22 Wretches & kings Part 1 (2/2)

But before he could investigate further, the sound of a large explosion boomed through the city, a large flash of fire spiking up over the buildings on the horizon. The explosion was followed by three more, all them happening in what Naruto recognized as key areas in the city. It was the last though that froze the blonde. As the sounds of people screaming filled the air, sweat began to build along his forehead as the memories of all his clones around Illyana came in, showing that she had been in the area of that last explosion.

”No. No, no, no, no, no, no!” Naruto yelled to himself.

”Naruto, calm down! I'm sure she's fine-”

But Naruto ignored his partner, growing more frantic by the second as he sprinted through the hole in the wall, ”Not again. Not again! I can't lose another one, I won't lose another one!” He said to himself, jumping to the rooftops as he sped towards the hotel he and Illyana were staying.

-x-

Moments Earlier

-x-

Illyana bolted up at the sound of gunfire entering her hotel room. Jumping out of bed, she pushed away the curtains covering the window to see the flickering flashes of gunfire in the streets below.

”Shit.” She cursed aloud. Quickly throwing on her clothes and a pair of shoes, she opened a portal that led outside the hotel as she summoned an Eldritch Tao Mandala in her right hand. Jumping through, she looked around as chaos reigned around her. People screaming, running frantically as they tried to avoid the attackers storming the city. Trying to pick the attackers out of the crowd, she spotted two opening fire into a crowd of fleeing people.

Following their line of sight, she quickly opened a large portal a few feet in front of them, a second portal opening up in a random direction pointed upward. As they continued to shoot into the crowd, the bullets were cut off by the first portal, exiting the second in an upward direction.

The confused soldiers weren't able to think too long on what happened, as a third portal opened at their feet, causing them to fall into it with startled yelps, the portal then closing up after them.

As she looked for more soldiers, the sound of a car's horn blaring was heard, coming her way. Looking over, she gasps as a white van came barreling towards her, hitting anyone in the crowd that crossed its path.

Acting quickly, she summoned a portal just in front of the incoming van, the front of the vehicle beginning to fall into it, only for Illyana to cut it off, severing the hood of the car that was outside of the portal, the van coming to skidding stop.

Slowly, she went for the car, her mandala powered up acting as a shield just in case. It was as she got closer that she heard a faint beeping noise coming from the inside of the car. It was then that she noticed the man sitting in the driver's seat. The man's eyes were closed, seemingly asleep. Opening his eyes, he didn't react to her, only looking back to what was in front of him, closing his eyes as he took a smooth calming breath.

Throwing open the van's side door, she gasped at the large bomb sitting inside, a large timer ticking down with only four seconds remaining.

As she back away from the van, the man opened his eyes, looking up at the star-crossed night sky one last time-

BOOOM!

-x-

Naruto dropped down to the crater that had once been a bustling city street, diving into the billowing wall of smoke as he landed in a crouch, crying out as he did, ”Illyana! ILLYANA!”

Summoning up a gust of wind, he dispersed the smoke to reveal the destroyed block. The buildings caught in the area had collapsed in on themselves, the streets caved and cracked apart, and people blown away. Wandering through the newly cleared street, he looked for his blonde friend, ignoring his clones as they helped the wounded and looked for trapped survivors.

It was his frantic search that helped him ignore the horror before him, though at the same time it was this chaos that made his search all the more desperate. From the dead bodies lying in pieces on the street, to the screams of those trapped in the rubble, to the crying people as they held their wounded loved ones.

Stumbling passed a man that clutched his fresh stump, looking around for his blown limb, he called out again, ”Illyana! Where are you?!”

”Naruto! Naruto, I know you're worried, but you've got to calm down!” Kurama screamed in his head.

But Naruto ignored him walking quickly as he shouted at the top of his lungs, ”ILLYANA!”

