Okay this one is so short for a few reasons: 1) It was written in like two hours flat. 2) I wrote it because I saw that a Naruto crossover is within 20 favs of this fic despite having one chapter with a plot that makes up for like a tenth of Naruto crossover fic. 3) I needed to post something on this site while I posted other things of P at re on. 4) I really don't like Naruto and Naruto crossovers so the fact that that kind of fic is so close to out pacing this one is irritating. Seriously its been out for less than a month, has one chapter, and still blew up faster than a grenade.

Anyway enough whining. Enjoy this shameless filler chapter that is to be used to set the groundwork for the next few actual chapters when I get around to them.

"Woah, this is your lab?" Peter, still in his disguise of Spider-Man, asked Shuri as he looked around the main Wakandan development laboratory three days after arriving in the secretly advanced country amazed.

"Yep." Shuri affirmed with a little smirk, she knew showing off a bit of Wakandin tech would be entertaining. Even with his mask on Shuri could imagine the look of awe in his eyes. And that was just from seeing the appearance of the lab, not what the things within it could do. "What you see is the result of the last fifty years of Wakandan scientific development." She explained, "We tend to scrap everything and remake this lab every few generations to keep everything as up to date as possible."

"Makes sense," Peter said, "This is the prime location for a lab like this so making sure its as good as it can be would be pretty important."

"Indeed. Here in Wakanda we take scientific advancement very seriously. What does your laboratory look like?" She inquired. "Someone who was sought out by the Avengers must have quite the setup of their own."

"My lab?" Peter said embarrassed, "Um, it's just my bedroom back in Queens. I don't really have 'resources' that go beyond pocket change and dumpster diving." He admitted. "The only reason I was on the Avenger's radar is because I tend to show off a bit when I fight."

Shuri blinked confusedly at that, "Truely? I thought that with your webbing formula and the shooters you at least had ready access to a basic chemistry lab and an auto shop."

Peter snorted, "I wish. No its all made by what I could buy at this store that specializes in chemistry projects for high schoolers and college kids and the scraps of old appliances and toys that people threw out when they upgraded or they broke." He told her, "Not to brag but if I had access to half the stuff Mr. Stark has I could make something that could go toe to toe with every one of his suits short of the Hulk Buster." Peter said with pride.

Shuri raised an eyebrow at the boast, feeling her own pride as an inventor and genius rear its head along with her competitive spirit before she savagely pushed them back down, "Really?" She almost challenged "That's a big boast Peter. Even here we know who Tony Stark is. Before he started his technological revolution Wakanda was estimated to be five or six generations ahead of the rest of the world, now because of his work it has shrunken to two or three at the most."

Peter had to concede to the blatant meaning behind that, "Okay so I'm not that smart, but I can hold my own."

"Prove it." She challenged.

"Huh?" He asked confused.

Shuri gustered around them at the vast expanse of technology, "There are more resources here than nearly any other place on Earth." She told him, "And if you are as smart as you claim the two of us are more than likely within the top ten smartest people on the planet." She said, "What do you say we have a friendly competition. Three days to design and create any device we want. Whoever creates the more impressive piece wins." She proposed. Okay maybe she didn't squish her competitive feelings as well as she thought she did, but this was the first time she ever met someone who could truly be her intelectual peer so she was a little excited.

"Are you challenging me to a nerd off?" Peter asked amused but more than a little intrigued.

"Not the phrasing I would use, but yes. Are you in?"

"What are the stakes?"

"The loser must admit that the winner is smarter than they are and gets to pick what we do next." Shuri told him.

"You are so on."

That night

"What are you doing?" Sam asked the youngest member of their little group.

"Putting together plans for a device that will massively dilated time within a certain radius." Spider-Man told him absentmindedly.

"... Ignoring how impossible that sounds, why are you doing that?"

"To win a bet with Shuri."

"And you couldn't have bet on something like a boxing match, car race, or a freaking card game because..?"

"Because I bragged about being smart, she bragged a little about Wakanda and her being one of if not the top scientist of this place, and now we are going to try to one up each other."

"... Nerds are weird."

Spider-Man snorted, "You mean awesome."

"You are trying to make a device that will screw around with the very fabric of time, I call that more crazy than awesome." Sam told the teen.

"You joined a strike group with Captain America to help take down a giant super advanced Nazi organization because you got lapped during your morning run." the Spider pointed out.

"Your point?"

"You can't accuse anyone of being weird or crazy."

"I was already a soldier before I joined up with Cap." Sam defended himself, "Agreeing to help defend my country isn't crazy or weird."

"I didn't say that part was. I said how you got to that point was crazy." Spider-Man pointed out.

"Crazier than deciding fucking around with time because you and your little crush got into a bragging contest is a good idea?" Sam shot back.

"First, language. Second, who said anything about me having a crush on Shuri?"

"The fact that you obviously feel such a need to impress her that you are willing to create something like a step or two away from a god damned time machine."

"That isn't why I'm making this. It's for bragging rights." He defended himself.

"Keep telling yourself that kid." Sam told him walking away.

Peter rolled his eyes at the retreating man's last words and got back to the schematics for his device. 'Okay so time is relative and connected to speed, so if I…'

At the royal palace of Wakanda

"Another project Shuri?" Ramonda, Queen of Wakanda, asked her daughter.

"Yes mother, if it works it will be able to temporarily bend and warp space, creating an area where something is either far larger or smaller than what its mass and density would normally dictate."

"Fascinating." Ramonda said walking up to her daughter's desk to look at the designs she could only understand part of. "But why are you making something like that?"

"Well, it would look really cool when it is used. It could be used to better observe and interact with very small or very large objects. And Spider-Man and I made a bet that I intend to win." Shuri explained.

"A bet?" Her mother inquired, "Shuri this is potentially revolutionary technology, what kind of bet could you and that outsider have possibly made to dictate creating something like this?"

"I challenged him to see which of us was the smartest." Shuri explained, "We each have three days to come up with an idea from scratch and create a functioning prototype."

"But is your idea not what the one they called 'Ant-Man' uses?" Romanda asked.

"Not quite, his technology shifts matter around the universe in such a way that it changes the size and mass of a particular object, what I am doing would keep an object the same size and mass but allow you to observe and interact with it as if it were a different size." She explained. "For example if Ant-Man used his technology on a stone it would become a bolder, but my design would allow you to take that rock and do what you would to a bolder all while in a lab and without the transfer of matter."

The queen looked at her daughter in confusion, "I am afraid I do not quite understand the difference my daughter, but I am sure that you know what you are doing. Just be careful? From the sound of this project of yours it seems it could very well be quite dangerous."

"I will take all necessary precautions." Shuri promised her mother, knowing she was only being this obvious about her protective nature because of the recent passing of her father. It was not the Wakanden way to openly and overtly grieve the loss of a loved one for more than a brief period, but the pain took longer to go away than they showed.

"And unnecessary ones as well?"

Shuri rolled her eyes, "All precautions will be taken mother. Standard and specialized. I know what I am doing." She told the older woman.

"I know." Romanda assured her, "But it is a mother's job to worry."

"I'll be careful. I promise."

"That is all I ask." Romanda said with a smile as she left the girl to her work.

'Now matter is made up of the grouping of molecules so if want to change how it is presented…'

Hope that wasn't too bad.

Anyway, FAVORITE (Keep Naruto from claiming another top spot), follow, and Review.

Thanks and see you next time!

Wingd Knight out

P at re on.c o m (slash) wingdknight

ko-fi.c o m (slash) sevenknights