Classified
Joe drove into the airfield breaking harder than he intended. He stopped just short of the office kicking up dirt and gravel. Nambu was getting on his last nerve. First off he insisted that Joe drop everything and drive him pronto to Ken's. Forget how long it took to get here, and forget that they were all planning Jinpeis birthday party tonight, or that he was needed to assist Jun with the preparations. Then the whole way there he did nothing but nag him about his driving. 'This isn't a battle, slow down!' or 'Ok we're out of the city, can you go any faster?' and 'Watch those turns! I'd like to get there in one piece.' Not to mention 'Did I hear you swear just now?' It had been enough to make him scream!
Joe was fuming. He got out of the car making sure to slam the door for emphasis. He noted that Nambu wasn't following him and looked back to his equally livid face. Oh yeah, I forgot. Just in case some spy happens to be watching I've got to play his driver to the hilt.. He walked back to the car and opened the door for Nambu. As the older man got out he flashed Joe a look that promised a major lecture later.
When they went in, naturally, there was no Ken. I told him Ken was working late. Did he listen? Hell no! Immediately Nambu began tearing the office apart, rummaging through Ken's drawers and file cabinets in a messy fashion. The normally neat freak payed no attention to where any of the papers landed. "Uh, Hakase, I don't think Ken is going to be happy with your going through his things." Nambu didn't answer him, he just kept looking , searching. For what was anyone's guess let alone his. Joe decided to ignore him and instead amuse himself with an old fashioned communications board. He picked up the microphone hoping that it was already keyed into Ken's frequency.
"Yo Ken!" There was static at first, then a few minutes later he heard his leaders befuddled voice. "Joe?" "Hey Ken, Nambu is over at your place wrecking the joint in search of something." In the background Ken could hear their mentor's booming voice. "Joe get off that thing!" Joe looked at him puzzled, ignoring Ken's snicker. "Why?" "It's unsecured!" "Unsec...Like Galactor has nothing better to do than bug minor airfields!" Ken laughed at him, then admonished, "You know Joe, you do have your transpower band!" He could tell from his end that Nambu was in a mood and Joe was fed up with it. "This is more fun Ken. I could use some old CB handles!" "Only if I had a truck out here. You're confusing the two! So what is he looking for anyway? Maybe I can speed up his search."
Joe looked over to Nambu relaying Ken's request. He looked up from his task only to yell, "Classified! Now get off that thing!" Then very rudely without another word disappeared into a back room. From where he was Joe could hear him overturning box after box and from the doorway saw the accumulation of papers pile onto the floor. "Did you hear him Ken? Classified!" He mimicked Nambu's voice so perfectly Ken had to wait for the laughing fit to cease before responding indignantly. "Classified? From me? Those are my things! Ask him if he at least intends on filling me in later." "I'm not asking him anything when he's in this kind of mood! You should ask him if he intends to clean up his mess when he's done! On second thought don't. He'll end up making me do it! So, when are you coming home?" "Late." "How late? Jinpei's party is tonight baka." "Make excuses for me. I'll be there, just late." "Did you at least stop as planned and pick up his gift?" "It's in the back. I'm not completely brain dead." "Don't leave yourself so wide open! Actually what you are is a workaholic. While your out making ends meet, and Nambus creating tornados in your place I think I'll just play around in your office." "Touch anything and your dead!" "Wouldn't notice if I did with the mess he's made. You should see him Ken, he's flipped out!" "I can hardly wait. Do me a favor?" "Cost you." "Yeah, yeah. Put it on my account!" "Could have phoned that one in! Everything's on account with you." " Keep it up Joe. Before you leave could you please switch on the runway lights." "Oh be daring! Land without them." "Are you going to be there still?" "I hope not! Why?" "Because I'd hate to accidentally land on top of the G2!" "I'll hit the lights. But only bacause Nambu is such a jerk that he'll probably have me cleaning up his mess that I'll be late for the party!" "Just watch your temper Joe. Out."
Joe went back to watching Nambu demolish everything in sight looking for his classified information. He sat behind Ken's desk with his feet plopped on top and watched the clock. 5p.m. He was supposed to be helping Jun decorate, not sit here watching Hakase go berserk. The party was at seven. Hopefully Nambu would hurry up and either find what he was looking for or abandon the search altogether. Just watch, Hakase will make me clean it up just to be snotty!
At that point he decided to anticipate the order and started to clean up now. He put the papers back in the filing cabinet hoping that it didn't go in some particular order. Then he did likewise with the desk drawers. The top of the desk he simply arranged in neat piles, having no idea what Ken was working on or was done with. As he worked he noticed the orange glow of the setting sun. When they had arrived it was bright enough in the office with the sunlight that neither had bothered with the lightswitch. He kicked back in the chair admiring the array of colors.
With the sunset shadows were cast upon the wall. One shadow in particular got his attention. It moved with a purpose. He could still hear Nambu rustling around in the back room so it wasn't him. Silently Joe reached for his feather shuriken and whipped around. His aim was perfect as two very surprised Galactors fell dead to the floor. Ten more entered the room and an equal number of shuriken found their targets, as well as a few well placed kicks. Five more, these appearing more fit and larger burst in. With all of the inert bodies laying around maneuvering was going to be difficult. Joe just hoped that by this time Nambu had the sense to either hide or run. Even so Joe yelled out in warning. "Hakase, run!" He then blocked the entrance way to the back office, tossing out more shuriken. He hoped these were the last. His supply of the feathered darts was limited.
To his utter amazement the shuriken penetrated only the clothes. Not one so much as nicked their flesh. He unzipped his jeans at the thigh where he kept his cable gun and fired directly at the throat of the closest one. He watched in disbelief as the pointed end blunted and bounced harmlessly off of him to join the equally useless shuriken on the floor. Cyborgs! Discarding that he drew the magnum he kept close at hand and shot several rounds before the leader, unfazed, walked right up to a startled Joe.
The man knocked the pistol out of his hand and lifted him up by the throat pinning him to a wall by the entrance. The fingers tightened painfully. Two guards ran past them to the back room after Nambu. The rest began tearing the office apart all over again. Just what the hell are they all looking for anyway? Joe shot his arms up between the cyborgs arms and brought them down in a powerful swing that should theoretically have broken his hold. The only effect that had was in his dislodging the transpower band and dislocating his wrist.
The man laughed, amused at his feeble efforts. Next Joe aimed a knee upwards at the cyborg's solar flexus. There was no change in the man's expression or to his tight grip. He might as well have hit a steel wall for all the good that did! His knee hurt from the impact. The move elicited laughter from all present in the room.
The two goons reemerged from the back with an unconcious Nambu between them. Joe became pissed off and he placed a furious kick to the Galactors crotch hoping that at least some of him was human. Bingo! That got the intended result. The leader dropped him,and, bending over, he howled like a mad dog. Joe used his bent over torso to leap frog over the fallen bodies to the door, giving chase to the two who carted Nambu away to a waiting car. Between him and his 'father' stood another ten or so galactors. He went through them like a hurricane! Just as he neared the vehical however, a strong hand yanked at his hair pulling his head back sharply. Joe jerked away from him and turned to face the new antagonist. A fist like a wrecking ball shattered the right side of his jaw. Bright flashing color danced before his eyes as his vision blurred and mind numbing pain made his head spin. He spat out teeth and blood and a very bitter "K'so!"
He started to retaliate, but the man snatched his shirt and hoisted him over one shoulder. He was carried that way back to the office and one very pissed off leader who waited still rubbing his crotch. There was murder and promised vengeance in the Galactor captain's eyes. Only part cyborg! Still what was, was solidly invincible. Damn! With the transpower band off I can't even signal for help!
The Galactor holding him dropped him unceremoniously to the floor in front of his leader. With quick reflexes born of years worth of training Joe leaped to his feet. An immediate punch to the abdomen had him haunched over and breathless. Another blow to his left cheek took him back down to the floor where a hard kick audibly cracked a few ribs. The bastard then picked him up clutching his broken jaw in an excrutiating vise-like grip. Smiling sadistically he barked an order to his men who stood by gaping. "Keep searching!"
Looking dead into Joes eyes he asked "Where is it?" "Where is what?" "Don't be cute punk!" The man slapped him with his opern palm leaving a red imprint that was sure to bruise later. " I said where is it??" "The hell if I know! I don't even know what 'it' is!" Another punch to the belly made his muscles clench in protest. "Wrong answer! Try again sweetheart!" "I'm not your sweetheart! Even if I knew what you were talking about what makes you think I'd tell Galactor low lives anything?" Three more blows landed to his face busting lip and nose and further jarring his injured jaw. Speaking was now becoming difficult. Still Joe managed one insult. "Yurero!"
Fully into the rage that had earned him his rep as borderline psychotic, Joe aimed a lightening fast kick toward the crotch again! This time the move was anticipated as the cyborg grabbed Joes leg knocking him off balance and flying backward. He hit the wall, his head impacting hard. "K'so!" The room spun. The man glared at him in four versions as Joes vision quadrupled. "Since you seem so fascinated with my groin, lets try a different tactic."
With one hand he swept the top of the desk clean and body slammed Joe hard onto its surface. Joes ears were ringing and he was still dizzy and disoriented. For the moment he lay immobile trying to get his bearings. That soon became difficult when the man began to choke him. Lack of oxygen caused the room to blacken from more than just the late hour. Just as the ebb of conciousness faded he let go. Vaguely Joe was aware that his shoes and socks were being removed. He felt detached as his vision was a stardusted blur. Then he felt his pants and underpants being removed. Alarms went off inside as he tried to rise, gulping in much needed air. Another powerful blow to the side of his head landed him prone again. Fingers laced through his hair and he was yanked upward. The sting to the scalp brought tears to his eyes. Trying desperately to reorient himself Joe swung blindly and missed. His shirt was lifted over his head and pulled back entangling his arms. Three more punches further dazed him as he was once again slammed backwards.
For a brief moment there was some respite, and in it Joe fought to stay concious. What the hell can be so important? What did Ken have that both Nambu and these guards want? In those few seconds Joes vision cleared some. Looking up at his assailent he was shocked to see the man's unzipped pants and exposed erection. "It's party time punk!" Letting loose a Sicilian epithet, Joe aimed a desperate kick with intent to kill at the mans liver. Chuckling with amusement the man grabbed his ankle and twisted hard until a loud pop could be heard. It was followed by a sickening crunch as the inhumanly strong fingers crushed his bones. Inspite of himself Joe screamed.
"Scream on baby! In a few moments I'm going to really give you something to scream about!" Taunting him some more about his obvious intent, the man clutched Joes hips and pulled him to the edge of the desk and lifted him upward. Joe struggled to free his arms from the binder that his shirt had become. His arms were not only encased in it but pinned underneath him as another cyborg held his shoulders down. An unaccustomed feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him. God, no! The sharp burning pain of penetration brought forth another scream. Though the words were now mangled from the damage to his jaw he threatened and cursed. Humiliated he was finally reduced to begging. The darkness of night filled the room aptly hiding the ugly scene in inky blackness. Not satisfied with once, the cyborg repeatedly raped and beat him then handed him over to the rest of his men who had ended their futile search long ago to lewdly cheer their boss on.
Jun looked up at the clock over the bar at the Snack J. They were both an hour late! She knew two members of the Science Ninja Team who were soon going to be deceased! Especially the one who promised to help her with the decorations! She moved over to console Jinpei. How could they? Now her little brothers feelings were hurt! Ryu glanced at her sharing her annoyance. He was more ticked at Joe. Being late for social occassions was a habit with him. He even had the audacity to miss briefings and though even more rare the occassional mission. Now Ken he defended. Afterall the man had to work to pay Jun's tab off. He moved over to Jinpei with his present knowing that would keep his mind off the passing time for now.
They left close to eight. They never did find whatever 'it' was. Joe stared blankly at the ceiling. They hadn't left empty handed though, they had Nambu! He forced himself to sit up wincing in pain. He had to alert Ken! They'd need to rescue him fast! Moaning he stood up, belatedly remembering his shattered foot as he fell hard to the floor. His chest hurt, and breathing was difficult. One of the fractured ribs must have punctured a lung. There were too many areas that hurt simultaneously. He was a solid mass of pain! Anger filled him as his mind repeated a deadly litany. I'm going to kill those bastards! He'd never been so ....humiliated....helpless! Emotions flooded him ranging from red hot rage to deep shame. The door to the office was open and the cold night air made him shiver.
For a few moment he just sat on the floor, his back agains the hard side of the desk. Telling Ken was the last thing he wanted. If it weren't for his injuries he could probably get away with concealing what those bastards did to him. However as he felt shock set in, he knew one way or another he'd end up in the hospital and it would come out. Ken may be slightly naive but Joe knew he wasn't stupid! One look at him and Ken would have to put two and two together. Ken! He should be here any minute! Not wanting his long time friend and brother to see him like this, Joe desperated felt around with his good hand for his discarded clothes. Eventually they had got around to removing the shirt entirely as their mouths and hands......Block it out! He couldn't afford to dwell on it now. He had to get himself together before Ken got there.
It was dark, so finding anything was a challenge. He managed to located by feel only his jeans and hearing the whine of jet engines in the distance hurredly donned them. Only when feeling the chaffing roughness of the material did he realize that he forgot to put on the briefs first. K'so! Who am I kidding anyhow? I can't hide this! Embarrassed and growing more shocky by the minute he huddled into a ball. In the privacy of the shadows he gave into silent sobs.
The beeping signal that could only be his transpower band startled him. Joe steeled himself. He was not going to crumble damn it! He groped around some more following its sound and felt the cool of the metal band against his fingers. He lifted it up and forcing himself to speak through the good side of his jaw answered. "Ken?" "Joe! Where the hell are the damn running lights???" Shimata! Forgot about that! Where are they anyway? Joe doubted he'd be able to raise to his feet to find the wall lights let alone the runway lights. "Joe did you hear me? Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?" I wish it were, than I could laugh. A sick joke. Ken continued to ramble. "We were supposed to be at the party at seven! We can't both be late! Is Nambu still there?" Joe wished he could articulate better, but Ken wasn't giving him the opportunity to get a word in edgewise even if his jaw weren't busted.
