Ranma 1/2 used without permission
Spiderman used without permission

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	Hikaru Gosunkugi: The Amazing Spiderman Issue Fourteen
	Power Plays

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	"I'm getting nowhere like this," Gosunkugi muttered as he
swung across the Ginza. The nest
of light below still managed to barely illuminate the buildings even
at sixty stories up. The noise of the
gaggle of shoppers and businessmen was a jumbled mass at his height,
yet still audible. It had to be a
hundred times worse down on the street. Hikaru was glad he wasn't down
there to heart it up close.
	He knew he'd never get a lead on that kidnapped girl at the
rate he was going. If the girl he
had saved last night had been telling the truth - and Hikaru doubted
she wasn't - then this Yukio was
in serious danger. And he could do nothing to help.
	Gosunkugi began a climb up the building he was currently
adhered to. He had no clues, no
leads...
	"That girl!" he shouted. If he could find the girl he had
saved, she could tell him about Yukio.
But where would he find her? And why had those guys tried to kidnap
her in the first place? And,
while he was on the subject, what was her name?
	Hikaru reached the roof, some eighty or ninety stories above
the noise and lights of the
Ginza, and sat on the edge. Being a detective was harder than it
seemed.
	"Think, Gosunkugi," he commanded himself. "Where can you go
for answers?" The police
had come only a few minutes after he had taken down the kidnappers. He
had been out toward
Odaiba that night. It had to be a Koban preceint in that area. How
many could there be? Hikaru
would check into that. It wouldn't be too hard.
	"Okay," he muttered, "now, how do I find out?" She had been a
victim of an attempted
kidnapping. Such a crime carried a rather hefty punishment. The Koban
would have a file on the
case, no doubt. Hikaru rested his head in his hands, brain whirling
with thoughts racing about like
lightning bolts.
	"I'll bet they have a copy of the case file somewhere." He
looked out to the skyline of
Tokyo, a city of concrete and glass. The old was rapidly giving way to
the new, he noticed, yet the
old ways still remained...
	"I'll be damned." That was it! "They gotta have a hard copy of
that file! A records room or
something! Spidey, you're a genius!" Seaking into a Koban building
shouldn't be too hard. The
security wasn't set up with Spiderman in mind. "All I gotta do is
sneak in, find the case file, and
sneak out all without being seen by a cop. No problem!" First, he had
to find out where that
particular Koban preceint was. Hikaru swung out into the night toward
home. All he needed to find
that place was a handy-dandy phone book. It was amazing what a little
creative thought could do.
	As he swung out toward home, Gosunkugi paid no heed to the
traffic below, or to the panel
truck that seemed so out of place in the commuter traffic.

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	Wu Long took a deep breath as he waited in the darkness of the
truck's cargo section. The
panel truck - along with the six men accompanying him - were courtesy
of Tatsu Ishikawa.
Assembling the necessary manpower and equipment was no trouble, nor
was briefing them on what
to say. He thanked every deity he knew of that he had been able to
move so fast. Wu Long was the
only man who knew all the security codes and protocols for the Black
Widow Project, and Leung
knew it. Doubtless he had issued the order to use a different set of
codes, but implementing them
would take days at best. Long only hoped that Leung wouldn't expect
him to move so quickly.
	He almost let out a chuckle at it all. Just a day before, he
was the second most powerful man
in Pao Leung's organization. Now he was a fugitive, scrambling for his
only chance at survival. That
his chance had set him against the man who had delivered him from the
gutters of Meng Cun, the
man to whom he had pledged his loyalty, and that this chance could
very well let him usurp that
selfsame organization, was a most delicious irony. He only hoped it
would work. It had to.
Deliveries of this nature only took place after midnight, in a truck
of this particular color scheme and
with specially stamped orders.
	Thank you, Pao Leung, he silently prayed. Who would have
dreamed that in my failure, I
would have the chance to rule so much. That he was betraying the man
who had saved him from a
life of poverty and petty crime was a thought Wu Long chose to ignore.
	One hour and thirty minutes, Long thought as the truck came to
a stop. According to the
route he had given the driver, they were at the outer gates of the
Yamaguchi Industrial Complex.
Right on time.

	The driver handed over the invoice, detailing the equipment
that the truck carried. The gate
security officer, a man with red-rimmed bleary eyes and a tired face,
glanced at the stamp which
indicated that the shipment was meant for the Special Projects Wing,
and waved the truck through.
	The off-white Mitsubishi Fuso roared into gear as it rolled
past the gates. The driver
followed the route Wu Long had detailed, maintaining a constant rate
of forty KpH. the panel truck
passed through alleyways between elongated sheetmetal buildings where
the grunt work took place.
After twenty minutes exactly it arrived at the designated access
point.
	The driver handed over his orders to a much more fresh and
alert looking guard. He had
been briefed on this point, that the truck would be inspected before
being allowed to go further.
=46rom beneath the stained brim of his cap he studied the other three
guards who stood at port arms,
each holding a Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle.
	The first guard called over two others to check the rear of
the truck. The driver's heart
thudded in his chest. If this part of the plan failed, then he was
certain he'd meet his end at the
flaming barrels of those rifles. He had no doubts those men knew how
to use them. Three from the
front, three from the rear. The Mitsubishi's body would never stop
those rounds. He only hoped he'd
survive long enough to see his wife and son again.

	Wu Long tensed as the door rolled up and the three guards
stepped in. Their boots stomped
heavily on the metal floor, beams of light searching all the crates
for any signs of something out of the
ordinary. Shipments to the Special Projects Wing were always
thoroughly checked.=20
	Just a little closer... once the three were fully inside, he
would strike. It would have to be
quiet, and there were no second chances. Wu Long didn't dare breathe
as the first guard drew up
alongside him. A muted thud sounded from the door, and Long pounced.
Muscles uncoiled as he
rose to his full height, wrapped his hands about the guard's head, and
gave a vicious twist. The crack
of a neck breaking sounded like a gunshot in his ears as he lowered
the now-dead guard. Two of
the four men in the rear with him were donning the uniforms of the
dead men while Long removed
the clothes of the one he had killed. Over an hour freezing in this
truck with nothing but his boxers
seemed insignificant now.

	The driver glanced at the mirror mounted on his door and
forgot to breathe when a black-
suited man stepped out of the truck.
	"All clear!" a familiar voice shouted.
	"Acknowledged," the leader of the three who barred the truck's
passage answered. The
uniformed man, someone the driver knew personally, hopped back into
the truck. The driver heard
the rear door slam and placed the truck back into gear. The guards
stepped clear.
	Wow... he thought. The gate before him did not open. He felt
the truck shudder just as the
scene before him began to rise. The brightly-lit checkpoint was
steadily replaced with darkened
machinery. A low-pitched hum vibrated throughout his body as the
freight elevator lowered him -
truck and all - into the depths of the Yamaguchi Complex.
	"Wu Long was right. Amazing." Maybe, just maybe, they could
pull this off. The driver
absently fingered the grip of the SOCOM .45 - a very difficult gun to
get in Japan - which was
concealed beneath his uniform.
	Focus. Remember the route. Stay at twenty KpH. Don't make a
wrong turn, don't even jerk
the wheel in the wrong direction. All this the driver repeated like a
mantra. Wu Long had said that
there were automated defenses down in this place as well as men who
carried guns that even the
Self Defense Force didn't have. If they just *smelled* something
wrong, they would blast the truck
into dust.
	Left, left, right, straight two intersections, two more lefts,
four intersections, and a right. That
was the route Long had told him. The driver only prayed that it was
the right one.
	The elevator finally stopped, and he moved the truck forward.
This was it, they were really
here. Once Wu Long got what they needed, they would all fire on him at
once. Long would not
survive this night. The driver hoped that he himself would.

