NEW RETURN OF JETMAN
"Some Say In Ice"
(Episode 3)
by Christopher Elam
(based on the work of Lewis Smith)
© 2006 Christopher Elam
Etsuko Oishi sat with her legs crossed on the icy ground outside Tazawa Station. The wind whipped through her, and her Skyforce uniform clung to her body. She didn't notice. There were times when being who she was had its advantages.
She avoided letting the others see her outside. They knew who she was, of course. How could they not? But they didn't know why she had chosen to be there. That was something she tried to think about only in those moments of stolen solitude.
Her hands generated ice which she molded carefully. She had long ago mastered the ability to use her powers without a special power suit to channel them. Still, using them for ice sculpting had been a relatively recent innovation. It gave her something to do when she was out there alone, thinking about the past.
Etsuko finished her work and stood up to inspect the newly-created ice sculpture. She smiled slightly as she examined the one meter tall butterfly she had created. It could, conceivably, last forever in the bitter environment in which it had been born. For a moment, Etsuko felt pride in her work.
As she scrutinized it further, however, Etsuko became acutely aware of the flaws she perceived in her creation. The pride dissipated and was replaced by frustration. It was always the same. She always fell short of her own standards.
Finally, Etsuko could stand it no more. She smashed the butterfly furiously, not wanting anything to remain that would remind her of it. When it was gone, Etsuko gazed dispassionately at the pile of ice on the ground.
Etsuko turned and made her way almost mechanically to the door. It was time to return. The others would start to wonder if she stayed gone too long.
***
"Antarctica?"
Ken Tendo could scarcely believe the one word question that had just rolled off his tongue. Even more unbelievable to him was the person he was asking. It was the person he and his teammates had finally learned knew the whereabouts of Etsuko Oishi - namely, Skyforce Supreme Commander Ryu Tendo. His own father.
Ryu Tendo nodded as he looked over the assemblage before him in his Earthship office. "That's correct. She's stationed at Skyforce's Tazawa Station, supervised by Professor Sadao Maeda."
"But why?" Ken demanded. "What's more, why didn't you tell any of us?"
"Why?" Ryu countered. "She came to me, asking to be reinstated with Skyforce, looking to get away from...something. What should I have done?"
"Get...away?" Ken wondered. He turned to his friends, their faces reflecting his confusion. "Why would she need to get away?"
"That's her business," Ryu said firmly. "When the daughter of one of my oldest friends comes to me for help, I don't ask her questions. I help her in any way I can."
"But..." Ken began, but Shinsei Hinotori pulled him aside before he could finish.
"Let me," Hinotori quietly said. "Why don't you four go to the lounge and wait this one out?"
Ken opened his mouth to argue the point, but stopped short. Dammit, Shinsei was right. The rest of them might have proven themselves time and again, but he was Ryu's contemporary, Ryu's friend. He could talk to the Supreme Commander in a way even his son wouldn't dare.
Ken took a deep breath. "Yeah, all right. C'mon guys, let the old soldiers hash this one out."
As the quartet departed, Gohan Oishi and Reiko Hayasaka looked over their shoulders. They couldn't help but notice the distracted look on the face of their friend Kei Mizuno as she trailed the rest of the group.
"Kei hasn't said a word since we got here," Reiko whispered.
"I know," Gohan replied. "Wonder what's gotten into her?"
Hinotori watched as the door to Commander Tendo's office slid shut behind his former charges, then turned to face his old friend. "OK Ryu, level with me..."
"I'm sorry Gai. I really have nothing more to say about..."
Hinotori sat down on the edge of Tendo's desk. "First off, it's 'Shinsei', not 'Gai' now. Second, I don't mean about Etsuko. Maybe I had to use my, ah, sources to track her this far, but your word is good to me. What I want to know is what you know...about Nemesis."
Ryu shifted in his chair uncomfortably. "Not a lot, I fear. Besides the incidents in Japan and Hawaii, we believe him to be responsible for the force field surrounding Earth space."
