council
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ ᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
The ride back to the palace was a quiet one. To Shuri, Ada seemed shaken up. And she really was. No one has ever gotten into Wakanda without permission. No one has ever sneaked into Wakanda.
Once they got back to the palace, Ramonda let Ada go to her room to freshen up before meeting with the council.
"Ada, I'm sorry," Shuri said as she got into the room. Ada turned to look at her, seeing that it was sincere. "It's just been a really tough year, and I feel like I'm the only one who's feeling it. Sometimes it feels like you're just trying to move on and forget about T'Challa."
Ada sighs. "Shuri, that's not true at all. I'm still grieving too. I just don't always show it in the same way you do. We all cope with grief differently."
"I know, you're right," Shuri nodded. "I'm sorry for lashing out at you like that earlier. I just miss him so much."
"I know, Shuri," she said as she put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I miss him too. But we still have each other, and we'll get through this together."
Shuri nodded as they wrapped their arms around each other for the first time in a while.
"But right now, you lashing out at me is the least of my worries," Ada said as she pulled away from the hug.
"What's your biggest worry?" Shuri asked.
"That your mother will yell at me if I don't get to the council meeting on time."
-
Ramonda, Shuri, Ada, and all the Elder tribes were waiting on M'Baku and the Jabari tribe. When he finally did come in, he was eating something that seemed like a vegetable stick. Okoye was talking about something, but Ada started ignoring it when she saw the man.
"Oh, the river border has been breached, huh?" M'Baku said.
These council meetings happened a lot over the past year since T'Challa's passing. Ada attended every one of them for Shuri.
"If my soldiers were present, this 'fish man' would be bound before us as we speak."
"If your muscle brains were present, they would still be there choking on their fuzzy adornments," Okoye shot at him.
"You bald-headed demon..."
"Show some respect, you two," Ramonda interrupted their conversation.
"Respect?" M'Baku questioned. "These men should be ashamed to show their faces!"
"Watch your tone, Jabari!"
M'Baku and his men started hooting, acting hurt. Okoye stood up and pounded her speed on the ground, making the rest of the Dora Milaje do the same. Ramonda pointed for M'Baku to sit down with the meeting started.
"As I was saying," Okoye continued, "there was no aerial surveillance footage of him."
"And nothing on the radar as well."
"So, he swam underwater for 100 kilometers."
"He was not alone," Ramonda spoke. "And claims to command a massive army."
"He wants us to deliver one American scientist?" an Elder asked. "So he can kill them?"
"Do it," another Elder said. "We never had to face an enemy with access to vibranium before. And we have no Black Panther to protect us."
Ada felt a pair of eyes look at her, so she looked over at M'Baku and saw his eyes on her. She shook her head subtly, signaling for him to be quiet.
That was another thing. After T'Challa passed, Ramonda ordered Ada to not be the Second Black Panther until further notice. Up until last night, she hadn't even had any part of the suit on her. She always has the necklace on her, just in case of an emergency.
"That is because this wise Council allowed Killmonger to take the throne and turn up all of your precious Heart-Shaped Herb," M'Baku said.
"M'Baku, what would you have us do?" Ramonda asked.
"We should find the fish man and kill him," he replied as Ada sighed softly. "If we do what he is asking for now, what is to stop him from coming back and asking for more?"
He sure did have a point.
-
Ramonda, Okoye, and Ada went into Shuri's lab after the meeting. The vibranium detector was in the lab and was very noticeable. Once the scientists noticed the queen, they bowed down to her as she dismissed them back to their work.
"Is it just me, or does this thing keep getting uglier?"Okoye asked Ada, speaking loud enough about the suit so its creator could hear.
"It's you," Shuri spoke as Ada smiled at her.
"So, does it work?" Ramonda asked her daughter.
"Yes," she replied. "This thing can detect the altered frequency of vibranium through water, stones, even heavy metals. Whoever built this is brilliant."
"More brilliant than you?" Ada asked as they smiled at each other.
Okoye knew the couple was getting into more fights recently, so she was glad to see them not in a fight at the moment. 'Cause pretty much every time she saw them talking, it was a fight.
"Come, look," Shuri said to her mother and girlfriend. "Some are custom parts and others look like they gathered it from a junkyard."
"I am still struggling to believe that vibranium exists outside of Wakanda," Okoye admitted.
"Perhaps there was more than one meteorite," Ada suggested. "Our planet is covered in mostly water, so it's reasonable that the other one just landed there."
"This changes everything that we know," Ramonda spoke.
"The Great Mound," Okoye agreed. "All of the legends and fables. Those stories are seared in my mind."
"That sounds very painful," Shuri commented.
"So we have to find this scientist after all," Okoye said, dragging Ramonda with her and leaving Ada with Shuri. "I do have an idea. I'm going to need Ada and the princess."
"Out of the question," the queen immediately denied. "She is in no state to be in the field. Neither is Ada."
"Ikumkani wam, (My Queen), it may do them both some good to get out. It might just be exactly what they need," Okoye said. "Besides, I can do this American operation with my eyes closed."
"It's not the Americans that I'm worried about. This Namor, he snuck past our defenses."
"That will never happen again," she sounded so sure.
"He was not alone."
"She'll be with me and Ada," she assured.
"So," Shuri spoke up, making their heads turn, "when are we leavin' so we can see our favorite colonizer?"