The observation of the alien flower came to a screeching halt. Every head in the room whipped around to stare at Star-Lord.
"Whoa! Your father is a planet?!!"
"Hahaha! Your dad's a ball, Quill!" Rocket howled, doubling over with laughter as he slapped his thigh repeatedly.
Star-Lord just frowned at him, too stunned to retort. He'd always known his father was special. After Nova Prime mentioned his ancient Terran genes and Ayesha hinted at his unique bloodline, even Ego's claim of being a god hadn't been that shocking. But this… this was something else entirely.
Star-Lord had never, in all his wild daydreams, considered that his father might not be human at all. The idea that Ego was a planet that had created a physical body so perfect it could actually… have a child with his mother… it was beyond the limits of his imagination.
The others weren't focused on Peter's internal crisis. They were more concerned with the flower Wanda was fighting. If Ego could create a perfect humanoid avatar out of thin air, what was to stop him from creating this plant? Wanda could feel its neurons firing frantically, transmitting information across the cosmos. Tony was certain that the flower was another one of Ego's creations.
[Drax's eyes lit up with a sudden thought. "So he has a penis?"]
["Dude!" Star-Lord spun around and glared at him, exasperated. Drax's complete lack of a filter was sometimes too much to handle.]
[Gamora also turned to him. "What is wrong with you?"]
[Drax explained his logical question. "If he is a planet, how did he create a child with your mother? He would have crushed her."]
[Star-Lord looked completely overwhelmed. "Ugh, I really don't need to hear the story of how my parents…" He trailed off, unable to bring himself to finish the sentence. As a normal person, the subject was just too embarrassing.]
[Drax, however, felt no such shame. "Why? My father told me the story of my conception every Winter Solstice!"]
[Star-Lord grimaced. "That's disgusting."]
["It is beautiful! You Earthlings are strange."]
[In his culture, the creation of life was a beautiful and sacred event, and he couldn't understand why people like Star-Lord avoided speaking of it.]
[At that moment, Ego spread his hands magnanimously, deciding to clear things up. "Yes, Drax, I do have a dick. A pretty good one, too."]
["Haha! I knew it! Thank you!"]
[Star-Lord and Gamora stared at Ego with wide, horrified eyes. Peter closed his, pressing his fingers to his temples, unable to look at his unbelievably embarrassing father.]
[Ego continued, "I created a digestive system, a circulatory system… all of it. I wanted to experience what it truly meant to be human. So I built an avatar and explored the stars."]
[On the screen, an image of Ego leaving his planetary body in a small ship appeared, setting off on an interstellar journey.]
["Until I found… what I was looking for. Other life."]
[Ego was shown meeting a pink-skinned Kree girl who was holding a teddy bear.]
[Star-Lord asked, "When did you meet my mother?"]
[Ego turned and smiled at him. "Very soon."]
[He walked to the side, and a new scene materialized: a young Ego hugging Meredith Quill from behind, both of them looking blissfully happy.]
["It was Meredith Quill who allowed me to experience love for the very first time. I called her my river lily."]
[Star-Lord watched the image of Ego and Meredith kissing, and then the scene shifted to show Meredith, pregnant.]
["That love, Peter, created you. I searched for you for so long. When I heard tales of a Terran who held an Infinity Stone and survived, I knew it had to be you. The son of the woman I loved."]
[Star-Lord looked at Ego, finally asking the question that had haunted him his entire life. "If you loved her so much, why did you leave her?"]
[Ego sighed, a universe of sadness in the sound.]
"God, what kind of stories did Drax's father tell him?" Gwen Stacy shuddered at the thought.
The Toby Spider-Man just frowned, not saying a word. He understood that the universe was vast, and different cultures had different customs. Even on Earth, there were countless traditions that seemed strange to outsiders.
He was more curious about the question Peter had just asked. Why did Ego leave Meredith? And why did he send Yondu to pick up Star-Lord instead of going himself, causing the boy so much suffering?
He thought back to what Yondu had said on Contraxia, about not delivering Peter for reasons he couldn't explain. It was obvious Ego had been hiding something. Something that got Yondu exiled from the greater Ravager community and earned him the scorn of captains like Stakar.
Wait a minute… Stakar accused Yondu of trafficking children. Why? Toby's mind raced, and suddenly, the horrifying pieces clicked into place.
Ego didn't just send Yondu to get Peter. He must have sent him to retrieve other children, too. For some other, darker purpose. Yondu must have discovered what Ego was doing to them and, in an act of defiance, chose to keep Peter by his side rather than deliver him to that fate.
Stakar's accusation wouldn't make sense if it was just about Peter. If Yondu had simply kidnapped one child and refused to sell him, it wouldn't be "trafficking." The charge only held weight if Yondu had delivered other children to Ego before that. Children who must have met with terrible accidents, leading to Yondu and his crew being exiled for their part in it.
He shared his theory with Gwen and Dr. Octavius. Otto nodded grimly; he'd also found it strange but hadn't connected the dots.
[The perspective shifted to the Blood Eagle. Taserface was now in complete control, and his followers were celebrating their mutiny with a drunken revelry. Their loud shouts echoed through the ship.]
[Little Groot was trapped in a tiny birdcage. A hulking Ravager repeatedly roared at him, splashing grog on the cage and terrifying the small creature.]
[Groot scrambled back, pressing himself against the bars, trying to get away from the monstrous face leering at him.]
[With one last roar, the Ravager finally made Groot lose his footing, and the tiny creature tumbled to the floor of the cage, looking like he was about to cry.]
[The same Ravager who had eaten the spider pointed at Yondu and laughed cruelly, mocking their former captain.]
[Yondu was bound to a chair, his expression utterly hopeless. He stared blankly into space, ignoring the taunts of his former crew as if his spirit had already died.]
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