Thanos, at this moment, was blissfully unaware that Ronan had already set his sights on his weapon.
He was too absorbed in delivering his grandiose speech.
Perhaps he had never heard the age-old villain's wisdom: "Villains die because they talk too much."
This gave Steve Rogers and the others a brief chance to catch their breath.
Even though Thanos had summoned his army.
Had he charged in and dealt with Steve Rogers and the others immediately, his fate might have been different.
At least in the ensuing battle, he wouldn't have had to face so many powerful superheroes.
Soon enough, Thanos's forces began pouring out from his ship, wave after wave, leaving Scott Lang and the others wide-eyed.
"You've got to be kidding me," War Machine swallowed nervously, clearly not used to such a large-scale battle.
Thanos's army was impressively balanced, with ground and air forces coordinating seamlessly.
Aside from the infantry, there were armored gorillas and the flying leviathans Ronan had just seen.
Yes, the same ones Loki used during the invasion of Earth.
And yes, the same ones Hulk took out with a single punch.
Little did Thanos know, from Ronan's perspective, these were not armies, but walking treasure troves of EXP.
"Please tell me we have backup too," Rocket asked, looking to the others for confirmation.
However, no one answered his question.
Backup?
They were the last of the reinforcements.
"Someone's coming," Ronan suddenly said as the group began to despair.
He had sensed the spatial disturbance from the Interdimensional Portal.
Before Bruce Banner could ask, a familiar voice came through their earpieces.
"Cap, can you hear me?" the voice belonged to Falcon, the future Captain America.
Of course, with the "right credentials," you're halfway there.
Steve Rogers, who had been on the verge of hopelessness, froze in disbelief.
"On your left," Falcon's voice came through again.
It was the same phrase Steve used to taunt Falcon every time they ran together, always passing him by and leaving that line behind.
Every time, it broke Falcon's spirit just a little.
Now, Falcon had his own little moment of revenge.
As soon as the words left Falcon's mouth, the light of the Portal appeared on Steve Rogers's left.
Emerging from the portal, dressed in his Black Panther suit, was T'Challa, the Black Panther.
Behind him were thousands upon thousands of Wakandan warriors.
Steve Rogers, breathing heavily, watched in awe as Falcon flew out from the portal.
Seeing his long-lost comrade return after so many years, a flood of emotions surged through him, leaving him at a loss for words.
Then, more and more Portals opened behind Steve Rogers.
The next to appear was Doctor Strange, who had been stranded on Titan.
Following him were the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Among them was none other than Star-Lord, who had a significant role in Avengers: Endgame.
It seemed like he was truly invested in the movie's box office success.
"Oh? So that's the sorcerer?" Scott Lang said, spotting Doctor Strange.
"Yeah, that's Stephen Strange. The one who disappeared after the last battle with Thanos," Bruce Banner nodded, feeling a surge of pride.
They weren't fighting alone!
Earth had its own army too!
"Wow, so there's no power struggle between you guys, right?" Scott Lang whispered to Ronan.
"You know, like in those Eastern stories where successors fight to the death?" he added.
Ronan rolled his eyes. A power struggle?
Scott was thinking too much.
Had Ronan not been distracted by school, he would've crushed Strange long ago.
So... why was he still in school again?
As they chatted, more troops emerged from the portals.
Valkyrie led the Asgardians, while Wong led the army of Kamar-Taj sorcerers.
There were also some heavy hitters, like Scarlet Witch, who had a personal vendetta against Thanos.
Yeah... avenging a husband's death.
Especially after Scarlet Witch had killed Vision herself, only to watch him be revived and then killed again by Thanos.
It was a blood feud, to say the least.
"Alright, guys, it's showtime!" Scott Lang said as he grew to giant size, transporting the others to the center of the battlefield.
As for Ronan...
He had already made his way to the ranks of the sorcerers.
As soon as he landed, he heard Doctor Strange's voice.
"Is this it?"
"Why, you think this isn't enough?" Wong responded, a bit surprised at Strange's question. Just as he spoke, Ronan threw an arm around his shoulder.
Though Wong was broad, Ronan barely managed to reach around him.
Still, it got the point across.
"Hey! Wong!" Ronan said cheerfully, giving Wong's shoulder a pat.
Ronan was certainly in a good mood. After all, he had not only gotten a free spell from Wong, but also swiped an apple and a chair from him.
Though he did feel just a little guilty about that.
"Ronan, you're here too?"
"Don't tell me... my favorite chair was taken by you?" Wong asked, turning to Ronan with an expression that said he already knew the answer.
Clearly, among all the Avengers, only Ronan had the ability to sneak into Kamar-Taj and take something without being noticed.
"Haha, it's just a chair," Ronan laughed, trying to brush off the conversation.
Little did he know that it was Wong's favorite chair.
Had he known...
Well, he probably still would've taken it.
"Ahem."
"Sorry to interrupt," Doctor Strange cut in, his tone curious.
"Wong, is this your new friend?"
For some reason, Ronan could almost smell the scent of jealousy in the air.
Maybe someone had knocked over a bottle of vinegar near the portal.
Was it Wakanda? Or Asgard?
Surely it couldn't have been someone from Kamar-Taj?
"Uh…"
Before Wong could introduce him, Ronan stepped forward with his hand extended.
"Nice to meet you," he said. "I'm Ronan, the next Sorcerer Supreme from a parallel universe."
"And, of course, a good friend of Wong's."
Doctor Strange looked at Ronan's outstretched hand and the bright smile on his face with a mix of confusion and amusement.
He glanced at Wong, who seemed unsure how to explain the situation.
Because, technically, Ronan wasn't wrong.
"I assume you're Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer that Wong mentioned earlier..."
"His boss, right?"
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