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Doorman (MCU SI)
- Thread starter IdleMuse0307
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DoorMan (MCU SI) - #16 : Wakandan spying...
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IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #16
Seattle [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Whistling idly, he walked the streets which were semi deserted since it was much later in the night and in the commercial district he was in, was closing down for the night, with only a few stores open at this late hour. Checking his watch, it was 10.30 right now and the Wakandan spies, as they could only be WarDogs to hide their traces so efficiently, have been following him for about half an hour now.
He had not done anything but walk around the commercial zone, listening to music in one ear and keeping a close watch on the movement all around him. He really hoped that they were not here to kidnap him or something. That would end really badly for them.
The dark deeds of Wakanda were not forgotten by him as he seemed to recall a program of Wakanda that dealt with foreign scientists and engineers who came too close to advancing the outside world. Wakanda maintained its lead over the rest of the world not just through advancements using the Vibranium and enjoying peace for basically all of its existence because of Black Panther but also because they deployed specialised teams to identify and kill the people who might end up posing a threat to their so-called advancement.
That made him so mad that he had half a mind to let himself get captured and go all the way back to Wakanda, just so he could tear down this facade, destroy a few buildings, assert dominance, and then force their king to end this policy and step down from his post to let kinder heads prevail.
Alas, that was just his youth speaking, if he were to borrow the words of Jin'Ya. The chibi dragon was useful in more ways than one, even when he was not making active use of the vast psionic expertise that the Dragon had. Even being someone with whom he could bounce ideas with was more than valuable enough.
He remembered debating this same thing with Jin'Ya, to use force and shocking secrets to essentially push T'Challa onto the throne early and let him guide Wakanda into becoming a force for good, something that was immediately shot down by Jin'Ya as the intricacies of their royal court was not known to him, neither was T'Challa's current behaviour.
If T'Challa took it the wrong way and chose to pursue revenge against him, then it would just be their efforts down the drain. In the end, after discussing with Jin'Ya, he had decided that letting them be was the best course of action for the moment, right up until the Wakandan people actually began spying on him.
Sighing as it was getting far too late for it to be reasonable, he turned directions and headed to the exit. He might not get reliable transportation after 11 PM, not that it would matter to him since he was not exactly worried for his safety.
Flagging a taxi, he told them the address to his apartment and closed his eyes, leaning back on the backseat. His enhanced senses picked up on them speaking in their native language for a while before that too was filtered out.
He cycled CHI in his body, as if on autopilot since it was something he did before sleeping since it helped destroy any toxins in his body that would then be flushed afterward. This new development was interesting.
Since they were not taking any overt actions, he could not do anything. Not like he could disappear from highly advanced surveillance they must be conducting on him, without any explanation, just to get to Ta-Lo. Even if it was very tantalising, just to think about the heavenly barbecue from Ta-Lo's meat supply. Hell, he couldn't even fathom why all of the people living in Ta-Lo were vegetarian. They literally used to waste all of that heavenly meat because most of their dietary requirements, and yes, even protein was taken care of by the plants that grew around the lake where their Water Dragon lived.
It was a vegan or a vegetarian bodybuilders paradise, as the plants in that place had more protein per unit weight than even the densest of protein sources available in the outside world.
"Keep the change," He paid the taxi and took in a breath of cold air as he waved at the doorman before entering his building. He has to go through three different security checks before he can reach his apartment door, which also has another lock. Overkill security, yes, but the area was filled with well to do people, and they appreciated the extra security that the building provided.
He stilled for a second as he heard Xhosa once more but this time, from the apartment next door. They were three people, one girl, and two older male, all of them speaking over each other furiously. He pretended that everything was normal and Wakandans had not just infiltrated the building where he lived, just so they could spy on him.
Opening the door and closing it, he sighed and went to the bedroom, not in the mood to do anything else. He was not hungry and while the enchantments told him that nobody had entered his apartment, he was not really looking forward to this.
Or maybe….
His lips curled into a sinister grin as he thought of what this could lead to.
'This could be the prime opportunity to troll people. MUAHAHAHA~'
Smiling like a loon, he entered his bedroom and laid down on it, pretending to sleep but focusing on his senses, entering a state he called sensory overdrive, where he focused on all his other senses and used CHI to supercharge them, allowing him to perform feats that he would normally be unable to.
He didn't normally use this because it left him vulnerable because he was pretty much out of it. It was like his body was focusing on the area far away from him but not close to him. In this state, unless something physically touched his body, he would not realise that something or someone was near him.
In this state, sense of time left him as well so it was not suitable for quick recon as well, only suitable for time periods where he was staying still for longer periods of time, like sleeping, for example.
CHI cycling removed the need for it so he could be extremely productive for over a week before the deliberating effects of sleep were felt by him, and even they were reduced month after month, to the point he theorised that he would be able to forego sleep for months, maybe years before he lost optimum performance.
Jin'Ya told him that even after all of that exhaustion, it might take less than eight hours of sleep for him to recover completely. That level of extreme experimentation wherein he pushed his body to the extreme was not something he was keen on doing, especially since he got by just fine as he was now.
His senses picked up on the movement right across the hall, with 5 people in the apartment, two more than he had picked up on before. Something was flying right outside his apartment window, very tiny but flying independently, and with the way it was moving, it was most definitely artificial.
A drone then.
He could pick up on sounds but not being fluent in Xhosa meant that he was unable to understand what they were speaking. Something was not right, this was not what a surveillance operation would be, even a long term ones.
Since it was not a smash and grab operation and they were establishing some sort of long term operation, they did not need so many people in a small apartment, all cramped up because that would just raise suspicion, on both his part and the people in the building.
Exiting his sensory state, he realised that he would not be able to keep things hidden from them while being in his apartment.
He cursed internally, keeping his eyes closed as he thought of something that could help him evade them when his ears picked up on some noise. It was the same girl's voice as before but it was very much more heated with all the other voices sounding deferential to the girl?
If he was right, his apartment was probably heat-mapped, as well as sound mapped completely. They didn't breach his apartment for some reason but it was probably only a matter of time before they did that as well.
"Damn," He had to figure out ways to bypass them but first of all, he had to meet them. After all, he still had about 15 days for his Stark Internship and he had nothing much to do before then, so might as well spend it trolling these people.
Or more realistically, finding out their goal since it did not seem as simple as assassinating a promising young Computer scientist who was poised to advance global computer standards.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #16
Seattle [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Whistling idly, he walked the streets which were semi deserted since it was much later in the night and in the commercial district he was in, was closing down for the night, with only a few stores open at this late hour. Checking his watch, it was 10.30 right now and the Wakandan spies, as they could only be WarDogs to hide their traces so efficiently, have been following him for about half an hour now.
He had not done anything but walk around the commercial zone, listening to music in one ear and keeping a close watch on the movement all around him. He really hoped that they were not here to kidnap him or something. That would end really badly for them.
The dark deeds of Wakanda were not forgotten by him as he seemed to recall a program of Wakanda that dealt with foreign scientists and engineers who came too close to advancing the outside world. Wakanda maintained its lead over the rest of the world not just through advancements using the Vibranium and enjoying peace for basically all of its existence because of Black Panther but also because they deployed specialised teams to identify and kill the people who might end up posing a threat to their so-called advancement.
That made him so mad that he had half a mind to let himself get captured and go all the way back to Wakanda, just so he could tear down this facade, destroy a few buildings, assert dominance, and then force their king to end this policy and step down from his post to let kinder heads prevail.
Alas, that was just his youth speaking, if he were to borrow the words of Jin'Ya. The chibi dragon was useful in more ways than one, even when he was not making active use of the vast psionic expertise that the Dragon had. Even being someone with whom he could bounce ideas with was more than valuable enough.
