ffml-bounce@anifics.com wrote:

[Author's note: Just need one more person to get back to me with part B.
Should be out within the next 8 days. Until then, enjoy.]

And boy, did I ever. :)

Prologue

<snip Ryoga's part>

What can I say? Canon Ranma characters that act like canon Ranma characters albeit having purple pants (to which, I say... was it really necessary? The black pants with the straps should suit him fine enough as is, IMO... albeit not adding too the Hulk flavor....), and original characters that stand-up on their own, with your trademark way of making them well-rounded enough in a few paragraphs...  as well as how you mesh up the character interaction... well, it's all good. ^^

Makes me almost regret not reading previous parts, despite seeing this in a loooong time in the FFML. :(

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Avenging
Chapter 8
Ten Rings to Rule Them All
Part 1


Any and all C+C is appreciated. You can contact me at
sommer@3rdm.net

At Larry F's at:
http://lwf58.tripod.com/fan_fiction/d_b_sommer/index.html

Or R+C books at:
http://dbsommer.rcbooks.org

And also Angcobra is now storing all of my fics, at
http://s5.sexshare.com/~angcobra/dbsommer.html

Standard disclaimer:
I don't own any of the any of the Marvel characters, or the folks from Ranma
1/2 or any of the other various anime sources I refer to here.

BTW: The idea for the opening here was created in my mind long before the
events of Sept. 11. Just in case someone thought I wrote that part as some
sort of reaction to it, this is not the case.

The thought occcured whilst reading it, yet after nearly missing the disclaimer... (shrug) it's all good.

It took every ounce of willpower Hasam had not to roll his eyes in front of
his superior. At least Fekish's reflexive regurgitation of
political-religious jargon could be understood since the shorter man was
probably the most impressionable human being on the face of the planet. He
was fairly certain Fekish could be talked into stripping in front of a
convention of nuns and singing "I'm a little teapot short and stout," with
only five minutes of prodding. That was one of the reasons Hasam had been
assigned to him: to keep him from doing anything stupid or giving away any
secrets he knew about the movement.

Fekish's character would be a prime example of non-cardboard type original character put up in the fray of a fic hanging only by name and a breif description. Nice work.

The Colonel's tone remained carefree and easygoing. "Be that as it may, the
two of you are going to fly out of this country in your disguises." He
handed booklets to each of the passengers. "Here are your passports."

As Hasam looked his over, his jaw nearly dropped into his lap. "My name is
supposed to be Sven Svenson, a professional golfer from Iceland?! Do they
even have golf courses there?"

"Several," Fekish answered cheerfully as he began absorbing the information
contained within the passport.

"Ingenious, isn't it? No one would suspect Icelandic golfers of being
terrorists. I came up with the disguises myself." The Colonel preened over
what he obviously considered an impressive achievement.

Hasam grasped Fekish's cheek and pulled. "I think our skin's a touch on the
dark side to try passing ourselves off as coming from an island in the
middle of the Atlantic Ocean that was settled by Europeans."

For some reason, even with how obvious it came (I saw it coming a mile away), I find this scene quite hilarious.

The Colonel waved his hand dismissively. "Bah! It doesn't matter. The
Japanese think all gaijin look alike."

Since nearly all foreigners are reffered collectively as such, one wouldn't pass off the idea too quickly.

He carefully handed Fekish an
awful-looking briefcase decorated in yellow and pink pastels. 

Gee, for a bio-chemical weapon, that sure is quite a color. Almost as though they had a yellow and black striped canister labeled, "Warning: Biochemical weapon" with them.

The Colonel looked insulted. "Don't be ridiculous; it's no bomb. This is a
very valuable item we obtained here in Japan. It's the reason to our being
here in the first place. It's imperative that the case gets back to the
homeland, which is why we've taken such drastic measures to ensure you can
fly it home without fear of being detained."

"Oh. When you put it that way, that makes things a little different." Hasam
relaxed slightly.

The Colonel added, "Although on the offhand chance your presence is somehow
detected and it appears you will be arrested by the authorities, there's two
concealed buttons located on the top of the case. Push them at the same
time."

Fekish held the case up by its handle. He spotted two nearly concealed studs
next to each lock on the top. "You mean these?" He brushed his fingertips
across the tops.

"DON'T TOUCH THEM!" The Colonel dove for cover. In the enclosed confines of
the limo, that meant lunging headfirst into the floor.

Now that's a vote of confidence.

"It is a bomb!" Hasam resisted the urge to hit the Colonel with the
briefcase, mainly in fear of setting off the explosive rather than out of
any respect he held for his superior.

"Nonsense," the Colonel scoffed, recovering quickly. "As I said before, it
is not a bomb. Although even if it was, you should be proud that I would
bestow upon you the opportunity to do such a great deed that would usher you
into Allah's arms."

