(1 week later than chapter 6)
Heinrich Dementor powered down the equipment after the successful test of the systems. The power regulators were still inadequate to the task but the work was proceeding. Time travel was within his grasp, it was exciting to think of the possibilities. He wouldn't know the extent of which he could travel without further experimentation but the potential was limitless. Now if he just had a way to get rid of his partners.
"Quite impressive isn't it", said Doctor Drakken as he surveyed the entire time displacement apparatus.
"Yes it is, but it is still not complete."
"No, our erstwhile benefactor still has not seen fit to provide the last few pieces of the puzzle."
"Even if we had the final pieces it would still take months of preparation before we are ready to attempt actual trials."
"Alas yes, but what is a few months to those who can control time", said Drakken.
"Why does he delay? Why does he play with that degenerate geneticist and those incompetents at GJ."
"Perhaps he just likes an audience. There is no sense in conquering time itself if no one is around to appreciate your genius. I have waited a long time to finally accomplish the one thing that proves to the world and proves to my former sidekick and her baby momma what I am made of."
"I have my own reasons for seeking revenge from Possible and your former paramour." Dementor ran his hands across his chest remembering Shego's warning. "That and the chance at this technology is the only reason I am here. We had both of them when we stole the iridium and he just left them there. Why?" complained Dementor.
"I am sure he had his reasons."
Indeed I did Doctor. The Red Raider watched the exchange between his two allies over the lair's monitors. The beta lair was a classic Jack Hench Aquatic series lair in Northern Hudson Bay, Canada. The Red Raider had purchased it through an American organized crime syndicate and then turned the syndicate in to the Canadian and United States authorities.
He still needed those two fools to finish the project. He had plans to deal with them afterwards but for now he still needed their technical expertise. He had only one component left to obtain and then these idiots would have access to the entire working project. This was a crucial point of the plan and there were still so many variables to consider. For this to work he needed all the players to behave as he planned.
The long-range communication system signaled an incoming call from the alpha lair. Finally, hoped the Raider as he answered the call. "Raider here." The smiling cherubic face of Amy Hall appeared on the screen.
"Good news my crimson avenger, I am happy to say that we are ahead of schedule."
Your schedule maybe but not mine thought the Raider. Fortunately he had checked on the progress of their last target and the window of opportunity was still open. "You have finished the device?"
"Yes, I have." Amy held up the box containing the Project Cradle hand buzzer. "I also have had great success with our second project. I believe the wicked witch herself would be jealous." It was then that a chair flew by Amy's head and high-pitched animal screams could be heard. "SHUT UP!" Yelled Amy to something off the camera. "Can't you see that mommy is talking to someone?"
The Raider smiled beneath his mask. Best to act now before Amy or her experiments did something that got them noticed. "Very well. We are on our way to you."
"Toddles", said Amy as she sighs off. I've put this off for far too long thought the Raider. The last target. He had gone too far to quit now. Who was he kidding? He had been committed the second he stepped through the portal. The Raider reached for the com.
"Beta and Delta drone squads report to the hanger. Doctors Drakken and Dementor please report to the hover transport." The Raider took out his journal and inscribed a few notes and checked his chronometer. "Timetable cleared."
The hover transport was ready and waiting when the Raider arrived. "Lift off immediately. Take us to the Alpha site first before we proceed to the primary target."
"The geneticist. Why do we need her? Her work is not necessary for the project", complained Dementor.
"Not directly but her work will serve as an adequate distraction to GJ and ease the extraction of our project's final component."
"I see, but you have yet to divulge any information on this last component", said Drakken.
"Don't worry Doctor I have saved the best for last. You can think of it as an old college reunion in Midddleton."
Drakken stood confused for a few seconds and then comprehension dawned and the smile he found nearly split his face. The Raider stepped past his two allies toward the cockpit of the hovercraft.
He didn't notice Drakken once again scan him with a small device and then secret it in his jacket. "Simply delicious", Drakken laughed to himself.
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"Impressive, Amy. Most Impressive." The Red raider walked through the lab inspecting the specimens that Amy's genetic genius had constructed for him.
"Why thank you", said Amy blushing demurely. "Their physical development is just as I predicted but due to the speed of the growth matrix their mental capacities are very limited."
"Their physical attributes will suffice for our purposes. The device?"
"Here it is just as you requested", Amy help out the small container to the Raider. He took it and opened it.
"To my specifications?" Amy nodded enthusiastically and spun in a circle. "Very well. This then concludes our association." Amy stopped her spinning and looked crestfallen.
"But we've just got everything working. Have I done something wrong?" The Raider knelt on one knee so he was eye level with Amy.
