Avenging

by DB Sommer

It's a fusion of Ranma 12 and Marvel's Avengers. Chapter 1 lays the groundwork for what's to come and deals with several of the heroes origins. It is a bit dry and serious compared to the rest of the story. Chapter 2 is more like the rest of the story if you want to skip to it. Book 1 is complete and Book 2 is the sequel.

58. Act V Chapter 5: The Dead Parade Part 2

Avenging

Act V

Chapter 5

The Dead Parade Part 2

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

tsommer

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

At :

www. fanfiction

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 characters and objects in the Marvel Universe.

www marvunapp com /Appendix /index. htm

Last Chapter: Mousse and Ranma resolved their secret identity issues and made peace. Abe got a tip on Arjuna about Kerberos. Ryouga met a girl with green skin who seems interested in him. And Kang got a surprise which he's going to use to kill the Avengers.

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Kang and the crimson giantess entered the central area of the Citadel of Time. It was a large chamber several stories high and made of grey stone like everything else. There was even a throne on a raised dais on one side of the room. It allowed one to look down on everyone else as though they were beneath him in every sense of the word. Not something Kang constructed, he would never have squandered the time required to make such a useless trapping, especially since he had never envisioned having company over. Rather he had found it here, as with everything else.

However it would serve well as a reminder to those who worked for him, albeit only for this single task, that he was in charge. Upon entering the room he noted all of his allies were stationed where he had told them so he could provide them his last set of instructions. They would be relieved to know that the time had gone from 'would soon be upon them', to 'now.' They wanted out of here nearly as much as he wanted them gone.

As he stood on the dais next to the throne, the newest member of the Dead Parade walked to the gathering and joined them. Since they knew there would be a new addition to their ranks, they examined her but said nothing.

Just as he was about to speak, the newcomer eyed one of the members of the Dead Parade and asked, "Do I know you?"

The young blonde woman leaning casually against the wall was extremely busty, as in the term might have been coined with her in mind. She wore a tight fitting red shirt that showed a massive amount of cleavage, but probably had not been designed to do so. Physics was having its way with the material. She wore an open grey vest and matching gloves. Her skirt was cut so wide and high on the hip it might have been more appropriate to call it an extended loincloth. Through the slit on the leg a holstered gun was strapped to a shapely thigh. Matching boots completed the ensemble.

"I don't think so, unless you're actually from the late nineteenth century," Kang explained. "That's one of your teammates, Setsuna Cassidy. Formerly one half of the ill-fated Gunhawks. She had a falling out with her partner, Rushuna Jones. A violently acrimonious one. It culminated in the wildest shoot out in the American West, 'The Massacre at Midnight Mountain.' The greatest heroes and villains of the west did battle. Only one of them survived, and it wasn't going to be Ms. Cassidy."

Setsuna's only response was a casual shrug.

"Huh." The large woman scowled. "I tend to remember chests bigger than mine. Guess I could be mistaken." But from the tone of her voice it was clear she didn't believe her own words.

Matter resolved, at least in the sense it wouldn't turn immediately violent, Kang returned his attention to the room full of people. "The operation is about to begin. You each have an area in the citadel you've been assigned where you'll be taking on your specific foe one on one. Since the Avengers are used to functioning as a team, I would advise you to eliminate your targets quickly and not let any of them meet. The odds of success go down significantly if you do."

"I will not do it!"

Kang turned to the speaker, the French super villain known as the Grey Gargoyle. His 'Man of Stone' as he had mentally dubbed him. "What do you mean?"

The Grey Gargoyle pointed an accusatory finger at the lord of time. "I do not believe that an idiot in a clown outfit can kill me. My stone body is impervious to nearly everything. I think you're trying to manipulate us into doing your dirty work for you. I refuse to be toyed with in such a manner."

Kang sighed, a tired thing. "I suppose I should show you my sincerity. Your stone touch only lasts an hour. How much time is left?"

"Forty minutes, so do not get any ideas, mon ami," he warned, holding up his hand in a warding gesture.

Kang adjusted a dial at his waist. A beam of light shot from it, striking the Grey Gargoyle in the chest. He faded out and disappeared, as though he had never been more than a ghost that had been called back to his spiritual otherworld. Kang pulled a keypad from his belt and pushed several buttons. A hologram large enough for all to see hovered above him. It showed the group's now former associate appear in a hallway. He was very much flesh and blood as in individual dressed in a clown outfit impaled him with an umbrella, one with a sharpened end on the tip.

The giantess gave a roar of approval. "Ha! And I thought clowns weren't funny."

"They aren't." That was from a woman encased within gray and black armor.

Given the newest member's temperament, Kang thought he would have to intervene to prevent a fight, one in which he didn't know who would win. But instead the giantess surprised him. "Yeah, you're right. It is kind of funny to see a Frenchmen gored by a derivative of a mime, though."

"Now that you mention it, the irony is indeed delicious," the Armored Warrior agreed.

Kang decided to retake command of the situation before an issue he couldn't resolve surfaced. "As you can see, timing is everything when dealing with a master of it." He indicated the deceased form of the villain before shutting down the hologram. "Does anyone else wish to renegotiate their contract?"

There were no takers. Neither did any of them show the slightest bit of intimidation or fear. Yes, he was definitely walking a tightrope with this lot, as though the Grey Gargoyle hadn't already proven it.

"You will now take the positions I designated. Each of your opponent will be arriving shortly." He looked toward his newest member. "I will tell you where the Hulk will appear, oh killer of Hulk's, then you can be on your way as well."

They began filtering out of the room, either eager or at least willing without any hesitation. All save one: The Fear. He did look imposing, with a blue skull mask hidden inside a purple hood attached to a long flowing cape. The rest of the full body outfit was gray and purple. It was a rather fear inspiring garb.

Kang wondered if disposing of another pawn would be necessary. That would truly throw a wrench in his schemes before the fight began. The Fear was one of the first choices. He didn't have as much faith in the Sound if she needed to be pressed into service. Or if she would consent.

The Fear spoke. "Out of curiosity, if I refuse you'll send me back to be impaled on Scarecrow's pitchfork?"

His hand hovered over the dial. "Yes."

And then The Fear laughed, a sound filled with a mix of insanity and terror that no words could encompass. Nothing human could make it. Nothing human should have to hear it. Had it not been for his resolve in saving the one he loved, Kang's might have curled into a ball from the sound alone.

And then The Fear turned, leaving the room and taking with him the full force of terror he had evoked. Though the laugh seemed to remain in the room far too long for a normal sound, and it echoed in the soul long after that.

The giantess said, "I'm going to give you a piece of advice that isn't going to do you any good at this point. You shouldn't have had anything to do with that one." She mopped the sweat from her brow and exited the room, though at a pace far slower than the Fear had. There was no danger of her catching up with him.

Kang mastered his emotions. Nothing would unsettle him, not enough to deviate from his goal. If The Fear was that good, then Daredevil was already dead. Instead, the Lord of Time let the Grey Gargoyle's demise settle in. It was unfortunate to lose someone before the battle began, but he was one of the spares in the plan. A man who could turn anyone to stone with a touch could have been assigned to any hero who might survive their encounter with their hand-selected foe. The margin of error had shrank considerably.

It was times like this he loathed his inability to set a more physical trap in the Citadel itself. But the laws of time in all but the center were too fluid even for him to understand, despite the decades spent in the residence.

Kang still wasn't entirely certain how he ended up here during his initial jump in time, a random thing that had been intended for some point in the past to undo the Tragedy. Perhaps it had something to do with time travel itself, but no other had arrived since. It was clear someone had been here before. Temporal devices had been left in perfect working order, placed in shutdown mode and vacant. Upon arrival, it had taken Kang a while to divine their true nature and how they functioned, but he was brilliant and desperate: the most dangerous combination possible. His life revolved around the machines until he mastered them. Then he made a study of the chronal energies permeating every molecule of the Citadel.

The structure itself was a mystery as well. It was composed almost entirely of stone, like some European castle. Illumination seemed to come from every surface itself, neither too bright nor dark. He had no idea where the building was in any sense of the word. There was no egress to the outside, not even a window. And as to the Citadel itself, it seemed endless with stone corridors going on eternally or looping back on themselves. Nothing could be changed, or more specifically changed and remain that way. Early on he damaged a wall, turned away, then turned back to discover it unblemished. Then there were times when damage would spontaneously appear with no source evident, only to disappear just as fast. The only consistency was that nothing changed when you were looking. The only place the rules seemed grounded in reality was the center. Damage there remained. It was like being in the eye of a hurricane.

