost time for the Ravagers to wake up."
Groot then ran off back to the Captains quarters, leaving everyone alone in the cell as they waited for Groot, praying that he would get it right this time, or else they were going to be in serious trouble. The waited for several minutes, waiting for Groot to come back when the fin and it was then tossed onto the ground along with Spyro's lightsabers, surprising them to reveal it was the guy who called out the captain in the first place.
"I didn't mean for a Mutiny to happen." The Ravager said, everyone starring at him. "They killed all my friends. I want to make things right."
Yondu looked at his crew member, starring him down before smiling.
"Kraglin, get the third quadrant of the ship and get it ready for launch." Yondu said.
"Yes captain." Kraglin said, setting Groot on the bars.
"Oh, one more thing." Rocket said, getting Kraglin to stop. "You got any of Quills music saved on this thing?"
Kraglin was confused, wondering what Rocket needed that music for and why he would want it in the first place, but did it anyway, heading to the quadrant to do as instructed. A few hours later, thanks to Spyro, after getting the cuff off himself and Midnight, helped Rocket as they managed to get the fin attached to Yondu's head right as the music started to play, that being Spyro's cue to get ready as he got his two sabers out, two Ravagers walking in and seeing what was going on.
"Omae wa, mou shindeiru." Spyro said.
"What did he just say?" One of the Ravager guards said.
As the Ravager asked the question, Spyro ignited the blades and the guards drew their guns, pointing them at Spyro, but he was too quick, appearing on the other side of the Ravager traitors, both of them dropping to the ground as a couple of slice marks were on their chests.
"You were supposed to say Nani." Spyro said.
A moment later, Yondu whistled as multiple guards ran in, Yondu's arrow coming through the wall and taking the whole squad out as it flew past Spyro, leaving him unharmed as the music played on, Yondu getting up as Rocket and Groot followed him, the Raccoon taking the weapons from the fallen traitors while Spyro got the ring off of Midnight, the pony now having access to her magic again as they followed their friends.
"He's got it!" Taserface said over the intercom, the music having woken him up. "He's got the fin!"
"Now he notices." Spyro said.
They walked out of their cell, all five of them ready for a fight when a large squadron of Ravagers came out of nowhere, charging them when Yondu started whistling again, the crew freezing when he started to whistle as his arrow came flying out, going through his former crew as they kept on walking, reaching the massive room with a lot of catwalks and stairways, the traitors getting ready when Yondu started to whistle again, going through the traitors as they came running, causing the bodies to drop from catwalks above them as they kept walking, listening to the music as Groot looked up, seeing the one who poured his drink on him, so he went up and ran after the guy, making him run away in fear, but Groot used his abilities to grab his feet and toss him over the side, falling as they walked past, Groot jumping onto Rockets shoulder as they walked into the command center of the third Quadrant, ready for a fight as they looked at the holographic monitors to see they were coming for them, Yondu smiling as he continued to whistle to take out his traitorous men, taking out the lights and taking them out one by one before dropping a whole ship on top of a small army, even going into the tavern section and destroying a mans drink before taking him out. However, some of the enemy managed to reach the command center and Rocket fired a round into the wall, taking one out as he laughed, firing as they came as Spyro used his own powers over electricity to unleash bolts of lightning into the walls, bolt upon bolt going through some of the mutineers as they came, laughing as they went through the entire crew.
As they were having a good time, Spyro stopped using his electricity as they got the last one, laughing as they had a good time taking down a bunch of traitors.
"Yondu, that has to be, by far, the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Spyro said laughing. "Where can I get myself one of those arrows?"
"Oh, I got a few spars I don't use anymore." Yondu replied. "Be willing to sell ya one for a fair price."
"Oh, how many ya got?" Spyro asked.
"Got about four extras." Yondu replied.
"Give you forty thousand in rare gems for them." Spyro said. Yondu laughed at him, thinking he was joking when they both noticed Taserface walking their way, Yondu feeling rage go through him as he whistled, the arrow going after Taserface when Yondu changed the whistle, making it a fire arrow, but the traitor dodged, laughing as he believed Yondu missed, but the arrow wasn't aimed for him, but for the fuel containers, hitting it and horrifying Taserface as it caused an explosion that engulfed him, horrifying Midnight and Rocket while Spyro was surprised. "The arrow and turn into a fire arrow from whistling!? Now I definitely want one!"
