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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟖
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆

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What felt like an eternity passed since Primrose was locked up on the Eclector. She just stared at the metal wall in front of her as her thoughts ran rampant in her head. The Quill woman imagined Peter running around the streets of Knowhere looking for her, only to come up empty. She would give anything just to tell Peter she was safe...well, kind of safe. Safe in terms of not being harmed at the moment but Primrose had no idea what Yondu had planned.

The silence that surrounded her was soon broken by the sound of approaching footsteps. Primrose instantly jumped to her feet and stood in front of the bars to await the arrivals. When she was greeted by the two Ravagers that restrained her on Knowhere, the Quill woman couldn't fight the dread that was forming within her. The next thing she knew, they opened her cell and grabbed each of her arms before dragging her through the halls of the ship. It wasn't long after that when they reached the other end of the ship before Primrose heard shouting in the distance. After they turned one last corner, the Quill woman saw something that made her heart stop. Yondu was beating up her brother.

"You betray me?!" the leader of the Ravagers yelled before landing a punch in Peter's stomach, "steal my money?!"

"Stop it! Leave him alone!" Gamora screamed just as Primrose and the two men restraining her joined the group.

The Quill siblings instantly made eye contact with each other before fear for the other filled their bodies. However, that moment was soon cut off when Yondu landed another hit in Peter's stomach.

"Stop it!" Primrose shouted at the top of her lungs, causing the leader of the Ravagers to stop and face her.

"Shut your mouth, Rose," the Udonta man told her without even attempting to hide the venom in his voice, "unless you wanna be next."

"Leave her out of this," Peter demanded, drawing Yondu's attention back to him, "none of this was her idea."

"When I picked the two of you up as kids, these boys wanted to eat you both. They ain't never tasted Terran before," the Udonta man told the Quill man for the millionth time while Primrose did her best to suppress her annoyed groan, "I save your lives!"

"Oh, will you shut up about that?!" the Quill man shouted while his sister continued to try to free herself from her captors' grasp, "for twenty years, you've been throwing that in our faces, like it's some great thing, not eating us! Normal people don't even think about eating someone else! Much less that person having to be grateful for it!"

"You abducted us, Yondu," Primrose said without even trying to hide the unusual amount of anger in her voice as everyone looked over at her, "you stole us from our home and from our family."

"Neither of you gives a d*mn about your Terra!" the leader of the Ravagers screamed as he looked back and forth between the Quill siblings, "you're scared because you're soft in here! Here, right here!"

"Yondu!" Gamora shouted, causing the man in question to stop his next attack on her brother before Yondu looked over at her for the first time since the encounter started, "listen to me. Ronan has something called an Infinity Stone."

"I know what he's got, girl."

"Then you know we must get it back!" the Zehoberei woman while trying to free herself from the Ravagers' grasp, "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 heads with? Sentiment?" Yondu questioned as he turned his attention back to the Quill siblings. The Udonta man just stared at them in silence for a moment longer before slapping Peter across the face and grabbing his neck with both hands. "Eating away your brain like maggots!"

The next thing anyone knew, the leader of the Ravagers slowly backed away from the Quill man. Primrose watched with horror in her eyes as he moved his coat aside to reveal his prized possession. A whistle that sent chills throughout her body filled the air before Yondu's arrow left his jacket pocket and positioned itself in front of Peter's neck.

"No!" the Quill woman shouted as panic coursed through her veins while continuing to struggle to break away from her captors.

"Sorry, boy. But a captain's gotta teach his men what happens to those what cross him," Yondu stated while his crew shouted out in agreement.

Primrose's veins became as cold as ice as she watched the leader of the Ravagers prepare to whistle again. That was when she got an idea in her head she hoped she wouldn't regret later. "If you kill him now, you are saying goodbye to the biggest score you have ever seen."

The Quill woman's words instantly brought a grin to Yondu's face before he slowly turned around to face her. The two of them just stared at each other for a long moment then he took a few steps toward her.

"The Stone?" the leader of the Ravagers questioned before stopping directly in front of her, "I hope you got something better than that. Because ain't nobody stealing from Ronan."

