Title: "You have been compromised." (Chp 4 / 4)
Chapter Title: Let's watch the world burn
Fandom: Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever (MCU)
Pairing: Namor/Shuri
Words: 3933
Rated: M for sexual situations
Summary: When blinded and overcome by rage, one tends to miss the OBVIOUS!
A/N: Enjoy!
Tuesday. Today was Tuesday. Meaning she had been out since Sunday.
Sunday.
What happened Sunday?
Images flashed through Shuri's mind. Memories of them together. Namor's hands running down her back her exposed and naked back. His hands digging into her hips leaving bruises and her guided her up and down upon his hard cock that filled her. Her head tilted back and her face towards the skies and moan after moan escaped her lips on top of his lap. His voice in her ear. His language deep and horse filling her ears. His moans and sighs and gasps in between thrusts. His whole undoing.
Then carried. Being carried?
Carried. Cradled. Warm. So warm. Namor looking down with concern. Okoye's voice. Shuri's eyes blinking wearily before passing out.
Shuri sat at the side of her bed. She winced in pain and ran her fingers along her hips. She winced once more as her fingers traced over the bandages. Those were still bruised. She stood up and hissed. That hurt. How about walking? Nope. Thighs felt like she had been hit by a truck or been riding a horse. A sea horse? The irony. This was going to be a long recovery.
With a groan she laid on to her bed once more and went back to sleep. She wanted just five more minutes. Five more minutes.
The dreams. Surly her dreams would be filled of the realization of what was to come. The future, their future together. A united kingdom. A united land. A united people and nation. A husband. A wife. A kid playing in the water. She didn't have such a dream.
Instead there was fire everywhere. People screaming. She stood in the middle of a street as people ran in fear all around her. Shuri looked around and saw water creeping in at her feet. Bodies littered the ground. Bodies of various people of Wakanda. All slain with spears. Talokanil people marched in unison. More screams. More fire. Someone shouting from above.
Shuri looked up and saw a figure of a man come into view. The figure hovered down and stopped eye level with Shuri. His eyes were filled with anger. His body soaked in blood and upon his spear, Shuri's decapitated head. The mouth, open in a scream with the eyes still wide.
Shuri jolted up to a sitting position, breathing hard and ragged. A nightmare. A horrible nightmare. Not a dream. She sat catching her breath. What if he were still a threat? What if THEY were still a threat? She remembered her mother and the way she died. She remembered the flooded streets.
Wakanda was vulnerable. Yes, it was safe. Safe but the battle with the Talokanil showed how vulnerable it's defenses really was to any attack. How vulnerable it STILL was. Wakanda was thought to be safe and fortified. This sense of security taken away when Thanos invaded with his army. Wakanda healed. Wakanda restored. Wakanda should have been safe once more. Yet, Namor showed it was not. That it still was not. That there was room for improvements. That their needed to be improvements.
Shuri looked towards her night stand. There was an injectable pen sitting upon it, surly something for the pain. No pearls this time. Not shells. Shuri reached over and placed the pen at her neck. She instantly felt better the moment the medication hit her body.
She bathed and dressed after she felt better, more casually this time. Nothing formal. Nothing fancy. No dresses this time. She wanted something that would bring her comfort because she felt she would be in the lab all day. All day. All night. Many days.
"My Queen." Okoye was the first to greet her when Shuri came out of her room.
They fell into unison walking side by side.
"Are you all right?" She asked with concern.
"I'm fine." Shuri replied with a smile as they made their way to the throne room.
Upon their approach, the guards opened the doors. Shuri walked only but a few steps and gasped at what she saw before her. She made her way to the center of the room and towards the throne. It laid in pieces. Broken pieces upon the floor.
"We um….." Okoye started. "It uh broke when you two um…" Okoye tried to continue. Shuri raised her hand and Okoye stopped speaking.
Shuri looked over the chair.
"It can be replaced." She said.
