As Thor makes his way back to the others, he spots Captain America and Black Widow trying to lift Vision. They both seem to be able to handle the weight, but Vision is so much larger than them. Wanda stands to the side. He is still crying.
"You need some help with that?" Thor offers as he swoops in and lifts Vision over his shoulder.
Black Widow takes a breath and says, "Thanks. He's heavier than he looks."
Captain America stands up and dusts herself off. "Thank you, if only we could make some kind of litter to carry or move him along..." He is so distracted by the arrival of Groot and Rocket that he does not try to hide his confusion.
"I am Groot." Groot responds, and before anyone can say make any comments. Groot's arm extends out to create a small boat-like litter to carry Vision.
"That's my boy!" Rocket says and does a light clap.
"I am Groot."
Thor sets Vision down onto Groots arm and Groot chooses to pull him without the need for anyone's help. Wanda follows them along, still teary eyed.
Captain America studies Groot up and down with confusion. She looks to Black Widow who is equally confused and gives Steve Rogers an "I don't know" shrug.
"Thanks, uh, tree person." Steve Rogers says.
"I am Groot." is the answer he gets.
"Thanks, Groot."
"I am Groot." Groot says passively.
"Captain." Falcon says as he comes flying in. They all turn toward him. Falcon does a running landing and curiously looks at both Rocket and Groot before turning back toward Captain America.
"Panther and his troops are regrouping due north." He tells the Captain. "Tony and the others are moving to join them." Falcon now can't resist looking Rogers up and down momentarily, distracted by her now exposed cleavage.
Captain America notices Falcon's lapse in attention, and chooses to ignore it, even though she really wants to cover up. "Alright," Steve responds. "We'll head that way and join everyone."
"Yes, sir!" Falcon says and rushes off before leaping into the air and flying away. Captain America turns toward the others to update them when she catches Thor staring directly at her exposed cleavage. The God of Thunder is outright ogling Captain America. He is not even trying to hide it.
"STOP!" the Captain says with a bit more squeal than she would have preferred. She reaches up and begins crossing her arms again in embarrassment. Almost instinctively, Black Widow conceals her new hairy chest as well.
"Sorry," Thor says with an embarrassed chuckle. "They're just rather impressive."
"It's not funny!" the Captain protests.
"Yea, it's not." Black Widow adds.
"Sorry, sorry." Thor replies. "I'll remember to be careful." He says as he turns toward Groot and Rocket then winks.
"I am Groot."
Thor laughs at Groot's response.
"Don't encourage him!" Rocket shouts at Groot.
***Not far away***
Tony Stark lands in front of Black Panther and Oyoke who are surveying their see him coming and T'Challa breaks away to meet him.
"So good of you to join us." Black Panther says.
"Good evening, Shuri. Is your brother here?" Tony Stark responds.
"What?!" T'Challa answers back.
"I need to speak to your brother, Shu..." Tony Stark's eyes widen as reality starts to settle in. "Oh, I'm so sorry."
Unlike the others so far, T'Challa's outfit had the elasticity to contort to the changes in her body. Her figure is also slim with a slight hourglass look to it. Her new breasts however stick out like a sore thumb. A drawback to the suit was that it molded so well, Tony could now clearly see T'Challa's nipples. He wondered if the King knew this.
"Do I really look like my sister?" Black Panther demands to know. "I mean, look at my hair." She references the short curls on top of her head. Tony does not think it is a valid point. "I have been told we look similar, but this is ridiculous!" T'Challa continues to protest.
A large muscular bald man carrying a spear breaks away from surveying the troops and places his hand on T'Challa's shoulder. "You look like your sister, My King." Oyoke says with an extremely deep masculine voice.T'Challa's eyes look on the verge of tears, as she accepts the reality of the situation.
"Tony, please tell me you know what is going on!' Black Panther asks, redirecting her gaze toward Tony.
Tony takes a moment to collect his thoughts before responding. "Long story short, Thanos screwed up. He somehow wished for the wrong thing, and now we have an undetermined amount of time to find him and stop him before he can make his original wish."
"Original wish?" Panther says, flustered. "What was his original wish? For everyone to change?"
"No, Thanos wanted to erase half of all life in the universe. We think that's why only half of everyone has changed."
"Half of everyone?" T'Challa starts questioning. "How did he get gender...?" realizing questioning Thanos' mistake is useless, Black Panther changes her questioning, while trying to calm herself down. "So, how do we fix this, Tony?"
