Here's the next chapter. Hope you like what I do.
I own nothing. Story idea and oc belongs to sketchywolf, the rest belongs to Marvel.
A year and a half has past since Max arrived in Wakanda, and things have been calm for him. Like it had been suggested to him, Max had asked T'Challa to train him in fighting, train him to fight like the Black Panther.
Max was now nearing the age of fifteen, same as Jacob and Shuri was now almost twelve. Max had quickly gained the trust of the people of Wakanda and they accepted him as one of their own, and the royal family considered him to be part of their family.
When he was not hanging out in the lab with Shuri or training with T'Challa, Max would normally be found talking usually to either T'Chaka, Ramonda or Nakia.
Nakia would often ask about the outside world, and Max would answer truthfully, as she asked about its problems. They both agreed that Wakanda should attempt to open up to the world and share the technology it had, help change the world, but whenever they tried to bring it up with the king, he would not hear any of it.
Max would sometimes speak to Okoye but she would pretty much just pretend that he wasn't there, the same went with her husband, W'Kabi of the Border Tribe.
But most of the time, he would be with Shuri in the lab. He has tried to have a pleasant talk with Jacob, but he would give him a glare and walk away.
Max was now sparing with T'Challa. The prince was quite surprised to see how quickly
"So how's it look now?," Max asked.
"See for yourself," she said.
looking at the prototype. It was a dark blue suit with black spots here and there on it. It was quite similar to Iron Man's as well, but at the same time, completely different, (something like Flash's suit from Justice League). His mask however resembled that of a ninja's and he wore goggles somewhat similar to Iron Man's face plate, but it was more cat themed than anything else. The suit had repulsors and was powered by an arc reactor, also it had retractable claws on the hands like a cat. "Now it just needs a test. How should I do that?"
"Simple. Strike it anywhere," Shuri said.
Max looks between her and the suit, then punches it in the chest, knocking it down as it was on a mannequin.
"A little too hard for my taste, but look..."
He picked it back up and saw the chest was glowing and then the energy seeped into the reactor.
"I've developed prototype nanites. It's what'll give you the boost. The nanites absorb the energy and channel it into the reactor. Since it's made entirely from vibranium, it generates energy far more efficiently. It'll distribute the energy throughout the suit and give a boost, making you go faster. It charges through hits like the one you delivered and by you running as well. The more you run, the larger the boost will be."
"You're a genius, Shuri," he commented and she smirked proudly.
"That says a lot coming from a Stark, so thank you very much."
"Let's put it on."
She nodded and she turned around so he could do so. When she turned back around, he was just putting on the helmet.
"You look amazing!!," she exclaimed. "Now all you need is a name. Arc? No, too short. Ironspeed? No again, that's derivative..."
"I like the name Arc," a new voice said, and they looked to see T'Challa. "Nice suit. Reminds me of mine. So this is what you two have been working on."
"You're not gonna tell Baba are you?"
"Why would I do that? You're free to do what you want in your lab. Besides, I'm glad you'll be putting your new skills to good use."
The two then nodded and continued to look over the suit.
"Arc... I could get used to that," Max said and he ejected his claws.
"Glad you like it. Thankfully there's hardly a way to ruin it. Just keep it clean," Shuri joked, making them all chuckle a little.
After a few more tests, Max decided that it was time to go for a run. Before they did so, they decided to tell the Royal Family and they became quite interested to see what happens. Jacob especially was interested in this test run.
"Okay, ready?"
"Yup," Jacob said and Max readied himself to run and he had the meter ready. "Three... two... one... GO!!!"
Immediately, he zoomed off, a gust of wind blowing behind him. Blue streaks were coming off of him now, like blue lightning. He kept on going, all around the border of Wakanda, running past people and catching them off guard at times. Then he ran past W'Kabi.
"What was that?," one Border Tribesmen asked.
"That was the outsider," W'Kabi said.
As he ran, he began to take a look around him ans saw that everything around him was moving slowly around because of how fast he was moving. Then he took a look at his arms to see streams of kinetic energy flowing through it.
