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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟓
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑

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Primrose wasn't sure how long she was asleep when she was awoken by the sound of her cell door opening. Before she could even open her eyes to see who had entered her small living space, she felt someone grab her. A hand was placed over her mouth to muffle her shouts as she was forced to her feet. The Quill woman continued to panic before she looked across her cell to find Gamora in the same position she was in.

"We don't wanna hurt you, but if you make this difficult, we will," one of the prisoners whispered into her ear after he removed his hands from her lips before she felt something cool against her neck.

"If you don't wanna hurt me then why don't you save us both the trouble and just leave me here," the Quill woman responded as the fear she was trying to hide proceeded to course through her veins.

"Now where's the fun in that?" the man responded with a giant smirk on his face.

The next thing the brunette woman knew, the inmates restraining her began dragging her through the halls. Primrose stayed silent while she listened to Gamora's shouts as she was forced to follow the two men escorting the latter through the Kyln. When they finally made it to the end of the hall where a guard was stationed, the Quill woman felt a hint of hope mix with the terror she was feeling. But then she remembered what she told Peter earlier about the guards in the Kyln. That was the first time Primrose wished she was wrong.

"Take them down to the showers," the guard told them with a hint of amusement in his tone while Primrose and Gamora stared at him in shock, "it'll be easier to clean up after you're done."

Gamora let out another shout while she continued to struggle against her captors as they continued to drag the two women through the halls. It wasn't long before they actually reached the showers when Primrose began to copy her cellmate's actions and try to break free. However, her attempts were only greeted by the inmates' tightening their grip around her arms while she helplessly watched Gamora get slammed against the stone wall behind her.

"Gamora, consider this a death sentence for your crimes against the galaxy," the leader of the small group of prisoners stated as he pointed his dagger at the woman's neck.

"You dare?" a new voice said, drawing everyone's attention toward the source of the sound to find a man standing at the entrance of the showers. Everyone just stared at the newcomer as he entered the room while his eyes stayed glued to the group restraining Gamora. "You know who I am, yes?"

"You're Drax. The Destroyer," one of the inmates responded after all his confidence faded as Drax continued to walk closer to them.

"And you know why they call me this?" the newcomer questioned right as Primrose spotted Peter and Rocket coming from around the corner and stopping right before the entrance Drax had just come from.

"You slayed dozens of Ronan's minions."

"Ronan murdered my wife, Ovette, and my daughter, Kamaria," Drax continued speaking without taking his eyes off of Gamora as he walked closer to her, "he slaughtered them where they stood. And he laughed!"

Primrose jumped at the man's sudden change in tone, causing the prisoners restraining her to let out small laughs. The Quill woman chose to ignore them as she glanced over at her brother, only to find him staring straight back at her with a worried look plastered on his face. The two of them just stared at each other for another moment before they both looked back at Drax when he continued to speak.

"Her life is not yours to take. He took my family from me. I shall take one of his in return," the Kylosian man stated as he looked away from one of the inmates and back at Gamora.

"Of course, Drax. Here," the man stuttered as he handed Drax his dagger.

The next thing anyone knew Gamora attacked the prisoners pointing their daggers at her. As soon as she had the sharp objects in her hands, she pointed them straight at Drax and the leader of the small group of inmates. The Zehoberei woman just stared at them for a long moment before her eyes fell on the two inmates restraining Primrose.

"Let her go," Gamora hissed, causing the prisoners to release their grasp on the Quill woman's arms then the former's attention fell back on the two men in front of her.

"I'm no family to Ronan or Thanos," she declared before slowly taking the daggers away from their necks and letting them fall to the floor, "I'm your only hope at stopping him."

The immediate response Gamora received was a loud shout from Drax before he grabbed her neck and slammed her into the wall. Just as Primrose made a move to help the raven-haired woman, the two prisoners grabbed her arms once again and pulled her away from the action. The Quill woman helplessly watched as Drax grabbed a dagger from the inmate next to him and placed it inches away from Gamora's neck.

"Woman, your words mean nothing to me!" the Kylosian man shouted in the Zehoberei woman's face as he slowly brought the metal object closer to her neck.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Hey!" Peter yelled as he rushed into the room with one head outstretched toward the small crowd of inmates.

"This isn't gonna end well," Primrose muttered under her breath when she saw the determined expression on her brother's face, receiving confused looks from the two inmates restraining her. It wasn't long after that when the three of them turned their attention back to the situation at hand.

"You know, if killing Ronan is truly your sole purpose, I don't think this is the best way to go about it," the Quill man told Drax as he continued to slowly approach him with his hands in the air.

