New Return of Jetman Episode 5

NEW RETURN OF JETMAN

"Five Against Infinity"
(Episode 5)
by Christopher Elam
(based on the work of Lewis Smith)
© 2008 Christopher Elam

 

No one paid any mind to the inconspicuous car as it traveled the backroads of the Okayama district during the early hours of the evening. That was by design, of course. But even if anyone had taken notice of the car, or recognized its occupants, they would have never guessed their purpose.

The car pulled up to a seemingly abandoned house nestled deep in the woods. Another vehicle was already there. Good. The driver shifted into park and killed the engine. Then, he and his female passenger got out to look over the site of their meeting.

"I don't know, Ako," Raita Oishi said as he scratched his head. "This doesn't exactly look 'safe' to me."

"I hear you," Ako agreed. "Still, we've got to believe that Ryu and Kaori know what they're doing."

Almost as if on cue, the front door opened slightly and a female face peeked out. Kaori Tendo's features brightened somewhat as she spotted her friends and former comrades-in-arms.

"I'm so glad you two made it safely," Kaori whispered as Raita and Ako approached the house. "We've been terribly worried, especially after what happened to you, Ako."

"Bah, I'm fine," Ako dismissed casually as she and Raita doffed their shoes and dutifully donned the slippers provided at the door by their hosts. "It was a little scary, but Kensaki was more troubled than he was dangerous."

"The threat is worse than just random attacks from deluded crackpots, I'm afraid," Ryu Tendo said as he entered the room. "It's far worse than we could have possibly imagined."

"Ryu!" Raita exclaimed. "Is this Nemesis business really as bad as all that?"

"Yes," Ryu confirmed as he absently tossed a small globe in the air. "That's why I asked the two of you to meet us here, in this Skyforce safe house. The four of us are in terrible danger, too."

"But why do you say that, Ryu?" Kaori wondered, as lost as her friends. "We don't have our powers anymore - it's not as if we can affect the battle."

"It doesn't matter," Ryu explained. "Nemesis wants Jetman. It isn't just our sons and daughters he's after. He wants all of us."

Ako stopped cold. "You mean..."

"Jetman Killer was no accident," Ryu confirmed. "I don't think anything that's happened has been an accident. Nemesis is subtly manipulating everything. Even his henchmen aren't aware of his full plans, or the extent of his scheming."

"Ryu, pardon me for asking, but how do you know?" Raita queried, confused by his friend's conviction.

"That's because of me, I fear," an unfamiliar voice replied. A dapper man in a suit and hat entered the room, though no one there saw precisely when or how he arrived.

"This...is Mr. Hoshi," Ryu introduced, "and he has quite a story to tell."

***

"Come on, Tendo, are you in or out?" Kei Mizuno grumpily asked as she peered over what she thought was a pretty good poker hand.

"Don't rush me, I'm thinking," Ken Tendo responded as he rested his elbows on the conference table and mulled over the cards he'd been dealt.

Etsuko Oishi tapped her fingers testily. "Ken, you've been 'thinking' for five minutes already. How hard is it?"

"Think long, think wrong," Shinsei Hinotori added sagely, if in somewhat cliched terms, as he adjusted the dealer's brim he'd broken out for the evening.

"Man, you guys are so impatient!" Ken complained as he tossed in some of the cocktail swords they were using as chips. "I'm in, OK? Happy now?"

"I'd be happier if I were getting your money instead of these things," Kei said as she picked up a handful of cocktail swords. "Why, exactly, did you have an entire crate of these lying around Skywatch?"

Ken looked down at his cards sheepishly. "I, ah, made a mistake in filling out forms. It was easier to hide them in a back room than explain that to my dad."

Etsuko looked up at the ceiling and chuckled as she shook her head in disbelief. "Oh, Ken..."

"What? No, you guys have no idea!" Ken pleaded.

Shinsei raised a calming hand. "Oh, I believe I do, Ken. I fought side-by-side with that man, remember?"

"So, should I just declare myself the winner of this hand?" Kei asked irreverently.

Etsuko kicked her friend's shin under the table. "Kei, behave yourself."

"What I want to know," Ken wondered as he looked over at Shinsei, "is why we never did anything like this back in the old days?"

"Well, most of you were still kids," Shinsei explained. "I was supposed to be an authority figure, and I couldn't very well be one if I'm playing cards with all of you."