That scream seemed to stop all other noise around him, though for only a moment. That moment was all Naruto needed to hear a muffled voice calling out from a few buildings over. Rushing forward, he ran towards the source of the voice, a building with one of its walls having collapsed from the blast. Climbing the pile of rubble that had once been a wall, he reached the top to see Illyana kneeling down next to someone, her hands pressing up against his stomach, clearly trying to stop the blood that was streaming out.

”Naruto!” She called out, ”Naruto, help me. Help me, please!”

Rushing down, he kneeled down next to her, eyeing her up and down looking for injuries, ”Ar-are you alright?” He asked, slowly calming down from his panic.

”I'm fine, I'm fine-”

”I thought you were dead.” Naruto breathed out, clearly relieved, ”I thought I'd let you die just like everyone els-”

”Naruto, please!” She interrupted, ”Please, I think he's going to bleed out!”

Blinking, he looked down at the boy lying next to him. Taking him in, he saw what looked like a piece of shrapnel lodged in his abdomen, blood caking his shirt and pooling onto the ground beneath him. Acting quickly, he activated his Six Paths Chakra, covering his left arm in a yellow flame. Pressing his hand on top of the boy's abdomen, right next to the wound, he channeled his special chakra into him. Barely a second later, the boy grunted in clear discomfort as the shrapnel popped out, the wound closing up barely a couple seconds after.

”There, he should be fine now.” Naruto muttered, watching as the kid blacked out.

As Naruto took care of the boy, Illyana backed away, wringing her hands as she said, ”What's going on, Naruto?”

The blonde sighed, ”It looks like someone's attacking the city. I knew something was going to happen, but I had no clue it'd be like this. These explosions were a clear distraction though, I'm pretty sure they were aiming for someone in the royal family-” It was as he was talking that he noticed that Illyana's hands were shaking violently.

”Wh-why? Why would anyone do this?” She muttered, tears rolling down her cheeks, ”All these innocent people killed, for what?”

Naruto placed a hand on the girl's arm, ”I'm sorry.” He said, frowning deeply.

”What?” She asked, both confused and surprised.

”If I'd have known this would escalate like it has, I'd have sent you home a long time ago. You weren't ready for this, I made you run before you learned to crawl.”

Illyana looked at him disbelievingly, wiping her tears away, ”You're sending me home?” She asked.

”Yes-”

”No!” She said firmly, shocking the ninja, ”No, no I'm not just going to leave. I want my chunk of flesh off these bastards just as much as you do! This, you and me, is a team! I'm not going to let you duck and run. I just…I just need a second.”

Naruto stuttered for a moment, ”I…I just.” Swallowing the lump in his throat he said, ”I just don't want to lose anyone else. I can't fail like that again.”

Illyana stood up, her face firm, ”You told me you can't do what you need to do by yourself. You asked for my help. Well you don't get to take it back. We're in this together. We're a team. You have my back, and I have yours. We won't let each other die.” Forming a portal, she held her hand out for him, the woman no longer shaking uncontrollably, ”Now, let's go.”

Naruto hesitated for only a second before smirking, ”A team huh?” Grabbing her hand, he got up, ”Alright then, after you.”

The woman smiled back before jumping through the portal, quickly followed by her teammate.

-x-

Shuri blinked away the flashing dots that swarmed her vision as the wool bag was pulled off her head. Her eyes finally focusing, she glared up at the group of men gathered around her. It was the one in the center of the five that had her attention though. Or, more specifically, his gruelingly wide smile.

”Whe-where am I?” Shuri choked out, ”Do you…have any idea of who I am?” She demanded, trying her best to sound brave.

The man with a demented smile stepped forward, ”Of course we know who you are, Princess Shuri of Wakanda. You being who you are is the entire reason you're here after all.”

”Well who are you then?” Shuri demanded, ”Where am I?!”

With a nod of his head, the man motioned for everyone else to leave the tent, all four of them wordlessly filing out. The two now alone, the man kneeled down in front of Shuri, his voice soft as he said, ”You're a few dozen miles outside Wakanda's border, in a camp with over five thousand soldiers ready to fight.”