"You maniac." Rocket said. "You hit the fuel tank. You're going to destroy the whole ship."
"Not the whole ship." Yondu said, whistling and getting the arrow back. "Kraglin, you ready!?"
"Aye captain!" Kraglin said, pulling the last switch to activate a smaller section of the ship.
As they were taking off, Taserface had survived the explosion, extinguishing the flames on his arm as he walked over to a communications hub, activating it and getting the Sovereign on the screen to tell them what he knew.
"Who is this?" The Priestess asked.
"I am sending you the coordinates for Yondu's ship." Taserface said, transmitting coordinates. "He will lead you to the guardians. I only ask that you tell your high priestess the name of the man who sealed his fate... Taserface."
However, the Sovereign couldn't keep a straight face as she then started to laugh, the Ravager looking defeated as he now realized it was a dumb name before the explosion consumed him again, finishing him off.
"Release the Quadrant!" Yondu shouted.
Kraglin pulled a massive lever on the ground and activated the Quadrant, which was a smaller version of the ship that detached itself from the front of the ship and took off, leaving the body as it exploded, leaving it behind as they took off, Rocket setting coordinates for Ego.
"Now that was epic!" Spyro shouted, glad to get that out of his system. "WOOH! Let's do it again!"
"Dad, act your age." Midnight said.
"Where to captain?" Kraglin asked.
"Ego." Rocket replied, activating the drive on the ship as he pressed on the planet Ego on the screen.
"No boy!" Yondu shouted. However, it was too late as the ship already started to pass through the access points, each one opening up to a different world as they made their way to Ego. "It ain't healthy for a man to jump more than fifty at a time!"
"I know that!" Rocket replied.
"Yondu, how many jumps are we about to do?" Spyro asked, now getting worried.
"We're about to do seven hundred!" Yondu replied.
As they passed through every access point along the way, their faces started to get distorted, yelling out as they felt their bodies changing as some parts of their bodies twisted and turned, growing larger or smaller as they were heading to the planet Ego. On the planet Ego, Gamora and Peter were dancing, enjoying the peace and serenity, but Gamora had a bad feeling about the planet itself, both Twilight and Rosy feeling it as well as they stayed.
"I don't know how to describe it Rosy." Twilight said. "I mean, this place is peaceful and beautiful, don't get me wrong, but there's this nagging feeling in the back of my mind, telling me something is off."
"I believe you Twilight." Rosy said. "I too can feel it through the Force."
"You're all being paranoid." Peter said, ending the dance as Gamora got a scanner. "Look at this place, what's off about it?"
"That girl Mantis, she's afraid of something." Gamora said.
"I agree with that." Rosy said. "She holds much fear inside of her. But the question is, what is she afraid of?"
"Are you serious, you're the one who made me come here in the first place!" Peter shouted. "He's blood!"
"You have blood back on Earth." Gamora said. "And yet you don't want to return to there."
"That's because that is the planet where my mother died on." Peter said.
"No, it's because that place is real and this is a fantasy!" Gamora said.
"This is real!" Peter replied. "I'm half human, remember!?"
"And that's the half I'm worried about." Gamora replied.
"What does that mean?" Peter asked. "Oh, I get it. You're jealous because I'm part god and you like when I'm the weak one."
"You were insufferable to begin with." Gamora said, getting a communicator out. "I haven't been able to get in contact with Rocket, so I'm heading outside to see if I can get a signal."
"You know, this is not Cheers!" Peter said. "This is turning into one of those shows where one person is willing to open themselves to new possibilities and the other is a complete jerk who doesn't trust anybody! It's a show that doesn't exist! That's why it gets zero ratings!"
"I don't know what Cheers is!" Gamora shouted.
"I finally found my family!" Peter shouted. "I thought you'd be happy for me!"
"And I thought you already found your family." Gamora replied, clearly hurt.
She then walked out of the room, leaving Peter behind as the ponies walked out after her, Twilight looking back at Peter with a disappointed look.
"You're right about one thing." Twilight said. "This turned into a scenario where somepony was a jerk. Except it wasn't Gamora that was being a complete jerk."
