Chapter 35: Reunion
Tony blinked, and he was in Wakanda.
The Jump Drive had deposited the first jump group in the middle of the Wakandan jungle. On this side of the planet, night had already fallen. They had all been living in the tropical climate of the Savage Land for years now, and the frigid snowy mountainscape they had just teleported into was a real shock. Tony was glad his suit had built-in thermoregulators, but the others were all shivering.
After a few seconds, figures appeared in the jungle around them, materializing from the blackish-blueish-purple night air and surrounding them with weapons drawn. The Thing instinctively took a fighting stance, but Sue Storm put her hand gently on his arm. "Easy, Ben," she muttered.
The figures approached. They were African tribal members, each with a decorative bone in their nose, dressed in warm furs, and holding long wooden spears. One of the men approached, bowing his head to Nick Fury. "King T'Challa told us you would be coming," he said. "Follow me."
The man turned and strode off into jungle, and the heroes after him. "There are more of us on their way," said Fury.
"And my brothers will bring them to Jabariland as well," the man said.
The jungle ended shortly, putting them out on the mountainside. From here they could look clear across the ravine below at the snowy mountains on the other side. The snow crunched under their feet as the man led them along the side of the mountain, up a path. Ant-Man eyed the wall of the mountain, which had had a large gorilla head carved into it. The gorilla's eyes were hollow, his mouth open, lips back, and fangs bared in a menacing frozen roar.
"So, this is Jabariland?" asked Tony.
"Yes," said their guide. "This is the safest place for our people ever since the invaders came. Loki's forces aren't moving from the city. And anytime we try to press them, we lose a dozen men. I think M'Baku and the others plan to assemble our forces on these hills. A wide-open target might make the aliens rethink their strategy."
"And what about Loki?" asked Fury.
"He is the cagiest of all of them," said their guide. "He's appeared, time to time, to taunt us or send regards by way of strafing runs with the Dark Elf ships. It's alright, though. He'll have what's coming to him soon enough."
As they rounded the trail on the mountainside, the heroes could see what looked like glittering dots of light on the side of the mountain in front of them. The closer they got, the easier they could see that it wasn't actually dots of light, but all lamps or candles or fires that lit up wooden homes built directly on the side of the mountain. Jabariland was a construct of twisting tunnels that had been naturally eroded into the gneiss and granite of the mountain range, and expanded on by the Jabari Tribe upon their self-isolation.
They made their way through the city, amid the staring eyes of many a Wakandan, until they had reached the Gorilla's Chambers, a wooden structure built extending out from one of the cliffs. An enormous gorilla had been carved out of rock beneath the structure, its arms extending upwards, its teeth bared in a roar as if it were holding up the wooden building above it with its bare hands.
If the heroes had been hoping to catch a break from the cold, they were in for a disappointment. The inside of the chief's quarters was open-air, exposing the entire room to the mountain air. Wooden stakes hung from strings tied to the ceiling, creating a see-through semi-wall in a half-circle around the chief's throne. In the throne, flanked by two Gorilla Tribe warriors, sat the Great Gorilla M'Baku.
Even seated, M'Baku was a foreboding presence, his stocky muscular build filling out the throne on which he sat. He was draped in silverback gorilla furs, wrapped over both his forearms and around his neck, and he held a wooden knobkerrie as he sat speaking with T'Challa. The conversation ended as they entered the room, and T'Challa stepped aside.
"Ah, I see more of my compatriots have made the journey successfully," he said.
"Chief," Tony said respectfully. "Your Highness." He extended his hand to shake M'Baku's, and the bigger man took it. Tony grimaced slightly as his hand was squeezed in the man's powerful grip.
"Please," M'Baku said. "There is only one king in this room." He cast a glance in T'Challa's direction. "I am told you are here to help us free our land from the offworlders."
"That is correct," said Fury. "The rest of our forces will be arriving all night long."
