CHAPTER 18: CHAPTER 018: TWO GIRLS JOIN FORCES TO SUPPRESS THE RAT SWARM! THE MUTANT CRISIS RESOLVED!

Gwen’s words caught Wanda off guard.

She hadn’t expected that the first thing this girl—who had suddenly swung in to help—would say was... that. Wanda had assumed she’d hear something like, "Get out of here, I’ll handle this!" or "So-and-so has arrived!" or even some kind of magic chant.

But Gwen’s opening line was actually a compliment about her magic.

It made Wanda unexpectedly happy. Other than Lorien, she hadn’t heard anyone praise her magic in a long time.

Squeak, squeak, squeak!

The moment didn’t last. From the surrounding openings, more mutant rats—and even snakes—began pouring out.

Gwen scanned the area, then shot two strands of webbing, yanking a pair of manhole covers back into place and slamming them down.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

But there were simply too many rats, and the covers started lifting again as the swarm pushed from below.

Wanda crushed another cluster of vermin with her Chaos Magic, only to realize the truth—there were far too many. She couldn’t wipe them all out.

"What should we do?" She turned toward Lorien again.

He thought for a moment. "Try moving a car over the manholes. No way they can push a car aside."

Wanda nodded quickly. "I’ll try!"

Then Lorien added with a small grin, "Just don’t use my Ferrari. I still need it to drive you home later."

Pfft—

Even in the middle of the chaos, Wanda couldn’t help but laugh. She shot him a playful wink. "I’ll keep that in mind~"

She turned back, raising both hands as scarlet energy swirled around them. Wrapping her magic around a nearby car, she lifted it and set it squarely over the manhole Gwen had been covering.

As expected, the weight of several tons pinned it firmly in place. The rats beneath had no chance of breaking through.

"Well done!" Gwen called out, flashing Lorien a thumbs-up. "Great idea!"

Lorien, smiling beside Wanda, tilted his head as if in thought. "Your voice... it sounds familiar. Have we met before?"

"Mm!" Gwen’s hand shot up to cover her mouth, and she quickly turned her back to him. Speaking in a slightly forced tone, she replied, "Nope, not me. You’ve got the wrong person!"

It was the kind of over-the-top denial that practically counted as admitting it.

Still, to play along with the kind of silly twist you’d see in a TV drama, Lorien acted as though he believed her. "Alright, guess I was mistaken."

Strangely, his words left Gwen with a small, sinking feeling—like part of her had wanted him to know the truth.

But before she could dwell on it, Lorien’s voice came from behind her again.

"But honestly, you really remind me of a girl I met not too long ago. She was very pretty, had a figure a lot like yours... and just now, even your voice sounded the same."

Gwen’s body went still. For a split second, she wanted to turn around and ask, "Really!?" Or even just tell him, "Lorien, that’s me!"

But reason held her back.

The situation was still uncertain. She didn’t yet know the full limits of her powers—or whether they might cause her more trouble than they were worth. Until she was sure, she wasn’t about to drag Lorien into this.

Still... once she was certain her spider abilities were stable and safe, she promised herself—she would seek him out on her own.

However—

"Hss—!"

Lorien suddenly felt a sharp pain in his waist. He turned his head, only to see Wanda looking off to the side, avoiding his gaze. There was no one else near him.

Well, well... the last one practically confessed without meaning to, and now this? You trying to play it cool? Why don’t you two just get married right here? It’s America—two women tying the knot is fine. Just do it already.

Of course, if they could bring him into the arrangement, that’d be even better.

Ahem.

"Alright, alright."

Lorien clapped his hands, pulling both of them back to the moment. In the distance, he could hear police sirens growing louder.

"We can’t keep this up forever," he said. "For now, let’s just get all the manhole covers weighed down. Once the police arrive, they can guard them. This needs more people—we’re too few, so all we can do now is contain the problem."

Wanda and Gwen, both superheroes in their own right, had no objections.

"Mm!" they answered in unison, nodding.

They quickly fell into a rhythm. Gwen went around sealing each manhole cover, while Wanda used her Chaos Magic to move nearby cars into place, weighing them down. Any mutant rat that managed to slip out was instantly caught in Wanda’s magic—her fingers clenched, and with a wet pop, it burst into a mist of blood.

In just a short time, every manhole capable of producing mutant rats had been secured.

Wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo—

Police cars rolled in, lights flashing. Gwen spotted one that belonged to her father.

"I’ve gotta go!" she called, waving to Lorien and Wanda. A quick flick of her wrist sent a strand of webbing shooting out, and she swung away into the night.

"Bye!"

...

Wanda lowered her hands, breathing hard from the effort. But when she saw the area truly under control, she suddenly turned and threw her arms around Lorien.

"We did it!"

Lorien, who had done nothing but stand there, found himself body-checked into a hug.

Unfair? Not at all. If anything, it was great.

Still, he only patted her shoulder and leaned in to murmur in her ear.

"Alright, that’s enough. You’re the Scarlet Witch—a superhero. This is exactly the kind of thing you can handle when you put your mind to it. But you might want to stop hugging me now. Everyone around us is filming on their phones. Keep this up, and by tomorrow the internet will be buzzing about the Scarlet Witch being in love."

...

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