Marvel: You Call This A Sorcerer?

Ronan's face twisted into an extremely strange expression as he looked at Tony Stark. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Blue eyes?

And a monster with just one face?

Isn't that Dormammu!

Why on Earth is Tony Stark dreaming about Dormammu now?

Could it be that his "sincerity" toward magic moved the heavens, prompting the heavens to send Dormammu to fulfill his wishes?

"Other than this, have you had any other dreams?"

Ronan calmly sipped his coffee, but his mind was racing.

Dormammu.

What's this guy up to with Tony Stark?

And according to Stark, Dormammu keeps telling him to find someone.

He's almost heard the name of this person.

Which means that every night, Dormammu gets a little closer to Tony Stark. So, what's his goal?

To tell Tony Stark the name and lure him into darkness?

Ronan glanced at Tony Stark. He'd have to go back and ask.

"No, it's just this recurring dream," Stark replied.

"But I always get this unsettling feeling, like that face is getting closer and closer to me."

Tony Stark rubbed his temples, visibly exhausted from the ordeal.

That's it, he's doomed. No cure. Just wait for death. Farewell!

Ronan nearly decided to pull a Hua Tuo triple-threat escape plan right then and there.

This is no joke. Hearing Tony Stark's symptoms, Ronan didn't even need to consult the Ancient One to guess what was happening.

It was obvious that Tony Stark had dabbled in black magic somewhere, and Dormammu had taken notice of him.

But seriously, out of all the demons and dark beings out there, how did Stark get so "lucky" as to connect with Dormammu on his first try?

"Well, I'll ask around for you," Ronan said.

"But with a normal person's intelligence, I'm sure you wouldn't recklessly go looking for that individual, right?"

Ronan glanced at Tony Stark, stating plainly what he truly thought.

Anyone who knew Tony Stark's personality understood he was insatiably curious. Whenever he encountered something that piqued his interest or seemed unfathomable, he'd dive in headfirst to investigate.

Perhaps Stark had never heard the saying, curiosity killed the cat?

If it were any other issue, Ronan wouldn't bother intervening.

But this involved Dormammu. There was no way Ronan could let Stark carelessly approach such danger.

So, Ronan directly called out Stark's little schemes.

"Uh... probably not," Tony Stark said, his gaze drifting out the window, a clear sign of guilt.

"Well, whatever. It's none of my business. Just my advice," Ronan said, shrugging.

"I'm just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old high schooler, and even I know that recklessly meddling with unfamiliar things rarely ends well."

Ronan originally wanted to say "dark dimension," but remembering his current persona, he quickly rephrased and almost bit his tongue.

Tony Stark, meanwhile, tugged at the corner of his mouth. He couldn't shake the feeling that Ronan was mocking him but had no evidence to back it up.

So, he pretended he hadn't heard a thing.

"All right. You don't have anything else, do you?"

"If not, I'm leaving."

"See you in New York."

With that, Ronan drained his coffee in one gulp and patted his pockets.

His hand, originally reaching to pay, stopped mid-motion.

"Remember to cover the coffee tab," he said.

With such a wealthy patron here, spending his own money would be foolish.

Plus, it was Tony Stark who had invited him, so Stark should foot the bill anyway.

Tonight, Ronan planned to switch to his main persona and have a proper talk with Tony Stark.

At the very least, he needed to extract the name Dormammu had been trying to convey, then plan his next move.

For now...

Ronan glanced at Tony Stark.

Let him endure this quietly for a few more days.

Tony Stark shrugged, pulled out a few bills from his wallet, and slid them under his cup.

Then the two walked out of the café together.

By now, most of the crowd outside had dispersed.

But a few young people still lingered, snapping pictures of Tony Stark's car with their phones.

It seemed that photographing luxury cars was a universal pastime.

Just like gawking at a spectacle.

Looking at the limited-edition supercar parked by the roadside, Ronan once again resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Freakin' rich guy!

"If you need a flight back, you can contact Stark Industries," Tony Stark said as he opened the car door and got into the driver's seat.

"We have a branch in London that can take you back. Consider it my thanks."

Ronan shook his head. He couldn't possibly take a Stark Industries plane.

Not only was it slow, but his departure time would definitely be monitored by Stark, and possibly even S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra.

He didn't want to deal with any more trouble.

