"When Mantis joined the Guardians of the Galaxy, Batch 89 did not know what to think of her at first. Spending time with their newest team member, however, would let them know the empath just a bit better…"

The Guardians had just arrived on a new planet for a job- well, half the team was there for a job. There were rumors of a powerful artifact on the planet of Corpos, one that sounded a lot like an Infinity Stone from its description. Gamora had insisted that the team investigate the rumor, which is how they wound up parking the Benatar in the middle of one of the most densely populated docking ports Batch 89 had ever seen.

"So many ships and colors…" Floor said in awe.

"That's Corpos for ya. An entire artificial planet created for the sole purpose of selling you things you don't need and leaving you broke afterwards," Rocket said, pressing a button that locked up the Benatar tight before shoving it in his pocket.

"Why would I be broke? I am not easy to break," Drax said.

"Not that kind of broke, big guy," Peter shook his head. "You know, we have places like this back on Earth called malls. This is like one of those but, you know, planet sized."

"And it's the perfect place to hold illegal weapons trade," Gamora said.

"So many thoughts and emotions…" Mantis said, her antenna buzzing slightly as her powers fluctuated.

Lylla took Mantis' hand and smiled. "It's okay, Mantis. Just focus on my feelings so you can stay calm."

The empathy gave Lylla a small smile as the team entered Corpos proper, marveling at the neon sights and flashing billboards that covered every inch of the planet. Aliens of all shapes and sizes hustled and bustled around between stores, Gamora staying on her guard for any suspicious activity. Being in such a populated place meant it was rampant with pickpockets and thieves, though unlike Knowhere the unsavory types on Corpos liked to hide their criminal activity behind false smiles and pressed suits.

"There it is, Abnett's Wares and Antiques," Gamora pointed out to the team.

"Looks like a shady pawn shop if I've ever seen one," Rocket nodded. "Well, let's get in there, take that Infinity Stone, and sell it to Nova Corps for some good units."

As the team approached the store, a pair of robotic guards suddenly blocked the entrance. "Halt. Permission to enter this establishment is prohibited."

"Excuse me, we heard there was an auction going on today. We are paying customers," Peter said.

"Entrance to Abnett's Wares and Antiques is strictly prohibited for those with pets," the guard said.

"Pets!? We ain't pets, you bucket of bolts!" Rocket hissed.

"We are fully sentient lifeforms," Teefs added.

The robot simply replied, "Scans indicate that you are illegally modified Terran animals. Any attempts to deceive our programming will force us to call upon legal action to remove you from Corpos."

"It seems as if these machines will not let us pass. I shall take care of them myself," Drax declared.

"That will just get us deported from this planet and leave someone else to take the stone," Gamora said, holding Drax back.

"This is flarking bull! They aren't going to let us in because we just so happen to be genetically similar to Terran animals!?" Rocket shouted.

"Well I guess you guys will just have to wait outside then," Peter shrugged.

"Like hell I'm leaving you to try and negotiate by yourself," Rocket said.

Lylla took him by the hand. "Rocky, I believe Quill and the others can handle this. The rest of us can pick up supplies for the ship while they get the stone, okay?"

"We've got this, Rocket. Trust me," Quill assured.

Rocket groaned but crossed his arms and nodded. "Fine, I trust Gamora to get this done."

"Hey!" Peter said.

"We will see you again at the ship with the stone in hand," Drax declared.

"U-Um, may I stay out here as well?" Mantis asked. "I would be more comfortable staying with the friendly creatures than going in there."

"Sure, Mantis. You can stay with us," Lylla said.

Rocket looked to Groot, passing him over to Gamora. "Remember, if anything goes wrong in there, call me and I'll bust down this place to get you guys out, okay?" the racoon said.

"I am Groot," Groot nodded.

With that the team separated: Peter, Gamora, Drax, and Groot going into the auction house, while Batch 89 and Mantis left to go explore Corpos. "Friend Mantis, what we do first?" Floor asked.

"…You want me to pick what we do?" Mantis asked in surprised.

"Well, yes, Ms. Mantis. You have as much of a say in what we do here as the rest of us," Teefs nodded.

"Ego didn't let me do much when he was alive…" Mantis mumbled.