He soon ran back and stopped right next to Shuri.
"How fast was that?," he said, out of breath a little.
"Mach 1.0," Jacob answered. "Only a little faster than lightning."
"You've gotten much faster," T'Chaka stated. "That suit seems to work well."
"So it would seem. Thanks for recor-," Max said but stopped when he saw Jacob had left and had dropped the meter. "Wonder what his problem with me is?"
Shuri shrugged and they all walked back home.
"Shuri?," Nakia said, making her turn to look at her. "Can we speak for a moment?"
She nodded and they stayed behind the rest of the group.
"What's wrong?," Shuri asked.
"I want you to be honest here. Do you like Max?"
"Yes, of course I do. He's my friend."
"That's not what I meant, and you know that. It's only me, Shuri. I promise to not tell anyone."
"...Yes... yes, I do very much," she confessed. "In fact... I think I love him."
"Then you need to wait for the right moment to tell him."
"How will I know?"
"Trust me, you'll know," Nakia answered.
Meanwhile, Jacob walked deep into the vibranium mines in the Great Mound, into a forgotten part of it. He soon came to large chamber and pressed something on his kimoyo bead bracelet and lights began to turn on. It was a makeshift lab... and a large arc reactor in the center.
"Come here and take what rightfully belongs to me...," he said to himself. "Thinking yourself so mighty and powerful because you have incredible speed. Well... if you can have speed... then so can I!!"
He stormed over to the table where he had a microscope and a computer showing the molecular structure of a serum he had developed over the year and a half since Max had arrived in Wakanda.
'Analysis shows high amounts of reactor energy present within the serum,' the computer said. 'But unless an outside source increases the output, any and all effects shall be temporary.'
"Hmm...so I was right to build this reactor. Seems I do need to recreate that night. No matter. Begin overload protocol."
'Warning: Overload could release large amounts of-.'
"The intended effect!! Now do it!!," he yelled as he readied a serum. He hesitated for only a few moments... and quickly stuck it into his arm.
It soon began to burn and his entire body began to feel the same as he began to glow electric blue slightly. He yelled in pain as the computer finished the overload procedure.
'5... 4... 3... 2... 1... overload initiated,' it said as the reactor began to hum louder and louder before suddenly, shot out a blast of energy, which blasted Jacob, who was lying down in pain, into a wall, getting struck by some of the energy and knocked unconscious.
Cheetah Realm
Jacob awoke to find himself in a white button down shirt and black pants. He looked around to see an African landscape around him in a dim, white light.
"You shouldn't be here," a voice behind him said, and he turned to see an older version of Max, but with two cheetahs comprised of pure blue energy on each side of him. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't have my enforcers deliver a fate worse than death upon you."
"...Because you know why I'm here," Jacob answered.
There was a long silence as they stood at a standstill. Then after a few moments, the cheetahs vanished and Cheetah walked towards him.
"I know what you want. So why should I give you something you have not earned nor deserve. I know who you are, Jacob Tell."
"No matter what my intentions are, you know that there must be one to match Max. His equal, his opposite. You can't always favor good over evil."
"...Sadly, you are correct," Cheetah said. "I shall give you access to the Cheetah Realm and send you back to your world. But I will never help you get more speed. That will be up to you."
"...Fair enough," Jacob said and then the blue cheetahs reappeared and grabbed by the arms as they began to ran fast.
Then all of a sudden, they just let go and there was a flash of bright light. Jacob then found himself back in the Great Mound, white electricity flowing through his veins.
He lifted up his hand and for a moment, he began shaking violently. Soon enough, with enough willpower, he got it to stop. But then he got it to shake again and he began to wonder and he punched at the floor under him... and his arm just phased straight through it.
Back with Max and Shuri, they felt a shaking for a moment, like a tremor.
"What was that?," Shuri asked.
"I don't know, but it came from the Great Mound," Max said and quick sped over to it and saw a small cavern near the bottom with smoke coming out of it.
