"Dear Peter,
I wish I could take back the years we spent afar from each other. I often think about finding you myself, but alas, it would be a grave mistake if people find out your relation to me. I have enemies, and if they knew you were my son, who knows what they would do. For now, I will give you this advice: stay alive so I can find you."
The battle got a little out of control. Gamora missed her shot, so Merlot's Grimm gained the upper hand. The Branwen bandits fought as hard as they could, but a few of them were lost. High above this one-sided battle, Dr. Merlot sat in his chair watching with great pride.
Down below, Star Lord was struggling to stay alive. He zigzagged to avoid the Grimm that surrounded him and he blasted all that got in his way. Eventually, he found Rocket who was perched on Groot's back firing his gun.
"What's going on?" Rocket asked.
"It's Gamora! I think something's wrong!" Star Lord said. He kept firing at the guns at any Grimm that came near him..
"So Gams was the one who dropped the ball." Rocket said. "And here, I thought it'd be Drax."
"I am Groot!"
"You can't guess Howard, Groot! Howard's not even here!" Rocket exclaimed.
"Who's Howard?" Star Lord asked.
"Not the time for our past, Quill!" Rocket replied.
A loud roar of a familiar ally echoed over the field. The three of them turned and saw Drax ride in on the back of the same mutant Deathstalker he wrestled with before. He had his knives piercing its back to keep ahold of it. He laughed in pure excitement like a kid on a roller coaster.
"I don't believe it." Star Lord commented on Drax.
"Well, at least one of us is enjoying himself." Rocket said.
The Deathstalker raised its tail ready to strike, but right before it did, Drax dodged out of the way letting it stab itself. When it collapsed down, Drax got up and used his knives to cut the Deathstalker's tail off. He then placed his foot right on top of it ready to stomp it further in.
"Friend Quill," Drax called out, "I think I would like a metaphor for this kind of situation!"
"Really?" Star Lord asked. "Okay, um… How about 'looks like you're your own worst enemy'?"
"Really?" Drax asked. "Okay." He turned and slowly pressed his foot down. "Looks like I'm my own worst enemy." He then stomped down hard on the severed tail right into the Deathstalker. The beast screamed until it fell dead.
As Drax celebrated his victory, Star Lord shrugged. "Not exactly what I meant, but okay."
At the other side of the battlefield, Mantis used her acrobatic skills to evade all the Grimm that tried to kill her. Eventually, though, she lost her footing and fell in the ground. A large mutant Beowolf hovered above her ready to kill her. She whimpered and braced for the strike. Thankfully, Gamora came to the rescue and sliced the Grimm's head off. She helped Mantis up to her feet.
"Aren't you supposed to be on the cliff?" Mantis asked.
"Got held back. Lost my weapon." Gamora said. "Come on!" She grabbed Mantis' wrist and rushed through the Grimm. Gamora swung her sword and killed them as she approached. It didn't take too long for her to reunite with Star Lord, Rocket, Groot, and Drax.
"Well, look who decided to get involved!" Rocket yelled out.
"I'm sorry!" Gamora cried out. "Nebula interfered and I lost my rifle in the fight!"
"Well, that's just perfect!" Rocket shouted. "How the heck are we going to survive this now?"
Star Lord looked around surveying the battlefield. He winced in disgust seeing a couple of his
fellow bandits get maimed, but he looked up and saw Dr. Merlot himself in his flying chair.
"I may have an idea, but it's even crazier than the original! I just need a clear path toward Merlot!"
Groot nodded and ran to the front of the group. He roared before shooting a branch out. It extended so far, it impaled several mutant Beowolves at once. Groot yelled out in rage as he swung the Grimm around violently until they disintegrated making a clear path ahead. Groot turned to his friends and gave a cute, open-mouthed smile.
"Well, that's one way, I guess." Star Lord said. "Everyone, try to survive!"
"NO KIDDING, QUILL!" Rocket yelled.
Star Lord began a running start. Once he had gained enough momentum in the open area, he jumped up high and activated his rockets on his boots. He shot himself from the ground to great heights heading towards Dr. Merlot. His rockets carried him right to Merlot while his back was turned. The mad scientist was caught by surprise when the bandit latched himself on the back of his flying chair.
"Yippee-ki-yay, Dr. Merlot!" Star Lord said.
"You're too late, boy!" Merlot got his chair to spin around hoping to throw his assailant off. But Quill never let go. He reached his hand at the power cell that Gamora failed to shoot before. He successfully removed it and the chair began to fail.
"YOU FOOL!" Dr. Merlot yelled out. "YOU'LL KILL US BOTH!"
"You haven't been paying attention, have you?" Star Lord asked before throwing himself off of the chair. With his rocketwear, he hovered over before turning and tossing the cell back to Merlot. "Enjoy the crash!"
While Merlot yelled and plummeted, Star Lord hovered back down to his friends where he also ran into Raven.
