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Chapter 228: Scarlet Witch
by Great Demon Spirit
Quicksilver's eyes widened. "Earth's first Green Lantern holder was beaten to death by a bunch of Chinese farmers? His weakness was a wooden stick?"
"That's right. This universe is a fascinating place, far more so than an idiot like you could ever imagine. Sometimes, if you spent the time you waste being difficult with Magneto on learning history and knowledge from him, you wouldn't be so stupid," Sabretooth sneered, not missing the chance to mock him.
"Him? What could he possibly know? He's just an old man, holed up studying something all day," Quicksilver retorted, unconvinced.
A glint flashed in Sabretooth's eyes; he had just pried out another piece of intel. He said, "Do you know how Professor X's legs were broken? When he and Magneto were young, they fought an alien and fell into a trap. His legs were crushed."
Quicksilver was stunned into silence.
That old guy, and that kind, bald Professor X... were they that great? Fighting aliens?
"Of course, aliens are very rare in the universe. At least, the number that has reached Earth is very limited." Sabretooth flourished his two knives and, with a *whoosh*, slid them into the sheaths on either side of his waist.
Before the Chitauri and Kryptonians descended upon Earth, the planet's Mortal World had very few ways to obtain detailed information about the Universe, especially regarding Interstellar Civilizations.
Therefore, in this era, many countries on Earth were accustomed to treating their planet as the most special one in the Universe.
Just then, someone came in and addressed Sabretooth, "The Director wants to see you."
Sabretooth nodded, shot a warning glance at Quicksilver, and walked straight out.
Soon, in less than a minute, he returned and said to Quicksilver, "Alright, you can go."
Quicksilver yawned. "Is today's work over? I'm telling you, can't you cut us some slack?"
"I'm telling you, you can leave China. Someone has come forward to bail you out."
"Ha! It must be that Magneto fellow, right? After all this time, he finally remembered me!" Quicksilver's spirits lifted. That old man Magneto finally remembered he had a son.
"No. Magneto still hasn't paid you any mind, even though we've urged him more than once to take you away," Sabretooth said coldly. "The one bailing you out is Tony."
Tony? Quicksilver stood there, dumbfounded.
Over half a year ago, Quicksilver and the Machinist had a less-than-pleasant encounter, and they parted ways soon after.
Tony continued to find ways to grow stronger and gather people, while Quicksilver ran off to mainland China, got taken down by the more powerful S.P.E.A.R., and was forced to work as a laborer for all this time.
In truth, Tony couldn't do much about it either. A certain young lady insisted on blaming him for Quicksilver's disappearance, and no amount of explaining would work.
...
"Alright, I've contacted the people at S.P.E.A.R. It's a good thing I'm Ethnic Chinese; speaking Mandarin makes it easy to build rapport." Tony rubbed his forehead, nursing a bit of a headache. "With your brother's running speed, it should only take him a few hours to get from East Asia to North America."
Quicksilver's speed, strictly speaking, wasn't that fast. Coupled with his youth and an interest in Chunibyo and showing off that far outweighed his interest in developing his abilities, at his absolute best, he could barely reach Mach 3.
Triple the speed of sound might seem fast, but compared to the Speedsters who command the Speed Force, he would be utterly crushed.
The advantage was that the Speedsters' velocity could be stripped away. If you took away their connection to the Speed Force, they became useless. Quicksilver's speed, however, came from within.
But by the same token, if someone found a way to inhibit the X-Gene, Quicksilver would be useless too.
It was hard to say which was superior, but in a contest of pure speed, Quicksilver would be so thoroughly beaten he wouldn't even see the Speedsters' backs.
"Really?" Wanda's beautiful eyes widened. Though still very young, she already exuded an astonishing charm, her every casual movement radiating a fatal allure.
"I don't lie," Tony said, turning his head away with a cold snort.
"Nonsense," Wanda sneered. "Erik himself said you're his most suitable successor. You act all friendly with S.H.I.E.L.D. on the surface, but as soon as you had the power, you turned around and hit them with a nuclear bomb! He often praises you in front of me and his other subordinates for a job well done!"
Finally, Wanda glared at Tony, her cheeks puffed out, her face a mask of distrust. "You're a despicable person, a Villain! Sooner or later, a Superhero will come and deal with you!"
"Who, you?" Tony gave a dry cough and sighed at the sky. "Erik's judgment is surprisingly good. However, I have no intention of taking over for him."
"Shameless!" Wanda pointed an accusing finger at him.
Tony shrugged nonchalantly, no longer paying any attention to the young woman who had only recently come of age.
