"What's going on here?" Ron asked. "Where are we? Where's Kim?"
"Kim is at this very moment on board a Company Learjet, headed home with a very heavy heart. Where we are is not of particular importance. As for what's going on here, well let's just say that you've just changed careers."
"What are you talking about?"
"I was very impressed with your little fireworks show earlier. So much so that I decided that your talents would be needed here. So I recruited you."
"Well I didn't ask to be recruited. I don't want to be recruited. I'm going home."
He stood and Majors shoved him roughly back into the chair.
"I'm afraid you don't understand, Ronald. You are home."
"This can't be Middleton."
"Oh, it's not. But Middleton isn't a place you'll ever be seeing again. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this Ron, but you're a dead man."
"I'm not scared of your threats."
"It's not a threat. It's the simple truth. You see, Ronald Stoppable was killed in a terrorist bombing in the Holland Tunnel almost nine hours ago."
"What are you talking about?"
"Let me explain. After we switched you and Kim, we went one way, you went another. Neither of you were the wiser since Kim had no view outside the van and you were, conveniently, unconscious. You'll notice the sore spot on your right biceps where we administered the sedative. We had another van take position behind the one Kim and I were riding in. It was completely automated, linked with telemetry from our van. It automatically stayed half a car length behind us, matched our speed, and matched any maneuver we made.
"Both vans were rigged with incendiary explosives while you and Kim waited on us to finish our recovery operation. Shortly after we entered the Holland Tunnel, the charge on the automated van was detonated. Twenty seconds later, just enough time for us to get out, the charge on our van was detonated. As far as she was able to tell, she watched you and my team be incinerated."
Ron was speechless with shock.
"So as I said before, Ron Stoppable is dead. Your death certificate has already been written, signed, and notarized. Kim believes you to be dead, and so she will tell everyone else that you are."
"They'll know we weren't in there."
"Incendiary charges, Ron. A fire so hot that it melted the frame into slag, and turned anything not made of metal to ash. There wouldn't be any evidence you were in the van even if you actually were in the van."
"She'll never believe it. She'll come looking for me. And she'll know right where to find me."
"Perhaps you mean this?"
He held up his hand. Ron's transponder was between his thumb and forefinger.
"Ingenious little device, this. Runs off the electrical current generated by the human body. Which means as soon as we removed it from your arm, it stopped transmitting. Indestructible. We tried. But that gave me an even better idea. I'm going to deliver it to Kim next week at the same time I deliver your 'ashes'."
"You're a monster."
"I have to be. It's my job. Face it, Ron. Your life is over. You can either let it end, or you can let us give you a new one."
"What do you want from me?"
"I told you. This power you have. What is it? Where does it come from?"
"I don't know. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."
"I don't believe you, Ron. But I'll let it go for now. Tell me, who is Sensei? Does he know?"
He smiled at Ron's shocked expression, but Ron said nothing.
"You might as well tell us who he is. We'll find him."
Ron smiled. "No you won't. Not if he doesn't want to be found. And he won't want to be."
"Ron, by the time he knows we're coming, it'll be too late."
"He already knows. He senses it. And the sense will get stronger as you get closer."
Majors stared at him, recognizing truth in his eyes.
"Perhaps," he conceded.
"You might as well let me go, Majors. I'm not going to cooperate with you."
"Oh, but you will. I guarantee it."
"Never."
"Now, Ron, you don't want to be dead for real do you?"
"You won't kill me. You need me."
Majors leaned in close, almost nose to nose, and stared deep in Ron's eyes, perhaps testing his resolve. Then he stood up and began walking slow circles around Ron.
"Kim loves you…oh, I'm sorry. I mean Kim loved…you very much. She told me so. And I'm quite sure you love her as well. You should know that your failure to cooperate with us would be very hazardous to Kim's health."
"You wouldn't."
Majors laughed. It was an ugly sound.
