"It was what I wanted. We Kaizoku always get what we want...Alexander."
Marvelous' eyes widened in shock. Although the rest of the room asked a unison "ALEXANDER!?", Marvelous could not hear it. The room was filled with silence to his perception. All he could focus on was Drake, the GokaiCaptain, the one who saved him and his crew. The uneasy feelings he had before were finally coming to fruition. And Drake did NOT stop there.
Drake turned around to look out the window. "There are a vast amount of stars in the sky. Hmphm. Eleanor loved the stars. She always hoped that, one day, her son Alexander, his father, and herself could 'be their own masters' in the universe." said Drake, looking down with a trying smile. While everyone looked at Marvelous with concern and questions, their captain had some concerns and questions of his own. That is, if he could physically - and mentally - speak. "You got Eleanor's jacket, Eleanor's dreams... and her memory. Her love." Marvelous stood up violently. Everyone, who were already confused - entered a state of shock and fear. Marvelous stomped over to Drake. All that held him back was Drake's words. "When he returned... You would go out to space, you, him...and Eleanor. She waited for him, and she never doubted his inevitable return..." The eyes of both men started to water.
As if a bombs' fuse finally went off, Marvelous violently grabbed Drake by his shirt and held him by against the window. The crew staggered, unsure what the next move would be. "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME? HOW DO YOU KNOW HER NAME!? HER DREAMS?! HER WORDS! ANSWER ME!" Marvelous' screams were only accompanied by tears. He was trembling, and the confusion was overwhelming him like a Rising Strike. Drake took in a deep breath, as if to calm himself. With some fear, and mostly desire, he reached in his left inside jacket pocket. It was a right-half heart locket and necklace.
Marvelous froze, his eyes fixated on what has in the man's possession. The rest of the crew became puzzled... but Ahim gasped. "That necklace," she thought. "It's...just like Marvelous'..." Drake opened the locket. And to Marvelous' shock and horror, "Hush, Little Baby" started to play. He put Drake back on the ground, his hands still holding a firm grip. Finally, Marvelous got his answer. "My name is Draco William Rex. Alexander Vincent Black, otherwise known as Captain Marvelous of the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger... I am your father."
The crew everyone in the room gasped. The silenced roared like GaoLion. Marvelous let Drake go, and staggered backward. His palms were sweating, his body trembling. His senses were only focused on Drake. He should have been there...
" Come here, Alexander!"
He should have come back...
"Good night, Alexander... I love you so much..."
He never came back...
"I'm always here..."
And with a primordial roar, Marvelous slugged his father's face. The window shook, but even if it broke, Marvelous would not care. He and his crew could stay out in space for three hours before their bodies needed to find oxygen again. He may have gotten them of that ship...he may have made them dinner... he even got along with all of them... but Marvelous could find no forgiveness towards his father. They both fell to the floor, Marvelous unable to coordinate his body for a brief moment. He was about to charge Drake and tear him limb from limb, but Joe and Gai grabbed him by his arms and shoulders and drug him back to the hallway, to put him in his room. "We're not done with this," pointed Luka to Drake, as she and everyone else went to the room to calm Marvelous. "I know...I know," uttered Drake in an understanding, yet pleading tone.
Marvelous was screaming and contorting every part of his body wildly. Joe and Gai were struggling to keep him from completely losing his mind. But it was a losing battle. "Captain Marvelous-sa!" cried Gai as Marvelous threw him against the wall. "Marvelous! Please!" But Joe could not reach his old friend. Marvelous grabbed him by the collar, and with little to no effort, he tossed him to the opposite wall of Gai. Luka, Don and Navi staggered back out of the doorway. But Ahim, with practically no change in her demeanor, calmly walked in, and as Marvelous proceeded to stomp out of the room to cripple his "father", Ahim stood in his way, prim, proper, back straight.
