Hey guys,

So this chapter has been annoying the crap out of me. Because I wrote the similar chapter for "The First' ...first... it's made writing it a second time harder because I really didn't want them to be too similar.

I still don't love it though, but I just needed to get it done or it would annoy the crap out of me forever.

Apologies as well, this is quite a long chapter because of it...sigh...

Enjoy

xo

Chapter 25

The sun was high in the sky as Vielka crouched low in the over grown grasslands behind the The Great Mound. There was at least two hundred metres to the back entrance of the lab situated atop the mound, and she had to make sure she got Shuri, Nakia and Everett there safely. She had discussed a plan with T'challa, and now, they were just waiting on his signal.

"When we are in the lab, Everett will stay behind to pilot the jet," Shuri whispered as she crouched beside Nakia.

"Me? But I don't -" Everett began to argue.

"You're a pilot. You'll manage," Vielka cut him off curtly. She glanced sideways at him, noting he pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded once. She looked back to the landing bay of the mine. W'Kabi's men were loading hundreds of crates into several different aircraft. "And I hope you live up to the hype in your file, Ross."

"You've read my file?" he nearly exclaimed, causing her to whip her head around and glare at him. He covered his mouth quickly, before averting his gaze.

There was an explosion over the hill, and they watched as a jet that had just taken off, caught alight and crashed to the ground. Through the smoke and flames, T'challa appeared, climbing of the crashed fuselage.

"Get ready," Vielka hissed, beginning to move further along the grassy plains, so that they had the shortest distance to cover while exposed. The landing bay that was filled with troops, seemed to become a hive of tense activity as T'challa began walking up the hill, several Border Tribesman running down the hill following behind W'Kabi.

"Now, Shuri," T'challa's voice whispered through their commlinks.

"Go!" Vielka hissed, urging them forward. She let them run before her, following up the rear while Nakia led them to the back door. Shuri was quick to enter the pin and open the door, hurrying through, the agent and Nakia quickly following her. Vielka was last in, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Inside, they found some spare Border Tribe capes, putting them on and wrapping it around their heads and concealing their faces, as if they were heading to battle outside. They hurried down the halls in single file, Vielka leading them, careful to behave deliberately and without hesitation. She nodded towards two Tribesman as they hurried by, both returning the nod in kind and continuing on their way. They turned right and hurried into Shuri's lab, removing the capes when they were sure the coast was clear. Shuri set to work immediately, hurrying through the lab, raising a sand table from the floor that opened to reveal weapons and a Dora armour. "Here, Nakia, put this on."

"I am not a Dora," Nakia retorted huffily, grabbing the two metal rings beside the armour instead.

"Just put it on," both Vielka and Shuri said in unison, as Vielka moved to check no one was coming down the stairs through the main entrance. Shuri continued to hurry throughout the lab, grabbing a remote access Kimoyo bead, and syncing it to her sand table and personal beads. She then moved to a wall, activating a capsule that lit up and opened.

Vielka was moving to check the hallway they had just used, when she noticed the contents of the capsule. "Is that...?"

"It's a prototype, not yet tested though. I meant to discuss it with you after you got back from Busan, but so much happened," Shuri explained, opening the front of the capsule.

It looked identical to her previous armour, except it now had a full helmet, the visor across the eyes reflecting the light of the lab.

"I figured if there ever came a time that you had to come up against someone who had Vibranium weapon's, it might pay to make sure you're completely protected," Shuri explained, touching the armour at the wrists and causing it to completely disassemble into a single bracelet.

"Well, I guess now is as good as any time to test it," she replied, putting her hand out for Shuri to slide the bracelet onto her wrist.

Shuri grimaced slightly. "But, uh... also... I may have put some new technology into it..." Before Vielka could pull her hand away, Shuri slid the bracelet onto Vielka's arm and the bracelet seemed to shrink to fit to her wrist.

