Avenging
Act IV
The Hate Monger and the Peacemaker
Chapter 11
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As she walked down the halls of the Diet building, Councilwoman Arjuna Ariyoshi wanted to shout out in joy at the top of her lungs. Actually, she probably would have were it not undignified, and appearances had to be maintained. Everything had gone her way. The Mandrill Incident, as it was being named, couldn't have been more perfect if she had planned it herself. When it came to super humans, most of her fellow politicians were apathetic, or worse 'Xavierheads', as some of her staff were referring to those backing the Alice Institute and its ideology, which was little more than offering a few bribes and token gestures to be allowed to run amuck as they pleased. Too few understood the danger of super powers unchecked. There was a distinct difference between trying to slip someone a Rohypnol in their drink and being able to make an entire room breathe it whenever you wanted.
But now the political body had been hit with the metaphorical sledgehammer right between the eyes. A super human had messed with the government's money, and that was over everyone's line. Arjuna had known it was inevitable something like this would happen. She thought they'd gone too far a long time ago, but now others were finally in agreement, attitudes ripe for enlightenment. This was the precipice, and a few choice words, delivered in the right manner, reinforced by the right people at the right time, would keep things there until something happened that plunged them over the edge.
Well, not everyone was clear thinking. There was that vocal holdout from Osaka that claimed Arjuna was taking advantage of a tragedy. Hardly, she was simply pointing out the facts. It wasn't her fault it took situations like this to highlight what she already knew. Sometimes it took events like this to make people move past the fog in front of them, and see the light.
But such members were few and far between now. This meeting resulted in a great many of her co-workers agreeing something needed to be done, and she assured them she was the one to come up with a workable plan. She wasn't foolish enough to propose what she truly intended yet, only hinting at what was to be the first stage, while framing it as her entire plan. Groundwork needed to be laid for revolutionary ideas. Patience was something today's instant gratification society failed to grasp.
And the final coup was engineering things so the public would adore her. Her fellow politicians had been naive enough to try and come up with a plan for seizing the money Mandrill had produced and literally thrown to the masses. As though they could. Mandrill's mind raped women (which is what they were, as far as Arjuna was concerned) had destroyed all the systems which recorded the serial numbers on the bills, which had been reissues of previously used numbers, as the handful of bills the government had gotten their hands on had confirmed. There was no way to tell them apart aside from condition, and there were already internet videos showing people how to make the money look used to keep it from being seized.
So rather than waste time intruding on people's lives and earning their resentment while trying to achieve a goal that couldn't possibly be attained, Arjuna had told them to let the people keep it. Imply the government could take the money back at any time, but since it wasn't the public's fault they had inadvertently helped in a crime, they wouldn't be penalized and would be allowed to the keep the money as a gift from them. Since no one could come up with a workable plan to get the money back, they went with Arjuna's, and she made certain she would be the spokesperson for it. She'd be the figurehead of the goodwill in the eyes of the public.
The only thing going wrong in her life was her inability to locate whoever it was that had been in contact with her late campaign manager. The sorrow she had initially felt at Ayako having to be dealt with had long since disappeared. There were too many things that needed done to linger on the more unpleasant necessities in life. Now only anger remained at the unknown variable her one time friend had caused. Smith had been correct. It had to have been over the full details of Arjuna's plan regarding super humans. Even after the Mandrill Incident, if anyone got wind of them, it would be curtains on her political career. He had to be dealt with as well. She couldn't take the chance this potential informer didn't know anything, though at least there was no proof. Still, it was a loose end that could unravel anything.
At some point someone would come up with a name. Then that could be as put to rest as Ayako's ashes were in her family's shrine.
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"I have good news. Since we weren't exposed to Mandrill's pheromones for overlong, they have already run their course through our system. Aside from the fact he's now buried in a quarter mile deep prison with far more safeguards than before, I daresay even we would be hard pressed to break him out, we need not fear him ordering us about again."
Everyone looked at Iron Rose, but none seemed particularly relieved by the statement. Such had been the mood for some time at the Avengers headquarters since everyone had returned. One could have blamed it on the Serpent Society and the two 'Lashes escaping in the confusion of the Mandrill's defeat. Or on how easily one opponent had essentially defeated the team with two sentences. Rather it was the reason for the absence of one member.
"So, the big lug really brushed everything off like that?" Captain Japan asked, looking at the empty, oversized chair at the table.
Hawkeye nodded while Daredevil said, "Oh yes. Left everyone thrown to the wolves, or monkey in this case, without a care in the world."
