Chapter 6

Some time later, Kito awoke, groaning and rubbing his head where it hurt. This was one hell of a migraine.

It took a few minutes for Kito to comprehend that he was still alive. With that realization came a rush of pain, from every corner of his body. Carefully, he sat up, rubbing his head; moaning and grimacing.

Kito wasn't sure how he had survived the mecha's destruction, but he was grateful. He had not realized how much he valued his life, until he had been convinced that it was over.

He had been given a second chance.

Kito tried to pull himself to a stand, only to wince when he placed weight on his left ankle. Gingerly, he rotated his foot. It was excruciating, but he was able to perform the maneuver, which suggested that it was a sprain, and not a break. He yanked on his sleeve, tearing off enough of it to create a makeshift bandage, which he tied as tightly as he could around his ankle. It was already the size of a baseball, and sure to only get larger.

Having exhausted his minimal medical knowledge, Kito forced himself to put weight on the ankle, and begin walking. It wasn't as painful as he would have imagined, probably because the ache in his head was significantly worse.

The direction in which Kang's elbow had been located, was now a twisted, crushed mass of metal debris. However, Kang's wrist was still open to the outside, so it was in this direction that Kito moved. He limped slowly down the corridor, grateful that it was still daylight, so that he could see his way out.

When he reached the ragged hole and looked outside, he gasped.

He was standing in what had once been some kind of building. Based on the mecha's location, before its destruction, Kito guessed that this was one of the ISO buildings Kang had crushed, just prior to the arrival of the God Phoenix. Smashed masonry, splintered wooden beams, chunks of plaster, and shattered glass surrounded him, interspersed with destroyed furniture, and the occasional body. It was obvious to Kito that none of the people he saw were alive. They looked as if they had been crushed, by the building falling on top of them, as they worked.

They had had no warning of what was coming.

A wave of guilt washed over Kito. How could he have been a part of this? Sure, he had nearly died as well, but when he had boarded the Kang mecha, he had realized that death was a possibility. All these people had done, was go to work in a quiet building, sitting at a desk, sipping coffee, using a computer… only to have their life ended before they realized what was happening.

The world spun around him, and Kito leaned on a pile of rubble as his stomach emptied itself onto the ground. Wiping his mouth with his one remaining sleeve, Kito looked around him. There was devastation as far as he could see, in all directions.

What was he supposed to do now? There was no sign of anyone around, either from Galactor, or the ISO. Having no better option, Kito began limping away, in a randomly chosen direction.

After about thirty minutes, Kito had made some progress, although not as much as he would have liked, due to his difficulty navigating through piles of rubble, with a sprained ankle. He stopped to rest, gasping for breath, partly due to his exertions, and partly to find air that didn't reek with the stench of death and destruction.

"Abbott?" came a voice, "Is that really you?"

Startled, Kito looked around. After a few seconds, he found the person addressing him.

It was Pantillo.

"You survived!" Pantillo said, amazed. "I can't believe it!"

"Neither can I." Kito groaned, making his way to Pantillo's location behind a half-destroyed wall. "My body seems to be telling me that I'm dead, but my brain says I'm alive."

When Kito rounded the wall, he was surprised to see Steungart lying on the ground, slumped against a pile of rubble.

"He hasn't woken up, yet." Pantillo said, his concern etched on his face.

Kito clumsily sat down next to Steungart, and felt for a pulse. It was weak, but steady.

"I think he'll be okay." he said to Pantillo, in as reassuring a manner as he could manage. It wasn't a very good attempt, but it seemed enough to satisfy his comrade.

"I hope so." Pantillo sighed, sitting down next to him.

"So, where is everyone else?" Kito asked.

"I don't know." Pantillo shrugged. "The Firebird melted King Kang's left hand, and the right hand couldn't hold it all by itself. It broke free, and punched a giant hole in Kang's chest."

Kito gave an audible sigh of relief. His cowardice hadn't been the cause of the mecha's destruction. The right hand had held. It had been the left hand that had failed. He hadn't even realized that this worry had been weighing on him, until it was suddenly gone.

Pantillo continued, not noticing Kito's reaction to his words.

"It was then, that the mecha started shaking, and we all got separated. The damn thing tore apart, and I saw some of the guys fall out…"

The soldier looked up at Kito with a stricken expression.

"It's okay." Kito said, placing a hand on Pantillo's arm. "I understand."

"Lord Katse got away." Pantillo said, a touch of bitterness in his tone. "I saw his escape pod, flying away."

"I'm sure, he did everything he could, before he left." Kito offered, knowing that neither of them believed the statement.

The two men stared at the ground, in silence, for a long moment.

"So… what do we do, now?" Pantillo asked, in a weak attempt to change the subject.

"I guess, we wait." Kito said, not entirely sure himself. Neither of them had ever been in this situation before. "Don't they send someone to pick us up, once it's clear?"

"Yeah… I guess so." Pantillo replied. "I almost forgot." he added, tapping behind his ear.

It gave Kito the creeps to think about the locator chip Galactor had implanted in his head, shortly after he had joined. But now, he was almost glad for it. They knew he was alive, and would be coming for him. He wouldn't be abandoned, in midst of this devastation.

