Hey guys, I know it's been a while, but as I've said before, school is a pain in my ass and I've been doing nothing but school work. If I don't have a chapter right away DON'T PANIC! Like seriously, I have a life other than fanfiction (believe it or not...) I love you guys, but stop being up my ass about updating okay? I've gotten messages that are just like, "IF YOU DON'T UPDATE I WILL DIE!" and that literally scared me (Not going to name any names...). Just please don't say stuff like that. I tend to take things seriously...sometimes I can't tell if a person is joking or not. Anyway, in short, I have more important things to do like school work, so that I can actually get a decent job when I'm older, so if I don't make an update right away, please understand that. I'll stop being a debby-downer now and let you read the chapter. I'm sorry, I just had a tough week, I'm sick right now, and I also just needed to let that out. ENJOY THE CHAPTER YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
It had taken several minutes before I sobered up a bit, instantly feeling guilty for snapping at Gamora like that. Although I wanted to apologize to her, we didn't have time to talk alone because we were meeting up with the buyer. As all of us followed the pink-skinned woman that worked for the buyer, minus Drax of course, I stared at the enormous space in awe from all of the neat artifacts. I stopped at an exhibit of some kind that an animal was inside. This fluffy creature was something I believe Peter had once told me about, a dog I believe was what it was called. The animal was in some bizarre clothing, but despite that, I thought it was extremely adorable and moved forward to observe it some more.
I wonder what the dog is doing in such clothing?
"Aaaww...you're so cute." I smiled happily.
The dog tilted his head in a way that almost made my heart melt, as it gazed at me curiously. It almost looked like it was smiling at me too, but I couldn't be certain that it was.
"I wish I could pet you. You're so adorable!" I cooed at the dog.
Rocket stood beside me when he noticed that I stopped walking with the others, trying to figure out what I was staring at. As soon as Rocket had seen what I was gawking at, his ears flattened down against his head and he glared at the dog immediately. The dog soon noticed Rocket and the two glared at each other, growling both lowly and threateningly.
"Uh...Rocket?" I grew concerned.
"He growled at me first!" He snapped.
I gently put my hand on his shoulder and began to lead him away from the display case with Groot following us closely behind.
"Let's just go back to the others, huh?" I suggested.
"Yeah, yeah." Rocket grumbled, but didn't protest.
We made it back over to the others in practically no time at all, watching as the young pink-tinted woman smiled and was conversing with Peter and Gamora.
"We house the galaxies' largest collection of fauna relics and species of all manor." The pink woman explained.
The woman turned, bowing slightly as she gestured towards a man that was approaching us.
"I present to you, Taneleer Tivan: The Collector." She introduced.
It was the first time I'd seen a man with such flashy clothing and weird glasses that didn't appear to be used for sight but instead for fashion. It was an interesting sight to behold, but I didn't dare judge the man, not knowing who he was or what he was even like to begin with. The man tilted his bizarre glasses until they went to the bridge of his nose as he peered at all of us. When he gazed at me, he looked interested with me almost immediately, and that alone made me nervous.
He gives me the creeps...especially at the way he's staring at me right now...
"You...what is your species?" Taneleer Tivan asked me.
"Umm...what?" I blinked in surprise. "I mean...I came from a planet that died out...I was the only one who lived there. I don't really know to be honest."
Tivan came over until our faces were nearly inches apart and held my face within his hands. If I wasn't skittish before, I certainly was now with the way this man was looking at me.
"Your eyes...they're simply astounding." He murmured softly. "You look almost familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it...you seem to come from a line of power though, I can guarantee that. "
"...thanks?" I let out a nervous squeak.
"Would you mind if dissected you, my dear?" He suddenly asked. "After you're dead, of course." He quickly added.
...excuse me? What the hell did he just ask me?!
I smiled nervously as I slowly, but surely, pulled my hand away from his grasp.
"I'm afraid I'll have to decline." I said politely.
RUN AWAY! STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER!
"That's too bad. Perhaps I can change your mind in the future, should we ever cross paths again." He winked at me.
Peter quickly came to my side and put his hand on my shoulder as he led me away from the Collector without looking suspicious.
"We'll just stand over here then." Peter muttered awkwardly.
It wasn't long before the Collector shrugged and moved his attention over to Groot. Once again, there was a look of awe and curiosity in his expression as he carefully observed Groot.
"I'd never thought I'd meet a Groot." He smiled almost manically. "Sir, you must allow me to pay you now, so that I may be able to own your carcass. At the moment of your death of course."
