58 58

'.....'= Thoughts 

"....."= Conversations 

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Magneto tried to block and deflect the force behind John's attack and struggled to maintain his balance, but he was caught off guard by the unexpected move. As he crashed into the trees, John approached him cautiously, hoping to break through the barrier of anger and mistrust that had enveloped Magneto.

"Do you think I'm running and hiding? With my strength, do you think I have to run away from you?" John asked firmly as he approached Magneto, who had crashed through a few trees. To be honest, John was also quite tired from fighting and destroying a base before Magneto's arrival.

His 'Regeneration' ability was working full time, trying to restore his stamina, but its low level meant it couldn't do much.

"I was here in Russia for the same reason as you. I was here for revenge; my parents were murdered a year ago for creating something. I understand the pain of losing loved ones, and I don't blame you either. If I were in your place, I would have done the same thing," John continued as Magneto started to get up.

Blood seeped out of Magneto's mouth as he looked at John.

Magneto slowly got to his feet, his eyes narrowing as he regarded John with a mix of surprise and uncertainty. "You... you lost your parents too?" he asked, a hint of curiosity creeping into his voice.

John nodded, his expression softening slightly. "Yeah, I did. And I know what it feels like to want vengeance, to want justice for the ones we've lost. But I've also learned that letting anger and hatred consume you will only bring more pain."

Magneto's grip on the metal in the area tightened slightly as he listened to John's words. "You speak as if you understand me," he said, his voice quiet.

He was ready to attack John at any moment. However, before John could reply, he sensed a person rushing toward him, breaking many trees and boulders in the process.

John turned to look at the person who was rushing toward him in an attempt to assist Magneto.

A lot of people had come with Magneto. Before his ship landed, John had sensed a total of 13 presences other than his own.

All those people were fighting with the X-Men while Magneto was fighting with John.

John easily recognized the person running toward him with a bulky build. That person was wearing a large metal helmet on his head and had a furious expression.

'It's Juggernaut,' John thought and got ready to attack him while also keeping an eye on Magneto.

Before John could take action, he sensed another person in the vicinity.

The Juggernaut, who was rushing towards John, was suddenly stopped. His momentum came to an abrupt stop as a red glow surrounded him.

And before he could do anything, the Juggernaut was thrown far away to a nearby mountain.

Wanda stood by the support of a tree nearby, with her hands covered in a red glow and breathing heavily.

Fortunately, Wanda was not the daughter of Magneto in this reality. She was just a kid with normal parents in Russia.

John quickly approached Wanda and held her.

"What are you doing here?" John asked as she was already tired and was now using her powers again.

The current Wanda was weaker than the one he had seen in the movie Age of Ultron. She didn't have proper control over her powers and neither her emotions. She didn't feel like a trained spy to him and he wondered whether Hydra had made a mistake in sending her after him.

"It's the least I could do," she muttered slowly, refusing to look at John.

John sighed and wondered why Wanda was feeling so guilty and emotional. It's not as if he had saved her life or anything. Even though John had saved her from the building while the earthquake was raging on, he knew that Wanda was perfectly capable of doing so and remaining alive.

Moreover, they had just met once and John was not some cliché protagonist of a novel, where a female character would become so obsessed with him in just one moment. He failed to recognize and understand the importance of his actions in the earlier earthquake events.

He failed to realize the significance of the event: that Wanda, despite her fierce powers, was still a young woman burdened with the weight of her past and the loss of her family. She had been through a lot, and not many people in her life, other than her brother, had helped her.

Moreover, it seemed to her that John somehow understood her situation. Even though she was tailing him, he didn't seem to blame her or accuse her. There was no hint of condescension or mockery in his eyes, despite knowing that, with her magical powers, she was afraid of causing an earthquake.

It almost made her feel like she wanted to read John's mind, to know what he actually thought about her.

"I don't need your help," Wanda said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm not some damsel in distress."

John chuckled softly, understanding her need for independence. "I never said you were. But that doesn't mean you have to go through everything alone."

He gently tapped her head, causing her to look into his eyes. "You're not weak for needing help, Wanda. It's okay to lean on someone else once in a while."

Wanda's eyes glistened with unshed tears, and for a moment, John could see the vulnerability beneath her tough exterior. She was just a girl, lost and broken, trying to find her place in the world.

"Why don't you blame me for what I have done?" Wanda asked John why he wasn't curious about her spying on him.

Of course, while all this lovey-dovey conversation was going on, Magneto wasn't waiting for them to finish or something.

He was now in conversation with a person sitting on a wheelchair, hovering in the air, who had made his entry just as Juggernaut was sent flying.

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