Black Panther: Rise of the Princess (COMPLETE)

Chapter 23: Peter

Was that my best evac plan ever? Probably not, but it was quick, and barely anyone was nearby. A couple people came to check up on me, but Shuri's voice in my ear warned me: "That's them, and the ones checking on Peter are armed as well. I hope you have a plan, brother."

"You aren't going to like it. Just be ready," he responded, and since I didn't know what his plan was, I assumed for the moment that I wasn't a part of it. I decided to play unconscious.

The dumpster had broken into parts, and it wasn't difficult to hide under the garbage. The men trying to 'help' me tried to pick through it, although anyone could tell that they weren't trying very hard. I heard the cock of guns a ways off, though, and pretty soon, shots were being fired. Not bullets, though. It sounded like energy blasts.

I couldn't see, but the grunts of the attackers were a pretty clear sign that T'Challa and Okoye were on top of the situation. The men who had tried to get to me pulled out guns of their own, but they never landed a shot.

It wasn't long before the commotion outside stopped, and I all I could hear were sirens off in the distance. I didn't feel like being questioned by Swedish police, so I climbed out of the dumpster mess and tried to figure out what had gone down.

A few burn marks on the road and buildings, probably from the energy guns. Twelve men were on the ground, some dead and some out. The King and the General were nowhere to be seen.

"Shuri, which way?" I asked.

Behind you, down the street," she answered, and I took off away from the way I had come. A few seconds later, more shots were fired off, but I also noticed more civilians trying to run away. HYDRA didn't seem as concerned with their safety as we were, but that was no surprise. I helped pull a few people to their feet as I went, wanting to help while maintaining distance.

Shuri piped up on the line. "Multiple squadrons are coming your way. They're trapping you on the street, T'Challa. Unless you want to fight them all off, you might want to use that plan of yours."

I turned the corner, towards the most chaos I could find, but I had to duck inside a shop in order to avoid seeming involved. T'Challa and Okoye were taking on the soldiers that were on the street, but if more were coming, this was defiantly going to go south.

"Brother?" Shuri asked again. "Peter, can you see them?"

I nodded. "They're neck deep in HYDRA soldiers. Give them time, they'll respond. Just let them get some breathing room."

Most of the other civilians hiding in the shop were ducking behind tables and counters, but I was the only one watching the show. I pulled my phone out to look a little more naive, and started recording for good measure. It worked. Multiple people behind me started whisper-yelling at me, probably to duck for cover, but I didn't understand Dutch, so I didn't do anything. I did think that I heard someone mutter "Americans," thought.

One of he shots from the fight missed Okoye and raced towards the shop windows. I ducked down to avoid the glass shower, and was the only one who didn't scream out of fear.

Shuri spoke again, sounded more agitated and tense than before. "He's still not responding, Peter, neither of them are. Are you sure he's okay?"

"You can see them, can't you?"

"Peter!"

"They're fine, Shuri, it's just-" I froze mid-sentence. "He's got company. Those squads just got here."

"He should be out of there by now!" She shouted, nearly blowing out my eardrum. "T'Challa! Okoye! Get out of the street!"

They didn't seem to hear her pleading with them, and she started murmuring to herself, probably frantically trying to find an alternate solution.

...they didn't seem to hear her.

............I mean it was a plan, I just wasn't sure how well it was going to go for them. It was risky, really risky.

Shuri must have come to the same conclusion. "NO!!! Peter, can you get them out of there?!"

"Not without giving away who I am, Shuri. He gave his orders."

"Forget his orders, they're going to kill him!"

"Maybe not, this is his plan for a reason."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"Then help them! Please!!!"

"I've got to trust him, Shuri. If he wanted to change it, he would have told us."

To be honest, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach when I realized that they were trying to be kidnapped. Part of what had happened in Germany, though, was I had to follow someone else's lead. I hadn't always liked it, especially when we left Mr. Barnes at the base, but it turned out to be the best option, and everyone had made it work. Whoever was leading the mission, I had to trust them. Right now, that was T'Challa.

It was a drastic difference from vigilante fighting, but it had worked back then. The Avengers were a team, and part of what I would have to do was learn to fight in one.

Shuri didn't seem to have the same perspective. "They have taken off their communication devices, both of them!"

"Think, Shuri," I urged her. "What does he have? What are you seeing from the ship?"

"Everything, but I can't do anything about it!"

"Are they getting into vehicles?"

She paused, then answered, "The vans. That's our ticket in."

Oh, yeah. I hadn't gotten that far yet. "You can track the vans, right?"

"Even better, I can track T'Challa. And once I find him, I'm going to kill him."

I didn't blame her.