Etsuko looked over at Shinsei slyly. "There's also the fact that my dad told me that you were notorious for cheating at cards."

Shinsei sputtered as everyone at the table turned their gaze to him. "Uh, well, that was a long time ago..."

Kei laughed as she considered the huge pile of cocktail swords in front of her. "No worries. I think you'd be doing a lot better tonight if you were cheating!"

***

Reiko Hayasaka could hear the laughter of her Jetman teammates through the all-too-thin walls of Skywatch. They had decided to indulge in a little carefree fun and games to take their minds off what would be happening the next day. In a matter of hours, they would be traveling to Jigoku-dani to seek out Nemesis and confront him at his possible base. They all knew the risks such a mission entailed.

For Reiko, the card game hadn't been an attractive distraction, given her frame of mind. She had begged off, claiming that she was tired and wanted to go to bed. That had been a lie, of course - she just wanted to be alone. But then, her husband Gohan Oishi had declared that he would join her in bed, confessing that he didn't "get" poker.

Reiko pulled her knees under her chin as she perched on the chair by her bed. She stared at her sleeping husband and the body double she had called forth with her powers so she could slip away. Gohan's arm was draped over the Reiko double in a loving embrace. He really did mean well. He was still a great guy. He just couldn't see what he was doing to her.

Reiko rested her chin on her hands as she and her double locked eyes. Reiko wondered to herself what her analog was thinking as they wordlessly stared at each other. Soon enough, she would know. They would merge back into one and Reiko would remember how her doppelganger felt as she joined her in her husband's arms. But for the moment, Reiko wanted to be alone with herself.

Reiko couldn't find it in herself to be angry anymore. Or scared. Or sad. She kept thinking that she should cry, but the tears wouldn't come. All she felt was numbness. It had been bad enough that her marriage had been slowly falling apart. Then she had been thrown back into Jetman by a crisis she couldn't even understand. And then, to top it all off, she had seen her mother put into harm's way by some lunatic.

It was all too much for her. She had been putting on a brave front for the others, but she was dying inside. She was so close to cracking that she did her best not to dwell on it, for fear that it would push her over the edge. She didn't know what to do to make the feeling stop. She could only hope that she would be strong enough when the time came for the inevitable battle.

Voices passed through the hallway, indicating that the poker game had ended for the night. Reiko willed herself into one with her double in Gohan's arms. She tried to find comfort in his embrace, but all she found was the nagging notion that those days were well and truly over.

***

The night skies over Japan were surprisingly unremarkable. There was no indication of anything amiss, even with the bizarre force field that was surrounding the Earth and its vicinity. For most people, it was still business as usual. But even the travelers who plied those airways regularly would have been shocked by one decidedly unorthodox vehicle, if only it hadn't been hidden by a convenient stealth setting.

Seven Force's Rocket Mode blasted along at a slower than normal cruising speed, all the better to cloak its presence from unwary eyes. The mecha was piloted by the "One Man Jetman" called Silver Raven, but he was not alone - much to his chagrin. Joining him were Dirk Dixon and Hellvira Spitfire, his "teammates" in the loosely-knit group dubbed the Paradox Army by its master.

"I just do not see why Nemesis believes all three of us are needed!" Dirk exclaimed petulantly as he stood over Silver Raven's shoulder, seemingly intent on some backseat rocket flying. "Dirk Dixon can handle this kind of mission by himself!"

"I really don't care!" Hellvira hissed from the seat on which she was curled up seductively for no good reason. "All I want is to kill some humans! I have been humiliated enough already!"

"Perhaps your dismal failure had more to do with your own shortcomings than anything else?" Silver Raven intoned icily from his controls.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Hellvira countered.

"Your reliance on parlor tricks and conjuring is...quaint, I admit," Raven answered with more than just a hint of condescension. "However, your backwards notions are relics in this day and age of super science."

Hellvira's tongue snaked out. "You fools! So proud of your metal marvels that you fail to recognize the fire of my magick!"

"That's exactly the sort of thing I'd expect a woman to say," Dirk nodded officiously.

Hellvira stopped and turned to stare at the ersatz hero coldly. "What did you say?"

Dirk shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, that's how the weaker sex is, isn't it? Their blind faith in imaginary notions like magic and intuition outweighs even the reality of a good raygun in your hand."

