$Trucking right along I go.


The cavern was unlike any of the others they had passed. It was huge,
and
had been crafted by the hand of man. Numerous fluorescent lights hung
from
the ceiling, illuminating the vast chamber. The group stood at the edge
of a
natural hole in the side of the cavern wall. Looking down, they could
see a
torrent of water the size of a small river, racing several meters below
their perch. From the opening they could see the tremendous size of the
chamber. It was easily a hundred meters long and just as wide. A huge
reservoir of water was contained behind a man-made dam, which allowed
the
water to flow over it and form the river they had heard. Several huge
pipes
dipped into the reservoir, channeling thousands of gallons of water. The
loud vibrations and noises coming from the conduits made it easy to tell
that water was actively flowing through them.

Above the reservoir, a man-made stonework bridge spanned one side of it
to
the other. The side the group was adjacent to was much smaller, with
only a
handful of machines and control panels whose purposes even Iron Rose
could
not determine with the distances involved. The far side was much larger.
It
was there that the bulk of the machinery resided. Soft hums and loud
throbbing noises could be felt permeating the air. It was like a giant
factory that had been left to run on automatic.

"We need to get over there and check this out," Iron Rose said. Turning
her
gaze to the vast array of machinery in the cavern, her brilliant mind
began
to categorize what purposes the machines might serve. Within moments she
suspected what their true design was.

The others nodded in agreement. Thor said to Captain Japan and Hawkeye,
"Hold on to my neck and climb on." Neither felt particularly comfortable
with the way she looked at them as she issued the order, but neither of
them
could think of a reason to openly protest. Besides, as much muscle as
the
goddess had, she was still infinitely more to hang onto then clinging to
the
metal hide of Iron Rose. After only a moment's hesitation, the pair
grabbed
onto Thor's neck. One throw of Mjolnir later, Thor once again traveled
through the air.

Iron Rose brought Daredevil along, who likewise rode by grabbing under
her
neck and traveling on her back. The quintet of heroes landed safely and
stood on the far side of the cavern, gazing at the machinery before
them.

Within seconds the Iron Rose confirmed her suspicions. "This is a
coolant
system for a reactor. I'm not completely familiar with the design, but
that
seems to be its purpose."

"And you would be correct in your assumption."

The five heroes turned in the direction of the voice. It came from the
cavern's single exit  a large manmade passageway that could accommodate
a
small truck and led upward. Four men stood some twenty meters away. Two
were
quickly recognized as Power Man and Swordsman. The other two were
strangers.
One was a somewhat slender man who wore a full body costume. His boots
were
a light red, as was his trunks, gloves, and the middle of his outfit's
torso. A deep purple, almost the color of black, covered the legs, arms,
and
lower and upper torso. A white 'M' and 'W' crossed over one another in
red
section of the upper body. The only part of his flesh that showed was
his
nose and mouth. Red goggles were sewn into his headpiece, covering his
eyes.

	$He just happened to have an alternate color scheme laying around.

The other newcomer, who had spoken earlier, was far more subdued. He was
wore loose white pants and shirt, and had a vest and bracers made of
some
sort of scaled mail. Hoop earrings hung from both ears, and oddly
enough,
pantyhose was wrapped around his head and waist, serving as a headband
and
sash respectively. A couple of gourds were tied to his waist by the
makeshift sash.

	$Oooh.  Taro's badass enough to make a good villian.

Captain Japan turned to Daredevil and pointed to the stranger. "Now
there's
your gay guy."

"I am not gay!" the man shouted.

The man dressed in blue and red said, "That's right. Pantyhose just uses
pantyhose as his gimmick. It goes with his name."

"His name?" the duo asked.

"Pantyhose Tarou."

	$Gee, who's he fused with?

 The man in purple and red moved faster than the eye could
follow, barely avoiding the fist Tarou aimed at his head.

"I told you never to call me that!" Tarou raged.

