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Chapter Text

“At the river, you said you wanted to burn the world. Let’s burn it together.”
Shuri looked into his earnest eyes. “You read my mind.” She paused, to let them both enjoy the blissful silence. “But Wakanda will not stand for it.”
“Then we give them no choice.”
Shuri stood and glared down at him. “I am with you for anything you wish to do to the surface world. But know that will always exclude Wakanda. And there may be individuals I choose to pull out and save. If you want my aid, I will stand and fight with you. But I will be your equal, and with that comes equal power both to condemn and to save. Wakanda, the scientist I came here with, and a few others. They will be saved.”
“Do you trust them?”
“With my life.”
“Then they will be saved.”
“Unfortunately, most of them are Americans.”
Namor sighed, but he’d already agreed to it. “Can we cap the Americans at 10? 10 can’t do much damage but I can’t risk more than that.”
“Alright. Then I know which ones. Riri Williams, that scientist. Peter Parker. Morgan Stark. Virginia Stark.”
“Stark?!”
“They are the harmless ones. Tony Stark is dead.”
“That is on you,”
“So that was 4. James Barnes. And… Michelle Jones, Ned Leeds, Daisy Johnson. And Everett Ross. I don’t need 10.”
“Anyone else off the top of your head?”
“I know an ally. From Asgard, Loki Odinson. Scorned like you, lost like me, and has enemies galore on this world.”
“Including you?”
“He saved my life once in the battle against Thanos. He can fight for good if he needs but he will stand with us if I ask.”
“Alright. We strike at dawn.”
“Not so fast. I need to ensure Wakanda will be off our backs.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. I need an alliance that is unbreakable, so for those who do not like it, I can say I had no way out. My people do not worship me as yours do you.”
“That took me centuries of being the only king they knew.”
“And I am just a princess who fiddles with technology to most.”
“But are you the only heir?”
“Yes… Do you mean for me to challenge for the throne?”
“I don’t know how surface nations work, but before me, in my mother’s people, once the throne was passed down a generation, it could not come back up. If I were mortal, my heirs would be any potential children first, then siblings, then cousins. I have no children or siblings, so Namora would be queen is I were killed.”
“Then I have to make sure you stay alive.”
“I have an idea that may work.”
“I’m listening,” Shuri said
“If we bait the surface nations into attacking Wakanda, from what you have told me of the surface world’s political sphere, then when Wakanda fights back…”
“Our hidden ally can come in and when we win, we do not have to slaughter billions, simply conquer in the wake of their fallen leaders.”
“You would conquer like their ancestors did?”
“Their ancestors raped and enslaved millions. We will be better. They can keep living as they are, but I have to defend Wakanda, before it is too late. Is that not what you were going to do for Talokan?”
“Exactly, Princess.”

