Reticence Saga
Severed Web
Chapter 25: Shadow of Wakanda, Part 2
"This legend goes back many, many generations ago. Back when Wakanda was new and young. This is the story of my most distant ancestor, Bashenga, the founder of Wakanda and the first Black Panther.
"Bashenga was still settling the land and learning the secrets of Vibranium when he received a most urgent message from the western lands. As king, Bashenga had to answer those who needed him. He travelled to the most western part of Wakanda. There he was met by none other than Anansi the Spider."
"Wait a minute," said Spider-Man, "Anansi? Is that like some ancient Spider-Man?"
"Anansi is a trickster god," said Shuri, "There are many tales of him defeating his foes by outsmarting them."
"Huh, guess he was an ancient Spider-Man," said Spider-Man, "Not sure about the god part. I mean, Asgardians aren't literal gods, right?"
"Understand, Spider-Man, that this was the age of legends and myths," said T'Challa, "It was the days when the gods and spirits walked among men. Not like modern time when magic can be analyzed with science. So please, no more interruptions."
"Anansi has defeated many enemies using his clever tricks, but this was one being that could not be caught by tricks alone. An evil spirit known as the Shadow King was enslaving people using their own shadows. And as clever as Anansi was, even he couldn't catch a shadow. Thankfully, Bashenga has figured out some of the basic properties of vibranium, including how to channel magic through it. So to catch the Shadow King, they forged a web of light and a door of vibranium. Once the Shadow King had been trapped with the light, he was banished to the Shadow Realm, which was sealed behind the vibranium door. And to this day, the Shadow King still remains trapped, though tales go that little pieces of him can get through the cracks to work evil, but only where evil is welcome."
"Oh boy...and lemme guess...this is something to do with why Megan turned me and Chloe into distractions," said Matt gloomily.
"If she is under the thrall of the Shadow King, it could mean disaster for us all," said T'Challa, "From what you've told me, she might have enough power to open the door and set him free."
"But someone put her up to it," said Storm, "I can't believe Moses Magnum would stoop to this."
""He must have been offered big credits," said Chloe gloomily.
"He's probably been promised all the vibranium of Wakanda," said Shuri, "That's what they all want."
"He's clearly an idiot too. Unless things are different in this universe, people who are dead have no use for anything," said Matt sarcastically.
"Greed makes fools out of many men," said T'Challa, "But what matters now is that we stop them."
NegaMorph spoke up next, "Wait, so he can control shadows, big deal. So can I. What's so bad about him doing it?"
"It's not just the shadows," said Shuri, "With the Shadow King's power, shadows will control people. Everyone would be puppets of darkness, with the Shadow King pulling the strings."
"And that's a best case scenario," said T'Challa, "Assuming the Shadow King hasn't learned new tricks in his exile."
Matt said nervously, "Ok...that's pretty bad for a best case scenario..."
"And this door is at the very bottom of the catacombs?" asked Spider-Man.
"Indeed," said T'Challa.
"Any chance of there being a shortcut there?" asked Spider-Man.
"Who'd put a shortcut into a doom prison?" said Chloe.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure how we'd get to them before they open the door," said Spider-Man.
"They'd still have to go through the catacombs," said T'Challa.
"Which is full of booby traps, probably a rolling boulder or two to start," said Matt gloomily.
"And spike pits," added NegaMorph.
This time, Chloe shuddered, both of them saying in unison, "Don't ask."
"Let's assume we're not quite in time to keep the door closed. How do we get the Shadow King back through?" asked Amadeus Cho.
"With great difficulty. The spell used has been lost to the ages," said T'Challa.
"Perhaps we could do something to replicate the web of light," said Cho, "If the flash webs can be modified to create continuous phosphoresce..."
"I don't think we have time to run to the lab and get to the end of the catacombs," said Storm.
"Then Shuri and Amadeus will work on their web in the lab," said Black Panther as he put on his helmet, "Meanwhile, we shall try to stop Magnum."
Matt nodded, readying a blaster. "Ok, find Magnum, beat him to a pulp, save the world," he muttered, loading a fresh power cell, only to be clonked by Chloe who screamed "DON'T JINX IT!"
Lady Nega was not in a good mood. It hadn't escaped her notice that her minions were starting to be a little too free willed ever since Manticora had slipped her leash. And her unwittingly letting loose two experiments who would have blown up Wakanda and a large part of Africa with it didn't encourage a lot of faith in her.
"Ok, finish this job, get back to New York and reinforce those loyalty spells," she muttered, standing up, just as Magnum came in.
"It is almost time," said Magnum, "All we need now is a sacrifice."
"If you even suggest me, I'll make your brain dribble out your ears," said Lady Nega promptly.
"No, just a simple animal offering," said Magnum, "Fit for a king, of course."
"Yes...have you seen the animals here? The snakes are bigger than most subway trains." snapped Lady Nega.
"How about something that won't break our backs or try to eat us?" asked Magnum dryly.
"I don't suppose he'll settle for a hamburger," said Lady Nega sarcastically.
"The Shadow King will settle for no less than a full side of beef," snapped Magnum.
The door opened again, Taurus walking in, saying, "My Lady, Magnu...oh he's here. Would you like anything to-"
Lady Nega said in an annoyed offhand tone, "Can't you see I'm plotting here? Wait for me to finish."
"Uh, I was just going to get lunch," said Taurus.
"Just wait outside, lunkhead," snapped Lady Nega, Taurus shrugging before walking back out. "Geeze, what a total beefhead," muttered Lady Nega.