In the background the whine of the jets grew closer and Joe prayed for a safe landing. He should have turn on the lights immediately instead of just cleaning up. Hell it just got messed up all over again anyway! The squeal of tires came from a point well away from the building or hangar. But weren't there trees and a fence somewhere out there in the darkness? He didn't heear any sounds of impact so he guessed that Ken made it ok. That's good because I'd have been really pissed off if he hit the G2! There were muted sounds of thumps and Kens audible cursing. Obviously Ken was tripping over his handiwork outside. He sounded angry at first. He better not cop an attitude with me because I'm not in the mood for one of his hissy fits!
Ken looked at the dead Galactor and the white feather that shone in the moonlight. He should have known something was up! Joe would never have played that kind of joke on him. He could definitely pull some good ones but never that would endanger his life like that! And not with Nambu present. Fear gnawed at him as he instinctively went to birdstyle. Drawing his boomerang he approached the office stealthily. The more lifeless bodies that he either tripped over or stepped around the more worried he got. It was deathly quiet in there! Whatever went down is over now. He just hoped none of the fallen shapes turned out to be Joe or Nambu.
Finding the lightswitch he flicked it on and gaped in horror! Joe averted his head as much from the sudden glare of the lights as from shame. Ken took in the sight. He was trained as a ninja to make quick assessments of a situation and that training kicked in even as he recoiled from the obvious conclusion. The office was torn apart worse than Nambu could ever have made it. The desk was bloody! Bodies littered the office. Scattered to one side of the desk was Joe's shirt, socks and shoes. More disturbing was the sight of the white briefs. For one thing he owned only blues and greys. He looked his teammate. From head to toe he made the same analytical assessment that he made of the room. Joes jaw was distorted and swollen. More than likely fractured. His nose was busted and bloody. Blood and something else was caked around bruised puffy lips. Bruises darkened his temples and eyes. It looked like someone had beaten his brother to a pulp! His eyes traveled downward to the neck. Discoloration in the shape of fingerprints stood out among purplish red.......hickeys? His chest, abdomen and arms also bore heavy ecchymosis. Most of which looked like definite fingerprints. Nail marks and teeth marks grazed his neck and....nipples? The only clothes on were his jeans and they were undone at the top. A cold chill started at the top of his spine and worked its way down. Unbidden the words came out. "Oh my God!"
Joe shut his eyes. He knew he had to look bad but to get that response......embarrassed wasn't the word! Ken approached him a little to quickly and in spite of himself he recoiled. "Joe? Who? Where's Nambu?" He looked at him through watery eyes. His breath was ragged and the words difficult. He managed a quick debriefing omitting the obvious. "Cyborgs?? What the hell was so damned important? Is that why Nambu was so afraid of the place being bugged? He knew that whatever he was looking for they'd want as well and didn't scramble the whole team??? Damn him and his classified information!" Joe felt the same way. Beyond his killing rage at what they did to him he felt a frustrated anger at Nambu for not warning him. He could have been more prepared. Or could he? He fought his best and still...... "Ken. 'm sr'ry" "What? It's not your fault! Don't even go there Joe. What happened.....it wasn't your fault." "Mad?" "No! I am at those bastards and Hakase but not you!" "Got..find him!" "I will. As soon as he contacts us or Red Impulses spy net reveals something...." "Me too! Kill 'em!" Ken nodded. "I know. But Joe your in no shape. I got to get you to a hospital fast! Let me get a blanket and a first aid kit. I'll do what I can here, but then we're on our way to ISO's medical center." "Don' tell o'thrs." Ken lowered his head. He could only imagine how Joe felt. He imagined he'd feel the same. But there was no way he was going to be able to keep this from the rest of the team.
He left the room to get the first aide kit and returned to Joes side with a blanket that he grabbed from off his bed in an adjacent room. As he wrapped it around Joe he felt him stiffen. Beneath the dark bruising he noted the pallor. Taking peroxide and gauze he gently cleaned his face cringing inside each time Joe would wince or look away in shame. He was trying to be strong and macho but the tears threatened to come at any time. To hell with the bullshit that said a man can't cry! "Joe. Look at me." A thought about Ken's lectures crossed Joes mind almost making him want to smile. But one glance at Ken and he lost that thought. He knew what his brother was going to say and he wasn't ready to hear it. But Ken had the tenacity of a dog with a bone and wouldn't back off. "What happened wasn't your fault. The shame was theirs and not yours. I know that's not what you feel right now but......Those bastards that......It's not your fault they raped you and I'll be damned if I ever let you turn away in shame like that again! You're the Condor and you will hold your head up!" Joe laughed. Leave it to Ken to read him like a book.
"Come here." Joe looked at him confused. He was right beside Ken what was he... "I don't believe in the stereotyped ethos that a man can't cry or be hugged. You need to let it out!" He can't seriously think I'm going to let him... But Ken not only thought it, he did it. He held his protesting brother in a tight embrace. At first Joe stiffened in anger, then shuddering he relaxed and broke down in between angry curses and threats against both Ken for insisting on this and the cyborgs who raped him and Nambus stupid classified information and Galactor in general. This was followed by general threats against nonsense made even more funny by the fact that it was spoken brokenly through one side of the mouth with a nasal accent that had them both laughing between the tears.
Ken than scooped him up in his arms and carried him out to the G2. "Now I am pissed off at you!" "Why?" "You left the keys in the ignition bakarou! They must not have known you were a member of the SNT or they'd have stolen the car! Either that or their incredibly stupid cyborgs!" Joe felt better after giving in to the tears and laughed. Though a good portion of the shame would always be there, he was now mostly angry. Those perverts robbed his manhood and if Ken didn't get them all first when he got out of the hospital he was going to get it back by tearing them apart limb from limb! After that......Maybe I'll just kill myself! Then he reminded himself that he also had his parents to avenge. After all of Galactor falls, then I could die. He held on to that thought while Ken set him inside.
The ride to the hospital did a lot to ease his nerves. Between the familiar roar of his engines and the cranked up heat, not to mention shock, he found himself getting drowsy. He was in that in between state when the car stopped. He could hear Ken talking over the transpower band to Chief Anderson. He didn't know those bands frequencies were also connected the head of ISO's phone line.
"This is Eagle 1 Chief Anderson. Nambu Hakase has been abducted. Could you reach the captain of the Red Impulse for me and meet me at ISO's medical center? I don't have time to explain, one of my team's been injured. I'll brief you both when you arrive. Eagle 1 out." Ken saw that Joe was staring at him. Though still visibly shaken and physically getting worse he seemed much more in controll of himself. That was good, because the hardest part was yet to come. He had to get through the exam. Not only would it be embarrassing, but Ken also imagined it would be quite painful as well. "I can get a guerney or wheelchair, or I could carry you." "I'll wa'k" "All of a half an inch before you fall! That foot is way beyond the casting stage. I think your looking at surgery." Joe gazed out the window. It was frustrating to realize that his vengeance would have to keep. "Joe?" He returned his focus to Ken. "The next hour or so isn't going to be easy." Ken paused to let his meaning sink in. There was a brief second where it seemed Joe would start crying again, but it passed. In it's place was a steely resolve. Joe was strong. What happened was devastating and Ken didn't delude himself for one minute that the road to recovery would be easy, but he knew Joe would. Joe nodded in response, and let Ken carry him inside.
Whenever any member of the SNT was hospitalized for any reason certain security protocols were activated. Ken didn't even need I.D. Transformed as he was into birdstyle was sufficient to put the entire hospital staff on alert. Security guards preceeded and followed him in to ER. Two more posted themselves outside the room. Perimeter guards were established all around the hospital. During this time the center literally became a fortress. Even the regular staff would have a hard time coming and leaving the facility without being triple checked by numerous stations. Any would be Galactor assassin would theoretically find it difficult if not impossible to penetrate that center, In short, the facility had just raised the drawbridge!
Ken layed him on the cot in ER and giving a reassuring hand grasp, went to find the DR. Automatically the nurse would have contacted the teams personal physician. Usuall Dr. Ito travelled a lot doing mission work. Fortunately he happened to be here. There were few that Joe would trust to touch him right now. Nambu would be one, and Ito being the second. He found the older doctor hurrying along the passageway to him. "Ken? What happened?" He looked at the young commanders sudden downcast features and the tears in his eyes. Up until now Ken had kept his own emotions in check for Joe's sake. And he knew that Joe would need him in the ER to be his strength. But for now he let it all out. He gave Ito the brief synopsis of what happened. He alternately raged in icy fury and cried. Then he punched the wall swearing loud enough for all present in the corridor to hear,"I'll kill every last one of those bastards, and if Katse had anything to do with this, I'll kill him too!"
Ito listened in mute silence as the horror of what Ken told him sunk in. He'd cared for the two oldest members of the team since youth, Ken since birth! Like Nambu he considered them his. At the very least he considered himself an uncle. His heart ached for Joe. He was always such a little rascal when younger. It would be hard separating the little boy from the man today. He gave Ken a hug and let him vent a little longer before reminding him that they had to go in there now.
Ito could not suppress a gasp when he entered the room. Joe looked like a truck ran over him. His nurses and junior physicians had gotten O2 on him and started IV's. A portable X-ray was removed. The doctor closest to him told him they got chest x-rays as well as pictures of the head, jaw, foot and wrist. The nose would have to wait until the swelling was down before any thing could be clearly seen. There was evidence of internal bleeding and possibly a punctured lung. It hadn't collapsed though, so that was reassuring. He recommended a proctoscopy to rule out the obvious. Ito nodded. He wanted to take this slow but one glance at the vital signs told him the exam would have to be quick.
It had been a long time since he had dealt with a rape victim, and then only women. He was at a loss as to how to approach him. Ito walked over to him. They had already administered pre-op meds and the boy was half asleep. That was good. It would make this go a little easier. He was surprised that Joe let them get a gown on and do some initial treatments. "Hey rascal, how are you holding up?" Joe opened his eyes at the sound of the familiar voice. Ito. He liked the doctor. They had known each other since he was eight. He'd been a mess then. His parents had just been murdered and he himself the victim of an assassin's bomb. He knew he looked a mess now. He could see it in everyones eyes. It only managed to increase his shame. He figured Ken told him. Joe suppressed a shiver. So far what the medical staff had done hadn't been so bad, but he knew what was coming.
"Joe, I need to do a proctoscopy, you know what that is?" Joe averted his eyes from Ito and nodded. "This is going to be the most difficult part of the exam, but it needs to be done. It will be very painful, but I'll have the nurse administer some novacaine to reduce some of the discomfort. We need to assess any possible damage done to the colon and rectum. Afterwords we'll be rushing you in to surgery. Has Dr. Kimberly given you a basic run down of your injuries?" Again Joe nodded. He didn't even bother with words anymore. The jaw hurt far too much for that now. "I'm mostly concerned over the internal bleeding and that lung. It has been punctured and there is a strong possibility of its' collapsing. So I need to rush this exam faster than I'd like. I need you to be strong through this. If you'd like, Ken will stay here the whole time."
Joe shook his head at first. He wished this was some stupid nightmare and any time he'd wake up and.....He looked up at Ken. A part of him wanted his brother no where around. Just having these doctor look and touch was going to be bad enough, but to have Ken see....How can I look him in the eye after this But he didn't want to be alone either. If Ken was there it would help him to keep his mask up. No way was he going to break in front of all these people. He nodded and held out a hand toward Ken.
It was an effort to stay calm as the nurses took various samples to rule out any STD's. They swabbed his mouth then gave him some mouthwash. When they turned him over and administered the novacaine he closed his eyes in shame and mentally prepared himself for what came next. The whole time Ken squeezed his hand and talked non-stop about mundane things. For the most part Joe kept it together. But midway through the proctoscopy he lost it. The sight of him crumbling tore at Ken's heart and he repeated his threat against all Galactor. He stayed at Joes side all the way up to when they took him to surgery. Watching them leave with him he leaned against the wall. I can't go off on a mission and leave him! But duty called and Nambu's life depended on it. So far he hadn't received any signals, so that left Red Impulses spy net. He resolved to do this op alone. He'd leave Jun and Ryu to stay at Joes side. And Jinpei....
Jinpei? The party! How in the hell am I going to tell them! He checked the time. It was now 10p.m. Jun would either be furious or concerned by this time. Jinpei would be hurt. Ken opted for waiting until after Joe's surgery to tell them. No sense in it until I can give them some good news as well. He left out the room into the corridor and almost toppled into a solid form dressed in red.
He looked up at the tall man. Goggles concealed his face. His men stood to one side being frisked by security. This was the captain of the Red Impulse. Also being subjected to security's scrutiny was Chief Anderson himself. They looked at him, impatient for details. Ken led them into a room which he personally inspected then for any bugging devices. Finding none, he briefed them. They were both at a loss as to what Nambu or Galactor could have been searching for. When he mentioned what the cyborgs had done to Joe they were as equally livid with rage as he'd been. Ken then asked for permission to rescue Nambu without the rest of his team. "I want someone with Joe 24-7. I don't know how he's going to handle this. If it were me I'd contemplate suicide. Especially when I couldn't retalliate as fast as I'd like." Anderson nodded at the wisdom of that. "However you will not go alone. Red Impulse will accompany you. I want your head cool on this mission Commander. You're to get Nambu back in one piece not exact vengeance." "I don't need Red Impulse to accompany me. This is personal!" "No G1 this is not. It's war and unfortunately you've been exposed to one of its darker sides. I will not have Nambu's life jeopardized for personal agendas. I would like nothing better than for those slime to get what's coming to them, but not at the expense of your mentors life! Is that clear?" "Crystal." He said it a little icier than he'd intended, but Anderson excepted it and excused himself. The leader of Red Impulse gave him an understanding smile. "As soon as we find anything out I'll get in touch with you." Ken gave him only a cursory nod before he left. His thoughts were on Joe. No matter what Anderson said he intended to do some serious pay back! And he had no intentiion of endangering Nambu in the process.