"I fear Loki knows you are here," M'Baku mused. "Jabariland has avoided detection for so long because we are technology-free. With the presence of the King's Royal Talon fighter, and your energy surges caused by teleportation technology, it will arouse suspicion. Just earlier today our scouts reported that Doctor Doom has arrived in the Golden City." He turned to T'Challa. "How big of reinforcements can we expect?"
Sue Storm answered the question for him. "We have probably sixty or so heroes who will be joining us here."
"And those who remain of the Royal Guard, the Dora Milaje, and the Border Tribe, River Tribe, and Mining Tribe," T'Challa added. "A force of around five hundred total."
"Well, Your Highness, if it's any comfort, one thing I've learned from my many years being an Avenger is that numbers don't win a battle," Tony said.
"Perhaps not, Mr. Stark," T'Challa mused. "But they do help."
The morning sun was just beginning to break over the horizon as the Quinjet entered Earth's airspace. Hawkeye had been given rendezvous coordinates from Nick Fury before their operation began, and those coordinates would drop them directly in the middle of the African jungle, in a small third-world country called Wakanda.
The trees of Wakanda stood tall. Their trunks, covered with shaggy, moss bark, rose from the fertile ground beneath them, some of them as straight as a pillar, some twisty as a wire hangar. Some of them were as big around as a house, and some as thin as a leg. Their foliage was thick and lush in color, scattering the sunlight in delicate blue-green patterns over the jungle floor.
Distributed thickly among these ancient trees was the usual array of rainforest flora—broadleafs of several species, various tropical forms, variously gnarled and leafy. The groundcover was primarily fern, but so dense in spots as to resemble a gentle green sea that rippled softly in the forest breeze.
This was the kingdom, save for the rippling grasslands to the west: verdant, primeval, silent. Light filtered through the sheltering branches like golden ichor, as if the very air were alive. It was warm, and it was cool. This was Wakanda.
It was so breathtaking to Donnie, as he sat in the passengers' area of the Quinjet, staring out at the green carpet of treetops as they flew over Wakanda. He didn't know too much about the country, but if there was any place on Earth to see after spending months away from the planet, it would be this one.
His stomach felt full of butterflies. This was the first time in forever that he would get to see his family. His brothers. Michelangelo. Raphael. Master Splinter. And—his heart skipped several beats—April. He'd be lying if he said thoughts of her hadn't kept him going, during their space adventures, when times were tough.
The ground beneath them went from green to white as they entered the Wakandan mountainside. The clouds were thick here, and if not for the Quinjet's sensors they probably wouldn't have known where the ground was. Thoughts whirled at lightning speed in Donnie's brain. There were so many things to tell his brothers about. Meeting Fugitoid. Their adventures on each different planet. Fighting Thanos. Cosmo the talking dog. Their run-in with Mozar and the Triceratons. His perfection of the retro-mutagen formula. Beating Ego. The Contest of Champions. Asgard. And Raph would want to know how Mona was doing.
All those thoughts vanished as the Quinjet lurched underneath them, touching down on the outskirts of some kind of city in the mountains. All those thoughts were replaced by one, singular thought:
It's good to be home.
It felt like he was breathing air for the first time when the Quinjet's airlock hissed open and the heroes walked out into the village in front of him. They were greeted by other superheroes. There were a lot of people Donnie didn't recognize, but he could see Nick Fury and Tony Stark further along in the crowd. Power Man and Spider-Man ran forward carrying Wolverine's body bag, with Power Man shouting for someone to get them a medic.
Donnie's breath caught in his throat as he took his first step off of the Quinjet's landing ramp, feeling Earth's surface under his feet again for the first time in months. His eyes glazed over briefly with tears as Leo, who was several feet ahead of him, turned back with concern. "You ok, Don?" he asked.
"I—" Donnie wasn't able to finish his sentence as the emotion overwhelmed him.
A light green blur came barrelling through the crowd just then, tackling him to the ground. "DONNIEEEEE!"
