Ranma 1/2 used without permission Spiderman used without permission Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Shogakukan Spider-Man is the property of Stan Lee and Marvel Comics =========================================== Hikaru Gosunkugi: The Amazing Spiderman Issue Thirteen The Meaning of Heroism =========================================== Pao Leung massaged his temples in a vain attempt to ward off the coming migraine. Wu Long's recent failure was inexcusable. In the space of a few minutes, the man had jeapordized everything Leung had spent years building. And now he had vanished. Leung had sent the order merely a hour ago. Wu Long was to be subdued, and brought back alive. Leung could have had others do the deed, yet he had felt obliged to do it himself. Pao Leung didn't like the thought of underlings killing the man who had served him for so long. Pao Leung had seen potential in Wu Long when they had first met in Meng Cun, the fomer an up-and-comer in the Triad and the latter a blade-weilding street hood. Together, they had risen to the top of the brutal world of Chinese organized crime. But, in the end, Wu Long had proven himself a liability rather than an asset. Murdering Hua Ping and her wheelchair- bound daughter, using the Black Widow in such a irresponsible manner, even losing one of the necessary components to Doctor Octavius' research, had driven the nails into the coffin. Pao Leung took another sip of American coffee - kissed with a hint of the finest Ketucky bourbon - and leaned back. He pushed all thoughts of Wu Long out of his head and forced his mind to return to the intelligence brief he had recieved the night before. Tatsu Ishikawa. Leung ran the name through his brain again and again. The man was setting himself up to be a nuisance. He personally found the Japanese man's chosen trade detestable - vice was a thing Leug had dabbled with only when necessary in his time in the Triad - yet there was no real reason to take action agaist him yet. He was an ambitious sort, yet Leung knew the man had no chance of fulfilling his dream. He had his men watching Tatsu Ishikawa. Perhaps the man could become useful. ============================================= Hikaru strode through the people beneath the streetlamps. The odors of cooking food drifted over the cool night air which nipped at his exposed face and set his stomach to rumbling. Man, he thought, I just ate a few hours ago! He saw the Ucchan in the distance and, against his better judgment, decided on a quick snack. If I keep eating like this, I'm gonna have an ass the size of a Honda... Just one more hour, Ukyo Kuonji thought as she finished cleaning out one of the refrigerated prep boxes which held all her necessary ingredients. The restaurant had cleared out a half-hour earlier with the end of the dinner rush. Konatsu, for his part, was busy bussing the last tables and preparing to sweep. Ranma hadn't come in that night, which wasn't too unusual. He usually showed up for a free meal during the day. As Ukyo rose from her keeling position, she seriously considered charging him at least half-price for his next okonomiyaki. The man ate like a vacuum cleaner, and her food costs were beginning to rise. "Hi!" she called as the door slid open and a young man walked in. She took in the slightly pale features, the fading rings beneath his eyes, and after a few momets placed him as Hikaru Gosunkugi. "I'm not too late, am I?" he asked. "Not at all, sugar! C'mon in." Hikaru moved to the bar, and Ukyo noticed the slight wince on his face. Had someone roughed him up lately? "I'll take a pork special." "Comin' up," Ukyo said. "Hey, you okay?" she asked as she took out the pork mix she had made only two hours before. "Sure. Why?" "I dunno," Ukyo replied as the batter began to sizzle. "Ya look a little rough." "Not much sleep." "Uh-huh." Ukyo knew the signs of injury. Looked like he had a cracked rib, maybe a hurt knee. Unless he was having hellacious nightmares, those came from a fight. "Anyway, ya do look kinda down." "May I get you something to drink, sir?" "Yeah. You got sake?" Hikaru seldom drank, but at the moment he was in the mood. "I'm sorry, sir," Konatsu said with a slight bow, "but..." "It's okay," Ukyo said as she brought out the bottle. "We're almost closed anyway." She shot a meaningful glance to the pseudo-woman, and Konatsu bowed again. The Ucchan did serve alcohol during the dinner hours, yet nothing stronger than sake. Whatever kept the working class happy, after all. Besides, drunk businessmen often left Konatsu sizeable tips. If only they knew, Ukyo thought with a chuckle while she poured a cup of rice wine. "What's so funny?" Hikaru asked as she corked the bottle. "Oh, nothin'." Ukyo flipped the okonomiyaki and took the cooked pork off the hot surface to apply to the dish. "Say, somethin' bugging ya?" "Kinda." Hikaru drained the cup in one swig and let out a strangled cry as the wine burned his throat. "Gah... That stuff's strong!" "More?" "Please." "Ya know," Ukyo said as she poured another cup, "I can't let ya have too much." "No problem. I just need to take the edge off." Hikaru felt his head begin to buzz, and not from his spider-sense. He hadn't had any alcohol for a long time, and the tension was begining to melt away. Just so long as he didn't make a habit of this... The plate appeared in front of him, and Hikaru dove in with gusto. "Thish's good," he said around a mouthful of food. "Thanks." Ukyo beamed a smile at him before turning to close down another box of ingredients. She would let him eat, and drink a few more shots of sake. Something was bothering him, and she'd let him spill on his own. Ukyo wrapped up pans of lettuce, wondering how she had learned basic psychiatry from serving drinks to late customers. Bartenders were better therapists than headshrinkers, it