Black Panther: Rise of the Princess (COMPLETE)

Chapter 26: T'Challa

HYDRA was not exactly gentle with us. They clearly held no respect for prisoners. I hoped that didn't mean anything for our immediate future.

Okoye and I were transferred to separate cells. She was still glaring at me, and hardly batted an eye at the foot soldiers that were shoving us around. Anyone could tell that she was five seconds away from knocking down every soldier in the vicinity and escaping, but she held herself back, for the time being. I wondered how long she would stay that way.

When my cell door closed, I considered how long it would take for me to break out. Doubtless, Okoye was thinking of the same thing. The bars would most likely break if put under enough pressure, but I had no idea when a patrol would pass by yet. If I wanted to get out on my own, I would have to wait and time my exit.

As it was, I had no intention of escaping on my own. By this time, Shuri and Peter Parker would have rejoined each other, most likely at the ship, and one of them would have taken the initiative by now. Now that HYDRA had my general and I, their guard would be lowered. It gave them a slim window to secure an advantage, although I had no idea what that advantage might be.

They had options, as I saw it. We now knew of two locations HYDRA had influence over, and one for sure that they were occupying. Whatever plans that they had for our country would come out of those two facilities. How was a mystery to me, as well as how we would discover their plans, but that was what I was leaving to Shuri and Mr. Parker.

Instead of worrying, I forced myself to relax. I sat on the bench in the cell (very uncomfortable) and simply listened. A minute later, I heard two sets of footsteps pass, with no stopping and no conversation. A patrol, then, and not a very concerned one. A proper patrolman would check every possible opportunity for a breach, or something out of place.

If that was the case, then they must be receiving their orders from a higher chain of command. If they were smarter, they would take their job more seriously, but they were pawns in someone else's game. Perfectly content with a mediocre job. That meant that our true enemy was most likely one person, or group of people.

That was the difference between Wakanda and the rest of the world. Even our weakest link had value, not because they could break, but because they could become stronger. That was what would beat HYDRA.

I was smiling in the light of my discovery when my necklace began to shift. I hadn't wanted it to, so it startled me when it began to consolidate and morph into a solid black figure. It fell of my chest and onto my legs, where it took form as a small cat. It was hardly as big as my thumb, but I knew better than anyone that it held much more than that.

Grinning down at the synthetic feline, I quietly whispered, "Good luck, Shuri. I'll wait for you to finish."

I could only imagine how furious she was at me for not telling her of my intentions sooner, and I almost laughed when I thought of how irritated that comment might make her. She was our hidden weapon, though. Shuri had always been more dangerous than anyone had taken her for, except maybe Father. She already had some kind of plan, something to do with this miniature black panther.

It leapt off my legs and crawled under the cell door. It disappeared into the shadows, and I reached over to the wall next to me. With these incompetent soldiers standing guard, a hidden message could probably be risked.

I knocked on the wall, the one separating Okoye and I. My message was simple: 'It is working.'