Kamar-Taj.
In a sealed chamber, Ronan sat on a chair, calmly eyeing B-15 and Mobius, both trussed up like dumplings.
For them, the shift from snowy wasteland to cozy basement took a single second.
One blink, and they were here.
No doubt about it—spatial magic.
This guy didn't just wield the Time Stone; he had teleportation tricks up his sleeve too.
Wait, scratch that—he'd used two kinds.
That golden portal and the instant shift just now? Totally different vibes.
Mobius studied Ronan's face from a distance, a wary glint in his eyes.
"So, spill it."
"The Time Variance Authority—it's already a total mess, right?"
Ronan grinned at them, his opener hitting like a thunderclap.
How does he know?
The question slammed into B-15 and Mobius at the same time.
They exchanged a glance, and "shock" was written all over each other's faces.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
B-15 shot back first, denying it outright.
No matter what, she wasn't about to admit anything.
The TVA's inner workings couldn't leak to an outsider—period.
"Tsk."
"Stubborn, huh?"
"Not sure if it's just your mouth that's tough—or if your whole body's as hardheaded as your words."
As Ronan finished, the energy whip binding B-15 stretched out.
It looped around her back, coiled up to her neck, and hooked onto the ceiling beam.
Creak.
With a yank from nowhere, the weathered beam groaned painfully.
B-15's throat tightened—suffocation hit fast.
"They say you TVA folks are like robots."
"Grinding away forever without sleep or rest."
"But in the whole 'birth, aging, sickness, death' deal—can you handle that last one?"
Ronan's right index finger traced a circle in the air, and the whip tightened again.
B-15's bulky frame lifted off the ground.
The choking sensation bulged her eyes—she thrashed, desperate for air, but nothing came.
Kicking, struggling, trying to scream—all useless.
Slowly, her lips purpled, her face paled.
Textbook oxygen deprivation.
"Wait!"
"I'll tell you!"
Mobius jumped in.
Back in the old TVA days, he might've let B-15 die.
Simple reason: the Time-Keepers claimed their agents couldn't really die.
Even if they did, the Time-Keepers would just bring them back at HQ.
That was their ace.
But now? Those almighty Time-Keepers were just three puppet bots—wiped out by Loki and Sylvie.
If B-15 bit it now, Mobius had no clue how to revive her.
"Oh?"
"Ready to talk now?"
Ronan raised an eyebrow, but the whip didn't loosen an inch.
"I'll talk—anything I know that you wanna hear, I'll spill."
Mobius glanced at B-15's state, speeding up his words.
She was fading fast.
"Cool."
Snap!
Ronan flicked his fingers, and the whip snapped apart.
Thud!
B-15's hefty frame crashed to the floor, out cold.
Mobius stared at her, itching to check her condition.
"Don't bother—she's alive."
"I need her breathing to cross-check your story."
"Can't just trust you solo, right?"
Ronan grinned, waving a hand. A golden portal swallowed B-15 and blinked her out of the chamber.
Mobius's gut twisted.
He hadn't pegged Ronan keeping B-15 alive for that.
Even isolating her so she couldn't wake mid-chat and overhear?
No room for lies now.
"Alright, quit plotting how to BS me."
"You've seen Infinity Stones plenty—you know I'm rocking the Time Stone."
"So you've gotta know one of its siblings: the Mind Stone."
"If the Time Stone works on you, wanna guess if the Mind Stone does too?"
Ronan kept that cheery grin, but it sent a shiver down Mobius's spine.
The Mind Stone!
He knew the cosmic basics—those Infinity Stones—inside out.
Before, they'd never touched TVA agents.
But today? Whole new ballgame.
Ronan's point was clear: he had the Mind Stone, wasn't using it now, but that didn't mean never.
"Fine, anything you wanna know, I'll tell you."
Mobius sighed.
At this point, compromise was his only play.
For B-15—and himself.
"Great. Hope you answer straight."
Ronan smirked, and a chair popped up behind Mobius.
Mobius glanced at the whips on him, then at Ronan.
"Can you loosen these a bit?"
"Still kinda hurts."
He tried lightening the mood.
Ronan didn't reply, but the whips slipped off quietly.
"Alright, first thing."
"What's the deal with the TVA now?"
—
Half an hour later, same chamber. Ronan sat, mulling things over.
He'd just gotten the TVA's latest from Mobius's mouth.
Put it mild: it wasn't good.
Put it real: it was a dumpster fire.
Ever since Sylvie shanked He Who Remains, shattering that "sacred timeline," the multiverse kicked off for real.
