Author's Note: Why I've been gone so long? Well, my old PC died, but luckily I learned from my past mistakes and had everything backed up. Rather than buy a new PC, I spent a couple of months saving and built my own UGM. [Ultimate Gaming Machine, AMD Phenom Black II 3.4, AMD 6990 x2 Crossfire, 12gb ram, and 500GB solid state HDD with a 2TB slave HDD. Woot!] As such, I have been playing video games quite a bit, and not writing much. I'm still playing games of course, but recently I've been able to get myself to put a bit of time aside from writing. I have quite a bit done, chapters for Matter of Force and Kyubed will be coming soon. I've already gotten more than halfway through new chapters for both. Expect updates in the future now that I've settled, but not at super speed. Like I said, I'm still doing a lot of gaming. It's really nice to be able to turn all those little setting sliders all the way up. Also, expect a long delay this November. Skyrim will eat up quite a bit of my time for a while.
Gaijin
Part 44
The Path to the Darkness.
OooOOooOO
Tony Stark was sitting with his hands behind his head at his desk. He was a bit zoned out and a little drool was dripping from the corner of his mouth. He wiped his face with his arm and blinked at the girl in front of him. "Wait, what? Explain this to me again."
His secretary gave a small sigh. "You're being sarcastic?"
He shrugged. "Not really. I have to what and why?"
"It's a business party. A lot of important investors will be there. It's at nine on Saturday, and no, you can't duck out of it." She shrugged at him.
"Yeah, says who?" he grumbled as he leaned forward.
"Me," replied his wife as she walked into the office. "It's formal, so you're wearing a tux."
He leveled his annoyed glare at her. "Are you trying to ensure that the party will get attacked by monsters or worse...half dressed teenage girls?"
Kei sat down on the edge of his desk. "I don't often get the chance to wear a nice dress with you. You're going if I have to dress you and drag you by force."
He looked away and grumbled. "I could get out of it."
She lifted up her arm and showed it to him. It was as good as new, but he got the point. "You owe me."
His head dropped against his desktop. "Crap. That's...totally fair." He seemed to shrug it off and sat back up. "I'm curious what's got you so interested in this though. It's not like you, and don't go trying to claim that it's about wearing expensive formal clothes. I know damn well you hate it as much as I do."
She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at him. "Getting into business and playing front man for this operation was your idea. Now you've got to live up to it. We're a corporate entity, and we've got to have a presence at these things." She put her finger up and shook her head. "No, you can't assign it to someone else. You need to be there."
He nodded but argued at the same time. "Actually, you're the one who has to be there. I can't own anything, remember? It's your company."
She smiled at him. "Yes, and you're going to hang off my arm and be my trophy husband for the evening. Doesn't that sound fun?"
He shook his head. "No. I think it's going to be a train wreck. We'll probably get attacked."
She glanced at the door. "I've made arrangements to deal with that."
Usagi was standing silently just inside the entrance with her arms crossed. "I guess I'm being your bodyguard for the night."
Mamoru was on the opposite side of the door and didn't look very interested. "I'll be there as well."
"Not as Fearless Oni," commented Tony as he scratched at his ear and glared at him. "I get it, you're looking after your...girlfriend." He sounded like he didn't want to say the last part. "I don't care, show up, we'll get you in so it will cause less trouble. I don't want to be tied to your alter-ego. Iron Moon has a cover story and an excuse to be around me. Your vigilante activities are not a part of my operations, and I don't to give anyone an excuse to make the connection."
The older boy looked about ready to argue, but relented without a fight. "All right. It's formal, and that shouldn't be a problem for me."
The young businessman nodded. "Yes. I assumed as much. You're not going to be able to hang around with Usagi. I don't want her identity out in the open. I know you're there to keep an eye on her in case of trouble. She needs to be wearing her armor, and has to stay near to me."
Kei cocked her head and looked surprised. "This was easier to talk you into than I thought it would be."
He glanced at her and shrugged. "I'm bored. This probably won't help with that, but it will be slightly better than sitting here and staring at the television." He kicked his feet up on his desk and worked a pen up and down in his mouth. "What's the deal anyway? Some sort of fund raiser or something?"
His wife seemed to think about it. "No. It's a business conference. We invest in technology and it's pretty much a trade show. It's a party, but there will be presentations by each company showcasing some of what they are working on."
His secretary cocked her head. "Checking out the competition?"
Tony frowned at her. "The business is a cover for the real operation. The whole 'saving the world from soul sucking death' thing. We're not really competing with anyone, but we should make it look that way." He glanced at Kei. "What are we bringing? We've got to have something to show off."
"I'll let you pick, since you're doing the presentation," replied his wife.
"Huh?" he did a double take. "Hey. Wait. We..."
She frowned at him and narrowed her eyes. "Don't forget who had the brilliant idea of starting Stark Enterprises to begin with. It's your show, and it's your problem. Go talk with your Scientists and figure something out. I'm sure there is some project that's good for a trade show, and you've got a couple of days to figure it out."
He scowled at her and shuffled a few pages from his desk in his hands. "All right fine. Don't get all mad at me when this party goes wrong. I can tell already that it will."
Usagi smirked at that. "Wonder who it will be? Yakuza maybe?"
The boy frowned at that and seemed to think. "I doubt it's the Yakuza. As far as I know, all the Yakuza who were upset with me are dead now."
Mamoru narrowed his eyes. "Imagine that."
Tony scowled at him but didn't comment further on that. "I'll drop by the lab tomorrow and talk to the eggheads about it. I can think of a few projects that might work. What sort of technology are we talking about here anyway? I take it I shouldn't bring a missile system to this."
Kei rolled her eyes. "No. Nothing lethal. We're not trying to get a defense contract here. It's just PR for some press and a chance for the executives of the companies to show off some of their toys. It's a bit fancier than consumer electronics, but we aren't dealing with JSDF here."
The boy nodded. "I'll figure something out. Like I said, I should talk with the eggheads about it. I'm sure they've got something they won't mind showing off." He rubbed at his eyes. "Is there anything else I should know about?"
Kei smirked at him. "Not right now."
His secretary had a rather blank expression on her face. "Takahata says he needs to arrange a meeting tomorrow."
The boy nodded. "Set that up for eleven or so. I've been wanting to talk to him anyway."
That caught the two kunoichi by surprise. "You...want to talk to Takahata?" muttered Kei.
He looked irate with them both and focused his attention on his wife. "Well, if you'd rather spend an hour or two talking with the Director of Marketing and his vast collection of pie charts and line graphs, I'll be glad to..."
Kei stood up and walked over to the bar. She popped the top to a can of soda and poured it into a glass with a little rum on the bottom. "No. I'll let you handle it. You're better at that sort of thing than I am."
Tony nodded and turned his chair to look out the window. "You usually have a harder time admitting something like that."
Usagi and Mamoru both left the room and walked through the reception area. The blond looked at her boyfriend and smiled. "See? It's not so bad."
He scowled over his shoulder. "I don't like it."
Usagi paused and nodded. "I...I can't turn my back on him. It's strange. I don't really like him, but he's right. We can't keep fighting each other while the real enemy does as they please in the chaos."
The blind boy seemed to consider that. "I know. Look, he's..."
"He's helping us," replied Usagi simply. "He's a jerk, yes. I want to put my fist through that grin of his sometimes. Still, he's been good to us considering."
Mamoru growled at that. "Are you kidding he..."
The blond girl had a sour and thoughtful frown on her face. "We drew first blood."
He paused and stared at her in shock. "You can't..."
"Mamo-chan. I mean it. He's not our enemy. He's got a bad personality, and he's a conniving sneaky bastard but..."
The older boy stiffened up. "Yeah. I noticed that. He's taking control. I don't like it. You're working for him Usagi, so are the Senshi. He's set himself up as the leader here. That doesn't sit right with me."
Usagi gasped and stopped in the hall in front of the elevator. Her eyes grew wide. "I..." She squeezed her eyes shut. A voice she didn't recognize, but seemed oddly familiar rang through her head. "...he can do as he likes. What's to stop him from taking control? Tell me, what exactly can you do to stop him?" Usagi walked onto the elevator with Mamoru and faced the doors as they closed. "What does it matter if he's in charge? Once this fight is over..."
"We can do as we like?" said Mamoru. "Are you sure about that?"
"No," admitted the girl. "Who would you have lead us then? You? Me? Minako? Ami? Rei?"
He scowled at her. "Yeah. I get it. We should be careful though. I don't trust him."
Usagi nodded. "I can't help trusting him."
"Huh?" muttered her boyfriend in shock.
"He's not changed as much as you might think. He's still acting like my dumbass brother. He's always looked out for me, but he'd never admit it." She lifted her head up. "It's kind of weird being around him now that I remember a little."
"He's not your brother anymore," commented Mamoru.
Usagi nodded. "You two are getting along about as well as you used to. I'm not that surprised. In fact, I remember getting frustrated about you two being so thick headed with each other before." She closed her eyes and seemed to relax a little. "You've never trusted him, but he never betrayed us. Not even when he had motivation and opportunity to do so."
That caught the blind boy off guard. "How much do you remember anyway?"
She cocked her head. "It's...not like remembering something that happened. It's more like...something that is familiar. I remember you two acting like even bigger jerks whenever you were around each other, but I don't really remember what happened exactly between you either. It's just...familiar to have you gripe about him this way in an odd way."
"It's a bit more than a gripe. He almost killed you." Mamoru wasn't satisfied, but didn't want to follow that line of conversation any further.
Usagi nodded. "Yes. He also took responsibility for it and looked out for me and my friends after it happened. Even going so far as to disguise himself so he could fight with them without getting attacked and paying for my medical expenses."
The blind boy gave a small sigh. He wasn't about to admit it, but that move did take some guts. If they had found him out it wouldn't have been pretty. "Whatever. Let's just go get some lunch. I'm sick of thinking about him for a while." He put his hands in his pockets and she walked out into the lobby ahead of him. He hung back a little and frowned. Usagi had changed. He didn't care any less for her, but she wasn't the cute air head she used to be. She seemed more serious, and had a sort of proud confidence in her tone. It was something he himself found a bit familiar about her in much the same way she had described to him.
She grabbed his arm and smiled. "Come on. I want a burger and then...ice cream!" She giggled as he allowed himself to be led along with their arms hooked together. She still slipped into a mood that suited her age, but even then, her rather vacuous personality was more subdued than it had been before.
"You're buying," he said simply.
"What? You're cheap!" she teased.
He nodded at her. "I'm afraid so. I'm still in school, and I don't work for a billionaire after all."
She giggled and squeezed his arm. "Well, when you put it like that. I suppose I should."
OooOOooOO
Tony Stark gave a small frown. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Say what?" He was standing in front of the gate to his school with several boys grouped in front of him. "I'm gonna need you to repeat that. I want to make sure this is really happening."
The boy in the front of the group lifted his fist. He had a bokkan on his shoulder and was a very large boy, stocky but not fat. "You heard me punk. Pay up. You gotta pay a fee to the people of Japan to get in from now on." The other boys around him all looked amused. "Maybe we'll only slap you around a little today for making me repeat it." The group were all members of the Black Serpents. The schoolyard gang that ran the area. They had a presence in several schools, but were largely minor delinquents. The group in front of him was probably sharing a few brain cells, and were little fish in the pond.
"Man, you guys are really dumb. First of all, I've already paid the people of Japan. I do a lot of charity work and I've put a lot of money into the school system. That's not the dumbest part though." The gaijin boy gave a small sigh. "You're really pulling this with me? Seriously? I mean, I'm personal friends with the Governor and Mayor of Tokyo."
The large boy who was the spokesman for the group cracked his knuckles. His eyes got a bit bloodshot and he stomped his foot and leaned forward. "You. You're gonna die. You know that right?"
Tony just cocked his head and pointed his finger at his own face. "You guys are seriously trying to take Spiderman's lunch money? I mean, everyone knows about that. You're really not saying you're going to try and beat me up are you? I can pick a car up over my head, and I'm not just going to let you pound on me."
The large boy seemed to think about that. "Huh?" He snarled. "That doesn't matter. We'll..."
"Just stop," replied Tony. "What's this about? You're a terrible actor and it's obvious you've all been put up to this. Your friends are all terrified." The lead boy was putting on an angry face, but his friends were pretty much shaking where they were standing.
Another boy was leaning against the gate with his arms crossed. He was handsome, and wore a pair of glasses. He smirked and looked up at the boy. "It's a test. I think it's served it's purpose. You guys can go now."
The group of grunts scurried away onto the school grounds looking very relieved. The gaijin watched them leave and gave a snorting laugh as he looked back at the boy against the gate. "A recruitment test I'm guessing?"
The strange boy nodded. "That's right. We want you in the Black Serpents. You could go far, and we could rule this district..."
Tony just shook his head. "Don't be silly. You guys are too small for my liking. I've had dealings with Yakuza, I'm operating on a National level, and I'm afraid I've got my eye on much bigger things than a school district. I've already got all the resources I need. Why would you think I'd be interested in this schoolyard gang scene? A fish as big as me in your little pond would be more dangerous than you think. Besides, I'm one of those annoying do-gooders remember? Fighting monsters, rescuing babes, saving the city from destruction, and all that jazz."
The boy frowned at him. "I see."
"I'm no vigilante. Don't bother me or my friends and I'll stay out of your business. I've got more important things to worry about." He walked by the strange boy and into the schoolyard. The rather bishonen looking boy started to speak, but Tony interrupted him. "I've no interest in your name. As long as you don't become a problem, the Black Serpents don't exist, and I have no interest in any of it's members." He gave him a dark glare. "Don't step on my toes. You won't like what happens if you're dumb enough to try. Lay off, the Black Serpents are too small time for me. You're not going to convince me to join you, and bugging me about it will piss me off."
The boy growled and balled up his fist as he walked away. "I see." He pushed his glasses up his nose as he turned away.
Tony cocked his head as he walked away from the scene as well. "I think I played that about right." He had no illusion that he'd seen the end of that guy, or the Black Serpents. He'd basically asked for them to pull more shit with him. He had no reason to believe it would be a problem.
OooOOooOO
The boy who had spoken to Tony was walking down the street with a cell phone up to his ear as he walked towards his own school. The boss of the gang would be attending that day, and he needed to speak with him. He was planning on stopping to get a bite to eat first though. The cell phone would do to relate the message. "Hey. The guy refused." He paused. "No, he was quite rude about it. Says we're too 'small time' for him." He nodded and muttered agreement. "Yes. I'm sure he'll see soon enough. I warn you though, we may need Risu-chan for this. I don't think he's going to be easy to persuade, and we'll lose control of this school to him if we leave him be. He's, very strong." Another pause and he flipped the phone shut. "Well, Mr. Stark. I think you may reconsider our offer soon. Even if you don't, we can't have you getting in our way. Either way, you'll be dealt with."
OooOOooOO
Aya walked up to his side as he walked into the school and spoke up as they put their shoes away. "Do you have any idea who that was?"
Tony glanced at her. "I don't care. I refused his offer. Honestly, thinking I'd be interested in some sort of small time teenage gang."
The girl scowled at him. "He's the most reasonable guy they have, Akira Mitsuzawa. He's going to report what happened to Odori Uzina. He's not the sort of guy who takes 'no' lightly. Especially not the way you did it. There's a sort of code with..."
The boy glanced at her. "I know about the code. The only way to get those Black Serpent jerks to back off is to give them a bloody nose. I'll wait until they pull something and give this Odori guy a little visit. I doubt I'll be bothered again after that."
The young kunoichi frowned a little. "He won't be easy to persuade. Even if you beat him, he'll think he has to regain the title of the strongest."
Her boss arched his eyebrow. "I know how to deal with his type."
