Return of Jetman Episode 3

RETURN OF JETMAN

"Grand Designs"
(Episode 3)
by Christopher Elam
(based on the work of Lewis Smith)
© 2003 Christopher Elam

 

"You are very brave to come back here Green Wyvern...and very, very foolish."

Lord Xenotos had been surprised by the young woman's appearance on his ship. Even now, standing in his throne room, surrounded by the Garo and the Chaos Coalition, she was defiant.

"Shove it, Xenotos," Green Wyvern snapped. "Our deal is off. I'm on my own now."

"You presume to give me orders?" Lord Xenotos asked, his astonishment at her audacity growing. "You were the one who ran from the battle!"

"That's the way you see it!" Green Wyvern retorted sharply. "Anyway, what about the bomb? You double-crossed me!"

Lord Xenotos sat back in his throne. Ah yes, his "surprise" for Jetman - the robot rigged to detonate during battle. It hadn't been intended for his agent, but he would not have been crushed had she been killed in the blast. Especially the way things had turned out.

Lord Xenotos turned to his cyclopean knight Dystron and gave the signal. Dystron let out an unholy war yell as he drew his sword and charged at Green Wyvern. Wyvern spun herself into the air and delivered a kick to Dystron's face that sent him staggering backward. As he did so, he slashed his sword blindly where he anticipated Green Wyvern would land.

Dystron ended up slicing only air. "Looking for me?" Green Wyvern queried as she tapped him on his shoulder from behind. As Dystron turned, she somersaulted into the air and landed on the other side of him.

Green Wyvern threw a fierce punch into Dystron's face. He stumbled backward, clutching his face in pain. Green Wyvern stood patiently, waiting for him to recover. Dystron was one of the most dangerous fighters on his planet and Green Wyvern was just toying with him.

Dystron seemed to realize the insult. He gripped his sword tightly in both hands and ran to confront Green Wyvern again. She casually reached out and materialized a weapon.

"Wyvern Boomerang!" she cried as she flung the weapon at Dystron and struck him in the head yet again. The knight dropped his sword and Green Wyvern saw her opening. She unsheathed her Wing Sword and leapt high into the air. With one mighty swing, she lopped off Dystron's head!

Dystron's head bounced along the floor of the throne room until it landed directly at Xenotos' feet. The single unblinking eye stared vacantly at the leader of the Chaos Coalition. Green Wyvern landed and pointed her sword directly at Lord Xenotos.

"Next time, that could be you," she warned and then she teleported back to her ship.

Hedes and Miira were by Xenotos' side as soon as Green Wyvern departed. "It was a mistake to bring her into our plan," Miira said as she idly stroked her husband's hair.

"Perhaps, my love," Lord Xenotos replied wearily. "I needed an agent to match this 'Jet Phoenix' and felt it better to use an expendable human rather than one of our people."

"She's far more unstable than we could have guessed," Hedes offered to his master.

"That may be," Lord Xenotos responded as he smoothed his hair down, "but now she is just one more distraction."

An evil grin crossed Miira's face. "As I studied this world, I learned of a being that might be able to handle this for us. All we will need is to find him!"

"And find a way to control him," Lord Xenotos added. He looked down and saw Dystron's decapitated head still staring up at him.

"Will someone clean this mess up?" he demanded.

***

"So, that's your final report?" Supreme Commander Odagiri inquired as she studied the concealed face of Jet Phoenix on the monitor in front of her, vainly hoping to discern something from his manner.

"That's it," Jet Phoenix responded as he edged closer to the screen in the Skywatch control room. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"

Odagiri took a deep breath. "The satellite surveillance footage of the battle - I saw what happened to you. You were injured, weren't you?"

Silence.

"Phoenix, I want you to come to Earthship for a full examination."

"And if I refuse? Will it be an order then?"

Odagiri rested her head in her hands. "Don't make me pull rank on you. Please."