seemed. At least he was raiding the stash instead of her. Ukyo hated waking up with a hangover. "Another shot?" "Sure." Ukyo filled his cup, wondering where she should cut him off. Hikaru looked to be holding his booze pretty well for a guy his size, but she hated the thought of him staggering home drunk. It was dangerous, and could soil her restaurant's reputation. Hikaru stared down into the cup, gently swirling the dark liquor and trying to decide against another. He'd caught a pleasant buzz from the sake already, much more and he'd be shit-faced. The news report that morning still bothered him. No, that wasn't it. It was what cosequences fights against things like that robot could have. Hikaru placed the cup down and finished his meal. Ukyo Kuonji was a *damn* good cook. "Miss Kuonji..." "Ukyo," she said with a grin. "Heh. Okay, Ukyo, you could make a killing with food this good." "Thanks!" Another loyal customer, she thought as she cut off the griddle. She wouldn't serve any more customers, but she'd let Gosunkugi stay until he finished his sake. After that, though, the boy had to leave. She had a lot of work to do before bed. "Say," she said, "I didn't see ya in school today." "Yeah. I was sick this morning." Sick, my ass, Ukyo thought. "Must've been rough." "You could say that." Hikaru took a sip of the rice wine. This time it went down smoothly. "What's up? I don't mean ta be nosy, but ya really look down." Even for you, she silently added. "Well..." He really needed to talk to someone, but he had no one. Times like this made him hate having been a loner for so long. And how could he talk to Ukyo? She was one of Ranma's fiancees, and he was half-drunk. "Yeah?" "Have you ever done something?" "Could ya narrow that down a bit, sugar?" "I mean, have you ever done something with the best intentions, and still got kicked in the teeth for it?" "Yeah." Ukyo could recall a few times like that, herself. "Is that what you're so down about?" What am I doing? Hikaru's brain screamed. He was getting drunk in Ukyo's restaurant, and trying to talk to her about his life as Spiderman! "Hey, thanks for the food," he said as he laid a thousand-yen bill on the bar. "Keep the change." "Hikaru." "Huh?" The buzzing in his head had jumped when he stood. "What's wrong?" "Why're you so concerned?" I gotta get outta here! "You come into my place, down some sake, and look like the world just turned on ya. Whaddaya think?" "Listen, I'm glad you care, but I can't talk about it." Shit, coming in here was a bad idea. Next time, he wouldn't listen to his damn stomach! "Hikaru!" He walked out the door, and Ukyo felt a strange worry in her gut. Whatever had been bugging him, it had to have been bad. "Poor kid." "Miss Kuonji?" "Let's close up, Konatsu." She poured out the remains of Hikaru's third sake, and tried to put the weird scene out of her mind. He needed someone to talk to, someone who'd listen. How many times had she wished for that herself? Ukyo picked up the griddle scrubber and set to work. She had her own problems to worry about. She only hoped Gosunkugi would find the answers to his. ===================================== Hikaru crouched on the wall of the tall skyscraper, secure in his Spiderman guise, as he pondered his problems. Once he had started webslinging, the liquor buzz had all but vanished. Maybe using his spider powers had negated the effects of the sake? Whatever. What had he been thinking? Going to the Ucchan and trying to talk to Ukyo had been the dumbest move he'd ever made. Well, maybe not *the* dumbest, but it was certainly up there. I'm alone. The thought came as no surprise. He had distanced himself from his parents, who had shown little interest in him after they found out that he wasn't their ideal son. As for friends, he'd never had any. Acquaintences were the closest things, really. Who am I gonna talk to about *my* problems? Hikaru looked down at himself, at the red spider design emblazoned on his torso, and realized that there was no one. He couldn't talk about his life as Spiderman without revealing the secret, and it was better that nobody knew. The hero game was certainly a lonely one, not to mention a dangerous one. Not just to him, but to the innocent people who happened to be around whenever he had to fight an exceptionally dangerous enemy. That nobody had been killed in his fight against the Black Widow was, in itself, a miracle. What about the next time? I'm really not all that powerful, after all. Giant killer robots were hardly in the same league as muggers. Hikaru climbed down, still somewhat astounded at how easily his fingers and toes clung to the sheer surface of the stone. Maybe some excercise would help clear his head. Tonight was not a night for fighting crime. "What?!" Hikaru froze as the buzz centered at the base of his skull. Oh, please, he thought, let this be the sake. "Help me!" "Oh, man..." the spider-sense turned his head to the left, seeking out the danger. Maybe it didn't just detect threats to his person? Before Gosunkugi could ponder it further, he shot a stream of webbing into the night and swung into the air. He had to help. It couldn't be that spider again. No way. She rose, heart hammering within her breast as she felt them draw up behind. She ignored the small trickles of blood that ran from her hands after falling to the cold pavement. "Shouldna run, girl," one of them said with a chuckle. "But I kinda liked the chase." "What do you want?!" "Let's get this over with," the other man replied as he stepped forward. In his hand was a dark shape, one which had sent Yukio down in a heap. Only terror had allowed Sachiko to escape. "No!" Sachiko scrambled backward, futiley trying to regain her feet. They wouldn't be surprised again, she knew. What the hell? Hikaru landed on the lip of the roof, only ten meters from the