He was about to run towards it, but then a white flash happened. Once this vanished, he sped down to find a small lab with familiar devices within it. For now, he paid no attention to any of this as he then found Jacob lying unconscious on the ground. He picked him up and sped him back up to the lab and then left to grab Shuri.
"Jacob!!," she exclaimed and immediately began to look him over as everyone else arrived as well.
"What happened?," T'Challa asked.
"I'm not sure. I got here to see a small cavern at the bottom of the mine smoking, then a flash of light. I run down to see a small lab... and Jacob unconscious."
"A lab? We'd best go and investigate it."
Max nodded and the two of them went down to the cavern as Nakia stayed to help Shuri. What they found though shocked them to the core.
"What the...? That's... that's a copy of of the arc reactor at Stark Industries," Max said, looking at it as T'Challa noticed something.
"Seems Jacob was working on some sort of serum," T'Challa said looking at the surviving papers scattered all over. Then he picked up one and saw that it was a DNA analysis report. "How in Bast's name did Jacob get a sample of your DNA?"
"Jacob had a sample of my DNA?"
He nodded and Max looked back at the reactor. Then, his eyes widened as he realized what had happened.
"...We have to get back to the lab now!!!," he yelled and quickly sped off back to the lab.
As they had been investigating what had happened, Shuri found something unusual.
"What... how is this possible?," she asked herself.
"What?," Nakia asked, walking over to her. Once her back was turned, Jacob opened his eyes and got off the table he was on.
"His vitals have changed. They're similar to... to Max's."
"Then I suppose it worked," Jacob said and they turned to see him up and then he sped over and struck Nakia over the head, knocking her out and turned to Shuri. "You will be coming with me."
"What have you done, Jacob?"
"What was necessary."
With that, and hearing Max yelling, he grabbed her and sped out of the Great Mound, phasing them both straight through the rock. Max arrived too late and T'Challa wasn't too far behind and they got Nakia up.
"Nakia! What happened?," T'Challa asked. "Where is Shuri?"
"Oh... we have been betrayed," Nakia answered. "Jacob has kidnapped Shuri."
"The tremor we all felt was the arc reactor overloading," Max said. "Along with injecting himself with a serum grafted from my DNA, which has reactor energy as well as power from the Heart-Shaped Herb, he entered the Cheetah Realm... and came back with speed of his own."
"Then we must find them. Now."
He nodded and Max quickly suited up and then T'Challa put in his Black Panther suit.
"Nice suit," Max said, then Nakia's kimoyo bead bracelet went off and a small hologram of Okoye appeared.
"Sister Nakia, you and Prince T'Challa must come to the Border Province now," she said. "Jacob holds the princess hostage and threatens to murder her. He is demanding Max to come."
This last statement made something in Max snap and he instantly sped off towards the Border Tribe with only one thing going through his head.
'I won't let her die. I can't...,' he thought to himself.
It didn't take long for him to reach Okoye and W'Kabi.
"Where is he?," he practically growled.
"Over there," W'Kabi answered, pointing with his sword at Jacob at the edge of Wakanda... with a sword in hand and the other phased straight though Shuri's back, threatening to crush her heart.
Max then began to walk over to him when W'Kabi stopped him... and offered him his sword.
"You may need this. And if it comes to it... make it quick."
Max slowly nodded before taking the sword and continuing.
"Ah... so glad you could join us, Mr Stark," Jacob said.
"Shuri, you okay?," Max asked and she slowly nodded. "I see you've discovered an ability I haven't yet."
"Indeed. The Cheetah Realm is quite generous when it wants to be."
"...Why? Why are you doing this?"
"Why?! Haha... I spent so long listening to the princess here only talking about her best friend. Then I hear he's faster than the eye can see. Why am I doing this? It's simple... revenge."
"For what? What did I ever do to you?!"
"You were born!!," he yelled, making his arm move a little, and Shuri gasped at the sensation. "Now... everything that is yours, will now be mine. I will become you. Better than you."
"If it's truly me you want... then let her go," Max said. "She's done nothing wrong."
"No... she has actually. She chose you over me. So now... I will kill you both. Starting with you."
