Ego led the group into his grand palace.
Along the way, he endlessly showcased his luminous energy gardens, the crystalline architecture manifested entirely by his thought, and the grand chronicle of his immortal existence to Star-Lord.
Star-Lord grew quieter and quieter as he listened.
Peter, however, looked utterly bored. Watching this old freak put on an act made him genuinely sick to his stomach.
Losing patience with the theater, he turned to Gamora and asked:
"Where's your sister?"
Gamora immediately glanced back toward the landing pad, only to realize Nebula had quietly slipped away at some point.
Taking advantage of the distraction, the group naturally split into two teams.
Ego and Star-Lord stayed behind to catch up on "father-son bonding," while Peter took Gamora and the others to hunt down Nebula. Mantis eagerly stepped forward to act as their guide.
The moment they stepped out of the palace gates, the high-pitched shriek of an approaching engine cut through the air.
Nebula was piloting a lightweight fighter craft, swooping down with all weapons blazing directly at Gamora.
"Nebula, stop!"
Gamora shouted, dodging the heavy plasma blasts while desperately trying to reason with her sister.
Predictably, it was completely useless.
Just as Gamora hesitated, unsure if she could bring herself to strike back against her own sister—
Peter casually executed a swift Rankyaku arc kick.
BOOM!
A hundred-meter flying vacuum blade sliced clean through the fighter, blowing it into a fiery wreck on the spot.
Nebula tumbled out of the wreckage in a battered heap. Yet instead of backing down, she grabbed a plasma rifle with suicidal frenzy and charged straight at Gamora, screeching at the top of her lungs:
"You won every single time! And every single time I lost, he replaced another piece of me with machinery!"
Gamora's voice trembled with raw emotion:
"I never wanted you to go through that! But I had reasons... I had to get stronger!"
Nebula let out a bitter, venomous laugh:
"Easy for you to say when you weren't the one being torn apart piece by piece!"
Watching the dysfunctional sisters spiral into their endless family drama, Peter stepped in and forcefully cut the melodramatic soap opera short.
"Sorry, ladies, but I'm really not in the mood for an eight o'clock daytime drama today."
With a flick of his wrist, he instantly subdued both Gamora and Nebula.
Before Nebula could struggle out of his grip, Peter pressed his palm firmly against her chest.
The soothing white radiance of the Horse Talisman washed over her entire body.
In a matter of seconds, the cold cybernetic parts grafted onto her frame began shedding rapidly. Twisted mechanical sockets fused seamlessly back into organic tissue, her metal spine was replaced by living flesh, and the cold plating on her face melted back into smooth, flawless skin.
Nebula's frantic struggles died down.
She stared down at her own hands in stunned disbelief. Her mechanical fingers were once again covered in soft skin and bone, and the constant, agonizing phantom pain that had plagued her for decades was completely gone.
Standing nearby, Gamora's eyes brimmed with tears.
"Nebula..."
Nebula looked at Peter, then turned her gaze toward Gamora, her expression shifting into a tsundere pout:
"Don't think for a second this means I forgive you."
Gamora sheathed her blade and stepped forward, pulling her sister into a tight embrace:
"I'm sorry... I was wrong to ignore what you were going through for so long."
Nebula's body stiffened for a moment before the icy barrier around her heart finally melted away:
"How do you plan to make it up to me?"
Gamora pulled back, her eyes resolute:
"Anything you ask for. If I have it, it's yours."
A genuine, faint smile finally flickered in Nebula's eyes:
"I don't want anything. I just want you to help me kill him."
Rocket couldn't help but interject:
"Can you two stop talking in riddles? Who the hell is 'him'?"
Exchanging a sharp glance, the sisters spoke the name in unified hatred:
"Thanos!"
Watching Peter heal Nebula so effortlessly, Mantis stood to the side, her soft antennae quivering lightly as hesitation flickered across her face.
Peter turned to her with a gentle smile:
"Something on your mind?"
Mantis stepped closer and gently placed her fingertips against Peter's forehead.
As she tapped into his emotional spectrum and caught glimpses of his memories, the trembling in her body gradually stilled.
"You care deeply about your family."
