This week's prompt: Recruit

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Hmmm....I get the feeling Jinpei's about to get involved....

Which might not be a good idea. Ken better get his butt in gear.

Go Jun! Show Ken you're your own woman! ***** Berg Katse's pink, glossy lips sagged as he watched the bedraggled men shuffling through the entryway. "What are you doing out there?" he snarled at the bizarrely-dressed captain standing next to him. "This is the sorriest bunch of new recruits I've seen in years! Where did you find them, in the garbage dump?" "Well, actually..." the captain opened his mouth the respond. "I don't want to hear it." Katse held up a red-gloved hand, silencing the man. "You have to get these twits into shape. You have until the end of the week. And you had better not disappoint me!" "I won't, Lord Katse!" the captain promised nervously.

lol, TJ for a minute there, I almost thought the captain was going to say "yes, they did come from a garbage dump....". Sounds like he's got his work cut out for him though!

Um, TJ, I could've sworn that's where they got ALL their recruits....as well as the sewers, and the septic tanks, and the toxic waste dumps...

KT, sounds like Jinpei is not happy at all with this Kaden situation- now I'm wondering if he's going to work on Ken- so they can get rid of Kaden! TJ- Too funny! Hope they have been given their manuals!

Springie:

LOL. Can't wait to see what happens next KT! Ken's got his work cut out for him, if he wants to get Jun's attention (sounds like he's getting a taste of his own medicine, in a way.)

Originally posted by ElectricWhite Um, TJ, I could've sworn that's where they got ALL their recruits....as well as the sewers, and the septic tanks, and the toxic waste dumps...

Me too, EW!

lol, Springie, great pics

I remember them, Springie and I laughed this time, too. Maybe Joe could write some to the effect of how to take out Galactors.

This is for all that stinking snow we got again. Someone else needs to suffer. Jason sat in front of the Chief's desk nervously waiting for his foster father to come in. When he did, Jason swallowed hard. The Chief sat at his desk and stared at Jason, prolonging the agony. "You had no right to take my car," the Chief started. Jason lowered his eyes and nodded. "I don't care if the G-2 was damaged during a battle or not so it can't be transmuted back to your Nissan until the repairs are completed. You're lucky I didn't call the police to report it stolen." Jason nodded again. The Chief rose, joining his hands behind his back as he turned to look out the window behind his seat. The grounds at Camp Parker were white with snow from the latest snow storm to hit the area. "I've been trying to decide on your punishment and it looks like nature has provided it." he tuned back around. "Your punishment is to dig out the driveway." Jason's eyes bugged. "But it's a quarter of a mile long!" he protested. He immediately began to wonder what he'd have to promise his teammates to help. "And you may not recruit anyone to help," the Chief added, as if he could see the wheels turning in Jason's head. "This is your punishment. I suggest you get started." Jason groaned as he rose. He could feel his arms starting to hurt already.

Becky, that was almost evil! Almost

YIPES! That's a good one, Becky! I can hear Jason grumbling from here!

Hmmmm.... where can Jason hire a bulldozer? Maybe a solo Whirlwind pyramid to blow away the snow?

No snow for me but next time it snows over here, you can send him to dig out *my* driveway. It certainly seems like it's about 1/4 mile long when it snows! TJ: I like the pyramid idea! LOL.

I got the idea from my husband, who had such duty just for being the eldest and only son, but the driveway was about 40 yards long vice a 1/4 mile.

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So... Ken's a model now?

Well, you know, TJ...something for him to fall back on if the Gatchaman thing and the mail service thing don't work out!

Good point EW, but I have a feeling they don't want Ken just for poster modelling!

Just another strange situation that had to have been planned. I get the impression someone in Utoland is talking to everyone else about what Nambu's people are doing.

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Congratulations Chris, and yeah, it makes sense to have someone there to watch over Ken, at least for the first vital few days. And it's good to see that RI isn't totally trusted by Nambu either, since he hasn't made the most sensible of choices regarding his wife and son so far.

KT: Oooh, Ken has a champion in Jinpei ... or Jinpei's just saying anything to get her to shut up! And yeah, just the big lie 11 years ago has Nambu very sore with his old friend. Trust is gonna have to be earned. TJ: At least they've figured out where to find their target recruits, heh heh heh. Springie: Those are great, especially the Dummies book! Becky: Uh oh ... LOL poor Jason! The Chief knows him too well. The hubby got a snowblower this year as a gift from his parents. He was waiting anxiously for us to get enough snow to use it. Took a while but we finally did! EW: Oh dear. Ken's about to get fashioned to death, isn't he? I always figured in some alternate universe he probably IS a model, hehe.

I think I missed #115, so I need to go back and read before commenting, CW.

OK. I'm wondering if Nambu's going to tell Kentaro to buzz off, that he's going to take care of Ken now. Things are moving towards Ken joining the team, isn't it?