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	Gosunkugi sat on his bed, his muscles still warm from
webslinging in the cool air. The only
light which burned in his room was the small reading lamp he kept on
the bed table. The window
was firmly shut and the blind was down, his costume hidden safely in
the secret compartment of his
closet he had discovered when his family had first leased the
apartment.
	Hikaru never knew what had been kept there before, but it had
served as a handy spot for
his voodoo materials and magical texts. As of late, however, it had
been the hiding place for what he
had come to call his "work clothes". His parents had no idea the
compartment was there, and for
that he was glad. He hated the thought of explaining to them that he
was Spiderman. Just as well that
they were seldom home before eleven at night, oftentimes later.
	"Let's see..." Gosunkugi muttered as he flipped through the
yellow pages. The phone book
lay open before him, turned to the section of Odaiba Ward. "Koban...
Koban... Hello!" He finally
found the listing for Odaiba Ward's Koban Precient, and the address
for the building.
	One step closer. Tomorrow night, Spiderman's gonna pay that
place a visit. Discreetly. With
that thought buzzing in his head, Hikaru Gosunkugi clicked off his
lamp and lay down to sleep. With
any luck he'd find that girl and from there get what he needed to find
this mysterious Yukio.
	"Always wanted to... save the damsel in disress..." he
muttered before drifting off to sleep.

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	"Jesus," Pate said. He had seen this before - more times than
he really cared to recall - but
the sight still managed to jar some part of him.
	"How could anyone do that?" Keiko Megumi said beside him. Her
porcelain face had gone
whiter, wide eyes brimming with tears and a hand over her mouth.
	"Some people just aren't human."
	"You've seen ths before."
	"Yeah," Pate replied.
	The body lay nude on the table. The skin, once supple and
lovely, was colored now by
hideous yellow-black bruises laden with cuts and dried blood. The
horror of such insults to a human
body were a thing that William Pate had seen often in his time in the
LAPD, and a few times in the
=46BI. Being a Federal Agent, he didn't have as much exposure to street
crime as he once did. Seeing
it here brought all that home and the old instincts began to kick in.
	"Yukio Segawa," Keiko said, her cool voice having come back
under control. "her body
was found this afternoon in Odaiba Park. She'd been picked up several
times on prostitution, but
always made her bail."
	"You think this is the same Yukio that Sachiko was talking
about?" Pate asked.
	"I hope not, but..."
	"Yeah. We'll get her back in to identify the body." Pate
prayed that this might be a
coincidence, but knew it wasn't. He had read the preliminary autopsy
report and was not surprised
to read that the girl had been beaten and raped repeatedly and
brutally before death. Anyone who
didn't believe that the devil walked the earth had not seen the
mutilated corpses and horrendous
crimes William Pate had.=20
	Keiko pushed her horror down into the depths of herself. This
was her first homicide. It was
a crime she had hoped never to encounter. But for her first to be
something like this, it was beyond
appalling. That one person could even consider doing such things as
the late Yukio Segawa had
suffered was a thing that Keiko Megumi couldn't wrap her mind around.
	But she had to. Keiko couldn't look at this as a person - as a
woman - but as a detective.
There were people responsible for this crime, and they had to be
brought to justice. The case
belonged to her and William. It was theirs to solve and the men
responsible were theirs to take
down. Hard.
	An objective perspective didn't make looking at the nude and
battered corpse any easier.
She spotted the crusted blood around Yukio's vagina and had to repress
the urge to vomit. Up past
the chest that would never swell with breath to the face frozen in
agony to...
	"What the.."
	"Something wrong, Megumi-san?"
	Keiko ignored William as she moved around to Yukio's head. Her
dark brown hair lay
beneath her head like a filthy blanket. Something was wrong, all
right. Keiko studied Yukio's hair,
which was crusted with blood and other fluids. The strands were still
smooth, though... How could
the pathologist have missed this?
	"Pate-san."
	"Yeah."
	"Her hair's been combed."
	"Say what?!"
	"Yes. Before the body was dumped, someone had combed Yukio
Segawa's hair!" She
heard William draw up beside her to look.
	"Well I'll be kicked," he whispered. "Wonder why?"
	"The medical examiner didn't do it, that's for sure."
	"This has gotta be a clue."
	"But why?"
	William Pate thought back. He had heard of something like this
somewhere...
	"Why? Some men beat her, raped her, and murdered her, and then
combed her hair?"
	It was a case a friend of his father's had worked on, Pate was
sure. How did it go?
	"Wait a minute here..."
	"Do you know what this could mean?" Keiko asked. Pate ignored
her.
	A woman had been found in a fountain in much the same
condition as Yukio, back in the
sixties. Who was the detective... AH! Jack Ryan, that was it. The
woman had been horribly raped
and beaten, but her hair was combed. William Pate tried to recall the
details he'd overheard as a
kid...
	"Pate-san?"
	She had been a lover of some guy Jack Ryan had known, some
ex-SEAL type. Back in
Vietnam the SEALs had been top-secret. Special Forces agents like that
were as tough as they
came.  More details were coming back from that conversation he'd
eavesdropped on.
	"William?"
	"Not now. I think I may know something..."
	Now I remember! William Pate thought.  The girl had been a
mule for a drug-
running/prostitution ring. She had gotten away from her pimp, but had
been found again. When her
body had been found, the hair had been combed!
	He remembered more, about how the ex-SEAL had gone on a
vengeance trip and taken out
the men responsible. William remembered thinking, in his later years,
about how a major drug and
vice ring had been shattered before the drug trade had really taken
off in America.
	The SEAL, a man named John Kelly, had taken out the men
responsible for the woman's
death. Her name escaped him, but he recalled Jack Ryan's account of
the case. John Kelly had died
in a crash at sea while being chased by police and Coast Guard forces.
	"Keiko, let's go."
	"Pate-san?"
	"You want to hear this. I think I just found a few answers."

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	Wu Long stepped into the cool recycled air of the Special
Projects Wing. He had gotten this
far and there was no turning back. He glanced over at the guards
stationed about the enormous
round chamber. He knew what to say, that he and Tatsu's men were
guards from the surface. The
driver would follow the rest of the route to where the cargo would be
unloaded and inspected. Once
they found that the load was only a collection of junked Dreamcasts
and PS Ones, the driver would
be shot and the general alarm would be sounded. Wu Long planned to be
in Ops Control long
before then.
	He led the other men who had donned the uniforms of the dead
guards above to the guard
force stationed in sub-basement five. He gave the appropriate salute,
his own men and the other
guards following suit. He had not yet been detected.
	"That truck goes to SPW Drop Site Gamma. We're to report to
SecOps Master Control."
	"Acknowledged," the lead guard replied. "Proceed."
	Wu Long marched ahead, Tatsu's men following in step. Teaching
them that hadn't taken too
much time. The guard force here were nearly all ex-military. Below the
surface there were no mere
rent-a-cops. The men in these levels were all trained and experienced
soldiers. They duty may be
dull, but Long doubted they'd let that make them lax.
	The tunnels were wide enough for four men side-by-side,
two-and-a-half meters high. All he
could hear was the blood roaring in his veins and the rhythmic tumps
of their boots on the cold metal
floor. This next part of the mission was the most crucial. If they
failed to gain control of SecOps
Master Control, then they were all dead men.
	The door was at last in view, and Wu Long felt an icy calm
descend over him. It was do or
die time.

