Latvia, somewhere.

Victor von Doom stood by a pot of lava and chanted an ancient incantation in a low voice.

"Called by me, the Dark, the Ruthless...... Come and face von Doom, face the people you persecuted......"

He sprinkled blue hedron into the lava, clasped his palms together, and whispered, "Show me!" Mephisto! ”

Mana surged, energy exploded, and the lava in the jar gurgled and ran, flames rushing out of the jar and sweeping across the room with a transparent impact.

But nothing else happened, as he had ever tried before.

"No...... No! Why!? ”

Doom flipped over the pot in annoyance, and the red-hot liquid spilled all over the floor, corroding the floor with a sizzling sound and white smoke rising.

A lama behind him carefully reminded: "Maybe the material is wrong, or maybe the spell is wrong in the lineage......

"No, there's no problem with the spell. There must be something we overlooked. Doom said anxiously. He flicked his cloak and walked out, "Clean it up for me and get ready again." We'll try again in twenty minutes. ”

"Yes, my lord." The lama bowed.

Doom walked out of the palace irritatedly. He was in such a bad mood and in such a bad state that he didn't notice any difference between this experiment and his previous one.

A pair of eyes silently watched him from the darkness, their eyes flickering. Its owner was like a sculpture that hid in the shadows, unmoved for a long time.

***

Personal?

Wanda was stunned for a moment and blinked.

For the first time, Michael Pastel would take the initiative to talk about "private matters".

"What is it?" For some reason, she found herself inexplicably a little nervous.

Michael sat down, silent for a while, his eyes flickering, not knowing what he was thinking. After a moment, he glanced at Wanda with a slightly strange look compared to the previous ones, which made her face somehow a little feverish.

"When you were on Kang the Conqueror's ship, you asked who that man was, but I never told you anyone." He spoke softly suddenly.

Wanda nodded. Of course, she remembered that the man in the armor and cloak that looked like a black knight suddenly burst out of thin air. Kang's fleet was easily destroyed by him like a toy, and Kang's futuristic technology behaved like a three-year-old's toy in front of him.

It's hard for such a guy to forget.

"Actually, that man...... It's me. ”

Wanda was stunned, a little unintelligible: "What does that mean?" ”

"I mean, that person is me, just not now." Michael said lightly, "He's from some future." Maybe it's the future of our plane, or maybe it's another timeline...... I'm not sure, and even he isn't. ”

Wanda sounded a little confused.

"The point is, he's me, he's from the future, and he's achieved what I've been working for. He said that what we built eventually became the strongest umbrella for the planet, and we survived all crises and ushered in an era of peace that the world had not seen for a long time. ”

"Doesn't that sound good?" Wanda said.

"Maybe." He seemed lost in thought, "but he also reminded me of another thing." At that time, I had the most power and the strongest power, but it seemed like that was all there was to it. Even if you stand at the top, you're just one person. ”

Wanda: "......"

In fact, she had already felt so. She was under the impression that Michael always seemed to be able to defeat any enemy and solve any problem, but at the same time he was always alone. He seems to be used to taking care of everything alone, likes to keep all his thoughts and emotions in his heart, and never communicates with anyone.

Maybe he's too good, maybe no one can keep up with him. Wanda had wished more than once that she could be the one to share the burden with him, but she had always felt that what she could do was too limited.

She's just not strong enough and not good enough.

Michael suddenly smiled at her.

Wanda was surprised to find that this seemed to be the first time she had seen her boss smile — no matter what.

"Thank you, Wanda. And also...... I'm sorry. He said softly, "Actually, you hinted at it before...... Hope it helps me more, in fact, I always knew what you wanted. ”

Wanda's eyes widened, and she said with some uncertainty: "You...... Know? ”

"Always known. But until now I have never responded to your wishes, and in a way I have been ignoring you...... So I'm sorry. "Because I always hint to myself that there are more important things that must be done." There's still a lot of work to be done, and I'll have to hurry up and make plans to prepare for aliens or something that might come at any moment. Because I know that everyone is counting on me, and many times if I fail others, then the world will suffer a huge – and perhaps irreparable – loss. ”

For so long, Wanda's expression to him is actually obvious enough, plus Daisy has always deliberately contributed to the trouble...... If Michael was completely unaware of the little witch's feelings, he must have lied to himself.

And does he have any feelings for this little witch?

He wanted to say no...... But he himself had a hard time believing it.

Why spend so much time with her? Just because she is her most powerful confidant? Because there's still too much unknown part of her chaotic magic to look at up close?

He could have told himself these reasons, but deep down he had always known that it was more than that.

"It wasn't until I saw my future self and seen with my own eyes what I would be in the future that I started to think...... Is that the future I want? I've fought so far, is it really worth it?

And then now, I feel like I have the answer. ”

Wanda stared at him blankly, vaguely aware of something, and she felt her heartbeat speeding up for no apparent reason.

Michael looked earnestly at her ruby eyes.

"You're right. On countless occasions when faced with complex and intractable situations, I have indeed had the assumption 'if I wasn't alone' more than once. So, if you will forgive me for my rudeness so far, if your mind has not changed now...... Then I do hope that you can stay with me and be the one who stands side by side with me. But there's one thing I think you should know. That's no matter how you answer ......"

He paused and smiled.

“...... In fact, to me, you are already the only person. ”