Buzz!
Just as Spider-Man was about to pull the Infinity Gauntlet off at the most critical moment, Thanos suddenly opened his eyes!
He snapped his head upward, violently flinging Mantis off his body. Then, with a simple reach of his hand, he effortlessly reclaimed the Infinity Gauntlet—
—and casually sent Spider-Man flying as well.
Immediately afterward, Star-Lord, Drax, Doctor Strange, and the others were all knocked down with ridiculous ease.
Star-Lord, Drax, and Nebula jumped back up the moment they hit the ground and charged at Thanos together.
But a beam of purple light shot out from the Infinity Gauntlet, striking the three of them in an instant.
They didn't even have time to grunt before collapsing to the ground, completely unconscious.
As for Doctor Strange?
He had already been sent flying hundreds of meters earlier. No one knew whether he was dead or alive.
Mantis wasn't doing much better either—if Spider-Man hadn't caught her, she might've been smashed to death by the fall.
In the blink of an eye, the so-called "Anti-Thanos Alliance," formed by the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, was left with only Spider-Man and Iron Man still able to fight.
Iron Man didn't waste a single word. He immediately flew forward and engaged Thanos in a fierce battle.
The footage ended there.
"What a waste—what a damn waste!" Thor couldn't help slapping his thighs repeatedly.
"We were this close—just this close!" Peter Parker beat his chest in frustration.
The others didn't need to say anything. Every single one of them wore the same deeply aggrieved expression.
If not for Star-Lord, Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet would have definitely been taken away!
Without the Gauntlet, could Thanos really defeat Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and the entire Guardians of the Galaxy?
Everyone unanimously believed the answer was no.
Thanos would've lost—very likely decisively.
Which meant that everything afterward—invading Wakanda, defeating the heroes, killing Vision, snapping his fingers and wiping out half the universe—none of it would have happened!
And that didn't even touch on the later time-traveling to collect the Stones.
Black Widow wouldn't have died on Vormir.Iron Man wouldn't have sacrificed himself by snapping his fingers.
All of it—
Could be blamed on Star-Lord.
From a certain perspective, the deaths of Vision, Black Widow, and Iron Man could all be laid squarely at Star-Lord's feet.
This guy killed people who never should've died.
"Yeah… snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Such a shame," Scott Lang said, shaking his head repeatedly, looking heartbroken.
"That Star-Lord guy really is unreliable," Tony Stark shook his head as well. "No—actually, it's not just Star-Lord. Nebula is unreliable too."
Star-Lord was the direct cause of the plan's failure, but that didn't mean the others were innocent.
Take Nebula, for example.
She could clearly see that Star-Lord was already emotionally unstable—so why fan the flames? Why poke the bear?
Would it have killed her to say a little less?
Or just wait. Wait until the fight was over, until Thanos was captured. Then talk. What couldn't be said afterward?
Why provoke Star-Lord at such a critical moment?
And even after Star-Lord started beating on Thanos—why didn't she stop him?
While Iron Man and Spider-Man were struggling to remove the Gauntlet, Nebula did absolutely nothing. She just stood there watching.
What happened next?
Iron Man had to abandon his crucial task to stop Star-Lord.
If Nebula had been even slightly competent and restrained Star-Lord in time, the whole meltdown wouldn't have happened.
"And Strange too!" Tony Stark continued, turning his head toward the bedridden Doctor Strange and criticizing him mercilessly.
Nebula wasn't the only one watching the show.
Doctor Strange was watching too!
With all his bizarre, powerful magic, he just stood there and let Star-Lord lose his mind?
Same as Nebula—spectator mode only.
What was going through his head?
If either Nebula or Doctor Strange had tried to stop Star-Lord—even for just a moment—the Infinity Gauntlet would've been successfully removed.
Even after Star-Lord punched Thanos, Spider-Man was still milliseconds away from pulling it off.
Just a tiny bit more!
Such a waste.
"I'm really curious," Thor added, rubbing his temples, "among the fourteen million possible futures Strange saw, this one must've been included, right?"
"All he had to do was stop Star-Lord here, and they'd win easily. Why bother with time travel and collecting the Stones again?"
Thor had complaints for days.
So did everyone else.
No matter how you looked at it, the failure of the Gauntlet-snatching plan was unbelievably infuriating.
So many small details—if anyone had paid the slightest attention—this disaster never would've happened.
A team full of pig teammates. Completely uncarriable.
Tony Stark felt mentally exhausted.
[Please listen carefully:How did Doctor Stephen Strange obtain the Time Stone at Kamar-Taj?]
[A. Due to outstanding performance, it was formally bestowed upon him by the Ancient One][B. Kamar-Taj faced a crisis, and he was entrusted with it at a critical moment][C. Out of curiosity, he secretly took it and played with it][D. Kamar-Taj was attacked, the Stone was stolen by enemies, and Doctor Strange retrieved it]
[Friendly Reminder:Correct answer — reward: a set of Stillblood Armor;Wrong answer — a random attribute will be deducted, including but not limited to knowledge, experience, skills, possessions, etc.]
