When Sparks Fly
It is a rainy night in the city of Kokoro.
Water drops showered over the crowded streets of the city. People fled as fast they could, whether into their homes or into some place for cover, to escape the darkness and rain from the outside.
In hindsight, this would serve as an incredibly convenient cover as it helped prevent any random bystander from noticing something rather odd above their heads.
Visible on the power lines were yellow sparks that traveled down the cables. These sparks moved with a sense of hurried purpose, having gone past several areas over a short amount of time. Eventually, these sparks found themselves stopping next a dark alleyway.
Location set and match, the yellow sparks flowed out of the power lines, brightening up the alley considerably as currents crackled through the night.
Out of the awesome crackling electricity, a form started taking shape, into that of a rather young boy.
The boy fell onto the ground having exhausted himself. His hands clutched the floor, trying to remember a physical reality.
Deep breaths.
The boy remembered things… what he went through… what they did to him…
Heartbeat rose.
Sunako… Shocker… The Kuzuryu…
Eyes opened wide.
Rai Shiraishi took note of the surroundings around him. His senses having returned, the younger Shiraishi was at last able to perceive the world once more. With his eyes he saw shiny bright lights in human shapes, these lights being fuzzy, disrupted by the raindrops that poured down on this night. He winced, feeling some sort of pain from the drops falling on his body. As those drops came harder, he looked down to see his hands.
They glowed.
Confused, he finally took notice of the puddle that was formed in front of him. Looking at it, Rai thought he would find his own reflection staring back.
Instead he found a strange yellow bald face in the water, the image blurry from the sparks surrounding him.
"No…"
He punched the puddle.
"No… no!"
He banged his hands onto the floor in frustration, not noticing the pain he felt when he splashed himself hitting the puddle. The rain poured harder.
"No, no no no nononononono NO!"
The sparks of electricity became louder and more violent as his mood became laced with anger.
"WHAT HAVE THEY DONE?!" Rai Shiraishi shouted those words into the void.
There were many reasons this had been the worst week of his life so far. First he got hit by a car as he waved to a new friend, then while he laid in bed he found out his older sister was a criminal who used the stolen money to pay for everything they have ever had, then she struck some kind of weird deal that ultimately ended with him getting experimented on by a bunch of scientists.
It was hell. It was TORTURE.
Facing the horrific fate of it all, Rai knew he had no choice. He needed to escape, so escape he did.
He had no clue about the destination, nor what to do.
All that mattered was the need to leave.
To anywhere.
But Rai was no fool. He would need help, And he knew only one person who could help him…
"That went a lot better than I thought."
That was the thought that left Shinji Ikari as soon as he left the English Class. Friday was the end of the week, so he and Mayumi Yamagishi walked together to make it to the cafeteria for lunch as per usual. They were moving past rather large windows as the girl let out a sigh of relief over the ordeal.
"See Shinji? I knew you could do it if you studied hard enough." Mayumi said happily with a small measure of pride.
"Yeah, I couldn't have done it without you Yamagishi." Shinji said with a smile on his face. "You were a great help."
"Um, oh thanks." Mayumi waved the compliment off. "It's not like I did much."
Shinji was about to respond, when he felt a familiar headache coming over to him. He raised his eyebrows when he realized what it meant.
'Spider-Sense!' Shinji thought to himself.
Concentrating his attention, the boy looked around and tried to spot the trouble. Students walked together or were getting things from their lockers.
But nothing out of the ordinary so far.
"Something wrong, Ikari?" Mayumi asked in concern.
Shinji briefly turned to her, "Umm, nothing. I just… had a weird feeling."
The boy looked out the window which had a view of the soccer players kicking the ball to each other, the large fence that surrounded the school.
It was past the fence where Shinji did see something strange. It was a brief moment, but the boy saw a strange yellow blur hiding in plain sight. This blur wasn't there for long, having disappeared into the crowd.
But that didn't matter, it just meant Spider-Man was going to have to investigate this further.
"Out of my fucking way."
A violent shove pushed Shinji to the ground. He looked up and saw Tsuyoshi Kotei stomping his way through the hallways. Mayumi went over and helped Shinji up from the floor as quiet whispers came from the students watching.
Whoah what's got his panties in a twist?
So weird to see Kotei mad like that.
Well I mean Shiraishi's been missing for a week, wouldn't you be upset?
I wouldn't know, I have no friends.
Shinji's spider sense rang even after the strange man vanished from his line of sight. It got stronger around Kotei's presence. While he could just chalk that up to Kotei's terrible personality, it remained the same level as the man from outside. Could Kotei be in some kind of trouble?
