Magneto and Wanda were at an impasse.
Theoretically, they should have been displaying deep father-daughter affection by now, at the very least walking over to exchange a few cordial words among the crowd, embracing gently, and patting each other on the back.
But obviously, they had never done that before and didn't plan to, making the empty corridor stand out all the more awkwardly.
If it had been a normal father and daughter reuniting under such circumstances, the people not making way would be considered inconsiderate. However, for Magneto and Wanda, all those standing far away and giving them ample space were the ones lacking consideration.
Can't you see we don't want to hug? Why run so far away?
The others also felt wronged; was it their choice to run so far? Didn't you see how strong that border collie is? Good grief, Wolverine moved one step to the left, and nearly broke three ribs when he was hit by that force.
Although only a dozen or so seconds had passed, the atmosphere in the room was as awkward as if decades had gone by, until Shiller finally broke the stalemate by saying, "Let's sit down and have breakfast first."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, walking towards the dining table; so moved tables, others shifted chairs, and they introduced each other as they sat down, the Mutant Brotherhood mingling rrily with the X-n.
"I'll help out." Clark stood up again, walked to the kitchen and said, "With so many people here, we need to prepare a lot of breakfast. Do we have enough ingredients? If not, I'll go buy so."
"We're just making so simple sandwiches; we'll cook a big al at noon... The kitchen is already small as it is, don't walk around here, go sit down."
Clark was sent back by Shiller, and just as he sat down in the empty seat next to the head seat at the table, he said, "I've never seen a group like you before. Could you tell where you all co from?"
Rakshasa Woman was about to speak with a clear throat, but with so many thoughts swirling in her head, she didn't know where to start. Wolverine, admiring Clark's strength, said, "They are from the Mutant Brotherhood, which you can understand as an organization led by Magneto."
"And we are the X-n, and so are students from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, which you can understand as an organization led by Professor X."
"Wait a minute, do you an to say you are two groups? So, are you different kinds of mutants?"
"Every mutant is different," Polaris spoke up. "There are no 'kinds' of mutants; almost no two mutants have exactly the sa abilities in this world, it's just that we belong to different organizations."
"Even though you are like this, you still divide into two organizations?" Clark was very surprised and said, "Then what is the relationship between Magneto and Professor X, are they enemies? But I saw them together earlier, and they seed to get along fine."
"The two of them... that's a long story," Mystique sighed. "It's a long and complicated tale."
His moist blue eyes looked at her with utmost sincerity.
"To be honest, I don't know what exactly happened back then," Polaris said. "I asked both of them, but they didn't tell ."
"So what exactly happened to Professor X's legs...?" Wanda was also curious, glancing occasionally at Magneto's face.
Magneto suddenly stood up, his face taut and his back ramrod straight, and said, "I'm going upstairs to rest."
After saying that, he walked toward the staircase, only to hear Clark ask him from behind, "Oh, right, you still have a cold, don't you? You should get so good rest. Do you need to help you upstairs, sir?"
Magneto nearly stumbled on the stairs and gritted his teeth, "No need, I'm fine."
Even at the doorway upstairs, he could still hear Clark's continuous chatter downstairs, "This gentleman isn't young anymore, you all need to take more care of him, the elderly are always very fragile, back when my grandfather was alive, my mother would often say..."
The expression on the faces around the table was colourful, Quicksilver couldn't hold back any longer, pursing his lips and saying, "Well... he is not just any old man, he is Magneto, you know..."
Polaris glanced at Quicksilver, then said, "He doesn't need anyone's concern; all good intentions will be considered by him as ingratitude. Otherwise, Professor X wouldn't have..."
Mystique shot her a glance and Polaris did not continue, Mystique said, "The past is the past, and it was just an accident back then, Erik didn't do it on purpose..."
"So what actually happened?" Clark was simply too curious; he really wanted to know the history of this special group.
Mystique frowned and after so hesitation, roughly recounted the events of that ti, and Wolverine added so details he had learned from Professor X.
Shiller probably knew about the past of Magneto and Professor X in his universe, similar to what had been portrayed in the movies, except that it didn't happen during the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was even earlier.
Back then, they were both very young, had a falling out over a disagreent, and were in a prolonged cold war, which was exploited by soone. But the overall process was similar.
Magneto was one against a thousand, facing an entire troop on his own, showing no rcy in his actions, and reflecting every bullet shot at him straight back.
At the ti, he was in a cold war with Professor X and didn't know that the other had arrived; as a result, one bullet he deflected was bounced back by the opposite side's shield and hit Professor X in the waist.
Since nobody else was there, their descriptions were all rather vague; they knew it was an accident, and as for the relationship between the two, most people were also unclear, skirting around the topic.
"So what exactly is their relationship?" Clark wouldn't let it go, saying, "If, as you say, Professor X beca paralyzed because of him, but he never apologized, how could the two of them possibly be friends?"
