Hi guys,

This fic might slow down a bit on the upload side of things now, as I'm struggling to come up with post BP content.

Don't worry, I'm not giving up on it though. How can I? I love this character so much, she's nuts. Perhaps continuing on with my other fic 'Forgotten' will help me to, as I seem to be motoring through it right now. That seems to be how it works, I motor through one fic and the other slows down.

Many thanks to UkkonenKissa, Lollypoplollypop, Rabbitz32, GhostDoor, chibichibi98, MoonlightWolf16 and to all my reviewers for enjoying the adventure so far.

Enjoy

xo

Chapter 19

Play Time

Lex eyed Killmonger as he jumped back to his feet, the tall Australian crouched low, reaching for the stave that she had dropped while intervening in the Dora's fight with him.

Killmonger sneered at her. "You should have stayed in the Bronx."

"You should have stuck to being a government dog," Lex murmured with a crooked smile, standing up again. She cocked her head to the side considering him for a moment. "You look absolutely ridiculous."

Killmonger glared at her, before re-engaging the helmet to his armour, the nanotech forming over his head in an instant as he launched himself at her.

She was about to counter attack when the four Dora appeared before her, working in perfect harmony, much to Lex's annoyance.

"Hey!" she exclaimed in annoyance as they each took turns to engage with Killmonger. She leapt through the centre of them, blocking his strike with her stave as he tried to knock away Okoye. She knocked away his arm, before blocking his following strike with her spare arm, and the Dora she had saved leapt forward and struck him in the chest with a well placed kick, causing him to stumble back.

The four Dora charged forward, locking their spears around him, the spears lighting up with an electric barrier around his neck. He shouted and writhed in pain, trying to find a way to free himself.

"Hold!" Okoye shouted to her fellow Dora before glancing sideways at Lex. "Outsider! Grab the necklace. Get it off him now!" Lex didn't need to be told twice, she moved quickly to try and grab the gaudy collar around his neck.

As her fingertips brushed against the golden necklace, Killmonger's hand grabbed her wrist. "I don't think so."

The next second, there was a massive blast that seemed to emanate from Killmonger's armour. It knocked all five women back, the four Dora were flung down the hill, while Lex was thrown back along the landing bay of the mine, precariously close to the edge.

She was quick to her feet as Killmonger ran at her again. She was now weapon-less as he slashed at her with his sharp claws causing her to duck and weave in an effort to avoid them. His sharp Vibranium claws slid past her face, slicing stray strands of her black hair, as she slid along on her knees in an effort to avoid his strikes.

She turned to face him again, getting to her feet to counter, but he threw a kick backwards and connected with her right shoulder, knocking her off balance. He turned, slashing his claws at her again, catching her cheek. She took a step back, her face turning away for a moment. She grit her teeth as she felt the blood seep from the gash now open on her cheek.

Killmonger stood up and grinned, watching as she straightened and touched her cheek. Lex looked at her fingers, to see the dark red substance staining her fingertips.

She grinned to herself, before looking back at Killmonger. "Oh, this is going to be fun." Killmonger ran at her again and she readied herself to receive his attack, her hands raised and ready as she smirked in anticipation.

She stepped back to avoid his swipe, blocking his following arm as he spun to try and connect with her. He was fast, quick to recover from his attacks and charge at her again. He swung a leg towards her, and she was quick to raise her arms to block it but was forced backwards with the strength behind it.

Killmonger capitalised, slashing at her again, the Vibranium claws causing sparks to fly from her own Vibranium armour as he slashed her across her front, and then her back as she turned to roll away.

Once she had rolled away and flipped back to her feet in an effort to put some space in between them, she was quick to turn and charge back towards him. She slipped between his guard; uppercutting him with her right fist before bringing a knee up to connect with his chest. He took a step back from the force of her kick, and she was quick to launch herself forward, using her legs to wrap around his body, restricting his arm movement and squeezing tightly as she tried to subdue him by cutting off his airways with her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Oh you wanna play like that?" Killmonger growled, before activating his suit again.

The blast sent Lex soaring through the air yet again and she landed against the outer wall of the laboratories, crumpling to the ground.

Pain shot through her back and neck as pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, she shook her head to try and clear the cloudiness from before her eyes, Killmonger striding towards her and deactivating the helmet of his panther armour. "That shit is getting real old, real fast."

"Hey, pretty lady, wanna play some more?" he sneered as he stopped before her. She narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him, the cloudiness finally clearing as he reached down to grab her around the throat.

