WHAT IF . . . ?

"Rocket & Groot & Lylla & Floor & Teefs"

Or

Rocket's Friends Survived and Had Adventures with Him and Groot

Part Six: Shapeshifter

The old ship was parked in the spaceport on the heavily industrialized planet. Skyscrapers filled the polluted red skies. Within said ship, the group was getting ready for their latest bounty hunt.

Rocket nodded towards the smallest of the group and said, "Alright, Floor. Are you ready for this? Do ya know what you gotta do here?"

Floor nodded, her antennae twitching with anticipation. "Floor knows. Rocket and Groot go in after bad guy. Floor waits outside on the ceiling using upgrade Rocket gave to Floor's legs. Then when bad guy run out, Floor jump on bad guy and catch him!"

Lylla was slightly nervous about this, and she said, "Are you sure this criminal isn't too much for us? Who knows what he might do when he's cornered."

Rocket gave Lylla a reassuring smile. "Relax, Lylla. This guys just some Skrull wannabe who stole some tech to let him shapeshift. Heh! He can change into whatever he wants. Nothing is keeping us from the half a million credits he's worth!"

"I am Groot!" Groot said in agreement.

Floor opened and shut her jaws in excitement and said, "Lylla not worry! Floor can do it! Floor make friends proud!"

Teefs chuckled and said, "We're all proud of you already, Floor. Now go out there and bring that crook in!"

A green skinned alien with pointy black hair, dressed in a red outfit with pointed shoulder pads, sat at the bar sipping a beverage when Rocket and Groot walked in.

"Hey! Pointy guy!" Rocket said loudly.

The alien turned his head and eyed the pair with a mixture of confusion and disgust. "You want something from me, you freaks of nature?"

Rocket's face twisted into a grimace at the insult, and he said, "Yeah, we want something from you: the bounty on your head!"

The criminal sneered and said, "Oh, really?" He then pressed the device he wore around his wrist. There was a bright flash, and he had shapeshifted into a bird-like alien that was half the size and with bright orange wings. He quickly swooped right over Rocket and right past Groot. Groot made an attempt to snatch him out of the air, but he dodged Groot's arms and swooped right out of the door to the bar.

"GOTCHA!" Floor said as she dropped from the ceiling. She landed right on top of the bird and wrapped her metal legs around him tightly. However, after another flash, Floor suddenly found herself hugging a snake.

"EEEK!" Floor shouted, and a primal voice inside her head shouted 'Predator! Run away!'. She let go of the snake, and he quickly slithered away before shifting back into his original form to take off running on his legs.

When Groot and Rocket exited the bar, Floor looked at them sadly and said, "Floor sorry! Floor let bad guy get away! Floor sorry-."

"It's okay, Floor, we can still get him, come on!" Rocket said quickly as he took off running after the bounty.

"I am Groot," Groot said kindly as he used his vines to scoop Floor up and place her on his shoulder, while still running after Rocket.

The heroes were in hot pursuit of the criminal, racing down a long bridge between two skyscrapers.

"Get back here, you pointy-haired freak!" Rocket shouted.

"Filthy bounty hunters! Leave me alone!" the alien shouted as he ran.

"I AM GROOT!" Groot shouted as he threw his arms forward and grew them out as fast as he could.

"Floor got him!" Floor shouted as she skittered across the elongated branch.

As Groots arms shot out over him, Rocket smiled as he put on an extra burst of speed. He then jumped between Groot's arms and bounded and rebounded between them. Floor quickly ran right behind Rocket as well.

"Floor! Give me an extra kick!" Rocket shouted, and he jumped upwards.

Floor jumped as well, and she flipped over and kicked Rocket like a sport's ball, sending him flying towards the bounty target. The alien looked behind him and saw Rocket heading his way, and he quickly activated the device on his wrist.

There was another flash of blinding light, and when it faded, there were suddenly two Rockets sitting on the floor in front of them.

"Uh-oh. . ." Floor said as she looked at the two Rockets, and Groot was similarly confused.

"What are ya waitin' for! GET HIM!" the Rocket on the right shouted.

"Don't fall for that! He's the bounty! Come on!" the Rocket on the left shouted.

Floor was visibly distressed, and she looked at Groot and said, "What Floor and Groot do? Rockets look exactly alike!"

Groot rubbed his chin in thought, then he reached out and grabbed both of the Rockets and carried them off, and both of them angrily thrashed about and protested all the way.

