----- Original Message -----
From: <Kyhdin@aol.com>
To: <ffml@anifics.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 12:13 PM
Subject: [FFML] [Fanfic][1st draft][Fusion][SM/Spiderman]The Amazing
Spiderwoman: Chapter Two


SNIP

Shinohara made a face as he studied the paper. Sailor Moon this, Sailor

Moon

that. All anyone ever wanted to talk about was the mysterious woman who

had

seen fit to take the law into her own hands. Even his father couldn't stop
talking about her. Though that may have been because of pressure from his
superiors on all Kobans to find and arrest the vigilante.   He stared

across

Kobans : koban (no plural s)

Two spaces too many between "vigilante" and "He".

the ice rink at the far wall. Ami was having her first practice today with
the Hockey team and he had showed up to support her. He glared down at the

Hockey : hockey

paper and scowled as he wondered who Sailor Moon was and what made her do
what she did.

"Hiya, Shinnie," Usagi said, sitting on the bench next to him. On the

other

side, he felt someone else sit down and not unexpectedly, it was Naru.
Shinohara hid the reactive frown that seemed to come up whenever they were
around. Both girls wore identical mad grins and that meant that they were

up

to something. He steeled himself. He was not going to let them talk him

into

doing something idiotic.

"Say, Shinnie," Naru began.

"No," Shinohara said flatly.

"But--"

"No." Shinohara sighed. "Miss Usagi," he said, speaking very clearly and
ennunciating each word. "The last time Miss Naru began a sentance with the
words 'say, shinnie', I spent forty-five minutes in a subway station,

dressed

shinnie : Shinnie

in women's clothing and flirting with an American Marine. Apologies, but

my

answer is no."

"But you looked so keyoute," Usagi said, giving him her best puppy dog

eyes.

"And Ami seemed to like the pictures we showed her," Naru said.

"Pictures?" Shinohara yelped and then gave a mental grimice. 'Idiot,' he
berated himself. 'Now they smell blood.' He steeled himself. 'No matter

what

they say, I will not react. I am like ice. My will is like iron. I am
emotionless. I. Will. Not. React.' Silently repeating that mantra to

himself,

Shinohara focused on his paper again.

"Yep." Usagi sounded thoughtful. "She keeps this safe in the bathroom, you
know. Under the sink. Last place anyone would look, you know? Anyway, she
looked at the pictures and then dashed into the bathroom to put the

pictures

away where no one else could see them. She must have stubbed her toe or
something though, cause when we listened at the door, we heard her

moaning.

She must have wanted you there to kiss it and make it better, cause she

kept

calling out your name."

The paper in Shinohara's hands tore lengthwise down the middle.

"Well done, Miss Tsukino," Naru said, reaching past Shinohara to shake
Usagi's hand.

"Thank you, Miss Okasa," Usagi replied. "One of my more inspired bits, I
felt."

"Genius, pure genius." Naru clapped her hands together and then looked at

the

ice as several girls dressed in their uniforms but without their helmets,

and

carrying hockey sticks skated out onto the ice and formed into a loose

line.

Following them came Flash dressed in green sweats, a green baseball cap
turned backwards and her hair tied back with a green band. Even her ice
skates were green. Under one arm, she carried a cardboard box.

Was it too green? :-)

Without any effort whatsoever, Flash came to a stop and faced the line,
looking almost like a drill sargent and her eyes were cold as they swept

over

sargent : sergeant

the group. "Listen up," she snarled. "With Shidou out sick, I'm team

captain,

which makes teaching you lot the fine art of hockey my responsibility. She
pushed backwards a bit and gestured for them to look around. "See this?

This

room, this whole building. All of it is a seperate world. In here, you are

seperate : separate

part of a team and any feelings you may have towards your teammates,

hostile

or otherwise don't exist here. In here, we are one living, breathing

entity

with one purpose. Kick some ass." She moved back to her original position.
"Now even though you are backup for us regulars, you still need to be able

to

play just as we do. But since I doubt most of you have even been on ice
skates before, we'll start with the basics." She reached into the box and
took out a black plastic disc. "This is the puck, your enemy and your
friend." She skated forward and handed a puck to each girl. "I say your
friend, because putting into the other team's goal is our goal. It's also

putting : putting it

your enemy because keeping it out of our goal is our purpose." She let the
box fall to the floor. "So, let's see what you got. Do laps around the ice
until I tell you to stop. Go as fast as you feel comfortable. Use your

stick

to guide the puck as you do."

