Ch 54 True colors revealed

"I'm guessing they're going to try to save Quill and the others from Ego." Steve said.

"Yeah, Yondu knows what he is capable of." Odinson said.

On Ego's planet, Quill looked at all the gardens and said he would probably own this someday while Gamora tried contacting Rocket but got no response. Quill then suddenly put his arms around her.

"Dude, if you have to flirt, at least make it subtle." Tony said as he shook his head.

"Even Steve flirts better than that." Natasha said and everyone laughed while Steve shot her a mock glare, "Much, much better."

"Anyone can do better than that." Bucky said.

Gamora asked what he was doing and Quill asked her to dance with him. She said she wasn't going to dance with him as 'Bring It On Home To Me' started playing and he said Sam Cooke was one of the greatest Earth singers of all time.

"Even though he is not the brightest, he has great taste in music." Sam said and nods followed.

With that, they started slow dancing to the music and Gamora eventually became more comfortable.

"I think something is happening." Pepper said and chuckles followed.

Quill told her Drax had said she wasn't a dancer and she said if he told anyone about this, she would kill him.

"Don't doubt her." Aunt May said and more chuckles followed.

As the dancing continued, Quill asked her when they were going to do something about the unspoken thing between them.

Hill facepalmed, "And now he just blew it."

"Guy doesn't have any patience." Fury agreed.

Quill compared them to a guy and a girl on a TV show who dig each other but never say anything because the ratings would drop.

"Yeah and now her rating of you is going down like this." Scott said and snapped his fingers while everyone chuckled.

"He really doesn't know how to proposition women." Logan said and everyone chuckled more.

Gamora said there was no unspoken thing and Quill said if she said it, it would be spoken and she would be a liar by saying it so by not saying it, she was telling the truth and admitting there is.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Hope said.

"At this point, he is begging her to slice his throat." Clint said.

Gamora said this wasn't what they should be discussing because something about this place didn't feel right. Quill reminded her she had asked him to come here and she said Mantis was afraid of something. Quill asked why she was trying to take this away from him. Ego was his father and his blood. Gamora reminded him he had blood on Terra and never wanted to return there.

"Ego really did a number on him." Bruce said.

"I'm sure he could do that to a lot of people." Loki said.

"No kidding." Thor agreed.

Quill reminded her she had made him come here and Terra was the place his mother had died in front of him. Gamora said Terra was real and this place was a fantasy. Quill told her this was real and he was only half-human. Gamora said that was the half she was worried about. Quill said she was jealous because he was part-god and she liked when he was the weak one. She said he was insufferable to begin with and she wasn't able to contact Rocket so she would go outside to get a signal.

"I'm guessing Ego gave him an ego as well." Tony said.

"Damn right he did!" Rhodes agreed.

"He did have some of it already." Wanda reminded everyone.

Quill said this wasn't 'Cheers' but a show where one person was trying to open themselves up to a new possibility while the other was a jerk who didn't trust anyone and so the show would get zero ratings because it didn't exist.

"At this point, he is getting really insufferable." Natasha said.

"Even I don't give references that much." Peter said and everyone chuckled.

Gamora said she didn't know what 'Cheers' was. "I finally found my family. Don't you understand that?" Quill asked. "I thought you already had." Gamora said in a hurt tone as she walked out.

"Yes. He already has." Logan agreed.

"He just doesn't know it yet." Steve said.

Gamora sat outside, feeling dejected as a plant made sounds next to her and she cut it off.

Everyone chuckled as Bucky said, "That is exactly what I'd do."

She suddenly heard something behind her and turned around to see the M-Ship. It fired at her and she ran off while Nebula roared from inside. Gamora eventually fell of a small cliff and got up as Nebula continued firing at her.

Everyone's eyes widened as Loki said, "Look! Siblings trying to kill each other!"

"Yeah, I get the feeling." Thor agreed and everyone chuckled at their banter which was to lighten the mood.