'Why do I have to be the one to save him?' Shinji asked himself. 'Oh right… because I mustn't run away.'
The final bell rang and Tsuyoshi Kotei walked alone.
His thoughts turned to his life so far. For most of it, he was focused on a goal. To be the best he could be and prove it everyone he possibly could. To that end, Kotei became the class representative, excelled at every class and played himself up as a kind and courteous individual, becoming the very model of a good student for his school.
To make sure that no one was able to rise above him, he used his charm and charisma to get the school's delinquents and losers to beat up on every other student who dared "break the rules" or had any chance of going against him. This process had worked out in his favor for years.
So why did Shinji Ikari infuriate him so much?
In the years that led to today, Kotei realized that being truly successful meant making friends, so he made sure to befriend who he could. Ikari had been the only one who chose to refuse outright, mocking his efforts by calling them useless. Tsuyoshi Kotei was not useless. He was the best. Just like Spider-Man.
The very second Kotei saw Spider-Man on the news he was already entranced. The speed, the power… he beat those criminals like they were nothing! Kotei saw in Spider-Man the qualities of success he wanted for himself, strong, quick witted and the ability to enforce his own rules. Stupid news reporters, they don't understand Spider-Man at all! He was simply the best.
Kotei wanted nothing but to prove he was the best. After Ikari's insulting comments, he made every effort to stomp on Ikari's spirits and make his life hell. Kotei took him to the rooftop of the school and beat the crap out of him with his buddies. He hated the little snot, Ikari was just a weak, sneaky little shit. That was the status quo, and had been for years.
But that all changed a month ago. Shinji Ikari, a complete wuss by his own standards, not only dodged his punches, he broke his hand.
He broke.
His.
FUCKING.
hand.
Not just that, something had changed in Ikari. The shithead stood up to him more than once. It was like he didn't care one bit about what Kotei thought anymore. The class representative was used to be at the top of the food chain, so he was caught off guard when being challenged in any way.
Even his followers started mocking him for the way that "fight" went and it was that particular moment that led to Kotei realizing he had no real support in this school. No one. Only sycophants who were willing to stab him in the back the very instant he let his guard down.
Worthless trash. He surrounded himself with worthless garbage and was utterly alone.
Except there was one. A shining gem in a sea of piss, Rai Shiraishi.
No matter how bad Tsuyoshi got, Rai was always there for him, with a warm smile and a chill atitude. The two had been friends ever since Kindergarden. He had been over his friend's apartment enough times to have thoroughly known Sunako, they were like family.
The day he found a broken Rai in the emergency room… that was something he never thought would happen.
Without Rai, he was alone. Suddenly success was an empty word. It didn't serve him well at all when he heard the negative words said behind hid back, or the hollow feeling he had at the moment. But there was one truth he definitely knew for sure… he'll be damned if he asked Ikari for any help. Ikari was a total bitch and will never amount to anything in his future.
BZZZZZZZZZT
The thoughts were interrupted by a strange sound.
He turned around and suddenly a series of yellow bolts landed next to him, which caused him to fall. The nearby civilians ran off in a panic, leaving Kotei by himself to deal with the situation.
The bolts were revealed to connect to an electrical current… and the electricity shifted, transforming and shaping itself into a strange figure.
A distinctly human figure.
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME YOU CREEP!" Kotei screamed in horror, struggling to get away from his supposed attacker.
The strange being waved his arms, "Tsuyoshi wait stop-"
"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?" Kotei lashed out, holding his hands over his face trying to cover it, "DON'T HURT ME!"
As Kotei whimpered in terror, the figure stopped all movement. The electric bolts crackled audibly in the silence that ensued.
At that, Kotei took a glance at the electric man… and found a familiar shape in the face.
"It's me… Rai!"
Tsuyoshi was astonished at the sight in front of him. "Rai… wha… what happened to you?"
Rai responded in a calm tone, "They took me from the hospital… they did something to me! I think they did something to Sunako! I didn't know who else to turn to, I need yo-"
THWIP!
The sound of a web line interrupted the panicked electric boy.
"First sand, now electricity? I swear whoever sends you guys out should learn something about brand consistency!" Spider-Man said to the intruder while crouching on a lamppost.
"No… no NO!" Rai yelled out. He was in major panic mode due to a lack of desire to fight. As such he did the only thing he could possibly think of.
