So please excuse me, mister

You've got things all wrong

You make it feel like a crime

So don't confuse me, mister

I've known you too long

All I need is a little of your time

Riley Black grimaced as she followed the other members of the Universal Church of Truth through the streets of Xandar. Missionary trips were the worst, and she honestly had no idea how the Church had managed to gain access to the planet, considering they had been banned years ago. They must have their tentacles deep into the government there. It didn't exactly give her hope that her plans for escaping and safely delivering her package to the Nova Corps would work.

That said, they still wore disguises and covered up the symbols of the Church. No need to accidentally provoke retribution. Or arrest. After all, this was effectively a recruitment drive, albeit a subtle one under the thin guise of finding purpose in life through self-discovery - AKA some new-age bullshit covering up the fact that they wanted half the people they recruited to die in the name of Thanos and his grand mission to save the universe by destroying half of it.

Honestly, the whole thing was fucking bullshit and she used her position as a sort of security corps member in the Church to save as many people as possible, to get them away from the Church. It baffled her that after nearly 20 years of doing this, nobody had caught on. Then again, their blind devotion to genocide probably meant that not many members were the brightest stars in the galaxy. Or at least not anymore. Any individuality and thought had been wiped from them during indoctrination. What was left was a husk of a being.

Her friend, Heather Douglas, was proof. Heather had been so damned bright back on Earth, working her ass off to pave the path to a good university and a career in biology. And now it was all 'Hail Thanos' and that sort of bullshit. She could only hope that after she got the package to safety, she could somehow rescue Heather and bring her back somehow, that the brainwashing hadn't done too much damage.

First, though, she needed to find a way to get separated from the Church group so she could secure the package she had in her pocket without anyone realizing she'd done it. No problem at all.

Glancing around, she could barely see two feet in front of her face, let alone figure out how to create a distraction. It was just a sea of bodies and faces, and while she wasn't short by Terran standards at five and a half feet tall, she wasn't the tallest being in the galaxy either.

"YES!"

Riley turned in the direction of the excited shout and saw a couple twirling around, knocking into people, and giggling.

"Watch where you're going!" a large man with dull blue skin yelled at the couple. He headed in Riley's direction with a hand curled protectively over a pouch that hung at his side.

Biting down on a grin, she maneuvered herself closer to his path and pulled her shawl tighter around her face. When he got close enough, she snatched the pouch and affixed it to the cloak of the nearest Church member, then tried to push her way around the Church group, then through the crowd. Hopefully she could get to a spot where she'd easily be able to slip away from the Church in the impending scuffle.

Behind her, she heard the man realize he was slightly lighter than he had been before followed by his angry accusations as he scanned the crowd.

"YOU!"

She turned just in time to see him haul her poor victim up by her feet and accuse her of stealing. Sorry, Chaya. The Krylorian was also a victim of the Church, she had to remind herself. But what she was hiding from them was too important. She needed a clean break before going back for Heather.

The other Church members stepped forward, trying to help Chaya, while Riley pushed back and tried to find an out in the crowd. Hopefully nobody noticed she was retreating instead of doing her job and helping. Given their collective crimes committed on behalf of the Church, it was likely they would end up in the Kyln prison with the worst of the worst. Then again, they were able to bypass Xandarian security so the odds were they would not be in the Kyln for long, if they even made it there to begin with. And if they made it back to the Church, she would need plausible deniability to explain why she had gotten away - swarmed by the crowd, pushed away from the group, whatever. It didn't matter as long as nobody saw her actively leaving.

If she'd been thinking clearly, Riley might've noticed how close Nova Corps were to the fight instead of being surprised by the harsh bite of metal around her wrists as they were yanked behind her back.

"Let's go, lady," the Xandarian Corpsman muttered, pulling Riley, the rest of the Church group, and the angry man into custody. So much for not being recognized.

The officer from the Nova Corps called Riley's name and signalled her to step forward, then guided her into a room where two Corpsbeings analyzed her file loudly enough for her to hear.

