Chapter 4: Getting in touch with your feelings

(< and > denote thoughts instead of dialog)

From her vantage point in the window of the hospital room she could see the two victims in their
beds and the two men standing in the doorway.  The lights had been turned off when the others
had left, and now she could slip in through the shadows without being seen.  With ice cold eyes
she viewed the two unsuspecting men from the shadowed places in the room.  She thought it
futile to make an attempt on the two maggots she had come here for, but information was needed,
and they were the only ones that she thought might have it.  The attackers were very skilled and
had left no trace of themselves when they had disappeared after having run she and her
compatriots off.  The only way to find them was on the off chance that one of these weaklings had
seen something.  She sneered, though nobody would have been able to see it even if they knew
she was there.  She despised weaklings.  No strength, no skill, and no ambition to achieve either.
Fearful and pathetic beings. Nothing but floor mats for the mighty to walk upon.  She had found
that most people were like that to some degree, even some of her fellows.  Emotional and weak
on the inside and only demonstrating a strong, impassive visage as a mask.  Terrabelle, that was
her name and she would live up to it.  The fact that it had been altered slightly by her mother from
it's original form to make it sound more "Feminine" mattered little to her.  The true meaning of
the name came through clearly to any who heard it and was quickly confirmed by a single look
into her cold, indifferent eyes.  Of course, those she let see her eyes usually didn't last long.  She
prepared a small lead weight on the end of a chain.  She would knock the both of them
unconscious and escape with them and nobody would be the wiser.  They would not even realize
that they had been taken until they came to.  She looked at them, trembling in fear at nothing
while not even realizing there was something there that really did deserve being afraid of.  This
amused Terrabelle greatly.  She began to pounce and then leapt behind one of the beds as a large
figure came through the doorway and flicked on the light switch.

Bob and Lewis: (in unison) "ACK!!!!!"

They turn toward the door and continue shaking.

Catton: "You know boys, it might be nice if you decided to join us."

Bob: (still jittery) "Oh, y-y-ya."

Lewis: (the same) "W-We'll be r-right down."

The three of them stood there for a few moments.

Catton: (slightly annoyed)  "Any time boys."

The two men closed their eyes and took several deep breaths.  Their shaking decreased and finally
stopped.  They opened their eyes and looked very much relieved.

Lewis: (meekly) "Sorry about that."

Bob: (also meekly) "Ya, sorry.  We're better now."

Lewis: (meekly) "We get a little, nervous around people."

Catton: "You know, we are going to have to do something about your backbones.  (He paused
for a moment) ATTEN--TION!!!"

Bob and Lewis: "AAH!!!"

Catton: (shouting and not pausing for a moment) "We're gonna whip you pathetic little
pantywaists into shape!  We're gonna turn you into real fight'n men!  We're gonna push you until
you cry for your mamas!  Well from now on I am your mamas and your daddys and all yer aunts
and uncles too and ye'll get no sympathy from me!  Now I want you down in that office on the
double!  Move it!  Move it!  MOVE!!!"

The two cowardly men, very frightened by all of this, immediately start running down the hall.

Catton: (looking very much the drill sergeant) "Pick up those knees you marshmallows!  I will not
have slackers in my company!  Now on the double!  Hut! Hut! Hut! Hut!" <God I love doing
this.>

Bob and Lewis picked up their pace and ran forward with the General following and shouting
commands behind them.

The office had an overhead projector and screen set up so that those gathered could see what was
being talked about at the same time.  Several pots of coffee were lined up on the table and
everyone poured from them generously into Styrofoam cups.  The members of the group were
crammed in against the walls in the small room for the most part.  Big Al Dentei was sitting at one
table going over some papers.  On a smaller table, next to the door, stood a small pile of
unexploded ordinance.  Next to that, Carla was removing the last of the rockets from Luciell's
hair.

Doctor Kats: "Now you are sure that that's all of it."

Luciell: "Of course I'm sure, I put in two hundred and five rounds every morning before I brush
my teeth."

The door burst open and in ran Bob and Lewis, who ran to the far wall and stood, nervously, at
attention.  After them, entered General Catton.

Catton: "Found 'em.  They were standing by the . . ."

