Disclaimer: Kim Possible and all related characters belong to Disney and those Schooley and McCorkle guys. Other stuff belongs to Hideo Kojima and Konami. I'm just borrowing it, I swear!
Summary: Drakken gets a new business partner that's not too fond of Shego. On a mission, Kim meets a certain Solid someone.
Prologue
"What's your name?"
No response from the prisoner. Just that staring at the ground, at nothing. That constant frown.
"What were you doing in that warehouse?"
"…"
"Who do you work for?"
"…"
"Look, it's obvious that you've been trained by someone. So who was it? CIA? NSA? Are you an foreign agent? Hmm? You working for the Russians? Feeding information to the Chinese? Hmm? Syrians? Iran?"
Still nothing from the man.
"Y'know, the face that Global Justice presents to the world, that friendly face that everyone sees – agents catching the bad guys, taking them to prison, that kind of stuff – that's just what we show to keep everyone happy. In reality, we do what need to be done to bring guys like Drakken to justice. Secret things. Things that hurt. And we're going to do those things to you. They'll hurt, and you'll talk. Everyone does.
The frown was slowly replaced by a smug grin. And the prisoner spoke.
"Try it."
SOLID STICH
Chapter 1.
Clones. Again. Considering what happened the last time clones were thought to be a good idea, Shego would've hoped that Dr. Drakken would think twice before going that route again. Guess not, she thought to herself. She'd said as much to her boss when he told her of his new master plan, but he'd just brushed it off.
"I've got a whole new formula this time!" he'd happily announced. "I got it from our new partner in crime and he got it from the United States government. Did you know that the suits in Washington were trying to make clones for years? No, of course you didn't."
"Wait a minute, doc. Did you just say new partner?"
"Well, uh, yes."
"What kind of partner?" she asked, eyes narrowing.
Drakken started getting nervous. He'd wanted to keep their new benefactor a secret but in his excitement he'd just let it slip.
"Um, he's not really a partner; he's just the, uh, the money for our new project here."
"So you hired us out? Is that all we're good for now?"
"Shego, be reasonable, every time we try something Kim Possible and what's-his-face always bust in and stop us before I can put my plan into action. I just thought that a new course of action might be good for us, y'know?
"Oh, so you just doubt my skills. You don't think that I can handle the princess."
"No! I don't…I'm not doubting anything! You're just…turning my words around here. Making it hard for me to think!"
That was the wrong thing to say, as Drakken quickly learned when Shego lit up her plasma powers and intended to show Drakken just how accomplished her skills were. But before she could get to Drakken, who'd ran to the other side of the room and huddled in the corner, she was cut off by a voice from the doorway.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The voice was gruff, like it belonged to an old man. Shego turned to see who stopped her before things got entertaining. What she saw was pretty weird, and that was saying something considering the weird stuff she'd seen while in Drakken's employ. He was dressed in camouflage, head to toe. Over his cloths he wore an old duster and his pant legs were tucked into cowboy boots. He had long white hair that he'd tied with a string and had thrown it over his shoulder. And to top things off, he had a moustache that either looked like it belonged on Wyatt Earp or an adult film star. While all of this was a little strange, what really put Shego off was what was strapped to his thigh. An old revolver.
"Ah, Mr. Miller, j-just in time." Drakken said, getting up from off the floor and rushing over. "Shego, this is Mr. Miller, our financial backer." He turned to Miller again. "Come to inspect our operation, I trust?"
"Just coming to see how my money is being spent." He said.
For a while now Drakken had Shego going out and stealing some things, strange platforms, super computer components, and one time an entire shipment of very large glass tubes. That last job had been tricky to pull off, but of course Shego had managed it, and felt a little pride in it, too. Drakken had tried to explain what all this stuff was for, but as usual once he started going off into his techno-babble Shego stopped listening. Now that they were back here, in Drakken's newest secret lair, all that stuff was here, and assembled too so she could what it was all for. Super computer components to augment his own so that it could run the clone formula, platforms connected to large vials of the same liquid the original clones were grown in. Glass vials to grow them in. Shego sighed Clones again.
"Look buddy," she said to , "We tried this before once, and lets just say that if anyone is packing six-pack's of , your new tube babies will be tube puddles."
Slowly, very slowly, Miller turned towards Shego, and, though she'd never admit it, creeped her out a little.
"Trust me, my dear. These clones will be…superior." He smiled, "In every way. Now, I understand that the two of you are defeated almost routinely by a teenage girl, correct?"
