Author's Note: Hey, everyone. After months of anticipation, I have finally updated this fanfic. I do apologize for making you wait. It's just that I had a lot of other things to do both with my fanfics and my personal life. But I think one of my biggest problems was finding Black Panther elements to integrate into this story. I'm open to suggestions on what to do next.

Also, in case some of you are wondering, I will mostly be doing retellings of non-filler episodes. So I will be retelling episodes such as "The Domino Effect" or "Toad Tax" but I will not be retelling episodes like "Stakeout" or "Civil Wart". I will have some exceptions to fan favorites or what I personally like though.

One more thing I should mention. As you all have seen, I have a new coverart for this fanfic as well as all the others in my Young Avengers series. It was drawn up by Framraw from Deviantart who has given me permission to use it. Enjoy.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.

"And this bad boy is my kitty, Domino." Anne showed a video of a black-and-white cat on her phone to T'Challa, Sprig, and Polly. "You guys would like her. She's got fire."

"She is pretty cute." T'Challa said.

"She's so tiny." Polly said. "I feel huge!"

"Hmm… I will…" Sprig said pulling out a hammer, "Set her free!" He swung his hammer down, but Anne swiped the phone away before it could be smashed.

"Please, stop doing that." Anne said.

"Sprig, for the tenth time, things cannot be trapped in phones." T'Challa said. "Breaking it is only going to… Wait a minute." He took a moment to sniff the air picking up a foul odor. "Do you all smell that?"

Anne sniffed too, but was repulsed by the smell. "Ugh! What is that? Did something crawl under the house and die?"

Sprig sniffed next before realizing the issue. "Worse. Much worse. Hop Pop is cooking!"

After opening the door, Anne and T'Challa were caught off-guard by a blast of stink that knocked them back. When they recovered, they entered the kitchen to find the source of the smell, a cooking pot that Hop Pop was throwing bug guts in.

"What's the plan this year, Hop Pop? Poison the competition?" Sprig asked earning a bump to his head from his grandfather's spoon.

"The plan is to win."

"Win what exactly?" T'Challa asked.

"The annual village potluck." Hop Pop said. "Every year, we frogs gather for a great contest. The family who brings the best-tasting dish is showered with love and copper coins. The family with the worst-tasting dish spends the night in… the shame cage!"

"Brutal." Anne said.

"And guess which family ends up there every year." Sprig sighed along with his family.

"That's sad." T'Challa said.

"Well, if you think I'm gonna let my favorite froggy family end up in a cage, you've got another thing coming." Anne declared. "I know I'm not technically a Plantar, but maybe I can help. What do you say, T'Challa? Wanna help too?"

"Of course. The Plantars have been kind enough to give us a place to sleep. I'd love to return the favor by at least helping them avoid sleeping in a cage." T'Challa said. "So what exactly are you making, Hop Pop?"

"I'm guessing it's sock gumbo." Anne said.

"No, silly." Hop Pop said as he pulled out a recipe book. "It's a traditional recipe from my family's cookbook. We been using this baby since I was a pollywog."

Anne took the book and looked through its pages. When she was done, she looked up at the Plantar family. "I think I found the problem, guys." She then slammed the book shut. "Old things are dumb."

"Well, that's rude." T'Challa said.

"We Plantars have always cooked these recipes." Hop Pop said. "What would my great gam-gam say?"

"She'd say 'move on'." Anne said.

"Well, rudeness aside, what do you suggest we cook instead?" T'Challa asked.

"If we're gonna win this thing, we need something new. Something revolutionary. Something no one in the swamp has ever seen before. Something like…" Anne turned on her phone and showed her suggested dish. "Pizza."

"I don't know what it is, but I love it." Polly admired.

"Pizza is the ultimate dish." Anne said. "You haven't lived until you've shared one with your friends at the mall."

"I do love a good pizza." T'Challa said.

"Now, now. Before we get carried away," Hop Pop said, "What about this tried-and-true recipe? Swamp mold pot pie."

"Hop Pop, I'm willing to eat bugs to survive, but mold is going to get me sick." T'Challa said.

"Now, all we need are four ingredients: dough, cheese, basil, and tomatoes." Anne said.

"Whoa. Now, all that sounds dangerous." Hop Pop said.

"How so?" T'Challa asked.

