Dead.
That's what he thought she had been. Sire shot her with no remorse, in the place that looked to be her heart. Everything else went silent. He couldn't even hear his own screams. He imagined Floor and Teefs weren't any better. It was all his fault. If only he wasn't so smart and such a blabbermouth, Lylla would still be alive. He'd still be caged, but she would be alive. She would have had a chance to look at the sky.
"Rocket Teefs Floor go now! Rocket Teefs Floor go now!" His screams subsided enough to hear what Floor was saying, and it wasn't making the situation any better for him. He didn't know what to do.
How does Sire respond to all of this? How does he answer the pain he caused? Nothing more than mere mockery. The part of his brain that served as sympathy was not there, instead replaced by a mind full of hatred. Rocket was never loved. None of them were. To the High Evolutionary, he was just a brain. He couldn't handle seeing him mock everything about this situation. She was lying there, right in front of him, lifeless. Suddenly, Rocket felt a different emotion; one he hadn't felt before. Absolute unrelenting fury. A fury so big, so uncontrollable, that it made him just snap. With an aggressiveness unlike himself, Rocket pounced on the terrible man, planning to inflict as much pain as he could. Despite how much smaller he was, his strength proved superior, sending the malignant creator to the floor.
He never realized how sharp his claws truly were until this very moment, and oh it was satisfying. He cut so very easily into his skin, instantly connecting to bone. Claw after claw, he didn't give him any moment to breathe. Whatever he was doing to him, as much pain as he was giving him, it would never be enough. Everything he suffered, everything he went through, everything he lost. That pain could never be replicated in another person, but he could try. His attack was over in a few seconds, but the impact was here. His lower jaw was torn, with a satisfying view into his bone. His cheeks were just as destroyed, now only muscle and broken teeth.
Before he knew what had happened, he began getting shot at. Rapidly responding with the same aggressiveness, Rocket grabbed Sire's gun and began accurately shooting at the guards, effectively killing them one by one. Sire was still on the floor, agonizing. Served him right. Looking back to Lylla, who still rested at the same spot, his eyes widened and filled themselves with more tears at the new sight. Floor was lying on the floor, this time permanently, and Teefs was just the same. All of his friends. The people he had shared his happier moments with. The reason he endured so much pain. Now he had lost them all. A few more screams were let out by the raccoon, no longer feeling like he deserved to live. He had looked at the sky, but none of his friends had been able to. They deserved it more than him, so why should he even be alive right now?
The universe gave him an answer. A reason to keep fighting. From the corner of his eye, something had caught his attention. Up and down, up and down. That's the movement of a chest still breathing. Specifically, the chest of her thought-dead friend Lylla.
"Oh my god," he said. It was a miracle. A complete miracle. She was alive. She was alive! He had to escape. Not for himself or his safety, but for her.
"It really is great to have friends" had been her seemingly last words, but he could change that. If he was successful, he'd be able to hear her voice again. He'd be able to have his friend back to life again. Acting almost on instinct, Rocket ran to the otter and grabbed her. Being bigger than him and her added weight from her metal arms would prove a difficulty for the smaller raccoon, but nothing he wouldn't endure for her. He had to save her. He just had to. Without her, there was no sky. He had promised he would take them all into the forever and beautiful sky, and he wouldn't fail to at least realize his promise with her.
"There…is…no god…foolish rat," the mangled face of the High Evolutionary managed to say. "Only…me." And with that, his eyes closed, leaving Rocket to focus once again on getting her Lylla to safety.
Carrying her gently with his teeth as he ran on all fours gave him the advantage of going faster, making sure that no other bullets penetrated her already weakened body. He was up against an entire army, being surrounded on all sides and being rained on by blasts that would kill him and Lylla in an instant. He made sure to never look back. This is the day he leaves this nightmare and makes a better life, free of anyone's clutches. He will try to use the gifts that he was given for good, and perhaps even share the rest of his life with the otter currently in his grasp. For that to happen, he had to survive today.