What the hell?! He just literally asked me that same question!
"I am Groot." He replied.
"Why? So he can turn yah into a freakin' arm chair?" Rocket rolled his eyes at Groot.
"That's your pet?" The Collector asked Groot.
At such a suggestion, I quickly came over before Rocket could reply with an insult of his own, knowing it would only end badly. I didn't want Tivan to even consider backing out of the deal before we even discussed it with him because a certain someone got too mouthy. As angry as I was that Tivan insulted Rocket like this, it wasn't worth the fight. I grabbed Rocket's hand, getting in nice and close in hopes that Rocket would remain calm.
"Let's just get back to what we're here for shall we?" I smiled warmly down at Rocket.
Rocket narrowed his eyes at me, but shrugged and came with me with no arguments.
"I can handle myself, sweetheart." Rocket told me. "Don't worry about me."
The thing is... I can't help but worry about you, Rocket. I just have the urge to protect you, and I don't know why.
"I just...I want to protect you." I confessed with a murmur.
Rocket's ears twitched, knowing it was a sign that he heard me. At this statement, Rocket perked up and looked at me with an unreadable expression.
"Wait...what? Why would you wanna- -" Rocket spoke softly.
"Tivan." Gamora spoke up, cutting off Rocket unknowingly.
Rocket dropped it for now, but squeezed my hand gently, not letting go. For some reason, that made me happy.
"We've been halfway through the galaxy for this orb." Gamora addressed Tivan.
"Very well then. Let's see what you brought." The Collector nodded.
Tivan walked over to Gamora and Peter, as Peter smiled and got out the orb. Peter's eyes widened when he dropped it suddenly, but quickly picked it up from the ground and held it out for Tivan to take. The Collector took the orb with no complaints, and finally, we all gathered around a table to observe.
"Before creation itself, there were six singularities." Tivan told us.
Tivan flipped a switch and used some controls that were along the side of the table, and before we knew it, there was a machine that was holding the orb and opening it before our very eyes. As it was opened there was a bright light emitting from the orb's core.
It's a stone? That's what the orb had inside of it?
I could sense the power emanating from this stone and eventually, Tivan's voice faded away. Suddenly, it began to feel like I was alone in the room, with some kind of siren like sound coming from the stone. I had the strange desire to touch the bright and powerful stone, but I couldn't figure out why.
Maybe this stone had something to do with my previous life...I had no memories as a child, before I met Peter and Yondu. What was my life like before?
Finally, I snapped out of my daze as I heard Rocket speaking to Tivan in a mocking manner.
"Oh blah blah blah!" Rocket rolled his eyes. "We're all very fascinated, whitey. So when do we get paid?"
I turned towards the Collecter, giving him an apologetic smile in case Rocket offended him in anyway.
"I apologize for his behavior, sir. It's just been a long day." I said nervously.
Tivan nodded in reply, not saying anything else about it before he started to cut to the chase, to what we were here for. We followed the Collector to gather our payment, going back to the business at hand.
"How would you like to be paid?" Tivan asked.
"What do you think, fancy pants? Units!" Rocket yelled.
Our attention was suddenly brought back over to Tivan's assistant as Tivan suddenly shouted at her in protest.
"Carina! Get away from there!" Tivan then shouted.
Carina's gaze kept flickering over to the orb and the stone inside of it and back over to Tivan as she was contemplating her options. Suddenly, as she made up her mind, she glared at Tivan in pure hatred.
Oh no...she's doing what I think she's doing...
"I will no longer be your slave!" She yelled angrily at Tivan.
The orb...it's dangerous...I think...I think I'm starting to remember...
I looked at Carina worriedly and released Rocket's hand as I quickly started to make my way over to Carina.
"NO! DON'T DO IT!" I hollered at her.
Carina didn't hesitate before grabbing the stone. I stood there in shock as I watched what I'm certain was the stone's doing, completely consume Carina as a purple hued energy swarmed around her. It was obvious that Carina wasn't strong enough to handle the stone's power alone by herself, but I don't understand why she thought she could do it or why she would attempt to.
Was working with Tivan really that bad?
Peter quickly grabbed Gamora by her arm before running as fast as he could so the two could get cover for whatever was about to come. When Peter realized that I was in the radius blast of the explosion, his eyes widened fearfully as he saw my body being flung backwards. It was as if time was slowing down again as I locked eyes with Peter. I suspected that I might die, but for some reason, I wasn't as scared as I thought I would be.
