Notes: This chapter turned out much longer than I expected. Which was surprising, because I knew it would be long. And it's still only part 2 of this multi-part sequence.
Unstoppable
A Kim Possible Fanfic by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)
Chapter 4: The Weapon, Part 2
Though she could not have turned away for more than a few seconds, when Amy Hall set her notes aside and turned back to her lab's main computer console, there were two masked figures in tight-fitting black bodysuits standing over her. Her first reaction, oddly enough, was not surprise, but annoyance.
"That's very rude, you know!" she cried. "I've asked you people to use the front door!"
The two visitors bowed their heads. "Our most sincere apologies, Hall-san," the closest said in a voice that was distinctly male. "We did not wish to be seen. It is often difficult to explain the presence, or even the very existence, of ninjas. We make it a habit to never be seen, especially when visiting our allies. We have found that it helps to avoid misunderstandings with the local authorities, as I'm sure you can appreciate."
"I suppose," Amy sighed. "Well, do you really need the masks in here? I'm pretty sure I know who you two are. Besides, I just baked some gingersnaps, so the masks will only get in the way."
The two ninjas exchanged a brief glance before removing their masks. Just as Amy had expected, they were exactly who she had thought they were: Hirotaka and Yori, two students from the Yamanouchi Ninja School. Really, they were the only two she had ever met, and the only two that ever visited her, so it would have been more surprising if they had been anyone else. However, their presence told her all she needed to know about their visit.
"I suppose you want to check on him?" Amy asked, starting to stand.
"That is not necessary, Hall-san," Yori disagreed, holding up a hand to stop her. "We of Yamanouchi trust that you have taken excellent care of... him. We have come only to warn you that he may be called upon to serve soon. So if you should notice any odd behavior, do not be alarmed."
"Oh." Amy considered that for a long moment. "In that case, would you like to stay for dinner? I'm making casseroles!"
Hirotaka bowed. "It would be our honor to partake of your generosity, Hall-san. I will be sure to inform Master Sensei of your kindness and cooperation in this matter."
Amy beamed and headed for the staircase, humming a lively tune.
Yori and Hirotaka followed at a respectful distance, but Hirotaka caught her hand and drew her back momentarily. With a smirk, he leaned close and murmured in her ear, "Master Sensei, Hall-san has been most kind and coop-"
With a dark scowl, Yori drove her elbow sharply into his side, ending his joke, but not his amusement. "That will be quite enough, Hiro-kun."
"As you say," he agreed with a nod, chuckling softly when she frowned at him.
"So you're back."
Hana blinked and looked up to find everyone else seated in the white limousine staring at her. "What, none of you ever ran away from home at my age?"
"Well, sure," Monique admitted. "But at your age, most of us never even got more than six blocks away."
"I made it to Nevada before I realized I'd forgotten my favorite laptop," Justine Flanner volunteered, earning several odd looks. "What? I had six, it was easy to overlook one."
Hana grinned at Justine. "I like her. She makes sense."
"I think we're missing the original point," Monique snapped, frowning at Hana. "You didn't just run away, you fell off the face of the planet. You really had Kim and Ron worried. Me, too, for that matter. So don't do it again, Little Bit."
Hana rolled her eyes. "My running away is the whole reason we're having this wedding rehearsal. I think some gratitude is in order."
"Are you suggesting that you be rewarded for your bad behavior?"
"Since that that same bad behavior results in a Possible-Stoppable wedding, you better believe I do. I will, of course, accept hugs and kisses if you're low on cash. But only this one time." Hana paused and held out her arms expectantly.
Monique ignored her, just to get her point across.
Hana pouted and lowered her arms. "Anyway, if you're wondering why anyone is here, shouldn't you be asking the one that probably never said three nice words about Kim or Ron within the same year, yet provided this very expensive and comfortable car for us to ride in?"
Everyone turned to look at Bonnie Rockwaller-Senior, who scowled and said nothing.
"Okay, I admit I'm curious, Señora Senior," Monique said with a grin. "When Kim told me she was inviting you and Junior, I thought that was just her being nice. But when she said she was asking you to be a bridesmaid, I figured she was just joking, or at least that you wouldn't agree to it. So what exactly is Kim holding over your head that made you agree?"
"It was nothing like that," Bonnie answered, a little defensively. "She just asked me. Ron was going to ask Junior to be a groomsman, anyway, and Junior wouldn't have said yes unless he was going to walk with me. Kim didn't really have much choice, although she claimed she was going to ask me no matter what."
"And you think she was lying?" Dr. Vivian Porter asked, a hint of challenge in her tone.
Bonnie looked uncomfortable. "I think it's pretty convenient, but no, I know she wasn't lying."
Normally, Hana had to physically touch someone to read their thoughts, but Bonnie's were obvious to her even without that. Hana could clearly see that Bonnie had changed over the years, in no small part because she'd finally gotten so many things that she'd wanted through her marriage: a loving husband, a close-knit family that treasured her, and of course, plenty of money. Surprisingly, instead of making Bonnie more conceited, this had actually mellowed her quite a bit. She no longer felt the need to rub her good fortune in other people's faces: it was too easy and rather obvious, and no longer brought her the joy that simply being married did. That aside, Kim had not let their former rivalry prevent her from assisting Bonnie through some very personal situations. Few knew exactly what they were, but Hana suspected there was a very good reason that Bonnie's youngest daughter was named Angelina Kimberly Senior.
Not far away, in a black limousine, a similar yet drastically different scene was unfolding.
"Should we really be eating now?" Señor Senior, Junior asked hesitantly, glancing at the Bueno Nacho bag in his lap. "Is there not a dinner planned after the rehearsal?"
Ron sighed and shook his head. "Junior, Junior, Junior. While I can understand Bonnie keeping you on a short leash, I had no idea you were this deprived. A man never asks if it's okay for him to eat. A man stuffs his face when he wants, how he wants."
"So long as his wife-to-be doesn't know about it, you mean," Jim and Tim Possible added with matching grins.
"Bah! Details!" Ron snapped, waving them off. "Gentlemen, please join me in scarfing down our pre-rehearsal nacos. For you are the few, the proud, the groomsmen!"
"I gotta hand it to you, Ron-man," Felix Renton said after swallowing a big bite of his naco. "This is easily the best pre-wedding rehearsal lunch I've ever been to. Not that I've ever been to another, but still."
"Ain't no thang, Wheelman! Ron Stoppable's posse always scarfs in style! But I must give props where props are due, so a major gracias, por favor to my main man with the food plan, Ned!"
"All Stoppable functions receive a 50 percent discount and unlimited free beverages," Ned recited from memory.
Larry stared at his own naco from various angles before lifting his gaze to Ron. "What's your secret?" he finally asked.
Ron grinned. "So you want a peek at the inner workings of the mad genius behind the naco?"
"No, I want to know how you convinced my cousin Kim, one of the most impatient people I know, to wait this long to marry you."
"Yeah, we want to know, too," Jim was quick to add.
"Dad's been plotting to send you into a black hole for years now, just in case you two broke up," Tim chimed in.
