"Eisenhardt..."
The ticket seller shrank back slightly, and the chair moved along the tiles, making a squeaking sound. He looked up at Magnetic King's face but avoided making eye contact.
He knew he had been found, perhaps by a concentration camp survivor, but he had handled thousands of test subjects, and it had been many years since then.
At that time, this young man should have been just a child, his appearance unrecognizable, and the surname meant nothing, as prisoners in the concentration camp only had numbers, like livestock.
Magnetic King wasn't surprised at all; he had long been aware of all this. In that hell on earth, he only stood out slightly because of his superpower.
"How about this?"
As he spoke, he raised a hand, and a coin flew out from his pocket, seemingly held up by an invisible platform, spinning in the air.
"It's you..."
The former researcher, witnessing this scene, almost instantly recalled that special child. When Schmidt used to torture the child's mother to provoke his superpower, he used the coin.
All of this explained Magnetic King's purpose here.
The coin landed on the counter with a crisp clang, Magnetic King pulled down his hood and clenched his fist: "You don't remember me as a person, only my abilities. To you, mutants were just tools!"
"No! That was a mistake. I apologize to you. We all lived in a helplessly flawed era. For God's sake, spare me."
The researcher knelt down. He still remembered how that child had broken out of the concentration camp, terrifying magnetic power sweeping like a tornado, instantly killing every soldier in the camp.
If it weren't for the girl with the boy urging him to leave quickly, the researcher who now ran the small cinema would likely have died that day as well.
Magnetic King remained expressionless: "Do you know where Schmidt is now?"
"No, I don't know. No one has seen him since the war. He's always been particularly mysterious."
The researcher shook his head frantically, his hands trembling violently, kneeling before the mutant as if worshiping a god.
Magnetic King closed his eyes and sighed. What a dramatic change; it was indeed still a theater. The person who once tortured him as a test subject now feared his power so much.
Indeed, only power guarantees the right to survive.
No country would speak for mutants; they were seen as monsters and alien species. So, he would do it, speaking out for his people.
"In that case, you are of no use anymore."
Magnetic King raised a finger, swaying it left and right, and the iron bars originally separating the ticket booth and the hall were torn apart like noodles, making a grating metal deformation sound.
Then he hooked his finger, and the chair wrapped the ticket seller, pulling him out through the hole.
Watching the man struggle and scream, he couldn't help but recall himself back then. They had used all sorts of inhumane methods to develop his superpower, and now they would finally taste the fruits of hatred they had sown.
Hatred never disappears; it only grows thicker and firmer with the passage of time.
"No! Please, don't!"
At that moment, maybe the screams had alarmed the researcher's family. A figure rushed out from a small room behind the ticket booth, futilely clawing at the prison of steel suspended in the air, as if trying to pry open the dreadful instrument of torture.
Magnetic King glanced at her, unrecognizable, seeming uninvolved in the revenge plan.
"Are you his wife? Then do you know what kind of person he was?"
"I know a little, but he has already realized his mistakes and wants to change. He is a good person now, always helping everyone sincerely. Please, spare him," the woman cried as she knelt down.
Magnetic King took a deep breath: "He was with Hydra, his hands stained with the blood of innocents. Do you think mere remorse can explain that? I once begged those beasts to spare my family and friends, ask him if they did?"
"That's different... he was forced," the woman insisted, believing that her husband was a good man, still trying to reason with Magnetic King.
But if he could be swayed so easily, he wouldn't be Magnetic King. His will and determination were not something words could change.
"I can forgive him..." Magnetic King replied blandly, but before she could show relief, his fingers clenched violently. A cacophony of crunching sounds echoed, and the former researcher was crushed into a pile of flesh and bones: "But the other wronged souls I represent cannot."
"Demon!! May you die tragically!" Overcome with sorrow, the woman pointed at Magnetic King with a trembling finger, uttering a curse before fainting.
Magnetic King looked at the fallen woman, slowly pulling up his hood, the melting snowflakes making the fabric cold and damp, and wiped away the splattered blood with his hand.
"A demon? If it's to prevent tragedies from happening again, then consider me one. These persecutors must pay the price, or else the oppression against mutants will never cease."
This person must die because the dead in the past were not just the parents of the Magnetic King, but countless others as well.
This seemingly ordinary man, wearing glasses, was once Schmidt's greatest accomplice.
