"Boom! Bang...Bang Bang!!... T'Challa! This is the people's judgement upon you, you coward!"
"Erik! Stop it right now! You're going to destroy Wakanda!"
"You have already destroyed Wakanda, T'Challa! Such precious resource as Vibranium, in your hands, is a total waste. You have not used it to bring any real benefits to the people of Wakanda!"
A voice unfamiliar to Stark came from across, this man called Erik from the mouth of the Black Panther T'Challa seemed to be his clansman.
"...What the hell are you doing now? Calling those stupid Americans, continuing to betray our interests? You traitor of Wakanda! I will judge you in the name of the people here!"
"Stop it, Erik. I am the king of Wakanda, you can't...ugh..."
"Hey, T'Challa? T'Challa?!! What happened to you? Dammit! Stop it!!"
"Stupid American, only a coward like T'Challa would believe your nonsense. You can't command me. I will make you pay for this!"
"What are you trying to do? Hello? Hello?"
"Damn it..." Stark hung up the phone. He stretched a hand towards the sky, and a battlesuit flew down, fitting onto his body. Just as he was about to fly out the window, he seemed to remember something. He thought for a moment, pulled out his cell phone, and dialed Connors, saying, "Hey? Connors? You have to take over my shift. I have to go out for a bit. There are still two research projects that aren't finished, you better come over quickly, I'm in a hurry..."
Connors was still listening to Shiller tell the story of human relief efforts in the Andromeda Galaxy. Just when he was getting to the important part, Stark called, sounding very urgent. Connors asked in confusion, "What happened? What's the matter that got you so anxious?"
"A friend of mine has been kidnapped. And that group who kidnapped him may want to kill him. I have to go and save him!"
"Friend? Who?"
"T'Challa! You forgot? The black man who did experiments with us at the General Laboratory, King of Wakanda..."
"Oh, him!" Connors showed a sudden realization on his face and said, "He is a good man, why would he get kidnapped?"
"I've already said, he's the king of Wakanda, someone wants to usurp the throne!"
"Alright, I knew it was something like that, I'll head over right away, just wait for me."
Connors hung up the phone, explained the situation to the two others. Shiller frowned and asked, "Stark wouldn't be planning on flying over there himself in his Mecha, would he?"
"What else can he do? A private plane wouldn't be able to get to Africa any faster…" Connors frowned and said: "Even if he does fly over in his Mecha, it may take a while... Oh, right! There are mages, aren't there? I'll call Strange and ask him to send a mage over to open a door for Tony."
Shiller shook his head in disagreement. Connors thought his disapproval was directed at Stark's plan to save T'Challa, so he said a bit helplessly, "Fine, I know the situation in Africa is quite chaotic, with the leader changing frequently. If we saved every one of them, it would never end, but T'Challa is indeed a good man..."
"And he's a very competent scientist. The fact that Stark is treating this situation so seriously fully illustrates his abilities and character, right?"
"I'm not saying we shouldn't save him." Shiller shook his head and said, "I just wonder, why Stark would use such a low-efficiency method. Even if his Mecha flies fast, those kidnappers could still kill T'Challa in a few seconds, right?"
Connors furrowed his brows even tighter. Shiller said, "Make a call to Strange, but don't ask him to send a mage, ask him to contact the superiors of Wakanda directly."
"Superiors? Does Wakanda have any superiors?"
Two minutes later, in the office of the Holy Sanctuary, Strange, busy facing a trio of computer screens, scrambled to answer his phone, "Hello, I'm very busy right now. Whatever it is, we'll talk about it later..."
The light from the screen washed over Strange's face, strings of data reflected off his glasses, myriad phones lined up in front of him, occasionally ringing. The phone he held in his hand now was his personal phone.
"It's about a matter of life and death." Shiller's voice came from the other end of the line. Strange was not surprised and replied, "Well, I knew it was you. You wouldn't feel comfortable if you didn't give me trouble."
"Don't be like that, this is serious." Shiller switched to his other hand to hold the phone and explained, "You know about a country in Africa called Wakanda, right?"
"What do you mean? Do you take me for one of those mutants? Of course, I know how many countries there are in Africa, let alone one as famous as Wakanda!"
Strange's tone was harsh, he was just about to go crazy with busyness. Shiller didn't mind and simply said, "The king of Wakanda is T'Challa. He's a friend of Stark's. He's in danger and Stark is about to jump in his Mecha and save him."
"Then let him go, why do you need me?... Oh, are you trying to get me to open a portal for him again? Let me stress once again, mages are not humanoid portals, you can't…"
"If that were the case, it would be Stark himself calling you now. He's not mute, why would he not call and talk to you himself?"
"Then what do you want?"
"Check your phone book for a Demon God named Panther God. He's the deity worshipped in Wakanda. Make a deal with him, offer him a free quarterly membership, throw in some member gifts, ask him to do us a favor…"
Strange showed absolutely no surprise at Shiller's unusual line of thought. He only asked in a slightly perplexed manner, "Panther God? I've never heard of this name, could this be another obscure Demon God?"
"You wait..." Strange put down the phone. He stood up and clapped, attracting the attention of all the customer service staff. He said, "Now look up your directories. See if there's a Cosmic Sorcerer named 'Panther God' listed and find me his contact. I have business with him."
"Panther God?" The crowd below all began to chatter, some flipping through their directories, others consulting with their colleagues. After some time, no one stood up, and Strange said, "Looks like he really is a Demon God from some backwater place."
"Alright, please find a way to contact him. There is now a matter of life and death that needs his help."
Discussion from below got more heated. Everyone was exchanging information, trying to find this Demon God they hadn't heard of in their network of relationships.
Finally, a female mage stood up and said, "When I passed by Heliopolis, I remember seeing a lion. I don't know if it has anything to do with this Panther God…"
"Heli...what?"
"Oh, the Celestial Realm, have you heard of the African Deity System? There should be records of them in the Kamar-Taj. The Supreme Magician also borrowed their power once as they mainly deal with beastly and wild divine power, and a part of them majored in witchcraft."
"Well, if you can contact that lion, ask if it knows Panther God."
"I can contact it, but..." The female mage showed a troubled expression, which Strange seldom saw on the mages of Kamar-Taj. So he asked, "What's wrong? Any difficulties?"
"It's just …" The mage showed a bitter smile and said, "… that lion doesn't speak human language."