Avenging
Book 2: Chapter 5
Building a Better Ant Farm
Part 2
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tsommer
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Previously: Haruki Shirogane and his acquaintances are playing a game of life and death with teams of super heroes. Haruki hired High Technician to try and kill his pick, the Avengers, and came close with the genetically advanced cockroach, Inheritor. Now High Technician is trying once again…
And here we go
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The morning sun had risen as Ranma and Ukyou headed toward school. Normally Akane would have been accompanying them, but she had spent the night at a friend's house and went to school from there. So it was the pair met at the halfway point between homes and proceeded from there.
"Hey, how's it going?" Ranma asked, alighting on the top of the fence to walk along it, multi-tasking his balance training with travelling to a destination.
"Burned out, as usual." Ukyou hadn't meant to add a yawn for emphasis, but it seemed to automatically come once she mentioned her near perpetually exhausted state.
Ranma remained jovial. "Cheer up. We're moved up a grade. One step closer to graduating and getting out of here. Glorious freedom!" He did several flips along the top of the fence before returning to a normal walk.
Ukyou raised an eyebrow. "I had no idea you hated school so much."
"It's not that," he clarified. "School's fine. I like the people in it. Learning's not a terrible thing. Sometimes it even comes in handy. Like when that villain, Locksmith, knocked me and you out with that gas trap. And we awakened in a locked room with the chains around our arms and he tried to get us to either kill each other or saw off an appendage. Only I figured out the corpse in the middle of the room was really alive since there was no smell of crap because dead bodies loosen their bowels when they kick the bucket. I learned that in school."
"I'm still impressed you can throw a hacksaw hard enough to knock someone out."
"You can knock anyone out with anything if you throw it hard enough. He's just lucky he left us the saws or I would have hit him with the bathtub."
"I still find it amazing he stayed in the room with us. He could have watched us on a monitor somewhere and had an escape route in case we broke out of the trap."
"I think the idea was hiding in plain sight. And Locktwit was a cocky jerk. Although he did get the drop on us in the first place, and it was a nasty idea to make two heroes who rely on having two arms in combat, to give up a limb to escape. I'll give him credit for being weirdly stylistic to the point of making himself vulnerable rather than being outright stupid."
"A one-armed archer is about as useful as a one-armed guy with a shield," she agreed.
"My original point is: learning's perfectly fine. It's just school itself is taking too much time considering my…" He noticed they were now passing by people within earshot. "…extracurricular activities."
"You're preaching to the choir," she assured him.
"Exactly. Between school, martial arts training, and the job, school cuts way too much into it."
"Wait, are you saying you're not going to college?"
Ranma snorted in disgust. "No way. I mean I got nothing against it, but I've already got a job I can make a living at lined up. And it's one I really want to make a career out of. Furthering my education isn't going to help that. Not like they teach courses in that line of work, which I'm already great at. Heck, I could probably teach other people how to… you know what."
Ukyou nodded.
"So there's no sense in me cutting into work and wasting time going to a school that can't teach me anything I need."
As they entered the school grounds, Ukyou considered the words. Given the similarities in their lives, she wondered how much of his reasoning applied to her own situation. If anything hers was worse since she had a business to run on top of what Ranma dealt with, to say nothing of having a serious boyfriend now. She hardly had the time to see him, and if it wasn't for them being coworkers and seeing each other as Avengers she didn't know how their relationship would endure.
She had always operated under the assumption she would attend college, because that was what you did. She'd enter some restaurant management course then bounce between being a super hero and operating a privately owned business.
But now that Ukyou was actually living the life she'd envisioned rather than thinking about it in the abstract, the reality was proving far more difficult than she anticipated. Because she was juggling so many things at once her grades were lower than before, her business' odd hours undermined the profits, and she missed more Avengers meetings and adventures than she liked.
Did she really need college? That was what would get the axe if she had to choose. The practical experience of running a restaurant was a more solid education than learning from a book from an instructor who had never operated one in the real world. Her business would improve if she could keep more reliable hours. More Avengers missions meant more good deeds and boyfriend time.
On the downside, it would look bad if she skipped college, but that sounded like the best solution to all her woes. Outside of cloning herself which she would never do even if she could. Clones were never an answer. She heard that New York hero, Spider Guy or something, had a regular foe who threw clones at him all the time and no good ever came from them. They were nothing but trouble.