Marvelous simply seethed. "Ahim," he growled. He pick her up by her front shirt, and held her to the wall he had just thrown Gai. He was growling under his heavy breathing. But Ahim did not scream and screech, or even squeal. Her posture and expression did not change. She simply closed her eyes, and in a hushed breathe, she uttered, "Marvelous-san". With that, a single tear droped from eye. And in that instant, nothing would ever be the same.
Marvelous' intensity deflated as soon as it had arrived. His senses came back to him, and he was in shock at where he was...and what he was doing. "Ahim..." he stuttered. She opened her big, brown eyes at him. "...Ahim!" With that, he immediately grabbed her in his arms and to his chest. He fell to his knees in tears. "Ahim-san...Ahim-san...I'm sorry..." was all he could say in between his panting breathes. "Shhhh..." she reassured him, hugging him back, kissing his head, and stroking his hair. "It's alright." She picked him up and walked him to his bunk, hanging from the wall. She sat him down and looked him in the eye. "It will be alright. Everything will be alright." With that, she kissed his lips and turned to Joe and Gai, escorting them to the door. "Are you two alright?" she asked. "Hai," they nodded. Everyone - sans Ahim - was now in the hallway. "Please let me take care of this." she said. Everyone nodded. She turned back, grabbed a mattress, blanket, and pillow from a spare bunk, and gave it to Gai. And with a smile and bow, she closed the door...
The crew stormed back in the main room. Drake had an ice pack on his left cheek where Marvelous had hit him, and he was stacking dishes for the kitchen. The crew, however, came in with their own demands. "You're Marvelous' Father?" asked Navi. "How long did you know?" ask Gai. "Is this all a trick to get to Marvelous?" demanded Luka. "Why would a son strike his own father who he has never met before?" asked Joe. "Where did you get that Gokaiger key?" "Do you have a mecha?" "What ELSE haven't you told us about your past?" " Why is Marvelous acting like this?""What are we going to do about the Zangyack?"...
The questions started to blur, and the blurs became noise. Drake stopped collecting utensils and looked up at the crew. "I know you have a lot of questions," Drake stated calmly, yet firmly. Everyone stopped speaking to listen. "However, if anyone deserves any answers first, it's your Captain. I must give him the resolution he is looking for, because he is the one who has suffered the most because of me. There can be no more secrets between him and I. If you trust him, and I know you do, let me give him the closure he has been looking for first, because I know he won't hide it from you." And with that, the Gokaigers reluctantly backed off, knowing that, in due time, Marvelous would tell them. For now, all they could do was wait - and hope - for Ahim to manage the lion whose heart she owned...
Ahim locked the door. She turned around to Marvelous. His body was drenched in sweat, and deep, heavy breathes were emitting from his mouth. "Although he had relaxed, his body - and mind - were still tense. Ahim sat next to Marvelous on the bunk, on his left hand side. "I suppose tea won't help you right now..." she said. It took about a minute for that statement to register in his mind. When it did, he smiled softly. "No, but I wish it would..." The two Kaizoku scooted back to the wall next to the bed, with Ahim leading the way. She looked at his face, still dripping sweat and lost in a gaze. " Breathe slowly, Marvelous-san," she assured him. It took Marvelous a good five minutes to truly control his breathing and stop sweating. Finally, he looked at Ahim, and rested his head on her lap. "There, there, Marvelous," said Ahim, slowly stroking his hair. "We're in this together..."
"Together..." Marvelous finally spoke. "We would have all gone out... together." Knowing this momentary rambling might be all she would get out of him, she followed Luka's advice from the day before. "Who would have gone out together?" She may have been pushing her limits, but as Marvelous himself would have told her, Kaizoku always get what they want. And all she wanted was for Marvelous to tell her the truth...No, she wanted Marvelous to face the truth. His father was here. They may or may not have a history, but he had to face it...not as a Kaizoku, not as a Captain, but as a man.
