cobalt

Speaking of crocs, back at the battle, The Immortal Ones mechanical one begins to emit clouds of oily black smoke to choke Bwana Beast and his bizarre steed while creating a smokescreen to make his getaway. Ruperts helicopters blades quickly clear the air, allowing for Bwana Beast to pursue his foe into the jungle. The croc-machines trail suddenly ends, so Bwana Beast uses his helmet to summon Galak the vulture to help him. The homely bird takes to the sky; from this vantage point, it sees that the reptilian robot-vehicle has transformed to an aquatic mode and is traveling down a winding river that cuts through the jungle. When Hamid Alis men spot the vulture, they fire their weapons at it. But poor Galak is only wounded; it flies back to Bwana Beast to report the whereabouts of He Who Never Dies. Riding his hybrid mount, the jungle master heads the river, which eventually leads under a massive cliff.

When The Immortal Ones men fires on them, Bwana Beast and his enormous green critter-pal dive underwater, attacking the mechanical crocodile from below. But with its nose-horn stuck in the croc-machines belly, Bwana Beasts monstrous pet along with Hamid Alis zoomorphic vehicle is swept over a waterfall! As the second chapter of Track Of The Immortal One opens, as the combatants plummet through the cascading waters, Bwana Beast mentally separates his hybrid creature into its component animals to give them a better chance to survive the thundering plunge. Indeed, they do, but their master is stunned by the impact with the water filling the underground cavern below. As Hamid Ali emerges from a turret-hatch, hes thwarted by thousands of vampire bats that swarm over the croc-machine to protect the man who commands all Africas wildlife.

Frustrated by this development, The Immortal One, orders his underlings to take their vehicle diving beneath the waters, anxious to intercept Bwana Beasts elephant Tembo and put an end to his mission to deliver the copper ore to the coast. As the jungle master drags himself to the bank of the underground river, he laments:

BWANA BEAST (thinking):
Hurthurt badand my powers are waning! Time is running outneed more of the potion or Hamid Ali has on! DJUBA!Only DJUBA can help me now!

NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Again the thoughts of the man who commands the beasts radiate out across jungle and plain to the great snow-covered summit of Africas highest mountain KILIMANJAROto the brain of DJUBA, the great red gorilla who guards the potion that gives BWANA BEAST his powers! Shortly, with a vial around his shaggy neck, DJUBA starts toward his masterCovering miles in minutes, the huge ape takes to his aerial highwayuntil, entering the underground river downstream from the fallshe delivers the precious potion to his master!