"A force field, eh?" Shinsei inquired. "Makes sense. Good way to keep any outside forces from arriving."
"...Or to keep anyone from leaving," Ryu added. "We learned that the hard way."
"Oh?"
Ryu hesitated for a moment. "After the slaughter of Funkyman, their robot mentor DJ Microbo apparently decided to return to his home on the planet Rokku. So he launched their base Funkytown into space and...it was vaporized on contact with the field. Obliterated without a trace."
Hinotori sat silently, digesting what Ryu had told him. He slid off the desk and wandered over to a port window to look into the starry spacefield outside.
"I guess that rules out a cavalry riding to our rescue," Shinsei stated.
"Yes," Ryu confirmed. "Ga...Shinsei, I can't ask those kids to fight again. They've already sacrificed so much. But we need them. The Earth needs them."
Shinsei smiled. "Ryu, you seem to be forgetting that Nemesis wants Jetman first and foremost. They'll give him just that, if they have the means and their full fighting force."
Ryu rose from his chair and stood next to his old comrade-in-arms. "Well, I made my feelings known to the Supreme Council rather forcefully," he revealed. "The arrangements have already been made."
Shinsei looked into the eyes of Ryu Tendo. "I knew we could count on you."
Tendo shrugged. "How could I do anything less? I'll notify Professor Maeda that they're coming."
***
The continent of Antarctica is the coldest and windiest place on Earth. Ice covers 98% of its surface. The only humans who inhabit it are the personnel of the various research stations which dot its expanse. Those hardy souls number less than 5,000 year-round, so it would fair to say that Antarctica is not exactly a population hub.
A shame, really. For, if there were a significant number of people on the southernmost continent, perhaps there would have been a few witnesses to a sight rarely seen on Earth. A puff of black smoke billowed up from the ice and the stench of brimstone filled the air. A female figure emerged from the smoke and drank in the surroundings. Her pointed tail curled around her left leg as she licked her fangs in anticipation.
Her name was Hellvira Spitfire, and she was not of this Earth. On her world, the power of myth and magick (as they spelled it) never died out. It grew and grew until it became the dominant force. And no one controlled that force more than the Deviarchy.
The Deviarchy had been formed when Earth's most adept mystics had pooled their talents to consolidate their ultimate power. Hellvira Spitfire, the spawn of mortal and demon, had been one of them, but she craved more. She desired nothing less than absolute mastery of the realm.
Hellvira's hubris proved her undoing. The Deviarchy cast her out, shunning her for her deceit and betrayal. But for all of their magick, Hellvira's former cohorts could not destroy her or her power. She roamed the Earth, stirring up trouble and causing destruction at every turn. That is, until the fateful day that Nemesis materialized on her Earth.
Hellvira frowned. It was beneath her to serve one of lesser station, even a man of such ability as Nemesis. Still, he had bested her in combat, slaying her and absorbing her lifeforce into his armor's circuits. She owed her resurrection to him, and that was the only reason she acquiesced to be a part of his Paradox Army. That, and the power of the Omniversal Prism he controlled.
A sly grin crossed her lips. Yes, she would serve Nemesis...for now.
"Succubus Girls, to me!" Hellvira summoned and four puffs of white smoke billowed up from the ice surrounding her. A quartet of attractive females in skintight black bodysuits emerged and knelt before her.
"We live to serve, mistress!" they exclaimed in unison.
"As well you should," Hellvira remarked as her horns twitched with pride. "For are you four not aspects of myself? Now, rise, my minions!"
The Succubus Girls stood up and looked to their mistress for direction. "What is your command, Lady Spitfire?"
"You four are to infiltrate this 'Tazawa Station' in the usual way," Hellvira commanded as she gestured in the general direction of the Skyforce center. "I will follow your advance offensive and capture our quarry."
"As you desire, mistress!" the Succubus Girls responded, and they darted away so quickly as to be invisible to the human eye.
Hellvira called forth her Infernal Flute staff and caressed it lovingly. She would play Nemesis' games as long as they pleased her. After that, well...one Earth was as good as any other.