Tearing the briefcase from Fekish's grasp, Hasam began gesturing wildly
about with it in his hand. "I'll tell you what, if blowing one's ass up is
such a great opportunity to be ushered into Allah's arms, and everyone has
such tremendous respect for all that you've done for our cause, why don't I
give you the case and you can get on the plane with it, while I hang around
this plane of existence for a while longer?"  He thrust the case in the
Colonel's direction.

The man waved the overture back. "Alas, it is a tempting offer, but it is
not my fate to do such for the cause. I am much too important to our
organization in a number of ways and am quite irreplaceable."

Heh.

The Colonel shook his head. "It is on a need to know basis, and you do not
need to know. I can tell you it was not easy to acquire and cost us a
tremendous sum of money, but it was worth every cent. In our hands, its
contents can change the face of the world and bring victory to our righteous
cause. That stupid, trusting infidel woman will pay for her greed and
improper lifestyle eventually, when the time comes to turn our attention to
this festering pit of infidels and their unbelieving ways. I will personally
see to it the woman is taught her place in the proper scheme of things and
is brought low. Hahahaha!"

But of course, seeing how dumb the Colonel is, and knowing your penchant for irony, the stupid, trusting infidel woman is actually... 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Roquat?"

"Yes, Mistress?"

"You alerted the authorities at the airport to be on the lookout for two
foreign terrorists in their early twenties, one very large and one average
height and a bit slender, dressed in suspicious clothing and carrying a
briefcase with yellow and pink pastels, correct?"

"Several minutes ago."

"Excellent."

"Mistress, why, might I ask, are you doing this? I mean, you did sell them
the product in the first place. And if you want it back, why don't we simply
retrieve it from them ourselves instead of bringing the authorities in on
it?"

"Several reasons. First, I want it back because I don't trust those buffoons
to not use it against our interests in some way, which was part of the sales
agreement. I'm just not waiting to give them a chance to stab us in the back
first. Second, we can't allow anyone know of our involvement in the
retrieval. It would be bad for business if potential buyers became aware of
our stealing our own product from the people we sold it to. That makes
direct involvement out of the question. Third, there is no need to expend
our resources in retrieving the object when the authorities will do it for
nothing? Finally, it's much easier to get it from the police than it would
be from our clients."

"Remarkable. We will come out of this situation with a tremendous profit and
at virtually no risk. I stand in awe of your business savvy, Mistress."

"As well you should. As well you should."

.... a conniving, shrewd bitch, that's what. 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Such a stupid woman, like all of her gender." The Colonel continued to grin
at his perceived intelligence and wisdom.

Nitpick. Maybe the 'perceived' part can be taken off, since the reader knows just how intelligent the Colonel is. But it's alright as is, given the next sentence it has afterwards. 

That made Hasam worry all the more, because the Colonel was neither
intelligent nor wise, just lucky, and his luck rarely extended to those
around him.

<snip>

Paranoia ate away at Hasam's senses like a sea full of sharks devouring a
bloodied fish in their midst as he and Feckish entered the airport. He was
certain every eye in the terminal was focused on them, ready to pounce upon
him long before they ever made it to the plane. And once that happened, even
Hasam didn't want to know what those damn buttons did. The Colonel had to be
lying. It had to be a bomb.

Unable to take the pressure, the big man spun on his compatriot. "Fekish?"

Fekish waved his finger. "Ah, ah, ah. We're undercover."

Hasam's eyebrow twitched. "Excuse me, Bjork."

It stupid as it sounds... probably as stupid as it looks, too.

"It has?"

"Yes. I'm in charge."

"Oh, well, I guess that makes sense." He stopped moving back and forth.

That's the problem with the gullible, though henchmen are stupid by definition. It doesn't help that the Col. is too. 

"Of course it does, and you know I've always looked out for you. Now do me a
favor. Go into the nearest restroom. Go into one of the stalls and close the
door behind you. Then open up that damned case without setting off any
booby-traps and tell me what's inside."

"Okay." Fekish obeyed the orders and walked off.

Hasam watched his partner enter the restroom. The feeling of being watched
grew exponentially. Had he been less loyal to a friend, and didn't like
Fekish as much as he did, he probably would have left the airport outright.
The Colonel was lying. Oh, he might have been technically telling the truth,

The Clintonian truth, at the very least.

but he was putting their lives on the line while he sat back and watched
events unfold. Hasam hated that. He preferred the idea that in his god's
eyes, all men were equal, rather than those that had money were important,
and those that had nothing were useful as cannon fodder. He was no different

>from the Colonel, at least not in the ways that mattered. There was no

reason their leader could not have been here instead of himself. It was
times like this he seriously questioned his faith, or at least those
religious leaders that supposedly knew what it meant to be faithful.

