                                Web Of Ranma

Disclaimer: Spider-Man and Ranma Saotome belong to Stan Lee and Rumiko
Takahashi. Excelsior!

< >: Thoughts

** **: Author's opinion

[ ]: Panda signs

                                  Chapter 2

                   With Great Power... Comes Great Chaos!

"What? Fianc?" Akane gasped in disbelief after her father had told her and
her sisters of the pact to unite the Anything Goes.

"Yes, he is the son of a very dear old friend of mine. His name is Ranma
Saotome." Soun replied while maintaining a solemn look.

"What's he like?" Nabiki asked with some interest. "Is he cute?" It was not
like the middle daughter was desperate or anything, but after Kuno had sent
all the other boys at school after Akane, Friday and Saturday nights had
been getting a bit lonely.

Kasumi then asked a question. "IS he older than me? Younger men are so...
young."

Soun chuckled a bit as he told them that he didn't know. This got Akane's
temper to start boiling. Boys were nothing but jerks and only wanted to get
into her panties! Now she may be forced into an engagement with some boy she
hadn't even met. Why couldn't they be like Dr. Tofu?

It was at that time that they heard someone knock at the door.

----------

Ranma sighed as he followed his panda father to the Tendo's front door. This
was going to be a tricky subject as the teenager wasn't looking forward to
this meeting. After finding out about his father's other crimes and
engagements to feed his stomach, Ranma had been getting certain bad vibes
from his spider sense about this one. It was especially compounded with the
fact that his father actually wanted to keep this arrangement. Ranma had the
distinct feeling that nothing good was going to come from this, but then
again, very few ideas from Genma were ever good. However, since he had
nowhere else to go, he had to at least see this through.

Unknown to Genma, Ranma had been building up more independence along with
his spider-powers during his secret training sessions. In reality, Ranma
knew more about the facts of life than he let on. Along with the extra
training, Ranma had also snuck into nearby towns whenever they were out
camping to escape from the law. He had found that his spider-powers were
excellent for evading detection and his excursions into urban areas was
perfect stealth training. He had gotten a hold of magazines and other
such... ahem, reading material, so Ranma knew all about the... birds and the
bees. In addition to the extra education, he had also been eating better,
and had gained a few more inches in height. He wasn't overly concerned with
just learning martial arts any more, as his arachnid abilities made any
training Genma put him through seem too easy, so now he began to concentrate
on other pursuits. During the day, he would pretend to struggle through the
training, but at night, he was free to do what he wanted and learn things
that he never knew. His parent had purposely neglected his social education
to make him more dependant on others, especially him, but with his increased
power and extra knowledge, Ranma had the option of defying his father if it
really came to it. Ranma had always maintained that if he truly wanted to
abandon Genma, there wasn't a single thing that stupid panda could do about
it. The only reason why he stayed with his no-good father was now out of a
sense of duty a son had to his father. However, that sense of duty had been
severely strained after finding out about Genma's many mistakes.

He looked back at Genma and frowned as the idiot hadn't even bothered to
find some hot water as he knocked on the door. "Good grief, Pop! At least
you could have CHANGED before leading me here!"
It was at that moment that Nabiki and Soun answered the door.

----------

Akane and Kasumi were startled to hear Nabiki cry out as she and their
father backpedaled into the dining room. Then a huge, rain-soaked panda
plodded into the room, followed by a lean, finely-toned teenager with
spider-powers.

The panda gave a shocked Soun a hug as he held up a sign. [Soun! It's good
to see you again!]

Soun was still in a state of shock as Kasumi looked up at the animal and
smiled. "Is this your old friend, Father? You certainly have some unusual
friends."

Soun frantically shook his head.

Ranma groaned as he pinched his nose and shook his head. "Pop! You're
scaring them spitless!" He then took a calming breath and addressed the
Tendo family. "Sorry about all this. Oh, by the way, I'm Ranma Saotome."

Nabiki grinned as she gave Ranma the once-over. "Ooh, he IS cute!"

It was at that moment that Ranma's spider-sense went off and he neatly
dodged the human sprinkler of Soun Tendo.

"WAAAAAAHHHHHH! I'M SO HAPPY THAT YOU'RE HERE!"

However, Soun's arms grasped only air as Ranma had somehow reappeared behind
him.

Nabiki was a bit shocked. Had she blinked? She had not even seen him move.

