BIOGRAPHY - page 24
Peace required more than the absence of war, however. The Midnight Angels wanted no conflict, but they would not submit to the rule of one man, or woman, ever again. The disciples of Changamire also sought to have their voices heard, as promised when they turned away from Tetu's extremism. A gathering was held where T'Challa made it clear he could not simply pardon the Midnight Angels for their crimes. They had violated the law of Wakanda, not just the throne, substituting their judgment for the rules governing the people. To allow this would be to invite others to do the same. And so, there would have to be a new law in Wakanda. A Constitutional Council for Wakanda would be established, a new ruling government of the people and for the 
people. The Black Panther, sacred and recognized champion of the goddess Bast, would remain as the representative of the nation, but the day-to-day governing of the Wakandans would be done by speakers chosen by the people from its various regions, from the Jabari lands to the Alkama fields. With his decree, T'Challa removed the burden of rule from his brow, welcoming the voices of his people to govern themselves. [Black Panther (6th series) #12]
The Black Panther continued to face many challenges, but with greater freedom. He was still one man who represented his nation, but no longer one man to rule the people. Seeking to change the way he dealt with the world, T'Challa began reaching out to those who, for reasons relating to the crown, he had lost contact with. The Black Panther contacted Kasper Cole, reinstating him as the White Tiger and giving his former acolyte a mission and a purpose again. [Black Panther: World of Wakanda #6] He reached out to Vibraxas and Queen Divine Justice, who had been living in exile ever since the incident in the Jabari lands. Queen (answering to her birth name Asira now) was not ready to forgive all that happened between them and return to Wakanda, but she 
respected T'Challa's efforts and agreed to stay in touch with him. [Black Panther (6th series) #14] The resurrection of M'Baku in the Jabari lands may have once given the throne pause, but T'Challa knew the Midnight Angels would not allow Man-Ape to gather more than a few extreme cultists to the White Gorilla again. [Black Panther: Long Live the King #4-5] One last adventure with Everett K. Ross contending with Malice and Hunter must have felt nostalgic for the king. Not all T'Challa's memories proved sweet, however. He discovered that, in his absence, Monica Lynne had succumbed to cancer. Even Wakanda was unable to stop the spread of her disease at this late stage, and she passed away. The Black Panther ensured Monica Lynne was given a funeral in Wakanda with the full honors of the state. [Black Panther (6th series) Annual #1]
The relationship T'Challa was most interested in repairing was his connection to Ororo. As his responsibilities to Wakanda were significantly delegated under the new constitutional monarchy, T'Challa felt free to try courting Ororo again. They both got involved with investigating the death of 
Ezra Keith, a Harlem activist who once coordinated with undercover Wakandan agents in the rise of Civil Rights era black heroes. T'Challa stayed on to assist Ororo, who had been friends with Keith, and repay his debt to Luke Cage and Misty Knight from the Crew, who were also involved. Their efforts uncovered a scheme by Hydra to destabilize Harlem with race riots and civil unrest. [Black Panther & the Crew #1-6]
A lingering concern remained over Wakanda's fate, however. Throughout the uprisings and conflict, the gods of Wakanda known as the Orisha had remained silent. Even Bast, the Panther God, made no manifestation to T'Challa or anyone else. While courting Ororo, T'Challa asked her what it was like to be worshipped as a goddess in her youth, and if it changed her. Indeed, Wakanda seemed changed in the gods' absence -- portals to an other-dimensional realm opened around Wakanda, spilling out beings known as the Originators, creatures of Wakandan myth who had been held at bay by Orisha magic, which no longer seemed at hand. In the midst of this chaos, Asira Davin was kidnapped from New York by Zeke Stane and his allies, now working from Azania over the borders of Wakanda as a staging ground to attack the nation. A shaman named 
Ras the Exhorter soon appeared in Wakanda, claiming the absence of the Orisha was a sign of a new god, Sefako the Twice-Risen, imposing his will on their lands. When Black Panther discovered one of the Originator portals was a decoy construct, though, he realized another game was being played. The decoy portal was sonic technology: Klaw had returned to Wakanda. [Black Panther (6th series) #13-18]
Black Panther discovered Klaw was working with an unstable form of artificial Vibranium known as Reverbium, with Azania as his launching point for attacks on Wakanda. Before learning of Klaw's involvement, the Midnight Angels attempted a rescue of Asira only to be captured themselves in Azania. Through Zawavari and Shuri's connections to ancestral memory, T'Challa learned the true history of the Orisha and their role in caging the Originators and colonizing the lands that became Wakanda. The Orisha were implicated as powerful mortal beings instead of Gods from their conception. They found a way to tap into the faith of their countrymen, arising to become Gods thanks to this devotion.