"When this is over," Hellvira snarled, "Nemesis will be hard-pressed to stop me from delighting in killing you."

Dirk ignored her, feeling that she had begun to "prattle" like a typical female. "Say, this is quite a machine here, Silver Raven," he opined as he ran a hand over a control panel. "Not as sleek and streamlined as MY rocketship, but..."

"Hands off the equipment, Dixon!" Raven snapped. "The last thing I need is a dolt like you meddling with Seven Force!"

Hellvira laughed heartily. "Not so smug now, are we? You two are ridiculous children posturing over whose toys are better!"

"This is man talk!" Dirk protested.

"Quiet, both of you!" Silver Raven admonished. "We have a mission, and this bickering is pointless! All it does is distract us from our goal - destroying the original Jetman team!"

***

"God, these things are awesome," Gohan said as the small squadron of one-person Jet Copters blazed across the sunrise on their way to Jigoku-dani. "I wish we'd had them before!"

"They're my own design," Ken replied. "Something I did to while away the hours. Never thought Skyforce would actually make them."

"See, Tendo?" Kei radioed. "All you have to do is apply yourself."

"Ha ha," Ken countered sarcastically.

"Would you two cut it out?" Etsuko chided. "Shinsei, how do things look on your end?"

"Nothing unusual on visuals so far," Shinsei answered. "You'll be approaching the anomalous area soon."

"Fantastic," Reiko sighed. "I am so looking forward to seeing what Nemesis has in store for us."

"Doesn't look like you'll have to wait long," Kei replied. "Get a load of that!"

The gleaming futuristic spires of a sleek mini-city jutted high into the air, and all the Jetman heroes could do was look on with jaws agape. None of them had been to Jigoku-dani in awhile, but all of them knew that it wasn't supposed to have such a complex in it. Even the landscape looked different and not quite "right". As the Jetmen landed their Jet Copters and disembarked from them to approach the valley, they were surprised to find...

"A suspension bridge?" Ken wondered aloud. "Shinsei, are you getting this?"

"I am," Shinsei confirmed, "but I can't explain it. I wasn't even getting a signal from inside that field until you five entered it."

"Wow, that's good then!" Gohan exclaimed. "Maybe we're catching Nemesis off-guard!"

"Or maybe he's letting us see things now that we're here." Etsuko offered. "Either way, we have to cross this."

The Jetmen stepped cautiously onto the suspension bridge and slowly made their way across it. A thick fog hung below it, obscuring any chance of seeing what the bridge actually crossed.

"What do you guys think is down there?" Reiko asked as she peered over the side.

"I'm not sure I want to know," Ken answered.

When all five Jetmen were safely across, they stood before the massive citadel that Nemesis had erected. It was, in fact, a miniature city - pristine and sparkling. In other circumstance, they might have found it breathtaking. As it was, all it provided was a problem.

"Where is he in there?" Kei demanded. "I want to get this over with! Why doesn't he come out and fight if he knows we're here?"

Just then, the Jetmen heard a distinctive whizzing sound and saw a blur of motion headed toward them. Almost too late, they realized that they were standing on a monorail track.

"Watch out!" Ken cried. "Cross Changer!"

With those words, the quartet activated their henshin bracelets and scrambled off the track just in the nick of time as a bullet-like train car pulled up beside them. The side hatch flipped up with a hiss and a short, slightly-demented looking robot sat at the car's controls.

"Greetings!" the robot said in a pleasant mechanical voice as it donned an engineer's cap. "I am 6-Yark-6, and Nemesis has charged me with giving you a tour of Future City!"

***

"Confound it!" Dirk Dixon proclaimed in his typically antiquated way as he dug through the charred remains of a house secluded in the midst of the Okayama district. "We accomplished our mission, didn't we? What is this nonsense?"

"Dixon, shut up!" Hellvira spat testily as she used her Infernal Flute staff to dig through the wreckage. "We are not done until we find the bodies! I want to revel in the carnage!"

Just then, the gigantic drill bit on the prow of Seven Force's Miner Mode burrowed out from underground. "Nothing!" Silver Raven reported. "No hidden passages or rooms! I dirtied Seven Force's pristine finish for nothing!"

"Where are they?" Hellvira muttered as she picked through the burnt wood. "They were in this house. My senses and Silver Raven's machine agreed on that much."

"Ah, I should have known," Dirk scoffed as he turned and walked away dismissively.