***
Etsuko stared intently at the computer bank. Tazawa Station was charged with studying the planet's atmospheric conditions, and something had clearly gone awry. Their instruments had not exactly been going haywire over the previous couple of days, but they were generating odd readings. What was going on up there?
"Hey Ying, come look at this!" Etsuko called to her fellow technician. The Chinese woman hurried to the panel where Etsuko sat and saw readouts jumping all over the place.
Ying shook her head. "More space electromagnetic activity? Those aren't normal levels."
"I know," Etsuko agreed as she sat back and crossed her arms. "What does Professor Maeda have to say about this?"
Before Ying could answer, the door slid open and a breathless Narikawa rushed inside. "Oishi-san! Ohira just got word from Skyforce that your old teammates are coming here!"
Etsuko leapt from her chair with a start. "What?"
"It's true!" Narikawa continued. "There's some sort of emergency, and you're needed to be part of Jetman again!"
Etsuko's face dropped. "I need...I need to speak to Professor Maeda."
Etsuko exited the computer room without another word. "What's wrong?" Narikawa asked Ying. "I would've thought she'd be thrilled to see her friends!"
"So would I," Ying replied. "Then again, she hasn't spoken of them the whole time she's been here. I'll go see what's wrong."
With that, Ying took off after Etsuko, leaving a very confused Narikawa in the corridor scratching his head. As he watched the two women, Narikawa failed to notice the near-transparent female form as it phased through the wall. Before he could react, the phantom entered his body. He staggered for a moment at the violation, and then, for all intents and purposes, Narikawa's body was no longer his own.
Narikawa's eyes glowed a fiery red and he smiled. The others would be along shortly. Then they would prepare for their mistress' arrival.
***
Jet Carrier - a new generation version of Jet Cruiser - streaked over New Zealand en route to Antarctica. The fact that it even existed had been one more of Ryu Tendo's surprises, and the four members of Jetman could scarcely believe their eyes when the personnel of Poseidon Base had brought them into its hangar. The fact that their Jet Fighters had already been loaded onto it and it was fully prepared to transport them over 12,000 kilometers to Tazawa Station was the final stunner. Apparently, Supreme Commander Tendo had done more than just a little arm-twisting with his superiors.
In the rear section of Jet Carrier, Gohan Oishi merrily sketched away on his oversized pad. He was so engrossed with his latest brainstorm of a fifth grade class that solved crimes with a submarine that he paid no mind to his wife Reiko Hayasaka sulking in a corner. Not that his lack of attention to the big picture was anything new.
Reiko toyed with the pack of cigarettes she'd surreptitiously purchased from a vending machine at Poseidon Base. Really, she'd only given up smoking because Gohan had convinced her it was the right thing to do. Blowing smoke rings in his face would show him. Yeah, he'd have to come back to the real world then.
Gohan had always been a dreamer. Reiko knew that - it was one of the things she loved about him. But his dreams had become his business, too, and that left little room for anything else. For a time, their love and their burgeoning careers had kept everything on an even keel.
However, the music business was a fickle one, and Reiko had eventually found that her popularity had cooled. She chose to pull back a little and take some time to enjoy the small fortune that she had amassed. A good plan in theory, but she soon discovered that Gohan had no intention of pulling back. If anything, he grew more and more absorbed in his work and his studio. He had tripled her music earnings three times over, and yet he still ran full-tilt. It was rare if she saw him more than two hours a day. Many days, she didn't see him at all.
Reiko didn't begrudge Gohan his success. No, she was proud of him. He'd worked hard to achieve what he had. But she had worked hard, too, and now she wanted a chance at a semi-regular marriage. Maybe even children of her own. Couldn't he make time for that? Was that really asking so much?
Children. Reiko eyed the cigarettes and shook her head. She tossed them behind her seat and tilted her head back. There had to be a better solution. She just hoped she could find it.
Meanwhile, Ken Tendo and Kei Mizuno piloted Jet Carrier in silence. Despite their long ago truce, they were still uncomfortable with each other. Finally, Ken couldn't take it anymore.