Donnie felt the wind leave his lungs, and it took him a moment to realize that the person currently lying on top of him and strangling him with a hug was Mikey. His little brother was so excited, he was babbling nonsense. "Sweet mother of the almighty Pizza Trinity, it's you, Donnie! Holy chalupa!"
"Mikey . . ." Donnie gurgled, tapping Mikey's shell to get his attention. "Can't . . . gllk . . . breathe . . ."
"Oh, sorry, dude!" Mikey climbed off, helping Donnie to his feet. But as soon as Donnie was standing, Mikey jumped back into his arms, wrapping tight and burying his face in Donnie's neck. "It's you, bro! It's really you!"
"Yes, Mikey, it's me, and it's great to see you again." Donnie returned his little brother's hug. "Oh, that reminds me, I have something for you."
He reached into his backpack, pulling out his autographed Namor #7 comic that he'd picked up from the shop on Sakaar. Mikey's eyes widened even further than Donnie thought possible as he handed his brother the comic book. "Oh my sausage and anchovied stars, it's a signed Marvel comic by Stan the Man himself!" Mikey danced for joy, flipping through the comic's pages.
Suddenly he noticed his other brother. The comic immediately forgotten, he dropped it as he threw himself at Leo. "Leo!" he cried.
"Woah!" Leo laughed as he caught Mikey in his arms. "Missed you too, little buddy," he said, rubbing Mikey's head affectionately.
"No way!" Casey shouted, as he ran over to them. "Is that really you, Don? Wicked!"
He threw his arms around Donnie in a bear hug which Donnie returned. "Yeah, it's me, Casey," Donnie said.
Casey broke the hug, sizing up Donatello. "You haven't changed a bit. Still the same as I remember you, Gap Tooth."
Donnie grinned at the name; he knew Casey was only joking. And he had a comeback ready. "Right back at ya, Cave Mouth."
He turned his head slightly and spotted April breaking from the crowd and walking towards him. Her blue eyes shone with radiance as they sparkled in the early morning sun, and she was more beautiful than Donnie remembered. Her ginger hair swept back in her trademark ponytail, exposing her flawless facial features, those cute freckles, the white crescent of her smile as she started grinning, her shapely figure …
Donnie could feel himself blushing as he turned to face her. "April, I—" he started. He'd had a speech prepared in his head, of what he wanted to say to her when he saw her again for the first time in forever, but all that disappeared when she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Donnie!" she cried. "Oh, my gosh, it's really you!" She laughed, pulling away to look at him. "I thought I'd never see you again," she murmured, leaning forward and planting a quick kiss above his mouth and in between his eyes, where his nose would be if he had a nose.
She let go, and Donnie struggled to stand upright, his legs turning to jelly and his head spinning as if he were on a merry-go-round. "Missed … you … too … April," he said, before flopping to the ground in a daze, a goofy grin on his face.
Casey laughed. "Looks like we all missed you, buddy."
The Gorilla Tribe women had put Raph up in one of their huts. He wasn't completely bedridden, but Night Nurse had made it clear that he should spend as little time on his feet as possible. But then he heard the commotion outside. Supers and villagers were running past, moving towards the center of the village. Apparently the Asteroid M boarding party had returned from a successful mission, but people were saying there were others who came back with them. Then Raph heard a little villager girl say that the newcomers looked like him, pointing at Raph when she said so. A glimmer of hope rose in Raph's chest. "Could it be—?" he wondered aloud. "No, it's not possible!"
He grabbed his crutches, hauling himself to his feet as he hobbled out of the hut into the cool early morning air. Each step he took was a struggle, but he moved forward with a lurching gait, one foot in front of the other. He reached the Quinjet and scanned the area frantically. The area was full of people, gathered round, talking, laughing—
And then he spotted the tails of a blue eye mask fluttering in the wind, as the wearer stood with his back to Raph, talking to Casey. If Raph had any doubts of who the person was, they vanished when the figure turned towards Raph's direction, catching his eye. It was Leo.
