Episode 25: Free Ticket to Desertion
It was another boring day in the Tanaka residence deep within Brooklyn. The grandparents have taken Jago, Aimay, Saito and Suzuki to a petting zoo on the outskirts of the city; while Kai had disappeared to the wilderness away from New York for his yearly wilderness training; leaving Ryuta and Hajime with nothing to do but sit in front of the TV and channel surf. But even that was proving too much of a frustration.
"There's nothing on," Ryuta said, flatly, as he tosses the remote onto the coffee table below them, "What now?"
"Well, Jiji left the newspaper on the table," Hajime said, equally flat, as he laid, half sprawled, along the left side of the couch, "Maybe we can find a movie to watch."
Ryuta glances towards the newspaper sitting on the edge of the coffee table and picks it up, opening it and flipping through several pages, "No, no, crap, stupid...oh please tell me you're joking!"
"Or, we can just do nothing," Hajime suggests. Ryuta pulls the newspaper down and shoots a stupefied look towards his immature subordinate.
"Do nothing? As in just sit around in absolute silence?"
"Never killed anyone before." Ryuta continues to stare at Hajime before he folds the newspaper and tosses it onto the coffee table, sinks into the couch a bit, and rests his head on the backrest, staring straight ahead. Each second that passes, Ryuta changes positions; first sitting upside down on the couch with his bare feet perched on top of the backrest, then flopping onto his stomach with his chin resting on the armrest adjacent to where Hajime sat, and finally sitting on the floor with his head on the cushion.
He eventually jumps up and throws his arms into the air, bellowing at the top of his lungs, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!"
"Dame..." Hajime mutters. Ryuta drops his arms and whips around to glare at him.
"I am NOT hopeless! I'm BORED!" he complains.
Hajime grunts as he pulls his legs onto the couch and turns to lay on his back, staring at the ceiling in complete boredom, "So what do you think we should do today?" Ryuta flops onto the couch, crossing his arms and closing his eyes as though going into deep thought. A few more seconds pass before he looks back over to the lazing Ouendan next to him.
"Let's drive down to EBA and play around with their holodeck," he said, "There's bound to be something in their database we could use to kill time."
"Are you sure?" Hajime asks, sitting up, "You know how picky Chieftain is letting outside factions play around with EBA property."
"Don't worry, I'll be careful," Ryuta said, "He won't even know we were the ones who turned on the holodeck."
Hajime remained unsure of Ryuta's decision, but seeing as it was better than hearing him complain all day he had no choice but to accept it and move out.
Taking the hummer, the two drove into a junkyard, deep within the slums of Brooklyn, in search of one of EBA's secret entranceways; the only one convenient and accessible to trusted outside factions. And only convenient if...
"THEY CAN'T BE ON VACATION!" Ryuta exclaims once they found a pile of junk with rusted, metal doors on them. Taped over the cracks of the door, soaked in splatters of dirt water and oil, is a piece of paper that read "On vacation, do not enter" in red crayon.
"I figured the Commander would've given us complete access to Central," Hajime grumbles from the driver's seat of the hummer, "But nooooooooo. Chieftain HAD to convince him to set limits on our visitation rights because HE still thinks we're a bunch of brats that wouldn't know righteousness if it hit us in the face."
Ryuta muffles a growl as he kicks the rusted door, turns and storms back into the passenger seat, shutting the door behind him, "Everyone's off having fun except for us!"
"Thing's would've been different if Suzuki hadn't voted to taking the buggy instead of the hummer." Hajime sighs before looking over to Ryuta, "So now what?"
Ryuta sighs as well, pulling out a small, red pouch and jiggling it, causing a chorus of metal hitting metal to sound throughout the hummer, "We still have some quarters left over from the time we spent in Las Vegas. Let's go to the arcade and waste it playing Dance Dance Revolution."
Hajime sighs again as he starts up the engine and pulls up the brakes, "Alright. But I need to stop by the gas station first. The hummer's running low on fuel." He then pulls the lever into forward drive and heads out of the junkyard.
Once back in the urbanized part of the city, Hajime pulls the hummer into a cheap-looking gas station. He turns off the engine and rummages through his coat pocket for some change.
"Kuso...!" he grumbles, "I must've left my wallet at home."
"Just get the pump ready," Ryuta said, climbing out of the passenger seat, "I'll take care of the payment."
