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When the topic of ducks came up, Nightcrawler opened up like a floodgate and said:
"Besides us who turned into ducks, there are also us who turned into villains. Don't ask why we became villains; just know that we exist.
"However, most villains eventually become anti-heroes. Those who stick to being purely evil are rare. Even those who were chasing you just now, they are considered heroes in their respective worlds; they just went down the wrong path."
At the mention of this, Kevin remembered to ask the crucial question:
"Oh, right, I haven't asked. They were chasing me, saying they wanted to study me. What did they mean by that?"
Through his communication with the Iron Man and other variants, Kevin could roughly guess what they meant, but he needed confirmation.
Nightcrawler paused briefly and replied:
"Literally what it means. You should have noticed it too, I suppose. Although our variants are diverse, most of them are still within the Marvel framework. Regardless of the past, present, or future, our existence cannot leave the Marvel Universe.
"Some people don't even know what world they transmigrated to from birth to death, like some unlucky ones who time traveled back to the past."
Nightcrawler mentioned Kevin variants who went back to ancient times during this period.
For Kevin, the transmigrator, not finding mutants or any elements related to Marvel, but simply arriving in a certain dynasty, could easily lead one to misunderstand that he transmigrated to the past, rather than transmigrating into the Marvel Universe.
Such variants would never discover anything from beginning to end.
However, being able to live a carefree life as a rich man, or even a powerful court official, might also be a kind of happiness for some variants.
At least they don't have to fight for a truth like these Kevin variants.
Nightcrawler paused here, then continued:
"But you are different. We can feel it; you are unlike us. You might even be the source of all of us."
"Feelings… Why didn't Wen Yi feel it?"
Kevin mentioned the Sorcerer Supreme.
Sorcerer Supreme Wen Yi even had to fight him when confirming Kevin's identity, but Iron Man and the other two seemed to recognize him as a special variant immediately, without even needing to confirm.
After mentioning Wen Yi, Kevin carefully observed their expressions.
He had a premonition that the Kevins who appeared in the Void must have been tricked by Wen Yi, and they should also know Wen Yi.
That's why Kevin intentionally brought up Wen Yi to see their reaction.
Sure enough, Kevin's guess was correct.
As soon as he finished speaking, Nightcrawler raised an eyebrow, and the Wasp variant even jumped up and asked:
"You really saw him too!"
"'Too'? So that means…"
"That's right, we were tricked by him! He said we could find the truth about transmigration here, bah! What a big liar!!"
The Wasp variant said indignantly, her words filled with resentment towards Wen Yi.
Nightcrawler added:
"Cassie is the only one who didn't want to come here voluntarily. She has her own family; Ant-Man Scott and Wasp Hope love her very much, and she is an indispensable character in the Young Avengers, but… Wen Yi was a bit dishonorable…"
"A bit?! Just you wait! When I go back, I'm definitely going to turn him into an ant and throw him into an ant nest!!"
At the mention of Wen Yi, Wasp Cassie gnashed her teeth.
Her appearance… Kevin really couldn't find any trace of himself in her.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked a question unrelated to the current topic:
"...May I ask, how old are you?"
"17! What about it? Do you have a problem?"
"Ah…?"
Seventeen…?
Kevin looked at Nightcrawler, a little confused:
"So she is…?"
"Born with memories of a past life." Nightcrawler replied: "Don't be so surprised; not all variants are adults as soon as they transmigrate. Many variants are true reincarnations, born from their mothers' wombs and then growing up to adulthood.
"So you don't have to see her as the same existence as us. She has lived in this world for seventeen years and has completely integrated into it. She is now called Cassie."
"..."
A bit scary…
Kevin withdrew his gaze from Cassie, but he understood why Cassie was so… so full of vitality.
Being reborn as a baby in this world and living for seventeen years, the personality changes brought about by her experiences have completely made Cassie a person completely different from Kevin.
Rather, all the variants here, except for having the same experiences before transmigration, are completely different from Kevin in every other aspect.
After transmigration, they became a group of completely different beings.
They are Kevin, but they are not.
They are Nightcrawler, Spider-Man, Wasp.
No… In Cassie's case, it should be the second… or third generation Ant-Man?
"So it was indeed Wen Yi who sent you here, including Iron Man and the others outside?"
Returning to the main topic, Kevin brought up Wen Yi again.
Nightcrawler nodded, then shook his head, and he said:
"We are, Iron Man and the others are not; they came voluntarily."
"Elaborate?"
"What's there to elaborate on?!"
Cassie interrupted unhappily, grumbling:
"We came voluntarily, Iron Man came on his own, and he even brought a few helpers!"
Nightcrawler added:
"Simply put, Wen Yi calculated that one day you would come and need our help, so he gathered us, who, even knowing our fate, would not change it and attract the TVA, to discuss how to help you.
"I have no objections; anyway, there are many X-Men in my world, so it doesn't matter if there's one more or one less of me.
