Gamora slashed through Groot's arm with a single strike and dashed for the Orb, scooping it up as she ran.
But Quill had already anticipated her move.
Leaping down from the bridge above, he tackled her mid-stride, sending them both crashing to the ground.
Gamora rolled smoothly and pinned him again.
While she was focused on restraining him, Quill subtly pressed the thruster unit from his boot against her waist.
"Don't get in my way," she hissed.
"You've still got a lot to learn," Quill shot back with a grin.
He snatched the Orb, activated the thruster, and Gamora was blasted sideways, launched straight into a nearby fountain.
Quill stood, dusting himself off.
"Told you."
A burlap sack dropped over his head.
Groot.
Rocket barked, "Get him in the bag!"
Groot hoisted Quill effortlessly, but before they could secure him, Gamora came charging back. With one swift motion, she sliced off Groot's arm, tore open the sack, and reached for the Orb—
Golden beams rained down from above.
Two Nova Corps ships hovered overhead.
"Drop your weapons and surrender!"
Identical to Karl's earlier encounter.
"In the name of the Nova Corps, you are all under arrest for endangering public safety on Xandar."
And just like that, the four were transported to the Kyln.
---
Karl was already there.
He sat in a corner with Drax, casually eating potato chips. Drax had tried them once and become instantly addicted. Every visit, Karl brought more—and made a tidy profit in interstellar credits.
As Gamora was escorted through the main hall, the prison erupted.
Inmates surged forward, shouting curses, hurling whatever they could grab.
Most of them had lost family to Ronan's campaigns.
And Gamora had been his enforcer.
She walked calmly in her prison uniform, expression unreadable, ignoring the debris striking her shoulders.
"I told you," Rocket muttered while clutching his bedding roll. "She's famous."
He glanced around at the hostile crowd.
"Half these guys lost family to Ronan. She was his top lieutenant. How long you think she's gonna last?"
"Don't the guards step in?" Quill asked nervously.
"They guard the prison," Rocket replied. "Not the inmates. Dead prisoners save paperwork."
Gamora was placed in solitary.
Her cell quickly became surrounded by inmates eager for revenge.
She entered without looking at anyone, sat stiffly on the stone slab, and listened to the shouting outside.
She did not fear death.
But she feared what might come before it.
Below her cell, Karl and Drax sat quietly.
Drax stared upward, jaw tight.
Karl knew what was coming.
Tonight.
Drax would make his move.
---
Quill, Rocket, and Groot were crammed into a crowded cell with over a dozen inmates. No beds. Just floor space. One prisoner's foot rested squarely on another's face.
Quill was awkwardly squeezed between three burly inmates.
Groot clung vertically to the wall, asleep.
Elsewhere, a group of prisoners dragged Gamora toward the showers.
They intended to kill her there.
Perhaps worse.
She fought, but outnumbered ten to one, resistance was futile.
As they passed Quill's cell, he saw what was happening.
He slipped out quietly.
Rocket wriggled free from the bottom of the pile, fur matted, and shook Groot awake.
They followed.
---
In the showers, Gamora was cornered.
Crude shivs glinted under dim lights.
"Gamora," one inmate snarled, jagged teeth bared. "You butchered your way across the galaxy. Sentence: death."
He stepped forward.
A thunderous voice boomed from behind them.
"Try it."
All heads turned.
Drax stood in the doorway.
Silence fell instantly.
Even the most violent inmates hesitated. Drax's reputation preceded him.
He never involved himself in prison factions.
Until now.
Karl leaned casually against the circular doorway, amused.
The so-called "Guardians of the Galaxy" were finally assembling—in a prison shower.
He discreetly recorded the scene on his phone.
Quill, Rocket, and Groot slipped in through another corridor, watching from the shadows.
"Ronan murdered my wife and daughter," Drax said coldly. "Her death belongs to me."
The crowd parted.
He took a knife from one of the inmates.
"I will repay Ronan in blood. Starting with his servant."
He raised the blade.
Gamora moved.
In a blur, she disarmed two inmates, incapacitated them, and spun behind Drax. A stolen knife pressed against his throat—another at a second man's neck.
The room froze.
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