It quickly became easy to tell who had skated before and who hadn't. Those
who hadn't, took slow mincing steps, most of their attention on keeping

the

puck under control. At one point, Flash skated over to the two worst of

the

bunch and took their hockey sticks from them. Then she grabbed their arms

and

guided them out to the middle of the rink, where she began to guide them
through the motions of skating until they were comfortable on their own.

Ami, on the other hand, apparently needed no help. She glided off with an
almost detached grace, as though it was second nature to her. She didn't

move

very fast, but there was no mistaking her skill. Shinohara frowned. He had
always been good at reading body language, and Ami was holding herself

back,

and in a big way.

"Odd," Usagi said thoughtfully and Shinohara looked at her. Usagi's blue

eyes

were narrowed and focused on Ami, following her around the rink. There was
none of her usual playfulness about her, and she radiated cold

calculation.

"What's odd?" Shinohara asked. His stomach was a very tight knot. There

were

rumors that Ami had   been using steroids, which was why she had an

athlete's

Extra spaces.

body when it was a well-known fact that the only excercise she ever got

was

walking to and from school, the cram school, and the library.

"Ami. She skates like she was born doing it."

"Natural ability, perhaps?" He suggested, but it sounded hollow, even to

him.

Usagi, he knew, had been ignoring the rumors, but he could see that she

was

reconsidering, thinking.

"I've known Ami for years," Usagi said. "She thinks it's embarrassing, but
she has a huge inner ear problem, messes up her sense of balance. She can
walk and run, but that's about it." She tapped a finger on her knee. "Come

to

think of it, she's been acting odd since that bump on the head. She eats
more, walks different, just seems more...I dunno, aware." She whirled on
Shinohara. "You knocked her up, didn't you?"

"What? No!"

"I know." The mad grin returned ans she rubbed her hands together briskly.
"The fact remains, minions, is that Ami has a secret, and as her friends,

it

is our sacred duty, right, and mission to...Shinohara?"

"Keep our mouths shut knowing she'll tell us when she's ready?" Shinohara
asked, resigning himself to the fact that by asking, he was leaving

himself

open.

No. Weasel it out of her." The mad grin took on an air of hungry

anticpation.

"This is going to be fun." Shinohara simply nodded, even as he offered up

a

silent prayer to anyone who might be listening that he didn't wind up

wearing

say...a dog suit.

****
After practice, the qaurtet went to Ami's house so that she could drop off
her gear before they would, in Usagi's words "Descend on the Crown Cafe

for

an afternoon of frozen goodness orgies."

But as they approached the house, Ami suddenly froze.

"What's wrong?" Naru asked.

"Grandfather's here," Ami said, pointing at a large, dark blue car. "He's
supposed to be in New York."

"Cool," Usagi said and dug in her pocket. "I wanna see if he'll buy these
pictures of Sailor Moon." She held up a floppy disk in a plastic case.

"But you already have more money then most Hollywood celebrities," Naru

said.

"Why would you want more?"

"Ah, Naru," Usagi said, looking wise. "If you have to ask, you'll get an
answer." She grabbed Ami's arm. "C'mon."

****
When they entered the house, they found Aunt Mai and an american man at

the

table, talking quietly.

The man was tall and powerfully built with short, dark gray hair in a crew
cut and a small sqaure mustache. An unlit cigar was in his mouth and his

eyes

sqaure : square

were sharp, missing nothing. He wore a dark gray polo shirt and matching
slacks.

"Hello, Grandfather," Ami said bowing.

"Hello, Mister Jameson," Usagi and Naru said in unison.

"Hello, Sir," Shinohara said softly.

"There's no need for this 'Sir' bisinuess, my boy. The name's Jameson. J.

Considering the circumastances, I'd replace the period after Jameson with an
em dash ( -- ).

Jonah Jameson." He spoke Japanese with a heavy accent.

"Gendo Shinohara."

"Shinohara...so you're the young man who's caught my grandaughter's eye."