ground. In the deep shadows of the alley, he saw two forms advancing menacingly on another. "Let me go!" This isn't good. No way was Hikaru going to let two toughs harass a girl in an alley like this. "HEY! Didn't your mothers ever tell you it's not nice to pick on girls?!" "The fuck?!" They looked around frantically for the source of the shouted voice. "We got a hero here?" Sachiko looked up and caught the shadowed form standing on the edge of a roof. Was it Spiderman? "I've been called worse." The shadow leapt down and vanished. Sachiko scarcely heard the thump of his feet hitting the asphalt before one of them was lifted skyward. "SHIT!" His partner turned in time to see the other fly overhead. "What in the..." the second landed hard atop a dumpster before rolling down to the ground. Moans of pain drifted from the writhing form before Sachiko saw the stun gun in the first one's hand flare to life. Spiderman! Hoichiro thought. It *had* to be that freak! He held the tazer outward, wary for any sign of attack. This snatch was going directly down the shitter in one big hurry. First the other broad gets a chance to run, and now the city's resident vigilante was on this one's side. If Spiderman was even half as tough as people said... "HEY... MMMRRPH!" Two hoods taken down by your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, Hikaru thought with a sense of triumph. Two thugs down, one girl saved, and no innocents harmed. All in all, one neat little package. "You okay?" he asked the girl, who had just gotten to her feet. Her hair - in the dim light Hikaru couldn't see its shade - was cut short. Tight-fitting pants helped highlight delicate hips and the shirt seemed only slightly less snug. "Y-yeah..." Hikaru looked down at the first - not cocooned with webbing - and noted the sharp business suit. It looked expensive. *Very* expensive. "Let's get you outta here, huh?" "They got her." The adrenaline that had powered Sachiko's earlier escape had finally thinned, leaving her voice and body shaking in the aftermath while the reality of the past hour sank in. "Huh? They got who?" Gosunkugi didn't like how this was shaping up, not one bit. "Th-they almost g-g-got me..." "These two?" As if it wasn't obvious... Hikaru saw the slight nod of the woman's head. "Yukio..." "Who? Who's Yukio?" No response. "Is Yukio your friend?" Great, he thought, now I'm playing detective with some girl I don't even know. "They got her!" "Easy, lady! Who got her?" This could not be a good thing... "What's going on in here?!" a voice shouted from the alley's entrance. Uh-oh. Gotta run. Hikaru launched himself skyward, grabbing the edge of a nearby roof and pulling himself over. He crouched in wait while a pair of uniformed Koban rushed in to the girl who had just fallen to her knees. What the hell did I just step in? he thought. The two officers stopped beside the girl - from Hikaru's height her appearance was even more shadowed - and shone lights around the alley. The woman's hair was an alarming shade of red - definitely not natural - and was cut a little shorter than Nabiki's. The halter and pants ensemble she wore definitely showed off some curves. Maybe she had been out for a night at the clubs? Maybe those two guys had been trying to rape her? A light fell on the tightly-wrapped man, and Hikaru heard the officer curse. Yep, he thought, they know I was here. He followed the beam from the flashlight to the other man. The suit was definitely not off the rack.Gosunkugi was no fashion mogul, but he knew well-tailored clothes when he saw them. The grey suit and jacket were top of the line. Clothes like that were worth almost a month of his dad's salary! Those two were too well dressed for rapists. Yeah, like *I* know how a rapist dresses! Hikaru thought before swinging into the night. Something about the whole thing seemed radically off kilter. Who was Yukio? The girl had said that they'd gotten her. Was she this woman's friend? Had this Yukio been kidnapped? If so, then why? "I got a very bad feeling about this. At least I got to blow off a little steam tonight." ====================================== Raizo Yamata looked around the low table at the five other men who sat in the parlor with him. Each held a cup of warm sake, and each wore looks of grave concern. The standard small talk which had always preceeded the business at hand was absent while the serving girls took their leave. Raizo noticed one man, a balding overweight banker, as his eyes followed the rear of one of the kimono-clad girls. The servers at last exited through the sliding door. "This is a disaster, Yamata-san," the man directly to his left said. "Thanks to Spiderman, we'll be lucky to complete construction within another year!" "Yes, this is a most unfortunate turn of events." Raizo had to play it cool. The five men, each the most powerful and influential of his investors, were as close to panic as a Japanese businessman could get. "Our operations are too far behind schedule," another added. Raizo took a sip from his cup and allowed his eyes to take in the room. His parlor was the only room in the penthouse which was done in the traditional Japanese style. On the walls hung scrolls dictating battles of old, from when Tokyo was still known as Edo. In the corner burned a stick of incense which lent the space a heady air. It was a place of relaxation, where he could discuss matters of importance without the tension. Tonight would not be the case. "As we speak," a third piped up, "Anthony Stark is beginning to move his enterprises here. Right in our own back yard. Yamata-san..." "Do not worry, Hideki-san," Raizo said in a tone that had set many an unwary foe at false ease. "Japan will not need Anthony Stark, or his money. Our plan is secure." "How so?" It was the one whom had his eyes on the serving girls earlier. "Suffice