Chapter 11: C

It has been quite literally well over a year since I updated this story. How come…. I have no idea. It used to be my favorite story! Anyway, time to wake this story from the dead and bring it back to life! Well… at least the best I can.

First off some announcements so those who follow or read my stories can get some idea here:

1. There are some of you that have posted some stories. I promise I will get to them! I'm normally quickly on top of it because… gahhhh your stories are so GOOD! But lately I've been really stressed out. I don't have the time. I go to class, come back, study, and sleep *insert food whenever*. It has been rough and I haven't had the time. I promise to get to them ASAP.

2. If you LAST remember, the previous chapter mentioned a contest for the person who won that gets to help me write the next chapter. I normally never back down from my promises… but I'll have to this one time. I'm sorry! I know Someone (who now has an account… WHERE ARE YOU SOMEONE?) won, but I just can't do the whole collaboration thing right now. Maybe sometime down the line I'll do something like that, but for right now I'll write my stories.

SO, that's all I got to say… So let's recap on what's been going on yeah? The last time we left off the evil Tony activated a space-time jump and kidnapped Pepper so she is now in the alternate universe with the evil Tony. Our favorite superhero is now visiting T'Challa to get some help with the device, because he thinks vibranium is the key! Let's get on with it! :)

TRIGGER ALERT: I will mention some torture and sexual acts (not in detail). Just a warning.

Disclaimer: my story is my story… you can keep your IMAA T_T

Pepper managed to leave her new room without much of a fight. She disabled the Tony and left him on the bed, so she was just gonna assume that he was just in too much pain to move and chase her. She was still dressed in some silky robes, so her actual clothes were either in that room or in the laundry room.

As she got her bearings in the hallway, she was astonished to see that it was Tony's mansion. Well, technically his father's but since he passed away, Tony wasn't allowed to move into it until he graduated high school. But that never kept him from visiting the place and chilling there over the weekends.

Pepper knew the layout like the back of her hand. She had been here far too many times to forget. And in fact, the room she was just in was actually the guest room from her own universe.

She navigated the mansion quickly, turning the right corners, and taking the right stairs to get her into the laundry room. And sure enough, her clothes were ironed and placed neatly on top of the dryer. Pepper quickly slipped off her robe and tossed on her clothes, taking a minute to enjoy the warmth of her washed articles.

"Ms. Potts?" A voice echoed around her. Pepper jumped at the sound, but immediately recognized the voice.

"Wait… are you… are you Jarvis? THE Jarvis?" She looked up at the ceiling, as though Tony's favorite AI was going to pop out from there at any point.

There was a pause. "I do not understand what you mean by 'THE Jarvis', Ms. Potts."

"It's—It's— never mind. It's really nice to hear from you, Jarvis." Pepper said, feeling slightly nostalgic. Jarvis was shut down long ago back in her universe when a strange virus attacked the Stark Mansion's main frame. Jarvis's intelligence and information got lost in the virus, so bad that Tony had to completely trash the AI to avoid it contaminating any more systems. He was eventually replaced with FRIDAY, who isn't as quirky and sarcastic, but did get the job done.

"It is nice to have your signature back in this facility as well." The AI said. Pepper frowned, remembering the fact that her own doppelgänger was killed here. She didn't say anything for a while, more so because she didn't know what to say. Should she tell the AI that the Pepper from this world was really dead? And that she was just brought here against her will? If she did say that, would Jarvis mention it to the Tony?

She decided to take the risk. "I'm— I'm not the real Pepper Potts, Jarvis." She held her breath, fearing that the Tony would be on top of her at any minute.

"I know that, Ms. Potts. Mr. Stark has mentioned to me about his plans many times before. I fear that he followed through with it, much against my wishes." The AI was silent for a while. "And I'm sorry to say Ms. Potts, you have no hope of leaving. Mr. Stark designed his space-time device with the intention of bringing you here, and keeping you here. There is no going back."