Finally in the hangar, Rocket made one last sprint towards one of the ships, still evading every shot that came his way. Using more of his artificially-developed intelligence, Rocket opened the gate of the ship as if he had done it a million times, now happy that he and Lylla were covered by an extra layer of protection from the bullets. He placed her gently on the copilot seat, making sure to cover her wound with a napkin he had stored in his body to prevent any more bleed-out.
Pressing the buttons of the ship with full certainty, Rocket started it up immediately, beginning his movement towards the exit gate. In an instant, he went full speed, ramming onto other ships and people, until finally, he was flying. He had only looked at the sky through a glass pane, but now, he was directly flying toward it. It would be more beautiful if he had all his friends to watch it with him.
"Lylla, look," he called to her, knowing she wouldn't respond at this time, but still wanting her to. "It's the sky. We made it, Lylla!" Rocket began tearing up again, looking at her beautiful mustelidian face. He had to get far away from them. Only then could he be able to treat her. He had never tried to heal someone before, but the information for it must be somewhere in his brain. It must be.
He thought it would be an easier ordeal, but it was anything but. In his nervous and shaken state, it was even worse. He had made it to space, escaping the planet where his oppressor lived. He made sure to not be followed by going in random directions. If he didn't know where he was, it would be even harder for them to find him. The important thing was that there were no planets close, which gave him some time.
The ship had an entire medical bay of many highly advanced medical equipment. Some even reminded him of when his brain was probed. He shook off the fear from them. It wasn't time to be afraid. All that mattered was saving her. It had been a lucky shot. One more millimeter to the right, and she would've been punctured straight in the heart. A bullet to the left lung was still serious, so he needed to act fast. Looking at her X-ray, he also realized she had a kill switch that would've prevented her from being resuscitated, but the shot from the High Evolutionary managed to disable it, giving him the means to save her. In a cruelly ironic way, the bullet managed to set her truly free. Giving her a respirator and opening another hole in the compressed lung for her to breathe gave him a bit of time to look for a med pack. He had seen them during the multitude of experiments done on him. Whenever an injury was too severe, they'd cure him instantly with one of those packs. Looking maddeningly throughout the med bay, he dropped every utensil into the floor with extreme force, becoming increasingly mad that he couldn't find them. He was smart enough to solve even the hardest equations, but not smart enough to know where something was?
He finally found them under a cabinet, took them out of the bag, and ran straight to his friend. Taking off her respirator, he put the pack on her chest, making sure it surrounded the entire chest area. Turning it on, her entire body vibrated with it, also fixing up the metal plate that had been damaged. It felt like she was convulsing, and Rocket struggled to figure out what was wrong. As soon as he felt concerned for her safety, the procedure stopped. She was still unconscious, however. Taking off the med pack from her body, he could see there was still blood staining her brown fur, but only skin resided where the bullet hole should be. He checked her vitals, and her heart rate was at normal ranges. Her chest swayed up and down with signs of healthy breathing. Rocket cried again, resting his head on the recuperating otter. He saved her. He still had his friend with him. He won't be all alone.
Hours passed, and Lylla was still not awake. Rocket wasn't concerned. Her vitals were still normal, and her breathing was still present. She must be extremely tired. He'd let her rest for as long as she wanted to. He looked at her crudely-made metal arms, thinking that he'd like to make her a new set whenever they explored a different planet. It's not that he hated the ones she currently had(she'd look pretty in anything), but they needed to defend themselves, and those arms wouldn't be as effective. More muscle on them, or even more firepower, would calm his heart a whole lot more.
The hardest part of this was feeling lonely, and the silence only made that feeling of loneliness stronger. He began thinking of everything that happened that day. It started off with the High Evolutionary telling him that none of his friends (or him) would ever be able to see the New World. That place was only for their '90' subjects. They were the '89', the failures. They were just scraps of metal and flesh to him. In his hurry to save them, he ended up indirectly killing both of his friends and almost witnessed the most important person in the world die. He and Lylla had gained freedom, but the cost was too great. He'd instantly go back there if it meant Teefs and Floor would be alive.
"All my fault," he mumbled to himself. "It's all my fault."