Chapter Text

When Ramonda called Namor up to talk, she demanded to know of her daughters state.
“Shuri is well and content in Talokan.” He replied. “But there is nothing you can do to get her back.”
“And the scientist?”
“She is alive, but only as a favor to your daughter. If you swear she will never again have contact with the outside world, i do not care if she spends her days in Wakanda or Talokan. You may take her off my hands under the oath that she will stay in Wakanda until the end of her days and have no contact with the outside world.”
“And what of letting her family know of her state?”
“Tell them she is alive, but that is all I will concede. There are to be no messages from her to them. She is alive and that is all.”
“Fine. What of my daughter?”
This part, was part of the plan they’d made. That Ramonda had summoned him only made it easier, no need for a pretense to meet. “She agreed to stay instead, herself for the scientist. The ache instinct will be brought to the shore in Wakanda where we first met, by sundown tonight, so be prepared.”
“You will not keep my daughter from me, Namor.” The name for his enemies.
“I will not keep your daughter from you,” he agreed. THis part was even the truth: “But in Talokan, we have traditions, passed down from our ancestors, just as you do. A king can only marry for alliance*, and though parents are consulted, the children choose for themselves. Shuri has agreed to wed by the traditions of my people, to permanently and peacefully unite Talokan and Wakanda, and to create a unified nation of Vibranium.”
“Left me speak with my daughter.”
“Do not worry, Queen Mother.” The address was not forgotten in Ramonda’s mind. “I will wed your daughter a second time by your traditions a second time, of course, after you give her the throne. She has told me of your challenge rituals, and also that they can be avoided when a political marriage is in play. And since we are to be equals, i can only wed your daughter in Wakanda when she is the Queen to my King. You understand, of course? We will not have the imbalance you had, Ramonda of the river tribe, with your husband.”
“You would unite our nations?”
“Well, I have not discussed this in full yet with my betrothed, or as you put it, my fiancée, but it was an idea, yes. Shuri even mentioned making Talokan a tribe of Wakanda to give us a separate voice on her council, but that’s is yet to b e decided. IN the meantime, prepare for the scientist’s arrival and prepare a coronation ceremony for your daughter.”
“What have you done to her?”
“I have shown Shuri a new world and opened her eyes, as your people say.”
***
When Nakia surfaced in the cavern, only Riri was present there. “Oh my goodness, you’re from Wakanda, right? You’re not blue.”
“I am Nakia, of Wakanda.”
“Oh, good. So Shuri poppped in a few minutes ago, she told me she talked to the king fish guy, and he agreed to send me back. They’re readying a thingy to transport me at this moment. You can’t be caught here. Go back, theyre sending me to Wakanda anyways!”
“What of Shuri?”
“She said she’d be fine and that she got a way to go back anyways!”
“What did she say, exactly?” Nakia demanded.
“I don’t remember her words, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but she definitely said that she’s negotiated with him and that she’s going to return as the new dawn rises. That’s an overdramatic way of saying tomorrow. Like how they’re sending me to Wakanda before sundown. Right?” At Nakia’s disturbed face, RiRi repeated, worriedly, “Right?”
“Oh no,” Nakia whispered.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Let them take you back. I need to find Shuri!”
“No!” Riri yelled. “You have to get out of here!”
“I will risk my life if i must. What Shuri wants to do will not work.”
“What is she going to do? I can help. She said she’d be back soon anyways, to see me off, so stay here.”