Twilight then walked out, leaving Peter alone to go after her friends and see if she could help Gamora, Peter regretting what he said as he turned around. Out in the open field, Gamora was sitting in the middle of the field, a couple of plants brushing against one another to make an annoying sound, which Gamora took her blade out and cut them, letting them fall as Rosy and Twilight approached.
"how you holding up Gamora?" Rosy asked.
"I can't believe Quill is buying into this fantasy." Gamora said. "There is something off about Ego and Mantis is too scared to say anything about it, something is wrong."
"I agree." Twilight said. "I sense a disturbance in the Force. Maybe-"
They then heard something behind them, looking in the direction of the noise and saw a ship heading their way and Gamora started running, which Rosy and Twilight ran after her as the ship started to open fire on them, the three of them dodging to avoid the bullets as they ran. Further ahead, Aphara was walking around, looking for the skull, but not having any luck, finding nothing but rocks and plants, wiping the sweat from her brow.
"Geez, how hard is it to find a few dumb bones?" Aphara asked herself. She then heard the gun fire and looked back, seeing that Gamora and the ponies were running as the ship kept firing, making her eyes widen in horror. "You got to be kidding me!"
She then took off, running away from the ship as she leapt into the canyon, along with the ponies and Gamora, landing just a few feet away, but to her relief, she wasn't spotted. She looked around for some place to hide when. She noticed a cave, rushing to it when she smelled something, recognizing the scent and smiling as she flew into the cave. A moment later, Gamora and the ponies got up, looking up and finding that the pilot of the ship was still after them, firing it's weapons, so the three of them rushed into the nearby cave that Aphara ran into, rushing in to get a moment's breath, but then the pilot came right at them, flying to the cave firing it's weapons as it crashed through the cave entrance as it continued to fire, causing the floor to collapse as the ship skidded to a halt, crashing into the wall of the cave as it caught fire, revealing it was Nebula who was after them. Gamora looked around, finding the ships tri-rotary cannon had fallen off and she took it, lifting it up and revealing she was stronger than she looked, surprising the ponies.
"Wow, and I thought Drax was the strongest on the team." Twilight said.
Gamora reactivated the gun and opened fire, hitting the ship as Nebula worked to free herself from the burning hull, but the floor collapsed, falling to the ground as it started to burn brighter, everyone running up to see the ship and Nebula struggling to free herself.
"We need to free her before the ship explodes!" Rosy said.
"Agreed." Gamora replied, surprising them as she jumped in.
Gamora rushed over, ripping the hull off and reaching in to pull her out, getting her out of the ship as it exploded, sending them flying and landing a distance away from the burning vessel, landing hard as they got up, Nebula putting herself back together as the two sisters looked at one another, Twilight and Rosy teleporting in and seeing them.
"Well, that was something." Rosy said. "Well, hopefully you got that out of your system and-"
A moment later, Nebula grabbed her sister's neck and tried choking her, pinning her to the ground to try and choke her to death.
"Are you kidding me!?" Gamora shouted.
She broke free and started to attack Nebula, the two sisters wrestling and fighting it out, trying to best one another, which the ponies remained on the sidelines and watched them fight one another, clearly not having it with one another, but after a little while, Nebula managed to grab Gamora by the neck, pulling a knife out and ready to deal the killing blow.
"No!" Twilight shouted, running up. "Nebula, don't do it!"
"Why not?" Nebula asked. "I am the victor, I claim her life as my own!"
"Nebula, the two of you have been fighting for as long as you can remember, I can see that." Twilight said. "But, even though you're not related by blood, you're sisters. You don't need to fight anymore. You can be sisters now, work together, be a family."
Nebula looked at Twilight, looking back to Gamora before letting her go, yelling in frustration as she threw the knife away as Gamora coughed.
"I beat you." Nebula said.
"I saved your life and you're bragging about beating me!?" Gamora asked.
"You were stupid enough to let me live!" Nebula shouted.
"You let me live!" Gamora shouted."I don't need you always trying to beat me!" Nebula responded.
"I'm not the one who flew across the universe just to win!" Gamora shouted back.
"Do not tell me what I want." Nebula said.
"I don't need to tell you what you wanted, it's obvious." Gamora said.
