Chapter 17.
This is the seventeenth chapter. It will be very short. Hope you enjoy it.
A while later…
Yondu had sacrificed himself for Quill, by using the aero-rig Rocket gave him to get into space as the planet exploded, and by giving Quill the space suit. Quill and Yondu's body had been picked up by the others, and pretty soon, they were all gathered Yondu's body which laid on a bench surrounded by candles, flowers, and small possessions of Yondu.
Mark stood in between Gamora and Mantis, his face pointing downwards and held his hands together in his front. "I told Gamora how when I was a kid, I used to pretend David Hasselhoff was my dad. He's a singer and actor from Earth, really famous guy." Quill said, which made Mark smirk with humour. "Earlier, it struck me… Yondu didn't have a talking car, but he did have a flying arrow. He didn't have the beautiful voice of an angel, but he did have the whistle of one. Both Yondu and David Hasselhoff went on kick-ass adventures and hooked up with hot women and fought robots. I guess David Hasselhoff did kind of end up being my dad after all. Only it was you, Yondu. I had a pretty cool dad. What I'm trying to say here is… sometimes that thing you're searching for your whole life… it's right there by your side all along. You don't even know it." Quill continued emotionally and tearfully. Mark then closed his eyes for a few seconds, as a moment of silence and respect. He opened them again, then saw to his right Gamora going away from the group and then down a corridor. "I am Groot." Baby Groot said. "He did call you twig." Rocket said down to him. A minute later, the bench Yondu's body was on then moved in an airlock-like tube with walls of flame. Mark doing a quick salute. Mark then followed Rocked and Drax to the cockpit, and sat down in a seat as he watched the first of Yondu's burned remains fly slowly out of the airlock-like tube. He then slumped back into the seat and closed his eyes, his mind then suddenly taking him back to his life on Earth, before he was a Dog.
"They came." He then heard Rocket say, which made him open his eyes. He then looked out the small viewports and saw a lot of ships of various shapes and sizes, approach the front of the quadrant. He then rapidly got out of the chair of steeped up to the nearest console. He thought they were under attack or something. "What is it?" Drax asked, he and the others heading towards the viewport. "I sent word to Yondu's old Ravager buddies, and told them what he did." Rocket explained, which made Mark calm right down. He then moved away from the console and joined the others at the front. "It's a Ravager funeral." Quill said in realisation. The ships all then let out lots of colours, which reminded Mark of fireworks. It was one of the most beautiful things he had seen in a long time. "YEAH! YEAH!" He faintly heard Kraglin's voice from somewhere in the ship. "He didn't let them down after all." Mark thought in his head. "He didn't chase them away." Rocket said. "No." Quill said. "Even though he yelled at them. And was always mean. And he stole batteries he didn't need." Rocket added, which made Mark looked at him, realising he was admitting his mistake. "Well, of course not." Quill said. "Yeah. But unlike them, we don't chase our members away." Mark said, as he walked up to Rocket's left and sat down beside him. "What?" Rocket asked him. "I, uh… I like you, Rocket. We're a good team, you and I. And I know deep inside the body of toughness, is a good heart. You know, we're actually quite alike. Obviously, we both have furry bodies, and yet I wasn't always like this. You know, my father on Earth used to tell me something: "Son, one day you're gonna find your true friends. And no matter how stupid, or dumb they may act sometimes, you always forgive them, and move on." And that's what I'm doing with you… best buddy." Mark replied, Rocket nodding and givng a slight smile, before Mark then placed his right arm over Rocket's back and his hand on Rocket's right shoulder. "In this family, we forgive each other." Mark added as he and Rocket then looked forwards.
As he looked out the viewport, seeing Yondu's burned remains form an arrow, he realised something: he'd called him and the others family. Up until them, he had seen the Guardians as friends, but now he saw them as more than that. A second family. And someone he could call a best friend. Which is something he hadn't had since he left Earth. And he accepted them. Sure, they all had problems, but all families do. Of course, he had his family on Earth, and he missed them, but here in space, he had found another. The reason why he hadn't gone back, and tell them he was alive, was because he was afraid that they'd not accept his new Dog form. And he wasn't sure how he'd explain it to them. And as he leaned his furry head rightwards against Rocket's, who let him do it, he swore he wasn't going to lose his new family like he'd done with his other.
And that's the seventeenth chapter done. And it's the SMALLEST of this story! I did this a bit quickly just to get this part finished so I can move onto the next part. Hope you like it though. So Mark has finally accepted the Guardians as his new family, good for him! Just to say, he and Rocket won't develop a romantic relationship, but kind of a best friend forever or BFF relationship.
"Avengers: Infinity War" starts new chapter. Cool film!