"Do as you please. I've got to go; there's a pile of stuff waiting for me in New York," Ronan replied.

With that, Stark pressed the start button, and the roar of the supercar's engine reverberated.

Ronan patted the car's exterior, about to say something, when he suddenly felt a familiar spatial ripple.

It was as if he had just sensed it an hour ago...

Buzz!

A multicolored light instantly enveloped Ronan, along with Tony Stark sitting in the car.

What the heck?

"Rainbow Bridge?" Tony Stark exclaimed, recognizing the glowing beam.

Ronan took a deep breath. As he was teleported away, he managed to raise a middle finger in frustration.

Freakin' Thor!

Bang! Clang! Boom!

With a cacophony of crashing sounds, the intense sensation of being yanked through space vanished.

Ronan steadied himself and immediately caught sight of a familiar figure—Heimdall.

Of course, standing nearby was Thor.

"What the heck?"

The one who blurted this out wasn't Ronan but Tony Stark, still sitting in what remained of his car.

Oh, correction—what Stark was in could barely be called a car now.

From the windshield forward and the backseat to the tail, everything was gone.

At this moment, Stark was seated in a front-row-only sports car, with no wheels, half a rear seat, and his hands still gripping the steering wheel.

Completely bewildered, Stark stared at Ronan, his memories seemingly stuck on the moment he saw the Rainbow Bridge.

Meanwhile, Ronan discarded the innocent car door he was holding and let out a sigh.

Clang!

The sound of the door hitting the ground jolted Stark. He opened his mouth, about to question what was happening, when the steering wheel, dislodged, fell squarely into his lap.

"Damn it!"

That one expletive replaced everything Stark had wanted to say.

"Hey, brother! It's great to see you!"

Thor spread his arms wide and embraced Ronan enthusiastically.

Ever since their last drinking session, for some reason, Thor's attitude toward Ronan had improved significantly.

This time, they were already on a "brotherly" basis.

"Hey, Tony, good to see you again," Thor greeted, approaching Stark still sitting in the driver's seat.

Though Stark managed a weak smile, his expression clearly reflected his frustration. Nearly losing vital assets was no laughing matter.

"Yeah, Thor, your invitation this time was... quite the surprise," Stark said, stepping out of what remained of his car to give Thor a brief hug.

The two shared a bond forged through life-or-death encounters.

"But why bring along an unrelated high schooler?" Stark asked, wincing from the lingering pain.

"Unrelated?" Thor tilted his head, puzzled by the comment.

Ronan quickly stepped forward to defuse the situation, but—

"Are you talking about Ron—Mr. Fantastic?"

"He's my friend, so I invited him along to help," Thor declared, flashing a proud smile at Ronan.

Seeing Thor's beaming face, Ronan wished he could draw a portal and leave immediately.

I said on Earth to call me Ronan, not Mr. Fantastic.

But this is Asgard!

How did you only remember the latter half and forget the most important context???

"Mr. Fantastic?"

Tony Stark's voice shot up an octave as he turned to look at Thor and then at Ronan, his expression one of utter disbelief.

"Yep, that's the nickname he gave himself. It's not great, but I respect his choice," Thor replied earnestly.

"Oh, and now's not the time to chat—I need your help. Follow me," Thor said, gesturing for them to follow before striding off ahead.

Ronan, his face twitching, slowly turned to Stark, offering him a bright smile.

The feeling of having his cover blown like this was a first for Ronan.

And to describe the sensation?

Hard to say.

"Mr. Fantastic? Really?" Stark asked, staring at Ronan with a mix of confusion, newfound clarity, and irritation, as though piecing everything together.

"Can I just say he mistook me for someone else? Would you believe that?" Ronan asked, sighing and blinking at Stark.

But it was clear that excuse wasn't going to work on Tony Stark.

"Damn it, Mr. Fantastic!!!"

Asgard, within a side hall.

At this moment, Asgard appeared as though it had just weathered a battle. Broken walls and debris were visible everywhere.

Thor and his companions sat around a table, discussing their next steps.

Asgard had recently been invaded by the Dark Elves, an event that had shaken the realm.

To protect Asgard and minimize the collateral damage of war, Thor was determined to come up with another plan.

"Mr. Fantastic? Seriously?"

Sitting beside Ronan, Tony Stark was still fuming.

He couldn't accept that everything he'd been through had been orchestrated by Ronan—a mere high schooler!