Regret? Why didn't you do anything sooner? Humans, only when facing death, do they not understand the true meaning of repentance.
However, after Magnetic King muttered to himself, he rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small stack of banknotes, pinched between two coins, which flew into the woman's hand.
Business is business, after all, he did kill her husband. Perhaps this money can help her live a little better from now on.
She is also an innocent person, but that's how hate spreads. Maybe her hatred will devour the Magnetic King one day, but before that, he still has many things to do.
As for whether she'll use the money or what she might do with it, that will forever remain a mystery.
The Magnetic King turned and pushed open the small door to the cinema. He still had a movie ticket in his hand, casually tossed it into the snow, then glanced at the neon-surrounded poster, its brightness glaringly bright.
A peaceful and good life is not destined for him. As the Magnetic King, his future is to live for all mutants, to seek justice for them. And since his life experiences consist only of darkness, the means he can imagine naturally don't relate to light.
This person doesn't know where Schmidt has gone. It seems further searches are needed for new leads.
But at that moment, in the small alley from where he came, a sudden red light flared up amidst the winding darkness.
"Magnetic King... very good." A hoarse voice, laced with amusement, rang out, like a demon whispering in the dark. Though not loud, each word drilled clearly into the Magnetic King's ears.
"Who are you?" Magnetic King watched as the red dot drew nearer, until the black and yellow armor emerged from the dark nightfall.
"I have many identities, just call me Deathstroke. There's no need to introduce more at the moment; you'll find out in due time."
The armored stranger walked slowly towards him, as Magnetic King tried to use his powers to manipulate the other's armor. But that seemingly metallic armor suddenly began to squirm, growing a tendril with a large mouth that stuck its tongue out at him.
He involuntarily stepped back a few paces; this situation exceeded his understanding. This was not metal armor at all, but a living organism.
"No need to try, I was fully prepared before coming to see you. This seemingly metal armor is actually made of flesh and blood. There's a concept called living armor that you're too young to know about now."
The opponent detected his intentions, but made no hostile moves, instead gesturing amicably with an open hand, indicating no ill will.
"What do you intend to do?"
Magnetic King's mind remained calm, after all, this was a city. Even if the opponent's equipment and tools couldn't be controlled, there was plenty of metal in the city.
From car tires to ship hulls, from manhole covers to kitchen knives, he could control them all. He had yet to see anyone who could withstand the crushing force of an overwhelming wave of metal.
"Hehe, relax, I'm here to negotiate terms with you."
For some reason, upon hearing the words 'negotiate terms', Magnetic King's heart tightened, as if he instinctively felt that he would lose something valuable.
He retreated a few steps, moving towards the other side of the street alley, snowflakes landing on his head, slowly melting into the fabric fibers: "No, I'm not interested."
With that, he turned to leave. The opponent's origins unknown, strength unclear, yet suddenly appeared calling out his codename.
It was too eerie, being watched by that single eye felt like being a frog under the gaze of a serpent.
"Oh? Are you just going to walk away like that?" Deathstroke didn't chase after, but merely watched his back, asking in a suitable volume: "Even if I could offer the bargaining chip you desire the most, wouldn't you at least consider it?"
"What do you mean?" Magnetic King paused, snow underfoot marked by a dark footprint.
"Hehe, I just witnessed your interrogation. You're looking for Klaus Schmidt?" Su Ming stroked his chin, arms folded with an expression of interest: "Your interrogation skills are poor, and your intelligence gathering even worse. That name is an alias; I not only know his real name but where he is. So? Interested in hearing my terms now?"
In the next instant, an overwhelming swarm of iron objects flew in from all directions—knives and pans through residents' windows, or fire hydrants and lampposts pulled from the streets.
These things were weaponized, swarming towards Su Ming, but paused in mid-air instead of crashing down, hovering together with the Magnetic King himself.
"Tell me!"
Magnetic King stood atop a manhole cover, arms behind his back, suspended in the air. His tattered cloak was ripped away, revealing a purple-red leather bodysuit and mantle beneath.
"Wearing two layers of capes..." Su Ming covered his face, commenting on the young Magnetic King's questionable fashion sense: "Planning to snatch intel? Well, you consider me a weakling, intending to impose your might. But whoever is stronger or weaker, we'll need to test that first."