"Yes, a whole lot of beef," said Magnum thoughtfully.
There was a pause before Lady Nega said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I was wondering if you'd go through with it," said Magnum.
"Well, Taurus wasn't my most inventive creation and he's certainly not my best minion," said Lady Nega.
"And if your other minions find out?" said Magnum smugly.
Lady Nega shrugged. "They obey me. They can lump it," she said smugly.
"The Shadow King will like your resourcefulness," said Magnum approvingly.
"So...you're not going to cook him here, are you?" asked Lady Nega.
"Oh, not at all," said Magnum, "The Shadow King wants his offering very fresh."
Lady Nega paused before going "Ew." in a disgusted voice.
Getting into the catacombs was the easy part, considering Black Panther had complete clearance. But that was where the easiness ended. "Don't you have some kingly way of bypassing the booby traps?" asked Lazard.
"We have sworn never to let the Shadow King escape," said Black Panther, "Not even the kings are exempt, in case one went rogue or was coerced into going down there."
"I'm gonna get a boulder," grumbled Matt glumly as Chloe walked forward.
"What sort of traps?" she asked before picking up a rock and throwing it ahead of them. There was a swishing sound and the rock was sliced in half.
"Oh, lovely. So, we shoulda written some wills unless you know any sort of way past the invisible blades of death," said Chloe sarcastically.
"How high up to the blades go?" asked Storm, looking at the ceiling.
The others looked up, Matt commenting, "I haven't seen you fly, your highness."
"I usually don't rely on flying gear," said Black Panther.
"Hmm," said Matt, picking up another rock and throwing it as high as he could. This time, the rock stayed whole until it was about five feet off the ground. "Ok...who's got a ladder?" joked Matt.
"Matt, you're a dragon," said Chloe pointedly.
Matt sighed, transforming and taking off. "Werewolves and sisters...both without senses of humor," he muttered.
"We don't have time for jokes," said Chloe.
"Actually, I try to squeeze in a few jokes when the mood allows it," said Spider-Man, crawling on the ceiling, "It keeps things from getting too grim."
"See? Lighten up, sis," called Matt, yelping as one of his talons was clipped as it got too low.
Storm was able to fly Black Panther over easily. "That was but the simplest trap," said Black Panther, "There will be harder to follow."
"The death blades were easy?" said Matt skeptically.
"All they required was a little acrobatics," said Black Panther, "There's bound to be worse."
"Oh please, at least there was no bou-" began Matt, landing before a click was heard and the multiverse gave him what he'd expected for the last hour, a boulder landing on his head.
"Hmm...I suppose no one would have suspected something so old-fashioned," said Black Panther.
"I can't feel anything," rasped Matt's muffled voice.
"Maybe we should leave him behind for his own good," said Chloe in a flat tone.
Matt pulled himself free, one of his eyes, rather worryingly slowly spinning. "I'm fine. It's not the first time a head's fallen on my boulder," he said in a slurred tone.
"Ok, what's next?" asked NegaMorph, "Spike pits?"
The next room was suspiciously empty except for rows upon rows of tiles, each one having a different picture, with few repetitions.
One's attention would also be drawn to the neat rows of holes in the roof and walls. "You had to say it." said Matt, 'accidentally' stepping on NegaMorph's foot.
"Yeah, yeah, let's figure out the pattern we have to walk on this," said NegaMorph.
"What pattern?" asked Spider-Man.
"Oh, pretty standard," said Chloe, "You have to step on the tiles in the right order or else you'd have to do it over again."
"Trust her on this. She was stuck on a planet for years where these sort of traps were standard," said Matt, stepping behind NegaMorph. "And of course, if you step wrong, note exhibit A: the tempter of fate...oops," he said, kicking NegaMorph onto the tiles.
"Hey, what was that-" snapped NegaMorph before Spikes shot down from the ceiling and impaled him. "Ow," said NegaMorph.
"We just gotta work out what the order is," said Chloe, looking at the images on the tiles, "Is there a clue anywhere?"
"I'm seeing a few spiders," said Spider-Man, "That's a good sign, right?"
T'Challa looked at some of the pictures. "These tell scenes from the story of the Shadow King," he said finally.
"Ok, so we should start with that vibranium meteor landing in Wakanda," said Chloe, putting one foot on a tile.
"Actually, that would be-" started Black Panther before a large slab of stone fell from the ceiling and landed on Chloe's foot.
"That...was wrong...I assume," Chloe said, her eyes tearing up.
"Uh, follow me," said Black Panther.
"Are you ok?" asked Storm.
"No problem...just have a few...tiny bones to heal..." said Chloe
Matt shrugged, changing to dragon form and getting ready to fly over.
"I wouldn't try that," said Black Panther. He took NegaMorph's hat and tossed it over the tiles. It didn't hit the ground before another spike speared it. "They're light-sensitive," he said.
Matt gulped, turning back. "Point taken...literally."
"I don't appreciate being used as a testing dummy," said NegaMorph as he made another hat out of shadow.
"You're literally unkillable by this trap. Just walk it," snapped Matt.
"It still hurts, you know," snapped NegaMorph.
"Uh...could I get a little assistance?" asked Chloe, who was now limping.
Matt said in an annoyed tone, "Please...you have a werewolf healing factor." He jumped onto a tile that Black Panther had just vacated.
There were quite a few trap chambers afterward, following typical dungeon patterns. "Your ancestors didn't skimp on the defenses," said Storm as she wrung out her hair from the drowning trap.
"Given what these traps are protecting, I expected more," said T'Challa.
