『Chapter Ten』
『the jackasses standing in a circle』

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Jace managed to connect the Milano onto the Ravanger ship after getting Drax back into the Milano, it took them some time to get everything sorted, but eventually, they managed. The others—Drax, Rocket, and Groot—were the first ones to get off the Milano after everything was connected, but Jace took some time given that he was making some last-minute adjustments. That and the fact that there was a small part of Jace that was worried as to what Yondu would say to him about what he tried to do.

As much as he knew that the idea was something that he was more than willing to go along with, he also knew that Yondu would hate him for what he was planning to do. As much as he knew that he should've expected Yondu to be angry at him, though there was a small part of him that thought that there was a chance that he would've blown up the ship.

He shook his head slightly, taking in a deep breath. He came walking out of the Milano, onto the main ship. He tried to not allow his mind to wander too much into his worries of what might happen to him, given the fact that he was confident enough that no one would hurt him. He wanted to believe that he'd be somewhat safe from injury despite what he planned to do with Rocket, even as he noticed the glares that the Ravagers would give him.

Even with the looks that the Ravagers gave him, Jace still found himself amused by such a thing, knowing that everything that he's done got a reaction out of it. Although he was worried about getting hurt, knowing that he could still get a reaction out of the group that raised him, brought him enough joy than anything else. Jace stuck his tongue out at them as he put his middle finger up.

Yondu then came face to face with Jace, he looked pissed. It was one of the things which made Jace lower his hand. "Don't ever threaten to blow up my ship again."

Jace stood there in silence for a moment, his lips pressed together. He looked at Peter then back at Yondu before he then remembered his mission that he was sent out to do before all this shit happened. A small grin formed on his face. "At least Peter's here. You sent me to get Peter and he's here, now. Thought you were gonna kill him—" Jace noticed the glare given to him, "—and now I feel like you're gonna kill me—"

"—Shut up!" Yondu snapped, Jace rose his hands slightly. "You ever do that again, I'll become your nightmare." Jace pouted at that. Yondu looked at both Gamora and Peter. "You've got five minutes for a plan otherwise, I won't hesitate."

Peter nodded, he gestured for the others to follow him, Peter was taking them to a more private area of the ship, probably to discuss their plan. Jace had a feeling that Peter didn't truly have a plan but didn't want to say anything, though he also knew that there was a chance that Peter would want to talk to Jace about his idiot idea.

Jace didn't say anything, even when Peter explained his plan and what they were going to do. Peter told them everything. Drax, Groot, Rocket, and Jace found themselves sat on some stacked boxes that they found while Peter explained his supposed "figured it out" plan. Throughout it, Jace wondered how the hell he managed to get into this situation, though knew that there was no point in him trying to work it out. Jace found himself holding his head in his hands while Peter spoke, he was sure that this plan was worse than his plan to save them.

After Peter had finished what he had said, Rocket was the first one to speak. "You call that 'figured it out'? We're gonna rob the guys who just beat us senseless."

All Jace could possibly do was give both Peter and Gamora a really confused look. This is the plan we're meant to work with? Jace shook his head. Oh, how Jace thought that this was a shitty plan, they were gonna die. As much as he knew that his plans were terrible and half-baked, this plan wasn't even baked, it was burned and ruined and shit. If there was a competition on who could make a worse plan, Jace was sure that Peter would win.

How was they meant to beat the guy who just beat them? As much as Jace had faith in his own strength, he knew that it would be nothing in comparison to what a guy with an entire Infinity Stone could do. He wondered whether or not any of this was worth it. As much as Jace hoped for a plan to get the Stone out of the grasp of Ronan, he thought that there would be a better plan than this. He was sure that they were going to die. And that was the last thing that Jace wanted as a whole.

"Oh, you want to talk about senseless? How about trying to save us by blowing us up?" Peter shot back, seemingly not impressed with Rocket, Jace and Drax. Jace had a feeling that this was the conversation that Peter didn't get to have with Jace and was deciding to scowled all of them together.