"Good riddance!" That was from Wasp, who was sitting on a projection from the viewscreen, near the ceiling, scowling at nothing in particular, or something only she could see in her mind's eye.
Captain Japan shook his head. "I mean, I know he complained about stuff all the time, but still, flaking out like that while everyone was in danger? I mean he was a stand-up guy before that."
Daredevil became a bit uneasy. "He might have had… issues, lately."
"Being a stuck up ass as a part of your basic personality is not an 'issue'. It's who you are. We're better off without him." Wasp sounded angrier than ever.
Daredevil considering bringing up the drinking, but thought better of it. What difference did it make? The Avengers were a volunteer group. Anyone could quit at any time, and Giant Man really had bailed on them in what might have been their greatest time of need. It was just the surprise of it happening so abruptly. Or that he had been so emphatic about it.
On the part of the group, there was nothing to be done about it other than accepting what happened. Still, despite their rough start, and occasional diverse personality conflicts, they functioned quite well as a team, and had never left any member hanging high and dry like that. It was a kind of betrayal that left sour taste in everyone's mouths.
Ryouga, who had finally located their headquarters and been brought up to date, was forlorn. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. Maybe I could have talked him out of it. It's just I sort of got caught up in the Money Mobs." By making off with as much as he could carry, which was a lot given his natural strength. He was so going to use his newfound wealth to buy more yellow and black outfits. Turning into a half ton of muscle tended to shred everything. And he still had no idea why his damn pants kept turning purple. But he was not walking around in shredded purple pants no matter how many he had to discard.
Iron Rose said, "I don't think that would have been so great, since your emerald alter-ego does not react well to his teammates attacking him, as I can attest to firsthand after that horrid phantom cat affair."
"Oh, right," Ryouga admitted.
Thor turned to Captain Japan. "It occurs to me thou hast not explained your most opportune, and appreciated, appearance."
The question was not unexpected. Once Ranma had collected his wits, after making sure the Mandrill had been thoroughly defeated, he realized he'd have to explain his saving the day without mentioning the sex changing. No way would he go back to being a female and risk Mandrill somehow regaining control, so instead he grabbed his shield and uniform, then snuck out with the villain without alerting anyone. The last thing he wanted was to risk a confrontation with his teammates that might end with them trying to rescue the ape. After successfully leaving, he turned the villain over to the authorities. Luckily, Mandrill had said nothing about Bucky changing into a guy. That wasn't too surprising given how humiliated he'd felt. Ranma hadn't thought it likely he'd share his being 'suckered' into nearly doing 'that' with a guy, with the rest of the world.
"My partner collected her wits long enough to tip me off she was in trouble and where she was. I slipped in and beat the slime up, got him out of range so you'd be free from his control, then came back. Only thing is, from what the authorities said the longer you're exposed to his pheromones the longer the duration of control. Since you only had a few hours that was nothing, but those Serpent Society chicks should have been hanging around waiting for more orders from him. Same with the whip girls."
"Perhaps Mandrill left them with a specific set of instructions should he not check in with them or he suffered defeat? Or they were sent on a mission after we received ours?" Iron Rose suggested. "In any case, they remain at large. We defeated them before, and we shall do so again if any of them turn up, though I can empathize with them somewhat for being controlled by that monster."
The female Avengers agreed, Hawkeye barely keeping herself from nodding along.
The mood returned to the grim state it had been before. Captain Japan noted this was the sort of situation that his father had taught him to deal with when it came to being a super hero. What he needed was something to inspire the troops.
"Okay, guys, I just want you all to know that despite my almost leaving once, I'm in it for the long haul. If anyone has some doubts about staying with the team, let's get them out in the open. If you want to stay, let's say that too."
Ryouga was the first to speak. "I like hanging out with you guys, and don't mind getting punched in the face a lot."
Everyone just stared at him. Then as one they laughed, much to Ryouga's bewilderment.
It continued on until everyone composed themselves. Captain Japan wiped a tear from his eye. Leave it to his old pal to phrase it that horribly, yet get right to the heart of the matter. It was probably better than something 'inspirational'. "I definitely feel the same way."
Everyone else agreed.
"Let's do that huddle and put hands over each other's thing," Hawkeye suggested.
Even the usually reluctant Daredevil didn't hesitate. Once everyone had their hands in the middle, Thor was the one to speak. "Avengers Assemble."
And just like that the mood changed for the better. The pall, if not completely removed, was mostly gone. Everyone began discussing events in a relaxed manner.
