Rocket and the Imp - Chapter Six
Rocket and the Imp
[A Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction]
Chapter Six - Boarded
Sale sat at the foot of her bed, staring down into her paws.
The dim, yellow fluorescent lights above her lit up and shimmered the curved metal band she held. There, illuminated and sparkling, were the imprints of a seemingly random series of numbers and letters. Eight, Nine, P, One, Three. Nothing more than an identification for some disposable lab rat. Sale kept staring at those few characters, the dents in the metal, the scratches, and the details painting a picture of his origins. His painful and tragic early life.
And she couldn't help but feel it mirrored hers.
Although different in specifics, overall they shared the same concepts. Both abandoned and alone. Both treated like nothing but vermin their whole lives. Both fighting for good in a galaxy full of bad. As her thoughts raced in circles, the final realization struck her again like cold daggers into her heart.
She was alone again.
How enthralling, that in over the course of a few incredibly short days, she'd managed to find the love of her life and lose him all in the one fell swoop. Granted she knew she'd see him again, but a part of her couldn't help but pessimistically speculate.
"What if he never comes back? What if something terrible happens on his mission? What if...he dies...and I didn't get to tell him how much I truly...fucking...loved him..."
Clutching her eyes shut, her paws balled into fists. Her heart quivered and the tears threatened to fall, she fought back.
"No." She reminded herself, "Don't be weak."
Her emotions neutralized, and a pleasant thought came into her head. The one thing that had recently always made her spirits lift.
Him.
"That annoying, sexy smug grin of his...his big stupid strong arms...his alluring, deep, dark, brown eyes..."
A small smile formed on her muzzle. It was working.
"The way he always stares at me - looking on as if I'm some sort of goddess...The way he treated me - with respect and admiration the likes of which I've never experienced...and the way he kissed me - with his rich, smooth, slick tongue being the best thing I've ever fucking tasted in my life."
It definitely worked. She was now blushing.
Although separated from her lover for less than a day, she'd already had a whole lot planned for him when they'd see each other again.
She continued this stream of thought, blissfully reminiscing about her and Rocket's short time together whilst her mood, and heartbeat rose gradually. Sale considering lying down and giving sleep another try, when a loud, foreign noise interrupted her train of thought.
A deafeningly loud hissing sound boomed from just outside her ship, piercingly high in pitch and utterly painful to the raccoon's sensitive ears. At the same time, she felt the ship begin to shift and vibrate. Shoving Rocket's armband into her pocket, stepped out of her room to investigate.
A bright stream of green light poured through each window on her ship, filling the interior with the sickening hue. Her blood ran cold as she soon realized what was taking place.
"A Neutral Stasis Beam. I'm...I'm about to be boarded."
Sale began to feel her ship rumble and shake. She'd immediately dashed to her room, ramming past the door and locating her closet. They, she pulled out one of her most trusted allies - her Laser Cannon. Grabbing it, she ran into the ship's cargo bay, as she suspected that's where they would breach. The female raccoon hid behind a large crate, steadily breathing and waiting. Sure enough, Sale heard the cargo door of the ship began to creak and break open.
The noise of loud, brash metal burning and bending harshly reverberated in her ears, and she began to hear the pitter-patter of dozens of pawed feet bustling into her ship. She bit her tongue and held her breath, waiting for just the right time to strike.
Then, silence.
Sale slowly peeked around the corner, seeing six or seven rabbits, standing neatly in a row, blankly staring around at the ship.
Then, a CRASH!
A larger, distinct rabbit had come into the room, knocking over several supply crates. She couldn't place it, but she was sure she'd seen him before. Tossing the thought aside, Sale assessed the threat.
Rabbit. Male. Medium Build. Possible Cybernetic Augmentations. Clearly crazed-
Then he saw her.
Then he charged at her.
Sale had little time to react as she witnessed the red-eyed rabbit come sprinting towards her, claws brandished and sporting a wicked, unnatural grin. Immediately, she emerged from her hiding spot and began firing her rifle.
Loud and rapid gunshots echoed throughout the steel box of a room, lighting up the entirety of it with an orange flash every second. The first shot was accurate, cutting off a large chunk of his left ear. The second and third missed completely, as the kickback threw her aim off greatly. She didn't have time to fire another few, as the rabbit leaped and slammed her gun down to the ground.
He then viciously slapped his paw against her face, claws digging into the flesh of her cheek, spraying a small amount of blood. The forceful impact caused her to lose balance and nearly fall over. The rabbit used her momentary disorientation to his advantage, shoving her down and pinning her to the ground. Catching her breath and getting a moment to think, she acted before the rabbit could. Using the strength from her thick, muscled legs, she threw a powerful kick into the center of his chest, effectively knocking him backward.