"Ronald, Ronald, Ronald. Perhaps you've not been paying attention. Nine hours ago I killed three people, not including you, injured dozens of others, and rendered the Holland Tunnel useless for the foreseeable future, pretty much fucking a whole lot of people who have to travel to and from Manhattan on a regular basis. Do you really think Kim's life means anything more to me than an effective means of guaranteeing your cooperation? But we won't kill her. Not unless we have to. Mug her, sure. Beat her, no problem." He paused dramatically. "Rape her…." He made an amused sound that was half snort, half laugh. "I have men who would love to get that assignment." He leaned close from behind him, putting his mouth next to Ron's ear and spoke in a sinister whisper. "She is absolutely beautiful. Isn't she." He held that position quietly for a long moment looming even though he was bent over, then stood and resumed circling. "Her life is going to be most unfortunate, and it will be your fault. You'll see firsthand because we'll bring you footage. And trust me, we can easily force you to watch it."
"I don't believe you. The NSA would never endorse something like that."
He laughed again. "Are you always this amusing? Ron, I don't work for the NSA. My organization doesn't even have letters. NSA was just the ID I happened to pick up this morning. It could have been FBI, CIA, hell, even UPS if I'd wanted. Trust me, Ron, I can and will do whatever it takes."
Ron's voice was ice cold. "Okay, so you know what I can do. And you know how much I love Kim. So believe me, if you harm one hair on Kim's head-"
"You'll what? Kill me? Kill everyone involved? Take down the whole organization? So what? Kim will be just as dead. And to save her, all you have to do is cooperate with me. Is that really so much to ask? Tell you what. I'll give you some time to think about it."
He gestured and two men came out of the shadows.
"Lock him up."
They grabbed Ron by his arms and lifted him from the chair. As though a switch was thrown the room was suddenly filled with blue-white light. Ron loosed a primal scream that mixed with the sound of a thousand angry monkeys. Fast as a bolt of lightning, he broke their hold on them and crashed their heads together. There was a sickening crunch as their skulls imploded against one another. They crumpled to the floor.
Majors whirled, in a smooth motion drawing his sidearm. He fired at Ron nearly point blank. The bullet traveled less than a foot and stopped, hovering in midair two inches in front of Ron's chest. It remained in that relative position, moving with Ron as he advanced on Majors, who backpedaled away from him.
"Do you really think I'm going to let you keep me here? I'll be honest with you; these powers are a relatively new thing. I'm not sure what their limits are. But I could try them out on you. It could be fun."
"I'm warning you, Stoppable."
"I'm not concerned with your warnings. I'll get to Kim first. I'll protect her."
He backed Majors against the wall. Despite the man's eight-inch height and hundred pound advantage, Ron grabbed his throat and lifted him off the ground.
"Haven't you ever heard that it's unwise to awaken a sleeping giant?"
Majors laughed, as much as he could while being throttled.
"You don't get it, do you? I'm not planning on ordering Kim's death. That's been done already. My job is to call certain people, at certain times, and prevent Kim's execution."
"You lie!" His hand tightened around Majors' throat.
"If you don't…believe me…just…wait a while."
After several infuriated moments, Ron released Majors and he crashed to the floor, gasping. He picked himself up.
"So you see?" he said, struggling to catch his breath. "The only way to protect Kim is to cooperate. We give you a new identity, a little reconstructive surgery, the best training available in the world, and you get to help us protect America. And that, in turn, protects Kim. What do you say?"
Ron glared at him.
"What do you think?"
Majors' smile was colder than any reptile's.
Laz Heatherly crouched in the dark, watching his breath plume in front of him. It seemed odd; to be in the middle of a desert and the temperature was near freezing. But he was outfitted in full body armor, and they had been moving at some speed so he wasn't cold. He was breathing heavily, but quietly.
He flipped down the night vision lenses from his helmet and surveyed the terrain while he waited for the signal to move in. The cave was roughly forty feet ahead. It looked innocent enough. Rumor had it several of Bin Laden's top lieutenants were holed up there. Laz knew better though. If there were any terrorists in there it would be an amazing coincidence.
He flipped the lenses back up and checked his weapon. He knew he wouldn't need it but the action was reflexive, not a conscious decision. A moment later, the team leader's voice whispered through his earpiece.
