[FanFic] [Gatchaman] The Adventures of Ken & Joe
Episode 2 - Breakfast of Champions
Disclaimer - The Characters herein are property of their creators,
namely Tatsunoko Studios. The story by no means seeks to violate any
copyright held by anyone. This is a work By a fan for fellow fans.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was the type of physical confrontation one would expect to see
when Joe Asakura was involved. It was brutal, it had drama and it had a
dramatic end. Joe pushed and pushed as his opponent pushed back, clawing
and grabbing. Joe looked for the opening he wanted but couldn't find,
his opponent was tight in his face. Joe let his sweat fly in all
directions as he pivoted on his right foot. He spun left only to find
his enemy still in front of him. The spin left was his best shot, it was
his opponent's weak side but the spin to the right had kept him off
balance and that was all the opening his opponent needed. In a quick
thrust Joe lost the ball and scrambled to recover it. But it was to
late. The opponent was already taking his shot and just by looking at
his form Joe knew that the ball would sink. Joe swore silently under his
heaving breath and knew that this day would was going to be bad, after
all Ken had never beaten him at Basketball before.
"So the mighty Condor loses by 2," Ken said with a wide smile as he
tore his blue sweatband from his fore head, "You're slipping Joe."
"Yeah and you've obviously been practicing," Joe shot back before
he took a deep breath, "That's the best game you've ever played. I even
broke a sweat!!"
Ken took a deep breath and tossed his friend a towel as he motioned
his toward the locker room door, "Hey when you work with underprivileged
teens you learn a few things about sports. C'mon, let's shower and get
dressed. We want to beat the morning crowd for Breakfast at The Starr,
after all you're buying."
Ever since the two of them had come back from the edge of oblivion
the two remaining members of the Kagaku Ninja Tai had taken aliases. Joe
still had some friends from the race circuit who didn't know he had been
'dead' for ten years and almost all of them owed him favors. It was
necessary if they were to find normal jobs and live like regular people.
At least as regular as they could get when they weren't hunting down off
shoots of the old Galactor organization. Ken got a job working at the
YMCA on 91st and Lexington Avenue. He enjoyed working with the kids and
even taught a self-defense class. Joe went the different route, it was
job that allowed him to swear at the driver's of New York City while
taking money from rich businessmen. Joe was a cabby.
This was a rare day for them, as both had the day off. Joe had been
putting in an insane amount of overtime, so much overtime that his boss
demanded he take at least 3 days off with pay. Ken always had
Wednesdays and Fridays off. This being Friday meant that not only was
Ken off but he got his paycheck as well. They had their rent paid up,
$675 a month for a 2 bedroom apartment on 81st between York and East
End Avenues. It had everything they needed, Kitchenette, bathroom and a
laundry room downstairs. Not bad for a couple of guys who had managed
to save the world more times than they could remember.
The showers at the 'Y' were small but powerful. Joe used to say
that the shower did more than just wash the dirt and sweat from his
body, it managed to wax and buff too. When both men were done they got
dressed in the only clothes they had known for most of their lives and
walked down to 86th street and Lexington Avenue. The Starr Diner was
large and always had a crowd, it was positioned perfectly right next to
the subway station. Ken and Joe had become regulars there ever since
they started playing basketball in the mornings. Joe loved the place.
"It has character," he declared one time after Ken recommended they eat
somewhere else. Ken didn't understand why they always ate there.
Frankly he found the food worse than the fruitcake Hakase used to give
them for Christmas every year.
They pushed open the glass doors and walked inside. The diner was
already starting to fill up and it was only 6:30 in the morning. Of
course New York was wide awake at 6:30. Ken spotted a table at the
window that allowed them to look at the passing traffic. It had become a
habit of Ken's to watch the people and cars go by and wonder what it
meant to be 'Normal'. Joe was usually to busy eating his breakfast to
comment usually but every now and again he would mutter something crude
and humorous just to get his partner's reaction. As they took their
seats a waitress handed them menus and smiled. "Well Joe, what'll it be
today?", she asked him with a smile.
Joe groaned, the game had really left drained. He was hungry all
right but he was just to tired to eat right now. "Come back to me
Sally, let the lightweight order his muffin", he muttered.