"But it's your real name. I tried giving you a super-villain one for
when
you were accepted in our ranks, but you told me you didn't want one
because
you thought they were all dumb," the man in purple protested.

Captain Japan smirked. "If my name was something as stupid as Pantyhose,
I'd
have been happy to call myself just about anything else. Even something
as
lame as 'The Dazzler'."

	$Ouch.  I remember her, if memory serves correctly.

"Yeah, It's even dumber than that idiot Whizzer's  name," Hawkeye
laughed.

	$Extra space before name.

"Hey! You can't call me that anymore!" the man in purple shouted.

Hawkeye looked at him in surprise. It took a moment to place the voice.
"You're the Whizzer?"

Daredevil snorted. "Of course he is. Couldn't you tell? He's standing
right
there."

"But he completely changed his costume. It doesn't look anything like
his
old one," Hawkeye pointed out.

"Oh. I hadn't noticed." Seeking to change the subject, Daredevil said to
the
speedster. "What's your name now?"

"Speed Demon," Mint preened proudly.

The heroes applauded.

	$Heh.  Nice to see that he finally gets a little respect.

Hawkeye said, "Good choice. Much better than that awful name and outfit
you
had before. If I didn't know you were such a moron, I'd probably be
intimidated a little bit."

"Thanks. I thought it was better, but hearing it from the competition
makes
me know I made the right choice," the newly dubbed Speed Demon said in
sincere gratitude.

Tarou rolled his eyes at his comrade's stupidity. He postured before the
quintet of heroes and boldly proclaimed, "Enough talk. I would ask you
guys
to make things easy by giving up, but somehow I doubt you'll see things
my
way. And to be honest, I'd kick the crap out of you anyway even if you
did

	$anyway, even

give up." He grinned evilly and cracked his knuckles.

Posturing just as definitely, Captain Japan said, "Buddy, the day I
can't
beat some pathetic loser with a pantyhose fetish, is the day I finally

	$fetish is

choose a fiancee."

"Why you..." Whatever Tarou was about to say died on his lips. Instead,
he
gave Captain Japan a confused look. "I have absolutely no idea what that
meant. Was it supposed to be an insult or an attempt at bravado? It
wasn't
very good if it was either one."

Captain Japan just shook his head. "Ah, like you said. Enough talk.
Let's
get to it!"

"Wait!" Hawkeye shouted to the others as she unleashed an arrow at the
group
of villains standing thirty meters away.

Only Speed Demon reacted in time and fled the area as the arrow was
launched
over the heads of the group. At first it appeared that the missile would
sail far over the Lethal Legion's heads, until it began emitting an ear
piercing shriek, making the remaining trio of villains cover their ears
in
pain. To make matters worse, the arrow began flying in a large circle
over
their heads rather than merely sailing past.

Despite the twenty meter distance, Thor, Captain Japan, and even Hawkeye
winced at the pain from the sonic arrow she had fired at the group. She
was
about to shout at the top of her lungs to let the arrow continue until
it
used up its battery when she saw Daredevil writhing on the ground in
even
worse pain than the opposition.

"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" he shouted, covering his ears and rolling
on
the ground unable to stop himself.

	$Heh.  I said the exact same thing while watching the oscars on tv the
other day.

"What's going on?!" Hawkeye shouted, then realized the end of her
sentence
was the only sound in the cavern. She and the others looked back and saw
that the arrow was lying on the floor. A shuirken had destroyed the
arrowhead, ruining the sonic device.

"What the-" Was all Hawkeye got out as Captain Japan shoved her out of
the

	$was all

way. The force of the push bowled her over and to the ground.

"Stay down!" he shouted as he held his shield above both his head. A
moment
later, a loud clang resounded off the protective disc, and a red and
flesh
colored body arced over it to land on its feet with a feline grace

	$flesh-colored...grace.