The system's prompt suddenly sounded, cutting off everyone's complaints.
A new question appeared.
To be honest, everyone was quite interested in this one.
From previous questions, they already knew that after joining Kamar-Taj, Strange became the next Sorcerer Supreme and obtained the Time Stone that the Ancient One used to wear.
But how he got it?
No one knew.
Everyone had subconsciously assumed it was because Strange was absurdly talented—but the earlier footage of him learning sling-ring portals had thoroughly shattered that illusion.
His talent… was not what they imagined.
So how exactly did Doctor Strange obtain the Time Stone?
Everyone was curious.
"Alright, can we eliminate Option A first?" Scott Lang spoke up immediately, scanning the choices.
"Strange's performance can't exactly be called 'outstanding.'"
Not only was it not outstanding—it was downright terrible.
The same spells that others quickly grasped took Strange ages to learn. He was worse than even one-armed sorcerers.
The Ancient One had to resort to extreme methods just to force him to finally master portals.
That performance was nowhere near "excellent."
"Agreed," Thor nodded emphatically. "Strange's magical talent is… average at best."
"No—scratch that. Strange, we know each other pretty well now, so I won't sugarcoat it. Your magical talent is trash."
"If Doctor Strange's talent was truly trash," Captain America countered, "then how did he become the Sorcerer Supreme?"
"That position isn't given to just anyone."
"And we all know how powerful Strange became later on," Steve continued. "That's not something a genuinely untalented person could ever achieve."
As he said that, everyone instinctively recalled the scene of Doctor Strange fighting Thanos alone.
There was no denying it—at that moment, Strange was an absolute powerhouse.
"So it's like I said earlier," Peter Parker jumped in instantly, sounding very sure of himself.
"Strange just didn't get it at first. He hadn't found the right learning method, so he looked clumsy."
"But once he had his breakthrough, he skyrocketed and turned into a magical genius!"
No one objected.
Late bloomers weren't common, but they weren't unheard of either.
Doctor Strange could very well be one of them.
"So… Option A stays for now?" Thor asked, looking around.
"No," Tony Stark said after a moment's thought. "I'm leaning toward eliminating A."
"Do you remember the footage of Strange fighting Kaecilius?"
That reminder sparked instant realization among everyone present.
"Right. Option A is out," Captain America nodded firmly.
"At that time, Strange couldn't even maintain a proper magic shield. How could that be considered outstanding performance?"
During the Kaecilius fight, Strange was already wearing the Eye of Agamotto!
Meaning he already had the Time Stone then.
Yet his magic shields were still collapsing on their own.
Option A collapsed under its own logic.
After discussion, Option A was unanimously eliminated.
"What about B?" Thor moved on. "Kamar-Taj in crisis, entrusted at a critical moment?"
"I don't think it's B," Doctor Strange himself said from the hospital bed.
"The Ancient One once said that the Sorcerer Supreme's duty is to protect the Time Stone."
"If she were in danger and unable to protect it, and passed it to me in desperation—that's possible."
"But when I got the Stone, the Ancient One was perfectly fine. She was easily suppressing Kaecilius."
"Even though she later died due to a sneak attack, before that she was in great condition."
That didn't quite match the 'critical situation' described in Option B.
"Could it be something earlier?" Scott Lang proposed.
"Maybe something dangerous happened, the Ancient One nearly died, so she passed the Stone to Strange."
"But later she recovered, and just… never took it back?"
"That would explain why Strange had the Stone despite still being inexperienced."
It was a surprisingly reasonable hypothesis.
In fact, everyone had suspected for a while that the transfer of the Time Stone wasn't exactly… formal.
An accident-driven handover seemed more likely.
"If that's the case," Captain America concluded, "then Option B stays undecided."
No objections there.
"Then what about C?" Steve turned to Doctor Strange.
"Strange—would you do something like what Option C describes?"
Option C painted a clear picture:
The Ancient One was still the guardian of the Time Stone, but Strange might have stumbled upon the Eye of Agamotto—perhaps in her room—and taken it out of curiosity, without permission.
Strictly speaking, that was rude. And unprofessional.
Since it involved personal behavior, asking the person himself made sense.
"If it were me…" Strange hesitated briefly, then answered honestly.
"I think… I might."
Coming straight from the man himself, that carried weight.
"And then what?" Tony Stark shrugged.
"Strange sneaks a look at the Eye of Agamotto, and the Ancient One just casually gifts him something that important?"
Obviously, that didn't quite add up.
"Mr. Stark, this is magic," Peter Parker chimed in eagerly.
"What if the Eye of Agamotto is sentient? Like—it chooses its owner?"
"People it doesn't recognize can't lift it. If someone can, it means the Eye approves of them."
"So when the Ancient One saw Strange lift it, she just went along with it?"
That… actually made sense.
Everyone still remembered how the Cloak of Levitation had chosen Doctor Strange on its own.
If the Eye of Agamotto worked the same way, the Ancient One accepting a change of ownership wouldn't be strange at all.
...
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