Hellvira's grip tightened around her Infernal Flute. She rued being bound to Nemesis more than ever, because it prevented her from murdering that insufferable boob Dixon. Even the idiotic Jetman fools did not arouse her ire as much as that blond buffoon.

"Just a moment!" Dirk exclaimed as he put a hand to his forehead. "Do you two hear that?"

Hellvira opened her mouth to snap at Dixon again, but stopped short. "I...yes," she agreed as she heard a voice reverberating in her head.

"Nemesis!" Raven shouted as he speedily converted Seven Force to Gyro Mode in preparation for takeoff. "The plan's been changed!"

"But we haven't..." Dirk began.

"Forget it!" Hellvira bellowed as she dragged him aboard Seven Force as it rose from the ground. "We must return to Future City immediately!"

When Seven Force's Gyro Mode had attained sufficient altitude, Silver Raven commanded, "Seven Force Mode Rokudai - Rocket Mode!" and the mecha reconfigured itself again before blasting off for its home base.

"So, Jetman's invaded our base?" Silver Raven commented. "Either they're braver than I thought, or stupid beyond reason."

***

Shinsei pondered the images being beamed back to Skywatch from Jetman's helmet cams. The monitors were alive with a gaudy, expansive complex that couldn't logically exist where it did. Yet there it was, and his former proteges were being given a guided tour of it by a ramshackle robot.

"Is everything alright?" Michiru Oshima queried as she entered the control room.

"Hmm? Oh, so far," Shinsei answered absently "Nemesis is apparently inviting them inside. I suppose this means he feels pretty secure."

Michiru put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "They're going to win. I made sure I was here today to remind you of that."

Shinsei laid a hand over hers without taking his eyes off the monitors. "Nothing is ever guaranteed. I've seen too much to feel otherwise. I just wish...just wish I could help them."

"You are helping," Michiru countered. "They need you here, to watch their backs for them."

Shinsei shook his head. "Maybe. I'd still feel better if I was fighting by their sides. But my hero days are long over."

"Ridiculous!" Michiru scolded as she wrapped her arms around him. "Just because you don't have powers anymore, that doesn't make you any less of a hero. Your heart is still the same!"

Shinsei relaxed just a bit in her embrace. "Thank you, Chibi. Sometimes, you make me forget that I'm an andr..."

"And hush with that, too!" Michiru reprimanded. "You're more of a man than most people I know! So you concentrate on doing what you do best, and forget the defeatist talk!"

Shinsei snapped a small, sarcastic salute as Michiru playfully poked him. Maybe dying twice had been a small price to pay to spend the rest of his time with this amazing woman.

***

"Thank you for riding the Future City Express!" 6-Yark-6 said as it tipped its engineer's cap to Jetman as they departed from the monorail car. "Please join us again...if you survive."

"Well, this is insane," Blue Swallow remarked as the car sped away on its track.

"Can't argue with that," Black Condor agreed. "Still, the little bucket of bolts did deliver us to Nemesis' HQ in this crazy joint."

The five Jetman heroes took a moment to survey the wide cylindrical building that apparently held their quarry. The entrance was open - no door or guards barred their way. Cautiously, Jetman went in through the front way.

"This is a trap, you know," Green Wyvern commented to her teammates.

"No, you think?" Black Condor replied. "Meeting the bad guys on their home turf pretty much requires walking into an ambush."

For a moment, at least, it appeared such concerns were unfounded. The heroes proceeded down a corridor that went on and on and on, until finally, they emerged in a wide-open amphitheater. A series of similar entrances surrounded the large expanse, though none of them had been in evidence from the exterior. In the center was Nemesis, in a floating lotus position, contemplating the Omniversal Prism that hung in the air before him.

"That must be the prism that Silver Raven mentioned," White Swan whispered as she pointed at the fantastic object. "It's got to be the source of Nemesis' powers."

"Then I guess this is showtime," Yellow Owl said as the heroes warily approached the menace who had terrorized the world for weeks. Suddenly, hidden gears groaned to life, and the top of the building opened to expose the stadium-like structure to the outside. A silvery rocketship zoomed in from seemingly out of nowhere.

"We have our ambush," White Swan observed as she took hold of Black Condor's hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Yeah, looks like it," Condor responded. "On your guard, everyone!"