He remembered debating this same thing with Jin'Ya, to use force and shocking secrets to essentially push T'Challa onto the throne early and let him guide Wakanda into becoming a force for good, something that was immediately shot down by Jin'Ya as the intricacies of their royal court was not known to him, neither was T'Challa's current behaviour.
If T'Challa took it the wrong way and chose to pursue revenge against him, then it would just be their efforts down the drain. In the end, after discussing with Jin'Ya, he had decided that letting them be was the best course of action for the moment, right up until the Wakandan people actually began spying on him.
Sighing as it was getting far too late for it to be reasonable, he turned directions and headed to the exit. He might not get reliable transportation after 11 PM, not that it would matter to him since he was not exactly worried for his safety.
Flagging a taxi, he told them the address to his apartment and closed his eyes, leaning back on the backseat. His enhanced senses picked up on them speaking in their native language for a while before that too was filtered out.
He cycled CHI in his body, as if on autopilot since it was something he did before sleeping since it helped destroy any toxins in his body that would then be flushed afterward. This new development was interesting.
Since they were not taking any overt actions, he could not do anything. Not like he could disappear from highly advanced surveillance they must be conducting on him, without any explanation, just to get to Ta-Lo. Even if it was very tantalising, just to think about the heavenly barbecue from Ta-Lo's meat supply. Hell, he couldn't even fathom why all of the people living in Ta-Lo were vegetarian. They literally used to waste all of that heavenly meat because most of their dietary requirements, and yes, even protein was taken care of by the plants that grew around the lake where their Water Dragon lived.
It was a vegan or a vegetarian bodybuilders paradise, as the plants in that place had more protein per unit weight than even the densest of protein sources available in the outside world.
"Keep the change," He paid the taxi and took in a breath of cold air as he waved at the doorman before entering his building. He has to go through three different security checks before he can reach his apartment door, which also has another lock. Overkill security, yes, but the area was filled with well to do people, and they appreciated the extra security that the building provided.
He stilled for a second as he heard Xhosa once more but this time, from the apartment next door. They were three people, one girl, and two older male, all of them speaking over each other furiously. He pretended that everything was normal and Wakandans had not just infiltrated the building where he lived, just so they could spy on him.
Opening the door and closing it, he sighed and went to the bedroom, not in the mood to do anything else. He was not hungry and while the enchantments told him that nobody had entered his apartment, he was not really looking forward to this.
Or maybe….
His lips curled into a sinister grin as he thought of what this could lead to.
'This could be the prime opportunity to troll people. MUAHAHAHA~'
Smiling like a loon, he entered his bedroom and laid down on it, pretending to sleep but focusing on his senses, entering a state he called sensory overdrive, where he focused on all his other senses and used CHI to supercharge them, allowing him to perform feats that he would normally be unable to.
He didn't normally use this because it left him vulnerable because he was pretty much out of it. It was like his body was focusing on the area far away from him but not close to him. In this state, unless something physically touched his body, he would not realise that something or someone was near him.
In this state, sense of time left him as well so it was not suitable for quick recon as well, only suitable for time periods where he was staying still for longer periods of time, like sleeping, for example.
CHI cycling removed the need for it so he could be extremely productive for over a week before the deliberating effects of sleep were felt by him, and even they were reduced month after month, to the point he theorised that he would be able to forego sleep for months, maybe years before he lost optimum performance.
Jin'Ya told him that even after all of that exhaustion, it might take less than eight hours of sleep for him to recover completely. That level of extreme experimentation wherein he pushed his body to the extreme was not something he was keen on doing, especially since he got by just fine as he was now.
His senses picked up on the movement right across the hall, with 5 people in the apartment, two more than he had picked up on before. Something was flying right outside his apartment window, very tiny but flying independently, and with the way it was moving, it was most definitely artificial.
A drone then.
He could pick up on sounds but not being fluent in Xhosa meant that he was unable to understand what they were speaking. Something was not right, this was not what a surveillance operation would be, even a long term ones.
Since it was not a smash and grab operation and they were establishing some sort of long term operation, they did not need so many people in a small apartment, all cramped up because that would just raise suspicion, on both his part and the people in the building.
Exiting his sensory state, he realised that he would not be able to keep things hidden from them while being in his apartment.
He cursed internally, keeping his eyes closed as he thought of something that could help him evade them when his ears picked up on some noise. It was the same girl's voice as before but it was very much more heated with all the other voices sounding deferential to the girl?
If he was right, his apartment was probably heat-mapped, as well as sound mapped completely. They didn't breach his apartment for some reason but it was probably only a matter of time before they did that as well.
"Damn," He had to figure out ways to bypass them but first of all, he had to meet them. After all, he still had about 15 days for his Stark Internship and he had nothing much to do before then, so might as well spend it trolling these people.
Or more realistically, finding out their goal since it did not seem as simple as assassinating a promising young Computer scientist who was poised to advance global computer standards.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
Orphiex
Wombat aficionado
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- 1,634
Ooh, is Shuri finding out about the seamier side of Wakandan philosophy? About how far the War Dogs go beyond "preserving the lie?" I'm now imagining Colin inviting her out for super Chinese BBQ.
"Shuri, welcome to Ta-Lo, a secret and hidden civilization of great advancement and deep wisdom. Ying Nan, meet Princess Shuri of Wakanda, a secret and hidden civilization of great advancement and… debatable wisdom."
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Ah, what a fun idea
*AGGRESSIVELY notes it down for future chapters*
Orphiex
Wombat aficionado
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- 1,634
Glad you liked it! Unfortunately, the other ideas of Colin ripping through the wall like the Kool-Aid man (or the wall-punch-rip-through from Iron Man 1) probably wouldn't work very well, but they're fun to imagine.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #17 : What a weird guy....
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 567
- Likes received
- 15,665
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #17
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Colin stretched as he got out of the bedroom, having woken up in less than two hours because his body simply did not need that level of sleep yet. Yawning more out of habit than need, he walked into the kitchen still in his PJs.
The apartment's design made sure that tons of natural light spilled into the living space when it was morning. It was approximately 7 right now and with that, came a new Dawn, a new day.
"Huh," He smirked to himself as he remembered the spying bitches who lived next door.
He twirled as he took out a carton of eggs from the fridge, which he kept stocked here as well since he needed to maintain both identities. It was nice that his body needed a lot of fuel to function and while he could temporarily stave off the hunger by flooding his body with CHI, he liked to eat a lot and even having fully stocked pantries in both his places didn't completely fulfill his dietary needs.
It helped a lot in making sure that everyone believed that he still lived on Earth, not that anyone was looking, not until recently. Somehow, he didn't believe that the only ones with backdoor access to Tony's systems were SHIELD.
Wakanda must have access as well. They might have taken Tony's suspicions seriously and were probably here to confirm and surveil him to see if he was the famed hacker whose systems even Wakanda couldn't crack.
Whipping the eggs, he set a pan on the stove and waited for it to be hot enough for the butter to melt.
Wakanda's systems were much more advanced than he would have expected them to be. So much so that the rest of the world, hell Tony's systems didn't seem to be even in the same century. It was not that big of a lead that Wakanda had, as far as he could recall. They were ahead, yes, but not that ahead. Something must have changed with his arrival.
It was not like he knew what this universe actually entailed and even if it did at one point resemble the canon MCU, his existence alone had butterflied so many things out of existence and created new problems as well.
Flipping the omelette, he plated it and placed the bread in the same pan, for that oh so deliciously greasy flavour. Grinning as the bread looked perfectly golden brown before turning off the stove. Looking at the near perfect, very easy, and quickly made breakfast, he grinned and began to dig in, singing purposefully in bad tones…
He most certainly did.