Ranma winced a bit as he realized that he moved a little too quickly. He
would have to be very careful in keeping his spider abilities under wraps.

----------

"Ahem, now then I would like to introduce you to my three daughters." Soun
said as he and his family sat opposite to Ranma and Genma. Ranma's father
had gotten a hold of some hot water, which amazed the family when he
transformed. He told them that he would later explain as Soun made the
introductions.

"This is my eldest daughter Kasumi, she's nineteen. My middle daughter
Nabiki, she's seventeen. My youngest daughter Akane, she's sixteen. Pick any
one you want and she'll become your new fiance."

Ranma took a deep breath as he tried to figure out the best way to get out
of this mess. His nightly excursions had also given him some experience with
dealing with others and already his spider-sense was giving him a warning
buzz from Akane.

"You better not pick me." Akane grumbled as she openly glared at him.

Ranma paused for a moment and decided on a course of action. "Mr. Tendo,
before I answer, may I ask if this is absolutely necessary? I don't want to
force anyone into anything."
"It is a matter of honor!" Soun said as he gathered stoic dignity about him.

"Yes, boy, a matter of honor, so stop stalling and pick a girl!" Genma said
as he rallied next to his friend.

Ranma snorted a bit. "Honor eh? And I suppose that you were just going to
conveniently forget about those OTHER arrangements?"

Genma paled and laughed nervously as he whispered to his son. "Ranma! I
thought that was supposed to be our little secret!"

"I DON'T ever recall making that promise!" Ranma said out loud, not at all
attempting to hide his father's shame. He figured that if the Tendos knew
about Genma's dishonorable actions over the past decade, then they would
forget this arranged marriage nonsense.

"Other arrangements?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma shrugged as he replied. "Oh, didn't Pop tell you? I guess it must have
slipped his mind. <If he could ever claim to have a mind. > I have about a
dozen other fiances arranged by him to feed his fat stomach and you
wouldn't believe the stuff he traded my future for. He even sold me for one
measly fish, a bowl of rice and two pickles."

"SAOTOME!" It was then that Soun went into his Dreaded Demon Head Attack at
Genma.

----------

Ranma grumbled a bit as he went through a few practice katas in the dojo. He
couldn't believe that Soun was still insistent on this stupid engagement,
despite the fact that Genma admitted to all those crimes. However, when in a
bad situation, Genma employed his Crouch of the White Tiger and did some
fast talking. He had appealed to Soun's obsessive behavior and maintained
that he only did those things to keep him and his son from starving to death
and that since he made the pact with Soun before Ranma was born, that gave
the Tendo pact seniority. This had calmed the Tendo patriarch down and they
were back to pressuring Ranma to pick a fiance.

Ranma shook his head in disgust. <Yeah, right. If he wanted to keep us from
starving then he should have gotten a job! Honor, feh! What a couple of
hypocrites! >

----------

** For those of you who believe that Genma only did all those engagements to
keep Ranma and himself from starving, then I believe that's all a bunch of
baloney. Genma doesn't like to WORK for anything and is a lazy, greedy,
opportunistic individual, probably due to the training he underwent under
Happosai, and would do anything, even sell out his son's future to get
something without earning it. As I recall, he was more than willing to
engage Ranma to Kodachi when they had money troubles. He took Ukyo's family
yattai even after telling her father that Ranma was already promised, then
reversed it by saying, 'But aren't promises made to be broken?" Then there
was that time when Ranma was split into a girl and boy. In his own words,
"For male Ranma, I must make certain he marries Akane and take over the
Tendo Dojo. For female Ranma, I must find her a rich husband. YES! Then I'll
have it made in the shade!" There were other comments in the series that
show how very petty and materialistic he is, and even when he helps out
Ranma, it's always with an ulterior motive (remember that Dragon's Whisker?)
I truly believe that he only wants the Tendo arrangement the most because
that would ensure him of a luxurious retirement and that he's playing on
Soun's friendship and (let's face it), gullibility. But as I said before,
that's only my opinion. **

----------

Ranma had been given a reprieve when Kasumi had suggested that he get to
know them before making any decisions. That had bought him a little time,
but he was pretty sure that he couldn't keep stalling those two idiots for
long. He had to figure out a way out of this mess, and practicing by himself
helped relax him and focus.

Ranma's spider-sense then gave a short buzz to warn him that someone was
approaching the dojo. He turned to see Akane in her gi as she padded into
the training hall.

