Avenging

Act IV

The Hate Monger and the Peacemaker

Chapter 2

Any and all C+C appreciated. You can contact me at:

[]

All the previous chapters and my other works are stored at:

At :

.net/

Standard disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel characters or other characters from the numerous animes which are within.

Here's a great reference guide for many character and objects in the Marvel Universe.

[.]

[Writer's Note: This chapter mostly features background and secondary characters. But at least they have mostly appeared before. Also it refers to some events in previous chapters. And yes, we'll finally close in a bit on the mistress's identity. In fact, let's kill somebody. Then next chapter we'll focus on the Ranma regulars.]

xxxxxxx

She lounged in her chamber, only half the viewscreens on as information, both textual and visual, pored over them. Survey teams had taken some very interesting readings in the Antarctic that could lead to that power source they'd been looking for since the Serpent Society Affair. And Mr. Comrade was already earning his keep with some very intriguing designs on that 'Super Trooper Armor' to say nothing of the Devastator Unit. A pity the same thing couldn't be said for Kerwin Kronos' time travel experiments. Now that one was becoming a vast money pit. Maybe time travel just wasn't feasible with the current level of technology. Of course if they could be the first, well, once you controlled time, you could see to it you were the only one who had it. Maybe it would be best to go with it a while longer. The money was flowing in rivers thanks to her other schemes.

But for all the reports she received, something else troubled her. Finally she spoke to the room's only other occupant, a non-descript Indian. "I made an error, my little toy. I became overconfident in my plans and took a foolish, unnecessary risk in the whole Shinobi Shaw matter last night. Those Hydra imbeciles called too much attention to the party. There will be pictures he might see. We must move up our time table to today. See to it."

The man's reply was a simple, "Yes, Mistress," before walking on, his form starting to shift.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kaori Makimura entered the room her detective force had been assigned, the largest one thanks to the prestige of the case. The dozen officers assigned to it were working frantically, as always in the earliest stages of a case when there was evidence aplenty. It was only after the obvious material was taken care of that it started to become scarce. How unfortunate that traffic had been so bad, or she would have been in earlier.

"So what do we have?" she asked.

Ryo Saeba answered, all business for a change. "Explosion in the office of one Shinobi Shaw. We've confirmed two dead, himself and his secretary."

Kaori pondered that. "That's the one that bought his way out of a rape conviction last year, right?"

"Yes."

"Too bad about the secretary." She looked at the photos of the office. Or what had been an office. Now it mostly looked like a big hole in the side of a building. "That's one hell of an explosion. You sure he was in it?"

"We found part of a skull with some brain matter in it." Ryo's cell phone rang and he looked at the number. "In fact, this is the lab. Should be the results." He held the phone up to his ear, nodded, then hung up. "It's confirmed by his DNA. It was still on file from the rape case. That was Shinobi Shaw. So unless he could spare some of that head of his..."

Kaori looked at the picture again. "Any hint as to what explosive was used and how it was delivered?"

One of the other detectives shook his head. "Neither. In fact, CSI teams haven't found any explosive residue at all."

Kaori shook her head. "That makes no sense. Explosives always leave some sort of residue."

Kyo Saeba put down the phone he had been using. "Hey, Boss. Someone says they saw some blonde gaijin girl that couldn't have been more than thirteen head toward the office right before the explosion. Human bomber of some sort, maybe?"

Ryo jerked his head. "Wait a minute. Someone run that footage from the ATM camera that was directly across from the entrance of the building. Take it back ten minutes before the explosion."

One of the men did so. Everyone's eyes were riveted to the screen as playback occurred. In less than a minute a blonde foreign girl matching the description entered the building.

Ryo snapped his fingers. "Thought so. And now that you mentioned the lack of residue, I think I recognize her. And if I'm right, there's a perfectly good reason you couldn't find any." He went to a computer and punched in some information. "Bingo!" He made a finger gun at the screen and shot it. "It's Minnie-May Hopkins, aka Nitro, the Exploding Girl. She leaves no residue because she is the explosive."

"There's only one problem, genius." Kaori rapped her knuckles on the screen. "It says she's currently incarcerated."

Ryo wrapped his knuckles against Kaori's skull, much to her irritation. "Obviously she broke out. Look, I'll call the prison and prove it."

Five minutes later, a frustrated Ryo Saeba scowled at the phone. "That was the warden. She says Hopkins is in her specially designed cell. Even had her blow up to prove it was really her and not some imposter." He stared at the screen. "I don't understand."

Kaori looked at the video image again of the girl on the screen. "No, I think you're on to something."

The detectives continued poring over the case. One hour became two, which became three. It was easy to keep track of since every hour the commissioner called. Shinobi's wealthy father, Sebastian, kept pressuring the police to find out who murdered his son. Ah, to be rich and obnoxious.

It was during the third hour that Kyo found something else. "Boss. Brokers just transferred some records over. Apparently Shinobi sold off all his company stock an hour before he bit the big one. Personally went to the broker to make the sale. The only problem is everyone swears he was in his office at the time the sale went down."

He loaded up the video file of the security footage in the stock broker's office. It showed Shaw himself talking and signing several documents and handing them to the broker.

Kaori said, "They can run fingerprints on the documents he signed."

Kyo appeared unsettled. "Yeah, but for some odd reason, I think they'll match. We'll have electronics forensics run a search on where the stocks went to."

