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storiesof2018 · 6 years

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African Storm

The hour was approaching mid-afternoon when Steve and Selina made their way towards the edge of the forest. The thick canopy of trees shielded them from the wrath of the sun. The dip in temperature, however, alerted them to the fact they were closing in on the lake; on the Gorilla Tribe that had not only devastated a peaceful Wakandan village, but also had taken the one person that mattered the most to them. Steve marched through the thickets and trees with a stoic look, his once calm and soft features now worn and battle-hardened after two years of living as a nomad and outlaw. His uniform that he once proudly wore as a symbol of liberty and peace with red, white and blue colors was now nothing but a faded shell. He was shield-less, but in no way unprepared as he felt the assault rifle shift against his back.

He spared a withered glance at his unlikely partner who moved with graceful steps, sporting a remarkable new set of vibranium gear that accommodated her cat-like aesthetic. "We're close. They won't hand him over unless we have them cornered." He said to her suddenly, quietly as their steps became methodical over a creek that led to a hill.

"This isn't my first rodeo, soldier boy," Selina gritted snarkily, as she effortlessly lowered down into a crouching stance with smooth traction of her tactical boots, conveying her acrobatic prowess; her dark coffee irises gleamed unwaveringly with brazen fire as the maddening dissonance of throaty barks and grunts ferally erupted from a parked convoy of South African military trucks, obviously stolen. She detected the parasitic stink of HYDRA wafting in the humid breeze-knowing that a serpent's nest had been disinterred. This was merely child's play of snatch and grab, a deviant smirked waltzed over the voluminous swell of her crimson lips, as she was prepared to engage the crosshairs, fully saddled down with an arsenal consisting of a Glock 19, Uzi submachine gun, and two of Bucky's Gerber blades and a flash grenade.

This was a hot spot for Black Market commerce, outside of Wakanda's outposts-including high-risk counterterror operations and execution grounds. Right now, they were remaining idle against the combustive war-zone. "These bastards are looking for a high pay grade, once the top seller enters their little circle, we move in and get Bucky to the clear, no exceptions…"

Steve was silently impressed with the Gothamite's strategic mind. From the stories Bucky had shared with him in the past, he knew that Selina Kyle was more than just a highly-skilled thief, but also cunning and highly dangerous given her alluring beauty and sharp cunning. His experienced mind couldn't help but draw comparison towards Selina and a certain spider he'd fought with for the past six years. In many ways, Selina and Natasha were alike given their acrobatic skill and dark past, but while Natasha was more reserved when it came to wearing her emotions; Selina used them as masks to deceive her enemies. It both fascinated Steve and made him wary as he found himself entering the field with her for the first time.

"Sounds like you've dealt with situations like this before?" He asked off-handedly as they slowly trekked their way up the hill; beyond the shrug of tears the gray of the cloudy skies became clearer. A gust of cool wind blew at them, ruffling their hair across their temples as they took cover. "But I'm guessing you're not used to having a partner, ma'am."

Hearing the sheepish resonance boyishly catch against his masculine timbre, Selina coiled the sleekness of her shoulders tensely."Let's make one thing clear, drop the damn boy scout act," she hissed back scatchingly, feeling a torrent of revulsion surge through her veins. Steve's unshakable vigilance was forthright, the hawkish intensity of his cool azure irises blazingly captured glimmers of the casting light over the becalmed river, as he clenched his bearded jaw, tellingly with the semblance of steeled defiance.

His lengthy tousled golden-blonde hair draped over his thickened nape; giving him a disheveled visage of untamed, ragged stallion—not reined by a master of command. She arrested him with an ireful glare before her intent focus piercingly returned to caravan vehicles. "I've never had much use for someone watching my back since I was the one that stabbed some in the dark, but that's how you survive in the shadows…" she murmured ruefully. "It's the only way to beat the dodge."

"There's strength in being united," Steve inserted with a dismal sigh. The weight of the Civil War still hung over his shoulders each time his thoughts reminded him of how fractured—how diminishing it felt to no longer have a united front against the forces of evil and corruption that threatened the world. There was a time his words had a profound feeling when he first told them to Tony, but now they tasted like bitter pills he had to swallow. He steeled himself from the skeptical look the brunette sent his way and remained unfazed despite her combative reception towards him. "Being in the shadows will only get you so far before you need to step into the open. When you do, you're gonna want to have someone beside you." He smiled tightly watching as she shrugged at his response. Team building was never easy, but he had dealt with more surly individuals back in his day. He and Selina were united if only in their common goal to save the man they both cared for.

"So what do you say? Are you ready to step into the light?" He gestured towards the area below them. Two meters ahead, there was an aura of dread surrounding a military encampment of South African mercenaries. Over two dozen men, highly armed and several of which wore furs shed from apes. Many of them traversed the encampment as they easily blended into the shrubs like predators laying in wait. Their camp resided near the shores of the lake, and in the distance, the unmistakable image of a cargo vessel was steering towards the docks.

Despite that, she understood the measured grounds of honor and loyalty, Selina preferred keeping her distance from Steve's virtuous-saintly proximity, he was chastened to his mortal threads; never trudging on the dark tracks of mayhem and insanity where rewakened demons highjacked the engine of fate-derailing your soul. He didn't face himself in the mirror, washing smears of blood that surged with discarded rage-or drown out nightmarish apparitions with a raw swig of whiskey-that slow burn was a satisfying paralytic. Scores of vengeance always had a high cost, when odds were stacked up; the only way to escape the inevitable crosshairs was to pull the trigger first. She needed to show him the ropes on how to become a gun in the shadow crossings undetected and explosive.

With a fluid twist of her delicate wrist, Selina daringly handed Bucky's unsheathed combat blade to him, her coffee irises held a speculative gleam against his palpable hesitance. She couldn't harbor on sentiment, not when their open window of chance of freeing Bucky was closing. Keeping herself balanced firmly on her haunches, her cool poise was defensive as she clenched her jaw, conveying her reined emotions. HYDRA wouldn't indulge in their victory of obtaining Bucky inside their sorcerous tentacles of docile conjuring; despite that, she was only a hairbreadth away from losing her shadow wolf.

The ground beneath her was faltering, and Steve was her convenient anchor of stability."You need to improve on your backyard toys if you want to play in the dark with me, Rogers," she purred coolly, the huskiness in her sultry undertone was heatedly laced with a terse challenge."Besides you're a jungle renegade now, it's time for a new style."

There was a moment of hesitation that crossed Steve's normally sure exterior. His azure gaze focused on the proffered weapon being insisted upon him as if he were being handed a bomb to utilize that could blow up at any minute. He was a soldier, one who fought with discipline and valor utilizing only his fists, shield and the occasional firearm. Knives were more personal when it came to spilling blood, stealthy and secretive; in a way they reflected the spirit of their wielders. Weapons of an assassin. Even as far back as he could remember during the War, Steve had never wielded a blade. When he led the Commandos on search and destroy missions against high-valued Hydra targets, it through Bucky's very own stealth and agility that saw a copious amount of those missions having succeeded.

Bucky took the missions that he couldn't. Captain America was a portrait of valor, honor, liberty and patriotism. America couldn't have its Golden Boy getting his hands dirty. Steve didn't realize till now that despite the passage of time, he still in a way avoided doing so when he had Natasha at his side. The Black Widow was just as deadly and efficient as his best friend and would rather add more red to her ledger than let a drop fall into Steve's. Selina Kyle wouldn't extend him that courtesy, and Steve couldn't fault her as she dangled the knife towards him. Too much was at stake, and he couldn't let his own timidness get the better of him.

"Jungle-renegade huh? Does that make me the lion and you the cat?" He asked with an amused twinkle in his eyes as he takes the knife, testing it in his grip. "Not really my style, but I'm a fast learner." He gives the knife a twirl between his fingers, feeling mildly assured when it smoothly returns to his grip. "Hakuna matada, then." He shrugged, watching as Selina's eyebrows raised at him, amused or just shocked he knew that reference.

Keeping herself impassively low under clusters of jungle verdure, a cast of annoyance flitted over the sleekness of her elfin features, unnervingly, Selina clenched her delicate jaw, her dark irises shimmered against the bordering shadow of her domino mask with the intensity of liquid bronze as she leveled him a trenchant glare, regardless. She had to compromise with impalpable trust–to some extent. In this present reality, the beast machine she loved was robbed of his humanity and barred inside an electrified crate–HYDRA's calamitous tantamount for servitude was becoming parasitic to scrape off, they had weaponized sorcerous elements to punish their captives–a nefarious rebirth–Bucky had been the first victim. She wouldn't abandon him. 'Hang in there, handsome…'

The decorous gap between her and Steve evoked unwarranted-raw tension as she unstintingly recognized the boyish pitch against the adamant resonance of his deep, masculine timbre. "If you're trying to impress a girl, lion boy. Yeah, it's not working…" she murmured irately with a hint of tease, conscious of her bridled sassiness. An onrush of adrenaline didn't ebb. It was her diesel to rev up the lethal ferocity she harbored against engage the kill zone. Merchants of the Black Market sought caged animals for profitable assets for the dealing rings. "Those bastards are to going to haul Bucky's furry ass out of here if we don't crash their little dock party …" She gestured a leather gloved hand smoothly towards the direction of the guarded shipping port. "I'm going to break our sniper wolf out and you need to find a dance partner…"

"We need to take out their sentries first. The moment they spot us, they'll raise the alarm, and we'll lose the element of surprise." Steve shrugged as his keen eyes observed the camp below. The Gorilla Tribe were an unsavory lot that once ruled a vast portion of Wakandan territory before they engaged the Panther Tribe in a long bloody war that saw the latter tribe victorious. The Gorilla tribesmen were stripped of their lands and wealth but hadn't changed their plundering ways as they frequently preyed upon the surrounding villages.

Though ruled by greed and power like most common mercenary factions, they practiced a militant ideology that bellied the belief that only through war could mankind evolve. It, of course, attracted them to the likes of Hydra, AIM, Leviathan; every evil entity that sought to destabilize the world, so they could control it. Bucky was just another tool to them to utilize, but also something they would not give up easily.

"If T'Challa's info is accurate, and I'm betting it is. They'll have stragglers hiding in the bushes just outside of those two outposts. I'll take them down, you get to the overseers, so they won't raise the alarm." He gestured his finger towards the two crude looking watch-towers that were no more than fifteen feet high. The guards idled about with assault rifles in hand keeping a lookout, but there was a blind-spot to their three-o-clocks where Selina could easily surprise them from. "We should have a clearer path to Bucky and it'll buy us time before they try to rush him to that freighter closing in."

