[FFML] [Ranma/various] Avenging: Act 3 Chapter 7

[DB Sommer]

Avenging
Act III, The Animal Farm
Chapter 7


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Standard disclaimer: I don’t own any of the Marvel characters or other 
characters from the numerous animes which are within.

Here’s a great reference guide for many character and objects in the 
Marvel Universe.

[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/index.htm]

Last chapter: The Gunsmith Cats hit Japan and accepted a contract on the 
Avengers. Cougar killed Black Cat and is now in charge of the Phantom 
Cats. Thor tried to shower with Bucky, and Ryouga helped Ukyou against 
the villainous ‘8-Ball’, whereupon she promised to help Ryouga track 
down Ranma.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The journey of a thousand miles, the journey that began with a single 
step, had at last drawn to its conclusion.

Ryouga looked across the lot toward his longtime foe. The resemblance 
between this and the battleground Ryouga had challenged his arch-nemesis 
to, the one he had cowardly ran way from, was strong. How appropriate 
that, after years of wandering, Ranma should be run to ground in a place 
that was so similar to where the chase had begun. It was symmetrical, 
like a pair of book ends. And not the cute kind that were designed to 
look like animals, but the plain, metal type that had that bizarre art 
deco look.

Ranma had brought friends, the coward. Ryouga recognized Ranma’s father. 
There was another older man, who was new, as were the three girls with 
him. The girls were roughly Ryouga’s age, except maybe the tallest one, 
who might have been a handful of years older.

But Ryouga had brought an ally. At least he thought of her as one. Ukyou 
Kuonji, that nice girl who had fed him after he dispatched that 
ridiculous Goofball. Or was it 8-Ball? It didn’t matter. Anyone that 
tried robbing people with a pool cue deserved to be beaten up. Upon 
learning of the grudge Ryouga had against Ranma, Ukyou had been kind 
enough to arrange a confrontation between the two of them. She was so 
nice. It was impossible to see how Ranma could have dumped Ukyou as a 
fiancée. Okay, according to Ukyou it was Genma who had screwed up her 
life, but Ryouga bet Ranma had something to do with it. He was that kind 
of guy.

Finally, it began as Ranma started to walk toward him. Refusing to be 
look like a coward, Ryouga walked forward as well, intent on meeting 
Ranma right at the halfway point. And when they met, everything would be 
settled once and for all, with Ranma lying beaten into a bloody pulp and 
Ryouga’s life would become happiness and sunshine.

The two stopped, not more than an arm’s length away from each other. 
Unable to hold back any longer, Ryouga snarled, “So, Ranma, after 
countless years and countless miles, we meet again for the first time at 
last. Every day I’ve fantasized about this moment and what I’m going to 
do to you. There’s no escape for you this time, Ranma. Because of you, 
I’ve seen hell--.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. It’s completely my fault,” Ranma said.

Ryouga stopped in mid-rant. “What?”

Ranma continued, looking as close to contrition as he could manage. “No, 
really, it was totally my fault. I was dumb in dismissing your story 
about helping some invisible chick out of hand. I should never have 
blindly believed a bunch of strange kids, especially since I know ya. I 
should have investigated to find out if they were telling the truth, but 
instead I beat you up and bad mouthed you and didn’t wait three days to 
have our fight, when it turns out you’re the real victim here. Anyway, 
sorry for making your life hell.”

Ryouga was left adrift like an unanchored ship in the middle of the 
typhoon. Ranma was supposed to deny everything and then get beaten up in 
the ensuing fight, not immediately take responsibility for his actions, 
explain correctly why he had been wrong, and then apologize for his 
wrongdoing.

A friendly hand slapped Ryouga on the shoulder. Ukyou said, “There you 
go, Ryouga, total victory for you.”

“It is?” But no one had been beaten up. What sort of victory didn’t have 
one’s foe smashed for being the bad guy?

The tallest of the girls that had arrived with Ranma approached. “Of 
course it is. Anyone can punch out someone else, but it takes a real man 
to accept a heartfelt apology.”

“It does?” Ryouga wanted to argue the point, but he couldn’t seem to 
bring himself to disagree with girls. Especially nice ones, like these two.

Now the girl with the wooden cane and limp had made her way to their 
side. “Yep. I’ve never heard Ranma apologize about anything until now.”

“What did I have to apologize for until now?” Ranma said a touch 
defensively.

Akane continued, unfazed. “Congratulations on getting him to do 
something no one else has.”

Kasumi continued before Ryouga could come up with a counter-argument. 
“Only a ruthless thug would beat up a man after he apologized for his 
wrongdoing. You’re not a ruthless thug, are you?”

“No! No. Definitely not.” And with that it was sealed, Ryouga realized. 
While a part of him might not have entirely agreed with the sentiment, 
there was no way he could beat up Ranma now, or even reject his apology, 
and not look like the bad guy in front of these girls. He would become 
that which he had been accused of, that which he had protested from the 
day it had happened. No way was he proving Ranma’s claim valid, if even 
if it was after the fact.

Ukyou said, “I’ve only known Ryouga for a little while, but I can tell 
he’s on okay guy.”

Another, unexpected quarter spoke up on his behalf “Darn right,” Ranma 
said. “We were the best buds in junior high. He was the only guy tough 
enough to give me a run for the money.”

Ryouga was just plain confused when Kasumi prodded him once again. “So, 
Ryouga, you accept Ranma’s apology, right?”

Ryouga was so deep in it now, even he would think he was he bad guy if 
he refused. “Yeah, sure.”

“All right,” Ranma affectionately slapped Ryouga on the back, like he 
used to do in the old days when the two had been friends. “Hey, you been 
keeping in shape?”

“Of course,” Ryouga said as Ranma draped a brotherly arm around his 
shoulders and the two began to walk off on their own.

“Good. I still don’t have any normal sparring partners to help keep me 
in shape, and like I said, you were tough enough to always make me have 
to work for it. Feel like reliving some of the good old times?”

The good old times weren’t all that bad, hence the ‘good’ in it. 
Actually, hanging out with Ranma had been fun. “Uh yeah, sure.” Ryouga 
allowed himself to be led a few steps before saying, “You know, this 
really feels anti-climatic.”

Ranma said, “What, the whole revenge thing not working out the way you 
thought? Don’t worry about it. I’m sure at some point we’ll have another 
misunderstanding and end up in a fight. That happens a lot in my line of 
work.”

“Line of work?”

“Err, in my life, I mean.” Ranma pointed at Ryouga’s forehead. “What’s 
with the bandanna, anyway? You a Hulk fanboy, or something?”

