Arc 1: The Spider Muggings [I]

Chapter: Along Came A Spider.


Tell me if you have heard this story before: It was around midnight in a dark alley and a man was being robbed at gun point. Now if you are a country bumpkin who has never left his small town in the sticks this is news to you, but if you happen to be from Tokyo, this is just Tuesday. But for the sake of the story and for everything to make sense in due time, let's double back and add a few extra details – It was a minute till midnight, 11:59 PM to be exact. It wasn't really Tuesday, that's just how the saying goes. It was Thursday, in fact. And last but not the least, the man holding the gun, shouting profanities, loudly demanding that the man hand over his wallet was none other than Spider-Man.

Or that's what Kouhei Imamura [1] thought. But then again he didn't know any better. This was his first time in Tokyo. This was his first time getting robbed. He had travelled to this side of the country for business. It was meant to be a short trip. He figured he would stay for a few days, secure the deal with the client, and then do some sightseeing. Tokyo Tower, Avengers Mansion, The Future Foundation Building, you know typical tourist stuff, click some photos, buy some souvenirs, and immerse himself fully in the culture of the capital city. The drinking culture that is.

In other words Kouhei was pretty much drunk when he came face to face with the mugger who he thought was Spider-Man. But can you blame him, he was wearing the mask and everything. Well, now that you mention it, not everything. In fact, now that he got a good look, he just had on his stupid mask.

Kouhei blinked at his own reflection on those fancy wide eye lenses. He wasn't thinking straight. "No way! You're Spider-Man?" He gave the guy a quick once over and found himself thoroughly unimpressed. "What the hell man? Where's the rest of your outfit?"

"It's at the Laundromat. You're wife's washing it with all the money she earned by swinging around the brass pole." The man in the Spidey-Mask snapped. Now he did the smart thing which every wannabe punk with a gun does. He held it sideways like a real gangsta and started talking business. "Now hand over your wallet and watch before I put a hole in your freaking head, blondie. I'm not joking around, man."

Kouhei Imamura knew the man wasn't kidding. People with guns who try to rob you at night are never funny. But he looked at himself, and then he looked at the guy trying to mug him. Without the gun, he would look really silly. In fact, he would look like the least threatening man on the planet, standing there in a black tattered shirt, wearing those blue baggy pants.

But it should be kept in mind that Kouhei Imamura was drunk. A voice in the back of his mind goaded him to take action, told him he could take on the wall crawler. Who did he fight? Supervillains. Tough break pal. Kouhei fought against hellish hangovers and still made it to the office on time. Besides, he still worked out. His drinking buddies told him he had a medium musculature. He was still young and had it goddammit. He would show him. He would show everyone.

Now on the other hand, the rational side of his brain, the boring side that is, which talked sense every now and then, even while he was hammered, kept repeating the same thing over and over again, that it was a bad idea to go up against a man with a gun. What are you gonna do when he starts shooting at us, you moron, the voice asked petulantly. You don't have unbreakable skin, bullets don't bounce off of you like those in the cape and cowl community. Besides, it's probably not worth losing your life over a few bucks and an old watch. Nothing was worth losing your life over. Think of your wife, the voice implored.

Really, Kouhei had to hand it to this guy. More often than not, it was never fun to listen to the rational side of his brain. But you know what, tonight he was gonna do what he says and be completely rational about it, think about his lovely wife and kill the freaking guy with the gun with his bare hands.

"Keep my waifu's name out of your -!"

By now you probably have an idea how this story ends. The drunken man takes a wild swing and misses his target completely. The thug in the mask is taken aback, shocked and surprised, he does something stupid out of pure reflex.

A wild haymaker.

Followed by five pounds of pressure.

"Oh crap!" He breathed out. Eyes wide. Scared out of his mind. Not knowing what to do next. Not knowing what happens to him next. He needed an idea, he needed a plan and he needed it now. "Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!"

Finally the fight or flight response kicked in and he didn't need to be told twice on what to do. The man in the mask, holding the smoking gun ran for his dear life. He ran as fast as he could, as fast as his legs would carry him and he didn't look back even once at the man who was lying in the dark alley, bleeding out from his bullet wound. What good would that do, he reasoned. Nobody was supposed to get hurt. Nobody. He had messed up big time. He should have dialed 119 and called for an ambulance. Leaving him to bleed out in the alley, it was a heartless thing to do. But he was supposed to be a hardened criminal and all criminals were heartless by default. The mugger told himself to man up, as he turned around the corner and vanished from sight.

