Starlights {𝟡} | Marvel √

seven

Entering the home of Gamora's buyer, Liv couldn't help but feel a sense of an anomaly. Something about the home creeped her out. There was an aura of strangeness around the group, a sort of quiet eeriness to it all. "Okay, this isn't creepy at all," Rocket muttered as they all walked up the stairs.

"We house the Galaxy's largest collection of fauna, relics, and species of all manner," Carina explained as they passed many creatures who were caged in. But Liv pushed Rocket forward when he started growling at a caged dog. "I present to you, Taneleer Tivan, the Collector."

The group looked in the distance to see a man, wearing a white and black coat. He turned around and Liv noticed his hair was completely white. He eyed Gamora, as Liv watched everyone carefully. "Oh, my dear Gamora," the Collector said once he approached the woman. "How wonderful to meet in the flesh."

He softly grabbed her hand and kissed it, but soon enough, Gamora snatched it back. "Let's bypass the formalities, Tivan. We have what we discussed," Gamora said but the Collector slowly looked past her shoulder to see Groot.

"What...is that thing there?" The Collector asked, and they all looked back at Groot.

"I am Groot," Groot said as the Collector approached him.

"I never thought I'd meet a Groot. Sir, you must allow me to pay you now so that I may own your carcass. At the moment of your death, of course," the Collector said and Liv twitched her eyebrows in confusion.

"I am Groot," Groot said.

"Why, so he could turn you into a frickin chair?" Rocket asked Groot.

The Collector glanced to Rocket for a moment before looking back at Groot. "That's your pet?"

"His what?!" Rocket snapped. Liv widened her eyes as she reached for the Racoon when he reached for his weapon.

"Tivan," Gamora sternly intervened. "We have been halfway around the Galaxy, retrieving this orb."

"Very well, then. Let us see what you brought," the Collector said.

Gamora looked to Quill, who retrieved the orb from his bag, but as he was handing it over, he accidentally dropped it. Liv crossed her arms annoyed as Quill quickly picked it up and showed it to the Collector.

———

Meanwhile, a drunken Drax stumbled outside, but when he did, he saw a man in the distance, making a call in a booth.

Inside the booth, the citizen was talking on the phone with someone, unaware of who was sneaking up behind him. "Three quarnyx batteries, seven cases of cotati seeds. No, cases. Last time, you sent me-"

Suddenly, Drac came up behind him, and held two knives up against his throat. "You shall send a message for me."

———

Back with the Collector and the group, they watched as the Collector examined the orb, fully knowing what was inside. "Oh, my new friends. Before creation itself, there were six singularities," he began as his device began to unlock the orb. "Then the universe exploded into existence, and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots. Infinity Stones." Liv looked around her to see holographic images appeared, showing the six infinity stones: a green one, a purple one, a blue one, a yellow one, a red one, and an orange one. "These stones, it seems, can only be brandished by beings of extraordinary strength. Observe." Liv turned around to see the Collector had shown them an image of giant beings that used only the purple stone, which obliterated a whole town of people into dust.