NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.

"Okay, this isn't creepy at all," Rocket mumbled as the gang stepped into the buyer's residence, which was an intergalactic museum of some kind.

Exhibit cases of all shapes and sizes contained strange items and creatures. Mikey gasped in shock when he realized that most of the creatures were still alive, moving around in their boxes and staring at the gang as they passed by.

Carina, the pink girl whose master was the buyer, gave them a quick tour. "We house the galaxy's largest collection of fauna, relics, and species of all manner.

A dog wearing an astronaut's suit and helmet growled at Rocket from inside his case. The raccoon growled back as he walked by, but Mikey stopped to look at the pooch and pressed his hands against the glass.

"Awwww, hey there, buddy!" he tapped on the glass and smiled at the dog. "Who's a good boy?" The dog wagged his tail and gave the Turtle a friendly bark.

"Come on," Quill grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him away from the case. "We're not here to sightsee."

Carina led them to a white-haired man wearing a fur cape. He had his back to them as he continued to inspect some relics with a special pair of goggles. Carina stopped to face the group and gestured to the man behind her. "I present to you Taneleer Tivan, the Collector."

At Carina's announcement, Tivan slowly turned around and revealed himself to them. He removed his goggles and approached Gamora, taking her hand and kissing it in a gentlemanly manner. "Oh, my dear Gamora. How wonderful to meet in the flesh."

Gamora rolled her eyes. "Let's bypass the formalities, Tivan. We have what we discussed."

But Tivan didn't seem to be listening to her as his eyes were focused entirely on Groot. "What...is that...thing...there?"

"I Am Groot," Groot answered.

Tivan slowly walk toward Groot, fascinated by the tree creature. "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."

Mikey stared at the Collector, not sure if he heard him right. "Dude. That's just creepy."

Groot, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by that at all and shrugged. "I Am Groot."

Rocket scoffed. "Why? So he could turn you into a frickin' chair?"

"That's your pet?" Tivan asked Groot as he nodded to the raccoon.

"His WHAT?!" An infuriated Rocket reached for his gun, but Mikey quickly stopped him.

"Dude, do not provoke him," Mikey warned Tivan. "He's still sobering up."

Tivan only chuckled, amused by the tempered raccoon's reaction.

Gamora stepped in between Tivan and Rocket. "Tivan," she sternly said. "We have been halfway around the galaxy, retrieving this Orb."

The Collector nodded. "Very well, then. Let us see what you brought."

Gamora nodded at Quill, who pulled the Orb from out of his bag and held it out to Tivan...only to drop it. With his ninja reflexes, Mikey was able to catch it before it hit the ground and handed it to Tivan.

The Collector gingerly held the Orb in his hands and studied it as he walked to a table. "Fascinating," he murmured.

"So, uh, why do you collect so much stuff?" Mikey asked him out of curiosity.

"Why does one create a piece of art?" Tivan asked him in turn as he carefully placed the Orb in a device with two mechanical claws. "Or compose music? Each and every one of us has a hobby of our own. Collecting is simply mine."

Mikey looked around at all the creatures that were contained in cases. "Well, cards and stamps I can totally understand, but...even people?"

"Oh, believe me when I tell you," Tivan chuckled creepily, "they're much better off here than anywhere else in the galaxy."

The young Turtle noticed a young pink girl like Carina who was also in a case. She seemed awfully lonely, kneeling inside that glass box with downcast eyes. He instantly felt sympathy for her and the rest of the incarcerated creatures. "Not so sure about that, dude," he somberly muttered.

Tivan didn't hear him, though, too fascinated with the Orb as the claws began to dissemble it. "Oh, my new friends. Before creation itself, there were six singularities." As he continued to tell the story, a hologram of connected circles appeared all around the group, and each circle projected a distinct image and memory. "Then the universe exploded into existence, and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots...Infinity Stones."

A tiny but very bright purple light emitted from inside the Orb as the claws continued to work.

"These stones, it seems, could only be brandished by beings of extraordinary strength. Observe." He pointed to one of the circles, which showed a giant in full body armor chasing after a fleeing group of people with a staff in his hand. "These carriers can use the Stone to mow down the entire civilization like wheat in a field."

The giant in the projection tapped the ground with his staff, and the moment it did, a great wave of purple engery consumed the entire planet, destroying every living thing on it. Like wheat in a field, as Tivan put it.

Normally, Mikey would've said something like, "Holy Chalupa" or "Holy Pepperoni," but he was too stunned to even say a word and could only stare at the image with his mouth agape and his eyes widened.

Quill was just as horrified as he was. "There's a little pee coming out of me right now," he whimpered.

"Once, for a moment, a group was able to share the energy amongst themselves, but even they were quickly destroyed by it." Another circle showed a group of cloaked figures, who all burst into purple flames under the overwhelming power of the Stone.