"Well we're going to change that! As a Guardian of the Galaxy, you can do whatever you want- within reason, of course," Lylla chuckled.

"Yeah, and I've got my eye on some shops that look ripe for the picking," Rocket grinned as he pulled up a map of the planet. "Some of these stores are know to be run by bigwig scumbags, so it's no problem if we give 'em a five-finger discount."

"I thought we were trying to be more on the straight and narrow as of late?" Teefs questioned.

"Friend Quill say Earth had hero that stole from big money. If Earth hero can steal, why can't we?" Floor rebutted.

Rocket shrugged. "Can't question that logic. You get first pick, Mantis."

Mantis looked at the map and hummed. "Um… Oh, is that a clothes store? I've always wanted to pick my own clothes."

"Alright then, Englehart's Celestial Boutique, here we come!" Rocket declared.

Some boys kiss me, some boys hug me
I think they're okay

The group arrived at the boutique and got to work helping Mantis try on different outfits. The first was a green and yellow outfit with a grasslike skirt and large shoulder pads. "Very pretty, Friend Mantis!" Floor complimented.

"It may be a bit revealing if I'm being honest…" Lylla hummed.

"It's very freeing," Mantis giggled.
If they don't give me proper credit
I just walk away

Mantis tried on a few other outfits, including a more covering bronze, black, and white attire, a completed armored outfit ("I can't see very well out of this helmet," Mantis said, before walking right into a clothing stand and knocking it over), a purple one-piece suit, and a fancy pink dress that Lylla picked out.

They can beg and they can plead
But they can't see the light (that's right)

Batch 89 got in on the fun as well, trying on a few outfits before making their way to leave.

"Hey, you have to pay for those!" an attendant shouted.

"Mantis, do your mind-power thing!" Rocket ordered.

"Um, okay…" Mantis said, touching the attendant and commanding, "Sleep."

The attendant dropped like a rock to the ground. "There we go, free outfits for everyone," Rocket grinned.

"Are you sure we should be stealing these?" Teefs asked.

"Englehart's uses furs from illegal pelt trading. I'm not going to feel bad about it," Rocket shrugged.
Cause the boy with the cold hard cash
Is always Mister Right

"That was fun! Let's do more shopping," Mantis grinned.

"There's a smile on your face! You'll be having fun in no time, Mantis," Lylla said.

"Floor pick next!" Floor exclaimed, pulling on Rocket's arm to look at the map. "Let's find new knives for Friend Gamora and Friend Drax!"

"There's plenty of black-market weapon shops around here. Been meaning to find some old Kree tech for a project anyways," Rocket nodded.

Cause we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

And so, Batch 89 and Mantis went off on their shopping/thieving spree, pilfering the items of their desire before using Mantis' empath powers to make a quick getaway. They caused a riot in the weapon shop by pitting customers against each other, blindsided a couple of workers in an illegal drug store by making one of them confess their feelings to the other ("He has been suppressing his feelings for a long time," Mantis noted as they watched the two workers make out), and liberated an animal shelter of abused and illegally poached animals, which was very cathartic for Batch 89.

Some boys romance, some boys slow dance
That's all right with me

As they were all having a good time, Mantis' stomach suddenly rumbled, making her blush. "Sounds like someone is hungry," Lylla chuckled.

"Then the food court is our next stop," Rocket declared.
If they can't raise my interest
Then I have to let them be

The group proceeded to get some food, finding new dishes from all over the galaxy to try out. Lylla got large oysters from a planet covered completely in water, Teefs got a plate of artic sea cucumbers from an ice planet, Floor got a salad of mixed fruits and vegetables, while Rocket got… a hamburger.

"What? Quill is always going on about these things, so I had to see if they were actually worth something," Rocket shrugged to his friends when they gave him odd looks.

Some boys try, and some boys lie
But I don't let them play (no way!)

Mantis decided on getting a plate of spicy wings and, despite Lylla warning otherwise, she ate an entire piece of meat in one go. Instantly the empath's face turned red as the spice hit her all at once, Mantis crying out as she jumped up and looked for something to drink. Batch 89 laughed at the scene while their friend ran around pilfering the drinks of other shoppers to try and quench her burning mouth.
Only boys that save their pennies
Make my rainy day

When Mantis finally calmed down the group had an angry crowd of people coming after them, Rocket leading the charge as they made for a retreat to safety.

