Black Panther: Rise of the Princess (COMPLETE)

Chapter 35: Peter

"You've got to be kidding right now. Seriously?"

Raven didn't bother to answer me. "Eight minutes ago, these planes took off from different locations, all of them. Their flight pattern is heading your direction."

"What are the eleven locations?" Shuri asked, continuing her search for the spy at the same time.

It took a minute, but Raven listed them off: "American states California and Maine, Tokyo, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Victoria in Canada, Rabat in Morocco, Antananarivo in Madagascar, New Delhi in India, Moscow in Russia, Wellington in New Zealand, and Budapest in Hungary."

I had no idea where half of those places were, but Shuri must have, because she screamed and slammed her fist into the counter, denting it again. "We should have thought of that sooner!"

"Do you know those places?" I asked incredulously, before making the connection. She was about to respond, but I beat her to it. "Stockholm isn't your only outreach center, is it?"

"No," she responded. "Of course HYDRA would have thought to infiltrate every center. When D'Arku gets here, I am going to tear him apart."

I wanted to laugh, but figured I probably shouldn't. Raven covered for me. "Save it, because the closest ships are hours away. They're moving fast than normal aircraft, but given the circumstances, I can't say that I'm surprised."

"Is there anything about those ships that might help us?" Shuri asked desperately, still rummaging through footage.

"I can't guarantee it will like it, but it may help. I'm sending a file to the phone, Peter."

Quickly, I grabbed a cord and hooked it up to the lab projectors. A map appeared on the screen, with eleven red dots showing on it. Probably the eleven ships.

"Eight minutes ago, when the ships took flight, none of them were heading for Wakanda," Raven explained. "Their courses all pointed to somewhere south of Stockholm, Sweden." Arrows appeared, all starting from the dots and pointing towards Europe.

"SHIELD began preparing to intercept them there, but the flight paths have changed. All of the courses deferred themselves further south, moving towards Africa." The arrows mimicked Raven's words. "The ships appear to be approaching a moving target, which looks like it might be aircraft as well." A blue dot appeared on the map, moving towards Wakanda. The map rewound the animation, but this time, the blue dot moved as well. Raven was right, HYDRA was tracking something.

Or someone.

I started pacing and mumbling words that not even I really understood. The spy was in the ships bringing home the supplies from Stockholm. HYDRA had made soldiers out of vibranium. The outreach centers were supplying HYDRA, all of them.

Behind me, Shuri said something very loudly in Wakandan, that I was not entirely sure I wanted to know the meaning of. I turned around to see what she had found, which happened to be the moment Steve's brain was stolen. A frame was frozen on the screen, and I happened to recognize the culprit.

"Well that explains a lot," I mumbled, staring at D'Arku's face on screen. "Bet he's the one HYDRA is tracking too. He's on the ships coming here."

Shuri started working, almost panicking. "The ships will be here in about 80 minutes, since they are carrying so much cargo with them. If D'Arku gets through the barrier, he can open it for HYDRA."

Our situation had gone from bad to worse in the space of about three minutes, but Raven still wasn't done with the bad news. "Your Highness, SHIELD is preparing to confront the ships and interfere. If King T'Challa does not want that to happen, he needs to alert SHIELD in the next ten minutes, before Director Fury has fighters in the air."

"With all due respect, Agent, that is the least of my problems right now," Shuri told her. "I'll keep it in mind."

"Good luck," Raven said, understanding what she meant. "It sounds like you'll need it."

The call ended, and I grabbed Shuri's arm, trying to get my thoughts straight. "Shuri, if HYDRA is coming here, you need to lock down, or evacuate. Something."

I was trying to help, but the added stress didn't do her any good. "I have to call T'Challa, he could be on the ship with D'Arku right now. I'm not going to let him die."

"I can warn your brother," I told her, "but the palace is only going to listen to you. They won't care what an American has to say."

Her fists clenched, but she submitted and handed me her bracelet. She activated the communications in the lab, and started convincing the other tribal leaders to cooperate.

After a few tries, I found the right bead to call and connected with T'Challa. As soon as he saw that it was me and not Shuri, though, concern washed over his face.

"Mr. Parker, where is the Princess?" He asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Calling the palace, your Majesty," I assured him. "Are you alone?"

"Wait," he told me, and I guess he moved to a different area in the ship.

It took a minute, but I heard a door seal, and he returned his attention to me. "What has happened?"

"D'Arku is the HYDRA spy," I repeated, trying to remember everything I needed to tell him. "Eleven ships are on their way right now, because they're tracking him. We think, anyways. And Shuri, she's getting the people safe, because if they get here, and he gets in, HYDRA can get in. You've gotta findout whereheis, because thatstheship that they're tracking, and wedontknow whichone." I really need to stop rushing when I get stressed.

Thankfully, the King tracked with where I was going, and he double checked to make sure no one was listening. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "We found security footage of him stealing Captain America's brain after the Infinity War. He's the one who's been coordinating with HYDRA, and none of the outreach centers have noticed because he's in charge of them."

"D'Arku..." he muttered, his expression darkening. "I am on the ship with him. Tell Shuri that our ship will not be crossing through the barrier. She can track it from her lab."

"Yeah, yeah, but....Argh! There was something else!" I tried to think, but I was processing to much information.

T'Challa was probably so confused, but he tried to help. "About D'Arku, or HYDRA?"

"No, no, it was..." why are words not working right now? "SHIELD! Fury's sending ships to stop the ships! You gotta call him off, if you don't want them to get involved!"

The King nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Peter."

The call ended, and I ran my fingers through my hair.

What the hell was about to happen?