Ranma 1/2 usd without permission
Spiderman used without permission
C&C is, as always, welcome and appreciated

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

        "You failed." Despite himself, Wu Long felt a shiver run up his
spine at Leung's declaration of the obvious. Resting atop Leung's polished
mahogany desk was a black briefcase which held the top set of plates for the
ten thousand yen bill.
        Leung had to pay out of his ass to get the plates away from the
police, as well as to bail out the men who survived the fiasco at the dock.
Long knew that beneath his employer's steely gaze a raging temper was
straining to be free.
        "I'm sorry, Mr. Leung," Wu Long said. It was a pathetic atempt at an
apology, but under the circumstances it was all he could say. He had
explained how the Yakuza, there was no other explanation of who they were,
and Spiderman had ruined what was supposed to be a simple operation.
        "Spare me your apology," Leung snarled. Wu Long inwardly flinched at
the venom in Leung's voice. "I had to pay premium yen to retrieve this." His
fingers lightly tapped the briefcase as he said the last. A pregnant silence
stretched between them, the waning light of the evening sun casting the room
in a golden tint.
        "I will, however, give you one more chance," Leung said after the
silence had become almost unbearable. Long looked up in shock, doubting his
own ears. With the Kingpin, it was one strike and you're out.
        "Sir?"
        "First, you will locate the other set of plates," Leung said, "and
then, you will bring me Spiderman. Or his head. Is that clear?"
        "Perfectly, sir," Long replied, hoping his relief wasn't too evident
in his voice.
        "Good," Leung said. "Now get out!"

        Leung watched as Wu Long made his exit. Once the door shut, he
allowed himself to bury his face in his hands. Anger and frustration mixed
to create a malestrom of powerful emotions that strained at the bonds of
Leung's control. Preventing himself from ripping Long's throat out with his
bare hands had taken a herculean effort of will.
        He sat in that position for what felt like hours, attempting to get
his emotions under control. Finally, he managed to bring himself back to a
reasonably calm state, allowing his mind to think rationally.
        The yakuza intrusion had been a complete surprise. He had taken
great care in setting up the entire scheme, and had left nothing to chance.
However, his rivals had found out anyway. Such a breach indicated a bad
security leak, one that he fully intended to find and have plugged. He would
handle that particular mole hunt himself.
        Then there was the matter of the Spiderman. How did he learn of the
pickup? Who was he working for? Could it be possible that he was in it for
himself? Who was he?
        Leung ended that train of thought, following it would only rile him
up again, and he needed to think clearly. What leads did he have? The only
name he could associate with Spiderman was... what was that kid's name
again? Hikaru... something or other. 
        Activating the terminal that rested on the top left corner of his
desk, Leung browsed through all newspaper articles on Spiderman. So far,
only two had run which really narrowed the playing field. Looking through
the by-lines, he found the name he was looking for. Hikaru Gosunkugi. It
wasn't much, but it was entirely possible that it could also be everything.
History showed that it was most often the smallest, most unlikely detail
that blew the toughest mysteries wide open.
        Pulling up the file on Hikaru Gosunkugi, he printed out a picture
and the vital information. He would have a team tail the kid round the
clock. If he was indeed connected with Spiderman, and not just some geeky
kid with a camera who got lucky once or twice, then he could lead Leung
right to the Spiderman. Placing the hard copy on the desk, he picked up the
phone and summoned two of his best street men. The sooner they got started,
the better.

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

        Hikaru Gosunkugi stared longingly at the deep blue sky, the towers
of concrete and steel reaching up to the heavens. As he trod the sidewalk,
which was starting to come alive with people, he found himself drawn to the
spaces up there. In the short time he had been web-slinging, he had grown
rather attached to it. The freedom, the rush of adrenaline, the feeling of
being ALIVE and not just him, was highly addictive. After all, why just walk
to school when you could practically fly? Gangsters be damned, what was
stopping him?
        Common sense soon re-asserted itself, an attribute rare in Nerima,
and affirmed that he he couldn't take the risk of being spotted just yet. It
was still too soon. Perhaps after returning from the field trip he would
resume his now-favorite pastime. They would leave tonight, having finally
raised the funds necesary, and return after three days in the wilderness
shooting wildelife shots. It was boring, but it beat sitting in Furinkan all
day.

