Ch.172 Chaos Magic Intervenes
Two pairs of eyes locked onto Ronan, and then Falcon and Steve Rogers shifted their gaze to Ronan's hands.
In one hand, a burger; in the other, a Coke.
A classic Burger King combo.
"Uh... let me explain."
"I got hungry from the fight earlier, so I had my clone take over for a bit."
"I didn't expect him to do something so shameless."
Ronan awkwardly took a sip of his Coke.
Hmm, tastes good...
Wait, no!
He decided he would definitely give his clone a good talking-to when he got back.
Playing dead, being dramatic—fine, but how could you say something like "transfer the money to the Ancient One's account"?
This is my hard-earned money!
So when the clone said that, Ronan, halfway through his burger, had to step in to uphold justice!
Ronan would never allow such a drama queen to mess with his cash cow—no, his comrades!
Yeah, that's right, comrades!
After hearing Ronan's explanation, Steve Rogers instinctively looked down at his arms.
When his gaze shifted there, the Ronan who had been on the verge of death just moments ago was now grinning at him.
The moment their eyes met, the clone winked at Steve Rogers with his right eye.
And then, he vanished!
Steve Rogers raised his left hand, the blood that had stained it from covering Ronan's wound had also disappeared.
Even the faint smell of blood was gone.
Feeling the memories transmitted by the clone, Ronan couldn't help but shiver.
F***!
Was his clone some kind of... you know?
"Uh... Steve, you know, magic is full of all sorts of weird things. No one can really predict it."
"Stuff like this is pretty common in the magic world."
"So you'll get used to it eventually."
Ronan took a bite of his burger, comforting Steve Rogers, while silently giving props to this Burger King.
They're pretty generous with the sauce, much better than a certain Colonel's place.
"F***!"
"Clones? Not ghosts?"
At this moment, Falcon seemed to remember something, looking at Ronan in disbelief.
No one knew how he managed to think of that in this atmosphere.
Shouldn't they be condemning Ronan for wasting their emotions right now?
"Don't worry about the details. What's the situation now?"
"I feel like we can wrap things up, right?"
Ronan awkwardly changed the subject, trying to brush past the issue.
Seeing Ronan perfectly fine, Steve Rogers couldn't help but sigh.
Alright, as long as he's alive.
It's a good thing Steve Rogers is so easygoing. If it were Tony Stark, he'd probably be fighting Ronan right now!
"I think I've figured it out. His regenerative ability comes at the cost of his body shrinking."
"After your... clone's attack, even though he's still healing quickly, his height and build are now closer to a normal person's."
Steve Rogers glanced into the distance.
At this moment, the giant was slowly climbing out of the crater.
Wait, no—he couldn't be called a giant anymore, as he now stood at around 1.8 meters tall, and the bulging muscles on his body had completely disappeared.
Although there were no obvious wounds on him.
Steve Rogers could clearly see the man's labored breathing.
This was something they had never seen before.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
The man's chest heaved rapidly, and the terrifying appearance he once had was completely gone.
In its place was a frail body.
You could even count his ribs from the side.
It looked like if Ronan made him ride the "elevator" one more time, he'd be done for.
Ronan stepped forward, finishing the last bite of his burger, then crumpled the wrapper and tossed it aside.
A portal opened, and the wrapper flew straight into an unknown trash bin.
The only ones harmed were the stray cats and dogs rummaging through the bin for food.
"Let's start round two."
"I'll try not to kill you, since you're worth $100,000."
Ronan took a sip of his Coke and raised his right hand again.
Red energy whips emerged from behind Ronan, one after another, lunging toward the man.
If they could tie him up, he'd definitely be taking that elevator ride!
However, to Ronan's surprise, just as the energy whips were about to touch the man, a terrifying burst of energy erupted from his body!
The energy directly repelled Ronan's energy whips!
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed.
The energy whips were shattered by the force of the energy.
Ronan also lost control of the energy whips.
Seeing the red energy suddenly surge from the man's body, Ronan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
He wasn't actually surprised that the energy whips were destroyed.
After all, this move wasn't exactly top-tier magic in Kamar-Taj's arsenal.
His enhancement simply turned it from a manual operation to a mental one.
The strength of the move hadn't changed.
What surprised him was the red energy.
It felt... familiar.
With his perception, he felt like he'd encountered this kind of energy before.
But before Ronan could recall where, the man was instantly enveloped by the red energy, and a piercing scream rang out.
The man, wrapped in red energy, shot into the sky like a rocket.
The speed was so fast that even Ronan didn't have time to react.
By the time Steve Rogers and Falcon caught up, all they got was a face full of exhaust.
"What just happened?"
Falcon looked at the sky, where the man had already disappeared, feeling puzzled.
"What do you think? He ran away."
"If you can't win, you run. Isn't that normal?"
Ronan glanced at Falcon, genuinely feeling that this question was incredibly stupid.
If you can't win and you don't run, but instead keep fighting, isn't that something only an idiot would do?
And this guy doesn't have any protagonist光环, nor does he have some sudden power-up in desperate situations that multiplies his strength dozens of times.
What does he have to fight Ronan with?
"Is that red stuff Hydra's backup plan?"
Steve Rogers also noticed the red energy.
However, he couldn't quite understand what it was.
"Don't know. All I can say is it's a bit tricky."
"Although I have ways to deal with it, it's not that simple."