When she saw who was already there, her brow furrowed at this... BOY who was
now a guest in her home. She had thought to get in a workout to relieve the
stress and glared at the interloper who was in her family's dojo. Then she
decided to calm down and at least see if this Ranma was any decent martial
artist. He was supposed to have gone on a ten-year training trip so he
should be a good workout. She wasn't expecting him to be as good as her, of
course.

"If you want to use the dojo, then go ahead. I'm already done." Ranma said
as he wiped his brow and prepared to leave.

"Say Ranma, would like to have a little match? You study kempo, right?"
"Yeah." Ranma said slowly. He didn't like the hostility she showed to him
when they first met. He took a brief glance at her to assess her probable
skill and power level. <Second dan kempo. > That was a low level, too low
compared to him, even without spider-powers. With his arachnid abilities,
sparring with Akane wasn't even a half-decent warm-up. "But I really don't
feel like..."

"Just one quick match." Akane insisted as she got into a basic stance.

Ranma took a deep breath. He didn't like fighting girls, but as it was
apparent that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. In any case, she
was in his way to leaving the dojo, so he would have to go through her. "All
right, one fast bout." <I'd better keep my powers under control. >

Akane tensed up as she prepared to attack. She then launched into a fast
charge with a punch aimed at his head, but to Ranma, that was barely moving
at all. He easily dodged the punch and grabbed the front of her sleeve of
her extended arm. With one hand, he casually tossed her like a rag doll. In
an instant, Akane was sent flying across the dojo and landed hard on rear.

"OW!" Akane grimaced as she sat up and rubbed her sore posterior. She then
glared back up at Ranma, who gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged.

"Sorry about that. Sometimes I don't know my own strength." Ranma approached
her and offered a hand.

Akane gave an annoyed 'hmpf' as she swatted his hand away and got up. "Let's
try that again!" She said angrily as she took a stance and faced him.

"I really don't think..."

"Hiyah! WHAT THE...?!" Akane had tried an axe-kick to his face, but before
she knew it, her leg was grabbed and she was sent flying back across to the
other side. She landed on her belly this time and was a little dazed.

"I really think we should stop now." Ranma said. He was really trying to
restrain his abilities to Akane's level, but his spider-enhanced reflexes
were operating at too fast a pace for him to restricted his powers
effectively. He was also having a bit of a problem with his strength. Akane
weighed about under a hundred pounds or so, and he was tossing her about as
if she was a feather pillow. It was then that his spider-sense gave him
another buzz, signaling that he was being watched. He glanced at the
entrance and saw that Nabiki was watching the one-sided bout. She was just
opening her mouth to warn him, but that was just as his spider-sense gave
him another tingle.

"THIS TIME IT'S FOR REAL! WHOA!" Akane had tried to get him when he was
momentarily distracted, but Ranma didn't even look at her as he sidestepped
her charge and extended a foot. The trip sent Akane sprawling to the floor
and groaning in pain.

The spider-powered martial artist sighed as he knelt down at Akane and gave
her a smile. "Are you satisfied now?" He offered her his hand again.

Akane glared at him, then quickly got up and ran from the dojo. Ranma was
left standing with a slightly confused look on his face.

"Don't worry about it, Ranma. She'll be all right. You only just broke one
of the cardinal rules of this house."

"What do you mean?"

Nabiki smiled as she replied in a teasing tone. "Never let on that you're
better than Akane in the martial arts. She takes great pride in being the
best fighter in Nerima and you just blew that out of the water."

"Hey, I didn't even want to fight her in the first place and..."
"Hey, it's no big deal." Nabiki said while holding up a hand. "I think it
was about time that Akane saw that that she's not the best and there will
always be someone better." It wasn't that Nabiki was jealous of her sister's
popularity, but with all the attention she got from those hormonally-crazed
boys every morning, Nabiki and the rest of the girls at school had little to
no prospects for date proposals. The fact that Ranma was well-built, cute
and not interested in her violent maniac of a sister made him even more
intriguing. There was also the fact that he was skilled and seemed to have a
reasonable head on his shoulders.

The skills he had just displayed also got the middle Tendo daughter to
thinking. It looked as if he was holding back a lot of his abilities and he
moved so fast, he made Akane look as if she had been standing still. Then
there was that bit when he tripped her without even looking It was almost as
if he knew that she was going to attack. There was something about Ranma
that told her that he might have a few secrets and like the mercenary that
she was, Nabiki aimed to find out what they were.