Ron laughed uneasily. "Guys, it's really not a big deal. Kim and I talked it over, and we agreed it was best to wait until, um, certain conditions were met. They are now, so we're getting married. There was never any question that it would happen in our minds, only when it would. So it wasn't so much waiting as it was postponing."
The issue was poked at for a few more minutes, but Ron eventually diverted everyone's attention with a few jokes at his own expense, ever the masterful clown.
Wade was the only other person in the limo that knew exactly why the engagement had been held off for so long, and sometimes even he wondered if it had really been necessary.
Wade had woken up to the smell of his mother's bacon and eggs that day, and Ron's panicked voice floating out of the kitchen. Then the door to his bedroom had burst open, and little Hana ran in, on the ceiling, and hit him with a spectacular diving tackle, with enough force to knock him out of the bed and onto the floor. If not for the very wet, childish kisses that had followed, Wade would have certainly thought that the tiny girl intended to kill him. Kim had run in a moment later, all apologies and giggles as she pulled Hana off.
He'd finally gotten the full story over breakfast: Kim and Ron (and Hana) had stopped by on their way back from Japan. Apparently, there had been a very strange conversation with Master Sensei of the Yamanouchi Ninja School. The short version was that Hana was both a child and the container of a powerful mystic force, and she needed to be properly molded, or else she might grow up to become as much a destroyer as her counterpart Yono had been. This was largely why Master Sensei had entrusted her care to the Stoppables, and more specifically to Ron. Ron, however, felt that he had fallen down on the job so far, and had refused to leave Yamanouchi without some kind of instructions. Master Sensei had eventually given in, but what he had shared had only made things worse. According to the scrolls he had studied, the only way to ensure that Hana would become a force for good was to treat her like the child, rather than the mystic force. The more love she received and the more loved she felt, the more powerful and good she would become.
Kim had been fairly skeptical. Ron had been too scared out of his mind to risk not believing it. So they had brought Hana directly to Wade, in the hopes that he and his computers could confirm... well, anything odd about Hana, frankly. Wade had agreed more out of curiosity than anything else, and what he had found had not exactly been encouraging. There had been, unmistakably, some sort of unknown energy field around Hana's body. At that point, it had come and gone, seemingly at random. But the field definitely intensified whenever Hana did anything... not normal, and typically dimmed when she did not. It hadn't been visible with the naked eye, at least not then, but Wade had suggested that could change, as Hana got older and stronger.
Ron had suffered what Wade was forced to consider a panic attack: he'd said he would devote his life to raising Hana, then burst into tears as he told Kim not to wait for him, to break up with him and find a guy who would treat her like a queen. Wade had known exactly how Kim would react to that, so he'd reached over and smacked Ron in the head first, figuring Kim would be far less gentle about it.
Kim had yelled at Ron for ten minutes straight, and made it quite clear that if he ever tried to leave her, she would simply tell her father. This meant that Ron would be on the first space probe bound for a black hole. Which, incidentally, would leave Kim to watch over Hana, anyway, so she figured she might as well get started.
Once the yelling had died down, Wade had taken Kim aside and hesitantly suggested that they might want to consider having Hana secretly microchipped, just as Ron was. To his relief, Kim had agreed, but admitted she had some doubts due to Hana's age, and because the Stoppables had not yet technically entrusted Hana to her the way they had Ron. She had proposed waiting at least until Hana was old enough to consider running off on her own, on purpose. They had no way of knowing then how ineffective a measure it would prove no matter what age Hana was, but it had been a slightly comforting idea at the time.
Joss glanced at her watch. "Kim is five minutes late. Is that good or bad?"
"I'd rather her be a whole hour late if she's saving the world," Monique replied. "But if she just lost track of time or forgot-"
"I might be guilty of forgetting some things, but my own wedding rehearsal will never be one of them," Kim interrupted as she entered the church, followed by Dr. Director. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mon," Kim added dryly.
Monique grinned as Kim sat down on the other side of Hana. "So can I assume the world is safe for the moment?"
Kim shrugged. "The Middleton portion is, at least. And even if it wasn't, someone else will have to handle it. I've been planning this for a while and I'm not going to let anyone interrupt. Global Justice is going to help with that, which I was discussing with Dr. Director on our way in." Kim paused to poke Hana sharply in the shoulder. "I hope you at least kissed your brother and your parents before you popped in here."
"I did, I did!" Hana insisted, swatting her finger away. "They know I'm here. I even kissed your brothers and your parents, too."
Kim smiled and said approvingly, "Good girl." She draped an arm around Hana in a way that was more possessive than affectionate. "I don't expect you tell me where you disappeared to, but I'm sure you'll understand if I want you close to me for the next few days."
"Does this mean I'm invited to go on the honeymoon with you?" Hana asked, carefully examining Kim's new, matching pair of engagement rings and trying to decide how much of Ron's latest naco royalties payment had gone into their purchase.
"You're trying to be funny, but at this point, I'm tempted to say yes. MC Honey is letting us use her boat for the occasion, so it's not as if finding space for you would be a problem."
"We're going on a boat?" Hana asked excitedly.
Kim smiled. "Maybe. It depends on how your parents feel about it. Although after what you pulled, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't want you leaving the house for the next year."
Hana smirked. "Never happen. That means they'd be trapped there with me and all my nervous energy. They'd be begging you to take me in two days, tops."
Hench Worldwide United did not have a clear, undisputed leader. Not on paper, at least. Supposedly, all matters were settled by popular vote among the various commanders. This was true enough, though it went without saying that the commanders were united by their hatred of Team Possible, and so long as a decision made life harder for them and better for HWU, it was fairly easy to get a majority vote.
Somehow, though, Jack Hench always presided over the meetings. This was hard to contest, as he remained a major supplier of HWU's finances, manpower, and technology. Just as important, he was in charge of the company's public relations department. While this did not sound too impressive on the surface, Hench was actually very well-connected outside of the evil community, which translated into HWU's largely uncontested growth, both as an evil superpower and a legitimate company. Between Hench and Dr. Drakken alone, they owned enough patents to retire comfortably any time they chose. Of course, Drakken's accounts were in his mother's name, but it kept the law away from his money.
That day's meeting of the HWU commanders began with a simple statement from Hench: "Tomorrow, Kim Possible gets married."
As was expected, this led to some widespread muttering.
"I know what some of you are thinking," Hench continued. "You're thinking this is the perfect time to swoop in and ruin her big day. But take it from me, that is a supremely bad idea. I've asked my personal assistant Miss Leon to demonstrate why that is."
The slender, attractive blonde seated next to him stood up, and with a helping hand from Hench, stepped onto the table, earning more than a few wolf whistles. Rather than being annoyed, she seemed to bask in the attention.
Hench cleared his throat to regain their attention, with varying degrees of success. "I want you all to picture a very spoiled little girl used to getting her way. Imagine she grew into a spoiled woman used to getting her way."
Miss Leon's skin began to ripple and change, becoming a few shades paler. Her long, blonde locks darkened to red, and her blue eyes shifted into a blazing green.
"Now imagine this spoiled woman is skilled in over sixteen different forms of martial arts."