Vielka furrowed her brow, as Shuri synced the bracelet to Vielka's neural device, feeling a strange tingle in her wrist that seemed to spread further throughout her body, very slowly. "Shuri..."

"It's okay, put it on, I'll explain as we go." Vielka was wary but did as the teen told her to, thinking the command to activate the armour. It began to spread over her body, cutting through the fatigues she was wearing so the fabric shredded apart and fell to the floor.

As the armour spread over her body, she felt the tingling increasing throughout her body, from her fingers, to her toes and up to her neck, as the armour began to form the helmet over her head. The helmet encased her head, although when she moved her head, it seemed her high ponytail was still freely swinging. She looked at her hands, the black armour encasing them appearing matte, though the bright lights of the labs shone down on them. She wiggled her fingers; the armour was manoeuvrable and light, yet quite thick. She noted the visor across her eyes seemed thick, yet she could see everything with superb clarity.

"Now, I'm activating the system," Shuri murmured, her voice holding a note of anxiousness, as she activated her Kimoyo beads before interacting with a projected screen.

Suddenly, the entirety of Vielka's body seemed to come alive, every nerve activating, as numbers and symbols began appearing before her eyes. She flinched and tried to step back, backing into a table. "Shuri!"

"Wait! Give it a moment! It should only hurt on the initial entry!" Shuri exclaimed, continuing to interact with the holographic screen as Nakia hurried over to see what was happening.

"Initial entry?" Vielka exclaimed incredulously as she cringed, the numbers and symbols continuing to appear before her eyes, even when she closed them. The fire burning through her body began to subside slowly, but her head was starting to ache.

"Shuri, I'm not sure it's a good idea to mess with her right now," Everett began to reason as he looked like he wanted to try and support her. Vielka was bending over panting as she tried to control the pain.

"I wouldn't have done this if I didn't have any other choice. I don't know what happened to her other armour bracelets, this is all I have currently," Shuri replied ruefully, before looking resolutely at Vielka. "And I think, considering the circumstances, we are going to need the extra help this suit will provide."

Finally, all the pain ceased and Vielka collapsed to the floor on her hands and knees, panting. Her body felt strangely light, although she strangely didn't feel like she was in control currently. She raised her head, the movement quick and sharp. She took a deep breath to calm herself, wondering what her heart rate was currently doing, and her HUD activated, showing her bpm as well as her blood pressure. "Whoa..."

"The armour has integrated with your Vibranium enhanced skin and is now like a second skin. It will enhance your abilities further, plus, it is not susceptible to Vibranium unlike your skin," Shuri began to explain, moving around Vielka and scanning her with an application on her Kimoyo beads.

"This is going to take some getting used to..." Vielka muttered dubiously, going to move her arm, only for it to shoot up a lot faster than she expected and put her off balance. She stood up slowly, using the nearby work bench for support. The metal bent under her hand strength. "Whoops." She sighed, before a thought occurred to her. She reached back to feel for her swords, to find they were both still on her back. The armour had formed around them.

"We haven't got time for you to become accustomed to your armour, Vielka," Nakia muttered apologetically, having changed into the Dora armour as instructed. "We must go help T'challa, and stop the weapons from leaving Wakanda."

Vielka sighed, becoming focused. "Let's go."

"Good luck, Agent Ross!" Shuri said as she slipped a Kimoyo brad bracelet over his hand and onto his wrist, before the three women moved to depart.

"Yeah, I don't know what I'm doing with this," he murmured, trying to argue.

"We're counting on you!" Nakia shouted back, as they disappeared up the stair case, sprinting through the corridors.

oOOo

Nakia, Shuri and Vielka left Everett behind in the lab and headed to the upper levels to access an aircraft that was waiting on the landing bay.

"I'm going to go straight out and stop Killmonger. You two, get the Royal Talon in the air. Everett, don't mess this up," Vielka ordered through comms.

