Chapter 21

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It's been almost half an hour since we made T'Challa drink the Heart-Shaped Herb and I'm starting to think that maybe he won't wake up. The three women are at his side while I pace the room. M'Baku comes to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. Ross comes too in a moral support way.

"Hey, It's going to be okay. I know him, he'll come back." M'Baku reassures me. I nod at his words but I can't remove those thoughts from my head. What if he never wakes up and that Wakanda is in danger? What if Killmonger snitches my father and I? I start to panic a little until I hear a gasp for air. I turn around and see my friend come back from the dead. I run to his side and we help him sit up.

"Do you have a blanket?" He asks, smiling and shivering. We chuckle a little, happy that he's back with us. Afterwards, we go into the throne room. It's not really warm but it's a little better. We sit on some bench and the adults start talking about the situation.

"Killmonger has the full support of our military and he burned the garden of the Heart-Shaped Herb." Nakia informs T'Challa.

"Of course he did." Ross starts. "That's what he was trained to do. His unit used to work with the CIA to destabilize foreign countries. They would always strike at the transition of power like an election year or the death of a monarch. You get control of the government, the military." He finishes.

"Our resources. The Great Mound" T'Challa figures out.

Shuri doesn't take long before understanding what her brother means. "Our vibranium, all of my designs." She says.

"He will send our weapons all over the world." The king says. Ramonda takes Shuri and I in her arms. "You must get them out of Wakanda safely." He says pointing at the three of us. We look at each other, all having the same thought; that's not happening.

"What? What about you?" Shuri asks.

He thinks but not for a long time before having his answer. "The challenge will have to continue."

"T'Challa, we will not leave Wakanda." The Queen Mother says.

"It is my duty to keep you safe." The royal says.

Shuri gets up and I follow her. We are now all standing in front of him. "We have to fight for Wakanda. I must fight for Wakanda, I need to fight for this country that has brought me peace and happiness. Something that I can't remember the last time I had. I don't need to run anymore, so I'm not going to do it now." I tell him. He looks at me with a pity-filled gaze.

"If he gets control of our technology, nowhere will be safe." Shuri says. Her brother doesn't reply so she takes out the necklace of the Black Panther. He chuckles a little, knowing very well that his sister stole it. She puts it around his neck. "The Black Panther lives and when he fights for the fate of Wakanda I will be right there beside him.

"As will I" Nakia adds, coming closer to him.

"I'm in too." Ross says. We turn to him confused. "What? You're gonna need all the help you can get."

Then we all look at M'Baku who is yawning loudly. "Are you done? Are you done?" He says, stammering a bit the second time he asks.

"Could you give me and Lord M'Baku a moment?" We leave them alone accompanied by the guard. When we get in the corridor, the grown ups start to discuss how they're going to take back the throne.

"We have to fight and now that T'Challa has the strength and the necklace back, he can be Black Panther. We will win." Shuri says.

Ramonda doesn't look so sure. "Shuri, it is not that simple." They start to argue and that's when I stopped listening. The two other men come back interrupting the fighting. They look at everyone trying to understand what is happening here.

"Brother, I have a plan. You're the Black Panther again and I can infiltrate my laboratory and take some of my weapons so we can fight Killmonger. When we've finished with him, everything will return to normal." She explains. T'Challa has the same reaction as his mother.

"You make it look like it's easy." He says.

"Because it is!" She says defending her idea. No one says a word either trying to see if it would actually work or trying to find another plan. "Listen, guys, it's either that or we let an outsider on our throne."

"Alright." Her brother says after some time. Shuri is already starting to cheer. "But if you are in danger just for just a second, you come back right here." He tells her.

"I'm coming too." I state. They turn to me and all look at me strangely. "What? You guys know that I'm pretty good at fighting even though I don't know the field really well."

"Maybe but if something happens to you, your father will kill me." T'Challa says.

I look at him like he's dumb. "Nothing will happen to me. You should be more scared for them really."

"Fine, but the conditions are the same for you as they are for Shuri. If I find out one of my sisters has been hurt, it won't end well. Especially for the person who hurt you." He says sternly. Shuri and I celebrate as soon as he leaves with the rest of the group.

"The only problem is that I don't have any suit. I kind of grew a lot since the Sokovia Accords." I realize.

She laughs a little like she knew I was going to say something like that. "Don't worry, I knew you were too big for your old suit, so I made you a new one. I didn't know if you'd need one, but it's better to have it for nothing than not to have one when you do need it." Shuri tells me, making me chuckle.

I can always count on her and I know it will be beautiful. We just have to wait for when we will go take back the weapon in the lab and we'll take the suit too. We join the others and they were waiting for us to plan everything in more detail. When we finished, the ones that had their suit put it on while the other waited to go grab them in the lab. On the way, I can see Shuri has something on her mind. "What is it?" I ask.

"Nothing important." I smile at her, letting her know that I know she's lying. It doesn't take long for her to crack. "Alright, I know that you can read minds. Have you ever read mine? Or could you have read Killmonger?" She finally say.

I know my answer but what if she thinks it' dumb? "I never read any minds by choice except once when I just discovered I could and I promised myself to never do it again."

"Why?"

I take a little time to answer. It's not that I don't know what to say, it's just that it's hard to talk about such delicate subjects. "It reminds me of my days in Hydra and I feel like I'm invading people's privacy." She nods and realizes it's hard for me to talk about so she ends it here.

When we finally get there, I look for mine but don't find it. "Lydia, I've got yours here." Shuri whispers to me loudly. I go to see her and she shows me the masterpiece on the mannequin.

 I go to see her and she shows me the masterpiece on the mannequin

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"Wow! Shuri, it's amazing! Thank you so much." I tell her as I give her a hug. She hugs me back, then takes it from the model and gives it to me. I enter a small fitting room, put it on and admire myself in the mirror in front of me. I see my necklaces that my dad gave me on my 6th birthday. I remember that day, it was the happiest day of my life. But right now I have to focus on the fight. I put them inside the suit so I'm sure that nothing will happen to it. I join the group and we all remind ourselves of the plan before we go.

"So, is everyone ready?" T'Challa asks.

"Always." I answer, confidently.

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