        The strange tingling feeling came back, nearly stopping him in his
tracks. Gosunkugi kept moving forward, his eyes scanning every inch of
visible surface. Somebody was watching him, the sense seemed to say. He
didn't know where they were, or who, but they couldn't be up to anything good.
        Nervous anticipation stole over him as he picked up his pace. The
tingling persisted, neither weakening or strengthening. It seemed that his
shadow was keeping time with him, keeping a discrete distance as they went
along.
        The constant buzzing at the base of his skull was beginning to drive
Gosunkugi mad. Fear and anxiety were beginning to give way to irritation as
his tail moved along with him. He had briefly considered just taking to the
air and losing whoever it was, but decided that the risk was too great. He
couldn't just stop and look, either. He didn't want the mystery man to know
that he was onto him
        Finally, the gates of Furinkan appeared directly ahead. Gosunkugi
almost let out a sigh of relief, he never thought he'd actually be happy to
see that place. Keeping pace with the students still trudging in, he
attempted to lose himself in the crowd. He stayed in their midst as they all
approached the doors granting access into the school.
        The feeling of being watched vanished after he set foot in the
school. The tingling, which had been constant and annoying, stopped as
abruptly as it had began. Revelling in the feeling of his nerves relaxing,
Gosunkugi made his way to his locker. Maybe some schoolwork would get his
mind off of his new shadow.

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

        Outside of Furinkan High, an old woman stood on the sidewalk with a
vacant look on her weathered features. The simple red kimono hung off of her
bony frame, thin wisps of white hair hanging limply around her head. A
wicker basket hung from her left arm, fruits and vegetables layered in the
small carrier.
        She idly wandered off toward the nearest alley, her vacant eyes
seeming to stare at nothing at all. Those on the street paid her no mind,
she was just a feeble old woman after all.
        Once her shuffling gait carried her into the shadows, the vacant
look left her face. With her free hand, she reached into her basket,
producing a small black cell phone from beneath the layers of vegetables.
Flipping it open, she hit the speed dial and placed to her ear.
        "He's in the school," she said, "I'll pick up the trail after he
leaves."
        "Excellent," came Leung's voice over the digital connection, "keep
following him."

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

        Space, the final frontier. The nine great planetary bodies of our
solar system moved throughout the vast emptiness in a precise dance,
orbiting around the enormous star which rested in the center.
        From out of the black void beyond Earth's lone satellite, a
meteorite streaked toward the floating blue sphere. A faint trail of white
vapor followed behind the speeding chunk of space debris as it hurtled
through the empty void.

        The meteorite rapidly approached the only planet in the system that
supported life, almost as if it had a will of its own. Over time, the exact
amount is meaningless in space, it grew near the planet. The Earth dwarfed
the rock by over a hundred orders of magnitude as it entered the planet's
atmosphere.
        The icy vapor burned away in seconds as the meteorite plunged toward
the Earth. Flames covered every centimeter of the stone as friction and
extreme velocity set to work. Fragments broke away and were destroyed as it
screamed down to the surface.
        Finally, the stone cleared the upper atmosphere, considerably
smaller than it had been minutes earlier. The pull of gravity grew ever
stronger, pulling the meteorite down faster and faster before finally
impacting the soft soil of the earth.

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

        //Wow,\\ Gosunkugi thought as his eyes followed the blazing
meteorite through the black night sky. He stood on the porch of the small
cabin nestled in the forests north of Tokyo. He had come out for a breath of
air, the cramped room that the male members of the photo club shared  almost
enough to make him start climbing the walls in a most literal fashion.
        He almost made a wish when it finally hit the ground. Grabbing his
camera and flash gun, which rested on teh porch rail beside him, Gosunkugi
set off toward the spot where the meteorite had landed. Not many ever made
it to the Earth's surface, and who knew? Maybe there would be something
worth photgraphing there. At least it would be better than taking pictures
of friggin squirrels. 

