Beginning A/N: Hello, hello, and happy holidays to everyone! I hope that you're all ready for the next chapter of this story, because we're in for an interesting chapter this time around. Now, I know that I've gotten some complaints over how the last chapter went, but, honestly, I couldn't think of any other way to write that scene without it turning out like something written by a five-year-old. But anyway, let's get started, shall we?

Disclaimer: I still don't own Ed, Edd n' Eddy, Marvel, or DC!

Becoming the Golden Jaguar

Within a ceremonial chamber, Zuri and several others were beginning the process of bestowing upon Eddy the powers of the Heart-Shaped Herb. Eddy lay surrounded by various people from Wakanda, all of varying ages, in a pit of red sand. His arms were crossed in front of his chest as he did his best to keep his breathing steady. The Wakandan shaman lowered a bowl filled with a purple liquid that was from the Heart-Shaped Herb and brought it to Eddy's lips.

"Allow the Heart-Shaped Herb to bestow the powers of the Black Panther and take you to… the Ancestral Plane." Zuri said.

Zuri helped Eddy drink the concoction, being careful not to choke the boy on the mystical liquid. Soon he had drank it all and Eddy's breathing started to become labored as his veins began glowing purple beneath his skin as he absorbed the power of the Heart-Shaped Herb.

"Mister and Missus MaGee we call… on you. Come here… to the boy whom you loved and raised as your son." Zuri chanted.

As Eddy's breathing began to slow, he began to experience brief flashes of memories of his time with his former mother and father. Playing American football with Mister MaGee when he was five, to the nights when Missus MaGee would sing him to sleep whenever he had a nightmare as a little boy. But while Eddy's breathing was slowing the citizens of Wakanda who were in the chamber began to bury Eddy beneath the sand. They knew how this ritual worked and knew that they had to be quick.

Eddy breathed deeper and slower as his heart rate slowed down. Entering a death-like state, he saw flashes of memories from the Joker's assault on the Cul-De-Sac. How he, Double Dee, and Ed had BARELY managed to escape from the Joker with their lives. Finding his parents' corpses buried beneath the burning rubble of their house. Wailing in agony as he clung to their broken and bloodied bodies. And finally, his breakout of the hospital as he swore to himself that he would get stronger. Strong enough to finally put an end to criminals like Joker and bring about an age of true justice. And age where no little boy or girl would ever have to watch their family be taken away from them by an insane clown, or some punk with a gun!

"Praise the ancestors." Zuri said in Swahili.

After a few more shovels full of sand, Eddy was completely buried beneath the grainy earth. And when he awakened, he knew that he definitely wasn't in Wakanda anymore.

"How'd I get back in the Cul-De-Sac?" Eddy asked as he looked around.

Indeed, he appeared to have returned to the very same Cul-De-Sac in which he grew up, but it was back to the way it was before the Joker and his minions attacked and destroyed the place while killing everyone who lived there. However, the place was suspiciously empty. Rolf wasn't hanging laundry, Kevin wasn't fixing his bike, Nazz wasn't lounging, and Sarah and Jimmy weren't playing with blocks in the front yard. Not even Double Dee or Ed could be seen or heard!

Did I mention a lack of Nazz lounging?

Spotting the house that he had called his own for so many years, Eddy made his way to it. He slowly opened the door and found himself greeted to the very same home decor that he knew his parents liked. Simple and practical, yet nice and comfy. Especially his adopted father's chair that he always sat in whenever he was home. Eddy took in the many familiar sights that he had grown up with. The TV was in the same spot it had always been since he could walk and talk, the door frame where his mother would measure his height was the same, faded ink and everything, but his heart all but stopped when he saw the familiar faces of his adopted parents.

Mister and Missus MaGee were sitting at the dining room table, each with a cup of coffee in hand. Eddy's body seemed to move on autopilot as he walked into the dining room. His parents looked at him with sad smiles as they stood up from their chairs. Parent and child looked at one another… and then they embraced, with Eddy's adopted parents comforting the boy as he silently wept.

"Oh, my little Eddy… Thank God you're alive…" sobbed Missus MaGee.

