A/N: Chanté, aka Queen Divine Justice, is M'Baku's American-raised cousin in the comics (and she's a total badass). Serpent Valley is also from the comics.
"I got you," Chanté said and squeezed Shuri's hand. She wouldn't let anything happen to her princess, not in this creepyass maze and certainly not while they were on a diplomatic vacation to America. "I know you ain't scared, but I am."
Shuri smiled and nodded, continuing to pretend that the hairs on the back of her neck hadn't risen the moment they stepped onto the property. It wasn't the lack of lighting that terrified her, nor the constant feeling of being watched. No, Shuri thought, squeezing Chanté's hand tighter, what scared her was vulnerability. Call it an ego, or plain and simple arrogance as Bast had, but fear had no place in her mind and if she showed an inch the world would take more than just a mile. "I've got you too."
It's fake, Chanté reminded herself. Her entire being was on alert. Every crunch of twigs, every rustle of the hay bales as someone brushed up against them, and the occasional scream that came from the old barn at the maze's exit, left her walking a fine line between panic and glee. Growing up, she'd loved going into haunted houses and through these mazes. As an adult and one of the Black Panther's beloveds, they weren't so fun any more.
Chanté took the next corner slow, putting herself between Shuri and whatever or whoever was up ahead. It was clear, she noted, much to her relief — or so she thought. As her heart rate dropped and her shoulders lowered, a large muscled black arm shot out from one of the hay bales and grabbed her ankle. Chanté didn't think, she didn't react, or notice that Shuri had let go of her hand. Instead, she let out her inner soprano and screamed.
Her hands trembled as she pulled away the moment the hand let go of her leg. Adrenaline spiked in her blood stream and left her on edge, still focused on minding the walls and ignorant of who else was in the maze. The chorus of raucous laughter that followed, however, was enough to bring Chanté back to her senses after a few minutes, allowing her to realise Shuri was gone, and that three familiar voices were coming from the other side of the wall.
"T'Challa! And you, M'Baku, you should know much better," Shuri scolded the two, although the grin on her face belied how serious she was attempting to be. Her ears were still ringing from the pitch of Chanté's scream, and her heart pounded away in her chest as if she'd just run a mile in seconds. "What were you thinking?"
M'Baku smirked, arms crossed over his broad chest and eyes lit with unbridled excitement. This was the most fun he'd had in days since he'd stepped on that plane and left his mountain home and Wakanda behind. Besides, Chanté was much too easy a target and they all knew just how much of a terrible cousin he could be.
"I am going to kill you when we get home, M'Baku," Chanté yelled, looking over the top of the wall, "or perhaps I will exile you."
"The Panther tribe would welcome him, I think," T'Challa said, slinging his right arm around M'Baku's shoulders and hugging him. "We'd make room, wouldn't we?"
"I'd like to sleep in the throne room," M'Baku said with a nod. "The throne would hold me, but I'm not certain about your bed."
"I will kill you too, brother." Shuri jabbed T'Challa in the chest then pointed at M'Baku. "No more pranks tonight."
He held up his hands to placate them in the hope he'd live to see another day. That spike of anger in Chanté's eyes was very much real. After all, there was only one plane between the four of them and the Dora Milaje. "You know I can't promise—"
"Don't make me tell Mandla about this, cousin," Chanté said. Her words were very much a threat, and she knew exactly how Mandla felt about M'Baku's jokes and pranks. As much as they both loved him, neither had any qualms about taking him to Serpent Valley and feeding him to the dinosaurs. The amount of times she and M'Baku's brother had been the butt of his sense of humour had begun to push them to breaking point. "I will tell him if I have to."
"Are you okay now?" Shuri said, approaching the wall. "I have a jerk of a brother, you know."
Chanté nodded. She was calm, or as calm as she could be when standing in a creepy maze with two morons. "Can we go back to the hotel soon?"
Yes, she'd need a bath after tonight. Sensing a lull in her awareness, Shuri punched through the gap in the hay bale and grabbed Chanté's wrist. The shriek was short-lived but glorious, and the hysterical laughter and shoulder claps that came from M'Baku and T'Challa only made Shuri proud.
"Fuck!" She pulled her wrist free and glared at the imp climbing the wall. How could Shuri be so cruel when she knew just how much Chanté hated jump scares in horror movies? "I'll kill you too when we get home."
The shit-eating grin on Shuri's face said it all: she could try.