Avenging
Act V
Chapter 7
The Warlordess of K'ai
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tsommer
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www marvunapp com /Appendix /index. htm
Last chapter: The Avengers assessed the damage from their encounter with Kang and made a new friend. Iron Rose wants to hunt down her brother, Silver Samurai. Ranma told Ryouga both of his costumed identities. Abe is getting close to tracking down Kerebos.
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Kodachi Kunou ran her speech for the heart disease charity through her head. She didn't really think the donation would do any good, all the really easy to beat diseases had already been taken care of and it would take a lot more time, money, and technological advances than she was offering. What it would definitely do was generate good PR for her and the Avengers, since Kunou Enterprises was tied inexorably to them. That connection was also why the government (translation: Councilwoman Ariyoshi) had dismissed her efforts to land the power armor contract they were seeking. That Kodachi had personally designed the most powerful power armor on the planet was of no consequence for some reason they would not site. Oh, they hadn't officially said 'no' to her face, then they'd have to explain themselves, but she could tell when one was not being considered for a contract. Ariyoshi hated super humans in general and the Avengers in particular, so no business for KE. At least she hadn't attempted to push through some legislation targeting her business. Or more correctly not yet.
From all appearances Stane-Daitokuji was in the lead for that power armor contract. They seemed to have an inside line on a lot of government contracts lately. A pity Kodachi's efforts to pierce the veil of secrecy around the company had come to nothing. Security was too tight. If she could blow the whistle on bribes, or whatever the inside line was, it could potentially remove two thorns from the Avengers' side at the same time.
But for now she had to focus on what she could influence, and in this case it was making her company and the Avengers look good. Charities were a nearly unassailable platform to gain good graces in the public's eyes, assuming one wasn't scamming money at the same time. It was depressing to learn the 'charity industry' was actually a big business for the people running them. Everyone took a cut of the action, money passed under the table, and all too often the stated cause it was being operated for only got the scraps. At least she had done research and knew this one was on the up and up and only took minimal amounts. Still it was distressing to learn what you thought was beneficial wasn't, or at least to the people it was supposed to be beneficial towards.
She allowed her driver to open the door to her limousine and close it behind her. She made herself comfortable as she rehearsed the speech yet again. In some ways it would have been easier to allow Iron Rose to deliver it, but Kodachi Kunou needed to be seen doing public work as well as inventing things behind closed doors. Her face and name should be synonymous with KE. She was KE as much as she was Iron Rose.
They had traveled no more than a kilometer when her driver said, "So, Ma'am, what was the service you needed me for?"
She looked at Toshi curiously. "To drive my car."
"I somehow doubt you wanted to hire the Chameleon for something so mundane, but I am willing to do it for my normal fee."
Kodachi looked at him in shock. He sounded and looked exactly like her driver. But this was no joke. Toshi had no idea she had reached out to people to locate the spy whose real identity, Tsubasa Kurenai, was known from the one time he had been caught. And here he was, contacting her in a manner which indeed impressed her. However there was one very important detail to work out. "My driver?"
"Sleeping for the next seven hours. It'll be the best rest he's had in his life when he wakes up. Of course he'll wonder why he slept for the better part of a day when he realizes the date, but there's a price to pay for everything." He shrugged.
This was unexpected, and made her feel a bit uneasy. Her attaché case with her armor was with her, but to don it now would mean the end of her secret identity. She supposed she could go public with it, but it would create more problems rather than fewer. Compartmentalizing things was for the best. And she would have to trust this master of disguise at some point. She intended to hire him after all.
It was time to put aside her concerns and deal with the business at hand. "I need you to locate the super villain known as the Silver Samurai. You are familiar with him?"
"Vaguely. We travel in different circles. All you need is his location?"
"I need to know all the potential places he might go. All of his hideouts and bolt holes. The Avengers are going to bring him to justice, but we need to know where he is and where he might go. By the way, he can teleport. It's not an inherent ability, so try and discover what you can about how he does it. Neutralizing it is a must and that is a requirement as well."
The Chameleon made an odd noise. "Locating teleporters is more difficult than you think. That will be extra."
"How much?" He quoted her the figure. "That is acceptable. When can you get started?"
"After the speech. Unless you have a spare driver in the trunk." He laughed at his joke.
How gauche, she thought, and it wasn't even that amusing. Although now that he said it, she wondered what it would cost to acquire one of SHIELD's LMDs and store it in the trunk as a spare driver. She doubted it would be cost effective, but the idea of having a backup driver right next to a spare tire was an amusing one.
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Chief Inspector Kaori Makimura entered the office of the commissioner and saluted. The summons had carried a note of urgency, so she had dropped everything to come here.
He returned the salute. "Close the door behind you, Chief Inspector."
As she did so she saw there were two familiar figures sitting in chairs in the office. A feeling of dread rose in her chest. Her encounter with Irie Soyozoh and his aide de camp had left a bad taste in her mouth. Helping the US government track down the Hulk, only to mistake him for a serial killer when the real one had been under their noses the entire time, had been a fiasco. And the entire operation had an air of secrecy that irritated her. She'd been quite happy not to have been involved in another one since.
The commissioner saw she had noted the guests. "Since you've worked with Mr. Soyozoh before, we'll make this brief. There's a new government program that is going to correlate data with the police department and deal with super powered beings that come up against the law. We need to set up official liaisons with the program to facilitate the flow of information between the agencies. You came recommended by Mr. Soyozoh, so with your consent we'll reassign you to work with him. By the way, a promotion comes with this."
Kaori's negative attitude suddenly took an upswing. A superintendent position? She'd have agreed to kill someone for that, and if it was either of the Saeba's, she'd have thrown in the other one in for free. Still, there were questions that needed answering. "When you say 'deal with' what exactly does that entail?"
Irie spoke up. "No need to worry about us stepping on your shoes, Chief Inspector. You can still take care of the, I believe the term is, glorified acrobats, like the Tumbler, or gaudy gunmen like Ammo. We're focused more on the high level threats, like Power Man and Speed Demon."