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After several hours, the meeting adjourned and everyone went their separate ways. While she had often times departed with Tofu on the way back to Nerima, Kasumi Tendou now found she flew alone. At least physically. Her thoughts gave her plenty of company.
As to her emotional state, well, she was the closest thing to enraged as she had ever been in her life. Tofu's casual dismissal of not just being a super hero, but bailing out on her when she was being mind-controlled? Had someone said that would happen as early as yesterday, she would have laughed at the very idea. Now, twenty-four hours later, it had actually happened. It was surreal, but not dreamlike. Nightmarish was a better term.
And of all the emotions that hammered her, it was a feeling of betrayal that outweighed the others. She had never really known him. That was the only rational explanation. It had been bad enough when he tried ordering her to stop living her life -that might have been a momentary lapse of judgement on his part, which all people had- but in conjunction with what he had done after, there was no excuse. He was like some alien creature now. Only she knew there was no mind-control involved like in her case.
Perhaps that made it all the sadder. They really hadn't been close before the accident that gave them their powers, but that first night, when they stopped Mentallo and the Fixer, had made her feel a closeness to him that she had never felt for anyone before. Certainly she had friends she spent time with, but they never *did* things, like Giant Man and Wasp had. Important things. Exciting things. Then they joined the Avengers and they did bigger, better more important, exciting things. And he had always been there fighting alongside everyone. Alongside her. It had been comforting and reassuring to have a friend at her side experiencing the enjoyment of being alive this way.
Without thinking she looked to the left. That was where Tofu usually was when they traveled together. But no longer. It almost felt like her shadow had wandered off. It was a sensation of loneliness that assailed her. And it was all his fault!
Half of her had a mind to go to his clinic and let him have it. And she only mostly meant verbally. A part of her really wanted to blast him, but that was just anger talking. Jerk or not, it was as the others said; he was not compelled to stay. He could leave if he wanted, which he clearly did more than anything else. More than helping her in a time of need. For all her anger and resentment on a personal level, some part of her insisted she couldn't really try and make him do anything. In the same way he wasn't able to make her stop being a super hero.
But Kasumi was damned if she would spend time in his company any longer. Akane could return the books she borrowed as an excuse to talk about super hero things with him. And she wouldn't borrow any more either. She'd also have to get a new doctor. He'd already shown he'd leave her for dead if he felt like it. That was not the sort of doctor she wanted taking care of her.
A part of her wondered why she wasn't crying over this. She probably would have before acquiring her super powers. Tofu had meant something to her, and to have it end like this should have been emotional. And while she was sad, it was not debilitating nor making her doubt she was in the right. It was something that was, well, something she could just deal with like any other issue.
Maybe in gaining the ability to shrink in size, she had grown up at the same time.
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Thor flew through the air over Tokyo, her thoughts turning to the matter at hand. Giant Man had best give her a wide berth if they crossed paths again. Certainly one who had no stomach for battle should not participate in it, but there was a difference between choosing to leave the call to arms and abandoning one's comrades in a crisis. Cowardice to the extreme. She was tempted to track him down and educate him in the proper conduct of removing oneself from conflict, and the consequences for essentially stabbing allies in the back.
But no, let the traitor live with the guilt, if he were capable of it. Those that remained were rededicated in just cause, and thus the group was strengthened more than before. Even the fur-covered harlot showed an admirable enthusiasm. Perhaps their number was not to exceed the original of eight. There was something to be said about portents, as every Asgardian knew. Their history was rife with it, and there was nothing one could do when the Three Fates, Skuld and Urd, beckoned. Even they were slaves to what they were. It was all Ragnarok when all was said and done, as the saying went.
Thor shook her head. Something had happened that confused her. It was nagging at her mind. Something not quite right with what she had been thinking.
Then her thoughts went astray as she saw people fleeing in panic. She looked down below at the source of the disturbance as a figure, next to a river, hefted a large car overhead. A menace of some kind. Upon closer inspection she saw it was a young man in an orange track suit. How mundane. Surely he could put more effort to appear visually menacing. Instead he looked like someone who had just finished his morning jog.
Still, the goddess was delighted. This was what she needed; the clarion call of battle to clear her head. Perhaps she was the opposite of Giant Man, who ran from the fight since it as too much for his cowardly spirit. This was part of what Thor lived for.
She could make out the super villain's words as she altered her trajectory to land near her foe.
