Wee. A pity I haven't had time to work too much on this. Next chapter is 
abut 15% done. But I am cutting into the C+C backlog a bit. I think I 
still have a chapter of Chibification somewhere.

The Eternal Lost Lurker wrote:

Because turnaround is fun!
 

Indeed.

Avenging
Act III, All You Need is Hate
Prologue: Opening Movement
   

*all the Avengers except Hulk flee the mansion in terror*

[Hawkeye] "That does it...NO MORE BEANS FOR THE HULK!"
 

Already used a fart joke in the first arc. No sense in beating the horse 
dead

life-shifting change. A permanent one. Once a person immersed themselves
in the magical waters, their former life would be forever lost to the
new being that emerged.
   

[Mino-Tarou] *rises up out of the spring and puts an oversized pair of
sunglasses on* "Moo, bitches."
 

% The A-Bra-Mination cannot speak in anything other than moos and grunts. :)

She had already done that once, in fashion, casting off her old life the
way a snake shed its skin. In a way more painful than any snake had ever
shed a skin. Now it was time to take that path once again. Less painful,
but just as thorough. Perhaps moreso. Sixty-nine people
   

Giggity!
 

I've cut this back. Less than fifty now.

Course decided, she saw no reason to hesitate. So she leapt from the
pole and dove into the water.

She hit it with a loud splash and disappeared from view.
   

And kept on going until she came out the other side of the Earth, because
she jumped into Spring of Drowned Shadowcat.
 

Heh. No. No plans for Kitty Pryde in this. Xavier is in charge of the 
Alice Academy, though.

Gakuen Alice, anime version of the X-Universe crossed with Child's Toy, 
basically..

�He will see me now!�
   

"And SHE will see me later! Giggity!"
 

Heh.

The woman was still livid as she glared at his silent, black-suited
bodyguards. �If you think you can intimidate me by having your thugs
pull their guns on me, think again.�
   

"But the ninja in the corner with the creepy eyes and the tattoo on his
forehead is a bit unnerving. Can you kinda...ask him to go somewhere else
maybe?"
 

% Onsokomaru (sp?) has the market cornered on ninjas. And when the 
Ninjaworld amusement parks open up, watch out world!

�I didn�t think that at all. They do that to anyone that might be a
threat to me. They have to be on their toes in case someone tries to do
me harm, though I don�t know why anyone would want to hurt a lowly
member of the Ministry of Health and Welfare such as myself.� He put on
an ingratiating smile.
   

Might it be because you have an alternate name that's prefixed with "Darth"
by any chance?
 

% If you've read Geobreeders (and not many people have), you'd get a lot 
better feel for Irie. He's sort of the bad guy that's working on your 
side type. Even if he's trustworthy, you just don't want to turn your 
back on him since you know he's fully capable of killing you without a 
thought, if there was some reason for it.

�I can think of plenty of reasons.� Venom dripped from her voice. �Some
information has come to my attention that implies you and your
department are in the midst of a genocidal campaign against what can
only be described as �cat people�.�
   

..................................................

....I'm sorry, but in absolutely NO context can I make myself take that
seriously.
 

% Being familiar with the Geobreeders storyline helps with the context 
here. Hints of this were in the Hulkbusters chapter when I introduced 
Irie. Now that subplot is starting to see fruition.

% Besides, this is anime. How can you not see a race of cat girls 
running around? It's obligatory.

�So you claim, but I find it difficult to believe a race of animals
would seek to harm humanity, unless someone was attacking them, prodding
them into defending themselves.� And the way she said it left little
doubt who she felt started things. �Has there been any attempt to open a
dialogue with them?�
   

"Yes, but we're having a little bit of a language barrier. Apparently, 'mow
mow myow mrowr' means 'I just raped your mother and removed all her nursing
teats' in catese."
 

% Heh.

It would be best to remind her of her place. �Be that as it may,
executive order 10081 forbids the release of this information.�

�What the hell is executive order 10081?�
   

"It's the order that lets me execute bitches who get too annoying."
 

% No, he needs better motivation than that.

Eight masked figures, six men and two women clothed in tight black
suits, made their way down the metal corridors, moving quickly but as
surreptitiously as they could manage. Each of them had a number of belts
and packs strapped to their bodies, filled with a number of tools,
equipment, and even a weapon or two that they had easy access to.
   

That entire paagraph could be reduced to one sentence with the word
"ninjas" :P
 

% Well, Tick Ninjaworld ninjas, maybe. Nah, they'd have gone in with 
branches tied to their masks and claimed they were hedges.

The second man spoke again, voice seething in anger. �Yes, I too want
the world to know how we rescued all of these poor, helpless animals

>from this butcher, this so-called �High Evolutionary�.�

O_o;;
 

Actually, while there was no way to convey this without it being 
awakward, it is save to assume he had a number of failures in trying to 
evolutionarily advances various animals. So he's partially correct.

But what was most unsettling was that while the barracks were inhabited
by many, not one of them was human. All of them bore features of
animals, mainly in the face. All were easily recognizable as a menagerie
of mammals and a handful of reptiles.
   

And one cephalopod.
 

No. There was a cockroach once. He didn't turn out so good, though. 
He'll pop up later. A truly obscure one shot villain, but a powerhouse.

OTOH, some people feel he was part of the great 'Cockroach Conspircacy' 
which has been going on in Marvel since its inception. It's a conspiracy 
all the writers deny, but then they would deny it, wouldn't they....

