〘 :*¨༺ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 ༻¨*: 〙

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

"Ew."

ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ : ▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯▯

it seems that the wrath of the gods got a punch on the nose
and it's starting to flow, i think i might be sinking

"HEAD'S UP! We're inbound." Rocket called through the ship. He, Groot, and Ellie sat in their seats in the front of the ship. Gamora, Drax, and Quill joined them as they marveled at the sight of Knowhere.

"What is it?" Drax asked.

"It's called Knowhere. The severed head of an ancient celestial being. Be wary headed in, rodent." Gamora warned as she sat down.

Ellie clenched her jaw at the name.

"There are no regulations whatsoever here." She continued as they flew into Knowhere through the eye.

"Whoa." Ellie gasped as she looked around.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

"HUNDREDS OF years ago, the Tivan Group sent workers in to mine the organic matter within the skull. Bone, brain tissue, spinal fluid. All rare resources, highly valued in black markets across the galaxy. It is dangerous and illegal work, suitable only for outlaws." Gamora explained as the group walked through the crowded streets.

"Well, I come from a planet of outlaws. Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, John Stamos." Quill said. This piqued Ellie's interest, knowing Quill was also from Terra. She didn't know anything about Terra, at least he remembered a lot of it.

"It sounds like a place, which I would like to visit." Drax commented.

"Yeah, you should."

A small group of kids pushed through the group as they asked for units.

"Watch your wallets." Quill warned.

Ellie reached into her pocket and pulled out three units before handing a small girl them.

"Thank you!" The girl gasped with a large smile before scurrying away with her friends. Ellie looked over to see that Groot had seen the whole exchange.

"Don't tell Rocket." She told him. He raised his hands.

"I am Groot."

"Your buyers in there?" Rocket asked as the group approached a club.

"We are to wait here for his representative." Gamora told them.

"This is no respectable establishment. What do you expect us to do while we wait?" Drax asked.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

MEN AND WOMEN, along with other creatures cheered loudly as they watched a creature the size of a small dog chase another creature the size of a squirrel.

Ellie didn't know what everyone was cheering for. She just stood awkwardly next to Groot and Rocket, her forcefield crackling around her to keep strangers from bumping into her.

Her eyes widened when the creature ate the small one whole. She looked up at Groot, meeting his gaping face.

"My Orloni has won, as I won at all things!" Drax boomed before raising his blue glass. "Now, let's put more of this liquid into our bodies."

"That's the first thing you said that wasn't bat-shit crazy!" Rocket yelled. Ellie scrunched up her nose, knowing the two of them were already tipsy.

"Groot, don't drink that." Ellie told the creature as he raised his glass to his lips.

"Let him drink!" Drax boomed.

Ellie had zoned out the conversations between Drax and Rocket until Drax slammed his fist onto the table in front of her.

"You don't know what you are speaking of!" Drax yelled as he stepped at Rocket. Ellie dropped her forcefield and grabbed Drax's arm.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Let go of me, freak girl." Drax grunted as he ripped his arm away from her.

"Oh that's it." Rocket growled before Groot punched Drax in the face. This made them get into a fist fight, the club cheering on the two.

"Hey!" Ellie yelled as she tried to get them to stop. Drax and Groot tumbled over the top of the table before landing on the other side. Ellie sighed in annoyance as she made her way over, seeing Quill and Gamora rushing over to the ruckus. "Stop!" Ellie yelled at them. Groot yelled as he grew his branches around Drax's neck. Drax gripped them hard and broke free of them. Rocket appeared next to Ellie, a gun at his side. He grunted as he lifted it, aiming for Drax's head.

Gamora then grabbed Drax's arm roughly and pulled him off of Groot.

"Stop it!" She yelled at him.

"Rocket!" Ellie yelled as Rocket cocked the gun.

'Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" Quill yelled, stopping Rocket from shooting.

"This vermin speaks of affairs he knows nothing about!" Drax defended.

"That is true!" Rocket added.

"He has no respect!"

"That is also true!"

"Hold on! Hold on!" Quill interrupted.