"I'm getting kind of hungry." Kito said, almost to himself. "I wonder if we could find anything to eat."

"I think there's a shelter." Pantillo volunteered. "I saw a bunch of Red Cross workers setting something up."

"I doubt they'd let us in there." Kito said ruefully, gesturing toward the remnants of his green uniform. "I think that's only for UN citizens."

"So, what?" Pantillo asked. "Technically, we are UN citizens right? I was born in Iropa, and you're from Mt. Jupiter."

"Yeah, but…"

"So, we borrow some clothes." Pantillo suggested, ignoring Kito's protest. "It's not like these people need them, anymore."

Kito's sense of morality protested at wearing the clothes of a man his mecha had killed, but his hunger finally won out.

"Okay." he agreed. "We'll look for…"

His words were interrupted by a shout.

"I think I see it, over here!"

The voice was coming from behind the remnants of the wall, against which the two soldiers were leaning.

Carefully, Pantillo pulled himself up on his knees, peering through a crack in the wall.

"It's the Science Ninja Team!" he hissed, his voice a mixture of fear and excitement.

"What?" Kito's bladder nearly emptied itself, but he managed to reign in his fright.

"They're just over there!" whispered Pantillo.

Kito crawled over, next to Pantillo, to look out of the crack, with his comrade.

Sure enough, there was the Science Ninja Team, or, at least, four of them. They appeared to be standing around a piece of Kang's head. Fortunately, the wind was blowing toward their position, carrying the ninjas' words to them.

"This looks like the main data module from the gorilla mecha." said one. He was relatively short, and Kito quickly realized that this one was the child he had heard about.

"That's the Swallow!" Pantillo whispered excitedly. It was fairly obvious that the man was somewhat obsessed with the Science Ninja Team. Kito supposed that it wasn't a bad thing: to be informed about one's enemy.

"I think you're right." said another. It was obvious from the way she spoke, and the differences in her uniform, that she was female.

"I didn't realize that there was a woman…" whispered Kito.

"The Swan." Pantillo said. "My brother claims to have gotten a good look under her skirt, once, but I think he's full of it. Anyone who's ever gotten that close to her is dead."

Kito shook his head at Pantillo's gossip. It was typical of Galactor locker room talk.

"I can recover the data tapes." the Swan reported, "But they're corrupted. I don't know how much information we'll be able to get."

"Just do your best." replied a man in white wings. Kito's heart pounded in his chest. He didn't need Pantillo's commentary to know that this was Gatchaman. He had been called 'the White Shadow', and Kito could see why. In the bright sunlight, his appearance was almost blinding, forcing you to look away.

Or, maybe that was just Kito's terror, at seeing Galactor's greatest threat, only thirty feet away from his position. He gulped nervously.

The Swallow wandered off, away from the soldiers' location.

The other man turned to talk with Gatchaman, while the Swan worked at her task.

"We came too late." he growled in anger. "I can't believe the entire complex was destroyed!"

"The Condor." Pantillo informed Kito. "He's supposed to have a bad temper."

"At least, we destroyed the mecha." the Swan offered, not looking up from the data module.

"So what?" spat the Condor. "How many innocent lives were lost? How much of a setback is this, to the Mantle Plan? Sure, Galactor lost a mecha, and a few soldiers. Katse accomplished his goal. He wins again."

"We'll get him." Gatchaman said resolutely. "One day, he'll pay, for all of this."

"It can't come soon enough for me." the Condor replied angrily.

Suddenly, Kito saw a flash of green, at the edge of his vision.

"What's that?" he asked Pantillo.

"I don't know…" came the reply. "Wait… it's Kyle!"

As the form drew closer, Kito could see that it was, indeed, Sergeant Kyle. He was approaching the Swan from behind, apparently escaping the notice of Gatchaman and the Condor, for the moment.

But not for long.

"Jun!" the Condor cried, just as Kyle aimed his pistol at the woman's back.

The Swan spun around, in time to see a silver object race through the air, slicing through Kyle's throat, and returning to Gatchaman's outstretched hand.

"Galactor scum." Gatachaman muttered, as he re-holstered his weapon.

"I knew Gatchaman was a hero!" Pantillo crowed. "I should send him a thank you card, for getting rid of Kyle for us!"

Kito barely heard his comrade's words. His mind was awhirl with other concerns. The Condor had called the woman, Jun. Jun. No… it couldn't be. It was a common enough name. Just co-incidence.

"Are you all right, Onechan?" called the Swallow, running up to their position.

"I'm fine, Jinpei." the Swan replied. "And even better, I'm done. We can all get out of here, now."

The two soldiers watched as the Science Ninja Team departed. Kito's thoughts were racing through his head, going around and around in circles.

The Condor had called her Jun. And she had called the boy Jinpei. That was too co-incidental, wasn't it? The Swallow was a kid… about the right age, judging by his height, and immature voice.

Was it possible? That Jun and Jinpei, whom he had known at the orphanage, were now members of the Science Ninja Team?

Suddenly, Kito felt terribly ashamed. Here, they had all come from the same place, the same beginning, but Jun and Jinpei were doing something noble… something to help the people of the planet. While Kito… he was using his talent to help a madman conquer those same people.

At that moment, Kito wished that he had died with the King Kang mecha.