"Showtime, A-Holes."
Sun is shinin' in the sky,
There ain't a cloud in sight
It's stopped rainin'
Everybody's in a play
And don't you know
It's a beautiful new day.
"Just this once?"
"Absolutely not."
Peter Quill gave a manly pout to his best friend, the 26 year old space pirate replying with a cheeky grin. Her smile faltered, though, as a blonde strand of her hair fell into her brown eyes and she had to huff slightly to blow it away.
"Why not?" Peter asked, the woman rolling her eyes and looking away from him.
"Because I don't trust you to not blow us all up," she replied "Besides, it's mine, so screw off."
Peter huffed and rolled his eyes before turning them to the small device in his hand; it wouldn't be long now.
"You are aware that Quill would not pester you continuously if you revealed where you acquired it," The man behind the pair interjected, Peter looking up in surprise before snapping his head to his best friend.
"See! Drax agrees with me," he exclaimed, turning in Drax's general direction and pointing. The brown eyes of the woman rolling once again as she refused to look over at him and instead focused on the item that was causing Peter so much envy.
"I would be grateful if you would inform him; his whining irks me," Drax continued, Peter dropping his arm and sighing before he turned back to the direction he'd been facing originally.
"Maybe it's one of a kind. Maybe I got it from a Kyrlorian trying desperately to woo me and so he built me this bad boy," the blonde replied, putting one of her hands on her hip and leaning the coveted item on her shoulder.
"I doubt that," the woman with green skin stated offhandedly as she fiddled with her gun.
"Thank you, Gamora," Peter replied with a grin, Gamora sending him a look.
"His whining irks me as well."
"Oh, come on."
"But, just the same, I would like it if you revealed where you purchased that. If only to end Peter's complaining," Gamora added, Peter annoyance at his friends' annoyance falling away as he sent his best friend an expecting look.
The woman replied with a pout; her expression not unlike her fellow Terran as she turned to the least Terran person on the platform.
"Rocket, they're ganging up on me," she whined, also not unlike Peter.
"If they're so interested in your gun, then shoot 'em, Blondie."
She grinned at her raccoon-like partner, who rolled his eyes in a good-natured way when Tessa Stark cocked the Hadron Rifle.
"Now, that's an idea I can get behind."
Runnin' down the avenue
See how the sun shines brightly in the city
On the streets where once was pity
Mister blue sky is living here today, hey hey
"I thought your thing was a sword."
Tessa rolled her eyes for what felt like the fiftieth time in the past three minutes and swung her rifle around so it was resting on her back. She shoved her hands in her jacket pockets and moseyed over to where Rocket was messing with something electronic.
"They were not looking at you funny," he said, Groot continuing his fight with the tiny creatures indigenous to the planet of The Sovereign.
Tessa plopped down on the platform next to where Rocket was working and wrapped her arms around her knees in a relaxed way. Rocket sent her a quick look before returning to his work and neither of the pair sent each other any other greeting. Instead, Tessa looked out at the gold and silver platform and listened to Rocket humming what sounded like Brandy under his breath.
"When do you think they're finally gonna screw?" Tessa asked conversationally, Rocket not looking up from the machine as he answered.
"Quill and Drax?"
Rocket gave a small smile as he listened to Tessa's laughter at his statement and even looked up from his work so he could fully take in the way she threw her head back in amusement.
"Oh my god, could you imagine?" she said, a few straggling giggles leaving her lips "Anyway, Gamora and Peter: how long?"
"We already had this bet, Blondie; we both lost," Rocket pointed out, Tessa nodding in allowance.
"Yeah, but that was six months ago. Maybe they'll finally…" She looked over at her companion, who sent her a look that made her sigh "Yeah, you're right."
"I don't hear that coming from you often," Rocket said, Tessa snorting and grinning at him.
"Yeah, 'cause you're usually wrong."
Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why,
You had to hide away
For so long
Where did we go wrong?
"What're you even doing?" Tessa asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she took in a setup she really hoped wasn't what she thought it was.
"Settin' this up so we can listen to some music," Rocket replied, Tessa's suspicions confirmed as she rolled her eyes for the fifty-first time.
"There's nothing better you could be doing right now?" She asked, Rocket turning to send her a look.
"I don't see you doin' much," he countered, Tessa crossing her arms petulantly.
"Peter, Rocket isn't even doing anything important: he's just setting up music!"
Rocket dropped his arms slightly and sent Tessa a betrayed look.
"Don't go tattling on me to Quill!" He said.
"Don't tell me what to do!"
"Hey, hey, no fighting," Peter interjected, both of the pair rolling their eyes "Rocket, are you really setting up music right now?"
"Yeah!"