Nemesis continued to levitate wordlessly as three figures beamed out of Seven Force's Rocket Mode. Silver Raven, Hellvira Spitfire, and Dirk Dixon - the Paradox Army - materialized directly across from the heroes of Jetman.

"It's teleportation," Raven deadpanned. "It's nothing new."

Green Wyvern stepped forward defiantly. "We know what it's called, you insufferable piece of..."

"So, you Mongol cowards finally found your courage?" Dirk interrupted haughtily.

"At laaaaaaast!" Hellvira practically rejoiced. "I cannot wait to tear them limb from limb for..."

"The time for words is finished!" Raven declared, eager to end the preliminaries.

"Suits us fine!" Condor shouted, and the battle was joined.

***

Hinotori's brow furrowed as he watched the conflict unfold before him on Skywatch's monitors. Jetman had bested each of these threats individually, but now they were united. Would that be too much? And how would Nemesis himself inevitably enter into the equation?

No matter how much reassurance Michiru gave him, Hinotori still felt frustrated and helpless. So much so, the insistent beeping emitted from the console failed to register at first. When he finally noticed it, and the accompanying flashing red light, he was puzzled. A message from Skyforce? Now? With hesitation, Shinsei opened channels and donned the headset designated for such top priority alerts.

"This is Hinotori," he replied. A long, uncomfortable silence followed as Michiru studied his darkening features. He didn't need to say anything, because his face told the entire story.

"I...I see," Hinotori finally said haltingly. "I...OK. OK. Thank you. Skywatch out."

Michiru approached him apprehensively. "What-what's wrong?"

"That was Aya," he answered. "Ryu asked her to fill in for him while he went off on some secret project. Only..."

"What?"

"Only it seems the Paradox Army found him. Along with the rest of the team."

"Oh no..."

"There was an emergency signal from a Skyforce safe house in Okayama hours ago. When agents arrived, the place had been utterly demolished. Two cars were among the wreckage. One was Ryu's. The other was a car hire rented by Raita."

Michiru's hand went to her mouth. "You mean they're...?"

Shinsei hung his head. "They don't know. No bodies have been found. But it's a good bet all four of them were in that house when whatever it was happened."

Michiru could feel the tears well up in her eyes. "Oh, Shinsei..."

"What do I do now?" he wondered aloud. "Those kids are fighting for everything, and I have to find the way to tell them that their parents are dead."

***

"Have at you, Mongol fiends!" Dirk Dixon proclaimed as he launched himself at Green Wyvern. The heroine grabbed his wrists as he attempted to overpower her.

"You need to...ugh...back off, idiot!" Wyvern declared as she struggled to hold her ground.

"And you," Dirk shot back, "need to hush your sassy mouth!"

Oh no, he didn't. Wyvern felt a surge of adrenaline and rage rush through her. She threw Dirk off her and jetted fist first at him. A punch to the jaw sent the space hero down.

"Mmmm, not bad for a girl," Dirk said as he nursed his jaw.

Wyvern howled with anger as she materialized her Wyvern Boomerang and hurled it at Dirk. Thinking fast, the Man of Tomorrow whipped out his raygun and deflected the weapon.

"Ho ho!" Dirk laughed joyfully. "I'm winning!"

"Think again," Wyvern responded wryly as the Boomerang curved around and struck Dirk in the back of the head. The misguided hero was sent sprawling to the ground.

"You're so clever, aren't you?" Dirk asked pointedly. "You and your Mongol tricks! I'll beat you yet!"

Wyvern caught her Boomerang as it returned to her and took a defiant pose. She waved Dirk on. "Bring it, spaceman. If you've got what it takes."

It was Dirk's turn to yell as he charged recklessly at an unconcerned Green Wyvern.

***

Hellvira Spitfire clutched both Yellow Owl and Blue Swallow by the throat and lifted them over her head. Her fingers tightened their grip around the duo.

"Mortal fools!" Hellvira screeched. "How I have longed to avenge the affront perpetrated by your White Swan!"

"Gr-great," Owl sputtered. "Etsuko getting me in trouble again!"

Blue Swallow rocked back and kicked Hellvira in the face. The villainess lost her hold on Swallow, but swung Yellow Owl at her in retaliation.

"WHOOOOOOOOA!" Owl cried in equal parts shock and warning as he found himself clubbing his diminutive wife.

"Ooooof!" Blue Swallow reacted as her husband's body slammed into her. The heroine crumpled to the ground as Hellvira loosened her grip on Owl. That would prove to be a mistake on her part.