He heads to the station and opens the door only to hear fanfare blasting in his ears. He stood by the doorway, dumbstruck, as confetti rained down on him and most of the attendants yipped and cheered.
"CONGRADULATIONS!!" shouts a man with a short pompadour and a blue, old-fashion suit and red tie, as he slid over to Ryuta, holding a microphone to his mouth, "YOU ARE OUR ONE MILLIONTH CUSTOMER OF THE YEAR!!"
Ryuta continues to stand by the doorway, thoroughly unamused, as the man dances around him, waving two tickets in his other hand, "YOU MUST BE ONE LUCKY MAN TO HAVE STEPPED THROUGH THESE DOORS AND BE SHOWERED WITH PRAISE!!" He stops beside Ryuta, facing the crowd inside the station, "BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!! OH NO!! WORDS AREN'T ENOUGH TO SHOW OUR APPRECIATION, WHICH IS WHY HE IS ALSO LEAVING THIS STORE WITH TICKETS FOR TWO TO A SPECIAL CRUISE!!" He looks back over to the stone-faced Ouendan, "WHY IS THIS CRUISE SPECIAL!? BECAUSE THE CARLINTON SISTERS ARE SCHEDULED TO BOARD THIS CRUISE TO PLEASE ALL WHO PARTICIPATE IN THIS SPECIAL NIGHT ON THE SEA!! ISN'T THIS THE MOST EXCITING THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOU, YOUNG MAN!?" He finishes by sticking the microphone in front of Ryuta, causing the entire station to fall silent as they wait for his response.
Ryuta eyes the microphone, then everyone staring at him with freakishly wide grins on their faces, before uttering a very flat, "Thrilled..."
The announcer shakes with joy as he twirls around and faces the audience while pointing towards Ryuta, causing the fanfare to start up again, "AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS!! ANOTHER SATISFIED CUSTOMER!! HE CAME IN HERE A SAD MAN, BUT NOW HE'LL BE LEAVING WITH EXCITEMENT, EAGER TO MEET THE CARRINGTON SISTERS UP CLOSE!!"
"Does this prize come with free gas," Ryuta asks, still very flat.
"FREE GAS!?" the announcer exclaims, jumping in front of Ryuta, "FREE GAS!? SIR, YOU'LL BE SAILING A CRUISE BOAT WITH THE FAMOUS CARRINGTON SISTERS!!" He waves the tickets in front of Ryuta's face, "THAT'S MORE VALUABLE THAN ANY OL' TANK OF GAS YOU CAN FIND AT OTHER GENERIC GAS STATIONS!!" Ryuta wrinkles his nose in disappointment as he snatches the tickets and storms off towards the counter in the center of the station.
Hajime pulls the gas pump from the hummer's tank, after filling 40 worth of fuel, looking towards the station to see Ryuta throw the door open, letting loose a flood of fanfare and shouts of "BYE", before slamming it shut, cutting out the noise like a sound proof room.
"Bottakuri..." he grumbles before marching back to the hummer and climbing back into the passenger seat.
"Sounds like you had fun paying for the gas," Hajime said, closing the tank and climbing into the driver seat.
"Loads..." Ryuta grumbles sarcastically as he shuts the door beside him.
"So what did you win, besides the unneeded attention?"
"A special weapon to kill time."
"What's that?" Ryuta stuck the tickets in front of Hajime as he took and examined them, "Sunset Cruise?"
"Again, time killing weapon. It's not like we have anything better to do. And besides, I've always liked watching the moon rise over the ocean."
Early that afternoon, the two lone Ouendan board the cruise boat with several other people who either bought or won the tickets from other places. Most of the occupants were couples looking for some beautiful scenery to spice up their dates or honeymoon; though the effort has been greatly hindered due to a thunderstorm brewing overhead. Not wanting to get wet, the two retreat indoors, deciding to wander around and find something to occupy their time.
"Are you sure this' a good idea?" Hajime asks as he glances at the couples passing them by, "It feels like we're some yaoi looking for a room to cuddle into."
"Quit staring and you won't feel that way," Ryuta said, focusing on the hallway ahead of him, "With all the hype back at the gas station, I have a hunch there'll be more single men on this boat that just the two of us."
"Ooooh! Check it out, Norma!" giggles a voice from behind the two. They turn to see two girls come out of a room a few feet from them; both blonde, one tied in a high ponytail while the other laid dangling over her shoulders with a butterfly pin on the left side of her head. The girl with the high ponytail wore a sky blue, strapless dress, while the other had a pink, strapless dress, and large bracelets on her wrists.
