Back at the CIA base, everyone had witnessed the terrifying power of Sebastian Shaw with their own eyes.The Fake Black Emperor
At that time, the Black Emperor had seemed unstoppable.
Even when Rorschach fought him with everything he had, he hadn't been able to shake Shaw in the slightest. In the end, the only option had been retreat. They had escaped with their lives, but the sense of helplessness from that encounter still lingered in everyone's memory.
And now?
How much time had actually passed since then?
Yet Shaw had just been beaten down by Rorschach like a stray dog lying on the street.
Raven and Hank stared at the scene in front of them in disbelief. Their minds struggled to process what they were seeing.
"Go inside the hotel and bring Charles here," Rorschach said calmly.
He didn't even bother acknowledging their shocked expressions.
"Oh… right!"
Both Raven and Hank snapped back to reality.
They quickly stood up and ran toward the hotel entrance.
Standing near the doorway was the strange translucent man who had been accompanying Shaw. When he saw Raven and Hank approaching, he immediately moved toward the door, clearly intending to block their path.
"Don't move."
Rorschach's voice cut through the air.
His eyes began to glow with a dangerous crimson light.
The warning was obvious.
If the man dared to interfere, the heat vision would fire without hesitation.
During the entire battle earlier, the phasing mutant had barely participated. Aside from assisting Shaw twice, he had done almost nothing—even when Shaw had been getting beaten senseless by Rorschach.
That behavior told Rorschach something.
The man's ability was probably similar to the Wind Woman's.
Powerful on the surface, but hiding a fatal weakness.
Otherwise, someone capable of phasing through everything would be even more ridiculous than the Wind Woman. A mutant like that would be almost impossible to deal with.
Of course, this was only a guess.
But the moment Rorschach threatened him, the man's face turned extremely unpleasant.
That reaction alone suggested the guess was probably correct.
"Forget it, Alan," a voice suddenly said.
"The situation is over. We lost."
The voice came from Shaw.
Or rather—from the body that had been Shaw a moment ago.
But the voice itself had changed.
It was now clearly a woman's voice.
Everyone present froze.
Rorschach, Raven, and Hank all turned toward the fallen "Black Emperor."
Before their eyes, Shaw's appearance began to change.
The color of his skin rippled like liquid paint spreading across a canvas. Within seconds, the imposing figure of Sebastian Shaw vanished completely.
In his place stood a blue-skinned woman.
Mystique?
Another Mystique?
"Raven…"
Hank's mouth hung open slightly.
He glanced at the blue-skinned woman in front of them, then looked back at Raven standing beside him. The similarities were impossible to ignore.
Both had blue skin.
Both possessed transformation abilities.
Anyone seeing them together would immediately suspect they were related.
Even Raven herself was stunned.
For as long as she could remember, she had never encountered anyone with powers so similar to her own.
Could this really be her sister?
"You… how can you change your appearance?" Raven asked cautiously, staring at the woman. "Who are you?"
The blue-skinned woman raised an eyebrow.
"Also?" she repeated thoughtfully.
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"You've seen someone else like me before?"
Before Raven could respond, Hank spoke up.
"Raven, I'll go get Charles."
Although he was just as curious about the situation, he knew this wasn't the right moment for long conversations.
After saying that, Hank rushed into the hotel.
The phasing mutant watched everything quietly.
He made no move to stop Hank.
Instead, he looked back and forth between the blue-skinned woman and the others several times. His expression shifted repeatedly before he suddenly turned and ran away from the hotel.
Rorschach didn't stop him.
It was as if he hadn't noticed the escape at all.
To him, the phasing mutant wasn't particularly important. Letting him go wasn't a problem.
Right now, Rorschach's attention was focused entirely on the blue-skinned woman.
The Black Emperor had been a fake.
That single fact explained many of the strange details from earlier.
At a moment as critical as this—when international tensions were escalating toward a missile crisis—the real Shaw would naturally be manipulating events from the shadows.
He wouldn't waste his time personally dealing with a small group of young mutants.
The weaker performance in battle also made sense.
This Shaw hadn't been the real one.
Only one question remained.
Why did this woman possess the same ability as Shaw?
Suddenly, a name flashed through Rorschach's mind.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he realized the answer.
Copycat.
A mutant with abilities very similar to Mystique's.
She could perfectly imitate another person's appearance, making it nearly impossible to distinguish the real from the fake.
But Copycat's ability went even further.
Her imitation operated at a genetic level.
That meant she could copy not only someone's appearance—but their powers as well.
Which explained everything.
She hadn't just disguised herself as Shaw.
She had copied his ability.
So the truth was obvious.
The entire battle had been a decoy.
Everyone had been fooled.
Well… almost everyone.
A notification suddenly appeared in Rorschach's mind.
[Mission completed. Congratulations, host. You have obtained 700 Origin Points.]
[You currently possess surplus Origin Points. Would you like to use them immediately for enhancement?]
Rorschach remained calm.
For everyone else, this mission had been a complete waste of time.
They had risked their lives, fought desperately, and even suffered injuries—all to defeat a fake.
But for him?
Seven hundred Origin Points was an enormous reward.
It was enough to push his strength to another level.
Still, this wasn't the right moment to perform the enhancement.
Ignoring the system prompt for now, Rorschach walked over to the blue-skinned woman.
"I'm guessing you don't know where the real Shaw is," he said casually.
Copycat shrugged.
"I work for money," she replied lightly. "I don't worry about anything beyond that."
Her tone was relaxed, as if the dangerous situation around her meant nothing.
Then she looked at Rorschach thoughtfully.
"But now I understand why Shaw valued you so highly," she said.
The real Black Emperor had given her a very clear mission.
First recruit them.
If that failed—eliminate them.
Leave no survivors.
That alone showed how seriously Shaw took this group.
"Really?" Rorschach said dryly. "I don't feel honored."
"Rorschach!"
"Is that the woman?"
"Is she Shaw?"
A flurry of footsteps approached as Charles and the others arrived with Hank.
They stopped when they saw the blue-skinned woman standing in front of Rorschach.
Confusion spread across their faces.
Some looked puzzled.
Others looked frustrated.
They had fought desperately, risking their lives in a brutal battle—only to discover the enemy they defeated wasn't even the real one.
"So… a blue-skinned shapeshifter?" Sean said curiously, staring at the woman before glancing at Raven. "Raven… what's her relationship to you?
.....
Read the next chapter on my p@treon for free.
Paid members can get more than 60 chapters.
Link: [email protected]/GalaxyWonder