The other major issue was when Kang tried to install a device anywhere other than the center, it vanished. Sometimes it reappeared somewhere else. Other items never returned. Living sentient organisms, like people, were fine. You always ended up where you wanted to go, though sometimes the routes seemed to change. But he couldn't have a room set up with explosives and summon an Avenger there, which would have made killing them easier. And he sure as hell wasn't inviting any of them to his seat of power. He couldn't chance anything being destroyed. Everything was irreplaceable, for all intents and purposes.

And so it fell to one-on-one combat, or two-on-one in a single case. Separately the Avengers would be much easier to deal with. Picked off one by one if his judgment was correct. If he was wrong once or twice, which was possible, the members of the Dead Parade that were successful could be reassigned and finish the job. Each of his selections was the perfect foil for their individual Avenger. Time had proven it in many of the cases.

Once his minions were in position, he'd summon the Avengers. And once they'd eliminated his foes, the Dead Parade would be sent back to meet their fates. After all, he couldn't afford to have any of them survive and risk altering his timeline any more than allowing the Avengers to survive.

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It was a rare thing for the entire roster of Avengers to be present for a regular meeting. Usually someone had a reason for not attending and would be brought up to date later. But instead every chair was filled with an Avenger.

Before officially beginning the meeting, Iron Rose looked over the occupants. Hawkeye and Daredevil sat next to each other in quiet conversation. Thor seemed unusually pensive. The Hulk was staring off into space with a delighted look on his face. Wasp was at full size, for a change, eagerly waiting for the meeting to begin. And Tigra, the furry slut, was flirting heavily with Captain Japan while he tacitly ignored her behavior. If it was possible to express a scowl on an armored faceplate, Iron Rose was doing it. She fantasized about exiling her to a litterbox somewhere nice, like the Antarctic.

Finally Iron Rose hit the breaking point as Tigra trailed a furry finger under her Captain's jaw. "Let's call this meeting to order. I have an agenda prepared, so if anyone wishes to add to it, by all means speak up now."

Wasp raised her hand. "We need to decide which super villain should be scratched off the hit list."

Iron Rose cringed. "Please, no talk that is even vaguely reminiscent of assassinations." Her leg still ached, but she had programmed her armor to simulate a normal walking pattern based on her good leg. It had taken a while to work the bugs out, at one point in the early stages her bad leg tried to walk in the opposite direction of the good one, which had resulted in a groin pull and both legs walking with a limp, but eventually she got it right. Now no one would connect Kodachi Kunou to Iron Rose.

Thor spoke. "We need discover a reliable telepath for mind probes."

The others waited for her to elaborate, but no further explanation came forth.

Finally Hawkeye asked, "What for?"

"Tis for a personal matter, though one of utmost importance."

Iron Rose said, "I believe the Alice Academy has some registered telepaths that can be hired for such matters. The laws are a bit… tricky when it comes to going through people's minds. Invasion of privacy and everything. I know they are allowed to do it under certain conditions. At the least you'll have to sign documents agreeing to it."

"That is acceptable."

Wasp shrank and flew around Thor's head. "Are you sure you want someone traipsing through your brain again? I remember the man with the glowing red eye that mind controlled us." She shuddered. "I'll never let anyone in my head again."

"It is a necessity," Thor insisted, though shared her distaste at the mutual experience she and Wasp had at Mesmero's hands. Or more appropriately mind.

That settled the matter. Since no one else suggested anything, Iron Rose read the first item on the agenda. "We have several people petitioning to join the Avengers. While we're not currently recruiting, it might behoove us to make a list of qualified people who could join if the need arises. That way we wouldn't let just anyone on the team." That was directed at Tigra, who smiled warmly and said nothing. The furry slut taking the insult in stride made Iron Rose simmer in anger all the more.

She refocused her attention. "There are several prospects." She activated one of the main viewscreens which showed a man and woman in somewhat plain blue and white costumes. "This is Noboru Yoshikawa and Anko Uehara, better known as Nomad and Vagabond. They told us their real names as a show of sincerity."

"I know those two," Captain Japan said. "Ran into them on patrol once and they asked me about joining. I tested them. No way should we let them join. They aren't that good and have no super powers. I even told them they should get out of the business before they get themselves killed."

"I'm inclined to trust your judgment." Iron Rose saw the others nod in agreement. She'd send the pair a polite refusal letter later. "On to the next."

The image was of a solidly built masked figure in a full body outfit that had every color of the rainbow, and maybe a few that hadn't existed before the costume was made, in the most garish way imaginable. Unholy abomination to the natural order was the term that came to mind.

"This is Nagi Souichiro, better known as Captain Ultra. He has super strength, flight, and some degree of invulnerability. Unlike the former applicants, he has had some success in the field of heroics and defeated a number of super villains."

Everyone stared wordlessly at the picture.

Tigra broke the silence. "Did unicorn vomit on him?"

"Hulk wants to smash. Smash a lot."

"Me too," Wasp agreed.

"Is it really that bad?" Daredevil asked Hawkeye.

"If you were to get your sight back, and that was the first thing you saw, you wouldn't be happy about getting it back."

"Oh."

"I vote 'no' to Captain Colorblind," Captain Japan said.

Iron Rose nodded. "Ordinarily I would never vote someone down based on their uniform design, but in this case I will gleefully make an exception." Iron Rose made a note. "And that was our last applicant. Now we'll move on to our public image. Despite pouring a great deal of money into countering Ariyoshi's efforts at disgracing us, we, as well as most super powered beings, are being seen in an increasingly poor light. My employer has come up with a number of ideas which might improve at least our image, though we will have to personally-."

And everyone vanished.

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The barren stone corridors bore a sort of emptiness one would expect on the bottom of the ocean or the surface of the moon. Not a single path was distinguishable from another. An infinite number of carbon copies all leading to the same place, or all of them branching off in separate directions never to meet. It had the feel of a Byzantine Labyrinth that would make a Minoan weep in joy or envy.

Wasp hovered in the air, trying to figure out what had happened. One second she was in a rather dull meeting that had little to do with stopping super villains, and the next she was here. It sort of reminded her of the Mandarin's castle, but was far creepier in some indescribable way.

In reviewing the events her mind settled upon a single conclusion: super villain abduction. Clearly some foe who had teleportation had targeted the Avengers for some nefarious scheme. That she was alone meant she might have been perceived as the easiest to eliminate. Working one's way up the chain of heroes so to speak. Well, she was derailing that plan right out of the gate. She'd singlehandedly defeat the bad guy who would try to take them down.

Her mind went to their list of foes they had personally defeated and ones that were publically known. Reviewing super villains' names and powers was something of a hobby of hers. It also helped when she made suggestions as to which bad guy the Avengers should take down next. She focused on abilities, specifically anyone who could teleport, but to the best of her knowledge the only one who qualified was Sidewinder, and he could only teleport himself and a very small amount of weight with him. It just wasn't that common a power. Apparently, some new foe had stepped out of the shadows to confront the team. Well, he hadn't yet, but when he did she'd be ready to blast him.

Not interested in waiting for him to come to her, Wasp took off. It wasn't long before she found herself flying aimlessly, since there was no direction to aim. She maneuvered through the passages of the complex, trying to get her bearings. The sensation of something wrong on a fundamental level grew. No matter how far she travelled, she saw no windows, or even proper doors. Doorways, but nothing was in any of the rooms she flew past. No people, no markings, no aesthetics at all. It was like a desert given a stone structure rather than sand lying about in piles.

As she flew, her perception of time became distorted. The perpetually similar environment only added to the sensation. She could have been there minutes or hours. It was anxiousness that made her fly faster than caution dictated, which was why when she flew around a corner she was brought to a halt as there was finally a variation in something.

The first thing that stopped her was seeing the woman. She was dressed in the garb of a policeman from about a hundred and fifty years ago. She had red hair that was almost orange, and carried a sword.

The second thing that stopped her was that she recognized the girl as one of those Shinsengumi that had been at the Silver Samurai's side when the Avengers fought them.

The third was she had also died before their eyes. In the red head's case she had been sucked into herself, like someone had put a small black hole in the middle of her. It was probably the most gruesome death Kasumi had ever seen.

That surprise, and that the woman had been expecting to fight Wasp, was how the flying girl was struck full on with the vortex that flashed out from the tip of the sword, striking the hero fully. As if the outright impact wasn't bad enough, Wasp was slammed against a wall that, had she been any less durable, would have splattered her like her namesake.

It was all instinct that had Wasp fly up, despite her disorientation and pain, in a random direction. She barely prevented a second blast from connecting. Too stunned to counterattack, she had to gain space between her and her opponent. Just enough time to collect her wits so she could think enough to fight effectively.

However the Shinsengumi was quick enough to lunge at Wasp with the sword blade itself. The heroine made a turn so sharp it actually hurt, and though the blade missed her body, it went through a bit of the wing near the tip.

