Spider-Man is property of Marvel Comics Ranma 1/2 is property of Rumiko Takahashi Neither is used with permission ====================================== Hikaru Gosunkugi: The Amazing Spiderman Issue Sixteen: Slaves of Greed ====================================== Raizo Yamata was not a happy man, not at all. He glowered at the lengthening patch of sunlight which fell across the deep carpet of his corporate office - merely a mask for his real business - and pondered the best course. Tatsu had betrayed him. That alone brought death in the Yakuza, not to mention every other organized crime syndicate in the world. But what so galled Yamata was that the bastard had almost succeeded. Had he not so sorely underestimated Wu Long, then he would have had control of a weapons system unlike any the world had ever seen. Raizo had made sure that the men sent with Long were his own, not loyal to Ishikawa, yet the act had still proven futile. He had known, of course, from the first moment Pao Leung's cheif torpedo had set foot into Tatsu Ishikawa's office. Raizo kept his friends close and his enemies closer. Ishikawa's trade had earned him - and by extension Yamata himself - a few international contacts especially in Russia and the Arab world. Flesh was the man's stock and trade, and many a wealthy mogul wanted a nubile young slave at his beck and call. Men were sometimes real pigs. To think what some of those loony bastards would do with the Black Widow? At least, Raizo thought with a strange sense of relief, that genie will never be free of its bottle. So far as he knew, the entire system went up with the Yamaguchi Complex four days ago. He had precious little information about the actual events, save that Spiderman and a few unnamed civillians were involved. Ah, he thought, there's another issue. Spiderman was the walking definition of unpredictable, especially since nobody had a clue as to his true identity. His presence at the complex was easily deduced; Leung had a definite grudge against Spiderman - why still remained a mystery - as did Wu Long. Perhaps those girls had been taken as bait? If so, perhaps he could use them for the same ends? Raizo filed that away for later. Besides, Spiderman was not the issue at hand. =========================================== Though he didn't know it, Pao Leung's thoughts were on a very similar track to Raizo Yamata's. He sat cross-legged on the floor of his office, his body completely relaxed in the light of the sun. He drew a deep breath in through his nose - filling first his stomach and then his chest with oxygen - and released it slowly through parted lips. The meditative practice helped little, as his throughts kept drifting back to Wu Long's treachery and what it had cost. Years of money and work down the drain, Leung thought. I truly was a fool for not seeing this coming. The Black Widows would have practically ensured the Triad's entire takeover of Japan's crime network, maybe even the government. Now it was all gone. And Spiderman was still alive. Something inside told him this, that his adversary was not dead. Breathe in... hold... breathe out... Pao Leung knew whom Long had kidnapped. That they had seen the Black Widow's maintenance bay was a moot point. The entire place was destroyed. Nothing they said would make any difference without tangible proof. He would let them live. The time for pettiness was long past. As for Spiderman, perhaps the wall-crawler had done him a favor. The only matter left was to find a way to deal with the detestable thug which had helped Wu Long execute the operation. ================================================= The pain from his injuries had faded over the past three days, a fact for which Hikaru Gosunkugi was very grateful. Walking to school and enduring the seemingly endless hours had been pure hell with his body still complaining about the fight with the Black Widows. It wasn't completely gone, but it was far more bearable than it had been that first day. Maybe by Friday he would be good to go webslinging again. After homework tonight, he would put the finishing touches on his replacement costume. His old one had taken a worse beating in that place than he had. Gosunkugi pretended to take notes as the teacher droned on and on about some dead guys in England, feeling rather pleased with himself. Nobody would have to worry about those robot spiders again - especially him - and three lives had been saved. In fact, Nabiki hadn't once even tried to harrass him at all since. Maybe she had finally taken the hint and let the whole Spiderman thing drop? Hikaru certainly hoped so. He looked ahead to Miku Tachibana's back, and a dark cloud came to rain on his parade. She hadn't spoken to him at all since their last meeting in the school yard. He had tried, of course, yet she would toss her head and walk away. Hikaru found himself wondering just how long a girl could stay angry at someone. Hikaru then