A Spider in Nerima
A Ranma ½ / Spider-man fusion
Chapter 2:
Girl Problems and
Gas Attacks
"Apparently Principal Kuno's time in Hawaii, opened the door for this guy," Hiroshi said.
"I
just hope we don't already know more than he does," Diasuke responded.
"You know an American education's not what it used to be. Besides that
will make it boring and put us behind when we apply for college."
"Who said chemistry wasn't boring when Mr. Fujiyama taught it?" Hiroshi asked.
"Good point. Hey has anyone seen the American yet?"
"No, he appears to be late on his first day."
Reilly was indeed late, and bounding from rooftop to rooftop attempting to be in his classroom ahead of his students. "Why did I have to go out web slinging last night of all nights," he muttered. As he neared his new place of employment, the freshman instructor was surprised to see another figure leaping along the skyline on what appeared a collision course with his own.
The other rooftop bounder was a young man of about 17 or 18. He reached the school ahead of Reilly, hitting the ground on the run before slowing to match step with a girl headed for the front entrance of the school.
Reilly leaped from the last rooftop, landing on the wall surrounding the campus. As he was about to make for the roof a commotion broke out in the school yard. A young man with a wooden practice bokken was threatening the couple.
What happened next, caught the young American by surprise. Without pausing, the pair disarmed and left their attacker laying unconscious on the steps of the high school as they sprinted inside.
"Well, I'll be," Reilly thought as he made his own mad dash for his classroom. "If this had been a manga comic, those two would have kicked that guy into next week."
Another surprise awaited the former New Yorker as he found his classroom empty when he got there seconds later. As he settled in, students began rushing through the door.
"This'll make the third time this week, Kuno's been KO'd," one student told another as they entered the room. "When do you think he'll give it up?"
"He's too thick to give it up. For cryin' out loud, he graduated last year, but he still comes around every morning to get his butt kicked," another responded. "Hell, he still hasn't figured out that Ranma and the 'pig-tailed girl' are the same..."
Suddenly, as one, the class seemed to remember their new instructor. In a flash they were in their desks and silent. Reilly was amazed, but recognized his cue.
"Well, it seems we've had a bit of excitement this morning," he began. "I thought I would be the topic of discussion, but I've already been humbled by Furinkan. I know now to keep my proper place," he said with a chuckle.
His attempt at humor was met by stony silence.
"Well, ok. I'll just start over," the westerner thought, wilting inside. "Good morning. I'm Ben Reilly, and I am definitely not Japanese, but I will be teaching your introduction to organic chemistry class this term..."
The rest of the class went about the way most first day orientation sessions go in U.S. colleges. Reilly called roll, horribly mangling the names of his homeroom students, before handing out the syllabuses he'd prepared and beginning his obligatory lecture. There was the occasional translation question, when his New York accent twisted the staccato cadences of the Japanese language into something unnatural. "Now I know why the Americans hate foreign instructors in their colleges," a number of students thought.
Later in the day Furinkan High's new chemistry instructor joined a group of fellow instructors in the school cafeteria. He noticed the young man he'd seen bounding over the rooftops that morning headed toward an empty seat nearby. Turning to watch, Reilly realized the girl was holding the seat for the young man. To his surprise, Reilly's spider-sense gently tingled as the teenager passed by. Turning to one of his fellow instructors at the table, the newcomer asked about the student.
"Oh, that's Ranma Saotome," the teacher replied. "An unfortunate young man. He has a very unusual problem, but you shouldn't have to worry about him disrupting your classes. He's not taking your course this semester."
"Disrupting my classes? Is he some sort of troublemaker?"
"A troublemaker? Yes and no. I don't think he starts out to make it, but it certainly finds him on a regular basis. Really, he's one of the finest young martial artists in the district and there are quite a few of those around here. We have many youngsters who are nearly masters here at Furinkan. That's one of Saotome's problems. He's more interested in the art than he is in his school work. That and he can't seem to ignore any kind of martial arts challenge."