“Shuri is going to take the throne, as T’Challa’s only heir, as in peacetime, only one younger than the king and of his blood can take the throne, because of an evil queen who married into the royal family some centuries ago. Since it is not exactly peacetime, Queen Ramonda has the throne as the late King’s wife, as it was deemed Shuri was not ready and the council was not ready to burden her with an aid to help her rule**. But by those laws, if there is no longer a threat from Talokan, and if the threat from the Americans and the French is not recognized as legitimate enough, Shuri could claim that as the only heir, she could claim the throne. But it won’t work.”
“Why not, Nakia?” Shuri asked, walking in. “Is there something I am not informed of?” She was dressed to the nines, in Talokin formal wear, dripping with jade and aquamarine and diamonds. And on her ring finger, in surface world traditions that Wakanda shared with much of the rest of the world, was a diamond ring, except it was a red diamond, the rarest type in the world, and a full carat of it***. The engagement ring shone especially bright under the blue waves.
“Because… I was going to tell you but never found the time. There’s a reason I settled down in Haiti. T’Challa, you brother and I had a son. Your brother decided his son should grow up without the pressures of the throne. So Haiti it is. But that makes him the first heir, not you. You’re not the only heir, and yo’re second in line, after your nephew. After my son.”
Shuri took a deep breath in and out, and behind her closed eyelids, Nakia knew her eyes had a calculating gleam. It was usually there only for technology, but Shuri was a genius, and it wasn’t only with her machines. T’Challa had always bent to his sister in the end, as had the council.
“How old is he? It’s been a year since my brother died, but it seems your son must be older. He must have been born during the snap? So he’s four years old now?”
“He’s six. I… I got pregnant shortly after your bother ascended to the throne for good.”
“Does my mother know?”
“T’Challa told her on his deathbed, she said.”
“And me?”
“You weren’t there.”
“I was in my lab! Trying to save him!”
“He wanted to tell you on his own terms.”
“Well T’Challa is dead!”
“My son is named T’Challa.” said Nakia firmly. “And he is the rightful heir to the throne of Wakanda, when his time comes. And your mother will be queen until it is his time, and the I will be the Queen MOther.”
“WEre you two even married?”
“Yes. We eloped, back before your father passed on with the ancestors. WE were just.. estranged.”
“Were the elders told?” Shuri asked, leading to a conclusion Nakia reached simultaneously.
“No.”
“Then he is no heir o my brother’s. He is his son, and T’Challa junior is my nephew and he is welcome in the halls of the royal family, but he was not presented to the elders at brith, or any time after. He is no heir, for in the eyes of the nation, he is no royal son. So however you may wish to use my son as a pawn, Nakia, i will not let you become the new Queen Asilia, who stole the throne by an imagined right of birth. What happens with the throne is none of your business because your son will not sit on it while I am still around, and that is not a threat, that is a statement of how Wakandan inheritance law works.” Shuri turned to the other woman in the cavern room. “Get ready Riri, if you had time to unpack anything here. You’re going to Wakanda any minute now. We let your family know you’re alive and well, but im sorry, its too dangerous to let you pass any messages.”
“Shuri, what happened to you? What did he do?”
“He didn’t do anything but help me create an actionable plan. The throne isn’t my end goal, Nakia, so don’t worry about that. But there are just some things my mother simply doesn’t know.”
“That only makes me worry more.”

