The Scarlet Witch before him—eyes blazing red like some over-the-top comic book rage scene—finally snapped Ronan out of his playful mood.
He'd done it—forced out the real Chaos Magic from her.
Even if it came with some pressure.
Of course, pressure was exactly what Ronan wanted.
Boom!
Scarlet Witch, now stripped of self-awareness, unleashed a massive shockwave from her body.
Her long hair whipped in the wind as red energy balls formed in her hands. Without a word, she fired them at Ronan.
No chit-chat, just straight to business.
Ronan didn't hesitate, throwing up a Kamar-Taj shield ring, mana cranked to max.
The red energy slammed into it. In just a second, the shield shattered, and the blast sent Ronan flying.
Tumbling midair, he quick-adjusted with his Cloak of Levitation, then mimicked her—blasting two red energy beams from his hands.
Energy he'd siphoned through the shield.
From the jump, Ronan had a plan.
Block her first hit with the shield, soak up some Chaos Magic juice.
A little scratch? No biggie.
One, he wanted to feel what Chaos Magic was like.
Two, he figured he'd use it to cast some Kamar-Taj spells.
Raw energy's strong, but it doesn't flex its full potential.
Thing is, he miscalculated.
First off, the second that Chaos Magic hit his system, his body screamed warning bells.
He couldn't hold it long.
Every extra second was another tick of damage.
Second, Chaos Magic's nature? Unchangeable.
Or rather, he couldn't change it.
No way to use it as fuel for Kamar-Taj tricks.
So, he just chucked it back out, rough and sloppy.
Could be his fault—or maybe Chaos Magic was just like that.
Scarlet Witch wasn't backing down. Seeing his move, she spread her hands, and they started trading blasts.
Ronan countered with spell combos; she stuck to pure energy.
Real talk—is pure energy strong?
Yes and no.
Yes, because when power hits a peak, fancy moves turn into fluff.
One punch trumps ten tricks, as they say.
No, because this Scarlet Witch only had one play—straight-up energy blasts.
No curves, no twists.
Ronan didn't need to switch gears—just kept spamming Hogarth's Ancient Form to dissolve her shots.
Looked chill as hell.
Truth is, even with Chaos Magic puppeteering her, she couldn't tap its full juice.
She's still mortal flesh.
Like Phoenix Force next door—if this was Chaos Magic or Phoenix in raw form, Ronan'd be ash the second it showed up.
No drawn-out drama like this.
Right now, Chaos Magic was a kid swinging a hundred-pound hammer.
Scary on paper, paper tiger in practice.
Bang!
After dismantling another blast with Hogarth's form, Ronan got a new itch.
Why not hit back?
He'd scoped out Chaos Magic's offense.
What about defense?
No hesitation—his hands flashed through seals, and lightning crackled between them.
Bolts of Borsat!
Blinding thunderbolts shot from his hands, roaring toward Scarlet Witch.
Under his control, the sparking bolts split into four, hitting her from all angles.
Borsat's fast—blinked, and it was in her face.
She roared skyward, unleashing a Chaos Magic "Shinra Tensei"—a massive energy burst radiating out.
Red energy clashed with Borsat's bolts. Sparks flew, and Ronan saw them deadlock for half a sec.
Then the bolts fizzled out.
Her red energy faded too.
Whoosh!
Ronan didn't give her a breather. He zipped right up to her, clapped his hands, twisted ninety degrees, and pulled them apart.
A longsword materialized.
The Sacred Sword of Vishanti!
A gift from Vishanti's big boss—Kamar-Taj's legendary gear.
Golden blade in hand, Ronan swung down at her head!
She reacted fast, hands up—red energy morphed into a shield above her.
Bang!
A muffled clash.
Sacred Sword met black energy, locking in a stalemate.
Ronan chained two high-tier Kamar-Taj spells; she stuck to her same old energy play.
Yet neither could budge the other.
In a way, without tapping his two Infinity Stones, Ronan was dead-even with a half-awake Chaos Magic?
No clue how awake it really was, though.
Ten percent? Twenty?
Or… less than five?
Ronan squinted, Eye of Agamotto kicking in. Two clones split off behind him.
They flashed seals, and red chains—like satin ribbons—snagged her arms.
Right then, Ronan let the sword fly free, dropping it.
Gravity pulled him down.
Level with her, a smirk crept up.
His right hand balled into a fist, slamming toward her chest.
Not that he was going soft or anything.
Old saying: don't hit the face.