Pepper bit back a sob, and shook her head. "I don't think so, Jarvis. My Tony is more than capable of replicating the device. He's just as smart as your Tony."

"That may be the case, Ms. Potts, however the device was meant to be self-destructed after Mr. Stark had returned." A pause. "Which I manually disabled before Mr. Stark was about to leave."

"You what?" Pepper's heart pounded in excitement. "You— you disabled it? Is that device… is it working? Tony can come save me?" If she could, she would've crushed the AI in a gigantic hug and kissed his cheek multiple times.

"Indeed, Ms. Potts. Although Mr. Stark is my creator and I am indebted to him, not all of his plans are done with the best intentions at heart. I did what I had to in order to balance out the world. You are not meant to be here with us, Ms. Potts." The AI said with surety. "It is nice to have you around the premises, however you belong back home with your Mr. Stark."

Pepper laughed softly, nodding. "You're right about that, Jarvis. I have to go, I have to find a way to understand this place before my Tony gets here. Where will he be brought? The same place where I was taken from?"

"Indeed."

Pepper sighed, relieved, because she remembered some details about where the other Tony had taken her from her world. So if she could just get there, she could leave her boyfriend a message letting him know where she was.

But first…

"Jarvis, can you scan me and tell me if I have any tracking device on or in me?"

An agonizing minute passed before Jarvis said, "Scan complete. Surprisingly nothing seems to be present on or in your body."

"Perfect. Thank you, Jarvis." Her heart tugged in both pain and joy at her favorite AI. Even with Jarvis practically destroyed back at her world, she was gonna have Tony fix him regardless.

The Wakanda king walked over to his throne that was placed at the middle end of his hut. He shoved the staff in his hands down into the ground, driving it through the dirt. He walked over to his chair and sat down, gesturing for Tony and Rhodey to sit on the animal skinned pillows that were on the floor. They took their seat and waited patiently for the king to situate himself.

"So what is this issue you are having, son of Howard?" T'Challa spoke, his powerful voice booming through the hut.

Tony bowed respectfully. "Please, call me Tony."

The king smiled. "Very well, Tony. Now, please tell what is the matter, that is regarding your red-headed friend." The room got quiet really quick, and the uncomfortable silence dragged on as Tony tried thinking of what to say.

"Pepper… uh um, do you have any idea about space-time continuum?"

T'Challa leaned forward, resting his elbow on his knee. "I am well aware of the concept, as well as the technology needed to complete the idea." Tony and Rhodey exchanged glances, both worried and relieved.

"Long story short, Pepper was taken to another dimension. An equal one like this world, but with another… me. And, well, this is all I have left." Tony brought out the bag with the remote and handed it to the Wakanda king. T'Challa took the device and turned it over in his hands. There was a frown on his face as he continued observing the device.

He looked up at Tony. "This device is foreign. It's much more advanced than what I've seen before."

"But do you have an idea on how to fix it? I think it needs vibranium to work. The material should be strong enough to withhold a jump right?"

"Vibranium indeed is strong enough to withhold a jump, however I'm not sure how to reroute this device to support the metal." T'Challa shrugged, looking unsure about what to make of the device. "We could try, however."

Tony shook his head. "I don't need a 'try', T'Challa. I need a guarantee. This is the only lead I have to find Pepper. The other Tony left it behind in one piece, more or less, and I did some tests. It seems that it needs a strong metal to bind the device's wiring. And if that doesn't work, well, she's gone. And I can't deal with that, not now."

The king looked at Tony, almost with pity, but the expression disappeared. "I understand, Tony. However, you must understand that I have experience in the concept of jumping between realities. I have, in fact, helped your father with such idea."

That caught Tony by surprise, because his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "My father? Why?"

"He wanted to go back in time to bring back your mother." The king said, simply. His voice softened, however, after noticing Tony's features slack. "He believed he had the idea and equations right that would allow him to bend reality and jump back in time to prevent the death of your mother."

"What stopped him?"