Chapter Text

The killer whale dissapeared into the ocean behind them, as Shuri and Namor stood on the beaches of Wakanda’s capitol. In front of them, stood Queen Ramonda, surrounded by armed guards. On her left, the side where her daughter ought to be, stood Nakia, and on her right, the side of the heir, stood a young boy who bore a striking resemblance to Shuri’s late brother.
“Umama.” Shuri said, with a light nod of her head. “Queen Mother.”
“Shuri. Daughter. Cease this madness and come home. Like before.”
“I am home. Here. In Wakanda. Are you not satisfied?”
“You are not my daughter. Namor, what have you done to her?!”
Namor smirked. “I married her.”
“Yes, yes, drama queen.” Shuri sighed, the sarcasm making her sound so much more like the princess she used to be. Then her face straightened again. “I, Princess Shuri of Wakanda, Daughter of King T’Chaka, sister of King T’Challa, as the rightful heir of the throne of Wakanda and chief of the Panther clan, as the only remaining child of the lineage of Bashenga, the first Black Panther, declare my right to challenge for the throne. Queen Mother, as you were not born to this lineage, you must organize a challenge before sundown tonight. Dora Milaje, with me.”
“I will not aid you in a coup against the queen.” Okoye stated firmly. “Dora, we stay put.”
“The queen is but a daughter of the River tribe. You have said, General, that it is your sworn duty to stand by the throne of Wakanda, no matter who sits on it. Better me than N’Jadaka, I think. Or do you wish to break the vows you swore to the throne?!”
“Shuri, please, don’t do this,” Nakia pleaded. “I know T’Challa’s death took it’s toll on you, but that does not mean you have to go align with whatever insane plan this… fishman demands of you. T’Challa wouldn’t have wanted this.”
“T’Challa is dead, and you have audacity to break royal naming traditions to name him that. If he were the heir his name would be T’Chama, after T’Challa and T’Chaka. A King like the rest but different enough to be his own. T’Challa is dead, sister, and his will with him. I am his only true successor and-“
“No, you are not.” Okoye interjected. They all caught on quickly except a whiplashed but silent Namor.
“If there is a child for King who cannot challenge for himself, the regent can fight for him. T’Challa, my son T’Challa, cannot challenge, but I am his mother and the last King’s wife. I, Nakia, wife of King T’Challa and mother of Prince T’Challa, son of King T’Challa, the rightful heir of the throne of Wakanda, accept your challenge for the throne, Queen Shuri of Talokan.”

