The isolated nation of Wakanda was the safest place in the world. They had been insulated from a vast majority of the horrors and strange phenomena that had befallen Earth over the past few centuries. The Great War, World War Two, the Chitauri invasion, the Sokovia incident. Not even HYDRA's plans of using the airships to assassinate millions of people had the Wakandans factored in.
When the world changed, merging with an alternate Earth, other than a brief and minor seismic event that had gone unnoticed by most, the country continued as ever. Most of the changes that had followed had been focused on Europe. Shuri had been quite interested in a great number of them, yet her brother's order to not leave their hidden nation held her in place, for now at least, so she had grown inventive.
Using spy drones undetectable by the rest of the world to watch them. The new changes, enclaves of superhuman barbarians dressed in furs. Strange beasts wandering the hills and mountains. She had envied them, her genius and intellect fighting against childlike amusement. She had thought she would never get to see things for herself. After all, Wakanda was the safest place in the world.
Till it wasn't.
Shuri was lying in her pod, her Kimoyo beads wrapped around her wrist, glowing brightly, while her head was covered in a helmet that blocked her features. Her fingers moved rapidly as she piloted her latest spy drone. The cutting-edge machine swam beneath the skies of Wakanda and came to a hover at the sound of children's laughter as it rang across the valley like bells.
A twitch of her finger brought the nose of the drone down as she observed the children chasing each other through the tall grass. There were five of them, ranging in age from six to maybe ten, their game some elaborate mixture of tag and hide-and-seek that only they understood the rules of. She knew this particular group of children, at least a couple of them, as children are known to change friends as they do clothes.
A smile came to her lips. When she was younger, she had longed to join them, but her mother had forbidden it, and her father had been powerless to overturn that order. Instead, he had helped her with the schematics for her first drone, so she could see the world even if she couldn't quite interact with it.
She watched the smallest, a girl named Amara, barely seven years old, with bright eyes and quick feet that somehow kept her ahead of the other children despite their longer legs. She darted left, then right, her braids woven with beads flying behind her as she ran, and was about to declare victory when something caught the girl's eye.
She skidded to a stop, her bare feet digging into the grass, breathing hard as she stared at the ground ahead.
"What is it?" Her brother, Jabari, called out as he caught up to her. He was bigger. Soon, he would stop playing with them and learn to take up a skill. The other three children gathered around, their game forgotten.
Curiosity filled Shuri, so she focused the camera lens and zoomed in. There, in the middle of the clearing, was a crack in the earth. She frowned. That was strange. Africa was not prone to earthquakes as a whole, and Wakanda, with its internal underground stabilizers, ensured they never experienced one at all.
The crack was three feet long and a foot wide, and looked jagged, like someone had stabbed a knife into the ground then dragged it. The edges glowed faintly, a dull orange-red that pulsed like a heartbeat as heat shimmered above it, distorting the air. A volcano?
"That wasn't there yesterday," one of the older children said quietly. No, it wasn't, Shuri muttered to herself as just then an alert popped up on her VR. She twirled her wrist, and the alert grew wide.
WARNING: ANOMALY DETECTED AT GRID 674. SUBTERRANEAN RIFT. MAGMA BREACH.
Shuri's eyes widened. That was impossible.
Amara took a step closer, her own curiosity overriding caution. The heat intensified as she approached, warm enough to feel on her face despite the distance, but the girl was stubborn. She bent slightly like she could hear something that Shuri couldn't. It was a low bubbling sound, like water boiling in a pot.
"We should go get someone," Jabari said, his hand on Amara's shoulder, pulling her back gently.
"Wait, look," another child pointed. Shuri did as well and she spotted it. The crack was widening. It was slow, incredibly slow, but it was visible. This was why she had not caught it earlier. The slow spread had made it look natural, but Shuri knew it was nothing natural, not when the edges were crumbling away, and the bubbling grew louder. Now she could see it better, a thick, viscous substance that looked like molten rock, but it wasn't. Even watching through a camera, Shuri could tell it moved like it breathed, like it was alive.
Five blackened fingers burst through the crack, and that was enough to spur Shuri.
"RUN!" Her voice blasted through the drone, its semi-optical camouflage turning off.
The eldest boy, Jabari, looked up and spotted the drone. He didn't need to be told twice. He just grabbed Amara's hand and started running. The others followed without question, their small legs pumping as they raced back toward the village.
They'd made it maybe fifty meters when another set of five fingers slipped through the crack, and together the ten fingers began to pull in opposite directions, widening the crack in the earth. From that molten pit, Shuri saw something pull itself from the ground.
