Chapter 26: Torn
Previously….
He was gone. One minute, Peter Quill had hung desperately off of an icy cliff edge in attempt to survive. The next time Rocket blinked, their leader was no longer. As much as the raccoon did not wish to believe it, he knew there was nothing to left to ponder. Peter was gone- this time- gone.
Quill…. dead? No…. he can't be, he thought to himself in a surprisingly casual thought process.
Rocket couldn't believe his eyes, which were widened with disbelief at what he was looking at. The one friend that he'd called an idiot, a playboy, a disgusting nuisance, was deceased. If he had wanted to apologize, there wouldn't be a time he would get to do such a thing, at least not now. He wanted to shout, blow a hole in every square inch of the ceiling- if not for the ceiling already crumbling around them-, curse at Grimlock, do something that would get out his anger.
Instead however, he disregarded the notion to do any of the above. As the ice below brightened, Rocket took the last few seconds to contemplate how Peter could be alive. Yet even as he vigorously tried to consider each theory, every possibility sounded more unlikely and ridiculous than the previous one. This thought didn't ease Rocket's mind, and nor did it seem to look any different for Gamora, who continued staring at where Peter had disappeared at.
Her eyes veered off into the distance, as if awaiting for Peter to come back at any moment. Rocket felt the opposite, although he could share Gamora's feelings he supposed.
As they stared off into the distance, Rocket heard a loud high pitched whining from the below the ice….. and then silence.
The area around Rocket went completely dark. Suddenly, he was unable to see, and it felt as if he were a lifeless corpse drifting through mid-air. Nothing was audible, or seemed to emit a single noise. When he tried to move, he found that he could not. Rocket wasn't even able to see himself or his body. He felt nonexistent…. as if he were in deep sleep, or were watching himself from above in some other ungodly dimension. Continuing to feel these conditions for what felt like hours, Rocket continued to drift, unable to even think straight about what was happening.
His feet slammed into the ground. Rocket's eyes shot open and his thoughts burst awake like a weapon accidently discharging as it falls and hits the ground. Scarcely able to balance, he steadied himself against the wall, and found his other companions appeared in front of him one by one. Gamora, Drax, Groot, and then Sam, who was still lying on the ground.
After regaining his senses, Rocket examined their new surroundings wearily. Yellow sirens blared throughout the metal hallways that they were now in-which oddly enough were uninhabited by anyone-, and many automatic doors were left wide open.
Those were only the blunt details that Rocket noticed. He didn't have time to think of any more before something else began to interrupt him.
Someone began to cough. It started out weak and high-pitched, than turned to a gasp -similar to how someone would sound if they were severely injured-, followed by several more rapid, hard coughs. He turned his head to investigate the noise and found Sam, tipping her head upward, her eyes slits as if trying to adjust to the intake of light. She put a hand to her eyes, and continued coughing.
She's alive! Rocket's mind exploded with overjoy. He darted next to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sam! Hey! You alright?" He asked aloud, talking hastier.
The female coughed again, her body fur twitching and her eyes blinking rapidly, in Rocket's direction. "Y- yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine-"
Something inside Rocket cracked. He lunged forward, embracing her in a hug once she had sat all the way up.
Her eyes lit up as if startled, but she said nothing and smiled, hugging Rocket back. "You didn't think I'd die that easily, did you?" She inquired, not separating from him.
Protectively, Rocket hugged her tighter. He felt her warmth coursing through his paw pads, and even through the small amount of time he'd thought her to be dead, he immensely missed the feel of Sam's fur against his. His expression still held tight with worry as he loosened his grip on her back. He slipped his paws down to her waist so she was nearly nose to nose with him, his throat vibrating with pleasure as he felt her face almost against his. That adorable face of hers, with those sapphire blue eyes that he'd had the privilege of staring into plenty of times. Her soft and fluffy fur, which she kept neatly smoothed over so it looked nearly identical to Rocket's- and also kept her not looking as skinny as a bone- and the way her round little snout was shaped. He adored everything about her. One of the many reasons he loved Sam so deeply.
"I told you: Me over you," Rocket responded firmly, "I won't let anything happen."
He managed a small smile when she pressed her nose against his, one of her favorite ways to tease him he assumed by now. "But I want it to be us. Not one of us," Sam declared, "I don't think I could go on my own at this point."
Rocket exhaled coolly, keeping his nose against hers. "You don't have to be alone." He closed the conversation and the distance between their lips, smooching her on the mouth. Sam purred with affection, relishing his paws on her sides, especially as he held her close.