And there was pain like nothing Kasumi Tendou had ever felt before, since she'd never had a piece of her cut off. It caused her to fall straight to the ground and scream in agony.

Juri Arisugawa brought the sword back, aimed directly at her downed opponent.

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The barren stone corridors bore a sort of emptiness one would expect on the bottom of the ocean or the surface of the moon. Not a single path was distinguishable from another. An infinite number of carbon copies all leading to some place, or all of them branching off in separate directions never to meet. It had the feel of a Byzantine Labyrinth that would make a Minoan weep in joy or envy.

The Hulk scratched his head at his new surroundings. This was unusual. He had somehow managed to get lost without moving. The world was making him lost even when he wasn't. It made him want to smash something, until an idea entered his head: maybe when he was lost, the world would make him found. It might work both ways. Best to give it a chance.

He began walking around, wondering which way to go. They all looked the same, so it didn't matter which way he went. He chose a corridor and walked down it.

Boredom settled in rather quickly. Everything was the same. He chose a different corridor, but it was the same as the last. And another. In order to keep from walking in a circle, he smashed a hole in the side of a wall to make it different from the others. He would have used breadcrumbs, but he didn't have any, and even if he did, he would have eaten them instead since he was hungry. He should have had the little mouse man serve him beans before the meeting, rather than after.

Yes, he felt lost. Every direction he went looked the same, even if they weren't. No matter where he went, he was lost. Except everything was the same. So maybe everywhere was the same now. That meant he had found whatever it was he was supposed to find. Better yet, if everywhere was the same, then he would never be lost, since he'd always be where he was supposed to be.

"Ha! Hulk can never get lost again!" he shouted. Then realized that if this was all there was now, he was going to get very bored very fast. He'd rather wander around to different places lost and not be bored, than be where he was supposed to be all the time and hate it.

"Has Hulk answered philosophical question?" he wondered.

He was so lost in thought he didn't realize someone had walked up behind him until he was tapped on the shoulder and a voice said, "Loverboy."

The Hulk turned, and his face met a fist that sent him flying through multiple walls. He lost track of the number since he went through so many so fast.

When he landed, he discovered the heady sensation of not knowing anything. It took him a second to understand one punch had stunned him. Had anyone managed that with a single blow? He didn't think so. A punch like that reminded him of the Green Bull Man who had accused him of having bad breath. He could punch very hard. Or the bearded man who had irritated Hammer Girl. Hulk had fought him for quite a while since he had been so strong. But this might have been worse than either of those.

His foe rapidly approached. As he tensed for battle, he froze. It was a red-skinned woman that was as big as any woman he had ever seen. He didn't know they got that big. He wasn't sure what to do until she hit him a second time and sent him through an equal number of walls again.

Now he was hurt, and angry. Normally he would have been appalled at the idea of hitting a girl, but this one hit harder than men, and more importantly, was hitting him. Misogyny went by the wayside, because pain can cause one to not think clearly yet also think more clearly at the same time.

This time when she ran up to punch him, he shouted, "Hulk Smash!" and swung as hard as he could. They connected at the same time. Both were braced, so neither went backward. Instead they absorbed the blows and went at it again.

The woman laughed. "Just like old times! Except this is the last old time we're going to have."

The Citadel of Time shook with thunder as two titans went at it as hard as they could in a life and death struggle that would have made the gods sit up and take notice.

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The barren stone corridors bore a sort of emptiness one would expect on the bottom of the ocean or the surface of the moon. Not a single path was distinguishable from another. An infinite number of carbon copies all leading to some place, or all of them branching off in separate directions never to meet. It had the feel of a Byzantine Labyrinth that would make a Minoan weep in joy or envy.

Hawkeye looked around in shock. What had just happened? Where did everyone go? No, judging by the room she had been the one to go. But why? There had been no warning, no sign anything was wrong. One moment she had been with Daredevil at the meeting, the next… what was this place anyway?

Her bow was in hand, an arrow nocked, as she surveyed her environment. It looked like a castle. A very plain unadorned one. There was no dust anywhere, not even a cobweb, so it hadn't been abandoned. If this was a trap of some kind, it hadn't sprung yet. Or maybe being sent here was a trap?

For that matter where was Daredevil? And the others, of course, but he was first and foremost on her mind. Had she been grabbed alone? That didn't make any sense. No one that could do this had it in for her, not even Jessie Gartland, who had promised a showdown of some kind. Somehow Hawkeye doubted the American had been implying this. No, more likely some foe had targeted all the Avengers, which meant Daredevil was somewhere around here.

And the others too, of course.

Hawkeye shouted, hoping with his senses Daredevil would hear her. She wasn't worried about her potential foe hearing: he had brought her here so he wouldn't be surprised by her presence. In fact it would probably be best to start moving around rather than being a sitting target. And if… when she found Daredevil, they could use his hyper-senses to locate the others. It was very likely he was already looking for her, and would probably know where she was before she could locate him. As long as they were reunited, that would be all that mattered.

It was with dread she went through the featureless corridors that seemed to run together endlessly. Hawkeye couldn't help worrying for her boyfriend despite the fact she knew he could handle himself. Anything could happen in this business, which they both knew, and they had been prepared to accept the risks. At least that was what she knew intellectually, but her heart was trying desperately to override her rational thoughts and run the show. This was a new sensation for her, and she had to fight it with everything she possessed.

Tension made the seconds stretch into eternities as she walked and walked, yet nothing changed. Except the sound of thunder once, or maybe the building shaking. She thought wherever this was was located underground. She should have seen some sign of the outside by now. Or maybe she was travelling in circles, though she swore she was walking in a single direction. She'd probably be well-served to make marks on the wall with one of her arrowheads just to be sure.

Her mind started wondering if she'd be an old woman by the time she reconnected with her boyfriend when there was the clicking sound of a hammer on a pistol going back into place. She spun and went to fire in one fluid motion, a move so quick few humans would realize what had taken place until after the arrow already hit them.

But on this occasion a bullet went through the bow string just as the arrow was about to be released, rendering both weapon and shaft useless. At least when it came to fighting someone with a revolver. Throwing arrows was not conducive to winning any type of shootout.

Hawkeye found herself facing, at a short distance, a very busty gunslinger who had a gun drawn and the hammer cocked back in firing position a second time.

The girl tiled her hat. "Howdy, pardner."

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The barren stone corridors bore a sort of emptiness one would expect on the bottom of the ocean or the surface of the moon. Not a single path was distinguishable from another. An infinite number of carbon copies all leading to some place, or all of them branching off in separate directions never to meet. It had the feel of a Byzantine Labyrinth that would make a Minoan weep in joy or envy.

Tigra found herself disoriented for only a moment, then years of training, which bordered on torture, kicked in and she assessed her environment for potential threats. When none seemed evident, she took in her surroundings. They provided no indication of anything, so she contemplated what had happened, and why.

Someone had teleported her to this place for reasons unknown. Best to assume the worst. Was she alone? Unlikely. Who teleported someone to an empty stone complex of some kind? Had the others been abducted? Most likely. Otherwise it would have made more sense to grab her away from them. Disappearing in front of them would make them know she had vanished and search for her. Not a guarantee, merely a likelihood.

She went on the move. For whatever reason there was no welcoming committee, and she did not care to be present when it arrived. She wanted to meet her kidnapper under her own terms, like with their throat captured in her clawed hand.

She darted down the halls, using all the stealth she possessed. The design of the corridors made outright hiding impossible. She tried dashing from the openings of the occasional rooms along the corridor, periodically listening for signs of other people, Avengers or otherwise. But there was nothing other than the sound of some sort of force meeting another force from somewhere in this complex, though it disappeared after a while.

It didn't take long for her to become disconcerted. One didn't require greater than human senses like hers to tell there was something unearthly about this place. Not just the design, which was impractical. Nor that it seemed to have a purpose other than to exist. Her sense of time, which was impeccable, was disoriented to the point that she had little awareness of it. That had never happened before, and she didn't like it now. What it meant she couldn't say, other than it did her no good, and most likely would harm her at some point.

There was something subtly insidious about this trap, Tigra decided. It was simple, yet effective in being a limited battleground. There was nothing in the environment that could be utilized in any way, really. She was tenser than ever.

Even one of her demeanor was starting to feel the edge of frustration upon her when she heard the faintest of sounds up ahead around a bend. It took a moment to understand the sound was coming toward her cautiously.

She debated about rushing toward whoever was coming, using speed to get her opponent before they could react, or play it cautious and back away to the previous bend in the corridor to gain some intelligence on a potential foe. She opted for the latter.

