Finally, Eli thought. Time to get a piece of this skull.
He took a step forward, ready to explore.
"Hold up," Peter said, grabbing his arm. "You can't just wander off. Knowhere's dangerous. People here will sell you for parts or worse if you're not careful."
"I can take care of myself." Eli replied.
"Yeah, I know. But you also have no idea where you're going." Peter looked at the others. "We should stick together. At least until we figure out what we're doing here."
Gamora nodded. "He's right. The Collector's domain is in the center of the skull. That's probably where you want to start."
Eli looked toward the massive structure in the distance—the one built into the skull's core, where the Collector kept his menagerie of impossible things.
"Then I don't want to go there. I don't want to be collected and kept on display."
Rocket hopped onto a crate. "And what exactly do you all propose we do? Find a bounty?"
Peter smiled. "Something like that."
He started walking and the Guardians followed. They were walking to a communication tower, a place where bounties and help-wanted posters were found. As they walked, Eli started to fidget, looking very uncomfortable because all around them were all kinds of people—thieves, murderers, kidnappers, and worse.
Back on Earth, before he was sent to the MCU, places that were always filled with people meant he was always harassed. Sometimes he had to run from kidnappers. The first to notice his unease was Gamora. She asked what was wrong, why he was acting like someone being followed.
"Don't worry, I'm okay. It's just that I don't like crowded places that much," Eli said, which got the attention of the others.
"You have the power to destroy a planet and yet you are afraid of a little crowd?" said Peter, genuinely confused.
"I'm not afraid of them. It's just an involuntary thing. Since before I got strong, I had a lot of bad experiences with them. That's all."
And immediately after he said that, a gruff voice called out: "Hey beautiful, why not leave those freaks and come play with me?"
Gamora turned and said in an authoritative voice, "I don't play with savages like you. And if you talk to me like that again, I'm going to gouge out your eyes and feed them to you and aft—"
But before she could finish, the man spoke. "I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to the lady with white hair."
He turned to Eli and asked, "So what do you say..."
Before he could finish, he saw Eli's eyes glowing a sky-blue color and the heat radiating from them. This scared the man, who just turned and went away.
Eli heard a chuckle. When he turned, he saw the others trying to hide their laughs and the embarrassed look on Gamora's face. He shook his head and ripped a piece of cloth from his long white chote, then covered his face with it while ignoring the other Guardians making fun of him and Gamora.
He looked around and saw the place he thought might be where they needed to go.
"Can you all stop laughing and get back to our objective?" he said.
Then he started walking toward the building, and the Guardians followed.
---
When they got there, they saw so many bounties, help-wanted posters, and even rescue missions posted.
They were there for a long time, arguing about what to choose.
Rocket wanted a bounty. He didn't even try to hide why—because of the money. Credits. Units. Whatever form of payment came with it, he wanted it. His eyes were practically turning into little dollar signs as he pointed at the highest-paying target.
Peter wanted the help-wanted one. It required saving a planet from a space-and-dimension-hopping monster that was only a day—or a couple of hours—away from reaching its next target. He wanted it because he was still filled up with adrenaline from saving Xandar. The rush hadn't left him yet. He needed more. He needed to feel useful.
Gamora wanted to go on a rescue mission. There was a group of political prisoners being held on a prison ship, and she couldn't stand the thought of leaving them there. Her voice was quieter when she argued for it, but no less firm.
They argued about it again.
And again.
And again.
Rocket: "Do you have ANY idea how much that bounty is worth?! We could buy our OWN planet!"
Peter: "We JUST saved a planet! We're on a roll! We should keep going!"
Gamora: "Those people are going to DIE if no one helps them. That's not a roll. That's a countdown."
Rocket: "People die every day! It's called economics!"
Gamora: "That's not what economics means!"
Peter: "Okay, but the monster one has a bigger reward than the bounty!"
Rocket: "IT DOES NOT!"
Peter: "IT DOES IF YOU FACTOR IN SALVAGE RIGHTS!"
Rocket: "SALVAGE RIGHTS AREN'T GUARANTEED!"
Drax, who had been watching the argument with the detached confusion of someone who didn't understand why they weren't just fighting something already, finally spoke: "I will fight whatever is put in front of me. It does not matter which."
"THAT'S NOT HELPING!" everyone shouted at once.
Eli couldn't stand the arguing anymore. His head was starting to hurt. His ears were ringing. He stepped between them and raised his hands.
"Okay, okay! STOP!"
They stopped.
"We vote on it," Eli said. "Majority wins. No more arguing."
They looked at each other. Then nodded.
"Fine," Rocket muttered. "But I'm voting for the bounty."
"I am Groot (Me too)," said Groot.
Rocket blinked. "Wait, really?"
"I am Groot."
"…Fair enough."
Gamora stepped forward. "I vote for the rescue."
That was one.
Eli looked at Peter and Drax. "What about you two?"
Peter crossed his arms. "The help-wanted. Saving the planet."
Drax nodded slowly. "I wish to fight this 'monster' they speak of. It sounds like a worthy opponent. I vote with Peter."
That made three.
Eli looked at Gamora. She stared back at him, her expression unreadable.
"You're the tiebreaker," she said.
Eli thought about it. A bounty meant money—but they didn't really need money right now. A rescue meant saving one person—or a few people—but leaving a whole planet to possibly die.
The help-wanted meant saving everyone on that planet.
He looked at Peter. At Drax. At the crack in space they could already see from the tower's display.
"I vote with Peter," Eli said.
Gamora's jaw tightened, but she didn't argue. The vote was done.
They picked the planet-saving mission.