Expect the Unexpected. Part One: Chapter Eleven.
"So what can you tell me about this Sunshine chick?" Peggy Banzai asked curiously.
Buckaroo and Peggy Banzai rushed through the building, room to room, doing anything that they could. They would check on the security cameras and watch sadly and angrily as people rummaged through rooms, drawers, and anything else they could get their hands on. People were raising their hands in surrender and doing as they were ordered by their invaders. After tearing apart a room, the invaders would give some kind of order, then move on. It brought anger and sadness to the founder of the Banzai Institute and his recently returned wife.
"Well," Buckaroo began, "She used to be an intern here, working her way up to resident. She had just graduated from college with a Doctorate as a Biomedical Engineer. She had a great background, and honestly, she was brilliant. She was automatically accepted as an intern. She began work in her field here, as well as other scientific areas around and involved in her field. She began to study the process of genetic engineering, right when we got the new technology. She was doing extremely well with it. IN fact, she was able to figure it out better than anyone else. Because of that, she was made in charge of the studies that took care of genetic engineering, under me and Hikita-san, of course."
"Ok," Peggy confirmed with understanding.
His face seemed to grow harder. "She'd apparently been working on some research under the table."
"What kind of research?"
"Illegal research. Illegal testing. Dangerous testing. She did it for seven months, getting help from a few others so they could keep it a secret and away from me and others like Mrs. Johnson and Rawhide. We eventually found out, did an investigation, and immediately dismissed all those involved. We also got rid of their records."
-/-/-
"You don't wanna do this," Reno Nevada stated calmly.
Yvette paced back and forth, gun in hand as she did so. It was obvious to the Hong Kong Cavaliers that she was guarding that her gun was locked on safety, but they didn't say anything about it. She shook quickly, probably from anxiousness. While the rest of those she was with were not, it was obvious that she was bluffing when she tried to threaten them. They all thought that she could tell that she didn't scare them at all, or that she was scared herself, since she would quickly back down.
Yvette snapped her head in his direction. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she tried to hide it- unsuccessfully. "Shut up," she demanded.
"Don't deny it, Yvette," Pinky Carruthers said, "You think we can't tell you're freaking out?"
"You know, I can shoot like Sunshine, too!"
"But you won't," Pecos stated flatly , looked at her rival dead in the eyes- a strategy she'd learned to master from her years at the Banzai Institute.
Yvette started to shake even more. She put her arms up and out and aimed the gun with shaky hands. The safety was still on, and they wondered if she knew that. The Hong Kong Cavaliers all watched her intently, curious what she might do. Adrenaline pulsed through the bodies of all those present. She looked at each of her hostages, growing shakier with each passing second. She tried to get a better grip on her gun and tried to look less scared, but it didn't work. She let out an agonizing yell as she turned and threw the gun in the bushes. She slumped her shoulders, ran her hands over her face and fell to her knees.
"See?" Pecos asked gently.
"Why're you here?" Reno asked.
Yvette removed her hands from her face but remained on the ground. "Sunshine already told you," she sighed.
Rawhide shook his head. "No," he said, "No, not why Sunshine's here. Why're you here?"
Yvette gave a confused look. "I don't understand."
"You were a good kid," Perfect Tommy commented, "I remember. You always did what you were supposed to do, and never broke or even bent a rule, except for once or twice when it was an accident. Hell, you were a goody two shoes. So what happened?"
Yvette gave a hesitant pause. With a heavy sigh, she began to explain. What had happened was that she had been an intern who was working under sunshine. She didn't do any of the questionable experiments, but rather the research on genetic engineering and its advances as a whole; she had no idea of the illegal testing until the investigations, the ones that she had been deemed innocent of. But when everything happened and it was established that she would be able to keep her internship, Sunshine had asked her to leave and to help her with something- Yvette had declined. Next thing she knew, a gun was held against her head and she was being forced to hand write a letter that would forfeit her internship at the Banzai Institute. She packed her things, cut off her relationship with Billy Travers, and left the Institute by force. She then had become stuck in helping Sunshine with her "endeavors".
"And since then, my life's been a living hell," Yvette finished sadly.
"Haven't you tried to get away? Get help?" Pecos asked, still nursing her significant other's head wound.
"Of course I've tried. But it always ends with me getting found out and punished."
"That's not right," Pinky said sadly as he shook his head in disapproval.
"Do you know her plans?" Rawhide asked suddenly, "To get her old research files and everything, I mean."
Yvette thought for a moment and shrugged lightly. "Yeah, everything she told us, at least. Why?"
