Black Panther: Rise of the Princess (COMPLETE)

Chapter 16: Shuri

Since Nakia had stabilized, and Mother was on life support, both of them had been transferred back to the palace, so others could be treated at the lab. Most of the people who could be helped had been treated and dismissed, and those who hadn't...I had made sure that everything was in order for their families.

Peter wasn't nearly as talkative as he had been recently during the trip over. I think that he didn't want to say the wrong thing, which I appreciated, but I almost wished that he would. Spending all night in the lab, healing the civilians and guards that were injured in the blast, it was a constant reminder that the people who were stealing our vibranium were dangerous, and still out there. Every minute we spend searching for them was another minute that they could be building another bomb. Peter may have thought that he would have angered me, but that would certainly be better than facing the casualties from the parade.

Instead of watching the scenery on the ride to the palace, I pulled up Peter's scan and studied it. It was a basic scan, but that was only because Tony Stark didn't have the same resources I did. For an American, it was quite impressive. The resolution was clear as well, I had to give him credit for that. It was the next best thing from having my own scan completed, but I hadn't been focused on that last night. I'm just glad Peter thought of it. We would be far worse off if he hadn't.

I did not actually need to study the scan, because I had seen it so many times that I had it memorized by now. I just didn't want to look out at the city and see the wreckage from the previous night. Although I didn't say it, I could tell that there were a lot less people on the street today than there had been yesterday. It was so much quieter than normal.

Closing my eyes, I turned off my bracelet. I didn't want Wakanda to become like the westernized nations. I didn't want fear to control us. If these terrorists, HYDRA or not, continued to harm our country, everything we had worked so hard to protect would fall. I couldn't let that happen. I had to find these people, for Mother, for T'Challa, for Nakia, for Okoye, and for Father. I had to do it for Wakanda.

We arrived at the palace, and I walked to the throne room, where a few of the Dora Milaje were standing guard. "Is the King inside?" I asked.

One of them nodded. "Yes, but he is meeting with the leaders of the tribes, and of the military. They want answers about last night."

Peter piped up from behind me. "Shu-the Princess has some answers. I'm sure they'll want to hear what she has to say, especially King T'Challa."

I glanced at him, grateful for his support, although I wasn't sure how much help a white man would be convincing the Dora. At any rate, they prepared to open the doors. "Then you had best come in, your Highness."

I turned to Peter. "Thank you, but I doubt the tribal leaders will appreciate you in the throne room, especially after the parade. You had better lay low. I'm sorry, but-"

"Don't worry, Princess," he held up a hand and smiled. "I get it. Just get that scan to your brother. Tell them what you know. They need you in there." He nodded to the Dora and walked away quickly.

I turned back to the doors, where the Dora were smiling. "He seems decent, for a white man," one of them commented. I cannot remember any of their names, I swear to Bast.

Nodding, I shook out my shoulders. "He's better than most. I'm ready," I told them, and they let me in.

All of the tribal leaders were seated around T'Challa, including Okoye and W'Kabi. They all turned to me as I walked in, and I forced myself to breath and set my face. All of them knew me, and I respected them, but under the current circumstances, I was a little more nervous than normal. I hid my emotions, though, and tried to ignore the fact that Nakia and Mother were not present. Now was not the time.

I crossed my arms and bowed before T'Challa. "My King," I began, "I have made some discoveries about the bomb that exploded during the parade. I wanted to show you, and I believe the leaders of the other tribes would like to see them as well."

T'Challa nodded, and spoke evenly. "Show us what you have found, please."

I pulled the projection up on my bracelet, but expanded it so all of them could see. "From the debris of the float that was armed, we have found no evidence of a bomb. This had led me to believe that the float was the bomb itself, and that someone, or something, caused it to vibrate at high speeds. This caused the elements in the float to become unstable, and initiated the explosion." I ran a simulation on the bracelet, demonstrating the unstable properties of vibranium.

M'Kathu, the Elder of the Border Tribe, looked at me. "Have we seen this property of vibranium, as you call it, been exploited before?"

"Not like this," I explained. "It is the reason we have stabilizers down in our mines. The trains transport them at speeds that would render them unstable, as was done to the float, but the stabilizers deactivate the unstable properties."

Okoye glanced at T'Challa before turning to me. "If there was no bomb, then the creators of the float are responsible for the attack. Where was this float made?"

"The outpost in Sweden designed the float, General."

W'Kabi spoke to T'Challa. "My King, if this threat is not addressed immediately, then they will continue to attack Wakanda. We need to act now."

T'Challa stared at me, before answering and addressing the whole council. "I agree. However, we must not move against our opponent before we understand their objective, and how to best confront them. This council will discuss the best way to deal with this threat before moving to defeat them."

The Mining tribe elder eyed the King. "If we wait too long before attacking them, they may attack us again. For how long will we discuss before action is taken?"

"Days," T'Challa answered firmly, "if not hours. Thank you, Princess Shuri." I nodded and bowed, and turned to walk out of the room before another word was spoken.