Still in the midst of her transformation, Miss Leon's curvy legs became far more toned.
"Now imagine that it is her wedding day, the one day where everything should go her way, but invariably does not. She is already going to be in a highly irritable mood. We couldn't even manage to stop Kim Possible when she was being nice. Do any of you really want to face her as a bridezilla?"
By the time Miss Leon was done, all anyone could see in her place was the image of a furious Kim Possible in a torn wedding dress, foaming at the mouth, eyes twitching frequently, and looking as if she wanted to tear each and every one of them apart with her bare, clawed hands. Wisely, all thoughts of sabotaging the wedding were quickly discarded by the time Miss Leon had abandoned her disguise and returned to her seat.
"Don't get me wrong, ladies and gentlemen," Hench went on. "While we are adopting a hands-off policy with the wedding, tomorrow will be a work day. HWU prides itself in the ability to obtain the best. When we wanted bigger and badder weapons, I got Electronique released for good behavior. When we wanted a master hacker, Dr. Drakken brought in Frugal Lucre. Now, we need the best vehicles, and so we need the best mechanic. There is only one man who meets that description: Motor Ed. Currently, he's halfway through a five-year prison sentence, and there is talk of him being released early for 'tricking out' some police cruisers. I say the time for talking about it is over. With the wedding in full swing, Team Possible is out of the picture, and so is most of Global Justice. We'll never get a better chance at a prison break." Hench paused, then added, "We want some familiar faces on this. No need to spook Ed into trying to escape on his own. That means Dr. Drakken and Shego. You two will work together on this one. I don't care how you do it, but the messier the better. With any luck, we may bump the wedding to page two in the next day's newspaper."
The wedding rehearsal went off without any major incidents, which was fairly surprising. Ron reasoned that this was because anyone who planned to interfere would do so on the day of the wedding. Kim did not find his theory at all reassuring, and Hana made sure to step on her brother's foot just for putting the idea out in the open.
After the rehearsal, but before everyone parted ways, depending on which party they were attending, Kim treated them all to pizza. Actually, a local pizzeria that she'd prevented from burning down years ago treated everyone to free pizza. Technically, Kim could eat free anywhere in the Tri-City area if she was willing to call in a favor or two, but she didn't like to abuse those privileges. Fortunately, the pizzeria owner had been perfectly happy to accommodate her, in exchange for the positive press that doing Kim a wedding-related favor would bring his business.
Wade was easily the most popular member of the wedding party. Everyone kept taking the opportunity to touch him throughout the night, just to be sure he was actually there, much to his annoyance. Ron especially kept slapping him on the back or tossing an arm around his shoulders, and Wade bore this with a surprising amount of patience. Kim knew it was a sign of the deep friendship between the members of Team Possible, as Wade had not offered any protest when she'd greeted him with a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Hana was rather well-behaved the whole time, which made Kim suspicious. Not that Hana was always bad, but she had a certain amount of spirit that tended to result in her running off at the mouth regularly, which was notably absent that night. She stayed close to Kim as ordered, and while she did talk, nobody who knew her felt she was acting entirely like herself. Most people chalked it up to her being on punishment at the time, but Kim knew the Stoppables could only punish Hana so much. About the only thing she could ever be restricted from was TV, internet, and Kimmunicator access, as she could manage almost anything else through magic. Certainly Hana's parents would never go so far as to forbid her from taking part in or attending the wedding, but Kim felt pretty certain they would want to keep Hana close to home for a while. However, even that likely meant that Hana would just end up sleeping next door in Kim's old room, at least unless Ron was also home.
And that was the whole key to Kim's plan concerning Hana. Ron had quickly and unintentionally become Hana's closest relative, which effectively made him a major source of the love she so desperately needed, and her emotional center. If things were fine with Ron, they would more or less be fine with Hana. If things were not fine with Ron, they would be far worse for Hana. The few times Hana had allowed her temper to explode all tied in closely with major troubles Ron had been dealing with at the time. Hana had grown into her own somewhat, but Ron's mood was still a major factor in how she reacted to anything new. This was the main reason why Ron had not moved out of his parents' house: no one really knew how Hana would react to it, but Kim, at least, feared it would not go over well. Ron had been within arm's reach of Hana her whole life, and they were both accustomed to it. Much as Hana loved Kim, she could easily view it as the worst kind of betrayal if Kim married Ron and took him away from her. So far, Hana had given no sign that she was against the marriage, but then they had not really discussed the living situation with her, and Hana had likely not given it much thought, either. She would, of course, always be welcome in their home, but that wouldn't mean much if she didn't actually feel welcome.
Some would consider such extensive preparations to be silly. But Kim had seen Hana both angry and truly mad before. Worse, she had been neither of those things when she defeated Shego in one blow and took Dr. Drakken's hands away from him. Even now, Kim couldn't process the idea of Hana wanting to hurt her for any reason. It just didn't seem possible. But where Hana was concerned, the impossible regularly became reality, so it was always best to be overprepared for the worst. It didn't always help, but it never hurt.
Ron was aware that things might not progress all that smoothly, considering the rush. He and Kim had kept their plans on hold for so long, so there had been plenty of time to make adjustments. Really, he would have preferred a long engagement, if only to please their parents, and to get Mr. Dr. Possible off of his back. But Kim had pointed out the flaw there: an engagement was a very public announcement, and it would basically be highlighting their greatest weakness to all of their enemies. So when Hana had run away, Kim had decided to do everything wedding-related at once... in a single day: the bridal shower, the rehearsal, as well as the bachelor and bachelorette parties. It would catch everyone off guard, and give their enemies no time to react. It was genius, really, and if Kim were anyone else, Ron felt certain the involved persons would not have been so quick to agree to her demands, himself included. As it was, she'd practically forced him to propose within a three-day window, which worked out only because, again, Ron had been prepared for some time.
Of course, with everyone exhausted from the all-day pre-wedding events, and with the wedding being the following day, it really meant there could only be so much foolishness at the bachelor and bachelorette parties, and certainly none of the drunken variety. Ron wondered if Kim had done that on purpose.
He wasn't really sure until halfway through his bachelor party, when someone killed the music, and suddenly the room was full of masked ninjas. Slender, shapely, clearly female ninjas, to be exact. One of whom approached Ron, placed a sheathed sword against his neck, and leaned in close, allowing him to breathe in the familiar scent of her perfume. And if that had not given her away, the voice would have.
"I apologize, Ron-san, but I have been given a special mission by Kim-san. I am duty-bound to ensure that your honor remains intact for your honeymoon. You are now my hostage, so you must come with me."
Ron blinked. "Um, couldn't Kim have just said 'no strippers', Yori?" he asked weakly.
"That is not my concern. You are." She prodded him with sword. "Let us go."
"But what about my posse?" Ron asked. "I can't just leave them to... huh." Ron stared, finally noticing that no one was complaining about the other ninjas, who had started to dance. Rather well, considering that Ron didn't remember dancing being in Yamanouchi's curriculum. And Yori had certainly never danced for him. Although, now that he thought about it, maybe that would not be entirely out of the question tonight, if his hunch was right.
