Avenging

Act 5

Chapter 15

Overture to a Tragedy in Five Acts

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tsommer

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Last chapter: Akane and her sisters came to a decision in regard to dealing with Ranma. Dr. Akagi had a convenient death. Kang recruited Whiplash and Blacklash into his fold as he plans to make one last attempt to end the Avengers. The Avengers finally met Kerberos. Diamond Lil met them and fell to pieces. Now the heroes discuss about what to do with this new unwanted government agency.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

A full complement of Avengers had gathered in the meeting room of their headquarters. Everyone sat at their seats, sharing a personality of disgruntled and irate. Empty cups of various drinks were strewn about the table, indicting they had been there for some time. The aura about the room would have made even the most dangerous of super villains wary. Sometimes angry heroes weren't all that better than violent villains.

Hawkeye leaned forward on the table, looking everyone else over. "So that's it? We're all in agreement about what we can do about these Kerberos clowns?"

"Not a damn thing," Captain Japan grumbled.

Daredevil's voice was heavy with resignation. "They are an official government agency. We have to treat them like we would the police or sanitation department. You can't go knocking them over because you don't like how they're picking up your garbage."

Wasp said, "They seem so shady."

Iron Rose nodded. "I'm certain there's more to them than meets the eye. In the business world this feels like the opening maneuver to something much larger rather than the culmination of a great deal of effort."

Ryouga, non-Hulked and the least concerned of the group, said, "Are we sure we're not getting a bit jealous because they're doing their job for us? They've managed to stop a number of villains over the last few weeks that normally we'd have taken care of."

"That's Giant Man talk!" Wasp snapped.

Hawkeye was more even-tempered. "We've never had a problem with other heroes taking villains down. I don't want to corner the market on them. No, it's something else."

"They haven't exactly been stringent about taking everyone in alive," Daredevil pointed out. "I mean they aren't openly bloodthirsty, and the guys they've taken out have tended to be, but we usually bring them back alive."

"Heroes don't leave corpses behind," Captain Japan said adamantly.

"Is always chance one develops taste for it if one does it too often. Sometimes once is too often. Power tend to corrupt. Power of life and death ultimate power," Tigra said.

"There is little heroic about drawing a salary for work better suited to others better at it," Thor pointed out.

"You can say that about many people who do good thing while working for others ," Iron Rose said. "Besides, it's not the rank and file on the frontlines that's an issue: it's the people giving orders."

"What did you find out about the power armor?" Captain Japan asked.

"About the Russian armor, nothing. My employer doesn't have deep connections to the government so there aren't many lines of communication on that front. On the other hand I can confirm the Mandriods are upgrades from Stark Enterprises in the U.S., and the Raider armor came from Stane-Daitokuji, as I surmised. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some sort of connection on that front. Stane-Daitokuji has been getting influxes of cash that aren't from any of their properties on the open market that I'm aware of. Government money would explain it, though."

"She's nothing but trouble," Wasp confirmed.

"But whatever she's up to, she's covering her tracks. Also I have yet to figure out the origins on that robot. I assume she created it, but who did it is beyond me. Its power was incredible if it held off the three of you at the same time. But if what you said is true, we might be able to deal with it."

"It would not last a second round against the Goddess of Thunder," Thor swore.

"But we can't go making an unprovoked attack on her or we'll find ourselves up against Kerberos," Daredevil pointed out.

"That would be… problematic," Hawkeye admitted.

"All this power and we're unable to use it," Iron Rose muttered.

"Power without any kind of restriction usually tyranny," Tigra said.

"We'd only do good with it," Wasp assured her.

"That was what the Mandarin said," Captain Japan reminded her.

"Oh." Wasp remained silent after that.

"We'll just have to learn to live with these new guys," Ryouga rose up from his seat. "Sorry, but I really need to get started on trying to get to my date with Jarella. It's not that far from here, so it should only take me a few hours to get there. I hope."

"I can take thee to thine destination," Thor offered as she stood as well.

"We've done all that we can. Which is nothing since even we have limitations. And as our good Captain reminded us, that might be for the best. " Iron Rose said. "Why don't we declare the meeting adjourned?"

