"Batch 89 had escaped the Kyln, with some new reluctant allies on their side in the from of Star-Lord, Gamora, and Drax the Destroyer. While all of them had separate goals, they were united by Gamora's promise of splitting the payment she'd acquire by selling Star-Lord's Orb to a very interested buyer…"
Rocket hummed to himself as he worked on his latest invention, using what spare parts Teefs had brought from the Rakk 'n' Ruin and whatever else he could find about Quill's ship. The trip was going to take a while, so the raccoon figured he could at least create something new in the meantime. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Yo, Ranger Rick! What are you doing!?" Quill exclaimed as he walked in the room. "You can't take apart my ship without asking me! See, what is this?"
"Don't touch that," Rocket warned, not looking up from his work. "That's a bomb."
"A bomb?" Quill questioned.
"Yep," Rocket nodded casually.
"And you leave it lying around?" Quill said in disbelief.
"It's more common than you think," Lylla giggled. "Normally he would put it in a box, though…"
"What's a box gonna do!?" Quill exclaimed.
"Oh, Floor find box!" Floor called, pushing out a crate from underneath where Rocket was working. She picked up a wrapped box and held it up. "Friend Rocket should use pretty box for bomb!"
"No! Woah, hey, leave it alone!" Quill said, taking the box away from Floor.
The rabbit's ears dropped lower than usual. "Oh… Did Floor do something wrong?"
"None of your business," Quill replied, making Floor even more sad.
"Hey, back off of Floor. She's only trying to help," Rocket growled.
Quill sighed, turning his attention back to the raccoon. "What even is that?"
"That is for if things get really hardcore," Rocket explained. "Or if you wanna blow up moons."
"No one is blowing up moons," Gamora sighed.
"It's just a hypothetical," Rocket said, before muttering to himself. "Always sucking the joy out of everything…"
"So, listen, I'm gonna need your buyer's coordinates," Quill said to Gamora.
"We're heading in the right direction. For now," Gamora replied.
"If we're gnna work together, you might try trusting me a little bit," Quill said.
"And how much do you trust me?" Gamora questioned.
Quill put his hand on the Orb. "I'd trust you a lot more I you told me what this was. Because I'm guessing it's some kind of weapon."
"I don't know what it is," Gamora admitted.
Drax picked up the Orb. "If it's a weapon, we should use it against Ronan."
"Put it down, you fool. You'll destroy us all," Gamora demanded.
"His name is "Drax the Destroyer," so it would be fitting that he'd be the end of us," Teefs mused.
"I'd rather have a peaceful death than being murdered, thank you very much," Lylla sighed.
"Or I'll just destroy you, murderess!" Drax shouted at Gamora.
"I let you live once, princess!" Gamora shot back.
"Drax is a princess!?" Floor gasped.
"I am not a princess!" Drax shouted.
"Hey! Nobody is killing anybody on my ship!" Quill insisted. "We're stuck together until we get the money."
"…I have no interest in money," Drax said, tossing the Orb to Quill and walking away.
"Great. That means more money for the rest of us," Quill said.
"We have an agreement, but I'd never be partners with the likes of you," Gamora said. "I'll tell the buyer we're on our way. And Quill, your ship is filthy."
"Oh she has no idea," Quill smirked as Gamora walked away. "If I had a black light, this place would look like a Jackson Pollock painting."
"I have an idea," Lylla sighed. "I could smell it as soon as we walked in…"
"You got issues, Quill," Rocket shook his head.
[***]
Teefs hummed along to Davie Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" as the Milano flew along, the walrus inspecting his weapons as Quill posed with his guns. "Those are some fancy-looking blasters, Mr. Star-Lord," Teefs complimented.
"Yep, the Quad Blasters are pretty cool," Quill nodded. "Got 'em as a Christmas gift, actually."
"Ah, yes, Christmas… I've old heard about it in what Rocket told us of Sire's lectures," Teefs said.
"Who's this "Sire" guy?" Quill asked.
"The man who created us. A mad scientist that wanted to create the perfect society," Lylla explained as she entered the room. "He calls himself the High Evolutionary, and if you weren't perfect in his eyes, he would… dispose of you. Rocket found out what he would do to us and planned a daring escape. We've been on the run ever since."