Bonnie Rockwaller-Senior had a dark, shameful secret: she and Kim had genuinely been friends for years after high school. It was nothing either woman had planned, but Bonnie had quickly learned that her husband's wealth made their family targets. They had already needed Kim multiple times: first to rescue their oldest son from a kidnapping attempt, then to stop Frugal Lucre from raiding their bank accounts, and finally to actually help deliver Bonnie's youngest daughter. The latter had merely been convenience, in that Kim and Bonnie just happened to get stuck in an elevator on the way to a press conference, although Kim had only been present because Bonnie had asked her to provide security for the event.
At Bonnie's own request, Kim hadn't spread the word that they were friends. As the CEO of several businesses that had been left to her as part of Señor Senior, Senior's will, Bonnie had an image to maintain. She preferred that people think she had Kim on retainer, rather than that they were friends. It had certainly been good for business, and Bonnie was both rich and grateful enough where occasionally funding Team Possible's projects had not been a problem for her. If anything, getting Kim to accept her help had been the greater challenge. Bonnie had finally won the argument by pointing out that she would rather pay for tools that prevented Kim from getting hurt, than to pay for a new hospital wing that would see to Kim after she got hurt. And she had little doubt that Kim's mother had agreed with her on that, and had probably said something to Kim to make her give in.
Over the course of their friendship, Bonnie had learned something truly surprising about Kim: she wasn't perfect. She made mistakes, worried, and got scared just like everyone else, but she was much better at concealing this fact than most were. It was somewhat fitting that Bonnie, who had spent much of her childhood seeking out and focusing on these imperfections, was often the one who had to confront Kim on them. Ron couldn't because he hated fighting with Kim, Kim's parents couldn't because she had technically outgrown much of their advice, and most of Kim's friends actually thought that she was either perfect or so close to it where they couldn't help her. Bonnie knew better and took full advantage of it, because no one else would, and she owed Kim that much and more.
So ten minutes into the bachelorette party, Bonnie pulled Kim aside and told her bluntly, "If you don't tell me what's wrong, I'm going to sue you for being annoying again."
Kim made a face at her. "I still can't believe you actually found a lawyer to go through with that."
"He's on my payroll and just itching to do it again, Kim. Do you really want to help put another of his kids through college?"
"The issue isn't really anything you have experience with, Bonnie."
Bonnie glared at her. "I have plenty of experience with you being proud and fat-headed. Start talking."
Kim sighed and shook her head, her failure to rise to the insult a clear sign of her worry. "It's Hana. She's constantly on my back to let her formally join Team Possible. And this most recent time that she ran away... I know what she was mad about, but I think this was part of it, too. I'm worried that if I say no one too many times, things will never be the same between us, and that would suck because she's always going to part of my life."
"Well, as usual, you're wrong for the right reasons," Bonnie replied. "You want to protect Hana because you love her. But love can be suffocating sometimes, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you what it feels like to have a parent who won't let you grow up. The best thing you can do is let Hana try. If she messes up, then she'll likely learn the hard way what you've been trying to teach her, and you'll be there to comfort her."
"You didn't even take any time to think about it," Kim said, more than a little annoyed.
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Kim, I actually do have some experience with something related to this. Remember when Senny was born, and you couldn't understand why I let my sisters anywhere near him?"
Kim nodded slowly. That had been pretty weird. Bonnie had never been one to let grudges die easily, yet she had seemed totally forgiving toward her older sisters Connie and Lonnie during her first pregnancy, and had even allowed them to be present for her son's birth. That, despite years of torment at their hands, which Kim was sure had been a major contributor to Bonnie being so nasty to so many people for so long.
"What I didn't tell you was that one of the terms of my inheritance was that I provide a stable home life for any kids I have with Junior. Which essentially meant no foul-mouthed sisters. So I gave mine a choice: either take my bribe and play nice with my kids, or be cut out of my life completely. They're greedy but not stupid, so they took the bribe."
Kim stared at her in shock and disgust. "You paid your sisters to be nice to you and your kids?"
Bonnie smirked. "You say it like that, but I only wish I'd had the money to do it sooner. And I'll have you know that it was worth it. My kids still don't know that they actually have horrible aunts."
Kim shook her head, still having trouble processing that. "You're never going to tell your kids the truth?"
"I don't trust myself to be unbiased. So I left it up to Junior. If anything happens to me, he'll be the one to decide whether my sisters benefit or not."
"And you think he'll be unbiased? As much as he loves you?"
Bonnie smiled. "No. But he adores my mother, and she could never turn her back on any of her kids, so he'll at least keep an open mind to both sides." She shook her head. "Well, that's enough of this. Let's get back to your party. You have to open Tara's present first."
"Do I?" Kim asked, already curious. Tara had apologized for nearly twenty minutes over the phone about not being able to attend, but Kim had assured her that it was no big. Tara's career as an actress-slash-stuntwoman kept her pretty busy, so even when she wasn't actually working, she was usually busy healing up for her next job.
Tara's gift turned out to be exactly what Kim had feared it would be: a DVD box set of the first six seasons of her hit TV show, "Kim Possible: So the Series". Which starred Tara as Kim, and which Bonnie took great pleasure in watching with her own kids. Tara was one of the few people that knew Kim well enough to pull off such an accurate impression of her, and she was also the only one Kim would even think of giving her blessing to pursue the role. But Kim made a point not to watch the show consistently: she had lived most of the episodes, and in many cases did not want to relive them. That, and as good as Tara was in the role, she was still unmistakably Tara, even with green contacts and her hair dyed red.
"So, let me see if I have this right," Ron said as he slowly sat up, feeling more relaxed than he had in a very long time. "Kim told you to kidnap me from my bachelor party, take me to a hotel room, and give me a totally platonic sensual massage?"
Yori blushed slightly as she carefully packed up her selection of oils. "Kim-san left the details up to me, but it was my understanding that this would be allowed. Besides, I did not touch you anywhere improper." She paused and glanced at him. "And I do not recall ever saying the massage was 'totally platonic', as you call it."
Ron frowned at her. "Yori... don't do that. I'm getting married tomorrow."
"And I have every intention of being there to see that, Ron-san. But I will not pretend that I never had... unfriendly feelings toward you."
Ron chuckled. "Most people with unfriendly feelings for me are usually trying to kill me." He paused and gulped. "Hey, you're not...?"
Yori sighed. "Don't be silly, Ron-san. I would never do anything to hurt you. Including endanger your impending marriage to a woman you love, and one that I am proud to call my friend."
"I was a little surprised that you and Hirotaka were able to come on such short notice. We were worried the rush would keep some people from coming."
Yori shook her head. "Yamanouchi owes a great deal to you and Kim-san. Sending two representatives to your wedding is the least we could do. Besides, I wanted very much to be here, and I was honored that Kim-san invited me at all. And it was nice to see Hana again. She's grown so very much."
"Sometimes I wish she was still tiny," Ron admitted. "She made bigger messes then, but at least they were the kind I could clean up, even if I needed to call Franklin's Forklifts for Rent to do it."
"You should have more faith in her," Yori suggested as she sat down beside him.
