Not my best work I know, I struggled with writing this chapter, but I do hope you guys enjoy it.
TW: I didn't say Tony crated every MCU villain, I said he at least influenced the villains of almost every film he appeared in. Please do not put words in my mouth.
Guest 1: Glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, Tony still has a lot of room left to grow. Yep. Do not get me started on Steve's ending. Phase four is a mess, to say the least. Only good thing to come out of it is No Way Home.
Ellie Bishop: Perhaps. Hopefully, but its Tony so it's kind of a 50/50. Agreed on Rhodey, he can sometimes miss pretty obvious things. The Steve/Wanda friendship is very underrated imo. Indeed they do.
Guest 2: I really don't care tbh. It would have been better to just not make another Black Panther movie out of respect but since its Disney that was never gonna happen.
Traveling Guest: True, but the other side of that is, without Tony, very few of his villains would have made the choice to become villains. It's hard to imagine Justin Hammer or Toomes going down the path they did without Tony as an example. Utron is also an example of Tony being extremely reckless. He knew that the Ultron program was flawed and plugged it into unknown alien tech. Tony has apparently never seen Terminator.
Gallifrey 22.3: Fair point.
Vienna
Morning
Standing at a podium, T'Challa eyed the United Nations representatives before speaking. He had been preparing for this all week, but it was finally time.
"My name is King T'Challa, son of King T'Chaka. I am the sovereign ruler of the nation of Wakanda. And for the first time in our history, we will be sharing our knowledge and resources with the outside world," T'Challa declared. "Wakanda will no longer watch from the shadows. We cannot. We must not. We will work to be an example of how we, as brothers and sisters on this earth should treat each other. Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth. More connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis, the wise offer compassion and help while the foolish stew in hatred of the past. We must find a way to look after one another...as if we were one, single tribe."
"With all due respect King T'Challa, what can a nation of farmers offer the rest of the world?" one of the representatives inquired as the crowd muttered amongst themselves.
T'Challa merely smirked, to the confusion of everyone in the room.
Avengers Compound
Not long after
Wanda was sitting at the kitchen, watching a news report on T'Challa's meeting with the UN when Steve walked in.
"Looks like he's not wasting any time then," Steve noted and Wanda shrugged.
"Considering what's coming, we can't afford to," she pointed out and Steve nodded in agreement.
"Speaking of, you know how our new arrival is settling in?" Steve inquired and Wanda smiled in amusement.
"Natasha is showing her around," Wanda said and Steve paused.
"That's either really good or really bad," Steve decided and Wanda almost snorted into her coffee.
"Your weapons are rather primitive," Sif noted as Natasha showed her the armory.
"To Asgardians probably, but these are pretty impressive by human standards," Natasha said a slight edge to her voice and Sif nodded.
"I did not mean to offend. This world…is strange to me," Sif said and Natasha nodded in understanding.
"I understand. We're probably thousands of years behind Asgard. But you've worked with Coulson before. Are we really that bad?" Natasha asked pointedly.
"No. No you are not. I do not mean to appear as rude," Sif explained.
"I understand; you're far from home in an unfamiliar place. Believe it or not, I was the same way once upon a time. But it's always gonna feel strange if you don't give it a chance. Especially since you're gonna be living here part time," Natasha pointed out and Sif paused.
"That is a fair point Lady Romanoff. Natasha," Sif corrected herself and Natasha nodded.
"Good. Now, let me show you how an earth woman has fun," Natasha said with a devious grin.
Stark Industries
Not long after
"What's this about Tony?" Pepper asked as she and Tony sat in her office, Pepper behind the best and Tony in a chair in front of it.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. About the past, what I've done, what I'm doing. And I realized I can do...more than what I've been doing. You know that grant money we were talking about giving to MIT?" Tony asked and she gave him a confused.
"What about it Tony?" Pepper asked wearily.
"I was thinking of maybe instead, using it to help relief efforts for the remaining Sokovians," Tony said, taking Pepper aback. "And I was also tossing around an idea of setting up programs to help the homeless, maybe offer donations to people already doing that. What do you think?"
Pepper was silent as she tried to put her thoughts into words.
"I'm not opposed to this, but we'd need to talk it out, plan things out. It's good you want to help people Tony, but you can't bankrupt us trying to do it. What brought this on Tony?" Pepper inquired, sensing something had happened.
"Believe it or not, Adrian Toomes. He said a few things about me when we fought that I…really couldn't deny. I don't want my legacy or the legacy of this company to be just another rich guy who chose not to help people when he could. I know it's gonna take time and effort, but I want to do more than what I've been doing," Tony finished and waited for Pepper's response.
