Gatchaman short Fan Fiction
The Duel
by Dan Rush
Gatchaman (c) 1972, Tatsunoko Productions Japan. All rights respected.
"The art, while beautiful my dear students, is of deadly portent. You do not exist to look fearful, but to be feared. To be where you're not, to exist where you should not, and to appear when you would not. You must be silent as the wind, as fast as the storm, and as deadly as the deadliest animal on earth. Technology you may have but the old arts must you keep as sharp and as new as the dawn. In this way, you shall be worthy to be called...Ninja."
Master Mau Lee Akau Dang
It begins with the end. Meditation falling away with the first grip of the hilt as the adversary postures himself and lowers into the moment of strike. Away flies the bamboo scabbard that holds the deadly Ninjato just as the enemy makes his first pounce, both blades of sharpened steel slamming together in a teeth chattering sting of polished steel upon steel. The smaller of the two combatants wheels with his sword upheld, his lupin eyes set in deep concentration on his swift circling opponent.
This is no simple adversary for the fifteen year old Jinpei Katsuhiro to take on. The ISX-12 battledroid is the best the ISO has to offer in a combat sibilant robot. Sleek, super fast, and agile, this bird like machine is. It is also easy to program and superior in it's ability to learn and adapt to it's situation. If anyone knew what Jinpei had been doing with this robot, they would have his head for sure.
He has programed the machine with the art. He has armed it with a sword. He has removed all the electronic safety devices. Now he's programed it to the highest settings it's designed for and worst of all...he's set it on kill.
It charges again, trying a single slash that is easily deflected by the young ninja. But it quickly recovers, and now both combatants are engaged in a back and forth clash across the combat room. Parley for parley, the two fighters slash and slam their swords in a lethal ballet until Jinpei knocks up the robots sword and delivers a sharp kick to the steel chest. The robot is thrown back a few feet but quickly recovers in a low crouch.
"Circling again? Boy this thing is a fast sucker!" Jinpei thinks as the robot gets behind him and quickly tries a lunge at his back. The move is easily countered as the boy leaps up and over the moving robot in a reverse flip. On landing, Jinpei wheels for a low sweep of one of the metal legs and kicks the robot to the floor. His attempt to quickly deliver a single blow to the metal neck is foiled by the robot's quick parry of the blow by his sword hilt.
"Oh very good robot! Remind me to by you a six pack of oil..."Twack!"
A metal leg catches Jinpei in the shoulder and sends him rolling across the floor with the robot in hot pursuit. " Got careless there!" The boy snarls as he kicks to his feet in time to parry another slash move by the now scurrying metal beast. " Ok...don't just dance around the floor stupid! When are we going to get serious here!"
Another strike and another flurry of whirling blades and bodies explodes across the combat room. Jinpei fights to control his breathing as he races to match the robots swift slashes and dodge the rest. Another opening for jumping back kick comes up and the boy ninja throws his left foot into the head of the steel antagonist. The battlebot quickly counters by catching the flying foot and sending Jinpei tumbling across the floor.
"Damn! This thing learns fast! SHIT!" Jinpei barely avoids a downward stroke to his head and retaliates by throwing the robot over him with his legs. The ninja quickly flips himself back to his feet and pulls his blade to his hands by the invisible piano wire attached to his wrist. Once again the robot assumes a low crouched shuffle across the floor, giving the boy a chance to get his breath under control.
"Hmm...enough of this toying around stuff." Jinpei assumes his Doken stance and as the beast charges again, he tosses a smoke bomb at its head. The ball explodes in a cloud of grey dust, giving the boy the advantage to go for the robot's vulnerable legs.
"Clank!" " Oh shit! This thing does learn fast!" Jinpei dances wide eyed again as the robot delivers another furious assault and forces the ninja into a back-flipping retreat. Jinpei hits the wall and catapults himself over the wildly swinging robot into a somersault landing behind it. An attempt to strike is foiled with sudden swiftness and sudden horror as the robot knocks the sword out of Jinpei's hands!
The boy reacts fast, jumping away and pulling the sash from his gee top he catches the wildly flailing blade of his attacker by wrapping the cloth about the hilt then lifts the robot and throws it on it's back across the floor.
"Time to end this match!" Jinpei snarls as he pulls his Ninjato back into his hands. The robot skuttles about the floor, then bolts with it's sword upraised toward the now charging ninja. Both combatants leap into the air and both swords connect in a loud explosion of shattered metal and twirling bodies. The battledroid lands perfectly on it's feet and looks unhurt...until the upper portion of the body falls to the floor and catches fire. Jinpei's sword has cleaved the vulnerable joint above the leg carriage.