Apparently real life could foul up carefully laid plans, like Locksmith and his scheme involving them. Maybe it was time to adjust her priorities. It was food for thought.
They were now in front of their homeroom. Just as Ukyou opened the door Ranma asked, "So how are you and Horn… I mean the boyfriend doing?"
Ukyou's eyes widened and she hissed, "Ranchan!"
"What? I caught myself and said boyfriend."
And with that a crowd, composed mostly of girls, surrounded Ukyou. It was so near instantaneous Ranma considered it a form of teleportation.
And with the chum in the water, questions were hurled at Ukyou from every direction.
"You have a boyfriend?"
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"What class is he from?"
"Is he tall? Tall guys are the best."
"Is he cute?"
"Have you gone all the way with him? And if so was he any good? Because my first time with a guy, he didn't last a minute and it was awful. Isn't that right Tetsuo?!"
That would be Miyumi, Ranma noted, who was not dealing with her breakup very well at all. He had her pegged for a future super villain, one who focused on men. He'd heard far worse origins than being unable to deal with a bad break up.
He also noted Ukyou was glaring daggers, or perhaps arrows in her case, at him and he understood why. He hadn't realized the high school rumor mills were so sensitive to sound all it took was a stray sentence to cause a swarm to gather. And these locusts were feeding on her. He wagered Ukyou would rather deal with the actual super villain with the same name instead of this lot.
Such was the life of a high school student, and all the more reason he wanted to get out.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
High Technician placed the headband on his test subject: one Kishou Arima. A tall, slender fellow with white hair and looks that most women would probably find handsome. And because of that most men wouldn't like him, including, High Technician. At least he wasn't a race car driver. There was a difference between being irritating and unacceptable.
The most important thing about Arima wasn't his looks or choice of vocations. Rather it was his medical condition: specifically it was terminal. Pancreatic cancer was a fast, nasty way to go. Which was what made Arima the perfect test subject: a willingness to try anything that wasn't guaranteed to kill you.
This time High Technician hadn't needed anything expensive from Haruki -he already had the necessary equipment- what he need was a human to use it on. With access to Haruki's resources, finding people that had terminal diseases was simple. After that High Technician went over the list and chose Arima as an ideal test subject. Once contacted and told there was a possibility that there was a revolutionary process which would keep the cancer from spreading, Arima was agreeable to anything. Which was good because this method of salvation was way out there.
Upon Arima's arrival, High Technician ran a battery of tests, with Cuddles helping out, to confirm Arima was acceptable on a physical level. Everything checked out, and High Technician was eager to get his hands on the huge sum of money, so he saw no reason to delay hooking Arima up and getting the operation rolling.
The numerous machines in the room worked on scientific levels few could comprehend, but High Technician was that damn brilliant. Also to the best of his knowledge no one, not even his former mentor, had considered this avenue of science. Perhaps variations of it, the world was full of scientific geniuses, but not this one. This was going to be groundbreaking.
Arima wore a specialized, plain white skintight suit that would be conductive to the energies about to surge into him, while also keeping Arima from being naked. Because guys strutting around with their junk on display was not how High Technician played ball. Now if it had been a female test subject… no, he'd have insisted on her wearing the outfit as well. He didn't want to be the kind of guy that went for cheap thrills like that. He wanted to be respected, not known for being pervy. Although maybe once he got the fifty million, he'd rent a swimming pool and hire a bevy of bouncy beauties in bikinis to lounge around. That scenario always looked neat in the movies, and he wanted to know what it was like experiencing it in the real world. He bet the Magnificent Ten did it all the time.
But that was for later and he needed to focus on the matter at hand. It was time to give Arima the full story.
Or mostly full story. Some details… well the man had enough on his plate without being told some things which might distract him. Niggling details really. Afterwards maybe, assuming he survived the process.
High Technician made sure the signal from the suit and headband was working. "Now, Mr. Arima, specifically what I'll be doing is using this machinery to send into your body a flow ionic energy. Once this energy fully permeates your form, it will prevent the cancer from spreading. It will also make you a veritable powerhouse whose strength will rival that of the most powerful beings on the planet. Pretty good deal if you ask me."
"You've done this before?" he asked.
Cuddles pretended to continue working at the monitor he sat next to while keeping an eye on the situation.
"Naturally. While there were a few bugs at first, I eventually got them worked out. I haven't failed on a single animal in the last twenty tests."
Arima tensed up. "So you haven't used it on humans before?"