"We were only gonna blow you up if they didn't turn you over! After all that plan was your supposed brother, over there!" Rocket pointed out.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Jace found himself glaring at Rocket with his arms crossed. "Hey!"

"And how on earth were they gonna turn us over when the pair of you gave them a count of five?" Peter questioned.

"Sorry that we couldn't properly do mathematics to decide how long it would take them to give you two to us!" Jace argued. Peter gave him a look, knowing that it didn't make that much sense. "I know it doesn't make sense, but my point still stands! We didn't know what would've happened to either of you."

"This is what we get for acting altruistically." Rocket added.

"I am Groot."

"They are ungrateful." Rocket agreed.

Cutting into the conversation and changing it back to what they were meant to be talking about, Gamora spoke up. "What's important now is we get the Ravagers' army to help us save Xandar."

"So that we can give the Stone to Yondu who's just gonna sell to somebody even worse?" Rocket asked.

"We'll figure that part out later." Peter told.

"Sounds like a very thought-out plan." Jace commented as he scratched his head. This was the one thing that he didn't want to commit to. How was this meant to be a plan? It was the one thing that didn't make sense to him the most. How were they going to prevent Ronan from destroying Xander when their plan wasn't even thought out?

"We have to stop Ronan." Gamora told, as if that was just the plan by itself.

"How?" Rocket asked.

"I have a plan." Peter told.

Jace rolled his eyes. "Great, the genius dumbass has a plan. Take shelter, hide the family, we're all gonna die."

"Shut up, Jace!" Gamora snapped, growing irritant over the child-like behaviour of Jace.

"I have a plan, Jace!" Peter repeated. Jace rose his hands innocently, pouting slightly.

"You've got a plan?" Rocket questioned, not really believing it at all.

"Yes." Peter responded with a small nod. Jace seemed to roll his eyes, there was a part of him that thought that this grand plan of his would be a failure. However, there was another part of him of which thought that it couldn't help but to try it.

Despite thinking that there was some form of chance with it, there was this ache in his heart which made him believe that there was a possibility that somehow this entire plan would go to shit somehow. He knew that it was something stupid, that it was something that he shouldn't go along with.

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

Peter shook his head. "No, I'm not. People say that all the time. It's not that unique of a thing to say."

"Secondly, I believe that you don't have a plan." Rocket said.

Jace rose his hand, "I — I agree with that, one hundred percent."

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

"That's part of a plan, not a full plan!" Jace called out. "We need a full plan!"

"It's still part of a plan, Jace!" Peter argued.

Jace rolled his eyes. This was something that Jace found himself internally hating, if they didn't have a full plan, he was sure that someone was going to die. This entire thing seemed like a suicide mission that Jace didn't sign up for but was being made to join anyway. Jace wanted nothing more than to wish and hope that Ronan would die if he touched the Stone.

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

Jace pointed towards Drax with a small tight smile. "Man of wisdom. Asking some serious questions here."

Gamora pointed at Drax. "You don't get to ask questions after the nonsense you pulled on Knowhere." She then pointed at Jace. "You need to learn to shut up!"

Jace let out a small dramatic gasp while Drax argued. "I just saved Quill."

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

"When did we establish it?" Drax asked.

"Like three seconds ago!" Peter responded in a slight yell.

"I wasn't listening, I was thinking of something else." Drax told. Gamora let out a groan. Jace found himself snorting at that.

"Of course." Jace muttered.

"She's right. You don't get an opinion." Rocket said. He looked towards Peter then. "What percentage?"

"I don't know. Twelve percent." Peter responded.

"Wow, I feel safer already. I can picture just how safe everyone else feels on Xandar." Jace said with a hint of sarcasm. Peter wacked him across the head which caused Jace to groan a little.

"Twelve percent?" Rocket asked as he then let out some sort of fake laugh. Gamora took a seat.

"That's a fake laugh." Peter pointed out.

"It's real!" Rocket called.

Peter shook his head. "Totally fake."

"That is the most real, authentic, hysterical laugh of my entire life because that's barely a plan." Rocket told.

