Ennien Ashbrook Yep, they're at it again. "Time Squared" is a multi-part fanwork by Ennien Ashbrook and Kat Boykin (aka Harlock), with input from Kathleen Coventry. Part 1, "Landing", follows. "Landing" contains coarse language and explicit violence (but no sex). Time Squared a Gatchaman fanfic by Ennien Ashbrook and Kat Boykin (Harlock) Part I: Landing "Ken!" Jun screamed, "It's not stopping! Nothing we do is having any effect!" Owashi no Ken stared as the Black Hole machine ground on and on, implacable, unstoppable. Feeling a rising rage, he turned to where Galactor's forsaken Leader had fallen. "There isn't any way to stop it," the whisper should have been drowned out by the terrible noise, yet all of them heard it as clearly as if s/he had spoken through a megaphone, "I trusted the Overlord.. and there isn't any failsafe. There's no way to stop it." Raising hir bloody, tear-stained face, Berg Katze started to laugh. The sound was broken and manic and Ken shivered. "Die!" s/he cried, "Everyone, everything, DIE!!" S/he bolted towards the magma pit. "KATZE!" Ken hurled himself at hir legs, tackling hir, dragging hir down. S/he pummeled him with hir fists, then shifted hir weight, lurching backwards. Ken heard Jun scream as they tumbled over the edge. Something cool drifted across his face. He heard birds chirping, felt the optic pressure of sunlight through his closed eyelids. Ken groaned. He remembered falling with the struggling mutant, remembered heat and a sickening stench, then the wild colours and the nauseating feeling of falling away from himself. His ears had rung with the mutant's two-voiced scream. He opened his eyes. He was in a wildflower glade in a valley, surrounded by high mountain peaks. The sun was just peeking over the shoulder of an easterly mountain - morning, then. No snow, he realized, and the air smelled fresh and pure. The mountains did not look familiar. Sitting up, Ken took stock of himself: His visor had shattered and his wings were tattered and burned. His birdstyle was a wreck. He ached all over from pulled muscles, bruises and burns. He had few weapons; his birdrang (Ken closed his eyes briefly) he'd given to Joe.. wherever Joe might be now. Another look around revealed no sign of the God Phoenix.. or of the Galactor base, for that matter. Ken stood up and took a few steps. Movement attracted his attention and he mounted a small hillock. Most of hir mask had been burned away, along with part of hir uniform. Hir cape was as shredded as his wings. Hir hair was tangled, bloody and singed. "How did you get here? And where *is* 'here' anyways?" Ken asked. The mutant startled and looked around, hir expression crestfallen and dreading. "No... oh no... not you..." s/he said wearily, "Is *nothing* going right today? Can I not even die right? Or have I died and just had the *incredible* misfortune to take you with me..?? Kuso.." S/he slumped back onto the wildflowers. "Wouldn't that be just your luck, Berg Katze," Ken smirked. "Oh wouldn't it," s/he said sourly. S/he sat up again, pulling the remains of the mask off hir face and wrapping hir tattered cape around hirself. S/he rose to hir feet and staggered down the hill. Ken rose to follow hir. Following the sound of a stream to its source, s/he fell to hir knees beside it and ripped off hir gloves. After inspecting the water, s/he drank, then washed away the worst of the blood from hir face and chest. "Are you alright?" Ken asked gently. S/he turned to stare at him incredulously, "Do I *look* alright?? What the hell kind of question is that?" "I didn't ask if you looked alright, I wanted to know if you were hurt!" "Well of course I'm hurt! You tried to kill me!" Ken shut up: He couldn't deny that without being a bald-faced liar. Katze returned to splashing water over hir wounds, "I've got at least three busted ribs, a fractured tibia, a broken nose and maxilla and what the hell's keeping me from Changing is fucking beyond me!" Ken said nothing, but knelt to wash is own face. Katze got up and staggered a little distance away, falling again to the grass. The sound of vomiting reached Ken's ears. Ken rose and knelt beside hir, rubbing hir back gently. S/he was throwing up blood, Ken saw, then looked closer. There were glints of metal in the gore. Bullets. Ken stared at them in shock. The effort of vomitting had sapped most of Katze's strength and s/he sagged to the grass. Ken caught hir before s/he would have fallen into hir gore, drawing hir into his arms. S/he struggled weakly. "Easy," he breathed softly, "Just take it easy, Katze.. I'm not going to hurt you." "Th't's a sw'tch," s/he managed, hir voice sounding pitifully weak. Ken managed to maneuver them back to the stream bank. He eased hir into his arms, wrapping the remains of his wings around them both, then dipped his hand into the water and brought it to hir lips. "I don't know about you," Ken began, dipping his hand a second time, "But I have a feeling we're not in Cross Karakoram anymore." "I know," s/he whispered, rinsing hir mouth and spitting bloody water onto the grass, "The water's too pure, air's too clean.." S/he coughed, wracking hir whole body. Ken patted hir gently. "And there's no sign of the God Phoenix.." he was interrupted by a heavy groan. Ken looked down; Katze's face was tight with pain, "What is it? Are you alright?" Katze groaned again and a few minutes went by before s/he was able to reply, "Will be.. 'f I s'vive this.." "What? Survive what?" But Katze cried out sharply, kicking spasmodically. Ken looked around at their surroundings again, trying to find some place of shelter. He looked back at Katze. Hir face was bathed in sweat and hir breathing was hoarse and rasping. Foam was forming on hir lips and for an instant Ken thought of rabies. He held hir carefully, wondering what was wrong. Hir body jerked and shuddered in his arms, drawing ragged cries from hir throat. Soon, the valley echoed with two voices. "Katze.." Ken breathed, realizing what was happening. The process was very slow and very painful. By the time it was over, the sun had long passed zenith, but finally Ken was holding Galactor's woman captain in his arms. S/he had passed out from the pain. Ken wrapped hir clothes around hir again, taking off his wings and wrapping hir in them as well, then he scooped hir up into his arms. Heading back along the stream, he looked for a suitable place to make shelter. Finding one, he settled hir under a tree then searched through hir pockets and pouches, seeking some sort of blade. He came up with a dagger, using it to cut evergreens to make a lean-to. After settling Katze in it on a bed of evergreens, he set about making a fire with the lighter he'd found in Katze's pocket. He had it blazing nicely when he realized that Katze had regained consciousness and was watching him through slitted eyes. "Katze?" Ken said softly, coming over to kneel beside hir. S/he made a vague sound of acknowledgement. "Is there anything I can do?" "N't 'nls y' c'n c'nj'r 'p ' f'ft'n c'rs d'nr." Ken thought about that, eventually translating it as "Not unless you can conjure up a fifteen course dinner." S/he was terribly gaunt and thin; Ken realized that the Change must have used up a lot of hir body's resources, that s/he would need to replenish. {Shimatta!} he thought to himself, {What am I to do?} "I would," he replied, "But without any other weapons to hunt with, or any game.. I'd like to see if we can find a village.." he trailed off. He didn't even know if there were any villages close by, or if there was, how would they react to their appearances, or Katze's mutant abilities? He shook his head, "I think we should stay here for the night. It'll get dark soon and there's no guarantee we won't end up walking off a cliff." S/he nodded. With difficulty, s/he managed to pull hir pistol out of its holster. Ken's eyes widened, knowing he himself was too weak to dodge. "H're.." s/he said, proffering it, "Dn't kn'w h'w m'ny r'nds 'r l'ft. M'ght be 'mpty, f'r all I kn'w.." Ken took it and opened the chamber, "There's five left." S/he nodded. He looked back at hir, then tucked the cape and wings around hir again, "Katze... rest. I'll stay up and keep watch." S/he looked at him, untrusting. The sky was dimming as the sun sank behind the mountains. "Dn't h've a ch'se, do I.." s/he said finally. "Nope," Ken grinned, "Sleep, Katze.." S/he stayed awake a while longer, wondering if there'd be a bullet in hir head the instant s/he closed hir eyes, but eventually sleep won out. Dawn found Ken standing outside the lean-to, his hair damp from a wash, watching the sun rise. He scoured the surrounding terrain for edibles, trying to remember all of his survival training. He ate sparingly of his trophies, putting most of them in a pile for Katze. S/he needed it more than he did. When s/he woke, s/he went to the brush-screened section of the stream and bathed, then returned to sit opposite him, hir uniform sticking to hir wet body. "I saw the stars last night," s/he said, picking up a boletus mushroom. Ken nodded, "As did I." "Were you able to extrapolate the horizon line?" Ken nodded again. "So you know where we are." "Somewhere in Pakistan, I think," Ken confirmed. He handed hir some lamb's quarters, then offered hir the skewer of roasted fruits, roots and mushrooms he'd been toasting over the fire. S/he ate in silence. "Did you notice anything wrong with the stars?" s/he asked finally. "They were more visible than usual.." Ken drawled, watching hir. Their eyes met, burning intensely. {S/he knows}, he thought. "Some of them were in the wrong place," s/he stated. "And some were where there were none," he agreed. S/he swung hir arm around to point, "Neptune was over there a few nights ago. Now its over there," s/he swung hir arm to point to a different section of the sky. "Orion's also in the wrong spot." "You know what that means, don't you?" Ken met hir agitated gaze, his own equally troubled, "We'd better find a calendar." He looked around the mountains again, totally lost, "Any idea which way to head?" The mutant took another look around then shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. I don't recognise these mountains." "I'm not familiar with the country," Ken sighed, "We could follow the stream; most villages are built near a source of water." The look Katze gave him screamed 'very good, Dumbo.' S/he snorted, "Lord, what kind of rocket scientist did I have to hook up with.. I'd've been better off with Finger." Ken glared, "Well you're stuck with me." "Mm," Katze grunted, "I'm more concerned with *when* we are. The stars indicate a considerable lapse of time, but in which direction?" "How much, do you figure?" Ken asked nervously. "I don't know. Quite a lot. A few decades, maybe." "DECADES??" Ken gasped. The mutant frowned at him, "You saw the stars." Ken went very quiet, thinking. "If it's been that long.. then.." "You are not eating," Katze observed, jerking hir chin towards the still-moderate pile of foodstuffs beside the fire, "Why?" "Oh," Ken blushed, then grabbed a mushroom to nibble, "You.. you needed it more.." "'Need it more'? What do you mean? What do you care?" "You're hurt.." Ken trailed off, still rocking from the impact, "We may be the only ones here.." He broke off. Katze was staring at him with an expression of complete bafflement. He pitched his mushroom into the fire and stood up, agitated, "I know.. I'm the one who did this to you.. but....it was different.. and now..." He paced, not sure what he was saying, what he was thinking. Katze stared at him, deciding perhaps the unexpected trip had snapped the Gatchaman's mind. Finally Ken stopped pacing, digging his toe into the dirt, "I'm.. gonna look around a little." He started towards the woods. Katze sat silent for several minutes, watching him. "Thank you for the food," s/he said at length. Glancing over his shoulder, the Gatchaman tossed a soft "You're welcome" at hir. Katze watched him go. Ken mounted a slight rise and walked down the slope, perching by a low tree. He sat down, thinking. [He's.. she's.. the Leader of Galactor.. killed hundreds of people.. ] His ears twitched at a low, throbbing sound rising to the west. [Heh.. s/he's tried to kill me several times.. and now I'm worried about hir welfare..] The sound rose in volume, disturbing his thoughts. Ken looked up, apprehension welling in his chest. He knew what the sound was. "Katze!" he called in a hoarse whisper, bolting back. The fire had been kicked into the stream and only a slight leaf movement betrayed the Galactor leader, flat on her belly beneath a bush, eyes watching the skies. Ken melted into the shadow of an evergreen. The sound Dopplered, manifesting into a helicopter. It cruised overhead and carried on eastward without pausing. As soon as it had disappeared, Ken darted towards hir, "Katze!" "We've got to get out of here," Katze said urgently, "And we've GOT to find a calendar!" Ken stared at hir, not understanding hir wild eyes or agitated movements, "Why?" "We *are* in Pakistan and I think we're here during the occupation!" Ken looked after the copter, "That was a military one, ne? Umm," he glanced back at hir, "Are you well enough to travel?" "Don't have much choice," s/he responded, "I can forage while I walk." Ken eyed both hir costume and his own birdstyle, "Is there any way you can look less... menacing? In case we run into anyone.." S/he gave him an arch look, "What would you suggest, a leopard skin bikini??" Ken gave a half-chuckle, "No, its.. you're a bit.. noticeable." Immediately s/he crossed hir arms, turned hir head to one side and thrust hir nose into the air indignantly, "Says the man dressed like Sam the Eagle Visits Krakatoa!" Ken grinned, reaching for the clasp on his bracelet, "Close your eyes." "Why? Afraid I'll see your Underoos?" Katze grinned her poison smile, "Or does it turn you naked for a split second and you're afraid I'll get a thrill." She snorted derisively. "So I don't blind you, nim," Ken retorted, "Bad enough you're injured and healing; I don't want to have to lead a blind bat through this country." Katze shrugged and looked away. Ken whooped with joy as his civvies returned, undamaged, "That's one worry off my mind!" Katze gave him a withering once-over, "Kuso! And I always told Soosai the numbered t-shirts were too obvious, that Nambu was too smart for that. Shut my mouth." Ken glared at hir but ignored the dig, "Okay, now for you. Can you take down the tops of those boots?" S/he drew herself up to hir full female height, staring him haughtily in the eye, "I can do my own disguises, Gatchaman!" s/he snapped. "Fine!" Ken barked, losing patience, "Go ahead, disguise artist -- show me!" Katze did so, turning hir outfit into a stylized version of what had to be native dress, by some means Ken was ready to call miraculous. He dropped his jaw, shook his head and recovered, "Good. Can we go now?" "Whine, whine, whine. Fine." Ken started off in one direction, then realized Katze wasn't following him. He turned back, "Aren't you coming?" Katze stared at him from the other side of the clearing, "Wot, with *you*??" "It *would* be better if we stick together for the moment," he trailed off, throwing up his hands in the face of hir withering stare, "Fine, be that way.. Don't complain to me when you're lost." "I don't *get* lost," Katze replied archly. Ken resisted the urge