Chapter Text

Shuri found the one person in Wakanda she had to speak with before the challenge. “M’Baku.”
“Princess! You’re back! What is this I hear of a challenge though?“
“My mother will not sit on the throne by dawn either way.”
“Who has challenged you?”
“I put in the challenge, M’Baku. I am challenging for the throne of Wakanda, as it’s last remaining true heir.”
“Who else could challenge? The River tribe? I know it is hard for them loosing the influence of your mother, but would they truly try to take the throne for it?”
“No. Nakia.”
“By what right does she challenge?”
“Did you not hear? She’s secretly been my sister in law for nearly a decade now, and has a six year old son by my brother. She is challenging as regent.”
“You would fight Nakia?”
“I have no choice. The world seems determined to keep me from the throne. First my mother, and now Nakia. Her son does not deserve to loose his mother, so I will let her yield, as my brother did for you.”
“He swore to never tell anyone of that.”
“He talked in his sleep,” Shuri deadpanned. “That’s the only way I knew anything around here.”
“That is a noble plan, but what if it does not work? Nakia is a war dog, and you don’t even have Black Panther training.”
“That part I will manage. There is another I wanted to ask you.”
“To have my Jabari stand for your circle during the challenge? It is an honor princess.”
“No, M’Baku, though I thank you for the offer. I have that handled too. No, I want you there, at the challenge. And if it does not go as planned, if I loose and if I must yield, I ask for your alliance.”
“My alliance with who?”
“With me. No matter how the challenge goes. You may not have heard, M’Baku, but I solved the threat of Talokan in the oldest way known to woman.”
“You married him?!”
“It’s an alliance and was the better of my options. Yes. I married him and even if worst comes to worst, I am still Queen of Talokan by marriage. And if I am not Queen of Wakanda by birthright by the end of the day, if I loose and Nakia sits on the throne and exiles me for daring to challenge the words she puts in her son’s mouth and will, for years to come, I want you, and by extension the Jabari, to stand with Talokan as alllies.”
“What are you planning, Shuri?“
“That is not set in stone. But allies never hurt.”
“Shuri, I am a chief of a tribe of Wakanda. You know, surely, that if the Jabari stands against the throne, we would be destroyed just as the border tribe was. They still stand simply because of their necessity and yet they are barely a part of the nation. I have a seat on the council, and I cannot put my peoples voice into jeapardy like that.”
“You have that seat because you aided my brother when he needed it most. Even when he lost his challenge by all rights to N’Jadaka. The law of Wakanda has never stopped you from your morals and loyalties, M’Baku, chief of the Jabari. Stand by me like you stood by my brother.”
“Princess you give me the choice between the sister or the wife and son of the only true ally I’ve ever known, my only true friend outside my tribe.”
“And have I not become your friend?”
“Princess, you must understand the choice you give me.”
Shuri cut out her genuine face and her expression slipped into one of icy cold. “And you have to understand, M’Baku of the Jabari, that by the end of tonight, no matter what happens, I am the Queen of a nation with limitless vibranium and my inventions at the head of it all. As an ally, I am giving you an option to be on the winning side for if Nakia sits on the throne, either she or my husband will declare war one the other. There will be war if I loose and I am giving you a choice to take your Jabari, and break away from Wakanda. You have never depended on Wakanda, and now that it is open to the world, you need not use their defenses to hide. Talokan easily rivals Wakanda, so you need not worry about any of the sur- outside nations. The way I see it, this is like the choice you made with my brother. The ally you know you can rely on, or the crown, simply becuase it is the crown and that is what the other tribes will do. You have never been so easily swayed by the allure of the throne, M’Baku. Show me your newfound power has not changed who you are.”
M’Baku stated deep into her eyes and saw his answer there. “Nice lecture, Princess. I am with you either way, I didn’t need that, just the time.”
She gave him her sarcastic deadpan galore. “Alright, I needed maybe the last sentence or two. That’s it though.”
“You will stand with me?”
“Of course.”
She gave him a nod. “Wakanda forever.”
“Wakanda forever,” he said doubtfully.
“I have not been beaten and exhiled yet.” She called over her shoulder, crashing into her mother on the way out.
“Mama.”
“Shuri, daughter. Do you really think we would exile you? That I would ever allow my own daughter to feel unwelcome in her own home?”
“Is this my home?”
“Of course! You spent a week with that fish man and now you doubt my love for you?”
“I’ve been married off, mama.”
“Not by wakandan law you have not.”
“Then let it happen. In my mind, he is my husband and I am the Queen of Talokan, whether or not I end up Queen of Wakanda.”
“Shuri, I will not allow Nakia to expel you from Wakanda if you loose. I would appreciate it if both of you repealed the challenge but you are both too stubborn to let that happen.”
“Mama, there is more at play here than two women’s vanity. I do not know what goes through Nakia’s mind, to subject my nephew to the risk of losing the only parent he grew up with,”
“Surely you would not kill your brother’s widow, challenge or no!”
“No, I will give her a choice to yield, like T’Challa did not M’Baku. But I will win this challenge.”
“Then, Shuri, daughter of mine, tell me, who will stand as your circle guard? Nakia already has the Dora, and I apologize for that.”
“Don’t. She is one of them. That is too much of a coup for them, to have one of their own sitting on the throne. You know as well as I do every general of the Dora has tried to get one for theirs married into the royal family and every princess turned into one of theirs if they can. It is only you that made me stay separate.”
“This is not a coup, Shuri.”
“You know it is. Me and Nakia, we are both fighting for the throne and what we can do with it, and in truth, only death will stop us both.”
“Shuri, I forbid you from dying.”
“Oh don’t worry, Mama. Nakia will not be able to kill me if she tries. I learned from the mistakes of my predecessors, I may loose but I will not die.”
“Shuri, please, be careful. It is almost time.”

