Two Years Ago

"Hey, Jinpei, pass me that socket wrench, would you?"

"This one, Joe?" the boy asked, hurrying to pick up the requested item.

"Yeah, thanks."

Joe's head bent back to his task. He was fixing his car, and wanted to make sure that she purred like a kitten.

His car… He could still hardly believe it. Dr. Nambu had given the vehicle to him for his sixteenth birthday about six months ago…. the same car he had gone joyriding in all over the villa's grounds less than two years before.

Of course, a lot had happened, since those days.

A couple of months after Joe and Jun had been caught driving his old car, Dr. Nambu had hired a proper driving instructor to come to the villa each day. Jun and Joe both had learned to drive the hard way: in a rugged 4X4 vehicle that had bounced and lurched over rough and rocky ground. Under these conditions, control was paramount, and though their education had been painful, it had left them capable of manipulating a vehicle under the most adverse circumstances and terrains.

But it hadn't been enough.

Joe had wanted speed. He had wanted to race.

Jun had been getting antsy as well. She had enjoyed learned to drive larger vehicles, but her first love had always been motorcycles. Joe had known that she had been planning on testing out her nearly-completed, self-constructed motorcycle. Joe hadn't been entirely certain that the damn thing was safe, but some of his stubbornness had apparently rubbed off on Jun, and he had found himself unable to dissuade her from this idea.

Yet, it seemed that Dr. Nambu had noticed her determination as well, for Jun had been presented with a dirt bike, complete with crash helmet. After only minimal instruction, Jun had instantly been addicted to her new vehicle, and after that she had often been found tearing up the terrain of the villa's grounds on her bike.

It had been then that Dr. Nambu had given Joe his old car, along with whatever tools and parts he had wanted to use, in order to alter it to his tastes.

And then, six months ago, Joe had received the most incredible opportunity he had ever dreamed of.

He had been given a job as a member of a pit crew at the Utoland Raceway, thanks to some strings that Dr. Nambu had been able to pull.

Jun had expressed interest in a similar position, but instead, the Doctor had hired an instructor for her who specialized in demolitions. Joe hadn't quite been sure what these lessons had entailed, but the frequent controlled explosions that could be seen coming from various parts of the villa's grounds had occasionally made him wonder exactly what was going on.

Jun had also begun taking courses in computer programming and design, and soon her requests to work with Joe at the Raceway had ceased.

Joe had been assigned to work with ISO sponsored racer Stan Moore. Stan had still been relatively young, even for a racer, and he had taken an interest in Joe. While Jun had spent her spare hours dirt biking all over Dr. Nambu's property, Joe had spent his time learning how to make quick and dirty car repairs, perform them at lightning speed, and then prepare to do it all over again a few minutes later. He had also learned how to get the most out of a car engine, and had found a lot of inspiration for the alterations to what was now under the hood of his own car.

But the best experiences of all had been when he had gotten to drive those professional racecars himself.

At first, Stan had assigned Joe to do test laps before races, to determine if his pit crew's unorthodox repairs had worked out as intended. But the young professional racer saw something in Joe that others hadn't, and he had made the untried boy into something of a protégé, giving him driving tips and the opportunity to practice his technique whenever possible.

Of course, everyone at the track, including Stan, had though that Joe was at least sixteen years old, and that he already had his driver's license. Joe hadn't been about to dissuade them of that notion and reveal that he was barely fifteen. He had been tall for his age, and, thanks to his constant martial arts and gymnastics training, muscular, so he had easily passed for someone a few years older than he had actually been. Occasionally, Stan had hinted that Joe should enter an amateur race on his own, but Joe had always managed to turn the conversation away from that subject.

Needless to say, Joe had been itching to race a car himself ever since he had begun this internship, and the modifications he had later made to his car had been based on that desire. The entire engine had been torn apart and rebuilt using high-end parts, as well as Joe's mechanical instincts.

The first time Joe had driven the car legitimately had been immediately after Dr. Nambu had given it to him. The Doctor had handed over the keys, gotten into the passenger seat, and instructed Joe to drive to the local Department of Motor Vehicles office. Joe had passed his written and practical driving tests all on the same day, and had returned home to an ecstatic and admiring Jun and Jinpei, who had excitedly helped him celebrate by riding as his passengers as he had used his new vehicle to tear up and down the highway.