"All right, I'll go," Jet Phoenix relented. "It'll give me a chance to test the space drive boosters on my Fighter anyway. I'll inform the team that the training schedule is optional today. They'll be pleased."

"Thank you," Odagiri said. "Tell me off the record - what about this Green Wyvern girl?"

"Funny you should mention her," Jet Phoenix said as he lifted a small diskette off the console. "I've been using that same surveillance feed to do some digging on her."

"And...?"

"Positive I.D. match. Name's Kei Mizuno, age 28, last known residence in Yokohama. The records indicate she has an incredibly high I.Q. In fact, she's something of a prodigy - she can excel at anything given the right tools."

"So why would she throw in with the aliens?"

"Well, it doesn't appear she's had a very happy life. Her mother died in childbirth and her father was killed when she was 3. After that, well...I'll let you read it for yourself. It isn't pleasant."

Jet Phoenix slipped the diskette into the drive and transmitted his research to the Commander. "Take a look at who her father was," he said as the data arrived at Earthship.

Odagiri pulled up the profile and gasped when she saw the name. "Oh my God."

"Either it was a coincidence she was chosen," Jet Phoenix said, "or Lord Xenotos has a perverse sense of humor."

***

Etsuko Oishi squinted as she stared at the multi-colored console screen, the eyeglasses she refused to wear unless necessary sitting by her side. She was going over the schematics for Jetman's mecha. If she was going to be Jet Phoenix's second-in-command, as she intended, it was her duty to know everything fowards and backwards. She would be prepared when the call came.

Etsuko was so engrossed in her studies that she failed to hear Ken Tendo sneak into the computer room with her. Ken took a moment to consider his next move. Etsuko was quite a looker, no question, but saying they had a personality clash would be putting it mildly. Ken wondered if she was nicer when you got to know her. Maybe he could try to put his best foot forward and find out.

But Ken being Ken, he abandoned that idea in favor of a slightly different approach. He kicked the back of her chair and said, "Hey you, wake up!" with much fake bravado.

"Ahhhhhh!" Etsuko exclaimed in distress as her train of thought was completely derailed. She leapt from her seat and whirled around, then rolled her eyes when they locked on Ken.

"What are you doing in here?" Etsuko asked indignantly.

Ken grinned mischievously. "I'm downloading some data for a project of mine. And you?"

Etsuko returned to her seat. "If you must know, I'm studying the specifications of the mecha."

"Did Jet Phoenix ask you to do that?" Ken said with the barest hint of tattletale in his voice.

"No," Etsuko replied as she tried to wish Ken out of existence. "I just want to be ready when he appoints me his second-in-command."

That caught Ken by surprise. "Oh? Don't you think Gai has that kind of locked up?"

"No, I don't," Etsuko said flatly.

Ken scratched his head as Etsuko resumed her studies. No use in pursuing the matter. He began working on gathering his own data. Minutes passed without a word spoken. Finally, Ken finished what he had come to do and took his discs in hand. As he went to leave, he noticed Etsuko was still glued to the screen.

He walked up beside her, careful not to get too close. "What's that?" he asked as he pointed to the display.

"Command icons," Etsuko said, eager to show off her knowledge to anyone - even Ken. "This is the one that controls Birdonic Saber."

She typed in a new code and a new icon appeared. "This one controls the Bird Maser."

Ken frowned. "Do you have to do that every time? Enter the code for every one?"

"What are you...GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Etsuko became extremely annoyed as Ken crowded up beside her and began fiddling with the keyboard. Her anger evaporated moments later when a new display appeared on-screen.

"There," Ken said with satisfaction. "Now you have all the icons on one screen and you can use the cursor to choose the one you want instead of typing all that code."

Etsuko gazed at the screen in bewilderment. "How'd you do that in 10 seconds?"

"Hey, I'm not just a pretty face, y'know," Ken responded. "I know my way around computers. Give me a call if you ever need a hand."

Was that...sincerity Etsuko detected? That was a side of Ken Tendo she hadn't seen. "Thanks. I'll do that."