Ken sat back in one of the rooms recliners and rested his eyes. He was emotionally drained now. He tried to doze but images of Joes battered face and body haunted him. Nightmares of a dead Nambu and laughing cyborgs made his heart palpate. Then Anderson's words. "This is war' 'Exposed to its' darker side.' The what if finally happened. They'd all been educated as to the possibility of one of them being raped. But somewhere in the back of their minds they thought only of Jun, and what they'd do. Sometimes they had a bad habit of overprotecting her as a result. At least until her acerbic tongue would sourly remind them that she was just as capable of defending herself as they were. So lost in nightmares and meanderings was he that a tap on the shoulder made him jump up in the seat, panting and sweaty.
It was Ito, and the surgeon. "He came through it pretty good. They isolated the cause of the bleeding and repaired it. The lung wasn't too badly damaged. His jaws been wired, and the foot may require further surgery. The wrist was only dislocated and no problem. Physically he'll be just fine. As to his mental status, we can have therapists and psychologist working with him. He has a pretty good support group in the four of you, and he is strong. We can be fairly optimistic that with time he'll be alright mentally and emotionally. But you do understand that it will take some time?" Ken nodded. "Can I see him now?" "He's still out from the anesthesia and in recovery." "Under the circumstances I'd like to be with him when he wakes up." "I agree. Come with me."
He followed Ito to the recovery room. He should have expected all the different gadgets. He only knew what a few of the medical equipment was and couldn't make any sense over any of the blips, bleeps or readouts. He trusted in Ito that Joe was stable though. He noticed that Ito and the nurses gave him privacy. He walked over to Joe and smoothed his hair back. Then he did something he could never do when Joe was awake, even under normal conditions. Male ego simply forbade it, as did his Japanese upbringing. He leaned down and gave his brother a kiss on the forehead, letting his tears spill. His brother may be alright physically, but Ken knew just how messed up inside he was going to be for a long time.
He looked so pale. The bruises stood out in dark contrast. The blankets were pulled up to his chin and bandages covered most of his face. An oxygen mask covered his face making the swollen nose look even more distorted. Three IV bottles hung from a pole. He took Joes limp hand in his own and settled down beside him, and eyeballed the clock. 3a.m. He felt wiped out. Jun and Jinpei would have gone to bed by this time, having given up on their wayward brothers. Ryu probably stayed the night hoping they'd show up. How am I going to tell them?
Joe began to stir. A nurse came as she did periodically and checked his pupils and vital signs. Joes eyes squinted against the bright light. He whispered Ken's name. "I'm still here. Go back to sleep. His eyes fluttered and he gazed blearily at Ken. He weakly returned Kens hand grasp before trailing back off. The nurse touched his shoulder. "We'll be moving to a private room now." Ken nodded.
Later as he approached the Snack J he wasn't really surprised that the lights were on. She was probably in such a mood that she'd wait up all night just for a chance to kill him. Inside he was surprised to find them all up and crying. In their midst was the Red Impulse Captain. "I hope you're not too mad about me overstepping the bounds here, but I thought after being in the hospital all night you might appreciate it if someone shouldered the responsibility of informing the others
Ken sighed in relief and nodded. He really hadn't any idea what to say. He looked at their tear streaked faces. Jinpei ran crying in his arms sobbing that he didn't understand. I don't either Ryu came over also crying and awkwardly layed a hand on his shoulder. In contrast Jun was more restrained. "How is he?" "He came out of the surgery ok, but only time will tell with the rest. That was pretty much a given. "We're going with you Ken." "No" "Ken..." "That's final Jun. I need for you all to stay with Joe. When the sedatives wear off...He's trying to be strong but I know him. Once the shock wears off and the full impact of what happened really hits....I don't want to come back from this mission and have someone tell me that he took his own life." "He won't do that Ken. He may contemplate it, but I know that Joe would never take the easy way out. He's no coward. He'll deal with it. Still if it would make you feel better we'll stay with him. He shouldn't be alone any way. If they even guess at who he was he'll become a target now." Ken hadn't thought about that. All the more reason to kill those cyborgs.
The captain hadn't interfered with their conversation but now interjected. "We have a fix on his location now. One of our spies saw him being taken in. My jets fueled and I can give you a lift to your airfield and your jet. I don't think we'll need the Phoenix for this." Ken agreed. He stared down at Jinpei who still cried and held onto him. He wasn't sure how much had been explained to him. While Ken knew he didn't have all the answers, he knew his responsibility. "Give me some time alone with Jinpei and I'll be right out."
Morning's soft light illuminated the hospital room. Joe's eyes fluttered open. He felt dazed and confused at first. A thousand different hurts registered at once, some bad, others just annoying. He turned his head to the left and caught Jun's attention. Bathed by the sun's golden hues she looked beautiful. He wondered why she was here at his trailer, then he took in the hospital equipment. He tried to speak her name but his mouth felt glued together. He had an oxygen mask on and gauze had been stuffed up his nose. He struggled hard to remember. He tried again to speak. Jun was at his side in an instant.
"Joe don't try to talk. You had some surgery to your jaw and its been wired shut." His tongue felt the cool metal on the inside. He felt the sting of sutures and took a tally of his injuries. His chest had a binder on it and it hurt with every breath. Fractured ribs. His head hurt so he at least had a concussion. He also had on an abdominal binder so there was surgery there as well. His foot hurt, so he raised it and noted the swelling and the dressing. What happened?
Suddenly floods of memory brought on a rush of anxiety. Last night, Nambu the airfield and..... the cyborgs! It's party time now punk! Jun noted the intensity in his eyes as awareness filled them. He was trying to say something but it was muffled. She finally made sense of it. He was asking for Ken and Nambu. "Ken has gone on a rescue op with Red Impulse to get Hakase back. Are you in pain? I can go get the nurse." He nodded, but as she left a sudden feeling of panic was brought on by being alone.
Ryu had been standing just out of eyesight by the window. He felt awkward with the situation. He could see the look on Joes face and knew he needed some reassurance right now. But he felt at a loss for how to do it. Normally Joe was so macho and strong that the idea of anyone coddling him would earn a sampling of his infamous temper. He hated the look of fear in his older brothers eyes. That look and Joe just didn't go together. He came to his side and gently laid a hand on his shoulder and was devasted to actually see the Condor cringe away from the touch. He can't be afraid of me. I wouldn't even hurt a butterfly! No not me. Any man.
"Easy Joe, it's just me. Ryu." Joe looked up at the big guy's face. He could read the turmoil in it and regretted pulling away like that. Of course it's you. What am I going to start doing now, jumping at shadows? He tried to smile and knew it probably came out lopsided thanks to his jaw. He reached up for Ryu's hand who held it in his two big ones and smiled.
Jun came back in with the nurse, who holding a syringe, began putting something in the IV line. She explained. "It's some Demerol and Visteril. This will lessen the pain and make you drowsy enough to sleep some more." He watched the nurse leave then looked up at Jun. She sat back down next to him and in a firm voice issued the only command she'd ever give any of her two leaders. "Go to sleep now and that's an order!" Joe could have laughed if it didn't hurt so damned much. He obeyed and closed his eyes, fighting to keep his thoughts off of what happened. He wasn't ready to deal with it just yet. His nerves were jangled. Just when he thought he'd scream from the effort of blocking out some of the more lurid aspects of what had happened last night, he heard the prettiest voice he ever heard. She never sang for him. Probably because he never attended her parties like the others. So when he heard it now he knew Jinpei didn't exaggerate. It was a lullabye. The kind his mother used to sing him when he was restless as a child. It worked its magic on him and he drifted off to sleep.
Katse stretched in his chair and yawned. He had tried drugs, torture, coercion and still Nambu refused to cooperate! Now he had an irritating gnat of an informer grovelling before him. He was an intern at ISO's medical center and had valuable information for him. It concerned Nambu's driver. He already heard what his nasty cyborgs did to the youth. It angered him beyond his usual threshhold. Not only had they wasted time with that while they could have been looking for his information, they overstepped what even Katse considered to be a taboo act. He thought nothing of killing innocents or destroying a world, but for his own reasons rape was a forbidden sin in his ranks. The boy meant nothing to him, but still.....disobedience would not be tolerated! He had them punished. He could have killed them he was so angry! However they did bring him Nambu, so that earned them leniency.
He looked down at his spy. "Speak imbecile before I change my mind on hearing you out!" Afterall what did he care about the driver? Now if the fool were to tell him that one of the birdbrains had a heart attack! "Lord Katse! It's about your cyborgs, they took some liberties last night and..." "Fool! You call this news? I am well aware of what they did." "It's to whom they did it." "A mere cheuffuer." "How many chauffeurs normally throw around feathered shuriken?" The concept began to sink in. He leaned forward. "Yes?" "That was no driver! That was the Condor your men raped!"
At first Katse was tickled pink and laughed hysterically. Then he sobered. The Condor deserved many things but.... Then he remembered the look on Nambu's face. He had casually asked about his driver, and when informed of the cyborgs indiscretion his face had paled and his eye's mirrored his hate and rage. This could be used to further taunt his nemesis. It might well be a good lever to use against him. If he knew one of the medical staff that had access to the brat was on Galactors payroll....
The intern rubbed his hands eagerly. He knew what Katse would ask of him and saw his monetary future looking quite bright. "How much access do you have to the Condor?" Kimberly smiled. "Ito is the main caregiver but some duties are relegated to me. I can get very close and be alone with him." "Can you kill him?" "If the reward is high enough!" "Await my orders then" The man bowed and retreated.
Nambu was trussed up by chains; his perfect control broked. He watched Katse enter with an actual spring to his step. "Ah, Nambu. Let me offer my condolences. An informant of mine, who by the way has close access to a certain patient, has informed me that the unfortunate driver of yours was none other than the Condor. No wonder you were mad enough to spit nails!" Nambu glared hard at him. When he had casually asked about the welfare of his driver, Katse had informed him matter of factly that his cyborgs were naughty and raped the boy. He could not keep his emotions from showing. Now Katse knew. This informant he was talking about must be one of the medical staff at ISO's medical center. "What do you want?" "You know what it is I'm looking for, what my cyborgs failed to obtain for me." "I couldn't find it either." "You don't have to. The information is in your head. If you don't want the kid put out of his misery, all you have to do is spill the beans. Well?"
Nambu closed his eyes. He gambled on the surety that no way would the others leave Joe alone. With his personality he could well be a suicide risk as a result of what was done to him. That and the fact that security protocols were strict whenever any of the team was hospitilized. "No Berg. For the millionth time, go to hell!" Berg stormed out of the room before his anger caused him to inadvertantly and prematurely kill an important prisoner. Still he was confident that eventually Nambu's fears would get the better of him. He entered Solsai X's chambers prepared to gloat. He shrunk back as his information was not received with joy, but anger!
"Fool! Before this Gatchaman's war with us was defensive and detached! They reacted to our initiatives. But you've just upped the notch to a personal level idiot! Now the Gatchaman will take the initiative and bring the war to us! The Eagle's claw will avenge his fledgling! Mark my words. Now do as I command. To avoid his talons yourself you must bait a trap for him! Give him the cyborgs to do with as he pleases, and when his thirst for vengeance is sated then close the trap!" Katse bowed nervously and backed out. "As you command!"
As they flew side by side, heading toward the location where Nambu was held, Ken was quiet. Only half his mind was on the mission itself, the rest of his thoughts were only of killing those perverts. He also was worried sick about Joe. The silence was thick. Over his radio the captain of Red Impulse broke it. "Want to talk about it?" "Hmph?" "Do you need an ear?" Ken gazed out his window toward the red jet streaking beside him. That man was puzzling. For a long while he couldn't figure out whether he was an enemy or a friend. They always appeared in the nick of time to pull their fat out of the proverbial fire, and at the same time delighted in cutting them down to size verbally for their shortcomings. Particularly him. On more than one occassion when his ego got too big, or problems weighed him down to the point where he'd outright quit the team, this captain had been so bold as to literally beat some sense into him. Just how this enigma of a man ever knew when to show up was puzzling.
Ken chewed his lip and wondered if he could just really open up and have an intimate conversation with him. Would the guy react with his usual sarcasm? Ken wasn't in the mood for any of his stinging lectures, but he did want to talk. He wasn't even sure where to begin. "You're worried about your friend, right?" "He's more than a friend or a teammate. He's the closest thing I have to a brother. He may never recover from this! I mean physically in a month or so he will be but..... "But mentally and emotionally is a different story. Ken a part of him never will. You'll both just have to accept that as a given. Coping is all you can do at this point. How strong is he?"
Ken knew that it was easy enough to say that he was the strongest of them when it came to courage, but maybe in this case to much so. He was afraid that woould be his undoing and voice that opinion. "In other words, too much testosterone." "Yeah, overkill on that!" "Then this has hit the Achilles heel, so to speak?" "He's not going to want to live through this, I know him." There he had spoken his greatest fear. "Then make him." That was what he'd been agonizing over for the last hour. "How?" "For one thing your initial reaction is going to be to go gentle on him. And that's fine at first, he'll need this. But your going to have to be sensitive as to when to take off the kid gloves. He won't want coddled and nor should you. Be firm. Listen to him. Let him vent. But don't let him get self absorbed into it either. You need to keep him active. If I know Nambu his first action will be to keep him on medical leave long after the doctors have okayed him physically. Protest against that. That boy needs to be active. The longer he fights the demons on the outside the more he'll fight his demons inside. Bear in mind that he never is going to forget. There are always going to be scars. Your job isn't to make him forget, but to simply help him deal with it. Make him talk about. Whenever something in connection with it seems to bother him stop whatever your doing right then and make him confront it. Don't worry so much about being his commander, just be a friend. And lastly bear this is mind. You are not alone. You have the others and Nambu to help. You've got what very few teams out there really have. Each other. You're a family! These are the kind of traumas that pull family together, but it can also rip them apart. Focus on each other and you'll overcome this together."
Ken had listened quietly. Now he meditated on it. He still worried but at least now he remembered that he didn't have to worry alone. He watched the jet in front of him now and wondered even more about this mysterious man. They reached the base, both dropping to stealth mode and using the cloaking devices especially installed for this mission.