……
……
…..
Tying his shoes, his senses picked up on the presence of just two people in the next door apartment, as opposed to five from last night. The drone in front of his house was gone as well. He was about to head to University, he had a few things to confirm with the Dean's office about the upcoming Stark internship, and also to see what accommodations would be provided to him as part of that, because that internship was more luxurious than most full time jobs, in terms of amenities.
Full accommodations, food, transportation, stipend, laundry, and more were a part of the full package. Essentially, he would be working at Stark Industries for a summer and would probably end up with more money than most minimum wage workers made in a year, such was the opulence when it came to the most valuable publicly traded company on the planet.
Whistling jauntily, he smirked as he heard someone coming up to the door, as he stood up and opened the door, expecting to see some hardened spy but his smile froze as did his body before he forced it to move and continued locking the door as if nothing had happened.
Internally, he freaked the f*ck out! What the hell? Was that Shuri? She sure as hell looked like a slightly older version of Shuri from the MCU. Same face but taller and with a different hairstyle to boot.
He sneak peeked at the girl before hurryingly getting out of there. Something was seriously wrong with this timeline because how does Shuri get to be roughly the same age as him when she was just a teenager in MCU during 2016 or something?
The Math was not Mathin.
He tried to be nonchalant about it but more than Shuri or Wakanda showing up on his doorstep, the fear of his knowledge being rendered invalid terrified him more. The only way to confirm it, without exposing his identity, was to equip another one of his identities.
It was time for the Orange Ninja to raid a nearby Wakandan spy site. For that though, he needed Jin'Ya's help but this time, it would be free since they had a lifetime arrangement where Jin'Ya would help him maintain his original identity and help defend him if Colin's life was in any danger. The same went vice versa but there were very few beings in the universe who could hope to hurt Jin'Ya and come out on top.
In exchange, all he had to do was let Jin'Ya live in the Red Hearth rent free. So far, that agreement has not been invoked, not even once, since he stayed in his lanes and made sure that he did not bite off more than he could chew.
A major reason for that was Old Man Wong who was more like an overprotective mother hen than a badass ninja sorcerer when it came to Colin Baxter and his safety. Speaking of which, it had been a while since he returned to the mother hen's nest plus he also had to review the status on his original spell, since that was one of the ways he could gain enough merit to become a Master of the Mystic Arts, giving him access to the vast resources that are available to active Masters serving the Sorcerer Supreme.
Sweating slightly, he made sure that none of the Wakandans was following him before heading to the University. Thankfully, the cab ride was silent, as his mind continued to churn about what to do.
There was still the Ta-Lo meeting for the revised meat quota, the original spell review in Kamar Taj, general purpose catching up with both Mother Hen Wong and the Ancient One, and then, there were the Wakakandans.
"Haaaa…" He sighed out loud as the burdens of so many things fell on his delicate shoulders all at once. First off, the University admin meeting and then contact Jin'Ya to get the duplicate ready.
Then, he might get enough room to complete his other chores. If not, he would end up spending most of his time dodging Wakandan surveillance efforts. They were very advanced if their cyber security was any indication.
Things added up as well. If Shuri really was much older than canon and roughly his age, then it meant that she had far more time to revamp and invent in Wakanda. With all of Wakanda's resources available to her, she would be able to easily elevate Wakanda's tech to a level never before heard of.
"Damn…" He muttered as he leaned back in the seat. Uni was still about half an hour away and he had nothing to do until then. Whipping out his mobile, he shot a quick text to Jin'Ya, in code language, informing him about an impending requirement, so the dragon would be able to postpone his Astral realm romances.
"Need help with moving some stuff. Will be busy. See you soon."
That was enough for Jin'Ya to know that Colin needed to move somewhere and needed Jin'ya to cover for him.
"Free arrangement?"
He smiled at that and shook his head, the freeloader dragon.
"Yes, this comes under the free arrangement."
Well, Jin'Ya would most certainly have some questions since this was the first time that his help was needed to maintain his identity, atleast on an active participation basis. The good thing about Jin'Ya and the current body he was inhabiting was that he could not just teleport, but also create portals.
That, coupled with his vast psionic powers meant that Jin'Ya could be anywhere in the same state as him and they would still be able to communicate effortlessly, which was essential because it was much harder to track.
Up until recently, he thought it would be impossible to track but if Shuri had about 5 more years to modernise Wakanda's systems and overall push sciences in that space, then he was not so sure about Wakanda's inability to sense psionic energy anymore.
Entering the Dean's office, he asked his Point of Contact about the details of the accommodation who told him that they should be in an E-mail that should come today itself.
Thanking the man, he got out of the space and froze, once more, as Shuri, who was most definitely either Shuri or a clone or a twin of that girl, stood on the stairs, looking frustratedly at her phone.
Nope, not touching that with a ten foot pole. He was about to pass her, when…
"Excuse me?"
With a slight smile plastered on his face, he turned to the Princess of the most powerful nation on the planet, and said, "Yes?"
"Can you help me? I am new here and have a meeting with the admissions office—"
Oh, crap! She was going to study here? In this dump of a University?
"--Someone told me it was part of the Dean's office but it is not here."
"Oh, yeah, that used to be here but it is now on the south side of the campus. Just follow that path and eventually, the signs will take you to Admissions. Are you a freshman?"
"Yes." She smiled at him and it did look genuine but then again, Shrui could be a completely different person from canon. Best not to rely on that bit of knowledge when it comes to her.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," Offering her a handshake, "I am Colin Baxter, a freshman as well. Comp Sci."
"I am Shuri, a freshman as well. Material Sciences."
"Oh," He made an enlightened face. Yeah, he did read something about that. Stark Industries and the university collaborated to create a very advanced, "most advanced" in their words, Material Research facility.
It was all very exciting for their field, according to the few people he met from that field, with a total investment of 12 billion, over the course of 10 years.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around. I am in a hurry, so bye!" He left in a hopefully nonchalant manner but he had a hunch that he just came off as weird.
He carefully hid the wince and kept the sunshine smile on his face as he heard her mutter under her breath, "What a weird guy."
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #17
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Colin stretched as he got out of the bedroom, having woken up in less than two hours because his body simply did not need that level of sleep yet. Yawning more out of habit than need, he walked into the kitchen still in his PJs.
The apartment's design made sure that tons of natural light spilled into the living space when it was morning. It was approximately 7 right now and with that, came a new Dawn, a new day.
"Huh," He smirked to himself as he remembered the spying bitches who lived next door.
"Birds flying high, you know how I feel…"
He twirled as he took out a carton of eggs from the fridge, which he kept stocked here as well since he needed to maintain both identities. It was nice that his body needed a lot of fuel to function and while he could temporarily stave off the hunger by flooding his body with CHI, he liked to eat a lot and even having fully stocked pantries in both his places didn't completely fulfill his dietary needs.
It helped a lot in making sure that everyone believed that he still lived on Earth, not that anyone was looking, not until recently. Somehow, he didn't believe that the only ones with backdoor access to Tony's systems were SHIELD.
"Sun in the sky, you know how I feel…"
Wakanda must have access as well. They might have taken Tony's suspicions seriously and were probably here to confirm and surveil him to see if he was the famed hacker whose systems even Wakanda couldn't crack.
"It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me…"
Whipping the eggs, he set a pan on the stove and waited for it to be hot enough for the butter to melt.
Wakanda's systems were much more advanced than he would have expected them to be. So much so that the rest of the world, hell Tony's systems didn't seem to be even in the same century. It was not that big of a lead that Wakanda had, as far as he could recall. They were ahead, yes, but not that ahead. Something must have changed with his arrival.