He

let out a chuckle. "Mai's spoken quite highly of you."

"Thank you, Mister Jameson."

"Ami, why don't you, Tsukino, and Okasa and put away that bag you're

Okasa and : Okasa

carrying." She looked at Shinohara. "Sit down, boy." The words were those

of

an invitation, but the tone had all the crispness of an order."

The three girls left the room, Usagi pausing to leave a tape recorder just
inside the next room.

"What did you do that for?" Ami asked.

"Your grandpa's gonna give Shinnie the third degree, silly. You think I'm
going to miss that?"

Ami sighed. Grandfather Jameson had been with the American Navy during the
Korean War. After a medical injury had sidelined him, he had gone into
Journalisim. His first wife had left him soon after the birth of their

son,

Journalisim : journalism

unable to deal with his obsession with journalistic integrity. Heartsick,

he

had gone to Japan on assignment, and fallen into the arms of a pretty
secratary at the Toyko Bugle. Jameson chose to stay in Tokyo with his new

secratary : secretary

bride and went to work for the Bugle. He was loud, brash, indomitable,
scrupulously honest and unforgiving of screw-ups. The Japanese people

loved

him and his weekly editorials were one of the most frequently read. Even
after Ami's father had been born, Jameson continued in his ways, speaking

his

mind on politics and society, his forign birth allowing him to get away

with

forign : foreign

saying things that many thought, but didn't want to speak.

Now the Bugle's publisher, Jameson frequently traveled back and forth

between

Japan and America to attend to the Bugle's New York counterpart, which he
also owned and had named, "The Daily Bugle", as well as see his family.

Ami

really didn't know much about that side of the family. Her uncle John was

a

test pilot with the American Space Agency and would send her NASA

memorbilia,

memorbilia : memorabilia

and she occasionally exchanged E-mails with her cousin Mattie. But she had
never met either one of them. To do so would mean flying and--she was
trapped, the darkeness pressing in on her, getting harder to breathe--Ami

darkeness : darkness

pushed the memories down and looked at Usagi.

"No," she said. "You wouldn't."

****
Shinohara finally knocked on the door almost an hour later. He was

slightly

pale and looked sick. "He grilled me. I felt like I was on trial." He sank

to

the floor. "Then he said he liked me, gave me ten thousand yen and told me

to

buy Ami as much ice cream as she could eat."

"You're going to need more then ten thousand yen," Usagi quipped. "Have

you

seen Ami's lunches?"

"I don't eat that much," Ami protested.

"Ha! This from the woman who packs away three beef bowls, two rounds of

miso

soup, and a full bento box daily." Usagi put her arm around Ami's

shoulders.

"And with all that, you're still built like an anime girl. Not an ounce of
fat on ya. So what's your secret? Herbs and veggies?"

"Masochistic excercise program?" Naru chimed in without looking up from

the

excercise : exercise

magazine he was reading.

"Marathon sex sessions with Shinnie?" Ami and Shinohara both blushed
furiously. "Ah-Ha!" Usagi said triumphantly. "So Ami, how big is he?
Thirteen, fourteen, twenty centimeters?"

"Inches!"

"I...no...but..." Ami stammered.

"We're not intimate," Shinohara said frostily.

"Then why are both of you red enough that you could stop traffic?"

"Because I...because I have had enough of your chidlish and immature

chidlish : childish

behavior," Shinohara said and left the room. Ami looked at Usagi for a

moment

and then ran after Shinohara. Their shouted voices mixed with those of

Aunt

Mai and Mister Jameson wanting to know what the shouting was about and

then

the front door slammed. Moments later, they could hear Ami in the front

yard,

shouting for Shinohara to wait.

"Too far?" Usagi asked Naru.

Naru nodded. "Happens sometimes."

"Ami'll set him straight and I'll apologize. Everything will be right

again."

"Yeah. Hey, the Boys are coming to Tokyo."

"Oooh. Let's throw plums as them this time."

****
"Kashanalak Vitri Signa. Turn loose the beast! The Lady hungers again."

****
It took Ami almost two hours to find Gendo and by then, night had fallen.

He

was sitting on the bench in the park, staring at the fountain.

"Hi," Ami said, sitting next to him. Gendo didn't even grunt in reply.
"Gendo...Gendo, please, talk to me."