Ranma considered Nabiki for a moment and decided that she might be good to
have for a friend. It had been a long time since he had a friend and she was
so far the only person besides Kasumi that had been nice to him since he
arrived. However, he made a note to be cautious as his spider-sense was
slightly tingling toward her. The strength of the reaction was nowhere near
as great as the one toward Akane, but it still warranted him to be wary.

----------

**A lot of people have said (including James 'Zen' Bateman), that Ranma only
fell for Akane since she was the only one that was nice to him when he
arrived as a girl in the original series. Of course, once she found out that
Ranma was actually a boy later on, she immediately went into her hatred
toward boys and things snowballed from there. Gregg Sharp had mentioned in
his opinions that if Ranma had come to the Tendo Dojo as a boy, then he
might be engaged to Nabiki. THIS time, he DID come in as a boy and fought
Akane as a boy, so one can guess that any chance for romance between them is
virtually nonexistent. In this case, it is Nabiki or Kasumi that might have
a chance. Naturally, Nabiki is nice to him as he may be a potential income
generator and perhaps a future fianc. **

----------

Akane sat in the hot waters of the bath to soothe the aches and bruises she
received during her match with Ranma. She felt as if she was going to cry.
She had spent more than five long years training by herself and thought
herself as the premier martial artist in Nerima. She had beaten up hordes of
boys every morning and even downed that pompous jerk Kuno. Now her status of
best fighter was shattered in less than two minutes by that... BOY!

<How could he have beaten me so easily? I'm supposed to be the best! That
jerk cheated! I wasn't ready! >

Akane continued to fume about her defeat and tried to convince herself that
Ranma's victory had been nothing more than a fluke. She silently promised to
herself that the next time they fought, she'd show him what a TRUE martial
artist was capable of.

Of course, what she didn't know that even a 'true' martial artist was as
nothing compared to one with spider powers.

----------

The very next morning...

Nabiki smiled as she watched Ranma and his father spar in the backyard over
the koi pond. She was quite impressed at how they were able to temporarily
defy gravity as they leapt about in the air to trade blows. However, she was
a bit puzzled as to Ranma's performance. Last night she had seen him flip
Akane like a flapjack without any effort, but he seemed to be struggling a
bit to keep up with Genma. Now granted, Genma was probably better than Akane
with a lifetime of training under his belt, but the middle daughter had seen
Ranma move with uncanny speed and precision. Now his movements were...
slower and less refined. Genma was actually landing a few blows.

Nabiki wasn't a martial artist, but she was well-known for her keen powers
of observation. Something was up and though Ranma's father had very poor
skills of perception, the middle Tendo sister had begun to catch on. Ranma
was holding back... a LOT!

"Ranma! You're getting sloppy!" Genma cried out as yet another blow got
through his son's 'defense' and slammed into his gut.

Ranma made a little show of feeling the hit, but in actuality, even Genma's
strongest blows felt like being hit by marshmallows due to his
spider-strength. He made a somewhat sloppy-looking flip and landed at the
edge of the koi pond, just as Genma dived down at him to finish the job.

Ranma decided that now was the time to end the session as he slowed down his
reactions enough to just barely duck under Genma's kick. The fat martial
artist couldn't change his trajectory in time and...

SPLASH!

"Growf!"

"What's that Pop?" Ranma smirked as he looked down at his transformed
parent. "Who's being sloppy now? I guess I win this match." Ranma chuckled
as he walked inside for breakfast.

In the dining room, Kasumi looked at the panda and said, "Oh dear, I suppose
that Mr. Saotome may want something else for breakfast." She then promptly
slammed down a huge platter of bamboo on the table.

----------

"School?" Ranma said as Nabiki being handed him a book bag.

"That's right Ranma. You're going to the same school as Akane and me."
"Just stay away from me today! I don't know you!" Akane gritted as she
stomped off to school.

"Well, I guess you'll have to walk with me today.' Nabiki remarked as she
led Ranma out the door. She liked the idea of the other girls seeing her
walking beside a very cute boy.

"Well... okay, I guess." Ranma said as he followed her.

----------

"What the heck is this all about?" Ranma asked as he and Nabiki approached
the school gates and saw Akane besieged by a horde of hormonally-crazed boys
with various sports equipment.

