[Issue] Airwolf

[Samantha McManus]

"Alright, I think we've almost got it," Sam grunts, unhooking a coolant tube from under the jet.

"What do the indicators say?" She calls up to Tereza.

[Tereza Rozanov]

"Better. Better," Tereza calls back, looking over the readouts.

[Samantha McManus]

"Has anybody hunted down Ainsley? I know he got roped into this, but I don't know if he's coming."

[Ainsley Green]

As if on cue, Ainsley walks into the hanger, shades down, walking as casually as if an explosion trailed him.

"Here luv."

[Narrator]

At Ainsley's side trots the crow-dog Coal, claws clicking on the hard floor.

[Samantha McManus]

"Brought a friend, did you?" Sam quirks a brow as she hooks up a refueling hose.

[Ainsley Green]

"He might be able to find his master if we're looking for him, and he's eager to see if we can help his master as well.

He's a good dog... bird... thing.

Plus, he matches your aesthetic... right? "

[Samantha McManus]

"...guess crows and canines are in my wheelhouse," she shrugs, going over to turn the fuel pump on.

[Tereza Rozanov]

"You had to think about that?" Tereza says from somewhere in the Blackbird.

[Samantha McManus]

"More like I had to remember we've got no room to take in a bunch of crow dogs," she chuckles.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

Chisaki arrived in the scene, pastel as always.

"I brought the Otosan Narumi." She states to whoever is paying attention.

[Narrator]

"Now I know what you're thinking, the last thing we need right now is a well-intentioned meddling parent," says the man who followed Chisaki in, "But please hear me out. Nobody knows who you're up against better than me."

[Tereza Rozanov]

Tereza walks down the ramp, holding a tablet, "Are you asking for a seat on the plane?" She raises an eyebrow.

[Narrator]

"Oh no. I'd... get in the way. I just wanted to tell you what to prepare for when you find Tosh. And what my father-in-law is doing to those people and that poor creature that tried to hide when I came in."

[Robin Stanton]

"Is he doing a Dr. Moreau?" a very specialized looking wrench tool thingie asks as it turns back into a person.

[Narrator]

Mr. Narumi starts a little but doesn't voice his surprise at Robin's sudden appearance.

"From the video one of the spectators put up, I'd say yes. Though whether they were animal or human first I wouldn't know. It was only animals he experimented with before, but he was working on a formula for people. You all probably know which by now, as I hear you captured one."

[Samantha McManus]

"More than a few of them were mutants he abducted, we think."

[Narrator]

"I was afraid that was it," he sighs, eyes full of regret, "If I had just paid more attention, I would have figured out he escaped and done what it took to prevent this tragedy."

[Samantha McManus]

"...no offense, but what do you really think you could have done?"

[Narrator]

"I ... Okay, what I'm about to tell you stays here. Can you promise that? At the very least, I need my son to hear it from me."

[Tereza Rozanov]

Tereza's mouth twists into a displeased expression, but she gestures for him to continue. Still, the depth of her displeasure with parents keeping things from their children is vibrating down her connection with Sam.

[Samantha McManus]

"I feel like keeping secrets from Tosh has already bit us in the arse, don't you?" Sam frowns.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

To the outside observor, Chisaki says nothing and stands there with her bubbly, dead eyed expression. She didn't seem to acknowledge the senior Narumi's request at all.

But Sam could tell far more was going on behind the scenes than most people thought there was. She was actively listening, and while she never said out loud that she swore not to tell Tosh, nor did she state she would either. She left her thoughts on this deliberately as vague as the expression her face wore.

[Narrator]

"I... told myself that talking about it would traumatize him all over again. I should have known he was stronger than that. I only hope he's strong enough to cope with literally reliving it." He looks like it hurts him to acknowledge the depth of his failure.

"I know could have done more because Doctor Evo, as my father-in-law called himself, was finally brought to justice by a local vigilante..." he says before a wave of matter sweeps over him, forming into a suit of chitinous looking armor with classic white superhero eyes, "Me."

[Samantha McManus]

"...yes, I definitely think you ought to have told Tosh you're a bloody Kamen Rider before now."

[Narrator]

He chuckles half-heartedly, "Not the first time I've heard that."

"And you're right. When he started taking a similar path, I should have told him everything. It just... isn't easy to stop keeping something to yourself when you've done it for so long."

"When you bring him back, I intend to fix that and hope he can forgive me for this and all that happened to him when I was off playing hero."

[Robin Stanton]

"It's alright. Parents can be real numbnuts sometimes." Robin says with a cheeky wink.

[Samantha McManus]

"So what was so urgent that you needed to tell us, anyway?"

[Narrator]

"Not exactly urgent, but I thought you should be prepared for the state you'll find Tosh in. He'll be suffering from blood loss and will most likely be sedated. Regardless, he won't be able to help in his own escape."

"And it would be wise to take someone with medical training if possible. Besides my son, I can only imagine the state of his more unwilling subjects."