"Oooh, they're so strong and manly!" the girl in pink squeals as she and the other girl walked up to Ryuta and Hajime. She walks up beside Hajime, placing her arms around him, "This one's cute! He looks like a police officer from China!"
"I'm Japanese..." Hajime mutters, trying to contain his annoyance.
"But this one looks gruff and fearless," the other girl giggles, stepping up beside Ryuta and running her hand through his hair, "I'll bet if I take down this messy ponytail..." she adds by pulling out the ribbon of Ryuta's topknot, spilling it down to his shoulders in a mildly wild bunch, "He'd look like an Asian Rambo!"
Ryuta's frown tightens as he swipes the ribbon from the girl's hand, "That 'messy ponytail' is called a topknot."
The girls continue to giggle as they moved away from them and continued down the hall.
"C'mon, Norma," the loose haired girl said, "Let's go to the dining room. I'm starving for something meaty and rare."
"That's if the meat doesn't try to ask us for a date, Isabelle," the high ponytail girl giggles.
Hajime continues to watch as the girls disappear down the hall before looking over to Ryuta, who's holding the tip of his ribbon between his teeth while redoing his topknot.
"All that coddling's sucked the air out of me," he mutters, "Let's go back outside and get some air."
"Yeah...let's..." Ryuta grumbles while tying the ribbon around his topknot and heading back to the entrance they came through.
"Look!" one of the occupants inside the dining room exclaims, "The two super-star celebrities have arrived!" Everyone turns to the entrance of the dining room to see Isabelle and Norma Carrington step in, emitting an array of beauty that struck the hearts of every man that laid eyes on them.
One of the men walked up to Norma and kisses her hand, "Be my princess, Norma!"
Replied Norma with a dainty wave of her hand along his love-stricken face, "Not today, Daniel."
A short, wily cowboy rushes over to Isabelle presenting a large diamond, "My oil-fields are all yours!"
Isabelle responds with an equally dainty slap along the cowboy's swooning figure, "I don't have time for oil right now."
Their gentle resistance did little to quell the room of flirting men who all wanted a date with the famous celebutants, leading them to be buried with proposals and flashes from several cameras.
The two lone Ouendan leaned against the rail surrounding the sides of the ship, watching as the clouds grew darker and lightning began to flash in every direction. What they had hoped for a peaceful way of killing time is slowly starting to become a weary bother.
"This storm's getting worse," Hajime mutters, "Don't you think the captain should've turned back by now?"
"In contrast to disappointing the guests, I doubt it," Ryuta said, "But we'd better head back inside before the waves start kicking us around."
As if on cue, the cruise suddenly jostles to the side, sending everything unbolted flying out of contention, including the people onboard. Ryuta and Hajime were thrown against the rails, their upper bodies too high over to keep them situated. Unable to fight back the tilting cruise, they flipped over, barely managing to keep hold of the rails with their hands as they were slammed against the side of the cruise, the impact knocking Hajime's hat off his head and into the swelling currents.
"What's going on!?" Hajime exclaims, "We're tipping too far to the side!"
Ryuta glances towards the other side of the ship, seeing an monstrous wave tower over them, swallowing everything in its path.
"I have a feeling were about to find out!" he yelps seconds before the wave crashes down over the hapless cruise and everyone onboard.
The wild currents of the storm tear the cruise apart, sending piles of wood and metal floating to the surface. Most of the people panicked and flailed about, screaming and fighting over the nearest buoyant object they could find.
Ryuta and Hajime surfaced a few feet from the wreckage, treading as hard as they could to keep from being pulled under by the savage waves.
"Fine weapon you picked up!" Hajime chokes, spitting out a mouth full of water that splashed into his face.
"Yeah!" Ryuta hacks after getting hit with another wild current, "Too bad it didn't come with a dial to control its damage!"
Not long after finishing, another large wave leaps out of the storm-driven ocean, crashing down on top of the two Ouendan and sending them tumbling below the surface. They reemerge, worn and breathless from the ordeal.
"We need to get back to the wreckage before this storm drags us further out to sea!" Ryuta gasps.
"That's easier said than done!" Hajime pants, glancing at the currents blocking their point of view, "We're too deep to see anything but water, and I'm having enough trouble just staying afloat!" Ryuta huffs a frustrated and worn growl before noticing a large piece of wood board floating towards them. He quickly grabs it and pulls it between them.
