princessxwakanda

[princessxwakanda]

harlems-hero‌:

princessxwakanda‌:

Cornell’s first pass of the room, before making his way to the bar gave him pause.  What appeared to the first glance as a well put together young lady required a second look.  The  unfamiliarity of the drink in hand, the sheer impatience radiating from her face, and the weirdest looking mobile device in hand turned him to give a personal check up.  

“So.  I’m a spiritual man.  Meaning that I’m going to pray someone carded you, and that its a mighty fine fake.  Its also the end of the night, and a brother is tired.  So from one who knows to another?  Pour it out or leave it on the bar.  Liquor Control don’t need to test me on a Tuesday.”  

Originally posted by infinitymarvel

Shuri barely looks up from her phone, sighing deeply. She’s not going to argue this out for a girl who’s already more than drunk enough. Plant pot it is. One hand operating her phone, she upends the alcohol into the soil and sets the offending glass down on top.  “Not my drink, not my problem.” She shrugged. “Please, it’s the best fake in the country. Even the anti-fake mechanisms are perfectly undetectable.” That wasn’t what her talents were supposed to be directed to, but she was a teenager and it was fun. “I wouldn’t bother worrying about Liquor Control today or any other day.”

3:40 AM:  Harlem’s Paradise

[princessxwakanda]

theundeadspectro‌:

“…do you think I could hire a lawyer? Could they represent a ghost? Probably not. You would definitely win that lawsuit.” Hector took the teasing in good stride. “I’ll take your word for it though. I was never very good at science.”

“Well, you still have rights, as far as I’m concerned. If you can communicate with them, they can represent you.” Shuri smirked. “You still wouldn’t win against Wakandan lawyers, though, no matter how groundbreaking it was. It’s the best scientific theory I have so far. Hope you don’t mind being a guinea pig.”

[princessxwakanda]

onescientificmishap‌:

“Cool cool we  have a plan”  He nodded his head feeling a bit like an idiot.   Really not used to working with others so coming up with something rather than just rushing him made him feel more mature and like an adult.   Er, not that that he wasn’t an adult, but  like a more adult adult.  

“Alright follow to the door, I’ll count to three.  We bust in I grab the guys on the left while you nail the ones on the right.   We pull it off and then start working on getting those people out there.” Spidey rubbed his hands together and flipped down off the web-line.  

“Then look to see if we can find any more hostages.”  Backed to the door ready to get to work.  Unless of course Shuri found something else they needed to consider.

“Is having a plan alien to you?” Shuri snarks, as she pushes the chair back and steps over the unconscious guard. As they progress down the corridors, she continues to monitor the situation with the help of her mini-spiders. She’d designed them like that as a punchline, but finds herself growing oddly fond of the tiny spies.  “They’re adults, they can evacuate themselves once we’ve made the coast clear. Then it’s just a matter of systematically checking the rooms to see if they’re in league with anyone else.” She wasn’t a warrior, but had emergency procedures drilled into her by Okoye approximately a billion times. “We can’t assume everyone is a good guy.” She positioned herself by the right hand side of the door when they arrived. “Ready when you are.” Shuri mouthed, nodding to him. 

Stock Exchange - Hostages

[princessxwakanda]

Shuri had her widest, glowing smile on her face as she reached the apex of her presentation. The prototype wasn’t ready to hold anything precious yet. T’Challa in space was more likely to happen around Winter Solstice time. She’d had great fun making him think he was going to have to go up in that thing. Could almost see the cogs ticking in his brain to try and decline without casting aspersions on her tech abilities. Wakandan testing prototypes still outshone American finished crafts by leaps and bounds. She knew it. Was basking in the glory of a job well done. “I’ll take about 15 minutes of questions. Places to be, world-changing tech to invent.” A young man stood, stepping forward. “What’d Wakanda ever do for mutants, s’ what I want to know?” Shuri was unfazed, at first. Nakia had briefed her on this. Before she could open her mouth to reply, a Dora Milaje had descended from the stage to keep the questioner at a safe distance. Then. Then this guy just reached out and - froze her. Shattered her to pieces. One of Wakanda’s most elite warriors, felled in a second. That got through to Shuri. She stood, frozen on the spot, as if Killmonger was approaching her once more. Out of the corner of her eye, a blonde woman hurled a stiletto heel at the attacker, striking him in the head and causing him to blink and curse.  That split second was all Shuri needed. She tapped at her Kimoyo beads, expanding the panther gauntlets and firing a sonic blast at him. He clutched his ears, doubled over in pain. “Griot, ndifumane yonke inja eMfazwe kwindawo!” Shuri yelled into her earpiece, getting a reassuring affirmative response in a matter of seconds.

