Knowhere, Edge of the Galactic Rim
Nebula straightened herself out just in time to see Groot made his entrance—or rather, his landing—into the plaza, crashing into Adam Warlock and encasing him in a thick net of branches before he could lay the final blow on Drax.
For a moment, Nebula found herself with the faintest glimmer of hope that they could end things, here and now. But that hope was dashed the moment Adam's boots began to glow, and a moment later, a bright burst of energy sent both him and Groot rocketing out of the plaza, leaving only a charred, crumbling hole in the pavement behind.
With the gilded threat distracted, Nebula turned her attention to the establishment she'd been thrown into, searching for a medpack. There, strapped to the wall. It was an older model, but right then, she would have taken even the most primitive of techs, just so long as it kept her teammate alive, idiot as he was.
She pulled the pack from its place, almost taking a small portion of the wall's crumbly plaster with it, before rushing out the broken door towards Drax's fallen form.
She hadn't caught much of the fight, but one look at him told Nebula it'd been far from pretty. Drax's face was a mess, trickling blood painting dark red lines across deep bruises. His jaw stuck out at an odd angle, and one of his eyes was already beginning to swell shut. But at the sight of her—or perhaps the blur of her—he gave a little grunt, his mouth moving slowly as he tried to form words.
"I...almost had...him."
Nebula huffed. Leave it to Drax to be worried about something as trivial as winning a fight after he'd had the living daylights beaten out of him. "And he almost had you. Now, shut up and heal."
She set the medpack on top of his face, securing the straps to the side of his head before pressing the little red button at the center of the pack's controls. There was a chorus of sickly noises, accompanied by a muffled shout from the pack's patient, before the straps snapped off, and Drax was left to shove the rest of the medpack off his nearly normal face.
"I greatly dislike that feeling."
"Well, that feeling saved your life." Nebula rolled her eyes before reaching up to access the communication line at her ear, saying a silent prayer that there'd be someone on the other end. "Hello? This is Nebula. Does anyone copy?"
...
A few blocks up and away, Peter felt a buzz at his ear, and he hastily accessed his communications line.
"Hello? This is Nebula. Does anyone copy?"
Peter felt his heart leap in his chest. Gosh, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been so happy to hear the cyborg's voice, and he quickly ducked into an alleyway to answer her call.
"This is Peter. I copy."
There was the static-y sound of a breath from the other end, and Peter passed it off as a relieved sigh as the comm crackled again.
"Where are you?"
Peter glanced around, searching for any indicator of his position. One sector of Knowhere was enough of a maze; the levels of the streets made it all the more impossible to get a direct location, even from someone who called the station home. But finally, his eyes settled on a familiar building in the distance.
"I'm a couple streets down from the docking bay. You?"
"Drax and I are leaving the plaza—"
In the background, Peter heard a muffled voice add, "I almost beat the stupid golden idiot," before Nebula huffed and took over again.
"Yeah, we had a run in with Adam. He's...he's got his powers under control." Drax said something in the background, and Nebula added, "Yeah, maybe it was that stupid rock."
Peter narrowed his eyes. "That stupid what?"
"A rock. In Warlock's forehead." Nebula gave the answer like it was the most obvious fact in the world, but her voice quickly returned to its former seriousness. "Peter, listen, I think we need to leave the station."
For a moment, Peter was silent, waiting for her to say something else, to tell him she was joking. But the only word he got was a worried, "Peter?" after enough time had passed without his reply.
"Are you serious?" Peter cast a wary glance around before returning his full attention to the conversation. "We can't just leave the station."
"Why the hell can't we?"
Peter would have snapped back at such a response, had he not been so relieved to hear the voice giving it.
"Rocket?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you—"
"Fine? No, Quill. I'm not. You try getting blasted in the back by some cosmic glow-y energy shit and be 'fine' afterwards." There was a beat of silence before he added, "I'll manage, of course, but not if we stick around here any longer."
"What is going on?" Mantis's voice was another welcomed surprise, though the amount of different people chiming into one communication line was starting to become a headache.
But a good headache, a headache that meant they were all still alive. Except for...
"Where's Groot?"
"I don't know." Nebula was the first to respond. "He tried to tie up Adam, and then they both got rocketed off to who knows where. Look, Peter, I know it's a difficult call to make, but we can't stay here any longer."
Peter was silent. What was he supposed to say to that? They were supposed to be Knowhere's protectors, the heroes of its people.
"So, we're just gonna run away the moment someone challenges us?"
"It ain't running, Quill. It's a tactical retreat. Face it: the longer we stick around, the more likely it is these people are gonna get hurt."
Peter hesitated, hating that the raccoon was right, but before he could reply, an explosion from nearby caught his attention. He looked up just in time to see something bright crash into one of Knowhere's taller buildings, the top few floors crumbling under the impact and falling to the streets with enough force to shake the pavement under his boots.
That building had been someone's home or business or job, maybe even a final resting place, if someone had been unlucky enough to be up there. The thought twisted his stomach. That was only one building. What would the rest of the station look like if their fight with Adam continued?
