"What is that?"

Okoye was instantly alert – even though Tony had made sure to tell the leader of the Wakandan security team what was going to happen. To make sure there weren't any unpleasantries. The woman hadn't heard of the Hulk, before, however – most Wakandans hadn't, unless they were young and had the same access to the news and nets that Shuri did – and she immediately stepped up, her ceremonial spear suddenly poised in defense.

"It's the Incredible Hulk," Shuri said, excitedly. She was just a little nervous, too, though. The videos captured of the beast had only shown mayhem and destruction – and a lot of roars of anger. She trusted Tony, though, and was certain the monster wasn't going to be allowed to hurt anyone. "How did you get him here?"

"It's a secret," he said, mysteriously. "Peter? Go get your friends."

The other teens all knew who the Hulk was, too, of course. They also all knew that he was destructive and dangerous. There were all kinds of stories out there on the internet about how the Avengers kept the beast caged in the basement – and one guy in New Jersey swore that his dad said the Hulk had fallen from the sky and crashed into a deserted warehouse, only to turn into a man in front of his eyes. They all knew neither of those could be true, and they had their own theories about his origins and his whereabouts in between sightings.

He clearly wasn't at the compound, though. Ned and Peter and MJ all had been all over the place and none of them had said anything about the Hulk. Ever.

None of the kids had expected to see him, and definitely had been startled by his appearance. Some looked decidedly nervous when Peter walked over to them, while Hulk moved through the crowd toward the table Shuri was at with Tony and the others.

"Jesus, Peter…" Abe said, excitedly. The creature hand screamed, roared, or torn anyone into pieces, yet, so it was a good sign there wasn't any carnage to come that evening. The Hulk must be somewhat tamed. "Did you know that was going to happen?"

"We planned for it to," Peter hedged, smiling at MJ, who was pale, but clearly enjoying the shock. "Sometimes Hulk doesn't follow schedules, though, and it's pretty hard to get him to do something he doesn't want to do."

"Have you seen him before?" one of the girls asked.

"A couple of times."

"Does he really stay in a cage under the compound?"

"No."

"Where is he from, then?" Flash asked, obviously unable to hold onto the air of disdain that he normally exuded when with his classmates. The Hulk was a pretty impressive feat, after all. "Someone would have seen him. He's hard to hide."

"He moves around a lot," Peter said. He looked at Ned. "He's willing to do photo ops with us, though – if you guys want?"

Ned was interested, immediately, of course. Peter's best friend had photos of himself with Steve – in and out of the Captain America uniform – as well as Tony (in the suit and out), Hawkeye, Natasha, and a lot of the SHIELD agents. He didn't have any with Spiderman (to avoid people making the observation that Spiderman was about the same size as Peter Parker when he stood beside Ned. He definitely didn't have any with the Hulk, and that was going to be a story to tell Monday at school.

"Yeah!"

Rather than move them over to the table, Peter gestured for his friends to head toward the corner of the gym that held Ironpig's enclosure. It was the biggest area, and a huge display was dropping down to provide any backdrop that anyone could want.

"Think he'll pick me up?" Abe asked, equally excited. "Maybe pretend to eat me, or something?"

"Maybe he will really eat you," Flash said, making a couple of the others laugh.

"Better hope not, since you're the alternate for Geography."

More laughter, and Peter had to admit that he was enjoying his friends' reactions. Even Flash wasn't being a jerk, and it was making for a much more entertaining time. Not that he'd invite the guy over any more than he was required to, of course, and it was probably just the fact that he didn't want to show his true colors around Shuri, but he was behaving.

OOOOOOO

Shuri shivered in anticipation as the huge green monster stalked through the crowded gym and walked up to the table. The girl's brother had placed himself between her and Hulk, and his hand was hovering close to the activation device of his Black Panther suit.

Tony moved to stand beside him, but he was relaxed – as were the other Avengers at the table, and Stephen. They all knew it was fine.

"He's not going to do anything crazy," Tony assured his friend. "She's fine."

Ramonda looked like she was ready to faint, and was staring at the advancing monster. Thor moved to stand beside her, and he was watching the creature cautiously. Of course, Pepper realized, he didn't know that the light caused from Peter's snap had soothed the relationship between Banner and his alter ego.

"What is he?" Shuri's mother asked.

"Lab experiment gone very, very wrong," was Tony's reply. "But he's mellowed a lot in the past years, and he's an ally."

"He saved Tony's life in New York," Natasha added, smiling when Hulk stopped in front of Tony and T'Challa, and looked down on them, intimidating, even when he wasn't trying to be.

"Photos?"

Bruce actually had better command of Hulk's vocabulary, now that the two were at peace with each other, but he had told Tony that he was going to stay in character with so many people around. Especially since he had spent the day with many of them – including Peter's friends – and they were intelligent and observant. They might have been able to figure it out – even through the muscles and green.

Better safe than sorry.

"Yeah, buddy," Stark said, smiling. The hair was short and messy, and the muscles just kept coming. Hulk was the only one that could make Thor and Steve look puny by comparison. "See where Peter is?"

The beast looked over to the corner.

"Peter…"

"You can't eat him," Natasha said, forcing her expression to remain bland. "We're just doing pictures."

"Say hi to Shuri, first, though," Tony suggested, turning so he could gesture for the princess to step up between himself and T'Challa. "And be nice. She's royalty."

"Hulk always nice," Bruce replied. He held a big, meaty hand out to the girl. "Hullo."

Shuri's smile was enchanted at the gentle touch, and she looked up at Hulk.

"Hello. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Hulk agrees."

Tony forced himself to not roll his eyes, but he did exchange a look with Pepper. Bruce was playing the dumb beast up a little heavy, he thought. But as long as he was enjoying himself, the billionaire decided.

"We're going to take some pictures, pal," he said. "Lots of them, I think."

To judge by how many of Peter's friends were already waiting – and then add in Barton's two oldest, although Lila had sought the safety of her father's arms when Hulk had appeared, and hadn't yet transferred to Peter's. Although Tony knew that she would.

"Hulk like pictures," came the deep reply. The hand took Shuri's, gentle despite the vast size difference. "Come, Princess."

The girl was smiling broadly.

"You can call me Shuri."

"Shuri."

T'Challa frowned when the beast led his sister away, toward Peter and the small crowd.

"Is she safe with it?" the king of Wakanda asked, still looking uncertain.

"Absolutely. Besides," Tony added. "We'll be right there. Just in case." He smirked. "I probably taste much better than Shuri."

"You probably taste pickled," Stephen disagreed, drolly.

Stark smirked at the dig. True, he'd consumed a bit of alcohol in his time. But he was beyond it enough to be amused, now.

"Maybe. Let's hope we don't find out."