After All This Time...

[tiger_ken]

[1]

[It's late at night at Sakihama base. And the only people up this late should be workaholics, and those with active night lives.

So who then, is that you catch out of the corner of your eye?]



Hm... Must be around here somewhere...

[One of them is clearly female, a woman likely in and around her late thirties, but in remarkable physical form. The other...]



Did we really have to do this at night dear? If it were the day, we could at least track him back to his quarters.

[The other is practically her male counterpart, similarly aged, equally fit. He bears something of a resemblance to a certain young pilot...]

Or perhaps...

[Suddenly, he turns on his heel, and throws out a quick series of shuriken, aimed to pin an unfortunate eavesdropper to the walls by their sleeves!]



We could ask them?



Sounds like a plan. Where is Kentaro Torao's room?

[2]

(OOC: Feel free to enter this prompt from the previous by changing the prompt number when you wanna timeskip)



So... my baby boy really has become a man...



Be honest, we surprised you didn't we son?



...

Comments

1)

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Their reply was of course a very loud and terrified scream.]

Nononononononono!

Letmegoletmegoletmegooo!!!

[Poor Volya, he really does have a hard lot in life.]

'Teritus Help-!

Re: 1)

[tiger_ken]

[A hand quickly clasps over Volya's mouth, trying to muffle his frantic screaming.]



Easy now. Raise the alarm like that, and we're all in trouble. Didn't think they'd have kids on this base though...

[The mystery man briefly pulls back his hand, to see if Volya's response would be a bit more cooperative.]

[mistaken_for_monster]

W.. who are you?! What are you even doing here?

[Rapid breathing, eyes darting around and pinned to the wall with sharp objects. All Volya needed to absolutely freak out was a sword held closely to his neck. Damnit, he had to pick the worst time to really need to go to the bathroom.]

[Maybe the Ninjas might notice it, maybe they won't. There's also a vine slowly creeping along the floor towards them.]

[tiger_ken]

We're looking for Kentaro Torao's place of residence. We're planning to have a little surprise wsiting for him...

[The female seems to fidget slightly in the background. As if experiencing a small, familiar feeling of dread...]

1

[actuallyselfish]

Dido stares blankly at the two of them, a coffee mug in her hand. "Ninjas?"

Then he gets pinned to the wall. "Ah!" She struggles frantically against her shuriken bonds. "Wha–what do you want with Ken?"

She narrows her eyes. "Wait...you're from the Torao clan, aren't you! Looking to assassinate him and restart the ninja war, eh?" She grits her teeth. "Well screw you! I won't give him up!"

Re: 1

[tiger_ken]

We want to- wait was that about a 'ninja war'?



We have no intent of harming him, Miss Sybil.

[Wait, how did she-]

And whilst both the boy and my husband are of the Torao clan, I am a proud Kohakuryu, for your information.

Re: 1

[actuallyselfish]

"How did you...and you two are–"

Dido shuts her mouth and closes her eyes, thinking furiously. Then she opens them.

"Could you let me down from here? I won't take off running."

Re: 1

[tiger_ken]

Do you really think we're that-



Sure.

[The number of shurikens on Dido's sleeves is now zero.]



TORA!



Now dear, you know I cannot resist the request of a lady. Didn't even realise she was the engineer turned co-pilot in Solaris' financial report.

1

[keep_your_dignity]

[The shuriken are grabbed and crushed by a metallic hand as the eavesdropper floats out of the shadows and into view - though the large form of Major Kagura is probably not what the ninjas expected to find. Lines in Kagura's armor light up as her SOL generator revs up and she points a cannon at the two interlopers. She doesn't shoot yet though.]

SURPRISE. THE PARENTS THAT ABANDONED TORAO, I PRESUME. OR MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE FROM THAT INSANE FAMILY OF HIS.

YOU ARE TRESPASSING IN UNITY GROUP PROPERTY AND THEREFORE CRIMINALS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW. I SUGGEST YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THE HELL YOU ARE DOING HERE BEFORE I RAISE THE ALARM.

Re: 1

[tiger_ken]

Now 'abandoned' is a little harsh...



And your threats are laughable, machine. Ninja have escaped the law for centuries, and we personally have saved enough lives - certainly ones of note - that any trial would be pointless. And you would not be the first tin can we've broken...



Though perhaps it would be best not to test any of that. I do believe that's one of the Executors, dear. Not exactly one that'd be easy to keep quiet, which would spoil the whole surprise...

[keep_your_dignity]

ESPECIALLY SINCE BOTH MY EXECUTOR UNIT AND UNITY COMMAND HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED OF THE PRESENCE OF UNEXPECTED GUESTS AS OF THIS INSTANT. UNLIKE YOU, I DON'T BELIEVE IN LOOSE ENDS.

NOW, I WILL REPEAT MY QUESTION AGAIN. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE.