The dream had started simply enough. The beach, white sands, and the blue ocean lit with the dazzling rays of the sun that played upon the waves. He was happily building castles and fantasies. Lost in an imaginary world of knights and heroes he heard the shots. They rang like a cannon in his ears. He turned and ran toward his parents. They sat slumped over a table, there blood stark against the white sands. The woman held a gun and a rose. She leered. Her features melted into that of a leering man. The white turned into black. It's party time punk! There were voices. Cruel sick laughter. Then there was pain, excrutiating white hot pain. And the hands, touching, violating. Mouths over his own, suffocating. Innocence lost then and now. He was screaming. Through his screams he could hear Jun from a distance, then closer. "Joe? It's ok, calm down. It's just a nightmare. Wake up."
His eyes opened wide. The screams came uncontrollable. He was caught in the grip of cold terror and could not shake it. It was difficult to breathe. "Joe please, you're hyperventillating and your going to hurt yourself! You're here at the hospital now. It's over and your safe. It's me Jun! Ryu your going to have to restrain him while I get help! He's already ripped out the IV!" Ryu made an attempt but it only worsened the situation as Joe struggled panic stricken to get away from him.
In his mind Joe could only see them. Touching, holding him. A voice breaking with emotion, crying broke through his hysteria then. "Aniki please!" He was crying. Jinpei was crying. We missed his birthday! "I'm s'rry! Birtday." The words were difficult to ennunciate. He forgot about he jaw. His breathing slowed and his eyes focussed on Jinpei's frightened features. So young, he couldn't possibly understand. The boy held out his arms and Joe held him back. I got to keep it together, at least in front of him!
The doctor and an orderly ran in just then, the latter with restraints. Ryu waved them back. Jun relaxed against the wall watching Joe comfort Jinpei, or was it the other way around? A nurse came in and began reinserting an IV. Jinpei finally dared to look up at Joe. "Is it ok now Aniki?" Joe wiped one of the boys tears away with his good hand and forced a lopsided smile through the wiring in his jaw. He nodded. "Fine. No cryin now, yer ten now, too ol t' cry." Jinpei smiled and looked at his brother. He's trying to be strong for me. I've got to not be a baby and be strong for him too! "I'm sorry, you're right Joe. I'm grown now and I won't cry anymore. I'm going to take care of you, and I'm going to kill those cyborgs too!" Joe's features darkened. "Stay 'way from em!" Jun grabbed her brother off the bed. "He's not getting out of our sight, don't worry! Jinpei you go home with Ryu now so the nurse can give Joe something so he can go back to sleep." "I'll be quiet!" "You need to man the Snack J! Besides there are still dishes piled up from the party!" "Dishes! Figures. Slavery was abolished long ago onechan!"
As the nurse finished and administered a sedative, Joe watched Ryu push a still complaining Jinpei out the room. He laughed and simultaneously winced at the pain. He looked over to Jun's worried features and gave her a thumbs up. "Ken?" "He's left with Red Impulse to get Nambu back. Don't worry, he'll be fine." He did just that. He knew first hand just how tough those cyborgs were. He wanted to go so bad and help Ken. But inside he wondered that even if his injuries weren't so severe and he could, could he ever face them down again. He'd never been afraid before, but what they did had literally reduced him to begging. He'd been made to feel weak and vulnerable and for that he hated them the most. He fell asleep again to Jun's singing wondering if he'd ever conquer those fears.
Nambu tried flexing whatever muscles he could to relieve the tension created by the chains. It had been years since he had actively worked as an agent beside his old friend Kentaro, Ken's father. The man the world today only knew as Red Impulse. Too many years had passed sitting behind a desk or a microscope. Now that his SNT was fully trained and grown up he no longer was in the habit of doing katas. He had personally trained them in the art of ninjitsu himself as one of their many senseis. It was a carefully hidden secret that the world renowned scientist was also a ninja. Now he was getting old and sadly out of shape. At least he could be proud of protoges and retain his youth in them. No father could be happier on how his children turned out.
His thoughts suddenly turned to Joe and he felt sick. Maybe it's Katse's way of a cruel joke and they didn't do what he said they did. He couldn't even bring himself to say the word. They stole his son's honor! Honor was the lifeblood of the Japanese. Everything in their culture was based on it. He felt his son's shame personally. What happened to him was the biggest insult one's manhood could receive. He thought about the possibility of Joe's killing himself and shuddered. I refuse to let that happen! He knew rescue was on the way. Ken would find him. He also knew Ken would exact vengeance. I pray not at the expense of his own life.
The spy met them part way and revealed Katse's trap to them. Ken nodded. He'd spring that trap and get the whole lot of them. The layouts given them by the agent were quickly memorized and they pressed on. Ken let his rage cool. Anger couldn't rule here, it had a tendancy of undoing one. A ninja strikes best when purged of such things. He'd get his vengeance but keep cool at the same time. Afterall, isn't it a dish best served cold? He knew from Joe's appearance better than to engage them physically. Rather he'd make them use their strength against themselves. That and he packed a laser designed to penetrate through most any substance. His boomerang he'd keep reserved for something special.
Ryu drove silently. Neither Jinpei nor himself really felt like discussing it at first. That doozy of a nightmare Joe had was only the tip of the iceberg. He was going to go through a lot worse before he ever got better. Jinpei finally broke the tension. "Hey Ryu, do you think I acted like a baby?" "What? You're the only one who got him to calm down!" "But I don't think that's what he needed! He needs to cry but he won't in front of me! His ego won't let him!" "Maybe, but I think that you did him some good too. Don't worry, at least you did something. All I did was to frighten him and then stand back helpless!" They pulled in front of the Snack J and having no customers they consolled themselves in their typical fashion. They binged!
At the hospital Jun liiked out the window at the clouds. As a little girl she used to like laying in the grass and guess at their shapes. Today the clouds all took on sinister forms. She could think of nothing cute in her present state of mind. Joe still slept and for that she was grateful. She couldn't think of when she last slept. She felt so tired and wished Ken would come back soon. What she needed right now was a good cup of coffee.
Dr. Kimberly entered the room then. "Good afternoon Jun." "Dr. Kimberly." "I need to take a look at my patient here. Would you mind stepping out for just a few minutes?" "Of course! I need to stretch a bit anyway and grab some coffee somewhere. When your done you won't mind staying with him until I get back, just in case you're done before I do?" "No Ma'am." "Don't ma'am me. I'm just a kid." "You're a ranking officer as far as ISO goes." "The only time I get to be a boss is when the boys come into my snack bar. Otherwise, I'm just a grunt!" Kimberly laughed. "Don't worry. If you're not back by the time I've finished my exam I'll either wait or have a nurse here." "Thanks." As she walked out the room he couldn't resist smiling smugly at his ingenuity. He picked up a syringe from his pocket. A little air bubble in the IV. No one would know anything. Throwing an embolism wouldn't be too unusual after injury to the lung.
Inside the darkened cell Nambu watched the shadowy figure approach him. He braced himself for action and was relieved when it turned out to be Kentaro. "I expected your son." "He's hell bent on taking out them cyborgs!" "Damn it Kentaro, it's a trap!" "We know that. He's going to spring it." "It's too dangerous! Why'd you go and let him do such a foolish thing?" "Because as leader of the SNT he's honor bound to do this. Besides which it is also the job for which you trained him, remember? That was his brother they hurt, did you expect him to let that pass?" He mistook Nambus expression then. "Or do you even know what happened?" "Yes. As a matter of fact Katse even boasted about it." They gave each other a look of disgust. Then Kentaro asked. "Do you want to tell me now what is so all fired important the Galactor stooped to this to obtain it?"
Ken inched closer to the nearest cyborg. His boomerang he kept in his hand. Quickly he calculated the angle necessary. Then he gave an eerie whistle that stopped the four cyborgs in their tracks. There was not a Galactor alive who did not know that tune, or what it meant. Ken took malicious pleasure in their expressions. His psych out maneuver, as usual, worked wonders. With a sadistic smile rare for him he cried "Bird Go!" The boomerang flew in a graceful arch cutting deeply into each man's groin. He followed it up with a volley of laser fire that cut through the metal and circuits and what of their human organs that remained. In a spray of blood and electricity they were no more. He heard Katse's laugh simultaneously with the hum of circuitry, as the mechanism meant to trap him lowered. There was a satisfying explosion as his previously planted time bomb went off. In as instant he was after Katse.
Unseen by Ken, the leader of the cyborgs slipped out. He knew something was up. His oun sources had revealed Katse's intentions. He was getting out of this base. If Gatchaman's reputation was true, this entire facility was doomed to go up in flames!
Jun got only part way down the hall when she remembered her purse. She entered after only a cursory knock. The doctor looked startled and guilty at the same time. She noted the syringe in his hand. The plunger was pulled back, but there was no medicine in it. She very quickly and quietly dealt with him. She was relieved that Joe still slept.
Nambu looked at Kentaro unsure of just how to answer him. The information he had was something he knew his old friend should have at least suspected for a long time now. But prior to today there had been no confirmation. "You have a birth certificate that I had placed with Kens. I put it in a picture album." "Which picture album?" "The wedding." "That's not at my old airfield. I left Ken some pictures, but that one I stole one night myself. It had too many memories in it that....What birth certificate?" "Joes. As well as the adoption papers and name change given him." "The certificate had his name down as Giorgio, right?" "Right. Recently when information was stolen from ISO they ran into a cross- reference to a particular birthdate. That and some other information that would lead them to believe that Giorgio Asakura did not die on B.C. Island. I think Katse suspects, and the only reason he hasn't opened up the empty grave is fear on how his organization would react. Joe's father was a highly respected leader and many would follow his son instead of Katse. Katse needs for him to stay dead in their minds. He won't disinter that coffin, but in the mean time if he could figure out where I put little Giorgio... But, there's more." "More? That's bad enough." "Eight years prior to Guiseppe's attempt to defect you had nearly talked him into it then. Something happened to change all of that. I think Katse suspects what that something might be. If he finds the evidence on the birth certificate he's looking for it would do much to discredit Guiseppe's son to the organization." "How so?" "Do the math Kentaro. That child was conceived at a time when Guiseppe was no where near Katarina." "He could have been premature." "I hate to inform you otherwise. There were blood tests, specifically DNA tests that I had done since to confirm you as the father. I put the test results in with the birth certificate probably prior to when you stole them out of there." Kentaro absorbed that, shocked. "Then Joe is my...son?" "Don't be so shocked. Deep inside you always knew the truth. This is only confirmation." "Then what's the problem? If anything , as you said, Katse should be elated. He no longer has to fear that his men would attempt to use Guiseppe's son as a means to end his leadership." "For one thing they know that Joe Asakura is a race car driver. For another it proves that he's your son. It wouldn't be too hard to link him then to Ken. I adopted Ken, and Joe. Common sense will tell them that those are more than likely members of the SNT. They don't know Ken's face, but they do know Joe's. And if they were seen together? They'd both be a target. For that reason Galactor must never have that information. Neither can Joe or Ken know the truth until this war is finally over. One of the benefits of the SNT is that they are orphans. No one can be used to tie their hands. It's the same reason Ken can't know that you're still alive. Such ties can endanger you both. Do you understand?"
Kentaro lowered his head. Sadly he did. But knowing the necessities of his sacrifice made years ago to enter the world of espionage, never made it easy. "How can you expect Joe or Ken to understand? If you can't tell them the truth of what happened, what can you tell them to make what Joe went through for the sake of your 'classified information'....justified." "For one damn thing there is no justification for what they did to him! The only thing I can tell them until Galactor is no more is that it's classified." The Red Impulse captain shook his head. It wasn't right, but in war life never was. He understood, but still it never would be easy. He was filled with pride that Joe was his after all. He'd fallen in love with Katarina at a time when his own wife was very ill. It had been unexpected. He never intended to enter into an adulterous relationship. It just happened. Now both his sons followed in his footsteps in the war with Galactor. Both were the two top leaders of the SNT. And he was sad. He had a son who was hurting right now, who needed a father very much at this time, and like it was with Ken, he couldn't be there for him. "I'm in a sudden hurry to get out of here. Let's rendezvous with Ken and to quote an old saying, 'Let's blow this popcical stand!"
Ken watched as once again Katse wriggled his way to freedom. He set the timer grenades and fought his way through whatever Galactor was stupid enough to present themselves as a punching bag. He made his way to the jets where Nambu and the Red Impulse captain awaited him. Giving them a thumbs up he motioned Nambu to his jet and the two launched. Behind them the base went up in a ball of flames. The Red Impulse leader waved farewell and they parted company.
On the way Nambu remained vague over just what the classified information was. Ken had been furious and lashed out at Nambu over what his 'classified' information did to Joe. Nambu let him vent. There was a lot at stake that Ken and Joe couldn't know. He allowed Ken his anger, because in more ways than one he did feel responsible for this. He could have used another driver. He didn't have to tell the SNT what the information was to have scrambled them all for assist. He could only have said that Galactor was expected to interfere and maybe Joe wouldn't have been raped. Or maybe the whole team might have.... The past couldn't be changed.
He followed Ken to Joe's room. He was glad that Joe was sound asleep because he knew his face mirrored the emotions he felt inside. He expected from what Ken described for him to look bad, but not this bad! He was battered! Jun was at his side and told him about the attempt on his life. Ken was angry. Nambu was shocked that Berg's informant was Kimberly! The man had been with them for years, what could have made him turn traitor?
He watched as Ken sat beside his brother. They looked nothing alike. Ken was slender, graceful with an almost effeminate beauty. He was dark haired and had blue eyes. An unusual trait for a Japanese. Joe was taller, more robust, and had a rugged face that while attractive could no way be called beautiful. His hair was a honey brown and his eyes were violet. Even in temperement they were opposites. Ken was restrained, polite. Joe was volotile and rude at times. Galactor could never tell from just looking at them. He couldn't. The secret would remain safe.
He joined Ken at Joe's side and gently stroked his son's hair. In many ways Joe was his son. He raised him from the age of eight. He could never show it as much as he'd like, because they were forever butting heads. And while he was sure everyone thought that it was Ken who was his favorite, they were wrong. He just wished that there was no war so that he didn't always have to be the rebellious boy's boss instead of just being a father. Life had dealt them all a disfavor when Galactor came to power. He'd be a father now though. Joe would need that in the next.... however long it would take. He'd be there for him. They all would. They were each others family, and that was one thing that Galactor could never take from them.
