7497/Halfworld and the Truth about Rocket, Part 2

Halfworld and the Truth about Rocket, Part 2
Date of Scene:	23 August 2021
Location:	Halfworld
Synopsis:	The Guardians and Friends see that Rocket is going to make it, then they deal with a little robot problem deep within the prison asylum of Halfworld. At least it's not a very difficult win, which some of them probably needed after recent events.
Cast of Characters:	Rocket, Gamora, Nebula, Drax, Finley Ellison, Carol Danvers, Ava Starr

---

Rocket has posed:
It's been a couple days since the Milano landed on Halfworld. Everyone has been granted access to a section of a nearby village where they can eat, sleep, observe the locals, and learn more about the balance of the planet's two sides. The robots on the more industrial side create, while the animals maintain. It is not quite that simple, as some responsibilities overlap, but it is close enough.

There is a mixture of service robots amid the animal residents, though each robot has a personality of its own. For example, a robotic horse that pulls a transport wagon turns grumpy whenever someone makes a horse-related joke. The villagers all have roles to perform, from tending gardens to security detail to home maintenance, with a considerable amount of them working for the prison/asylum itself.

Lylla has been around to keep everyone appraised as to the dangers in the lower levels where the incurable patients are kept, and she's provided updates on the progress of the efforts to save Rocket. Just getting him stabilized took longer than anticipated, and the internal damage was mixed between organic and cybernetic body parts. Fortunately, the worst had passed but nobody was sure whether he'd be able to help once everybody was inside.

Not unsurprisingly, she shared with them that when he woke up, he had trouble dealing with what he learned about his past. It took reassurances from multiple wardens and caretakers, along with showing past evidence in the form of videos and other documents for him to start to understand. Then, he demanded to be left alone for a while.

The rest are summoned to the headquarters.

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora has swung back and forth repeatedly between 'This is the life and innocence that Father would stamp out'; to 'this is the life and innocence that Father MUST stamp out!!'. Everybody's too nice. Like. The GUARDIANS were too nice compared to her old life. These guys?! Her instincts tell her each and every single one of them is waiting for the opportunity to cutely scrabble her eyes out with tiny claws.

    They really are nice, though.

    Gamora arrives when summoned, her cloak closed about her body.

Nebula has posed:
    Nebula hates this feeling. Guilt. She knows she only did to Rocket what she did because of father; but still - she's the one who held the knives and dug in to him. It's the only reason she's here - fix Rocket - then she can get back to her life. Well, what little of it she gets to call her own.

    It is penance then that she has to endure this happy tree friends horror of a world.. and with her sister nearby no less. She has been grumpy about it all. That's not a surprise for anyone who knows Nebula, she's usually grumpy. She's also been keeping to herself as much as she can which is also not a surprise for people who know Nebula.

    She committed herself to this course of action though so when they are summoned back to the asylum to take on robots.. she's there. Her arms folded and a hip jutted. Attitude is written all over her face. Whatever the briefing, she doesn't care, she just wants to smash robots. Oh that's right.. the furry critters don't want the robots smashed. There is on justice in the universe.

Drax has posed:
Drax has, unsurprisingly, gotten on well with every denizen he's come into contact with, or so he would say.  Has he made horse meat jokes?  Absolutely, and slapped that robot's back too.  He got a good laugh out of that.  But for all he seems to adapt to this loony bin, there's something itching.  Restless.  So when he's summoned to headquarters, Drax comes quickly enough.

Finley Ellison has posed:
Finley, as one of the tag-alongs who can actually help fix the robots, arrives when bidden. Besides, once they do this, Nebula can undo whatever she did to the Milano's controls. And then they can all leave. And take Ava to see that alien doctor.

Maybe it's all the extra cheerfulness from the denizens of Halfworld, but Finley genuinely wants to be helpful. They've all been so kind. And she isn't used to that. So, of course they should help.