He pulled his arm out and sped past Max, slashing his face in the process. He yelled in pain at this, but got over it and grabbed Shuri and got her to Okoye.
"You sure you're alright?," Max asked one final time.
"Yes. Now go get him," she said and he nodded before his mask appeared on his face and he sped off.
"T'Challa, seems Jacob and I are racing around Wakanda. Ideas on where to lead him?"
"Lead him to the Great Mound," Black Panther said over coms. "It's a tight area and you might be able-."
Max didn't hear what he said next as Jacob tackled him from the side and began punching him in the face. Max kicked him off and they began to exchange blows, using their speed in the process. Max swung his sword, but Jacob simply phased right through it and phased his hand through the mask and ripped it off. Max quickly grabbed his arm and pulled it away from his face and clawed Jacob's own face, leaving five cuts across the left side of his face. He hollared in pain and fell to his knees for a moment.
"Jacob, please... you're not thinking clearly!!," Max tried to reason, but Jacob just swung his sword and phased through the ground.
"You cannot reason with someone whose mind was always set on killing you," Jacob said, then he deliver a kick to the back from behind, knocking Max down. "And call me... Specter Wolf."
Max slowly got up, already beginning to weaken, though he could tell that Jacob was as well as neither of them had fought before using their speed. It was then that Max knew what to do.
"...If you want me, Jacob... come and get me," he said and sped off with Specter Wolf chasing him, easily catching up.
Arc led him inside the Great Mound and they began to run all over. On the train tracks, across the walls, all the while, Max awaited his chance. Then all of a sudden, using his advanced reflexes and instincts, Black Panther was somehow able to kick Jacob, causing him to lose his footing and Max took advantage of this. He grabbed him and dragged him across Wakanda before throwing him towards a cliff... and stabbed him through the chest with W'Kabi's sword.
"It didn't have to be this way, Jacob," Max said through his partially destroyed mask. "You shouldn't have threatened Shuri."
He pulled the sword out and Jacob just stood there for a moment before falling... off the cliff. Max quickly walked over to the edge, but couldn't find him anywhere.
He then remembered and sped back to Shuri, who was now with her brother and parents. When she saw him though, she quickly left their embrace and ran over to Max and hugged him tightly, which he returned.
"Glory to Bast you're alright," she said, not intending to let go.
"I couldn't save him..."
"Jacob made his choice, Max," T'Chaka said walking over, and hugged him briefly as well. "Thank you for saving my daughter."
"You're welcome," Max said softly.
A few days later, Max had not said much. He and Shuri had repaired the suit, and improved it in some places. But still, he barely spoke to anyone, even Shuri.
T'Challa decided to talk with him and brought him to the cliff where he had killed Jacob at.
"Something is bothering you," the prince stated.
"...Yeah... for one, I've never had to kill before," Max said, making T'Challa nod, understanding that. "But also... when I heard that Jacob was going to kill Shuri, I just... something inside broke. I just couldn't live with myself if anything were to ever happen to her."
"You love her, don't you?"
"I don't know if what I feel is love or not... but no matter what, I'll always protect her. I've also been thinking... that it might be time for me to go back to my parents. I've been gone long enough."
After a few moments, T'Challa nodded.
"Then you best go back to them," he said.
A few hours later, Max was all packed and ready to go. He wore a dark blue long sleeve shirt with black pants and boots, and a backpack with his suit in it.
He was about to leave before the royal family arrived at the border.
"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?," the queen asked.
"I've never been good with farewells," Max said, making them chuckle slightly. Max then saw Shuri walking over to him, and hugged him tightly.
"Promise me, you'll come back," she said, tearfully. "Please..."
"...I promise. This is my home as well and I'll always come back to you."
She smiled before pecking his cheek, which made him blush wildly. He got over his shock before nodding to T'Challa and the others.
"How are you going to get home, anyway?," Nakia asked.
"I called an old friend to send some people to pick me up in Cairo," Max answered before beginning to walked away.
He turned back to look at the country he'd come to love so much before reluctantly speeding off towards the setting sun.
