Ch. 3: A Challenge Issued
Previously on Inspector Gadget: Reboot 2
Lieutenant Austin 'Ace' Bettencourt trudged back into Metro South with a sour mood. I was the cause of his mood and he was mumbling under his breath the entire way.
"I hate Gadget! If I had a chance to show up that windup police man I'd take it in a second! I'd just love to show him who the better man is."
"Is that so, lieutenant?" a voice practically purred.
Bettencourt turned around and saw Dr. Reese standing there.
"You bet doc, Gadget's been a thorn in my side since he got here."
"In that case the proposal I have should be very interesting to you. I'm sure it's an offer you can't refuse."
Being a cyborg super cop wasn't that bad once you got used to it. I was tougher than a normal human and able to do things that other cops couldn't For example, I could walk straight into a barrage of bullets, remain unaffected by smoke grenade attacks and get through numerous other situations that other officers' couldn't But it had taken a while for the boys in blue at Metro South to accept me as one of them as I had no experience or training. And the fact that I had been granted the rank of full detective without the proper qualifications had steamed some of them. But I had proved my usefulness and ability to get a job done time and time again and had finally gained the majority of the officers' respect. With the exception of a few, one of them being Lt. Austin Bettencourt, the others had finally accepted me. The said police Lt. was in a lab at UniTech participating in a test run of Dr. Reese's newest creation, a creation aimed at making me obsolete.
"Are you ready to begin the tests lieutenant?"
"Yeah, but this suit feels a little heavy. I thought you said that there were motors in the joints to ease the weight."
"There are. Keep in mind that this suit is the prototype. The final product will fix the flaws of the one you're wearing, which is more than I can say for Inspector Gadget. He's a prototype and still the only cyber cop on the force. Besides, after you see what this suit can do I'm sure you won't be complaining for long."
Reese operated some controls on the console in front of him and the test began. Automatic cannons dropped from the ceiling and began raining lead down on the armored cop. Austin flinched and raised his arm to cover his helmeted head.
"Try using the electric disruptor," advised Reese as he observed.
Austin pressed a button on the gauntlet and a handle extended from the bottom of the wrist into his hand. A targeting cross appeared on the helmet's HUD and he fired. The electric disruptor was an advanced version of a taser developed by UniTech for the police. It did not require the wires that a normal taser did and instead fired a concentrated burst of electricity at the perpetrator. The disruptor could render a criminal unconscious for up to twenty minutes. The disruptors on the suit were more powerful to allow them to take out a vehicle if necessary but the power could be regulated. The fired bolts from the suit took out the cannons with no problems in under four seconds.
"I think I'm beginning to like this gizmo," Austin chuckled.
"Very good, lieutenant, now let's see how good your reflexes are."
A second later a mini aerial surveillance craft was buzzing around Austin. He got a lock and fired the grappling cables at the nuisance. A swift yank and the craft was in his gloved hand and crushed like it was paper.
"Got anything else Dr. Reese?"
"You've done very well so far, lieutenant, now let's see how you handle a real challenge."
A door in the lab opened and a bulky but still formidable Military Assault and Defense Drone clambered in. It was just as high as Austin in the suit and had heavy repeaters that shot fifty caliber bullets and mini rocket launchers. The drone didn't give Austin time to respond and opened fire the moment it stepped into the room. Austin stumbled back and knew he had to do something fast. Even the suit couldn't take extended fire from fifty cal. Machine guns.
"You think you can stop me transistor head?" asked Austin as he fired the cable at one of the two hydraulic legs.
The enemy fell with a good tug and Austin lunged at it and tore out its CPU.
"Alright! I'm a regular one man army with this thing! When do I get to Gadget?"
"All in good time my friend. You'll get your show down with the inspector soon enough."
The Police Academy Training Grounds. It had been built by UniTech when they entered into a contract with the city to help fund the police force. It was a large training ground that was built like a few city blocks with numerous obstacles for the rookies to go through. Of course, the obstacle course used marking rounds instead of real ammunition but it was rigorous and difficult to get through. A group of rookies had just finished getting through and were panting with the exertion.