Raph stumbled forward awkwardly on his crutches, tears blurring his vision as a lump quickly formed in his throat. He didn't stop until he had reached Leo, who was standing there with open arms. Leo's voice sounded like it was coming from a million miles away. Raph didn't know what he was saying, and didn't care. He collapsed into Leo's arms, dropping the crutches and wrapping his arms around his brother's neck. Burying his face in Leo's neck, he felt the lump in his throat explode forth with a tremendous sob as tears began flowing freely from behind eyelids squeezed tightly shut.
Raph cried hard, inhaling and exhaling with racking sobs that shook his chest and made his ribs hurt as he stood there, supported by Leo's weight, his brother holding him up as he cried. Leo patted Raph on the back, rubbing his shell and whispering "Shh, it's all right, Raph. I'm right here" in his ear.
Finally Raph got control of his emotions enough to pull back and look up at Leo. "I-I thought …" he sniffled, wiping tears and snot from his face. "I thought I'd never see you again, Leo."
"I'm not going anywhere, Raph," Leo said, smiling back at his brother and hugging him close again.
Splinter and Karai approached the happy reunion, and Leo and Karai shared a hug. "Hey, sis," he said. "Glad to see you made it through all of this mess too."
"Oh, please, Leo," Karai said. "You know it takes a lot more than that to bring me down.
Splinter's eyes filled with tears. "My sons …" he said, his voice breaking with emotion. They all gathered around Splinter in a group hug.
"We missed you, Sensei," Leo said.
"And I you, my sons," Splinter replied. "Now, at last, we are whole once again."
Doom's garrison was a fine sight. The massive structure had been raised in the middle of Golden City, the capital of Wakanda, razing marketplaces and local parks to make room for its size. Inside, the interior had been fashioned to be an enormous factory, full of Doombots and conveyer belts and noisy machinery. Giant vats moved in lines along the conveyor belts, scooping up molten iron from huge cauldrons at filling stations. Enormous cutters pounded the pieces of vibranium mined from the vast mining complexes beyond the city limits into shape, melting them down into casing for the Doombots.
Shredder stood behind the glass in the factory's control room, with Doom to his right and Loki to his left. He wore a chromium helmet over his head that covered everything but his eyes. A poor replacement for the kuro kabuto, but it sufficed for this emergency meeting Doom had called. Doom's eyes glittered behind his metal mask. "Impressive, is it not?" he asked, gesturing beyond at the process.
Shredder said nothing. Doom turned, striding back from the window towards Loki and Shredder. "But I didn't bring you all this way to brag, my dear Shredder."
"I would like to know why I have been summoned here, Doom," Shredder said coldly. "I have business to attend to at home."
"Yes, you've got your hands full with that little populist revolt, don't you?" Doom asked nonchalantly. "Well, gentlemen, I'm afraid I have some more bad news. "Almost twenty-four hours ago, Asteroid M's communication jammer satellites went offline. The communication bubble encasing the United States is down, and word has quickly spread of the revolution sweeping the country."
"How is this possible?" Loki asked. "The Enchantress—"
"The Enchantress's own hubris proved to be her downfall, it seems," Doom said. "She has fled this dimension, and will likely not return if she knows what is good for her."
Loki's gaze narrowed. "I assure you, Doom, she will pay dearly for this treachery."
"Victor, I expect returns on what I have invested into your enterprise," Shredder growled. "The Foot Clan has spent considerable resources supporting the aims of HYDRA in America. With them gone, even more resources have been allocated to quelling the revolution of the people being led by Captain America."
"And you shall have your returns, my dear Shredder," said Doom. "It wasn't enough that we equipped your Foot-Bots with Destroyer Gun technology, is it? No, you must have more. Well, Shredder, I give you what you seek. Every good owner knows when to throw his dog a bone now and then."
Shredder clenched his fist in fury at Doom's words.