It was not like he knew what this universe actually entailed and even if it did at one point resemble the canon MCU, his existence alone had butterflied so many things out of existence and created new problems as well.
Flipping the omelette, he plated it and placed the bread in the same pan, for that oh so deliciously greasy flavour. Grinning as the bread looked perfectly golden brown before turning off the stove. Looking at the near perfect, very easy, and quickly made breakfast, he grinned and began to dig in, singing purposefully in bad tones…
"And I'm feeling good"
He most certainly did.
……
……
…..
Tying his shoes, his senses picked up on the presence of just two people in the next door apartment, as opposed to five from last night. The drone in front of his house was gone as well. He was about to head to University, he had a few things to confirm with the Dean's office about the upcoming Stark internship, and also to see what accommodations would be provided to him as part of that, because that internship was more luxurious than most full time jobs, in terms of amenities.
Full accommodations, food, transportation, stipend, laundry, and more were a part of the full package. Essentially, he would be working at Stark Industries for a summer and would probably end up with more money than most minimum wage workers made in a year, such was the opulence when it came to the most valuable publicly traded company on the planet.
Whistling jauntily, he smirked as he heard someone coming up to the door, as he stood up and opened the door, expecting to see some hardened spy but his smile froze as did his body before he forced it to move and continued locking the door as if nothing had happened.
Internally, he freaked the f*ck out! What the hell? Was that Shuri? She sure as hell looked like a slightly older version of Shuri from the MCU. Same face but taller and with a different hairstyle to boot.
He sneak peeked at the girl before hurryingly getting out of there. Something was seriously wrong with this timeline because how does Shuri get to be roughly the same age as him when she was just a teenager in MCU during 2016 or something?
The Math was not Mathin.
He tried to be nonchalant about it but more than Shuri or Wakanda showing up on his doorstep, the fear of his knowledge being rendered invalid terrified him more. The only way to confirm it, without exposing his identity, was to equip another one of his identities.
It was time for the Orange Ninja to raid a nearby Wakandan spy site. For that though, he needed Jin'Ya's help but this time, it would be free since they had a lifetime arrangement where Jin'Ya would help him maintain his original identity and help defend him if Colin's life was in any danger. The same went vice versa but there were very few beings in the universe who could hope to hurt Jin'Ya and come out on top.
In exchange, all he had to do was let Jin'Ya live in the Red Hearth rent free. So far, that agreement has not been invoked, not even once, since he stayed in his lanes and made sure that he did not bite off more than he could chew.
A major reason for that was Old Man Wong who was more like an overprotective mother hen than a badass ninja sorcerer when it came to Colin Baxter and his safety. Speaking of which, it had been a while since he returned to the mother hen's nest plus he also had to review the status on his original spell, since that was one of the ways he could gain enough merit to become a Master of the Mystic Arts, giving him access to the vast resources that are available to active Masters serving the Sorcerer Supreme.
Sweating slightly, he made sure that none of the Wakandans was following him before heading to the University. Thankfully, the cab ride was silent, as his mind continued to churn about what to do.
There was still the Ta-Lo meeting for the revised meat quota, the original spell review in Kamar Taj, general purpose catching up with both Mother Hen Wong and the Ancient One, and then, there were the Wakakandans.
"Haaaa…" He sighed out loud as the burdens of so many things fell on his delicate shoulders all at once. First off, the University admin meeting and then contact Jin'Ya to get the duplicate ready.
Then, he might get enough room to complete his other chores. If not, he would end up spending most of his time dodging Wakandan surveillance efforts. They were very advanced if their cyber security was any indication.
Things added up as well. If Shuri really was much older than canon and roughly his age, then it meant that she had far more time to revamp and invent in Wakanda. With all of Wakanda's resources available to her, she would be able to easily elevate Wakanda's tech to a level never before heard of.
"Damn…" He muttered as he leaned back in the seat. Uni was still about half an hour away and he had nothing to do until then. Whipping out his mobile, he shot a quick text to Jin'Ya, in code language, informing him about an impending requirement, so the dragon would be able to postpone his Astral realm romances.
"Need help with moving some stuff. Will be busy. See you soon."
That was enough for Jin'Ya to know that Colin needed to move somewhere and needed Jin'ya to cover for him.
"Free arrangement?"
He smiled at that and shook his head, the freeloader dragon.
"Yes, this comes under the free arrangement."
Well, Jin'Ya would most certainly have some questions since this was the first time that his help was needed to maintain his identity, atleast on an active participation basis. The good thing about Jin'Ya and the current body he was inhabiting was that he could not just teleport, but also create portals.
That, coupled with his vast psionic powers meant that Jin'Ya could be anywhere in the same state as him and they would still be able to communicate effortlessly, which was essential because it was much harder to track.
Up until recently, he thought it would be impossible to track but if Shuri had about 5 more years to modernise Wakanda's systems and overall push sciences in that space, then he was not so sure about Wakanda's inability to sense psionic energy anymore.
Entering the Dean's office, he asked his Point of Contact about the details of the accommodation who told him that they should be in an E-mail that should come today itself.
Thanking the man, he got out of the space and froze, once more, as Shuri, who was most definitely either Shuri or a clone or a twin of that girl, stood on the stairs, looking frustratedly at her phone.
Nope, not touching that with a ten foot pole. He was about to pass her, when…
"Excuse me?"
With a slight smile plastered on his face, he turned to the Princess of the most powerful nation on the planet, and said, "Yes?"
"Can you help me? I am new here and have a meeting with the admissions office—"
Oh, crap! She was going to study here? In this dump of a University?
"--Someone told me it was part of the Dean's office but it is not here."
"Oh, yeah, that used to be here but it is now on the south side of the campus. Just follow that path and eventually, the signs will take you to Admissions. Are you a freshman?"
"Yes." She smiled at him and it did look genuine but then again, Shrui could be a completely different person from canon. Best not to rely on that bit of knowledge when it comes to her.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," Offering her a handshake, "I am Colin Baxter, a freshman as well. Comp Sci."
"I am Shuri, a freshman as well. Material Sciences."
"Oh," He made an enlightened face. Yeah, he did read something about that. Stark Industries and the university collaborated to create a very advanced, "most advanced" in their words, Material Research facility.
It was all very exciting for their field, according to the few people he met from that field, with a total investment of 12 billion, over the course of 10 years.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around. I am in a hurry, so bye!" He left in a hopefully nonchalant manner but he had a hunch that he just came off as weird.
He carefully hid the wince and kept the sunshine smile on his face as he heard her mutter under her breath, "What a weird guy."
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #18 : Cutting Edge, my ass!
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #18
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Haaa," Sighing, he looked up at the ceiling from his bed as he thought of the encounter with Shuri. As far as he was aware, there were no bugs on his person and he did not see the signature Kimoyo beads on her, but he could never be too cautious. It was the evening now, he had lunch at the Cafeteria itself. It was bland but it was meat and it was properly cooked or boiled, he could never tell when it came to that particular lunch hall.
The matter with Wakanda was getting more and more complicated. Shuri being here meant that Wakanda meant business. They were incredibly protective of their princess, someone who was, in his opinion, so much more valuable than a mere Black Panther. In T'Challa's generation alone, they had two different Black Panther candidates while they had none who could even hope to reach the same echelon as Shuri when it came to science.
He had just about 4 days till his flight. Yeah, he met the rep and got all the details for his internship. The internship was for 10 weeks and housing was going to be top-notch. The rep showed him some examples of the entire building that Stark Industries owned and operated purely to house student interns or probationary employees or employees who needed to work at their HQ for a short period of time before they were whisked back to their home locations. It was great for temporary housing so that was sorted.