Ken shot a sour look to his friend and then handed the menu back to
Sally. "Cranberry muffin and a glass of orange juice Sally" Ken said
politely. It was his routine, order a Cranberry muffin with a large
Orange Juice and then run out to get the paper at the news stand next
door. Usually by the time he got back his muffin was on the table
waiting for him.
"No can do hon," Sally replied, "Last cranberry muffin went out on
a delivery. How about walnut raisin?"
"Walnut Raisin?" he repeated, "hmmm, no give me an orange blueberry
muffin instead."
Sally nodded and turned to Joe, "What about you stud?"
Joe was looking over the menu carefully, going over each item like
it was a final exam. "I'll have a cheeseburger, extra pickle. A
farmer's omelet wit extra sausage and hash browns, a side of rings and a
large chocolate shake," he finally uttered.
Ken and Sally's jaws both fell open in stunned amazement. Ken had
been subjected to 'Joe The Eating Machine' before at the Snack J and
this, all things considered, was a small meal compared to what he used
to have Jinpei whip up for him. Still Ken had not seen Joe eat this
much in a long time. Poor Sally couldn't even write the order down, she
just stood looking at Joe like he was from another planet.
Joe looked up from the menu to see the stupefaction on the two
faces before him. "Hey I'm hungry," he snapped, "you try working my
hours Mister 'Help the underprivileged youth'!!"
Sally rolled her eyes and walked off with their orders. Ken rubbed
his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He was tired. His sleep last
night was restless and fitful. While the basketball game had managed to
wake him up and work out the kinks from his limited slumber, he still
was bushed. Joe sat there continuing to look over the menu in silence.
Finally Ken rose from his seat and looked at Joe, "Post or the News?" he
asked.
Joe dug in his pocket and fumbled for some loose change only to
pull out 2 dimes. "Damn!" , the frustration in his voice was obvious.
Joe hated having to break bills to get change. He pulled his wallet out
of his back pocket and handed Ken a five dollar bill. "The News, heck
I'm feelin' generous today. Get the Times on, me, for yourself."
Ken looked at Joe with an awkward smile and shook his head. "I
should cream you at Basketball more often Joseph, I seem to be getting
some perks from it."
Joe laughed softly as he stroked his chin, "Don't get used to it
Kentaro. Next time we play I'll cheat."
Ken chuckled scratched his ear. "You cheat anyway," he replied, "I
just let you get away with the shove and forearm. I wanted to beat you
and calling a foul would have blown my focus."
Joe snorted and watched as Ken walked out the door with a smile.
"You fruitcake," Joe muttered, "Why does he smile all the damn time?"
Ken made his way next door to the newsstand and grabbed a copy of
'The New York Times' and a 'New York Daily News'. 'The Times' was Ken's
paper of choice as it covered National and world news more extensively
than the 'The News' did. Still he checked the headlines for both
papers. The Times had news on the Civil War in Huntwahl. Apparently
after the final collapse of Galactor, the peasant class revolted against
the new 'President For Life' Viktor Cid. The U.S. had been trying to
get aid to the rebel factions but the U.N. was viewing the matter as
internal and htus out of their jurisdiction. In stark contrast 'The
News' was still covering the Rolf Giacomo murder case. Joe had managed
to make headlines with his assassination of the new Galactor
'Generalissmo'. for the past 3 months the Police had been following
leads and turned up nothing at all. Ken smiled and shook his head <He
murdered a well known Mafia figure and manages to keep complete
anonymity. Joe, my friend, you never cease to amaze me.>
It was then that he heard sirens whine and cut through the air,
piercing at his delicate ears. Three NYPD patrol cars raced down the
street with their lights blazing red. Ken watched the police drive by
and then heard the sounds of squealing brakes and screeching rubber
tires. He tucked the papers under his arm and paid for them. He knew
Joe was waiting for him, as was his muffin, but he had to at least see
what was going on. He ducked around the corner and saw that a block
and half away the police were examining the local Citibank location. He
spotted shattered glass and a middle aged man nursing a bleeding arm.