The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "That's because you're the same kind of guy."
He nodded and hooked his book bag over his shoulder by the strap. "Yeah. Pretty much. Don't worry about it. I'm kind of surprised they'd try something like this to begin with."
OooOOooOO
Tony scowled at his car. The school day was over and he scratched the back of his head. He couldn't park it on school grounds, but there was enough nearby parking to make due. His tires were flat, not slashed, but the air had been let out of them. "Great." A note was under his wiper and he snatched it off to read it out loud. "Nobody says no to Odori the Oni. Talk to us when you've had enough, loser." He sighed and looked at his tires. "What? This is it? Their great revenge?"
Aya leaned over with her bag dangling from her hands behind her back next to him. "Well, the thing with Odori is the buildup is kind of slow. He's known for being, merciful I guess. He gives a lot of chances before he really does anything rash."
The boy frowned at her. "A merciful schoolyard bully?" He shook his head. "How long am I going to have to put up with stupid pranks before this gets serious? I really can't kick his door down and terrorize him over this sort of thing."
She shrugged. "Not sure. He's very persistent though. Those of us from the clan that attend in this district keep an eye on them."
He cocked his head. "Huh? Why? Seems a bit beneath the clan really."
She grinned at him. "Training. All of us who are still in school keep an eye on the local delinquent population. Anyone who attends school still could tell you about the local delinquent gangs. It's pretty quiet around here, the Black Serpents are pretty tame, and don't really have any major rivals in the area."
Her boss seemed to think on that. "I know. That's one of the reasons I figured they'd leave me alone. It's pretty peaceful around here, it's one of the reasons I decided to stay on here."
She giggled. "I thought you were court ordered?"
He smirked as he looked at his car. "Do you really think I couldn't have gotten out of that?" He scratched his head. "Oh well." He kicked a bent and deformed key on the pavement. "Heh. They tried to key my car."
The kunoichi cocked her head. "Huh? I don't see any scratches."
Tony nodded. "You couldn't scratch that paint with a handsaw with a diamond coated blade on it."
The girl smiled. "Special paint?"
He smiled at her. "Yeah." He cocked his head. "I guess this would be good for the trade show. I hadn't given what I was going to bring to show off much thought yet. Who would have thought those idiots might prove useful? Never would have thought of it otherwise."
She seemed a bit annoyed. "Yeah. I still don't think you're taking this seriously enough."
The boy shrugged as he walked away from his car. "Whatever. These are my people, I can deal with it fine."
OooOOooOO
Tony frowned as he walked out of the bedroom in the office. He dusted off his sleeves and worked his shoulders a bit before pulling on his collar. "Almost ready to go?"
Kei had her hair styled and wore a sleek looking dress that sparkled in the light. She was also wearing high heels and sported a matching handbag. "What do you mean? I didn't have to get dressed, remember?" Her clothes shifted to a rather skimpy shinobi uniform. She reverted back and shifted her hips as she walked up to him. "You're right, I don't like dressing up this way, but it has benefits." She kissed him on the cheek and gave him a light slap on the other side of his face. "You look good."
He smirked. "So do you." He grabbed her around her waist and she pushed him back.
"Fun later, we've got to get going." She adjusted his tie.
He scratched his head. "I wouldn't mind being late, fits my personality. People will probably expect it."
She slapped his hand away and pulled him to the elevator. "Don't mess up your hair and come on. If I let you, you'll try to put it off until it's too late to go at all."
He hung his head a little and followed her. "Curse you for seeing through my plan."
OooOOooOO
Tony had a glass of champagne in his hand. He sipped on it and looked around with his free hand in his pocket. Behind him was a small stage. Two car hoods were hanging behind him. One was heavily damaged, the other was coated in the paint his lab had developed. There was a video playing of both hoods undergoing various torments, a blowtorch, a circular saw, a chainsaw, and small arms fire. There were a few impressed looking onlookers milling about, and several keys hanging from chains so people could try scratching the painted hood for themselves.
The party wasn't a huge affair. About four hundred people in a large convention hall. It was lavish and there was red carpet laid out over expensive looking tile, drinks were being served and a buffet of expensive food lined the walls, as well as waiters carrying around small trays with hors d'oeuvres. Every fifty feet or so there was another small stage showing off some sort of technology. Most of it was run of the mill stuff, impressive computers, monitors, a few cars and trucks with new components and gadgetry, and every booth had some sort of marketing presentation to go with it. All of it was top end prototype material and it was impressive. He found he was enjoying it more than he'd thought.
He glanced to his left and right and found he was surrounded by a group of very young attractive women in very tight fitting clothing. They were all wearing sexy racing jumpsuits that clung to all their curves and showed off as much cleavage as they could. The girls smiled and flirted with the guests and answered questions about the paint on the hoods. "Didn't know we'd have booth babes."
Kei chuckled. "It's expected. I took care of it while you were digging up this paint for us to show off." She glanced at him. "Don't look too disappointed."
He didn't actually seem to care much and sipped on his drink. "You should have gotten my input. Though, I suppose I can't complain about the results." He glanced around at the girls, there were six of them and they were all very pretty.
The kunoichi took his arm and smirked. "I'd noticed." She could tell he was joking, but was also considering trying to bring one or two home for later if he showed any interest in any of them.
The center of attention at the show was standing nearby with her arms crossed. Most of the questions being asked were about Iron Moon, but they weren't giving any information. She was away from the crowd and didn't have to put up with much of it, but he could tell the models were getting a bit tired of giving 'no comment' answers about her. The largest crowd in the room was standing around behind ropes and gawking at the power armor. The booth babes didn't know any more than anyone else did about her. They were doing an admirable job of relating that, but were still being badgered a little for any details they might know.
"I'm sorry, I really don't know anything. Mr. Stark doesn't ever say anything about his bodyguard." One of the girls muttered graciously nearby.
Tony gave a small sigh. He walked up to the podium and tapped the microphone. "Excuse me. I have one small announcement to make. None of the employees at this booth have been briefed about Iron Moon, and I'm afraid I'm not going to give any details about my personal protection away easily. Don't expect her to answer any questions herself either, I'm afraid only top level employees who are directly related to the project are cleared for any information about her, or her capabilities. Please keep any questions you have about what we have on display for the show." He glanced back at Usagi and smirked. "Please enjoy the rest of the evening."
She seemed to relax a little and nodded at him. It was obvious she was getting tired of ignoring shouted questions being tossed at her from the other side of the rope.
"Interesting toy," commented a tall thin older man. He was dressed in a black suit with a crimson tint to the fabric. He had white hair and cool blue gray eyes. The man seemed confident and stood tall as he approached. He walked up and gave a small bow as the boy narrowed his eyes a little. "I've no interest in power armor. I was hoping to speak with you, Mr. Stark."
The kid seemed somewhat impressed and nodded. "About what? Who are you?"
"I am Kyokusei Maguno. I'm an investor of sorts," commented the man as he sipped on a glass with a casual air and looked at the paint covered hood. "You are a man of many talents, some of which I suspect you were born with."
The boy wasn't sure where the conversation was going. "I guess you could say that." He gave a small nod and looked around for a moment. "What is it that you're interested in?"
The man smirked. "To the point then?" He chuckled as a young woman in a sleek gold dress with long dark hair walked up and took his arm. She smiled at Tony and bowed her head a little. The man introduced her. "This is Nazomi. You could say she is my protection."
Tony nodded back at her and frowned a little. The woman was graceful and moved quietly. It was obvious to him, and the nearby Kei she could handle herself in a fight. "Nice to meet you."
Kyokusei gave him a warm grin. "I can tell you're more than human. You're a very interesting man, Mr. Stark, especially to someone like me."
The boy narrowed his eyes. "Not sure what you mean. Who do you represent exactly?" The girl's name was getting to him, and there was a connection he knew he should be making. It was just beyond his grasp though.
The older man nodded. "Yes. Japan is a rather progressive country. Many places are not very welcoming to people like us."
Tony nodded at that and sipped at his drink. The guy was making him uncomfortable. "Yeah. The world is a complicated place."
"To young eyes it seems as such," replied Maguno with a sad nod. "Our time is coming. They fear what they cannot control. The world is a simple place, but soon a new age will come."
The boy gave a snort. "In more ways than one. I'm in enough trouble as it is. My plate is rather full at the moment." He hoped he'd not just gone completely pale. He was beginning to suspect just who it was he was speaking too, and it made him even more nervous. "I'm young, as you said. Right now, I've no interest in joining anyone's cause. I've got more hanging over my head than you think, and I couldn't give it much attention anyway."
The man stiffened up and narrowed his eyes. The girl on his arm frowned a little and lowered her head. "I see. Perhaps we might make use of each other then? I have a lot to offer a man like yourself. We'll speak of it again some other time. It surprises me, but it seems the plight of your brethren is new to you. You are young, and growing up here I can understand that. Japan doesn't speak much of such matters. They are happy to ignore the cruelty of the world, even if they do not share such animosity. That makes them as guilty as the rest." He glanced over his shoulder. "I suggest you learn more, and think about it for a bit. Our next conversation will likely prove much more interesting to you." He turned and walked away leaving the boy standing with his drink.
The boy downed it and shoved his hand into his pocket. "Shit. This is getting complicated." He wasn't going to deal with this group like a bunch of schoolyard punks. He had to be very careful how he played his hand here.
He turned his head and found a blond woman standing next to him. She was Japanese, but her hair wasn't dyed. "Yes, I've been here the whole time. I wonder what you'll decide? Very interesting. You're not so foolish as I thought."
He scowled at her and put his empty glass on a tray as a waiter walked by. "Stay out of my head. I'm less likely to cooperate if I'm being toyed with."
The woman smirked and nodded. "Yes. With an attitude like that, you'll fit right in. Think about what he told you. It took you a moment, but you do understand what he was telling you, don't you?" She shifted her hips and walked away. He noticed she was wearing a tight fitting and lacy white dress. The blonde looked over her shoulder. "My name is, Shimo. I can tell you're wondering. It's a terrible shame you're not older." The woman gave a rather faked looking pout and continued on her way. "Who knows? Maybe I'll steal you away from him and keep you for myself?"
The boy was clearly annoyed. "Great. Now what?" He had no idea what to do, but he was pretty sure he'd just had a conversation with a group of X-men villains. "Mystique, Emma Frost, and Magneto. I'm getting a headache." He wasn't surprised considering his recent run in with Wolverine and Deadpool.
Kei walked up and gave him a look over. "What was that about? Who were they?"
The boy had his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face. "Serious trouble. I'm not really sure how I'm going to deal with them. They're some sort of Mutant group, and it may not be a good idea to piss them off. I've got no real desire to join them either. Hopefully refusing them will be enough, but I'm not so sure. It's going to be a real mess if it isn't. Hopefully they'll just go away and leave me alone."
The kunoichi frowned at that. "We can handle it. The clan has dealt with mutants before."
Her husband nodded. "Don't get cocky with this group. Those three, the blonde woman and the old man in particular, are really powerful. We're going to handle this as peacefully as we can. I'm not getting dragged into some mutant war if I can help it." He was frustrated and knew he was going to have to look into things. The old man had caught him off guard.
She cocked her eyebrow. "War?"
Tony gave a nod. "Yeah. I got the impression this little group of theirs is pretty militant. I'm going to be up all night staring at the computer again. This sucks."
His wife gave a small sigh and looked a little weary. "What is it with you anyway? It can wait until tomorrow. I'm not going to waste getting you dressed up tonight."
He nodded. "Yeah. I need to learn more. I guess it can wait for a bit though."
"Why? What interest would this group have in you? It's not like you're a mutant or anything, right?" She seemed confused by his interest, or what the mutants would want with him.
"I can stick to walls, shoot webs from my wrists, and create weapons out of thin air." He narrowed his eyes at her.
She blushed a little and put her hand over her mouth. "Yes, but...I thought that had something to do with that ancient magic kingdom you keep talking about."
He shook his head. "I started getting my powers around the time I met you. Right about the age most other mutants do. Maybe it does have something to do with that, but I can't really deny that me being a mutant doesn't make sense. Hadn't really thought about it that way before to be honest, but it fits a bit too well to ignore it."
His wife gave a nod as she seemed to understand. "I see. Even if you are not, it appears as though you are."
The boy nodded once. "I'm surprised I've not heard any mention of it before. You'd think someone would have said something about it when I first showed up as Spiderman."
The kunoichi shook her head. "Japan doesn't acknowledge mutants as any different than anyone else. You'll never see news about 'mutants' in the papers or news broadcasts here. It's just something that's considered polite to ignore for most people."
Tony seemed to understand. "Yes. It's worked pretty well so far, it's peaceful here. No reason to stir up trouble by making a big deal out of it."
His wife smiled and nodded. "Yes. That's about right."
The boy nodded and seemed satisfied with that. "I see. Well, we should finish up here soon enough. The party is almost over, and I'm a bit surprised nothing has exploded yet."
"Hmmm. It's still early yet," commented an unfamiliar voice. "A mutant? Interesting I suppose, but it doesn't matter much in our line of work. Though, I admit it does explain a bit about you, young man."
Tony turned to face the man. His tone wasn't unfriendly, but hardly informal either. He found himself looking at a tall thin man in his fifties. He had gray hair with strands of black in it and was wearing a tuxedo. "We've not met...Mr?"
"Hanma, Hanma Jirobo. I am the CEO of Hanma Enterprises. We're competitors I suppose, though my firm is a bit more...specialized." The man bowed slightly in a polite gesture. "Much like your firm, this show isn't really suited to our core business. It's just a bit of press for us outside of our usual business. Something to attract investors from the public. Rich fools who are only interested in having our Company names on their portfolios, but don't have the brains or balls to achieve the future of technology for themselves." He seemed to be enjoying himself, and didn't think much of the rank and file of those in attendance.
Tony was hoping that someone would attack the trade show soon so he would stop meeting people he already knew but probably shouldn't. "It's nice to meet you. I suspect you know who I am."
The man nodded and seemed a little less interested in him. "I admit I was surprised to hear someone so young was at the head of one of the most impressive investment portfolios in the last fifty years. Well, your wife does anyway, but everyone knows who really runs Stark Industries. You've become quite the rival, we were working on something similar to your display here, but you seem to have beat us to the punch. How did you manage it?"
The boy gave a small shrug. "Adamantium. I've figured out a way to synthesize it. It's expensive, but still more cost effective than trying to mine for it. I'm sure you're aware, it's notorious for being difficult to mine and work with. I'm afraid I'm not going to get into more detail than that right now. I'm sure you of all people would understand."
The man arched his eyebrow and nodded. "Well, that is impressive. We were working with a diamond and steel polymer, but it was brittle. It was difficult to scratch, but was prone to fracturing."
Tony nodded at that. "We started with a carbon polymer similar to what's used in advanced body armor. It kept settling in the paint and was hard to remix though. Once we figured out synthetic Adamantium, we were able to keep it liquified for much longer. The hardest part was keeping it from becoming a useless paint can shaped hunk of metal." They had ended up putting in large amounts of caustic acid. Eventually, the acid wore off and the metal hardened, but it kept the paint liquified long enough to apply and store it for a short time. It had to be used within two weeks of being made, or it still ended up a useless cylinder of colored metal. It also had to be applied at just the right stage of aging or the acid would damage what was painted with it.
Jirobo nodded. "I'd ask how you managed that, but I know better." He glanced at the armor. "That's an interesting piece of hardware, more in line with what my company produces. We've been working on power armor for years. It's a difficult project, and we've still not reached human testing stages."
Kei nodded at that. "We're not able to mass produce that project. It's unique hardware, and will likely remain that way."
