Rift
XX
The class had been almost asleep before, but the explosion was more than enough to wake them up.
"So there you go," said Mr. Barkin. "You've got two minerals that are usually safe by themselves, but you put them together, and you get something a lot more reactive! They're both dangerous with the right bonds, under the right conditions. The same thing can have different states. Chemistry's all about change."
The acrid smoke from the chemical reaction wafted through the air. Some of Mr. Barkin's class kept waiting to see if another explosion was coming, but a number of students had already gone back to sleep. Kim was awake, of course – she always dutifully payed attention when she was in class. The lesson was at and end, however, and the bell rang just as their teacher began to clean up the mess he had made. Mr. Barkin wagged his finger at passing students while they raced for the classroom doors.
"Don't forget, pop quiz tomorrow!"
One of the students scratched their heads. "It's not a pop quiz if you announce it to us, is it?"
"Don't argue with me, Hendricks!"
"Yes, sir!"
Kim tried to blend into the crowd surging through the door in hopes of avoiding her teacher's notice. Unfortunately, Mr. Barkin caught her glance as she passed by and stepped away from his desk. "Possible," he said, "mind if we have a little chat?"
"I'm kind of busy, Mr. Barkin."
"I can write you a note. We need to talk about your absences-"
"Sorry, Mr. Barkin, I have to get to my next class!"
She hurried through the door more quickly, ducking in and out of streams of students passing through the hallway. She risked a glance back at the classroom door; Mr. Barkin stood in the doorway and watched her go, a frown on his face. Kim repressed a laugh as she turned a corner and completed her escape. Her teacher had already caught her in two painfully awkward meetings in the past; she didn't want to deal with any more, and she could pretty much guess whatever he was going to say at this point, anyway. She thought about going to her locker, but noticed Ron down the hall at his own locker. She paused for a moment, unsure of what to do, until a voice boomed out of the school's PA system.
Kim Possible, please report to the school's back entrance.
Ron glanced up from his locker after hearing the message and noticing Kim down the hall. She met his gaze for a moment, and was about to nod in his direction when he shut the locker's door and walked away in the opposite direction. Apparently, he didn't feel like talking. The back entrance, the voice had said. Kind of a strange announcement. And it sounded weird, like a woman had been masking her voice by speaking as low as possible. Something told Kim that a certain brunette rhymes-with-witch was waiting outside the school as some kind of prank.
Bonnie Rockwaller, she thought with a grimace. She had been doing a lot of trash-talking lately. Although it wasn't like the trash talking had been kept to a reasonable level in the past or anything. Maybe it was time to teach that girl a lesson.
The waves of students in the hallway began to thin out as they made their way to their next classes. Kim got to the back entrance of the school and burst outside, not knowing what to expect, but half expecting Bonnie to be there laughing at something or other. Maybe with a camera in one hand and a female blowup doll in the other. But there was no Bonnie. No one at all, in fact. Kim stepped outside, quickly glancing up over her head to make sure nothing was set to fall down on her as she opened the door. But she was safe. She stepped out onto the concrete and looked around, confused.
"Hello?"
There was no answer.
Kim was about to turn back into the school when a hand suddenly snaked around over her mouth. She let out a muffled screech – did Bonnie really think she could pull something like this off? Whoever had sneaked up behind her wrapped another arm around her waist, and Kim was about to jab her elbow back in an attempt to knock herself loose when she noticed the green skin on the arms. Her captor laughed loudly.
"Guess who?"
"Not funny!" said Kim as the hand released itself. She whirled around and gave Shego a mock-glare. "I totally thought somebody was about to play a prank on me. What are you doing here?"
"Just thought I'd stop by for a visit. The office window was open, so I sneaked in and made an announcement on the PA system before any of your teachers came back. Man, that brought back memories."
"You were a troublemaker in high school, huh?"
"You know it."
"It's nice of you to visit, but in case you didn't notice, I'm at school right now."
"Don't care. Come with me."
