Superman activated his super-vision and saw through the barrier: a dense network of Vibranium particles covered Wakanda's entire border, its energy density absurdly high.
His heat vision sent ripples across it but could not penetrate it.
Diana gripped the Lasso of Truth and flicked its tip forward. The golden rope touched the shield with a clear metallic hum, then bounced back.
She gathered the lasso into her hand and turned to Batman, unable to hide her astonishment:
"Batman, even you couldn't make something like this, could you?"
Batman's jaw tightened beneath his cowl. His voice was as heavy as iron hauled from the bottom of a well. "Not at present. An energy barrier on this scale would require technology and materials at least fifty years ahead of S.H.I.E.L.D."
He added, with a note he rarely let slip into his voice, "Even S.H.I.E.L.D. fifty years from now might not manage it. The gap in materials is too great."
He had studied the arrangement of those Vibranium particles for three full minutes without grasping even the basic principle.
It baffled him more than Yongye's Nanotech Armor.
Superman stood beside him, hands at his sides, his dark red cape stirring in the evening breeze. Complex emotions churned in his blue eyes.
"Wakanda has a defense system this powerful. Where were they when the Chitauri invaded? When the Kryptonians invaded?"
He paused, looking toward the distant mountain ridge. His voice dropped, newly edged with bitterness:
"If Wakanda had helped, how many fewer people would have died in Metropolis?"
No one answered him.
Diana hung the Lasso of Truth back at her waist. Her right hand curled into a fist, knuckles protruding.
Her voice was quiet, but she could not contain her anger. "Wars and disasters across the world, two alien invasions—and Wakanda never lifted