The underwater council chamber shimmered with refracted light, bioluminescent flora casting shifting glows across the obsidian walls.
It wasn't built for human comfort—just pressure-hardened glass, spiraled coral columns, and the ever-watchful Talokan guards that eyed every breath the surface-dwellers took.
Cecilia Reyes stepped forward, calm as always, her voice like silk laced with steel. "We're not here to threaten Talokan sovereignty. We're proposing a collaboration—Wakandan and Talokan scientists working together to study the Vibranium network."
Beside her, David Alleyne nodded, holding up a hologram tablet displaying 3D models of the undersea vein. "We believe the strain in the lattice might be artificially induced. It could threaten both kingdoms if left alone."
The council murmured in Atlantean dialect, and Namora—regal and unreadable—studied the hologram with narrowed eyes.
From his seat, Peter Parker fidgeted. Riri whispered beside him, "You okay?"
Peter didn't answer. He kept staring at the flickering images, he was sure.
'Something's off, buy I can't seem to place my fingers on it.'
Kamala broke the tension, her voice bright, hopeful. "Maybe we could bring the young Wakandan scientists into the loop? Share lab space? Riri and I could demo some tech—get everyone vibing instead of glaring."
Shuri's cousin, Ayo's niece, rolled her eyes at that. "We don't vibe. We work."
Kamala's smile cracked slightly. "Right. My bad."
"Nice try, Ms. Marvel," Pietro muttered under his breath. "You tried to diplomacy them with Gen Z slang. Bold."
Peter glanced at him. "Maybe you should try saying anything helpful."
Before Peter could snap back, a sonic alarm shrieked through the chamber.
A Wakandan envoy burst in, vibranium spear crackling. "Talokan outpost—sector seven! Under attack. Young Avengers spotted."
"What?!" Peter bolted up. "That's not possible! We've been in this room!"
David's blood ran cold. He tapped his chest—nano-threads slid up his arm, linking to his HUD. "FRIDAY, confirm visuals. Who hit the outpost?"
"Playback shows figures resembling Kamala, Pietro, and Laura. Energy signatures match their known patterns."
FRIDAY was created by Stark to be the Young Avengers A.I Assistant when taking on missions.
"Match, but not them," Peter muttered. 'Perfect. Someone's playing Puppetmaster with cosplay-level accuracy.'
Namora stood, face hardened. "We offered trust. You came with violence."
"No—wait," Peter stepped forward, eyes wide. "We're being framed. Someone's trying to start a war."
"Detain them," the Talokan leader ordered.
Wakandan guards moved in like a tide.
Peter instinctively flinched, hands raised. "Please—just give us a chance to explain—"
But it was too late. His wrists were bound in vibranium cuffs before he could blink.
Pietro was already yelling. "This is garbage! I literally didn't do anything except break into the Wakandan pantry last night—and that was before the mission!"
David didn't resist. Not because he was surrendering—he was calculating. Watching. Filing everything. 'Who benefits from this chaos? Who has the tech to forge our powers, and the motive to drive these two nations into war?'
As the Young Avengers were led out, David lingered, eyes darting across the displays, the broken hologram still glitching in the air.
Cecilia caught his look. "You saw something."
David nodded slowly. "The frequency they used in the sabotage—wasn't Wakandan, or Talokan."
"Then whose was it?"
"I don't know yet." His jaw tightened. "But I will."
—
Later, in Wakanda's subterranean holding bay…
The cell wasn't cold. It wasn't even dim. Wakanda didn't do primitive.
But for Peter, it felt like a tomb.
He sat on the metal bench, back against the wall, staring at his hands. "I shouldn't have said yes to this mission. I'm not Cap. I'm not even me anymore."
Anna sat beside him, hugging her knees. "You're Peter. That's enough."
He gave a dry laugh. "Not when I make decisions that get us arrested. Not when I can't even tell who's real anymore."
She nudged him. "You want the easy answer? There isn't one. But you want the right one? The right thing isn't always the safe move. Sometimes being a leader means choosing the truth even when everyone else chooses fear."
Peter looked at her. "You sound like you actually believe that."
"I do," Anna said. "Because I saw what happened when people gave up on believing it. My world burned. Yours doesn't have to."
Silence.
Then Peter straightened slowly. "Okay. No more waiting. No more doubting. If someone's trying to start a war, we stop them. Together."
Anna smirked. "There's the Peter I trust."
Anna was powerful and she could have fought her way through the arrest earlier but this wasn't the best moment to use brute force.
—
Elsewhere, in a dark, water-filled cave cloaked in ancient tech…
Holograms flickered across a jagged screen—Talokan warriors dead, children fleeing, flames igniting undersea kelp forests.
The figure watching wore no flag, no mask—just a glinting obsidian visor and a voice that was smooth as mercury.
"Conflict… accelerates progress."
Behind him, drones shimmered, shaped like spider limbs forged from coral and steel.
"They suspect nothing," he said.
Then he turned to the screen.
"Let the war begin."
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