"Nice ship, huh?" he offered. "I drew up the schematics long ago, but I never dreamed that..."
"Tendo," Kei interrupted, "shut up and drive."
"Now, look Kei," Ken reacted defensively. "I know we'll never be best buddies, but we can at least be civilized to each other."
Kei hung her head. "You're right. I've just...just had a lot on my mind. I'm sorry."
"I'm...? You're...?" Ken sputtered. "Look, it's, uh, it's OK. I know what Etsuko means to you."
Ken put a comforting hand on Kei's shoulder. "Maybe," she said. "I appreciate it all the same. But Ken?"
"Yeah?"
"Hands off."
Ken lifted his hand slowly, carefully, and returned it to Jet Carrier's controls. In spite of her conflicted emotions, Kei couldn't suppress a moment of satisfaction. She still had it.
A short time later, Ken decided they were close enough to let Tazawa Station know their arrival was imminent. When he opened channels, he got a bit more than he'd expected.
"SOS! SOS! This is crewman Ohira of Skyforce Tazawa Station!" the voice crackled over the radio. "We are under attack! Crewmen are rebelling! We need help!"
"This is Commander Ken Tendo aboard Jet Carrier!" Ken shouted into the mic. "We're almost there!"
"What's that?" the voice said, clearly not answering Ken's response. "Who are you? What are you --"
The transmission went dead.
Ken glanced over at Kei. "Get Gohan and Reiko up here," he said. "We need to be ready for anything."
***
Etsuko and Ying did the best they could to serve as human shields for Professor Maeda. It wasn't easy with four of their fellow crewmembers attacking them from all sides. Narikawa lunged at them, but Etsuko slapped him aside.
"Everyone! What are you doing?" she implored.
"It's no use talking!" Ying exclaimed as she kicked Watanabe away. "They're not listening!"
"What's wrong with these men?" Professor Maeda asked as Arai and Ozaki clawed at him. "They're not traitors!"
"They now do my will!" an ethereal voice echoed through the hallways. Hellvira manifested in a puff of smoke and regally strode up behind the crewmembers in the thrall of her Succubus Girls.
"I am Hellvira Spitfire," she intoned, "and you mortals are all doomed!"
Etsuko's eyes widened. "Ying!" she yelled. "Get the Professor out of here!"
"But..."
"MOVE!"
Ying nodded and grabbed Professor Maeda by the arm, leading him away from the confrontation. The four possessed crewmen followed, hot on the heels of their friends, out to destroy them.
Etsuko was distracted by the pursuit, and let her attention wander for a split second. She was reminded she had problems of her own by the sting of Hellvira's tail snapping her in the face.
"And so, with all the incidental players gone, we can join in our true purpose!" Hellvira purred as she sized up her opponent.
"What are you talking about?" Etsuko shot back. "Why are you after Professor Maeda?"
Hellvira laughed evilly. "Foolish mortal! Your friend is not why I am here!"
"But then why...?"
"YOU are!"
"Me?" Etsuko asked quizzically. "But I don't even..."
The sentence never finished. Hellvira pounced on Etsuko and the two females grappled on the floor. The demon woman used her inhuman quickness and strength to gain the advantage on Etsuko and pressed down on her.
"Show your true form!" Hellvira demanded. "Give me a worthy adversary, mortal!"
Etsuko gathered her strength and hurled Hellvira across the hall. As she got up, she hesitated before doing exactly what Hellvira wanted and activating her henshin bracelet. "Cross Changer!" she exclaimed as her body was bathed in light.
"White Swan!" Etsuko announced as her Jetman uniform formed around her. She drew her Wing Sword and it telescoped out to full length.
"At last," Hellvira said. "Now I can enjoy killing you."
***
Ying bent over to help Professor Maeda to his feet. The scientist had tripped as they fled and she ignored his pleas to leave him behind. That wasn't how she did things. Live or die, she wouldn't abandon him.
