I do not own any Disney character named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only.
Kim Possible: Fallen Heroes
LJ58
10
"So, that's my plan, guys. Anyone see anything wrong?"
"Far be it from me to comment on your sanity, Possible," Shego muttered.
"Now, Shego, you have to admit that Kimberly Anne does have a rather remarkable track record in pulling off the incredible. Why, if you only consider…."
"Zip it, momma's boy," the green-skinned woman growled as they gathered around the Roth as the primitive men moved warily around them, poking at the stilled monsters, and gaping incredulously at the newcomers.
Now and then, they would hear someone mutter, "Pof," in such reverence that it made Shego cringe.
"Hey, I say go for it. I mean, any chance we have at actually changing this ice cube has be better than standing here, and freezing our butts off," Sara told them, sounding like herself after a long quiet spell.
"Right," Kim nodded at her. "Drew and I can work on the bots, and get the parts we need well enough to make what we need. We will have to scavenge some parts from the shuttle, too, as well as move our own primary camp here. Shego, that's where you, and the guys come in. It's better to have everyone here, close, just in case anyway. So, Jade can carry you over, but you'll have to get back on your own," she told them, "Since I want Jade to start the global mapping we need to have finished immediately. I need Nolan here for another job, too," she said, eyeing the man standing back with a laser rifle in his hands, eyeing the burly men uneasily.
"We can manage a little hike," Shego muttered, glancing around them at the obviously curious men and women who still seemed to eye them in more than a little awe. "I just don't get why it's so important we get you more toys to tinker with, when we have so many other issues…."
Kim eyed Drew, and then nodded.
"Shego, we may have a lead on where GJ stashed a whole lot of serious tech. Maybe even…weather machines. That kind of stuff. As well as a few things I think we can use to make sure we can manage rebuilding with far more ease than we've had so far."
Shego frowned, and eyed the pair of them.
"Let me get this straight. This whole time you two have been confabbing, you both decided to pin our hopes on…..some antiquated weather machine?"
"Among other things. I think it's worth a shot," Kim told her.
"So do I, Shego. In fact, it's quite possible, no pun intended, there is even more down there than we realize as yet. Why, the Science Center could well prove to be a cornucopia of technological marvels that might just make things far easier for us all in the future. Surely you can see….?"
"Jeez. Even when you sound reasonable, you rant," she complained. "Fine. Fine. Whatever you need, just point, and we'll do it. Like I said, you do seem to be angling to be the new king…. That is, queen of the world. Sure you weren't moving over to our side all along," Shego asked less than teasingly.
"Shego," Kim muttered in complaint.
"Fine. Fine. We'll go. It's not like we have anything else to do. Right, Pinky?"
"So, if there is a weather machine? If you can make it run? Does that mean…..?"
"Well, we won't affect an overnight climate change, in spite of the obvious wishful thinking," Drew pointed out for Sara. "The chaos brought about by such traumatic change would be less than beneficial…."
"He means it will still take time to warm things up," Shego cut him off. "Why you science types have to overcomplicate everything," she muttered, and glared at Kim. "So, we going now, or what?"
"Yes. And be careful. There's still a chance there might yet be a few more warbots out there. Let's not stop watching our backs just yet," Kim pointed out.
"Doy," Shego muttered, and climbed into the front seat, staring at the dash before her. "How do you even turn this tinker toy on," she complained as Sara grinned at her as Shego just stared at the controls.
"Ask nicely," Jade's surprisingly lifelike tone growled as the AI responded on cue.
"Remember, keep your communications open, and if you see anything we need to know…."
"Nag, nag, nag," she cut Kim off. "You do know I've been doing this kind of thing longer than you," she demanded of the redhead.
"Just be careful, Shego. I don't want to lose anyone we don't have to in this nightmare."
"I'll keep an eye on her," Sara assured her teasingly.
Shego's snort was eloquent as she slammed the door even as the turbines began to whine, and the car rose straight into the air.
"That is so cool," Nolan grinned, standing with Kim and Sara as they stood watching the car fly away. "Almost as much fun as flying on your own."
"I can only imagine," she told the lean, young man. "You do understand what I want?"
"Sure. You want me to fly out, and do an overview of the immediate area so we can figure out if anything else is out there coming our way."
"Fly circles, Hawk," she told him. "Gradually increasingly ones. No unnecessary chances, though. And stay in contact. If you see anything dangerous, report back, and get out of there. Take no chances."
"I'm not actually a risk taker," he assured her.
"Says the man that defies gravity with only his own unlikely mutation," Drew grimaced. "Frankly, I'll take a fusion-powered jet engine any day of the week over a pair of a dubious wings that might fade if your caloric balance falls too low."