"No pressure or anything," Everett murmured, making Vielka smirk. She had to admit, she quite liked bossing around the little CIA agent.

"Ready?" Shuri asked, looking between the two women she stood between. Vielka drew her swords from her back, nodding once, while Nakia activated the Vibranium powered ring blades. Shuri activated the sliding door, before shooting her blasters at two Border Tribesmen guarding just outside the door, knocking them away easily.

"Go! go!" Vielka ordered, making a break and jumping over the edge of the gangway they were on, landing a level down between the Dora Milaje and Killmonger as they were fighting. Killmonger looked her up and down, as Vielka scanned his armour with her new enhanced system. She recognised it as the gaudier suit Shuri had shown them before their Busan mission. "Erik." She took stock of the golden lines that were lit up around the suit. It's kinetic energy blast was half way charged.

She glanced over her shoulder at Okoye, who gave the slightest of nods, her gaze shifting from Vielka back to Killmonger.

"I'll take you all!" Killmonger growled, holding his weapons up ready. Vielka readied herself as Killmonhger launched himself at her. She blocked his first strike and then parried his second, before kicking back at him easily, her movements fluid and quick, albeit she struggled with how quick her reactions now were, occasionally losing her balance and having to roll out of Killmonger's way.

She rolled back to her feet, before turning to attack him. He jumped backward, trying to avoid her as she slashed across him with her right sword, before trying to slash upwards with her left, only narrowly missing him.

The Dora Milaje rushed forward then, trying to surround him, with Okoye moving to stand beside Vielka. Three of the Dora ran at Killmonger, gaining his attention as he tried to defend against them, before Okoye ran forwards to try and capitalise. He tried to counter but they locked their spears around his neck.

"Lock!" Okoye shouted, all the Dora activating an electrical current through their spears, causing Killmonger to writhe in pain and groan. "Get him down!" They forced Killmonger to his knees as Vielka walked forward, sheathing one sword. "Banzai, the necklace!"

Vielka reached down with her free hand to grab at the necklace, but noticed the golden glow detailing along the familiar lines of the suit was more vibrant than before. "Watch out!" she shouted, moving to push the closest Dora away, which just happened to be Okoye.

She was too late, as Killmonger activated the kinetic blast from his suit, sending every one of them flying backwards away from him. Vielka flipped mid air and managed to land at a crouch, skidding to a stop. She looked back up to Killmonger to see him stand and face her.

She glanced sideways to see Okoye and the Dora struggling back to their feet. "Help T'challa, I will take care of N'Jadaka." Okoye didn't need to be told twice, motioning to her Dora to follow her towards their king.

Killmonger stood again, facing Vielka as she drew her second sword again. "Any time you're ready, Erik."

"Don't call me that," Killmonger spat. "You don't have the right!" He lunged at her, claws drawn as he slashed at her repeatedly, but Vielka easily dodged his strikes, knowing that he was so enraged currently that he wouldn't be able think straight, let alone fight well. She was beginning to get used to the suits integration with her body, her movements much more confident as she ducked and weaved.

However, she didn't count on Nakia and Shuri charging in at that moment. Nakia threw her blade at Killmonger, which he leapt over, Nakia sliding along the ground beneath him. Vielka was quick to attack, to keep Killmongers attention on her, slashing at him with her swords. Nakia turned and also attacked, throwing her rings at him, while running forward, catching her ring blades as h deflected them and they returned to her before trying to hack at him, managing to disarm him of the spear he had picked up. She leapt high into the air to bring down her rings atop him, but he easily caught her, throwing her to the ground roughly.

Vielka intervened, spinning her swords expertly, her newly enhanced speed making them seem a blur, but Killmonger parried her attacks, before slashing at her himself and making her leap backwards to avoid his claws. Nakia aimed a well placed kick from her position on the ground and knocked him backwards, giving her an opportunity to return to her feet and move to stand beside Vielka with her weapons at the ready.