Again she moved stealthily, but quickly, gauging how fast it would take to get out of sight before they made the turn. She was nearly there when the sound of a fast movement reached her ears and the figure made it into the corridor. Damn, she hadn't counted on them knowing she was there.

Normally Tigra would have had enough time to dart to her destination leaving the newcomer to, at best, see her shapely behind speeding out of sight. But for the merest of seconds she froze when she saw and identified the person she thought she'd been stalking, only to understand he had been trying to bait her into approaching. He was Japanese, and had a topknot and ridiculously thin mustache with patch of black hair at his chin. He wore plain robes with sandals and held a curved scimitar, rather than a katana, in his hand.

What had frozen her was not so much that she recognized him but…

…that he was dead.

Upon locating her position the man drew his sword back and swung it despite her being at least twenty feet away. But the gesture made sense when a scythe of air shot from the blade and toward her.

Now reflexes took over and she made the jump. In her previous existence she would never have made it. Thanks to her newborn agility, she almost made it. But her opponent's own swiftness came into play, and the air cut across her calf, cutting deeply.

Tigra hissed in agony but shut it out. Her pain threshold had been heightened at an early age so she could think clearly and move easily despite it. As long as the muscle didn't tear completely, or she bled out, she'd maintain her top racing speed, which was needed to survive. Nobunaga Hazama, better known as Scimitar, was one of the deadliest fighters in the Phantom Troupe, one of the most dangerous criminal organizations on the planet. Bad enough that his sword technique was one of the best in the world, making close up combat nearly impossible, but that air shear technique gave him a deadly distance attack. One's best hope was either to be as invulnerable as the Hulk, or sneak up on him. Unfortunately he had gotten the drop on her, which meant survival was nearly impossible.

She wasn't certain what she could do other than run for her life, though given the amount of blood she was losing, she couldn't do that indefinitely either.

Maybe this was one trap she would not be emerging alive from.

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The barren stone corridors bore a sort of emptiness one would expect on the bottom of the ocean or the surface of the moon. Not a single path was distinguishable from another. An infinite number of carbon copies all leading to some place, or all of them branching off in separate directions never to meet. It had the feel of a Byzantine Labyrinth that would make a Minoan weep in joy or envy.

Thor was not a happy camper. Someone not terribly concerned with their life had just teleported her to their domain. It wasn't magical in nature, she'd have recognized the telltale tingle from it, which meant it was some alternative form. That left out the likes of Loki, or even members of another pantheon like the Formare. But whether its origins were scientific or natural made no difference to her. There was a reckoning to be had.

"Come forth, whoever has the audacity to force an audience with the Goddess of Thunder! I am not amused by your antics, which means you'd best present yourself now and hope to somehow beg forgiveness!"

There was no response.

"Have at you then." She threw her hammer through a nearby wall to show her sincerity. It blew through easily enough, rendering much of it to rubble as the weapon returned to her hand.

Still nothing.

"So be it!" She repeated the attack to two other walls with the same results in every sense of the word.

"Now I am in an ill mood. Pray to whatever deities you hold dear you have a rational reason for eliciting my anger."

She strode through the still intact featureless stone corridors, increasingly irritated with each step. This was no natural construct, and she quickly became aware there was something off in the substance of this realm. She was definitely in some other dimension. Few were the foes who possessed both the means of movement through time and space like this, even if they were gods. That it probably was some other being made her a touch wary, and more determined than ever to smite them.

Choosing the path of least caution, she threw the hammer as far as she could in one direction. It burst through a seemingly endless horizon of walls and corridors. Indeed, whatever this place was, it ignored at least some of the laws native to most spheres of existence.

As it returned to her hand, someone clapped and said, "Bravo."

She spun in fury and saw an extremely muscled, tawny furred, humanoid cat.

Cougar.

"I was told you were dead," Thor said.

Cougar showed his fangs. "Not yet. As it turns out I was a moment away from that state when I was whisked away from certain death. And I can be returned to it if I don't kill you. So you'll forgive me if I gut you where you stand."

Thor showed her own teeth in a snarl of her own. "I never got a chance to repay you for the unexpectedly base attack you surprised me with." She charged him, hammer high overhead.

He simply stood there, arms crossed across his chest, and a look of smug confidence etched on his feline features.

Once in front of him, Thor swung her hammer as hard as she could.

The hammer entered his body as though he were indeed dead and already a ghost, not affecting him in the slightest, even when Thor left the hammer in his chest.

"I see you forgot my abilities, human fool."

And then a charge of electricity surged through the hammer and into Cougar's body. He gave a scream of such pain it should have been impossible either for man or cat to make it. His body dissipated in the air, again as though he were already a ghost and his time on this plane of existence had expired.

Thor remained where she was. "Tigra did inform us of your unearthly origins. Angered at your actions, I insisted on the government explaining how to defeat your kind should the need arise again. They were most informative on what wavelength of electricity causes dissolution of your form. Were I less merciful, I would have used the kind that kills rather than discorporate."

While Thor was delighted at her victory, it now occurred to her she should have questioned her foe in regards as to how to return to her Earthly plane of existence before sending him into the ether. While he would eventually reform, she had little interest in waiting that amount of time. Instead she began walking down a corridor. If worse came to worse, she could simply smash walls until she discovered something somewhere. Places like this, sometime a forged linear path was better than a roundabout one that might lead only into circles.

Time stretched into some fathomless void, either brief or long she could not be certain. The only thing that disrupted the sameness of everything was the sound of thunder once, but she was unable to determine the direction it came from. This place had that effect. She had not traveled far when she heard the heavy stride of someone approaching. Whoever it was moved loudly and with an uneven pace. It mattered not to her what it was, she was Thor, and would deal with it in her own godly manner.

It turned the corner, a large creature eight feet tall and wearing a fur garment that appeared to be made of bear. He was male, with numerous stiches around his body and head. It was also clear from the coloration that he was composed of numerous parts from a variety of bodies.

Thor stood agape in open horror. Once, when she was very young, Loki had tricked her by trapping her inside a cave complex with a flesh golem like this one. The only difference was it was female, or at least the important parts were. It turned out the creature was not violent, as one might be inclined to think, but rather amorous and powerful. Having a patchwork collection of body parts trying to kill you was one thing, having it try to make out with you quite another. Thor was hard pressed to stay out of its clutches, and hadn't always been successful, which ended up traumatizing her badly to the point of which flesh golems of any type terrified to her to no end. Most likely Loki would have sent an unending string of such creatures after her for eternity, save that he too ended up inadvertently trapped with the creature and suffered under its ministrations as well, resulting in just as much trauma for him as Thor. Thus he would never utilize them again.

Upon being confronted with perhaps the one thing in the universe which truly made her terrified, Thor gave out a wholly girlish shriek of, "Ahhhhhh!" at the top of her lungs and ran for her life as fast she possibly could.

Left behind, the creation most commonly referred to as the Frankenstein Monster, sighed. He would have spoken in his rough voice had his vocal cords not been severed by that damned vampire a while back, and tried to calm the woman. Admittedly his voice hadn't saved him often from terrible situations, but it was worse when he couldn't say a thing. It didn't matter what Kang wanted, the creation was not ending life at another's behest. Maybe those villagers would burn him at the stake once he was sent back, as Kang threatened if he failed, but he was at a point where he valued his ethics over his life. Curiously, it seemed not many normal humans shared that viewpoint. Especially those others who he had been assigned to work with.

The creature continued trudging through the corridors. At least no one was trying to burn him up. He hated fire.

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The barren stone corridors bore a sort of emptiness one would expect on the bottom of the ocean or the surface of the moon. Not a single path was distinguishable from another. An infinite number of carbon copies all leading to some place, or all of them branching off in separate directions never to meet. It had the feel of a Byzantine Labyrinth that would make a Minoan weep in joy or envy.

Captain Japan looked around in shock at his new environment. It took several moments for his super hero training, which was probably just behind Tigra in quickly adapting to a bizarre situation, to assess the matter. It could be some form of mental attack and he could only be dreaming all of this, but he wagered it was more along the lines of outright teleportation. Creepy old castle added to the idea this was a bad guy, rather than some neutral party that wanted to enlist him for some venture by using an unorthodox manner. No welcoming committee greeted him, which was a plus. It gave him time to think and prepare for what might happen next.

He exited the room down one of the stone corridors. If the trap had already sprung, he'd deal with it. If it hadn't he might be able to get out of it before it did. Take the battle to the enemy was the motto in this case. He mentally went down a list of people the Avengers had crossed that could teleport him, but he was coming up blank. Likewise if this was all in his head, same problem. No illusion casters he knew about, though there were some out there.

As he walked, he wondered if any of his teammates had been grabbed as well. Probably. If this guy wanted to take everyone down, best to nab everyone at once. Now the question was how to find their foe and force him to send Captain Japan, and anyone else, back. And while he was at it he'd to destroy the means by which he grabbed them since he'd rather it not happen again.

