A couple weeks passed by and Ezekiel still heard nothing from Tony. Apparently he was chewed out by Pepper for hours over what happened with the test flight and subsequent crash. Which led to him being disgruntled and refusing to talk with Ezekiel. Tony was also upset at Ezekiel because Fury took his advice and told the people interested, Tony Stark was the one who invented the flying car they wanted him to find.
Since that was the case, Tony was flooded with "requests" to talk about the car and its propulsion systems. That just made Tony not want to talk with Ezekiel even more, since he blamed that issue on him too. Ezekiel didn't care though, he had other things to do and one of those things was something he put off doing till now.
Years ago he made a promise and it was now time to fulfill it. In front of him sat Erik Stevens who just came back from spending six months in the quantum realm. Since Erik was apprenticing under Hank Pym, Bill Foster and to a certain extent his wife Janet and Darren Cross. Erik ended up spending a lot of time with them helping to map out and study the quantum realm.
Most of the time they stayed on Earth and worked through the portal with the help of magic and drones. But they also did extended trips into the realm to study it and everything there. Erik and the rest just came back from one of those trips and during that time an opportunity turned up. T'Challa, Erik's cousin prince, was currently living in England and was going to Oxford University to earn a PHD in physics.
Ezekiel already sent some ninjas to spy on him and found that while T'Challa went to school, he was basically unprotected. Apparently playing up the whole, "student from a poor country" thing made it hard to have personal bodyguards. Sure Ezekiel's team found a couple hidden bodyguards that took the same classes as him. But they didn't really interact and were very hands off. Even when he was out of school, his apartment he stayed in wasn't monitored and he basically did as he pleased.
With that information in mind, Ezekiel had some of the better infiltration specialists at his disposal sneak into Wakanda. He basically left them alone since the first time they crossed paths, but now he needed information. The information he cared about was what king T'Chaka did after his confrontation with Erik. It wasn't hard but it did take a few weeks to figure out that T'Chaka didn't spread the news.
The only people who knew about Erik, his father and what happened in Oakland were the tribe leaders and the Dora Milaje that were in the throne room at the time. After that everyone was sworn to secrecy and it wasn't brought up again. Which made what Ezekiel wanted to do easier in the long run.
"Feel like contacting your cousin?" Ezekiel asked as he watched Erik for a reaction.
Erik nodded as he asked, "What took so long? I thought we were gonna do this sooner?"
Ezekiel shrugged helplessly as he said, "He was still in Wakanda and I really didn't wanna deal with their current security measures. With him being in England, it'll be a lot easier to contact him now."
"So wants the plan?"
Ezekiel grabbed his tablet and pulled up some information and handed it over to Erik as he said, "Here's what I came up with, tell me if you like any of them."
Erik skimmed through the list for a moment and stopped on the third plan as he asked, "Enroll as a student to become friends with him before telling him I'm his cousin? You really think that would be a good idea?"
Ezekiel shrugged as he said, "I just came up with plans, I never said they were any good… Also I'm pretty sure I borrowed that one from a movie plot."
Erik frowned slightly as he continued through the list and about a minute later he handed the tablet back to Ezekiel as he said, "Honestly the first option is the best one."
"I know, that's why it was placed there… So that's what you want to do?"
Erik nodded after a few moments before he asked, "When do we start?"
Ezekiel typed a few things on his tablet before he said, "I just sent the message, now we just have to wait for a reply."
Erik nodded in understanding before he said, "Alright, just let me know if he accepts and I'll free up my schedule."
"And if he doesn't accept?"
"If he's anything like the T'Challa you showed me. He'll at least talk to me once and give me a chance… If not, it doesn't matter. I'll still ruin his father's image with or without his help." Erik said with a slight shrug as he stood up to leave.
Across the world it was the afternoon and T'Challa was in his apartment doing homework on his computer when it pinged with a message. He glanced at it for a moment since it came from an unknown sender and as he was about to ignore it, he realized it was sent to his Wakanda email address. The same address that only a handful of people even knew about, let alone could reach.
He quickly opened up the message and frowned as he read it over. It was short and only said, 'Your father committed fratricide and covered up the truth. Only a handful of people know that another prince of Wakanda lives in exile.' After the message was a video attachment that T'Challa debated on opening. He reread the message a couple times and almost contacted his father before he decided to watch the video first.
The video showed a room he had been inside many times before, one that was familiar and at this moment completely foreign to him. His father, mother and the council sat in their chairs as they looked at a teenage boy and a tall grizzled man white man. The scene was completely out of place because a white person being in the heart of Wakanda was unheard of…
Until now apparently. One of the Dora Milaje stopped before the throne as she said, "My king, I have bought N'Jadaka son of N'Jobu and his companion Bear as asked."