"Uh huh. Is that ninja wisdom, or you knowing something I don't?"
"A little of both." Yori glanced at the clock on the wall. "We have some time left. Please, tell me how you proposed to Kim-san. No one else seems to know."
Ron chuckled. "That's because we agreed not to spread it around. It was a little weird and rushed."
"I am sure it was quite romantic. She accepted, did she not?"
"Well, she'd already told everyone we were getting married. It'd be majorly awk-weird if she hadn't accepted."
"I want to know," Yori insisted.
"Okay, fine. If Kim trusted you to kidnap me, I guess it's okay for you to know."
"I cannot believe that this worked," Kim said, ducking as a small monkey swung just over her head. Absently, she wondered just why Ron had asked her on a lunch date to the Space Center, of all places. Her father was still a little testy that they had taken so long to get married, but as expanding the monkey astronaut training program had been Ron's idea, he had at least stopped having Ron strip-searched at the gate.
"You say that every time you come in here," Ron pointed out, neatly sidestepping as another monkey ran past him.
"It never really stops being true," she added. "I remember laughing the first time you actually suggested that Chippy and Frederick would make awesome babies together. I just wish you'd mentioned how many babies at the time."
"Hey, if I'd known Chippy was going to be that into being a mom, I would have warned Frederick to stay in space." Ron bent down to separate two monkeys that were fighting over a well-worn blanket. "Anyway, I think he makes as good a father as he does an astronaut."
Before Kim could reply, one of the monkeys grabbed her arm and hauled itself up onto her shoulder. "Who's this?" she asked, only mildly interested.
"Ah, that's Chippy Jr.," Ron said, reaching over to rub the monkey's head. "She's just a pretty monkey, aren't you, girl?" he cooed, getting what seemed to be a screech of agreement. "Hey, you got a present for Kim? Do you, girl?"
Kim's eyes narrowed. "Ron, I swear, if this monkey hands me poop, I'm leaving you."
He laughed. "Kim, I would never do that." Then he paused, frowning. "I'd never tell a monkey to do that, anyway. So if one does, it totally wasn't my idea!"
Thankfully, Chippy Jr. knew her role well, and merely extended her tail, using it to place a small, black box in Kim's hand.
"It's on the level. I would never box poop," Ron assured her.
Kim smirked as she carefully opened the box. Though she had a pretty good idea of what was in it, she was still largely shocked once she got it open. "Ron," she said softly. "This is... is this what I think it is?"
Ron carefully removed two slightly larger than normal rings from the box. "Magna-rings," he answered. "The very same ones you used to shut down the Kepler years ago. I asked Wade to hang onto them. Even had them engraved for the occasion. Normally, I would have gotten you a killer diamond the size of a fist. But our lives aren't normal, and when push comes to shove, I'd rather you be wearing a set of rings that might help save your life again. Or if you want, we can always stick them on the refrigerator in our new place."
"I'll wear them," Kim whispered, extending her hands so that Ron could slip the rings on her fingers. "But why are there four rings?"
"Two for you, two for me," he explained. "I don't plan to be stuck on the side of an out of control rocket any time soon, but you never know."
"I know," Kim replied, slipping her arms around his neck. "I know I love you, Ron Stoppable. But make this the last time you ever give me rings via monkey, mister."
"Hey, you have no idea how hard it is to pull off a decent proposal to you, Mrs. Possible-Stoppable-to-be! Everything had to have countermeasures in case some bad guy came bursting in. And this way was only safe because we know Monkey Fist is on the rocks."
Kim blinked slowly, and Ron knew that in the back of her mind, she'd just connected two dots that really didn't need to be connected, or at least not at that particular moment. So he quickly darted his head forward and kissed her, startling her pleasantly enough that she forgot her current train of that. Or seemed to, at any rate.
Bueno Nacho had a strict policy of closing promptly at ten. Ned opened late only for Ron, and only then if Ron was eating. The money from his orders alone practically kept their lights on, after all.
"Thanks for meeting me on such short notice, you two," Wade sighed as Kim and Ron slid into the other side of the booth.
"Well, you called a team meeting at one in the morning, on the day of our wedding. We were curious," Ron pointed out.
"Besides, if the best tech man on the planet wants to meet with us, we make time," Kim added.
Wade winced. "You're not going to like this much. Or me, for that matter. But you need to know what I know." He paused to pull out a briefcase, snapped it open, and then withdrew a folder. After a moment of hesitation, he slid the folder across the table for their inspection.
Kim opened the folder, glanced at the typed form inside, and immediately frowned.
Ron only gave the form a glance, but he had clearly read the same line she had, because he sucked in a sharp breath, as if someone had punched him in the gut.
"This is a letter of resignation from Team Possible," Kim said after a long moment of silence. "With your name on it."
"Yes," Wade agreed, doing his best to focus on Kim's blank stare, rather than Ron's clearly hurt expression. "And if you think it's necessary, I'll sign it after I've told you everything."
"What I think is that you picked a very lousy time to do this, Wade," Kim replied.
"I know. But trust me, later would be even worse."
"What did you do, hack the President's bank account?" Ron joked weakly.
Kim shook her head. "No, he wouldn't offer to quit over that. This is personal."
Wade nodded. "I know where Hana's been hiding for the past few days."
Ron blinked. "I should have known. Han always did say that she loved your mom's peach cobbler."
"She wasn't there, Ron. Hana wouldn't come to me if she wanted to hide from you."
"So you knew exactly where Hana was?" Kim asked.
Wade shook his head. "Not exactly at any given moment, no. But I do have a very short list of places that Hana would go if she wanted to disappear, and I guarantee you that wherever she went, it's on the list. Given enough time, you could probably guess-"
"Yamanouchi," Kim said at once, earning a startled look from Ron.
"I can neither confirm nor deny that without breaking certain confidentiality agreements," Wade answered. "But the list isn't the important part of this."
"There's more?" Ron asked. "What else could there be?"
"Hana is tired of waiting for you two to give her the green light. She wanted to join Team Possible, but since that hasn't happened, she's decided to go rogue. She's forming her own team, and their first operation is set to begin today, at the exact moment the wedding begins. Now, aren't you glad I didn't wait until later to tell you?"
Ron laughed, loudly and falsely. "Come on, Wade! Han is only twelve, she can't just-"
"By the time the wedding is over, she'll have everything she needs, and Team Unstoppable will be official."
"Then you're saying she lied to us," Kim said gravely. "About wanting to be our flower girl? That she would be our flower girl?"
"No," Wade replied. "She was honest on both counts. Somehow, she plans to be in two places at once. Just don't ask me how."
"Because you don't know, or you won't tell us?"
"Both, actually. Hana knew there was a good chance I'd tell you, and that's why she didn't tell me everything. But I also suspect that even she doesn't completely understand the true depths of her power."
"How is it that you know all of this?" Kim asked, making no attempt at all to keep the accusation out of her tone.
Wade turned away, unable to meet her gaze any longer. "I'm a member of Team Unstoppable. And if that makes me unfit to stay on Team Possible, then-"
"Why," Kim interrupted, coolly. It wasn't really posed as a question, more of a command than anything else. But it was clear that Wade had offended her, somehow.