The three remaining Dora Milaje were not as repressed as traditional Western soldiers. They showed a fierce determination to avenge their fallen comrade and charged at the boy’s two allies who had stepped forward to join them. The ground began to shake, throwing the three women to the floor. The other mutant dissolved their spears to slag, the smug expression being wiped off his face when the nearest warrior used him to give an impromptu demonstration of indigenous East African wrestling. Shuri called out for assistance, in English this time. “I can’t hold him off like this forever! Get the people out!” @realmorsecode @atrxvido

[princessxwakanda]

harlems-hero‌:

If this was a Thursday night crowd, the weekend could wait.  “Last Call” in New Yorker terms wasn’t an option.  Bars and clubs stayed open until the lights came up, and breakfast sounded like a better idea than another round of shots.  But this establishment did believe in hours.  In organization.  Standards even.  

Plus, its proprietor was nursing a headache that started somewhere around an impromptu Loon set, and continued on through umpteen B.I.G tributes.  So while hands had to be shaken, and appearances kept, Cornell Stokes was, in a word, worn.  But there were still bars and bottles to count, cash drops to be counted and “re-sorted” and a variety of palms to be warmed before the night was over. 

This few minutes?  These were taken for him however.  A few bars of Ellington would do wonders to set his mind at ease and prepare for whatever else faced him.  Whether it wore designer and answered to “Councilwoman Dillard” or kept another set of less-familiar faces.  This was his time.  Well spent between himself and his 88-key Rhapsody.  

Jazmine had been adamant that they should have a class night out for months. They all needed to show Shuri their favourite bars around the city. She’d been stalling them on the matter, mostly waiting for the media attention surrounding her actions at the NYSE to die down. That, and she didn’t want them to feel like they had to buy her anything when there was such a power imbalance involved. All in all, she’d ended up remaining fairly sober - in order to keep an eye on paparazzi, or just nosey people holding their phones at suspicious angles. That didn’t mean the others had done the same. She wasn’t necessarily sure when the bars closed in the USA. Based on the body language of the bartender Jaz and Gabi were chatting at, she guessed the answer to that question was something like ‘half an hour ago’.  It could be someone else’s job to deal with that, because Shuri was currently holding onto the remnants of Naomi’s drink [and considering pouring it into a plant pot] while the other woman visited the bathroom. She tapped at her phone in frustration. Calling a diplomatic car was hardly conducive to her attempts at secrecy, but did Ubers really have to take 15 whole minutes? Ridiculous. Stark better hurry up and invent that alternate car Pepper had mentioned. Did she have to do everything for the whole world, really?

3:40 AM:  Harlem’s Paradise

[princessxwakanda]

rescue-49‌:

“I’m aware, yes. Tragically, I can’t offer much of a solution on a socially acceptable grounds. But socially society has opened a lot more and less homogenized than in the 1940s. Change is slow and frustrating. It’s a conscious learning effort that starts at home here.” Pepper knew that her struggles were a far cry from a lot of things. Traveling with Tony in her early days showed her the world and a lot of the horrors. Safety was a shoe salon to her, “But showing that two titans can make something better together. That’s a start. And maybe image consult for an entire content that doesn’t just lead to the fun ugly assumption that Africa as a whole is just the Lion King.” 

She had to chuckle. Pale jokes were funny, Tony often joked that she was his little ghost before smacking him lightly.  Then again, he was all to eager to be smothering her in sunscreen, but that was all together something else.  “They like thing the way they are. God knows, I think most of the Middle East hates the fact Tony’s been developing a car for the company that runs of something more ecological than oil and more efficient than electricity. Disrupt their little systems, that’s how change happens. ”

“There isn’t a shortcut to changing society overnight.” Not without harming people, anyway. Sending her weaponry out into the world would have been a radical change, for sure, but a horrific fate for anyone Killmonger decided he didn’t like. “Anyone who claims there is makes me suspicious. You’re tenacious, aren’t you?” Shuri grins. “He’s not on my level. That’s not an insult. I actually have a lot of respect for Stark. I’d like to see what we’d come up with. But on an informal level. Image is one of those things that can change overnight. And the continent’s did the second T’Challa stepped off that podium at the UN.”