	SecOps Master Control was a rather small chamber for such an
important task. Stationed at
the floor-to-ceiling termials which showed rotating images of all
sectors and scanned every inch of
the underground were a force of five men. They each whipped their
heads up in surprise, hands
reaching for weapons, and relaxed when they saw the uniforms of their
own.
	"What're you guys doing here?" one asked.
	"There's still time before the shift change..."
	The sentence was cut off when Wu Long raised his Kalashnikov
and opened fire. Tatsu's
men followed suit. The automatic fire - suppressed as per regulations
- sounded like staccato coughs
as three men met their deaths with astounded cries. Another second and
the remaining two followed
suit.
	Long rushed forward to the main terminal on the south wall.
The rounds had not damaged
any critical systems, redudancies for what had been damaged already
activating. That the men had
not the chance to raise an alarm was no matter. The audio sensors
would recognize the gunfire and
sound a general quarters alert. He had to move quickly.
	Wu Long's fingers raced across the panel of the main terminal,
inputting codes he had
memorized in the event of an unforseen incident. Well, he thought,
Leung surely hadn't forseen
anything like this, did he?
	Long's hunch was correct. Pao Leung hadn't had time to alter
the access codes. Wu Long
grinned as he switched the security systems to manual and inputted his
own lockout code. The
computer acknowledged. The Yamaguchi Complex's computers would only
accept commands from
this one terminal.
	"Initiating Stage Two Lockdown," Long said aloud. He didn't
bother to check the other
monitors. Tatsu's men, he noticed, couldn't keep their eyes off them.
Heavy, meter-thick, blast doors
lowered at every junction. Stage Two wasn't the highest level of
security, yet it would do for now.
	"Bringing anti-personnel protocols online. Target: guards."
	Tatsu's men watched in awe as, while uniformed men pounded on
the blast doors and
screamed, automated cannons dropped from hidden partitions in the
ceiling and walls to blast
everyone present. Men were reduced to hamburger meat under the hail of
projectiles while Wu
Long continued to manipulate the main terminal.
	"Have you accessed the data yet?"
	"Just a moment." Wu Long watched as the security systems for
SecOps activated and the
autoguns lowered from the ceiling. The gasps from his right betrayed
the horror of Tatsu's men as the
weapons locked on and fired. For such an enclosed space, the weapons
were suppressed yet the
effects were just as lethal.
	"Security sweep complete," announced the sterile voice of the
complex's main computer,
and Wu Long almost laughed. He had done it. He had penetrated into the
heart of Pao Leung's
weapons hanger and now had control of one of the deadliest weapons
systems known to exist.
	"Computer." No sense in using the panel when voice command was
so much easier. "Access
all data on Project: Black Widow."
	"Black Widow Options: Status. Information. System Config."
	"Status."
	"Seekers. Minor Variant. Major Variant."
	"Seekers."
	"Seeker Drones. Quantity: one hundred. All are available and
ready for launch."
	"Major Variant."
	"Major Variant," the disembodied voice replied. "Repairs are
complete and weapons are re-
armed. Major Variant is ready for deployment."
	Okay, he thought. "Minor Variant."
	"Minor Variant. Four prototypes ready for testing. All weapons
fully armed. All systems
functioning at ninety-seven percent efficiency as of last test."
	"Good," Wu Long said. The computer didn't reply, not
recognizing Long's statement as a
valid command. "Computer."
	"Yes?"
	"New mission for Black Widow: Minor Variants and Seeker
Drones."
	"Please input mission data and parameters."
	Wu Long did so.
	"Acknowledged. Mission programming in progress. Time to
completeion: twenty minutes."
	Wu Long checked his watch. the sun wouldn't rise for at least
three more hours. Still plenty
of time.
	"Execute on completeion of mission programming," Wu Long
commanded.
	"Acknowledged."

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	Nabiki Tendo was naturally a heavy sleeper. One wouldn't think
so, considering how quick
and alert she often seemed, yet the fact still remained. It had taken
years of conditioning for her to
rise at the alarm on her clock radio before Kasumi could come and
rouse her.
	The display on the digital clock read three forty-five AM. Not
a soul in the Tendo Dojo was
awake. Pale moonlight poured through Nabiki's window and spilled
across her blanketed form.
Nabiki snorted once and rolled over, lost in a pleasant dream she
wouldn't recall in the morning.

	Wu Long grinned at the display from Seeker Alpha - the first
of the five Seeker Drones he
had sent. The Dojo was cast in the green glow of the drone's night
vision, a blinking cursor
surrounding the window behind which Nabiki Tendo slept.
	"Minor Variants Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Epsilon are
approaching target coordinates," the
comptuer toned. "ETA: thirty seconds."

	Nabiki didn't stir at the sound of muffled turbines outside
her window. The moonlight was
blocked, only red eyes in the window.
	The Minor Variant accessed its mission data. Nabiki Tendo was
to be taken alive. It
prepared the cable launchers mounted between its titanium mandibles.
The list of residents in the
Tendo Dojo scrolled across its Heads Up Display. Designates: Ranma
Saotome and Akane Tendo
were also to be taken alive if possible. The remaining residents were
to be killed.

	"Minor Variants are in position."
	Wu Long clenched his fists. All four Widows would storm the
Dojo at once and begin the
snatch.  The monitor's display separated into four quadrants,
displaying the HUD views of each
Widow.
	"Execute."
	"Acknowledged."

	Ranma stepped out into the hall. The shadows were deep as the
ocean, the only light coming
from the windows to coat the floor in small spots. She could feel it
on her skin, the looming dread of
something about to happen.
	Wish I'd thought to change back, Ranma thought as she crept
through the hall. Some nights
she wouldn't even bother to become a guy again. The fact that the hot
water lines were busted hadn't
much helped.

	"Alert. Motion detected."
	WHAT?! "Where?"
	A glowing red dot appeared inside the image of the dojo.
	"Single human. Identity unknown."
	"Status." Why now of all times?! Could it be Spiderman? How?
	"Alpha and Beta are outside target areas and are ready to
aqcuire. Epsilon is in position for
cover fire."
	"What about Gamma?"
	"Gamma is outside target area three. Target Designate: Ranma
Saotome is not in target
area."
	What the hell? "Begin operation."
	"Acknowledged."

	"HEY!"
	"GET OFF ME!"
	Rama froze at the sudden screams. Akane and Nabiki's voice
sounded even over the crash
of breaking glass and splintering wood.
	"What's goin on... SHIT!"
	The wall ahead of her was scattered across the floor in a
cloud of plaster and dust. Ranma
shielded her eyes reflexively, muscles tense for the fight. She
readied her fists and swallowed
nervously at the hateful red eyes that flared at her from the dark.

	"Who's that?"
	"Subject unknown. Terminating."
	"No. Subject is to be taken."
	"Acknowledged."
	Wu Long had heard of that red-haired girl before. She was
connected with the Tendos in
some way. Since Ranma seemed not to be present, she would do for a
third hostage.