Ying looked over her shoulder and saw the four men closing in fast. She prayed that Skyforce would take care of her family in Hong Kong after it was all over. She slowly rose, wanting to face her fate on her feet.
Just then, more footsteps could be heard racing in the opposite direction. Ying looked up and four colorfully-clad heroes were in front of her.
"Jetman! Thank God!" she exclaimed. "You've got to stop them! Etsuko's back there, fighting some devil!"
"Wait, what?" Black Condor asked as the four possessed crewmen arrived and attacked.
"Whoa, what's gotten into these guys?" Yellow Owl wondered as he pushed against the crazed men and held them to a stalemate.
"No idea!" Condor replied as he picked out one to punch in the face. "Fan out! Reiko, you take care of the girl! Gohan, Kei, you guard the prof! Go!"
Instantly, the other three Jetmen followed Condor's orders. Blue Swallow grabbed Ying and jetted back down the hallway, with Narikawa not far behind. Yellow Owl and Green Wyvern hustled Professor Maeda in the opposite direction as Arai and Ozaki pursued them. That left Black Condor alone with Watanabe.
Watanabe threw a karate kick at Black Condor, who nimbly avoided the blow. As the hero blocked his adversary's karate chops with his Wing Gauntlet, he decided there was no percentage in taking the fight lightly. He'd done that with Dirk Dixon four days earlier and it had almost killed him.
Condor abruptly caught Watanabe's hand in mid-chop and flipped the crewman to the side. He followed that by driving his elbow into Watanabe's back. Condor picked up his foe and then punched him out, taking care to not deliver a lethal strike.
As Watanabe fell to the floor, Black Condor took off down a hallway. He had bigger fish to fry than henchmen. Etsuko was in danger, and he wanted to help her.
***
Hellvira's Infernal Flute appeared in her hands and she charged at White Swan. The demon woman's manic swings were met by Swan's sorely out-of-practice swordsmanship.
"You are weak, mortal!" Hellvira taunted. "Soon, you will make an error and fall before my magnificence!"
"Quite an ego you've got there," Swan retorted as her Wing Sword clashed with the Infernal Flute.
"Only because I am your better!" Hellvira declared with an almost frightening passion.
As if to punctuate the statement, a hard drive of the Infernal Flute shattered White Swan's Wing Sword. The heroine fell on her backside from the impact.
Hellvira smirked her best conceited smirk. "As it always must be. The weak fall before the strong!"
***
"Where should we go?" Blue Swallow asked the young woman tucked under her arm as they flew through the corridors.
"We should check on Ohira," Ying replied. "I only hope that devil hasn't done anything to him."
"On it," Swallow acknowledged.
"No, stop!"
Blue Swallow came to a halt in the hallway in response to Ying's plea. "What's wrong?"
"I don't want to lead the others back to him. If he is still alive, they might try to finish him off with us."
"Yeah," Swallow agreed, "and at least one of them is right behind us."
"We should split up," Ying said. "Will you be OK?"
"I don't deserve this uniform if I'm not," Swallow answered. "How about you?'
Ying nodded, her confidence bolstered. "I have a black belt in hapkido. I can take care of myself."
Swallow looked down the corridor to see Narikawa almost upon them. "Go! I'll run interference for you!"
Ying headed for the radio room, leaving Blue Swallow to face Narikawa. Beneath her helmet, Reiko pitied the poor crewman charging after her. He clearly wasn't in his right mind, plus he was catching her at a very bad time.
Blue Swallow floated into the air and sped toward Narikawa. If the possessed man was surprised by this brazenness, he did not show it. Swallow tackled him and wrestled him to the ground. She drove her fists repeatedly into his head, but Narikawa did not flinch. Instead, he wrapped his legs around her head and slammed her to the floor.
The jolt of the blow left Blue Swallow woozy, so she was an easy mark as Narikawa assailed her. Her super strength was enough to hold her at bay, but what had come over him was making him stronger and faster than a normal person.
"Swallow Division!" Swallow cried and instantly one of her doubles diverged from her body. The second Blue Swallow pulled Narikawa off her "sister", giving the original the opportunity to somersault up and kick the crazed man backward.