Great darkness started shrouding him. He closed his eyes, unable to unhear the pleading voice of Floor. Rocket Teefs Floor go now, Rocket Teefs Floor go now! She pleaded with him to take her away, but he failed. He failed so badly. How did they miss him? He was closer to the shots. How could they have misfired and killed them both? How incompetent do they have to be? He tried pushing the blame onto them, onto Sire, onto everyone else in that facility. But deep down, he knew it was all him. He who couldn't keep his mouth shut. He who organized a terrible escape plan. He who let his closest friends take the bullets for him. Maybe that's what he should do. There were weapons on this ship. It would be so easy. He'd get rid of the one thing endangering him and Lylla. He'd blast his brain off. That way, maybe the High Evolutionary would leave her alone. Maybe that way he won't hurt anyone again. That way he won't-
"Friend?"
A simple word brought him back. His eyes opened widely and looked in the direction of the sound. In a dream-like fashion, there was Lylla, awake and smiling as she looked at him. "Lylla," he said, quickly moving to her and pulling her in for a hug, which she accepted greatly. "I'm so glad you're alive! I thought I'd lost you."
"What…happened?" she asked, still a bit weak. Rocket lowered his head, knowing he owed her an explanation of everything that had transpired.
"I opened the gates…but when ya got out, the bastard shot you," he said angrily.
"Sire? He…shot me?"
Rocket nodded. "I thought you were dead. He started mocking me and…"
"And what?"
"I slashed his face off. I was so angry at what he did to you. I just kept clawing and clawing."
"Is he…dead?" Lylla asked.
"I don't know. If he is, good riddance. There's no excuse for what he did to all of us."
"So…we escaped? Where are Teefs and Floor?"
His eyes darkened even more at the striking question. What could he even say? That he let them get killed? "They…didn't survive…I'm sorry, Lylla," he said, starting to sob and looking away. He wouldn't handle seeing her reaction.
She did not cry loudly, but her eyes welled up in tears, looking at him with a shocked expression. "Oh," she managed to say. "Did Sire also kill them?" She asked him, moving his face to look at her, drying a tear with her mechanical hand. Rocket didn't resist.
"No…some of his employees started shooting at me, and I shot back. When I looked back…they were gone…"
"Did they…suffer?"
"I-I don't think so," Rocket said, shuddering. "I don't think they even realized what happened."
"That's good, then," Lylla said. "At least they didn't suffer."
"They died thinking you were dead," Rocket informed. "Floor started screaming when they shot you. So did I. I feel so goddamn useless."
"Rocket, stop that. This isn't your fault. None of this is," she told him. He went silent, not knowing how to retort her statement. Lylla knew what she wanted to ask him next. "Can I…can I see the sky?"
Rocket's eyes widened, feeling giddy about showing her what they worked so hard to see. He began pulling her up out of the bed.
"Aagh," said Lylla, wincing in pain. The med pack had cured her, but she probably still felt sore from the shooting.
"Easy, easy, it's still healing. You're okay," Rocket told her. He couldn't deny the smile forming on his muzzle as he looked at her. Despite everything, he was still ecstatic that she was here with him, alive. He had loved all his friends, but he felt that his connection with the mustelid was much stronger. His heart always fluttered every time she looked directly into his eyes, which she loved doing for some reason.
With small steps, Lylla slowly approached one of the ship's windows, nervously expectant of what she would see. Rocket held her hand, serving as support for her still-weakened body. When they arrived, it wasn't just a ship's window. Rocket had taken her to the front of the ship, where she was able to look more openly into the forever-infinite space.
"Wow," said Lylla, her eyes shining as she looked at their cosmic environment. "It's beautiful."
Rocket thought the galaxy knew she was watching because as soon as her eyes were posed outside, it all looked brighter and even more wonderful. The blue comets in the distance, the many lights from the other faraway galaxies, the many white dots that he knew were called stars. All joined together to give her an unforgettable show. So unforgettable she started tearing up again.
"It's just like I imagined it," she said. "All those lights…to think we were once in one of those…and now we're here. This is all so unbelievable. Who knows where we could go? How many places can we even explore in one lifetime? How many more people like us do you think we would see?"
