Previously in The Black Panther and Storm:
For over ten thousand years warrior kings called Black Panthers ruled and protected the isolated and unconquerable African nation Wakanda. In their isolation Wakanda became the most scientifically advanced nation on Earth. T’Challa was the latest Black Panther, and he believed that his great nation was obligated to use its resources to help the less fortunate; defenseless peoples of the world against tyranny, corruption, and megalomaniac super humans.
Black Panther later married Ororo ‘Storm’ Munroe the extraordinary mutant heroine.
Story: Genosha
Chapter One
The members of the X men were a rough bunch of characters and Ororo was the roughest of them all; hence no one challenged her authority as she took over leading a rescue team to Genosha. She used a kimoyo to contact the squad and she informed them of her immediate arrival.
Ororo was five foot eleven, slender, with long white hair and deep blue eyes. She wore a black and gold uniform. Both her parents were deceased. Her father was an African American and her mother was Kenyan.
Presently she glided on thermal air currents that flowed out of Zimbabwe and into the Indian Ocean. She experienced a sense of independence and grace as she travelled at a jet like pace. She had been flying since her teenage years and had become accustomed to the wind factors that occurred at high speed.
She thought about the upcoming mission because it highlighted an issue in her life. She was the leader of a nation as well as a member of the X men. If Scott Summers the daily operator of the X men were to die, she would have to replace him. Ororo had made up her mind on the issue but she knew others were concerned about it.
Then her mind went to Genosha. She had visited the island once in the wake of its destruction. It was a sobering experience. Sixteen million mutants had perished in an attack and her mentor Charles Xavier had tasked himself with rebuilding the island’s infrastructure. But that ended in failure. Therefore the island was abandoned.
“That was so unfortunate,” thought Ororo. “And even I could have tried to save the place. I think we all failed to make that place a true sanctuary for mutants,” she mused to herself.
A picture of T’Challa flashed in her mind. Strangely she remember the warm touch of his skilful hands on her body. She loved him dearly. Even if they had not married she would still lived with him. And the marriage had showed her that it was possible to have a semblance of a normal life despite being a mutant.
Her abilities were on a higher level than other mutants. Ororo also had to inhibit herself because of the world wide impact she had.
The introspection ended, when she sensed the familiar X men jet plane on the horizon. Leading the X men had come natural to her. She had been a leader ever since her thieving days in Central Cairo. She had led a gang of pick pockets during that time and she remembered drawing out plans in the dirt of alley ways. Those days had long passed her, but she had kept the lessons learnt.
She met the Blackbird jet just as it was crossing over Madagascar. The team mate code name Gambit opened the side hatch for her. She flew into it.
“Remy,” said Ororo.
“The Queen of Hearts has come and she is beautiful as ever,” stated Gambit as he pulled out a deck of playing cards from his trench coat pocket.
Remy LeBeau aka Gambit was a suave lady-killer from New Orleans and he was also the king of thieves.
“Rogue is piloting?” asked Ororo.
“Yes Cherie is captaining this expedition,” commented Gambit as he charged one of the cards with glowing kinetic energy. The game card was now a weapon that would explode on impact.
Ororo smiled at Gambit’s pet name for Rogue-the woman who held his heart. Ororo was also concerned that Rogue might resent her taking over the mission. Rogue had matured into a capable leader over the years and she might take it that Ororo was pulling rank on her.
Two other X Men came into Ororo’s view. They were Wolverine and Psylocke.
“Ro,” said Wolverine casually.
“Wind Rider,” Psylocke said cordially.
“Logan. Psylocke,” acknowledged Ororo.
Logan was a short physically strong man and a century old. His slow ageing made him appear late thirties. He also had a ninja background similar to Psylocke.
She was a purple hair Asian woman; however, the body had belonged to another person and her consciousness was placed inside of it.
Ororo moved passed Psylocke and she came across Colossus and Angel.
“Pete,” said Ororo.
“Ororo,” said Piotr Rasputin warmly as he turned in the passenger seat.
Then the wind rider glanced at the man with white angelic wings that came out his back. In combat those wings became metallic and fired off blades.
“Warren,” Ororo said.
“Storm,” returned Angel in his aristocratic voice. He couldn’t help it since he was a billionaire.
Both Ororo and Warren funded the X men.