Also she wants to make a little present for Ava, and maybe if all goes well, Finley can trade for some of the parts she'll need.

Carol Danvers has posed:
    Carol has been musing. Though Batman would probably call if tactical brooding. Really she has been trying to cope and drink, which seems to be a form of coping, with the loss of Phyla-Vell and the ass whupping Thanos and the Black Order handed them.

    Tactically, because she is trying to figure out how one best finds the stones or finds Thanos's minions finding the stones and stops them in a very brutal way. Mix in a bit of trying to not think too hard on why earth animals were kidnapped for this asylum experiment, or if earth animals are really aliens seeded on earth. Either are quite possible due to the way various jackoffs in the galaxy like to experiment with planets.

    The call to the headquarters to hear how things are going is a welcome distraction from a whole host of intrusive thoughts. So she gratefully heads that way.

Ava Starr has posed:
When they're summoned to headquarters, Ava accompanies the others. She's spent most of her time trying to understand the q-bands. Which means there's a whole meadow somewhere out there devoid of any rocks that once were there. They have been vaporized. And she's learned a couple of tricks, as a result -- like how to dance with the bands.

Yeah, don't ask.

She joins the others, standing near to Finley, silent and observant. It's a briefing. Before they go to take care of a problem. Should be... enlightening?

Rocket has posed:
That is a reasonable thing to wonder: just where did the animals here come from? It'd seem too coincidental for them to simply be from Earth at some point, but in the vast reaches of space, across different galaxies and quadrants, does anybody really know who or what has been where?

Lylla, Wal Rus, and Judson Jakes have come to meet with the crew and others with the Guardians once they've all convened, to go over plans for the mission. "We'll be monitoring everything from the control center, and we'll have open lines of communication with you. I have to remind you that we need you to exercise caution. The patients are in danger and we must not injure them or disrupt their treatments. To do so would cause irreparable harm. They may have been deemed incurable, but they do not deserve to die."

"So," Wal Rus interjects, "We're gonna need you to go 'stun only.' Take these." A mechanical arm points them in the direction of small devices contained in bags that can be worn at the hip. "Localized EMPs, but you gotta plant them on the robots that are malfunctioning for them to work. That means you gotta get close enough, which means there's a chance they could hurt you."

Of course, others may have their own ways of handling the robots, and Judson Jakes says, "We need you to deactivate, not destroy. You may think we can just make more of these, but resources have been growing thin. We're going to re-evaluate our security after this is done, but for now we need to be able to repair these. So, please, be careful. In more ways than one. They /will/ see you as hostile and either try to kill you or find an empty booth for...treatment."

Lylla clears her throat. "I hope nobody has a fear of clowns. Follow us. The other Wardens will be waiting at the entrance to the lower wards where the locking mechanism is."

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora narrows her eyes, looking distinctly displeased to have to leave her trusty, familiar, and remarkably lethal armaments behind. Crossing her arms, she huffs with disdain and says "Gamora Ben Titan fears nothing." with confidence. A moment later she looks to the humans. "What is a 'clown'?"

Nebula has posed:
    Deactivate robots. Localised EMPs. Right. She draws out her stun batons. Stun is a euphemism for 'excruciating pain' but they are technically still stun batons. High voltage beasts that with a flick of her wrists turn on and crackle at the tips.

    EMPs are not one of Nebula's favourite things. She is shielded, of course, but when damage occurs sometimes parts can become exposed and those parts can certainly feel the lethargy of an EMP. She hates that. She hates that to make her 'strong' father also made her 'weak'.

    She gives the batons a twirl and lowers them to her sides, "Just don't get in my way," is her advise to the others joining in. Yet for some reason she's staring at Gamora when she says this.

Carol Danvers has posed:
    Carol isn't too worried about being hurt by the robots to be honest, at least she figures. Though who knows maybe she should be. Regardless she spends a good chunk of the briefing watching Wal Rus, Judson Jakes, and Lylla give the briefing.