As Narikawa reeled, the two Blue Swallows joined hands and delivered a double clothesline that sent their foe down. As one Swallow continually jumped up and down on the prone man, the other wrenched a length of iron pipe from the wall. The two heroines dragged Narikawa up and wrapped the pipe around him, thereby insuring he would cause no further trouble.
The two Blue Swallows gave each other a high five and merged back into one. Now that the problem at hand had been solved, she took off in search of her friends and the menace that was the root of this evil.
***
Hellvira Spitfire thrust her Infernal Flute forward, fully intending to impale White Swan with its jagged tip. Swan had enough presence of mind to avoid the strike by twisting out of the way. She leapt into the air and kicked Hellvira in the face.
"I'm not weak," Swan emphasized as she drove a right hand into Hellvira's solar plexus, "and you're going to learn that the hard way!"
As she doubled over, Hellvira instinctively lashed out with fingernails as sharp as talons. White Swan avoided the blind blow and threw a left leg kick that sent Hellvira into a wall.
"You dare??!!??" Hellvira pronounced indignantly as she bounced off the wall. "Is it not enough that I sully myself by touching you? You presume to think yourself my equal?"
White Swan put a hand on her hip in mockery. "Who said anything about being 'equal'?"
"Grrrraaaaarrrrrrr!!!!" Hellvira howled in rage. "You are already weaponless! Soon, you shall be headless!"
"Oh really?" Swan queried nonchalantly as she clasped her hands together and they emanated a white glow. As she drew them apart, an object slowly began to form. When the process was complete, the heroine wielded a glistening sword of pure ice.
White Swan waved her blade at her opponent. "Let's go," she challenged.
***
"Come on Professor, we're almost there!" Green Wyvern encouraged as she led Professor Maeda through the corridors of Tazawa Station. Yellow Owl brought up the rear, guarding against any surprise attacks.
"Then we are...almost...to the lab?" Yellow Owl huffed as he did his best to keep up, the hours hunched over a drawing board having done nothing for his conditioning.
"Yeah, I can see it," Wyvern called back to him. When we get there, we can...uh oh..."
The cause of Green Wyvern's sudden shift of mood was Arai and Ozaki seeming to step out of nowhere - right in front of them. The two crewmembers wore the standard sinister grins, and almost dared the trio to take another step.
"How did they cut us off?" Owl questioned urgently.
"I don't know," Wyvern admitted. "But we have to take them down. This might get ugly, Professor."
"Stand down, both of you!"
It took a moment for it to register with Yellow Owl and Green Wyvern that Professor Maeda's gruff voice was not directed at his crewmembers, but at them. They watched in disbelief as the man of science shed his lab coat.
"I was a champion shootfighter in my younger days," Maeda said as he cracked his knuckles, "and I'm tired of running. You two will let me handle this."
Green Wyvern wanted to argue, but Maeda's deliberate stride demonstrated to her that there was no dissuading him. Arai and Ozaki looked at each other in confusion, then launched themselves at the scientist.
Moments later, Arai and Ozaki's unconscious bodies hit the floor. Professor Maeda dusted his hands together, as if such a result had been a foregone conclusion.
"That takes care of that," Maeda said. "I'll seal myself in the lab. Now, you two! Go help Oishi!"
Owl and Wyvern shook themselves from their semi-daze and snapped to attention. "Yes sir!" they replied as the took off in search of their erstwhile teammate.
***
Black Condor cursed himself as he flew through the maze-like Tazawa Station. Getting lost was a stupid mistake, but he'd done just that. Now, he hoped against hope that it wouldn't be a fatal one for Etsuko Oishi.
He heard battle cries as he zoomed along. Right, that was them. He accelerated as he followed the sounds, intending to save the day. When he found Hellvira and White Swan, he smiled when he saw a rescue was unnecessary. His long-missing friend had her opponent well-handled.
