Let Us Work Together - Part 2

OOC - Joint Post between Esimed, GrayGladiator & Blitzen)

“I wonder, Prince, if you’ve ever heard of the Infinity Stones. I’d be surprised if you had. Their existence was not widely known before and fortunately for us, more a secret now than ever. There were five stones; gems really, of such awesome, unstoppable power, that when combined in a tool or weapon would become indescribably powerful. The wielder would hold universes in their hand, becoming a master of space and time, or a destructive force capable of destroying entire galaxies with the snap of her or his fingers. My father, Dr Strange, was in possession of the Time stone. He used it to visit the future my mother so dreaded. He saw with his own eyes that she spoke truly and that the threat of Thanos was real. There were many plans my parents explored, attempts to prevent an outcome they could not escape. I don’t know what all they attempted, it was not well documented. My father was a meticulous man, but my mother was much more spontaneous. He likely spent most of his energies containing her ever increasing wild streak as she thought further and further outside the box. What she decided on was an unbreachable concealment spell and it worked so well those involved disappeared entirely. Not just the Avengers either, mutants the world over went Poof. I suspect she reached out beyond this planet, she must have, for the threat of Thanos was quelled. She saved our lives and those of billions more, but at the cost of her own and those who would fight against Thanos. She also erased the Infinity Stones from the Earth. No mutants, no Infinity Stones, no Avengers, no Thanos. Fast forward fifteen years and the world no longer appreciates what she did for them. The world no longer appreciates that threats continue to exist despite her best efforts, efforts they condemned her for. There are very few of us children remaining, but we must seek each other out to form a unified front. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out, there will be children who won’t join our cause, who wish to pursue their own agendas or take no action at all. These are dangerous variables to leave in play. So here we are all these years later and that spell my mother cast is not quite what it once was. There are places, physical locations on this Earth, where the spell will weaken and when that happens we must be ready. We don’t know what will come through that tear in the veil first. I’ve seen many things emerge, but the order is hard to determine. Visions of the future are not like memories of the past. The part of your brain that recalls events is well exercised and utilized every moment of your life. The part of my brain that sees these future events is in need of much training. Training that I cannot currently undergo because there are more pressing needs. Logistical needs.”

“Tell him about the dough, Miskja Brat.” Niko prompted while tapping a foot impatiently.

“Right. My mother’s spell is still very much in force and it will likely never fail completely. But like a dough that has been stretched thin in places, the heaviest force can poke through to the other side. With magic we must worry about power, not weight. And the Infinity Stones are the most powerful relics ever known to exist. They will emerge from the veil first. At least I hope and suspect. It’s critical that we have a functioning team in place to deal with that. You do NOT want those stones falling into the wrong hands. And at this point in time, I’m prepared to say every hand is the wrong hand. But someone has to collect them, protect them, possibly use them. Thanos himself will probably come through next. I’ve never met the asshole, but he won’t be pleasant. If the Avengers couldn’t handle him, what hope have we, right? Good question. Your answer is as good as mine. The part of all this that helps me sleep at night; after the stones and Thanos, the next most likely emergence would be our parents themselves. It’s an exciting prospect, but I’ll reign you in. We wouldn’t see many of them, probably only those magically attuned to such things and even then, only those with a mind capable of protecting itself from the spell. My mother, that is, Scarlet Witch, has a history of barricading sections of her mind against other realities, whether they be the true reality that the rest of us share or a false reality that she’s imposed on the rest of us.”

Niko was visibly impatient, but inwardly uncomfortable with the notion of any fault at the hands of Theo’s mother. “Maybe we don’t tell that part of story,” He offered.

“The point is, my mother isn’t entirely sane so the spell she cast had unpredictable effects. They may be dead, they may be hidden from our reality, they may never have existed. There’s no guarantee they’ll return or in what order, but if anything at all comes through that veil, it means anything at all could come through the veil, and as much as I’d like to see my mother and Uncle Pietro…. I’d rather they stay gone if it also meant the Infinity Stones stayed hidden. We aren’t prepared for the doom their emergence would spell out for us.”

“There is a facility upstate.” Niko finished. “A compound where some of our parents trained, where they learned to work together as a team. That’s where we’d like to begin.”

Theo was certainly highly informed about things T'Chantem didn't focus on for a majority of his life. Even after his parents vanished when he was only seven years of age, his training and studies failed to yield. Instead, he felt that his country's drive to prepare him only grew, especially with the absence of a ruling monarchy and the Black Panther. T'Chantem mostly sat in silence, taking in the information Theo shared, some of which sounded familiar, and some of which he never learned detailed information about. His own childhood contained learning how to be a warrior, a king, a Wakandan even, and the time to utilize those skills only became more apparent as he grew older. There was much to consider in Theo's proposal, but by the time she finished, T'Chantem was sure of at least one thing; he was willing to help her and Nikolai for now. "Well then, let's begin," T'Chantem offered in response to Niko's add-on to Theo's monologue. “I assume you have at least an idea of who you want to recruit?” T’Chantem asked, “Let’s start there, who’s currently on-board, and who should we begin to contact?”

Birdy came in with a tray, his eyebrow raised at Theo. She nodded encouragingly and tea service began. “This is Bob Dylan Wong. He is the new caretaker of this house and my domestic sidekick.”

“According to the book I found in the library I’m your manservant.” BD Wong pushed the tray closer to Prince T’Chantem as if to say, feel free to serve yourself.