"Keep calling me vermin, tough guy! You just wanna laugh at me like everyone else!" Rocket yelled. Ellie put her hands into fists as Rocket waved the gun around, the girl readied to create a forcefield around anyone that the gun was shot at.

"Rocket, you're drunk. All right? No one's laughing at you." Quill told him.

"He thinks I'm some stupid thing! He does! Well, I didn't ask to get made! And neither did she!" Rocket yelled, pointing at Ellie. Heat creeped up her neck as she felt eyes on her, her eyes started to burn as Rocket continued. "We didn't ask to be torn apart, and put back together, over and over and turned into some...Some monsters!"

"Rocket, no one's calling you and Ellie monsters." Quill reassured him.

"He called me vermin! He called Ellie a freak! She called me rodent! Let's see if you can laugh after five or six good shots to your frickin' face!" Rocket grumbled as he raised the gun again. Ellie took a step to make a shield but Quill beat her to it and stood in between Rocket and Drax.

"No, no, no, no! Four billion units! Rocket! Come on, man. Hey! Suck it up for one more lousy night and you're rich." Quill told him.

"Rocket." Ellie whispered to him, shaking her head as he sighed.

"Fine." Rocket exhaled as he powered down the gun. "But I can't promise that when all this is over I'm not gonna kill every last one of you jerks."

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

"We have traveled, halfway across the quadrant. And Ronan is no closer to being dead." Drax grumbled, pushing Gamora away before storming off.

"Drax!" Quill called to him.

"Let him go. We don't need him." Gamora said.

An automatic door hissed open, revealing a pink skinned woman wearing white clothing.

"Milady Gamora. I'm here to fetch you for my master." The woman announced.

The group followed the woman into a room filled with glass units with all kinds of alien creatures.

"Okay, this isn't creepy at all." Rocket commented as they looked around the room.

"We house the galaxy's largest collection of fauna, relics, and species of all manner. I present to you, Taneleer Tivan, The Collector." The woman announced.

A man in a big white fur coat, with strange glasses turned to them, eyeing Gamora up and down as she approached him.

"Oh, my dear Gamora. How wonderful to meet in the flesh." He said, raising Gamora's hand for a kiss.

"Let's bypass the formalities, Tivan. We have what we discussed." Gamora told him as Tivan's attention was on Groot.

"What is that thing there?" He asked.

"I am Groot." Groot boomed.

"I'd never thought I'd meet a Groot." Tivan spoke as he walked up to 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." Groot said. Ellie rolled her, not being surprised that Groot was intrigued by the offer.

"Why, so he could turn you into a frickin' chair?" Rocket asked from beside Ellie.

"That's your pet?" Tivan asked, gesturing to Rocket. Ellie shook her head, knowing Rocket would get upset.

"His what?" Rocket yelled, reaching for his Gun.

"Nope." Ellie said as she reached her hand out, creating a force field around her hand, blocking Rocket from Tivan.

"Tivan." Gamora said quickly, stepping in front of him. Ellie put her hand down sending Rocket a look, to which he shrugged. "We have been halfway around the galaxy, retrieving this Orb."

"Very well, then. Let us see what you brought." Tivan nodded. Gamora looked over at Quill and he nodded.

When he pulled the Orb from his back it slipped out of his hand, banging against the floor. He frantically grabbed it and held it out. Tivan grabbed it and attached it to a machine on one of his tables.

"Oh, my new friends. Before creation itself, there were six singularities." Tivan began, twisting a knob on the machine. It twisted the Orb in half, back and forth as if solving a puzzle.

A hologram was created around them, making multiple purple circles, one shined a bright blue light until it spread to the other circles.

"Then the universe exploded into existence, and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots." Tivan continued. Each circle showed copies of six different collared stones. "Infinity Stones. These stones, it seems, can only be brandished by beings of extraordinary strength. Observe."

The group turned to a circle that showed a celestial being wielding a staff with a glowing purple end. It threw the staff down on the ground, making the people running away from it turn to dust.

"These carriers can use the Stone to mow down entire civilizations like wheat in a field."