Gamora ran around, avoiding the shots and reached a small cave as the M-Ship continued firing but rammed into the columns and ended up crashing in front of Gamora.

"At least she doesn't have the big gun anymore." Rhodes said.

Gamora noticed a huge cannon broken off from the ship lying next to her.

"But she does." Natasha smirked.

As Nebula recovered, Gamora lifted up the huge cannon and joined the wires.

"She is strong." Bucky said with wide eyes.

"Stronger than us." Steve realized. [1]

As Nebula watched in horror, Gamora started firing the cannon with a roar, shattering the M-Ship and throwing it down.

"She fired that thing without recoil? Damn! That is too strong." Sam said.

Gamora looked down as Nebula was trapped in the burning ship. Gamora lifted the debris and pulled Nebula out as the explosion sent them both flying back.

"At least hey survived." Wanda said.

"I believe they will try to kill each other again." T'Challa said.

Gamora panted as Nebula's parts fixed themselves and then she pinned Gamora down and started choking her.

"And trying to kill each other again. Just like us." Loki said.

"Yeah. Just like us." Thor agreed.

"Actually, even worse." Odinson said.

Gamora angrily elbowed her and threw her off. She tried to attack but Nebula kicked her down and brandished a knife. She almost choked Gamora but in the end, let her go and threw off the knife, "I win. I win. I bested you in combat."

"She wanted a win." Tony said as everyone looked at Nebula in sympathy, "That's how much Thanos traumatized her."

"He is a monster." Clint snarled.

Gamora said she had saved her and Nebula said she was stupid enough to let her live. Gamora reminded her she had let her live and Nebula said she didn't always need her to beat her. Gamora said she wasn't the one who had flown across the universe to beat the other. Nebula told her not to tell her what she wanted and Gamora said she wasn't because it was obvious.

"She does have a point about that." Peter said.

"You were the one who wanted to win. And I just wanted a sister!" Nebula said and Gamora looked at her in shock, "You were all I had. But you were the one who needed to win. Thanos pulled my eye from my head...and my brain from my skull...and my arm from my body...because of you." She sighed.

"Even monster is too low a word for Thanos." Scott snarled as everyone looked at Nebula in more sympathy.

"Her actions, while not forgivable, are understandable after everything Thanos did." Steve said.

'Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)' played as Quill lay on a couch and Ego walked in, saying he had seen Gamora stomp off and said this song was a favorite of Meredith. He said it was one of Earth's greatest musical compositions and perhaps the greatest, with Quill agreeing.

"No it isn't!" Tony said and everyone chuckled, "That would be a 'One' by Metallica."

"I heard that and I think I'm in agreement." Steve said.

"If they are agreeing, then I think it has to be the greatest musical composition." Thor said and everyone chuckled.

Ego said they were the sailors in the song. He had come on a summer's day with gifts from far away like the baby he had put in Meredith or the freedom Quill had brought Gamora. Ego said his life was the sea and it called him back like history called great men and they were deprived of the pleasure of mortals. Quill said he was a mortal but Ego said death was a stranger to both of them and long as light was within the planet. Quill asked if he was immortal and Ego said he was.

"Man, he is more powerful than I thought he was!" Rhodes said as everyone watched the screen with wide eyes.

"But he doesn't have the brains to use that power." Fury said.

"I think he got the hang of it easily." Benjamin said.

Quill was overjoyed and said he would build an 800-foot statue of Pac-Man with Skeletor and Heather Locklear.

"Oh boy! He does have strange fantasies!" Tony said and everyone chuckled.

"He brought some of it to life." Logan said and everyone was really looking forward to seeing it.

Ego said it was a tremendous responsibility and only they could remake the universe and take the bridle of the cosmos to lead it where it went. Ego then generated a light in his hands and Quill did the same while Mantis watched hidden and seemed to be guilty.

"I think she is gonna spill the beans." Sam said.

"Oh she will." Odinson agreed.

