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"How do you know this?"
Roger stared intently at Mystique, his voice cold and piercing.
Mystique didn’t answer. Instead, she asked in return, "Does what I’ve said qualify to stay by your side?"
"I’m asking you!" Roger stepped closer to Mystique, grabbing her shoulders tightly. Crimson energy surged in his eyes as he questioned her.
"Why... do you know... these things?"
The pain from Roger’s grip caused Mystique to wince, her brows knitting tightly together. Yet, she smiled through the pain and replied, "I can’t tell you."
"Do you want to die?"
Roger's expression turned terrifying as he growled at Mystique.
The secret of his dinsional travels—alright, maybe not exactly a secret, but it was sothing only Roger himself should know. The fact that Mystique knew it was alarming enough.
Roger desperately wanted to know where Mystique had learned this. Could it be... Andrea?
His grip on Mystique’s shoulders tightened further, making her unable to maintain her composed smile. The pain beca too much to bear, and she finally broke, exclaiming:
"You told !"
"What?"
Roger froze, letting go of Mystique as the crimson energy in his eyes faded, replaced by confusion and bewildernt.
Freed from his grip, Mystique stepped back, distancing herself from the emotionally unstable Roger. She repeated, "You told ."
"Impossible… That’s absolutely impossible!"
Roger combed through his mories frantically, trying to find any evidence supporting Mystique’s claim. Yet, no matter how hard he searched, he found no connection between himself and Mystique.
"I don’t believe you," Roger said firmly.
Lowering her gaze, Mystique avoided eting Roger’s eyes. She seed less playful than before, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Taking a seat, she sighed and explained:
"I shouldn’t have told you this. It’s sothing you specifically told not to reveal. But… I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t sit here, knowing you were right in front of , and say nothing. I’m sorry. I broke my promise."
Roger looked down at Mystique, his mood surprisingly calm. He thought about Tony’s words, Athena’s misunderstanding, and even Erik’s suspicions.
After a long silence, he spoke:
"I… have a hypothesis. You don’t need to answer directly. Just nod or shake your head if I’m right. Can you do that?"
Mystique hesitated before nodding slightly.
Roger studied her carefully before speaking, "Andrea... is actually... , isn’t she?"
Mystique remained silent, not daring to et Roger’s gaze. After a mont, she gave a faint nod.
"This... this is too unbelievable..."
Roger’s jaw dropped. The confirmation left him questioning reality itself.
Although several people had already mistaken him for Andrea, the difference in gender had always led Roger to dismiss the idea as part of Andrea’s elaborate plans.
But now, this near-impossible hypothesis turned out to be true?
He… was Andrea?
The absurdity of the revelation felt surreal to Roger, even laughable. How could sothing like this be true?
The room fell into a heavy silence. Roger stared blankly at the floor, lost in thought. Mystique hesitated before adding:
"Although you’re Andy, Andy is also Roger."
"…What does that an?"
"I know what you’re thinking," Mystique replied softly. "You probably think Andrea existed after sothing happened to you. But actually, it’s the other way around. You beca Andrea first."
She carefully chose her words to explain.
Roger raised his head, locking eyes with Mystique. After a mont of contemplation, he said, "Go on."
"To put it in a way you’ll understand: your first dinsional travel wasn’t into this current form of yours. It was into Andrea’s. You beca her first. Then, due to an accident, all your mories of being Andrea were erased. That’s why you believe this is your first journey."
Mystique’s explanation made Roger pause and seriously consider her claim.
If what she said was true, then his assumption that acquiring the Superman Template triggered his travels was entirely wrong.
Andrea—or rather, the previous Roger—must have had a different thod of crossing dinsions, possibly through an accident or an extraordinary event.
In this version of events, Roger beca Andrea in the Marvel Universe, growing into a being powerful enough to beco the Sorcerer Supre.
Years, maybe decades, of growth had made Andrea so distinct from Roger that he never considered her to be himself. She lacked his casual deanor and had no trace of his laid-back personality.
Even Andrea herself must have fully embraced her identity. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have continued calling herself Andrea instead of reverting to Roger.
Roger breathed a long sigh of relief. For a mont, he thought he was destined to beco Andrea in the future.
Becoming a woman? No way. Roger couldn’t accept such a fate.
Still, Mystique’s words weren’t entirely trustworthy. It was possible she had learned this information from another source and was using it to deceive him.
Roger considered using the Mind Stone to verify Mystique’s mories. But he quickly realized that, if Andrea was truly himself, she would have ensured Mystique’s mories were tampered with to prevent Roger from uncovering the truth prematurely.
Even if Andrea wasn’t him but rely soone aware of his identity, she would still have likely erased key details from Mystique’s mind to avoid exposing herself.
Athena’s lack of data on Andrea was proof of how ticulously things had been handled.
Thus, even if Roger used the Mind Stone, he doubted he would find any conclusive evidence.
"Do you… believe ?"
Seeing that Roger wasn’t aiming his laser vision at her anymore, Mystique cautiously asked.
Roger glanced at her indifferently, replying, "No, I don’t believe you. Not only do I not believe you, I’m even more suspicious of Andrea’s motives. If she’s really , why hide this from ?"
"…"
"You see? You can’t even answer that. So I have every reason to think that everything you just said was planned by Andrea."
"Andy wouldn’t…"
"But I would."
Roger’s blunt response silenced Mystique.
After a long pause, Roger turned to leave and said:
"In any case, I won’t fully trust you. But if you wanted to use this information to stay by my side, congratulations, you’ve succeeded. You can co with , but only if you follow my orders. Understand?"
"I understand."
Relieved that Roger had finally agreed to take her along, Mystique exhaled deeply.
Roger shot her a glance before walking away, deep in thought.
Whether Mystique’s claims were true or not, if Andrea really was another version of him, then Roger’s journey, even becoming Holander, was likely no coincidence.
He had always believed his dinsional travel was a random stroke of luck. But now, the idea of a random point of traversal seed far-fetched.
If Andrea truly took the Space Stone with her, Roger ford a bold theory:
Perhaps... the point of traversal was the Space Stone itself.
"…"
The idea made Roger stop in his tracks. He glanced down at his chest.
He wasn’t wearing his suit, but beneath his clothes, four Infinity Stones were neatly embedded in his chest.
Roger stared at them for a long mont, waiting for the Space Stone to appear. When it didn’t, he frowned.
"Shouldn’t the Space Stone show up now that I’ve figured it out?"
Or had he missed so crucial condition?
Roger was now almost certain the point of traversal was the Space Stone. But how was he supposed to extract it and align it with the others?
So far, Roger could sense the presence of the point of traversal, but he couldn’t pinpoint its exact location within his body.
"Roger?"
Jean’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Looking up, he saw her worried gaze as she asked, "Are you okay? You seem distracted. Did sothing happen?"
"…Not exactly a problem."
Recalling Mystique’s shocking explanation, Roger rubbed his forehead and replied, "I just heard sothing utterly absurd. Never mind that. Get ready with Nebula. We’re leaving soon."
Then, as if rembering sothing, he added:
"Oh, and Mystique is part of our team now."
"…What?"
Jean froze in disbelief at Roger’s last statent.
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