"Yondu, I've already taken care of all the Ravagers who betrayed you."
Yondu sat up a little straighter and glanced around the medical bay. The faces he expected to see, the traitors were nowhere. The loyal crew stood stiffly, avoiding his gaze.
They all knew what the 'Care' meant when spoken by the Great Devil.
And Yondu… didn't feel an ounce of pity.
If he hadn't been ambushed and knocked unconscious, he would have executed every one of those mutineers himself. Traitors didn't get second chances among Ravagers.
"Appreciate it, Soren." Yondu rubbed his temples, then asked bluntly, "You're the one who pulled me outta that mess too, ain't you?"
"So… what do you need from me?"
He'd heard the stories of Soren killing villains, tyrants, and cosmic threats… but he didn't kill without purpose. If Soren had wanted him dead, Yondu would already be ashes.
The man didn't save people on a whim either.
Soren smiled faintly, recognizing the sharpness in Yondu that set him apart from most Ravagers. "What I need is simple."
"Tell me the location of Ego's planet."
"…" Yondu felt the world around him stop…
The name Ego was a wound he kept buried deep. Years ago, he'd made a deal with the living planet… find the children Ego had scattered across the universe and deliver them to him.
For each delivery, Ego had paid well.
But then Yondu discovered the truth, none of the children survived.
Ego devoured all of them.
The guilt had cut Yondu so deeply he ended the deal… and when he later kidnapped a boy from Earth, he kept him instead of delivering him.
Peter Quill had become his crew, his headache, his son in all but name.
"Peter Quill is my friend. He's already on Ego's planet. I don't need to explain the rest, do I?"
Yondu swallowed hard.
The mention of Peter sent a spike of fear down Yondu's spine. He knew exactly what happened to Ego's offspring once they reached that planet.
And Peter… Peter had the same spark Ego wanted.
"The Star of Ego lies in a dark sector," Yondu said at last. "A dead stretch of space with only one planet in it and that's his."
"No charts point there and no scanners lock on it. Most folks could fly past a hundred times and never know. But…"
He lifted his eyes, resolve hardening. "I can take you there."
Soren nodded. Still, something in Yondu's description tugged at him… a dark, isolated star field with a single celestial body in its center. It felt familiar, eerily so, but he couldn't quite grasp why.
Soren didn't waste another second.
Peter Quill and the others were already in Ego's hands, and every minute they lost was another minute closer to disaster.
At his command, Yondu's Ravager warship swung toward the dark sector where Ego's planet hid.
Ravager ships were battered, noisy, and older than most of their crew but they were built for war. Every generator and every jump core was worn down by years of combat, yet still brutally efficient.
Under Soren's pressure an unspoken weight that none of the Ravagers dared test, they pushed the vessel to its limits, chaining space-jumps one after another until the hull vibrated.
"How long?" Soren asked, folding his arms. Urgency flickered behind his calm tone. Ego was dangerous enough on his own, but Soren also needed any scrap of news about the Hulk.
Yondu checked the controls. "'Bout half a day if we keep jumpin' like this."
Rocket, newly revived thanks to Soren's healing potion, hopped up onto a console. "Half a day? Great. Plenty of time for Star-Prince to get himself killed."
"Though, uh… Quill's old man didn't seem like a bad guy. Are we sure he's dangerous?"
Soren glanced at the raccoon with a look that made Rocket's fur puff involuntarily. "Tell me, Rocket,"
"Do I look like a good person or a bad person?"
Rocket instantly shut his mouth, ears flattening. He decided silence was the smartest possible answer.
Meanwhile, Freyja was gently stroking the top of Rocket's head like a pet.
"…" Rocket's expression twisted somewhere between humiliation and resignation.
If it were anyone else, he'd already be biting ankles but he had seen how Soren and Freyja interacted.
He wasn't suicidal.
So he endured… grudgingly.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
Ego's Planet…
While Soren's group raced through space, Ego had already welcomed Peter Quill and the others into his world.
The planet was stunning and rolling fields of luminous flowers, crystalline mountains, rivers that shimmered like starlight. A paradise sculpted over millions of years.
So perfect.
And yet… it was empty.
Aside from Ego and the Mantis, no other living creatures walked this world. Not even insects.
It was a beautiful, silent dream one that felt wrong for reasons Gamora couldn't quite name.
She kept her guard up, observing quietly. Ego hadn't done anything suspicious yet, but she trusted her instincts.
Before bringing Quill here, Ego had investigated the Guardians thoroughly. Their connection to Soren was no secret.
Soren was powerful… so powerful that Ego himself hesitated.
If Peter didn't inherit celestial blood, Ego wouldn't harm him. Killing Soren's ally would bring consequences even a living planet should fear.
But…
If Peter had inherited his divine essence?
Then Ego's centuries-long plan could finally be completed. Absorbing Quill's energy would give him enough celestial power to activate the seeds he had planted across countless worlds.
His expansion would grow unstoppable. And once he was at full strength…
Even Soren would no longer be a threat.
Ego smiled to himself as he guided Peter deeper into the heart of his planet.
Everything depended on the blood that ran through Peter's veins.