Chapter Text

Three hours later, the tribes were gathered to watch the latest trial for Wakanda’s throne. Queen Ramonda did the announcing for the unconventional situation.
“We are gathered here today to see the battle for Wakanda’s future. A challenge has been issues, and as I am not of royal blood, I must step down from the throne I have been holding by proxy. So this is my declaration. My last words as Queen to this country, is a simple plea for peace. Please, no matter who will win, do not allow Wakanda to split, for together we prosper, but when divided, we will fall. Thank you, and let the challenge begin. The first challenger is Prince T’Challa, son of King T’Challa, who, due to his young age, is represented by his mother, King T’Challa’s wife, Princess Nakia of Wakanda.” That title was a statement in itself.
Nakia walked out, dressed in her statement Dora Milaje uniform. The rest of the Dora, led by Okoye, surrounded her, as T’Challa stood by the side, one step away from crying in confusion at what his mother was about to do, and all the scary ladies with spears surrounding her.
Ramonda continued, “and the second challenger is Princess Shuri of Wakanda, daughter of King T’Chaka, and sister of King T’Challa.”
Shuri did not come out of the side caves as everybody looked around in confusion. Instead, a jet set down on the water, and out stepped Shuri, in barely there clothing, followed closely by swear-wielding masked definingly blue people. Even her jewelry was shockingly un-Wakandan. Nakia was not the only one making a statement.
Her circle guards were not the Dora, like Nakia had and T’Challa before her. They were not Jabari, like Ramonda had visibly expected. They were… “Talokan.” She gasped.
Following Shuri out of the jet, standing opposite of Okoye, was Namor, in all his Talokanil glory, standing as Shuri’s second.
“What is this?” Demanded the chief Shaman. “You are not Wakandan. None of you are Wakandan!”
“They are here on my word and my honor,” Shuri declared. “They are here in a show of unity.”
“They are here backing your madness to usurp the throne!” Okoye exclaimed.
“They are here backing my rightful claim to my brother’s throne! They are here, Wakanda, as my people! They are here, no matter what any try to tell you, in peace, to support me!”
“And who are you, to bring in outsiders? This is not even the first time. There are no more exceptions”
“I am here for my throne, as Crown Princess Shuri of Wakanda. But they are here to show that even if I loose, I am still Queen Shuri of Talokan, wife of K’ul’kulkan. I am here to take my throne as as per the the traditions of my ancestors, Nakia, but know I do not yearn for the power of this throne as you do. You need the throne to be a leader of the people, but in truth, the people need me to be their leader on the throne. You need the throne but the throne needs me!”
“Noted. Enough talking now. It is time for the challenge fight! We have no Black Panther, no powers to quash,” Namor smirked, “A reminder to out… outsiders, that interference in the challenge is an automatic forfeit! So let the battle begin!”
The drums began to beat, spears of the circle guards were lowered (the Talokanil having been taught of the traditions of the ritual), and the fight began.
Shuri was desperately outmatched, and Nakia knew it.
The circle guards closed in, as they crept close and closer to the edge.
Nakia knelt on Shuri’s throat as the waters raged around her. “Yield. I swore to your mother I would not kill her only daughter, and to my son he would get to properly meet his aunt. Do not make me break that vow.”
Shuri just close her eyes and smiled. One thrust, shut down by Nakia’s strength. That was enough, however, for Shuri’s fingers to twich, then for her arm to rise. The water pushed Nakia up, as Shuri kept back to her feet, catching her breath. Her veins pulsed inside her body, and her eyes glowed with a shining blue light.
“It was a mistake, Nakia, challenging me. Wakandan legend has a basis on water, Vibranium needs water, and I am the queen of a water nation, the wife of the god and ruler of the seas. Did you think that was only idle chatter?”
“All powers must be quashed before a challenge match. This is based on strength and strength alone!”
“The powers of the Black Panther, any powers derived from the heart-shaped herb must be quashed before a challenge match. There was no talk of powers of the blue flower, Nakia.”
“This cannot be allowed by the rules” Ayo exclaimed, breaking her silent exterior.
“It is, as the princess claims, entirely allowed.” The shaman declared reluctantly, and the fight went on. The guards closed in, and a dagger of water (It had taken Namor hours, the last hours they had before the match, to teach Shuri that one) pressed against Nakia’s throat.
“Yield!” Shuri demanded
“I do not yield.”
“Your son needs you! Do not leave him without his mother too!”
“You’d do it anyways. These sea people, Namor, he’s corrupted you. Don’t you see, Shuri? Can’t you see the old you, the good you that is now gone?!”
“This was always me, Nakia. Before though, I had to hide it. It wasn’t him that corrupted me anyways, you know. I was the one that first said I wanted to to burn the world anew*.”

Chapter Text

“There is no heart shaped herb to crown a new black panther to protect Wakanda.”

“Give me threee hours in my lab.” Shuri declared proudly. It took her just that (and an extra 6 minutes she’d never admit).

As the sand burned her face, pushing her to the brink of death necessary to see the ancestors, Shuri closed her eyes and took her final breath.

She awoke and felt her body burn. The fire of the heart shaped herb competed with the cool water of the blue flower that she has been fed when she was accepted as one with Talokan. It felt like she’d gone to hell and back, the pain was inmesurable and she might have screamed, but eventually she felt like she pushed the flame and the ice inside of her together so that, eventually, they melded together as one, leaving her even stronger at last. It hurt like hell, literally, but Shuri knew she’d do it again if she must.

She looked around at the ancestral plane she’d ended up in. The throne room. She walked carefully and apprehensively across the glass tiles (who knew how glass worked in a whole different plane of reality, she told herself) until she stood on the solid raised stock of the throne.

Whoever sat on it, Baba, T’Challa, she would be …. Shuri’s thoughts trailed off.

“N’Jadaka.”

“Hey cuz.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I was black panther and king, wasn’t I? I get a spot in your eternal Elysium too, lil queen.”

“Why are you here?”

“Well, that’s what happens when nobody else’s volunteers to go, princess.”

“I am a queen,”

“Yea, I saw. Lil queen got herself married for a power boost, then almost killed her brother’s baby mama for a throne.” He laughed. “You need the throne but the throne needs me,” he mocked. “Hilarious. You almost sound like your brother in that one, if he’d gotten hitched to a merman for that blue giggle juice.”