"I'll go high," Vielka muttered through their commlink. Nakia gave the slightest of nods in reply. Both ran forward, Vielka streaking ahead of Nakia and launching herself in the air.

She brought both her swords down, but Killmonger easily blocked them both, as Nakia threw her rings at him. He threw Vielka backwards, before knocking the rings back towards Nakia. The little Wakandan caught them again, before sliding in to attack Killmonger. He blocked her attacks, catching one of her hands as she poised to strike him, moving to reach down towards her thigh with his claws drawn. Vielka was quick to intervene, blocking his hand with one of her blades and drawing his attention to her, before kicking out and knocking him backwards, forcing Killmonger to release Nakia's wrist. Both Vielka and Nakia moved forward to attack him again. Killmonger ducked and weaved from their attacks, before he leaned forward, launching a counter attack on Nakia.

He caught her arm, before kicking her backwards, causing her to crash into Vielka and forcing them into a crumpled heap on the ground. Vielka recovered first, noticing Killmonger making his way towards the pair hastily, his claws raised and glistening in the Wakandan sun. She was quick to shove a groaning Nakia off of her, bringing a sword up to fend off Killmonger from injuring the smaller Wakandan woman.

"Get out of the way," Vielka hissed to her, before flinging her sword upwards to knock Killmongers claws away again.

She struck out with a leg, connecting with Killmonger's chest, but only managing to force him back a step, before he was lunging towards her again. She began fending off his attacks, the sound of his claws clashing with her swords and armour reverberating around the landing bay.

Nakia was still struggling to her feet and moved to help Vielka. "No! Get out and help Okoye!" Vielka ordered through her commlink, as she ducked another swinging arm of Killmonger. "You're no use here, Nakia. He's too strong for you!"

"But..."

"Don't argue! Stop the Border Tribe! Help Okoye and get T'challa up here!" she ordered, turning her head slightly to look at the little Wakandan. "He must complete the challenge!"

Nakia pressed her lips into a thin line and looked annoyed, but nodded once before turning and running towards the Dora Milaje. Vielka felt relieved, but the distraction was enough for Killmonger to gain the upper hand.

He grabbed her by her pony tail, reefing her head back roughly. "I'm not finished with you, yet," he growled, raising a clawed hand in the air.

Vielka raised her sword, slicing through her own pony tail and leaving Killmonger with a handful of her hair as she spun around, before jumping up and kicking out at him with both feet. He was thrown backwards as she landed and rolled onto the ground, quickly getting back to her feet. Even with her enhancements, Killmonger was proving difficult. She was going to need to break through that armour somehow.

Killmonger only took a moment to recover, scrambling back to his feet and running towards her again. He raised his right arm to slash at her again, and she tried to block it with her sword, but she miscalculated her counter and his claws sliced through the blade easily. He struck out at her again, his claws slashing across her armour and causing sparks to fly, before knocking the remnants of her blade from her hand. She raised her arm to fend off another strike from him, but he feigned a kick to throw her off, aiming an elbow right into her throat.

She was thrown back, falling to the ground as she tried to gather her breath back. "What's up, Banzai? Getting slow in your old age," Killmonger mocked, beginning to walk towards her. She coughed, trying to recover quickly, struggling to get to her feet.

"Hey!" came a shout from behind her. Killmonger and Vielka both looked towards the voice, only for a Vibranium blast to hit Killmonger square in the chest. It had barely an effect on him, only forcing him to take half a step backwards.

"Sh-Shuri..." Vielka tried to warn her off, but hadn't recovered her breath yet.

Killmonger started making his way towards Shuri, and Vielka continued to struggle to her feet, trying to make it to the teen before she found herself in trouble. Shuri fired another blast at Killmonger, followed by another. Each blast barely slowed him down.

"Shuri! Get out of there!" Vielka croaked, finally getting enough breath back to shout towards Shuri and scrambled to her feet. She stumbled towards the pair, as Shuri activated the sonic destabiliser on her blasters, holding Killmonger in place and warping his armour.