it to say that I have gotten wind of certain technological advancements that Stark-san has recently made." "How?! No-one has been able to gain that kind of information, not even MITI!" "I have my methods." Anthony Stark's security measures were airtight, especially since he had developed the Iron Man suit. Nobody had been able to determine who wore it, nor its fuctional nature. Despite MITI's best efforts, they couldn't come close to duplicating it. They had the good sense not to ask what his methods were. The information had been limited, and heaven help any of the men and women who had been caught spying for him. "Anthony Stark will pose no threat to Japan, or to our operations. Rest assured." ============================================ William Pate hated being woken up at the butt-crack of dawn for any reason. He rubbed his bleary eyes in the rapidly growing dawn and cursed the lack of sleep. All around him were businessmen and workers, each nearly as tired as he, as they trudged off to wherever they would work away their lives. Christ, he thought, four in the damn morning and there's *still* people out here? Don't the Japanese ever sleep? William slid his large frame - compared to most people in this place he was huge for six feet seven inches - between two others passing in the opposite direction. He muttered an apology as he continued on his way. He had learned in the past six months just how fastidious Japanese culture was. Were such not the case, then the number of street murders would be high enough to embarrass Los Angeles. A few million people crammed into a space about a third the size of California. Wonderful. At least they didn't stare at him for his height any more. It wasn't that he hated Japan, or its culture. He had been fascinated by it since his first real exposure to anime and manga back in his college days. To experience it up close and personal, however, was far different than reading books and watching Japanese TV and movies. He rounded the corner and headed straight for the Koban building. William Pate was on loan to the Japanese police from the FBI, with another Japanese cop getting exposure to the foremost law enforcement agency in the world on the other side of the Pacific. It was strange doing standard cop work in a foreign country, but he liked the challenge. The officers of the Koban had been rather accomodating toward him, and his partner was rather cute as well. The Koban building was what Detective William Pate had always thought one to be; namely a Japanese equivalent of an American preceint HQ. At such an early hour, the sounds of telephones and fax machines were absent. During the heat of the day, so much was the same as what he had known in his early years of law enforcement, save for the language. Detective Pate didn't need to show his ID, merely headed to the stairs for his trek to the fourth floor. Pate never used the elevator, preferring instead to exercise his legs on the steps. His bulky frame was composed of muscle, not fat, which most of his Japanese compatriots had noted with some respect. His height and build had earned him the nickname "Gaijin Yama-san," meaning "Foreign Mountain". It was a name said with respect. William Pate had already proven himself a more than competent detective during his time in Japan. The linoleum-paned floor led him to the office he shared with Keiko Megumi. The female detective was the only one in the Koban. Female detectives were nowhere near as common as anime made them out to be. Her coal black hair was cut short, with intense almond eyes set above traditional Japanese features. Her body was trim and athletic, moreso than most cops Pate knew in the States. There were times when he wished his compatriots in the States were required to keep up their bodies the way Japanese cops were. "Jeez, girl," he groused in English when he walked in, "Do you *ever* sleep?" "And miss the vibrant nightlife?" "Funny." Pate immediately crossed over toward the coffe maker and poured himself a steaming cup of strong joe. "Anything happen while we were out?" "We got a girl down in detention," Keiko replied, looking up at him over the top of her terminal. "Shoplifting?" "Local prostitute. Two of our boys picked her up last night." "That's not much," Pate groused. "Solicitation's a misdemeanor." "She's got a pretty interesting background, and you oughtta hear her story." "Oh?" Keiko wasn't one to joke around with a case, and the tone of her voice told Pate that this would be a good yarn indeed. "We ran her prints and came up with Sachiko Tanemura. Reported missing from Osaka about three months ago." "Okay, now I'm interested. Kidnapping?" "Looks like a runaway. From her school records, she was a bit of a delinquent." "Okay, so why didn't anyone pick up on that before?" "This is her first arrest, Pate-san." "I see. So, Megumi-san, what's her story?" "She's waiting for us down in interrogation, so I'll just give the highlights." "Whoa, for *us*?" This *had* to be good. "That's right," Keiko said in that "you-master-of-the- bloody-obvious" voice she still sometimes gave him. "Seems she took a dislike to her pimp, and decided to split with another of her... what's the term?" "Sister-acts." "Yes, thank you. Long story short, Sachiko almost got away while Yukio was caught." "Oh." Pate managed to keep his skin from crawling. He knew too well what American pimps would do to girls who decided to make a run for it. From what he had learned on this side of the Pacific, Japanese pimps were no less brutal. He saw Keiko's eyes soften for a moment at the shared thought. "Hey, wait. Almost got away?" "Yes. Almost," she replied tersely. She wasn't much of a morning person, either. Pate was glad she spoke such good English. His grasp of Japanese was passable at best. At times, the language sounded more like staccato verbal