Faced with Star-Lord's rage-filled roar, Ego didn't bother offering a single word in reply.
It wasn't because he had suddenly seen the light; it was simply because he no longer possessed even a fraction of residual energy to project his voice.
Peter squeezed his hands tightly into solid fists. With that singular motion, Ego let out a sharp, ragged gasp as the very last lines of his internal defense collapsed completely.
Energy Drain Dynamics:
Drain Rate: Compounded by over 200%.
Ego's Status: Physical/energy construct undergoing total structural breakdown.
Celestial Particles: Converging along invisible vector paths into Peter's central core.
A sense of unprecedented fullness washed through Peter's body, causing him to narrow his eyes in pure, effortless satisfaction.
Ego's final whimper dissolved silently into the void, leaving behind not even a single parting word.
This twisted Celestial—an ancient horror who had existed for billions of years, traversed countless star systems, fathered scores of children only to murder them and their mothers—vanished from the universe in the most utterly unceremonious way possible.
He died without making a sound.
When Peter finally pulled back his hands, he reflexively clenched his fists, noticing his skin was glowing with a faint, translucent luminescence.
It had to be said—the sheer volume of energy Ego had stockpiled over the eons was mind-boggling. Even with the simultaneous assistance of the Omnitrix and the Tiger Talisman, the sudden rush of power had almost caused him to pop.
Of course, "popping" didn't mean his body was going to physically explode.
Rather, he had come dangerously close to losing his humanoid boundary altogether—risking a permanent transformation into a conscious, living planet, just like Ego.
While Peter was absorbed in these thoughts, Star-Lord and the rest of the Guardians suddenly realized a terrifying fact:
The very ground beneath their feet was dissolving into nothingness.
Which made perfect sense.
The entire planet was Ego's body. Now that Ego had been completely drained and absorbed by Peter, it was only a matter of time before the remaining structural husk scattered to the cosmic winds.
"Holy cow—!"
A massive structural fissure ripped open directly between Rocket and Groot, nearly swallowing the raccoon whole.
Fortunately, Groot was still in his full-sized giant form, allowing him to react instantly and grab Rocket by his suit before he could plummet.
"RUN!" Rocket shrieked, frantically gesturing for Groot to haul ass back toward the Destiny—
It wasn't that he was being lazy; with his stubby little legs, trying to sprint across a collapsing planetary surface on foot would end in immediate tragedy...
The group broke into a frantic sprint toward the ship's landing zone.
Yet their physical speed wasn't nearly fast enough. The planet was disintegrating at a rate far outpacing their absolute top sprint.
To make matters worse, as the planet collapsed, its gravitational pull was vanishing entirely.
If things kept going like this, in less than thirty seconds they would be left floating in the vacuum of space, where absolute zero temperatures and lack of oxygen would kill them in short order!
"WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!" Drax bellowed in utter desperation!
Mantis, on the other hand, had given up entirely.
She came to a complete stop, staring blankly toward the spot where Ego had just vanished.
Her antennae drooped low over her forehead, her expression an unreadable tangle of emotions—grief, relief, and hollow abandonment all mixed together, yet none of them fully realized.
"Hey!"
Peter shouted across the collapsing terrain at her:
"Don't tell me you're planning on being buried alongside your deadbeat dad?!"
Mantis snapped back to reality and looked up at Peter. Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out.
Perhaps dying right here wasn't the worst outcome. After all, she had never really possessed a purpose or value of her own anyway.
She was merely a tool required by Ego. Now that Ego was dead, the tool naturally had no reason left to exist.
With that thought, she slowly closed her eyes, fully preparing herself to drift off into the endless quiet of deep space.
Right then, she felt a firm grip catch her by the wrist.
In the next instant, with an unyielding, dominant pull, Peter yanked her cleanly into his arms!
Mantis snapped her eyes open, staring up at Peter in absolute shock.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I just can't stand by and watch someone die," Peter muttered smoothly, using his energy flight to carry her rapidly toward the Destiny.
"Thank you..." she whispered softly.
"WE'RE STILL NOT GONNA MAKE IT! THE SHIP IS TOO FAR!" Rocket glanced back toward Peter, screaming at the top of his lungs:
"MY GUY! IS NOW REALLY THE TIME TO BE PICKING UP CHICKS?!"
"USE THAT INSANE BRAIN OF YOURS AND THINK OF SOMETHING!"
Peter rolled his eyes at the foul-mouthed raccoon, then raised his hand and casually snapped his fingers.
SNAP!
In the very next second, under the remote command of the Wheel of Fate, the Destiny accelerated at extreme speed toward the group.
As it approached, multiple mechanical arms extended from the hull, snaring each member of the crew with pinpoint accuracy, pulling them inside, and depositing them safely onto the deck.
"Phew... we survived!" Rocket let out a massive sigh of relief.
The rest of the crew slumped down, looking like survivors who had just barely cheated death.
Only Peter stood looking out the viewport toward the empty space where Planet Ego used to exist, his brows subtly knitting together.
He suddenly realized he had missed out.
He had been so focused on using his Celestial transformation to drain Ego's energy reserves that he forgot to grab some prime artifacts to sacrifice to the system!
Take Ego's egg-shaped energy ship, for example—if he had offered that bad boy up to the system, it would have yielded at least 10,000 to 20,000 Sacrifice Points at minimum.
Still, setting that minor regret aside, the haul from this trip to Ego's planet was undeniably massive.
Not only had he permanently integrated Celestial DNA into the Omnitrix, but he had also completely drained Ego's accumulated reserves.
Once fully refined and purified inside his body, Ego's raw energy yielded a staggering total...
Peter did a quick mental calculation, nodding to himself: it was roughly equivalent to... over half the total energy storage of an Infinity Stone!
Not bad at all. This cosmic road trip could officially be called a massive success.
With that thought, Peter took a deep breath, deciding it was time to part ways with Star-Lord's crew once they touched down on Xandar.
They would continue being the Guardians of the Galaxy, while Peter needed to head back to Earth.
Star-Lord and the others naturally had zero objections to his plan. Used to their loose, nomadic lifestyle, none of them had any interest in moving to Earth to live under Peter's wing.
Parting ways here was by far the best choice for everyone.
Of course, if Peter ever needed their help down the road, they would be the very first to answer the call.
Though... would Peter ever realistically find himself in a situation where he needed their help?
After exchanging farewells with Star-Lord's crew on Xandar, Peter turned the ship around to head back to Earth.
Just as he locked in the navigation coordinates, soft footsteps echoed behind him.
It was Mantis.
She stood at the cockpit entrance, hesitating to step inside, her antennae twitching slightly as if carefully weighing her words.
Peter didn't turn around: "Something on your mind?"
"I..." She paused, her voice quiet. "I don't have anywhere left to go."
It was direct—so direct it left almost no room for misinterpretation.
Peter fell silent for a moment before casting a quick side-eye toward Sif, who was relaxing nearby:
"And by that, you mean...?"
"Can I come to Earth with you?" Mantis finally summoned the courage to speak her mind. "I won't take up much space, and I don't need much food..."
Before she could finish her sentence, a voice laced with subtle amusement echoed from the co-pilot seat as Sif smirked slightly:
"Peter... does this conversation feel just a little bit familiar to you?"