"You. You were merely a child at that time. If Howard had gone back to keep your mother alive, you most certainly would have died. There would have been no time to save you both. So your father decided that raising a son was more important than changing the past." The king sighed, leaning back into his chair. "It was a hard time for your father, and since you were young, you did not understand what was happening. But you did stop him from changing the past."

Tony looked down at his hands, noticing they were bundled into tight fists. His knuckles were white in stress and effort, even though he had no idea he was squeezing them so tight. "Are you telling me this just so I could avoid this too?"

"No, Tony. Your red-headed friend belongs in this world, and not the one she was taken too. You must get her back. I only tell you about your father, because, I still have the plans that your father has written a decade ago." T'Challa smiled, raising to his feet. "And if this device does not work, we have a 'Plan B.'"

The king lead them outside of the tent and nodded towards one of his guards. "I will have my guard collect my panther suit. I can maneuver the mountain better and get us to a good source of vibranium that way."

Tony nodded, and turned to Rhodey, who was unusually quiet the entire time they were having a one-on-one with the Wakanda king. "Rhodey, suit up." His friend nodded, and pushed the center piece on his backpack. The chunky armor unravelled and quickly took in Rhodey, already powering up the suit before the rider was completely covered.

The guard had returned, a black fabric neatly folded in his hands. He bowed as he presented the suit to his king, and waited to straighten up only after T'Challa took the suit from his hands. "Thank you, Micca. Watch over the people while I am gone." After the guard went back to his post, T'Challa slipped the suit over his body.

The black suit immediately clung to his skin, smoothing out over the tribal clothing that the king had on underneath. It sealed up behind him, leaving none of his skin exposed. Once the mask covered his face, T'Challa stood tall and allowed the suit to finish morphing around him.

T'Challa grunted and curled his hands into fists. "My, my… it does feel good to be the Panther once again." The suit was slick and had no flaw. It was nearly impossible to penetrate, and in fact, was very deadly to anyone else who decided to take on the suit and the person wearing it.

Tony got into his own suit and powered up his armor. "Lead the way, sir. We'll follow."

Pepper left the mansion immediately. She decided to take her chances in this "new" New York, regardless of the subtle warning the Tony had given her. She took a glance behind her at the Stark's Mansion and noticed a figure watching her from a bedroom window.

The Tony stood by the window observing her fading figure as she ventured closer to the heart of New York. Pepper shuddered, not liking the feeling of being watched and decided it was better for her to focus on leaving than the fear of being watched.

This New York was no different. The streets were busy, the buildings were towering. And the people… the people were rude. Pepper wiggled around crowds of people standing on the sidewalk, and cautiously kept marks on her surroundings. She saw no familiar face, and really no one seemed to care about her.

Someone crashed into her. Pepper clutched her shoulder as she was thrown to the side. Just before she could call out, the man turned to her and snarled, "Watch it! You got eyes on your head, so use them!" And then moved along. Pepper blinked back tears. She had never been spoken to like that before.

Another person bumped into her. "MOVE IT!" The woman hissed loudly. Pepper looked around her, and got jostled around by angry pedestrians.

"Hey, girl, MOVE."

"HEY! Don't you see we got places to go? Why the hell are you in our way?"

"Jeez, I had to stop because of you."

"What's the matter with you?"

"If you can't move those legs, why don't you give them to someone who'll actually use them?"

Pepper choked and ran, this time expertly moving around the crowd. She kept running until the streets became more familiar, and the people trickled down. She stopped outside an abandoned apartment and walked up its steps. She plopped down at the top and put her head down on her knees.

The tears poured out.

She never felt so much fear towards pedestrians before. Her heart pounded against her chest, keeping the blood pumping in case she was about to run again. "Breath, Potts." Pepper said, between sniffles. "You gotta be tough, like the rest of this place."

She panicked, she knew she did. She hadn't panicked like that in a while, but knew the routine enough to calm herself down with deep breaths and a recitation of the alphabet. Pepper looked up at the skyline and the downtown New York. It seemed so normal from afar, but in reality this town was not her own. This New Yorkers were the kind folk from her place, but rather people used to outsiders, and used to being tough to survive.