"I think I saw an example of his ability this morning," Reilly said. "I saw him and the young lady he's sitting next to take out a fellow with a bokken this morning before school."
"That would be Akane Tendo, his fiancee. That fight with Principal Kuno's son happens almost every morning. I'm afraid we've quit paying attention to it," the other teacher replied. "That pair is definitely on the temperamental side, and Saotome's other problem doesn't help."
"Tendo? They're engaged?"
"Yes. It's an arranged marriage. Her family owns a local dojo. Teach a rather unorthodox form of the art."
"So Saotome's a hothead and a martial artist. I can see where that combination would keep him in trouble," Reilly continued. "What's his other problem?"
"Oh, its just girl problems," the other chuckled. Nearby, other instructors snorted.
"Girl problems? I wish I'd had that kind of problem when I was his age," Reilly laughed.
Several of the his fellow instructors looked at each other before bursting into laughter. "I don't think you really want the kind of girl problems Saotome has, Rielly-sama," another teacher choked out, between guffaws.
"Why's that funny?" a puzzled Reilly asked.
"Be patient. You'll find out," was the only reply he could get out of the other teachers. They left the cafeteria clutching their sides, struggling to subdue outbursts of laughter.
§☼§☼§
The memories of the past 11 years rolled unbidden through Peter Parker's mind as he swung through the night air.
Even during the period when the world thought Norman Osborn was dead, the Green Goblin seemed to reach from the grave to plague Spider-man. There were the various incarnations. First Harry Osborn taking up his father's mantel of insanity as a second Green Goblin. Then the multiple Hobgoblins and the Demogoblin followed in the trail blazed by the Osborns.
Then came the ultimate manipulation. Osborn, hiding in Europe, reached out and bankrolled a pair of Spider-man's most devious enemies -- the Jackal and the Robot Master.
The Jackal, a former college instructor of Parker's, brought the super-hero's world crashing down by stripping his very identity from him. Miles Warren became the Jackal when he discovered the secret of successfully cloning a human far ahead of mainstream genetic research.
In his early experiments, Warren cloned his student, discovered his secret identity and ultimately pitted Spider-man's own clone against the young super-hero.
Following that battle with 'himself,' Parker believed the clone dead. He went on with his life unaware the Jackal would come back to haunt him again. The clone survived too, traveling the world and building a life for himself as Ben Reilly.
With Osborn's financing, Warren produced a plethora of clones, manipulated the original clone into returning to New York, and ultimately shattered Parker's world by removing any certainty whether he or the clone was the one true Peter Parker.
When the Jackal apparently died during a battle, Mendel Stromm the Robot Master, stepped in to continue Norman Osborn's obsessive campaign to destroy Spider-man's life.
For a while, Parker lost his powers and believed he was the clone. He handed the spider-threads and responsibilities to Reilly, his "cousin," while he and Mary Jane, his wife, moved to Seattle to await the birth of their first child.
But the couple were New Yorkers born and bred. They were soon back in the Big Apple and Parker's spider-powers began to reappear intermittently.
It wasn't long before the on-again, off-again Spider-man was caught up in the continuing battle with evil. He helped Reilly as much as his responsibilities as an expectant father would allow until the day Mary Jane went into premature labor.
When the call came however, Parker and Reilly had their hands full with a full-fledged attack from their latest adversary -- Gaunt, who turned out to be the Robot Master.
Parker had to leave Reilly fighting the Robot Master and his mechanical henchmen to be with his wife at the hospital.
Osborn chose that day, while Parker was on his way to be with his wife, to take a personal hand in defeating Reilly and setting the stage for what was supposed to be a final showdown between the Green Goblin and Spider-man.
"Things just don't always go as planned for goblins or spider-men," Parker mused as he neared his objective.
Although he won his battle with the Green Goblin, Parker remembered the day as one of great loss -- loss exceeding his failure to save Gwen Stacy five years before.