Hawkeye saw that the absent Elektra had finally put in an appearance.
She
had evidently taken the time during the face-off to crawl along the
ceiling
and position herself above the heroes. She had been far enough from the
sonic arrow to be unaffected by its cry, and had destroyed the weapon
that
had immobilized her comrades then went after one of her opponents.
Hawkeye

	$Oooh, that sentance doesn't read well.  Suggest: Luckily, she had been
far enough from the sonic arrow to be unaffected by its cry, so she had
destroyed...comrades, then

felt she should have been flattered that the ninja had chosen her as the
most dangerous and first to neutralize, but it was sort of hard to do
from
her position on her back.

Before Hawkeye could turn her starry eyes to the awesome hunk of heroism
who
had saved her life, she heard Tarou shout, "Get them, but leave that
Japan
guy to me! No one calls me a queer and gets away with it!"

Captain Japan jumped clear of the fallen archer and met Tarou head on.
The
move allowed Hawkeye to return to her feet, just as the battle swung in
full
force.

As though a subconscious decision, opponents began to square off against
one
another in pairs, gaining distance from one another in order to operate
more
efficiently.

"Those are some seriously nice breasts," Power Man said as he swung his
fist
at Thor.

For just a split second Thor was taken aback. Reflexively she was about
to

	$second, Thor   Reflexively, she was about to should out that she had

shout out she had no interest in perverts. Unfortunately that left her
open
for a moment in which Power Man connected fully with a haymaker to her
jaw.

	$Unfortunately, that...for the moment in

The  blow staggered even the goddess, and she fell down, lying fully on
her

	$Extra space after blow

back.

"That takes care of that." Power Man dusted off his hands. No one could
withstand a solid punch to the head. Not from him and his tremendous
strength.

His theory was proven erroneous just as quickly as a boot connected with
his
gut from his fallen opponent. The blow had such force behind it that it
caused even Power Man to double over.

"Thou dost possess some measure of strength behind thy blows. Now feel
one
that is backed by the true might of Asgard!" Thor meeting of Thor's fist
with Power Man's flesh sounded like one of her thunderous bolts. The
villain's body went sailing across the reservoir and into the far wall.
The
force from the impact embedded him in the side of the cavern, creating a
crater that resembled a meteorite impact,

	$Not one of those comedic scenes where it's a perfect impression of his
body in the wall?

 one that had crashed vertically
into the rock. The large man hung in the wall, motionless.

"That matter hath been resolved." Thor took inventory of their
surroundings.
The others were locked in pitch battle, but it was painfully obvious
this
so-called Lethal Legion was nothing more than a collection of lackeys.
There
was someone else that was in charge of this lot and pulling their
strings.
It was beneath her to deal with these underlings. She was Thor, scion of
the
Realm Eternal. To her the leaders of armies fell.

Satisfied things were well in hand, she threw her hammer in the air and
sailed into the opening from whence the Lethal Legion had entered the
cavern. Let the others waste their times with those fools. She had more
important people to defeat. Then she would bring back the defeated body
of
this lot's master, and if the battle still raged, would call a halt to
things as she showed that she had vanquished the enemy's leader. She
would
show that Iron Rose what it meant to scoff at the Goddess of Thunder's
prowess.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"So your name is Pantyhose, huh?

"Call me that again and I'll feed you all your teeth instead of just
half of
them, Flag Boy! Or is that Fag Boy?"

Tarou took a swing at Captain Japan, only to meet air as the Captain
ducked
underneath it. He tried to retaliate, but Tarou leaped into a ball and
spun
out of the way of the high kick aimed at his jaw.

"Like someone wrapped in pantyhose has any business accusing someone
else of
being gay!" Captain Japan's next punch was deflected, as was the leap
kick
he tried to use.

	$Taro: I'm a tranvestite, you moron!  I'm not gay!

"What's your name, Flag Boy?" Tarou's punch impacted solidly with the
shield. A resounding thump rose from the sound of flesh meeting metal.

"Captain Japan, Leinderhosen Man."