Kouhei Imamura hit the ground. There was blood. Lots and lots of blood and his body felt like it was on fire. Nobody tells you but getting shot hurts like hell. They should probably do a public service announcement, broadcast it through every paper and news channel available. The common people had the right to know dammit. It might stop them from doing something reckless next time, because let me tell you, the next time a crook asks for his wallet and watch, he was gonna give him everything he had on his person, and walk out of the alley humiliated, but very much alive and kicking in his Iron-Man boxers.

But Kouhei believed there was a silver lining in every cloud and although there wasn't a cloud in sight tonight and the moon was out and shining brightly down, reflected against the pooling blood, he thought about the only good thing that came out of this confrontation. No, it wasn't the fact that he didn't get robbed. He got shot didn't he? How does that make it any better? No, it was the fact that he defended the honour of his lovely waifu.

Goddammit. Now he was lying flat in the dirty alley with nothing but heaps and heaps of garbage, old newspapers and plastic bags flying around in the dusty midnight wind while two posters, one of a man and the other of a woman, the new mayoral candidates looked down on him, baring their teeth, smiling at his pain and suffering. As expected of politicians.

Kouhei was feeling lightheaded now, but that was probably because of the blood loss. He should probably take out his phone and call the ambulance. There was no point bleeding out in this back alley. Goddammit, the pain was getting worse. He should put some pressure on the wound, stop the bleeding, check whether the bullet was left inside or whether there was an exit wound.

He was growing fidgety, trying to scurry about, thrashing his legs, but in the end it was of no use. All it did was make his once clean and crisp business suit extra dirty with grime and muck. His wife was gonna give him hell for that. And then it hit him, very much like the bullet which literally hit him a few moments ago and with a shaky breath he croaked out:

"Oh, that's right," It hurt, worse than the bullet perhaps. "My wife left me."


[1] Kouhei Imamura is a character from the anime/manga 'Grand Blue'


Author's Note: Welcome to: "I Am Spider-Man"

Basically, this is my attempt to write a story in which Hikigaya Hachiman becomes the wall crawler, everybody's favourite web head. Now, I am writing another Spider-Man fic in my other account called 'The Solitary Spider-Man', but that's gonna be its own separate thing and you don't need to check it out, if you want.

Now the question arises why the hell am I suddenly writing fics where I turn anime characters into Marvel Superheroes? Well, the answer is simple really. You see in superhero comics they feature multiple characters and have crossovers without so much as blinking an eye and it all feels really natural and I want to study how they do it. Because, let's face it, my own crossover fics, 'The Ikebukuro Series' is not really doing well now. The last chapter of "A Bohemian Hikigaya's Rhapsody" only got one review. So, I want to figure out how the Marvel comics do it, learn from their process and get better, so that I can go back to writing my Ikebukuro Series and other crossover/shared universe/cities fics.

Now before we get to the polls, I want to remind you guys that the options you pick will affect the story in the long run. In fact, it will effect just how many fics I write in the 'Marvel Series'. Also, this will be a huge crossover, so expect a ton of characters from other series to pop up and be included in the story and the long journey of Hikigaya's Spider-Man run.

As such, after every option, I will give a reason on why I picked this character to play this role. I think it's only fair that you guys get a glimpse into my head, of my logic, my reasoning, my train of thought.

And if you have a better idea in your head, then please let me know in the reviews or reach out to me through PMs. I really want to discuss this story with you guys as I go.

Now without further ado, it's time for the polls:


Explanations:

[Q: Why should 'Smoker' be 'J. Jonah Jameson'?]

[A: Because the way I see it, the way 'Smoker' feels about 'Mugiwara/Strawhat Luffy' is as close as I can get to the animosity between J. Jonah Jameson and Spider-Man. But while 'Smoker' follows his own justice and will join the Strawhats to save innocents, it doesn't change the fact that he is a marine and they are pirates and he will have to arrest them one day.

J. Jonah Jameson is nothing like that. But on the other hand Jameson's hatred of Spider-Man comes from his general distrust of superheroes and superhumans, as he believes them to be irresponsible and untrustworthy. He also hates Spider-Man because he believes his antics overshadows the work of real heroes like astronauts, public servants, soldiers, firefighters, police officers.

Now this gels with how my characterization of Smoker is gonna be. The reason Smoker hates Pirates in the manga is gonna be the reason Smoker hates Spider-Man and other costumed vigilantes in this fic.

Other bonus attributes include: He smokes, he has white hair, he is old according to anime standards. Also he is gruff and obstinate and has cool hair which sticks up.

Plus, he's a top shonen character and there's no way I can write a fic which has him in a leading role, so he has to play a supporting character.

If you don't want 'Smoker' to play the role of 'J. Jonah Jameson', I could see him taking on the role of Kraven the Hunter. Hell, in the manga he has the title of 'Smoker the White Hunter'.

Trust me, it will be an interesting dynamic between Smoker, Hikigaya and Spider-Man.]