"You were the one who wanted to win and all i wanted was a sister!" Nebula shouted, surprising Gamora. Everyone was silent for a moment, starring at Nebula as she breathed heavily, allowing herself to be vulnerable. "You were all I had. And you always wanted to win. Thanks pulled my eyes from my head and my brain from my skull. And then my arm from my body. It was all your fault."
Nebula sat down, letting her emotions out as everyone was looking at her, feeling bad for the cyborg and how much pain she went through until they heard someone clapping their hands, looking in the direction of who it was to see Aphara, walking over with the skull under her arm as she clapped.
"Bravo everyone, bravo." Aphara said. "I must say, it was extremely touching to watch and listen."
"Aphara!" Twilight said, calling her blade.
"You know this thing?" Nebula asked.
"Yeah, she's a dragon from my world." Twilight replied. "Let's just say we aren't exactly the best of friends right now."
"We were never friends pony." Aphara replied. "Anyways, love to stay and destroy you, truly would, but I have other things in mind." A moment later, a circle of black mist appeared and a portal opened, Aphara smiling as she approached it. "But don't worry little pony, when we next meet, Malefor and I will be ready for you."
"Wait, Malefor!?" Twilight exclaimed.
Before she could get any more answers, the portal closed, cutting them off as they all stood there, wondering what was going on.
"Why was that lizard carrying a skull?" Nebula asked. "Does she always do that?"
"No, she doesn't." Twilight replied. "Which freaks me out, but when she said she was working with Malefor, now I know we're in trouble."
"Who's Malefor?" Gamora asked.
"He's an evil purple dragon who tried to destroy his own world and recreate it." Twilight replied. "Spyro told us about him and how the original Spyro defeated him, sealing him in the planet's heart."
"The heart?" Gamora asked. "You mean the core?"
"We'll discuss that later." Twilight said. "Right now, I'll teleport us out and-"
"Wait, Twilight do you feel that?" Rosy asked, sensing something. "Do you feel that disturbance in the Force?"
"Now that you mention it, I do." Twilight replied. "It's coming from deeper in the cave.'
"Let's check it out." Rosy said.
"You sure?" Twilight asked.
"We need answers." Rosy replied. "Like, if this world had no other life on it, then why did Ego's planet have a dragon's skull?"
Rosy walked deeper into the cave, the others looking at one another as they followed her into the cave to see what it was that had her so curious. As they walked, they could barely see anything, the darkness clouding their eyes as they went into the cave, but as they got deeper and deeper, they could smell something in the air, something foul and stale, like the air itself was standing still, but when they entered the next room, Rosy stepped on something, hearing a crunch and freezing, recognizing the feeling as she felt her heart stop.
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.
"Why do you stop?" Nebula asked.
"Twilight, please tell me this isn't what I think it is." Rosy said.
Twilight looked down to see what it was she was talking about when her eyes widened in shock, finding it was a bone that Rosy had stepped in, feeling her own blood run cold.
"It's... a bone." Twilight said, looking into the room and finding it was filled with bones, horrifying them. "This whole room is filled... with bones."
They looked around, finding that the room was filed with thousands if not millions of bones from about every kind of species in the known universe, everyone backing away at what they had discovered.
"We need to get off this planet." Nebula said. "Now."
"For once I'm agreeing with Nebula." Twilight said. "We need to get the other Guardians and we need to get out of here, now!"
The four of then turned around and started running the same way they came in, getting out of the cave to get Drax and Peter and getting off planet before whatever happened to the poor souls in that room didn't happen to them. Back in Malefor's palace, the statue was coming back to life right as Aphara walked in, carrying the skull in with a smile.
"Ah, finally." Malefor said. "You have exactly what we need?"
"I do my lord." Aphara replied, presenting the skull. "Though it was a close call. Almost got turned into cheese with holes in it."
"I care not for your grievances Aphara." Malefor replied, using his powers to look at the skull, the statue glowing brighter and brighter as he was pleased with the results. "We now have everything we need. Let us begin. The prince's destruction is neigh."
Malefor lifted the skull up, looking at it as the light shined in through the roof enough to make the eyes glow, making the tyrannical dragon laugh as his laughter filled the room, pleased that everything was starting to come together.