Thousands of miles away, in a cold, dark apartment in Sokovia, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff were arguing.
Pietro was pacing back and forth across the small room. He moved so fast he looked like a blur.
Wanda sat quietly on a broken chair, staring at a newspaper clipping on the table. It was a picture of Tony Stark wearing his Iron Man armor.
"We have to do it, Wanda,"
Pietro said, stopping in front of her.
"He dropped the bomb on our house. We promised our parents we would make him pay."
"I know what we promised, Pietro,"
Wanda sighed, gently rubbing her temples.
"But look at him now. Look at the news. He stopped making weapons. He closed his factories. He flies around in that suit and fights the very terrorists who used his bombs. He hates war now."
Pietro crossed his arms, looking completely conflicted.
"Does that wash the blood off his hands?"
Pietro asked, his voice full of pain.
"No,"
Wanda answered softly, her glowing red eyes looking sad.
"But it makes him a hero to the rest of the world. And even if we wanted to kill him... how? He flies in a tank. He shoots lasers. Even with our new powers, we cannot easily destroy Iron Man."
"We are fast. We have magic,"
Pietro argued weakly, but he knew she was right. Iron Man was incredibly strong.
Suddenly, a loud sound echoed through the quiet apartment.
*Ding-Dong.*
The doorbell rang.
Wanda and Pietro instantly froze. They became highly alert. They were hiding from Hydra and the authorities. No one was supposed to know they were here.
Wanda stood up, red energy glowing faintly around her fingers. Pietro nodded at her. He used his super speed, rushing to the front door in a split second.
He opened the door just a few inches, ready to fight.
Standing in the dark hallway was a tall, imposing older man. He wore a dark cape and a strange, heavy red metal helmet that covered the top half of his face.
"Who are you?"
Pietro demanded, his voice sharp and defensive.
The man did not attack. He just looked at Pietro with deep, sad eyes.
"My name is Erik,"
The man said, his deep voice echoing in the hall.
"And I have been looking for you for a very long time. I am your real father."
Pietro stared at him, completely stunned. Then, his face turned angry.
"Our father is dead,"
Pietro snapped.
"He died in the bombing. Go away, old man, or I will hurt you."
"Let him in, Pietro,"
Wanda called out from the living room. She had walked up behind her brother.
She tried to read the man's mind, but the red metal helmet blocked her magic completely.
Erik stepped inside the small apartment.
He looked around the poor, broken room, and his face filled with heavy guilt.
He reached inside his coat and pulled out an old, faded photograph.
He handed it to Wanda.
Wanda looked at the picture. It showed this man, Erik, standing next to her parents.
They were all smiling brightly. Erik was holding two tiny babies in his arms.
"I am a mutant. A man with many dangerous enemies,"
Erik explained softly, his voice full of deep sorrow.
"To men like me, children are a terrible weakness. If my enemies found out about you, they would have tortured you to get to me."
Erik pointed at the picture.
"The people who raised you... they were my oldest, dearest friends,"
Erik said, his voice cracking slightly.
"I begged them to take you. I asked them to raise you in secret, far away from my dark world, to keep you safe."
Wanda and Pietro listened in absolute shock. The story made perfect sense. It explained why they had natural powers while normal humans didn't.
"But they died,"
Pietro whispered, looking at the picture of the parents he loved.
"Yes,"
Erik nodded heavily, his hands turning into tight fists.
"When I heard the news about the Stark bomb, I dropped everything and rushed back here. But I was too late. You were already gone. Hydra has taken you away into the dark."
Erik looked up. He took off his red metal helmet, showing his tired, lined face. He looked at his children with absolute, fierce love.
"I failed to protect you once,"
Erik promised them, his eyes shining with power.
"I will never fail you again. Come with me. Join my Brotherhood. I will teach you how to use your gifts, and no one in this world will ever hurt you again."
Wanda and Pietro looked at the faded photograph, then looked at each other.
They were completely confused.
Their whole world had just been turned upside down.
But as they looked at the old man's tired, hopeful face, they knew he was not lying.
Wanda could not read his mind through the helmet, but she could feel the deep, heavy emotion radiating from his heart.
Wanda gently touched her brother's arm. They stepped away into the corner of the small room to whisper.
"Can we trust him?"
Pietro asked softly, keeping his eyes on Erik.
"I think we can,"
Wanda whispered back.
"He is telling the truth. But we still have our promise. We still have our mission."
Pietro nodded firmly. They turned around and walked back to Erik.
"We believe you,"
Pietro said, standing tall.
"We will leave this place and come with you. But we have one condition."
Erik nodded slowly.
"Name it,"
Erik said.
"Tony Stark,"
Wanda said, her voice turning cold and sharp.
"We want him dead. If you are really our father, and if you are as powerful as you say, you will help us get our revenge."
Erik let out a long, heavy sigh.
"When I heard your parents died in that bombing, I was furious,"
Erik told them honestly.