“What are you saying here?”

“You came here for advice from a dead guy? Well here’s some advice. We dead guys, we see it all. So I know all your plans. I know how at first your brother raged and wanted to burst in there and kill your lil hubby. And then he sat back and listened and saw the truth you spoke, especially after you tempered that guys raging fire. Don’t know how it didn’t drown that’s for sure.”

“Oh get on with it.”

“Let me finish, cuz. Your plan is kind of genius.”

“Of course it is”

“That’s the only compliment you’re getting from me in my eternal afterlife, just so ya know. So your plan is gon work. But auntie doesn’t like it much, and your nephew’s being geared against you as you speak. Another offense like that and he’d think you killed his daddy yourself.”

“What has Nakia done?”

“Aw she didn’t do anything, lil queen. Kids are fast learners. I mean, I found Klaue when I was 9. Didn’t take much though. Naw, nobody needs to teach a kid something for him to learn it. But taken from his home and friends and peaceful nice life with his loving momma, brought to a place where he’s worshipped or hated, ignored or fake loved, where his momma almost died by his aunties hand, and his gramma allows all of it becuase of some nasty tradition? Kids not gon like any of you, ‘cept his momma of course, he probably sees her as a superhero by now.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“See you have a choice here, Shuri.” He turned serious, finally calling her bu her name. “If you do this plan, it will save the world, save many worlds. But there is no going back. I haven’t seen the future but I can guess how this ends. You’re gon be like me. Oh you’re gon be better at it, you’re gon win, but you’ll end up like me in the minds of your folks. Family on a technicality. You grew up with them, but your offenses will also be far far greater. Or you can back out. Fight your hubby to the death but both of you chicken out and Talokan stays hidden, the status will be preserved, and you guys make some cute kids along the way, probably. Know how that happens?”

“Yes, I am not a child. I understand your point.”

“So if this were a comic book, your get the choice. Hero or villain. Doom your family for the world or doom the world for your family.”

“I’m a hero!”

“It’s not that easy, Shuri-girl. Because we’re not in a comic book. So you got three options. You can make nice like your brother, talk the talk by never walk the walk and always win and value reputation above all, you can do what needs to be done and let everyone else deal with the fallout like your daddy, or you can do the dirty work and get the results, good and bad alike, like me.”

“I will not do any of those. I am not a carbon copy of you, or of any of the ancestors. I will make my own way, and when I pass on, I will be there one you compare everybody to instead.”

“Lofty goals. But right now you don’t have that option. So whatcha gonna do? Are you gonna be more like your brother or take care of business, like me?”

“You have been watching me since I was the only one left to watch, N’Jadaka, son of N’Jobu. You know exactly what i will do,” Shuri said coldly. “I thank you for your advice, and may my life continue being your main source of entertainment.”

She left the room, going back to her own reality. Just as s he disappeared, the glass burst upwards, T’Challa, in full black panther form, bursting upwards. He shifted back, and growled at seeing Killmonger on his throne. “You thought you could keep me trapped for long? Where is she?!”

“Oh your lil sis was here alright. DOn’t you worry, pussycat, we had a nice little conversation.”

“What did you do?!” T’Challa roared, furious.

“I let her make the choice you would have made all along. She wasn’t like you, princey puss. She’s like me, broken, furious, and strong.”

“You destroyed the peace Wakanda had known for centuries with your schemes.”

“And yet you still continued my work. We’re the trendsetters, cuz, you’re the follower.”

“You radicalized my sister!”

“Oh no. She did that all by herself. Her and you, with your secret keeping. How long until she discovers the rest of the stuff you kept from her?”

“I did it for her own good, and for Wakanda.”

“Same thing she’s doing now, right?”

“She’ll destroy the tender peace I build with the rest of the world!”

“And she‘ll triumph instead of bowing, as we were always meant to be.”

“Ill convince her next time. How much damage can that fishman do?”

“Oh dont worry, kitty cat. There won’t be a next time.”