With a flick of her finger, she put a call through to Okoye and her brother, and as she watched the monster pull itself from the bowels of the earth, she hoped she was not too late, even as she watched the vast bulk of the creature escape the crack. She'd never seen anything like it. It was shaped like a human, a woman, judging by the breasts on her chest. Magma dripped off its over six-foot frame, highlighting a body that looked like it had been carved from volcanic rock and then set on fire. Its arms gripped two short axes tightly, while its head, also vaguely humanoid with twisted features, turned, and purple eyes burned with a single emotion the moment it spotted the children running.
HATE.
Amara turned back in time to lock eyes with it, and then she screamed.
The creature roared in response, as if it had been challenged. Then it launched itself forward with impossible speed. Each step left burning footprints in the grass, the vegetation igniting wherever it touched.
For the first time in her life, Shuri regretted not seriously arming the drone. Regardless, it was still a drone, Wakandan tech, and as such, she had a card up her sleeve. She sent it forward on a collision course. The moment the creature bounded forward again, the drone clashed into it, and at once she activated the self-destruct failsafe implanted into almost every Wakandan tech to safeguard it from the rest of the world.
The explosion went off in the monster's face. It packed enough power to render any regular human into meat chunks, and yet Shuri knew that it would not be enough. The loss of the drone meant that she had lost eyes on it. She only hoped that she had bought the children enough time.
__
Bucky Barnes
He was mucking out the goat pen at the outskirts of the village when he heard the screaming.
His head snapped up, his single grip on the shovel tightening as his enhanced hearing picked out the sound. Children. Multiple voices, high-pitched with terror, and getting closer.
He was moving before he'd consciously decided to, vaulting the pen fence and sprinting toward the sound at full speed. He was forced to stagger twice before he got used to running with a single arm for balance. The goats bleated in confusion at his sudden departure, but he didn't spare them a thought.
The children burst out of the tall grass, maybe a hundred yards ahead of him, five small figures running with everything they had, and behind them, he could see smoke, a heat wave above them.
"Keep running!" He roared at them, and the moment they spotted him, he could see some relief in their eyes as they put on an additional burst of speed. Then, behind them, there was a roar as a creature emerged from the grass like something out of a nightmare.
Bucky's tactical mind discarded his split-second surprise as the White Wolf slipped away, and he embraced the cold analysis of the Winter Soldier once more, only this time it was to protect. He cataloged it in the half-second he had.
Six and a half feet tall. Molten rock composition. Two axes. Moving fast. Hostile. Very hostile.
Yet no matter how hard the children ran, they were no match for the creature. It was catching up to them fast. The creature spotted him at once. Its burning purple eyes fixed on Bucky for a heartbeat, then dismissed him, focusing back on the smaller, more vulnerable prey.
Like hell he was going to allow that.
Bucky poured on speed, his enhanced physiology pushing him faster than any normal human could manage. Then he twisted his hips, holding the shovel in a javelin throw.
"Get down!" Bucky roared.
To their credit, they obeyed instantly, dropping to the ground and covering their heads. Bucky didn't slow. He hurled the shovel at full speed, watching with satisfaction as it slammed into the chest of the creature, halting it for a second, but he was not done. He hurled himself after it. He timed his jump perfectly, launching himself over the prone children and slamming into the embedded shovel with all of his momentum, forcing the shovel deeper into its molten carcass.
It was like hitting a wall made of burning stone.
The impact sent both of them tumbling, and Bucky felt the heat immediately. His shirt began to smoke where it made contact with the creature's body. He rolled away, came to his feet, and dove right back in.
His split-second impact with it already told him the truth about this fight. He could not win it. Not even if he had his titanium arm. Whatever he was facing was far above him. He could only buy the children time, and to do that, he had to be as aggressive as possible. Overwhelm it before it could realize just how far above him it was.
The creature had already staggered to its feet as well, and before Bucky could get into range, it swung an axe for his head, but Bucky ducked under it. His arm grabbed the embedded shovel, and he jerked back, trying to rip it out and cause as much damage as he could. A miscalculation. The farm tool barely budged.
The creature's second axe swung down, and even as Bucky released his hold on the shovel, he knew he was not fast enough.
Pain exploded through Bucky's body as the axe carved a burning line down his chest, ripping what was left of his shirt and cauterizing the wound it had given him. He shook his head, discarding the pain. The smell of his own flesh cooking filled his nose as he gave the creature space once more.
It stared at him, and with a casual swing, it split the shovel in half.
Bucky glanced back, and he could see the children were running again. They were finally making distance toward the village. Good. That's all that mattered.
