Charles: "???"
He began to wonder if he was hallucinating from the prolonged torture.
He blinked hard, and sure enough, Mutant Number One acted as if nothing had happened, shifting his gaze away. Before leaving the sealed room, he warned Charles, "Behave yourself."
After Mutant Number One left, he fell into deep thought.
Just now, for a moment, he'd felt a strange disorientation, as if something had invaded his mind. This was a sensation he'd never experienced before, not since he first became aware.
He had always believed Charles might be his best vessel, but after that mental struggle, he seemed to have discovered an even more suitable candidate.
Not far away, the unsuspecting Jean shivered. Having successfully counter-controlled Mutant Number One, she no longer feared her abilities. In fact, egged on by Saiki Kusuo, she wanted to go find the mutant and cause more trouble. If she could defeat him mentally and rescue Charles, that would be ideal.
Unfortunately, after suffering that setback, he'd blocked her senses. Now, Jean couldn't contact him, nor could she reach Charles.
The burden of contacting Charles fell once again on Saiki Kusuo.
Erik found a relatively safe spot, untouched by the dust, to land. It wasn't far from the stronghold where Charles was being held. Moreover, the enemy had already detected their presence. As soon as they stepped off the aircraft, several of Mutant Number One's underlings surrounded them.
Raven instinctively shielded everyone behind her, warning the youngsters:
"Be careful. These guys aren't the small fry you've encountered before."
It had to be said, these underlings had quite the… distinctive style.
There was a guy with a pair of chicken wings – no, iron wings – a rebellious girl with a punk, white, styled haircut, and a powerful-looking female bodyguard wielding a pink light sword that looked like it was straight out of Photoshop. As for the last one…
Seeing her appearance, Pietro, standing with the X-Men, exclaimed in surprise, "Wanda?"
Wanda, standing with Mutant Number One's group, was equally surprised. "Pietro?"
The siblings spoke in unison: "What are you doing here?"
Mutant Underlings: "…"
Assault Team: "…"
What's going on? Old flames?
Unaware of everyone's speculation, Pietro excitedly introduced Wanda to Erik: "This is Wanda, my sister."
So, she's his estranged daughter.
The twin connection sparked between the siblings after a second of staring at each other, with Wanda being the first to ask.
"Pietro, why are you here?"
Pietro explained, "I'm here to find our father, of course. But you, Wanda, Mom said you're always out, never home, god knows where. What are you doing here?"
Wanda stated matter-of-factly, "I'm here to find that scumbag too, of course. I met our boss on the way. He said he could help me find him, as long as I helped him with some things. I figured, I had nothing better to do, and I'd already spent the money I earned from my previous job. So, I decided to work for him and get some free food in the process."
Pietro couldn't help but comment, "…You really have no standards."
Then, excitedly, he pointed to Erik beside him and introduced him to Wanda: "Look, Wanda, I found Dad!"
Erik suddenly felt a strange sense of embarrassment.
Wanda looked in the direction he was pointing. "Dad? Are you kidding? He looks nothing like that guy."
Erik: "…"
Pietro: "???"
"What are you talking about, Wanda? This is our father, Erik Lehnsherr."
Frowning, Wanda pulled a photo from her bag. After confirming it several times, she said coldly, "Tell me, how does he look anything like that guy?"
As she spoke, she slapped the photo onto Pietro's face.
Pietro, feeling wronged, took the photo stuck to his face and looked at it.
It was a photo taken when his parents were in love. In the picture, the spirited young couple danced gracefully on the dance floor.
But honestly, if Wanda hadn't said these were his parents, he wouldn't have recognized the incredibly handsome man as his father, nor would he have recognized the woman with the oval face and delicate features as his mother.
This… was photoshopped to hell and back. The beauty filter must have been cranked up to the max when the picture was taken.
Wait, did the US even have that kind of unholy photoshop technology back then?
Seeing Pietro's silence, Wanda pointed to the weathered, middle-aged Erik beside him, who had endured the ravages of time without the benefit of beauty filters or Photoshop, and said with disdain, "This is the photo Mom gave me before I left. Are you telling me they're the same person?"
Pietro really wanted to say yes, but having been taught since childhood not to lie, he didn't know how to answer. He could only look to Erik for help.
Erik didn't want to get involved in this slightly idiotic conversation between the twins. But with both siblings looking at him, seemingly unwilling to let it go without an explanation, and a bunch of onlookers enjoying the show, the stressed-out Erik had no choice but to bite the bullet and answer Pietro.
"I also think he doesn't look much like the photo. Maybe you really did get it wrong."
Pietro: "…Impossible! My mom confirmed that you're my father. I remember when you'd just taken out a senator and were on the wanted list. When the news came on, Mom pointed at your image and said that even though you're older and uglier now, in her heart, you're still handsome and dashing, and you swept her off her feet. That's when she swore she'd sleep with you."
Erik snapped, exasperated, "You don't need to bring that up in public!"
This was no longer a story about fighting mutants and rescuing Charles. It had completely devolved into Erik's family drama. And yet, neither the assault team nor Mutant Number One's underlings had any intention of interrupting, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.
After Pietro's confirmation, Wanda believed that this man was indeed her father. However, she wasn't as thrilled as Pietro was to see their father. Instead, her eyes were filled with contempt and murderous intent.
Saiki Kusuo and Jean, who clearly heard her thoughts, took a step back in unison.
They finally understood why Pietro said his sister was a little strange.
Because the beautiful and lively Wanda was, deep down, a complete yandere.
Unlike Pietro's simple desire to reunite with family, her primary goal in finding their father was to kill the man who had abandoned them and their mother. Then, she would mummify Erik's body and keep it in their basement, so their family of four could be together forever.
At this moment, she was constantly planning how to kill Erik without damaging his body. But then she thought it was too easy to let him die painlessly, so she decided to torture him for a while before killing him.
"Terrifying," Jean commented, but she didn't tell Erik what Wanda was thinking.
Because Erik had brought this all on himself.
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