    This is honestly the oddest mission briefing she has ever been in. Which is saying a lot.

    She takes the gear and localized EMP charges so she can slap them on robots to deactivate them for repairing. "Uh.. yes why.. exactly should we be worried about fear of clowns." she wonders if her kree translator glitched. "Why would you have clowns here...?"

Finley Ellison has posed:
Finley looks nervous. "Um? Treatment?" she asks. "I mean I know what you've generally said about how treatment works but also these are the incurable inmates, so, um? What exactly would happen if the probably clown looking robots gets one of us alone? Erm, asking for a friend."

She is obviously asking for herself.

Ava Starr has posed:
"You must've missed the welcome wagon," Ava says quietly in response to Carol's question about clowns. She saw the scary love children of IT and Edward Scissorhands. She's not looking forward to this.

Nevertheless, she scoops up her share of EMPs and tries to find a decent stunweapon. She really doesn't know if her q-bands can do something as easy as 'stun'. And her normal M.O. for stun is 'throw them through a wall'. So, this could be a tactical challenge.

She glances to Finley. "You will *not* be having any treatments," she says staunchly. Yeah. Will. NOT. Happen. Not on her watch.

Rocket has posed:
"We covered that," Jakes, the mole doctor, says to Carol, sounding mildly impatient. "They made us to be like, ahem, 'cute and friendly' therapists for the less dangerous ones, the ones we're rehabbing. The ones you'll be seeing are considered incurable, and the robots look like clowns to promote happy, fun thoughts. This keeps the patients less likely to react badly to anything. And, dear?" he adds to Finley, "Let's try not to find out, hmm?"

Once everyone arrives at the large, thick metal door separating them from the deepest levels of the place, everyone can see the serious nature of those gathered. There are half a dozen different animals serving as wardens, including a horse, a skunk, a falcon, and a tiger. Lylla, Wal Rus, and Judson join them, but while there is a screen set up for each warden that includes a scanner for their bio-signatures, making up the lock itself, there are two spots that remain empty.

The identities of the wardens that are meant for the scanners might not be that hard to guess, and it's confirmed as Blackjack O'Hare enters from a side door with...Rocket, who is being aided by the bunny while also using a crutch.

Rocket looks like he's seen better days, given the multitude of bandages and wrappings over parts of his body. The only garment he wears is a pair of shorts, revealing a lot of scarring and metallic markings primarily at the chest and upper back. Some of the fur atop his head has been shaved down, and there are visible stitches they can make out as well. "Ahh..hey, guys," he says, sounding embarrassed to be seen like this. "I guess you found out what I did. What a kick in the tail, huh?" His ears flatten, and he lacks the usual attitude.

Eyes pass over each Guardian and passenger from the ship, though they hesitate when falling upon Nebula, moving on to Groot quickly, who looks very pleased to see him. "I am Groot!" he says, to which Rocket chuckles weakly and admits, "Yeah. Yeah, buddy. I'm glad to see you too."

Clearing his throat, he adds, "Can we just get on with this and catch up on things later? I didn't want you seeing me this way, but they need me here to get the doors open. I'll be in your ears, 'cause I ain't in good enough shape yet to do much else. But I know things about this place nobody else does, seeing as apparently I'm the one who designed a lot of it."

Blackjack aids him to his station, suffering through Rocket grumbling about how he can walk on his own, but soon each of the wardens is in place. "On my mark," Rocket tells the others. "Now." In near unison, hands press to the scanners, and a series of tumblers begins to turn as red lights over the main door flash green.

<<Access to the lower wards granted. Exercise caution,>> the feminine AI voice from before warns.

Time for the good guys to get in there. "We'll be seeing everything you see," Lylla reminds them. "The worst of it is in level 7. Take care of that, and the rest should be easy."

Ahead, a large elevator, capable of transporting not just people or equipment, but a few vehicles as well. Onward!

