attuma
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ ᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
The three Wakandans followed Riri to wherever she was taking them. She took them to a garage which, all of them didn't expect.
"What exactly is this place?" Okoye asked.
"I fixed a few trucks for the head of sanitation," Riri responded. "He lets me work out of this garage in exchange. I just have to grab my work laptop."
She guided them inside as all the lights turned on slowly.
"Please don't touch anything," she spoke.
"You don't have to worry about that," Okoye fired back.
"It may not look like much, but it's my life work in here."
Ada stood by a board, her mind swirling with uncertainties. For the last few seconds, she had been contemplating whether or it was a good idea to bring Riri to Wakanda. She was happy to be saving a life, however, Ada couldn't shake off the fear of the unknown, the uncertainties that came with going back home with a foreigner.
Lost in her thoughts, Ada barely noticed when Shuri approached next to her. Sensing Ada's unease, Shuri furrowed her brows and gently placed a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. "Ada, I can see that something is bothering you," she said softly. "What's troubling your mind?"
Ada looked up at Shuri, her eyes filled with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation. "Shuri, I'm not sure if this the right decision," she confessed. "Taking Riri to Wakanda? Look over here," she pointed to a piece of paper with writing about the Black Panther. "These things written down, these notes that she has, are only things that the Black Panther knows. Only things that me and T'Challa should know. If she knows, a kid who's in college, then who else knows?"
Shuri smiled warmly, understanding Ada's concerns. "Ada, I completely understand your worries, but let me assure you that this is the right thing to do. She's a really smart kid. I don't know how she knows, but I doubt, highly doubt, that anyone else knows. We're her life, Ada. We're doing a good thing."
Ada's brow furrowed, her voice filled with doubt. "But what if she is telling other people things? What if she's a spy or something?"
Shuri shook her head gently. "Ada, we would know. This kid, Riri, she's doing amazing things. She is incredible. She built a vibranium detector in a couple of months. I don't know anyone else who can do that. I can't even do that. She's not a spy. We would know if she was one," she chuckled at the end. "And if she ends up, trying to hurt us, I'll save you. Ada, I love you. You know that right?"
Ada's uncertainty began to melt away as she listened to Shuri's reassuring words. She realized that her worries were natural as a protector of Wakanda, but she couldn't let them overshadow the incredible opportunity of saving a life.
Taking a deep breath, Ada looked at Shuri with determination. "Thank you, Shuri. Your words have eased my fears. I want Riri to be safe. It's just, after T'Challa... your mom made me stop being the Black Panther until further notice, so I'm a little rusty. I'm just nervous. Really nervous."
Shuri's eyes sparkled with delight as she embraced Ada in a warm hug. "It'll be okay. I promise. Doesn't matter if you're rusty. I still love you either way."
Ada turned her head and saw Riri putting a laptop into her bag.
"You just leave the important laptop on a desk in a car garage?" Ada questioned the student.
"I got 2065-byte encryption on that thing," she said to the woman.
"That's impressive," Shuri complimented. "Ever locked yourself out?"
"Took me the whole semester to get back in," she admitted. "Had to build a functional quantum computer just to crack my own encryption."
"What is it you're building here? Is it Stark Tech?" Shuri questioned.
"I said don't touch anything," she reminded them with an annoyed look.
"Princess, American law enforcement has arrived at your location," GRIOT appeared.
"Shit," Shuri swore.
"Who was that?"
"Her AI."
Shuri walked over to a window while Okoye got the outline of the plot, announcing that they were surrounded.
"I thought you said a merman was after me," Riri asked as she and Ada joined the princess at the window. "That's the feds."
Shuri took one of her Kimoyo beads and let it fly on top of one of the cars.
"Oh, I do not need this shit right now!" Riri started panicking and ripping everything down. "I swear to God, I was doing so well! Goin' to class on time. I must be dumb as hell. Real dumb thinking that the Princess of Wakanda is gonna show up at my doorstep and then shit about to pop off."
She threw the papers in the trash and lit them on fire so no one would even see what she was working on.
"I think that I'm actually gonna take my chances with this merman, because at least he never brought the FBI to my garage!"
"Hey," Okoye got her attention. "Namor sunk an entire ship of CIA operatives because of your little machine. So those popo out there... are the very least of your worries."
"Listen, we need to work together to get out of here," Shuri spoke. "General, they've got us surrounded. Maybe we should just split up."
Okoye chuckled before saying, "Out of the question. Does this vehicle work?"
"No," Riri lied.
