It was a pleasant dream that ran through my mind as I slept. Not that I had unpleasant dreams before, but for months now my mind had been racked by dreams of people I didn’t know. Mainly women, some with dark hair, others with massive racks, many with knowing smiles that said they could almost read my mind. Always in the dreams they talked to me, but I never knew who they were, and because of that I didn’t seem to understand what they were talking about. 

Now I knew exactly who I was dreaming of. It was Toru. We were playing hide and seek in a forest, and as always my invisible girlfriend was winning. The dream very easily could have turned panicked as I couldn’t find her no matter where I looked, but for some reason I always knew she was just around another tree or under some rock. Her voice echoing in the forest as I acted like I didn’t know exactly where she was. 

When I eventually woke up, I had a smile on my lips. The sun above was bright, birds chirping, a walking treeman moving nearby, it was the most peaceful I had been in a long time. And thanks to that, I enjoyed it. Not jumping up to figure out what happened after the ordeal, no scrambling to fix this or that issue, instead I took in deep breaths and cracked my back. 

As if my body had been holding in stress for months, my back cracked like never before. Allowing more endorphins and other chemicals to course through my body making me feel that much better. 

“Enjoying yourself?” Jame asked. I looked up to see her standing over me. The pink skinned woman with tendrils for hair frowned at me.

“I am actually,” I said, my mouth splitting wider somehow. Wearing some black corset she showed off her very minor bust and her pink skin peaked out from her white flowing skirt. “Why did you and I never do it?” I asked boldly as I stared up into her black eyes. 

“Wh-what?” She asked and began to stumble over more words. I laughed, jumping up to face her. A few inches taller than her, her haki blushed as she stared at me. 

“You and I? Why didn’t we have sex? I mean, we could have led with a few makeout sessions of course,” I said as I rolled my shoulders. Testing my capabilities as I stretched out. For some reason I felt stronger than before, and it felt good. “There was that time in the medbay where I grazed your boob, and you ran off, but secretly wanted me to chase after you.” I gave her my most wolfish grin, causing her face to actually blush this time. Something I knew was very hard to do. 

“What’s gotten into you?” She mumbled, almost scared by the answer. 

“I got my memories back,” I admitted as if it should be plain to see. “Every single one. A few times actually.” 

“You did?” She asked, scared but happy for me. 

“Yep,” I said with a nod and walked away. Looking around, I noticed we were right outside the main temple of Ego. Only a few yards from where I had stupidly lent the sentient planet my Infinity Gem. “Where is Ego?” I asked. 

“Uh dormant, he hasn’t responded since…” 

I nodded, continuing to walk away as if I expected as much. “How long have I been out?” 

“A few hours,” Jame said, catching herself and following me. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but my Observation Haki was extended out to over a mile. Not finding what I was looking for I extended it out to two miles, focusing in one direction until I found Shippie. Changing direction I began to head in the direction of the ship. 

“Catch me up with what happened,” I said, my stride becoming larger as I increased my pace. I could fly, but I was enjoying how I felt. I didn’t want to rush dealing with problems. 

“Since when? We haven’t talked since you were imprisoned by the Xandarians,” she said. “For instance, you don’t know Quill is-”

“Special and Shippie was able to go into Null Space because of his blood,” I finished for her. 

“You knew?!” She accused, causing me to frown at her. The accusation was very annoying, as if I was purposefully withholding information from her, which was an affront to all she stood for for some reason. This actually happened a few times, and was one of many reasons we hadn’t gotten physical. 

“No, I guessed,” I said, which was the truth. “Pretty obvious when you think about it. And I did go to prison. Lots of time to think.”

“You were there for 3 days,” she scoffed. 

“And after three very long days I rose to save my disciples,” I said. She ran into me as I stopped walking. Her eyes locked onto me I smacked her in the ass hard. 

“What the hell,” she said as I started walking again. “Why’d you do that?”

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I like to. Now catch me up on everything that I’ve missed. As well as whatever drama is happening with the Andromedas.” 

She rubbed her rear but followed. Catching me up quickly as we walked through the wooded path on the planet Ego. All of the paths on the face of the planet connected. As she revealed information I was proven correct in most of my guesses. 

When I was captured with the Andromeda pirates by the Xandarians, Shippie had taken its own survival as paramount as its defensive mechanisms searched for someone on board suitable enough to allow the Null Drive. Landing on Peter Quill and his own mysterious heritage they jumped into Null Space. 

