Author's Note: Here we are, at the emotional past involving Rocket and Dr. Hamsterviel. Prepare for tears.
Just one thing I want to point out. Most people who read this story seem to assume that the High Evolutionary is behind Rocket's experimentation like he was in the MCU. I'd like to take a moment to clarify that it's wrong. I never intended for him to be involved in this. In this story, it's just going to be a bunch of cruel, nameless scientists like in the comics. So don't go assuming it's the High Evolutionary involved at all.
Now that all that's clarified, enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
"If you want to know my story so bad, fine. But I promise you, it doesn't have a happy ending."
Young Rocket was carried back to the kennel where hundreds of animal cages waited for him across the walls on both sides of the room. The alien who carried him was a skinny bald man with green skin and a white coat. As soon as he brought Rocket to his cage, he threw him in to join his hamster-like cellmate and closed the cage door behind him.
"That will be all for now 89P13." The scientist said.
Rocket groaned still feeling the burns in his back. "Hey, ugly, if you insist on keeping me around, you should at least call me by my proper name. I prefer to be called Rocket."
"You can give yourself a cute little nickname all you want, but our records label you as Subject 89P13, just like how your cellmate is labeled Subject 89J11."
"The name's Jacques, you with your green head and your calming tone of voice!" Hamsterviel growled.
"Amusing." The scientist said without any sign of amusement. "Nevertheless, you and every other beast we picked up in Halfworld are merely subjects we use to further the course of science. You have no rights, but your suffering means progress and innovation. You should at least be thankful for that."
"Sure. I'm very thankful." Rocket said sarcastically. "Hey, why don't you open this cage door so I can properly thank you?"
"I may have no emotion, but it doesn't mean I'm foolish." The scientist stated before walking away. "I'll be back for 89J11 in an hour for our next session."
As soon as the scientist left, Jacques turned to Rocket impatiently. "Tell me you got the part you needed."
"Oh, yeah." Rocket said holding up two fingers which were pressed onto each other. He separated them revealing a small, green computer chip.
From across the room, an otter-like animal gasped in joy seeing what was in Rocket's hand. "Rocket, is that…"
"Yes, Lylla. It's the last part I need for my density destabilizer." Rocket said. He looked down at the rug he was standing on and opened it. He smiled as he pulled out a red device which he put the chip in. As soon as it was inserted, it hummed and began to light up. He then turned to face the solid wall which was the only side of the cage that didn't have any bars. "With this thing, the whole wall will fall apart and every animal on this side of the room will escape. Then, we can just hop on a ship in the loading bay and take off so those psychotic scientists can't find us." His words made many animals cheer.
"What are you waiting for then?!" Jacques asked. "Do it! Do it! Do it!"
"Take it easy, will ya?" Rocket asked. "First, I'm throwing this thing to Lylla."
"Lylla?" Jacques asked as he watched the raccoon-like animal gently toss it to Lylla's hands. She caught it gracefully.
"Wait!" Jacques shouted. "What about us?"
"Relax, Mr. Impatient. We still got this one." Rocket moved the rug some more and pulled out an identical device to the one he just threw to Lylla.
"Wait. What?" Jacques asked in surprise. "When did you build this one?"
"A month ago." Rocket answered.
"You… You…" Jacques widened his red eyes before scowling with them. "You mean you had our key to escape for a month and you didn't use it?!"
"The device can only be used once and there are two walls. One on our side and the other and Lylla's." Rocket explained. "If I used the first one a month ago, we wouldn't have time to save Lylla and the other animals on that side of the kennel."
"You with your ringy tail." Jacques growled. "I was tortured every day for hours for the past month!"
"I know, but what was I supposed to do? Leave Lylla behind?" Rocket asked.
"Boys, stop fighting!" Lylla said. "Let's just focus on escaping. I'll tear down my wall and you tear down yours."
"Right." Rocket said. "Just press the flat end onto the wall and press the green button."
"That simple, huh?" Lylla smiled at Rocket who then smiled back.
Rocket and Lylla followed the instructions and pressed their devices on their walls. They pressed their green buttons at the same time and heard a consecutive beeping sound three times.
All of a sudden, the walls became softer. All the animals watched as that which used to be solid metal quickly became sand and dust. The rooms on the other side of each wall were now accessible and the animals leaped through with no problem.
It didn't take long to run into more green scientists. Thankfully, they were caught by surprise by all the angry animals they were experimenting on. The scientists that had time to prepare quickly pulled out their pistols and began firing at them. The escape had become an animal-versus-alien warzone.
Amidst the chaos, Rocket and Jacques stayed low on the ground and retreated to a corner. The two of them peeked around watching the fight go on. It was hard for them to figure out who was going to win, but that didn't matter to them.