And the group separated, irritated that they could do nothing, but accepting it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Councilwoman Ariyoshi was delighted to the point she'd have broken out in song and dance if she wasn't terrible at both. That and her office lacked the room to do either. Wolf and Panther Brigades were now on the map and doing well for her despite the shaky start with the Tokyo Underground incident. Irie had finally delivered on a number of occasions they could finally go public with, and all of them successful with incredibly few casualties of a civilian or organizational nature. Some of the criminals had been killed, but that was for the best. While she was against the death penalty these were people, who were basically human weapons –and unregistered ones at that- violating the law and refusing to accept punishment for their actions. If they made themselves a threat to others, so be it. They were a blight on society and too dangerous to be allowed to run rampant. Incarcerating them was fine, but this was taking care of them in a permanent way.

Life was full of too many problems to be concerned when some took themselves off the table.

With her receiving proper credit for its success, in combination with one of her chief rivals getting his hand caught in accepting some bribes and being removed from office, meant it was time to get funding for Tiger Brigade passed. Biko assured her the project was on the verge of being completed. By the time the measure passed, and it would for Kerberos was proving its worth and she the one who had gotten it done, and the funding was in place, they'd have the product they needed.

And then it would be time to move on to the greatest parts of her plan. This was ultimately only the enforcement arm for that, even if no one knew it at the time. What she needed was for all of Kerberos to be into play, prove their worth, and then she'd start the ball moving on the regulations that needed passed, along with the guarantee they could be enforced when short sighted people began to protest and refuse to go along with the new regulations. She needed the groundwork laid now so when the time came the cornerstone for the true structure, she had planned for her country could be laid. Then their society could truly progress from the antiquated ideas that held it back.

They'd need something on the Red Rajah or Mandarin's level to occur to get the final part on the table and accepted by the government, and perhaps more importantly the public, but it would come. Sadly, some people needed to be eased into things, rather than being smart enough to see what the problem would be and just take care of it all at once. And there would be resistance from those that either misunderstood or were just outright evil. Especially on the part of those with super powers who believed they were more important than society as a whole. None of them understood their role in the greater design of things. That was why Kerberos, and especially Tiger Brigade, was so essential. It would have to be used, and it had to work. Otherwise everything would be so much… messier.

She needed to start getting normal people in society on her side to drum up public support. When too many official words came from the government, people grew suspicious. You needed people outside the government to back you up and make it seem everyone was on board and you were the outsider for not agreeing with everyone else. And since most people wanted to be part of the group, they'd go along with it.

There were several 'pro-humanity' groups, but she needed one that was more 'anti-super human', since so many of them were basically super human supremist like Magneto. While he was focused only on mutant superiority, at least openly, what it really boiled down to was super humans in general. There was no real difference between a mutant who could shoot an eye blast through a dozen people and someone who got the same ability from a meteorite. Perhaps that could come up the next to time she was at a party with some of the heads of media. How Magneto's true agenda was being overlooked, and that it was much larger than they gave it credit for. He should be touted more like the super human supremist he was. For that matter any of these super human types who believed their powers somehow made them better than others just because they were bigger or could run quicker were cut from the same cloth. Were normal athletes better than someone that was overweight or didn't exercise? Of course not. But people with super powers acted like they were. It was a form of supremacy, in a way, and the information to the public should be framed as such. She had taken enough journalism classes in college to understand simply disgorging information was not enough for a true journalist. You needed to frame information in the proper manner so people understood what was really going on since many people were confused by superfluous information they received from unprofessional sources. Some of it outright lies, as she'd seen on the internet about her. Eventually she'd have to pass regulations on the flow of this disinformation. Luckily, she knew many in the media that could be trusted to head that. They'd know how to keep people focused on important matters and disregard unimportant ones. 'Truth and Trust' legislation had a nice ring to it.

It was times like this she realized how much work society needed. It was nightmarish. Luckily, she was the once in a lifetime leader the press proclaimed her to be. She'd get the job done.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

It was in the dead of night as a woman dressed as a janitor stopped next to the personal office of Councilwoman Arjuna Ariyoshi. Lightning fast she was down on her knees at the lock, and had it opened in under fifteen seconds. She then rose up and walked into the room with the slow trudge of someone who hated their job and only did it to keep from starving to death, and even that wasn't a better alternative by much.

Had Ariyoshi been working late, she would have recognized the janitor was one Lieutenant Ayumi Narusawa, Kerberos' second in command in the field. She would also know better than to think Narusawa was working a side job as a janitor for extra money.

The decision Narusawa had made in breaking into her superior's private office and risking a very long prison sentence if she got caught, had been surprisingly easy. She supposed it was because she found her boss completely unpalatable, and she had been around many politicians during her tenure with Hound, so what was saying something. She'd also been around many ruthless opponents in dealing with Phantom Cats. This woman was both. History showed ruthless politicians were the kind that got the most people into the most troubles, and with her wielding Kerberos, Narusawa would end up being the one to inflict the trouble on others. She had an uneasy feeling about who those theoretical others would be.

