And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me." -Psalm 50:15
The sound of the crowd is just intensifying Tony's migraine. He is flanked by two silver Iron Man drones. He gulps down a full glass of red wine and wipes the corner of his mouth with his suit jacket.
"Sir, can you remind me why we had a $7000 Givenchy tuxedo commissioned for today if you were going to use it as a handkerchief." Jarvis' voice emits from one of the IM drones.
"Better question, Jarvis, can you remind me why I didn't cancel this whole goddamn thing?" Tony responds.
The drone standing behind Tony plays a recording of Tony's voice, "The birthday of the Iron Metropolitan is one of the pivotal moments in modern American history. Join us and celebrate the city of the future with the people of the future."
Tony scoffs. "Hee hee haw haw, real jokey for a guy who got shut down for 3 hours by a mutant zombie"
"Negative thoughts are the single biggest obstruction to success."
"Yeah yeah yeah. I need another round of scans, J." Tony says while he pours a smaller glass of wine.
"Sir, we have done 33 rounds of scans today. Regional scans show no facial recognition matching the approximation of Scott Summers or any other X-Men member. Scans have been tripled at the airport and the seaport. No nuclear or alternative explosive materials have been detected on the Metropolitan. I also took the liberty of hacking SWORD's satellite network and monitoring any potential extraterrestrial interlopers. Also, the slivers in my network that were exposed by Mr. Summers have been filled and reinforced. The Metropolitan is safe, sir."
"Yeah, we seem safe until the psychopath is in my face again and you're taking a nap. There's no way he doesn't make a move on this day, I can feel it, I can fucking feel it."
"I understand your suspicions, sir, but we have zero traces of him and you have an adorning public to speak with." Tony scoffs in disgust and pulls out a pill bottle.
"Just break a leg huh?"
"I was never a fan of that phrase, sir."
"Yeah, me neither," Tony says before swallowing a pill and putting on a headset, "Alright, lets go." Tony stands up and walks through a brief pathway before emerging on a stage in front of thousands of people. There are six other Iron Man drones on the stage with him. The crowd erupts at the sight of Tony and he projects his billion dollar smile. He points at random members of the crowd and mouths "I love you" to them while they continue to cheer.
"Oohh, you are wonderful. Delightful. Splendid," Tony says amidst the cheers, "Not the best looking crowd, but you take what you can get, ya know?" The cheers turn into laughter. "On a serious note though…..Eighteen months ago, we were…..There was a tragedy. Lives were lost, lives were changed, it was rough for all of us."
A crazed Steve Rogers ferociously punches the energy barriers of a containment cell while Tony, Vision, and Black Widow stare at him in disbelief.
"We did what we normally do as a people when tragedy strikes, we asked questions. Who would do this? Why did they do it? How did this happen? Some of us asked a much different question. What's next? How do we build from this? How do we go on? THOSE were the most important questions that were to be asked. Those were the questions I-" Tony stops and stares in a crowd. He locks eyes with a teenage boy wearing red sunglasses. His eyes dart around the crowd and he sees a heavyset black woman with a long white wig.
JARVIS' voice speaks directly to Tony through his headset.
"Sir?"
"They're here." Tony lightly says.
"We have no detections, sir." Jarvis responds. Tony grits his teeth and continues on.
"Those were the questions I was asking. And with the help of some smart and powerful people, we came up with..not a solution, but the start of a solution. A place not physically isolated from the rest of our beautiful country, but governed by a different ideology. An ideology that the only way we justify the present is by relentlessly building the future. From the food that we eat to the air that we breathe to the way that we travel and govern and learn and live!" The crowd cheers again towards the end of Tony's speech. "A generation from now, we shouldn't be concerned with the Iron Metropolitan, we should be preparing to expand to the stars!" Basically on cue, the crowd cheers once again. "BUT TODAY ISN'T A DAY TO WORK," Tony yells over the crowd, "TODAY IS A DAY TO DANCE, AND EAT AND DRINK AND FROLIC AND LIVE!" the crowd roars and Tony raises his hands in appreciation, before leaving the stage and walking back through the pathway. As soon as Tony and the two Iron Man drones are in the backstage area, Tony furiously snatches off his headset and throws it against a wall. "FUCK!" Tony yells before taking a deep difficult breath.
"Sir, you should take a seat, your heart rate and blood pressure are reaching slightly concerning levels." Tony sits down and takes another pill, trying to regulate his jagged breathing. "Very impressive speech, sir, especially considering the immense stress you're enduring at the moment."
"How do I tell all those people that it's all a lie and we're gonna burn in hell for it?" Tony sarcastically asks
"We don't. I have faith in you averting this crisis."