The circle then showed a video of the planet exploding into purple dust.

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

"Ew." Ellie said with hardly any emotion, her eyes glued in fear to the hologram screen.

"Once, for a moment, a group was able to share the energy amongst themselves, but even they were quickly destroyed by it." Tivan shuddered as he looked at the purple infinity stone, revealed from the Orb. "Beautiful. Beyond compare."

"Blah, blah, blah. We're all very fascinated, whitey." Rocket said as he mocked the way Tivan shuddered at the stone. "But we'd like to get paid."

"How would you like to get paid?" Tivan asked as the hologram disappeared.

"What do you think, fancy man? Units!" Rocket replied.

"Very well, then." Tivan mumbled, pulling open a drawer. He glanced up from it. "Carina." He said firmly, seeing the pink skinned woman walking towards the stone. "Stand back."

"I will no longer be your slave!" She yelled.

"No!" Tivan yelled before Carina grabbed onto the stone. Blasts of energy shot around the room. Ellie created a force field in front of her to stop a blast from hitting her. Groot wrapped his arm around her waist before grabbing Rocket in his other, running out of the room as flames and sparks spread around them. Ellie shut her eyes and covered her ears as she heard Carina's screams. She felt the hot air of the blast and brought her hands out, trying to create a force field behind them. It gave Groot a split second to get a little further as they all yelled. Ellie's force field crackled and sizzled before it broke as Groot jumped. As they landed Groot covered the two with his arms.

"What the hell was that?" Ellie coughed, the wind knocked out of her from landing on her back.

"Ugh." Rocket groaned as the three got to their feet.

"How could I think Tivan could contain whatever was within the Orb?" Gamora yelled angrily as she walked out with Quill.

"What do you still have it for?" Rocket asked as he saw Gamora carrying the Orb.

"Yeah, it almost killed us!" Ellie added.

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

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

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

"Not the time!" Ellie yelled, stopping their bickering.

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

"Are you kidding me? We're wanted by the Nova Corps. Just give it to Ronan!" Rocket yelled, Ellie slapping the top of his head in reply to his last comment. "Ow!"

"So he can destroy the galaxy?" Quill asked him.

"What are you, some saint all of a sudden? What has the galaxy ever done for you? Why would you wanna save it?" Rocket asked as he rubbed his head.

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

"Peter, listen to me." Gamora intruded, grabbing him by his jacket to get him to look at 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." Quill said as he slowly pulled on the Orb, but Gamora pulled it back. "I think it's a really good balance between both of your points of view."

"You're despicable. Dishonorable. Faithless!" Gamora yelled before storming off, she stopped suddenly. "Oh, no."

"At last!" Drax boomed as he held daggers in each of his hands, a swarm of ships approaching. "I shall meet my foe and destroy him.

"You called Ronan?" Quill yelled.

"You idiot!" Ellie added.

"Quill! Don't you move, boy!" A blue man yelled. Gamora spotted another way to get out with single person fighting pods and quickly left, the rest of the group following her.

Ellie followed Rocket and Groot to a pod.

"We told you, you can't fit. Now, wait here. We'll be back." Rocket told Groot as he tossed his gun into the pod and climbed inside, Ellie following him.

"It'll be okay, Groot." She reassured, before the door closed.

Rocket sat in the front seat while Ellie sat in the back, her chair being able to spin so she could reach the screens on either side of her.

"We got boggie's on our tail." Ellie informed Rocket as she was the screen showing the full back behind of the pod.

"Rocket, Ellie, keep them off Gamora until she gets to the Milano." Quill told the two of them.

"How? We've got no weaponry on these things." Rocket said.

"These pods are industrial grade. They're nearly indestructible." Quill told him.

"Not against necroblasts, they're not."

"That's not what I'm saying." Quill sighed.

"Oh!" Rocket said in realization. "Hang on Els." Rocket said before breaking off to the right, and flying straight into two of Ronan's pods following Gamora.

"Ellie, can you make me go faster?" Rocket asked as he resteadied the pod.

