----- August 3rd, 2014 - The Eclector -----

"You betrayed me! Steal my money!"

Yondu had Peter held up against the wall. He was striking him in the gut over and over. Yondu's men were cackling with each hit.

The Ravagers held Gamora back.

"Stop it!," Gamora shouts, "Leave him alone!"

Yondu ignores her, "When I picked you up as a kid, these boys wanted to eat you. They ain't never tasted Terran before. I saved your life!"

"Oh, will you shut up about that?!," Peter yells back, tired of the same story he's heard before, "God! Twenty years, you've been throwing that in my face, like it's some great thing, not eating me! Normal people don't even think about eating someone else! Much less that person having to be grateful for it! You abducted me, man. You stole me from my home and from my family."

"You don't give a damn about your Terra! You're scared because you're soft, in here," Yondu beats his chest, "Here! Right here!" 

He grabs Peter again by the collar to hit him.

"Yondu! Listen to me! Ronan has something called an Infinity Stone," Gamora tries to tell him.

Yondu snarls as he turns to look at her, "I know what he's got, girl."

"Then you know we must get it back! He's gonna use it to wipe out Xandar. We have to warn them. Billions of people will perish."

"Is that what she's been filling your head with, boy? Sentiment?," he slaps Peter and his men laugh, "Eating away your brain like maggots! That's it."

He slides his jacket back and whistles lightly.

His arrow shoots from his hip straight to Peter's throat.

"No!," Gamora yells.

"Sorry, boy. But a captain's gotta teach his men what happens to those what cross him."

"Captain's gotta teach stuff!," Kraglin shouts and the others grunt in agreement.

Peter tries the first thing that comes to mind, "..If you kill me now, you are saying goodbye to the biggest score you have ever seen..."

Yondu smiles and slowly turns to face him. His arrow still just hovering, with the tip nearly piercing Peter's Adams apple.

"The Stone? I hope you got something better than that. Because ain't nobody stealing from Ronan."

"..We got a ringer."

"Is that right?"

Peter looks over at Gamora and tells Yondu, "She knows everything there is to know about Ronan. His ships, his army."

Yondu glances over to her.

"He's vulnerable," Gamora says, playing along.

"Hey, what do you say, Yondu, huh? Me and you, taking down a mark side-by-side, like the old days," Peter says, letting out a forced chuckle.

Yondu hesitates as he thinks for a moment, then he whistles and his weapon moves from Peter's throat. Yondu and his men start to bellow out laughter.

Peter joins in.

Gamora forcefully ripped herself from the hands of Yondu's men.

"Let him go!," Yondu tells his men as he wraps an arm around him, "Oh! You always did have a scrote, boy! That's why I kept you on as a young'un."

Just then the ship shakes, as if it got hit by something. 

They all look around quickly before running straight to the bridge. Two of Yondu's men were still there in pilot seats, looking out from the window.

One of them speaks up, "Captain, the shot was non-damaging."

They all look out the window to see The Milano approaching Yondu's ship. Yondu looks back at Peter for a moment then back to his ship.

"Attention, idiots," Rocket can be heard over The Milano intercom, "One lunatic on top of this craft is holding a Hadron Enforcer. It's a weapon of my own design. As for the other lunatic.. well, I have no idea where he is, but then again neither do you."

They look closer to see Drax standing on top of The Milano. Drax was in a space suit standing on top of the Milano holding a big ass gun. It was aiming straight at The Eclector.

"What the hell?," Yondu says.

Rocket continues, "If you don't hand over our companions now, one of them's gonna tear your ship a new one. A very big new one!"

"I ain't buyin' it," Yondu dismisses.

But then a figure appears, floating up in view in between the two spacecrafts. They were wearing a red, blue, and yellow suit with a red cape flowing behind them. And their eyes were glowing an engulfed red, occasionally flickering a light blue.

This floating man with a red 'S' on his chest was the lunatic Rocket mentioned, Y/N.

"..Is that...?," mutters Yondu, before turning towards Peter, "Boy, you never mentioned you had a god with you.."

Peter turns to him, questioningly, "How the hell does everyone seem to know who he is? I've never heard of him before a few days ago!"

"Even I know who he is. Thanos has spoke of him before, though now seemingly false words," Gamora admits.

Yondu continues staring at Y/N while telling Peter, "My people worship him, as many used to do. Though it has died down immensely." 

Out at The Milano, Rocket speaks up again, "Y'all are very silent over there. How bout this, we give you till the count of five. FIVE!-"

"No! No! No!," both Peter and Gamora start shouting.

Peter runs up front and speaks over The Eclector intercom, "Rocket, it's-a me! For gods sakes, we figured it out! We're fine!"

Y/N's eyes stop glowing, then he looks back at Rocket and Drax. Drax looks over to him as well. Y/N then looks towards The Eclector and starts waving.