The last two mutants were Rogue and Nightcrawler. The later was a blue demon looking man who had two mini horns on his forehead and a dragon like tail.
He gave a German greeting and Ororo responded in the same language.
Rogue looked up from the flight controls. She was a Mississippi born woman and had kept the accent. She also kept the abilities and memories of anyone she touched.
“Storm,” she said.
Ororo responded and she looked into the green eyes of the woman for any dislike. She couldn’t find any. Then Ororo turned back to the group. Each of them had played a part in her life with the X men.
Gambit had aided her in fleeing a scientist who had physically de-aged her. That was how he was introduced to the X Men. Logan had taught her additional martial arts and to use small fire arms. Psylocke was her friend. Colossus was like the big brother that she never had. When Warren had became the murderous and angry Arc Angel; she had taken him into her team for supervision. And similar to Wolverine she was able to command his respect and control his rage. Nightcrawler was a close friend. With regards to Rogue, the wind rider had taken a chance on the former X men foe and it had cost Ororo losing her weather manipulation powers for a time.
Also Ororo had joined the X men at the same time as Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler.
“What is the status?” Ororo inquired from Rogue.
“Scott took Emma, Havok, Polaris, Ice Man, Phoenix and Warpath to get Magneto,” replied the Southern Belle. “We don’t know the reason Magneto was on Genosha.”
“I do,” stated Ororo. “The ICC chairman told T’Challa and me that Genosha was being converted into a maximum-security prison for criminal meta humans and mutants.
“Also Avengers were on the island along with S.H.I.E.L.D personnel. They have also lost contact with the outside world.”
“So were assuming Magneto freaked out?” asked Rogue who had a brief relationship with the man.
“I think so,” stated Ororo.
“So what are the Avengers doing?” inquired Logan since he also belonged to that organisation.
“Pulsar called T’Challa and some others to also come to Genosha,” answered Ororo.
“Are we waiting on them?” asked Rogue.
“No,” said Ororo firmly. “We’re going in first since we have the head start.” She didn’t reveal that a Wakandan warship was also headed for the island under her orders.
Nightcrawler looked through the cockpit window. “We will have to get pass that first,” he said and pointed outside.
Everyone followed the elf man’s cue. There was a forcefield around Genosha. It looked almost surreal in the blackness of the night. It also radiated in the moonlight.
“Fly straight ahead,” said Ororo to Rogue. “It is a magnetic wave energy. I can disturb it long enough for the plane to pass through.”
“All right,” remarked Rogue as she decreased the Blackbird’s speed. “The force field is most likely the reason we cannot radio anyone on the island.”
“Your correct,” said the wind rider. “It would have to be lowered for any communications to reach the outside world.”
Then Ororo started concentrating while peering at the forcefield. Her eyes turned white. She could feel the pulse of the magnetic waves that constituted the forcefield. Then gradually she was able to lock onto a few of them. These were the ones that she parted and created an opening for the jet.
Rogue waited until the opening was wide enough then she punched the jet through the hole. She flew over the familiar harbour of Hammer Bay, which was once the capital of Genosha. Meanwhile the force field healed itself and closed the hole.
Ororo thought it best to layout her plans.
“We’ll land in the vicinity of Magneto’s statue. Angel, Rogue, and me will provide aerial support. Logan and Psylocke you take point. Gambit, Colossus and Nightcrawler are rear guard. Any questions?” stated Ororo.
There weren’t any. “Okay then let’s find our friends,” she said.
Ororo calculated that either Pulsar using her powers or T’Challa using his sword would allow them to get pass the force field. Furthermore T’Challa would be able to track her on the island because their kimoyoes were linked.
Chapter Two
The bleak Hammer Bay was unrecognisable to the mutants. A military barracks had replaced all the buildings of the former city. Only the statue of Magneto and Xavier that stood like the needle monument in Washington D.C. bared any resemblance to the island’s past. A half-complete prison was behind the barracks.
Towards the plateau on the right of the prison was the tower that controlled the force field. It was half the size of the Magneto statue and it was circular. Ororo could feel the pulsing energy that the tower emitted.
Rogue landed the Blackbird in the centre of the barracks. Then the X men disembarked and took their respective positions.
Ororo, Rogue, and Angel relayed over their communicators what they saw to the ground combatants.