Whatever happened here destroyed the town.

Pepper blinked, almost smacking her head. She might be dead in this world, but that didn't mean Rhodey was. And this Tony wasn't seen with Rhodey, meaning her friend was here, somewhere. And that also meant that she could get some much needed answers.

She was able to find the Rhodes's home easily, because that much hadn't changed. The lights were on in the house, leaving a dull yellow glow on the porch as Pepper walked up to the door. She rang the door bell and waited, faintly hearing a creek and footsteps.

The door got thrown open, and a familiar face stared at her, first wearily and then with sudden recognition. Rhodey went pale, his mouth open in shock. "Pe-Pep-Pepper?" His lips quivered and tears sprung to his eyes. Pepper didn't have time to respond before arms encircled her and squeezed. She laughed softly and breathed in her friend's scent, relishing in the warm and familiar presence.

"God, Pepper. I—I really can't believe you're actually here! Like right in front of me! And— alive?" Rhodey's arms fell to his side and he cocked his head, staring at the red-head. "Wait, you're alive?"

Pepper smiled, a wave of exhaustion consuming her. "Can I come in? There's a lot we need to talk about."

She caught him up to speed as best as she could. She didn't leave out much detail, because if she knew anything, she knew Rhodey would never change. He would still be that reasonable, level-headed rowdy that was both an optimist and pessimist.

"I can't believe he went through it." Rhodey said frowning. He punched his knee, leaning back into the couch, shaking his head and scoffing. "I told him that the past was set in stone, and that there was nothing for him to do to change it. Gah! I told him!"

Pepper nodded, glancing down at her green tea. The warmth of the mug seeped into her palms, making her feel a little better. "Well whatever you said didn't change his mind. I'm living proof of it."

"I know. I mean imagine my surprise to open my door to see my dead best friend alive and well telling me that she isn't my best friend?" Rhodey chuckled, shaking his head. He swiped a hand down his face, sighing. "Tony… Tony has been all sorts of messed up since you, er… not you you, died."

"What do you mean?"

Rhodey rubbed the back of his neck, settling into the couch as he turned to face Pepper. "You were everything to him. The moment you said yes to him, and you guys started going out, his life revolved around you. I mean yeah I existed, but if you could've seen the real him, he was always gushing about you."

"Believe me, I can imagine how he treated your Pepper." She said, remembering all the PDA the Tony had shown her regardless of not being his Pepper.

"Yeah, well I don't know. It was after school, and you were waiting outside for him. I was inside with Tony, because we had a class together, and you finished early. We leave and try to find you when Tony's phone goes off alerting that your GPS in your phone was destroyed."

"I was taken." Pepper concluded, softly.

Rhodey nodded. "Yeah, yeah you were. It took us about a day and a half to get your location. And once we did, we were both ambushed. Tony got taken to some room and I was taken somewhere else. You—" Rhodey looked away, blinking back tears that sprung to his eyes. "You were being tortured. And I don't mean pokes and prods.

"I mean all of Iron Man's villains came together and got their hands on you after figuring out you were Mr. Stark's precious angel. They— I mean, they raped you, they cut you, they stabbed you, they electrocuted you, they… they did everything that came to their sick heads. And Tony had to watch."

Pepper gulped, trying to swallow the massive lump in her throat. "And?"

"You died." The silence drew on longer as Pepper and Rhodey looked at each other. "You weren't killed, but it was between an electrocution that ended you. They didn't think it would happen, but you just stopped moving."

"How do you know all this?"

"Tony wasn't the only one watching. I was somewhere else, but they had me watch through a TV. I was tied down and made to watch. I think it was Justin Hammer that was with me, or something. Regardless, Pep, I was made to watch and I mean… it was not pretty." Rhodey looked up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly. Pepper reached out and touched his hand, squeezing it gently.

"So I died, and Tony snapped?"