Doom raised a hand, and the doors behind him opened, as two Doombots wheeled in a large backboard that had a suit of armor strapped to it. "Fortunately, our engineers have been making great progress in refining the robotics in your armor," Doom said as the Doombots set the backboard on the ground and left the room. "We're taking it to the next level, bridging the gap between ancient tradition and modern warfare."
Strapped to the backboard was a suit of armor so advanced it looked as though Tony Stark had built it. Made from various plates of vibranium with gold outlines throughout it, the suit was built to look menacing, with spiked shoulder guards and wrist gauntlets. The kabuto helmet was especially fearsome; jagged edge guards surrounded a menpo face plate molded to look like a skull, with a short spiked crest extending from the dome. Everything—the chest armour, the kusazuri plated skirt, the shoulder protection, the armoured glove like sleeves that stretched from the shoulder to the forearm, the thigh and shin guards—everything was built from vibranium.
"A technologically advanced robotic armor," Doom said, "designed for modern warfare with aesthetics based on traditional Japanese samurai armor. It has the capability to enhance your physical strength and agility to superhuman levels, and the vibranium grants you an immense level of protection from gunfire or melee weaponry. In addition to the blades on the gauntlets, the suit features two sets of retractable blades—"
As Doom said the word "blades" he pressed a button on the suit's gauntlet, and six two-foot-long metal blades shot out from underneath each of the gauntlets, suspended underneath them by a special housing unit.
"—that can be shot out from the suit as projectiles, and then recalled magnetically," Doom finished. He pressed the button again, and the spring-loaded blades withdrew inside the armor.
"Impressive," Shredder said, tracing a finger over the gleaming metal kabuto helmet. "Most impressive. Perhaps our partnership is at last bearing some fruit."
"You may get a chance to use this armor sooner than you think," Doom said. "The reason I've called us all here is because, around the same time as the attack on Asteroid M, my satellites picked up strange energy readings in the jungles south of here." He pressed several buttons on the control station, and a holographic map image shimmered to life in front of them, with a red dot marking the exact location the energy readings had come from. "I'm still trying to track the source of the readings, but they seem to be teleportational in nature."
"Do you think the Wakandan natives are planning something?" Loki asked.
"Undoubtedly. And I wager that the turtles Shredder is so obsessed with are there as well," Doom said.
"You may be right, Doom," Shredder said. "There have been no signs of the turtles or their rat father anywhere in New York or the rest of America for many years now. I know they did not die during the invasion. They live. And soon—"
He eyed his new suit of armor. "Soon, I will crush them all."
Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Jean Grey all stood outside a small wooden structure on a trail a short distance from the outskirts of Jabariland. They'd buried Wolverine's remains here, in a pit of freshly fallen snow, to help aid his recovery time. Hawkeye had told them about the Enchantress's devastating attack on the mutant, but they knew he'd be okay. Just give it time.
Two Gorilla Tribe warriors finished encasing Wolverine in the snow and then stood up, moving over to the other X-Men. "The snow will help to preserve his remains," one of them said. "We will stand watch here, and inform you of the moment he recovers."
"If it's all the same to you," Jean Grey said, "I think I'd rather stay here and wait."
The warrior bowed his head. "Of course."
The other X-Men strode up the path back towards the city. "Wow, I've never seen Logan that bad before," Cyclops said.
"Colossus could have stopped it," Colossus said, pounding a metal fist into his palm.
"Easy, big guy," Storm said. "He'll make it. He always does."
They met Nick Fury outside the Gorilla's Chambers and informed him of the situation. He took it grimly. "We'll need every man on board when we attack," he said. "Strange suffered pretty badly after the mission too, he'll need time to recover. Time is of the essence, but if we don't play it right, we'll lose everything. We'll wait for three days for everyone to recooperate. But no longer than that."
The turtles and their family sat in a small circle outside one of the village huts. It was late afternoon, and the heroes were getting adjusted to living here in Jabariland. The official word was they'd be mobilizing their forces to attack in three days' time, and so they had a little time on their hands.