Then Ororo asked Logan, “Any scents of Scott and the others?”
Wolverine took another sniff of the air with his hyper sensitive sense of smell. “Nothing.”
“Psylocke what about the psi wave?” asked Ororo.
“No activity other than us,” replied the purple hair woman.
“All right let’s spread out a little. Search for any leads,” Ororo said to the team.
She looked at the Magneto Xavier statue that was made out of the remnants of the mutant killing robot that had destroyed the island.
At that moment Ororo sensed another aircraft approaching. It was a quinjet- the standard air transports for the Avengers that T’Challa had designed and built for them. He started a Wakanda company to manufacture the vessels.
“We have company,” said Ororo to her team. “The Avengers have arrived. We’ll re group with them so we can co-ordinate the search effort.”
The quinjet landed next to the Blackbird afterwards the Avengers alighted. T’Challa emerged first followed by Pulsar, Blue Marvel, Iron Fist, Falcon and Luke Cage.
Pulsar was a young woman who manipulated energy on several spectrums. The Blue Marvel was a super human powered by Anti Matter. Iron Fist embodied a supernatural fighting force from an extra dimensional city. Luke Cage had superhuman strength and invulnerable skin. Falcon had holographic wings created by using hard light, a telepathic link with birds and was a skilled combatant.
They all regarded T’Challa as the leader for the mission because of their respect for his abilities.
The Black Panther and Storm felt strangely awkward meeting as the leaders of their respective teams.
“Should they show affection as a normal husband and wife would or should they keep it formal?” were the questions that flashed in the two warrior’s minds as the quinjet landed softly.
The reason for the oddity was that the issue had never come up before then. Furthermore T’Challa and Ororo had high esteem for each other’s leadership abilities although their styles differed. T’Challa had favoured a degree of preparedness and contingency plans whereas Ororo had leaned a degree towards the spontaneous-thinking up a solution as she went along.
The couple understood that the marrying of their styles was beneficial rather than problematic in regards to running their nation.
Ororo was also aware that outside of Wolverine the rest of her team were not familiar with T’Challa’s Avengers. Additionally, the X men were mutants-humans born with an X gene. As a result they were treated as outcasts by the society because of their powers. On the other hand, the Avengers were widely appreciated and most of their members were humans who had obtained super human enhancements.
Ororo and her team settled near the quinjet and T’Challa walked up to her. He was not a stranger to the X men so he gestured to a few of them and they returned the greeting.
“We just arrived a few minutes earlier,” Ororo said to T’Challa.
“Found anyone?” he inquired.
“None,” replied Ororo.
Then she gave a quick name check of her X Men to the Avengers. Then T’Challa reciprocated with the names of his team mates.
Ororo identified the X men that had vanished. T’Challa listened and then he divulged the missing Avengers.
“Captain America, Ms Marvel, Hank Pym, Wonder Man, Iron Man and Vision,” he said. “War Machine also vanished here.”
“And what of the prisoners?” asked Ororo.
“Baron Zemo, Sombre, Madame Hydra and Sin,” answered T’Challa. “The Avengers were providing security escort. The S.H.I.E.L.D personnel were to take over later.”
“It is best we split our forces then. The X men will cover the Hammer Bay area,” said Ororo.
“Then we’ll take the other side of the island,” said T’Challa. “But what about the force field? S.H.I.E.L.D would want their teams on the island also.”
“We should leave the force field for the time being until we get a better understanding of the situation,” stated Ororo.
“All right,” T’Challa said.
He and his team departed. Blue Marvel, Pulsar and Falcon flew into the sky while T’Challa and the others went in the quinjet.
Sitting in the co pilot seat, T’Challa recollected the private conversation he had with the world leaders involved with the Genosha prison project. They wanted to keep the missing Avengers a secret to avoid criminals using the opportunity to strike. A deadline had also been enforced. T’Challa’s Avengers had an hour to solve the problem before an international military force took over the island.
T’Challa then concentrated on Ororo. He liked seeing her lead the X men. Yet the current mission emphasised an unsettling concern he had. He loved her so much that letting her go that she could fulfil her ambitions would not be a problem for him. But it would cut him deeply to do so.
“I will have to tell her eventually,” he thought.
Questions regarding the mission inevitably entered his mind. Where were his comrades? What happened here? And who was to blame?