It didn't take long before the hero realized this place was not in his world. It felt too unearthly. Again if this was all in his head, he had no conventional way out, so best to act like it was in reality, if not his own. Besides, this place was too repetitive. The stones were all the same. Whatever agent was used to put them together had been used in exact perfect proportions. There was no dust, no insects. Bugs got into everything that wasn't high tech and air tight. The air was clean with nothing in it. No simple castle like construct would have the air filtered perfectly. It would smell outdoorsy or like a city, but it was just pure air. This was like an idea of a place given texture and substance. Maybe it was an illusion. But it felt real enough that he was certain any foe he fought, assuming one appeared, would be potentially lethal.

After traveling through seemingly endless corridors that all appeared exactly the same, Captain Japan's patience reached its end. The only thing that had disturbed the endless monotony was the sound of what he thought of something falling, considering how the structure moved, but then everything was normal.

He was about to shout out something when he finally encountered a foe. He was dressed in an outfit with a Japanese flag theme like Captain Japan's own, though it was different at the same time. The guy's build was nearly identical to Ranma's own. His height was nearly the same, weight was the same. It was like someone had hired a body double and only gotten the costume and a lack of a shield wrong.

Before Captain Japan could speak the newcomer said, "Yes! It's you, just as Kang promised."

Finally he was getting somewhere. "Who's Kang? And who are you for that matter?"

The youth looked curiously, then said, "Right, he said we hadn't met yet. I'm Super Patriot. And I need your blood, Saotome, to stabilize my own."

That made Ranma's jaw drop. How could this guy know he was Ranma Saotome? Who was he?

The hero had no time to think as the near mirror image of him attacked. Captain Japan was so off his game his foe landed a mostly clean blow that hurt. A lot. The Captain thought it was at least as hard of a punch as his own would be.

Immediately he was on the defensive, backpedaling and using his shield to ward off attacks. His own counterstrikes were completely ineffective. This guy was as good at hand to hand combat as Captain Japan was. But the hero had the great equalizer.

Captain Japan finally connected with a solid blow which gave him the opening he needed to gain some distance from this Super Patriot. Once there was enough, he hurled his shield as hard as he could.

Rather than it hitting the target, Super Patriot managed to strike it in mid-air with enough force to deflect it away. The impact was hard enough that the shield didn't return, flying off in the opposite direction instead.

"Same old tricks, I see. They won't do you any good. I'm going to take your blood before my own kills me." And with that Super Patriot went on the offensive again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The barren stone corridors bore a sort of emptiness one would expect on the bottom of the ocean or the surface of the moon. Not a single path was distinguishable from another. An infinite number of carbon copies all leading to some place, or all of them branching off in separate directions never to meet. It had the feel of a Byzantine Labyrinth that would make a Minoan weep in joy or envy.

Iron Rose looked around at the seemingly impossible surroundings. One moment she had been in the meeting room, and *poof*, she was somewhere else.

She used her armor's sensors to scan the environment. It seemed normal enough, except that it appeared out of nowhere. Or more likely she had been moved to it. Nothing in her scans indicted anything out of the ordinary. Except a magnetic field, she noticed. There was one, but it didn't correspond to Earth's since there seemed to be no North or South. Now that she looked more closely, there was no single source of light either. Everything seemed to have some sort of glow which provided illumination, which made no sense either since everything couldn't be composed of luminescent material. Could it?

Despite her sensor readings, she was rapidly coming to the conclusion this place was anything but normal. Her own senses told her things were off in some indescribable way.

Now that she had made a study of her environment, she switched her attention to the situation. She had been kidnapped, and kidnappers rarely meant well. However they had not contacted her, and at least a minute or two had passed. Was she tucked in some bizarre hole in which she could not escape so they could ransom her? Or was it a trap intended to do something to her, separating her from her teammates so she could be dealt with alone? If so, her foes would find Iron Rose more than capable of thwarting whatever scheme they had.

"You can come out now!" she called out over her suit's microphone. Whoever had abducted her was monitoring her. They had to be. Who grabbed an Avenger out from under the rest of the team's collective noses and didn't care about the abductee?

But no one came. She was determined to remain where she was, for the area she was in had no traps that she could detect. In fact it possessed no trappings at all. It was perhaps the plainest stone room she had ever seen. Even the passages she looked down all appeared the same.

"I'm waiting!" And she did so even longer, again there was no response. She was beginning to think she would have to track down whoever this mysterious abductor was when another person entered the room.

It was a woman in black and grey armor modeled after Iron Rose's own. There were superficial differences. The shoulders had a serrated look to them. The multi-purpose chest unit was larger than her own. The gauntlet and boots were slightly off. It gave the armor a more vicious look. Banal, in her opinion. She had already created perfection, and it needed no modifications.

Iron Rose said, "So, what should I call you? 'Discount Iron Rose'?"

"Why don't we go with, 'Iron Rose of Christmas Yet to Come', oh 'Iron Rose of Christmas Past'?"

Iron Rose decided she did not like this woman at all. She sounded far too much like Kodachi herself, and you could not improve on that perfection either. Besides, hearing someone try to sound like you, when you were fairly unique, wearing armor like yours, was disconcerting. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me why you brought me here?"

The other one laughed. Again Kodachi hated how much she sounded like her. "On the contrary. I'll let you die with the entire truth ringing in your ears. A time traveler name Kang the Conqueror decided he wanted all of you Avengers dead. He brought the perfect opponents to deal with each of you from out of every time. Most of your team should be either dying or already dead by now."

That made Iron Rose tense. She hadn't considered the others being abducted as well, to say nothing of their lives being in such danger. "Then it's time I dispatched you and aided my friends." She raised her arms up and sent two repulsor blasts toward her foe.

The actions were mirrored exactly by her counterpart, who neutralized each blast with one of her own. She actually shot them down in mid-air perfectly.

"Ohhohoho! That didn't go exactly as planned, now did it?" she mocked.

Iron Rose tried again by holding her arm out and allowing her electrical ribbons to spring forth to her foe. They grabbed her and electricity shot through them. The imposter stood there, absorbing the voltage, then extended a blade from the back of one of the gauntlets, severing the ribbons.

Refusing to be defeated, Iron Rose fired her death blossom attack from her chest, but her foe's chest did the same, only producing a much larger beam of energy which overpowered Iron Rose's. The beam went into the armor's chest weapon itself, frying most of the systems. Then a repulsor beam from the imposter split into several smaller ones, striking each of her remaining battery units, rendering the armor destroyed and inoperable.

The imposter said, "Silly woman. There was never a chance you could defeat this armor, and do you know why? It's because you made it yourself, my dear Auntie Kodachi."

Despite being easily defeated by her opponent, the revelation stole all of Kunou's attention. "Auntie?"

The imposter, or more accurately Iron Rose II, stood mockingly before the fallen hero. "Yes, it's your darling niece, Wakizashi, named in honor of yourself." There was more than a hint of distaste in her voice. "Your chosen successor when you decided to step down and pass the Iron Rose mantle to me. Allow me to properly thank you again. I'd never have been able to become the high end mercenary I am thanks to you. I do insist on showing you my appreciation the same way I did before… by killing you." She aimed a repulsor at the fallen hero.

Kodachi gasped out, "Wait! You can't kill me!"

"I can prove otherwise." She built a glowing charge up in the gauntlet.

"What I mean is if you kill me now I'll never be able to pass the armor on to you!"

Wakizashi laughed. "Actually I can. If I kill a younger you before you give me the armor, it only establishes that you come from an alternate timeline. The Wakizashi of your universe, who hasn't even been born yet, won't get the armor of course, but I care nothing for any temporal counterpart of mine. They can fend for themselves. If I had to kill a hundred of them to save my own skin, I'd do it without hesitation. But since it's you I get to kill again, I'm going to enjoy it. You always were a tiresome old maid. Having to pander to you until I understood everything about the armor was physically painful. Well, not as painful as it was for you when I blew a hole through your chest. In fact, I think I'll kill you the same way I did then. There is something to be said about doing a job right."

Kodachi said, "So you're saying I built that armor?"

"Every circuit."

"I would assume that when you killed me, you took me by surprise then?"

"Oh yes, you were very surprised when I greeted you by blowing a hole through your chest."

"Then I have one last thing to say. A single black rose in a field of red will never wilt."

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The barren stone corridors bore a sort of emptiness one would expect on the bottom of the ocean or the surface of the moon. Not a single path was distinguishable from another. An infinite number of carbon copies all leading to some place, or all of them branching off in separate directions never to meet. It had the feel of a Byzantine Labyrinth that would make a Minoan weep in joy or envy.