Even if Wakanda wasn’t a member of the African Union, just having it in the geographical area had shifted the balance of power. The knowledge that they wouldn’t let other countries mess around in Africa on their watch. T’Challa had been fastidious about ensuring they all knew that, to the point of systematically outbidding them on their ‘investments’.  “It’s really fun to see them throw their toys out the pram. Especially because they can’t stop us anymore. They actually don’t mind change when it benefits them, but the minute that it doesn’t they start screaming and crying like babies. Babies in suits and ties.”

Space Races?

[princessxwakanda]

dontcallmebuggirl‌:

“None taken. My stepdad has said worse.” She beamed. “Being quiet all the time is boring.”

“Your stepdad said worse things about America? I need to up my game. Please, you think I stay quiet when I don’t have to? My lab isn’t always quiet. Depends what I’m testing and whether it’s YouTube-worthy.”

[princessxwakanda]

rescue-49‌:

,��Yup and I’m some how marrying the idiot genius who sneezes and gets into trouble,”Pepper looks up and sighs. At least Tony had evolved into a well meaning man compared to well the 90s,”Oh that I can relate to, when I first started working with Tony.  I didn’t always used to look this put together. The security the had tailing me even tried to engage and I made set up a dressing room for me. Watching them pale when I dropped my card. I’m pretty sure I’m the reason that an entire store was fired because they assumed I didn’t have the money. But again that was the 90s and entire lifetime ago…a lot more guns and blood money. Not exactly a proud part of my life.” There was guilt in her about the start of her career. So eager to please. So exhausted by Tony’s yo-yo-ing personality. So much weirdly somehow still acceptable sexism. Being Tony’s right hand when he was very much considered the Merchant of Death. Neither of them were proud of their past, but it didn’t deny that Pepper knew how to take apart most of the guns they used to manufacture. 

“I think I’ve come across her at least in passing,” Pepper mused. “It’s admirable pushing women into the tech industry period. Men get freaked out by women who know their stuff. Heaven forbid a woman of color, but the Western countries are well…. a tad bit archaic. I’ll admit I’m a little jealous the flight times consider I think I spend enough time on a plane that I can legally list the Stark Jet even with Tony’s tinkering that it’s legally my home.” 

Shuri pauses, trying to figure out the best way to word her response without having to sit through another Ambassadorial lecture.  “Congratulations on your engagement, but you know that’s not the same thing at all, right? I can’t just show off a credit card and make them stop being racist. Sure, it’s easier to be rich and black than poor and black. But you’ve still got white privilege. Rich white people society doesn’t just suddenly accept Wakandans because we have money. They still see us as infiltrators in their precious little bubble. And for what it’s worth, I’ve never got anyone fired either.” She had almost risked her weapons falling into the wrong hands, but that was because they’d been too trusting. Not because they’d ever have dreamed of selling them to the highest bidder.  “If you’d met Nakia, you’d remember her. They’re so archaic sometimes I think they might collapse if you left them out in the sunlight too long. Just as well some of them don’t really get much of it. My favourite thing is when the press accuses me of foreign interference in the economy and society. Pot, kettle, much?”

Space Races?

[princessxwakanda]

onescientificmishap‌:

*****

Peter took his hands out and bobbed up and down in a bow.   “Yes your majesty.  Of course  your majesty.”    The grin on his face as he played along with her.   

Ned cracking up next to him.  “We are going to have so much fun.  It’s going to be awesome.”

“Alright, I think I’ve had enough adulation for one day. Well, actually, no I haven’t, but T’Challa will hit the roof if people spread rumours that I’ve started a cult of personality.” She grins back. 

“Everything I do is awesome, so, yeah. Right, I’m going to grab some of those mini quiches before they disappear again.”

Christmas Party I Shuri

[princessxwakanda]

onescientificmishap‌:

******

Eyes narrowed under the mask he looked through the way people were moving as well as what they were wearing.   Body language could tell you quite a bit and he’d been in a few situations now where bad guys tried to take hostages.   “I see four from this angle.   Enough to hold the group and rotate someone out if they need to.    Two is a little shaky with a group this size.”

Now the question, could they deal with the bad guys and keep the hostages safe.   While not drawing too much attention to themselves.   “I can yank out two sets of weapons at a time.  Think you can cover me while I do that? “

Not that he had any doubts about what she could handle.  Between the two of them they could whip the bad guys into shape.    “Especially if we take them by surprise between my reflexes and your everything we should be able to take them no problem.”

Shuri takes a closer look at some of the people in the group, and on second thoughts, there are four of them. Two of them had looked more civilian in attire, from a distance, potentially to confuse first responders. Well, they clearly hadn’t banked on those responders being young geniuses rather than middle-aged cops. 

