He thought back to his choice of methods to make himself more powerful; The Heart-Shaped Herb in Wakanda.
'Planning for the theft of the most precious resource from the most protected place on earth can wait until tomorrow. I am too tired for this shit'
_____________________________________________________________
Waking up the next morning was easier than it should have been, but a dreamless night had done wonders for his mood.
And so Arthur started his morning routine at 7 in the morning.
By 8, he was dressed, washed, had eaten, and was ready to start thinking about his immediate future. And his biggest objective yet:
Stealing the Heart-Shaped Herb directly from Wakanda, and maybe taking a little vibranium couldn't hurt.
'Still, the most important thing is the Herb right now. I don't know if they have a way to scan for and locate vibranium across the world.'
Because while his ability was extremely powerful when activated, he was still a normal human. Even after taking the Heart-Shaped Herb, he would still only be a basic superhuman. He could still die from a well-placed bullet, a spear thrust, a nuke, a blast from Chitauri weapons, or hundreds of other things.
The Heart-Shaped Herb would facilitate his life and allow him some leeway, but it was not in any way, shape, or form a guarantee of his survival.
What he hoped to accomplish, more than just a boost to his physical stats, was that the Heart-Shaped Herb would enhance all of his capacities, internal and external, from the muscles in his arms to his kidneys, from his heart and lungs to the most important part of all: his brain.
Because if his theory was correct, an overall physical boost would also boost his intelligence and processing power, which was something he really needed if he wanted to take advantage of his power to its fullest extent.
Already, his intellect had stopped him from going after Extremis and the Super-Soldier Serum. He didn't want to simply take the Heart-Shaped Herb and nothing else.
What he wanted was to have the capabilities to develop these other solutions further than they already were, to be able to take them as well and maybe, one day, have the people closest to him take them as well.
But that was a long-term goal.
For the short term, he needed a plan to go to Wakanda, get into the royal palace, locate the gardens of the Temple of the Kings where the Herbs were cultivated, immediately consume the Heart-Shaped Herb with Fading activated to hopefully dodge the voodoo bullshit, and after that, get the fuck out of the country and come back home.
All of that in less than a week, preferably four or five days, so that he could plan a date with Gwen before university started.
'Let's break it down into phases, shall we?'
'Phase 1 is going to be how to get to Wakanda. From the research he had done on the internet, Wakanda is in southeastern Africa, right between Kenya and Uganda.'
"Their capital is probably not where Wikipedia says it is, but I can improvise on the spot once there," he muttered.
'Taking a plane to Uganda or Kenya with Fading activated is probably not going to be too much trouble, but finding a vehicle once there is going to be annoying. Still, I'm sure it's possible.'
Arthur wrote down Phase 1 on his notepad and stood up to start pacing.
'Phase 2 is going to be how to locate the royal palace. It's probably going to be the most magnificent building in the capital, and then I need to locate the Heart-Shaped Herb.'
'That's going to be quite a bit more complicated, but from what I remember of the first Black Panther movie, the Herb is in what I think is called the Garden of the Temple of the Kings, and they are underground in the catacombs under the palace.'
'Once there, Phase 3 is probably going to be the easiest. If Fading works the way I presume it will, consume the Herb, get the power-up, get out of the country, and come back.'
Easy, right?
Arthur thought so too.
Immediately deciding on his next course of action, he chose to send a text to Gwen to fix their date before leaving.
Me:
Sorry, I have a trip planned for the next 5 days. Would you like to go get coffee together on Saturday?
Gwen:
Oh, okay. Yes, Saturday is fine by me. Where do you want to meet? Where are you going?
Me:
I will tell you Saturday where I am going. For the meeting, maybe the Met? I didn't have the chance to visit it in some time. It could be interesting if it tempts you?
Gwen:
Yes, of course it interests me, I'm in.
Me:
Great, that's a date. See you Saturday at 2 in the afternoon. Bye.
Turning off his phone and putting it on his bedside table, Arthur turned on his laptop to find the next flight to Uganda or Kenya. To throw off potential spies looking through his search history, he added flight research for every major country in Africa and Europe.
'There is one to Nairobi, Kenya, in 4 hours.'
Arthur closed his laptop, stood up, and started getting changed. Going to Africa in pajamas was not recommended by anyone.
Putting on beige cargo pants, a white T-shirt, and some boots, he grabbed a black Yankees cap and his sunglasses before closing his apartment door and leaving his building.
Taking the stairs, he didn't need to, but still said:
"FADE."
He immediately disappeared from view.
Walking on the sidewalk for a few moments, he noticed a woman calling a taxi to a stop and asking to go to JFK Airport. Running quickly before the taxi could leave, Arthur opened the second door and got in just as the taxi was leaving.
Nobody seemed to notice the door opening and closing or the briefcase that Arthur slightly moved to sit down on the seat.
An hour later, the taxi dropped off its customer in front of JFK Airport. Once again, everyone ignored the second door opening and closing.
Arthur quickly walked through the airport, looking and listening for an announcement or a sign to show his flight to Nairobi. Quickly identifying the gate he needed to go to, he made his way to the plane. Boarding hadn't started yet, so he sat down and waited for the call.
Two and a half hours later, the attendant made an announcement.
"Passengers for flight number KQ 3, departing at 12 o'clock for Nairobi, Kenya, please proceed to the boarding gate at Terminal 4. Thank you."
Arthur stood up, and twenty minutes later, he was seated on a half-empty flight towards Kenya.
'Let's sleep for the rest of the fourteen-hour flight. I will probably need it.'
_____