THE CORPS issue 26: Chieftain Justice in, "A Hero for All" by Collin K Williams

And what did Merlin do? He made one man the British Commonwealth protector. One! The assembled leaders were against it. They asked, “How could one man possibly fight the scourges in all the lands at the same time?”

Merlin answered, “You shall see.”

The chosen man was also suspect. He was a commoner from the African bloc of the commonwealth. The man's nationality was Wakandan. That was all that Merlin said to the leaders while he presented the champion.

Admittedly the man looked the part. He was six foot four, burly, deep brown eyes, and clean faced. His demeanor was confident, but not arrogant.

“What is his name?” the leaders asked.

“He was born T'Challa, but I have renamed him Chieftain Justice,” replied Merlin while he gestured with his aged hands.

The leaders looked again at the young man. Chieftain Justice wore a uniform that had the British Commonwealth colors and the symbol on the chest.

“May I say something,” said Chieftain Justice.

The leaders gathered at the meeting calmed down and they listened attentively to Chieftain Justice.

“I know that this is a surprise to you. But I believe that I can carry out this responsibility,” said Chieftain Justice. “Presently our countries are under siege from cruel individuals. I will dedicate my every breath to the eradication of these people and see that justice be served.”

“But you are just one man,” said the leader from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Merlin stroked his long white beard. Then he adjusted his bifocal glasses. As chief scientist of the Commonwealth, Merlin had brought an audio visual presentation for the reason T'Challa was chosen. Therefore Merlin turned to his assistant Roma. The attractive young woman turned on the wall monitor, and she switched off the lights.

The leaders' faces were lighted by the monitor screen.

The double helix strand of human deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA) appeared on the screen. Besides the image were a series of mathematical formulas and a map of the various Commonwealth countries.

“His genetic code was the only one that I could have manipulated to become superhuman,” said Merlin frankly, “out of the two billion or so people in the Commonwealth.” Then Merlin strode in front the monitor. “Anyone else would have died or worse,” said Merlin.

“So what can he do?” asked the leader of Great Britain.

Merlin smiled in a knowing kind of way. “I'll let him show you,” answered Merlin.

“What?” asked the Canadian ruler.

The Caribbean and the Indo Asia leaders expressed skepticism on their faces. Nonetheless Merlin gestured to Roma. She promptly touched her kimoyo (palm held super computer).

“Chieftain Justice is going to fight two robots in Wakanda and then return here. Furthermore I did not tell him of this plan before hand. So you shall see what he can do in an emergency scenario. My assistant just activated the robots,” said Merlin. Thereafter he turned to Chieftain Justice.

The hero checked his computerized wristband that was wired to the international emergency response network. He pinpointed the locations of the robots and then he concentrated.

Instantly Chieftain Justice rose off the floor. The leaders gasped, as they had never seen a man fly on his own without artificial assistance. The group of leaders never took their eyes off Chieftain Justice while he quickly elevated out a sliding ceiling door.

Once outside, Chieftain Justice inhaled deeply. Super sonic, he thought. His body did the rest. The anti gravity force intensified; hence, the body became lighter. Moreover his acceleration increased. Soon after, a white vapor ring appeared over his lower body. Subsequently Chieftain Justice disappeared from over the Commonwealth Secretariat building in London.

In the brief time between the travel from Europe to Africa, Chieftain Justice reflected on his life up to that point when Merlin chose him. He remembered the values and virtues his law enforcement parents had instilled in him. Moreover the moniker Chieftain represented his ancestry as the direct descendant of an ancient Wakanda king.

Suddenly he saw the Kanga mountain peaks of Wakanda. He veered southwards and his hyper hearing caught the commotion on the ground from the giant techno organic robot.

Therefore Chieftain Justice decreased his speed, and he came out of the sonic speed. Then he approached the fifteen foot robot. The robot had one ruby red eye; meanwhile, the body was green and tough.

The robot was attacking an abandoned diamond mine. Killmonger Enterprises was the sign on the fence.

The robot spotted Chieftain Justice; immediately it began firing short laser beams in a spiral pattern from its hands. Consequently Chieftain Justice began eluding the attack by flying low behind metal drums. The drums pitched up and were thrown down as though they were in a shooting gallery.