The two parents broke their hug with their child and held him at arm's length, getting a good look at him. There was sadness in their eyes as they saw the damage that the Joker had done to him as proven by the permanent scarring left by the Joker Venom that Eddy had miraculously survived.

"Look at you. You're really becoming the man that your Uncle Ben always knew you could be." said Mister MaGee.

"I… I'm so sorry. I couldn't…"

Mister MaGee put a hand on his son's shoulder, stopping him from finishing that sentence.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened, my boy. There is nothing you could have done to prevent our deaths, and even if there was, we wouldn't let you risk it. It's every parents' duty to put their child above everything else. And even though we were only your parents through adoption it doesn't change the fact that you were, and always will be, our son." Mister MaGee said.

"I just… I don't know if I can do this." Eddy admitted. "Joker got off with only a slap on the wrist for his murder spree. Me and my friends, Ed and Double Dee, have resolved to put an end to criminals like Joker, but… I don't know if I'm good enough. I mean, I… what if I lose my way and become no better than those I'm trying to stop?"

Missus MaGee just laughed and pat Eddy's head as she said, "You won't lose your way, Eddy. Just do what my dad told me to do when I was your age. Follow your feet."

"And know that, no matter what path you choose, we'll always be watching over you." Mister MaGee added with a sad smile of his own.

Eddy suddenly left the Ancestral Plane and bolted upright from the sand, thrashing about as he gasped for air! His eyes were wide and full of panic as his fight or flight instincts took over. Fortunately, Zuri was there to help keep the young prince calm.

"Breathe." instructed Zuri as he slowly helped Eddy to his feet. "Edward, breathe. Breathe."

After taking a minute to catch his breath, Eddy calmed down enough to speak.

"They were there." he said tiredly. "Both of them… they were there."

A few days have passed since Eddy was crowned the Prince of Wakanda and things have been going surprisingly well for the lad. He was learning more and more about his heritage from T'Challa and Oboro and thanks to advanced medical treatments with Vibranium technology, Eddy was slowly growing to the height that he should be for a boy his age, which had actually been the result of a delayed growth spurt. Even his hair was beginning to grow in more. It may still be tinted green due to the Joker Venom that Eddy was exposed to, but at least now he didn't have just three long strands of hair on his head.

Currently, he was being escorted by Okoye and her fellow Wakandan royal guards to his aunt Shuri's laboratory. Eddy had spoken to his parents and had decided that he wanted to train and study abroad in order to become both a better fighter, and a better prince for his people. T'Challa and Oboro did need to sleep on it when they first spoke about this, but they accepted Eddy's choice and decided to join him until they were absolutely sure that he would be okay on his own.

"My prince." Shuri said with a bow.

"Come on, Aunt Shuri. Stop it." Eddy said.

The two laughed off the bow and hugged each other as Shuri led her nephew into her lab.

"I've already sent a car ahead of you to Korea, which is your first stop on your training trip. You will become much stronger and smarter by studying abroad and training alongside your father." she said.

"Good because believe it or not, I'm actually pretty dumb." Eddy admitted.

"I believe it." Shuri quietly quipped.

"What?" Eddy asked.

"Nothing! Anyway, I have great things to show you, nephew. These are your communication beads to keep in touch." Shuri explained as she showed Eddy to a table of different tools and inventions. "Unlimited range. Also equipped with audio surveillance system. And check these out."

She picked up and showed Eddy what looked to be a set of gumball sized metal beads.

"Remote access kimoyo beads. Updated to interface directly with my sand table." Shuri explained.

"Ah. And what are these?" Eddy asked, walking to a table with a different device on them.

"The better question is: WHAT ARE THOSE?" yelled Shuri as she gestured to Eddy's sandals, getting a laugh from the boy. "You are just like your father, having your toes out in my lab! Why?"

"What, you don't like my royal sandals?" Eddy asked. "Dad said that I should go old school for my first official day as prince."

"I bet the elders loved that." Shuri dryly said as she placed the invention Eddy was asking about on the ground. "Try them on."

Eddy removed his sandals and placed his feet on the invention which appeared to be soles belonging to a pair of shoes. But when he placed his feet on them, they were immediately covered in a layer of vibranium that formed into a pair of shoes that appeared quite high tech.