Donnie was eyeing Metalhead as the large robot sat next to him. "I don't think I've said it enough, Donnie," Casey said. "Throwing Metalhead into an Iron Man suit was a stroke of pure genius. He's ten times as kick-butt-y now!"
"Yeah, I'm pretty impressed with the way things turned out," Donnie said.
"Karai, you still haven't told us how you got to the Savage Land," April said. "How'd you manage that?"
Karai's face darkened momentarily as she spoke. "After the invasion, when the aliens were ravaging New York City, I was still in hiding. I was trying to organize something. A settlement, for those fleeing persecution from HYDRA and the new order. Then ... he came for me. Kraven. One of Shredder's assassins. He was after you. Shredder wanted you dead. I didn't tell him anything. Not even ... not even when he tortured me."
April put a reassuring hand on Karai's shoulder. "It's okay, Karai."
Karai took a deep breath, steadying herself. "He almost killed me. But ... I survived. I went back to the community. We lived in the sewers for years, before I got word from one of my best spies that Kraven was on the move, that he'd found you. I couldn't let him hurt you, so I tracked him all the way to Antarctica. And besides, part of me wanted to believe you all really were alive."
"Happy to surprise," Leo said, smiling.
"Talk about surprises, dude," Mikey said. "So you guys have really been in space all this time, huh?"
"Yep!" said Donnie. "You're all technically older than us now, by probably several years or so."
"Aw, yeah!" Mikey crowed. "Finally, I'm not the little brother anymore! I get all the older brother privileges. No bedtime! Video games galore! And you pathetic runts have to do whatever I say!" He pointed at Leo and Donnie. "Ha ha! All the power is rushing to my brain, it's making my head hurt!"
Raph rolled his eyes. "That's just your brain trying to comprehend its own stupidity," he said.
"How was it, in space?" asked Renet. "Where did you go? What did you see?"
"Oh, wow, uh, where do I begin?" Donnie scratched the back of his head. "Well, first off, Professor Honeycutt's alive and well, and wanted to say hello to all of you. We actually ended up in Asgard, which is like this super fantastical realm of gods, before we came here."
"Asgard, like, Norse mythology Asgard?" asked Kirby O'Neil.
"Yeah," said Leo. "Loki was there, and he wiped the entire place out before he came to Earth. We only survived thanks to these ... how should I describe them ... kind of like, Cosmic Avengers?"
"Kind of," Donnie said. "There was a guy named Quill, and an alien lady named Gamora who could kick your butt with her bare hands. Then there was Drax, who was more brawn than brains, Rocket, a talking raccoon who loves cash, and Groot, this tree-like mutant hybrid of unknown origin. I was running experiments on mutagen to pass the time and I think he got into one of the experiments, because it altered his form significantly."
"That sounds wicked!" Casey said.
"Anyway, we met Honeycutt and these 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and went all over the galaxy trying to collect these batteries to rebuild the teleporter to bring us to Earth's dimension," Donnie went on. "I mean we went all over. We stayed in this giant floating skull space station called Knowhere. We went to planets with creatures of every size and shape. We met Mona and G'Throkka on a world called Morag—oh, by the way Raph, Mona misses you—" He ignored Raph's snorts and playful shove "—we took down a Celestial, it was awesome!"
"Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it, Donnie," Leo said. "It feels like I could have all the time in the world and never be able to tell you all the stories."
"And, even in all that, Leo still found time for romance," Donnie said playfully.
"Oh, cut it out, Donnie," Leo said, blushing as the rest of the group erupted in laughter.
"Ooh, where have I seen this story before?" Raph asked, laughing.
"You've only got one sister, right, Leo?" Casey chortled before being silenced by an elbow from Karai.
As he doubled over, Karai leaned forward. "Tell me about her, Leonardo."
"Yeah!" April chimed in. "She definitely has to pass our test before we give her the okay."
"Well—" Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "She's from Asgard. She's a princess. But not the damsel in distress kind, the warrior kind. The kind who looks like she holds the universe together when she's swinging a sword in the thick of action. The kind of person who you don't want to look at directly, but you see her anyway, kind of like the sun. She's a great dancer, and a great fighter, and a great person."