T'Challa watched in silence as the entire video played and he went through a wide range of emotions during it. The video ended with his father telling everyone that what he revealed to them was now a state secret and that harsh punishment would befall anyone who leaked it. The leaders of the council easily agreed and as for the Dora Milaje, it was part of their job.
As the video faded to black a message appeared that said, "If you wanna talk, reply to this email and we will meet you."
T'Challa didn't even take time to think about it and instantly replied to the message asking to meet. Right after he sent his reply message, the email, the video and his reply email were deleted instantly. As he attempted to find the email and video a system message on his computer popped up and said, 'Understood, we will see you soon.'
As T'Challa sat there in contemplation over what he just watched, a portal opened up silently behind him. A moment later Erik stepped out of the portal along with the other man named 'Bear' from the video. T'Challa who heard sound from behind instantly turned around as the portal snapped closed. He was already out of his seat and in a defensive stance when his eyes focused on Erik.
He didn't relax his guard as he quietly studied the surprisingly young man in front of him as Erik did the same in return. After almost a minute T'Challa said, "I didn't expect to meet you so quickly."
"Neither did I… I figured you would think it over for a few days."
T'Challa glanced over to the other man who stood silently behind Erik as he said, "I tend to be impulsive… Something my parents said needs to be fixed if I want to be a proper leader."
Erik frowned the tiniest bit before he asked, "So what do you think?"
T'Challa relaxed and after a few moments he finally said, "N'Jada… Sorry. Erik… I want to thank you for not killing my father, I don't think I could have done the same thing in your place."
Erik studied T'Challa honest expression for a few moments before he asked, "Will you still feel the same way when I ruin his reputation?"
"It's just his reputation, he will still be alive which matters more to me. Even though…" T'Challa's voice trailed off as he sighed and dropped down into his chair as he added, "He's not the man I thought he was. To be able to kill his own brother and then cover it up…"
"Exactly… But the real question is, will you help take him down and get my revenge?" Erik asked as he glanced around the nicely decorated apartment.
"I don't know… I need time to think."
An alert tone rang out a moment later and Bear pulled out a cell phone to look at it. After a few moments he glanced at Erik as he said in his gruff voice, "An emergency came up, I need to go."
Erik nodded as he said, "Take off, I wanna talk with my cousin for a bit."
"What if some of his guardians realize you're here?"
As T'Challa started to shake his head and say something, Erik interrupted him as he said, "I'll be fine, I have my training and my suit. I'll contact you when I'm done here."
Bear nodded in response before he opened a portal and disappeared through it. T'Challa glanced at the spot where the portal was before he said in a questioning tone, "As advanced as Wakanda is, even we don't have the technology to create… Temporary wormholes?"
Erik smiled slightly as he walked over to the couch and sat down on it before he said, "I guess that's a good way to describe it."
"It's that the same technology they use in Genosha? I heard it's the only way to even enter the country now."
Erik shrugged as he said, "No clue honestly and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to tell you."
T'Challa nodded in understanding before he asked, "What can you tell me then… If you don't mind me asking?"
"What, do you wanna play twenty questions or something?" Erik asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You wished to stay and talk… I figured we could at least get to know each other a little."
As Erik and T'Challa started talking with each other, Bear returned to his training room. After switching into his Ezekiel persona and grabbing a couple things he created another portal and quickly disappeared through it. He arrived inside a private laboratory with only one person currently working inside it. The person was hooked up to a large machine that covered their head and seemed to be completely unaware of their surroundings.
Ezekiel walked over to the main control panel of the machine and checked a few things before he nodded in satisfaction. The modifications he did on the machine worked and there were no issues with it. Next he cast a quick detection spell and found that the extra components he installed also weren't tampered with. Happy with his findings, Ezekiel moved around the room to the corners of it and placed down the items he brought with him.
Once they were all in place he grabbed his phone and placed a call. In moments the other side picked up and he said, "Master, I need a hand setting up a concealment barrier."
"I can do it, but with this one I would rather be safe than sorry. It's because of what we talked about a while ago."
"Thank you."
Not even a minute after Ezekiel hung up the phone did another portal appear and Tao stepped out. She glanced at the items he placed around the room before she weaved a powerful spell. As the spell took shape Ezekiel felt the power the spell gave off and watched as the runic devices he placed hummed in resonance with it. After a few minutes the spell reached its peak and a barrier snapped into place around the room.
The barrier itself shimmered slightly with magical energy but otherwise had no other effects. Tao double checked everything before she created a portal and just before she left through it, she said, "Call me if you can't deactivate it yourself."
"I should be alright, but thanks again." Ezekiel said before the portal snapped closed.
Ezekiel glanced over at the man still in the device before he decided to sit down and wait. Instead of using one of the stools placed around the laboratory, Ezekiel pulled out a comfortable recliner from his storage seal and placed it in an empty corner. After sitting down he pulled out his tablet and started to work on it as he waited for the man to come out of the device he was using.