"Parker was forgotten by everyone in his world, had no attachments, and had Miles Morales as his successor, so he also agreed to come along. Cassie… well, she was tricked into coming, you already know that. As for Iron Man…
"He originally didn't agree to Wen Yi's request to come, but later, he somehow changed his mind, voluntarily attracted the TVA to prune him, and even brought helpers."
"So those two guys, Hulk and Hydro-Man, they weren't sent by Wen Yi?"
"No."
Nightcrawler shook his head, then suddenly asked in return:
"Haven't you noticed yet? Our special nature."
"...?"
Kevin was stunned, and as he was pondering, Nightcrawler already provided the answer:
"My ability is teleportation, related to space. Cassie inherited her parents' mantle and can create shuttles that travel through parallel universes.
"Parker is connected to the Spider-Verse and can go to the Spider-Man headquarters in parallel universes. As for Iron Man… he is the smartest among us. Give him some theories, and he can create anything. Does that explain it… do you understand?"
"All related to parallel worlds…"
"Yes, all related to parallel worlds."
Kevin figured out the answer, and Nightcrawler agreed with Kevin's answer.
All the people Wen Yi currently chose to help Kevin are related to parallel universes, and these characters related to parallel universes might be able to help Kevin restrain the runaway timeline of The Boys world.
But then Kevin felt something was off.
Wen Yi arranged for these people beforehand, but he only learned of Kevin's purpose these past few days.
That is to say, before knowing Kevin's purpose, he understood what Kevin was going to do and sent all the relevant characters Kevin needed here.
Isn't the causal relationship reversed here?
Kevin asked his question, and Nightcrawler was silent for a long time.
Until Spider-Man, who had been silent, spoke:
"You know the Sorcerer Supreme, don't you? All the guys who can become the Sorcerer Supreme are annoying riddlers. Who knows if he already knew the answer and is just going through the motions?"
"That's not impossible either…"
Kevin deeply agreed with Spider-Man's words.
Let alone Wen Yi, even Kevin himself sometimes acted as a riddler.
After all, some things really cannot be said; saying them might instead cause things to change.
"So now, everything that needed to be said has been said."
Nightcrawler finally concluded, looking up at Kevin and asking:
"Shouldn't you also tell me your origin… and purpose?"
To show their sincerity, Nightcrawler and the others voluntarily revealed their origins and reasons for coming here.
In exchange, Kevin should also tell them his identity and origin.
And his true purpose for coming to this world.
...
And so it went, and so it was.
Kevin once again stated his purpose.
Honestly, he was tired of repeating himself so many times that he was even thinking about getting a voice recorder to record what he said, so that when people asked in the future, he could just play it for them.
However, seeing that there didn't seem to be any voice recorders here, Kevin temporarily gave up on this tempting idea.
"So, you want to save The Boys world?"
"More or less. Mainly, I live in that world, and my friends and girlfriend are there too."
The important reason for saving The Boys world wasn't just because the changes in The Boys world were caused by Kevin.
The key was that the people he cared about were also in The Boys world.
He couldn't be sure what kind of impact the collapse of the timeline would have on the original inhabitants, so no matter what, he had to try first to see if he could resolve the timeline collapse event.
"Then it seems we really can help."
Nightcrawler said, stroking his chin.
Kevin looked at Spider-Man: "I remember the Spider-Man Alliance has technology to stabilize collapsing universes, right?"
"We do."
Spider-Man took off his mask, revealing a youthful face full of stubble. He sat on a hammock he had made himself, saying lazily:
"But the premise is that the critical nodes of the universe haven't been destroyed."
"What are the critical nodes of the universe?"
Kevin asked, feigning ignorance.
Spider-Man explained: "For example, every Spider-Man loses the most important person in his life. For me, it was Uncle Ben; for Spider-Gwen, it was her childhood friend Peter Parker; for Miles Morales, it was his father…
"These critical time nodes cannot be destroyed. Once destroyed, the collapse of the universe is inevitable. Even with the Spider Alliance's technology, it can only temporarily maintain the existence of the universe. Over time, what's supposed to collapse will still collapse."
Kevin was aware of this.
It was made clear in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"; he was just confirming.
After a moment of thought, Kevin asked:
"So what are the critical nodes of The Boys Universe?"
"I don't know. If you hadn't changed much, we could have figured it out by elimination, but you've changed too many things now. The entire The Boys world has been made unrecognizable by you, so who knows what its original critical nodes were."
Spider-Man spread his hands, answering helplessly.
Just as Kevin was about to ask again, Nightcrawler preemptively asked Spider-Man:
"But you at least have the technology to stabilize collapsing parallel universes, otherwise that trickster wouldn't have brought you here."
Pfft, 'trickster' is quite something.
Nightcrawler's way of referring to Wen Yi almost made Kevin burst out laughing.
It seemed Nightcrawler didn't have a good impression of Wen Yi, otherwise he wouldn't have called Wen Yi that.