“Ah, sort of,” Ryouga said warily. “Why don’t we spar?” No way was he 
telling Ranma about his Hulk situation. Though Ryouga was pretty okay 
with it, it might scare Ranma off since Ryouga could turn big, green, 
and mean, and turn Ranma into a bloody splatter with the flick of a 
finger. So maybe it was for the best that things turned out this way. 
Revenge on Ranma had not included killing him. Just beating him up 
badly. If he had lost his temper to the degree of Hulking out, well, it 
wouldn’t have been too pretty,

Besides, Ryouga’s quest for revenge wasn’t entirely over. He still had 
to get even with that little redhead that had kicked him into the stupid 
cursed spring.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“That worked out well.” Kasumi was relieved. If Ryouga had changed into 
the Hulk, Giant Man, who ‘just happened to be in the neighborhood’, and 
was shrunken down to ant size nearby, was ready to use some of his 
shrink gas on Ranma to keep him from getting killed. But it hadn’t come 
to that. Everything had been resolved peacefully and the two old friends 
were getting along.

“That was wonderful, daughter,” Soun said, suddenly appearing and 
startling Kasumi.

Genma was beside her as well. “Indeed. It’s so nice to see you’re 
looking out for Ranma’s welfare, just like a potential fiancée should.”

Kasumi grimaced. Not wanting someone dead was not the same thing as 
wanting to marry them. Besides, she was a genuine kick butt superhero, 
and had had no intention of settling down with anyone in the near 
future. She had to think of something fast to deflect their attention, 
or at least belittle her accomplishment.

“I only did the same thing any of us would have done.” She indicated her 
two sisters.

Akane sensed the father’s attention redirected her way, and just when 
things were going good in them locking on Kasumi for becoming the 
official fiancée. She would have liked to deny Kasumi’s claim, but that 
wasn’t the sort of thing any normal person could do, given the way 
Kasumi had stated it. “Uh, yeah. I wouldn’t want to see either of them 
get beat up.”

Nabiki said, “I wouldn’t have stopped them.”

Everyone stared at her.

“Well, not right away,” Nabiki clarified.

That relaxed them somewhat.

Nabiki further clarified. “I would have waited until one of them really 
had the crap kicked out of them, then I would have offered my services 
for a fee. I could command a higher price further in the fight, since, 
when someone is actually losing, since they’re more desperate for 
victory and are willing to pay more than at the outset of a fight.”

Everyone was momentarily struck speechless. Then Kasumi said to her 
father, “What amazing financial sense Nabiki has. She’s definitely able 
to run a household’s income with that kind of efficiency.”

“Uh, well, I supposed that is true,” Soun said reluctantly.

“Let’s go eat,” Kasumi said, satisfied she had thrown off the fathers’ 
sights which had been in danger of settling on her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was hours later that Ryouga wandered around the streets of Nerima, 
lost in thought. He had sparred with Ranma, and, almost against his 
will, it had become fun. Indeed, just like ‘the good old times’, as 
Ranma had proclaimed them. Pretty much all of the pent up anger Ryouga 
had directed at Ranma was gone, which was what was currently making him 
angry. Really, why had he bothered chasing after Ranma for years on end, 
only to let himself lose by winning? What was the point in it all?

“Ahhhh! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I can’t even get revenge right!” Ryouga 
began to mindlessly bash his head against a wall in frustration.

Unlike most people, Ryouga had success on the tenth head butt of 
breaking said wall. That his body had been bombarded with high levels of 
gamma radiation helped the cause, as the physical violence, in 
combination with the pent up frustration, had turned him into the Hulk.

The Hulk looked at the new pile of gravel his forehead had made. “Why 
did Hulk do that?” Maybe his head had been itchy.

It was at that point that a beeping began emanating from somewhere 
around the Hulk. It was a low, steady beep. The noise was just a touch 
irritating. He searched the area trying to locate the source. He looked 
in dumpsters, under dumpsters, under a section of the street (by lifting 
it up), but couldn’t seem to find it. After a couple of minutes, the 
Hulk grew irritated at the noise. He leapt in a direction to get away 
from the beeping. Instead it stayed with him. Actually, the beeps grew 
closer together.

“Where is noise coming from?” The Hulk shouted. He leapt again. And 
again. The beeps grew closer together, then with the next beep they grew 
farther apart.

“Ahhhh! Hulk wants to get away from stupid noise!” he bellowed at the 
top of his lungs. Maybe it was time to smash something. Smashing usually 
made things better. If it didn’t, he wouldn’t find himself doing it so 
often.

It was at that moment that Thor dropped down from the heavens and landed 
next to him. The mere presence of the goddess managed to calm even the 
emerald behemoth.

“Hammer Girl!” Hulk said, delighted.

“What seems to trouble thee?” Thor asked.

That put his mind back on its previous track. “There is a beeping noise 
that is following Hulk, but Hulk cannot find it. It’s like an itch Hulk 
can’t scratch. Except it’s not itchy; just annoying. Hulk thinks if he 
scratches it hard enough, it will go away.”

Thor walked up until she was right next to the Hulk. That made him grin 
stupidly. Thor reached up and rested her hand on his head. He would have 
wagged a tail if he had one, or was Tigra.

Thor’s hand felt the bandanna, then settled on one spot and pushed it 
against his head. The beeps stopped, “Tis the emergency signal sown in 
thy headband, the same one I received. We put on a location beacon so 
thou couldst’ find Avengers Mansion by following the beeps. The closer 
the beeps are together, the closer thou are to yon mansion. So 
concentrate on making the beeps louder when they do sound.”

“If Hulk does that, will Hulk get to meet Hammer Girl?”

“Err, aye,” Thor said with a touch of unease.

“Good.” That one was going into the long term memory. The more beeps one 
heard, the closer to Hammer Girl Hulk was.

The goofy grin on the Hulk’s face, made Thor uneasy, but she had no time 
to worry about it. “I shall lead thee to the mansion.” She swung her 
hammer and threw it in the direction of the mansion. Holding on to the 
thong, she went with it.

The Hulk leapt after her.

Minutes later, the pair arrived, Sasuke leading them to the hanger bay 
where the quinjet was about to take off. Thor noted they were the last 
to arrive. She was delighted to see it was Captain Japan, rather than 
Bucky, in attendance.

“What be the emergency?” she asked.

Hawkeye was the one to explain. “We got an emergency call. Apparently 
there’s an incredibly powerful super-villain called the ‘Basher’, 
threatening some little girl at an oil storage facility in Tokyo. We’re 
on our way to save her.”

The Hulk scowled. “’Basher’? That sounds like ‘Smasher’, which sounds 
like ‘Smash’. Hulk smashes. Hulk does not like it when people try to rip 
him off. Hulk will show Basher by smashing him.”

“I think a lawsuit might be healthier,” Giant Man suggested.

Iron Rose said, “Spoken like someone who has never been sued. Believe 
me, going five rounds with the Hulk is preferable to getting billed for 
five rounds with a lawyer.”

As they spoke, the doors to the hanger opened, revealing the night sky. 
Thor announced, “Since it be not far, I shall fly alongside yon conveyance.”

“I shall as well,” Iron Rose said. “Just in case there’s no time to land 
before rescuing the girl.”

The Hulk was torn. On one side, he wanted to near Thor. On the other, he 
knew he couldn’t leap as fast as she could fly. Reluctantly he got on 
the quinjet and buckled himself into his seat. After all, it was 
dangerous to travel without a seatbelt.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Errr, Miss, how long are we going to stay here?”