"Not that Sire has any desire to search for us, of course," Teefs shrugged. "He's probably more concerned with his next creation."
"Oh, wow… That's, uh, sounds pretty rough," Quill said sympathetically.
"We've gotten by well all things considered, especially with Rocky leading us," Lylla replied.
"You mean Rocket? Are you two… you know…" Quill mimicked kissing with hand puppets.
"Yes, Rocket and I are lovers," Lylla giggled. "He's quite sweet when you get to know him."
"Heads up! We're inbound," Rocket's voice called from the cockpit of the ship. Everyone gathered in the room to look out at their destination.
"Whoa…" Quill said in awe at the giant floating head in front of them.
"What is it?" Drax asked.
"It's called Knowhere. The severed head of an ancient celestial being," Gamora explained. "Be wary heading in, rodent. There are no regulations whatsoever here."
"You think this is my first time coming to Knowhere?" Rocket scoffed as they flew inside the structure.
"It has been a while since we were here last," Teefs noted.
Soon the Milano had landed, leaving the group to wander around the planet to where the buyer would be. "Remind Floor what Knowhere is?" Floor asked.
"Hundreds of years ago, the Tivan Group sent workers in to mine the organic matter within the skull," Lylla explained. "Bone, brain tissue, spinal fluid. All rare resources, highly valued in black markets across the galaxy. It's dangerous and illegal work, suitable only for outlaws."
"Well, I come from a planet of outlaws," Quill replied. "Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, John Stamos."
"It sounds like a planet I'd like to visit," Drax said.
"Yeah, you should," Quill nodded.
"I'd like to acquire human music records for our own ship," Teefs said.
"Yeah, you were jamming out back in the Milano. You like my tunes?" Quill asked.
"Terra has some of the most interesting music. In particular I enjoy the sounds music made by bugs," Teefs replied.
"Bugs…? You mean the Beatles? That's just their stage name, man," Quill said.
"Yes, that's the name. The have some lovely songs I enjoy when our radio picks them up," Teefs nodded.
"Oh look, small people!" Floor pointed out as children approached the group, begging for Units.
"Watch your wallets," Quill warned as they passed by.
Groot, however, stopped and sprouted a flower from his hand, letting Lylla take it and give it to one of the children. "Stay safe, young one," the otter said as the girl smiled. Soon the group had arrived at where they assumed their buyer was.
"Your buyer's in here?" Rocket questioned as they approached a bar.
"We are to wait in here for his representative," Gamora explained.
"This is no respectable establishment," Drax said as they watched a drunkard get tossed out onto the street. "What do you expect us to do while we wait?"
"It's not what we do, but what Floor does," Rocket said with a smirk. "First round of drinks is on me!"
Soon Batch 89 and Drax were having the time of their lives betting on one of the games in the bar, with Floor's almost supernatural luck when it comes to gambling earning them a fair share of Units. "The small one has given us another victory!" Drax exclaimed, patting Floor on the head as he tossed back another drink. "Let us put more of this burning liquid in our bodies."
"That's the first thing you said that wasn't bat-shit crazy!" Rocket laughed, having had his own fair share of drinks himself.
"Do be careful with the drinks, Rocky…" Lylla said with worry, knowing how rowdy her beloved raccoon could get whenever he started drinking.
"It's fine, Lylla. Let him have some fun," Teefs giggled, wobbling on his wheels as he too was under the influence.
"Friend Lylla, why Floor have no drinks?" Floor asked. "Floor want to be silly like friends."
"For the same reasons we don't let you eat sugar before bedtime," Lylla replied. She shook her head and sighed. "Sometimes I feel like I'm the one that has to be in charge around here…"
"But friend Rocket is captain," Floor pointed out.
"Yes, Floor, but I meant it in the way that I make sure we're all okay," Lylla said. "Rocket keeps us safe, but someone has to look after him as well. And as the team medic, it's my job to do just that."
"Oh… okay then! Floor go win us more money now!" Floor nodded before hopping back to gambling. As is common to happen whenever a room is full of inebriated aliens, however, soon a fight started to break out between Drax and Groot, the destroyer tackling the tree-man to the ground and punching at his bark. That was the moment that Gamora and Quill reentered the room, with the assassin pulling Drax off Groot.