And only a few days after that, Joe had entered his first car race.

That first time he had raced, Joe had been so nervous that he had nearly thrown up. Still, he had looked to the bleachers, and the sight of Jun and Jinpei standing there, cheering him on, had been enough to get him over his anxiety. He had placed third on that particular occasion, which had been an astounding feat for a newcomer to the racing scene. Yet it had only been a start for Joe. He had tasted the thrills that racing had to offer, and he had wanted more.

It hadn't been too long before he had been racing as often as he could. No race had been too big or too small for Joe Asakura. Just the thrill of being behind the wheel had been enough.

And more often than not, he came in first.

That was the best feeling in the world.

A week ago, Jun had turned fifteen. Joe, Jinpei and Dr. Nambu had had a small birthday celebration at breakfast, with cake planned for dinner that evening.

But Joe had had a race.

He had been getting ready to leave, and the idea had popped into his head to invite Jun along as his 'guest'. He had never had an official 'guest' at one of his races before, and it was her birthday after all. Besides which, this was the most important race in which Joe had ever participated.

It was a charity event, where anyone who had enough money could enter. Joe's fees had been paid by Dr. Nambu, but he would be racing against wealthy men who drove fast cars as a hobby, other amateur car enthusiasts like himself… and professional racers.

It was the professional racers who drew the crowds, and Stan Moore had been encouraged to enter. Once his mentor had become involved, the stakes had gone up for Joe. He wanted Stan to be proud of him; proud that he had given Joe a chance.

That morning, as he had been preparing to leave, Joe had already been bursting with that pride. His offer to Jun to accompany him had been met with a delighted smile, and her obvious excitement had only stroked his sixteen year old ego further.

Rather than sitting in the stands, Joe had taken Jun down to the 'pit'. For him, this was actually a small stretch of dirt alongside the track. Proper pit space was given to the professionals. Joe's 'pit crew', such as they were, consisted of two gangly guys from the local high school whose main recommendation was that they liked cars and worked for free. They knew enough not to touch Joe's engine, and did an adequate job of filling his gas tank and checking his tires.

Jun had been very interested in everything they were doing, and Joe had been able to tell that the two boys had been immediately impressed. Soon the three had been talking about engine parts, and Joe had known that Jun would be fine.

It had been time to race.

As always, Joe had mentally prepared himself as he had been waiting at the starting line. Although he had won a number of races, they had been amateur contests, and so he had been positioned behind a group of professionals.

Professionals racing against him.

From the moment the race had started, Joe had taken off, fighting his way through the cars in front of him; desperate to reach that open space out front where he could really take off and satisfy his need to push his car as fast as it could go.

And amazingly, he had been able to do it. One by one, he had passed the other cars, until there had been only one more car in the lead.

Stan Moore's car.

A thrill had shot through Joe. Stan was his mentor. He was the one who had taught him all about professional driving, and had given Joe a chance. Joe had wanted to show Stan that he was worthy; that Stan's faith hadn't been misplaced.

Carefully, Joe had edged up on Stan's position, and in the final lap he had pulled alongside Stan, practically giddy with the thought of racing alongside his self-declared instructor. They had crossed the finish line together, with Stan's car just a hair ahead.

Or so Joe had thought.

It had been a 'photo finish'. Even as Joe had walked over and congratulated Stan, the video had been shown on the large screen at the raceway.

Joe had won.

At first, all Joe could do was stand and watch the replay on the video monitor over and over again, frozen in place, the reality of the situation slowly sinking in on him. He had beaten professional racers; won a professional race.

Joe Asakura was no longer an amateur.

A flood of humanity had washed over him, taking him up onto a platform and into the Winner's Circle. Something had been thrust into his hands, and Joe had looked down to see a golden trophy there. Still dazed, he had glanced down at the sea of smiling people, a surge of adrenaline coursing through him.

It had been the biggest high he could imagine.

At that moment, someone in the crowd had stood out. Jun had been standing at the edge of the platform, cheering wildly for him, her excitement at his win nearly tangible. Joe had reached down, grabbed her hand, and pulled her up onstage to stand next to him. Jun had grinned widely, jumping up and down and then wrapping her arms around him to give him a big hug. Joe's arm had slipped around her waist, the other still holding his first professional racing trophy. And then, just as the frenzy had been at its height, Jun had pressed her lips against his cheek.

