[Star-Lord and Gamora finally climbed aboard the rescue spacecraft, both of them exhausted from their ordeal. Star-Lord was genuinely surprised to see the familiar blue cybernetic figure waiting inside.]
["Why is Blue Sister here of all places?"]
[Nebula responded with her typical deadpan delivery, though there was a hint of something softer in her mechanical voice: "I just want a ride home! Nothing more complicated than that!"]
[Rocket spotted this exchange and immediately began yelling in his characteristic paranoid manner, "She's still planning to kill me! I can see it in her glowing eyes!"]
[Nebula shot back with obvious irritation: "I literally just saved your miserable life! You ungrateful, stupid fox!"]
[Gamora felt compelled to correct her sister's terminology, "Technically, he's not a fox!"]
[Little Groot waddled out from behind some equipment and announced proudly, "I am Groot!"]
[Rocket immediately understood the meaning behind those three simple words and responded with exasperation, "And I'm definitely not a raccoon either, you tiny tree!"]
[Star-Lord shrugged helplessly, "Alright, fine! He's a raccoon! Can we move past this now?"]
[Rocket let out a long, suffering sigh and muttered to Baby Groot that nobody ever seemed to understand the important distinctions.]
[At that precise moment, several massive energy tentacles suddenly erupted from the ground near their spacecraft with explosive force, surrounding the ship and trapping them in the middle of a writhing cage of cosmic power.]
[Drax watched this terrifying development unfold and turned back to address the group with his typical directness: "So how exactly do you kill a god? I assume it's more complicated than usual combat!"]
[Star-Lord immediately began sharing the crucial information he had learned during his time with Ego, then started climbing up the narrow stairs toward the cockpit with urgent purpose.]
["He has a core! His brain, his soul, his consciousness - everything that makes him what he is has a protective shell around it somewhere on this planet!"]
[Mantis knew exactly where to find it and spoke up with growing anxiety, "It's hidden in a deep cave system far beneath the surface! That's where his true self resides!"]
[At this critical moment, several more energy tentacles had already wrapped themselves around the spacecraft like enormous serpents, gripping it tightly and applying crushing pressure to the hull.]
[Star-Lord climbed into the cramped cockpit and was surprised to discover that it was Yondu who was piloting their escape vehicle.]
[Yondu completely ignored Peter's presence and pushed the power lever all the way to maximum. The spacecraft's modified thrusters immediately roared to life, emitting brilliant tail flames as the engines began to accelerate at full power in a desperate attempt to break through Ego's organic blockade.]
[Unfortunately, Ego's cosmic power was far stronger than any of them had imagined. Although the spacecraft was running at absolute maximum capacity, straining every system, it still could not achieve lift-off and was instead being forcibly dragged back down toward the planet's surface.]
[The spacecraft struck the ground with bone-jarring impact, and the violent shaking threw everyone inside against the walls and equipment, making it impossible to maintain their balance.]
[At the same time, there was additional bad news developing rapidly. The massive palace structure around them could no longer withstand the cosmic forces at play. The building was showing signs of imminent collapse and would soon bury them all alive beneath tons of organic debris.]
[Yondu stared at the instrument panel with growing alarm and shouted over the engine noise: "The thrusters are losing power fast! We're not going to make it out!"]
[Star-Lord immediately opened the access cover under the main dashboard and began frantically working to restore full power to their escape systems.]
["I should probably be thankful that I stayed so skinny as a kid, otherwise you definitely would have handed me over to this psychotic lunatic years ago!"]
[Yondu shouted back while fighting the controls: "Do you honestly still think that was the real reason I kept you with the Ravagers all those years? You complete idiot!"]
["You told me that yourself, you senile old fool! You said I was too scrawny to eat!"]
["Oh! After I figured out what that monster was really doing to all those other innocent kids, there was no way in hell I could hand you over to him!"]
[Star-Lord continued complaining while desperately working on the thruster problem: "But you always said you were going to eat me eventually!"]
["That was obviously a joke to keep you in line!"]
[Star-Lord glanced at him with disbelief, "Well, I wasn't exactly laughing at the time!"]
[Rocket, who had been quietly listening to their heated exchange, finally couldn't help but interrupt with his own commentary.]
["You two have seriously twisted relationship issues!"]
[Star-Lord pointed directly at Ego, who was already reshaping and regenerating himself into human form right in front of their spacecraft, and yelled in frustration.]
["Oh! Of course there's something seriously wrong with me! That thing out there is actually supposed to be my father!!!"]
[Then he successfully managed to repair the thruster power problem, "Thrusters are back online!"]
[Both Yondu and Peter grabbed the steering controls simultaneously and aimed their ship directly toward Ego's reconstituted body, which was now covered with pulsing energy lines.]
