"Oh! Now that's real backup!"
Watching Sentry descend like a god of war, Rocket Raccoon struggled to his feet and cheered, despite feeling as though the fall had knocked every bone in his body loose.
Mar-Vell had been smashed underground and fallen silent. Sentry, wreathed in golden light and radiating overwhelming power, flew out of the ground and clapped his palms together. The resulting gale swept away all the remaining Corrupted.
"Buddy, that's what a real tough guy looks like. He looks way tougher than you."
Rocket Raccoon poked Drax, who was lying on the ground. Drax snorted and tried to get up.
"Are you the only normal people left in this universe?"
Sentry descended and helped Drax to his feet, though his eyes kept drifting toward Thanos. Clearly, even Sentry found it astonishing to see a former cosmic supervillain getting along peacefully with superheroes.
Thanos was obviously unhappy with Sentry's suspicious looks, but the man's unprecedented power left him with little desire to argue.
"The Corrupted are the biggest problem in the universe now. There's no distinction between heroes and villains anymore."
Star-Lord spoke up in Thanos's defense, then curiously asked where Sentry had come from.
When they learned that Sentry was also from Earth-616, they exchanged looks. The Doctor Strange who had left and never returned had claimed to come from that universe too. Their shared origin piqued everyone's curiosity.
"So is our universe some kind of graduation research project for you guys? You keep showing up here one after another. Just so we're clear, don't make us any more promises. We can't take another letdown."
Rocket Raccoon's attitude changed remarkably quickly, and he immediately began sneering.
But the ever-simple-minded Sentry failed to catch the sarcasm in Rocket Raccoon's words. Instead, he shook his head in confusion and