The fact that he had sent a nuclear bomb to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters was unknown to almost all civilians, save for a select few. Many people didn't even know an organization called S.H.I.E.L.D. existed.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had helped him; that much was true. For instance, they collected his parents' bodies and took him to the hospital after he fell unconscious.
But upon closer inspection, none of this held up well.
The day Tony first had his Awakening, if S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't taken him into custody, Professor X and Magneto would absolutely have made a move. The incident had been too big; the whole world knew about Tony. Whatever S.H.I.E.L.D.'s true intentions were, they had to step in and help, or else Tony would have been taken away by one of the two poles of the Mutant community.
At the same time, S.H.I.E.L.D. never stopped studying him. They collected his gene and cell samples for research and planted Black Widow to infiltrate A.R.G.U.S.—Black Widow fled in a hurry when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, which is why she's still alive today.
To put it bluntly, it was mutual exploitation. Even if Tony had done nothing and remained neutral, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have already won.
The tedious wait was becoming boring, so Tony took out a cigarette. He hadn't smoked in a long time and wanted to satisfy the craving. But before he could light it, Wanda shot him a fierce glare.
"What?" Tony was getting impatient, looking at Wanda with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
He had killed many people. His Killing Intent was built upon countless lives, something a person like Wanda, who had rarely experienced a bloody battlefield, could never comprehend.
The woman who would one day be the famous Scarlet Witch was now trembling slightly, like a helpless little girl.
"No smoking," Wanda said.
"What the hell is it to you if I smoke?" Tony sneered. "I'm not your subordinate, and I don't need to listen to you. The bodies of the people I've killed are enough to pave every road you've ever walked!"
Wanda lowered her head, staring at the ground. It was said that her birth mother, after leaving Magneto, had become addicted to smoking, living her days shrouded in a haze of smoke.
"As an exchange, I can tell you a secret about Erik," Wanda said, raising her head resolutely and mustering her courage.
P.S. Before Days of Future Past, Professor X's legs were already broken; they were crushed by a falling trap while fighting an alien. After Days of Future Past, his spine was damaged by a stray bullet. Based on the concept that "time cannot be trifled with," after the timeline was changed to erase the Sentinel Robots that would have exterminated the Mutants, time arranged for an even more terrifying event to compensate—this became X-Men: Apocalypse.
(end of chapter)
by Great Demon Spirit
Quicksilver's eyes widened. "Earth's first Green Lantern holder was beaten to death by a bunch of Chinese farmers? His weakness was a wooden stick?"
"That's right. This universe is a fascinating place, far more so than an idiot like you could ever imagine. Sometimes, if you spent the time you waste being difficult with Magneto on learning history and knowledge from him, you wouldn't be so stupid," Sabretooth sneered, not missing the chance to mock him.
"Him? What could he possibly know? He's just an old man, holed up studying something all day," Quicksilver retorted, unconvinced.
A glint flashed in Sabretooth's eyes; he had just pried out another piece of intel. He said, "Do you know how Professor X's legs were broken? When he and Magneto were young, they fought an alien and fell into a trap. His legs were crushed."
Quicksilver was stunned into silence.
That old guy, and that kind, bald Professor X... were they that great? Fighting aliens?
"Of course, aliens are very rare in the universe. At least, the number that has reached Earth is very limited." Sabretooth flourished his two knives and, with a *whoosh*, slid them into the sheaths on either side of his waist.
Before the Chitauri and Kryptonians descended upon Earth, the planet's Mortal World had very few ways to obtain detailed information about the Universe, especially regarding Interstellar Civilizations.
Therefore, in this era, many countries on Earth were accustomed to treating their planet as the most special one in the Universe.
Just then, someone came in and addressed Sabretooth, "The Director wants to see you."
Sabretooth nodded, shot a warning glance at Quicksilver, and walked straight out.
Soon, in less than a minute, he returned and said to Quicksilver, "Alright, you can go."
Quicksilver yawned. "Is today's work over? I'm telling you, can't you cut us some slack?"
"I'm telling you, you can leave China. Someone has come forward to bail you out."
"Ha! It must be that Magneto fellow, right? After all this time, he finally remembered me!" Quicksilver's spirits lifted. That old man Magneto finally remembered he had a son.
"No. Magneto still hasn't paid you any mind, even though we've urged him more than once to take you away," Sabretooth said coldly. "The one bailing you out is Tony."
Tony? Quicksilver stood there, dumbfounded.
Over half a year ago, Quicksilver and the Machinist had a less-than-pleasant encounter, and they parted ways soon after.
