Together, the six friends walk the streets of Dormain, looking like they'd just crawled out of the sewers. They make their way to what seemed to be a motel.
They were greeted with looks of disgust and fear upon entering the building block. The Guardians ignore them as Peter makes his way to the receptionist. He leans onto the counter with one arm, a smug, slightly tired smirk decorated his dust-smudged features.
The lady eyes him and the five with zero interest, arms resting on the counter, popping a gum.
She's seen worse.
"Hi," he calls. The others wait behind him in spiritless manner. "Would you be so kind as to point us in the direction of a certain Yondu Udonta? He's expecting us," he smiles hopefully.
The lady makes a bubble with her gum, then pops it in his face. Peter winces at the sound, clenching his jaw in annoyance. Gamora glares daggers at the woman and the other four are growing impatient. "Third floor. To the right," she tells dully. Peter gives her a forced smile and turns to leave with the others, peoples' eyes never leaving them.
A stern knock on the door grasps the Zatoan's attention. He jumps up from the desk.
The room wasn't all that spacious, and it didn't have a bed.
This was a business room. Anyone with work like the Ravagers' would rent this room for no more than twenty-four hours. It was equipped with a middle desk, and three, long, leather-black couches at every other wall, plus a mini-fridge with drinks and snacks. A small, filthy bathroom was held behind a closed door in said room.
'Finally!' the Zatoan thinks. He'd sent most his men off to get the job done, while he, Kraglin and another Ravager, waited at the motel. He was hoping the Quills and their weird friends would show up before he left, and this was most probably them.
"Open it up, boy!" he tells Kraglin. The boy complies. Upon opening the door, the inside Ravagers were welcomed with a disquiet sight. "What…the hell happened to you people?!" Yondu asks, eyeing his Quills in both concern and confusion. Look at his Peta! Look at the blood stain on her leg-pant! Look at Peter's face!
"Nice to see you too, Yondu," Peter retorts tiredly, however, it was also a secret sign that they'd rather talk in private.
Yondu turns to face his men. "Why don' you two go get some air?" he asks,
more
commands.
They comply.
"Nice seeing you, Petra," Kraglin smiles sheepishly. Petra replies with her own smile and a curt nod as he leaves, shutting the door behind him.
From beside her, Rocket cringes in annoyance. The glimmer in Kraglin's eyes ignited a fire in his chest that he didn't know the cause of. He did not like that guy.
The group spread out across the room. Petra heads over to Yondu and gives him a lively embrace, a gesture that warmed his heart,
every time.
Rocket flops onto the couch and lies down in exhaustion. Drax rummages the fridge for Oreos. And Peter and Gamora join Petra by Yondu, to tell him what had happened.
"So what the hell happened?" the Zatoan asks.
"We were attacked," answers Gamora plainly.
"By a league of ninja freak-shows!" Peter tells irritably. Yondu raises a confused eyebrow.
"They took the artifact," Petra explains from beside him.
"Blew up the whole freakin' bar for it too! And it didn't even do anything!" Rocket shouts from the couch. Groot wanders the room curiously.
"They were well-trained. Seemed…
Dangerous,"
Drax finishes, chucking a cookie into his mouth, the crunching could be heard quite clearly, even though his mouth was closed. Yondu noted he got that from his fridge. Rude.
The Zatoan then refocused his attention to processing all the information he'd been given. A deduction clicked in his head. "Were they all…dressed in black? Looked all, dark and mysterious?" he asks.
"Yeah," Peter tells as if he should have known, "What did you think ninjas looked like?" he asked back, neglecting the fact that the Zatoan had no knowledge of what ninjas were. Petra rolls her eyes at him.
"And you say they were well-trained. Fought fast, and hard," he notes. The three across from him nod as Drax makes his way to sit and attempts to finish the box.
"Do you know something?" Gamora questions hopefully. The Zatoan nods carefully.
"They call themselves,
Shadow Clan,"
he starts. Rocket sits up to listen. Groot climbs Yondu's desk and seats himself down. Drax is earing in. "I've had my men on them for a couple of months now. No one knows who they are, nor where they came from, but when they're spotted, they be wherever one of em ancient crap thingies are."
The Guardians process his words carefully. "So what, they're like, obsessive, crazy-ass collectors or something?!" Rocket asks in annoyance and confusion.
"Not a clue, son. All I know, is that they've got a whole lot of expensive toys, that's why I been trackin' em. Been trying ta find out where they stand, how many of em are there. Cause, if we can get our hands on what they've got. The Ravagers would be the richest there ever was. Assuming they don't sell any of it," he continues.
The Guardians like the idea, but they weren't ones for tracking anyone down for months. They liked fast-money.
"Okay. Yeah. That all sounds great. But these assholes stole from us! And we'd like what they took back. So, if you have any idea where they might be headed to, that'd be great," Peter tells.
Yondu thinks it over. If there was anyone he could rely on to get him information, it was the Quills. "Alright. But you gotta promise to tell me everythin' an' anythin' you find out about em," he says. Petra nods without a hint of concern.
"Okay. Sure," she smiles. The Zatoan smiles back, memories of them working together, well, working for him, flashing back.
"I am Groot. (I have to go to the boy's room!)" says Groot, running over to Rocket, who sighs irritably, knowing that, in public places, he had to practically help baby Groot do so, else he'd fall into the toilet, like he did before.
"Where's the bathroom?" he asks Yondu. The Zatoan smirks at this, pointing at the door with his thumb.
He, and the Guardians, adored the father-son relationship that Groot and Rocket shared, and, though he wouldn't admit it, Rocket cherished it with all his heart.
He gets up, opens the door. "Alright, get in," he beckons Groot, who complies with a sheepish smile. Rocket enters with him and closes the door.
The group turn back to Yondu. "So, where are they?" Peter asks.
"…They're headed towards a planet, called Reveserume," he tells. The group furrow their eyebrows at this, all but Drax, who stands, discarding the cookie box on the couch.
"That is a place of aberrations…and savages," he grimaces.
"Why?" Peter asks weirdly.
"My boy, it ain't like anywhere you ever been," Yondu tells.
After about an hour of rest, and catching up with Yondu, the six friends were now on the Milano, headed towards Reveserume, which was a day away, where they were told they would find the Clan.
Yondu had told them about the place. How it was weird and dangerous, and that there was, in fact, some kind of temple, with something supposedly powerful that the Clan sought after.
And so, the plan was to land nearest to said temple, await the Clan inside, and ambush them, this time, with more firepower.