When she read about the death of that Abe reporter, she instinctively knew something bad was on the horizon. A couple of days after he's positively identified as the intruder at the base he dies in a home invasion? She'd been in the business too long to buy the convenient coincidence. Irie had run enough cover ups she knew the feel of something that appeared to be one thing on the surface but was the exact opposite underneath.

During the height of the clandestine war against the Phantom Cats, Hound had been given permission to sanction anyone that was likely to reveal things if necessary. Any executions would be reviewed to make certain they were justified, but it was a testament to Irie's restraint that all such actions were deemed acceptable after the fact.

But Kerberos had no such powers. Casualties in battle happened; outright assassination was murder. That was illegal. Since Irie was a 'by the rules' company man, he'd never do it. That left some other party with a vested interest in seeing Abe dead and wanting to cover it up as something less sinister. There was one person at the head of that list, one who Narusawa envisioned would murder as many people as she felt like that she could get away with, and that was why she was here now.

She went to the computer and turned it on. Of course it was password protected, which meant nothing to Narusawa. During the war with the Phantom Cats, who were naturally electronically savvy thanks to their demonic breed, Hound had been forced to come up with what might be the world's most sophisticated computer protection programs, and the ability to decrypt equally sophisticated protection programs. So all it took was to hook up a device to hack the computer, which had a very basic system, then to clone all the information on a storage device and put things back the way she had found them.

She then left as quickly as she could without attracting attention. She had a lot of information to peruse.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Politicians had tons of information on their computers. Most of it was pure politics, which to a non-politician was as interesting as advanced theoretical mathematics were to a professional make up artist. Had Narusawa been less able to focus, she'd have fallen into a coma while staring at a video screen.

But the second day in she discovered the file. It was labeled under 'PP System Evaluations.' It took a little while to get past the initial technobabble, but then she got to the long-term measures to institute societal-wide distribution of the system. That was when a woman who had gone toe to toe with near indestructible demons determined to subjugate or genocide humanity felt her blood chill. Perhaps in part it was because ultimately the Phantom Cats were an inhuman enemy, so inhuman things from them was to be expected. But this was all human.

It took a while to read through everything, and there were tons of files with details great and small, but when it was done, yes, Ariyoshi would definitely have Abe eliminated to keep this from possibly going public. She'd have Narusawa killed as well if she knew the soldier had possession of the intel. And to make her feel worse, Narusawa was part of these plans given her position in Wolf Brigade. She had been on the slow and steady path to making it happen, albeit unknowingly until now. It made her feel a little sick.

She had to do something and be careful when doing it. She didn't want to fall victim to a 'home invasion' either. But in all her plans to protect herself, there was one thing she had to do before all else, even if it put her at risk. Her conscience wouldn't let her rest until she did.

Grabbing her burn phone, she punched a number she had memorized. Luckily, he picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?" Taba Yoichi answered.

"It's your friend from Ayagane Hot Springs. Listen good. Make plans to get Rando out of Japan fast. It doesn't matter where, just so long as it isn't here. The rest of you will be fine, you're just weapon users, but she has actual abilities and will be marked."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know I wouldn't steer you wrong," and she hung up and destroyed the phone. While she hadn't seen anything about a government surveillance system that was always looking for keywords on random phone calls, if there was one Ariyoshi was likely to have access to it, and Narusawa would rather not have a seemingly innocuous ending to her life. She hoped the former Geobreeder would heed her warning. Taba looked out for his people, so she was confident they'd get Punchout to safety.

Now she had to decide what to do about the information she'd collected.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The living quarters in the Dark Projects section of Stane-Daitokuji were Spartan. Much like the personality of the owner of the company, they were cold and largely devoid of human touches. Even the bedsheets were utilitarian in keeping you warm yet lacking any comfort. It was almost an engineering marvel in managing that.

Gendou Rokubungi was currently under the sheets naked. However these sheets, even the quarters themselves, made them the happiest he'd ever been in his life. That was because of the woman lying under them next to him: one Yui Ikari.

He was in love with her in a way he never thought possible, mostly because he had never loved anyone before nor cared to. But then he met her, and it was like magic right after 'Hello'. Somehow she was perfect for him. He understood neither how nor why, just that it was and he accepted it as such.

They had just finished their second round of lovemaking. As they lay in bed, he noted there was something off about her both now and of late. While he wanted to respect her boundaries he wanted to know if something was wrong, and if somehow he could make it better. Nothing was right if something was wrong with the center of his existence.