"Getting these ingredients is going to be a chore," Hop Pop said, "And getting tomatoes is life-threatening."

"Life-threatening tomatoes?" Anne scoffed. "I think we can handle it."

Although Anne was sure, T'Challa was not. His instincts made him cautious.

"So you ready to make our pizza dreams a reality?" Anne asked.

"Pizza dreams!" Sprig and Polly cheered.

"Oh. Maybe we should put pineapple on it. Seems like a natural fit…" Sprig was interrupted when Anne grabbed him by his jacket and pinned him to the wall.

"Don't you dare talk about pineapple on my pizza. Ever." Anne warned menacingly. "Okay. Let's go get those ingredients. You with us, T'Challa?"

"You go on ahead." T'Challa said. "I've got some business to do."

While Anne and the frogs went on their shopping spree, T'Challa walked around town looking around the market place. He noticed he was getting stares from some of the frogs there, but he wasn't bothered.

"Well, look who it is." Said a voice. T'Challa looked at a nearby dining table where Mayor Stan Leap was sitting at.

"Oh. Good morning, Mr. Mayor." T'Challa said. "Are you having brunch?"

"Just a light snack." Mayor Leap said. "Gotta save some room in my stomach for the pot luck tonight. Speaking of, have the Plantars told you about their unfortunate losing streak?"

"Pretty much." T'Challa said. "Anne's trying to help and I want to help too, but I'm not sure. Hop Pop told us it was dangerous."

"Well, Hopediah is pretty stuck in the old ways." Mayor Leap said. "I remember back when the Plantar dishes were all we had back when I was a pollywog. Still, these days, everyone prefers the better taste over the tradition behind dishes. What's your friend suggesting instead?"

"It's a dish called pizza." T'Challa said. "It's probably the best food in my world and would probably win us the pot luck, but the way Hop Pop put it, it sounds dangerous to even get the ingredients."

"What are the ingredients?"

"Dough, cheese, basil, and tomatoes."

Stan pondered hard. "Hmm. Yeah, I think Hop Pop was onto something."

"What do you mean?" T'Challa asked.

"Well, all the dough is provided by Mr. Flour. Knowing him, he won't give it up unless the Plantar boy agrees to marry his creepy daughter, Maddie. As for the cheese, they'd have to get it from Mrs. Croaker, and she's not likely to give it up unless they do her a favor with the wild animals she likes to keep. As for the basil, let's just say that they have to fight off some giant aphids to get them. But the tomatoes are probably the most dangerous to get."

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone in Wartwood even sell tomatoes." T'Challa said. "Why is that?"

"I don't know how tomatoes are in your world, T'Challa," Mayor Leap said, "But here in Amphibia, the tomato plants are carnivorous and willing to violently snack on whoever's dumb enough to get near them."

T'Challa groaned. "I knew something was going to go wrong."

"If you had a bad feeling, why didn't you say something?" Mayor Leap asked.

"Anne wouldn't listen." T'Challa sighed. "She's way too stubborn to think things through. Still though, I'd hate myself if anything happened to her." Just then, T'Challa widened his eyes in sudden realization. He pondered to himself before speaking again. "Okay. I'm going to go and save Anne from being tomato chow, but is there a place where I can get cornmeal?"

"Over there." Mayor Leap said as he pointed at a nearby market stand.

"Thanks a million. And I promise, you won't have to put us in the shame cage this year." T'Challa said before heading to the cornmeal stand.

After purchasing the cornmeal he needed, T'Challa went straight to the tomato field which was pointed out to him by Loggle. He arrived just in time to see Anne, Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop get dragged by their ankles by vines which were dragging them into their mouths.

After putting his suit on, T'Challa rushed to the rescue and managed to free the frog family, but Anne was instantly pulled into the tomato monster's mouth. T'Challa followed and split his legs to keep the monster's mouth opened. He quickly reached his hands out and grabbed Anne's free one. Her other hand was holding onto her bag full of pizza ingredients.

"T'CHALLA!" Annne yelled.

"Anne, I need to pull you up!" T'Challa strained. "Give me your other hand!"

Anne was about too until she realized her other hand was full. "But the ingredients! The pizza!"

"Pizza is good, but is it really worth the lives of yourself and everyone around you?" T'Challa asked.

