Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #17
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Colin stretched as he got out of the bedroom, having woken up in less than two hours because his body simply did not need that level of sleep yet. Yawning more out of habit than need, he walked into the kitchen still in his PJs.
The apartment's design made sure that tons of natural light spilled into the living space when it was morning. It was approximately 7 right now and with that, came a new Dawn, a new day.
"Huh," He smirked to himself as he remembered the spying bitches who lived next door.
"Birds flying high, you know how I feel…"
He twirled as he took out a carton of eggs from the fridge, which he kept stocked here as well since he needed to maintain both identities. It was nice that his body needed a lot of fuel to function and while he could temporarily stave off the hunger by flooding his body with CHI, he liked to eat a lot and even having fully stocked pantries in both his places didn't completely fulfill his dietary needs.
It helped a lot in making sure that everyone believed that he still lived on Earth, not that anyone was looking, not until recently. Somehow, he didn't believe that the only ones with backdoor access to Tony's systems were SHIELD.
"Sun in the sky, you know how I feel…"
Wakanda must have access as well. They might have taken Tony's suspicions seriously and were probably here to confirm and surveil him to see if he was the famed hacker whose systems even Wakanda couldn't crack.
"It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me…"
Whipping the eggs, he set a pan on the stove and waited for it to be hot enough for the butter to melt.
Wakanda's systems were much more advanced than he would have expected them to be. So much so that the rest of the world, hell Tony's systems didn't seem to be even in the same century. It was not that big of a lead that Wakanda had, as far as he could recall. They were ahead, yes, but not that ahead. Something must have changed with his arrival.
It was not like he knew what this universe actually entailed and even if it did at one point resemble the canon MCU, his existence alone had butterflied so many things out of existence and created new problems as well.
Flipping the omelette, he plated it and placed the bread in the same pan, for that oh so deliciously greasy flavour. Grinning as the bread looked perfectly golden brown before turning off the stove. Looking at the near perfect, very easy, and quickly made breakfast, he grinned and began to dig in, singing purposefully in bad tones…
"And I'm feeling good"
He most certainly did.
...
...
…..
Tying his shoes, his senses picked up on the presence of just two people in the next door apartment, as opposed to five from last night. The drone in front of his house was gone as well. He was about to head to University, he had a few things to confirm with the Dean's office about the upcoming Stark internship, and also to see what accommodations would be provided to him as part of that, because that internship was more luxurious than most full time jobs, in terms of amenities.
Full accommodations, food, transportation, stipend, laundry, and more were a part of the full package. Essentially, he would be working at Stark Industries for a summer and would probably end up with more money than most minimum wage workers made in a year, such was the opulence when it came to the most valuable publicly traded company on the planet.
Whistling jauntily, he smirked as he heard someone coming up to the door, as he stood up and opened the door, expecting to see some hardened spy but his smile froze as did his body before he forced it to move and continued locking the door as if nothing had happened.
Internally, he freaked the f*ck out! What the hell? Was that Shuri? She sure as hell looked like a slightly older version of Shuri from the MCU. Same face but taller and with a different hairstyle to boot.
He sneak peeked at the girl before hurryingly getting out of there. Something was seriously wrong with this timeline because how does Shuri get to be roughly the same age as him when she was just a teenager in MCU during 2016 or something?
The Math was not Mathin.
He tried to be nonchalant about it but more than Shuri or Wakanda showing up on his doorstep, the fear of his knowledge being rendered invalid terrified him more. The only way to confirm it, without exposing his identity, was to equip another one of his identities.
It was time for the Orange Ninja to raid a nearby Wakandan spy site. For that though, he needed Jin'Ya's help but this time, it would be free since they had a lifetime arrangement where Jin'Ya would help him maintain his original identity and help defend him if Colin's life was in any danger. The same went vice versa but there were very few beings in the universe who could hope to hurt Jin'Ya and come out on top.
In exchange, all he had to do was let Jin'Ya live in the Red Hearth rent free. So far, that agreement has not been invoked, not even once, since he stayed in his lanes and made sure that he did not bite off more than he could chew.
