Chapter 10
"You do realise when you say I can't do something, it makes me wanna prove you wrong?" Salem said, earbuds in as she was calling someone as she walked into the kitchen where the Avengers congregated after their meeting with Secretary Ross. "Telling me it's not possible just makes me wanna do it more!"
"Who're you talking to?" Steve suddenly asked.
"Shuri," Salem said before getting back to her conversation with the princess.
"I tell you that whatever you're planning isn't going to work," Shuri said. "It would be too unstable."
"Transporting Vibranium at high speeds is dangerous and thought to be impossible but you proved them wrong," Salem retorted.
Shuri made a sound of resignation. "True. That's fair but I'm Shuri."
She grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. "I just need to know if I could get a tiny piece of Vibranium and try my theory. I'll send it back to you when it works."
"When it works?"
She paused like she was almost shocked by what Shuri said. "I created an AI capable of contacting you with little effort. I know that I can find a way to create a fuel system for me."
"Have your powers been pissing you off again?"
"YES!" Salem almost yelled, opening the bottle and taking a big gulp of the water before capping it again. "Every single fucking time I try and do something cool like fly or change the molecular design of something, I'm out of juice. And I'm no longer allowed near a defibrillator so I can't just give myself a boost."
"Because you keep shocking yourself with it!" Tony said aloud. "Can you please have your conversation somewhere else?"
Salem sent him a glare which he just returned.
Neither of them were getting along recently, causing a bit of turmoil between both Starks. It didn't extend to the other Avengers as Salem only interacted as much as needed and Tony was more of a consultant than anything recently.
"I've got to go anyway, snake girl," Shuri said. "I'll try and convince my father in letting me send you some nanites and Vibranium. I'm trying to find a way to redistribute kinetic energy with them. Can you try it and find a way? We can exchange notes on it."
"'Course, panther princess," Salem teased. "I'll draw up some ideas and send them to you."
The call ended after a quick goodbye and a promise to talk soon again.
Salem tucked her earbuds back into her bracelet, letting them become one again. She went and sat on the sofa next to Natasha, sitting closer to Steve as the Avengers continued to talk about the Accords.
She put on her circular sunglasses and almost grinned when she started to read the book that seemed to split the Avengers in two.
"Stop reading it," Tony said sternly as he realised that Salem got access to an online version of the Accords.
"I'm bored," She countered, continuing to skim and scan the Accords as she continued. "And I'm interested in what the people in charge think is a good idea. Please tell me you're not actually gonna sign this shit? You sign and you lose your right to choose."
"Exactly," Steve said, turning to Tony was now standing right between Salem and Steve. "If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What would have happened if this was proposed last year and we couldn't go to that boarding school? Would you have stayed behind and let the school be destroyed, fully knowing that your daughter was attending, Tony?"
"That's different,"
"No, it's not. You would have gone regardless of this," Steve lifted the papers of the Accords as if it was trash.
"Wait…" Salem sat up straight, reading through more of the legal jargon. "You cannot sign it, Dad."
"Why can't I sign it?" He snapped.
"Because, while you have FRIDAY right now, The creation of self-aware artificial intelligence is completely prohibited," Salem read out the line. "You'd not be allowed to create any more AIs that are like FRIDAY or LILITH."
"I don't need any more AIs," He said. "You shouldn't be here, Salem. You're not an Avenger."
"I don't want to be if I have to sign this," She snapped, gesturing to the Accord papers. "Secret identities must be revealed to the UN, and anyone with innate powers, so people like Wanda, Steve, Vision, and I, would have to wear tracking bracelets at all times. They would treat us like dogs. I wouldn't sign it just so the people in power have a safety net to keep those capable leashed."
"I'm signing it regardless of what you say, Salem," Tony said. "If I'm signing it, you are too."
Salem stood up. "Luckily, I don't have to. I'm not an Avenger even if I do have innate powers."
"You'll do as you're told," He said as she started to walk away.
"You're acting like Howard."
