DB Sommer 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.]

    Must... complete... backlog...

Yes, Yun thought, he would be poor until the end of his days, which would
hopefully be more than the ones this boy had remaining.

    'the ones' sounds a little stilted.

His head aching from staring at his clothes for too long, Hasam sought
relief by looking to his right where his partner and best friend, Fekish,
sat. Of average height, a slender build, and a year younger than his
companion, Fekish was similarly attired in eye-burning wear. As an added
bonus, he also wore a bright purple hat with a white cotton ball affixed to
the top that swung violently around whenever he so much as shifted his neck.
The assault on the senses was only made easier by the fact that there was
less of Fekish to go around. Unlike Hasam, the clothing chosen for his
friend seemed more form-fitting, though given Fekish's usual easygoing
nature, he could have worn an iron maiden and still seemed obliviously
happy.

    'his companion' -- since this is all from Hasam's point of view, that sounds like he's addressing Fekish.

    Wait... it sounds like you're implying that Fekish's clothing is tighter, but Hasam already was uncomfortably constricted in his clothing. Is that intentional? Seems a bit confused...

"Why are you making us wear these ridiculous outfits again?" Hasam said
miserably to his superior,

    , -- . (betcha THAT one was caught already...)

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!"

    'The woman'. Hmm...

"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.

finally spotting a solution to their problem. "See those two guys over
there? The ones standing next to the gate and looking around like they're
trying to spot someone?"

    Hehehe...

"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."

    Mint and Lime? But... they aren't talking like idiots...

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

    That's more like it.

Located no more than twenty feet away, hidden behind a column and trying to
blend into the crowds, Agent Kaori Otani of the undercover unit of Airport
Security looked over the description of the terrorists she and her men had
been given. Aloud, she said, "Two foreign terrorists, both men in their
early twenties. One very large and the other average height and somewhat
slender, dressed in suspicious clothing and carrying a briefcase with yellow
and pink pastels on it." She turned to her two partners. "Sounds like a
match. What do you think?"

    Heh!

"I think that hot looking chick has got to be at least a," Ryo Saeba held
out his hands in the woman with the tan vest's general direction, and cupped
them, squeezing slightly as if testing the ripeness of a pair of invisible
tomatoes. "38-C," Ryo concluded.

    Ah, good old Ryu.

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.

    Ow!" Both -- Ow!" both (?)

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

"Couldn't hurt."

    ...

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

    That was easy.

The pair looked the situation over. The larger one said, "I think our
cover's blown."

"I'd be inclined to agree."

    Heh!

"Our instructions were clear if that happened. This is the moment you've
been waiting for."

    you've -- we've (?)

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

    Hmm... I wish I knew what that was a reference to.

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...

    Heh. Great line.

"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.

    Uh-huh. He picked up a segment of the sidewalk/flooring. That's gonna work REALLY well.

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.

    Hehe...

"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."

    That was great.

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.

    Hehehehe...

"Where do you think you're going, boy?" Genma shouted to his son's back as
the pair continued up the road. It had taken Genma nearly an hour to track
his son down, given the tremendous lead the youth had built up since he had
departed the Tendou residence earlier in the morning. It would have been no
cause for concern, except the boy had taken all of his belongings with him.

    boy?" -- Boy?" (used as a proper name... I THINK...)

"I'm a cute animal sidekick, not a mascot," Genma insisted.

    Ranma: You should have been a piniata.

"But son-"

    son -- Son (?)

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

    boy -- Boy (?)

"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.

    Same. :p

"It's not easy. Responsibilities never are. But you're more than capable of
managing it, once you set your mind to it. You just have to believe in
yourself." 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. Best to leave it as is and wait for his son's
reaction.

    as is -- as it was (?)

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.

    son -- Son

Genma was left holding the shield, uncertain of what to say. More slowly he
followed, the feeling of a lifelong dream shattering into a thousand pieces,
echoing with every step taken.

    I'm not sure if it holds true in the comic books, but I would think that a hero (or even super-hero)is more than simply the sum of his equipment.

when taken individually, but they went together like oil and maple syrup.
Akane knew that was a bad mix. She had tried it in Home Economics, and it
hadn't turned out well at all. Everyone that sampled the mixture had agreed
on that.

    Heh...

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.

    Wish I had more constructive advice to offer. But you don't make enough mistakes! Or I'm missing them...

    Anyway, interesting story, sorry for the lateness, and with luck I can get to part B later today. (Sheesh, this thing's been sitting in my to-C&C box since last year! ;)

[End part A]

Special thanks to
Gary Ee
Christopher Horton
William Morse