"Fully automated. Like an old American movie your grandfather used to watch. And I made them completely sound absorbent." Shuri explained.

"Wow, I don't think even my friend, Double Dee, could do that." Eddy said as he did a few experimental stomps, not making a sound.

"Guess what I call them… sneakers." Shuri said with a grin.

Eddy just gave her a confused look.

"Because you…? Never mind." Shuri said before grinning. "Also… your friend's name is 'Double Dee'? That name can be interpreted in so many different ways. Most of them being quite hilarious once you get the joke."

"Actually, me and my other friend, Ed, just call him Double Dee. His name is actually Eddward, but with two 'd's." Eddy explained.

"Well, ain't that just a coinky-dink? You three have the same name." Shuri said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh it up while you can." Eddy said with a roll of his eyes.

Shuri just chuckled and pat Eddy on the back as she led him to a set of twin mannequins. One had T'Challa's old Black Panther suit on it, and the other had a golden necklace around its neck with fangs from a big cat embedded into it.

"If you're going to take on villains like you say you are, you'll need the best the design group has to offer." stated Shuri. "Exhibit A!"

"Dad's design." Eddy said.

"Correction: his old design." Shuri corrected.

Eddy raised an eyebrow and asked, "Old? Whaddya mean old?"

"Yes, it's functional but old. 'Ah, people are shooting at me! Wait, let me put on my helmet!'." mocked Shuri.

"You've made your point." Eddy said.

"Now, take a look at this." She said, bringing his attention to the necklace. "This is the second in a set that was made when your father became King."

"And it's mine now?" Eddy asked.

Shuri said nothing as she brought her bracelet up to the base of Eddy's neck where he heard a strange buzzing sound. He didn't make a big deal out of it, but he was ready to run if it turned out to be something incredibly dangerous.

"Now, it is. Tell it to go on." she said.

Eddy was confused but did so anyway. He figured that it was a mental thing, so he imagined himself in a Black Panther suit. Before his very eyes, a suit similar to his fathers, but black and gold rather than black and silver, materialized from the necklace all over the mannequin. Shuri made a noise of awe while Eddy just stood there. He was truly amazed by the level of technology that the Wakandans had created using Vibranium. It was practically something out of the Jetsons!

"The entire suit fits within the teeth of the necklace." Shuri explained before telling Eddy, "Strike it."

"Anywhere?" Eddy asked.

"Mm-hm." replied Shuri.

Eddy got into a boxing stance and threw a surprisingly strong right hook at the abdomen of the suit and sent it flying across the room! Much to Shuri's chagrin.

"Not that hard, genius!" scolded Shuri.

"You told me to hit it, you didn't say how hard." Eddy said.

"Just like T'Challa! I invite you to my lab, but you punch things into oblivion!" Shuri exclaimed while carrying the mannequin back to its original spot.

"Then why don't you make it stronger-hey… wait a minute…!"

Eddy stopped the rant he was about to go on when he noticed a golden glow coming from the suit in the exact spot where he had punched it. The light caused an outline of prominent jaguar style spots to appear where the glowing area was.

"The nanites absorb the kinetic energy and hold it in place for redistribution." Shuri explained.

"Oh, what Double Dee wouldn't give to see this. He'd probably let us see what's under that hat of his." Eddy said with a big smile.

"Strike it again in the same spot." Shuri instructed, ignoring the comment about her nephew's friend and his hat.

Eddy got ready to punch it when he saw that Shuri's bracelet had a hologram screen on it that was recording the event.

"Are you recording this?" Eddy asked.

"For research purposes." Shuri replied with a shrug.

Not bothering to question it, Eddy punched the suit in the same spot as before… only to be sent flying across the room as the kinetic energy was disbursed! As he landed hard on his back, Shuri laughed at his misfortune just like she had when the same thing happened to her brother.

Eddy quickly recovered and said, "You better delete that!"

***To Be Continued…***

Ending A/N: And that wraps up Eddy's time in Wakanda! In the next chapter we'll be seeing just what Ed went through during his time being a Red Lantern. If you have any suggestions for that chapter, like, say, a mission you'd like to see him go on, I'm happy to listen and will see if they'd fit into the story's plot. Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading and, if you celebrate it, have a Merry Christmas!