The Pits of Apocalypse were rioting again as word had gotten around that the Elite Mutant Force was otherwise occupied. The Summers brothers were fighting again and that left their team a little rudderless. Sinister was still missing, most likely a traitor to the cause. On top of that, many local infinites were busy mopping up the mess left behind by Mikhail’s defeat. There were rumors that several human agents were loose in Apocalypse-held territory. Things were not going well for the bad guys so it was the perfect time to infiltrate the pens and poke around.
Shuri and James Barnes landed their craft in the safest place they could find and made their way into the outskirts of the pens. Barnes and Shuri were not exactly human. They both had parts replaced with cybernetic systems. Barnes had been captured by the Soviets and experimented on for ages, turning him for a time into The Winter Soldier. When the Soviet regime toppled and was absorbed by the Human Council in their conflict against Apocalpyse’s forces, a lot of effort was made to deprogram him. He was grateful for the help and pledged himself to their cause.
Princess Shuri of Wakanda was the woman who had done a lot of that deprogramming and repair work on Barnes. She had been a tech wizard for as long as she could remember. Growing up in Wakanda gave her plenty of toys to play with growing up. Her beautiful life had ended when the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse attacked Wakanda. She watched as her father, known as the Black Panther, valiantly fought against the invaders but ultimately lost his life. Many in the palace had also been killed as they refused to give up the fight. Shuri had barely survived, shepherded out by Wakandan forces. Her own injuries required that she replace parts of her body with Wakandan technology.
“We should have brought more of the team,” Barnes said. “We’re too exposed just the two of us.”
“More of us would attract more attention,” Shuri said. “Besides, our unique physiology allows us to negate their scans. We’re invisible. In addition, I have Hunter and M’Baku on standby. They can lay in long-range fire in a heartbeat.”
“Fair enough,” Barnes said. “You’re the boss. So the goal is to scout for possible future extraction.”
“Correct,” Shuri said. “Observation and scans say that this is the weakest security part of their accursed Pens.”
They made their way to a terminal and Shuri opened her bag of tricks and started to hack into it. Barnes held his rifle and guarded her. It was not long before they heard a loud booming sound that was soon accompanied by a roaring sound. A giant woman strode into sight and a man landed next to her after flying through the air like a living jet engine. The Guthrie siblings. Scouts had spoken of them.
“Shit,” Barnes said softly.
“What do we have here?” Cannonball asked. “Two flatscans poking their noses where they don’t belong.”
“I think we can find room for them in the Pens,” Amazon said. “They don’t look like they’ll be any trouble, brother.”
“Maybe the Summers brothers will even reward us,” Cannonball said. “Maybe the Beast will want to play with them. They look interesting.”
There was an inhuman roar from a nearby bunker and then there was an explosion so big that it rocked even the Amazon, Elizabeth Guthrie, sending her to one knee. Barnes took the opportunity to launch a rocket into her chest, sending her flying into another bunker. Shuri and Barnes trained their weapons on Cannonball but he was already powering up. Just as he was about to launch himself at them, a green fist impacted his jaw and sent him sprawling. A seven-foot-tall woman with green skin and wild hair stepped into view just as Elizabeth found her footing again.
“Another prisoner who needs to go back where they belong,” Amazon said with a sneer. “Stand down now.”
“You stand down,” the green woman growled, glaring at twenty-foot tall Amazon.
Amazon threw a giant punch at the green woman but she easily stopped the punch cold with nothing but her strength. She then used that strength to Judo throw Amazon into another bunker, knocking her out. Cannonball started to make it to his feet, groggy but still going. The green woman punched his stomach and then uppercutted his jaw, sending him hurtling into the distance.
“That was truly astonishing,” Shuri said. “We come in peace.”
“We’re obviously not with the mutants,” Barnes said. “We don’t want to fight you.”
The woman turned around to face them and she shrank to a more average five feet and seven inches. She was unassuming in that form.
“I don’t want to hurt anybody,” the woman said. “I just couldn’t stand the guards in this place.”
“We should get you out of here,” Shuri said. “The guards will be coming. It would be most unproductive to make a stand here.”
“Right,” Barnes said. “Change of plans. Let’s go.”
They hurried back to their craft and sped away as security rushed to the breakout point.
“Did you get any data?” Barnes asked.
“Some,” Shuri said. “I’ll have to go through it. I am more interested in you.” She looked at the mousy woman in front of her.
“My name is Jennifer Walters,” the woman said. “My cousin was a collaborator with Mikhail Rasputin and he experimented on me to perfect the serum that he used to turn himself into a mutate.”
“I read reports of this Hulk,” Barnes said. “Banner. Traitor to humankind.”
“He thought his experiments on me failed,” Jennifer said. “I let him think that. I had no desire to help him or Mikhail out. He left me in that bunker to die. I bided my time and I guess I escaped at the right time.”
“Fortunate for us,” Shuri said. “We have been planning to help liberate the pens. You could provide information to us.”
“And maybe muscle,” Jennifer said. “Is that what you think?”
“I would not impose on you,” Shuri said. “You have seen hardship and I would not use you like your cousin tried to.”
“But hear us out,” Barnes said. “You’ll get to punch more guards.”
“I might be persuaded then,” Jennifer said with a smile.
Wolf of Words 