DB Sommer wrote:
Avenging Chapter 11
Ten Rings to Rule Them All IV
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Standard Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to any of the Ranma 1/2
characters. They belong to Takahashi and whomever she sold the rights to.
Marvel Characters belong to Marvel Comics.
Note: I'm now experimenting with using the 'xxxx' to denote POV changes in
the same scene sometimes. I'd just double line breaks, but it isn't obvious
on plain text message like I usually send. If it's too distracting, let me
know and I'll try something else.
Hadn't thought of that.
Anyway, more of Avenging! So, what took ya so long? ;)
"An effective show of force backed by the will to use it, yes." The Mandarin
voice had taken on a dangerous tone. "Do you have something to say? Are you
having second thoughts about joining?"
Mandarin -- Mandarin's
Hesitantly, Swordsman said, "No. I was just... ill prepared for the full
ramifications of your actions to hit me. The knowledge that so many people
are dead so quickly is unsettling."
Even he isn't that obtuse.
"Yes," the Mandarin conceded. "It would be best to keep a close eye on him.
I am fairly certain he will see things my way, he is quite the pompous ass,
believing that he is a shining example of humanity, and obviously wishes to
receive what he feels is his due, but he might not be properly prepared for
the actions necessary to obtain those desires. The last thing in the world I
will tolerate is one of my own turning against me." The Mandarin continued
looking down the hall in the direction Swordsman had departed. "If he
becomes a problem, Elektra, I want you to use your talents to..."
... -- ....
As it terminates a sentence.
He turned to see Elektra was no longer there. Looking down the corridor, he
saw that she was not only no longer behind him, but nowhere in sight. She
had somehow managed to disappear within a twenty meter long section of
featureless corridor in less than ten seconds without making a sound.
Sneaky like ninja!
Tarou was equally mystified. "Ninjas. Go figure."
Heh!
The youth's grin told the Mandarin what his subordinate thought of that.
Satisfied he had the complete loyalty of at least one his hired lackeys, the
Mandarin continued. "As for the fate of the normal ones, since they know the
location of my base, I will dispatch them in a little while, once it becomes
convenient for me."
continued. "As -- continued, "as
Though unless I'm mistaken, this could actually work either way, so you
can ignore this suggestion. Or any of them, really.
But you already knew that. ;)
The Mandarin made a face at the request. "Do keep your base instincts to
yourself. She has not irritated me to the point I wish her a lingering
death, or a fate worse than one."
Big words considering his own plans for Thor.
Can you say 'hypocrite', Herb?
Knew ya' could.
"Only out of necessity, not out of some primal urge," the Mandarin assured h
im. "Be patient. Hundreds of women will flock to you once you are in a
position of power."
Huh. Not sure what's going on with that, but the word 'him' appears to
be... broken.
Elektra ripped off his mask and grabbed his face roughly. She forced him to
look at her while she stared at him. The blue in his iris' was nearly milky
white as the rest of his eyes. "You're blind!" she said in shock.
iris' -- Unless there are multiple iri, I think this should be 'irises'.
"He's right," Hawkeye said. "Would this Shampoo want you to risk placing so
many people in jeopardy for her sake?"
Elektra: YES.
But now, during
what might have been the most important moment of her life, he had returned,
like the legendary Phoenix her people spoke of.
Now... there's a thought.
"So many targets, so much opposition. Who should fall next?"
"How about you?"
This should be brief.
Giant Man looked at his handiwork in satisfaction. "That's for trying to cut
me to pieces."
Oh, yeah. Punching him several meters down the hall for missing you with
a lazer. That's fair.
*snicker*
Despite the clean blow backed by such tremendous force, the Mandarin was abl
e to roll with the punch, and the dragon scale armor absorbed much of the
damage. He was quick to regain his bearings. Using his left hand to rise off
the floor, he brought his right hand up, unleashing the impact beam. The
shot struck Giant Man with enough force to hurt him despite his mass.
'nother formatting quirk with 'able'.
With a moment's reprieve, the Mandarin stood up and raised his left hand
once more. He would use electricity this time, followed by another burst of
flame. Then perhaps some ice to cool his opponent off. Say, a cocoon of it
five feet thick?
Nah, we already KNOW that doesn't work.
Giant Man cried out in pain at having his hands burnt in similar fashion to
what the Fixer had done. But this time he maintained enough concentration to
keep his grip firm. Instead he drove the Mandarin upward, ramming the
villain's head into the stone ceiling of the passageway.
... yeah, that'd do it.