"Already got them," one of the detective shouted. "Shell companies. All the stocks were transferred immediately. It'll take a while to find out where they really ended up."

"Keep at it," Kaori said. Oh yes, something very bad was going on, but the first vestiges were forming in her mind. There had to be super-powered beings involved, she could smell them. More of them screwing up her life and making her job harder. Someone really need to take care of them. Ordinary criminal screwed the world up just fine. She didn't need extraordinary ones adding to it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Detective Hiro Matsui exited the office, telling the others he had to go outside for a smoke. Thanks to the wonders of modern society, this entailed going outside the building altogether.

Rather than going outside, he went into an empty office, closing the door behind him. He pulled out a phone and dialed a special number. After a moment, he said, "There's a problem. They're getting close..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The woman snarled as she heard the report. She turned to her servant. "I was afraid of this. This is what happens when you rush things. Aside from the elimination of Kodachi Kunou, everything has been running so smoothly, too. Well, time for you to contact that Lamperouge fellow. We'll be needing his abilities."

Once again her faithful servant changed form, this time to that of the unmasked Man Brute, and exited the room.

xxxxxxxxxx

Lelouch Lamperouge sat up idly in bed, relaxing. He looked over at his latest conquest. What was her name? She was the lead singer in that hideously named group. Oh yes, Iwasawa of the Girls Dead Monster. A fetching thing, and not bad in bed at all. He'd probably keep her around for a while, at least until some new famous figure came on the scene that caught his eye. Then he'd use his eye to catch her. Heh, what a play on words, and power.

He slowly rose out of bed of the penthouse suite that was at his disposal. He had an 'in' with the owner of the hotel chain. The in being his abilities. Nothing but the best for Lelouch, thanks to the powers of his mesmerism. He was decadent, indolent, and a complete hedonist. Gods, it was the life.

And then the door to his room was kicked inward, literally knocked off the hinges A gaijin of some sort, male, very big and beefy. Lelouch had no idea who he was or why he was after him, nor did it matter. He shouted, "You there!" Yes, the fool looked him eye to eye. Lelouch's eye glowed red. "Now stop," he ordered.

The man walked across the room, grabbing Lelouch by the neck. He continued looking him in the eyes. "As I anticipated, Mesmero, your abilities only affect living beings."

The hold on his neck tightened and Lelouch felt himself losing consciousness. Blast, if only he could speak, he could have Iwasawa hurl herself at that man. As it was, it looked like it might finally be the end. No! It wasn't fair. He led in idyllic life. How dare this bastard take that from him!

And then the figure changed, shifting in form. Lelouch stared in shock as it became an identical version of him.

The second Lelouch stared at him for a second. "I see how your abilities work. You can hypnotize someone only once in their lives, but that control is indefinite until you release it. You can control no more than twelve people at any one time. If you wish to go beyond that number you can either yield control by selecting someone already in your possession, or the person under domination the longest will be released."

He looked over at Iwasawa, who was watching everything in numb shock. Lelouch II's eye met the girl's eyes and glowed red. Hers glowed a moment in response. "Come here."

She obeyed.

"Template Power configuration works. Leave and forget you were ever here."

She did as she was bade.

Lelouch II again looked at the being in his grip. "My mistress has a proposition for you. She would like to make use of your abilities. You will be paid handsomely for your efforts. I would recommend you accept her offer, as you will not like the consequences of refusal. By the way, you should know that now that I am familiar with your abilities, your first act upon meeting my mistress will be to possess her mind and immediately release it, as that will render her immune to her power. To do otherwise will result in your death. Raise your eyes up an down if you wish to agree."

Lelouch did so. Blast, it looked like he was going to have to get a real job now. He loathed the idea. But it was better than death. Unless he was assigned a cubicle. Then he might as well have his neck broken.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Coming," Kaori snapped, wondering who in the hell was bothering her at this hour. Really, it was nearly ten o' clock. If it was those Saeba twins drunk and making caustic remarks about her, she would shoot them in the head, even if it would leave her understaffed.

She had a holstered gun hanging on a hook on the door. No sense in taking chances. It could always be some thug that was upset that she had arrested them and had them imprisoned for years. Don't want to end up in jail? Don't break the law. Simple rules.

She opened the door, keeping the chain lock in place. It was some handsome fellow with dark hair. "Yes?"

He pointed at his eye and said, "Contact."

Kaori looked right at the eye as it glowed red.

Lelouch spoke. "The Shinobi Shaw case is unsolvable. You'll hit brick wall after brick wall, never successfully figuring it out. Especially the stock trail. Do you understand?"

Kaori nodded her head easily. "Sure, unsolvable cases happen all the time."

"Good." He looked Kaori over. Bah, much too tomboyish and flat-chested for his taste. He'd find some other hot chick to mesmerize and bang. Thanks to his new 'employer' three of his slots were now filled. Still, as long as the Saebas and Makimura were under his influence, the Shaw case was a dead end, which was what his new employer wanted. At least she paid well. Oh, but if he ever figured out how to have her killed without siccing that doppelganger on him, she'd be sorry.

He left, wondering if he should try some superhero. He'd never had one of those before, and most of them were very hot and athletic. That was food for thought.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[End chapter]

Yes, it's brief. Next chapter will have the Ranma regulars and something cool happen.