	$I'm not sure, but I think it's leiderhosen.  Don't quote me, though.

 Captain Japan tried hitting Tarou with
the flat of the shield, but missed as the youth dodged out of the way
again.

Tarou backed just out of reach and smirked. "By the time I'm done with
you,
I'll have you busted down to Private Parts while you'll be calling me
General Bad Ass."

	$I always liked General Mayhem and Corporal Punishment.  Major Asshole
was just annoying.

Both men tried to kick each other, each hitting the other's leg in an
identical move.

Captain Japan said, "You don't completely suck." He aimed a blow for
Tarou's
stomach, barely missing.

"You do. I'm just toying with you." Tarou proved his point by throwing a
straight punch towards Captain Japan's face. His longer reach enabled
him to
connect, the force of the knuckles snapping the Captain's head back.
Before
he could follow up, Captain Japan brought his shield up, cleanly
connecting
with underside of Tarou's jaw and driving the youth back.

Tarou scowled evilly at the circle of metal. "Hey, Flag Boy, ditch the
shield and fight fair."

"Okay." Captain Japan hurled the shield like a discus to their left.

Even as the disc left the Captain's hands, Tarou had already jumped up
in
the air and prepared to administer a kick that would finish his
opponent. He
taunted, "God, you're a complete idiot! I'd never give up an advantage!"

At that moment, the shield, which had bounced off a nearby wall,
returned.
Tarou intercepted its flight with his back. The blow hurled him several
feet
away and stunned him badly enough that he didn't return to his feet
immediately.

"I wouldn't either, sucker." Captain Japan retrieved his shield and
squared
off with his foe once again.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the opening moments of the battle, Iron Rose tried focusing on Speed
Demon. She had thought her armor's tracking computer made him her ideal
foe,
and she would bring him down with but a single blast. But his speed
proved
too quick even for her technological wizardry to match. Each time she
thought she had him he would dart out of the way. Even when she thought
she
had anticipated where he would be, he would suddenly veer off course and
her
blast would go astray. The only consolation was that he wasn't foolish
enough to hurl his limited strength against the durability of her armor.
It
was just a test of patience now, his endurance to her armor's power
supply.
She had little doubt about emerging victorious from the fight.

And then a voice came to her right.

"Armored foe, turn from that jackrabbit and test a warrior that is
worthy of
your mettle."

Iron Rose turned to see the Swordsman standing before her. He saluted
her
once with his katana. "Though it pains to employ my talents against a
woman,
I fear my erstwhile comrade in arms would fall before your might. So it
behooves me to relieve you of the burden of this fight. Fear not, for I
shall be as gentle with thee as the wind." He danced forward with his
sword.

Underneath her armor, Iron Rose let her teeth gnash together. The way
this
imbecile babbled reminded her of her brother. It would be her pleasure
to
'relieve him of the burden of this fight.' As a sign of contempt, she
targeted his sword rather than the man himself. Without it, he would be
as
useless as... well, as useless as her brother had always been.

The Iron Rose's repulsors were locked on to the blade when she froze.
The
katana! Impossibly, she recognized it, having designed the weapon
herself.
It was no mere blade of metal, but rather a KTK-1103B constructed of
adamantium alloy. It had been one of the last projects she worked on
before
her accident. But there had been only the one prototype made, and that
was
by herself personally. She had not had the chance to share the design
with
anyone else, and it would have taken the experts at Kunou Enterprises
months
to figure out how to reverse engineer it. She would have known if they
tried
when she had returned. To the best of her knowledge, the sword should
have
still been in the prototypes vault at Kunou Enterprises. How could it be
in
the hands of this gaudily dressed buffoon halfway across a continent?

	$And the fact that he reminds her of her brother doesn't occur to her
at all.