Unable to defend himself, the Mandarin suffered the full effect of the
impact. He was too dazed to maintain his fiery aura, though he had not yet
been driven to unconsciousness. "Come too far to lose," he swore through his
haze.
'nother formatting thiny with a space before 'haze'.
Swordsman was surprised to discover he was tormented by a malady only lesser
people suffered: he was second guessing himself. Ordinarily he always made
the right choices. He was Tatewaki Kunou, by definition he was always right.
Through the majority of his life he had been surrounded by people who always
told him so, and he had paid them well to make sure they stayed around to
confirm that fact. That information enabled him to go through life secure in
the knowledge he was smarter, better looking, stronger, and richer than
anyone else. Of course he always made the right choices. He was perfect.
Kuno: I'm smart enough, I'm good enough, and doggone it, I pay people to
like me.
But then his father and sister had disappeared one right after another.
Tragic accidents to be certain, and he mourned their losses continually. But
then he learned they were no accidents, as someone tried to have him killed
in a blatant assassination attempt. A trio of men, trained extensively in
the art of war and encased in power armor, broke into his home and attempted
to snuff out his life. They would have succeeded had it not been for the
fact that he had released into his care his sister's prototype KTK-1103B,
and had decided to practice kendo with the impressive piece of hardware. In
his expert hands, with its offensive capabilities, he summarily defeated the
assassins wearing the so-called 'Raider' armor, just as they had undoubtedly
done to the rest of his family.
Hmm. This begs the question of when we'll see the wrath of Pinapple Man.
And then Tatewaki had discovered another drawback to his plan; he had
virtually no money, just what he had on his person, and that was spent
quickly. He couldn't access any funds from the company. Any activity in his
accounts would indicate he was alive and the assassins could come after him.
So he was forced to seek employment, something he only had a passing
familiarity with, and even then it was only in the sense that he knew
employed people, rather than having been employed himself.
*SNICKER*
shop would pay him an impressive sum of money for the honor of garbing the
of money -- of money (extra space)
Just as he had finished picking out a mask, the police arrived. Tatewaki
tried to explain how he was doing the owner a favor by wearing the outfit,
but the police had the audacity to accuse him of stealing! Unable to bear
the insult, Tatewaki easily knocked both of them out. Regrettably, they had
the foresight to call for backup, and he was forced to render a half dozen
officers insatiate.
insatiate - insensate
I'm reasonably sure you mean he knocked them out, instead of making them
impossible to satisfy.
Otherwise, I'd susupect a strong Corwin influence on this story....
Annoyed that his ideas were not bearing fruit, he became further frustrated
when the police came upon the scene and attempted to arrest him yet again.
They also made matters worse by continuously referring to him as the
'Swordsman.'. They weren't interested in hearing how he was actually the
victim from the fight last night --or that he wanted to be called Silver
Samurai-- so he was once again forced to render the authorities insensate.
Right.
Tatewaki, now resigned to calling himself Swordsman, quickly accepted. The
men drove him to the Chinese section of Tokyo, much to his surprise. From
there he was taken to an exclusive underground garage, and then escorted by
the men to a private elevator that led to an interior that was easily as
tasteful, and expensive, as the furnishings at Kunou Manor. Finally they
arrived at their true destination as he was directed to an opulent
bedchamber where an incredibly attractive Chinese woman resided. Or she
would have been incredibly attractive, save for the fact she had to be at
least thirty. Tatewaki Kunou, age seventeen, was only interested in girls
about his own age. Besides, the woman reminded him of his dear departed
mother, except for the two peculiar locks of hair that stood up slightly,
then bent forward almost like antenna.
Hmmm....
But Tatewaki Kunou, the Swordsman, was no lesser man. He could tell that she
had fallen for his charms, despite the mask he wore. It was no surprise to
him, since every woman he met could not but help be impressed by his
strength of character, his virtue, and his manliness. He would have been
tempted had she not been so much older. But since she was, he refused her
advances, much to her surprise. Later, after he had worked with her on
several occasions, she said something curious about his ego being the only
one that was so tremendous that it rendered him immune to the effects of her
Aphrodisiac Incense.
*snicker*
Seduction failing, Mantis immediately offered Swordsman a job to 'recover' a
few items of hers that had been stolen by a gang of thieves who had a
hideout by the docks. Since this damsel was in distress, and since the sum
of money was impressive, Tatewaki readily agreed to help take care of the
miscreants and recover the stolen items. He and a small band of men --whom
Swordsman thought of as nothing but a bunch of thugs-- went to the hideout
and proceeded to storm it. It turned out it was an operation run by a group
of men in identical garish yellow costumes., who all wore the same stupid
looking yellow buckets on their heads, with only a wire mesh grill to look
out. The men, who Swordsman's compatriots referred to as A.I.M., proved
little problem, however, the small army of various androids they employed
was very powerful. Swordsman was forced to use all of his blade's various
functions and his best techniques to destroy them.
