Welcome to Border Village, Wakanda. Don't mind the stench of white rhino dung...or the worse one of the corpses of illegal aliens. (NOT Outriders.)
In pens and in pastures throughout the Border Tribe's lands, white rhinos graze. In the wild, they're not nearly as endangered as black rhinos. Even so, some of these poor creatures are bred for the purpose of game reserves having stuff for tourists to shoot at. Thanks to vibranium, though, Wakanda has discovered many, many uses for the white rhino.
A blue flag flies over some spots in the Border Tribe's territory. It bears the Wakandan symbol for "horseman;" the tribal sigil of the Border Tribe.
Trying to keep a low profile, Queen Ororo descends into the territory. She's brought some acacia branches. She feeds some of them to the rhino calves.
Some of the fences are made from a vibranium alloy wire. As much as these fences rattle...there's no storm to blow them like that. And Ororo would know. Storms are her power.
Ororo narrows her eyes, and sighs. She senses something big and heavy behind her...and it's NOT a bull rhino. She whirls, and raises her arm, to summon a lightning bolt...
Her arm freezes in midair. Someone's stabilizing the royal jewelry on it...
Ororo looks into the eyes...of someone who wears a red metal Spartan helmet, a purple suit, and a red cape. Ororo is just as used to working for this man as she is working against him.
"Max," she whispers.
"Hello, Ororo." Max Eisenhardt takes off his helmet, in reverence of one of his favorite X-Men. "Congrats on the coronation. I wish I could've been there."
"My predecessor paid very well to make sure you wouldn't. He paid even more to make sure your Evil Brotherhood wouldn't, either."
He scoffs. "If I recall correctly, you've been on the Brotherhood a few times."
She sighs. "If you're here to talk me out of staying queen, forget it. Charles and I've already had this talk."
"On the contrary, I'm here to encourage you to stay where you are. I think you'd make a great queen of Wakanda...which is why I'm here to make a proposition."
She scoffs. "Somehow, I knew you'd never come to visit me for free." Max's still holding her arm in an awkward position, via his mutant power of metal control. "As long as we're going to talk business, I've a proposal of my own. Let go of my arm, and I'll disperse that storm cloud, there in the distance."
Ororo's right; there is a storm cloud in the distance. All around, it's scaring some of the rhinos. Ororo knows exactly how they feel. She's controlling that cloud...and started when she sensed Max's presence.
Max smiles, and releases Ororo's arm. True to her promise, she calls off the cloud. The rhinos return to the more open parts of the pastures. If they're in pens, they come back out of their stables.
Max and Ororo take a walk. His helmet hovers just behind him. Now, Ororo's summoned some of her secret servants. They march nearby, armed with vibranium spears, and stay close to their Queen.
As they walk, they pass W'Kabi's new mansion. It's got domes, horseshoe arches, and paradise gardens. It really stands out, among the cheaper homes in the Border Tribe...if there are such things in Wakanda. Rumor has it W'Kabi's looking to expand his harem...much to the envy of Okoye, his bitchy ex-lover.
"So," Ororo asks, "what business brings you to Wakanda...as much as I dread to hear what it is?"
"I'm putting the Brotherhood back together."
She laughs. "Sometimes, I wish I trusted my intuition more."
"We want to protect you. You're the queen of Wakanda. Also, the Brotherhood is in desperate need of redemption. This seems like a good chance for us to get it...if you're open to it."
"Even if I trusted you, there are people in this tribe who need jobs. And protecting the border is the main industry in this tribe, if not its only one."
He scoffs. "No respect for your precious vibranium?"
"We've already got a tribe for that; the Mining Tribe. If you actually spent your time reading an atlas, you'd know that."
"Rumor has it that W'Kabi's expanding his harem. Big question: how can the head of this tribe's security hope to work full-time AND make love to all of his wives at a frequency which seems fair to all of them?" He shrugs. "Maybe it's time the security here got augmented?"
Ororo scoffs. "And you're all about augmentation, aren't you?"
"I'm sorry; WHAT kind of man is W'Kabi, again? And how different are we, really?"
"Well for one thing, he's killed fewer humans. Also, I can't just incorporate your Brotherhood into the Border Tribe's security forces and expect you to be okay with it. I know you, Max. I have for a long time. You don't do well in a subordinate position. If not for that, you'd be an X-Man worth remembering."
"Mercs work for armies all the time. They don't all betray their employers, you know."
Ororo sighs. "I don't know. This would be a big leap forward for your Brotherhood. Also, I've heard rumors that there are commoners in this country who don't think I'll turn out to be a good queen."
Max shrugs. "Well, you know... My Brotherhood COULD just...add to your bad reputation, and start bullying the Border Tribe for fun... We won't actually kill anyone, but... If your subjects don't know that, and if you're queen of Wakanda when this happens..." He shrugs, and smiles.
She laughs. "Somehow, I never get used to the gambling element of politics!"
He stares at her.
"I need time to think about this. Give me three days. If I don't summon you before then, the answer's no."
He smiles. "Fair settlement. Thank you, your Majesty." He lowers his helmet back onto his head. "I'll get back to raising the Brotherhood." With that, he raises his arms, and levitates away.
Ororo sighs, looks down, and shuffles her bare feet. She feels like, of course, that she's being badgered into making a deal with the devil...or rateled, rather... But then, if it can work for Ghost Rider, then surely it can work for Ororo. But at least Robbie trusts Mephisto more than she ever will Max...
Below her hand, a baby rhino creeps in, and caresses her hand with its flexible upper lip. Ororo smiles, and pets the calf on her growing horn...