”My father and brother will raise this camp to the ground.” Shuri warned, ”But, that doesn't have to happen. You can save all five thousand of those men, and yourself. All you have to do is let me go.”

The man smirked, ”T'Shan was right, you are intelligent. For a girl so young to try able bargain for her life the way you are, you truly are his daughter.” Sighing, the man continued, ”Your father won't risk exposure sending a military force outside of Wakanda, which is what he'll need considering my men are armed with vibranium tipped artillery. The fight for you will cause a stir and Wakanda will be revealed for what they are. And sure, your brother could probably sneak into the camp and extract you with his skills and suit. But, I'm sad to inform you that your brother has become a nonissue.”

”Nonissue?” Shuri asked, a sinking feeling over coming her.

”Don't worry princess, your brother is alive. He is, however, in my custody.” The man placated, patting the girl on the head as a relieved look crossed her face.

”Who are you?” Shuri asked.

”My name is Achebe. I am the second in command of the militia here.” Achebe answered.

”I want to speak to the one in charge.” Shuri demanded, trying to throw as much of her royal weight into her tone as possible.

Achebe chuckled, ”You really are so much like your father. And, Daki is resting for the night. Maybe tomorrow before you leave.”

”Like…like my father?” Shuri asked, ”How do you know my father?”

Somehow, Achebe's smile grew a little wider, ”Yes, yes I know your father.”

”You're Wakandan?”

”No, I'm Ghudazan, born and raised.”

”Then how? How do you know my father, or know about Wakanda? No one knows about Wakanda.” Shuri argued, clearly confused by the man in front of her.

”You'd be surprised how many people know about your country's secret. The difference between myself and them however, is that I'm not satisfied with this status quo this world has found itself in.” Achebe explained.

”So that's what this is all about?” Shuri demanded, flabbergasted by the revelation, ”You kidnapped me and my brother to reveal Wakandan secrets? How cliché is that! You're no better than a James Bond villain!”

Achebe chuckled, ”Do not presume to know me, princess.”

”I already know all I need to know just from talking to you! Do you have any idea what will happen if it is revealed what we are? The world will change, for better and worse! But no, of course you don't know, or care-” Shuri was cut off by a wicked slap streaking her face, stunning her on the spot.

Grabbing her by the face, Achebe pulled so she was face to face with him, growling in a low timbre, ”That's exactly what we want. Once the world knows what Wakanda is, your empire will be forced to make a decision. Survive or fall. Either way, no one will come out of it the same. The status quo will be gone, eradicated. Your father's greatest fears will be realized.”

”My baba doesn't fear anything.” Shuri forced out in a muffled voice.

”If you really think that, then your baba isn't the man you think he is.” Achebe shot back, roughly releasing her face from his grasp, ”Your brother will be here in a few hours. We're holding him in a compound at the border so we can acquire his suit. If you behave, he can keep you company. If not, we can always go with the alternative route.”

-x-

T'Challa groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. Out of instinct, the prince tried to wipe the sweat that had begun to build along his face, only to find his hands were bound to the arms of the chair he was sitting in. Giving the bindings a few good tugs, he noticed they didn't budge, even with his enhanced strength. It was as he tugged and pulled at the bindings holding his arms that he noticed he was completely naked. Looking around, he saw that the room was rather bare, the only thing other than him and the chair being the swinging light bulb that barely lit the room in a yellow haze.

Jumping at attention as the door in front of him swung open slowly, T'Challa watched as three men walked into the room. Two pushed in a large rack, each shelf loitered with bits and pieces of his Black Panther armor.

”Where am I?” Asked T'Challa.

A familiar voice answered the captured prince, ”You're in a compound just outside the border. We had to take off your armor after all. I think I might have done too good of a job designing its dead-man switch though, it was quite the pain to get around.” As he answered, T'Shan examined the helmet piece with care.