"Yes, them," Kaori said remembering her first highly unpleasant encounter with super powered beings. She could do without all of them, to be honest. Even the' glorified acrobats', though they were easy enough to deal with. "So the basic idea is you take care of the problems the police can't handle?"
"That is what we're planning on. There are enough super humans walking about that the government felt the need to intervene, and using the resources in place, in combination with specialized ones, would be the most effective way of dealing with the problems that come with them."
Kaori worked for the government and knew it was never that easy, or direct. And she really did not trust Irie. No human was actually as 'cliché government salaryman' as the image he conveyed. In a weird way she felt some idiot dressing up like a bug and saying he'd sting you with his cattle-prod was more trustworthy than this guy. The nutcase showed you who he was. Irie looked normal, but reeked of a guy who could make a lot of people disappear as though they had never existed, then grab a coffee and donut at the local pastry shop while looking over a newspaper.
Still, she had a job to do, and wanted that promotion. She put on her fake smile and pretended to trust him like a good civil servant.
"We're keeping this very quiet for now," the commissioner insisted. "Just say it's a data collection for the government on police resources to deal with super humans. Make it vague and benign. We'll go full public later. I'm counting on your discretion, Chief Inspector."
"You'll have it, Sir." She gave a crisp salute and felt her wariness step up several notches. When governments were being secretive, that meant they were hiding things from the public since the public would not like them doing it. And the government had a bad tendency to use fall guys, or girls, if things went bad for them. Kaori felt like her neck was being put on a chopping block as a 'just in case' for some higher ups in the food chain.
This was not turning out to be a good day after all.
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There was a flash of light. From this flash seven people appeared in the middle of a parking lot in a less frequented part of town. The only residents who witnessed their arrival were a homeless drunk who didn't care, and a pair of elementary school children who had decided to skip school, and thought it was awesome and continued staring.
One of the newcomers looked as though he had sprang forth from the cover of a Robert E. Howard novel. He was the epitome of a 'barbarian' with bronze skin and thick sinewy muscles. He wore furry shorts and boots with a scabbarded sword at his side. A wicked scar went from forehead to jaw, crossing a milky white eye. The only inconstancy with the barbarian image was a necklace with an extraordinarily large pink jewel around his neck. The design of the necklace was flashy and would have been more appropriate on a woman at a grand ball rather than a man who swung a sword at people for fun and profit.
The second member of the retinue was far more slender and green-skinned. He wore a purple outfit that hugged him tightly and had a high white collar that nearly went up to his head. White gloves and boots completed his ensemble. He wore a pistol instead of a sword, belted at his waist, and several pouches hung from the belt.
The third member wore a bizarre white jacket with a huge spoon like collar that projected well above his head, and a white hakama as well as an eye patch over his left eye. His skin was pale and he had long oily black hair. His face was narrow and most accurately described as 'weasel-like'. What was most noticeable about him was a gigantic scythe that was taller than him in his right hand. It appeared more ornamental than functional, and had clearly never been used to harvest any type of plant.
A trio of men, green-skinned like the second, stood together. One was rotund, while the other pair were of similar size to one another, though one had curly hair while the other had black hair in an almost bowl like cut. All three of them wore similar robes that were positively sedate when compared to their comrades.
The final member was also clearly the leader. A woman whose skin tone was between that of the barbarian and scythe wielder. She was also noticeably younger than any of the others. She was dressed in resplendent plate armor that was more appropriate for a knight-general at a public ceremonial display than a battlefield. Curiously the top of her helmet had slits that allowed brown springy forelocks of hair the freedom to jut out almost like antenna. Unlike the first three she bore no weapons.
The young woman turned to the three more gaudily dressed men. "Locate her and bring her to me. Do not harm her or I'll harm you far worse, and permanently. She is mine to deal with, and I will allow no one to deny me my due."
As they turned to go, she singled out the barbarian. "And Kronak, no wenching. Stay focused."
"Yes, Milady." His deferential attitude was not mirrored in his good eye, which he kept averted from her.
The green man floated off, discs on the bottom of his boots glowing faintly. The one in white skipped off, whistling a happy tune.
The woman looked at the remaining three. "Moe, Larry, Curly, follow me. I want your magic close at hand."
The one with the bowl haircut spoke up. "Forgive me mistress, but the translation spell seems to be malfunctioning. Our names did not come out as Moh, Lar-E, and Kurly."
She held her hand to her head. "It's working fine. I deliberately said them that way since by some cosmic coincidence a trio of idiots' names were pronounced exactly like yours. How can you even tell? The pronunciation of the names is exactly the same."
"Subtleties are evident to those who walk the path of magic," the fat one said sagely.
"I can never catch a break," she moaned. "I order you to put up with those names if I use them. Now I know this place better than those three, so I might have a better chance of finding her. And if I do, well it's not like we're going to be taking her back, now is it?"
The trio shuddered at the look of bloodlust in their leader's eyes.
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Kronak was not a happy barbarian. No wenching? Why not just order him to cut off his own balls and become a eunuch? A proper leader, meaning a male one, would never order men not to wench. It would be like telling a swordsman to make a sword that couldn't cut, or a farmer not to farm, or a prostitute to remain a virgin. Things were better when he was in charge of his world. He ruled with an iron fist and was a proper despot whom the people hated and periodically tried to assassinate. That was the proper system of government, because it worked. Only the best despots remained in power for any length of time. Bad ones got killed right away. And tyrannies were brutally efficient, emphasis on brutal. Everything got done on time, and in the best way. Been that way since time immemorial, and no one wanted to change it.
And then it all went to hell when he was casually beaten by his new leader. She had done it in minutes and in front of everyone. That was a potential Terragonia had never seen for a proper leader. But then she had the audacity to not kill him for the position. It had boggled everyone's mind. Not because she was particularly merciful, especially when she was angry, which she was *a lot*, but because she didn't want to have to administrate. So she left him to run things in her name. At least she had the decency to proclaim herself supreme leader over everyone and everything making them part of an honest to goodness empire. Not many leaders pulled those off, but she was managing it across worlds. So there was something good going with her, but it was all so flawed. He tried his best to keep being a despot, but it just wasn't the same. Even the people couldn't bring themselves to do more than casually hate him since they knew who was really in charge, and they couldn't come up with a way to assassinate her when she was around because of who she was.
