Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #46
Lagos, Nigeria[February 3, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
They were hot in pursuit. Actually, scratch that, they were floating at a very leisurely pace right above the cars, both in stealth mode, because the cars were now stuck in traffic.
"Being able to fly really does help chasing someone down in the outside world, doesn't it?" Shuri commented over the comms as they both tracked the small convoy of vehicles that were taking Killian and Hansen somewhere.
"I wouldn't know, I have never really been to Wakanda before." He commented, realizing that Shuri was just fishing for more information.
And as expected, she zeroed in on that piece immediately, "Really? You sure know a lot about Wakanda without ever being present inside the do– inside our country."
He rolled his eyes at that, she couldn't have been more obvious if she tried, "My sources are none of your business, and yes, I do know a lot about your country because I make it a business of knowing about people and countries that could become a threat to me or the world."
"Hey! What did we do?" Shuri's voice got quieter towards the end and he was sure she must have felt his deadpan when he said, in the driest voice possible, "Really? You wanna know what your country has been doing to the rest of the world–hell, I'll need most of the day to describe what you guys did or didn't do to the African continent itself, let alone the rest of the world."
Oops. He might have gotten a little too passionate there but then again, it has always grated on him how a country with massive advantages, natural, technological, and even geographical was so passive, so content with being the backstage, to be a background power.
In a way, they were fortunate that not a single king from Wakanda had expansionist policies, or else, at a minimum, they would have had control over the African continent but that also meant that no single King looked at the outside world, looking at the science that no doubt proved that everyone was human, sans the color, and help the world from tragedies.
No, they were fine hunkering down, building cures and comfort technology for themselves, and remaining isolated.
After a long 10 seconds, Shuri replied, in a subdued tone, "I guess you are right. We have been pretty lax, and that must change, and it will change." Her voice rose in fervor as she continued. "I will make sure it changes."
She seemed to have come to a decision, a major decision for her but he had no desire to meddle in that so he just settled with warning her. "Just don't do anything stupid. Otherwise, I might just have to burst that barrier open to contain the chaos."
"Wait, What? You can do that? Break our barrier? How?"
He kept an eye on the car which had now stopped at a signal, "Well, it's nothing too exciting. See, your barrier was made to mimic the properties of refined vibranium as much as possible, right?"
"As disturbing as it is to hear an outsider be so cavalier about our technology, yes, It was made with that goal in mind," Shuri said in a contemplative voice. Yes, fall into my trap. Spend your days trying to find how information leaked out of Wakanda while he relied on his meta knowledge since he hadn't actually been to Wakanda ever. He planned to change that soon enough, though.
He was sure that an exchange visit, to either the Red Hearth or even Ta-Lo would be more than enough for Shuri to facilitate a Wakandan visit for him. Well, it all depends on how this conversation goes.
Coming back to the topic at hand, of breaking the shield around Wakanda, he replied, "That makes it really simple because Vibranium can actually absorb most energies in ridiculous quantities but there is a single type of energy that can't really be stored by Vibranium. Once it encounters that energy, its properties begin breaking down."
"What? What is that energy? We have tested 113 different Vibranium alloys with all the energy types we have available on Earth, even some of the more esoteric ones that are classified, and not once has Vibranium faltered." Shuri countered with fierceness as if he was proving her personal research wrong.
Well, he was certain she had never used the type of energy he had access to.
CHI.
Yup, CHI was the one type of energy that could be used to break down or at least temporarily disable Vibranium's ability to endlessly absorb energy in all forms. Somehow, CHI, as in pure life energy, at least the one that he had access to, could overwhelm Vibranium in its energy storage capacity.
The Ancient One has a theory about Vibranium being Celestial Flesh and CHI doing something to the long dormant flesh but that is just a theory that cannot be proven unless somehow in the near future, he meets Arishem and establishes a friendly rapport with the Deadly Celestial.
CHI was the answer to breaking down Wakanda's barriers but he was not about to tell that to Shuri. It would just stop one of his entry points, not that he couldn't do that same with his portals but Shuri had now seen the portals and he was not about to underestimate the genius of someone who, if given enough time, would have been able to transfer an actual sentient consciousness, who was vastly more complex than normal humans (VISION), into a digital format.
So, he scoffed at her, "Please. How stupid do you think I am? Why would I tell you something like that?"
The car had traveled just 5 miles in the time they had been talking, courtesy of peak city traffic but it looked like they were starting to gain speed because the cars were now moving out of the city.
"Name your price. Wakanda has a lot of stuff that will interest you."
Hmm. That was interesting but he was not going to agree to an offer like that so soon. Let the BLACK PANTHER of Wakanda jack up the offer more so once he got to Wakanda, no one will be able to question it because the word of the Black Panther, more often than not, held the same weight as the word of the King.
"We'll see."
He still didn't have the faintest clue as to why and how Shuri became the Black Panther so he asked. "How did you become Bast's chosen anyway? I thought your brother had already ingested the Heart Shaped Herb."
His offhand comment raised his innate danger sense as he felt Shuri about to do something to attack him but soon, that feeling went away. Externally, he remained the same, floating ahead at a leisurely pace, while internally, he was ready to blast her and her vibranium suit to pieces if she really tried to attack him with some bullshit ray that broke down his magic.
That would really suck.
Fortunately, it would seem that Shuri had more sense than he expected her to and she calmed down.
Shuri sighed over the comms, "You do realise that each and every word of that sentence was information pertaining to Wakanda's national security and the official protocol for dealing with individuals in possession of such information is death?"
He shrugged and grinned, even though he knew Shuri would not be able to see him, "Like you dealt with Everett Ross from the CIA?"
"Okay, Who are You? Do you live in Wakanda? Do you have some bug installed in my Father's office?" Shuri's deepening confusion only served to amuse him more.
"No." he just delivered the answer and her muted frustrated groan was music to his ears.
In the meantime, the cars had sped up, officially exiting the city and heading towards the woods. Figures. Yet another hidden shady base somewhere.
"Remind me why we aren't just taking the two of them and forcing them to reveal their clients. These guys don't look like they've had any training, they should fold pretty easily, especially the girl." Shuri commented and he had to remind himself that Shuri probably had military training, even if it was somewhat muted due to the fact that she was the darling Princess of Wakanda.
But the Military training sometimes shone through her naivety and kindness.
As for her question, "Well, I am all but certain that Killian doesn't have the faintest clue as to who their client is. They are literally gambling with their lives here and if that is happening, I am sure that it is not about just money. Killian could have acquired it from anywhere. Coming all the way here, especially without any security, just to meet someone? It doesn't make sense."
"So, you think that their client has something they want, but it's not money. Something to help with their serum then?
"Precisely."
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