"Red Team, go now."
From a small stand of scrub twelve feet to his left, two huddled figures started running in a crouch towards the cave. After ten seconds, the radio whispered again.
"Blue Team, go now."
Laz started forward, his partner right behind him.
"Green Team advancing now."
Red Team took position to the left of the mouth of the cave, Blue to the right. Green advanced past them, taking positions on either side just inside the mouth of the cave. After several moments, with no immediate threat, a voice came from out of the darkness just to Laz's right.
"All right Laz, you're up."
He slowly advanced past the rest of the team, disappearing into the pitch-blackness. After roughly two hundred feet, he reached the back of the cave. As expected, no one was there.
"All clear!" he called out
He heard the rest of the team approaching, then the bright beam of a flashlight cut through the darkness. The team leader looked around at the dead end.
"I don't get it," he said. "Our intel was rock solid. Unimpeachable. This place should be crawling with ragheads. What the hell happened?"
"Simple," Laz said. "The intel was manufactured."
In a fluid motion, Laz raised his M249 and shot the man standing beside the team leader point blank in the forehead. The man crumpled to the earth. The rest of the team trained their weapons at the team leader.
"Lazarus, what the hell are you doing? You men stand down!"
The flashlight was slowly becoming unnecessary as a blue-white glow filled the chamber.
"I've been waiting a long time for this day, Majors." Laz said "Five long years, waiting, hoping, praying for this moment. And now it's finally here."
Majors raised his rifle but it was yanked away by an unseen force and clattered to the ground somewhere in the darkness. He attacked hand to hand, but Laz easily defended himself and Majors found himself on the ground, Laz's boot pressing firmly on his throat.
"My name, Majors. Say it," he said, slinging the 249.
"Lazarus! Lazarus Heatherly!"
"That's not my name."
"Yes it is. That boy's been dead five years."
Laz stepped harder on Majors' throat.
"Say my name. Say it!"
"Ron! Ron Stoppable!"
The glow surrounding him intensified. The silent cave suddenly sounded like a jungle. He spread his arms and Majors rose from the ground.
"It's really kind of cool. It's like having the force sometimes!"
Majors began to whirl in the air. He suddenly shot up, colliding hard into the ceiling.
"Ron, think about Kim!" Majors shouted desperately.
"I've done nothing but think about Kim since you took her from me. She'll be fine. I know how to save her now. You've taught me well. I have to give you that."
He turned and Majors flew through the air, smashing into the opposite wall. He cried out in pain and fear.
"I have resources you don't know about! She'll be dead before you can get to her!"
The intense light in the cave dimmed dramatically and Majors hit the dirt face first from a height of seven feet. Laz walked over to him, kicked him onto his back, and put his boot back on the man's throat. He was loath to touch him.
"I'll not be your trained chimp anymore, Majors. You know, I spent a lot of time trying to decide how I was going to kill you. I wanted it to be slow. Painful. But then I realized that something like that would just turn me into you. You're a real piece of shit, Majors. A sick, diseased, degenerate monster. A slow death is something you deserve. But it's not my place to give it to you. I'm simply going to exterminate you."
Laz increased the pressure he was putting on Majors' throat until he was almost standing on him. Majors made pathetic choking sounds as he struggled against him. Finally, with a sickening crunch, his windpipe collapsed and Laz stepped back. Majors continued to try to suck air through his ruined throat. Laz wanted to leave him like that, wanted him to writhe on the ground suffocating slowly and painfully. But he had meant what he said. He drew his Glock and pointed it at Majors' face.
"Rot in hell you sick fuck."
He meant only to shoot him once, but he was suddenly dry firing the pistol, having emptied the clip into Majors' face. There was little left of the man's head. Despite himself, Laz spat on the corpse. One of his team stepped up and clapped him on the back.
"Come on, Ron. Let's get on with it."
He shook his head. "No. Majors was right about one thing. Ron Stoppable is dead. My name is Lazarus."
He ejected the empty magazine and snapped a fresh one into place.
"Let's go. We don't have much time."