Nice tension flower too.

Tension continuing to build, Hasam paced back and forth frantically, drawing
stares from passers by. He tried to stop calling attention to himself, but
even when he scratched his nose, he felt eyes boring in on him. He began to
sweat uncontrollably, despite the cool air of the terminal. An odd
compulsion to stand on top of a trashcan and shout out to everyone to quit
staring at him grew ever more powerful.

... and it's flowing quite well, too.

His breaking point was fast
approaching.

He was mopping the sweat from his brow for the third time when Fekish
reappeared, smiling happily and carrying the case as though it contained
nothing more than clothing. That eased Hasam a great deal. There was no way
Fekish would be so casual if he were carrying a bomb. Still, he had to make
sure.

"So, Bjork, what does our golf bag carry in it?"

"We don't have a golf bag."

"I meant was there a bomb in there?" Hasam hissed.

"That's not what it sounded like."

"Think of it as code."

"Like Pig Latin?"

"If it'll make you feel better, fine."

"Okay. No ombay, on the friebcasay."

Heh. It sounded so stupid that its funny.

Hasam began to tune out as his partner's voice continued its listing of the
common items. He wondered if it was drugs they were smuggling, perhaps in
the talcum powder. It seemed odd, but who knew how they were raising money
anymore?

Fekish continued. "A bag of golf tees, toothpicks, bio-weapon kept in a
metal cylinder with status readout on the side, lint brush, argyle soACK!"

Now here we have is a basic comdeic device known as obliviousness when calling out items... stupid hench will call out items, to which a very obviously important item would be listed off in the middle of the item rant, intending comedy.

Not bad.  

Hasam threatened to crush Fekish's windpipe with how hard he twisted the
shorter man's shirt in his meaty fist. "What was that about a bio-weapon?"

"It's located in the top portion of the case," Fekish gasped out. "Right
next to some sort of device that gives out a false image to x-ray machines."

"How do you know it's a bio-weapon?"

"Oh, that's easy. I dated a biochemist while we were here. She'd get a
little drink in her and then would go on and on about the different types of
bio-weapons her company had her make. I paid attention to what she said
because women like it when you take their jobs seriously, respect their
opinions, and listen to what they have to say. I read that in 'Cosmo'."

Heh. The 'cosmo' thing had me chuckle... great punchline. 

The smaller man slapped his companion on the back. "See? I told you so.
Didn't I say he looks like a Bjork the instant he headed toward us?"

Col: See? I told you it was a Good Plan!

Quoting "Cold Water Date" by Robert Haynie,

"Not only great minds think alike."

"So if the costumes will give us away, why didn't we just come in our normal
clothes?"

"Then how would the people we're supposed to meet recognize us if we didn't
wear our costumes?"

"We could have described ourselves to them."

"Oh, come on. What would we tell them? Be on the lookout for a pair of
Chinese men. One of them is somewhat slender, fast, and likes wearing wolf
skins while the other is seven feet tall, has four hundred pounds of solid
muscle, and likes tiger skins? Lots of guys look like that. They'd probably
walk off with the wrong people."

"Okay, but let me ask you this. You're saying that they're supposed to
recognize us by our costumes, right?"

"Yep."

"How are they going to recognize us if we're wearing trenchcoats over our
outfits?"

"Oh, that's easy. We'll... Umm, that is we can just... Actually we can...
Ohh. Look at those. Are those titties?"

When the blind leads the... what? Titties? Where?!

"Where? Where?!" It took the larger man a moment to spot the woman heading
in their direction. She did indeed have an impressive pair of breasts, her
open tan vest and tight, white tee-shirt only enhancing the fact. They
barely noticed that aside from having a good body, she was also attractive,
with a long mane of black hair that traveled halfway down her back, bound
only slightly by a red bandanna on top.

"Do you think she's one of the people the boss hired?" the thin one asked.

"Oh, that would be great. Maybe she would show us her titties if we asked
nicely."

I've heard this line in several movies in HBO. In fact, the set-up seems all the same, really... big idiot and little idiot thinking a girl can show her mammaries if you ask nicely.

Kyo Saeba looked between the hands and the breasts in the distance. "Hmm.
Sorry, Kaori. I'm afraid I have to go with Ryo. Look's like he's got the
better match to me."

She grabbed one ear on each of them, then brought the ears together rather
violently. Each man's respective head followed the path their ears had
taken. Their heads produced a similar thud. "Ow!" Both said as one,
enhancing the brothers' identical nature.

Kaori: Idiots in stereo.

"Would you two idiots pay attention?!"

Ryo said, "Is this another one of your jealous rants because we found yet
another woman that's more attractive and feminine than you?"