Finally, the Orb had completely opened, revealing the tiny but supposedly very powerful Infinity Stone. Tivan shuddered with ectasy as he beheld its beauty. "Oh...beautiful. Beyond compare."

"Blah blah blah!" Rocket impatiently scorned. "We're all very fascinated, whitey, but we'd like to get paid!

The holographic circles disappeared as Tivan moved to another table. "And how would you like to get paid?" he asked.

"What do you think, fancy man?" Rocket snapped. "Units!"

"Very well, then," Tivan opened a drawer and reached his hand in when he looked up and saw something that made him blanch. "Carina..."

Everyone turned around to see Carina slowly moving toward the Stone, mesmerized by it. Mikey instantly got a bad feeling.

"Stand back," Tivan calmly yet sternly ordered the girl.

But Carina only glared at him defiantly. "I will no longer be your slave!" she angrily yelled right before she reached for the Stone.

"NO!"

The moment her hand clasped around the tiny Stone, balls of purple fire shot out and flew everywhere, obliterating everything they came into contact with. Everyone instantly duck and covered, and Mikey crawled on the floor alongside Rocket.

"AAAAAHH! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Mikey screamed as the explosions got more intense. Then he felt someone swiftly pick him up and carry him towards the exit. He looked up and saw Groot, who had tucked both him and Rocket under his arms.

As they ran outside, they could feel the heat of the flames that were about to consume them. All three screamed as Groot took a great leap alway from the blast, which thankfully stopped right before it could reach them. Once the flames had died down and the explosions stopped, they stood back up and coughed from all the smoke.

"Holy sh**...!" Rocket gasped as he brushed all the soot off his outfit then looked over at Mikey. "Hey. You okay, kid?"

"Yeah," Mikey coughed, with Groot gently slapping his shell to help him. "Where...where's Quill and Gamora?"

"I dunno," Rocket's head turned in the direction of the museum. "Hopefully they're not toast."

Worried about his friends, Mikey went to go look for them. "Come on!" he called out to Groot and Rocket, gesturing for them to follow. When they got to the front entrance of the bar, both Quill and Gamora were walking out of there unharmed, much to Mikey's tremendous relief.

But then he saw that Gamora was holding the Orb in her hand and began to stammer in disbelief. "Wh-Wh-What-?! Why do you-?!"

"What do you still have it for?!" Rocket finished for him.

"Well, what were we gonna do, leave it in there?" Quill defended.

"I can't believe you had THAT in your purse!"

"It's not a purse! It's a knapsack!"

"Yeah, dude!" Mikey agreed. "It's a man-purse!"

Quill shot the young Turtle an indignant look.

"We have to bring this to the Nova Corps," Gamora declared. "There's a chance they can contain it."

"Are you kidding me?!" Rocket incredulously questioned. "We're wanted by the Nova Corps! Just give it to Ronan!"

"So he can destroy the galaxy?!" Quill argued.

"What are you, some saint all of a sudden? What has the galaxy ever done for you? Why would you wanna save it?"

"Because I'm one of the idiots who lives in it!"

"Look," Mikey interjected, "I dunno who this Ronan guy is, but he sounds like bad news to me. So I'm gonna have to agree with Quill on this one."

"Yeah, you would agree with him," Rocket glared up at him. "Tree-hugger."

Groot was offended by Rocket's remark and huffed. "I Am Groot."

"Oh, come on!" Mikey whined. "You're not still mad about that, are you?!"

Rocket snorted. "Mad? No! Why would I be mad about you publicly humiliating me?!"

"I didn't mean to, dude!"

"Sure you didn't!"

"ENOUGH!" Gamora angrily yelled, catching their attention. She then turned to Quill. "Peter, listen to me, we cannot allow the Stone to fall into Ronan's hands. We have to go back to your ship and deliver it to Nova."

Quill nodded, patting the Orb in her hand. "Right, right, okay. I think you're right. OR...we could give it to somebody who's not going to arrest us, who's really nice, for a whole lot of money."

Gamora looked at him in disgust and backed away from him.

"I think it's a really good balance between both of your points of view," Quill reasoned, trying to appease her.

But Gamora wouldn't hear any more of it. "You're despicable. Dishonorable. FAITHLESS!" She started to storm away when she stopped dead in her tracks, looking up at the sky. "Oh, no..."

Mikey followed her gaze and saw an entire fleet of ships hovering over the city. In the middle of the street, Drax stood with his knives raised and laughed. "At last! I shall meet my foe and destroy him!"

"You called Ronan?!" Quill yelled to him as the leading ship landed.

Just then, a blue-skinned man with a red Mohawk-like thing on his head pushed his way through the crowd. "QUILL! Don't you move, boy!" he shouted in a Southern accent.