	Akane fought in the grip of the metal coils that had clinched
about her body. They squeezed
like steel anacondas, threatening to crush the life out of her as they
drew her closer to those red
eyes.
	"LET ME GO!"
	Akane let her anger take over, let it banish her fear.
Whatever this was, it wasn't going to
take her without a fight! She strained and yelled, hoping to gain
enough leverage to free herself as it
dragged her past the shattered wall.
	"AKANE!"
	She looked over to the shouted voice, the fear beginning to
swell again as she saw Nabiki
bound as she was.
	"NABIKI!" Akane glared at her sister's captor. Eight legs were
folded beneath it. From
between a set of wicked-looking pincers were a set of cables which had
wound themselves around
Nabiki's body.
	A spider?! she thought with surprise. It looks like...
	Akane looked up at the spider which had her. They were
smaller, but they bore a striking
resemblance to the robot she had seen Spiderman fighitng on
television.
	"What's... going... YAAAHHH!" The electric current hit like a
rocket and Akane fell into
unconsciousness.

	"AKANE! NABIKI!" Ranma heard Soun wail just before the
unmistakeable sound of
gunfire ripped the air.
	"NO!" Ranma screamed just as she felt the thing launch its
cables out again. She leapt
backward beneath the ensnaring lengths and catapulted down the stairs
to the foyer.
	"Ranma! What's happening!"
	"Kasumi! Get down!" Ranma saw her, sihllouetted against the
light that managed to
penetrate the rice paper door that faced the yard. Behind her was a
much larger shape. "GET
DOWN!" Ranma screamed as she charged Kasumi's position. These things
were packing some
heavy firepower. She had to find Akane and Nabiki, but first...
	The floor shook as the other spider hit the bottom of the
stairs. Kasumi stood there, horror
plain on her face. The shadow behind raised a sharp leg to strike.
Ranma gritted her teeth as she
wrapped an arm about the other girl's waist and leapt clear just as an
obsidian metal appendage
shredded the wall and cratered the floor where Kasumi once stood.
	"GET OUTTA HERE!" Ranma screamed as both robot spiders emerged
into view.
"NOW!"
	"What's..."
	"KASUMI! GO! NOW!" Ranma heard the sound of Kasumi's running
footfalls as she faced
down her two attackers.
	Spiderman fought something like these a couple nights ago,
Ranma realized. Looks like its
my turn! The spiders slowly approached, the glowing crimson of their
eyes beaming into Ranma's
heaving chest. They were tough, no doubt about it, but she could take
them. She had to. The only
way Ranma would get to the rest was through those two spiders. At
least Kasumi was safe.
	"MOKO TAKABISHA!" she screamed when the two spiders were close
together. The
orange ball of ki lanced outward and detonated on contact with the
metal of the robots.
	"Now to... WHAT?!"
	The undulating metal cable wound itself around Ranma's legs
and jerked her to the floor.
The glare from the ki orb faded to reveal both spiders, unharmed by
the attack. The cables began to
cut off the blood to Ranma's legs as they dragged her closer to the
spider's clacking mandibles.
	"MOKO... DAMNIT!" Ranma thrust her hands forward only to have
another cable loop
about them and then her torso. She screamed in surprise and pain as
the coils tightened and she was
yanked roughly upward.
	Won't give in! Can't....
	"AAAAAAHHHHH!" The lightning raced across her nerves, bolts of
pain lancing her brain
in a relentless tide as muscle control fled Ranma's limbs. The barrage
of energy continued for what
felt like hours. It ended, leaving Ranma panting in its wake.
	Gotta... fight... Gotta...
	Another blast sent Ranma spiralling into the abyss.

	Two to take that girl down? Wu Long thought with surprise.
She's a lot tougher than she
looks.
	"Enemy units approaching." A map of the city appeared, showing
several red dots moving at
high speed toward the dojo.
	"Police."
	"Engage?" the computer asked.
	"No. Recall all Widows and Seeker Drones. Re-engage stealth
protocols."
	"Acknowledged. Operation completed."
	"Status."
	"Designates Akane Tendo and Nabiki Tendo captured alive.
Deisgnate Ranma Saotome
was not present. New Designate: Unknown captured alive."
	Excellent, Long thought. Leung was bound to have found out
that something was wrong by
now. It didn't matter. No amount of men Pao Leung could send would
ever penetrate the
Yamaguchi Complex's defenses unless Wu Long allowed it.
	"Computer."
	"Yes?"
	"New mission. Seeker Drones only."
	"Please input mission parameters."
	Wu Long did so.
	"Acknowledged. Mission programming in progress. Completion in
ten minutes."
	Come into my parlor, Wu Long thought with a mirthless chuckle.

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	Pao Leung stood in open-mouthed shock. His robe hung loosely
down to the thick carpet of
the floor, cast in a pale glow from the light of the television
screen.
	"Recapping our top story," said the somber-faced newscaster.
He was bathed in rotating red
and blue lights from at least a dozen police cars and other emergency
vehicles. "Just an hour ago, the
peace of Nerima Ward was shattered by what witnesses claim to be a
quartet of robotic spiders
similar to that which had been fought by the mysterious Spiderman only
two nights ago."
	"Damn you, Wu Long!" Leung roared. His hand grasped the
nearest object and hurled it like
a javelin. The table lamp shattered the TV screen in a shower of
sparks. Leung stormed out of his
bedchamber, already plotting how he would flay the skin from Wu Long's
traitorous hide. He
definitely would not let any underlings kill the bastard. Leung wanted
that pleasure all for himself.

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	Hikaru stepped past the gates of Furinkan High, already
contemplating how he would break
into the Koban station. The AC ducts seemed the most logical choice.
They just might be large
enough for him to fit. Then there were the cops themselves to deal
with while trying to find the
records room. Hikaru found himself wishing he were more adept with a
computer. Hacking was not
his forte.=20
	On awakening that morning, Hikaru realized that his choice to
sneak into the Koban wasn't
well thought out. The girl he was looking for had committed no crime
that he knew of...
	"Man, whoda thought it?"
	"The dojo got trashed!"
	"I hope Ranma and Akane are okay."
	WHAT?! Hikaru stopped, his blood running cold. What had
happened at the Tendo Dojo?
Hiroshi and Daisuke - two of Saotome's friends - were whispering to
each other. Hikaru looked
about to find students talking to eachother in groups. From what he
could catch, they seemed to be
discussing the same thing.
	"What about Nabiki?" Daisuke asked.
	Hikaru silently approached. Even without spider powers, he was
a consummate master of
slipping about unnoticed.
	"Kuno's been raving like nuts, man," Hiroshi said.
	"Nabiki got kidnapped, too, y'know..."
	Oh, damn... Hikaru thought.
	"Excuse me."
	"GAH!" Hiroshi and Daisuke both spun around, startled at
Gosunkugi's sudden appearance.
	"Yeah?"
	"What is it, Gos?"
	"I couldn't help overhearing. What happened to Akane?"
	"What, do you live under a rock or something?"
	"Don't you watch TV?"
	"I missed it this morning."
	"Jeez," Hiroshi groaned. "Listen. The Tendo Dojo was attacked
last night."
	"Nothin' new there, man," Daisuke said.
	"It was what?!"
	"It kidnapped Akane and Nabiki."
	"Oh, shit..."
	"Here's the real bad part," Hiroshi said. "They got Ranma,
too."
	"Okay," Gosunkugi said, "now I *know* you're kidding me. Who
could take *him* down?"
	"Not who," Daisuke said, "what."
	"What?"
	"Yeah, what. It was four robot spiders."
	Robot... Spiders? Hikaru immediately tuned out the rest.*Four*
of them?!
	"They looked like smaller versions of the one Spiderman fought
on TV."
	Gosunkugi felt the world turn upside down. Four of those damn
things had kidnapped
Nabiki, Akane, and Ranma. Why? Why do that? Why *now* of all times!
	"Hey, Gos, you okay?"
	"Hah? Sorry. Spaced out for a second. I gotta go."
	"Boy, what an oddball," Hiroshi said before returning to the
gossip.