"Anytime sweetheart!" Ken joked as he blew her a kiss and left.

Etsuko resisted the urge to chase him down and slug him, but it wasn't easy.

***

Green Wyvern hated the depths of space, so naturally it followed that she kept finding herself there. The memories that floated in the silent blackness dogged her as she sat in the cockpit of Dragon Wyvern. She had to put them aside as she tried to concentrate on plotting her next move.

Getting back to Earth was the first order of business. Then she could work on settling her scores with Jet Phoenix and Lord Xenotos. She had been pushed around enough in life and she wasn't going to stand for either of them thinking they could get away with it. They would pay. Oh, how they would pay. After that, she would be free to use her power however she saw fit.

Wait a minute. The space radar was detecting another ship moving. She locked on the signal and opened visual channels. Skyforce's Earthship station greeted her. Seeing it made her skin crawl. It was probably just a routine shuttle flight, but she magnified the image just to be on the safe side.

It wasn't a shuttle. It was Jet Phoenix's Phoenix Fighter! He was docking at the station. It was perfect! She couldn't have planned it any better if she had tried.

Jet Phoenix was walking right into a trap that he had set himself.

***

"AAAKIIIRRRAAAAA!" Yellow Owl yelled from atop the blackened pile of debris amidst the city's ruins. It had been his idea to use the "Neo-Tokyo" scenario from the training center's hologram option menu. Red Hawk had regretted giving his teammate the chance to choose almost immediately. It was obvious that Gohan spent far too much time watching TV.

"Thanks Gohan," Red Hawk said as he leapt out of the way of the mammoth incoming training robot. "That just blew any surprise advantage we might've had!"

"Hey man, I'm anything but subtle!" Yellow Owl exclaimed as he jumped on the back of the robot and pounded away at it with his fists. The robot made a sharp turn and he was thrown off right next to where Red Hawk crouched for safety.

"Maybe if Ken and Etsuko hadn't skipped out on us, we would have a chance!" Gai said, visibly annoyed as he returned the robot's fire with his Wing Gauntlet.

"Yeah, the three of us. . ." Gohan began. "Hey, where'd Reiko go?"

Blue Swallow sat on top of the robot's head, catching her breath. She looked down and noticed the lettering spelling out "POWER SOURCE", complete with a handy arrow. The designer evidently really went for the obvious.

Reiko stood up and blasted the panel open with her Wing Gauntlet. She didn't know what she was looking for, so she began to randomly pull wires from their sockets. She figured she had hit paydirt when the machine lurched to a stop, but the sudden jerk threw her off balance and sent her tumbling to the ground.

Fortunately, Red Hawk had seen what had happened. He jetted over and caught her before she was flattened. "Thanks Reiko. That wraps this session up. Finally."

A short time later, the Jetmen had powered down and were in the training area's locker rooms. As he was getting ready to leave, Gai noticed Gohan pulling a huge stack of letters, packages, catalogs, and magazines from his locker.

"What," Gai asked in disbelief, "is that?"

"Today's mail," Gohan answered as he struggled to keep the pile from falling to the floor. "I picked it up before we started and I didn't want to lose my Skyforce expense check."

"Why do you get so much?"

Gohan pondered the question for a second. "A fanboy's got to keep up with what's going on!"

Just then, Reiko bounded out of the girls' locker room and attached herself to Gohan's back. All of the mail fell from his grasp.

"Hey big guy!" Reiko laughed. "I've got something for us to check out when you're done!"

"Great," Gohan gasped as he tried to pry the tiny girl off his back. "But first...help me...with this mail..."

Gai shook his head, but couldn't help but grin as he headed out the door.

***

Aboard Skyforce Earthship 2, tensions ran high. The Chaos Coalition's starship had become a regular part of their scans since it had appeared, but now the scopes had picked up an additional bogey. What was worse was its position - right by the station itself.

"How did it get so close undetected?" Supreme Commander Odagiri inquired as she studied the space radar screen herself.