"Cause I have an idea that'll benefit the Institute right now and just you, Yvette. No one else with her. But we would need you to betray Sunshine. Could you do that?"
"Easily." She didn't hesitate.
"You can't more Rainy Day, Reno or Pinky too much," New Jersey warned, "Pinky and Rainy Day are both still bleeding, and Reno's got a head wound doing the same." He silently mentioned how all three looked a bit paler than they did before they were injured.
Yvette jumped a bit. "Oh! I could tell Sunshine you guys gave me a lead and we all have to move. We could go to the infirmary so they could just stay there. Would that work?"
"That works fine."
"Let's do it," Rawhide agreed.
-/-/-
Penny Priddy and Mrs. Eunice Johnson quickly went to the filing room and began to raid the cabinets. They quickly went through each file, examining their contents as thoroughly and as quickly as possible. This sent the room in a subtle disarray, files that might be somewhat important being left on the table and floor around them. This continued as they moved from the main filing system to the area that had the more private and limited access files; being the head of the filing and storage, Mrs. Johnson had access that was not questioned.
Mrs. Johnson let out an irritated yell before saying, "There's nothing here! We burned all her research!"
"Does she know that?" Penny asked.
"I don't know. Probably not, since she thinks that she can still get them back from Buckaroo."
"I don't have them," Buckaroo Banzai said as he entered the room, "No one does. The paper files, the notebooks, the recordings- even the computer files- we got rid of them all and made sure there was no trace whatsoever."
"We can't tell her that. She'll freak."
"That's a given. We'll just have to pretend that we have it for now. Anyway, the reason I came here, Mrs. Johnson, is to see if you can get to the infirmary as quickly and quietly as you can. New Jersey needs to some help in there and we've been allowed some movement." His annoyance was obvious.
Mrs. Johnson grew tense. "What happened?" she asked, not bothering to hide her concern.
"Pinky, Rainy Day and Reno were all injured. Jersey told me they're stable, but that he still needs some help since the wounds are still fresh and he wants to treat them as soon as possible."
"What're the injuries?" Penny asked uneasily.
"Reno's got a head wound as a result of being struck with a gun, and he probably has a mild concussion from it. Rainy Day was shot in the leg. Pinky has a deep graze on his arm, so that's not as big of a deal as Reno and Rainy Day. But New Jersey does need some help so that he can treat them quicker. I would go, but Peggy has a plan. Not to mention the fact that Sunshine wants to deal with me."
Mrs. Johnson nodded in agreement, bid farewell to both, and quickly made her way to the Institute infirmary. Penny watched and continued to look through the file cabinet she stood in front of. Buckaroo leaned against one of the sides of the cabinets and ran his hands over his face, letting out a heavy sigh. Penny took notice and looked over at her friend, boss, and brother in law; despite his usual calm and collected demeanor, the man had too much stress, and the present situation just gave him extra stress that he nor anyone else needed. She stopped what she was doing, left her arms fall at her sides, and walked over to him. As she leaned on the cabinet next to him, he crossed his arms, leaned his head back and shut his eyes.
"Can I say something?" Penny asked gently, "It's kinda personal candid."
Buckaroo let out a heavy sigh, opened his eyes and looked forward. "Yes," he allowed, "Go ahead, Penny."
"Okay." She took a deep breath. "Buckaroo Banzai, you are the saddest man I've ever seen in my entire life. You're a genius and you are brilliant- but you are also a very sad man. I've known you a few years now and it's been an honor to not only get to know you as my employer, but as my friend and my brother in law. But despite all your calm and happiness and even zen nature, not too deep down in you, you're a very sad and distressed man. But I've noticed a change in you today."
He gave a look of question. "I don't understand."
She gave a weak smile. "There's a first. What I mean is that, when you came back with Peggy today- despite the confusion I felt at first- it was obvious that you were happier. A sadness seemed to lift off from you. But then, things went wrong. Today was supposed to be a day of great joy and happiness; your wife, my sister, was coming back home after so many years. Neither of you deserved to have today ruined by Sunshine. I say this because you're a great man in so many ways, Buckaroo Banzai, and I know my sister, Peggy Simpson Banzai, is a great woman- and neither of you deserve what has happened here today."
Before another word could be said, Peggy Banzai entered the room and stood next to her husband, and both turned to look at her. Her eyes were red and puffy as tears ran down from her eyes down her cheeks. Buckaroo placed a gentle, loving hand on her arm. "Peggy, what's wrong?"
Peggy shook her head. "Nothing," she choked out, "I'm so lucky to have you both back in my life, and I love you both so much."
This story may or may not be continued…