All he had to do was figure out what he could do in LA, with his alternate identities. IT had been a while since he went out as the Orange Ninja and did something else other than commit treason, and many other espionage charges, on SHIELD. He had been meaning to do something more adventurous for the week he supposedly had off but then, this Wakanda thing just fell into his lap and now, he could not move without alerting the damned Wakandans.
"Hello, Colin. I have arrived."
He stilled for a moment before relaxing as he heard Jin'Ya's voice in his brain, meaning that the dragon was somewhere in the same state as him.
"Where?"
"In the city itself. I have been checking out the portal drop locations and I have to say, the enchantments are really shitty. I should be done correcting them soon. I will contact you in an hour or so."
He barely resisted the urge to yell at the stupid dragon as the mental link was cut off from the other side. That was not what he was here for, and he knew that the enchantments were not really top notch because he didn't need them to be top notch. He had no idea how long he was even going to stay in Uni because lately, it had been feeling like a chore, with Old Man Wong's insistence being the only thing that kept him from dropping out.
Plus, he couldn't exactly afford a Master on Jin'Ya's level when it came to enchantment. It worked so well so why even touch it?
He groaned as he rolled over and face planted into the bed, thinking of his next moves. The Hulk alert had yet to arrive so that was out for now but once he reached the Red Hearth, he should check in on those documents once more. Tony was going to get kidnapped in about a week's time and surprisingly, there has been no movement from his side since the hack.
He didn't know if he had it in him to let Tony suffer, just for the character development. Realistically, there was not much he could do as Colin Baxter but as someone who hoped to follow the Ninja Jesus in his Nin-Nin ways, he could do much, from outright stopping the demonstration from happening or just saving Tony before that missile went off and he was carted off to Yisen who would end up staving off Tony's death temporarily.
That might work, except it might end up depriving Earth of its, almost, greatest hero, something that didn't sit right with him. Tony needed that time in the cave to understand that his weapons were being used for stuff that would not sit right with him, that being a weapons company inherently meant that his weapons would be sold to the good guys as well as the bad guys.
A little brush with death was all that was needed for him to gain another perspective. All of these things were true, yes, but it was not his decision to make. If he could actually go and rescue Tony from experiencing all that horrible stuff, he felt like he had the moral responsibility to save him but then again, he also had to think of the future, especially the future since he knew what was coming.
He sighed and opened his eyes, with steely determination in them. The incident with Shuri told him that he couldn't completely rely on his meta knowledge. He also knew that Tony was getting kidnapped but if his knowledge was not reliable in this timeline, Tony might just die in that cave, never getting the chance to become Iron Man.
That was….unacceptable.
Fetching his phone from the table, he opened the web and searched for Tony Stark, and opened the first link which actually had the itinerary for his visit to a war torn country. Damn, talk about a security nightmare. It was written that Tony had a military presentation on the 23rd of Jan, about 5 days from now.
He had to report to Stark Industries on the 23rd as well. Welp, it's a good thing he had that indefinite deal he signed with Jin'Ya that would allow him to use the Ancient Dragon as a doppelganger.
Locking the phone and throwing it on the dresser, he put his hands behind his head and looked at the starry ceiling, the one he's made using his kinetic lasers, as both practice in modulating the output and also to test his aiming as well as art skills. It was…crooked.
"Huh," he said to himself as he never really saw that before but now that he knew it, he couldn't unsee it.
He will be tailing Tony, from the Mirror Dimension, or rather, Jin'Ya might, depending on who wants to tackle the task of Internship orientation. They would only act if Tony's life was in actual danger, not from the shrapnel or from the disastrous fall in his suit but an actual credible threat to his life.
That should work, as a compromise on both sides. Making sure that Tony is safe and sound but a little roughed up by the terrorists so he finally realises what he has been doing all his life.
Shaking his head, he got up and began changing. Jin'Ya should be here soon and once they swapped places, he had a lot of work to get done on the Red Hearth. He turned to the door as he heard footsteps coming and what do you know, it was Shuri's voice and she had probably just rung his doorbell.
Putting the T-shirt back on, he opened the door, to find Shuri with her hand raised, about to knock for some reason. She took one look at his face and then said.
"Hey! You are Colin, from the University, right?"
He extended his hand, "Yup, that's me, and you are Shuri. Did you just move in?"
She shook his hand, "Yes, I just did, yesterday actually. Can't believe that we live next to each other. What a coincidence!" She said as she invited herself in, walking in his living room like she owned the place.
Yes, what a coincidence, he thought to himself as he plastered a smile on his face while keeping the door open. Who knows what those trigger happy spy bastards might do with their energy weapons if they thought their Princess was in any danger?
His senses might not work because Vibranium was known to absorb most of the energy incident on it, so no noise as they activated their guns and freaking lasered him. He did not want to test his durability against energy weaponry, not yet anyway.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked as he headed into the kitchen.
"Just water."
He nodded and focused on his senses, careful not to funnel too much CHI into his body as his body begins to glow then.
"Here you go. So, what brings you to Seattle? Are you from around here?" He asked as they both sat down, trying to maintain conversation, since he was not supposed to know if she was from here or from the most powerful nation on the planet, dry land that is. Atlantis was a solid contender for the top spot, owing to their vastly more powerful protector and also because of the sheer amount of land they would rule if their claim over all seas was legitimate.
"As you might know, the University has just begun a new venture and I was interested in that. I also needed to go somewhere for college so I just chose this one because it seemed interesting to research cutting edge Material Science." She said with a smile, trying to seem casual but he noted the way her eyes moved over every single thing on display and stayed a bit too long on his computer.
He maintained his smile while internally, it confirmed something for him.
Wakanda has the same suspicion about me being the hacker.
It makes sense, Shuri would definitely be curious about the one who broke through their firewalls within 4 hours. He had no idea they already had Shuri on the helm, so he tried to breach their systems, only to realise that they kept everything air gapped and the only thing he had breached was a media server that was responsible for cataloging a lot of the outside entertainment base.
It had mind boggling amounts of storage and memory though it was ultimately useless since it did not have even a lick of data on Wakandans.
That must have stoked their curiosity in him and now, he had a hyper intelligent, like smarter than Tony, Princess of Wakanda living right next door, looking curiously at him.
God help me.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #18
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Haaa," Sighing, he looked up at the ceiling from his bed as he thought of the encounter with Shuri. As far as he was aware, there were no bugs on his person and he did not see the signature Kimoyo beads on her, but he could never be too cautious. It was the evening now, he had lunch at the Cafeteria itself. It was bland but it was meat and it was properly cooked or boiled, he could never tell when it came to that particular lunch hall.
The matter with Wakanda was getting more and more complicated. Shuri being here meant that Wakanda meant business. They were incredibly protective of their princess, someone who was, in his opinion, so much more valuable than a mere Black Panther. In T'Challa's generation alone, they had two different Black Panther candidates while they had none who could even hope to reach the same echelon as Shuri when it came to science.
He had just about 4 days till his flight. Yeah, he met the rep and got all the details for his internship. The internship was for 10 weeks and housing was going to be top-notch. The rep showed him some examples of the entire building that Stark Industries owned and operated purely to house student interns or probationary employees or employees who needed to work at their HQ for a short period of time before they were whisked back to their home locations. It was great for temporary housing so that was sorted.
All he had to do was figure out what he could do in LA, with his alternate identities. IT had been a while since he went out as the Orange Ninja and did something else other than commit treason, and many other espionage charges, on SHIELD. He had been meaning to do something more adventurous for the week he supposedly had off but then, this Wakanda thing just fell into his lap and now, he could not move without alerting the damned Wakandans.
