King T'Challa stood in place, grimacing beneath his mask as he was forced to watch his people drown beneath the hill he stood. Most of the buildings were completely covered in ocean water, only the tallest skyscrapers remained visible to the king. The tidal wave, however, had finally ceased, stopping right in front of the Wakandan king. Atop the now resting water was King Namor and his Atlantean army beside him.
Using wings on his feet, the King of Atlantis hovered forward before addressing King T'Challa with a regal, yet intimidating voice.
"King T'Challa. My name is King Namor of Atlantis. As you can see, my army has demonstrated but a fraction of what we are capable of. Your city, that city of gold... let that be an example of what will become of your nation if you do not hand over your weapons of mass destruction to the Atlantean people." His words, though convincing, weren't making any sense to the Wakandan king.
Precisely at this moment, Wakanda's army began appearing behind King T'Challa, marching in unison with their Vibranium spears before settling behind their king. Already, the army was cut short as at least one hundred soldiers were in the Golden City at the time of the attack.
"Weapons of mass destruction? What are you talking about?" T'Challa asked, clenching his fists. Sure, Wakanda had many weapons, but all of their weapons were for self-defense, not destruction.
"Don't act foolish with me, King. I received your threats. I will not allow you to conquer my nation, to enslave my people! My people would rather die than be your slaves!" Namor shouted passionately, truly believing the words coming from his mouth.
"I am afraid you are mistaken, Namor. I have said no such threats!" T'Challa shouted back at the Atlantean king.
Namor laughed due to how blasphemous that statement sounded to him. "Do you believe that I am an idiot? I saw you speaking with my own eyes from your throne. You sent the message to me personally and now you're afraid after witnessing what my people are capable of!? You are pathetic!"
T'Challa was baffled. He'd never heard of Namor, nor had he heard of the Atlanteans or the nation of Atlantis. Neither nation had heard of the other until that day, both being mirror images of each other and wanting to hide in plain sight from the world after seeing how vile humans could be. 'Doom...' T'Challa thought, realizing that the two nations were being manipulated into going to war with each other.
"You are being exploited and lied to, Namor. A man named Victor Von Doom, a sorcerer, is manipulating you into believing that my people were planning an attack on your nation. You have killed my people, but I will give you the chance to live my nation with your lives if you choose to see the truth." T'Challa, realizing exactly what was happening, didn't want to fight Namor or his army.
T'Challa had just lost thousands of his own people, and he was furious. If he could have things his way, he would rip Namor's heart out with his claws, but that was not the way and he knew this. If the two armies were to fight, it would result in more death. It would do nothing more than weaken the Wakandan army, allowing Doom to do what he wants.
"You have insulted my intelligence long enough! Sorcery? Do you think I would fall for such a make-believe concept? My people may have been cut off from the rest of the world, but we know the difference between reality and fiction!" Namor proclaimed, having never met any type of sorcerer in his country. For him, magic was nothing more than a fairytale. He was too naive and thick-skulled to even stop and consider that these were not lies. In fact, his weapon was itself enchanted by magic.
"If you do not believe my words... then so be it!" As those words left the Black Panther's mouth, he extended the claws from his suit, only having one last thing to say. "Uhlaselo!" He shouted before his army shouted behind him, charging toward the Atlantean army.
"Kill them!" Namor shouted, pointing his trident down toward the Wakandans before the two armies rushed toward each other, clashing on Wakandan soil.
Meanwhile, Wakandan horns blared, starting at the battlefield and signaling to those nearby that the battle had begun. The horns continued, communicating through many cities and sections of Wakanda, letting everyone know that the nation was officially at war.
Meanwhile, the Future Foundation tried desperately to find any survivors in the city, including their friend, Spider-Man.
The Human Torch was flying around the sunken city, picking anyone he could find with his hands unlit so as to not burn them. He was moving fast, keeping his eyes peeled in an attempt to find his friend, but to no avail.
Both the Invisible Woman and the Thing floated above the water using Sue's floating platforms, carrying as many people to safety as they could as they also kept an eye out for Eren. Sue was in desperation mode, almost as if she were a mother looking for her own son. "Eren!" She kept shouting, hoping to hear the boy respond to her words, but she received no response.
"Spider-Man!' Ben Grimm shouted next to her, hoping his much louder voice would get Eren to reveal himself, but he too failed.
Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, turned himself into a liferaft using his ability to mold his body into any shape. Despite it looking a bit horrifying, he had a few dozen people riding on top of him, safe from the sea beneath them. He said nothing, keeping an eye out for Eren and anyone else that needed help.
