Disclaimer: If you saw or heard about the characters on the show, they belong to Disney. Any others, along with the plot (such as it is) are mine. Chapter 4 When You Kick Over a Rock

Yori watched the jet leave Middleton airport heading back to Japan. The young men and women on that plane brought great honor to Yamanouchi during the previous weeks, earning the praise of no less than the Chosen One. Each had been her student for the past several years since Sensei gave her the honor of molding Yamanouchi's best into a superb force. Their first mission began another Yamanouchi legend students would hear as long as there was a school. She couldn't help feeling proud.

Being fluent in several Asian languages, Yori supervised the interrogation of the young women rescued from Don Marco. Each told essentially the same story. A man claiming to be a priest came to her village offering a way out. He told them of several schools they and their parents could visit on the Internet, telling them he represented a group offering scholarships to deserving young women. He encouraged the prettiest and brightest to apply. Their applications in hand, he left, returning a few weeks later with acceptance letters. He told the girls they would first go to Bangkok for an orientation, and then on to their chosen school. Their families shared their joy as they left for a new life. Now the families waited for letters that never came. Yori could think of no greater evil than dangling hope before the hopeless, then crushing that hope.

When the others returned to Japan, Yori asked to stay. One name kept coming up as she interrogated the girls. Fukushima. The mention of the traitor's name made this a matter of honor, both for herself and the Yamanouchi ninja.

That evening Kim, Ron and Yori sat around the table in Ron's home office. The girls were in bed so nothing would disturb them. Yori laid out what she had learned from the women in her charge, and concluded, "This is something we can not allow to continue. We must act."

"I'm not sure what Global Justice can do," Kim replied. "We have agents in parts of Asia, but really can do little outside the major cities. With good information, we can perhaps stop the traffic at this end. If we're lucky we can get a lead on the source when we stop the shipment."

"Everything points to Fukushima," Yori stated. "But he does not act alone. He must have associates in each of the countries where the women were recruited."

"Yamanouchi has resources throughout Asia that can get us information, but once we find out who is behind this it would be better for the local governments to deal with them," Ron interjected.

Yori nodded. "Yes, gathering information is the best use of Yamanouchi resources now. Later, we will see. Governments in that part of the world have a habit of turning their heads when presented with gifts."

Ron nodded. Kim then said, "Seems to me the next step is GJ putting together a team to stop these people bringing any more women into the US. Yori, would you present this information to some of my people this week?"

"Perhaps we should look at more than the US. My interviews lead me to believe that some of the captives were sent to the Middle East and others to Europe." Yori stated.

"GJ has ample resources in Europe if we know what to expect," Kim replied. "The Middle East is another issue entirely. GJ can do little in that region until we have specific information. Even then it will be difficult to be effective."

"I have friends there," Ron stated. "If necessary, they will know who to contact." Kim raised an eyebrow, remembering two Israeli students from their days at Middleton University who displayed considerable martial arts ability and a keen interest in the activities of Team Possible.

Further discussions followed. Kim would assemble a team of top agents to intercept Fukushima's human cargo when it reached US ports. GJ's European headquarters would do the same. Yori would represent herself as a representative of an international human rights organization when she met with the teams. A group of Yamanouchi ninja would locate and shadow Fukushima to identify his associates, gather information on his organization, and discover when and where his next shipments would arrive. The meeting with the GJ teams was set for the following Thursday morning.

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Will Du headed to operations for a meeting to tie up some loose ends from the operation against the DeCosta family. When he entered the meeting room, several of his agents and a young Japanese woman were seated around the conference table, along with a senior commander from GJ's European headquarters and several of his subordinates. He had met the woman briefly a few weeks before when Kim introduced her as a school friend. He took a seat across the table from her, and casually glanced up at her. Their eyes met briefly and he looked away. 'There's a mission coming down. Can't let myself get distracted,' he thought to himself.