"I actually agree with Tessa on this one; maybe you shouldn't be doing that," Peter said, Tessa's expression becoming smug.
"Oh, right, totally."
Tessa's pleased façade dropped into a very indignant expression as she watched Rocket send a wink to Peter.
"Wrong eye, Moron," she said, Rocket snarling at her
"I really do agree with her," Peter added, Tessa readopting her smugness and Rocket baring his teeth at her again.
"Incoming!"
The three broke away from their conversation to watch the creature appear and head straight towards the platform that kept its precious batteries; the very batteries the Guardians of the Galaxy were doing their damnedest to protect. They observed it give a loud roar and all felt a slight sense of foreboding overcome them.
"That's intense."
Hey there Mr. Blue
We're so pleased to be with you
Look around see what you do,
Everybody smiles at you.
Tessa exhaled a puff of air before hitting the button behind her ear and activating her mask; the one that allowed her to breathe in space and on planets with less than hospitable natural gases. And the mask that kept her face from becoming a mangled mess.
She then activated her propulsions and took to a high point to try to get a feel for what they were facing. At least, that's what she wanted, but this thing had a lot of long tentacles that immediately took to trying to murder them.
She narrowly managed to duck out of the way of one and she fumbled slightly trying to get her rifle around so she could start trying to do some damage. Finally she got it around and took a wild shot; the woman hoping she would get lucky and it would affect him in some way.
It seemed to do absolutely nothing against the creature's tough skin and it continued to swipe at her and her friends. After a few more attempts, she had to do a funny loop de loop midair to avoid both the creature's tentacles and a shot fired by Gamora.
"Having fun over there?!" Rocket called from his spot on the other side of the creature and a tiny bit higher in the air than she was.
"Go to Hell!"
Hey you with the pretty face,
Welcome to the human race
A celebration Mr. Blue Sky's
Up there waitin' and today
Is the day we've waited for.
Tessa cursed as her Hadron Rifle ran out of juice; the thing was absolutely badass, but there was only so much it could do. She swung it around to her back as she considered how all of that had seemed to do nothing to the creature. But, as she thought, she let her guard down for a second and the creature grabbed her ankle and threw her to the ground.
She groaned slightly and turned her mask off so she could let her forehead rest against the platform for a second. When she finally looked up, Groot was directly in front of her; busting a move to the music that was currently just audible over the creature's roars.
"Hey, can you do the move I was showing you?" Tessa asked with a grin, Groot giving her a look that conveyed how her request had irritated him, but he did as she asked and managed a wobbly kick-ball change.
"That's greAHHHHH!"
Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why,
You had to hide away
For so long
Where did we go wrong?
The creature threw her up into the air this time, and she just barely activated her boots before she went hurtling back towards the ground. She reactivated her mask and took in the seemingly unwinnable situation as she pulled her Quad Blaster out of her belt. She tried to take a few shots at the creature with that even though she knew that if the Hadron Rifle couldn't break its skin, then nothing could.
She watched as Drax went flying into the music system and Groot became angry enough to hit and kick him for it. Right about now was usually when one of them had a crazy idea that somehow managed to win the fight for them.
Mr. Blue Sky
Tessa watched with wide eyes as Drax took a running start at the creature and jumped purposefully into its mouth.
Mr. Blue Sky
Her team did not disappoint.
Mr. Blue Sky!
She landed alongside Peter and Gamora and shared her shocked expression with theirs'.
"He said the skin is to think to be pierced by something from the outside, so-," Gamora explained, both of the Terrans' eyes getting even larger at that explanation.
"That makes no sense!" Tessa exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air.
"I tried telling him that!" Gamora replied.
"This skin is the same level of thickness from the inside as it is from the outside!" Peter added, Gamora sending him a look.
"I realize that!"
Mr. Blue you did it right,
But soon comes Mr. Night,
Creepin' over, now his
Hand is on your shoulder,
Never mind I'll remember you this way.
The plan was to draw him up so Gamora could get a clear shot at the cut on its' neck, but the plan also involved a good helping of not dying. Often, those two points contradicted each other. Tessa just barely dodged a tentacle by going down, but thankfully Rocket chose that moment to distract the creature and it continued to head up.
It was taking longer than Tessa would like for Gamora to take the shot, but as she watched the woman take a running start at the creature with her sword unsheathed, Tessa decided she didn't even want to know.
Gamora dug the blade into the weak spot and immediately disgusting goop flowed from the deepening cut; the creature giving a horrible roar as it died.
Finally it flopped down and the others landed just in time to watch Drax slide out of the opening and yell in triumph.
"I have conquered the beast!"
Tessa and Rocket exchanged a look they were well accustomed to sharing.
Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why,
You had to hide away
For so long
Where did we go wrong?