HIDDEN ─ marvel

III. The Assassin, The Genius, & The King

Chapter Three:
Soroya

"How does it work?" I ask the princess. I'm sitting on the chair behind the counter she's currently working on, drinking a cup of coffee. Shuri looks up at me from where she tinkers with a small round bead.

"Putting a human in cryogenic sleep slows down their metabolic activity: their heart rate, brain activity, cell reproduction. It puts you in a dormant state."

"And this is what also makes you age slower?"

She nods, setting down her tools and glancing behind her at Bucky. "While in that state you age at a prolonged rate. So given that Sergeant Barnes was twenty-six when he was first put into cryo, and he stayed that way for the better part of seven decades, he's biologically thirty or thirty one now."

I push a strand of hair away from my face, taking another sip of my coffee, genuinely amazed. "I bet you hear this all the time, but you really are a genius."

Shuri smiles proudly, finishing off on her project and entirely looking up at me. "Most think it's too risky to let a sixteen-year-old girl make their weapons and medicine. I love proving them wrong."

"I became an assassin when I was twelve. Those people don't know what young girls can handle."

Shuri gives me a look of respect before sitting down in the seat next to me. "I don't mean to pry, but my brother told me about you. About your abilities. Tell me, do you have to take your clothes off before you shift into animal form? Or do you just let them rip?"

"I take them off. I learned the hard way that ripping each pair of jeans I have isn't a habit to get into. Why?"

"I've been sketching out some designs for suits you and your brother can wear."

I raise my eyebrows, watching as she grabs onto a notebook and flips through the last few pages. I can't help but smile at the several different suit sketches stretched across the pages. "You're making us suits?"

She nods, flipping to a blank page. "I need some information, though, may I?"

I nod to her, watching as she begins to jot down notes on the page. "Is there any pain when you shift?"

"Yes. It used to be much worse, but now it's just a mild stretching feeling and some soreness."

"You can turn into any animal, yes? Including cold-blooded and aquatic?"

"Yes, I just can't turn into an invertebrate."

"Doesn't matter what size?"

"Nope."

"T'Challa said you inherit the abilities of the animals you change into. Can you elaborate?"

"If I change into an eagle for several hours or days, for that same amount of time after I shift back to human form, I'll be able to see and hear well. Or if I change into a fish of some kind, I can breathe underwater as a human."

"So let's say you change into a shark, an eagle, and a wolf within a few days. Will you have all their powers at once?"

"Yes. I've changed into a bear, wolf, cheetah, and jaguar that I pretty much have their abilities constantly."