"There always has to be a Patient Zero for a new, experimental technique in the field of biology." High Technician shrugged.
"I'm not sure I want to be that one. What if there are harmful side effects?" He made as if to remove the outfit.
"Tell me, Mr. Arima, you're the one with the terminal cancer. What possible side effects will be worse than the outcome you will be arriving at shortly?"
It took only two seconds for his hands to drop to his side. He gave a nod.
"Very good." High Technician double-checked all his instruments. All was in readiness. He announced, "Let's make history!" And pulled the lever.
From the machines surrounding Arima came a force that bathed his body in a purple and blue glow that blanketed him so thickly his form seemed to be composed of that energy. He simply stood there, unmoving and accepting with no signs of stress as the machines continued pouring a seemingly never-ending stream of that cascading force. High Technician kept an eye on the monitors, then suddenly pulled the lever back into its original position.
The glow disappeared just as quickly, leaving Arima outwardly as he had originally been.
Arima looked down at his hands, as if seeing them for the first time as High Technician approached. "According to the monitors, everything was successful. The cancer can no longer kill you. And from the way you're flexing those hands of yours, I would assume you feel the energy now coursing through your veins?"
Arima smiled and pumped his fist to the ceiling, shouting, "Yes!" at the top of his lungs.
"Outstanding." High Technician clapped his hands together and went to a rack where a green and black uniform hung. "Now in exchange for this generous gift I've bequeathed to you, I need you to do a couple of tasks for me. Believe it or not, you have sufficient power now to kill the Avengers. In order to make your task easier, I've come up with a plan which will increase the odds of you successfully doing this. I propose infiltration. I'll set you up so you defeat some low risk menace that looks frightening but isn't. Then you petition to join the Avengers. Naturally they won't induct you immediately, they'll want to give you a trial run or internship or something similar. Play along with them and do whatever they ask like you mean it. After a week or so you should have gained enough of their confidence, and perhaps their habits, that you should be able to take them by surprise. I recommend someone powerful as your first target, like Thor or the Hulk. With your power you should be able to kill them quickly with surprise. I even have this outfit picked out for you and a neat code name: Wonder Man."
Arima, who had continued to stare only at his body the entire time, shot High Technician a contemptuous glare. "Don't be ridiculous."
Despite wearing full body armor that covered everything, including his face, High Technician radiated that his delight was fleeting. "You mean you don't like the plan? I thought it rather sound."
Arima looked at his fist. "With this much power, I'm no man's lackey. I'll be the one calling the shots, for me and for the world." His eyes widened in realization. "That's it. With this incredible power I'll rule the world."
As one of Cuddles' hands went behind his back, High Technician placed both of his hands on his hips. "Oh seriously. You're turning on me this quickly? You haven't been changed for five minutes and you're just going to run off on your own without repaying your debt to me?"
Arima pointed a warning finger at the armored scientist, "I am repaying my debt to you. In gratitude for saving my life and giving me this power, I'm going to let you live. And I'll even kill the Avengers first thing, though not for you. I need to prove to the world I'm powerful enough to take it over and killing them right out of the gate will go a long way to convincing everyone I'm able to do it. I wonder if I should annihilate a city the way the Mandarin did just to make sure everyone really understands?"
"Do you at least want the cool code name?" High Technician asked hopefully.
"Don't be ridiculous. If I'm going to be ruling the world it will be under my real name: Kishou Arima. It will be the only name to go down in history. Yes, that's a wonderful idea. I'll rewrite all of the history books to reflect I am the only man that ever mattered. Because I am." And with that he jumped straight through the ceiling, and the ten feet of earth between it and the street above and continued upward.
Cuddles' hands moved away from the gun tucked in the small of his back. Arima was not a very bright man, though he had been through a lot in short period of time. While he might be hideously powerful, so were all the animals they told him had been experimented on as well. Arima had never thought to ask himself why these enormously powerful animals that had already been created weren't rampaging around despite being filled with ionic energy like him.
The answer had been that pistol, which had been designed using a specific wavelength of ionic energy that could kill any ionic being, just like a normal bullet could do to a normal human. "That was close."
High Technician sighed. "It's not like I hadn't anticipated that possible reaction. I'm glad you realized we needn't shoot him since he agreed to kill the Avengers for us. And I'm very glad I hadn't gotten around to telling him about the… issues involved with undergoing ionic transformation. If he had just played nice and did a mere handful of tasks, everything would have turned out fine. As it is, well let's hope he doesn't dawdle when it comes to fulfilling his assurance of wiping out our targets."