"Then we better hurry," Selina echoed back coaxingly the husky smokiness of her undertone breached Steve's ears as his azure irises flashed down at the Glock cradled effortlessly in her rigid clutch; with a devious pulse riding through her veins, her lithesome weight shifted balletically on chrome stiletto heels, the sleekness of tone muscle underneath her neoprene layers coiled that he instantly recognized as controlled poise of leashed ferocity. They had the umbrae of long-leaves surrounding the dock to stealthily conceal their advancing momentum."Keep yourself low in the dark spots …" she frostily mirrored his leveled stare under blonde tresses with the clashing intensity of a lightning strike. "Don't even think about playing nice with these armed brawlers, Brooklyn boy…."

"Like you said, Miss Kyle, "this isn't my first rodeo"." He reminded with a friendly quip. In a matter of seconds, the gentle gleam in his eyes was replaced by a harder intensity. His jaw tightened beneath the patches of bearded stubble and he was every inch the Captain he was born to be. The anticipation of the rescue mission they were undertaking hadn't wavered and it allowed him to keep a close observation on both the lower patrol moving through the shrugs and the sentries on the guard tower. Both assortments had become momentarily taken by the noise of the approaching freighter, which left them effectively blind. "They're distracted. Move out." Steve gave her a curt nod before he turned on his feet and crept through the field, disappearing into the thicket of trees and bushes without a sound.

He found his first hostile no more than fifty feet inbound; a Gorilla Trible mercenary carrying an old AK-47 assault rifle with practically no body-armor on his proud athletic form. Steve had a hand wrapped over the mercenary's mouth and the second driving a vicious fist into the man's head with unrestrained might. He was out in an instant, the rifle and his body falling into Steve's arms. If there was one advantage he counted in his and Selina's favor, it was that these Gorilla Tribe warriors apparently didn't have access to Wakandan technology. No vibranium weapons, nor equipment. They were on an even level, but Steve still counted the element of surprise in his and Selina's favor.

"Well, I guess it's time to spoil their fun with Shuri's new toy," Selina murmured coolly, rolling her thumb deftly over a Kimoyo bead chain fastened securely over her wrist. She owned the feisty and ingenious Wakandian princess immeasurably for recalibrating the cerebral scourage of HYDRA's lobotomic and coercive methods that vitiated Bucky's traumatized-destructive subconscious. For a month after he awoke from a cryo-induced sleep, Bucky was given a free pass to indulge in life again without the hostile urges of the Winter Soldier ghosting with his heartbeat before HYDRA once again wrenched his humanity away.

As she remained poised on her haunches, Selina defensively braced herself against a voltaic thrum chasing her pulse as kinetic purplish energy haloed over her lense eared goggles with ultrasonic waves, in seconds the activated nanites converged over the sleek edges over her alabaster cheeks and curved under her delicate jaw, sheathing her kittenish-elfin features into a protective layering of black vibranium that formed into a feline mask-a panther's head.

"The princess knows how to treat a girl," Selina quipped snarkily, impressed by the practical effects of her new combative attire of modified neoprene- redesigned with the upgraded tactility of Shuri's innovative flare-bi weaved Kevlar meshed with vibranium to absorbed every nano pulsation of retrieved energy that contrasted over the sleekness of charcoal-black material. It was prototype tactical suit—distinct from the Panther Habit that King T'Challa wore-a feminine variant of the Black Panther. With a tensed flex of her gloved hand, razor-edged alloy claws reactively extracted out from her Kevlar fingertips, as she cunningly fixed her lethal intent on the convoy vehicles.

With a resurge of desperate momentum to free her captive sniper-wolf from the damn cage before he was loaded onto the docking cargo vessel; leaflets slashed over her mask, as Selina quickly edged underneath the dense underbrush with her balletic advances while registering a masculine grunt as Steve explosively delivered powerful roundhouse kick directly into the mid-drift of a Gorilla mercenary. It was time for a test run with her new feline ensemble. They had to obstruct the sorcerous-occultic raid of HYDRA before more lives underwent their merciless vivisection of humanity."Let's see how well it can dance..."

"Fourth hostile down," Steve whispered into his com-unit as he rose to his full height over the dispatched mercenary. He acted quickly to turn off his radio; if his tribe leader checked in, his unanswered transmission would no doubt reveal the location of the downed mercenaries. Steve mentally counted the total remaining hostiles in the area as he made his way further towards the clearing where the guard tower loomed ahead. Just beyond was a small encampment with equipment and cargo being assembled. The gated enclosure wouldn't be a problem to get past, but the same couldn't be said of the two sentries posted at the top of the towers. They'd see him coming a mile away, even with his enhanced speed. "I've got a visual on the sentries and the last patrol guard. Are you in position?" He spoke quietly, hidden in the shrub of weeds as he waited for Selina to eliminate the two sentries.

"I'm where I need to be, soldier boy," Selina retorted staunchly, keeping herself low-undetectable as she advanced gracefully closer to wooden cross beams of the tower's lower structure, gripping onto the edge with a subtle drag of her vibranium claws, as she fluidly with practiced ease, hoisted her svelte weight up with balletic momentum and elegant precision of her innate feline graces; locking her shoulders until she half-flipped onto a support beam and effortlessly started her climb.

The resurge of raw adrenaline was electrifyingly lethal in her veins, as kinetic energy reactively traced every shift of movement, converging with the flexibility of her enhanced neoprene suit. Arching her ample chest swiftly, she became honed like an unwavering blade and executed a front aerial flip as her sleek-tone legs scissored in unison with acrobatic trajectory without breaking her cadence of stealth until her "sneaker" boots grounded her into a feline crouch on the wooden barrier of the tower's lookout deck."Now, do you expect me to keep my claws out of the dance?" she purred teasingly, poising her gloved hand with intent to slash her marked target."I can only play nice up here for so long..."

In a conscious reaction of heightened sense in the wake of an octane rush, with a semblance of fierce ease, Selina torqued up her slender abdomen with a slow arc, daringly, the curves of her hips tilted to deliver an explosively propelling high- crescent kick mercenary's padded torso as he reeled back with a pinched grimace etched over his dark features.

"I'm sure it must be getting dull," Steve couldn't help but chuckle dryly at that as he watched the two sentries become overcome by an invisible force in rapid succession. In the years he'd known Bucky and Natasha, he'd heard many stories about the way Selina Kyle worked in the field, and the former captain couldn't help but find her banter, wit, and efficiency to be an oddly refreshing experience. Somehow, he knew he shouldn't expect anything routine when working with her. In a way, it felt like getting into a heap of bad trouble with a younger friend or sibling. It had been a long time since he'd felt like that.

"Keep a look out and tell me if you got eyes on Bucky." He panted worriedly from his hiding place. He kept a close eye on the last guard circling the perimeter just in front of the makeshift security gate the mercenaries had erected. He appeared oblivious to Selina's intrusion until a glare from the sun forced him to avert his attention towards the west-end of the encampment. A moment passed before the guard appeared to realize the other patrols weren't making their rounds.

Steve calculated the odds of the guard's next move as if they were his own, and that would be to reach for his radio. "I think the guard just got spooked. I'm moving in." Steve rushed across the perimeter with break-neck speed, a small gust of dirt kicking up on the wind as his steps carried him fast across the area. The guard spotted him just as he received a crushing fist to the skull. "Last one down."

Vaulting quickly over the railing with predatory grace channeling through her veins, without a stalled breath, Selina landed on her boots without breaking her grounded stance. In a fluid pivot of her measured footing, she drove her gaze searchingly under the mask lens, fixing all intent on shipping crates aligned close to the dock's edge-a convergence point. Harnessing restraint over her impulsive urges of blinding speed, she remained impassive, using elemental instincts to unerringly steer her into the right direction of her captive beast machine. Then, she found a tarp draped over a smaller crate on a flatbed trailer. "There you are, handsome..."

The rush of adrenaline Steve carried coupled with his enhanced agility was enough for him to vault over the fifteen-foot high fence and land gracefully on his feet just beside Selina. He half-expected an alarm to sound due to the hastiness of their sudden arrival. He was instead stricken by an increase of surprise and wariness as he watched a large portion of the Gorilla Tribe aimlessly carry on with loading shipping crates full of what he assumed to be smuggled weapons and captured specimens from the jungles to be used as experiments. His soldier-instincts took him to a safe enclosure, hidden behind a patrol jeep while Selina suddenly phased into visibility right beside him. Steve had to control himself not to flinch with surprise at her sudden appearance.

"Do you see him?" He asked her quietly, noting the stricken and focused look on her normally nonchalant features. She meant business and there could only be one reason for that.

"Now that's the million dollar question isn't," Selina derided snarkily, her impassive whole countenance beneath the mask shifted darkly like a twist of a knife in shadow, keen and attuned slash- she was utilizing her guarded sentiments for charades-playing without missing a beat in those variant contrasts.

She watched him reactively set his bearded jaw into a stern clench, evident to the determined ferocity of his azure irises-echoes of steeled conviction that valiantly gleamed with raw intensity. He didn't waver against her challenging intent as clashing gazes held, she practically felt the innate heat lancing through her veins; it was surprisingly arresting to discard. Tactfully, she gazed at the mercenaries-their faces operationally concealed beneath balaclavas as they hitched up chains over the bolted hooks on the crates that housed sedated animals. She recognized the banking intent to race into the crosshairs-to mirror the same cadence of an impulse of delivering a storm.

During her latest infiltration stint in Moscow, Selina had acquired the familiarity of HYDRA's underground deal-trading of military powered ammunition-full metal jacket caliber rounds of AK-47 sniper rifles and a stockpile of bulletproof vehicles deceptively adorned with the facade of nonmilitary models. Now, the serpents were targeting various animal breeds for high-profit sectors, testing biochemical infusions laced with contagious phages or measuring the blast range of their enhanced designed weapons.

Their escalating avarice for control was unstoppable to derail-Bucky was a hostage of amorphic sorcery, just a victimized slave for them to expose of once his reluctant usefulness was served for HYDRA to regain a foothold of world order. She didn't want the blood of these barred animals-souls to shed in the venomous tentacles of the demonic phalanx of wartime extremists. Wakanda was a black-site of nanotechnology to harvest out, to invent pernicious technology-nanophages wielded to destroy lives under a hailstorm of mass-hysteria.