Her voice distant and thoughtful. The broken throne. Broken in pieces. From kneeling over it to standing, she walked from the throne to the windows that overlooked Wakanda. She placed her hand upon the glass and looked out. She remembered her mother. Imagined the glass breaking and water flooding the room. Okoye stopped a few paces behind her and stood. Still looking out the window, looking over the lands, Shuri spoke to Okoye.
"I want all of the windows in the buildings fortified. They were fortified enough to withstand bullets but I want them to withstand any explosion, any weapon. Especially vibranium."
"My Queen?" Okoye questioned. Unsure where all of this was coming from.
"Griot?" Shuri called to her Ai.
"YES, MY QUEEN." It replied.
"Make sure these windows, all the windows are fortified with our barriers. That will add a layer of protection. Even if the windows break, there will be a barrier that cannot be broken. Scan all of Wakanda, above and below. I want the typography of the land. I want to see every inch, especially the rivers. Every body of water. Also…." She said still looking out the glass. "Make this reflective. I want no one to be able to see inside."
"YES, MY QUEEN." Griot, her Ai replied.
"My Queen?" Okoye questioned from behind one more, where she remained.
Shuri then turned to her.
"I lost my mother in this room. This very room. Wakanda isn't as strong as it should be or ready if anything should happen."
She started to walk towards the doors. Okoye fell in toe beside her.
"I don't want to wait for the 'what ifs'. We now know there are others out there. Stronger. More armies. More powerful. Their may be no threat of war today or many days. But what about tomorrow?" She asked.
Okoye walked silently beside her in contemplation. Finally she spoke. "Is their something wrong between you and….."
Shuri stopped her sentence with a dismissive hand. They stopped at the entrance of the lab. Shuri turned to Okoye.
"I just have a lot on my mind. In the meantime, make sure my modifications are carried out." Shuri replied.
Okoye made the X before turning upon her heel and leaving.
Shuri surrounded herself at her station with screens. On one screen was Namor. The same diagram as she used before. On another was Namora and Attuma. Each screen with notes pointing out key features.
In the center was a 3D map of Wakanda. Shuri reached inside, moving the map to see it from different angles, zooming in on areas and zooming out. She placed a hand against her chin as if propping herself up, resting it against her and looked over the map, analyzing it.
"Griot." Without waiting for it to reply, she knew it was always there, she continued to speak.
"The cloaked barriers of Wakanda keep anyone from the surface from seeing or getting in. I want the barriers to extend to the bottoms of the rivers and all bodies of water. Surround Wakanda, as if in a bubble. I don't want anything above or below to have access unless granted." She zoomed in to the map, looked at the mountains, the fields, the wooded lands and various open planes.
"I want Ai surveillance. Make outposts at key points. I want them all networked and hooked up to you. Wakanda will be monitored. Also, fortify the water entrances with sonic deterrents. Cloak them so that they cannot be seen. Be discreet Griot."
"YES, MY QUEEN." It replied.
Shuri left the table with the map and stopped in front of another screen. Upon it was a diagram of the Midnight Angel armoed suit. She would have to ask Okoye how it did in battle. In the meantime there were other things to do.
"Griot. I want you to replicate and mass produce the armor of the Midnight Angel. I want enough for the entire Dora Milaje. Outfit it to their Kimoyo beads. I want them to be able to transform into it similar to how the armor of the Black Panther is in my necklace."
"YES, MY QUEEN." It replied.
Shuri's eyes then looked at the diagram of Namor, Namora and Attuma. She then walked back to the map. If they were going to live there and coexist, where would they settle? Shuri reached inside and rotated the map. There were regions occupied by the Border Tribe. Other territories and regions occupied by the Jabari. Then there was everyone else, the buildings, the farm lands and so on.
Shuri rotated the map to look at all the water ways. She figured they would want to be by water so that they can easily come and go and return to sea. That would mean moving and relocating some of the tribes more inland. Would they go for it or would it cause unrest? Shuri wanted a spot somewhat secluded, that way the Talokanil people could avoid the others if wanted or needed.