"Two minutes twelve seconds," the sergeant was saying. "Not bad but definitely not good either. If this is the best that you can do then you won't last long in Detroit. Let's see if we can knock half a minute off that time at the next session, OK?"
The rookies grumbled there agreement and started wiping the sweat off and getting ready to hit the showers when Gadgetmobile flew, flew, in and landed.
"Wow, I'm really impressed with that new gadget," I commented as I took the keys out of the ignition.
"And he handles like a dream," added Ashley.
"The Nano Crystallic Charger worked wonderfully, supercharging the fuel and allowing it to be used as rocket fuel for the vertical boosters," Taylor observed.
"What do you think of it Gadgetmobile?" inquired Jay.
"I do not enjoy it at all," he answered, fear seeming to leak into the digitized voice.
"Well I'll cut you a deal then," I offered. "I'll keep the use of that gadget to a minimum and use it only in emergencies. Deal?"
"Deal! Cars are not meant to fly."
"Hey, look! It's Inspector Gadget!" yelled one of the rookies.
They suddenly swarmed around Gadgetmobile as the driver and passenger doors opened and Ashley and I got out. The trainees started asking hurriedly for my autograph and took out the camera phones to snap pictures. I was courteous and signed my name while Jay, Taylor, and Ashley rushed to the side to avoid being trampled.
"Dr. Ramirez, Dr. Powell, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" inquired the sergeant.
"Testing," answered Taylor. "We just made some modifications to Gadget's motor system and circuits that should decrease his reaction time and increase his strength. We wanted to see how well he'll perform with them."
"Are you ready for the tests, inspector?" Jay called over to where I was still being swamped by the rookies.
"I'll be there in a minute," I assured as I extracted myself from the small crowd.
"Are you ready inspector?" the sergeant asked as he stood by to activate the training course.
"I'm ready, and put it one difficulty factor ten," I said as I primed my CS-6.
The course started with three dummies with automatic weapons firing on me. I aimed and scored a direct hit on each one.
"Watch this kids," the sergeant instructed the trainees as I progressed. "You may not be able to copy all his moves but you might learn something."
Next in line was heavy duty machine gun on top of a building. I ran right by it and scored another hit as I ran by. I stopped at a corner and a dummy appeared from a hidden door behind me. But my enhanced hearing detected the whir of the servos and I turned and fired just in time.
"Wow! Did you see that?" asked an amazed rookie.
A wall of fire appeared in my path but I was able to walk right through it with minimal cosmetic damage. A crossfire set up by four dummies in four different positions was next. Each target was dispatched with ease. A brick wall rose out of the ground but it was no hindrance. My extension legs saw to it that I got over the wall easily. On the other side padded hydraulic rams closed from both sides of the course. My cybernetic strength saw to it the hydraulics were overwhelmed first. One last dummy appeared to try and stop me but it was useless as one well placed shot put it out of commission. I had completed the course.
"Incredible," the sergeant exclaimed as he looked at the stop watch "One minute and four seconds! That was a new course record! You completely demolished the old record set by Lieutenant Bettencourt."
"Congratulations on the score, partner," Ashley complimented with a big smile.
"Yes, it was a very good score," agreed Taylor.
"Take a look over there," Jay pointed to where a UniTech van had just pulled up. "I wonder who just arrived."
We didn't have to wait long because Dr. Reese got out a second later.
"Dr. Aaron Reese," Taylor said, her voice icy. "I wonder what that second rater is trying to pass off this time."
"I take it that the history between the two of you is not great," I noticed.
"Astute observation inspector. He was competing against me and my brother to get his crime prevention project, the Crimebot 350, funded instead of the Cyber Cop Project. He even had a prototype ready for presentation but a malfunction caused it to damage the room and injure two board members. The Cyber Cop Project got approval instead of the Crimebot Program. Now I'd bet that he's trying to get another project of his funded to compete with you. But no matter what he's come up with I'm confident that you will prove to be the better… product for lack of a better term."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I smiled.