	Not good, not good, *so* damn not good! Hikaru made his way
through the gossiping
students to where he could make a clean getaway.
	Gotta get home, he thought. Gotta get my costume on and find
those fucking spiders!
	He skirted about a group of five girls - all of whom were
chatting about the latest news.
	"Spiderman fought one of those!"
	"Why'd it go after the Tendos and Ranma?"
	"Wonder if Spiderman'll save them?"
	Hikaru kept moving. He had thought that damn robot was only
after him. Why the Tendos?
Why Ranma?
	Damnit! Nabiki! That had to be it. The Yakuza had it out for
her, too. But why send robot
spiders after her? Why just kidnap her when they... Then it hit him.
	Bait. Hikaru thought back to when Doc Ock had kidnapped her.
It wasn't as if they couldn't
have gone after him. Nabiki had published those photos of the
warehouse raid. That had placed her
high on their shit list. But that didn't explain why they got Ranma
and Akane.
	Gosunkugi neared the wall and prepared to leap when the spider
sense brought him up
short.
	"Hikaru Gosunkugi!" shouted a childlike voice. "Where are you
going, you delinquent?"
	"H... Hinako-sensei!" he shouted as he leapt about to see the
teacher glaring at him with her
five-yen coin at the ready to drain his ki.
	"Skipping school is a big no-no," the child said.
	I don't got time for this! "Listen, Hinako-sensei, this is an
emergency!"
	"I'll just bet, young man. I know how many days you've taken
off lately! Now get to class
before I..."
	Hikaru briefly considered webbing Hinako. He'd have a hell of
a lot of explaining to do. Her
drainig him was not an option either.
	"I'm sorry, Hinako-sensei," Gosunkugi said with a bow.
	"Good. The bell's about to ring, and you'd best not be late!"
Hinako fell in step behid Hikaru
all the way to his first class.
	First chance I get, Hikaru thought, I'm getting out.=20

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	Wu Long awoke from the cat nap he had managed to snag. He
glaced up at the
chornometer above SecOps Main Terminal and was disappointed to find it
was only noon.
	"I can't launch the Seekers yet," he muttered to the empty
room. His eyes passed over the
security monitors and the same sights that had been there for the past
several hours. Nothing but
dead guards and closed blast doors. Wu Long had locked out all
security and computer commands.
Nothing would respond except to SecOps Master Control, which he had
possession of. The
maintenance shafts and jeffery's tubes were sealed as well, preventing
access to computer nodes in
those areas.
	Wu Long called up the image from the Black Widow hangar bay
and focused the camera on
his three guests.

	Ranma strained against the cables that held her suspended in
midair. The air was cold
against her bare arms and legs, chilling through the tanktop and
boxers she usually wore to bed.
	"LET US GO, DAMNIT!" she screamed into the enormous room. The
floor was at least
thirty meters below her feet, the same cobalt blue color of the walls
and ceiling.  Pieces of equipment
were scattered across the expansive floor amid crates, drums, and
legths of thick black cable.
Strewn amongst the machinery were a slew of bodies, torn limb from
limb.
	"What *is* this place?" Akane gasped. She hung to Ranma's
right, coils wrapped tight
around her form as well. Situated into four metal niches were the
robot spiders which had abducted=20
them, two on each side of the giant version. "What are we doing here?"
	"Enjoying yourselves?" asked a voice from above that echoed
off the walls.
	"WHO ARE YOU?!" Ranma shouted.
	"What do you want from us?!"
	"Akane, you and that girl next to you are merely bait."
	"Bait?" Ranma asked. "For who?"
	"What about Nabiki?" Akane looked over at her sister, hanging
on Ranma's other side. She
looked back, eyes wide and face pale. Akane could't recall ever seeing
her unflappable older sister
so scared.
	"Ah, Nabiki Tendo. I'm afraid there's a deeper reason for her
being here."
	"What are you talking about?!"  Nabiki demanded. Akane could
hear the fear beneath her
sister's voice. She knew something...
	"Please, Nabiki, there's no need for you to play dumb now.
It's very annoying."
	"Nabiki," Ranma snarled, "what's goin' on?"
	"I don't know!"
	"Oh, please," the voice groaned. "Do *I* have to tell them?"
	Akane's eyes never left her sister's face. Nabiki's cool
exterior was rapidly melting away as
if she were realizing something.
	"Nabiki. Oneesan," Akane said gently. "Talk to me. What does
he want with us?"
	"It's not you," Nabiki said in a strangled voice. "It's me."
	"Not just you," the voice gloated. "You and Spiderman were
lucky last time."
	Akane's jaw dropped, and Ranma's followed suit.
	"If he hadn't lured Doctor Octopus into setting that old
warehouse ablaze, the two of you
would have been long dead now and my life would have been much
easier."
	"Nabiki, what the hell's this all about?!"

	Wu Long scratched his chin. So, Nabiki hadn't told anyone else
that she had been
kidnapped. Strange that no one else had found out. Perhaps the raid
last night hadn't been
necessary? Oh, well. It was too late now.
	"It appears that Nabiki has quite a lot of explaining to do.
I'll be back later. Until then, feel
free to hang around." Ugh. Bad joke.