As long as Peter's safe, I'm okay with this.
FLASH!
"Come on! I'm gonna teach you to dance!" A thirteen year old Peter smiled at me.
"But I do not know any dancing rituals!" I pouted.
"Dancing rituals? No! We're just dancing! Come on! It'll be fun! I'll teach you how!" Peter laughed.
"Alright fine! But do not make fun of me if I fail at this!" I whined.
"Just relax, Stellar!" Peter grinned. "I'll show you the ropes!"
"Why would ropes be involved?" I asked in confusion.
FLASH!
"STELLAR!" Peter yelled over the explosion, tears prickling his eyes.
I was finally beginning to experience that saying, "When your life flashes before your very eyes." I was now recalling events of my childhood alone on that planet that died, the better part of my childhood with Peter and dare I say Yondu. I was remembering the very first time I'd met Rocket and Groot, and although my first encounter with Gamora wasn't pleasant, I was thinking of that memory rather fondly. I was seeing that pained expression on Drax's face when he told me about his family being slaughtered by Ronan, and I remembered holding his hand.
FLASH!
"So...will I see you again soon?" Rocket asked almost timidly.
"I am Groot." Groot glared at Rocket.
"Correction: Will we get to see you soon?" Rocket rolled his eyes at Groot's comment.
"Yeah. I usually come here a lot with my brother. I hope I bump into you guys again." I smiled warmly at Rocket and Groot.
I crouched down and pulled Rocket in for a hug. He was hesitant, but slowly returned the hug. I felt the both of us being lifted and noticed that Groot was hugging us as well. I giggled again as Groot finally put us back down. Eventually, I let go of Rocket and winked at him before making my way out of the place, feeling more giddy and happy than usual.
FLASH!
As sad as it would be to die so suddenly, maybe the afterlife wouldn't be so terrible, if there was an afterlife that is. I felt immense guilt that I would be leaving Peter like this, as tragic and fast as he lost his mother to cancer.
I hope Peter will be okay without me...I have such faith in him.
I felt dots dancing around in my vision as something wrapped around my waist and pulled at me.
I guess this is goodbye.
What...who's yelling?
My vision was blurred and I could hear nothing but that deafening ringing in my ears.
"Come on, doll face! Wake up!" The voice was muffled.
I tried sitting up, but it was no use before I laid back down against the rough ground.
Everything hurts...it hurts so bad...
"Shit! Is she not breathing?!"
I felt something smack against my chest for a brief minute, before it pulled away.
"I am Groot..." Another muffled voice spoke up.
"What?! Seriously?! Ah crap! What do we do?!" The other voice panicked.
I felt something on me again, and in thirty seconds, my eyes shot open and I was gasping for air. I was able to breathe again, and my chest had never felt such relief before.
Thank god...that really hurt.
My vision was finally beginning to focus, and suddenly I was able to see who was there in front of me very clearly.
"Groot...Rocket...what's going on?" I coughed.
"Holy shit...you really scared us..." Rocket sighed in relief. "What the hell were you thinking running over there like that?!"
"I am Groot." Groot looked worried as well.
"I'm sorry. I tried to stop her...I tried so hard to save that woman..." I blinked away tears.
Rocket almost looked guilty for snapping at me and hesitantly approached me before he wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in between the gap of my neck and shoulder.
"You scared the shit outta me, Stellar. Don't fucking do that again, you hear me?" Rocket mumbled softly.
I nodded in reply before Rocket released me, allowing Groot to help me up to stand. I felt my legs shaking before Groot quickly wrapped an arm around my waist, picking me up and holding me bridal style. It wasn't long before Gamora and Peter showed up outside, looking beaten and terrified. And what did they happen to still carry with them?
The orb.
"WHY DO YOU STILL HAVE IT?!" Rocket shouted worriedly.
"Well what was I supposed to do?! Leave it in there?!" Peter appeared as panicked as we all were.
"Yes!" Rocket replied. "Oh god! I can't believe you kept that thing in your purse!"
"It's not a purse! It's a knapsack!" Peter defended.
Rocket and Peter kept arguing like there was no tomorrow about whether to ditch the orb or not, but it came to my understanding that if either Ronan or Thanos were able to retrieve the orb...
We're all completely fucked.
If the stone was that powerful, we had no time to be petty and think of our well being. The galaxy was far more important compared to just six individuals, if we ended up saving innocent lives, it would definitely be worth it.
"WHO CARES?!" I finally shouted.