Rocket speaks up once more, with a different tone, "...Oh hey, Quill, what's goin' on?"

__________

"You call that 'figured it out'? We're gonna rob the guys who just beat us senseless."

The entire group of Peter, Gamora, Y/N, Rocket, and Groot were sitting below deck on The Milano. They were all in a circle after Peter had told them what he told Yondu. Y/N was wearing his normal clothes.

"Well, actually, I kind of manhandled Ronan, but okay," Y/N mumbles.

"Oh, you want to talk about senseless? How about trying to save us by blowing us up?," Peter retorts back at Rocket.

"We were only gonna blow you up if they didn't turn you over!"

"And how on earth were they gonna turn us over when you only gave them a count of five?!," Peter questions.

"Well we didn't have time to work out the 'minutiae' of the plan," Rocket then looks over at Groot and Y/N, "This is what we get for acting altruistically!"

"I am Groot."

"They are ungrateful," Rocket agrees.

Gamora gets back on topic, "What's important now is we get the Ravagers' army to help us save Xandar."

"So we can give the Stone to Yondu who's could sell it to somebody even worse?," Y/N asks.

"We'll figure that part out later," says Peter.

"We have to stop Ronan," Gamora tells them.

"How?," Rocket asks,  unconvinced that it's possible

Peter takes a breath and announces, "...I have a plan."

"You've got a plan?," Both Rocket and Y/N question.

"Yes.."

Rocket says, "First of all, you're copying me from when I said I had a plan."

"No, I'm not. People say that all the time, it's not that unique of a thing to say," Peter tells him.

Rocket continues, "Secondly, I don't even believe you have a plan."

"I have... part of a plan!"

"What percentage of a plan do you have?," Drax inquires.

Gamora snaps at him, "You don't get to ask questions after the nonsense you pulled on Knowhere."

Drax looks at her shocked, "I just saved Quill!"

"We've already established that you destroying the ship that I'm on is not saving me," Peter explains to him.

"When did we establish it?," he asks.

"Like three seconds ago!"

Drax looks away, mumbling, "I wasn't listening, I was thinking of something else."

Gamora groans in frustration.

"She's right, you don't get an opinion," Rocket tells him. 

"What percentage?," Y/N asks instead.

"I don't know, twelve percent," Peter admits.

"Twelve percent?"

Rocket laughs a very real very hearty real laugh that is nothing but real and can't be anything else but real.

"That's a fake laugh," Peter says.

Rocket stops laughing fast and glares at him, "It's real!"

"Totally fake."

"That is the most real, authentic, hysterical laugh of my entire life because that is not a plan!"

"...It's barely a concept," Gamora agrees.

Shocked, Peter asks, "You're taking their side?!"

"I am Groot."

"He's right. It is better than eleven percent," Y/N agrees.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Thank you, you two. Thank you. See? Groot and Y/N are the only ones of you who has a clue," Peter says glancing at the other.

He then turns to see Groot starting to chew on a leaf protruding from his shoulder. He shakes his head and Rocket chuckles. Y/N watches as he tries to stifle a laugh.

"Guys. Come on," Peter starts, "Yondu is gonna be here in two seconds. He expects to hear this big plan of ours.... I need your help. I look around at us, you know what I see? Losers." 

Rocket, Y/N, Gamora and Drax look around the room offended. Then Drax glares up at Peter expecting an explanation.

Peter continues, "..I mean, like, folks who have lost stuff. And we have. Man, we have. All of us. Our homes,.. our families,... normal lives.. And, usually, life takes more than it gives, but not today.. Today, it's given us something. It has given us a chance."

"To do what?," Drax quietly questions.

"To give a shit. For once, not run away," Peter tells everyone.

Y/N looks at Peter as he says this, fully knowing that's exactly what he did. And it wasn't the first time he's ran away from something. Most of the time though, he runs away from himself.

"I, for one, am not gonna stand by and watch as Ronan wipes out billions of innocent lives," Peter announces.

"But, Quill,.. stopping Ronan.. It's impossible," Rocket tells him, "You're asking most, if not all, of us to die."

"Yeah, I guess I am.. I-," Peter then turns his back to the group in defeat with a sigh.

They all sit in silence for a moment.

"..Quill..," Gamora call, and he turns back to the group, "I have lived most my life surrounded by my enemies..," Gamora quickly rises to her feet, "I will be grateful to die among my friends."

Peter walks back to the group circle with a small smile.

Drax rises to his feet, "You are an honorable man, Quill.. I will fight beside you. And in the end... see my wife and daughter again."

Peter nods at him. 

And Drax nods back.

Groot rises next, speaking a long and emotion-inducing, "I.. am Groot.."

Y/N stands as well, awkwardly, fiddling with his ring. The group turns to look at him.