"We got a ringer," Primrose stated with fake confidence in her voice while Peter and Gamora stared at her with a hint of confusion in their eyes. It wasn't long after that when the brunette woman gestured toward the Zehoberei woman. "She knows everything there is to know about Ronan. His ships, his army."

"He's vulnerable," the raven-haired woman added after catching on to the Quill woman's plan.

"Hey, what do you say, Yondu?" Peter said once he finally realized what was going on, drawing the Udonta man's attention to him before he sent him a fake smile, "me and you, taking down a mark side-by-side, like the old days."

Yondu just stared at the redheaded man in front of him before letting out a whistle that made Primrose jump. However, instead of his arrow hitting Peter, it went back into the leader of the Ravagers' jacket pocket. The Udonta man's laughter soon cut through the tension in the room followed by the chuckles of his crew. It wasn't long after that when the Ravagers let go of the Quill siblings and Gamora before Yondu pulled Peter in for a hug.

The next thing any of them knew, the entire ship started shaking. Everyone exchanged confused looks before they rushed towards the cockpit of the Eclector. When they finally reached their destination, they spotted the Milano stationed right in front of the much larger ship.

"Captain, the shot was non-damaging," the man in the pilot's seat stated before everyone turned their attention toward the smaller ship.

"Attention, idiots," Rocket's voice cut through the air, causing the Quill siblings and Gamora to exchange concerned looks before turning their attention back to the situation at hand, "the lunatic on tip of this craft is holding a Hadron Enforcer. It's a piece of equipment of my own design. If you don't hand over our companions now, he's gonna tear your ship a new one. A very big new one!"

"I ain't buying it," Yondu muttered under his breath while everyone kept their eyes glued to the Milano.

"I'm giving you to the count of five," the raccoon announced before a wave of panic washed over Primrose, Peter, and Gamora, "5, 4, 3..."

"No! Wait, hold on!" the Quill man shouted as he pushed through the group of Ravagers before pressing the button for the communicator, "Rocket, it's me! We figured it out! We're fine!"

"Oh, hey, Quill. What's going on?"

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It wasn't long after Rocket, Groot, and Drax threatened to blow up the ship when Yondu allowed the three of them to board his ship. The Ravagers then led the group of six to an empty room on the other side of the ship. There, Peter explained everything that happened since they left Knowhere to Rocket, Drax, and Groot. Hearing it back, Primrose would have to admit her brother's idea wasn't the best...and by the look on Rocket's face, it seemed he agreed.

"You call that 'figured it out'? We're gonna rob the guys who just beat us senseless?" the raccoon scoffed while staring at the Quill man with annoyance in his eyes.

"Oh, you wanna talk about senseless? How about trying to save us by blowing us up?" Peter retaliated without even trying to hide the irritation in his voice.

"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?!"

"We didn't have time to work out the minutiae of the plan!" Rocket shouted before looking over at Groot, "this is what we get for acting altruistically."

"I am Groot."

"They are ungrateful."

"What's important now is we get the Ravager's army to help us save Xandar," Gamora told them while Primrose nodded along beside her.

"So we can give the Stone to Yondu who's just gonna sell to somebody even worse?" the raccoon questioned, earning an irritated sigh from the Quill woman.

"We'll have to figure that part out later," the brunette woman said, drawing all of their attention to her before she continued, "right now, we have to stop Ronan."

"How?" Rocket questioned Primrose, only for both of their attention to move to Peter when he took a step forward.

"I have a plan," the redheaded man announced before a skeptical look formed on the raccoon's face.

"You've got a plan?"

"Yes."

"First of all, you're copying me from when I said I had a plan," Rocket stated, causing a confused look to appear on Peter's face before the former continued speaking, "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 asked, drawing all attention to him for the first time since they entered the room.

"You don't get to ask questions after the nonsense you pulled on Knowhere," Gamora stated while pointing at the Kylosian man, making a wave of confusion wash over Primrose as she looked over at the woman beside her.

"What happened on Knowhere?" the Quill woman asked.

"I'll tell you later," the Zehoberei woman responded before they both turned their attention back to Drax when he began to speak.

"I just saved the Quills!"