”What did you do to me, back at the lab?” T'Challa asked, doing his best to keep his stoic façade as another man walked in with a cart full of various instruments, all of them of the painful variety.

”Oh that?” T'Shan asked before answering nonchalantly, ”Back when I designed this suit, I placed a few fail safes inside. A few were for you, such as the dead-man's switch. Others were for me. Like neural destabilizers set up throughout the entire suit, or a switch that could blow you to kingdom come whenever I wanted too.”

”How? When?” T'Challa asked in disbelief.

T'Shan shrugged, ”You'd be surprised by the amount of things the lead researcher can get away with unsupervised. Tampering with the Black Panther armor, creating vibranium tipped bullets, explosives that could be snuck into and set off in any Wakandan city, or creating a glitch in the system that let an army of men sneak into Obodo Agha undetected. It's especially easy when you put all the attention on a certain genius we all know and love.” Smiling, T'Shan handed the helmet to one of the other men in the room, ”See, I told you I'd explain everything. You know, you try and avoid being a cliché, but where's the fun in that, huh?”

”You're obviously very pleased with yourself.” T'Challa observed, ”Now I assume you're going to give me your whole backstory?”

”What's there to tell that can't be guessed already?” T'Shan asked as he scratched his chin, ”Wakanda needs to share what we have with the world. Sure, it may get messy for a while, but I know in my heart that Wakanda will be the catalyst for the next great age in history. Sure, the man I've allied myself with is a raving lunatic who'd munch on a bag of popcorn as he watched the world burn, but he's a means to an end.”

”You're going to destroy our country; don't you understand that? Or do you just not care-”

T'Shan broke is calm façade as he slammed his fist into T'Challa's temple, ”No one loves their country more than me. Everything I do is for Wakanda. We've been stagnant for nearly a hundred years, and it won't be long before the rest of the world catches up. Then what? What excuse can we use to hide from the world's problems? How long before our sense of superiority bites us in the ass? We need change.”

”And what happens when the world turns against us?” T'Challa argued back, ”What happens when the world doesn't change for the better? You have no idea what can happen, the consequences of it all. You're bargaining on millions of lives. Can you really shoulder that? Knowing that you're the reason for that loss of life?”

”I can knowing there's a chance I am responsible for putting the world on track.” T'Shan answered, ”Wakanda will be remembered as Troy is remembered, myself a legend in the vain of Aeneas.”

T'Challa shook his head in exasperation, ”You'd let the Wakanda burn if it meant you might be its savior?”

”I'd let the world burn.” T'Shan corrected calmly. Running his hand through his hair, he said, ”Our debates have always amused me cousin, so I'm saddened to say that this will more than likely be our last. Achebe has already sent out his demands. By the end of it all, Wakanda will be pulled from the shadows and into the light.” Walking out of the room, he said to the man holding the Black Panther helmet, ”Take special care of that armor boys, if you try and play with it you might not like the result.”

Slamming the door behind him and locking it with a clear click, T'Challa was left alone with the four men. Looking back and forth between the four of them, his eyes landed on the one holding his helmet. The man was rather large, definitely over six feet tall, with a muscular build that wasn't very well hidden thanks to the fact the only thing covering his torso was a simple military vest. Brushing a part of his thick cascading dreads out of his face, the man said, ”I've got this guys.”

One of the men asked, ”You sure?”

He chuckled nonchalantly, ”Yeah, I can handle him while you guys get a drink or two, don't worry.”

The three chuckled as they made for the door, ”You're the best Ode, we owe you one once we get to base camp. If you want out just knock twice, the guard outside will let you out.” Said the last one to leave the room, closing the door after him much like T'Shan had, locking the door after them.

His eyes on the door, waiting to make sure the two of them were truly alone, Ode turned to T'Challa, his face scrunched up in thought, ”So, you're the Black Panther?”

T'Challa kept quiet, looking up calmly at the towering man.