Her husband seemed surprised and nodded. "Yes. Power is a huge issue. We found ourselves a unique solution to that problem with the operator. It's impressive technology, but so specialized it's not really practical. Kind of a shame actually."
Hanma nodded at that. "Ah. I see. That's nice to know. Perhaps you're not so far ahead of us as I'd thought."
Kei smirked and sipped at her glass. Her dress melted away and turned into a form fitting black bodysuit and mask. "Oh, I wouldn't say that."
The older man gasped and got a little wide eyed. He pulled at his sleeves and cleared his throat. "I see. I'd heard rumors about that project. I thought it had been abandoned."
Tony shook his head. "No. Not sure I want a bunch of them running around the city at this point. There are still a few issues, but we cleared up the major problems with the interface. It's a fully functional prototype. Not anywhere near ready for production, but it's safe to use and very effective."
Hanma nodded at that. "Very impressive." He seemed a little worried. "I can see I'm going to have to put a bit more incentive on my own scientists to innovate more in the future."
The boy nodded at that. "Don't be too hard on them. You get better results with a carrot than you would with a whip I've found." He smirked at the man and sipped on a glass of champagne as he took it from a passing waiter's tray. "I demand results, but I also reward success."
The older man nodded. "I'll remember that. It was nice meeting you. Stop by the booth and have a look at what we've got on display. It's actually a bit similar to what you have here." He looked at the car hood.
"What's that?" asked Tony.
"It's bullet proof glass. We managed to create a clear polymer that can withstand an impact of up to two tons psi at only a half inch thick." The man seemed to brush it off. "Not very impressive, but this sort of show isn't for the real fruits of our labors. It's just a P.R. Pony show for small time investors and the press. Though, the Japanese Navy has expressed some interest in it." He turned and walked away. "It was nice meeting you. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other around. Maybe next time, we can get the chance to show off something a bit more...impressive."
Tony stood and watched him go. His lips turned down in a small frown and he narrowed his eyes a bit. He felt like he wanted to cry.
His wife took note of his expression. Her dress had returned and she seemed relaxed and amused. "What is it?"
He looked at her and downed half his glass. "That guy is going to be trouble. I can tell. We're going to have to watch our backs."
The girl rolled her eyes. "Again? Don't be paranoid."
He finished his glass and put it on a tray as another waiter walked by without paying it much attention. "It's only paranoia if someone isn't out to get you."
"You say that about everyone though." Kei looked bored with the conversation.
He nodded. "Yeah. I'm always right too. That guy, he seemed friendly enough. I doubt he'll try to kill us himself, but he's not out to make friends. I expect he'll be making plays at acquiring our secrets and getting under our skin in general. Hanma Enterprises is notorious, and they've got a bad reputation for industrial espionage and questionable arms dealing. Nothing anyone can prove of course. Still, there's fire under that smoke." The boy lifted up his hand and put a small black device in front of her nose. "I'm guessing he's surprised I read him so well. He didn't come see us just to meet the competition and decide if we'd make good golfing buddies. He just put a target on us and our operations." The boy crushed the tiny electronic device in his fingers and tossed it to the floor before grinding it into the carpet with his shoe.
The pair looked over to the Hanma booth. The man was standing in front of a mock up window and smiling. He waved at them and made a golf swing in their direction before pointing his hand and pretending to shoot them both. He seemed cheerful, but there was something sinister in his expression as well.
Kei nodded and narrowed her eyes. "I see. It's annoying that you're right, but I suppose it's also nice to know."
Tony gave a small sigh. "It might have been fun, but he won't be getting his own hands dirty if he can help it. He'll be hiring help, and they won't be the nicest sort of people. Like I said, Hanma has a reputation for outfitting thugs and criminals. Rumor has it, he gets a fifty percent cut of the take from those sort of deals."
His wife nodded. "My, you are well informed. I suppose I'm not that surprised by that. I knew about it to begin with. Hisami used to make deals with Hanma Enterprises before he started his own research company. Jirobo got expensive, but they parted on good terms. Hanma had plenty of other business, and we were only a customer on occasion. They never really stepped on each other's toes. The old bastard wasn't interested in going public with his technology. It was for use within his organization. He never had any intention of turning my new wardrobe over to the police or the military. Once he had it working, the plan was to invent enough flaws to justify pretending to cancel the project."
The boy gave a rough snort and crossed his arms. "Well, I'm glad that didn't work out."
Kei smiled at him. "So am I."
Tony looked up at the ceiling and stretched his arms. "I wonder when it will happen?"
"Huh?" the kunoichi seemed surprised. "What?"
"The attack. I know something's going to happen," replied the boy with a shrug. He didn't seem particularly worried.
The girl frowned at him and seemed annoyed. "What is it with you and..."
There was a loud boom and the entire room seemed to shake. A cloud of dust started as one of the nearby walls suddenly had a very large hole in it. There were no flames, and the noise wasn't an explosive device. Party-goers dove for cover and ducked low as a surprised scream and mutters filled the room.
A yellow and brown figure walked into the room. It was a heavily built and muscular man in what looked like a quilted mask and bodysuit. On his arms were two metal gauntlets that generated a hum that vibrated the air. He turned his head and nodded back at the entrance he made. "You know what to do."
Through the dust cloud two long glowing tendrils could be seen. Another man in what appeared to be bondage gear walked in behind him. "Yeah. I know. Do your job, and let me worry about mine." He had on a vinyl mask and several leather straps tied to small rings of metal crossed his chest. Each hand had what looked like electrified whips attached to them at the wrist. He gripped the handles in his hand and cracked and spun them as he walked in. The crowd parted and he left gashes in the floor that were half impact cracks, and half melted concrete.
Tony had another glass of champagne in his hand and sipped at it as he looked on. "Told you so."
Kei opened and closed her mouth a few times. "Well...I..." She growled. "Don't be such a prick about it."
The boy looked over his shoulder. "Hey, you're up, Meatball head." He pointed at the pair as he looked at Usagi. "This is why I'm paying you, remember?"
"Huh?" muttered the girl as she uncrossed her arms. "Oh. Right." She was severely annoyed, but he did have a point. Her repulsors came to life and she floated up into the air between the two newcomers. "Hey. You realize I have to stop you two idiots right?"
The man with the whips chuckled. "I'll take care of the tin can with breasts. You get what we came for." He cracked his weapons a few times and moved in front of her.
Tony gave a small sigh. "Right for us. Hey, I'm guessing you're not interested in stealing some paint."
The man in the padded costume shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Call your friend off, we've got no business with you." He pointed at a nearby prototype car. "We're here for the engine of that car. It's worth quite a bit you see."
The kid narrowed his eyes at that. "Afraid not. As much as I hate to say it, I can't just stand here."
"Well, we could," said his wife as she crossed her arms and looked at him. "You're the one always going on about not being a vigilante."
He nodded at her. "Yeah. I guess." He glanced at the man with the metal gauntlets on his forearms. "What, do you have a walk in oven or something?"
The man was annoyed. "No. It's to protect me from the shockwaves." He raised his arms and pointed his fists at the boy.
Tony shoved his wife aside as he jumped away. The painted hood flew off it's mount and flipped in the air as what appeared to be a beam like distortion of air slammed into them from the weapons he was wearing. It ended up stuck in the floor by one of the corners nearby, without a scratch on it.
The stranger cocked his head. "Say. That is some impressive paint."
Tony was dusting off his sleeves. "Well, are you going to get your engine, or do we have more business with each other?"
"That jerk," growled Kei as her body was covered by the Venom unit. The eyes narrowed and she cracked her knuckles. "I'm going to kick his ass."
Tony frowned at her. "I was talking to him first." He didn't like the idea of her getting into a fight with Shocker. Energy like his weapons produced was one of the weaknesses of her costume, and he didn't want that getting out. "You let me handle this one. Go get that engine someplace safe while Usagi and I keep them busy."
A small older man with a balding head and a comb-over looked surprised. "We would appreciate the assistance." He was very nervous and had a bit of trouble getting it out of his mouth.
Kei looked at her husband as he tossed aside his tie and kicked his shoes off. "That's not like you."
He frowned at her. "I've got my reasons. I'll explain them later. So, buddy. Seeing as we're super best friends now, how about a name?" He wasn't sure why he'd bother asking, as he knew the answer already.
"Yeah, who the hell are you guys?" grumbled Usagi. She was floating above the whip wielding man with her palm pointed at him. Neither of the thieves had moved to attack yet and seemed to be trying to work out a battle plan.
"I guess that's how we play it then. Get out of my way, or you'll get hurt." The padded man shot another blast at Tony. The room was mostly cleared out, with a few stragglers along the walls and moving out the doors. A few of the company people had stayed with their booths, and took cover in their displays. The boy jumped out of the way and the blast did little more than mess up the floor. "The name is Shocker by the way. I'm sure you've figured out why."
"You have chronic static buildup?" The boy landed on top of a short wall on one of the displays. Shocker blasted it and forced him to jump again as it toppled away. "Man, that outfit must be cheaper than padding an entire room. You could make a mint selling them to asylums." He flipped out of the way of two more blasts with relative ease, but didn't move any closer to his opponent.
"Sooner or later, I'm going to hit you." Shocker was getting frustrated and set loose multiple blasts. The boy was always just barely dodging them it seemed, but he couldn't land a hit.
"Say, I've got some cookies baking in the green room. Any chance we can stop the fight so you can take them out of the oven for me? I'd hate to burn them, and it could cause a fire if this takes too long."
OooOOooOO
At the same time that Shocker started attacking her boss, Usagi was forced to shift her leg as her opponent snapped his weapon at her ankle. She lowered her leg, raised her palm, and sent a blast of light energy at him.
The stranger hacked at it with his weapons and it was deflected into a nearby booth. There was a bit of dust from the impact, but no one was hurt. "Sorry, this isn't going to be quite so easy. I'm Whiplash, and that toy of yours isn't very impressive. I bet it's got tons of circuitry inside it. These whips will fry them to a crisp once I land a hit."
The girl landed on the ground and stalked towards him. "Is that so?" He cracked the weapons at her and she lifted her forearm up. The weapon coiled around it and she continued to move forward before rearing back her fist and punching him dead in the face. "Not according to my sensors. Not near enough voltage for that." She looked at her arm and scowled. There were a few minor dents and scratches in her armor where it had latched onto her. It did pack a bit more of a punch than she expected. The energy focused where the whip made contact somehow, and created what amounted to a few minor electric explosions when it made contact.
Whiplash was back on his feet and rubbed at his jaw. "I see." He noticed the damage to her armor. "I'll just have to beat that armor to shreds with them then." He spun the weapons and cracked at the floor again, causing superficial damage.
Usagi didn't think she was in trouble by any stretch. Still, the weapons were more dangerous than she had originally thought. She couldn't just stand there and let the guy hack at her with them.
He lashed out with both at once trying to catch her around the belly with both of them. The girl seemed to slide back out of the way as the repulsors on her hands, feet, and chest lit up for a moment. The villain spun the weapons around over his head to take another crack, but ended up blocking instead as she sent another blast at him with her open palm.
Kei looked on at the relative stalemate as she hefted the engine out of the car and onto her shoulder. The old man was beside her and looked worried, almost as much about her as the two would be thieves. "Please, be careful. That's our only prototype."
The black clad woman gave a nod. "All right. Where can we take this?" The kunoichi realized her husband was pissing the smarter of the two off and keeping him facing the other direction. The whip carrying assailant was being blocked by Usagi effectively. She wasn't having much difficulty holding him off and got an occasional shot in. As she looked over her shoulder at the fight, she saw the girl land feet first on his chest and fire off her repulsors. The energy the Iron Moon suit produced wasn't lethal, but it was still a strong blast. The man slammed into the wall near the entrance the pair had made and cracked the plaster. He was a bit slow getting up, but not seriously hurt. "Some sort of energy shield?" The readout of her suit confirmed it. It wasn't very strong, but was a good impact dampener. It looked like small arms fire would be painful, but unlikely to really injure him. The shield seemed to be connected to his weapons.
"This way, there's a fire exit in the hall a few doors down from the exhibit room." The man was rubbing at his forehead with a handkerchief and looking at the carnage. Tony was getting his opponent to do little more than put holes in the wall as he danced around the increasing number of blasts. "There will be a van waiting when we get there." He had a cell phone up to his ear as he backed away with the rather scary woman holding his engine over her shoulder with casual ease.
She nodded and moved with him. His pace was a bit slow for her liking, but it was obvious he had never found himself in such a situation before. "What's so special about this anyway?"
"It's an alcohol based engine with a high power ratio at a low fuel consumption rate. We're showing it off in a prototype car, but our plans are to use it for large trucks for shipping. The fuel is expensive, but it's very efficient and powerful for it's size. The production model will be twice that size, and will run heavy duty construction equipment for up to two hundred hours on fifty gallons of fuel." He seemed to clear up a bit as he spoke about the engine. "It will have a lot of industrial uses, at a lower fuel cost than running the same equipment for the same amount of time. It's true the alcohol is a more expensive fuel, but it can actually do the same job as a heavy duty diesel engine at about half the operating cost."
Kei nodded as she read between the lines of his statement. As much as he was trying to sell it as industrial equipment, it sounded like something that was suited for military use. A tank or fleet of light support vehicles with engines like that would have quite a range advantage over similar vehicles with gasoline engines. "I see. I doubt those two are in the construction business. What company do you work for?"
"Hirotaka Technologies." The man opened the door for her and quickly ducked into the hall.
"Well, I'm Kei Stark. I own Stark Industries, though my husband runs it." She gave a nod at him and shifted the weight a little as she started moving towards the exit.
The man chuckled as he got a bit more confident. "I see. Hirotaka will remember this in the future. I suspect you know that engine isn't really for industrial use, though we do plan in implementing that strategy at a later date."
"I gathered as much. Our business isn't so different," she commented as he opened the fire exit. Sure enough, an unmarked white van was waiting with the doors open. "I suggest you tell your men to stand down. Those tazers and cattle prods won't be very effective against me." She put the engine into the back of the van and lifted the man up by his shirt.
He seemed a bit more nervous, but less so than he was in the hall. "Sorry. They are here to protect our technology. Don't get the wrong idea, please."
She dropped him to the ground and narrowed her eyes as he sat on his rear and wiped his brow with his handkerchief again. "I could hear both sides of that phone conversation you just had. If the men you've got hiding along the sides of this van were any sort of threat, I wouldn't have brought you here in the first place. My sensors picked them and their weapons up long before we arrived." She reached down and lifted the van up with one hand by grabbing the frame under the bumper. It exposed six men holding tazing weapons who all stepped back looking more than a little surprised. She let the van go and turned away as it bounced and jerked violently from the impact for a moment. "Leave, you back stabbing jerk, before I decide to carry that engine of yours back in there and hand it over."
The man gave her a dangerous looking smirk as he dusted himself off. "It's just business, you know." He climbed into the van as it started with his men and drove off.
"Asshole," she grumbled. After a moment she turned back into the hallway. "Speaking of which, I'd better see how my husband is doing."
The wall in front of her exploded into the hall and she paused. Tony sat up in the dust and coughed. "Ouch." He was clearly jarred and staggered to his feet.
"Heh. I knew I'd get you sooner or later," commented Shocker as he climbed through the hole. "You can't run forever."
Tony stuck himself to the side of the wall and used his legs to throw himself into a body tackle that sent the pair back through the hole. "I am not getting my ass kicked by Mr. Mattress!" He flipped off him as they landed and turned to punch him across the jaw as he landed while the villain was standing up. Shocker ended up flat on his back and raised his hands.
The boy landed on his belly and swatted both arms to the side with an iron pole. There was a resounding clang, but the weapons weren't broken. The boy spun the pole around before the man could recover and planted it right in the center of his forehead. The padded criminal tensed up and went limp. "Ha." Muttered the boy as he staggered off him and tossed the pole aside. "The jerk. I'll..." He looked down and noticed a glowing whip wrapped around his waist.