"Owl Thunder!" Owl exclaimed as explosive forces gathered in his feet and he kicked into Hellvira as she dropped him. The impact threw the demon woman into a wall.

"Why do you humans insist on prolonging your suffering?" Hellvira wondered menacingly as she peeled herself off the wall.

As Blue Swallow regained her feet, she espied the villainess as she manifested fire wings and jetted back into battle.

"Time for Round Two!" she motioned to Yellow Owl as they girded themselves for another fracas.

***

"This is pointless, you know," Silver Raven chastised as he exchanged blows with Black Condor. "I'm stronger than you, faster than you, and I'm a much better dresser."

"Think so, huh?" Condor replied as he threw a right at the renegade clone being.

"I know so," Raven smirked as he dodged the punch and jammed one of his own into Condor's solar plexus. "But I give you credit for trying."

"HIIII-YAAAA!" White Swan screamed as she dove onto Raven's back and delivered karate chops to both sides of his neck. Rather than incapacitating the villain, the attack just provoked him.

"Don't you learn?" Raven asked mockingly as he tossed Swan over his shoulder. "You're persistent, but you only survived the last time by sheer luck."

Silver Raven's taunts were interrupted by what felt remarkably like a series of fists to his face. He grabbed the front of his helmet as he wobbled slightly.

"Your invisibility gimmick will not help you!" he shouted to the lurking Black Condor. "Sooner or later, I will best you!"

Raven unholstered his Silver Special guns and fired lasers randomly. Condor narrowly evaded the beams, bur they broke his concentration enough that he dropped his Stealth cloak. Raven converted one of the Silver Specials into a dagger and hurled it at Black Condor.

The dagger whizzed past Condor's head as White Swan grabbed Silver Raven and drove a knee into his back. She held him firmly as she then punched him in the back of the head. Condor joined in the attack by balling his fists together and slamming them into Raven's chest.

Silver Raven lashed out and threw his two opponents from him. "You two are doing better than I expected," he conceded, "but I can still tip the balance in my favor! FORCE CALLING!"

Condor shook his head in resignation. "Oh no, not this again."

"Seven Force Mode Nanadai - Robo Mode!" Raven commanded as he materialized in his mecha's cockpit. "Advantage, Silver Raven!"

"Not for long, you sparkly creep!" Swan yelled defiantly as she pointed up at the towering robot. "Right, Ken?"

Black Condor stared up at the Brobdingnagian robot. "Man, that thing is really, really big."

Swan punched Condor in the arm. "Right, Ken?"

"Oh, right," Condor agreed as he shook his head clear. "In fact, we were expecting more of your shenanigans! Jet Fighters scramble!"

Almost instantaneously, five sleek fighters flew into view over the impossible complex in Jigoku-dani. With Black Condor's command of "Icarus Gattai!", they fused together into a single form and Jet Icarus emerged in a flash of light.

White Swan looked over her shoulder. "The others look busy. This is just gonna be the two of us."

"Well, hang on!" Black Condor exclaimed as he activated the control to beam them aboard Jet Icarus. "It's time we knocked this guy down a peg or two!"

As they materialized in Jet Icarus' cockpit, Swan looked over at Condor. "Trouble is, we haven't had a lot of luck with that mecha so far."

"Do you two really believe your puny machine can match up to Seven Force?" Silver Raven bragged. "It is an absolute thing of beauty! Had I mentioned that it has..."

"...seven modes. Right, we heard," White Swan finished. "Ken? Hit that smug bastard."

"Gladly," Black Condor said as he fired the Bird Maser chest plate beam directly at his opponent's mecha.

Energy pounded Seven Force, but seemingly did little damage. The impact pushed the huge mecha backward, but Silver Raven held his machine firm in the face of the onslaught. Finally, Condor switched off the Bird Maser before he depleted all of Jet Icarus' energy.

Silver Raven cracked his knuckles. "I think it's my turn now. Septua Shock!"

Seven Force's chestplate generated a heptagonal energy field, which coalesced and then blasted Jet Icarus. Black Condor and White Swan valiantly maintained their mecha, but it was clear that Seven Force was stronger than their machine.

"Damn!" Condor cursed as he slammed in fist on the control panel. "What I wouldn't give to cram that thing down his throat!"

