Chapter 67: True Friends (bonus)

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: True Friends (bonus)

After all the noise and excitement died down, the rooftop was a complete mess. Fortunately, they hadn’t organized the party themselves.

T’Challa had hired a professional event company, and the staff handled everything from start to finish.

What Daniel didn’t know was that even the girls at the party had been arranged by the company.

Night had fallen. For once, Tony and T’Challa were behaving themselves, as neither of them had invited anyone over afterward.

The four friends lay sprawled across lounge chairs on the rooftop balcony, staring up at the star filled sky. For a long time, nobody spoke.

Eventually, Daniel broke the silence.

"What are you guys planning to do in the future?"

The question came out of nowhere.

"Huh?"

T’Challa turned his head.

"Where did that come from?"

"Nowhere in particular."

Daniel looked up at the stars.

"Just feeling sentimental, I guess."

Then he suddenly sat up and pointed dramatically.

"Alright! Let’s talk about our dreams for the future!"

His tone sounded like a hot blooded anime protagonist giving a motivational speech.

"T’Challa, you’re first! Just get up and say your dreams!"

T’Challa rolled his eyes.

"My dreams?"

He thought for a moment.

"I don’t really have any."

"I only have responsibilities."

He folded his arms behind his head.

"When my father gets older, I’ll return to Wakanda and become king."

His voice became quieter.

"Honestly, I don’t want to be king."

"I’d rather be an ordinary person."

The others glanced at him. T’Challa rarely talked about these things.

"Being king sounds impressive."

He laughed bitterly.

"But it’s exhausting."

"You know, before I met you guys..."

His eyes drifted toward the stars.

"...I didn’t have any friends in Wakanda."

Everyone respected him, everyone admired him, but nobody looked at him like a normal person.

"From the moment I was born, my future was already decided."

"I would become the Black Panther. I would become the king."

"I would carry Wakanda’s future."

"I would carry my family’s honor."

He sighed. "Sounds great, doesn’t it? But it’s actually exhausting."

"There are always people behind you, pushing you forward."

"They expect you to run."

"So, you run and keep running and keep running."

"Until the day you die."

"Only then are you finally allowed to stop."

The rooftop fell silent, even Daniel stopped joking. T’Challa still continued.

"My marriage won’t even be my own choice."

"My future wife will probably be selected the same way my mother was."

He laughed self-mockingly.

"From the Dora Milaje, the royal guard. A group of women from the major tribes."

"And whoever bears a child first becomes the queen."

"It’s all politics, everything... just political alliances, political obligations and nothing more."

He turned his head towards his friends. His expression was unusually serious.

"So honestly, meeting you guys is probably going to be one of the best memories of my life."

The atmosphere immediately became much heavier, as nobody spoke for a while. Eventually, Tony broke the silence.

"You all know my situation."

His voice was calmer than usual.

"Eventually, I’m going to inherit Stark Industries."

He scoffed. "And honestly? I don’t want to."

Everyone looked at him. Tony stared at the night sky.

"That man."

"My father."

Howard Stark, the name alone carried weight.

"I don’t want to spend my entire life living under his shadow."

His voice hardened.

"I want to prove myself. I’m not inferior to him."

A spark appeared in his eyes.

"One day, I want people to look at us and say... Hey, isn’t that Tony Stark’s father, Howard?’"

Instead of, "’Hey, Tony, how’s your father Howard doing?’"

Tony clicked his tongue.

"I hate that."

"Everything has already been arranged for me."

"The path is already paved."

"Graduate, join the company and slowly take over his position."

"Everything..." His voice suddenly rose. "But why?"

"Why do I have to live according to his plan?"

The frustration he’d kept bottled up for years burst out.

"I’m not some puppet on strings!"

He sat upright.

"I’m Tony Stark!"

For a moment, nobody said anything, Tony looked towards Daniel.

"Don’t you think T’Challa and I have it rough?"

"We had our entire lives decided before we were even born."

Daniel stared at him. Then stared at T’Challa. Then pointed at both of them.

"You two are seriously the definition of suffering from success."

The two blinked.

Daniel sat up immediately.

"If becoming a king and inheriting a fortune worth hundreds of billions counts as misery, then please let me suffer too."

T’Challa and Tony looked offended.

Daniel ignored them.

"I’m the one who’s actually miserable!"