Eventually, she separated, her expression stoic as she glanced around at their surroundings. "We should be going. Where- are we, exactly?" She asked.
Gamora kept her blade unsheathed, while Drax did the same, staying nearly back to back with her. Groot kept on the defense, crouching low near Sam and Rocket, holding a bulky root grown arm in front of them, in attempt to guard them from any impending threats.
"Yes, an explanation would be more than welcome at this point!" Gamora tirelessly stated eyes scanning the halls.
Rocket knew they were both right. He'd brought them into this situation, and with Peter gone, he had to take control of it. There were no additional choices to be made. This raccoon was the only one that could get them out alive. At this point, they had two missions: Get Ranger, and get the orb out intact.
"That lovely contraption you saw back there was a teleporter," Rocket began, carefully choosing his words- particularly around Gamora. He withdrew his machine gun and watched the halls with them, expecting soldiers of the sort he'd seen in his dreams to come running directly to them. "I don't remember exactly what that place was back there, or why it has a teleporter, but it must've been an entryway of some sort to this place. Where we are right now? This is Astroliopa's base. And it has people from my past. People that I think we need-" Rocket he waved his hand back towards the bright yellow circle near the wall behind them absently- "if we're going to get out of here alive. They could be allies."
At this point, he was sure Gamora couldn't think up any other options, judging from her frustrated sigh. With Peter gone, he knew she'd be an angry wreck inside, but he also knew that wouldn't stop her from finding a way to finish this job, even if it meant following a raccoon's lead.
"Then make haste rodent! We have work to do here!" Gamora urged him to lead on.
The sound of shouts down the hall and frantic boots hitting the metal floor confirmed her need to sound hasty. Rocket nodded and gestured for them to follow, running through the nearest room he could find that avoided the soldiers. He didn't need to be told that the sounds of those shouts weren't friendlies.
He quickly looked around and saw that they were in another hallway and cursed to himself. Think. You've been here before Rocket. You know this looks familiar. Remember… It was easier said than done. Blaring sirens and enemies running around them didn't make it a good setting for Rocket to think right now.
Jogging down the hall, he ducked into another corridor with his friends. This time they got luckier.
The raccoon hadn't had the time to stop and notice that each hallway contained a large holographic map on the wall to help someone navigate throughout the structure. As massive as it looked, Rocket still wanted to examine it. He figured it was better than nothing after all.
Gamora tugged him backwards as several cyborgs rushed by Rocket. "What are you doing?!" She whispered loudly into his ear, "are you trying to get us killed?"
"I have to see that map," Rocket persisted, trying to examine it from afar, shying backwards each time a guard ran past them. All it took was one turn of a ninety degree angle and they would see them….
He tried to make out the map, and the selection of little hallways. You are here. The little arrow pointed to the part of the corridor they were now in. It showed many blinking green lights, which Rocket could safely assume were open doorways. As he looked through a certain area in a hall, he realized that there were lines of smaller red dots, in an area marked, Confinement Cells.
Only one dot was green.
The door was open. It had to be Ranger's. Somehow, that code had to have been intended for the purpose of rescuing Ranger. Rocket had designed the code before he'd left so he could come back at some point to rescue him! That would've explained why all of the doors were open, and the sirens that were blaring. Astroliopa couldn't close the doors if the base were on lockdown… meaning no one could do anything about it.
He only wish he knew how Tivan of all people had gained possession of the code…. a code that Rocket himself had created for the day he would come to his brethren's aid.
Nonetheless, the dot was close. Conveniently, it was only two halls down from Rocket's position.
They maneuvered their way through the halls, avoiding guards as they went, then made a sharp B-line right for Ranger's cell when the cost was clear.
"Stop!" Rocket urged them before Gamora could unlock the door. "Groot, can you see another raccoon in there by any chance?"
Groot narrowed his eyes and glanced through the top of the door's glass panel, then shook his head. "I am Groot." (Not really.) Groot's eyes widened. "I…. I am GROOT!" (Wait…. I think I do!)
Rocket smiled widely. "Get it open then! What are we waiting for?"
Gamora pressed the button on the already unlocked control console, allowing them to venture inside.
Once inside the prison cell, Rocket found it looking much different as opposed to his solitary confinement cell. Inside, it appeared nothing more different than a simple room…. Made with the same blue steel color like Ranger's cell had, except there was a pair of stairs leading up to a platform above them. Eerily, and almost too easily, he looked as if it lead right to what they were looking for.
No guards at stopped them. No guards were in the prison room. Rocket would have assumed they'd have noticed the only unlocked cell in this base, but how they didn't surprised him.