Polly floored General Catton by hitting him hard with a stainless steel bedpan.

Polly: (screaming) "What do you think you're doing yelling in a HOSPITAL?!!  Don't you know
that there are people here who need their rest including two of our FRIENDS?!!"

Speedy: "Polly, you're yelling in a hospital and there are people here who need their rest including
two of our friends."

Polly growls in Speedy's general direction.  Speedy backs away slowly.  Polly then takes a deep
breath and gets a hold of herself.

She walks over to the wall, stands by Speedy, and elbows him very hard in the ribs.

General Catton stood up and massaged his jaw, which was already turning purple.

Catton: "I'm sorry Miss Polly.  (He looks at the pile of ordinance on the table and then looks over
at Luciell) That all yours?"

Luciell: "Yes"

Catton: (gives out a slight chuckle) "Not bad!"

Big Al: "Now that we're all here, perhaps we can get started. (He gestures to Doctor Kats)
Proceed Doctor."

Doctor Kats: (He takes an x-ray off the light board and puts it on the overhead.  A large picture
of a mangled rib cage is up on the screen) "This, is from Francine Manx.  We can see here
(indicates with a lazer pen) that several ribs on her right side are cracked and one has broken and
apparently punctured her right lung here (The pen moves over a spot on the lower half of
Francine's right lung) These injuries are indicative of heavy impact of her entire body with a
surface.  If I were to hazard a guess, I would say she fell or was thrown from the top of a
building."

Big Al: "She was found up against a wall.  Could slamming into it have caused this?"

Doctor Kats: "I don't think so.  To cause this amount of damage she would have had have hit the
wall at a very high velocity."

Big Al: "The attacker could have thrown her up against it."

Doctor Kats: "Mr. Dentei, she would have had to hit the wall at over thirty miles per hour.
Nobody would be strong enough to throw her that hard."

Guru Lou: "I've seen some baseball players who can pitch over a hundred and twenty."

Doctor Kats: "Francine is a small woman, but she still weighs a lot more than a baseball."

Polly: "Could a car have hit her?"

Doctor Kats: "No, (switches to a full body x-ray) being struck by an automobile would have
caused damage all along her torso (he indicated from her shoulder down to just below her pelvis).
The actual damage, however, is only located on the upper torso (circles her rib cage with the
lazer).  This indicates that she struck something with her shoulder and the right side of her rib
cage causing no damage to the pelvis region.  (He indicates the left arm being shown on the full
body x-ray) Here on her left arm we can see that it has multiple fractures of the tibia, as well as
clean breaks of both the radius and ulna.  Normally, a break like this could be caused by any
number of things, but considering that there are identical injuries to the other arm (indicates the
other arm) as well as similar breaks in both femurs and both of her lower legs (indicates again) I
would conclude that these breaks were not caused through normal means."

Good Bird (GB): "What do you mean by that."

Doctor Kats: (sighs and takes off his glasses) "What it means Mr. Bird (runs a hand through his
hair) is that from what I can see here, her limbs were intentionally broken.  She was also struck
multiple times in the skull area and face"

Meowzma: "What do you mean intentionally broken?!!"

Doctor Kats: (puts his glasses back on) "What I mean Mr. O'Tool, is that somebody
systematically took every major bone in each of her limbs, and snapped them like twigs."

 Everyone cringes after the doctor says this (Guru Lou throws up in a waste basket).

Big Al: "Are any of these injuries life threatening."

Doctor Kats: "No, though her injuries are numerous, none of them are fatal nor should they have
any long term debilitating effects."

Big Al Dentei considers this for a moment.

Big Al: "What about Guido?"

The doctor opens a file and removes several x-rays and some transparencies with color
photographs on them.  He takes a very deep breath.

Doctor Kats: (gesturing to Luciell, Polly, Carla and Elizabeth) "The, eh, ladies might want to
leave during this."

Polly: (trying to look tougher than she feels) "We can take it."

Carla: (nervous) "It's alright."

Elizabeth: (also nervous) "I'll be OK."

Luciell: (swallows hard) "Go ahead."

The doctor looks down and lets out a sigh, then begins.