Wade genuinely had no idea what Kim wanted an explanation for specifically, or if she just wanted everything explained. But he knew she wouldn't appreciate being kept waiting any longer. "Kim, you're the best at what you do. But there are things that even you can't do, not even with the cutting-edge technology I provide you with. The same rules don't apply to Hana. If you had seen some of the things she can do, you'd understand."
"I do know what she can do," Kim pointed out. "I trained her."
"Then you're either in denial, or she's been holding out on you. Kim, Hana can stop bullets."
Kim stared at him. "You're telling me that her skin is so tough, that she can turn away bullets?"
"I'm telling you that my best guess would be yes, except that I've never actually seen them reach her skin to begin with. The energy field that surrounds her blocks them all. It isn't even something she does on a conscious level, it just happens. If she were to actually focus on it, she could probably deflect the bullets in any direction she wanted. For you to do that, you'd need an excellent battle suit, and its power supply would have limits. From what I've seen, Hana doesn't. She gets tired, sure, but I've never seen her exhaust her magic. I honestly don't think she can. To sum it up: Hana's good enough to get through the McHenry Laser Grid, you've seen it. What you haven't seen is that her magic is strong enough where she could just walk through and come out unharmed. You have no idea how much good someone like that can do, Kim. Or how dirty she can get while doing it. But she's determined, and more importantly, she's willing to distance herself from you so as not to get any of the dirt on you. She's a kid, but she's clever and her magic puts nearly all my tech to shame. You can keep telling her no, but she's not listening anymore."
"And you're willing to quit over this," Kim murmured after a moment.
"Yes," Wade sighed. "Because I took a long look in the mirror, and I realized something: I have to help Hana do this. No one else can. But as important as this is to me, if it costs me your trust and our friendship, I want you to know that it wasn't an easy decision. I enjoy being part of Team Possible, and you guys have been my best friends for years. But that's also why I have to do this: because we all love Hana, and I want to make sure that she doesn't get so wrapped up in this that she forgets who inspired her in the first place. I've seen how her personality can change without warning, and I think it's vital that she has a constant outlet for her power, or else she might become unstable in every imaginable sense of the word. Ron, you know I'm right on this."
Kim glanced at Ron, who hesitantly nodded.
"He might be right, Kim. Hana told me once that when her power talks to her, it sounds an awful lot like Yono. And when she's in mission mode, she does things the way I think he might. If keeping all of that bottled up isn't healthy for her, then maybe-"
"Okay," Kim interrupted, reaching up to run her hands through her hair. "Okay. Obviously, you've given this some thought, Wade. I wouldn't expect anything less from you. But I haven't heard you say yet that your membership in Team Unstoppable requires you to quit Team Possible."
Wade blinked slowly. "Well, no, it doesn't. But I thought-"
"That we'd be so mad at you that we'd force you to quit? Or that Ron wouldn't let you be best man?" Kim answered, smirking at him. "Don't get me wrong, I am mad. More at Hana than you, but I'll get to her later. Ron, anything to add?"
"Yeah," Ron said, narrowing his eyes. "Wade, dude, you're practically my brother from another mother. You would have to invite Drakken and Shego to the wedding to break that bond. I'm never going to be mad at you for wanting to protect Han."
"Going behind our backs is another matter, though," Kim added sternly. "And I think some punishment is in order. To start with, you get to tell Mr. and Mrs. S that their little girl is doing missions now. That should be enough for starters."
Wade certainly didn't like the idea of that conversation, but put that concern to the side for the moment. "So, you guys... you still want me to...?"
Kim rolled her eyes. "Wade, you just told us that Hana is doing missions now, and we already know we can't stop her if she's taken it this far without us knowing anything. But I want it understood that your membership in both teams completely nullifies any kind of conflict of interest. If Hana needs our intel, then give it to her. I also want regular updates on her. Not on everything, but definitely on everything you know I'd be upset about if I found out from anyone else. How much you say is up to you, because believe it or not, I do still trust you that much."
"You're not even going to ask who else is on the team?"
"That can wait," Kim decided. "We have enough to worry about for right now. Like I said, I don't expect you to tell me everything, and I'm not going to pump you for info every five minutes. But if you expect to maintain this friendship, then I suggest you act like you want to. So the next time you even think of quitting, don't bring me a letter of resignation. You come talk to me, in person, and give me the courtesy of trying to talk you out of it. It's what I'd expect from a friend as close as you are to me. Are we clear, Wade?"
"Uh, sure," Wade murmured, still hardly able to believe there had been no yelling.
"Oh, and you can cancel whatever wedding present you had for us," Kim added as she stood up. "You just get Hana back home, safe and sound, as often as you can."
"But we are registered at Bueno Nacho, just so you know," Ron stage-whispered, earning a glare from Kim. "Okay, well, I am. Just something to keep in mind."
Hana woke up around two in the morning to find that Kim had slipped into bed with her at some point. That in itself was a little backwards, as it had always been Hana that crawled into bed with Kim, but it didn't bother Hana. What did bother her was that Kim was wide awake, and clearly had been for some time.
"Kim, you have to sleep," Hana whispered. "You're getting married today."
"I talked to your folks," Kim replied. "You're coming on our honeymoon."
"Wade talked to you," Hana sighed knowingly. "You're mad, right?"
"I was," Kim admitted. "Now, I'm more scared than anything else."
Hana sat up at once. "What? Why?" she demanded.
"If you really don't know, Hana, there's little point in me trying to explain it to you. Just tell me one thing about this team you put together. Can you trust them? With everything?"
"Kim, you and my brother are the two people I trust most. You know things about me that I will never tell anyone else. I trust my team to perform when and where I need them to. If you need more than that, just wait a little."
"I just want you to understand that there's a reason why I don't think you're ready."
Hana nodded. "Okay. Then I'll make a deal with you. After my first mission, if you still think I'm not ready, all you have to do is stop me. Come at me like I was an enemy. But I'm warning you now, Kim. I know what I'm doing, and I know what I'm doing is right. So I'll fight you for my right to keep doing it. No matter how hard that is for us both. And I won't hold back, so I hope you don't, either. You're the better fighter, but I'll use every dirty trick I know, and I might even come up with some on the fly. So don't assume I'll go down easy, or at all. Trust me, this is definitely one of those cases where it would you more than me."
"Hana," Kim whispered, her voice breaking, "you're just a baby. You're practically my baby."
Hana smiled and snuggled up to Kim's side. "I love you so much for saying that, Kim. But I haven't been a baby for a long time now. Definitely not since I crushed Drakken's hands. Right now, I'm just your worst nightmare: a Stoppable who thinks she's a Possible. And I know you know what they say about us Possibles."
Exactly twenty-two minutes after noon the following day, Hana Stoppable was walking down the aisle of a church, dropping flower petals as she passed. She was wearing a simple white dress, fairly similar to the bride's, with the very notable exception of a large, origami rose that had been carefully attached to her chest. Yori had made it herself, although knowing her, she could have either spent hours or just minutes on it, and no one would ever be able to tell the difference.