Rhodey scoffed, shaking his head. "You have no idea. He went insane after you died. Lost his mind. The villains didn't make it any better with their laughs, but I mean they didn't know."

"Know what?"

"Tony. They didn't know what you were to him, and what your death did. They let him and me go, almost immediately. Threw us out like we were garbage, and then they left. No chase, no beating, no nothing… just left.

"Tony and I went back to the bunker, and I assumed that we would get our suits and track them down. Instead he locks me in my suit, takes off and goes on a killing rampage. Any villain he could find, he murdered on the spot and he showed no remorse. He just killed them and moved on." Rhodey grimaced and rubbed his hands together.

Pepper shuffled in her seat, remembering her own Tony. She wondered if he would do the same, and just kill all the villains if the situation were the same. "All in one night?"

"No, no, no…," He chuckled. "Many of the villains went into hiding as Tony went on the killing spree. He let me out once he got back the first night and kicked me out. He changed the coding and locked me out. I couldn't get back in, and trust me I tried everything in the book. He stopped coming to school, stopped answering my calls, and really all I knew about him were the murders of villains on the news."

"He killed them all?" Pepper asked, her fear growing.

"No, not yet. There are a few that are left, but they're pretty under cover. They don't come out, but since Tony doesn't know some other identities some can come out as theirselves."

"Who was the first to go?"

Rhodey looked at Pepper. "Take a wild guess."

It wasn't much of a doubt in Pepper's head when she said, "Hammer. He's pushed Tony's buttons for years."

"Bingo. After him it was Sasha, then… I don't remember who's gone and who's left. But it's been a while since Tony's attacked."

Pepper seemed satisfied with what she learned, but there was still one more question. "What happened to New York? Everyone here is so… rude and different."

"Ah… yeah well about that… Tony had to make sure everyone got the message that Iron Man wasn't to be messed with again. So he… let's just say he wrecked some terror to the Yorkers. They learned to realize that if they weren't tough, they would die." Rhodey sighed. "If you could just see how Tony was before… he was such a different guy. From a role model, to the most feared hero in New York… He built up quite the resume."

Pepper seemed to start to say something when a bang came from the door. She gasped and looked at Rhodey, both of them sharing the same look and thought. Tony must be here. Rhodey grabbed her shoulders as he stood up. "You know this place, go through the back and get out. I'll stall for as long as I can, if— if it's Tony." Pepper nodded and quietly made her way through the kitchen and to the back hallway that lead to the backyard.

When she turned around she saw Rhodey opening the door, and sure enough a tall man stood in the doorway, his signature spiky hair making him recognizable. "Rhodey… long time, man."

Rhodey shuffled his feet but his composure didn't waver. "Yeah, T. Been a couple of months, yeah? How've you been?"

Tony's head cocked to the side, attempting to look past his friend into the house. "Judging by the extra mug on your coffee table I can only assume that you met up with an old… friend."

"Oh yeah, you mean Pepper? Oh yeah Tony, I got a good look at her. Just tells me how desperate you are to have someone who is gone. When people die, Tony, they should stay dead. Not brought back, not taken…" Rhodey shook his head. "You used to be better than this."

Tony snickered and pushed past his friend and into the house. "Yeah, I used to. Tough, right? But what can I say, some things are not meant to be taken. And well… Pepper was."

"I know. I know that, don't think I don't. She was just as much of a friend to me that she was to you."

Tony seethed. "She was more than a friend to me. She was my life, my world! Do you have any idea how it feels like to watch your sworn enemies kill her?" He screamed, jabbing a finger in Rhodey's chest.

Rhodey stepped back, smacking the finger to the side. "Yeah, Tony! I do! I had to watch every freaking minute of it. I was screaming into that TV, and I screamed until I couldn't. You don't understand that Tony, because you went nuts after."

"Well I wasn't just gonna sit around and do nothing, Rhodey. Revenge was the only thing that helped me at the time, and I don't regret a minute of it. Look at the streets. Look at this city!" He gestured to the open door and the bright city in the distance.

