Star-Lord stared at the gravitational anomaly that had carved a massive crater into the stone wall, releasing a silent sigh of profound resignation and acceptance.
He desperately wanted to escape through flight, but the overwhelming gravitational pull of the black hole was so tremendously powerful that not even photons of light could break free from its event horizon, let alone a human being with limited propulsion capabilities.
Despite this seemingly hopeless situation, he clenched his teeth with stubborn determination and continued to resist the inexorable pull, because he vividly remembered Rocket's technical explanation that this artificially created black hole was extremely unstable in its fundamental structure and could only maintain its existence for a few seconds before experiencing complete gravitational collapse.
He only needed to endure for those crucial few seconds. However, even such a brief timeframe was more than sufficient for the black hole to violently draw all matter within a ten-kilometer radius directly toward its consuming center.
Star-Lord found himself inevitably captured by the relentless gravitational forces and continued his terrifying descent toward the black hole's point of no return - the event horizon itself.
Just when despair began to overwhelm his consciousness, a brilliant ray of light appeared within the black hole's interior. The illumination came from Ego himself, who had also been consumed by the gravitational anomaly.
Ego observed Star-Lord falling helplessly toward the same fate that had claimed him. Due to the severe time dilation effects that occur within black holes - where temporal flow becomes inconsistent with the external universe - while the outside world had experienced less than one second, Ego had no way to determine how long he had been trapped within this gravitational prison.
During this extended subjective time, he found himself contemplating whether his actions throughout his cosmic existence had been morally justified, whether his ultimate life goals were truly reasonable and worthwhile, and why Star-Lord had chosen to stand against him with such unwavering determination.
He could not definitively answer these profound existential questions, but as he watched Star-Lord - the only being in the universe who had successfully inherited his divine celestial power - about to suffer the identical fate that had befallen him, his ancient resolve began to waver significantly.
Throughout his millions of years of existence, he had believed with absolute certainty that there was only one consciousness like his own in this vast universe, but Star-Lord's unexpected appearance had made him experience emotions he had thought impossible. The long-dormant feelings of paternal love began to emerge within his cosmic consciousness for the first time.
After contemplating these revelations for what felt like an eternity, he made a decision that would define his final moments. He released his remaining reserves of celestial energy and began moving in calculated patterns within the black hole's interior. Taking advantage of the fundamental instability of this artificially created gravitational well, he waited for a moment when the gravitational forces temporarily weakened, then projected his energy outward and attached it to Star-Lord's struggling form, pushing his son away from the event horizon.
"My child! This is the only meaningful thing I can do for you now. I have not been a good father, and my failures forced you to make this impossible choice. I am truly sorry!"
"Perhaps I should go find my beloved Meredith, but you cannot join us yet. You are Ego's descendant, the only god remaining in this universe! You must survive and live!"
After successfully pushing Star-Lord to a safer distance from the black hole's core, Ego began channeling every remaining fragment of his cosmic power to influence and destabilize the artificial gravitational anomaly.
Through his ultimate sacrifice, he succeeded in causing the black hole to collapse and disappear ahead of its natural timeline. The price he paid for this final act of paternal love was the complete destruction of his consciousness core, which had retained some cellular tissue after being initially consumed by the black hole, but now disintegrated entirely.
"My child..." With this whispered farewell, Ego's ancient consciousness dispersed completely across the cosmic void...
Star-Lord crashed heavily into the crater carved by the black hole's brief existence and looked around with complete bewilderment and confusion. His mind could not process or comprehend what had just occurred.
He retained only fragmented memories: being pulled inexorably into the black hole's gravitational field and approaching the point of no return, followed by absolute blank nothingness. He could not understand why the devastating black hole had suddenly vanished without explanation.
Before he could begin to analyze what had transpired, the entire core area began experiencing violent structural vibrations due to the loss of Ego's consciousness, which had served as the planet's controlling intelligence.
On the other side of the collapsing structure, Wanda and the other team members had successfully returned to the Blood Eagle and immediately attempted to contact Tony for a status report. They learned from him that both Star-Lord and Ego had disappeared together in the canyon during the final confrontation, and their current condition - whether alive or dead - remained completely unknown.
Captain Marvel and Thor exchanged meaningful glances and spoke in perfect unison: "We need to return immediately and find him!"
Wanda opened a dimensional portal for them, and they rushed back into the crumbling core area, while Natasha flew toward the planetary surface wielding her enchanted Mjolnir replica.
Tony and Rocket continued their desperate search for Star-Lord in the vicinity of the canyon, but their efforts yielded no trace of his whereabouts.