Daredevil was more disoriented than his comrades had been due to his lack of sight and enhanced senses. To have everything except himself change instantly was so jarring he actually froze for nearly fifteen seconds until his mind could try and process everything so he could react to it. Once it did, he shouted, 'What's going on?" But there was no response.

Despite being taken from one location to another in the blink of an eye, he was more worried about it happening again. Permanent disorientation would leave him borderline helpless. But when nothing happened, he started to relax slightly. Some outside force had whisked him to… wherever this was. The reason wasn't evident either, which was a surprise. If you abducted someone generally you informed them in some manner, or started doing whatever it was you wanted to do to the victim since you kidnapped them. But instead he had been plopped down in a very weird place and left alone.

He wondered if it was a prison of some kind, except there were no doors he could detect. Sounds he made drifted off a long way without hitting any kind of barrier. Just continuous echoes. If it was a prison, it was a giant one.

As he waited for something to happen, it occurred to him that there was a chance what he had experienced might have happened to his teammates as well. If this was all about him, why not confront him by now? However if it was about the team, and they had been separated, then whoever had done this might have their attention on another of his teammates at the moment which is why no one was bothering him yet.

Hawkeye! He had to make sure she was all right. Certainly she could take care of herself, but he still wanted to be at her side in case this was one of those times when she couldn't. After all, if someone went to the trouble of teleporting you to their lair, they probably had a solid plan on dealing with you. This wasn't Stilt Man trying to step on you after all.

So he went hurriedly down corridors, trying to locate Hawkeye in particular. If he ran into any of the others on the way, and there was no trouble to deal with, he'd have them help. But he absolutely had to find her. There was no way he would let her down the way he had Shampoo.

Some costs were too high to pay a second time.

He moved with reckless abandon without heed for safety. It didn't take him long to realize there was something seriously wrong with this place on a fundamental level. It was as though the laws of the universe were more like recommendations than actual rules reality had to follow. There was something weird about time, as his internal body clock was all over the place, and the actual structure itself was off in some indescribable way. It was almost as though this was someone's idea of reality rather than it actually being one. Like a dream.

He sensed the open area ahead, much like the one he had started out in. Actually given the bizarre, confused nature of this place it may very well might be. But he had to try and be sure.

As he entered it someone said, "I knew you'd come."

If this place was like some sort of dream, then the voice was like a nightmare. The rest of this location was simply off slightly: this man's voice was like a sound that shouldn't be heard. It seemed to reach into Daredevil and started playing with his insides like a child might with clay. A very brutal child that tore the legs off insects because it was fun.

"The name is Mr. Fear." The man began walking toward Daredevil, which made him want to run away, but instead his feet remained where they were, as though they were rooted to the spot. His radar sense showed the man draw nearer and nearer, a slow steady stride as inevitable as death.

As the man approached, he said, "I see you can feel it, the terror welling in your heart, overcoming all instincts, including that of self-preservation. You remain where you are, the most foolish act in the world when Fear comes for you. Run. Hide. Fight. Those should be your recourse. Yet you are there, allowing me to approach and bring an end to everything. But at least the fear will disappear."

His head raged at his legs to move, but instead he fell to his knees, the strength had left them completely. He felt like curling up into a fetal ball.

The man's gait was inexorable. "Kang actually has the arrogance to try and make me feel afraid. Me! Mr. Fear. And all he's trying to use as leverage against Fear is death. The fool. Why would I be afraid of such a thing?" He placed his hands on both sides of his head, then lifted up.

The head came off the shoulders.

"After all, I'm already dead."

And Daredevil knew this was no act, but the truth. He had no heartbeat. All of this was coming from a corpse.

The pure sense of terror radiating from Mr. Fear became blinding. It filled him to the core of his being. It was everywhere, in everything. Daredevil's entire existence was encompassed by it, and he would never experience another emotion again. He knew this sensation, knew the tendrils of it that dragged him down and threatened to engulf him forever.

It was the same feeling when he woke up screaming from the nightmares of Bullseye coming for him again. Telling him she loved him and meaning it, while she killed him inch by excruciating inch the way she had nearly succeeded before.

And he lashed out, striking the head from out of Mr. Fear's hands to make the fear go away. The object went sailing a short distance away.

The body stood stock still, unmoving. Daredevil quivered, but didn't move further either.

After some undefinable time passed, the head said, "Remarkable. You've felt the touch of True Fear in the core of your being before. So few do, and retain their sanity. It's the only way you could move. And now that I concentrate, I see the cause of your fear still exists. Intriguing."

The body then walked over, picked up the head, and placed it back on the neck. It was as though it had always been there.

Mr. Fear said, "Due to your experience, I grant you a boon and allow you to go unmolested. At least physically. The terror is still inside you, but it's the same one you had before, not one from me. It will always be with you. By all means, try to purge it. Try to defeat it. Try to accept it. I will not tell you if you have a chance of actual success, I am Fear, not Hope. But it should be amusing. Though there are those who would claim you would fare better if I had killed you outright, rather than you meriting my attention."

He left them room, the fear departing with him. On some level he knew there had never been a real reason to be afraid. Whoever, whatever that thing that called itself Mr. Fear was, had manipulated him in some fashion. Pushed a 'fear button' in him to being forth the emotion, rather than it having a basis in reality like, well like Bullseye. That was ultimately how he had been able to move, but still humans were emotional creatures, and the fear had weighed him down. Even if the source was false the feelings had been real.

It was so terrifying he almost wished he could purge himself of fear, even if it meant every other emotion going with it. But then he thought about the feelings Ukyou invoked. They were real and becoming more intense. They were the most positive he had experienced in his now seventeen years of life, and he wanted to feel more of them. He'd rather suffer from fear and have those feelings of her rather than have none at all.

He would just have to figure out how to cope, because he had a terrible feeling he'd be meeting that dead nightmare on two feet again.

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Pain, was rapidly becoming all there was in Tigra's world. Most of it from coming from the leg wound, which wasn't being given a chance to properly heal since she was running and leaping with everything she had to keep from a deeper cut, like one at her neck, from happening. Instead it continued to bleed and throb and agony, and still she didn't allow her pace to slacken for even an instant, because if she did she was dead.

This corridor seemed longer than the others, that wasn't good since she had to make it out of sight to the end of it before Scimitar got there. She turned on the afterburners and was nearly there when he rounded the corner, weapon drawn back in a guard position that could strike should she have been trying to lie in ambush for him. Since she lacked a proper weapon to duel with him, and he was so lethal and quick with a sword, it would have been the end for her to engage him in melee combat.

The only good thing was that little bit of caution had given her time to make it almost to the end of the corridor. The corner was just ahead.

He let loose another of his wind attacks. Perhaps at the start of the fight, or at least before she had been injured, she could have completely evaded it, but instead it only managed an 'almost' as the scalpel sharp wind caressed her side and opened another wound. Not as deep as the one in her thigh, but another injury she could ill afford. It was the fourth time he had managed to slice her open in some relatively minor way, but blood flowed from all the wounds, decreasing the amount of time she had before the loss would make her collapse.

The 'running for her life' formula was a losing one in the long run. His skill and ranged attacks in combination with the battleground made him unbeatable. Had she somewhere she could hide and strike from the shadows, or a weapon to counter his attacks with, there was a possibility of victory. But as it was now, no. It was as if someone had calculated what it would take to kill someone with her abilities and come up with the perfect foil.

If nothing changed, she was dead in the next fifteen minutes.

And then it finally did. She entered a passageway where there was a woman with a sword brought back, as though she were about to strike something on the floor, though there appeared to be nothing there. The woman was vaguely familiar, but the weapon was what Tigra was focused on. She needed that. While not a swordmaster, it could afford her some defensive abilities. Of course the woman might have something to say about it, but luckily her back was to Tigra.

So the felinoid Avenger launched herself into the woman's back hard enough to knock her unconscious and cause the sword to go flying from her grasp. As Tigra went for the weapon, she heard a familiar voice give a pained, "Thanks."

Wasp was there, on the floor, clearly in agony. So that was the target of the swordmisstress's ire. Some inexplicable behavior had suddenly found an explanation.

And it was at that moment Scimitar rounded the corner, weapon at the ready, as usual. Upon seeing Tigra with a weapon, he smiled. "So, you wish to do battle instead of flight. Good. It will end things much more quickly."

As he advanced on Tigra, who had her own sword in a striking position, a bio-energy blast came from the direction of the floor, an unexpected quarter, and struck him fully. He hit the ground unmoving, sword clattering on the stone floor.

"Thanks," one injured Avenger said to the other.

