At that moment, Iron Man also noticed that the hair hanging over Doctor Strange's forehead was moving.
"You're not using some weird magic, are you?", Stark pointed at the few strands of hair on Doctor Strange's forehead.
Doctor Strange nearly rolled his eyes.
Alex couldn't be bothered with them. He had already transformed into his spirit form, passing through the Sanctum's wall like a ghost and emerging outside.
On the street, people were fleeing the intersection in panic.
Shouts, car horns, and police sirens filled the air.
Alex returned to his physical form and flew into the sky, where he saw a giant doughnut-shaped ship hovering above the street.
It was the source of the chaos.
Alex smiled, "I've been waiting for you."
He immediately transformed into an information lifeform, becoming a stream of data that infiltrated Thanos's ship and hid in a corner of its system.
According to the original story, this ship would soon take Doctor Strange to Titan. Iron Man and Spider-Man would also end up there.
There, they would join forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy to ambush Thanos.
It was also on Titan that Thanos would obtain Doctor Strange's Time Stone.
In the movie, by that point Thanos had already collected the Space Stone, Soul Stone, Reality Stone, and Power Stone.
With the Time Stone added, the only one left would be the Mind Stone in Vision's forehead on Earth.
But in this universe, Thanos currently had only one Stone in his possession, the Space Stone that Alex had deliberately left for him.
Yes, deliberately.
Back on the Asgardian refugee ship, Alex had thought it through carefully.
Of the six Infinity Stones, the others were manageable, but the Time Stone and Soul Stone were much harder to obtain.
Doctor Strange would hide the Time Stone. Unless he handed it over willingly, no one would be able to take it.
As for the Soul Stone, it required a sacrifice. To obtain it, one had to sacrifice the person they loved most.
Unfortunately, Alex had no such loved one in this universe.
If he went after the Soul Stone himself, there was basically no chance of getting it.
So Alex had intentionally left the Space Stone to Thanos. With it, there was a good chance Thanos would go looking for his precious daughter, Gamora.
Only after learning the location of the Soul Stone from Gamora could he use the Space Stone to teleport there.
Thanos might be a villain, but he was also a strategist.
Alex didn't believe that, knowing Alex was on Earth, Thanos would risk coming there before collecting the other Stones.
Thanos wasn't a reckless brute.
That was clear from how he had given the Mind Stone to Loki and had Loki invade Earth in his place to test Earth's defenses.
Thanos was a master strategist who only acted after careful planning.
A man like that would never fight a battle he wasn't confident of winning.
If he made good use of that, Alex believed he had a great chance of collecting every Infinity Stone except the Mind Stone on Titan.
There was just one problem, correction.
He had changed the story so drastically that the "Administrator" might correct the universe, causing unexpected changes.
Just like what had happened with Justice League.
While Alex hid aboard the ship, Stark and the others had already reached the intersection below and spotted the enormous vessel.
Doctor Strange cast a spell that dispersed the smoke. Then a blue beam descended from the ship.
Two figures came down with it.
One had a head like an octopus, with one hand behind his back, looking refined and composed.
The other was a hulking brute carrying a battle axe, clearly the barbarian type.
The two were Ebony Maw, the "Black-Tongued Strategist," and Cull Obsidian.
After landing, Ebony Maw spoke, "Listen well, and rejoice."
"The children of Thanos have come to end your lives personally."
"You should be grateful."
"Even your insignificant lives can contribute to the balance of the universe."
Before he could finish, Stark called out, "Sorry, Earth's closed today."
"You'd better pack your things and get lost."
Ebony Maw didn't even look at him. Instead, he turned to Doctor Strange.
"Keeper of the Stone, is this endlessly chattering creature your spokesman?"
Doctor Strange summoned two Rings of Raggadorr, "Of course not. I can speak for myself."
"You are illegally invading this city and this planet."
"What he means is, get lost, Squidward," Stark added.
"How tiresome," Ebony Maw said.
"Hand over the Stone."
Holding his battle axe in one hand, Cull Obsidian strode toward the Avengers.
"Banner, it's your time to shine. That big guy's the perfect opponent for you," Stark said, adjusting his glasses.
"I don't want to shine at all."
"But when has what I wanted ever mattered?"
Banner mocked himself before shouting, "It's time. Come on out, Hulk."
Stark sighed, "Haven't seen Hulk in quite a while."
"Now I feel a lot better, buddy."
By now, everything below Banner's neck had turned green, but it was like he was constipated, no Hulk came out.
"I need to focus a little more."
"Come out."
"Come on. What are you waiting for?"
Meanwhile, Cull Obsidian knocked a taxi aside with his axe and kept advancing.
But Banner still couldn't force Hulk out.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Did you two have a fight?"
Stark shook his head, "You're making me look bad in front of the wizard, buddy."
Banner shrugged, "Sorry. Either I can't do it, or Hulk doesn't want to come out."
"Fine. Step aside."
Stark patted him on the shoulder, then said to Wong, "Keep an eye on him for me. Thanks."
The ground shook.
Cull Obsidian charged.
Stark took off his glasses, tapped his chest, and walked toward his opponent.
Armor rapidly spread across his body.
Cull Obsidian rushed forward and brought his axe down.
Stark raised an arm. An armored shield formed and blocked the strike.
And with that, the battle between Thanos's generals and the Avengers officially began.
———
In the endless reaches of space, Star-Lord's ship darted about while a squadron of fighters chased after it.
A fierce battle unfolded in deep space as energy beams and fireballs lit up the dark void.
Inside the ship, Star-Lord piloted frantically and shouted, "How did these guys find us?"
Not long after Rocket, Thor, and the others had left, this squadron of fighters had suddenly appeared and attacked them.
"I'm going to take them out!", Drax stood up.
But at that moment, the light ahead suddenly dimmed.
Star-Lord looked up and couldn't help exclaiming, "Oh my God."
Thanos's flagship, the Sanctuary, appeared in space. Its massive hull blotted out everything around it.
Compared to it, Star-Lord's ship wasn't even a speck of dust.