Fanfic Episode 2.

Rocket's POV: In their ship.

While on the ship, we brainstormed and devised a plan to earn 3 million credits for a new ship before it could be stolen. Meanwhile, Groot and I searched through the bounty list of criminals we needed to capture to make swift and decisive progress toward our goal. 

While contemplating who could have sent me an anonymous message, I turned to Groot for insight. However, he responded with his classic phrase, "I am Groot," leaving me to figure it out alone. Eventually, I hit the accept button, and a message appeared on the screen. It read:

" 'ミ★ 𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘔𝘳. 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳!' Ugh, seriously?" I continue to read the message further:

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 40,000 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘴. 𝘈𝘤𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬.★彡

"ミ★ 𝘗.𝘚: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘣. ★彡"

After reading the anonymous message about the bounty, it showed me a holographic picture that I was instantly drawn to. Apparently, her name was Rachel Avery Raccoon. She was a female raccoon with a black and white mask, a striped tail, and an edgy asymmetrical black haircut. She wore a bold red sports jacket over a baggy V-neck sweater, revealing her black spaghetti strap and shorts. 

As I further observed her features, I noticed that her eyes were orange, instantly making me want to do crazy things. Groot, on the other hand, interrupted my thoughts and asked, "I am Groot? (Rocket, you're staring at her as if... hold on, are you falling for her?)" 

I shook off his comment and glared at him, firmly stating, "As if! I'm just intrigued, Groot. We have a mission, so let's keep moving." Groot nodded, seemingly unsatisfied with my response. We both knew getting distracted by emotions was not an option, especially in our line of work. 

We had a job to do, and capturing this high-value target was our ticket to buy a new ship. I quickly composed myself and turned back to the message on the screen. The sender had included the target's last known location and a brief description of her skills and abilities. It seemed she was a highly agile and cunning thief known for her stealth and acrobatic moves.

This certainly wouldn't be an easy capture.

Groot and I exchanged determined looks. We knew we had to act fast and devise a plan to bring her in before anyone else could: "Welp, guess we gotta collect this bounty, Groot." With our plan set, we prepared the ship for takeoff and set course for the target's location.

Time skip~

ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: ꜱᴇᴘᴛᴜʀɴ

As we approached the planet, the expectation grew. This would be our first high bounty. But I couldn't shake off the image of the mysterious woman from my mind. Who was she? And why did she bear such a striking resemblance to me? Except for the color of her fur was dark grey with a black and white mask and a striped tail.

But there was no time for distractions or corny thoughts.

Landing on the ground, we were both welcomed by a fantastic ocean view. Of course, I haven't been fond of beaches until now, but the mission was a priority. Groot and I made our way to the field of palm trees, and we both used one of the bushes to blend in our surroundings in case the target was around: "Alright, Groot, here's what we'll do," I whispered, laying out our strategy, "We'll set up a trap. I'll create distractions and keep her occupied while you sneak up behind her and trap her with your vines. Once she is immobilized, we collect the bounty and take her, got it?"

Groot nodded approvingly, and we were both ready and kept following the coordinates provided by the anonymous buyer, which it took us hours to find, only to arrive at a tree house. It was dark, but the treehouse was the only thing lighting up the place while music kept playing from inside and noting that music was playing up there. I signaled Groot to wait for me, and he agreed as I proudly walked through the field with no problem.

I tiptoed and whispered, "Keep an eye on her. I'll circle around and approach from the other side." "I am Groot." Groot nodded, but I didn't notice that he was signaling me about someone coming. I told him to relax and started walking discreetly. 

However, my stealth was short-lived as I suddenly got my feet tied with a rope, screaming: "Whoa!" I was flung into the air before my body got wrapped in a net where I fell but was saved by the palm trees holding onto me upside down. Struggling to break free from it, I came face to face with an unexpected pair of orange eyes that glowed in the dark while pointing a blaster cannon at my face. 

It was the target.

Then I heard her smooth and laced with a hint of a serious voice I'd never heard before, "You're not from around here, are you?" she said, leaning her weapon closer between my eyes as if daring me to reveal my true intentions.