thought about the girl he had saved recently, about her missing friend, and his parade finally gave up to run for cover. How was he going to look for this Yuka person? Where would he look? He couldn't just swing around the city and pray for a clue to fall in his lap. Oh, well, Gosunkugi thought with a trace of bitterness, it felt good to congratulate myself at least for a few minutes. Lunchtime came with its usual rush of students crowding the serving line for some bread. Others carried their own boxed meals, preferring not to try their luck against the horde. Hikaru was one of them. He stood beneath the leaves of what had become his favorite tree, eating slowly despite his voracious appetite. Swinging on webs and saving lives was certainly hungry work. The sky was overcast that day, dull grey clouds muting the sun's light and promising rain before long. Gosunkugi hoped it would pass soon. Swinging in the rain didn't appeal to him one bit. He glanced up just as Miku began to walk by, her dark waterfall of hair billowing slightly in the mild breeze. She didn't even look at him as she passed, clearly unwilling to speak. Hikaru's chest began to ache, knowing that it was his fault, but what could he do? She wasn't interested in his apologies, wouldn't even acknowledge his presence when he tried to talk, and there was no way he could ever reveal his secret to her. As Gosunkugi watched Miku walk away, he couldn't help thinking that if he'd ever had a chance with her he had blown it superbly. That thought startled him briefly. He actually had a chance with a girl? A pretty, intelligent, funny girl? Yep, Gos-man. You *are* a moron, he thought as he turned back to his lunch. Your one shot at actually getting a girlfriend is officially ruined, and it's your fault. Hikaru found himself wishing that school was over, so that he could finish his costume and start swinging again. He needed some air, and some high places. Maybe that would help ease his troubled mind. It wasn't as if he had anyone to talk to, after all. ================================================= William Pate looked over the case file Odaiba Koban had compiled on Yukio Segawa. She would have been twenty in a few weeks, he noted with a slight grimace. Another life ended before it had truly begun. Just one more statistic, another victim of supremely rotten luck and bad choices. Pate pushed his emotions aside, a thing which had become rather easy over his time in law enforcement, and studied the pathology report and Yukio's record with a professional eye. By the time she had turned sixteen, Yukio Segawa had left home for reasons Pate didn't know but could easily guess. American and Japanese teenagers weren't all that far removed, after all. The records showed she had gained employment in a brothel - the proper Japanese name escaped him - and had left after hardly two months. Whorehouses in Japan were, more often than not, controlled by the Yakuza. The Koban usually didn't bother with them too much. Just so long as nobody caused any trouble and the money stayed quiet, then everyone got along fine. After her first stint in that brothel, she had taken to the streets. Unable to find work aside from menial employment, she had turned back to her old profession to earn rent money. A few arrests later - street prostitution wasn't smiled upon by the Koban - she had more or less vanished from the radar until just a couple nights ago when a late jogger had found her body. "Yeah," he muttered to the crime scene photos, "these bastards had some fun with you." This was a lesson to someone, obviously, and William Pate was hungry to find out who the teachers were. A runaway hooker, nothing more than garbage to these motherfuckers, a thing to be used and discarded when no longer profitable. It was enough to make him sick. Sachiko Tanemura, Pate thought, I've got to get her to talk. Where the hell did she go? Ever since being released from the police station that night, she had been impossible to find. William had a very bad feeling about that. ================================================= Keiko Megumi waited for him, concealed in the shadows of the park. Her pager had gone off only an hour before, bearing the numerical message 45788. It wasn't a phone number, but a message. Her contact had something. They always met in the park, surrounded by businessmen on lunch breaks and mothers watching over their children at play. Places like this made the ugly reality of the city seem so far away, as if it were another world. That reality, ironically, was the only reson she ever came here. It wasn't often when this man contacted her, but when he did the information was always good. Keiko hoped he stayed careful. Informants to the police were harshly dealt with by the Yakuza. "Been a while, eh?" Keiko started as he walked up from behind, the image of a consummate businessman. He looked just like anyone else in the park. "Yes, Clark-san." It