"That's right, you self-centered jerks! I'm back! Not that any of you cared about me when the Avengers put me in traction! You didn't care about me when the love of my life broke my heart, either! But now I'm taking my righteous anger out on the world that never cared about me! I, Yusaku Hino, forsake my name in favor of one that tells what I shall do to the world: Crusher it! I mean crush it, because I am the Crusher!" He continued shaking the vehicle as though it were a toy.
Thor could not recall this foe, and she was certain she'd remember him. He whined overmuch for a villain, and his motives were suspect. When Frost Giants tried to smite you with a club, did they cry tears of ice because no one hugged them enough? No, they rampaged about because they wanted to conquer all of the Nine Realms since, as one of the oldest species, they felt it all belonged to them.
Just as Thor landed a short distance away, a lance of fire came from the skies and engulfed the Crusher. His outfit immediately combusted, though he appeared startled rather than injured. Thor looked upward to see a masked girl in a red and orange sailor fuku with a fire design along the trim. The goddess was passingly familiar with the figure: Sunfire. The new one, not the crazed one that had burned the embassies and murdered so many.
The Crusher began smacking at the flames from his outfit as he shouted, "Are you crazy? You just set me on fire! How did you know I'm fireproof? You could have burned me to death! And my workout suit isn't made of unstable molecules—" The diatribe was cut off by an even hotter lance of plasma that incinerated his clothing altogether, as well as leaving his skin so red it looked as if he had a really bad case of sunburn.
"Okay, that hurts… a lot," he hissed out.
Before he could say anything else a very large amount of water, in the shape of a huge hand, suddenly came out of the river and grabbed the Crusher, completely engulfing him. It lifted him off the street and began shaking him around like a child determined to get the last grain of salt out of a salt shaker.
As this was going on, a woman emerged from the river on a column of water that set her down as gently as the fist was rough. She wore an aqua green, one piece swimsuit with matching boots and gloves, and a headpiece that allowed her green hair to flow out the back. Unlike Sunfire, she was unmasked, which showed off her considerable beauty. There was a white maple leaf on the front of her costume. It took a moment for Thor to recall it was identical in shape and form to the symbol on the Canadian Flag. She was vaguely aware of super heroes from there. Not as many in the U.S. or Japan, of course, but some.
Thor walked over to the girl as Sunfire landed next to them. The goddess said, "While certainly the water would provide balm for the burn, thou shouldn't drown him. He appears more annoyance than threat."
"I haven't drowned anyone yet," she assured them in English, then held out her hand. "Aqueduct. From Canada."
Sunfire and Thor introduced themselves. Being the senior hero on sight, in every sense of the word, the Asgardian took charge. "And what brings thee to these shores? Is there not villians enough in thy own lands?"
"I'm… on vacation," she gave a smile that was probably meant to be disarming but appeared uneasy.
Thor was fairly certain she was being lied to. Why she could not fathom. Perhaps the woman intended to wreak havoc, but she had gone out of her way to stop one who had. Moreover, she gave away both presence and identity to do so.
It was of no real matter. The goddess lacked proof for an accusation, and in truth could have been mistaken. This Aqueduct's motives for visiting were none of her business. Should she prove menace, she would be on the receiving end of a smiting.
Seeing her answer accepted, Aqueduct deposited the now unconscious, and waterlogged, Crusher next to them
"Welcome to our lands. In honor of your visit, I shall leave yon villain with the local authorities."
As Aqueduct graciously accepted the offer, Sunfire, who had been looking at her curiously the entire time, asked, "Do I know you from somewhere?"
"I was thinking the same thing," Aqueduct admitted. "Have you been to Canada?"
"I've never traveled outside of Japan," she explained.
"My parents were Japanese, but this is my first time here," the Canadian said.
As the two began chatting like old friends, Thor tuned the rest out. Her mood was only slightly better. She had hoped to work out some stress by pummeling t Crusher senseless, but the pair had conspired, albeit unwittingly, to steal her prey, and she was still simmering at her feeling of ineffectiveness in the last few fights.
She swung her hammer and flew to the nearest police station, unconscious foe slung over her shoulder. She was also extremely annoyed that she only now realized that with his costume burned away, he was entirely naked. Should he make the mistake of recovering consciousness and become aroused by being in the presence of the Goddess of Thunder, she would discover if the pervert could endure the heat of the nearest active volcano as she dropped him into it.
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Ukyou Kuonji felt listless as she placed her books in her school locker. A feeling of melancholy still plagued her after the previous day's events. The rededication had put some of her worries about the future of the team to rest, but Giant Man's resignation continued to rattle her mindset.