Clenching her jaw, derisively, Selina gestured a clawed hand to the flatbed truck's unguarded direction."They're keeping our moody sniper wolf in that one, we have to break him out before he gets stacked in with the others..."

Tension coiled in Steve's shoulders, an invisible weight settling onto him that came with the burden of choice and consequence in the field of battle. In times past, he had to prioritize the rescue of civilians and high-valued military personnel. The safety of those fighting with him would always remain at the forefront of his mind, regardless of the mission orders and directives. Selina appeared unconcerned about the how tactically outnumbered they were. Her sole focus was on the cage that held the man they both cared for. Alone or with a force backing her, there would be nothing stopping her from moving across that field and freeing Bucky. Steve knew how she felt, this, after all, wouldn't be the first time he rushed into the Lion's Den to rescue his best friend.

"Okay, here's what we'll do." Steve panted as a tactical plan formed in his strategic mind. It wasn't an ideal approach, nor the best one, but it would have to do given their limited numbers and how little time they had to improvise. His steel blue eyes focused in on the dock-crew loading the crates with air-hole that undoubtedly held captured animals. At least a half-dozen with only two armed guards standing at the deck. "The outer perimeter is stocked with shipping containers which would make a two-pronged assault effective, and give the illusion of greater numbers. I'll lead them further out towards the vessel, giving you a clear path to Bucky while they're distracted. See those fuel drums near the deck?" He gestured his chin towards the rusted barrels that sported biohazard symbols.

"All I need is one stray shot to ignite the deck. If you find a shot, take it."

The semblance of command that was edging in his sonorous, adamant timbre felt unwaveringly intrusive, Steve was a steel-hearted warrior incarnate; virtuous and indomitable to engage the crosshairs with no visage of stunted resilence in the unstoppable momentum of his advancing stride. Harboring true grit anchored him to stow back his breaching emotions, Steve emanated a fierce aura of valor, since he was dismantled from his uniform-shield-everything felt exceedingly stacked against him by the extension of a grievous choice that was forged on the chilled floor in the Siberian missile silo.

He ultimately chose to walk away with Bucky slumped against him, never looking back at his distant reflection in the red-tinted alloy. The Sentinal of Liberty was a discarded memory of hope-freedom blighted and axed down by the Accords. Princess Shuri told him that was living in a half-spirit existence, straying in shadowed depths of regret and unwarranted heartbreak. Selina understood the measured extent of his irrevisable choice of throwing down his shield; it was the cost of friendship-brotherly love that stoked him to give everything up for Bucky. Nodding with deft compliance to his order, she easily removed the trigger guard on her Glock and returned, deviously to her intent. "Now those are words I can follow, soldier boy..."

Relief that they were on the same page helped to put Steve at ease despite the tingles of anticipation that still covered him. The freighter was already pulling into the docks. He wasn't certain what sizeable force was stationed on it, or how well equipped they were. But they couldn't afford to let Bucky slip through their fingers. If they let him get taken onto that ship, they ran the risk of never seeing him again—of Bucky being turned into something even deadlier than The Winter Soldier was. The terror Steve felt at that possibility threatened to overwhelm his discipline, but he stowed it away with a determined look. After everything he lost and sacrificed to save his friend, he wouldn't lost him—not again. Giving Selina a resolute nod, he shuffles towards the edge of their jeep.

"Let's get our Bucky back," he said loud enough for her to hear, and for himself to leap into action. His quick steps and long legs carried him a far distance across the camp until he disappeared into a maze of containers.

"I guess that's my cue," Selina tersely quipped with an instinctive response of her feline momentum, she gunned her pacing stealthy advances closer to the flatbed chained trailer; the odorous stench of corrosive rust invaded her nostrils. An irate hiss threatened to breach her taut crimson lips under the mask; grounding her tactical stiletto heels into a half-crouch, she ducked low, her vibrainium claws extracted out, flexed to vicious slash at the bars caging the bulky, dark chestnut furred dire wolf-Bucky.

Doing her utmost to compose herself against a host of unwarranted emotions, Selina's lithe, curvaceous form surged up with cautious grace as the thunderous—percussive echoes of shipping crates tilting over adjacent from her position effectively disrupted the air-Steve was making a clear path for them. With balletic ease fueling in her attentive stance, her palm quickly clutched the edge of the trailer; feeling an electric pulse thrumming over her gloved hand. She recognized the raveled copper wiring that hazardously charged with a deadman's switch to deliver an instant stun to she brazenly slipped her hand through to that breach of reachable contact.

"Having fun in there, handsome," she murmured teasingly, the purring cadence of her husky undertone was intimately beckoning the unconscious captive to respond. Her white, purple- tinted lenses captured the heartbreaking reflection of a torn blanket draped over a laden massive canine form. She felt subtly unhinged from grappling onto measures of her innate control.

Her playful words were met with silence for a moment in the gloomy isolation of the shipping container. The interior was dark and lit only by the pale daylight entering through her point of entry. From what she could see, the floor was covered with electrical conduits that ran along the wall and towards the rear of the cage holding the massive wolf inside. The cinder-furred wolf groaned as he rose his head from off the floor, feeling the world spin around him as he struggled to regain his focus amidst the raging ache in his head. Stinging pain registered along his back, hind paw and frontal shoulder, the grievous reminder of his earlier attempt to attack the bars that held him caged and the consequence he paid for it. Somewhere through the murky waters that made up his dreams, he was able to latch onto that familiar voice that beckoned him from outside his cage.

"S-Selina?" He whined with a weak tone. His luminous blue eyes opened and gazed at a strangely clad female standing in front of his cage. For a moment, he thought he'd mistook T'Challa for her and felt embarrassment and confusion move through him. That was until he saw the saucy smirk curl across the exposed mouth of the cat-mask the woman wore. He wasn't dreaming, Selina had come for him. "Darlin' is that you?"

The grogginess tamped in his raspy timbre felt grated against her ears, Selina eagerly watched him slackly writhe underneath the blanket, his fore-paws brushed over the length of his canine muzzle, revealing the gleam of his fanged incisors as faint sconces of sunlight caressed his unkempt dark fur. After being tortuously separated-detached from each other since he was seized out of her reach...She craved for this moment, despite that he wasn't human-her Bucky.

An errant glide of tears strayed down the delicate edge of her cheek as kinetic energy pulsed to remove the vibrainium nanites sheathed over her alabaster features; her dark coffee irises gazed heatedly at him. Teeth gritted, Selina conveyed her bridled fury as she mirrored the dazed intensity of his blearing glacial orbs were staring up at her questioningly. "Yeah, I had a few upgrades with my style thanks to your royal friend..." she played to him, ardently.

The sedated wolf was mesmerizingly beautiful in the contrasts of light; dark menace and allure radiated over his thickened coat of chestnut with smoky cinder tinted the expanse powerful shoulders, his tousled mane had roguishly merged with his broad neck. His luminous orbs arrestingly gleamed a hypnotic fusion of ultramarine and crescent silver.

That depth was banking with feral intensity, amplified hostility was slaked down as his pointed ears flattened-a rush of visceral desire clashed between them, Bucky was tellingly urging to affectionately nudge Selina's lithe palm with his canine muzzle with a reverent caress, but the high voltage bars prevented that anchoring connection. She listened to him emitting out a soul-knifing whimper, pinching his eyes shut, he lowered his canine head sulkily over the heap of blankets."Do you want to get out of here, handsome..." she imploringly rasped.

"You both have good taste," Bucky complimented with sparkling blue eyes as he took in her new suit. Shuri was a heck of a tailor and no one wore that cat aesthetic better than his kitten. "I hope you got a plan darlin', because these guys won't go down easy. Their boss especially." Despite how much he wanted to sit still and appreciate Selina's new look, he knew they couldn't afford to. Not when they were still a hot-zone and the caged wolf couldn't help but wonder how she'd manage to sneak in here so far without being detected. "This cage they have me in, the bars are electrified. There's no way I'm getting out unless the generator its hooked up to is shut-down." He warned before she could get too close to the bars. His muscles trembled with anxiety, still feeling a phantom sting of pain that lingered after suffering against those bars so much until he learned to keep his distance from them.

"Let me worry about that, handsome," Selina played out slyly, with a smooth ease of nonchalance, she lifted her gloved hand up to the hazardous level the high voltage bars; the fluidic steadiness of her palm unwaveringly balanced the Kimoyo bead that captured into the glacial depth of Bucky's almond-slanted eyes, the kinetic pulse reflected in his black spaded pupils, as his furrowed brow instinctively conveyed tense awareness of her next move; inexorably time was running out on the knife-edge of desperation in warring unison. That fusion was tanking into something—explosive.

Incessant volumes of clamorous rapid-fire left concessive friction in the moggy air, she caught a fleeting glimpse of jungle fatigued clad bodies careening over stacked crates akin to ragdolls-crash test dummies; a dissonance of maniacal screams in Wakandian breached her impassive resolve as Bucky's pointed ears instantly spurred up to the direction of the ramming momentum of an unstoppable pace colliding into steel walls. A quirk of a kittenish smirk deviously traced over the voluminous swell of her carmine lips, this convenient partnership was being utilized seemingly well, as the crescendoing storm of combat ensued around them. "Besides, I have a powerful friend watching my back..."

"What…" Incredulous by what sounded like a small war occurring outside of the shipping container, Bucky was briefly left to wonder what she was talking about and who was powerful enough to put the Gorilla Tribe mercenaries on the ropes and down for the count. A familiar spectacle occurred as an armed hostile was sent flying into view from the opened door and landed flat on his back, his attacker unseen until someone came charging inside of the container like a quarter-back running for a touchdown. The dark blue uniform was a give away even if not for the dark blonde tresses that right now made his savior looks like a disheveled lion. "Steve?" The wolf whined with surprise. He knew it shouldn't have come as one, but it like always Steve never failed to impress. "And I thought I could make an entrance."

"Hey Buck," Steve panted offering his friend a warm smile as he came into step beside Selina. It was a fleeting gesture before the hardened exterior of The Captain morphed over his stubbled features. "We don't have a lot of time. They're confused and scrambling. We need to slip through while we can." With that, Steve marched over to the cage and wrapped his hands on the bars. Sure enough, the generator powering the electricity had been destroyed, making the task of Steve prying the steel bars open look as effortless as holding open a regular door.