“Sounds like you’ve got experience in the field.” She shouldn’t find any of this fun, but it was another chance to learn from an expert. There were very few things that she hadn’t learned already, and the novelty of this knowledge hadn’t worn off yet. Perhaps she should do heroism more often.  “My everything includes sonic wave gauntlets. That’s the way these work. So, temporarily depriving them of their hearing should disorientate them enough to stop them shooting while you do your spider-thing.”

Stock Exchange - Hostages

[princessxwakanda]

dontcallmebuggirl‌:

“None taken. My stepdad has said worse.” She beamed. “Being quiet all the time is boring.”

“I could also say worse about Americans, but I’m being diplomatic. Oh, I know, but the number of people in this country who are only entertaining themselves when they speak is - well, it’s a lot.”

[princessxwakanda]

rescue-49‌:

“It’s still a deal I would happily take. I’m still allowed to be upset with how Hammer wiggled his way out of any legal troubles after the whole Stark Expo fiasco,” Her expression twitches at the uncomfortably long day that she didn’t expect to nearly die, make out with her former boss and have to actually show that she was capable of handling organizing chaos. “He knows better then to underestimate women. Keeping him on his toes is good for him. I wish we could do more help, but I know the optics of a white American company coming over to African nations and providing aid isn’t exactly ideal.  But I also want to believe we can do more than just open our checkbooks. if anything, I’m very much interested in your technology classes for young women.” 

“White men have an uncanny habit of getting out of trouble with the law.” Shuri rolled her eyes, sighing. “And then I get followed around by staff in American stores because Karen the manager thinks anyone who looks like me is planning to rob her.” She can’t help smirking slightly, recalling the faces of local politicians when Nakia had turned the tables on that particular stereotype.  “Nakia is the Head of the Wakandan Social Outreach Department - basically, our humanitarian arm. We do provide support for racial equality projects in the USA and Europe. It’s really funny to see the number of civil servants there that can’t quite handle an African woman paying them aid money and monitoring how they use it. Because they think that’s their job. The tech classes are part of that program. They’re designed to get more black and ethnic minority girls into STEM. Except I run them myself rather than outsourcing it. That’s why I split my time between here and Wakanda. Our flight times are faster than yours, so it’s not too difficult.”

Space Races?

[princessxwakanda]

onescientificmishap‌:

princessxwakanda‌:

Scuttling across the ceiling he kept  careful eye out.    Once she was safely inside he ducked inside the room and closed the door behind them.  While that might be a bad idea in some circumstances the cameras should warn them if someone came.  Plus spidey-sense could be helpful.   So adding keeping the door closed to avoid detection should be best.   Easy enough to snag the door on his finger-tips and pull it shut.

Attaching a line to the ceiling he descended upside-down until his head was even with hers.  “Sounds like a good plan empress.”   He had no problem with inverting the directions.   Far too used to doing this by now.   An almost instinctive shift in his head to translate it all. An 3D map spread out in his head as he tagged where the patrols were as they looked for the hostages.

“There wait,”  he jabbed a finger in the direction of one the monitors that was rotating through camera views.  “I think I saw some of the civilians there.”    Enough channels to keep track of that it helped to have more than  one set of  eyes. 

There are a lot of rooms in this building. Shuri taps away at the keyboard, quickly scanning through different images on the central monitor. They could be in here for some time. At least she had Peter for backup, now, if that guy decided to return to the land of the waking any time soon.  It wasn’t the best timing for it, but the scenario was too good to pass up. As he descended from the ceiling, she looked up briefly, joking “Stop! I coulda dropped my croissant!” Returning to look through the images, she stopped, turning her attention to the screen he’d been looking at and pressing a key to expand the view of a room that looked fuller than the others. “How many bad guys are we looking at? I think I can see a couple.”

Stock Exchange - Hostages

[princessxwakanda]

onescientificmishap‌:

“Right no no, of course you want to do your thing with your family.   Just if you have time.”   Ned continued to nod and beam a smile at Shuri.

Peter jerked a nod, putting his hands in his pockets with a grin.  “Yes oh empress of all that is science.”   He always had a blast in her labs.  A bit of fun teasing back and forth added to the fun.

“Oh, yes, I always forget your flights are slow. It takes me half as long as commercial flights to get to Wakanda and back. As I say, I will find some time in my diary.” Shuri grins at him. “Hey, show some respect for your empress, get those hands out your pockets!” She teases. “If you aren’t careful I’ll make you curtsey.”