"Well, I'm hoping Magnum had as much trouble with the traps as we did," said NegaMorph. He walked into the next corridor only to pause when he saw a large tunnel had been dug into the wall to his right. "OH COME ON!" he snapped.
Matt appeared next, before he snapped, "Ok, I think the dungeon budget clearly skimped on the walls."
"My ancestors couldn't have anticipated that someone would dig straight down to here," said Black Panther, "But at least they didn't come in here at the Shadow Door's chamber."
"Fine...wonderful..." growled Matt, turning the corner out of sight and into the last room.
"I think all this dungeoneerings getting to him," muttered Chloe to Spider-Man.
"What about you?" asked Spider-Man.
"Oh, I'm pretty used to this," said Chloe, "Though I would have expected more undead guardians. Oops." There was a pause from Chloe before she sighed with relief. "Good, he didn't hear it. Kind of a trigger word for him. We just call it the U word," she explained.
"But you didn't jinx it, did you?" whispered Spider-Man.
"Don't be silly. Wakandan royalty wouldn't use the...restless dead, would they?" said Chloe, "Black Panther? Is there anything ahead?"
Just then, a boom was heard from the far room, the group running in to see Matt, in his dragon form and clearly out cold, being held by the neck by a humanoid, who tossed Matt aside as they came in
"Oh, stone golem. Should have guessed," said NegaMorph.
The golem turned its head to look at NegaMorph at that, raising its arm. "Oh crap," muttered NegaMorph before a blast caused him to pop.
"Ancient automaton?" asked Spider-Man.
"Quite clearly," said Black Panther.
"Ok, you wouldn't happen to know its off switch," said Spider-Man.
Chloe glared, shifting to werewolf form. "I have that brother basher's off switch right here," she snapped, sending a bolt of lightning at it. The electricity didn't seem to phase the automaton, except for making some purple circuit lines light up. "Oh crap," muttered Chloe before being blasted into the far wall with a crunch and falling in a boneless heap.
"She'll be fine. Trust me," snapped NegaMorph, trying to blast the bot with some shadow blasts.
"Well, the bad guys had to have gotten around this thing somehow," said Spider-Man before shooting webbing at the automaton's eyes. It had a tribal look to it, like a scaled-up fetish, but not as hideous as one stolen from the New York museum.
"Megan, she probably shadow-shifted them in," snapped NegaMorph, the automaton kicking him flying before looking at T'Challa.
"It will recognize you as King of Wakanda, right?" asked Storm.
"Like I said, these defenses are meant to test everyone," said Black Panther.
"In that case..." said Storm before she sent a freezing wind at the automaton. The bot staggered back at that, shielding its optics from the blast.
"Doesn't like the cold, eh?" asked Spider-Man before shooting his freeze webs at it. The machine tried again, one of its arms frosting up so badly it was clearly struggling to move it.
"Remind me to upgrade this dungeon in case an ice-powered villain tries to get in here," said Black Panther. The others gave him a disbelieving look. "What? I have to make sure no one else will release the Shadow King again," said Black Panther.
The bot tried to move again, its frozen arm coming off, the bot looking down at it before a final blast froze its head. "Not nearly as hard as the last ancient giant robot I faced," said Spider-Man.
"An interesting tale, I'm sure, but we can't waste any more time. The last chamber is through there," said Black Panther, pointing at the door.
Chloe twitched for a second before getting up with a gasp. "Ow...the hell? before noticing the others heading for the door. "Hey, wait up!" she yelled, wincing as her ribs uncracked. "Immortality hurts..." she whined.
She paused at her brother, his eyes spiraling before shrugging "Meh, he's fine." before following.
For a dark ritual to release an evil spirit from a shadowy netherworld, the chamber was surprisingly well-lit. A large vibranium slab etched with ominous tribal glyphs, including a menacing face with sharp teeth and glaring eyes that were currently glowing purple.
"Erm...boss...why am I here? I mean, the birds can do this themselves" gulped Taurus, looking over at Iceshaide and Antumbra who were setting up some runes near the slab.
Antumbra muttered, "This smells, darling. We book it as soon as we get the chance."
"Yeah, I think Manticora had the right idea," said Iceshaide.
"Let's just finish up. This place sets my talons on edge," Antumbra said, with a shudder.
"What about Akhlut?" asked Iceshaide.
"Oh, he's ready to hop it. Er, bounce. I mean, leave," said Antumbra.
"HEY! GET ON WITH IT, YOU BIRDBRAINS!" yelled Lady Nega, the two glaring.
Moses Magnum was getting ready, setting some calibrations on his vibranium seismic gauntlets. Black Panther had to be coming. He could hear the fight against the guardian. His team had a very narrow escape until Lady NegaMorph shadow-ported them through the last door.
"Ok, we're ready. We just need the sacrifice in position," said Lady Nega.
"Uh, what kind of sacrifice?" asked Taurus. He didn't like how some of the men were looking at him like a big side of beef.
"Nothing to worry about, Taurus. Just go stand in the center," said Lady Nega.
Taurus might be the thickest of her minions, but he wasn't that stupid. "Why should I? You just treat us like cannon fodder," he said in an annoyed tone.
Lady NegaMorph glared back. She was not in the mood for rebellion, not when she was this close. She was about to put a sleeping spell on Taurus when several of Magnum's men beat her to it with a barrage of tranquilizer darts.
A second later, Antumbra's and Iceshaide's claws were at Magnum's throat. "Say the word, my lady," said Antumbra darkly.
"Drop him," said Lady Nega.
