Prologue: Fight or Flight…Sorry About This…
"My name is Michael Westen, I used to be a spy until…We got a burn notice on you, you're blacklisted…Michael whistles…When you're burned, you've got nothing. No cash, no credit, no job history. You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in…Where am I? Miami. You do whatever work comes your way. You rely on anyone who's still talking to you. A trigger-happy ex-girlfriend…Shall we shoot them? An old friend who's informing on you to the F.B.I.…You know spies, bunch of bitchy little girls…Family too…Hey, is that you're mom again? IF you're desperate…Someone needs your help, Michael. Bottom Line: Until you figure out who burned you, you're not going anywhere." Burn Notice opening, beginning half of season one.
It was a strangely cool afternoon in Miami. The setting sun had just started to dip into the horizon. A slight breeze was blowing. And, at the Golden Meadows cemetery, it was strangely calm around the plot for Frank Westen. A middle aged man in a tan business suit with the dress shirt collar opened stood in front of the grave.
"'Beloved' is a bit of a stretch" The man said.
On the tombstone was 'Frank WESTEN 1939-1998 Beloved Husband and Father'.
The man was crumbling up a piece of old paper and was about to throw it away before he unfurled it a little and put it in his pocket.
He turned his head back down to the grave and said, "Thanks for the car dad. I think you'll like how it looks."
The man looked back up and saw a balding Egyptian man in a black suit carrying a manila envelope under his arm. The man looked around for anything suspicious before turning his head back to Michael and asking, "We meet here?"
"You wanted someplace safe. It's quiet, lots of cover, two men in business suits don't raise a lot of eyebrows." The first man said to the Egyptian.
The first man then smirked and said, "You should have more meetings outside, Thabet. Get some color."
"You were always good, Michael. It's a shame you're out." Thabet said to the man in the tan business suit.
"I'm gonna get back in." Michael said back to Thabet.
Thabet just shrugged and reached for the manila envelope under his arm.
"I've enjoyed our friendship…but-" Thabet said before Michael interrupted.
"But don't ever call you ever again…I get it." Michael ended before taking the envelope out of Thabet's hand.
Michael was just starting to open the envelope as Thabet turned to leave. Thabet turned back to him and said, "Michael…Be careful."
Michael nodded to Thabet and the balding Egyptian turned to go. Michael looked back down to the envelope, opened it and saw the words that were inside.
The envelope contained the entire Homeland Security directive that ordered his burn notice. There was a bunch of letters and numbers in code form and the name of the program that had him burned: COLD SUNSHINE
An alphanumeric tracking code and a special access program code name. It's not much…but it's a start.
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Michael was just about to leave the cemetery when he noticed a big oriental man sitting near a campfire and a few wooden flats lying underneath the man.
Normally, a person sitting on the beach doesn't attract much; even when they are sitting on three or four wooden flats used for heavy groceries. But when you think you hear starving cats underneath the flats, the warning signs in the back of your mind start sending off signals.
Michael walked over to the man and, doing his best imitation of a disinterested person, asked the big oriental man, "So, watcha doin' there?"
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A few minutes earlier…
Genma Saotome was nearing his wits end trying to teach his son the Neko-ken. He thought the sands of Miami in the United States would be a perfect place to teach his son the Neko-ken. But apparently, his worthless son didn't want to become a 'man among men' and wanted to be a weakling girl.
He took a long swig of sake before looking down at his son and said, "Now this time, boy, you will learn the Neko-ken or else you won't be comin' up from that PIT!"
The little boy, his face filled with terror and unable to move due to the chains wrapped around his body and covered with fish products, asked in a scared voice, "Why?"
Genma sneered and picked up the boy. In one swift motion he pulled up the flats, threw the boy into the pit and slammed the flats back down before sitting on them. He was now not only drunk, but angry that his son would ask questions about why he was sacrificing to the Art.
Genma was almost in dreamland about what his son would accomplish before a voice behind him asked, "So, watcha doin' there?"
Genma turned his head around and said in a proud slur, "I'm teachen' my son how to be the best Martial Artist in the world by teachen' him the ultimate technique: the Neko-ken!"
After that drunken boast, he passed-out into drunken bliss…dreams of endless food and money dancing in his head.
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Michael looked down at the now drunk man. He now noticed that there were not only cats now screaming down under the flats but a child's voice was screaming from under there.
If there's one thing that you have to remember about moving a drunk that looks like he weighs about the same as an elephant, it's that leverage and gravity are your friends. If it looks heavy enough, you just have to find the right lever to tip the guy over.
Michael looked around the campsite quickly and noticed there was a broken stool with one of the legs sitting next to it. He grabbed the leg/makeshift lever and stuck it under the first flat. As it tipped over, the drunken martial artist slept still unaware of his immediate fall.
Michael then moved the other flats and was shocked at what he saw. He found a 5 foot deep pit filled with cats that looked like they were starved and insane and a five year old boy wrapped up and chains and tuna. A few of the cats were on top of the boy, trying to get to the fish by biting and clawing the boy.
Torture is a double-edged sword: It can get you what you want, but it can also drive the one you are torturing irreparably insane. That's why some people think that children are the best targets to teach this to. If they know what could happen if they fail something, they will get hurt pretty bad.
Michael dropped down into the pit and started throwing the cats off to get to the boy.
You also have to know when to back off the torturing. Apply too much and the person you are applying it to will tell you anything to get the pain to stop. Again, people demonstrate this to children to make them do what their told. The only problem with teaching something like this to children is that their young minds can only take so much before they utterly snap.
Michael got the last cat off the boy before noticing that all the cats had backed up. Michael turned around just in time to miss a clawed hand heading for his face.
Dealing with someone who's just nosedived past the line of sanity and is fighting anything and everything is not as bad as it sounds. You just have to control where they go and make sure that you wait for them to drop anything that they are using as a weapon…if they are using a weapon that is.
The boy growled like one of the cats in the pit and started to attack anything that was in his way: Michael, the cats, anything that was deemed a threat. The boy's ki claws had glowed green before they started after the cats. Michael, not really understanding but wanting to get the kid out none the less, ducked the boy as jumped into the cats. Midway into the leap, Michael snagged the kid out of the air and started to climb up the pit with the remains of the chains that were wrapped around the boy. The kid continued to struggle as Michael climbed out of the pit.
It was then that the boy's father woke up and noticed that Michael held his now Neko son in his arms.
"Hey, wait a minute!" The man shouted before Michael straight out punched him in the face.
Escaping from a drunken father is just like escaping from a guard: Run hard and fast enough and they won't know where to find you. Of course punching the guy before you run gives you a few seconds of a head start.
Michael and the now worn out boy were inside his refurbished Charger.
"Kid, just don't make a mess in the car or tear it up," Michael said softly as he got his seatbelt on and floored the accelerator.
Looking up at the mirror and not seeing anyone, Michael looked back down at the sleeping boy and said, "Sorry about this."
Burn Notice 1/2
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That's the prologue, hope you like it. Tell me what you think by pressing the magic blue/grey button.
RANMA 1/2 AND BURN NOTICE DO NOT BELONG TO ME.