???'s POV:

"You're not from around here, are you?" I said, leaning my cannon blaster closer between his red eyes, daring him to reveal his true intentions. As I stared into his piercing red eyes, I couldn't help but feel a strange connection. There was something familiar about him, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"You're a long way from home, raccoon," I remarked, smirking slightly. It wasn't every day that I encountered a bounty, much less another raccoon who was exactly like me, especially on a planet like Septurn. But I wasn't one to back down from a challenge, and I had a feeling he wasn't either: "I'm not a raccoon!" This surprised me. I was confused about how he didn't believe he was one, but why did he respond like that?

He glared at me, and I huffed, "You are a raccoon; deal with it. Now~ Who sent you?" I demanded, my voice firm and commanding. I needed answers, and I needed them now. His eyes darted around, searching for an escape, but I kept my blaster steady and unwavering,

"Look, lady, I don't know what you're talking about," he replied. 'He's clearly lying in my face,' I thought; while I inch closer to his nose, it almost touched; I could see him averting his gaze away from me, already telling me about his embarrassment, "I-uh! I'm just here to collect a bounty. So why don't you put that cannon down, and we can talk this out?"

I couldn't help but laugh at his audacity for advising me on such a stupid notice, " 'Talk this out?' Oh, I think we're way past that point, buddy," I retorted, my voice dripping with sarcasm before I smirked at his gorgeous brown fur. Okay! Stop it! And continue: "You and your giant tree friend over there are trespassing on my planet, and I don't take kindly to that."

His red eyes widened slightly, seemingly surprised by the way I acted. It seems I caught his weakness; I know it's wrong to feel bad that I'm threatening his friend, but it was the only way to trigger him: "Don't even think of that, sweetheart." He growled and tried to attack me, which caused him to swing back and forth; I sighed, stopped him from moving, and grabbed him by the net around his body. He grunted.

I wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily. I knew he had the same information as the rest that came to capture me, and I wasn't letting him slip away, but first, I needed his name: "Got a name?" 

"Ugh, it's Rocket." He grumbled, and I smiled slightly, "Rocket, cute name. Okay, tell you what," I said, lowering my blaster slightly. "You and your friend can walk away from this, and you'll be free to go."

"And what if I don't?" Rocket asked.

"Then I'll make sure you watch your friend be turned into a chair." He hesitated for a moment, weighing his options. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he mulled over whether to trust me. But something told me he would choose the latter.

"Fine," Rocket finally relented a hint of resignation in his voice. "Now, can you please let me go?!" He kept on struggling slightly against the palm trees that held him. "Some anonymous buyer. They told us to bring you in and collect the bounty." I nodded in boredom, already knowing that the anonymous buyer was the same guy who created me; I didn't even know he was still alive, which bothered me.

"All right, Rocky," I said, releasing him from the net and falling on his face with a groan, "OW!" 

His reaction made me giggle, but I blushed and coughed again into my seriousness: "Consider yourself lucky this time. Name's Rachel Avery Raccoon; if I ever catch you or your friend snooping around here again, things won't end well for you."

"I don't plan on crossing paths with you again," he said with a smirk, rubbing his wrists where the ropes had once bound him. His voice oozed with a mix of cockiness and confidence that left me confused. Suddenly, I felt branches wrap around me, realizing too late that I had been tricked. 

I began to struggle against his partner's branches in a desperate attempt to break free, but to no avail, "Groot, for once, you did a great job!" 

"I am Groot!" The plant-given tree named Groot said. I widened my eyes at this guy, and my anger furthered that I wanted to strangle Rocket for tricking me: 'Damnit all, I might as well be prepared to come up with escape plans. It reminds me how fun it was to manipulate someone with my charms...yet, it's rusty.' 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, but let's just go." Without showing it to Rocket, who walks up to me again and smirks: "You." He points at me, and our eyes connect instantly without holding back our battle of glares at one another. "Our first *BOUNTY* prisoner, sweetheart."

It will be challenging to convince Rocket and Groot that he can't take me to the monster that created us... he may not know but I promise to never go back.

Not ever.

Not a chance.