The Guardians of the Galaxy. That's what this group of rag-tag space nobodies called themselves. They were brought together by many things. Tragedy. Loss. A call to save their galaxy when necessary. But their bond was more than that. It was one which was built upon friendship. Loyalty. Good ol' times. Humor. Companionship. Love.
The year was 2017. Three years after the group was officially formed. They were on Xandar, seeking to exterminate a rogue dog that had attacked and murdered several civilians. Rocket, Star-Lord and Gamora dispatched themselves to do this, and Kraglin, Drax, Teen Groot and Mantis remained behind in the Benetar for backup.
Quill was chasing the creature on his rocket boots. The creature was ugly, he thought. It looked much like an earth dog, but with two tails and a small nose. It looked similar to that of a golden retriever.
Quill tried to shoot the dog with his blasters, but it was simply too durable for that.
Gamora threw her sword, and the blade would have landed straight through its brain, had the tail not smacked it away.
Rocket merely chuckled, flying behind in his jetpack and equipped with one of his oversized guns.
"Y'all are tryin' too damn hard!"
Rocket dove down on the dog, whacking it over the head with his gun.
The dog yelped, and bit Rocket's arm.
Something unleashed within the cybernetically enhanced raccoon.
Something he'd not felt since the day Lylla was killed. Rage. Pure, unfiltered bloodlust.
He screamed angrily, ripping his arm away from the dog.
He tackled the decrepit creature, biting it and scratching it with such force that a red, greenish liquid bled out of it and spurted all over the raccoon as he proceeded to tear the dog to bits.
It whimpered and yelped and growled and whined, but it was too late. It had sealed its own fate.
When the dog stopped moving and was dead, Rocket looked upon himself, and he didn't like what he saw. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Rocket cried.
"Shit! Rocket, what the hell's gotten into you?"
Quill and Gamora watched the events unfold and were too horrified to do anything about it.
"Come on, Rocket," said Gamora in a calming voice. "Let's get you back and cleaned up, Peter will report back to Nova Prime."
The depressed raccoon agreed, wiping his furry face and going with Gamora to the Benetar.
Quill looked back at the deformed body, wondering what the hell that was all about.