Minnie-May Hopkins, aka Nitro, the Exploding Girl, looked at the man 
next to her: the Basher. He was dressed in a normal looking suit with a 
black mask over his face. Not much of an outfit, though she supposed she 
shouldn’t criticize. She was wearing a cute little dress that made her 
look about ten instead of her seventeen years. As far as she was 
concerned, it was just what the occasion called for as the pair of them 
stood on a platform right next to a giant three story oil tank next to 
the docks where the oil tankers frequently docked.

Minnie-May looked up to the sky. She had already received a radio report 
that the Avengers’ quinjet was on its way to ‘rescue her’ from the 
clutches of the ‘horrible supervillain’ standing next to her. “Soon. 
You’re getting paid good money for this, you know.”

The Basher shrugged. “I know. Thanks to a phone call to the police, and 
with you as my pretend hostage, the police will be here. Once they 
arrive, I will kill them all. And get paid for it too, which is great, 
since my job at the diner doesn’t pay squat.”

“What exactly is your super power anyway?”

The Basher pulled several fist-sized balls from the pocket of his pants. 
“With these!”

Minnie-May was a bit disappointed at the revelation. She thought he was 
someone who had something to brag about. “Are they filled with 
explosives?” Minnie-May liked explosives. It might give them something 
talk about while they waited.

“Are you kidding? If I ever dropped one, it might blow up on me. These 
are just hard balls. But I have a mean throwing arm. Watch.” He drew 
back and threw one of the balls a hundred feet away. It clunked against 
a dumpster and dropped to the ground.

The Basher laughed maniacally. “Oh yes! Soon the police will learn what 
it means to fear my power!”

Minnie-May released a tired sigh. That really was about as silly as you 
could get. Well, no, there was the ‘Ringer.’ Although maybe wrapping 
people up in metal rings was better than hitting them with hard balls. 
It was something of a toss up.

Oh well, what was about to happen would be a service to the 
super-villain community. She continued looking bored until a low flying 
vehicle with an unusual design came into sight. “Here they come. Menace me.”

Minnie-May cowered while The Basher raised his arms up in a 
‘Frankenstein Monster’ manner.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the approaching quinjet, everyone spotted the figures next to the oil 
storage tank.

Giant Man was the first on the communicator. “Listen up. It looks like 
we got here just in time. We should—“

“Thor shall save the day!” she announced over the communicator as she 
flew right for the pair.

“We should really have a plan,” Giant Man pointed out, not that that 
slowed the Goddess of Thunder down. He sighed. “We’ll just wing it, like 
we always do.” He took the quinjet into a landing pattern.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Unable to see any police, the Basher finally looked up and saw the 
approaching Goddess heading right toward him. He looked in terror at 
Minnie-May. “Oh my god! That’s the Avengers! I can’t fight them!”

“Don’t worry. You won’t have to fight them,” Minnie-May informed him. 
“Thor was the only one Bullseye was worried about. I was sort of hoping 
to lure them all in, but as long as she’s first, she’s all that matters. 
Rally can handle the rest with the special items she got from our 
employers.”

“What can you do to someone that powerful?!” the Basher screamed.

“This.”

And Minnie-May Hopkins, living up to her nom-de-guerre, exploded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To Iron Rose, everything happened at once. The little girl exploded, 
taking not just the man menacing her, but the oil tank directly behind 
her, easily shattering the container and igniting the oil within. That 
explosion lit up the night sky for miles around, the fireball engulfing 
Thor, who had just come in for a landing next to the villain.

Even as the shockwave from the titanic explosion washed over the 
airborne heroine, her sensors picked up an incoming missile launched 
from a nearby building. She quickly calculated the trajectory, realizing 
it had not been aimed at her, but rather the quinjet.

Just as she brought her repulsors up in an effort to blast the missile 
from the sky, something small impacted with the back of her head. 
Instantly her armor seized up, everything shutting down. Her eyes 
widened behind the slits of her faceplate as she plunged headfirst to 
the ground. She tried shifting in some way to keep from plunging like a 
rock, tried rebooting her system, but nothing worked. The only thing 
still running was her pacemaker, which was on its own system

Iron Rose hit the ground headfirst, rendered unconscious in an instant.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

The missile struck toward the front of the quinjet just as it went into 
hover mode. Its titanium alloy enabled it to keep from cracking in two, 
but there was a massive hole blown in the side, frying the entire 
electronics system. The engines cut out and, much like Iron Rose, the 
ship went straight down into the ground, striking hard. While the craft 
had been going in for a landing, it has still been high enough that the 
impact cause significant damage to both aircraft and passengers.

Groans arose from inside the cabin. Including from the Hulk, who had 
started to doze off right before the explosion and crash.

The emerald goliath looked around wildly at the carnage surrounding him, 
snapping his seat belt as though it were string. “What happened? Did 
robots attack Hulk? Robots always attack Hulk.”

Captain Japan unstrapped himself from his seat, sore but otherwise 
unharmed. “Nah, I heard Giant Man shout something about a missile lock 
and then *boom*. Speaking of which.” He moved over to the pilot’s seat 
where both Giant Man and the Wasp lay unmoving. He took their pulses, 
then looked more closely at them. “I ain’t no doctor, but their 
breathing’s all right and they got steady pulses. We’re going to have to 
take them to a hospital to get them checked up. How are the rest of 
you?” he shouted into the back portions of the ship.

“All present and accounted for,” Hawkeye said, coughing a bit from the 
smoke that began filling the vehicle, courtesy of the smoldering ruins 
of the electronics system.

Captain Japan took charge of the situation. Pointing at a tear in the 
side of the vehicle, he said, “Hulk. Make that hole bigger so we can get 
out of here.”

While not enthusiastic about taking orders from Captain Japan, the Hulk 
wanted to get out of the ship anyway, so he did as he was ordered. The 
titanium alloy gave with only the smallest fraction of the Hulk’s strength.

The Hulk emerged from the wreckage, looking around. “Where did Hammer 
Girl GORMPH!”

The reason for the Hulk’s sudden, garbled ending to his query was due to 
a small cylinder hitting him in the face. The object ruptured, causing 
some sort of red, plastic-like substance to explode over three-quarters 
of the Hulk’s head.

The Hulk was confused and annoyed. Something was now covering his mouth, 
nose, and face. He grabbed at the substance, intent on throwing it off 
and smashing whoever had annoyed him this way. However, he quickly 
discovered a serious problem. The substance was so slick he couldn’t 
seem to grip it. It took some twisting, using a great deal of strength, 
for his fingers to dig in well enough to get anything like a grip. Once 
he was convinced he had a good hold, he pulled. The material was very 
rubbery, and while it stretched out as far as his arm could go, it 
remained clinging to his face. He lost his hold on the slick substance, 
and it snapped back into place.

