Bound in cuffs and gagged, Shuri could do little but watch as her captors led her toward a clearing.
Her eyes widened the moment she spotted the Quinjet resting on the flat stretch of ground. Those were top-of-the-line military prototypes.
Wakanda's air defenses should have detected something like that instantly.
"No dawdling."
She grunted when the butt of a rifle pressed into her side. Reluctantly, she moved forward as they guided her into the center of the clearing.
Several more men in tactical gear filled the clearing. What surprised her even more, however, were the dozen Wakandans gathered nearby. Some were sitting, others moving crates.
Were they more fakes?
Or was Wakanda truly being betrayed by its own people?
Shuri hated that she couldn't tell which.
To make matters worse, the clearing was filled with crates she recognized. Several were marked containers of mined vibranium that should have been aboard the maglev train that exploded.
At least she could take some solace in knowing she had been right.
"Sit here."
One of the faceless soldiers in black shoved her onto a crate. He turned to the man in the black mask. "If she attempts to escape, you're permitted to break her legs. Leave the head and arms intact."
With that, the armed men dispersed, moving around the landing site to continue their work.
Fake S'yan gave her a small smile. "Please don't resist, Princess. It will only make things worse for you."
Disgust churned in her stomach at the sight of the imposter, but she merely nodded.
Shuri forced herself to remain still while taking in as much information as possible. Her arms and legs were thoroughly bound. Escaping by force, especially without any of her tools, would be impossible. A small wave of regret crept in as she remembered how little attention she had paid to her combat and espionage lessons.
Still, there was no time for regrets.
She had been captured roughly twenty minutes away from the city. The jungle at the edges of Birnin Zana was dense enough that even if her brother sent people out the moment the call ended, it would likely take an hour before they could find her.
Running wasn't an option.
So Shuri did what she did best.
She analyzed.
Crates scraped across the ground as men rushed to load equipment into the jet. The frantic pace told her she had little chance of delaying them long enough to be rescued. She needed to leave something behind—something that could help T'Challa track her.
But what?
Her gaze swept across the clearing. The soldiers in black kept their distance from her. Her fellow Wakandans moved the vibranium crates nearby. She noticed several communicators clipped to belts—standard equipment for the Border Tribe.
If she could pilfer one, she might be able to modify it into a tracker or beacon….
A splotch of blond swayed slightly among the trees.
It took everything in Shuri's power not to snap her head in that direction. She kept her face carefully blank.
Instead, she slowly let her eyes drift upward toward the treeline.
Hidden beneath thick vegetation along the upper branches, she spotted three figures observing the camp.
Foreigners.
How the hell were all these people getting into Wakanda!?
Still, they might be her only hope.
Shuri frowned as she noticed a pair of soldiers and another one of her countrymen approaching the edge of the clearing. The figures in the trees were still there—barely visible through the leaves.
She could only pray they were on her side.
Bast give her strength…
Even with the gag in her mouth, she screamed as loudly as she could manage. She waved her bound wrists and slammed the cuffs against the crates, banging them as hard as possible. The sharp clatter cut through the clearing.
For a brief moment, every soldier and Wakandan in the area looked up at the sudden commotion.
She needed to—
A fist slammed into her stomach.
Iron fingers grabbed her head and forced her face into the dirt. The air rushed out of her lungs as pain exploded through her gut, and the world tilted sideways.
"Careful! We need her whole, you idiot!"
The blow left her head spinning. Groggy and barely able to think, Shuri was hauled back upright. Her eyes drifted toward the treeline where she had last seen the foreigners.
Only empty branches stared back.
Had she gambled on nothing?
"Xor! Goddammit, what are you doing?" Fake S'yan shouted.
Shuri slowly turned her head.
If she hadn't been in so much pain, she might have gasped.
Standing at the edge of the clearing was a reptilian figure with green skin and sharp ears.
"Sorry, sir! The noise sort of—"
The creature's body rippled.
Its skin shifted and folded as the reptilian features melted away, reshaping into the form of a Wakandan man. He finished the transformation with a sheepish look.
What the…?
"Amateurs," Fake S'yan scoffed before turning to her captor. "Just load her onto the Quinjet. Best we not take any chances with her."