"True enough," Cuddles agreed.
"You think Wonder Man is a good name, don't you?"
Cuddles shrugged. "It's a bit bland, but not awful. Now if it was something like 'One Man Atrocity', that would be a terrible name."
"There's someone who calls himself that?"
"Yep."
"Remarkable." High Technician went to the still active monitors in Arima's outfit and headband and took note of the readings. He was going to gain a lot of new information with what was to follow.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Kishou Arima continued leaping a mile at a time, marveling at the strength in his limbs. He had no idea any single being could wield this much power. The ionic energy flowing through his veins was unlike any sensation imaginable. It truly defied description. Every one of his cells was bursting with so much power, he was like a god.
Yes, yes he was now. That was the name given to beings as powerful as him. And a god needed no other gods. It appeared he would indeed have to kill High Technician to see to it he didn't create any more. It was unfortunate because Arima wanted to leave the scientist alive. After all, he would have been dead in less than two months if not for the genius, but now that Arima wasn't going to die, he had to decide the best way to live. And that was in a world which possessed no rivals to his power.
He continued through the city leaping again and again, shattering pavement in his wake. In one case he shattered a car that bounced off him. The impact from slightly over a ton of metal traveling at forty kilometers an hour barely registered. At least for him. He was fairly certain from the way the driver went through the windshield the impact registered hard enough to kill him. That saved Arima from doing it personally. People couldn't strike him with cars and get away with it. Although the fellow had demonstrated how invulnerable Arima was now so maybe he would have let him survive.
It didn't matter any longer. There were Avengers to kill. All he had to do was arrive at Avengers Mansion, which would take….
And with that thought, realization dawned. He had no idea where it actually was in relation to where he was. Arima was not used to traveling by air, and he had been marveling at his power so much he hadn't even focused on where he was heading. He supposed he'd have to ask for directions. But no, that was beneath him. Demeaning. Why should he go to the Avengers? They should come to him, as was befitting his god-like status. But how to force them to appear before him?
Of course! Utter demands while causing an incident. He'd start slaughtering a bunch of people until they showed. It was hard to believe until an hour ago murder was unthinkable to him, but that was when he was a mere mortal. A lesser creature to what he was now. In the same way insects were lesser to him before his transformation.
However now that Arima considered the best way to engage in annihilation, it occurred to him he wanted subjects to rule, to bow in obeisance before him and genuflect in his wake. If he went about murdering the population everyone would be so terrified they'd flee on sight. Then he'd either have to kill them or drag them back to prostrate themselves to his greatness. What a hassle that would be.
Then he had it! He'd just start hurling cars into buildings. There were enough of them lining the street. That would attract the Avengers' attention. And if in the process of hurling them about some civilians were killed, well what revolution was ever bloodless?
He shouted, "Someone get me the Avengers!" at the top of his lungs as he picked up his first car to hurl.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Akane cut through the park on her way home. She was traveling alone, left to her thoughts, which she preferred at the moment. So Ukyou had a boyfriend. It seemed like everyone did nowadays. Actually Yuka had gotten one and broke up with him, which was both better and worse since it meant while she didn't have one at the moment, she was involved in romance enough to go back and forth between dating and not. That left Akane feeling even further behind.
There was Ranma as potential dating material, of course. She and her sisters had agreed it'd be a good idea to give him a chance since it would keep their father off their collective backs and he was a decent fellow. But for some reason it seemed none of them had gotten around to actually doing it yet. At least in Akane's case she was a touch worried about the fact she had a super hero alter ego. What if she and Ranma *did* hit it off? Could she afford to have a relationship with someone when she was a super hero? She would eventually have to tell whomever she was involved with. Could Ranma, or anyone else for that matter, handle the truth? Would it put them at risk? Wouldn't that be unfair? What if a boyfriend couldn't handle that? Would all her relationships be doomed before they began?
With her memories of Asgard fully restored, she realized how much easier dating another Asgardian was. They were sturdy and could handle themselves when problems arose. Not as well as her, but everyone was responsible for their own safety. Mortals… not so much. At least not in the same way.
But now that she had learned to embrace her mortal side, it felt more appropriate to date like that. So even if there were Asgardians about, she'd still opt for being Akane Tendou rather than Thor when it came to romance. It was just the other complications of having a dual life that made dating such a prickly thing. Her sisters had it so much easier than her.