The End
Joe drove into the airfield breaking harder than he intended. He stopped just short of the office kicking up dirt and gravel. Nambu was getting on his last nerve. First off he insisted that Joe drop everything and drive him pronto to Ken's. Forget how long it took to get here, and forget that they were all planning Jinpeis birthday party tonight, or that he was needed to assist Jun with the preparations. Then the whole way there he did nothing but nag him about his driving. 'This isn't a battle, slow down!' or 'Ok we're out of the city, can you go any faster?' and 'Watch those turns! I'd like to get there in one piece.' Not to mention 'Did I hear you swear just now?' It had been enough to make him scream!
Joe was fuming. He got out of the car making sure to slam the door for emphasis. He noted that Nambu wasn't following him and looked back to his equally livid face. Oh yeah, I forgot. Just in case some spy happens to be watching I've got to play his driver to the hilt.. He walked back to the car and opened the door for Nambu. As the older man got out he flashed Joe a look that promised a major lecture later.
When they went in, naturally, there was no Ken. I told him Ken was working late. Did he listen? Hell no! Immediately Nambu began tearing the office apart, rummaging through Ken's drawers and file cabinets in a messy fashion. The normally neat freak payed no attention to where any of the papers landed. "Uh, Hakase, I don't think Ken is going to be happy with your going through his things." Nambu didn't answer him, he just kept looking , searching. For what was anyone's guess let alone his. Joe decided to ignore him and instead amuse himself with an old fashioned communications board. He picked up the microphone hoping that it was already keyed into Ken's frequency.
"Yo Ken!" There was static at first, then a few minutes later he heard his leaders befuddled voice. "Joe?" "Hey Ken, Nambu is over at your place wrecking the joint in search of something." In the background Ken could hear their mentor's booming voice. "Joe get off that thing!" Joe looked at him puzzled, ignoring Ken's snicker. "Why?" "It's unsecured!" "Unsec...Like Galactor has nothing better to do than bug minor airfields!" Ken laughed at him, then admonished, "You know Joe, you do have your transpower band!" He could tell from his end that Nambu was in a mood and Joe was fed up with it. "This is more fun Ken. I could use some old CB handles!" "Only if I had a truck out here. You're confusing the two! So what is he looking for anyway? Maybe I can speed up his search."
Joe looked over to Nambu relaying Ken's request. He looked up from his task only to yell, "Classified! Now get off that thing!" Then very rudely without another word disappeared into a back room. From where he was Joe could hear him overturning box after box and from the doorway saw the accumulation of papers pile onto the floor. "Did you hear him Ken? Classified!" He mimicked Nambu's voice so perfectly Ken had to wait for the laughing fit to cease before responding indignantly. "Classified? From me? Those are my things! Ask him if he at least intends on filling me in later." "I'm not asking him anything when he's in this kind of mood! You should ask him if he intends to clean up his mess when he's done! On second thought don't. He'll end up making me do it! So, when are you coming home?" "Late." "How late? Jinpei's party is tonight baka." "Make excuses for me. I'll be there, just late." "Did you at least stop as planned and pick up his gift?" "It's in the back. I'm not completely brain dead." "Don't leave yourself so wide open! Actually what you are is a workaholic. While your out making ends meet, and Nambus creating tornados in your place I think I'll just play around in your office." "Touch anything and your dead!" "Wouldn't notice if I did with the mess he's made. You should see him Ken, he's flipped out!" "I can hardly wait. Do me a favor?" "Cost you." "Yeah, yeah. Put it on my account!" "Could have phoned that one in! Everything's on account with you." " Keep it up Joe. Before you leave could you please switch on the runway lights." "Oh be daring! Land without them." "Are you going to be there still?" "I hope not! Why?" "Because I'd hate to accidentally land on top of the G2!" "I'll hit the lights. But only bacause Nambu is such a jerk that he'll probably have me cleaning up his mess that I'll be late for the party!" "Just watch your temper Joe. Out."
Joe went back to watching Nambu demolish everything in sight looking for his classified information. He sat behind Ken's desk with his feet plopped on top and watched the clock. 5p.m. He was supposed to be helping Jun decorate, not sit here watching Hakase go berserk. The party was at seven. Hopefully Nambu would hurry up and either find what he was looking for or abandon the search altogether. Just watch, Hakase will make me clean it up just to be snotty!
At that point he decided to anticipate the order and started to clean up now. He put the papers back in the filing cabinet hoping that it didn't go in some particular order. Then he did likewise with the desk drawers. The top of the desk he simply arranged in neat piles, having no idea what Ken was working on or was done with. As he worked he noticed the orange glow of the setting sun. When they had arrived it was bright enough in the office with the sunlight that neither had bothered with the lightswitch. He kicked back in the chair admiring the array of colors.
With the sunset shadows were cast upon the wall. One shadow in particular got his attention. It moved with a purpose. He could still hear Nambu rustling around in the back room so it wasn't him. Silently Joe reached for his feather shuriken and whipped around. His aim was perfect as two very surprised Galactors fell dead to the floor. Ten more entered the room and an equal number of shuriken found their targets, as well as a few well placed kicks. Five more, these appearing more fit and larger burst in. With all of the inert bodies laying around maneuvering was going to be difficult. Joe just hoped that by this time Nambu had the sense to either hide or run. Even so Joe yelled out in warning. "Hakase, run!" He then blocked the entrance way to the back office, tossing out more shuriken. He hoped these were the last. His supply of the feathered darts was limited.
To his utter amazement the shuriken penetrated only the clothes. Not one so much as nicked their flesh. He unzipped his jeans at the thigh where he kept his cable gun and fired directly at the throat of the closest one. He watched in disbelief as the pointed end blunted and bounced harmlessly off of him to join the equally useless shuriken on the floor. Cyborgs! Discarding that he drew the magnum he kept close at hand and shot several rounds before the leader, unfazed, walked right up to a startled Joe.
The man knocked the pistol out of his hand and lifted him up by the throat pinning him to a wall by the entrance. The fingers tightened painfully. Two guards ran past them to the back room after Nambu. The rest began tearing the office apart all over again. Just what the hell are they all looking for anyway? Joe shot his arms up between the cyborgs arms and brought them down in a powerful swing that should theoretically have broken his hold. The only effect that had was in his dislodging the transpower band and dislocating his wrist.
The man laughed, amused at his feeble efforts. Next Joe aimed a knee upwards at the cyborg's solar flexus. There was no change in the man's expression or to his tight grip. He might as well have hit a steel wall for all the good that did! His knee hurt from the impact. The move elicited laughter from all present in the room.
The two goons reemerged from the back with an unconcious Nambu between them. Joe became pissed off and he placed a furious kick to the Galactors crotch hoping that at least some of him was human. Bingo! That got the intended result. The leader dropped him,and, bending over, he howled like a mad dog. Joe used his bent over torso to leap frog over the fallen bodies to the door, giving chase to the two who carted Nambu away to a waiting car. Between him and his 'father' stood another ten or so galactors. He went through them like a hurricane! Just as he neared the vehical however, a strong hand yanked at his hair pulling his head back sharply. Joe jerked away from him and turned to face the new antagonist. A fist like a wrecking ball shattered the right side of his jaw. Bright flashing color danced before his eyes as his vision blurred and mind numbing pain made his head spin. He spat out teeth and blood and a very bitter "K'so!"
He started to retaliate, but the man snatched his shirt and hoisted him over one shoulder. He was carried that way back to the office and one very pissed off leader who waited still rubbing his crotch. There was murder and promised vengeance in the Galactor captain's eyes. Only part cyborg! Still what was, was solidly invincible. Damn! With the transpower band off I can't even signal for help!
The Galactor holding him dropped him unceremoniously to the floor in front of his leader. With quick reflexes born of years worth of training Joe leaped to his feet. An immediate punch to the abdomen had him haunched over and breathless. Another blow to his left cheek took him back down to the floor where a hard kick audibly cracked a few ribs. The bastard then picked him up clutching his broken jaw in an excrutiating vise-like grip. Smiling sadistically he barked an order to his men who stood by gaping. "Keep searching!"
Looking dead into Joes eyes he asked "Where is it?" "Where is what?" "Don't be cute punk!" The man slapped him with his opern palm leaving a red imprint that was sure to bruise later. " I said where is it??" "The hell if I know! I don't even know what 'it' is!" Another punch to the belly made his muscles clench in protest. "Wrong answer! Try again sweetheart!" "I'm not your sweetheart! Even if I knew what you were talking about what makes you think I'd tell Galactor low lives anything?" Three more blows landed to his face busting lip and nose and further jarring his injured jaw. Speaking was now becoming difficult. Still Joe managed one insult. "Yurero!"
Fully into the rage that had earned him his rep as borderline psychotic, Joe aimed a lightening fast kick toward the crotch again! This time the move was anticipated as the cyborg grabbed Joes leg knocking him off balance and flying backward. He hit the wall, his head impacting hard. "K'so!" The room spun. The man glared at him in four versions as Joes vision quadrupled. "Since you seem so fascinated with my groin, lets try a different tactic."
With one hand he swept the top of the desk clean and body slammed Joe hard onto its surface. Joes ears were ringing and he was still dizzy and disoriented. For the moment he lay immobile trying to get his bearings. That soon became difficult when the man began to choke him. Lack of oxygen caused the room to blacken from more than just the late hour. Just as the ebb of conciousness faded he let go. Vaguely Joe was aware that his shoes and socks were being removed. He felt detached as his vision was a stardusted blur. Then he felt his pants and underpants being removed. Alarms went off inside as he tried to rise, gulping in much needed air. Another powerful blow to the side of his head landed him prone again. Fingers laced through his hair and he was yanked upward. The sting to the scalp brought tears to his eyes. Trying desperately to reorient himself Joe swung blindly and missed. His shirt was lifted over his head and pulled back entangling his arms. Three more punches further dazed him as he was once again slammed backwards.
For a brief moment there was some respite, and in it Joe fought to stay concious. What the hell can be so important? What did Ken have that both Nambu and these guards want? In those few seconds Joes vision cleared some. Looking up at his assailent he was shocked to see the man's unzipped pants and exposed erection. "It's party time punk!" Letting loose a Sicilian epithet, Joe aimed a desperate kick with intent to kill at the mans liver. Chuckling with amusement the man grabbed his ankle and twisted hard until a loud pop could be heard. It was followed by a sickening crunch as the inhumanly strong fingers crushed his bones. Inspite of himself Joe screamed.
"Scream on baby! In a few moments I'm going to really give you something to scream about!" Taunting him some more about his obvious intent, the man clutched Joes hips and pulled him to the edge of the desk and lifted him upward. Joe struggled to free his arms from the binder that his shirt had become. His arms were not only encased in it but pinned underneath him as another cyborg held his shoulders down. An unaccustomed feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him. God, no! The sharp burning pain of penetration brought forth another scream. Though the words were now mangled from the damage to his jaw he threatened and cursed. Humiliated he was finally reduced to begging. The darkness of night filled the room aptly hiding the ugly scene in inky blackness. Not satisfied with once, the cyborg repeatedly raped and beat him then handed him over to the rest of his men who had ended their futile search long ago to lewdly cheer their boss on.
Jun looked up at the clock over the bar at the Snack J. They were both an hour late! She knew two members of the Science Ninja Team who were soon going to be deceased! Especially the one who promised to help her with the decorations! She moved over to console Jinpei. How could they? Now her little brothers feelings were hurt! Ryu glanced at her sharing her annoyance. He was more ticked at Joe. Being late for social occassions was a habit with him. He even had the audacity to miss briefings and though even more rare the occassional mission. Now Ken he defended. Afterall the man had to work to pay Jun's tab off. He moved over to Jinpei with his present knowing that would keep his mind off the passing time for now.
They left close to eight. They never did find whatever 'it' was. Joe stared blankly at the ceiling. They hadn't left empty handed though, they had Nambu! He forced himself to sit up wincing in pain. He had to alert Ken! They'd need to rescue him fast! Moaning he stood up, belatedly remembering his shattered foot as he fell hard to the floor. His chest hurt, and breathing was difficult. One of the fractured ribs must have punctured a lung. There were too many areas that hurt simultaneously. He was a solid mass of pain! Anger filled him as his mind repeated a deadly litany. I'm going to kill those bastards! He'd never been so ....humiliated....helpless! Emotions flooded him ranging from red hot rage to deep shame. The door to the office was open and the cold night air made him shiver.
For a few moment he just sat on the floor, his back agains the hard side of the desk. Telling Ken was the last thing he wanted. If it weren't for his injuries he could probably get away with concealing what those bastards did to him. However as he felt shock set in, he knew one way or another he'd end up in the hospital and it would come out. Ken may be slightly naive but Joe knew he wasn't stupid! One look at him and Ken would have to put two and two together. Ken! He should be here any minute! Not wanting his long time friend and brother to see him like this, Joe desperated felt around with his good hand for his discarded clothes. Eventually they had got around to removing the shirt entirely as their mouths and hands......Block it out! He couldn't afford to dwell on it now. He had to get himself together before Ken got there.
It was dark, so finding anything was a challenge. He managed to located by feel only his jeans and hearing the whine of jet engines in the distance hurredly donned them. Only when feeling the chaffing roughness of the material did he realize that he forgot to put on the briefs first. K'so! Who am I kidding anyhow? I can't hide this! Embarrassed and growing more shocky by the minute he huddled into a ball. In the privacy of the shadows he gave into silent sobs.
The beeping signal that could only be his transpower band startled him. Joe steeled himself. He was not going to crumble damn it! He groped around some more following its sound and felt the cool of the metal band against his fingers. He lifted it up and forcing himself to speak through the good side of his jaw answered. "Ken?" "Joe! Where the hell are the damn running lights???" Shimata! Forgot about that! Where are they anyway? Joe doubted he'd be able to raise to his feet to find the wall lights let alone the runway lights. "Joe did you hear me? Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?" I wish it were, than I could laugh. A sick joke. Ken continued to ramble. "We were supposed to be at the party at seven! We can't both be late! Is Nambu still there?" Joe wished he could articulate better, but Ken wasn't giving him the opportunity to get a word in edgewise even if his jaw weren't busted.