A few minutes later Kim walked into the room, looked around the table and, satisfied that all those invited were present began the meeting by introducing their guest. "This is Yori Yamataka, of the Asian Human Rights Foundation. She is helping the young ladies who escaped from Marco DeCosta's operation." Introductions of those around the table followed, then Kim continued, "During her work with the women, she uncovered some disturbing information, which she brought to my attention. There appears to be someone operating out of Thailand supplying young women to men like Don Marco." Nodding toward Yori, Kim continued, "Ms. Yamataka, if you would please tell us what you discovered."

Yori stood and began relating what she had learned from her charges. Will found himself paying more attention to the speaker than to what she was saying. Even dressed in a conservative business suit, part of him found her breathtaking. As the briefing continued, Kim noticed that Will, he of the perfect memory, was taking notes. She raised an eyebrow, wondering why her top commander seemed a little distracted.

As she laid out the situation before the assembled agents, Yori couldn't help noticing the one man who seemed to pay more attention to her than to her presentation. He wasn't a particularly handsome man, but from what she heard he was at least her equal as a fighter and enjoyed the respect of those he led. She allowed her eyes to meet his gaze as she spoke. He quickly turned away, but she saw something there. This promised to be an interesting mission.

KPKPKPKPKPKP

Following the meeting, Kim and Yori adjourned to Kim's office. Seated at a small table in one corner of the office, Kim with coffee and Yori with a cup of tea, they were discussing the final details of the mission.

"This man you have assigned to work with me, Senior Commander Du, what should I know about him?" Yori asked.

"He's one of GJ's top agents and probably our best field commander. Unfortunately, he knows it and sometimes it goes to his head. He occasionally convinces himself he knows exactly what to do and it's difficult to make him see anything else. Sometimes you may have to lay the facts in front of him and push him toward them in a way that he thinks it was his idea, not yours. He doesn't like surprises, so keep him in the loop as much as possible. But when crunch time comes, he's all business. You, of course have full access to his records if you wish."

"He sounds much like someone else I know." Yori replied, smiling. Kim raised an eyebrow. "I think we can work together. His wife will not mind the hours this mission will require?"

Kim laughed as she said, "Will is married to Global Justice. We like our agents kept busy." Yori smiled to herself.

KPKPKPKPKP

Several weeks after the initial meeting, Will received his first call to action. It was dark on the Long Beach docks. The Global Justice strike force was moving toward a newly arrived container ship. One of their sources in Thailand said this ship carried a cargo of interest. That had been enough to secure the necessary warrants from a friendly judge. They waited and watched while the containers were unloaded, looking for a specific marking. They saw it lifted by the crane, but instead of putting it on the ground, the crane swung around, lowering the container onto a waiting truck. Things were not going according to plan.

Yori was waiting outside the fenced container yard with a doctor, several nurses and two other representatives of the Asian Human Rights Foundation. They were there ostensibly to help the young women in the container after their rescue. As soon as she saw the crane begin to swing the container away from the ship, Yori sensed the plan had gone south. She silently signaled her two associates, and they slipped into the darkness.

Mentally, Will kicked himself. He should have known the Yazuka would move that container immediately, rather than leave it where customs might discover its' contents. His team brought nothing capable of stopping the truck. Even if he could contact the gatehouse in time, the rolling fence that secured the entrance to the container yard would never stop the truck, and backup was several minutes away. He weighed his options. Then he reached for one of his gadgets. 'This always works for the boss,' he thought as he fired a grapple onto the top of one of the stacks of containers, then swung toward the truck.

Fortunately the driver, unaware of any threat, was moving slowly through the yard. Unfortunately, Will had never been a cheerleader, so instead of swinging gracefully through the passenger window of the truck, he hit the door, let go of the grapple and fell on his back on the pavement. When Will hit the door of the truck, the driver stopped, thinking he had hit something in the yard. As he looked to his right trying to see what had happened, a black clad ninja opened the door behind him, found a pressure point, and pulled his unconscious form out of the truck. Smiling to herself, the ninja thought 'Kim-san has trained him well. He makes an excellent distraction.'

