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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟗
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐓'𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄

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The sibling reunion was soon cut short by the shouting coming from nearby. Both of the Quills let out long sighs as they ended their embrace and turned their attention back to the situation at hand. Primrose wasn't surprised when they found everyone glaring at Rocket, especially after they almost destroyed the entire palace. Although it did bring the brunette woman joy knowing that she wasn't the only one that the raccoon drove crazy with his plans.

"What are you doing?! You could've killed us!" Drax shouted, causing the furry creature to turn around in his seat to face them.

"Uh, 'thank you, Rocket'?" the raccoon responded without bothering to hide the slight annoyance in his voice.

"We had it under control," the Kylosian man announced, right as Mantis peeked around Drax with a terrified look on her face.

"We did not. That is only an extension of his true self. He will be back soon," the woman in green told them with fear in her voice while Peter's attention landed on the silent woman standing in the corner of the ship.

"What's Smurfette doing here?"

"Whatever I need to do to get a d*mn ride home," Nebula responded with anger in her voice right as Rocket's attention landed on the Luphomoid woman.

"She tried to murder me and Primrose!" the raccoon shouted, causing Nebula to send him a sharp glare.

"I saved both of you, you stupid fox!"

"He's not a fox," Gamora declared while sending an irritated look in her sister's direction.

"I am Groot!"

"I'm not a raboon, either!"

Groot instantly turned around and shot a glare Rocket's way, something Primrose hadn't seen in a very long time. It wasn't long after that when the small creature started speaking slower than ever before. "I am Groot."

"Raccoon. Whatever," Rocket sighed right as the ship began shaking uncontrollably.

After exchanging a concerned look with her brother and Gamora, Primrose turned her attention towards one of the windows, only for her blood to run cold. Directly outside of their ship, blue glowing tentacles emerged from the floor and shot up into the sky. Primrose stared out the window in horror as they began wrapping around the ship. It wasn't long after that when she slowly turned around to face her brother. "How do we kill a Celestial?"

"There's a center to him," Peter explained while walking across the ship towards the ladder that would take him to the top deck, "his brain, his soul, whatever it is. Some sort of protective shell."

"It's in the caverns below the surface," Mantis explained right as the Quill man began climbing up the ladder, making Primrose realize she forgot to tell him an important piece of information.

"Peter, wait!" the brunette woman called out to her brother before following him up the ladder, but it was already too late.

"Yondu?!" Peter exclaimed while Primrose pulled herself up onto the top deck before the Quill man turned around to face his sister, "what the h*ll is going on?!"

"Long story that can wait until later," the Quill woman told him before the tentacles began pulling the ship down into the ground, "right now, I need you two to get us out of here!"

Yondu let out a long sigh as he pushed the steering wheel as far as it could go. His actions caused the ship to fly into the air, only for the tentacles to bring them back down. Primrose stumbled back and slammed into the wall as shouts from below greeted their ears. As soon as she regained her bearings, she gripped the railing as tightly as she could while Yondu looked over the dashboard. "Thrusters are out."

"Guess I should be glad I was a skinny kid," Peter announced after opening a hatch near the dashboard and messing around with the wires, "otherwise, you'd have delivered me to this maniac. Maybe even Primrose, if the price was right."

"You still reckon that's the reason I kept the two of you around, you idiot?!" Yondu shouted before sending a sharp glare in the redheaded man's direction.

"That's what you told me, you old doofus!" the Quill man retaliated while Primrose did her best not to let out a scoff at her bickering. It really was like old times.

"Well, once I figured out what happened to them other kids, I wasn't just gonna hand you over," the Udonta man responded before glancing back at Primrose and turning his attention back to Peter, "and I was never planning on delivering Primrose to this guy. No matter the price."

"You said you were gonna eat us!"

"That was being funny!"

Peter instantly stopped what he was doing and turned his attention toward Yondu. The redheaded man just stared at him for a long moment before finally opening his mouth to respond. "Not to us!"

"We can argue about our traumatic childhood memories later!" Primrose shouted, causing both men to glance back at her with annoyance in their eyes before she pointed at the dashboard, "don't look at me! Get us out of here!"

"You people have issues," Rocket called up to the trio above him, earning an eye roll from the Quill woman even though she knew he couldn't see the gesture.

"Well, of course, I have issues," Peter responded right as a figure with only a nervous system appeared in front of them and let out a loud roar. Primrose stared at the thing in horror while her brother pointed straight at it. "That's my father!"

Despite the fear that was flooding through her veins, the Quill woman couldn't help rolling her eyes at the back of her brother's head. It wasn't long after that when a beeping sound cut through the air. The noise caused Peter to slam the small hatch shut and reach for the second steering wheel. "Thrusters are back up!"

Neither Peter nor Yondu hesitated to speed the ship forward and crash into what was now Ego. They continued flying through the palace until they broke through the window in front of them. Primrose's grip around the bar behind her became tighter than humanly possible as they free-fell towards the planet's surface. The annoyance within her did nothing but double as she turned her attention away from the window and to the two men in front of her.

"We should be going up!" the Quill woman shouted, only for their speed to pick up as they continued to fly toward the ground.

"We can't!" Peter called back to her, earning confused looks from his sister and Yondu before he continued his explanation, "Ego wants to eradicate the universe as we know it! We have to stop him! Rocket!"

"Got it!" the raccoon shouted from below them before lasers shot out from the small ship. Primrose's eyes widened to the size of small planets as she watched lasers cut through the planet's surface before Peter flew them through. Rocket continued firing at everything in their path until they reached the planet's inner hollow region. It wasn't long after that when the raccoon's voice cut through the air once again. "So, we're saving the galaxy again?"

"I guess," the Quill man muttered under his breath without taking his eyes off the window in front of him.