In the background the whine of the jets grew closer and Joe prayed for a safe landing. He should have turn on the lights immediately instead of just cleaning up. Hell it just got messed up all over again anyway! The squeal of tires came from a point well away from the building or hangar. But weren't there trees and a fence somewhere out there in the darkness? He didn't heear any sounds of impact so he guessed that Ken made it ok. That's good because I'd have been really pissed off if he hit the G2! There were muted sounds of thumps and Kens audible cursing. Obviously Ken was tripping over his handiwork outside. He sounded angry at first. He better not cop an attitude with me because I'm not in the mood for one of his hissy fits!
Ken looked at the dead Galactor and the white feather that shone in the moonlight. He should have known something was up! Joe would never have played that kind of joke on him. He could definitely pull some good ones but never that would endanger his life like that! And not with Nambu present. Fear gnawed at him as he instinctively went to birdstyle. Drawing his boomerang he approached the office stealthily. The more lifeless bodies that he either tripped over or stepped around the more worried he got. It was deathly quiet in there! Whatever went down is over now. He just hoped none of the fallen shapes turned out to be Joe or Nambu.
Finding the lightswitch he flicked it on and gaped in horror! Joe averted his head as much from the sudden glare of the lights as from shame. Ken took in the sight. He was trained as a ninja to make quick assessments of a situation and that training kicked in even as he recoiled from the obvious conclusion. The office was torn apart worse than Nambu could ever have made it. The desk was bloody! Bodies littered the office. Scattered to one side of the desk was Joe's shirt, socks and shoes. More disturbing was the sight of the white briefs. For one thing he owned only blues and greys. He looked his teammate. From head to toe he made the same analytical assessment that he made of the room. Joes jaw was distorted and swollen. More than likely fractured. His nose was busted and bloody. Blood and something else was caked around bruised puffy lips. Bruises darkened his temples and eyes. It looked like someone had beaten his brother to a pulp! His eyes traveled downward to the neck. Discoloration in the shape of fingerprints stood out among purplish red.......hickeys? His chest, abdomen and arms also bore heavy ecchymosis. Most of which looked like definite fingerprints. Nail marks and teeth marks grazed his neck and....nipples? The only clothes on were his jeans and they were undone at the top. A cold chill started at the top of his spine and worked its way down. Unbidden the words came out. "Oh my God!"
Joe shut his eyes. He knew he had to look bad but to get that response......embarrassed wasn't the word! Ken approached him a little to quickly and in spite of himself he recoiled. "Joe? Who? Where's Nambu?" He looked at him through watery eyes. His breath was ragged and the words difficult. He managed a quick debriefing omitting the obvious. "Cyborgs?? What the hell was so damned important? Is that why Nambu was so afraid of the place being bugged? He knew that whatever he was looking for they'd want as well and didn't scramble the whole team??? Damn him and his classified information!" Joe felt the same way. Beyond his killing rage at what they did to him he felt a frustrated anger at Nambu for not warning him. He could have been more prepared. Or could he? He fought his best and still...... "Ken. 'm sr'ry" "What? It's not your fault! Don't even go there Joe. What happened.....it wasn't your fault." "Mad?" "No! I am at those bastards and Hakase but not you!" "Got..find him!" "I will. As soon as he contacts us or Red Impulses spy net reveals something...." "Me too! Kill 'em!" Ken nodded. "I know. But Joe your in no shape. I got to get you to a hospital fast! Let me get a blanket and a first aid kit. I'll do what I can here, but then we're on our way to ISO's medical center." "Don' tell o'thrs." Ken lowered his head. He could only imagine how Joe felt. He imagined he'd feel the same. But there was no way he was going to be able to keep this from the rest of the team.
He left the room to get the first aide kit and returned to Joes side with a blanket that he grabbed from off his bed in an adjacent room. As he wrapped it around Joe he felt him stiffen. Beneath the dark bruising he noted the pallor. Taking peroxide and gauze he gently cleaned his face cringing inside each time Joe would wince or look away in shame. He was trying to be strong and macho but the tears threatened to come at any time. To hell with the bullshit that said a man can't cry! "Joe. Look at me." A thought about Ken's lectures crossed Joes mind almost making him want to smile. But one glance at Ken and he lost that thought. He knew what his brother was going to say and he wasn't ready to hear it. But Ken had the tenacity of a dog with a bone and wouldn't back off. "What happened wasn't your fault. The shame was theirs and not yours. I know that's not what you feel right now but......Those bastards that......It's not your fault they raped you and I'll be damned if I ever let you turn away in shame like that again! You're the Condor and you will hold your head up!" Joe laughed. Leave it to Ken to read him like a book.
"Come here." Joe looked at him confused. He was right beside Ken what was he... "I don't believe in the stereotyped ethos that a man can't cry or be hugged. You need to let it out!" He can't seriously think I'm going to let him... But Ken not only thought it, he did it. He held his protesting brother in a tight embrace. At first Joe stiffened in anger, then shuddering he relaxed and broke down in between angry curses and threats against both Ken for insisting on this and the cyborgs who raped him and Nambus stupid classified information and Galactor in general. This was followed by general threats against nonsense made even more funny by the fact that it was spoken brokenly through one side of the mouth with a nasal accent that had them both laughing between the tears.
Ken than scooped him up in his arms and carried him out to the G2. "Now I am pissed off at you!" "Why?" "You left the keys in the ignition bakarou! They must not have known you were a member of the SNT or they'd have stolen the car! Either that or their incredibly stupid cyborgs!" Joe felt better after giving in to the tears and laughed. Though a good portion of the shame would always be there, he was now mostly angry. Those perverts robbed his manhood and if Ken didn't get them all first when he got out of the hospital he was going to get it back by tearing them apart limb from limb! After that......Maybe I'll just kill myself! Then he reminded himself that he also had his parents to avenge. After all of Galactor falls, then I could die. He held on to that thought while Ken set him inside.
The ride to the hospital did a lot to ease his nerves. Between the familiar roar of his engines and the cranked up heat, not to mention shock, he found himself getting drowsy. He was in that in between state when the car stopped. He could hear Ken talking over the transpower band to Chief Anderson. He didn't know those bands frequencies were also connected the head of ISO's phone line.
"This is Eagle 1 Chief Anderson. Nambu Hakase has been abducted. Could you reach the captain of the Red Impulse for me and meet me at ISO's medical center? I don't have time to explain, one of my team's been injured. I'll brief you both when you arrive. Eagle 1 out." Ken saw that Joe was staring at him. Though still visibly shaken and physically getting worse he seemed much more in controll of himself. That was good, because the hardest part was yet to come. He had to get through the exam. Not only would it be embarrassing, but Ken also imagined it would be quite painful as well. "I can get a guerney or wheelchair, or I could carry you." "I'll wa'k" "All of a half an inch before you fall! That foot is way beyond the casting stage. I think your looking at surgery." Joe gazed out the window. It was frustrating to realize that his vengeance would have to keep. "Joe?" He returned his focus to Ken. "The next hour or so isn't going to be easy." Ken paused to let his meaning sink in. There was a brief second where it seemed Joe would start crying again, but it passed. In it's place was a steely resolve. Joe was strong. What happened was devastating and Ken didn't delude himself for one minute that the road to recovery would be easy, but he knew Joe would. Joe nodded in response, and let Ken carry him inside.
Whenever any member of the SNT was hospitalized for any reason certain security protocols were activated. Ken didn't even need I.D. Transformed as he was into birdstyle was sufficient to put the entire hospital staff on alert. Security guards preceeded and followed him in to ER. Two more posted themselves outside the room. Perimeter guards were established all around the hospital. During this time the center literally became a fortress. Even the regular staff would have a hard time coming and leaving the facility without being triple checked by numerous stations. Any would be Galactor assassin would theoretically find it difficult if not impossible to penetrate that center, In short, the facility had just raised the drawbridge!
Ken layed him on the cot in ER and giving a reassuring hand grasp, went to find the DR. Automatically the nurse would have contacted the teams personal physician. Usuall Dr. Ito travelled a lot doing mission work. Fortunately he happened to be here. There were few that Joe would trust to touch him right now. Nambu would be one, and Ito being the second. He found the older doctor hurrying along the passageway to him. "Ken? What happened?" He looked at the young commanders sudden downcast features and the tears in his eyes. Up until now Ken had kept his own emotions in check for Joe's sake. And he knew that Joe would need him in the ER to be his strength. But for now he let it all out. He gave Ito the brief synopsis of what happened. He alternately raged in icy fury and cried. Then he punched the wall swearing loud enough for all present in the corridor to hear,"I'll kill every last one of those bastards, and if Katse had anything to do with this, I'll kill him too!"
Ito listened in mute silence as the horror of what Ken told him sunk in. He'd cared for the two oldest members of the team since youth, Ken since birth! Like Nambu he considered them his. At the very least he considered himself an uncle. His heart ached for Joe. He was always such a little rascal when younger. It would be hard separating the little boy from the man today. He gave Ken a hug and let him vent a little longer before reminding him that they had to go in there now.
Ito could not suppress a gasp when he entered the room. Joe looked like a truck ran over him. His nurses and junior physicians had gotten O2 on him and started IV's. A portable X-ray was removed. The doctor closest to him told him they got chest x-rays as well as pictures of the head, jaw, foot and wrist. The nose would have to wait until the swelling was down before any thing could be clearly seen. There was evidence of internal bleeding and possibly a punctured lung. It hadn't collapsed though, so that was reassuring. He recommended a proctoscopy to rule out the obvious. Ito nodded. He wanted to take this slow but one glance at the vital signs told him the exam would have to be quick.
It had been a long time since he had dealt with a rape victim, and then only women. He was at a loss as to how to approach him. Ito walked over to him. They had already administered pre-op meds and the boy was half asleep. That was good. It would make this go a little easier. He was surprised that Joe let them get a gown on and do some initial treatments. "Hey rascal, how are you holding up?" Joe opened his eyes at the sound of the familiar voice. Ito. He liked the doctor. They had known each other since he was eight. He'd been a mess then. His parents had just been murdered and he himself the victim of an assassin's bomb. He knew he looked a mess now. He could see it in everyones eyes. It only managed to increase his shame. He figured Ken told him. Joe suppressed a shiver. So far what the medical staff had done hadn't been so bad, but he knew what was coming.
"Joe, I need to do a proctoscopy, you know what that is?" Joe averted his eyes from Ito and nodded. "This is going to be the most difficult part of the exam, but it needs to be done. It will be very painful, but I'll have the nurse administer some novacaine to reduce some of the discomfort. We need to assess any possible damage done to the colon and rectum. Afterwords we'll be rushing you in to surgery. Has Dr. Kimberly given you a basic run down of your injuries?" Again Joe nodded. He didn't even bother with words anymore. The jaw hurt far too much for that now. "I'm mostly concerned over the internal bleeding and that lung. It has been punctured and there is a strong possibility of its' collapsing. So I need to rush this exam faster than I'd like. I need you to be strong through this. If you'd like, Ken will stay here the whole time."
Joe shook his head at first. He wished this was some stupid nightmare and any time he'd wake up and.....He looked up at Ken. A part of him wanted his brother no where around. Just having these doctor look and touch was going to be bad enough, but to have Ken see....How can I look him in the eye after this But he didn't want to be alone either. If Ken was there it would help him to keep his mask up. No way was he going to break in front of all these people. He nodded and held out a hand toward Ken.
It was an effort to stay calm as the nurses took various samples to rule out any STD's. They swabbed his mouth then gave him some mouthwash. When they turned him over and administered the novacaine he closed his eyes in shame and mentally prepared himself for what came next. The whole time Ken squeezed his hand and talked non-stop about mundane things. For the most part Joe kept it together. But midway through the proctoscopy he lost it. The sight of him crumbling tore at Ken's heart and he repeated his threat against all Galactor. He stayed at Joes side all the way up to when they took him to surgery. Watching them leave with him he leaned against the wall. I can't go off on a mission and leave him! But duty called and Nambu's life depended on it. So far he hadn't received any signals, so that left Red Impulses spy net. He resolved to do this op alone. He'd leave Jun and Ryu to stay at Joes side. And Jinpei....
Jinpei? The party! How in the hell am I going to tell them! He checked the time. It was now 10p.m. Jun would either be furious or concerned by this time. Jinpei would be hurt. Ken opted for waiting until after Joe's surgery to tell them. No sense in it until I can give them some good news as well. He left out the room into the corridor and almost toppled into a solid form dressed in red.
He looked up at the tall man. Goggles concealed his face. His men stood to one side being frisked by security. This was the captain of the Red Impulse. Also being subjected to security's scrutiny was Chief Anderson himself. They looked at him, impatient for details. Ken led them into a room which he personally inspected then for any bugging devices. Finding none, he briefed them. They were both at a loss as to what Nambu or Galactor could have been searching for. When he mentioned what the cyborgs had done to Joe they were as equally livid with rage as he'd been. Ken then asked for permission to rescue Nambu without the rest of his team. "I want someone with Joe 24-7. I don't know how he's going to handle this. If it were me I'd contemplate suicide. Especially when I couldn't retalliate as fast as I'd like." Anderson nodded at the wisdom of that. "However you will not go alone. Red Impulse will accompany you. I want your head cool on this mission Commander. You're to get Nambu back in one piece not exact vengeance." "I don't need Red Impulse to accompany me. This is personal!" "No G1 this is not. It's war and unfortunately you've been exposed to one of its darker sides. I will not have Nambu's life jeopardized for personal agendas. I would like nothing better than for those slime to get what's coming to them, but not at the expense of your mentors life! Is that clear?" "Crystal." He said it a little icier than he'd intended, but Anderson excepted it and excused himself. The leader of Red Impulse gave him an understanding smile. "As soon as we find anything out I'll get in touch with you." Ken gave him only a cursory nod before he left. His thoughts were on Joe. No matter what Anderson said he intended to do some serious pay back! And he had no intentiion of endangering Nambu in the process.
