(MCU) Forged Reality: Chapter 21 - The King is...

Chapter 21 - The King is...

Summary: An unexpected attack forces Tony to act fast—risking everything in the process.

Tony and Mr. Keller entered the main hall where the assembly was meant to gather for the signing of the accords.

Tony scanned the room to see many delegates from different countries, a few of them he could recognize, mingling about. Some of them were on their phones, probably receiving last-minute instructions from their countries' leaders; others were talking with each other.

"We are still waiting for a couple more delegates to arrive before we start," Mr. Keller informed Tony. The former CEO turned to the man and gave him a small nod with a smile, to which the man responded in kind and added, "I hope you will enjoy yourself, Dr. Stark."

After the Australian official left his side, Tony caught sight from the corner of his eye of Natasha Romanoff, who stared at him with a permanent scowl on her face. It looked like the great spy didn't expect Tony to show up and wasn't too pleased that he did for some reason.

Wanda's words echoed in his head. Natasha would try to put herself in a position that would ensure she ended up safe no matter how the current conflict ended. In other words, she would try to cozy up to some diplomat here, making sure she would have a safe haven to escape to at the very least and an active ally in the conflict at the most.

The question remained which one of them was her target. He doubted she would go after the Russian, Chinese, and Korean diplomats—the first because of her history and the other two because it would make her plans to return to the US eventually much harder in the long run.

Tony had to hide a frown when he saw the redhead's scowl turn into a small smirk. Though before he could even wonder what caused it, a heavy voice called behind him, "Mr. Stark."

Tony turned to see a young man, in his 30s if Tony had to guess, with dark skin, short black hair, and piercing eyes staring at him with a small frown. He wasn't sure who this man was, but still he tried to be polite, or at least his version of polite. "The one and only. I'm sorry, did we meet before?"

"No," was the sharp answer he received before the man introduced himself. "I'm Prince T'Challa of Wakanda."

Ah. Tony never even spoke with the king, so he obviously wasn't aware of the prince. He couldn't understand the hostility he was receiving from the man, though. At least not until the dots connected in his mind.

Weird—Tony never took Natasha to be one for the African sun to be her ideal vacation setting, but then again, everyone else in this room was a seasoned politician who wouldn't fall so quickly to her web, and this prince seemed to have.

Tony gave the prince his usual counseling smirk. "Ah, nice to meet you, Prince T'Challa. I heard many good things about your father. I'm glad to see he brought his heir to see history in the making."

T'Challa seemed to be surprised for a moment before he scowled. "It is a historic moment for the world. I find myself wondering why you are taking part in it?"

Tony raised an eyebrow at the prince before saying, still with a smirk, "You might have forgotten, Prince T'Challa, but I was the original superhero. I believe it's my place to make sure the accords are fair to all those who are concerned and show my support of them."

T'Challa's eye twitched for a moment before his voice lowered and he spoke with an edge to his voice. "So it's all about you again. Calling yourself a hero... I think..."

Before T'Challa could finish voicing his opinion, a deep and calm voice interrupted him. "You allow your mind to be influenced far too easily, son."

T'Challa spun on his heel, and Tony turned lazily to the side until both of them saw the figure that Tony assumed was the king of Wakanda.

The prince frowned at his father. "Baba, his teammate was very clear..."

Again, the king spoke over him, his voice coated with disappointment. "And you never considered questioning her words? To first have an objective conversation with Dr. Stark? A king must not allow himself to be a subject of prejudgments, for this will lead him to his own ruin."

The king turned to Tony, and his smile broadened. "Dr. Stark, it's truly a pleasure to meet you. I appreciate all the efforts you contributed to the proceedings of these accords. Allow me to introduce myself; I am King T'Chaka of Wakanda."

Tony's smirk turned into a genuine smile, and he gave a small bow. "The pleasure is mine, Your Majesty. I agreed with you and all the others that a system like this should be put in place now that SHIELD can no longer manage teams like the Avengers themselves. I also feel like I must apologize for the death of your countrymen."

The king chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. "Nonsense. It was Mr. Rogers who committed the crime, and even though you are no longer part of his team and share none of the blame, you still sent relief efforts and money to the victims. Something me and my countrymen are very grateful for, Dr. Stark."

Tony nodded to the king. "Of course. Things like that are exactly why the Maria Relief Foundation exists. I hope that after today we won't have to deal with tragedies like that again. And please call me Tony; I'm not much for formalities."

The king chuckled once again, but before he could respond, the familiar voice of Mr. Keller called out, "King T'Chaka, we are ready to begin."

The man smiled at the official before he turned toward Tony. "If you would be so kind, Tony, would you please join me on the podium? I believe it will send a strong message to have the face of heroes there with me."

Tony was surprised by the request, but he was used to situations like that, so he just shrugged and replied with an easy-going smile, "Of course. After you."