"Hello, Colin. I have arrived."
He stilled for a moment before relaxing as he heard Jin'Ya's voice in his brain, meaning that the dragon was somewhere in the same state as him.
"Where?"
"In the city itself. I have been checking out the portal drop locations and I have to say, the enchantments are really shitty. I should be done correcting them soon. I will contact you in an hour or so."
He barely resisted the urge to yell at the stupid dragon as the mental link was cut off from the other side. That was not what he was here for, and he knew that the enchantments were not really top notch because he didn't need them to be top notch. He had no idea how long he was even going to stay in Uni because lately, it had been feeling like a chore, with Old Man Wong's insistence being the only thing that kept him from dropping out.
Plus, he couldn't exactly afford a Master on Jin'Ya's level when it came to enchantment. It worked so well so why even touch it?
He groaned as he rolled over and face planted into the bed, thinking of his next moves. The Hulk alert had yet to arrive so that was out for now but once he reached the Red Hearth, he should check in on those documents once more. Tony was going to get kidnapped in about a week's time and surprisingly, there has been no movement from his side since the hack.
He didn't know if he had it in him to let Tony suffer, just for the character development. Realistically, there was not much he could do as Colin Baxter but as someone who hoped to follow the Ninja Jesus in his Nin-Nin ways, he could do much, from outright stopping the demonstration from happening or just saving Tony before that missile went off and he was carted off to Yisen who would end up staving off Tony's death temporarily.
That might work, except it might end up depriving Earth of its, almost, greatest hero, something that didn't sit right with him. Tony needed that time in the cave to understand that his weapons were being used for stuff that would not sit right with him, that being a weapons company inherently meant that his weapons would be sold to the good guys as well as the bad guys.
A little brush with death was all that was needed for him to gain another perspective. All of these things were true, yes, but it was not his decision to make. If he could actually go and rescue Tony from experiencing all that horrible stuff, he felt like he had the moral responsibility to save him but then again, he also had to think of the future, especially the future since he knew what was coming.
He sighed and opened his eyes, with steely determination in them. The incident with Shuri told him that he couldn't completely rely on his meta knowledge. He also knew that Tony was getting kidnapped but if his knowledge was not reliable in this timeline, Tony might just die in that cave, never getting the chance to become Iron Man.
That was….unacceptable.
Fetching his phone from the table, he opened the web and searched for Tony Stark, and opened the first link which actually had the itinerary for his visit to a war torn country. Damn, talk about a security nightmare. It was written that Tony had a military presentation on the 23rd of Jan, about 5 days from now.
He had to report to Stark Industries on the 23rd as well. Welp, it's a good thing he had that indefinite deal he signed with Jin'Ya that would allow him to use the Ancient Dragon as a doppelganger.
Locking the phone and throwing it on the dresser, he put his hands behind his head and looked at the starry ceiling, the one he's made using his kinetic lasers, as both practice in modulating the output and also to test his aiming as well as art skills. It was…crooked.
"Huh," he said to himself as he never really saw that before but now that he knew it, he couldn't unsee it.
He will be tailing Tony, from the Mirror Dimension, or rather, Jin'Ya might, depending on who wants to tackle the task of Internship orientation. They would only act if Tony's life was in actual danger, not from the shrapnel or from the disastrous fall in his suit but an actual credible threat to his life.
That should work, as a compromise on both sides. Making sure that Tony is safe and sound but a little roughed up by the terrorists so he finally realises what he has been doing all his life.
Shaking his head, he got up and began changing. Jin'Ya should be here soon and once they swapped places, he had a lot of work to get done on the Red Hearth. He turned to the door as he heard footsteps coming and what do you know, it was Shuri's voice and she had probably just rung his doorbell.
Putting the T-shirt back on, he opened the door, to find Shuri with her hand raised, about to knock for some reason. She took one look at his face and then said.
"Hey! You are Colin, from the University, right?"
He extended his hand, "Yup, that's me, and you are Shuri. Did you just move in?"
She shook his hand, "Yes, I just did, yesterday actually. Can't believe that we live next to each other. What a coincidence!" She said as she invited herself in, walking in his living room like she owned the place.
Yes, what a coincidence, he thought to himself as he plastered a smile on his face while keeping the door open. Who knows what those trigger happy spy bastards might do with their energy weapons if they thought their Princess was in any danger?
His senses might not work because Vibranium was known to absorb most of the energy incident on it, so no noise as they activated their guns and freaking lasered him. He did not want to test his durability against energy weaponry, not yet anyway.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked as he headed into the kitchen.
"Just water."
He nodded and focused on his senses, careful not to funnel too much CHI into his body as his body begins to glow then.
"Here you go. So, what brings you to Seattle? Are you from around here?" He asked as they both sat down, trying to maintain conversation, since he was not supposed to know if she was from here or from the most powerful nation on the planet, dry land that is. Atlantis was a solid contender for the top spot, owing to their vastly more powerful protector and also because of the sheer amount of land they would rule if their claim over all seas was legitimate.
"As you might know, the University has just begun a new venture and I was interested in that. I also needed to go somewhere for college so I just chose this one because it seemed interesting to research cutting edge Material Science." She said with a smile, trying to seem casual but he noted the way her eyes moved over every single thing on display and stayed a bit too long on his computer.
He maintained his smile while internally, it confirmed something for him.
Wakanda has the same suspicion about me being the hacker.
It makes sense, Shuri would definitely be curious about the one who broke through their firewalls within 4 hours. He had no idea they already had Shuri on the helm, so he tried to breach their systems, only to realise that they kept everything air gapped and the only thing he had breached was a media server that was responsible for cataloging a lot of the outside entertainment base.
It had mind boggling amounts of storage and memory though it was ultimately useless since it did not have even a lick of data on Wakandans.
That must have stoked their curiosity in him and now, he had a hyper intelligent, like smarter than Tony, Princess of Wakanda living right next door, looking curiously at him.
God help me.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
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Ohh, he in trouble now. Although he could probably distract them with other truths.
Shuri: "So you are the hacker who penetrated Wakanda's cybersecurity!"
Colin: "What? No, I'm a wizard."
Shuri: "…huh?"
Colin: "Yeah, most of the other secret civilizations on the planet know about you guys. They're not super impressed."
I think you meant to reverse the order here - "to the bad guys as well as the good guys." Since he already knew about the (nominal) good guys.
Shuri: "So you are the hacker who penetrated Wakanda's cybersecurity!"
Colin: "What? No, I'm a wizard."
Shuri: "…huh?"
Colin: "Yeah, most of the other secret civilizations on the planet know about you guys. They're not super impressed."
I think you meant to reverse the order here - "to the bad guys as well as the good guys." Since he already knew about the (nominal) good guys.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #19 : Dinnner with Shuri Udaku....
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IdleMuse0307
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #19
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
The more he talked to Shuri, the more he was certain that they were onto him. Well, they thought they were onto him because he would not slip up, not while he had Jin'Ya on his side. Speaking of the ancient Dragon, what was taking so long?
It had been almost an hour and he was getting tired of hosting Shuri. No matter how many times he tried to steer the conversation towards her origin, she put it right back on the track of Colin Baxter and what he did. What his hobbies were, what he did in his spare time, his family, and more.
He smirked internally as they tried to gather information on Old Man Wong. He had gone to pretty great lengths to make sure that what little information was out there on him, was very hard to access.
He had to have some digital footprint or else it would draw even more suspicion. He had to have a social security number, a passport, some investments, banking transactions, a small loan, a driver's license, and more. Any of these things would not reveal a single significant thing about him but he had to have them, just so he could reduce suspicion.