Gravity was clashing increasingly between them, with her feline senses cunningly honed, with a flash of adrenaline imploding through her veins, bracing herself, painstakingly Selina clutched the Glock with the reactive firmness of her gloved hand; she felt subtle vibrations of encroaching boot steps of a bestial opponent-a predator that evaded their assault.

Balletically, Selina pivoted the traction of her heels, keeping her stance-poise guarded with, possessive tension evident in her sleek, toned muscles; she remained impassive in front of Bucky's opened cage. She needed to dredge up her instincts, not allow a pulse of reluctance to spawn through her-she was pinned down in a war zone, every combative -acrobatic tactic she cunningly harnessed was vital for to the extent of their survival.

A distinct vestige of fresh blood assailed the humid breeze, as her disheveled mahogany tresses flitted over her clenching jaw. Snarling under his breath, Bucky scrunched his canine muzzle up ferally, as Steve's hawkish azure irises unwaveringly chased a hulking shadow looming around the stacked crates. A rogue Jabari tribe warrior-T'challa had warned them about betrayal in the alliances, King M'baku had furiously exiled a few of his defilers after the venomous scourge of baseness tainted his mountain domain. They were about to engage the one called -Silver Back.

"Well, boys it looks like our dance isn't over," Selina deadpanned snarkily as her finger unerringly curled over the Glock's trigger lock at the fringe of a second, she registered the barking mantra viciously deafened against her ears akin to a challenging resonance of an aggressive gorilla.

"They're regrouping. We need move quickly before they realize we're short on numbers." Steve shrugged, forcing the cage open further until there was enough room for two people to enter. He felt no fear nor hesitation as he entered the closed space where the massive direwolf was chained to the floor. For his size and stature, Bucky appeared half bear and half wolf and were it not for the cool look in the canine's familiar blue eyes, Steve would've never guessed who he was. A pit of remorse formed in his belly as he noted the singed patches of fur coating his friend's back where he had no doubt been electrocuted. "You good to do some runnin', Bucky? You look a little frazzled." He asked with a calm look, yet his voice was full of concern.

At that, the wolf released a snort and slapped his tail against Steve's hand playfully.

"I've had worse than this Steve. Just as soon as you get me outta of these chains, I'll race you to the nearest coast. We'll see who's frazzled then." Bucky grunted back challengingly. The small levity was enough to reassure Steve, who smiled despite himself.

"Fair enough. Let's get you out of here."

A dark implosion of unbridled fury careened through Selina in a tempestuous wake, her dark bronze irises gleamingly intensified with liquid heat as she heartbreakingly gazed at the eroded chains that fastened her shadow wolf to remain immobilized. The murderous intent to force one of those Jabari brutes to choke on a bullet while the Glock's nozzle stole breath was becoming relentlessly unhinge. Steve crouched down on his haunches with tentative ease in his grounded balance, as his leather gloved palm glided over the clunky rings, in a variant of seconds, he gnashed his teeth against the warring pulse of his enhanced strength in rapid unison, he fiercely yanked the chains off Bucky's slack furred limbs-giving the groggy dire wolf a clean break of escaping the crate. The ambient guttural roars of the advancing mercenaries blared like an earshot. "Move your ass, Barnes," Selina yelled bluntly, the huskiness of her tone was edging with a gritted seethe.

The moment he felt himself free of the shackles, Bucky lunge out of the cage at top speed. Steve and Selina were given no time to react before the direwolf launched himself up towards Selina and fervently began to nuzzle and lick her exposed cheek. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it was all the same an endearing sight as the wolf released soft whines and growls of affection. "Selina." His tail wagged excitedly, life and vigor returning to him with full force after what felt months of absence. Every waking moment of grueling torture and mistreatment was assuaged only with a belief that he would one day get to see his kitten again, and bask in her warm embrace. "Missed you."

Steve smirked good-naturedly at the scene, and Selina's reaction.

The underlying of the amorous resonance of his growly timbre became unnervingly irresistible for her discard, in a blurring rush, Selina desperately kneaded her gloved fingers over his thickened chestnut fur, tensely she forced back a breath. "James-" Snarling feverishly, Bucky instantly angled the heavy bulkiness of his canine form against the voluptuous swell of her chest, his massive fore- paws braced rampantly on her sleek thighs as she felt the ardent lapping of his tongue chasing her pulse until she was inadvertently floored by his thrashing weight-he evoked unrestrained -fiercer intimacy for them to ride out. Urgency strengthened in a crescendo. He was out of control. Gripping his mane with a rigid clutch, the arrowing precision of his long muzzle tangled her mahogany whorls, she effectively thrust him off with a taming flex of her palm."Settle down, handsome..."

"Sorry, Lina." The wolf grunted, yet the exuberant gleam in his eyes was enough to tell that he would do it again if they weren't so pressed for time and in hostile surroundings. Months of being caged and deprived of her company had increased the strength of his yearning for her and his irrepressible desire to maim and thrash the mercenaries that had taken him from her. "Guessin' we can catch up better later once we're outta here." At that, the wolf sent a pointed look towards Steve who beckoned them to follow with a wave of his hand towards the opened door. "You got a plan, Steve?"

"Yeah, I'll distract them and you and Selina run for safety." The former Captain said easily as if it were the most easy solution available despite the risk it posed to himself.

"And I thought I took all the stupid with me," The wolf snarked with a disapproving growl, unwilling to see his best friend risk himself so he could once again jump out of the fire.

"I'm sure there's more than enough to go 'round, Buck. Just follow my lead, we'll make it out of this." Steve huffed, squaring his posture as he sees a darkened shadow passing outside of the container. His bearded jaw clenched while his eyes turned to ice. In one fell swing, he slammed the opened door against a force of two mercenaries, sending them flying backward into the air. "Let's go!"

With a lightning-fast pulse of a raring heartbeat, Selina grudgingly followed the First Avenger's cacophonous lead with equal vehemence blazing her coffee depths, she bolted out of the shipping crate with Bucky dogging her fervent paces with changeable prowess in his paw-steps.

Aware of the drugging effects of the injected hypodermic paralytic that had been infused through his veins; turning her neck, Selina intensely gazed at the bulky dark wolf with echoes of anchoring urgency as his glacial orbs chillingly reflected feral light and steered him away from the clamorous staccatos of rapid gunfire as hailing bullets pitted over the metal crates they passed.

Selina promptly reactivated the kinetic energy of her vibranium stealth ensemble while they made their swift advance towards an array of stacked barrels. They needed to get out of the crossfire. Snarling grumpily, Bucky jutted his incisor fangs, scrunching his muzzle as he recklessly urged to gun his predatory speed towards his best friend. "Don't even think about, Bucko, you're not going Howling Commando on my watch..." she derided, knowingly.

Adjacent to their relatively concealed reposition, Steve's adamant-valorous measures of hinged restraint had inexorably morphed into a breakneck wake of animalistic rampage-ferocity with an unprecedented momentum of his combative graces against the guerrilla mercenaries barricading his reengaged path. The tumultuous raid of his enhanced-whipcord caliber was indomitable against the barbarity of the tribe's intent, fur hooded ripped and semiautomatics knocked out of hands as he slammed the edge of his own hand into a mercenary's throat like a blurring shadow before a revolver fired point-blank.

He was unstoppable was a raging bull, relentlessly driven by restoked aggressiveness with every intake of his breath; his clenched fists drove powerful-knuckled blows into armored Kevlar vests before explosively grappled down his dazed opponents, as his forearm hammer-locked one of their exposed necks. He astonishingly delivered a reckoning pain that wouldn't ebb under the cast of his fleeting shadow as he propelled a haymaker sweep against an emptied crate; nothing was stowed back.

The mercenaries closed in on their small group like a swarm seeking to devour their prey. Steve was relentless in his defensive maneuvers, using the environment to his advantage as he kicked a jeep towards a flanking unit looking to gun them down. The impact had the desired effect and the former Captain did his utmost to ignore the screams that came with pain and loss of life. War was never without casualties and he would be remiss to think his hands would remain clean out here. His tactical thoughts played out their hazardous situation as if he were in a game of chess.

His focused honed in on an assault rifle coming perilously close to gunning down the distracted feline who was trading shots with her own opponents across the field. Without thinking, Steve struck the mercenary with a vicious upper-cut, disarmed him only to widen his eyes with surprise when a bestial roar shook the field. The mercenary screamed with horror as a five hundred plus pound Dire Wolf pounced on him and lashed at him with its paws.

"We have to get to the tree-line," Bucky growled, coming down from his kill though malice still dripped from his mouth with crimson drops from his kill.

The resiliently of Bucky's predatory attack of his undeterred reaction, his massive paws were cunningly poised to rear up his canine form with feral momentum onto a fur-garbed torso of his prey; threateningly brandishing a vicious semblance of unhinged menace, his curved fangs barred outward as his long muzzle dauntingly stretched to pierce into flesh-bone of unprotected shoulder. The incongruous assonance of bloodlust predominated in his stoking veins, Bucky readied to impel the extent of his slaying intent onto the advancing mercenary arrested in his sniper vision-this was only the first wave of tactical assault.

"Babulale(Kill them)... Mabavumele bazizwe amandla esizwe sentaba (Let them feel the might of the mountain tribe."

For a concussive moment as the Jabari mantra amplified into grunting of unison against another hailstorm of bullets ricocheting off the crates, gnashing his teeth, Steve single-handedly wrenched back a seized arm with a jerking twist as his forearm arced quickly to deliver an elbow strike into the mercenary's throat before he brutally grappled his opponent down with a swift under-hook flip and subdued him while ramming his fist into the guerrilla's skull-he was taking the fight to ground level.

In a measure of that rapid distance that was accelerating in clamorous volume, Bucky was vacuously drifting into a soporose thrall of the curse, his luminous ultramarine orbs flashed electrifyingly akin to a glint of lightning reflective on a drawn blade, those piercingly spaded depths pulsed livid hostility.

Knowing that her shadow wolf would cut loose to the inducement of aggression, Selina effectively squeezed the Glock's trigger back and executed a clear headshot with no grip of hesitance was prevalent in her gloved clutch, that ensued the wake of crimson mizzling out of reddening bead gouged into a wide-eyed mercenary's dark forehead. In a painstaking second, the armored guerrilla lifelessly collided with the ground in a jarring thud against the heaviness of his final descent.