"Everything in this lab works," Shuri said. "Including this bike."
"Don't even think about it," Okoye said. Besides, there are four of us."
"Three of y'all," Riri said. "I'm takin' this."
Shuri whooped as she saw what was hanging from the ceiling. "I knew it. Don't tell me that you built this in two months."
"I spent years on this. On and off," she said as she started bringing it down.
"Nice," Shuri smirked. "Have you flown it yet?"
"That thing can fly?" Okoye questioned.
"There's an entire YouTube channel dedicated to sightings of me," she chuckled.
"That's awesome," Ada smiled.
The lights cut out as the four of them heard an FBI agent. "We have a warrant to detain the student Riri Williams"
Shuri gave Riri a Kimoyo bead so the four of them could communicate.
"General Okoye, Princess Shuri, Ada Kikelomo, come out with your hands up."
Okoye took off the cover, revealing a bright red car. "What a hunk of junk."
"Hey, please be careful," Riri pleaded. "Keys are on the seat. Once we get to the other side of the bridge, we can lose them in Boston traffic."
"General, we really need to split up," Shuri said again.
"Listen to me," Okoye snapped. "We are not in your lab. We are in the field. Now, get her in the car."
"Always shouting at me," Shuri mumbled as she looked at Ada. They both got in the car, Shuri putting a Kimoyo bead on the too before closing the door.
"The tactical unit will breach the entrance in three, two, one."
The door was busted open with men filling the space in. They caught sight of Riri in her suit, making them surprised,
"Oh, shit! She got an Iron Man suit!?"
The women watched Riri blast some men away and flew up and out of the garage.
"So it can fly," Okoye spoke.
Ada felt a presence leave and saw Shuri go behind the car. Ada watched as Shuri started getting smaller, indicating that she made GRIOT drive the car.
"No, no, no!" Okoye shouted. "Damn it!"
"GRIOT," Okoye spoke nicely to the AI.
"Yes, General?"
"Take us to the princess or I will drive my spear so deep into your CPU, you will not be able to process basic input for a millennia."
"Just one moment, General."
"Okoye, Ada, I'm on my way to you," they heard Shuri.
"GRIOT, give me control of this vehicle right now!"
"I am clearing you a path. She's all yours, General. Manual drive engaged."
Okoye put her speed through the back of the car and put it in reverse. This made the cop car behind them fly up and out of the way. She then turned around and controlled the car smoothly. Ada looked to her left and saw her girlfriend right beside them.
"We need to find an extraction point," Okoye told the princess.
"There's one across the river," she responded.
"Hey, yo, they cuttin' off the bridge," they heard Riri.
"Princess, there is a surveillance drone locked onto you."
"How high?"
"Thirty thousand feet."
"Hang on," Riri said. "I got it."
"Riri, I'm not sure you can reach that drone without an oxygen mask," Shuri pointed out.
Ada held her breath as she heard GRIOT say how low her oxygen levels were decreasing. They heard GRIOT say the drone wasn't tracking them anymore, but Riri was falling from the sky pretty fast.
"Riri! Are you okay?! Riri!"
"Yeah. I'm good."
The three watched as multiple police cars blocked off the bridge.
"And don't worry. I got a special delivery for y'all in three, two, one..."
The drone fell and hit the cars, allowing them all to go through.
"Nice one, Riri," Ada smiled. Her smile faltered as she watched something go through Riri's suit and pull her down from the air. Ada heard Okoye gasp, her gut knowing something was wrong.
And her gut was right.
A water bomb went off underneath the car, making everything crash. Shuri and Ads were passed out as Okoye started panicking.
"What just happened?" she asked herself. "Ada? Shuri! Shuri!" She used her Kimoyo beads to quickly read Ada's vitals. When they said they were clear, she used her spear and got herself out of the car. She went over to Shuri and read her vitals, breathing out a sigh of relief as she was okay.
When Ada came to, she was splashed with water, seeing Shuri getting up as well.
"Wait!" Shuri said to the blue people. "I'm Shuri. Princess of Wakanda. And this is Ada," she said as GRIOT translated. "We demanded that you take us to Namor. Do not bring harm to this girl."
"Do we take them alive?"
"Yes, Attuma."
Attuma and Namora took their masks off and placed them on Shuri and Ada's faces.
"Breathe."
As Okoye came up to the surface, she saw Shuri and Ada on the whale's back.
"Shuri!" she shouted. "Ada!" she started swimming to them, but couldn't get to the in time.
All she could do was scream.