Something had surged through Joe again, and this time, it hadn't been adrenaline. Suddenly, he had understood why his 'pit crew' had been so friendly to Jun.

And then the moment had been over. Jun had moved away as various race officials had come up to congratulate him, and Joe had found himself at the center of everyone's attention for the next couple of hours.

The only dark spot on the day had been that Stan had refused to speak with him after the race. Joe had instantly understood that he had ruined things between the two of them, and this had been confirmed when Stan had snubbed him at the racetrack in the following days.

Joe was on his own now.

But on that night of his first professional win, sitting at the dinner table and watching Jun smile at him over the candles on her birthday cake, Joe hadn't felt alone.

"Joe, can you help me with this?"

Joe turned to look at Jun, who was sitting on the floor next to her dirt bike. She had her hands stuck into the engine as she looked up at him for assistance.

"I want you to hold this, while I clear out these gears." she explained. "I need two sets of hands, but I'm afraid that if I ask Jinpei he'll chop one of his fingers off."

"I will not!" Jinpei pouted.

"Sure." Joe grinned, sitting down next to Jun. Over the past week, since his professional racing win, he had been a little awkward around Jun, yet at the same time, also more comfortable. He reached over, holding his hands where Jun directed him, and watched as she cleaned out the gears.

Dirt-biking was naturally not the cleanest sport, and Jun liked to test her skills in muddy areas of the villa's grounds. As a result, while her bike was now almost completely clean, Jun was far from it. Her shorts and t-shirt were liberally streaked with mud, and her legs were covered in dirt as well. A greasy smudge adorned her nose, which was slightly wrinkled as she concentrated intently on her task.

"Got it!" she smiled, moving back and wiping her hands on an already filthy rag. "Thanks, Joe!"

"No problem." Joe said, removing his hands and coming to a stand. He looked up, only to see someone standing in the doorway.

"Who…?" he said, his eyes resting on the young man's face. "Ken?"

Ken's appearance was entirely different from the way he had looked when he had left for Flight School. Gone was the old scruffiness and boyishness. Instead, this image had been replaced by a well-groomed young man in a white shirt and pristine jeans. An aura of maturity hung around him, and in comparison Joe suddenly felt as if he had been caught goofing off by an adult, even though he was actually a couple of months older than Ken.

"Ken…" Jun gasped, and Joe could tell that she was just as surprised as he was to see the young man there. "When did you…?"

"We graduated." Ken said, his face breaking into a grin. "Ryu and I finished our flight training…"

"Did he tell you he was top of the class?" Ryu snickered, barreling into the room behind Ken. "Just like his father."

"Ryu, it's not like that." Ken protested, but his eyes were laughing.

Unlike Ken, Ryu hadn't really changed, other than growing taller and perhaps a bit wider. He ran over to Jun, heedless of the dirt covering her, and grabbed her in a big bear hug.

"It's great to see you again, Junie!" he said, laughing as Jun hugged him back. And when Ryu let go of her, he came straight to Joe.

"It's good to see you too, Joe." Ryu said, holding out his hand. Joe looked over the now-dirtied young man and laughed, accepting the gesture in the spirit in which is had been offered.

"I'm glad you're back." he said simply.

And to his surprise, he was. Whatever anger or resentment Joe had felt toward Ryu had disappeared over the last eighteen months. Ken had been gone, and Joe had made a new life for himself in racing. He didn't need to compete with Ryu any more.

He had learned how to make it on his own.

Still, that didn't diminish his happiness to see Ken again. Moving around an exuberant Jinpei, Joe walked over to Ken, holding out his hand.

"I'm glad you're back too, Ken."

"Me too."

They grasped hands firmly, and in an instant Joe knew that the friendship they had once had still remained. The two men grinned at each other, and for a moment Ken lost the aura of maturity that had surrounded him from the instant he had stepped into the garage.

Jinpei bounced up and down, telling Ryu everything that had happened in the last year and a half as rapidly as he could. Ryu appeared to be fascinated.

