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Chapter 82 - DoorMan (MCU SI) - #82 : Help? Rejected.

Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.

DoorMan #82

Ta-Lo [February 18, 2008]

–Shuri Udaku–

She watched as the falling, battered, and severely injured form of Colin was hoisted mid air by someone, the same as her but Colin was the one who was whisked away to land immediately, surrounded in a white glow while she looked at her body covered in a purple energy.

She looked back, as her body was slowly being rotated, the events of the day weighing heavily on her mind as she barely escaped death today, and despite going through all of that, she did not have a single major injury on her so she was prepared for some interrogation, since understandably one does not remain scot free while being with someone who looked like they were on Death's door.

Her eyes widened as she came face to face with a woman who could only be called as otherworldly. If she still had her suit intact, she could have used it to scan everything about this woman but as it was, her senses warned her of multiple things.

Before everything else, there was a blaring sense of danger coming from the woman, as if she could kill her just as easily as snapping her finger. Secondly, it was as if the woman had some sort of charm, something that she used to ensnare people but the blessing from Bast was keeping the effects at bay.

"Hmm," She said and the voice itself was odd, feeling completely artificial, as if tailor made to sound the best to the listener, "So you managed to survive, uninjured? Impressive." Despite the words, she did not feel as if the woman was really impressed with her.

Before she could speak, because that was all that she could do in her vulnerable position, suspended mid air as she was, without her suit and she had a hunch that her enhanced physical powers were not going to matter in this confrontation, someone beat her to the punch.

"Leave her be, Parasite." The voice was old and gravelly as something else came into her view, from the back of the woman in red. The woman's face twisted in obvious displeasure and yet, she backed off and Shuri could feel the effects on her mind disappear.

Her eyes widened to their max as she saw what she could only describe as a floating lizard come into view. She resisted the urge to rub her eyes in disbelief as the floating lizard talked, not with her but with the enchantress in red.

They spoke something which she could not hear, despite them not making any visible attempt at masking their voice, after which, she was dragged with them, to the centre of the city, the one that looked eerily empty and silent now, compared to what it was before.

After that, the events of that day were a blur to her, as the shock of how close she had come to death finally caught up to her, as the people did their best to heal her and house her. It was not until the next day that she finally snapped out of it, her enhanced physique meant that she recovered from injuries far faster than normal people, especially since her injuries were not that deep from the beginning anyway.

Eating food that was remarkably tastier than anything she had eaten before, she thought of what she could do after this. The priority would be to phone home, obviously since she was pretty sure that half of Wakanda must be looking for her by now, since she had not checked in with either her mother or her brother.

She was unsure if there was any time dilation between this pocket space and the outside world but she could not risk it. Second things, she had to talk with Colin because the admittedly dangerous trip had opened her eyes to many, many things and the curiosity within her mind burned ever brighter, as did the sense of heightened anxiety as she finally realised just how outclassed she was, when beings like Colin could barely get out, after doing intense self harm in the process.

She really needed to work on Wakanda's defences and the urge to work non stop until she was sure that Wakanda could take out anyone was never as strong as it was now.

Once she was finished with her food, she cleaned her plate, as was customary in this place, by hand, and got out of the small home that was assigned to her. They apparently did not have any empty homes but one of the people who lived alone made accommodations for her as they moved back in with their extended family for as long as she needed to recover.

It would seem that people in Ta-Lo did not expect visitors, ever, really. It was kind of fascinating to witness, really, to see and interact with people untouched by the outside world and consequently, most of the ugliness and darkness as well. Sure, she knew that as long as humans lived, there would be darkness somewhere within them, they did not need the darkness multiplier that was unchecked capitalism for that but to see people who lived in harmony, only indulging in conflict for stuff that would not even register as crime in the outside world was kind of nice, in a way.

