Black Panther: Rise of the Princess (COMPLETE)

Chapter 21: Peter

I wasn't sure what the King and the Princess were up to, but the general, Okoye, took me to the ship I had arrived to Wakanda in. With nothing else to do, I settled in until the other two got back.

Since I had no idea what kind of response I would get, I had left my phone in my bag for the duration of the trip. I didn't think I would have any service, but Shuri must have pulled a few strings, because I had full bars. Okoye was in the cockpit preparing for takeoff, so I figured it couldn't hurt to check what I had missed back home.

Aunt May had sent a quick text. I had explained to her that if she contacted me during missions, it could potentially endanger her or me, and even though it had taken a lot of convincing, she finally agreed to not call or text unless it was an emergency, as long as I checked in with her as soon as I got back. She had sent a good luck message, reading, 'Love you, stay safe.'

I smiled at the screen, and whispered, "Love you too, May."

The next notification was from Raven: 'May made it to New Orleans. Safe for now, will let you know if anything happens'. I sent a quick thank you in reply, and then moved on to my email.

Most of it was work stuff, clients and whatnot. I categorized them by date, and then left them for later. I'd have to actually schedule them once I got back home. Until I was in Queens, though, there wasn't much I could do.

I scrolled through Facebook and Instagram for a few minutes, until Shuri and King T'Challa came onboard. Immediately, I noticed that something had changed in the time they had been away. Shuri was at least an inch or two taller, and even though I didn't know what that was exactly in metric, I knew it wasn't natural. She also looked a little more muscular than the last time I had seen her, although she wore it well. I still didn't understand how she could gain that much muscle in thirty minutes. T'Challa nodded before going to speak with Okoye, and Shuri took a seat not far from me.

Raising an eyebrow, I motioned towards her. "Hit a growth spurt while you two were talking?"

She shook her head. "Not exactly. I...we tried something."

"Steroids?"

She kicked my leg. "No, genius." She hesitated, then quietly answered. "I'm a Black Panther."

I glanced at the King, who hadn't noticed us talking yet. "Both of you?" She nodded. "I didn't know there could be more than one."

"Most of the time, there isn't." She watched the ramp to board rise. "There haven't been two Black Panthers in over thirteen generations."

I whistled. "Congratulations. That sounds big."

She nodded, and I could tell she wasn't quite ready to talk about it. As the ship took off, I silently wondered if Fury would mind adding a third member to the second generation of Avengers. If he was willing to let Raven join, maybe Shuri could too. If she wanted to, of course. Maybe she would be more comfortable staying in her country. I wouldn't blame her. I had a bad record when it came to traveling to different countries myself. Germany, outer space, England, Germany again, and now Wakanda. Why couldn't I just have a normal vacation for once?

T'Challa came to the rear and activated the projector that came down from the middle of the ceiling. A map of Sweden appeared (I think it was Sweden), and a building in the capital, Stockholm, was highlighted in orange.

"This is the outpost that sent the design to our labs," he explained, and I tried to focus, despite being in the presence of two royal superheroes. "We have to assume that they know we are coming to them, and that they are waiting for us. Peter, are you ready to blend in?"

I nodded, even though I didn't really know if it was my strong suit. "Am I trying to get in, or just standing by?"

"To begin, I want you to watch. Perhaps you will see something we will not, with your background. As an outsider, you have an advantage."

"What will you do?" Shuri asked, standing up to observe the hologram. She zoomed on Stockholm, so we could see the streets and individual buildings clearly.

T'Challa stared at her intently. "I am the one they are waiting for. They will be watching for me specifically, not either of you. As long as we can keep your involvement a secret, I want to use that to our advantage."

Shuri looked ready to attack her brother for suggesting that he go out alone, but she didn't say a word.

"If you start in the ship, you can track our movements, and the movements of any enemies, and try to figure out exactly what we are dealing with. Okoye will come with me, but I want you to stay a good distance away, in civilian clothing," he instructed Peter. "If something happens that we are not expecting, you will be able to react."

"And exactly what are we expecting from the traitors?" Shuri asked, avoiding her brother's gaze. "This doesn't sound like much of a plan."

"To find out what they want from us, and how they plan to take it," T'Challa answered. "Whatever we have to do after that to avoid more bloodshed, we will do."

The 'plan' sounded a lot more like improvising, but I didn't really have a problem with that. Most of my plans were on the go, or based off of what I had seen other people do. The only thing I saw that could be a problem was that our opponents, whoever they were, were smart enough to attack the royal family in the middle of a parade. I had a feeling they would have a plan to take down the King, even with his general at his side. I didn't see how I was going to be much help, since I had little to no experience with Wakandan weapons and tech. I just hoped that T'Challa knew what he was doing, and the Shuri was going to be able to walk me through this one, cause I was going to need it.