"Well," Drakken began, "Maybe routinely is pushing it a little…"
"If she has indeed found out about our operation, security won't be a problem. I have my own guards and they are very good at what they do. Unfortunately, I also have my own enemies, and I'm quite sure one of them will be visiting us very soon, so I want this everything up and running now and the first batch of clones ready to go as soon as possible. Understand?"
"Yes, as soon as possible. I'm quite excited to try out this new clone formula. And such an exotic name! Les Enfants Terribles. It just rolls off the tongue. Shego, doesn't it just roll off the tongue?"
But Shego wasn't listening. She was already heading for the door.
"I don't understand it, Wade. How can you – you - not know what Drakken is up to?" Kim looked down at the tiny screen on her Kimunicator. She and Ron were, of course, at Bueno Nacho. And, per usual, Ron was bust stuffing his face.
Wade had been tracking the movements of Shego, and ultimately Drakken, since they'd been going on their latest crime spree.
"Well," the boy said, "I have an idea of what everything they stole could be used for, but I really don't think-
"Just tell me Wade." Kim cut in.
"Fine. Everything they took could be used to make clones."
This caught Ron's attention. "Clones? Again? Doesn't Drakken realize that we could just flood his lair place with soda to stop him? Maybe all those beating that the Ronster gave him have started piling up."
"Oh, that the Ronster gave him, huh?"
"Hey, you're always handling Shego, KP, so someone has to take care of all the 'death-ray' stuff, right?" He asked
Kim made a face and looked down at her Kimunicator, "He does have a point." Wade said.
"Getting back to the issue at hand." Kim said, a little frustrated.
"Right. Clones. Well, he may be giving it another go just for fun. Who knows what that guy's thinking, right?"
"I suppose. Ok, if you don't know exactly what he's doing, do you at least know where he's doing it?" She asked
"Yeah, as you know I've been watching Shego's moves, trying to determine what they were up to, and after every heist she always goes back to the same location. Here…"
Wade's face disappeared from the screen only to be replaced by an aerial view of a facility in the middle of the desert. It looked like a warehouse.
"It looks like a warehouse." Ron said, in between bites.
"Actually, it's an old Air Force hanger where they used to test experimental planes back during the Cold War. It's since been decommissioned and I guess forgotten by the government, otherwise it wouldn't be there if they hadn't." Wade replied.
"Where is it?" Kim asked
"New Mexico. About one hundred and fifty miles west of White Sands missile range."
"That's not too far," Kim thought about it for a little bit. "I think its time we pay Drakken a little visit and ruin his evening."
"Alright!" said Ron. "A little carbonated carnage. I'm always up for that kind of fun!"
Kim smiled. "Wade, get us a ride please?"
Wade was about to answer when the screen suddenly went blank. Kim stared at it, puzzled. The thing never lost power before.
"Maybe it needs new batteries." Ron offered.
"Ron, when have you ever replaced the batteries in the Kimunicator before?"
Ron's answer was cut off when another face appeared on the device, but it definitely wasn't Wade's.
"I'm sorry Miss Possible, but I'm afraid that we're going to have to forbid you from going on this mission."
The voice was none other than Will Du.
"Agent Du?" Kim asked, incredulously.
"How did he get you number?" Ron asked.
"How we got this frequency isn't important. What is important is that you stay away from Drakken this time. Global Justice is going to handle it."
This got Kim upset. "Why this time? Why now?"
"The information that Mr. Lode gave you was correct. It just wasn't all of the information. Drakken isn't working alone this time, and, no, it isn't with any of the other side-show enemies of yours that he's teamed up with. This new guy is different. Since we've been monitoring the abandoned test facility, we've been seeing a lot of activity."
"Right, Drakken is pulling and Emperor Palpatine, gearing up to get his new clone army going." Ron said.
"No, it's more than that," Du replied, "We've been seeing choppers come in almost regularly for a few weeks now. They only stay at the facility for a little while then leave. And it's not clone supplies that they're carrying, its soldiers. Actual soldiers with military training and firepower." This news made Kim and Ron a little nervous. Drakken had always used hench men, run-of-the-mill strong arms with little training and even less brain cells. Never soldiers and never guns.
"Satellite surveillance caught them doing their drills, walking perimeter, and generally acting like soldiers should. When we analyzed their camouflage pattern, the computer came back with their nationality, Russian."
"Analyzed their camouflage?"