In contrast, Thor and Captain Marvel, who had arrived at the unstable core area, immediately discovered Star-Lord slumped unconsciously against the damaged stone wall. His personal jet propulsion device had been severely damaged during the previous intense battle.
Ego's cosmic power had completely dissipated throughout the planetary system, and Star-Lord's temporarily inherited divine abilities had vanished before he could even begin to understand their true potential.
"We found him! Now we extract him immediately!" Captain Marvel announced through the communication system.
Captain Marvel moved to Star-Lord's side, grasped his unconscious form, and threw him through the dimensional portal that Wanda had maintained open.
Tony and Rocket, upon receiving confirmation of Star-Lord's successful rescue, immediately accelerated their escape from the rapidly collapsing planetary remains.
The Nova Corps fleet and Stakar's Ravager teams began coordinated evacuation procedures from the dangerous zone. Yondu stood at the observation window of the Blood Eagle and watched Ego's massive planetary body gradually collapse into cosmic debris.
"Isn't this fireworks display absolutely magnificent, Stakar?" Yondu asked with satisfaction.
Stakar and his crew members nodded in solemn agreement: "Indeed! It truly is spectacular!"
As Ego's planet completely disappeared from existence within the cosmic void, Yondu returned to the control room with the intention of engaging in conversation with Stakar about their recent reunion.
At this critical moment, the mysterious sky screen became bright once again, preparing to display new footage.
[Star-Lord opened the door to Groot's quarters and couldn't help frowning deeply when he observed the chaotic tangle of branches filling the interior space.]
["Oh! Dude! Seriously? You absolutely need to clean up your living space - it's become a complete disaster area!"]
[The entire room had been overwhelmed by organic growth, with branches covering every surface, leaves piled into mountain-like formations on Groot's bed, and additional branches sprouting directly from the aquarium.]
[The young tree creature simply sat in the room playing video games, having transformed into a complete gaming addict!]
[Faced with Star-Lord's stern reproach, Groot replied with characteristic simplicity: "I am Groot!"]
[Star-Lord, who had developed the ability to understand Groot's language, immediately responded with irritation: "I'm not the one who's bored! You're bored! Do you even understand what boredom means?"]
["Sitting there constantly, playing those mindless games! What's even more boring is that I have to navigate around your vines every single day! I'm definitely not the bored one here!"]
[As he delivered this complaint, he kicked away the tree roots and vines that had become entangled around his feet.]
[Groot responded with obvious indifference: "I am Groot!"]
[This particular statement was clearly profanity, because Star-Lord, who had been preparing to remove the vines wrapped around the lighting fixture, visibly drooped his expression after hearing the translation.]
["Now I finally understand how Yondu felt during my childhood!"]
Yondu glanced at Star-Lord, who had returned to the cabin area, with a puzzled but amused expression, displaying a half-smile on his weathered features.
"So you finally understand the magnitude of headaches I experienced when dealing with a little troublemaker causing chaos right in front of me, eh?"
Star-Lord narrowed his eyes with mock defiance: "So! Does that mean you're going to threaten to eat me? Only then will I actually listen to your orders!"
Yondu smiled knowingly, chose not to provide a direct answer, turned around, and walked out of the room with characteristic swagger.
"This little guy has grown so remarkably large! How much time has actually passed?" Wanda, who had returned after the intense battle, crouched down and gently stroked baby Groot's head with affectionate care.
"Not very long at all," Rocket answered from his comfortable position in the pilot's chair. "Groot grows extraordinarily fast! In just two more days, it will reach the size we observed in the sky screen footage."
Pietro, who had been exploring the spacecraft like an enthusiastic tourist, offered his observation: "I think you should seriously consider preventing it from playing video games! Look at the sky screen evidence - it's developing into a complete gaming addict!"
"Absolutely! We should address this issue with appropriate seriousness!" Gamora placed her hands firmly on her hips and stared directly at baby Groot with parental authority.
Gamora then asked with genuine curiosity: "By the way, how did you develop the ability to understand what Groot is actually saying?"
This question left Star-Lord momentarily stumped. He rolled his eyes thoughtfully and looked toward Rocket for assistance.
"Hey there, Rocket! How exactly did you learn to understand Groot's communications?"
Rocket spread his hands in a casual gesture and explained: "Oh! If you listen very carefully and pay close attention, you can eventually understand what it's actually trying to communicate!"
Thor contributed his own perspective: "If you study the Flora Colossus language academically, you will understand it perfectly! I learned it during my education in Asgard - it was offered as an elective course in our curriculum!"