To ALL reviewers, official and guest: I appreciate ALL reviews and take them to heart. Thank you so much. :)

However, this is not a chat-room, and the more non-reviews you leave, the more space you take. If I delete a non-review, it's nothing personal; I always read them, plus they're saved in my emails. I NEVER ignore a single post (unless it's one of those short story ones that are unrelated to my fic). Like I said, I cherish each and every one of them. It's more of a space thing, if you understand. The text box is for reviews and/or requests only. If you want to ask or tell me something personally, click on the private messaging link.

And Flint, that's actually pretty rude what you said. That felt like an insult, correct me if I'm wrong please.

NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.

"So lemme get this straight," Rocket started the Milano to go after the Ravagers and save Quill and Gamora. "You had the guy exactly where you wanted, and then you just let him go."

Mikey buckled himself up in the seat next to Rocket's. "I had to, dude. Drax needed my help."

The raccoon scoffed and shook his head. "Well, that was a pretty dumb move," he muttered.

"It's called being a friend, Rocket," Mikey glared at him. "Friends help each other."

"Yeah, but you're still a fugitive. Once Nova catches us, they'll throw you back in jail, maybe even throw away the key. And you did all that for Mr. Literal back there?"

"Hey! My name is not Mr. Literal!" Drax called out from the back of the ship.

"You know it pays to act altru...altru...uh..." Mikey scratched his head as he tried to think of the word. "Oh, man. What does Donnie call it?"

"Altruistically?" Rocket finished for him.

Mikey nodded and smiled. "Yeah! That's it!"

"Do you even know that means?"

"Sure I do!"

"Oh, yeah? What does it mean?"

Mikey blinked. "Um..."

"And the 'ums' have it! You don't even know what that word means!"

"Well, what do I look like, a dictionary?!"

"I Am Groot," Groot said.

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Rocket grumbled as he steered the ship out of the dead Celestial's skull and into the stars. "We'll focus on rescuing Quill and Gamora. Any of you guys got a plan?"

"Wait," Mikey looked over at Rocket shocked, "you mean, you don't have a plan?"

"Why do I have to be the one to think up a plan?"

"You're the genius here! A trigger-happy, psychotic one at that but still! If anyone can think up a plan that could actually work, it's you!"

"Oh, so now I have to do everything?"

"I didn't say that!" Mikey groaned and rubbed his temples. They were wasting their time arguing while Quill and Gamora were probably fighting for their lives. Then his eyes popped open and sly smile formed on his lips. "Yeah, you got a point. You're just a dumb raccoon-thingy. How can you be of any help?"

Rocket's ear twitched. "What?" he said through gritted teeth.

Groot clamped a hand over his mouth in shock.

Mikey grinned even wider. He struck a nerve. "I mean, if we need someone to go through garbage and find bottle caps, we'll call you. But leave the planning to us intelligent people."

That finally did it. Rocket slapped his hands down on the control console. "Now, hold up!" he angrily yelled. "If it wasn't for me, your green scaly ass would still be in jail! You wouldn't have made it this far without me!"

Mikey raised an eye ridge, still grinning. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah! And none of you morons will be able to save Quill without my help! In fact, I've got a plan! Wait here!" He hopped out of his seat and ran to the back of the ship.

Mikey looked over at Groot and nodded. "You see, Groot? It's called backwards philosophy. Or is it rewinded physiology?"

Knowhere

The turtle bandit panted as he ran down the street. He could hear his chasers getting closer and picked up the pace. "Give it up!" he shouted. "There's no way you guys are ever gonna catch- oof!"

Donnie landed on top of him and pinned him down with his Bo staff. The others caught up and Leo gave his brother a congratulatory pat on the shoulder.

"Nice work, Donnie," he knelt down and pulled the thief up by his bandana which was now hanging around his neck. "Alright, punk, listen up," he growled, narrowing his eyes at him. "Our brother is in jail because of you, and we've traveled halfway across the galaxy to find you, so don't try our patience."

The thief gulped and frantically nodded. "Y-Yes, sir. J-Just one quick question. Your brother, he wouldn't happen to be wearing an orange mask and have freckles on his face, would he?"

Leo raised a skeptical eye ridge. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, you just missed him. He left this place about thirty minutes ago."

"What?!" April gasped.

Casey, on the other hand, wasn't buying it and scoffed. "You lie!"

The thief shook his head. "No, really! He almost had me, but for some reason, he let me go!"

"Yeah, right," Raph growled, crossing his arms.

"But, wait," Donnie interjected, "what if it really was Mikey? Maybe he escaped from jail."

Fugitoid sighed sadly. "As much as I'd like to believe that, Donatello, it's highly unlikely. After all, no prisoner has ever escaped from the Kyln alive."

"Yeah, but this is Mikey we're talking about. He's gotten himself out of situations like these many times before."