"Tony! No!" cried Kei as she staggered into the room through the new hole in the wall. She was reaching for him, but lowered her arm after a moment.
Her husband simply frowned and looked at it. He reached back and grabbed the length of cable before jerking it towards him. The whip was attached to Whiplash's arm and the man went sailing head first towards the boy. He put up his elbow and got him right between the eyes. The criminal fell limp and crumpled to the floor next to his cohort.
The kid frowned at it for a moment and looked down at him. He then grabbed his arm and yelped in pain. "Ouch! Son of a bitch!"
Kei cocked her head as she realized his arm had gone rather limp. "You just broke your elbow didn't you?"
He was cringing and holding it. "Yes. This sucks damn it."
She shook her head and sighed. He was covered in a gray film of dust, had a few small cuts and bruises from debris, and looked like he was about to fall over. He'd worn himself out dodging and ended up getting blasted. He slumped down to the ground and nursed his arm on his rear. "At least he's not crying."
Usagi landed nearby. Her armor was intact, but had grayish metal lines all over it from where the whips had damaged it. "I'm kind of dizzy." She put her hand against her head and staggered for a moment.
"Where were you, Mrs. Bodyguard?" Kei was more amused by the scene than anything else.
Tony gave a small sigh and kicked the whip wielding criminal on the side of the head from where he was sitting. "This jerk caught her flying around and spun her into that water fountain.
The kunoichi nodded and noticed a broken pool of water with a few pipes that used to be covered in concrete spewing water on the tiles. "What a mess."
"What the hell was that about anyway?" grumbled the boy.
"That engine was military tech. I'm guessing someone hired these two goons to steal it," replied Kei with a shrug. "I have the scematics for it by the way. I scanned it while I was carrying it. I was going to delete them, but the idiot tried to steal Venom and pissed me off. I talked him out of it, but still. We helped him out and he goes and pulls some crap like that." She seemed to get a bit angry for a moment. "I'm sure our scientists can find a creative way to disguise the fact that we stole it."
Her husband nodded. "Yeah. Great. Can we go home now?" He pushed himself to his feet with his good arm. He took off his dress shirt and made a sling out of it for his arm. He was wearing a white undershirt beneath it, but it was wet and had a few small spots of red on it. The boy grimaced as he pulled a large shard of glass out of his side. "Man, this sucks." He looked around. Most of the booths and quite a bit of the tech on display had been destroyed. Only a few of the display booths were untouched amidst the chaos.
Kei's costume slid off her and formed her dress again. "No. The police just arrived. We're going to have to talk to them for a bit I'm afraid."
Usagi looked at her armor and sighed. "I'm a total mess. I can't be seen like this, I look awful!"
Tony slapped her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Battle damage looks awesome on armor like that." He scowled a little and sighed. "Paying to repair it, not so much."
"Yeah," muttered Usagi sheepishly. She paused and looked around. "Where is Mamoru?"
The boy cocked his head. "Come to think of it, he never did pop up." He hung his head as he noticed a familiar pair running up to him.
"Hiiii!" chirped Mei Lin as she rushed up with Hibiki at her side. Both of them had camera equipment. "Wow! That was great stuff!"
The cameraman looked about the room. "Yeah. It was awesome watching this place get destroyed." He pointed his finger down at the fallen criminals and took a few photos of them. "This is great! Real supervillains!"
"Yeah. I'm not giving an interview. Go away." Tony scowled at her.
Kei chuckled and swatted the back of his head playfully. "Don't listen to him. I didn't know you were here."
The Chinese girl nodded. "Well, I am the foremost expert on Mr. Stark in the media you know." She seemed very pleased. "I'm the Ace reporter at the paper! I decided to come after you called me and told me you were going to force him to show up. Boy am I ever glad I did. He's great for my career!"
Tony simply looked annoyed and lifted his hand up to Hibiki. "Hey, give me your flask."
The man did and watched the boy take a few gulps. "So, how are things? I haven't seen you for a while. Doesn't seem like much has changed."
The kid nodded and scratched his head as he handed the flask back. "Yeah, the only difference is that now it's both my wife and Gia laughing at me when I'm all busted up after it's over." He seemed to relax a little as he cradled his arm. Hibiki kept strong whiskey in his flask, and it would help with the pain a bit.
His wife smiled at him. "You're so cute when you're injured. You get all pouty and irritable. It's like having a four year old around for a day or two."
He sighed as he noticed uniformed officers approaching the group. He noticed Usagi was gone as well and glanced around. "Hey. You guys handle this. I'm gonna go find Meatball head. She's run off to find her boyfriend, and I'm wondering why he didn't show up myself. It's not like him."
Kei arched her eyebrow. "I thought you hated that guy?"
Her husband nodded and walked away. "Yeah, but he's an ally so I have to find out what's up anyway." He jogged off and steadied his arm after grimacing for a moment and looked about the hall. "Where did she run off too?" He ran over and pushed open a fire exit. It was early in the evening, and the sky was still a little gray after the sunset. "Damn." He jumped onto the wall and started climbing towards the rooftop. It took a bit more time to reach the top because of his busted arm, but he managed it without much difficulty.
Usagi was standing with Mamoru on the edge of the roof. The older boy was looking down at the crowd in front of the building below. He wasn't teetering off the ledge like a jumper, but leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. The girl was rubbing at the small of his back with one of her gauntlets. She hadn't turned off the armor mode, as there were a lot of people below who could see them. There were a lot of police vehicles in front of the building, and most of the crowd had been inside. A few were shouting cheers towards the armor clad girl. Now that the danger had passed, the crowd seemed to be more excited about the events than afraid.
"What's going on?" asked Tony as he walked up to the scene.
Usagi glanced back. "What are you doing up here?"
"Let him laugh. I deserve it," replied the tuxedo clad boy.
Tony walked up and leaned against the wall. "Felt a little inadequate?" He peered down and saw the two men who had attacked the trade show being led to a van in handcuffs. "Decided to run instead of fight?"
"Shut up," growled Usagi.
"He's right," Mamoru hung his head. "That's exactly what happened. What could I have done?"
His rival gave a nod. "Yeah. I've done that a few times myself." He pushed off. "I'd rather have someone who can tell when they're in over their head than deal with someone getting killed."
The older boy looked at him and gasped. "What?"
Usagi gave a small gasp and jolted a little. "That's..."
The kid gave a snort and pushed off the wall. "It's no secret we don't like each other. That doesn't matter. We're on the same side in this little war. I want you at your best, and you're no good to me dead."
"I didn't expect that from you," commented Mamoru. "I guess you've got a point."
The boy started walking away. "Mamoru, Endimyon. The Price of Earth was not without power of his own you know. We weren't Senshi, but neither one of us was a weakling. You were always a flaky jerk, but kicking your ass was never easy to do. Maybe you should start figuring out where you came from yourself?"
"What do you mean?" The taller boy stood upright and frowned at him. "Power? I'm good at dodging, but even you couldn't stay away from that guy. I would have gotten blasted into next week. Not to mention that guy with the whips would have carved me to shreds. Even Usagi couldn't get away from him without taking a few hits, and I can tell her armor is damaged enough that I wouldn't have lasted long."
The girl seemed to remember something. "Hey. How did you do that anyway? I thought you were cut in half for sure."
Tony cocked his head and smiled. "I'm immune to electricity." He winced and cradled his arm again. "Ouch. Look. You two kids get some rest or something. I'm going home." He started off again and paused as he looked back one final time in front of the door to the stairwell back into the building. "Oh, and Mamoru."
"Yeah?" said the boy as his girlfriend put her arm around his waist.
"I've run away before, but I always come back." With that said, he left them alone.
The older boy hung his head. "Damn him."
"That jerk," growled Usagi. "Here I thought he was pretty nice for a moment."
Her boyfriend pushed her off of him gently. "No. I'm mad because he's right." He looked over at her. "I'll be fine. Go on ahead without me. I've got some thinking to do."
That surprised her and she stepped back. She gave him a single nod before rising into the air and flying away.
OooOOooOO
"Nice speech," said Kei with a chuckle. She leaned towards her husband and poked at his side. They were sitting in the back of a limo and her costume covered his arm and was healing his broken bone. It would take a few hours, but the major damage could be fixed on the way back to their home.
"Cut it out," he grumbled as he pushed her finger away from his belly. "That jerk. Went and turned coward on us."
"Well, he's not reliable. You've said so before," commented the Kunoichi.
"I say that because I don't like him. He's a complete flake, and it annoys me." He grumbled and looked out the window. "We need him to be at his best right now. He's usually pretty reliable, even if he is weak and stupid."
"We need him?" pressed his wife.
Tony relaxed in the seat. "Yeah. I hate it, but he's useful. Don't take what I say about him so seriously. He's a terrible boyfriend, but he does love Usagi. She's more stable if he's around. Not to mention, he's not the pep talk spouting flower throwing nimrod he used to be. He can give me a good fight, and that's saying something."
Kei brushed off the front of her shirt. "I think you got some of your ego on me."
He frowned at her. "Yeah. Who do you know who could beat me?"
She shrugged. "At running your mouth? No one. I heard you teasing that poor supervillain. Did you seriously ask him if he'd take some cookies out of the oven for you?"
The boy hung his head. "It was effective. He had a short temper and it was making him sloppy."
His wife nodded. "Yes. I noticed. All four of you slobs made a mess of that place."
He whipped his head around to glare at her and immediately winced as he moved his arm a bit too much. He recovered and pointed his finger at her. "You think you could do better?"
"I don't know. You set me away. I'm better protected than you are. I could have handled that." She narrowed her eyes at him. "What was that about? You said you'd explain it."
He rolled his eyes and threw up his good hand. "You couldn't tell? Both of them were using weapons that exploit weaknesses of that suit of yours. Mattress Man or whatever had sonic gauntlets, and the other guy had high frequency electric whips. I don't want those weaknesses becoming common knowledge, even if you could have beaten them, they might have figured out their weapons were effective against Venom and put the word out."
She blinked at that and nodded. She'd almost interjected, but he took the words out of her mouth with the last part of what he said. "I...see."
He nodded. "It was too much risk for my liking. I only told you to help those guys to get you out of that room. You'd have gotten jumpy and tried to get into the fight if you'd stayed."
"Which turned out to be a trap, by the way," she commented as she crossed her arms. She was also blushing a little. It was both sweet of him, and annoying at the same time.
"How did that work out?" he replied with a smirk on his face.
She kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to punish you later. You've been bad today."
He got a sour look on his face. "Yeah, well. I just got thrown through a wall, and I've got to sit through class tomorrow, so not too rough this time." He sat back and seemed to accept his fate as his wife gave him an evil grin. "Huh. I was wrong after all."
"About what?"
"It would have been better to stay home and stare at the television."
OooOOooOO
Tony had a bandage across his nose and one on his cheek. He was standing against a locker with his arms crossed and waiting. A moment later a girl his own age walked up and paused as she opened the locker next to him. "Stark-samma. What brings you?" The girl was tall and had sharp features with long dark hair that flowed down to the middle of her back. She was popular in the school and considered very pretty, but not the prettiest girl in school. The girl attended the Kendo club and played in competition in the school's Shogi team. Her name was Uria Yatahara, and she was also one of the shinobi attending the school.
The boy stood up and put his hands in his pockets. "I want to talk to you for a bit. I've talked to Aya already, but you've got a few more years here and I think you might know more than she does about this. Nothing serious."
The girl nodded. "I see. When would you like to talk? I doubt we have time before class."
He shrugged. "Whenever is good for you. It's not urgent, just some things I'd like to know that you might be able to shed more light on."
The third year girl smirked. "I see. Meet me in the Kendo practice hall after class. There's a club meeting after school. I'll be able to speak with you there with no problems."
He cocked his head. "Won't there be a lot of people around?"
She nodded. "Yes. I know you can handle a sword. Don't worry, I'm not trying to get you to join. I can say we've studied together before, and use that as an excuse to speak with you privately." The girl gave him a smirk and he noted she had unusually bright violet eyes. Not so much it looked unnatural, but the color was quite distinct. "I don't want to start rumors by slipping away from my friends to talk to you alone. You understand."
The boy gave a small laugh. "I suppose I see what you mean. I suppose I'll be expected to have a match then? I don't know much about Kendo I'm afraid."
She shrugged at him. "The other students are aware I practice several sword styles. We won't have to stage a Kendo match or anything. It won't surprise anyone if we don't use Kendo, but they'll expect a demonstration of some sort. I'll go easy on you."
Tony shook his head. "The fact that you want to try your hand at the boss doesn't hurt either does it?"
"I suppose not," she replied simply. The girl didn't seem very excitable, and her poise was cool and collected. She was very confident.
He turned away and jerked his thumb at the side of his head. "You'd better bring your A game. I'm the master for a reason."
She smiled at that and shook her head. "If you say so."
OooOOooOO
Tony seemed less annoyed than usual as he sat at his desk. He was tapping with his fingers on the wood and not seeming at all like he'd been beaten to a pulp the day before. He wasn't better. Venom could repair quite a bit, but he would still be left sore for a few days. It didn't do much for bruises and only stopped smaller cuts from bleeding. His right eye still had a little bit of color around it, and sitting on the hard chair was a little uncomfortable on his back. He'd been blasted through a wall after all.
Toshiro glanced over at him and chuckled. "What's with the bandages? Trying to look cool, like you're in a gang or something?"
"Yeah. You look like you're trying to be a manga character," commented Miyabi as she preened herself in a small compact mirror.
The gaijin boy shrugged. "Nah. I've got a few scratches from yesterday. Some people actually use bandages to cover minor injuries you know. They heal a little faster that way." He glanced over at her. "Don't call me a manga character, it's bad enough as it is."
Ishimora pushed his glasses up his nose. "He is a manga character." He looked at his confused classmates and shrugged. "Don't you two know? It was all over the news last night, and on the front page of the paper this morning. He got into a fight with two supervillains yesterday at a trade show." He didn't look particularly impressed. "I'm a bit surprised he's not wearing more bandages considering what they showed on televison last night."
Tony cringed a little. "Don't call them that. They were just two thieves with some hardware. Nothing super about either of those jerks."
Toshiro grinned and smiled at the gaijin. "Whoa? Really? I hadn't heard about that. Must have been cool."
Gun noticed his friend was getting a little annoyed, but the class was being friendlier to him. The other students were teasing him a little, but it wasn't mean spirited. "Well, I've got to admit it's impressive."
"It hurt," replied Tony. "I got blasted through a wall." He gave a heavy sigh. "Look, stuff like that looks cool and sounds interesting in manga and anime, but having it really happen to you really sucks."
Aya gave a small sigh. "I wouldn't know."
The British boy shook his head. "You're so casual about it. It's a bit strange."
The class jerked around to stare at the front of the room with wide eyes. Ultraman had just walked into the room and posed in front of the teacher's desk. "Today, I shall teach you!" He paused and seemed to notice Tony was the center of attention up until the class had noticed him. The man grinned at him and seemed to cheer up even more. "Well. I heard about last night. I'm kind of sorry I missed it."
Tony nodded. "Yeah. I'd rather not talk about it. Fighting jerks like that is painful and annoying."
Ultraman posed. "Yes, but with my vast array of super powers, we'd have made quite a team!"
The boy cocked his head. "I guess. I doubt you'd have died, but you probably would have had to call in sick today because of your injuries."
Toshiro chuckled. "What him? He'd be dead for sure. At least that way he'd be out of our hair."
Tony shrugged and seemed less than interested. "You'd be surprised, he's tougher than you think."