But at the same time, Hana was also miles away, in the warden's office of the Middleton Correctional Facility. There she was wearing her personal mission outfit: a black turtleneck sweater with the Mystical Monkey Power symbol centered on the chest, cargo pants, and the fairly new addition of combat boots. While not strictly necessary, Hana appreciated the conflicting image they might conjure up in people's minds, and anyway, she knew what she was going to do today. It was best to look the part.
"I have to say, I never thought I'd see you here today of all days, Hana," Warden Ian Credible said as he slid a plate of sugar cookies across his desk. He was an older man, and had always put her in mind of Santa Claus, if someone had dressed him in a black suit, shaved his head, and, well, given him a prison to run. "I'm only missing Kim's wedding because we're expecting things to get a bit rowdy around here."
Hana took a cookie to be polite, but didn't eat it. "Well, as I was telling you, we're pretty pressed for time today. We think Drakken is planning something big, so we're checking every source that we can for more information. Motor Ed is the only one left, and as I'm sure you can understand, I am in a hurry. I just need a few minutes with him."
Credible frowned slightly as he stared at Hana. "It's not that I mind doing a favor for Team Possible," he said after a long pause. "If Ron and Rufus hadn't filled in for the magicians at my granddaughter's birthday party, I don't know where I'd be. But this would be a lot more on the level if Ron or Kim was with you. I can guess why they aren't, but you are underaged, and even if you think can handle yourself, the last thing I need is you getting hurt on my watch."
Hana's eyes narrowed. "Warden, I don't think you understand. I was asking as a courtesy. I would hate to have to rough up your fine officers when they were just doing their jobs. I just need Motor Ed, in a room, for five minutes, maybe less. If I can't get what I need under those conditions, you can walk me back to the gate yourself. But I have to talk to him, one way or another."
He started to automatically disagree again, then took a good look into Hana's eyes, and had to struggle not to wet himself. In that instant, Hana's eyes had not been those of a twelve year-old girl, but those of an ancient force beyond mortal understanding and without limit... and it had been angry, at him and him alone.
"I'll just... round up a few guards to go in with you," the warden said weakly. "Protocol, you know."
Hana shrugged and leaned back in her chair. She nibbled on the cookie, made an unpleasant face, and stuffed the rest in her pocket.
The warden found that odd: during her last visit, Hana had done nothing but shove the cookies into her mouth, so he'd brought them out especially for her this time. But he wasn't about to comment on it. She could very well look at him again.
Five minutes later, Hana got her wish: Motor Ed, in a room, along with a small group of guards handpicked by the warden.
The conversation, what there was of it, went exactly like this:
"I don't have time to fool around, Eddie. Just tell me what Drakken is up to and where he is. I know you know. I have reliable sources."
"Somebody fed you a bad burrito, little mama. Seriously. Haven't heard from Drew in months, and last I did hear, he was in no hurry to help me. Matter of fact, if you see him first, you tell my cuz that Motor Ed don't appreciate getting stuck with his old cellmate! Family shouldn't do family that way, seriously! I'm freakin' out in here, man! Dude never talks about anything but escape plans that'll never work and expired sausage cans! Seriously!"
Then the wall exploded inward, and anything else Motor Ed had to say was lost in his frightened screams as the Diablo robot burst in, grabbed him, and flew away with the rockets in its feet roaring.
Hana didn't even have to pause to ask herself what Kim would do, she just did it. The only real difference was that Kim would have used a grappling gun, just to be reasonably sure she had a solid grip. But Hana, who could jump higher and farther than any other twelve year-old had a right to, and could easily leave fingerprint dents in steel with enough focus, just leaped out of the gaping hole, grabbed onto the robot's ankle, and grinned. Though she could not hear exactly what the startled guards were shouting over the noise of the rockets in the Diablo's feet, their shocked faces told the story clearly enough.
The silence in the hover-jet was tense and extremely uncomfortable, but Electronique, with the flimsy excuse of keeping busy with the weapons systems upgrade, was not about to break it. She had joined Hench Worldwide United well after the pair seated in front of her, and had not yet been given full membership rights. That was understandable, considering she had still been stuck in "good behavior" mode due to her own modifications to HenchCo's old Attitudinator. Thankfully, returning Electronique to her original, evil self had been the first thing Shego had done. The second, however, had been to make it very clear who the boss was this time around. For her own part, Electronique had not fought that decision, much: she was no slouch in combat, but she had never been anywhere near Shego's level. That Shego wanted her around at all was a huge compliment, even if it was largely due to Electronique's weapons skills. Of course, Shego clearly got some pleasure out of ordering a former enemy around, but Electronique was seeing less and less of that side of her lately. Something had happened to Shego during Electronique's last prison sentence, something that had made her far more serious, and had, for some unknown reason, tainted Shego's normally green plasma a bloody red.
That, of course, was only half of the story. The other half was that Dr. Drakken had never really gotten over Shego demanding that they operate separately. Still, he had also done well in HWU. Clearly the bitterness over the split with Shego was still there, but it had also prompted a burst of productivity that Drakken had lacked for some time. Electronique, at least, knew just how advanced Drakken's synthodrones had become over the years, having worked on several of them. Together, they had increased the lengths to which individual models could be customized, and even the once advanced Eric template was old news compared to the latest batch. Electronique was particularly proud of the Drak Pack, an actual family of synthodrone soldiers. They cared about each other, or at least their computer brains told them they did, and reacted with realistic levels of rage when a member of the family came under attack. Of course, since the "youngest" one was programmed to always go in alone first and take a few hits, the rage was pretty much a guarantee for every assignment.
But for all of the individual successes, the inescapable fact was that no two commanders in HWU worked better together than Drakken and Shego, whatever their personal feelings were. The dynamic had clearly changed, but the easy partnership was still there, strained as it was. Drakken no longer needed Shego's protection, and Shego no longer wanted Drakken's money, but Electronique constantly felt as if they were the only two people even in the hovercraft. They had barely spoken to each other at all, but Shego had taken the hoverjet's controls without protest from him. Similarly, Drakken had brought along some blueprints of the prison they were targeting, and was sketching some notes on them. Occasionally, Shego would snatch one away, make some quick corrections, and then shove it back into his lap. Drakken would sneer, then go right back to his plans, factoring in her notes without a second thought. If not for the difference in age, Electronique would have thought them an older married couple. Except that Drakken's age showed while Shego's, thanks to her comet power, was much harder to pinpoint.
"How's that upgrade coming, E?" Shego asked abruptly.
"Done," Electronique admitted before she could stop herself. She had enjoyed the short break, but figured she was about to be put to work again.
"Nice. How are the boys doing?"
Electronique glanced over her shoulder at the seats behind her, where Shego's four brothers sat silently. For the older two, this was only due to some very precise attitude adjustments, via both the Attitudinator and some improved Moodulator chip implants. Really, it had been the only way to keep them from constantly bickering with each other. But even now, Electronique was amazed that none of that had been used, or apparently needed, on the Wego twins. Shego had at least given them the option of either joining her willingly, or becoming her mindless slaves just as Hego and Mego had. Oddly enough, the twins had agreed to follow her, and had taken to evil with a speed and ease that was as startling as it was disturbing, even to Electronique. They apparently loved their sister more than they loved being heroes, and neither one seemed to regret the choice so far.