However, they were unaware that the hero had been rescued by someone else...
Eren Parker opened his eyes, causing the lenses on his Spider-Man mask to open as well, finding himself inside of a moist room surrounded by Wakandan people. "Uyavuka!" One of them said. The one speaking a young boy who was on his knees beside the hero, watching over him. He looked relieved and excited, likely thinking the boy was never going to wake up.
Spider-Man looked around, seeing that the room he was in was just a couple of floors above the water. However, the water levels were still rising. The hero leaned up, looking everyone in the eyes, seeing their hopeful glares at the boy. 'These people saved me...' He thought to himself. He looked over at the rising water levels, seeing that they didn't have much time.
Spider-Man stood up, coughing up water before removing the lower half of his mask to let it all out. Everyone looked on with worried expressions as the young boy attempted to recover. His body ached, he'd never pushed his body to its limits like that.
"Thank you." Spider-Man told them. "Is this everyone?" He asked them, getting a few blank expressions from the children who hadn't learned English yet.
"There's a mother and her child upstairs... she cannot stand." One of the older women said, pointing toward the stairs. Spider-Man began walking over, limping over toward the stairs to help the two injured Wakandans. Each step felt as if he were walking on shattered glass and his bones felt as brittle as drywall. "Follow me. I'll get us out." Spider-Man told them, walking past them and up the steps despite his body feeling as if his skin would fall off the bone.
Spider-Man and the individuals that saved him walked up the steps until they found themselves on the next floor, finding the woman and her child sitting at the top of the steps. The child was asleep, and the mother caressed his face, sitting on the ground with what was clearly a broken leg.
Spider-Man knelt down before looking around the hallway for anything he could use for her leg. He spotted a broomstick in the hallway, webbing it toward him before breaking it in half and using his webs to wrap it to the woman's leg to create a makeshift tourniquet. The woman winced, causing Spider-Man to stop and be a bit gentler. "I'm sorry..." He said quietly, hiding the drained look in his eyes behind his mask.
Once the tourniquet was finished, Spider-Man whispered, "Does it feel too tight?" The woman shook her head. "No. Thank you." She told him softly.
Spider-Man smiled softly beneath his mask. "Anytime." He said calmly before looking around for an escape plan. He noticed that there were a couple of buildings near him that had people in them as well, all being stranded.
The hero stood up, looking over at the next building over before breaking one of the windows and shooting a web at the building across the way from them, latching it onto the side of it. He repeated this multiple times until he created a pathway of webs. Knowing physics to such a high degree, he was able to create a bridge made of webs that were stable enough for anyone to walk on, though everyone behind him seemed hesitant.
Spider-Man walked over to the woman on the ground before speaking to her again. "I want to help you and your son if you trust me. I'll keep him safe." He told her, holding out both hands. The mother handed her son to him and Spider-Man began creating a sort of child-sized backpack made of webs on his back, attaching the child to himself.
Spider-Man picked up the woman and began carrying her in his arms toward his bridge made of webs. Before leaving the building, he stopped before looking back at everyone and nodding toward the bridge. "The water level is rising. My webs aren't as strong as Vibranium, but they're strong enough to hold a thousand men. I promise. Follow me, I'm going to need you guys to help me save everyone." Spider-Man began walking on the bridge with the woman in his arms and the child on his back, though the people were still hesitant.
It wasn't until he was about halfway across that people began trying the bridge for themselves. One by one, the Wakandans began walking behind the hero, finally trusting him with their lives.
Spider-Man repeated this process, creating bridges between buildings and instructing everyone to follow, making a pathway through the city and through the parts that were overlooked by the Future Foundation.
It took a long time and the water levels were so high that the entire city was nearly covered at that point, but Spider-Man saved everyone who had been left in the skyscrapers.
The Future Foundation were guiding people to safety themselves until they heard webs attach themselves to the piece of land they were on. They all turned around, seeing Spider-Man shooting webs from his wrists, creating one final bridge in front of him as hundreds of people were waiting behind him.
"Eren..." Sue whispered.
"The kid's alive!" Ben said, bringing a smile to his once solemn face.
"I knew you'd come back!" Johnny screamed to the hero, bringing a slight grin to Eren's face. Though it was hidden beneath his mask.
"I can't believe it..." Reed whispered, having already written Eren off and deducing that he only had about a one percent chance of surviving the tsunami. However, the young hero beat the odds.