"Yeah, you might be the only one, J." Tony responds.
BEEP
"Maybe, I'm not, sir." Jarvis says. Tony taps his watch and it emits a hologram of a message.
"Hopefully."
At about 60% of the square mileage of Central Park, Downey Park was one of the most notable family friendly attractions in the Iron Metropolitan. De-weaponized Iron Man drones cook burgers, hot dogs, steaks etc on 20 foot long industrial grills. Kids run around with red and yellow Iron man face paint and other costumes of a disbanded Avengers team. Kids leap around in anti-gravity bounce houses that let them feel like astronauts. Tony weaves his way through the crowd, waving at those that acknowledge him. He ends up standing near one of the park benches where a dark skinned black man with decorative swooping scarifications on his face. Tony checks his watch while he awkwardly hovers around the bench.
"Is this seat taken?" Tony says.
"You control all that we stand on, Mr. Stark, any seat is your seat." The man responds with a deep Central African accent. Tony takes a seat next to the man.
"Me and T'Challa's last conversation was a little contentious to say the least, so I shouldn't be surprised he sent an emissary." Tony says
"Not an emissary, a friend…W'Kabi. And he didn't send me, I volunteered. I haven't been to America in quite some time. The air here is much nicer than I expected. You've done well controlling your emissions. Much better than the last city I visited. Philadelphia needs a lot of help." Tony lightly smirks at that comment. "So, what has Tony Stark reaching out to old comrades?"
"A certain….uh….one eyed acquaintance of ours is alive and he's not very happy." Tony responds. W'Kabi ponders for a split second before responding.
"Cyclops?" Tony nods for confirmation. "He didn't die on Utopia?"
Cyclops is crouched on one knee holding a wound on his abdomen while blood pours from his mouth. He slowly rises to his feet as he's surrounded by six Iron Man drones.
"He did. I saw it myself." Tony somberly responds. W'Kabi turns his head to look Tony in his eyes.
"How is he back alive?" W'Kabi asks.
"How have any of us come back alive? Have you ever been dead before?" W'Kabi shakes his head. "Well, I have. But I'm here now. And he's here now."
"So, he's back alive…and you're still alive?"
"Yeah, shocked the shit out of me too."
"What did he do?"
"Just a lil friendly chit chat, how have you been? How's your ex-girlfriend? I'm gonna kill you and all of human-kind. Ya know, regular zombie shit." M'Kabi nods with a mix of concern and intrigue.
"Your actions through the years show me that you're clearly not a religious man. But I'm sure you're familiar with reaping what you sow," Tony grits his teeth, "You've done despicable things, Mr. Stark. The afterlife will be glorious…so you must be punished in the mortal plane."
"Splendid." Tony coldly says, growing more agitated by the second.
"So what makes you think that Wakanda will help you in a-"
"I don't need help," Tonysays as he turns and stares at W'Kabi, "I'm an Avenger."
"You are," W'Kabi replies as he stares right back at Tony, "The Last Avenger." Tony frustratingly nods his head before running his hands through his head. "If you're not looking for help, what are you looking for?" Tony heavily exhales before replying.
"Asylum."
"Asylum hmm….T'Challa has no intention of contacting you and Wakanda counts itself as a home for all mutants. It's a foolish idea to think you will ever step foot on Wakandan land again."
"Asylum…isn't for me."
"Aaahh….Pepper." Tony frustratingly nods his head. "Is she safe, now?"
"Yeah….for now."
"Does she know she's in danger?"
"C'mon man, give me a break." Tony says leaning back in mental exhaustion.
"I see the drones, I can only assume…"
"I'm doing what I can, it's the….I owe her."
"Finally, Anthony, I completely understand you…..T'Challa being the Panther led him to….you….your kind….the superheroes. The Captain, Spiderman, the Richards family, The Avengers. You all took the life of protectors. And part of being a protector is knowing that your actions affect not just you-"
"They affect the people you love." Tony says, interrupting W'Kabi.
"Pepper made a mistake many years ago. The day she called you lover….or even friend." Tony nods his head and takes a deep breath.
"Tell T'Challa I've got a shot glass with his name on it…If the time comes."
"Will do, Mr. Stark. I'm gonna try one of your hamburgers." W'Kabi gets ready to walk away. "One thought though. If you don't know how Cyclops is alive again, he may not be the only one."
"I've been trying to suppress that thought, but yeah…. there's no way for me to know." W'Kabi gives Tony one final knowing look before walking. "There's no way to know," Tony says to himself.
"But there is, sir." JARVIS' voice emits from his watch. The watch displays a picture of another old comrade of Tony's.
The most powerful telepath that has ever lived. Charles Xavier.