"I know my limits, Doc," Nolan told him. "Don't worry about me. If I get too close to my threshold, I know when to come down."
"Good," Kim told her. "Because that warning goes for your own limitations. You get too tired, too cold, or too….anything, you come back at once. As of now, we're moving in with our….friends."
"I hope they don't expect us to live like they do," the young man grimaced. "Frankly, I was hoping to improve our standard of living, not….."
"I am hoping we can improve theirs," Kim told him. "Now, work. We still have a lot to do. Radio on?"
He touched the transceiver even as he hunched over slightly, his wings stretching out, and growing from his back even as the men and women around him shouted in dismay as he nodded at Kim.
"Good to go, Boss."
"Just call me Kim," she sighed as he flapped twice, and lifted from the ground.
"Whatever you say, Kim. You're the boss," Nolan winked, and rose into the air before she could retort.
"Looks like some of the original personality does remain even after five centuries of rehabilitation sublims. I wonder how the others are doing?"
"I'm sure they are doing fine," Kim was told by the now ever reasonable Drew, which made her wonder about his true personality even more of late.
"Right. Well, worrying won't help. Let's get to work," she said in a determined, and turned to address the men around her in the broken language they employed that Jade had quickly deciphered as a mishmash of old English and Spanglish that had been badly mangled in their melding.
Still, she was able to figure out enough to tell the men what she wanted, and set them to work scavenging the broken metal limbs, or other parts she needed, even as others continued to build up their defensive walls. She would work on better housing later.
KP
Shego was considering all that Kim was doing since their return to Earth, and she had to wonder if the woman wasn't going to burn herself out before she quit.
She might tease, or irritate her, but the truth was, she could see Kim was concerned with reclaiming a world that had been stolen from all of them. Even as Jade flew off the moment they climbed out, the others came out of the forest, Amy reporting that a warbot had passed by, but seemed to keep going when they hid in the trees, and showed no signs of overt hostile activity. The machine didn't even explore the old shuttle since they had pointedly turned off every system in the ship to ensure it didn't draw any attention.
She quickly filled the others in on Kim's plans to shift their camp to the caves, and set up a defensive front there in case of more attacks. She also shared that the redhead had some idea of finding, and raiding some kind of hidden cache of tech she and Drew had a lead on, and that meant some of them might be left behind there when they moved, which meant they had to ensure the site was well defended before Kim, and whatever party she led departed.
In short, they all had a lot more work to do now as they got ready to do whatever they were going to do.
"So, Kimberly has a definite plan now," Amy asked after hearing everything.
"Sounds like it. I get the feeling she's still holding quite a bit back, but…. Yeah, she does seem to have an idea of some kind in that head of hers," Shego imparted.
"Well, I have learned you cannot ever predict what that girl might do, so why resist," Amy beamed. "Besides, watching might be fun."
"Fun," Shego smirked. "Weren't you the one that always called her a meanie?"
"Oh, well she was, wasn't she? Always butting in, stopping me, or anyone else from having our fun? Only now she's on our side, right? So we should do what we can to help, and maybe in the end, we all get what we want? After all, when we first woke up, I was pretty sure we were all going to die up there," she said casually. "Only when our Kimmie woke up, I knew we were going to be fine. That young woman just doesn't know how to give up."
"No. She doesn't, does she," Shego murmured, not quite sure she disliked the way Amy so carelessly called Kimmie 'ours.'
"Isn't that a good thing," Henry asked. "I mean, from all I've heard, we have the best chance of success with us now. So, isn't that a good thing?"
Shego didn't reply to that.
"Let's just get those tools and things she wants, and get going. Trust me, it's a long hike off this iceberg to get where we are going."
"How long?"
Shego eyed Amy.
"At least two days," she said practically, hiding her sigh of resignation. "So we had better plan for a long, cold walk."
"We can take our tent," Bill grinned. "It's ready now. It'll be toasty and warm once we set it up."
"That's extra weight we can't….."
"Hey, in my rock form, I'm…..what's the word? Anyway, I don't get tired. Ever. So I can carry anything we need, and keep going as long as you want."
"I'm pretty strong, too," Zander reminded them. "Maybe not as much as Bill in his transformed state, but I am pretty strong."
"Good. Because we have a lot to carry, and I don't want to waste time with too many trips considering what Princess is trying to do out there," Shego grumbled. "The faster we get her what she needs, the sooner we can all regroup, and focus on what matters."
"Right," they all agreed, but Shego had to wonder if they even knew what that that focus should be.
Strange, she had to consider, how the women in their group did tend to defer to Princess just as much as the guys. Well, not as overtly, but still….. 'Our' Kimmie? Shego wasn't quite sure she liked Amy saying that. Not one bit.