When they were able to get the ship back under control they hailed the nearest Xandarians. Having spent the last three days petitioning the Xandarians they actually secured my release and were on their way to pick me up when they arrived to the battle around the prison asteroid belt of Harche. 

A three way battle between Thanos’ Osiris, a Xandarians Nova Corps flag ship, and Andromeda’s Betelgeuse, with my prison escapees and I caught in the middle, the Guardians of the Galaxy crew decided to help the Xandarians fight Osiris. Which was around when I created a Rift from Betelgeuse to Shippie. Drax and Nebula thrown into my ship, the battle turned heated as the Osiris really started fighting and reinforcements showed up. 

Around then the Betelgeuse activated their UDWN. While I was busy staving off the very pissed off female pirates, Shippie and the Xandarians fought against the Osiris. A battle that lasted so long that the Xandarians took heavy casualties and the Osiris chased Shippie as he tried to escape. 

“Cool,” I mumbled as she explained in her rapid and excited tone. 

“Are you even listening?” She asked. A common question from her lips,. I rolled my eyes but nodded. My true focus elsewhere; I read through my most recent notifications. 

This quest of course had been a big factor in having Nebula join my posse of ragtag prison buddies. Although I probably would have brought her along anyway since she had been involved with the original canon. Unsure what it did exactly I realized I had completed yet another quest I hadn’t had time to look over before. 

Apparently successful in my endeavors I wasn’t exactly sure what the skills did, but I brought up my Status Screen anyway. 

Pretty much how I remembered it thanks to the hundreds of times my old self had studied it during my mind fuckery, I still studied it slowly. Unlike previous times, as I studied the words I got a weird sense of something from the translucent page. Trying to figure out what had changed, I almost felt like I was getting some alien understanding for some reason. 

Each skill resonated somehow, giving me a sense of what they did. Nen was life energy, tremor devil fruit was about shattering and adding energy where there was none, Rift was dimensional, and so much more. Reading each felt like I understood them a little better somehow, as if I was able to feel what they did rather than read them like words on a page.

I moved down the list until I got to my new Bonuses. Focusing on the Jail Bird Bonus I got a sense of freedom from it, as if others would have trouble confining me in the future. Curious I studied Home Sweet Home and got the sense that if I was in a place I felt like I belonged, then I would heal more quickly and take less damage. 

“Interesting,” I mumbled, scanning the rest of the page then dismissing it. My eyes focusing around me. I knew something was different, I just hadn’t narrowed it down yet. 

“Are you alright?” Jame asked, but I ignored her. 

Closing my eyes I could see everything in my mind’s eye far more clearly than before. Spiritual energy singing from every plant, bug, and grain of dirt at my feet, I could almost see the objects as well as if I was staring at them. 

“My Observation Haki has jumped up a level or two,” I mumbled, the smile still creasing my face as I continued to look around with my eyes closed. When my focus landed on Jame I could feel it before I knew what it was. Radiating off of her like a dark cloud, it was obvious to my Observation. “You’re leaving.” 

“What?” She barked as I began walking again. 

“You said it enough times. You don’t want to go against pirates and all the nasties of the galaxy,” I said. “You’re leaving the crew.”

“How do you know?” She asked, but I didn’t answer, instead I kept walking. 

Trying to figure out what had happened to me there were a few possibilities. Either my experience as the forgetful Dory from Finding Nemo had given me experience enough to level up this high, or my most recent flashbacks of my entire life story have given me insight I lacked before, or a very possible third option. 

“The Mind Gem,” I said. Confident that the Infinity Gem I had lucked upon had inadvertently given me a power up. 

“Weston, I’m sorry. I want to stay on Ego and…” Jame trailed off. 

I waved at her as I crested the hill. The small village coming into view it was as I remembered when we first crash landed on Ego. Basically a bunch of homes built into trees, Groot’s people walked around like some Tolkien wet dream. Massive walking trees, they ranged in size of twigs to towering twenty foot tall monstrosities that stood around soaking up the sunlight. Dozens of villages much like this one all over Ego, the tree people maintained the surface to keep it thriving. 

Among the tree people were a few other stragglers we had collected over the last few months. Aliens one and all there were the other Jux we had saved with Jame, some Hpet people that were basically nightmare spider people, and a few Piffsh which were blue cotton ball people. Each one making a life in the village they welcomed a home that wasn’t racked by war and murder. 

