Black Panther: Rise of the Princess (COMPLETE)

Chapter 27: Peter

I'm going to be entirely honest: I had the easy job.

Just last week, I had hacked into HYDRA's main system with Tony. That was with a run down computer and just my suit, and now I had one of the most technologically advanced ships on the planet to help. This was going to be a piece of cake.

It wouldn't have taken as long if I didn't peer over to see what Shuri was doing every ten seconds. I always loved watching a genius work. It didn't really matter who, although most of the time it was Tony. When people work in their element, the outside world doesn't exist for them, just the problem at hand, and the tools they are using to solve it. I have no idea what I look like when I'm working, but Shuri looks like nothing is out of her control. Her face is set in steel, or maybe vibranium. Probably vibranium.

The way she was talking, though, it didn't sound like she felt in control. I didn't blame her, not in the slightest. Her brother and her friend, probably, were both being held captive by the same terrorist group that had bombed her country. It was plenty of pressure to be dealing with. All of the doubt left her eyes when she got her hands busy, though.

Well, of course it did. Now that she was fighting them with her mind, she could control the outcome of the situation, or at least affect it. If she did her best work, then it would be enough to stop more people from getting hurt, and keep things in control. If that wasn't enough...this time it would be. I was sure of it.

I turned back to my job, which was nearly done at this point. It was hard not to get distracted. I finished the last few lines of code and tried to stay focused on my job, not hers. The script was complete, and I stepped back to look it all over again, to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

Shuri would make a good Avenger.

As soon as the thought entered my head, I froze, wondering if she had somehow heard it. She was still working, so I assumed that she hadn't read my mind, but it was so sudden that it startled me. This happened often. Not the Avenger part, but the random thoughts dropping by with no warning. Most of the time, they were either helpful miracles, or rabbit trails. I was beginning to think this one was a miracle.

It was true, the more I thought about it. Not just for her resources, but the fact that she could take control of a situation and counter it, if need be. I hadn't seen her fight yet, but if she was a Black Panther now, then she could probably help take down HYDRA just like her brother. If I could get her in the battle field, I could see if I was right.

Was this why Nick sent me to Wakanda? Not necessarily to help them, but to find a recruit for the second generation of Avengers? I know he wanted me to lead, but I wasn't expecting to start it up this fast. We didn't necessarily need them yet. There was no world-threatening force to stop right now, just a persisting nuisance. HYDRA, I meant HYDRA. We should probably focus on that first. HYDRA now, Avengers later.

Still, though, we already had about half of a team. Me, Raven, and now Shuri, if we made it out of this alive. I wonder what other heroes are out there...

"Come take a look at this," Shuri said suddenly, jerking me out of my daydream. I walked behind her to see what she what she had been doing. A live camera feed was streaming on the main screen, and a complementary audio visualizer was flowing underneath. The camera was bobbing up and down, just barely, as a GoPro on a steady walker might. The range of view was wide, but low on the floor. A mouse cam, maybe?

"Our mini-Panther has been walking for a minute now, and no one has noticed it yet," she explained, preparing to turn a corner soon.

I smirked. It probably looked really cute, like a tiny cat prowling. Could I get one just for fun? "How many people have passed it?"

"Eight. No acknowledgement whatsoever," she reported. "As soon as we find a plugin, you're up."

"Can you scan for infrared radiation?" I asked, completely rhetorical.

Shuri snorted. "Can a panther take down a monkey?" I assume the answer was 'yes', because a separate feed popped up beside the first, this time glowing in the primary colors.

I pointed at the walls in the frame. "Focus on these and the ceiling. The plugins for their network will be in hiding spots, normally in locked rooms or whatnot. You should be able to see power lines leading to our jackpot."

She nodded and started following the heat signatures that looked important. I triple-checked my codes and got ready to break through whatever firewalls might be waiting for us in HYDRA's system. Everything that HYDRA had been trying to hide was about to fall right into our hands. Well, my hands, Shuri's paws.

"I've found one," she alerted me. "Are you ready?"

"Always," I replied, and within seconds, HYDRA's system lay waiting. I copied and pasted the code into the submission box and hit send, and waited for the code to crack the firewall. That was just step one.

The last time I had done this, hacking HYDRA was a two step process. After cracking through the firewall, you also had to gain access to the network manually. The firewall just prevented outsiders from logging in, but you had to do that too to see their dirty work. I already had the second code written, and as soon as the firewall fell, I sent the login script. It got us in easily.

"What am I looking for?" I asked Shuri, and she started preparing the file transfer.

"Prisoners, blueprints, maps, projects, resources, anything that we might be able to analyze and use," she listed. "Make sure you don't delete the files, though. If they realize what we are doing, they make T'Challa and Okoye pay the price."

I nodded, opening the first tab that I saw. Thankfully, the Wakandan ship was translating the text on the screen into English, so I didn't have to guess what the German system was saying. I copied the files to Shuri's screen, and she began downloading everything we could. For the next ten minutes, we had access to every dirty little secret HYDRA had to offer. After I was sure that we had everything we might need, I went back to the code submission and started one last script.

Shuri saw what I was doing. "Is something wrong?"

Shaking my head, I allowed myself a small smile. "A little virus won't get the others in trouble, but it won't make HYDRA's day any easier either." I sent the code and backed out of the system. "Hopefully, it can buy us some time."

The Princess laughed, for the first time since the parade had been bombed. "Good. Anything to slow them down."