to smack his forehead, "Alright, McDuff.. lead on," he surrendered. Without another word the Galactor turned and headed into the forest. Ken followed, pulling out a feather shuriken and sticking it in his mouth to chew on. He thought of Joe. The mountain air was crisp and fresh, smelling of evergreens. Ken gazed up through the canopy of trees, identifying their species, watching birds fly overhead against the azure dome of sky. The forest was so beautiful that he almost forgot the mutant skulking ahead of him and nearly ran hir down when s/he stopped. His innocent what's-up was drowned in a viciously hissed "Shh!" Ken quieted and listened: There were voices, only a few hundred feet away. "People!" he gasped in surprise. Katze turned and gave him a look of utter disgust. "What do you think I've been doing all this time?? I've been tracking footprints!" Ken cringed with shame, colouring; some ninja.. he hadn't even noticed. Katze snaked silently through the trees, hir eyes intent on the small farm in the clearing ahead. S/he strained hir ears to catch the conversation. "I thought the amps were in the ears of the costume," Ken whispered snidely. Hir answer was almost inaudible, but crystal clear, "Will you shut the fuck up, you moron?? Why don't you yell 'Bird Spy' while you're at it??" Ken blushed again and swallowed hard. He slid up into a tree, trying to get a better look at the farm. Mushrooms were being loaded onto a truck that was poised to go down what passed for the road. Katze slipped around from shadow to shadow, trying to get close enough to a discarded piece of paper to see what it said. Ken watched the people, trying to read their mouths. Their language was unfamiliar; they looked impovershed and afraid. As the truck's ignition turned, Katze launched back into the undergrowth, rocketting through the bracken as fast as s/he could, utterly noiseless. Ken slid from tree to tree, following hir and trying to see what had startled hir so. Finally, a safe distance away from the farm, s/he crouched beneath an evergreen, watching the skies with wary eyes and a pale face. "We've got to get out of here!" s/he whispered urgently as Ken dropped down beside hir, "We're more than twenty years back from where we were! We're during the occupation.. In Pakistan during the occupation! We've got to get out of here, get out of this country.." "Twenty years...!?" Ken breathed in shock. "We'll wait 'til its dark. That road leads to a town, it was Market day, there's be crowds, clubs.. clients.." "Twenty years.. How? I don't understand.." Ken turned to Katze, his eyes wide. "What're you looking at me for??" Katze hissed, totally misinterpretting his look, "This isn't MY fault!" Ken blinked, "Huh? I don't understand.. How did it happen? We fell into a pit.." "We must have fallen through some effect of Soosai X's travel.." "But.. we're here.. in occupied Pakistan?" "Soo da," Katze confirmed, "And we haven't any ID." Ken reached for his wallet, then clued in, "Oh.. right. My ID won't do any good now. Are you sure town is such a good idea? How the hell does it teleport??" Katze felt like s/he was talking to a frog, "I don't know how he teleports, he just *does*, alright? No, town is NOT a good idea, but in comparison to hiding out in the sticks, it'll do." "Hey don't get huffy with me, I'm just a little out of it right now, okay??" Katze's look said s/he thought he'd been out of it for ages. Ken sighed wearily, "So.. have you done this procuring of ID thing before?" "Yes." Ken glanced up at the darkening sky, "Then.. what's our next move? I'm afraid I've never really had to do this." Now Katze gave him a curious look, "Then stay back and let me do what I'm good at." "But I won't be far away." Katze just grunted. Ken looked at the darkening sky again, "We need shelter..?" "No. As soon as its dark enough to cast thick shadows, we'll leave." Perhaps an hour later, dusk had fallen. The female members of the farm had put their laundry out and retired indoors. Katze eyed the clothes speculatively. "You're not thinking... what I think you're thinking?" Ken said. "That depends on what you think I'm thinking," Katze replied distantly. "I suppose it'd be a good idea.. look more normal, like them.." "Mm," Katze evaded. Ken started to commiserate about stealing, remembering a time when he'd stolen a civilian's car to give chase to some Galactors. Nambu termed it "appropriation" but it was still stealing and he still felt kinda guilty about it.. He glanced up and realized that Katze had nicked a few garments while he was pontificating, and was half way down the road. Ken followed, shadowing hir into town. "Fuck you can move!" Ken gasped when he caught up to her. He stared at her; she had changed her clothes, the thigh boots were back and it looked like she had something for sale that definately wasn't mushrooms, "I think I liked the other outfit better.." "I outran you nearly every time, didn't I? I'm going on alone. Stay out of sight. If I'm not back by sunset tomorrow, try to get out overland." Ken seized her arm, "What do you mean, *if* you're not back?" Her voice was so steady it chilled Ken, "If I'm not back, it means I've fucked up. But you should be used to that by now," she grinned her poison grin. "Katze.. be careful," Ken's voice was soft. S/he eyed him once, hmphed, then turned and headed towards a posh-looking nightclub amid the squalorous town. In the wee hours of the morning, an explosion shook Ken out of his light sleep. He cursed, staring as another fireball went up from a posh mansion on the side of a mountain on the other side of the town. As people started trickling out of their homes, a car pulled up near him, its window open. "Gatchaman! Come on!" "Katze??" Ken darted forward and hopped into the car, "Hot wheels?" "Scorching," the mutant grinned. She turned in her seat and a flash of light blinded him for an instant. She tucked the camera away and put the car in gear, roaring off into the night. "Don't suppose you'd tell me what that was all about?" Ken jerked his thumb in the direction of the explosions. "Nope." She waited for the polaroid to develop, then pulled over to attack it with an exacto knife, laminating the picture to a small card. Ken watched with rapt attention, noticing the bruises on the mutant's face. There was a thread of crusted blood on her lip and her hair was tangled. "Your clothing got better," he said, observing her more sedate dress, "..are you okay?" Katze grinned again, her eyes unnaturally bright, "I'm fine. *Much* better," she handed him the small card, "Here, Watanabe-san." "Watanabe-san?" "Watanabe Satoshi, gardener to Senor Alvarez. You've been at your post only four months and haven't fully learned the lingo." Ken nodded, "And who are you, now?" "Gretchen Steinberger, cook," Katze put the car back in gear and rolled leisurely out onto the highway, heading away from the town. "Where did you get all of this?" Ken gestured, indicating the car and the back-seat full of clothes, weapons, food and what looked like drug paraphenalia. "These were so generously gifted to me by Senor Alvarez, the governor of this little hamlet." "Gifted?" Ken arched his eyebrow. Katze ignored him, then kicked the car into overdrive and burned down the mountain pass. Ken rummaged through the backseat to find some clothes to change into. "Want me to drive for a while?" Ken asked an hour later. He frowned as Katze pitched another something out the window. She'd been doing this intermittantly for miles now. "What are you doing?" "Nothing," she said innocently, fishing another something out of the bag beside her and tossing it. This time Ken caught a glimpse of it, but couldn't believe what he'd seen, "Katze???" "You don't want to be asking, Gatchaman. Yes, you can drive if you like. I'm getting tired, I need a smoke and women drivers aren't looked upon very kindly around here." Another object went flying. Ken blinked, "Was that a..?? Katze?!" "The less you know the more they'll believe you if they catch us." She stopped the car and they traded places. As Ken resumed driving, she tossed another object. It was definately what Ken thought it was. "I think I'd rather know if you don't mind." "Nope." Another molar went flying. "You killed them, didn't you." "Of course." Fling, went an incisor. Ken slammed on the brakes. "FUUUUCK!!" Katze hollared, nearly going through the windshield, "What in hell's your problem??" Ken had gotten out of the car. She opened the door and got out as well. "We can't go around *killing* people! I'm not like that!" "Do you have any better ideas??" "There's got to be another way.. I can't go around killing innocent people.. And we can't leave a trail of corpses, we'd be found in no time.." "BAKA YO!" Katze's shout brought Ken up short, "Didn't you study history? Are you dense? We're in *occupied Pakistan* -- you can't even *breathe* without having a picture ID! Do you think we can just walk up and whimper 'Oh Mr. Policeman, they took all our gear and all our ID won't you give us new ones'?" "I don't know!" Ken screamed, "But this is wrong! Can't you understand that?" "I don't think *you* understand, Gatchaman, these people took lessons from Hitler and Bosnia! They put people like us in *concentration camps*!" Ken thumped his head against the car roof and moaned. "My trail of corpses won't be that easy to follow: That's why I pulled all the teeth and set fire to the bodies. I'm *hoping* that by the time they identify the bodies we'll be long out of here. Now can we *go*?" "We.. we need some ground rules.. if we're to survive each other.." Katze snorted, then smirked snidely, "If you're *that* upset, let me assure you that Senor Alvarez was in NO WAY 'innocent'." She twitched aside her skirt and pulled up one thigh. "Katze?" Ken blinked, then gasped. He stared at her bleeding, mutilated femininity, "You're..... he did..." he turned grey, "Oh god..!" Ken turned away from her quickly, leaning over and clutching his stomach. "Oh relax," Katze egged him on, "It was just a little knife. I hardly even felt it. I've had much worse." "Worse?" Ken whispered, "Are you.. Should we stop somewhere? Get.. help?" "I'll be fine," Katze closed her legs and let her skirt fall back, "I've gotten this far, haven't I? Now come on, quit being a wimp and lets get going. We aren't out of Pakistan yet." Ken nodded silently and started the car. They resumed their journey. "Oh by the way," Katze tossed him an object covered with rusty stains. She grinned maliciously, "Here's the knife." Ken pitched the horrible thing out the window, nearly retching with disgust. "Awwww, I thought you'd want to keep it. A souvenier." Ken gave her a horrifed look, "What?? Why?" Katze winked coquettishly, "A memory of what you know you've always wanted to do to me." Ken blanched, then got angry, "I may have beat the living hell out of you and wanted you to die slowly.. but I never.. I would *never* do anything like that or even *wish* that on you!" Katze snorted. "I hated you.. still may.. But I would *never* do something like that." "So noble." "No.. I'm not noble," Ken said darkly, "I just don't believe that anyone deserves.. that. Even after what you did to me and the others. Even after my father." "Father?" Katze said blankly. Ken took a deep breath, hatred in his voice, "My father was captain of the Red Impulse squadron. The one who took the V2 missile to his death, instead of me." Katze turned a look of surprised delight to him, "Ohhhh, honto??" Ken gripped the steering wheel tightly, almost wishing it were Katze's neck, "Yes." "Oh what a surprise," she turned back to the window, still grinning. Presently a little giggle rose from her throat. "What's. So. Funny." "I thought he was your lover." "NANI??" "After what you said later.." Ken turned about seven shades of red, "He was my father! I thought he'd died when I was a child!" "Oh." Katze was stifling giggles, "I'd thought he was a little old for you, but.." she shrugged, "Plenty of people in the world into pretty youngflesh." "What do you mean by that?? Pretty young.." Comprehension. "Ugh!" Katze dissolved in giggles. "Didn't you have parents?" Ken asked, turning the topic. "No." "No?" S/he looked at him and shook hir head, "No." "You're an orphan?" "I suppose," S/he shrugged, "They were eliminated after they had served their purpose and it was clear I would survive." "Eliminated after... By whom?" "Soosai." S/he said it so matter-of-factly. Ken was silent, not sure what to say. "I'm sorry," he said finally. Katze looked confused, wondering what he was apologizing for. "That's awful.. not even to have known them.. and to find out they were murdered..." He broke off; Katze was staring at him as though he'd lost his mind. "Katze.. one thing." "Yes?" "Whatever happens, we're together. Partners. I'm in on whatever plans you have, you're in on mine. If we kill, we do it together, and no innocents. Got it?" S/he gave him a long, thoughtful look. They continued driving. Katze, having found a news station on the radio, was listening to it while smoking a much-needed cigarette. "Still sounds like gibberish to me," Ken remarked. Katze gave him a black look and he changed the subject, "You hungry?" "Starving." "Maybe we can find a shop or something.." Ken trailed off as Katze sat up suddenly, cranking the volume on the radio, "Nani?" "Forget about breakfast," Katze said, "Burn for the border." "Nani?" Ken said again. "Just GO!" Ken shrugged and floored the accelorator, "What's wrong? What's got you so spooked?" "We're a hot item, you and I," Katze smiled lazily, "Are you sure you want to be partners, 'Clyde'?" Ken shrugged and gave hir a sloppy grin, "Bonnie, there's none better than you. Brace yourself." They tore down the road at a speed far from safe, hitting bumps and tossing up gravel without mercy on the car's occupants. Katze bit off hir curses, knowing time was of the essence. "Joe'd love this," Ken observed. Katze smiled a little wistfully, "It's too bad about him." "Yeah," Ken sighed, "Then again, we *are* twenty years in the past. If we make it out of here alive I can hang around in Sicily and prevent what happened to him." A thought struck him and he spared the mutant a glance, "How old would you be, now?" Katze thought... and thought, hir face growing paler. "oh my god.." s/he breathed almost inaudibly. Ken looked at hir curiously, "What?" S/he sat up, suddenly looking determined, "The border should be only a few more kilometers. If we pass that, we're safe, they can't touch us. After that.. We go to Greece." "Greece?? What's going on in Greece??" Ken was suddenly reminded of something Nambu had said once, about the Galactor syndicate having had a stronghold near Greece, once. With more anger in his voice than he'd thought, he snapped, "Planning to join up with Galactor again?" If Katze hadn't been so distracted, s/he'd've realized that replying with "in a manner of speaking" was definately the wrong thing to say. Ken felt rage boiling up inside him and was about to turn on hir, when he caught a glimpse of something in the rear-view mirror, "Wha..? Kuso! We've got company!" "Shit!" Katze looked behind them, "Stay calm, have your ID ready. You are Satoshi Watanabe, gardener, you don't speak Urdu well. We have been sent by Senor Alvarez to acquire silks for his new toy. I've his papers here." "Ladies and gentlemen, please place your trays in