Shuri couldn't resist as she was dragged away again. She was tossed roughly inside the aircraft and dumped near the back, close to the crates of vibranium and far from the passenger seats.
Her cuffs were tightened before another restraint was looped around the massive vibranium crates.
The metal-armed soldier left her there alone.
"Damn it…"
All that pain for almost nothing.
Although… seeing a lizard person definitely hadn't been on the expected results list.
A faint creak echoed in front of her.
Shuri prepared to glare at the next guard.
Instead, her eyes widened.
One of the crate lids slowly lifted. A blonde girl and a man peered out from inside. The man raised a finger to his lips in a silent gesture.
She let out a small sigh of relief.
It hadn't been in vain after all.
—
It felt like forever, but Illyana and I stayed silent until we finally heard the whir of engines as the jet lifted off.
The crate Anna had slipped us into after copying the Skrull had been chosen in a hurry. Luckily, with the limited time they had, Hydra and the Skrulls hadn't bothered to do a proper inventory check.
Illyana glanced down at her hand. The small ball of light from the spell she'd set up with Anna flickered twice.
She leaned closer and whispered, "She's in position."
"One second." I nodded.
[Feat Achieved! Stowaway]
[+1 Bronze Gacha Ticket]
I ripped the ticket.
[Nimble]
|Common Trait|
You are pretty nimble, granting you slightly faster reflexes and speed.
I twitched as a strange sensation ran through my body. A bit redundant but I'd never complain about being faster.
"Blessing." A faint glow washed over me as power surged through my body. I raised a finger toward Illyana.
"Three… two… one—"
My fist smashed through the crate lid, the metal shooting into the air with sharp boom that echoed through the Quinjet.
I was out of the box in a second, shoes already pounding across the metal floor. Illyana slipped out behind me and moved straight toward Shuri as planned.
Heavy footsteps echoed out.
Several soldiers garbed in black had already raised their guns at me.
My body moved before the triggers even finished being pulled. With my traits and skills stacking on top of each other, my speed had crossed the line into superhuman.
With Blessing on top?
My feet almost flew across the ground.
Before the first trigger was even pulled, I was already there.
My lightsaber ignited with a sharp hiss.
Light flashed through the narrow space of the jet as I moved through it. Arms, rifles, and stunned soldiers dropped to the floor in rapid succession. The Hydra operatives barely had time to react before they were cut down.
Bodies collapsed across the metal floor as the cargo bay fell silent again.
A few more figures scrambled at the far end of the bay.
Shaped into Wakanda men, but I knew they were Skrulls.
They pulled pistols and tried to aim, firing wildly as they backed away. Maybe they weren't trained field agents, because their shots were terrible.
I flicked the lightsaber off.
The next bullet passed inches from my head as I tilted back, letting it whistle through empty air.
Inside this cramped space, I was king.
The first Skrull barely had time to react before my fist smashed into his jaw. The blow cracked across the cargo hold, sending him spinning sideways into a stack of crates.
The second fired again.
I ducked under the shot and surged forward, my leg whipping out in a brutal kick that slammed into his stomach. The impact lifted him off his feet before he crashed against the wall of the jet.
The last Skrull tried to rush me.
I barely looked at him.
My backhand caught him across the face and dropped him instantly.
The three of them groaned on the floor, dazed but alive.
I left them that way on purpose.
Proof for Wakanda, and maybe Anna could read their memories later.
I felt my instincts twitch and jumped back just in time. Several bullets slammed into the metal floor where my feet had been a heartbeat earlier.
My eyes snapped to the right.
A familiar metal arm slid out from beneath one of the seats. The intimidating form of the black-masked, metal-armed soldier followed a moment later, pistol already trained on me.
The Winter Soldier.
For all his terrifying skill and reputation, I wasn't the same man I'd been the last time we met.
Instead of fear, I raised an eyebrow. "Did they really have you lying under the seats just to save space?"
He responded by shooting at me
Protection From Arrows flared faintly as my body flowed through the narrow space of the Quinjet, weaving between the shots. The cramped jet left him little room to reposition, and with my boosted speed, the gap between us vanished almost instantly.
My fist shot toward his face.
