Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 66: Law Of Attraction

"I'm glad you were able to come with me," Randy Robertson told Gwen Stacy as they made their way down the street towards the Harlem church. "Believe me, it means a lot."

"It's my pleasure," Gwen assured him. "So, he's really the actual King of Wakanda?"

"That's right," Randy grinned. "His Royal Highness, King T'Challa IV, heir to the Panther Totem and the Royal House of Wakange. He's going to be addressing the United Nations, but whenever he comes to New York he also makes a point of speaking at some of the venues the black community have set up."

"So what's Wakanda like?" Gwen asked. "Does T'Challa actually make all the decisions and tell people what to do?"

"No, he doesn't," Randy shook his head. "T'Challa's kind of a constitutional monarch, sort of like most of the kings and queens in Europe. All of the general decisions on things like taxes and laws are actually made by an elected prime minister and a parliament. As the Black Panther, T'Challa's both a symbol of the nation and a symbolic protector."

"So he's like Wakanda's answer to Captain America?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"He's much more than that," Randy shook his head. "If anything, Captain America is almost this country's answer to the Black Panther."

Gwen just blinked at him in surprise.

"What do you…" she trailed off.

"Before it was colonized by Europe, Africa was made up of a whole bunch of different kingdoms and independent countries-Kongo, Buganda, Loango, the Songhai and Mali Empires, Mapunguwe, and so on," Randy said, passion in his voice as he warmed to his subject. "Most of these countries were eventually colonized by Europe, and in the end only Ethiopia and Wakanda managed to keep their independence. In Wakanda's case, it had to do with the Black Panther, who was the warrior-king of Wakanda."

"What made him so strong?" Gwen asked curiously.

"According to legend, the Wakange tribe was suffering under the predations of its neighbors and almost enslaved, when its chief made a deal with Bast, the animal god of the panthers. He promised that the Wakange would worship Bast if he gave them the power of the Totem of the Panther to protect them. The pact was sealed, and the Wakange chief was given the mantle of the Black Panther, along with the fighting skills and superhuman abilities that came with it."

"How long ago was this?" Gwen blinked in surprise, not entirely sure what to make of the story.

"Possibly in the eighth or ninth century," Randy shrugged. "No one's really sure. In any case, once the Black Panther had received Bast's support, and saved the Wakange from their enemies, they founded the Kingdom of Wakanda. Since then, every new person to inherit the Wakandan throne also inherits the power of the Panther Totem, and has protected Wakanda from everything from invasions by other African countries to European colonizers to supernatural horrors and demons. The Panther has done the same thing for Wakanda that Captain America does for us, for over a thousand years before Captain America was ever created."

"Wow," Gwen said in amazement. "So what's Wakanda like now?"

"It's one of the wealthiest countries in Africa," Randy continued, "but that's still not a whole lot compared to Europe or North America. Most people can afford to put food on the table, and get the basic necessities of life, but not much more than that. Most Wakandans still can't afford a lot of the things we take for granted."

"That's too bad," Gwen frowned sympathetically.

"Without the Black Panther, things would be a lot worse," Randy pointed out to her. "T'Challa's been king for only about four years, and he's already had to fight the likes of Dr. Doom, the Red Skull, the Mandarin, Magneto, the Secret Empire, the Supermacists, the Soul Strangler, Baron Macabre and Moses Magnum. And his father had to fight all the African dictators who wanted to invade and loot Wakanda-Mobutu, Mugabe, Gaddafi, Siad Barre, Idi Amin…"