Unions.
Alliances.
Coexisting.
Peace.
There was much to think about. Shuri's eyes looked over the main city and all of it's buildings.
"Griot. I want translators. Translators everywhere. I want them in the beads. I want them on the lands. Some way for everyone to communicate and understand one another. A way for everyone to interact without a language barrier." She said.
"HOW WOULD YOU LIKE THAT ACCOMPLISHED?" It asked.
She contemplated. She could have the Ai all around listening. That way whenever someone said 'Hey Griot' or something similar, everyone could talk to it. Shuri shook her head. Nah. That would infringe on a lot of people's privacy having an Ai constantly listening. Shuri smiled and thought of her mother. How her mother swore Ai would rise up and take over. Her mother would hate Ai even more if she knew it was listening and watching everything.
"I will have to get back to you on that." She replied before taking a stylus and drawing equations upon the screen.
The days seemed to blur. So much was on her mind. So much needed to be done. Her bedroom was now full of screens and diagrams. It was as if the bedroom was turning into the lab. A lab with a bed pretty much.
Shuri would wake and start working immediately.
"Groit, bring up the DNA of Namor. Put it to the right." She waited and then continued once it was in place. "Now bring up mine and put it towards the left."
Griot did as it was told. "Now, in the center, I want the our combined DNA of our child."
Shuri watched as it appeared before her. She reached inside of the diagram of the DNA helix and rotated it.
"Highlight any genes and strands for mutations." Shuri gasped when she saw the results.
"Griot. In my current state, tell me the probability of mutation within the child."
"85%" It replied.
Shuri stared as the screens lost in thought. She looked towards the diagram of Namor and the helix of his DNA. She remembered the story of his mother. How his mother didn't want to ingest the plant grown from vibranium soil due to fear of what could happen to her baby. Shuri remembered the part in Namor's story of how they all ingested the liquid of the pant given to them by the shaman. How they all died, in a human way, only to be reborn as something else. Something else that could no longer live on land. She remembered how Namor talked of his birth, of his pointed ears and wings upon his feet.
She thought of all the variables. Namor. His composition and physiology. The Black Panther.
That was it. The Black Panther. By taking the synthetic heart shaped herb, she was given the powers of the Black Panther. Superhuman strength. Speed. Senses. Everything enhanced. It changed the make up on her body completely.
"Griot, run calculations between me having the power of the Black Panther and having it's powers stripped away." She asked.
"CALCULATING."
Shuri's eyes went wide. "Interesting."
Namor stood next to the campfire at the beach, their beach. He remembered the first day he laid eyes upon her, her spear drawn to him besides her mother. He remembered all the times he came to this beach afterwards, the talks they had, the stories they told. All the times they made love.
Namor looked down at the campfire and listened. Listened to the waters around him. Listened to the animals scurrying about. He listened and listened and it was all the same. No sound of foot steps approaching. No sound of his name called from familiar lips. It was silent all around. A silence he didn't like.
Where was she? Was she mad? Was she angry?
Night after night he would come to this beach. Night after night she wasn't there. He looked down at the synthetic wings and frowned. Upset with himself. Upset that he took it too far in the throne room. He just couldn't help it. The gesture. The gesture behind his new wings.
Wings that were restored. Wings that were healed. Wings that were made by her hands.
Wings.
Her.
The wings showed she was thinking of him. That he was on her mind as much as she was on his. She made him something. Made him something because she was thinking of him. The time it took to make them, to mold them, to shape them into his very being. It showed the depth of how he was on her mind. Constantly and the feeling was mutual. None of this was lost on him.
Almost every waking thought was of her. Memories of her. Memories of them. Their conversations. The talks of uniting their lands, their people. How he could now give his people the sun. Not the artificial sun under the water. No, the real sun, warm and radiant with it's shine. Where no one again will die broken hearted. Broken hearted of a surface land they once knew.