Credit where credit was due—despite the massive difference in speed, his metal arm snapped up in time to block. My fist rang against steel as he redirected the strike with practiced precision.
Even with all my gains, he was still the better martial artist.
But skill only went so far when the physical gap was this wide.
While his arm stopped my punch, my leg lashed out at the same time. My kick slammed into his knee with a heavy crack, forcing his stance to buckle.
The metal arm came down like a hammer toward my shoulder while his organic hand went for a knife at his belt. I slipped sideways before the strike could land and drove my elbow into his ribs. The blow forced the air out of him and staggered him back into a row of seats.
He recovered fast.
Still not fast enough.
I closed the distance again before he could fully recover. His knife flashed out in a brutal upward slash, but I caught his wrist mid-motion and twisted. The blade clattered across the floor.
His metal arm swung again.
I ducked under it and drove a punch into his jaw, then another into his stomach, before he could stabilize. The strikes came too quickly for him to properly counter.
Another kick hammered into his leg, sending him crashing into the side of the cargo bay as the fight tilted decisively in my favor.
I ignited my lightsaber and stepped toward him as he struggled to stand. My blade flashed down and cleaved straight through his prosthetic arm.
His leg snapped upward toward my stomach in a desperate counter. I caught the kick before it could land, gripping his leg and forcing it aside as I surged forward.
I threw a rush of punches.
Fast enough to make the Joestars proud.
My fists hammered into him in a relentless barrage—stomach, ribs, arms, legs. Blow after blow landed before he could properly react. The Winter Soldier might have been superhuman, but even his body couldn't endure this forever.
The flurry ended with one last strike to the jaw that snapped his head sideways.
After the sudden rush of fists, the cargo bay finally fell quiet.
I let out a breath and looked down at him.
"Sorry about this, Bucky."
The Winter Soldier simply groaned.
[Feat Achieved! Revenge Match]
[+1 Gold Gacha Ticket]
"Whoa…"
Illyana stared at me with wide, fascinated eyes. Shuri, behind her, didn't look much different.
I grinned and gave Illyana a thumbs-up before nodding at Shuri. "Thank you for the assist back then, Your Highness."
Shuri slowly shook her head, her gaze wary as it flicked between the unconscious Skrulls and me.
"Of course…" she said carefully.
I couldn't blame her. This entire situation had to be freaking weird from her perspective.
I grabbed a set of cuffs from one of the fallen Hydra agents and began binding the survivors. I made especially sure Bucky was restrained in every possible way before moving on.
After securing everyone, we headed toward the cockpit.
A few more Hydra soldiers were already lying unconscious near the controls.
Anna stood beside the pilot seat, back in her original body with a faint green tint still lingering on her skin.
"Nice job," she raised her hand.
I obliged, slapping it with a high five.
"I didn't even get to help that much," Illyana muttered.
"Next time." I reached over and ruffled her hair even as she grumbled before looking toward Anna. "Can you fly us out of here without any issues?"
Anna nodded. "I copied some of the pilot's skills earlier. I can manage."
Behind us, Shuri spoke quietly.
"May I ask… what's going to happen to me?"
I turned back toward her and shrugged slightly. "Honestly? You're free to go once we land. We kinda just ended up stuck in Wakanda. We didn't have any part in this despite how absurd that may sound."
Before she could respond, Anna suddenly stiffened in the pilot seat.
Her hands moved across the controls as she glanced at the radar
She listened to something over the comms, then swore under her breath. "Brace!"
The Quinjet jolted as the distant thunder of gunfire echoed through the sky.
Beams streaked past the cockpit windows.
Anna jerked the controls, the jet swerving as another volley flashed by.
Shuri stepped forward, eyes widening as she recognized the sleek silhouettes approaching through the clouds.
"Those are Wakandan ships!" she said quickly. "Wait—stop! They're allies!"
She leaned toward the communication panel, trying to speak.
"This is Princess Shuri of Wakanda! Cease fi—"
The reply came in the form of another barrage of shots tearing across the sky.
***
Comments and Thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Likes are like a drug to me and boost my creative juices.
I have advanced chapters on my Pa tre on/daisyberry if you wanna read ahead.