That day he lost his 'brother,' Ben Reilly. The two shared memories until the night of their battle with each other. They both lived by their Uncle Ben's motto: "With great power comes great responsibility." They had grown close during their battles with the Jackal and the identity crisis he spawned.
In the end Ben had been at the outer limits of his abilities to stalemate the Robot Master that day. "It probably would have been more than I could have handled too," Parker thought as he swung from web line to web line. The addition of a resurrected Green Goblin proved more than the new Spider-man could handle. Reilly was captured by his arch-enemy and later died protecting Parker and the staff of the Daily Bugle.
Parker blinked back the tears under his mask as he remembered his shock when Reilly's body began to decompose in his arms -- undeniable proof that he, not Reilly, was the real Peter Parker.
And Reilly's death wasn't Parker's greatest loss that day. The news of his daughter's death awaited him when he finally returned to the hospital. Grief-stricken, he tried to console his wife, before the final gut-punch of the day -- the hospital misplaced their child's body. It was never found.
§☼§☼§
A final web-line swung Spider-man to the twin suspension cables supporting the George Washington Bridge's roadways. As he climbed the massive cable assembly, the melancholy super-hero passed unheeding through a haze near the top of the New Jersey tower.
As he neared the apex of the structure, Parker sensed nothing amiss. Finally atop the decking, he reached down to his thigh and peeled off the web packet adhered there. Carefully he split it open and pulled out a single white rose. For a moment he stood silent and still before letting the rose drop toward the dark waters below. He watched it recede in the glare of the bridge flood lights. Lost in his memories and regrets, Parker didn't notice when a silent figure joined him on top of the tower.
"You really miss her don't you boy?" a cracked and familiar voice crushed the moment, hacking through the train of Parker's thoughts like a dull machete through jungle foliage. Maniacal laughter followed on its heels. Spider-man spun to see the Green Goblin hovering above him on his goblin glider!
A barrage of pumpkin bombs drove Spider-man over the edge of the tower. He flipped a web-line at a spot lower down the suspension cables. The whole tower and the cables adjoining it were enveloped in a thickening mist. Gaining his footing, Spider-man reached out with his spider sense to find his enemy. Nothing! It was as though nothing was there.
"Is this Mysterio faking the Goblin?" Parker wondered as he searched the skies for a new attack. "I can't find him."
The whisper of the glider engine gave away the Goblin's second pass. Spider-man dodged at the last instant, but not before the blue beam of a Goblin blast connected with Spider-man's right leg, numbing it and pitching the super-hero off the cable toward the traffic below.
A quick web line stopped his fall, but Spider-man knew he was in trouble without his spider sense. As he dangled between the descending support cables, he turned frantically, looking for the Goblin, only to find the grinning face of his enemy at his shoulder. He saw the goblin blast coming, but he was unable to dodge at such close range. The blast caught him in the chest, paralyzing his left arm. Desperately, he let go of his web line and kicked off the vertical support cable with his good leg, hoping to make the water below.
"Boy, it's not as easy as that. It's not going to go easy on you at all," the Goblin cackled as he lashed out at the falling Spider-man with a whip-like cable. The elastic tendril curled around Spider-man's body pinning his upper arms to his torso. The Goblin circled the bridge tower and dumped his prey on top before dismounting his glider.
"Peter, tonight our rivalry ends," the Goblin said as he zapped the struggling Spider-man with another stunning Goblin blast. The charge left the hero numb, stars swimming before his eyes.
The Goblin pressed a button on his gauntlet and Parker finally noticed the mist that seemed to emanate from the bridge itself as it turned a pale orange in the up-turned bridge spotlights.
"That's how he did it," Spider-man realized as he tried to roll away from a vicious kick aimed at his head. The gas was a leftover from the clone debacle and the Goblin continued to use it to knock out Spider-man's ability to sense and avoid danger.
The blows his enemy showered on him now weren't hidden. He didn't need a spider-sense to see them coming. Every one was exaggerated to show disdain for his helplessness.