"But if they were enemies, you wouldn't be sitting together like today, right? So what exactly is their relationship?"
"Just like your relationship with Batman," Wanda said bluntly.
"But Batman and I are just friends, oh, you an those superheroes and Batman? They should only be comrades and friends too. Superman didn't paralyze Batman, I an, Batman didn't paralyze Superman, uh..."
"Can't you just stop asking?" Polaris said irritably, "What's there to ask about? It's been so many years!"
"But does it just go away because it's in the past?" Clark was very puzzled as he said, "Can sothing that happened many years ago be as if it never occurred? Isn't the real problem that you let a conflict drag on for so many years without resolving it?"
"But now it really can't be..."
"What can't be? Mutants have already fallen to this low point, yet you're not thinking about everyone working together sincerely. You're still being evasive and secretive here, no wonder you've ended up in such a ss."
"You!" Polaris slamd the table, and a Magnetic Storm instantly rippled out, but Clark stood unmovable, staring straight at her.
Seeing those clear blue eyes that seed to pierce to the very bottom, Polaris was struck as if by a heavy blow. She relaxed her arms and slumped into her seat, saying, "What can we do? What can we change?"
"Of course you can. You are his biological children after all, why don't you care about him at all?" Clark swept his gaze around and said, "You were also the esteed students of that Professor. Why don't you take care of him either?"
"What do you an 'take care'? Who can we manage?" Wanda was also getting a bit angry as she raised her voice and said, "He never cared for us, nor listened to us. We..."
"If they don't listen, do you just give up on them?" Clark's voice was louder than hers, "I originally thought that it was bad enough in our cosmos to let two ntally ill people tornt each other for four years, but you've let them tornt each other for forty years!"
"How on earth can you just stand by and watch them maintain this relationship for decades without trying to intervene and change it?!"
"I told you we can't stop them!" Polaris said with great helplessness, "They are the two most powerful mutants in the cosmos. Together we are not even as strong as they are. What can we do?"
"Why do you need to be stronger than them??" Clark stood up and said, "Are you planning to fight them? You are their children and students. Where in the world does it say that parents and children must be able to beat each other before they can show concern and help one another??"
Everyone fell silent.
"But they don't listen to reason," Mystique said. "Our advice is useless; no one will listen."
"When a ntally ill person says they won't take their dication, do you really plan to let them be and then wait until their condition worsens to say they didn't listen to advice? What then are all these ntal hospitals in the world for?"
"We've said it before, we can't beat them!" Polaris said impatiently, "The problem has just co full circle."
Clark simply couldn't understand the thought process of these people. It was as if, in their minds, if a person didn't listen to advice and violence wasn't an option, they had no other way to persuade him to change.
He didn't understand what kind of environnt could produce such a group of utterly different people all sharing the sa mindset that seed as if their brains were connected straight to their intestines. The Robins weren't like this at all.
"If you're so capable, why don't you go convince him?" Wanda looked up at Clark and said.
"I'm not a Mutant." Clark said assertively, but then looked away and added, "But I'm afraid I really do need to take care of this matter. This can't go on."
Breakfast was soon served. After the al, Pietro, Mystique, and Rakshasa Woman accompanied Wanda for a walk on the ridge, while the others strolled around the village, planning to visit nearby Guadalajara City as well.
Shiller brought a breakfast to Magneto in his room and after setting down the plate, he sat on the edge of the bed and said, "You heard what they were saying downstairs, didn't you?"
Magneto picked up the plate and nodded slightly but said nothing. Shiller asked, "What do you think?"
"About what?"
"About what happened back then."
"That's in the past."
"You know that's not true," Shiller shook his head and said, "Just because many years have passed doesn't an it's really over."
However, Magneto put down what he was holding and said, "You knew about it even before that young brat, but you didn't intervene either. Why?"
Shiller shook his head and replied, "I didn't think I needed to intervene."
"But you also hope for mutants to be more united, regardless of who they are."
"Maybe because I understand madn better," Shiller said with a smile as he poured water. "At heart, we are the sa kind of people, while Clark is normal."
To Shiller's surprise, Magneto's face actually revealed a rare smile as he said, "That naive kid won't get anything."
"But he's bound to be annoying," Shiller replied as he placed the glass of water on the bedside table. "He is Superman after all. If he's determined to do sothing, you'll see just how powerful an extraterrestrial search and rescue dog can be."
Downstairs, Clark turned down the others' invitation to Guadalajara and was left alone, fiddling with the computer Pietro had left behind.
He found the computers of this era much more advanced and user-friendly than those of his own, with all sorts of news just a search away. Doesn't that make everyone a formidable hacker?
Clark entered Magneto's na into the search bar and countless reports about him appeared before his eyes.
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