However, this period of peaceful recovery and emotional healing was not destined to last, as something completely unexpected began happening to Star-Lord that would change everything for the Guardians.
The team was gathered together in the Benatar's common area, sharing their morning meal and enjoying some rare downtime, when Gamora began to notice that Peter seemed unusually distracted and uncomfortable. He kept rubbing his eyes as if they were irritated or strained, and occasionally pressed his hand against his chest with an expression of obvious discomfort and confusion.
"Peter," Gamora said quietly, her voice filled with growing concern, "are you feeling alright? You look like something's bothering you."
Gamora's gentle question immediately caused all the other Guardians to turn their attention toward their leader, who was now frowning with obvious distress.
"Honestly, I'm not sure," Star-Lord replied, narrowing his eyes and blinking repeatedly. "This is really strange. I can't properly explain what I'm experiencing, but something definitely feels... different."
"Well, I know thinking clearly isn't exactly your greatest strength," Rocket commented in his characteristically sarcastic manner, "but do you have any idea what might be causing these symptoms?"
However, before Peter could formulate any kind of response, Kraglin suddenly spoke up in a rather panicked and alarmed tone: "Captain, your eyes! Look at your eyes!"
All the Guardians immediately focused their attention on Star-Lord's face and collectively gasped in shock at what they observed.
"Peter," Gamora said with obvious worry and fear, reaching out toward him, "your eyes! They've completely changed color!"
Star-Lord could sense the transformation happening within himself, and this particular sensation had only occurred once before in his entire life—during his confrontation with his biological father on Ego's living planet.
As the ancient Celestial being had traveled throughout the universe over countless millennia, he had methodically planted seeds of his own essence on every inhabited world he had visited. While Ego himself had been destroyed and most of these dormant seeds had died with him, some had apparently survived the death of their creator and were now beginning to consume and transform the planets they had been planted on, slowly but steadily devouring entire worlds.
Star-Lord had made it his personal mission to ensure that every one of these remaining seed fragments was completely eradicated and destroyed, determined that his insane father's horrific legacy would never be allowed to spread throughout the galaxy.
Over the past year, thanks to Kraglin's careful research and the coordinates he had managed to recover from Ravager databases, Peter had learned the approximate locations where most of these seeds had originally been planted. The Guardians had been traveling systematically from star system to star system, from planet to planet, searching for any trace of Ego's influence. Most of the time, they ended up returning from these missions empty-handed, having found nothing but dead worlds. However, whenever they did manage to locate an active seed, they quickly destroyed it using various weapons and explosives.
What had become increasingly troubling, however, was their gradual discovery that after each existing Ego seed was destroyed, the next seed they encountered seemed to become progressively stronger and more difficult to eliminate.
This pattern was not only annoying from a practical standpoint, but it was also deeply disturbing to Star-Lord personally. He couldn't help but wonder if the remaining seeds were somehow reacting to the Guardians' systematic hunt, learning from each encounter and adapting their defenses accordingly. Was this cosmic cleanup mission becoming increasingly dangerous and difficult as they continued?
"What the hell is happening here? We killed Ego completely, didn't we? How is Quill suddenly manifesting these powers again?" Rocket demanded loudly, his voice filled with confusion and growing alarm.
"Would you shut up for a minute and let us think?" Gamora snapped at the raccoon, crossing her arms in frustration. "Whatever Ego was, he possessed incredible power that we're still trying to understand. Just because we destroyed his physical form doesn't mean every trace of his influence disappeared."
"Quill," Drax began in his typically direct manner, "you are the biological descendant of Ego the Living Planet. You possess the genetic heritage of what was essentially a demigod, and judging from your current physical condition and symptoms, this suggests that you may still be able to access and utilize some measure of that divine power."
Most of the other Guardians seemed skeptical about this rather far-fetched theory, but Star-Lord found himself genuinely curious about the possibility and wanted to test whether Drax might be correct. He closed his eyes and tried to recall the first time he had ever felt the overwhelming power of his Celestial heritage flowing through his body during the battle on Ego's surface.
At first, Star-Lord found absolutely nothing—no trace of energy, no sense of connection to anything greater than himself. However, he refused to become discouraged and continued concentrating with intense focus and determination.
After several long minutes of meditation and internal searching, Star-Lord suddenly opened his eyes with obvious excitement. "I—I think I can feel something! There's definitely some kind of energy there!"