"Bullet wound," Ken muttered to himself, "Must have been a bank robbery.
Joe, in the meantime, had been sitting quietly as waiting for his
food to arrive. Sally walked over and placed a large glass of orange
juice and a glass filled with Joe's chocolate shake on the table. The
timing of what happened next was almost to perfect. Just as picked up
his drink screaming and gunshots were heard from the kitchen. A man
burst through the door holding Max, diner's cook, in a reverse chinlock
with a small automatic weapon. Joe was ready to move into action when 4
other men jumped out from behind the door all wearing masks and also
brandishing automatic weapons.
They moved fast and grabbed hostages. The first one had the gun now
pointed at Max's head. "ALRIGHT PEOPLE LISTEN UP," he shouted, "YOU DO
WHAT WE TELL OF YOU TO DO AND WE WON'T VENTILATE HECTOR BOYARDEE
HERE!!". with tat he shoved Max to the floor and pressed a boot firmly
on his back. "Don't even think of squirming old man, if you so much as
have an irregular heartbeat I'll punch you full of holes."
Joe knew he had to stay calm, going off and throwing feather
shurikens right now was not the best thing to do. Sure he WANTED to nail
these crooks with some feather shurikens, but there were innocent lives
at stake here. <ok, sit-check,> he thought to himself, <There're 5 of
them and each has a hostage. They all have guns, seem to be
autopistols, with the exception of the guy in the tope mask, he's got an
uzi. I just have to keep my cool and everything will be fine... DAMMIT
KEN WHERE ARE YOU!!>
The first one Joe had tagged as Red because of his red mask. This
guy obviously was the leader because all the other scum were doing what
he said. "Al right," Red said evenly, "You people just go about your
business and make like we are not here. First you're all going to sit
towards the center. The last thing we need is any of you 'accidentally'
signaling a beat cop. So c'mon everyone go to the center booth, "he
paused for a moment to see if anyone was moving, "NOW!!"
Joe watched as the other patrons all rushed to the center. All the
scenarios he was cooking in his head to save everyone ended up with
civilian casualties. He gritted his teeth as he sat by the window, his
mask painted in frustration.
"Hey, Hey, Hey... Drake," said the guy in the green mask to Red, "I
think we got some kind of slacker here!!". Green was moving towards Joe
with his gun drawn, "What's the matter Slacker? Can't you friggin walk
to the center?"
Joe had not been pistol whipped in a long time thing... he hated
it. Green's gun smacked him across the back of his head. Joe felt the
blood in his had erupt like a volcano as it oozed across his face.
Green wasn't sure what to be afraid of, whether this 'Slacker' was still
conscious after being smacked by the butt of a gun or the look the
'Slacker' was giving him as blood dripped down his face.
The only thing that was keeping Joe from ripping Green's face off
was his concern about where Ken was. <Damn you Ken,> he puzzled, <If
you're standing reading the headlines I'll kill you!!>
In truth the bank robbery was what Ken was looking into. He talked
with the first officer on the scene and found out that the robbers had
gotten away less than 3 minutes before the cops arrived on the scene. A
three minute lead wasn't much and Ken figured if he acted discreetly
enough that he'd find some clues. "How far could they have gotten," he
asked himself, "3 minutes isn't much. They either took to the sewers,
which isn't likely, or they're hiding in a nearby building." He stood
silently thinking over other options. A mere block away was the 86th
street Subway station but given the fact that the subway was a less than
reliable source of transportation he ruled that out.
<No, they're hiding somewhere and it has to be close by and
someplace big. A place where they can take hostages if things go sour>.
His head ached trying to figure it all out. He was sure the thieves ran
down 86th street, that way they could get lost in the crowds heading to
work. There were three options that popped into his head. The first 2
didn't open till at least 11 AM. Seeing as it was presently 6:53 AM that
left one other option. He knew where the bank robbers were hiding and he
knew that if he didn't get there fast that there would be dead bodies
all over the Starr Diner.