Kyo nodded in agreement. "Yeah. You have to get over this obsession you have
with us. I hate to tell you this --not that it will stop me from doing so--
but men just don't find you attractive, except the gay ones that mistake you
for a guy."

Ryo pointed out, "And she does get an extraordinary amount of lesbians
hitting on her. Some of them quite good-looking."

"It's that butch, tomboyish way she dresses. I hear women like that go for
that look."

"Think we should try that? I mean dressing like butch women."

"Couldn't hurt."

Heh. Nice... for once, the author ain't describing the character... and a nice setup to it too. Not at all forced.

It took everything Kaori had not to pull out her gun and shoot both of the
egocentric, chauvinistic, deluded buffoons. "Knock it off! Pretend for just
one second you got your job based on actual abilities instead of the fact
your uncle is in charge of the force. We are in the middle of an assignment.
We need to get that obnoxiously decorated briefcase, with the highly toxic
substance in it, away from those two stupid-looking guys in the trenchcoats
without setting things off."

"You don't want us to set the guys off?" Kyo asked.

"That just doesn't sound right," Ryo grimaced. 

"No! The briefcase. We don't want them to set the briefcase off."

"Oh, is that all?" Ryo said. He and Kyo nodded to one another, removed
themselves from the cover of the column and headed towards the two men
without another word.

She really can't blame them... tempting the fates and all....

Kaori paled. The two idiots were dead, which wouldn't have been so bad, save
for the fact they were going to take her and everyone else in the airport
with them. She briefly considered gunning the pair down before they drew too
close to the terrorists, but couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger. It
was too quick a death for them. All she could do was close her eyes and say
a prayer.

"I swear by all that is holy I will go with you two idiots to Hell and
torment you there even as you tormented me in this life."

Heh.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The two trenchcoated men were about to approach the woman when they found
two identical twins, about their age, stepping in front of them and
preventing them from walking up to the woman and asking her about a quick
peek of her breasts.

Kyo said, "Would you mind giving me the briefcase?"

"Our partner would appreciate it greatly," Ryo continued. "She's going to
bitch a lot if we don't get it for her. Actually, she'll bitch a lot anyway,
but she won't turn quite as red if we have the briefcase than if we don't."

The pair looked at one another, then shrugged. The shorter man said, "I know
what it's like to get yelled at. Our boss does it to us all the time. Do the
veins on her forehead pop out?

"Oh, all the time," Kyo assured him.

Ryo said, "We tried playing connect the dots with them once, but she got
angry with that, too."

The smaller man elbowed his companion in the ribs. "Hey, we ought to try
that with the boss."

"It would be pretty funny," the larger man agreed.

Hehehehe.

"Here." Feeling sympathetic to the twins' plight, the shorter man handed Ryo
the briefcase.

Four of them. It's like a surround-sound system now. All we need is the bass.

Both men threw off their trenchcoats just as the circle of undercover
personnel closed in on them. All of the civilians who found themselves
between the two groups ran for cover in a mass panic. The only one that left
coolly was the woman who had been the focus of both the foreigners and the
twin's attention.

As their trenchcoats hit the ground, both men pulled their masks on and
stood revealed before the law enforcement personnel in all their brightly
dressed glory. The larger man wore a full-bodied costume. It was plain brown
around the hands and lower arms, along his boots and lower legs, and across
his pelvis, shoulders, upper chest and mask. A dark orange covered the few
remaining areas of his costume. Only the area around his eyes and mouth was
cut out, allowing him to see and breather easier.

The smaller man wore a costume that was dull yellow, only broken up by blue
along his hands and upper arms, and on his boots. A large blue 'W' was in
the center of his chest. The only other odd feature were a tiny set of white
wings on his mask, located around the ears.

He powers had to do something with speed, given Marvel logic. 

The law enforcement personnel drew back. Kaori kept her gun leveled at the
pair as she said, "Tell me these guys aren't super powered beings. We
seriously can't deal with SPB's."

Kaori: Super Powered Bozo's. Quaint.

Just as her finger squeezed the trigger, there was a yellow blur and she
suddenly found herself without a pistol. It took a moment for the pain of
having her finger nearly ripped off to set in, and she clenched her teeth in
agony. Other men weren't as stoic as they shouted out, holding their hands
in pain. Kaori was one of the few to realize what had happened to their
firearms.

The yellow garbed man dropped the last of them in a pile at his feet. "It's
not nice to point your guns at the future rulers of the planet."

I knew it! It's always the smaller sidekick!

The larger one said, "You tell them, Mint."

Mint turned on his comrade. "No! When we're in costume, we use our
super-villain names. I'm the Whizzer."

The big man appeared embarrassed. "Aw, come on. I don't want to be called by
my name. I like Lime perfectly fine. It's been my name my entire life."