Involuntarily arching her shoulders with feline poise, the sutures of her black vibranium suit highlighted kinetic purple, absorbing the straying pulses of energy, Seline rolled a Kimoyo bead towards a mercenary's furred garbed boot."Can't let you have all the fun here, Barnes..." she played out, kittenishly, anchoring the bulky dark wolf from the possessive convergence he was fringing into. "Besides when do I ever back out of a dance..."

Bucky would have responded with his own quip were it not for the blaring sound of an alarm being triggered near the port where the cargo ship was docked. The noise had its expected outcome. Over the chaotic mess they had found themselves in, the direwolf could see a dozen more mercenaries pouring off the freighter with high-caliber weapons. The Gorilla mercenaries were an exiled tribe, disgraced and separated from the old ways that their forefather practiced for generations. They looted and plundered from their own kind and sought to take control of the vibranium mines. King T'Chaka had been merciless when he cast them out into the wilderness where they had become mercenaries for hire, using a more archaic weaponry compared to the more advanced kind Wakandans were known for.

"We have company. A lot of em." The wolf growled, steeling himself as he, Steve and Selina fall back-to-back near a container that used as cover from a hail of gunfire. Steve appeared mildly winded yet overall unharmed as his eyes observed the numbers coming towards them.

"Kyle, you got a shot?" He gestured towards the barrels of fuel stacked near a wide array of cargo supplies at the docks. Their last chance to cause heavy damage and slip-away.

They were becoming outnumbered- the infectious aura of virulence was emanating from the Jabari brutes, chalky-white painted streaks of claw marks adorned over their corded expanse of bulging dark muscles; Selina's coffee irises painstakingly caught a glint of black iron projectile sailing over a crate with vicious force-a Kota blade— a tribal armament that she instantly recognized from a previous infiltration-thieving- stint within the British Museum. It was an ancestral blade designed like a raven's skull, aimed to pierce a throat in a scope of a targeted distance of a heartbeat.

As Steve's deep timbre of vigilant command faded out against onrushing torrents of adrenaline, with the fluidic swiftness of her practiced evades, Selina dipped low behind a corroded barrel as projected blade flitted the air with cleaving intent. Her choice of a hiding spot was being compromised. Tension around them was evolving-they couldn't risk another moment of formulating another strategy for triangulating a rapid exit-thrillingly racing into the enfilade blind was a breakneck gamble to stake.

The rendezvous point where Princess Shuri had stationed Wakadian's innovative aerial transport: Talon Flyer. As a mercenary wearing a carved gorilla mask, armed with an Uzi submachine gun came into their view, Selina deviously smirked. The crystalline intensity of Steve's azure irises held the chivalric surely of his unshakable promise for their limited escape as if they were positioned in trenches within a HYDRA minefield rigged to detonate under their feet."I guess these jungle boys want to have more fun, huh..." she purred, slyly.

As the grunting ceaselessly echoed, Selina lifted her Glock with smooth ease, bracing her forearm on her taut knee, her index finger readily curled over the trigger lock. Affectionately, with a measured pace in his encroaching paw-steps, Bucky shadowed behind her, with a smooth thrust, his canine muzzle lowered over her toned shoulder delivering tentative pressure while his incisor fangs deftly nipped errant mahogany tresses, brushing them off her feverish cheek, as she became suddenly jostled by the prick of his whiskers needling in her skin. The infusion of his thermal heat left a phantom wake of urgency. Damn, even as a snarky dire wolf, Bucky was still a charmingly defiant Brooklyn boy by instinctive contrast. "Ready to make some fireworks..."

"Take cover," Steve yelled the instant a shot went off from the barrel of Selina's Glock. A millisecond later, the impact and detonation of 40 gallons of HFO went off in a fiery explosion that shook the ground they stood on. The explosion it appeared was much more potent than they estimated as it set off a large quantity of ammunition crates that contained grenades. The wails and screams of mercenaries rang loudly in the vicinity, many of them were sent flying in multiple directions from the epic center of the blast. Steve watched as several of them fell to the ground dead from the impact of being pierced by shrapnel or other sharp objects in the area. The unlucky ones were running around, covered in fire and wailing in agony before they stumbled to the ground dead. The sound of gunfire slowly died out in the background of the encampment and Steve, Selina and Bucky felt a small measure of relief at the fact they might have just opened a window of opportunity.

"That's our cue," Bucky growled, the stench of sulfur and death made him feel nothing short of disgust as he viewed the carnage left by Selina's gunshot. He glanced over at his kitten to gauge her reaction. She appeared impassive and cool, a mask to disguise any signs of remorse that might linger beneath the surface.

The explosion deafened concussively with thunderous volume, blinding flashes converged whooshing plumes of ashy smoke into a thrusting firestorm; careening shards of metal descended around them. Breathlessly, while balanced on her haunches, Selina reeled back against an intense rush of heat as another ear-splitting blast ensued in the grating- sulphurous wake of barrels skyrocketing over the idling freighter.

Wet driblets of feverish heat glistened over her alabaster features, Selina remained crouched low, blinking out the faint smudge of crimson blearing her vision. Every lethal pulse of her forefinger, she fired spastically with blindfolded accuracy into the mass of smoke, doors blew up there hinges forcing Bucky jerkily lunged back as splinters of debris and shredded Kevlar rained over his brunette fur. A high pitch whimper distressingly resonated from the ensorcelled wolf as his furred ears drew back, Bucky thrashed fiercely against a container, his bushy tail curved low between his hind legs, conveying his unhinged instinct towards piercing sounds that gouged his enhanced hearing-everything was overwhelming to him. "Urgh..."

It was time to run.

Lifting his armored knee with straight-edge momentum, as errant blond tresses messily clung over the reddened gashes of his bruised temple, nodding with an urgent glint in his azure depths, Steve quickly executed a push-kick, hurling an obstructing crate into arcing flames-giving them a clear direction to run for the underbrush. With a tentative graze of her lithe palm, Selina threaded her clawed fingers in coaxing ministrations through Bucky's disheveled chestnut mane, steadying him down. "Let's see how far you can chase me, Barnes..." she beckoned, enticingly.

"Careful darlin'... This big bad wolf has missed his kitten, and he won't go easy if he catches her." The cinder direwolf said with a husky growl to his deep tone. His frightful reaction to the immense explosion appeared to have briskly melted away the moment he listened to Selina's coaxing words. His fangs glistened with small streaks of light, both silvery and crimson from his recent kill, but in his eyes there gleamed a mischievous intensity, a primal desire to rush through the trees and embrace the call of the wild. It was a primordial code imbedded in his DNA, ancient and powerful, he felt raw strength and courage flourish through him as he faced down a small string of spear-armed mercenaries rushing towards them.

"But we need a clear way ahead first," His posture became deadly and intense, his massive paws digging into the Earth with mounting strength before he launched himself towards the mercenaries, his paws swatting their spears aside mid-leap before crushing them with his weight.

"Eyes up!" Steve yelled, stomping on a metal plate from a ruined car-door. Once he caught it, he spun and launched it with graceful precision. The metal soared through the air and struck a sniper that was preparing to fire on them. His blue eyes were unblinking and focused, watching as slowly but surely, the trickle of mercenaries was beginning to increase after the short respite they'd bought themselves. "Get to the trees, go!" Steve yelled.

The straining urgency in Steve's resonance became a prevalent force that she couldn't discard; Selina felt the sweltering air rush over her cheeks as she hastily vaulted over an unhinged metal door, evading the stampeding vibrations of undeterred bootsteps were advancing towards their barricaded position, the moment was intensifying around them, the cadence was hauntingly akin to a tribal drumbeat- daring a suicide run was the only tactical alternative to breach the underbrush.

Against a blearing haze of her vision, she feverishly watched Bucky lunge astonishingly on top of an unoccupied crate with phantom grace, cementing his massive bulk on dented steel as his long muzzle angled upwards. She didn't stint her paces as tumultuous barking erupted anew from behind her. "Keep going, handsome," she implored fiercely, against gritted teeth. "Don't look back..."

"Fine. Let's go." Bucky's resolve to continue fighting was as strong as those who had come to save him. But he knew that to stick around and be unrelenting in his bloodlust would be to risk his freedom and the safety of Steve and Selina, which would make this all for nothing. The number of Gorilla tribe mercenaries was steadily increasing in the encampment and it wouldn't be long before they were overwhelmed. The aggression pumping through his veins demanded swift action, and rather than focus on finishing off a wounded hostile on the ground in front of him, he forced himself to steer it towards escaping. His lethal snarl was unshakable and would haunt the dreams and fears of any survivors, and that was enough to give him an edge as he pushed his way through an uncollected bunch on the ground.

Steve watched Selina and Bucky make good on their head-start just as he finished incapacitating a merc with a forearm bashed to his temple. Before he could follow them, he found himself cornered by a larger hostile, a few inches taller than himself and with incredible strength evident by his hulking arms. He had a shotgun ready to aim at his retreating friends, but Steve was quick to catch the barrel and redirect the shot to a nearby crate. What followed was a brief tug-of-war that saw the unrelenting mercenary try to force the barrel towards Steve's chest. Gritting his teeth, Steve saw nothing but cold murder in the man's dark eyes. "Once I kill you, your mutt and his b*** are next." The mercenary sneered.

'I don't want to kill anyone.' Steve once said to a good man. 'But I don't like bullies…'

A cold resolve filled Steve as he used his superior strength to twist the mercenary's arms, surprising him before he redirected the barrel to the man's chest. With one harsh pull, a hole exploded out of the man's back, spewing flesh and gore all over the ground. Steve panted, eyes wild as droplets of blood splashed on his dirtied face.

"Steve?!" Bucky called out in horror, realizing his friend wasn't following them.

Shaking himself from his stupor, Steve reacted quickly in time to fend off another gunman aiming towards him with a leaping kick. "Don't stop, Bucky. Go!"

Morbid elation crescendoed into a deep-throated grunt, as a massive hand adorned with a sheath of white-grayish fur delivered a hammering blow against the crate door in the anticipated wake of the Gorilla ringleader's emergence. The potent stench of blood wafted sickeningly off his dark corded flesh painted with faded streaks. His thickened chin was dusted with powdery lines of white as he sneeringly curved his full lips into with the animalistic intent that swiftly morphed into untamed mania as he bared his teeth.

"Ukukhutshwa(Release)..." he roared lividly to his stationed warriors. In that split second, grating-incessant echoes of a hunter's cage that ominously hung above by a mechanized crane descent had ensued. The sudden force of entrapping metal impaled Selina's conscious reaction, she dropped into a low crouch with Bucky at her side, blindingly gripping onto his dark fur with her clawed fingers.

