entranceway | 001 ✘ Video

[Hello, Wonderland.

This is an unfeasibly large gun.

In fact, that's pretty much the entire broadcast right now- the four barrels of an unfeasibly large laser cannon. Off-screen, presumably wielding said unfeasibly large cannon, a Brooklyn-accented voice speaks up.]

I've been here two hours and I ain't heard any demands, so I hope I'm not stealin' your thunder if I skip the theatrics and move right on to the negotiation process. [There's a pause and then a dry laugh.] Oh, who am I kiddin'. I don't give a shit about your thunder. You took somethin' what belongs to me. Four somethings actually. They go by the names Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Groot. They are completely helpless without me, so I get why you'd think they were the ones to kidnap. This will still go down in history as the dumbest move of your lives, so way to think strategically, you d'ast imbeciles.

Here's my terms. If I don't see all four of 'em alive 'n breathin' in the next six seconds, I'm gonna put a round in this communicator just for the hell of it. And then I'm gonna put about eight more rounds in your face. And after that I'll get real creative.

[The gun is lowered. And there is one pissed off raccoon now staring into the screen.] Do I make myself perfectly freakin' clear?

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Hey, I just said pretentious. [But the fact that Rocket feels the need to add that last bit, particularly after he's been waving around a massive gun, doesn't exactly leave Neal feeling warm and fuzzy.]

You don't have to tell me. I'd been to different worlds before this too. [Not in the same way, since presumably Rocket went on a spaceship or something. But it still counts, even if Neal's experience is based in magic rather than science.]

So you've gotten the whole rundown. No questions or anything like that?

None that I think I wanna hear the answer to.

[Mostly they involve "where do they keep the ships." And "do they have any explosives lying around." The answer is probably no to both, but that's okay. He can get around one of those problems.]

Probably not. Doesn't mean they aren't important.

[But Rocket's got plenty of time; the way Neal sees it, he'll either be stuck there long enough to get every unwanted answer he could think up, or for so short a time it won't matter.]

[He takes a second, clearly uncomfortable with the question he's about to ask.] Has anyone ever gotten outta here?

[Maybe not escape- he figures someone might have told him if they had- but there has to be something. Even if it's just confirmation that the only people who leave don't leave in one piece. Or breathing.]

[He can take more time than that if he needs to; Neal gets how messed up all this is in a big way. But maybe there's good news for Rocket, at least if he's not going back to something crappy like Neal is.]

Not because they were trying to, but yeah. People get sent home, or whatever you want to call it. They go back to the same moment they left, and no one knows they were gone, including the person in question. No memories or anything.

[Rocket's ears flatten against his skull and he bares his teeth a little. That hits him a little too deep- less like a prison and more like a lab. Jerks hiding behind "mirrors" putting people through the paces, torturing them, and then sending them back with no memory of it ever happening once their data's collected.

His back itches just thinking of it- not that he had the mercy of ever forgetting what was done to him, but as bad as the nightmares are, the memories are what keeps him whole. He doesn't want to be ripped apart and then made to forget.]

So this is somebody's idea of a sick joke? What's the point?

The sick joke if you ask me. [It's kind of weird though. Most people Neal's run across get some sort of comfort from the idea that they'll go home in tact. Sure, no one likes it, but Rocket seems genuinely pissed. It doesn't sound like he cares much about what's waiting for him, at least no more than anyone else. Instead the notion itself is enough to get him riled.

Unfortunately, Neal doesn't have any better answers for him.] Hell if I know why this place does what it does. Maybe if you ask around and find someone who's been here longer they can tell you.

[Or drank too much of the water around here, if you ask him. The words don't comfort him any and his ears stay flat, though the tension goes out of him.]

Like I said. I'll get no answers I'll probably like, but I'll figure somethin' out. [After a second, he adds a grim:] Thanks.

Yeah, no problem. Believe me, this place is crappy enough without having to deal with it on your own.

[And even if Rocket doesn't have the foundation of knowing people from home, there are good people where he's ended up. Despite the violent introduction, he seems pretty reasonable for a rodent with an oversized gun, or something like that.]

001 ✘ Video

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