As Akane considered future possibilities, and what potential path she should take, her Avengers communication card beeped. Since no one was around, she answered it with audio only.
Tigra's voice issued forth. "Is bad news. Super strong bad guy destroying part of city, demanding Avengers show up for fight. Have video of damage and he real deal, not poser. Am sending coordinates now and prepping Quinjet for launch."
"Wait!" Akane said, then realized she was going to give everything away if she spoke in normal Japanese. "Er, Tis Thor, here. I would like a chance to redeem my failure against Inheritor by taking this foe to task alone."
"Is bad idea," Tigra assured her. "This very strong mans making much menace. Should call in entire team."
"Summon them, but I ask that I be allowed to confront him first. Should I falter, of course it would behoove you to stop him yourselves. I would not see the mortal realm damaged for pride."
"Tigra have no problem if others don't, but think Swede being too, too silly."
Iron Rose's voice cut in. "I was ineffective as well and wish to give a better accounting of myself. I will go in with Thor."
"That… is not unreasonable," Akane admitted.
"Of course it's not. I'm the one who said it." The armored Avenger sounded miffed.
"You want in on the action too, Hulk?" Akane cursed herself for slipping up in her speech pattern again. She should just change and get it over with.
Ryouga's voice came over the communicator. "Yeah, don't think that's going to happen. I'm finding myself somewhere where there are mountains. The snow-covered kind, and not the type that are in Japan. They do look familiar. I think maybe they're the Andes."
"Then we shan't worry about you," Iron Rose said.
Akane read the location. It wasn't that far. All she needed to do was transform and get going. There was a troublemaker to deal with. She elevated her gnarled cane above her head….
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Arima was making a game out of throwing parked vehicles into buildings. As soon as he saw the holes he made in the edifices, an act unimaginable even an hour ago, it sent a thrill through him. He remembered being younger and going to festivals and playing games where you got to throw things at paper targets in an effort to make a big enough hole in them to win a stuffed toy. He never won anything big, but he had always liked the sight of those holes suddenly erupting from his actions. Perhaps it was the delinquent in him, in which case he had become the most dangerous one in the world. Now he was categorizing the vehicles by make and seeing how large a hole he could make by how hard he threw it. So far Toyota had the inside line on the biggest hole, followed by Subaru.
The game ended when he saw a blonde figure with a hammer in front of her fly into view. At last! An Avenger was going to die, and one of their big guns as well. This action was off to a good start.
Rather than throw things at her, Arima simply leapt. The power in his legs propelled him with such velocity he shot at Thor like a rock from a sling and struck her in the jaw before she could react, not just arresting her flight but causing her to plummet to the ground. He still wasn't all that skilled at leaping and landed a short distance away rather than the close proximity he wanted. He spun on his heel and rushed toward her, noting he ran faster than ever as well. Before she could rise he slugged her with enough force to hurl the heroine into the side of a building. He observed Thor made Toyota-sized holes as well, but unlike the crushed vehicles, she already started to rise. How durable. With his first fight forthcoming, he was going to experience just how powerful he truly was.
Arima shouted, "False goddess of the past, prepare to fall before the new god of today!"
And a pair of repulser beams struck him in the face. He was still shaking off the attack when Iron Rose flew low, punched him in the face again, the rocketed up to regain distance.
How dare the bitch strike him! And not once, but twice. He would peel the armor off her like an orange, then pull her skin off her like that as well.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Iron Rose flew through the air, her mind formulating strategies. She had seen enough of Thor getting pounded to know this guy was probably near Inheritor level strength. Not many could keep the goddess on the defensive with only a couple of punches. She also realized that maintaining her distance from this foe was a good idea, much like with Inheritor. Since he leapt rather than fly, that gave her a distinct airborne advantage.
And sure enough he jumped even faster than before, but Iron Rose had been prepared. She changed her flight path so he would miss. Not by much, but by enough.
Xxxxxxxxxxxx
Arima realized what was happening and cursed as Iron Rose changed her course. If only there was some way he could correct his trajectory. He willed his body to turn.
And somehow it did.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Iron Rose was taken aback by the change in vector by her opponent. She had one moment to realize there had been a sort of explosion from his feet, an odd color of purplish energy of some kind. Then she was struck with enough force to hurl her clear through one building and into the next.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Arima marveled once again as he found himself flying. He hadn't known he could do that. Unlike the muscle power he used before, this felt like something new. Some force was actually coming out of the bottom of his legs themselves. He saw the weird purplish energy about them. Perhaps he should have listened to High Technician explain how his abilities worked before running off on his own.