He lifted her up easily, Lex grabbing at his arms and trying to pull them away from her throat, but he was strong. She screwed up her face as she glared at Killmonger, still trying to free herself as he began to squeeze, lifting her high so her feet no longer touched the ground.

"I'm going to enjoy smacking that smile off of your face, wanker," she said snidely, and he began to squeeze harder with the hand around her throat.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she gasped, wincing slightly and gritting her teeth. She felt her airways starting close, closing her eyes and heard Killmonger laugh, which did wonders to make her angry. Her mind went blank, her body beginning to react on its own.

She grinned, opening her eyes and looking Killmonger in the eyes, before lifting a leg up and wrapping it around his neck, so her knee was across his face. She managed to spin her body around, so most of her body was now positioned over his arm, although Killmonger's claws dug into her neck. She dropped all her weight and forced him to the ground roughly. His grip on her neck weakened and she moved her head back roughly, pulling her neck free from his grasp, the pain from his claws biting into her exposed skin above the edge of her armour, causing her to grunt with the pain as she did so.

She kicked away from him, rolling a few feet away, before glancing back towards him.

Killmonger recovered and got back to his feet as Lex slowly stood too, watching the American as he grinned malevolently, the feel of blood dripping from her neck evident to her. But so were the barely audible sounds coming from the door that was now to his right.

"Well, I think I'm done playing," Killmonger said malevolently as he began moving towards her.

"Cool, me too."

The door opened, gaining Killmonger's attention, as Shuri and Nakia appeared and threw a black object towards her. She caught it easily, activating it and causing it to elongate with an ominous blue beam along its sides from either end of the dark Vibranium metal body. She was quick to charge at Killmonger as Shuri shot at him with her hand blasters and caused him to stumble backwards. Lex spun the stave in her hand and struck out at Killmonger, the blue beam glancing across his face and leaving a clean slice in his cheek.

She then spun her leg high, knocking Killmonger away from the door, hoping to put a safe distance between Shuri and the dangerous American.

"It took you two long enough!" Lex growled as she recovered, turning to face Killmonger again as he got to his feet, touching his face as the blood flowed from the cut on his face.

"We came as fast as we could!" Shuri retorted.

"Hurry up and access a jet! The weapon's are getting away," Nakia ordered Shuri, while she moved to stand next to Lex.

"I'm going, I'm going!" The teen retorted in annoyance as she turned and ran towards a waiting jet.

"You going first?" Lex asked Nakia, eyeing Killmonger as he glowered at the two women before reactivating his helmet.

"I thought you were?" Nakia replied, giving Lex a sideways glance.

"Chicken."

"What?"

Lex charged forward, swinging her stave first in one hand and then switching hands as she approached Killmonger, who ducked and weaved as she struck out at him. She tried to sweep his feet out from underneath him but he easily leapt into the air, kicking out at her and connecting with her side.

"Wakanda forever!" Nakia shouted as she charged in, throwing her ring blade at Killmonger. He easily leapt over the blade and tried to strike at Nakia, but she slid along the ground to avoid his sharp claws.

"Ross has the jet," Shuri announced over the commlink.

Lex regathered herself, now they just needed to make sure Killmonger couldn't get to Everett, she began moving to block and evade Killmonger's attacks. She ducked and weaved quickly, avoiding his claws as best she could, Nakia fighting by her side.

While she was fast and strong, so was Killmonger, but Nakia was not. Lex was knocked to one side by a rogue punch from Killmonger and Nakia tried to take advantage at his distraction, leaping forward with her Vibranium powered rings. She managed to disarm Killmonger of his weapons, before she jumped up to bring her ring blades down upon him, but Killmonger caught both her wrists.

"Ahah, not today," he growled malevolently, throwing her backwards and slashing at her leg, his Vibranium claws cutting into her thigh.

Lex turned as she heard Nakia scream in pain, spinning her stave expertly and charging back at Killmonger. She leapt in front of Nakia who was stumbling backwards, bringing her stave down fiercely at Killmonger, but he easily blocked it. Lex was quick to counter, spinning her stave again, connecting with both his sides before kicking out at him and forcing him to step backwards. She jumped into the air, looking to bring her weapon down on his head, but he recovered quickly from her previous attack, catching the stave in both his hands.

He brought his knee up into her chest, knocking the wind from her chest and by the feel of it a rib was broken, before tossing her easily. Lex was thrown into Nakia and both fell backwards, losing her stave in the process.

Lex was quick back to her feet, looking at Nakia struggling to regather herself. "He's too strong for you." She looked over to see the Dora fighting against the Border Tribe, they were vastly outnumbered. "Go and help them, I'll deal with this bastard."