wasn't his real name, and she didn't want to know what that was. Finding an informant like Clark - one whose information was always good and who knew how to be discreet - was next to impossible. As for what he did in the Yakuza, that was none of her business. They stood near enough to each other to be heard, but not too close. This was a careful dance. "I'll get right to the point," Clark said as he set his briefcase down. "That hooker who was murdered last night." "What do you have for me?" She knew better than to ask how he knew she was working that case. Keiko doubted she wanted to know that, anyway. "It seems she had gotten involved with a well-known Yakuza figure." "Tatsu Ishikawa." "Right," Clark replied. "She and the girl you recovered were two of his." "Why would he leave her body like that?" Keiko asked. "Was it a message?" "Not a message. A lesson." "To the other girls?" Sachiko Tanemura was in serious trouble... "Exactly." Keiko suddenly felt ill. "Leaving her in a dumpster like that..." "It was as good a place as any." Clark took another look around. "How can you be so cold?" "I have something else on Ishikawa. You definitely want to hear this." "What?" A frisbee flew in front of her, two giggling children in pursuit. "I've recently come across some information that he has just recently attempted a rather major power play. However, it failed." "What did he try?" "It appears that he was approached by a Triad man, a rather high up one, and the two struck a deal." "The Traid's involved in this, too?" "No. This man was acting alone. I don't have any concrete details, but I do know that this failed attempt resulted in the destruction of the Yamaguchi Industrial Complex, and that Spiderman was involved." Yakuza, Triads, and Spiderman, Keiko thought. Oh, my... "My time's up, Keiko. I'll be in touch." With that, Clark picked up his briefcase and walked silently away. Twenty minutes later, the man who called himself Clark - a name he took from one of his favorite books - flipped open his cell phone and hit the speed dial. "Yes?" "The information has been delivered, Yamata-san." "Good." The connection ended, and Clark continued about his business. =============================== Raizo Yamata leaned back in the luxury car's spacious back seat, feeling rather unsatisfied. He so wanted to kill Ishikawa himself - it had been a while since he had dirtied his hands - but there were even more important matters at hand, such as Anthony Stark. Tatsu's betrayal couldn't have come at a worse time. While it had eliminated what was possibly the most powerful card in Pao Leung's deck, the man still had to be dealt with. His own time and resources were too wrapped up in the imminent arrival of Stark Enterprises, not to mention in upholding his other interests. Nor could he simply let Pao Leung handle the matter. No one else in the Yakuza knew - though it was certain that many were guessing - at what had taken place. If Yamata let Leung kill Ishikawa, then he would be forced to retaliate to preserve his own standing. Raizo knew he could ill afford to fight Pao Leung, not now. As such, he had called the informant. It was Clark's job to leak information to the Koban, particularly regarding rivals and enemies. However, it also served as a means to cleanly sever loose ties in his own organization. At the very least, it would assuage the cheif of Odaiba Koban and assure that he selectively assigned cases so that nobody got too close. The price was the same, a good and tasty case. Raizo, from time to time, threw him a bone and the Koban stayed out of his way. Just so long as the matter was resolved quickly. Once in custody, then Yamata would worry about eliminating him. Chief Toju could arrange something along those lines. =========================================== Tatsu could feel the proverbial noose tightening around his neck. He stared out at the city as if he could somehow see the retribution coming through the window. Tatsu had risked a great deal on this gamble, yet somehow the thought of losing hadn't crossed his mind. How could he have been so stupid? Yamata had to know, and had likely already given the order. And what about Pao Leung? Think, Tatsu, think! You can get out of this. Leung would definitely move against him and very soon. Even if the Triad and the Yakuza's goals were the same - his messy and painful departure from this world - Raizo wouldn't let Leung's action go unanswered. A turf war between the two would get very ugly indeed. The most obvious choice was to simply cut his losses and run, but even that was a slim hope. He needed a diversion, something to set Yamata and Leung at each other's throats before either reached him, but what? An idea struck him. A very crazy, overly ballsy idea. It was insane, utterly foolish. And it just might work. Tatsu raced to his desk and picked up the phone. There was much to do and precious little time to do it