"Alright, congratulations, Ms. Green. You've been accepted. You can bring your luggage this afternoon."
Karl spoke calmly to the woman standing before him — the identity Mystique had chosen for this infiltration.
Nearby, the two remaining candidates showed clear disappointment.
Karl knew them immediately.
They were not using their real names, but he recognized them without effort:
Natasha Romanoff and
Yelena Belova.
"Thank you, boss," Green said with bright enthusiasm. "I will make sure your manor runs perfectly."
She left to prepare for relocation.
Natasha and Yelena departed separately.
Both sensed something unusual about the other.
Neither spoke.
Yelena was under deep cover.
Natasha had long believed her dead.
Years of separation and altered identities erased any chance of recognition.
Silence was the safest choice.
Hidden Surveillance
After they left, Karl glanced toward the area where they had stood.
He activated his telekinesis.
Small metallic objects slid out from beneath the table and floated into the air.
Listening devices.
Several of them.
Karl's eyes narrowed slightly.
Red Room tradecraft.
He crushed two of the devices into fragments with a flick of his fingers, leaving the others intact.
If he destroyed everything, they would know he had detected them.
Leaving some in place allowed him to feed controlled information.
Why Choose Mystique?
Karl's decision to hire Mystique had been deliberate.
He wanted answers.
Had Mystique come:
on Magneto's orders?
to gather intelligence?
to evaluate him?
or independently?
Assassination seemed unlikely.
Raven's mutation granted:
perfect cellular mimicry
slowed aging
biometric duplication
But her baseline physical capabilities remained human.
Direct confrontation would be suicide.
Karl shook his head slightly.
If she had a mission, it would reveal itself.
Sooner or later.
Timeline Anomalies
Karl had also noticed troubling inconsistencies in this world.
During a background investigation, he discovered that George Stacy was already serving as New York City Police Commissioner.
That alone was strange.
Even stranger:
Gwen Stacy was seventeen years old.
Peter was still a child.
In many timelines, Gwen and Peter were classmates — sometimes lovers.
Now their ages didn't align at all.
Karl considered the implications:
Alternate timeline convergence?
Multiversal bleed-through?
Reality drift?
After extended speculation, he abandoned the puzzle.
This was reality — not a film script.
Events would not unfold according to cinematic timelines.
Mystique Moves In
That afternoon, Raven moved into the manor with her luggage and officially became Karl's estate manager.
Days passed.
Nothing unusual happened.
She worked with flawless efficiency:
staff coordination
supply logistics
kitchen operations
maintenance scheduling
security discipline
She ran the manor like a military command post.
Aunt May quickly developed a favorable impression of her.
Raven enforced standards strictly but fairly, reducing Karl's daily concerns to nearly zero.
Karl observed carefully.
No suspicious communications.
No hidden devices.
No unexplained movements.
Her dedication appeared genuine.
Which made her even more dangerous.
Peaceful Domestic Days
Life settled into an unexpected calm.
Karl spent his days:
assisting Aunt May
training Wanda
playing games with Peter and Pietro
maintaining estate oversight
For the first time since arriving in this universe, he experienced something close to normalcy.
Tony's Problem
Tony, however, was not enjoying peace.
After delegating company operations to Pepper, he focused on a growing crisis:
arc reactor palladium toxicity.
He had begun searching for an alternative element.
None worked.
Eventually, he called Karl.
"Tony? What's wrong? You actually have time to call me?"
Karl answered while sitting with Aunt May.
"Buddy… I'm dying," Tony said bluntly. "Tell me you've got something."
Karl smirked.
"How bad is the palladium poisoning now?"
"…Forty-seven percent. Wait — how did you know that? I never told you."
Tony paused.
Then snapped:
"And stop using that tone when you talk about Pepper!"
Karl chuckled.
"I told you. You're not dying. I have a solution — just not yet."
There was silence.
Then Tony exploded:
"You're kidding me?! I donated my artwork to charity because I thought I was dying!"
Karl coughed lightly.
"I'm hanging up now."
He ended the call before Tony could continue.
A Quiet Understanding
Karl set the phone aside.
Aunt May leaned into him.
Earlier, she had spoken honestly:
She felt she could not keep up with him.
She suggested he should not limit himself.
It was not insecurity.
It was practicality… and affection.
Karl still found the suggestion surreal.
And yet…
he could not deny the temptation.
Especially with a shapeshifter living under his roof.
For now, he chose silence.
The future would unfold in its own time.
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