"But if he did escape, then why hasn't he contacted us yet?" April asked.

"Maybe he couldn't," Donnie suggested. "Keep in mind that we do have his T-phone."

Raph groaned and kicked a patch of grass in frustration. "Then how are we ever gonna find him if we can't even contact him?!"

Leo glanced back at his tempered brother. "We'll figure something out, Raph."

"So now that your brother is free, guess that means you won't have to send me to jail, right?" the thief said with a hopeful smile.

Everyone just glared at him in response.

He sighed and hung his head in defeat. "Yeah, I was afraid of that," he muttered dejectedly.

I'm your boogie man, that's what I am

I'm here to do whatever I can

Be it early morning, late afternoon

Or at midnight, it's never too soon

I want to please you, to want to keep you

To want to do it all, all for you

I want to be your, be your rubber ball

I want to be the boy you love most of all, oh yeah

Mikey was in the common area, dancing to the song "I'm Your Boogie Man" by KC and the Sunshine Band. He used a screwdriver as microphone and pretended to sing into it. He never noticed Drax walked into the room and continued to do disco moves.

I'm your boogie man, I'm your boggie man

Turn me on

I'm your boogie man, I'm your boogie man

I'll do what you want

I'm your boogie man, I'm your boogie man

Turn me on

I'm your boogie man, I'm your boogie man

I'll do what you want

"You and Quill have the strangest taste in music," Drax said loud enough to startle Mikey.

The Turtle dropped the the screwdriver and whipped his head around, clutching his chest. "Dude! You scared the daylights out of me!"

Drax looked at him confused. "I don't see any lights coming out of you."

"Nevermind," Mikey turned the volume down and sat on the table. "I was just listening to some of Quill's tunes to pass the time. You know, before we find these Ravagers."

Drax nodded as he sat down next to Mikey. "I see. Michelangelo, I want to thank you for defending my honor, even though I didn't deserve it."

Mikey gave Drax a friendly pat on the back. "Like I told Rocket, that's what friends are for."

Drax looked over at Mikey with soft, somber eyes. "You still consider me to be your friend?"

Mikey smiled warmly at him and nodded. "Yep."

"But you gave up the chance to prove your innocence. You might never get another chance ever again." Drax hung his head in shame. "And it's all because of me."

"Hey, we got a saying back on Earth: 'Every cloud had a silver lining.' After all of this is over, I'll figure something out."

Drax looked back up at Mikey and touched the young Turtle's shoulder. "And I swear, I will be there to figure it out with you."

Mikey smiled gratefully at the tattooed warrior when Rocket's voice called out to them from the cockpit.

"Hey, heads up! We're approaching the Ravager ship!"

Drax quickly got off the table and put on a space suit. He then picked up the device that Rocket claimed could blow up moons and climbed down into the airlock. Mikey ran up to the cockpit and watched as Rocket fired three warning shots at the Ravager ship.

His eyes nearly popped out of his sockets when he saw how big their ship was. It was bigger than a pod of whales! "Dude, that ship is enormous! They're gonna totally crush us!"

"I ain't too worried about it," Rocket said with a smirk. He then activated the ship's external speakers. "Attention, idiots! The lunatic on top of this craft is holding a Hadron Enforcer. A weapon of my own design. If you don't hand over our companions now, he's gonna tear your ship a new one. A very big one! I'm giving you to the count of five. 5...4...3...!"

Rocket, it's me, for God's sakes! Quill's frantic voice suddenly came through the transmitter. We figured it out! We're fine!

"Oh, hey, Quill," Rocket casually said. "What's going on?"

Mikey leaned forward and spoke to Quill through the speakers. "'Sup, Quill? Gamora, this is Mikey. I'd just like to say...helllooooo!" He then made kissy noises and Rocket had to slap him away from the speakers.

"You call that 'figured it out'?" Rocket asked Quill after the human explained the deal he made with Yondu and the Ravagers. The crew gathered around in a circle in a private room aboard the Ravager ship. "We're gonna rob the guys who just beat us senseless."

"Oh, you want to talk about senseless?" Quill raised an eyebrow at him. "How about trying to save us by blowing us up?"

"His plan, dude," Mikey pointed to Rocket. "Not ours."

"We were only gonna blow you up if they didn't turn you over!" Rocket explained.

"And how on earth were they gonna turn us over when you only gave them a count of five?!" Quill demanded.

"Well, we didn't have time to work out the minutiae of the plan!" Rocket then turned to Groot and Mikey, who sat side-by-side. "This is what we get for acting altruistically!"

Mikey made a pouty face and slumped his shoulders.

Groot nodded, a displeased look on his face. "I Am Groot."

Rocket nodded in agreement. "They are ungrateful."

"What's important now is we get the Ravagers' army to help us save Xandar," Gamora said.