"Quill, what did you do?" Raven asked forcefully. "I can't portal everyone out in time before Merlot crashes with the power cell!"
"We hit a snafu, Raven, and it was the only thing I could think of to make sure the Grimm are destroyed!" Star Lord said.
"I am Groot."
"Huh? What do you mean there's no explosion?" Rocket asked.
Groot pointed at the direction where Merlot would have crashed by now. Much to everyone's confusion, there was no electrical burst that Rocket described before. Showing signs of concern, they ran toward the direction taking out as much Grimm as they could. When they made it to where the chair crashed, they were surprised to see Merlot still standing hooked to his machine and trying to place the power cell back to where Quill took it. Raven knew what it meant and feared she would have to show off her secret power.
"You think you won?" Dr. Merlot asked. "I will not be beaten by a group of idiots who claim to be 'guardians of Remnant'! I will not be denied my future! Once I hook my power cell in, then you will find yourself swarming with Grimm in a matter of seconds! Say good-bye to…"
"Ooga, chaka. Ooga, ooga. Ooga, chaka. Ooga, ooga. Ooga chaka…"
Everyone stopped what they were doing as soon as Star Lord began chanting. Even Dr. Merlot couldn't help but stare in confusion at the young bandit's dancing.
"I can't stop this feeling deep inside of me. Girl, you just don't realize, what you do to me."
"What are you doing?" Dr. Merlot asked.
"Dance off, bro. Me and you." Star Lord proudly challenged. He offered a dance to Gamora, but she refused. "When you hold me in your arms so tight, you let me know everything's all right. IIIIIIIII'm… hooked on a feeling! I'm high on believing…"
"What are you doing?" Dr. Merlot asked aggressively.
"I'm distracting you, you big turd blossom." Quill admitted when it was too late.
Merlot turned his head right went Rocket swung a tree branch at his hand. The cracking power
cell flew out of Dr. Merlot's hand and right toward Peter Quill, who lunged for it.
"NO!" Gamora yelled out, but it was too late.
Peter Quill grabbed ahold of the power cell and squeezed hard enough for it to break a little. Suddenly, a violently large array of lightning shot out blasting everywhere around it, including the man who was holding it. Star Lord screamed feeling the electricity surge through his body. He tried to stand up and aim the unstable power cell towards his target, but he didn't have the strength to move his body. Everyone took a step back to avoid the lightning strikes, except for Gamora who fought through the shocks to reach her hand out to her friend.
"PETER! TAKE MY HAND!"
Those words rang a familiar tone in Peter. When he turned to Gamora, he could see his mother on her deathbed struggling to hold out her hand to her son.
"Take my hand, Peter."
"Mom." Quill choked up finally having the strength he needed. Despite the unlimited power coursing through his body, he managed to power his hand up and grasp it at Gamora's. The green assassin then felt the same surge of energy enter her system too. She yelled sharing Peter Quill's pain.
Following Gamora's lead, Drax stomped toward his friends and placed his hand on Quill's shoulder. He shouted when the lightning ran through his veins too. Groot and Rocket both reached out and held onto Drax's hand together. They both felt the same energy.
All five misfits gritted their teeth struggling with the pain that coursed through all their bodies. But then, they stopped struggling because they didn't have to anymore. They managed to stand back up straight staring proudly at the mutant Grimm that surrounded them. They all aimed the unstable power cell and blasted a ridiculously large blast of fire at them all. They circled around quickly taking out every last Grimm with a single blow. Raven and the other bandits couldn't believe what they were seeing, and neither could Dr. Merlot who fell back in his chair shaking in fear when his enemies turned their attention on him.
"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" he panicked. "HOW?"
"You said it yourself, bitch." Star Lord said proudly. "We're the Guardians of Remnant."
Together, the Guardians of Remnant shot one final blast directly at Dr. Merlot and his chair. Upon impact, the headset exploded while attached to him. The mad doctor and his weapon were hit so hard, they were sent flying out into the very far distance. They were completely out of sight by the time the lightning storm began to die down. In a couple of minutes, the electricity dissipated into nothingness leaving Quill nothing but a couple of shards of glass in his hand. He dropped them as he fell to his knees feeling exhausted.
"You okay?" Gamora asked.
"Yeah. Better than Merlot, anyway." Quill said.
Drax laughed. "Well fought, my friends! Quill! Creepy talking beast! She-devil! Tree ma… Wait. Rocket, what's wrong with your friend?"
Rocket turned to see Groot with scorched, black wood all over his body. The talking tree slowly reached out his hand before it fell into splinters. The rest of his body began to follow.
"I… am… Groot." Groot said before he completely fell into several pieces. Everyone gasped at what they just saw and Rocket fell to his knees. He dug his paws through the dust picking up a single stick that wasn't burned. Mantis approached him holding out her hand.
"Rocket…" Quill said sullenly. "I'm so sorry."
