His Adam's apple trembled continuously, showing signs of hesitation and fear, but soon, his expression became more and more fierce as if he had thought of something. Muscles on his arms flexed, and within an instant, he thrust decisively towards the air while shouting, "Helada!"
"Boom!!!"
His spear was deflected by a dense energy, and the backlash sent Erik flying.
T'Challa had already closed his eyes, preparing to face death, but suddenly, he felt a familiar power enveloping him. He voiced his confusion: "Panther God Bast? Is it you? How …"
With a hand over his chest, he tried to rise from the ground. Just then, a familiar voice rang out, "If I were you, I wouldn't move around, unless you fancy bleeding more, T'Challa?"
T'Challa's eyes widened as he asked, "Tony? Tony, is it you?"
As he turned his head to look for Stark's figure, a strangely-shaped portal appeared in mid-air. Several silhouettes walked out from it, one of which was Stark in his Mecha.
Of course, it wasn't just human figures that emerged but also a feline, or rather a panther. A black panther roughly the size of an ordinary leopard walked out of the portal. Once its tail tip left the portal, it closed.
Feeling the Divine Power, T'Challa coughed hard and said, "It really is you, Bast. Why at this time…"
No one paid him any attention because one person, wearing a trench coat, turned to Strange and asked, "What did that guy just shout? Did I hear it wrong?"
"What... Helada? Who's Helada?" Strange was also puzzled. Erik's posture just now seemed as if he was summoning a Demon God. Strange was ready with a defensive spell, but Erik ended up only shouting a phrase and collapsed.
With a furrowed brow and a solemn expression, Shiller said to Strange, "Open a portal to get Steve. If Peter is around, bring him along too."
Seeing Shiller's serious expression, Strange knew this was not a time for joking. He opened a portal straight away and left.
Stark turned to look at Erik. He murmured,"...Hydra? Hell..."
Shiller gave Stark a look, and the two spoilers immediately understood each other, deciding not to discuss further.
At that moment, the black panther had its paw pressed against T'Challa's chest. As a rich white energy poured into T'Challa's body, his complexion visibly improved.
However, a dark energy still lingered around the deepest wound. The panther tried several times to disperse it but only succeeded partially. The remaining energy stubbornly expanded T'Challa's wound like a persistent ulcer.
T'Challa placed a hand on the panther's paw and looked at Bast, "Thank you, Your Majesty, this is enough."
The panther's face showed a very human-like disagreement. It seemed a bit irritable, but that was understandable.
The reason why this group appeared here with Panther God Bast has to start with their plan to enter the Bast Realm.
After Christmas, Nick Fury finally enjoyed a rare moment of quiet. This period up until early next year was when he didn't have to worry about funding issues. Thus, when he received Shiller's invitation to negotiate with the Panther God, he agreed readily, stating that if the panther could help him resolve next year's funding, he would become a staunch animal rights activist.
The combination of the bat and Nick Fury was excellent. The duo taught Panther God Bast a lesson: even darkness has layers. One can be dark, but not too dark, especially not both in appearance and heart...
Not long after the duo entered the Bast Realm, they got thrown out. Bast, for the first time, allowed people of other races to enter his realm and then Shiller went in...
Of course, knowing the urgency of saving a life, Shiller took Strange to promote membership packages to the Panther God for two hours before explaining his intentions—asking Bast to save T'Challa.
Fortunately, time in the Bast Realm and the outside world didn't flow at the same pace. In the real world, only a few seconds had passed.
The one who attacked T'Challa, Erik, happened to be the kind of villain who died due to talking too much. After harming T'Challa severely, he didn't take advantage of the situation. Instead, he stopped in his tracks to rant, so the rescue team managed to arrive just as he was about to strike.
The Panther God was initially studying the patch of dark energy on T'Challa's chest, but T'Challa had already managed to stand up. The moment the Panther God turned around, he spotted the spear that he had earlier deflected with his defense power.
The spear tip shimmered with an ominous dark energy, the very end giving off a strange radiance as if it was poisoned.
The Panther God walked over and sniffed at the spear, revealing a puzzled expression. Right then, with a "thud," T'Challa, who had just gotten up, collapsed again.
"Ha ha ha ha, he's a goner! I smeared the spear with a potent poison; nobody can save him!" Erik shouted.
Stark revealed a look of disdain. By this time, the Panther God had already leaped to T'Challa's side. He again infused T'Challa's form with that peculiar power of his. Yet, barely a moment passed before the Panther God looked down, seemingly perplexed, at his own claws.
Noticing the Panther God's actions, Stark realized something was wrong. He quickly rushed forward, kneeling down to check on T'Challa's condition.
Given T'Challa's dark skin, it was impossible to visually assess his condition. Stark opened a device on the arm of his suit and inserted a probe into T'Challa's body, using his other hand to initiate the scanner.