Onizuka made another heroic pose. "Ultraman is invincible!" He leaned forward. "I had an adventure of my own with him not to long ago. If you do well on today's lesson, I'll tell you about it."
Tony put his head on his desk and groaned. "Not that again. It was a real mess."
The teacher slapped him on the back. "It was great! Spiderman and Onizuka, supermen! My buddies back home still don't believe it." He leaned in and grinned at the back of his head, not seeming to notice the boy's irritation. "Thanks for letting me watch the Hikari Negashi concert on the big screen by the way. She's pretty cute."
The boy shrugged. "Whatever." The girl was a raving lesbian, and she didn't seem to like him or any other man very much. Though, she had gotten better once she realized he owned the record label she was recording with. He was used to dealing with irritable teenage girls though, and she was far from the worst of what he knew in that regard.
The class went on as usual, though the room was a bit uncomfortable with their cosplaying teacher.
OooOOooOO
Tony looked around the gym. "I thought you couldn't join athletic clubs," he commented as he approached the mats that were set up for Kendo practice. Uria had broken from the group to greet him. She paused and blushed a little. "Kendo is the only exception. It's useful, and we don't learn the style in our lessons. I won't be able to join the Kendo club in High School because they compete. We only attend local tournaments in middle school, but High Schools compete in national tournaments. This will be my last year, and I'll miss it." She glanced over her shoulder at the club members. "I'll probably keep in practice. It's different from learning a combat style and pretty relaxing. Kendo is a sport more than a martial art."
There were about fifteen students standing around the mats. They were all wearing kendo robes and a few had helmets tucked under their arms. Each person was holding a shinhai and they were chatting amongst themselves. Practice hadn't started yet, but they were going to begin shortly.
"Uria, what's the meaning of this?" A familiar boy with a scowl on his face walked up to the pair. "What's he doing here?"
Tony smirked at Ashima. "Just stopping by to see an old training partner. Have you been working on your grip?"
The older boy narrowed his eyes. "What's he talking about, Uria?"
The gaijin boy put his hands in his pockets and glanced at her. "He's being pretty familiar. You two dating or something?"
The girl narrowed her eyes at the head of her clan a little. "No. He's..."
"Good looking and has a better shot than you ever will," commented the older boy as he pushed his bangs out of his face and got rather cocky.
The younger boy just shrugged. "My wife is enough for me. A little too much sometimes actually. You're the Captain of this little troupe aren't you? I think one of your friends mentioned it."
The boy puffed out his chest. "That's right."
Uria turned her head away. "He's kind of annoying. I told him no, but he's mostly harmless I guess. He doesn't give up."
Ashima balled up his fist. "I shall make you my wife one day! This I swear! Uria, with this sword, I shall protect you."
Tony looked at her. "You haven't kicked his butt yet?"
The girl flushed. "No. He won't have a match with me." She looked annoyed and he ignored it. "He doesn't want to hurt me he says. I should clobber him just in principle, but he's the Captain of the club. Every time I've tried to force him to have a match he just stood there and lowered his guard."
The boy looked at the gaijin and scowled. "How do you know Uria?"
The kid shrugged. "We studied together a while back."
The older student seemed to think about that. "You practice Kendo?" He seemed confused.
"Well, no," muttered the girl. The trio was attracting attention and she was getting embarrassed.
"Don't know much about Kendo actually." He looked about the gym at the set up they had. It wasn't a practice hall, but more than suited the needs of the club.
Ashima frowned a little. "Then how do you know Uria? She's the queen of Kendo here, and I am the undisputed King. It is fitting that we should be together."
Tony looked at the girl. "Is he always like this?"
"No." She elbowed the Kendo Captain in the ribs. "What's with you today?"
The older boy seemed to calm a little. "Well, he is being pretty familiar with you. If you studied together, shouldn't he be more respectful? What did you teach him, Iaido? I know you know more than Kendo, but this punk should know how to speak to his superiors in a practice hall. It's rubbing me the wrong way."
Tony chuckled and put his hands in his pockets. "Don't be silly, I'm her senior."
Uria was a bit irate, but looked away. "Um, yeah." She couldn't really argue with that, even if it was a bit embarrassing having someone younger than her act that way in the practice hall.
Ashima was clearly confused. "Huh?"
"I studied with her, but not under her. Get it?" He strolled past the boy and leaned against the side of the bleachers. "Nice. I haven't been in here since it was renovated. We always have P.E. outside in the field. Weather has been good recently."
The older boy seemed to collect himself. "Is that so? It's a lot better than that basement we used to use."
Tony considered mentioning that he had paid for it for a moment. "I guess it would be." He seemed to notice the boy standing between him and Uria. Annoying Ashima was a little amusing, but he didn't want to start rumors about himself and Uria either. "Relax would you? I don't talk with her much. She lives nearby to me, and I only know her from practice. Just stopping by to have a look at the club."
Uria took the opportunity to speak up. "Yes. He saw me practicing and was curious about Kendo, so I asked him to come to a practice so he could learn more about it. I doubt he's interested in joining."
"You'd be right," commented Tony with a shrug. "I'm just a little curious about the basic rules of the sport and all. Nothing serious. Just enough to know what's going on if I ever decide to catch a match or something."
Ashima was clearly still suspicious. "If you know her from 'practice' then you won't mind having a match? We've got the gym for a couple of hours, and you can stay and watch the practice afterwords." It hadn't escaped his notice that neither one had mentioned exactly what it was they had studied together. He waved his hand and one of the younger students brought over a shinhai. "We have a spare you can use."
Tony looked at it and back to the captain. "Do you have any Bokkan? Shinhai are fine for Kendo, but they aren't balanced right or durable enough for other styles." The same club member who had gotten him a shinhai turned around and returned with a wooden sword. Tony gave it a quick inspection and hefted it about a little. "Honestly, I'm used to a live blade. This feels about right though."
Uria smirked as she put a bokkan across her shoulder. "It's a bit different, but I guess we'll make due."
The captain seemed surprised at that. "Live blade?"
The girl nodded as she faced off against him on the mat. "That's right. Ready, Tony-sempai?"
The boy shrugged and put his blade up. "Rules?"
She smirked and narrowed her eyes at him. "Three hits wins the match, and you must remain on the mat. If you're forced off, it's the same as a blow."
The head of her clan nodded and took a deep breath. "Anything else?"
"No, that should do," she replied. The pair bowed and each took a ready stance. A basic sword stance with the blade pointed forward.
It was right about this point that Tony realized what he was doing, and that he'd been running his mouth an awful lot. "What got into me anyway? I've got no idea what I'm doing."
The girl rushed forward and slashed at him. He stood his ground and the crack of wood hitting wood sounded across the hall. He parried again as she hacked and ducked back before he struck. He never did, though he did intend to. She narrowed her eyes a little at that. "Well, you are better than I'd thought."
"Uh-oh," muttered the boy as he tensed up and shifted his weapon. His senses flared to life as she rushed forward and attacked again. Once again, he blocked her advance, taking a few steps and strafing around to avoid being pushed off the mat. He almost attacked, but found the hole in her defense closed as she countered him. He never struck and she jumped back to avoid being open after her block. "She's reading my moves? I'm not even getting them off though. What's going on here?" He'd yet to actually attack her, and was being very defensive.
Uria gave a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. "Again."
This time Tony was pushed back and around the edges of the mat. He managed to keep from stepping outside the edges, but wasn't able to attack under her onslaught. He thrust the blade forward and missed as she ducked aside. Her sword curved towards his head, but he twisted his neck and back and she passed right over him. The girl was surprised by it, but Tony was sweating bullets as she backed off again.
"He's...faster than I thought. I should have known," she grumbled.
"What the hell am I going to do?" thought the boy to himself as he found himself moving to the center of the ring again. It gave him a bit of breathing room, but the girl was outclassing him. He should have known better, and had no idea what had come over him. He'd pretty much been taunting her since he realized she wanted a match. His mouth had moved faster than his brain had, and he didn't have his magic sword to give him superhuman sword skills. "I'm gonna get creamed sooner or later." He briefly considered just letting it happen, but realized it would look better if he kept it going for as long as he could. He was doing a good job of blocking and dodging because of his senses. She'd yet to land a hit, and seemed to back off when she felt vulnerable.
Uria charged again, and once again Tony barely managed to keep her at bay. He shifted and juked around her strikes, nearly getting his clothes snagged more than once. The gym echoed with the sound of wood against wood again. The pair clashed very briefly, with the boy barely managing to deflect her blows. She was countering his blocks very well, and seemed to be a step ahead of him. His speed and flexibility was all that was keeping him from taking a shot to his skull from her wooden blade. "Heh. You're not bad. Better than I thought, but no match for me." The girl was getting confident. She seemed to realize that he wasn't attacking because he was having trouble keeping up with her. "I see you're reading me a little. Maybe I should up the ante?"
Tony's brain was working hard. He had no idea why, but a butterfly shaped energy field had formed in front of her face. It was glowing violet and making her eyes glow as well. He seemed to realize no one but him could see it, but that didn't make him any less nervous. "Oh, man." The girl had just gotten serious, and she charged forward at full speed with her sword ready to pound him into the mat. The boy shifted and turned as fast as he could manage, her blade was deflected off his own, but barely. It slid off the edge as he couldn't manage a solid block and merely shifted her weapon aside. His arms started to burn as she slashed at him relentlessly. Finally, he struck out with his blade and found himself bending over backwards and looking up at her weapon as it passed over his face with his eyes crossed. She had gotten the tip of his nose and nothing else, but a point was a point.
She stepped back and put the weapon on her shoulder. "Heh. Two more points to go."
"Stop!" screamed Tony's mind. He stood up and dusted off his sleeves. "Stop thinking about this. You know better." He cocked his head after he thought that to himself. "How do I know that? What?" His own voice was firm in his head. "Don't think. Don't fear. Don't lose."
The older girl was much more confident as she tensed up to attack again and charged forward. He heard her gasp as he shifted stances as she rushed him. The boy crouched low and when she looked back over her shoulder she could see him with his sword still out in a swing. There was a sensation on her belly, it wasn't painful, but she knew what it meant. She looked down and frowned. "So, we're even then?"
"Seems like it," commented Tony.
Uria turned to face him with her bokkan pointed to the floor. "You've been holding back."
"So I have," replied the boy. "Two more points to go. Should we keep going?"
She pulled her weapon upright and the butterfly like energy around her eyes intensified. "You have to ask?"
The pair jumped into the air and met each other at the apex of their jump, they descended together while clashing blades. The pair landed and jumped apart again, but this time the boy moved after her. He spun around and slashed, keeping his torso low in an almost crouched position. They seemed to clash and bounce off of each other over and over. The girl gasped as he spun around an attempt to stab at him and landed on one knee. Her leg wasn't hurt, but he'd put his blade into the back of her knee and bent her leg. "He's...how is he doing this?" She knew she should be two steps ahead of him. His style was unfamiliar to her. "I should be able to read him, nothing is blocking it. He's just...blank."
"Well?" he commented with the bokkan on his shoulder and his back turned to her. "Are you ready?"
She glared at him and ground her teeth for a moment. "No. I can do this. I can beat him. I can read him, he's just got me rattled with this new style of his. I've just got to focus." She rushed at him and thrust her sword forward.
The boy simply turned to face her and put the tip of his blade against hers. She jerked forward and was jammed up against his weapon. It almost caused her to lose her grip on the hilt and she was jarred by the impact. He simply tapped her on the top of her head with the tip of his weapon before she recovered from getting jammed. "I win. I told you, I'm the master for a reason. Not bad though."
Uria ended up on her rear with wide eyes and gasped. She was winded, wide eyed, and tired. With a smirk of her own she stood up. "I guess I should have listened to Hakage-sensei. You were stronger than I expected, Tony-sempai."
The group of students around them were all stunned and wide eyed. They staggered back away from the pair as they left the mat and seemed cheerful. Tony handed the bokkan off to Ashima. The older boy's eye was twitching a bit. "T-Tony-s-sempai?"
"Wow! That was awesome!" muttered one of the first year students.
Ashima growled and clenched the weapon in his hand. He looked over at where Tony was sitting with Uria in the bleachers. The girl called down to him. "Go ahead and start practice. I'm a bit worn out from that, so I'm sitting out today anyway. I want to talk to him for a bit anyway, get some pointers so he doesn't beat me so easily next time."
"Easily?" muttered a second year boy who was standing next to Ashima. The club was still quite shocked, and not just with the gaijin boy. Uria was much better than anyone had realized.
One of the third year boys leaned into the Captain's shoulder a little. "You know, not letting her have a match with you may have been smarter than you think. Not because you might hurt her though, no way is that ever going to happen."
Ashima frowned at him. "Shut up." There wasn't much else he could do. His third year tormentor was the second ranked member of the club.
The boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well. If she's this good, you've just pissed her off. Girls like that don't like the honorable samurai thing. If you wanted to ever date her, you should have given her a match. Better hope you didn't blow it." He elbowed his captain in the ribs and narrowed his eyes. It was clear he was enjoying being annoying.
The team captain puffed out his chest and looked to the rest of the students. "All right. That's enough. It was impressive, but we've got work to do."
As the club started working, Tony leaned in to Uria. "Well, are you satisfied?"
The girl grinned at him. "Hardly. I lost fairly though. You're pretty good. I should have said five points, I could have gotten at least one more out of it that way."
"You took too long to commit and you backed off too easily. You're psychic and were using that to read my moves. I noticed you countering moves I never did make and it caught you off guard. You backed off whenever I did it to you. It was more than just reading my body, you were reading my mind." He sat back and put his arms behind his head. "Tell me, that energy that formed around your face, you can make a sword with it, maybe make low level blasts out of it too?"
The girl gasped and tensed up. "Huh?" She frowned a little. "Yeah. How did you know? A sword? I've never tried, but...I guess I could."
"It took me a bit to figure that out, and no, I'm not going to explain how I know. What can you tell me about the Black Serpents, particularly this Odori character and his number two man. That's what I wanted to talk to you about." He seemed very relaxed and cheerful.
Uria looked surprised. "You could have just asked Aya about that. You've irritated them, but I wouldn't say it's a problem. At least, not yet. They aren't going to back off easily, but I'm guessing you know that."
He nodded and sat forward. "I did ask her. You've been around longer though. I'm probably going to have to deal with this Odori, but I don't want to overdo it either. Where can I find them? What sort of thugs are they anyway? They've gotten my attention, and I want to deal with it before it becomes a problem. I'm aware that they see me as a threat. If I'm left alone here, they'll lose control of this school. These types of gangs don't take that sort of thing lightly."
The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't take this too lightly. The Black Serpents are more dangerous than you think. They aren't murderers, but it's peaceful around here for a reason. They've got an ace in the hole."
Her boss looked annoyed. "I don't like the sound of that. Ace in the hole sounds suspiciously like 'it's going to be painful'."
Uria smirked. "It's not Odori, but his younger sister. Her name is Risu, and you don't want them to bring her into this."
Tony scowled. "Great. I'm gonna need you to explain that. Risu, his little sister?"
The dark haired girl narrowed her eyes at him. "She's fourteen, and very strong. Odori brings her in when someone becomes too much of a problem, and that's been enough to push every rival gang out of this district but one."
The boy arched his eyebrow. "Yeah? Who?"
"They call themselves 'The Devil's Hammer'. They rule the three districts to the south of here. They're really tough, and quite vicious. Risu and Odori are doing a good job of keeping them out of the area." She crossed her arms and looked away. "To be honest, I'd rather you left the Serpents alone. They're annoying, but the lesser evil here. Even though they're bullies and thugs, they're protecting the district from something much worse."