Ken sat back in one of the rooms recliners and rested his eyes. He was emotionally drained now. He tried to doze but images of Joes battered face and body haunted him. Nightmares of a dead Nambu and laughing cyborgs made his heart palpate. Then Anderson's words. "This is war' 'Exposed to its' darker side.' The what if finally happened. They'd all been educated as to the possibility of one of them being raped. But somewhere in the back of their minds they thought only of Jun, and what they'd do. Sometimes they had a bad habit of overprotecting her as a result. At least until her acerbic tongue would sourly remind them that she was just as capable of defending herself as they were. So lost in nightmares and meanderings was he that a tap on the shoulder made him jump up in the seat, panting and sweaty.
It was Ito, and the surgeon. "He came through it pretty good. They isolated the cause of the bleeding and repaired it. The lung wasn't too badly damaged. His jaws been wired, and the foot may require further surgery. The wrist was only dislocated and no problem. Physically he'll be just fine. As to his mental status, we can have therapists and psychologist working with him. He has a pretty good support group in the four of you, and he is strong. We can be fairly optimistic that with time he'll be alright mentally and emotionally. But you do understand that it will take some time?" Ken nodded. "Can I see him now?" "He's still out from the anesthesia and in recovery." "Under the circumstances I'd like to be with him when he wakes up." "I agree. Come with me."
He followed Ito to the recovery room. He should have expected all the different gadgets. He only knew what a few of the medical equipment was and couldn't make any sense over any of the blips, bleeps or readouts. He trusted in Ito that Joe was stable though. He noticed that Ito and the nurses gave him privacy. He walked over to Joe and smoothed his hair back. Then he did something he could never do when Joe was awake, even under normal conditions. Male ego simply forbade it, as did his Japanese upbringing. He leaned down and gave his brother a kiss on the forehead, letting his tears spill. His brother may be alright physically, but Ken knew just how messed up inside he was going to be for a long time.
He looked so pale. The bruises stood out in dark contrast. The blankets were pulled up to his chin and bandages covered most of his face. An oxygen mask covered his face making the swollen nose look even more distorted. Three IV bottles hung from a pole. He took Joes limp hand in his own and settled down beside him, and eyeballed the clock. 3a.m. He felt wiped out. Jun and Jinpei would have gone to bed by this time, having given up on their wayward brothers. Ryu probably stayed the night hoping they'd show up. How am I going to tell them?
Joe began to stir. A nurse came as she did periodically and checked his pupils and vital signs. Joes eyes squinted against the bright light. He whispered Ken's name. "I'm still here. Go back to sleep. His eyes fluttered and he gazed blearily at Ken. He weakly returned Kens hand grasp before trailing back off. The nurse touched his shoulder. "We'll be moving to a private room now." Ken nodded.
Later as he approached the Snack J he wasn't really surprised that the lights were on. She was probably in such a mood that she'd wait up all night just for a chance to kill him. Inside he was surprised to find them all up and crying. In their midst was the Red Impulse Captain. "I hope you're not too mad about me overstepping the bounds here, but I thought after being in the hospital all night you might appreciate it if someone shouldered the responsibility of informing the others
Ken sighed in relief and nodded. He really hadn't any idea what to say. He looked at their tear streaked faces. Jinpei ran crying in his arms sobbing that he didn't understand. I don't either Ryu came over also crying and awkwardly layed a hand on his shoulder. In contrast Jun was more restrained. "How is he?" "He came out of the surgery ok, but only time will tell with the rest. That was pretty much a given. "We're going with you Ken." "No" "Ken..." "That's final Jun. I need for you all to stay with Joe. When the sedatives wear off...He's trying to be strong but I know him. Once the shock wears off and the full impact of what happened really hits....I don't want to come back from this mission and have someone tell me that he took his own life." "He won't do that Ken. He may contemplate it, but I know that Joe would never take the easy way out. He's no coward. He'll deal with it. Still if it would make you feel better we'll stay with him. He shouldn't be alone any way. If they even guess at who he was he'll become a target now." Ken hadn't thought about that. All the more reason to kill those cyborgs.
The captain hadn't interfered with their conversation but now interjected. "We have a fix on his location now. One of our spies saw him being taken in. My jets fueled and I can give you a lift to your airfield and your jet. I don't think we'll need the Phoenix for this." Ken agreed. He stared down at Jinpei who still cried and held onto him. He wasn't sure how much had been explained to him. While Ken knew he didn't have all the answers, he knew his responsibility. "Give me some time alone with Jinpei and I'll be right out."
Morning's soft light illuminated the hospital room. Joe's eyes fluttered open. He felt dazed and confused at first. A thousand different hurts registered at once, some bad, others just annoying. He turned his head to the left and caught Jun's attention. Bathed by the sun's golden hues she looked beautiful. He wondered why she was here at his trailer, then he took in the hospital equipment. He tried to speak her name but his mouth felt glued together. He had an oxygen mask on and gauze had been stuffed up his nose. He struggled hard to remember. He tried again to speak. Jun was at his side in an instant.
"Joe don't try to talk. You had some surgery to your jaw and its been wired shut." His tongue felt the cool metal on the inside. He felt the sting of sutures and took a tally of his injuries. His chest had a binder on it and it hurt with every breath. Fractured ribs. His head hurt so he at least had a concussion. He also had on an abdominal binder so there was surgery there as well. His foot hurt, so he raised it and noted the swelling and the dressing. What happened?
Suddenly floods of memory brought on a rush of anxiety. Last night, Nambu the airfield and..... the cyborgs! It's party time now punk! Jun noted the intensity in his eyes as awareness filled them. He was trying to say something but it was muffled. She finally made sense of it. He was asking for Ken and Nambu. "Ken has gone on a rescue op with Red Impulse to get Hakase back. Are you in pain? I can go get the nurse." He nodded, but as she left a sudden feeling of panic was brought on by being alone.
Ryu had been standing just out of eyesight by the window. He felt awkward with the situation. He could see the look on Joes face and knew he needed some reassurance right now. But he felt at a loss for how to do it. Normally Joe was so macho and strong that the idea of anyone coddling him would earn a sampling of his infamous temper. He hated the look of fear in his older brothers eyes. That look and Joe just didn't go together. He came to his side and gently laid a hand on his shoulder and was devasted to actually see the Condor cringe away from the touch. He can't be afraid of me. I wouldn't even hurt a butterfly! No not me. Any man.
"Easy Joe, it's just me. Ryu." Joe looked up at the big guy's face. He could read the turmoil in it and regretted pulling away like that. Of course it's you. What am I going to start doing now, jumping at shadows? He tried to smile and knew it probably came out lopsided thanks to his jaw. He reached up for Ryu's hand who held it in his two big ones and smiled.
Jun came back in with the nurse, who holding a syringe, began putting something in the IV line. She explained. "It's some Demerol and Visteril. This will lessen the pain and make you drowsy enough to sleep some more." He watched the nurse leave then looked up at Jun. She sat back down next to him and in a firm voice issued the only command she'd ever give any of her two leaders. "Go to sleep now and that's an order!" Joe could have laughed if it didn't hurt so damned much. He obeyed and closed his eyes, fighting to keep his thoughts off of what happened. He wasn't ready to deal with it just yet. His nerves were jangled. Just when he thought he'd scream from the effort of blocking out some of the more lurid aspects of what had happened last night, he heard the prettiest voice he ever heard. She never sang for him. Probably because he never attended her parties like the others. So when he heard it now he knew Jinpei didn't exaggerate. It was a lullabye. The kind his mother used to sing him when he was restless as a child. It worked its magic on him and he drifted off to sleep.
Katse stretched in his chair and yawned. He had tried drugs, torture, coercion and still Nambu refused to cooperate! Now he had an irritating gnat of an informer grovelling before him. He was an intern at ISO's medical center and had valuable information for him. It concerned Nambu's driver. He already heard what his nasty cyborgs did to the youth. It angered him beyond his usual threshhold. Not only had they wasted time with that while they could have been looking for his information, they overstepped what even Katse considered to be a taboo act. He thought nothing of killing innocents or destroying a world, but for his own reasons rape was a forbidden sin in his ranks. The boy meant nothing to him, but still.....disobedience would not be tolerated! He had them punished. He could have killed them he was so angry! However they did bring him Nambu, so that earned them leniency.
He looked down at his spy. "Speak imbecile before I change my mind on hearing you out!" Afterall what did he care about the driver? Now if the fool were to tell him that one of the birdbrains had a heart attack! "Lord Katse! It's about your cyborgs, they took some liberties last night and..." "Fool! You call this news? I am well aware of what they did." "It's to whom they did it." "A mere cheuffuer." "How many chauffeurs normally throw around feathered shuriken?" The concept began to sink in. He leaned forward. "Yes?" "That was no driver! That was the Condor your men raped!"
At first Katse was tickled pink and laughed hysterically. Then he sobered. The Condor deserved many things but.... Then he remembered the look on Nambu's face. He had casually asked about his driver, and when informed of the cyborgs indiscretion his face had paled and his eye's mirrored his hate and rage. This could be used to further taunt his nemesis. It might well be a good lever to use against him. If he knew one of the medical staff that had access to the brat was on Galactors payroll....
The intern rubbed his hands eagerly. He knew what Katse would ask of him and saw his monetary future looking quite bright. "How much access do you have to the Condor?" Kimberly smiled. "Ito is the main caregiver but some duties are relegated to me. I can get very close and be alone with him." "Can you kill him?" "If the reward is high enough!" "Await my orders then" The man bowed and retreated.
Nambu was trussed up by chains; his perfect control broked. He watched Katse enter with an actual spring to his step. "Ah, Nambu. Let me offer my condolences. An informant of mine, who by the way has close access to a certain patient, has informed me that the unfortunate driver of yours was none other than the Condor. No wonder you were mad enough to spit nails!" Nambu glared hard at him. When he had casually asked about the welfare of his driver, Katse had informed him matter of factly that his cyborgs were naughty and raped the boy. He could not keep his emotions from showing. Now Katse knew. This informant he was talking about must be one of the medical staff at ISO's medical center. "What do you want?" "You know what it is I'm looking for, what my cyborgs failed to obtain for me." "I couldn't find it either." "You don't have to. The information is in your head. If you don't want the kid put out of his misery, all you have to do is spill the beans. Well?"
Nambu closed his eyes. He gambled on the surety that no way would the others leave Joe alone. With his personality he could well be a suicide risk as a result of what was done to him. That and the fact that security protocols were strict whenever any of the team was hospitilized. "No Berg. For the millionth time, go to hell!" Berg stormed out of the room before his anger caused him to inadvertantly and prematurely kill an important prisoner. Still he was confident that eventually Nambu's fears would get the better of him. He entered Solsai X's chambers prepared to gloat. He shrunk back as his information was not received with joy, but anger!
"Fool! Before this Gatchaman's war with us was defensive and detached! They reacted to our initiatives. But you've just upped the notch to a personal level idiot! Now the Gatchaman will take the initiative and bring the war to us! The Eagle's claw will avenge his fledgling! Mark my words. Now do as I command. To avoid his talons yourself you must bait a trap for him! Give him the cyborgs to do with as he pleases, and when his thirst for vengeance is sated then close the trap!" Katse bowed nervously and backed out. "As you command!"
As they flew side by side, heading toward the location where Nambu was held, Ken was quiet. Only half his mind was on the mission itself, the rest of his thoughts were only of killing those perverts. He also was worried sick about Joe. The silence was thick. Over his radio the captain of Red Impulse broke it. "Want to talk about it?" "Hmph?" "Do you need an ear?" Ken gazed out his window toward the red jet streaking beside him. That man was puzzling. For a long while he couldn't figure out whether he was an enemy or a friend. They always appeared in the nick of time to pull their fat out of the proverbial fire, and at the same time delighted in cutting them down to size verbally for their shortcomings. Particularly him. On more than one occassion when his ego got too big, or problems weighed him down to the point where he'd outright quit the team, this captain had been so bold as to literally beat some sense into him. Just how this enigma of a man ever knew when to show up was puzzling.
Ken chewed his lip and wondered if he could just really open up and have an intimate conversation with him. Would the guy react with his usual sarcasm? Ken wasn't in the mood for any of his stinging lectures, but he did want to talk. He wasn't even sure where to begin. "You're worried about your friend, right?" "He's more than a friend or a teammate. He's the closest thing I have to a brother. He may never recover from this! I mean physically in a month or so he will be but..... "But mentally and emotionally is a different story. Ken a part of him never will. You'll both just have to accept that as a given. Coping is all you can do at this point. How strong is he?"
Ken knew that it was easy enough to say that he was the strongest of them when it came to courage, but maybe in this case to much so. He was afraid that woould be his undoing and voice that opinion. "In other words, too much testosterone." "Yeah, overkill on that!" "Then this has hit the Achilles heel, so to speak?" "He's not going to want to live through this, I know him." There he had spoken his greatest fear. "Then make him." That was what he'd been agonizing over for the last hour. "How?" "For one thing your initial reaction is going to be to go gentle on him. And that's fine at first, he'll need this. But your going to have to be sensitive as to when to take off the kid gloves. He won't want coddled and nor should you. Be firm. Listen to him. Let him vent. But don't let him get self absorbed into it either. You need to keep him active. If I know Nambu his first action will be to keep him on medical leave long after the doctors have okayed him physically. Protest against that. That boy needs to be active. The longer he fights the demons on the outside the more he'll fight his demons inside. Bear in mind that he never is going to forget. There are always going to be scars. Your job isn't to make him forget, but to simply help him deal with it. Make him talk about. Whenever something in connection with it seems to bother him stop whatever your doing right then and make him confront it. Don't worry so much about being his commander, just be a friend. And lastly bear this is mind. You are not alone. You have the others and Nambu to help. You've got what very few teams out there really have. Each other. You're a family! These are the kind of traumas that pull family together, but it can also rip them apart. Focus on each other and you'll overcome this together."
Ken had listened quietly. Now he meditated on it. He still worried but at least now he remembered that he didn't have to worry alone. He watched the jet in front of him now and wondered even more about this mysterious man. They reached the base, both dropping to stealth mode and using the cloaking devices especially installed for this mission.
