Rocket and Peter were hanging out, watching TV, and having a few beers together. Suddenly, Peter noticed a loose piece of string on the couch and picked it up. He was about to toss it away until he saw Rocket stand up and look at it intently.
This caught Peter's attention so he decided to play with it a little bit and see how Rocket reacted. He swung it to the left and Rocket's head moved to his left. Peter swung it to the right and Rocket's head moved to his right.
Peter couldn't believe what he was seeing. Rocket's attention was caught by the string. He smirked and decided to play around with the string a bit. He swung it around a few times and Rocket kept swinging his head around in the same direction the string was being swung around.
Peter stood up and dangled the string under Rocket and Rocket tried to reach it, even though he couldn't reach Peter, even standing on the couch.
Peter then walked to the back of Rocket. He put the string on the back of his head, which caused Rocket to quickly turn around and try to catch it but Peter yanked it away quickly so he couldn't catch it.
Peter then smirked and knew what he would do next. He went back to the front of Rocket and put the string on Rocket's nose. He made it dance for a second. Rocket growled and tried catching it but Peter, again, yanked it away as fast as he could. Then Peter chuckled to himself and walked away.
But Rocket was angry and determined. So he looked in Peter's direction and warned...
"I'll get you, string, if it's the last thing I do!"
To Rocket, the string wasn't just a loose piece of clothing that Peter was tangling in front of him to annoy and tease him. No, it was a living object whose only goal in life was to annoy and tease Rocket and Rocket made it his mission to get rid of the string once and for all.
In his room, Rocket was busy working on a gun that would get rid of the string. Suddenly, Rocket heard a knock on the door.
"Who is it?!", Rocket shouted.
"It's me, man", Peter said, "Can I come in?"
Rocket sighed, annoyed.
"Whatever Quill, just don't touch anything", Rocket said, annoyed.
Peter walked in and walked behind Rocket, towering over him.
"Whatcha doing?", Peter asked.
"None of your business, Quill", Rocket said impatiently.
"C'mon, tell your big buddy what you're doing", Peter said in a mocking tone.
Rocket got more impatient.
"If ya wanna know, Quill", Rocket said, "I'm making a gun that'll take down that stupid string once and for all".
Peter was just more amused by Rocket's determination to get rid of the string. He then leaned down to Rocket's level and said...
"Ya mean like this one?"
Suddenly he put the string on Rocket's nose. Quickly, Rocket took out the gun. Thankfully, Peter also quickly went down on the floor so Rocket's lasers didn't hit him. When Rocket was done, Peter got back up. He was freaked out while Rocket just panted back and forth.
"Did I get him?", Rocket shouted.
"Yeah, I think you did, anyway, I'll see you later", Peter said, freaked out.
He then walked out and hid under Rocket's closet for a second. He then put his arm out and dangled the string in front of Rocket's face.
"Yoohoo", Peter mocked.
Then he pulled his arm away as Rocket tried shooting at the string again. After shooting, Peter walked out.
Later that day, The Guardians were at the gym, working out. Rocket usually stuck to the barbells and weights because he had a hard time adjusting the machines to his height but, like everyone else, he found something to work out with. Peter was using the weights next to him. He turned around and looked at Rocket. He chuckled and took out the string. Rocket growled some more.
"That's it", Rocket said annoyed.
He threw his weight at the string but Peter yanked it away and it hit the mirror facing them. Suddenly, one of the employees at the gym walked up to them.
"Are you going to pay for that?", the employee asked.
Rocket was just more annoyed, as the dumb string caused him to lose 200 units thanks to the fact that it caused him to crack the mirror. This made him realize that the stupid ass string had to go and he would do that by any means necessary.
Back at The Milano, Rocket had called a team meeting in the kitchen.
"There's a menace in The Milano, one that's been ruining my life for the whole day", Rocket said.
The other Guardians weren't that impressed, as they thought he was probably overreacting to something. The only one who was worried was Mantis but she tended to get emotional quickly.
"What is it?", Mantis quivered.
"I'm glad you asked, Mantis. There's an evil string out there that's been taunting me the whole day and it's about time I got rid of it once and for all", Rocket proclaimed.
Peter couldn't believe his prank had gone this far. He scoffed and asked...
"Oh yeah, what are you going to do about it?"
Rocket smiled.
"I'll tell you what, Quill"
Then Rocket took out a remote and pressed it, which caused all the doors in The Milano to close. This freaked out The Guardians as they were basically trapped on the ship.
"I'm going to put all of us on lockdown until we can find the dumb string and end it once and for all!"
Mantis was scared while the other Guardians, even Baby Groot, were angry.
"You stupid rodent, open this ship once and for all!", Gamora demanded.
"This is the worst thing you have ever done, vermin!", Drax said.
"I know you guys are angry but things are at stake here. We gotta get rid of the dumb string. THEN we can get out of lockdown", Rocket assured them.
Peter just sighed.
"Is this really necessary? It's just string", Peter said, trying to reason with him.
"It is necessary! That string has been making a mockery of me and I'm gonna put an end to it once and for all!", Rocket threatened.
Peter sighed. He knew what he had to do. Messing with Rocket's head had gone too far and, while it was fun at first, it was time to end it all.
"Dude, it's not the string that has been making a mockery of you, it's me", Peter explained.
This suddenly caught Rocket off guard.
"Wait, what?", Rocket asked.
"I was amused by how obsessed you were with that piece of string so I kept dangling it in front of your face just to mess with you. I didn't mean for it to go this far", Peter said.
Usually, this would make Rocket angry. But this time he was embarrassed because he had basically acted like an animal getting obsessed with something that wasn't really worth getting obsessed about (like something shiny or some weird piece of something).
To save himself from embarrassment, Rocket tried backtracking his comments.
"Uhh...I knew that!", Rocket said.
Then he pressed the remote and all the doors opened, ending the lockdown.
"I was just kidding around with you guys! I...I was messing with you! And I can't believe you's guys all fell for it! That...that's so funny!", Rocket said, trying to assure everyone he hadn't become obsessed with a piece of string. "I...I wasn't actually going to put you all on lockdown for a stupid piece of string, who do you think I am?!"
But The Guardians knew better. They knew he was obsessed with the string. Peter then smirked and put the string in his face.
"I...Oh...Oh there you are", Rocket said in a trance.
He tried catching it but Peter pulled it away from him before he could do so. Then he kept putting it on his face and, before Rocket could catch it, he always yanked it away.
"Why does Rocket do this?", Drax asked.
"Because he's an animal and animals sometimes get obsessed with things that we humans, or humanoids, just can't understand", Peter explained.
Rocket got offended by that.
"Hey, I am NOT an-", Rocket started explaining.
But before he could, Peter put the string on his face again and Rocket tried catching it only for Peter to yank it away every time he tried. Then, for about a few minutes, The Guardians watched as Peter teased Rocket with string.
As he did this, this further confirmed that, at the end of the day, Rocket still had some animal left in him. Yes he could walk, talk, and do human things but he still had some animal instincts. And, when he acted like a human, he would be treated like one. But when he acted like an animal, The Guardians would have to treat him like an animal. Thing is, as an animal, sometimes he would have to be treated differently. And there was nothing wrong with that.