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora glares at Nebula coldly and evenly says, "I only ever recall blazing the path for you, Sister." She looks away and huffs, "... But fine. You won't even know I'm there."

Nebula has posed:
    Nebula forgot the detail where Rocket had to be awake for this, to come help open up the door. Upon hearing his voice and glancing at him, she looks away. Given he also didn't quite want to look at her, that suits her just fine. She frowns a moment. Not all that damage is her fault but a bunch of it is.

    She grimaces a moment and steps on to the elevator first, possibly just to avoid having to linger about near Rocket. It's bad enough he'll be in her ear. Her job here is almost done at the very least. "I'm sure you'd like to think that," she mutters in response to Gamora's promise of being invisible.

Carol Danvers has posed:
    Carol did miss the welcome wagon though she is still full of questions about this whole place and facility. Like. Why cute animals. How does whomever made this place even know what clowns look like. Her thoughts drift once more to wondering if clowns on earth are based on some alien invasion or experiment in the distant path of humanity. Ugn.

    "Glad you are okay Rocket." she notes to the return of the Raccoon and means it. Oddly this place makes Rocket make more sense despite all the other questions it raises. "I guess lets deactivate some robot butt..." joining them all in the elevator.

Finley Ellison has posed:
"So, um, I guess we go?" Finley says to Ava. She grabs some EMPs before heading to the elevator. She almost laughs at the EMPs, remembering an early SHIELD mission. Robot clowns, robot tentacles...what media were these designers consuming?

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava steps in after the rest of them, turning back toward the door. She pulls out one of the EMP charges to look at how they work. Slap it on the robot. That shouldn't be so hard. Not when they won't be able to touch her until it's too late.

She hopes.

She gives Finley a mild half-shrug. Yep. They're doing this. They're becoming as crazy as the rest of the crew, it seems.

Rocket has posed:
Rocket takes point from a screen on his side, to help guide them along. "Okay. When you get down to level 7, you're gonna see rows of inmates seated in their booths with their fancy hats." He coughs, though whether it's a legit cough or just to clear his throat at the description of the elaborate headwear the patients are strapped into is unclear.

"The robots are supposed to follow set paths, but they tell me they've been on the fritz. They carry some stuff I don't think most of you should have much trouble with, but if you get stabbed or anything, it's gonna hurt." He coughs again, and this time it's too obvious to be coincidental.

They can see that, yes, the robots are designed to look like clowns, dressed in the same kind of outfits the guards were seen in when the Milano landed in the hangar. Their expressions, however, are anything but cheerful. Rather, malevolent, angry, menacing. How the inmates see this as cheerful or happy is a mystery, but it's apparently worked.

The paths they take are more erratic, like there's a glitch in the matrix or something that causes them to pause randomly, turn one way or the other, even bump into others. Many of them show damage, such as an arm that's fallen (or been cut) off or holes in their heads that expose sparking wires. Off toward one corner, unfortunately, is a booth that shows dried blood around it, with a slumped body and the remnants of a robot that must have careened into it, causing a fatal accident.

"Damn," Rocket is heard to say, for as they see it, so does he. "Something knocked out the camera in that corner. We didn't know. Look, just be careful. They're gonna see you moving around and think you're inmates who got loose. They're programmed to act on that. Just get in, get the EMPs or whatever on, and don't get caught."

The robots feature axes, swords, daggers, even a mace. Very medieval.

Nebula has posed:
    "Blah blah set paths stop robots we get it Rocket," she says with annoyance in her voice. She scoffs.. get stabbed. As if! She strides forward and shows what she's good for - very graceful combat. She is Gamora's sister after all. The angry smurfette focuses on the first robot before her with a sword.

    As it awkwardly twitchs and zZzzts, then moves to swing at her, her first baton rises to block the sword and her second strikes in at its exposed underarm and Zzzzats in to it with the energy pulse. She spins smoothly to the side as the sword moves to slice her and her second baton catches the blade as the first baton is thrust in to the robots face and she hits it with another Zzzap.