“What the hell is that?” Captain Japan started to emerge from the craft, 
intent on helping his comrade get rid of whatever the goop was.

“Get down!” Tigra shouted, grabbing Captain Japan by the back of the 
uniform and throwing him back into the ship. There was a zipping noise 
as something passed right by where the hero had been a moment before, 
and a ping as something ricocheted off the side of the quinjet.

“Is sniper,” Tigra warned as the Hulk lumbered blindly away from them, 
trying to bellow in rage as he pulled at the substance engulfing his head.

“Any idea where he’s firing from?” Captain Japan asked.

Daredevil edged closer to the hole. “I think from a building to the 
east, about three hundred yards away. They have an ideal view of the 
entire ship. No blind spots. They’ll have multiple shots at anyone not 
used to using stealth.”

“Damn, this whole thing stinks of a set up,” Hawkeye hissed, examining 
the ruins of her bow.

“Maybe we should just rush out,” Captain Japan suggested.

“No, I have a better idea.” Daredevil smiled under his mask. “I… hey, 
where did Tigra go?”

All eyes searched the quinjet, but the were-woman was nowhere to be found.

“She was here a second ago,” Hawkeye swore.

But she wasn’t any longer, Daredevil’s senses made him one hundred 
percent certain of that. It was remarkable that she could slip away 
without even him noticing, though he had hardly been focused on her. 
Still, she was almost as elusive as that Elektra woman.

It mattered little. He never relied on others when he could rely on 
himself. “She’s not needed for what I have in mind. Anyway, here’s the 
plan…”

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

High above, in an abandoned warehouse, Rally ‘Bullseye’ Vincent watched 
the wreckage of the quinjet, one eye on the crosshairs of her scope, the 
other watching the entirety of the downed ship. So far everything had 
gone mostly according to plan. Ideally, Nitro’s explosion would have 
taken out everyone, but since Thor had spearheaded things, she had taken 
the brunt of the blast, and hopefully was dead. That was just as well, 
as Bullseye hadn’t been confident the one shot ‘Piercing Laser’ would 
necessarily be fatal to someone that claimed divinity, and had yet to be 
debunked.

Iron Rose was a different story. Use technology against technology. Iron 
Rose had fallen to the Electro-Magnetic Override device, which had 
affixed itself to head and basically overrode her armor, telling it to 
shut down by attaching itself to the command system that had to be in 
her helmet.

The ‘Goo’ was working on the Hulk. Bullseye had been confident on that 
one as well, having been given a chance to see it in action. Expanding 
on contact with air, the substance formed a bond with whatever it was 
splashed on that would make super glue look like cheap masking tape. At 
least in the first second. After that, whatever wasn’t in physical 
contact with a solid surface would then turn slick so one could get a 
good hold on it, and it was so rubbery it would stretch and contort even 
if one could. An ideal weapon against a one trick brute force pony like 
the Hulk, though Bullseye had plenty of somna gas capsules that would 
have done the trick as well.

The missile had brought down the quinjet, though it had taken 
disturbingly long for it to lock on to the vehicle despite her 
employer’s contention that the tracking system was one of the best in 
the world. It was only because her employer was providing Bullseye with 
all of the (largely experimental) weapons that she was able to take out 
the more powerful super-heroes. Now all that was left was to blow away 
the remaining, far more vulnerable ones. And if she wanted to do it, she 
had to move fast, since Nitro would be on her way to the downed quinjet 
to get her share of the kills. They had a bet going with who could kill 
the most Avengers. The loser was to pay dinner for the winner for the 
duration of their stay in Japan, and Bullseye thought she might kill a 
few more superheroes just to see if she could find a good one.

Just poke your heads out, Bullseye thought to herself. She had nearly 
nailed the shield toting hero, but someone had pulled him out of the way 
just as she triggered her shot. She wanted a clean kill, wanted to see a 
head explode like a piñata full of blood, bone and brains. There had 
been a moment right after the shot when she thought she saw a strange 
shadow moving near the edge of the wreck, but it seemed impossible it 
was anything human. Most likely an illusion produced by the flames and 
smoke. A lot of smoke was starting to fill the area, thanks to the 
Nitro’s gas explosion.

Then Bullseye saw it: a slender cable snake its way out the hole and 
around a telephone pole. The movement was quick and the cable nearly 
invisible. One person out of a thousand wouldn’t have seen the motion.

Bullseye was one out of a million. Maybe ten million.

The red blur came streaking out of the hole, swinging on the line. 
Child’s play. She was able to gauge his speed and distance in less than 
the blink of an eye. She held her breath and triggered the shot that 
would send a round of fifty caliber death through the air and burst her 
piñata.

The bullet struck the figure’s head cleanly, making it explode in a 
shower of streamers and party favors.

Bullseye hesitated a full second before realizing she had been had. She 
tracked her rifle back to the hole, but there was nothing there. Her 
peripheral vision caught a red blur duck into the nearest building.

Fine. She would be having company soon. She had been prepared for this 
eventuality. Time to make sure everything was in readiness.

Bullseye abandoned her position and began stationing herself to use the 
room’s set up. However, she had only pulled out her favorite Glock for 
close quarters work when she sensed more than saw the movement above 
her. While on a subconscious level she knew there was no way Daredevil 
had gotten to her this fast, the rest of her was in attack mode. She 
raised her gun up and snapped off two quick rounds on the vectors most 
likely to be used by an attacker above her while lowering her body for a 
tuck and roll. One bullet narrowly missed the cat girl’s leg as Tigra 
leapt for her foe.

Claws shredded Bullseye’s trenchcoat, rather than the flesh underneath 
that had been the target. Bullseye was impressed that the feline not 
only got the drop on her, but could shred bulletproof material like it 
was paper mache. Had she not been moving backward, the claws would have 
gutted something vital for certain.

Bullseye completed the tuck and roll and came up firing with both her 
original piece, and a second she had pulled from one of her numerous 
holsters. Tigra was quicker, darting through an empty doorframe and 
behind an old plasterboard wall that had fallen into disrepair. Bullseye 
fired through the thin wall, punching small holes in it, but with only 
one pistol while she switched to a heavier caliber firearm with her other.

She emptied a magazine and deliberately clicked twice with the empty 
firearm, despite having kept exact count on the bullets. The .357 she 
had drawn moving along the length of the wall. Come on out, Kitty Cat, 
she thought to herself.

A blur shot out from behind the wall and Bullseye fired, narrowly 
missing twice. Inhuman speed was the only thing that saved the critter. 
However before a third round could be fired, something came at her face 
from the direction of the blur. Instinctively she leaned to the right, a 
small white fang caressing the side of her cheek and slashing it open 
instead of burying itself in her cheekbone.

Bullseye recognized it as one of those supposedly ‘ornamental’ teeth 
that came with Tigra’s outfit/bikini. There had been nothing in the 
dossier on the were-woman using ranged weapons, ones that could maim if 
they found their mark. Bullseye damned faulty intelligence as Tigra used 
the split-second evasion and launched herself at Bullseye.