gunfire than anything comprehensible to him. "I take it our boys on the beat were in the right place at the right time?" "She says somebody saved her," Keiko replied, setting down the few papers she held in her delicate hands. She turned to look at him, those eyes boring into Pate's like gunsights. "Someone who shoots webs." "Spiderman," he said. He had been following up on the costumed man for over a month. The gang war in Juuban had really brought him to the Koban's attention, yet there were seemingly no details about him available. A few informants here and there hinted that he had pissed off a few crimelords - be they Yakuza or Triad Pate had yet to discover - and that he could do some pretty unbelievable shit. Pate had seen for himself just what the costumed man could do when he had watched Spiderman fight that robot spider just a couple of nights before. And he thought martial artists were scary... "The one and only. A couple of our own found one of those guys wrapped up in webbing." Keiko cracked her knuckles - a habit William Pate found slightly annoying - before rising from her chair. "No doubt about it, Spiderman is involved." "Coincidence?" "Right man, right place, right time?" The two exited back into the hallway, which was still fairly vacant at four- thirty in the morning. Most of the officers sported bleary eyes and tired expressions, drawing near the end of the graveyard shift. "If so, then this could be a blessing." "We got one who was..." "Two." "Well, then." Keiko was too good at finishing Pate's own sentences, a fact the American was used to. "One of them's bound to crack." "We have Sachiko Tanemura downstairs," Keiko said as they neared the steps to the lower floors. "Once we get a statement from her, then we'll tackle the two who were after her." The interrogation room was much the same as the ones back in American police preceints; three bare concrete walls with the fouth sporting a one way mirror behind which other officers would record what was said. Sachiko looked up at them, the Japanese woman and the huge Western man, with weary eyes. She had not been allowed to sleep since she had arrived, and the strain was about to drag her down to the floor. "Sachiko Tanemura?" "Yes." "I'm Detective Keiko Megumi, and this is my partner," "Detective William Pate." "We understand you were attacked earlier." "Yes. They got Yukio." Pate let Keiko lead the questioning. He could understand what was being said, but suspects seemed to respond better to her than to him. Whether it was because she was a woman or she was Japaese, he never bothered to learn. "Miss Tanemura," Pate said, "where were you when they tried to kidnap you?" "Yukio and I... we were at a nightclub. The Silver Fox." "Had you noticed them before?" "No. Yukio and I went to the parking lot to leave, when they dragged us away. I got away, but Yukio..." Tears were stinging her eyes again, despite how tired she was. The horror of the experience, the feel of hands painfully grasping her arms and covering her mouth, would stay a long time. "So, you noticed no one following you at all? Nobody staring at you, or anything?" "No." Keiko and William left the interrogation room, both sorting through what the distraught Sachiko had told them. Sachiko would be escorted home, were she would sleep under police guard for a couple of days. Afterward, she would see a doctor - rape wasn't an issue here but it paid to be cautious - and then see a psychiatrist. "She was lying," Pate said. "Yeah. But we did get a few things," Keiko said as the unusual pair neared the stairs. Both loved exercise, and never used elevators. If one's legs were strong enough, then the stairs were even faster. "Yep." They had switched back to English, having become accustomed to speaking the language while talking to each other. "The Silver Fox. Ever heard of it before?" "Once," Keiko replied. "Real swanky place. It's an exclusive club out towards Odaiba." "Not all that far from here," Pate mused aloud. "Who owns it?" "Tatsu Ishikawa. He owns quite a few nightclubs and other businesses in Tokyo." "He's rich, then?" Pate asked as they crested the fourth flight of stairs. "Filthy. I've already made arrangements to talk to him." "Keiko, you're one in a million," Pate said with a grin. "Yes, I know," she replied with a smile of her own. ======================================= Hikaru Gosunkugi leaned back in his desk while he waited for the bell to ring in the first class of the day. The pain from the injuries the Black Widow had caused him was finally gone, which was a source of relief to him. Next time he fought that thing, the Widow would be the one on the scrap heap. Then there was the matter of that woman he had rescued last night. Why had those two been after her? She'd said they'd taken someone named Yukio. The more he dwelled upon it, the less it seemed to be a simple attack on a girl. How much about crime don't I know? he thought. I got the Yakuza sending robots after me, and now this kidnapping stuff. What's next? =============================================== Tatsu Ishikawa was a powerfully built man. Weighing in at over one hundred-fifty kilograms - all of it muscle - his physique was impressive for any Japanese. A pompador hairstyle made him appear even larger. His pitch-black eyes radiated menace, set above a flat nose and straight mouth. "I can deal with my two men," he said into the speakerphone on his desk. "The loss of that girl, however, is inexcusable!" "From what I can gather," the voice at the other end of the connection said, "they would have had her if not for Spiderman's interference." "Spiderman." He had known of the costumed marvel for some time, now, yet so far he had not been a problem. Spiderman hadn't foiled any of Tatsu's own operations until last night. "What do we know of him?" "Nothing, sir," the