Their haki singing to me I could feel their joy, annoyance, and general emotions. None of which included fear despite the solar system spanning battle I had brought to their doorstep. 

“Can you say something?” Jame asked. Apparently talking to me I gave her a sorry look then let out a sigh. 

“I don’t blame you, you will be missed,” I said. With that I walked away toward the landing field on the other side of the village. Despite the ‘will they won’t they’ relationship we had shared, I felt I was beyond drama at the moment. Simply happy experimenting with this new form of clarity. 

Coming into the village, people waved at me, many thankful for bringing them to this paradise away from their troubles. I waved and exchanged a few words, but was on a mission. Happy to walk and be around nature as I got used to my Observation set to 11, I noticed the very tall Betelguese actually parked on the crude landing pad of a large flat boulder Ego grew out of the ground.

The Betelguese was as massive as I remembered. Normally eight sections of cube-like ships that made up a larger rectangular cube, we had nearly been trapped and crushed between them all. Now though there was a large line cut through three of the cube sections, and many others were sparking as if they were about to blow. 

Andromeda pirates crawling all over it, the women were using floating gear to get up to the broken sections, patching them so they could try to limp off the planet. The captain always moving, it was easy to see the unlucky blue broad among all the other tough looking women. 

Rather than wait for my turn to speak to her I jumped and floated toward her. Using my flight I felt like I was moving more smoothly in the air as well, but ignored it for now. I would have to do another training arc to get used to the changes, but for now I wanted answers. 

“Nebula, darling, are you prepared to join our crews together?” I asked, causing more than a few Andromeda pirates to throw me rage-filled glares. “We can’t go by the Andromeda’s anymore, of course. But I’m sure we could come up with something less menacing. Super Nova perhaps? Or maybe…” I raised my hands as women drew weapons on me. Mostly the projectile variety, a few unsheathed glowing swords and hovering darts. 

“Calm it down,” Nebula growled, her black eyes zeroing in on me. “The last thing we will be doing is joining forces with this idiot.” Though not very sweet, being called an idiot by her was one of the nicer names she gave me over the last day. “You all have assignments. I want Betel off this planet by tomorrow. We can’t have the Xandarian’s or Osiris finding us here.” She exchanged a few more words with people then they were reluctantly going about their work. 

Soon it was Nebula and I staring up at the Betelguese. Neither of us talking for a time as we gauged what to say. Eventually I noted, “You need a pirate flag.”

“What?” She growled, her voice deep like from the movies she combed her hair to the other side of her head. 

“You need a pirate flag. You’re pirates, it seems like a waste if you don’t have a symbol. You could make patches for your crew so when you’re out and about people know who you are,” I said.

“We aren’t Ravagers,” she mumbled as if offended. “We don’t want to announce ourselves.” 

“True,” I said with a nod. I was merely happy I remembered my time on One Piece world, and every world for that matter. Like I had been a man that knew I had legs, but couldn’t remember how to walk, I was remembering everything I could. Searing the images of loved ones into my mind piece by piece. 

“What the hell do you want?” She asked eventually. Her haki saying she wanted to talk, but had things to do. Brought back to the present, I remembered why I came over. 

“The Mind Gem, where did you find it?” I asked. With that rage filled her. 

“How the hell do you know that name?” She asked, finally turning to face me. Rather than answer, I pulled something out of my Rift storage space. Opening a tear in space to my pocket dimension, or whatever the hell it was, I reached in and pulled out the scroll. As ancient as I remembered, it was a stained brown, frayed and flaking. I was glad I kept it safe. Probably because Amnesiac-Weston had no idea of its importance. 

I handed the scroll to Nebula but she put a confused look on her face. “I can’t read this,” she stated flatly. 

“Right,” I said with a frown. Whatever brought me to these worlds usually translated stuff for me, and this was an ancient text. “It’s called the Prophecies of the Phoenix.” The title of the story made Nebula’s haki pulse once. “You know it?” 

“I’ve heard of it,” she said, becoming almost fearful. “What do you want?” She asked, really wanting me to read it to her without asking. Too bad for her I wasn’t in the favor mood. Instead I scanned the scroll until I got to the section that mentioned the Mind Gem.

