Marvel: You Call This A Sorcerer?

A few days later, at Kamar-Taj.

Inside the New York Sanctum, Strange and Ronan sat facing each other.

Ronan had accepted Strange's invitation, having a conversation with him before leaving.

"So, why did you call me here? Is there something specific you want?" Ronan asked, showing some interest in speaking with Strange.

Though they were from different universes, both were associated with Kamar-Taj, so there wasn't much to discuss that wasn't already known. But even exchanging insights could be beneficial for both.

Of course, when it came to making mistakes, Ronan had always considered Strange to be the gold standard.

"You've altered the future, haven't you?" Strange began. "More precisely, your arrival changed the future of this timeline."

He held a cup of hot cocoa, nursing the side effects of using white magic—a well-known cause of stomach ulcers.

That's right, using white magic also came with side effects. However, compared to black magic, the effects were much milder.

Ronan even half-joked at times that the Ancient One's use of white magic caused her to go bald.

For Strange, losing the Time Stone meant he could no longer observe the timeline. Even though the Eye of Agamotto was said to have such power, as of now, Strange hadn't explored that ability.

"As Sorcerer Supreme, you should know," Ronan sighed. "Timelines aren't set in stone. The reason your future changed is rooted in your time machine."

His tone was a mix of admitting his involvement and distancing himself from it. After all, the true cause of the disruption stemmed from the creation of the time machine in this universe.

"But in all the futures I observed, none of them included you," Strange said, still puzzled. "The only way we could succeed was through Natasha's sacrifice to bring back the Soul Stone, and Tony sacrificing himself with the snap. But now, everything's changed."

Strange's gaze lingered on Ronan. In the millions of futures he had witnessed, not once did Ronan appear, nor was there a second path forward.

Yet now, not only had Ronan arrived, but both Tony Stark and Black Widow—who were meant to die—were still alive.

It didn't seem real.

Ronan chuckled at this.

"Let me propose a wild idea," Ronan began, "Isn't it possible that something happened—something beyond even your ability to see?"

Ronan was deliberately vague, but the truth was that Strange wasn't entirely wrong. Everything did change because of Ronan's appearance.

Both Black Widow and Tony Stark, who were meant to die according to the "script," had survived, and the future would undoubtedly shift as a result.

"What do you mean?" Strange frowned.

All the futures he saw were revealed to him through the Time Stone. If there were events even the Time Stone couldn't detect, what kind of power could that be?

And more importantly, Ronan's very existence had disrupted the predictions made by the Time Stone. Could Ronan's level be higher than that of the Time Stone?

"I'll give you a simple example—something directly tied to Tony and the others' involvement," Ronan said, adjusting his posture to deliver his lesson to the ever-curious Strange.

What he was about to describe was none other than the case of Loki.

"Alright, go on," Strange straightened up, realizing Ronan was about to reveal something crucial he had never heard of before.

"I'll start with a question: After the Chitauri invasion of Earth, what happened to Loki in your universe?" Ronan asked, testing Strange's knowledge first.

"Although I wasn't Sorcerer Supreme at the time, I've read the records," Strange replied. "Loki was taken back to Asgard by Thor. According to Thor, Loki was imprisoned in Asgard until he was later released by Thor."

Strange was familiar with this event. After all, for a Sorcerer Supreme with the Time Stone, Earth's past and future were nothing more than a series of images.

"But if I told you that in my universe, Loki's fate was entirely different, what would you think?" Ronan asked, a sly grin appearing on his face.

"What do you mean?" This was the second time Strange had uttered these words today, though this time, he felt like he was starting to understand something.

"In my universe, Loki picked up the Space Stone after Tony's interference," Ronan explained. "Not only did he escape being taken back to Asgard, but he fled using the Space Stone."

"Of course, he was eventually captured by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) and history was corrected."

Ronan revealed the story of Loki's "bizarre adventure."

However, the more Strange listened, the more confused he became.

"Wait a minute!" Strange interrupted. "If Tony's involvement led to Loki's escape, that only explains the timeline development in your universe. But then you mentioned something about correcting history... and what is this Time Variance Authority?"

Though Strange could understand every word Ronan said individually, when they were strung together, the meaning eluded him. He knew what it meant to correct history, but he had never heard of the TVA, which made it hard for him to grasp the whole picture.

"Alright, let's break it down," Ronan said patiently. "First off, the Time Variance Authority goes by another name: the TVA."

"Their job is to repair broken timelines and maintain temporal order."

Ronan provided a brief explanation of the TVA's purpose, though he didn't intend to go too deep since it wasn't particularly relevant to Strange.

"Wait, so you're saying that Loki escaping was part of a broken timeline, and him being brought back to Asgard was the correct timeline?" Strange asked, starting to grasp Ronan's point.

It was a difficult concept for him to wrap his mind around, but after having shifted from believing in science to trusting in mysticism, this new understanding wasn't too far out of reach.

"Normally, yes," Ronan nodded.

"But then what does this have to do with us?" Strange asked. "If your appearance is like Loki's, why haven't you been taken away to restore our timeline?"

Strange had finally hit on the most crucial question, one that had puzzled Ronan for a long time as well.

After much thought, Ronan had only come up with one possible explanation.

"Strange, you've been wrong from the beginning," Ronan said. "With your abilities, you can observe what will happen in the timeline. But can you also observe what happens in parallel universes?"