Women in charge? Nothing but trouble.
Kronak saw he was drawing looks from the populace. Small surprise. Everyone was scrawny. The men looked like undernourished women, and the women looked like even more undernourished women. The children from Terragonia were mightier than these pathetic wretches. He pictured a six year old with a dagger carving up the lot of them, and they'd probably succeed. These folk looked so docile he bet they didn't try to assassinate their leaders more than once or twice a year, and they probably never came close to succeeding.
Pathetic.
He was in a foul mood that was becoming fouler by the second. He was a barbarian. Even scrawny women were still women. He was going wenching, orders be damned. He just needed to pick out a prime specimen to do what he wanted.
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Akane found she was truly enjoying herself for the first time in far too long. The absence of Dr. Tofu had depressed her to no end, especially since it appeared she could have made some headway with him. Now she had some time on her hands, which her friends Yuka and Sayuri were filling. Between the job, school, and Avengers her schedule had been full. Now she almost didn't know what to do with herself.
So she and her friends had gone out shopping. And it was fun. She certainly had enough money saved up from her job and the stipend from the Avengers, that she had plenty of it. There wasn't much in the way of necessities to buy for herself, so she was doing some frivolous shopping. Treating oneself was fun, too.
"Where to next?" Yuka asked.
"I'm thinking clothing boutique. There's that new one that has some of the latest fashions that opened up," Sayuri said.
"No booty shorts, please," Akane said.
"Nothing wrong with advertising what you got," Sayuri insisted.
"I say this as a friend: you do not have a lot of advertising space back there," Yuka warned. "And before you get catty let me point out I don't buy push up bras because I don't have anything to push up."
Sayuri turned to Akane looking for support. Being a good friend outweighed encouraging bad ideas. "I don't buy high end running shoes."
Sayuri gave up, disgruntled but understanding her friends' position.
It was at that moment a foreigner, garbed in what looked like a barbarian outfit, approached.
"What cosplay is that, and can I join in?" Sayuri said out loud.
The man appeared disgruntled. As he drew closer, they heard him say, "Bah, no meat on the bones of any of these wenches." He finally stopped in front of the trio.
Akane did not like the way he was looking them over. It reminded her of the way Hercules would leer at anything lacking male genitalia.
"Can I help you?" Yuka, the less drooling of the pair, asked.
He looked them over and said, "Very well. I shall take two. Added together you'll almost make one decent wench." He grabbed the closest pair, Yuka and Sayuri, and hefted them over his broad shoulders as though they were weightless.
"Is this some kind of live action role playing thing?" Sayuri asked from her position.
"You're supposed to ask before you go around grabbing women," Yuka said. "Get with the times."
Akane was a bit more on the ball and realized there was no subtle undercurrent to what was transpiring: This was exactly what it seemed. He was grabbing two women off the street in broad daylight and intended to do lascivious things to them. She drew back her walking stick and shouted, "Put them down!"
The barbarian looked down at her. "I don't have a free hand to take you along, else I would. Too bad, you have some degree of fire in you." And kicked her in the gut before she could swing, sending her both backward and to the ground. Her walking stick went flying.
The assault made the two girls slung over his shoulders realize what was really happening. "Hey, jerk, let us down!" Sayuri started struggling ineffectually, with Yuka doing the same.
Kronak shook his head sadly. "A proper wench would be making me put some effort into their abduction." And walked into the nearest shop, which was a largely empty café.
The owner rushed up to the warrior, protesting. He received an even harder kick for his troubles, knocking him out. To his unconscious form Kronak said, "Bah, use a weapon to try and make people leave, or at least pick up a chair and swing it like a real man."
Now effective lord of the domain, he placed the girls down on their feet and stared at them lasciviously. They huddled together in fear. His smile was like that of a man on a sinking ship being handed a yacht to escape on.
"Here is what happens, next, wenches. We're going to play a game."
Both of them envisioned what the game would be, and thought neither winning nor losing would be worth playing.
He loudly intoned, "It's called 'Spank the Barbarian.' I will place myself across the lap of one of you, and you will smack by bottom as hard as you can. Don't hold anything back, as I want to feel it, and neither of you looks powerful enough to punch out an unruly drunk."
"That's disgusting!" Yuka snapped.
"That… sounds kind of interesting," Sayuri said, suddenly more upbeat.
"Sayuri!"
"Hey, how many hunky guys pick you up and ask you to do that? And I was on the softball team for a year. I bet with a windup I could make that backside feel something." She rotated her arms a few times to loosen it up.
"Do not encourage the pervert!"
"The term 'perversion' is the refuge of the uptight," Sayuri countered.
There was a loud peal of thunder from outside. A moment later an angry Thor burst into the room. "Hold foul miscreant, and prepare to deal with the wrath of the Goddess of Thunder."
Despite what should have been anger at being interrupted, Kronak instead expressed delighted. "At last, a true wench worthy of romance!"
For a moment Thor was momentarily distracted by the sincere compliment. Then he launched himself at her.
She snatched him out of mid-air. Her first impulse was to give him a full force punch, but the weakness of his struggles revealed he possessed no super strength, just the proper amount for his musculature on a normal person. So she casually tossed him across the room where he collided with a table and multiple chairs.
"Thanks for saving us," Yuka said.
"Yeah… thanks," Sayuri said more dryly.
The barbarian was slightly more durable than Thor anticipated, and slowly rose to his feet. "I see you are a powerful wench that must be humbled by the former ruler of Terragonia." He held the odd necklace by the chain in one hand and rubbed the jewel with the other, chanting, "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
In defiance to the laws of nature, a large red mist poured forth from the jewel and formed a cloud. It surged forward toward the goddess, then took on a shape of a large, lumpy monstrous creature, nearly twice the size of the Hulk. The smoke monster took on a more solid texture.