Star-Lord laughed with genuine euphoria as he experienced a familiar sensation—he felt as if he were back on Ego's ancient planet once again, with that distinctive power of the gods flowing through his entire body and energizing every cell. However, the connection was significantly weaker than it had been during his previous encounters with this ability.
Nevertheless, this was exactly what he needed to prove that the power still existed within him. Star-Lord stood motionless for a long moment, carefully absorbing and cataloging the energy while thinking strategically about how he might be able to control and direct it effectively.
He found himself recalling some of Yondu's wisdom about controlling his fin and yaka arrow. The blue-skinned Ravager had always emphasized that true mastery came from following your heart and instincts rather than overthinking every decision with your rational mind.
So what approach should he take with this divine power?
Star-Lord remained standing in place while the other Guardians watched him intently. Glowing energy continued swirling visibly around his hands, and Peter felt somewhat confused and uncertain about how to properly begin experimenting with these abilities. However, this initial manifestation was more than sufficient proof that he could indeed access his godlike power. Even though Ego's physical body and consciousness had been completely destroyed, Star-Lord apparently still possessed the genetic structure of a demigod, which meant he retained access to some level of divine power. Of course, because of his half-human heritage, his godlike abilities were considerably weaker than what a full Celestial could accomplish, but this discovery was still incredibly exciting. It meant that Star-Lord could potentially learn to use these powers effectively, although he understood that mastering them would require extensive practice and experimentation.
"Quill, are you actually planning to do something with that energy, or are you just going to stand there looking like an idiot?" Rocket asked with obvious impatience and irritation.
"Give me a minute, Rocket. I've only successfully used this power maybe four times in my entire life," Star-Lord replied, still concentrating on maintaining his connection to the energy.
"Well, what exactly did you accomplish the last time you used it?" Gamora asked with genuine curiosity.
"I... I transformed myself into a giant version of Pac-Man," Star-Lord admitted with obvious embarrassment.
Gamora stared at him in speechless disbelief for several seconds before turning to address another team member. "Mantis, you spent considerable time with Ego and observed his abilities firsthand. Did he ever demonstrate or explain anything about how divine power actually works? How does someone control and direct Celestial abilities?"
Mantis shook her head thoughtfully and replied, "Ego used to talk constantly about the importance of focus and compression when manipulating cosmic energy. But you have to remember that he was a fully realized god—his power was completely natural and instinctive to him. He could use his abilities without any conscious thought or effort."
Focus and compression? That sounded like something Peter could work with.
Star-Lord's eyes suddenly lit up with inspiration and understanding. He concentrated intensely on the energy flowing through his hands, reaching out to connect himself to a small sphere of light that had formed in front of him. Initially, nothing seemed to happen, but then the sphere gradually began to glow with increasing brightness and intensity.
Star-Lord focused all his attention and carefully manipulated his hands, slowly bringing the glowing energy spheres closer and closer together. Taking a deep breath, he gradually closed his hands while clenching his teeth against the strain, feeling significant resistance as the opposing energies fought against compression. The divine power emanating from his hands began gathering and condensing together with increasing density, and soon Star-Lord's Celestial abilities had formed a single, intensely bright sphere of compressed energy.
Then, with a decisive motion, he clapped his hands together forcefully.
In an instant, both his divine power and the concentrated ball of light disappeared completely.
The effort immediately exhausted Star-Lord, and he collapsed to the deck, gasping desperately for breath.
"Peter!" Gamora exclaimed with alarm, immediately moving to his side and placing her supportive hands on his back to prevent him from falling completely. "Are you okay? Talk to me!"
"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine," he managed to say between heavy breaths. "Just... took a lot out of me."
The other Guardians looked over toward the area where the energy sphere had been compressed and noticed a small but distinct depression burned into the metal deck plating, clear evidence of the considerable power that had been contained and then released.
From that moment forward, as Star-Lord continued practicing and experimenting with his abilities, his control over these divine powers gradually grew stronger and more refined, making it progressively easier for him to manipulate and direct the energy of the gods.
Although Kraglin had managed to record the coordinates of numerous Ego seed locations from various databases and sources, most of these sites had become completely inactive and empty following Ego's death. The remaining active seeds were now scattered randomly throughout the universe, making them extremely difficult to locate and track down.
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