Back on the ship, a panel was gathered together for a very strange interview. Suspended in a pair of bounty target containment forcefield tubes were two Rockets, both seemingly identical. Seated in chairs across from them were the real Rocket's four friends.

"I gotta say," Teefs said, "That's quite the disguise he's got going there."

"Floor can't tell real Rocket! Floor can't tell real Rocket!" Floor shouted with growing agitation and worry.

"Maybe not by appearance ," Lylla remarked thoughtfully.

"Come on you guys, it's me!"

"No, he's the imposter!"

"I am Groot," Groot said sternly, and then he motioned to the Rocket on the left.

"I'm the real Rocket!" he insisted, then he looked at the panel of creatures at large and said in earnest, "Look, I know I don't tell you guys enough, but we've all been through a lot. And I would never want to face the galaxy without you all behind me."

"Awwww!" Floor said gleefully.

"Hmmm. . ." Teefs said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Lylla just closed her eyes in deep thought, in stark contrast to Groot who had a big, warm smile on his face in response to the first Rocket's sentiments. Groot then motioned to the Rocket on the right to speak.

The second Rocket threw his head back and started laughing loud and hard.

The first Rocket frowned and said, "That's totally a fake laugh."

"It's real!" Rocket Two said.

"Nope! It's totally fake!" Rocket One shot back.

"That laugh was the most real, authentic, hysterical laugh I've done in a long time!" Rocket Two argued, "And the reason I'm laughing is because you think that you can trick my friends just by saying something nice. Anyone can say nice stuff! But a real friend will tell ya what he really thinks of ya! For instance. . ."

Rocket Two then turned to the panel and then proceeded to roast them, "Teefs, you snore! Loud! I swear it drowns out the ship's engines most of the time. And don't think I don't know that you raid the fridge when you think no one else is looking! Floor, you apologize for stuff way too much! It's annoying! I'd try to toughen you up, but there's no way you could ever handle it! Lylla. . . . Okay, I actually got nuttin', you're perfect. . . And Groot, if you really can't tell the difference between me and that imposter, then you must got wood for brains! Now get me out of here before I decide to bust your branches with my bare hands! "

Rocket Two floated in the tube, gasping for breath after his tirade.

The panel sat in silence for a moment, and then all smiled.

"There's that fiery Rocket we all know!" Teefs declared amidst his deep chuckles.

Groot turned off the force field that kept Rocket Two suspended and reached out and grabbed him.

"I am Groot," Groot said loving as he pulled the real Rocket in for a hug.

"Yes. We all do," Lylla agreed as she got up and joined the pair.

Rocket gave a small smile and said, "Yeah, yeah, me too."

"Group hug!" Floor shouted as she skittered over to them.

Teefs patted Rocket on the back and said with a chuckle, "And here I thought I was being sneaky! I mean, these upgraded wheels you gave me are so smooth and quiet."

Rocket smirked and said, "Well, we've got a ways to go before we get to the prison. How about we have a little fun with our shapeshifter friend in the meantime. . ."

"Knock it off! Stop it! Stop it!" the shapeshifter shouted as he stood crammed in the force field tube.

Rocket reclined in the chair with the criminal's device in his hands. He gleefully tapped the button, transforming the prisoner into Groot, into himself, into a fish, and then into a plucked bird.

"Floor want a turn! Floor next!"

Rocket happily handed the device to Floor, who then eagerly started jabbing the button with one of her legs.

"No! Stop!" the prisoner demanded as he shifted into Floor, then into Lylla, and then several random objects ranging from a rubber duck to a carrot.

As Floor laughed hysterically and Rocket looked on with pride, the rest of the group looked on in amusement.

"I am Groot," Groot chuckled.

"Huh! Shame we can't just turn him into a new ship!" Teefs joked.

As everyone enjoyed themselves, Lylla couldn't help but focus on Rocket.

"It's true what he's always said. There ain't no thing like him, except him."

End of part six. . .

Notes:

Sorry for the long hiatus. I wasn't sure how to rewrite this chapter. Originally, I had planned to just have Lylla sus out the imposter by misleading the fake Rocket on how they escaped the High Evolutionary and on the type of key Rocket used. But this was too wordy and not funny enough. I also wanted to drop a couple of movie references in here as well, like Rocket's Fake/Real laugh. I also had to balance out this universe's Rocket's attitude. He's still a jerk with a temper, but he's not as bitter and pissed off at the universe as he is in the main timeline.