"Peter and Rocket already established that you destroying the ship that we're on is not saving us," Primrose told him while trying her best to keep her conflicting emotions in check.

"When did we establish it?"

"Like three seconds ago!"

"I wasn't listening. I was thinking about something else," Drax muttered under his breath, causing the Quill woman to let out a long sigh.

"She's right, you don't get an opinion," Rocket told the Kylosian man before turning his attention back to Peter, "what percentage?"

"I don't know. 12%," the redheaded man answered, causing his sister to cringe while the raccoon started laughing obnoxiously loud. The reaction from Rocket made the annoyed look on Peter's face return as he stared at the animal. "That's a fake laugh."

"It's real!"

"Totally fake."

"That is the most real, authentic, hysterical laugh of my entire life because that is not a plan," Rocket responded while Gamora nodded along at the same moment Primrose looked up at her brother.

"12%? Seriously? See this is why I never let you come up with our plans anymore," she added to their conversation, making the Quill man's glare land on her.

"You're taking their side?!"

"I am Groot."

"So what, it's better than 11%? What the h*ll does that have to do with anything?" Rocket told his giant friend then he turned his attention to the Quill siblings before pointing at Primrose, "I have a better question. Why isn't our resident brainiac coming up with the plan?"

"Because Pete doesn't like admitting I'm smarter than him," the brunette girl responded with a smirk, earning another laugh from the raccoon while her brother let out a long sigh.

"Groot's the only one of you who had a clue," the Quill man stated as Groot began eating a leaf that grew on his shoulder. Another wave of irritation washed over Peter as he rubbed his hands down the sides of his face before he let out a sigh. "Guys, come on. Yondu is gonna be here in two seconds. He expects to hear this big plan of ours. I need your help."

The Quill man paused and looked at each of the beings sitting around him before a small smile appeared on his face. "I look around at us. You know what I see? Losers," the redheaded man stated, causing everyone to look around at each other with confused and offended looks on their faces, "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 questioned, drawing Peter's attention to him while keeping a serious look on his face.

"To give a sh*t. For once. Not run away," the Quill man responded as he glanced over at his sister, who sent him a small smile, "I, for one, am not gonna stand by and watch as Ronan wipes out billions of innocent lives."

"But, Quill, stopping Ronan, it's impossible," Rocket muttered under his breath just loud enough for them to hear him before looking up to meet Peter's gaze, "you're asking us to die."

The redheaded man just stared at the creature then let out a long sigh and looked to the floor. Silence surrounded them for what felt like an eternity before Peter finally looked back up at them. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Primrose's heart dropped at the sight of the defeated look on her brother's face before she watched him turn his back to them. A million thoughts swam through her head as she stared at Peter until she finally came to a conclusion. After letting out a long sigh, the Quill woman got to her feet before walking toward her brother and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I've been by your side since the day we were abducted by that crazy blue alien and I've followed you into much crazier situations than this...that's not gonna stop now," Primrose told him, not caring that the other four people in the room were watching the siblings with expressionless looks on their faces, "I'm with you, Pete. No matter how crazy or life-threatening this plan of yours is gonna be."

Silence surrounded them as the siblings shared a smile while their audience continued to watch their interaction. It wasn't long after that when Gamora called out to Peter, making him and Primrose turn their attention to her.

"I have lived most of my life surrounded by my enemies," the Zehoberei woman told them before getting to her feet while Peter and Primrose took a few steps forward to rejoin the group, "I will be grateful to die among my friends."

"You are an honorable man, Quill," Drax stated after pushing himself out of the small chair he was sitting in, "I will fight beside you. And in the end, I will see my wife and daughter again."

"I am Groot," Groot announced while following Gamora and Drax's actions and standing up from his box.

The five standing up exchanged small smiles amongst themselves before all their attention fell on Rocket. The raccoon was just staring at them with a hint of disbelief in his eyes before letting out a long sigh and staring blankly at the wall behind Drax.

"Oh, what the h*ll. I don't have that long a lifespan, anyway," the creature muttered under his breath before standing up on the box he was previously sitting on and crossing his arms over his chest, "now I'm standing. Y'all happy? We're all standing up now. Bunch of idiots, standing in a circle."

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