"So thou would resort to magic?" Thor shouted as both Sayuri and Yuka fled the store in a rush, suspecting what was to come.
"Of course. Only a fool does not use what weapons are at hand to achieve victory. Before the day is done, you will be humbled, and I will be over your knee."
"Wait. What?" The truth was Thor could be thrown off her game by the unexpected, especially in combat. And so it was that the creature landed the first blow, which was as tremendous as its physique and sent her out the store, across the street, and into the next store via the glass window, and not the door.
Shoppers fled, despite the great sales being offered.
The creature strode across the street, cracking the pavement with its mass as it went. Its progress was abruptly ended when Mjolnir impacted with his stomach and sent him to his knees.
The hammer returned to Thor's hand. "Since you are unliving smoke given substance, I shall not hold back!" And punched the creature in the face.
Its response was to punch her back.
The battle raged in earnest from that point onward. It was rare Thor met a foe that could take her unfettered might, and it was wonderful to cut loose. At least for the first ten minutes. After that she realized the resulting damage to the area was unacceptable. She was not the Hulk and was conscious of her surroundings. So she switched tactics and began smashing it in the head repeatedly in the hopes of knocking it unconscious. By the seventh blow, which did no noticeable damage, she came to understand that things composed of smoke didn't always have brains to rattle into unconsciousness.
It was time to change tactics. The creature appeared tireless, and was nearly as mighty as her. Magic was not her forte, and it was a bit surprising that a barbarian wielded it so well.
Wait! It was not that he spun then magic himself, but rather a tool through which he utilized it. That was the weak link she was looking for.
Thor spotted him standing nearby, watching the contest in earnest. Moreover he continued holding the jewel. Her goal in sight, she ducked under the creature's effort to grab her, then leapt for the nearby warrior.
Kronak tried to evade her grasp, but it was to no avail as she snared the gem. "Let us see what happens when this summoning device lies shattered." It took surprisingly little force to break it.
"Oh fragomar," Kronak moaned as the gem fragmented into a hundred shards and the monster immediately lost its form, dissipating on the air.
"I am prepared for death," the barbarian stated proudly.
"Then you shall receive it." And bopped him on the head just enough to knock him out. "In fifty years or so."
With her foe defeated at her feet, Thor observed it had proven an even better day than she had imagined. How good for her.
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Fialan, a high ranking member of the Ptill Pawob, the league of assassins in K'ai, floated through the air as he searched for their prey. He would have preferred to blend in to his surroundings, but green-skinned men were uncommon enough he drew stares. And no one seemed to use a form of flight either. Well, float discs were lost technology on his own world, so why should he assume they were commonplace here?
No one was accosting him though, which made his job somewhat easier. That by his estimation there were probably millions of beings in this metropolitan area made the idea of finding a certain one a nightmare. But she was supposed to be in the area, and since few beings were green, she would stand out at least.
And then to his amazement he saw her. Blonde hair, green skin, appealing figure. She was at a distance of twenty meters, distracted by talking to some pale skinned male.
It was a basic shot.
He pulled out his gun, double-checked that it was on stun (the Warlordess would torture him for an eternity if he killed the target) then shot her. As he hoped, instant paralysis dropped her on the spot. The male with her was confused until Fialan landed and walked toward them, gun drawn. The male exhibited exceptional wisdom in running for his life. Fialan only needed Jarella alive. Everyone else… well he was an assassin.
He arrived at the fallen girl's side. She was lying on her stomach, forcing him to roll her over. Upon doing so he realized something was wrong. The girl's facial construction was not Jarella's, and seeing some of her blouse had come undone, he noted the flesh below the neck was pale, like most of the citizenry here. He quickly rubbed the green skin on the face and it came off on his white glove.
An imposter! How clever of the woman to use body doubles to distract potential assassins. It also made his mission that much harder. He would have to closely examine every green-skinned woman to ascertain her identity. Why, it was possible the man had left to warn the former ruler that assassins sought her out. He should have killed him out of hand.
Fialan would have to attempt interrogation. Perhaps someone knew the exact location of Jarella. His actions had already caused all of the nearby people to flee, so he went down a small side street and approached another one. Seeing an unarmed person, who hadn't noticed the assassin yet, he grabbed them and placed the gun under their chin.
"You can have my money!" the man cried out.
Fialan looked into the man's eyes: pure terror. Excellent. He would tell the truth. "I need the location of Jarella."
The man looked at him in confusion. "You mean Jarella the model? That one?"
Fialan described her.
The man said, "Yeah, that's Jarella. I don't know where she lives. I mean, she's a model. Try contacting her agency."
"You will do this for me." Fialan nudged the gun under the man's chin.
"Sure, but they might not give me the information," he warned. Fialan nearly shot him when he went into his pocket, until he explained his communication device doubled as a locator of some kind. Fialan decided to take it from the man when he was finished with him. Such a device would prove most useful.
The man spoke some words into the device, then repeated something he said was an address. The words were meaningless to Fialan, so he insisted the man personally lead him, which he agreed to with minimal prodding.
They had not traveled far when another man's voice said, "Hey, Hulk Fanboy, let the guy go and put down the gun."
Fialan turned to see a gaudily dressed figure in a tight fitting white and red costume with what looked like a red sun with rays of light emitting from it. He bore a shield with a similar symbol, but no visible offensive weapons.
The assassin was in no mood for games. He switched the gun to lethal and fired a bolt of yellow energy at the newcomer. The stranger blocked the blast with the shield. Fialan was both impressed and annoyed with the man's reflexes, then went to just annoyed by the speed he displayed as he closed to the distance between the pair.
Fialan managed two more shots at the head, then legs of the man, but again he blocked the blasts. By that time he was upon Fialan, grabbing his wrist and twisting it. The pain caused even the Ptill Pawob to release his weapon. He was sure the move was one the unarmed combat specialists of Ryin Ryo used. That made this man far more dangerous than some person with a shield.