"Grab on!" he shouts. Hajime quickly replies, grabbing the other end of the board and leaning his chest onto it. Ryuta does the same, both taking a moment to recollect their stamina and breath.
"What'll we do now...?" Hajime mutters tiredly, "Should we try to swim back to the wreckage?"
"I don't think we can at this point..." Ryuta mutters back, "I hate to admit it, but it doesn't look like we'll be getting back to the mainland anytime soon..."
"So what...?"
"I don't know... We may have to ride this storm out and hope we survive..."
Hajime eyes Ryuta, exhaustedly before groaning and laying his head on the base of the board, "My family's not going to be too happy about this..."
Later that evening, at the Brooklyn apartment, the door creeks open as the grandparents, Jago, Aimay, and the two Ouendan followers step into the room, finding themselves in pitch blackness.
"It's so dark," Jago mutters, "Where could Aniki and Ippongi-san be?"
"The hummer isn't here," the grandmother said, "Maybe they went out somewhere."
"They haven't called to inform us of anything," the grandfather said, "Do you think something's happened to them?"
"There was that report of a cruise ship being destroyed by the storm earlier today," Suzuki said, "I would've believed Tanaka-sama and Ippongi-sama weren't onboard, but their whereabouts say otherwise."
The grandparents furrow their eyebrows in shock and worry as they flop onto the couch, looking towards their feet. Jago looked surprise for a few seconds, but it quickly changes to confidence.
"Don't worry!" he exclaims, "They've been through a lot worse than this! I know they'll make it back here in one piece!"
The grandparents look over to him, then Saito and Suzuki, before sighing and leaning back on the sofa.
"I suppose you're right," the grandmother said, "I suppose the only thing we can do is pray for their safe return..."
The rising sun dried away some of the water washing around Ryuta and Hajime's body as they continue to drift along the vastness of the ocean on their makeshift lifesaver. Just as Ryuta had woken up from its warm rays, the board suddenly gets caught in a tidal wave that threw them onto the shores of a beach. Amazingly, the only thing that washed off the two during the midnight storm drift were their black shoes.
Ryuta pulls his face out of the drenched sand, coughing and spitting out what flew into his mouth, then takes a moment to survey their new surroundings. Aside from the beach they laid on and the ocean where they drifted, the rest appeared to be trees leading to the entrance of a jungle. He soon heard groaning and looks over to Hajime, seeing him struggle to prop himself on his elbows.
"Hajime..." he mutters, pushing himself to his feet and helping the rookie towards a palm tree near the jungle, "How're you feeling?"
"Emaciated..." Hajime mumbles weakly, "Haven't eaten or drank since yesterday morning... A miracle I was able to sleep through the night..." Ryuta sighs a bit as he looks up the palm tree behind him to see a few coconuts hanging off its branches. He gets up and heads over to the tree, climbing up and striking two of them with an open-hand chop, sending them tumbling to the sand below.
Dropping down to the two coconuts, Ryuta picks one of them up and smashes the top into the jagged trunk of the palm tree to open it, then heads back to Hajime and hands it to him.
"Not exactly the best way to enjoy breakfast," he began, "But it'll at least keep us active until we find a way to get out of here." Hajime didn't complain as he took the coconut and guzzles the water into his mouth.
"Speaking of which," he said after taking a second to breathe, "Where exactly are we?"
Ryuta smashes the top off the second coconut before glancing around the area again, "I don't know. This doesn't look like any Island depicted on a map." He sat down and takes a small mouth full of water, "Either way, it's better than being stuck out in the ocean, waiting to be rescued."
"Hai..." Hajime mutters, snapping off a small chunk of coconut and scraping some meat off its shell into his mouth, "So should we try to swim back to New York once our strength returns?"
Ryuta chews on a small portion of coconut meat before looking back out at sea, "The weather report mentioned at least two more storms swooping around. Even if it doesn't hit here, we still can't risk the effort. We'll have to camp out until the storms pass, then see if we can try and make it back to New York." He looks back over to Hajime, "I can only hope the others could wait out that long."
"As long as there're morality officers living with Jiji and Sobo, there won't be any sorrow burning in their hearts." Hajime chuckles.
A few minutes after finishing off their improvised breakfast, Hajime notices something unusual sticking out of the drenched sand of the shores. Curious, he gets up, walks over to the object, then crouches down for a closer look before darting a glance back towards Ryuta.