Where was she? Was she mad?
He remembered her broken body as he carried her in his arms, walking with Okoye as medics took her away. He recalled how the warrior woman was at ease, even after what had happened, as if she knew what had happened. After all, she the was the first one there when the throne room doors finally opened. She didn't sound as if she felt that her Queen were threatened. Yet, she spoke in soothing soft tones as she talked about the time involved for the Queen's recovery. So with that, he was at a loss.
Why wasn't she there? Why had she not returned to the beach like she did so many nights?
He missed her.
He missed her. He wanted to see her. He wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to make sure she was okay. He missed her.
Okoye arrived at the lab the moment she was summoned. She was surprised to find it completely empty. Shuri stood by one of the medical beds. Her vitals already on the small screens that were embedded into it. Okoye greeted her, making the X before bowing her head.
"Okoye, there is something I must tell you." She began. Okoye's eyes went wide with each word that followed.
Shuri walked towards a table where there was a bowl with a liquid inside. Shuri handed Okoye the bowl and walked back to the med bed, hopping up upon it and sitting.
"You have always protected Wakanda. You have always had it's best interests in mind. I need you to protect it again and me. Especially now. By drinking this I will have the powers of the Black Panther stripped away. It's the only way I can ensure the safety of the child I am carrying within me." Okoye listened to her words. Shuri continued.
"After it is taken away, you will take the synthetic heart shaped herb and become Wakanda's protector. I will take back the mantle once the baby is born." Shuri finished.
"Yes, my Queen." Okoye replied and with that, Shuri drank from the bowl. Her veins glowed purple and her whole body felt warm. Then the glow faded. Okoye took the bowl and sat it down beside her. She looked over her Queen with concern.
"How do you feel?" Okoye asked still looking her over.
"Normal." Shuri replied, holding and outstretching her hands then looking over her body.
Satisfied, she hopped off the bed. Shuri walked over to the table where there was another bowl. Okoye was already laying down upon the bed. Shuri sat the bowl beside Okoye's resting body. Then she took off her Kimoyo beads and placed them upon Okoye's chest. She lifted Okoye's head, Okoye's mouth open wide and the liquified synthetic heart shaped herb poured inside.
Moments later Okoye's eyes opened. She sat up upon the bed and looked over her body. This time it was Shuri who asked how she felt.
"I saw him." Okoye smiled. "I saw him, your brother. I also saw her, your Queen Mother. They all gave me their blessing. They all gave me their blessing to be the protector of Wakanda and be the Black Panther." Okoye said.
"This is good news. Now lets get you a suit." Shuri replied eagerly .
Okoye slid off the med bed. "Hopefully a Black Panther one. I do not want to wear that Midnight Angel suit one more time."
Shuri laughed and shook her head. "You can't be the Black Panther without a Black Panther suit. Come. I will show you my designs." She said and motioned Okoye to follow her into another room.
They were over looking designs when everything went black. The lights had gone out. What came on were the red emergency lights. An alarm was sound. Wakanda was under attack. They both ran out of the lab.
"Griot! What is going on!?" Shuri shouted into her beads.
"THERE IS A DISTURBANCE IN YOUR SLEEPING QUARTERS MY QUEEN. PROCEED WITH CAUTION." It replied.
They ran to her room. Other guards followed. There was already a crowd. They parted for the Queen and Okoye. Everyone's eyes went wide and Shuri gasped in disbelief at the sight she saw before her. Her heart dropped immediately.
Bodies were scattered upon the floor. Blood was everywhere. The was no telling if the bodies were dead or alive. Her room, the bed, the screens, everything was tore to pieces. Before the main screen was Namor, hovering over it. His eyes were wide with anger. His body, his breathing, one could visibly see his body expanding and collapsing with each hard breath.
A spear had been plunged in the middle of the screen. It sparked and crackled around the spear tip embedded into it. Upon the screen in giant white letters in front of a red bar were words. Words she wished he didn't see.