”Hmph.” Ode grunted out, ”Strong silent type, huh?” Grabbing T'Challa by the top of his head, Ode drew his arm back before delivering a mighty punch into the prince's face. Repeating the process a few more times, Ode threw one more, knocking T'Challa over in his chair. Wiping the blood off his knuckles, Ode said, ”I'd only just heard rumors, stuff I heard through the grape vine. They say the Black Panther is a great warrior, that only the best of the best of the best could hold the title. And, I couldn't help but wonder how I'd stack up, if I could be worthy of the title.”

T'Challa spat out a glob of blood, ”If you let me out of these bindings, maybe we can see-”

”Don't bother trying.” Ode interrupted, ”I'm not going to let you out, so don't bother.” Walking back over to the helmet, Ode gave a once over again, seemingly talking to himself now, ”This really is a thing of beauty. If only I'd been born in Wakanda, the things I could've accomplished there.”

The prince looked up, eyeing the helmet as he said, ”Just so you know, you don't win the mantle of Black Panther through trial by combat.” He informed.

Ode looked at the prince, an eyebrow raised out of curiosity, ”Really? How then?”

Grunting as he shifted his position to get a better look at Ode, he answered, ”It was more of a spiritual test, to see if you were truly worthy of being the Black Panther.”

”What kind of test?” Ode asked, ”Was it difficult?”

”More difficult than you can possibly imagine.” T'Challa answered, ”And you're holding the test in your hands.”

”My hands?” The militiaman asked, ”You mean the mask?”

T'Challa nodded, ”Yes. Every Black Panther helmet is blessed by Bast. If you put it on and live, you've been chosen as her avatar, a carrier of her will. But if you fail…”

”You die.” Ode concluded, looking down at the helmet with slight skepticism, ”If I live, I get all of the powers of legend too, right?”

”Correct. The statistic that you're actually worthy is about one in a billion.”

”One in a billion huh.” Ode muttered to himself. His face now determined, he lifted the mask over his head.

T'Challa looked up in shock, ”Hey, wait a minute. Seriously, don't put on that helmet.”

Ode didn't listen, slowly sliding the mask over his head. The metallic helmet stretched around his head surprisingly well, fitting perfectly in place. His voice muffled, Ode began to say, ”Well, I'm not dead. But…I don't feel any differe-” The man was cut off by sound of a sharp beeping noise coming from the mask, the white eyes pieces flashing red. Not long after, a violent zapping noise came soon after, smoke coming off the helmet. And then, with a sickening thud, Ode dropped to the ground lifelessly.

T'Challa lied there for a few seconds, making sure the man was down for good before he shifted himself so that he was standing, though he was hunched over thanks to still being strapped to the chair. Giving several deep breaths in preparation, he began to slam himself into the wall as hard as he could. Over and over he did this, driving himself and the chair into the concrete wall. After a minute of this, a cracking noise began to come from the chair. Stopping, he gave a mighty roar as he broke it the rest of the way with brute strength.

Catching his breath, T'Challa shimmied the bindings off. Walking over and then kneeling down next to Ode's corpse, the prince whispered, ”I guess you weren't worthy.” Taking off the mask looked down at the now lifeless face below him.

As he looked at his armor, he jumped at the sound of gunfire ringing through the base. Looking back down at Ode, he frowned as he easily came to the conclusion that the man's clothes wouldn't fit him. Getting up, he walked over to the door, pressing his body flat against the wall next to it as he gave two heavy knocks. A couple seconds ticked by before the clicking of the door being unlocked was heard, not long before it swung open slowly.

”Ode? Ode come on and hurry up there's someone attacking the base, we gotta go!” Called out the guard, peaking his head through the crack in the doorway.

His only response was a swift jab in the jaw, curtesy of T'Challa, dropping him with a single punch. Pulling him into the room, the prince smirked at seeing that the guard was close to his size. Stripping him of his clothes, T'Challa quickly got dressed, grabbing the guard's hunting knife while he was at it.