"Lock the door," Rocket ordered to Groot, without turning around, "we don't need any surprises in case this is some sorta' trap." He knew it was too late to avoid whatever trap was outside right now, but he wanted to get Ranger out. That was priority one.
He began to walk up the stairs, Gamora and Drax close behind him while Groot blocked the door with broken pipes and whatever other materials he could scrounge up from his root arms.
Once he'd reached the top of the stairs, the next thing he saw nearly made his heart leap into his throat.
"Is that another…" Sam finished Rocket's own thought.
Stuck against the steel wall, above the ground, a long-haired raccoon's head limply hung low, as if in a state of sleep. He wore a white jumpsuit, and seemed much more aged than Rocket had seen him before. He appeared bulkier too, taller in height if Rocket was being accurate enough, but nevertheless familiar.
Groot walked alongside them, and immediately began to help Rocket break the strange raccoon free of his restraints. Once free, Groot calmly brought the white suited animal down for closer inspection, and laid him across the ground.
Rocket was sure of it. He had to be Ranger. The familiarity couldn't be a mistake.
Rocket walked over to him after hopping off Groot's back, then sprinted down to his knees to his side and began to shake his shoulders. "Hey, buddy! Ranger!" He called him by what he hoped was his really name. "Come on man, wake up!"
As if Rocket were looking into a mirror, the same beady brown eyes opened briefly, then closed quickly at the light. The odd raccoon groaned, then began to stir, making Rocket's excitement level rise. Sam hovered over him along with Rocket. "Ranger! It's me, Rocket! Remember? Your- your brother!" He felt weird saying it, but decided to go with whatever might've sounded familiar to him.
The raccoon's eyes stirred again, and he opened them to the size of faint slits, and groaned lightly. "Why is there two bloody copies of mah' head?..." he groaned, "I must've bumped my buggin' noggin'…." His strange accent that he'd also had in the dream began to show more.
Sam giggled, moving away from him. "He thinks we're a mirrior."
Rocket chuckled too, and slapped his check with his paw lightly. "Buddy, come on! It's Rocket. Pal, for the love of mother- would you wake up already?!" He shook Ranger even more furiously. Not how he imagined meeting his sibling for the first time in two years.
As if recognizing his voice, Ranger's eyes widened beyond slits, revealing the shade of brown Rocket had seen that reflected his own eyes. "R- Rocket? Is that- bloody you?"
Barely able to contain himself, Rocket smiled widely and nodded more times than he meant to. "Yeah, yeah, that's me! It's me!"
Ranger sat up, and rubbed his eyes. "Christ….. how did you…." he shook his head, then scoffed, and laughed. "You- ya got back! I knew ya would!" The mammal that was at least an inch taller than Rocket sat up and crushed him to death with a hug that was even worse than Groot's.
"O-kay-" Rocket wheezed, "too- much," he added, patting his back weakly, until Ranger finally released him.
"How'd you remember? I thought I'd never see you again lil' brother…." Ranger continued, still clearly in disbelief at seeing him.
Rocket went with the short version. "Long story. And I think that Grimlock guy's got somethin' to do with it, am I right?" He assumed.
Ranger nodded. "If you remember as much as I think ya do, than I think you have a pretty good idea what the bugga' has to do with this. He's the whole reason we're in this blasted mess in the first place!"
"Where's Lylla?" Rocket asked hastily. "Does he still have her?"
Ranger nodded slowly. "You remember her?" Rocket nodded back. "Damn…. You came at a bad time lil' man. You won't like what's happened to her…."
"What?" Rocket demanded. "What did he do to her-"
A great screeching deafened Rocket's hearing, causing him to wince. Like nails on a chalkboard, the noise continued behind him. He turned around to yell a curse at whatever was making the racket, but paused when he saw the only adversary it could be in a time like that this.
The long serrated blades of the machine finally ceased the horrible noise they caused in colliding with the ground. Sparks appeared as he sharply swiped the ground with both gauntlets, and he began to repeat the motion as he started to walk in a circle. His dark black cape flowed steadily with each perfectly placed footstep as he watched Rocket with his bright red eyes. Both eyes appeared to glare at him with the way they twinkled occasionally, and Rocket found his appearance all the more sadistic with the way he continued to stare at him in that unsettling, cold, gaze. With every footstep placed, his blades stroke the ground with a loud screech, causing more yellow sparks to fly into the air.
It wasn't Astroliopa, but Rocket wasn't surprised to find his right hand robot, standing in his place.
Grimlock.