Doctor Kats: "Mr. Anchovy is by far the worse off of the two. (he places one of the x-rays on the
overhead) You can see on this that he has received injuries similar to Miss Manx in regards to his
bone structure.  (He points at the image) Here we see the same breaks to the bones in the limbs,
but not the cracked ribs.  This is further indication that Miss Manx's rib injuries were not caused
intentionally by her attackers.  (He picks up one of the transparencies) Miss Manx, aside from a
few cuts and bruises, suffered very little tissue damage.  (He takes the x-ray off the overhead and
hesitates to put the transparency on) Mr. Anchovy is another story."

The doctor placed the transparency on the overhead and the picture printed upon it appeared on
the screen.  Carla buried her eyes in Good Bird's shoulder.  Elizabeth went wide eyed and placed
her hand over her mouth.  Big Al Dentei gasped.  Speedy, Good Bird, and Meowzma cringed.
General Catton, Spritz, and Bat Cat tensed every muscle in their bodies.  Polly grabbed Speedy's
arm and let out a small whimper.  Luciell began to cry, her unloaded head popped open, and
several small piston-firing sounds were heard.  Guru Lou threw up again.  Bob and Lewis, who
had been standing at attention all this time, sunk down the wall and covered their eyes (they, after
all, had seen it before).  Nurse Hillary walked in the door and let out a muffeled "EAK!!!" then
hurriedly left.

One photograph showed Guido's brown furred back crisscrossed by deep red gashes and a larger
wound in the small of his back, just left of his spine.  The other showed the lighter brown fur of
his chest and stomach crisscrossed by similar wounds, with a larger wound on his lower chest.
There was more red to be seen than brown.

Doctor Kats: (apprehensively) "As you can see, Mr. Anchovy's tissue damage is quite extensive.
(He pauses while everyone recovers from the initial shock (except Luciell, who keeps crying)) Mr.
Anchovy has suffered severe lacerations to nearly the entirety of his torso.  (He changes pictures
to a close up) Several of the gashes are up to an inch deep, some are deeper.  In all, there are over
two hundred individual wounds.  (Switches to a close up of the large stomach wound) He also
appears to have been impaled.  (Changes to a side view x-ray) Whatever did it entered through
the lower rib cage, and exited just to the left of his spine in his lower back.  Forensics reports
indicate that all of these wounds were caused by a large blade of some kind.  (Puts up a forensics
sketch)  The blade or blades used were approximately three feet in length, one quarter of an inch
wide, and very sharp.  (He puts all the transparencies back in their folder) There is also an
anomalies present in both Mr. Anchovy and Miss Manx. (He puts a torso x-ray from each on the
overhead and indicates the lower part of Francien's body cavity) When we were checking out
Miss Manx's injuries we found blood in her body cavity, which is indicative of internal bleeding.
When we tried to find a cause we couldn't."

Polly: (alarmed) "You mean she's bleeding?!!"

Doctor Kats: "No, no, she is not bleeding internally.  From what we found, her organs are
completely intact.  (Polly looked relieved) That is why this is so puzzling.  From what we can tell,
she has never bled internally at any point in the recent past.  There is no way that we can explain
this blood considering that she has no internal injuries. (He points to Guido's torso) Mr.
Anchovy's case is even more puzzling.  It is clear that he has been impaled.  That injury should
have caused severe trauma to many vital organs."

Speedy: "What do you mean?"

Doctor Kats: "What I mean is that this wound should have been fatal, but for some reason his
internal organs are completely unharmed.  (Everyone looks shocked) Whatever caused this wound
should have passed strait through his stomach and intestine and cut his liver in half, however they
are in perfect condition."

The doctor stops.

Big Al: (a bit overwhelmed) "Is that everything Doctor."

The doctor picks up the pile of x-rays and transparencies and puts them back in their folder

Doctor Kats: "That's it."

Big Al: (still stunned) "That's all we need from you doctor, you can go now.  I'd like to use this
room to have a talk with these people if you don't mind."

Doctor Kats: (actually showing some real compassion) "Certainly, the nurse will come by and
lock it when you're done"

The doctor picked up his satchel and walked to the door.  There he found Luciell sitting against
the wall, still crying.  He opened his satchel and swept the pile of unexploded ordinance into it.
He reached down and pulled Luciell to her feet.