This time Bullseye held her breath and dropped a pellet in front of her. 
It exploded in a cloud of greenish mist as Bullseye tried to shift left.

Claws raked her side, drawing blood as the blur shot past. However as 
Tigra landed, she began to have a violent coughing fit.

“Stink bombs aren’t anything like catnip, are they?!” Bullseye shouted 
in English as she fired at the momentarily stationary felinoind.

It was a testament to Tigra’s reflexes and agility that she evaded all 
but one of the bullets. The one that struck hit her in the side, the 
kinetic energy spinning her around and throwing her backward into a 
window that broke with the impact. She went tumbling out.

As Bullseye had hoped, Tigra did have an enhanced sense of smell. One 
wiff of SF’s stink bomb would make a normal person vomit, which was why 
Bullseye had nose filters in place since the beginning. For Tigra it 
must have been like jamming a week old decomposing corpse up her nose.

Before Bullseye could walk to the window to confirm the kill, she again 
became aware of movement out of the corner of her eye. She brought her 
empty gun up, deflecting the thrown billy club aimed at her head.

Daredevil was coming at her from above. A dead man’s move. She sprang 
back and pulled out another pistol, firing a round for center mass. Just 
as quick Daredevil brought an archaic shield out. Or at least archaic in 
appearance, since the bullet deflected. He must have been taking Captain 
Japan lessons.

Daredevil landed right in front of her and came up swinging. Bullseye’s 
own reflexes were bordering on superhuman, which was how she rolled with 
the punch which only clipped her in the jaw instead of concussing her. 
She lashed out with a foot, catching him in the gut, as well as making 
him drop the shield. Off balance, she fired blindly in the hero’s 
direction, driving him back.

Bullseye threw another capsule, this one a basic smoke bomb to blind her 
foe while she changed position, firing in the direction she had seen 
Daredevil in.

No cries of agony came from the smoke. Instead a chain came out, snaring 
her leg. A quick jerk put Bullseye on her back, hard. She was gasping 
for air as she fired a round at the chain, breaking it, then fired in 
the direction the chain had been in when it had been pulled tight, 
emptying her gun as she rose up and kicked the slack chain around her 
ankle away, staying in motion the whole time. Another capsule was drawn 
from the mini-bandolier around her waist and in her free hand.

A net woven of steel cable came at Bullseye, and she barely dodged it. 
Daredevil came emerging from the cloud in nearly the opposite direction.

Bullseye threw down the flash bomb. The special wraparound sunglasses 
her employer had given her tinted instantly, preventing her from being 
blinded. Now Daredevil was dead. It was too bad, as he had excited her 
more than anyone since the Underworld hit. Killing competent, 
professional, and old school hit men was always a turn on. But to all 
good things and whatnot.

Bullseye fired at Daredevil, who, impossibly, evaded the shot, as though 
he had been unaffected by the flash. Another billy club was thrown, 
knocking her gun out of her hand. That was followed up by a kick. She 
had only a split second to tighten her abdominal muscles before the blow 
hit, making her want to hurl the contents of her stomach.

Reeling backward, Bullseye pulled a knife and held it out in front of 
her. Daredevil seemed taken aback by the change in type of weapons. 
Good. Bullseye put a straight thrust at the hero, one that would fall a 
full meter short. He tensed up at the start of the thrust, as though to 
deflect it, then realized he was nowhere near the danger range. Instead 
it looked like he was going to follow up with another attack by drawing 
back yet another billy club that had appeared from his billowing sleeve.

At the maximum distance of the thrust, Bullseye hit a button on the 
handle and the blade shot forth. Somehow Daredevil managed to shift, 
just barely, while the blade was in mid-air. Bullseye heard him hiss in 
pain as it struck him in the chest, then deflected away. She smiled at 
his luck and felt herself become increasingly turned on by his survival 
instincts. Her heart rate increased and her body grew flush with arousal.

Daredevil dropped the billy club on the side he had been stabbed. The 
other one he threw at Bullseye, hitting her between the eyes and 
shattering the special set of sunglasses. The club drew blood as well, 
making her reel backward. She staggered toward a dilapidated stairway 
while Daredevil sought cover so he could assess his injuries.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Hasn’t been any firing lately,” Captain Japan said as the Hulk lumbered 
around outside, continuing to try and rip the substance on his face. 
Captain Japan had to hand it to the emerald behemoth: he was persistent. 
The Hulk hadn’t made the least bit of progress in being able to remove 
the stuff. He had even hit himself in the face a few times, and still it 
stayed where it was.

What did concern Captain Japan was that the Hulk was starting to slow 
down, probably because he was running out of air. The shield-slinging 
hero knew he had to do something. No way was he sitting tight, watching 
while one of his comrades died, just because someone might shoot at him. 
Even without his father’s prodding and his vow to become a heroic icon, 
he would have done something.

“I’m going out there,” he informed Hawkeye.

The archer placed a restraining hand on him. “Wait. We haven’t gotten a 
signal that all’s clear from Daredevil.” Or even the useless scaredy cat 
that had probably slunk off to some corner to hide, she thought.

“Doesn’t matter. I gotta take the chance.” He tried to move, but was 
again restrained by Hawkeye. “I told you—“

“I can help in case the sniper is still there.”

“I thought your bow was broken in the crash.”

“Yeah, and so was the backup I keep on board.” Hawkeye lamented. “But I 
have my arrowheads. They’re still effective when, I you know, throw them.”

“Maybe we’ll call you Grenade Guy, then.”

Hawkeye swatted him on the shoulder. “Anyway, this one should provide a 
smokescreen. I’ll throw it out next to the Hulk, then you run into the 
cloud.”

Captain Japan nodded. Hawkeye pulled out the arrowhead, then drew back 
with it and threw it. Sure enough, a large cloud of smoked formed, 
obscuring the area between downed vehicle and enraged behemoth. It 
merged with the expanding cloud of smoke coming from the oil fires from 
the initial explosion, effectively obscuring the area.

No shots rang out as Captain Japan cut through the smoke, keeping his 
shield up to protect his head and body. He coughed only a little as he 
ran up next to the Hulk.

“Hey, Hulk!” Captain Japan shouted.

A fist nearly slammed into the hero, only his super soldier enhanced 
body enabling him to evade the blow.

“Hey, you lumbering ox, it’s me, ‘Shield Man’. I’m going to try and take 
that crap off you so quit trying to hit me, unless you like the idea of 
suffocation.”

The Hulk paused for a moment, scratching at his head before nodding.

Captain Japan considered the situation. He came up with an idea. “I’m 
going to try and dig the edge of my shield right where that goop meets 
your flesh. With any luck the edge will be tough enough that it can 
wedge itself between your skin and that crap” He raised the shield up to 
a spot near the Hulk’s throat. He paused for a moment. “Umm, by the way, 
it’ll probably hurt like hell.”

The Hulk shook his head furiously.

“Aw, come on, you big baby. You can take me ramming my shield into your 
throat a bit.”