the upright position, we are about to experience turbulance." Katze cracked a grin, palming a gun and slipping another to Ken. Swallowing hard and sending a silent prayer to his ancestors, Ken pulled over and stopped the car. The MP vehicle pulled up behind them. Four big soldiers got out and approached, armed with machine guns. Two took up positions on either side of the doors, one at the back of the car, one near the MP vehicle. One grunted something, gesturing unmistakably with his machine gun. Katze pasted hir best annoyed-but-innocent expression to hir face and got out. Ken followed hir lead. The guard looked over Katze's papers and listened to hir explanation. He tossed a contemptuous look at Ken and jabbered at him. Ken swallowed and croaked out "I don't understand" the way Katze had taught him. The guards laughed. The first guard turned back to Katze and growled at hir some more. S/he produced more papers, bleated more explanations; Ken thought s/he was quite convincing, humble servant following orders, not certain why they'd been stopped, why they weren't being allowed to go on their way. Then he saw the way the guard was looking at hir, as though undressing hir with his eyes. One of the others made a suggestion which was greeted with coarse sniggers and nods. "Ka.. Gretchen.. What do they want?" Ken murmured, seeing the mutant's eyes narrow. Katze was weighing the situation. The other guard had suggested killing Ken and raping Katze and it was received far too favourably for hir comfort. The first grunt crushed the papers in his hand, "To the MP truck. Now. Your master's house has been destroyed. You'll be wanted for questioning." And he shoved hir into the grunt behind hir, who locked his arms around hir. S/he let out a piercing cougar's shriek and slammed hir high heel into the grunt's instep. Slamming hir fist into his throat, s/he managed to twist out of his grasp. "Kuso! Leggo my shoe!" The man roared with pain as Katze tugged, trying to free her heel from his foot. Ken tore himself free from the men holding him, whipped out his gun and capped off a few shots, putting the man out of his misery. Katze whirled to the ground and fired, wounding another man who was trying to garrotte Ken. The ninja knocked a third one down with the butt of his gun, plugging the last in the back of the head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katze grappling with the wounded man, then go down under him. There was a gunshot and a startled yelp, then all movement stilled. "Katze!" Ken screamed. He finished off the unconscious man with his own bayonet and ran to the spreading pool of blood. "Get this lug OFF of me!" "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Ken dragged the body off the disshevelled mutant. She sat up with a grimace, extracting a length of razor-edged steel from her side. "Katze!!" "Oh for fuck's sake, Gatchaman, I'll be fine! Are they dead? Did they get a chance to call for backup?" Ken stared at her, dumbfounded, "No, they didn't get to the radio.. You're bleeding.. heavily..." "Get to the fuckin' car." Ken tried to press his wadded shirt onto the wound but she shooed him away, "Just gimme a couple of super maxis and I'll be fine." Ken opened the back door of the car, shoving stuff out of the way, "Do you want me to dress it? I do a mean field stitch." Katze regarded him as he rummaged for the med kit, "I'll be fine. It's a small wound. Let's just get out of here." Ken ignored her, sliding into the cramped back seat with her, "Here, let me see.." he grimaced, "Small wound, my ass: That's at least four inches long, ditz!" "It'll heal in no time," Katze snorted, "I've been hurt worse." "I can have you stitched and clean in two minutes flat," Ken said, spraying hir skin with anaesthetic spray. He made quick work of the tiny stitches needed then covered the wound with antiseptic ointment and gauze. "Okay, stay put for a sec. Get comfortable." He bolted outside and dragged the bodies into the truck, removing the teeth and neck chains. After stripping the truck of weapons and useful paraphenalia, he set charges to the bodies, then ran back to the car. He tossed his prizes to Katze then dashed for the driver's seat. "Thought we could use these." "And you complain about me," s/he smirked. Ken gunned the engine and sped down the road as the charges went off behind them. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.." a voice sang sillily from the back seat. Ken chuckled, "Joe and Jinpei that morning.." "Hm?" "I'll never forget the day he first got that cable gun," Ken shook his head, grinning, "Said it was like Christmas.. and Jinpei with those damned bolos.. We had the things wrapped around our necks for weeks!" Katze listened in silence as Ken continued, "Jun was always sticking that yo-yo in the ceiling.. Ryu got snared up in.. well, everything," he broke up in giggles, "And I broke all of Nambu's windows - repeatedly!" Ken lapsed into silence, missing his team badly. "Were you punished?" Katze's voice broke into his thoughts. "Yeah.. Lost the toy for a week, then had to go into training to learn to use it. After that, it was 'harder, faster, be more accurate'," he sighed deeply, "It never seemed to be enough, no matter how well I did." Katze's expression cleared and s/he nodded sagely. Several minutes went by. Ken glanced out the window, then back at Katze through the rear view mirror, "We're here. The border. How are you doing, can you get up front?" "'Course," Katze replied and slithered somewhat clumsily into the front seat, grimacing. "Don't rip out my nice stitches, you." "Awww but I wanted to bleed all over you." Ken gacked, "Ohh gee thanks." He composed himself as the road narrowed, rocky cliffs towering on either side of a narrow ribbon of road, barricaded and blocked, with a smallish sentry hut to one side. The bored looking sentry demanded to see their IDs. As he looked them over, demanding to see their papers, Ken drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He tried not to get too fidgetty; the gun was snug against his thigh. "Senor Alvarez's place is destroyed. Senor Alvarez is missing. Maybe you have something to do with it, hmm?" Ken hid his horror at Katze's translation. "Or maybe if you have money.. you don't." Katze pulled out hir wallet and counted bills, speaking in a clipped voice to the sentry. The sentry spoke again and s/he replied, sounding like s/he was negotiating. "I will never gripe about a corrupt government official again," Ken muttered under his breath. He looked up as Katze got out of the car, wincing, "What does he want? Katze, what does he want?" S/he didn't reply. Ken watched in horror as the sentry kissed hir on the mouth, then guided hir into the shack. He felt sick, wondered if he should follow.. He fondled the gun, wondering what he should do. S/he wasn't long, maybe fifteen minutes. The gate swung open and Katze got back into the car. Ken noticed pink fluid dripping down hir legs - blood and semen. "Go," s/he ordered, then twisted and rummaged in the back seat, "Gah.. mouthwash.." "You didn't have to," Ken drove through the gates and out into freedom. Katze grabbed a flask of water and rinsed hir mouth, then hir thighs, muttering under hir breath about how s/he never thought s/he'd have to do shit like that again. "You didn't have to do that," Ken said again. "Look, you said a minimum of corpses, right?" s/he snapped. Ken was silent for several minutes. "I'm sorry," he said at last, "I shouldn't have made you promise. I didn't think you'd have to do anything like that. I.. I'm sorry," he finished lamely. Katze gave him an unfathomable look. "It uh.. reopened your other wound?" S/he nodded and Ken blushed but continued, "I uh.. I don't know much about.. um.. Can I do anything for..?" "What're you gonna do, kiss it better?" Katze smirked that malicious, poison smirk, making Ken blush furiously. "Seriously, can I help some how?" "Doubtful," Katze replied curtly then changed the subject, "He gave me a road map. Let me check our route." S/he plotted a route that would take them through small towns at first. Ken drove, hoping to see signs of a restaurant or inn of some kind.. somewhere to eat and maybe shower. He mentioned this to Katze, who agreed, candidly admitting that s/he was running mostly off of adrenalyn now and was badly in need of food and sleep. Ken grinned, "Boy I can just see Joe now," he deepened his voice, producing a moderate imitation of Joe's deep bass, "'I see, shacking up now, huh.'" Katze gave him a puzzled look. "Sorry. You'd have to understand Joe's sense of humour.. and my," Ken blushed, "Lack of dates." The puzzled look didn't vanish. "Never mind," Ken pointed, "Look, there's a place. Do you want food first?" Katze nodded, "Yes. Might be too much to hope that they'd have room service, but we'll see.." Ken nodded, then pulled into the small parking lot and shut the car down, "I'll check us in. Anything you don't eat? I'll see if they have room service, but I'll pick stuff up and bring it back to the room in the mean time. You look about to drop." "Not really, except sashimi. Can't stand raw fish. Just bring LOTS; about twice what you think we'll need." Ken nodded and went to check them in. He returned with the key and was astonished to see that Katze had unloaded some of their bags. [And she's just standing there as if she hasn't been mutilated! What is with this creature?] "Can you make it? To the room?" Ken asked, handing hir the key. S/he took it and picked up a bag, "'Course." Ken watched, floored, "Um.. I'll.. help you with the stuff, then go for the food." He returned with an obscene amount of food, to find that sleep had overcome the mutant instead. A tightly curled blonde ball lay whimpering on the bed. Ken set down the food and sat down on the edge of the bed. Blood had dried on hir thighs. Hir face was tight in a rictus of fear and another terrified wail rose from hir throat. "Katze?" Ken shook hir very gently, "Hey, Katze?" He lay down beside hir and curled hir into his chest, covering hir with a blanket and rocking hir gently. Hir legs snapped up, heels digging into hir crotch as s/he sought to protect hirself from unseen demons. Ken jerked, trying to hold hir still so s/he wouldn't cause further damage, crooning softly to hir. He was worried as hell. S/he broke into sobs, moaning indistinctly in another language. Hir voice rose in a pleading pitch, becoming hysterical screams. Ken struggled to hold hir. Hir eyes snapped open and he stared into their terrified depths. Recognition flashed there, but s/he lurched backwards with another scream, struggling in his grip. Hir words gradually became understandable, "Noooo.. not you.. not you too..." "Katze! It's me!" Ken mentally slapped himself for stupidity, "Calm down! Remember where you are.. Katze, please, be still, you'll hurt yourself even worse!" Abruptly s/he sagged, collapsing expectantly. "Huh? Katze?" S/he glanced up, then looked around. Looking a little embarassed, s/he straightened hir shirt. Ken was still holding hir, "You okay now? You had a nightmare." S/he nodded, not looking at him. Ken sighed, "Hungry?" "Very," s/he whispered. "Good," he gestured towards the laden table, "I got a ton of stuff, like you said." He stared in wide eyed wonder. Katze grabbed a bowl and some utensils and started shovelling food into hir throat. "And I thought Ryu could eat!" Ken shook his head, then started eating, himself. Presently, he turned to hir again, "What was your nightmare about?" S/he blushed and ducked hir head. "'S nothing," s/he said evasively. Ken shook his head. Chewing absently on a samosa, he made another attempt at conversation, "How many languages do you speak, anyways?" Katze chewed on a large mouthful, thinking. "'M n't s'r," s/he managed. Ken translated that as "I'm not sure". "It sounded like Gaelic or German or something.. It was more gutteral than I can pronounce." "..arabic.." s/he whispered. "Oh." Ken stared wonderingly at hir ashen complexion. "I'm lucky I can speak Japanese. Never had much talent for languages." Katze nodded noncomittally and scraped a last plateful into hir stomach. "Feeling better yet?" Ken felt like he was talking to a brick wall. "Mm hmm.. Stitches'll be ready to come out by morning." Ken blinked, "Really? Wow. Wish I could heal like that. A wound like that would take me weeks." "Of course. You're just an ordinary human." Ken jerked back, wincing. He counted to ten, swallowing his anger, then changed the subject yet again, "Will you need a hand cleaning up? I could wear a blindfold.." He trailed off in the face of hir astonished look, "..forget it.." Katze stared at him, wondering if that was some sort of come-on, if Gatchaman were looking for some excuse to feel up the freak. Without a word, and without taking hir eyes off him, s/he went into the bathroom to wash. Ken stared at his plate, feeling like a fool. While s/he showered, Ken rummaged through the clothes, looking for something they could use as sleep wear. S/he returned and he handed hir a loose shirt, then took the loose jeans he had found into the bathroom with him, to change into after his own shower. "Well, hopefully these'll work," he said as he returned, rubbing his head with a towel, "Good thing its a big bed. Hope you don't steal the covers." ".....I do," Katze watched him with a growing sense of dread. "Hmmm.. Which do you want, the heavy one or the lighter sheet?" "The.. heavier one.." "Okay," Ken pulled the heavier blanket off and proffered it to hir, then pulled the sheet towards himself, "Left or right?" "It.. .doesn't matter." "Alright. You stay on that side then. I'll take this one by the door. I'm less tired; it'll be better in case anyone comes in." Ken slid into the bed, handed hir a loaded gun and placed his on the nightstand, "Just don't sleep with it under your pillow. Could be bad if you have nightmares again." S/he didn't meet his grin. Ken stretched, yawning hugely, then settled down on the pillow, "Night Bonnie." "......night........... Clyde....." "Warm enough?" "...............yes." Ken snuggled down and drifted easily into an exhausted sleep. Katze lay awake, waiting.. and waiting. Soon Ken's breathing had smoothed and deepened. He shifted and rolled onto his back, murmuring indistinctly. Katze began to relax. Then Ken turned again, his arm reaching out blindly, feeling for the source of the heat beside him. His arm went around hir waist, pulling hir closer, snuggling into hir hair. Katze stiffened and closed hir eyes, swallowing hard, waiting for the inevitable. S/he wondered if s/he shouldn't have left him in Pakistan. S/he'd hoped s/he'd never have to play that game again. S/he needed Gatchaman's protection, his ninja skill, but there was Tanstaafl -- There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Everybody had their price, usually the same one.. and s/he had nothing else to give. S/he knew humans: When they found a freak, the first thing they'd do was revile it. The second thing they'd do was rape it. It was the old deal; s/he was used to that. Just because s/he was out of practice didn't mean it had gone out of fashion. He'd been kind to hir and s/he needed his protection; s/he'd better get used to paying for it, even though it made hir sick. Perhaps if s/he could find another way... Ken's breathing was deep and steady, though he did not let go of hir. Katze sighed; good.. s/he wasn't healed enough for it anyways. Ken woke to a tingling sensation in his arm and realized there was something heavy on it. Slowly he opened his eyes and started, "Holy shit!" The mutant lay in his arms. Hir flaxen brows were slightly tensed, hir smooth skin the colour of cream. He reached up and touched a lock of golden hair, brushing it gently from hir face, [She seems so young.. so scared.. I wonder how we got like this?] Ken tried to extract his arm. S/he woke with a frightened little whimper. "Katze! Oh.. uh.. I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything.. or try anything.. ahh!" Ken rocketted backwards and fell out of bed, landing hard on his rump, "Oww.." Katze focussed on him, blinking sleep out of hir eyes, "What are you doing down there?" "I.. we.. you... I... oh, hell," Ken looked miserable, "We were all wrapped up together in bed." "Yes," s/he stated. /Its the old deal, same thing. I'm used to it../ "I.. I usually sleep alone," Ken scratched the back of his head, unable to meet the mutant's cold eyes, "I don't know why I did that.." /Just because I'm out of practice doesn't mean its gone out of fashion. I need his protection.../ "I thought you wanted payment, but I'm not healed." /..but I can't, *can't* do it again!