Another reference I missed....
Upon successfully completing his mission and recovering the stolen goods,
which were highly advanced weapons oddly enough, Mantis once again attempted
to reward Swordsman by offering her body. Again he refused, doubly
surprising her. She gave him a bonus for doing such an effective job, and
offered him the second most opulent room in the building, which was next to
hers.
weapons oddly -- weapons, oddly (I think)
"And your gambling casinos, bordellos, protection services, and arms deals
are not legal enterprises?"
"Of course not!"
"I feel so misled," Swordsman admitted.
Only you, Kuno. Only you.
Until now, no one had ever truly been hurt because of Swordsman's action. He
had always been careful not to cripple or kill; that would have been beneath
him, though knaves like Daredevil and Captain Japan sorely pressed him at
times. But now his employer had killed more people in a single moment than
anyone else in the history of the world without a second thought. The full
impact of that made Swordsman wonder if he had truly embarked on the right
course after all. True, he would be given control over most of Japan, as was
his due, for he was a born leader, but the cost...
Well when you compare it to the Black Death, which wiped out between 1/4
and 1/2 of the population of Europe over the span of just four or five
years, it's not THAT bad....
But with the Mandarin's defeat, all that promised power would be lost as
well. There was a price to be paid should he take that course. Japan would
suffer immensely, just as it was now with no end in sight. Only with taking
the mantle of leadership could there be hope for the masses. Once in charge,
he would single-handedly put an end to corruption and wrongdoing. He could
be like the Emperor of old, or at least a powerful Daimyo, a true leader
whom all could aspire to be, though they would ultimately fall short of
their goal. Still, emulating him could only make them better people. They
would all be happy as the proper castes were reinstated, and all would be
grateful for the new golden era he would bring. In return for bequeathing
such greatness to them, he would be paid proper tribute by the populace.
They would bestow upon him wealth and respect. He could have the largest
collection of concubines the world had ever seen. Wouldn't it all be worth
the sacrifice? Some bad in the short term for long term good?
Well, he's still Kuno.
"Blast! My vortex beam must not have struck her fully, or she was more durab
le than I believed." A haunted expression crossed the Mandarin's features.
"Perhaps she has gone to free the others. Quickly, go down to the normal
prisoners' cell and make sure they are still secure." He brought up his
communicator. "Tarou, Elektra, be advised, there is a centimeter tall,
flying girl who can shoot energy from her hands. She is extremely dangerous.
Don't bother trying to capture her. Kill her on sight. Speed Demon, Power
Man, make certain Thor and the piglet are secure as well."
Nother of those formatting errors. 'durable'.
"Why are you... For your sake you'd better not have molested my woman."
... -- ....
'his' woman?
The girl gave them a panicked look, gasped "Oh no!", and began hobbling off.
Within three steps she rounded the corner and out of their sight.
gasped "Oh -- gasped, "Oh
So the duo began to discreetly follow the path the girl had taken.
... you know, I'm slowly begining to see Mint as the opposite of Ranma in
this one. 'cept, for some reason, Genma's advice appears to be superior
to Mint's collection of lore.
"I bet you he destroyed his communicator again," Speed Demon said.
"No bet. We'd better get that girl before he does get his hands on us."
bet -- better kind of repitition. I'd replace 'we'd better' with 'we should'.
That and the fact that it seems funnier to me to have a big guy like Lime
speak like a prohibition era mob thug. "Honest, boss, we's just doing
what we's thought you's'd want us ta do!"
... don't mind me.
The mocking dance enraged the Incredible Bwee and he launched himself at
Speed Demon. The speedster proved too quick as he was out of the way before
the piglet had risen more than a couple of centimeters off the ground. The
leap only succeeded in punching a hole through yet another wall.
Incredible Bwee... I like that, but it's not QUITE as good as the
A-bra-mination.
The Hulk's muscles bulged and his hands curled into anvil-like fists.
Spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted, "Where is Not-So-Little-Man who
dared to hit Hulk?! Now that Hulk is big again, Hulk will smash!"
"Oh boy," Power Man said as he prepared for the fight of his life.
Ah... this is great. On to part two!
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