Chapter 41: Welcome to Wakanda

Eren stood in the back of the Future Foundation jet's cabin area, pacing back and forth as he spoke on the phone with Harry Osborn. "Yeah, my flight got pushed forward, I wasn't supposed to leave until tomorrow." Eren lied to his friend, wanting to wait until they saw each other in person before making the big reveal.

"What country are you even going to?" Harry asked, still confused about Eren suddenly leaving the country.

"Uh, Kenya. Just for a few weeks." Eren answered.

Harry, on the other side of the call, tilted his head as Eren was saying this. He wasn't buying it. "How come I haven't heard of this Kenyan scholarship?" Harry questioned with clear skepticism in his voice.

"You're white, it's for Black students only, sorry bro." Eren lied once more, though it did sound convincing this time.

"And they just... boom here you go, here's a scholarship come to Africa today?" Harry interrogated. "You know, there's something off about you. You've been disappearing a lot. You know, if you're in trouble you can tell me."

"Things just come up sometimes." Eren told him.

"Alright, man. Whatever you say, Mr. Disappears-all-the-time. See you when you get back." Harry teased, still not buying Eren's entire lie despite the front he was putting on.

"See you soon." Eren said, hanging up the phone before taking a sigh of relief.

Back at his home, Harry stared at his phone blankly. For a while, he could tell Eren was hiding something from him, it was too obvious. His whole life, he had to deal with his father lying and hiding things, he learned how to sniff that sort of thing out from a mile away. He wondered what it was that Eren was keeping from him and why Eren didn't trust him. "Maybe he hasn't changed as much as I thought." Harry told himself, though deep inside, he knew it was much more than that.

"Everyone strap in, we're arriving." Reed called out to the crew, spurring everyone to sit back down in their seats and put their seatbelts back on. Reed began to speed up and bring the plane closer to the ground, giving the team a good view of the beautiful, lush, African wilderness below them.

As the plane continued to fly past the landscapes, Eren looked forward through the cockpit's windshield, noticing that Reed was heading straight for a mountain range at full speed. "Uh... Reed." Spider-Man said cautiously, pointing forward at the windshield. "You gonna pull up, or..."

Regardless of Spider-Man's worries, Reed continued to go straight for the mountain. Eren looked around, seeing that no one else seemed to be reacting. "Hello? Reed we're going to crash, I think"

The plane continued, picking up speed until there was no turning back, they were about to crash into the mountain. "Reed!" Spider-Man screamed, perfectly timed with the mountain seemingly becoming translucent, allowing the plane to seamlessly pass through it.

"Woah..." Eren said to himself as the plane began flying over a city, one that appeared far more technologically advanced than any city he had ever been to. The buildings appeared futuristic, yet they still appeared to have African-influenced architecture with dome-shaped and pyramid-shaped rooftops.

High-speed rails passed by through the city beneath them, disappearing and reappearing in the greenery between buildings. Soon, the plane was approaching a massive mass of land, surrounded by water. It appeared to be a capital of sorts, having a massive building at the center of it, one that was seemingly made of nothing more than glass and a silverish metal.

The plane shifted back into its VTOL mode, descending vertically onto the massive landing zone as African soldiers, all appearing to be bald women with spears, lined up at the landing strip as if to welcome them. At the end of the line, a man wearing an all-black costume, resembling a panther wearing a cape and gold jewlery, stood with his arms behind his back.

The plane landed and the ramp extended outward onto the landing strip. "We're here, let's go." Reed said, prompting everyone to get out of the plane. Spider-Man hesitated, still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.

The four members of the original team stepped off of the ramp, prompting the warrior women to slam their spears on the ground and perform a quick chant. Leading the team, Reed approached the man in black, though the man was unmoving, glaring at Reed from behind his black mask.

The two stood in front of each other for a second before the man's mask disappeared, in a similar fashion to Spider-Man's, revealing his face. The man of course had brown skin, with a goatee and short, well-kept hair. His expression was plain, though it soon shifted into a bright smile before he and Reed shook hands and hugged each other.

"Mr. Richards!" The man said with a noble-sounding African accent.

"King T'Challa!" Reed said in response. "It's been a while, my friend."

"That it has." T'Challa agreed, looking over his shoulder at the rest of the family.

"Mrs. Richards. Mr. Grimm. Johnny. Welcome!" He told them, letting go of Reed before walking up to each member and shaking their hands.

Soon enough, Spider-Man emerged from the plane, again prompting the warrior women to slam their pikes and chant, startling the hero. "This is the new member Fury mentioned?" T'Challa said, looking back at Reed before approaching the masked boy.

"Hello, my brother. My name is T'Challa, I am the king of this nation." T'Challa said with a smile, dapping up Spider-Man as if the two had already known each other. "Feel free to take off the mask here if you like, we are friendly people and your identity is safe here, I promise."

Eren hesitated for a second, looking around at everyone before removing the mask reluctantly, revealing to T'Challa that their masks worked the same. T'Challa's smile beamed, "I knew it!" He said, referring to Eren's appearance. "Yes, I knew based on the way you walk. Welcome to Wakanda, my friend."

"Thank you, King T'Challa. My name is Spider-Man, it's an honor to meet you." Spider-Man said, bowing awkwardly before the king.

T'Challa grinned. "There is no need for any of that, just T'Challa will suffice. Now, come." T'Challa turned around and led the team into the palace. As he did, the leader of the warrior women yelled, slamming her pike on the ground and signaling the other women to follow from behind.