"Did you believe, JP293 that it would be that easy to try and save your dear sibling?" He inquired out loud.
He laughed. Rocket almost didn't realize how hysterical his laugh sounded, but he didn't care once it had come out.
"You-" he pointed to Grimlock, then laughed again, gritting his teeth together. "I remember. Don't think I don't know what you did to me. What you and your little boss did. I know, I remember all of that ridiculous crap you made me go through. And yet you-" he pointed again with his paw- "have the NERVE, to try and kill the ones I care about. You have the nerve to screw with me and send bounty hunters after me. You have the nerve to organize hundreds of Kree soldiers to destroy me, and to talk to me inside my head. More importantly, you have the nerve to ruin my life, take away the majority of what makes me a raccoon, and put me back together again….. AND LAUGH!" He shouted, smiling sadistically. His fur bristled defensively while his eyes brightened angrily.
"Do you really believe you remember all that went down during the first four years of your life?" Grimlock replied back. "Believe what you wish, Rocket, but know that you don't recognize all that happened during those years. That are still many things you have yet to recall during those forgotten years."
"Oh yeah?" Rocket scoffed. "What else do you want to tell me? You killed my parents? That you stole my rubber ducky as a kid? That you burned down a damn orphanage? What else don't you think I know!?"
"About her. The female you have loved so deeply."
The raccoon froze at the mention. Letter L. He still couldn't remember her name. Her image however, remained beautiful as ever to him…. with those clear brown eyes, soft grey fur and that small round nose of hers. "Sam is who I care about," Rocket replied, not allowing hesitation to enter his tone, "not some chick I used to know years ago." He snickered, "not some killer stripper."
Grimlock walked to the center of the platform and looked up to the raccoon, stopping in his footsteps. "I believe you know that to be a lie. Your heart lies with the one you left behind so many years ago, yet you still fail to grasp the reality of this truth. Yet you still stumble behind the lies of JP369." His gaze fell upon Sam. "The one who still remains to withhold her dishonesties from you."
The face of Sam appeared distraught by Grimlock's suggestive wording, and she uneasily shuffled behind Rocket.
"May I ask… when did you plan to tell your companion about the past?" He challenged Sam. "About what you remembered?"
Rocket had enough of listening to him. "Shut up," he ordered Grimlock, "you're a liar. You always lie! You're nothing but a stupid piece of scrap who won't shut his dang mouth! So maybe-" He withdrew his machine gun and jumped off the platform in front of Grimlock- "I should do it for you!" He shouted, aiming the gun right at his head. "Read my lips: I don't care what, you say, I decide my own life! Whatever happened before happened."
Ranger jumped next to Rocket in a perfect crouching position, wielding a Laser Pistol. "He's right Grim. Ya already taken 'nough from o' lives. No more blasted lies-" he pointed at the ground- "it ends here."
The robotic assassin didn't move a muscle or shy away at their combined threat. "Perhaps you are right," Grimlock responded bluntly, angling his head down, his red eyes shifting in between Rocket's small form. "Only, there's one person who may not agree with you on that philosophy at the moment."
Rocket snickered. "And who's that?"
In a slow, single motion, Grimlock began to lift his head above Rocket's gaze.
He murmured one single word. "Her."
Out of instinct Rocket lifted his head as the light around him became darkened by a shadow suddenly looming over him. A blur of a green combat suited figure descended upon the raccoon, double kicking him against the wall. He flinched and aimed point blank at the figure with his barrel to shoot, but the armored opponent ducked to avoid several bullets and kicked the weapon out of Rocket's grasp.
Ranger fired a laser bolt at their enemy's head, only to realize it'd harmlessly hit the wall adjacent to its head, allowing the figure grab his pistol arm. With a grunt it swung Ranger over its shoulder, slamming him back first into the ground.
Rocket barely cast a glimpse at his friends who were engaging Grimlock, before lunging at the strange figure and aiming several wild punches at its helmet. His enemy was quicker than he anticipated. It swiftly took a stance and dashed to the right then swung its head out of fist range, then with a sharp turn it sucker punched Rocket in the gut. He tumbled over, recovering with a snarl, and retorted by kicking the enemy point blank in the chest when it sauntered over to finish him.
It caught his foot with both hands, and before he could even blink, the armored figure had pulled him by the foot right in front of his face, and slammed him into the ground with it's free hand.
Staring down at Rocket momentarily, the small figure- about his height- lifted its fist to finish him, still clutching him by the scruff of his neck tightly. While he knew how serious a situation this was, he still couldn't help but notice the skinny brown tail on the furry figure. It lingered freely near the behind of the figure's armor.