"Ryuta! Come here! Quickly!" he shouts. The Ouendan leader springs to his feet and rushes over to him as he began digging into the spot, pulling out two gray, muddy wallets. Hajime flips them open to reveal licenses and badges. The license was soggy due to its time spent underwater, but the two can still make out the appearance and the pictures printed below them.
"That's..." Ryuta mutters.
"Twist and Twirl's badges..." Hajime finishes, "The waves must've carried them here."
Ryuta took Twist's badge and stares at it in remorse, "The only mementos that survived their predicament. And we're the only ones that know why..."
"What do you think we should do with them?" Hajime asked, "Should we hand them over to EBA once we get back to New York?"
"I'm not sure. With Spin and Jonouchi the only members who understood and excepted Twist and Twirl's fate, there's a grim chance we could set a bad impression on everyone else, especially Chieftain, since he's the least tolerant of our presence."
"Good point. If he confronts us first before we make it back to EBA, he'll have enough red herrings to break our ties with the agency."
"The only way we're going to avoid that mishap is by getting around Chieftain long enough to show the Commander the badges and see what happens afterwards."
Hajime looks at Twirl's badge again, "Do you think the homing chip on these badges still work? If they do, it's just going to signal more problems before we even have the stamina to get off this Island."
Ryuta looks down at the rusted badge on Twist's wallet, "The surfaces' rusted. There's no telling if their even sending a signal back to Central. We're just going to have wait and see if anything does happen now that we've unburied what's left of the two." He closes the badge and sticks it in his pocket, "But until then, let's worry about finding food and shelter before the next storm hits."
Hajime nods as the two head off into the jungle to begin their foraging.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Island, the Carrington sisters lay, belly-flat on the shores of the beach as most of the debris from the wreckage floats along side them. A few minutes pass before they regain consciousness and sit up to survey their new surroundings.
"Where are we?" Norma mutters nervously. After getting their bearings, there was only one conclusion that could satisfy their curiosity.
"We must be on a..." Norma mutters again before both shout in unison, "DESERTED ISLAND!!"
Not long after stating the obvious, a tide slams into them, shoving them further onto the beach. Norma screams as she looks at her fingers in exasperation.
"MY NAIL!!" she wails.
"MY DRESS!!" Isabelle screams in equal exasperation.
After spending some time complaining about their new looks, a thought suddenly comes over them.
"Isabelle..." Norma mumbles.
"Norma..." Isabelle responds in the same tone, "Do you think...?"
The two grabbed hands in excitement.
"This is our chance to get lost!?" Norma squeals.
"Oh, I've always wanted to try this!" Isabelle squeals as well before both rear their heads back and shriek at the top of their lungs.
HEEEEEEEEAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLP!!
"It's not fair!" Missy whines, "Why do the guys always have to go out and have fun while we're stuck here guarding the hold?"
"It can't be helped," Foxx sighs, "After we wasted our vacation time in Japan, I wouldn't be surprised if we were quickly outvoted."
Starr sits in the chair of the Command Room, staring up at the huge monitor in complete boredom; her legs crossed, her elbow resting on the top knee, and her chin resting on her hand. Before she could say something, there was a sudden blip on the sea area of the monitor and a picture of the Carrington sisters' screaming mugs expanded from that point.
"Hey! Check it out!" she says, waving her two backups over to the monitor. They stare up at the monitor as a synopsis of their problem scrolls beside them.
"Survived a storm that destroyed the cruise ship they boarded, the Carrington sisters are now stranded on an Island with no knowledge of survival skills," Foxx read.
"I get it!" Missy pipes up, "They must've been involved in that storm yesterday! Wow! This' awesome! We get to go to a deserted island and have some fun!"
"But what about our responsibilities?" Foxx asked, "I don't want to disappoint the Commander again if he comes back and finds us missing."
"Don't worry, Foxx," Starr said, "If they come back before we do, we'll just tell them we got lost and couldn't get out until dusk. They won't even know we decided to have some fun with our mission!"
Foxx compresses her lips before sighing and shouldering her laptop, "Well, if you think it'll work..."
"Cool!" Missy squeals, "Let's pack up and go! I wanna get lost before dusk arrives!"
The other two nod as they head out the Command Room to prepare.
End Notes:
"Bottakuri" is Japanese for "rip-off".