He transformed back into electrical volts, escaping into the power line above. The yellow volts were still visible on the cables however, so Spider-Man decided to give chase,
"Hey get back here!" Spider-Man yelled out as he swung on a web line.
Kotei got up and dusted off his uniform, then proceeded to run.
"Wait STOP! He's not a bad guy Spidey!" He tried to call out to the retreating web swinger.
Tsuyoshi knew Rai was scared and needed help, Spider-Man needed to understand that! He had to catch up to them before a bad situation became worse.
In his haste however, he forgot a critical problem with his plan. A rather basic oversight really.
A regular civilian like himself trying to follow an electrical voltage man and a costumed vigilante swinging on webs attached to buildings… is going to have a hard time keeping up with them.
"Hey, don't run away! Just want a little chit chat!"
Shinji didn't know where he got his smart mouth from. He remembered being more sarcastic some years ago, but Kotei's beatings put an end to that. Perhaps the mask and the lack of consequences gave him the bravery to pull this off.
Either that or the nerves.
He had to give the guy credit, electric guy over here was quick. The volts travelled through the power lines pretty fast, even Shinji had a hard time being able to chase it.
'I need to draw him out somehow.' Shinji thought as he considered the cables. Then he dropped down slightly ahead of the guy and kicked the power line, breaking it.
The cables snapping caused the high voltage being to jump out of them. Perfect, now all Spider-Man had to was grab him and-
"GYYAAARRRGGGHHH!"
Turns out trying to grab a purely electrical superhuman… was a bad idea.
Spider-Man felt nothing but pure pain when he dropped to the floor.
Rai looked over him, "No way… I- I didn't mean it!"
Shiraishi jumped into the air… and started flying? Yes, it seemed like the electrical currents were charging him with enough power to float in the air. Rai noticed the lights were going out in the buildings surrounding him. 'I see, if I keep on absorbing the electricity, the more power I get… I gotta keep flying, don't want to get caught by Spider-Man!'
The aforementioned wall crawler managed to recover, looking to the escaping electric man and quickly ran to resume the chase.
"So what's your story, sparky? Took a wrong turn in aquarium and got bitten by radioactive eels?" Spider-Man glibly asked.
"Go away!" The high voltage Shiraishi threw several bolts at the web swinger.
Shinji's spider sense alerted him to the danger, yet it took all he had to avoid the bolts, dodging one, using a pole to spin dodge another, and then running on the wall to avoid a third. This one led to the windows shattering, the broken glass stabbing Rai in the arms.
"Gragh!" He groaned in pain. However, the injury was being healed almost instantly. It appears that absorbing the electricity helps him recover from injuries. Nevermind that though, Rai flew away to avoid further injury.
As Shinji crawled after Electro, he considered what he could do. Straight up hitting the electric man wasn't going to work, since grabbing him only resulted in pain. Something Shinji very much wishes to avoid thank you very much!
He remembered the battle with Sunako, how she could manipulate her body to form sand constructs, but not the environment. Considering Electro's actions, it seems like he needs a steady source of electricity to power himself. Spider-Man will have to find a way to cut him off from power.
Considering he was in the middle of a city, that would be kind of hard.
'Wait… maybe it doesn't have to be in the city.' Shinji thought of an idea of how to take care of that.
Rai floated in the air, looking back to see he had Spider-Man. 'Good, that means I can get back to Kotei and-'
THWIP! THWIP!
Rai turned his head up.
"CANNUN BARRU!"
The horrific english distracted Rai enough to get hit by Spider-Man using the lid of a garbage can to kick him.
The kick sent him down crashing into the street, Spider-Man bouncing off of the lid and landing on a sewer lid. "What's the matter sparky? All out of juice?"
Shiraishi got up, groaning at the pain. "Just… just GO AWAY!"
Spider-Man kicked himself upwards as the bolt shot at his way. As he jumped, he moved to a nearby parking meter. He snapped it from it's place and jumped towards the electric man. The web swinger hit his opponent with the meter, keeping him from making any moves.
Rai for his part was getting tired of this whole thing. "Stop it! Just-"
Spider-Man noticed sparks traveling along the meter. He threw the meter away from himself, watching as it blew up.
The electric man tried to regain his senses. He rubbed his eyes in frustration as he looked around for the web swinger. "Where are you-?"
Then he felt two legs kicking him from behind. This caused Rai to get off balanced, unable to stop himself as he fell into the sewer lid.
In the process, he ended up getting submerged in the water, a final bout of electric volts flying before swiftly fizzling out. Spider-Man crawled inside the sewer and jumped to the ground.