"Me, my father...and my mother." Marvelous whispered slowly. "Eleanor Ruth Black. The greatest Kaizoku ever to travel to stars." His tone turned child-like and wide-eyed. "She was strong, fast, cunning...and showy." He smiled. Ahim couldn't help but smile back. "We never had a home. We never had a ship. She never had a job. All we had...was each other. We moved from town to town, sleeping under bridges, in alleyways, and in the countryside. We'd wash dishes at restaurants, and get fed afterwards. I never went hungry, and even when she did, she never lost her energy and joy..."
Eleanor and Alexander looked up at the full moon. She leaned back against the tree, and she propped her feet up on the trunk. As her son snuggled into her jacket, they were completely carefree. Who would try to get at them when they were about twenty feet up in a tree in the country? She looked out at the nearby village, as lights began to dim as the people slept. Alexander looked up at his mother with both a smile and curiosity. "What are you thinking about, mother?"
"One day, when she kicked some dirtball's ass when he tried to steal from a restaurant, the owner recognized her. They were neighbors as when she was a child. He let us sleep on his office couch and fed us, while I cleaned and waited tables and she handled the business forms and protected the place. Within the year, the neighborhood was better, and my mother and I were never happier..." his smiled dimmed. "For the most part..."
Eleanor looked at the boy. His eyes and questions were filled with wonder and curiosity. "Well, Alexander... It's actually a very special day." "Really?" the boy asked. He popped up his head. "Well...today is your father's birthday." The boy couldn't contain his surprise. "I have father, too!?" "Yes, Alexander." The boy's face fell somewhat. "Where is he? Why isn't he here with us?" Eleanor took a deep breath. "He...made a promise to me and to his Kaizoku crew... He's the strongest fighter I've ever known. He could take out a line of soldiers armed with rifles with just a switch blade and his wits..." Her sons' eyes could have popped out of his head. "There are people who need his help, and he promised them he would. Until then, it'll just be us. When he fulfills that promise..." she looked up at the moon, with moonlight and hope illuminating from her face. "it will be us. He'll be both our protector, as well as your teacher." she and Alexander smiled.
"We always waited for his return. I never found out what he was doing." Both Marvelous and Ahim's expressions fell. "I never got to find out what he could teach me..."
Sunday mornings were busy at the restaurant. Ever since Eleanor managed to drive out the shady characters out of the neighborhood, families felt comfortable again. And comfortable families needed a place to have comfortable breakfast and/or brunch. While Eleanor and Joseph Carlson worked hard to manage it all, Alexander found it to be a fun game. He had fun simply running around, getting the right food, to the right tables, to the right people. Eleanor also waited tables, but her son was far quicker than she was. And peppered in there was the simple fact that her son could endear himself to the customers in ways she never could. But this Sunday was would never be erased from young Alexander's mind...
By 2:00PM, the restaurant had quieted down. There were tables filled, but the mood was relaxed enough for mother and son to sit at the bar and gobble down some steaks and potatoes. Alexander himself could work up a hearty appetite. "My gosh, what is that? His third plate?" asked Joseph. "More please!" asked an excited Alexander. Both adults simply laughed. That was Alexander, after all. "Joseph, watch Alexander." said Eleanor in a serious tone. She was staring out the window, and walked out ready to pull out her gun and sword. Outside she looked up...and her eyes widened in horror.
A whole fleet of Zangyack ships filled the sky. Customers started to quiver in fear at the sight. Alexander looked up in confusion at Joseph, who was gasping and shaking. Eleanor ran back inside, welding her gun and sword in her hands. "Eleanor! Take Alexander and get out of here!" screamed Joe. She stopped to look one last time at Joe. With tearful nods, she picked up her son under her arm and bolted out the back door. "Joe!" cried Alexander to his employee/father figure. He would never see him again.
Eleanor started making her way down the back alleys. Blasts and screams could be hurt from the streets, and from above, Zangyack ships were firing down at the ground, and soldiers were being sent from the fleet to terrorize the neighborhood. Eleanor stopped when she made it to the woods. "Don't look. Cover your ears." she told her son. Alexander could still her the explosions, the gunfire, and the screaming. He could picture it all in his head. She ran along a river path, and entered a dark cave. There was a drape covering some sort of object.
