Uncanny West Coast Avengers

Chapter 21: Damn Dirty Man-Apes- Part 1

By

The Uncanny R-Man

Disclaimer All familiar characters belong to Marvel. Mayhem belongs to Agent-G.

Quote of the day- 'How else am I to get you to treat me like a man of weight and substance unless I act as morally perturbed and angst-ridden as everyone else in this room?'- Beast (X-Men: The Animated Series)
Wakanda-

T'Challa, the king of the African nation known as Wakanda, stepped out of his palace as he heard the all too familiar sound of an approaching Avengers Quinjet. As always, T'Challa bodyguards, the Dora Milaje, a group of attractive female warriors, stayed close to their ruler.

The heroic monarch was in a bit of a pickle. And old enemy of his was up to his old tricks. Now, T'Challa would usually keep this to himself and try to solve the problem on his own, but this particular problem was too big for one person to solve, even if that person was the king of Wakanda and the legendary hero known as the Black Panther!

The bald king shielded his eyes from the sun's rays as he looked up at the shape of the Quinjet as it landed nearby. A hatch opened up and the West Coast Avengers disembarked from the craft.

'It's great to see you again, T'Challa.' Hawkeye nodded with a smile as he shook the king's hand. 'Been a long time, huh?'

'Oh yes, a very long time.' T'Challa nodded in response. 'I am afraid that I am unable to offer you any refreshments after your long flight. This situation needs to be remedied immediately.'

'Hey, there's always the post-victory celebration.' Tigra smirked. 'This place has to be full to bursting with local delicacies.'

'Not so fast, everybody!' USAgent butted in, making the Avengers groan. 'Do you have any idea how many international laws you people have just broken?'

'We're the guests of the king, Walker.' Quicksilver sighed heavily. 'Now, would you please do us all a favour and shut the hell up?'

Hawkeye grimaced as the pair started to argue again.

'I see that Walker hasn't changed at all.' T'Challa gave the West Coast Avengers' leader a bemused smile.

'I don't suppose you have a medicine cabinet in that palace of yours, do you?' Hawkeye pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Cuz I think I'm gonna need some aspirin before the night's done.'

Later-

T'Challa had changed into his Black Panther gear, and was leading the Avengers through the dense Wakandan jungle.

'My reports have led me to believe that the Man-Ape and the Red Ghost have taken refuge in one of the sacred K'Tembe temples.' The Panther explained. 'It is there that I believe that they have used their combined knowledge of science and the dark arts to engineer these white gorillas that have been killing my warriors.'

'Excuse my ignorance...' Mayhem held up his hand. 'But didn't you exile the Man-Ape upon pain of death?'

'The Man-Ape is a fool, as are all villains.' Quicksilver told the rookie hero.

'What, just like Daddy Dearest?' USAgent leered.

'Whay, you...' Quicksilver clenched his fist, ready to slug USAgent again, but Crystal put a calming hand on her impetuous husband's shoulder, preventing him from doing anything that USAgent would regret.

The Avengers stopped in their tracks once that they noticed that T'Challa had stopped. By the way that the warrior king had his head cocked, it was clear that he was listening for something.

'Panther...?' Ant-Man blinked. 'What's up?'

T'Challa held up his hand, silencing the size-changing hero.

'We are not alone.' The ebon-clad hero warned them. 'Prepare for battle.'

The Avengers all got ready for a fight. There was no telling what sort of trouble they had stumbled in to this time. Rebel soldiers, vibranium-hunting mercenaries, and hungry jungle creatures were just a few of the many dangers in Wakanda.

Several white gorillas charged out of the jungle with identical roars, each one as fearsome as the other. These gorillas were joined by an orang-utan, a silverback gorilla, and a baboon.

The orang-utan held up its paw, halting the charging white gorillas.

'Well, look what we have here, comrades.' The orang-utan stated in a thick Russian accent. 'We have caught ourselves the Avengers.'

'We ain't caught yet, you damn dirty ape!' Hawkeye retorted. 'And we sure as hell ain't gonna surrender without a fight!'

'That's unless you want to lead us to your masters.' Songbird chimed in. 'We don't want to have to hurt you.'

One of the white gorillas snorted in anger.

'Crush humans now?' The gorilla asked.

'Those things can talk?!' Tigra's jaw dropped.

'No, we cannot crush the humans!' The silverback rolled its eyes. 'Comrade Kragoff will want to see what we have found.'

'We're not going anywhere!' USAgent lashed out with his shield. 'Avengers, assemble!'