"Maybe there's still a chance," Swan said. "That thing must've taken damage in the last battle. If I could have time to find a weak point..."

"I'll buy you time," Condor replied. "Find something."

"Birdonic Saber!" rang out as Jet Icarus' sword appeared in its hand. Jetman's mighty robot approached Seven Force and struck a defiant blow against its enemy.

"What's that, a toothpick?" Raven chided as he materialized his own blade. "Seven Sword!"

"God, I hate him so much," Black Condor muttered.

The Birdonic Saber and Seven Sword clashed violently. Sparks flew from both weapons and showered the vicinity. Still, the outcome of the battle couldn't possibly be in doubt. Seven Force was clearly the mightier of the two.

"How's it going?" Condor inquired as he struggled to hold his own in the mecha duel.

Swan's fingers danced over the keyboard as the computers analyzed a projected schematic of Seven Force. "Almost, almoooooost...there!"

Swan directed the schematic to Condor's monitor. "Look here!" she exclaimed. "The last battle left a hairline fracture in the flux capacitor, located on the belt configuration. A direct strike at that point would set off a chain reaction in its engine core!"

Condor looked at his monitor and the red blinking spot on the Seven Force schematic. Then, he stared blankly at White Swan. "Flux capacitor? You-you just made that word up, didn't you?"

"No, no, look!" Swan explained, slightly exasperated. "You see, it's...it's...you know what? Yes. Yes, I did. Just hit the glowy thing on the readout, OK?"

Black Condor nodded shame-facedly, then turned his attention back to the matter at hand. He raised up the Birdonic Saber as if to clash swords with Seven Force again, then feinted into a brutal swipe at his enemy's belt buckle.

"What foolishness is this?" Silver Raven exclaimed. "Do you not think--What?"

The chain reaction began almost immediately. Encouraged by the outward signs of cracks developing in Seven Force's armor plating, Black Condor struck again. And again. Finally, the belt buckle shattered, and Jet Icarus backed away from its adversary.

"What have you...?" Raven wondered incredulously. "No. NO! You couldn't possibly have..."

The rest of Silver Raven's sentence was drowned out by another explosion in his cockpit. Even one as self-assured of his own greatness as the One Man Jetman knew when it was time to cut his losses. He ejected his seat from the cockpit right before it was destroyed in a massive explosion.

As Silver Raven's seat jetted back to earth, Black Condor and White Swan allowed themselves a moment to sit back in their own seats, cross their arms, and nod in satisfaction.

***

The assemblage in Nemesis' Future City stronghold watched in shock as Seven Force blew apart. All save Nemesis himself, so enraptured was he by the power of the Omniversal Prism. It was that selfsame Prism's power which shielded all of the combatants of Jetman and the Paradox Army alike from the rain of flaming debris which littered the sky.

Black Condor and White Swan beamed down from Jet Icarus to confront Silver Raven. Raven unstrapped himself from his ejector seat and quickly assessed his predicament. He launched into a dizzying flurry of punches and kicks to defend himself.

"Oh, you two will pay dearly for wrecking Seven Force," he threatened angrily, showing signs of a crack in his arrogant demeanor.

"Send us a bill," Black Condor retorted.

"We've got to get to Nemesis!" Swan cried as a protesting Dirk Dixon sailed past from a Green Wyvern heave. "We're wasting time fighting them!"

"Can't argue," Condor said as his swing at Silver Raven missed.

"You charlatans cannot hope to defeat us, much less Nemesis," Raven pronounced haughtily, regaining some of his composure. "I could best you five by myself!"

"That right, eh?" Swan replied. "Think again! Swan Ice!"

The heroine clasped her hands onto Silver Raven's shoulders and sent freezing rays coursing through the villain's uniform. Raven struggled against Swan's icy touch, but could only do so much as her powers interfered with his suit's capabilities.

"Go, Ken!" Swan shouted. "GO!"

Taking his teammate's cue, Black Condor bolted for Nemesis as fast as he could. Along the way, he took notice of Yellow Owl and Blue Swallow faring poorly against Hellvira Spitfire and her newly-manifested Succubus Girls. Even with Reiko's Swallow Divison evening the odds, it had turned into an uphill battle. He wanted to stop and help them, but knew that he had to keep going. Only by stopping Nemesis himself would everyone be safe.