"I wanted to tear Tony Stark apart with my own hands. So, I investigated him. I used my spies to find out everything about his business."
Erik looked up and met his children's angry eyes.
"But I found out we were wrong,"
Erik explained quietly.
"Tony Stark did not bomb this city. He never sold his weapons to the terrorists. He only ever sold them to the military."
Pietro frowned, stepping forward.
"Then how did a Stark bomb end up in our living room?"
Pietro demanded.
"Because of a man named Obadiah Stane,"
Erik answered smoothly.
"Obadiah was Tony Stark's business partner. More than that, he was a father figure to Tony after Howard Stark died. Tony trusted him completely. But Obadiah betrayed him."
Wanda's glowing red eyes flickered.
She listened closely as Erik revealed the dark truth.
"Obadiah was greedy,"
Erik continued.
"He stole the weapons from Tony's factories. He sold them to the terrorists behind Tony's back to make a massive profit. And when Tony found out, Obadiah tried to have Tony murdered, too."
Erik stood up straight. The sad father disappeared, and the proud, powerful leader of the Brotherhood took his place.
"I am a man who fights for his people,"
Erik said, his voice full of absolute, fierce pride.
"I have done many dark things in my life. But I am not a monster. I do not take revenge on someone who is innocent."
Erik looked deeply at Wanda and Pietro.
"Tony Stark is just a victim,"
Erik told them firmly.
"He was betrayed by the man who was supposed to protect him. Just like the two of you were hurt by the world. My pride will not let me kill a man for a crime he did not commit."
Wanda and Pietro stood completely frozen.
The heavy, burning anger they had carried for so many years suddenly felt empty.
The man they had hated for their entire lives was just another victim of a bad father.
Wanda looked at Pietro.
The anger in her brother's eyes was slowly fading, replaced by a deep, quiet sadness.
The truth hurts, but it also sets them free.
The small apartment was completely quiet for a moment.
Wanda and Pietro were slowly taking in the heavy truth.
Then, a strange sound broke the silence.
*Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.*
Wanda and Pietro quickly turned their heads.
Sitting casually on the edge of their broken, open window was a man.
He had messy black hair and was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans.
The winter wind was blowing hard.
The temperature outside was well below freezing, easily -10°C.
But the man was just chilling there, completely comfortable.
He was holding a bag of spicy Pad Kra Pao flavored potato chips, slowly eating them one by one.
*Crunch.*
"Who are you?!"
Pietro yelled. He instantly dropped into a runner's stance.
Wanda raised her hands, and bright red magic quickly glowed around her fingers. They were ready to fight.
"Stop!"
Erik shouted, his voice suddenly sharp and panicked.
Before the twins could take a single step, Erik rushed forward and threw his arms out wide to block them.
The proud, powerful leader of the Brotherhood actually looked nervous.
"Do not attack him,"
Erik ordered his children, his eyes locked on the man by the window.
"If you fight him, you will die."
Wanda looked at her father, completely confused.
"What?"
Wanda asked, keeping her red magic ready.
"Who is he? He is just one man."
"He is not just a man,"
Erik said quietly. He slowly lowered his hands to show he was not a threat.
"His name is Sam. He is a Cultivator."
Sam smiled gently.
He swallowed his chip, wiped his fingers on a napkin, and dusted off his jeans.
"Hello, Erik,"
Sam said smoothly, his voice carrying a deep, peaceful weight.
"I see you finally found your kids."
Pietro frowned, glaring at the man.
"You know him?"
Pietro asked Erik.
"I saw him in New York,"
Erik explained to his son, his voice heavy with deep respect and caution.
"During the alien invasion. I watched him from the shadows. He completely obliterated the alien army in minutes. He summoned hundreds of glowing flying swords. They cut through the alien metal like it was nothing."
Erik looked down at his own hands.
His pride was hurting just a little bit, but he knew he had to be honest with his children.
"I am the Master of Magnetism,"
Erik told them.
"I control all metal. But when I saw his flying swords, I tried to pull one to me. I wanted to see how his magic worked. But... my power did absolutely nothing. I couldn't even make his sword twitch."
Wanda lowered her hands slightly.
The red magic faded just a little.
"If you were in New York during the invasion,"
Wanda asked her father softly,
"Why didn't you help fight the aliens?"
Erik's face turned cold and hard.
"Because those aliens were attacking humans,"
Erik answered simply.
"Normal humans hate us. They hunt mutants. I had absolutely no reason to help them. If the aliens wanted to destroy their city, I was happy to let them burn."
Sam chuckled softly from the window.
"You always were a stubborn old man, Erik,"
Sam said, tossing the empty bag of chips into a nearby trash bin.
He jumped down from the windowsill and stepped into the apartment.
He looked at the twins with a peaceful, calm expression.
"I am glad your father told you the truth about Tony Stark,"
Sam told Wanda and Pietro, his eyes turning serious.
"Because if you had actually tried to kill my brother... we would have had a very big problem."
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