"Riley Berenice Black," a short Xandarian with light brown hair muttered. Her birth date, planet of origin, and her entire biography popped up between her and the officers. "Born on Terra. Wanted for various crimes committed as a member of the Universal Church of Truth."

Riley winced inwardly at the mention of her past. Not that they were wrong - she had committed various crimes in the name of the Church - but that was do or die. She had no pride in her previous actions.

The second Xandarian officer shuddered. "I hate those a-holes. Never trust anyone who worships another being."

The shorter one laughed without humour. "We can add 'illegal entry' to her list now, right below trafficking sentient beings."

Riley rolled her eyes; they were enjoying this too much.

"Put her with the rest," the taller one sighed. "Transport leaves within the hour."

"Next!"

Sometimes Riley hated being right. She pushed out a breath as she and the rest of her group, and a handful of others arrested around the same time, were bundled out of the transport and into the Kyln. They had already taken her belongings, including the package. How the hell was she going to get it back and get it to safety? Then again, was the Kyln safe enough? She honestly didn't know. Thanos and the Church had too far a reach for her to guarantee it.

She followed along in a line with the other prisoners from the transport and through the prison. From the corner of her eye she saw someone going through her bag and was tempted to charge the station to get it back, but the officers would likely retaliate against her, hindering her chance at success. Instead, she would be better to wait and bide her time.

Sighing, she watched the asshole pull random things from her bag - a pair of daggers, a gun, the package. He slowly unwrapped the package, but she didn't get to see his reaction to what was inside, as she was bundled along with the rest of the group to the next room.

She was stripped of her clothing, hosed down, and given the uniform all prisoners wore in the Kyln - shapeless and loose-fitting pants and a shirt in eye-hurting yellow. As soon as everyone on the transport was dressed and sanitized, they were each given a blanket and some basics for hygiene, then shoved into the main prisoner area and left to fend for themselves.

All around them, men and women made hooting and hollering noises, some guaranteeing various members of their group would wind up in bed with them. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. Riley might not like the Church, but damned near everyone of her group were innocent people brainwashed into serving. And she would ensure they were protected.

Her and Kall Lith, the security trained Xandarian in their group, found an empty cell and ushered everyone safely inside. One of the other prisoners grabbed Riley while she was helping the others, and she twisted the asshole's arm around and shoved him up against the wall. "Not gonna happen. Do you understand?"

The yellow-skinned Aakon grunted and tried to wriggle out of her grasp, so she shoved him back up against the wall again. Harder.

"I asked if you understand," she grunted.

"Yes," he hissed, glaring at her over his shoulder.

She released him and muttered, "Try that again and I'll -."

"Let it go, Riley," Kall said softly. "He'll get what's coming when the Purge happens."

Her eyes narrowed and she watched the Aakon slink away, muttering to himself, then followed Kall inside. God, she hated when people called Thanos's plan 'The Purge'. Shaking her head, she took a seat by herself while the rest huddled together, then she sang to herself to calm her mind and help her focus.

What should I do? I'm about to crack

And there's a force that comes over me

It's almost as if I'm tied to the tracks

I'm waiting for him to rescue me

The funny thing is, he's not going to come

He's not going to find me

This is a matter of a fact, the desire you lack

This is the way I guess it has to be

If there was one thing Peter Quill hated, it was waiting. Hurry up and wait to be processed by the Nova Corps. Oh joy. These a-holes had no chill; it wasn't his fault the tree, the rat, and the green chick had attacked him. All he wanted to do was sell the damn orb, get what was his, and get the hell out. Now? He was stuck in processing with the rest of these jackasses.

He sighed and pushed off the bench when one of the idiot Nova Corps officers called him forward for processing. Inside the room, he saw Rhoman Dey and another Xandarian reading his rap sheet. Dey had been so damned condescending about calling him Star Lord. Peter smirked to himself as he came to a stop in front of both men, ignoring what they were talking about and he held up a fist. Pretending to wind it up like a jack-in-the-box, he let his middle finger pop up, then feigned surprise.

Did it help with his sentencing? Probably not.