It wasn't like she had any claim on the inestimable redhead. It wasn't like her impromptu confession of her relationship issues back during those first, tense moments meant anything to her. Not really.
She just didn't like Amy talking that way.
Not about….her Kimmie.
Shego stared after the big woman, her eyes rounding slightly, and muttered, "Doy."
She then wondered if Pinky was feeling the same way.
If so, she was headed for a major letdown. Shego would see to it herself. Just as soon as she decided what to do about Amy.
KP
Kim pondered the first scans Jade had sent back to her Kimmunicator, fortunate enough to have found a functioning satellite in the region she could bounce back a signal that reached her.
If they were going to have any kind of reliable communications in the future, she was going to have to do something about those satellites. Maybe check those still in orbit to assess their value, or if they could be repaired. Perhaps salvaged, or used to salvage others. That meant she was going to have to keep at least a few of the space suits intact, and functional, too. That meant those air tanks had to be refilled. Somehow.
Yet another item on the increasingly long 'to-do' list she was mentally creating as she tried to work on several levels at once.
Even as she was she checking the scans, she was considering a potential team to take out into the field while Sara helped her oversee work crews that had built up, and strengthened the wall, even while they started building stronger, better shelters that could be insulated, and heated far more easily than the old, drafty caves they had been using.
The women, she had noted, took to the shelters with far more ease than the men who eyed the walls suspiciously, and kept testing the doors every time they went through them.
Clothing was going to be another issue, too, because she couldn't see herself running around in deerskin, or similar hides. She had never been that good with domestic arts, though, and readily admitted it. Kim was hoping some of the others might have ideas there.
Meanwhile, the men hunted with more confidence, and while they were all on alert, so far they had not seen any more warbots.
That made her suspect that they were either widely scattered in order to cover whole regions, or that they had been as susceptible to the ages since being left behind as anything else her own people had ever built. Because so far, all she had managed to find was a few crumbling towers, and they had not been able to scavenge much more than few toiletries and old clothing, and little of it had been able to resist the ages, either.
Still, the absence of the warbots masters confused her. Why destroy a world just to leave? What had happened to them if they had humanity on the run? Although, to be honest, she was relieved they weren't around just now. It would be one more complication she didn't need.
Especially since, she had to admit, things were not looking too good for her initial plan of scavenging for things they needed.
She was almost desperate enough to consider another flight to the moon to see if she could find anything else left behind.
Not her first choice after how close their escape had been.
Then she focused on a particular void in the sonar scan Jade had relayed of a certain part of the old city that had once been her home.
"Drew, look at this," she called to him, gesturing him over from the workbench where he was finishing the rest of the upgraded radios for their own while she had been doing her own thing. "What's that look like to you," she asked, indicating the void in the deep scan Jade had focused on at her instruction before her departure.
"Hmmmm. If this is what I think it is, Kimberly," he told her, eyeing the holographic projection she displayed over her Kimmunicator. "It appears that the Science Center may well have created an environmentally-controlled vault to augment their primary storage facilities since I was. ah, last there."
"That was what I was thinking," she admitted to the blue man.
"I see," Drew smiled, his eyes glittering again just a bit. "So, you're hoping that they managed to somehow spare whatever was inside from the ravages of time the way you protected your amazing vehicle?"
"At the least. Even if it weren't shielded, this kind of vault had to have helped control any major debilitation the years might have forced on unprotected technology. I think this makes my plan all the more viable. Would you agree?"
"Absolutely. And if I might be so daring, I'm hoping you will allow me to assist you on this potentially exciting endeavor," he smiled with anticipation.
"That goes without saying, Drew. We'll need your scientific mind when we get there. Likely Shego's safe-cracking skills, too."
"We'll need someone strong, but also intelligent enough to understand what we're undertaking, too."
"You mean Zander?"
"The erstwhile Brute did manage to keep GJ going in circles before one of his own betrayed him."
"So, you knew him?"
"For a while. He was more interested in keeping your former allies out of his neighborhood than in any real world-conquering schemes, though. His problem was that he grew too powerful. Too successful. By the time his forces grew big enough to challenge GJ, they were already targeting him."
"So, he was just another victim, too."
"Well, his methods were admittedly…..harsh at times, but…it was a harsh time for all of us. I think, after you apparently died, the world seemed to have lost a lot of hope, Kimberly. A strange admission from someone like me, I know, but that was the way I saw it."
Kim frowned at that.
"I hate to hear that. I always thought….someone else would have….stepped up. Done something."
"Oh, a few tried."
"And….?"
"Global Justice became very determined to control anyone with, shall we say, unique gifts after your apparent end. Very determined."