"You have done excellent work Amy. But now I must travel a path you cannot follow. Take your pick of the litter of the specimens and your choicest piece of equipment. The rest must stay. In this lair's attached vehicle garage you will find a waiting unmarked SUV. Take it and go." The Raider handed her an envelope. "These are the account numbers for your cash payment. Stay off the grid for several months after you leave here. They will be trying to track you so go slowly and carefully."
Amy stood looking down for several seconds and then drew herself up and nodded. "You know you don't do this whole super villain thing very well. I think you care."
"You have no idea what I am capable of Amy. Believe me when I say this is for the best."
Amy gathered what she wanted and the Raider helped her load the vehicle and then he watched her go. She probably wouldn't get far knowing her. But he had given her the chance to get away free.
He returned to the lab and reset the lairs security systems and defenses to run on automatic. Where would be the best place? He finally made his choice and scribbled a few notes before making his final preparations. This was the hard part of the plan. He had to trust in someone else. He had to trust in a mother's love.
The Raider stepped from the lair and activated the small burner phone he obtained for this very occasion. He activated his voice synthesizer and waited for a response. The timing was perfect, school should just be letting out.
"Good afternoon this is Global Justice. How may I help you?"
"Hello, my name is Ed and I saw the advertisement for phoning the Justice Global offices if I were to see something unordinary. I saw this weird flying thing coming over the trees and it spooked my cows. Then this fella in a red metal suit got out and went into this farmhouse. Is there a reward?"
"Sir, if you could just stay on the line…"
The Raider left the line open and tossed the phone into the yard of the lair. He then boarded the hovercraft. "Cloak and go ahead to primary target."
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Doctor Director, Betty to her friends, entered the GJ communication and control room and took the cup of coffee that agent Will Du was holding out for her.
"Status update."
"At about 15:00 hours local time we received a call from an unlisted burner phone that could be a sighting of the Raider."
"You sound skeptical?"
"An unlisted burner phone with someone who did not stay on the line but left the line open. Oh, there could be nothing suspicious about that."
"Satellite coverage?"
"We were able to get eyes on the target thirtyeight seconds after we lost contact but have detected no movement at the sight. However, our scans have definitely detected what appears to an extensive underground facility at the site." The view screen showed the satellite image as well as the probable outlay of the underground sections.
"Power signature?"
"The power output to the facility is extensive and we are detecting active and passive security systems and random detection scans."
"Opinion?"
"If this the Raider's lair then we have underestimated him before. I say we drop the hammer."
"Do it. Call in whatever forces you need to get the job done."
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The lunch crowd at the Lotus Blades was mostly gone and the dinner crowd had yet to arrive. He tried his best ninja stealth moves to sneak up on his wife. However, when he pounced on her and grabbed her from behind she did not even flinch.
"You heard me coming didn't you?" asked Ron in a deflated tone.
"Only as softly as the occasional herd of rampaging elephants", smiled his wife Yori.
"You could at least pretend to be surprised by me."
"I am often quite often surprised by you my love. Just not by your stealth."
It was then that Ron's wrist communicator went off. Ron's mood deflated slightly and Yori kissed him before disengaging herself from him. Ron opened the communicator and immediately saw agent Will Du's face.
"We found the Raider", was all agent Du said.
"Honey, can you cover for me this evening?" Yori nodded sagely and waved goodbye as Ron hastened from the restaurant.
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Shego's last class had just ended and she rubbed her shoulders. The wounds she had received from the raider had healed but not her pride. She was itching for a rematch and was hoping something would happen just so she could work out her nerves a little. Maybe she and Kimmie could spar this evening? Just then the Shegophone went off. She saw right away that the call was from GJ. If this is what I hope it is I will need to buy some lottery tickets tonight because I am feeling lucky.
"Tell me what I want to hear", said Shego as agent Du's face appeared on the small screen.
"We have a probable location of the Raider and are assembling a response team. Mr. Stoppable is already en route to your house with transportation."
"On my way", Shego immediately gathered her things and went off to find Gracie.
When Shego pulled up to the palace, Kim was just coming outside the house already clad in her battlesuit. Gracie got out of the car and saw her mom toss her momma her battle gear and Shego went into the house quickly to change.
"So I should expect you late tonight", said Gracie to Kim.
"Hopefully not that late."
"Just stay out of the hospital this time."
"If anyone is going to the hospital it will be Dementor, Drakken, and the Raider. Especially the Raider. When is your grandfather picking you up?" Gracie was going to the science center with James, Kim's father, this evening. She needed a subject to write on for her science project and she was going to write on his advanced quantum power stabilizers that he was designing for a new orbital space station.
"He said he would be by right after school."
Shego came out of the house striding like a green warrior goddess and cracking her knuckles. Her battlesuit allowed her to augment her plasma power and combined with her razor-sharp gloves made her feel like an offensive machine. Shego caught Kim's eye and after fifteen years of marriage and years of fighting before allowed the look to convey her message. They were both ready for some payback.