A major reason for that was Old Man Wong who was more like an overprotective mother hen than a badass ninja sorcerer when it came to Colin Baxter and his safety. Speaking of which, it had been a while since he returned to the mother hen's nest plus he also had to review the status on his original spell, since that was one of the ways he could gain enough merit to become a Master of the Mystic Arts, giving him access to the vast resources that are available to active Masters serving the Sorcerer Supreme.
Sweating slightly, he made sure that none of the Wakandans was following him before heading to the University. Thankfully, the cab ride was silent, as his mind continued to churn about what to do.
There was still the Ta-Lo meeting for the revised meat quota, the original spell review in Kamar Taj, general purpose catching up with both Mother Hen Wong and the Ancient One, and then, there were the Wakakandans.
"Haaaa…" He sighed out loud as the burdens of so many things fell on his delicate shoulders all at once. First off, the University admin meeting and then contact Jin'Ya to get the duplicate ready.
Then, he might get enough room to complete his other chores. If not, he would end up spending most of his time dodging Wakandan surveillance efforts. They were very advanced if their cyber security was any indication.
Things added up as well. If Shuri really was much older than canon and roughly his age, then it meant that she had far more time to revamp and invent in Wakanda. With all of Wakanda's resources available to her, she would be able to easily elevate Wakanda's tech to a level never before heard of.
"Damn…" He muttered as he leaned back in the seat. Uni was still about half an hour away and he had nothing to do until then. Whipping out his mobile, he shot a quick text to Jin'Ya, in code language, informing him about an impending requirement, so the dragon would be able to postpone his Astral realm romances.
"Need help with moving some stuff. Will be busy. See you soon."
That was enough for Jin'Ya to know that Colin needed to move somewhere and needed Jin'ya to cover for him.
"Free arrangement?"
He smiled at that and shook his head, the freeloader dragon.
"Yes, this comes under the free arrangement."
Well, Jin'Ya would most certainly have some questions since this was the first time that his help was needed to maintain his identity, atleast on an active participation basis. The good thing about Jin'Ya and the current body he was inhabiting was that he could not just teleport, but also create portals.
That, coupled with his vast psionic powers meant that Jin'Ya could be anywhere in the same state as him and they would still be able to communicate effortlessly, which was essential because it was much harder to track.
Up until recently, he thought it would be impossible to track but if Shuri had about 5 more years to modernise Wakanda's systems and overall push sciences in that space, then he was not so sure about Wakanda's inability to sense psionic energy anymore.
Entering the Dean's office, he asked his Point of Contact about the details of the accommodation who told him that they should be in an E-mail that should come today itself.
Thanking the man, he got out of the space and froze, once more, as Shuri, who was most definitely either Shuri or a clone or a twin of that girl, stood on the stairs, looking frustratedly at her phone.
Nope, not touching that with a ten foot pole. He was about to pass her, when…
"Excuse me?"
With a slight smile plastered on his face, he turned to the Princess of the most powerful nation on the planet, and said, "Yes?"
"Can you help me? I am new here and have a meeting with the admissions office—"
Oh, crap! She was going to study here? In this dump of a University?
"--Someone told me it was part of the Dean's office but it is not here."
"Oh, yeah, that used to be here but it is now on the south side of the campus. Just follow that path and eventually, the signs will take you to Admissions. Are you a freshman?"
"Yes." She smiled at him and it did look genuine but then again, Shrui could be a completely different person from canon. Best not to rely on that bit of knowledge when it comes to her.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," Offering her a handshake, "I am Colin Baxter, a freshman as well. Comp Sci."
"I am Shuri, a freshman as well. Material Sciences."
"Oh," He made an enlightened face. Yeah, he did read something about that. Stark Industries and the university collaborated to create a very advanced, "most advanced" in their words, Material Research facility.
It was all very exciting for their field, according to the few people he met from that field, with a total investment of 12 billion, over the course of 10 years.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around. I am in a hurry, so bye!" He left in a hopefully nonchalant manner but he had a hunch that he just came off as weird.
He carefully hid the wince and kept the sunshine smile on his face as he heard her mutter under her breath, "What a weird guy."
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