'The sewer water should be enough to short his lights out.' Shinji thought as he took a few steps closer.
A person came out of the water, coughing as he held on to the nearby platform and climbed hi way back up. This time Spider-Man finally got a good look at the guy he was chasing the whole time.
Immediately Shinji regretted it, as Rai Shiraishi looked up with a terrified expression sitting naked and waving his hands in a mercy motion.
"Please… I did- I didn't mean to hurt you! Don't hurt me!"
Shinji was surprised immensely at this turn of events, the second time a powered down opponent was someone he knew. "Shiraishi…?"
"STOP!" Kotei yelled out, having slid down the ladder and interrupting the scene. He stopped to pant heavily in complete exhaustion.
'I can't believe I'm doing this… I'm going against Spider-Man!' Tsuyoshi thought to himself in panic mode. Spider-Man was what he wanted to be, his own hero… but Spidey was wrong. His body moved without thinking, as if instinct already made his choice for him.
He went in between the costumed vigilante and Rai, stretching out both hands to protect his friend from the supposed hero. "Don't hurt him Spider-Man! If you try… I'll- I'll stand in your way!"
"Tsuyoshi…" Rai looked up gratefully towards his friend, a small nervous smile on his lips.
Shinji waved him off, "I wasn't going to… I'm just confused about what's going on. Shiraishi, what happened? How did you get those powers?"
Rai stumbled up, "I was… in the hospital… someone visited… it was him, the Shocker guy. He was working for some guys…"
"The Kuzuryu…" Spider-Man said.
Rai nodded, "Yeah! Sunako… she was working for them."
"What?!" Kotei said surprised. "That's so unlike her! Why would she do that?"
"Apparently she payed for everything using their money…" Rai said bitterly. "Next thing I know… I was taken… I was experimented on. I escaped by shorting out the doors and now-"
He sobbed, wiping tears from his eyes, "Now they turned me into some kind of freak! I don't even know what happened to her!"
Shinji held his head low. "I'm sorry… these guys, they take advantage of people for their own personal gain! I hate them!"
Kotei winced at that. "Look Rai, we're gonna find her. Spider-Man's a big shot hero, he can do it!"
Spider-Man placed fingers over his chin. "As a matter of fact… I think I might know someone who could help."
"… and then the three iguanas lived happily ever after all together."
Kuruto Inumaru smiled at his son as he finished the story. He rubbed Taiten's forehead softly as the boy's eyes desperately tried to keep open, even as the bags under them denoted his sleepiness.
"One more dad… one more…" Taiten said, but his body betrayed him when he let out a loud yawn.
Inumaru merely raised the covers over his beloved child to tuck him in, "I'm afraid that is the last story for tonight. You have school tomorrow my little Taiten."
Taiten made a face, but unfortunate for him he honestly was tired. So he closed his eyes and laid on his pillow.
"Good night my son… sweet dreams." Kuruto said, moving to leave a little smooch on his son's cheek.
He turned off the lamp, and made sure to close the door properly. Maasa should be asleep in their bed at this point as well probably waiting for him. Kuruto will make it there, but he had something important to do first.
The professor went downstairs, struggling to not make loud sounds, especially with his right foot since it hit harder than his left one. He just wanted- no, NEEDED- to get some water for the night.
He grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator and started drinking off of it like mad. What can he say, he was just realy thirsty.
Some of the water spilled out of his mouth, so he turned on the light to see if he could clean it-
"Professor!"
Inumaru let out a gasp when he saw Spider-Man leaning on his window, and in his shock ended up spilling the milk over the floor.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Inumaru angrily whispered, as Spider-Man let himself in.
"Sorry, do you need help with that?" Shinji asked politely to the professor.
"No no, I think you've done plenty enough, Mr. Ikari." Inumaru wiped away the milk from the floor, naturally displeased with the teenager who decided to just barge in like a jackass, "Now would you mind explaining what the hell are you doing here?!"
Shinji said nothing. He just stared down, looking at something.
Inumaru turned to where Shinji was looking at. It was his right leg… or rather, a substitute for a leg. A plastic prosthetic was wrapped around a stump.
The professor responded coldly, "Yes, I don't have a leg. Everyone lost something in the Second Impact… even me. Now are you going to keep staring at me with pity or are you going to actually explain yourself?"
The boy winced at the reaction but spoke up to answer, "Professor, do you know about Shiraishi?"
Inumaru put fingers over his chin trying to remember, "That student in the Kendo club right? Yes, he had been missing from school for over a week due to the accident. What about him?"