"Yeah, Tony, I see it everyday. That city out there is scared, not safe. You might've of gotten rid of every villain out there, but that's not what they are afraid of anymore."

Tony scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You. They're scared of you now." Rhodey looked broken as the words left his lips. Tony paled and stepped back, surprised. He looked as though someone slapped him in the face. "And what you're doing now… it's only making things worse."

Tony turned his head, rage building inside of him. His temper had broken since Pepper died, so almost anything he didn't want to see or hear set him off. "No I'm not."

"Yeah you are." Rhodey stated finally. He had waited months to tell this to his best friend, but Tony never made it easy or made himself available.

"No I'm NOT."

"Tony! Listen to yourself! You kidnapped your true love from yourself! That other Tony is just the same as you, man! How do you think he's feeling? If you love her that much, so does he, and you just took her away." Rhodey shook his head, letting out a defeated sigh. "Just stop, man. Stop it all. It's not worth it."

Tony stayed silent, breathing through his nose. But he suddenly reared back and threw a punch at his best friend's face. After a sickening crack against his jaw, Rhodey fell to the floor with a thud.

And he didn't get back up.

"You're wrong, old friend." Tony hissed, shaking out his fist. "It was all worth it. And you'll eventually come around and agree with me."

Pepper hadn't been able to move since she saw the confrontation, and she regretted it. She just wasted the precious time Rhodey had given her to escape, and now he was on the floor unconscious.

"Pepper!" Tony screamed. She flinched, horrified at how his voice got so rough. "Get out here, NOW!" But she didn't, and didn't move from where she was. She was actually really close to the backdoor, and if she could just crawl quickly and quietly, she could escape.

Pepper started crawling only when she heard the Tony move. The creaks on the floor masked her shuffles and any sound she accidentally made. Pepper sighed in relief when she saw the backdoor in front of her. She had to decide between getting up and bolting out the door or crawling a little more and get out quietly.

But as she made her decision, she felt the floor shift behind her. Her heart nearly stopped as she realized what caused the dip. "There you are, Angel. I was starting to get worried." Pepper saw him move quickly, swinging down and catching her ankle.

"NO!" She screamed as her balance slipped and Tony dragged her down the hall.

The vibranium mountain towered over the three heroes as they came to a stop. T'Challa got up from his Panther pose and cracked his neck. "Through here." He led the boys through a side entrance, that was lit with two torches on the outside. T'Challa removed his mask when he entered the cave, and walked through the manmade tunnel.

"Is it always this quiet?" Rhodey asked. He decided to keep his armor on, the fear of a collapsing tunnel weighing in on his head.

Literally.

The Wakanda king stopped and turned to look at the boys. There was a deep frown on his face. "No. We have men in here everyday, mining, collecting, and storing the vibranium. This is very unusual." The king slipped his mask back on and crept down to the ground, his footsteps and movements becoming stealthy.

They moved quickly down the tunnels, following the king in silence, which was shocking with the armored teens in tow. When the tunnel opened up towards the end to the main cavern, T'Challa stopped and stood. His movements slow and mimicking horror. "No, this cannot be. Impossible!"

The cavern was empty. The extensive mining shafts and carts were empty. The mining machine was still. And there was not a soul in sight.

"T'CHALLA!" A voice called, loudly. The king turned his head in the direction, but realized the voice was just echoing around the walls. "I know you are here, you coward!"

"T'Challa, do you know who that is?" Tony asked, whispering to avoid being detected.

The king turned towards the genius, his head nodding slowly. "I do, indeed. It's my brother. And he's back again."

"For what?"

"To challenge me for the throne of Wakanda."

And complete with tons of cliffhangers because…. this story has that reputation! TA-DA! This is a super long chapter, so I hope you guys like this! I apologize again for the absence and the delays in reading your stories!

Please review and let me know what you think! Okay… I'm done haha… exhausted over here. Hope you guys have a GREAT day!