While technically none of the Avengers were invincible, somehow it had always felt that way, narrowly escaping death defying situations one after another, sometimes by the narrowest of margins. It felt like a higher power had chosen them to win all the time. They were the good guys after all. Sure, they'd all been injured at one time or another, but nothing permanent. They always bounced back no matter the beating.
In her mind, The Avengers would be as they were forever.
But now Giant Man was gone for good, and the illusion was shattered. Sure, he wasn't dead, but now reality was setting in and the truth was things could change. Avengers weren't forever. They could be killed if they got sloppy, or even unlucky. It was a line of thought Ukyou hadn't seriously considered, and now she couldn't get it out of her mind.
Ukyou was so distracted she almost missed the letter in her locker. Seeing it made her sigh. It wouldn't be the first time some guy wanted to ask her out this way. A lot of guys went for her 'girly girl' look. But given her dual lifestyle the only boyfriend she could see in her life was one on the masked adventurer side of things. Somehow she doubted any of her potential suitors were leading a double life the way she did. Although if one of her classmates were Captain Japan, he was so instant boyfriend. But since Ranma was the only one sizeable enough, and she knew better, that little fantasy would remain such. She'd have to politely reject the writer, and hope he didn't take it too hard.
The letter said to meet him after school at the archery field. An odd place for a rendezvous. One guy had invited her to the storage shed where they kept extra gym mats, but shortly after arriving there, it appeared he thought they were going to see some action, and not of the wrestling kind. Or at least not the kind the school had classes for. While confidence in a guy was nice, there was such a thing as too much. 'I'm hot, so of course everyone wants to have sex with me,' qualified as too much. One didn't have to be the Mandrill to be delusional about being irresistible.
Reading over the letter again, she noted it was also anonymous, but that was standard, and a good idea. If a guy was interested in a girl, but she really wasn't interested in him, she could pretend she never received it and the poor sap would have to wait there indefinitely. But an unknown meant it could be good or bad, and at least the girl would show up to see which it was. Ukyou was polite enough to show up even if she knew exactly who her admirer was, but since she already knew the outcome regardless of identity, she began mentally rehearsing the rejection speech as she grabbed her books and went to her next class.
The day passed quickly, and upon zero hour's arrival, Ukyou headed to the range. When she got there she discovered it deserted. Maybe her secret admirer lost his nerve. She decided to wait fifteen minutes, then leave. If you couldn't be bothered to show up when you asked someone to meet you, why would they bother to say yes when you asked them out?
"Kuonji."
Ukyou frowned. She supposed Jessie Gurtland's presence wasn't a surprise, especially given the bow in her hand and quiver on her back. Everyone knew she spent tons of time at the range practicing. She almost certainly had keys to the place and permission to use it whenever she wanted since she was regarded as an Olympic level archer. She had won the school every archery competition it entered since she transferred, and was held in high regard. Success opened doors for some where others were never allowed to even cast a shadow.
The two of them hadn't gotten along since their first encounter. It wasn't open warfare, it was just their personalities got along as well as an irritated cobra and a rabid mongoose would. There wasn't even a reason for it. It was some sort of instinctual level thing. So aside from disdainful glares, the two avoided each other. Although this time things would be awkward. Best to explain her presence with the truth, Ukyou supposed.
"Some guy wants to meet me here."
"That letter was from me."
Ukyou stared at her in confusion as she realized Jessie had an arrow in hand already. "What's going on?"
"Pick up the bow and arrow over there." Jessie indicated the items leaning against a target.
That raised her eyebrow. Since the team got yelled at for leaving equipment out, Jessie had almost certainly been the one to leave it there for Ukyou. This seemed potentially bad. Very bad. Well, for Jessie if she wasn't smart. "I know we don't get along, but you're wasting your time with this. You know I'm terrible at archery. My arrow would probably go over the wall."
Jessie was unmoved. "Grab it now."
That put Ukyou's nerves completely on edge. She did as she was bade so she'd have a weapon she could use, which she had a feeling she'd need. Only one arrow. What was coming to mind made Ukyou uneasy. "Why don't we get a teacher to officiate if you want to have a competition?" A witness would be a really good thing now.
Blonde hair waved back and forth as Jessie shook her head. "You've seen those talent shows on television, right? The singing ones? You know how they always have outtakes of the really terrible people that audition to get on the show, and they put them on a 'worst of' collection? There was once this professional singer, really talented, who made a bet with his friend that he could sing even worse than those guys if he tried. So he disguised himself, entered one and sang as awfully as he could.