The barrage of questions confused Rocket. She was told her friends had died, yet she looked so happy, like nothing had ever happened. He was enthralled by her smile and enthusiasm, but at the same time, he felt uncomfortable by how well she was taking it. "Why?" he asked her. "How are you this calm?"
"What do you mean?" she asked him, her eyes still glued to the sights.
"Our friends…they're gone, and…it's all my fault. How are you so calm?"
"Rocket," she said softly, taking her eyes away from him. "It's not your fault."
"Stop saying it's not!" he said, louder than he should've. "If I hadn't made my plan to escape, none of you would've been shot at. I wanted to get you guys out right away, but I only made things worse. Now they're dead, and they can't get to look at the sky with us. Tell me, Lylla, how is any of this not my fault?!"
She stood there, listening to him, waiting for her turn to speak. When she saw him sit down and begin sulking again, she walked over to him and sat by his side. "You know why I'm so calm, Rocket?" she said, slowly and with care. "It's because you're here. Seeing you here as soon as I woke up, was the best feeling of my life."
"But…I hurt you…I hurt our friends-"
"Shhh," she said, putting a finger on his muzzle. "You didn't hurt anyone. Sire did. They were going to kill us anyway, right? That's what you said was going to happen. Instead of falling to the floor in despair, you got up and tried to fight for us. For our escape. You're our hero, Rocket. Having you as our friend was the best gift Sire could've given us."
"But I failed, Lylla! Floor counted on me. Teefs counted on me. All I did was disappoint them."
"Are you kidding? They loved you. They would never be mad at you. They knew they were always in your heart, and I'm sure they had your back until the end. Sire is the only one to blame for all of this. He made us like this, and he wanted to get rid of us just as easily."
Rocket sighed. "All I ever wanted was for all of us to see the sky together…"
Lylla could not stand seeing him so down. "Come. Let's look at the stars together," she said, getting up and grabbing his arm to pull him up as well, but he offered resistance.
"I don't think I want to…I don't deserve it."
"Rocket…I don't want to be alone anymore. I don't want to feel like I'm caged. I want you as close to me as possible. Please, just for me, come look at the sky with me," she said, finally making some of her tears run down her cheeks.
For as much as he felt sorry for himself, Rocket couldn't allow her to be sad, and he'd do whatever she wanted him to do for her to be happy. He'd put his shame aside and confront his demons with her. No longer pushing back, the raccoon sat up and moved with her to the pilot's seat. Originally designed for one full-sized human, it was able to allocate both animals. He had to agree it was beautiful, but as time went on, he came to enjoy Lylla's smile a little bit more.
"We owe it to them, Rocket," she said suddenly. "We owe it to our friends to be able to enjoy this. We must be able to because they couldn't. So that whenever it's our time to go, we can tell them just how beautiful it was."
Rocket didn't say anything, instead showing his feelings physically, leaning on her with incredible calmness. He felt so safe by her side. Safer than he'd ever been before. "You're right. We gotta go on many adventures, and explore everything. We have to make our mark on this galaxy."
"Floor will go nuts when she hears what crazy stuff we get into, hahaha," she laughed heartily.
"Imagine Teefs' reaction. His eyes will be so wide, hahaha."
They continued laughing for a few minutes until it ceased into a comfortable silence, the two of them enjoying the sight of the sky, taking in every single part of it and making themselves remember it. If they died tomorrow, at least they'd have the perfect description to give to their friends.
"Can I tell you a story, Rocket?" Lylla asked while breaking the silence.
"Sure. I love stories."
She smiled. "This is the story of an otter who was captive her whole life."
"Do I know this otter?" he asked, smiling.
"Well, you only know one otter, don't you? Anyways, this otter felt miserable in the place called home. She didn't know what life was like on the outside, so she just chose to endure it, not letting anyone see what she was feeling inside. But then, along came this raccoon," she said, looking at him.
"What's a raccoon?"
"Huh? Rocket, you're a raccoon!"
"First I've heard of it," he said. He thought he was joking, but his face and confusion were genuine.
"A-anyway, it doesn't matter. Along came you. The opportunistic, funny, hopeful animal, who always knew what to say whenever any one of us was feeling down. And this otter, well, she felt connected to the guy; even more than she would have liked to think."