She pulled off the drape, and unveiled a two person vehicle. She opened its' hatch and set Alexander in the back seat. As she buckled her son inside, a voice spoke from behind. "Submit yourself to the Zangyack Nation!" Eleanor quickly turned, firing her gun at the Dogormin and their stupid Gormin. When they all dropped, she ran to the cave opening and peeked out the cave. A whole stampede of Zangyack soldiers were marching in their direction. Eleanor leaned back in the cave, and looked back at her son. He was anxiously awaiting for her next move...as well as her answers to his questions. She closed her eyes, and made the easiest - and toughest - decision of her life.
She ran back to the ship and starting pressing buttons on the controls. "Mother! Mother! Get in!" She looked at her beloved son, one last time. She took out a locket and necklace from her jacket. "I'm always here," she said, pointing to his heart, and putting the locket necklace in his hand. "I love you, my beautiful Alexander Vincent Black." She kissed his cheeks, tears streaming down both their faces. "Mother! MOTHER!" She held the top of the hatch, and smiled. "Stay marvelous, Alexander." The lid closed. She moved back, and the ship started to power up. "Mother...NO! her son cried. The tears on both their faces turned to waterfalls. Finally, the ship blazed out into the clear sky, where the Zangyack ships had yet to enter. Alexander looked down at the ground, his eyes fixated on Eleanor, who had exited the cave to watch."You!" cried a Dogormin. A line of Zangyack Gormin stood behind him. With tears still racing down her face, and her sword and gun in hand, her last words as she charged to the line of armed enemies was that famous battle cry. "Hade ni ikuze!"
"If he had been there, none of that would have happened." Marvelous whispered through cringed teeth. "If he was a great protector, and great teacher...why wasn't he there?" His voice was shaking. "She was my protecter...my cheerleader...my teacher...my best friend..." Tears started to drip down his face. "...She was my mother." At that, he finally cracked. He turned to Ahim, who held his sobbing face close to her chest. He gripped her back. He put his head on her shoulder, and as the tears turned to waterfalls, she gently kissed his cheek. "Marvelous...I'm so sorry..." She had no idea what to say. All she wanted was to let him cry. But at the same time, she knew he needed something. ANYTHING that could bring him just an ounce of consolidation. Comfort. She thought hard about it. Something his mother would say. Something that Joe would say, or Luka...Finally, she decided to say the only thing she could think of.
She had Marvelous face her. He face was drenched from the sweat and tears. His breathing was heavy, and senses scattered. "Marvelous-san." He looked up at her. Their eyes met. "Marvelous...I love you." The silence lasted about a minute, with the two of them just staring into each other's eyes. Suddenly, Marvelous brought Ahim closer to his body. "Ahim..."he said, getting lost in her eyes. "Arrigato... My love..."
Their eyes closed as their lips met. Marvelous fell on top of Ahim. They laid there, tongues and mouths physically expressing what words could not. Then, out of nowhere, Marvelous began to explore Ahim's neck. "Marvelous-san...Eough..." She found no reason to fight back. Marvelous wasn't thinking or even feeling; he was following a strange instinct that seemed familiar as it did odd.
However, Ahim opened her eyes when Marvelous' hands started to peel back her shirt and he began to move towards her chest. "Marvelous!" she cried, trying to pull her shirt back into place. She moved back up and sat up. He stopped and looked up in shock. "Ahim...I'm...so sorry..."he started panting. Marvelous then put his hand behind her head and pulled himself to her. He wrapped himself and Ahim in his jacket, and fell to his side. "I promise...to never abuse you, Ahim." Marvelous stated. Both their eyes started to tear. "Arrigato..." was all he could get out. He cradled her head to his shoulder and head, resting himself in a way he not felt since he was cradled inside his mother's jacket...