Reading aloud I said, “Armageddon was next, he knew that war was born in the hearts and minds of men and created the Mind Gem. A deep blue, like his home planet,” I said as if that explained everything. Nebula became actually scared as I read the words, as if something I said confirmed what she feared.

“I’m guessing you went through my stores,” she said, getting serious. Her eyes squinting at me. I nodded. The last I remembered after grabbing the stone was Drax barreling into me, so I would need to ask the big tattooed idiot what he did with the rock. Either way, it looked like Nebula didn’t know that was how Ego drove off the attackers from above. 

Nebula frowned more deeply, but I could tell she was seeing that I was more than all talk. I got her out of prison at least, and showed she couldn’t take me on herself. She let out a sigh and eventually spoke. 

“It’s called the Sicarian Circlet,” she admitted. “At least that’s what they called it on Sicar. It was this planet with a tyrant council. After a disagreement I took the circlet since I suspected it might be…” She trailed off as if afraid to say her suspicions. 

“An Infinity Gem,” I said for her. She nodded, but didn’t want to continue. Instead of push it, I asked what I really wanted to know. “Is Thanos trying to collect them?” 

She jerked as if struck, staring wide eyed at me. “How do you know my relationship with him?” I shrugged, having admitted to knowing before we were split between the Betelguese and Shippie. 

“I know a lot of things I shouldn’t,” I said. Forgetful me had learned more than a little about Thanos. About the people he killed, rumors about the warlord, and most everything people were willing to talk about. “Neb, I’m a Guardian of the Galaxy,” I said as if it was a title I actually believed. “I want to know what dangers could face our galaxy.”

She didn’t like that answer, unwilling to talk openly with me, but that could be worked up to. I planned to iron out a truce with the Andromeda’s so she would drop this 2,000,000 sol bounty she had on me and mine. And hopefully work with her in the future. If she was trying to keep Infinity Gems away from Thanos, which I suspected, then she and I could be allies. 

“Weston!” A voice yelled. I didn’t need to look to know it was the real Star Lord. 

Turning to face him, the 17 year old boy was wearing the brown leather vest, jeans, and blaster I bought him. Next to him was Blade, the vampire hunter still in his black leather and sunglasses. Both walking toward us, neither looked happy.

“Why were you trying to kidnap him anyway?” I asked Nebula as they approached. The boy the true Guardian of the Galaxy, I was more than a little shocked that my journey caused us to cross paths so randomly

“The kid?” Nebula asked, unsure who Blade was. Apparently his reputation hadn’t reached far into the galaxy yet. They didn’t have quite the infestation of vampires though, so it was to be expected. 

“Duh,” I said as the duo approached. 

“Uh some Spartax wanted him, I think,” she said. Reminded why she hated me in the first place her haki darkened as she narrowed her eyes at me. 

“What about Delilah?” I asked. “The red head?” I had seen her when I pulled the Gem from Ego. Curious I extended my Observation out, hoping to catch up with her now that I had all of my memories again. 

“The Shi’ar wanted the red head,” Nebula said.

“Shi’ar?” I asked, not really questioning it, but my mind locking onto that as I thought rapidly. 

“Yeah, it was a favor for Shadree. She used to be a-”

“Shi’ar Imperial Guard,” I said as my eyes widened. Putting it all together in rapid succession. “Quill?! Where is that blue gem I had?!” I yelled at the boy only a few paces away.

“That glowing one?” Quill asked, confused. 

“You stole the circlet?!” Nebula said finally realizing why I asked about it. 

“Yeah,” I said running to Quill. “Where is it?”

“I don’t know. When you passed out it fell out of your hand and kind of dulled a little. Everyone else was too afraid to touch it but Delilah didn’t seem to care,” Quill said, terror rising in him as it showed on my face. 

“Where is Delilah?” I asked, my Observation Haki extending out far beyond a mile around me. 

“She was talking to that shado-”

“Fuck,” I said, having put it together. I looked to Nebula. “We have to go, now.” Frowning I looked at the Betelguese, but I knew it was in no condition to leave planet. “Is Shippie ready to go?” 

“It had minor damage,” Quill said, but I was floating up in the air. “But Shippie says he can limp by.”

“Good, get everyone willing to come. Nebula, I need your help this time,” I said. 

“Help with what?” Nebula asked, getting angry again. 

“Help stopping the Phoenix,” I said and flew away. Dread filling me, my new Observation Haki was telling me something big was coming, and even I might not be prepared for it.