Doctor Kats: "Come on now Miss.  I'll call you a cab home."

Luciell: "Thank (sob) you (sob, sniff) Doctor."

Everyone turned and watched as the doctor and Luciell left and the door closed behind them.
General Catton turned back around.

Catton: (angry) "Three foot blades."

Bat Cat: (angry) "Swords."

Polly: (angry) "Ninja Crows."

Speedy suddenly turns and kicks a filing cabinet, punches it, then throws it to the ground.  It lies
there dented and battered.  Everyone is left stunned and speechless as Speedy stands over it
breathing very heavily.

Speedy: (angry and slowly) "The Flying Skull."

He gives the cabinet another swift kick that leaves another dent in it.  As he stands there again,
Polly comes up behind him and lays a hand on his shoulder.

Polly: (soothingly) "Speedy . . . It's OK Speedy . . . Calm down."

Speedy: (rage in his voice)(quietly) "OK . . . You think it's OK . . . IT'S NOT OK!!!"

Everyone is startled by this, even Polly takes a step back.

Speedy: (on the verge of tears, talking through gritted teeth) "(quietly and slowly) The Flying
Skull tried to murder  two of our friends.  They jumped Francine and Guido in the middle of the
night and did . . . that to them . . . and you - think - it's - O - K!!!"

Good Bird (GB): (quietly) "It wasn't the Flying skull. (Everyone turned and looked at him, except
Speedy who was still facing the wall.)  The Flying Skull would never do something like this."

Speedy: "LIAR!!!  (Everyone's eyes were once again on Speedy.  He turns and faces Good Bird)
They've been terrorizing this city for years and you tell us that they would never do something
like this!"

GB: "We only frightened the people of the city or stole from them, we never tried to hurt anybody
who couldn't fight back.  It's against the honor code we live by."

Speedy: (louder than before) "LIAR!!!  Remember Ruby?  Remember THAT?  She was that girl
that Guido had a crush on.  You were trying to KILL ROSE!!!"

GB: "Big Cheese ordered us to.  We had no choice, she was a target.  And through it all Jerry
Atrick tried to convince him to let her go."

Speedy: (accusingly) "Your're DEFENDING them!!!"

GB: "What?!!"

Speedy: "You're defending what they did, you're trying to protect them!!!"

Polly: (sensing trouble) "Speedy, get a hold of yourself."

Speedy: (not hearing) "You're defending the Flying Skull because you used to BE ONE OF the
Flying Skull!!!"

GB: "I'm not trying to defend anyone . . ."

Speedy: (loudest it has ever been) "LIAR!!!"

Speedy's right fist hurtled toward Good Bird's face.  Good Bird's finely honed ninja reflexes
reacted immediately and blocked the punch harmlessly off to the side and before he knew what he
was doing he countered with a concentrated strait shot to the sternum.  Speedy staggered back
from the well placed blow.

GB: (surprised at his own actions) "Speedy, I'm sorry . . ."

Before he can finish Speedy leapt onto him in a fit of blind rage, took hold of his neck and tried to
choke him.  Acting quickly, Big Al Dentei leaped out of his chair, grabbed hold of the back of
Speedy's neck and hurled him back across the room.  Speedy landed hard and then started to get
up, only to find the point of Big Al Dentei's sword at his throat.

Big Al: "You're out of control Speedy, now calm down son."

Speedy made a move to get up and Big Al pressed the point of the sword into his throat until he
stopped.  It's tip drew a tiny amount of blood.

Big Al: "Most of the counselors in the palace carry ceremonial swords as a symbol of rank.  The
difference between their's and mine is that I keep mine razor sharp.  Speedy . . . Calm . . . Down .
. . Now!"

Speedy stayed there at the end of Big Al's sword, and after a few moments his rage seemed to
subside.  Big Al removed his sword from Speedy's neck, wiped the tip clean, and slid it back into
it's sheath.

Big Al: "You are a Samurai Pizza Cat.  You fight evil and protect the innocent.  Good Bird does
too.  He may be ninja, but he is also as much of a samurai as you are!  (Big Al pauses to let this
sink in)  You say that he protects them because he used to be one of them.  I say that he is STILL
one of them.  He is still a Ninja Crow of the Flying Skull Clan.  I trust him to know his own kind
and if he says that they will not do this, they will - not - do - this!!!"

