Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman Fan Fiction ❯ Passing On ❯ Passing on ( One-Shot )

This short Red Rangers fiction was inspired from a role-play session of the Eagle's Lair. Some of the interactions and actions have been taken from the session itself. So thank you very much, Lair folks, for the help.

Masaki is 100% mine. Sadako is 100% GroovyKat's. The rest, all the birdpeople, Red Rangers and Gatchaman related stuffs belongs to Tatsunoko.. I do not own any of these.

And special thanks to my friends, Storyseeker and GroovyKat for beta-reading the story for me.

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A gust of wind swept a piece of old newspaper off the ground, sending it twirling by my foot. My eyes met those of my temporary comrades in this semi-personal mission, the Science Ninja Team, as we silently scanned the surroundings for danger. It had been almost half an hour since the line went dead on me during a telephone conversation with Sadako, my love, following an unmistakable yelp from her. Taking into consideration our latest encounter with Berg Katse, in which I barely managed to escape alive, I feared the worst for her safety. I had immediately enlisted the help of the only family I have, my sister; the Swan of the Science Ninja Team. Ken, the Eagle, had been very insistent upon my staying off the mission at first. It was after much persuasion and blackmailing that I finally got my way and was allowed on the Phoenix with them. Though, would it make any difference to the outcome had I been left behind?

Tracks led all the way from the Black Ford Astro into the seemingly deserted warehouse. The Astro perfectly matched the description of the vehicle that had been seen tearing out of the ISO compound shortly after Sadako's suspected abduction.

Ken took one look at the tracks and frowned, saying in a commanding tone, "We'll go in and then split. Jinpei and Jun go rig up the place. I'll go to the command deck and rack up some trouble for diversion. Joe, you take Masaki and try to find Sadako. We'll give you 30 minutes. We'll meet back out here in 30 minutes regardless of whether the mission is successful or not."

I stared in horror at Ken. How could he be so cold?! But then I remembered, Sadako was his enemy; Foe not friend. To him, she was just a mission. Which was exactly what she should have been to me all along. We should never got gotten emotionally involved. After all, I was an undercover agent and she the target.

I sighed.

Joe nudged me and signaled for me to follow. "We have no time to lose, buddy." he said.

I hesitated, my eyes following my just recently found sister, Jun, as she disappeared around the corridor with Jinpei. Only when she was out of sight, did I turn, running in the opposite direction towards the staircase with Joe, following the tracks.

"Beware! It could be a trap!" Joe said. I must admit that I had always been fascinated with this guy. How one could manage to say that so casually while he was walking down what could probably be a traps-infested corridor, I had no idea at all. Personally, I felt my adrenaline level soaring.

The staircase led us down to another long corridor. A single steel door was all that the corridor led to. Joe and I quickly exchanged a glance. The surroundings were just too quiet to our liking. The faint yellow light in the corridor gave it a cold and creepy feel. We cautiously edged up to the door. Slowly; each step felt like a year to me. "Could she really be in there?" I inwardly asked myself.

Finally. We reached the door.

I felt my heartbeat quickening. My hand trembled slightly as I reached out to touch the handle.

We exchanged another signal.

I ground my teeth and turned the knob . Slowly. Very slowly. Then in a blur of movement, I swung the door open.

"THUNK"

An arrow swished by, narrowing missing my ear before imbedding itself in the wall behind me. I dodged, rolled forward, leapt up and landed into a combat crouch.

"WHAM"

The steel door slammed shut behind me and the entire enclosure was plunged into darkness. In the thick black silence of the room, I could hear the sound battle outside.

"Not good! Not good at all!" I told myself.

I pulled my penlight out of my pocket. My finger fumbled with the switch trying to turn it on. Suddenly a bright light shone straight into my eyes, momentarily blinding me. Instinctively, I raised my arm to shield my eyes.

"Welcome, Lieutenant Ogasawara. We have been expecting you for quite some time." A saccharine voice spoke behind the glaring light.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to see through the glare.

"To bad your girlfriend could not wait that long. I am afraid you are already too late." The voice continued with a snickering laugh. "But don' t worry, you'll be with her soon enough."

I gasped, and couldn't suppress a shudder at the meaning behind his words. I strained my eyes hard, trying to see past the light. I could barely make out the shape of a chair beyond the light stand and with much difficulty, I could see a limp form strapped to it.