But so was a Ptill Pawob. Fialan used his own training to slip out of the grasp and dropped low, swinging his arm at his opponent's midsection. Again he displayed incredibly speed and reflexes by darting away from what should have been a miss had Fialan been trying to hit him rather than touch.
However, Fialan had indeed touched him, and his reach had been slightly longer then seemed readily evident.
His opponent held his side where his outfit was now shredded and a minute amount of blood was showing. "Hey pal, it's dirty pool when you use concealed blades like that. Now I'm not going to go easy on you."
Fialan retracted the fingertip weapons into his glove. "It is too late for you, alien. The blades were tipped in the most virulent poison in the Ptill Pawob arsenal: red gale tellen. You will be dead any second now."
"Don't count on it pal," the man said, "I'm feeling pretty cheese wrapped stormy, if you know what I mean."
Fialan stared at him in confusion. It seemed the translation spell was breaking down. Everything had made sense until that moment.
Rather than dropping dead, as he should be doing, or attacking, which would have been the logical alternative to not dying, his foe said, "I taste metal now, and will dance on the banana peel." And to Fialan's amazement, began skipping off.
Now he was beginning to understand. This outworlder's alien physiology had changed the effects of the poison. Rather than dying, he was hallucinating. But the result was desirable.
Fialan recovered his gun, and considered shooting his foe. But no, he was no longer a threat, and he had achieved the remarkable by surviving two assassination attempts. The Luck Goddess was the primary threat to the Gods of Death, and the fickle deity might have marked this one to survive any further attempts on Fialan's part. While normal people did not tempt the Gods of Death, those who worshipped said gods did not tempt the anger of she who controlled Fate itself.
His guide having since departed, Fialan now needed to find another one. This fight had caused the street to empty as well, so he would have to change locations. This time he took to the air on his float discs to spot someone else he could capture and use.
Fialan thought he had spotted someone when two arrows sailed through the air and struck his discs, destroying them. Using his own physical skills he landed in a roll to minimize the impact of the ground and came up with is gun. He had an idea of what direction the arrows had come from. He would kill this one for certain, even if the Luck Goddess smiled upon him.
Before the assassin could do anything a thrown club hit him in the gun hand, nearly breaking his wrist and making him drop the firearm. The next thing he knew some man in red robes and a rather demonic-looking mask was upon him with a flurry of blows. Fialan tried employing his poison blades again, but the man deftly parried the slash. Now off balance, Fialan fell prey to a kick to the jaw and was knocked unconscious.
Daredevil noticed the blades and removed the gloves, as well as the rest of the man's clothing in case it hid more concealed weaponry. Now reduced to a loincloth, Daredevil tied the man up.
"Not bad," Hawkeye said appraisingly of the fallen figure's body, joining her teammate's side.
While his face was hidden, Daredevil's demeanor became intense. "I could start making comments about Bucky's body every time she sheds her outfit."
"Touché," Hawkeye said. "Besides, he's nowhere near as hot as you," And she gave him a playful smack on the bottom.
Before the pair could say anything further a wave of force traveled down the street, catching them and their fallen foe, hurling them high in the air before they all landed battered, bruised, and unconscious.
The man formerly known as Nnoitra Gilga, but now called Scythe since his ruler couldn't come close to pronouncing his name, looked at his handiwork in approval. Fialan was a little too full of himself, and Kronak was just plain stupid. Barbarians ran on stupid and testosterone. Nnoitra would recover Jarella for his mistress, then accept her accolades for his performance. And with any luck, she'd acknowledge him as her 'Number One' servant. And once she did, he'd tattoo it on his tongue. Because amongst his people numerical rank was everything, and when you had it, you damn well flaunted it.
Of course there was still the little matter of actually locating Jarella. He thought the simplest way would be to start killing people until someone coughed up her location. She was a greenie in a world of whiteys. She'd stick out like a sore thumb. Someone had to know where she was.
And then a shield slammed into his wrist, knocking his scythe out of his hand. He yelled in pain and saw Fialan's first opponent looming over him.
He shouted, "Cap smash!" and hurled himself at Scythe.
Scythe's primary ability was hurling destructive waves of force from his weapon, which was very impressive as evidenced by his relieving two Avengers of their consciousness in one shot. His secondary ability was not being very durable, since all his power was in that weapon.
Cap 'smashed' Scythe unconscious with the first shot. He then stood on top of his foe and beat on his chest, giving a Tarzan-like roar and declaring himself Lord of the Savage Land. He then demanded someone send for a saber-tooth tiger.
It would take a few hours for the poison to work its way through his system.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ryouga Hibiki was a happy man as the love of his life, literally since he had never loved anyone else, was waiting at the spot where they had agreed to meet. There was always the fear in the back of his mind that she wouldn't wait for him, having grown tired of his inability to find his way around, and be done with him. It would break his heart into a thousand pieces. She had come to mean that much to him in a relatively short amount of time. But she had shown with a smile of delight on her features, as she always had.
Before they could set out there was a matter he needed to lay to rest. After Ranma had implied Jarella regarded them only as friends and he was misunderstanding things, Ryouga asked her point blank if they were boyfriend and girlfriend. It was one of the most terrifying moments of his life.
Jarella looked at him curiously, held her hand to her chin in thought as she openly considered things. He was on the verge of hysterics when she said she found some difficulty in the romantic terms his culture used. They ofttimes seemed vague to her. When other models explained how romance worked and what the terms meant, the explanations often being contradictory, she confessed she found the courting rituals confusing and, frankly, idiotic. She said too many games were played when it came to romance here, which was ridiculous since courtships were difficult enough trying to make them work without making them more difficult by design.
In her culture, one used definitive terms to state where the relationship was in their eyes. That was not to say both partners used the same terms, but both people in a relationship did not necessarily have the exact same feelings at the same time, and by stating them, each person knew where they stood in the other's eyes. She explained what terms they used, then said she thought of him as a 'my captivator', which meant she was close to having a very serious relationship with him. The application of the 'my' meant they were edging toward the next term to advance the relationship. As far as Ryouga was concerned, that translated into 'girlfriend' which was good enough for him.