"Oh pay it no mind." Nabiki said as she took Ranma's arm and snuggled close.
"Akane does this every day. Let's get going before we're late shall we?"

Ranma became extremely nervous as Nabiki took his arm. What the heck was she
doing?

As the two maneuvered their way around the battered bodies of Akane's
admirers, their path was then blocked by a certain kendoist in samurai garb,
who was just stepping out from behind the tree as Akane was polishing off
the last of her fan club.

"Oh, hello Kuno baby." Nabiki greeted with false respect.

"Good day to you, Nabiki Tendo." Kuno said with a pompous air, then looked
at Ranma. "And who might this commoner be that you cling to?"

Nabiki smiled as she saw that she had caught the attention of several of the
female students who were watching from the windows of the second floor. "Oh
this is Ranma Saotome, our new houseguest and..."

This was all Kuno needed or wanted to hear. "Staying at the Tendo home?!
Under the same roof as the beauteous Akane?! I forbid it!"

Kuno flashed forward with his wooden sword, but compared to Ranma's reflexes
and spider-sense, that was at a snail's pace. Ranma pushed Nabiki to safety
as he leapt back to get some fighting room.

This caught everyone's attention, especially Akane who had been expecting
Kuno to show up with his usual poetry and other nonsense. She began to fume
for Ranma getting involved in her fight as he was facing off against Kuno.
She was hoping that Ranma got pounded. That'll teach him for sticking his
nose into her business!

Nearby, Nabiki groaned on her rear on the ground as she watched Ranma take a
stance. She mentally slapped her forehead for being so careless. It was just
that when she arrived with a boy on her arm, she felt a certain pride and...
well, that was all shot to hell.

Ranma however, was not going to be an easy target. He made a lazy flip and
landed in a stance. "I don't know what's going here but if you want a fight,
then I'm ready to go! I'm..."
"Wait!" Kuno interrupted as he took a dramatic pose. "Is it not customary to
give one's own name first? Very well then! Mine I will give!" He then puffed
out his chest and gestured with his bokken. "I am the undefeated captain of
this school's Kendo Club! The rising new star of the High School Fencing
World. My Peers call me the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Lightning pealed
off in the distance as he raised his sword to the heavens. "Tatewaki Kuno,
age seventeen."

<Blowhard! > Ranma had already heard enough as he readied to take out this
chump in five seconds. He looked up at the clock and saw that he had less
than a minute before the late bell would ring.

"Whatever, idiot. Let's get this over with fast. I don't wanna be late for
my first day of class."
"Have at thee.... URK!"

WHAM!

Ranma was already inside of Kuno's strike and had slammed a fist to his gut.
Kuno trembled a bit as he was doubled over and the bokken slipped out of his
hands to clatter to the ground. Ranma then stood up and said to him, "It's
all over Kuno."
"You will address me as upper... errk!" Kuno then fell flat on his face and
was out like a light.

Ranma frowned as he looked down at his fist. <Damn! I hit him too hard! Also
moved too fast!>

The students who had observed the exchange were flabbergasted.

"Wow! He took out Kuno with one shot!"

"Did you see him move?"

"That was awesome!"

"Guess Akane isn't the only person who can take on Kuno!"

"He's as good as she is!"
"No he's better!"

"He's cute!"

Down below on the schoolyard, Ranma then gave Nabiki a helping hand to her
feet.

"Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah... I'm fine, but how did you do that?"

"Do what?" Ranma then looked back at Kuno's prone form and then shrugged.
"Aw, it was nothing."
"Nothing? Akane takes a lot longer to beat Kuno and he's supposed to be the
best fighter besides her! She beats him every day!"
"Nah." Ranma said with an off-handed wave. "Kuno only thinks that he's that
good, but he's really not much. I'll admit that he's faster and more skilled
than Akane, but if she really beats him every day, then he probably lets her
win. Come on, we've got to get to class."

It was then that the late bell rang.

"Aw nuts!" Ranma commented as he and Nabiki walked into the building,
leaving Kuno and Akane in the schoolyard.

Akane's temper went up several more notches after she had heard the comments
Ranma had made. How dare that... BOY presume that Kuno had been letting her
win! She was a martial artist and won all her fights fairly. Grrr! She'll
teach him not underestimate her, just wait and see!

