Chapter Text
Earth, 2018 A.D.
The warning that it would hurt was such an understatement of the pain that if she had not screamed Shuri would have laughed. Instead she tried to contain her pain to just one scream as she felt her body reforming. Her mind, of course, wanted to know exactly how that was even possible, but the pain won out and she crumpled as soon as she rematerialized to the blaring of an unfamiliar alarm.
"I hate magic," Shuri muttered as she slowly tried moving first her fingers and then her limbs.
Granted, she wouldn't be alive right now without it, but after all of the times people thought what she did was magic, it was rather humbling to discover just how far outclassed she was when it came to the real deal.
She hated being outclassed.
"What the hell?" a male voice came from nearby. "FRIDAY, how did she get in here?"
"She materialized out of a flash of orange light, Colonel Rhodes."
That was not a human voice, Shuri realized as she pushed herself into a seated position with a wince. It was a very good imitation of it, but she could still hear the mechanical undertones.
"Colonel Rhodes?" Shuri said, glancing at the man who definitely resembled Iron Man's wingman. "War Machine? Of the Avengers?"
"Yeah, who are you?"
Shuri could vaguely recall someone mentioning War Machine among those fighting as well as something about Thor? Yes, she believed it had been the thunder god one of her guards had mentioned while she worked on Vision. She hadn't payed it too much attention, far too focused on the task at hand and the racing clock.
"Your Highness!" Okoye's voice exclaimed as the general rushed into the room. "You have been brought back!"
"I take it I am not the first?" Shuri inquired as more people entered the room even as the alarm abruptly stopped.
"No, there has been another, but only the one."
From the way the general touched her and the relief on her face, Shuri already knew the answer even before she asked. "My brother?"
"He did not make it," Okoye confirmed. "My Queen."
Oh God, no! Yes, she would absolutely love to upset the traditional order of things and the looks on the faces of half the council would almost be worth it, but hell no! She was not going to be queen. Not if she could help it.
"Queen?" Tony Stark questioned, his a voice she recognized from the videos of his lectures she had watched.
It had often been entertaining to see what Stark Industries was up to. And occasionally enlightening when they went somewhere she had not expected them to or invented something she had not thought of. Unfortunately all of the truly interesting stuff was not publicly available, like his Iron Man suits or the rumored AI he was said to have in his tower. Now that she would dearly love to get her hands on.
Perhaps that had been the voice she'd heard?
"Shuri is the younger sister of King T'Challa of Wakanda," Captain Rogers explained from where he stood. "With his death and her resurrection..."
Yeah, given both of those events she should be queen. Well, once she came of age at least, but it wasn't going to come to that. Not if she could help it.
"Was Loki the one to resurrect you too?" a blue skinned and cybernetically enhanced woman asked.
"Yes," Shuri confirmed, deciding everything else was irrelevant and could be discussed later. "He told me where Thanos is and gave me the final information I needed to get us there."
"Final information?" a red cloaked man asked. "I can get us wherever we need to go."
"Yeah, shaken and stirred," Stark muttered, earning himself a glare.
"No," Shuri interrupted. "You mean the Bifröst, yes?"
The cloaked man nodded once.
"Far too conspicuous and not conducive to a stealthy approach."
A pained laugh and Shuri turned to find Thor with a look of fond remembrance on his face. Inexplicably it made her think of T'Challa and her heart wretched as she thought of him dead, disintegrated as she'd been. To undo that alone she'd do whatever was necessary to make this right. If Loki could bring her back, then he could bring her big brother back too. And everyone else. They just had to ensure Thanos could not simply kill them all again with another snap of his fingers.
"A common complaint of Loki's," Thor said wistfully.
"And a smart one," Romanov agreed though seemingly with great reluctance. "We always knew of your arrivals on Earth because of it. If we are to catch Thanos unaware, we will not be able to use the Bifröst to get there."
"You mean to use the Bast," Okoye realized. "I did not think it capable of traveling at any great velocity."
"It isn't, not yet," Shuri said. "That was my next project, but Loki gave me the missing knowledge."
"You're talking about a spaceship, aren't you?" Stark questioned, eyes lighting up. "A vibranium spaceship."
"Yes, fully tested in space for all systems but a hyperdrive. That we'll need to create now."
"Did you hear that, Rhodey? I get to work on a spaceship with a princess queen!"
"God help us all," Colonel Rhodes mumbled.
"I can help too," a new voice said.
A quick glance showed the final alien she had been warned about. Even with the knowledge of who he was and what he was capable of, Shuri could not help that her first thought was of how adorable he looked. She shoved it aside though, not wishing to be like all of those men who had doubted her due to her gender and age.
"Rocket, right?" Shuri checked. "I was told your aid would be invaluable."
"You were?"
"Loki told me you were quite inventive and used to fixing ships."
"He put a disintegrating piece of junk back together long enough to rescue the rest of his team," the blue alien stated.
"Good times," Rocket agreed. "Though Quill's father did try to kill us and remake the whole galaxy in his image."
"Remake the whole galaxy?" Dr. Banner questioned.
"Yeah, he had these plant thingies dispersed on thousands of planets and once he connected with Quill's celestial half, he had enough power to make them grow. They were going to give him control over everything."
"Missouri, the Dairy Queen incident," Stark said, eyes wide.
"What makes you say that?" Romanov questioned.
"Because Quill said he was from Missouri. Odds are good that he and that strange alien event are connected."
"What is a celestial?" Dr. Banner asked.
"They are ancient beings of immense power and strength," Thor replied. "They lived long ago and were said to be immune to the ravages of time."
"Ego claimed to be millions of years old," Rocket said.