"He was kidnapped by the Kuzuryu and experimented on." Spider-Man bluntly stated.
"… what?" Of all the things Kuruto expected, this was not it. He was downright shocked at that. "That can't be true."
"But it is!" Shinji yelled. "He and his sister were turned into some kind of weird mutants by your scientists! They have Sunako captured, you have to help her! Help them both! Where do you think Shiraishi could be being kept?"
Inumaru shook his head, "No, I won't help. Get out of my house!"
"No!" Spider-Man- no, Shinji- grabbed the professor by the collar of his shirt. "You can't just leave them like that! You're going to help!
A brief stand off happened between the two. They glared each other both refusing to compromise, neither move a single inch.
"Spider-Man?"
Both of them turned to see someone standing at the doorway. It was Taiten Inumaru, who was curious about the noises he heard down the stairs. Spider-Man let the Professor down gently.
"Daddy… what's going on? Is Spider-Man hurting you?"
Inumaru looked away in shame. "No... Spider-Man needed my help with something."
Taiten then looked up excitedly, "Oh really? So cool, I hope you and Mr. Spider-Man could save the day!"
Kuruto let out a reluctant smile. "Yes… could you please go to bed? I promise not to disturb you anymore."
Taiten yawned, "Okay. Good night!"
Thus the boy left, leaving Inumaru and Spider-Man alone.
Kuruto Inumaru looked over Shinji Ikari with a glare… but sighing. "You're right… I can't allow children to be experimented like that." He adjusted his collar. "I may be wrong, but there is a chance you could find Shiraishi in this place…"
The security guard was bored.
Bored because this facility is pretty boring to be around. This particular district was in the slums, so not a lot of interesting people to meet in his opinion nor any girls he could ask out.
Surrounded by dreary gray walls with barely any human soul around wasn't exactly his dream job, but it was his only source of income.
The guard walked from one end of the hallway to another. One would think security cameras would be enough to inspect the area thoroughly but no. Guards had to keep watch, no one likes rats who steal cheese from the place.
No siree, not this guy.
He took a look at the camera. He was pretty sure that someone on the other end was making fun of him. The guard pulled a middle finger towards it, "Fuck you asshole."
Then the camera suddenly EXPLODED!
"Wait what the fuck-" was the guard's last words before getting punched out.
Spider-Man rubbed his hand as the sparks from the camera reformed into Rai Shiraishi. Rai took a look at the door in front of them both. "She's in there."
"How do you know? Are you sure?" Spider-Man asked.
Rai narrowed his eyes, "I'm sure. The light is all weird and wobbly. There's like a dozen other guys behind this door."
Shinji was confused what he meant by the light. He decided not to question it, as he took a fighting stance. "You ready?"
Shiraishi ignored him. For his part, he raised a hand towards the door.
ZAP!
The door was blasted down. Any hint of doubt disappeared with that action.
Unfortunately, the guards inside the room pointed their guns at the duo. They stood in-between a large canister that showed sand whirling around, keeping it from forming a shape. A label would show Subject: SANDMAN.
"Hold it right there! It's the escaped subject Electro, and he's brought the Spider-Man!"
Rai blasted electricity at the guns, which shocked the guards causing them to to drop their weapons as Spider-Man rushed in front of Shiraishi to deck two of the guards out cold.
"You're not going to escape!" The guards grabbed their backup batons and rushed forward to attack.
Spider-Man with his quick reflexes managed to dodge two baton hits, deciding to aim low and swipe at both guards' legs to put them off balance. As he did that he elbowed another guard coming after him in the stomach and then grabbed a fourth guard to throw him at a wall.
Meanwhile, Rai went through the guards attacking him like knife through butter. They were all shocked just by touching him, having zero protective equipment against a being made of electricity.
Rai reached the canister and angrily charged up his hands.
"Sunako!" The electric man yelled as he launched volts at the canister, breaking it open!
"Rai!" the elder Shiraishi yelled in return, as she turned into a blazing storm, knocking out any other guards hat remained.
Sunako then spotted the wall crawler and was immediately angry. "Oh no, not you again! I'll make sure you STAY dead this time!"
Right before she could attack Spider-Man however, Rai went in between her and Spidey blocking her way.
"Don't worry Sunako, he's with me." He said.
"What? But he-" Sunako stopped when Spider-Man waved his arms.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize there was a problem. Now I'm here to help." The wall crawler said.
Sunako briefly turned her hand into a hammer… but then returned it to normal. "We have to get out of here."