/ Ken was still fuzzy-headed. "I don't think I tried.." he broke off, staring up at hir as hir words sunk in, "Hey! I'm not like that!" "Oh?" s/he stared at him, hir eyes hard as marble, "Well you're not getting any after I Change, either. I don't need you *that* badly." "Whuh...? What are you talking about?" "I *do* become male fifty percent of the time." Ken blanched, "Uh... I'm... I don't do... uh, guys... thanks.." Katze stared at him, beginning to fear just what Ken *did* do and hoping s/he wouldn't have to find out. "I'm not gay," Ken said staunchly, then his expression changed, "And what did you mean by payment?" Katze's answer left him flat. In perfectly reasonable, even tones, s/he said, "You brought me food and sheltered me; I brought you ID and brought you out of Pakistan. You bandaged me, brought me more food. What do you want?" Ken stared at hir, open-mouthed. All of hir behaviour up to now... "Is that all the world is to you? Just a bargain? One deal after another, everybody out for themselves? I'd be quite dead right now, if you didn't speak... whatever that gibberish was.." "It was Urdu." "Gibberish." Hir eyes narrowed into a vicious expression and Ken realized he was insulting hir, "Okay, Urdu.. heh.." He returned to his topic, "You took wounds for me.. and that's all it is? Just a bargain?" S/he looked at him as if he were mad, a look that plainly asked /What else is there?/ He changed the subject, remembering something s/he had said. "What's in Greece?" At hir puzzled look, he elaborated, "You wanted to head to Greece. You said something about hooking up with Galactor again." "I did?" "Yes," Ken tried to keep his expression level, "What are you planning to do? Take over *now*, while the world is vulnerable? Present it to X as a fait accompli?" Katze blinked in some astonishment, "I never thought of that!" Ken cringed while s/he mulled the idea over, [Brilliant, Ken.. Give hir ideas.. Like s/he needed any..] S/he looked up with a satisfied smirk, "YOU thought I was seriously thinking it over! I'm not THAT dumb, Gatchaman. Make the same mistake twice? -- Hah!" "So? What's in Greece." "I am." "Huh?" S/he leaned forward, resting hir fingertip near the outside corner of hir eye with a sly grin, "You could say, 'I'm going to find myself.'" "OH!" Ken blinked, comprehending, "You're going to stop it from happening!" S/he nodded. "Good," Ken said, then took hir hands and leaned towards hir, "Then let's take it a step further. Help me take out Galactor and X before it can happen again. Help me crush it." S/he drew back, crossing hir arms and turning hir face aside, hir nose thrust into the air, "I'm not out to save the world, Gatchaman. The world can take a flying leap: I just don't want to go through Ovanon again." Ken's mind raced, trying to think how to convince hir. "It's better than sex," he wheedled. S/he arched an eyebrow at him, then snorted, "So you *do* want something after all." Ken spread his hands, grinning with mock bashfulness. "I'll never understand humans," s/he sighed. "It's a deal, then?" "Alright, alright. But that's a lot to ask for: You just brought me dinner!" "And I'll help you save yourself from.. whatever it is that's got you so upset." "Um," Katze looked thoughtful, "Alright. *That* I'll buy into." "Good!" Ken beamed, "Now... How's that cut doing?" Katze felt hir side, "Stitches should come out. It's almost healed." "You're kidding??" Ken blinked in amazement when s/he twitched away hir robe, showing him what was left of the gash. He whistled surprise, then made quick work of removing the stitches. "There. All out. Hows... um... the other wound? Is it.. better?" Katze smirked at his embarrassment, "Much." "Good. Why don't you get cleaned up?" While Katze showered, Ken rooted through maps and pamphlets, figuring out where they were and plotting a route. He stretched, wincing, "Urgggggh... Man, could I use a good massage right now. That's something I'm going to miss -- we had an awesome masseur back at base." Katze emerged from the bathroom, tightly wrapped in a towel, "I... can do massage.." s/he said tentatively, taking Ken's complaint as a hint. Ken glanced up, surprised (having had no such intention), "Oh, really? Wow, that'd be really great if you would. I'll return the favour; I know some shiatsu. Oh, my turn for the shower? Great.." Katze nodded and laid out some clothes, "We should leave soon. We need better ID, then we can get a plane." Ken grinned, "Cool, I get to fly! Katze, I could kiss you. You plan it all out and I'll just follow along!" He whirled by hir into the bathroom, singing some song. Katze winced: Ken sang off-key. ..to be continued... Time Squared, part 2: Ovanon continues the Time Squared story a few days after the end of Part 1: Landing. This story is definately rated R and contains graphic horror, violence and coarse language. Something along the lines of Clive Barker. Reader discretion is definately advised. Time Squared a Gatchaman fanfic by Ennien Ashbrook and Kat Boykin (Harlock) Part 2: Ovanon Ken stared down at his ID with mixed emotions. Getting it had been easier than he had thought, although Katze's method had left him flat-footed. He remembered how astonished and bewildered he'd felt when s/he'd suddenly dumped a handful of dust onto his head and rubbed it in. "Right. Now hit me," s/he then said. "Wh.. What?" Ken gaped. "Hit me! C'mon, you haven't forgotten how." Ken stared at hir, wondering what on earth had gotten into hir. "C'mon," s/he urged, then launched an uppercut at his face, "Like that! You remember." Ken daubed at the blood seeping down his lip, staring at it in shock and rising anger, "Katze, I'm warning you..." "C'monnnn, whassa matta, afraid to hit a woman all of a sudden?" s/he goaded him, "It didn't stop you when I nailed your father!" "KISAMA!" Ken screamed and lashed out. The mutant landed sprawling in the dusty alley. "That's the idea! ...ow," s/he cupped a hand to hir bleeding nose, then abruptly kicked his feet out from under him and ground him into the dirt. Ken snarled, rolling on top of hir and smashing hir chin. For minutes they brawled, snarling and cursing, then finally rolled apart. Ken curled into a ball, feeling hateful and betrayed. Katze inspected hirself carefully, smiled with satisfaction, then as a finishing touch s/he reached up and tore hir shirt, exposing hir bra. Ken ogled, then turned away, embarrassed. "Was that really necessary?" he asked under his breath. Katze sneered, "You've never been a woman. They don't stop with your wallet when they mug women, you know." "When who mugs women?" Ken asked, puzzlement getting the better of him, "And why are you looking so smug? What was the point of all that anyways?" Katze looked at him with rank surprise, "How else are they going to believe us when we tell them we were jumped, mugged and our ID stolen?" Ken's mouth fell open, "N.. Nani??" "What's your birthdate?" "*That's* what all this was about??" "You have any better ideas? Didn't think so. Now c'mon.." An hour later, Katze had walked back down the steps of the police station, waving two folders and smiling happily. S/he handed one of the folders to Ken. "Here. I put you down as 22, that'll make you legal almost everywhere." Ken nodded, flipping through the folder, noting contents, "Driver's license, passport.. Pilot's license?! Katze, I love you! Hey.. waitaminnit.." "Whuzzat?" "These are made out for Kentaro Washio.." "Yeah well.. Owashi, Washio.. B'sides, I think I remember something about that being Red Impulse's name.. Thought you might appreciate it.." "That was *my father's name*, Katze." "Uh? Oh," Katze's expression was a cross between crestfallen and apprehensive. "Never mind.." Ken shook his head regretfully, "It'll do. It's fine. There's probably lots of Kentaro Washios around. So.. we can go anywhere now, right?" "As long as the money holds out." "How much do we have left, anyways?" "Enough," Katze shrugged, "Not as much as I'd hoped, but enough. We can get more." Ken quirked an eyebrow, "Oh? And how do you plan on that? Or are you going to work at one of the factories nearby?" S/he evaded the question, instead booking a flight to Greece. A suspicion formed in the pit of Ken's stomach. He hoped he was wrong. Now, it seemed he might have been right. He watched the mutant, freshly showered, combing out hir hair. S/he was dressed in a slinky black jersey mini-dress, with a high, halter neck that left her shoulders and back bare. Ken tried to make conversation, hoping he was wrong about hir intentions. "So.. What is it you're planning to do? We're in Cypress, what happens next?" "I'll be at... an... important event, in my life. Hopefully, I'll catch myself up before it happens." "Want to let me in on it? So I don't shoot the wrong person?" Ken's grin wasn't returned. "Are you going to be able to fight in that? That's not an easy outfit to hide things in. I've still got some explosives and some shuriken.." "I'd rather you didn't come with me, Gatchaman." Ken's stomach twisted. The mutant was putting the finishing touches on hir makeup. "But.. How can I back you up if I don't go with you?" "I won't need backup." S/he rose and stepped into a pair of stiletto heels, hir hair tumbling loosely over hir shoulders, "I'll be back in a while. Don't wait up." Ken stepped toward hir, "Katze.... I know we're short on cash.." S/he gave him a little grin and shook hir head, "That's not it." "Then.. why? It's obvious you're not looking forward to it." S/he grabbed hir purse and turned the hotel room door. "Katze.. you can trust me.." S/he looked back at him, "Trust you? I don't even know your name, Gatchaman." Well past midnight, s/he still hadn't returned. Ken lay awake, thinking back. It was true: He hadn't told hir his name. In all their conversations, s/he hadn't called him anything other than Gatchaman. He hadn't even confirmed that Washio was his real name. Ken thought about that for a long time, trying to decide whether the omission had simply been an oversight, or whether it was a sign that he himself didn't trust hir. He started awake, not realizing he had fallen asleep. He strained his ears, trying to catch what it was that had wakened him. An ugly sound came from the bathroom and Ken winced. He flicked on the light, squinting, and got up to fix a glass of juice from the hotel room mini-bar. The clock read three A.M. "Katze?" Ken called softly, knocking on the bathroom door. There was the sound of dry heaves for a minute before s/he answered. "I have some juice for you." The door cracked open and a slim hand took the proferred glass. Ken tried to sneak a look inside, wondering what had happened to hir, but he could see nothing. "Aregato," s/he said softly, "Go back to bed. I'm going in for a shower." "Are you alright?" "I'm fine. Go back to bed." "Vomiting is 'fine'?" "I had some bad seafood. Go back to bed." And s/he shut the door on him. He stood facing it for several seconds. "Katze?" "Nani?" "... My name is Ken." "Oh. Go back to bed, Ken." Ken gave up and lay back down. He tried to lie awake worrying, but sleep overcame him instead. The next day was spent shopping, gathering clothes, weapons and, for Katze, a notebook computer. Ken wondered at the expense, but Katze assured him that this would be their key to many things, additional finances included if necessary. He also wondered at hir choices in clothing, then noticed that s/he was putting together a skeletal selection of masculine clothes. As s/he was slashing and fraying hir jeans, Ken asked hir about hir plans. "What now? What are we waiting for?" "Me." "Well duh, but what's your next move?" S/he grinned and shook hir head, "No, you don't understand: I'm not here yet. I'm not certain of the exact date. I only remember that the moon was full when I.. arrived. It's still gibbous." "Full..." Ken looked out the window at the bright blue sky, then back at Katze, "Are we even in the right month?" "Don't know. Maybe not. Might have to wait a while. I just hope we're not *late*." "Um." Ken looked out the window again, then down at the gun he was polishing, then back at Katze, "What if we *are* late?" S/he looked decidedly distraught, "I'd rather not think about that yet." Ken sighed in exasperation. Later that night s/he went out again, returning near dawn. Again Ken faced the door, listening to hir being sick. "Bad seafood again?" "Go back to bed, Ken." "This is the second night you've done this." "Yeah, well, get used to it." Ken started to get angry, "If you're going out to have fun, you could at least let me come with you!" The door cracked open and Ken saw hir face. It was drawn, pasty under the makeup and hir eyes held an expression that dropped Ken's jaw. "Its not fun," s/he said, and closed the door in his face. A minute later, the shower was going full force. The third night, s/he returned shortly after one A.M. and Ken was still awake, pacing. He nearly pounced on hir as s/he came through the door. "You look green. More botulism?" "Get out of the way." "Katze, what the hell are you doing?? You're dressing up every night like a tart, staying out 'til all hours, then coming home sick and spending an hour in the shower!" "Sounds like you already know what I'm doing. You're going to be wearing my dinner if you don't get outta the way." Ken stepped aside and let hir pass. He sighed in exasperation, fixing another juice for hir. An hour later, s/he finally emerged from the bathroom. Clouds of steam followed hir. Hir robe was pulled chokingly tight around hir. Ken took hir hand, noticing the red skin, "Look at this, what did you do, boil yourself? You look like a lobster!" S/he snatched hir hand back and glared at him. "Can I go to bed now??" Ken inspected hir face. Other than that it was pink from too-hot water, he could detect no signs of violence, no indications that anything had happened to hir. He nodded slowly, resolving to raid hir wallet the next morning -- if he found a wad of cash, he'd know. He frowned as s/he crawled into bed, keeping hir robe tightly wrapped around hir, then shook his head. Probably nervous about hir body, though