Rocket's eyes grew in surprise at her flattering remarks. He didn't know he had made such an impact on the mammal. He didn't interrupt her, not really having any words to express how happy it made him to hear that.
"When this animal told the otter he'd build a rocket for all of her friends to see the sky, I completely believed him. I had faith that he would be able to do it one day. But, as time passed, the otter stopped thinking too much about the sky. She still wanted to see it, but she began to realize something else. The more this otter looked into the eyes of that raccoon, as the faint lights of the room reflected off of them, she began to see the sky. It was right there, only a step away from being within a distance of touching it. They were the shiniest eyes she'd ever seen."
"Lylla…" said Rocket. He could barely find the words to speak.
"You know what the moral of this story is? It didn't matter whether I saw the real sky or not," she stopped talking in the third person, now talking directly to him. "You might think I'm weird, but to me, the sky was with me all along. You are my sky, Rocket. And I was so happy looking at those eyes every day, just like I am happy to look at them now."
She broke him. She completely broke him. She was just stuck looking at her with complete awe. Never in a million years would he believe he was that important to her.
"Rocket?" She said, trying to gain back his attention. "You okay? I'm sorry if that freaked you out, I-"
"I love you too," he whispered.
"What?" She asked.
"I love you too, Lylla," he said louder this time, as he began sobbing again. "So, so much!" As soon as he finished talking, he pounced on the bigger mammal and hugged her tightly, afraid she wouldn't be with him after today. That this was all a dream of his delirious dying mind. "Don't leave me. I don't ever want to be apart from you anymore."
The sudden outburst caught Lylla by surprise, but she accepted the hug and the feelings that came after. With Rocket's tight hug, she knew everything would be okay. She felt safe with him. With the same intensity, she returned the hug, afraid that her cold metal arms would pull him away. Surprisingly, it seemed to embellish the hug for him more. "My beautiful raccoon," she told him. "I will never ever leave you. There will not be a single soul in this universe that will tear us apart. You know why? Because we're survivors, and we know what it's like to feel alone. We will do whatever is necessary to not feel that pain again." She allowed herself to sob a little more on his shoulder, but Rocket didn't mind it either.
Letting go of the hug, the two looked at each other with a love not felt toward anyone until that moment. With a smile coming from both of them, they knew what they wanted to do next. Their heads leaned in, with the universe in the background, and they shared their first kiss.
It was incredible. Neither Rocket nor Lylla had ever felt that kind of warmth in their lives. This is what freedom gave them. This beautiful feeling, this emotion, is what he would've wanted Floor and Teefs to obtain. But now, he'd focus on being as happy and free as he could be, in honor of his friends who never could. Letting go of the kiss, they felt that their technique could be improved, so they went in for a second, and a third, and a fourth. They didn't know how starved for affection they were, and now it was showing. Every kiss made the tension of the day slip away little by little.
After tiring themselves out, the two loving animals rested on the chair, still hugging, not wanting to be separated anymore. It helped that Lylla made the warmest of hugs, even with her handicap. Rocket was elated to be in her embrace. He'd lie there, in the deepest parts of her chest fur, for the rest of his life if he could.
"Rocket?"
"Hmm?"
"You think we're gonna be fugitives forever?" She asked with genuine concern.
"I don't know," he answered honestly. "But what I do know is, I won't let them do anything to you."
"Me too. We'll always have each other's backs."
"I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm gonna build you better arms, though, once I know where to find good parts."
"You can do that?" She asked in bewilderment.
"I can do anything. First I'll build you better arms, and then a ship."
"Why not just go on this one?"
"I think they'll want to be looking for it. I did steal it."
"Yeah, you're right. So what should we do?"
"For now, I just want to be here with you," he said with a smile. "Nothing else matters."
"And you know I feel the same way," she said, hugging him tighter as they rested in the big chair, both of them closing their eyes.
"I do have one question, though," Rocket said.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Can you actually tell me what a raccoon is?"
Lylla exploded into a fit of laughter. She loved him so much, and she couldn't wait to start her life with him.
The End