Will quickly recovered from his fall and saw the truck had stopped. Apparently the driver had gotten out to check for damage. Seizing the opportunity, Will signaled his team to move on the truck and open the container. As the GJ agents approached the container, several large shapes moved from the darkness of the surrounding stacks of containers. The locks and seals on the container were quickly broken, but before those inside could be led to safety a battle began between the GJ agents and the Yazuka goons. Apart from the main fight, several Yazuka moved toward the container, blades drawn, with the apparent intent of silencing those inside. When they attempted to enter the container, their way was blocked by three ninjas. Two immediately engaged the intruders, while the third, fans held at the ready, stood back to protect the container's human cargo. The four thugs, no match for the ninjas, were quickly subdued and tied.

Outside, the battle was not going quite as well. The body armor worn by the thugs absorbed the electric charges of the GJ stun weapons. Only a lucky shot could take them down. Relying on martial arts skills, the GJ agents were barely holding their own, against a dozen thugs wielding pipes and chains. Backup was on the way, but would it get there in time? Having defeated the threat to those in the container, the three ninjas joined the fray. Moving silently through the darkness, they came at the thugs from behind. Four of their foes fell before the ninjas were discovered. Unfortunately several of the GJ agents were down as well, and the odds still favored the Yazuka. Abandoning their separate attack, the ninjas moved to join forces with the GJ agents. The fighting intensified as sirens were heard in the distance.

Two of the Yazuka goons made a move for the container. Will and the ninja with the fans moved to intercept them. Realizing they had little time to dispose of the evidence, the Yazuka attack was more vicious than before. Foolishly disregarding the woman with the fans, both thugs saw Will as the greater threat and attacked. Will went down under their combined attack. The first thug scrambled toward the container while the second went after the ninja, who suddenly wasn't there. She was standing in the open container, blocking the thugs. Both thugs came at her, and in a flash of fans and legs, two thugs went down. After making sure they were out of action for a while, the ninja went to check Will's injuries as the GJ backup team roared through the gates.

A few minutes later, the injured GJ agents were being taken to a nearby hospital. The ninja watched as two paramedics placed Will on a stretcher. He was barely conscious, but looked up at her, thinking, 'those eyes, I know those eyes.' Then the painkillers took hold and he was wheeled to the waiting ambulance.

The Yazuka thugs were rounded up as well. Those injured went under guard to the security wing of the large military hospital nearby, while the others went to a GJ confinement facility. The ninjas vanished into the night. Two of them quickly shed their uniforms for business attire. They were waiting when the women from the container were brought to the medical team. The ninja with the fans moved behind a container stack to where a bound thug lay. After determining he was still unconscious, she pushed the small device Wade had provided into the back of his neck. Then she revived him. The dazed thug looked up with fear in his eyes. She swiped her fans across his bonds releasing him, Then she looked down at him, pressed a lotus flower into his hand and said, "return to your master. Tell him he may now count The Chosen One among his enemies." Then she vanished into the darkness.

Yori walked into the medical station and inquired about the health of the young women rescued from the container. The doctor assured her all were in good health. The women were briefly interviewed by Yori's associates. Some of the women told the same story as those rescued from Don Marco. Others said they paid for passage with the promise of jobs when they reached America. The name Fukushima came up several times in the interviews. They were on the right trail.

When the doctors finished their examinations, two of the Asian Human Rights Foundation representatives took the women to a nearby safe house. There they would be fed and have a good night's rest before resuming interviews in the morning. Armed with the information gained so far from brief interviews, Yori left for the hospital to meet with GJ's agent in charge.

Senior Agent Ted Jackson was at the nurses' station checking on several of the injured agents. Most were now out of the emergency room. Several remained in the hospital for observation. With Commander Du out of action, it fell to Agent Jackson to make arrangements for care of the agents and report to headquarters. He was about to head into one of the consultation rooms and begin preparing his report when he saw a flash of red hair heading down the hall toward him. "Oh, SNAP." From past experience he knew when Dr. Director or one of her staff showed up in the field, the agent in charge could expect a major butt chewing. He found himself wishing it were he and not Commander Du lying in a hospital bed. This was not the way he wanted to meet the boss.

TBC