Grimlock had referred to this enemy as 'her.'
Rocket widened his eyes. Even with the light green armor covering nearly every aspect of this creature's body, he saw the tail. Something was wrong. This wasn't Deadshot. Quill was right.
Someone else was behind this suit. With a different tail, just like he'd said.
Rocket did the inevitable and ducked right as the fist of the figure sailed over his ear and smashed into the metal ground beside his head. Right as this happened he took the opportunity, and grabbed the figure's head with both hands, and pulled on the helmet.
Devastated, the frantic figure lunged its head free of Rocket's grip out of natural reflexes, sending the helmet flying off of its head.
Memories.
Memories were written all over her. The L. The L was her. Rocket recognized this female. Things were coming back to him.
A name… Lylla.
Her brown fur around her face was matted from constant use of the helmet, but her beady brown eyes stared attentively at Rocket with a smile. The otter impossibly appeared to shine in appearance as she stared, quirking her nose as if smelling him from a distance.
Grimlock had jumped out of range of the other Guardians' attacks. He assured Lylla to his side.
Lylla smiled and glanced out of the corner of her eye at Grimlock, then sinisterly winked at Rocket and scampered to his side on all fours.
"Remember now, Subject?" Grimlock asked from afar.
Rocket was still staring at Lylla. He'd felt astonished at her presence, but seeing her next to the giant machine was now beginning to confuse him. What did she think she was doing? She should know what he was doing by now…..
"L- Lylla?..." Rocket stretched the word, gazing at her as if she were from another world. He smiled widely, then took a few steps forward towards her, more than ready to hug her, or do something of that effect. "You're alive." He breathed. "I- remember."
"Rocket?" Lylla's gaze softened, and she made the smile appear more genuine, her gaze brightening. She looked up to Grimlock as if waiting for approval, and the giant nodded.
Almost too eagerly, she approached the raccoon on two legs. When the Guardians reacted to this, Rocket put a hand in the air to signal them to stop.
"You- remember me too?" Rocket couldn't believe it. She really did remember him.
"I do." She smiled, "And I missed you."
That's when things began to seem out of place. Lylla's smiled turned sadistic, and her eyes glimmered with something dark inside them, as if she had something else in mind for Rocket. She wickedly laughed, the sort of laugh that he knew did not sound like Lylla's laugh at all, then regarded him briefly with a pretended quivered lip.
"Or I did miss you," she added a little more viciously, her teeth forming a snarl.
"Lylla," Rocket replied, frowning, "what's wrong girl?"
The otter appeared to coldly regard him with her sudden glare. She looked at him as if he were the biggest threat right now, the person she felt most skeptical and distrusting of. Her enemy. "I know you missed me Rocket. I would not be the least bit startled to hear that you still think of me each day and night in the galaxy. Or whatever of my memory remained inside that thick, hard headed skull of yours," she added, still keeping her eyes on him. "But-" she pointed at Rocket, "-you see…. you hurt me. You made me very upset. You left me, behind, to Grimlock and his goons. You left me to Halfworld when you promised to get us out."
Rocket expanded the size of his eyes, then squinted them at her, puzzled. "I did. Lylla, you know I did. You told me….. to leave. You said there was no way I could get to you, and you told me to go! Me and Ranger. You told us to leave. I still tried to save you, but there was nothing I could do," he insisted, "and then Ranger got split up from me….." He shook his head. "And they took him."
"… and yet you still persist to leave? How dare you," she growled, "how dare you leave me to die. You should've come back for me. Turned back while you still had your memory. Saved my life. Live up to your promise." Lylla softened the darkness in her eyes and walked up to where she was almost an inch from Rocket's face. "Showed that you loved me."
The words struck Rocket directly in the heart. He felt it pierce his chest as if cupid's arrow had just gone through at that moment, and his heart nearly broke in half. He felt both angry and slightly saddened to hear such a thing come from her.
So angry that he didn't realize what he'd said next, until it was too late.
"Lylla. I do love you. I've loved you since the day I meant you when we were kids," he explained, remembering even more than he thought he would, "Heck, I still feel that way about you. I can't take it back. Especially now that I remember you. It's not fair to you that I just remembered that I cared about you," he continued. He leaned forward towards her face with his own.
The words appeared to sink into her for a moment. "You say those things yet you still choose to leave me. The time we spent together…. Rocket. Don't you remember?"
Rocket allowed Lylla to guide him into the room and steadily as ever. He smiled at her and leaned forward, kissing her on the mouth once they were out of view of the robots in the hall as his room door closed.