"Hey… no one messes with my friend!" Rocket said, drunkenly pulling out his blaster and pointing it at Drax.
"Whoa, hey! What are you doing!?" Quill exclaimed, getting between the raccoon and Drax.
"This vermin speaks of affairs he knows nothing about!" Drax replied.
"That is true!" Rocket shouted back.
"He has no respect!" Drax added.
"That is also true!" Rocket spat.
"Hold on, you two!" Lylla exclaimed, joining Quill in trying to break the tension.
"Keep calling me vermin, tough guy! You just want to laugh at me like everyone else!" Rocket shouted at Drax.
"Rocky, you're drunk. No one's laughing at you, okay?" Lylla said, putting her hands on his blaster and gently pulling it from his hands, letting the weapon safely drop to the ground.
In what seemed like a moment of clarity, Rocket's fight seemed to extinguish as he clumsily grabbed onto Lylla, holding her tight. "H-He thinks we're just some stupid things!" he slurred out. "Well, I didn't ask to be made! I didn't ask to be torn apart, and put back together over and over, and turned into some… some little monster."
"Rocket, no one's calling you a monster," Quill said. Having heard part of Rocket's backstory from Lylla, he could understand where the raccoon's pain was coming from.
Rocket pointed at Drax. "He called me "vermin"!" He pointed at Gamora. "She called me "rodent"!"
Floor suddenly came to his side, latching onto Rocket and nuzzling into him. "Friend Rocket mad at mean words, but only words. Let friends make Rocket feel better." Lylla nodded, tightening her grip on him.
"…You guys…" Rocket muttered, sobbing quietly as Lylla and Floor comforted him.
Quill watched the scene with a bit of smile before turning to Gamora and Drax. "See? These guys know how to care for each other. If you keep trying to kill each other every five seconds, then you'll never have friends like that."
"I did not come here to make friends, Peter Quill. We have travelled halfway across the quadrant, and Ronan is no closer to being dead," Drax said, pushing Gamora away as he walked off.
"Mr. Drax… wait up…" Teefs called, swerving as he tried to follow the warrior.
"Let him go. We don't need him," Gamora shook her head as Groot help Teefs back from following Drax.
It was then that the door to the bar opened, revealing a pink-skinned woman in a white dress. "Milady Gamora. I'm here to fetch you for my master," the woman said.
"Well, I guess it's time to go," Lylla muttered, picking up Rocket's gun and storing it away safely.
[***]
"The Collector… I was hoping we'd never have to come back here," Rocket grumbled as the group followed behind the pink lady.
"You've been here before?" Quill whispered.
"We did one job for this guy, but this is one place I'd rather not be in again," Lylla shuttered.
"Hello space doggie!" Floor waved to one of the exhibits, an Earth dog wearing a space suit. The dog barked in reply. "Yes, Floor doing well with friends!"
"…I am Groot?" Groot questioned.
"Maybe Floor learned to speak dog, like we did to speak Groot," Teefs shrugged.
"We house the galaxy's largest collection of fauna, relics, and species of all manner," the servant said to the group. She stopped as they reached the center of the building and gave a bow. "I present to you: Taneleer Tivan, The Collector."
The Collector was a white-haired humanoid with an air of fashion, fitting since he was the brother of the Grandmaster. He walked up and turned his attention to Gamora. "Oh, my dear Gamora. How wonderful to meet in the flesh." He took her hand and kissed it.
"Let's bypass the formalities, Tivan. We have what we discussed," Gamora said.
The Collector looked over her shoulder and saw Groot standing there. Ah, I see that the Groot and his little friends are with you as well," he said, looking at Groot with hunger in his eyes.
"I know what you're going to ask, Collector, and the answer is the same as last time: neither me nor any of my friends are up for sale," Rocket said, jumping up on a table to be face-to-face with the man.
"At the moment I'm more interested in having his carcass… after his time of death, of course," the Collector replied.
"I am Groot?" Groot raised an eyebrow.
"Are you planning to turn our dear Groot into a chair?" Teefs gasped.