    Sparks fly as the robot twirls a moment and then collapses on to its side. "One down," she says wryly as if everybody couldn't see what she just did... still: many to go.

Carol Danvers has posed:
    "Seriously. Who again designed all of this..." this is the first time really other than the question about why clowns that she has actually verbalized about the whole inanity of all of this. "Was I drinking when someone explained who built this place.." the answer is probably yes to be honest.

    She will step into the fray as well reaching up to catch the axe with her gloved hand, not the haft, the blade of it and holds it up as her EMP hand slinks out and taps the EMP into it's chest. There is a satisfying SSZZRTT similar to Nebula's and she pushes it aside clearing the aisle now and steps further in to let much mor stab-able sorts like Finley practice her training. "Remember your hand to hand training Ellison." she quips.

Finley Ellison has posed:
"Oh good, sharp scary clowns," Finley mutters. She hangs back. As the least adept here, she mostly just doesn't want to get in anyone's way. She can hold extra EMPs, track what the scary robots are doing, make sure that no other prisoners have been murdered by the weaponized clowns. "This place is like a twisted carnival nightmare. Who let Clive Barker loose on the universe?"

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava launches herself from the elevator, skidding straight through the body of one of the robots. On the far side of it, she becomes tanigble long enough to slap an EMP charge on its back and light it up. Then, she's spinning on toward another one, performing the same trick. By the time she's getting to the third one, it's building up an energy discharge. It's a strong enough disruption field that Ava actually lets out a yelp of pain when passes through it. "Sonuva..." Again, she slaps the EMP charge down and lights it up, but not without giving the thing a rough shove with enough quantum thrust behind hit to send it spinning down the hallway.

Rocket has posed:
With each robot they deactivate, it becomes increasingly evident that they just aren't much of a challenge, certainly not to the extent they were led to believe.

Lylla, Wal Rus, and Jakes share a glance with each other, then a nod, as Rocket and Blackjack keep closer watch on the feeds. "Are they that screwed up, or are you guys just too good for them?" Rocket questions. "It's like they're barely operating." He might have been led to believe the threat was going to be more severe, too.

Then, a bolt of electricity is fired toward Nebula from another robot that's still upright. It also sends one off toward the others. Getting hit by that might make one's hair stand on end.

Nebula has posed:
    Nebula does the dance of death, though.. no death this time. Just lots of shocking of robots until they drop. Of course, one of the robots decides it wants some shocking payback. As she's hit with the blast of electricity she jolts on the spot and her vision goes wonky, all her specialised sensors get knocked out of wack and she stumbles up against a wall, shaking her head.

    "That smarts," she murmurs to herself. An indicator in her vision tells her a system reboot is underway and she takes a moment to catch her breath and lean against the wall behind some cover. "I think your furry friends may have overstated the threat," she replies to Rocket with a touch of amusement in her voice.

Carol Danvers has posed:
    Carol doesn't catch the electrical blast like she did the axe, but she gets tazed by it and her eyes glow just a tiny bit for a moment there. "Okay... I mean. To be fair to them. They are cute furry animals?" this is directed to Nebula really.

    She leans out and lets out a photon blast, on riot police intensity really trying to knock it's legs out from under it not distinigrate it. Then she starts forward to press an EMP against the zappy one. "These seem plenty effecient enough to keep prisoners hooked up to some sort of brain gear handled though to be honest..."

Finley Ellison has posed:
The odor of singed ozone lingers in the air. The almost metallic taste that accompanies the electrical energy flying around her makes Finley's teeth hurt. It's that worrying too clean smell of an electrical fire and burning dust.

She sneezes. And ducks back behind a wall. Gods, she feels useless.