She was so surprised by the appearance of the weapon she neglected to
fire.
The hesitation cost her as the tip of the blade shattered the circle
that
made up the center of her chest weapon array. The Swordsman discharged a
power blast through the blade just as the tip breached the armor's
exterior.
Past the insulation provided by her armor, the blast instantly
overloaded
the majority of her systems. Only the surge protectors she had placed
throughout the suit kept it from being ruined forever, though the smell
of
burning ozone indicated not all the systems had survived the blast. Iron
Rose herself received a nasty shock from the backlash through the armor
from
the discharge.

Between the weight of the armor and the shock, Iron Rose was unable to
stay
upright. She fell over, almost completely inert. Within the confines of
her
bulky metal coffin, Kodachi felt as though her chest was on fire. "Not
the
pacemaker," she thought to herself. That was the most heavily protected
part
of the entire armor, the only thing that kept her alive.

	$She has a pacemaker in her heart?  Why?

 If it shut down,
she would  die. It was supposed to be on its own separate system, but
the

	$Extra space.

shock she had personally received might have disrupted it, and
unfortunately
its back-up system was linked to the armor, which was in the process of
a
complete crash.

Praying it was nothing more than an errant heart palpitation and that
Swordsman didn't try to press an advantage, she prayed and rebooted her
armor.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You really shouldn't have come here, Daredevil!" The admonishment was
delivered during the course of four punches delivered to various parts
of
his body at super speed.

Daredevil recoiled from each one. This was the last person he should
have
been fighting. The sonic arrow that idiot, Hawkeye, had fired, ended up
hurting him more than the opposition. Outdoors it would have been bad
enough, but within the confines of the cavern the sound bounced off the
walls, overloading his senses and sending him into a pain filled frenzy.
Even after the arrow was destroyed, it took him a minute to overcome the
pain and return to his feet. He had only just stood up when Speed Demon
was
upon him, hitting him all over his body. No two blows landed on the same
spot. With the pain he was in, his radar sense still trying to recover
from
being overloaded, and the quickness of Speed Demon, it left him unable
to
get a bead on the man. Every one of his attempts to hit the speedster
was
off, and they were getting further away with each succeeding blow that
was
landed upon him.

"Stand still," Daredevil growled, trying to hit his foe with a billy
club.

A chop hit his extended arm, forcing him to drop the weapon. The pain
disoriented him for a split second, and when he tried using his radar
sense
to locate the weapon, but he couldn't find it.

"Where?" was all he got out as he discovered the location of his billy
club
the hard way when Speed Demon hit him in the back with it.

The speedster finally halted ten meters to Daredevil's right, tossing
the
club up and down idly in his hand. "You know something? I like this.
It's
small and compact, yet solid. It's got to hurt way more than my fists. I
think I'll keep it."

A plan came to Daredevil's mind. From what little he knew of the
villain, it
should work. Wiping some blood away from a split lip, Daredevil said,
"Whatever you do, don't push the button on the grip." The button that
would
extend a cable, which would wrap Speed Demon up with the way he was
holding
it. The billowing sleeve held up to his lip hid the red-garbed
adventurer's
smile. Anyone else wouldn't fall for such a transparent trick, but Speed
Demon was only physically fast, not mentally.

The speedster examined the device more closely. "Ah ha! Found it. See?"
He
showed where the button was on the grip. He touched the top of the
button,
then grabbed the club in the middle again. "Thanks for the warning. In
gratitude, I'll be gentle when I knock you out."

	$Heh.  Mint can't get any respect, even from you.

"What?" Was all Daredevil got out as the club connected with his back
and

	$was all

stomach almost simultaneously. It figured Speed Demon would be too
stupid to
fall for a trick that stupid. It was probably the first time in
Daredevil's
life that he had literally outsmarted himself.

And with the way the fight was going, it would probably be the last.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hawkeye found herself being forced to fight the person who had tried to
remove her from the field of combat in the first place. Elektra was
doing
her best to impale the archer on one of the sais she wielded with expert
skill. Hawkeye did her best to not end up impaled on them.
Unfortunately,
since the ninja was so close at the beginning of the fight, Hawkeye
found it
nearly impossible to use her bow. She needed range to properly employ
the
weapon. Elektra seemed to sense this and refused to allow the archer the
distance she needed.

