Seeing that smile, Pietro didn't even dare to look back. He pushed his speed to the absolute limit and, in an instant, vanished into a silver blur.
By the roadside, Reid made no move to chase. He simply stood there, watching the fleeing mutant from afar with his enhanced vision. Once he confirmed that Pietro was nearing Wanda's location, he withdrew his gaze. He had no intention of continuing to monitor the three children of Magneto.
The conflict with the mutants was still ongoing. At the same time, Doom Industries was starting to stir as well. Even though Wanda's powers made him wary, this wasn't the right moment for direct confrontation.
Besides, he had never intended to wipe out all of Marvel's superhumans.
The two siblings hadn't been influenced by Charles or Magneto. That alone meant he had little reason to act against them, especially considering how threatening Wanda's chaos magic could be.
He wasn't reckless. Reid knew when to advance and when to step back. He wasn't some stubborn brute who charged forward blindly.
...
Meanwhile, Pietro had already accelerated and returned to the spot where he had originally parted from his sister.
Just seconds later, Wanda slowly descended from the sky, her entire body surrounded by a crimson aura of chaos magic.
"Lorna!"
Though her emotions were visibly unstable, Wanda's concern for her half-sister was genuine. She extended her hand, letting her magic wash over Lorna's trembling body. The girl slowly relaxed, her pain fading as she drifted into a peaceful sleep.
The mutant exhaled quietly in relief.
While soothing her sister, Wanda had also used her magic to examine her condition. The results eased her worries. Lorna had suffered emotional trauma, but her body wasn't seriously hurt. The battle with Poison Ivy had only left her with a few scratches.
Even so, after confirming her sister was safe, Wanda's heart filled with a growing disgust toward humanity, the Wayne family in particular.
"They actually dared to treat Lorna like this."
Though she usually appeared calm and reserved, Wanda was far more impulsive than her brother.
Pietro might always act a little carefree, even unserious, but when it really mattered, no one took things more seriously than he did.
His impatience didn't come from a careless attitude. It was simply a side effect of his incredible speed. His thoughts moved fast. His body moved faster. Naturally, he came off as restless.
"Pietro, before we leave, let's destroy Wayne Manor."
Since Wanda landed, Pietro had been lost in thought. But hearing his sister say that snapped him out of it instantly. It was as if he feared she might suddenly charge into Gotham and go on a rampage. He quickly grabbed her arm.
"Don't do this, Wanda. If we go down that path, we'll only end up destroying our own lives."
Pietro didn't know exactly how powerful his sister's chaos magic truly was—Wanda herself didn't even know. But he knew one thing for sure: the two of them alone couldn't stand against all of humanity.
And it wasn't just ordinary humans they were dealing with. The speedster thought back to that smile from Reid. Just the memory made his body shudder.
They hadn't even fought, yet he had this strong feeling that the man was faster than him. Standing in front of someone like that, he wasn't even sure he still qualified as a mutant.
"Pietro?" Wanda asked, catching the unease in his voice. She was definitely angry, but not out of control. Lorna was safe, after all. Nothing serious had happened. But her brother's shaken expression puzzled her.
"What's going on? You look scared. Did you see something in Gotham?"
At her words, Pietro slowly raised his head. She was his sister. They had depended on each other for years. There was no reason to hide anything from her.
"I saw him. Lex Luthor's assistant, Reid Pennyworth."
"Reid?" Wanda frowned. She knew that name. The fact that LexCorp was targeting mutants wasn't some secret in their community. Even after leaving the academy, she and Pietro still had access to reliable sources. But from what she knew, Reid was just a human with some form of psychic ability, right?
With Pietro's speed, if it really came down to a fight, he should've been able to take that man down before his brain even had time to react. Besides, she and her brother knew exactly how their father's psychic helmet was made. If Reid's only power was mental, there were ways to counter it.
In other words, he shouldn't be reacting like this.
Wanda's expression said it all. Pietro immediately understood what she was thinking and began to recount everything he had experienced.
Especially that terrifying smile. The one that sent chills through his entire body.
"You're saying he could keep up with your speed... and he wasn't even trying?"
Pietro nodded. "Yeah. My instincts are rarely wrong. He didn't chase me, but I could feel his gaze the whole way, all the way until I got here. His abilities definitely go beyond just telepathic powers. At the very least, his speed completely outmatches mine."
By now, the speedster had completely abandoned the idea of creating an organization to protect themselves.
That smile had been a warning. As long as they stayed independent, just strong individuals acting on their own, LexCorp might overlook them for the sake of profit and risk management. But the moment they tried to build a force of their own, to organize and resist, they would never let the three of them go.
"Forget revenge, Wanda. Let's just go back to Sokovia," he said quietly. "We can live a quiet, normal life there."
Wanda didn't answer right away. She hadn't seen Reid with her own eyes, so she couldn't fully grasp what he had described.
Still, she knew exactly how fast Pietro was. Even if that man only had psychic abilities and super speed, going head-to-head against humanity with someone like that in the picture was far from a smart move.
"I understand."
In the end, Wanda agreed. She raised her hands, and a swirl of scarlet magic wrapped around them both, lifting them into the sky and carrying them far into the distance.
Sokovia, a quiet, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. A place where, hopefully, they could escape the chaos between mutants and humans, and live a peaceful, undisturbed life.
After the three had left, already well past the Atlantic by rough estimate, Reid's figure silently emerged from beneath the ground.
"Pietro is smart," he muttered. "But still, a little insurance never hurts. Sokovia... it's not as peaceful as they think."
Sokovia didn't exist in the real world in his previous life. But in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it had been Hydra's final stronghold before its collapse.
As long as Pietro remained there, the threat Wanda posed would be much easier to contain. But if Hydra in Sokovia stirred up trouble… then everything could change.
However, dealing with them would have to wait. For now, Reid's target remained the mutants and the Fantastic Four.
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