He decided to take a shot in the dark. "I feel bad about what happened to Naoko."

Yui's brow's furrowed slightly. "She shouldn't have messed around in things she couldn't handle."

Curious. His love could be vague at times, but this was a bit much for her. "What do you mean?"

There was a moment's hesitation. "Drugs. Don't do them or you'll regret it. Every addict didn't think they'd ever become an addict the first time they did them. Oops."

That made sense and created an opportunity. "You're the only drug I need to feel high."

"So you're saying I turned you into an addict? You always say the sweetest things."

Gendou panicked. He never panicked before he met her. He always thought clearly, even if things turned out bad, he thought clearly during the event. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean—".

"I know. I was joking."

And now the panic subsided. At least he could still collect himself quickly. "You seem distracted."

As if to prove his words, she stared off into space. "The boot up is going to happen soon."

He had meant to broach the subject with her. Another opportunity. "If you're worried, I could volunteer for it."

"No!" she snapped viciously and instantly, almost as though someone had tried to come at her with a weapon. It had been instinctual. "No one does it but me!"

That reaction hadn't been Yui. "Something's wrong."

Her anger remained. "Nothing's wrong. Quit acting like I need help when I don't. You're insufferable." She rose from the sheets, but he couldn't admire her body when her state was so distressed. She began to put on her clothing.

"I'm sorry. Please stay."

"I need some distance from you. You have no idea how crowding you can be. Sometimes it's like your suffocating me. So back off."

He wanted to protest further, but that would drive her further away: something he couldn't endure. He wished her good night as she opened the door to go, but she said nothing. He flinched as she shut the door hard enough to alert anyone in the hall she was departing. She was usually more discreet than that since she didn't like broadcasting their relationship to everyone.

He tried telling himself this was passing thing. Normally she was much more level-headed. She'd grown increasingly agitated as the day of launch for the Master Mold approached. A lot was riding on this, the culmination of over a year's work under pressure of the worst kind. Biko had made it clear the project had better work or there'd be a new head. But Gendou had faith in Yui's brilliance. The robot would work. She'd probably be better once that was off her back and she'd go back to normal.

Although even if she wasn't normal, he'd love her anyway.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The latest meeting of the Phantom Troupe took place in an abandoned auto body building. It had been a cover for a chop shop run by a local gang, but when the group decided it would be their next meeting place, Death Dealer killed every member of the gang, thus rendering it vacant for their use.

They weren't known as the most considerate killers around. They were known for being really good at their job, though.

Every member was spread out all over the former main area of the shop, mostly hidden in shadows. No one was near anyone else, perhaps because deadly assassins, even those that worked together, didn't like having people that stood an even chance of killing them being within arm's reach.

Only one figure was totally at ease, standing in the center of the room equally distant from everyone. He had dark hair and a face that made women swoon. He could easily have been a model on the cover of any women's magazine. Even his choice of clothing was considered the cutting edge of fashion, with designer pants and an open black jacket with a fur trim around it. He didn't bother with a shirt and instead showed off his lean well-muscled body.

Chrollo Lucifer, better known as Mimic, unchallenged leader of the Phantom Troupe, spoke. "Is everything set up for our New York excursion?"

One of the people in shadow said, "All the necessary equipment has been shipped and stored in safe locations. Transportation and accommodations for when we arrive have been arranged. The right people in the right places have been bribed. Everything will be as we planned."

Another voice, one filled with mirth, said, "Once we hit the auction, we're going to have more money than even we know what to do with."

"I know what to do with money," another voice opined.

Yet another member spoke. "It behooves me to point out Fisk is a shrewd man. He's almost certainly going to have security measures we haven't discovered, and they're going to be more difficult than we anticipate."

"I can vouch for that firsthand when I operated out of New York for a while. The Kingpin is a normal human who's stayed on top of a crowd filled with the super powered. And even after we pull this caper, I guarantee he's going to figure out we did it and he'll retaliate to save face."

Mimic shrugged. "We didn't enter this business because it was conducive to carefree, simple lives. We know the greatest rewards require the greatest risks, and besides, it's fun taking on some real competition. It keeps us sharp and dangerous. And if the fat man becomes too much of a nuisance, well, removing the Kingpin of crime will just bolster our reputation even further."

It was at that moment a man appeared in the middle of the room, literally fading into existence. He was dressed in green and purple armor with a blue faceplate that hid his identity. Every person in the room tensed and readied themselves for anything.

