The Great Ring

The young woman's name was Idie Okonkwo. In all honesty, J'Zaki wouldn't have picked her out of any crowd normally. The woman looked exceptionally average. Her looks, body, temperament. They all just screamed average.

And it didn't take much to convince her. J'Zaki told her that she was a potential Khethiwe and that he was forming a team to help him oppose some others in a few years. The woman agreed without asking any questions.

So she and J'Zaki were currently heading down the mountain on a surfboard made of ice and using blasts of water to control his speed and the direction that he went. But even though he returned so fast, Ororo still beat him back to the Design Group.

Standing next to her was a scrawny young man that looked like a strong gust of wind would knock him over. He seemed shy and withdrawn so Ororo introduced the boy to J'Zaki and the new girl.

"J'Zaki. This is Nezhno Abidemi. He is currently 15 so he is a year younger than you. I hope that he can be of help to our cause."

Nezhno was a half-Wakandan. During a trip to Greece, his mother got knocked up by a Russian. She didn't find out about it until she had returned to Wakanda. Because his father was an outsider, Nezhno was despised by most Wakandans who hated outsiders. The only reason that the Munroe family was immune to this treatment was due to their close relationship with the Royal Family but there were still Wakandans who whispered about how they didn't belong.

Ororo had given the same basic explanation as J'Zaki and Nezhno agreed to join them. He was already an outsider so he was open to any opportunity to join something that may earn his respect amongst his fellow citizens.

J'Zaki also introduced Idie to the others before bringing them both into Shuri's lab. The two potential mutants were then strapped down on some tables. After they were strapped down, Shuri came out with two large syringes filled with the same liquid that Shuri had shown them earlier. She then injected the liquid into each of them before sitting in a chair at the side and pulling out her laptop.

"Why are you just sitting there?" J'Zaki asked

"It will take between 10 and 30 minutes for the serum to make its way through their systems and activates their X-Genes. I still have other work I need to do so I will work on that while we wait."

Watching Shuri work, Ororo walked over to the pair and began talking to them.

"Hey, guys. How are you holding up?"

"I hate it," Idie honestly spoke her thoughts. "I am a Jabari. We do not use... these things."

"I get that. We know that this is pushing what you are comfortable with and thank you for still going through with it. You are doing something amazing for Wakanda." Ororo spoke like a true queen thanking her subjects. Her words were comforting and apologetic to the young woman, which was exactly what she needed to hear.

Time began to pass quickly while Ororo and the pair talked. The happy atmosphere soon turned serious when the Nezhno started yelling out in pain. The screaming only lasted two minutes but those two minutes seemed especially long to Idie who had yet to go through it. The young woman began pulling on her restraints.

"Let me go! I changed my mind! Let me go!"

"Ki! Hold her shoulders down," Ororo ordered before cupping the other woman's face and speaking as gently as she could. "Idie. The serum has already been injected. This is going to happen. But if you keep thrashing around, you're just going to hurt yourself. But don't worry. I will be here through it all. You just need to look me in the eyes, remain calm, and let the serum do its job."

"She's right. You need to stay strong. You are a Wakandan and a warrior. This shall be nothing more than a small trial." J'Zaki cheered her on in his own way. Although he did not seem as caring as Ororo, he was still trying to be supportive.

Idie knew that what Ororo and J'Zaki were saying was the truth but she was still scared. Still, she did as Ororo said and focused on her future queen. Even when the pain came and she started thrashing about, Ororo did not move an inch. She made sure that Idie knew she was with her throughout the whole process.

Once the pain faded, Idie's arms began to change. Ice was forming on her left arm while her right arm was ablaze. But even though both things were happening to her, it did not seem like Idie was bothered by it at all.

On the other table, the skin and bones from before were nowhere to be seen. Nezhno had become very muscular. His mutation was definitely physical in nature.

Shuri was sitting in her chair and observing the two. She was recording all the changes they had gone through and was planning on running them through a gauntlet of experiments. But with both of their mutations activated, Shuri's serum had a success rate of 3 out of 3.

The duo was confined to the lab to be put under constant tests by Shuri. She wanted to make sure that she knew everything about their mutations before she allowed them back with the general public.

Nezhno's power was muscle-mass expansion. Nezhno had the ability to increase the muscle mass of his body, allowing him to drastically increase in size and strength almost instantly. Every time he sued his powers, even after reverting back to normal, he got a little larger.

The issue was that his body couldn't handle the increased muscle mass. His powers caused him to have seizures. So Shuri had to use an ancient technique that bonded raw vibranium with his body in the form of tattoos. This was a method they used long ago to control seizures. Although they had medication, it didn't work as well as the tattoos did.

Idie was very different. Her powers had very few downsides, besides needing to make sure that she didn't let her powers run wild with her emotions. She could control the temperature around her, either raising it to the point where things spontaneously combusted or lowering them to the point that they froze.

But once she had a decent understanding of their powers, both were moved to the manor where they were trained by Ororo and J'Zaki to become members of the Great Ring, the mutant organization of Wakanda.