Peter answered matter-of-factly: "Of course. Family is the most valuable treasure there is."
Deeply moved by his words, Mantis summoned her courage and whispered:
"Please... follow me."
At the exact same moment Mantis was leading Peter's group to the cavern of forgotten bones...
"Did you ever actually love my mom?"
Facing Ego's grandiose invitation, Star-Lord simply asked the one question that had haunted him his entire life.
Ego's expression softened into a look of tender nostalgia:
"She made me falter, Peter. Truly."
"Which is why... when I put that tumor in her head, it broke my heart for a long time."
The air instantly deadlocked.
Peter's group happened to walk back into the main hall at that exact second, only to see Star-Lord leveling his dual blasters straight at Ego's chest.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
A storm of energy blasts tore through Ego's body, blasting a massive hole clean through his upper torso:
"YOU MOTHERFUCKER! YOU KILLED MY MOM!"
Blue-and-white Celestial energy flared instantly, restoring Ego's flesh as the warm paternal mask slipped off his face entirely.
"I gave her love! And I gave you life!"
Star-Lord kept screaming, holding down the triggers relentlessly:
"TO HELL WITH YOUR LIFE!"
As the golden facade peeled away, Ego raised his hand. Strands of blue energy erupted from the floor like massive tendrils, binding Star-Lord's limbs and pinning him into the air.
"You're still far too young, child."
Star-Lord thrashed against the energy restraints, roaring:
"DON'T CALL ME CHILD!"
Ego's voice turned arctic and devoid of warmth:
"You belong to me."
Ground fissures ruptured across the palace floor as countless energy tendrils shot up, ensnaring everyone present.
Gamora slashed one tendril in half, but a second immediately wrapped around her waist.
Nebula rushed forward to cut her free, only to be slammed to the ground by another tendril.
Rocket fired his blaster frantically, but the energy tendrils swallowed his plasma fire and hoisted him upside down by his ankles.
"Dammit! This stuff doesn't follow the laws of physics!"
Drax swung his dual daggers like a madman, chopping down one vine only for three more to take its place:
"I appreciate their enthusiasm, but I DO NOT LIKE THEM TOUCHING ME!"
Groot was wrapped up into a tight ball, whimpering in pain:
"I am Groot!"
Sif drew her longsword and sliced through the tendrils creeping up her legs, pushing her way toward Ego.
Yet faced with the overwhelming volume of Celestial energy, even her Asgardian strength began to falter.
Ego's eyes swept over Sif, unadulterated greed radiating from his posture.
"Asgardian bloodlines truly are magnificent."
"I've experimented with countless species across the cosmos, but an Asgardian female... is something I've yet to sample."
Sif's eyes flashed with absolute hatred, her teeth grit tight:
"In your dreams, old freak!"
Ego merely offered a cold, triumphant chuckle:
"No need to rush, my dear. Once I finish assimilating Quill, I'll have all the time in the universe to keep you company."
As he spoke, Star-Lord's eyes began to glaze over as the blue-and-white Light was forcibly siphoned from his core.
Right at that moment—
Peter, who was currently wrapped tightly in energy tendrils, casually took a step forward.
The tendrils attempting to crush him instantly shattered into harmless dust under a suffocating, invisible pressure.
Ego narrowed his eyes, issuing a dark warning:
"I know you're powerful, Peter Parker. But you seem to forget—this entire planet is my body."
SLAP!
The second the words left his mouth, Peter's palm cracked across Ego's face like a thunderbolt, sending him flying across the palace hall like a discarded ragdoll.
The instant Ego took the hit, every single energy tendril in the room lost its charge and dissolved into light.
Star-Lord plummeted from midair, caught safely by Gamora.
Rocket slammed onto the deck, rubbing his rear while cheering wildly:
"DO IT AGAIN, BRO!"
BOOM!
Ego erupted from the rubble, his Celestial aura flaring into a blinding tempest that shook the entire palace structure to its foundation.
"You dare strike me on MY OWN PLANET?!"
SLAP~!
Peter materialized in front of him in a flash, delivering a brutal backhand straight across the other side of Ego's face:
"What? Since when do I need to pick a place to beat your ass?"
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