For the first time in his life he had an official girlfriend. And they were steady as well. He found he liked it when a woman spelled out her feelings for him.
And so the pair went on their date (which was what they called them where she was from), taking in a variety of sights. Jarella enjoyed looking at things that Japan offered since her land was more rural in nature, and very different. Since Ryouga traveled to many places whether he wanted to or not, this was easy for him. And having someone he wanted at his side made every place seem new and unique, even if he had been there many times. Every place they ate the food was more delicious. Movies he normally didn't like were brilliant.
Sometimes he thought the sun shone brighter. And it had nothing to do with atmospheric conditions.
On this occasion they saw many things, including coming across a fertility festival. That would have embarrassed the hell out of him had she not explained they had similar festivals where she came from. She was delighted to find some comparable events between her land and the one here, and seemed to be in more delighted mood. On Ryouga's part he tried to keep his hormones in check, since girlfriend + fertility festival= some very risqué thoughts. Given her explanation of their relationship status, they hadn't reached that level yet. It was kind of nice that he knew for a fact her delight at the festival had no deeper meanings. His mind would have seized up trying to figure if she was trying to send him signals that the festival had a deeper meaning she wanted him to act upon, or not. But he was closer to things arriving there instead of them breaking up.
And the knowledge made him smile.
"You are thinking favorable thoughts about me," Jarella declared.
Much like a young boy getting caught with adult magazines by his mother, Ryouga started stammering and gesticulating in equal amounts of incoherence, which was a remarkable feat all things considered.
She gave a delighted smile and ran a hand under his chin, which had the effect of calming him. That was the exact opposite of what normally happened if a female touched him in a familiar way. Passing out was normal. Or what passed for normal with him. "Maybe," he admitted, still wary.
That only made her more amused. "I am starting to understand your mannerisms and reactions. You are not good at hiding them, which suits me. I prefer openness to deception. I have learned there are many in the modeling business that practice the latter. That is not to say I did not experience such in my… former occupation. In truth there was much of it there, which is why I am more aware of it than many in my profession think. I prefer to let them underestimate me, so there are times I feign ignorance when I know very well what they are really doing. I never behave this way with you."
"I know," Ryouga blurted without thinking about it.
Her smiled brightened. It seemed like he was making all the right moves without even trying. He almost always seemed to do that with her, which was incredible since he had no idea what he should be doing. He was the luckiest man alive to find a woman that wanted him to be himself, since he was terrible at being anyone else. Transforming into the Hulk notwithstanding.
So of course his luck came crashing down around his head all at once, much like being in a cave beneath a volcano that suddenly decided to erupt.
"There you are!"
Ryouga saw the declaration was from a woman slightly taller than him, adorned in resplendent armor. Three men with skin the same coloration as Jarella's stood slightly behind her, looking depressed. His experience in the super hero business told him this was going to be nothing but trouble. That would have been bad enough, but Jarella's presence made the situation thousands of times worse. She had to be protected no matter what.
Ryouga snarled, "I don't know what problem you have with me, but why don't we take it somewhere else? Where innocents won't be hurt."
The woman looked at him in angered confusion. "I'm not talking to you, idiot. I meant her."
"I do not know who you are either," Jarella said.
"I'm the one whose life you ruined by switching places with me!"
Jarella gasped. "You are The Naru Narusegawa?"
"Address me as the Warlordess of K'ai!" she snapped. "It is the mantle I have to wear thanks to you!"
"What's going on?" Ryouga asked, wondering how a woman appearing out of nowhere, dressed in armor, accusing someone of something, didn't involve him. It defied rational explanation.
Jarella turned to Ryouga. "Forgive me, my captivator. I have not been entirely forthcoming since I was afraid of alienating you. I was intending to tell you the entire truth when I judged you were ready for it, but now I see the time has come. Brace yourself for the unbelievable.
"I am from another world."
"Yeah, I kind of figured it was something like that," Ryouga said. "At first it was your green skin and it not being a mutation. And you were always alluding to coming from somewhere else that was very different from here, but being so vague at the same time made it clear you were trying hard not to lie. Also I can't think of anywhere on Earth that's like the place you keep describing. Then the clincher was when we came across that Korean child that was lost. I tried speaking Japanese to him, but he didn't understand me, but when you spoke to him he did, and it sounded to me like you were still speaking Japanese. So I asked you something in Chinese, and you understood but answered in Japanese and never asked why I switched languages. So that told me something was translating everything for you and vice versa. So when I added it all up… alien from another world."
Jarella was taken aback. "Oh. I apologize for underestimating your understanding and intuition."
"It's okay. I, uh, kind of got secrets of my own I didn't tell you because I thought you'd freak out and leave me. When this is over, I'll tell you everything." The two exchanged affectionate glances.
Which angered the armored girl to no end. "Hey, I'm still here! Quit ignoring me!"
"Oh, yes." Jarella got back to the original point. "I was the leader of my people, who were threatened by Visis, an usurper who raised an army to overthrow me. I went to a prophet to tell me if I would be victorious. Upon arriving there, before I could ask, 'Will I be successful in defeating Visis?' he said,
"'You're toast, Honey'."
"My mind was reeling with the implications. However, before I could ask if there was another way to defeat him, he said, 'You'll have to sacrifice everything you hold dear to save your people.'
"He was actually quite good at prophecy, you see. Although I believe I would become annoyed if I was with someone who always answered my questions before I asked them."
Ryouga nodded his head. He could anticipate the sun rising every day, but not much else. No danger to their relationship on that front.
"When I asked him what he meant, he said, 'You cannot save your people, but The Naru Narusegawa can. You'll have to be at the Pool of Green Waters at 29:02 on the Thirday of Octall. Enter the pool, and you'll be replaced by The Naru Narusegawa, who will lead your people to quick victory over Visis. However, you will never be able to return to your homeworld. In order to save your people, you will have to forsake everything you've ever known forever. '
"Of course I did not want to abandon my people or home, but in the end it was no choice at all. I went to the waters at the appointed time. One moment I was standing there, the next I was falling down through a seemingly endless bottom. Just as I was about to drown, I burst to the surface in this world, at an all girls' dormitory with a hot spring. I then went about creating a new life for myself here and eventually met you."
