Loki: Winds of Winter

Chapter 21 - Earth is Aware

Tony Stark in New York was not the only person who was becoming aware of what was going on in Europe. There was another kingdom that was learning of what was happening...

Captain Steve Rogers walked into the throne room of Wakanda, and saw its king, T'Challa, sitting on the throne. On his right side, was his warrior captain, Okoye, and his mother, Dowager Queen Ramonda, and his sister, Princess Shuri. "You asked to see me?" Steve asked as he gave them a slight bow. 

"Yes. Shuri picked up an unknown energy pulse that has since caused many failures in power stations all over Europe. She also detected a spike of magic in the Swiss Alps that has since dropped to such a low level she is finding it difficult to trace," T'Challa answered.

"Power failures? You mean the lights are going out all over Europe? How is something like that possible?" Steve queried.

"We would think something like a large electro-magnetic pulse would take out those stations, but investigations have revealed that they're all frozen," Shuri responded, using one of her beads to pull up images of all the power stations, entrapped in layer after layer of ice.

"I know they have cooling systems to prevent overheating, but there's no way a malfunction of a cooling system could do that," Steve answered and Shuri nodded.

"It was a concentrated force that created that ice. We're trying to trace the source. That, and the magical energy that appeared in the Swiss Alps," Shuri said, showing a spike on a hologram. 

"What could have caused that? Wanda is with us," Steve said.

"I'm sure she's not the only witch on earth," Okoye commented and Steve nodded.

"We can't officially investigate because it is outside our jurisdiction. However, if you could take a few of your people and just scout it out. I would feel better if we knew what it was," T'Challa said.

"You worry too much about everything else that is not Wakanda," Ramonda said and T'Challa smiled.

"I worry because a good king will care about all peoples, regardless of where they are. Please, Captain Rogers, take your team and find out what is going on. You can take Barnes too, if you want. He woke himself up a few days ago, and Shuri decided that we should attach his new, and improved vibranium arm," T'Challa said.

"He's got a new arm?" Steve asked.

"Yes, and the calibrations are working perfectly. It's stronger and better than his old HYDRA one," Shuri said the last part with disdain.

"Thank you, T'Challa," Steve said and the Black Panther smiled. Steve left the room, a feeling of elation spreading over him. 

Sam Wilson sat with Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, and Steve Rogers as their captain presented the details of world affairs to them. "Some magical mumbo jumbo is going on in Europe and King T'Challa wants us to investigate?" Wilson asked.

"You do know that if we know about it, Tony probably knows about it already, and is looking into it himself," Natasha pointed out. Bucky visibly winced at the mention of Tony and Steve gave him a soft smile.

"Yeah, I'm aware. We'll just have to work around him and figure out what's going on ourselves. He's not going to give us the answers, and I'd rather find out for myself, then see it on CNN," Steve responded. Natasha waved her hand dismissively. 

"I could ask Viz, and see if Tony is telling any of them what he finds," Wanda suggested and Steve nodded. When he and the others had discovered her relationship with the humanoid artificial intelligence, they had surprisingly been unmoved by it. 

'Whatever floats your boat,' had been Sam's word verbatim.

"Do that and see if you can glean any information from him. Get your things ready. Once Shuri has another signal we can trace, we're moving out," Steve said in his commanding officer tone of voice. Everyone but Bucky got up and left, and Steve looked at his friend. The former assassin was admiring the gleam off his vibranium prosthetic arm. "What are you thinking of so loudly, Buck?" Steve asked.

"Should I go back out there? Am I safe enough to venture out into the world?" Bucky asked out loud.

"Bucky, I know that Shuri is going to come up with a way to remove the trigger words from your brain, but now, your well enough to help people. You've got a new arm and you're calmer than you were before. You're as ready as you'll ever be," Steve told his friend. Bucky nodded and smiled, standing up.  

"Well then, guess I'm with you till the end of the line," he said confidently. Steve laughed and drew Bucky into an embrace. James Buchanan Barnes allowed his friend to wrap his arms around him and he returned it, but there was still a part of him that wondered if this was it. Was living in Wakanda, waiting for a pardon and staying friends with Steve the only things he had to look forward to? What was he really missing in his life? 

Ragna opened her eyes suddenly and glanced over her shoulders. Rhaenar turned and gave her a raised eyebrow look. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just a feeling," Ragna responded, but the 'feeling' she had did not go away, and was only getting stronger. It felt like something had been missing and she was only now becoming aware of it. But, what was she missing?

"Well, hopefully your 'feeling' won't get in the way of us searching this internet hub that was recently destroyed by the Wight Walkers as they searched for... something we don't know yet," Rhaenar countered, amused that his sister was distracted. Ragna scowled, knowing that was why her brother was smirking and decided to brush it off. Instead, she followed him inside, but all the while mindful of the hairs standing up on the back of her neck.