----------

"Class, we have a new student here at Furinkan High. His name is Ranma
Saotome and he's just in from China. However, that doesn't excuse the fact
that he came in late.' The teacher turned to face him. "You will stand out
in the hall with Akane Tendo."

Ranma nodded as he grabbed two buckets.

----------

"This all your fault!" Akane said as she stood outside with two heavy
buckets of water.

"Not my fault you didn't go in before the bell rang." Ranma said
nonchalantly.

"Shut up! It was because of you that I came in late!"

"Whatever." Ranma was in no mood for arguments and decided to change the
subject. "So Nabiki told me that you go through that you go through that mob
every day."

"It's all that stupid Kuno's fault! He went around and told everyone in
school that any boy that wanted to date me had to beat me first!" Akane spat
out angrily. "And every day, I beat them all and Kuno."

"Well, from what I saw, it looks like they go easy on you. And I have a
hunch that Kuno is just letting you win." Ranma said with a shrug.

"Hmpf! Don't you underestimate me, just because I'm a girl!" Akane said as
she turned to face him. It looked as if she ready to throw the water at him.
"Maybe you should try fighting me for real some time!"
Ranma shrugged as his spider-sense had already begun warning him. "I thought
that you were fighting me for real last night. If that's your best, then I
KNOW that Kuno was holding back." Unfortunately for Ranma, he still needed
to learn more tact as he still had a problem of saying what was on his mind,
regardless of the content of his words.

Akane growled as she prepared to attack him with the water in her bucket.
However, someone beat her to it as something splashed toward him. Ranma's
spider-sense went off and he nimbly dodged the intended attack.

"Never, Ranma Saotome!"
Ranma frowned as he saw Kuno with his bokken. "What do you want Kuno?"

"I will never accept your intended engagement to the beauteous Akane Tendo!"
Ranma winced as he angrily retorted. "What engagement? I'm not engaged to
anybody!"
"Liar!" Kuno shouted as he slashed at him, but Ranma easily dodged the
strike. "Nabiki Tendo had already informed me that you are to wed one of the
Tendo girls and I shall not allow you to touch the skin of my intended bride
with your filthy hands!"

----------

Flashback...

"What?! Fianc?!"

"Well, actually he's..." Nabiki began to explain.

"I WILL NOT ALLOW IT! SAOTOME YOU FIEND!" Kuno raced out of the classroom to
rescue his fierce flower.

<... hasn't decided yet if he even wants the engagement and hasn't chosen
anyone yet. Honestly Kuno, you and Akane were made for each other. Stuff
goes in through one ear and out the other. > Nabiki shook her head and
sighed.

----------

End of Flashback...

Ranma easily dodged the strikes with no effort whatsoever.

"What's your problem Kuno?"
"I shall not allow this travesty to continue! Release my intended, foul
sorcerer!"

"I TOLD YOU BEFORE, I'M NOT ENGAGED TO ANYBODY!"

Unfortunately, this caused the gossip system to initiate as the classrooms
suddenly opened up and crowds of students instantly appeared.

"Ooh! Akane's engaged!"
"No fair! She's always getting the boys!"
"When's the wedding?"
I thought she was... you know? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Ranma sighed as he saw this situation go from bad to worse. He then decided
to take the fight outside and gestured for Kuno to follow.

"You think you can escape me? I follow!"

"Whatever Kuno. Here's the exit." Ranma then jumped out the window, followed
by Kuno.

"Wait this is the third floor!"

----------

For a trained martial artist, landing safely from a thirty-foot drop was
difficult, but possible. For a martial artist with spider-powers, that was
akin to simply hopping off a short ledge. Kuno however was a kendoist and
therefore had only one comment when he saw the ground below.

"ACK!"

Luckily for him, there was a pool below, but he made a tremendous belly
flop. As for Ranma, he simply twisted a bit to make certain he was upright
and easily made a safe landing. He then waved back up at the astonished
students above him.

"Akane, you're a martial artist, right?" Yuka asked the youngest Tendo girl.

Akane nodded silently.

"Can you do that?"

Akane could only shake her head.

Ranma sighed in relief as he looked to where Kuno was floating unconscious
and decided to haul him out before he drowned. He grabbed a nearby life
preserver and used it to fish him out. Just as he dumped Kuno
unceremoniously onto the side, his spider sense turned on full volume.