"Why didn't you tell him?," T'Challa asked, walking up and placing his hand on his sister's shoulder.
"...It wasn't the right time," she simply said.
Somewhere Outside of Wakanda
Jacob floated down the river, unconscious but alive, barely.
Then suddenly, he was pulled from the water. He awoke only for a moment to see a dark skinned man who for some reason reminded him of someone. He was wearing his hair to one side of his head, wore light camo pants, a blue long sleeve shirt and some type of armored vest over it. In his eyes, even in his weakened state, Jacob could see such intense hatred, but not towards him though.
"Hey, kid...," he said. "So you just came out of Wakanda, huh? I think you and I are gonna get along just fine."
"W-Who are you...?," Jacob asked weakly.
"That's a long story. For now... call me Killmonger."
Cairo, Egypt
After about a day or so, Max had finally been able to reach Cairo. Even with his speed, it had taken a while as the country was on the other side of Africa from where he was.
He began to walk around the city, using the skills he'd received from training with T'Challa to observe the place and find who he was looking for.
It didn't take long for his eyes to catch two people who looked oddly familiar following him. He then walked into an empty alleyway and the two people followed, only to find it empty and then Max appeared behind them.
"Nat? Clint?," he said, making them jump ever so slightly.
They then turned to show that is was indeed Natasha and Clint.
"Max...," Nat said, hugging him, which he returned.
"How are ya doing, kid?," Clint said, patting his shoulder.
"I'll admit, I've been better. Should've guessed it'd be you two that Fury would send to get me."
"Probably should've. Come on, we'll talk more on the way back."
They led him to where they left a craft that they called a Quinjet at. They prepped for departure as Clint got into the cockpit as Nat began to tell him what had happened after he left, as he'd never bothered to ask.
"Hmm... so now my uncle has a suit of armor. Good for him. Well, as Coulson likely told you, I met the god of thunder himself after I left."
"And you left with him to go to Asgard, supposedly," Nat said.
Max began to explain what had happened to him the past year and a half, leaving out everything about Wakanda and only saying that he had been staying in the country. Luckily, Natasha didn't pick up on the lies, but she could tell that something was bothering the kid.
"...Something happened in Wakanda, huh?"
"...Yeah," he answered. "A man tried to kill Shuri because he was envious of me. Wanted everything I had. Wanted to be me. So much that he replicated the incident that gave me these powers. But... I killed him. My first kill... Does it ever get any easier?"
"...Depends on the reason you kill for, buddy," Clint said from the cockpit, listening to everything that had been said.
Nat walked over and sat next to Max and wrapped her arm around his shoulders.
"You did what you had to do to save your friend," she said in a caring tone.
He smiles for a moment and nods.
"So... how are my parents?"
"They miss you... a lot. They're also in New York right now, as your father is building a new building called Stark Tower."
"Finally... something to show everyone just how huge of an ego my dad has," he joked and they all laughed at this
They all continued to catch up and tell each other about themselves as they never really had a chance to really talk. Although they only told each other a fraction of the truth, as they all had secrets.
After a while, they arrived at the Triskelion, the SHIELD Headquarters in Washington D.C.
"Welcome back to America," Clint said.
"Thanks, where exactly are we?," Max asked.
"Washington."
"Oh, let me guess... Fury wants to see me?"
"Eventually," Nat answered. "But not today. Today, he thinks you should go home."
'Like last time,' he thought to himself.
The three walked out of the Quinjet and were met by another familiar face.
"Hello, Max," Coulson said.
"Phil, long time, no see," Max said, shaking his hand.
After saying his goodbyes to Black Widow and Hawkeye, Phil led Max to Lola and they began to fly towards New York. They sat in comfortable silence the whole trip until they landed on the roof of Stark Tower, which was actually quite impressive, architecturally speaking.
"Thanks for the lift again," Max said.
"No problem. I'll be seeing you again in all likelihood," he said before flying off.
Max pulled out his phone and allowed a certain AI access to it again.
'Hello, Max. So good to see you again,' JARVIS said.