They caught the sound of the transport helicopter and saw Ron leaning out the side. The helicopter barely slowed as Ron grabbed the arms of both women and pulled them aboard. Then the craft gained altitude and accelerated.
George, Gracie's naked mole rat, chose that moment to emerge from her pocket. "I have the coolest parents ever" said Gracie just as her grandfather was pulling up in his car.
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Kim entered the large van that was being used as the mobile GJ command center. She looked up at the monitor screens that showed various views of the farm-house and its surrounding areas. Special Agent in Charge Will Du stood with arms crossed looking over the same screens.
"Still no movement?" asked Kim.
"None what so ever. This could be a trap." said agent Du.
"I've usually found that one of the best recourses for a trap is to spring the trap."
"Which is exactly what we are going to do. We have detected four entry points. The main entrance is through the house with an elevator to the lower levels. There is also a vehicle garage entrance that has access and two ventilation shafts that should give access."
"What is the plan then?" asked Kim.
"We will hit all entrances at once. Shego and her team will take the main entrance. Mr. Stoppable and his team will take the first ventilation shaft. You and your team the second ventilation shaft and my team will take the garage. I have another team in an armed helicopter with aerial support standing by. I have had motion sensors placed all around the site so even if a cloaked transport shows up we'll know. If they try to flee that way again I will blow them from the sky."
"What about security?"
"Just before we go in we will hit the installation with a concentrated EMP pulse. That should blind them to our approach, cripple their communications and automated defenses. Once inside we will subdue any remaining defenders. In the study of your earlier encounter with the Raider, we have prepared special short-range EMP grenades. It is our belief that these will interfere with his armor's interface controls and render him either immobile or momentarily incapacitated."
"Spankin."
Kim exited the van and quickly informed Ron and Shego of agent Du's plan. All three clasped hands before moving to their respective positions. Each one led two full squads of GJ elite commando's. Agent Du emerged from the command center and took his own squad to their position.
Shego waited until the EMP pulse went off and then led her team up to the front of the house. Without even slowing down, she blasted the front door to pieces in a blast of white-hot plasma. The building was dark and she quickly followed the plans she had studied to the hidden elevator entrance. Her hands made short work of the elevator doors and pulled a portable light from her belt and shined it down the shaft. Darkness alone greeted her inspection. Looks like the EMP worked, thought Shego, all their systems seem down. What is this bastard's game?
The well placed explosive charges reduced the garage doors to nothing. The commandos swarmed inside and Agent Du continued to scan his sensor pad. All security and surveillance of the lair had gone dead with the pulse. This was too easy.
Kim descended the ventilation shaft. She had insisted on taking point but the commandos were right behind her. She had felt the explosions of what she figured was her wife's plasma and Will's demolitions. I better get the move on or Shego will beat me to the beat down. All the automated response tech was dead and they were making excellent time. Kim had been on too many of these types of missions to believe they were just getting lucky. Something was wrong here.
I wonder if I should expand the menu, thought Ron, as he descended the other ventilation shaft. Not that there had been any complaints but idle hands were the devil's play things. Speaking of devils, he thought, I wonder if the Raider chose Red for any special reason. I mean he could have been the Blue Bandit, the Purple Parasite, or the Green Goblin. No, not the Green Goblin that was probably trademarked by Marvel comics or something.
Shego and her team started climbing down the elevator shaft. No resistance yet, this not the Raider's style.
Will's commandos moved quickly forward penetrating the complex and heading down. Will spoke into his com unit, "All teams report any contact."
Kim had reached the end of the shaft and was about to exit it into the main facility when she heard Will. Nothing yet, she thought, but why.
Maybe the Teal Tiger or the Crimson Crusader. No, that sounds like a good guy, thought Ron. Ron had finally got to the end of his shaft and began to climb out. When he emerged it was soon readily apparent that he was not alone.
"Monkeys! Big flying monkeys!" Shego winced as Ron's scream come over her com unit. Suddenly from the shaft below her came man-sized flying monkeys' right out of the Land of Oz. She ignited her plasma and burned through the torso of one flying monkey and seared off the wing of another. Two others grabbed her and she could not hold on she fell wrestling with her two opponents until she hit the roof of the elevator car below. Fortunately she landed on one of the monkeys and her suit absorbed the rest of the impact. She heard gunfire from above as her team began engaging the remaining monkeys. One monkey wrapped its arm around her neck as the one below snapped it jaws only inches from her face. Screw this, thought Shego, as she burst into plasma flame and her two opponents momentarily screamed in pain and then fell silent.