T'Challa lent aid to the people of the Jabari lands, helping to save Ayo and Aneka despite their revolution against the crown earlier. He and Ramonda provided additional Midnight Angel armor to the Dora Milaje so they could rescue their leaders. In this manner, the crown regained the love and support of the Dora Milaje. Ras was defeated and Klaw fell to his own hubris, his sonic form degrading and breaking apart due to his reliance on the unstable Reverbium for a power boost. All 
was not finished, however, because it was discovered that Ras the Extorter was Asira Davin behind the mask. Okoye reached out to Asira and they learned Asira was brainwashed through the efforts of Doctor Faustus and Zenzi thanks to the true power behind the uprisings: Sefako the Twice-Risen, successor to the Orisha, instigator of the Originators, but best known to Storm of the X-Men as... the Adversary. [Black Panther (1st series) #166-171]
As the heroes of Wakanda fought against the Trickster God, Black Panther prepared the contingency plan he had in mind for this scenario. Having seen this (or something like this) as a possibility, T'Challa was ready to recreate the conditions that led the Orisha to arise from heroes to Gods all those eons ago. And so, he had the people of Wakanda pray to his ex-wife. As the spiritual avatar of the Wakandan people, T'Challa redirected their prayers and faith to Ororo. She became the Hadari Yao, the Walker of Clouds, and channeled the faith of a nation to temporarily become a Goddess in reality, not just name. The power of the Goddess Storm proved enough to drive back the Adversary, banishing him beyond the mortal plane once again. When the crisis had passed, T'Challa and Ororo rekindled their passions. Although she was still no longer Queen Ororo, she was the woman of T'Challa's heart, now and forever. [Black Panther (1st series) #172]
When enough time had passed, T'Challa reached out to Carol Danvers. There was considerable bad blood between the two of them after the way T'Challa broke apart the Ultimates and the Ulysses Initiative. Still, Black Panther was convinced the Ultimates were necessary to prevent the cosmic threats that they were formed to fight. Captain Marvel struggled to trust the Black Panther, and was further restrained by the executive order that disbanded the Ultimates, meaning that getting back together would be the equivalent of treason. The decision was taken out of their hands when America Chavez joined up with Galactus and forcibly reassembled the Ultimates anyway. The threat was greater than they realized, for Eternity himself was in chains -- all of reality was literally caged by an unknown and perhaps unknowable foe as the Seventh Cosmos was reincarnated as the Eighth. [Ultimates 2 (2nd series) #1-2]
The Ultimates attempted to keep their reformation a secret, meeting on Galactus' ship Taa II when necessary. However, Carol Danvers and T'Challa were both still active with the Alpha Flight program, and their sudden and joint absences caught the attention of Philip Vogt. An NSA analyst, Vogt and his team of Troubleshooters were tasked with monitoring the Ultimates in secret while they were active, and watching out for them violating the executive order once they disbanded. The Troubleshooters confronted the Ultimates on Taa II, only to discover the threat Galactus warned about was very, existentially, real -- The First Firmament, Eternity's predecessor as 
sentience of the First Cosmos, had an insane plan to re-impose itself on all of reality. The Troubleshooters had been infiltrated by one of the First Firmament's agents, and the Ultimates and Troubleshooters barely managed to prevent it from reverting Galactus back to his Devourer stage. Black Panther and the Ultimates were given leave to continue operating together after that, using the Alpha Flight space station for their coordinated efforts to preserve all that is. [Ultimates 2 (2nd series) #3-6]
Threat stood atop of threat as the days followed. Earth's heroes were betrayed by Captain America, secretly the Hydra Supreme from a different version of reality. He manipulated events to legally seize control of America and S.H.I.E.L.D. while also activating a planetary defense shield that locked Captain Marvel, Alpha Flight and the rest of the Ultimates out in space. New York and its mass congregation of heroes (including Ororo and the X-Men) were trapped behind a mystically reinforced Darkforce dome. While some remaining heroes gathered for an underground 
resistance in America, the Black Panther bunkered down in Wakanda to protect his people. And Wakanda was threatened, for the Hydra Supreme was desperate to reassemble the power of the Cosmic Cube, and one of its fragments landed in T'Challa's hands. The Black Panther embarrassed Rogers by driving off his attackers, but he also refused to hand over the Cube fragment to Iron Man and the underground.
During the struggle on Earth, the First Firmament manipulated the alternate Reed Richards known as the Maker into helping it pursue its schemes. The Ultimates were summoned by Galactus and his Eternity Watch to prevent the walls between realities from dissolving, allowing the First Firmament to absorb Eternity (and therefore all of reality) into itself. T'Challa was trapped on Earth, but he found a way to assert himself by evoking the proper god. The Orisha were still absent, but the Black Panther could still supplicate himself before the Tiger God, the first thing all 
men feared in the night. T'Challa beat the Tiger God in a show of strength, using its power to ascend to the metaphysical planes and fight alongside Galactus to restore the cosmic principalities to their proper order. The threat of the First Firmament was contained by the sentiences of the previous Cosmoses, and the Ultimates' raison d'etre was concluded. [Ultimates 2 (2nd series) #9, Ultimates #100]