"Simple. We take a ship, fly out to Thanos, sneak past his army, and steal his magical gauntlet before he has time to recover. We'll have to work out the small details along the way."
"What about the big details?" T'Challa asks. "Like, where are we going to get a ship capable of flying out into space. Let alone quickly."
"We take one of these." Tony responds referencing the damaged drop ships in the distance. "I know a guy who can help us get them running. We just need to work together to get it done quickly."
"Do you even know how to fly one of those things? "Black Panther asks.
"Like I said," Tony answers. "I know a guy... That guy." Tony points toward Nebula as he comes into sight. T'Challa notices Tony wince in pain and grab his side. Oyoke only notices Nebula. He grips his spear and motions to defend his king. "It's ok, he's with us." Tony says with a heavy breath.
"Are you ok, Tony?" T'Challa asks.
"I probably have a concussion and maybe some internal bleeding. Maybe some space radiation... I don't know."
"Space radiation?" T'Challa asks. "Tony what were you doing."
"It's a bit of a long story. Can we go inside?"
"Yes, I'll have someone look at your injuries." Black Panther turns to address Oyoke. "I'm heading to the palace, have a sentry update me on the field every ten minutes."
"Yes, my King." Oyoke answers. He feels strange having to look downward to address T'Challa now. He is about to go back to inspecting the troops when he spots the parade of Avengers approaching.
Thor waves from the front of the group. "We're just gonna follow Tony." He says. Oyoke cannot hide his shock at everyone following afterward. He recognizes Captain America and Black Widow who give him a brief nod. Bruce waves shyly as she passes by. Oyoke makes a confused face as he sees Rocket followed by Groot pulling a pale lifeless Vision along. He realizes what happened when he sees a male Scarlet Witch crying and trailing behind.
Upon reaching the palace the first arrivers are greeted by guards who rush toward T'Challa's side. She turns to one of them and submits orders. "I need you to go on ahead and get a medic. Some of our friends are hurt."
"Yes princess!" one of the guards answers before rushing off. T'Challa's face of disapproval goes unnoticed.
As Tony Stark trails behind, he deactivated his suit and it peels off him like the shell of a legum. The suit folds and takes on the image of a bright red suitcase. Tony Stark, now having to support his own weight, grips his side and hunches forward in pain.
T'Challa turns to catch him, but instead pushes him over with her chest. As Tony falls he manages to catch himself with a grunt of pain. "I'm so sorry!" T'Challa says. "I'm not used to this." she says pointing to her bust.
T'Challa reaches down to help Tony as the sound of the Queen Mother's voice addresses them.
"My son. Is that you?" she says.
Black Panther continues to help Tony stand as she also tries to look toward her mother. She feels a wave of relief to see that Ramonda is still the same gender. The relief does not last long however before the hall is filled with Shuri's now masculine scream.
T'Challa looks behind her mother to see a familiar face that she did not expect to see. Shuri is pointing at Black Panther with a shocked expression. "You look like me!" He says.
T'Challa looks at her sister who she does not have the heart to admit looks exactly as she did. It was almost as if they had traded bodies in a crazed childrens' tale. The only thing that had not changed was either of their hair. The puffs in Shuri's hair did not compliment her now male look.
"Why are your boobs bigger?" Shuri asks mostly to himself.
"Oh, hush!" the Queen Mother tells him. "There'll be no denying that you two are siblings after this." She says as she takes T'Challa's face in her hands to study her. Shuri moves in and wastes no time in studying the suit. This is normally something T'Challa is used to, but now feels very uncomfortable.
"Sister, now is not the time." She says. "Tony is injured."
"OK, I've got him." Shuri says as he turns away for a moment to study Tony. "This way." They lead Tony to a nearby bench. As they walk T'Challa does not notice Shuri examining her again. She looks up and down Black Panther's back and takes an exaggerated breath after examining her rear end.
"Shuri!" the Queen Mother scolds momentarily.
As Tony Stark sits down, two Wakandan medics come rushing into the hall. They move to him quickly. As soon as they start attending Tony, Shuri returns to examining T'Challa.
"What did you do with the suit?" Shuri asks. "The weaves look distorted."
"The big guy, Thanos." T'Challa answers. "He slammed me to the ground hard enough to set off the nanites."
Shuri gives a shocked expression. "That's a fail safe feature. It's supposed to be in case a train or something big hits you. A hit like that would have normally killed you." He says looking at T'Challa's face now. "I hope the recoil got him too."