He smiles and says, "... I'm tired of running.... I wasn't going to do anything because I believed it wasn't my fight, but... I can't just let a planet and it's people burn to ashes."

Then they all then look at Rocket, who stares back it complete and udder disbelief. He eventually gives a light short sighs and gives in.

"Oh, what the hell.. I don't got that long a lifespan, anyway," Rocket also rises and stands on his seat, "Now I'm standing. You all happy? We're all standing up now. Bunch of jackasses, standing in a circle."

__________

"Can't stay at home, can't stay at school
Old folks say, 'You poor little fool'
Down the streets I'm the girl next door
I'm the fox you've been waiting for"

The Ravagers and the others were in a room being debriefed by Peter, Gamora, and Y/N.

"The stone reacts to anything organic," Gamora explains to the Ravagers, "The bigger the target, the bigger the power surge."

"All Ronan's gotta do is touch the stone to the planet's surface and zap. All plants, animals, Nova Corps," Peter tells them.

"Everything will die," Y/N says, in terms they'd understand.

"So Ronan does not make the surface," Peter explicitly tells them.

"Hello, daddy, hello, mom

I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bombHello world I'm your wild girlI'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb"

Peter continues, using a monitor to lay out the plan, "Rocket will lead a team to blow a hole in the Dark Aster's starboard hull. Then, our craft and Yondu's will enter."

"Won't there be hundreds of Sakaaran soldiers inside?," Kraglin questions.

"I think of Sakaaran as paper people," Drax tells him.

Kraglin smiles and gives Drax a friendly punch on the shoulder. Unfortunately Drax, not understanding the playful jester, gives Kraglin a glare like he's going to hit him. Kraglin slowly backs away.

"Stone age love and strange sounds too
Come on, baby, let me get to you
Bad nights causing teenage blues
Get down ladies, you've got nothin' to lose"

"Once they know we're on board, Ronan will isolate himself behind impenetrable security doors on deck. Which I can disable by dismantling the power source," Gamora tells them.

Peter adds, "We'll make it to the flight deck, and I'll use the Hadron Enforcer to kill Ronan."

"Once Ronan is dead, we will retrieve the stone. Use these devices to contain it," Y/N tells the as the devices are passed out, he then looks serious and tells them, "If YOU touch it, it will kill you."

"I'll contact one of the Nova officers who arrested us. Hopefully, they'll believe we're there to help," says Peter.

"Hello, daddy, hello, mom
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb"

Rocket scurries to the center of the room, "There's one more thing we need to complete the plan," He then points to one of Yondu's men who has one robotic eye, "That guy's eye!"

Y/N grins as Peter starts telling everyone, "No! No, we don't. No, we don't need that guy's eye."

"No No, seriously, we need it! It's very important to- for the mission," Y/N tries to say.

Y/N and Rocket try to hold in their laughter. Rocket wipes at a tear from trying to hard.

"Hello, daddy, hello, mom
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb"

A pilot says over the intercom, "Ronan's fleet has been spotted, and will arrive in t-minus fifteen minutes."

The briefing was over, so everyone walks away to get ready. Yondu walks up behind Peter before he leaves.

He grabs him by the shoulder, "Remember, boy. At the end of all this, I get the stone. You cross me, we kill most of you."

"Hey, street boy, what some style?
Your dead end dreams don't make you smile
I'll give you something to live for
Have you and grab you until you're sore"

Y/N stands alone, staring at his suit lying on a table.

He looks at the colors. The bright red and blues not really fitting in around this place. 

He looks around the room to make sure no one was around.

Then without hesitating, full force, he starts blasting his lasers from his eyes. He singes the suit, somehow burning hotter and faster than the vibranium can handle.

It starts burning out the colors.

"Hello, daddy, hello, mom
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb"

Peter walks down a hall, looking focused and ready as ever.

Gamora rounds a corner, walking next to him. She was sporting a new get up that matched Peter's.

Drax appears on the other side of him, cracking his shoulder, also wearing a new pair of pants that match the others.

Rocket shows up in between Peter and Gamora holding a fat ass new gun. Also wearing a matching jumpsuit.

Groot stalks up following behind them.... 

Groot was still Groot.

A green light flashed and Y/N appeared between Peter and Drax. His cape was flowing as he walked. His suit was not the same color as the others but the tone was definitely similar.

It was black with a silver outline, with the cape being the darkest black you'd ever seen.

"Hello, daddy, hello, mom
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Cherry bomb
Cherry bomb
Cherry bomb
Cherry bomb
Cherry Bomb"

Peter, Gamora, Y/N, Drax, and Groot were flying in The Milano. Rocket was in his own spacecraft with a bunch of Yondu's men following him. Yondu however followed the group.

"...This is a terrible plan," Gamora admits.

"Hey, you're the one who said you wanted to die among friends."

"Cherry Bomb!"

____________________