Originally posted by Becky Rock Things are moving towards Ken joining the team, isn't it?

Wonder if they'll just add him to the team, or if they're only supposed to have 5 team members--does this mean something will happen to Adam?

I'm not sure how it's gonna go down yet. I also still have no idea of Adam's background, though I've assumed that he's an orphan who's lost both parents. He hasn't proven me wrong, yet. I certainly can't see any of the kids being sympathetic to a parent who (in their eyes) has abandoned and hurt their wife and child so much. Somehow I see them having Joe's back.

I agree. I'm assuming Adam will whisper in your ear what to do with him.

Here's my contribution for this one: ************************************ Prompt # 116--Recruit Jun hustled a plate of sandwiches and sodas over to one of the corner booths, when she glanced at the young woman sitting alone on the other side of the snack. She had come in about 10 minutes earlier, while she had been unloading the dishwasher. As far as Jun knew, the woman hadn't picked up a menu--she only seemed interested in looking out the window. Not that she could blame her, it was a beautiful day outside--but something was amiss. Cursing herself for giving Jinpei the day off, while she was stuck there alone, Jun dried her hands on her apron and walked over to the girl. "Pardon me, but are you alright? Can I get you anything?" "Oh, I'm so sorry." she blushed, looking down into her lap. "I don't mean to be a bother. I'm meeting someone here." "Oh, I see...." she replied, glancing around the eatery. It was still early for people to be coming in on a Saturday. Since the weather had turned warmer, it seemed most of Utoland wanted to be outside rather than cooped up indoors. The only other patrons she had at the moment were a table of rowdy kids with skateboards that she had brought the sandwiches to and a man in a suit reading a newspaper. "My name's Maddie." the girl told her shyly, pushing a tendril of long curly blonde hair out of her eyes. "I met a guy online and I'm supposed to meet him here. I guess you could say we're going on a 'date'." Imagine, the possibility of a budding romance happening-- right here at the Snack! Jun couldn't believe it. Nothing exciting ever happened here. Oh, how she wished something similar could happen to her. Why couldn't she meet someone nice? She had a few dates here over the last couple of months, but nothing came of them. The whole thing had become tiresome considering she had been the one doing the asking. Not to mention that none of them was what she really wanted. Quickly glancing around the room to make sure she wasn't needed, she sat down in one of the chairs across from the girl. "What's his name?"Jun asked, leaning back in her chair. "I don't know his name since I met him through an online dating site." Maddie admitted, blushing again. "We chatted online last week, but he did send me a photo. And he wanted to meet here because he said comes here a lot. Maybe you know him?" Now Jun was really intrigued, and she was curious as to who it might be. While the Snack was popular, she had only a few regulars. Many were young kids who stopped by after school, or workers from the nearby businesses. She had plans to market her eatery to a younger more 'hip' crowd, but hadn't had the time she needed to devote to making it happen. "Ok," Jun began slowly. "What does he look like?" "Well... he's tall, dark and.... handsome." That wasn't too much to go on Jun wanted to tell her, but she wondered who it might be. She had no regulars that she could say were tall, dark and hand.... Wait......it couldn't be Ken or Joe? Could it? Had one of the two managed to nab a date? She frowned mentally. While the girl was pretty in a "natural" kind of way, she really didn't seem to be Joe's type. And he really didn't need to recruit girlfriends from an online dating service. They usually found him, and they were usually trouble spelled with a capital "G". As for Ken, she had no idea what kind of woman he found attractive. She wasn't sure if anyone knew. People had tried to set him up on blind dates before, but you never heard anything about them. God only knows she tried to get his attention to no avail. "Oh and he had the kindest eyes!" the girl added dreamily, propping her chin up on one hand. That definitely left out Joe. While Joe's eyes were a lovely shade of blue-grey, she didn't think they were particularly kind looking. That was, unless he wanted something from you-- and if you were a woman, then those eyes took on the color of and the consistency of dark smoke. And the look in them wasn't something she'd call kind. No, that sultry look was more like 'hold on for dear life', because you were going for a wild ride. "And you said you don't know his name at all?" Jun asked dubiously, tapping her pencil on the order pad laying on the table. Maddie shook her head, blonde curls bouncing. "Only his user name from the site: flyboy32." That sealed it. It must be Ken! Damn him and those gorgeous big blue woman-getting eyes of his! She gasped inwardly--so that was the reason why he wanted to borrow Jinpei's laptop last week. Ken went and joined an online dating site....and landed himself a date. Jun felt a hot stab of jealousy in the vicinity of her heart, and she began to feel tears well up in her eyes. At that moment the door chimes jingled as it swung open, the sound of raucous laughter pouring through it. In walked Ken and