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	Hikaru leaned back against the tree which had made his usual
eating spot. The spider sense had been buzzing off and on, pointing
out
Hinako and other teachers keeping an eye on him. Since when did school
become a prison?!
	There was no way he could sneak out, not with most of the
staff
keeping watch for him. How paranoid could people get, for crying out
loud?! He ate his bento silently, thoughts of those spiders filling
his
head. Three lives hung in the balance, and he could do nothing because
a
bunch of fucking teachers kept him in sight! Hell, they wouldn't even
let him go to the bathroom! How many did Hinako tell?
	Looks like I'm stuck here, he thought.
	"Hi, Hikaru."
	"Hi, Miku." He looked up as Miku stopped in front of him, her
face unreadable.
	"You look down today." Miku really didn't know what to say.
She
had meant to ask him about that film he and Nabiki had been arguing
about. When she had heard about how she had been kidnapped along with
her younger sister and a girl she didn't know, something had clicked.
It
was almost preposterous, but she was rapidly learning that such things
were practically the norm in Nerima Ward.
	"Got a lot on my mind."
	"Want to talk about it?"
	"Not really." Hikaru found he couldn't look at Miku directly.
How could he tell her? How could he tell her that not only was he the
one who had saved her from Shigeru, but at the same time was partly
responsible for three people getting kidnapped by the Yakuza?
	"Y'know," Miku said as she leaned next to him against the
tree,
"I'm worried about that Nabiki girl and her sister. Who was the other
girl, anyway?"
	"Ranma."
	"Everyone else has said that. How? Ranma's..."
	"Got a weird curse," Hikaru explained half-heartedly. "Cold
water turns him into a busty red-head. Hot water turns him back."
	"So, it's true, then?"
	"Oh, yeah. The only one here who doesn't get it is Kuno."
	"I've seen him," Miku replied. "I never thought anyone could
be
that dense."
	"Me neither. Until I came here, that is."=20
	"Hikaru," Miku said. Best to get on with it. "I heard you and
Nabiki yesterday."
	Oh, shit.
	"What was on that film you were fighting about?"
	What *else* can... No, better not ask. I might find out.
	"I gotta go."
	"Hikaru, what's going on?!" Miku demanded. "You and her were
really getting into it over that film yesterday, and now she gets
kidnapped by robots like Spiderman fought."
	"Miku..." Hikaru looked up at her, at the anger and need in
her
eyes. She wanted to know. She deserved to know. It was a shame that
Gosunkugi couldn't tell her.
	Her hand appeared on his arm. "Hikaru, what is it?"
	He wanted to tell her, and that scared him. The feel of her
hand
on him nearly made him weak in the knees, nearly making him lose
control. But he still couldn't let her know.
	"Miku... it's..."
	"Yes?"
	"It's none of your business. Just stay out of it, okay!"
Hikaru
regretted the words the second they left his lips. Miku's face grew
pale, eyes wide and hurt. The knowledge that the pain was from him was
worse than the sight.
	"I'm..."
	"No, Hikaru." Her voice was harder, which didn't completely
conceal the tremble in it. "Don't say it."
	"Listen..." Maybe he could explain this somehow...
	"I thought you were different, Gosunkugi."
	Hikaru felt as if someone had puched him in the stomach.
	"I guess I was wrong!"
	"WAIT!" It was too late. Miku spun on her heel and ran back to
the school. He wasn't certain, but Hikaru thought he could hear her
crying.
	The bell rang. Hikaru ignored it, instead dwelling on the pain
of what he had just done. Was being Spiderman going to ruin his life?
Did being a superhero mean hurting the ones you wanted to protect?
	"Gosunkugi! Get to class!"
	"Hai, sensei."

	Miku ignored him the rest of the day. She wouldn't even look
at
him and the knife in Hikaru Gosunkugi's heart kept twisting. As the
teacher droned on and on about Punnett's Squares and such, Hikaru kept
wondering if perhaps he should tell her.
	Tell her about the film, about the robots, about his being
Spiderman. Maybe she'd understand. Maybe he could talk to her about
what
it was like to lead a dual life.
	Yeah, he thought sourly. And then we can discuss costumes and
spandex! And after that, about how to dodge the Yakuza on a daily
basis!
She'd had enough trouble. Miku Tachibana didn't need more. There were
enough people in danger because of Spiderman. Hikaru didn't want any
more added to that list.
	He just wished he hadn't hurt her so badly.
	"I thought you were different, Gosunkugi. I guess I was
wrong!"
	The final bell rang, and Hikaru took his leave with the rest
of
the class. His eyes fell on Miku's retreating back and he sighed
heavily.
	I want to tell you, but I can't. I'm sorry, Miku.
	Gosunkugi turned away and forced himself to focus on the new
problem. Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki were counting on him, whether they
knew it or not.

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	"Why didn't you tell us?" Akane asked.
	Nabiki sniffed, inwardly ashamed at having shed tears like she
had recently. Crying like a little kid hadn't made telling Ranma and
Akane that her greed had ended up with all three of them hanging in a
deathtrap any easier.
	"I didn't want you all getting involved," Nabiki began. "I
thought that finding who Spiderman really was would let me keep them
off."
	"Why?" Ranma asked. "All ya had to do was say somethin'! I
coulda taken these guys..."
	"GET REAL, RANMA!" Nabiki screamed. "We're not *all* martial
artists like you, here! Those robots just tore up the dojo, okay! For
all we know, everyone else could be dead!"
	"Not Kasumi," Ranma said. "I got her out."
	"Really?" Akane asked hopefully.
	"What about Daddy?" Nabiki asked.
	"And Uncle Saotome?"
	"I..." One of those robots had come crashing through their
room
and he heard Soun scream just before the guns roared.=20
	"Ranma?"
	"I don't know."
	Nabiki shut her eyes. She had never felt helpless before. It
was
worse than anyone could have ever said, and it was because of her...
	Stop it! Nabiki searched inside herself for the resolve, the
will to succeed that had enabled her to become as feared as she was
amongst Furinkan's student body. She commanded almost as much respect
as
Ranma due to the way she could pummell someone senseless without
balling
a fist. That would be the only thing to help her now.
	"Listen."
	"Nabiki?"
	"Akane. Ranma. You know why they wanted me, now. But why take
you?"
	"The hell should I know?" Ranma asked.
	"Nabiki, what are you getting at?"
	"Akane, it's like this." Nabiki felt the shame and guilt begin
to give way. She was getting into her element. "The last time these
people kidnapped me, there were two reasons."
	"Those pictures you took," Akane answered.
	"But what's the other?" Ranma asked.
	"Puh-LEEZE, Ranma, I've already explained this. The pictures
were of Spiderman busting up some crime that these people were in on."
	"I got it!" Akane exclaimed, getting excited herself. "They
wanted Spiderman, too!"
	"Right," Nabiki answered, "and they got him. Thing is, they
underestimated him." Nabiki still hated to admit how lucky she and
Spiderman had been that night. If even one small thing had gone
differently, she would be dead now.
	At least this wouldn't have happened... Nabiki ended that
thought dead on.
	"They could have killed us, but instead they captured us,"
Akane
said. She was starting to catch on.
	"We're alive now," Ranma added, "because they're gonna try an'
get Spiderman here!"
	"But how?" Akane asked. "How'd they do it last time?"
	Nabiki decided not to tell them what she thought of that. "I
don't know, but let's hope they do it again. Much longer and they may
just kill us anyway."
	"That still don't explain why me an' Akane got kidnapped,"
Ranma
said.
	"To sweeten the pot," Nabiki answered.
	"More hostages," Akane began softly, "more to worry about."
	"Right on the nose, sis," Nabiki said with a grin. "You're
getting good at this."
	"Learned from the best." Akane returned the smile.
	"Not if I get us outta here first," Ranma growled before
renewing her struggles.

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	"Your report."=20
	"I'm sorry, sir," the voice on the other end of the secured
connection replied. "We're locked out of the whole system, and the
automated defenses are online."
	"Explain." Oh, how he would make Wu Long *suffer* for this!
	"Mister Leung, the situation is worse than we thought," the
leader of the team said. "All defenses for the lower levels are
online.
=46rom what we've learned, all the blast doors are down. There's no way
to
go in by force."
	"That is not what I want to hear!" Leung resisted the urge to
smash the receiver. "There is another way."
	"If we can get to a central node," the leader said, "then we
could at least disable some of Wu Long's control over the system."
	"And why hasn't that been done?"
	"Sir, the defenses..."
	"I don't give a damn! I want results, not excuses!"
	"But..."
	"Listen to me. If you manage to rout Wu Long, I will
personally
pay you one hundred million in *any* currency you desire!"
	"Yes, sir!"
	"If you decide to run, I will kill you myself!"
	"Understood."
	"Do not contact me again until you are successful!" Leung cut
off the comm line and roared into the air. How could he not have
forseen
this?! How could Long have moved so damn fast?!
	"Wu Long, once I am done with you I will find who aided you
and
make them suffer as much as you will!"