"And he didn't make the worst of tape. So he entered another competition, and made sure he was even worse than before. And he still didn't make it. So he tried a third time and failed again. He then went back to his friend, frustrated that he couldn't make the cut. Then his friend explained why.
"'People who have genuine talent and training can only pretend to suck. No matter how hard they try, the talent and discipline still comes through. It's too deeply ingrained, which is why they can never be worse than the truly inept. Nothing can imitate a complete absence of talent."
And with that Jessie drew back her arrow and let it fly straight for Ukyou's head.
Ukyou's own shot left only a split second after Gurtland's, which is why the arrows met in mid-air slightly closer to Ukyou rather than halfway between them.
Jessie laughed. "I knew the first time I paid attention to your technique you were an expert. Every one of your arrows went exactly where you wanted, just like mine. So that left the question of why someone would tank their abilities. Now if this were pool, I'd assume you were a hustler. Or any form of gambling maybe you'd be a ringer. But this is archery, not really much money to be made there.
"Then it finally occurred to me. I've seen Hawkeye in action. Only people I know that are that good are Trick Shot and Deadshot. But Dad's too fat, and Barton's too tall."
Ukyou laughed. "You do understand Hawkeye's a guy."
Jessie snorted in derision. "If you were Tigra or Bucky, sure, but you're not so tittyrific you can't strap those puppies down and pad out the costume a bit to pass as a guy. Combine that with a girl who's great at archery but hides it, you were the only contender, so I put an arrow in the brush to chase you out."
"And if I hadn't been you'd have put an arrow through an innocent person!" Ukyou snapped.
"I dulled the tip. Not because I thought I was wrong, but just in case you weren't as good as I thought."
Had Ukyou another arrow, she might have put it somewhere, non-fatal, in the smug American. Which was probably why Jessie had only given her one. Ukyou could have drawn it out, denied her secret identity longer, but there was no point. She was busted. "So now that you know how I am, what do you want?"
Jessie laughed. "Come on, 'Sugar'. I'm a competitor. I've seen you in action. You're better than my old man, maybe better than Barton, but you're not better than me. I know that. But until you walk the walk, all you're doing is talking the talk."
"So, a challenge." She was better than Gurtland. Ukyou would arrow the bimbo like a blonde pincushion and put her in her place.
Not so 'tittyriffic' her ass.
Jessie's smile became somewhat bittersweet. "But not just any challenge. I grew up in a circus. All flash and style. I want it to be spectacular when I top you. Luckily, something's come up along those lines, which is why it's going to be postponed. I have to go back to the States, but the good news is, when I come back we'll have a proper showdown that would main event the big top and have the crowds cheering at the top of their lungs. This was just to keep you on your toes, since you know someone's going to be gunning for you down the line." She turned and started to depart, but then gave a glance over her shoulder. "You might want to try and get better. Close the gap between us as much as you can."
It took everything Ukyou had not to throw the bow at the American's back as she departed.
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A masked figure in a plain black, tight outfit approached a door where a lean figure, dressed in a similar outfit, was leaning casually against a wall next to the door.
As the first went for the door, the more lackadaisical one said, "You don't want to go in there."
The, "Why?" was immediately followed by a sound similar to an explosion coming from behind the door. "What was that?!"
"Probably something most people would describe as unbreakable being broken."
So, no going in there for at least several hours. "What is it this time?"
"Everything in general. In particular Monger's really steamed at Mandrill getting caught so early on. He had plans for the wanna be ape. And he really wanted to mess with the money. As it is the government will be able to correct what happened fairly easily. And, oh yes, 'Those damnable Avengers' seems to echo in the room, when he's coherent enough to talk."
The word made him snarl. "Well yeah, I'm sick and tired of them mucking every major plan we come up with, too. I just hope he doesn't send us after them. Having my ass kicked by them once was enough for me. It took me a week to shake off what Captain Japan did." He subconsciously rubbed his mid-section.
The lean one nodded. "I know what you mean. Tigra was hot, but so not worth it. And from what HM said, when he isn't flying off the handle, he doesn't want to tangle with them until he knows he has the upper hand."
"Good. The Boss is great when he has his act together, but when he gets royally pissed…." He let that trail off. "Anyway, we'll be back to the grindstone before we know it. Most people don't even know he still exists, so it's kind of hard to move against him. And us. Besides, worldwide societal collapse isn't the easiest thing in the world to engineer, otherwise everyone would have already done it."
There was the sound of something else shattering within the room. Both men remained outside.
