Chapter 40: Wakanda
***Narrator P.O.V. A dozen minutes later
"I must take my leave then." The Ancient One nodded to Kar-el as he slowly started to float upward.
As he reached a few meters in the air, his cape melted into his suit, and a helmet covered his face instead. He turned his face away from the temple while his suit slowly made him transparent.
Once he fully disappeared from the view, a sonic boom erupted in the sky, and he was truly gone.
"What kind of sorcery is this?" The master beside the ancient one couldn't help but ask her as he considered her to be knowledgeable of most sorceries of the present world.
"Not sorcery, but ability. His body might appear human but he belongs to an unknown race. A powerful one too." The Ancient One looked at him before excusing herself. She was satisfied with today's meeting.
Now all she could do was wait and see if he can remove the influence of the One Who Remains from himself. She herself carried a grudge against that puppeteer and wondered if he could allow her to fulfill that grudge.
****Meanwhile, with Kar-el. Narrator P.O.V.
As soon as Kar-el left the monastery, he turned toward Africa and increased his pace.
As he flew over the Arabian Sea, he left a mark on the sea's surface due to the wind pressure. While he was conversing with The Ancient One in that personal dimension, he felt ×÷+-'s presence suddenly appear in Africa. It felt like it was calling him toward him.
He didn't delay for long and quickly ended his talks with her.
***Somewhere in Africa
"Be careful, U'saka. The times have changed. Those people from the outside world are witty and ungrateful. Do not trust anyone." The team leader of Wakanda border guards advised his new colleague.
"I understand, brother. I have not forgotten the day when our brothers were betrayed and that bastard ran away with the vibranium." U'saka looked ahead with resolution and followed his teammates as they did their daily patrol.
*boom*
Just then, a thunderous noise sounded in the sky. Everyone subconsciously crouched down and covered their heads.
"Look~" One of them pointed to the sky above. A humanoid was floating above them observing them.
"What is that?" U'saka couldn't stop the shiver in his tone as the figure slowly descended before them.
The group quickly reorganized themselves and sent a security alert to the headquarters.
The man landed a few meters ahead of them. He was wearing a helmet that covered his whole face except his eyes. The helmet had tiny wings on both sides.
Just when the team leader was about to question the man, the helmet on his face melted into his suit and a cape grew on his back instead.
The man was white just like the traitor that stole from their kingdom. U'saka wondered if the suit that this man was wearing was made up of that stolen Vibranium. Did he fly in the sky due to the help of this suit?
"My name is Kar-el. Your kingdom has something that belongs to me. Lead me to your king." Kar-el addressed the group of men before him.
"A meeting with the king, heh? Of course, your wish shall be granted. We will present you to our king.....in pieces." The leader scoffed at the audacity of the man in front of him.
"*sigh* Look, My mood is not at my best right now. I don't want to let my frustrations out on you guys so let your king decide if he wants to meet me or not instead of making decisions on your own." Kar-el could hear as well as see the incoming troops approaching them a few kilometers away.
"You have some guts, I will give you that. Do you think Wakanda is so easy to bully? I don't care where you learned about vibranium but it never belonged to any of you outsiders. " The border guards slowly surrounded Kar-el as their leader talked.
"I do have some interest in Vibranium. I won't deny that but I didn't come here for it today. I just need what belongs to me and I will leave your kingdom at its devices." Kar-el turned to look behind them as the reinforcements finally arrived.
"Do you think we will believe that? Your kind is despicable and untrustworthy. Every one of you is just after vibranium. Your words are nothing but lies. Everything in the kingdom belongs to the kingdom." The reinforcements quickly surrounded kar-el.
Approximately 80 people were stationed around him as the team leader informed his superior about what Kar-el said to him.
It was a woman with her hair in beads. She observed Kar-el carefully and noticed that he didn't appear to be afraid. His posture was displaying unprecedented calmness and his eyes showed a tiny bit of frustration. It unnerved her and made her cautious.
"You said your name is Kar-el." She walked up to him.
"Indeed, that's what I said." Kar-el nodded.
"Let's say for a second that your motive is not to acquire the precious metal of my motherland but something else that belongs to you. Can you describe what it looks like or what is it? What can it do?" Kar-el was still surrounded by a whole platoon and was the target of various kinds of weapons.
