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It’s not often that T’Challa finds a reason to visit the Avengers at the compound, be it for official matters or more leisure-related ones (which he agrees to oblige upon insistence from his fellow heroes). But when he does “stop by”, usually accompanied by his entourage of warrior women ‒and sometimes his little sister as well‒, it always kicks up a bit of fuss among the team members.
With whatever remaining tension from the Sokovia Accords affair dissipating more and more with each encounter, nowadays it’s all friendly camaraderie between them. Except when some of the Avengers decide to play an innocent prank on the King.
Usually, and while under the supervision of one Steve Rogers, none of the heroes would dare to do such a thing to another country’s leader. Especially one that, on one side, they had beef with, and on the other side, despite having had beef with him at some point, he still received them with open arms and helped them. Or maybe those reasons are exactly why they ended up pulling the prank after all.
Although, the main reason could also be cited to be a singular person: Princess Shuri.
Because, what is the purpose of younger siblings besides bothering their older siblings?
That’s why, ahead of the King of Wakanda’s visit to the States, and consequential appearance at the Avengers HQ, Shuri called her good ole pal Bucky to let him know about the good news, as well as to tell him that she needed his help to prank her older brother. And even though the Sergeant originally tried to refuse, in the end, he just couldn’t say no to the Princess.
So, having caught wind of the monarch’s upcoming visit, Bucky enlisted the help of Sam to come up with a harmless joke designed to target the Black Panther only. One that wouldn’t turn out offensive enough as to put them in too much trouble if they’re found out. Also, one that most likely wouldn’t incite animosity between the parties.
After weeks of meticulous preparation, which was not an easy feat to pull off since it required the men to hack and override the system installed on the premises. To do that, they needed a lot of help from Shuri (via facetime) since she was the only one smart enough to know how to deal with the Stark Tech-run system. And even though at first, they considered it might’ve been impossible to achieve since F.R.I.D.A.Y. would surely figure them out and alert Tony, nothing like that ended up happening yet.
So far, the group’s theory about that mystery is that the AI has noticed what they were doing and warned the engineer about it, but since Iron Man may have found their little shenanigans amusing, he let them carry on with it. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise them if that were the case, knowing well by then what Stark’s humor is like.
Either way, what mattered the most was that they were able to prepare everything and leave it ready to go off by the time T’Challa finally arrived at the compound, which ended up being that very same day.
The King is received cordially but without much fanfare, as he prefers to be treated by friends and colleagues such as The Avengers. He walks into the building with Shuri, Okoye, and Ayo in tow, being greeted by Tony, Steve, and Natasha. And after the warm greetings, they proceed to head towards the lounge room.
However, they can’t all help but notice a little…oddity.
Every time that T’Challa walks through a door to enter another room or hallway, the speaker system that’s installed throughout the compound comes alive and starts playing the famous Pink Panther’s theme song.
At first, the small group believes that the event is an isolated one and the product of a glitch. Maybe it’s due to human error, even. But after the third time it happens, they are all starting to get a bit annoyed and, in Steve’s case, also a little embarrassed. Well, all except for Shuri, who’s trying her best to keep the pretense that she has no idea what’s going on, even when she’s dying to laugh her head off upon seeing her brother’s reaction every time the song plays.
“Are you sure this isn’t being done on purpose?” Okoye asks, exasperated and with her hands twitching for her weapon to pierce the stupid speakers that keep replaying the offending music.
“Yes, perhaps someone is trying to make fun of our King,” Ayo proposes with veiled hostility, trying to repress the same urge as her fellow Dora Milaje.
“It surely is just a mistake,” T’Challa tries to amend with the calm and poise of a dignitary.
The last thing he wants is for another conflict to arise, especially one provoked by such an inane and harmless occurrence.
“It must be a bug in the system. Nothing that I can’t easily fix later,” Tony reassures his guest with his best conciliatory smile in an attempt to cover for the true culprits behind it all.
“Yeah, I’m sure it can even be fixed by F.R.I.D.A.Y., so there’s nothing to worry about,” Steve chimes in with his usual good disposition and charm, ushering the group towards its destination.
“It’s still funny, though,” Natasha mutters under her breath while smirking slightly.
The spy’s comment can only be caught by Tony since he’s the one walking right beside her. Still, is enough to make the engineer snicker like a kid before quickly composing himself the moment he sees Rogers looking back at him with suspicion in his blue eyes.
“You tell me about it,” Stark retorts with a sly smile.
His voice is low enough to not be heard by anyone else except for Romanov and the Princess, who had slacked off a bit from the other half of the group to hear what the two heroes were talking about. And upon realizing that the theory about Tony knowing of the prank but saying nothing about it turned out to be true, the young Wakandan can’t help but let out a quiet laugh before smiling smugly.
To that, Stark’s only response comes in the form of a conspirational wink.
Once they all make it to the lounge, the music finally stops and they can resume their chatter in peace, only stopping briefly again to discuss the matter. It is then that Tony takes the opportunity to explain a little further his assumption of what the problem behind the sudden acting up of the speakers could be, only to dismiss as much skepticism on the matter as possible.
Unfortunately for him and the masterminds behind the prank, the Wakandan king isn’t convinced by his postulate and thinks that it’s a rather deliberate action perpetrated by someone who just wanted to annoy him.
It’s also then that T’Challa notices that his little sister is missing. And upon discretely asking Ayo about the Princess’ whereabouts, the bodyguard answers that Shuri excused herself to go to the bathroom.
How convenient, a chagrined T’Challa thinks before refocusing on the conversation at hand.
Meanwhile, Princess Shuri didn’t go to the bathroom, but rather to a nearby hallway where she encountered her fellow partners in crime.
“So, how did they react?” Sam asks in a hushed voice, fearing the possibility of being overheard.
“You should have seen their faces! They were priceless!” Shuri whispers, barely containing her joy.
“And they didn’t suspect a thing?” Bucky interrupts to inquire, somewhat worried.
“Nah, not really. They bought Stark’s dumb excuse,” Shuri assures the two men, confident about the success of their mission. “Oh, by the way, he definitely knew about it.”
The girl’s confirmation about whether or not Tony was aware of what they had been doing the past few weeks behind everyone’s back didn’t come as a surprise but rather a foreboding warning since it’s the telltale sign that they should always be careful when it comes to hacking the system in order to pull off pranks.
“And he covered for us? Damn, he’ll surely ask for something in return,” Barnes laments, frowning at the fact that they are indebted to Stark now.
“Well, at least now we know for sure that he’ll only let us mess with his tech as long as the prank isn’t pulled on him,” Sam wisely offers. “Anyway, thanks for the help, your Highness, it was really fun and all.”
Wilson bows down in front of Shuri, which gains him a gentle punch in the arm and a breathless “Gross, don’t do that” said between laughs.
With a few more words exchanged, the trio parts ways, with Bucky and Sam scurrying off before they can even cross paths with the other Wakandans and Shuri returning to her compatriots’ side. And even though she believes that she was able to pull off the plan without any flaws, little does she know that her brother is already suspicious of her.
And not only that but a lengthy questioning and lecture await her as soon as they all get back to Wakanda.