"Greetings, I am Kang the Conqueror and I want to employ you so you can kill some people for me."

One of the voices said, "He has a force field up. A good one."

Mimic appeared as at ease as he had during the meeting. Everyone else filled the room with enough lethal intentions to make most people want to wet themselves. "Of course we're available for assassinations. However our prices are outrageously high, especially for multiple targets. Who did you have in mind?"

"The Avengers."

Mimic laughed loudly enough to have it echo throughout the room. "Assuming we would take such a contract, the price would be so insanely high you'd be better off buying your own small island nation and operate with impunity from out of there."

"It won't be as difficult as you think," Kang assured him. "I already have a team assembled that should be able to kill them on their own. You're simply the back up to ensure we're victorious. And as to the price, I can offer you something you'd value more than mere money."

"There is nothing more valuable than money," someone said.

"Information on who killed Scimitar?" Kang offered in contention.

The temperature in the already chilled room dropped considerably.

"Done," a deep voice said.

"You don't make decisions for the rest of us, Blockbuster," someone warned.

"But I do," Mimic reminded all of them. "If the information is legitimate, and you give us the precise details of what you want us to do in going about killing the Avengers, that would be adequate."

Kang informed them of his plan. At least all the ones that pertained to killing the Avengers. He didn't want them to know about his true love and that saving her was the true goal. She could be used as leverage against him, and in any case the deaths of the Avengers would change everything.

"A very feasible possibility," Mimic admitted. "If you have been completely forthright and not attempted to mislead us, we'll get to the payment portion now. We like being paid upfront for important matters like this."

Kang pushed a button on his gauntlet. An image appeared in the middle of the room. It wa the exact moment of Scimitar's death as a woman dressed in red drove two sai through his chest from behind. He froze it at that moment so her face was revealed. The member called Blockbuster unleashed a roar of rage.

Mimic looked to one of the shadows. "Copycat?"

"The entry points of the blades and damage to the outfit are identical. That's not someone reenacting the moment of death or some kind of simulation. That is an image of the exact moment when Scimitar died."

"That's Elektra of the Hand," one of the Troupe said. "I ran into her once when we had the same target. She'd already made the hit, and since I wasn't getting paid to kill someone that good, I let bygones be bygones."

"I heard she's not with them anymore. I think she got on their bad side."

"She's dead!" Blockbuster snarled.

"After the hit," Kang warned. "I need all of you alive for this. That's the deal."

"Which will be upheld," Mimic assured him. "We'll be at the proper place at the proper time."

"See to it you are." And with that Kang departed in the same manner he had arrived.

"I want her dead now," Blockbuster insisted.

"You might have been closest to him, but he was one of us. We'll all avenge him," Mimic assured him. "After we fulfill this contract, we will all drop by the Hand's main headquarters and ask the man in charge where she is. We'll be persuasive, even if it means removing a few fingers from their hands."

"There might be a problem with that," said a voice from the doorway entering the large room.

"Seems 'secret meeting' means 'everyone knows and anyone can drop by'," said one of the members.

The speaker was an elderly woman dressed in very regular clothing. Judging by the glasses and cane, she was blind. Judging by her posture, she wasn't the least bit frightened. The others wagered she was either terminally stupid, hideously powerful, or categorically insane. Or some combination of the three. They'd met all sorts of types during their tenure with the group.

Mimic again took charge. "Needle, make sure no one else is around, if you would, then stand guard. As to you, Ma'am?"

"You might have heard of me from my time with the Brotherhood. I used to be known as Destiny."

Another member spoke. "Word was she was a precog. Word also was Maggie wasn't thrilled about her departure since knowing the future is half the battle."

"Not how the saying goes, Vakume."

"Oh."

Irene Adler entered the room unhesitently. "I am afraid that either through intent or ignorance, Kang has misled you. You most assuredly do not want to kill the Avengers, for I have seen what will happen if you do. Now ordinarily I would have to ask you to trust me, but since your abilities precede you, Mimic, by all means, see for yourself."

He smiled. "I've never sampled precognition before."

"A word of advice. Focus on when the time to attack is. That will serve as a starting point. Precognition makes it easy to… wander."

There was a nod of affirmation. Mimic was not that different from the Super Adaptoid, save he could only use one ability at a time. Once he encountered a power, he could duplicate it, though much like the Super Adaptoid there were limits to how much power his ability could duplicate.

He did as she bade. The future came remarkably quickly, and he knew it was the truth.

He turned to the others. "Kang broke the deal. We're all dead if we go through with this."

