"Target in sight honey," I said. "Copy that IP - and not intellectual property either!" He snorted at his dorky humor. I quickly added, "Or internet protocol either." We both shared a snort/laugh there. Corny as hell I know, especially given what was going on, but Pete had a legendary "bad" sense of humor; and girls loved a man that could make them laugh. This one did anyway...

I know - game time. We slowed to a hover. Our stealth fields continued to work Stark well. "How do you want to play this?" Pete said. It was hard to say. We had to stop them, but Mandarin could easily turn this into a swiftly escalating situation, and once it did that...there could be no going back. Still, Mandarin wanted to communize the world; not destroy it. What good was communism if you weren't around to be tyrannized by it...?

An alert came in...but it wasn't from our suit sensors - it was from the wonder plane, and its magical sensors. "What is it?" Peter said. "The wonder plane's picked up a distortion in our immediate airspace..." "Mandarin?" "No; Wakandan." "What the hell?" Wakandan tech was among the most advanced in Marvel worlds, but not more than Olympian... I hailed the scout sized craft in the air with us. "Wakandan aircraft - this is Iron Patriot. We know you're out there. Please respond." Silence. "Repeat - this is Iron Patriot, aka Wonder Woman. We know you're out there. We're here to help. Shield sent us."

A secure response came through. "This is King T'Challa. I am aware of these facts. What do you propose to do?" "I was hoping we could do that together now that you're here your highness." He sent more secure data; in particular a way to track his craft - a Wakandan aerial scout fighter. It was an act of trust. "Obviously Wakanda does not want a war." "No highness, but if you're truly aware of all the facts Mandarin has made some sort of alliance with the crocodile cult of your people." "I am aware; and it complicates things greatly." "Yes sir - and it could lead to world war if we're not careful."

If we engaged anyone here it could very well lead to a full scale, irreversible, escalation. As superheroes we tended to punch away sometimes too quickly. We had to be more measured here. "Yes, I agree. But somehow I don't think diplomacy alone will do it. And meanwhile this hostile group gets closer to the continent and to my nation that I am sworn to protect."

Peter remained quiet. T'challa seemed open to different options so long as Wakanda remained safe. "Atlantis is also allied with China," I said. "Yes," said the king. "Another key factor. Yet we are in the best position to send the Mandarin and his allies a clear message here and now." Peter then said, "Maybe we should abort this op and go to Wakanda and deal with this Sobek character first."

"What do you say your majesty?" I was liking my husband's suggestion better. And if Mandarin pushed his allies into the heart of the continent and to Wakanda it would give us better justification to go back at them. And maybe, just maybe, if we stopped the internal Wakandan allies of Mandarin the invasion would be cut off. Everything would remain tense for now until that was dealt with. "I agree with your husband's suggestion. Please follow me back to Wakanda." "Roger that highness. Honey, you heard the king." "Copy that Mrs. Parker - lead on."