A tremendous lightning bolt swatted him out of the sky and he plummeted to the ground. This time it was his body, rather than legs, that cracked the pavement. As he rose, he saw Thor had recovered –as though the bolt hadn't been a clear indictor of that fact— with rage in her eyes. She shouted, "Have at Thee!" while unleashing a tremendous punch. Arima felt pain as it was his turn to make a hole in a building.
That hurt! How? He was a god. He knew it. Nothing as powerful as him could be anything else. He thought he was beyond pain, but this woman had hurt him. Now he would kill her before Iron Rose for this travesty!
Just as he rose to his feet Thor began spinning her hammer in front of her by the thong. Arima was uncertain as to what she intended to do, and since she hurt him once, was finally cautious for the first time since godhood had been bestowed upon him.
It whirled so fast it looked like it there was an unbroken circle before her. Then it started to glow. He was mesmerized, trying to comprehend what was happening. Then the glow changed color and now there was a portal where there should have been nothing but spinning hammer. It looked like some weird form of outer space, except it was a sickly yellow green rather than black. What appeared to be the equivalent of celestial bodies were all magenta in color. The void looked endless.
And then he felt himself being pulled by a powerful gravitational force emanating from the hammer.
Thor shouted, "Thou art too destructive and dangerous to be left lying about, villain! We will see what damage you cause in another dimension far removed from this one!"
No! He was the new god of this world. He would not be exiled to some unholy realm! This was his kingdom! The people his subjects! Panic shot through him and be used his newfound strength to resist the pull, but somehow it tugged at him with such force he started losing ground.
Arima dug his fingers into the wall next to him, but all that did was leave grooves in it. Now terrified as he drew closer to the vortex depicting an abyss his mind couldn't grasp, he lifted a foot and drove it into the pavement, hoping it would be more difficult to pull him through a foot and a half of ground.
It worked. Given a slight reprieve, Arima bent low enough to dig his hands into the base of the wall and pulled up with all his might. As he hoped, the wall was not constructed to endure that much force at the base suddenly lifting upward. Three stories of edifice shattered, causing tons of debris to come crashing downward.
Debris which found itself dragged toward a portal far too small to contain it.
Thor realized what was about to happen and stopped spinning, the portal disappearing instantly. Too late, momentum caused the tons of rock to continue flying at her, burying her in a pile of rubble.
Arima nearly slumped to his knees in relief. First she had inflicted pain upon him. Then terror. Oh Thor would die, yes she would, and while he wanted to do it slowly and painfully, she had already proven far too dangerous. She'd be dispatched as quickly as possible. He'd take his rage out on the other Avengers. They could suffer the lingering deaths he wanted to inflict upon her. It was only just they pay for her crimes against the divine leader of Earth itself.
As he stood there considering his future actions, a Deathblossom beam from Iron Rose's chest weapon struck him in the back.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Iron Rose had gone with a similar tactic to the one she used upon Inheritor. Shooting a dangerous foe from behind was completely within her code of ethics. While that armored colossus had only been shaken briefly, the results upon this foe were unbelievably different. The beam struck true in the center of his back, hurting him as he jerked and shouted out in pain. What was unanticipated was the energy went clear through him: an impossibility unless she intentionally adjusted the beam's power to do so. It would hurt, possible injure, but not kill.
What was even more impossible was, rather than blood pouring from the hole now in his back and front, it was more of the purplish energy that had emanated from his feet when he flew. She immediately ran a scan that indicated the energy was ionic in nature. Bleeding energy? Was this being some alien lifeform, a mutant, or the result of scientific experimentation? The possibilities were numerous.
On his part, Arima looked in shock at the hole in his chest and what was leaking out of it. His hands moved through the wave of ionic energy emanating from the new aperture. There was no pain, despite the physical damage. He just felt a little light-headed.
That feeling was soon displaced and he focused once again. He spun in anger and raged at Iron Rose. "What is this stuff?! What have you done to me?!"
Well, that was a clue. Had he been born with the energy she doubted he'd be surprised this was the result of an open wound. "It appears you aren't exactly what you thought you were. Perhaps it would be best for you to surrender so we can get medical treatment for you."