I swallowed hard. "It couldn't be!" I tried to persuade myself not to believe it.

I rushed to the chair, and there she was. Her lifeless body sat, hanging from the straps on the chair. Her head hung forward limply with her eyes opened in a silent, sightless stare. One look at her face told me she was long gone.

"Oh God! No!!!" I yelled in denial. I pulled my dagger out of my boot and cut the straps loose. Her limp body fell forwards into my arms.

"Sadako....Sadako!" I softly called out to her. I tightly hugged her to me, her head on my shoulder, her breast against my chest. Pain. I felt like I'd been stabbed through the heart. The pain was soon replaced by anger. Why would they do this to her? She was just a Goddamn scientist. Why couldn't they just let her go her own way.

I fumed, picking up her body gently and supporting it as best as I could with one arm. With my other arm, I grabbed my laser saber. I rose from the ground and turned to face the Galactors behind me, my head lowered. I could tell that they had their rifles trained on us.

I slowly lifted my eyes to glare at them.

Cold fury… Consumed my soul.

I switched my laser saber on and attacked.

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What followed was like a movie in slow motion. I vaguely remember clearing out the Galactor troopers inside the cell. I cradled her body gently in my arms and exited the door. A grim-faced and blood-drenched condor soon joined us. I knew I looked no better than he did. He stared at her body wordlessly for several seconds, and then as one, we raced for the outside.

I could hear the building exploding behind us as we made our way back into the Phoenix.

Time almost slowed to a stop.

Scenes from the past flashed back to me. One by One. The Colonel's briefing on the undercover mission; His explicit warning against falling for her; Picking her up in the bar; Our sweet surrender; My struggle in vain against my feelings; I smiled at these warm memories.

Tingling….. What was that soft tingling feeling in my arms? I looked down and found that I was sitting on the floor of the Medical Bay of the Phoenix holding her tightly. I reached down and gently kissed her lips which were now so cold and non-responsive. I lamented; Those lips which used to be so soft and tender; Those kisses of wine that we once shared.

I leaned back and rested my head against the wall. Joe was suddenly there, trying to take her from me.

"Don't you dare touch her!" I snarled at him.

"Sorry, Joe. I shouldn't have." I thought to myself. "You helped us out of that Galactor base after all."

Flash. More memories.

My heart ached at the recollection of that meeting with Berg Katse. Every word I had said in denial of my feelings towards her stabbed my heart with a refreshed blow. The remembrance of the hate and anger on her face shattered whatever was left of my heart. I swore I could have died when he had ordered her to shoot me and she turned the gun on herself.

Silent tears streamed down my cheeks.

Tingling. The tingling feeling had traveled down my spine and was starting to invade my lower body. What was going on?

Flash.

I could remember the agony on her face when they had striped me and then subsequently had broken my arm when she had burnt those documents. I sighed inwardly, maybe I should have just given up and succumbed to those stupid rats? If I had died then, maybe they would have left her alone.

"Masaki! Masaki! Answer me!" A familiar voice filtered through my pain.

"No you are not doing this to me!"

Who was speaking? Was it Joe or was it Jun slapping my face? My vision was blurring. Why? I tried to answer them. But why weren't any words coming out?

She had come came to the base to look for me, knowing full well that she could have gotten caught and might have had to spend the rest of her life in jail. Yet she could not rest until she had been sure that I was fine. I could still feel her feathery touch on my bruised face.

"No Masaki! No! You can't die on me! I have just found you! You can't leave me like this!"

It was Jun. I could feel her beating on my chest and frantically trying to revive me. Revive me? Die on her? What was happening?

Then I felt an unbearable sense of lightness as if I could fly. I seemed to be drifting away from myself. I tried to hang on to my body but it did not seem to work.

I watched as Ken firmly pulled Jun off my body.

"Juni, let him go. It's too late. Look at those blades. They have been hidden in Sadako's breast, under her clothes. He was poisoned the first time he hugged her body to him. It's way too late to save him now." Ken said, as he pulled Jun into his embrace and hugged her tightly.

I watched as Jun struggled to pull away from him, beating on his chest from grief. It was a while before she finally collapsed into his arms and wept onto his shoulder.

I am so sorry, Sis. I don't have a choice. Say sorry to the Colonel for me, will you? I will always be faithful to him and the Red Rangers. Always!

And I will watch over you with Sadako. Always!

Your loving brother.. Masaki…