52 Start the Hunt

The morning had been relatively simple. Breakfast was delivered to the room roughly thirty minutes after Devin woke up which left him puzzled before chalking it up to some kind of monitoring system keeping tabs on him, maybe in the bed? It was as Devin was downing the rest of his coffee when there was a knock on his door.

'Here we go again. I need to start charging people for these visits.' Devin thought as he set the coffee cup down and walked to the door. Looking through the peep hole Devin paused for a minute before opening the door.

'Now I've completed the set.' Devin mentally laughed as he opened the door to show King T'Chaka and two dora milaje. The dora milaje swept in and checked the rooms before they returned to the king and bowed. He then entered and once again Devin was facing the same spot on the couch. Devin did notice that one of the two dora milaje was Ondati.

'What a coincidence.' Devin mentally smirked.

"Your Highness, to what do I owe this visit?" Devin asked as he finished clearing the table and sat back down.

"I just wanted to speak with you before you and my son head out." T'Chaka said to which Devin shrugged in acceptance.

"What do you want to know?" Devin said as he sat back and folded his hands. T'Chaka for his part merely stared at Devin for a minute before speaking.

"I hope that you will abide by our agreement during this collaboration. I would also like to tell you that a full squad of dora milaje will be accompanying you and my son." T'Chaka said. Devin didn't miss the subtle threat that was given though. The king was telling him this as a warning that his warriors will be watching T'Challa's back against enemies, but also keeping him safe from Devin as well should Devin be lying about his intentions.

"Understood your majesty. Now, I believe it is almost time for us to be heading out so if you will excuse me. I need to prepare." Devin said as he stood up as did King T'Chaka. It was then that a familiar voice spoke up.

"My king, may I speak?" Ondati asked from a full bow at the waist. Even with how neutrally the dora milaje always look Devin knew that this had to be abnormal for the other one to show a frown.

"Go ahead warrior." T'Chaka said a note curiosity in his voice.

"Thank you my king. Tell me Mr. Price, how do you plan to fight. When we came into the country your luggage was searched and you have no weapons. Do you expect us to lend you a weapon?" Ondati asked as King T'Chaka then turned towards Devin with his curiosity on display.

"I have my ways of getting weapons as well as other skills." Devin said as he folded his hands behind his back and a smile on his face.

"So, you plan on stealing them?" Ondati then said to which Devin continued smiling as he answered.

"From dead enemies? Yes I would." Devin replied. Ondati was about to report when T'Chaka spoke.

"Okay that's enough. If Mr. Price is unable to arm himself we can lend him a weapon temporarily for the mission. Now we need to get him as well as the others on their way." King T'Chaka said ending what Ondati was about to say. The king and his guards left, allowing Devin to prepare for the coming mission. Klaue was set up in a cavern that was hidden underneath a large hill to the southeast.

Devin had his usual arsenal of two handguns, an assault rifle, his buster sword, and his daggers. Another item he brought was the Iron Knuckle gloves as he hadn't used them yet. Placing all of the weapons in his inventory and donning the Iron Knuckles, Devin headed down to the steps that lead to the palace. There was another pair of SUVs parked at the base of the steps and T'Challa along with the five dora milaje standing next to them speaking with the king and princess.

"Take care son." King T'Chaka said as he laid his hands on his son's shoulders.

"I will father. I will finish this and return to you safe and sound." T'Challa said in his Black Panther suit without the helmet.

"Good luck brother!" Shuri said with both excitement and concern. T'Challa nodded his head before he noticed Devin standing nearby. The rest turned towards Devin to which Devin finally spoke.

"Lets get rolling." Devin said as T'Challa nodded once more before giving his father one more look before heading towards the vehicle while Devin got in the other. Three dora milaje got into T'Challa's SUV while the other two got into Devin's. It took roughly an half hour for the group to leave the capital's limits. Devin told the drivers where to head as they had connected the two cars' stereos so that they could coordinate.

***

Soon they had arrived at a thick forested area that was a mix of branches, thick umbrella-shaped leaves bigger than a trash can lid, and vines roughly the same size as Devin's arm. The vegetation caused the group to stop the vehicles and get out on foot.

"We'll have to be careful from now on. We have no idea if they have boobytrapped the area so watch your step." Devin said as he summoned his bastard sword. He turned to look at the others and they were all staring at Devin with confused stares though Devin wasn't sure about T'Challa due to his mask.

"What?" Devin asked as he stared back while holding the sword in his one hand.

"Where did you get that from?" T'Challa asked as the dora milaje all looked at one another like one of the others might have the answer.

"Don't worry about it." Devin said as he began chopping into the thick plants without looking back. The others began to follow after another shared look. Devin lead the way as the dora milaje and T'Challa helped to clear anything that was missed. An abrupt halt almost caused everyone to crash into one another.

"Why did you stop?!" one of the warriors asked angrily. Devin held up a single finger before reaching down and gently plucking a wire that looked like fishing line. This caused the wire to hum due to the tauntness of it. A few of the warriors sucked in a quick breath at how close they had come to possibly dying. Devin slowly and carefully stepped over the wire and slowly continued.

An hour later found the group having to dodge the thirteenth boobytrap, this one being a tiger pit filled with pungi sticks, and entering a clearing. From the side they had entered, the group could see a hill that had to be the one they are looking for.

The group began to move forward when a whistling sound slowly started to ring through the clearing. It took less than a second before everyone figured out what was happening.

"Get down!" T'Challa yelled as he grabbed the nearest dora milaje and pulled her to the ground as everyone else dove for the dirt. A massive explosion followed by a giant geyser of dirt and plant material rose up into the air. When everyone had stood up a voice was next to be heard.

"Well, well, well. Fresh meat. Hahaha!" the voice said as Devin and the others looked around. They soon found a group of people emerging and standing opposite of them, also armed to the teeth as well. Leading them was a face that Devin recognized readily and knew was one of the loans that Stryker had talked about.

"Creed."