voice replied nervously. "So far, his appearance last night seems to be a fluke, but..." "But nothing!" Tatsu roared. "There's too much at stake to allow a costumed freak to endanger it all!" Tatsu ended the call, growling deep in his throat while he rose from his desk. "You know," said a silken voice from his right, "Spiderman's appearance *could* just be a coincidence." "If so, it's a bad one." Tatsu steepled his fingers and let out a long breath. "I can deal with those two thugs easily enough." "True," the feminine voice replied. She stepped into his view, a tall and slender woman whose deep blue hair hung to mid-back. Her ice-chip eyes twinkled in a face that seemed to be molded of porcelain. A conservative skirt and blouse ensemble covered the supple body which Tatsu knew to lie beneath. "They won't talk either way. The girl, however, could be a problem." "The Koban must know something," Tatsu mused. "Two of their stooges are stopping by later today." "Then Miss Sachiko must be dealt with." "Quite right, Ayumi-san." "You know I hate when you call me that," Ayumi said as she sat on the oak surface of Tatsu's desk. "How about I make it up to you?" His eyes traced the graceful curve of her long legs and he felt himself stiffen. Yeah, this would take his mind off that runaway whore... "Mmmmm.... I like the way you think..." ========================================== I can't get that girl outta my head, Hikaru thought while he pushed his box of shrimp and rice about with the chopsticks. He sat beneath the shade of one of the trees in Furinkan's outer yards, his recently voracious appetite having left him for the moment. The night before still plagued his thoughts, the words of the girl he had saved from the two well-dressed would-be kidnappers still playing in his mind. She had said that they'd gotten someone named Yukio. There had to be more behind this than those two retards. The big question, though, was if he should try to get involved. Where would he look? Where would he go? How would he know what to look for? The spider sense made its presence known. Hikaru's eyes flitted left to find and all-too-familiar figure approaching from the right. "Thinking the deep thoughts?" "Something like that, Nabiki." Hikaru was tired of calling her Nabiki-san. His debts to her were almost caught up and he was sick of prostrating himself before her in any way. He had too much on his plate already. "We need to talk," Nabiki said as she sat across from him, the epitome of seriousness. "I'm inclined to disagree, Nabiki." Hikaru's patience with the mercenary wannabe had been wearing dangerously thin ever since he had become Spiderman. The last thing he needed was to deal with her right now. "I said," Nabiki said in a low tone. Her hand shot out to his arm, grasping it in what was probably ment to be a painful grip. Hikaru made a point not to feign discomfort at the gesture. "We need to talk, Hikaru Gosunkugi." "So talk. Neither of us has all day. I got class, and you have people to squeeze." Nabiki allowed Hikaru the verbal barb. Something about him was radically different from the image she'd always had of the boy. His face was harder, more determined. She could feel his tense muscles through the material of his sleeve and was surprised at just how strong the arm felt. Maybe she didn't know as much about Hikaru as she thought. "You take pictures of Spiderman." Best to cut to the chase. "Aw, not this crap again," Hikaru growled. "Look, I'll save you some trouble. I don't know who he is. I take the pictures, he gets some PR exposure and some of the cash. End of story." "Hikaru..." "That's what you wanted to know, right? It's all business, and I can't cut you in, no matter what you say. Now go forclose on an orphanage or something, you bitch." Hikaru was surprised when her grip on his arm tightened even more. "You listen, Gosunkugi," Nabiki growled. "This is about more than money." "Uh-huh. Right. Tell me another one." "I'm in danger, here." Nabiki's hazel eyes drillled into Hikaru's brain, demanding him to listen to her words. Gosunkugi, for his part, held his tongue. Years of repressed anger railed against his straining control, wanting to rip into Nabiki in any way possible. As he returned her glare with his own, he managed to bring the red rage back to a quick simmer. "Oh?" Best to play dumb. Nabiki was as shrewd as they came. "Cut the shit, Gosunkugi. You *know* what I'm talking about." "The warehouse photos." There was no sense in denying it. "They kidnapped me over those. They almost killed me." "If you hadn't stolen the damn film from me, then it wouldn't have happened!" Film? What film? Miku Tachibana watched as Nabiki's hand landed a harsh slap across Hikaru's face. She stood behind the shelter of one of the trees that dotted Furinkan's courtyard, watched as Nabiki rose up and stormed away from Hikaru. The other girl's posture was ramrod rigid, fists balled and trembling at her sides. Hikaru stood still in the shade, one hand absently rubbing his cheek. He remained there for a few moments more while Nabiki vanished out of Miku's line of sight. So much for lunch, she thought sardonically while Gosunkugi turned and left. In the space of a few seconds, things had taken a turn for the strange. She knew that Hikaru had no love for that Nabiki Tendo. For that matter, hardly anyone in Furinkan did. Miku had only spoken with the girl once and had felt the ice queen air that emanated from her. What could have caused her to slap Hikaru like that? What was this film? Did Hikaru have some compromising photos of Nabiki that she wanted back? Could he sink so low as to use blackmail like Nabiki seemed to? Miku replaced her bento, her appetite having left her all of a sudden. Somehow, she didn't think Hikaru capable of such a thing. But what she thought didn't really matter, did it? After