Rocket Interlude 1

Trigger warning: attempted suicide

As Rocket sat on a rock on the uncharted planet far away from Counter Earth, looking up at the sky with the stolen spaceship behind him, he slowly began to hate what he was looking at. But maybe it wasn't that he hated the sky, he just hated that he had no one to look at the sky with. He hated that there were three others who should be looking at the sky right now, but never would.

The young creature wasn't even sure why he bothered coming here, why he had even bothered escaping. Perhaps he did it just to spite him. That had to be it, as it all seemed rather empty and hollow now. After how everything had gone so wrong in the worst way possible, he couldn't just not escape after paying such a high cost. It was the sunk cost fallacy at work.

Rocket grimaced at that thought, as it was one of the many higher concepts bestowed upon him by his brain, which he now began to hate as well.

At any rate, he had promised that all of his friends would fly through the sky in machines he would build, but that promise was utterly broken. In which case, Rocket saw no point in. . . continuing.

Feeling empty and numb inside, Rocket almost robotically raised the gun in his hand to aim it at the side of his head. He was confident that if anyone ever found him and brought him back, his brain wouldn't be usable.

"You don't want to do that, Rocket."

Rocket did not expect his name to be called. Not only was he in the middle of knowhere on an unremarkable planet, but the only ones who knew his name were all. . .

Rocket blinked back the tears that he had been doing well in holding back up to now, and he turned around.

Standing there, framed in the light of the setting sun, was a man dressed in a buttoned shirt with an open collar. A pair of spectacles adorned his face, as well as a smooth mustache and short beard of white that matched the slightly spiky hair that stood up tall on his head.

"You really don't, no matter how much you think you do, Rocket," the man said.

With the barrel of the gun still pointed at his head, Rocket blinked at the man. Then he said, "How would you know? How do you know my name?"

"That's not important right now," the man said softly, a kindness radiating from him that reminded Rocket of Lylla, "What is important is that you realize that you are so much more than what others have labeled you as, Rocket."

Rocket stared at the man, unable to figure him out.

"You're not just a failed experiment, Rocket," the man said in earnest, "You're an adventurer. An explorer. A hero. The only trouble is . . . you're alone. . .and that is not good."

Rocket swallowed hard, tears threatening to overflow and run down his face. His hand tightened on the gun, and he said, "Well. . . You're wrong. I-," Rocket's voice cracked, and he swallowed hard before continuing, "I should be alone. I deserve to be alone. So. . . You should just go and let me . . . let me end it all already."

"No."

Somehow, this single word spoken in a level tone of voice resonated across the entire surface of the planet and converged upon Rocket like a massive shockwave. At least, that's how it felt to Rocket.

"I won't force you," the man said gently, now kneeling down in front of Rocket, face to face with him even as the small creature still held the gun pressed the side of his furry head, "I cannot force you, as my only weapon is love. The choice is yours. But I will try to convince you to make a better choice. . . To give you another option. . . A way to escape the loneliness. . . Surely if you feel that you have nothing left to lose, you could give it one more chance?"

Rocket thought about this. It did make sense. If he had nothing to live for, why not see what this strange person had in store for him? He couldn't see himself feeling worse off than he had in that terrible moment. It also helped that the man spoke with a genuine kindness that was nearly hard to believe. Sire had spoken kindly to him, but it always felt measured and artificial and conditional. But the person kneeling before him. . . somehow. . . he had no doubt that he was sincere.

And so, with a long sigh, Rocket lowered the gun away from his head.

The man smiled, joy and love in his eyes. He then took a data pad out of his pocket and held it out to the young genetically modified raccoon, "Here. You'll want to go to these coordinates exactly. There you will find a man named Tibius Lark and. . . his friend . You can trust him. Listen to what he says, and you will find that within him is what you need to rise up. You will never be lonely again, this I swear to you."

Rocket stared at the data pad, confused by what he was hearing. Never be lonely again? Didn't he deserve to be lonely after what he had caused? And yet, something urged him to give it a chance. And so, Rocket took the data pad and studied the coordinates for a long moment.

"Nothing can replace them," Rocket finally said, but when he looked back up to address the man, he had vanished!

Rocket woke up in his bed on Knowhere. His mind was very clear after his dream, but perhaps it was because it wasn't a dream. It was a memory. A very clear and vivid memory.

Rocket sat up in bed and rubbed his face. More memories flood back. He could vividly recall following those coordinates. Landing on the planet. Being captured and tossed down a well. Meeting the cyborg Tibius Lark and his friend. He could hear Tibius' dying words, and his last request for him to take care of his friend.

To take care of Groot.

Rocket watched Groot as Groot watched Tibius die. He saw that horrible look in the Flora Colossus' eyes. It was a look that Rocket knew oh so very well. It was a look that Rocket had been on the other side of. And just like that, Rocket wasn't alone anymore. He couldn't abandon Groot. He'd be dooming him to the very torturous existence that had nearly driven him to suicide. As he had told the mysterious figure, nothing could replace them. Groot was no replacement. None of the Guardians were replacements. But Rocket would be lying if he said that they didn't mean everything to him. His found family was his new purpose. His new reason for. . . continuing.

But now, in hindsight, it all seemed almost terrifying. How had that man known that Tibius and Groot would be there? How had he known that Tibius would die, and that Rocket would use his cyborg parts to build a gun to kill the guards and escape the well?

Did the man know what he and Groot, and by extension the Guardians, would go on to do?

And why was he remembering it now, nearly 15 years after he had watched his friends die?

Had something changed?

Had that mysterious figure. . . done something?

. . . . Whatever. He'd better get up and make sure Adam and Phylla weren't up to any more annoying shenanigans.

Author's Notes:

Tibius Lark, Groot, and Rocket were all imprisoned in a deep well in the ground. Tibius was on the verge of dying. He explained to Rocket he had been caring for Groot for years.

He was a former zookeeper in a shitty galactic-side zoo. He explained he had saved Groot, who was on exhibit there, & that Groot was a loyal friend. He asked Rocket to please take care of him, & then he died. As he died Rocket looked down in the dark cell & noticed he was a robot, the lower part of his body smashed open and mechanical.

The guards above ground heard something rumbling & they turned & saw Rocket & Groot bursting up from the ground, Rocket on Groot's shoulder, & in Rocket's hands was a machine gun made from Tibius Lark's body, & he shot all the guards & they escaped & were together until they met the Guardians. That's who Tibius Lark was.

Basically this chapter was Rocket's version of the time where a grieving Peter Parker was encouraged by the One Above All, disguised as an elderly homeless man, to keep faith, when his Aunt May lay close to death in The Sensational Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #40. Naturally the One Above All is in his James Gunn form again. I know that James Gunn is working with DC now, but maybe one day he'll come back to direct a Rocket Raccoon and Groot origin story, especially because that story had already been story boarded as a short film. We really were robbed, and who wouldn't want to see these events play out right before our eyes.

Anyway, this chapter was inspired by the Blender short film Cosmos Laundromat - First Cycle. It was a masterpiece of visual storytelling and it's a crime that the project was never completed. Go check it out on YouTube, but be aware of the suicide trigger warning, and there's also a f-bomb unfortunately.

Also, this is just the first of many "Rocket Interludes" in this story. We will be checking in with Rocket multiple times as his resurrected friends ping pong around the galaxy, totally oblivious that they're alive again. The Interludes will vary in tone from serious to ironic to comedic, but they will all be worth reading. Tune in next time where we check back in with the rest of Batch 89.