"These jokers shot Taurus," snapped Iceshaide angrily.
"With tranquilizers. The Shadow King wants him alive," said Magnum smoothly.
"What?" snapped the two birds.
"The Shadow King wants an offering and your bull has plenty to offer," said Magnum. Before either bird could fully process this, he placed his seismic gauntlets on their middles and gave them the equivalent of a piledriver to their stomachs.
This time, Lady Nega snapped, "You idiot! I could have made them accept the plan." looking at her unconscious minions.
Just then, Lady Nega felt a stabbing pain in her head. No, make that a rapping pain, as if someone was banging on the inside of her skull. "Excuse me a moment," she said before turning her attention inwards.
"You MORON! Geases are just strong guidelines. Antumbra's got too much internal honor to follow you now and Iceshaide'll follow him anywhere," snapped Megan.
"As if that's going to matter," said Lady Nega dismissively.
"Of course it matters!" snapped Megan, "They're your last friends! Well, the closest things you have to friends. And you've just set fire to your last bridge."
"Oh please, I'll just make more," laughed Lady Nega, adding, "I'll have more then enough power after this caper."
"Are you really that self-deluded?" asked Megan, "Do you know what happens to villainous plots on this world?"
"Oh please, we're not from this world. We don't need to follow the rules," sneered Lady Nega.
"Really, you've been through enough to know how this is going to turn out," said Megan.
"Not this time...and the first thing I'm going to do with my new power is burn you out," snarled Lady NegaMorph.
Lady NegaMorph's attention turned back outwards and she said, "Sorry about that. Shall we-" She paused when she noticed that she was shackled, with power-suppressing shackles no less. "Ok...what's the deal?" she snarled, trying to summon her magic anyway, or even shift to dragoness form.
"Didn't want you getting cold feet," said Magnum.
"I wasn't getting cold feet. Let me go!" snapped Lady Nega.
"A lot of brides say they don't until the big day comes," said Magnum.
"Antumbra, Iceshaide, I've changed my mind, kill him!" snapped Lady Nega, before seeing the two splicers tied up and gagged. "Oh, this sucks," she muttered.
"Um, Taurus, are you-" stared Lady Nega before noticing him unconscious on the altar. "Oh, right. Uh...I did de-frog Akhlut, right?"
Akhlut meanwhile was heading down the tunnel heading back to the guardian room. If he played this right, he'd be over the hills and halfway to the Wakandan border within the hour. "Stupid lunatic," he muttered. He was thinking alot more clearly since the spell had worn off.
After that, he just had to head east until he reached the coast and then... Akhlut paused when he saw a group of heroes approaching, including Black Panther. "Aw crap..." he muttered, ducking into the shadows. 'I'm not here, I'm not here, I'm not here...' he thought desperately.
He paused till they had gone by before sighing with relief. "I wasn't here," he sighed before going wide eyed in terror as NegaMorph said from the dark, "Yeah, you keep thinking that."
"I SURRENDER!" Akhlut yelped. The others turned as NegaMorph pushed Akhlut into the light. "Erm...I really do surrender," he said nervously, raising his paws.
"Do we have to fight?" asked Chloe in annoyance, "We're trying to stop your mistress."
"She's not my anything, mistress or otherwise," said Akhlut.
"Oh, following Manticora, eh?" said Chloe.
Akhlut snapped, "She brainwashed me and turned me into this."
"Then let us get you help at SHIELD," said Spider-Man.
Akhlet looked at the group before finally saying, "Is that what you did to Manticora?"
"It's...going to take her time to recover," said Chloe.
"Fine..." said Akhlet gloomily, before there was a deep boom from the 'cell'.
"They're opening the Shadow Door!" snapped Black Panther.
"What the hell's a Shadow Door?" snapped Akhlut.
"Something that's keeping an evil spirit out of this world," said Storm.
"Aw hell," muttered Akhlut before yelping as he was webbed up, "Oh come on! I'd surrendered!"
"Sorry, can't take chances," said Spider-Man.
"YOU PIECE OF-mmmph!" snapped Akhlut, getting one last piece of webbing on his mouth.
By this point, the Shadow Door was creaking open. It was hard to say how it was moving as it had no hinges, the door itself wasn't opening, and it seemed pretty much fixed into the wall. But there was a growing darkness around it.
Lady Nega was trying to get herself loose, getting the feeling nothing good was coming. Thanks to her mix of NegaMorph DNA and shadow dragoness DNA, she had a sense for shadows...and this sort of shadow was setting her teeth on edge.
There was a noticeable change in the door now. The fetish face's mouth was starting to slowly open, black mist spilling from it. Taurus was just starting to come round at that. "Uh...wha..." groaned Taurus. He turned to face the fetish and the cloud of dark shadows coming out of it, before it lunged at him. The shadows went streaming up his nose and into his ears. Taurus bellowed as he tried to shake them off.
Lady Nega snapped, "Magnum...let me go!" as Taurus began to shake.
"Sorry, but he did request a virgin offering and you were just too perfect," said Magnum.
"Hey! I'm not a virgin!" snapped Lady Nega. Magnum's other men sniggered. "Really, I'm not," snapped Lady Nega.
"Oh please," said Magnum, "We both know your boyfriend wouldn't touch you after you turned evil."
"You've been watching me?" snapped Lady NegaMorph, the cuffs starting to spark a little.
"Just keeping tabs," said Magnum, "Also, your minions gossip a lot."
Lady Nega snarled louder at that, her eyes glowing red and the sparks getting worse.
"Shadow King, if you want to claim your queen, I suggest you make haste," called Magnum.