As they walked through the palace, Spider-Man walked beside T'Challa, asking him questions about this hidden country in which they found themselves. "How come Wakanda isn't on any map? I tried looking it up, but I found nothing."

T'Challa smiled. "Ah, my friend, that is because we have chosen to remain hidden." The king answered, though the answer wasn't satisfactory enough for the young hero.

"Why?" Spider-Man asked, causing T'Challa to let out a small sigh. "Long story." said the King.

"I'm listening." Spider-Man told him, showing the face of someone ready to listen intensively. Seeing the boy's determined expression, one eager to learn, T'Challa decided to tell Eren the story of how Wakanda came to be.

"It all started many, many years ago... before human life even existed on our planet.

A meteorite made of Vibranium hit the very continent of Africa we are standing in." T'Challa spoke, though he was interrupted by the young man beside him.

"Oh, and the crater it made created Wakanda?" Eren asked, prompting the king to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Who is telling the story, here?" T'Challa asked the boy rhetorically.

"Sorry." Spider-Man said shyly, allowing the king to continue.

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"As I was saying. A meteorite made of Vibranium hit the continent, transforming the plant life around it.

When man came, they broke into five tribes and settled in this land, and this land was called Wakanda.

The tribes were in constant war with each other until a warrior shaman was approached by the Panther Goddess known as Bast.

Our Goddess led the shaman to the Heart-Shaped Herb, and when he consumed it, he was bestowed the power of the Black Panther; giving him superhuman strength, speed, and instincts.

The warrior, with such power, became the first-ever King and Protector of Wakanda as the Black Panther.

Four tribes agreed to live under the king, however, one tribe known as the Jabari Tribe isolated themselves in the mountains, as they had no interest in living under the rule of a man outside of their tribe.

The Wakandan people used Vibranium to develop technology far more advanced than any other nation in the world.

However, as Wakanda thrived, the world around us began to change.

War.

Violence.

Slavery.

The world was descending into chaos.

So, Wakanda went into hiding, hiding in plain sight from those who may want to use Vibranium to conquer the world.

For many years, the truth was hidden from the outside world, only known by few. Such as the Avengers, who I was a part of, and the Richards family who fought alongside me.

That is why it does not show up on any map." T'Challa finished his explanation, leaving Spider-Man a bit puzzled about some of the details.

"So... two things." Spider-Man said, holding up two fingers.

"Yes?" T'Challa said, waiting for the two things Spider-Man mentioned.

"So you are the Black Panther, that's why you wear this costume? And the Black Panther is always the King?" He asked.

"You would be correct." T'Challa answered, nodding with a smile.

"Okay, okay cool. Okay, another question: Why did you guys do nothing about slavery? Or literally, any other tragedy that fell upon your people? No offense." Eren asked, feeling a bit angered that his people had to suffer for so many years, despite the Wakandans existing with the power to help.

"Well, firstly, my people are the people of Wakanda and Wakanda only. As for why my ancestors did not help, well it is because we would have to reveal ourselves to the world. That would cause far more damage if ???????????????????? people got a hold of our power somehow. Does that make sense? It was too much of a risk." T'Challa gave his answer, one he wasn't proud of. He didn't share his ancestor's cold-heartedness, he'd often tell himself that he would've done things differently.

Despite that, there he was, letting his country hide instead of helping those on the outside. When the Avengers asked for his help, despite the threat looming off-world, he without hesitation opted to protect his country. It's ironic, considering the fact that the Avengers were technically helping him protect his home at that very moment.

"I understand, I guess. I don't know, maybe it's because I actually care about helping people, and I don't mean that with any disrespect, King T'Challa. In fact, I respect you for putting your people before anything. If I was King well, I would've taken that risk. I was once told by a mentor..." Eren thought about what Dr. Connors had told him back before the whole incident had happened.

'Everything you do is a risk, not doing anything is also a risk. Which risk will you choose, Parker.'

The words of a dead man, one who took a massive risk that ended in catastrophe echoed through his mind. 'Maybe T'Challa is right.' Eren thought to himself, forgetting that he was in the middle of a sentence.

"What did the mentor tell you?" T'Challa questioned the young man.

"Nothing, it's not relevant now that I think about it.  Again, I meant no disrespect, King T'Challa." Spider-Man saying this made the king chuckle slightly.

"Remember, just T'Challa is fine. I am not offended my friend, we all have different views, thank you for sharing." T'Challa smiled at the boy, keeping it to himself that he also doubted his country's way of handling things. However, it was all he had ever known. Being taught no other way, the king decided it would be best to continue with this way of thinking.

???????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????'???? ???????????????????????????? ????????????...

"Sis, do you see anything?" Franklin said, watching as his sister peeked through a small window in the cargo hold of the jet.

"Not really, just some palace and a few guards. Bald ladies. So this is Wakanda, I heard Father mention this place before..." Valeria whispered.

The two continued to try and look out of the window until the plane began to move. "What's happening!?" Franklin whispered frantically, though his sister remained calm.

"I think they're moving us to a hangar or something..." She whispered calmly.

"They're gonna hang us!?" Franklin yelped, prompting Valeria to cover his mouth with her hand. Despite being the son of the smartest man in the world, Franklin still had the mind of the average eleven-year-old. This was especially obvious next to his sister, the only human capable of beating her father in chess, though it was only a single time.

"Be quiet, you idiot. No, they aren't hanging us, it's where you park planes. A hangar, with an 'a', not an 'e'." Valeria whispered as she looked over at her brother, his face made it clear that he had no clue what the difference between hanger and hangar was.

'We're doomed.' She thought to herself, unaware of just how right she would soon be.

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