I Spy - Black Panther (M'BakuXOC)

Prologue - Going Home

"Hey Ki, pass it!"

The young boy in the blue zip-up jacket called to his friend, the girl with braided pigtails, the lone girl on their little basketball team. The girl bounced the ball a few times before passing it, only for it to be intercepted by the other team. And so the game continued, the youngsters not noticing the subtle flash from overhead as a foreign jet landed nearby their apartment building.

Some minutes later, with the score now 3-2, their game was interrupted.

"Kiara!" There was her father, sticking his head out of their apartment window and calling down to the compound. "Time to come inside." Luckily she didn't catch the shakiness of his voice.

"But it's not that late!" she hollered back.

"Now, please."

She passed the ball to her friend. "Night, Erik."

"Night, Kiara."

"See you tomorrow."

"Yeah." However, their meeting the next day was not to be. These would be the final words exchanged between the friends.

Kiara took the stairs two at a time up to the apartment she shared with her father. Her mother and older sister lived elsewhere.

When she arrived she was met by a strange sight: her father, bags in hand, as though they were leaving.

She looked at him thoughtfully. "Dad?"

"We must go, now."

The six-year-old was obviously confused. "Why? Where?"

"There's no time for questions-" Her father attempted to usher her out the door. In his attempt to not worry her he only succeeded in worrying himself further.

"Where are we going?"

"Please Kiara-" He shut the door behind them, locking it.

It was all happening so fast. "Can I go say bye to Erik?"

"I've already said goodbye to him and Uncle N'Jobu." Zuri hated lying to his daughter. She would never see her friend again. She couldn't.

He led her downstairs and out to the back of the building. There, Kiara gasped - a strange-looking plane was parked there. Her father took her hand and led her aboard. The door practically snapped shut behind them. Kiara was frightened and clung to her father's hand.

Soon she was met by another strange sight: a tall man dressed like a - cat? And with him two women with no hair. Who were these people?

"Kiara," her father said gently. "This is King T'Chaka."

The other man smiled warmly down at her. She didn't realize his shaken state either. "Hello Kiara."

She stared back. "Are you really a king?"

"Yes."

"Do you live in a castle?"

He chuckled. "Of sorts. You will get to see it soon. But you must be tired - here, we've arranged a space for you to sleep." He nodded to the two women who broke their seriousness briefly to smile at the little girl before leading her towards the front of the ship.

Her father came with her and sat by her bedside. The plane was so smooth in flight she didn't even feel it take off and start to fly away, leaving Oakland, leaving America behind.

"Try to get some sleep." Her father stroked her hair.

"But I'm not tired."

"Just try."

She snuggled her stuffed bear closer. "Dad, why are we leaving?"

He sighed. "We just have to. It's time for us to go."

"Where are we going?"

A pause. "Wakanda."

(Wakanda Forever! ;) And there's the first part! I hope you're enjoying so far - I'm really excited for this story (as you can probably tell! ;)) More to come soon, thanks so much for reading!)