Exiting the room, T'Challa raised an eyebrow as a duo of very similar looking blonde men beating into several militiamen, ”Uzumaki?” He asked aloud.

The two clones looked up at the same time, simultaneously asking, ”Who's asking?” Only to blink when they realized who had said their name. Straightening up quickly, they animatedly pointed at the man, ”Prince!”

Popping in duel puffs of smoke, the prince found himself alone. Shrugging, he darted down the hall, joining in on the chaos

Naruto smirked as several sets of memories came flooding in, ”Found him.” He stated, ducking as a man took a swing at him with a knife, ”Second floor, he's heading our way.” Jabbing upwards at the extended arm, he punched into the man's tricep, forcing him to let go of the knife. Catching it midair, Naruto swung it into the man's side. Ignoring him as he screamed in pain, the blonde pulled out the knife before throwing it at another man nearby, the knife embedding itself in the back of his head.

Illyana nodded, using her mandala to block a wave of bullets before summoning an Eldritch Whip, snapping the fiery whip around the shooter's throat before pulling him down with all her might, slamming his head into the concrete floor, knocking him out, ”So, what's the plan?”

The blonde shrugged, ”To be honest, I've been improvising ever since these guys attacked the city. I think I've got this under control though.”

Looking around as a dozen other Naruto's ran around the building, taking down anyone that crossed their paths, she asked, ”You call this under control?” Summoning an Eldritch Sword, she parried against another militiaman's machete. Swiping the man's blade away, she quickly dug her sword into his foot before slamming her mandala into his face, knocking him off his feet.

”Well…yeah?” Naruto answered weakly. Looking around the room, the ninja saw that every one of the militiamen had been killed or knocked out. Deciding he and Illyana could handle the rest, he expelled his clones, ignoring the headache that came afterwards as he said, ”Come on, let's go find the prince before he runs off.”

Wiping the sweat off her brow as she caught her breath, Illyana nodded as she breathed out, ”Yeah, let's move.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the woman, ”Are you sure you can keep going? There's nothing wrong with taking a breather, I can handle the prince.”

”No.” Magik said firmly, ”I told you, I can handle it.”

”Alright.” The blonde conceded, ”But if it looks like your falling behind, I'm having a clone take you home.” Seeing she was about to argue he finished, ”No exceptions.” He said firmly, his eyes firm as he stared her down.

It was Illyana's turn to concede, ”Fine.”

”Alright, follow me. This is a big compound, so stay close.”

-x-

T'Challa quickly realized that the compound he'd been taken too was impressively large. Room after room hallway after hallway, the prince could admit to himself to being lost. It didn't help that he seemed to run into either a group of random militiamen, or a group of random Narutos every thirty seconds. Either way, he was quick to dispatch them with the knife he had borrowed, along with a few guns that were conveniently left behind by them. Sadly, none of them could or would tell him where T'Shan was. And anytime a clone came across him they'd pop in a puff of smoke.

Turning a corner, he ducked as bullets came flying overhead. Back-peddling for some cover, he inched his head just enough to see a soldier crouched in waiting by a set of stairs. Sighing at the inconvenience of not having armor, he began taking pot shots with his pistol, hoping to maybe get a lucky hit in. His gun clicking empty, he grunted in annoyance before throwing it away. Deciding he had no other choice, he decided to make a break for it, sprinting from his spot down the hall towards the shooter. As he began to duck away from where the man was aiming, he heard the distinct sound of a gun clicking empty. Smirking, he sprinted full speed, catching the shooter off balance as he tried to reload. Barreling into him with his shoulder, the man was sent flying down the set of stairs, tumbling down one step after another.

Climbing down after him, T'Challa kneeled down next to his practically broken form, ”Where's T'Shan?” He demanded.

”Go-gone…” He stuttered out, his breathing ragged and broken.

”Gone where?”

”P-pla…” The man began, blood seeping out his mouth, ”…Plane.”

Nodding, T'Challa silently drove his knife into the man's throat, ending his misery with a soft gurgle.

