"Tell me what, exactly, did he have to say about Shego and Ron?" There was an edge to Kim's voice. A subtle vibration filled the air. The blazing aura of golden light that surrounded her suddenly coalesced into a whirling mandala of gold and crimson.
"Quite a bit, but very little of it coherent. I don't remember most of it. Whatever he's done to my mind, it makes it hard to focus. He thinks you, all of you, betrayed him somehow. That you belong to him. He said that Stoppable and Shego were the key." Dr. Director's face darkened as she spoke.
"Dr. Director?" the edge was out of Kim's voice, replaced by concern. "What's wrong?"
"You're in my head. You're making me want to tell you what you want to know." Dr. Director's gaze locked with Kim's and she raised her gun. "Do that again, and I will kill you. Do you understand?"
"I didn't mean-"
"I said, do you understand? I've had enough of Monkey Fist fucking with my head, I'm not going to allow you or anyone else to as well."
"Yes, I understand."
"Good." Dr. Director relaxed a little, lowering the gun. "We might not be able to get out, but there might be something we can do to expedite our rescue."
"Yeah, we're not getting through that," Shego stated. Illustrating her point, she launched a blast of emerald at the wall of ruble and dirt.
"We aren't even considering leaving them." the silver and blue aura blazing around him flared
"Any ideas on getting them out?" she said, sarcasm seeping into her voice. "This is the prison level. Bottom floor, twelve feet below the next floor up, only accessible via the central elevator shaft. Oh, and the ventilation system is way to small for a human to fit through. And are you even paying attention to me?"
Ron was staring at the Lotus Blade.
Kim stared as the miniature containment cell zoomed down the pneumatic tube and locked into place with a hiss. As Dr. Director reached out to open the cell's lid, a small pink shape burst out through its side.
Rufus rebounded off the wall, diving to the floor and rolling to his feet. Dr. Director, acting on instincts honed over decades of training, reached for her gun. Before her hand could complete the journey, Rufus blurred, leaping first onto her pants leg then to her arm, blazing into blue and silver fire as he moved. She froze as she felt his teeth pressing into the soft meat of her wrist.
"Hnk, no gun!" he chittered, angrily.
"You arrested Rufus?" the edge had returned to Kim's voice. "Have you done anything to Wade? Or our parents?"
"Yes, we detained Stoppable's pet, on Monkey Fist's orders. The same goes for Dr. Load who is next on our itinerary. Your parents are quite safe. Monkey Fist didn't seem to care about them. Now get off me." the hairless rodent looked from Dr. Director to Kim uncertainly. Then he dashed along Dr. Director's arm and leaped to Kim's shoulder, where the perched, eyeing Dr. Director distrustfully.
"Where's Wade?" the edge had not left Kim's voice.
"Follow me."
Shego watched in amused fascination from where she stood, well out the range of the flying dirt and rocks. The Lotus Blade was dramatically proving why it was both the ultimate weapon and the ultimate tool. Ron had already excavated a tunnel several yards deep into the rubble that filled the corridor.
Shego stepped forward when the whirring of the giant drill he had shaped the Lotus Blade into fell silent. Ron stood near the end of the tunnel, wiping the sweat from his grim covered brow. As she watched, he began to strip off his sweat soaked shirt.
He started as the low wolf whistle cut the air, pulling the shirt back down and spinning to face the mint skinned woman.
"Don't stop now. It was just getting good. Although you might want to go a bit slower next time. Makes a better show." her expression was one of almost impish mischief. He found himself backing into a wall while she advanced on him for the second time in less than an hour. "Kimmie needs to teach you to do a proper strip tease."
He stammered something unintelligible as she pressed up against him, pinning him against the wall. The stammering intensified as he felt the cloth of his shirt tearing under her claws, and the devolved to a moan as she grazed the clean flesh of his exposed collarbone with her teeth.
"So, you get whats so great about biting yet, or do you want a more thorough," she ground her hips into his for emphasis, "demonstra-"
She was cut off as the tunnel wall behind Ron's back collapsed.
The two of them found themselves lying in Ron's cell, staring at the gaping hole in the ceiling.
"Okay, so it isn't impossible to dig your way out of here. Who knew." Shego said.
The thing that had been Monkey Fist wrenched open the elevator door, dragging two semi conscious GJ agents in after him. His victims' screams fell silent as the doors whirred shut and the elevator began to descend.
Agent Rote Hemd felt a certain degree of satisfaction as he entered the command to drop the steel shutters, sealing the base off from the outside and trapping the intruders in the access shafts. His deep seated paranoia about any active field assignment had left him in the right place and the right time to save the base.