The creature turned back toward the fleeing children.
"Hey!" Bucky shouted, and when that didn't work, he charged again.
He threw a haymaker into the side of its head, and he was greeted by a terrible crunch as he felt the bones in his fingers fracture from hitting the monster. The creature let out a roar, and fire exploded from it at once, forcing Bucky to fling himself backwards. He sailed through the air. Even before he crashed, he was already cataloguing second and third-degree burns over his torso and arms. His right hand was a mess of blistered, angry red skin. Then he slammed into the hard-packed earth with enough force to drive the air from his lungs and blacked out for a second.
He needed to get up. He needed to fight. But his brief exchange already told him it was useless. Yet the children needed time, and he would buy them that time unless his name was not James Buchanan Barnes.
Get up. Get up. Get up.
His sole hand, burnt and charred, pressed itself against the ground and lifted him up.
The creature was on him before he'd fully regained his feet. A fist like a hammer made of fire caught him in the chest, sending him sprawling. He tried to rise. Another blow, this time to his head, and the world went white and red at the edges.
Bucky heard shouts. He blinked. The village guards had finally arrived, four of them, armed with spears and the lightweight armor of the Border Tribe. They charged the creature without hesitation, brave men doing their duty.
The creature killed the first one with a single swipe that caved in his chest. The second died when the creature grabbed him and the heat alone was enough to cook him from the inside out. The third and fourth managed to land blows, their vibranium-tipped spears actually piercing the creature's hide, but it barely slowed down. It killed them both in quick succession with savage attacks.
Then it turned back to Bucky.
He was on his knees once more, blood running down his face, burns covering most of his body, his right arm barely functional. But he smiled anyway.
The children were gone. He could not see them anymore. Safe. They were safe. If this was his last act, then he would die a happy man, and hope Steve was proud of him.
The creature raised a burning axe above him.
The sky darkened.
Bucky looked up and saw the Wakandan transport, sleek and silent, hovering above them. Then a figure dropped from it, falling with impossible grace, and landed between Bucky and the creature in a crouch.
The Black Panther straightened, his suit absorbing the kinetic energy of the fall and glowing purple with stored power.
"You have violated Wakandan soil," T'Challa said, his English accented, "and you will go no further."
The creature roared and charged.
T'Challa met it head-on.
The king of Wakanda was a blur of motion, and that was not helped by Bucky's blood loss, cauterized wounds, and what he suspected was a concussion as he kept slipping in and out of reality.
T'Challa ducked under the creature's initial swing, drove a kick into its knee that actually buckled the joint, then followed up with a combination of strikes that would have felled any normal opponent. Then ended it with a solid blow to the side of the head that released all the kinetic energy the suit had stored up, sending it flying back.
Bucky blinked.
The creature was on its feet once more, its stance low, feral and aggressive, its grip on its dual axes tighter, and it let out a roar, a bone-rattling roar. Then it charged once more.
Bucky blinked.
T'Challa ducked under a swinging axe that would've beheaded him, blocked a kick that forced him to spin, but the creature was faster and stronger. Its second axe swing caught the Black Panther on his chest, and only his suit's durability stopped the blow from bisecting him, even if it managed to fling him back.
Bucky blinked.
The Dora Milaje surrounded the creature. They must've disembarked from the transport. Ten of Wakanda's finest warriors, led by Okoye herself, her face set in grim determination. They spread out, surrounding the creature, their vibranium spears ready. They would need all the help they could get. Bucky pushed himself to his feet once more, to the complaint of every fiber of his being.
Okoye's eyes found Bucky as he tried to stand. "White Wolf," she called out. "Stand down. You have done enough."
"The children—" Bucky started.
"Are safe, thanks to you," Okoye confirmed. "Shuri spotted the tectonic anomaly and the strange readings minutes ago. She sent us immediately." Her expression softened, just slightly. "Rest now. We will handle this."
Bucky wanted to argue, but his body had other ideas. His legs gave out, and he collapsed back to his knees, his strength finally exhausted.
The Dora Milaje attacked as one.
They moved with the precision of years of training, their strikes coordinated, each spear finding gaps in the creature's defenses. T'Challa had recovered, and he joined them seamlessly, the king and his guards fighting as a single unit, showing the depth of their training. He relaxed. They could not lose.
Bucky blinked.
Two of the Dora Milaje were dead on the ground, but the creature had lost one of its axes, and magma sprayed from wounds in its frame, forcing the warriors to dodge. It caught one of the Dora Milaje with its free hand and crushed her head before anyone could react. There was a roar of rage from the rest.