"So we can give the Stone to Yondu who's just gonna sell it somebody even worse?" Rocket asked her.

"We'll figure that part out later," Quill told him.

"We have to stop Ronan," Gamora declared.

Rocket shrugged his shoulders. "How?"

Quill stepped forward. "I have a plan."

The raccoon raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "You've got a plan?"

Quill nodded. "Yes."

"First of all, you're copying me from when I said I had a plan."

"No, I'm not. People say that all the time. It's not that a unique of a thing to say."

"Secondly, I don't even believe you have a plan."

"I have...part of a plan!"

Mikey tilted his head in confusion. "Part of a plan?"

Quill looked over at Mikey and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, part of a plan."

"What percentage of a plan do you have?" Drax asked him.

Gamora pointed an accusing finger at Drax. "You don't get to ask questions after the nonsense you pulled on Knowhere!" she angrily told him.

"I just saved Quill!" Drax defended.

"We've already established that you destroying the ship that I'm on is not saving me," Quill said.

"When did we establish it?"

"Like three seconds ago!"

"I wasn't listening. I was thinking of something else," Drax murmured as he folded his hands.

Mikey rolled his eyes and groaned. "And they say I have trouble paying attention."

"She's right," Rocket said to Drax. "You don't get an opinion." He then turned to Quill. "What percentage?"

Quill pursed his lips. "I don't know. Twelve percent."

"Twelve percent?!" Rocket threw his head back and broke into raucous laughter. Mikey looked at him unamused, thinking that the raccoon was overdoing it a bit.

"That's a fake laugh," Quill grumbled.

"It's real!" Rocket said.

Quill shook his head. "Totally fake."

"That is the most real, authentic, hysterical laugh of my entire life because that is not a plan!"

Even Gamora had to agree with Rocket. "It's barely a concept," she murmured.

Quill looked at Gamora shocked. "You're taking their side?!"

Mikey raised his hand. "Uh, in Quill's defense, it's better than 0%. And it's gotta be better than whatever plan this guy could come up with," he nodded to Rocket, who growled and bared his teeth at him.

"Thank you, Mikey. Thank you," Quill smiled gratefully at him and patted his shell before he turned back to the others. "See? Mikey's the only one of you who has a clue."

Mikey smirked proudly and crossed his arms, nodding his head. "People don't appreciate my genius enough."

"Your ego is showing, kid," Rocket grumbled.

"What? Where?" Mikey looked down at his lower plastron.

Quill sighed and rubbed his temples while Rocket scoffed at Mikey's naivety. Groot just nibbled on a stray leaf on his shoulder.

"Guys," Quill sighed again. "Come on. Yondu is gonna be here in two seconds. He expects to hear this big plan of ours. I need your help. I look around at us. You know what I see? Losers."

Everyone looked at Quill offended and appalled. Mikey was getting close to crying.

"I mean, like, folks who have lost stuff. And we have. Man, we have. All of us. Our homes...our families...normal lives."

At that moment, Mikey thought of Earth, and Master Splinter, and all of his friends who were sucked into the black hole. He bit his lower lip and somberly nodded.

"And usually life takes more than it gives," Quill continued. "But not today. Today it's given us something. It has given us a chance."

"To do what?" Drax quietly asked.

"To give a sh**. For once. Not run away. I, for one, am not gonna stand by and watch as Ronan wipes out billions of innocent lives."

"But, Quill," Rocket spoke in such a soft tone that was so unlike him, "stopping Ronan...it's impossible. You're asking us to die."

There was a momentary pause before Quill sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am."

A dead silence hung over everyone's heads in the room before Gamora finally spoke up.

"Quill, I have lived most my life surrounded by my enemies." She stood up from her seat. "I will be grateful to die among my friends."

Drax was the next to stand up. "You are an honorable man, Quill. I will fight beside you. And in the end...I will see my wife and daughter again."

Mikey was a bit hesitant on joining in on the mission. There was a good chance that this Ronan guy would kill them all now that he possessed the Infinity Stone. But he could target Earth next should he be allowed to lay waste to the galaxy, and nothing would be able to stop him. But if he died, his bros would totally kill him.

Oh, well.

Taking a deep breath, Mikey stood up from his seat. "You know, when I went on this trip into space, I wasn't expecting to save an entire galaxy." He looked directly at Quill and smirked. "Where do I sign up?"

Groot stood up. "I Am Groot."

Rocket gave his tree friend an incredulous look. Everyone turned to the raccoon, waiting for his answer. Did he really have a choice now?

He finally relented and sighed softly. "Ah, what the hell. I don't got that long a lifespan anyway." He stood up in his seat and crossed his arms. "Now I'm standing. Y'all happy? We're all standing up now. Bunch of jackasses standing in a circle."

Can you guys guess which reference from the 1990 TMNT movie I included in this chapter? :)