Brian Randall wrote:

And now on to the story...

Yey!

And the best part is, you don't have to wait for the last chapter either. :)

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Spare me your platitudes," the Mandarin snapped, looking over the

quartet

of prisoners Tarou, Power Man, Speed Demon, and Swordsman had retrieved.
"Why are you carrying that green pig?"

"And isn't one of you missing?"

He'll note that later.

"I don't care about her breast size!" the Mandarin snapped. "Does all of

her

power come from her armor?"

Well, they don't know that for certain....

True. It is an assumption.

The archer and red man can be placed in standing shackles. Strap down

the

armored one in the titanium bonds and use the electric nullifier on the
armor, the one we use for twitchy Centurion robots. Since it's only

armor,

attaching it to the head should render it completely immobile. Remember

to

attach it to the head, not the body."

I'm amazed that Mint got away with that.

Nah. Herb likes them, and Mint's fixation on being a super villain actually
plays into the Mandarin's plans. Besides, Mint will really irk him later.

Her consciousness began to wither and die, and she felt her soul being
sucked out. Death had come to visit her. Once dead the Hand would

consume

her, as it did with all those who failed, and use what remained of her
immortal soul in their plans anew. The Hand was greater than any one

member.

The Hand was eternal. No one left the Hand. Once accepted, you belonged

to

them even unto death. And beyond. She would forever be a part of

something

she hated more than anything else in the world.

Like middle school.

Truly evil.

Yep.

Now Elektra understood: Magnanimity. A useless gesture fools engaged in.

To

give something without the expectation of receiving something in return

was

a waste of effort. Obviously this girl believed herself some sort of
Samaritan whose duty it was to protect others.

Is samaritan a proper noun?

Not sure. Word seemed to think so. I ought to look it up though.

Elektra shook her head. "I am indebted to you. You saved my life when I
would have drowned. I will not raise my hand against you or signal an
alarm."

I can only assume that she's lying here, given her previous thoughts.

Oh yes. She is an assassin, after all.

Bucky shrugged. "Okay. They're a pretty tough bunch. I can take them on

my

own, if my buddies haven't beaten them already. But without me, they

might

have more than they can handle. We'd better sneak back, just to be on

the

safe side. You got any idea on how to get back?"

Aww... so gullible. >_<

Yep. Of course his optimism will save him later.

A tiny pair of eyes fluttered open. There was darkness with light around

the

edges of it. Groggily the girl reached upward, towards the darkness. She

was

rewarded with the cool feel of metal at her fingertips. Instinctively,

she

pushed forward, trying to ward off the darkness. She was rewarded by the
piece of metal scrap, from her perspective nearly fifteen meters in

length,

go flying away from her.

rewarded by the -- rewarded with the sight of the (?)

Seems like something's missing from that sentence.

changed it to 'rewarded with'

her... -- her....

Four periods in an elipses that terminates a sentence. Rawr!

Right. I cut this one, but adjusted the other two.

"Good idea. We need to get our priorities straight, after all." The two
continued on.

Yes... yes they do.

Yep. BTW, used all of your grammer comments. Lots of stuff that other didn't
catch.

Elektra tried to say something, but there was hesitation in her voice.

She

shook her head fiercely, as though to clear it of some errant thought.

"An

ideology like yours is stupid. Try to live your life like that, and

you'll

pay for your naivet� someday."

Elektra : Like the second I'm behind you and have something to
stab with.

Bucky : Huh?

Elektra : Nothing....

Elektra: I really must learn to internalize my thoughts rather than speaking
them aloud.

Bucky mentally planned a course of attack that would take her between

her

two opponents, in the hopes they would get caught in their own

crossfire,

when she felt a hard blow strike a single point in the back of her neck.

She

wanted to turn around, but instead she felt her body grow limp.

A voice from behind her said, "I told you you'd pay for that naivet�
someday."

Thought so.

Yep. You knew her 'reform' was too easy.

"Is there no end to these interruptions?" the Mandarin snarled as he

headed

for the nearest security checkpoint to monitor the nature of the

intrusion.

"One Villain, Many Heroes."

Actually there are a lot of villains as well. Luckily there are more heroes.

"I doubt that very much. I think you're getting a touch

over-enthusiastic

about this super hero thing. Not everyone who's wealthy enough to own
something like this is an evil mastermind bent on world domination."

Giant

Kin Ono: Aaaah--CHOO!

Heh.

And then dozen lasers struck the statue, slicing it into a number tiny
pieces.

Hmm.

Shrinking saved him.