She shook Drax up and said she needed to talk to him. Drax said he liked women with meat on their bones and said he had tried to let her down easily by saying she was horrifying and then coughed, saying he was imagining physically being with her.

"Dude, his stupidity is getting annoying now!" Scott said.

"Don't hold your breath." Benjamin told him.

"Oh God!" Hope said.

Mantis said she didn't like him like that and didn't even like the kind of thing he was and Drax said she didn't need to get personal.

Everyone laughed as Pepper said, "You deserved it."

Mantis said Ego had exactly what he wanted and she should have told them earlier so she was an idiot and said they were in danger.

"Yeah, you all are." Logan said as everyone watched the scene, feeling tense.

Gamora and Nebula walked together as they noticed a light. Ego led Quill to where the projections were and said he needed to readjust the way he processed life as everything was temporary. Quill asked if eternity got boring and Ego said not if they had a purpose. He said he had an unceasing impulse to find life but also found it disappointing and his innate desire wasn't to walk among. He had found meaning. He touched Quill's forehead and his eyes glowed with energy as he could see all eternity.

"How powerful is this guy?" Wanda asked.

"Like you can't even imagine." Benjamin said.

"And he is trying to get Quill on his side." Odinson said.

"He has almost succeeded." Steve noted.

Gamora and Nebula watched in horror as they saw hundreds, thousands, almost a million skeletons lying around and were shocked to their core a Nebula said they needed to get off this planet right now.

"Who are those?" A creeped out Peter asked.

"You will see very soon." Logan said.

"So this guy has skeletons under his closet." Tony joked to lighten the mood.

Rocket, Groot, Yondu and Kraglin were still jumping around as they passed a planet where an elderly man was sitting with several other beings, one of them bald, and they looked at the Quadrant as it passed and the man said, "Oh, man. Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted... At that time, I was a Federal Express man…."

"And he is back!" Hill said and everyone chuckled.

"Who are those?" Fury asked.

"Ah! They are the Watchers." Odinson said.

"So we actually have Watchers?" Natasha asked and nods followed.

"And the old guy is their informant." Logan said.

"Damn!" Tony said, "So mystery is solved then."

"I still have no idea why he cut my hair." Thor said and more chuckles followed.

The Quadrant stopped in front of Ego's planet as Rocket told an angry Yondu Ego was bad news from what he had said and they needed to save Quill. Yondu asked for what and Rocket said so he could lord this over Quill. Yondu then laughed and said, "You can fool yourself and everyone else, but you can't fool me. I know who you are." Rocket protested, "You don't know anything about me, loser." Yondu said, "I know everything about you. I know you play like you're the meanest and the hardest... but, actually, you're the most scared of all." "Shut up!" Rocket protested and Yondu said, "I know you steal batteries you don't need...and you push away anyone who's willing to put up with you...because just a little bit of love...reminds you how big and empty that hole inside you actually is." Rocket protested again, "I said shut up!" Yondu continued, "I know them scientists what made you, never gave a rat's ass about you." Rocket said, "I'm serious, dude!" Yondu finished, "Just like my own damn parents who sold me...their own little baby, into slavery. I know who you are, boy. Because you're me."

Everyone watched the scene with wide eyes and tense breaths as Bruce said, "Wow!"

"His parents must be monsters." Tony snarled, feeling bad for Yondu.

"What kind of a pair are we?" Rocket wondered. "The kind that's about to go fight a planet, I reckon." Yondu said. Rocket was horrified on hearing that.

"Yeah, your enemy is a planet." Steve said.

Mantis was telling Drax everything as Gamora angrily slammed her to the wall and asked about the bodies. Mantis' antennae glowed and she said Gamora was afraid as she let her go.

"Didn't answer the question." Bucky said.

Ego told Quill he called it the 'Expansion' and now it was both their purpose. A projection of him planting his extension was shown as he said he did it in thousands of worlds to fulfill life's true purpose of growing and spreading and covering all that existed until everything was him.