Though the battle had lasted less than a minute, the wounds Hawkeye had
suffered indicated it probably wouldn't go two more. Despite using what
hand-to-hand skills she had learned from her father and picked up on her
own, it was taking everything she had to keep from being skewered. Her
bow
was being used more to deflect sai thrusts than to shoot arrows. The
only
two shots Hawkeye managed to get off were both easily evaded by the
agile
ninja. And even then, she suffered several punches, kicks, and light
cuts,
despite all but running away. Worse, she was starting to slow down, and
it
was obvious the ninja wasn't even winded.

As Hawkeye spun out of the way of yet another thrust aimed at her leg,
she
spotted Daredevil struggling against the flitting Speed Demon. The moron
was
doing little more than running around in circles, hitting the red-garbed
adventurer at will. It was a pity they had the opponents they did, since
Hawkeye had thought she had figured out a way to deal with the speedster
since their last fight...

Her plan came together in a split second. Seeing Elektra aiming a kick
at
her stomach, Hawkeye took the blow rather than dodge so she could draw
the
arrow she needed. The kick hurt, and she suspected one or two of her
lower
ribs were broken, or at least bruised. Still, Hawkeye shut out the pain
and
fired the arrow at Daredevil's feet.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Daredevil was seconds away from unconsciousness when he noticed at the
edges
of his radar sense one of Hawkeye's arrows approaching. He silently
cursed
the archer's errant shot, which was going to land near him. He hoped it
wasn't one of the exploding arrows, which would almost certainly succeed
in
crippling if not killing him outright. But there was nothing he could do
about it with Speed Demon slowly beating him to death. The way the fight
was
going, perhaps it would be better to meet a quick demise instead of the
lingering and agonizing one that the speedster seemed intent on
delivering.

The arrow impacted with a loud squishing noise. The scent of grease
reached
Daredevil's nostrils.

"Argh!" Speed Demon cried out as he lost his footing. With his
concentration
solely on his opponent, he never saw the arrow. He slipped on the grease
and
immediately lost control. His arms were a flurry of motion as he tried
to
stay upright. All the arm flapping did was propel him even faster. He
collided with one of the machines that operated the coolant at near
maximum
speed and completely out of control, stunning himself. Speed Demon was
remembering something about breasts as a series of chains wrapped around
his
entire body, a double layer around his legs.

"One down," Daredevil said in a tired voice as he readied himself to
reenter
the fray, all thoughts of admonishing Hawkeye forgotten. Remembering the
archer, he turned to thank him when he sensed what was about to happen.

"Look out!" Daredevil cried in her direction.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hawkeye turned in panic, wondering if Elektra had moved faster than she
had
anticipated and was preparing to run her through again. Hawkeye blindly
brought her bow in front of her in a sweeping motion, hoping to deflect
the
incoming blow. Instead she saw in the space between bow and bowstring
that
Elektra was backflipping away from her. Breaking off her attack made no
sense. What was she up to?

Hawkeye never got a chance to sort things out as the blast from the
Swordsman's katana fully struck her in the ribs, knocking her backward
and
into unconsciousness.

Holding his sword up high, Swordsman boldly proclaimed. "And so yet
another
foe falls before my awesome skill. Is there no one capable of giving a
warrior of my character a challenge?"

Instinctively he brought his sword up to block the billy club thrown at
him.
He leveled his weapon at Daredevil. "So, you would seek to attack me
when I
implore the heavens for an answer to by plea?"

"I am the answer to your plea." A set of chains shot out from his
sleeve.

Spinning his sword in a clockwise motion, Swordsman caught all of the
chains
with his blade, tying them up in his sword. He then tilted it downward,
the
chains falling off and harmlessly to the ground. "A challenge? I think
not.
And since you have the appearance of a devil, it's obvious you are not
from
above, but rather below."