As soon as the scanner activated, Jarvis blared an alarm. "Warning! Warning! Life-threatening situation. Unidentified toxin being decoded... decoding unsuccessful..."
"Collect blood sample for analysis."
"Analysis underway... no results." Jarvis explained, "Based on the data, this is not a toxin associated with any known human affliction. Its composition is unknown and being resisted by a mysterious power. A high-powered device may be needed for decoding..."
Soon after, Jarvis alarmed twice more, stating, "Immediate medical treatment is required, or death may be imminent..."
Stark slammed his fist onto the floor. As he stood up, he reached towards the energy core in his chest, ready to swap it for a higher-powered one to aggressively unlock the toxin's composition.
At this moment, the Panther God flicked his tail. T'Challa instantly vanished and with a sweep of his claw against the ground, they all returned to his realm. Shiller looked around and asked the Panther God, "Did you stop time here?"
The Panther God grunted low, and walked over to where T'Challa had been. From his panther-like face emerged an expression of thought that closely resembled that of a human.
"Looks like more of that mysterious mumbo-jumbo," Stark said, tilting his head towards Shiller. "You must have heard what that man was shouting, right?... 'Helada.'"
Stark turned his gaze toward the horizon, where an endless prairie stretched out, a primitive horn echoing from the distance. The light and shadow upon this ancient land rolled before his eyes.
With a somber tone, Stark spoke, "In the grand scheme of the cosmos, no one is omniscient, nor omnipotent. But from countless stories I've seen, this name has surfaced countless times like a malignant cancer festering upon the Earth."
"I never asked about that before because I thought that your choice of behavior must mean you've found your own answers. But now I have to ask: did you see your parents..."
"I did see them." Stark directly confronted this question for the first time. He continued, "...but not just my own parents. Thousands, if not millions, of parents died instantaneously at the end of various stories."
The voice of Stark sank deeper, like the whisper of the wind sweeping inches above the wilderness.
"They left no substantial inheritances, nor anything essential for their children's survival. They merely faded away without a sound."
Stark seemed dazed, as if recalling these scenes. He said, "...No last words, no mementos, not even a cause of death. No one left to explain to those children why their parents died…"
The blinding sunlight on the prairie made Stark squint. His vision blurred in the light, and he said, "It's absurd, but these tragedies stopped me."
"In the moment that I was about to become the last one standing, I discovered the truth about Howard's death. At that instant I wished to freeze that state forever and obliterate everyone involved. I know that had I acted that way, no one would have been able to escape…"
"In a blink though, the tragic endings of those stories flooded my mind, shattering my momentary rage. It filled me with despair."
Stark shut his eyes, deep furrows forming on his brow showcasing an visibly pained expression.
"To experience realms of endless, irreparable tragedies in an instance nearly drove me to madness."
"So, you chose…"
"No," Stark inhaled deeply, his chest rising and falling, then settling back down. He said, "Do you remember the question you asked Jarvis, and me, previously?"
"In between that split-second decision, I pondered, how would Howard have responded to all this?"
"...He was completely rotten, not a good father, but he would have done anything to prevent this." Stark spoke, his words almost bitten off.
"That's us. That's Stark."
Shiller looked into Stark's eyes, seeing therein a special radiance. Unlike other superheroes, there was no modesty, simplicity, or kindness. Just extreme pride nearing arrogance.
Shiller patted his shoulder and said, "If Stark can see all of this and remain indifferent, and doesn't hesitate to add more tinder to the flame of human destruction, then you guys wouldn't be you."
"But, you could also try a different perspective." Shiller tried again to fulfil his own responsibilities. "You've faced similar circumstances. The military initiated the conflict, and you were simply an arms dealer. Even if an arms dealer did ignite a war to make a fortune, it wasn't you, but you bore all of the blame."
"As I told you when you want to shut down your weapon division, don't blame the gun. If you want to punish the gun, you should first shoot the gunman, or else how can you ensure that he won't shoot you again with that gun?"
Shiller directed his gaze at the unconscious and critically wounded T'Challa. Stark followed his gaze, his own becoming more profound. He said, "Perhaps... you're right."
"Now, they've shot another bullet, and this time, they've pulled the trigger right in front of me. I nearly lost an important friend because of it…"
Having said that, Stark turned and walked toward the teleportation portal he'd entered through. As he walked, he said, "This tells me one thing: if I don't take action, their bullets will be endless."
The sunlight on this fictitious prairie was always intense. When it hit Stark's armor, the metal reflected a brilliant light. But Shiller preferred to believe that the glow came from Stark himself, emanating from his innate sense of mission and responsibility.
As these individuals called heroes carry on, shining with an extraordinary radiance forged from the ordinaries of joy, anger, sorrow, and delight.