Black Panther... the other one

Three Days Ago...

Screams arise across the battlefield as T'Challa tears through a crowd of rampaging Jabari warriors, the king's enhanced speed and power allowing him to leap and deliver devastating strikes with ease. Prone bodies lie in a trail behind the king as he searches the battlefield for the enemy commander, Chieftain M'Baku. His suit's internal comms come to life, with his sister and resident tech genius Shuri on the other end. "We've still got twenty-… no, thirty transports still coming in, T'Challa… and that's not even the worst news..."

"Worse than an invasion of White Gorillas? Can't wait to hear," the king replies, driving his knee into a broad Jabari nose, dropping the big man like a stone.

"…They're not Jabari, brother. They're Atlantean."

T'Challa stops in his tracks. This changed everything. This was no longer a coup, it was a full-blown invasion. "Shuri… you have to delete the NSDEF files. Then I need you to lock down the armory and contact the Avengers. Can you do that?"

The Wakandan princess stares at her screen blankly, letting this process as the wheels spin frantically in her head. "T'Challa, no, we can still win this. We have the technology!"

"They can't be allowed to access those files. I'm your king, Shuri, so DO AS I SAY!" He dashes forward, taking out two more warriors with well-placed kicks. "And when you're done… run…"

"T'Challa, wait... T'CHALLA!" He'd turned off his communications. Shuri cursed under her breath. Her brother could be so stubborn, but he was of course taking the wisest course of action. If the enemy had their most vital information, it would be incredibly dangerous to Wakanda and its allies. Shuri locates the files, but as her finger hovers over the delete command, she stops herself.

Wakanda would win. Wakanda always won. And if not, the Avengers would fix this. They would need these defense files after that. The princess grabs an external hard drive and begins copying the files over. The transfer percentage begins to tick up.

10%. 20%. 30%.

An explosion goes off outside her command center. Shuri checks the security feed. Atlanteans, and they were right outside, tridents driven into the chests. The blue-skinned raiders attempt to use the control panel to open the blast doors, but it's been deactivated. They step aside and one approaches with a cutting torch, intending to slice his way through. Going to work, the soldier begins to cut a glowing orange hole into the reinforced door and Shuri looks back to her work.

74%.

Letting out a frustrated groan, Shuri tries to do something with this situation. She'd been a Black Panther herself a few years ago, when T'Challa had been seriously injured, so sneaking out was no problem. However, if she tried to lock down the armory or contact the Avengers as T'Challa had asked, she would slow down the file transfer too much. She taps her slender brown fingers across the console, her eyes looking around the room for an escape option and settling on a nearby air duct.

92%.

A loud clang echoes from the hallway outside. They'd gotten through the first of the door's two layers. It wouldn't be much longer now until they were in the security room. The file transfer continues to tick up as the bright white flame of the torch is now visible as it penetrates the solid metal door. Come on, come on, come on!

Ding! 100%!

She retrieves her thumb drive and selects the Delete command, removing the encrypted files from the system, then looks over to see the torch has cut halfway through her door now. Shuri had two options now: make her escape now, or finish the tasks T'Challa gave her and be caught. It was a lose-lose situation, but an escape would give her time to plan out her next move. By the time the door falls to the ground with another heavy metallic clang, Shuri has climbed into the air ducts and disguised her entry. Long-limbed soldiers pour through, swords and halberds clutched in their hands. Shuri watches as a squad of 10 come through the gap, each ready for a fight.

Shuri was pretty sure she could take down 10 of these guys, but if they gave her position away it would be too big a risk.

"Security room taken, Your Highness," one soldier reports as he activates the computer and begins to disable the palace's perimeter defenses. It would all be over very soon, and Shuri would have to work out her plan with no support.

_________

Now…

Shuri was ****. She'd spent the last 3 days inside the air ducts, stealing food and water when possible, and relieving herself... well, the less said about that part the better. She was pretty sure she'd been spotted a couple of times, but neither the lean Atlantean soldiers nor the much bulkier Jabari men seemed in a hurry to crawl into the ventilation after her. Unfortunately, the Atlanteans had kept the security room pretty well locked down and Shuri'd had no chance to get in and use the computers. Things were starting to look very bleak.

The princess of Wakanda watches from an air vent as the treacherous Namor heads to his bed chambers, leaving M'Baku with his two remaining guards. This was the least guarded she'd seen him so far, and he appeared to be deep in thought. She might never get a better chance. Moving silently, Shuri climbs her way to a vent near the two guards and prepares her attack, crouching in wait, the young woman's stomach gurgles hungrily. This was the moment.

The heavy cover to the air duct suddenly explodes outward, clanging hard against the floor, as the lithe body of the last remaining Black Panther leaps out with feline grace and smashes into the unsuspecting Jabari guards, her face twisted into a snarl of defiance and vengeance.