"Ohshitohshitohshit!" yelped Lady Nega at that as Taurus seemed to stop shaking, his eyes now a glowing blood red. His fur darkened and the lights grew dimmer around.
"Yes..." said 'Taurus' in a deeper, raspier voice, "This is an excellent body. Now I won't be so easily captured by light."
"You can keep him away from me!" snapped Lady Nega.
Shadow Taurus turned to look at Lady Nega. "Not only brimming with the power of darkness, but pleasing to the eye as well," he said.
"Ok, first, ew. Second, I'm not interested!" snapped Lady Nega, grinning as the power dampener finally overloaded. "Let me show you how uninterested," she snapped, taking a deep breath to spit fire.
Shadow Taurus did nothing but smirk. Lady NegaMorph spat a dark fireball at Shadow Taurus, who just held up a hand. The fireball hit it and was absorbed into him. "Ooookay..." said Lady Nega nervously, backing up.
"You have great power, but it's nothing compared to mine," said Shadow Taurus before he stretched out an arm. He didn't seem to do anything, but his shadow on the wall reached forward and grabbed Lady Nega's shadow. Lady Nega gasped. She felt like she was being grabbed, even though there was no one touching her.
She screamed as she began to be dragged slowly towards him...before a fireball and a giant hailstone hit Shadow Taurus in the face. Shadow Taurus snarled and turned to see that Antumbra and Iceshaide have broken free of their bindings.
"Get off our boss and out of our teammate," snapped Iceshaide.
"I've got a better idea," said Shadow Taurus. His shadow's other arm reached out, the fingers becoming much longer before they stabbed into Antumbra and Iceshaide's shadows.
The two birds dropped like stones onto the ground with 'oof's'. "Can't...move..." snarled Antumbra.
"You can't move, but I can move you," said Shadow Taurus, his shadow jerking theirs upward. Iceshaide and Antumbra leapt up into the air before landing on their feet.
"Uh...I'm not liking this..." said Iceshaide with worry.
"You shouldn't," sneered Shadow Taurus, making them turn to face each other before blasting each other into unconsciousness. "A good test, but I'm ready to flex more of my power," said Shadow Taurus.
Moses Magnum cleared his throat and said, "Uh, may I remind you about our deal?"
"Ah yes, all the precious vibranium of this land is to be yours," said Shadow Taurus, "You're welcome to it once I'm finished with its people."
Just then, the door leading to the guardian chamber was thrown open and our heroes came through. "Shadow King, you are going back through your door!" shouted Black Panther.
Shadow Taurus turned to look at them. "Ah, just who I was wanting to destroy first: the King of Wakanda and that accursed Anansi."
Spider-Man looked around before asking, "Does he mean me?"
"What other god would be so cheeky as to choose the fake name, Spider-Man?" sneered Shadow Taurus, several spines of shadow energy shooting at them.
The group quickly dodged out of the name. "Ok, trickster, got any plans?" asked NegaMorph dryly.
"Keep him off balance," Spider-Man called, swinging to the side as Shadow Taurus laughed.
"Why? So you can make another web? I'm not just a shadow this time," called Shadow Taurus.
"Yeah, you have a form I can punch," said Moonshock, dashing forward and hitting Shadow Taurus in the chest.
Shadow Taurus slid back a few feet before sending a claw at her shadow, only for electricity to seem to shoot back along. This one was already claimed by someone else. Then again there are many kinds of shadows, not just ones from light.
He next tried for the shadow of the dragon. The shadow seemed to burn but he did manage to throw the dragon's lunge off so it faceplanted into a wall and knocked itself out.
The black creature was already too one with the shadows and had more than enough free will to resist. But the flying woman looked like a viable target. The shadow's tendril reached for Storm's.
There was a blur and searing pain, his tendrils falling apart before he turned to see the Wakandan king. "It seems the centuries have not been spent forgetting the old ways," he sneered.
"The old ways are not forgotten, but there are new ways too," said Black Panther.
"For example, check this out," said Spider-Man before hitting Shadow Taurus in the face with his flash web.
Shadow Taurus roared in pain, staggering back.
Mangum turned to his men and snapped, "Don't just stand there! Do you want your bonuses or not?!"
His goons paused before readying their weapons, the latest in plasma weaponry, before firing. The shots flew at the heroes, and paused in midair before flying over their heads and into the dazed drake. "I...can taste colors," he said goofily, spitting out several stone bricks, his eyes gently spinning.
Shadow Taurus snorted with annoyance and said, "Fortunately, you also brought reliable help." With a wave of his hand, Iceshaide and Antumbra's shadows stood up, pulling up the birds with them even though they were still unconscious. Their eyes opened, revealing solid glowing purple eyes. "Minions? Take these heroes apart," sneered Shadow Taurus.
"Megan, tell your flunkies to knock it off now!" snapped NegaMorph.
"They're not my betrothed's anymore," sneered Taurs, not noticing as NegaMorph paused and turned to look at him with red eyes.
"For the record, not my idea at all," said Lady Nega, "Especially not with the bullhead."
"That doesn't excuse you!" snapped Nega, before he was sent flying by a head tackle by Shadow Taurus.
"This body almost makes it too easy," sneered Shadow Taurus.
"Ow..." rasped NegaMorph as the shadow-possessed Iceshaide went straight for Matt as his eyes finally stopped swimming. The effect woulda been better had he not turned at her warcry and accidentally tail whipped her into a pillar with an undignified squawk.
"Whaz goin' on again?" asked Lazard dizzily.