The Hulk shook his head again.

Before Captain Japan could continue, cries of distress came from the 
direction of the huge fire that was slowly consuming the docks. Emerging 
from the cloud of billowing smoke was a blond girl, about ten, in a cute 
dress. She cried out, “Help me, please!” as she ran for Captain Japan.

In response, Captain Japan threw his shield, catching the running girl 
in the ribs and knocking her to the ground. As the shield returned to 
his hand, the girl was left gasping on the ground, clutching her ribs in 
pain.

“How… how could… you do that… to a… little girl!” she gasped.

“Because any little girl that’s at ground zero of a massive explosion, 
then comes running out of it and the only thing she has to show for it 
is crying like a baby, ain’t really a little girl.”

She continued gasping on the ground about ten meters from him. “Could 
you at least help me up? I think you broke my ribs.” She held out an 
imploring hand.

“Like I’m going to get near you.” He remained right where he was.

She continued coughing, “You’re a cold bastard.” And then she blew up.

Captain Japan grimaced at the detonation, feeling the wind from it move 
him back a step, though he was well away from the immediate blast 
radius. He looked back at Hawkeye. “I didn’t make her do that. My shield 
doesn’t blow up people it hits. Look.” He swatted the Hulk in the 
stomach. “See?”

He narrowly avoided a Hulk-seized fist aimed at his head.

“Look!” Hawkeye shouted, pointing at where the girl had detonated.

Captain Japan watched as some of the smoke began to coalesce, definitely 
moving against the wind. It took a few moments as the smoke moved 
around, but eventually it gathered into a humanoid form. The mist hung 
in the air, then solidified, forming Nitro once again.

“Ooo, this could be a problem,” Captain Japan conceded.

Nitro slapped her ribs, not wincing in the slightest. “All better. You 
see, it doesn’t matter what you do to me. All I need to do is blow up, 
and when I reform, I’m as good as new. Let’s see if the same thing 
happens to you when you blow up.” She walked toward Captain Japan.

Unwilling to let the girl get close enough to encompass him in her 
detonation, the hero did the only thing he could think of and threw his 
shield again. Nitro exploded before the shield arrived, the blast 
hurling the shield away with enough force to bury itself a foot into 
brick wall, two stories off the ground.

Captain Japan looked sorrowfully at the now out-of-reach weapon. 
“Shoot.” He turned back to Nitro and shouted, “Can’t blow me up if you 
can’t get close to me.” He raspberried her while simultaneously sticking 
out his tongue.

That irritated Nitro. She ran at him, intent on drawing close enough to 
blow him to pieces. “What kind of stinking superhero are you, running 
away from a fight?

Hawkeye watched the chase began. She understood what the Captain’s real 
goal was in keeping Nitro’s attention away from the unconscious people 
in the quinjet. But what to do? There wasn’t anything lying around she 
could use to create a makeshift bow. And even then, what sort of arrow 
did you use on someone that could just heal the damage by blowing 
herself up?

What they needed was some sort of equalizer, like the Hulk. He had gone 
back to trying to remove the goop from his head. He had to be running 
low on air. He had been talking when they stuff got him in the head, no 
way had he taken a breath. But if his strength couldn’t get it off, what 
the hell could?

Wait, maybe a different approach was what was needed. Hawkeye ran up to 
the Hulk, hoping Nitro wouldn’t notice and turn her attention to her. 
The archer shouted to the Hulk. “Listen up. I have an idea on how to 
free you, and it won’t involve hitting you with a shield.”

The Hulk nodded eagerly.

“Bend over so I can reach that crap on your head more easily.”

The Hulk obediently bent at the waist, allowing easy access. Hawkeye 
pulled out one of her ‘flaming’ arrowheads. While the thing was designed 
to explode on impact, there was a setting on the arrowhead that could 
tighten the flame, almost like an acetylene torch. She held it next to 
the slick substance, then ignited the flame. It took a moment, but it 
burned the material, melting it off. Moreover the heat loosened some of 
the adhesion to the Hulk’s skin, allowing a finger hold.

The flame gave out. Hawkeye said, “Try ripping it off now.”

The Hulk found the hole the flame had created, got a hold of the edge, 
and pulled with all his might. The whole thing came off in one piece.

“You’re free,” Hawkeye congratulated.

“AAAAAAA!” The Hulk cried out.

“What is it?” Hawkeye asked, jumping back just in case he blindly lashed 
out.

“Hulk pull off too fast, like band-aid.”

Hawkeye noticed that there was a bit of his air, and probably a good 
portion of surface skin, attached to the inside of the suffocating 
substance. She winced in sympathy.

The noise also attracted Nitro’s attention. When she saw the Hulk free 
of his ‘mask’ she smirked and walked to him.

Hawkeye noticed and backed away, shouting at the Hulk. “Quick, smash 
her! She’s a bad guy!”

The Hulk watched as Nitro walked up to him and smiled, mischievously. He 
looked back to the archer. “It’s little girl. Hulk cannot smash little 
girls.”

“Luckily we little girls can smash Hulks.” Nitro threw a double punch at 
the Hulk’s midsection. Just as her fists hit, her arms exploded. The 
force of the detonation hurled the Hulk away.

“Ha! That was easy!” Nitro laughed uproariously as her arms 
reconstituted themselves much more quickly than when her entire body 
blew up.

The Hulk picked himself up, rubbing his stomach. “Ouch. What did little 
girl do to Hulk?”

“This!” Nitro ran up and punched him again, blowing up her arm, knocking 
the Hulk backward again.

The Hulk scowled. “Now Hulk understands. Little girl is not really 
little girl. Little girl is really a robot. Hulk can smash robots!” He 
ran toward her, fists raised up in the air, intent on smashing her into 
the ground like a giant stake.

He was nearly in arm’s reach when Nitro blew up her entire body, hurling 
him away again. Despite the force of the explosion, the Hulk picked 
himself up. He looked around. “Where did robot go?”

Once again smoke collected until it reformed Nitro. “Hey, you’re pretty 
durable, big guy. Let’s see how many explosions it takes until I get to 
the center of a Hulk.”

“Hulk is not Tootsie-Pop!”

Nitro clapped. “Yay! You got my joke. That one goes over most people’s 
heads. I can’t wait to tell Rally one of my victims actually got that one!”

He ran forward, only to have the same thing happen again as he was blown 
backward by an exploding Nitro.

She reformed herself again. “I can do this all day. Good endurance, 
don’t you know. It’s one of the advantages of being trained in a top 
class bordello like the Purple Pussy.”

The Hulk scratched his head. “Purple Pussy? What does Cat Girl have to 
do with little girl robot?”

Nitro’s shoulders slumped in exasperation. “The sad thing is, you’re 
about as dynamic a conversationalist as some of my old regulars. Anyway, 
come on. I want to win my bet with Rally and have her pay for my meals 
on this little trip. I Googled all of the most expensive restaurants in 
Tokyo just for the occasion.”