[Because they were no longer trying to break through upward toward escape, but instead chose to rush forward through Ego's defenses, the spacecraft successfully managed to break free from the constraining tentacles, smashed through the crystalline barriers, and rushed out of the collapsing palace structure.]
[The spacecraft immediately went into a steep dive, gradually becoming completely vertical in its descent, and everyone inside desperately grabbed onto any fixed objects they could find to prevent themselves from falling toward the nose of the ship.]
[Yondu shouted over the rushing wind and engine noise: "We should be flying upward toward space! This is suicide!"]
[Star-Lord maintained control as he steered the spacecraft directly toward a massive crack that led deep into the planet's interior.]
["No! Ego wants to destroy the universe as we know it! Every living thing in existence! We have to kill him first! Rocket, get ready!"]
[Rocket immediately began operating his weapons systems, and the spherical metal projectiles mounted on the exterior of the spacecraft automatically gathered along the guidance grooves and positioned themselves at the front of the ship.]
[A devastating barrage of high-powered lasers erupted from these weapons systems, directly pulverizing all the rocky debris and obstacles in their path into fine dust.]
[The spacecraft began its dangerous journey deep underground, searching for Ego's hidden core through the planet's organic tunnel systems.]
[Star-Lord cheered with excitement despite the mortal danger, continuously maneuvering the spacecraft to avoid the massive protruding rock formations in the cavern system. When avoidance was impossible, Rocket would use concentrated laser fire to completely obliterate the obstacles.]
[Every barrier in their desperate path was systematically cleared away through superior firepower and piloting skill.]
[Rocket worked tirelessly at his weapons console, managing to joke even in their dire circumstances: "So I guess this means we have to save the entire galaxy again? Just another Tuesday for us!"]
["Great! If we manage to save the galaxy twice in our careers, our net worth and reputation will increase dramatically! We'll be legends!"]
[Star-Lord couldn't help but respond sarcastically: "I can't believe that's what you're thinking about right now!"]
[Rocket kept his hands and feet constantly moving across multiple control interfaces, muttering to himself while working: "Just thinking out loud! Listen, man! We're friends, right? Of course I care about those billions of planets! All those cities and buildings! And especially all the innocent animals living on each world!"]
[Star-Lord tilted his head slightly and added, "Don't forget about the people!"]
[Mantis looked at Rocket with genuine fondness and growing affection.]
["That bad-tempered little creature is actually so adorable! His heart is bigger than he wants anyone to know!"]
"Guardians of the Galaxy? Ronan was absolutely right to give them that title! They truly deserve it!" The 1st generation Spider-Man had a look of pure admiration on his face. "They had clearly already escaped to safety, yet they're willingly going back into mortal danger for the sake of creatures they've never even met before!"
The first generation Gwen Stacy nodded in complete agreement.
"Exactly! As expected from someone named Peter. What a great name they share! All Peters seem to have that same brave spirit!"
Dr. Otto Octavius observed quietly: "They fight to protect innocent lives throughout the universe, while you fight to protect innocent humans here on Earth! You're both equally worthy of admiration and respect!"
The 1st generation Spider-Man stretched out his palm and looked at the organic web-shooters that had grown from his wrists. He had made it his personal mission to fight against criminals throughout New York City. Thanks to his tireless efforts, crime rates had dropped significantly in most neighborhoods.
But he knew this wasn't nearly enough. In places he couldn't see or reach, there were still more evil forces committing crimes against innocent people, and he needed to work even harder to make a difference!
The 1st generation Spider-Man had never claimed to be humanity's savior. Although the cosmic viewing screen had made his heroic deeds appear glorious and larger-than-life, his original motivation and moral purpose remained completely unchanged.
[In the third quadrant cabin of Yondu's main ship, Kraglin was relaxing with his feet propped up on the table, listening to Star-Lord's classic Earth music collection and eating his meal, thoroughly enjoying the peaceful moment.]
[When the music reached its climactic chorus, he would hum along with obvious pleasure.]
[Suddenly, a series of strange mechanical sounds reached his ears, causing him to open his eyes wide in alarm while he had been enjoying his food with his eyes peacefully closed.]
[Through the main viewport in front of the ship, he could see that space itself was beginning to distort. Wormholes were flashing in and out of existence repeatedly, and every time the spatial distortions appeared, another spacecraft would emerge from the quantum tunnels.]
[He immediately jumped to his feet, staring with wide eyes and carefully observing the rapidly developing situation ahead of their position.]
[High Priestess Ayesha herself could be seen personally commanding the lead spacecraft, directing a massive fleet of golden Sovereign warships. After completing multiple precision interstellar jumps across vast distances, they had also arrived at the coordinates of Ego's living planet.]