Speedy still lay on the ground.  One could see that Big Al's words were starting to sink into him.

Big Al: "I can guarantee you that if the Flying Skull had done this Good Bird would be even more
enraged than you are now.  I wouldn't have been able to stop him without killing him, and I
probably wouldn't have succeeded if I had tried to kill him."

Speedy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then stood up.

Speedy: (shakey) "I'm better now. (takes another deep breath) I'll be fine."

Big Al: (to everyone) "This is one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about.  No matter
how fine all of you think you are, this has effected you more than you know.  You've seen what
was done to Guido and Francine.  Injuries that cause the victim needless pain while not doing any
fatal or permanent damage.  There is no question that they could have been killed quite easily.
These people, whoever they are, wanted Francine and Guido to survive.  They wanted them to
suffer tremendously and to live to tell about it.  What was done to Francine and Guido was a
message, perhaps to the Pizza Cats, perhaps it was meant for Little Tokyo and they were just in
the wrong place at the wrong time.  Whoever they are, they've left no clue as to their identities.
We can't have anybody jumping to brash conclusions and running off on personal vendettas.
Whoever did this, we need to find out who they are, regardless of whether this message was
meant for us or for Little Tokyo.  To do that I need all of you calm and in control of yourselves."

Big Al looked around and saw that everyone seemed to be getting all of this.

Big Al: <now to drop the bombshells> "Now we can hear what we do know about the people
who did this.  Mr. Cattol, Mr. White? "

Big Al looked around the room and did not see them anywhere.

Big Al: <Now where did they go?> "Did anybody see where they went to?"

Catton: "They didn't leave by the door.  (He walks to the center of the room.)  Just give me a
second. . . . ATTEN--TION!!!"

Bob and Lewis: "ACK!!!"  (THUNK!!!)

When they hear this, everybody sees Doctor Kats's heavy oak desk shudder a bit.  After a few
moments Bob and Lewis stand up and start rubbing their heads.

Catton: "Backbone boys, show a little backbone."

Big Al: "Gentlemen, tell everyone here what you told me."

Lewis: "W-well . . . (he looks at General Catton and stands up a little straighter) Well, we found
the man and the young lady lying in the street bleeding, so we called an ambulance.  (he pauses
and wets his lips nervously) And then we waited for the ambulance to get there.  The police and
the ambulance showed up, the ambulance brought them to the hospital and the police took our
statements.  We were about to get in the police car to ride to the hospital when we saw some
things that we thought belonged to them.  So we took them with us."

Lewis reached into his apron and pulled out Francine's green purse (it's strap was broken).  Bob
opened up one of the many pockets in his work cloths and pulled out a small paper scroll about
four inches long and one inch wide rolled up on a wooden spool with a set of unknown writing
symbols on the end-pieces, and a small book of about two by three inches which was an inch thick
and had a green cover and a gold embossed picture of the statue on top of Mount Coochie with
more strange characters underneath that seemed to be in an entirely different language than the
first.  He handed the book to Speedy and the scroll to Good Bird.  Lewis handed the purse to
Polly.

Big Al: "We know that whoever made the attack wasn't just a group of petty thieves because
there are four hundred dollars in Francine's purse.  From this we also know that it wasn't the
Flying Skull.  Ever since the Big Cheese left town they've been involved in petty crimes
throughout Little Tokyo.  They would never leave someone's purse behind until they had
searched it.  (he looked down) Other than that, we don't have anything to go on."

Speedy: "So what you're saying is that we don't know who it is, but we do know that it's
someone new."

Big Al: "Precisely.  We know that it wasn't the Flying Skull, <here it goes> but it was Ninja
Crows."

GB: (shocked) "What?!!"

Big Al: "The techniques and weaponry used to inflict those wounds are the same that we know to
be used by Ninja Crows.  I've had three different people go over the data and all of them confirm
this."

GB: (abashed) "But, but Ninja Crows don't do this . . . the honor code . . . they can't."

Big Al: "It was Ninja Crows, but I don't think they are the same ones we know."