"You know that guy?" Mikey asked Quill, but the human ignored him and ran straight toward a small station where some mining pods were docked. The others followed him and jumped into their own pods, except Groot and Mikey, neither of whom knew how to fly a ship. Groot tried to hop in which Rocket, but the raccoon wouldn't let him.

"I told you, you can't fit," Rocket told him. "Now wait here. I'll be back."

As Rocket's pod took off, Groot looked down at Mikey for any suggestions on what to do next. The Turtle shrugged his shoulders in response. Now he really wished that he took those free flying lessons from Fugitoid.

Then, in the midst of the panicking crowd, Mikey spotted someone awfully familiar. A turtle humanoid with a tattered orange bandana over his mouth was carrying a large sack over his shoulder.

Mikey's eyes widened in shock when he realized who it was. "Hey...HEY! That's him!" He pointed to where the alien turtle stood. "Groot! That's the guy who framed me!" He sprinted toward the thief and pulled his grappling hook out. "HEY, YOU!"

The turtle turned his head and his yellow-green eyes widened as he instantly recognized Mikey. Dropping the heavy bag, he made a run for it, frantically shoving people aside.

Mikey glared ahead at the fleeing criminal and picked up the pace. No. Not again. This time he was going to capture the rock-stealing reptile and make him pay for his crimes. He never even noticed the battle that was taking place in the sky.

The turtle ran to a building and climbed up the latter with Mikey following close behind him. He made it to the rooftop and started to run, but then the string of the grappling hook wrapped around his legs and he tripped, falling flat on his face.

Growling, Mikey stomped toward the thief and lifted him off the floor. "I was thrown in jail because of you!" he angrily shouted as he got nose to nose with the scared criminal.

"L-Look," the turtle gulped. "It wasn't personal or anything. It's just, you know...every turtle for himself."

Mikey sneered at the pathetic coward. "Oh, that's rich," he hissed. He wanted so badly to punch this jerk in the face but refrained from doing so. After all, he was the better man- er, Turtle.

Just then he spotted something over the turtle's shoulder in the distance. He squinted his eyes and could make out Drax's grey muscular body being dragged across the street by some other guy. He gasped in horror when Drax was tossed onto a pool of yellow liquid. "DRAX!"

He had a decision to make: to either turn this lowlife in to the Nova Corps and clear his name, or to let him go so that he could save Drax.

However, it didn't take Mikey more than two seconds to make his decision and he shoved the turtle aside to go rescue his friend. The moment he was released, the criminal made a run for it.

Mikey ran as fast as he could, praying that Drax hadn't drowned by now. When he finally got there, a very tall man wearing a cowl over his head slowly turned to face him. His face was blue-skinned and black paint ran down his cheeks, chin, and neck. And those eyes...so cold and predatory, much like the Shredder's.

His mere presence gave Mikey the chills. This had to be the infamous Ronan whom Drax was pursuing, the one who killed his family. For a moment, the two only stared at each other before Mikey snapped himself out of it and ran right past Ronan to get to Drax. He dived straight into the pool and swam after the sinking warrior, grabbing him and pulling him back to safety.

Thankfully, when they resurfaced, Ronan was no longer there. Drax was incredibly heavy and it was very difficult for Mikey to pull him out of the pool. Once he set the unconscious warrior down on the dry ground, he began to slap his face, attempting to wake him up.

"Drax! Drax, come on, bro! Wake up!"

But no matter how hard Mikey slapped, Drax would not open his eyes.

"Come on, dude!" Mikey begged. "Please don't make me do mouth-to-mouth!" When he saw that he had no other choice, he sighed in defeat and took a deep breath, preparing to perform CPR on Drax.

"I Am Groot?"

Mikey whipped his head around and was relieved to see Groot standing behind him. "Groot! Boy, am I glad to see you! You know how to do CPR, right?"

Groot knelt beside him and over Drax, forming a long thorn from out of his finger and suddenly stabbing Drax in the chest with it.

Mikey's jaw dropped. Did Groot seriously just kill Drax? "DUDE! WHAT ARE-?!"

Yellow liquid squirted from out Drax's puncture wound and Drax finally awoke, coughing and spitting out more liquid. He wheezed as he inhaled and both Groot and Mikey helped him to sit upright.

"Take it easy, Drax," Mikey soothingly told him. "We're here for you, bro."

At that moment, a mining pod came crashing down in front of them, and Mikey prepared himself for battle. But he sighed in relief when the door slid open and Rocket climbed out, cursing and grumbling.

"Blasted idiot!" the raccoon grunted as he landed on his feet. "They're all idiots!"

Mikey noticed that Quill and Gamora weren't with him and began to fear the worse. "Rocket, where's Gamora and Quill?"