"I'm sure you'll be the best man too," added Jay. "You've proven time and again how resourceful you are."
"Well this has to be important," Ashley said. "That's Mr. King's limo pulling up behind the van."
"Now the only question is, what is Reese trying to get funding for?" Jay stated.
We didn't have long to wait as we heard a noise not too dissimilar to a low flying jet overhead. We turned our gazes upward and saw something huge and metal fly into view from the direction of the sun. It landed and stood to its full height at over eight feet tall.
"Identify yourself," I ordered as I leveled my CS-6 at the unknown drone.
"What's the matter shorty? You don't recognize your old rival?"
"Bettencourt?" we all exclaimed at once.
"That's right, and this time I'll be the one coming out on top."
"I see you've seen my latest project and know it's pilot," Reese practically purred as he approached us.
Taylor turned on her heel and faced Mr. King. "Mr. King, what is going on?"
"It's a new program to help the police function better than they have been. Inspector Gadget, while impressive, is barely enough to stem the tide of crime in Detroit. Something more is needed if crime is to be kept in check so I asked Dr. Reese to design a new approach to this dilemma. Now we only need to see whether the Super Suit Program or the Cyber Cop Project is the better project to pursue."
"The Variable Threat Response Suit Police version, or the VTRS-P, is a state of the art power suit that will allow cops to do a lot of the things Inspector Gadget does without having to go through the conversion process. It's durable, armed with a myriad of built in weapons to aid the police in the tracking down and apprehension of criminals, and if it performs as well as is predicted, we're expecting to get a contract from the military for these," Reese said going into sales man mode. "As you can see, Gadget is simply outmatched."
Taylor huffed indignantly at Reese's statement.
"So what do you say transistor brain? Are you ready to go a few rounds with me?" Austin taunted as he smashed his fist into his palm.
"What do you think?" I asked Taylor and Jay.
"I think you should. It'll prove to Mr. King that the Cyber Cop Project is the best avenue to go down and will insure that the project continues to be funded. If you don't accept, the suit may prove it's better than you and then funding will be cut," explained Taylor.
"What if I lose? Won't funding be cancelled then too?"
"Yes, it will be. But it might be cut even if you don't accept the challenge," Jay pointed out.
I ran the outcomes through my neural net.
ACCEPT CHALLENGE, WIN, FUNDING CONTINUES
ACCEPT CHALLENGE, LOSE, FUNDING CANCELLED
TURN DOWN CHALLENGE, FUNDING POSSIBLY CANCLED
"Lieutenant Bettencourt, I accept your challenge."
"Terrific!"
"Most excellent indeed," agreed Dr. Reese. "Mr. King, by this time tomorrow you will have no more doubts that my product is the one to fund."
"We'll see about that Dr. Reese," snapped Taylor. "With all the work that's been put into him, I'm confident that your walking trash can't beat Gadget."
"We'll let the test decide that," Mr. King interrupted. "Right now my only concern is which project will profit the company the most in the long run. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a board meeting to attend."
Mr. King departed as did Austin and Dr. Reese soon after. The four of us were left in an empty training ground.
"You'd better beat him tomorrow or the Cyber Cop Project will be cancelled for sure," Taylor said.
"Let's give him a little bit of an extra edge," suggested Jay. "Are some of those prototypes ready for installation?"
"They are, but they haven't been tested."
"Then they'll be tested tomorrow. Let's get a move on. I want Gadget to beat Bettencourt as much as you do if not more."
"You can install the new gadgets as long as I'm released by five thirty. I have a date with Shelby at The Oasis tonight at six."
"You'll be ready by then," Taylor stated.
"That's what you said when you were installing the Nano Crystallic Charger in Gadgetmobile."
A/N: The gauntlet has been thrown and Gadget has picked it up. What will happen to him in the challenge? Will he win or will he lose? Will funding to the Cyber Cop Project be lost? It's anybody's game at this point. And what about Claw? Don't worry, his troublesome androids will be making an appearance real soon. But what are they after? Post a review to find out!