Ayo walked into the lab, sulking a bit before straightening as she stopped at the entrance. She slammed the foot of her spear onto the floor, saying "your highness. Your brother has left for his meeting in America. I have been sent to wa..."
"Oh you're here! Great!" Shuri said ecstatically, getting up from behind her equipment desk as she said "come here, will you? I need you to hold something for me!"
"Are you su... ugh. Fine." Ayo groaned. She slowly walked behind the desk with Shuri, the princess passing her one of the uncompleted blasters that she had been working on. Ayo stood silently, holding it upright for Shuri to finish adding the Vibranium crystals into the power compartment, slowly saying "just keep holding it still. I'm almost finished... almost... alm... okay, done!"
As Ayo set the blaster down on the table, Shuri had already walked to another, longer table by the time Ayo turned to speak again. "So what is this next update you have made for your brother?"
"It's not for him." Shuri answered, picking up both the blasters and bringing them over to the second table. "It's just a little project I'm working on."
Shuri put the blasters into the holsters on the table, before the black sand particles rose up and pulled them into the compartment. When Shuri went to the other end of the room, Ayo slowly walked over to the table, curiously looking at where the blasters had been stored. Noticing the release hologram on the front of the table, Ayo pressed her hand to it, causing the sand to sink suddenly as all of the equipment on the table was revealed.
The blasters were positioned on either side of a transparent mannequin, which had a necklace wrapped around it composed of triangular teeth cut out of Vibranium. Ayo glanced to her left to make sure Shuri wasn't looking, before putting her Kimoyo bead to the largest tooth in the centre of the necklace.
Bbbbbbbbbmmmmppppp... the teeth suddenly pulsed a bright shade of purple as black Vibranium nanites began crawling out of them, covering the entire mannequin. The sound got Shuri's attention, prompting her to run over wide-eyed as she said "no, don't touch that, that's nothing important, just... ugh..."
She had all but given up when she got to the table, both she and Ayo looking at the fully formed, black Vibranium suit that was over the mannequin. Ayo was still surprised by it, saying "it's... it's a Panther Habit..."
"What? No! No, it's... yes..."
Ayo observed the details in the suit, noticing despite it's similar aesthetic that it was significantly smaller than the one T'Challa wore. It had a few more curves on the chest and waist as well, as if it had been designed for a female. "Princess... who was this suit made for?"
"It, uh..." Shuri knew the answer, but was still reluctant to admit it. "Um, it's... it's mine..."
"Yours? But you're not prepared for combat!"
"I know, I know. It's just... look, after those aliens attacked us, Wakanda needs more protection. My brother is the King and also has to go to America with his new friends quite regularly now. So, I just thought... maybe... maybe we could have two Black Panthers..."
"But... but you? The inventor? Even then, without the Heart-shaped Herb, you will not have the powers of the Panther..."
"Who needs one of those overrated flowers when you have these?" Shuri snarked, pointing at the blasters. "I've equipped this suit with all of my greatest creations and weapons."
"The Black Panther is more than the suit he wears." Ayo said. "Without your suit and gadgets, how would you expect to defend yourself? Or Wakanda?"
"I... um, well, I... ugh... fine. You're right..." Shuri said with disappointment, shutting the suit and gadgets back into their compartment. "I just... I just wanted to be more than the gadget girl..."
As Shuri began to walk away, Ayo looked at her regretfully. Come on, you must not say it, she thought to herself. She's not worth the effort... she's not worth the ti...
"Perhaps... I could... I could train you..." Ayo said suddenly as Shuri stopped in her tracks. Oh, what have you done?
"YES! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Shuri said quickly, wrapping her arms like a vice around Ayo's waist like an excited child. When she had calmed down a bit, she said "when do we start?"
"We can start right now."
"YES! I can't wait t..."
"BUT... just promise me something, Princess..."
"What?"
"If this doesn't work out..." Ayo said. "You will put this suit away forever, yes?"
"Right, right. Deal, whatever. Great, now come on, let's go train!" Shuri said, grabbing Ayo's hand and pulling her at a fast pace out of the lab.
"Your mother and I went with the King to find an ancient piece of Wakandan history." Achebe tried to explain while Nakia looked through the items in her father's bag.
"I don't understand... T'Chaka returned from your expedition, but you and Mama never came back..."
Among the things she found in the bag were a Vibranium sword resembling the one N'Jadaka had used during the challenge with T'Challa, and a tribal mask cut into the shape of a cheetah's face. The markings on both the sword and the mask clearly originated from the River Tribe. Still dumbfounded, she said "where have you been all this time?"
"It was a treasure, Nakia. The ultimate treasure. Your mother and I were this close to it." Achebe answered, pinching his index and thumb to accentuate the short distance. He reached into the bag, puling out a scrolled tapestry that he unfurled before her.
Nakia looked at the cloth, onto which was etched an image of a green heart in the centre of a red and purple diamond. In the centre of the green heart, there was a blue circle shape. She scoffed, saying "and was this ultimate treasure worth abandoning your daughter?"
"Your mother and I abandoned no one. The treasure was for you, child..."
"Then why didn't you come home?"
"Because we couldn't find it! Your mother and I knew exactly what we wanted for you, Nakia." Achebe said, before putting his hand on her shoulder as he added "the best..."
"But..."
"We could not just give up and return to the tribe empty-handed." he said as he stood up and walked to the window, before adding "but soon, the weeks turned into months. The months turned into years, and then... then she died..."
Nakia sighed as she heard this, Achebe continuing as he said "when she passed, she insisted that I continue on my journey... but at that moment, I would have given anything to have your mother back... and now look at me... I've finally come crawling back to you, Nakia..."
"I never wanted gold, Baba... or jewels, or Vibranium... I wanted you." Nakia said as she stood up. "You and Mama were more precious to me than all the treasures of all the world..."
She went to Achebe and wrapped her arms around him for the first time in over twenty years. As they separated from their embrace, she said "come home with me, Baba... back to Wakanda. I know that T'Challa would love to meet you..."
"Perhaps. Though I worry that it won't be complete... without her."
Nakia smiled as she hugged him again, saying "Mama is with us. Always."