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	The sun gradually sank beneath the skyline. Its passing bathed
the earth with glorious color as the shadows lenghtened and day gave
way
to night. It was against such a backdrop that Hikaru Gosunkugi swung
from building to building in a desperate race against time.
	This is pointless, he silently cursed. I don't have a single
frigging clue where to look! How am I gonna find them?
	Hikaru sailed freely though the air from his last swing to
anchor himself on the wall of a handy skyscraper. He remained there -
adhered securely to the surface - and allowed himself a moment's rest.
	He knew he couldn't just swing around Tokyo blindly. He had to
think.
	"If I were a huge robot spider, where would I hide? Okay,
let's
try that again," he said.
	Hikaru didn't know about Ranma and Akane, but there was one
good
reason why Nabiki had been taken. Sending out more robots seemed a
little extreme for a few unsavory pictures, though. So why bother?
	Hikaru slammed his fists against the wall he was stuck to.
This
detective crap was worse than trigonometry!
	Think, man, think! Why the robots?
	Ranma could easily take down any person. So could Akane for
that
matter. Maybe not those robots, but... HEY!
	The thought was disturbing. The Yakuza must have done their
homework. Gosunkugi started swinging again, his brain taking some
rather
unnerving paths.
	"They're bait for me. At least Nabiki is. Maybe Ranma and
Akane
are..." Oh, he did not like this math at all.
	"Maybe all three are? I guess the more hostages, the better."
Hikaru swung to the left. Somehow, that didn't seem quite enough
reason.
Maybe Nabiki had told them something? Maybe they thought she had?
	"Man, I hate maybes," he growled.
	Hikaru altered his course to Nerima Ward. He might find an
answer there. He may even find Ranma there.
	He may be a womanizer, Gosunkugi thought, but he's gotta be
the
toughtest S.O.B. I've ever seen.
	The more he thought about it, the more Hikaru believed it.
Ranma
had to have saved himself as well as Nabiki and Akane. They were
probably fixing the dojo right then.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

	"RANMA!" Akane screamed as the energy slammed into the
sometimes-girl without mercy. The redhead's face was screwed into an
expression of agony, body rigid as countless volts slammed though her
over and over. Ranma's scream hammered her ears in a barrage of pain.
	"STOP IT!" Akane demanded. "STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"
	The attack finally ended, leaving Ranma limp in its wake. Her
eyes were closed, breath coming ragged into her chest as faint trails
of
smoke drifted lazily from her body.
	"I'm sorry about that," the voice replied in as insincere a
tone
as Akane had ever heard.
	"When we get out of here..."
	"You won't, Akane. Trust me."
	"Let them go!" Nabiki shouted. "You want me, not them!"
	"Actually, I wanted all three. I would have taken more, but I
only had so much time."
	"Why?"
	"You see, Nabiki Tendo," the echoing voice explained in a
patronizing tone, "Akane and the girl you're calling 'Ranma' are going
to die before you do."
	Nabiki felt her blood freeze on the spot.
	"You and Spiderman have cost me dearly, you little slut," the
voice hissed. "For your role, you will watch as your sister and this
other girl die."
	"You... son of a... BITCH!" Ranma managed to yell. "If..."=20
	Another shot of lightning hit home, and Ranma's epiteth
vanished
in a convulsion caused by thousands of volts of electicity. It ended
as
abruptly as it began, leaving Ranma in a semi-conscious state.
	"You know, I've never seen someone resilient like her. That
much
would be enough to kill anyone else. Maybe she'll last longer than
Akane
will. Or maybe not."
	"Please! I'll do anything you want, just let them go!"
	"How heroic!" the voice mocked. "How noble! How utterly
pointless!
	"Bastard," Akane spat.
	Nabiki screamed as a jolt hit Akane. Her sister's back arched
against the cables, mouth wide in a silent scream. Nabki felt fresh
hot
tears fall from her eyes at the sight. Whatever it took, she would
live
and she would tear this motherfucker limb from limb!
	"So, Nabiki Tendo, let this thought accompany you into hell.
If
it weren't for you, then Akane and this girl would never have
suffered."
	"YOU SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH! I don't care what it takes, I
*will* find you..."
	"Please, you're already starting to bore me."

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

	Hikaru stopped on a rooftop adjacent to the Tendo Dojo.
	"What a mess," he whipsered. Most of the second floor's face
was
gone. From what he could see, the rooms beyond what had once been the
wall were charred. The lower half and the grounds had fared little
better. The lawn was marred with punctures where the spiders had
stepped, the walls that remained festooned with cracks. The front
porch
and foyer were gone, a few deep craters dotting the land around them.
Bright yellow tape encircled the grounds, declaring the premises a
crime
scene.
	"Kim. Kim. Kira. Kira. Sun is glaring in my eyes..."
	That's gotta be Tendo-san, Hikaru thought as he crouched lower
to the rooftop. The sun had almost set, the dark growing deeper by the
second. Several streetlamps were beginning to click to life.
	"Where did they come from?" another man's voice asked. That
had
to be Genma Saotome. He heard Kasumi say something, and no other
voices.
	"Nabiki... Akane... Ranma..."
	Looks like things are just as bad as I thought. Hikaru
remained
in place, unsure of what to do. Should he go down there? Maybe tell
them
that Spiderman was on the job? As if it would do any good...
	"Huh?" The spider sense tingled, warning that he was being
watched. Hikaru came to a crouch, glaring in every direction at once.
What could be after him here? The sense still hammered his brain, but
something was amiss.
	Where is it?! he thought, unable to see anything. Whatever had
set off his spider sense was nearby, but it couldn't pinpoint exactly
where.
	Oh, man, what is it *now*?! The spider sense began to fade,
and
then vanished altogether.
	"That was weird," Hikaru muttered before leaping off. Whatever
had set him off, it was gone, and Ranma hadn't saved Akane and Nabiki.
Time to go hunting again.

	Cologne watched as Spiderman leapt across a distance even she
thought impressive.
	What are you, Spiderman? she thought. Cologne had spotted him
coming in, and had thought to ask him what he might know about the
robots which had managed to kidnap her son in law.
	She had watched him up until she felt that strange presence
brush against her aura. At that moment, Spiderman had begun searching
for her. If she had not withdrawn to a safer distace, she was certain
he
would have found her.
	You are definitely full of surprises, Spiderman, Cologne
thought
as she watched him vanish from sight. You had best return Ranma. I've
a
feeling that you're the only one who can.
	Cologne departed to the Nekohanten. The signs were good. Ranma
would be returned safely, as well as Akane and Nabiki. Just so long as
the costumed man posed no further problems...

