Part 1: A Curse On You All
Chapter 10
"You Got the Wrong Girl"
Thinking that they had gotten their hands on Jane, the three humanoid hyenas carried Naomi through the Jungle like a sack of flour as fast as they could towards Opar. Although her life was in great danger, Naomi was fascinated that she was being captured by strange and powerful creatures that stood on two legs and talked like normal people. It was no different than any of her other movies, but still it was dangerous nonetheless. Soon, the hyenas arrived back at Opar with what they thought was the vessel that La needed to be reborn. But, of course, they screwed up again as La inspected the vessel and discovered that it was not the one she wanted.
"You idiots!" La roared as she looked down at Naomi. "This is not the vessel that I need to be reborn! I want Jane! Jane!"
"But, I thought you said that you wanted…" begged Shenzi, but La interrupted.
"Silence!" shouted La. "Release this pathetic human at once and get me the woman who is the mate of Tarzan."
Although she was to be a temporary prisoner, Naomi did not really take kindly to insults and was determined to show La that she was not a pathetic human. True, Naomi may have been born and raised in New York, but she was always taught to show respect for your hosts and when you are a host yourself and clearly, La was not being a good host.
"Excuse me, missy," said Naomi sassily. "I am not pathetic and you should learn to respect your guests. Didn't your mother teach you any manners or somethin'?
"Do you know who you are addressing to?" snapped La, pointing her scepter right at Naomi's throat. "I am La, Queen of Opar, and you will address me as such!"
"I don't care if you are the Queen of England," replied Naomi, given La a distasteful look. "By the way youse are acting, you shouldn't evil be called a queen, more of a spoiled brat, if you get my meaning."
La was beginning to grow impatient over the insults that Naomi was giving her and pointed her spear at the three hyenas, beckoning them to come over. The humanoid hyenas could no longer stand the psychological abuse that La was giving them and wanted to not come forward. However, knowing the harsh punishments that La gives, they had no choice but to comply with her commands.
"I am going to tell you once and I am not going to tell you again," she said sternly. "Get this pathetic human out of my sight or I will make you all suffer the consequences."
"Yes, your highness," said Banzai nervously. "Anything you say. Come on, guys."
They grabbed Naomi and even though she was being dragged out of the kingdom, Naomi had some final parting words for Queen La.
"If you ever decide to come to New York," shouted Naomi as she was being led out of the throne room. "I'll show you what it means to be a true leader and it is not shouting at your subjects all the time!"
La ignored the remark and watched her humanoid hyenas lead the woman that she did not need be lead out of the throne room. Realizing that she needed to have better subjects to get what she desired, she summoned another humanoid hyena who was much more respectable than her three primary hyenas.
"Kaj," La said as she looked down at him. "Where did you put the new recruits from Cape Doom?"
"They are down in the dungeons, your highness," he said, rising to his feet after bowing to her. "Shall I bring them to you?"
"Do so at once," she ordered and Kaj left to retrieve the prisoners from the dungeons. A little while later, Kaj returned with several French Foreign Legion officers in a chain gang. La looked on as the soldiers as Kaj and several other humanoid hyenas brought them in and lined them up for La's inspection. La floated off her throne and looked at each soldier carefully. Their uniforms were dirtied and ruined, but La didn't care. She was going to make foot soldiers out of these men, one way or another.
"I have an assignment for all of you," she said as La floated back to her throne. "Perhaps you remember a certain woman. A woman named Jane Porter, to be precise."
The soldiers murmured amongst themselves for a moment before La turned back to them and that they fell silent.
"We know who you are talking about," she a fat soldier. "Colonel Staquait was obsessed with her and would do just about anything to get his hands on her. "
"Indeed," said another soldier. "He wanted her as a trophy of sorts. To do this, he would have needed to kill that Tarzan character. Perhaps we could tell you where she is if you just let us live."
La was amazed by this and was eager to hear what her new recruits had to say. For she knew that the men she had before her were willing to do her bidding and if necessary die for her cause. La needed competent soldiers and it seemed that these were the soldiers to do her bidding.
"All of you would be willing to fight and die for the cause of Opar, is that it?" she asked eagerly. The captive soldiers responded to her question with various nods and La beckoned the humanoid hyena soldiers to release the French Foreign officers of their bonds.
"Very well, then," she said. "I will find a way where you will all capture Jane while Tarzan is preoccupied. You shall serve me well as I look upon you as the best of my warriors."
She then turned towards Kaj again and the humanoid hyena was summoned over to the right side of the Queen of Opar.
"Kaj," she said to her henchman. "It is time to press these soldiers into Oparian warriors."
"At once, your majesty," he said bowing to her. The soldiers then bowed down to La as well and were then led away to be stripped of their dirtied uniforms and into battle attire worthy of a Oparian warrior.
But, La was not done yet. She needed someone aside from her humanoid hyenas and her newly pressed Oparian warriors to help her carry out her dirty deed. For when she was once a Wazari, she was smitten with a certain warrior who remained in the village long after she was exiled.
"And now, Muviro," she said, smiling to herself. "The time has come for us to reunite once again."