"Best guess is a cloaking device," the technician answered. "But to have one that could hide a ship that size, the designer would have to be..."

"A prodigy," Odagiri interrupted.

"Teleportation signal emitted!" the technician shouted.

"We're jamming their signal!" Odagiri responded.

"Commander, this signal is just like...ours..." The technician's voice trailed off as Green Wyvern appeared in the control room. The young woman looked around her, inspecting the surroundings.

"Evacuate NOW!" Odagiri ordered as all personnel cleared out of the area. Green Wyvern approached her deliberately as she stood her ground.

"Are you in charge here?" Green Wyvern asked as she walked toward the Commander. "I want Jet Phoenix!"

"I...I don't know where he is," Odagiri lied, trying to buy precious time.

"Don't give me that!" Wyvern said as her white-gloved hand seized the Commander by the throat and held her aloft. "I know he's here!"

A powerful blast struck Green Wyvern from behind. The surprise caused her to loosen her hold on the Commander, who quickly retreated to safety. Green Wyvern turned slowly, knowing full well who she would see.

"Looking for me?" Jet Phoenix asked.

***

Ken sat in front of his computer as he devoured another cup of ramen. All this business about the original Jetman had piqued his interest about Gai Yuki, his predecessor as Black Condor. He must've been a cool guy if his parents had named his brother after him.

Ken hadn't quite expected what he'd read in the files he'd downloaded. Apparently, Gai Yuki had not exactly been a model citizen in his life. He had been a rogue, a lone wolf - definitely not the hero type.

"Guess I'm following in his footsteps," Ken mused.

And then there was Yuki's untimely death. He hadn't fallen in battle, as Ken had expected. No, Gai Yuki had been stabbed to death by an unknown assailant three years after the fall of Byram. What's more, it had been on Ryu and Kaori Tendo's wedding day. From what Ken had learned, it dripped with poetic irony, but it still seemed like a hell of a way to go.

All that was left were the video files of Black Condor in action. Ken played the first one and stopped cold. He had to be imagining things. He played a second one and it seemed to back up his observation. He played them all in rapid succession, thinking he had to be crazy.

Those little moves and gestures Gai Yuki made in battle. Ken had seen them before. But that was insane. He couldn't be Gai Yuki.

Right?

***

Green Wyvern activated the laser powers of her uniform's glove and directed a blast at Jet Phoenix. He used his Wing Gauntlet to deflect it and withdrew his Wing Sword. He wanted this battle over as soon as possible. Too many bystanders.

Green Wyvern had other ideas. She had been looking forward to this and was quick to meet him. She caught his sword in mid-swing and delivered a quick kick to his solar plexus. As he doubled over, she wrenched the sword from his hands. She examined it for a moment, then snapped it in two.

"You seem to forget I still have the power of the other Jetmen!" she snarled as she threw the broken sword aside. "Now I'll have your power too! WYVERN POWER DRAIN!"

The green energy field enveloped Green Wyvern as it had during Jetman's battle with the original Jetman team. Only this time, her intended victim was none the worse for wear.

"It's not working!" she cried. "Why isn't it working?"

"Trade secret," Jet Phoenix said and he punched the preoccupied Green Wyvern into the computer terminals. Glass shattered and metal flew as she smashed into the equipment.

"You're going to regret that," Green Wyvern spat as she dragged herself out of the sparking machinery.

***

"I don't believe it Reiko! I just don't believe it!"

Gohan was sitting in a chair in Reiko's room as she adjusted her stereo. His attention was focused entirely on a magazine that he had received in the mail.

"Believe what?" Reiko asked. "Gohan, what are you talking about?"

"This issue of SUPER MYSTERY MAGAZINE!" Gohan responded as he jumped up and shoved it into Reiko's hands. "Skyforce released pictures from our battles and look what they wrote!"

Reiko examined the cover. It was a picture of the five of them, but the headline...

GAI YUKI ALIVE? WHAT IS JETMAN HIDING?