Jun hung back from the scene, staring at Ken wide-eyed, not daring to approach him in her muddy state.

"It's good to see you again, Jun." Ken told her.

Suddenly Jun blushed, and she began staring down at her feet.

"You too, Ken." she mumbled.

"Ah, good, you've all found each other." Dr. Nambu said, stepping into the garage. "Joe, Jun, get yourselves cleaned up. We're going to have an early dinner to welcome back Ken and Ryu."

Everyone left the garage and headed back to their rooms, and within twenty minutes they were all seated around the dining room table, just as they had before Ken and Ryu had left.

Except this time, Joe wasn't on the outside.

Everyone talked a mile a minute, telling each other what they had been doing since Ken and Ryu had left, and expressing their happiness at being together again. Joe felt almost comforted by the atmosphere of togetherness, and he knew in his heart that this was the closest thing to a family he would ever have.

"And now," Dr. Nambu said, his serious tone catching everyone's attention, "I have an announcement to make."

Everyone turned to look at Nambu expectantly.

"You have all been training over the past eighteen months." the Doctor began. "Your skills have been sharpened, and you have developed your abilities to exceptional levels. But while we have been working, Galactor has been steadily growing more powerful. They threaten to strike out at peaceful nations, and that strike will come soon. As of now, your only responsibilities will be to train as the Science Ninja Team."

Everyone was silent. Of course, Dr. Nambu had told them about this almost two years ago, but somehow, in all of the excitement over learning to race, Joe had forgotten about the true reason why the Doctor had been so supportive of his skills.

"Next week, we are all going to move." Nambu told them. "You are being assigned living quarters at the ISO Building, and special training facilities have been set up for you there. Our scientists have been working on uniform and vehicle prototypes for all of you, and you will need to get used to them, familiarize yourself with…"

"Vehicles?" Joe's eyes lit up. "We get vehicles?"

"Yes." Nambu smiled. "There is a special car for you, Joe. Your racing acumen will be a valuable asset to the Science Ninja Team."

Joe was so elated by this response that he almost missed Jun's quiet question.

"What about Jinpei?"

Jinpei looked up at Dr. Nambu, his face pleading.

"I can do it!" he said solemnly. "I can be a part of the Science Ninja Team!"

"I agree." Nambu nodded. "You have progressed very far in the past couple of years, Jinpei, and I can see that you will only continue to improve as you get older. A uniform and vehicle are already waiting for you at the ISO Building."

The boy's buck-toothed grin nearly split his face in two.

A sense of excitement took hold of everyone. This was really happening! Strangely, Joe found that he no longer resented the idea of Jinpei being on the team, just as he was no longer bothered by Ryu's presence. Having had the chance to develop his own identity and his own skills had somehow made him more accepting of the need for companions with other areas of expertise.

The conversation flowed on well after Dr. Nambu had retired for the evening (taking a protesting Jinpei with him) and Joe was suddenly shocked to find himself still wide awake and sitting with Ken, Jun, and Ryu in the Recreation Room as his watch indicated that it was past midnight.

"Well, it sure sounds like you guys are good pilots." Joe smirked. "But I think I'll wait and see for myself."

"I could say the same about this driving of yours, Joe." Ken pointed out.

"I'm good." Joe smiled confidently, stretching back on the couch. "Just ask Jun. She was there when I won a professional race last weekend."

"Joe is a good driver." Jun admitted. "But I'm sure you're a wonderful pilot, Ken." She glanced down at her lap.

"Oh, please." Joe rolled his eyes. "You've never even seen him fly."

"Speaking of 'flying'…" Ryu grinned, looked about the room in an exaggeratedly surreptitious fashion, "I brought back something from school…"

"Ryu, you didn't!" Ken's face clearly showed his shock.

"Just a couple." Ryu grinned. "Enough to share."

"We're underage, Ryu." Ken told him sternly.

"So what?" Ryu laughed. "It's just a beer. Not enough to get us drunk."

"Beer?" Joe's eyes brightened. "You have beer?"

"I managed to sneak back four bottles." Ryu revealed. "I thought it would make a great welcome home party."

"Count me in!" Joe grinned.