A high schooler had played him like a fool.

At one point, Stark had even believed the whole charade. For someone like Tony Stark, this was nothing short of a humiliation.

What made it worse was that Ronan's apparent status seemed incredibly prominent. Many of the soldiers in Asgard ignored Stark entirely but nodded respectfully toward Ronan.

This was something Stark found utterly unacceptable.

He was Iron Man, for crying out loud!

How could his reputation in Asgard pale in comparison to that of a teenager?

"All right, small-minded Iron Man, what more do you want?" Ronan sighed, exasperated.

And Thor—what a reckless guy.

Your father, Odin, the ruler of Asgard and the All-Father, explicitly said mortals weren't allowed to enter Asgard.

How many times are you going to break that rule?

Bringing your girlfriend was one thing; she had the Aether inside her.

But what's the point of bringing Tony Stark?

At this moment, Ronan fully stood with Odin's stance.

"I'm small-minded?" Stark retorted. "You've been lying the whole time, and now you're calling me petty?"

He was barely holding back his frustration.

"How can you blame me? Your curiosity is insatiable. You wanted to investigate my identity, so I, being myself, played a little prank in return. Don't you think that's fair?"

Ronan pinched his thumb and forefinger together, as though emphasizing how small his actions had been.

After all, the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj had faced far worse adversaries—demons from Hell and top-tier entities from the Dark Dimension!

Now, here was an ordinary Earthling trying to dig into Ronan's identity. How could he let that slide?

He couldn't.

"Ha?" Stark scoffed. "Even if I was in the wrong first, why couldn't you just talk to me directly? Instead, you had to hide your identity, frame me, and even mimic JARVIS's voice?"

Among all of Ronan's actions, the one Stark found most unforgivable was being deceived.

Next came the impersonation of JARVIS's voice.

Finally, there was that incident with the endless fall.

"Are you insane?" Stark demanded. "I'm not you or Steve Rogers. I don't need to become some world-famous superhero."

"I'm just a plain, boring high schooler, okay?"

"Is living a quiet, anonymous life too much to ask?"

"If it weren't for you—and that one-eyed creep Nick Fury prying into my life—none of this would've happened!"

Ronan rolled his eyes, deflecting all blame with ease.

"Ha? So it's all because of that?" Stark asked. "If you wanted, I could've kept your secret. I'm known for my discretion."

When Stark said this, Ronan gave him a strange look, as though doubting his ability to keep secrets.

This was something Stark couldn't tolerate!

"Why are you doubting me? I'm famous for my discretion!"

Stark nearly jumped out of his chair in protest.

"All right, all right. I admit you're the best at keeping secrets," Ronan said, raising his hands like he was placating a child.

"Not only are you discreet, but you're also stubborn. You're the most stubborn in the entire world—no, the entire universe."

Ronan's tone was one of exaggerated concession, like a parent coaxing a kid.

This made Stark puff up with pride, thinking he'd won their little verbal sparring match.

But a moment later, he frowned, realizing something was off.

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

Weren't they discussing Ronan's identity just a moment ago?

"Let's focus, okay?" Ronan said, steering the conversation back on track. "If you're still worried about your dreams, you'd better stop obsessing over this."

Finally, Ronan played his trump card.

Since Stark had said earlier that the dreams were his biggest concern, Ronan used this to change the subject.

"You know why I'm dreaming of that?" Stark asked, taking a deep breath. "Oh, right—you're Mr. Fantastic."

The realization hit Stark again, and his previous expressions cycled through his face all over again.

Here we go again.

Ronan sighed, deciding he truly didn't have the patience to babysit Tony Stark.

"Of course I know why," Ronan said. "And if you keep pestering me, the next time Dormammu shows up, it won't be just to talk—it'll be to devour you."

He leaned into a threatening tone, which, thankfully, got Stark to shut his mouth.

"For now, I'll tell you this: that giant-faced monster is most likely Dormammu of the Dark Dimension."

"Our job is to defend Earth from invasions by creatures like him."

Ronan glanced at Stark as he revealed a snippet of Kamar-Taj's responsibilities.

"Dark creatures?" Stark asked, still confused. "Why am I being targeted by them?"

"Maybe you've been too flashy, poking into magical things," Ronan replied.

"I remember telling you not to mess with magic lightly. Most magic that survives today is black magic, and black magic is tied to beings from the Dark Dimension."