Nakia nodded before getting to her feet and hurrying to join the skirmish with the Border Tribe and Dora Milaje.

Lex returned her attention to Killmonger and saw Shuri trying to hold him off with her hand blasters, the Vibranium blast seeming to warp his armour. It was making it unstable. He was getting closer to Shuri though, managing to push through the blast.

Lex charged back towards him, as he grabbed Shuri's right blaster, crushing it in his hand and pushing Shuri to the ground.

Killmonger glowered down at Shuri. "What's up, Princess?"

"You will never be a true king!" Shuri shouted defiantly, as she looked up from the ground at Killmonger. He grinned malevolently at Shuri, before moving to reach down for her.

"Uh uh!" Lex growled, launching herself at him, grabbing him about the head with both hands and throwing him backwards, causing him to land on his back with a thud. She lunged down at him, straddling him as she punched at him repeatedly. "Get away, Shuri!"

"I can't leave you!" Shuri retorted, trying to get to her feet.

"Oh, she won't," Killmonger growled, before blocking a punch from the enraged super soldier. He caught her second hand, before pulling her arm outwards roughly and throwing her overhead. She managed to land on her feet, but Killmonger still had hold of her arm. She tried to kick out at him but he knocked her leg away, before grabbing her around the throat as he had before. She felt immense pain as his claws dug into her already opened wounds.

"Did you forget, I never fail a mission," he hissed, bringing her face closer to his as he squeezed around her throat, while still maintaining his grip on her arm.

"You're delusional," she replied, before glancing sideways, gasping for air as she began to grit her teeth and wince from the pain of her windpipe being crushed along with her open wounds.

Killmonger retracted his helmet, glowering at Lex's face, drawing her attention back to him. "I got one thing to say to you before I finish my last mission..."

Lex raised her eyebrows, before she began to grin malevolently.

In a flash, she quickly moved without warning, seeming to regain all composure and strength. With the one hand she had free, she aimed a punch right at his throat, before lifting both feet off the ground and kicking them into Killmonger's midsection. The shock of the punch to his throat, which took his breath away, loosened his grip of her, while the force of the kick to his body gave her enough momentum to free herself from his grasp.

As Killmonger stumbled backwards, there was a blue Vibranium blast as Shuri shot at him with her one working blaster, followed by a black blur, as T'challa tackled him, both Killmonger and T'challa falling into the mine below.

Lex fell to the ground with the effort of fighting off Killmonger, but was quick to roll to her side, looking down towards the bottom of the mine, watching as T'challa and Killmonger fought their way down, before coming to a crash on the tracks below. "What? You wanted to say something?" she shouted down. "Asshole."

Shuri ran to Lex's side as she regathered herself, her neck was currently in agony, and she was covered in her own blood. Her moves were becoming sluggish and she was growing weaker.

"Lex! We need to get you healed," Shuri exclaimed. Lex looked down at herself quickly, assessing her body's functions. Her rib was still hurting, her neck was in agony and she was struggling to breathe slightly. She knew she would have to push through it as she observed the fighting around them. However, she didn't have time to dwell on it, as a rather large rhino charged up the hill, knocking Dora Milaje and Border tribe army alike, out of its path.

"No time," Lex replied getting to her feet, and pushing past the Wakandan princess.

"Shuri! Turn on the train on the bottom track!" Came T'challa's voice over the comms.

"The stabilisers will deactivate your suit! You won't have protection!" Shuri argued, moving to look down into the mine.

"Neither will he!" T'challa responded.

"Do it!" Lex shouted back as she ran, picking up her discarded stave as she ran down the hill.

Shuri furrowed her brow slightly, but hit one of her Kimoyo beads. "Right!"

Lex ran towards a group of Border Tribesmen who were attacking two of the Dora Milaje, and easily disarmed them, knocking them back, only for more tribesman to charge at them. "Oh crap, they're multiplying!"

Shuri was quick to pick up a discarded Dora spear and move to help Lex, defending her back as she took on four tribesmen at once. Even as she subdued them easily, more made their way towards them.

"Move towards the Dora, safety in numbers," Nakia ordered, also appearing on her other side and beginning to fight her way towards Okoye.

"That only works when the numbers are even!" Lex retorted, grabbing a Border Tribesman by his cloak and flinging him over her back as she continued to spin her stave. They turned to see a rhino charging towards them. "Shit." They were quick to dive out of its way. Shuri was dragged towards Okoye by Nakia, while Lex rolled back to her feet, turning to watch the rhino running down the hill, a cunning smile appearing on her face. "Ooohh." She sprinted away down the hill.