[Q: Why Should 'Kogoro Mouri' be 'J. Jonah Jameson'?]

[A: Well first off, it's because he has a moustache. The moustache is a very big part of J. Jonah Jameson's character. And he also smokes. In fact, one of his nicknames is 'Smoking Kogoro'. Kogoro also has an overinflated sense of his own importance, a big ego, he is blunt and sarcastic with people. But what really sells it for me is how he is lax with his deductions and investigations, following only the most obvious clues or assumptions which are often silly and outlandish and falls right into the culprit's trap.

I think this is perfect for J. Jonah Jameson. Jameson is a bad tempered, bossy, demanding, loud and bitter old man. Kogoro can easily play that. Just picture him without his fame and fortune and drunk. Also, another reason I want Kogoro to be Jameson is because, like Jameson he can draw the wrong conclusion all the time and make Spider-Man turn out to be the villain. It will be really comedic.

Plus he also has a family: Eri Kisaki, wife. Ran Mouri, daughter. Shinichi Kudo, son-in-law. Those will come in handy in the future, trust me.

Again, he is a big time shonen character and I doubt I will be doing a Detective Conan/Case Closed fic in this series, because I don't think there is a detective superhero character in Marvel comics. As such, this will be the only way these characters show up in this fic.]

Now it's time to decide –


Poll#1: Who should play "J. Jonah Jameson"?

Option 1: Smoker – One Piece.

Option 2: Kogoro Mouri – Detective Conan.

Additional Choices:

Option A: Jotaro Kujo – Jojo's Bizarre Adventures [Reasons: Name starts with 'J'. Related to 'Joseph Joestar' who could marry Hikigaya's version of 'Aunt May'. Also The Joestars have lots of family which can be of use. Note: If not 'J. Jonah Jameson', I'm thinking about making The Joestars, either the superhero 'Black Panther', or the super villain 'Black Tarantula']

Option B: Arataka Reigen – Mob Psycho 100 [Reasons: Manipulative. Also, he is a fake. He could easily slander Spider-Man for money. But deep down, he is a good guy.]

Option C: Shizuo Hiewajima – Durarara! [Reasons: Hot-headed. Picture him yelling 'Spider-Maaaan' instead of 'Izaaaaya' and you will get the picture. Also, he has a brother which might come in handy in the future. Plus, there's Izaya Orihara, who buys the Bugle in the future.]

Option D: Shigure Sohma – Fruits Basket [Reasons: Writer. Mischievous. Manipulative. Don't picture him shouting about Spider-Man. But picture Kyo Sohma turning into the Man-Wolf. Or Shigure playing matchmaker and fixing up a date, followed by marriage between Hatori Sohma and Hikigaya' Aunt May.]


Okay. Now onto the next poll.

Now look, I know I have taken a lot of time on the first poll, so I promise, I will keep the other one's short. In the future when I get to them and cover each chapter accordingly, I will go into more detail and give my own reasons just like how I did above.

But for now, I will just give you a list of names and pose a question –


Poll#2: Who Should Play The 'Spider-Mugger'?

Option 1: Isaac Dian – Baccano!

Option 2: Makoto Edamura – Great Pretender.

Option 3: Ren Amamiya – Persona 5

Option 4: Jazz M. Andro – Welcome to Demon School, Iruma!

Option 5: Anime Character from the reviews.


Poll#3: Who Should Play 'Aunt May'?

Option 1: Yor Forger – Spy x Family.

Option 2: Yasuko Takasu – Toradora.

Option 3: Sachiko Fujinuma – Erased.

Option 4: Hanako Koyanagi – Wotakoi.

Option 5: Anime Character from the reviews.


Poll#4: Who Should Play 'Harry Osborn'?

Option 1: Shinji Ikari – Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Option 2: Kodaka Hasegawa – Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends.

Option 3: Yuzuru Otonashi – Angel Beats!

Option 4: Ryuuji Takasu – Toradora!

Option 5: Anime Character From The Reviews?


Poll#5: Who Should Play 'Mister Negative'?

Option 1: Tatsu – The Way of the House Husband.

Option 2: Mr. Chang – Black Lagoon.

Option 3: Megumi Fushiguro – Jujutsu Kaisen.

Option 4: Shikamaru Nara – Naruto.

Option 5: Anime Character From The Reviews.


Please pick accordingly.


Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.

Leave lots and lots of reviews, follow and fave.

Won't betray your dreams.


P.S.: I'm really hoping this chapter crosses the 10 review mark. Let's see how it goes.


Question: Who Should Play 'Daredevil/Matt Murdock' in this universe? Before you answer, please think of who will also play, 'Elektra' and 'Black Widow' because these girls will play an integral part in this story.

Take care.