The call to surrender infuriated him. "So it's a trick, is it? You want God to surrender to the likes of you? That will never happen!"
As he prepared to hurl himself at the airborne figure there was the tremendous reverberation of a massive amount of rubble being hurled in all directions. Arima turned just in time to see Mjolnir thrown at him, striking just above the hole in his chest and hurling him into yet another poor building that faired about as well as the others by collapsing on top of him.
The hammer returned as the Avenger rushed to her fallen foe. Arima matched Thor's earlier action by hurling the debris from himself and stood to confront the goddess.
"You will pay for your defiance!" he shouted.
"I have had enough of dotards getting the better of the scion of Odin! No more!"
Iron Rose watched as the pair laid into each other in a titanic battle. It was rare that Thor held nothing back as she did now, and the fury of a goddess was a sight to behold. Typically, much like the Hulk, she wouldn't use her full strength for fear of crippling or killing their opponent. But not now. She had taken this energy being's measure and was confident he could endure. And somehow he was, despite her wrath being so great. Loathe though Iron Rose was to admit it, her armor would not have been able to withstand that assault for very long. She wondered who would outlast whom.
The combatants switched from bludgeoning one another to grappling. At first it appeared Thor had the upper hand, but then Arima managed to get his hands interlocked with hers and the two squared off in a test of raw power with a simple Greco Roman knuckle lock.
From above, Iron Rose observed the pair reach a stalemate. Since their foe was stationary, she had the perfect opportunity to fire upon him, but she wagered her teammate would not appreciate the help. The goddess had made it clear she wanted… needed to prove herself in combat and this was it. The armored Avenger understood the feeling. Her pride had been hurt in the last battle since she had been largely ineffective, but Thor had been beaten outright and their foe left wanting for more.
As they continued using their full strength against one another, Iron Rose noticed the energy was now seeping not just out of the holes in his chest and back, but from all around him at an ever-increasing rate. He was covered in a haze of ionic mist as it seemingly seeped out of every pore.
Thor began to press an advantage. She leaned close enough to snarl into his face. "Your time has come, braggart. A false god always falls to a real one."
The insult made Arima snap. He marshaled all his strength and managed to break the stalemate and hurled Thor away, though only a short distance this time. She was only off balance rather than injured, and she returned to her feet unharmed and eager for more.
Iron Rose interjected herself into the matter again. "Listen to me! If you don't surrender now you're going to die!"
He shook his fist at her. "Don't' be ridiculous. You can't stop God."
"Look at yourself!" she shouted.
And then for the first time since taking the chest wound Arima did. Something was indeed wrong. Terribly wrong. The light-headed sensation had increased a ten-fold, and every part of his body somehow felt indistinct. Hazy. On some subconscious level he understood what was happening, and about to happen as well.
He cradled his head in his hands and shouted, "This wasn't supposed to happen! He said I wouldn't die!"
And then his body converted totally into ionic energy. Once in that state, the energy dissipated on the breeze blowing through the air, streamers of purple with traces of black spreading out and becoming increasingly slender until becoming so insignificant as to be invisible to the naked eye.
Iron Rose landed where Arima had just stood, while Thor walked over as well.
"Did our foe escape?" she asked the armored Avenger.
"In a manner of speaking. I'm fairly certain over the course of the battle his cells transitioned into an energy state. Once all of them did, there was nothing to contain the energy and he went poof." She added a hand gesture for emphasis.
"Then he is dead?"
"I hope for his sake he is. I doubt a human mind can endure being blown in a thousand different directions miles apart without going hopelessly insane." As Iron Rose explained she took readings and determined what little ionic energy remained would blow away completely with the remaining wind.
Thor turned pensive. "From his words I judge he was turned into the being we fought, rather than it being his normal state."
"Indeed. And it is no simple procedure to transform a human into a fountain of energy like that. He was strong enough to go toe to toe with you."
"I would have prevailed," Thor assured her.
"I fear whoever was behind him has great technical genius and considerable resources at his or her disposal. I can look into scientists who have been researching infusing people with energy, ionic in particular, but my gut tells me this is someone who hasn't been regaling the scientific community with research papers on the matter. Perhaps it's A.I.M.. This would be right up their alley, and they have no great love of us after we brought down nearly their entire operation in the Western Pacific area."
"It matters not," Thor assured her. "For all the foes we have triumphed over, there are those who have escaped our efforts to bring them to justice as well as newer foes who wish to test our mettle. No matter who it is, in the end they will be found wanting."