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Captain Japan was exhausted, a state he normally was never in. Tired? Sure. Worn out? Who hadn't been? But this was on the bullet train to 'I'm not going to be able to move a body part' in short order.

The cause was simple. This Super Patriot was the closest thing to an equal he'd ever encountered. Fighting skill. Strength. Stamina. All were on par with his own. Not superior, just on par. But hey, he was Captain Japan. He always won in the end. It was just this time was going to be a lot closer than usual.

The two had fought non-stop since Super Patriot had thrown the first punch. Most people would have grown weary simply trying to follow the course of the battle. But still they went at it with every ounce of energy they still possessed.

While Captain Japan knew he should keep his full attention on the fight at hand, there were questions he needed answers to. He ducked a punch and retaliated. "How do you know my name?"

Super Patriot parried the blow. The pair continued fighting as though conversing with someone while trying to knock them unconscious was perfectly normal. "I know everything about you. In some ways I'm the result of your life's work, which is why I need the Super Soldier Serum flowing in your veins."

"Over my dead body!"

"Since I'm going to need every drop of it, yes. That was the general idea!"

Since both were nearing the point of total exhaustion, each went for victory by unleashing a flurry of offence while forsaking defense. Blows rained down over every centimeter of their bodies. Still they fought on with neither gaining an advantage despite their best efforts.

Captain Japan went for broke and unleashed the fastest, most powerful punch he could muster with his remaining strength, hoping to end it with one final shot. He felt a split second of satisfaction as the blow connected cleanly. He had won.

And then the split second passed and he felt an equally powerful uppercut slam into his unprotected jaw.

Both opponents hit the ground at the same time, equally unconscious.

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The red-skinned giantess lashed out with a blow of such force, she managed to break her own hand, which was a feat all by itself giver her nigh-invulnerability. But it was worth the pain as the shot connected solidly with the Hulk's head, causing his eyes to roll into the back of skull and his body to crash to the ground, unconscious.

It didn't register for a moment. Their fight had been one of the most cataclysmic ever, which was saying something. Cities had been razed. Islands sank. Something called an Undying one had most definitely died when it got between them. The cosmic gamesman known as the Grandmaster had arranged to have them fight in an arena dedicated to combat on a planet called Battleworld, only to call it off when they destroyed too much of Battleworld.

They had once caused a dimension to collapse from one of their fights. Sure, it was a small one, but it was still a dimension.

In this timeless place this war had waged for… she didn't know for how long. But it was over. For the first time ever, a clear cut victory for her. Although this was a younger, and not as powerful Hulk. It had been a bit unfair since she was now older than him, and both had grown stronger over time.

Like she cared about fair.

Mindful of her broken hand, she flipped the Hulk on his stomach, then buried her leg firmly in his back, and with her good hand grabbed his head. She was going to pull until either his neck or back broke, then just to be sure, rip off his head altogether. She started to use her tremendous strength to get the job done.

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Kang paced back and forth in his command center, waiting. While he hadn't expected it to be totally over by now, he thought one of his Dead Parade would have returned and reported success. Instead he had been kept in the dark, anxiously awaiting some kind of update. In hindsight, he should have given them communicators. They could have reported to him that way. If only drones didn't become hopelessly lost, he could have had mechanical eyes on events. But no, he would simply have to be patient and wait.

A master of time had become a slave to it like every mortal was.

Finally someone entered the room. He remained tense for a moment, prepared to engage the intruder should it prove to be an Avenger, but no. It was the Gunslinger, looking as calm and collected as ever. She was easily one of the most composed people he had ever met. The only time she had asked him a question was if he had a hot spring somewhere on the premises. Given the unusual nature of his Dead Parade, that wasn't even the oddest one he had been given. Not even top five.

"Job's taken care of," she informed him.

"Finally." A great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Historically the Avengers had proven quite undefeatable despite their foes and whatever machinations had been in store for them. Kang had access to resources no mere Mandarin or Man Beast had, but still they had proven unpredictable and resilient. That one was dead meant he was on the path to success.

And then to his delight Iron Rose of the future entered the room. She limped slightly, but otherwise showed no signs of battle damage. That had been the duel he had been most confident in. In truth, he suspected this Iron Rose could have taken out all of the Avengers given the ability of her future technology. But no way was he relying on that plan. Still, it meant more of his calculations had borne fruit. Two down. Six reports to go.

To the pair he said, "I want you to stay close, Cassidy. Iron Rose, I might need you to go out in the field again to either assist one of your teammates or dispatch a surviving Avenger entirely. We'll give the others another half hour, Avengers are hard to kill and you know how difficult it can be to move about in the Citadel. So we'll—".

The rest ended as Iron Rose's repulsors and chest beam lashed out, striking Kang in every vital point of his own armor, disabling everything in a series of blasts. That he was in the armor at the time did him no good either. He was hissing in a great deal of pain as he struck the floor.

He raged through clenched teeth, "You fool! If you turn on me, you are going to die in that nuclear explosion! You know even your armor can't endure that!"

"I have no idea what explosion you are referring to," she said coldly.

"The one I snatched you from. Radioactive Man was about to 'go nuclear' for the final time and take you with him. You know you dealt him a terminal wound. He was not one to go quietly in the night."

"I see. You've made something of a mistake," Iron Rose informed him. "I am not that watered down incompetent who was foolish enough to try and use my own technology against me. The silly little girl is sleeping somewhere. I shall deal with her using appropriate measures in time."

Oh hell. It was the one thing he hadn't considered. While Iron Rose of the future's technology was vastly superior to the original one, knowledge of the Iron Rose armor itself had balanced the scales in some unforeseen way.

And then a voice said, "Oh, so you're my teammate under that renovated look. Can't say I care much for it, by the way."

Kang turned in horror to the same passageway Cassidy had walked from. It was Hawkeye, bow at the ready. To the woman who had owed him her life he said, "Why?"

The blonde said, "You messed up a bit, Kangaroo. I ain't Setsuna Cassidy. I'm the other Gunhawk, Rushuna Jones."

"But she shot first. The bullet was coming for you. It was on target. You hadn't fired yet."

Jones said, "I'm pretty sure my pistol barrel was lined up with hers and I was just about to pull the trigger. Plan was to shoot the bullet out of mid-air and fire a follow up. I did it once before. If according to the history books I got off the mountain alive, sounds like it worked."

It was so ridiculous, yet it made perfect sense.

Now time was vital. More than ever. If he met defeat, it didn't matter if the Avengers died, it was over. He needed time.

"Where are our friends?" Iron Rose asked this while aiming a repulsor at his faceplate.

He spoke just a touch slowly. "They are spread out through the Citadel. I can tell you the areas they started out in, but they have probably moved since then. By all means, if they are still alive, rescue them."

Rushuna said, "He's telling the truth. This place is all sorts of weird. He wasn't able to keep tabs on any of us. I know where the rest of the hombres I was working with were assigned and to who. I can take you to the areas they're in. They are a handful, though, Kangaroo made sure of that."

"I suppose you'll want to know why I did all of this?" Kang asked from his prone position on the floor.

Iron Rose said, "There will be time enough for that once I've rescued our friends. You can regale my teammate with the story though, since we aren't foolish enough to leave you alone."

Hawkeye kept her bow drawn and an arrow on him. "Go ahead and talk."

Kang said, "Time is a fleeting thing, even when you're a master of it. You're going to kill the woman I love if you don't die first."

"We don't kill people," Hawkeye told him.

"Collateral damage!" he spat. "Do you think dying because someone blasted a piece of equipment that causes a power surge that kills someone is any different that your new gun toting friend pulling the trigger? It isn't, not when the people you love die! The only way to let things happen the way they should while keeping her alive is killing you!"

"Well, that little plan just came undone," Iron Rose said. "We are all getting out of here alive, and taking you with us."

"I hope not to the first. It would take a miracle for all of my calculations to be that far off. But the latter will not happen because you are now out of time in three…two…one."

And then everyone disappeared.

Kang slumped to the ground, relieved at having not been truly defeated, as had nearly happened. Depressed beyond all measure, for his best, most carefully laid of plans had been undone. Had enough Avengers been killed to change things? Had any of them been killed? He'd have to see.

At least he'd had the foresight to install a failsafe in his armor, though it had been in case the Dead Parade had turned on him, rather than the Avengers defeating him. An outcome he had never envisioned. Had his armor been rendered powerless in some fashion, like Cougar trying to take it over with his Phantom Cat abilities, his time machinery would have read the interruption in a signal being constantly transmitted by the armor. When that happened for one minute, it would send out a pulse of chronal energy throughout the citadel, disrupting everyone who had been plucked from time and sending them away. For most it would have a rubber band effect of snapping them back where they belonged, but since it was a surge, and a powerful one, there was a chance they'd end up in some other place and time. But it wouldn't be at the center of time in the citadel, and that was all that mattered.