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A trio from Clan Bloodstone walked through the Tokyo Museum, after overseeing the unpacking of the items they had been hired to guard.
Ulysses said, "Well, that was easy money. Nothing but Butt Ugly up to his usual hijinks to break up the monotony of a dull sea voyage. Never been wild about sailing unless I'm hunting something, like Giganto. One of those whale things, but they have arms and legs. Spent a year hunting that sucker down back in the 1800's before I finally ran him to ground. Only that idiot author got everything but the ship's name wrong. And I can't believe he made me out to die just because I was caught up in the lines when Giganto went under. I killed that monster with a knife. Took a real long time, but I did it."
Elsa scowled at her father. "You're telling me Moby Dick was based on you?"
"The guy's name wasn't even Ishmael: it was Morty. I think Herm was using literary license to increase sales." He nodded. "Yeah, Bunny, I've been around. Want to check out my statue?"
"What statue?"
"Guy from Antinoch made it of me back in the day. It's on display here." He led them to the statuary of the museum. After looking around a bit, he made a beeline for particular marble statue and pointed at it.
Elsa stared intently at the face. "Wow, you weren't full of shit. That really is you."
Haruka whistled. "Damn, Daddy, you're hung like a bull."
Elsa stared lower and realized it was a nude. She screeched and covered her eyes. "What the hell's wrong with you? Why would you stare at Dad's junk? And now I can't unsee that!"
Ulysses smiled. "Yep. Always was a babe magnet. Back then I banged most of Alex's models. Chick that posed for the Venus De Milo; did her. She really had arms, though, in case you were wondering."
"I never wondered!" Elsa insisted, still looking away.
"What's that one?" Haruka asked, pointing to another statue. It was like an unholy mix of human, demon, and insect set in stone.
Ulysses looked at it, then read a broken, semi-legible inscription at the bottom. "It's Atlantean. Technically before my time, but I learned it from a survivor. He was one of the 'Immortal Nine'. You come across one, watch out, they're real dangerous, even to me." He began reading what he could. "There isn't much there. Something about 'lower race of Youma'. Maybe something about banishment, that one's hard to read. And 'Almighty Serenity', that one's clear. That's all I can make out."
He looked around. "You know, I haven't been in Japan for a while. Place used to be crawling with oni back in the day. I'd pop in for a couple decades, drop all I could find, then head out. Come back a couple centuries later, place would be crawling with them again. They breed like roaches. Bet if we look around we could find some." His eyes took on a wide-eyed look of wonderment. "I wonder if Kagome and the others are here now."
"Who are they?" Elsa asked, idly noting that rather than doting on their father, Haruka was still staring at the statue.
"Demon hunting crew I used to run with around here a couple hundred years ago. One of them was a cute little thing who said she was from the future. I assumed she was crazy, but cute enough not to worry about the crazy. Only she had the hots for this half-breed youkai, so I never got anywhere with her."
"You mean you don't score with every woman you meet?" Elsa taunted.
"Scored with your mom," Ulysses taunted back.
That pissed her off, even if it was not only true, but she owed her existence to it. She couldn't even be mad at him since her mother left him because, as she put it, "He never changes while you do. It's how he's able to survive, but it's terrible on a relationship." Her father wasn't angry about the breakup either, since that was why most women eventually left him, and he accepted it as how things should be. He was good at that. He attributed it to his primitive upbringing. "You were too busy doing what you needed to survive to worry about pointless things, like angst", and he continued following the philosophy to this day.
"Anyway," he continued. "Now that I think about it, she was wearing a school uniform from this era. Which means she really was from it. Last I heard, she and her partners were hurled through time. Could have ended up here. I'm going to try and look Kagome up. Want to come along?"
Elsa shrugged. She'd never been to Japan, and she wanted to know if her father was still his Neanderthal self centuries ago. To Elsa's surprise, Haruka, who would usually follow their father around like a puppy, said she would stay, staring at the statue as though it was the most fascinating thing in the world. And for some reason she kept saying, "Serenity," under her breath.
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Usagi Tsukino was an ordinary sixteen year old Japanese school girl. Except for her ability to whine a lot, an interest in college age guys that most would probably consider unhealthy, and a voracious appetite that rarely resulted in gaining weight, perhaps because whining burned way more calories than science realized.
She also had more or less normal dreams for a teenage girl. Usually they involved going out on dates with college age guys at all-you-can-eat buffets. Or at least that used to be the case. Of late her dreams had become more along the lines of….