For the moment, Jinpei is still...poised on his right knee with the remains of his ninjato running along his extended right arm. As the adrenalin dies down, he feels a fire building in his left leg. " Shit...the bastard cut me." The boy winces as he slowly looks down to see the deep slash in his upper calf. " Shit...the bastard really cut me!"
"Jinpei!" Comes the scream of his sister Jun as the boy seeks the floor and wraps the ghee sash around his upper leg as a tourniquet. " What are you? Stupid! No..crazy. My little brother finally went out of his mind."
"Ow! I thought I was there already." Jinpei snaps as his sister rips his pant leg off to get a better look at the sword slash.
"This is going to need stitches. What were you thinking?"
"I was just keeping up on the art. I was very good."
Jun smirks. " Keeping up doesn't mean taking a Battledroid and using it for illegal practices. You should have asked Ken to practice with you."
Jinpei gets to his feet and leans on Jun as she helps him from the combat room. " Ken? He'd only hold back. Besides...none of the others even follow what Master Mau Lee taught us."
"He sure didn't teach us to do crazy stuff like that!" Jun scolds the boy as she takes him down to the medical department and past a surprised technician.
"God, what happened!" Asks the nurse as Jun puts her brother on a bed and rips away the rest of the pant leg.
"The usual. I'll take care of this myself."
"You won't need help?"
"No...but he might when I'm finished chewing him out." Jun pulls a tray of suture materials out of a closet and beckons the nurse to go away.
"Oh here we go, another one of your "Jinpei don't" speeches."
"You asked for it!" Jun snaps as she begins working on the sliced leg. " I wish you would have stayed in the semi-tamed kid stage when you were eight."
"You mean you wish I had remained blissfully ignorant after my eleventh birthday. That I didn't find out about my own past."
Jun stopped her stitching to lean on the bed. " That's the truth. I'm not going to hide my disapproval. We've come a long way to be where we're at now. Would you hate me forever for wanting to shield you from going back there?"
"My grandfather knew it was going to happen sooner or later. If he had any other thoughts, he would have never taught me to follow the art more than the rest. He intended me to go home once we defeated the Galactor for good."
Jun fell silent as she continued to stitch up the wound. It always drove Jinpei nuts when he couldn't get a word out of her, by tease or by otherwise. He lay tapping his fingers on the hard bed matting till she opened up.
"And how am I supposed to take this? I took you in when you were still in diapers. I knew your Grandfather before he became our teacher and not once did he even hint to me that you'd want to go back or that he wished you to do so. I raised you, I fixed up all your cuts and bruises, I held you when you were scared, when you cried..."
"Spanked me when I was bad, yelled at me when I teased you, yadda, yadda, blab, blab..."
"You're pushing me!" Jun said as she pointed a finger in Jinpei's face. The boy only laughed in reply.
"Be serious Sis. You couldn't stop me if you wanted too. Though I know how you feel..."
Jun leaned closely to Jinpei's face, her fingers moving softly over his long hair. " All that happened to you was so long ago. We defeated the Jupitor clan already, why go back?"
"We defeated only a small part of the clan Sis, not the whole thing. My Uncle murdered my parents, drove my Grandfather out, and took power by force. Defeating Galactor won't end that fact."
Jun went back to finishing her work on the boy's leg. " I had better plans for you. You always wanted to be an animal doctor, a scientist, a teacher. I wanted you to stay here, go to college, perhaps even see you married. Not going away to fight some bloody civil war. We've fought enough battles in our lives."
Jinpei moved to sit up and grabbed his sister's arm when the pain shot through his body. " Is this going to leave a scar Onechan?"
"Yes...and a very good one at that. You know Jinpei, if you decide to leave us and fight...you won't stop us from coming after you."
Jinpei snickered. " I expect it. I wouldn't unseat my uncle unless my sister was right next to me. You know my family is rumored to be very rich?
"Oh...so it's bribery huh? I help you defeat your uncle and you'll make me rich beyond my dreams right?"
"No...I can finally pay you back for all the love you've given me. I'm gonna need someone to clean my castle when I move in."
"Clean? Why you little shit!"
Ryu walks down the passageway as Jinpei comes running up the other end. " What's up Jinpei?"
"Run! I got Jun angry at me and she won't stop till she kills me!"
"Clean your castle huh! I'll clean your clock!" Jun screams as she passes the dodging Ryu.
"Ryu! Help me!" Jinpei yells as he vanishes around the corner. " I'm sorry Onechan!"
"I'd ask...but I don't wanna know." Ryu thinks as he continues to walk, not paying attention to a screaming boy trying to explain himself to a very cross Swan.