Besides, if these fools tried something on Old Man Wong, they would be in for a pretty rude surprise, and by some miracle, if they put even a scratch on Wong, well, the forcefield around their city would keep outsiders out but once he was in, the same forcefield would keep them inside, with him.
Getting tired of this and using the excuse of it getting dark outside, he slapped his knees and stood up, "Well, it's getting dark. I still have to make dinner so, I'll–"
"You should come over!"
He choked on his words as he looked at the now far too cheerfully smiling Shuri.
"What?"
"Yeah, you should come over. It'll be great, like a housewarming party. Ooh, I better go, I'll call you when dinner's ready?" She thrust her phone in his direction and he leaned away from it as if it was a live demon Naga, a half-snake half-man demon.
In the end, he couldn't even refuse as he inputted his number and watched her leave his apartment.
"Bye!"
He smiled half heartedly as he waved goodbye before slamming the door shut, leaning against it, and sliding down in resignation.
Why did I just agree to that? He questioned himself as he slammed his head back on the door, gently since he didn't want to put a hole in the door and put his head out of it. That would be one awkward conversation.
As far as he could sense, he didn't sense any advanced electronics or the signature all purpose Kimoyo Beads that she could use to scan everything in sight but one could never be too paranoid so he resolved to maintain steady CHI output consistent with normal humans for all the time he would be in that apartment.
He felt tense, as if he was walking into a trap of some sort.
Yeah right. As if the Princess of Wakanda would go somewhere else to study Material sciences. He scoffed internally. T'Chaka would have built her whatever size lab she wanted if she had just asked.
"Well, this is interesting." He nearly jumped out of his skin as Jin'Ya's voice revered all around him, not through the mental link.
He looked around and hissed into his mind, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, don't worry, I am just using the airwaves to speak to you. Everything is isolated, not even someone standing right next to you would hear me speak." Such was the confidence that came from honing your telekinetic prowess for literal millennia.
He sighed in relief as he stood up to boil some eggs. He was sure that whatever dinner that was awaiting him in that den would not complete his daily protein intake, so eggs it was. Protein came first.
"Just…come here soon."
"You got it."
He did not look forward to whatever mac and cheese meal she could make, he thought as he collapsed on the sofa, doom scrolling on his phone as the 10 eggs were set to boil with an automatic timer that would kick in and stop the flame.
He then paused in his scrolling, and then mentally kicked himself for having any preconceived notions about Shuri, based on his meta knowledge. This was an entirely different person he was dealing with, someone who was born in a different era, grew up with a set of parents that might have had a completely different set of personalities, alongside an older brother whose personality might have changed completely after having a younger sister that was much closer to his age.
If he remembered correctly, in the MCU, Shuri was like 20 years younger than T'Challa, something absurd like that.
Perking up, he opened the university website, logged in using his student ID, and began looking for course lists. It was public data, to see the names of the students enrolled in different courses.
The Material Sciences course had a lot of enrollments, probably because of the promised shiny new investments in any and every research project. Most of these students were probably there to make money and that was fine, everyone had to eat but in his opinion, if one wanted to advance their own field so much that people began throwing money at them, one had to be passionate about the subject, or willing to work like a donkey and have the corresponding talent.
Filtering the list alphabetically, he scrolled down and finally found the name. Shuri Udaku, huh, so that's their surname, or more probably, that was the designated fake surname Wakanda used everywhere on the planet.
So, she was speaking the truth. She was enrolled in the program or at least her name was on the list. She could have just as easily hacked the whole thing so who knows? Dropping the phone on the coffee table, he leaned back and rubbed his eyes as he thought of how he could get out of this predicament.
Yes, he only had four days before he was whisked off to LA but something told him that even that wouldn't be enough plus, he had stuff, important stuff that needed to be taken care of before his internship. Jin'Ya could act as his substitute in many matters but not at Ta-Lo, the old dragon might just provoke the poor old Water Dragon in Ta-Lo. That dragon did not have a name or rather, no one knew it.
When asked, Jin'Ya told him that all Dragons guarded their true names zealously as it could be used to cause immense harm to not just the Dragons themselves but to their entire bloodlines. With draconic birth rates being what they were, none of the Dragons wanted the slightest chance of harm to come to their younglings.
If a Dragon told someone their true name, it meant that the Dragon trusted the person with not just the Dragon's wellbeing but also with its future children. That level of trust was rare and it was probably also the reason why the Water Dragon was just called "guardian patron" by the locals.
____xx___
Meanwhile, Stark Industries HQ, LA.
–Tony Stark–
"Hey! Look who's here! My shining star!" He smiled as he hugged Obi, his father in all but name. Growing up, he remembered seeing Obi a lot more than his own father. His father trusted the man and so did he, as most of the operations in the company were overseen by the man himself.
"Hey Obi, how's it going?" He sat down in Obi's cabin, which was surprisingly simple. He expected a lot more opulence.
"Great, great. All thanks to you, my once in a century genius. With our new Jericho missiles, well, let's just say that you are about to make a lot of people even richer. The stock market is going to riot once they see the amount of zeroes on the cheque that the Army will be throwing at us." Obi grinned and slid him a whiskey, neat, just like he liked.
"Yeah, about that.."
Obi's smile left his face as he leaned forward, "What? Is something wrong with the Missiles? Do we need to recall the ones sent forward for the demonstration?"
He waved his hand, "No! No, nothing like that. The missiles should work perfectly fine. It was just that I was looking for the production manifesto and couldn't find any. Do we keep it in physical files or something?" He slightly joked at Obi since everything was mandated to be kept on secured encrypted servers as per Company policy.
The encounter with the hacker left him with some questions, some uncomfortable questions that could be easily answered since he had access to all of Stark Industries' files. Unfortunately, as he later found out, he did not have access to all the files, for some reason.
Hence, his reason for visiting Obi. He needed to check the manifesto and see how many were produced and sold to check for himself if company policies were being followed or not.
"Oh, that? Yeah, we moved to strict physical copies once you informed us of the breach last year. Most sensitive information is kept like that. Unfortunately, I don't have that list on BUT don't worry, I will make sure it is delivered to you before you leave for Afghanistan. You leave in 2 days, right?"
He nodded.
"Don't worry, I will take care of it. It's my mistake anyway, I should have given you a copy in the beginning itself but I was just so busy, you know how it is.."
He waved his hands to calm the man down, "I understand, truly. It is some idle curiosity of mine. We can go over the files once I am back from Afghanistan anyway." He stood up from the chair, ready to leave since he was satisfied with the answers.
"Since you're here, I thought we might just get some dinner, you know, you & I haven't had dinner in years now."
Putting on his coat, he spoke, "What? That can't be right. What about that–"
"I'm not talking about award functions, Tony." The man said in an exasperated tone and he grinned at the man.
"See you around, Obi."
"See you, Tony!"
Tony turned around and missed the flash of hatred on Obi's face, as Tony headed back to his car, ready to relax for the 2 days before he had to endure the scorching weather of Afghanistan.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
A/N -
In some comics, Shuri's surname is Udaku and their rule was known as the Udaku Dynasty of Wakanda.
Something something True Draconic names being precious, something something witchcraft dangerous.
Also, Tony has begun asking the right questions but apparently, forgot to trust the right person.
Poor Tones
DoorMan #19
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
The more he talked to Shuri, the more he was certain that they were onto him. Well, they thought they were onto him because he would not slip up, not while he had Jin'Ya on his side. Speaking of the ancient Dragon, what was taking so long?
It had been almost an hour and he was getting tired of hosting Shuri. No matter how many times he tried to steer the conversation towards her origin, she put it right back on the track of Colin Baxter and what he did. What his hobbies were, what he did in his spare time, his family, and more.