in. ========================================= Miku Tachibana's bedroom was little different from the bedroom of any other girl in Japan. A vanity, a bed, a desk, posters on the wall, and a few stuffed animals lying about. Miku sat at the desk, a poetry book open and a decidedly empty sheet of notebook paper beneath a crystal paperweight. She looked at the characters - Japanese on one page and English on the other - and tried again to read them. That night, her mind refused to focus on the collected translated works of Hiene. Miku growled in frustration, fingers knotted in her recently washed hair. This report on the meaning of Hiene's work was a very weighty influence on her literature grade for the semester, and for the life of her she couldn't damnit read the thing! Miku pushed the rolling chair away from the desk. Her mind, for some odd reason, seemed stuck on Hikaru Gosunkugi. She leaned back, attempting to relax her mind and body. Over the past few days, she had found herself thinking of him. He certainly was strange - of that other girls at school had been right - but Miku doubted they really knew anything beyond that. She had been tempted to accept his attempts at making an apology, but every time their last real conversation would come back and she'd let anger and hurt rule the day. What he had said had wounded her, but was it really worth ignoring him forever over? But was it really only over his words? That thought brought Miku up short. Was what he said really all? No. Whatever had been in those photos he and Nabiki Tendo had argued about, Hikaru had clammed up the moment she had mentioned them. There was definitely a lot more to Hikaru Gosunkugi than most people appreciated. Like his connection to the mysterious Spiderman, for example. Miku's mind drifted back to that night when Spiderman had saved her from Shigeru Katsuo's knife. A masked stranger, possessed of abilities that seemed almost unreal, and who had searched Juuban Ward solely for her sake. Who was he? And how did Hikaru know him? Gosunkugi was the only one to whom she had even mentioned enlisting Spiderman's help against her psychotic ex-boyfriend to, therefore he was the only person who could have contacted him. But how did they know each other? Wait a second. Was it... Could it be... No way. That idea was just *too* stupid. However, the thought of Hikaru in those tights was strangely amusing. Hikaru Gosunkugi was definitely an enigma, more than other people at Furinkan probably realized. But, if he hadn't convinced Spiderman to help her, then by all odds she would be dead by now. "Hikaru, I just don't know about you," she muttered to the walls. But she wouldn't find out anything if she kept stonewalling him. Tomorrow, she would talk. Maybe. Miku returned to her desk, unaware that an out-of-place shadow had just moved on a rooftop across the street from her window. Hikaru crawled down the side of the building, inwardly furious with himself. What the hell was he doing, spying on Miku like that?! Oh, come on, a familiar voice said, it wasn't like you *meant* to, after all. That much was true. He had put on the costume to get some exercise and that was it. All he had set out to do was swing around the city and get the ol' blood pumping again. No heroics if he could help it, just a good workout. Stopping in sight of Miku's window had been a coincidence, nothing more. Careful, Gosunkugi, he thought as he leapt into space and shot out a web. You know what happened the last time you took up voyeurism. Hikaru winced at the thought while he swung out over the street and readied another stream of webbing. He still felt a little guilty about his former obsession with Akane Tendo - an obsession thouroughly broken once he had discovered Shigeru's sick fascination. All those photos of Miku had driven home the lesson of what could happen when one simply refused to let go of an impossible dream. You know you would never... Hikaru stopped that thought dead in its tracks as another swing took him a couple stories higher above the street which bustled with noise and light. He had always used those thoughts to justify spying on Akane. He had learned just what kind of madness lay in wait down that particular road. "Never again," Gosunkugi whispered. A horn far below blared out, a muted shout reaching upward to his ears. An hour later, Hikaru found himself crouched atop a three-story office building toward the suburbs of Nerima Ward. The streets were far quieter out here, away from the noise of the city proper. Cars were few and far between in the wee hours of the morning. The only sounds which reached him were the barks of dogs spooked by things that likely weren't even there. It was odd, really, to think of Nerima as peaceful, yet this time it actually was. Hell, even Ranma had to sleep sometime, right? Hikaru chuckled. "I wonder how they're doing?" Gosunkugi whispered into the night air. He had heard that