"Every nation has a different camouflage pattern for their military. Trust us Miss Possible, these guys are not guys you can just beat to a pulp and walk away from. The Russian military is one of the best in the world, rivaling even the United States. They've been trained to fight back, and if not with guns, then whit their own bare hands. I dare say they'd even give you a run for your money. Your sidekick, and I'm positive of this, would not come back alive."
Kim looked at Ron. For once in all the years that she knew him, he had no joke or comeback. In fact he looked very uneasy. She slid her hand across the table and took a hold of his, giving it a gentle squeeze. When he looked at her, she smiled. It took him a while, but he smiled back.
"Agent Du, I think you're vastly underestimating my side kick. Besides, all we'll have to do is find an open air vent, sneak past all the soldiers, pull the plug on Drakken's plan, and get out of there. No sweat."
" Miss Possible, I don't think you're understanding the situa- hold on," he said, clearly distracted. Once more, Kim found herself staring at a blank screen, only to have it replaced by the stern face of a one-eyed woman.
"Dr. Director!"
"Miss Possible, did you know that I knew you mother in college?" she asked.
"Um, no." Kim replied
"Did you know that she and I were very good friends?"
"No."
"Did you know that I've been keeping her in the loop on all the missions you've gone on?"
"Where exactly is this going?"
"Do you know what the first thing out of her mouth is every time I call her to tell her of your exploits? 'Is my daughter ok?' That's what she asks. Every time you've been on a mission, I've let your mother know. At first she was a wreck, worrying herself sick while you were gone despite the many times that I told her you could handle it. Eventually she started trusting in your abilities when you routinely came back unhurt. How mad at me do you think she'd be if I let you go on this mission, a mission that clearly has more danger than any other mission you've faced? How furious at me do you think she'll be if she hears that you've been severely injured? How inconsolable do you think she'll get if she hears that her daughter, her precious, only daughter, was killed because I let her go on a mission that was out of her league. Answer me that Miss Possible."
Kim had no answer. And even if she did, it was useless to argue with Dr. Director. Once she's made up her mind, she stuck to it.
"Global Justice is going to handle this situation, Miss Possible. I don't want you anywhere near New Mexico, much less that facility. Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma'am." Kim answered in a small voice.
"Good." Dr. Director's face softened a little. "Now go home. It will do your mother good to know that for once Kim Possible isn't going out to save the world."
The Director's face disappeared and was instantly replaced by a very confused and angry Wade.
"Hack my system, will you? Just wait; you'll see who the king of the computers is. Let's see how Global Justice likes twenty-four hours of pop-up ads slowing down their servers."
"Leave them alone, Wade, they were only trying to protect us, in their own insensitive way. They'll need everything up and running to pull off their operation."
"So that's it?" Ron asked, "We're just going to sit back and do nothing? Just let them muscle in on our territory like the Jets? Or was it the Sharks? Or was it Mad Gear? No, that was something else…" he trailed off.
"No, we're not going to do nothing. Wade, can you hack in to Global Justice spy satellite?"
"Sure, how else did you think I found out where Drakken and Shego were?"
"Good, I want you to keep an eye on them from now until I tell you to stop. Then I want you to get into their systems so that we'll have all their tactical information."
"Uh, why exactly do you want all of this, KP?" Ron asked, a little puzzled.
"When Global Justice makes their move, I want to know which direction they'll be looking at so that they won't see us when we make our move." She smiled.
"I don't know KP, Agent Du said that this time I was a goner for sure. I barely make it through missions when there aren't trained Russian killers."
"Ron," Kim began, "I'm sure that one day you'll have the same faith in yourself that I have in you, till then you don't need to worry. I'll look after us both."
"You can do that?" He asked.
"Of course I can. Anything's possible, remember?"
Dr. Director sighed. She'd tried her hardest to get her point across, and even thought for a moment that she'd succeeded, but then she remembered who she was talking to. 'She's still going to be there. I just know it.' She thought to herself. Reaching over, the one eyed woman pushed a button on her desk. Almost instantly, Agent Du was in her doorway.
"Yes, ma'am." He said, standing straighter than a human being should be able to stand.
"Possible isn't going to listen. If you see her there tonight I want you personally to get her out of there as fast as possible, understand? If she shows up, her safety is your concern, and if she's harmed in any way, I'm holding you personally responsible. Is that understood?"
Agent Du's eye twitched a little, but: "Yes, ma'am. Understood."
" Good."