He smirked internally as they tried to gather information on Old Man Wong. He had gone to pretty great lengths to make sure that what little information was out there on him, was very hard to access.
He had to have some digital footprint or else it would draw even more suspicion. He had to have a social security number, a passport, some investments, banking transactions, a small loan, a driver's license, and more. Any of these things would not reveal a single significant thing about him but he had to have them, just so he could reduce suspicion.
Besides, if these fools tried something on Old Man Wong, they would be in for a pretty rude surprise, and by some miracle, if they put even a scratch on Wong, well, the forcefield around their city would keep outsiders out but once he was in, the same forcefield would keep them inside, with him.
Getting tired of this and using the excuse of it getting dark outside, he slapped his knees and stood up, "Well, it's getting dark. I still have to make dinner so, I'll–"
"You should come over!"
He choked on his words as he looked at the now far too cheerfully smiling Shuri.
"What?"
"Yeah, you should come over. It'll be great, like a housewarming party. Ooh, I better go, I'll call you when dinner's ready?" She thrust her phone in his direction and he leaned away from it as if it was a live demon Naga, a half-snake half-man demon.
In the end, he couldn't even refuse as he inputted his number and watched her leave his apartment.
"Bye!"
He smiled half heartedly as he waved goodbye before slamming the door shut, leaning against it, and sliding down in resignation.
Why did I just agree to that? He questioned himself as he slammed his head back on the door, gently since he didn't want to put a hole in the door and put his head out of it. That would be one awkward conversation.
As far as he could sense, he didn't sense any advanced electronics or the signature all purpose Kimoyo Beads that she could use to scan everything in sight but one could never be too paranoid so he resolved to maintain steady CHI output consistent with normal humans for all the time he would be in that apartment.
He felt tense, as if he was walking into a trap of some sort.
Yeah right. As if the Princess of Wakanda would go somewhere else to study Material sciences. He scoffed internally. T'Chaka would have built her whatever size lab she wanted if she had just asked.
"Well, this is interesting." He nearly jumped out of his skin as Jin'Ya's voice revered all around him, not through the mental link.
He looked around and hissed into his mind, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, don't worry, I am just using the airwaves to speak to you. Everything is isolated, not even someone standing right next to you would hear me speak." Such was the confidence that came from honing your telekinetic prowess for literal millennia.
He sighed in relief as he stood up to boil some eggs. He was sure that whatever dinner that was awaiting him in that den would not complete his daily protein intake, so eggs it was. Protein came first.
"Just…come here soon."
"You got it."
He did not look forward to whatever mac and cheese meal she could make, he thought as he collapsed on the sofa, doom scrolling on his phone as the 10 eggs were set to boil with an automatic timer that would kick in and stop the flame.
He then paused in his scrolling, and then mentally kicked himself for having any preconceived notions about Shuri, based on his meta knowledge. This was an entirely different person he was dealing with, someone who was born in a different era, grew up with a set of parents that might have had a completely different set of personalities, alongside an older brother whose personality might have changed completely after having a younger sister that was much closer to his age.
If he remembered correctly, in the MCU, Shuri was like 20 years younger than T'Challa, something absurd like that.
Perking up, he opened the university website, logged in using his student ID, and began looking for course lists. It was public data, to see the names of the students enrolled in different courses.
The Material Sciences course had a lot of enrollments, probably because of the promised shiny new investments in any and every research project. Most of these students were probably there to make money and that was fine, everyone had to eat but in his opinion, if one wanted to advance their own field so much that people began throwing money at them, one had to be passionate about the subject, or willing to work like a donkey and have the corresponding talent.
Filtering the list alphabetically, he scrolled down and finally found the name. Shuri Udaku, huh, so that's their surname, or more probably, that was the designated fake surname Wakanda used everywhere on the planet.
So, she was speaking the truth. She was enrolled in the program or at least her name was on the list. She could have just as easily hacked the whole thing so who knows? Dropping the phone on the coffee table, he leaned back and rubbed his eyes as he thought of how he could get out of this predicament.
Yes, he only had four days before he was whisked off to LA but something told him that even that wouldn't be enough plus, he had stuff, important stuff that needed to be taken care of before his internship. Jin'Ya could act as his substitute in many matters but not at Ta-Lo, the old dragon might just provoke the poor old Water Dragon in Ta-Lo. That dragon did not have a name or rather, no one knew it.
When asked, Jin'Ya told him that all Dragons guarded their true names zealously as it could be used to cause immense harm to not just the Dragons themselves but to their entire bloodlines. With draconic birth rates being what they were, none of the Dragons wanted the slightest chance of harm to come to their younglings.
If a Dragon told someone their true name, it meant that the Dragon trusted the person with not just the Dragon's wellbeing but also with its future children. That level of trust was rare and it was probably also the reason why the Water Dragon was just called "guardian patron" by the locals.
____xx___
Meanwhile, Stark Industries HQ, LA.
–Tony Stark–
"Hey! Look who's here! My shining star!" He smiled as he hugged Obi, his father in all but name. Growing up, he remembered seeing Obi a lot more than his own father. His father trusted the man and so did he, as most of the operations in the company were overseen by the man himself.
"Hey Obi, how's it going?" He sat down in Obi's cabin, which was surprisingly simple. He expected a lot more opulence.
"Great, great. All thanks to you, my once in a century genius. With our new Jericho missiles, well, let's just say that you are about to make a lot of people even richer. The stock market is going to riot once they see the amount of zeroes on the cheque that the Army will be throwing at us." Obi grinned and slid him a whiskey, neat, just like he liked.
"Yeah, about that.."
Obi's smile left his face as he leaned forward, "What? Is something wrong with the Missiles? Do we need to recall the ones sent forward for the demonstration?"
He waved his hand, "No! No, nothing like that. The missiles should work perfectly fine. It was just that I was looking for the production manifesto and couldn't find any. Do we keep it in physical files or something?" He slightly joked at Obi since everything was mandated to be kept on secured encrypted servers as per Company policy.
The encounter with the hacker left him with some questions, some uncomfortable questions that could be easily answered since he had access to all of Stark Industries' files. Unfortunately, as he later found out, he did not have access to all the files, for some reason.
Hence, his reason for visiting Obi. He needed to check the manifesto and see how many were produced and sold to check for himself if company policies were being followed or not.
"Oh, that? Yeah, we moved to strict physical copies once you informed us of the breach last year. Most sensitive information is kept like that. Unfortunately, I don't have that list on BUT don't worry, I will make sure it is delivered to you before you leave for Afghanistan. You leave in 2 days, right?"
He nodded.
"Don't worry, I will take care of it. It's my mistake anyway, I should have given you a copy in the beginning itself but I was just so busy, you know how it is.."
He waved his hands to calm the man down, "I understand, truly. It is some idle curiosity of mine. We can go over the files once I am back from Afghanistan anyway." He stood up from the chair, ready to leave since he was satisfied with the answers.
"Since you're here, I thought we might just get some dinner, you know, you & I haven't had dinner in years now."
Putting on his coat, he spoke, "What? That can't be right. What about that–"
"I'm not talking about award functions, Tony." The man said in an exasperated tone and he grinned at the man.
"See you around, Obi."
"See you, Tony!"
Tony turned around and missed the flash of hatred on Obi's face, as Tony headed back to his car, ready to relax for the 2 days before he had to endure the scorching weather of Afghanistan.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
A/N -
In some comics, Shuri's surname is Udaku and their rule was known as the Udaku Dynasty of Wakanda.
Something something True Draconic names being precious, something something witchcraft dangerous.
Also, Tony has begun asking the right questions but apparently, forgot to trust the right person.
Poor Tones