        The branches tore at him as Gosunkugi ran full tilt through the
foliage. They almost felt like things alive and intent on holding him as
they slapped at his face and clothing. There was only a little light from
the pale moon that hung high above in the star-studded sky, giving the
shadows a look of things sentient and watchful.
        One of the many perks of his powers was his enhanced speed and
endurance. The meteorite had landed at least a half kilometer away from the
cabin, a good run for most athletes. Gosunkugi had covered the distance in
what had to be a record time, the run hardly winding him. Perhaps next
semester he would sign up for the track team.
        The silvery moonlight illuminated a small crater in the dirt, faint
wisps of smoke rising up from it. Gosunkugi slowed to a walk, readying his
camera as he approached the crater. The tingling, what Gosunkugi came to
call his spider-sense, flared to life with sudden force. The feeling of
imminent danger brought him up short of the smoking hole, his eyes widening
as every sense went on high alert. Something was wrong here, VERY wrong, and
the spider-sense was practically screaming at him to turn around and run
like all hell.
        Gosunkugi stood there for a moment, trying to spot the source of the
threat. Could it have been a bear? That was really the only animal he would
have cause to worry about in these woods. He quickly dismissed the bear
notion, the tingling was too intense to be anything like a pissed-off animal.
        Finally, he decided to heed the sense and run. He charged back
through the dark forest, his spider-sense still wailing away about imminent
danger. As he ran, though, the sense only grew stronger. A wild panic began
to fill him as the sound of snapping branches approached from behind.
        "Oh, man oh man oh man," Gosunkugi chanted in a terror-cracked
voice. His legs pumped harder, propelling him faster through the branches.
The sense kept getting stronger as whatever-it-was drew closer and closer.
        An incredible force slammed into his back, sending him sprawling
forward. Terrified as he was, he wasn't able to right himself before hitting
the ground. Before he could begin to pick himself up, a cold black substance
surrounded his body.
        Gosunkugi could feel something invade his mind, violating it as it
read his most intimate thoughts. Try as he might, he could fight the
intrusion as it forced his will back into a corner. Soon after it began,
Gosunkugi lost all touch with the world outside his own mind as the presence
invaded and the darkness overtook him.

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

        Sunlight streamed through Gosunkugi's shut eyelids, turning the dark
into a rosy blindness. Gradually, he began to awaken, every muscle aching dully.
        As his mind began to re-assert itself, he realized that something
wasn't right. The sound of car horns reached his ears, registering after a
few moments. Voices drifted up on the air, a muted cacophony of noise that
didn't seem to fit. What were these sounds doing out here in the woods?
        //What the hell?\\ Gosunkugi finally opened his eyes, beholding the
sprawling metropolis of downtown Tokyo. What was he doing here? How did he
get here?
        He was suspended upsidedown in front of one of Tokyo's many
skyscrapers. A web was clutched in both hands, his legs bent and feet nearly
touching them. What was most disturbing, however, was his outfit.
        It was a black form-fitting suit, white eyes in the same design as
his red and blue costume. Across his chest was a white spider design,
completely different from the one on his other suit. The legs wrapped around
his torso to his back.