Chapter Three
The ocean air helped Simon Williams aka Wonder Man to think. He still hadn’t decided on how to dispose of the X men including Magneto. Their sudden appearance on the island had complicated his plans. He was only after the Avengers.
He would have killed his unconsciousness prisoners if it were not for the speck of goodness in his soul.
Presently he sat on a cliff located on the East Coast of Genosha. He stopped thinking about the X men and he concentrated on his life. He was a traitor again to his friends and country.
The Avengers were totally caught off guard, when he had attacked them. They were not in his league and he easily overwhelmed them.
Simon remembered that Baron Zemo had changed him into a super human on the same level as Thor the so-called God of Thunder. Simon could even transform himself into a type of pure energy.
The more Simon thought about his past the more that it meandered into the life of his brother- the Grim Reaper. He had loved his brother and he wept a little when he thought about it.
He recollected the shock he had experienced, when he heard that the Black Panther had apprehended his brother for an attack on the Avengers.
“Poor Eric,” muttered Simon with sadness for his deceased brother.
As a teenager he had vowed to take care of his younger sibling ever since the boy had the accident that granted him super human gifts. An incident Simon blamed on himself.
However Simon was not able to keep his promise as both brothers became criminals. Debt had forced Simon’s willingness to be transformed into a super human so that he could infiltrate the Avengers to destroy them. The group defeated him and his master Baron Zemo and Simon had apparently died.
That drove Eric to become the Grim Reaper and take revenge on the Avengers.
“So my stupidity was to blame for his actions once again,” Simon thought and chastised himself with it. “If I can only undo the past.”
He looked out to the ocean where the force field touched the waves. He knew the force field went further down to the ocean floor but seeing it there on the dark waves reminded him of a rainbow’s end.
At a point in his life it did seem like he had hit the mythically pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The Avengers had allowed him back into their group and he had started a relationship with Carol Danvers aka Ms Marvel. Then it went all horribly wrong. Impostors had replaced the Avengers and Carol was presumed dead. He became distraught. He denounced using violence to combat criminals and his tenure as an Avenger.
Then he wanted revenge so badly that he joined his brother’s group that resisted the fake Avengers. The so-called Dark Avengers captured them. He and Eric were sent to the Raft prison. It was there that Eric was stabbed to death in a brawl with another prisoner.
When the real Avengers were restored he was released and re instated. But he was a different man. He had failed his brother and he still believed that the Avengers were apart of the problem with the criminal world. They didn’t understand the plight of his brother like he did and thus nothing was truly done to stop him from remaining a career criminal.
“That’s the reason the Avengers must be stopped,” thought Simon.
As for Carol he would spare her life but she was to stay in a coma like sleep. It was the least he could do because Baron Zemo had wanted her dead.
Simon sensed a presence at his side and he stood.
It was Baron Helmut Zemo.
Chapter Four
Baron Zemo was the son of a Nazi war criminal and scientist. He had emulated his father’s mental prowess and achieved mastery over alien weapons called Moonstones. They allowed near invulnerability, the ability to open dimensions, manipulate energy forms and superhuman enhancements.
He looked at Simon and saw the weakness in the man. He had conceded to sparing Carol Danvers to avoid a battle with Simon and therefore ruining the plan. But as time had elapsed he realised that it was a wrong decision. He had given the man’s conscience something to hold onto.
“The X men and the rest of the Avengers have arrived as I predicted,” informed Baron Zemo.
“They’ll find the bomb,” blurted Simon.
It was his idea to murder the Avengers by destroying the island. It would be just be an unexplainable incident. He also wanted to show the politicians that their prisons were useless.
He had released Baron Zemo as an afterthought. Then the criminal had hijacked the plan.
“No. They are far from it and I doubt they even know that it exists,” said an annoyed Baron Zemo.
“So what shall we do?”
“Nothing. They are surely looking for their comrades. We will stay out of sight and only if necessary will we reveal our presence. In that case you will handle the Avengers and I will deal with the X men.”
“Okay,” said Simon wearily.
It prompted Baron Zemo to act in order to put Simon back on track. “You are doing the right thing. Remember that. This is for the greater good of the world,” Baron Zemo insisted.
Simon nodded. “Your right.” He acted like a broken and confused man.