"No way! You have to. It's all part of being a decent super villain. You
have to have a cool name and people call you it. That's why I picked yours
for you. It'll strike fear into your adversaries."

"I don't think 'Power Man' is going to strike fear into anybody."

"But it's appropriate. You've got power, and you're a man. So that makes you
Power Man."

Sheesh... Power Man. They were that creative in the 60's... though I couldn't say much for the '--ers/ors' names (namely, Gurgalator, Furbilator, Compositor, and Metrometer).

Luke Cage: Hey! I ain't letting a no-good hack take away my good name and... hm. 

"Well, I guess you're right."

Kyo recovered enough to say, "Okay, so his super ability is that he's big
and strong, so that makes him Power Man. That means you, with your name
being the Whizzer and that color of costume you're wearing, must be your
super ability is to..." He trailed off

Ryo picked up the line of thought. "Ewwww! That's completely disgusting."

Whizzer looked at them, confused. "What is?"

Kyo gave him an  'are you that stupid?' look. It was one that only children
really mastered, most adults forgetting how to do it as they got older.
"It's obvious. With your name, and the color of your yellow costume, you can
only have one super power..."

For a brief moment, it's almost as if I am reminded of Bill and Ted... or whoever those drunk guys were in "Dude, where's my car?"

"...That of super peeing," Ryo finished.

Well, at least he wasn't named tinklebell.

Whizzer recoiled at that. He pointed accusingly across the terminal to where
Ryo stood. "That is not my super human ability. I'm super--"

Ryo saw him disappear.

"--Fast." Whizzer finished as he stood next to Ryo, the officer's wallet in
hand.

Not super-original, just super fast.

Ryo grabbed the offered limb that held his wallet, then pulled out a set of
cuffs. "All right. Being a terrorist is one thing, but there's nothing lower
than being a pickpocket." Ryo slapped the cuff on the appendage he was
holding, only to discover...

"Hey, I cuffed myself."

"Told you I was fast." 

Ryo: Feh. I can do this to myself all the time... don't take the glory for it.

Kyo looked at his brother's stunned form. "Curiously, I don't feel the
slightest bit of remorse at that." Not one to let a decent opportunity pass
by, Kyo kicked his brother once again in the side, intent on blaming the
super-villain later.

Heh. Brotherly love.

"Dog pile on the big guy!" Kaori shouted to the remaining personnel. She
chose to stand outside the fray as the men obeyed her orders and threw
themselves at Power Man. As commander of the operation, it was her duty to
call in reinforcements, such as every military and law enforcement person in
a fifty kilometer radius to come to their aid. She only prayed it would be
enough to stop these two monsters before the casualties became too high.
This screwed up, loser situation was exactly why she loathed super powered
beings. And every time she encountered another one, her anger grew. She
didn't care if the media had dubbed some of them heroes. They were all a
threat. Something had to be done about them before it was too late.

... the biochemical weapon nearly forgotten at this point. What, the lady with the big knockers already got it, or would it figure in in Part B?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

High above, perched on the slanted rooftop of a tall building overlooking
several blocks, Hawkeye stared down at the city streets, perturbed. She had
been looking for some sign of criminal activity, but all she managed to
catch was a couple of purse snatchers and the start of a cold. They had been
hardly worth the effort of the glue arrow used on them, and she had no
anti-histamines to stop her sniffling. It was looking like she would have to
call it a day. She would have preferred operating at night, but there was
the restaurant to run and school to eventually enroll in, so this was the
only time Ukyou had available to hunt down criminals for the rest of the
week.

Ukyou's Hawkeye? Strange... I was kind of expecting her to be someone with a really big weapon, but since there are limited options with the super heroes....

The stuffiness in her head warned her it was time to give up and call it a
day when she spotted a quick movement below. Two female police officers
bolted out of a restaurant and into their car. On a whim, Hawkeye shot a
cable arrow into the ground next to the rear driver's door and slid down the
length of cable even as the car started up.

Hawkeye knocked on the window. "Excuse me." She made out the name on the
driver's badge. "Kobayakawa-san, I'm one of the heroes that's new to this
town, name's Hawkeye. You need any assistance?"

The pair looked the archer over cautiously. Kobayakawa was the first to
speak. "I remember you. Aoi said you helped him nail some would-be rapists
last week."

"Saturday night," Hawkeye confirmed.

"Right. Well, as nice as the request is, I'm afraid we can't allow
unauthorized personnel to ride in our vehicle without--" Kobayakawa found
her speech interrupted by her partner, Tsujimoto tapping on her shoulder.

Hm... familiar names... could it be... ?

"Let him in," Tsujimoto whispered in Kobayakawa's ear. "Since we're dealing
with superpowered bad guys, we can use the help. We're authorized to let
people ride with us in emergency situations. Besides, he's wearing tights
and has a seriously hot ass. This might be our only chance to hit on a major
hunk."