"I know neither what it looks like nor what it can do. The only thing I'm sure of is its destination and the sense that as soon as I see it, I will recognize it." Kar-el laughed mockingly at the absurdity of his logic.
"It appears that you also realize how absurd your words sound. Why do you think we should not just kill you and be done with it?" The woman glanced at her brothers and sisters surrounding them.
"Because you are not capable of that." Kar-el didn't even glance around him since she approached him.
"Do you think this piece of armor that you are wearing can protect you from all of us?" The woman raised an eyebrow at the blatant insult.
"I think you are misunderstanding something. The only use of this suit is to protect my nudity in even extreme conditions as well as provide protection from unrequired surveillance."
"I do not require help from some tech to protect myself from you if I want to. But for your peace of mind, I am okay with surrendering if it will make you feel more secure to present me in front of your king." Kar-el presented his hands to her in a non-threatening posture.
They both stare into each other's eyes for a few moments before the woman raised her left hand and two guards quickly came forward and tied up Kar-el's whole body.
Kar-el let them do as they pleased before following them as they led him to the king's council.
"Don't even think of trying anything fishy." The commander told Kar-el as they got into a vehicle.
"Do you not have faith in your technology?" Kar-el observed the rope that was binding him whole and the discs attached to his body.
"Impressive. An anti-potential energy barrier and this rope... does it utilize energy absorption to bind its target? You people sure live up to your reputation." Kar-el casually remarked while trying to break down the method that they used to make these devices in his mind.
"Outer world is not as advanced as Wakanda, Where did you learn this knowledge?" The driver casually asked and the commander silently focused her attention on the reply.
"The planet as a whole is indeed far behind in terms of technological advancements if compared to you guys but I wouldn't be surprised if it starts to grow at an unprecedented rate in a decade or so. The only advantage you will have by then would be vibranium if you didn't give up your attitude of considering yourself the best." They passed the barrier that camouflaged the whole kingdom from the outside world.
"If the outside world is still so far behind, where did you get your knowledge from?" The commander asked.
"When did I say that I belong to this planet?" Kar-el smiled mischievously.
***At the council hall
( I'm a Kryptonian.....) The whole council was silently listening to the broadcast from the arriving vehicle.
"Baba, do you really think he is an alien?" The Little Princess couldn't help but ask her father.
King T'chaka looked at his son with a grim expression and T'challa nodded. He bowed down to his sister's height and convinced her to come with him to play. They both left the throne room once T'challa promised to give her some sweets.
"My king, what are your thoughts?" The River Tribe elder asked once both royal children left the hall.
"We cannot deny the possibility since we indeed do have something that belongs to someone else outside of this planet." King T'chaka frowned.
The council members looked at each other before one of them said," Do you mean that scythe, my king?"
"Indeed." T'chakka nodded.
The council member responsible for research couldn't help but say," We can't allow that. That is a priceless treasure trove. Just by trying to decipher its writings, we have advanced more than we did in several decades in every aspect of science."
Many of the members nodded.
"I know how precious that thing is. Do not worry about that just now. First, we need to find out if the scythe indeed belongs to him. As we all know, he didn't know what he's looking for. That seems a bit suspicious if he owned the object."
"What if he is indeed the owner?" One of the council members asked back hesitantly.
"Since when does ownership start mattering? We are rightful owners of Vibranium and yet it didn't stop people from trying to steal it from us. Even if he owned the scythe once, if he doesn't have enough strength, we will not return it." T'chaka smiled confidently and other members of the council became satisfied.
******†*****†*****†****†*****†*****†*****
I finally got time to write this chapter down since today was Sunday. I still have two-three chapters prepared in mind, I just need some time to write them down.
By the way, I was bored so I wrote a riddle poem too.
"It is I, you know why,
Looking at the sky,
It is once again springtime,
Like that day in time,
Why did you catch me like a fly?
I wish to know it since that very time,
Are you happy now that you won,
That little game of chase and fly?
You seemed so happy that you have
caught me while I struggle to survive.
Now, look at you so satisfied.
Guess who am I?"
Tell me in the comments who it is.
Have a nice day, hope to see you all soon.
Edited and proofread by: Mootje