Polly: (puzzled) "Not the same ones we know?"

Big Al: "Guido has fought the Ninja Crows many times.  Even unarmed he could still handle a
large number of them.  (turns to Speedy) You know Guido's capabilities in battle.  How many
would it take to do this to him?"

Speedy: (still shaken) "Guido's pretty good.  At his worst he could take ten.  To do (swallows)
that to him it would take twenty or more."

Big Al turned to Good Bird:

Big Al: "Not a trace of the attackers' was left behind.  You helped to train half of the Flying
Skull.  How many of them could have done something like this without leaving behind signs of
their passing?"

GB: "Not more than ten."

Big Al: (to everyone) "The Ninja Crows that did this are not the same ones that we have fought in
the past, they are better.  What we have seen here demonstrates that, in either fighting or stealth
or both, their skills are more formidable than those we have fought before.  Also, the doctor was
correct in saying that no normal person could have thrown Francine against that wall hard enough
to cause that kind of damage.  However, we know that being thrown against that wall was what
caused them.  This tells us that these Ninja Crows are also much stronger than normal.  I would
say that they are stronger than anyone that I have ever heard of."

Everyone stands silent as this sinks in.

Catton: "So, what do we do now."

Big Al: "There is nothing we can do now.  So we wait."

Once again they stand there silent.

Polly: "Well, if that's it, then we should probably decide who's staying here and who's going to
run the parlor tomorrow."

Carla: "What?"

Polly: "Somebody should stay with Guido and Francine tonight, but they wouldn't want us to
close down just because they can't work, so we need to decide who stays and who goes."

Carla: "Good Bird and I can stay here, but that will leave just you and Speedy to run the parlor
tomorrow.  You can't do that alone."

Bob: "We can help."

The two women looked at the two cowardly men.

Lewis: "Ya, I'm a baker, (he indicates his hat) and he could deliver pizzas."

Bob: "I could deliver pizza."

Lewis: "We just moved here and don't have jobs yet anyway."

Bob: "Ya, we just moved here."

Lewis: "And it would be neat to work with super-heros."

Polly: "How did you kno . . .  (She suddenly remembered that they were in the room during Big
Al's speech about defending the innocent.) . . .Oh." <I guess you can learn all kinds of things
when you keep a low profile> "I suppose that you could. . . . You can come to work tomorrow.
We're at thirteen twenty-four North Main and we open at seven.  It's a big building with a cannon
on the roof."

Lewis: "OK."

Bob: "That's good."

Lewis: "We'll be there."

Bob: "Bright and early."

Guido and Francine lay unconscious in their beds while the machines monitoring them made
periodic beeping noises.  Across the room, Good Bird and Carla curled up in a chair.  Inside
Good Bird's pocket sat the scroll that he had been given.  He had forgotten all about it.

Speedy Cerviche splashed the water from the faucet onto his face and then raked it up through his
hair.  He leaned on the counter for a few moments and then turned off the water and walked over
to the bed.  Polly was already in bed and was lying on her side with her back to him.  He got in
bed and then looked for a moment at the pink-heart wallpaper before he shut out the light (when
they got married he had moved into Polly's quarters in the Pizza parlor because she had wanted to
keep her wallpaper).  He lay there looking out into the darkness for a few minutes and then
decided that he had to say something.

Speedy: "Polly I really lost it tonight. . .(no response) . . . I saw those pictures of what happened
to Guido, and I thought of all the times that we've fought the Flying Skull and I just lost it. . . (no
response) . . . I shouldn't have lashed out at Good Bird like that.  I guess I was just angry and
looking for a fight . . . (no response) . . . I've never lost it like that before.  Not on a friend like
that.  He used to be my arch nemesis though, and I suppose that's why I went after him, but still, I
wish I could go back and make it so that nothing had ever happened."

Polly rolled over and wrapped her arms around his neck.  She kissed him on the cheek, then laid
her head on his chest.

Polly: "Don't worry, I still love you.  A person always loses it sometimes."

Speedy tried to think of something to say in response, but then decided against it.

Hanging over a chair, in the pocket of Speedy's pants, was the book he had been given.  He had
forgotten all about it.