"She sounds alright to me, April," Karai said, jostling her friend. "But if she ever comes to visit, I want to spar with her. We'll see if she can really fight."
"Looks like the turtle brothers are all boo'd up!" Mikey said, throwing an affectionate hug around Renet, who giggled awkwardly at the display of affection.
That evening, T'Challa, M'Baku, Shuri, Nakia, and Okoye met a group of the super heroes as the sun had begun to set to discuss a strategic plan of attack.
"How long will it take for Wolverine to heal from his wounds?" asked T'Challa.
"Three days," said Storm.
"Raphael and I should be ready and able by tomorrow," said Doctor Strange.
"So, what's the plan?" asked Spider-Man.
"That is what we are here to discuss," said T'Challa. He extended his hand, tapping the bracelet of kimoyo beads he wore on his left wrist. They were actually a piece of advanced communication technology with a number of different features. He activated one of the beads, and a holographic image of a map of Golden City appeared in the air before them. "In simple terms: Wakanda cannot be defeated in a straight frontal assault."
"We have a multi-layered defense grid with triple redundancies," Shuri said, bringing up a holoprojection of the energy levels on her own set of kimoyo beads. "Based on best projections of a 'worse-case' attack, the defense grid operates at 500% of tactical need. The Golden Shields protect us from orbital bombing, and anti-air defenses will knock down any approaching ships before they reach the city proper."
"Okay, that's impossible," Fury said. "Got it. So how are we going to do it?"
"It isn't just the difficulty of defeating the technology," Shuri said. "I designed much of it, so there are things we can do that they will never expect."
"No, the problem is that each of those machines is covered in vibranium," T'Challa said. "We cannot just smash our way through."
They stood in silence for a few moments before, as usual, Tony was the one to break it. "Impregnable defenses. Unlimited firepower. Advanced technology. Doom and Loki both consolidating their forces here, and we can't actually hurt anybody. No offense, Your Highness, but as pep talks go, this one kind of sucks."
"What's Doom's motive here, anyway?" asked Sue Storm. "I mean, we know he wants to take over the world, and all, but why set up shot in Wakanda? What does he want?"
T'Challa exchanged a long look with M'Baku, Shuri, and Nakia before answering. "It came to Earth as a meteor ten thousand years ago, and my ancestors have spent every day since exploring its secrets." He activated another kimoyo bead, and next to the map appeared an image of purified vibranium ore. "Vibranium. Its power to amplify or modify sound waves is well-known. But there is much about this rarest of metals that we have never shared with the world. One of our most closely guarded secrets is how vibranium can amplify mystical energies. It's unstable when used that way, and it taps into an energy flow on the quantum level that is virtually infinite. We've never mastered the secret of using magically charged vibranium. But, thanks to the efforts of Scott and Hope—" He gestured at Ant-Man and Wasp "—while in Germany, we learned that Doom has."
Colossus scoffed. "Doom is already immensely powerful. What could he do with simple piece of metal?"
"With a simple piece he could tear you apart," Shuri said. "And do so with a flick of his hand."
"With the ten thousand tons of it inside Wakanda's mines?" added Nakia. "Doom would become the most powerful force that ever walked this planet."
"So the mines are our first target," said T'Challa. "We must shut down production as soon as possible. To do that, and to simultaneously open the city up to attack, we will have to disable the entire power grid. This is only possible if we make our way through the tunnels to the city's power relay station. If we can deactivate that relay station, not only will power to mines be stopped, but anything hooked up to the power supply will deactivate. The city's energy shield, the anti-air defenses, everything."
"You mentioned tunnels?" Karai asked T'Challa.
Now M'Baku spoke. "For years my people lived in self-isolation here in the highlands, away from the rest of civilization. But we have tunnels into the city, and those have so far not been discovered by Loki or his army."