"'A special report by Michiru Oshima'," Reiko read aloud. "Wow, I guess they'll print anything."

"Reiko, this is serious! A lot of people read that! Just thi..."

Reiko put a finger to Gohan's mouth. She threw the magazine aside as she turned on the tape in her stereo. "Shhhh. Forget about that. Listen."

A female voice began singing through the stereo's loudspeakers. She was good - very good. Gohan couldn't remember hearing the song before, but she sounded familiar.

"That's great stuff!" he marvelled. "Who is that?"

Reiko giggled. "That's me."

"You?!!?"

"Yeah, it's one of the demo tapes Mom had me make. I asked her to send them to me."

Gohan whistled his approval. "I had no idea! Reiko, you've got a lot of talent! I don't know why you don't like to perform!"

Reiko flushed a little. "Aw, you're just saying that!"

"I'm dead serious!" Gohan reassured. "I mean, I could never do something like that!"

"Oh Gohan, you've got to have something you like to do besides watch TV!"

"Well, I like to write and draw," Gohan reluctantly admitted. "I've never really done that much with it."

"There you go," Reiko said. "Tell you what. You spend some time working on something like that, and I'll look it over for you. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Cool!" Reiko exclaimed as she took Gohan by the hand. "Now dance with me!"

"D-Dance?" Gohan sputtered. "I'm not much of a dancer."

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" Reiko said as she gyrated to the beat.

Gohan watched her and felt himself getting caught up in the moment. Anyway, there were no witnesses around. He began to shake his groove thing like there was no tomorrow.

***

Jet Phoenix hurtled through one wall after another from Green Wyvern's punch. He had been bluffing his way through the fight, but knew he was going to need a plan if he was expecting to survive much longer. As he came to a skidding stop, he raised his head to get his bearings before his foe arrived to finish him off. Where had he landed?

A quick examination got Jet Phoenix's mind working. He had landed...in Skyforce's weapons storeroom? Someone somewhere was watching over him.

Scant moments later, Green Wyvern clambered through the wreckage her rampage had caused. She wouldn't be satisfied until she had finished Jet Phoenix off with her own two hands. She entered the weapons storeroom cautiously, knowing that she could expect anything from her opponent. But even so, she was caught off-guard by Jet Phoenix's next move.

"BIMOTION BUSTER!" Jet Phoenix exclaimed as he fired the huge laser cannon from his position in the corner. The impact sent Green Wyvern careening backwards. Jet Phoenix dropped the bulky cannon and picked up the first weapon he could grab as he jetted off after her.

Green Wyvern was already up when he arrived and was unimpressed when she saw the weapon that Jet Phoenix had brought with him.

"A stick?" she mocked. "You're going to fight me with a STICK?"

Jet Phoenix was silent as he clubbed her with the Dairenrod. Again and again, he swatted her with the staff. Finally, she had the presence of mind to reach out and grab the weapon. She tightened her viselike grip on it and squeezed with all her might.

It didn't even bend. Green Wyvern cursed in frustration. Jet Phoenix had known all along that the Dairenrod was far more than just "a stick". He leveraged himself and then used the staff to vault over Green Wyvern.

Before she had the chance to react, Green Wyvern could feel the Dairenrod pressed against her throat. Jet Phoenix had her. For the moment.

"Is this what you want Kei?" Jet Phoenix gasped.

"What did you call me?"

"That's your name, isn't it?" Jet Phoenix said. "Kei Mizuno? Your father was one of the original Jetman volunteers, but he died when the Byram destroyed the first Earthship. He never had the chance to be a hero."

"Shut up," Green Wyvern - Kei Mizuno - whispered through clenched teeth.

"Now, you have the power," Jet Phoenix continued, "and look what you've done with it."

Kei raised her eyes involuntarily and surveyed the station. Even through her visor, the damage was apparent.

"Is this what you want?" Jet Phoenix pressed her to answer him. "Did you even think about the innocent people? What if you kill someone's parents? Another child orphaned and it'll be your fault!"