The Hulk ran up, only to have the girl blow up on him long before he 
could lay a hand on her. He watched in irritation as the smoke began to 
collect. By now he figured out Nitro was that smoke, but what could he 
do to smoke?

The Hulk smiled as he remembered his fight with Speed Demon and what he 
did to the speedster. He brought his arms back, then slapped his hands 
together in a tremendous impact. The wind produced from the impact blew 
Nitro’s cloud in a wide fan.

“Ha! Hulk has beaten little girl robot!”

His delight was short-lived as the cloud collected again. As Nitro 
reformed, she said, “All that does is prolong the inevitable.”

The Hulk roared and charged again.

As the battle was fought, Captain Japan joined Hawkeye at her side, but 
she still felt helpless. The nature of their foe made her too dangerous 
to hit with anything other than a ranged weapon, and even then it seemed 
she could heal up from the damage.

As Nitro reconstituted herself again, an idea came to Hawkeye. It had 
been from when Nitro blew up her arms. They had gotten back together 
much more quickly than the whole body thing. Watching another explosion, 
Hawkeye saw that in the full body ones, the smoke didn’t just simply fly 
back together. Some would go right in a spot, but other tendrils seemed 
to move around before remerging. So it mattered where the smoke went. 
She would only have one shot at this, because if it didn’t work, Hawkeye 
had a bad feeling Nitro would be turning her attention to them, and she 
wagered it would take only one explosion to get to the center of a 
cross-dressing super-hero.

Nitro blew up again. It was then Hawkeye yelled, “Hulk, clap your hands 
again.”

He did so, scattering Nitro. It was only a delaying effect as the smoke 
began to collect again.

This was it. “Now go to where the smoke is reforming, then breathe in 
really deep and hold your breath.”

The Hulk did so. Given the tremendous size of his lungs, he was actually 
able to inhale some of Nitro before holding his breath.

The remaining smoke panicked and began to race around the Hulk, some of 
it began to leak out of his nostrils.

“Pinch your nose shut!” Hawkeye shouted as she raced to him.

The Hulk did so, looking a bit woozy as he held his stomach.

Hawkeye got another one of her arrows out and twisted the head on it. A 
small bag inflated. She pushed the gas in it out, deflating it, then 
brought the end of it up to the Hulk’s mouth. “Exhale gently into the 
bag. Make sure you don’t blow hard enough to rip the bag.”

The Hulk did so. The instant he was done, Hawkeye tied the bag in a knot.

“Hulk will never smoke again,” he swore.

The smoke that was Nitro swirled around the outside of the bag, and 
Hawkeye could feel the parts of her in the bag swirling around to get 
out, but her disembodied form couldn’t create anywhere near enough force 
to tear open the bag. Hawkeye smiled. It was a good thing she had those 
helium filled balloon arrows. She had never been sure what she might use 
them for, but the ability to leave something floating in air had always 
been an idea that appealed to her.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Daredevil couldn’t believe what was happening. It felt like he was 
slowly getting beaten to death. He had been shot twice (well, each 
bullet only grazed him, but they were bleeding badly enough he would 
need stitches), stabbed near fatally, if not for the blade deflecting 
off a rib instead of burying itself in his heart, and generally felt 
like crap. What he wanted to do was go back for reinforcements, but 
there were explosions coming from the direction of the quinjet, and no 
one was answering their communication’s card when he called.

As to Tigra’s fate, he was uncertain. She had been shot just as he 
arrived --he had heard the bullet impact and throw her out the window-- 
but it hadn’t been a fatal wound, and more importantly, he had not heard 
the sound of a body impact on the ground below. And then he found 
himself locked in a life and death struggle with a madwoman, and a 
madwoman she unquestionably was. While in the opening moments of the 
fight, her pulse had been that of a cool professional locked in a 
struggle, as the fight wore on, every sign of her body indicated she was 
becoming excited, rather than panicked, as things escalated. She was 
enjoying this, and not in the same way Wasp did when fighting 
super-villains.

Still, he had to see things through to the end. No way was he letting 
someone that had come so close to killing him get away. He had his 
pride, and he would never hear the end of it from the others. He could 
envision the rest of the team, well, the girls, saying how Captain Japan 
would never have let some gun-toting bimbo escape.

Daredevil bound his wounds with medical tape and tried to figure out the 
best way to go down the stairs without getting blown away. That was when 
he smelled the smoke wafting up from the stairwell.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bullseye waited on the lower level for their climatic battle, in every 
sense of the word. In celebration, she had ignited the pools of gasoline 
she had set up on this level: her final trap. She was in bliss at every 
ache and pain she felt. Blood had run down her face from the head wound 
she had suffered, smoke made her eyes water, and she had never felt 
better. Daredevil was by far her favorite yet, outstripping even Goldie. 
Yes, she was killing him in pieces, and loving every second of it. And 
when she struck the fatal blow, she would know ecstasy like no other.

Bullseye grew impatient. “Come on down, Daredevil! I want to play with 
you in my personal hell just a little while longer!”

She wondered if he would try the direct assault, or come from another 
direction. He was very, very tricky. She still hadn’t figured out how he 
had kept from being blinded by the light bomb. Maybe he had special 
lenses like she had used?

And then she saw a shifting shadow at the top of the stairs. Not quite 
enough to take a clear shot, but now she knew where he was coming from, 
and she thought she knew how.

A cable snaked down to a wall support, and she knew what he was up to. 
How disappointing, using the same trick twice. Sure enough. A figure 
swung down the stairs right into plain view. Bullseye could just make 
out something shadowy at the top of the stairs, behind the obvious fake.

The first figure was nearly upon her when the second launched itself 
downward. She hit the second figure three times, two shots in the chest 
and one in the head. Snowy fluffiness popped out of each hole, and she 
saw the wire leading from the dummy to the first figure that had leapt.

Xxxx

Daredevil heard her hiss, “Yessss!” as she brought her gun to bear on 
him. It was too late. He would hit her with a knockout blow.

She fired one shot. It missed him but hit his cable, throwing off his 
trajectory ever so slightly. Still he slammed into her, landing on top 
awkwardly, sending shards of pain from his chest wound as the fall 
reopened it and blood flowed freely from the cut. At least the impact 
had knocked the gun out of her hand, leaving her defenseless.

He straddled her, pinning her down with his body and he could 
practically feel the sexual arousal cut through the confusion of flame 
and smoke, which were threatening to overwhelm his senses. One more good 
shot would end the fight. He drew his fist back, intent on punching her 
lights out.

Lightning fast Bullseye’s arm came up in a wide arc, a hold out 
derringer slipping from up her sleeve in the same manner Daredevil’s 
weapons did. It was pointed directly at his left eye.

He moved his head even as the barrel came up. The bullet whizzed past, 
but almost as equally damaging was the sound of the gun going off next 
to his ears. The loud crack by the small firearm overloaded his 
heightened sense of hearing as though someone had jammed a needle right 
into his ear drum. He cried out at the top of his lungs at the pain, and 
didn’t hear a sound.