Vielka pulled her leftover sword from its sheath at her back, sprinting towards Shuri. As she sprinted, Killmonger reached Shuri, grabbing hold of her right hand blaster and stopping the destabiliser, but she continued trying to shoot him with her remaining blaster, although it had little to no effect. He crushed the blaster in his hand easily, before forcing Shuri to the ground.

"What's up, princess?" Killmonger sneered malevolently as he stood over her.

"You'll never be a true king," Shuri challenged, not backing down from Killmonger as he glared down at her. As Killmonger reached down for her throat, Vielka charged, first throwing her remaining sword at him to gain his attention. He turned to face her when her sword struck him harmlessly, falling away to the side with a clang, taking his attention away from Shuri as she had hoped it would.

The teen took the opportunity to scramble away from Killmonger as he moved to take on Vielka, but turned and fired her remaining blaster at his back.

The blast caused him to stumble slightly, and Vielka took the opportunity to launch herself at him, driving her knee forward and connecting with Killmonger's chest. He only took a step back from the force, but Vielka was quick to capitalise. She landed from her attack, grabbing Killmonger about the head before dropping to her knees and flinging him over her shoulder.

He landed on his back, and she moved to punch at his head, but he rolled out of the way, flipping to his feet quickly. Vielka ground her teeth as she looked back up at him, standing and glaring at him.

Killmonger was quick to lunge at her again, but Vielka dodged his attack deftly, stepping back and avoiding his claws by millimetres. He continued slashing at Vielka, creating sparks as his claws clashed with her armour.

She raised her arm, blocking one punch, but there was so much force behind it that it broke through and he was quick to capitalise, punching at her again. His punch connected with her ribs and winded her slightly. She hunched over and Killmonger grabbed her about the throat, forcing her face upwards.

"You're on the wrong side again, Banzai," he sneered, beginning to squeeze her throat.

"Not how I ...see it," she gasped, her airways being crushed under his strong grasp. She glanced around, noting that they were near the edge of the landing bay, the Vibranium mine stretching down to her left.

"Vielka! Your suit!" Shuri shouted. Vielka was confused for a moment, before she remembered the kinetic energy blast that was built into the suit. She was quick to grab Killmonger's wrist with both hands, to ensure he wouldn't try and get away, before she activated the blast.

oOOo

The energy blast knocked Killmonger away, causing him to sprawl further along the landing bay, while Vielka collapsed to the ground, trying to regain her breath. The muscles along her neck ached from the crushing pressure of his grasp, but she was quick to try and push it aside. She stood up again, looking to Shuri who was running towards her.

"I can't get past his armour. It's a stalemate," she murmured into her commlink, looking back at Killmonger as he returned to his feet, turning to look at her.

"We have to do something!" Shuri gasped breathlessly as she slid to a stop beside Vielka.

"Oh, I'll do something," Killmonger shouted malevolently, making his way towards them. Vielka was quick to shove the teenager backwards before moving to meet Killmonger's attack. She blocked his punch, and his following kick, catching his leg in a hand before spinning and connecting with his head with her elbow. He stumbled backwards slightly, and Shuri fired a blast at him again.

Vielka ran forward, grabbing Killmonger around his torso, pinning his arms to his side. "Shuri, get out of here now," she ordered through gritted teeth, as Killmonger tried to strain against her hold.

"But..."

"Don't argue, damn it!" Shuri looked torn between running and helping Vielka, but finally turned to run.

"I don't think so!" Killmonger sneered, throwing his head back so it connected with Vielka's. She was dazed for a moment as she felt the jarring pain of the sudden impact to her helmet, although no damage came from it. The blow was enough to loosen her grip on him and he threw his arms into the air and managing to free himself, before spinning and kicking her hard.

