Peter... is the cosmic ocean itself?
Why on earth did such a absurd thought just pop into my head?
The exact same bewilderment surfaced simultaneously in everyone's minds. Instinctively, they all raised their eyes to look at Peter.
And in that very instant, every single jaw in the room dropped into a perfect "O" shape.
The sleek, black-and-gold Vibranium Arbiter suit Peter usually wore had completely vanished.
In its place was an archaic, breathtaking form constructed entirely from golden radiance and shimmering starscapes.
His physical body had shifted into a entity of pure, living light and compressed energy.
The golden radiance draped over his shoulders like a flowing divine mantle. His exposed chest—etched with smooth, perfect musculature—was inscribed with the precise orbital trajectories of countless celestial bodies. Every single line and rune seemed to speak of an ancient, fundamental law of the cosmos.
Within his eyes burned two miniature, incandescent suns. His expression was calm, serene, and infinitely distant—looking for all the world like a god gazing down at the birth and extinction of cosmic dust in his palm.
Celestial Mode—Engaged!
Gazing at Peter's ancient, boundless aura, every superhero present was frozen stiff by the sheer weight of his presence.
Every witty comeback Tony had been holding in choked dead in his throat.
Gwen and Felicia stared with wide, rounded eyes, while Natasha and Daisy instinctively reached up to cover their mouths in absolute shock.
Yet all of their combined reactions couldn't match the sheer terror of the lively, elf-eared girl standing in the corner whom no one had paid attention to until now.
"F-Father?!"
Mantis's voice, laced with faint horror, sent a violent shiver down everyone's spine, instantly morphing the solemn, divine atmosphere into something utterly bizarre.
HUH??!!!!
Pupils dilated across the room. Eyes darted frantically from Mantis to Peter, back to Mantis, and finally settled on Gwen—the undisputed "first lady" of the house.
Facing the bizarre, questioning stares from everyone, Gwen involuntarily swallowed, speaking with an extremely unnatural edge in her voice:
"Peter... what is going on here? How long were you even out in deep space to bring back a... daughter?"
Noticing Gwen's shocked yet hesitant expression, Peter slapped his forehead in sheer helplessness, mentally groaning.
As expected of a true Guardians of the Galaxy member!
No matter how epic or serious the scene is, the second you open your mouth, the whole art style goes straight off the rails...
"Hey, can you be a bit more serious for two seconds~?!"
Peter pinched Mantis's squishy cheek with a look of pure exasperation:
"Don't start off with statements that are bound to cause massive misunderstandings!"
"I'm sorry~" Mantis bowed politely to Peter, yet her expression remained locked in sheer disbelief:
"It's just far too similar... this aura feels exactly like my father's."
With a completely innocent expression, she added:
"Don't worry, Sister Gwen. Although I'm definitely here to join you guys, I promise it's not in the role of a daughter..."
SLAP!
Peter slapped his forehead again. He should have known better than to expect Mantis to clear things up smoothly...
"Alright, alright! Can you all stop looking at me like a cheating husband getting caught red-handed?"
Unable to take it anymore, Peter put his hands up in defeat, explaining directly:
"Long story short, I ran into a cosmic monster in deep space named Ego who planned to consume the entire galaxy. Mantis is his daughter, but that bastard treated her and her siblings as nothing more than disposable tools."
"To stop his plan, I killed him, and while I was at it, I absorbed all his power... simple as that."
Silence hung over the room for three long seconds.
Then Tony's voice broke the quiet, completely losing his composure:
"Fuck! You call that simple?!"
"Normal people bring back local souvenirs when they go on a trip! You go on a trip, murder a literal god, and kidnap his daughter on your way back?!"
Peter: "..."
Why does it feel like I want to argue, but I can't actually find a single flaw in his logic?
"Fine! None of that is the main point right now. As for Mantis, I'll explain everything clearly during our family meeting after we wipe out those green goblins."
"Right now, the actual priority is—"
Peter raised his hand, a golden flame igniting at his fingertip.
"I plan to share this cosmic power with all of you."
The second those words left his mouth, every face in the room shifted dramatically.
"You plan to what?" Tony thought his ears were playing tricks on him.
"That's completely impossible!" Mantis shrieked in outright shock:
"Celestial energy can only be inherited through bloodlines! And even if you inherit Father's genes, less than one in ten thousand can actually control that power—that's why Father was so distressed!"
"If Celestial energy could just be handed out to anyone at will, Father would have activated his seeds across the cosmos and completed the Expansion billions of years ago!"
"Facts speak louder than words." With a casual flick of his finger, Peter launched the golden flame straight into Mantis's abdomen.
As the flame merged into her body, Mantis felt an unprecedented, boundless tide of energy wash through her entire physiology.
A visible mantle of golden light enveloped her frame, and her empathic sensing and mental manipulation capabilities surged by tens of times in a single second.
Even without extending her antennae or making physical contact, she could clearly sense the exact emotional spectrum of everyone in the room.
In fact...
"PFFT—AHAHAHAHAHA~!"
Tony suddenly burst into a wild, uncontrollable fit of laughter.
Startled by his own reaction, he instinctively clapped both hands over his mouth.
Yet muffled "pfft-pfft" chuckles kept erupting from his throat anyway, turning his face entirely purple from holding it in.
Then came Harry, William, Alexei, the Red Guardian...
One by one, the heroes in the room broke into uncontrollable, roaring laughter. Tears streamed down their cheeks as they clutched their stomachs, gasping for air amidst the sudden hysteria.
"Alright, that's enough playing around."
Peter offered a light critique, flicking his wrist. The golden mantle over Mantis flickered, and Tony's wild laughter cut off instantly like a flipped switch.
"What on earth did you just do to us?!" Tony looked at Mantis, his face pale with absolute horror.
"Allow me to introduce her—Ms. Mantis's baseline abilities are emotional sensing and mental control," Peter gave a quick summary of her power set before offering a smooth smile:
"And my Celestial energy just gave her abilities a modest little boost."
"Boosted by how much?!" Having laughed so hard a moment ago, Tony's voice was raspy and hoarse.
Peter pondered for a brief second before giving a precise figure:
"Roughly thirty-six times."
Tony: "???"
No, bro... you call a THIRTY-SIX-FOLD multiplier a "modest" boost?!