The dream had started simply enough. The beach, white sands, and the blue ocean lit with the dazzling rays of the sun that played upon the waves. He was happily building castles and fantasies. Lost in an imaginary world of knights and heroes he heard the shots. They rang like a cannon in his ears. He turned and ran toward his parents. They sat slumped over a table, there blood stark against the white sands. The woman held a gun and a rose. She leered. Her features melted into that of a leering man. The white turned into black. It's party time punk! There were voices. Cruel sick laughter. Then there was pain, excrutiating white hot pain. And the hands, touching, violating. Mouths over his own, suffocating. Innocence lost then and now. He was screaming. Through his screams he could hear Jun from a distance, then closer. "Joe? It's ok, calm down. It's just a nightmare. Wake up."
His eyes opened wide. The screams came uncontrollable. He was caught in the grip of cold terror and could not shake it. It was difficult to breathe. "Joe please, you're hyperventillating and your going to hurt yourself! You're here at the hospital now. It's over and your safe. It's me Jun! Ryu your going to have to restrain him while I get help! He's already ripped out the IV!" Ryu made an attempt but it only worsened the situation as Joe struggled panic stricken to get away from him.
In his mind Joe could only see them. Touching, holding him. A voice breaking with emotion, crying broke through his hysteria then. "Aniki please!" He was crying. Jinpei was crying. We missed his birthday! "I'm s'rry! Birtday." The words were difficult to ennunciate. He forgot about he jaw. His breathing slowed and his eyes focussed on Jinpei's frightened features. So young, he couldn't possibly understand. The boy held out his arms and Joe held him back. I got to keep it together, at least in front of him!
The doctor and an orderly ran in just then, the latter with restraints. Ryu waved them back. Jun relaxed against the wall watching Joe comfort Jinpei, or was it the other way around? A nurse came in and began reinserting an IV. Jinpei finally dared to look up at Joe. "Is it ok now Aniki?" Joe wiped one of the boys tears away with his good hand and forced a lopsided smile through the wiring in his jaw. He nodded. "Fine. No cryin now, yer ten now, too ol t' cry." Jinpei smiled and looked at his brother. He's trying to be strong for me. I've got to not be a baby and be strong for him too! "I'm sorry, you're right Joe. I'm grown now and I won't cry anymore. I'm going to take care of you, and I'm going to kill those cyborgs too!" Joe's features darkened. "Stay 'way from em!" Jun grabbed her brother off the bed. "He's not getting out of our sight, don't worry! Jinpei you go home with Ryu now so the nurse can give Joe something so he can go back to sleep." "I'll be quiet!" "You need to man the Snack J! Besides there are still dishes piled up from the party!" "Dishes! Figures. Slavery was abolished long ago onechan!"
As the nurse finished and administered a sedative, Joe watched Ryu push a still complaining Jinpei out the room. He laughed and simultaneously winced at the pain. He looked over to Jun's worried features and gave her a thumbs up. "Ken?" "He's left with Red Impulse to get Nambu back. Don't worry, he'll be fine." He did just that. He knew first hand just how tough those cyborgs were. He wanted to go so bad and help Ken. But inside he wondered that even if his injuries weren't so severe and he could, could he ever face them down again. He'd never been afraid before, but what they did had literally reduced him to begging. He'd been made to feel weak and vulnerable and for that he hated them the most. He fell asleep again to Jun's singing wondering if he'd ever conquer those fears.
Nambu tried flexing whatever muscles he could to relieve the tension created by the chains. It had been years since he had actively worked as an agent beside his old friend Kentaro, Ken's father. The man the world today only knew as Red Impulse. Too many years had passed sitting behind a desk or a microscope. Now that his SNT was fully trained and grown up he no longer was in the habit of doing katas. He had personally trained them in the art of ninjitsu himself as one of their many senseis. It was a carefully hidden secret that the world renowned scientist was also a ninja. Now he was getting old and sadly out of shape. At least he could be proud of protoges and retain his youth in them. No father could be happier on how his children turned out.
His thoughts suddenly turned to Joe and he felt sick. Maybe it's Katse's way of a cruel joke and they didn't do what he said they did. He couldn't even bring himself to say the word. They stole his son's honor! Honor was the lifeblood of the Japanese. Everything in their culture was based on it. He felt his son's shame personally. What happened to him was the biggest insult one's manhood could receive. He thought about the possibility of Joe's killing himself and shuddered. I refuse to let that happen! He knew rescue was on the way. Ken would find him. He also knew Ken would exact vengeance. I pray not at the expense of his own life.
The spy met them part way and revealed Katse's trap to them. Ken nodded. He'd spring that trap and get the whole lot of them. The layouts given them by the agent were quickly memorized and they pressed on. Ken let his rage cool. Anger couldn't rule here, it had a tendancy of undoing one. A ninja strikes best when purged of such things. He'd get his vengeance but keep cool at the same time. Afterall, isn't it a dish best served cold? He knew from Joe's appearance better than to engage them physically. Rather he'd make them use their strength against themselves. That and he packed a laser designed to penetrate through most any substance. His boomerang he'd keep reserved for something special.
Ryu drove silently. Neither Jinpei nor himself really felt like discussing it at first. That doozy of a nightmare Joe had was only the tip of the iceberg. He was going to go through a lot worse before he ever got better. Jinpei finally broke the tension. "Hey Ryu, do you think I acted like a baby?" "What? You're the only one who got him to calm down!" "But I don't think that's what he needed! He needs to cry but he won't in front of me! His ego won't let him!" "Maybe, but I think that you did him some good too. Don't worry, at least you did something. All I did was to frighten him and then stand back helpless!" They pulled in front of the Snack J and having no customers they consolled themselves in their typical fashion. They binged!
At the hospital Jun liiked out the window at the clouds. As a little girl she used to like laying in the grass and guess at their shapes. Today the clouds all took on sinister forms. She could think of nothing cute in her present state of mind. Joe still slept and for that she was grateful. She couldn't think of when she last slept. She felt so tired and wished Ken would come back soon. What she needed right now was a good cup of coffee.
Dr. Kimberly entered the room then. "Good afternoon Jun." "Dr. Kimberly." "I need to take a look at my patient here. Would you mind stepping out for just a few minutes?" "Of course! I need to stretch a bit anyway and grab some coffee somewhere. When your done you won't mind staying with him until I get back, just in case you're done before I do?" "No Ma'am." "Don't ma'am me. I'm just a kid." "You're a ranking officer as far as ISO goes." "The only time I get to be a boss is when the boys come into my snack bar. Otherwise, I'm just a grunt!" Kimberly laughed. "Don't worry. If you're not back by the time I've finished my exam I'll either wait or have a nurse here." "Thanks." As she walked out the room he couldn't resist smiling smugly at his ingenuity. He picked up a syringe from his pocket. A little air bubble in the IV. No one would know anything. Throwing an embolism wouldn't be too unusual after injury to the lung.
Inside the darkened cell Nambu watched the shadowy figure approach him. He braced himself for action and was relieved when it turned out to be Kentaro. "I expected your son." "He's hell bent on taking out them cyborgs!" "Damn it Kentaro, it's a trap!" "We know that. He's going to spring it." "It's too dangerous! Why'd you go and let him do such a foolish thing?" "Because as leader of the SNT he's honor bound to do this. Besides which it is also the job for which you trained him, remember? That was his brother they hurt, did you expect him to let that pass?" He mistook Nambus expression then. "Or do you even know what happened?" "Yes. As a matter of fact Katse even boasted about it." They gave each other a look of disgust. Then Kentaro asked. "Do you want to tell me now what is so all fired important the Galactor stooped to this to obtain it?"
Ken inched closer to the nearest cyborg. His boomerang he kept in his hand. Quickly he calculated the angle necessary. Then he gave an eerie whistle that stopped the four cyborgs in their tracks. There was not a Galactor alive who did not know that tune, or what it meant. Ken took malicious pleasure in their expressions. His psych out maneuver, as usual, worked wonders. With a sadistic smile rare for him he cried "Bird Go!" The boomerang flew in a graceful arch cutting deeply into each man's groin. He followed it up with a volley of laser fire that cut through the metal and circuits and what of their human organs that remained. In a spray of blood and electricity they were no more. He heard Katse's laugh simultaneously with the hum of circuitry, as the mechanism meant to trap him lowered. There was a satisfying explosion as his previously planted time bomb went off. In as instant he was after Katse.
Unseen by Ken, the leader of the cyborgs slipped out. He knew something was up. His oun sources had revealed Katse's intentions. He was getting out of this base. If Gatchaman's reputation was true, this entire facility was doomed to go up in flames!
Jun got only part way down the hall when she remembered her purse. She entered after only a cursory knock. The doctor looked startled and guilty at the same time. She noted the syringe in his hand. The plunger was pulled back, but there was no medicine in it. She very quickly and quietly dealt with him. She was relieved that Joe still slept.
Nambu looked at Kentaro unsure of just how to answer him. The information he had was something he knew his old friend should have at least suspected for a long time now. But prior to today there had been no confirmation. "You have a birth certificate that I had placed with Kens. I put it in a picture album." "Which picture album?" "The wedding." "That's not at my old airfield. I left Ken some pictures, but that one I stole one night myself. It had too many memories in it that....What birth certificate?" "Joes. As well as the adoption papers and name change given him." "The certificate had his name down as Giorgio, right?" "Right. Recently when information was stolen from ISO they ran into a cross- reference to a particular birthdate. That and some other information that would lead them to believe that Giorgio Asakura did not die on B.C. Island. I think Katse suspects, and the only reason he hasn't opened up the empty grave is fear on how his organization would react. Joe's father was a highly respected leader and many would follow his son instead of Katse. Katse needs for him to stay dead in their minds. He won't disinter that coffin, but in the mean time if he could figure out where I put little Giorgio... But, there's more." "More? That's bad enough." "Eight years prior to Guiseppe's attempt to defect you had nearly talked him into it then. Something happened to change all of that. I think Katse suspects what that something might be. If he finds the evidence on the birth certificate he's looking for it would do much to discredit Guiseppe's son to the organization." "How so?" "Do the math Kentaro. That child was conceived at a time when Guiseppe was no where near Katarina." "He could have been premature." "I hate to inform you otherwise. There were blood tests, specifically DNA tests that I had done since to confirm you as the father. I put the test results in with the birth certificate probably prior to when you stole them out of there." Kentaro absorbed that, shocked. "Then Joe is my...son?" "Don't be so shocked. Deep inside you always knew the truth. This is only confirmation." "Then what's the problem? If anything , as you said, Katse should be elated. He no longer has to fear that his men would attempt to use Guiseppe's son as a means to end his leadership." "For one thing they know that Joe Asakura is a race car driver. For another it proves that he's your son. It wouldn't be too hard to link him then to Ken. I adopted Ken, and Joe. Common sense will tell them that those are more than likely members of the SNT. They don't know Ken's face, but they do know Joe's. And if they were seen together? They'd both be a target. For that reason Galactor must never have that information. Neither can Joe or Ken know the truth until this war is finally over. One of the benefits of the SNT is that they are orphans. No one can be used to tie their hands. It's the same reason Ken can't know that you're still alive. Such ties can endanger you both. Do you understand?"
Kentaro lowered his head. Sadly he did. But knowing the necessities of his sacrifice made years ago to enter the world of espionage, never made it easy. "How can you expect Joe or Ken to understand? If you can't tell them the truth of what happened, what can you tell them to make what Joe went through for the sake of your 'classified information'....justified." "For one damn thing there is no justification for what they did to him! The only thing I can tell them until Galactor is no more is that it's classified." The Red Impulse captain shook his head. It wasn't right, but in war life never was. He understood, but still it never would be easy. He was filled with pride that Joe was his after all. He'd fallen in love with Katarina at a time when his own wife was very ill. It had been unexpected. He never intended to enter into an adulterous relationship. It just happened. Now both his sons followed in his footsteps in the war with Galactor. Both were the two top leaders of the SNT. And he was sad. He had a son who was hurting right now, who needed a father very much at this time, and like it was with Ken, he couldn't be there for him. "I'm in a sudden hurry to get out of here. Let's rendezvous with Ken and to quote an old saying, 'Let's blow this popcical stand!"
Ken watched as once again Katse wriggled his way to freedom. He set the timer grenades and fought his way through whatever Galactor was stupid enough to present themselves as a punching bag. He made his way to the jets where Nambu and the Red Impulse captain awaited him. Giving them a thumbs up he motioned Nambu to his jet and the two launched. Behind them the base went up in a ball of flames. The Red Impulse leader waved farewell and they parted company.
On the way Nambu remained vague over just what the classified information was. Ken had been furious and lashed out at Nambu over what his 'classified' information did to Joe. Nambu let him vent. There was a lot at stake that Ken and Joe couldn't know. He allowed Ken his anger, because in more ways than one he did feel responsible for this. He could have used another driver. He didn't have to tell the SNT what the information was to have scrambled them all for assist. He could only have said that Galactor was expected to interfere and maybe Joe wouldn't have been raped. Or maybe the whole team might have.... The past couldn't be changed.
He followed Ken to Joe's room. He was glad that Joe was sound asleep because he knew his face mirrored the emotions he felt inside. He expected from what Ken described for him to look bad, but not this bad! He was battered! Jun was at his side and told him about the attempt on his life. Ken was angry. Nambu was shocked that Berg's informant was Kimberly! The man had been with them for years, what could have made him turn traitor?
He watched as Ken sat beside his brother. They looked nothing alike. Ken was slender, graceful with an almost effeminate beauty. He was dark haired and had blue eyes. An unusual trait for a Japanese. Joe was taller, more robust, and had a rugged face that while attractive could no way be called beautiful. His hair was a honey brown and his eyes were violet. Even in temperement they were opposites. Ken was restrained, polite. Joe was volotile and rude at times. Galactor could never tell from just looking at them. He couldn't. The secret would remain safe.
He joined Ken at Joe's side and gently stroked his son's hair. In many ways Joe was his son. He raised him from the age of eight. He could never show it as much as he'd like, because they were forever butting heads. And while he was sure everyone thought that it was Ken who was his favorite, they were wrong. He just wished that there was no war so that he didn't always have to be the rebellious boy's boss instead of just being a father. Life had dealt them all a disfavor when Galactor came to power. He'd be a father now though. Joe would need that in the next.... however long it would take. He'd be there for him. They all would. They were each others family, and that was one thing that Galactor could never take from them.
The End