Built for Destruction

Untitled Part 3

Groot frowned sternly as he walked through the Milano's corridor. He had agreed to allow Rocket his time to himself after that unexpected outburst, but it did not mean that he wasn't still worried for his friend.

It wasn't as though Rocket had never lashed out at his team members before, in fact, it was almost routine for the easily angered raccoon to express himself. But something about this situation just sat with the giant being wrong. The way Rocket had reacted after scratching Drax, wide eyed and more confused than any of the other Guardians, as though he hadn't even noticed what he had done.

In fact, the more he thought about it, the more Groot began to realize that something was most certainly wrong with his friend. He had noticed it lately. Staring blankly into space for an unhealthy amount of time, the constant twitching and spasaming of his muscles. Groot had always pretended not to notice, having been created by people who had thought more of the experiment and less of the repercussions, Rocket had often dealt with seizing pains in his implants, short almost electrical pulses of phantom pains running through his system.

That's what Groot had suspected was happening, and however unsettling it was for his friend to be in constant pain, it was still a natural occurrence for the Flora Colossus. This however, was not. Sure the raccoon was easily angered, sometimes even unbearably so, and it was not above him to look for a fight when he wasn't in the best of moods, but his sudden burst of anger earlier that day had seemed almost surreal, even by Rocket's standards.

So when he came upon his and Rocket's shared bunker to find the room had become a disaster area, he was more than a little taken aback. Groot felt a jolt of panic inside of him after prying the door open, expecting to have seen his furry companion either asleep or taking his time alone to his advantage in creating another device. What he found was something he would have never expected.

The room was a mess, thin scratch marks strewn across the walls, tattered rags of what Groot could only conclude was that Raccoon's bed sheet littering the floor while Rocket himself stumbled weakly into a corner.

Groot reacted instantly, rushing forward to meet his friend as Rocket leaned himself against a wall, his hands pressing themselves against the cool metal surface and his head hanging limply between his shoulders as he breathed heavily.

It had seemed as though the blanket hadn't been the only material the raccoon had practically destroyed in his rampage either. His trademark orange jumpsuit was in tatters, some torn areas across his chest even lined with small bits of crimson blood that soaked his fur.

"I am Groot." The large being called warily, lowering himself closer to his friend's eye level but making sure not to touch him lest he react as he had with Drax. Rocket seemed to take no notice of the large tree creature at his side though as he continued to breathe heavily, his ears twisting and turning furiously almost like the antennas on a radio.

Adjusting himself in a seated position so that Rocket was now isolated in his corner by both the Flora Colossus and the bed, Groot tried to get raccoon's attention again. "I am Groot?" He asked calmly, this time reaching out with a tendril to poke his friend on the shoulder, effectively snapping Rocket out of whatever daze he had been caught in.

He whirled around to face his attacker, eyes cold and dark and almost as though he were ready to pounce at the large being sitting in front of him. Groot flinched instinctively when Rocket raised his hand, claws drawn and ready to swipe at the nearest object when he stumbled backwards, practically tripping over himself and falling once again against the wall, this time so that he was facing Groot as he slid unceremoniously into a sitting position.

Groot frowned in confusion but didn't speak, simply watching as Rocket continued to twitch until the raccoon let out a low groan, putting his hands to his head and pulling his knees to his chest.