Rocket and Peter both stopped, looking at me with wide eyes as if they were two children being scolded. Time was literally of the essence at this moment, and we had no time to bicker. Groot could sense my panic and moved me down until I was standing, looking more nervous than he had previously.
"We have to keep it away from this Ronan guy! If Ronan or Thanos get that stone, that means the entire galaxy is completely fucked!" I finally cursed.
Oh dear...I'm so scared...what do we do?!
"Stellar?" Peter looked at me in worry.
"WHAT?!" I glared at him.
"I think you're having a panic attack..." He put his hands on my shoulders. "Just take a deep breath okay?"
Right now, I wasn't even considering to think about myself. I could worry about myself later when the galaxy was okay again and no longer in danger. We just needed to get that orb into safe hands and make that our first priority.
"Peter, you have to go! NOW! Worry about me later!" I screamed.
I probably sounded harsh, and I almost felt bad considering I nearly just died moments ago without being able to say goodbye to Peter, and here I was yelling at him. The way he looked at me when I was being flung back from the explosion, I could totally understand why he was worried about me, but I didn't matter right now. The fate of the galaxy was all that mattered right now.
"Peter she's right. We have to bring the orb to the Nova Core. There's a chance that they can contain it!" Gamora agreed with me.
"Are you kidding me?! We're wanted by the Nova Core! Just give the damn thing to Ronan!" Rocket yelled.
I glared at Rocket, who looked at me in surprise that I was even angered that he said such a thing.
"How could you even say that?!" I shouted.
"So he can destroy the galaxy?!" Peter joined in.
...why are we all yelling again? I just realized we're all shouting at each other...
"Oh what are you? A saint or something?! What has the galaxy ever done for you?! Why do you wanna save it?!" Rocket questioned Peter.
"Because I'm one of the idiots who lives in it!" Peter shouted.
Gamora grabbed Peter by his jacket and forced him to look at her as she turned him towards her.
"Peter, listen to me. Your sister is right, we cannot allow the stone to fall into Ronan's hands. We have to go back to your ship and deliver it to Nova." Gamora said.
Gamora looked scared...something that any of us rarely saw, especially during the short time we've known her.
"Right, right...okay. I think you're right." Peter nodded in agreement. "Or we could give it to somebody who's not going to arrest us, who's really nice for a lot of money."
I stared at Peter in disbelief at his suggestion, wondering what the heck had possessed him to say something like that.
How could he be so selfish at a time like this?!
"You're despicable." Gamora nearly growled at him.
"For once, I'm with her on this one, Peter." I said.
I moved slowly on my wobbling legs over to Gamora, putting my hand on her shoulder in support. Gamora gave me a look of surprise, like she was shocked that I was even agreeing with her at all.
Did she really think I was going to side with Peter about this? This is low...even for him...
All of us became more panicked as we saw tons ships land nearby. One of them was Yondu's ship along with his crew, and another much more gigantic ship, was Ronan's.
OH. SHIT.
I looked over and saw Drax standing in front of the ships with his knives raised and ready to attack. I could tell that Drax was still a little drunk, seeing as he was expecting Ronan, which had me come to the conclusion that Drax had sent them our coordinates. I was outraged at the very sight of Drax getting petty with his desire to avenge his family if it meant putting other innocents in danger.
"YOU CALLED RONAN?!" I shouted at Drax angrily.
Yondu stepped out of his spacecraft, quickly spotting us and making his way towards us with some of his crew members following him closely behind. Thinking quickly, I got back to the task at hand, getting Peter's attention by hitting his arm when I saw that he was frozen on the spot looking unsure of what he should do.
"PETER! Take the orb with Gamora and go! NOW!" I ordered him.
Peter's eyes widened once again as he made eye contact with me, looking uncertain as to whether he should stay with me or not. I quickly gave him a look of assurance that I would be okay, a determination filling my very being that would make it difficult to sway me.
"Quill! Don't you move, boy!" Yondu yelled at Peter.
Despite my shaking legs, I stood tall, ready to accept any challenge that faced me if it meant saving innocent lives. Eventually, Peter ran off with Gamora as Yondu started chasing them along with some of Ronan's men. It wasn't long before Groot, Rocket, and I saw the very tall and intimidating dictator we'd heard so much about step out of the large spacecraft.
Ronan was officially here.
Well this was all I could write right now, and that's just going to have to do for now. Just be patient with me guys, I'll finish this story soon! I promise!
WE ARE GROOT!