Yakumo quickly collected himself. �We�re part of the Animal Liberation
Front, and we�re here to free you poor creatures.�
   

"In other words, we're dead men walking."
 

Nah. They aren't homicidal. Their code doesn't allow for killing 
annoying people.

Pity mine does, but the law won't allow me to act on it. :(

Taking on the airs of a man giving a speech, Yakumo said in a voice loud
enough to be heard by all, �Listen to me. The High Evolutionary has
tortured you, taking you from your natural environment and bombarding
you with radiation as part of an experiment. He has used you as guinea
pigs��

�I am a guinea pig,� a voice piped up from the back.
   

*SNRK*
 

That was one that came on the fly. Some jokes come to me first, then I 
work a scene to have them. Like when I saw an episode of Ouran High 
School Club. Ooo, I'm going to have fun with them in this.

�My apologies. I meant no offense,� Yakumo said sincerely.

�S�all right,� came the voice from the back.
   

heheheheheh.
 

No hard feelings. Still a nice pleasent conversation. So far

Yakumo thought he would vomit. �Knights? My god, he�s even open about
turning you into soldiers for some insane militaristic conquest. He has
to be stopped now.�

�Oh?� the leopard man asked, putting on a breastplate with a skull on
the chest.
   

This would be the point at which SANE people would LEAVE.
 

Or which determined people carry on where less devoted ones would fall 
by the wayside.

�Listen to me,� Yakumo said. �You have all been brainwashed by this evil
man into thinking this way. You are not warriors. You are simple
animals, not tools for humanity to exploit.�
   

Speaking of "simple animals"...
 

Just a case of people seeing what they want to see and fitting the facts 
into the mold. Most everyone does this in all works of life at one point 
or another.

But not me, because I'm better and smarter than anyone else, and above 
such weaknesses. Just ask me and I'll tell you. For instance, I enjoy 
Carrot Top.

�I object to be called simple,� a fox man snapped.

�Actually I think it suits you,� a rabbit man next to him quipped.
   

XD
 

And it does.

Yakumo shouted, �You see? Already the taint of humanity has made you
turn on one another instead of living in harmony as nature intended for
you.�

The rabbit man and fox man looked at him in slack-jawed wonder.
   

I agree with this sentiment. What is this idiot, a reject from PETA?
 

Like many characters in this, silly to the point of blatent parody, not 
a serious character.

The Man Beast on the other hand....

Yakumo continued, �Don�t worry. Come with us and I swear to you not only
will we prevent you from being exploited, but we will endeavor to return
you to your natural forms so that you may live once again in the native
environment that you belong in.�
   

Even if it's against their wishes?
 

It's for their own good. Haven't parents been telling children this for 
ages? It's the same thing. They're like giant, furry children forced to 
work in a high tech sweatshop.

Well, that's the way he sees them.

The leopard man drew nearer to Yakumo, towering over him. �Let me get
this straight, your goal is to get us to leave our home and follow you
so you can revert us to our former lives, taking away our intelligence,
communication abilities, and opposable thumbs?�
   

DANGER! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!

 

Yakumo sighed in relief. �Exactly.�
   

Oh you are SO dead.
 

More like he'll be walking a few miles in another's shoes.

�That�s the brainwashing talking,� Yakumo choked out. �You�ve been
abducted from your normal role in nature and twisted by science into
something you were never meant to be. It�s not normal for you to be
tainted like this. Believe me, the last thing in the world you want is
to become more human.�
   

Man, he's determined to keep digging, isn't he?

 

�Of course not! I�m a good human.
   

A good *stupid* human, yeah.
 

Better to be good and stupid, then evil and smart.

Like Onsokumaru.

Well, maybe not.

The others began donning their own breastplates as Sir Leopard spoke.
�You know what, boys? I say we give this gentleman a brief taste of what
it�s like to be �one with nature�.�

�Deevolutionizer?� the ocelot man asked.

�Deevolutionizer.�
   

Oh, SNAP. XD
 

Heh

�Ah, sort of,� Yakumo said, resisting the urge to tremble. Animals
didn�t frighten him. He was their friend. Animals could sense when one
had goodwill toward them. Didn�t dolphins save people from drowning all
the time?
   

You've swapped names with this guy and Yakumo, incidentally...
 

Yeah. I goofed there.

�Don�t call me Screech!� the bird man screeched.

�Then stop screeching,� Man Beast countered.
   

*SNRK*
 

He raises a good point.

Rather than getting on, Tabur sniffed the air, then looked curiously at
the silent Overrider. �Why hello there, Babe. I didn�t expect to meet
someone like you here.�

Overrider silently backed away, removing her hand to from the wall.

Man Beast scowled at his feline comrade. �Quit flirting with the human,
you insolent....� He stopped and sniffed the air, then looked at
Overrider, who seemed more apprehensive than ever.
   

Uh-oh XD
 

This is foreshadowing.

projecting human motives to animals, which was foolish since animals
were animals, no matter how science might change them. It might sound
and act like a person, but it wasn�t. Thankfully. There were plenty of
people in the world, people that destroyed too many animals. Science
didn�t need to make animals more like people; they needed to make people
more like animals. Then they could live in harmony with their
environment, the way nature intended.
   

Ah, the same one that breeds people who say crap like "You can't hug your
children with nuclear arms".
 

And somewhere, Radioactive Man's heart just broke.


Thanks for the comments.

DB Sommer



             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'