Ryouga felt his heart practically burst in delight at Jarella telling him, well her origin story. He would do the same about being the Hulk, and hope for the best.
Before he could do it, Naru shouted, "You self-centered bitch! You never considered for one second whether 'The Naru Narusugawa' would want to switch places with you! Well I didn't! I was just a mild-mannered high school senior trying to get into a decent college! I didn't want to get sucked into some weird world with giant warthogs and green-skinned nuts swinging swords! Only everyone heard that stupid prophecy, so your people made me their leader. Then I ran into Visis, who said he thought I was hot and he would either marry or kill me!" The memory made her unleash a feral grin. "Oh, he paid for that. Like all the creepy guys that come on to me."
"Then my people are safe?" Jarella asked, a note of trepidation in it.
"Of course! I am the Warlordess of K'ai! I united that entire world under the Crimson Banner and brought everlasting peace. Then I had the three stooges figure out a way to get me back here so I could get revenge on you for screwing up my life. Unfortunately the way through the pool was a one-time deal. In fact there were no direct lines from there to here, so I had to take a roundabout course. Naturally I conquered every world I came across, so it took a little longer than I would have liked. I might not like my calling, but I'm responsible enough to do the job right.
"And now I'm here, ready to exact revenge."
Ryouga stepped protectively in front of Jarella. "Over my dead body."
Jarella tried stepping around Ryouga. "Beloved, I am capable of defending myself. A queen of K'ai is expected to lead troops in battle, and I am skilled in several forms of combat."
Naru laughed uproariously. "Don't worry, Loverboy. I'll see to it you share the same fate." She pulled a cord on the shoulder of her armor, and it fell to the ground, save the helmet, which she removed herself and tossed to the side. Now Naru stood clad in tight leather pants and a top composed of the same material. The top showed a bit of mid-riff and dipped low enough to show some cleavage.
And then her body underwent a transformation. She increased in size in every way, her skin turning red and muscle being added everywhere. Her pupils disappeared and her eyes turned a glowing yellow. In nearly the blink of an eye a crimson giantess stood before them, her outfit now stretched out in what most men would describe as interesting ways.
"The journey to K'ai changed me, as you can see. The first time Visis' troops laid eyes on me, they said, 'Look at that She Hulk'. I liked the name, so you can call me that. At least until I dismember you." The woman exuded confidence.
Jarella gulped audibly, knowing she was grossly overpowered, but refused to cower.
Ryouga's response was for his heart to race. While memories of his time as the Hulk were fragmented at best, sometimes the stronger ones bled through and colored his perception. One was a distrust of all things robotic. Another was a wariness around hills. Fuscia was now the color he disliked the most. And the most recent one was an intense rage upon being confronted with exceptionally large red women with a penchant for black leather. He was discovering that one right now since he had not run into any until this moment.
Between the anger and need to protect the woman he loved, Ryouga changed into the Hulk even faster than Naru had her own form.
Jarella looked at him in shock. "Beloved, you are the Hulk? Oh, that is what you wished to tell me."
"Hulk will protect Jarella!" he emphasize while shaking his fist at She Hulk.
Jarella was not the only one taken aback. "You're shacking up with the Hulk? That takes some guts."
Now that he had changed, the full memory of what the older version of She Hulk had done to him sent the Hulk into a fury. "Hulk remembers Red Girl smashing Hulk! Hulk will smash back!" And he hurled himself at her.
"But we never before!" she insisted. Stimuli was coming at She Hulk too quickly for her to think effectively, and the confusion was enough that she was not fully prepared for her foe's assault. She tried blocking the first blow, but there was such power behind it only some of the force was stopped, the rest followed through and hit her hard enough to bring pain. She tried bringing her guard up, but the raw power of the assault smashed through her defenses again.
Pain made her own rage build up, and with it so did her strength, for her ability gained by interdimensional travel, much like the Fantastic Four's, mirrored the Hulk's in every way. And Naru Narusegawa was always quick to anger even before she had been transported to a world not of her making to lead it into the future. She struck the Hulk with the full force of her own might, which set him back a step.
However for him this was not their first encounter, and he was aware of her prodigious strength and endured it. "Hulk will not lose this time! Hulk will smash Red Girl!" And continued attacking her in a way he never had an opponent before.
Moving far away from the battle while still keeping an eye on it, Jarella sought some cover and worried for her beloved. This She Hulk was a fearsome opponent, and she prayed the Hulk's strength could overcome it.
The three sorcerers joined her at her side, casting a spell that would shield them from the lesser of the debris being hurled about from the pair's cataclysmic battle.
"It does our hearts good to you well, our former queen," Moh said, his partners nodding in agreement.
Keeping one eye on the battle, Jarella asked, "Does our homeland fare well under this… beast's leadership?"
"Surprisingly, yes," Lar-E said. "While of ill temper and not one to be reasoned with when angered, she does seem to want our world, well our empire now, to flourish, despite her anger at heading it. She does not seem to care for administration, and leaves each respective world to run itself as it had before, though with her as supreme leader and all of her orders to be obeyed. Likewise she does not give many orders, content that everything runs well. She also does not allow people from each world to stay in any of the others."
"That sounds a bit restrictive," Jarella said.
"Perhaps, but it does seem for the best. Each world's culture is very different from one another. The Espada have a caste system where the people have tattoos of numbers to evaluate their importance to their society. Those lacking a number are barely treated like humans. The Sol-Jui Wai demand everyone conform to their ideology, which changes day to day and with little reason. And the Terragonians… they practice a form of despotism which seems insane to most others. Our normal culture would not fare well being changed into theirs, or even if others tried to integrate parts of their culture with ours. It seems the Empire of the Crimson Banner has no stated purpose beyond existing, each part of it largely being left to its own devices so long as they conflict with no other part of the empire, and that suits us just fine."