        A thousand questions came to his mind as he stared at his
reflection, most notably what he was doing in the middle of metropolitan
Tokyo, hanging upsidedown in a costume he had never seen before. The cabin
in which the photo club stayed over the past few days was had been well over
three hours away by train, with another hour by minibus. What happened?
        Despite Gosunkugi's best efforts, he couldn't recall what had
happened the night before. He tried to bring up the memories, but they
simply weren't there, just an empty space where images and sounds should be.
        He was pulled out of his reverie when several men and women in
business suits came to the window before him, pointing and talking amongst
themselves. Their voices didn't penetrate the thick glass, but the looks of
amazement and shock on their faces was quite evident.
        //Time to go,\\ Gosunkugi thought as he released the webline.
Twisting in mid-air, he fired another web at another building down the
street. He gasped in shock as he literally rocketed through the air. The
wind ripped at him as his momentum carried him up above the building to
which he had anchored his webline. Releasing the web, Gosunkugi nearly flew
over the roof. He managed to grab the lip of the roof, stopping his flight
and slamming into the concrete surface.
        //I almost overshot this building!\\ he thought as he pulled himself
back up. Fully awake, he began to realize the new power that surged through
his veins. Everything seemed enhanced somehow, strength the likes of which
he had never known. He felt...POWERFUL! Like absolutely nothing on Earth
could stop him. All his questions seemed to disappear as he ran to the edge
of the roof and took a flying leap. Unlike earlier, when he first aquired
his new power, he made the leap, adhereing to the surface of the other
skyscraper and clambering up its length in record time.
        A new confidence filled him as he stood and looked out over the
city. Wherever this suit came from, it was a definite gift and Gosunkugi
intended to use it. All he had to do was go home and get some clothes on.
        He felt the costume shift over his body, changing shape and texture
of its own accord. Looking down, Gosunkugi found himself wearing his school
uniform. For a moment, he only stood there puzzled at what had just
happened. After a moment's thought, he realized that the costume changed
because he willed it. A smile grew on his face as he laughed aloud into the
Tokyo sky.

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

        Gosunkugi practically strutted through the halls of Furinkan the
next day, his ego now fully developed and still growing. He moved with an
almost arrogant swagger, drawing stares from the students lingering in the
halls who weren't used to such a display from old "Voodoo Spike" Gosunkugi.
        Among them was Nabiki Tendo, who was still fuming at Hikaru's sudden
disappearance the night before. The photo club had spent most of the day
searching for him, finally having to give up and return to Tokyo. Despite
herself, she had been worried. She was in charge of the trip, and a student
vanishing into thin air was something unacceptable.
        Relieved as she was to find that he was unharmed, she was also
highly irate at him and fully intended to find out what had happened and
give him a piece of her mind.
        "Hikaru!" she shouted as she approached from behind. Gosunkugi
stopped and turned to face her. Nabiki almost gasped when she saw him. The
trademark shadows beneath his eyes had almost faded completely, and his
posture brimmed with confidence. Quickly regaining her composure, she asked
where he went the night before.
        "Don't worry about that, Nabsy," Gosunkugi said with a smirk, "I'm a
big boy, I can take care of myself."
        "Hikaru, listen," Nabiki said as her ire rose a notch or two, "Do
you realize just how stupid your little vanishing act was? We ended up
getting back late because we were searching for you!"
        "Now you listen," Gosunkugi said, his voice going from cocky to
almost dangerous, "What I do is none of your business. If I decide to take a
walk, that's my concern. Got that?"
        Nabiki was taken aback at Gosunkugi's tone. Not once in the time she
had known him had he even raised his voice, much less spoken in such a
threatening tone. What was wrong with him?
        "When we're out on a school trip," Nabiki said, matching his icy
demeanor, "it IS my business."
        "You just keep thinkin' that," Gosunkugi snarled as he took a step
toward Nabiki.
        "Well, well," Nabiki said mockingly, "We seem to have developed a
little backbone." Be damned if she'd let Hikaru Gosunkugi of all people
intimidate her.
        "I've developed a lot more than a backbone," Gosunkugi replied, his
eyes boring into hers. He didn't seem to notice the crowd gathering around
the two. Not many stood up to the infamous Ice Queen like Gosunkugi was.

        "Hey! You delinquents get to class!" The sound of Miss HInako's
child voice scattered the crowd like an aggie would a cluster of smaller
marbles. Gosunkugi turned away from Nabiki, stalking off down the corridor.
        "Get going, Miss Tendo," Hinako warned. She started off toward her
first class, Gosunkugi's strange behaivior still troubling her.