"Nakia and Shuri will lead a strike team through the tunnels to the power relay," said T'Challa. "We will need Doctor Pym's technology to avoid detection by Wakandan security systems."
Hank Pym nodded as the others glanced at him.
"And it is critical that we do not take the fight to the city," T'Challa added. "I will not have my people perish in the crossfire."
"So we use guerilla tactics," said Punisher. They all looked up at him as he explained, gesturing at the holographic map of Wakanda. "We've got the advantage of knowledge of the terrain. We hide the bulk of our force in the highlands, bait them out with a smaller force here by the river. Start the force up here, and use hit-and-run tactics to provoke them and keep the bulk of our troops intact. We draw them back to here, and then feign retreat into the highlands to be ambushed by the rest of us. Pin them in from all sides, and we're shooting fish in a barrel."
The heroes shook their heads. "As much as I hate to agree with the Punisher," Luke Cage said, "he's making a lot of sense."
The Human Torch wasn't sold. "That might work for fighting the army, but you're forgetting about their big power pieces, Loki and Doom."
"Leave that to me," Fury said. "I've got a contingency plan in case things go sour out there." His hand was in his pocket, so no one saw him palming the special pager that he kept with him at all times. It was something he liked to call the "Ultimate Plan B"; although he'd never used it, and hoped he'd never have to. It would summon one of Fury's oldest and most powerful friends from outer space.
"You're not the only one with tricks up your sleeve, Director," Doctor Strange said. "In the morning I will return to the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York. If I have not returned in three days, then the Sanctum must be dispatched from this plane." His gaze and tone grew somber as he continued: "I plan to use the Scroll of the Demodragon."
Whatever that was, it didn't sound good. "Doctor," Mister Fantastic said, "the cost is—"
"I am well aware, Richards," said Strange curtly. "But time grows short, and I am tired of watching others make choices of consequence while I do nothing. If I—if we—are to be damned by these decisions, then let my damnation be using all the resources at the disposal of the Sorcerer Supreme. For I am not a pawn. I am the doctor."
The room fell silent at Strange's outburst. Finally Fury held up a hand. "I'm sure no one here questions your abilities, Doctor. But what exactly does this Scroll of the Demodragon do?"
"It is a tome of the darkest of black magicks," Strange said ominously. "It is capable of summoning a dread power from the Netherworld, or allow travel to the Netherworld to deal with its ruler, Kavaxas. I've never dared use it, but I fear the time has come."
"Yeesh. Do ya really need to go that far?" asked the Thing.
"Yes," Strange said. "Doom is a formidable opponent, far more dangerous than the Enchantress is. And he is not above fighting dirty. I will need everything to overcome his knowledge of alchemy and mysticism, especially if this mystic vibranium is as dangerous as T'Challa says. I plan on leaving this realm once our meeting here has concluded. Time works similarly in that plane, so this ordeal should take me no more than three days' time."
"So, if I understand it, here's the plan," said Tony. "We get awesome facial hair bro here to beef himself up in another dimension while that gives us three days of prep time. We send the strike team through the tunnels while we draw the rest of the army out to the river and engage them there. Power gets cut, Loki and Doom get caught flat-footed, and we mop them all up?"
"As much as I hate to say it, some casualties may be inevitable," Mister Fantastic mused. "The Masters of Evil won't bargain with us, and we don't present enough of a threat to frighten them into surrender. They can force a fight, and that cannot end well even if we win."
Okoye spoke then. "Perhaps I'm being less optimistic than my king," she said slowly, "but I don't believe it is possible to retake Wakanda and defeat the Masters of Evil without bloodshed. This is not a fairytale. There are Wakandans living in the city who betrayed their own government. They colluded with the most vile and dangerous despots in the galaxy who invaded and overthrew a lawful government. And just because we have not seen it on TV, I am not naive enough to believe that they did all this without spilling blood." Her gaze turned frigid, and her voice to match as she said coldly, "No, gentlemen. I intend to take back my country. By any means necessary."