"No." Steve grunted through his struggle as he dispatched a third hostile attempting to skewer him with a spear. His instincts were running rampant through the heat of combat as he dodged and maneuvered himself through constant adversaries and narrowly escaping their lethal attacks. The serum in his veins was pumping in overdrive and the super-soldier felt as if he were fighting an unending battle that would eventually fall out of his favor. The moment his sharp eyes saw a hidden cage descend on his friends, he knew that he was fighting what had quickly become a downhill battle. "Damn it." He kicked a mercenary hard in the gut, pouring frustration through his strength that the effect sent the hostile sailing a good 10 feet through the air before he landed on a flaming piece of rubble.

His screams were white noise to Steve whose hearing was deafened by both the sound of his blood pumping in his ears, and the Gorilla war-chants being issued from the number of mercenaries gathering around him in a large circle. They didn't attack, despite the fact they had greater numbers and armed weapons. They knew they had him trapped along with his friends even though he was still on his feet fighting what could be his last stand. The sweat pouring off his brow obscured his vision and Steve felt the bruising force of a hard weight colliding against his back. He was on the ground instantly, a heavy weight forcing him down followed swiftly by another. Two hostiles piled over him as if he were a mattress and kept him pinned.

Their strength and weight was a considerable force and the super-soldier serum in his veins could only grant him so much power to contend with. "No…" Steve said defiantly, unwilling to give up, unwilling to believe this was how it would end for them. A hard fist against the back of his head left him winded and dazed, knocking the world around him into a blurry mirage of colors.

"Get the hell off him...!" A piercingly vicious gnarl explosively clamored within Bucky, seething out heavy pants, he thrust his canine muzzle against the steel bars, his curved incisor fangs slashed with beastly ferocity. He lost all regard of harnessing control over the rapidly stoking aggression—he was menace incarnate on the hairbreadth to become unleashed.

Shockingly, he became honed to the assonance of carnage wavering savagely around him; every arrowing sensation was growing cold-bloodedly rabid. The predatory vitality of the wolf had taken him captive. The clutch of Selina's tensing hand over his fur exceedingly grappled him out of the feral stupor. Unebbed rage lanced through him-senses were rioting as he immediately recognized a spectral-mantic energy clashing with the humid air. That nauseous pulse of sorcery had become nidorous—edging to infect his kitten and best friend. 'Oh no...'

The frantic sway of his bushy tail revealed volatile intent, Bucky flashed his steel-aquamarine orbs with a whitened glint in contrast of his spaded pupils. Fueled by the soul-driven brotherly instinct to protect-little Stevie—he thrashed his powerful weight, bruisingly arching his back to shoulder against the bars with every colliding bash of his reckless momentum, aware that his claws were gouging over the vibranium neoprene of Selina's thigh with uncontrollable lashes. The kinetic pulse form a deflective barrier as nanites instantly weaved back together. "Grah...C'mon ..." he railed bitingly, trying to wedge his head through spaces of the bars. "I gotta get out..."

The sound of Bucky's furious growls was loud enough for Steve to register despite the chorus of yells and Gorilla chants ringing in his immediate vicinity. Every ounce of effort he utilized to overpower their combined strength won him only a winding fist to the gut and another to the face. The world spun on its axis like he was a top. A hot stinging sensation at his temple told him he was cut and bleeding. Blearily, he wondered how they might execute him. A firing squad? Hanging? He couldn't rule out the possibility of a more gruesome and painful end given the Gorilla Tribe's penchant for brutality. As a soldier, Steve was always prepared for that probable fate, but he could only hope Bucky would not have to witness it. Gazing at the restless direwolf engaged across from him, he attempted a small bit of reassurance. "It's all right, Bucky…"

He knew it wouldn't be, maybe not for him, but the last thing he'd do is go out without a show of defiance. "That all you got?" He remarked to one of the hostiles standing in front of him; every bit of his Brooklyn spirit was shining in his toothy smirk that summed up his defiance. "I thought you guys had more clout than this." Unless he was mistaken, many of the Gorilla Tribe warriors shared a knowing smirk with each other, foreboding and cruel. They resumed their barking chant that sounded ironically enough, like the hooting of an ape. Steve shuddered in confusion as he felt small tremors in the ground. Something, or someone was making their way towards him.

"Steve get outta of the way..." Bucky rented out, desperately, the continuous mantras of riotous barking amplified in volume, as carved zebra-wood lances arced tp a level of reverence in militant unison; within the cage's bars, snarling ferally, Bucky recoiled back, keeping his fangs bared, his luminous glacial orbs glaringly chased a hulking-egregious shape of dark bands of corded- bulging muscle, white Jabari tribal sigils of the gorilla deity-Ghekre -adorned over grayish furred rimmed biceps that held smears of fresh blood, undoubtingly from the slain dwarf goats they recently collected from the Border Tribe's outpost village-a scare tactic of retaliation.

The cemented alliance with Golden Tribe-the panthers-discarded ritualistic traditions of hostile conquering and bloodshed. The mighty fists of the mountain Gorillas no longer wielded unmerciful strength of crushing the stealthy panther's backs-King M'baku had forged a dynastic brotherhood with T'challa; allowing rapacious outsiders-pigs-to deceptively penetrated their inviolable domains. The fugitive -maimed warrior that pulsed tainted blood 'White Ingcuka' had been the first prey of a telestic -morphic onslaught of archaic sorcery generated from the damnable essence of the phantsi komhlaba (underworld).

The elusive, massively towering orchestrator of the mercenary rebels had finally emerged to ram his new prey into the grounds of defeat. Indulgently, a manic sneer widened his painted lips, as Selina ingeniously gazed at the distinctive snowy furred mantle that was stripped from a massacred gorilla during an occultic feast; he ruthlessly gorged the beast's gutted out heart, believing Ghekre would bequeath him immensity of soul-harnessing power to declare a harvesting wake of expulsion to the sired Black Panther mantle . Aggressively he channeled that undeterred vow to the extreme levels of unrelenting warfare.

"Ngoko inkomo encinane isilwe kuye(So the little wolf still has fight in him)..."

Approaching the secured cage with imposing prowess, Man-Ape tauntingly dragged the spaded edge of his clutched spear against the bars, his impassive stance bespoke carnal intent as Bucky with a breakneck thrust, reared his muzzle up quicker than a cobra strike, warningly, his jutted fangs became locked for tearing gorilla fur into shreds.

Feverish snarls were straining out with ragged pants, triggering intolerable aggression to viciously bury his muzzle into slackening-detached limbs smeared from geysers of blood that jetted from his ravished victims. He needed to quash that violent impulse down-submitting to the wolf spirit would infinitely shackle him forever into the curse's rhapsodized thralls of predatory appetite. "Enough!" he gnarred , menacingly, the explosive depth was arrestingly resonant to his flattened down ears. Breath strafed over his stretched tongue as his incisor-fangs pinched a graze, underlying his blinding need to attack. "Aaargh-Steve knock him down..."

"Way ahead of you, handsome," Selina murmured hushedly against an irate breath, evicting the feline impulse to curve her gloved hand like a "panther paw" to deliver a quick-strike into Man-Ape's exposed knee, regardless, she lowered her palm with fluid motion, an EMP bead that would energize a taser pulse deceptively rolled through the bars; activated to swiftly incapacitate the tyrannous defiler of the Hunuman-Ilu Inaki kingdom once his tactical boot rubbed against the bead. "Let's see if you can land on your feet, big boy..."

The towering mountain of a man adorned in stark-white animal furs was a hulking frame of muscle and scarred flesh as he stood over Steve and beside the cage containing Selina and Bucky. He was middle-aged, or at least close to it by Steve's estimation, and his eyes carried within them nothing but cold fury that reminded Steve of an icy wasteland. Ironic for an African Tribal-leader. He was the exiled Gorilla Tribe Chieftain they had heard about. Bhalisa The Merciless. After M'Baku had made peace with King T'Challa, several of the Gorilla Tribe members planned a revolt against their chief's decision and planned to overthrow him. It was only with the help of the Dora Milaje that M'Baku was able to wipe out the insurrection and scatter the survivors out of Wakanda.

Naturally, the exiled Tribe members had rallied behind a new leader despite having been driven so far from their home and the old ways of their people. Bhalisa's lips pressed into a hard-line as he observed Steve; every indicator of his motives hidden behind his poker-face expression. Steve stared up at him fearlessly from his restrained position, prepared for whatever brand of punishment the war-chief planned for him.

"Captain Steve Rogers," He spoke, his deep Nigerian accent sounding slightly Ghanaian. His eyes betrayed no emotion but the hard coils of his exposed muscles indicated a forcible restraint. Like a true Gorilla observing a foe and waiting to unleash his brute strength. "You are a far from home, white boy. You and your friends believed to have journeyed into a land of paradise and prosperity, but instead you find yourself at the gates of hell. Neither strength nor TRICKS CAN SAVE YOU!" In a sudden display of sharpness, the Man-Ape spun on his heel with shocking agility for a man of his size, and kicks Selina's concealed weapon out of her hand before she could stun him with it. The beads fly out of the surprised thief's hand and into the grip of one of Bhalisa's men.

"You are in my domain now, Outsiders. False kings nor their lapdogs will find their way here." He sneered with furious eyes focused on the direwolf in the cage who snarled up at him with venom. "It appears you weren't as tamed as we had believed…Sergeant Barnes."

Those barbarous volumes held sharp-edged mordacity sailing through his ears, ignited a new rip-tide of aggression through Bucky, he was conscious of the deception rivaling against him-Bhalisa was a bloodthirsty, virulent scourge over his adopted home-Wakanda-the impious treachery of the Gorilla tribe was escalating with a phalanx of radical mercenaries who transported women and children of unprotected farming hamlets near the Sambisa Forest; hauling them off inside convoy vehicles; bartering innocent lives for the replenishment of their unsated voracity towards harvesting ancient sorcery as weaponized energy to stake a widespread profit from Black Market rats nests-this assault was intended for collecting two more unwilling victims to cage within the morphing thralls if that damn incantation was uttered.