"It's barely even a concept." Gamora said.

Jace pointed towards her. "She's got a point."

"You're taking their side?" Peter questioned. He sounded almost offended over the fact that Gamora would take their side. It was something that made Jace smile in some way.

"I am Groot."

"So, what, it's better than eleven percent?" Rocket questioned. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Thank you, Groot. Thank you." Peter said, slightly glad that there was someone who actually agreed with him. "See? Groot's the only one of you who has a clue."

While Peter spoke, Groot started to eat at a small flower that came from his shoulder. Peter looked at Groot as he then covered the bridge of his nose while Rocket scoffed. Jace knew that Peter's patience was running thin with all of this, and as much as Jace wanted to be on Peter's side for this, he knew that it couldn't be something he could follow. The entire thing felt like a suicide mission that Jace wasn't sure if he wanted to join. He loved Peter like he would a brother, but this entire plan was something that he wasn't quite sure on as of yet.

"Guys. Come on. Yondu is gonna be here in two seconds. He expects us to tell him this big plan of ours. I need your help." Peter said as he then looked at Jace before looking round at the rest. "I look around at us, you know what I see? Losers."

Everyone seemed to give Peter a small look as they seemed to take slight offence into what Peter had said. Jace just gave Peter an odd look, as if that was the last thing that he ever wanted to hear especially out of Peter's mouth.

"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's given us a chance." Peter spoke as he looked round at the group.

"To do what?" Drax asked.

"To give a shit. For once. Not run away." Peter responded. "I, for one, am not gonna stand by and watch as Ronan wipes out billions of innocent lives."

As much as Jace agreed that Ronan should be stopped, it seemed almost impossible to do such a thing, it was something that he was sure would end up in more bloodshed. In no possible way was there a way for them to succeed in getting the Stone away from Ronan, no matter how much they tried. Despite the abilities that Jace had, he was sure that even then it would fail them, that it wouldn't be enough to save Xandar. He was worried just in case they weren't enough to save Xandar from Ronan and the Stone.

"But, Quill, stopping Ronan, it's impossible." Rocket said. "You're asking us to die."

There was a small pause before Peter let out a small sigh. "Yeah, I guess I am." He then shook his head slightly and stammered over his words as if he was going to say something else before walking away, he stopped where he was as he looked towards the floor.

Jace found himself biting his lip slightly, a small part of him wondered whether this was something that might be worth it. Despite the fact that he knew that all of this was suicide, that there was a chance that it could mean something. Could it be something? As much as he knew that there was a chance that he wouldn't survive, it could also be something that might be fun.

He knew that it was something that he might end up hating, something that might get him hurt, but at the same time, he knew that it could be something. Could be fun. Not only that but who else would keep an eye on Peter while he was doing something stupid? Jace would have to keep an eye on Peter and make sure that he came out of this alive.

"Quill." Gamora's voice called out causing Peter to look at her. "I have lived most my life surrounded by my enemies." She then stood up. "I will be grateful to die among my friends."

Peter came back round the circle as Jace was the next one to stand. "Screw it, if I die, might as well be surrounded by my brother and my friends. After all, death seems like some sort of adventure. That and who else would make sure that you don't die?"

Peter sent him a small smile as Drax then stood. "You are an honourable man, Quill. I will fight beside you. And in the end, I will see my wife and daughter again."

Groot was next to stand up. "I am Groot."

Rocket was the last one who hadn't stood up. He seemed to look at all of them with some sort of confused look. It was as if Rocket didn't want to do any of this. For a moment, Jace wondered whether or not Rocket would join them. It was then that Rocket let out a sigh. "Oh, what the hell. I don't got that long a lifespan, anyway." Rocket stood on the boxes that he were originally sat on. "Now I'm standing. Y'all happy? We're all standing up now. Bunch of jackasses, standing in a circle."

Jace found himself smiling to himself at that. He knew that there was a part of him that liked Rocket in some way even if he originally thought that Rocket was a bit odd. At least they were all willing to die in some way in order to get the Stone back from Ronan.