Black Panther looks as Shuri for a moment and suddenly feels emotional. "It didn't phase him at all." She says before looking away.
T'challa notices Shuri's hand resting on her chest. Normally due to the suit she is used to Shuri studying and touching her, but she now feels very sensitive and vulnerable. She grabs Shuri's hand and removes it.
Shuri looks down to T'Challa's breasts and feels a twinge of jealousy at how large they are. "Oh, sorry." he says realizing the changes must be very awkward for her too.
The rest of the Avengers begin to trickle in as the medics work on Tony's injuries. The Wakandans look at Groot and Rocket in shock before Shuri notices Vision.
"Oh my God, no!" Shuri says, jumping up to study the lifeless android. Bruce is already kneeling nearby and studying the wound. Shuri kneels next to Bruce and starts examining Vision also.
Bruce looks up to Shuri, then at his hair. Despite the large hint, Bruce does not realize who it is. "Thanos damaged him pretty badly, your majesty." Bruce says.
"I don't know if we can fix him." Shuri says. "He asked us if the operation to remove the stone failed, to not try to revive him."
"But this wasn't the operation. This was Thanos, your Majesty." Bruce answers.
"I don't know if we can fix him." Shuri says mostly to himself. "The damage is too extensive. I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to put it all back together."
"You don't have to know." Bruce answers. "You have the two guys who practically built him right here." Bruce gestures toward Tony and herself. "I'm sure with your sister's help, we could have a chance at putting him back together."
"My sister?" Shuri asks momentarily confused, then looks up toward T'Challa. They both choose to ignore the comment.
"It might be possible." Tony Stark interrupts. "If I use what's left of my previous suit and we have someone rewire him." Tony has his shirt up and the medics are now bandaging his waist. "There's no guarantee he'll be the same. His memory and other information might be damaged. Not to mention we would need a new power source."
"You have to save him." Wanda suddenly speaks. His voice is surprisingly deep but gentle. "You have to save him." He repeats. "Without him, I have nothing. He was all I had when my brother died."
Tony, Bruce, and Shuri all look back and forth between each other. No words are exchanged but they all know they are in agreement. Bruce is the first to knod, followed by Shuri. They look toward Tony, who now looks toward Wanda.
"It's going to take some time. He is the most complicated computer I have ever built. It might even be dangerous." Wanda nods lightly as Stark continues to explain. "Right now however, we need to concentrate on getting one of those ships outside up and running. Saving him is not going to do us any good if Thanos manages to make another wish while we're working on him."
"I understand." Wanda responds. "I will help." He adds.
"I'm not sure if you can." Tony tells him. "Working on him is going to require attention that not just anybody can give."
"Not him." Vision motions toward Vision. "I meant I will help fight Thanos. He has to pay for what he's done." Wanda's russian accent was suddenly very clear. They all look to him as tension seems to fill the room. Wanda's hand and eyes are taking on their scarlet glow.
"Good," Tony replies. "Because we're going to need all the help we can get. I will not face him underprepared again."
The building tension in the room is suddenly interrupted by some Wakondan troops rushing in. They quickly move to Shuri.
"My King," One of them addresses him. "The reminder of the invading army has fled. Most by ship, but some are in the woods. We've managed to capture a few, but they're not coming easily. Most of them will fight till death."
Shuri watches the troops with confusion then looks back toward T'Challa. The troop who was talking notices and looks to T'Challa, then back toward Shuri. He notices Shuri's hair is tied up in little buns and thinks it is weird for the King to style his hair that way.
"Thank you?" Shuri says, uncertain of how he should react. Banner is looking back and forth between everyone in the room. He realizes something just happened, but he does not know exactly what.
"Thank you, Banesh." T'Challa finally steps in. "Please continue to keep us updated with the progress. Dismissed."
The warrior looks toward T'Challa with confusion as well. He notices she is wearing the black panther suit and he starts to realize what might have happened. He considers apologizing, but decides against it. "Yes." He says with the traditional salute before leading his men away.
Shuri sits on the floor, clearly flustered now. "I hope things aren't going to always be this awkward." He says. "This is going to take some getting used to."
"Don't worry," T'Challa replies. "I think you did a fine job, My King." The Queen Mother shakes her head and gives a light grin at their mischief. Bruce Banner is still looking between all three of them, not getting the joke.
"What just happened?" Bruce asks.