all, she had thought Shigeru Katsuo to be a nice guy until she had seen his psychopathic side. There was something big going on here. She had heard Nabiki mention something about a kidnapping. Had she once been kidnapped? Did this film have something to do with it? Miku suddenly wasn't sure of Hikaru Gosunkugi. What the hell was he mixed up in? Nabiki stopped before a thick oak and glared at the rough bark while she counted backward from ten. Damn him! she thought. Here I am with Yakuza enforcers after me, and *he* has the balls to say it's all *my* fault! Nabiki began to count backward from twenty. It wasn't as if she had known what would happen once those photos had hit the papers. How could she have seen something like that coming? How could it be all her fault, when Gosunkugi had himself taken those damn pictures? Nabiki began to count backward from thirty. This counting shit really didn't work all that well, did it? Nabiki couldn't get her family involved, not even Ranma and Genma. None of them could know about her getting kidnapped and nearly killed. All she needed was her bull- headed little sister to get a bee in her bonnet and go after the Yakuza. Even if Ranma was with her, the two of them couldn't take the entire Yakuza. Besides, Nabiki couldn't bear to see them involved with organized crime in any way. Sure, some of her own activities could fall within the grey areas of the law, but she was not a criminal. Nabiki didn't bother counting backward again. All it did was piss her off even more. She rested her hand against the surface of the bark. There was a certain truth to the whole situation, and Nabiki could hide from it no longer. She was the one who had stolen the photos. She was the one who had published them. She was the one who had brought this on herself. "Goddamnit," she muttered. Gosunkugi had thrown it right into her face, something she had known all along. "Focus, Nabiki," she muttered aloud. "There's gotta be a way out of this. You can find out who Spiderman is. Just stick to it, girl." Talking to Gosunkugi didn't work. Following him had worked after a fashion, but he was getting eerily good at spotting her. Nabiki had to back off of him for awhile, give him time to drop his guard a little. But in the meantime, she could take a more indirect approach. Nabiki's anger began to fade as logic took over her thought process. There were other people connected to Spiderman besides herself and Hikaru. That Tachibana girl, for starters, and the editors of the newspapers Gosunkugi had been selling his photos to. And when she found out who Spiderman was, she'd hoist Hikaru with his own petard. ======================================= "Greetings, Detectives," Tatsu said as he rose from the desk. Keiko and that gaijin - William, wasn't it? - bowed briefly before taking the seats Tatsu had placed out for their arrival. "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" "We'll try to keep this brief, Ishikawa-san," William said as he sat. The man was obviously not much on pleasatries. "You are the owner of the Silver Fox, correct?" "I am. That is no secret, Pate-san." Tatsu kept his nonchalant facade easily. "May I ask what is the matter?" "Ishikawa-san," Keiko began, "last night a woman was kidnapped outside your club. Another was almost taken as well." "P... pardon me?" Tatsu loved how well he could act. Widen the eyes a little, let the jaw go somewhat slack, make yourself feel to an extent the emotions you were trying to portray. Theater had always been his first love. "They were local prostitutes. We think they were trying to make a run for it." "Detective," Tatsu went on in mock horror, laced with a hint of anger, "I fail to see what this has to do with me." "Forgive us, Ishikawa-san," Keiko replied, "we did not mean to imply such. You must understand that we are only tracing the available information." "I understand." All too well, you little bitch. "Ishikawa-san." This time it was Pate. "Did you know of any prostitution in any of your nightclubs?" "Of course not. Detectives, I do not involve myself in the flesh trade nor any other illicit activites for that matter." "So you're saying you have no idea who may have been behind this kidnapping?" "No idea, Detective. But, rest assured, I will instruct the security personnel in my clubs to be on the watch for such activities." "That is good to hear." "Will there be anything else?" "No, that will be all." The detectives rose from their seats and bowed before turning to leave. "They know something," said a male voice as the hidden door to his anteroom slid open. Tatsu turned around to face the Chinese man who had approached him earlier that day. "You must admit, your ties to the Yakuza are hardly secret." "If that Spiderman hadn't interfered, then the Koban would not have gotten involved," Tatsu growled. "It's as I said before," Wu Long replied, "Spiderman is a menace." "And you were correct." Tatsu fell back into his chair as the former Triad torpedo drew up beside him. "You seem to have some experience with the Spiderman." "I do. I warn you, Ishikawa-san, do not underestimate him. The costumed freak is more dangerous than most would think." "Perhaps so. Still, Spiderman will not uncover my operations." "I would not be so certain of that, Ishikawa-san." "Is he truly that resourceful?" "No," Wu Long replied as he came up beside Tatsu, "he is that unpredictable. And that dangerous. Why else would my former employer spend so much effort to kill him?" "Back to that point. Why would you be willing to help me?" "First, Pao Leung wants me dead. Second, I want Spiderman dead. Third, I believe you wish to enlarge your own territories." Long smoothed his thick hair back with his fingers. "Your goal coincides with mine. So long as Spiderman dies and I escape the death sentence Leung has passed upon me, all