Chapter Four BeBes Under Foot
Landing the Sloth on the outskirts of Go City, Kim followed the GPS map to the police station that was the base for investigating the Bebe's crimes.
"Kim Possible! Great to see you!" said Captain Gordon as they stepped inside the building.
"You too, sir!" said Kim with a smile, "This is Robecca Steam, who will be helping me with this case," she added, gesturing toward the copper girl.
She smiled and started to say hello, but never got the chance.
"I see... use a robot to catch a robot, eh? Pretty smart!" he said after glancing her way.
Robecca's smile faded rapidly. "Actually, constable, I am classified as a monster."
Everyone in the room stopped and looked at her.
"I was built over a hundred years ago as the very first self-aware mechanical girl. As 'robots' did not exist at the time, I was placed in the 'monster' category. That has never changed," she explained. "And my father was a mad scientist."
After a moment Gordon smiled. "Actually, Miss, I don't care if you classify yourself as a Little Green Man From Mars, as long as you can help stop these robberies."
"She nodded. "I shall do my best, sir!"
"Um... right. Anyway, what's the sitch?" said Kim, diverting attention from Robecca.
"Those blue robots have hit four banks, taking a large amount of money each time," he answered, "They don't bother with the tellers; they go for the vault and tear up drawers until they find what they want. The only time anyone's been hurt is if they try to interfere. And even then the robots use minimum force."
"That's good news, anyway," said Kim. She turned a city map on his desk around to face her. It had the locations of the four banks marked, as well as every other bank in the area. The banks targeted were within five blocks of each other. A note by each one was the date and time of the robbery, as well as the amount taken.
"Hmmm... maybe Wade can help," said Kim.
A copper arm moved past her to point at a bank. "Logically this one should be next," said Robecca.
Gordon and Kim looked at the girl.
"How do you figure?" asked Gordon, curiously.
"They were not randomly selected," she answered, "Based on the dates, note the trail is moving in a northerly direction, toward the lake." She moved her finger along for emphasis. "And between the banks and the lake is a warehouse district and docks. I think their headquarters is there, and they went to the farthest one first. As soon as they have the amount they want, the robberies will stop."
She looked at Gordon. "The fact the trail is obvious makes it likely to be a trap."
He was duly impressed. "That makes a lot of sense. But what would robots do with money?"
"I doubt it's for themselves," said Kim, "Dr. Drakken built them originally, so he might be buying equipment to set up an assembly line to make more. And Drakken being involved means Shego being involved."
"And Team Go isn't available," Gordon injected.
"I've beaten the Bebes twice before and Drakken is no big," said Kim, "They're strong and fast and have some other tricks, but they are also very single-minded and tend to overlook details not related to the current plan."
A beat cop came over to them. "Captain, an alarm just came in. The Go City Fifth National Bank is being robbed by those robots."
The Captain, the Heroine, and the copper girl looked at the map. The bank Robecca had pointed out as probably being the next target had been correct. His estimation of her went up several notches.
"Perfect timing! C'mon, Robecca, let's go check it out!" said Kim.
"Miss Possible, we'll hang back until you need us," called Gordon.
"Thanks!" the redhead answered over her shoulder as they headed for the Sloth.
KP/MH KP/MH KP/MH
A minute later they arrived on the scene just as the Bebes emerged from the bank. Two were sharing the load of a concrete wall fitted with metal drawers they had ripped out of the vault. The third, in front, was carrying a fairly large metal box.
"Hold it, Bebes!" called Kim as she got out of the car.
The blue robot group froze and looked in her direction.
"Confrontation," said one.
"Identify intruders," said the second.
"Kim Possible," added the third, "Threat: moderate."
"Well, at least that's an upgrade from 'totally less than minimal'," the heroine muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Threat level was re-assessed after your past defeats of Bebe," the leader explained, putting down the box. The other two set their burden down as well.
Robecca had been struggling with her seat belt, and finally got it to open. She stepped out of the Roth, staring at her 'sisters' whose technology was a hundred years more advanced than her own.
"Question," said Bebe, "Current companion not in database. Where is loser sidekick?"
"Still have a bit of Bonnie in your programming, huh?" said Kim, closing the car door and walking toward them.
"Affirmative," answered one, "Bebes assimilated useful traits from Queen Bonnie before her removal from hive mind."
"JUST what I needed..." said Kim.
"Current companion appears to be obsolete mechanical version of Bebe. Threat: none." commented another.
"Really?" shot back Robecca, "I'd like to see how well YOU do in a game of Skulltimate Roller Maze."
"Issued challenge irrelevant," said the first Bebe, "Assignment must be completed. Action: kill Kim Possible!"
All three extended their arms toward Kim, who did a backflip out of the way, then ran back and grabbed the appendages. She quickly wrapped them around a light pole and took a metal zip tie from her utility belt. She put it around the wrists and pulled it tight. The Bebes stood and allowed her to do it.
"C'mon, Robecca, let's take them out instead!" she called to the monster girl.
"Gladly, Kimberly!" answered Robecca, "These girls give robots a bad name!"
"Your evaluation is faulty," commented Bebe, "Bebes are perfect!" One of the trapped arms extended a bit farther, then the hand turned and clipped the zip tie. All three retracted their arms.
Kim and Robecca ran toward them, but two of the Bebes suddenly vibrated, accelerating to super speed, while the other kept guard over their ill-gotten gains.
One appeared in front of Kim, wrapping its arms around her and trapping her arms. "Goodbye, Kim Possible," it said, and did a quick spin, releasing the redhead and throwing her straight up into the air over Go City.
At the same time the other grabbed Robecca by the shoulders and pushed her back into a brick wall and held her there. After a moment's scan, it spoke. "You are... ancestor... to Bebe, so you will be spared. But do not interfere again."
Then all three Bebes were gone, and their burdens with them.
Robecca watched them go for a moment, then looked up to see Kim tumbling as she sailed upward. "Kimberly!" the copper girl exclaimed.
Kim extended her arms and legs to put up resistance and stop the tumbling. It was dizzying, after all. At the apex of her trajectory she turned over to face the ground. She estimated her height and quickly calculated she had five or six seconds to decide what to do and do it.
"Wow, she threw me pretty high... but it isn't the fall that kills you," she thought, "It's the sudden stop at the end. Ugh. Bad joke, and morbid to boot." Listing her options, she had three possibilities:
A. Rocket skates. A bit tricky to control when already off the ground. She could drive herself into the pavement.
B. Grappling gun. All the buildings around where she was falling were two stories tall at best. It would be very difficult to time firing the grapple, and she would have only one shot at it (pun semi-intended).
C. Try to glide to the lake. The problem there was no wind today, and in a city known for its year-round high winds, this was bad timing. Nor did she have her winged flight suit or rocket pack.
She decided to try Option A. To that end she hit a button on the back edge of her left glove. Nothing happened. She tapped it three more times and even tapped the shoes together before deciding that option was out.
She grabbed for the grappler in its holster to find it missing. The snap was open, so it's possible the Bebe had removed it before throwing her. She had probably disabled her skates, as well.
"Great," she muttered, while watching the ground get closer, "No time to record a good-bye message, and the Kimmunicator probably wouldn't survive impact anyway." She sighed. "Goodbye everybody."