That was when the school fire alarm rang out and an explosion was heard in
the back of the building.

----------

A few minutes ago...

"Shogo, are you sure that this is going to work?"

"Trust me. With these chemicals, we'll be able to slow Akane down so that we
cane defeat her and then... ahhhhh!" The leader of the Chem Club said as he
mixed some liquids together. "Kuno said that Akane had to be defeated, but
he didn't state how."
"Be careful! If you mix those chemicals in the wrong proportion then you'll
cause an explosion!" Ryo said.
"I know what I'm doing!" Shogo said as he added three drops of one liquid to
a beaker of another.

KABOOM!

----------

Unfortunately, the formula for Shogo's knockout drugs had called for TWO
drops and he had added one drop too many. The resulting explosion had set
off the nearby waste bin and chemical storage units. The fire began to
spread and soon the entire chemistry lab was aflame. The two students
managed to get out, but it was too late to do anything but pull the fire
alarm.

----------

A state of panic ensured as the students began heading toward the fire
exits. In the confusion, Ranma managed to slip away from the scene head and
leap to the top of the school building to see what was going on. He then saw
that a section of the school was blazing out of control. After checking to
see if anyone was watching him, he silently made his way down the side of
the wall, using his unique wall-crawling ability. He was about fifty-feet
above the ground when he saw the chemistry teacher talking frantically to
the vie-principal.

"When will the fire department be here?" The chem teacher asked.

"In about ten minutes." The vice-principal replied.

"That's no good! The fire is going to reach the main chemical storage rooms
in seconds! The main sprinkler systems aren't working and if those flames
reach those chemicals, they'll set off the gas mains beneath the school and
blow us all sky-high!"
That was all Ranma needed to hear as he crawled back up toward the roof and
ran to where the chemistry labs were located. He had to stop that fire but
how? He then reached into the back pocket of his school uniform and pulled
out the makeshift mask that he had made the day before and put it on. He
then pulled up his sleeves to expose his spinnerets and then went into
action.

----------

"Look up there!" A student cried out as the crowds pushed and shoved to get
out of the danger area.

Many boys and girls looked up and gasped as they saw an unidentified person
with a red mask and dressed in a school uniform run across the side of the
building toward the burning chem. lab.

"Who or what is that?"

"Is that the Spider-Man?"

KABOOM!

An explosion then blew out a section of wall and the rubble tumbled down
toward the students below. The boys and girls screamed as they tried to duck
for cover, but they could not all get to safety in time. Luckily for them, a
guardian angel was looking after them. In this case, it was their guardian
Spider-Man.

THWIP!

Ranma let loose with a wide spray of webbing which formed a wide net,
catching the chunks of debris before they could fall on innocent bystanders.
Ranma braced himself and focused his adhering power to his feet. The surface
that he was planted on strained, but held as he suspended up a ton of
concrete long enough for the people to get out of the way. Once they were
clear, he let the mass drop and and then scrambled across the wall to deal
with the chemicals inside. In a flash, he was inside the burning building
and racing down the halls toward the main storage area that they used to
hold their stock chemicals. He didn't know what to look for but assumed that
any warning labels or caution signs would be what to look for.

He found the correct room and saw that the flames were about to engulf some
large storage bins that were labeled highly combustible. Spotting a nearby
fire extinguisher, he ran toward it and then a minute later, was dousing the
bins with CO2 foam. However, when the extinguisher ran out, Ranma saw that
the bins were still burning and the intense heat was liable to cause an
explosion any minute. Ranma decided that the only way to save Furinkan was
to contain the resulting explosion. Ranma threw away the extinguisher and
began pulling out sections of wall and any other debris with his superhuman
strength. He began piling more and more rubble on top of the bins, creating
a multi-ton mound. He then added extra insurance by covering the pile with
as much webbing as he could. When his spider-sense went into overdrive, he
knew that he had about two seconds to get out. Spotting a nearby window, he
charged toward it and crashed through it.

That was when the bins exploded, causing the entire school to shudder.
However, the entire structure remained standing as the blast had been
muffled by Ranma's efforts. The crowds of students and teachers cheered as
they saw Spider-Man swing away on a web line after saving their school and
their lives. Sirens were heard coming near as the fire department and police
arrived on the scene.

To be continued?

Author's Notes

Well, that was fun and I suppose this story does have some possibilities.
Let me know if you want more of our web-swinging martial artist.