"Alright." Peter sucked in a deep, steadying breath before darting out of the alleyway and down the street. "Everyone meet at the Bowie."
He was met with a chorus of rushed agreements, plus one, "Can someone please tell me what is going on?" from Mantis, to which Nebula snapped, "Save it for the ship," before logging off the communication line. And soon enough, Peter was on his own again, running through the now empty streets of Knowhere towards the docking bay with only the hopes that the others would make it in one piece.
The docking bay wasn't completely empty when he arrived. There were a few scared workers hiding behind some of the smaller ships, and Peter tried to offer them a look of confidence, but it was hard to look confident when his eyes settled on the Bowie. The ramp was already down.
Peter raised his blasters, ready for a fight. It seemed impossible that Adam would have known where to find their ship, but then again, there was a lot about that man that was impossible. If he had gotten to their ship, though...
"Woah, woah! Put the blasters down!"
Peter's shoulder sagged in relief as Rocket appeared at the top of the ramp, paws raised defensively.
"I ain't getting blasted twice in one day." The raccoon beckoned him up into the ship, and Peter cast one last look around the bay before hurrying up the ramp.
"Has anyone else made it?"
Just as Rocket started to shake his head, hurried footsteps sounded from across the bay, and the pair looked out to find Mantis sprinting towards the ship, taking the ramp two stairs at a time in her haste to board.
"Oh my gosh!" She paused the moment she was up the last stair, her hand settling on her chest as she tried to catch her breath. "Now...we're on the ship...can someone please explain...what I missed earlier?"
Rocket brushed past her on his way to continue prepping for takeoff. "I'll explain when we're not running from sudden death."
Mantis gave a disgruntled huff, but retreated deeper into the ship to grab a weapon of her own before joining Peter back at the top of the ramp.
For a few terrible minutes, the two waited there, staring out into the docking bay. Eventually, Rocket joined them, having done all he could to prepare them for a hasty take off, but there'd be no taking off at all without Nebula, Drax, and Groot.
The bay outside was silent, but every distant noise set them further on edge. Peter was just waiting to see a glow in the distance, to have cosmic energy rain down from above and tear them to pieces, but there was nothing. Just stark, unsettling silence, until finally, a tiny figure appeared at the entrance of the bay. At first, Peter thought it was a stray animal or something, but as it scuttled closer, he realized it was Groot.
Or at least, what was left of him.
"I am Groot!" Groot paused at the ramp, the six spindly branches holding him up doing their best to find a way up the stairs, but when it became obvious they weren't getting anywhere, Rocket rushed down to scoop up his friend's head.
"Yeah, I can tell." Rocket's brow furrowed as he dusted a patch of charcoaled wood off the side of Groot's face.
As Rocket continued looking after their struggling teammate, Peter cast a wary glance around the hangar. There was no sign of their golden hunter, but if he wasn't with Groot...
"Groot, where'd you lose Adam?"
"I am Groot."
Peter stared at the tree, eyes wide. "What do you mean you don't know?"
"I am Groot."
"Well, Rocket almost got his ass kicked too, and he still had a sense of direction afterwards." Peter huffed before turning to Rocket and Mantis. "Do you think Drax and Nebula—"
Before he could finish, there was a buzzing at his ear, and Peter quickly activated his communication link, Rocket and Mantis doing the same.
"Pete, you got that ship ready?"
Now there was an unexpected voice.
"Kraglin?" Peter's brow furrowed as guilt settled in his stomach.
For all his worries about the usual team, he'd completely forgotten about their crewmembers at home base.
"Yeah, I tapped in earlier, but it sounded like you guys had a plan already set, so I didn't say anything."
"O-okay." Peter began to pace, his gaze flickering back and forth between his teammates and the docking bay entrance. "How close are you to the bay? We still need Drax and Nebula, but if we can find them, we can get out of here."
There was a beat of silence before Kraglin replied, "Pete, I think I'm staying here."
Peter blinked. "What?"
"I'm staying here," the man repeated. "Someone's gotta look after the station, help Cosmo get healed up. I think some locals have got her off the streets, but she's gonna need a familiar face at some point. Besides, I don't think the goldie guy's got the same problems with me as he does you. We should be safe here, so long as you guys skip town."
Valid points, but difficult to swallow. Leaving the station behind was hard enough, but to leave Kraglin and Cosmo? Sure, they left most of the galaxy guarding up to the rest of them, but taking care of Knowhere was a feat of its own, and Peter certainly couldn't discredit them for it.
"Kraglin, you can't—"
"I can, and I will." The man chuckled. "Don't you worry about me, I can handle myself. Now, Drax and Nebula..."
Everyone tensed at the mention of their missing teammates, and Kraglin's tone did little to help any growing worries.
"Drax and Nebula what?" Mantis asked, and Kraglin sucked in a breath.
"Just saw them across the street a couple minutes ago. They had, uh, some unwelcomed company on their tails. That's why I called in the first place, to make sure you're ready to jet."
Shit. The four present Guardians shared a look before Peter replied, "Do you know what direction they were headed?"
