Peter Parker Went Rogue?

By afternoon, a makeshift time-travel platform had finally been assembled.

The warning system had been flashing red all day, and conditions around the world were growing worse.

Everyone stood on the platform while Lin Yi and Tony adjusted the equipment below.

"Tony, be careful when you enter the Quantum Realm again..." This was the second time Lin Yi had warned him.

The two had talked all afternoon. Lin Yi couldn't help suspecting that the crisis might be connected to the person with that familiar aura they had encountered in the Quantum Realm.

Had that person deliberately destroyed his Time Navigation Device to delay his return? Could he have stopped the Black-purple veins if he had come back then?

Lin Yi couldn't make sense of it, but he couldn't go back to that past timeline to check. The outcome was already set. Changing the past would only create a Parallel Universe, not alter a future that had already happened.

At least, Lin Yi currently had no way to force the timelines to converge and make the past affect the future.

Tony had also examined the Icosahedron in front of Lin Yi. As Lin Yi expected, he couldn't analyze it at all. He couldn't even break it open with any technology he currently possessed.

Lin Yi wasn't disappointed. Even his Super Vision couldn't penetrate its surface.

In the heavy silence, the machinery hummed. Everyone vanished from the platform and set out on another perilous journey.

No one noticed Tony give a slight nod toward a corner just before he disappeared.

New York, 2012.

The Chitauri invasion was still underway. The air reeked of dust, smoke, and burning debris, while explosions and screams rang out from every direction.

On the roof of the New York Sanctum, the Ancient One had just watched Banner disappear with the Time Stone. Before she could begin to worry, something strange appeared before her eyes.

The Time Stone's lingering presence had not yet faded when it gathered again. Two figures in Nano Time Suits appeared before her.

The suits receded, revealing Lin Yi and Strange.

"We have a problem!" Strange blurted out.

The Ancient One stood with her hands behind her back, expressionless. Then she let out a soft breath, looking faintly resigned.

"I can see that. Otherwise, returning one Stone wouldn't take two people..."

When the Ancient One had shown Banner the timelines, she had already seen what would happen if they succeeded.

Steve would return the Stone alone. But now... something had clearly gone wrong.

And Strange had come—a man who should not have appeared, arriving at the wrong point in time in the worst possible way.

Oh, and he had brought a young man who had left no trace in the timeline at all.

She had a growing sense that something had gone terribly wrong in the future. What a headache. How exhausting...

"This isn't the place to talk, gentlemen. Come with me." The resigned Ancient One made a few gestures, conjured a Magic Circle, and tossed it outward.

The Magic Circle landed on the roof and rapidly expanded into a hemispherical shield before turning transparent.

The three went inside the Sanctum and sat facing one another.

The Ancient One poured them hot tea. After only a few pleasantries, she listened quietly as Strange told her everything about the future: Variant Thanos, the Infinity Stones, and the Black-purple veins.

Lin Yi sipped his tea and studied the Ancient One with curiosity. She had departed the Marvel Cinematic Universe so early.

Strange was nearing the end of his account when the Ancient One seemed to notice Lin Yi watching her. She turned to meet his gaze and gave him a slight nod.

"The presence of the Dark Dimension, capable of blocking the full effects of the Six Infinity Stones..." The Ancient One looked away, repeating the words under her breath. Her heart slowly sank.

Parched from talking, Strange took a sip of tea before concluding, "Of all the futures I saw through the Time Stone on Titan, not one looked like this."

"And he wasn't in any of them..." Strange looked at Lin Yi as he spoke.

The Ancient One lowered her head in thought. Understanding what Strange meant, she looked at Lin Yi again. "You suspect this young man changed the future? Or that the future is connected to him?"

Lin Yi quickly set down his cup. "Don't pin this on me. I don't think so..."

Lin Yi met the Ancient One's gaze without a hint of panic. He didn't know whether this mysterious figure from Marvel could tell where he came from, but it wouldn't matter if she could. Deadpool existed, after all, and the Marvel Universe seemed to have had outsiders before.

Go on, then. Send me back if you can!

Strange shook his head too. He had already made a point of explaining Lin Yi's strength and the fact that he could not be seen in the timelines.

"He's a variable, but I don't currently believe he's responsible for the disaster in the future."

"I went through every book in Kamar-Taj's collection and found this..." Strange took out the loose page he had found earlier.

"It describes something similar, but there's too little information. I wanted to ask if you know what this is, or whether there's any way to deal with it."

The Ancient One gave Lin Yi a long look before saying gravely, "When Banner came here, I told him this was extremely dangerous..."

Something stirred in Strange's mind. "Are you saying all this is connected to time travel?"

The Ancient One neither confirmed nor denied it. Instead, she picked up the Time Stone they had returned.

"I may know what this is, but I need some time to confirm it." As she spoke, the Ancient One formed an array with her hands. The Infinity Stone floated above her palm, and she rose into the air, sitting cross-legged.

"Remember not to disturb me. Also, it seems a friend of yours has brought new information..." The Ancient One cast a meaningful glance toward the wooden door leading to the Sanctum roof. Then she closed her eyes, and green energy enveloped her.

Lin Yi was puzzled. A friend? New information?

Could it be Tony?

Both men turned toward the wooden door at once.

Knock, knock, knock.

At the sound, Strange shifted his shoulder slightly. The Cloak of Levitation reluctantly turned to open the door.

A figure burst in headlong, still shouting at the top of his lungs.

"OMG, I never noticed when I was little, but those Chitauri soldiers are so ugly!"

"I wonder if my suit could take a hit from one of those lasers..."

"Peter?" Strange cried out. Lin Yi's eye twitched.

Sure enough, it was Peter Parker—another person appearing at a point in time where he had no business being...

Peter scratched his head and greeted them awkwardly. "Hi, Mr. Lin Yi, Doctor Strange..."

"Peter, how did you get here?" Once the shock passed, Strange's confusion hardened into anger.

Who had told Peter to do this? Tony, or had Peter acted on his own?

Peter had black-and-purple markings. No one knew whether entering another timeline without permission might spread them to this parallel universe. Tony couldn't have failed to consider that. And judging by how he had always treated Peter, he was unlikely to have sent him through time alone.

The likeliest explanation was that Peter had acted on his own.