The words came out before he even realized it.

The other three looked at him in disbelief.

"You?"

Tony pointed at him.

"Yes, me!"

Daniel sat upright.

"You don’t understand."

His voice became surprisingly sincere.

"Even though I’m ridiculously powerful now..."

"...I’m empty."

The joking smile disappeared from his face.

"I genuinely don’t know what I’m supposed to do in the future."

At least Tony and T’Challa had paths ahead of them. What about him? What was his destination? What was his goal?

"If I wanted to, I could probably learn every piece of knowledge on Earth within a few days."

He paused.

"But then what?"

"No mysteries, no challenges, nothing left to discover."

He laughed softly.

"Honestly, I’m lonely."

The words surprised even him.

"I don’t even have an opponent. Every day I have to control my strength."

"Constantly, I’m afraid I’ll accidentally hurt someone."

"Do you know what it’s like to shake someone’s hand carefully because you’re worried you’ll crush it?"

Tony and T’Challa exchanged looks, Daniel still continued.

"I don’t even know how strong I am anymore. Every second of every day I’m holding back. I can’t get too excited; I can’t lose control."

"What if I stomp my foot too hard? Suddenly there’s a giant crater."

"I’m a nice person."

"If I accidentally hurt someone, I’d feel guilty for the rest of my life."

For a moment, nobody laughed, because they could tell Daniel meant every word.

Maybe Carol’s sudden disappearance had affected him more than he admitted or maybe he really was lost.

Wealth, fame, power, if he wanted any of those things, they were within easy reach. But were they enough?

Daniel thought about it carefully, they mattered, of course they mattered. But they weren’t necessities. What truly troubled him was something else.

He wanted to do something meaningful, something worth doing.

For the first time, Daniel felt like he understood superheroes and supervillains a little better.

Maybe some heroes truly were saints who sacrificed themselves for others. But Daniel suspected many of them started somewhere much simpler. Someone suddenly gains extraordinary power.

Then what? Hide forever? Of course not. People wanted to show what they could do, they wanted recognition, they wanted acknowledgement. A young person with incredible power wasn’t going to quietly sit in a corner forever.

’I’m this awesome. How can I not show off a little?’

Maybe some heroes eventually became genuine heroes. But their original motivations probably weren’t always as noble as history remembered.

At the very least, admiration from others was part of the appeal and if you did enough good deeds, eventually you’d start believing in them yourself.

The three men looked at one another, then, simultaneously spoke in unison.

"We’ve had it rough."

A second later, they burst out laughing.

"Maybe that’s why we’re friends."

T’Challa suddenly got a bottle of alcohol from somewhere. Nobody knew where he’d been hiding it, he even had glasses ready.

"For friendship!"

He raised his glass dramatically.

"Cheers!"

Watching the three of them sit there talking about how difficult their lives were, Susan felt exhausted.

Because from her perspective, they were absolutely bragging. She had originally planned to share her own dreams too.

Now she didn’t want to anymore, not at all. Did they really think she didn’t know how their friendship started?

She’d known them for two years. So, of course she knew. Leaving Daniel aside for a moment, the friendship between Tony and T’Challa had practically been forged through partying, nightclubs, and getting into trouble together.

And now they were sitting here talking about how tragic their lives were.

One was a future king.

One was the heir to a company worth hundreds of billions.

And the third one wasn’t even human anymore.

Susan suddenly realized something deeply depressing.

Out of everyone present, she was the only normal person.

She wasn’t a princess, her family wasn’t wealthy, and she couldn’t fly.

Susan felt genuinely heartbroken. She’d never thought about it before. The four of them always spent time together as equals. Nobody talked about status or backgrounds. But tonight, everything was laid bare.

’I’m the only ordinary person here!’

Susan screamed internally.

Meanwhile, the three men continued discussing how difficult and miserable their lives supposedly were. The more she listened, the more painful it became. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.

"I’m going to bed."

Susan stood up.

The three men looked over.

"What?"

Daniel blinked.

"Wait, Susan. You haven’t told us your dream yet."

Susan shot him a vicious glare. A glare powerful enough to make most people fear for their lives. Then she turned and walked away without another word.

She had made up her mind. She was going back to improve herself. She was going to work harder, and she was going to succeed one day

She refused to be the only ordinary person in this group.

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