Chapter Text
A deep pulsing pain was the first thing Natasha noticed. It took a while, but eventually, she could lift her hand to gently massage the headache away. The pain ebbed away, and with little extra effort, Natasha found the strength to sit up and open her eyes.
Natasha tensed, every instinct screaming that something was wrong.
But what was there to be tense about? Last she remembered, Natasha had been getting ready to spar with Clint, and now she was in a dimly lit room with ten… no, eleven other people…
There were many things wrong with this situation, but the fact that Natasha felt completely relaxed and calm was definitely the worst.
“Nat?”
Natasha looked behind her to see Clint in a similar state of confusion.
“You know where we are?” Natasha asked, getting up.
Clint got up as well, and both walked in front of the group of people asleep on the floor. Some were in the process of waking up.
They immediately recognized four were Avengers—Tony, Steve, Bruce, and Thor—and Fury. There were two Wakadans (whom both spies quickly recognized as Prince T’Challa and Princess Shuri). There were three that neither recognized: a man wearing a blue tunic, a teenager, and a human with no particularly outstanding features.
“Where… Where are we?” Tony groaned, being one of the first to open his eyes.
Natasha and Clint glanced around the room. Once Fury was up and equally as suspicious, they walked around, trying to find an exit. There wasn’t even a vent, despite the air-conditioned cool in the room. There was, however, seating for about fifty people, five rows with ten seats each. A massive projector screen was in front of the seats (and behind the group, all now fully awake).
“It appears to be a cinema,” Natasha said as they returned.
“A… cinema?” the teenager asked, not quite believing the words coming out of his mouth. “How…?”
Shuri shuffled close to her brother and whispered in Wakandan, “Brother, what… Where are we?”
T’Challa opened his mouth to answer but frowned when he noticed something odd. Well, many odd things were going on, but this particular thing made him put a protective hand on his sister’s shoulder as he gently pushed her behind him.
“Captain?”
Steve looked at him without a hint of recognition. “You talking to me?” After a nod of confirmation, he continued, “I’m sorry, but who are you?”
T’Challa’s frown deepened. Shuri couldn’t hide her surprise.
“He’s T’Challa, the Blac—” Shuri started.
“The heir to the Wakandan throne,” Fury interrupted.
“He’s not just the heir…” She noticed the warning look from her brother and changed what she was saying. “I’m Shuri.”
“Is that name supposed to mean anything?” Thor boomed out.
“Princess of Wakanda and leader of Wakanda’s scientific division.”
“Scientific division?” Tony said, pulling a face. Given everything that’d happened in the past few years, he wasn’t totally throwing away the possibility of finding out that Wakanda wasn’t all that it appeared to be. But it only made this strange situation even stranger.
Shuri shot Tony a death glare. How could he be so mocking?
“Do you watch the news? Wakanda came out—”
“Shuri, wait,” T’Challa stopped her, placing an arm on her shoulder. “It is quite odd…”
“What’s odd?” Steve asked.
“The fact that you look like you're not trying to kill each other?” The man in the blue tunic butted in.
The Avengers give each other a look. Why would we want to try to kill each other? Went through each of their heads.
“Why would we—”
“Let’s table that, shall we?” T’Challa intervened. “The thing is, where are we?”
“And how did we get here?” Tony added.
“There are no exits,” Natasha noted.
“And we have no weapons,” Clint added. The Human With No Outstanding Features patted himself down before sharing an uneasy look with another member no one had spotted yet.
Stephen Strange attempted to create a pair of shields, only to get questioned on who he was and what he was doing. “Doctor Stephen Strange. And it appears that magic doesn’t work here either.”
“Magic?” The overly chirpy voice of the teenager called out. “Hey, Mr Stark. Wait, Captain America?”
“Ok,” Tony stopped the teenager. “I can understand… Shuri, was it? Third-world country or not, wherever we are, they apparently needed a bunch of scientists. And spies and super-powered people... But you, kid? Who are you?”
Peter just gave his mentor an odd look, “Peter… Parker…”
A thought came to Stephen, “What’s the last date you remember?”
“February 4th, 2014,” Steve answered without missing a beat.
Everyone except the Avengers, Fury, and the Human With No Outstanding Features looked at each other in understanding. The group was all saved from the awkward silence that followed as the Member No One Had Noticed spoke up.
“Where the hell are we?”
Since no one was expecting this, most people jumped in shock.
“Who said that?” Fury demanded.
“Here!”
Everyone turned around to face the Human With No Outstanding Features and… a raccoon.
“Did… Did that raccoon just speak?” Tony asked in shock. Shuri just nodded in response.
“He’s… He’s not a raccoon. Don’t get him started,” Peter Quill said. “Uh, who are you all of you?”
“More Terrans? One’s enough,” Rocket muttered.
Now was a good chance for everyone to properly introduce themselves. Stephen, Peter (Parker), Shuri, and T’Challa kept the fact that they were from February 2018 a secret.
“So… What are we supposed to do now?” Bruce asked, not expecting an answer.
“Excellent question, Doctor Banner!” A voice boomed, coming out of nowhere. Everyone looked around for the source of the voice, but because of the speakers, it was hard to pinpoint. “I understand that you are probably very confused and wish to know how you got to this movie theatre—”
“You don’t say?” Clint muttered.
“—but don’t fear, once you’ve finished the movie, you will be teleported back to where you were last. I have taken away your weapons and disabled any special abilities you may possess, like magic or lightning or… Anyway, back to why you’re here: The future of your universe is at stake. BUT! You can avoid the outcome if, and only if, you pay attention to the movie. And, just to avoid confusing anyone, refer to Peter Parker as Peter and Peter Quill as Quill. Good luck.”
And with that, the voice was cut off.
“Really? Why do I have to be referred to by my last name?!”
Before anyone could comment further, the screen lit up with a message displayed across it:
On the armrests of the seats, there are two buttons. One will pause the movie, and the other will resume it. The movie will commence in fifteen… Fourteen…”