[After Gamora dodged another energy blast from the Abilisk, she caught sight of Groot still dancing merrily in the middle of the battlefield.]
["Groot! Get out of there! You're going to get hurt!" she shouted over the chaos.]
[Groot noticed her yelling and cheerfully waved back, completely missing the urgency in her voice.]
[Gamora didn't have time to explain—she fired another round and jetted away from a swooping tentacle.]
[Groot continued his joyful dance, oblivious to the destruction around him.]
[Drax was hurled through the air by the creature's massive appendage, nearly crushing the tiny tree. When their eyes met, Groot immediately froze like a guilty child caught misbehaving.]
[Drax blinked in confusion and looked away. The moment his attention shifted, Groot resumed dancing.]
[Drax's gaze snapped back, and Groot froze again, only his large eyes darting around innocently.]
[With bigger problems to handle, Drax shook his head and rejoined the battle. The instant he left, Groot burst back into enthusiastic movement.]
[A small flying insect caught Groot's attention, and he immediately abandoned his choreography to chase it. After several clumsy attempts, he managed to snatch it from the air and promptly popped it into his mouth.]
[Rocket swooped down just in time to witness this culinary experiment. "No! No! Spit it out! That's disgusting!"]
[He smacked Groot on the back of the head, sending the insect flying, before rushing back into combat.]
[Groot's mood soured after the scolding, but perked up when he spotted a lizard scurrying nearby. Here was a perfect target for his frustration.]
[The lizard sensed danger and bolted, but Groot's branches shot out like natural lassos, wrapping around the creature's body.]
[Using his extending limbs, Groot quickly closed the distance and leaped onto the lizard's back like a tiny cowboy.]
[The terrified reptile bucked and weaved, trying desperately to throw off its wooden rider. Groot nearly lost his grip several times, saved only by shooting out additional branches to anchor himself.]
[After regaining his balance, Groot rode his unwilling mount with obvious delight as it careened around the battlefield.]
[The panicked lizard charged directly under the Abilisk's massive bulk, making everyone's heart skip a beat as they imagined Groot being crushed.]
[Finally, the lizard's wild bucking sent Groot tumbling to the ground. He picked himself up, dusted off his bark, and immediately forgot the entire incident—resuming his dance as if nothing had happened.]
[The music cut off abruptly when Drax's flying body smashed the speaker to pieces.]
[Groot stared at the destroyed sound system for a moment, then let out an outraged roar and charged at Drax, pummeling him with tiny branch-fists. The blows barely registered to the warrior's thick skin.]
"Oh my God, that little tree guy is adorable!" Garfield Spider-Man gushed, watching Groot's antics with obvious envy. "I want a tiny dancing tree friend!"
"That was terrifying—I really thought he was going to get squished!" Spider-Gwen shook her head in relief.
Garfield chuckled. "Same here! My heart stopped when he rode that lizard under the monster."
George Stacy folded his newspaper with a disapproving frown. "Cute or not, that little creature has serious behavioral issues. Peter Quill clearly needs to work on discipline."
"Dad! Could you maybe not critique alien parenting techniques for five minutes?" Gwen rolled her eyes dramatically.
George sighed, muttering something about daughters always taking everyone else's side.
[Drax picked himself up and studied the rampaging Abilisk with growing excitement. Suddenly, his face lit up with what he clearly considered genius-level tactical insight.]
["This creature's hide is impenetrable from the outside!" he announced proudly. "Therefore, I must attack it from within!"]
["What?!" Gamora stopped firing and stared at him in horror.]
["No! No! Drax, wait! Think about this!" She desperately tried to reach him, but Drax was already in motion.]
[Drunk on his own brilliance, Drax laughed with pure joy and sprinted toward the monster, completely deaf to Gamora's warnings.]
[He took a mighty leap and dove directly into the Abilisk's gaping maw, disappearing down its throat.]
[Star-Lord pulled off his mask, staring in disbelief. "What the hell is he doing?"]
["He said the skin was too thick from the outside, so he—"]
[Star-Lord landed beside Gamora, shaking his head. "That makes absolutely no sense!"]
[Gamora looked utterly defeated. "I was trying to tell him—"]
["The skin's just as thick on the inside as it is on the outside!"]
[Gamora gritted her teeth in frustration. "I KNOW that!"]
[Meanwhile, inside the creature's stomach, Drax was enthusiastically stabbing away with both blades, completely committed to his flawed strategy despite its obvious lack of effectiveness.]
[Star-Lord sighed heavily, checking his weapon's charge. "There's a weak spot—a laceration on its neck. Rocket! Make it look up!"]
[He snapped his mask back on and took flight alongside Rocket to draw the creature's attention.]
[Rocket opened fire and taunted loudly, "Hey, ugly! Yeah, you, sea monkey! Eyes up here!"]
[The Abilisk took the bait, rearing back and swinging its tentacles at the aerial targets.]
[When the appendages failed to connect, the creature opened its massive jaws and unleashed a torrent of multicolored energy.]
["Watch out, Quill!" Rocket warned, but took the blast himself instead, his weapon sparking and catching fire.]
[Gamora saw her opportunity as the creature's head tilted back, exposing the wound. She aimed carefully at the vulnerable spot, but her ammunition ran dry at the crucial moment.]
[She threw the useless gun aside in frustration, drew her sword, and extended the blade to its full length.]
[Star-Lord couldn't evade the creature's reach—tentacles wrapped around him as another energy blast scorched his armor.]
[Seeing Star-Lord in danger, Gamora sprinted toward the monster, using its own tentacles as stepping stones. She leaped twice to build momentum, then soared upward and drove her blade deep into the neck wound.]
["AHHHHH!" Gravity became her ally as Gamora roared and dragged the sword downward, carving a massive gash through the creature's flesh. Yellow ichor erupted from the wound like a geyser.]