"What sort of friend asks questions like that? Never in all my life have I
met anyone that obnoxious." Gendo turned to look at her and his eyes were
blazing with fury. "Ami, stop hanging around her."

"What?" Ami hid it well, but she had a temper that would scare all but the
bravest souls. Gendo's words had stirred into a restless sleep.

"Stop hanging around her. I demand it. She's a bad influence."

"Demand?" Ami asked softly. "You demand I turn my back on the only person
besides my family who's ever dared to treat me like a human being?" Ami

could

feel the edges of her temper beginning to fray. She did not want to have a
fight in the middle of the park.

Gendo, unfortnutly, had had two hours to work up a fine head of steam and

it

unfortnutly : unfortunately

broke lose. "What human being? She constantly teases you, flings insults,
thumbs her nose at authority, and pays no attention to her grades. Then

hides

behind her name. She's worse then a Bukaramin! They, at least know their
place."

Bukaramin : Burakumin

I heard once that calling someone Burakumin was one of the few things people
can still kill each other over in Japan. Mind toning it down?

Now, up until that point, Ami had been doing pretty well with controling

her

temper, but now it woke up and roared it's fury. "Place?" She repeated.

"And

just what, pray tell, is her 'place'? Hm? In the kitchen? Walking behind

her

boyfriend? Blending into the crowd? Not standing out?"

Even through the haze of his anger, Gendo knew he had crossed a line and
tried to backpedal. "No! But she shouldn't be so outspoken."

"Maybe I like outspoken!" Ami snapped. "Let me tell you something, Gendo
Shinohara, who, by the way, is afraid to even hold my hand in public for

fear

he'd be seen as too forward, who apologizes everytime he even trips over
something for being such a clumsy oaf. You think I'm going to be offended

if

you trip? I spent the past two years being a target for Flash Kino's

version

of humor. I can tolerate an insult or two and Usagi's at least, are meant

in

jest. Usagi, at least, isn't afraid to go after what she wants!"

"Listen, you--" Gendo started, but was cut off by a growling noise. It was
low and subtle, this growl, sending chills of terror through the two teens

as

Ami belatedly realized that her danger sense had been blaring since just
after she and Gendo had started arguing. The growl became louder and

turning

their heads, they saw a wolf approaching. But this was no ordinary wolf.

It

was huge, with large teeth and extra-sharp claws. It's eyes were mad and
hungry.

"Stay calm," Gendo whispered, grabbing her arm. "It won't attack us if it
doesn't see us as a threat." Ami tried to do what he said, but her danger
sense was blaring louder and louder, compelling her to back away, to get
away. "Ami, damn it all stay still!" Ami didn't listen, the terror was

fully

on her and she shoved Gendo away, not even hearing as he slammed into the
bench.

'OhGodOhGodHaveToGetAwayMonsterMonsterMommyMommyWhatsWrongWithThePlane?'

The screams of people and metal echoed in her ears as Ami fled.

****
She hurt. It was dark and hot and pain flooded her body whenever she took

a

breath. Something was over her legs, holding them down. Something big.

Where

was her mommy? She wanted Mommy. Mommy would make it all better.

It was getting hotter.

They were supposed to land safely. Mommy said the planes landed safely.

She didn't feel very safe.

Where was Mommy?

Mommy?

****

Ami blinked as the rooftop swam into view, her breath came in great,
shuddering heaves as her heart tried to pound its way out of her chest. It
was a strange feeling, she hadn't been this out of breath in over a month.
Sitting up, she realized had been curled up in the fetal position next to

the

small wall that ran around the perimeter of the roof. "Where?" She turned
around to look and gasped. Tokyo was spread out before her, a sea of

lights.

Leaning over the wall, she tried to read the words of the building upon

who's

roof she stood. "Ik..Kar...Ikari Inc? But that's--"

'The tallest building in Tokyo and its on the other side of the city from

its : it's

Juuban!' her inner voice shouted. 'I just ran all the way across freakin
Tokyo!' With that realization came a memory of her crawling up the side of
the tower. Her hands and feet clinging to the glass and steel like velcro.