At last, Condor found himself face-to-face with Nemesis. The armored destroyer said nothing, did nothing. He merely levitated before the Omniversal Prims and silently maintained his rapport with it. Condor could sense the dripping contempt emanating from the villain. For all of his talk of "wanting Jetman", he didn't even consider them worthy enough to acknowledge during their attack.

As Black Condor stood before the man who had set this mad game into motion, a voice crackled in through his helmet. It was Shinsei Hinotori, who had finally managed to get back through.

"There's so much interference there," Hinotori said through his garbled transmission. "Ken, what's going on?"

"Everyone is OK, for now," Condor reassured, little realizing how ironic those words were to Shinsei. "I've finally made it through, and I'm going to take care of things."

"Ken! Be careful! We have no idea what he's capable of doing!"

"No worries. I've got my eye on him, and I'll finish this where everyone can go home."

Condor felt his King Saber materialize in his right hand. He was going to end this. If Nemesis wanted to defend himself, fine. If not, well, that was fine, too. It wasn't as if Mika Katsuragi had been shown any mercy.

Black Condor drove his King Saber at Nemesis, intending to impale it straight into the villain's heart. What he hadn't anticipated was the mental assault that would be launched at him the moment he thrust his blade forward. The world seemed to turn topsy-turvy and slow down to a glacial pace. Beneath his visor, Ken Tendo lost all connection with the outside world. All he knew was the weapon in his hand, and he meant to make sure that it found a target.

Not even Nemesis could have guessed that the King Saber's blade would strike the Omniversal Prism. And even if he had, he hadn't fully realized that the sword, forged in the fires of a parallel world, was far more durable than the rest of the Jet Weapons. For as the weapon struck the Omniversal Prism, shards of the mysterious prism were broken off and flew out.

Black Condor felt the assault on his mind cease and he slumped to his knees. White Swan rushed to his side to check on him. As she did, both of them noticed that the world had gone insane.

Three fragments had been broken from the Omniversal Prism. Each of them had flown in different directions, and there were now warps in time and space in each location where they had originally landed. Each of the warps was filled with a kaleidoscope of colors and images undreamed by any of the combatants in Nemesis' stronghold. It was a pity the majesty was lost on them, as they instead fought both each other and the buffeting cosmic winds churned up by the unnatural phenomenon.

Hellvira Spitfire's Succubus Girls and Blue Swallow's Swallow Division analogs merged back into their hosts as they resisted the pull of the warp typhoon. The demon woman wrestled with her female rival bitterly, unwilling to concede the battle even in the face of certain disaster. And then, without warning, they both tumbled into the warp.

"REIKO!" Yellow Owl cried as he watched his wife disappear into a mysterious tear in reality. Without thinking, he reached out to try to retrieve her, and was instead sucked in with her.

Green Wyvern sat over a prone Dirk Dixon and kept on punching him. It didn't help, but it was the only thing that made sense to her. Unfortunately, as satisfying as abusing the spaceman was, it also left both of them vulnerable, and quickly they too were drawn into one of the warps.

"What the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." were the last words from Green Wyvern as she and Dirk Dixon fell together into some great unknown.

As Condor and Swan watched the terrifying tableau play out before them, neither noticed Silver Raven inching closer and closer to them. He brandished a Silver Special dagger, intending on at least reclaiming some of his dignity before he met whatever fate the warps held for him. As he went for his killing blow, however, he was pulled into another of the warps, and lost.

Black Condor and White Swan locked eyes from behind their visors - not as heroes, but as Ken Tendo and Etsuko Oishi. Ken gently ran his hand along where Etsuko's cheek was under her helmet, and the two of them embraced. Then, they too were sucked into the same warp that had claimed Silver Raven.

As abruptly as it began, the madness was over. All three warps sealed themselves, leaving no evidence that they had even existed. All that remained was Nemesis, who continued to levitate before the incomplete Omniversal Prism. The armored man bowed his head slowly, knowing that this twist in the plan had caught even him by surprise. What would happen next, he could not predict.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

 

NEXT TIME ON NEW RETURN OF JETMAN

Jetman and the Paradox Army have vanished! Where...or when are they? What will Shinsei Hinotori do in the face of this startling turn of events? How will our world cope with the still very real danger of Nemesis himself? To learn the answers you could scarcely dare imagine, be here for NEW RETURN OF JETMAN Episode 6 - "Beyond The Universe"!

 

 

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.