Wiping the blood off the blade, the prince almost didn't hear the sound of an engine running outside. Looking outside the window within the stairway, he scowled as he saw T'Shan and two others running towards a light propeller-driven airplane. Growling, he grabbed the dead man's assault rifle. Finishing what he had started as he reloaded the clip, T'Challa opened fire on the window, blowing out the glass in a flurry of bullets. Tossing the gun away, the prince took a few steps back before sprinting towards the window, jumping through it as he tucked his body inward.

Quickly reaching the field below, he rolled with his landing, stopping in a crouch as he yelled with all his might, ”TRAITOR!”

-x-

As Naruto and Illyana began up the stair way, they came to a halt as the window several feet in front of them was shot out by a wave of gunfire. Not long after, the man they were looking for jumped through it. A few seconds of silence followed before they both heard him dramatically yell the word traitor.

Slowly, he and Illyana looked at each other, ”That was him…wasn't it?” She asked.

”Yup.” He said with a sigh.

”Should we go after him?”

”Probably.”

Opening a portal, she said, ”Well, you first.”

Smirking he jumped through before landing on the other side, blasting off after the sprinting T'Challa who was now right on top of the three men.

T'Challa growled as he maneuvered to the side as the two men next to T'Shan opened fire. Grabbing the second pistol he'd barrowed, he began to fire back, hitting the second man in the knee, dropping him to the ground.

Sliding behind a tree, he took a breather as the remaining man fired after him. As he was about to jump out from behind cover, he blinked as a blur shot passed him. Not soon after, the gun fire came to a stop. Looking passed the tree, he saw that Naruto had rammed his fist through the man's torso, his hand covered by what looked like lightning.

Getting over his shock at the sight, he quickly got up when he saw Naruto turned his attention to T'Shan, ”No!” He called out.

Naruto stopped, his eyebrow raised as he looked at the prince from across the field, ”What?”

T'Challa began to run forward, ”He's mine!” He called out.

T'Shan scoffed, pulling out a handgun as he took aim for T'Challa, the man growing closer and closer, ”Don't think I don't have the stomach to kill you while you're handicapped like this cousin. You can't brush off a bullet without my armor.”

BANG!

Even as the bullet shot through his shoulder, T'Challa's momentum didn't stop. If anything, he pushed himself harder in his charge towards T'Shan. Said man scowled as his cousin didn't stop, seemingly brushing off the bullet like it was nothing.

BANG!

BANG!

This time he aimed a little lower, hitting T'Challa in his left side and thigh. This time, he staggered for a moment. But even then, he maintained motion. Pushing passed his pain, the prince limped forward as fast as he possibly could.

T'Shan grunted in fury, ”Why won't you stop?! I'll kill you cousin, don't think I won't!”

BANG!

The bullet ricocheted off the ground barely an inch from T'Challa's feet, the prince having picked up the pace once again, now just four feet away from T'Shan. A metallic clicking coming from the now shaking gun, the man hesitated as his sights landed on his cousin's head. That hesitation proved fatal, as T'Challa grabbed the gun, pulling it out of T'Shan's hands before throwing a punch into his face.

Sent flying to the ground, he was barely able to blink the haze away before he felt a weight drop on his torso followed by a pair of hands wrapping around his neck. Gagging as he felt his airway practically collapse, he blinked the tears away as he looked up T'Challa's face, his face scrunched up in a purple rage.

His air cut off completely, black splotches began form around the corners of his eyes, encroaching on his vision more and more as he began to struggle for life, kicking his legs and flailing his arms desperately.

T'Challa ignored the violent reaction, all his attention on watching the life leave T'Shan's eyes.

Naruto watched, eyes solemn, as T'Shan slowly grew still, his soft choking growing quieter and quieter. And then, finally, he grew still. Walking up to T'Challa, he rested a hand on his shoulder, ”It's over. He's gone.”