MUTANT
TERMINATE
MUTANT
DELETE
MUTANT
TERMINATE.
Behind the words were outlines of various different fetuses. Each silhouette with a different mutation. Different deformity. He may not have had those words in his language but he knew what they meant, exactly what they meant.
He turned and face the crowd, his eyes wide with rage. He scanned over the faces and saw her.
HER.
Her who has taken EVERYTHING.
EVERYTHING.
His body was shaking with anger when he shouted towards her.
"WAKANDA WILL BURN!"
Namor grabbed his spear from the broken screen. More sparks few from the broken display as he did so.
"Protect the Queen. Get her out of here!" Okoye shouted before the armor of the Black Panther took over her body.
Screams. All she could hear were screams. Screams. Explosions. Screams and more screams. She was surrounded by Dora Milaje. All guiding her to a point of escape. An aircraft was waiting for her.
"What is this?" Shuri questioned.
"You will be taken to Agent Ross in a location in the USA. A location they will not be able to find. You will be safe my Queen." One warrior replied.
"What!? As in witness protection? Listen-"
The warrior ushered her inside. "Go! Go my Queen. Go!" And with that the doors closed, the aircraft cloaked and gone.
Namor escaped the battle and returned to the sea bloodied and bruised. His body was already healed, showing no sign of the skirmish from above as he descended down upon the megalodon shark teeth throne in his feathered serpent god head dress.
Namora and Attuma greeted him in front as did the rest of his people. Namor looked them over and when he spoke, his voice bellowed.
"WAKANDA WILL BURN! Wakanda will fall. THIS IS THE END OF WAKANDA!"
Namora looked towards Attuma and Attuma looked towards her. Then they both looked back towards Namor.
"Make your preparations. We will take Wakanda immediately!" Namor commanded.
Namora and Attuma raised their hands in the Talokanil greeting in acknowledgement before departing.
Namora went right.
Attuma went left.
Namora couldn't help but smile. Finally she was getting the battle she always wanted. A battle where she would fight side by side Namor.
The Ai alarm sounded once more. Okoye asked Griot to show her what's going on.
"A TALOKANIL APPROACHES THE RIVER BARRIER." It said.
She asked him to enhance the screen that appeared in front of her. Okoye recognized that figure. It was Attuma and he was alone and unarmed. She told Griot to let him in.
Okoye met him upon the beach accompanied by the Dora Milaje in Midnight Angel armor. Okoye wore the traditional armor of the Dora Milaje and greeted him. Yet, she maintained her distance while gripping her spear. Attuma spoke first.
"He has declared war upon Wakanda." Attuma spoke and the translations played in Okoye's ear.
"He plans to mobilize an army immediately." Attuma continued. He moved closer.
"But why? Why?" He asked. "I do not want war with your people. I do not want war with you."
Okoye stepped away from the guards and closer to Attuma.
"Who would be next in line to rule if Namor was defeated?" She asked.
"I am." He answered.
"You who does not wish for war? You who does not want war with Wakanda?" She asked.
Attuma nodded. "Yes. I want peace. I want friendship. I want to see you ready." He said referring to their spar on the beach. "I want to train with you. Under the moon. Under the stars. In the water. On the land. I do not want war with Wakanda. War means no you No you." He spoke. There was a tone she could not recognize.
"Would you fight beside us? Even if it means against Namor?" She asked him.
"Yes. Yes, but beside preserving peace, of maintaining peace and coexistence, I need to know why. Why? Why does he want war with Wakanda?" Attuma asked.
Okoye sat down and sighed. Attuma sat down upon the sand beside her. Okoye looked at him and answered.
"He wants war over a misunderstanding. A HUGE, misunderstanding." Okoye replied.
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: Thank you for reading. I plan on writing more to this but decided to make this a stopping point. Feel free to bookmark to follow the story. I am reading your comments and taking in your ideas. :)