"I'm not that superficial," Kobayakawa said.

Tsujimoto gave her a warning stare. "How long have we been partners?"

Kobayakawa considered that and sighed. "Fine, I am. But I'm more subtle
about it than you."

"Agreed."

Gee, Mr. Sommer. You're not making a cameo of Miyuki Kobayakawa and Natsume Tsujimoto by any chance, ne? ^^

To Hawkeye, Kobayakawa announced. "Hop in the back."

I wonder just how many can take in the referrence of You're Under Arrest here... if I hadn't known better, I would have shrugged them two off as one of your normal orig characters. ^^;

Hawkeye could feel herself blushing as she accepted the ride. She had caught
the 'hot ass' comment. A pity it had to come from a female. It was times
like these Ukyou hated impersonating a guy to help keep her identity secret.
At this rate, she would never get lucky enough to find a boyfriend. It was
too bad, too, since she had met a number of good-looking male officers
during the ensuing weeks of her new second career. However, she couldn't hit
on them for fear of them freaking out, and she certainly didn't trust any of
them enough to confide her secret identity. With the way her life was going,
she feared ever having a chance at finding a decent boyfriend.

So she hasn't found dear Ranchan yet, ne?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The hero known as Daredevil finished tying up the latest of his so-called
'Rogue's Gallery'. The self-proclaimed, 'Master of Disguises,' a name so
unwieldy that even the villain in question had taken to calling himself just
MoD. Daredevil made certain to use the coarsest set of chains that were
concealed in his voluminous crimson-colored robes.

"Curse you, Dirtdevil!" MoD snarled. "How did you know it was me under this
nun-disguise? I thought it was foolproof!"

Daredevil pulled with far more force than was required on the chains.
"First, my name is Daredevil. Second, you made the mistake of using
aftershave, as well as the allowing the smell of gunpowder cling to your
habit. There isn't a nun around that would use Brute and shoot firearms."

Figures... since he's as blind as a bat. Nice pick on this one... Daredevil.

"Obviously you never attended a Catholic school," the man muttered.

Heh. I did... they even have sprayable tear gas on the grounds, would you believe?

While MoD was still lamenting his fate, Daredevil's acute hearing picked out
the sound of a police car heading at top speed in his direction from two
blocks away. Quickly, the masked man threw one end of the chain over a
nearby lamppost and hoisted the criminal up into the air.

"Hey! I'm chaffing here! I'll sue you for physical abuse and excessive
force!" MoD roared.

"I can recommend a good lawyer for you," Daredevil muttered as he wrapped a
different chain around a lamppost and swung through the air. 

Hm? He's a lawyer here? What happened to the Amazons? (I should dispel from myself this bad habit of reading in the middle of a series).

As Mousse traveled overhead, he was barely able to hear the officer's radio
over the roaring of the engine. "Confirmation on two super villains at the
airport. One is really strong and called Powerful Guy. The other has
something to do with urination, evidently. Be advised and grab a poncho."

Heh.

Daredevil sighed from his perch on the roof. It just figured; yet another
loser super-villain to deal with, and a perverted one no less. Didn't they
have any standards? Daredevil swore he would be going after the strong one,
no matter how tough he was. Anything was better than fighting another putz.

I wonder if the Target (?) would ever come into play here as an arch-nemesis to Daredevil... but seeing this is a Avengers fic....

Ranma spun in anger upon his father. "Damn it, Old Man, you don't get it!
I'm tired of every time there's a little trouble you throw me into that
ridiculous costume and tell me to get my head taken off by some lunatic who
can freeze me solid with his breath or secretes acid through his pores! I am
not a human target! I'm just a kid that hasn't even been able to make more
than a handful of friends in his entire life because I have to run around
and train thanks to this stupid idea Mom had! I'm tired of you guys trying
to make me into something I'm not. I'm sorry I drank that super soldier crap
that I don't even remember drinking. I wish I had never seen it in the first
place, then I'd be normal and not have to put up with this dumb stuff. I
don't care if I've done some good here and there. It's not like I even need
the costume for any of it. I just want to be left alone."

The rant that defines Ranma's life, canon or fan fiction.

Ranma: (sigh) It's just not fair.

The older man adjusted his glasses, one of the signs that he was going to
deal with a matter in complete seriousness.

Just like ol' Gendo... though not as menacing and nearly twice the size.

"The world needs you, boy. It
needs heroes now more than ever. You have the potential to be one of the
greatest, not just because the super soldier serum runs through your veins
or because you have an indestructible shield, but because you have the will
to keep on going where others would falter. Once you're determined to do
something, you keep at it until the job's done. That you have the abilities
you do makes it all the easier for you to accomplish your tasks. You fought
that Hulk even though he was far more powerful than you. You defeated Ulos,
even though he could bench press a Toyota, and you won because you
persevered. That's what I mean."