'I

really am a freak,' she thought to herself.' Already her breathing was

normal

and her heartbeat was slowing to its normal pace. 'More proof that I was
right to keep this curse a secret.' She looked around the roof and sighed.
There was no sign of roof acess to the inside of the building and with a
sigh, she began to crawl down the side of the tower, hoping no one saw

her.

****
It was rare for Usagi to see someone mad spitting mad and even rarer for

that

anger to be not directed at her. It was therefore, with some amusement,

that

she and Naru sat side by side on the couch sharing a bag of candied nuts

and

watching as Mister Jameson screamed into his phone.

"I told you! Her name is Ami Mizuno, she's fifteen years old and she ran

out

of the house three hours ago after her friend and has yet to call us.

She's

my granddaughter and I want her found. So get off your--" he said several
words in english, which Usagi didn't speak, but thought they sounded

naughty

english : English

"--and find her instead of feeding me excuses!" Whoever was at the other

end

said something that Jameson apparently didn't like because he turned a
peculiar shade of reddish purple and bellowed into the phone. "Rules be
damned! FIND HER!" With that, he jabbed the phone with his thumb, cutting

the

connection.

"I told you," Aunt Mai was sobbing to the officer standing in the middle

of

the room. "She and her boyfriend had some kind of argument and he left.

She

followed him and that was the last we saw of her. Isn't there anything you
can do?"

"We're doing everything we can, Ms Mizuno," the officer said. "We'll find

Ms : Ms.

her."

At that moment, the door opened and they heard somebody come in.

"Ami?" Aunt Mai asked. There was no answer but a few moments later, Ami
shuffled into the room. She looked around smiling, but her eyes were

blank,

half-dazed. "Oh dear," Mai said softly and went over to her niece, and

knelt

in front of her. "Ami? Are you okay?"

Some of the blankness seemed to fade. "I'm fine, Aunt Mai, I
just...remembered."

"The crash?" Mai asked softly. Ami nodded, no longer dazed and her eyes

were

alert.

"Crash?" the officer asked.

"She was at Okinawa," Jameson said gruffly.

"She's one of the Miracles?" The officer asked, obviously astonished. The
Okinawa Air Collision was one of the worst disaster in the history of

Japan.

Equipment failure, sloppy traffic control and bad weather had caused five
aircraft, three Marine Transports and two passenger liners to collide over
Okinawa Marine Base. Only seven people had surived, most of them children.

surived : survived

More then a thousand people dead in the air and twenty more on the ground

then : than

during both rescue efforts and when bits of the planes and flown every

which

way upon landing, destroying buildings and incinerating an entire stretch

of

tarmac. The so called "Miracle Seven" had become minor celebrities, each

one

bearing the number in the order they had been pulled from the wreck. "I
thought her name seemed familar." Ami Mizuno had been number seven, the

last

living being they found.

Considering the astronomical odds against a mid-air collision between just
two aircraft (I know it's happened, but it's very rare), I find a _five_
aircraft collision unlikely in the extreme.

"Whoo-hoo!" Usagi shouted, jumping to her feet. "I call slumber party at
Ami's house!" She grabbed Ami's arm. "We're going to braid your hair."

With

that, she dragged Ami from the room. Their voices, however, could still be
heard.

"My hair? Why my hair?"

"Because thanks to that incident with the goats, Naru won't let me touch

hers

with a curling iron."

"It wasn't goats, it was sheep! Get the victims straight!"

"Well," the officer closed his notebook. "I suppose that's that." He

touched

a fingertip to his hat. "Good evening."

"I suppose I should me moving along as well," Jameson said. "Miki will be
starting to wonder." He paused. "Mai, are you sure it's a good idea? The
slumber party? I've heard stories about Tuskino and Okasa."

Tuskino : Tsukino

"I wasn't sure either," Mai replied. "But Ami trusts her, and Usagi has

never

once failed to be there for her when she needs a friend." From upstairs

came

a shriek of laughter and Naru shouted voice declaring a pillow fight. "And
Ami needs friends tonight."

Jameson nodded. "Good night, Mai."

"Good night, Jonah."

****
Mai rose with the sun. The noises from Ami's room had fallen away just

after

midnight and a check at three showed them lying in various places around

the

room. More importantly, Ami had a smile on her face.