His satisfaction melted into shock as the intruders continued to advance, unhindered by the inches thick steel plates blocking their path. His shock soured into fear and then horror as he activated defense after defense without effect. As the first of the spectral figures stepped through the electrified walls of the command booth, confusion was added to horror. His last words words before one of the ghostly things struck him down were full of bewilderment.
"Agent Entbehrlich?"
"Wade!" Kim shouted as the boy genius rounded the corner in front of them, brandishing a GJ stun watch.
"Kim! Rufus! You're on fire!" he lowered the stun watch and took a half step forward before catching sight of Dr. Director. Eyes wide, he raised the stun watch and aimed it at her. "Get away from her! She's the one who gave the order to arrest us!"
"Calm down Wade. Monkey Fist was controlling her. You can put the stunner down." Kim's voice was soothing.
"Okay." Wade drew out the word, filling it with as much skepticism as he could. "So, whats with the whole glowy battle aura thing? Are you going Super Sayin on us?"
"Dr. Load, how did you escape? We confiscated all your equipment and your cell was shielded." Dr. Director cut in, her voice calm.
Wade grinned, reached down to his forearm and peeled off what looked like a perfectly normal strip of skin. He held up the brown strip before slapping it against the wall where it stuck. A second later, the strip's color had changed, melding perfectly with the concrete. Glowing lines like traceries of circuitry sprouted from the patch and burrowed into the wall, before themselves vanishing.
"Omni-interfacing nano-patch. Based on the principles of the Hephaestus project. Still in the testing phases, but it looks like its working pretty well." He said as he peeled the patch off the wall and replied it to his arm.
"Wade, you rock. You have anything that could help us clear a corridor full of dirt and rubble?"
"I'd need to reconfigure the patch, but the living metal nanos might be of use."
Dr. Director followed after them, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Covered in dirt and grime, Ron and Shego heaved aside the last slab of broken concrete and emerged into the hall. They stood for a moment, catching their breaths. The both looked up in supprise as the alarm sirens suddenly cut off.
"About time." Shego groused. "Things were giving me a headache."
"Same here. Lets go find Kim." Ron started off down the corridor. He stopped, halfway to the end of the hall, and stared quizzically at the lighting strips. "Hey Shego, are the lights still on?"
Shego stared at him for a second before following his gaze. The light of their combined auras was more than enough to overwhelm the florescent bulbs that normally illuminated GJ headquarters. Now it seemed that the lights had gone completely dark.
"Lets find Kimmie and get the hell out of here."
Kim saw the silver light moments before Ron and Shego rounded the corner. As Kim and Ron caught sight of each other, they hurled themselves together in a passionate embrace. Rufus, narrowly avoiding being crushed, joined in as best he could. Dr. Director and Wade looked away in embarrassment, while Shego looked on, a hit of envy and longing creeping into her expression.
"Rufus!" Ron cried, as he noticed his pet. "What are you doin' here little buddy?"
"Dr. Director had him arrested. Along with Wade." Kim said with a touch of anger in her voice. She nodded to where Team Possible's technical savant was standing.
Ron looked like he was about to say something when Shego cut in. "'Kay, we've got the Princess, now lets get the hell out of here before anyone upstairs comes to their senses and decides to try and contain us."
"Someone already has, actually." Dr. Director's voice was calm. "Before I followed Monkey Fist down here, I gave the containment order. The elevator that connects this level to the one above has been cut off and can only be activated by a member of the command staff. Fortunately, you have a member of the command staff with you. Now, I find myself forced to agree with Shego; we need to evacuate with all possible speed. If you would show us the way you got through the debris?"
Kim, flanked on either side by Ron and Shego, watched as Dr. Director fiddled with the elevator controls.
Dr. Director swore under her breath as she tried to summon the elevator. "Dr. Load, I think I need your help. The elevator is requiring additional verification to activate the backup generator. But that is only required during a power outage. And since the lights are still on, something else must be affecting the system."
"Newsflash Doc, the lights cut out same time the sirens did." An element of contempt colored Shego's voice.
"What-" Dr. Director's reply was cut short as, with a whirr, the elevator began to descend. "I didn't do that," she said, stepping back.
A blazing nimbus of darkness poured out as the elevator doors slid open. The thing that had been Monkey Fist stepped out, grinning.
"I think its time to finish this, once and for all. No more surprises." He managed to take a single step forward before his head snapped back and he collapsed to the ground.
"It is my honor to disagree," the ghostly figure of the young woman said, straightening up from the strike she had just launched.