Ava Starr has posed:
Having gone intangible, the electricity blast goes right through Ava. She looks down at her chest and back up at the thing that fired it. Her fist comes up. She lets off a blast of energy, mimicking Carol... though maybe her blast is a little stronger. She doesn't have a lot of finesse, yet. Shouldn't kill the thing though.

She hopes.

She sprints forward, sliding under another energy blast to toss an EMP on another robot before she reaches Finley's side and puts herself between the other Terran woman and the rest of the scrimmage. "Right," she growls into coms. "How do you suggest we repair these junkers?" while they're firing at everyone. Too easy? Yep. She's pretty sure there's another cosmic shoe getting ready to drop.

Rocket has posed:
"Don't--!" Lylla's voice cuts in, but Ava's attack does indeed prove to be a little overdone. Imagine taking a flamethrower to a steak you're trying to grill. Definitely well done.

"That's at least one lost," Jakes can be heard to add.

Rocket grumbles under his breath. Just as good he isn't in there, isn't 100%. No telling whether he'd go too far with the attacks, either. He just might. As he sees Nebula get temporarily scrambled, it'd be a lie if he didn't feel some sense of satisfaction, but they haven't had the chance to speak since what happened on Sanctuary II.

He says over the comms, "Our guys will take care of fixing them back up. Once you're done, and it doesn't look like that'll be much longer, we'll get some of them in there to start on the repairs." The ones that can be fixed in there will be, and the ones that need more extensive repairs will go back to a workshop.

"Most of the animals here aren't really fighters," he shares.

Nebula has posed:
    Nebula pushes off the wall and sets her shoulders as her visuals come back online again. She moves up to another robot, one with duel daggers and engages in combat with it. It's moving much better than the others and she lets her haptic feedback keep her body on the offensive between blocks and strikes while she comes up with a plan.

    The plan is simple enough.. the wall. She pushes off the floor and then off the wall and spins across the robot over its head as she pushes her batons down on to it and Zzzzt it drops. She does a roll on to the floor and rises back up again with a look of satisfaction on her face.

Carol Danvers has posed:
    "We will need to practice a bit more with those Ava." she notes wryly over to Ghost as she really cooks that robot orderly over done like that. It is very gentle ribbing though honestly.

    Carol will step in front of another shock blast that might go wild and hit back towards Finley or Ava for that matter. She isn't sure how much the bands are protecting her yet. Another EMP is slapped on a robot with a ZZZzzt noise and she carefully looks around.

    So many down robots. "I'm happy to help take a look when we are wrapped up as well Rocket... while we are here." about the fixing. She will start heading back towards the others. The action and lower stakes was honestly a nice distraction. These robots aren't whom she wants to punch and all but it is better than dwelling in her own thoughts on the ship.

Finley Ellison has posed:
"Help me find a quiet space where I can open one of these things up. And start running diagnostics. Preferably without the risk of incurring 'treatment'." Finley grimaces. "We could drag one of the clown-murder-bots into the elevator. And I'll hook it up to my tablet," she whispers to Ava. "Pre-repair check. Or you can just fry them a little less toasty and maybe we'll be done? Do you want my EMPs?"

Ava Starr has posed:
Oops. Well... Live and learn. Ava will apologize later. Likely.

She glances back to Finley, and gives a mild shrug. What else can she do? "Yeah, give 'em to me," she says about the EMPs. "Maybe I can drag one of those things back here." She's not sure going back into the elevator is the best idea. "The critters wanna poke at 'em themselves. But really? These things are seriously malfunctioning, if this is their version of Arkham Supermax."

Rocket has posed:
Soon, it is over. There's a little stirring from a few booths, but some animal orderlies, including the pair that rushed Rocket away from the Milano, arrive to make sure the inmates don't get too restless and end up in danger of coming out of their collective states of immersion. Close call, in one or two cases.

"Is that all of them?" Lylla asks, and Rocket confirms it. "I'm not reading any more that are active. Level 6 has a few more, so if you guys can get up there that should be about it. We'll get started on the others and meet back up."