"No challenge? Try this on for size!" Daredevil smiled inwardly as he
threw
a white oval at his foe.

Rather than simply slashing at it, as Daredevil hoped, Swordsman again
whirled his sword, not only intercepting the oval, but somehow arresting
its
forward motion and allowing it to sit on the flat of his sword as he
held it
outward.

Swordsman looked curiously at the object. "An egg? You would assault me
with
poultry products? Truly you are no challenge at all. But since you seem
to
have such a fascination with food, I shall allow you to serve me
breakfast
once I rule over Kyoto."

He used the blade to toss the egg over his shoulder. He was about to
move
forward when the egg landed, cracking open. Rather than merely leaking
yolk,
it spilled a volatile substance which created an impressive explosion.
Swordsman turned to look what had happened then returned his attention
to
Daredevil. "You cad! How dare you engage in such subterfuge, disguising
your
bombs as harmless foodstuffs! Have you no honor?"

"Your sword's disguised to shoots beams of energy, you hypocrite!"

"It's not the same thing," Swordsman contended.

"It's exactly the same thing!"

	$Heh.  But of course he wouldn't see it that way.

Leveling his sword in Daredevil's direction, Swordsman softly intoned,
"I
will not have someone as reprehensible as you besmirch my noble name."

"How can you call me reprehensible when you're the bad guy?!"

"Again you try to shift the blame."

"I am not shifting any blame!"

	$But he is on the defensive, which always means you're losing.

"Since you are unwilling to own up to your own inadequacies by
projecting
them upon me, I will force this lesson of not slandering your betters
upon
you." He sent a blast of force Daredevil's way.

The adventurer responded by leaping out of the path of the beam. "It's
not
so easy to hit someone that knows your little trick, is it?"

Swordsman held his sword in a guard position. "Then I shall employ more
brutal methods to force you to accede to my demands." He rushed forward
to
attack.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Captain Japan's fist impacted solidly with Tarou's shoulder.

Tarou's attempted palm strike to the chin ended long before coming close
to
its intended target when it hit the shield. Worse for him, he fell
victim to
a low kick to the side of his leg, and then a knee to the gut.

Pantyhose was taking three blows to one, and now it was getting closer
to
four. He was losing quickly, and it was all the result of that damnable
shield. It was more than a weapon, it was an extension of his opponent's
arm. And that made all the difference in the fight. His technique
allowed
some of his adversary's blows to be deflected by his bracers, but not
anywhere near the number that were being blocked by his opponent's
shield.

Tarou attempted another knuckle strike, having some measure of success
with
it in the early stages of combat. But this time Captain Japan was
prepared
and brought the shield down on the arm before it could connect. Tarou
roared
out in pain from the blow.

Before Captain Japan could finish his opponent off, a backflipping
figure
finally stopped her movement by landing her feet into the small of his
back.
He gave out a short growl of pain even as he lashed blindly backward
with
the shield. Elektra had crouched low upon landing and the edge of the
shield
went over her head. She brought her sai forward, the tip slashing
through
the material of Captain Japan's uniform across the center of his chest.
A
thin trickle of blood formed where the metal had caressed flesh.

A second fist had more luck by connecting cleanly with Elektra's face,
sending her backward, though not off her feet. Captain Japan fingered
the
crimson line across his chest. "Ordinarily I don't like hitting girls,
but
in your case, I'm going to make an exception."

"You're not going to get the chance," a voice behind him warned.

Captain Japan turned to see Tarou now stood several meters away. The
Captain
sneered. "Go ahead and take me two-on-one if it'll make you feel
better."

"I've got something a little harder in mind, Flag Boy."

"Like what?"

Tarou pulled one from the gourds out of his pantyhose sash, opened the
cork
on the top, and poured the contents over his head.