“Of course I am. The Avengers are in the south of the island. I’ll be in the north,” said Baron Zemo and then he teleported away from the cliff.
He reappeared inside the underground complex called Morlocke One. It was the location of the thermal bomb, which had already been activated and was counting down to detonation.
Baron Zemo observed the bomb that was in the shape of a cube. It was completely black and silent.
He sighed since the bomb had another thirty minutes to go. He rather it exploded now then he would be able to carry out his other plans. The hindrance was that he had to seem to die also in the explosion.
Meanwhile Simon headed to the Avengers. He camouflaged his energy signature while he observed the group from a distance. Then Simon cursed, when he saw T’Challa.
“Him,” said Simon.
Then he became concerned that the Avengers would find the captives because those men had seen his face, when he had attacked the barracks. He didn’t bother to warn Baron Zemo since he believed the new Avengers were minor problems.
Chapter Five
The Black Panther and the Avengers searched in vain for a trace of their comrades or even the prisoners. The Davenport army barracks was a ghost town. Falcon had even commented that the island had no animals on it. T’Challa had also noticed that there were no signs of a gun battle. The armoury was still stocked with weapons.
“They were caught totally unawares,” thought T’Challa.
The next place T’Challa thought it best to check was underground. He regretted not being able to hack the blue prints of the maximum-security prison in time for the mission.
“It would have helped things,” he thought.
In regards to the political thinking behind turning Genosha into an island prison, he believed improving the inter dimension prison in the Negative Zone was a better option.
From what he had gleaned from his sources the US Congress were afraid that having advanced super power humans imprisoned on the Raft had become too dangerous. They preferred a prison outside of US territory. The Netherlands also had lost faith in the International Criminal Court to keep its prisoners in the country without jeopardising the citizens. And then a slew of other countries had the same idea.
T’Challa’s train of thought was broken by Blue Marvel’s approach.
“I found an opening to an underground tunnel,” said the man who was built like an Army Ranger.
“I’ll inform the others,” said T’Challa. But he called Ororo first.
Within moments the Avengers assembled inside a bunker. Blue Marvel led them through a door adjoined to a stair well. The electrical power was gone in the tunnel below so the team improvised to see in the dark.
The Black Panther had enhanced night vision while the energy based members lighted up their hands to provide illumination.
Blue Marvel and Pulsar both sensed the imbalance within the corridor. It was like a veiled alternate reality existed there.
Pulsar was quicker to make it known. “T’Challa this corridor is fake,” she said.
“An illusion,” remarked Luke Cage.
“More than that it is camouflage,” said Blue Marvel. “I can change it though.”
“Then do it,” suggested T’Challa.
The Blue Marvel concentrated on the corridor.
“Stop,” someone shouted from the top of the staircase. “Don’t go any further it is a trap.”
Everyone turned to the speaker. It was Simon.
Chapter Six
“Where did he come from?” Iron Fist asked as he raised his right fist that glowed from the body’s chi energy.
“Where are the others?” asked T’Challa.
“I’ll show you,” Simon replied.
T’Challa and Cage exchanged glances briefly. Both knew the history between Simon and Baron Zemo.
“What are the odds that we found him first?” T’Challa pondered.
“Adam stay here and continue with unmasking the corridor, when I give the signal,” the Black Panther said lowly to the Blue Marvel.
He took the kimoyo from his belt and he sent a text message to Ororo. All the while he climbed the stairs. His free hand ready to grasp the sword attached to his back at any moment.
“Why can’t you tell me where the others are?” inquired T’Challa.
He was an imposing man with a peak human body, hyper senses and superhuman strength. He stood at six feet tall. His body was covered in the ceremonial Black Panther body armour suit.
Presently he heard the wild beating of Simon’s heart and his erratic breathing.
“He is nervous,” thought T’Challa as he cautiously approached the man.
The Black Panther was also aware that the Grim Reaper was Simon’s brother. For that reason he was not sure if the man had acrimony towards him. Also the Grim Reaper was the first criminal he had captured as an Avenger.
“Some of them are holed up in a cave. I’ll lead you to them,” said Simon.
Nonchalantly, T’Challa walked up to the man’s face and stared him in the eye.
“Simon,” the Black Panther said. “You’re lying.”
Simon attempted to push T’Challa away from him but the Black Panther caught his hands.