Bucky blinked.
T'Challa diverted a blow meant for Okoye to the side, and Ayo, Okoye's second, drove her spear deep into the creature's unguarded back. It was a perfect strike, years of training executed flawlessly. The creature twisted, faster than should have been possible. It kicked T'Challa away, and its axe swung down on Ayo.
"No!" Okoye screamed even as she dove forward, sinking her spear into its neck.
The creature's wing continued, splitting Ayo in two.
Rage transformed Okoye's features. She became something primal, her attacks losing none of their precision but gaining a viciousness that was terrifying to witness. T'Challa rejoined the battle and matched her. He changed his focus from attack to defending, his suit glowing brighter and brighter as it absorbed the kinetic energy from every blow that should have killed the other Dora Milaje. Yet as they fought, Bucky, even concussed, could see it.
They were losing. They were, but humans, and their enemy was an unkillable monster that did not seem to die from mortal wounds, the few that had managed to pierce its burning molten hide. They grew weaker with every breath while the monster remained as strong as it had been from the beginning. In fact, it was changing its style, adapting to them. It's blows no less vicious but better disciplined, like the more it fought, the more it remembered how to fight.
Bucky forced himself to his feet. He could not remain on the ground, but before he could rejoin the fight, the air split.
A circular portal opened fifteen feet off the ground, sparks of orange light tracing its edges. A strange man in combat-tight robes and a red cape stepped through, white streaked black hair shifting in the wind as he floated before descending with casual grace.
The fight paused at his presence.
"I apologize for my tardiness," the stranger said, his hands already moving in complex patterns. "Bast wasn't keen on letting one of us through again, after her disagreement with the Ancient One." The strange man glanced at the surroundings, including the dead bodies around the creature. "I can see why she changed her mind. Let's get on with this, then."
Golden light erupted from his hands, forming chains that wrapped around the creature. It roared and struggled, but the chains held, and more importantly, they were absorbing the heat. Where the chains touched, the creature's body cooled and hardened. The creature was immobilized.
"Your grace, if you would," The stranger said calmly.
The Black Panther didn't need further instruction. His suit was glowing almost white now, filled to capacity with stored kinetic energy. He ran forward, building speed, and at the last moment, launched himself at the restrained creature.
The impact was like a bomb going off.
Bucky braced for the blowback, but was surprised when glowing gold-red magical shields, wielding impossible geometric factors, appeared before them, guarding them from the remains of the explosion. Bucky glanced at the strange man with the red cape, but saw the man's brows were furrowed, his hands glowing with golden rings around them.
The dust cleared, and a crater could be seen in the ground. T'Challa stood at the edge of the crater, and Bucky could tell it took everything he had in him to remain on his feet. The strange floating man deactivated the magic shield and hovered to where T'Challa stood, but someone was faster.
"My King!" Okoye ran up to the Black Panther at once and braced him. T'Challa was spent.
It took Bucky a few seconds, but he got to the tip of the crater as well, and he spotted it. The creature was face-first in the crater, its inner fire dim. They had won, finally.
"She's not dead."
"What?" Okoye asked, her bald head turning to face the man.
"She?" Bucky's concussed mind wondered.
He shrugged his shoulders at them, then pointed. Its fingers twitched as its body began to glow once more.
"We call her Hertha the Hateful, and while quite difficult, she's a bit tame compared to that one Berserker we were forced to fight a few weeks back. Anyway, I've found mortal weapons insufficient for killing them, and my anti-undead spells don't work on all but the weakest of them. She's always been quick to run. However, I've come up with countermeasures till I have the time to find a proper spell to kill her kind."
The strange man did something with his fingers, and those strange glowing circles appeared on them once more. With a twist of his wrist, a glowing portal appeared beneath the unconscious creature, sending it somewhere else. Only then did the man turn to them, greeting them with a polite nod and a tired smile.
Bucky noted the dark circles beneath his eyes.
"My name is Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. It's nice to finally meet Bast's Champion."
A/N: In my first draft, it was going to be one of the berserkers. A dumb kid finds a strange stone and unlocks the tomb. However, the berserkers are... strong. Ridiculously so. He would've gone through the kids, the Dora Milaje, Black Panther, and Bucky with time to spare for the rest of Wakanda before Doc Strange shows up. There's also the tiny detail where by whoever summons them gets trapped in a ice cage with them.
Sooo, I defaulted to Hertha the Hateful, and even then... Hertha is an absolute monster. In the Give me War difficulty, she literally speed blitzed then one shot me before i could do anything.
Lastly this would also be the last full chapter POV from others in a while. So enjoy.