Gnarring aggressively under a seething hiss, Bucky knew the harrowing extension of the curse-the unspeakable, soul-wrenching agony that cruelly remade his humanity into a vessel of canine fur. He was unprepared to ignite his combative instincts when Bhalisa raided his village, the intrusive attack was lightning quick, Pygmy dwarf goats bleated frantically in alarm, blood sprayed over the high-grass, and palm-leaf rooftops of the huts were set ablaze. Before he could gun up his momentum to fight, a paralytic dart arrowed in his neck and he instantly had fallen unconscious next to the bloodied forms of the slain goats.

Now, he wouldn't give the Man-Ape the pleasure of being subdued as he towered abreast from the cage. With an innate effort of steeled Brooklyn defiance, Bucky tilted his muzzle up, and sneeringly flashed the Gorilla brute a fanged smirk, as he knowingly recognized the measured gravity of Steve's adamant stance."M' not the one you should be worried about tamin'..." he snarked, challengingly as exhaustion involuntarily wormed through his veins-the sedative was still in effect, dousing out remnants of his underlying ferocity. He felt thrown off-balance on his wobbly paws, strength was deadening into grogginess, as his drawl wavered. Damnit. "He's not gonna quit..."

"Bold words that will make no difference. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh is battered and bruised," Bhalisa retorted as he set his harsh stare on Steve who was panting for breath. A drip of blood flowed down the blonde's right temple from the harsh blow dealt against him. "I had hoped for King T'Challa to claw his way into my encampment, but it appears I will have to settle for his friends." The Man-Ape sneered with contempt. His opinion of the outside world was one mired in disgust. Wakanda was once a united people that together prospered and held slavers and raiders at bay. That all changed when the Panther tribe used their vibranium to advance themselves and drive all others under-foot. Now that Outsiders were being welcomed into his very homeland, bound to corrupts its soil with their corrupt ideals set the Man-Ape into primal rage. "But make no mistake, he and M'Baku will receive their just punishment for dealing with the likes of you!"

"You're Bhalisa. Exiled honor guard for the Gorilla Tribe. Now you're parading around as its Chief?" Steve pointed.

"I AM MAN-APE, YOU WORM!" A thunderous right hook connected with Steve's temple, setting his world into a spinning blur as pain overwhelmed him. "I AM WHAT M'BAKU SHOULD HAVE BEEN, UNTIL HE BETRAYED US!" The incensed Bhalisa continued to rain down hard hits on Steve who could barely keep his head up. Once he was satisfied, the Man-Ape paused to collect himself, yet the murderous intensity of his eyes was undiminished. "Now it is I who will take back what is ours, make Wakanda into the paradise it once was. For that, I must first deal with snakes to strengthen my war-machines." He directed to the Hydra freighter sitting at the docks.

"Well I'd better start looking for more guns to hire, Gorilla boy," Selina interjected sleekly, her undertone sardonically betrayed a fringe of terseness; as her voluminous crimson lips brazenly sassed a quirk of a devilish smirk. The angles of the mission were unhinged- she knew how to play them to her favor-use a daring tactic at the right moment before things got violently unpleasant. Her impassive countenance shifted deceptively with feline allure, a nonchalant ease that Bucky innately recognized as he tamped down a growl; her coffee irises gleamed thievishly—a lethal charade that held Bhalisa's unmerciful regard into a sudden deathlock."That little ball I rolled out is an EMP bead, which means all your hardware is useless to play with..." she teasingly pouted with a devious glint. "Sorry for ruining your party..."

There was a moment of sheer uncomfortable silence as the Man-Ape slowly turned his stare for the first time onto the vibranium clad woman. The penetrating depth of his glare would've spelled fear of death into the hearts of the weaker willed, but Selina neither wilted nor trembled beneath its intensity. If words could be surmised from his expression, it plainly spoke "how dare you,". The Gorilla tribe mercenaries shifted as many of them began inspecting the exposed crates of their cargo and sure enough, confirmed Selina's taunts to be fact. Their weapons were now useless and damaged. "She is telling the truth, Your Excellence." One of the mercenaries said with a note of unease.

"You are a bold one, Outsider." Indignation and outrage were the least devastating emotions that morphed across the Man-Ape's features as he turned his focus towards Selina. Wrath and fury were added to the potent mix, he was a time-bomb ready to explode and wreak havoc on the ones who had infiltrated his camp and ruined his cargo. In an eerie display, his infuriated glare evaporated into a taut grimace that became a rough-smile. Selina was unmoved but mentally preparing herself for a sudden attack, even if she was inside a cage.

"But also an incredibly foolish one." In a swift action that alarmed everyone present, Bhalisma reached into the cage with a swift hand that locked around the Dire-wolf's throat. A painful yelp escaped Bucky as a knife was held to his throat by the Chieftain. His strength and speed were a frightening display that none could have anticipated. The smile on Bhalisma's features became vicious and cruel as his glare remained fixed on Selina. "Now you'll watch as I strangle and eviscerate this creature you have come to save."

"No!" Steve yelled out only to receive a winding blow to the back of the head.

Gritting her teeth against an edging snarl, Selina's lethal resolve became obstructed sickeningly by a rancid whiff of viper blood that was smeared over Bhalisma's tribal knife was ghosting a breadth across Bucky's furred throat-the prevailing odor was extremely venomous in the motion of violent thrust of his clutched hand, undeterred the Man-Ape yanked at Bucky's mane, viciously forcing him to bash his canine muzzle bruisingly against the bars. A whimpery yelp resonated instantly from the seized wolf as his eyes pinched against the white-hot flash of spawned agony that pierced his reeling senses. "Argh..."

With her cool poise against the rather daunting breach of a massive hand possessively snaking around Bucky's thickened neck to evoke another ragged cadence of breathless submission; Selina with deceptive grace of innate balletic precision, she lifted her sleek leg up to the brute's exposed forearm and nicked his dark flesh with a bloodied slice of her boot's serrated heel, stealing his truculent glower. "You like to spoil yourself with pain, huh, supersize," she purred daringly, arching an eyebrow with a slow quirk of her voluminous crimson lips, rattling his murderous intent. "Then, let's see how well you can take it..."

"Is that a challenge, woman?" Rather than be amused if not incensed by Selina's lethal quip and the sting of the cut on his arm, Bhalisma appeared genuinely curious as he took a moment to openly observe her from head-to-toe. The stoic façade of the Man-Ape was pinched with deep concentration as he took in the unique material of her cat-suit. It shimmered exotically in the light of the sun and emanated a glowing purple aura along the hem. Vibranium, the bane of Wakanda and the hubris of the Panther-tribe. Indignation and anger coursed through him at the slight against him, but it was tempered by a deeply ingrained emotion that was both primal and raw; desire.

"You wield the Panther-tribe's technology, but it is a blight upon this land." He spat, stepping towards the cage to gaze at her intently through the mask she wore. "You may think us savages, but we are merely reclaimers that seek to restore this land to its true earthly-beauty. And like the sun, you have descended upon us to guide the way. Tell me, what is your name?"

"She not givin' you anythin'..." Bucky snarled warningly against a choke of breath, instantly reacting the Man-Ape's blisteringly intent steering towards his beautiful kitten with a rapacious grip that his massive fist was molding to gorge down the feline vitality that innately channeled through Selina's veins. The gravity of the captive onslaught felt seemingly unevaded, increasing a tenfold as his possessive need to defend her from the traitorous barbarian's clutch was inevitably rioting up stokes of his bestial aggression. A cast of a deadly calm, he jutted out his long muzzle lethally fast through spaces of the metal bars-holding his unshakeable ground as his furred bulk pressed harshly against Selina, despite sensing the impending double-end dagger, wielded to ghost over his throat again. He didn't care if Bhalisma mercilessly butchered him into a wolf fur pelt to adorn to convey his victorious conquest of destabilizing Wakanda's barriers. Selina was damn worth every fighting breath, fueling his heartbeat of prevailed defiance. "You're not gonna have her..."

The infinite conjuring of dominance hung over Selina like a phantom blade as she registered the ferine cadence raggedly emanating from her bulky sniper-wolf; Bucky 's resistance was collapsing in raw descent, the retraceable visages of his latent humanity being disturbingly towed into a vacuous stupor as his bushy tail remained tucked between his furred hind legs, evident to his pinned-down ears. He wanted the Hunuman brute to be on the receiving end of his vicious bite as Bhalisma resumed to stare down at Selina, covetously with no variation in his unquenchable-carnal intent of leashing her into submission under his bone-crushing grip. A throttling gnarl ripped out of Bucky, with a fevered strain. His curved incisors where only a breadth from impaling into a pulsing vein that flashed near his muzzle, as he drawled, aggressively. "You want her, then you're gonna have to go through me..."

"The little cat is no longer your concern, you lowly mutt..." Bhalisma sneered at Bucky through the corner of his eye. The Man-Ape's every waking impulse was to reach into the cage, choke the life out of the impudent wolf before slitting his throat. "Open your mouth once more, and I will cut out your tongue and feed it to crocodiles. Then your friend's as well." He spared a glance over his shoulder at Steve who glared at him with unyielding defiance. The Outsiders were as stubborn as the Panther Tribe warriors who did not know when to quit. Umbaku and his Jabari were now no different. The White Gorilla Tribe had long sought to restore Wakanda to its purer state, and as his focus lingered on the woman in front of him, he felt intrigued at the possibility.

She possessed a beguiling beauty that would lead the weak to an obsession. The further his curiosity ventured as he felt a powerful aura emanate from her. The scolding intensity of her brown eyes were like hot coals behind the mask that accentuated her alluring beauty. Her fair skin, what little of it that was exposed, reflected the sun in a radiant glow that made him desire to see her fully unmasked. And yet, he was daunted at the thought. The power—the spirit—he sensed inside of her was old, in a state of dormancy that would require an equally powerful hand to guide to its transcendence.

"I will ask you again, Outsider. What is your name?" He pressed.

"Now that would be telling, supersize..." Selina coyly deflected with a scoff, feeling his malicious appetite waging in his darkened gaze, smeared with tribal white paint as the intensity of his irises mirrored an unwavering promise of subduing her into the cage of his massive arms. The edge of his resolve was splintering-as his heated breath gusted a possessive breach against her cheek. Beneath her domino mask, her coffee depths grew fervently alight, she kept her poised guardedly armed as his penetrating intent wickedly sailed over the voluptuous swell of her garbed breasts, the delectable heaviness cloaked sleekly in vibranium. With a deceptive raise for her gloved hand, fluidly she ghosted her clawed fingers over his thickened wrist, luring him into her seductive thrall. "If you want me then you're going to have to get closer..." Her sultriest tone purred dangerously.