is well. If that means giving you the tools you need to overtake your oyabun, so be it." "At least you're honest," Tatsu snorted. "And how do you propose to help me win control over his territory? And how do you know about my... ambitions?" "Ishikawa-san, Pao Leung's network of intelligence was vast to say the least. He - and I as well - have known of your goals for quite some time. In fact, we even know where your stable of girls is and who guards it. If Leung wanted to, he could have a hundred men storm it and then come after you." "Then why hasn't he?" "How should I phrase this?" Long scratched his chin for a moment as if in thought before answering. "The only reason is that you don't have a prayer of becoming oyabun by yourself." "If you are trying to get in my good graces," Tatsu growled, "then this is a poor way to do it." "I meant no offence. I merely told you the truth. That is why Pao Leung never bothered with you before. However, I can change all that." "Yes, yes, you've said it before. So, Wu Long, how do you plan to do it?" Wu Long kept his face impassive while he cast out his line. Tatsu Ishikawa was a small fish in the pond, but even they could be useful to catch larger fish. First off, he had to snare this one. "You saw the news reports of the giant spider robot which trashed the Ichinosei Complex?" "Of course. To be honest, I'm surprised Spiderman was able to defeat it." "He was more fortunate than you know." "What does that spider have to do with your offer?" Wu Long answered, even though Tatsu had to have known. "Pao Leung had it commissioned..." "Impossible!" Tatsu gasped. "Where could he have gotten such resources? How did he get it into Japan?" "With enough money and the right connections, anything is possible," Wu Long explained patiently. "You should know that. Tell me, how much do you shell out in bribe money to the Koban every month so that they don't look too closely into your affairs? How about your oyabun?" "I see your point. So, you know where it is?" "Of course." Long could read the avarice in the other's eyes. Tatsu was all his, now. "The design specs for such a weapon..." "Would net you a fortune," Long finished. "It would greatly enhance your influence in the Yakuza. But, does your ambition really end there?" "What do you mean?" Wu Long smiled. The deal was as good as his. "I mean, that the design specs will only get you so far. I can deliver the Black Widow itself to you. Not to mention the seeker drones, the system setup, and the four prototype minor variants stored alongside it. "Think about it, Ishikawa-san. You would have the most powerful weapons suite in Japan, possibly even the world, at your disposal. Your enemies would think twice about moving against you with the threat of those things over their heads." "And what about Leung?" Tatsu asked. "I wouldn't worry about him. I supervised the development, not him. I know its strengths and weaknesses better than anyone. Once we have the Widows and the data, Leung will have no way to fight them." "So, you want to turn them against your former master, eh?" Tatsu said smugly. Hmph. He's not as stupid as I thought. Wu Long was impressed. "And why not? There is no love lost between the Yakuza and the Triad. Your people want them out of Japan, even moreso than the Russian and Korean mafias. And, to anwser your next question, my reasons for turning against Pao Leung are my own." "I see." "The choice is yours, Ishikawa-san. If you do not want what I can give, then I will find someone else who does. I'm sure Raizo Yamata would love to have the mecha in his own hands." Wu Long saw the flash of anger in Tatsu's eyes, and knew he had won. Playing that card had done the trick. "Very well, Wu Long. Your offer is intruiging. When can you deliver?" "If all goes well, tonight. I'll lead the mission myself." "Why would you do that?" "I am the only one who can slip past the security. I am the only one who can access the data on the Black Widow. Without me, you could never get close to it." "I see your point." "So, you accept?" "I do." "Excellent. Ishikawa-san, you have made the right decision. You will allow me to use whatever resources I require?" "Naturally. Do not fail me, Wu Long." "Do not worry. By tomorrow night, you will be the most powerful and feared man in all Asia." With that, Wu Long exited Tatsu's office. "You really trust him?" Ayame asked. His assistant - and lover - had been watching from the estate's security room. She now sat in her accustomed place on his desk, long legs crossed fetchingly on the mahogany. "Of course not. I would be a fool to do so." "If he can truly deliver such a weapon..." "He can. I know of Wu Long. In this branch of the Triad, his voice was second only to Pao Leung himself. And Pao Leug's voice carries a lot of weight in the rest of the Chinese mafia." "The question is, will he? What if this is some sort of trap?" "What would be the point?" Tatsu asked while he ran his fingers lightly up Ayame's stockinged legs to the hem of her short skirt. "Leung may have decided to reveal your goals to Raizo." "I don't think so. If such were the case, then why would he reveal that he had that Black Widow to all his enemies? Why reveal its location?" "Perhaps he won't?" "If I were Pao Leung, I would not reveal that I had such a weapon until I had to. To even hint at its location would be madness. And as for Wu Long, well, once he leads my men to the Black Widow and accesses the data then I will have no more need for him." "I think he knows that," Ayame replied. Tatsu's meaty hand stopped on her knee and began to massage the area. Ayame's eyes fluttered slightly, she was always turned on by that. "I'm sure he does. But, one of him against several armed men?" "I'm still not sure of this." "Ayumi-chan," Tatsu said in a husky voice, "power like this is worth a few risks."