Welcome to Wakanda. Don't mind if the wristwatches here make yours look like your grandfather's.
The five tribes gather at the river, where the waterfall drops off. Once again, it's time for a new Black Panther to rise to the throne.
The herbalists have mixed the heart-shaped herb. This is the antidote. They're going to have to mix more than usual, this time around. This time, the rising heir is a mutant.
His name is Nezhno Abidemi. The last Black Panther never reproduced before dying...or even married a queen. Even so, the last king had faith in Nezhno. Therefore, the tribal council, and the rest of Wakanda, does too.
Many are biased against him, because he's a mutant. His power is also rather...limited.
The herbalists feed him the antidote to the heart-shaped herb, draining his strength, as a member of the royal family. One by one, the tribal leaders express their wish to challenge Nezhno...or their wish to give this time a miss.
There's a vacant stepped cliff, of course, where the mountain tribe usually stands and watches.
The Merchant Tribe wishes not to. The Mining Tribe also wishes not to. The River Tribe wishes...
Lightning strikes all around, and crashes the coronation ceremony. A storm blows. It rains. The pool fills, and the waterfall flows with more current than before.
The crowd gasps, as it looks up. Up high, a mysterious black woman levitates. Her eyes glow white. Behind and around her, her navy blue cape flaps like a flag.
The weather dies. The river shallows, and slows. Ororo Munroe lands on her bare feet, in the water next to Nezhno. She's just crashed his coronation.
"What," the shaman asks, "is the meaning of this?"
"I wish to challenge the last king's too-gentle protégé," Ororo says, in a still-amplified voice, with her eyes still glowing white, "for his right to rule this nation. I am Storm, queen of the weather. I am a champion protégé of Professor X." She pulls up her skirt. Everybody screams, at the scar that's there. "I have even survived the Blade of the Daywalker."
The shaman raises his brows. "A mutant vs. a mutant? THIS ought to be one of the best coronation ceremonies in our nation's great history."
Nezhno doesn't want to...but he feels like he has to. "I accept your challenge, Ms. Munroe..."
She raises her arm, and blasts Nezhno with a strong sidewind. He falls over, into the water.
"No powers," the shaman demands. "You will drink the antidote, too. Yours will just be less than his...with luck."
Alas, Ms. Munroe requires several doses of the antidote to lose her powers. With luck, the winner of this challenge won't be assassinated instantly after winning. The heart-shaped herb garden can't afford it. The herbalists have nearly plucked it clean, for Ms. Munroe.
The fighters take their position. Near them, the waterfall drops off. Either one of them could fall to their deaths. Or, even more likely, the winner could throw the loser over the falls, if he or she pleased.
One green flag later, they're fighting. Nezhno has resisted the urge to lose control, until now. As a power-numbed mutant, he can't become super-strong. But he can still fight, and hit his victims where it hurts.
Ms. Munroe can't generate lightning, wind, or rain. But she can still clap her hands, scream, and intimidate.
Nezhno tries to punch her. She swerves, grabs his arm, and hurls him over her. He splashes down. His head goes under.
She tries to pin him under, with her foot. He twists her leg, and wiggles free.
He kicks her in the pussy. She falls over, screams, leaps, and puts him in a headlock...with her bare thighs. Nezhno spins around, leaps back, and pins her under the water. She slides out, and stands back up.
She screams, and leaps, parting her killer thighs as she flies. Nezhno gets smart, grabs her leg, swings her around, and lets her fly. She grabs onto a rock, just as she's about to fly over the falls.
At this, the crowd gawks. Ms. Munroe's lucky Nezhno didn't just end it all for her.
Ms. Munroe climbs to the top of the rock, screams, and leaps. She pins Nezhno, and tries to suffocate him, by sticking her rack into his nose.
She can sense him hardening. She knees him in the groin, just to taunt him.
Nezhno stands, and throws Ororo towards the waterfall again. She misses the edge by several nths. Even so, she stands back up, claps her hands together, shrieks, and leaps. Nezhno's still catching his breath, from the near-suffocation.
He tries to punch her. She sees this coming, loops herself around his arm, and swings around him, until her thighs are clamped back down, around his neck. She's got him in another headlock. To boost her own odds, she hits him in the nose, with the palm of her hand.
With her thighs, she squeezes. He can't get loose.
Bobbing up and down, over and under the surface of the water, Nezhno can see the crowd. He can't tell if they're lamenting for him, or egging Ms. Munroe on.
"Submit, brother," Ms. Munroe sneers. She hits him in the nose again. "FUCKING SUBMIT YO NEAR-GENTILE ASS!"
Nezhno hates being called a gentile, of course. He is one, but... The Jews and the Africans go way back.
At last, Nezhno slaps his opponent's bare leg...as much as he'd rather caress it. The crowd buzzes...with both applause and dismay.
Ms. Munroe stands up the loser. She shakes his hand. She punches him in the nose, one more time. The crowd laughs.
Ms. Munroe raises her arms...as the newly-risen rightful queen of Wakanda. The crowd goes wild.
Moments later, an X-Jet is flying across Africa. The New Mutants are on their way home.
In New Mutants attire, Nezhno sits near the stern of the aircraft. He's strapped in. His nose is bandaged. He barely moves.
All around him, other New Mutants sit. They do what they can to try to make him feel better.
"We'll train you better," Clarice Fong offers. "You'll go back to Wakanda in a few years. Next time, Storm won't stand a chance."
At this, Jono Starsmore scoffs.
At this, Nezhno sighs. Blood spurts from his nostril, as he does.