CHAPTER EIGHT
' SOME SORT OF DOG . '

Ash sat in the corner, watching Drax, Rocket and Groot. Her hands gripped the arms of the chair, and her body reclined like she was sitting on a throne. With a harsh stare, her eyes flickered from the men and towards Gamora and Quill as they entered. Chaos erupted, causing her to jump to her feet. Ash drove forward, using her magic to throw Drax off Rocket.

"Stop it!" Gamora shouted as she and Quill ran to her aid. Ash stood in front of Rocket with her hands in the air, blocking his view of Drax and blocking Rocket's weapon.

"Woah! Woah! What are you doing?" Quill shouted.

"This vermin speaks of affairs he knows nothing about!" Drax roared, pointing accusingly.

"That is true!" Rocket replied angrily.

"He has no respect!"

"That is also true!"

"Hold on! Hold on!" Quill moved forward again.

"Keep calling me vermin, tough guy! You just wanna laugh at me like everyone else!" Rocket finished, shoulders falling with resignation.

"Rocket, no one is laughing at you," Ash corrected softly. "You've had too much to drink, alright?"

"He thinks I'm some stupid thing!"

"No, rocket-"

"He does! Well, I didn't ask to get made! I didn't ask to be torn apart, and put back together, over and over and turned into some... some little monster!"

Ash's eyes softened, and she bent down to his level. "Rocket, no one's calling you a monster."

"He called me vermin! She called me rodent! Let's see if you can laugh after five or six good shots to your frickin' face!" Rocket pointed his weapon at Drax again, and Ash pushed the gun away from the group.

"Four billion units, Rocket! Suck it up for one more fucking night, and you'll never have to work again."

Rocket hesitated for a moment before lowering his gun. "Fine. But I can't promise when all this is over I'm not gonna kill every last one of you jerks."

Ash sighed, bowing her head for a moment before rising to her feet.

"See?" Quill turned to face them all. "That's exactly why none of you have any friends! Five seconds after you meet somebody, you're already trying to kill them!"

"We have travelled halfway across the quadrant, and Ronan is no closer to being dead." Drax turned and left in anger, shaking his head.

"Drax!" Quill called after him.

"Let him go," Gamora dismissed. "We don't need him."

Ash glanced behind them when she felt a presence and her eyes found a woman. "Milady Gamora," she began. "I'm here to fetch you for my master."

"Fetch?" Ash repeated. "What are you, some sort of dog?"

The lady escorted them to the Collector's home with no reply.

"Okay, this isn't creepy at all," Rocket spoke. Ash took steps further into the room, spinning as she took in the artefacts.

"We house the galaxy's largest collection of fauna, relics, and species of all manner," the lady informed. She walked them to a man who waited for them amid the hoards. "I present to you, Taneleer Tivan, the Collector."

Gamora met him in the middle, Ash hanging back with the others but watching the man with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, my dear Gamora. How wonderful to meet in the flesh." The Collector kissed Gamora's hand.

"Let's bypass the formalities, Tivan. We have what we discussed."

Tivan blinked a few times before he turned away and noticed Groot. "What is that thing there?"

"I am Groot," he spoke.

The Collector moved over to Groot. "I never thought I'd meet a Groot. Sir, you must allow me to pay you now so that I may own your carcass. At the moment of your death, of course."

"I am Groot."

"Why, so he could turn you into a frickin' chair?" Rocket asked in disbelief.

"That's your pet?" he questioned Groot.

"His what?" Rocket shouted. He went to grab his weapon, and the Collector chuckled.

Ash pushed Rocket back and stepped in front of Groot. "No one is signing any wills for their after-death plans today, okay? We've trekked half the galaxy to get this stone and give it to you. Can we get back to business?"

The Collector stared at her for a moment before he hurriedly bowed and turned away. "Of course, of course. Very well, then. Let us see what you brought."

Gamora looked at Quill, and he retrieved the orb from his bag but accidentally dropped it. He quickly picked it up to show the Collector.

"Oh, my new friends. Before creation itself, there were seven singularities." He used a device to unlock the orb. "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. Observe. The stone can be used to mow down entire civilizations like wheat in a field," the Collector continued.

"There's a little pee coming out of me right now," Quill whispered.

"Same," Ash replied in the same tone, eyes glued to the hologram with a parted mouth.

"Once, for a moment, a group was able to share the energy amongst themselves, but even they were quickly destroyed by it." The orb opened to reveal an Infinity Stone. "Beautiful. Beyond compare."

"Blah, blah, blah. We're all very fascinated, whitey. But we'd like to get paid," Rocket interrupted.

"How would you like to get paid?"

"What do you think, fancy man? Units!"

"Very well, then." As the Collector went to get the money, the lady walked towards the stone with sparkling eyes. "Carina. Stand back."

She whipped around to face him before screaming at the Collector, "I will no longer be your slave!"

"No!"

Carina grabbed the stone, triggering an explosion that reduced her to particles and the Collector's archive to detonate. Groot grabbed Rocket and ran out of the place as it exploded. Ash launched to huddle behind a metal cabinet, using her magic to make the energy blast curve past her. The silence that filled the air was eerie, and she poked her head out from her hiding place at the same time Quill and Gamora came out from under the table. Ash straightened, and they looked at the destruction caused by the explosion.

"What the f-"

Gamora grabbed the orb and locked it back up to contain the Infinity Stone. She grabbed Quill and Ash and marched out of the Collector's place. "How could I think Tivan could contain whatever was within the orb?"

"What do you still have it for?" Rocket shouted as they reformed their group.

"Well, what are we gonna do? Leave it in there?" Quill defended.

"I can't believe you had that in your purse!"

"It's not a purse! It's a knapsack!"

"We have to bring this to the Nova Corps," Gamora decided. "There's a chance they can contain it."

"So it can just fall into the wrong hands just as easily?" Ash shot back.

"Are you kidding me? We're wanted by the Nova Corps! Just give it to Ronan!" Rocket yelled.

"So he can destroy the galaxy?" Quill pointed out incredulously.

Rocket let out a noise of confusion. "What are you, some Saint all of a sudden? What has the galaxy ever done for you? Why would you wanna save it?"

"Because I'm one of the idiots who lives in it!"

"Peter, listen to me." Gamora's voice caused him to face her. "We cannot allow the stone to fall into Ronan's hands. We have to go back to your ship and deliver it to Nova."

"Right, right, okay. I think you're right, or we could give it to somebody who's not going to arrest us, who's really nice for a whole lot of money. I think it's a really good balance between both of your points of view."

"You're despicable."

"I-"

"-Dishonorable. Faithless!" Gamora turned and started to stalk off but stopped, as did the others when they noticed a group of ships clustering in the sky.

"Oh, no."

"Fuck."