Kim exited the shaft and winced when she heard Ron yell. She found herself in a long corridor illuminated with only minimal emergency lights on. She snapped out her fighting batons and then suddenly felt air movement and ducked as a flying monkey swept over her head. She rose and lashed out clipping a wing which brought the monkey crashing down. Her team began to pour out of the shaft as more of the flying horrors appeared. Flying monkeys could mean only one thing.
"This is a DNAmy lair. I repeat this is a DNAmy lair." Said Kim as she engaged multiple monkeys on her side of the corridor as her team began fighting on the other front.
Agent Du heard Kim's warning as his team began encountering the flying vermin as well. The creatures were strong and fast but their tactics seemed simply to close and attack. No thought of coördination or flanking actions that their flight would have allowed. The battle was swift and decisive with only some light injuries on their side as the monkeys were dispatched. All four teams eventually united in the lair's command center.
"You would think that after all these years of being called a mystic monkey master I would be better able to take dealing with monkeys" said Ron as he stepped over several monkey bodies.
"We love you just the way you are" smiled Kim.
"The facility is secured and no sign of any of our primary targets." Will Du checked his sensor pad. "Get the investigative team in here as quickly as possible to check for Intel. My people will take the command center. Team Possible you begin with the lab."
Kim, Shego, and Ron headed to the lab areas and found extensive genetic equipment in one lab but the other labs appeared empty.
"I knew the Raider was evil but to employ monkeys. This guy is just wicked bad."
"Calm down Ron. Go and start cataloguing the equipment that's here so we can check it against the list of stolen tech." said Shego. "I'll start on the computer with Wade. Kimmie you start checking for the hard copies or files." Shego activated her Shegophone and the image of Wade appeared on her screen.
"Glad to hear from you. Is everyone alright? Are you guys in the lair? Did you find the Raider?"
"Slow down computerzilla. Everyone is fine and no we didn't find the Raider. I have access to their labs computer system and I think DNAmy was using it. If I plug you in can you help me search through it?"
"Absolutely. Leave the line open and plug-in the phone to their main CPU."
Kim headed over to several small cabinets and began searching through them. Nothing of interest caught her eye until she spotted a scribbled note on a cabinet that read Recent Projects. What super villain left little notes that directed anyone who was bothering to look to their work? Kim opened the cabinet and found some files on the flying monkeys. Then underneath the files she found a second scribbled note that read Previous Projects. Oh, Amy, what has all these years done to you? Kim continued to sift through the files.
Ron was going through the list of GJ equipment and feeling a little let down. He had hoped they would get their chance against the Raider today. Well maybe they would find something here that would lead them to him. The gasp that came out of Kim awoke him from his inane search. Shego was talking to Wade about the computers so she apparently did not hear Kim but Ron looked and saw Kim kneeling on the floor with her hands covering her face.
"Are you alright Kim?"
Kim looked up and just for a second Ron spotted a mixture emotions on Kim's face. It was like surprise, fear, hope, and joy all met in a terrible traffic collision. She just as quickly composed herself and turned back toward the cabinet and Ron couldn't tell but it looked like she took something out of the cabinet. Kim examined it for a second and then put it into her suit.
"Did you find something, Kim?"
Kim got up and walked over to Ron with what he thought was a smile/worried look on her face. "No, nothing but some old files." Ron just stood there and raised his eyebrow showing disbelief. "What did you find?" asked Kim.
"It appears to be only the biological or genetic equipment on the list. The rest may have been here but if it was it's gone now."
"The computer is a no go as well" said Shego. "It was definitely used by DNAmy but someone has scrubbed the system of everything of value. Wade says it's a lost cause."
"Then we got nothing, damn" cursed Ron. Suddenly all of their coms sounded with agent Du's voice.
"All personnel prep for immediate evac."
"What's wrong Will" asked Kim noting the urgency in his voice.
"GJ just contacted me and we have received an alarm from the Middleton Rocket and Science Center. The call includes a sighting of the Red Raider. We are mobilizing what we can but our best response team is here."
"Mr. Doctor P" said Ron.
"Gracie!" cried Kim.
"There is nothing here. He drew us out. Fuck!" roared Shego as she hurled a plasma ball into the wall. "We are on our way Du, anyone not there when we get there will be left behind."
Author's Notes:
Timing is everything. I am off on a vacation to Napa Valley California this week to purchase copious quantities of wine and a new Husky puppy.
In the next chapter we will have the beginnings of a new dynamic duo and the greatest science fiction debate throw down. Star Trek vs. Star Wars. May the farce be with you.
Kim possible and all characters associated with it are the Copyrighted property of the Disney Corporation and the creation of Bob Schooley and Mark Mckorkle. Any characters of Disney's Kim Possible are used without their permission but for non-profit purposes.