"How did it go this time?" She asked, smiling back at the raccoon.
At the moment, the raccoon did not have any sort of machine gun on him, except for twin pistols on his utility belt, which were loaded with nothing more but bullets. He looked much younger, his fur softer and neatly trimmed as opposed to his rough, grimy present day appearance. His snout and face were less developed, implying that he had to have been a teen… or a young adult at this time.
He'd just turned 3. Rocket remembered. He's barely become an adult at this point….. yet what followed was a surprise, even for Rocket.
"Ha!" Rocket laughed lightly, his voice full of energy, "it wasn't too hard. They didn't have a chance." He smiled, placing his hands on Lylla's hip. He tenderly pressed his nose to hers and kissed her softly. "Just a couple runners today. Tried to jump the gate." He chuckled, shaking his head, then sighed. "And one tried the escape pods."
She cocked her head to the side. "You appear worried. Did something go wrong?" Lylla questioned.
Rocket frowned. He walked over to his bed with Lylla and sat down, then put both hands underneath his chin and appeared to think. "It's just….." he felt hesitant trying to explain it. "It was a little girl. Barely a teenager. One of 'em at least."
She placed a hand on his shoulder, edging closer to Rocket while he stared down at the ground. "Did you have to-" Obviously, she didn't want to finish her thought.
Rocket brought relief to her by shaking his head. "No. I couldn't do it. She was- like me." He decided to say. "I couldn't shoot her. And because of that she knocked me over the head with a gun and got away."
"You're lucky she did not harm you any further," Lylla remarked once he'd finished.
"I know." He nodded. "It was a pretty stupid move I made, but I don't think she wanted to kill me either. Seemed like she was afraid."
Lylla nodded in return. "I would be afraid if I were her age too, wielding a gun like that. Killing people isn't an easy thing to deal with afterwards. Perhaps it was best for her to leave Halfworld."
"Eh…." Rocket pondered this with a cock of his head. "Maybe."
"Maybe?" Lylla chuckled, turning her head in his direction.
Rocket then stole a glance at her and grinned. "Okay, don't get all sassy on me girl! Or just 'maybe', I'm going to not talk to you anymore."
Lylla gasped sarcastically. "Oh, you would not dare. A gentleman like yourself wouldn't even consider doing such a thing." She smiled slyly as he held her hand, then flipped around so he had his second hand on her knee. "But you couldn't…."
"I could too," Rocket challenged, frowning as he playfully avoided her mouth.
For several moments, they held hands, and Lylla continued trying to touch her mouth to his, while Rocket maneuvered out of the way. Finally, her nose rested against his, and Rocket pretended to act surprised. "There's no escaping your fate," she declared. "Just maybe, however, you could fix that…."
"I guess ya did catch me." Rocket grinned. He closed the approaching gap between his and Lylla's lips. "Just 'maybe'…. I'll take my punishment." He kissed her back deeply.
Lylla affectionately purred, allowing Rocket's mass to overcome her, leaning her back against the bed. She laughed silently as he began kissing her neck, and giggled at the feel after a few seconds. "And just maybe…." Rocket mumbled, "I'll slip my hands around your pant waistband…." He did so, and enjoyed the feel of her bare body fur against his paws as he gripped the waistband of her pants with both hands.
Even as the feeling excited him, and as he appeared to be advancing toward more intimate actions, Rocket quickly realized what he was doing and halted his advance all together.
Lylla looked to noticed his actions, and stared back up into his eyes, while he blushed with a heat-load of embarrassment, and gulped.
"Lylla…. I'm-" Rocket began, beginning to remove his hands, "sorry, I shouldn't have-"
To his surprise, her paw gripped his hands before they could move away, putting him back on top of her. "Wait," she ordered. She examined Rocket for a moment, then looked into his eyes. Her gaze softened, and Lylla put his paw back to her waist. "I like it."
She remained silent after saying this, pursuing her lips together as if taking careful consideration, then responded finally. "I think- I think we should do it."
Rocket's eyes became ovals. He became even more shocked when he realized what she was referring to by 'it,' rather than feeling pleased by her answer. "Wait- you don't mean….." he frowned, puzzled. "You're saying, you think we should have se-"
"Yes," Lylla urged on, "I think- I'm rather fine with the idea. Do you have any objections?"
"I- I thought you said you were gonna follow that thing, like your parents did? That belief thing? If ya dad finds out I'm-"
"I lied," Lylla replied, "the abstinence thing was my idea. I wanted to abstain from any sort of sexual relationships because I felt as if men were not an important need in my life. I felt they would be a barrier to my education." She smiled at Rocket. "But you have proved that wrong it seems…."