Countless timeline branches spawned endless variants—time offenders galore.
B-15 and Mobius were stuck playing whack-a-mole, pruning variants across timelines.
But with Judge Ravonna Renslayer bailing, the truth behind it all stayed locked up.
Mobius was sure, though: it started when Loki and Sylvie pierced Alioth's fog, diving into its depths.
Something big—and secret—went down there.
That's what caused this mess.
Problem was, Mobius couldn't waltz back into that fog to dig deeper.
Ronan mostly bought his story.
He'd seen "He Who Remains" get knifed by Sylvie himself—watched the multiverse gates fling open.
That's when the Conqueror Kang showed up.
Every parallel universe had its own Kang—some rewrote history, some hadn't arrived from the future yet.
Mobius popping up, though, put Ronan on edge.
What about this universe's Kang? Who was he?
"As for why we're here, it's just to wipe that hunter's memory."
"The animal he bagged had a lethal virus. If he took it home and sold it, it'd kill a few folks."
"One of their sons, pissed at his dad's death, would go full revenge-mode on the world."
"In a splintered parallel universe, he'd spark a nasty nuclear crisis."
Mobius stretched his limbs, finally shaking off the ordeal.
Those red ropes earlier? Felt like they slowed his blood flow.
Half an hour later, he was back to normal.
Ronan smirked.
Nuclear crisis?
From one dead animal?
Classic butterfly effect, huh?
"That's not the TVA's style."
"Your gig's snagging folks who veer off their timeline and wiping them out."
"Normally, that hunter didn't break his path—you're the ones forcing his future to shift."
"Not scared of triggering something bigger?"
Ronan narrowed his eyes, clocking the weirdness.
The old TVA were enforcers—break "time law," get nabbed and erased.
Now? They were playing saviors.
"Exactly. That's what we hashed out."
"The TVA now isn't just obsessed with pruning variants—we're digging into why."
"The multiverse is here to stay—irreversible."
"We can't shove it back into the sacred timeline."
"So we're ditching the 'erase variants' fixation and tackling the root instead."
"As for screwing up the future…"
Mobius glanced at Ronan. "We ran the numbers—changes like this probably won't mess things up."
"If they do, we'll show up again."
He sounded sincere, but Ronan wasn't sold.
This approach—fixing causes over pruning—was messier and riskier than before.
Didn't jive with TVA rules.
Still, Ronan wasn't about to dig deeper.
After Mobius explained their mission, Ronan peeked at the future with the Time Stone.
No big shifts.
So he let it slide.
"What about Loki?"
"Far as I know, he hit the TVA and then vanished."
Ronan tossed out the Loki question.
He knew Loki had bounced to another universe, but figured he'd probe.
Maybe Mobius had a curveball up his sleeve.
"After he and Sylvie hit the end of time, he never showed back up at the TVA."
"Sylvie's gone too."
Mobius eyed Ronan, surprised he knew about Loki.
Loki did vanish from Earth, sure.
But nobody should've known.
"Later, though, we tracked a time device that opened a portal."
"It pinged the TVA, no doubt—but the address was off."
"So I figure Loki's in another parallel universe."
Mobius didn't hide it.
Ronan raised an eyebrow. The TVA could even sniff that out?
Then again, not shocking.
Those time gadgets came straight from TVA HQ—tracing an address was cake.
But if they could track that, what about Ronan's own time device…
He clapped lightly.
A sling ring portal flared open.
Another Ronan hauled B-15 through, dropping her with a thud.
Mobius watched as the second Ronan merged back into the first, becoming one again.
Soon after, Ronan opened his eyes and nodded.
"Looks like your stories match."
"Alright, you're free to go."
He waved them off.
B-15 and Mobius froze, stunned.
They could leave?
It didn't even register.
"What?"
"Not planning to bounce?"
Ronan quirked a brow, curious.
No way they had Stockholm vibes, right?
"No, we're out—now."
Shocked as he was that Ronan cut them loose so easy, Mobius snapped to it.
He hoisted B-15, punched a portal with his time device, and stayed wary of Ronan 'til they both stepped through.
Back at TVA HQ, they still couldn't believe it.
"This real?"
"We're back?"
B-15 blurted, dazed.
Mobius shook his head, confusion plastered on his face.
Did this guy nab them just to grill them on the TVA's status?
That's all it took to satisfy him?
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Ronan whistled softly.
No way he'd buy their words that easy.
Sure, he'd split them up to question, but who's to say they hadn't synced their "answers" beforehand?
They're agents—lying's their day job.
So Ronan's plan was simple.
Why not go see for himself?