Another car roared past, momentarily interrupting the speech. Genma waited
until it trailed off into the distance to speak again.

Heero: I'm sensing a pattern....

"Strange days are upon us, boy. I've been feeling it building up for the
last few years, and I think the dam broke recently. You have heroes and
villains popping up all over the place. It's true there were a handful in
the early days of my childhood, even in my grandparent's day there were a
few. But now, now it's like it's all hit at once. You're a basically good
person, maybe even better than me, I'll admit. You'll be one of the best,
someone that can be trusted above so many others. You should be the one
people look up to, largely in part because you don't want the job. It's
harder to abuse power you don't want to wield, and power you'll have. People
will believe in you and follow you. They'll trust their lives to you, if you
let them. But you have to let them, boy, otherwise there's no telling who
they'll follow. All I know is, it would be better if it were you instead of
someone else.

"It's not easy. Responsibilities never are.

Ranma: Pop, no offense... but coming from you.... ~_~

But you're more than capable of
managing it, once you set your mind to it. You just have to believe in
yourself." 

Genma: That's why I've taken the liberty of stroking your ego, boy!

Genma adjusted his glasses again. It was all he had to say. There
probably could have been more, but it would have just been repeating the
same thing in a different way. 

Like most Ranma fanfics... but at times, isn't that the point?

Best to leave it as is and wait for his son's
reaction.

Two more police cars roared past, sirens screaming that something dreadful
was occurring. The pair watched the vehicles travel down the road until they
were out of sight.

Heero: I knew it.

Genma looked at Ranma expectedly. It was a hard look, one Ranma had rarely
seen on his father. Under different circumstances, with different issues at
stake, he would most likely have relaxed his defenses and listened
wholeheartedly to what the older man was trying to tell him. But not this
time. Something told Ranma this was where an important decision had to be
made. Either he would  set out on the course his parents had dictated to him
since as far back as he could remember, or set out on one of his own
choosing. It was perhaps the most important decision of his young life, and
couldn't be decided to casually. And then it happened in the blink of an
eye. A resolve he had never known settled upon him. He knew what was right
for him, and he wouldn't back down, no matter what.

Age old rule: NOBODY forces Ranma Saotome onto something... he'll cling to it as long as he depending on his respect or love for you, but if you push him to the edge....

Ranma looked at his father, gave a sad shake of the head, and sighed. "Fine,
I'll follow those police cars and help them out if they need it."

Genma beamed at the declaration. "I knew you had it in you. I've never been
so proud of you as this moment, son, and I mean that. Choosing to become a
super-hero is-" Genma abruptly stopped as Ranma handed him the wrapped up
shield.

Before the older man could say another word, Ranma informed him in a calm
and controlled voice, "I'm going to help them out, but it's going to be as
Ranma Saotome, not Captain Japan or Bucky. I'm never using that shield
again. Find yourself someone else to play superhero."

(blinks) Captain Japan? What, the nazis was succesful in getting the formula and in turn gave it to their allies, the Japanese?

I know, I know... from the context of this little exchange, it was obvious that here Japan is allied to S.H.I.E.L.D. and stuff, yet don't knock off the idea yet... it could be made into a fanfic in another time. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Officers Kobayakawa and Tsujimoto pulled up in front of the airport, joining
a handful of other police vehicles that had also arrived there.

"So where do you think the super-villains are?" Kobayakawa asked as she
tried to find a decent place to park.

A one meter ball of twisted plastic and metal, the remnants of a sushi
stand, came hurtling through one of the walls of the airport and landed
squarely on the hood of their car, caving in the entire front portion of the
vehicle and forcing it to an instant standstill.

"I'll be getting out here." Hawkeye darted out of the backseat to leave the
two officers cringing in anguish as they stared helplessly out their
shattered front window and at the remains of what had been, five seconds
ago, their pride and joy.

"That's the third one this month," Kobayakawa wailed. "The chief's going to
bust us to a street beat for sure."

Perhaps a more angry and determined Miyuki would be shown here, since here pride and joy of car that even had _nitro_ in it had just been... tainted. 

At least that's another take on it.

"And I didn't even get that cute guy's number," Tsujimoto moaned long and
hard as the press began to converge on the area, happy to start
photographing the destruction and ensuing mayhem in the name of greater
ratings.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Are we set up yet?!" News reporter Akemi Shutaro tapped her foot
impatiently as she waited for her idiot cameramen to finish their job and
get her on the air. She had to hurry, or else she wouldn't scoop that sleazy
tramp, Arika Miamata and Channel 4, who were no doubt already on their way
in an effort to cover this breaking story. Akemi had to beat them, just like
she had during the Hulk's reign of destruction a few months ago. She was
going to win the award for reporter of the year. She could feel it all the
way down to her toes. All she needed was a few more coups, like maybe an
exclusive interview with that reclusive Captain Japan person, or even his
raunchy sidekick, Bucky. Maybe she'd even get lucky and they would show up
to battle these super villains and she could wrangle an interview of them
after their triumph. She could just see Arika's face once it turned green
with envy.

