"Ahem…" Star-Lord scratched his head, embarrassed.
"This… I'm self-taught. I just start dancing whenever I hear music."
Nova Prime nodded thoughtfully. "Mr. Star-Lord seems to have a rare talent for dance. I would like to officially designate today as Victory Day — and make your dance the official celebration dance of Xandar. Would you permit this?"
Star-Lord froze. "Wait, am I really that good at dancing?"
He had assumed the compliments were just polite words. But making his goofy dance into an official celebration ceremony?
Not just Star-Lord — even Lock and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy were left speechless.
Was Xandarian aesthetic taste really this different from everyone else's?
Nova Prime said firmly, "Of course!"
"Hahahaha! Well then — of course!"
Star-Lord's grin nearly split his face. His life's value had been recognized by an entire planet. This felt more meaningful to him than being rewarded with ten billion Starcoins.
Lock looked up at the sky and sighed internally.
In the future, when humans come to Xandar and see this ridiculous dance turned into a grand ceremonial tradition, what will they even think?
After all, Star-Lord had left Earth in the 1980s — and his dance moves looked exactly like that: awkward, dated, and a little embarrassing.
Any normal Earthling — especially someone like War Machine — would be cringing.
"By the way," Nova Prime said suddenly, turning to Star-Lord, "Mr. Lock just mentioned that you are a member of his tribe. Does that mean you are also part of a divine race?"
"Me?" Star-Lord was caught off guard. "He and I are of the same species, but I'm just a regular guy — not a god."
"Oh?"
Nova Prime and the ministers exchanged confused looks.
If Lock's people were divine beings, shouldn't all members of his species have divine qualities — like the Asgardians, who naturally live for millennia and are considered gods?
Lock said lightly, "It's a bit complicated. Quill is not exactly an ordinary person. His father is a god."
"Hiss—"
Everyone drew in a sharp breath!
A god — a Celestial — was a being higher than any ordinary deity.
Among gods, there was already a massive gulf between the weak (like Loki) and the mighty (like Odin — or Loki himself).
But Celestials were in a class of their own — cosmic beings capable of shaping worlds.
Even Knowhere — the severed head of a nameless Celestial — still generated energy and strange matter even after eons, slowly evolving toward a living ecosystem of its own.
Some of these ancient beings had shone across the universe since its earliest days — tens of billions of years ago.
Such beings were collectively called gods.
Even Star-Lord himself was shocked.
"Lock… my father is really a god?"
"Of course."
"Who is he?"
Lock was about to answer when Rocket cut in. "I heard gods are planet-sized. Quill… doesn't exactly measure up."
The raccoon glanced Star-Lord up and down — even glancing at places he shouldn't — and shook his head.
Drax came over too, gave him a long look, and nodded gravely. "Hmm… I can't tell either."
Even Nebula, normally cold and detached, patted Gamora on the shoulder. "Sister… congratulations."
Around the hall, Nova Prime and her ministers — while doing their best to maintain composure — couldn't resist sneaking glances at Star-Lord.
They had rarely encountered Celestials in person. Strictly speaking, Celestials were not "humanoid gods" at all — they were vast, alien entities with little in common with humans.
Even the leader of the Celestial Host, Arishem the Judge, didn't have a face — his head looked more like a giant six-eyed machine, leading some to nickname him "Six-Tube Heaven."
Curiosity was natural — but Rocket's remark had twisted that curiosity into something else entirely.
"Ahem…" Lock finally broke the awkward silence.
"This is a long story — and it concerns Quill's privacy. I need to discuss it with him privately before deciding whether it should be shared."
If it had been a simple story of star-crossed love, there would have been no need for secrecy.
But Ego's motives were complex — even sinister. It was better to let Quill decide whether to make that truth public.
Nova Prime nodded in understanding, and the ministers did the same.
When the formalities were over, the hall cleared.
Lock dismissed Star-Lord, then approached Yondu quietly.
"Ego will come for Quill soon. It's time to tell him."
Yondu sighed, shaking his head.
"His mother painted a picture-perfect image of his father. Quill grew up idolizing him. If I tell him the truth now, he won't believe it."
"Ego is coming," Lock warned. "We should prepare for the worst."
Lock sighed. "Fine. Let fate decide."
Star-Lord had spent decades longing for his father. To tell him now that he was nothing more than one of Ego's billions of failed "experiments"…
That his mother had been deliberately given cancer by the very man she loved…
That Quill himself had been brought to Ego not out of paternal love, but because Ego needed to harvest his energy — and would have killed him once he was used up…
Yondu couldn't bring himself to crush Quill's spirit like that.
Even Lock hesitated. He didn't want to be the one to deliver such a cruel truth.
When Ego appeared, he would surely have time to act before Quill's life was in danger.
For now, let things unfold naturally.
In the days that followed, Lock enjoyed his stay on Xandar, taking the opportunity to observe the culture of this advanced civilization.
The Guardians of the Galaxy, flush with their rewards, naturally wanted to celebrate.
But the "celebration" quickly became unbearable for everyone except Star-Lord.
Because his ridiculous dance had distracted Ronan long enough for victory, he had been hailed as the greatest hero after Lock himself.
And thanks to Nova Prime's endorsement, Xandarians everywhere had turned his dance into an official celebration — remixing it into countless versions with different music, like viral meme videos back on Earth.
It became wildly popular across Xandar.
The Guardians were mortified.
Only Star-Lord was thrilled, happily giving tutorials to anyone who asked.
Eventually, the team couldn't take it anymore. They unanimously voted to take on a new mission and leave Xandar, though Star-Lord reluctantly agreed.
Meanwhile, far away in the cold void of space, a massive figure sat on a throne.
A hologram of Lock's battle replayed in the air before him.
The titan's purple face tightened slightly.
It was Thanos.
"He's grown stronger," Thanos muttered.
"He will become a significant obstacle to our holy mission. The plan must change."
At his side, Ebony Maw asked, "Shall we retrieve Gamora and Nebula?"
"No," Thanos said calmly. "Leave Nebula where she is. She can still gather intelligence for us."
Nebula was aware that Thanos had installed a device in her body, but she had believed it to be just a tracker — not realizing that her cybernetic eye secretly transmitted everything she saw back to Thanos.
This was the very flaw that, in another timeline, allowed Thanos to learn about the Avengers' time heist in Endgame.
For now, Thanos simply observed.
He was no fool like Ronan — he would not rush in blindly to fight Lock.
He had ruled the galaxy for years, carrying out his mission to "balance" the universe by erasing half of all life.
Such a long reign was not maintained through reckless bravery.
Lock was now a threat.
Thanos would need a new plan — something grander, something stronger — to overcome this obstacle and complete his destiny.
While Thanos plotted in secret and Lock relaxed on Xandar, trouble was brewing back on Earth.
At S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Director Nick Fury had been attacked by a group of impostor police — and his whereabouts were now unknown!
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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