"Quickly, we must go!" Jacques ordered. "We can rush over to the loading bay now while everyone's distracted!"
"Not yet! We can't leave without Lylla!" Rocket yelled.
"You can't be serious!" Jacques shouted.
"Hey! We made a promise, remember?" Rocket asked. "Lylla's the one who convinced the rest of the animals not to rat us out to the scientists, so it's the three of us! All of us or none of us!"
Jacques growled before calming down. "Fine. I concede to your emotional nonsense. Tell you what, Rocket. I'll head over to the bay and start a ship. That way, when you and Lylla catch up, we can leave this planet immediately after you get in. It will certainly save us a lot of time."
Rocket looked skeptically before holding up his hand. "Don't shake unless you promise to wait for us."
Jacques gripped Rocket's hand and moved it up and down. "Promise."
"Great. I'll go get Lylla." Rocket said before scurrying into the chaotic uproar.
Rocket had a hard time trying to find his friend while avoiding getting crushed by feet, claws, tentacles, and other body parts. Still, he persisted looking around desperately for his otter-like friend.
"LYLLA!" he yelled out. "LYLLA! LYLLA!"
"ROCKET!"
Rocket stopped for a moment to turn his face to the direction of the familiar voice calling out for his name.
"ROCKET!"
He heard it again across the battlefield. He rushed over on all four limbs past all the legs that nearly stood in his way. The closer he got, the bigger his smile was. Still, he needed to be sure, so he called again.
"LYLLA!"
"ROCKET!"
Rocket stopped when he was once again face-to-face with Lylla. The two of them smiled and embraced each other in a hug. They paid no mind to the fight going on around them for their attention was focused squarely on their reunion.
"It's good to finally hug you and thank you for giving us all hope!" Lylla cried out. She broke the hug and looked around. "Where's Jacques?"
"He's waiting for us at the hanger bay!" Rocket said grabbing Lylla's hand. "Come on! We're getting out of here!"
"Right!"
Just as Jacques predicted, the scientists began to gain control over the situation. Reinforcements arrived with bigger and better weapons. But Rocket and Lylla weren't worried. They stayed low and close to the ground to avoid being seen. They also made sure to stay close to each other, so if they were ever at least a foot apart, one of them would either speed up or slow down.
One time, a scientist managed to see Rocket and Lylla trying to scurry away. In a panic, he reached down and grabbed Lylla by her tail. Rocket saw her in trouble and jumped at him out of instinct. He reached the scientist's face and scratched him across his cheek. Not only did he release Lylla, but he also dropped the laser pistol which Rocket picked up before continuing to leave with Lylla.
After going through a few hallways, Rocket and Lylla made it to a large, open door which connected to a massive room with an opening to the outside. There were crates stacked everywhere, but there were also plenty of ships too. They looked around until Lylla gasped pointing at one of the ships.
"There! It's Jacques!" Lylla shouted.
Rocket was thrilled to see his friend, but his smile quickly faded as soon as the ship he was in began to hover. The ship that Jacques was on started its engines and slowly turned to the direction of the open exit to the outside world.
"JACQUES, WAIT!" Rocket pleaded as loud as he could. He ran over to the ship and yelled more with Lylla beside him. "JACQUES, DON'T! IT'S US! WE'RE HERE!"
"JACQUES, PLEASE, LAND THE SHIP!" Lylla yelled. "WE CAN ALL LEAVE TOGETHER!"
Jacques looked down at Rocket and Lylla clearly. The two of them knew he was seeing them. He then looked through the door they came in from and noticed three scientists crossing over and aiming their blasters. He did not hesitate to push his steering controls forward. The ship he was in flew on out without any hesitation.
Watching their former friend leave like that without them brought a great deal of pain in Rocket and Lylla's hearts. They hoped he would turn around and save them, but they knew better.
"He… He left us." Lylla said silently. "I… I didn't think…"
Lylla didn't have time to finish her thought. A laser blast hit the floor next to her and Rocket. The two of them made their way to another ship. Thankfully, its doors were open for them to enter. Unfortunately for them, the scientists were firing from behind with reinforcements behind them.
As soon as Rocket made it to the control seat, he growled in frustration. "I'm going to need time to hotwire this thing!"
"Then I'll give you time!" Lylla said taking the blaster that Rocket took from the earlier scientist. She headed over to the door and fired from it forcing the scientists to retreat and cover behind stacks of crates.
"Lylla, what are you doing?!" Rocket shouted.
"Just start this thing!" Lylla yelled out while firing some more. "Hurry! We don't have long!"