"There is nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal, my dear. Beguiling beauty alone will not afford you an advantage here." Bhalisa smirked dangerously though his eyes held no trace of amusement as he detected the sultry deception in her coaxing words. She was a siren just as much as she was a cunning feline in the shape of a woman. The shape of her athletic form told him she was a lethal practitioner who utilized every weapon at her disposal to achieve her goals. Though he felt angry that she refused to divulge her identity to him, he had long been accustomed to such an answer in the company of mercenaries who stole, killed and lied every day of their lives. The woman in front of him, despite the strength of spirit she possessed, was no different in her line of work, he surmised.

"You wear the Panther Tribe's technology, but you do not fight like a warrior. The skills you have demonstrated tell me you are a creature of shadow and deception. What is your trade? Thief? Spy?" He demanded, though not fully expecting her to respond as he paced in front of the cage. "The elusiveness of a cat, but with the cunning of a snake. You intrigue me…Perhaps we can come to an agreement?" He offered, his tactical mind already formulating ways in which she could be of use to him and the White Gorilla Tribe.

The arcane spoils of Wakanda were invaluable for her thieving caliber, she wouldn't double-cross the eminence of T'challa's altruistic spirit, not when he generously offered her sniper wolf an isolated harbor of solace and reparation within the bordering outposts of the mountain, straying from that grounded trust would be measured by her betrayal- unabated sense of unease gripped her veins as she realized the stakes would put her on the high-road. Caressing Bucky's tensing chestnut fur, she made the extent of her practical choice become reality in her smoky undertone. "Sorry, big boy, I'm not selling out on friends..."

"Is that so…" The glare the Man-Ape sent her could wither the very forests. Rejection did not sit well with Bhalisa, especially in the eyes of his men who looked on with varying degrees of anticipation. The Jabari were weak and submitted to the Panther cub. The Gorillas were kings and they would trample any who dared to challenge their might. It was a practice since the dawn of creation. The strong ruled through fear and in order to make others submit, examples needed to be made. A cruel smile formed across his lips; mirthless and cold. He looked between Selina and the Direwolf beside her who appeared every bit as intent on shedding blood and leaping to her defense should the Man-Ape make a move. "Such a pity. I had hoped to gain your loyalty without resorting to…unsavory methods. But now you leave me no choice." Turning, Bhalisa picked up his ceremonial Chieftain staff in a battle-ready posture. "Let him up."

Steve felt the mercenaries release their hold on him suddenly. Confusion lasted a second before he jumped to his feet, ignoring the bruising aches that throbbed with the action. There was no time to lose as he prepared to resume his assault. Teeth clenched in aggression, he directed an empowering right hook towards the Man-Ape's torso, only to have it stopped cold by Bhalisa's gargantuan-sized hand. "Hmph! You draw your strength from science. Mine comes from the spirit of the Gorilla. A power you cannot hope to match!" With that, Bhalisa delivered a thundering headbutt to Steve's head. Stars and white-hot pain exploded across the blonde's brow. The world spun, too fast for him to grasp as he fell back to his knees. "Get up!" Bhalisa barked, his men joining in his ramble as they slammed their weapons against metal surfaces, creating a battle-drum.

"Grah...Get up, punk," Heaving out a breathless drawl in a snarling pitch, Bucky sensed that inevitable odds stacked against coming to urgent fruition. This was a damn war zone, the naked depth of unbeatable gleam defiance flashed in Steve's hawkish azure irises, the super-soldier braced his palms rigidly on the ground, rising up with grimacing ease as Bhalisa's bludgeoning momentum refueled another monstrous bullrush. His pointed ears speared up against the disruptive volume of heavy stomping until Steve was crushingly slammed shoulder-first.

A gut-wrenching cadence of Steve's heavy bulk ensued as he collided dizzyingly into a shipping crate, the brutal dissonance of metal contorting around him distorted against the full acceleration of his body's careening force."C'mon Steve, show em' what a kid from Brooklyn does," Bucky railed out, desperately thrusting his jutted muzzle against the bars, staring at blood smearing over Steve's beard roughen jaw-it was killing ground of the jungle. "Take em' down..."

The effect of Man Ape's punch was not as devastating as being punched by the Hulk, but it was still winding enough to make Steve feel disoriented. His unrelenting spirit kept him on his feet, fists at the ready like a dazed boxer unwilling to go down for the count. It appeared to amuse Bhalisa who stared him down as if he were a rabbit about to be squashed. "I can do this all day," Steve muttered. In truth, he probably couldn't, but he wasn't about to give up. He'd stood up to bullies his entire life, and he wasn't about to stop now. Bhalisa snorted at his open show of defiance. His fists clenched at his sides, the curling of his lip revealed a snarl of aggression.

A war cry bellowed from his mouth as he charged with inhumane speed. In an act that stunned the chanting mercenaries, Steve snapped out of his dazed stupor and dodged the incoming attack with the grace and efficiency of a leopard. Bouncing on the balls of his feet, Steve leapt and executed a spinning roundhouse kick that connected his boot to Bhalisa's chin. The Man-Ape didn't have a chance to be surprised before Steve was on him, delivering hard-hitting punches to every sensitive spot he could see from the Man-Ape's stomach to his knees. It was like trying to topple a building by attacking its pressure points, and not so shockingly, it also felt like hitting one. Man-Ape's flesh was rock-hard and it gave him the advantage of being able to fend off Steve's attack.

"Enough!" He roared, headbutting Steve viciously before sending him toppling to the ground with a shoving kick.

Indulging on his reigned supremacy, Bhalisa prowled in front of the crate with terrifying speed, his measured stance of bestial intimation tauntingly betrayed no contrast of tolerance, the hulking mass of his armored form eclipsed over Steve's lucent azure irises, roguish blond tresses draped tacky over his feverish temples, a wet trek of blood painstakingly hiked from the split gash on the bruised swell of his underlip. Jack-knifing up his momentum with a slow arch of his Kevlar weaved abdomen, gnashing his teeth, Steve effectively scissored his legs over the Gorilla brute's exposed calves, locking him into a constrictive position-trying to induce a distraction while Selina blindingly lashed her vibranium claws over the cage's bolted lock.

As the metal panels separated against a kinetic pulse in the fleeting wake of her gloved hand, Bucky remained mechanically impassive on his paws, tilting his muzzle upwards by a command of wolfish instinct as he sniffed the muggy air- an execrable taint of vaporous sorcery was alterity infinite. The Hunuman relic would divest Steve's humanity into a dormant vessel unrelentingly fashioned within thralls of weakness. A rumbling growl arrowed up his throat, warningly. "If you try to use that damn jungle rock on Steve..." he drawled out in a snarly breath, tensely underlying his brotherly defiance. "Hell, you're gonna be sorry..."

"It is time you Outsiders learned to become one with the nature of these lands. The cradle of civilization beckons you towards a new beginning; a new infancy." The glowing stone in Bhalisa's hands glowed with an ominous green aura, mystical and otherworldly. Steve knew it was bad news the moment he saw it. Before he could pick himself up to mount some form of retreat, he felt himself thrown back by a pulse of the sorcerous energy that emitted from the glowing rock. A strangled cry came from his throat, feeling as if icy shards were piercing every nerve of his body, making him completely numb. The overbearing scent of magic smothered him to the point he could scarcely breathe, scarcely think. His eyes closed tight, teeth bared in a war of pain and defiance. His fists clenched as he forced himself to a sitting position. Eyes glaring furiously at the Man-Ape who in turned raised an impressed eyebrow.

"You are strong-willed, Rogers. More than your friend anyway." He cast a scornful look towards Bucky and Selina who now just managed to break free from their cage. "Do not let them interfere!" Bhalisa roared, forcing a strong wave of sorcery to overcome Steve, just as his men rushed to engage Selina and Bucky.

Arcing her claws up to deliver a vicious slash at a guerrilla's throat, with an implosion of tension, attempting to vault over a barrel, Selina became stunted by a rhapsodic cantata echoing over the dock in feral volumes; a dark raze of cosmic vitality became unknowingly conjured, the Bashenga mountain radiated as the carved eyes of giant monolith Panther-the granite visage of Bast hauntingly glowed with luminous bluish energy.

A rift in the heart of Wakanda was being cleaved apart by a maniacal command as a flash of lightning strike became mirrored in Steve's blearing azure depths as his widened pupils morphically slit in feral contrast of razor-edge sharpness against pestiferous gravity cementing him down to a hinged level of sorcerous defeat. A telestic rebirth was commencing as Bhalisa's grating resonance of harsh Xhosa, venomously uttered out 'Panther ti wura (Gold Panther)'.

In those alarming upheavals of animorphic convergence, the vibranium shield gauntlet fastened over Steve's left wrist became abandoned as his braced forearm sickeningly wrenched back in the motion of a violent thrust. Lengthy-tousled blonde tresses flitted over his rugged features as he turned to look up at the dire wolf and Selina, naked urgency gleamed unwaveringly potent in his tigerish azure depth—a predatory fusion lanced through his veins in rapid succession of chanting in unison.

Vaporous tendrils of greenish energy overwhelmingly coasted over Steve's powerful bulk as a shoving boot bruisingly rammed him down onto his back with a bone-jerking stomp hammering into his ribs. A concussive blow stole a heaving pant of breath as his bruised lips were stretching torturously wide against the surging pull of inexorable agony. His unrivaled semblance of invincibility was fracturing against the constant throbbing pressure, drilling into his unhinged jaw bone. The smoothness of his boyish angular features hollowed as he gnashed his teeth into hard clench, watery dribbles of blood oozed against seething breaths. "Argh..."

"Get outta here!" he roared in guttural pitch, slurringly his masculine timbre raw in strained depth, as his leather-sheathed hand slashed deliriously the air in direction of the unguarded tree-line. Bhalisa shadowed thirstily behind him, like a dark scourge readying to harvest out every visage of his mortality. The insurmountable barrages of clamorous pain mounted as Steve thrashed erratically on his knees until he crumpled on his side into a fetal curl, his forearms crossed over the corded width of his chest, revealing a damp swatch of golden-blonde fur underneath navy blue Kevlar. A feverish rush was overheating in his veins in a nauseated wake.Gritting his resharpened teeth, bitingly, Steve felt the suspended extent of bone-raw anguish shifting in his lengthened jaw, broad planes of muscle, and hawkish contours of bone deformed into an extended mass that appeared distinctive of a thickened feline muzzle. "D-Don't quit runnin'-

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