Kim Possible and Street Hawk: Full Metal Mayhem! 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, Street Hawk or Full Metal Panic! Wish I did though.
Luke's Torment and Bueno Nacho
Inside the Sho-Da-Kah's compound in Shanghai, Luke Sagara is trying to loosen his bonds. He has been kept prisoner for the past four days, according to his military-honed sense of time. As he strives to loosen his bonds, he constantly feels a scraping along his wrists. He thinks about what had happened the night of his abduction.
(Flashback)
He and Officer Elizabeth Davis of the Detroit Police Department were on a ride along, getting to know each other more. It turned out that Davis was with the Provost Marshal's Office in the Army while Luke was a Small Arms/Artillery Repairer in the Marine Corps.
"Military Police. Impressive, Liz."
Davis chuckled and said, "At least I know who to come to in order to get my piece fixed. I never thought my dream guy would turn out to be a Military Gunsmith. It's too bad we don't have a regular Armorer in the Armories. We could use someone like you in the Department's employ."
"Was that a job offer, or are you wanting constant access to me?"
"I think it'll be safe to say a little of both. Actually, a lot of both." The two shared a deep, rich laugh that turned into a kiss when the Police Impala rolled to a stop. They're so engrossed into the kiss, they didn't hear the radio squawk until they heard a familiar voice.
"You can neck when the shift's over, guys. We got a report of a purse snatching, one block from your position."
Davis, blushing deeply, replied, "Unit 772, roger. Responding to purse snatching. Thank you, Commander."
"No problem. Just save it for your off-time, Davis." At that, Robocop chuckled and signed off the radio.
Davis sighed and said, "You heard the man. We'll be necking in three hours. Can you hold out for that long?"
"Affirmative. Can you?"
"No. I need a massive Luke-fix, ASAP."
"You'll get it, Liz. You'll get it." At that, Davis grinned and turned on her lights, heading for the scene. Little did they realize what had laid ahead, waiting for them.
Upon arrival at the scene, Davis instantly got a bad feeling and said, "Luke, stay put. I think this may be an ambush of some kind."
"If it is, even with your armor, you'd need help. Besides, if we're going to trust each other with our hearts, shouldn't we entrust our lives the same way?"
Davis smiled softly and gave him a quick peck before releasing the Mossberg 500 'Persuader' shotgun from it's rack for his defense. After Luke chambered a shell into the breech, the both of them exited the Impala, only to come across a Caucasian man with a massive facial scar in a wheelchair and a Caucasian woman wearing glasses with him.
Curious, Davis asked, "Are you the callers of the purse snatching?"
"Yes and no, actually. We called, but there's no purse snatching. Instead it's more of a person snatching." As soon as the man finished speaking, Luke and Davis made out several pistol-armed figures coming at them. Concerned for Luke's safety and her own, Davis drew her Police-issue Sig-Sauer 226. When the figures raised their guns, Davis fired the first shot, nailing one right in the forehead.
Fully angered now, the figures remaining opened fire on Davis, knocking her back with every impact from the bullets striking her armored suit and damaging her uniform. The woman with the man then brought up a tranquilizer gun and shot Davis in the neck.
That alone caused Luke to see red and aim the 'Persuader' at the creeps. Before he could open fire, the woman sent another dart. This time, into him.
As he went unconscious, the man said, "Don't kill the cop. The last time a cop died, it was totally against my orders."
"But, Master. She killed Kenny."
"I never cared much for Kenny. He always mumbled. Besides, she perceived danger and handled it." That was the last thing that Luke heard as he went unconscious.
Luke comes back to the present and snarls as he hears the doors open behind him. He then hears the voice from that night.
"Hello, cousin of Kashim."
"Who's Kashim? The only cousin I know of is Sousuke."
"Exactly. You see, your cousin fought under that name when he was with the Afghani rebels. I'm surprised he didn't tell you."
"He told me he fought with the rebels. But he never mentioned that name to me before. I guess he hated it so damn much, he returned to his true name."
"A name is but a word. What the truth is, that's a whole other animal. He's Kashim because he was named that by the rebels in that region. So, tell me, Luke. Do you like home movies?" Before Luke can reply, the man turns on video equipment and gives a signal for his men to start playing a video tape.
"I do. But, since I don't have any, I'll have to settle for bloopers and blunders. Yeah, sure. They might seem like harmless degradement that causes victims to suffer indignity at first. But over time, you start to crack up laughing. As you laugh, one of two things will happen. You will either laugh yourself to death from internal injuries or you'd go out of your mind from insanity." He then starts wheeling himself out the door.