Hego and Mego were silent because their mental programming meant they did next to nothing unless Shego ordered it. As for the twins, Electronique had noticed that they could be quite animated, especially when interacting with Shego, but otherwise they kept to themselves. Part of that may have been Shego's orders, and partially for their own protection. Team Go had been a highly visible superhero team, and there was a fair chance that not everyone in HWU approved of Shego's decision to bring her younger brothers aboard without some form of mind control. But Electronique thought there had been some mind control, more effective than anything artificial Shego could have used. She had turned the twins with their love for her, and anything else would have been far less effective by comparison. Currently, the twins were staring out of the hover-jet's windows.
"They're... stable," Electronique reported after a long pause. "I don't know if this is the best mission to test them on, but-"
"They'll do fine," Shego interrupted. "These are prison guards we're up against. They're trained to keep people in, not out. And they definitely don't get any practice against superheroes gone bad. Even Team Go could pull this off, and we don't have to worry about the in-fighting this time. We go in, we get the mullet-head, we get out."
Electronique glanced at Drakken, who, as far as she could tell, would be contributing very little to the strategy. "And him?"
"I will be coordinating the attack from here," Drakken said without looking up from the blueprints. "If necessary, I can deploy the synthodrones. But I don't expect it will come to that. As Shego told you, this prison was never all that difficult to break into, only out of."
Without warning, one of the Wego twins ran up the aisle, reaching past Shego for what Electronique first thought were the hover-jet's controls. At once, a powerful electronic pulse began to charge in her hand, and she was sure that Shego's youngest brothers had betrayed them, only sooner than anyone had figured. But a warning look from Shego made her hesitate, and the few extra seconds made Electronique realize her mistake. The Wego hadn't been trying to send them plummeting out of the sky, but had merely turned on the built-in police scanner, and for good reason.
"One of the copies we left with Frugal Lucre just heard something really bad," the twin said as he finally found the channel he'd been looking for.
"Someone is already attacking the prison, and they took Motor Ed," the second Wego reported as he came forward to join his brother.
Shego frowned and glanced at Drakken, who shrugged. "Are they HWU?" she asked.
"It's not really clear, Sis," the first Wego said, slowly turning to Drakken, "but they're using one of his Diablo robots."
Drakken blinked and scowled as everyone turned to him. "That means nothing! Even I stole the original design and the technology that went into them! And I haven't seen them in years! Anyone could have gotten their hands on one by now!"
Shego shook her head. "Someone who also knew to hit the prison and take our target before we could? Unlikely. This is either an inside job..."
"Or a Possible," Drakken sneered, finishing her thought. He flexed his gloved hands anxiously, his joints making loud popping noises as he did so.
"No. Kimmie's getting married today, and she wouldn't risk it not happening." Shego's hands tightened on the controls. "It's not Kimmie, it's her, Dr. D. I can feel it."
"Then it seems we'll be using the synthodrones after all." Drakken glanced behind him. "Electronique, every Diablo is useless without a command signal. Find us that signal, trace it back to the source, and we'll know exactly who has been playing with my toys."
"Gotta be Kimmie's tech geek," Shego muttered.
"No," Drakken said at once, earning a look of surprise from Shego. "That's too easy, and it would almost certainly leave a trail. Can you honestly see Kim Possible risking someone she relies on so heavily, just to get my cousin out of prison? No, there's something we're missing here. But we start with the command signal."
On the roof of the Middleton Mall, a solitary figure sat and waited, completely motionless. Nearly all of the Joss-bot's power had been re-routed into a tiny but powerful satellite dish, set into a hidden panel within her hair. Joss had studied Drakken's past hostile takeover of Bueno Nacho in great detail, and come to a rather surprising conclusion: he had been thinking too big, at least for him. While a robotic army that could shrink or grow on command had certainly made sense, the reality was that a single robot was far easier to operate and conceal. Drakken's plan had required satellite dishes the size of small buildings, so it was no wonder he'd been found out. Joss could afford to sacrifice size because she only had one robot to command, and best of all, her command signal could move if anyone did manage to track it.
So far, however, that had not been an issue, nor did Joss expect to become one for a very simple reason. Though the former Bonnie Rockwaller had long ago moved away from Middleton, she had not forgotten her hometown by any means. Put simply, Bonnie owned the entire mall through one of her companies, but had not advertised this in any way. Bonnie was surprisingly agreeable when it came to such requests: Joss had asked for the uninterrupted use of the roof for roughly three hours, and Bonnie had merely increased security around all access points to the roof without asking any questions. Of course, considering it was happening the same day of the wedding, Bonnie had likely assumed that Joss was doing something wedding-related.
Joss was not. She, like Hana, was currently at the wedding, watching as Kim and her father slowly made their way down the aisle. Joss glanced at the watch on her wrist, just long enough to read the text scrolling across it: "Diabolique online, Phase 1 complete, proceeding to extraction point."
"So far, so good," Joss murmured under her breath.
The words were barely out of her mouth when a new message appeared on the watch: "Warning: multiple Team Go Glows detected in close proximity. Beginning emergency countermeasures."
"I so do not need this right now," Joss growled, momentarily forgetting where she was. A sharp elbow in the ribs from Monique quickly reminded her.
"Whatever that's about, it can and will wait," Monique hissed softly.
Joss thought about explaining just why that wasn't true, then decided against it and nodded. Kim shot her a curious look, and Joss made sure to flash her a quick thumb up and a grin. No matter what happened, she was not about to be the one to ruin her favorite cousin's wedding.
Unfortunately, from the looks of it, Shego was well on her way to taking care of that without any help from Joss.
Continued in Chapter 5: The Weapon, Part 3
Hana finds herself having to face off against the reunited, newly evil Team Go alone. That's easy. Explaining why she suddenly has extremely hairy hands to Kim and Ron is not.
Endnotes:
I'm sure you likely have questions. Many, possibly. So let me see if I can answer a few of them right away.
Hirotaka is joking. And he's also not.
I'm of the crowd that prefers to consider Middleton in Colorado. But I consider young Justine's feat no less impressive because of it. State lines were crossed. Well, one, anyway.
Yes, that's Camille Leon with Jack Hench. A somewhat unexpected addition that worked out nicely for my purposes.
I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea, I firmly believe both ninja males and females are good dancers. But it is a bachelor party.
Yes, Bonnie's rich, and married, and a mother. Also somewhat nicer.
I find Ron's overwhelming monkey issues, or at least the fact that they lasted so long, to be pretty ridiculous. So I tend to either work around them, or ignore them entirely. You can just pretend he got over them. Like any normal person who helps save the world every week would.
In case anyone wonders if both the Attitudinator and the Moodulators were necessary: the Attitudinator only turned Team Go evil, but kept their overall personality quirks intact. Which means they were still just as annoying, only evil. Which sort of defeats the purpose, in my eyes.