There were many enemies T'Challa had faced who had wanted him to combine their forces. But no matter their tale, he knew the difference between good and bad, and he was determined never to give into the wrong side. He has people he loves, people he cares for, so much so that he would never indulge in the idea of leaving them for a second.

But it was always when he was beaten down in a fight that he would hear the voice that echoed through his mind, teasing him to go over the edge. The voice spoke to him in a way that made T'Challa believe, at one point, that it was coming from within him. However, once a face accompanied the voice in a faded glow, he knew it could not be something his mind was conjuring up.

He would be surprised if it weren't already a regular occurrence. And, as always, the figure in black said the same thing.

"Join me."

T'Challa sighs and looks down at the dusty ground. He lay there in pain, pushed to the limit from another battle against someone with the right thought but the wrong execution.

"Can you not see yourself?"

The figure's voice echoed out further as if it was wrapping itself around T'Challa's skull.

"I see myself." He spoke, "I know who I am. Stop telling me what I know."

"If you know, then why do you lay there? You have power, I know it. I sense it."

The man with ebony hair always spoke of a sense he could feel. An aura, Shuri had explained, but for some reason it was the type that was out of reach even to the Wakandans. It was always the point he would drive in his speeches, yet none of the time did it ever work.

His face was pale, his features were hard, but his expression was covered in anxiety. T'Challa noticed the way his lips would quiver when he would speak, as if he didn't believe the words he spoke either. Neither of them told each other their names, and yet it was somehow spoken in the back of their minds.

"Kylo," T'Challa says, standing up, "I use my power to help my people. Nothing you say will change my mind."

"What if I could help your people?" He steps forward, "We can improve their lives."

"You want to destroy their lives."

Kylo turns his head, looking at what is the inside of his ship. He cannot see T'Challa's surroundings.

"I want to let old things die." He turns to look at him again, "I know you have done the same thing. I can sense your past."

"What I did was to help the people who had no help before."

"They know about you."

"I let them see."

"Why?" The question echoes, "What have they ever done to gain your help?"

"Help is not gained. It is given." T'Challa speaks, voice raising.

Kylo walks around the room with his hands behind his back.

"Nor deserved." He says, "What makes you think you can trust them?"

"I have had enough of this."

T'Challa steps down the path and yet something holds him back, as if there is something in his way. A noise surrounds him, sounding like the pounding you get in your head after the blood rushes to your skull.

"Join me."

With a sigh, T'Challa closes his eyes. Kylo will stop at nothing to get him to join whatever side he's on.

"I will never join you." His words come out sharp.

"You're holding back!" Kylo shouts, suddenly making the ground feel like it is shaking, "Let go! You and I can bring a new order to the galaxy, to your world. Together we can make things how they should be."

"You are wrong." T'Challa says, turning around to face Kylo, "Your ways are wrong."

"Look inside yourself, you know--"

"You are wrong!"

His shout reaches back and attacks Kylo in a way likened to the Force. He steps backwards and takes a deep breath, surprised by the energy.

"I know the difference." T'Challa continues, "I have seen the difference! Your judgement is clouded by your belief."

They stare at each other for a moment, both searching for a sense of familiarity behind their eyes, and yet it seems to be of no use.

"Do not speak to me again." T'Challa says, turning to walk away.

"I don't think either of us can stop." Kylo speaks, "The Force is connecting us."

"I have no interest in this Force you speak of."

"But you will. Eventually."

This stops T'Challa from walking away.

"See?" Kylo starts, "Not even you can resist it. We're connected. We're the same."

"We are not the same." T'Challa says.

"We're the same in more ways than you think. I know you sense it too."

"I sense your past and I do not condone what you have done."

T'Challa steps forward towards Kylo before he continues.

"I see your actions when I am asleep. I hear the voices of those you have tortured. I know what you are."

"What am I?" Kylo asks, curious.

"A monster."

The words roll off T'Challa's tongue easily. He's heard a female voice echo the title when it's late at night and he cannot fall asleep. It taps against his mind.

Kylo's lips turn up into a smile, but they still quiver. He knows where he's heard this from. Who he's heard this from. He steps closer to T'Challa even more, making it feel as if they are in the same location.

"Yes." He whispers, and his voice echoes around T'Challa, "I am a monster. And you are a Panther."

T'Challa immediately steps away upon hearing this. His mind was so closely connected with Kylo that he must've been able to see through his thoughts. Through his memories.

"A Black Panther." Kylo says, "Of Wakanda."

"Now you see." T'Challa says after a moment of silence.

"I see."

Kylo can sense the fear seeping from T'Challa. It's there like the oxygen around them. He can feel it, but he cannot see it. He wants to breathe the fear in. So, after a moment, he tries to. He takes a deep breath and extends his hand.

"Join me." He says.

T'Challa doesn't move. Kylo's hand is raised near him, but he knows he isn't actually standing in front of him. Yet somehow by looking into his eyes, it almost feels as if they are standing right in front of each other.

As the moment draws out, T'Challa can feel something. It is as if energy is coursing through his body and he begins to feel cold. He feels as if he's surrounded by metal. He can smell steel floor.

Kylo can smell something too. It's heavy like wet dirt. He can smell the earth. He can feel the heat of the place T'Challa is standing, he can feel the gentle breeze.

Then a word attacks T'Challa's mind again. It scratches at his skin and forces him to say it out loud.

"Ben." He speaks.

Kylo sucks in a deep breath and suddenly he can no longer see T'Challa.

The Force is gone between them.