"No, Joe." Ken lectured him. "The legal drinking age in Utoland is…"

Joe groaned as Ken launched into a speech about the rights and wrongs of underage drinking. This was the Ken he remembered: the stickler for the rules beyond all reason. Although Joe was amused to see that Ryu's reaction to Ken's uptight behavior was similar to his own.

"Fine." Joe said, cutting Ken off. "You can just run off to bed. Jun, Ryu, and I will…"

"I think Ken's right." Jun said quietly. Joe turned to look at her in shock.

"What?"

"Ken's right." Jun blushed. "We are underage, and we're in Dr. Nambu's home."

"So we'll go outside." Joe shrugged.

"No." Jun shook her head. "That's not going to solve anything, Joe. Ken is right."

Ken's smile was wide, and he was beaming smugly.

"See?" he gloated.

Joe was astounded. Jun always did whatever he asked her to. What was going on?

"Let's go, Jun." Ken declared, standing up and moving toward the door. "I, for one, don't want to be part of this delinquent behavior."

"Whatever you say, Ken." Jun said, jumping up and following Ken out the door.

Joe sat in utter shock for a moment. What the hell had just happened?

"Wow, she's got it bad." Ryu commented, standing up and walking out of the room. Joe followed.

"What?"

"Jun." Ryu shrugged. "Can't blame her though. Most of the girls at school were the same way."

"What way?"

"Falling all over Ken." Ryu rolled his eyes. "Can you believe the guy is so dense he doesn't even notice these things? All he has to do is smile at some girl and she's all over him. You wouldn't believe the things they tried! I should know. He was my roommate."

The two men had reached Ryu's room, and he ducked inside for a minute, coming back with a brown paper bag.

"Your idea of going outside was pretty good, Joe." he said. "Shall we?"

"Lead on." Joe told him. But somehow, the excitement he had felt at having an illicit beer was gone.

"What kinds of things did girls try with Ken?" Joe asked curiously.

"All kinds of stuff." Ryu replied. They were walking into the woods now. After a few moments they found a bed of pine needles underneath a tree and sat down. Ryu opened up the paper bag, drawing out two beers and passing one to Joe.

"Most of the time they just followed him around, making goopy eyes and asking him out." Ryu continued. "But once, I came back to the room and had a girl throw herself at me. She wasn't wearing too much." Ryu grinned at the memory.

"What did you do?" Joe asked, his interest piqued.

"Well, when she saw I wasn't Ken, she bolted." Ryu laughed. "But I wouldn't have done anything anyway. I was kind of going steady with Lisa at the time. I didn't mind looking at this other girl, though."

"Who's Lisa?"

"My girlfriend." Ryu actually sounded a bit embarrassed. "We got together about six months ago, when she enrolled at Kernerman. Although, I'm not sure when I'll be able to see her again, if we're going to be living at the ISO Building."

"Did you…?" Joe wasn't sure how to phrase the question, but he was pretty sure Ryu knew what he meant, especially when the young man blushed.

"Yeah… What about you?" Ryu turned the tables.

"No one special." Joe said casually, taking a long swig from his beer. An image of Jun flashed across his mind, but he pushed it aside. "But there were a couple of girls at the racetrack…"

"Racing groupies?" Ryu asked. "Nice…"

"Yeah." Joe grinned. "A couple of them took me 'under their wings'. Especially this one named Lucy."

"They were older?"

"Yeah. Maybe nineteen."

"Wow." Ryu was suitably impressed. "And you…?"

"I've been 'educated'." Joe smirked. "Enough to know what I'm doing." It hadn't hurt that he had been posing as someone older, but Ryu didn't need to know that.

"Huh." Ryu threw back his head, finishing the beer left in his bottle. "You sure are different from Ken."

"You mean, because I'm out here having a drink instead of holed up in my room?"

"Yeah, and because you seem to know how to deal with girls." Ryu said. "Ken's so clueless, it's amazing. I tried to talk to him about it a few times, and all he'd say was that we were at Kernerman to study. And you know, I think that's exactly what he was doing, every single minute he was awake."

"But not you."

"Well, it's not like I didn't have plenty to do." Ryu admitted. "Between classes and flight training and practicing those martial arts… but there's always time for relaxation. Unless you're Ken Washio. That guy is hopeless." Ryu sighed.