from what he'd seen (he still cringed when he thought of that), there was nothing to give away that s/he was really a hermaphrodite mutant. He shrugged it off and turned out the light. Presently he remembered that he hadn't set his gun on the nighttable and flicked the light back on. He wished he hadn't. "KATZE!!!" S/he had thrown off hir robe but had yet to get beneath the covers, so hir naked body was fully revealed. Hir skin was raw and covered with welts, many broken and bleeding. "What happened??" "Nothing happened." "You're covered in bleeding wounds, look at you!" Ken's face grew hard, "Who was he?? Don't tell me 'nothing happened': Name him!" "Who're you to pry into my private life?" "Well excuse me for giving a shit!" "I just went on a date." "A *date* does this to you?! Kamisama, Katze..!" "Yes, so you'd better get used to it." S/he was trying to cover hirself up. Ken wasn't sure whether hir face was red from the hot water or from embarrassment. "Why did you go on a date, if it does this to you? Is it something to do with your younger self?" "No.." Katze said almost inaudibly, "S/he won't experience this until puberty." Ken made a puzzled noise and s/he reddened, "Why does anyone go on a date? To get laid!" Ken blinked rapidly, feeling a blush crawl up his own face, "Ohhhh umm... I thought only guys had.. um... urges that strong.. Guess women do too but.." S/he looked away, "No.. just me. It's even worse then I'm male." Ken blushed heatedly now, remembering something he had once read. He looked at hir skin again, "Uh.. then this is.. uh... what you like?" S/he looked like s/he was about to punch him for that, then the fire died and s/he looked away again, "I just scrubbed a little hard." "You.." Ken blinked as it sank in, "You did this to YOURSELF?? Just now?? *This* is 'scrubbed a little hard'? Katze, you've taken the top layer off this forearm!" S/he snatched the arm out of his hands, wincing a little. Ken gazed at hir, "Do you do this a lot? How do you live?" S/he nodded, "Get used to it." "Is there a less painful way for you?" "No. I outlast myself." Ken motioned towards the abrasions, "This can't be good for anyone.. even you." "I've survived this way for years, Gatchaman." Ken sat back, the sudden use of his title making him feel rejected and closed out. "I wish I could do something for you," he said helplessly, not understanding. "I'll just bet," s/he smirked mirthlessly. "Huh! What does that mean?" "You've been wondering ever since you found out, haven't you? Of course you have -- they all do." Ken recoiled at the sudden venom in hir voice, "Wonder what?" "What its like to fuck a freak." Hir voice grew sick and hateful, "What have I got, what do I have.. What would it feel like for me to Change during.. Well I'm not giving you the satisfaction!" Ken gagged, "I... never.. NO! I didn't think that!" He got up and stomped around the room, agitated, "I've always been taught to protect and look after my team mates.. I guess some of that is tranferring to you.." "A likely story," s/he spat. Ken sank into a chair, staring aghast at hir, "You're in pain.. of some kind.. and I can't fix it. I want to, but I don't know how.." Katze's face changed from a malicious glare to a puzzled expression as Ken continued, "I lost Joe because I couldn't figure out how to fix him.. I blocked off all the rest of the team because I was scared to lose them.." "I didn't ask you to fix me, Gatchaman." "I know," Ken's voice was strangled, "I guess I'm going about this all wrong.. I don't know.." He got up and grabbed his gun, "I'm... gonna go for a walk. I'll be back in a bit.." Katze's puzzled frown deepened as Ken's words sank in, "But.. we're enemies.. You hate me.. tried to kill me.." "We were.. I'm not sure what the hell we are now. There's some ointment in the medikit in the bathroom.. Your skin could use it," he opened the door, "... I just don't know." Katze stared at the door for a long time, then pulled the blankets around hir head and lay awake for a while, trying to figure that all out. Ken wandered the unfamiliar streets, thinking of the recent events. [Joe, where the hell are you when I need you.. You most likely wouldn't be in this situation. You'd've just killed hir.] He kicked a stone, [If s/he can be killed. After what I've seen, I'm not so sure. Kamisama, why did s/he do that to hirself? Does it have something to do with what s/he's trying to prevent?] He stared up at the moon. [Nearly full. When was the last time we'd had a moon-viewing party? It must have been before Jinpei's birthday. Joe and Ryu got so smashed.. and they kept spiking Jun's drink,] Ken smiled at the memory, then the smile vanished, [I'll never party with you guys again. You're dead, imploded along with our entire world, and I got trapped in the past with our enemy. You haven't even been born yet and when you are, I'll be too old..] Ken sank down against a wall, tears rolling down his cheeks. Sunrise found Ken knocking on the door of their room, having forgotten the key. After a few minutes, it was opened by a sleepy, scruffy mutant with a sheet wrapped around hir body. "Sorry I woke you," Ken whispered, slipping quickly through the door, "I forgot the damned key." S/he closed the door behind him silently. Ken sat down on a chair and kicked off his shoes, laying his gun on the table. "What did you mean by all of that?" s/he asked presently. Ken sighed, exhausted, "By what, exactly?" S/he sat on the bed, the sheet still tightly around hir, "What you said." "I don't know," Ken sighed hard, "I'm sorry. I came a little unglued. The last few months have been pretty stressful and this.." he waved his hand to take in everything that had happened to them, "Is kinda more than I can take.." S/he looked away, "Oh." He sensed that s/he seemed to want something, but wasn't sure what. "Do you.. want me to put some of that ointment on your back?" he offered lamely. S/he shrugged and nodded, so Ken got up, stretched and popped a few joints, then shuffled to the bathroom to get the stuff. The mutant rolled onto hir belly, rearranging the sheet to expose hir back. Ken hissed, "God, Katze.." He sat down and took off his shirt to avoid dragging the coarse material across the open wounds. They were already healing well, but many were still raw. He squeezed out some ointment and daubed it on the least abused spot. "What?" "Your back." S/he shrugged, "It's normal." "Katze, this is *not* normal!" After a long silence, "It is for me." "Well then I need to redefine your view of 'normal'," Ken declared, continuing to hiss and make noises as he treated hir wounds. S/he craned hir head over hir shoulder to peer back at him with a funny expression. "How're your legs? Here, give me one.." S/he gave him another unfathomable expression and exposed a leg. "The welts aren't as bad here.. oooo this one will hurt. At least none of these are really bad, not like your arms.. Just welts, really," Ken finished hir legs and extended a hand, "How about your arms?" He clucked as s/he extended the forearm s/he had scrubbed the skin off of. He treated it, the rest of hir arm, and the other arm, until he had dabbed ointment on almost every inch of hir. "Well," he said finally, "That's everything, except for your chest and, uh, pelvis.. I'll duck into the bathroom if you want to do those.." ".......Alright." Ken touched hir cheek briefly, "At least they didn't get your face." Katze shook hir head, "I never scrubbed my face off. Too noticeable. Soosai would complain." Ken got up and moved to the bathroom, "No I meant.. uh.. it.. kinda grows on you." He ducked out with a wink. Katze thought about that one for a moment, spreading ointment across hir breasts. "How's it coming?" Ken called as s/he spread ointment between hir thighs. Hastily s/he slithered back under the blankets, "Done." He came out and inspected hir, poking a shoulder and touching hir arm, "The goop's sinking in well. Your skin is drying already," he smiled at hir. S/he just looked at him. "I still wish I could heal like that. But does it ever get.. um.. used up? Like you've done too much?" "Oh yes." Ken frowned, "Hmm. How much do you have left? Or is it a definate kind of thing?" he examined hir leg, noticing that hir shins were fading to pink patches. "The last two years I'd been Changing much too frequently," Katze replied hesitantly, "I'm not at my limit yet but I soon will be. I'm hoping I won't have to Change again for a while." Ken looked at hir, studying hir face, "So Changing.. happens when you get hurt too badly?" "Sometimes," Katze studied his face with equal intensity. "Well we can control that aspect - the not getting hurt part," Ken said decisively, then noticed the clock, "Shimatta.. its almost eight. I'm beat.. I know I woke you; do you feel like going back to sleep?" S/he nodded and Ken smiled, relieved, "Good. Umm.. where do you want me? Ah.. um.. on the floor?.. or.." S/he shrugged, mystified, "Wherever." "Um.. my back's pretty sore.. Would you mind if I stayed in the bed..?" "You didn't have a problem with it the other night." "Uhh.." "I'll still steal the sheets, though." "..I'll stay on my side.." S/he shrugged. "Unless... umm.. you need.." Ken blushed furiously. Katze looked at him, not comprehending. "Are.. are you okay? I mean.. your hormones.. If you, uh.. " Katze clued in, turning a slight shade of pink hirself, "Oh! Mm.. yes. You were.. touching me.. after all." Ken turned scarlet, "Oh god I'm sorry!! I didn't mean to.. to cause you.. problems..!" Katze stared at him for a few minutes, then abruptly burst into giggles. "What? What's so funny?" "Kuso," s/he chortled, "You act like you're.. *Are* you a virgin?" "Nan..?? NO!" Ken's face went through every shade of red in the spectrum, "I just didn't have a whole lot of time to.. well.. pursue more than a few relationships." He withdrew into a humiliated ball. "I'm sorry," Katze touched his hand gently, "I'm used to guys pontificating about how good they are in bed and trying to impress me. I've never had one practically gibbering in terror before," s/he grinned and then looked thoughtful, "At least.. not before I got started." Ken blinked, "What... What do you mean, 'before you got started'?" S/he saw his apprehensive look and waved reassuringly, "Oh, don't worry. I won't do that to you. I promise." Ken quirked an eyebrow and touched hir shoulder, blushing slightly, "Just.. don't rub it in if I'm too pathetic, okay?" S/he giggled, "Okay." Ken swallowed and leaned closer, their lips touching gently. It hadn't been his first time, but it had felt like it, Ken mused. He sat under the shade of a coffee shop awning, sipping sweet Greek coffee, his pastry untouched. Across the square, Katze sat on a scarf playing the flute, a growing pile of coins at hir feet. Ken toyed with his cup, his eyes drawn to his hands. He was so embarrassed by his hands. They were calloused and rough, the knuckles broken from bashing too many Galactor jaws. Between his duties as a Science Ninja and his maintenance of his plane, they were covered in thick scar tissue. His hands were rough and untutored, totally unsuitable to caressing ivory skin. He glanced at hir. Dressed as s/he was, in frayed jeans and a batik shirt, s/he looked quite androgynous. S/he wasn't. S/he was female, definately female. Ken blushed: His previous girlfriends (all two of them) hadn't let him do that, they thought it was gross. Katze had liked it. Katze had reciprocated and Ken squashed *that* memory down fast: It wouldn't do to get an erection, here. He picked up his pastry and ate it. They had done it again, upon waking. S/he had finally told him about hir fluxes and Ken had picked hir brains about how to take care of hir. He was determined to take care of hir. Katze sat on hir cloth, playing hir flute. S/he hadn't done so with the intention of getting money, but s/he wasn't about to refuse the appreciation of hir talent. S/he scanned the market again. When they'd stepped into the market square, the wave of nausea and deja vu had nearly brought hir to hir knees: They weren't late. They were right on time. Presently s/he spotted a figure cruising near the vegetable stalls and a chill ran down hir spine. S/he caught Ken's gaze and flicked hir eyes towards the vegetable stall meaningfully. Ken followed with a quick glance of his own, then nodded imperceptibly, his hand checking the position of his gun. There were several greasy-looking men at various points around the square, surreptitiously scanning the market. Katze cudgelled hir memory, seeing other faces. A Greek mama with a small train of children of various ages moved through the fruit stalls. Katze caught Ken's eye, jerking hir chin towards the train of kids. One was taller, pale-skinned and had a cheap brown rinse already streaking out of his blonde hair. Ken left the coffee shop. One of the greasy guys had also noticed the tall child and nudged his companion. Ken sidled through the crowd, getting between the children and the goons. The pale boy looked around warily, his face hiding his fear well. Seeing Katze moving to intercept the goons, Ken flipped a coin at a stall dealer and picked up a guava. Walking casually, he knelt by the boy with the rinse and offered it to him. [Skinny, scared, but almost the same face,] Ken thought wonderingly. The boy took the fruit, feigning a happy smile. Ken straightened up, smiling at him, casting a quick glance at the situation. Katze had disappeared; the goons had intercepted the mother and one was distracting her. The boy saw this, smiled and waved at Ken in a 'farewell, bud' gesture, then started to walk away. People flowed, cutting the goons off for a brief time. Ken wasn't sure whom he should pay attention to, the goons or the boy. He looked around for Katze again, but didn't see hir. The boy was weaving through the people, but the goons had started to move faster and were drawing guns. Ken's blood started to hum in his head. The child was running now, as fleetly as hir elder self. Ken cursed and leaped a barrel to keep him in sight -- it was hard enough keeping up to the six-foot version. A gunshot panicked the crowd: More goons were flowing into the square, trying to corner the child. Ken leaped and raced across a few rooftops, managing to drop behind him. He rounded a corner and a large hulking goon appeared before him, cutting him off. The child panicked and backpedalled, slamming into Ken. Ken seized him and leaped, kicking the huge man in the head and using him as a vaulting horse to ascend to the nearest roof. "LET ME GO!" the boy screamed, kicking and struggling. "Quit it!" Ken said, trying to hold the boy and get his gun, "I'm not going to hurt you. AOOWW!" The kid sank his teeth into Ken's forearm. Ken yelped but didn't let go, "Look, kid, I'm one of the good guys. I'm here to help you get away from them." There was motion below as several goons dropped in their tracks. "I'm not going back there!" the boy screamed, "I'll die first! Lemme go!!" Ken wrestled with him, "I said I won't hurt you! I'm not here to take you back there." He looked around for Katze, then remembered the name s/he had been using, "Montague??" The sounds of a gun battle rose from the streets. Ken hopped to a higher roof, trying to calm the boy down. "Lemme go! Bastard!" kick, stomp, fight, "Lemme go!!" "Kuso! Will you hold still.. Jellylorum?! MONTAGUE, WHERE ARE YOU??" Sirens