Nodding to herself, Mai poured her second cup of tea and turned the page

of

the file she was looking at.

It was at that point, the phone rang.

"Mizuno Matchmaking," Mai answered.

"Turn on Channel Six News."

"Jonah?"

"Just do it." the phone clicked and Mai heard the dial tone.

"Curious," Mai said to herself and set the phone on the reciever. Walking
into the TV room, she turned the TV on and flipped the dial to six.

"And the body found late last night in the park has finally been

identified.

Gendo Shinohara, age fifteen, was apparently mauled by some large animal

near

the Genki memorial fountain. Police still have no clues as to who could

have

turned the animal loose and search teams are presently combing the park,
which is, of course, closed to the public until further notice. Wendi Li,
Tokyo Six news."

Mai closed her eyes for a moment and then swept up the stairs to Ami's

room

where she found the girls rousing themselves.

"Good morning, Aunt Mai," Ami said and then looked at her face. "Aunt Mai?
What's wrong?"

Mai swallowed hard, the words lodged in her throat. "There is something on
the news you should see," she said quietly.

Giving her aunt a puzzled look, Ami left the room, Naru right behind her.
Usagi, however, stopped at the doorway and looked at the older woman.

"Bad?"

the teen asked. Ami's wail of grief from downstairs answered the question.
"I'll call my dad's lawyer," Usagi said simply and hurried downstairs.

****
Ami finished her prayers and stared down at Gendo's grave. It had been a

week

since the funeral and she still felt empty inside.

Hollow.

"Are you okay?" asked a voice. Ami turned to see a tall, graceful woman
standing nearby. She wore a bisinuess suit and her long hair seemed almost
dark green in the afternoon sun.

"Yes, yes, I'm...I'm not fine." Ami stood. "He's been gone more then a

week,

the hurting should start to fade by now, shouldn't it?

"I couldn't say," the woman answered. "I've lost many friends...some pains
never fade....and neither do the memories."

"I'm sorry," Ami said. "I didn't mean to take you away from them."

"No, no. It's quite all right. It was a long time ago. No, my first

husband

has...interests here. I was visiting when I saw you." She gestured at the
headstone. "Father?"

"No, my boyfriend...he died last week. Animal attack." She wiped away her
tears furiously. "It's not fair. It was too soon."

"It's always too soon for the ones we leave behind. All we can do is try

to

make this world a better place with the gifts we have...and those we are
given. Even if we don't seem them as gifts to begin with."

Ami turned to stare at the woman, but there was no sign of her. She stared
back down at the grave and then looked at her hands.

She had been given great power and had hidden it. She had run, when she

had

the power...the responsibility to stand and fight.

And if she hadn't run, Gendo would still be alive.

A grim purpose filled her. There was only one thing to do.

Turning on her heel, she left the park.

****
The room was dark.

Dark save for the table in the middle of the room. Upoun this table sat a

Upoun : Upon

lamp, which cast a small circle of light around the table, and beyond that
circle, deep blackness. The only other thing on the table was a small, old
fashioned tape recorder.

Accompanied by a sigh, a hand emerged from the shadows laying a golden

crown

on the table. The hand was pale as moonlight, with long and graceful

fingers.

Pinkish red eyes hidden in the shadow studied the tape recorder for a

moment,

and then pressed the play button. The voice that emerged was weary,

hollow,

but carried a note of steel. It was the voice of someone with a mission.

"This is the journal of Ami Mizuno, to be published in the event of my

death.

I have been more then a month in the preperation for my purpose. For my

then : than

preperation : preparation

atonement of the act of cowardice that cost Gendo Shinohara his life.

Wether by accident or design, I have power. Gendo only wanted one thing

out

Wether : Whether

of life. To be a cop. To protect the people of Tokyo. Now, in his name, I
will do what he never got to do. I will become the spider, I will become

the

night.

With Great Power, comes the even Greater Responsibilty to use it.

>From this moment on, Ami Mizuno is a shell, a layer of protection. A

guise to

hide my real self. I am Spiderwoman.

Tonight, I shall begin my war."

Be careful with the its/it's, and then/than -- these were the most common
repeated mistakes. Otherwise a fairly good job. I'm looking forward to
seeing more of this.

SP



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