“Birdy, you think you could maybe serve the Prince his tea?” Theo was nodding her head towards T’Chantem.

“The Prince is a very down to earth man, am I right Prince?” But Birdy did pour a glass of tea and hand it to T’Chantem.

“I don’t think a woman can have a manservant, Birdy. You can be my Handmaid. Can’t you just help me pick out clothes and make my hair awesome….sorry Niko.” Theo turned back to T’Chantem and laid her hands in her lap. “My cousin and I are on board. I’ve been prohibited from inviting Terry Crews to participate even though he has the body of a god. Where’s Thor when you need him? The son of Captain America lives in Manhattan, or did when we checked last. We’ll start with him. His mother has connections to SHIELD and we’ll want to avoid her. I’m not prepared to have SHIELD meddling in my affairs. Not relationship affairs, I’m not that kind of woman. Unless Mindingo Montoya is married, then I’d consider it.” Niko threw a pillow at her and she focused again on the Prince’s question. “We came across a plucky webslinger and Niko still owes her an apology when he returns her mask, but we think she’s just a child. We could use your help finding out more about her. I may be able to pay her a visit, speak with her mother and explain that saving the world is a job for all ages. Pepper Stark has been a hard one to get a read on; she could go either way. We need to speak with her to see if Tony has any robot tech that may be of use, but I fear without his brilliant mind behind them, they may be little more than tinmen. Their daughter may be of some help, but Pepper has done a good job shielding her from our radar and concealing information. I do not think she wants her daughter involved in this fight. If you decide to join our cause all the way, I can get you a full list of possible recruits. I’m sure there are others I’m not aware of, but it’s a place to start.”

Out of all the things the Maximoffs managed to keep secret from the public in the midst of their interviews, T’Chantem could say that based on the time he had spent at their home talking with them, the Maximoff cousins had personalities as authentic as they came. They felt almost unpredictable in a predictable sort of way: an expect the unexpected, and T’Chantem wasn’t sure how he personally felt about that yet. “I believe we may have met the same courageous web-slinger you speak of. Would you mind showing me her mask?” T’Chantem questioned. He was attempting to confirm his hypothesis that the blue and red figure from the news articles that had been pictured with the Maximoffs was the same web-slinging teenager he had met in the alleyway.

Niko didn’t need to look at Theo to wonder if she was still angry about the mask, the Sanctum knew which meant Niko would be taking the long way - through the dining room - up the stairs, the second set of stairs to a door that lead nowhere, back down to find the hall closet was pretty much where he started. Though the whole process took less than the blink of an eye, he found it frustrating none-the-less. At least if they could obtain the training facility upstate, they’d be out of the blasted Sanctum. Upon returning, he gave a cursory glance to Theo, and sighed, handing the red and blue mask over to the Prince.

“She lost it in the East River.” He explained. “But I did jump in to save her.”

T’Chantem briefly studied the mask Niko handed to him before giving it back. “Is she the same person you two met in Central Park? Phantom-like, translucent, even?” he asked. By this point he was fairly certain that they were talking about the same person and if Theo wanted help in figuring out who she was, he was able to offer aid in the ways he could. “I can help you find out who she is,” he stated, thinking about the scientists back in Wakanda. He wouldn’t be surprised if his cousin had already picked apart who the mysterious ghost-spider-girl was with the videos and images they had collected. Pulling up his sleeve, T’Chantem unveiled the kimoyo bead bracelet on his wrist before tapping one of the black beads with his other hand. In fluid motions he signed a series of words in an unrecognizable sign language, which allowed him to send a message to his cousin. It was followed moments later with a holographic image of Gwendolyn May Parker being projected before him, complete with a profile of basic information about her.

“Apparently this is her, Gwendolyn Parker, she’s a minor, only fifteen years old,” T’Chantem informed them. It felt odd looking up a profile on what was essentially a little girl, but they were technically on superhero team business and the Scarlet Spider was the first mystery they needed to unravel.

“Look at that, Niko!" Theo pointed at the hologram. “Damn, the Prince has magic too." She waved her fingers through the projection then pulled them back. “It doesn't feel like magic..." Niko pulled her hand away from the image, just in case.

“Now we have an address; you can return the mask and I can speak with her parental units. Thank you, Prince. That's a nifty trick you did with your beads.” Theo stood up dropped the pillow onto the seat.

“You’re welcome,” T’Chantem responded before rising from his seat. “I think this is where our meeting should be adjourned. If I may offer a suggestion? Try not to make national news again; I take it that some people aren’t as comfortable or confident as the two of you and would be easily intimidated away from your idea the moment they made a headline,” T’Chantem advised. He then proceeded to make his way to the door before stopping to once again address the Maximoff cousins before he exited. “I thank you for extending an invitation to your home. We should definitely meet again once I'm more free," T'Chantem expressed before looking over to Birdy. "It was also a pleasure to meet you Bob Dylan Wong," he said before twisting the doorknob and shutting the door behind him. He wasn't too concerned with leaving any personal information for the Maximoffs to contact him with, as he was more than sure that if need be, they could find a way to contact one another.

His two bodyguards awaited him at the foot of the Sanctum's steps, falling into line as he walked passed them. Once he was seated in his car, one of the two finally began to speak. "We checked the building for security, it's almost as if it was a living being," she commented as their driver pulled down the road.