She stumbled backwards, but regained her composure quickly as Killmonger started running after Shuri. "No!" she shouted, sprinting for Killmonger. She felt a strange electricity coursing through her veins, and everything appeared a blur to her as she launched at Killmonger. She flew through the air, tackling Killmonger easily, bringing him crashing down to the ground. She rolled over him, but maintained her hold on his arm, landing on her feet and twisting at his arm.

The feeling of electricity coursing through her body intensified, giving her a headache but she tried to ignore it, pulling roughly on Killmonger's arm until he grunted from the pain. He shifted his body slightly, forcing her to step forwards to maintain her grip, but she pulled back slightly.

Unexpectedly, Killmonger was able to spin his body around, his legs connecting with her and felling her. She tried to stop her fall, but he pushed his body up, kicking up at her again and knocking her backwards, causing a sharp, familiar pain in her chest. Her rib had broken again, but she suspected it was joined by another two from the pain. She sprawled onto her back, landing dangerously close to the edge of the landing bay, the air rushing up from the mine below and blowing the remnants of her pony tail up. Killmonger lunged at her, landing astride her and tried to bring his claws down, but she managed to catch both his hands in hers, holding his claws away from her.

"You think you're stronger than me?" he demanded, pushing down with all the strength in his arms. The pain in her ribs intensified as she tried to hold him off her. Even with her vibranium skin and armour, he could easily break her neck utilising the overhang of the landing bay. "I'm going to enjoy this."

His hands started moving closer to her neck, and she tried to kick him off of her, but he had her legs pinned with his own. She tried to thrust upwards, causing more pain to shoot through her body but he was stronger and heavier than her. His hands reached down, grasping around her throat and squeezing. She tried to pull them away, but his grip tightened.

"T'Challa, Vielka needs help!" she heard someone shout over the commlink, but couldn't see past Killmonger. She tried to punch at Killmonger, aiming at his ribs, but her own strength was severely hindered by her ribs. She winced as the pain shot through her chest, mingling with the pain of her neck being crushed.

She grabbed at his arms again, glaring up at Killmonger. "You...really...are...weak..." she gasped, challenging him, with the hope that he might fly into a rage and release one hand to punch her. Instead, he squeezed harder, Vielka feeling a strange popping sensation in her neck as it began to crack.

"I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill Shuri, and I'm going to make T'Challa's the slowest and most painful of all!" he growled. Her vision began to cloud as her airways were slowly being cut, but she refused to let him beat her like this, and there was no way she was going to let him hurt the closest thing to a family she had left.

She dug her nails in, clinging to his armour and glared up at him. Suddenly, she felt like her body was on fire, and it intensified at her hands. She glared up at him; feeling like an inferno was burning in her hands. Killmonger tried to pull away suddenly, shouting in pain, but Vielka didn't let go. A blue electric current shot from her hands and into him, causing him to writhe in pain.

While she herself was in excruciating pain and she didn't quite understand what was happening to her, she didn't release him, gritting her teeth and pushing through the pain, maintaining her hold on the American.

"Vielka!" Shuri exclaimed through the commlink. "What on earth?" Vielka didn't take her eyes off of Killmonger, still being electrocuted in her grasp.

"Vielka!" she heard T'Challa exclaim, as Killmonger tried to reef his arms from Vielka's grasp, managing to pull one arm from her weakened hold, pain shooting through as he pulled himself free of her hold. He began punching at her, the blows connecting with her head, but she didn't release her other arm. Instead, she grit her teeth, pushing through the pain as it intensified. Killmonger began to scream in agony as the electricity increased, his Panther Armour beginning to warp and destabilise.

"If I'm going down, you're coming with me," Vielka breathed, before she forced herself backwards. They began to tumble back into the mine, Vielka only barely aware of a black blur appearing above her and removing Killmonger's weight from her.

Hopefully my next chapter comes a bit more freely than this one did...sigh

xo

Krayzee