For the second time in as many weeks, Pepper found herself surprised by Tony. Something was clearly going on, he seemed like he was changing. Into what, Pepper didn't know. But she wasn't so sure it was a bad thing.
"Like I said, you'd need to plan this out before you take it to the board," Pepper pointed out.
"Don't really have the brain for business that you do. That's why I came to you," Tony explained and Pepper nodded.
"Okay. Well, I don't have time right now, but we can meet in…three days to talk this out," Pepper said after checking her calendar.
"Looking forward to it Pep. I guess I'll see my way out so you can get back to work," Tony said as he got to his feet.
Pepper merely nodded, watching silently as Tony exited her office. It appeared that, for better or worse, Tony was back to being involved with the company beyond the tech side of things.
Midtown school of science and technology
Afternoon
Peter was in the cafeteria, sketching something when he heard someone approach. Peter quickly put the sketch book back in his book bag before Ned sat down, not having noticed what Peter was doing.
"So did you hear? Liz is moving to Oregon," Ned said excitedly and Peter whipped his head towards Ned.
"Really?" Peter said in surprise.
"Yeah, something about that business with her dad and Iron Man. Guess you missed your chance to ask her out," Ned said as he began to eat his lunch.
"Yeah, I guess so," Peter said turning his gaze to his own lunch.
Peter wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that. A few weeks ago, it would have felt like the end of the world. Now, it just felt like something trivial. Like normal high school stuff.
He knew what was coming, but Peter really didn't know how he was supposed to help out against Ross and Thanos. He was strong, but he was still just a kid. Peter didn't know how he was supposed to fit into this. But he had to try to help out, somehow.
Avengers Compound
Same time
"So how does this compare to Asgardian liquor?" Natasha asked as she and Sif shared a glass of Russian scotch.
"Liquor? You mean Ale," Sif realized and Natasha nodded. "It doesn't have the same effect on me as the one from home world, although I do feel a slight tingling sensation in my fingers. Has Thor ever given you Asgardian Ale?"
"He gave it to Steve once, although Steve is a special case. Normal liquor doesn't affect him," Natasha said, sparking Sif's curiosity. "Long story with a bunch of science stuff I don't understand, you'd have to ask him. But he gave it to Clint once, Clint nearly passed out."
"Clint, the archer who was once controlled by Loki," Sif noted and Natasha nodded. "I haven't seen him."
"He's with his family. You'll meet him at some point, he'll come by to get Wanda in a few weeks," Natasha said, confusing Sif.
"Wanda is…his child?" Sif asked curiously and Natasha almost snorted into her glass.
"She might as well be, but that's another conversation. He's gonna take her to his family to protect her from Ross," Natasha explained and Sif nodded in understanding.
"The Secretary that will spearhead these Accords," Sif remembered from Thor filling her in.
"Yeah. As much as Thanos is a problem, we still have lots of other problems we'll have to deal with first," Natasha said as she stared down at her glass, thinking of Lagos, Zemo and The Accords, just to name a few. "Being an Avenger is not easy, there's almost always some threat that needs to be taken care of."
"Not unlike being an Asgardian warrior," Sif mused and Natasha shrugged.
"Sort of, although there's a lot less glory and not everyone always likes you. Sometimes they even hate you," Natasha noted, thinking of how the public had reacted to Wanda.
"And yet you still continue to battle these threats, to try and save your people," Sif noted.
"It's the right thing to do," Natasha said simply. "We're not in it for the glory or to be liked. We're just here to save lives."
"Then you are all far more honorable than some Asgardians I have fought with," Sif said after a few moments, beginning to understand why Thor was so fond of his friends here.
Unspecified location
Same time
In a dimly lit room, a dark skinned man was watching angrily as the TV in the room was on a news report covering T'Challa's press conference. After a moment, unable to take it anymore, the man picked up a nearby rifle and fired, the bullet hitting the screen and causing the glass to shatter. The man breathed heavily, staring at the broken television for a few moments.
"You think you're safe cousin? Nah. You and your Daddy are gonna pay for what you've done," Killmonger said to the empty room, a hateful look on his face.
Pretty much just a filler chapter that explores some of the fallout of Toomes and Sif becoming an Avenger, as well as finally giving T'Challa his press conference. Not very exciting I know but next chapter we'll start getting back into the plot, such as the lead up to Lagos and exploring things back in Wakanda.