Was it cathartic? Fuck yeah, it was.

Dey's friend called him and the rest of the crew he'd been arrested with a bunch of a-holes, then he was moved on to the next room.

There were another half dozen Corps officers there, mostly Xandarian, but also a Krylorian and a Hurctarian. All six were grumbling about the extra paperwork as this was the second group to ship to the Kyln that week. Another group had been in before them.

"First we get those Universal Church of Truth a-holes, then her," one of Xandarians grumbled, inclining his head toward the green chick.

Her posture stiffened at the mention of the church and he wanted to ask what that was about, but given how thoroughly he'd had his ass handed to him earlier, he thought it better to wait and bide his time. Maybe he could find out in the Kyln before he escaped. A sigh escaped him. More waiting.

"Those guys are a-holes," the Krylorian officer agreed, "but they're usually more lowkey when they try to sneak onto the planet. Lucky for us that jerk thought one of them had stolen his junk."

The first officer scoffed a laugh. "It's not luck if we're stuck listening to their yammering about the end of the universe."

End of the universe? What the hell kind of church were they? And what the hell did they have to do with the green chick?

The Krylorian stepped toward him and pulled his hands together to slap another set of cuffs on him, now that he'd been processed. "Not our problem anymore, it's for the Kyln. And these a-holes."

Peter pursed his lips, but allowed himself to be led out of the room and through a series of halls toward the transport. Whatever the hell this church was, it sounded like a big problem. One he had no interest in dealing with. He'd escape the Kyln, get the orb back, sell it, and be on his merry way by the end of the week. A solid plan if he ever heard one.

Peter cringed as he watched the tree - what was it the tree kept saying its name was? Groo? No, Groot - grab the gunavian jelly jackass by the nostrils and lift him into the air. The branches he was shoving up the guy's nose didn't look that strong, but obviously they were. He really didn't want to think about how far up they were going for the guy to be screaming in agony like that. Shit.

Note to self: don't piss off the oak.

"I'm…I'm with them…," he muttered, stepping awkwardly over the writhing blue mass on the floor. Better with the crazy raccoon and plant, than being that blue asshole's bitch.

All around them the prisoners backed up to give a wide berth as the rat - was it Rocket they'd called him? - led the way to the sleeping pods while beings were looking down from the balconies. He caught a group that stood out from the rest - mostly humanoid, but they were given a wide berth by other prisoners, and seemed almost…leery. While most of the group's eyes were following Gamora, one woman was looking directly at Peter. She was cute - her light brown hair hung loose around her face and her eyes were a little wide, probably the shock from what Groot had done.

He smirked up at her and threw her his best flirty look. Her cheeks reddened as she bit down on her lower lip, smiling at him.

Yeah, she was into him.

Maybe prison wouldn't be so bad.

Riley watched with her jaw on the floor as the tree neatly and violently took out the pervert who'd tried to make the humanoid man his bitch. The guy slunk along after the tree and the racoon, but glanced up at her and…was that supposed to be flirting? Jesus, he was bad at it. She bit down on a laugh over how awful he was, and watched him walk away. Cute, though. In a dorky sort of way. Not that she had any interest. Right now her only goals were getting her package to safety and saving her friend.

That was when she caught sight of the green-skinned woman. Up til that point, the yelling had just been a cacophony of noise in her ears, but now she distinctly heard the threats and jeers being made towards the woman.

Gamora.

Daughter of Thanos.

There was no way he'd sent her to rescue the Church group. While the others seemed to believe that someone from the Church would come for them, Riley wasn't so sure. The Church group were little more than a means to an end in a fanatical cult devoted to genocide and sacrifice. In all likelihood, they'd need to find their own way out.

Hell, she doubted Thanos cared what happened to any of his acolytes. So why was Gamora there?

Sighing, she pushed back from the railing and sat back down in their pod. It would be lights out soon, but maybe tomorrow she would be able to ingratiate herself with the newcomers and, hopefully, get herself and the rest free. The flirty dork seemed like her most likely way in. Then she could worry about hiding the package after everyone was safe.