"Yes, I suppose you're right." Kodachi remained a touch uncertain. Things had been slow since their battle against Biko Stane-Daitokuji and Kang, both of which had reached decisive resolutions. There hadn't been any real challenges until Inheritor showed up. Now this foe, created with what had obviously been flawed technology, appeared out of nowhere and fought Thor and Iron Rose to a standstill until he self-destructed. It could have been coincidence they had appeared back-to-back like this, but she wasn't relying on that. The Avengers would have to be more aware in the future if this was a case of a foe targeting them for destruction.
Come to think of it, she had no idea who their dead opponent was. He hadn't mentioned his name, and they needed to call him something when they created a case file on it. He had been fixated on the idea of being divine, so she'd choose something inspired by that.
'The Nameless God,' would do quite nicely.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
High Technician turned off the monitor, which hadn't received a signal since Arima's dissolution. It didn't matter really. While the primary objective had been lost thanks to Arima's betrayal, the secondary one of gaining data on the process of human conversion into ionic energy had been immeasurable. It would take him a while to sort through the massive amount of data collected from his first human test subject. Even the death served a function as he now had solid indicators of impending over-transformation and subsequent loss of containment that could only be learned with human death.
High Technician knew from the start that, without additional adjustments and treatments, that would be the eventual outcome for Arima, though it had happened far more quickly than usual. It was likely because the betrayer had exerted so much power in attacking the Avengers (mores the pity he hadn't at least killed some of them). High Technician would have informed Arima of the issue and made the necessary adjustments had he proven himself amenable to working for the scientist for a brief while. But alas, immediate betrayal had brought about a faster death than allowing the cancer to run its course. And Arima had no one but himself to blame. Really, a month of service at most and he could have gone on to trying his hand at world domination. All he had to be was loyal and patient. But now, in typical fashion for the instant gratification generation, he wanted everything by the end of the afternoon. Instead all he got was death.
"At least I still have that Wonder Man costume," High Technician mumbled, though he'd have to scrap the infiltration plan since two people showing up with ionic energy abilities would tip the Avengers off it was a spy. He'd been certain the plan would have worked as long as his minion had been loyal. He really wanted that money.
"So what do we do now?" Cuddles asked.
"I'll need to contact Vince."
"Vince?"
"Vincent Stegron."
"You mean the nut that turned himself into a dinosaur man?"
"That's him. He wanted me to perfect that device he made for reanimating dead dinosaurs. It only does it for a brief while before they fall apart. It really is a marvelous device. He's unbalanced, but a genius."
"What does he even need it for? He lives in the Savage Land. They got plenty of dinosaurs there. Why does he need dead ones back?"
"Who knows? But I figured out how to extend it to at least six months, and with continuous treatment they'll last indefinitely. I'll offer it in exchange for a quantity of Antarctic Vibrainium. I'm going to need some to destroy Iron Rose's armor."
Cuddles nodded approvingly. "Yeah, that'll work all right. But what about the rest of the Avengers?"
"That will be a simple enough matter. Remember when I sent Piranha out to the Pacific for a few weeks a while back? I had him visit the sunken remains of Hydra Island and recover samples of the Death Spore."
The dog man drew back. "Isn't that stuff super dangerous?"
"I modified it so it mutates into a harmless strain within three hours. I'll use that on the Avengers. The only one I was really worried about was Iron Rose being protected in the armor, which is why I want it out of the way. The only reason I'm reluctant to use it is it'll still kill thousands before that happens. I don't like mass murder. It's wasteful and tasteless. I'll only use it as a last resort right before the deadline. I'll try and come up with some other plan beforehand, but I'll prep for it just in case, and that means getting some of the Antarctic Vibrainium."
He let Cuddles get to work on contacting Stegron while High Technician grabbed the Wonder Man outfit to put it back in storage. Someday his Wonder Man would live.
Someday.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[END CHAPTER]
And thus part two draws to a close. And here I tied it to a canon event that almost happened in this world, too with the Wonder Man thing. And yep, old Spider Man villain Stegron did indeed do all that stuff. He was a fun character in the 70's in his few appearances. Later ones were okay, (they brought him back from obscurity when Jurassic Park became big) but the first two or three was where it was at because it was classic fun.
And the moral of the story is: don't betray the scientist that gives you your powers. It rarely ends well for you.
Excelsior.
