At the Collector's secret base, Robert stood silently among the countless artifacts and living specimens trapped within glass containers. With Star-Lord unavailable to help, Robert was hard-pressed to come up with a suitable way to care for these captive beings. Star-Lord's lack of suitability for the task wasn't entirely his fault, though; he was part of a close-knit team that included Rocket, Gamora, and others. Robert could tell from their shared aura that while they weren't ruthless killers, they leaned towards chaotic neutrality—an alignment that would make caring for these potentially endangered alien species a challenging burden.
Bringing them to Earth was out of the question. The Avengers weren't babysitters, and leaving these aliens to freely roam Earth would only invite unwanted attention from those with ill intentions. Without knowing these aliens' origins or abilities, Robert knew that introducing them to Earth would be risky.
"So, I don't really have many options here, do I?" Robert muttered after some thought. "There's Xandar, and then there's Knowhere. Besides Star-Lord, these are the only places I know that might offer a solution."
If the Kree Empire's Magellanic Galaxy hadn't been obliterated in his battle with the Eliminator, he might have been able to settle them on some habitable planets there. But that galaxy was now uninhabitable. As for Knowhere, while it held potential, it was hardly an ideal environment for peaceful living.
After considering all his options, Robert recalled Star-Lord's earlier praise of Xandar. Robert had also sensed that Xandar was a uniquely peaceful planet, even when it faced an invasion by the Kree's space fleet. Unlike Earth, where crime and local conflicts were rampant, Xandar's collective spirit seemed calm and secure.
"Well, it's decided then. Let's get you to Xandar," Robert said softly to the multitude of lifeforms trapped in glass containers. Just then, a little Martian girl opened her eyes, gazing at Robert with a mix of fear and hope.
"Are you here to save me?" the Martian asked, hesitating slightly before speaking.
"You're the only one awake. Is that due to your species' unique abilities?" Robert asked, surprised.
The Martian's pupils contracted in fear as she backed against the glass. If it weren't for the barrier, she would have tried to escape. Initially, she'd thought Robert might be her rescuer, but hearing him mention her species' powers alarmed her. Although the Collector was absent, the Martian girl couldn't be sure Robert wasn't another individual interested in exploiting her abilities. She feared that if she left with him, she would face horrific experiments or torturous studies instead of mere confinement.
"You seem to misunderstand," Robert said, noticing her tense and frightened expression. "I have no ill intent toward you. I know one of your kin, and since I found you here in the Collector's base, I intended to bring you back."
"One of my kin?" The Martian's eyes sparkled momentarily, but then suspicion clouded her face again. Just because Robert knew one of her kind didn't mean he was a friend. He could easily be a sinister scientist seeking Martians for experimentation and had found her here by chance.
Although she didn't know how he'd entered the Collector's base, the girl was now even more wary of Robert's abilities and was determined not to trust him.
"Do I really look like a bad guy?" Robert's face twitched as he saw the Martian's cautious gaze. Before he'd grown into his current form, most people had considered him harmless; even Kara thought he was adorable. Yet here was someone who'd immediately judged him as a villain based on his appearance alone.
Granted, Robert knew he wasn't a hero in the traditional sense. Considering all the destruction he'd caused, one could certainly see him as a terrifying force. But he bore no malice toward the Martian; he simply wanted her help locating the Martian Hunter on Earth. Robert felt a responsibility to find him, especially since the Martian Hunter had risked his life to protect Earthlings, albeit unsuccessfully.
"Your species has telepathic abilities, right?" Robert suggested. "Even if you can't read my thoughts directly, you should at least be able to sense my intentions."
"My collar restricts my abilities. I can't use any of them," the Martian said, her voice soft and resigned. She looked down as she spoke, her face a mix of hope and despondency. "I once dreamed of being rescued, but I woke up to find myself still here. They just moved me from Knowhere to this secret base."
The Martian had tried using her abilities to sense the Collector's whereabouts, hoping to confirm if her dream had been real or just an illusion. But her collar prevented it.
With a sharp "crack!" the collar around the Martian's neck shattered, along with the glass barrier. At last, the young Martian was free.
"Don't worry. The Collector is dead; I killed him," Robert said softly as he looked at the stunned Martian. "I'll take you to Earth to reunite you with your kin, but first, I need to find a place to settle the others."
"Earth? Wait, you're from Earth? The one next to Mars?" she asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Yes, that Earth. Technically, we're from the same solar system. You could say we're neighbors in the cosmic sense," Robert replied with a smile.
"Couldn't you take them to Earth too?" she asked, glancing at the other aliens around them, still unconscious.
"Are any of them your friends? If it's just one or two, I can bring them, but if there are too many, it'll be complicated," Robert explained, shaking his head. "Earth isn't the safest place, and we don't have the resources to look after them. If they attract the attention of people with ulterior motives, it would put them in danger."
"They're not my friends; I just thought we shared similar experiences," she said, her tone soft. She had already begun to trust Robert, sensing his genuine intentions after regaining her abilities. She could not directly read his mind, but she could tell he harbored no malice toward her.
"All right then, let's get going." Robert smiled and, with a single thought, shattered the surrounding glass containers. The aliens, stacked together in a strange, tangled heap, still lay unconscious. "Hold onto my arm. I'll get you all out of here."
"Okay." The little Martian placed her hand on his arm, and in an instant, every lifeform within the Collector's base vanished.
"What the—?!" A shocked expletive rang out on Xandar as Nova Corps Commander found himself staring at the sudden appearance of a pile of unconscious aliens. The Martian was the only one awake among them, and the commander had nearly mistaken them for corpses raining down from above.
"Sorry for the surprise. I didn't mean to frighten you," Robert said with a slight grin. "But of all the people I remember from Xandar, you're the one with the strongest energy."
With Star-Lord and his team away, Robert had no other contacts on Xandar, so he'd transported the group directly to the Nova Corps Commander, whom he'd briefly encountered before. With so many unconscious aliens in tow, appearing on the streets would have caused a serious commotion among the Xandarians.
"Oh, no problem at all!" the Nova Corps Commander said, his expression quickly shifting to one of forced cheer. He looked uneasily at the slumbering aliens before him and asked cautiously, "So, what's the story with these…? Were you looking for Star-Lord? He left Xandar a while ago…"
"I know he's gone, and he wouldn't have been able to help me with this anyway. I came to see if Xandar could take in these creatures," Robert explained. "They're part of the Collector's collection, mostly survivors of now-extinct species. After killing the Collector, I had nowhere else to bring them, so I thought Xandar might be able to offer them refuge."
"Killed… the Collector?" The Nova Corps Commander's eyes widened in disbelief.
"It happened after I took down Ronan. Once the Kree Empire was dealt with, I finally had time to address these captives," Robert confirmed, nodding. "Xandar is a peaceful world, so I thought it might be a safe place for them. Would you be willing to take them in?"
"Yes, of course!" The Nova Corps Commander immediately agreed, nodding eagerly. Originally, he would have needed permission from Queen Nova, but given the situation, he didn't dare refuse Robert's request. Knowing now that Robert was indeed responsible for the battle that had eradicated the Kree Empire, the Commander felt an overwhelming sense of pressure, even though Robert made no overt threats.
Despite the peaceful appearance, the Commander could clearly sense the formidable power Robert possessed, and he wasn't about to cross someone of such incredible might.
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