Shego dashed off before Kim could object, disappearing into a wooded area that stopped just beyond the small parking lot behind the school. Kim hesitated for a moment before following her – she supposed chasing Shego around amongst the trees was better than standing out in the open where anyone could see them. Shego darted away from her, making her way in a sort of semicircle through the woods as the two of them circled alongside the school. "Where are you going?" shouted Kim.
"Catch me if you can!"
Kim did not have to run for long – soon, they reached the edge of the woods again. Shego darted out into the open. Kim followed, but stumbled for a moment as she realized they were not far from the football field. She could see some students filtering out of the school for gym practice, a couple of them idly passing a football between them – if Shego kept running, she'd end up right in the middle of them.
"Wait!" yelled Kim. "Come on, Shego, you're gonna embarrass me!"
She was not headed for the field, however. Kim caught up to her behind the bleachers, where Shego made her way beneath the wooden benches, weaving in between the metal poles that held up the stands. She finally stopped, and Kim put a hand on her arm. Shego turned and kissed her briefly, before looking out from their hiding place at the Middleton High School students on the field.
"Nice place to be naughty, huh?"
"Um, call me old-fashioned," said Kim, "but I always thought the bed was a nice place to be naughty."
"You have a lot to learn, Princess."
In a now familiar movement, Shego pushed Kim to the ground and straddled her, running her hands over her body. The afternoon sun had been glaring, but the two of them were sheltered under the shade of the bleachers. Kim felt wet grass against her back, the dew from that morning still lingering in the shade. Shego pressed down, kissing her, running a tongue over her neck. Kim's breathing quickened. She looked furtively around; it was unlikely anyone could see them in their little hidden spot. She protested, pushing back, but she knew she'd give in. She always did.
"Give it to me, Kimmie."
Shego's hands became more demanding. Black hair and red hair tangled together in a mess as the two of them squirmed in the grass, and Kim could hear the faint cheers and chatter of her fellow students out on the field, mixing with her own whispered moans as the hands worked her magic. Shego wanted to get it from her? Fine, Kim thought. She fought back, twisting out from under the woman and knocking her to the ground on her back. Kim mounted her, flexing a leg on either side, pinning Shego down. Green on green, she thought, her hand clamping Shego's wrist, holding it down tightly against the grass.
She was about to lean down again, taste Shego's lips, caress her skin, give her what she was begging for, but just as Kim drew closer, she caught sight of the field in the cracks between the bleacher's rows. She paused. The gym class was practicing out on the field, playing a game of football. She could see Mr. Barkin, whistling and pointing angrily at a fumbled football.
She could see Ron, running for a pass.
"Come on, Kimmie, what's the holdup?"
Kim looked back at the woman pinned beneath her. Shego lifted her back from the ground, wrapping her arms around Kim's waist and pulling her in closer, bucking up just a little as Kim's legs scissored her waist. She felt the urge to give in again, for just a moment, but they were right out in the open. Anyone could see them. At any moment, Bonnie, anyone, could walk right up to the bleachers-
"Stop, okay?"
Shego ignored her, running a hand behind her head, fingers cutting paths through her hair as they kissed.
"-I said stop!"
Kim pushed her back. And just in time, too. A shadow came over them as Shego sat back against one of the metal supports holding up the bleachers, and the two of them looked over through the rows to see one of the football players on the other side. He seemed to be taking a short break from practice, and had walked over to the base of the bleachers to grab a drink from a water bottle. Kim sat on the ground, chest heaving from a combination of arousal, excitement, and fear. They waited until the boy hydrated himself and returned to the field with a yell from Mr. Barkin.
"That was too close," she said.
Shego grinned wolfishly. "What would you do if you got caught?"
Kim had no answer, as she didn't know what she'd do. Pretty much everyone around the school seemed to be aware of all her sexual identity drama lately, anyway. Some of them thought she had a thing for Bonnie, while some of them knew at least vaguely about her thing with Shego. Some of them combined the two, and some of them had even more outlandish theories about why Kim had been skipping so many classes lately. Orgies, clones, robots, you name it. Still, she didn't need more headaches piled on top of the abuse she already got from Bonnie and a few other classmates.
