Marvel: You Call This A Sorcerer?

After saying this, Ronan waved at the still-stunned Tony Stark 2 and stepped into the portal.

The portal closed, and Ronan's figure disappeared.

However, Tony Stark was still lost in thought, unable to process what had just happened.

"Hey! Hey!"

"Tony, they've all gone downstairs!"

"We need to get back to our mission!!"

At that moment, Scott Lang's voice snapped Tony out of his daze.

He was currently hiding in Tony Stark 1's hair.

"Friday?"

"Did he just say Friday?"

Tony Stark looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Friday was the second AI system he developed and was now his assistant.

Ever since Jarvis merged with Vision and became more human, Friday had taken Jarvis's place.

Yet, that young man had just mentioned Friday's name.

Tony found it hard to believe this was a coincidence.

"Stop thinking about that. Our mission is to get the Tesseract."

"They're about to leave!"

Scott Lang was clearly the only one still focused on the task at hand.

After all, one Tony was locked in a battle with himself, and the other was questioning everything.

So Scott had to stay sharp.

Hearing this, Tony, who had been lost in shock, took a deep breath and buried his doubts.

"Cap, how's it going on your end?"

Tony touched his earpiece and spoke softly.

"Huff…"

"I've dealt with… myself."

"How about you?"

Steve Rogers' breathless voice came through the earpiece.

Clearly, something intense had just occurred between the two Steves.

"We're ready…"

"Let's begin the plan!"

...

Stark Tower, Ground Floor.

By now, quite a few people had gathered on the first floor.

Besides Black Widow and a few others, several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were present to handle the handoff.

Leading them was the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Alexander Pierce, the mentor of current director Nick Fury and a secret leader of Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D.

Standing not far away, Ronan was dressed in a black suit, his face mostly hidden behind black sunglasses.

He looked very much like a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

However, the faint smile at the corner of his mouth betrayed him.

The idea that a high-ranking Hydra agent was the mentor to the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was ridiculous.

Especially now, as the Avengers were about to hand over two Infinity Stones to them.

The thought was amusing.

But regardless, Ronan had already activated the recording mode.

Even though Tony Stark 2 knew everything, Tony Stark 1, who was about to meet Alexander Pierce, had no idea.

Ronan was eagerly looking forward to the day when Tony Stark 1 would discover the truth. When he revealed this video, what kind of expression would Tony have?

The thought alone was thrilling!

With that in mind, Ronan glanced at a security guard who was nervously looking around.

No doubt, that guard was Tony Stark 2 in disguise.

Sure enough, jumping down from the roof was much faster than taking the elevator.

"Ahem… ahem…"

As Tony Stark 2 approached Ronan, he suddenly heard two coughs.

The sound startled Tony, making him jump.

A typical guilty reaction, and Ronan barely managed to hold back his laughter.

At this moment, the elevator lights came on again, and finally, after a long wait, Tony Stark 1 arrived.

"Scott, the target's here."

"It's all up to you now."

Disguised as a security guard, Tony Stark 2 muttered to himself.

Unseen by everyone, Scott Lang slipped into Tony Stark 1's chest reactor.

Tony Stark 1 had just been stopped by Alexander Pierce.

The show was about to begin.

As the group started arguing, Scott Lang completed his mission.

A sudden power failure caused Tony Stark 1 to convulse, and the box he was holding fell to the ground.

The unexpected mishap threw everyone into a panic.

Except for Loki, who noticed the box sliding away on its own.

Tony Stark 2 quickly moved forward, picked up the box, and prepared to leave.

Ronan didn't make any attempt to stop him.

From the start, he had no intention of stopping Tony 2 from taking the box.

He was curious to see what would happen if Tony Stark never met his father or heard Howard Stark's words. Would the future unfold differently?

In Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark sacrificed his life to snap the Infinity Gauntlet and save everyone.

But given Tony's personality and his devotion to his daughter, such a selfless act seemed unlikely.

The only thing that influenced him was that fateful meeting in 1970 New Jersey.

That same trip also inspired Steve Rogers to retire and live out his life with Peggy Carter.

If none of that had happened, how would things turn out?

So, Ronan chose to stay on the sidelines.

However, something happened that even Ronan hadn't anticipated.

Just as Hulk, who had already gone downstairs and even left Stark Tower, suddenly smashed through a window.

His foot kicked a piece of debris straight into Tony Stark 2's chest.

Bang!

"Hulk feels too noisy!"

With a roar from Hulk, the box flew through the air in a perfect arc, landing heavily on the ground.

The glowing blue Tesseract "coincidentally" fell right at Loki's feet.

Seeing this, Ronan narrowed his eyes.

The will of the universe?

Or something else?

Or maybe it was just another pure coincidence?

He glanced at the ceiling, as if looking through the building and up at the sky.

But he didn't hesitate, and a small portal appeared at his right hand.

Nearby, Loki had already picked up the Tesseract.

He never expected a hand to quietly rest on his shoulder at that moment.

Whoosh!

With a swirl of distorted space, Ronan was whisked away by Loki to a desert.

Loki, too, had landed.

"Who are you?"

Clearly, the first thing Loki noticed upon landing was Ronan.

Ronan didn't immediately answer but instead surveyed his surroundings.

If he was right, it wouldn't be long before those who called themselves the "Time Variance Authority" would arrive, right?

Sure enough, before Loki could ask a second question, a portal appeared in front of them.

Several people, dressed like SWAT officers, stepped through the portal.

Ronan couldn't help but smirk.

"Those uniforms really are ugly…"