“Adam,” shouted T’Challa, giving the signal.
At that instant Simon summoned his higher strength level and then he lifted the Black Panther, throwing him through the bunker’s roof. But that was only for a moment as the time space computers on the sword returned their master to the front of the bunker.
When T’Challa re entered he saw the burly Luke Cage hammering into Simon. Iron Fist went to the side and he punched the traitor in the ribs with all his supernatural might. Pulsar attacked Simon’s eyes with her powers. Combat experience told her that Simon had to be subdued for information rather than be gravely injured.
Simon grew furious because he had felt Iron Fist’s and Pulsar’s attacks. He began to increase his mass and height to regain the advantage in the fight. In the process he knocked off Cage and Iron Fist.
“Everybody out,” ordered T’Challa as he had seen such a transformation before.
Very soon Simon would be tall as a hill. Pulsar became intangible and flew through the wall of the bunker. Meanwhile Luke Cage and Iron Fist had punched their way out.
T’Challa stepped away from the bunker as Simon continued to grow like the mythical Hindu deity Hanuman.
“That is your first mistake,” commented T’Challa.
He activated the blade on his sword. A robotic sheathing travelled into the hilt and left a sharp edged dark force energy blade.
Meanwhile Blue Marvel erupted from the tunnel and he smacked a right hook into Simon’s face. The now giant Simon staggered from the jaw breaker punch. But then he regained his composure and he fired beams of red energy from his eyes towards Blue Marvel.
T’Challa looked away from the glare and he spotted Falcon.
“Sam, check out the tunnel,” shouted T’Challa.
Then the Falcon disappeared into the ground. T’Challa returned his focus on the towering enemy. Simon was charging his hands with ionic energy. He intended to engulf his foes in the energy’s melting force.
T’Challa didn’t want to kill him so the Black Panther had to be careful where he landed the blow with his sword. Finally he decided.
“Take me to his throat,” said T’Challa to his sword.
Within nano seconds the sword teleported the Black Panther underneath Simon’s chin. Then with a graceful swipe of the sword T’Challa cut open the giant’s throat.
“Yrk,” went Simon and he held his throat. Surprised that a weapon had inflicted such a wound.
He lost his balance and plummeted to the ground, landing on a bed of bunkers. T’Challa teleported next to him. Gradually Simon returned to his normal size.
T’Challa kept an eye on him as the reversion occurred. He planned to reduce the blood circulation in Simon’s body to decrease the bleeding in the throat. Then he would stabilise the wound. The easy part would be getting the information he needed because Iron Fist had both healing and telepathic abilities.
Simon reverted completely to his normal human size. The Avengers quickly gathered around him. T’Challa channelled his strength and applied pressure to various parts of Simon’s upper torso to control the flow of blood. The he applied pressure to the wound.
“Danny,” he said to Iron Fist. “Check his mind.”
Iron Fist rested two fingers on Simon’s forehead and he concentrated on entering the man’s consciousness. The ability was an element of his supernatural powers. He stayed about a minute with his eyes closed during the process. Then he opened his eyes and took his fingers off the traitor.
“He’s working with Baron Zemo,” informed Iron Fist. “The Avengers are in a south west underground complex while the X men are in a northern one.”
“What about the prisoners?” inquired T’Challa.
“They are still in their cell pods. Simon had only freed Baron Zemo,” answered Iron Fist. “And there is another thing. A bomb is on island and we have about ten minutes before it goes off. It is in the centre of the island.”
“All right,” said T’Challa as he contacted Falcon on the kimoyo. “Sam what do you got?”
“I was about to call you. There are about a hundred S.H.I.E.L.D personnel down here. They are all unconscious,” stated Falcon.
“Stay there. Luke and Pulsar are coming down to help evacuate those people,” said T’Challa.
Immediately the two Avengers took the cue and they left in a hurry for the tunnel. Then T’Challa hung up.
“Danny heal him and place a physiological loop on his mind. That should keep him for the time being,” said T’Challa while he gazed at Simon who was conscious but incapacitated by the wound.
T’Challa called Ororo and she answered.