"What the hell?" Scott said.

A terrified Gamora asked what Mantis had done to her and Drax said she had already told him everything. Ego said a single Celestial couldn't do it but two of them could. Mantis told Gamora, Drax and Nebula that the bodies were Ego's children.

"WHAT?" Clint exploded as he got off the couch in anger.

"He killed his own children?" Scott said with righteous fury.

"And so many of them." Aunt May snarled.

"Why?" Peter asked.

"Because they didn't have his powers." Logan revealed to their horror and disgust.

"He is even worse than Thanos." Steve said in disgust, "He is the worst thing in existence."

"No kidding." Bucky agreed.

"Hope he gets his." Natasha said.

Ego said grafting his DNA into other species was difficult as projections of him doing it to several women appeared and he said he hoped the children would be enough to power the Expansion. As Rocket, Groot and Yondu approached, Ego said he had Yondu deliver some of them and while it broke the Ravager code, he compensated him generously and told him he didn't hurt the children, as what he did was painless. Quill was now too engrossed in the power he got to see anything wrong with Ego who said not one of them carried the Celestial gene until him.

"He has brought him to his side totally." Sam said as everyone watched in horror.

"I mean, he sees nothing wrong with what Ego is doing!" Hope said.

"He was good with words." Loki said, "And now Quill will believe anything he says."

"Just wait till he reveals the big one!" Benjamin said and they wondered what he was talking about.

"I believe he made a mistake." T'Challa realized.

Gamora said they needed to escape with Quill as he was their friend and Nebula said they yelled at each other so they weren't friends and Drax said they weren't family so they wouldn't leave anyone behind except her.

Everyone chuckled a bit as Rhodes said, "Yeah, families yell at times."

Ego said for the first time he wasn't truly alone as Quill inquired about his friends and Ego said that was the mortal in him and they were beyond such stuff. Quill inquired about his mother and Ego said he truly loved her as he returned to Earth to see her thrice and if he returned a 4th time, he would never leave so he had to do what he did. It pained him greatly to put the tumor inside her.

"WHAT?" Hope exploded angrily.

"He gave her the brain cancer?" Bruce asked and nods followed, "The son of a bitch!"

"Motherfu-" Fury trailed off in disgust and horror.

"He is the worst thing to ever come into the Universe." Clint snarled.

"Shoot him! Shoot him! Shoot him!" Tony said.

"Please do." Steve agreed.

"What?" Quill asked angrily as the power disappeared. Ego tried to defend himself but Quill brandished his blasters and fired at him repeatedly, destroying chunks of his body.

Everyone clapped as Hope said, "Shoot more!"

"Keep doing it!" Peter said.

"Don't stop!" Scott yelled.

"He deserves it!" Thor said too.

Ego angrily transformed into Hasselhoff and said he had tried to get a form suited to Quill and this was the thanks he got. He transformed back into his old form as Quill roared he had killed his mother and Ego roared at him to grow up as a vine of light hit Quill from behind and lifted him into the air and Ego said now he would be a battery.

"You sick son of a bitch!" Hill snarled.

"The others are coming." Peter remembered.

The transmitter worked as Gamora called out to Rocket as he told her to keep the transmitter ready so he could find her and Yondu needed to slice the place open. Gamora said Ego was unhinged and he said he knew as Yondu told Kraglin to drop the pod and he did as they flew off in it.

"Now they are coming." Aunt May said.

Ego took 'Awesome Mix Vol. 2' from the restrained Quill and played '(Brandy) You're A Fine Girl' as tears came to Quill's eyes and Ego said this was the sea and destroyed the Walkman.

"Big mistake." Logan said.

The power flowed into the ground as Gamora, Drax, Nebula and Mantis ran to the place but light flashed across the entire area.

"Oh no!" Wanda said.

"The Expansion has begun." Vision said.

"And only they can stop him." Steve realized.

"Yes. Only them." Benjamin said as everyone watched, tense.