"I… see." Jarella was a little disappointed they seemed to accept this new ruler so casually, and that in her own way She Hulk had engendered far more success than Jarella would had she continued to run things. She knew it was ego which made her feel that way, she was intellectually relieved things had turned out so well for her people, even if they had done it without her.
And in some ways it was liberating. This was her new life now, and one that had become much brighter with the inclusion of her now officially proclaimed beloved. She was largely responsible only for herself, rather than a domain which had been handed to her at birth. While she had accepted the mantle, and worn it well, fate had deigned it be given to another who, contrary to appearances, seemed well-suited for the job. Relieved of the burden of worrying about her former land, she could now move forward with her own life.
Which was now in danger from the She Hulk. There was no way Jarella could physically combat her, nor did she see any way to tip the odds in her beloved's favor, though he was doing well enough on his own. If only she could send the woman back somehow. But much like Visis' army, she was helpless to alter the course of this conflict.
The battle raged in a manner few could, as if two titans from myth had gone to war which would ravage everything. They were literally two of the mightiest mortals on the planet. In theory their conflict might have raged eternally, but instead She Hulk found herself losing ground.
The reason was two-fold. The first was despite her conquests, she had never been truly tested in combat. Scythe's ability was destructive, but after absorbing one blow, she leapt out of the path of the second wave of energy, then landed next to him, grabbed his scythe, broke it over her knee and told him to surrender or she'd do the same to him. Kronak's mist monster had given her pause, at least until she punched him into Kronak, who was knocked unconscious. The monster had disappeared with its master's wits. And now, having confronted someone who was at least her equal, she found herself concerned for the first time since discovering her power.
The second was more important than the first: the Hulk had gotten in two fairly good shots in the opening moments. She had never recovered from his early advantage, and at last it started to tilt the odds in the emerald behemoth's favor.
She Hulk was worn down enough that the Hulk slipped an even more telling blow past her guard, one to her head. A second blow met her in the gut. Doubled over, the Hulk showed no mercy and hit her with an uppercut that literally sent her a hundred feet in the air. She was just starting to recover her wits when she came back down, where the Hulk had a fist drawn back. He struck her falling body out of mid-air and sent her flying like a missile toward the Pacific ocean. Her body was limp as it was sent away.
The trio of sorcerers looked at one another. Kurly spoke to Jarella this time, "It appears the unthinkable has happened and the Warlordess has met defeat, though I feel little sorrow over this loss. We will initiate the spells of recall to ensure your beloved does not leave us without a leader again. We do miss you, but our loyalty is to the current ruler of the land, not the former one."
As they began their spells, Kurly said, "And you will no doubt be relieved to know that using this spell means the passage we used to make our way here will be forever sealed. The Warlordess will no doubt still seek revenge, but she will have to travel an even longer distance to return, and knowing her, she will still take the time out to bring to heel any other worlds she comes across. It is unlikely we will cross paths again for the near future. Fare you well, Jarella."
And the trio were gone in a flash of light.
Done estimating where his foe would land, the Hulk was about to use the mightiest leg muscles in the world to catch up when Jarella yelled, "Wait, beloved."
Upon hearing her voice, and what she said, the Hulk gained a goofy smile, one that made his resemblance to Ryouga Hibiki unmistakable. "Hulk should make sure stupid Red Girl does not come back."
"Your blow has assured she is gone, and cannot return for a very long while. You have my thanks." She now considered the changed form of the man she loved. This was not something she had seen coming, but he had clearly accepted her and her unusual background, how could she not do the same for him? Besides, in looking in his eyes, they were the same as his other forms. Not literally, but the same spirit clearly resided within him. What mattered the physical form when the soul remained the same?
"I think we need some time to talk, would you agree?"
"Hulk will agree to whatever Jarella wants."
"Then I want you to be yourself." It was advice she had given Ryouga upon their first meeting, and she needed to know what she adjustments would be required involving her beloved's other form.
So their relationship was going to be unconventional coming from both sides. Perhaps that would make it more fulfilling than a more normal one.
She looked forward to seeing what would happen next.
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Upon arrival at K'ai, Naru had reverted to her more human form, though it was more likely from her unconscious state than the magic of their return. The three sorcerers summoned physicians to help her while remaining at her side. However she recovered before they made it to her chambers.
"What happened?" she asked her 'stooges', who informed her of the events that had transpired.
She reverted to her larger form. "Send me back so I can kill him!" she snapped.
They explained the impossibility of it, which caused her to smash the nearest object, which was fortunately inanimate. Given her current temperament, it was uncertain if she would take notice of what she destroyed.
For a moment they thought she might lose total control and tear down the castle that was her home, but then she reigned it in, though the rage still burned brightly. "You will work toward finding me another way back. I don't care how long it takes or what resources you have to use, but I am getting revenge on that bitch and her loverboy. In fact, I'm killing him first, and ideally before her eyes. No one beats me in a fight and lives. No one screws me out of a normal life. They're both going to pay. Now get out of here."
The trio left, on one level happy their ruler did not take her anger out on them, and feeling sorrowful for their former leader.
They were not looking forward to seeing what happened next.
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[End Chapter]
Well we resolved the little matter of the 'Red' (and only) She Hulk from the Dead Parade rather quickly, and if there was ever an ill-tempered anime female that was ideal for a raging beast of destruction, it was the female lead from Love Hina. And the Ryouga-Hulk/Jarella couple is official. Always felt Old Brucie's relationship with her was considerably less dysfunctional than the one with Betty, but stable relationships tend to be rare in the comics given the genre. Also she's stayed remarkably dead since the early 80's, which is an accomplishment in the Marvel Universe. (Betty only stayed melted from gamma poisoning for a year or two before she came back). So it was fun using someone who hadn't been used much in nearly forever. Kind of like the Split Second Squad.
I know the three K'ai sorcerers' names were not like the three stooges, I couldn't find the right ones, and thought it would be cuter this way.
Yeah, I actually found another Ranma ½ character to use as the Chameleon. Tsubasa was a natural, I just needed to find the right place for him.