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=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

	Hikaru landed as the spider sense hit yet again. He glanced
upward to see a red lens bearing down on him. He tensed his muscles as
the drone grew nearer, but the spider sense pointed out no other
threats
around.
	"Well. Looks like it's time to get this party started," he
muttered as the drone slowed to a hovering stop. The lens appeared to
study him for a few moments as the robot held position at eye level.
"What, no friends?"
	"Spiderman," came a familiar voice from the lone robot.
	"The one and only. What is it...."
	"Follow this drone."
	"Follow the leader, eh? I can do that. What about..."
	"This drone will lead you to the Yamaguchi Industrial
Complex."
	"Okay, so this isn't a live performance."
	"Akane, Nabiki, and that redhead are waiting. If you want them
to live, then follow this drone. Once you arrive, you will be shown
the
path to take."
	"Why do I smell a trap here?"
	"If you do not follow this drone, I will know. Come to me, or
they will die. I promise to take my time killing them, too."
	The drone launched itself skyward, and Hikaru followed.
	He felt the fear gnaw at his intestines as he swung after the
slow-flying robot. This was trap, it had to be. Three lives depended
on
him being able to defeat that trap.
	Four damn robots, Hikaru thought sourly. I barely beat *one*!
How am I gonna take down four?
	Gosunkugi looked down at the street below, with all its moving
lights and ant-like people. Last time, he had been lucky.  This time
the
Yakuza were naming the place and calling the tune. This dance was
gonna
be deadly, and this time far more personal.
	Okay, you son of a bitch. Let's get this show on the road.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

	Hikaru released the webline and let the momentum carry him
over
the outer wall of the Yamaguchi Industrial Complex. With no other tall
buildings around to swing from, he let himself land in a crouch atop
one
of the many buildings which dotted the premises. Gosunkugi rose to his
feet and walked to the edge, unable to see the drone any more.
	"I'm here," he said, "but where do I go now?" Within the walls
were a collection of buildings no higher than around three stories and
longer, more squat, structures. "Something's not right here." He
jumped
across to the nearest roof, the spider sense buzzing softly all the
while. Where were the robots? Where was the trap? Where were Ranma,
Akane, and Nabiki? Were they even here at all?
	This is getting to be too much, Hikaru thought. If the Yakuza
was willing to send all that force out on account of him, where was
it?
What was he not seeing?
	"What's going on, here?" a voice from the pavement asked.
	"Don't know, but I hear it's *real* big."
	Well, well. Coincidence is a wonderful thing, Gosukugi thought
as he listened in.
	"I hear all the security on the lower levels is active, man."
	*Lower* levels? This place went underground? It all began to
make sense.
	The two men walked away.
	Underground, Hikaru thought. Those robots are waiting under
the
pavement. There's gotta be a way down there...
	He caught a glimpse of a red lens off to the right before it
vanished skyward. Showtime!

	Wu Long watched the security images as Spiderman bounded
toward
the vent shaft. He let a cruel grin twist his lips as the costumed
source of trouble drew nearer. Once down in the bowels of the complex,
Spiderman would be his.
	The ventilation shaft was one of only three that reached the
surface. Once Spiderman was in, Wu Long would cut off his only escape.

	Hikaru crawled down the length of darkened steel. In the
deepest
corners of his mind he could feel the Black Widows waiting for him in
the depths as he descended. The feeling was none too pleasant. Down he
crawled, fingers and toes sticking to the icy surface as he made his
way
to the lair of the beasts.
	All the while, his spider sense merely kept up its slight buzz
at the base of his skull. Hikaru braced for the moment when it would
blare that he was in imminent deep shit. The wait was practically
worse
than the thought of what he was up against.
	"Man, how far down does this thing go?" The only light came
from
small covered bulbs fixed onto the sides of the shaft at regular
intervals. Their glow was only enough to lighten the shadows enough to
see. From what he could tell there were no rungs for maintenance
workers
to use to climb the sheer surface.=20
	As he went lower, Hikaru began to hear a soft humming which he
also started to feel through the metal. He finally spotted the end of
the tube below by its faint light and nearly breathed a sigh of
relief.=20
	"Good thing I'm not claustrophobic," he quipped.

	Wu Long watched as Spiderman came into view from the
ventilation
shaft. The wall crawler was on *his* turf now. Long grinned as he
called
up the route he intended Spiderman to use. The sight of the mangled
corpses would definitely let the bastard know what was in store for
him.
	He had briefly thought of activating the autoguns to give
Spiderman a bit of a workout before the main event. Watching him dodge
about the corridors for his life would have been entertaining, but not
as much as watching him crushed by the Black Widow he had defeated
once
before.
	Besides, Wu Long wanted that bitch Nabiki to see her one
chance
- however illusory as it was - crushed first. One had only a single
chance at vengeance. It was best to make that one count for all you
could.

	"Wow. Beam me up, Scotty," Gosukugi whispered. The chamber was
enormous, at least as long and wide as a football field. In the center
rested a row of three enormous turbines, one of which was no longer
turning.
	I may be wrong, he thought, but this looks like some huge
ventilation room. The other two still spun, their sound an almost
physical thing in the air.
	"Let's see. Three turbines, three shafts. I bet all these lead
to the surface..."
	The turbine before him activated with a low rumble. Hikaru
started for a moment as the air about him began to move while the
rumble
grew to a loud hum the to a muted whine accompanied by the roar of air
being forced upward. Gosunkugi didn't much like the thought of going
up
with all that wind at his back. Who knew how strong the gale was?
	"Looks like my exit's gone. Why do I feel like this is all
being
arranged?" He looked at the only open door in the room and made for
it.

	Oh, shit! Hikaru had never seen so much blood in one place. It
was congealed on the walls amid chunks of meat that had once belonged
to
the ruined corpses on the floor. Despite the sick display, he found
himself unable to look away while his gorge tried to rise and expel
the
contents of his stomach. Horror at the carnage nearly overwhelmed him,
dredging up doubts and fears he'd never had before.
	If the Tendos and Ranma were really here... NO! *Don't* think
that!
	"Ghastly sight isn't it?" asked a voice from seemingly
everywhere.
	"If you've hurt them..." Hikaru growled.
	"They are alive, I assure you. But if you don't get a move on,
I
won't be able to guarantee that they will remain so."
	Hikaru broke into a sprint. He forced himself not to look at
the
bodies which lined the metal floor and focused on the rising anger. He
let it grow until its warmth coated his muscles. The only time he had
felt this kind of rage was against Shigeru, and Hikaru had nearly
killed
him.
	But this wasn't just some derranged stalker with a street
gang.
These people had some serious hardware, and no qualms whatsoever about
killing. To think that they would sacrifice so many lives just to get
back at him...
	Whoever they were, they were a hundred times worse than
Shigeru
Katsuo. Gosunkugi knew he couldn't hold back, not this time. No matter
what it took, these bastards would *never* harm another person.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D

	"Can it be done?"
	"I think so. It's risky, but doable."
	"Can it gain us control of the main systems?"
	"No."
	"That's not what I want to hear..."
	"But if we do this right, we can at least disrupt the system
enough to get to a more important node. From there, we just might be
able to regain control."
	"Do it, then."
	"Yes, sir."
	The Commander grunted. It was a longshot, but perhaps it would
let him reclaim Yamaguchi Industrial Complex. Wouldn't *that* make him
look good to Pao Leung? Oh, yes.

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=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

	"Where are they?"
	Ranma's eyes snapped open at the shouted voice. She still felt
groggy from the enormous jolts of electricity that had been shoved
across her nerves, but still managed to lock onto the sound far below.
	"Spiderman!" she shouted from surprise. The costumed fighter
looked up, then across at the robots which still lay dormant.

	Okay, this blows, Gosunkugi groused. I got three hostages
hanging a long way over the floor and...
	Fuck me running...
	The anger nearly vanished before a new tide of fear. Standing
before him was the same robot he had barely managed to beat, along
with
four smaller ones. Their eyes glowed with artificial malice, all aimed
at him.
	Oh, yeah. I am *so* screwed now.

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