Cannot waste time on this one, thought Chieftain Justice, leave it to Merlin to come up with an exhibition scheme like this. He came out of hiding and he was darting into the robot. Soon afterwards, he flew around to the back of the robot. Then he held the robot's head. He flexed his muscles and he pulled up with all his might. Consequently the robot's head was uprooted, and the torso fell forward.

Then in a merciless manner, Chieftain Justice punched his right fist into the head. His extra sensory vision made him aware of the central processor unit inside the head. Thus he crushed the unit with his hand.

Immediately after, he checked the wristband for the next robot. Thereafter he went super sonic, and he came upon the new robot. This robot was twenty feet tall and thick. However it had four arms and its armour was made from vibranium-adamantium.

I'm up against the two most indestructible metals in the world, thought Chieftain Justice.

Undaunted, he evaded the laser beams fired from the robot. Moreover he had a plan. The battle was on the south coast of Wakanda. The Indian Ocean was in the distance and running inland from the coast line was a vein of quicksand.

Just to get it in there, thought Chieftain Justice.

He was sneaking behind the robot when it turned to face him. He was surprised. The upper body of the robot turned clockwise followed by the lower body. Promptly the robot fired an immense energy beam into Chieftain Justice. The blast impact punched him across the ground.

He felt a pain in his head. He desperately shook it off before the robot closed on him. Hot vapor rose from his uniform and he smelt burnt flesh. Nonetheless he clenched his fists and stood directly in front the robot.

Then he moved like a lightning bolt towards the robot. The water vapor ring appeared over his lower body. Then he collided with the robot. The impact had no effect on the robot nevertheless it was carried into the air.

Chieftain Justice lifted the machine, and he flew over the quicksand. Thereupon he changed direction, and he headed downwards with the robot beneath him. The quicksand shot up when the two crashed into it.

However Chieftain Justice released the machine just as the quicksand was going to envelope them. Thus he leaned his head up and he flew out in time. Thereafter he exited the super sonic mode.

He hovered over the robot's grave for a moment. When he realized the robot was gone, he headed back to London in an instant.

He arrived to applause from Merlin and Roma, but the leaders were silent. Chieftain Justice observed the stoic faces; nevertheless, he felt proud of himself for proving Merlin's confidence in him correct.

“It was a nice display, but we shall see what you can do in the future,” said the Australian leader.

A few questions were asked that pertained to the base of operations, staff, and accountability. Merlin had answers for all the questions. The base was in Wakanda, a Dr. Ororo Munroe would supervise Chieftain Justice's medical care, and the Secretariat was in charge of the operation.

“I have multiple projects to work on,” said Merlin evasively. “So I will be moving in and out of the operation on occasions.”

Thereafter the meeting concluded. But one of the leaders called the crime lord he worked work and informed on the new situation.

“Tell me more,” said the crime lord in his guttural manner on the other end of the line.

Four days later, T’Challa and Dr Ororo Munroe had setup the base in Central City, Wakanda. Through cordial conversations, T’Challa learned that Dr Munroe was a single, independently minded, and highly intelligent young woman.

Furthermore, Dr Munroe had stated her guidelines to T’Challa on the first day.

“I want you to trust in my expertise, not merely because Merlin asked you to do so,” said Dr Munroe. “Additionally, I require your full cooperation at all times. We are a team. Agreed?”

T’Challa studied the woman who was six foot one; she was slender, she had a pony tail hair style, and thin eyebrows.

“Agreed,” said T’Challa, since he also believed in teamwork.

Thereon, the two worked on a fitness regime, medical schedules, and combat tests.

Ten bipedal robots provided miscellaneous staff; furthermore, twelve laboratory technicians came from Wakanda and other Commonwealth nations.

Afterwards, the public was made aware of Chieftain Justice at a ceremony attended by the Commonwealth leaders.

The public reaction was the same as the leaders. How could one man do this job?

However the public did not wait long for an answer. Fifteen minutes into the unveiling, news came of terrible wild bush fires in south Australia, and a tidal wave heading towards the Maldives.

Within seconds, Chieftain Justice was on his way to perform his duty.