Rai nodded. "That we do."
A beggar walking down the street that night would later a tale of how some sort of lighting sandstorm broke out from a normal looking building, and the spider guy being carried along with it.
The other beggars would then throw bottle caps at him and laugh for having such wild hallucinations.
"We can't stay here."
In the outskirts of Kokoro, those words created an air of finality as Rai and Sunako stood in front of Tsuyoshi and Spider-Man. A truly bittersweet moment, as the sand woman and the electric boy looked at each other with trepidation.
"Yes… the Kuzuryu have a lot of influence in the city." Sunako stated. "They could track us down. We need to leave."
Tsuyoshi Kotei's eyes burned with tears. "Dammit… why did this have to happen…?"
The boy felt arms surrounding his body… he saw Rai's face looking right at him.
"Tsuyoshi… no matter what happens, you have always been my friend." Rai smiled proudly. He hugged his dear friend tighter.
Shinji Ikari saw a side of Kotei he never thought he would see… a side that showed he could cry, that he could care for others in any way.
A side that came out by Shiraishi's ruin… Spider-Man clutched his fist in frustration.
Rai let go of Kotei, before motioning to Spider-Man. "Come over here. There's something private I have to tell you."
Shinji was confused by the request, but obliged. He and Rai walked over to one side, as Sunako went over and hugged Kotei as well.
When they had enough distance, Rai said, "Looks like you've a got a heart of gold after all… Shinji."
The spider boy's eyes widen in surprise. "Wha- how?!"
Rai smiled. "Since I escaped, I was able to see these lights… I figured that these were electrical signals inside people. I was able to see those bright lights… and both Shinji and Spider-Man have the same brightness."
Rai threw his arms around Shinji, pulling the boy into a tight hug, "Could have used less sewer water… but thanks for everything."
Shinji didn't respond. Not in words anyway. The boy awkwardly returned the hug, clearly not used to such an affectionate gesture from anyone. Rai let go as Sunako walked to him.
"We're leaving." She said.
Rai nodded. The two shifted into their non corporeal forms, Sunako into a living wave of flying sand while Rai turned to electrical voltage and returned to the power lines. The Shiraishi siblings made their leave to parts unknown.
Shinji didn't know what to make of any of this. On the one hand, he felt guilty for being unable to help them any further… but on the other hand he at least saved their lives. That was as much as he could do.
"Spider-Man…"
The boy turned to see Kotei, his eyes glistening with bitter tears and an angry glare present. He shook his fist in rage.
"Promise me one thing… make them pay… stop the Kuzuryu before they hurt anyone else alright?!"
Shinji placed his arms on his hips, "You're assuming I wasn't already planning on it."
What happened tonight led Spider-Man to one conclusion… he had to stop Yashida. No matter what.
The train arrived in the morning.
The people stepped out, each one going about their own business as usual. Nothing much interesting about here.
What was interesting was one passenger. A brown haired woman held a suitcase as she walked to the nearby balcony to see the view. She wore a yellow turtle neck shirt and had a lab coat over it. Her green eyes looked over the city with some slight contempt.
"A technological marvel huh? What a joke." She said to no one in particular. The scientist had seen far better back in Tokyo-3. She sighed, having already been informed of Yashida's contact being late.
The ride was a long one and it took a lot of her. However, as the resident doctor she had things she needed to do.
Important things… like setting up the MAGI system for the city of Kokoro.
"Let's just hope Ritsuko's having a better time than I am." Naoko Akagi said to herself, rubbing her forehead to stop the headache she was having.
The scientist remained blissfully unaware of what fate had in store for her…
Author's Notes:
Electro and Sandman were always two of the more sympathetic members of Spider-Man's rogue's gallery, so I thought it'd be a good idea to pair them up like this.
Before writing this fanfic I took a look at the Toei Spider-Man series and the 70's Spider-Man manga drawn by Ryoichi Ikegami for research and see how they adapted the character for Japanese audiences. I've slipped some references to both, but in particular I would like to point out that the Shiraishi name came from the manga, which was the last name of the Electro of that story. Otherwise, we never get a first name for Electro in there while the sister was younger, had a different name and was the love interest to Yu Komori, the Spider-Man of the manga.
Yes I bet you're wondering how Naoko Akagi is alive. Aside from this being an AU, how was this possible? Why? Those questions will be answered in the next chapter: "Menace"
Edit: The title of the chapter was originally called Electric Boogaloo before it was changed to When Sparks Fly.