There was a beat of hesitation before Kraglin replied, "Let's see. If they took the alley at the end of the street, they'd been headed for the northwest sector, but if they took a left at the fork, they'd be—"
He was cut off as a new voice crackled over the communication line, one far louder and more frantic than Kraglin's.
"Please tell me someone's at the Bowie!"
At Nebula's voice, Peter tensed, and her labored breathing did little to help him loosen up.
"We're all here. Where are you guys?"
"Look, you flarking idiot!"
Peter looked out on the bay to find Nebula and Drax charging towards the ship, both looking as if they'd run through an inferno on the way there. Their clothes were spotted with black burn marks, with a few patches still smoldering. But if the pair had sustained any worse damage, they certainly didn't show it, not by the way they were running.
Peter turned to Rocket, but the raccoon didn't even need an order, scurrying to the back of the ship to start them on the takeoff process as their teammates drew closer.
"What the hell happened to you guys?" Peter clicked off his communication line as Nebula and Drax scrambled up the ramp, collapsing to the floor the moment they were up the last stair.
"The stupid golden man happened," Drax huffed between breaths. "I did not want to leave—"
Nebula's nostrils flared as she looked over at her teammate. "He almost fried us both!"
"—but Nebula said she would knock me unconscious and drag my body back to the ship if I didn't go willingly." Drax looked up at Peter. "And after how foolish she made you look earlier, I did not want that to happen."
Peter rolled his eyes. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Drax grunted as Mantis helped him back to his feet.
Peter sighed before offering Nebula a hand. "At least tell me you guys lost Goldilocks."
"Nebula shot him through a brick wall," Drax offered, but Nebula seemed less than satisfied with her own actions as Peter helped her back to her feet.
"It was a temporary distraction. He'll be back, and unless we get this stupid ship in the air, we might as well be sitting—"
Before she could finish, the floor jolted beneath their feet, and Peter barely had time to press the closing mechanism on the ramp before the Bowie shot off, leaving the group clinging to whatever they could find, lest they be thrown out the steadily closing ramp.
Once the initial shock had worn off, Peter reactivated his communications line. "Rocket!"
He was met with a static-y chuckle. "What? You heard Nebula. We had to get going!"
"Well, you at least could have given us a heads up!" Peter cast a look through the little gap left between the ramp and the top of the ship, and at the end of the hangar, he spotted a speck of gold before the ramp closed completely.
One look around the group told him it hadn't just been his fearful imagination.
Nebula was the first to move, fighting against the velocity of takeoff to make her way up to the bridge, and Peter was right on her tail. There were a couple times he almost lost his footing, but he managed to get to the bridge and slide into the nearest seat. Rocket was in the captain's seat, paws flying across his control panel furiously as they lifted off from the edge of the docking bay. A screen off to the side of the windshield showed a display of what was behind them. Or rather, who.
"We need a jump point!" Peter looked to his furry teammate as they rocketed off into space.
"Oh, really?" Rocket was practically standing in his seat now, paws working faster than Peter had ever seen them work before. "I hadn't thought of that. Thank you, Quill, for the thrilling suggestion!"
"Now is a terrible time for sarcasm," Nebula snapped as the others finally arrived, taking whatever seat was closest and holding on tight. "Here. Take us there."
She tapped some buttons on her control pad, and a moment later, coordinates popped up across the windshield.
"Huh." Rocket considered the coordinates. "It ain't bad, but it ain't good—"
"Just get us through the jump point!" Nebula pointed at the rearview screen. "Unless you'd rather be blown up by that!"
Adam was gaining, and fast. Peter braced himself as he watched a bright burst of energy be thrown at their ship, leaving Rocket mere seconds to dodge out of the way. But that didn't stop Adam. He was even closer now...
"Rocket..."
Closer...
"I'm working on it!"
Closer...
Another blast went off, rattling the side of the Bowie, and Mantis announced, "Engine One is down!"
Peter gripped his seatbelt. "Rocket!"
"I said I'm flarking working on it!" The raccoon punched a button, and a jump hex appeared in the open space before them.
They were close, but so was Adam.
Rocket cast a hasty glance over his shoulder to Peter before swiping a paw across his controls, transferring some power to Peter's data pad. "The moment we're through, you gotta close the jump."
Peter gave a curt nod, hand hovering over the button he'd be needing. Now, they just had to get through the jump point.
Closer...
Closer...
Closer...
Peter braced himself for impact, but all he felt was a familiar, tingling sensation in his limbs, followed by a sharp, "Pete!" from Rocket.
Peter slammed his hand onto the control pad, and in the rearview screen, their pursuer—and Knowhere—disappeared, replaced by a view of empty space. The sight earned a collective sigh of relief from the team, and Peter leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes and doing his best to calm his racing heart before looking out at their new surroundings.
Out the windshield lay the planet of Dolo-Mayan, and of all the times Peter had visited the infamous party planet, he'd never been happier to see it than now. It was about as far from Knowhere as one could get, which meant they were safe.
For now.