"Get the bull!" snapped Moonshock.
"Right, bull," said Lazard before spitting plasma at Shadow Taurus.
Shadow Taurus seemed to melt into the ground at the last second, appearing further away with a scowl. "You don't belong here," he growled.
"Well neither do you," snapped Lazard. With that, Lazard spat a fireball, only to roar as a row of glowing rigid feathers slammed into his back.
"We haven't had a chance to truly fight," growled Antumbra.
Lazard just glared, "I'm not in the mood, birdbrain."
"Too bad," said Antumbra before breathing shadow fire on Lazard.
Meanwhile, Shadow Taurus was taunting the heroes. "Your people failed when they thought me imprisoned, king," he snarled.
"You were a story long forgotten," said Black Panther, "Except to make bad children behave. No one fears you now."
"Then I shall enjoy teaching them to fear all over again," sneered Shadow Taurus,
"All you shall teach is that I should make sure the catacombs are better protected," said Black Panther.
"You will not have the chance. You're just a mortal," sneered Shadow Taurus.
"You'd be surprised with what mortals have created while you were gone," said Black Panther before throwing a small black ball at Shadow Taurus.
Shadow Taurus looked down at it with content, moving to stomp on it only for arcs of electricity to dance from it across his body. "There are disadvantages to having a physical body," said Black Panther calmly as Shadow Taurus yelled.
When the electric attack stopped, Shadow Taurus said, "Indeed. But the advantages more than make up for it." He stomped one hoof hard, causing a wave of moving earth to come at Black Panther. The ground ripped, tore and fell or lifted around Black Panther, till Storm swept down and lifted him away just as the rock collapsed in on itself with a crash.
"Pulling you out of calamity's wake," said Storm, "Reminds me of old times."
"This isn't a good time for reminiscing," said Black Panther before talking into his communicator, "Shuri, how are you doing with that web of light?"
Shuri and Iron Spider were finishing up their device. "Almost ready just a little longer," she said, calmly.
T'Challa and Storm paused as they heard a panicked "No, no, no, no!" before Lazard belly flopped into the ground, Antumbra's talon visible, twitching before his voice said weakly "Oooooowwwww." before going limp.
"T'Challa, I'm not sure if a web would be strong enough to hold that," said Storm, looking down at the rampaging minotaur.
Lady Nega behind them, glared. "It doesn't needs to be. Weaken him and Taurus'll certainly surrender," she said.
Black Panther looked upwards and said, "If only we had some sunlight."
"Three problems with that," said Storm, "1: we're deep underground, 2: it's probably nighttime now, and 3: I can't create sunlight."
Spider-Man swung over to them and said, "But I know who can," before pointing at Lazard.
Lazard, meanwhile, was calmly pounding Antumbra into the ground. "Had enough yet?" he asked in a bored voice.
Storm flew over to Lazard and asked, "Uh, Lazard, are you capable of simulating sunlight?"
"Never tried," said Lazard, lifting up the dazed bird, "I think he's had enough."
"Ok, you try to make sunlight, I'll try to bolster the effect," said Storm.
"Huh?" asked Lazard.
"I can't create sunlight, but I can control the humidity to maximize its effect," said Storm.
Lazard sighed, closing his eyes and concentrating. A small orb appeared between his hands. It glowed dimly at first, but it started to grow in both size and brightness. "May take a while," he said, "You keeping the other bad guys busy?"
Shadow Taurus had noticed and glared, attempting to pin more shadows. Then Spider-Man landed on his back. "This ain't my first rodeo," said Spider-Man before pulling on the bull's horns, "Well, actually it's my second."
"Gah...get off me!" snapped Shadow Taurus, trying to reach up to grab Spider-Man.
"Let's make this a little more fun," said NegaMorph before shooting a few fangs into Shadow Taurus's flank. Shadow Taurus roared at that, sending a blast into NegaMorph's face.
"I think I like that idea," said Black Panther before jumping onto Shadow Taurus's back and digging his claws in. Shadow Taurus staggered around at that, swiping.
Meanwhile, Moonshock was dealing with Iceshaide. It wasn't nearly as tough as she'd thought it'd be. Another blow sent Iceshaide sprawling. "Just stay down. This is embarrassing," said Moonshock calmly, Iceshaide sneering as Moonshock sent one last blow, only for Iceshaide to grab her fist, ice spreading from the touch and down Moonshock's arm. "Ah! Cold, cold, cold!" yelped Moonshock.
Iceshaide however refused to let go, more ice spreading. "Not so funny now, is it?" she sneered.
"No, it's not!" snapped Moonshock before sending a massive surge of electricity through their connecting arms.
Iceshaide squawked in pain before headbutting Moonshock and seemingly kissing her, Moonshock's eyes going wide as more ice spread from the touch till she was encased.
"Urgh...ow...ok, I'm out...", looking down to see the shadow pin had been destroyed by the lightning. "Antumbra, where are you?" she snapped, "We're leaving."
"Over...here..." squeaked Antumbra from the crater he was left in.
Iceshaide sighed, flying up and lunging, flicking a feather-shaded ice shard into the shadow pin before grabbing him. "I don't know about you but freelancing seems really good about now," she commented, carrying him.
"Yeah, bad enough we nearly got the country blown up, but letting this guy loose is over the line," said Antumbra
The two heard Lady Nega snap, "Get over here!"
The two looked at one another before taking off. "My lady?" he said, his and Iceshaide's talons glowing before she said "We quit." Their attacks combined into a blast that knocked Lady Nega flying and blasting a hole in the wall which the two flew through.