Joe, joking around about something or other. The ends of Ken's hair were wet, darkening the collar of his shirt, like he had just taken a shower. Joe however looked as if he needed one. Jun surmised he had come straight from the track after doing some early laps, for his jeans were dusty and unbeknownst to him, a streak of grease was smeared across his cheekbone. It only added to his usual rakish look. "Hey Junie!" Joe called causally, taking his usual seat in the corner, and tossing his jacket aside. As usual, Ken hadn't even turned in her direction, and just slid onto a stool at the bar, and grabbed a menu, studying it. Jun fumed and grit her teeth. If he was thinking of taking his date out to lunch at the Snack, he better damn well have money to pay for it! He would be getting no freebies from her anymore! Jun was very tempted to tell the girl about Ken's misgivings, but clamped her lips together. Let the poor thing realize for herself early on that her dreamboat, was a cheapskate! Maddie had glanced at them briefly as they sat down, and then checked her watch with a sigh. What was wrong with her? Jun thought crazily.Why wasn't she moving? Ken was sitting right there reading the lunch menu for God's sake! "Well, go on.." Jun whispered, trying talk around the burning lump in her throat. "Go where?" the girl asked, whispering back. Jun motioned to the bar where Ken was sitting. She tried not to notice the play of muscles under his form fitting T-shirt, as he reached for a glass of water across the bar counter. "There he is....your date..." Jun prodded, growing impatient and just wishing for it all to be over, so she could have a good cry upstairs. Maddie peered at Ken frowning.... "No...that's not..." The door to the snack opened again, chimes jangling merrily, and in walked Ryu. "Hiya Jun!" the Phoenix's pilot said jovially with a wave of his hand. Then he stopped and stared. His throat worked as he eyed the girl sitting at the table with her. The girl squealed to Jun, suddenly grabbing her arm in a vice like grip. "Ooh that's him!" What?! "MaddieFlower?" Ryu asked eagerly, after he had recovered, a blush coloring his cheeks. She jumped up from the table, grabbing her tote bag as she fairly flew across the room. "flyboy32?" "That's me!" Ryu beamed, stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels. At this point in time, both Ken and Joe had turned around in their seats to watch what was going on. Jun could see the amused smirk on Joe's face and the confusion on Ken's. "Oh, I'm so glad to meet you!" Maddie exclaimed, throwing the strap to her tote bag over her shoulder. Ryu stuck his hand out to her in greeting. "Pleasure is all mine! Name's Ryu." "You can call me Maddie." she told him, and placed her hand in his, shaking it. "So, what're you two kids up to today?" Joe asked a hint of laughter in his voice as he watched the interaction before him. Maddie peeked around Ryu, "flyboy...oh....Ryu, is going to take me down to the marina to see his boat..." "And after a few hours on the water, we're going out to dinner....don't forget." Ryu reminded her. He subsequently looked at his watch. "Hey, we'd better get going. We're probably gonna hit traffic on the way to the marina. Ready to go?" She nodded and Ryu, still holding her hand, waved a goodbye with the other and headed for the door. Jun watched as he opened it for her, and turned to grin at them. Joe gave him a thumbs-up before he walked out the door and into the bright sunshine. "What was that that all about?" Ken mused, a slight smile on his face."flyboy32?" He shook his head, chuckling. "Good for him!" Joe remarked, stretching his legs out with a groan. "Ryu needs to get out more often." Jun, while happy for Ryu felt oddly relieved. Ken didn't have a date. She picked up her order pad from the table and strode over to the bar. "So, what'll you two have?" Ken looked around nervously, and peered into the empty kitchen. "Umm, Jinpei here today?" "No" Jun quipped impatiently, tapping her foot. "I guess that means the oven is 'broken' then, right?" Joe laughed knowingly. "Got that right. " Jun remarked. "Only cold dishes and sandwiches today." "Jinpei make any chicken salad last night?" Joe questioned, eyebrow raised. Jun nodded, the curled ends of her hair brushing her shoulders. "I'll take that then." "Oh, that sounds good. Me too, Jun! " Ken told her, sliding a menu back into its holder on the counter. Jun glared at him from beneath her eyelashes. She moved closer to him fixing him with what she hoped was a hard look. "Do you have money to pay for it Ken?" She heard Joe's sharp snort behind her. Ken shot him a look, but his eyes took on a hint of panic. "I'm a little short this week Jun....." "Ken....!" "Can't you just put it on my tab?" Then he turne

Redbird: LOL, Ken has no idea how close he came to losing his life. How cool to see a girl gushing over Ryu.

RB -- Yeah, what CW said!

Glad you both liked it! I wanted to do something a little different this time around. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?

Sure is!!!

yeah, it's always good to see Ryu getting the girl for a change, and what does it say about those of us who thought she was waiting for Ken or Joe too???

Good for Ryu and Ken still doesn't have a clue. I'd cut him off until he paid his full tab.

KT & BR: Yeah, I felt Ryu needed some attention. I glad the got the girl too! As for Ken and his tab--we'll have to see if Jun cuts him off or not in the future.