As he descended, Tony Stark saw the scene he had dreaded. His face shield retracted as his feel deftly touched the ground. He ran to the two figures on the ground. A self-piloting ship was not far behind.
Wanda Maximoff was hovering over the body sobbing quietly. Wisps of red energy crackled in the air around her. Periodically a tiny bolt of crimson lightning shot out of her shaking hands. Her face was bruised and bloody, but she seemed uninjured otherwise. She hadn't been the target.
The body, Vision's body lay in an unnatural, slightly crumpled position. One leg was folded under and his neck was stretched and twisted at an impossible angle. His complexion was waxy and dull, eyes frozen open and unresponsive. There was a jagged, smouldering gash in his forehead where the Infinity Stone had once been. Tony fought back a wave of nausea when he realized one of Vision's arms had nearly been ripped from its socket. Only a few strands of gleaming Vibranium kept it from fully detaching.
Here was a being who required no food or water or even air to survive. By all practical definitions, Vision should have been immortal.
He had been killed all the same.
"Wanda," Tony approached the witch cautiously. "We have to go. The others need us."
"Let them fight," Wanda said, her eyes still fixed on her fallen comrade. "I need to…."
Her voice trailed off as her tears cut tracks in the blood and dirt staining her cheeks.
"We have obligations. The world is in danger and it needs The Avengers." Tony put his hand out to touch Wanda's shoulder but thought better of it when he saw the static red deepen around her.
"I'm not an Avenger. I never signed your stupid Accords." She turned glowing eyes on her former leader. "Or don't you remember?"
"I remember perfectly," Tony replied bitterly. "You can sign later, when this is all over, but now-"
"They tied my hands and forced me to wear a shock collar. He came for me," Wanda said ignoring him, looking back at the body. "He rescued me when you locked me away. He loved me when the world feared me."
"He will get a proper burial, I promise," Tony said quietly.
A soft noise attracted both their attention.
"Actually," T'Challa said in his lilting accent. His own mask melted back from his face as he spoke. "We will take the body back with us."
"No!" Wanda cried.
"The Vision was created using Vibranium. That Vibranium was stolen from the sovereign state of Wakanda," T'Challa stated unemotionally. "It is the property of the Black Panther. Shuri will extract the remaining Vibranium and return the rest to Mr. Stark shortly."
Wanda stood and approached the king.
"You want to melt him down for scrap? Like an old toaster?" Wanda demanded, her voice incredulous with a tint of anger.
"There is no need for melting. We have a much more sophisticated ways of collecting Vibranium," the king explained.
"He wouldn't want that." Wanda's voice broke.
"We can't know what he would have wanted." Tony threw caution to the wind and touched Wanda's arm. "T'Challa's right, the Vibranium is theirs. Think of it as an organ donation. The rest is still ours, so once they are done, they will return him."
"Not ours, Stark. He's mine." Wanda removes Tony's metal hand from her arm as she tearfully adds, "he was my husband, or he would have been. Whatever is left of him belongs to me."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Maximoff. I did not know," T'Challa said looking down.
"Me neither," Tony muttered to himself.
T'Challa continued, "It doesn't change the fact that-"
"Your Majesty," Tony managed a slight nod. "With all due respect, screw you."
"I beg your pardon?" T'Challa said, with surprise clear in his voice and on his face.
"We will be taking the body. You can't have him," Tony said firmly.
He readies his repulsors and clicks his face shield back into place in preparation for the blow he knew was coming. To his surprise, the king turned his attention to address Wanda.
"I was to be married once too. When I was a child, my parents promised me to a girl in a neighboring land. She was a goddess, they said," T'Challa's eyes were soft at the recollection. "Like you, she had powers, dominion over the elements. They called her a weather witch. She could make rain or wind or clear skies at will. She was the perfect bride for the Panther God.
"I met her once, at a feast when we were barely teenagers. She was radiant with white hair and a regal laugh. We were seated next to each other so we could become acquainted. We talked all evening. By the end, I was in love with her. I had seen how her people worshiped her as a goddess, but she was very much human. For all her abilities, she wanted what everyone wants, to be happy, to be loved, and most importantly, to have a purpose."
"What happened to her?" Wanda blinked herself out the the trance the king's story had put her in. "Where is she?"
"She ran away. She didn't want to be a goddess anymore," T'Challa sighed. "She wanted to go somewhere where she could make her own life, to be her own person. She came to me before she left, begging me to run away with her, but I could not. I have… obligations." He looked sadly at his Vibranium claws.
"Someday I will take a wife, it is a part of my duty. I will strive to love her, but I will always regret that I couldn't be with my true love." He looked at the body. "I won't take yours from you."
"Thank you," Wanda said grateful.
T'Challa headed back to his ship.
"I will see you both soon," he called as he left.
"Wanda?" Tony asked tentatively. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," she said firmly. "Let's go kill the monsters."