Rocket didn't bother arguing. He just focused more and more on opening up the control panel and crossing wires. While he did that, Lylla focused on trying to shoot anyone who tried to shoot back. Rocket heard the blasts fill up all the noise around him, but he kept his concentration on the ship.
Suddenly, the controls lit up and the engine started to hum. Rocket laughed merrily seeing the result of his work. "It's working! It's finally working!" He turned to his friend. "Lylla, it's working! Come away from the ramp now!"
Rocket watched as Lylla slowly backed away from the ramp while it closed up. One blast did make it in the ship before it closed, but it didn't hit either of them. Rocket continued to fly the ship until it was out of the facility. He steered it upward until he was finally out of the planet's atmosphere. He stopped the ship in order to bask in relief while looking at the stars that surrounded him.
"We did it, Lylla." Rocket said happily. "We finally made it. Now, we can go wherever we want and…"
"R-Rocket…"
Lylla's voice filled Rocket with concern. It wasn't a joyful tone. Instead, it sounded like she was weakened. He turned to check on her before realizing what was wrong. She stumbled forward slowly while clutching onto her chest which had a black blast mark smearing it clearly. Rocket breathed heavily and rapidly once he finally realized what had happened: Lylla was shot during the firefight.
Rocket jumped out of his chair and ran over to Lylla as she fell. He caught her in his arms and held her close to him. He began to tear up after feeling her life slowly fading.
"No, no, no! Stay with me, Lylla! Please!" Rocket pleaded.
"Rocket…"
"Don't speak. Focus on staying alive. We can go somewhere. Find you help, and…"
"Don't." Lylla said weakly. She slowly moved her hand up to caress his furry head. "We did it, Rocket. We made it out. That's all I needed."
"But what about our plan? Our adventures?" Rocket asked with a broken voice. "We were supposed to see the galaxy and…"
"And we will." Lylla said. "I'll still go on those beautiful adventures with you even when we're apart. It's okay. I'll be right here." She moved her hand from his head and slowly pressed it onto his chest. "Keep flying, Rocket. For everyone."
Lylla finally closed her eyes and died with a smile on her face. Her hand dropped from Rocket's chest and hung over her body. Rocket's tears got bigger and he sobbed harder.
"Lylla! Oh, Lylla!"
"I buried her at the next planet in the middle of a beautiful forest. She would've loved it there." Rocket continued on with his story looking out of the bedroom window. "After that, I just kept on going until I met Groot and… Well, you know the rest."
Rocket turned back to everyone who listened noting all their expressions. Peter, Gamora, Drax, Groot, Mantis, Lilo, Stitch, and even 221 looked at him as though they were finally seeing his inner pain.
"That… That's awful." Mantis said.
"No wonder you hate Hamsterviel." Drax said.
"I knew he was a bad guy, but what he did to you was just heartless." Peter said.
"No kidding. If he had just waited for us, then Lylla would've been alive. He just took off and abandoned us, leaving us to defend ourselves. And because of that, she…" Rocket clenched his shaking fists while trying to hold back his tears. Suddenly, he calmed down once Groot sat next to him and patted on his back.
"I am Groot."
"What bright side?" Rocket asked. "I told you, this story doesn't have a happy ending."
"Maybe it's not that your story doesn't have a happy ending." Lilo said joining Rocket sitting on his other side. "Maybe it's that your story isn't over yet. You just went through a sad part. I mean, look at everyone here. You kept living your own story until you met us. And now, we're here. So the way I see it, your story isn't over yet."
Rocket sniffed wiping the tears that were building up from his eyes. "You always this optimistic?"
"I try." Lilo answered as everyone else joined her in consoling Rocket.
"You're not alone in this, Rocket." Gamora said. "We all know what you're going through."
"Speaking as an empath, I definitely know what you're feeling." Mantis said.
"We're with you, Rocket." Peter said. "And together, we'll teach him not to mess with a Guardian of the Galaxy."
Rocket couldn't help but smile looking around at everyone. "Thanks, guys. All right."
After their moment of consolation, the Guardians followed Lilo and Stitch downstairs to find Nani getting ready to leave.
"Where's Pleakley and Cobra?" Lilo asked.
"They went to the lighthouse to get Jumba back." Nani answered.
"But…"
"And I've got to go to work."
"But…"
"No more buts." Nani kissed Lilo on her forehead. "Just stay here."
As soon as Nani left the house and started her car, the Guardians watched as she disappeared to the distance.
"So we're totally disobeying her, right?" Peter asked.
"Yep." Lilo answered.
"So we're taking Cobra's car again?" Mantis asked.
"Looks that way." Gamora said.
"Then let's not waste any more time." Rocket said. "One way or another, we settle this tonight."