Fortunately that was not the case presently. The close thing to a
dead body was Max the cook lying on the floor in abject terror. The
tension in the air was thick. Joe was looking through Green with his
glaring, piercing eyes. The stream of blood meant nothing to him as he
slowly got up and walked past Green and sat in the center with everyone
else. He knew that his gaze had just managed to scare Green shitless
and that the pathetic gunman would be nervous around him for the rest
of the time they would spend in here. Green rushed over to Red and
nearly feel over a potted plant on the floor. He whispered in Red’s ear
and the masked man nodded in reply. Joe watched as the thug darted off
to the kitchen.
Green entered the Kitchen and took a deep breath. “Damn that guy
has a mean on for me,” he gasped, “He’s gonna be a real problem. Red
should off him now.” it was then that he heard the noise coming from
the meat locker. He jumped back as he heard the clank of metal and
swallow what saliva was in his mouth. “Red, is that you?”.
There was no response. green cocked raised his gun as he slowly
crept to the meat locker and popped the lock on the door. He breathed
a sigh of relief. Nothing bad had happened so far but he didn’t imagine
that noise. He closed his eyes and listened closely. He heard silence
and cold air. He slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a stream of
condensed air. Then from above it happened, an arm reached around his
neck and started to squeeze the life out of him. Then he felt the hand
on the back of his head and heard the cracking of his neck. Green
slumped down in a heap, dead.
The arm was attached to a body and the body flipped off of a
hanging chain and landed on its feet. “I haven’t had to use a ninja
hiding technique in a long time,” Ken sighed, “Ten years and I still
have the touch.”
The dinning area was getting tenser by the second as Joe looked at
the 4 remaining gunmen. Besides Red and Green he had pegged Black,
Brown and Yellow. He also learned something important, Red’s real name
was Drake. He fingered a feather shuriken in his pocket and stared
venomously around the room at his captors, hoping something would
happen.
“Dammit, where’s Lonnie?” shouted Brown, “That punk should have
been back by now!!”
Drake shook his head and shrugged, “He needed to chill, leave him
be Jack. After all this is his first score.”
It was then a piercing whistle cut through the room. Piercing to
the gunmen at least but soothing to Joe. Joe had heard the tune many
times in his life. He even knew the tune himself and had whistled it
when he had first been reunited with his team mates. Joe knew the tune
alright and watched as the Gunmen looked around confused.
“What the fuck? Who’s whistling?” asked Yellow.
Red looked around and pointed his gun to Max, “Where’s the whistle
coming from old man? TALK!!”
Joe waited for the moment to come, but it wasn’t now. He had to
be patient and trust his partner to get the job done. He had to rely on
Ken’s faith in him if this ‘rescue’ was going to work.
It was then that the kitchen door swung open with a silhouette
standing in the doorway. Black didn’t wait and unloaded his auto-pistol
into the figure. Yellow did like wise and the gunfire that ensued left
many of the hostages screaming in terror. “HOLD YOUR FIRE!!,” shouted
Red, “GEEZ YOU MORONS KILL THE FIRE!!”
The silhouette fell to the ground in a heap to reveal another
silhouette behind it. Black looked at the former silhouette, now a
corpse, in horror “_L-L-Lonnie? OH SHI...” Before he could finish the
figure was on him. Black felt a quick blow to the side of his head and
was knocked to the ground. Yellow charged the figure and was met with a
palm thrust that crushed his nose and left a stream of blood gushing
onto the floor.
“Oh my lord, “Said Sally in surprise, “I-i-its’s Ken!!”
Ken had to ask fast. Yellow was stunned but would recover and
Black was getting up. Drake lifted his gun up to aim. His finger
nervously twitched on the trigger as he aimed at the enemy. Ken spun
and tossed an object in Drake’s Direction. “BIRDRANG!!”, Ken screamed as
a fork flew threw the air and imbedded itself in Drake’s hand causing
him to drop the gun. Ken returned his attention to Yellow and Black.
Yellow took a swing at Ken but the reflexes of a ninja were more than
enough to handle a thug with a broken nose. Ken fell backwards with his
hands facing palm down as he hit the floor. He immediately sprung off
his hands and landed on his feet. He then spun on his heel and let
loose with a vicious chop to Yellow’s throat. Yellow fell to the floor
gasping for air and clutching his now shattered windpipe. Ken turned
just in time to duck Black’s spinning roundhouse kick. Bridging back Ken
raised one leg and quickly shoved his heel into Black’s chin. He then
dropped to his knees and hot Black with an elbow strike to the ribs and
followed through with a rising elbow to the chin. Black fell down
unconscious.