Ronan glanced in the direction where the man had disappeared, his face unusually serious.
Because he had just remembered what that red energy was.
Considering the man's identity, he could guess that, like the Winter Soldier, this man was also a soldier created by Hydra.
If it's Hydra, then at this point in time, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver have probably already been created.
So, that red energy must be Scarlet Witch's Chaos Magic.
But what puzzled Ronan was, is Scarlet Witch's Chaos Magic really that powerful?
At least from the movies, it didn't seem that strong.
Screech!
The familiar sound of an American-style emergency brake echoed.
No need to guess, it was definitely the righteous police of America arriving at the scene.
From the explosion until now, about ten to twenty minutes had passed. Ronan was actually surprised they got here so quickly.
"Captain, didn't expect to see you again."
Unexpectedly, the person leading the team was George Stacy.
As the chief of the NYPD, he usually wouldn't personally lead a team to a scene like this.
The only possible reason was that this was something akin to a terrorist attack.
Though, thinking about it, what just happened wasn't much different from a terrorist attack.
"George, long time no see."
Steve Rogers smiled, slinging his shield onto his back.
"Honestly, I'd rather not see you."
"Because if I don't see you, it means New York hasn't been invaded by aliens or something."
George Stacy shrugged, half-jokingly.
In a way, he wasn't wrong. After all, whenever these superheroes show up, something's bound to go wrong.
Like not long ago, when S.H.I.E.L.D.—no, Hydra's headquarters—was destroyed. George Stacy was absolutely exhausted.
From high-speed chases to gunfights, and even bombs!
Just when things had calmed down after that lizard guy was caught, something like this had to happen again!
"We've handled most of the trouble. There's just a little bit left..."
Steve Rogers glanced around, feeling a bit embarrassed after saying "a little bit."
The entire alley had been flattened, not to mention all the craters on the ground.
"I'm used to cleaning up these messes."
"Alright, you guys go handle your business. We'll take care of the rest..."
George Stacy scanned the group, his gaze lingering on Ronan for a second.
No need to guess, this guy wasn't Tony Stark but his future son-in-law.
Ugh.
Well, his daughter's current boyfriend.
Steve Rogers nodded gratefully, then gestured to Ronan and Falcon.
Falcon took a few steps forward, standing beside Steve Rogers.
Meanwhile, a portal appeared in front of Ronan.
"Need a ride?"
"There's also a package you need to sign for."
Ronan smiled.
After all, he'd just made $150,000 off them. Providing door-to-door service was only natural.
Steve Rogers was about to decline, but when Ronan mentioned the "package," he remembered the Winter Soldier Ronan had taken away.
"Alright."
With that, Steve Rogers stepped into the portal first.
Falcon, however, looked at the portal with suspicion, then glanced at Ronan.
His meaning was clear: Is this thing really going to teleport me?
Ronan simply tilted his head toward the portal, his meaning equally clear: If you don't believe me, try it.
So, with that in mind, Falcon also stepped into the portal.
Seeing both of them go through, Ronan opened his mask and nodded at George Stacy.
After all, he's his future father-in-law. It's only polite to say hello.
Seeing Ronan open his mask to greet him, George Stacy's expression softened, and he nodded back.
Considering how polite this kid is, next week when Gwen goes to his place, he'll just pretend he doesn't know.
As Ronan stepped through the portal, he had no idea about the complex thoughts running through George Stacy's mind in that moment.
Right now, he, Steve Rogers, and Falcon were standing in front of the unconscious Winter Soldier.
And this place was Peter Parker's "secret base."
Ronan had borrowed it for a bit.
He'd just pay some rent later.
"Alright, your package is right here. Take him away."
"Don't forget to transfer the money to my account."
Ronan clapped his hands, job done.
Picking up an extra $50,000 along the way—today's luck wasn't bad.
Looking at the Winter Soldier lying on the ground, Steve Rogers' face showed a mix of joy and sorrow.
He was happy to see his friend again, but sad that his friend was still under Hydra's control.
Falcon, on the other hand, looked around curiously, while a screen on his wrist displayed his current location.
The portal was real!
"Ronan, we need one more favor."
"Can you send us to the Avengers' base? I'm worried Hydra might intercept us if we take Bucky with us."
Steve Rogers said.
Although he wasn't afraid of Hydra, he wanted his friend to recover as soon as possible.
He didn't want any mishaps along the way.
Ronan shrugged and waved his hand, opening another portal.
Falcon curiously peered through the portal.
On the other side was the familiar Avengers' base.
"Door-to-door service, knock out and free delivery."
"My service is always top-notch. Avengers, feel free to come back anytime."
Ronan said with a smile.
Steve Rogers nodded, hoisting the Winter Soldier onto his shoulder. Just as he was about to step through the portal, a sound came from nearby.
Crack.
The sound of a glass breaking.
Everyone turned toward the source of the sound.
Even Falcon assumed a fighting stance.
There stood Peter Parker, backpack on, one hand holding a key, the other clutching something invisible, frozen in place.
Oh, it was probably the glass he just broke.
"You... you... you... you..."
Peter Parker stammered, his tone clearly showing how shocked he was.
Ronan, standing to the side, twitched his lips.
He hadn't expected Peter Parker to show up at this moment.
What's more, if he remembered correctly, Peter Parker was a huge fan of Captain America, right?
"Are you... Captain America?"
"I'm your biggest fan!!!"