"Where's your bravado now?" Swan queried as she danced away from Hellvira's increasingly erratic stabs. The heroine bopped the demon woman on the head with her ice sword as she expertly avoided every attempted counterstrike.
"IMPUDENT MORTAL!" Hellvira screamed. "YOU SHALL PAY FOR THIS AFFRONT!"
Summoning the eldritch forces within her, Hellvira Spitfire drew back the portions of her power that she had split off. "Return to me, Succubus Girls!" she commanded. Instantaneously, the lithe forms of her hench wenches left the bodies of the Tazawa Station crewmen, freeing the hapless pawns of her scheme.
As the Succubus Girls became part of her again, Hellvira cackled. "All of you will pay for the indignities heaped upon me this day! The ancient power of the Infernal Flute shall bring forth my champion!"
Hellvira played the Infernal Flute and energy crackled around her. Obviously, something very big was happening. Black Condor raced out and grabbed White Swan from the spot where she seemed rooted.
"Ken!" she cried. "I didn't know..."
Condor took her hand. "Later. We've got to kick some butt first."
Swan nodded her agreement as Condor spoke into his communicator. "Everyone!" he ordered. "Beam aboard Jet Carrier!"
"That include me?" Swan wondered, half-sarcastically.
"I wouldn't expect anything else," Condor answered as they both beamed to the Carrier ship.
Once the five Jetmen were aboard, the awkward personal questions were set aside and Jet Carrier took to the air. Hellvira's unearthly music had conjured a cloud of black smoke that grew larger with each passing second. Finally, it coalesced into a giant ice being that towered over the Tazawa Station complex.
Hellvira sprouted flame wings and flew up level with her creation's head. "Behold Ymir, the Frost Giant!" she declared in a voice that was unnaturally loud and clear to the Jetman heroes.
"Wha--?!?" Yellow Owl exclaimed. "But Ymir is an old Norse myth! How can he be here?"
"How can a lot of things that happen to us actually happen?" Green Wyvern retorted.
"You mean he's some sort of god?" Blue Swallow asked. "Can we-can we fight that?"
"I'm betting he's not the 'real' Ymir, but some sort of simulacrum," White Swan observed.
Black Condor looked at her. "A simul-simul-simulwhatzit?"
"An image, a copy of him," Swan explained. "And that would make him..."
"...Very beatable," Condor finished. "Let's go!"
Black Condor engaged Jet Carrier's automatic weapons systems as the five Jetmen teleported into their Jet Fighters and launched into battle. The Fighters buzzed Ymir and peppered him with lasers as the giant flailed away.
"Icarus Gattai!" Condor commanded and the Jet Fighters fused together into their giant robot form. Jet Icarus landed across from Ymir and the Frost Giant took his opponent's measure.
Ymir stormed at Jet Icarus and clubbed the robot. Jet Icarus threw him aside and blasted his frigid hide with the Jet Beam eye lasers.
"Can we finish him off with Birdonic Saber?" Green Wyvern asked, almost desperate to deliver the killing blow.
"Maybe," Black Condor mused, "but I've got other tricks up my sleeve, and I want to use them! Keibi Gattai!"
The other members had never heard that code before, but its meaning rapidly became clear when Jet Carrier docked with Jet Icarus and reconfigured itself around the robot. Black Condor allowed himself a bit of pride that his own mecha design had been realized.
"Engage - Guardian Icarus!" he exclaimed as the new robot punched Ymir kilometers away. That was the set-up he needed. He keyed in his command code and twin levers popped out of the console. On Guardian Icarus' back, the twin engines of Jet Carrier powered up with more energy than before. Condor pulled the levers toward him and pressed buttons on each.
"Double Vulcan!" he shouted and the the engines blasted Ymir with a massive energy wave. The pseudo-Frost Giant was completely engulfed and melted into nothingness.
"A curse upon you, Jetman!" Hellvira Spitfire spat. "This is far from over!"
For that day, at least, it was. Hellvira vanished in a twinkling, having failed in her efforts to destroy White Swan and Jetman.