She knew it was a low blow to mention him after seeing part of what type of relationship the two Stark men had and she knew it would send him in a downward spiral, but she didn't care at the moment.
With Tony's insistence of her not using her powers, Salem's insistence to harness them for her own gain increased. Being told what not to do just made her want to do it more and her powers were a part of her and shouldn't be hidden away because her father said so.
)()()(
For Salem to get the Vibranium and nanites she needed to create a sort of fuel thing for herself, she had to travel to Wakanda.
Her father didn't say anything as she left, packing enough to stay a month or so because she had no clue how long she would be gone. Both Shuri and Salem had no idea how long it would take to create the actual products, mostly because they had plans but they had very little knowledge of how it would work with Salem's abilities.
The general of the Dora Milaje escorted Salem to Wakanda, making sure that there wasn't anything dangerous on Salem's person or in her stuff.
Explaining Duke was difficult.
"She looks ready to kill me," Salem muttered as she gave Shuri a hug when they landed.
Shuri laughed. "That's just Okoye. Come on, let's go to the labs. There's so much I want to sh—"
"Shuri," A female voice extended the name in a way only a parent could.
"Sorry, Mother!" Shuri shrank, tugging Salem along. "Mother, this is Salem."
"Sabrina Stark," Salem said. "But I go by Salem more, your majesty."
Queen Ramonda regarded her with the scrutiny of a parent approving their child's friend. She smiled softly and nodded. "Pleasure to meet you, Salem. Shuri has spoken highly of you. You have powers, don't you?"
"Yeah, I don't know the limitations yet but I do know I need fuel to use them," Salem smiled sheepishly. "I need external energy to use as fuel, otherwise I cannot use my powers and am just human."
"That's interesting. Do you know why you have this ability?"
"No, we haven't figured it out, but we suspect I was born with it but it lays dormant until I want to use it,"
"You have control over it?"
Salem wanted to say she did but didn't want to lie. "Partly. I have more control than I don't, but it stays dormant usually."
"Good, good," Queen Ramonda said. "You are quite welcome to go anywhere in Wakanda, within reason. You both have four hours in the lab before dinner, and you will both attend."
Queen Ramonda turned on her heels and left both girls with sheepish smiles, fully knowing she would need to send someone to retrieve them.
)()()(
As much fun as designing was, building it was so much better!
The lab had mostly filled out as people left for dinner or to go home or whatnot, but the two teens refused to even think about leaving the labs until they had the first prototype of the new kinetic energy converter.
It was roughly styled like brass knuckles with a ring on each finger including the thumb. It was still a little stiff and rather ugly but they worked.
There was a thin electrical current that stretched between the rings, going through a silicone case that made it look like there was webbing between the rings. The energy created by the person moving would charge the electrical current in the silicone if they could get the damned silicone to transfer the current into the body.
After the four hours were up, Shuri and Salem were forced into the dining room and were told they weren't allowed to leave until they had finished their plates of food.
They didn't rush as they ate, both tapping away at the table as they had a screen projected onto it. Queen Ramonda didn't say anything, pleased that both of them were eating at the very least.
"Instead of keeping the ring design, why don't we go for gloves?" Shuri asked, swiping an image of fingerless gloves towards Salem's screen.
"It would work and look nice," Salem said. "We'd need something that could zap the energy into the skin."
"Shock collar?" Shuri grinned.
"If the collar fits," Salem laughed. "Create a sort of necklace or something that the gloves could connect to. Having the energy being absorbed from nearer the heart works more efficiently than if it went through the arms."
"If we add in something to do with the legs, say anklets that have similar designs to the gloves, you could absorb much more kinetic energy simply by walking around,"
"Small bursts of energy had seemed better than large amounts of it in short bursts," She mentioned. "Bigger bursts allow sudden swarms of power through, though smaller ones can quickly add up and are more likely to be less harmful."
"Why don't we just create you a suit?"