Finishing the job doesn't take more than a few extra minutes, then a mix of animals and properly functioning robots congregate to get the rest of the damaged guards off to begin repairs.

Rocket is waiting with the other wardens when the Guardians and Company get back from the lower wards. "Nice work. I guess, ahh, this is a lot of stuff to be finding out all of a sudden."

Groot, who was quietly efficient with his EMP application, moves in to scoop Rocket up for a hug and although it brings a wince with it, Rocket hesitates for just a moment before returning the gesture no matter who's watching.

Carol Danvers has posed:
    "It does seem like a lot to try to wrap your head around for sure Rocket." she leans against a wall watching everything going on still. Pretending to not see the returned hug to Groot.

    Once that is done and out of the way though she notes. "The most important part is that your patched up and alive. It was a pretty close one."

Nebula has posed:
    Nebula turns off her stun batons after the last robots on level 6 are taken care of. She hmphs softly to herself. The furry animals made this out to be such a BIG thing. She slides her batons away and glances over at Gamora a moment, seeing a similar look of dissatisfaction on her face too.

    Then again, taking on rogue robots for furry land fun time creatures is a bit of a direction swing after facing off Thanos and the Black Order. A reminder that you should never get pulled in to the kinds of nonsense heroes like Phyla-Vell draw to her. Heroes are bad news.

    And then there's rocket. Prison warden and designer of insane asylum for criminals. She narrows her eyes at the furry little monster that she stabbed repeatedly. Her lips twitch a moment and she punches a hand to the wall and storms out of the room and in to the hallway to be with her thoughts for a moment.

Finley Ellison has posed:
"Let me know if you need help with the killer clowns from outer space," Finley offers. To Rocket. To Lylla and the other wardens. To the swarming other robots who are taking their unconscious brethren away. Then she looks at Ava. "Could have been worse," she says.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava snirks softly, but nods to Finley, once everything's been cleaned up. "Sure. They could have been competent." She knows they were malfunctioning, but still. "Clive Barker," she agrees. "Stephen King. The Universe is weirder than I thought." She gives Finley a small smile. "I mean... it's all the stuff of human nightmares. Looney Tunes meets IT."

Rocket has posed:
The robot orderlies were even a little larger than most of the Guardians. Imagine how much bigger they look to creatures that are maybe half the size of the visitors.

Groot keeps Rocket perched atop his shoulder with a protective branch. "I am Groot," he says to which Rocket replies, "I know. It's gonna take a little while for me to get used to all this, too. I guess I know one reason no prison can hold me, huh?" He chuckles, which leads to another grimace as he curls little fingers around a bit of a 'handle' Groot forms for him to use.

Lylla moves in and says, "You all were better than we expected. I'm sorry if we led you to believe this would be more difficult. It would have been for us."

Rocket interjects, "If I was in good shape, I'd have--" After a pause, he looks around. "Where'd Nebula go?" They probably have things to talk about. It might be better off if it happens in private first.

Jakes suggests, "Perhaps we should finish things up here, re-engage the locks, and have a little celebration. I was expecting you lot to destroy more robots than you did, if I'm being honest."

The mechanical arms crawl out of the chest pouch Wal Rus wears, unscrewing the metallic tusks up near the roots to hold them up. "We can use these for drinks! I have enough to go around!" he offers.

Carol Danvers has posed:
    "It's okay. Not like you all have seen us in action before. You honestly are looking at some of the ..." hmm calling them most wanted people in the galaxy isn't nice. "Best fighters in the Galaxy."

    A smile. "Glad we could help and get Rocket patched up too... a celebration sounds great." she will have to ask Peter if he thinks that this whole crew could make bank making a kid's show for Earth. Look at all the furry animals that talk.

Finley Ellison has posed:
"It's okay," Finley says to Lylla. "I'm more of a fixer than a fighter too." She grins.

"A drink sounds great."