Joe frowned to himself. Ken might be uptight, but he was inside with Jun, while Joe was outside with Ryu.

Perhaps Ken wasn't so hopeless, after all.

88888

Over the next few days, it became pretty clear that Ryu was right. Joe observed Jun following Ken around like a lost puppy. For his part, Ken didn't seem to notice, to the point where it became almost pathetic, watching Jun moon over him.

It bothered Joe more than he liked to admit.

Yet soon enough, they were off to the Utoland ISO Building, and preparations for the official activation of the Science Ninja Team went into high gear. It seemed that every day they were testing out some new piece of equipment or portion of their uniforms.

Best of all were the vehicles. Ken had a sleek fighter jet, and Joe had to admit that when Ken took to the air, the results were impressive. Ryu was assigned to pilot the main warship that would carry the whole team. Christened the God Phoenix, the blue and red plane responded to every command Ryu gave. Jun had been given an incredible motorcycle that she raced around the training track at top speeds. Apparently it could even act as a jet ski on water, although she had yet to try it out in this fashion. Jinpei had a spherical kind of hovercraft that looked like a Pokemon-style bug. It was somewhat less sophisticated than the other vehicles, but being not quite nine years old, it was enough to thrill the boy no end.

And Joe had a racecar.

This was a real racecar, not some old vehicle of Dr. Nambu's that he had fixed up. Its sleek blue lines made his heart soar whenever he saw it, and driving this car was sheer pleasure.

Damn, it was better than sex, and its performance sure lasted a hell of a lot longer. Joe drove his new car whenever he could, sometimes spending hours racing around the track. For many of those hours, he was joined by Jun on her motorcycle, and together they would run obstacle courses and practice dodging in and out of each other's way by racing on intersecting slalom paths at top speeds. When Dr. Nambu first saw this he chewed them out for nearly half an hour, but eventually even he could see that this kind of training could only help the Science Ninja Team in the long run.

They trained in hand-to-hand combat every morning, as a team. They were all good fighters individually. Joe, Ken, and Jun were excellent combatants, but they had to practice fighting in the same room as each other, and in the same confined spaces. They had each been given weapons that matched their unique strengths, and they spent hours each day using them, over and over again, until they could all aim with pinpoint accuracy, and became familiar with every nuance of their personal weaponry.

They were all given feather darts that Dr. Nambu called 'shuriken'. No one really took to them, but practiced a minimal amount, to gain a basic level of competency.

Everyone except Joe.

For some reason, Joe took a liking to the shuriken. He couldn't have said why, but there was just something about the feel of them in his hands, and the way they obeyed his commands when he threw them into the air. Within a month, his accuracy was such that he would have been the local darts champion in any British pub, and a month after that, he was clearly on a level with any professional in the world, partly because of the time he spent perfecting his skill, and partly because he practiced using erratically moving targets, rather than a stationary circle.

The prototype uniforms they used for training were good enough for them to work on a group technique called the Tornado Fighter. They set themselves up in a pyramid formation, then spun faster and faster until they found themselves at the center of a whirling maelstrom with the power of a Category 5 Hurricane. The first time the fledgling Science Ninja Team successfully attempted this maneuver, they blew the windows out of the training gym. The openings were quickly replaced with some kind of reinforced material, and the practice continued. Once they had mastered this technique as a team, they spent time practicing in two, three, and four person variations, until they were comfortable with all possible permutations.

They practiced flying with their new wings, although it was really more like gliding: drifting on air currents and altering their speed of descent. Joe especially enjoyed taking sharp dives as a prelude to a deadly attack on his holographic opponents.

But their most impressive maneuver was also their most dangerous.

When they were all onboard the God Phoenix, the warship was able to transform into a blazing Firebird, soaring through the sky and obliterating anything with which it came in contact. They weren't able to practice this technique as often as they probably should have, as the entire team had been warned numerous times about the dangers of exposure to the potentially fatal environment that was created inside of the God Phoenix while the Firebird was in progress. The Science Ninja Team all knew that they were, under no circumstances, to attempt this technique more than twice per day, and preferably no more than once, lest they suffer serious consequences to their physical well-being.

And with these weapons and techniques in their arsenal, the Science Ninja Team continued training in earnest.