Before he gets all the way out, he adds, "By the way, the videos are continuous and controlled from another room. So you won't have to worry about running out of material to watch and laugh at."
"Wait! Who are you?" But his question is left unanswered as the door signals it's being secured from the outside. At that, the video starts playing, causing Luke to shake at the thought of laughing himself to death.
"Watching people get hurt is not funny. Watching people get hurt is not funny." He keeps repeating that to himself every time some poor soul gets hurt or property gets damaged.
Over thirty minutes of time, though, his viewpoint changes drastically. "Watching people get hurt is not funny. It's hilarious! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Thus begins the torment known as, 'The Laughing Pain of Death'.
The next day, back in Middleton, four of the group is at Bueno Nacho when Sousuke and Kaname look at the menu and see something they are not familiar with.
Kaname asks, "Does anyone know what a Naco is?"
Ron grins and replies, "It's nacho meets taco. The Naco."
Rufus jumps up upon the table, clicks his tongue and says, "Hnk, Naco."
Sousuke draws his Glock and gets a whap on the head from Kaname's halisen for even thinking of shooting a naked mole rat.
"Sousuke!" The shout and the sight of the gun causes Rufus to scream and duck back down into Ron's pocket.
"Kaname, there is a rodent in here."
Ron's face goes glum and he says, "I know Rufus is not exactly a normal pet, but I wouldn't call him a rodent to his face." He then gets up and goes to the restroom, leaving Sousuke even more befuddled.
"Rufus? Pet? Why not a hamster, cat or dog?"
Kim sighs and replies, "It's because of his Dad's allergies. He's allergic to every kind of fur. Even feathers from birds sets off his allergies. Ron went surfing on the Internet and found a naked mole rat. He then heard that Smarty Mart was having a sale on hairless pets. That was when he found Rufus."
"Naked mole rats are usually ideal for tunneling into other places within their colonies. But Rufus doesn't exactly seem like a regular naked mole rat. He seems to be quite intelligent. Was he experimented on?"
"I don't really know, Sousuke. If he was, I don't want to know. I'm even more disturbed by the idea that you were ready to shoot Rufus just for jumping up onto the table and saying, 'Hnk, Naco'."
"I apologize. It was not my intent to distress Ron or insult Rufus. It's just that, when I encountered an animal, my reaction would normally be to kill and eat it. Naked mole rats are considered a delicacy in the Middle East. I've even eaten some in my days with the Afghani rebels. Even on days that I had not had anything to eat. Which was about every other day."
Incredulously, Kim and Kaname, at the same time, ask, "What? Your comrades wouldn't let you eat?"
"Affirmative. They felt that the only thing an outsider like me was fit to eat was scraps that the dogs hadn't gotten to yet. Even when I was on the run from the Russian soldiers after my parents died, I considered myself lucky to be able to eat."
"That's harsh, dude." Ron snuck up behind Sousuke, spooking him and causing him to draw his gun again, earning him another whap from Kaname's halisen.
"Sousuke! No shooting colleagues that spook you." She then turns to Ron and asks, "How long have you been standing there and how did you move more quietly than Sousuke? I'm somewhat used to his jolts, but you nearly gave me a heart attack. Just like Sousuke did when we first got together. That gets you a halisen whack as well, Ron." At that, she gives Ron a good, hard whack.
That elicits a chuckle from Sousuke and a giggle from Kim. Ron sheepishly grins and replies, "In that order, long enough to learn that naked mole rats are considered to be delicacies in the Middle East. As for the other question, it was something I learned in school during my time in the exchange program."
Sousuke grins and says, "I'd like to meet the one that taught you sometime, Ron. No doubt, it would help on the battlefield."
Ron's face goes glum again as he sits down and says, "I'm afraid you'll have to wait for when you die to meet my teacher, Sergeant Sagara. The one that taught me died here in the Middleton Hospital two and a half years ago. It was before Kim and I got married. We learned that the school was on a bad road. So we went over there to stop the situation. When it was stopped, four more people were dead. Three villains and one innocent. One of the villains said that they'll tell the world about me being my other self. That would have put myself, Kim and our families at risk, along with project Security. It simply wouldn't be allowed to happen. So we sent a bullet into two heads while the other villain was already dead from having been run through with a sword. It was the first time we used lethal tactics against an enemy."
Sousuke nods in agreement and says, "If I was in your shoes, I'd have done the same thing. I take it that Kim was with you at the time."