Captain Japan's eyes widened as pinkish flesh gave way to green scales.
Arms
once lined with lithe muscles became bigger and stronger, containing ten
times the mass they once possessed. The head became squatter and
sprouted
horns and a snout, becoming an inhuman visage. Wings, feathered and
green,
sprouted out of the back of a torso that became inhumanly large and
deformed. Even a tail sprouted out of the back of the spine, moving
independently and possessing the head and fangs of an eel.

"Okay, I didn't see that one coming," Captain Japan admitted.

	$It'd be hard to, I admit.

Senses returned but hands and legs still bound, Speed Demon said,
"Behold
the awesome fusion of ancient transformation magic, controlled gamma ray
bombardment, and bad attitude. Where once the man known as Pantyhose
Tarou
stood, now there remains only a monster. Witness the majestic strength,
the
unimaginable might, the incomprehensible power of... the
A-bra-mination."

	$Badumswishching!

The A-bra-mination bellowed out a cry of rage and flew over to Speed
Demon's
prone form. He picked up the bound speedster and roared again in his
face.
The color seemed to wilt from Speed Demon's mask.

"What?! What?!" Speed Demon babbled. "I didn't give you that name for
the
re-christening of your new form. It was the boss. He thought it was in
keeping with the whole Pantyhose motif. Don't get mad at me!"

Roaring at the fortress above their heads, the A-bra-mination tossed
Speed
Demon away. He hit stomach first across some machinery.

"That hurt just a little bit," he moaned.

Once again the A-bra-mination turned its attention to Captain Japan.

Looking up at the two-ton monstrosity, the Captain said, "I don't
suppose if
I throw my shield away you'll go back to your human form again, would
you?"

The A-bra-mination shook his head.

"Somehow I didn't think so."

	$Somehow,

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ryouga Hibiki shone the flashlight's weak beam in front of him, hoping
the
sounds he heard coming from up ahead were people who could help lead him
out
of this complex set of caverns. This time ending up lost was not his
fault.
He thought he had seen something shiny in one of the branches off the
first
cavern he had entered. It turned out to be just his light glinting off a
small puddle of water that had formed below a stalactite, but when he
went
to return to the exit, he had discovered it had moved. That made the
situation... bad. He was underground with no food or water and only a
flashlight for a light source. Since no one was looking for him, no one
would find him and lead him to an exit. He couldn't remain where he was
since he would eventually starve, so that meant wandering around and
finding
the way out. Unfortunately, there was more than one way to go. In fact,
it
seemed like someone had constructed a maze out of the chambers and
passageways leading through the mountain. He was certain he was going
around
in endless circles, his flashlight growing weaker as the battery began
to
give out, when he heard what might have been thunder from up ahead.
Luckily,
the tunnel he was in had only one opening and no side passages, so he
hoped
that by going straight he could find the source of the noise and have
someone help him get out of the labyrinth. Spelunking was for idiots, he
decided.

xxxxxxxxxx

A pair of eyes opened. Slowly, the dawn of realization came to them.
"Wow!
Not only does she have nice titties, but she can hit hard, too." Power
Man
wondered if the heady miasma fogging his thoughts was love, or a
concussion.

Mindful of the river below, Power Man carefully pried himself out of the
wall. Luckily the vertical impact crater was deep enough for him to get
a
good hold with his feet and hands so he could leap across the river and
back
onto the far side of the reservoir. Once more he would help his Lethal
Legion comrades take care of the intruders so the boss could get back to
more important matters, like ruling the world. He chose his target and
moved
forward, intent on being able to say that he had defeated at least one
opponent today.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

	$When 1/4 the way through commenting on this, my spacebar quit working
for no apparent reason.  Actually, I couldn't type any new characters,
but if I deleted one I could replace it.  A reboot didn't help.  My only
conclusion is that this part was so long that it was near the maximum my
mail program would allow (Outlook.  Don't laugh.) and there wasn't room
for the comments.  That's why I split it in two.

	Part 2 on its way.

-Ragun


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