T'Challa blinked, his face relaxing as he released his grasp on T'Shan's neck. Catching his ragged breath, he brushed off Naruto's hand, getting up as he said, ”What're you doing here?”

”I came for you.” Naruto answered.

T'Challa didn't take his eyes off his cousin, his mind clearly a million miles away.

The blonde was about to talk again when he heard the faint sound of someone shifting on the grass behind next to them. Looking to his right, he saw that the man T'Challa had kneecapped earlier was getting up behind T'Challa, his gun pointed at the unsuspecting prince.

Out of pure instinct, Naruto jumped in front of T'Challa, knowing his Sage Mode would help him block the bullet from hitting either him or the Wakandan. Time slowed to a crawl as he moved in front of T'Challa just when the gun was fired, making it a race between Naruto and the speeding bullet. Of course, Naruto won hands down.

BANG!

T'Challa jumped into action at the sound of the gun, turning around to see Naruto standing in between him and the man that he had thought was incapacitated. As he was about to pounce on the man, a silver portal opened up behind the man, a hand emerging with a fiery sword in hand. The man grunted as the blade was shoved through his torso like a hot knife through butter, dropping his gun before going slack. The sword and hand disappearing back into the portal, the portal followed soon after, allowing the man to drop lifelessly.

”Naruto!” Called out Illyana, her Eldritch Sword dispersing before she ran towards the ninja.

The Black Panther's attention went from the Illyana back to Naruto, his eyes widening as the man began to stumble. Catching him as he fell, he was quick to put pressure on the bullet wound located on the right side of his chest.

Another portal forming next to him, he watched in wonder as Illyana jumped out, kneeling next to him and Naruto as she asked, ”How did the bullet hurt him like that? They've always just bounced off him like nothing every other time!”

T'Challa turned his attention back on the wounded blonde, blood soaking his shirt clean through, ”These soldiers us bullets tipped with vibranium. I doubt whatever your friend uses to stop normal bullets wouldn't be enough to stop one of those.” Turning him over, he saw that the bullet hadn't gone clean through, ”Still, whatever it is must be incredibly tough to stop it halfway through, I doubt even my suit could manage that.”

Illyana watched as the blonde grew increasingly pale, his breathing kicking up several degrees, ”What's happening to him?!”

”He's going into shock.” T'Challa said calmly, ”The man lying next to us, grab the beaded bracelet on his wrist. Hurry.” He ordered, motioning with his head to T'Shan.

”What?” Illyana asked weakly.

”The beads. Now!” T'Challa ordered, keeping his attention on Naruto.

Illyana nodded quickly, grabbing the beads off the corpse as fast as she could before making her way back to the prince and blonde. T'Challa took the bracelet, detaching one of the beads before gently pressing it up against the wound.

”What are you doing?” Illyana asked, watching as Naruto began to calm down, having passed out as she was getting the beads.

”Stabilizing the wound.” T'Challa muttered. Looking to the woman he asked, ”What were you two doing here?”

”We were in Obodo Agha during the attack.” She answered.

”And you came to rescue me?” Seeing her nod, he asked, ”Why?”

She looked at the blonde, worry written all over her face, ”Him.”

”Why?” T'Challa asked again.

”Because…he's just that kind of guy. He saw you needed help, so he helped you. He's not a very complex person.” She answered, shrugging at the end.

T'Challa grunted as he looked down at the unconscious blonde, sighing as he said, ”Can you carry him?”

Illyana blinked in confusion, ”What?”

”I need you to carry him to the plane.” T'Challa explained as he got up with a pained groan.

”Why?” She asked, confused.

T'Challa motioned to his wounds.

”No, no I mean why are you helping us?” She clarified.

The prince remained quiet for a moment, eying the blonde beneath him before he turned to walk towards the plain, ”I guess…your friend and I have more in common than I thought.”

Illyana pushed passed her confusion, summoning a mandala to act as a gurney, carrying the blonde to the plane, ”Can you really fly that plane?”

”I'm adequate.”