Ronan's a classy guy—not like Steve Rogers, pounding Tony Stark's mug nonstop.
No deep grudge with Scarlet Witch either.
So, after a quick think, chest it was.
Yup, that's his pure logic!
As his fist rocketed in, her glowing red eyes flinched, hands moving to block.
But they were locked midair.
Her vibe right now?
Arms up, wrists bound by mystery chains, stuck stiff.
Her body—
Cough cough cough.
Ronan figured he'd better stop describing.
Because…
His fist was hard!
Right as it was about to land, her 360-no-dead-angle defense kicked in again!
Red energy erupted, blasting at point-blank Ronan!
His clones got yeeted, Cytorak's crimson chains shredded.
But Ronan—the one who *should've* flown back—grinned.
His hidden left hand opened, Infinity Gauntlet snapping on. The Space Stone slot flickered.
Buzz!
His figure shimmered.
The energy rushing him? Gone!
Bang!
His fist smashed her left chest, the raw force hurling her back.
Maybe Chaos Magic's auto-shield kicked in—he felt a faint, soft rebound on impact.
Weak, though. And squishy.
Boom!
She cratered the ground hard.
Ronan blew on his right hand, marveling inside.
So soft—
No, wait.
So weak.
Compared to her magic mojo, her body was laughably frail.
If he hadn't pulled the punch, her heart would've been mush.
Sure, as Chaos Magic's wielder, it'd probably resurrect her.
But what if it didn't?
If Chaos Magic ditched her "shell," Ronan wouldn't be handling that.
He knew that cold.
Bullying it now? Fine. Unleashed for real? Bad news.
Boom!
Just then, the cratered Scarlet Witch shot back up.
This time, Ronan caught a whiff of *anger* from Chaos Magic.
Yup, anger.
With the Gauntlet on, his mental output spiked. Cost more, but perception jumped too.
Right now, he swore he felt Chaos Magic's "mood."
That threw him.
Chaos Magic… had emotions?
Or smarts?
Boom!
As he pondered, Scarlet Witch's body erupted with terrifying energy again.
The shockwave churned the air, and a sharper "shield" snapped up around her.
Red energy cocooned her, lifting her hair wild.
Seeing this, Ronan twitched a smirk.
Was Chaos Magic kin to Super Saiyans or what?
One clash, aura bursts—lose once, power spikes.
Next step—clothes shredding?
Cough cough cough.
Ronan reeled his thoughts in, locking eyes on her, raising Seraphim's Shield.
He braced for her next move.
But after five, six seconds of full alert, she didn't twitch.
They just hovered, posing like statues.
Ronan peeked at his left hand, suspicious.
No Time Stone.
So, no legendary time-stop either.
C'mon, shred some—
Er, attack already!
He grumbled inside. Then, the still Scarlet Witch moved.
Arms spread, her unleashed power flowed with them.
Air shoved outward—Ronan felt the sharp wind.
Next second—
Having forced Chaos Magic to "phase two" and prepped his defense, Ronan saw something unreal.
Her eyes rolled back, the fiery glow snuffed out.
That suffocating energy? Vanished.
Whoosh.
She plummeted straight down.
Bang!
In Ronan's stunned gaze, she hit the dirt.
His jaw dropped, staring at the knocked-out Scarlet Witch.
New trick?
America's latest drug wearing off?
Or did shoving the air out make her pass out from no oxygen?
A million question marks flooded Ronan's brain—no answers.
One thing for sure: when she woke, it'd be from pain.
Smashed into the ground by his fist, then dropping from that height?
Painless? Yeah, right!
Skeptical, Ronan floated there a full minute.
What felt like a trick at first, he now half-believed.
She was out cold, and Chaos Magic bailed with her.
But *why*? No clue.
Looking at the "corpses" of the siblings below, Ronan touched down.
Quicksilver had clocked out during his duel with Scarlet Witch—family reunion, all neat in front of him.
From this angle, Ronan could spot deeper details on her.
Like those rhythmic "hills," proving she was still breathing.
And—
He blinked, rolling his eyes around.
To make sure she wasn't faking, he'd stared hard for three minutes straight.
Safety first.
Eyes were getting sore.
Good thing he's patient—only now confirming she wasn't waking up.
Seeing this, Ronan shook his head, a bit bummed.
Oh well, no more looking—
Er, testing Chaos Magic's limits.
"Guess no chance this time—next time, then."
"Here's hoping you blow my mind next meet!"