"SHUT UP, DAMN YOU!" Green Wyvern screamed as she threw an elbow into Jet Phoenix's midsection. He lost his grip on her and stumbled backward, expecting the worst.

Green Wyvern took one last look around her and teleported back to Dragon Wyvern. She fired up the rockets and made her way back to Earth as fast as her ship could move.

***

Ken stood in front of the door to Jet Phoenix's quarters. Cracking the code to the security lock had been the easy part. Now he had to decide if he should really go in.

Ken looked around to make sure no one was watching. He entered the code quickly and the door slid open. Ken mustered all his courage and stepped inside.

The room was entirely unremarkable. Except for the gold urn on the bedside table, there were no signs of any attempt to personalize the room at all.

Ken snooped around, determined to find something to justify this, but careful not to disturb anything too noticeably. A peek into the closet yielded the first revelation. Besides all the immaculate clothes, there was a saxophone in the corner.

Funny, Jet Phoenix hadn't struck him as the musical type. Come to think of it, he had never heard the saxophone through the less than soundproof walls of Skywatch. How odd.

As he went to leave, Ken happened to notice the book on the table. He wandered over and picked it up, hoping it might hold some sort of clue.

Hmmmmm, not really. CONTACT WITH OTHER WORLDS by Ryu Hoshikawa. It was a research book from the Skywatch library. Ken thumbed through it idly and noticed the bookmark where Jet Phoenix had marked his place. Ken opened the book directly to that page and realized there was far more to Jet Phoenix than met the eye.

The "bookmark" was a picture of Ken's mother, Kaori Tendo.

***

Jet Phoenix and Supreme Commander Odagiri grimly inspected the ruins of Earthship 2. They had survived the ordeal, but the cost had been high.

"How does it look?" Jet Phoenix asked.

"No fatalities, thank God," Odagiri replied as she watched the personnel packing up boxes. "Only minor injuries. But the station - we can't repair it while there's a crisis going on. We're going to have to move the base back to Earth."

Odagiri turned to Jet Phoenix. "We have a big problem. Can you take care of it for me?"

Jet Phoenix nodded. He knew exactly what she meant. He didn't relish the idea, but it was something that had to be done.

Green Wyvern had to die.

***

The most dangerous man on Earth sat quietly under a tree on the grounds of the mental hospital that had been his home for over 20 years. He hadn't spoken a word since the day he had arrived there and had shown little if any responsiveness to therapy. Which was really too bad, because a lot of people wanted to ask him a lot of questions. Mostly about why he hadn't aged a day the whole time he had been there. Oh yes, and his naturally blue hair.

Lord Xenotos appeared before him, encasing both of them in a field of invisibility to avoid prying eyes. In his hand, the leader of the Chaos Coalition held a metallic visor. He leaned forward and placed the visor on the man's head. For a moment, there was no reaction at all.

The visor lit up and the man moved. It had been so long, so very long. He lifted his hands and looked up at Lord Xenotos.

"I can think?" the man asked, not seeming to believe the words.

"Yes," Lord Xenotos confirmed. "So long as you serve me, your mind is yours again."

The man stood up on his own for the first time in years. He stretched out, reveling in the fact that he was himself again. His enemies had thought him defeated, but it was just another minor setback. Once again, he had beaten the odds.

Toranza was back.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

 

NEXT TIME ON RETURN OF JETMAN

Jet Phoenix and Green Wyvern meet in their final battle! Will either survive the confrontation? And why are the members of Jetman vanishing without a trace? The answers to these questions and much more will be in RETURN OF JETMAN Episode 4 - "Stalking Wolves"!

 

 

Story © Christopher Elam, based on the TV series CHOJIN SENTAI JETMAN and the original "Return of Jetman" stories by Lewis Smith. JETMAN and all characters from the CHOJIN SENTAI JETMAN series © TV Asahi/Toei/Toei Agency. Original characters © Christopher Elam & Lewis Smith.