"I hope you are not forcing yourself. We know you injured yourself, along with the LifeGiver," One of the nice old ladies said as they took the plate from her and put it in a cart that she was dragging around, collecting utensils from everyone.

Also, yes, the LifeGiver, a title spoken with immense awe and respect, given to Colin. The people here had kept Colin on a really high pedestal, uncomfortably close to that of a monarch and their people. In fact, she did not think that she would enjoy this level of respect and love from her people when she inevitably became the Queen of Wakanda, not at first anyway.

She had refrained from prying any further into that title, because she wanted to respect Colin's privacy, especially after he had risked his life to get them out of that hellhole, not that she did not blame Colin a tiny bit for putting them in the dangerous situation in the first place.

He really did not know what would happen in that place and to be honest, even she was not really sure what exactly happened in that place. All of it was a blur and also, a whirlwind of activity as they were attacked non stop and both of them had to fight back with all they had, right up until Colin pulled something that destroyed his arms but created an opening to allow them to escape.

She had never felt as helpless as she had felt at that time, forced to rely on someone who was obviously in no shape to take care of himself. 

The last time she felt anything remotely close was when she was taken in by the previous Head of the Dora Milaje for training, sans supervision from either of her parents, which was a condition that was put forth by the previous Head. To this day, she could not flinch a little when she went to pay her respects to her teacher, the previous head of Dora Milaje, Aneka.

Smiling at the sweet old woman, she waved off her worries and helped her carry the cart, something that helped her immensely because she was starting to feel cooped up in her room. No one was allowed out of their houses for extended periods of time because they were still cleaning the exotic energies from the air, something that could apparently affect people's minds. Especially since there was already a recorded casualty, that being the village chief's granddaughter.

The old woman was one of the few she had seen move around the tightly built community she was living in, through the windows so the woman must be someone special and she needed to talk with someone of authority, to get out of this place and also to inquire about Colin's current status.

Both of which, the old woman answered with gusto, "Oh dear, the LifeGiver is out of danger for now though he is still resting and no one is allowed to go near. Also, if you wish to leave, I don't think anyone other than the LifeGiver's companions can help you but I doubt they would leave without the LifeGiver."

She figured as much. Still, she followed the woman and entered the village chief's office, hoping to make her case because she really needed to be back home or at least check in. Maybe she could help in some way.

Colin was an outsider and it would really not do her campaign to become Queen any favours but if there was anything that Wakandan medical sciences could do to help Colin, she would do it.

It happened so subtly, she couldn't even feel it when something invisible took hold of her, holding her in place so delicately that she performed the walking and pushing motion, not even realising that she was doing so without moving an inch, so engrossed in her own thoughts.

"I assume you want to leave?" The same old and gravelly voice spoke to her, not in her mind, she checked but directly in her ear as the same floating lizard, covered in a thin membrane of purple came down from the sky.

She found herself almost agreeing on the spot but held her tongue at the last moment, "How is Colin? Wakanda has the best medical services on the planet, we can–"

"No." She reared back, as if slapped. Why would they reject her help even before listening to her proposal?

"No, you don't understand, Wakanda can surely help, no matter the injuries. We have technology that can–"

"No." This time, the reply was more forceful as she stumbled with her words, confusion lacing her mind.

She looked back as something gently poked her in the back and found her suit, now barely a hunk of vibranium, not even capable of any molding, floating right behind her. 

Her eyes widened a bit as the same purple energy covered her body as she realised what was happening.

"W-Wait! I can–" Was all she could say before the picturesque green horizon shrank as she found herself back in the icy darkness of Mt. Everest, "--Help!"

Her suit clattered uselessly behind her as she stood there, shell shocked.

Then, she snapped to action as the familiar sound, created only for her benefit, of her rocket landing behind her, forced her to move.

As the cockpit bay closed around her, she vowed to return. She would pay back her debts. 

After all, if she could not do something as trivial as healing energy burns, she would not be worthy of being called the Queen of Wakanda.

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