Power, Part 5

Since becoming the Queen of Wakanda and the new Black Panther, Shuri has been investigating who attacked her brother (T’Challa) and is trying to eliminate her, and how these two events could be connected.[1] The evidence, so far, has pointed to the Sub-Mariner (Namor) and so Shuri gears up in a suit of battle armor to confront the Atlantean monarch on a remote island in international waters. Despite her attempts at stealth, Namor’s acute hearing detects her trying to sneak up behind him and confronts her.

Shuri demands answers from Namor regarding his part in T’Challa’s recent brush with death. The Sub-Mariner, however, doesn’t confirm nor deny this. Mostly, he arrogantly warns her to mind her tone and only extends any kind of patience because he respects her brother. Shuri grows tired of fooling around and attacks Namor to try and get answers out of him. This alarms her support team, as they are on a small island surrounded by a lot of ocean. If Namor manages to rehydrate himself he will gain the advantage.

Meanwhile, back in Wakanda, the economy is still in freefall and social unrest is growing. The on going debate between media pundits M’Toka and N’Dega continues dragging on. With N’Dega continuing to raise the alarm and blame the current situation on Shuri’s absence, and interference from King T’Chala’s wife, Storm (Ororo Monroe), whom he doesn’t trust because she is an outsider. This is despite the fact that Ororo has been trying to help failing crops around Wakanda with her mutant ability to control the weather. He even goes as far as to accuse Storm of being a witch.

This is all being observed by the forces that have been working to destabilize Wakanda, the Broker (Walter Delcun) and Latverian monarch Doctor Doom.

Back on the island, Shuri gains a momentary advantage over Namor by blasting him a weapon called the “Desert Sun”, which begins leeching all moisture from the Sub-Mariner’s body. Losing his strength with every moment, Namor manages to get far enough away from the Black Panther to leap back into the ocean. When she asks her team what she should do next, they suggest she run. Before Shuri can, Namor leaps out of the water fully renewed and full of righteous anger. As Namor attacks, Shuri’s communication feed suddenly cuts out.

While this is happening, the final preparations for T’Challa’s planned revenge is nearly complete. He and the Dora Milaje have all trained in combat skills that will assist them in fighting Doctor Doom’s robotic legions and high tech weapons. In addition to this, they have all be trained to defend themselves against magic based attack. They are also joined by the witchdoctor Zawavari and his acolytes who will also lend their mystical powers in the battle ahead. All that is left is one final test, a battle to the death to prove that they have what it takes to conquer their foes.

Meanwhile, Storm is still trying to do her best to provide Wakandan crops to grow. She has also teamed up with scientists who are trying to figure out why the crops are failing. They have all been stricken by some kind of blight that seems to be resistant to all attempts to stop it from ravaging the farmlands. That’s when a group of locals — inflamed by the words of N’Dega — come to the field to accuse Storm of being a witch. When one of the scientists tries to defend Ororo, she has a bottle thrown at her. Storm then sees another mean reaching for something in his clothing. Thinking this might be some kind of attack, Ororo strikes him down with a bolt of lightning. However, it turns out that the man was merely reaching for a bag of seeds. The locals take this as proof that the outsider is trying to destroy their way of life. This of course gets back to the news where N’Dega who says that regardless of the circumstances, the country is on the brink of ripping itself apart.

Watching this all unfold, Doctor Doom now believes that it is almost time to make their move and conquer Wakanda. He then gets in touch with the Desturi, a Wakandan extremist group. They report that they have not been able to locate T’Challa. Doom tells them to find him immediately, as their victory cannot be guarantied unless the former King is dealt with.

Back on the island, Namor has overpowered Shuri, but the fight is interrupted by the arrival of most of the Fantastic Four — Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and the Thing (Ben Grimm) — who have to come to stop them from fighting. Reed was able to determine that both Shuri and Namor were being manipulated from the start. When it comes to questioning Namor about the nature of his meeting with T’Challa, the Sub-Mariner refuses to divulge it since he was sorn to secrecy. That’s find with Mister Fantastic who was able to run a scan of the video evidence collected by N’Lix, Shuri’s head technician. He determines that the evidence had been doctored in a way that made Namor appear to be responsible for the attack of T’Challa. Although this doesn’t reveal who is actually responsible, Richards can trace the doctored footage to its point of origin.

Meanwhile, Doctor Doom has come to the conclusion that Shuri has likely put all the pieces together. He then warns the Broker that he’ll have visitors soon. The Broker is more than ready for them as he has gathered a team to defend him which includes a Mandroid, Rock, Lady Octopus, Hydro-Man, the Porcupine, Killer Shrike, and the Absorbing Man.

Recurring Characters

Black Panthers (Shuri & T’Challa), Storm, Sub-Mariner, Doctor Doom, Desturi, Flea, N’Lix, Zakar, Zawavari, Aneka, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Human Torch, Thing), Mandroid, Killer Shrike, Rock, Lady Octopus, Hydro-Man, Absorbing Man, Porcupine, M’Toka and N’Dega

Continuity Notes

1. T’Challa was gravely wounded by Doctor Doom. As he recovered, Shuri succeeded him as Wakanda’s ruler and the next Black Panther, as seen in Black Panther (vol. 5) #1-6. T’Challa has kept his attacker a secret while Shuri has been investigating it and the attempts on her life over the last four issues.