"So we kill him?"

"No. Obviously we'll regard his 'payment', which is uniquely valuable, as sufficient for allowing him to live," Mimic said.

"And Destiny?"

Everyone focused on the elderly woman.

"She's aided us, though we owe her nothing since she aided herself in the process. Allow her to leave unmolested." Mimic gave a bow to the woman.

As she turned to go, she said one last thing. "A word of advice. I recommend you exorcise that power. I'm one of the more powerful precogs alive. Those not born with the ability have difficulty controlling it. One can get so wrapped up on potential futures they forget the present. Those with no present never have a future." And she departed.

Mimic considered that. Since precogs didn't run everything, there had to be some limits to the ability. On the other hand, as he had just proven, there were definite benefits. Then he knew what he should do. He decided to look into the future and see if he could determine if he should indeed get rid of the power.

He then collapsed to the floor in front of everyone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Captain Japan was a ball of eagerness as he rushed to the scene of a crime, if the police were to be believed. His Avengers card had given him the alert, in this case an automated signal for when a specific type of case came up. One involving the name Super Patriot. Iron Rose had been enthusiastic in assisting him since he had helped her employer on more than one occasion. So she set up the computer program as he wished, and he had just received the call.

Just as he arrived at where the break-in had occurred, he saw much to his consternation Wolf Brigade had arrived, or at least a half dozen members of it. They stood with some guy in a costume that looked nothing like Super Patriot's. It was a blue overcoat with a blue shirt, blue pants, black boots and white gloves with some odd symbols etched on them. A domino mask was all that hid his identity. His motif was more similar to the Wolf Brigade's military uniforms than a more conventional super type. Judging by the way the gun toting government agents regarded him, they were not together.

Captain Japan rushed in, almost hoping the brigadiers would open up on him so he could put them down. He agreed with the other Avengers, there was something off about them he didn't like. Things had been perfectly fine without the government sticking its nose in. At least this time there weren't any bodies lying around, nor was there signs of gunplay.

He wasn't sure what was going on, so he took the most direct route. "So where's Super Patriot?"

The guy in blue huffed, "That's 'Patriotic Man', not 'Super Patriot', although that does have kind of a nice ring to it."

Captain Japan examined him more closely. Too tall and too lean to be Super Patriot. The voice wasn't right either. Even the mannerisms were different. This wasn't him. A false alarm. His name combined with someone saying 'super' had given him a false alarm. Still, he had to check it out.

One of the Brigade spoke to the others. "We have confirmation he's legit. You're free to go, Mr. Mustang." They turned to leave.

"Damn dogs of the military!" he shouted at their departing forms.

"I'm with ya' there," Captain Japan said. "So, you know any other guys going around with a name similar to yours? Any Super and Patriot's put together?"

"No. Can't say I do," he said, then in a very friendly way said. "You can call me Roy. I assume you've heard of me?"

"Nope," he admitted.

"Come on. I took down Exploding Clay. The Gobbler. I thought everyone knew me by now."

Dear god, those sounded like Daredevil villains. The poor bastard thought he was impressive taking down a few random idiots who wore a mask. The Gobbler? Eating wasn't an actual super power. "Afraid not." There was no need to be rude.

Patriotic Man was annoyed, then became enthusiastic. "I've been wanting to meet you for a long time."

Captain Japan kept from rolling his eyes out of politeness. Super hero groupies weren't just among normal people. The Avengers name carried a lot of weight even amongst the masked set, so there were fans even among them. "Glad to meet you, too."

"So, you and Bucky have a thing going on?" he asked

"No!" Damnit, everyone asked that question, or others that were more lurid and worse. A lot of those types nearly earned themselves a punch to the face.

Patriotic Man grinned ear to ear. "Cool. How about giving me her number. I have a feeling once I give her an opportunity to 'ride the Mustang,' she'll never want to get off, if you know what I mean. Heh, heh, he-."

His laughter died with a hard fist to the face that sent him to the ground. As Captain Japan stormed off, Patriotic Man shouted, "Hey, you greedy jerk, share the candy with some of the other guys!"

Captain Japan's eyebrow twitched rather spastically. Sometimes being a dual super hero really sucked.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

[END CHAPTER]

All right. All the pieces are in place. Next chapter is the climax to Act V and a lot of other things. Thus that chapter will be a lot longer than the others, I believe. It might even end up divided into two, so we shall see. But yes, all of what appears to be meandering a bit was a buildup as I wanted everything else to happen rather quickly. See you then.