and police started to flow into the square. "Will you shut up?" Ken swore at Katze's sudden appearance, "Took you long enough. Here, you take him.. brat bit me!" "Well of course he did, he's terrified," Katze looked down at hir younger self, "Berg Katze, come: We're not safe yet. They're sending reinforcements." The boy went so white Ken was afraid he'd faint, "H..hh... how do you know my name???" "I know everything about you, Berg Katze. Including where you come from and where they want you to return." "What do you want?" the child's voice was terrified, staring at Katze's face. "To get you out." A bullet narrowly missed Ken's ear. "Kuso.. Things are getting a little hot. Can you handle him?" Katze looked at him with amusement, "No." "Great," Ken rolled his eyes, "I don't want to have to knock him out, but.." He broke off as the child slammed his foot into Ken's instep, then bolted. "Kuso!!! Great, just great!" "You cover me, I'll cover the younger," Katze took off at full speed. Ken limped along as best he could, spouting curses. The child was cornered in a blind alley. Katze dropped behind the encroaching goons and picked one off, then rolled to exchange gunfire with another. A third snuck up behind hir, managing to put hir into a choke-hold. Ken flung a rock with all his strength, freeing hir, then whirled and shurikened the remaining goon. Katze's anguished wail drew him out of his bloodlust. Ken whirled in time to see a rope ladder being reeled into a helicopter which hovered high above. "No.... ohh no.." Ken had mistaken the sound for his own blood, pounding in his head. He stared as the helicopter peeled away, taking the child with it. Katze let out an enraged, grief-laden keen, plunging hir knife deeply into the unconscious goon beside hir. Ken was too stunned to say anything. He was drawn back to the present by pounding footsteps, "Katze, come on. We'd better grab our stuff and get out of here." They raced back to the hotel, collected their belongings and were gone before anyone was the wiser. At an airstrip, Katze chartered a small private plane. "How much have we got?" Ken whispered while he filled out the paperwork. "Better," Katze pulled out the jingling wad of cloth s/he'd stuffed into hir jacket, "This'll take care of dinners for a week, maybe." Ken nodded and they went out onto the tarmac to load the plane. As they taxied out onto the runway, Ken looked at hir, "Are you okay?" S/he shook hir head, hir face grey. "Where are we going?" "They've taken hir back to Ovanon." Ken looked at hir in confusion. "Ever heard of it?" "A little," Ken said doubtfully, "Mostly tabloid stuff. Nothing definate or possible-sounding." "It's possible. It's real." "Just what is it?" Katze was thumbing through their funds again, "A pleasure dome." "Oh?" That didn't jive with what Ken had heard, "Define?" "It's a pleasure dome. Anything you want to experience - rape, murder, kidsex, bestiality - its all there," s/he made another face at the money total, "Children a specialty." Ken gagged, "I'd.. heard a little about the S and M, but nothing really detailed.. That's where they have.. you? him?" "Yes. I was extremely popular there." Ken paled, swallowing hard. He changed the subject, "What about the cash?" "Not enough." "Huh? It was fine a little while ago, you said." S/he didn't answer, was silent for several minutes. Ken took hir hand and squeezed it briefly, "Katze.. We'll get him out. I promise. Don't worry." S/he sounded distant, as though thinking out loud, "I don't think it'd help. I was *extremely* popular, a very lucrative source of income. They won't let me go easily.. and I'm too old.." S/he trailed off, thinking, then shook hir head, "Yes, too old. They might have taken me as part of a deal with other children, but even so they wouldn't give up the younger. Two freaks, why give either up?" Ken swallowed, unable to credit his ears. Katze was in further thought, "No, they wouldn't give either of us up. When s/he hits puberty, they could breed us. There's no other choice," s/he shook hir head, "I was hoping to avoid this, but.. we'll have to go in." "Good," Ken said darkly. Katze stared at him for long seconds, "It won't be easy, Gatchaman. Two people against the Dome? No, it won't be easy." The eyes that turned to hir held an expression s/he had seen in mirrors and in Italian, violet eyes. "You forget: I'm Gatchaman. How many untold numbers of goons have I slaughtered to get to you in the past?" Ken's hands tightened on the flightstick, "Between us, they don't stand a chance." Katze stared at him, "You'll have to slaughter that many. These are trained, not like the Galactor you know. They were cannon fodder: These are guards." Ken looked out the canopy, away from hir, "Then I'll die trying, Katze." "I'm afraid that may be the case." "Do you think we could get any of the other children out as well?" "I don't know," s/he said softly, "How many it'd be worth getting out.. I don't know that either." Ken glanced at the controls, "How much farther is it?" "Head that way, into the desert. It's well protected." Ken touched hir hand again, "It's going to be okay." "I wish I shared your confidence." Katze smoothed back a stray lock of hair from hir face, looking up at the forbidding, sand-blasted fortress that was the pleasure dome. They had staked it out, gathered information, conducted a few ambushes: Now they were ready. "Looks relatively benign from here, ne," Ken observed. Katze nodded weakly, hir face pale and bloodless. S/he looked like s/he was facing hir worst nightmare. "Soosai X put me here.. to make me strong.. to teach me the true nature of humanity.." Ken brushed the dust off his expensive suit and smoothed back his hair, "This is NOT the 'true nature of humanity'. True, we can be petty and selfish... but most of us are not like THIS." "You'll be surprised," s/he turned to look at him, hir eyes like hollow moons, "If I remember the date correctly, you'll be very surprised. I don't envy you, Gatchaman: Your illusions will be shattered," s/he turned back, the setting sun glazing hir with bloody light, "But then.. mine were.. when Soosai left me to die..." S/he felt Ken's fingers twine with hirs and held them in a brief, hard grip, "So. Let's break a few mirrors, shall we, old enemy?" Hir fingers were icy and shaking, but abruptly the shaking stopped. A contingent of guards were approaching the main gate. Katze nodded to Ken, "Remember what I told you, and pray my memory was clear." Ken nodded. S/he checked hir weapons, patted over the guard's uniform s/he had appropriated and re-checked hir androgynous appearance. All of the guards had the same soft, effeminate quality as Katze. With a final glance at Ken, s/he slipped into their ranks and was gone. Ken check his own self over, rechecking his stolen ID, rehearsing the words Katze had drilled into him. A howl rang through the desert air: Some scavengers found the bodies already? Ken hoped not, hoped they were buried deeply enough beneath the sand. He thought of the no-kill promise he had extracted from Katze and gave a brief chuckle -- how naive. The man who's suit he now wore had begged, pleaded for his life, but Ken could find no mercy in his heart. During the flight, Katze had told him what to expect; these.. these people were as bad as - worse than - Galactors. Using children in their sick games, children who'd been abducted from parents and babysitters or children they'd bred from their own stock of captives. Ken felt ill. A small knot of clients was approaching. Ken fell in among them, passing the ID check, and was admitted into Ovanon. It was loud, heavy with smoke and drugs, filled with women, men and animals. The air was filled with screams and cries of pain and pleasure. A group of Keepers passed him and Ken tried not to stare: They were enormous, the smallest would have towered over Joe, their bulk easily matching Ryu's, yet their faces were as ambiguous as Katze's. Ken was shown to a table in the dining hall, a large room with a runway and stage in the middle. Doors honeycombed the walls, leading off into corridors and other rooms. The crowd in the banquet hall were laughing as they threw darts at a black bear, trying to kill it through the eye. Ken sat down, tightening his jaw at the sight. He ordered a beer from the buxom, vacant-stared server, trying not to look obviously out of place. Another patron leaned over to Ken. "Isn't that cool??" he enthused, "Those animals are rare as hen's teeth since the war, but they brought one here for us!" Ken nodded, saying nothing. At the edges of the arena, he could see men and women in all states of dress and undress. Chains hung from the walls and from the people. Finally, a patron nailed the bear. It spasmed, dying, amid cheers from the crowd as they congratulated the winner. A nude, oiled emcee awarded the man a prize and a guard led him off to enjoy it. Ken squashed a reflex gag and took a sip of his beer, breathing slowly to keep control. For the next act, a small midget was brought onto the stage, to couple with an enormous, over-hung stud. Ken turned his gaze away, looking more closely at his surroundings, trying to find the landmarks Katze had told him about. Third exit from the left ramp... The midget screamed as he was penetrated. Laughter and cheers went up from the watching crowd. Ken got up and moved to the door, third from the left ramp. Pushing through the heavy curtain, he entered the hallway. A Keeper stared down at him briefly before pushing through into the banquet hall. Ken swallowed, [Shimatta! - he's huge! If they're all that big, s/he might have been right after all..] He turned down the corridor then stepped back as a trio of guards marched past. He watched them, slender and effeminate as Katze, with lean, wiry muscles. He recognised the marks of trained assassins, probably his equals in every way. He turned another corridor. A Keeper was leading his charge, a six-year-old girl, by a leash around her neck. Fresh blood and semen oozed down her legs. Ken choked down a wave of rage and nausea. An open door showed two Keepers holding down a child while a third extracted a blade from her vagina. Ken thought of Katze's wound in Pakistan and wondered if Senor Alvarez had been a regular here. His stomach lurched and he ducked down another hall. This matched Katze's descriptions. Ken looked up to see a guard approaching, leading a donkey. Katze met his eye briefly before turning down another corridor. Ken followed. S/he signaled him to stay in the shadows and watch, then moved to a door and knocked. Ken faded into the walls. The door opened. Upon seeing Katze, it opened wider to admit the donkey, allowing Ken a brief look at the scene and the people within. Some of the faces seemed naggingly familiar. Katze bowed and exitted the room without the animal. Catching Ken's eye, s/he directed a glance towards the ceiling. Ken followed it, seeing the vent. He nodded and s/he slipped around a corner and disappeared. Ken climbed up the rough wall and got the vent open, slipping into the vent shaft and closing it behind him. Conveniently large, he thought, his scalp crawling. There was something wrong with that. He focussed on the sounds of voices and followed them, finding himself peering through a vent into the opulant room he'd glimpsed through the door. In the middle of the room was a small, terrified girl. Ken choked back a gasp, recognising the young Katze. Female? Hadn't s/he been.. Ken's blood surged: They must have beaten hir or killed hir or otherwise made hir Change. He looked around as other faces came into view. They nagged his mind with a feeling that he should know them. They were raping the child. Ken blanched at the realization. "Katze.." his voice was barely audible, even to himself. "I warned you," the whisper shook him nearly out of his skin, coming from near his elbow, "Do you recognise them?" Ken stared at the older Katze, "How.. oh.. kamisama.. I have to stop this..!" He clawed at the grate. There was another form on the floor; the child's Keeper, unconscious but regaining his senses. "They're going to kill me, Gatchaman. It's what they paid for. It's what they bought me for." Ken nearly had the grating off, the girl's screams echoing in his mind. He stared hir, horrified, "The hell they are!" The grating was ripped out, but was unheard over the commotion below. The child's Keeper had lauched himself at the current rapist with an inarticulate cry, and broken his neck. Another man knocked him unconscious again, then there was laughter as he started raping the senseless form. "There you have it, Gatchaman: The true nature of humanity. Behold your fathers of peace and global unity." Ken stared at the men, their faces finally finding names, "Oh god.. Anderson? .. and Kirkland.. and.." He forced back the tears that had sprung to his eyes, "Damn them all -- BIRD GO!" and he flung himself into the fray amid the blinding light, landing on the man raping the girl. With an enraged cry he flung him into the wall. Katze dropped from the ceiling like a snake, landing atop one of the would-have-been UN leaders and slit his throat. The girl whimpered and scrambled away, terrified. "Gatchaman! Watch out for the horse!" "Horse?" Ken ducked in time to avoid the hoof that smashed into the panelling, grazing his helmet. "Kuso - what kind of circus is this?" Ken ducked another flying hoof, flinging a shuriken to bring the animal's misery to an end, then whirled as he felt a fist connect with his shoulder. "Ex-CUSE me! I didn't order this kind of thing -- who are you people and what do you think you're doing??" Ken stared. Young and slim, Anderson was facing him, full of indignant fury, angry at having had his play-time interrupted. He rose from the remains of the man who's throat he'd just slit, gore dripping from his white birdstyle, dripping from the point of his blade. A dark, feral expression on his face, he stalked the young man who, in Ken's day, would have been director of the United Nations, "I am the white shadow that slips in unseen.." Katze rolled hir eyes and continued cajoling the Keeper to consciousness. "..Science Ninja Gatchaman." "Never heard of you. Do you know who I am??" Anderson returned fearlessly. Ken flung a shuriken at one of the men who'd been reaching for an alarm, a man who would later have won the Peace Prize, "I know exactly who you are," Ken's voice filled with bile, "And you make me sick. I should kill you for this.." "Won't be long before the alarm goes out, Gatchaman," Katze said lowly. Ken nodded and looked back at Anderson. Katze looked back at the Keeper in hir arms, who had regained consciousness and was staring at hir. "Wh.. who are you?" he gasped. S/he grinned, "I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you." The Keeper looked at hir like s/he was completely off hir nut. There was a heavy pounding on the door. Ken snarled. Looking back at Anderson, he slashed the man's chest then threw him aside. He knelt beside the semi-conscious girl and curled hir into his chest, "Lets get the hell out of here." Katze nodded, pulling the Keeper to his feet, then gathering hir legs under hir, s/he leaped back up into the vent. Ken handed up the girl and followed. She latched onto her Keeper's hand, looking terrified. "Who is this?" Ken asked Katze, indicating the Keeper. Katze smiled tenderly, "This is Brace." "How