Rocket wasn't sure he could process what he as hearing. "Still, if your dad finds out, you know what he'll do if he finds you and me were sleeping together…" he stretched.
Lylla chuckled. "But, I do recall a certain Rocket Raccoon saying that adults make their own decisions….. and as of several months ago, we are adults, am I correct?"
"Says my old teenage 2 year old self…" Rocket mumbled to himself, getting off her momentarily. "Sometimes I don't think when I say things. And we're 'barely' adults."
"That seems to be a habit for you, not thinking things through," Lylla smirked. "And you were the one I thought not long ago had been watching me bathe.. because he found features of my physical structure interesting."
"That was one time," Rocket scoffed.
Lylla narrowed an eyebrow at him.
Rocket sighed. "Okay, two times. You got me. But look, Lylla, I don't care how much I'm interested in you. I respect ya too much to push you to 'do it' with me. I mean, I can be a perv, granted, but I'm not that kind of guy. You don't want to, I won't push you."
She sighed in response to Rocket's statement. "I know. You are a sweet and kind individual Rocket. While you may not be the most perfect or sane creature, I found myself attracted to you of all people." The otter sat up from the bed and faced Rocket. "And believe me, I am capable of knowing my decisions." Lylla extended her hands away from herself. "My decision now, is yes. I am fine with intimacy..." She walked around the raccoon, and kept eye contact with him, smiling as she put her face closer to his."So long as you wish to do the same of course."
Rocket smiled. He leaned over Lylla again, and she replaced herself on the bed, and guided his paws to her waist. "Long as your daddy doesn't find out…. I'm fine with it if you're fine with it."
"He won't."
"And as long as you don't hold back."
A glimmer of mischievousness sparkled in Lylla's eyes. "That's more of your job I would think."
He began to kiss Lylla again. "'Long as you're fine with it, I'm fine with it," he mumbled. "Like I said."
"Then take me. Make me yours," Lylla urged him, kissing Rocket back.
Rocket dismayed himself with what he continued to remember. Little bits of the memory came together like a thousand piece puzzle, and soon enough, he remembered what it was like. He could remember, every second, of being intimate with Lylla. Their first time. What shocked him even more was that he found that this was not the first time he'd engaged in intercourse like this with her. Lylla and him were extremely close at one point. Closer than he could ever have imagined. They loved each other- or had- at one point.
Oh god… Rocket thought, I had- me and Lylla- we had sex.
This spiked new memories. The more that he remembered, the more Rocket came to a final conclusion. He was horrified. Not only had he been with Lylla, and loved her, but afterwards, he'd gone as far as being with Sam and done just what he had done with Lylla in that memory.
It actually felt good, what he'd done with Lylla. He liked it, and he knew he could not deny his feelings.
With a spike of guilt, Rocket realized he did still love Lylla. Seeing her now, he enjoyed the sensation of just looking at Lylla. It seemed like a complete hole in his heart had become fixed by only witnessing her appearance. She wasn't like Sam. She was much closer than the female raccoon could ever be to him.
"I do." Rocket stepped up to her. "And don't you dare think for a moment that I don't love you."
"No." Lylla shook her head. As if she were a soulless machine, her emotion completely disappeared with one blink of her eyes. "I can't be with you. Not when you are with that scrappy thing over there….." she clenched her teeth, seething at Sam, who still stood on the platform above them like a statue.
Rocket began to feel panicked. "Lylla. It's not fair. You know I couldn't remember you! If I could still remember, do you think I would've-"
"Lies!" Lylla hissed, stepping away from Rocket as if he were a poisonous snake. "You…. you had the nerve- to sleep with another woman! Over me!"
A pang of sadness hit Rocket. He wanted to look at Sam, but was fearful of what he would fine on her face.
Pain? Sadness? Anger? All three? He didn't want to know.
The words of what he tried to say could not leave his mouth.
"And you would've, even if you had recalled me! You left me….. you wouldn't have cared if I died. You wanted me to perish." She growled. "You wanted to hurt me. Watching. Waiting, like the little lustful scum raccoon you are…. plotting to hurt me…. betraying me. You saw me in that tunnel, and you left me. And you smiled."
Rocket's ears stood a little straight at hearing her mention this. Wait…. How does she know Sam? I never said her name when she was around…. Did I? And betraying her…?. His blood ran cold, sending chills up his spine. Grimlock had made it sound as if she had been kept in captivity. She could never have known about Sam…. and the Lylla Rocket knew would never talk like this. Something felt awfully wrong about her. The way she spoke, laughed, and the way her eyes glimmered in that evil way they now did.