"Jesus," Dr. Banner breathed.
"It is said some of their kind once wielded the power of the Infinity Stones," Thor added.
"Of course they did," Stark muttered. "I don't suppose any trustworthy ones are still alive?"
"Nay, I had thought them all long dead, though rumors have always persisted of their continued existence."
Luckily for them they did not require a celestial, not if Loki was correct. Shuri knew the self proclaimed god couldn't necessarily be fully trusted, but he too had been dead and she knew enough of men of his nature to know she could trust his desire for vengeance.
"Dr. Banner, I believe your knowledge would also be most helpful," Shuri said, glancing at the man. "We need to get the Bast ready as quickly as possible."
"Of course, whatever I can do."
"Woah, wait, can we just slow down for a moment?" Captain Rogers asked. "What are you planning here?"
"I thought it would be obvious," Shuri replied. "We are going to complete the Bast so we can go to Rhea, where Thanos is."
"Yes, that was clear. But you just want to trust Loki and do what he says?"
"Oh, do you have a better plan?"
"Or a plan?" Stark snarked.
Shuri frowned. She was aware of the fallout between the two factions of the Avengers and, though no one had said anything, she knew Romanov's last minute change of side could not have helped. But surely now was not the time for this? Though given what T'Challa had said of how he had reacted after Father was killed... well if her brother could do that then she was not certain what learning Barnes had killed his parents might have done to Stark.
"Perhaps if I'd known of the spaceship we could have had one ready," Rogers replied, casting a glance at Okoye.
"At present it would take several decades to leave the solar system," Okoye replied calmly. "With that and our not knowing where Thanos was, I thought it irrelevant."
"Still, to trust Loki who has worked for Thanos before," Romanov said.
"Oh for!" Stark scowled. "We have talked of this, he was coerced into that!"
"Your Highness," Thor began. "What is my brother's plan? Did he say?"
"Not all of it, but he spoke of undoing what Thanos had wrecked," Shuri explained.
"How?"
"He did not say."
"The Infinity Stones, it has to be," Rocket said. "They caused this, so they can probably undo it."
"So we're just supposed to hand all of the Stones over to Loki?" Romanov demanded. "Over my dead body! We have Strange now, a human magician. I say we let him do it."
"I am the Sorcerer Supreme and a Master of the Mystic Arts, not a magician or wizard," Strange snapped. "And I can't."
"What do you mean you can't? You have already used the Time Stone!"
"One Stone and only then sparingly as doing so takes a great toll. I can't operate all of them."
"Indeed, no mortal can," Thor agreed. "To even try would kill them."
"You're mortal too, though," Dr. Banner frowned. "I mean you can die."
"Aye, apologies, mortal is often used for the shorter lived races."
"So you can do it?" Stark asked.
"If I had the necessary training, perhaps," Thor stated. "But even then there would be no guarantee, they might overwhelm even me."
"So attempting this is highly dangerous?"
"Extremely so."
"But Loki believes he can?" Okoye asked, looking at Shuri.
"Yes," she confirmed.
"Thor?" Captain Rogers asked.
"He is highly trained in the magical arts and is widely deemed one of the most powerful seiðr users alive. Mayhap even the most now Father is dead."
"I guess the question is do we risk being unable to reverse the snap by not letting him try?" Stark demanded. "I for one am not."
"Because your fiancée died," Romanov retorted.
"Yeah, her and Spiderman and trillions of others. I sort of care about that."
"I will risk it too," Shuri declared, cutting off the argument.
"Me three," Rocket stated. "And screw anyone who tries to get in our way!"
"Tell me what to do," Thor said, looking at her.
"We will need a plan for once we arrive on Rhea," Shuri said.
"Battle plan, I can aid with this."
"As can I," Colonel Rhodes added looking at Captain Rogers and Romanov. "We have to try."
"Fine," the captain agreed. "But I am assessing Loki's state of mind before we give him the Infinity Stones."
"Speaking of, did Loki actually say how he's coming back?" Strange asked. "Last I knew he was still dead."
"No, but he said he was close and already laying the groundwork for his own return, but he would need our aid distracting Thanos," Shuri replied.
"Distracting?" Romanov repeated. "Sounds like he wants us for canon fodder."
"I have often provided distractions for Loki," Thor said. "Seiðr takes time occasionally."
"Complex spells do," Strange acknowledged. "And I can only imagine this will be extremely complex."
"Right, so we will figure out a plan of attack based on all of the skills and powers we have amongst us," Captain Rogers said. "You guys work on getting us to, Rhea did you say?"
"Yes," Shuri confirmed. "And Loki said it would be best if we do not attack from the air as it would provide Thanos ample opportunities to slip away unseen."
"He's not wrong there," Colonel Rhodes stated. "Better to have eyes on him when we attack."
"Do we have any idea of the terrain on Rhea?" Romanov inquired.
"I have been there before," the blue cyborg spoke up.
"This way," Stark said as the others began assembling around one of the holographic workstations. "Or do we need to go to Wakanda to do it?"
"No, I will have the Bast come to us," Shuri replied, touching one of the kimoyo beads on her bracelet once they were in the elevator.
The bead rolled free onto her palm and a hologram appeared above it. With a few quick movements, she had remotely started the Bast and ordered it here.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to share after all of this is done?" Stark asked, looking at her bracelet longingly.
"That depends."
"On?"
Wary, tense. Ah, he feared she'd ask for weapons. As if she needed his help with those!
"Whether you share the basis of your AI with me."
All of Stark's tension melted away to be replaced with a huge smile. "I think this just might be the start of a beautiful and mutually beneficial relationship."