Throwdown in the Lost World

Monster Squad finds themselves on the wrong end of the law (again) as three of their number (the Scarlet Scarab, Wrecking Ball, and Jack o' Lantern) offer safe escort to the nefarious Professor Doctor Gugenstein to one of his secret labs. This particular lab is his mutagenic research station deep in the jungles of the Lost World, a 'hollow world' beneath the Earth's crust accessible only through the North Pole. In return for their service, Gugenstein will see if he will be able to reverse the Scarlet Scarab's outward mutant appearance.


Professor Doctor Gugenstein (center) searches the undergrowth for the glyph stone that marks the entrance to his underground laboratory. To have such a high-tech lair in such a savage place suggests that he simply moved in and took it over after being abandoned possibly eons ago instead of building one on his own. The ancient stone tunnel networks underground certainly suggest this.


Enter the Super Simians, intelligent and uplifted apes who have acted as a force of good for many years. Hot on the trail of Gugenstein, the Super Simians are looking for payback. The villainous Doctor kidnapped and enslaved one of the natural dire apes from the Lost World years back and tried to augment it in hopes for a super weapon. It was rescued by the Super Simians, who are currently healing it back to health at their base. They sent a team of three to exact revenge. Elasti-Ape and the Gibbon Glider are led by the mentally acute Harangutan.


Monster Squad is slow to act, but they must honor their deal with Gugenstein. From a distance, with kinetic rays from his high-tech visor, the Gibbon Glider blasts Jack o' Lantern to submission. Seeing an opening for attack, Jack o' Lantern rushes out towards Harangutan, catching him off guard and overwhelming him with a blur of melee attacks.


Tired of the Gibbon Glider's aerial attacks, Wrecking Ball uproots a massive pillar of black basalt to use as a projectile, leaving his charge, the Doctor, behind.


He lets loose, his massive frame throwing the automobile-sized pillar of rock as if it were a football across the cavern. His aim is off however, missing the high flyer by a long shot, but perhaps he can clip Elasti-Ape on the ground.


It misses, but gets their attention. Harangutan points towards the open opportunity, that Professor Doctor Gugenstein was left unguarded. Meanwhile, Elasti-Ape pummels Jack 'o Lantern from a distance with outstretched fists.


Jack o' Lantern didn't stay out for long, seemingly able to recover from the most grievous wounds. He was up quickly and to the Doctor's side, trying to stave off the Super Simians. Too late, the opening was too good of an opportunity to pass up and they were upon him.


The Gibbon Glider's soliloquy was a harsh reality check to the Monster Squad, as the doctor was lambasted for his unnatural acts, the Monster Squad realized that no matter the payoff, they had backed the wrong side. Gugenstein did not last under the fury of the Elasti-Ape and the Gibbon Glider. Where's Harangutan? A devastating blow from Wrecking Ball sent him "into next week". [in game mechanics terms, the melee hit knocked Harangutan back 20" through the air. From a single punch!] Staggering back, Harangutan eventually did return. Sacrificing himself, he launched upon the behemoth Wrecking Ball, hoping to tie him up long enough for the others to succeed.


The victors of the battle, the Super Simians. From left to right; the Gibbon Glider, Elasti-Ape, and their leader, the Harangutan. Crumpled at their feet is Professor Doctor Gugenstein, is this the last we've seen of him? Footage from the Gibbon Glider's visor "somehow" made it into the hands of the eager news media, who jumped at the chance to lump the Monster Squad into the same category of villains, vagabonds, fakirs, footpads, and n’er do wells as the atrocious Professor Doctor Gugenstein himself!