A Twist Of Marvel || Infinity War

68. Disturbing

The Wakandan jet arrived just as the sun rose over the facility. With the sky illuminated, the gathered heroes could look up and see a dark spot in the sky, slowly growing larger. Thanos's ship was incoming, and could not be ignored by team Cap, or any of the heroes. Somehow, Wanda and Vision had been convinced into joining the fight, arriving along with the Wakandans. Vision, however, lacked the stone in his forehead, and a small, red gem remained where it once had been. According to the princess Shuri, Vision's procedure had gone well, and Wanda had been able to destroy the Mind Stone, leaving its ashes scattered in the forest. Steve thought that the destruction of one of the stones would automatically prevent Thanos's victory, but Tony mumbled something about time, and dismissed the super soldier.

"Our ship does not have the same technology that my lab contains." Shuri spoke to Tony, the pair speed walking toward the facility. The other heroes hesitantly followed, throwing glances at the ominous dot in the sky as they went. "I will need access to your facilities, Mister Iron Man." She finished, ending on a note of sarcasm. The young woman's sense of humor should have stood out in contrast to the dire situation, however it did not seem forced, or even out of place in her youthful voice.

Tony appreciated the small joke, and allowed a tired laugh to escape his lips. "You know, you remind me of someone Princess." He smiled, crossing over the facility threshold and rounding the corner toward his lab. Shuri kept pace, and her spirits seemed to lift in response to Tony's comment. She appreciated the more light-hearted tone that the man was willingly to take on.

"I hope it is someone good." She smirked, crossing her arms. Tony nodded quietly, a small smile lingering on his face. However his features slowly fell, as if a painful memory was dawning upon him.

"Yeah. But she's far away." He sighed, and in that moment the casual banter dissipated. Shuri fell silent, surprised, and saddened by his shift in mood. her arms fell to her sides, and promptly clasped behind her back.

"I would like to meet this person one day, then." She offered, speaking softly. Her voice fell into a maturity that one so young should not have. A huff of air fell from Tony's lips, and he forced himself to cut the melancholy act. He didn't want to depress the smartest person in the world.

"I'll make sure you will." Tony nodded, his voice firm. Beside him, Shuri nodded and her features shifted to share his look of determination.

Walking behind the pair of geniuses, T'Challa maintained an air of grave formality. To his right was Okoye, who shared his disposition, and to his left strode Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson. The group was silent as they wound through the facility hallways, having already cleared any necessary introductions. Silence, however, was not the Falcon's forte.

"So I think Tony just adopted your sister." Sam commented, his face and voice both deceptively serious. The others started slightly at his abrupt comment, everyone tightly wound in anticipation of battle. Steve blanched at his teammate's informal speech, and nudged him in the side and shot him a look. Remember that you're talking to a king, he conveyed silently. Sam rolled his eyes, and was rewarded with a small, appreciative grunt from T'Challa.

"Shuri can take care of herself. But perhaps you are right." The king spoke, his manner edging the line between formal and casual without crossing into other section. His eyes remained dead ahead, but if Sam strained his eyes, he thought he could see the edges of T'Challa's lips perking up.

"'Course I'm right." Sam nodded, playing up to the king's somber attitude. "So did you bring your cat suit?" He asked. Steve physically winced, and shoved Sam's shoulder in an attempt to get him to shut up. But Sam quickly shoved him away, still waiting for a reaction from the king. Giving up, Steve fell a few steps behind to escape the situation before Sam ended up offending royalty and starting a war. As he trailed back, Steve caught the eyes of Okoye. She turned her head around for a moment to send him a questioning look that was nothing short of scathing, before turning her attention back to her king. Steve felt intimidated, and forgot about Thanos for a second.

"If you are referring to the Black Panther suit that hails from Wakandan tradition, then yes, I brought it." T'Challa replied to Sam, one eye brow twitching up. His diplomatic image was wearing thin- Sam wasn't entirely sure if he was amusing or annoying the King, but he didn't care enough to shut up. "May I assume that you have also brought your necessary equipment?" Up ahead, Tony and Shuri turned into the lab, the rest of the group close behind. As T'Challa and Sam entered the room, the king finished his remark.

"You wear I believe, a Big Bird costume?"

Sam Wilson stilled in shock, mouth slightly agape as he grinned at the king of Wakanda, who continued walking into the lab with Okoye at his side. The warrior gave a look of tired disapproval at T'Challa, but Sam could swear that the cat-based hero was smiling. He would have continued after the man, but Sam was quickly towed away by Steve and the rest of his team.

The rest of the superheroes shuffled into the lab and broke up into groups, speaking in hushed tones as both Tony and Shuri darted around his equipment. The environment was quiet, but buzzed with activity until Bucky, who had been largely close-mouthed until that point, raised a question.

"How do we know this is Thanos?" He called out, after his inquiry had failed to have been answered by his team. The room fell deadly quiet for a second. Tony stopped in his tracks, and stared at the world war veteran as if he had forgotten he existed. Thankfully, Shuri stepped in to answer.

"Technically, we don't." She shrugged grimly. "But we," she nodded toward her brother, "were given a warning that Thanos would approach soon. It's logical that the ship is his."

"Wait, what?" Tony whipped around to her. "Who warned you? Was it Naomi?"

"No." Shuri frowned, clearly confused by Tony's response. "A man named Strange contacted us, I thought you knew. The message was sent from this location."

Tony's face grew troubled, and the heroes waited with bated breath for his response. Tony was the only one among them who had spent any large amount of time with the elusive sorcerer, and thus they had assumed that Stark trusted the man. But the revelation that Strange had sent a message to Wakanda without Tony's knowledge was nothing short of disturbing. Now was not the time for secrets.

"Where is Strange?" Tony asked suddenly, ignoring as Shuri darted off to respond to an alert on a screen. "Where the hell is he?" No one responded.

"He's almost here." Shuri shouted, her expression straining as she typed furiously on the screen. She seemed to be frustrated with its response time, even though it appeared instantaneous to the rest of the company. "The ship will land soon."

Everyone looked to Tony. He noticed this, and straightened his posture. Those positioned close to him heard a short sigh from the man.

"If you aren't already, get dressed. It's show time."