Now that the immediate threat had passed and his life was no longer in danger, a different emotion flowed into him. He threw his faceplate to the ground and screamed with a rage that might have even overcome Mr. Fear's terror effect. When one was so totally filled with a single emotion, it was difficult for others to take root.

The echoes continued throughout the citadel for a long time, even in that timeless place.

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Juri Arisugawa found herself standing in the middle of a Tokyo street holding her sword, the Avengers roster preparing to administer the coup de gras and defeat the Shinsengumi on the group's debut mission.

Then she felt her sword turn its power against her, a vortex drawing her very body inward. It compacted everything, including her internal organs, killing her instantly.

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Cougar found his body reformed on the satellite from which he had planned humanity's genocide. He had a thousandth of a second to remember Kang's warning that they'd been betrayed and it was the Phantom Cats who would be eradicated instead-.

And then a light flooded inside the satellite, permanently disrupting his form so that he would never exist anywhere again.

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Mr. Fear found himself standing in the middle of a field, Scarecrow thrusting his pitchfork forward. Mr. Fear allowed the weapon to impale him, Scarecrow lifting him off the ground and holding him up in the air, shaking his body like a war trophy for all to see.

Mr. Fear chose to remain motionless. Let them examine the body and declare it dead. He was in no hurry, and if he was publically listed as deceased, well that made it all the easier to move about with impunity. Besides, the meeting with Daredevil had been enlightening. He knew fear in all its forms, every subtle nuance and taste. Daredevil's true fear was the kind that meant the cause of it still existed, and Mr. Fear wanted to know what it was, so he could unleash it upon the masked adventurer and allow him to bask in the sensations again.

Terror caused by outside sources was more delicious than the ones people had of him merely being in their presence. There was a sort of authenticity to it that made it more delectable to the palette. He was quite the connoisseur when it came to the flavor of terror.

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Scimitar found himself in the middle of an abandoned department store, in the exact place he had been before Kang had grabbed him. There was a moment where he remembered Kang warning him of his eminent demise….

And then a pair of sai erupted from the front of his chest, having been driven into him from behind. One in the heart and lung. A perfect blow which killed him instantly.

Elektra extracted her weapons, making sure he was dead and that no other member of the Phantom Troupe came out of the shadows to try and kill her. This had been her most difficult mission yet. Killing a member of the Phantom Troupe was a difficult task at the best of times, but the Hand had a reputation of being able to kill anyone so they had accepted the contract. The price had been extraordinary, but so had the target. It had taken all of her skill to not just track the man down, but kill him without being detected. She was certain he had at the last second, luckily too late to do anything. She had researched Scimitar's sword techniques, and they were superior to any weapon she might use. Even ranged attacks were a bit risky since he had a lethal one of his own. A nice ace in the hole that would have been a fatal surprise to most. Luckily stealth had seen her through to the end. And more importantly his.

Now it was time to escape without leaving a clue behind that the Hand had anything to do with this. While the Phantom Troupe were professionals and understood assassinations were a part of the game, they might try to send a message back to the Hand in not taking any further contracts by killing an entire branch or two, a feat they were easily capable of if the Troupe came at them with every member. Best to let no one know who had done the deed. In their time they had angered many people more than capable of killing one of their members. The list of suspects would be long.

Elektra left the body behind. Matsuo had said if she pulled off the hit he'd send her on a special assignment to work for this Mandarin fellow. Apparently he had some sort of plan the Hand wanted in on, and they wanted an Assassin Prime on the case.

It would be just another day in the taking of lives. It mattered little, since all her days were the same anyway.

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Setsuna Cassidy stared in shock at where her one time partner and best friend, Rushuna Jones, had been standing. The bullet had been right at the heart, and the busty blonde had had no time to dodge. Setsuna had finally gotten the chance to end the bitch's miserable existence, unless she tried that shooting the bullet in mid-air thing. But that had only happened once, and it had been a fluke. Setsuna knew it. The former Gunhawk had been good, but no one was that good.

Instead she had disappeared. And all of her at once, not like the late Phantom Rider and his stupid trick with the cape. Sure, he made people think he was really a ghost, but Setsuna had seen through it instantly, and put a round through him. She'd done that to a lot of people today. So had Rushuna. In fact, everyone they had brought with them was dead and they had been the final two. A battle this large, with all of the biggest names in the west, and all of them dying. This was one that would be talked about forever.

Setsuna was still trying to figure out where Rushuna really was when a bullet took her in the back of the head, killing her instantly.

The Rawhide Kid, mortally wounded, let his six shooter hit the ground. The way his vision was swimming, he had been lucky to make the shot, but he couldn't let the depraved psychopath escape. She left a trail of bodies wherever she went, recruited likeminded individuals to assist her. That was why he and the others had agreed to help Rushuna take them on. And now, now there was no one left.

And so the Rawhide Kid joined his comrades and foes in death as well.

The Massacre on Midnight Mountain had finally ended.

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The Frankenstein Monster found himself on a sheet of ice in the middle of more ice. There was nothing but ice everywhere, in every direction. And cold. Cold so severe, even his patchwork form could feel it in a way he had never experienced before. True, he was no longer in the middle of a fire, which was good, but this was the same end as well, just at the opposite side of the spectrum.

He could just lie down and let the cold consume him there, but he decided to walk instead. He chose a direction and started, feeling the cold slowing everything inside him down. There were worse ways to go than freezing to death, he supposed. It was peaceful, at least.

And he hadn't killed anyone else. There was solace in that.

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Wakizashi Kunou found herself totally naked on a beach. It would have been cause for embarrassment save that everyone else was nude as well. The only curious looks she got were from people who thought she hadn't been there a second before. But since it was considered poor manners to just stare at someone at a nudist's beach, most of them dismissed it as a trick of the sun and went back to what they were doing.

Wakizashi was at a loss. While grateful she was not at ground zero of the Radioactive Man killing her in a flash of light, she was more than a touch irritated at not knowing where, or when she was. That was the issue with travel through time and space. Once she ascertained those two things, she'd make plans.

In the meantime, she'd lie back and enjoy the sun. Sometimes you just had to roll with things.

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The giantess heard the Hulk's neck bones begin to crack when suddenly there was no Hulk. And no Citadel of Time for that matter. Instead she now stood in the middle of a dirt road in the middle of some nondescript countryside in the middle of the day.

Her mind seized up. It couldn't have happened! He was seconds away from death. She was seconds away from having her decades' long quest end in the only way it could. Damn him! Damn Kang! Damn time and space itself!

She roared out in rage which shook the earth itself.

The sound of movement behind her made her turn. It was a small army. Men in medieval armor on horseback prepared for war. The armor looked functional, not ceremonial. And worn. However the army marched with pride and purpose. These weren't just warriors: they were winners.

One of them turned to the back and said, "I believe it might be an Apostle in our path, Lord Zodd."

A man on a horse that was the size of a small bull came from the back of the column. He was nearly the size of the Hulk himself, heavily muscled with red eyes, though his had tiny black pupils in the center of them. Cleary this was no normal human.

Inwardly she sighed. This was a path she was familiar with. "Three questions. What is the name of this land? Who do I have to kill to run it? And are you with me or against me?"

The colossal brute smiled flashing sharp teeth. "Midland. King Griffith. And against you, mostly because I can sense your power and want to test it. Your name?"

"You will address me by my title: Warlordess of K'ai." And she smiled back just as viciously. At least she found something to put her in a good mood. After all, she was destined to be a conqueror. It was how she became who she was. Another world brought under the Crimson Banner was her life's calling, if not her life's choice.

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[End Chapter]

Woo hoo. A big 'un. A genuine No Prize to anyone who remembers where in the Avenging universe the Grey Gargoyle first bit the dust. And another one if you can recall where I dropped the hint that Thor was terrified of flesh golems (Yes, I had this planned out from that long ago). We also got to see a couple of members of the deceased back at it again, albeit briefly. Some new blood we'll be seeing again, obviously. Kang becoming desperate as his time is almost up. Me hijacking a cool name like Dead Parade despite it having nothing to do with the actual anime.

And yes, I know I did not include Super Patriot's return scene. I did get to include some Grenadier characters of all things (Think Trigun… with boobs. And a way cooler way of reloading a gun). Actually watch the opening of AMV Hell 3 Grenadier on youtube for a great scene with my adapted Gunhawks going at it. Ridiculous but fun. And the Frankenstein Monster only got frozen, like he did in the Marvel Universe proper. He had a fun run in black and white in the old Monsters Unleashed magazine. Gerber put him in some bizarre situations, though I liked the most 'conventional' one in issue 10, which also had a Tigra story.