"Because a suit isn't practical and I don't want to be a superhero," Salem said. "It's for personal use, and for help when needed. Keep the glove and anklet idea, but scrap the collar. Vibranium is an amazing conductor, so putting a very thin, almost nanoscopic layer of it on the leather of the palm of the glove, would allow me to touch my chest area if I ever need a boost, otherwise, I would get tiny bursts over long periods."
They both made notes on the screens on the table, finishing their meals before they were allowed to leave the dining room.
)()()(
"You're not signing the accords?" Shuri asked as they continued to work on the gloves, Shuri on the table using a soldering thing to bind metal together on a tiny frame.
Salem was a couple of feet away, working with leather as she sewed the gloves together. "No, I'm not. I agree that enhanced people shouldn't have as much power as they do right now, but the accords take their right to privacy away. I don't want to be registered and tracked like an animal and I doubt anyone else does either."
Shuri grimaced. "That… does sound horrible when you put it that way."
"Have you read the document?"
"No, I wasn't allowed to,"
Salem swiped across the glass screen of her watch, sending the document to Shuri.
"LILITH found it for me," Salem said. "It's worth a read to better understand why I'm not signing. I'm not gonna go do some sort of vigilante shit or anything so most of this doesn't apply to me."
"Fair," Shuri agreed. "Ready to test?"
)()()(
After the attack on the signing of the Sokovia Accords, Tony asked Salem, in as many pleasant ways as he could, to stay at the compound and keep Wanda company.
With an explosion on the outside of the compound, Salem sighed. She knew this was coming, she had been warned by Natasha that something like this would happen.
Both Wanda and Salem stood in the kitchen, looking out of the window as Vision appeared right next to them.
"What is it?" Wanda asked.
"Stay here, please," Vision ordered before disappearing.
Salem tilted her head. "A distraction. Clint, stay there."
The women turned around to find Clint Barton standing a couple of metres away.
"Should I have knocked instead?" Clint almost grinned.
"Oh my god. What are you doing here?"
"Disappointing my kids," He said, shooting a couple of arrows to set up an electrical barrier. He grabbed Wanda by the arm gently. "Cap needs our help. Come on. You coming, Salem?"
"I'm not getting involved," Salem calmly shook her head.
"Fair. You've got more important stuff than this."
Vision appeared again. "Clint! You should not be here."
"Really?" Clint almost laughed. "I retire for, what, like five minutes, and it all goes to shit."
"Please consider the consequences of your actions."
"Okay, they're considered." He started for the door but he noticed Wanda wasn't following, he gestured to the door. "It's this way."
"I've caused enough problems," Wanda trailed off, picking at her sleeve.
Salem walked to the fridge, getting a Monster energy drink that she had stocked there. She drank it as she watched what started to happen, which she quickly got sick of.
She had figured out that if she concentrated on something, she could use her powers to do anything. And now she was going to test a theory.
Standing behind Vision, Salem thought of taking over his mind, controlling his body for a short time. Of course, it worked but not for long, leaving enough time for Wanda and Clint to leave before she almost collapsed from exhaustion.
Tony wasn't happy when he found out but she didn't care, though he did put her on picking up the new member duty.
)()()(
Salem leaned on the hood of the orange Audi R8, waiting outside the Midtown School of Science and Technology.
Bright red cargo trousers encased her legs while she wore a skin-tight black crop top with no bra. What was the point if it was warm? She had her sunglasses on as she waited. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail and trailed down in pin-straight lines. She had her gloves on as she rarely took them off anymore.
A teacher came up to her within minutes of her appearance. "That outfit isn't appropriate for school."
"I'm not a student," She retorted. "I'm here to pick someone up."
"You look like you should be in school,"
"I'm doing an undergraduate,"
"At your age?"
Salem didn't reply to that one, ignoring the teacher as Peter Parker arrived and waved the teacher off.
Peter was like a puppy, an energetic, over-hyper puppy.
He reminded her of a labrador, and she loved dogs.
)()()(