Christmas Party I Shuri

[princessxwakanda]

rescue-49‌:

Animals had a way of humbling every human being. Usually by meaning you are their personal head scratcher or prime example of you’re my pillow. There was all the well practiced balance of shifting over to read the proposal. 

Her expression shuttered at dreaded dinner parties or industry events. Everything usually felt a million times worse with Justin Hammer in the room. “It’s a dick stroking competition. it’s my idea of a nightmare too. You can have at Musk, as long as I get to dibs on Justin Hammer if we’re talking about idiotic white men,” Pepper was keenly aware of the Wakanda isolationist policy that was only loosening as of late because of T’Challa’s reign and positioning with the Avengers. “It’s entirely fine. As I said before, I’m merely here to humor Tony. He’s very much excited when he sees a potential new playmate to play nerd with. It tends to be good for the world. I have no expectations on this even getting far with the isolationist stance.”

“Even though it isn’t the deal you were angling for, you do have a deal on who gets to take which tech bro down.” Shuri smiles wryly, continuing to browse the proposal. “It’s nice he’s excited. Although, my favourite’s when someone underestimates me and then I get to show them up. Especially if the press are around. I can see he’s done good things. And I wouldn’t say we’re totally isolationist. We just do most of our policy work in Africa. I’ve got a few projects running over here. Technology classes for young women. But you already knew that.”

Space Races?

[princessxwakanda]

rescue-49‌:

Pepper was faintly amused as she followed the princess into a sitting room. Sitting down on the suggested couch watching as the said cat took up invitation on Shuri’s shoulder ever so primly. “Well, even to a cat. You’re still just a human to them, we’re all just that I’d assume. Title means nothing” 

It certainly wasn’t the strangest meeting she had ever had. Those are all still very much belong to younger Tony Stark who still struggled with the definition of professional. Gently sliding over the proposal that the company had drafted, “It’s more like I am being the very good CEO and investigating in what is essentially a pissing match between him, Bezos and Musk. Or as I call it the three horse men of an apocalypse,” Pepper shakes her head,”I’m simply curious of what kinds of ventures would even come out of a mash up between the wunderkind of Wakanda and my charming CTO.” 

Shuri attempts to nod without dislodging Izzy, or worse, making her dig her claws in. “Exactly. T’Challa is one of her favourite napping spots. As far as she’s concerned, she’s the boss.”  She shifted her weight carefully, leaning forward to pick up the proposal and begin leafing through it. “No offence to Tony, but that level of white-tech-bro in one room sounds like my worst nightmare. So my role here is to avert the apocalypse? Because I can’t promise not to shoot Musk with my gauntlets. Wakanda’s very protective of our tech, you’ll understand, so cooperation with the West is usually...limited.”

Space Races?

[princessxwakanda]

onescientificmishap‌:

His head swiveled at the motion of the door opening.   With her head shake he leaned back, eyebrows raising under the mask.   Well fine then, he’d just go another direction.   He tilted his head listening hard and going a short way down the hall.   Then Spidey found exactly what he was looking for.  

“Hey guys why don’t you rest for a bit.”  He opened up the door to the bathroom and carried them both inside.   Gagged and bound they wouldn’t be getting loose for at least a couple of hours.    By then they would be done.  They couldn’t hurt anything in the bathroom.   Especially with opening up the stalls and putting each one on a toilet.  Easy enough to close from the inside and climb out the top, for him anyways.  “See you later guys.”

Climbing back  up the wall he scuttled along the ceiling.   Amazing how many people just didn’t look up.   He would use that advantage as long as he could.  

Spidey quickly headed back in Shuri’s direction.   He started memorizing the variation in his friend’s hear-beats.  Not a precise identification, but the sound of her tech accompanied,   He paused right behind her, ready to play back up as needed.

She was more than a little amused about his choice of storage spot for the guards. He’d really missed a trick in failing to make one of his characteristic quips about waste products or flushing them or - something. She dedicated her brainpower to things other than bad puns. Such as, sneaking down the hallway. She’d never done anything like this before. Not since Killmonger, but that involved directly offensive tactics. Back then, she’d thought if she never fought anyone again it would be too soon. Right now, she found it oddly enjoyable. Because she wasn’t in any danger this time. The pair of them could take these guys out, easily. Be heroes. Do this rescue. She crept along the hall, knowing he was watching her back, and stepped gingerly into the CCTV room. He must have sensed the movement, because he stood up to look, but she was on him with the gauntlet stun mode like a shot and sent him collapsing to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Stepping over him, she sat in the swivel chair herself.  “So, what we need now...is to go through the CCTV and see where the people are being held.”

Stock Exchange - Hostages