"Awesome!" Rocket responded before using the lasers to destroy a rock formation that was in their path, "we're really gonna be able to jack up our prices if we're two-time galaxy savers."

"I seriously can't believe that's where your mind goes," Primrose scoffed while rubbing one of her hands down the side of her face.

"It was just a random thought, Prim. I thought we were friends," the raccoon retaliated as he pushed some of the buttons on the dashboard above him, "of course, I care about the planets, and the buildings, and all the animals on the planets."

"And the people," Peter told him, only to earn a small "meh" from Rocket.

Primrose kept her death grip on the railing behind her as Peter and Yondu piloted them through the planet. The only sound that could be heard was from the lasers Rocket was firing and a faint static from the radio. The Quill woman stared at the radio on the wall for a moment, wondering why all they could hear was white noise. It wasn't long before she shook it off and turned her attention back to the window. She was just in time to see Rocket take out another wall that was between them and the inside of the planet.

What felt like an eternity passed when the silence was finally broken by Yondu, who was glancing between the window and Peter. "Tell me why Ego wants you here."

"He needs my genetic connection to the light to help destroy the universe," the Quill man responded as if it was the most normal thing in the world, completely unaware of the confused look he was receiving from his sister, "he tried to teach me how to control the power."

"Could you control it?" Primrose asked while her brain continued to go over the information that was just given to her.

"A little," Peter told his sister with a small shrug, "I made a ball."

The Quill woman couldn't fight the sly grin forming on her lips as she stared at the back of her brother's head. "A ball?"

"Now's not the time to mock me, Rosie!" the redheaded man exclaimed, only to receive a laugh from Primrose before the former let out a sigh, "I thought as hard as I could. It was all that I could come up with."

"You 'thought'? You think when I make this arrow fly I use my head?" Yondu said, drawing the siblings' attention to him.

However, before either of them could respond, the ship crashed into a wall. The force made Primrose lose her grip on the railing and slam to the floor. The ship soon swerved to the right, causing the Quill woman to collide with the wall. A small groan passed over her lips right as the ship began flying smoothly. After lying on the floor for another long moment, Primrose forced herself to her feet. She shook out her arms and legs before moving to stand behind Peter's chair. What she saw in front of her made her jaw drop.

Despite knowing she shouldn't be, the brunette woman was extremely impressed by her surroundings. Everything seemed to be brightly colored and all the rocks protected the glowing nerves. Primrose thought it was extraordinary and wished she had the time to learn more about it. But she knew they needed to take down Ego sooner rather than later.

"That's Ego's core," Mantis announced as they slowly approached a sphere that sat in the center of everything.

"That ore is thick, Rocket," Gamora told the raccoon right before they stopped in front of what looked like a giant rock.

"I got it covered," Rocket announced while slowly pushing a lever forward, causing all the lasers to move to the front of the ship, "keep it steady."

As soon as he finished speaking, a bright orange beam shot out from the ship and hit the core. Primrose watched in awe as the giant laser began cutting through the thick outer layer of Ego's core. It looked as if the protective covering was just melting away. The Quill woman leaned forward onto her brother's chair without thinking, wanting to get an even closer look at what was happening in front of her. It's just her luck that a beautiful planet was really a power-hungry celestial.

"We drill into the center, we kill him!" Peter announced without taking his eyes off the destruction they were causing.

It wasn't long after that when the static became clear, allowing Kraglin's voice to greet their ears. After hearing his second-in-command call out to him a few times, Yondu leaned closer to the radio to respond. "What is it, Kraglin?"

"Hey, remember that Ayesha chick?" the Obfonteri man questioned, causing Primrose to look away from the core to stare at the radio.

"Yeah, why?" Yondu responded as he turned to look at the Quill siblings, only for all the emotion to fade from his face, "oh, h*ll!"

By the time Primrose saw Sovereign ships approaching them, Peter and Yondu were already turning the ship in the opposite direction. A loud bang sounded from somewhere below before their laser vanished into thin air. The Quill woman's grip on Peter's seat tightened as she watched blasts from the enemies' ships pass them. It wasn't long before one of the Sovereign's attacks landed a hit, causing the ship to turn on its side. If it wasn't for her brother grabbing onto Primrose's arm, she would've slammed into the wall for the second time.

As soon as they got their ship upright, Peter released his grasp on his sister's arm to resume flying the ship. That allowed Primrose to walk to the railing and look down at Rocket. "Why aren't you firing the lasers?!"

"They blew out the generator!" the raccoon called back to her as he unbuckled his seatbelt and rushed out onto the deck behind him. His answer caused the Quill siblings to exchange a look before Primrose climbed down the ladder to see what their furry friend was up to. When they arrived on the lower deck, Primrose was surprised to find only Nebula and Groot. However, before she had a chance to question where everyone else was, Rocket spoke up once again. "I think I packed a small detonator."

"A detonator is worthless without explosives," Nebula retaliated with irritation and panic in her voice.

"Well, we got these," Rocket responded while holding up the batteries he stole from the Sovereign.

"Is that thing strong enough to kill Ego?" Peter questioned after handing Primrose a jetpack, which she gladly accepted and slipped on without a second thought.

"If it is, it'll cause a chain reaction throughout his entire nervous system," the Quill woman announced, earning a confused look from her brother, "in simpler terms, the entire planet will explode."

"Prim's right. We'll have to get out of here fast. I rigged a timer," the raccoon told them before placing Groot on his head and taking a step back.

It wasn't long after that when the Quill siblings pressed the button behind their ears to make their helmets appear. The four of them soon jumped out of the ship and flew toward Ego's core. They managed to dodge the many Sovereign attacks as they soared through the inner workings of the planet. That continued until they not-so-gracefully landed in the tunnel they created.

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