Under Drax's encouragement, Mantis actually managed to put Ego, in his energy state, into a deep sleep.
It was undeniably impressive.
But moments later—
Clang!
A heartless rock struck the crouching Mantis with perfect accuracy.
It had fallen off when the golden fighter was dragged out of the ground.
"Ah—"
After a short cry, Mantis fell soundly asleep.
A huge bump visibly swelled on her head.
Pink and puffy.
"Mantis—! Watch out—!"
Drax realized it too late. She was already down before he reacted.
He hurriedly shouted.
But the warning was utterly pointless.
As Mantis went offline, the force keeping Ego hypnotized dissipated as well.
The ground began to shake again.
White light representing the planet's energy surged around them.
Ego was waking up...
Elsewhere.
Quill and Rocket had finally reached the hub.
To their dismay, they discovered an even sturdier outer shell. It had plenty of holes in it.
But they could neither drill through nor blast it open.
Quill's eyes shifted as he looked at tiny Groot by his feet.
"Oh! This is a terrible idea."
Understanding Quill's intentions, Rocket, who knew just how unreliable Groot could be, shook his head like a rattle-drum.
"But we don't have any other options..."
There was a trace of helplessness in Quill's voice.
Seeing that, Rocket became incredibly irritated:
"This is ridiculous!
Rocket, do this... Rocket, do that..."
Carrying the bomb and Groot, he grumbled all the way deeper inside.
Thump!
He casually set the bomb down on a rock.
Looking into Groot's wide, innocent eyes, he patiently explained:
"First, press this to activate it, then press this button.
After that, you'll have five minutes to get away..."
At this point, Rocket pointed at another button with extreme seriousness:
"I'll say this again: no matter what! Never press this button!
Because