"What? You can't just leave!" snapped Lady Nega.
An air blade almost took her head off. "Yes, we can," Antumbra sneered before the two left.
"INGRATES!" yelled Lady Nega before black slime got shot into her mouth.
"We'll talk later, young lady," said NegaMorph, "After we clean up this mess you've made." He made a muffled voice as he was grabbed by Magnum's gauntlet. "This is gonna really sting." he said in a muffled voice before the seismic gauntlet turned on. NegaMorph's whole body quivered as he started vibrating. "Actually, that kinda tickles," said NegaMoph. Then he started shaking harder. "Ok, now it's sta-a-a-a-a-rting to-o-o-o-o-o-o hu-u-u-u-u-u-urt," said NegaMorph.
Magnum threw him flying at that into Lady Nega. "I put too much effort into this to be thwarted now," said Magnum, "I was promised all the vibranium of Wakanda, and I will have it."
Lady Nega began to laugh at that, "Oh please...you think he'd share with you?"
"Nobody welches on a deal with Moses Magnum," said Magnum.
"Not had many deals with evil spirits, have you?" asked Lady Nega.
NegaMorph nodded, "It's true. I've seen it before. As soon as he's out of here, you're for the chop, probably literally. Not that he's gonna make it that far anyways."
"And what makes you think that?" asked Magnum. The Negas pointed behind him at that.
Magnum turned to see Lazard holding what looked like a miniature sun in his hands. "Spidey, Panther, you might wanna jump off!" called Lazard.
The two heroes jumped aside just before Lazard pushed the sun directly at Shadow Taurus. Shadow Taurus yelled in pain as the chamber lit up. His shadow writhed as the darkness leeched from him. Then Taurus fell over, unconscious as the Shadow King writhed against the wall.
"Shuri, do you have the web of light ready?" asked Black Panther on his communicator.
"As ready as we'll ever be," said Shuri.
"Then get them here now," said Black Panther to NegaMorph.
NegaMorph nodded, melting into the small patch of shadow. "You can't win! One day, this land will be MINE!" roared the Shadow King.
The shadow reopened as Shuri and Iron Spider stepped through. "Ugh, is it always that nasty?" asked Shuri.
"I haven't had much experience with that," said Iron Spider, "But I'd hazard a 'yes'."
NegaMorph smirked. "One superweapon delivered," he said smugly.
"You know, it's not physically possible to trap a shadow..." started Iron Spider.
"Just get him!" snapped Shuri. Iron Spider pointed his gauntlet at the Shadow King and fired a glowing web over him.
The Shadow King indeed seemed trapped. "I will not be trapped! Not again!" he snarled, trying to pull free.
"So...how do we get this door to lock him away?" asked Spider-Man, looking at the Shadow Door.
Shuri looked over the Shadow Door and said, "With these old Wakandan artifacts, there's usually a switch..."
She pressed against one part and the mouth on the door's fetish face opened. The Shadow King started being drawn towards that mouth. "No! Not again! NEVER AGAIN!" he roared, his scream drawn out till he was drawn into the fetish, which closed with a certain finality.
Moses Magnum saw that his business deal had just fallen through. Time to make an exit. A gust of wind blew him over before he could get too far. "Moses Magnum, I believe you've got some answering to do regarding some illegal weapons," said Storm.
Lazard said coldly, "And trying to start the apocalypse." before he noticed Moonshock. "SIS!" he yelped, flying over to the frozen werewolf.
"Oh, don't worry," said NegaMorph, "She's been out of tougher scrapes than this."
"She's frozen solid!" snarled Lazard, before looking at Magnum. "You...it's your fault," he snarled in a shaking voice.
"Don't lose your temper," said Shuri, "We can thaw her out safely."
Lazard just glared, leaning in towards Magnum, baring his fangs as his eyes glowed blue before he snorted smoke in the arms dealer's face, "He'd probably give me indigestion."
"Hey, there's plenty of good news," said Spider-Man, "We've caught all of Magnum's men, Taurus, and best of all, Lady NegaMorph herself. And this time, she'll not be a petitionary that's been taken over by a mad scientist obsessed with cloning."
"Yeah...wait, what?" asked NegaMorph.
"Don't ask," said Lazard, before saying, "Hey, where is she?"
"Tracking now..." said Iron Spider, scanning the area.
"She's over there," said NegaMorph, pointing a thumb.
Everyone turned to see Lady Nega out cold. Apparently, she'd tried to shadow walk through the door. "Rookie mistake," muttered Nega.
Antumbra and Iceshaide were long gone by the time they left the catacombs, and apparently, they took Akhlut with them. But at least they didn't have troubles getting Moonshock to the Wakandan hospital for defrosting...except for what came afterwards.
"AAAAAACHOOO...this is embarrassing. A werewolf with a cold," groaned Chloe, before sneezing again.
"The sneezes, I can deal with," said Lazard, wiping the snot off his chest, "It's the static discharges that are annoying."
"Aaaah shove it!" snapped Chloe, before sneezing and her fur fluffing out with a crackling noise.
"So, now that Moses Magnum and his entire operation has been caught, I suppose you'll be heading back home," said T'Challa.
"What's the rush?" said Ororo, "Didn't you promise a tour of Wakanda?"
"I remember nothing like that," said T'Challa.
"I did...and I wrote it down," said Shuri with a teasing smile. T'Challa gave her an annoyed look. "You need to produce an heir eventually, right?" asked Shuri.
"Remind me to be absolutely merciless to whoever she dates," said T'Challa to Ororo.