Tony nodded at that. "I wasn't planning on driving them off or killing them anyway. I just want them to back off of me. I don't have time for this sort of crap, and if I leave them alone, they'll start getting in the way."
Uria nodded. "Well, I'll see you around. There isn't much more I can tell you. As Master Hakage says, the best intelligence is your own." She dusted off her rear as she stood up. "You'll find them at a place called Ichimura High. It's east of here, about fifteen blocks. You shouldn't have trouble finding it, but there will be a lot of them there. Be careful if you decide to visit. I get the feeling you know how to behave around these types."
The boy sat back and relaxed as she moved back down to the club. He sat and watched the students practice for a bit and mulled over the problem. After a bit, he gave a small sigh. "I guess I've got to find this Odori guy and have a chat with him."
OooOOooOO
It was easy enough to find the place. Tony had a frown on his face as he walked up to an abandoned building that was part of a nearby school. It was behind the newer building that housed the classrooms currently in use, and was obviously a hang out for thugs. There were two guards at the entrance in school uniforms, both large and ape like boys. The school was a bit more run down than the place he was attending, and in a tougher neighborhood. It wasn't a slum, but in a more residential area of the urban sprawl. He'd noticed a few prostitutes on his way there, and a drug dealer or two. There wasn't a lot of serious crime, but it was heaven to the high and middle school delinquent crowds. There was a pecking order, and the middle school tough punks deferred to the High Schoolers. Both pretty much left the other to their own devices for the most part.
He shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked up to the two punks and scowled at them. "I'm here to see Odori."
The boy on his right frowned at him. "Yeah? What's he want to talk to ya fer?"
The rather smallish gaijin shrugged. "Not sure. I got this note, and wanted to talk with him about it." He showed them the letter that had been left on his windshield.
The pair looked at each other. The one who had spoken up waved his hand. "Come on. I'll show ya, but no funny stuff."
The gaijin boy nodded. "I'll try to subdue my sense of humor. Just lead the way."
"Who are you?" asked the large boy as he led him down a run down hallway. It was dirty and lit only by the light from the windows through the open classroom doors. There was a dim haze of dust in the air, but the building wasn't that bad off. A few cracked floors and ceiling tiles, it was well worn, but not destroyed. It was big and empty though, a rather desolate place.
"Nice place. The building is in better condition than I'd thought." He looked around and purposely ignored the question for a moment. "I'm Tony Stark," he commented when the boy started to get annoyed.
The large boy paused and blinked. "Huh? Really?"
"Yeah," replied the younger boy with a simple nod.
"I'm Hanuro Kanzaki. It's nice ta meet ya. I heard about ya from my Uncle Izume. He says you're a real nice guy, and ya helped him out a lot." The large boy seemed very pleased to meet him. "He says you're real strong too."
That caught Tony off guard. His escort had become very friendly. "Huh? Izume? You heard of me from some Izume guy?"
The large boy seemed to think on that. "Yeah. He's my Uncle, says he knows you real good." He seemed a bit confused. "Uncle Spike is pretty straight with me, ya don't know him?"
The younger boy grinned at him. "Oh. Spike? Of course I know him. Didn't know his name was Izume. How are things here?"
The hulking oaf scratched his head. "Not bad. It's pretty quiet, and we do what we want. Not much trouble lately, the Demon's Hammer have been pretty quiet."
The gaijin boy nodded. "Yeah, I heard about them."
The larger boy got a dark look in his eyes. "Whatever ya heard is true. Dey aint nice guys at all. We ain't all that good, but them guys is just wrong."
Tony frowned at that. "Well. I hate to say it, but I'm not here to join up. I want to have a talk with Odori and work something out. I've got no interest in street gangs."
The larger boy seemed a bit put off. "Boss ain't gonna like dat. Why not?"
"He thinks he's too good for us," commented a familiar voice. A bishonen boy pushed his glasses up his nose as he strolled out in front of them with one hand in his uniform pocket. He was wearing a uniform from a different school, an expensive private place in the district. There were uniforms from a few schools in the area represented. While the classrooms were empty for the most part, a few had students relaxing, drinking, having sex, or gambling in them.
The younger boy turned to face him. "Hello again. I'm afraid you've missed the point. Having me here would be bad for you, it would attract a lot of unwanted attention to your gang. On top of that, I'm working with the Japanese Government. I can't pal around with a group like this. It would stir up trouble, and you'd all be worse off for it."
"I see," the boy frowned at that. "You think this is some sort of game to us?"
"Akira, I'll handle this." A deep tone spoke up from the door behind the tall thin boy.
"Whatever you say," said the second in command as he turned and walked away.
Tony had his hands in his pockets and seemed relaxed as he watched him leave. "Seems I've rubbed him the wrong way."
"I'm Odori Uzina. I'm the head of the Black Serpents," he filled the doorway and gripped the door frame as he walked out. He was bald, very wide, and about six foot three. "I always get what I want, and I want you in the Serpents. We could use a man like you."
"That's not possible. I've got too many other obligations. I'm a businessman, not a delinquent. I've got National interests to worry about, and I can't be tied down dealing with the schoolyard delinquent scene. It would be bad for both of us. Explain to me why I should care about any of this, and don't bother threatening me with violence or revenge. I know you're the toughest guy your age in the district, but I'm used to dealing with much bigger fish than you." He didn't show emotion and was stone cold as he said it. "I'm rather surprised you'd bother with trying to be honest."
The larger boy hung his head. "It's because we're getting desperate. The Devil's Hammer is a real problem. We lost two neighborhoods to those assholes a few days ago to the south."
"In other words, they're starting a turf war. That's pretty normal as far as I know." Tony didn't seem very impressed.
Odori scowled at him and balled up his fist. "Listen, these guys, they ain't right. They're animals. They do things to people, bad things. We'd never go that far. We've got limits, we've got respect."
"If I'm going to help someone take control of a district, it's going to be the police. I've got no reason to help out a gang of thugs in a turf war." Tony was firm, and kept his eyes even as he spoke. "I've got no interest in this."
The large boy seemed to get a little frustrated, but kept his temper at bay. "Look, with a guy like you, we can take em. Clear them out and keep things peaceful around here. You're Spiderman, and these guys are really nasty. They might back off if we've got someone like you around."
Tony narrowed his eyes. "I'm not a superhero. I'm not going to run around fighting street crime. I don't care about you, or your operations here. I could say the same about these 'Devil's Hammer' jokers you keep talking about. This is your problem, deal with it yourself. You aren't going to scare me into helping you, and I can't afford to help a gang out in a turf war. I'm a legitimate businessman, and hanging around you would only hurt my business. It's irresponsible and I can't afford it. I owe it to my shareholders and employees to keep my nose clean and avoid this type of thing."
Akira had returned and was leaning against the wall behind him. "Feh. You sound like my father."
The younger boy frowned at him. "He's right. A lot of people depend on me for their livelihood. I can't drag them through the mud with me, not even to help with something like this. Like I said, if I'm helping anyone, it will be the police. Just lay off me, I can't do what you want, and there's nothing you can say or do that will change my mind." He turned away and started walking. "I'll see myself out."
Odori growled. "Hey! Nobody walks away from the Oni! Get back here, we're not through yet!" He belted his fist against the wall and put a hole into it.
Tony glanced over his shoulder and frowned. "Yes we are. Don't bother me again, or you'll regret it." He continued on his way. He knew what was coming, but he didn't have any other option. He was a little surprised though. Rather than a general call for attack from his gang Odori spoke in a quiet tone. "Risu-chan. I want you to make this guy regret walking away, but don't kill him. I'll give him the chance to reconsider when you're finished."
A girlish giggle came from one of the darkened rooms in the interior. Tony frowned as a girl wearing a leather jacket over a school girl uniform walked out of the room. She shifted her hips and smiled at him. Her front teeth were sticking out a bit, and she had short cut mousey brown hair. She looked very cheerful and smiled at him, her build was tiny and slim, but she was kind of cute. A little too much for his taste, she seemed quite sunny. "Hi. I'm Risu, nice to meet you."
"Charmed," replied the boy as he shifted to face her. His scowl deepened a little as he noticed the shining of about a dozen tiny yellow eyes in the room she had come from.
Risu charged and jumped, catching him right in the chin and sending him flying into one of the empty classrooms. He was caught off guard by her speed and took the hit despite his senses warning him of it. The girl flipped towards him in the same motion as her kick and caught him as he landed with both feet in his chest. He was thrown out the window of the third floor and twisted to send a line into the wall of the school. "Ouch. What the hell?" The girl packed a serious punch, much more than a girl that size should have been able to.
"This should be fun," said the girl as she crawled out of the window without shoes on and gripped the wall with the small claws on her hands and feet. She also had a tail, it was very bushy and gray.
"Crap, a mutant," he muttered.
The girl scowled at him. "So what? You got a problem with that?" The fur on her tail bristled as she got wild eyed.
He shook his head and sighed as he stuck to the side of the roof. "Are you stupid? I stick to walls and can shoot webs from my wrist. What the hell do you think?" He sent a couple of lines towards her.
The girl dodged and became cheerful again. "Oh. When you put it that way I guess I shouldn't be mad. I've still got to kick your butt though."
The boy scowled up at her, she was keeping her distance and shifting from side to side very quickly. It was a motion he'd seen before, but couldn't place it. "This is going to be a pain."
She shifted along the walls and bounded towards him. This time he was ready for her attacks and dodged nimbly out of the way and onto the ground. There was a small grove of trees behind the building, overgrown from what used to be a small athletics field. He bounced across the grass in front of the small forest and gasped for breath. The girl was quick and was keeping him on his toes. "Jeez, what did they do, make you drink an entire case of soda before they let you out?"
The girl had a rather vicious grin on her face. "I can drink as much as I want!"
"Great. I'm getting my butt kicked by an over caffeinated cheerleader," muttered the boy as he dodged around another series of swipes and kicks. She was trying to use her claws, and while not very big, they were leaving marks in the tree bark as the fight backed into the woods.
Risu chuckled and crawled towards him on all fours. "Surprised? Now that I've got you here, you've got no shot at beating me. Isn't that right, Hinto Tsumasaki?"
A small furry creature started chattering as it landed on her shoulder. It was a small gray squirrel and stood up while waving it's arms excitedly.
Tony looked around and sighed. "Crap." There were about a hundred squirrels clinging to the trees around him. They were all chattering and it was making quite a bit of noise. He looked at the girl and relaxed his guard. "Hey, Squirrel Girl. How about we stop this and..."
"Too late!" chimed the girl cheerfully. The animals started charging at him all at once. He was swarmed by a mass of gray fur and launched himself into the air while pointing his wrists at the mass of rodents.
"Cute fuzzy rats," he grumbled as his web came out as a wide net instead of a line. The animals were caught in the sticky fibers and he landed and jerked as more of them crawled onto him. He knocked about a half dozen off of himself and continued to web the swarm up. After a few moments, only about fifteen were free, and the small grove looked almost like a gray cave covered in spiderwebs around the boy. Tony was gasping for breath, his senses had kept him away from the bulk of the swarm, but he also wasn't sure just how much webbing he could create. His wrists were a little sore, and it was more than he'd ever created before. He shook off his hands and popped his wrists. "Look. I'm not into beating up middle school kids. Mutant or not. It's got nothing to do with you being a girl. I don't want to fight any of your friends either. It's not really fair what with my powers and all."
Risu was angry, her squirrels were gnawing at the webs, but unable to free themselves. It was sticking to their fur, and it would be a while before more than a few would manage to get free. "You jerk! How dare you hurt my friends! Let them go!"
Tony shrugged. "They aren't hurt. The web will dissolve in a couple of hours and they'll be fine. Don't make me kick your butt kid." He narrowed his eyes at her and remained relaxed.
"What?" Risu was confused. "You? Kick my butt? I'll show you!" She dove at him, and was uppercut across her jaw. The girl landed on her back outside of the grove and sat up. "Y-you're mean! I'm not a kid! We're the same age!"
The boy rolled his eyes. "I'm mean? You attacked me. What did you expect me to do? Thank you for it?" He paused and cocked his head. "Hey, what's that noise?"
Risu looked confused. There was a soft roaring sound that was getting louder by the moment. It sounded like a small jet powered aircraft. "Huh?" She looked towards the sky. "Crap. It's those Devil's Hammer jerks!"
Tony blinked and looked up. "Huh?" Sure enough, there were about fifteen armored figures floating above them in jet packs. "What the hell?" It wasn't power armor, but they looked like a military unit. The group landed around them and produced what looked like a cross between cattle prods and police batons. The weapons crackled with electric energy and the pair was quickly surrounded. "Aren't you guys a little short for stormtroopers?"
"Who the hell is this?" growled one of the armored figures. His voice was young, a teenager at most.
"Who cares? We're here for Risu and Odori. Take him out if he gets in the way," growled another of the armor clad boys.
"Crap. I'm in trouble, without my friends..." grumbled Risu as she tensed up.
Tony took stock of the situation. They were using electric weapons, and the armor seemed more to protect them from the jets and control systems for it than anything else. "Take me out?"
"Who the hell are you? Stay out of the way, punk," growled one of the boys.
"I don't know him, he's not one of the Serpents," commented another.
"Might be a new recruit," said the only armor that stood out. It had red stripes painted on the shoulders and helmet. The others were all plain military gray. "Who cares anyway? Kill them both."
Before the boy had finished talking, there was a line of web planted in the middle of his chest. He was jerked forward and ended up with Tony's foot in his gut. Spiderman cracked his knuckles after he kneed the boy who had ended up kneeling in front of him in his jaw. "That's a bad idea."
"What the hell?" muttered one of the group. Tony rammed into him with his shoulder and sent him sprawling away. He reached up and caught one of the weapons with his hand as another tried to catch him from behind. The young businessman elbowed him in the gut and sent him flying away from him. The boy was rolling on the ground and clutching his gut in agony. Tony winced as he rubbed at his elbow. "Put a bit too much into that one." He was still a little sore from when he'd broken it.
Risu jumped in with a flurry of spinning kicks, sending three more flying out of the group. She gasped as one of them tried to blind side her, but he jerked away at the last moment. Tony was nearby and had snagged him with a web line and put his foot into the back of his skull. The girl frowned at him and dodged aside as another of the armored boys took a swipe at her. He ended up with both her feet in his gut and was tossed aside. A few of them were getting back up.
Tony chuckled as he caught another of the charging boy's weapons in his hand. He held it and felt the familiar tingle of electric energy coursing through him. With a simple palm strike, the boy was sent flying back and went down. Spiderman kept the weapon in his grip and cracked his knuckles. "You think you're going to take me out with electric sticks? You guys are lame." He took up a combat stance as the group tried to recover. Risu was still bouncing through them, tossing them aside and knocking them around.
The armor clad boys kept getting back up though, and kept the circle around them to try and keep the pair contained.
The gaijin boy had about enough of it though. He dropped the shock stick and clenched his fist around the iron pole that had appeared in his grip. "If you guys don't leave, you're gonna get hurt."
"What the hell? Where did he get that?" muttered one of the armored boys who had seen it happen. He was sent flying back as the pole impacted the armor on his chest. Tony jumped into them, swinging the pole in wide sweeping motions. He aimed for their limbs, and the familiar cracking of bone filled the air for a few moments.
Risu was sitting on the chest of one of them and punching him across his face repeatedly. "You jerks! I'll kick your butts!" She paused after realizing that no one else was trying to attack her, and her target was quite knocked out. "Huh? What happened? Where?" She turned and gasped as her eyes went wide. "Wow!"
Tony was standing with his pole resting on his shoulder. Around him were about ten of the armored boys. They were all lying on the ground clutching broken arms and legs and groaning in pain. He looked rather calm, if a bit annoyed. "Great. Another mess." He kicked one of the boys over and looked up and down at the armor. "These punks are with some middle school gang? This is pretty high tech stuff. No way punks like this could even afford the fuel for hardware like this, much less the technology."