renovations were already underway on the Tendo Dojo. If all went well - and it seldom did - then the Tendos and Saotomes could be out of that motel by the end of the month. Maybe he should check in on them? No, even if he went as Hikaru Gosunkugi, it would draw suspicion from Nabiki. If she truly had given up the chase, he didn't want to risk her taking it up again. "I can't even follow up on the people I help," Hikaru muttered bitterly. "Screw it. I should be used to this whole misunderstood loner routine by now... Huh?" Gosunkugi looked down just as four men ran into the light of a streetlamp from a doorway across the street. The four were identical in dress; black pants and sweaters with full face masks over their heads. And they all looked to be in an all-fired hurry. "I don't think they're here to read the meter... oh, shit..." The spider sense came to life just before a ball of flame roared from out of the now-demolished doorway with a wave of intense heat and sound that shattered windows from surrounding buildings. "WHOA!" The light blinded him as the displaced air slammed into his body and numbed his ears. "Wha... what the hell?!" Hikaru blinked his eyes to clear them. The glare of the rapidly spreading fire washed everything with its erratic light. After a few seconds his eyes righted themselves enough to find the four clambering into a dark blue sedan. "Time to do that hero thing again." And it had been such a quiet night, too... "Holy shit!" "We did it! We fuckin' did it, man!" The car sped off with the screaming protest of tires fighting to gain traction on the dew-slickened asphalt. "C'mon, Yuya!" one of the men shouted. "Step on it! Get us the hell outta here!" "I'm workin' on it!" They were all high-strung after setting the bomb. None of them had a single clue as to why they had been told to blow up that office, but none were stupid enough to ask questions either. They had been given a job by the boss, and they had done it. Now they just had to worry about escape. That shouldn't be too hard... *THUMP* "What was that?" "Debris?" "I don't think so..." Just then, a red-and-blue mask appeared upside down in front of the driver. "Wash your windshiled, sir?" "Oh, Christ..." "It's him!" Spiderman! It was really him! Why now?! "Awright, pull over!" they heard Spiderman shout. "Kazu!" the driver yelled. "You've got a gun! Use it!" Gosunkugi knew even before the spider sense hit. He scooted back, ignoring the wind that ripped at his body. It wouldn't break his grip of the roof, and the mask kept it from forcing his eyes shut. He glanced back as the hand emerged, followed by a masked head and black-clad shoulders. "Don't you know that those are illegal?!" A backward kick that slammed into the man's face punctuated the shouted question. Hikaru watched as the gun fell from his limp grasp and the bomber was pulled back into the car. I gotta stop this! Hikaru rose to a kneeling position and liberally sprayed the speeding car's windshield with webbing. These guys couldn't drive if they couldn't see, right? "DAMNIT! I can't see!" "Shake him, man! Do it!" "HEY!" Hikaru yelled as the car began to violently swerve. Why in the hell were these morons trying to shake him off when they couldn't even see... where... "Oh, fuck ME!" The lights burned into his eyes from the front grille of the panel truck that was speeding their way. Its horn bellowed as the two sped closer to an almost inevitable collision. Desperate, Hikaru punched through the thin roof of the speeding sedan and grasped the steering wheel. With a prayer, he jerked the wheel to the left and out of the truck's way. Right toward a parked car. "Uh-oh..." It was too close! Gosunkugi removed his arm from the hole he had made in the roof and leapt away. The sedan slammed into the parked truck with horrendous force, the latter moving upward slightly at the front from the impact with the screech of crunching metal. Hikaru sailed forward and flipped in time to land hard on the sidewalk. He looked at the smoke wafting from the front end of the now-stopped sedan, at its ruined frame, and feared for the men inside. What if he had killed them? One of the doors flew open and a black-clad man stumbled out. "Hey! You okay?!" The man simply looked at him before falling to his knees and raising his hands. "Guess so." Hikaru walked over toward him, pausing to check on the other occupants. The two in front were unconscious against rapidly deflating airbags, still breathing. On one's hand was a ring. A black onyx rested in a cradle of what had to be high- karat gold, a strange kanji carved into its center. Hikaru passed by and glanced at the left hand of the keeling man to find the same ring. "Please, Spiderman," the man blubbered, "don't kill me!" "Kill you?" "Don't eat me, man! C'mon!" He was obviously panicking. "I taste terrible! The guys in the car! They taste a lot better than me!" "I don't know," Hikaru sang. Maybe he