"Hm. You should keep a better leash on your pets, Groot," the Collector said, making Rocket growl and reach for his gun before Lylla put a hand on his shoulder.
"He's not worth it," Lylla shook her head.
"Tivan, we have been halfway around the galaxy retrieving this Orb," Gamora spoke up.
"Very well then. Let us see what you brought," the Collector said. Gamora looked over to Quill, who pulled out the Orb… before dropping it and quickly picking it back up.
"Star-Lord funny," Floor giggled.
The Collector took the Orb and placed it inside a device, everyone gathering around to watch. "Oh, my new friends… Before creation itself, there were six singularities." He pulled a lever on the device, opening up the orb as holograms played in the air around them. "Then the universe exploded into existence, and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots. Infinity Stones. These stones, it seems, can only be brandished by beings of extraordinary strength."
He pointed to one of the holograms. "Observe." Everyone looked to see a large being, a Celestial, wielding one of the Stones as part of his staff, looking over a planet as the people ran away in terror. "These carriers can use the Stone to mow down entire civilizations like wheat in a field." The Celestial slammed his staff into the ground, causing the entire planet to break down and explode from the power.
"…There's a little pee coming out of me right now," Quill shuttered.
"Once, but a moment, a group was able to share the energy amongst themselves," the Collector continued. "But even they were quickly destroyed by it. The device finished opening the Orb, revealing the purple Infinity Stone inside. "Beautiful. Beyond compare."
"I've read about these Infinity Stones before. The purple one represents Power," Teefs said.
"Floor no like how it feels," Floor shuttered, hiding behind Teefs from the stone.
"This is all very fascinating, whitey, but when to do we get paid?" Rocket said.
"How would you like to get paid?" the Collector asked as he turned off the holograms.
"What do you think, fancy man? Units!" Rocket demanded.
"Very well then," Collector nodded, opening up a drawer on his desk. He side-eyed his assistant as she got closer to the Power Stone. "Carina. Stand back," he commanded.
Carina got a serious look on her face. "I will no longer be your slave!" she shouted, grabbing onto the Stone.
"No!" the Collector shouted as the Power Stone started shooting off energy, breaking exihibits and knocking things over.
"Flark! Everyone duck and cover!" Rocket ordered, Batch 89 scrambling as Groot put up his arms to create a shield for them to hide behind.
"Carina, let go!" Lylla shouted, but her words fell on deaf ears as the Power Stone tore the girl apart in a mighty explosion that rocked the building and broke every window inside. Batch 89 was sent flying, Groot's arms stretching out to grab onto everyone as they landed outside.
"Oof!" Teefs grunted as he fell to the ground, acting as the bottom of the animal and tree pile. "Oh… I hope that explosion didn't break my wheels."
"Is everyone okay?" Lylla asked. "Any injuries?"
"Floor seeing many Lyllas… World spinning for Floor…" Floor said in a daze before shaking it off.
"Guys, I think this is all a bit more than we were looking to get involved with…" Rocket said with worry as he looked back at the shattered building.
Author's Note
One things that's interesting about having all of Batch 89 around is that they're all more willing to talk to Quill, Gamora, and Drax than Rocket is. Case in point, Lylla and Teefs telling Star-Lord a bit about the High Evolutionary during the trip to Knowhere. Even if he has his friends this time around, Rocket has problems trusting other people and puts up a front to keep both himself and his friends safe. With Lylla being more open to talking, she can reveal a bit about the real Rocket to Quill to understand where the raccoon is coming from with his rough attitude.
Nowhere is this better shown than Lylla and Floor defusing the situation in the bar. Rocket feels like Batch 89 won't be accepted anywhere, that the High Evolutionary might have been right and that they're all just failed experiments and monsters. Lylla and Floor can lift him back on his feet, however, and assure Rocket that he's not alone and they will find a place in the galaxy for themselves (and who knows, that place might be closer than he thinks).
The scene with the Collector goes about the same, though with some added dialogue to account for Batch 89 having done a job for the guy in the past. We even get a quick Cosmo cameo, though currently only Floor knows about her telepathic powers.
Don't forget to leave a comment/review so I can know what you thought of the chapter and I'll see you next time!