It was then a bullet blazed past Ken’s ear. Drake was holding a
derringer in his palm, loaded from an arm holster. Ken knew with one
shot gone his opponent was down to a single bullet. He also knew his
opponent had him dead to rights.
“I don’t know who you are Mister” Drake growled, “But you’re
dead!!”
Ken smiled cockily as he looked at Drake. A chuckle escaped from
his mouth as knelt on his knee. Drake looked at him with disdain and
hate, “You think its funny? you just wrecked months of planning and you
killed my best friend. Mister, I’m gonna...”
He was suddenly cut off by a stinging sensation in the back of his
neck. His mouth hung open an his body shook for a moment. Then Drake
fell to the floor, a single feather sticking out of the back of his
neck.
Ken smiled wide as he looked to see Joe standing on top a table,
his throwing arm held above his head. “Nice throw, but you could’ve
thrown it a bit sooner you know?”
Joe shook his head and grunted, “Che, you got no sense for the
dramatic Washio.”
Ken looked around the room and noticed all the other customers were
looking at him and Joe gratefully. “Uummm, Joe...” he said nervously and
cocked his head to the door.
It was then that Sally stepped forward and smiled nervously, “Don’t
worry we won’t tell anyone. We’ll come up with something” . The
Customers all nodded in agreement and looked at their saviors.
Ken’s nervousness didn’t subside as he turned to Joe with a worried
look. “Ease up Ken, “Joe said easily, “We can trust’em “. Ken studied
his partners face and finally nodded his agreement and walked to the
door. Joe followed and nodded, “He’s kind of a square, don’t worry
though. He Trusts all of you!!” With that the two heroes vanished.
Epilogue
-----------
The next day were abuzz with all the news of ‘The Feather Killer
Returns: Justice In Local Diner leaves 5 Robbers Dead’. Joe’s one
feather shuriken had brought more trouble the lone surviving Kagaku
Ninja. The police were now more determined than ever to find the
‘Feather Killer’ but their progress was getting nowhere because none of
the witnesses at the diner claimed to have seen nothing.
A few weeks passed and the papers lost interest. Joe sat on the
roof top of the building he and ken lived in and watched the setting sun
as he sucked down a beer. He liked watching the sun set, it reminded
him of why he liked living in the real world so much. It was the
color. The sun in her fading majesty produced colors that were so
beautiful that it hurt to watch them fade. He didn’t even notice Ken
come on the roof until his friend tapped him on the shoulder.
“Enjoying the view?” Ken asked with a smile.
“Yeah, “Joe grinned lazily, “It amazes me how such an insane and
violent city can be so beautiful with the right colors.”
Ken nodded sat next to his friend and handed him another beer,
“This is one hell of a place to live. Crazier than Tokyo but somehow
more serene.”
“Yeah, Strange ain’t it?” Joe replied as he grabbed the beer. He
sat there and watched the colors fade into night. Then both men looked
to each other and shook their heads in sadness. “Will it ever end Ken?”
Ken scratched his chin, looked to Joe and sighed. “Not for us. No
matter what happens, there will always be injustice. Until it ends we
will be here in one form or another. We just have to make the best of
it while we can”
Joe snorted and slapped his friend in the back of their head,
“Baka, you sound like some damn monk!! Knock it off!!”
Ken scrambled away shrugging, “Hey sorry man. You hungry?”
Joe nodded and pointed to a flyer at his feet, “I called Anna Maria
45 minutes ago and told’em to deliver to the roof. Hope you like
mushrooms.”
As Ken nodded and the two continued to talk, neither noticed the
man watching them through a high powered scope. “This RI Agent 12 to
base. Target is confirmed” he said softly.
The crackle of a radio came in over his earpiece, “Roger RI 12,
proceed with observation. Operation Clipped Wing is in progress.”
To Be Continued...