“Ororo we have to destroy the force field tower. When that is done contact the Ny’mea warship that you ordered here. I told them to hack the blue prints for the construction on the island. The X Men are imprisoned in an underground complex in the northeast,” said T’Challa and then relayed the news of the bomb and Baron Zemo. “Blue Marvel will handle the bomb but I believe Baron Zemo would be there so the X men will be needed to cover him. Iron Fist and I will rescue the other Avengers.”
He ended the call and turned to Blue Marvel. Adam was an accomplished engineer so tackling the bomb would not be confusing for him. Still T’Challa didn’t want to waste time.
“Adam you take that bomb and get as far away from here as possible,” T’Challa said.
“Got it.”
Iron Fist rose. “I’m done here,” he said.
“All right. We should be getting the exact details of those locations soon,” said T’Challa.
Chapter Seven
Ororo believed that her team mates were also questioning the future of the X men without Scott leading them and her role in the team.
Then T’Challa’s call came and Ororo informed her X men of the new developments. She then flew towards the force field tower and brought her weather manipulation powers to bear down on the structure. She fired bolts of lightening from her hands into the base of the tower. The structure leaned to one side and fell.
The force field disappeared into the night sky. Ororo then contacted the Ny’mea warship for the information. A minute later she received the details and transferred them to T’Challa. Then she looked up the Baron Zemo file.
She saw that Baron Zemo controlled electromagnetic waves and he had a permanent mask that protected him from telepaths.
“That rules out Wolverine, Psylocke and Angel from the battle,” thought Ororo. “I’ll let them along with Nightcrawler rescue Scott and the others and take them to the Blackbird.”
She did that and another message came from the warship. Ororo read it afterwards she called Rogue.
“There is a S.H.I.E.L.D naval air carrier off the island’s coast. It is called the Philadelphia. We have to transport the prisoners there for safekeeping,” she said and then relayed the locations of the cell pods.
To the rest of the team she said, “I’ll handle Baron Zemo.”
With the instructions given out, Ororo headed for the centre of the island. She pondered that an electro magnetic wave may have been the cause of the black outs around the island.
“But the tower was left functional,” thought Ororo.
She tinkered with the idea that Baron Zemo and Magneto may have clashed and the Baron restored powered to the tower.
Then another scenario came to her mind. “If Magneto and his daughter Polaris-two masters of electro magnetic energy- fought Baron Zemo and were defeated. Then how will I fare?”
Ororo approached a small dome structure. She checked her kimoyo to verify that it was the location of the bomb. Indeed it was. The bomb was underground and it was designed as a fail-safe device in the event something went totally wrong on the island.
She landed in the front of the structure. Blue Marvel hadn’t arrived as yet. There was an elevator; she was hesitant to enter it because of her claustrophobia.
“Come on Ororo,” she said inwardly.
She entered it and pressed the down button. The elevator began descending. Experience told her that she was entering an ambush since Baron Zemo hadn’t revealed himself.
“Or he may had fled already,” she thought. “What will he gain in staying?”
Ororo’s doubts forced her into action. She opened the hatch to the elevator’s roof and she climbed out. Ororo then concentrated on heating the air within the shaft. That caused a thermal draft that lifted her off the elevator. She glided on the air currents a few feet above the elevator.
The metal box arrived at the ground level and stopped. A second later it exploded. Ororo covered her face as metal fragments flew up.
“So he is here,” thought Ororo.
When the danger had passed she pointed her hands downward at the burning elevator.
Mentally she said, “Harsh cold.”
By manipulation the air between her palms and the elevator became super cooled. It then consumed the flames and the broken elevator was left icy.
Ororo descended into the ruins and she pushed aside the fallen door that blocked the path to the complex.
She then saw Baron Zemo. He was fairly six foot three and burly.
“I sense that you’re alone,” he said.
“Surrender peacefully,” commanded Ororo. “Else I will leave here with you half dead for what you did to my friends.”
“Is Magneto also your friend?” asked Baron Zemo as he was stalling for time.
Ororo glared at him then she remembered the bomb.
“I don’t have time for this,” she thought. “And where is Blue Marvel?”
“Not even him unleashing the full magnitude of his power could hinder me,” boasted Baron Zemo.
At that moment Blue Marvel craved himself through the ceiling. He emerged a few feet behind Baron Zemo.
Ororo took the opportunity to attack first in order to distract Baron Zemo. She concentrated on the gravitational forces around Zemo. He sensed it and reacted by reflex. Thus they were locked in a battle over the control of electro magnetic energy.