Of course there is one other little thread in this web of a tale. The reason our little dragon came to Wakanda all along...
"Considering how vital you were in stopping the Shadow King, I should think this would be ample enough reward," said T'Challa.
Chloe hissed in Matt's ear, "Will you try not to drool so heavily?"
"Hey, it's not every day I get a bleeding-edge suit of armor made with Wakandan vibranium and Stark tech," hissed Matt.
"Yeah...but you really are starting to drool," said Chloe.
Just then, the curtain in front of them was pulled open, revealing a shiny new suit. It was navy blue, shaped like Matt's anthro dragon form, and it was much sleeker than he expected.
Matt walked over, peering closely. "Where are the servo seams?" he asked.
"What servo seams?" asked Shuri.
"Well, how am I supposed to put it on?" asked Matt. "Like this," said Shuri before tapping on the larger middle gem around the throat. The armor collapsed on itself, folding infinitesimally until all that was left was a pendant shaped like a dragon's head.
Matt gently picked it up. "Ok, that's cool, heard the NSC was experimenting with compression tech," he muttered.
"So are you going to try it on or what?" asked Chloe.
Matt shrugged, slipping the pendant on. Tapping on the pendant, he felt the armor spreading out to cover him. It felt no thicker than cloth, but it also felt sturdy. "Nice," he said, shifting to dragon form and feeling the armor adapt instantly like it was a second skin. "So this can adapt to whatever shape I'm in?" asked Matt.
"It should," said Shuri, "Assuming you don't grow as big as a building or microscopic."
"How much do I owe you?" said Matt absently.
"Consider it a gift for helping to save Wakanda," said Shuri, "Oh...and if you try to reverse engineer, it'll disintegrate." Matt going rigid
"Ok, so it looks snazzy, but what about weapons?" asked Chloe.
"Scanning for offensive capabilities..." said his nanite VI.
"Hang on," said Matt, "Waiting for an update."
"Unable to identify...unknown secondary AI," said the nanites.
"This might require a patch or two," said Matt, "Pity our ship isn't here yet."
NegaMorph paused at that, listening. "Good news, ship just gone past lunar orbit," he said cheerfully.
"Pardon?" asked Matt.
"Yeah, finally coming in," said NegaMorph.
"What took them so long?" asked Chloe.
"Got held up by some jerks called the Kree," said NegaMorph.
"Aaaand galactic incident...fantastic." muttered Chloe, paw in her hands before sneezing again and fluffing up. "Tell them to break out the cold cure. If this happens ONE MORE DAMN TIME I'M GONNA KILL SOMEONE! PROBABLY THE FIRST ONE TO SNIGGER!" she screamed.
"Don't suppose you Wakandans developed a cure for the common cold," said NegaMorph.
"Don't be silly," said Shuri, "There's no cure for the common cold. But a vitamin supplement ought to cancel out the worst of the symptoms."
"Good...good..." said Matt before hissing "For the love of Avalar, get it."
"Wait, isn't the ship big enough to be seen from planetside?" asked NegaMorph.
"Well, that depends on what side of the planet," said Matt before pausing, "Till I get on the comm link, tell them to defend themselves only. If I hear of something blowing up, I'll shave whoever is responsible."
"So, you guys got a look around Wakanda, stopped an evil shadow demon from escaping its prison, bagged an entire arm-dealing gang, and caught Lady NegaMorph?" asked Miles. Him, Peter, and Cho were hanging out at a basketball court in Brooklyn.
"And Matt has a new set of armor," said Cho, "Of course, my armor is still cutting edge. His may take some time to get used to."
"Huh, makes me wish I was there," said Miles.
"Well, you know how Wakandans are about too many visitors at once," said Peter.
"Fine, but I want in the next time you go there," said Miles.
"Fair enough," said Peter.
"And while we're here, how about we shoot some hoops?" asked Miles.
"Are you sure you want to?" asked Cho.
"Worried about getting your face hit again?" asked Miles.
"But there's only three of us. How would that work?" asked Cho.
Peter looked around and spotted Morph of all people, looking up at the sky expectantly. "Hey, Morph," called Peter, "You think you wanna play some basketball?"
"You'll be sorry," called Morph.
"Oh come on, just one little game?" asked Peter.
Morph sighed and said, "Well, might as well get it over with."
"Ok, so how about Peter and Cho on-" started Miles when they heard a humming sound.
They looked up to see a UFO hovering over the court. An actual flying saucer-type UFO. A beam of light shone from under it. From that light materialized four very tall aliens, each about 8 feet tall, pretty lanky, with long arms and legs.
"Greetings, earthlings," said one of the aliens, "We have come to challenge your planet's warriors. From studying your planet's broadcasts, we understand you hold high value in this sport you call 'basketball'. We therefore challenge your planet to a game. The winning planet will receive the loser's moon."
Peter, Miles, and Cho just stared in gaping shock before slowly turning to look at Morph. Morph, who was somehow now wearing a basketball uniform, just shrugged and said, "What did I tell you?"
This particular chapter came out a little shorter than I expected, probably because we didn't deviate away from the main plot so much here. Earlier versions of this two-parter had more elaborate elements, like including Thor, Loki, and the Tri-Sentinel. But I suppose it's better off being in a simpler, easier-to-follow form.
Anyways, a lot of things will be followed up on in the next chapter; Lady Nega's capture, the arrival of the Bladestorm, relations with SHIELD. But not the alien basketball game, that's just a little gag. Hopefully, it won't take so long to put up the next chapter. Keep an eye out for it and please review.