The rabbit angrily stood up, whipping around and preparing to leap again. However, just when he was about to do so, a loud, crackling sound came from across the room. Sale and the rabbit turned to see a large form materialize from a field of dark purple energy.
A large, round shape emerged from some sort of portal, stepping into the dim light and being revealed to be a hefty mole wearing a glowing red robe. Sale couldn't place it, but she was sure she'd seen him before, too.
"O'HARE." He shouted. His voice was rich and timbre, low and thunderous.
The female raccoon turned to follow the mole's line of sight, soon learning that the goggled red-eyed rabbit was this 'O'Hare' that was being addressed.
She watched him grow terrified upon seeing the mole. He nearly jumped in shock and shrank down in posture. Gazing at his feet, the rabbit nervously greeted his apparent ally.
"M-Master Jakes. I didn't realize you were-"
"What the fuck were you thinking? Did I authorize you to kill 91P15?!" The mole yelled.
"No, no you didn't, Master Jakes. But-"
O'Hare was silenced with a vicious slap to the face. Jakes crouched lower and leaned into the rabbit's face.
"What if I hadn't shown up when I did, and the location of the Halfworld Book died with her?! Then what?" He snarled.
Sale froze.
"The book..." she whispered.
Jakes heard, however, quickly whipping around and invading her personal space as well.
"Yes! The book! Now do you want to tell me where it is, or would you like to go about this matter in a most unpleasant way?" He uttered creepily.
Sale stared him down, her face unflinching and expression defiant.
Although giving off a stern expression, she was undoubtedly frightened of this individual before her. The raccoon had never seen anything like what he'd accomplished - the inexplicable portal, and the overall vibe that this beast...this mystical mole could see right into her soul. It was as if he knew her deepest secrets and thoughts. He was otherworldly, and had the presence of a supernatural being. Assessing her situation, she had no doubts that she could handle O'Hare the crazed rabbit, and just about any of his worthless henchmen. But she wasn't willing to take any chances with the mole. Especially since she had this odd feeling that he had sinister ulterior motives.
"So that's the route we're taking...O'HARE! CUFF HER."
Before she could protest, BlackJack was behind her, forcefully pulling her arms back and binding them with what she could only surmise as some Particle Field Handcuffs. She angrily gazed at him, finding his deep black eyes to be incredibly frightening, seemingly soulless. But she didn't let him see any of her fear, putting forth her best mask.
With a chuckle, the mole turned to the rest of the rabbits.
"SEARCH THE SHIP!" He commanded. "WE'RE NOT LEAVING WITHOUT THE BOOK!"
And so they did.
While Sale and Jakes engaged in a stare-down, BlackJack and the other rabbits took to tearing apart the raccoon's ship. They left no stone unturned, making a complete mess of everything that wasn't bolted down. It didn't take them long to find it, and soon a nameless rabbit brought his findings to the mole.
"Here-...Here you go, Master Jakes," he said, lifting up the Halfworld Book along with some papers. "These look like...translations."
Judson grabbed them angrily, utter shock written across his face. He looked from the book, to the stack of papers, flipping through both quickly. After about a minute of this, Jakes throws them at the rabbit nearby him.
"LOCK ALL OF IT AWAY!" He ordered.
Just as fast as his mood had made a complete one-eighty-degree turn, Sale found herself being quickly lifted up by her shoulders and brought just inches away from the mole's face. It took everything in her to not display how disturbed she was upon being forced to view Judson Jakes at this close. His pitch-black eyes somehow glinted a blood red, and his brow was extremely furrowed.
" How." He growled, furiously.
Sale remained silent.
Jakes used his long, razor-sharp claws to dig into the flesh of her arms. The slices were deep, and the effect was immediate. But she bit her tongue, suppressing a cry of pain, fueling her stare with more anger and contempt.
"I'll ask you again. How?"
"How - what?" Sale spat.
"THE BOOK. HOW'D YOU TRANSLATE IT?!" He shouted, and being this close to the raccoon, it was nearly deafening.
"With my brain, you asshole."
"You. Are. LYING! Halfworld Hieroglyphs are unreadable- it's a DEAD LANGUAGE!"
"I read it...just fine. Stop fucking yelling, your breath is so bad, like holy shit-"
"ENOUGH! So you can read and understand the texts? You and you alone?"
"Yes."
"Well...you had better be telling the truth."
He smirked.
"Your life depends on it."