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 kneeling
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
consequences 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, like
the whole Cave of
Lost Love fiasco. "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, he thought. 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 with small tendrils of blue electricity crackling
from the end.
	"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 a look of
grave concern.
The standard small talk which had always preceeded the business at
hand was absent as
the serving girls finished their tasks. Raizo noticed one man, a
balding overweight banker,
whose 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 usually a
place of relaxation, where he could discuss matters of importance
without the tension.
Tonight that 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 coffee 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 had 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."

================================

	Many thanks to Gary Kleppe and Arthur Edwards, two of the best
pre-readers in the biz. Stay tuned for Issue Fourteen. It's almost
done, and it's gonna be one helluva ride!

Thanks for reading!

Knight Writer
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