"…All right!" Anne gave in. She released her hand and let the bag fall into the stomach acid. She grabbed T'Challa's hands with both of her own and he pulled her right out.

The two of them jumped away from the tomato monsters and returned to the Plantars at a safe distance. They took a couple of deep breaths before sighing in relief.

"Is everyone okay?" T'Challa asked.

"A little spooked, but I'll get over it." Hop Pop said.

"I saw my life flash before my eyes." Polly said. "Though, I'm still a pollywog, so it didn't last long."

Anne frowned. "Sorry, guys. My revolutionary ideas were supposed to save you guys, not get you killed. I shouldn't have been so stubborn. I just really wanted to share a pizza with you guys."

"I didn't care about that pizza stuff anyway." Hop Pop said. "But you were really trying to help this family out, and that's worth something in my book."

"So what do we do?" Sprig asked. "The pot luck is in a few hours, and we're back to where we started."

"Not necessarily." T'Challa said. "As it so happens, I have an idea for a dish that's both traditional and revolutionary."

"You did?" Anne asked.

"Yep. And if we want to make it, let's get back to the farm."

After the sun set on Wartwood, all the frogs in the town gathered up setting up their dishes. As they prepped themselves up for judging, Mayor Leap stepped up in front of everyone.

"Attention, people of Wartwood, it's time to begin this year's pot luck! May the best dish win!" Mayor Leap announced before going over the dishes.

One by one, Mayor Leap took a taste of each dish and gave positive opinions on it. He went down the line until he stopped at the last dish, the Plantars. At first glance, he looked at their dish, which looked like a dense porridge made of maize.

"Well, this is new." Mayor Leap said taking a slice.

Anne forced a smile on herself, but she was still nervous. She whispered over to T'Challa, "Are you sure about this?"

"Give it a chance." T'Challa whispered back.

Mayor Leap took the slice of the porridge and stuffed it into his mouth. He ate it for a moment before widening his eyes in shock.

"Well, I'll be. This is the best dish you Plantars served in the history of potlucks!" Mayor Leap declared. The family smiled at the praise we were given.

"Did we do it?" Sprig asked. "Did we actually win?"

"Win?" Mayor Leap asked. "Oh, no. I liked it, but it's not first place material. Now, if you had added bugs to it, that'd be a different story."

T'Challa smacked himself on the forehead. "Bugs. I forgot to take into account that they're frogs."

"What exactly is this dish?" Mayor Leap asked.

"It's called Ugali, It's a traditional African dish that Shuri and I always enjoyed. The cook was so generous, he always gave them to us for free."

"Isn't it possible that the cook gave them to you for free because you were royalty?" Anne asked.

T'Challa widened his eyes coming to the realization. "Well… That's possible."

"Well, this Ugali just save the Plantar family a night in the shame cage." Mayor Leap said.

"WHOO!" The Plantars cheered.

"Wait! Then who's in last place?" Toadstool asked.

"You, Toadstool." Mayor Leap asked. "The point of a potluck is to bring food that you made yourself. Store-bought cakes are not allowed."

Toadstool chuckled nervously. "Store-bought? Whatever gave you that idea?"

"It still has the price tag." Mayor Leap said pointing at the sign which was posted in the cake Toadstool had. "To the same cage with you."

Toadstool grumbled angrily as he headed to the cage. "I'll remember this when I'm elected mayor."

"Good luck with that." Mayor Leap said.

Back at the Plantars, they all breathed a sigh of relief seeing someone else sit in the shame cage.

Back at the house, T'Challa and Anne ate the rest of the Ugali with the Plantars.

"Tastes kinda like popcorn." Anne commented.

"Yeah. I was going to add another food, but we ran out of time." T'Challa said.

"Well, T'Challa, I gotta say, this was a good idea." Hop Pop said. "Shame we didn't win, but anything's better than last place."

"Oh, yeah." Polly agreed.

"Definitely." Sprig agreed as well.

"Well, it's the least I can do." T'Challa said.

"And just so you know," Anne said, "If we did have to end up in that cage, I'd totally join you guys so you wouldn't be alone."

"Thanks. That means a lot." Hop Pop said.

T'Challa gave a soft smile tasting the Ugali. He looked out the window wondering, "Shuri, my sister, I hope you are all right."