The Dora Milaje, Shuri and Nakia were backed into a circle, surrounded by Border Tribesman with their shields activated. Okoye and Nakia exchanged panicked looks, as W'Kabi rode to a stop on his war rhino before them.

"Surrender now! You have three seconds to lay down your weapons!" W'Kabi demanded, looking straight at Okoye. She stared back at him in exasperation, the other Dora glancing at her for orders. "One! Two!"

W'Kabi stopped counting, hesitating as he looked around in confusion, the sounds of grunting drifting over the afternoon breeze. Nakia and Okoye also looked around, the corners of Nakia's mouth lifting slightly as she recognised the sound.

Suddenly, to their right, a Border Tribesman was lifted easily, high into the air, by a grinning M'Baku, who stood proudly atop a large boulder. "Witness the might of the J'Abari first hand!" M'Baku shouted as the Border Tribesman he held looked fearful of the large warrior.

Okoye and Nakia grinned, while Shuri whooped, waving the spear she held in the air excitedly. M'Baku threw the man aside, while the rest of the J'Abari appeared and began attacking the border tribe, knocking down W'Kabi's men and deactivating the shield wall around the Dora, Shuri and Nakia.

Okoye and her Dora were the first to rush out and fight side by side with the J'Abari, while Nakia hung close to Shuri, knowing it was still her duty to keep the teen safe.

M'Baku made his way towards them, easily fighting off Border Tribesman on his way. "Are you two alright?" he asked looking down at the two smaller women. They both nodded in response, and M'Baku furrowed his brow and looked around the battlefield. "Where is the crazy woman?" he asked, swinging his club and knocking a Border Tribesman away from Shuri easily.

"Huh?" Shuri was confused for a moment, before it dawned on her who he was talking about. She stopped and looked around the field of battle, trying to spot the dark hair of the super soldier who would usually stand out very easily. "Lex? Where did she go?"

Suddenly, there was a roar and shouting, as another war rhino came charging through the throngs of fighting Wakandans, enraged as it charged with its head down and knocking down anyone in its way. It turned as it ran, altering its direction so it was now running straight towards them.

"Shuri, get ready to run," Nakia warned. M'Baku also tensed, ready to move with the two smaller women.

Before they could react at all, there was another roar, followed by an excited shout. They all turned to see another rhino charging through the battlefield, Lex on its back and holding on tightly as the rhino bucked and bellowed.

"Incoming!" she shouted, using a length of cable wrapped around the rhino's horn as a way to control the rhino's direction. "I literally have no idea what I'm doing right now." Her rhino charged towards the rogue rhino, Lex moving to stand further down on its back, awkwardly balancing on the galloping behemoth, as it drew closer to intercepting the rogue rhino.

"She really is crazy," M'Baku breathed in awe, watching as the rhino steamed past them. He furrowed his brow. "They're going to collide, she's going to be hurt!" He began moving to pursue the rhino Lex rode.

She was certain this had to be one of her worst ideas ever, riding a rhino was nothing like riding a horse, not that she was technically riding it. She clutched onto the cable, pulling it off to one side to alter the rhino's direction slightly, wanting to make sure she made a direct hit with the rogue rhino. Once they were on the verge of crashing, Lex made her move to leap from the rhino. She jumped off, shutting her eyes as she expected to eat dirt, hard, but much to her surprise, she was captured in a strong set of arms. The only pain she felt was the jolt of her being caught on her suspected broken ribs and her opened wounds.

She opened her eyes and looked up to see large dark brown eyes, laced with concern and mild amusement staring back down at her, a big grin appearing on M'Baku's face. "Aaah!" she exclaimed in surprise, jumping slightly as she realised where she was. She looked around to see he had captured her easily, her cheeks heating in embarrassment at being caught by the arms of the J'Abari leader. "What the hell, man?"

"You crazy woman!" he shouted in amusement, before putting her back on the ground. "That was both dangerous and courageous! But I will not be outdone!" He turned and charged back towards the fighting J'Abari.

She watched him knocking away Border Tribesman as he continued to fight his way through the throngs of attackers, a confused look on her face. "He's a strange man," Lex murmured under her breath, shaking her head as she took the stave from her back and turned to fight off the approaching Border Tribesman.

Lets be honest, we've all wanted to ride a rhino after seeing them in Black Panther, right? Or was that just me?

xo

Krayzee