Spider-Man continued to walk forward, limping with the woman in his hands and her son strapped to his back as his people followed behind him, singing a Wakandan song of mourning as they remembered those who weren't lucky enough to be saved.
Spider-Man couldn't save everyone and that fact nearly broke him. However, what kept him going were the words of that woman he saved during lizard attacks. "You can't save everyone. What matters is that you were here for me, my unborn child, and the countless others you have and will save."
He felt like a failure when he couldn't stop the wave, but he knew deep down that the only way for him to truly fail was to abandon his people.
Once everyone made it to safety, Spider-Man glanced over to see the battle happening in the distance, looking like nothing more than a couple of hundreds of specks. "I can't use Godspeed anymore, or at least, for the time being. I don't even know how far I'll go until I collapse... Sue can you form a protective barrier around everyone and maybe take them somewhere safe?" He asked the mother of the team. She nodded, doing just as he said.
"I think one of us should stay with her." Spider-Man said. "Just in case."
"I'll stay." Reed said, though he found it odd that Spider-Man took the reigns at that moment.
"Thank you, Reed." Spider-Man told him before looking over at Johnny and Ben.
"I guess you guys are with me. Johnny, you mind giving me a ride?" Spider-Man asked him.
"Yeah, you got it." Johnny said before he looked at Ben with a sort of dismissive expression. "Sorry, only one person per lift." He joked, grabbing Spider-Man by the arms before flying away toward the battle, leaving Ben behind. The Thing simply began running toward the battle at a surprisingly fast rate for his size, knowing he'd make it there only shortly after the two youngsters.
On the battlefield itself, an empty field somewhere away from any city, King T'Challa and King Namor were both engaging in hand-to-hand combat, both being equally matched due to both having trained when they were young princes. The clanging of T'Challa's claws meeting Namor's trident was louder than any of the weapons clashing around them as the two kings delivered an onslaught of attacks toward each other, almost all of which were blocked or deflected.
Not having to carry a weapon and being on his home turf, however, T'Challa was able to notice a slight advantage in the speed department. "You are sluggish, King Namor." He declared confidently, slashing at the Atlantean and overwhelming him with his speed.
All around them, the Wakandans and Atlanteans were dropping each other like flies and many of them were already dead on the ground due to their strength being so equal. Both kings knew that whoever would win their duel would turn the tides of the battle, rendering their nation victorious.
King Namor grew irritated by T'Challa's confidence, prompting the sea king to shout in anger. "I will not lose to you, Wakandan!" Namor yelled as he slammed his trident down at the Black Panther, though the Wakandan leader blocked the strike with ease using his claws.
"If this is all you have to offer, perhaps your people should start electing their next leader!" T'Challa once again spoke confidently as he held the trident in place as the forked tip pointed directly at his face.
"Enough!" Namor shouted before releasing a light beam from the tip of the trident, sending T'Challa flying backward.
Namor then lifted his trident in the air with a single hand, preparing himself to stab it into the ground. "Prepare yourself, King! Allow me to demonstrate the might of the Trident of Neptune!" With one swift motion, Namor used all of his strength to stab the golden trident toward the Earth, ready to use his power to create a tremor strong enough to make the entire nation shake.
ππ©πΈπͺπ±!
Just before it could hit the ground, a web grabbed the tip of the trident and yanked it from his hands. "What!?" Namor exclaimed, having never had his trident taken from him so easily in battle.
Black Panther was just as confused as he, both looking up to see the white and black-wearing Spider-Man, dangling by one arm from the Human Torch. In his free hand, the hero yanked Neptune's trident into his own hand using his webs before letting go of the Human Torch and flipping through the air. Johnny Storm kept flying, firing pyro beams down at the Atlantean army beneath him as Spider-Man landed beside T'Challa, using the trident to stabilize himself.
"Hey everyone." Spider-Man said, trying his best to hide his pain but his voice still sounded weak. The hero looked at the golden trident in his hand, mesmerized by its craftsmanship. It was made of a metal he'd never seen before, a modified Adamantium. "I thought it'd be a lot heavier."
Namor was dumbfounded. A mere child, an American one at that, took his nation's most prized possession from his hands and was now mocking it like some kind of toy.
"Sorry I'm late, T'Challa." Spider-Man apologized, lifting the trident up like the weapon it was.
"You came just in time. Let's end this." the Black Panther said back to the hero, prepared to take down Namor before he could cause any more damage to their nation.