BETTER YET, LET ME GUESS. YOU'RE HERE TO SEE TORAO. WELL, YOU'RE IN LUCK. I THINK HE ONLY DETESTS YOU SLIGHTLY ANYMORE.

[Kagura's voicebox does not have intonations, sounding like a feminine Cyberman on the best of days. Nonetheless, that sentence was charged with so much sarcasm that somehow a little manages to get through]

2

[empress_without_a_throne]

[Yeah, sorry you three. Mizuki's just going to have to... stare. Seeing those two ninjas alive and together...]

... It's you...

I've never... met a Solaris pilot from the war before...

[tiger_ken]

And neither have we had the honour of meeting a noble being of the Void before. But its certainly quite pleasing.



W-Well? Ken? Are you going to say anything? Maybe introduce us to your friend...?



...

[Ken pauses, blinking a few times...]



WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!

[Yep, he's pissed.]

[empress_without_a_throne]

[Yeah, there was that too.]

... Honestly he deserves answers. Me too.

If not for Solaris he wouldn't have had anything to fall back on when you two up and vanished.

1

[a_louse]

Good hearing.

[Roger removes the shuriken from his sleeve. He doesn't look at ease - quite the opposite.]

Why do you want to know? I sincerely doubt you only want to talk to him.

Re: 1

[tiger_ken]

That is exactly what we want, actually. We intend to have a little surprise waiting for-



...Um... Dear? What's wrong?



O-Oh? Nothing, just...



Why have you never looked that good in a suit?



Oh come on!

[a_louse]

You're a married couple. No other kinds of people argue with each other like that.

Are you Ken's parents? The ones who abandoned him?

2)

[break_the_nine]

Ken! Look! Its your parents!

[Leos obviously sounds absurdly happy at this.]

Re: 2)

[tiger_ken]

I can see that Leos! But what I'd like to know...



IS WHERE THE HELL HAVE THEY BEEN?!

[Cue above, lengthy discussion from the SS team thread that I cannot be bothered to copy and paste.]

[break_the_nine]

[Leos remained absolutely dead silent, looking back and forth between them.]

You're right Ken. Your parents made a huge mistake because they were just too wrapped up as ninjas that they forget things that normal people wouldn't.

You suffered because of that...

But...

[He pulls out an emergency pudding he's been keeping (one he obtained thanks to Ken no less) and just bops it to the forehead of the son of the ninja duo.]



At the same time they knew you. They knew and believed that you'd be able to stay alive and take care of yourself. And you even managed to do it without any of their help.

Ken. I know you're angry with them and you've got every right to be. But I'm asking you as your friend to forgive them.

Mr and Mrs Ken's Parents? You made a mistake and your son was really hurt by it. I don't know how its done in ninja families... but I think you should do everything you can to make it up to him.

All of you guys are ninjas and I know its probably really weird... but the world's a dangerous place as it is and Ken and I almost died a lot of times. I know you two would have had your share of close calls..

So try to stay together. Alright?

1

[ugyuuya]

[VG is caught rather unfortunately by surprise as his jacket is caught by the shuriken. Fortunately he is not alone as Yuuya and Tarisa quickly clear the corner with a fire extinguisher and knife respectively. Stella moves quickly to assist with freeing VG.]

"Well it looks like your luck has been holding VG. Try to drag us out again and this time we happen across an attempted assassination. Thankfully you happened across a pair who were more interested in directions than killing witnesses for now."

[He turns to the pair of ninjas.]

"I'm afraid that he's been sent on an extended mission. You just broke into a secured multinational facility to assassinate someone who isn't even here. Don't you feel foolish."

[Yuuys tries to put as much conviction into the statement as he can. Something about these two puts him on edge and Ken may be strong but 2 on 1 is a battle best avoided.]

Re: 1

[tiger_ken]

Wait, assassinate? Why would we want to...?

Dear I told you we should have just asked at the door!



Nevermind that you just threw the shuriken and expected cooperation.

[2]

[fire_dancer]

Raquel had just been out that night why? She was curious about the base it's not like she didn't have the okay to be here. What she didn't expect was two strangers. She'd been sizing them up and she was leaning towards calling the security detail on base as it seems they might trouble.

She had however not done that as she'd tailed them to ... Ken's quarters? What the heck was going on here as she came in she comes in on a sight to behold her jaw is hanging open and she's just kinda pointing and starting.

Her mouth starts to move in a vain attempt to form words but nothing comes out for a moment until with a force of will she's able to utter something.

"Wait...your parents?!"

Re: [2]

[tiger_ken]

Yes... my parents...



WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!

[Cut to the rant from the Mizuki and Dido thread]

Re: [2]

[srwjunker]

Raquel just kinda stops and stares for a moment.

"...are you related to My mother? Your both acting just like her."

(OOC forgive me IRL went crazy with work for a bit)