Guardians of the Galaxy [1]

4

Astra had reached her decision. Now that she thought back on it, she realized how stupid she'd been for the past twelve years.

Now she took a lunch tray filled with disgusting slop - something she would rather die than touch - and sat at a nearby table where she could overhear whatever plan Rocket had for an escape.

"If we're gonna get out of here, we're gonna need to get into that watchtower," Rocket began. "And to do that, I'm gonna need a few things. The guards wear security bands to control their ins and outs. I need one."

"Leave it to me," said Gamora.

"That dude there-" Rocket looked at an old man with a fake leg. "I need his prosthetic leg."

"His leg?" Quill questioned.

"Yeah. God knows I don't need the rest of him. Look at him, he's useless."

"Alright," Quill agreed.

"And finally, on the wall back there, there's a panel. Blinky yellow light. Do you see it?" said Rocket as they sat down at an empty table.

"Yeah," said Quill, gazing at a small panel with a bright yellow light.

"There's a quarnyx battery behind it. Purplish box, green wires," Rocket told him. "To get into that watchtower, I definitely need it."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Gamora asked.

"Well, supposably, those bald-bodies find you attractive, so maybe you can work out some sort of trade," Rocket replied.

"You must be joking," said Gamora.

"No, I really heard they find you attractive," Rocket said.

"Look, it's twenty feet up in the air, and it's in the middle of the most heavily guarded part of the prison." Quill diverted the subject back to the watchtower. "It's impossible to get up there without being seen."

Rocket started to get annoyed. "I only got one plan, and that plan requires a frickin' quarnyx battery, so figure it out!!!"

Behind her, she heard a man grunt and fall when something hit him in the head, and Astra paid no attention.

"Can I get back to it? Thanks," said Rocket. "Now, this is important. Once the battery is removed, everything is gonna slam into emergency mode. So once we have it, we gotta move quickly, so you definitely need to get that last."

Just as he said the word last, the entire prison went dark and an alarm started ringing. Astra looked at the watchtower and saw Groot smiling, holding out the battery with a smile as if saying here you go to Rocket and the others.

"Or we could just get it first and improvise," Rocket said sarcastically.

"I'll get the armband," said Gamora, rushing off.

"Leg," Quill groaned.

Rocket put his paws over his face and groaned loudly.

Small ships emerged from the tunnels around the main part of the prison and surrounded Groot.

"Prisoner," said a Nova Corps guard's amplified voice, "drop the device immediately and retreat to your cell or we will open fire.

Instead of obeying the guard, Groot began to grow in size, with roots emerging from him until he grew significantly bigger and taller.

"I AM GROOT!!!" he yelled.

"Fire!" ordered the guard.

All the ships began firing at Groot, but he was able to block them easily by creating shields out of vines and branches and flicking some of them away with one swing of his arms. They crashed into walls, causing small explosions and sparks. Astra had to duck when a ship crashed into a the railing directly in front of her.