"You don't know who you're messing with," growled the boy on the ground as he clutched his broken arm.
Tony tipped his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at the logo that was painted over on the side of the helmet. "Hanma Industries. Why would Jirobo Hanma give such low level street punks hardware like this? Doesn't seem like him. He's into dealing with career criminals. This sort of thing is beneath him."
The boy with the red striped armor growled. He'd stayed clear of the battle and was unharmed with about three other boys. "It's time to go."
All of the boys, including the injured ones, had their jet packs flare to life. They rose into the air and started to move away from the scene. Risu squeaked as she hopped off the knocked out boy as his armor turned itself on and followed the others.
"I'll take care of this," called the red striped boy as he pulled something out of his pocket and looked down at Tony. He gasped, instead of finding the boy on the ground, he was already right in his face with a web line in his hand.
"I don't think so," growled Spiderman as he latched onto his chest and socked him across the jaw.
"Boss!" cried one of the uninjured boys as he tried to fly in to help.
Tony flipped over the armored boy's shoulders and planted his feet on the top half of the jet pack as the leader took a shot to his chest from his lackey. The armor clad boy grunted in irritation and tried to reach back as he ignored his lackey's attempt to help him. "You bastard, I'll..." He gasped. His jet had just ground to a halt. Tony had ripped out the fuel line and they both fell to the ground after a moment of stalling in the air. "Shit!"
Spiderman swung them down to the ground and tossed his prisoner into the side of the building. He looked up at the three remaining flying gangsters and smirked. "If you think you can take him back, you're welcome to try." The injured boys were using some sort of auto pilot, and had already vacated the scene.
"Yeah! Get down here you jerks!" growled Risu.
The trio seemed to consider it for a moment. It was clear they were frustrated and unhappy, but they were also out of reach of the pair of mutants.
Their leader stood up and balled up his fists. "Get out of here. You're low on fuel, and no match for these two."
The remaining armored boys seemed reluctant, but complied after a moment. "We'll be back."
Tony gave a sigh and shoved his prisoner in the chest and into the wall. He remained on his feet and found his arms bound to his sides by webbing. "Well, who the hell are you?" He ripped the helmet free and narrowed his eyes. The boy looked familiar, but he didn't know him. "I've seen that face before, got a name kid?"
"Justin," He was at least half Japanese from the look of him. His facial features were sharp, and he seemed to be in good shape. "Justin Hanma. You don't know who you're messing with, punk."
The gaijin boy nodded. "Actually I do. I've met Jirobo. I take it he's your father?"
"What of it?" the boy had a bad attitude and seemed a bit nervous.
"I'll rip his face off!" snarled Risu as she charged. She gasped in surprise as she landed on her back and rubbed at her chest. She looked up and found Tony with his fist balled up and extended after the strike.
"He's my prisoner. Don't touch him." He dusted off his shirt and looked back at Justin. "As for you. What would your father think of this? I seriously doubt he gave this kind of technology to you. You're stealing from your old man, and I doubt he'll care much for it."
"I just borrowed it," replied the Hanma boy with a smirk. "Dad doesn't mind."
Odori walked out of the building and looked at the scene. "You see. This is what I was talking about. You should join us."
"Not on your life," replied Tony.
The large boy got wide eyed and gasped. "What?"
"This Devil's Hammer group has gotten my attention. I'll deal with it myself, in my own way. I'm not joining you. You'll turn this into a brawl in the streets. I don't need you." Tony frowned at the large boy and shoved his prisoner ahead of him.
Odori was annoyed. "You're planning on fighting them on your own?"
Risu scowled at the gaijin. "You jerk!"
Justin glared at Odori. "You'll get what's coming to you soon enough."
The hulking boy cracked his knuckles. "You think I'm just going to let you go?"
Tony shoved the armored boy ahead towards the door. "You don't have any say in the matter. He's mine. Get the hell out of my way, or I'll go through you."
Odori scowled at him. "You're in no position to speak to me that way."
Tony put his foot into his gut and lifted up his wrists. A moment later, the large boy was stuck to the wall and struggling in a rage. "I said move."
"Big Brother!" cried Risu as she started forward. Tony looked her off and she backed away.
"He's a bit upset, but he'll be fine." He paused as he noticed something on the ground. "What?" He walked away from the rather smug looking Justin and knelt down. It was a large black crystal that was halfway buried in the sand. He picked it up and shook his hand off as he felt something being pulled from under his skin into it. He glanced over at Justin and used a handkerchief from his pocket to retrieve it. Without direct contact, the draining effect was nullified. "Where did you get this?"
"None of your business," replied the boy as he turned his head away.
"You attacked my brother! You asshole! I'll..." Risu was enraged and charged Tony.
The boy simply unwrapped the crystal and pointed it towards her. She was face down in the dirt before she reached him as streams of energy from her body were pulled into the dark crystal.
Justin gasped and narrowed his eyes. "What? How did?"
Tony turned to face him again. "Perhaps I should correct myself. I know where you got this already. I want to know where to find the one who gave it to you. I've got business with them." He narrowed his eyes and lifted the boy up by his throat.
"I don't know," gasped the boy as he kicked his legs. "I stole it...from my father's lab. He's got dozens of them."
Tony dropped him back to his feet. Justin looked like he wanted to rub his throat with his hands, but settled for merely gasping for breath.
Odori was screaming at his gang from the wall. "You jerks! Do something! Don't let that asshole get away! I want that Hanma punk dead, and..."
Tony sent a small splatter of webbing to cover his mouth. Risu was starting to wake up at his feet and groaned. "Ouch...my head."
The gaijin boy knelt down beside her and lifted her chin to look her in the face. "You and your brother will both be fine. Don't bother me again, or I won't be so nice. We're not allies, but these 'Devil's Hammers' punks have my attention now. Stay out of my way, or I'll have this entire building demolished and every one in this gang arrested."
The girl looked angry, but also amused. "You think you can take them by yourself? Not even I would try. You'll get killed."
The gaijin boy narrowed his eyes. "Who said I was by myself? Defend your turf, leave me alone, and stay out of my way. Make sure your brother gets the message. I won't be so kind as to let you off so easy in the future."
The girl spit at him, but he caught it in his palm and let her head drop into the dirt before wiping his hand off on her back. "Jerk."
Tony turned and shoved his prisoner into the building. They walked by the gang members unmolested. Most of them had seen the fight, and backed off sheepishly. He stopped and looked at Kanzaki as he passed by. "You should go talk with your Uncle. This gang scene will only ruin your future. He can help you out, and help you make something better. Tell him I sent you, and that he should call me if he's got any questions."
The boy seemed to consider that and frowned. "I ain't gonna abandon my friends. You saw enough to know why."
Tony nodded at that. "I can respect that. Still, I don't think these punks will be much of a problem for you in the future. Once your friends can handle things for themselves, think about what I said."
Kanzaki grunted and leaned against the wall. "If you can get rid of those jerks, you got a deal."
Justin gave a snort. "Don't get your hopes up. We'll destroy you. Sooner or later, all of Tokyo will be ours. There's nothing any of you can do to stop it."
Tony shoved him forward and put his head into the wall on purpose. "Get moving. I'm taking you home."
As he left the school with his prisoner in tow, he scowled at the feeling the crystal in his pocket was giving him. It wasn't draining him, but it was warm with the energy he'd drained from Risu. For the first time in a long time, he had a real lead on the Negaverse. Something solid he could pursue. Unfortunately, that meant dealing with Jirobo Hanma and his punk of a son. "What, do you think I'll get grounded?" muttered the boy in amusement.
"I don't care," replied the gaijin boy simply. "I want to have a little talk with your father, and it's got nothing to do with you, or your little gang." He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and pressed a few buttons before putting it up to his ear. "Hey." He paused. "Yeah, I'm a little late. I need a ride, I've got someone with me that I'll be needing to bring along." He paused again. "Well, something came up. Oh, I want to see my third year classmate as well. I'd like to talk to her." After a moment he cocked his eyebrow. "What? No. I don't want her to be naked when I get there. This is business. Look, just make sure she's there, and fully clothed." He hung up the phone and sighed.
Justin cocked his eyebrow. "That sounded interesting."
"I'm not really out for you or your dad," replied Tony. "The people this crystal came from, their goal is to wipe out all life in this entire star system, and they have the means to do it. My concerns are much bigger than some school gang turf war." He shoved his prisoner in the shoulder a bit. "I don't care if your father punishes you or not."
The boy narrowed his eyes at that. "Well, don't expect me to speak for you when I get home. I don't like you."
OooOOooOO
"What is this? I thought you said you were taking me home?" Justin was irate as he found himself pushed into Tony's office after exiting the elevator. He staggered into the room and found himself looking at a pretty short haired girl with her arms crossed. An unmarked SUV had picked them up in front of the school and brought them to the tower.
"I said I was taking you home, I never said anything about bringing you back to your home," replied Tony as he walked into the room and shoved him into one of the chairs in front of the television.
"This is kidnapping," growled the Hanma boy. "You think you can use me as a bargaining chip? Get my father to do what you want?"
Tony stood in front of the television and pulled the crystal out of his pocket. "What do you know about this crystal?"
Justin turned his head away. "I told you. I took it from my father's lab. He's got dozens of them. I don't know where it came from. All I know is what it does. I was planning on using it against Risu the way you did. Maybe deal with her little swarm of cute rats and make her easier to deal with."
Stark seemed to consider that. "I see. Any idea how your father got his hands on it?"
"Why would I care? I figured he developed it in the lab. Maybe some sort of non lethal riot weapon or something." The boy didn't seem very worried about his safety and glanced around. "Nice place, almost as nice as Dad's office."
"Hanma does develop that sort of weaponry. Word is, our two friends from the trade show were using Hanma developed technology," commented Kei as she sat on the edge of the couch next to Justin.
Tony thought about that and paced a bit. "I'm not surprised. He probably would have gotten a cut if they had pulled it off. Probably fifty percent of the take, that's his usual cut."
Justin scowled. "You can't prove that."
The gaijin boy shrugged. "I'm not a cop, and I'm not stupid. I'm not looking for a confession. I already know it's true. Do I look like I want to prosecute him to you?" He glanced over as his secretary walked into the room with an armload of folders. She walked over and put them on his desk before turning to walk out. "Get me Jirobo Hanma. He needs to come pick up his son and I want to have a few words with him. Make sure he comes personally. Tell him I'd like to discuss his interest in black crystals. That should be enough."
"What, you're just going to have him come and get me himself?" Justin went a little pale.
"Yeah. He's not going to be real happy about that," replied Tony with a shrug. "If I'd just dropped you off, he'd have said thanks and brushed me off. This way, he'll be inconvenienced and annoyed. I doubt you'll get off without being punished. Though, he'll likely be a little grateful I didn't just hand you over to the police and give the papers a nice scandal to publish. I could have you know. Think about how upset he'd be with you if I had."
The boy swallowed and settled into his chair a bit looking a lot more nervous. He nodded and became very quiet.
OooOOooOO
Jirobo had a scowl on his face as he stood in front of Tony's desk. The boy was relaxing behind it and playing with a pen. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I assure you, it won't be happening in the future. I had no idea my son was stealing hardware from my labs."
The gaijin boy shrugged. The man's son had been led off by men in suits. "Yeah. I don't care." He leaned forward and put the crystal on his desk. "I wanted to talk to you about this."
The man looked at it and reached for it. "Yes. Something my lab has been working on..."
Tony snatched it away and narrowed his eyes. "No. This was given to you. A man named Kunzite, representing the Negaverse or Dark Kindom. He probably claimed it was a corporation."
Jirobo stiffened up and narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you mean."
"He's not human. He won't keep whatever agreement he made with you. He works for a woman named Beryl, who is enslaved to something called Metallia. Metallia eats planets, and strips them of all life. She's not going to make an exception for you because you helped her. You'll be killed, along with everyone else." Tony sat back again. "I need to know where I can find them."
"Why?" asked Jirobo simply. "You expect me to believe this?"
"Well, I might have believed you, if you hadn't asked 'why' first," replied Tony. "I know you know something. This isn't like those thugs you supply. They intend to destroy all life on this planet, and have the means to do so. We may be rivals, but it's in both our interests to put a stop to it. I'm not asking you to help out. I just want information. I think you owe me that much. I could have taken that technology strapped to your son, given him to the police, and let the press have a field day with this. Justin Hanma, heir to Hanma Industries, running a schoolyard gang and fighting turf wars? Don't tell me that wouldn't have made headlines." He kicked his feet up on top of his desk. "It's probably in your best interests to make sure he's out of that scene for good. That's your personal business though, so I won't say anything more. Still, this isn't something I can ignore. You know something."
Jirobo seemed to consider it. "Very well. I owe you nothing after this."
"I didn't expect a debt," replied the boy with a nod as he leaned forward again.
"They approached my lab. Kunzite and another named Zoicite. They gave me the crystals in exchange for access to some of by businesses. I sold them a few jewelry stores and gift shops, as well as some technology having to do with energy conversion and storage." He pulled at his coat. "Naturally, I contracted a few jobs for them. I won't say more, but I think you understand. It was a good investment. If you want to find them, I suggest analyzing the mineral content of that rock." He stiffened up. "If there is nothing else?"
Tony stood up and shook the man's hand. "No. If your son attacks me again, I can't guarantee his safety. Like you said, we owe each other nothing after this. I spared his life, and your reputation this time. I won't be so kind again."
Jirobo nodded once and seemed calm and emotionless. "Very well. I assure you, my son won't be a problem for you in the future. I look forward to doing business with you again."
"Sure," replied Tony with a dark looking smirk. "Me too. Just make sure to stay out of my way this time. If you deal with these guys, they'll betray you and kill you. You wouldn't be the first. You could ask Hisami, if he was still around."
Both of them knew their rivalry was far from over. Tony knew damn well that Hanma would be a thorn in his side for a while to come. Jirobo returned the smirk. "I'll remember that. I think I'll focus on other interests for now. We'll be seeing each other again, I assure you." With that, he left the office.
Tony slumped into his seat and sighed as he rubbed at his face. "Ugh. I feel dirty just talking to that guy."
Kei chuckled as she pushed off her place on the back of the couch. "So, we've got a lead then?"
The boy looked over to the bedroom and arched his eyebrow. "What have you got?"
Uria walked out of the room and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "He's not being entirely honest. He knows more than he's saying for sure. I'd say he's met this Beryl character, but he hasn't seen her or this Kunzite you mentioned in a while. He's also aware that the crystal can be quite lethal. I think he's lost a few people to it in his studies."
Tony cracked his neck and stretched his arms. "He said something about 'mineral content'? I'm betting it's from the Arctic."
The dark haired girl seemed to think on it. "Yes. In fact, it can be used to pinpoint a very specific location in the arctic. Why does that matter?" She was a little confused about how he knew that, but not enough to bother asking about it.
Kei frowned. "What good is that?"
"It will tell us where to find their base of operations. I'm going to have to get this thing analyzed. I'm pretty sure Cybertech doesn't have a geologist on staff." The boy rolled it around on his desk with his finger.
His wife seemed surprised, as did Uria. "No one can survive in the Arctic for long without equipment and supplies. It would be incredibly expensive to support a base there. It seems unlikely," commented Kei.
Tony nodded. "Yeah. We're dealing with non humans with access to magic though. That's where we'll find them. I knew they were there, but it's a big place and I could never pinpoint where they were exactly. Now, I may have the key to answering that." He tipped the crystal over with his index after balancing it for a few moments with the tip of his finger.
The long haired girl nodded at that. "I see. Still, Jirobo isn't that involved, but..."
