Reckless ↪ Peter Quill [Starlord]

twenty ↪ arcade defenders 1.0

    What happened next was brutal. A squad of Mogravians broke in and took us. Steve and I had been locked in the cage next to Drax, Rocket, and Groot. Still no sign of Quill, Thor, and Mantis. I slid down the dusty ground and held my knees in my arms. What the hell was going on? Were they going to either sell us or kill us?

    "Mae, you good in there?" Rocket's tone was softer than usual.

    I let out a shaky breath. — "Where do you think they dragged Peter?"

    "I don't know, kid." he sighed. — "They've been after him for years"

    Steve slid next to me and patted my back sympathetically. Looking at him now, he didn't even look like Captain America. The suit did it all, again. I wasn't surprised. The sound of little shaky steps made us snap our head up. Mantis was being dragged and locked in the cage next to ours.

    "Mantis, are you okay?" Drax was the first to ask.

    "The worst is yet to come" her voice was shaky as well. — "Payzer is an ally to Mogravians. He sold us. More of them are coming, from the sky, and they need the Star-lord"

    Rocked huffed. — "Nah, that's not possible. Payzer would never do that"

    "I saw it with my own eyes" Mantis remarked.

    There was a long silence. I tried to process the info I had. So Payzer sold us to Mogravians, who were now about to fly down in bunches. Wait. That sounded familiar. That was it, I had a plan. Weak, but still a plan. — "Groot, pal, remember level 24 of Defender?"

    "I am Groot"

    "Yes, that one!" I enthusiastically cheered. — "Rocket, is the Milano still parked outside?"

    "Parked and functional, yeah, why?"

    I could hear Groot stand up and reach the bars. He extended his branches and handed me his game console. I grabbed it right away and selected level twenty-four.

    "Somebody care to explain?" Rocket scoffed and I could swear he rolled his eyes.

    "Level 24 of Arcade Defender stars with the defender spaceship in the middle and a bunch of other ships flying down from the sky. You can't beat them all with propulsion only, you need to activate the booster"  I tried to explain as clearly as possible.

    "Defender the 80s Arcade game?" Steve knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. There was no time for a longer videogame history lesson.

    "I am Groot!"

    "Exactly! We can play the actual level, but with our spaceship!" I explained a little bit too enthusiastically.

    "The tree is only saying its name, I'm confused" Steve continued. I rolled my eyes and waited for Rocket to get the plan.

    He finally spoke. — "Uh, guys, you never passed that level"

    Groot huffed. He was right, but it could actually work in real life, right? I thought about it real quick before boosting his enthusiasm. — "Yeah, well, we didn't have the Milano. And we didn't have you"

.

    The corridors were awfully silent, empty, just what we needed. Groot's hand turned into a key of branches, trying to unlock the doors, and it actually did work. Drax, Mantis, and Steve, had the order to find and distract Payzer and the Mogravians who had Quill hostage. On the other team, Rocket, Groot, and I, had to sneak out and get to the spaceship before their back-up got to land on the planet.

    "Mae, hey. You seem to talk to Quill a lot, had he ever mentioned another ship?" Rocket nonchalantly asked with a shrug.

    "You mean Benatar?"

    "Ha! I knew it! I knew he was hiding something, that lil piece of shit!" Rocket squealed a little more enthusiastically than necessary. — "You're taking that, we're splitting up"

    I stopped on my tracks and folded my arms over my chest. — "Uh, I don't think so. That ship is too important to him, I'm not destroying it"

    Rocket rolled his eyes dramatically. — "You're not destroying it. See it as a try-out. Also, if you don't fly that, I would have to, and I'm hella sure he'd much rather have your ass on that pilot seat"

    "I am Groot" Groot sighed heavily.

    "We're not arguing! We're simply discussing strategy" Rocket remarked.

    I went back on my steps and followed them closely. — "That's how you call it? I think forcing Mae into blowing up Peter's new possession is a better name for it"

    "Nah, that name sucks"

.

    Once we got to where the Milano was, it was easy sneaking into our ship. I tried a hundred times to get Rocket to change his stubborn mind so I wouldn't have to take Benatar, uselessly. Rocket stomped towards the cockpit and hopped on the pilot seat.

    "Take Groot with ya" he instructed.

    "I am Groot" our friend protested.

    I had to agree. — "He's right, you don't know how the game works, you need his instructions"

    Rocket laughed that hysterical laugh of his. — "I don't need your stupid instructions. I'll give ya my instructions: aim and shoot"

    "There's no time for this bullshit, Groot's staying"