do you know my name??" Brace gasped. "She knows my name, too -- my *real* name!" the child exclaimed. Ken looked them over, then looked at Katze's face and nodded. He bowed as best he could in the cramped vent, "Ken Washio, Gatchaman. Now lets get out." He pulled out a gun and offered it to Brace, "Can you use one of these?" The Keeper nodded and Ken turned to Katze, indicating hir younger self, "Can she shoot yet?" "Oh yes," Katze grinned. "Good," Ken pulled out another gun and gave it to the child, "Here, take this, little one. Protect yourself if we can't." "Who are you? What do you want with us?" Brace demanded. Ken smiled, "We're here to rescue you both. Come on, we can talk about it later." "We'd better move, they're coming," Katze hissed. Ken heard sounds, scrabbling sounds.. Suddenly his blood went cold: *That's* why the vents were so large -- the guards moved through them! "Maybe you'd better lead," Ken told Katze, "You know this place; I don't. I'm liable to get us trapped." He shoved them all forward, "Move!" Katze slid out of the vent and dropped into a hallway, taking off at a run. After an instant's hesitation, Brace followed. Ken brought up the rear guard, keeping one eye forward and one eye behind. A contingent of guards cut them off. Katze rushed them and leaped at them, snarling, then vanished into a vent overhead before they could react. Brace kicked a few down before handing up the girl and following. Ken threw himself into a brawl, then followed the scrabbling sounds above his head. A moment later he found another vent and leaped. He scrabbled along the vent, pulling himself along with elbows, knees and toes like a lizard. Soon his vent had joined Katze's and he panted at hir side, "Which way?" "I'm not sure," Katze panted. "This way!" Brace pointed, then took off. The girl looked around, frightened, "They're coming! I can hear them!" "Where?" Ken looked around, "From which direction?" As if in answer, a guard appeared, scrambling wickedly fast along the vent shaft. "He's mine," Ken hissed, "Yuke!" He didn't watch hir vanish, turning instead to grapple with the guards. Minutes later, Ken slid down the shaft, covered in fresh gore. He listened for Katze or any signs of Brace and the child. The only sound was a slow murmer from the banquet hall. [Shimatta.. I have to get out of this damned vent. I need space!] He crawled forward, sliding out of a vent to find himself in a corridor on the other side of the hall, quite lost. A sound-system squealed and Ken startled, then flattened himself against the wall to listen as the emcee spoke. "Sorry to cut our 'pet show' short, ladies and gentlemen - Maria and Tembo, her pachydermic companion, will return for another showing later if you so desire. But tonight, we have an unexpected pleasure: It seems a pair of undercover agents - doubtless law enforcement officers - have decided to bust up our party." Ken shivered as a roar of anticipation went up from the crowd. "As a special added bonus, one of our treasured Keepers, in whom we invest so much time and money, has turned traitor. Therefore ladies and gentlement, it is our honour to present to you an impromptu auction: To the highest bidder, the lives of this beauteous lady and this treacherous Keeper!" Ken blanched as the impact hit him: They had Katze and Brace! [Fuck! I hadn't counted on this..!] The announcer continued, "We shall start the biddin at one hundred thousand, ladies and gentlemen. To entice you further.. Ranoof?" There was the sound of ripping cloth. "There, ladies and gentlemen: See her firm breasts, so perfectly round? See her pink nipples, the colour of candyfloss? Why, one would almost believe she was of our own perfect Ovanon stock.." Guards slunk about as the dome's forces were mobilized, but the Keepers had vanished utterly to protect their charges. Ken ducked into an empty room and detransmuted, figuring he'd have a better chance of rescuing them if he looked normal. A very small whisper said, "How did you do that?" Ken whirled, startled, and knocked down whomever was there. "YOU!" he gaped. "OW!" the little Katze held her jaw and looked at him reproachfully, "I *knew* you weren't to be trusted!" Ken knelt down to her and hugged her tightly, "Thank god..! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Chiisai-Katze was surprised, "I'm.. I'm alright. Why are you doing this? How do you know us? Did Soosai send you?" "No.. I know.. um.. a relative of yours," Ken looked at her, then out towards the jeering banquet hall, "Shimatta.. I don't know what to do. Do I get you out of here first or get them and all of us out?" The little one cocked her head at him, "They'll kill her. It's Brace I'm worried about." "No.." Ken breathed, looking out towards the hall. He could see the stage from here and what he saw made him ill: The announcer was holding back the lips of Katze's vulva, enticing the crowd about how nice s/he would be to rape before killing. The bidding went higher. Ken looked back at the little girl and took her hand, "Do you like fireworks?" Her eyes lit, "Blow things up? Sure!" "Come on; we're gonna have some fun." Ken took her out and found the makings for Molotov cocktails. The child looked on for a moment, then slipped away and returned with different chemicals. Ken lifted her into the ceiling, "What are those?" "This will make a cover gas," the child said proudly, holding up a bottle, "And this will make fumes that will choke people." Ken smiled, "Good girl! Now stay close to me; we're going down the chandelier, then we'll light these and throw them. Alright?" She nodded. Ken went to birdstyle, then slipped up beside her, "Let's go." "Don't you want to see my flares?" Ken laced her over his back and shimmied down the chain holding the chandelier. The lights in the banquet hall were low and they were in flickering shadow, the attention of the crowd focussed on the stage. The bidding was going higher and higher, and several bidders were being restrained from trying to grope the merchandize. Tied spread-eagle to a rack, Katze was trying surreptitiously to work hirself out of the cuffs. Ken, perched on the chandelier, glanced back at the child, "Alright, now we throw these, but don't leave here. I'll be back for you: I have to get the woman and Brace, but I'll be back for you. Stay safe." Ken lit one of the cocktails and dropped onto the announcer, tying it to him with the microphone cord. He whirled and kicked at the stage hand, then shot open the cuffs holding Brace. The Keeper dropped down and grappled with the other stage hand. "Ken, look out!!" Guards were swarming into the dining hall, spraying the stage with bullets. Ken leaped, kicking down several like dominoes, but his heart sank when he heard the agonized cry from the stage. "Oh," whispered a voice in Katze's ear, "I was going to let you go, but I guess its too late now." "You'll be surprised," Katze rasped through the blood welling up in hir throat, "I'm not dead yet." The little one shrugged and picked the locks on Katze's cuffs. The older mutant dropped to hir feet and flashed Ken a quick thumbs-up. Ken did not smile, staring at the ruin of hir chest. [Oh god.. Got to get hir out of here.. if s/he Changes and they find out there's two of them..!] "Hold your breath!" the child cried, then let loose a gas bomb. Amid the screams of the patrons and the thwarted guards, they bolted. Ken scooped up the little girl, knowing she could never keep up with them otherwise. Brace's side showed red but he seemed unimpeded. Katze was running well, but hir front was black with blood; s/he wouldn't last long. "Ready to get out of here, kid?" The little girl nodded, "Are we going to blow it up?" "Yup!" He looked back at Brace, who was following the weakening Katze, "Come on! We're out of here!" Ken plowed through people, not caring whom he knocked down or killed along the way. Bullets howled. The girl looked up from her finished bomb, "Now?" "Now!" She hurled it with all her might. Ken and Brace looped their arms through Katze's and they bolted for the moonlit desert. As they reached the hidden plane, explosions rocked the desert, lighting up the sky. Additional explosions followed: Ovanon contained every kind of chemical and sheltered vehicles. It would burn to the ground. Ken wasted no time, ripping off his bracelet, then his shirt, pressing it to Katze's open chest, "How are you?" He cradled hir against him, trying to stop the bleeding. "G.. gatchama..." Hir eyes rolled back into hir head and hir body convulsed. "NOOOOOOOOOO Katze!!" Ken screamed. Hir body jerked in his arms. Tears streamed down his face as he rocked back and forth, "No.. no... Not you too... No.." Unseen, a small face peeked around the fuselage of the plane, peering at him. Katze's body twisted and heaved, joints snapping as hir spine started to lengthen. Hir hips began to migrate and as the wounds in hir chest started to close, hir breasts swelled and flattened. Ken's joy that s/he wasn't dead was crushed when he realized what was happening. "Oh no.. not again.. oh, Katze.. It's too soon!" Sapphire eyes widened, watching Ken with the stranger. Katze's body lengthened. Hir genitals flexed, configured, re-formed. Hir face changed subtly, becoming sharper. Ken looked up and saw the watching blue eyes and wondered how much she had heard, "Get me some water and a blanket.. In the plane." She nodded and vanished. After a few moments' frantic rummaging in the plane, the little girl and Brace returned with the requested blanket and water. Ken wrapped Katze's body, shielding hir from the night air. Hours passed. Finally it was over and Katze was quiet. Ken was still rocking hir in his arms, tracks of silent tears dried on his face. He wiped away the blood from Katze's face. The little Katze exchanged a glance with Brace, then knelt beside Ken. S/he reached out hesitantly, then touched the gaunt face, the whole, flat chest, ran hir hand down the male genitals. S/he felt underneath the scrotum, looking for any signs of a vulva or vagina. S/he sat back, staring wonderingly at the older Katze's face. Katze groaned weakly, then began to cough violently. Ken rolled hir to hir side to let the breath come more easily. S/he coughed harder, spat out a few bullets, then leaned over further to vomit more bullets onto the sand. Ken held hir, holding hir hair out of hir face. Finally s/he rolled back, shaking. Ken hugged hir to him tenderly, a sob breaking, "Oh.. Katze.. I thought you were gone for sure.." "Takes more than a few bullets to kill me, Gatchaman," s/he managed weakly and coughed. A small hand poured water into hir mouth. Katze rinsed hir mouth and spat, then looked up into the moonlit face of hir child self. The girl wiped hir face with a wet rag, cleaning away the blood. "Are.. Are you my mother?" the child asked finally. "No," Katze replied, "I'm not your father either. But I'm just like you. We come from the same place." "Soosai-sama never mentioned that there were others like me." "No," Katze winced as Ken shifted hir into a more upright position, "There's a lot he hasn't been telling you. That's why we're here." The girl glanced at Ken, "Is he...?" "No. He's human. He has special abilities, though, special training. He can help us, if we help him." "Help him what?" "Stop the Overlord." "Why does he want to do that?" Katze glanced up at Ken, "We'd better leave. Galactor will send investigators quickly." Ken nodded and slid out from under hir, then helped hir up. The child tugged hir hand, "He called you Katze. Is that your name too?" "Yes," Katze cast a quick dark glance at Ken, who blushed. Katze wrapped hirself in the blanket as Ken helped Brace and the little Katze into the plane, "Think I'm going to need a new wardrobe.." "Heh.. No more slinky dresses," Ken winked, sliding into place. "Mm.. Back to bar-hopping.." Ken gunned the throttle and got the plane moving. "Maybe," he glanced back at hir, then blushed, "We'll see." The plane lifted into the night, leaving the burning pleasure dome to light the way. They holed up in a two-bedroom suite in a ritzy hotel, Ken having decided they could all use some luxury. After feeding almost as ravenously as the two mutants, Ken had showered and now lay on the bed. Katze was in tucking the two rescuees in. Ken could hear their soft voices, but couldn't discern what was being said. Finally, Katze emerged and closed the door behind hir. "How is she?" Ken asked, rolling onto one side. "Better," Katze replied, sinking down to sit on the bed, "Recovering faster than I do, which I suppose isn't surprising. Brace got creased a few times, but the wounds are minor. I'm still amazed we made it out of there." "I am too," Ken confessed, "I wasn't so sure, at a few points." "Thanks a lot for blowing my cover," Katze snorted, "At least you didn't use my *full* name." Ken stammered and blushed, "I.. I'm sorry.. I was... upset." Katze softened, "I know. S/he told me." "God.. when they had you up.. there.. strung up.. I.." A blonde eyebrow arched up, "A week ago you were trying to kill me; now you're crying because you were afraid I might be dead." Ken ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah. I know. Confuses the fuck out of me, too," he shook his head, "Everything I know is gone. You're all I have left." "We changed it," s/he said softly after a few minutes. "Heh.. Yeah.. we did, ne." "Whatever happens now, it won't be the same." Ken shuddered, "I still feel.... slimy.. after seeing them do that," he walked to the bar and poured a drink, "Want one?" "Yes, please. Scotch. Glenmorangie if its there." Ken found the bottle and poured out the amber liquid, his hand shaking. S/he downed it in one swallow, "I mean, *I* didn't blow up Ovanon until I was fourteen!" "You spent *five years* in that godforsaken place?" Ken gasped. Katze nodded. "I wanted to die when I saw you.. kill with my bare hands," Ken's eyes grew dark, "I wanted to rip out their beating hearts with my fingers.." "The true nature of humanity," Katze smirked, "You can put whatever noble labels onto it you please: It's the same. Still there." "NO! I can't believe that.. I won't believe it!" Ken turned, pacing, "Not all people are like that..." He sank to the bed, his head in his hands, elbows on knees, "I just can't believe that.." "You slashed throats at every turn. I saw you. If you had had your Birdrang -- where is your Birdrang anyways? Never mind -- Those guards wouldn't have been kicked down, they'd've had their throats sliced open. What makes you any different but the labels you use to justify it?" S/he walked to him and tipped his chin up, cold sapphire eyes meeting his, "You hated as much as I do -- and you had *far* less reason." Ken blinked back tears and looked away. S/he was right. He had slaughtered and murdered and thieved -- Galactor or Ovanon, it didn't matter. S/he had destroyed a house, burned the bodies and pulled the teeth so they couldn't easily be identified, buying them time to escape and what had he done? Condemned hir. Condemned hir by a code no longer valid. Everywhere he'd gone he'd seen only violence and chaos; the news held no peace talks, no economic updrafts, only strife and bloodshed and poverty. Katze had been made for this world, not his, Ken realized. S/he didn't need him; he needed hir. Without hir, he'd've been killed the first day. Without hir, he'd never have known half of what he needed, to survive here. He didn't know this world; s/he did. His world had yet to be born. He was trapped in the past and Utoland, Nambu and everything he knew were so very, very far away. "I.. did it.. to save ..what I believed in...." he whispered brokenly. S/he sighed, "I believed in the Overlord. S/he still does. But I believe in myself, too." "But... if humanity is like that.. then everything I did.. everything I believed in.... was a lie.." "Soo. And I was not created to rule the world. I told you your illusions would be shattered." Ken got up and paced, "I.... If places like that exist.. Then what was the point of what we did, if it will continue on?" Katze watched him. He leaned against the window ledge, looking out at the moon, "I guess I'm pretty damned naive." Katze was silent for several minutes. "I did what I did because... because.. " hir voice shook, "Because I spent the next twenty years reliving it night after night and the Overlord would *never* erase it no matter how much I begged him. He'd remind me, grind my face in it and *every time* I encountered you I'd almost faint with terror that you'd do the same to me." "No.. No, I would never.." Ken moved to hir and caught hir shoulders, "I think.. If I'd known.. then I would have tried to help you then.. before." Katze poured another scotch, "I erred in listening to the Overlord. It ended with me throwing myself down a lava tube. They say 'if I had it to do over again' -- well, now I do, and i'm not letting hir make the same mistake. Somehow, I have to convince hir." S/he fixed him with a cold stare, "My reasons are selfish, Gatchaman: They have nothing to do with the world or peace or people. They've solely to do with *me*." Ken poured some scotch for himself, "Understandable." The flaxen brow arched again, "You think so." "After the hell you went through," Ken said, pouring another, "That I still don't fully comprehend.. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It was worth it, to rescue.. her.. you.." he shook his head, "No one should ever be subjected to that -- ever. Maybe that's what I was fighting for." He swallowed the second shot. Katze stripped off hir clothes and sank into the hot tub that whirled in the center of the room, sighing, "As for the others.. the other children, the ones who died in the explosion.." Ken blanched and slammed his glass down hard, hating himself for not getting to them, too. Katze shrugged, "Don't worry about them; we did them the only kindness we could. Not many survived Ovanon besides me. I was the only one who came out anything remotely resembling sane." Ken chuckled, "Sane.. A word I can no longer define.. We used to think you were insane. Now, I'm not so sure." "They're better off dead, Gatchaman. Believe me." "I do," Ken whispered, "That's what makes me so upset." He clutched the glass, yelping as it shattered, "Shimatta!!" Katze came out of the tub to pick the slivers out of his hand. "That was pretty stupid, ne?" s/he chuckled, "You shouldn't do things like that. You can't heal the way I do." Ken gave hir a half smile, "No, I don't have nine lives." "I've had far more than nine." Ken flexed the bandage s/he'd wrapped about the wound, "Thanks." Katze slid back into the tub, "But.. Now s/he won't know *exactly* how many times s/he can Change before s/he does die." "You can tell her. You can forwarn her of everything that happened. Prevent almost everything." "And have hir figure out who I am? S/he's not stupid." Ken squatted down at the edge of the tub beside hir, "No, you were never stupid." "Your Mimizuku no Ryu thought I was. I heard that, by the way." Ken made a scoffing sound, "What did he know?? We kept him in the damned plane all the time." Katze chuckled. "Mind if I join you? I could use a soak." "Not at all." Ken set the scotch beside the tub, peeled off his clothes and stepped into the tub. Katze sipped hir drink more slowly this time. "Be right back," Ken said and disappeared fully under the water, coming up and smoothing his wet hair back from his face, "Ahh. Better," he picked up his drink and sipped, "So where do we go from here? What about keeping her safe?" "Forge some diplomas, get a job.. Get as far away from the Middle East as possible, for now." "X is still out there. I still want to take it down." "Next year will see Hirohito work his magic. Then the treaties will be signed, the Japanese Conglomorate become Utoland and the global focus will shift there." [And my world will be born], Ken thought. "Good job, Gatchaman. Domo aregato gozaimasu." Ken blushed, "Oh.. Thanks.. I almost got you killed." Katze shrugged, "I didn't expect to come out of there. I just prayed s/he would." Ken sat up, "What do you mean, 'you didn't expect to come out'? I told you I would get you out, both of you!" "I know. I didn't expect you to come out of there either." S/he heaved up out of the tub and wrapped hirself in a towel, then sat on the bed to comb out hir hair. Ken grinned lopsidedly, "Surprise. I toldja, between the two of us, they didn't stand a chance." The grin vanished, "I almost didn't. If your younger self hadn't had those chemicals.. had we not bumped into each other - I still can't forgive myself for losing hir like that - I probably would have died trying to get to you on that stage," he sighed, thinking of his childhood samurai stories, "Ahh, but it would have been a glorious death..." "Being lynched in a brothel is glorious?" Ken had to laugh, "No.. I was just thinking about the samurai stories. To die glorious, painful deaths.." "Moronic," Katze snorted, "I used that sort of psychology on Galactors a lot. Never ceased to amaze me how often it worked." "Uh huh," Ken grinned and got out of the water, wrapping a towel around himself, "I never said I agreed with it." He walked over to the bed and shook his head over hir, spraying hir with water. Katze squawked and snatched at him, ripping off his towel and using it to dry hirself off again. "Gotcha!" Ken laughed, finding another towel to dry his hair. "Bastard," s/he grinned. Ken wrapped the damp towel around his waist, "No, my parents were married." S/he arched hir back with a little groan, "So sure are you." "Yes. Cramp?" "Sore. Always really sore after a Change to male. It's the extra height." "Want me to rub your back? Would it help?" "Sure," s/he stretched again and rolled over onto hir belly. Ken grabbed the massage oil out of the bathroom and hopped up onto the bed beside hir. With gentle, firm strokes he kneaded it in, working out the knots and relaxing the tight muscles. Slowly, hir grunts changed from noises of pain to noises of relaxed pleasure. "Feeling better? Want me to do the rest of you?" "If you wish. I won't say no." Ken smiled and worked down hir legs to hir feet. Flipping hir over, he straddled hir to knead hir abdomen, watching the tension slowly leaving hir face. He finished hir arms and chest then stroked hir face, smoothing the pain out. He was surprised by how changeable it was, how expressive. It was slowly settling into more recognisably masculine lines, with high, sharp cheekbones, a firmer jaw and a sharper nose. Hir lips were still pink and full, golden brows slightly thicker. Hir eyes flicked open, startling him a little, the clear, rich, inhuman blue of sapphires. "Better?" he asked. S/he nodded. "Good. You should get some sleep. You need it." He slid off the bed and opened a drawer, pulling out a pair of pajama bottoms for himself, "You want?" S/he shook hir head, "I strangle myself. I'm *definately* going to have nightmares tonight," s/he said ruefully. "Heh.. Nambu forbade us to sleep naked, in case there was an emergency and we had to go into battle. You shoulda heard the lecture he gave Joe," Ken paused to grin, then stepped into the PJs, "If any one of us *would* have charged naked into battle, it would have been Joe." Katze grinned, "Pity. That would have been a sight." S/he slithered between the sheets, rolling onto the far side of the bed. Ken looked at hir for a moment, then shrugged and took to the sofa. He didn't want to impose or seem improper, now that s/he was male. Katze flicked out the light. After half an hour of tossing and turning, Ken got up and sat on the edge of the bed, "Um, Katze?" "Mmph?" "Would you mind if I shared the bed? The couch isn't as comfortable as it looks." "Mhh.. G'head.. 'll still steal th' sheets.." Ken chuckled and climbed in next to hir, asleep within minutes. Katze fell asleep and curled into hir customary extra-tiny ball, hir fists clenched and raised over hir head. Presently s/he began to moan, choking on hir own voice. They dreamed. Ken broke into a sweat.. /Joe.. his dear friend.. their last fight, his dying body on the cold, hard ground../ *the Condor's fist plowing into hir.. Brace's dying face.. an announcer fingers hir before a depraved crowd..* /..Katze, laughing and sobbing as the Black Hole machine ground on.. then strung up and exposed crudely.. the hands of the crowd clawing at him, keeping him from rushing to hir side../ *..the Mechanizer explodes and hir mask is ripped away.. the Condor yanks hir to hir feet and s/he is cuffed to a pillory.. Nambu rips hir clothes away, exposing hir secrets..* /..he is being dragged down.. down into their madness, he can see Katze shot because he wasn't fast enough, he can see Joe's accusing eyes, mocking him, condemning him as he comforts the soft female in his arms../ *..Gatchaman penetrating hir and he's good, so good s/he enjoys him immensely in spite of hirself and is ashamed, so ashamed of hir enjoyment..* /..Katze dies again and again, torn open by the crowd.. the little girl is raped by a line of men.. Joe sneers and Nambu disapproves and Anderson throws him out of the UN meeting.. Katze, broken and torn, holding a dead child who looks just like hir, blaming him.. / *..s/he is making love and its so good, like nothing s/he's ever experienced.. "you're in pain.. I wish I could help you"..* */..and Soosai X laughs and laughs and laughs.../* Katze jerked awake, crying out incoherantly. Ken's wide eyes stared into hirs, "Katze?" "Ken.." He opened his arms and s/he fell into them with a little cry. Ken held hir tightly, stroking hir hair, as much to comfort him as hir. They were both shaking. "Was it bad?" he asked. S/he nodded. "I know.. I know.. Me too. Do you want to talk about it?" S/he was silent for a few moments. "You'll.. laugh?" s/he said doubtfully. Ken shifted down into the pillows, drawing hir down, "No." S/he told him. He held hir tightly to him, letting hir burrow into his chest, weeping silently. His own tears flowed as he told hir about his own nightmare. "We knew it'd be bad," he whispered finally, "But how can you prepare for that.." S/he shook hir head, hugging him hard. Ken stroked hir hair, slowly slipping into a dreamless sleep. ..to be continued... Time Squared part 3: The Puppet Masters, by Ennien Ashbrook and Kat Boykin, (Harlock) contains coarse language, violence and innuendo. Time Squared a Gatchaman fanfic by Ennien Ashbrook and Kat Boykin (Harlock) thanks to Alara Rogers and "Marionette" for the keyword and the concept of Berg Katze's being programmed. Part 3: The Puppet Masters The sun filtered through a gap in the lavish curtains covering the windows. Ken made a noise and tried to raise his arm to shield his eyes. It wouldn't move and he opened his eyes to see what was preventing it. Berg Katze lay partially across him, hir head on his chest, legs tangled up with his, one arm looped around his waist. Hir grip was tight and desperate. Ken shifted under hir, looking hir up and down and smiling silently at the spill of golden locks across both of them. With a gentle hand, he touched hir forehead, pulling the mass from hir face and tucking it behind one ear. S/he whimpered, but didn't wake. Ken's mind turned back to the events of the past week. He remembered the first night he and Katze had had - he looked down at hir again - No, it wasn't just sex. They had made love. He remembered the warmth and softness of hir, how relieved s/he'd looked. He remembered his last girlfriend, who had walked out on him when he'd tried to kiss her all over (the one bit he remembered from a surreptitious glance through the Kama Sutra). He'd bored her; Katze hadn't been bored. S/he'd seemed intensely interested, as though no one had ever done that before. Perhaps they hadn't, Ken thought. S/he'd let him do other things, too, like taste hir. He'd heard that that was pleasant for girls, but the girlfriends he'd had had thought it was gross: The one who'd let him try it stared at him the whole time, until he stopped, humiliated. Neither of them had reciprocated. Katze had reciprocated. The sensation had shocked Ken so much s/he nearly fell off the bed, laughing. Then s/he resumed, experimented, as curious as a cat to see what he'd make of it all. Later s/he'd told him that that was among the best ways to take care of hir when s/he had a flux. A thought crossed his mind; the feel of hir body against him was different, now. Not as soft, lacking the curves. He looked into hir tense, pale face again and stroked hir arm and shoulders, reaching down hir back. It occurred to him that s/he had a lot in common with Joe. Revenge had motivated both of them, but there were other things, little things. He wondered if s/he liked auto races. S/he was male now, and said that the fluxes always hit harder when s/he was male. He sighed, still absently stroking hir hair. He'd never thought about having sex with another guy; always thought of himself as straight, really. But if he didn't.. Would s/he come home and scrub hir skin off, the way s/he did when s/he was female? Ken looked again at the pale face. S/he was unmistakeably male now; bishonen and pretty, yes, but male. S/he would. Only the gender had changed, not the warped mind that governed (and was governed by) the body. S/he'd go out, find some floozy to sleep with, come home sick and scrub hirself raw. Ken sighed, his conscience wrestling with his upbringing. He thought of Nambu's highly-conservative lectures, comparing them to what he knew of the old Indian philosophies, that said sex was pleasurable for both and not wrong. He sighed; he couldn't let hir do that to hirself. S/he'd suffered enough. Maybe if he talked to hir, s/he could tell him what to expect. A whimper rose from the blonde mess on his chest, catching in hir throat with a slight jerk. Ken was still lost in strange thoughts, wondering just what he'd do if s/he asked him. He looked down at hir, "Ohayo gozaimasu." S/he flinched, startling a little, then looked up at him, blinking slowly. Ken smiled, "Sleep better? Oh, uh.. Do you mind?" he blushed, indicating their wrapped-up cuddle, "I kinda like this," he said sheepishly. S/he lay hir head back down on his chest, "I guess not." Ken sighed and flexed under hir, stretching, "It's warm. Always wanted to wake up like this." He yawned, "I'm glad you don't mind too much. I know I'm not your favorite face to wake up to." "Your eyes aren't green..." s/he shrugged, "I'll get used to you. It's more that I'm used to seeing you up close through pain." "Green eyes?" Ken asked, perplexed, then went quiet. He couldn't quite believe that he actually did feel bad for beating hir up so much.. but if he'd known then what he knew now.. Did it even happen, after what they'd done? S/he hadn't left Ovanon until s/