"Quill just got himself captured!"

Mikey's heart instantly dropped. "And Gamora...?"

"She got captured, too! And you know what's worse?! Ronan's got the Stone now!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Mikey grabbed the sides of his head in panic.

"I wish I were!" Rocket then looked directly at Drax. "None of this ever would have happened if you didn't try to singe-handedly take on a frickin' army!"

Instead of retorting like he usually would, Drax merely nodded. "You're right," he softly said with guilt and remorse in his voice. He looked down at the ground ashamed. "I was a fool. All that anger...all that rage...was just to cover my loss."

Mikey's heart ached for the grieving father and widower. He knew all too well what it was like to lose a loved one and to feel the strong urge to take revenge, even though it wasn't in his nature. He knew that Drax was good-natured, but loss can drive anyone over the edge and make them do things they normally wouldn't.

Groot, too, felt sympathy for Drax and gently touched his shoulder. Mikey glanced over at Rocket and thought that the softened look on the raccoon's face was one of sympathy, too.

He quickly learned that he couldn't have been more wrong.

"Oh, boo-hoo-hoo! 'My wife and child are dead!'" Rocket cruelly mocked Drax.

Mikey stared wide-eyed at him while Groot gasped loudly and clamped a hand over his mouth in shock.

"Oh, I don't care if it's mean!" Rocket snapped. "EVERYBODY'S got dead people! It's no excuse to get everybody else dead along the way!"

Although Mikey understood what Rocket was saying, he was still infuriated by that remark the raccoon spat at Drax. "That's not mean, Rocket," he tried to be as calm and collected as he could be. "That's just downright cruel."

"Yeah? Well, the truth can be cruel!" Rocket retorted. "I ain't cruel! I'm just realistic, maybe a little too pessimistic, I'll admit! The problem with you is that you just can't seem to grow up! You think life's all about happiness and friendship and all that jazz! You've never had it rough like I did! 'Cause if you did, then you certainly wouldn't be the starry-eyed, soft Turtle that you are now!"

Finally, Mikey couldn't take Rocket's attitude anymore and stood up, slowly walking towards the raccoon. "Rocket, you think I asked to be a mutant? You don't think it hurts every time someone calls me a monster? Or a freak?"

Rocket sighed tiredly and rubbed his forehead. "Alright, look, kid-"

"I'm not finished," Mikey hissed, shutting Rocket up. "You think I asked to be thrown in jail for something I didn't even do?" His voice started to rise and tremble with growing anger as he continued. "You think I asked to go on this stupid trip across the universe? You think I asked the Triceratons to suck my planet into a black hole?!" His hands clenched into fists at his sides and he screamed at Rocket, his blue eyes welling with tears. "YOU THINK I ASKED THE SHREDDER TO KILL MY DAD?!"

Rocket looked up at him stunned, not expecting this kind of outburst from the normally happy go-lucky Turtle. Even Drax was surprised, instantly snapping out of his depression. Groot only looked at his young friend with sad dark eyes.

Mikey took a couple of deep shaky breaths before he spoke again in a much calmer but still very bitter voice. "I probably have the worst luck out of all of you combined, but you don't hear me insulting people and making fun of their feelings, do you? Just because you've had it rough doesn't give you an excuse to act like a big jerk."

For a moment, the raccoon seemed to feel guilty about what he said. But, being the stubborn and prideful person that he was, he quickly shrugged it off. "Come on, Groot. Ronan has the Stone. The only chance we got is to get to the other side of the universe as fast as we can and maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to live full lives before that whack-job ever gets there."

Mikey sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "Fine. I'll go rescue Quill and Gamora by myself if I have to." He turned away from Rocket and was about to walk past Groot when the tree creature stopped him by gently grabbing his shoulder. Mikey looked up at him in surprise and confusion, and Groot smiled down at him before he turned back to Rocket.

"I Am Groot."

"'Save them'?" Rocket repeated. "How?"

"I Am Groot."

Mikey smiled gratefully at Groot. At least he cared about the fate of his friends and the galaxy.

Rocket sighed and shook his head. "I know they're the only friends we ever had, but there's an army of Ravagers around them, and there's only two of us!"

Drax slowly got up and placed his hand on Groot's shoulder. "Three," he corrected Rocket.

Mikey smiled even bigger, overjoyed now that Drax was back on the team. He leaned against Groot and held up two fingers on each hand. "Make that four, dude."

Seeing that he now had no choice but to go after the Ravagers and Ronan, Rocket groaned in frustration and gripped the sides of his head. He turned to a small patch of grass and began to viciously kick it. "You're making...me...beat...up...grass!"

Mikey couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. The raccoon reminded him so much of a certain hotheaded Turtle.