The king grinned brightly and led Tony toward the podium as he was called for his speech by Mr. Keller. T'Challa created some distance between his father and himself as he stood near the windows a few meters away from the podium.

Tony stood a little behind the king and slightly to his left as the leader of Wakanda spoke. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. Wakanda is proud to extend its hand in peace. And as you can see, Dr. Stark is here to ensure the world that our hands indeed meet for a better future for all..."

The king's voice faded away for Tony when Friday's alarmed voice called suddenly in his ear, "Boss, bomb!"

Tony's body tensed, his mind working at super speed as he immediately ordered her, "Contain it." Then he raised his voice and screamed, "EVERYONE DOWN!"

T'Challa seemed to notice the bomb as well, and he began running toward his father, but he was too late and too far.

The explosion went off, and Tony did the only thing he could think of at that moment. Knowing that using his suit, Friday would manage to contain most of the blast, but with the king so close to the explosion, he would be gravely injured.

Tony leaped toward the king and tackled him to the ground, covering the older man with his own body just before the windows exploded inwards and flames washed the spot the king stood a moment before.

Tony felt the heat on his back getting worse by the nanoseconds. Soon, instead of fabric burning, he could feel his skin taking the brunt of the damage.

It ended as quickly as it began. For a moment there was silence—deafening silence. Tony's entire body hurt, especially his back, which burned with pain. He closed his eyes and tried to fight off the pain but had little success.

Quickly, Tony gave up on that and instead tried to listen for the heartbeat of the man beneath him. It took him a long moment to realize it.

The king was.......................................... alive.

Tony let out a relieved breath, which was a mistake because that's how he realized he had a couple of broken ribs.

The first to do something was the king of Wakanda himself. As gently as he could, he made his way from under Tony and knelt at his side.

Tony knew the king tried to be gentle with him as he laid him on the floor, but still his ribs protested, and he let out a groan.

A female voice called out, "Oh god, look at his back."

It was as if a spell was broken then, and a familiar voice called out, "Medics! We need medics in here!"

Suddenly Tony could hear a lot of footsteps and voices moving around. He didn't know how long he was lying there before someone got to his other side and took a sharp breath.

The man's voice sounded desperate. "I'm sorry, but I just don't know what we can do for him... the damage is... too extensive."

Tony let out another groan. So, this was how he dies. Fine, he could live with that.

Tony was about to just let go and let the darkness swallow him when a familiar voice in his head called out, "Don't you dare die on me now, Stark. Not after everything I had to go through for you, not after finally finding someone like me."

Tony wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew it wasn't a memory. Wanda never told him any of this. Then her voice filled his head again. "Don't you dare stop fighting, Tony. Think about the kids, about your aunt... about me."

Tony felt a warm flicker generating from his heart, spreading through his veins. An image filled his head of him standing next to Wanda with all the kids and teens piling around them with smiles on their faces. He couldn't give up yet; his legacy was not over yet!

A different kind of burning sensation covered his back and ribs. He could hear someone stuttering, "W-What's h-happening?"

He thought he could hear the king of Wakanda whisper the word 'Extremis.'

Tony began to have hope he would pull out of it, until he could feel his energy being completely gone. His limbs felt heavy to move, and his mind was too sluggish to think. Without any energy, he could feel the warmth filling him starting to ebb away.

Suddenly the king called out in an authoritative voice, "Ayo, hand me the beads."

There was shuffling before a female voice, heavily accented, said, "But my king..."

The king snapped at her, speaking their native tongue, his tone deep and commanding. The female quickly responded, and soon Tony felt something like a metal ball being pressed to his back.

Before Tony could even wonder what the king was doing, he felt an energy surge shooting from the ball into his body, reigniting the warmth inside his veins to the maximum again.

In less than a minute, Tony felt his breathing getting easier; his back wasn't burning anymore, just a little sore.

Tony let out one last groan before he started pushing himself upwards. Quickly there were a couple of hands helping him to sit up. He kept his eyes closed until he heard the king's voice calling out in a worried voice, "Tony, Tony, are you alright?"

Tony opened his eyes quickly and flinched at the rush of light, blinding him for a moment. When the spots cleared, he could see the concerned looks of everyone around him. The first and foremost was the king of Wakanda himself, who was missing his glasses and had a little blood covering his face and clothes, but was otherwise just fine.

Tony nodded slowly. "I'm fine. How is everyone else?"

Tony noticed T'Challa looking surprised before his face shifted to a guilty one. Others around him looked like he was crazy, except the king, who laughed a little before answering, "Thanks to your suit and AI containing most of the damage, there are only some minor injuries. I would have died, but thanks to your actions, you were the only one gravely injured."

Tony waved his hand dismissively. "Not the first time I was hit by a bomb. I'm glad I could prevent a tragedy, Your Majesty."

The king smiled kindly at Tony. "Please call me T'Chaka."