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

        Nabiki hadn't said word one to anyone about Gosunkugi, but that
didn't matter. The students who had witnessed the confrontation told their
friends, who told their friends, and so forth and so on. By lunchtime, the
news was all over Furinkan.
        When Tatewaki Kuno heard the news, he immediately set off in search
of the uppity underclassman. That he had made a threat to Nabiki, as the
buzz went, didn't bother him much. However, she was the sister of the
beautious Akane Tendo, and avenging Nabiki's honor would sure show his fair
tigress how worthy he was of her heart!
        Bokken in hand, he strode purposefully across the courtyard, the
soundtrack to the Seven Samurai blaring in his head. He was a noble warrior,
and nothing would stay his hand of justice!
        He finally spotted the miscreant leaning against a tree, a bento box
in his hand.

        "Hark! How dare you accost Nabiki Tendo such!" Gosunkugi turned and
glared at the samurai wannabe. He had a lot on his mind, and didn't want to
deal with Kuno.
        "Bugger off, smeg-head," Gosunkugi snapped, using an insult from one
of his favorite sci-fi series.
        "I shall not! I shall avenge the honor of Nabiki Tendo, and win the
heart of Akane this day!"
        "You think so?" Gosunkugi asked, turning to face the bokken-wielding
upperclassman. The mention of winning Akane pretty much ended his previous
train of thought. A sense of jealousy overtook his rational thought patterns
as he glared at Kuno. If that dingus thought he could step in and take Akane
away from him, he had another thing coming. Despite that, however, Gosunkugi
had the strange feeling that these thoughts somehow weren't his own.
        "I know so!" Kuno roared, raising his bokken to the sky. "You shall
feel the vengeance of heaven, the Blue Thunder swears it!" Thunder rumbled
in the cloudless sky, something that had become Kuno's trademark.
        "Talk, talk, talk," Gosunkugi yawned. "Are you gonna fight or what?"
        Kuno's face turned a bright shade of red as his temper reached the
boiling point. With a mighty roar, he brought his bokken down in a savage
arc that would have terminated at Gosunkugi's head.
        Gosunkugi ducked scarecly a second before the wooden sword would
have smashed his skull in. Unable to correct his swing, Kuno's bokken sailed
through the small tree as if it were only paper. The top half of the tree
toppled to the ground, coming down with a loud crash.
        "Not bad, Kuno," Gosunkugi sniggered, "You just may have a future as
a logger!"
        "Cretin!" Kuno bellowed as he began to swing his bokken in a precise
pattern meant to slice Gosunkugi to shreds. The wooden sword blurred with
Kuno's arms as he tried to take his adversary down.
        Gosunkugi almost laughed as he easily avoided each swing. Left,
right, under, under, right, left, left, back, each swing narrowly missing
the rapidly moving boy. Kuno swung his bokken low, intending to take out
Gosunkugi's knees. He leapt up over the attack, legs tucking up under him as
his left knee rose to the level of Kuno's eyes. Landing on his feet with
balletic grace, he sneered at the fuming junior.

        //Now THAT'S weird,\\  Ranma thought as he saw Gosunkugi dodge
Kuno's furious strikes. Hikaru Gosunkugi couldn't fight his way out of a wet
paper bag, and now he was easily humiliating Kuno. Of course, making
bokken-boy look stupid was no large feat, but Voodoo Spike shouldn't be
doing it this well.
        Gosunkugi's agility was, well, surprising at the least. While Ranma
didn't see Gosunkugi in his league, he had to admit that the little nerd had
picked up considerably. Had he been training on the side or something?
        He head the crowd gasp in surprise as Gosunkugi caught Kuno's next
swing, stopping it cold. Even Ranma was impressed, that swing would have
shattered stone, and the little geek caught it with no effort. Ranma could
have done the same himself, of course, no sweat.
        Kuno struggled to free his weapon from Gosunkugi's grip with no
success. Quick as a snake, he grabbed the front of Kuno's kendo outfit and
gave a hard shove while snatching the bokken from his hand. Kuno flew
backward, landing hard on his head. With a groan, he lost consciousness.