Tony continued to find ways to grow stronger and gather people, while Quicksilver ran off to mainland China, got taken down by the more powerful S.P.E.A.R., and was forced to work as a laborer for all this time.
In truth, Tony couldn't do much about it either. A certain young lady insisted on blaming him for Quicksilver's disappearance, and no amount of explaining would work.
...
"Alright, I've contacted the people at S.P.E.A.R. It's a good thing I'm Ethnic Chinese; speaking Mandarin makes it easy to build rapport." Tony rubbed his forehead, nursing a bit of a headache. "With your brother's running speed, it should only take him a few hours to get from East Asia to North America."
Quicksilver's speed, strictly speaking, wasn't that fast. Coupled with his youth and an interest in Chunibyo and showing off that far outweighed his interest in developing his abilities, at his absolute best, he could barely reach Mach 3.
Triple the speed of sound might seem fast, but compared to the Speedsters who command the Speed Force, he would be utterly crushed.
The advantage was that the Speedsters' velocity could be stripped away. If you took away their connection to the Speed Force, they became useless. Quicksilver's speed, however, came from within.
But by the same token, if someone found a way to inhibit the X-Gene, Quicksilver would be useless too.
It was hard to say which was superior, but in a contest of pure speed, Quicksilver would be so thoroughly beaten he wouldn't even see the Speedsters' backs.
"Really?" Wanda's beautiful eyes widened. Though still very young, she already exuded an astonishing charm, her every casual movement radiating a fatal allure.
"I don't lie," Tony said, turning his head away with a cold snort.
"Nonsense," Wanda sneered. "Erik himself said you're his most suitable successor. You act all friendly with S.H.I.E.L.D. on the surface, but as soon as you had the power, you turned around and hit them with a nuclear bomb! He often praises you in front of me and his other subordinates for a job well done!"
Finally, Wanda glared at Tony, her cheeks puffed out, her face a mask of distrust. "You're a despicable person, a Villain! Sooner or later, a Superhero will come and deal with you!"
"Who, you?" Tony gave a dry cough and sighed at the sky. "Erik's judgment is surprisingly good. However, I have no intention of taking over for him."
"Shameless!" Wanda pointed an accusing finger at him.
Tony shrugged nonchalantly, no longer paying any attention to the young woman who had only recently come of age.
The fact that he had sent a nuclear bomb to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters was unknown to almost all civilians, save for a select few. Many people didn't even know an organization called S.H.I.E.L.D. existed.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had helped him; that much was true. For instance, they collected his parents' bodies and took him to the hospital after he fell unconscious.
But upon closer inspection, none of this held up well.
The day Tony first had his Awakening, if S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't taken him into custody, Professor X and Magneto would absolutely have made a move. The incident had been too big; the whole world knew about Tony. Whatever S.H.I.E.L.D.'s true intentions were, they had to step in and help, or else Tony would have been taken away by one of the two poles of the Mutant community.
At the same time, S.H.I.E.L.D. never stopped studying him. They collected his gene and cell samples for research and planted Black Widow to infiltrate A.R.G.U.S.—Black Widow fled in a hurry when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, which is why she's still alive today.
To put it bluntly, it was mutual exploitation. Even if Tony had done nothing and remained neutral, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have already won.
The tedious wait was becoming boring, so Tony took out a cigarette. He hadn't smoked in a long time and wanted to satisfy the craving. But before he could light it, Wanda shot him a fierce glare.
"What?" Tony was getting impatient, looking at Wanda with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
He had killed many people. His Killing Intent was built upon countless lives, something a person like Wanda, who had rarely experienced a bloody battlefield, could never comprehend.
The woman who would one day be the famous Scarlet Witch was now trembling slightly, like a helpless little girl.
"No smoking," Wanda said.
"What the hell is it to you if I smoke?" Tony sneered. "I'm not your subordinate, and I don't need to listen to you. The bodies of the people I've killed are enough to pave every road you've ever walked!"
Wanda lowered her head, staring at the ground. It was said that her birth mother, after leaving Magneto, had become addicted to smoking, living her days shrouded in a haze of smoke.
"As an exchange, I can tell you a secret about Erik," Wanda said, raising her head resolutely and mustering her courage.
P.S. Before Days of Future Past, Professor X's legs were already broken; they were crushed by a falling trap while fighting an alien. After Days of Future Past, his spine was damaged by a stray bullet. Based on the concept that "time cannot be trifled with," after the timeline was changed to erase the Sentinel Robots that would have exterminated the Mutants, time arranged for an even more terrifying event to compensate—this became X-Men: Apocalypse.
(end of chapter)