It wasn't hard to deduce that Stark had been busy digging into magic since their last conversation.

So it was no surprise he'd caught Dormammu's attention.

"Hey, my research isn't about black magic. It's for—"

Before Stark could finish, Thor interrupted.

"Hey, guys! We've come up with a plan, but we need your help."

Thor walked over, cutting off Stark's next words.

"Tell us, Thor. What's the plan?" Ronan asked, curious about Thor's supposed new strategy.

Thor, looking serious, began explaining:

"Our plan is simple. I want you to use your portal magic to transport all of us directly to Malekith's location."

"And then, together, we'll take him down!"

Thor's declaration was followed by a pause that stretched awkwardly through the hall.

Ronan stood silently, staring at Thor, processing what he had just heard.

Tony Stark finally broke the silence.

"And... then what?" he asked.

"That's it. That's the entire plan!" Thor replied, utterly serious.

What?

Ronan's eyes widened in disbelief.

Is this guy kidding me?

This wasn't a plan—it was the very definition of a kamikaze strategy.

"Look, I'm not dismissing your plan, but I have a few questions," Ronan said, exhaling a long breath to steady himself.

"For starters, I've never been to wherever this Malekith guy is hiding. My portals don't work for places I haven't been."

Ronan raised his first and most glaring concern.

This was a basic limitation of the mystical gateways he could conjure.

Thor, however, had an answer prepared.

"No problem! Heimdall can send you there first, and once you've arrived, you can create a portal to bring the rest of us."

"But Odin specifically forbade Heimdall from sending us to Svartalfheim," one of Thor's companions interjected.

"That's true," Thor agreed, "but Odin didn't say anything about sending Ronan."

Thor grinned triumphantly, as though he had outsmarted everyone.

Ronan couldn't help but roll his eyes.

If only you put this level of 'cunning' into creating battle strategies, maybe we'd have a chance of success!

"Okay, so we use me to bypass Odin's orders. Great. Then what? Our plan is to charge Malekith head-on?"

Ronan sighed. He had no words for the absurdity of this strategy.

The Dark Elves had forces capable of invading Asgard itself, and their group here—at best—numbered ten people.

Were they planning to fight an army?

"Honestly, if you're going to stick to this plan, you might as well lure him to Earth and have another Battle of New York," Tony Stark quipped, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

But Thor's eyes lit up as though the idea were brilliant.

"Wait, no. I was kidding!" Stark blurted, panicking as Thor turned to him with renewed enthusiasm.

"Actually, we could set a trap for Malekith," Thor mused.

"His ultimate goal is the Aether within Jane, right? We'll pretend to lose, let him extract the Aether, and then detonate it as a trap."

What. The. Heck.

Ronan nearly choked.

Isn't that the same plan you and Loki used in the original timeline?

Except this time, you tweaked it slightly.

So the only reason I'm here is to bypass Heimdall? I'm just a tool to you, huh?

"This plan sounds good. I think it could work," Thor's companions chimed in, voicing their agreement.

To them, devising such a "clever scheme" was already extraordinary.

Ronan, however, was out of words to describe his frustration.

"All right, what do you need me to do?" Tony Stark asked, noticing that nothing in the discussion seemed to involve him.

"Uh..."

"Buddy, you're my friend, so I have to be honest," Thor said, turning to Stark. "This mission is incredibly dangerous, and Malekith is no easy foe."

"Ultimately, this is an Asgardian matter. I don't want to drag you or Ronan into unnecessary danger."

Thor's sincerity was evident, and his concern genuine. From the beginning, Thor's intent had been to involve Ronan just to circumvent Heimdall's restrictions.

As for Stark, Thor hadn't planned on bringing him into the fight at all.

"So... why am I here again?" Stark asked, arms spread wide in exasperation. "Pepper's probably losing her mind trying to figure out where I am right now."

"But since I'm already here, I might as well help you finish this mess," Stark added.

It was obvious from his tone that Stark wasn't one to sit on the sidelines.

"Your armor..." Thor began, glancing over Stark. Without his Iron Man suit, Stark was essentially a regular human.

"No problem. I'll need our Mr. Fantastic here to portal me back to Earth first," Stark said, pointing at Ronan.

"I've never been involved in an intergalactic war. Let me experience it once—it'll be worth the trip."