I just love your original characters. I hope you could make some more original stories as well featuring just them... like the piece with TWPOS and L'amour... loved that. ^^

Daydreams of award nominations were set aside as one of the cameramen gave a
triumphant cry of joy. "It's ready. We're on in three, two." He silently
mouthed the final "One."

Akemi screwed on her brightest smile for the masses watching at home. 

What a reporter... smiling at the sounds of carnage.

Kodachi rose from her seat. "An urgent matter which I must personally attend
to has come to my attention. Finish up and adjourn the meeting."

There were words of protest, the most animated discussion the assemblage had
made for the day, but Kodachi ignored them. Boardrooms were just another
form of imprisonment anyway, with words and pie charts serving as restraints
instead of bars. Even having to wear a chest plate felt less confining. And
when it came to wearing the all-encompassing suit of armor, it felt
downright liberating.

At long last it was time for the Iron Rose to enter the fray again.

Makes me wonder more about the other Kuno.

The Iron Rose? Gee, I wonder what the heck would she look like. ^^;

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Akane fretted nervously as she tried hard not to listen to what was going on
in Doctor Tofu's backroom, which was difficult since a glass had somehow
ended up in her hand and was now placed against the closed door. She wasn't
eavesdropping, not really. She was just looking out for her employer's
welfare, which was what attentive nurses did. Tofu had been acting strangely
ever since that bizarre incident where the addition to the office had been
completely destroyed by two super villains that had been apprehended by the
authorities a few weeks ago. Luckily, the doctor was insured by Damage
Control Inc., who specialized in covering cases of destruction by
super-powered beings. There was still some question as to who was actually
at fault since the villains claimed they had only taken over everyone's
minds in the district and not destroyed any housing. Their declarations were
silly, though. Akane never had her mind taken over. She would have
remembered that sort of thing.

Accompanied with "There's no way Ranma's not a pervert... I can tell these kind of things," and "There's no way this soup would be terrible... Ranma's just mean... I know these kind of things," there is little doubt that there's a lot of doubt to that claim. 


.

No, it would be far better for everyone concerned if Kasumi married someone
younger, like Ranma. Now there was an ideal suitor for Kasumi. Akane was
going to have to try harder to make everyone see that. Ranma was the sort to
go for older women too, since he was so physically mature already. When it
came to him emotionally, well, that was another reason he needed an older
woman; to help him become mature. Sure, Akane could do it if she felt so
inclined, and Ranma wasn't the bad sort. Not bad at all. Very handsome, and
he could be nice at times. She had seen him be so on more than one occasion,
like that time he helped rescue a puppy that had somehow ended up in a tree
it had become stuck in. While it was truly unfortunate the puppy turned out
to be rabid, Ranma had no way of knowing that when he set out to rescue it.
Afterwards, he had only grumbled about the shots for a little while, but it
was still the thought that counted. He tended to be a bit dense at times and
was as emotionally sensitive as a rock, but he was not an unpleasant person
to be around. Not bad marriage material for any girl, perhaps even herself,
if she was pressed on the matter.

It seems she's at _that_ stage of development in this part of the fic. 

No, no, no! She had to stop thinking of him like that in relation to her.
Kasumi was his ideal match and Kasumi he would marry, or Nabiki, in a pinch.
Akane already had her own interests. It would take time, that was all. Time
for Dr. Tofu to figure out that the one he was looking for was right under
his nose the whole while. None were so blind as to the things right before
their eyes, or so the old saying went.

Boy, does that conjure many images of irony, considering the thinker of the thought.

That settled things. "I'll hold you to that." Akane grabbed her cane and
hobbled out of the office as best as she could. There were several alleys
nearby that she could use to change. All she needed was one tap of the cane
and then it would be time to fly to the airport and kick some butt as only
the Goddess of Thunder could do.

Well, well... finally finished. As usual, a good fic up to your high standards. Curiousity has piqued with me and I just might actually read the earlier chapters, if ever. Hey, I read Vacation Days just recently after just seeing the epilogue from waaay back. :)

Curious as to what's happening to Tofu, as well as how the entire super villain thing would pan out. So is the biochemical thingee mere fodder for the plot or will it have an impact on it later? Probably, I'll get a response of 'stay tuned.'

In short, nice fic. Cheers!


Ja!
Abdiel

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