She could've known Sam by Grimlock mentioning her. However, that didn't explain her irrational behavior. He'd never betrayed her, and Lylla knew it. Where that thought came from, he wasn't sure. A tunnel?... only Ranger was in the tunnel. Rocket hadn't tried to get to her in a tunnel, he'd used vents, judging from the little part his memories could pick up. Too many guards blocked his path. That was when he got the call from Lylla to go….
"Lylla…. what are you talking about?" Rocket slowly asked. "How did I…"
She glared at him. "You watched me. You left me…." she began to growl more. Her eyes grew more feral.
Rocket's head shot around to look at Grimlock. "What did you do to her?" He demanded.
"I fail to understand-"
"ANSWER THE QUESTION! What the hell did you do to her!?" Rocket shouted furiously.
Grimlock cocked his head to the side. "Why…. we told her the truth, Rocket. That's all you ever wanted to tell her, wasn't it?"
He shook his head, snarling, and tightened his fists.
"I'm me Rocket. Don't you recognize me when you see me?" Lylla laughed, twirling around, "EX- lover boy?"
Rocket pointed to her without breaking his stare at Grimlock. "That thing- is not the otter I know. She does not talk like that. She knows I didn't betray her, I com'ed her myself, and she told me to leave." He glared at the machine. "And she would NEVER, work for you."
Grimlock chuckled. "Do not make me laugh. Make a few tweaks to their minds….. and a lifeform will work for anyone. You should know this, after all, Rocket. Seeing as how you have undergone a similar process after your escape"
The truth swam into Rocket's mind. He gaped his mouth and looked at what he thought to be Lylla, then clenched his teeth grudgingly at Grimlock. "She-"
"Yes. She had a few… corrections, made to what she 'thought' she had seen and heard from you. Changed her perspective to what it should have been. Showed her the truth. Just as I had said before, raccoon. Didn't we, Miss Lylla?"
The otter blinked and smiled sweetly in the robot's direction, then frowned darkly at Rocket's direction "Absolutely. I should have realized who he really was. Should have noticed the little act he was putting on behind that mask."
Inside Rocket's head, his brain swirled with the answer. Lylla had been brainwashed. Almost two years it'd been, and Grimlock had the nerve to make her forget him all together. Never again had she been able to miss Rocket. Never did she get to plan on how to escape or to communicate with him. She wouldn't get to even think of Rocket positively during those years. Her mind had probably only been filled with thoughts of hatred for Rocket, the want to kill him for 'hurting' her, and 'leaving her behind'.
This was why she seemed to act like a total different person to Rocket. This was what Grimlock had meant by 'procedure.'
"Change her back," Rocket ordered, his voice beginning to quiver. He started to shake and clenched his teeth together. "You change her back! That is not Lylla!" He started to rise his voice again, his fur bristling ferociously, showing his violent nature.
"I am afraid that is not possible. You have made the mistake of committing various crimes during your escape of Halfworld, and in doing so, your brother has received his punishment for aiding you. Your punishment however, is something long-term. Lylla's memory manipulation is not temporary."
Soldiers burst into the room from the closed doors at the end of the hall. Rocket was too late to realize that his own machine gun was still on the platform with Sam and Gamora.
Gamora rose her blade defensively and ducked before a guard's bullet could reach her, but an electric charge reached her foot, incapacitating her. Drax leapt off the platform to attack Grimlock with his dagger, only to receive the same fate as Gamora had.
Sam snarled and fired off several sniper rounds at the group of charging guards. Several flinched and hesitated their advance, and one slipped onto the ground, leaking bright blue blood onto the steel ground from a bullet wound. She dodged a charge being fired at her with the help of Groot's root shield and killed another guard.
Then she hit the ground. Electricity coursed throughout her body, and she shouted, straining to keep her muscles in control, her eyes twitching wildly. Finally, Sam was unconscious.
Groot shouted his normal war cry and covered Sam with his root shield, struggling to keep himself covered as soldiers advanced on him.
"It's permeant," Grimlock finished, ignoring the combat around them.
This was enough to send him over the edge. His friends falling around him. Peter dying. Now he was discovering that the only girl he'd loved as a child was gone forever.
Rocket Raccoon was not going to go out like this.
"NO!" Rocket shouted out of outrage, lunging at Grimlock on all fours, showing his vampire-like canines as he descended onto the assassin.
His vision went white before he could touch Grimlock, and electrical volts coursed throughout his body as he hit the hard ground.