K'Tembe temple-

Within the confines of one of Wakanda's many temples, the two supervillains known as the Red Ghost and the Man-Ape were up to no good. The Red Ghost, real name Ivan Kragoff, was a former Communist agent that had attempted to reach the Blue Area of the Moon with a team of apes in an attempt to be endowed with powers much akin to the Fantastic Four as they encountered cosmic radiation. Kragoff was endowed with the ability to become intangible and invisible. Peotor the orang-utan was granted with mastery over magnetism. Miklho the gorilla was given super-strength, while Igor the baboon could change his shape.

The Man-Ape, real name M'Baku, was member of one of Wakanda's minority tribes. He was one of Wakanda's greatest warriors, second only to his friend T'Challa. Disliking the way that T'Challa was modernising his country, M'Baku sought to dethrone T'Challa in ritual combat. In doing so, M'Baku stalked and killed a rare white gorilla. After bathing in the creature's blood and eating it's flesh, M'Baku was granted superhuman powers.

'What is taking so long?' Man-Ape grumbled as he paced the temple impatiently. 'Your apes should have been back with their report by now.'

'You know how apes can be, Comrade M'Baku.' Red Ghost replied. 'Perhaps they found a bunch of bananas and decided to stop for lunch.'

'You had better hope that they have not caught the Panther's attention.' Man-Ape warned his companion. 'If the Panther catche sme here, I will be put to death. Also... It is not wise to upset a man who has the strength of an ape.'

'Please, spare me your posturing.' Red Ghost snorted in derision. 'I do not scare easily.'

Man-Ape growled under his breath and slunk away. Perhaps there was some small creature he could stalk and kill. That usually cheered him up.

Back with the Avengers-

The West Coast Avengers were making easy work of the Red Ghost's Super-Apes and the genetically-engineered white gorillas. Even thought the Super-Apes possessed super-strength, the ability to shapeshift, and mastery over magnetism, they were no match for the World's Mightiest Heroes! The white gorillas, however, were a little more tougher.

Hawkeye nocked an electro-arrow into his bow and let it fly. One of the white gorillas roared in pain as several thousand volts of electricity coursed through its body.

Quicksilver ran circles around another white gorilla until it was dizzy and fell over. Songbird then took it upon herself to knock out the beast with a club made out of solid sound.

Mayhem grabbed two more white gorillas and knocked their heads together, knocking both of them out. He then spun around and clocked another gorilla right on the chin as it reared up behind him.

Tigra leapt through the treetops pursued by a trio of white gorillas. suddenly, the were-tiger somersaulted over the heads of the three gorillas. Unable to stop in time, the three gorillas' momentum caused them to lose their balance and fall out of the trees.

USAgent blocked an attack from one gorilla with his shield, before sweeping its feet from under it. The black-clad Captain America wannabe then followed that up by slamming the gorilla on the head with his shield, knocking it out.

Ant-Man was leading a swarm of ants in a merry chase around one gorilla's head. The creature growled angrily as it tried to swat the buzzing creatures away. Ant-Man quickly moved out of the way as Namorita stepped up to make her move. The young Atlantean sent the gorilla crashing through the trees with a nasty punch to the face.

Madelyne Pryor protected herself and Crystal from the hoard of gorillas with a telekinetic force field. Once Crystal saw an opening, the blonde Inhuman sent the gorillas toppling head over heels with a mini tornado, thanks to her elemental powers. Maddie made sure that the gorillas stayed down as she swatted at them with her telekinesis.

Thankfully, the battle had been a fierce, but short one.

Maddie rested her arm against a tree as she tried to regain her breath.

'As rewarding as that was, isn't there some kind of law against beating up endangered species like that?'

'We didn't exactly kill any of them.' Tigra looked around at the unconscious gorillas. 'Just sent them to Dreamland for a while.'

'We cannot rest of long.' T'Challa interrupted. 'We must carry onwards. There is no telling what Man-Ape and Red Ghost have planned for us now that we have defeated their apes.'

Namorita turned to whisper to Songbird.

'Gee, Panther sure knows how to put a damper on things, doesn't he?'

'Nita...' Songbird whispered back. 'The Panther has heightened senses. He can hear you.'

The blue-skinned Atlantean winced at her social faux pas.

'...D'oh!'

TBC...

Next- Damn Dirty Man-Apes: Part 2

The West Coast Avengers and the Black Panther continue with their fight against Man-Ape and the Red Ghost.