Instinctively he brought his fist down in Bullseye’s face, cracking a 
cheekbone.

“Oh my god!” Bullseye’s cried out in delirious joy as her other arm came 
up. She flicked her wrist in the middle of the motion, producing a small 
bladed knife, which promptly buried itself deep into Daredevil’s shoulder.

The pain was too much. Everything was coming at him from all sides, all 
sense of reality was eradicated in a miasma of pain, blood, and 
overloaded senses as a hundred different agonies became the center of 
his existence. The reptile portion of his mind lashed out, as his 
remaining working arm came down, smashing into Bullseye’s face, cracking 
her jaw. A second blow shattered in orbital bone. He lashed out with a 
third, leaving his fist bloody. And then a fourth. And then Bullseye’s 
body convulsed so violently even Daredevil was almost thrown off.

“Yessss!” Bullseye gurgled more than groaned in pleasure. The totally 
inappropriate reaction cut through the haze, making even the darkest 
portions of his mind cease in stunned realization of what had just 
happened to the girl beneath him. Even he was shocked that what was a 
life and death struggle to him was some sort of perverse mating ritual 
to the girl he straddled.

“Who loves ya, baby?” Bullseye moaned and released her hold on the 
object in her hand. It hit the floor in two parts.

Daredevil was barely able to focus his radar sense as the sound reached 
his ears: a grenade with the pin pulled.

“No!” He reached back and batted the grenade aside with a billy club, 
then sprawled himself over Bullseye.

The grenade went off, debris flying everywhere. Several shards of metal 
dug into Daredevil’s flesh, making yet more blood flow from him onto the 
girl beneath him. But not in any vital areas. Just more pain to add to 
the tally. He should pass out now, he knew it. He went through more than 
any ten men should. It was time to sleep.

But there was the sound of groaning beneath him, and not from the crazed 
hitwoman. His stomach dropped as he realized what the noise portended 
just as it happened. Fire and explosions had made the rotted floor gave 
way right beneath them. Instinctively Daredevil reached out to grab onto 
anything, and came up with the shattered remains of a metal crossbeam 
that arrested his fall. Unfortunately, it was with his bad arm. He 
screamed out in more agony, more wide awake than ever before in his 
life. No, he was never going asleep again, feeling like this.

Dimly he was aware of Bullseye falling as well. Below them was the 
ground floor. Concrete had been torn up in a pile, with many, many 
jagged metal pipes, used for support, sticking up. And Bullseye was 
falling right toward them.

While a portion of his mind insisted she should die, a victim of her own 
violence, it felt too much like he was failing her in some way. He swore 
never to fail anyone, not after Shampoo. He didn’t know why he would 
connect the two, since they had nothing in common, but it was there.

With his free hand he lashed out with a cable from a billy club. The 
cable looped around Bullseye’s arm, arresting her fall by tearing the 
arm out of the socket.

Bullseye didn’t cry out at the pain, as she dangled less than two feet 
over an exposed metal shaft which would have impaled her. Instead she 
stared at her savior, with a gaze of love that only the insane can achieve.

And then she passed out.

Daredevil cried out at the top of his lungs as his own wounded shoulder 
was nearly ripped out of its socket. But somehow he held on, stopping 
her, leaving her dangling from his hand.

And then his injured shoulder gave way, his hand slipped, and he fell.

There was a sensation of floating, and of the pure stupidity of what he 
had just failed to accomplish in rescuing someone who didn’t deserve to 
be rescued, and killing himself in the process.

And then his flight stopped abruptly as something snared his wrist, 
making him wish he was dead as his body was jerked with a force no human 
should have to endure, from wounds no one should have to survive.

He saw the feline face of Tigra looking down at him. “Tigra arrive just 
in time,” she said delightedly.

“No,” Daredevil said weakly. “’Just in time’ would be before I was shot, 
stabbed, and mutilated. This is ‘almost too late’.” And then he passed 
out, though somehow, his deathgrip on his billy club held true, even 
after Tigra pulled both he and his unconscious foe up.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

“You really ought to go with the paramedics to the hospital. You’re in 
bad shape,” Giant Man said as he finished wrapping up the slash 
inflicted by the shooting blade.

Daredevil looked like a half finished mummy with all of the bandages 
wrapped around his body. “You said all of the wounds were clean.”

Giant Man was confident in his medical skills and diagnosis, but 
professionalism made him urge, “Well, yes, but anything can happen.”

“A hospital would ask too many questions.” The way Daredevil said it 
effectively ended the conversation. His senses reached out to the others 
surrounding him. Obviously they had been concerned, but he could feel 
them relax a bit. Their care made him feel, awkward.

Thor said, “It is most unfortunate I caught the full brunt of the blast, 
which did hurl me far away, as well as knock me senseless for the 
majority of the fight, else you would not have been wounded so grievously.”

“Tigra not too bad. Bullet wound heal fast.” She showed off a place 
where blood had matted her fur. There was a good bit of it, but no hole. 
Just a red spot where the bullet entered, and another one where it had 
exited.

Hawkeye examined the cut more closely. “You regenerate?”

“Guess so,” Tigra said.

“Wait, you don’t even know if you regenerate or not?” Hawkeye asked.

There was a half-second’s hesitation before Tigra said, “Never been shot 
before.”

Before the archer could press onward, Iron Rose snarled at a collection 
of shattered fragments in her hand. “Blast! This thing broke when I 
landed on it. While its destruction freed me, it’s in too many pieces to 
figure out how it worked.”

“So?” Wasp asked.

“So I want to know how it overrode my armor so I can take measures to 
prevent it from happening again.” She threw the fragments down in disgust.

“Everything turned out okay in the end.” Captain Japan said as they 
watched the authorities take away the pair of assassins. Nitro was kept 
in two different air-tight, metal containers so she couldn’t reform. 
Each would be transported and stored in separate locations.

On the other hand, Bullseye was injured badly enough she was being 
transported to a hospital, under heavy guard and sedation.

As she was wheeled into the back of the ambulance, she turned a dreamy 
eye toward the bandaged hero. Despite her drugged state, she was able to 
focus enough on him, and think clearly enough to say, “Oh baby, we cut 
each other into so many pieces. It hurts so much, even through the 
drugs, and I know you’re in pain. So wonderful. You’re the only one for 
me. Let’s have a proper finish next time, Love.”

Daredevil shuddered, mostly because it wasn’t just talk on the 
madwoman’s part. Even through her drug-induced haze he could feel her 
desire reaching out for him.

As the ambulance doors closed, Captain Japan said, “Well, 
congratulations on having someone in your rogue’s gallery that isn’t a 
complete putz. The bad news is, she’s a complete psychopath and is in 
love with you.”

“I’d rather fight Leap Frog and his Tadpoles of Doom again,” Daredevil 
said, and meant every word of it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[End chapter]

Weee, After a seven month hiatus, a full chapter. Two subplots mostly 
wrapped up. Next up we move on to the Phantom Cat arc as things really 
set into motion there.