"On it,"

Ellie pulled on one of the lower panels and looked around at the cords before breaking it, the boosters shutting down for a second before Ellie grabbed the wires around her hand, sending electricity back through it at a much quicker pace. The boosters made a quick high pitched sound as Rocket pressed harder on the gas, their pod flying towards Ronan's pods a lot faster.

Rocket yelled as he went straight through one of the pods, making it explode.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Rocket hollered.

"Quill, I'm trapped. I can't make it to the Milano." Gamora's voice sounded through Rocket and Ellie's speakers. "I have to head out."

"Wait! These things aren't meant to go out there." Quill protested.

Rocket and Ellie followed Quill and the rest of them further out of Knowhere. Ellie gasped, her eyes becoming watery as Gamora's pod blew up. The Orb was picked up out of space by one of Ronan's pods. Rocket watched sadly as it went into the ship.

"Quill, come on." Rocket said as they waited for Quill to bring his pod back. He stared at Gamora's floating body from around the debris. "Her body mods should keep her alive a couple more minutes, but there's nothing we can do for her. These pods aren't meant to be out here. In a second, we're gonna be in the same boat." Rocket finished before turning around. With the help of Ellie's powers, it helped their pod get closer into Knowhere.

"He's not coming back." Ellie told Rocket as she watched through the back camera.

"Quill?" Rocket asked as he turned the pod around.

"Yondu! Yondu! This is Quill!" Quill yelled into his speaker, trying to get a signal from the Ravager ship.

"What's he doing?" Ellie asked.

"My coordinates are 227K324."

"Quill." Rocket asked, trying to get his attention as he flew back to him. "Quill, what are you doing?"

"Just outside Knowhere." Quill continued. "If you're there, come get me. I'm all yours."

Rocket and Ellie watched as the door to Quill's pod opened and Quill flew out of it with his mask on.

"Quill, don't be ridiculous. Get back into your pod!"

"Quill, you can't fit two people in there. You're gonna die." Ellie squeaked.

"You'll die in seconds!" Rocket yelled seeing Quill reach to take off his helmet.

"Quill!" Ellie yelled. Quill placed his helmet button under Gamora's ear before pressing it, the helmet now surrounding Gamora's face. "What do we do?" Ellie asked Rocket frantically.

Dozens of Ravager ships surrounded them before one grabbed Quill and Gamora before pulling them in.

"Rocket? What do we do?" Ellie asked again. Rocket sighed before turning the pod around and flying back into Knowhere, finding Groot kneeling down next to Drax. They grunted as they landed roughly on the ground before quickly getting out.

"Blasted idiot. They're all idiots!" Rocket yelled as he climbed out of the pod. "Quill just got himself captured." Rocket explained to Drax and Groot. "None of this ever would have happened if you didn't try to single-handedly take on a frickin' army!" Rocket yelled at Drax.

"You're right." Drax sighed. "I was a fool. All the anger, all the rage, was just to cover my loss."

"Oh, boo-hoo-hoo. 'My wife and child are dead'." Rocket mocked.

Groot and Ellie gasped in sinque as they covered their mouths.

"Oh, I don't care if it's mean! Everybody's got dead people it's no excuse to get everybody else dead along the way!"

Ellie hugged herself as she looked at the ground, watching her boots sinking into the mud.

"Come on, Groot. Ronan has the Stone. The only chance we got is to get to the other side of the universe as fast as we can and maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to live full lives before that whack-job ever gets there." Rocket said before sighing.

"I am Groot." Ellie nodded in agreement.

"Save them? How?"

"I am Groot." He said slowly.

"I know they're the only friends that we ever had, but there's an army of Ravagers around them. And there's only three of us!" Rocket told him as Drax stood up.

"Four." Drax said as he put a hand on Groot's back.

"Come on Rocket." Ellie encourage as she joined the two. Rocket looked between all of them before grunting, trying to figure out what to do. Ellie jumped in surprise as Rocket started to kick as a clump of grass.

"You're making me beat...up...grass!" He yelled.

"So is that a yes?" Ellie