"Huh? For what?" Rocket asked nonchalantly. "I mean, I was worried for a while there. But now that I found this piece of him…"
"Rocket feels no remorse." Mantis said. "I also sense… that Groot's still alive."
"Say what now?" Quill asked.
"Yeah. Groot's been through death before," Rocket said, "But if a piece of him survived, even a tiny splinter, he can grow back. It's gonna take some time though for him to be fully grown. The hard part
is watching him go through puberty."
"TMI, Rocket." Gamora said.
"So he'll be okay?" Drax asked.
"Sure. Just needs some proper nourishment, that's all." Rocket said. "I've seen him go through this twice since we met."
Quill sighed in relief, but his pressure returned when Raven approached him and his friends. He cleared his throat and stood to her.
"Peter Quill, I am relieved to see that you survived," Raven said, "But now, as leader of the Branwen Tribe, I will have to pass down judgement."
"Judgement?" Quill asked. "Why? We won."
"We also lost twelve of our own today because of you." Raven said. "Your original plan was suicidal enough, but you put our tribe at terrible risk when you released that explosion."
"Hey, lay off the guy!" Rocket cried out. "It ain't his fault! And don't forget, he just helped save us!"
"I understand, but we didn't have to do this at all. Because of you, Quill, we lost some of our own. The only reason I do not execute you is because you did uphold your end of the deal and leave a damaged city for us to rob. So, as chief of the Branwen Tribe, I hereby expel you."
Peter Quill stared for a long moment not saying anything. He broke the silence with a sigh. "All right. Thanks for taking me in, Raven."
Raven lowered her head for a quick moment. "But before we leave…" She held out her hand. "The plans."
"Oh, right." Quill said before digging his finger into his left boot. He pulled out the chip he had hidden and tossed it to the bandit leader. "Thank goodness they're insulated. I guess these boots aren't just made for walking."
Raven rolled her red eyes before heading to leave with her remaining tribesmen. The Guardians of Remnant were left standing where they were and Gamora turned her eyes toward Quill.
"You didn't actually give her the airship plans, did you?"
"Nah." Quill reached into his other boot and pulled out another chip. "Something tells me Raven's going to punch me in the face next time we meet."
"So why'd you keep it?" Rocket asked.
"Well, I have this sudden sense of responsibility," Quill said, "And I thought I would use it before it goes away."
"You know this means that Cordovin is going to arrest us as soon as her senses return, right?" Gamora asked.
"Yeah. The thought did occur to me." Quill said.
Mantis turned to Peter with her antennae glowing green. "Quill feels like he's about to pee his pants."
"MANTIS!" Quill yelled out while Rocket and Drax laughed hysterically.
Groot suddenly found himself somewhere he felt familiar to him. He saw that he was still fully grown, but he didn't feel whole. He turned his head to survey the environment. The plains around him had glowing gold grass and he stood before a crystal-blue lake. Standing right above the lake was a man who was made of golden light and had antlers on his head. Though he had a majestic presence, Groot was more focused on the great tree that stood behind him. He walked around the lake to approach the tree and stroke it.
"I… am… Groot?"
"It should feel familiar." Said the heavenly voice of the golden man. "After all, it's where you came from."
Groot turned his attention to the man who talked to him. "I am Groot?"
"Yes, I can understand you."
"I am Groot."
"The reason I told you this is where you came from is because this tree is where you splintered off from. This land you stand on used to be where I dwelled along with all of creation and light. Sadly, I had to leave it behind when my brother and I chose to depart. But even though I am gone, the magic on this hill still thrived. Eventually, a seed from this tree fell off and began its own life. And that, Groot, is where you came from. Well, this is merely a projection of where you came from, but it was at this garden where you grew from."
"I am Groot? I am Groot?"
"You don't remember because you have died before. Several times in fact. Ever since you were born, you have gone through the cycle of life in a great number of times. You've seen civilizations rise and fall. You've seen hope at its finest. But whenever you die, you come here to make your choice."
"I am Groot?"
"A choice of whether or not you wish to continue your purpose. You, Groot, are the living embodiment of creation born from this very garden. It's your choice whether or not you can continue to use your gift on Remnant. There will be dangers and there will be those who wish to end you, but as long as you remain holding onto your light, you can share it with everyone around you. And maybe, just maybe, humanity can be restored."
"I am Groot?"
"We all choose our purpose, Groot. Now, you make yours. You won't remember any of this, but your light will still shine within. So what do you say?"
Groot thought for a moment before looking into the lake. His eyes were locked when an image appeared in the water. It was himself along with Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Mantis, and especially Rocket. He smiled before giving his answer to the entity before him.
"We are Groot."
Author's Note: Just one more chapter left. Well, technically, it's one chapter plus a credits chapter that comes with the post-credits scene. And trust me, it will come very soon.
On another note, I had a different song in the previous chapter, but I changed it because I thought it would be a much better fit.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Just one more update on this story before it's finished. Any and all comments are welcome.