"So, a lot of them were likely up there in….."
She looked up, but the sky was overcast again, and they couldn't have seen the moon even if it were there.
"Likely," Drew agreed.
"Damn," she murmured. "So…..My discovery damned over a thousand people to…"
"Your discovery is giving us the change to reclaim our own world, and spare our species genuine extinction. I recall a daring young woman who once challenged me to look for the silver lining in everything. Perhaps, if I might be so bold, you might now recall your own advice?"
Kim stared at the man. Stared hard.
Here was a man that spent years trying to kill or neutralize her. Trying to claim the world in some misguided notion of conquest. Yet now he was here, with her, trying to help her save what little of their world was left.
"Thanks, Drew," she nodded, shutting off the holographic overlay. "For reminding me what's really important. We'd better finish up. I want to be ready for phase two when Shego gets here."
He glanced over to the hollowed out shell of the warbot they were working on, and grinned. "I think we can guarantee Shego will be quite surprised when she arrives."
"I think surprised is the least of what she'll express when she hears the rest of my plans," Kim grimaced.
"Our plans, my dear. Recall, we are now all in this together."
"To the end," she asked with a wry grimace.
"End? Why, not at all. I'm quite confident that with you leading us, this will only be the beginning. Only the beginning," he grinned. Then his eyes flashed as he added, "Especially once we get into that vault."
Kim couldn't help but laugh as Sara walked over, and sank down on a stone Kim occasionally used as a seat herself as it was so near the makeshift table they were using to work on the parts taken from the ruined war machines.
"You okay, Sara?"
"Peachy," she grumbled. "Even though that freak that...grabbed me is gone, I've still got a bunch of horndogs in fur following me around, and one of them keeps trying to drag me off to….. You know?"
"Was he the one that raped you," Kim asked, having heard her full story she had yet to share with the others, and glancing back at the men that still kept a wide distance from her when she wasn't commanding them.
Ironically, they did listen to her. Did everything she said. But none of them stayed close when they did not have to do so. Most of them kept eyeing the sky more than the horizon now.
Still, it was a start. They were starting to build a second stone house outside their caverns, and the women were involved now, too, obviously ensuring they did the job right as they worked on branches that would make a support for the roofing of mud, and ice used to insulate the buildings.
"No. I thought I told you that was the one that went out, and….disappeared."
"Oh."
"But there's obviously a replacement that seems to think I should….welcome him."
"You can't dissuade him."
Sara sighed.
"I never learned to fight. Not like….you or Shego. And like I told Shego, what my power does to people is….. Well, I only used it once, by accident. I never want to do that again."
"I'll take your word for it," Kim nodded at the teen. "I won't deny, I've made my own share of mistakes. The trick is to learn from them, and move on."
"Even now?"
"Especially now. You've heard some of what Drew and I are working on?"
"Yeah. I heard you guys talking about it most of the night. I was…restless."
"Think you can handle staying here with some of the guys if we have to leave you? Do you think you could help keep these people in line, and on track?"
Sara grimaced.
"Me?"
"Not by yourself. I know I'm going to need Zander, Shego, and maybe Hawk. I figured the rest of you could manage the home front, as it were. If you feel you're up to it?"
"You're not taking Amy? I mean, isn't she like some kind of genius, too?"
"I'm not sure yet. We still have….details to work out. But so far, I know Drew, Shego, and Zander may be critical."
"You're really going to try to dig into that….place? The safe you were talking about?"
"It's more than a safe. It's an underground bunker that likely houses enough advanced technology to help us make a real difference here. We obviously can't last like this. We have to change things. Give all of us a real chance. Or….try."
"Then I'll make do," Sara nodded. "Don't worry. I won't be any trouble."
Kim reached out and touched her shoulder when the pink-haired girl glanced away.
"Hey?"
"Yeah," she murmured.
"I don't care about trouble. I want to make sure you're all right, too. You're one of us now, remember? We all have to be okay, or none of us are. If you think you can't handle staying, say so."
"Can I…..think about it," she asked quietly.
"Sure. It'll likely be another day or two before Shego, or Jade gets back."
She nodded.
"At least we won't have to live in caves," she said, glancing toward the foundation of a third shelter. "These guys are pretty good at making walls once you get them moving."
"I don't think they're stupid, Sara," she called her again, the teen no longer as adamant about using her old codename. "I think they were just discouraged from being….creative for too long. Hopefully, we can change that. If you remember anything about history, we humans can be pretty darn clever given half a chance."
"And you're going to give them that?"
Kim's green eyes glittered.
"I'm going to try to give them a lot more than that. A lot more. I hope," she added when she glanced toward the western horizon.
To Be Continued…