could use this. "I haven't eaten since breakfast..." And who the hell was spreading rumors that he *ate* people, anyway?! Oh, well, if it made this guy talk then he might as well capitalize on it. "C'mon, man!" The guy was practically crying, now. Jeez, what a wuss. "Look, tell me who you work for and why you blew that building, and..." "I can't! He'll kill me!" Go figure, Gosunkugi thought. Sirens wailed in the distance, growing rapidly closer. Bending down, Hikaru grabbed a fistful of wool sweater and yanked the man off his knees. "Gah, when's the last time you brushed?" "Listen, man, let me go!" "Who do you work for?" Hikaru asked as he removed the ring from the man's left hand. "What's this kanji mean?" "I don't know what the hell it means!" "Hey, it's Spiderman!" Hikaru nearly cursed as other voices joined the one that had just shouted his presence. Of all the times for him to finally draw a crowd of gawkers, why did it have to be *now*?! Worse yet, the cops were closing in... The screech of locked brakes announced the presence of the police and the end of his time. Hikaru dropped the still- yammering bomber and turned to face two very bewildered policemen. "Stay where you are, Spiderman!" one shouted, likely wishing he had been given permission to carry a gun that night. "Um, gee, let me think. No!" A standing leap carried him up enough to springboard off the building behind him. Hikaru tucked into a roll, coming out in time to rebound off the roof of the next structure and out into the night. He aimed toward the light of the merrily burning building, a fierce orange glow accompanied by shouts and sirens of emergency services personell. Might as well get a few pictures to sell. The rent was due this week. ======================================== "And in the news this morning," the disgustingly cheerful newswoman said from the television speakers, "Nerima Ward was rocked by a massive explosion at the offices of Masaki, Ritsuko, and Tsukino at about two-thirty a.m. The financial firm..." "Yeah, yeah," Gosunkugi mumbled over his fourth bowl of cereal. Why did those guys blow up the building, anyway? What had been the point? "Police have the four bombers in question, however all of them claim that Spiderman was the cause of the accident which halted their escape. "Oh, boy, here it comes..." "Nerima Koban is unwilling to speculate on Spiderman's possible involvement in the bombing, yet have stated that he is wanted for questioning." "Wonderful," Hikaru groused. "I saw him!" said a man Gosunkugi had never met before as the news story shifted to pre-recorded footage. "He walked up to one of those guys, all menacing like. The dude was screaming his head off..." Hikaru turned the TV off. He was getting very sick of the news. Wanted for questioning! Jeez. He'd *stopped* those guys from getting away! Oh, well, he thought as he pulled the ring out of his pocket. At least he had a lead on who those guys were. All he had to do was find out what that kanji meant. ======================================== Tatsu Ishikawa resisted the urge to smash the television, but barely. He had intended for that attack to make the news, but he hadn't figured Spiderman to show up. As far as he had known, the freak was dead! No matter now. Spiderman's still alive, and he just involved himself in my operations. Again. Had it just been strange coincidence? Or had it been more? This was something he hadn't counted on. Ample evidece was left to implicate Pao Leung, as he had planned, but with Spiderman involved, it was unknown whether Raizo Yamata would bite the hook. Tatsu shook his head. He didn't know if it would work anyway. Why should Spiderman complicate something that was already convoluted? The wallcrawler had just shown up at the wrong time, that was all. So, the four men he'd sent on that job were in poice custody. Who cared? They wouldn't talk, so long as they believed that he'd spring them. By the time they realized that he would leave them to rot, he would be long since out of the country. ==================================== Pao Leung could only stare at the newscast that morning. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have cared overly much if someone had taken out a front business of Raizo Yamata, save for the fact that an insignia had been left behind. Several, in fact. The character was the symbol of the Black Lotus Society, of which he was a part. This was just impossible. He had *not* ordered such an act. Nor would he have left such a calling card. No one, at least in his branch of the Triads, was that careless. Someone was trying to frame him, but who? Why? And how good were they? Why the hell would they leave his own mark at the site? What was the connection? Pao Leung picked up the phone and started issuing orders. He had to know all the Koban did. At the same time, he had to prepare for the reprisal from Raizo Yamata. This could get very messy, very fast.