"But?" asked Tony.
The girl narrowed her eyes. "Justin wasn't being very honest. He knows these people you speak of. He didn't get that crystal from the lab, and he's seen this Kunzite much more recently than his father. I don't think Jirobo is the one we should be looking at here. His son is dealing with them now, and I get the feeling Jirobo might be in danger because of it. He was thinking about 'moving his plans ahead' when you got him thinking about how much trouble he might be in with his father."
The boy turned his chair around and looked out the window. "Great. Uria, I'm afraid I've got a job for you."
The girl seemed surprised and hung her head. "I am to join the Black Serpents?"
He nodded as he looked out over the city. "That's right. I want you to help them out against the Devil's Hammer. I want to know what those punks are up too, and keep them from getting control of the district. Your mission is to gather intelligence about their activities and find any leads you can about the Negaverse, and what Justin is doing with them."
Kei narrowed her eyes. "Wouldn't that be easier to do if we put her in with the Devil's Hammers?"
The boy didn't face them and kept looking out over the horizon. "No. She'll draw suspicion because she attends the same school as I do. I want a list of clan members who attend in the districts the Devil's Hammer controls. I'll be using someone else for that end."
Kei nodded and smiled. "Ah, I see. That makes sense."
"I want you in the fight Uria. Your objectives are to gather intelligence, and also to keep them from gaining control of the district. Justin is young and sloppy, but dangerous. He'll likely be using advanced hardware from his father's company." He glanced at the girl with a serious expression. "If you need to use your abilities, go ahead. They've already got a mutant with them, so it shouldn't raise too many questions if they figure out you've got abilities like that."
The girl nodded and seemed a bit surprised. "Yes. Jirobo wasn't upset with him over that. He gave it to him, he's more upset he failed and got caught. I think he's thinking he was looking out for his son by giving him an edge. Taking control of the gang and gaining control of territory is good training for him in his father's eyes."
"I figured as much. Jirobo is easy to read," commented the boy. "Your codename is Psylocke from now on. Any word from the clan will refer to you that way."
The girl gasped and hung her head. "I haven't graduated yet. I'm still a student at the school."
The boy nodded and turned his chair around before kicking his feet up. "I've seen enough that I think you can handle it. It needs to be someone as young as you, an older kunoichi won't do. You've got the skill to handle an assignment like this, and you're confident enough."
She got a firm look on her face and nodded. "Yes. I won't fail."
Kei smiled at the girl. "Well, I'll send word to Hakage and get that list of eligible shinobi. It feels good to have a lead."
Tony seemed lost in thought and nodded. "Yeah. Good." He knew what was coming, and wasn't so sure they were ready to deal with it yet. "It's going to be a busy time for all of us. Now that we have a trail, we can't let go. We can't fail, there may not be another opportunity." He stood up and walked up to the window with his hands behind his back. "Uria, I expect you know that the Black Serpents aren't very happy with me. Do what you have to."
The girl gave a firm nod and walked away. Kei went with her and they walked into the elevator together. The older kunoichi smiled at her. "Well, this is your first real assignment. Congratulations on that. I expect you can handle it, but don't forget that training is over. It will be dangerous, and undercover assignments can be difficult. Don't forget where your loyalties lie, or what it is you're fighting for. Bring honor to your clan, but don't focus on that so much that you forget to enjoy the time you have."
"I know," said the dark haired girl with a firm looking expression. "I won't forget."
Kei chuckled a little at that. "Sorry. It's pretty standard for one of us to say things like that to rookies. Don't worry. You'll probably make friends while you're there. There's no harm in that, especially since part of your mission is to aid them. Just, don't forget that friends are less important than family. The clan comes first, but that doesn't mean you can't take something for yourself out of this. Even though you may have to betray them someday, they might just become useful contacts as well. We don't know what the future of the Black Serpents is right now. Keep some distance, but remember that you are supposed to be one of them. You can't brood off on your own and keep to yourself. You must interact, and become one of them. It's a mistake many rookies in your position make, and it can make them mistrust you, and put your mission at risk."
Uria nodded and got a soft smile on her face. "I'll remember that. All this time, I've been such a good girl. Never in any trouble, decent grades, and a carefully crafted image as the ideal young girl. What does it get me? Assigned to be a spy in a school delinquent gang. Hows that for irony?"
Her senior nodded with a grin of her own. "Yes, but at the end of the day, it was just an image. Take care, you seem like you'll enjoy it."
Psylocke gave a nod and a short snorting laugh at that. "You got that right. I'm sick of pretending to be so boring all the time. It will be a nice change of pace to be able to give in to some of my...less appropriate urges. I'm looking forward to it."
Kei stepped out of the elevator ahead of her and seemed amused. "Just don't get carried away, and you'll be fine."
The dark haired girl had a wry smirk on her face. "Heh. I wonder what Ashima will make of it? It'll be great confusing the hell out of that love sick dork. Maybe he'll finally leave me alone?"
The older Kunoichi chuckled. "Well, if you really want to have fun with it, give him what he wants, then go wild. It will drive him nuts thinking it was his fault."
Uria cocked her head and seemed to think about that. "Huh. I'll think about it."
OoOOooOO
Tony found himself sitting at his desk alone with a glass of whiskey in his hand. He wasn't drunk, and only half finished it before pretty much holding it and staring off into space. He had no idea what to do, but he knew he couldn't just let this go. The crystal was sitting on his desk, and it now glowed with a dark energy. It had a slight glow since he'd used it, but it was now visible thanks to the setting sun darkening the office enough that it could be seen. He sipped at his glass, full of doubt and worry. He had no idea if they were ready, but that didn't matter. He knew they couldn't back down, he knew they had to move forward. The Dark Kingdom had been under the radar aside from a few scattered Youma attacks. They had no idea what they had been up to, and now had a lead to catch up to them.
He set his glass down and rubbed at his temples before covering the stone with the handkerchief it was sitting on. He sat back again and closed his eyes. "Now what?" He turned his chair to face the city and opened his eyes as the lights started to come on. His eyes started to droop as he sat there and relaxed. He knew he had to find a geologist to figure out where the rock had come from, but he also knew not just anyone would do. He had to find a specialist of some sort. That would take a bit of research. It would have to wait until tomorrow, as well as assigning ninja to infiltrate the Devil's Hammer gang. He passed out thinking as he looked out over the city.
OooOOooOO
"Huh? Geologists?" Mei Lin was sitting across from Tony in a small Italian restaurant in Tokyo. "I'm not sure. I don't know any. You don't have someone like that working for you already?"
"Not that I know of. I'm looking into that," replied the boy with a shrug. He poked at his plate, it was a fried vegetable covered in cheese and sauce.
The Chinese girl cocked her head. "Well, maybe one of the other scientists knows someone?"
He nodded at that. "I was planning on asking about it later. I'm pretty sure I don't have someone working for me already though."
"Well, I can't help much there. I've not come across anyone like that at work," she replied as she poked at a plate of spaghetti. "Hey, what's that you've got?" She took a piece of his food off his plate and ate it.
"Eggplant Parmesan," he replied with a shrug.
The girl turned green and spit what was in her mouth into her napkin. "Ugh. I hate eggplant." She coughed a bit and drank some water to get the taste out.
Tony gave her a smirk. "You should have asked first."
She seemed to forget about it and perked up. "Oh. I thought you might like this." She pulled out a picture. It was a coat of arms. "It's the Stark family Coat of Arms."
He looked at it, it was blue and silver, with an armored helmet in the center with a buck standing over it. A chevron was below the helmet with three bails of grain around it. The words 'in veritate victoria' were written across the top. "Huh. That's interesting."
"It means, 'In truth, victory'," she explained.
"Thanks," he said honestly. "How are things?"
"Great. I love this job. I never thought about being a reporter, but it suits me." She smiled at him and continued to eat. "This is really good. I've never had Italian food before. Well, nothing that wasn't Pizza anyway."
"Really?" He was only half interested by that point. "What did you want to be?"
The girl put her cheek in her palm and smiled. "I wanted to be a fashion designer. I used to design clothes when I was younger back home, but I was never very good. My sister used to say it was silly."
"How is the walking tank by the way? I haven't been attacked for being a demon in a while," Tony realized that he hadn't seen much of Mao Lin.
The girl blushed. "She's over that now. We explained things to her, but she's thick headed. I think you getting married calmed her down. She's a little protective of me." She slurped a few noodles up and thought about it. "She's working in construction now. It's hard work, but it pays good and she likes physical work and being outside. It suits her. I offered to let her stay at my apartment, but she'd rather get by on her own. I've been to her place, it's a bit small, but it's nice."
Tony nodded to be polite more than anything else. "Well, not much is going on I can really tell you about. I've picked up a lead on those Negaverse jerks, but it's not panned out really. That's why I need a good geologist."
She smiled at him. "Well, we're friends, so I guess I don't need a story every time I see you. Still, let me know when you find something out I can use."
"Sure," he replied simply. "I figured I'd stop by since I was in the area. Even though you are a pain in the butt most of the time."
The restaurant went very quiet as a thud sounded outside. Everyone turned towards the wall and paused. "Now what?" muttered Tony. He didn't notice Mei Lin backing away and pulling her camera out of her purse.
The wall to the building shattered inward sending debris onto the scattering patrons. In the haze of the dust, two figures could be seen walking into the destroyed restaurant. "Where is Tony Stark?" growled a familiar voice.
"Shocker," grumbled the boy as he recognized him, and his leather clad cohort with the glowing whips attached to his wrists. "How did that asshole get out of jail?" He'd seen the police cart him off. He stood up and walked up to the pair while dusting off his shirt. "You know, you could have just walked in and asked to take this outside. There was no need to wreck this business. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find good Italian food in Japan?"
The padded villain pointed at him. "It won't matter, you won't be able to eat it without teeth."
Tony dove out of the way as the sonic blast shattered the wall behind him and opened a hole into the kitchen. He shifted to the side and bounced off the wall and out into the street through the hole the pair had made. "Great, I'm guessing you're not here to rob this restaurant?"
Whiplash slashed at the sidewalk and snarled. "This is revenge. You made us look bad, and we can't charge as much for our services."
Shocker gave a nod. "Yeah. It's business. After we take you out, we can double our price."
"Maybe your employers were just waiting on a sale?" quipped Spiderman as he landed in the street.
Shocker raised his arms and set several cars into the air. Tony cursed under his breath and took to the air, he sent out several of the web nets and the cars were suspended above the street, preventing several pedestrians from being crushed and the passengers from getting injured. The people scrambled away, and the suspended cars had several people clamoring to escape. "Hey, no need to make such a mess. You're going to put someone's eye out with those things."
The padded mercenary chuckled at that. "Yeah, yours."
Whiplash hacked at the webs and vehicles. The cars were sliced in two and metal rained down on the now cleared streets. "You won't escape."
Tony was considering taking off. They were likely to calm down once he was out of the area. "Crap." Mei Lin was taking photos from the destroyed wall with a grin on her face. He wasn't worried about looking bad, but Whiplash took note of her.
"Hey, she was sitting with him. How much you want to bet he'll try to save her?"
Shocker nodded. "Let's find out." He turned to face the girl and she lowered her camera a bit as she looked a little nervous.
"I'm just a reporter, it was an interview," She said as she put her hands up and backed away.
Shocker reached for her and tried to grab her by the hair, but a small metal rod bounced off his gauntlet and knocked his hand away. "Unhand that girl, villain!"
Tony blinked as he looked over just in time to see Daredevil land in the padded man's chest feet first. He bounced off and twisted around Whiplash's weapons as he tried to catch him in mid air.
"Great, another one," grumbled the leather clad villain. "Get lost, we're here for him."
"After the mess you've made of my neighborhood? I don't think so." Mamoru was still wearing the wooden Noh mask, but had traded his robes for a tight fitting black shirt and pants. He reached behind his back and nailed the whip wielding man in the forehead with one of his batons. It bounced back into his hand and he jumped into the air to avoid a blast from Shocker's gauntlets.
Tony rammed into the padded man with his shoulder from behind and sent him into the brick wall. The villain grunted, but put his hands against the wall and blasted them both back. Tony managed to flip over his head and stuck to the part of the wall above the new hole. He looked down and noticed Shocker picking himself up out of a destroyed car. "Ouch. You should be more careful with those. I've got the number of a great Chiropractor, maybe I should give you her card?" He shifted to the side as a gash was carved into the wall beside him as Whiplash attacked.
Mamoru swung into him from the side with one of the spring loaded lines in his clubs. The villain was tossed across the pavement by the impact, but managed to land feet first and spun around to lash out at his attacker. Daredevil let go of his baton and rolled under the strike, putting his fist right into the man's crotch. Whiplash doubled over in pain and fell to his knees. The black clad hero caught his club and pulled it across the man's jaw.
Shocker stood on top of a nearby car and took aim with his weapons at the scene. "You bastard. Mind your own business!"
Tony walked up and kicked the side of the car. It slid about six feet to the right with a large dent in the side and the man toppled over and landed face first on the street. He stomped on the back of the man's head and knocked him out cold. He stepped over his fallen enemy and started standing up and squatting over him as he looked at Mamoru. "Well, I'm glad to see you're feeling better."
The older hero was a little confused. "Wh-what are you doing?"
The boy stopped and stepped on the fallen man's head as he walked over to him. "Tea bagging him. Don't ask, it's complicated."
Mamoru shook his head and sighed. "They aren't so tough."
Tony nodded at that. "Yeah. They're annoying. I'm more interested in how they got out so soon."
Daredevil frowned. "I followed them after that mess. Call it a gut feeling. Someone named Hanma paid their bail and got them their equipment back. I've been following them most of the day, trying to figure out what they were up to."
"And working up the nerve to attack them," thought Tony to himself. "That's interesting, but not surprising. I've met Hanma, he's a jerk and a Teflon criminal."
"Teflon criminal?" asked Mamoru.
"Nothing sticks to him. He backs jerks like these two to do his dirty work for him, but won't stick his own neck out. He's going to be a pain." Police sirens were starting in the distance and the pair looked towards them. "At any rate, I doubt these two will be getting out so easily this time. Though, I do expect to see them again. Thanks for the assist." He added the last part with a little reluctance.
"Yeah, well. I guess you know I did that for myself more than you." Daredevil started to walk away.
Tony spoke to him before he jumped to the rooftops. "I'll be talking with you soon. I've gotten my hands on some information, but it's going to take a little time before it pans out. I think I might be able to pinpoint where the Dark Kingdom is operating from. If it works out, you can expect we'll be making a move soon. Be ready."
Mamoru paused and nodded before swinging away.
"Awesome!" cried Mei Lin from the destroyed restaurant. "I can't wait to get these developed! A revenge plot against Tony Stark foiled with the help of the mysterious Daredevil!"
"I hate you so much," grumbled Tony. At least he wasn't injured this time.
"Aw, you know you love me!" squealed the girl as she rushed up and hugged his arm.
"Whatever. I can't believe this mess. That only took a couple of minutes and the street is demolished." Tony looked around and sighed at the destruction. There were several hunks of car and a mess of webbing, not to mention the pavement was ripped to shreds from the hardware the two idiot villains were using.
Shocker groaned as he pushed himself up with his arms and shook his head. "What happened?"
Tony walked over and shoved him onto his back with his foot. "Man, that must be nice. I bet you can sleep anywhere without back pain in that suit of yours." The last thing the villain remembered seeing was the bottom of his shoe.
At that, the police arrived. It didn't take long for the situation to be cleared up. There were plenty of witnesses, and Mei Lin had photographs of the event. After about an hour of being detained for questioning, Tony was sent on his way.
OooOOooOO
TBC...
Next Time: The Path to the Moon.