"I did a heat scan in the room. There was nothing larger than an insect

in

there. No, he was obviously maladjusted. I have no need of unbalanced
lackeys. Somewhat stupid ones are okay though," the Mandarin said

pointedly

to Speed Demon and Power Man.

Personally, I would have expected him to suspect communications
equipment, or a non-corporeal companion rather than passing it off as
dimensia.

True, Mandy was being narrow minded there.

Why exactly is the Mandarin saying what qualities he looks for in a
lackey? My only guess is that he somehow makes anyone who he captures
join him.

He was considering that with the captured heroes, until he realized they
would not go along with him. It was an option was all.

"That's right. It's not Daredevil's fault they stripped him because of

all

the weapons he had concealed in his clothing. By the way, have you ever
considered briefs instead of boxers?"

I wonder why they didn't bother stripping Hawkeye or Bucky, since it's
concievable that they might have had something hidden on themselves as

well.

They didn't demonstrate any hidden arms. Technically they didn't have to
worry about DD either since his hands are bound, but they figured, what they
hey. Better strip them of all their known weapons. Now if only they had
stored them somewhere else rather than being lazy about it. Of course they
are busy trying to rule the world and vaporising cities now.

"Maybe he was someone else you pissed off," Bucky offered. "You don't

seem

to be the type that has a shortage of enemies."

"That's true," Speed Demon blurted out. He saw the look the Mandarin

turned

on him again. "But it is," he insisted.

Heh.

I loved writing Lime and Mint. Powerful, but naivie and dumb and no one
really complains about it. :)

The Iron Rose shouted. "Ha! I knew it. No system made on Earth could

track

my... I mean my employer's Quinjet. Her genius is the most brilliant on

the

planet."

Anyone with a half of a brain (the only member of the cast who seems to
qualify on this count so far is Elektra) would figure out nearly
everyone's secret identities given how much they all flounder and mess up.

She figured the Captain Bucky connection and knows there's something wrong
with DD as well.

The Mandarin relaxed visibly. "My worries were for naught. There will be

no

further interruptions. No more attacks from random people whom I've

never

met before. My base is secure. My would-be attackers are now my

prisoners,

and all of my plans will reach fruition."

Somehow, I expect that French guy with the pink trenchcoat from Giant
Robo to show up any second now....

Heh. No. I have no plans to include that cast. Plenty of other fusion
elements from other series though. Mentello and the Fixer worked out good.

"Get out of here!" the Mandarin snapped. The duo exited immediately.

"Does

anyone else wish to leave?"

"Me," Iron Rose said.

*snicker*

But at the same, I'd expect this comment from DareDevil or Hawkeye,
seeing as Kodachi seems to generally be a bit brighter, and would
probably see what Bucky was doing for what it was.

This was definitely a case of me throwing the dialogue to Kodachi to make
sure she had some speaking lines. I tried to share the wealth here. I think
it's workable for her to throw the line out, though.

"Alone, it could not. However, my invisible nature means I can strike

with

impunity, and strike I can. Today I was finally able to launch my

satellite,

the last piece to my master plan. It's no ordinary one. Oh no. It

employs

the most powerful weapon from the space ship: an orbital particle beam.

With

it stationed in orbit, I can create a thirty-five kilometer wide beam of
destruction that can eradicate anything in its path. And it leaves no
harmful residue behind, unlike nuclear or biological weapons."

Hmm. I could have used that back when... er... nevermind.

Couldn't we all. I'm still trying to contend Many is in SI and that I really
do want to rule the world for the betterment of all mankind. :)

Religious, economic, and political dogmas that cannot coexist with one
another. They will destroy themselves, or at the very least continue to

make

themselves miserable for eternity. That is unless one force conquers

them

all. Conquers them and unites them. And that force shall be me.

I think two paragraphs ago opened with the same line.

Oops. Yep. Will adjust the first.

Special thanks to
Gary Ee
Chris Horton
William Morse

Was still a fun read. Looking forward to the next chapter... but I need
to take care of some other things first. Hopefully later today.

Or today, even. :)

And I am looking forward to it to. Again caught a lot of mistakes others
missed. All the C+C has been very useful.

D.B. Sommer

--
Brian Randall
--
I write fanfiction. Too much of it. You can read it here, thanks to a
kind grant from the Larry F foundation:
http://www.rakhal.com/florestica/durandall/index.html
--
Together. Allegiance or death. BIGFIRE!
--
Haiku of my lament:

Forgive my spelling,
my U.S. education,
is the source of blame.


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