"Nice to hear from you too, buddy. Shall we surprise my parents again?"
'Of course, sir.'
He quickly found his way downstairs and soon found himself in the main living area, but his parents were nowhere to be seen at the moment.
'Your parents have walked out of the room for a moment,' JARVIS explained.
He nodded and decided to sit down. He leaned his head back for a moment to contemplate what had happened to him that week. Fought one who could be considered his nemesis and killed him, met up with some old friends he hadn't seen in over a year. More importantly, he realized that he just might be in love with his best friend. His moment of relaxation ended when he received a message from the very subject of his thoughts.
"Hey, were you able to get home?," Shuri asked.
"Yup. Just got home actually," he answered. "Seems my dad has built a monument to his ego in New York and named it Stark Tower. So that's where I'm at right now."
"Hahaha... that's funny. Who met up with you in Cairo?"
"SHIELD."
"Ah... well, I'm glad you got home safely. ...We haven't been able to find Jacob's body."
This made Max stop for a moment.
"...Max?," Shuri said after he didn't say anything for a couple of minutes.
"...Then he probably landed in the river. He's long gone by now," he said.
"I agree... I never got to say it, but... thank you so much for saving my life. You're my hero."
"You'll never have to thank me. Cause I'll always save you. No matter what," he responded, then he heard people talking. "Gotta go. My parents are about to come in."
"Okay. Talk to you later."
"Count on it. Bye."
He put his phone away and got up as Tony and Pepper walked in. Both gasped when they saw Max and Pepper ran over and hugged her son tightly.
"MAX!!!," she yelled, still hugging him and Tony joined in. "When did you get back?!!!"
"Just now," he said as they finally let go. "It's good to see you both again."
"It's great to see you again, Max," Tony said, hugging his son again. "You've grown quite a lot. Now you're as tall as me."
"Yup, and your ego hasn't shrunken one bit."
This made Tony grow an annoyed look on his face while Pepper snickered.
"Yeah... anyway, you gotta tell us what you did while you were gone."
"I'd love to but a lot of it is classified SHIELD stuff and then a lot of it is classified personally. All I can say is that something big and very weird happened in New Mexico and I later found myself living in a third world country, living with royalty."
'Sir, there are a few more protocols that need to be established immediately before the Tower is completed,' JARVIS said.
"Okay, I've gotta go deal with that. You two catch and when I get back we'll... catch up," Tony said and he walked out for a moment.
"How is Shuri?," Pepper asked.
"Good. She missed me and I missed her. Mom... I'm not completely sure but..."
"What?"
"...I think I might be in love with her," he said and she squealed slightly and hugged him again.
"Tony, our boy is in love!!!"
"With who?!!," he called back.
"Shuri!!"
"I said I'm not completely sure if I am!!," Max explained. "Mom, something did happen in Wakanda. This... crazy guy, Jacob. He was Shuri and T'Challa's adoptive brother. He tried to kill Shuri."
"What?!," she said. "Is she alright?"
"Thanks to me," he answered, confusing her. "Mom... I killed him."
There was a small silence between them and Tony turned his son around as he had heard him and hugged him gently.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that, buddy," he said and Pepper rubbed his back.
"...Yeah... I've had a long and stressful week. Is there any place where I can sleep, for a month?"
This made them chuckle and they showed him to the room they had built for him.
"We'll talk more in the morning. Goodnight," Max said. "It really is good to see you both."
They both nodded and he went into his new room where JARVIS began speaking.
'Max, I have detected much higher energy readings in your system as well as your muscles and body much stronger,' JARVIS said.
"That's a very long story. One I'll tell some other time. Goodnight, JARVIS."
'Goodnight. I hope that this time, you'll be here for a while.'
"Something tells me that you'll get your wish."
Little did anybody know that soon, things would change forever and the fate of each member of the Stark family would be determined.
Hope this was worth the wait. Sorry about the wait though. Next part will be the first part of the first Avengers movie. And in case you are wondering, Tony and Pepper will not learn that Max has powers for a good long while. Until the next chapter is up, see ya later.