"Cause we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl!" Lylla sang sometime later as Batch 89 and Mantis had found refuge in a karaoke bar.

"You know that we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl!" Mantis sang back.

"You got it, Ms. Mantis!" Teefs laughed as everyone sang along to the song.

Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl!

After a day of shopping, shoplifting, and having fun, the group returned to the Benatar laughing and chatting amongst themselves. "Did you see the look on that guy's face when Mantis knocked him over? Priceless!" Rocket laughed.

"He was asking for it when he was he'd pay anyone that could knock him over in one hit," Lylla giggled.

"I'm still surprised you were able to take him down so easily, Ms. Mantis," Teefs said.

"Males tend to have the same weak spot. It was finding where his was that was the hard part," Mantis grinned.

"Floor had so much fun with friends!" Floor cheered.

As the group got on the ship, they found the rest of the Guardians looking worse for wear and a bit ticked off. "Woah. What space whale spat you guys out?" Rocket asked.

"It turns out that the "Infinity Stone" we had been told about was actually an M'Kraan shard," Gamora replied.

"M'Kraan shard? Like that powerful rock the Sh'iar worship? Sounds like something useful we could have sold and/or given to the Nova," Rocket said.

"Yeah, it would have, if Groot hadn't blown our cover when he tried to steal it from under the dealer's nose," Peter said.

"The dumber, smaller Groot clearly did not read my signal correctly," Drax said.

"Your "signal" was just you shouting "Take the crystal now, Groot!" Drax!" Peter said in annoyance.

"To make matters worse, the Sh'iar showed up as we were about to get into a fight, followed closely by Nova Corps," Gamora added. "The Nova said something about a string of robberies that had happened here on Corpos. Would you know anything about that?"

Batch 89 quickly looked innocent as they hid their stolen good. "No…"

"Whatever. We did get some compensation from the Nova, but this trip was a total bust," Peter sighed.

"We did pick up some new supplies. And I found an old tape for you, Peter," Lylla offered, handing over the gift.

"Is this Madonna? Sweet! Thanks, Lylla," Peter grinned.

"Let's get out of here. I've had enough of Corpos for a lifetime," Gamora sighed.

As the Benatar took off, Mantis approached Rocket and sat down next to him. "Thank you for letting me be with your friends, Rocket. I had a fun time today."

"Glad you liked it, Mantis. You know, you're pretty fun to hang out with too," Rocket replied. The raccoon paused for a moment, shifting in his seat as Mantis continued to stare at him. "Uh, Mantis…? Is there something else you wanted to say?"

"I wanted to ask about the small box you bought today," Mantis said. "It's the only thing besides the food you spent actual money on, and I can sense it brings you great joy and nervousness."

Rocket's face felt hot at the mention of the box. He motioned for Mantis to come closer before whispering, "You know how I feel about Lylla, right?"

Mantis nodded. "Yes. You have sexual feelings for her, but deeper than what Peter Quill has for Gamora."

"Yeah, Lady and I are mates, but I want to make it more official." Rocket took out the box, smiling as he held it in his hands. "I need to make a few modifications before I can give this to Lylla, but I'm gonna propose to her so we can get married."

Mantis gasped before picking up Rocket and hugging him tightly. "Oh Rocket, that's so sweet! Lylla would love to marry you!"

"Hey-hey, not so loud!" Rocket squirmed in her grip. "But yeah, Lylla and I… she's my everything, Mantis. And this thing is going to be the next step in our relationship. You can keep this a secret, right?"

"I promise," Mantis nodded, putting a finger to her mouth.

Author's Note

Corpos is a planet I made up that just seemed to fit in with the Guardians universe. A planet that's one giant mall sounds like something you'd see in the Marvel universe.

This chapter was just a bit of fun with Mantis and Batch 89 get up to some trouble set to Madonna's "Material Girl", an 80's classic. There were plenty of comic book Easter eggs that I snuck into this chapter as well, so let's see if you can find them all!

Next chapter is going to be the last one before we start the Infinity War arc, and it's a big one: Rocket and Lylla are having their wedding! See you all then!