Kim nods and replies, "That's right. It was our first mission together in three months, since Ron had gotten hurt. I didn't even know it was him until after his first assignment as Street Hawk. I suspected it, but I knew that his old knee wouldn't have handled the strain of being on a cycle. So I just put it out of my mind." She then looks affectionately at Ron and adds, "He's saved my life quite a few times, just like I saved him at times in the past. He's my hero."
Kaname smiles softly and says, "I feel the same way about Sousuke, Kim. Only he's a little more destructive for the most part."
Curious, Kim asks, "Really? How destructive?"
"Let's see. Shoe lockers, boilers, trophy cases, cars and Arm Slaves. He's destroyed them all for the most part. One time, he even destroyed film by accident when a classmate and his friends were using a supply shed as a dark room for developing pictures. The girl's softball team had gotten Sergeant Sabotage here to investigate what was going on in there. He took a listen and heard what he thought to be discussion of narcotics trafficking. So he brought out a shotgun and raided the place, using a stun grenade. I mean, if you were in his shoes, with his skills, would you do it the same way?"
"If I didn't have access to optical sensors, then yeah. It'd be understandable, given the circumstances. What happened after that?" Ron's interest is clearly peaked as he answered and asked another question.
Kaname giggles at the sight of Sousuke's blush and replies, "He made an embarrassing bet with the Music Club. If he was to even get one girl, they would buy him lunch for two whole weeks. If he didn't, he would have had to swim in the lake naked." She then tells them about what had happened after his attempts to flirt, causing Kim to look at Sousuke with a smirk.
"To top it all off, he was wearing a full combat harness, thinking that flirting is like a girl hunt. He wound up luring and then trapping girls in cages. I put him on the right track and watched him try to talk to girls outright. It was frustrating for him, since the only things he knew about were related to the Military. But, I then saw something in his eyes. Compassion and a willingness to assist any way he can. So I went home, put on my Mother's favorite kimono and changed my makeup along with my hairstyle. I then went to the park and arrived in time, barely."
Sousuke nods and jumps in. "Kaname put on an amazing performance. She even had me fooled, as I did not recall flirting with her in the first place. As we walked, I was wondering, 'Who is this woman? I don't remember talking to her.' When we got to the lake, she started laughing and I was able to recognize her then. She constantly surprises me. She looked very lovely like that. For that matter, it was the first time I told Kaname that she looked lovely. I was too concerned with keeping her safe that I simply didn't take the time to notice. Or to even tell her."
Curious, Ron asks, "What do you mean by keeping her safe, Sousuke?"
Kaname sighs and replies, "I'm not exactly a normal teenage girl."
Ron grins and says, "Well, at least you'll fit in with my motto. 'Never be normal'."
Kaname laughs at that and says, "Point to you, Ron. What I meant was, my mind is more than it appears to be. There are some people out there that want what's inside my head. No matter what. Gauron is one such person. I'm afraid I can't be more detailed than that, I'm truly sorry."
"Hey, as KP says, 'No big'. Some things are meant to be kept need to know. I'm guessing that this is something we don't need or want to know about." Kaname gives him a grateful smile and Sousuke a warm hug as thanks for all he does for her.
Kaname then remembers what Hirotaka said about Yori and decides to ask.
"Just how did Yori die, anyway? I know Hirotaka said something about her dying from an infection. But he didn't explain in further detail."
Kim looks over at Ron and gets a nod from him. From there, she sighs and fills Kaname and Sousuke in on Yori's death. With no omissions. Kaname is numb with shock, with Sousuke putting his arm around her to comfort her.
"That's awful, Kim. It's a good thing that you two went over there and killed their asses. If you hadn't stopped them, who knows what else they would have done?" Kaname then shudders after making that statement.
Suddenly, the Kimmunicator beeps. Kim picks it up and asks, "What's the sitch?"
"Kim. Bonnie, Jessica and Hirotaka are at the air field right now. The Mithril helicopter should arrive there in twenty minutes. You guys best get moving."
"You got it, Wade." At that, Kim, Ron, Sousuke and Kaname leave Bueno Nacho, vowing to have a celebration meal of Nacos upon their return.
As they head to the air field, they think about the briefing that Sousuke had given them regarding the Savage. Heavily armored, armed with two Vulcan Gatling cannons mounted right in the head. Used extensively in Afghanistan by Soviet troops during the occupation. Has several weak points. Best weapon to use would be the monomolecular cutter.
As a result, Bonnie, Hirotaka and Jessica went home early to rest and prepare the vehicles and equipment for transport. Bonnie had called earlier in the morning to let Kim know that they'll start with the vehicles at Command Center. Along with the armored suits for Ron, Bonnie and Hirotaka. Since Jessica was still new, it would be about another month before she could be molded for her suit. But she took it in stride.