The Youma charged across the rocky terrain of the mountain pass toward her, the size of a cave bear with a chitin-like armored exterior similar to that of a crab. The face was mostly human, though the eyes were too large and appeared composed of nothing but pupil. It wielded some sort of tech-based mace trailing some type of burning energy. Most likely it had been specifically designed to burn even cosmically powered living cells, like those of an Eternal.
Beams of energy lanced out from Serenity's eyes, turning both creature and weapon into ash which fell to the ground in a pile. It joined the many others around and behind her. She was mindful of the path she took, lest some of the ash touch her slippers. Even their remains were repulsive, and never should even a single speck touch her person.
There was a flash of light from the air, and Serenity observed Macao unleash her cosmic energy in the form of lightning, frying Youma right and left, leaving charred remains in her wake. Rai seemed to be in competition with her friend, using fire instead but ending in the same result: dead Youma everywhere. No quarter asked, since none was desired. It was much the same from Amys, Ruka, and Micha as they dealt death in each one's particular manner. Truly they were the best fighting force the Eternals could muster. And they were her closest friends.
The din of battle suddenly came from the north. That would be Beryl and the rest of the troops hitting the Youma's flank. The end was near, as Beryl had planned. Her strategies never failed, which was why she was the Eternals most honored field commander. This, the last of the Youma's surface outposts, would soon fall. No doubt once the vermin realized defeat was inevitable, the survivors would escape as their brethren did into tunnels carved deep into the earth, in what was called Subterranea.
Serenity wanted to pursue them, run them to ground and finish the job, but Beryl advised against it. She pointed out several miles underground could serve as a tomb for an Eternal as well as the Youma. And she was correct, as usual. Let the scum dwell under the earth like worms, as befitted their status, while the Eternals would rule from the Heavens above, as was their due.
Once this final battle was over, it would be time to turn her attention to more important matters: humanity. She could sense much potential in that which the Eternals had been ascended from. Why, were it not for the Celestials, Serenity might have been born to humans. Not they were on even a remotely even par with Eternals, of course. Humanity needed their leadership. It wasn't their fault they were short-sighted and not very bright. It was their limited lifespan which narrowed their perspective so dangerously. Still, she was certain they could be taught with proper guidance.
Already whenever Eternals came into contact with humans they were always treated like gods. With the difference between them so great, Serenity's people were for all intents and purposes. Having them worship Eternals as higher beings was proper. And taking care of humanity by leading them personally should be one of the driving purposes of her own people.
She was thinking of starting out small. The continent of Atlantis was ideal since it was isolated from other landmasses and its temperature more stable. Some of humanity would be brought to it, and they would be educated and enlightened. Cities would be built, and a civilization born from it. No doubt it would take time to work out all the difficulties of leading the rather chaotic humans into something functional, but what were a handful of centuries to ones who lived for tens of millennia? Yes, that was it. She could envision it now, a Silver Millennium followed by an Eternal Utopia.
Only Zuras, their leader, was against the idea. He was of the mind of only subtly influencing humanity rather than leading outright. Foolishness. The wisest should lead, and that was the Eternals. And if Zuras could not be made to see the obvious, then he should be deposed. Only one more powerful than him could best him in an official leadership duel. How fortunate Serenity was just that. And when she was in charge, why she'd have a new, magnificent city built of crystal, rather than the dull rock that currently composed Olympia. And no mere mountain would do it justice. A recent mission to the moon had just returned, and from what they said it would be the perfect place for the new mantle of leadership. They would literally look down upon the Earth they'd rule. The lack of oxygen wouldn't harm Eternals, but an atmosphere would make things simpler. She'd task Amys, the most brilliant of the Eternals, with creating a breathable atmosphere. Not the entire planetoid, a small area would be enough. Amys would no doubt enjoy the challenge.
Zuras would not be amicable to the idea, she knew. It was a leadership duel for certain. But how to best him? He was the second most powerful of their people, and the margin of difference between them not large at all….
And then Usagi awoke, her mind so alert it was though she had never been asleep. As her eyes opened, she saw a small black cat, with a curious crescent moon coloration on its head, sitting on her chest. What was more curious was she didn't own a cat. But what made everything light years more curious was what happened next.
"I see you are truly awake for the first time in this life, your Majesty."
Talking cats. This wasn't going to be good. No sir, not one bit.
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[End chapter]
Yes, it is Marvel canon that Moby Dick was inspired by Ulysses
Music listened to while watching:
Blade Runner Blues- Vangelis
Kiri – Monorail (Op to Ergo Proxy)
Let's Go – Wang Chung