***
"Please, forgive us!" Narikawa entreated as he bowed deeply before the assembled members of Jetman. His fellow team members Watanabe, Arai, and Ozaki repeated his contrite words as they bowed before the heroes.
"Don't worry about it!" Black Condor said as he waved them off. "It's pretty obvious you guys had no say-so in the matter. At least we stopped you before you did too much damage."
"Right," Ying added. "Ohira should make a full recovery, so everything worked out."
"Plus, Etsuko is back!" Yellow Owl enthused, still not quite grasping that she hadn't really wanted to be found.
"Ah yes," Professor Maeda replied as he extended his hand to White Swan, "under the circumstances, I think Tazawa Station can spare you, Oishi."
"Thank you, Professor," White Swan said as she shook his hand and bade her Antarctic team members farewell. When the crew had left and the Jetman team was alone, all eyes turned to her in curiosity.
"So Etsuko," Blue Swallow questioned, "what was this all about?"
"I-I'm sorry I didn't tell any of you," Swan answered, noting the one teammate in particular who averted her gaze when she looked at her. "I had my...reasons for wanting to go. But this is more important than that was."
"We'll deal with our personal problems another day," Condor stated with the kind of conviction that still surprised even him. "Right now, it's time for Jetman to be a team again."
Black Condor held out his hand. Each member in turn added his hand on top of Ken's until only one was left.
"Kei?" Swallow asked.
She knew no one could see the tears staining her cheeks beneath her helmet, so Green Wyvern did her best to act the part she knew so well. "What? I just like to do things my way."
Green Wyvern placed her hand on top of those of her teammates, sealing their oath to fight. "Can we get out of this icebox now?" she requested pointedly.
And so, the reunited Jetman team beamed aboard Jet Carrier and took off on their long journey back to Japan.
***
Ryu Tendo had visited too many graveyards in his life. Death was the sort of thing people assumed got easier to deal with as you got older, but he hadn't found that to be the case. Every funeral felt as freshly painful as the first, all those years ago. It only made things worse that so many of those Ryu had buried had died before their time. Why had their lives been cut so cruelly short?
It was one of those friends lost too soon that Ryu was visiting this day. He placed a bouquet of flowers on the slab and knelt before the simple white gravestone that read only "RIE AOI".
"Rie," he whispered to the woman who had once been his lover a lifetime ago, "I'm not sure what to do. Things have gone so out of control and I don't know where to turn. I-I hope you don't mind listening."
"It's happening again," Ryu continued, "and there's nothing I can do about it. A new threat has risen up, and our children have to fight it. I've already lost one of them, and I don't think I could bear to lose another. How could I look at Raita again? Ako? Kaori?"
Ryu bowed his head. "If only-if only I could do something. But all of our powers are long gone. There's only so much a normal man can do in the arena of battle."
"Ryu?" a distant female voice seemed to call, and Ryu Tendo's head shot up as he searched the vicinity. Had it really been her?
Then he saw her. A ghostly figure in white, arms outstretched. She looked the same as she had 35 years earlier. He wanted to run to her, but he knew it would be futile.
"Ryu?" the spectre of Rie Aoi repeated. "Don't give up hope. Things are not as they seem. Don't give up."
"Rie? What do you mean?" Ryu pleaded, but the image of his lost love had faded away. In her place, a sharp-looking man in a suit and hat was walking toward him. Ryu hoped the man hadn't noticed him talking to someone who possibly had not even been there.
"You are Ryu Tendo, correct?" the man asked point blank as he stepped up to the Skyforce Supreme Commander.
Ryu arched an eyebrow warily. "Yes?"
The man tipped his hat. "My name is Mr. Hoshi. We need to talk."
TO BE CONTINUED
NEXT TIME ON NEW RETURN OF JETMAN
Jetman is reborn! Their first mission - learn more about the final fate of the heroes slain by Nemesis. Can they stop the villain determined to destroy them? And what is the startling identity of the mystery man who calls himself "Jetman Killer"? The answers and much more will be in NEW RETURN OF JETMAN Episode 4 - "Parallel"!
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.
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