Blue Marvel assessed the situation and then he searched for the bomb. He headed further into the complex and he found the device. As instructed he lifted up the massive bomb and he flew upward through the ceiling with it.
Baron Zemo determined that the bomb was either stopped or removed. He resigned himself to teleport away since the plan had failed. But he couldn’t. His energies were focused on stopping on Ororo.
“Enough of this,” he said inwardly.
He edged closer to Storm with the intention of using his hand to hand combat skills on her. That was the means in which he had defeated Magneto.
Ororo noticed the change in Baron Zemo’s tactic. She made a roundhouse kick to his throat. He blocked it and then punched down on her right shoulder. Ororo drifted away from the impact to collect herself.
She noted that Baron Zemo was equally fast as her and a skilled combatant. A prolonged battle would not be to her advantage and the quickest means of defeating him was to go for the eyes. She needed to trick him though.
Ororo snapped back into attack with a series of punches that were easily parried by Baron Zemo. He shaped his hands like the hood of a cobra and he struck at Ororo’s throat. She would not survive it.
In a flash Ororo held onto Baron Zemo’s lower arms and she used them as leverage to pull herself up to his face. She then scratched the man’s eyes with her nails like a hawk’s talons.
Baron Zemo yelled in pain. Ororo then performed another trickery. She began manipulating the oxygen out of the man’s lungs. He collapsed with Ororo holding onto him.
He stopped moving and Ororo realised that Baron Zemo had passed out. Blue Marvel returned to the scene with his uniform burnt from the bomb’s explosion.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Ororo and nodded. “Now let’s get him back in a cell pod.”
Her shoulder pained her and her arms were throbbing from being squatted away from Baron Zemo.
“I’ll call T’Challa and tell him that things worked out,” stated Blue Marvel.
They secured Baron Zemo and then flew out the complex.
Chapter Eight
T’Challa and Iron Fist were able to locate their comrades despite them being cloaked by an illusion. Meanwhile Pulsar created several force field orbs to carry the personnel to safety.
An hour later all the prison officials were rescued by the X men and Avengers teams. The rest of the mutants and Avengers were revived. Iron Fist had explained that Simon had released Baron Zemo out of a sense of loyalty.
Afterwards T’Challa and Ororo returned to Wakanda and discussed the mission.
“I didn’t know that Randy had telepathy,” said Ororo.
“He has been practising it for some time now,” informed T’Challa.
“Simon was pretty screwed up,” remarked Ororo while resting on the sofa.
“Most likely he’ll end up in the same Genosha prison,” said T’Challa as he prepared the massage items for Ororo.
“So how did it go with your team?” inquired Ororo.
“Great. Everyone pulled his or her weight as usual. What about your group?”
“It was like a well oiled unit,” commented Ororo.
“But it brings up a question.”
“Which is?”
T’Challa turned to her. “If something was to happen to Scott. Who would lead the X men permanently?”
Ororo smiled and she said, “I have thought about that also. If no one else objects I will have to take over the mantle.”
“Will you re locate the X men to Wakanda?”
“Yes,” replied Ororo. “Would it be a problem?”
“No,” answered T’Challa.
“Then why ask?” probed Ororo.
T’Challa paused for a second and then he spoke, “Leading the X men is a full time job. They are your family. So I wouldn’t stand in your way of taking care of them.”
Ororo looked at him for a moment as she considered his words. She sat up and held T’Challa’s face. He was on the floor preparing a blanket.
“I can handle being a wife, a national leader and taking care of the X men,” she said honestly.
“And still keep that independent flare?” joked T’Challa
“And I will still have that independent flare,” said Ororo and smiled. “But you forgot to mention someone.”
“Umba,” said T’Challa warmly.
“Yes. We’re responsible for him too and it is not only I with multiple responsibilities. You have your share of things to do in safeguarding the world. The Avengers even require your leadership. Who knows they might re locate here also?” Ororo joked. “So we’re equal.”
Chapter Nine
Olotunji was pleased with himself. He had broken up Enzi’s relationship with Umba and he got her to complete Malouda’s formula.
He reported his success to the secret society splinter group. They were equally glad about the progress made. Enzi’s assistance brought them closer to the understanding of a prime particle that governed the universe.
Next Story: The God Particle