"Are you not the man this wench attempted to kill?" the Kylosian man questioned while keeping his hand tightly gripped around Gamora's neck.

"Well, I mean, she's hardly the first woman to try and do that to me," Peter admitted before he glanced over at his annoyed-looking sister, "isn't that right, Rosie?"

"Please leave me out of this."

Peter sent his sister an annoyed look before turning his attention back to the situation at hand and lifting up his shirt. "Look, this is from a smoking-hot Rajak girl. Stabbed me with a fork. Didn't like me skipping out on her at sunrise," he explained then he pulled his shirt collar down a bit to reveal another scar. "I got, right here, a Kree girl tried to rip out my thorax. She caught me with this skinny little A'askavariian who worked in Nova records. I was trying to get information. You ever seen an A'askavariian? They have tentacles, and needles for teeth. If you think I'm seriously interested in that, then..."

Peter instantly cut himself off after Drax sent him an annoyed look right as Primrose rolled her eyes at her brother once again. The Quill woman looked over at Rocket to find him pinching his nose while muttering something under his breath. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the raccoon was as irritated with her brother as Primrose was.

"You don't care," the Quill man stated, drawing both Primrose and Rocket's attention back to the situation at hand as Peter continued speaking, "but here's the point. She betrayed Ronan. He's coming back for her. And when he does, that's when you..." Everyone watched as Peter dragged his finger across his throat. His actions earned another annoyed sigh from his sister while everyone else just looked at him in confusion.

"Why would I put my finger on his throat?" Drax questioned as he slowly lowered his dagger away from Gamora.

"What?" Peter muttered under his breath while the Kylosian continued to glare at him. It took another moment for the former to realize what he was talking about then he dragged his finger across his throat once again. "Oh, no. It's a symbol. This is a symbol for you slicing his throat."

"I would not slice his throat. I would cut his head clean off," Drax stated as everyone continued to watch their exchange with mixed emotions on their faces.

"It's a general expression for you killing somebody," Peter continued to try to explain as he looked over at one of the inmates and did the symbol once again, "you've heard of this. You've seen this, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," the man responded before catching the Kylosian man sending him a glare, causing the former to start shaking his head, "no, no."

An irritated look passed over Peter's features at the man's reply before exchanging another look with his sister. The annoyed Primrose simply shook her head at her brother then both of them turned their attention back to Drax and Gamora. "What I'm saying is, you want to keep her alive. Don't do his work for him."

There was a long moment of silence as Drax and Peter stared at each other. What felt like an eternity passed before the former cast his gaze back toward the Zehoberei woman. He kept his hand around her neck for a moment longer before he finally released her. Gamora's coughing and wheezing filled the silence as Primrose's captors released their grip around her arms. After the Quill woman helped Gamora to her feet, the two of them followed Peter and Rocket out of the showers. They walked through the halls of the Kyln in silence for a while and almost made it back to Primrose and Gamora's cell when Peter decided enough was enough.

"Listen, I couldn't care less whether you live or whether you die," the Terran man told the Zehoberei woman as their group continued to walk through the space prison.

His words instantly caused Gamora to stop in her tracks before turning around to face Peter with an annoyed look on her face. "Then why stop the big guy?"

"Well, other than getting my sister out of trouble once again, it's pretty simple," Peter explained, earning a not-so-gentle nudge in the side from Primrose before he continued speaking, "you know where to sell our Orb."

"Are you really that dense?" the Quill woman questioned her brother, earning an agitated look in response while Gamora and Rocket looked at her with a hint of shock in their eyes, "how are we gonna sell it when we and it are still here?"

A small smile formed on Peter's face as he turned away from his sister to look at the raccoon standing a few feet away from them. "My friend Rocket, here, has escaped twenty-two prisons."

"Oh, we're getting out," the furry creature stated in a confident tone before looking over at the Quill siblings, "and then we're headed straight to Yondu to retrieve your bounties."

"How much was your buyer willing to pay you for our Orb?" Primrose questioned Gamora, who was watching their exchange with an expressionless look on her face.

The Zehoberei woman hesitated for a long moment before letting out a long sigh and looking over at the younger Quill sibling. "Four billion units."

"What?!"

"Sh*t!"

"That Orb is my opportunity to get away from Thanos and Ronan," Gamora continued her explanation as if Rocket and Peter didn't have their little outbursts, "if you free us, I'll lead you to the buyer directly and I'll split the profit between the four of us."

"I am Groot," a familiar deep voice said, causing the group to turn their attention toward the sound to find Groot staring back at them through a gate.

"Five of us," Rocket translated before sending an irritated look his best friend's way, "asleep for the danger, awake for the money, as per usual."

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