Welcome back, hello again. Amalgam returns in a new form, but has links to the past. So whilst the universe changes Green Panther remains the same, sorta! :) Read, comment, enjoy
Previous chapters Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and Nine
**
Oliver stripped off his costume and threw it into the fire place. It was covered in blood, pus, and exploded vampire parts from his little romp with Black Blade under the Lee Papp stadium. A horrific bloody experience that would probably haunt him for the rest of his life and keep him from venturing near anything tooth related for life. Or hanging out with electricity wielding swordsmen.
He turned on the fire place and his costume went up in flames. Roy would be annoyed that he torched his creation but with all that crap on it, it was for the best. Besides it had a silly high collar. Oliver went into the laundry and got some bleach and then headed for the shower to cleanse himself.
**
“HEY!”
“Huh? Wha?” Oliver grumbled as he sat up.
“Why is this,” Roy held up the half burnt, blood and ick covered Green Panther costume “In the fire? You do know nomex is flame resistant?”
“Would you believe I got vampire brains on it?” said Oliver as he sunk back under the covers.
“Well you can make your own costume next time, I’ll just fly the chopper,” replied Roy dropping it on the floor. “Did you see the news?”
Oliver sat up “What part of vampires did you miss?”
Roy ignored his employer “Some old guy got murdered in a home invasion*. I mean who kills old people?”
“Cancer,” quipped Oliver as he returned to bed. “Now could you leave me alone?”
“I was thinking…”
“Oh god!” groaned Oliver as he sat back up. “I will give you three thousand dollars right now to leave right now!”
**
Oliver finally got up at lunch time, sore and stiff. His head felt funny like it was on the cusp of a migraine. He picked up the phone and stared blankly at it.
“What’s his number?” Oliver said in bemusement as his fingers hovered over the numbers “Why can’t I remember my best friends phone number? Tony St…” Oliver shook his head. It was like everything he knew had been re-written, edited, changed even. His hand trembled as he pushed the seven button before screaming in rage and tossing the phone across the room shattering a large glass window that overlooked the city.
“That will set you back about thirty thousand dollars,” said Dinah as she entered the room. Oliver looked at her, at least she hadn’t changed, she was still annoyed at him.
“My best friends name is…” Oliver gestured as if trying to draw the answer out of himself as he stepped around the broken pieces of glass.
Dinah’s eyebrow shot up “Norman Luthor? I wouldn’t call you besties but you go to similar parties since you’re both spoilt rich brats!”
Oliver pondered the name “Norman Luthor…Norman…who?”
“Head of LuthCorp? Has more money than you?” Dinah looked at the burnt green thing on the floor. “What is that?”
Oliver’s eyes grew big remembering his extracurricular activities costume was lying in a pile on the bedroom floor. “Roy and I built a…”
Dinah held up her hand “I’m sorry I asked. Now we have a busy day today. The State Department want to have a meeting about what happened in Wakanda.”
“So that still happened!”
“Yeah,” replied Dinah. “The King dying and you possibly being his murderer doesn’t just vanish like some bad comic retcon Oliver.”
“But my best friend T…Normo…,” Oliver paused rubbing his forehead “Feels like someone is twisting my brain!”
“I’m surprised you have a brain sometimes. Shower, shave, suit. We’re meeting Kate at two. Don’t wreck this Ollie.” She quietly left leaving Oliver Queen to work out what was going on.
**
Wakanda
“Our land has been sullied!” stated the High Priest as he raised the golden bowl of blood to the sky. “Our king slain! Our honour, our pride, taken! Who will avenge us!”
The gathered crowd of men shouted in approval when one stepped forward to the priest.
“I am M’Baku. I will avenge Wakanda.”
The priest smiled and offered the bowl “If it pleases the Great Ape, you will be our spear to strike our enemy.”
M’Baku drank deeply from the bowl. The acrid mixture burnt and seared his lips. He screamed like a wounded animal and began thrashing on the ground. The High Priest chanted over him as M’Baku’s body underwent a dramatic transformation. The large man was remade into a large black and white gorilla man, his face smooth and black with a white circle upon it. He roared sending chills down the spines of them all.
“You will strike o…” The High Priest gagged as the big man grabbed him about the neck and squeezed.
“Talk no more,” he growled. “So says Ono-man-ape-peia!”
**
To be continued…
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