Between blows, the Goblin ranted. "I've had to reconsider my ways, Peter. What I've been doing over the years were just variations on the same theme. I thought I could crush you into submission, overpower you with sheer might and will. But you proved made of a stronger fiber than I. I would have succumbed long ago, but not you. You always found a way to fight through it. For that I hate you.
"Heh," he chuckled, "I finally realized that doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results is the definition of insanity. I guess you were right all along. So tonight we're trying a different tactic."
"Doesn't seem much different right now," Parker muttered. The strapping that trapped him was loosening.
"Always quick with the snappy comeback. Always trying to goad me into a foolish mistake, but not tonight Peter. Tonight, you'll join me or die."
"You're wasting your time Norman," Spider-man slurred through battered lips. To his relief and pain, the feeling was coming back into his limbs.
"Oh no, not tonight. Not on this lovely anniversary night, Peter," Goblin crowed. "You should have noticed the haze on such a beautiful clear night. You're only chance was to have noticed it earlier. But no, you were thinking about her. Such a lovely girl, Miss Stacy. Such a lovely mother. So expendable after she'd served my purposes. But she's still serving my purposes.
"George Washington's bridge is very special to both of us isn't it, Peter? You lost Gwen, here didn't you? It hurts so bad that you come here every year on the anniversary of her death. Sentimental fool! She betrayed your love once. Tonight she's betrayed you from the grave.
"I've piped this tower with the Jackal's gas that takes away your spider-sense. Haven't you noticed the haze? You're mine up here boy, and tonight you're not leaving until I say so."
The Goblin aimed another kick at the prostrate hero. This time Spider-man was ready. He rolled out of the way just when the Goblin's boot would have made contact. When the momentum of the villain's blow carried him off his balance, the semi-bound hero used his forearms and fingers to raise his body off the decking and pivot. He swung his legs around to upset the off-balance villain.
The Green Goblin landed hard on his kiester, but just tossed back his head and laughed. Sitting, he watched as Spider-man struggled to work free of his bonds and regain his feet. "Still have that fight in you, eh? Well, we'll soon take care of that," Osborn said as he tapped a remote control on his glove.
The glider jerked into reverse, snapping the slack out of the line that held Spider-man and dragging the still dazed super-hero toward the edge of the tower. Spider-man tried to stick to the decking, but found he couldn't stop his progress toward the precipice.
"Good ol' Prof. Warren worked out some amazing solutions for me before his untimely death," the Goblin said as he regained his feet. "They're sort of like Alice's mushrooms. One takes away your spider-sense, another your ability to cling to surfaces. If you go over that edge Peter, you might survive, but you will complete the fall," he chortled.
The glider continued to pull the stricken Spider-man toward the tower rim. The decking he'd been able to stick to earlier was slippery as wet glass now. As it cleared the edge, the glider started to descend, keeping the cable taunt. Spider-man turned spread-eagle on the tower top, trying to slow his progress to no avail. The Green Goblin stalked him, step by step as the glider pulled him over the edge.
Suddenly, Spider-man quit trying to grasp the surface. Instead, he jumped into the air, breaking what hold he had on the tower. His only chance was to get away from the bridge and the disabling gas. The glider worked for him for a split second, pulling him over the edge into the night air above the Hudson River.
But Osborn clicked the glider remote and the little aircraft reversed direction, stretching the line taunt again and slamming Spider-man into the side of the tower. Struggling to turn, Spider-man fired a web-line toward the glider hoping to disable it, but it was sheltered from him beyond the tower's top.
The battered hero webbed himself to the tower and reached to snap the cable that tethered him.
Just as the strand gave way in his hands, Spider-man felt the tension from above slacken slightly. As if someone stepped on the glider!
He was stuck to the wall with his own webbing and the Goblin was airborne again.
As the glider circled into view above Spider-man, Osborn taunted the crime-fighter again. "Why, here we've got a spider caught in his own web. How utterly appropriate."
(EoC2r2)