"We do have it," Spider-Man swayed in the hammock, "but I can't give it to you now. I can only give it to you after Loki kills Kang."
"So the technical blueprints aren't here?"
"Do you think this place looks like somewhere high-tech can be developed?"
Spider-Man retorted.
Kevin looked around, silently.
While the Void was said to have everything, most of the things trimmed here wouldn't last long before being devoured by Alioth.
It was indeed a bit difficult to create a device that could stabilize parallel universes here.
"So what we need to do now is wait for Loki and Sylvie to come and follow the plot. If nothing unexpected happens, Loki should be discovered by the other Lokis."
Perhaps infected by Spider-Man, Nightcrawler's tone also became a bit lazy.
Kevin thought for a moment and realized that this was all they could do for now.
With the Iron Man trio searching for them outside and Alioth eyeing them covetously, they seemed to have no other choice but to stay here and wait for the plot to continue.
However, thinking of the Iron Man trio, Kevin couldn't help but worry:
"...Iron Man and them, they wouldn't attack Loki, would they?"
"Hmph, if they don't want to stay here forever, they have to follow the plot!"
Cassie snorted lightly, speaking disdainfully.
The reason they stayed here was that once they left, it would cause a time branch, leading to them being trimmed by the TVA.
And once Kang died, they wouldn't have to worry about this issue and could leave the Void at any time.
Unlike the Lokis who were trimmed here, the Kevins all had ways to leave this place.
At least Nightcrawler, the other two, and Iron Man did. It was unclear if the two variants brought by Iron Man did.
Listening to Cassie, Nightcrawler nodded, but soon he said:
"That's true, but we also need to guard against any tricks they might pull. We have someone among the Lokis, and I'll have him keep an eye out. If the plot really deviates, we can correct it in time."
"We even have a 'Loki' variant??"
When Nightcrawler said they had an undercover agent among the Lokis, Kevin's pupils immediately constricted.
Nightcrawler chuckled:
"No, we don't. Although we have a variant of Hela, the Goddess of Death, the universe he originally existed in actually didn't have Hela, which is why he was able to usurp the position. As for Loki... almost every universe has a Loki, so we don't have a Loki variant.
"But we can disguise ourselves."
So that's how it is.
Kevin understood.
It meant there was a Kevin variant who was a master of disguise, and he had infiltrated the Lokis.
That made sense.
Otherwise, if there really was a Loki variant, Kevin couldn't guarantee that the variant who knew the plot wouldn't replace Loki and sit on the Time Throne.
"Alright, you rest here for a bit. According to the plot you just described, Loki and Sylvie will probably arrive soon. Before that, get some rest so you'll have the energy to fight when Iron Man and the others come looking for trouble."
Nightcrawler said, pulling open a nearby drawer and rummaging through it, then tossing a bottle of soda to Kevin.
Kevin took the soda and looked at the production date on it.
Goodness, 2007.
If this were outside, it would have been expired for who knows how long.
But here, this soda was likely something that had just been trimmed in, so there was no need to worry about the date.
Don't think that the TVA only trimmed people.
Sometimes, an entire entity that deviated from the timeline would also be trimmed by the TVA.
For example, the World War II battleship that suddenly appeared in the Void in the plot.
The people on it, the battleship itself, and all the supplies on the battleship were all trimmed to the junkyard at the end of time.
And the supplies the Kevin variants obtained here mostly came from these trimmed entities.
Including the Lokis too.
Although they were gods, they couldn't survive without eating or drinking. If it weren't for this junk, it's uncertain how many of them would have survived.
The waiting process was boring.
Nightcrawler passed the time by reading, and Spider-Man was checking his web-shooters.
Cassie, the youngest in physical age but likely the oldest in psychological age among them, lay on the bed, swinging her legs, playing with a handheld game console from who knows where.
After looking around at everyone, Kevin, feeling a bit bored, proactively started a conversation:
"What did you all experience in your respective worlds...?"
During their previous conversation, Kevin had told them about his experiences in The Boys world over the past year or so.
But he still didn't know what stories these people in front of him had.
That's right, Kevin had looked at some of his time variants' destinies, but the variants he observed did not include these people in front of him.
Since there was still some time before Loki and his group arrived, he might as well ask about their variants' experiences during this period.
Kevin was very curious to know what kind of stories he would have if he became Nightcrawler, Spider-Man, or Wasp.
Nightcrawler put down his book when he heard this.
He looked up, met Kevin's gaze, and smiled, saying:
"Very curious?"
"Yes, quite curious."
"Alright, then I'll tell you briefly. I think you should know who I am from my skin and abilities. That's right, Nightcrawler from the X-Men, with the ability of teleportation. But what you know is probably the movie version of Nightcrawler."
"You're not the movie version?"
"I am... but also not. I come from a universe that doesn't belong to either movies or comics. In that universe... I am the son of Mystique and Azazel."
Nightcrawler recounted his story in detail.
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