"I don't know why you're trying to get me in trouble all the time," said Kim. "I'm already missing my class."
"Gimme a break, Princess. Isn't this better than a class? Besides, Doctor D's been gone all day, so I figured this was better than hanging around the lair, bored out of my mind with those stupid henchmen for company."
"Where is he?"
"I have no idea. Why, you wanna go on a mission and stop his evil schemes?"
It was a joke, but Kim was caught off guard by the question. She had been shirking her mission duty, like her classes. And it did seem like the two of them hadn't seen much of Drakken lately, even though they had been in his lair on a few occasions now, often for long periods of time. Maybe the man was just trying to avoid them, finding the whole situation awkward. She couldn't blame him. She hadn't been keeping in touch with Global Justice, either – this new relationship with Shego had consumed her attention. If Drakken was up to something, she would have to stop him eventually. But as for how Shego would react, and which side she would take? It was still a mystery.
"Why don't you skip the rest of your classes?" said Shego. "How many do you have left, like two or three?"
"I don't know," said Kim.
"Come on, it'll be fun. We'll get something to eat."
Kim wondered if Shego was always this way. She knew Shego did her own thing, but something about the time they had spending together lately was strange. The visit to the random club in Go City, the sex on the top of that hill that overlooked the city, and now dropping in on her at school and copping a feel under the bleachers – it was all, well, a little high schoolish. Even for Kim. And Shego was definitely out of high school. It wasn't like she was old or anything, but Kim couldn't help wondering if getting a little hanky panky under the bleachers was something she had done in the past, when she was a teen. Maybe Kim was just bringing out Shego's more sophomoric side. Or maybe their relationship together was reminding Shego of something else.
"Alright," she said. "I'll skip. I guess I'd have to avoid Barkin all day if I stayed in school, anyway."
"Yeah, that guy's a little awkward," said Shego. "Especially if he has a ukulele around. Why are you avoiding him, anyway?"
"He probably wants to talk to me about how I'm throwing away my life by hanging out with you."
"Smart guy. Awkward, but smart."
Kim stuck her tongue out. "Yeah, yeah. And college – he's been trying to set up meetings with me about college, but seeing as how that translates into him telling me I'm going to be a dropout and sell drugs on the street if I keep going the way I'm going, I've been trying to put that off lately."
"College, huh? Where are you gonna go, anyway?"
"I don't know. I was thinking about someplace overseas. Or maybe Upperton – that's where my mom went for medical school."
"You thinking about turning into a brain surgeon?"
"Maybe just to figure out how yours ticks."
Shego punched Kim playfully on the arm. "You know, if I corrupt you, you won't be going to college. But don't worry. Once we take over the world, you won't need a degree. You could just nullify everybody else's degree. I think Doctor D's planning on doing that. He's always a little sore about his college days."
"He went to college with my dad, you know."
"He's mentioned that."
Kim idly wondered when Drakken had gone off the rails. The man was obviously well-educated, but when had he chosen the path of supervillainy? When had Shego turned her back on her old life, for that matter?
Over that first summer when they had still been enjoying the first blossoming of their relationship, Kim and Ron had talked about the subject from time to time. What they would do in the future, what their plans were, whether they would end up going to the same place. The conversations usually fizzled out before they said too much, though, because both of them had sensed they would be going in different directions, somehow. Ron had not been applying himself, and Kim always worried about what he'd be doing after high school.
Now, of course, a lot of people were thinking the same thing about her. Her parents, Mr. Barkin. Probably Ron, too. She wondered what the future held; would she join Global Justice? Something about that idea had always rubbed her the wrong way, especially lately, even if she was working for them right now. Would she turn everyone's worries to reality and join Shego and Drakken as they tried to take over the world? Again, it seemed unlikely. Although, between the three of them, Kim couldn't help thinking they stood a good chance. She was just being honest.
Whatever she did, it was in the future. Right now, she was happy enough to be with Shego. Even if it was all part of some mission. Whether it was real or not, it felt real. And it was a good excuse to skip school, too.
XX
Ron walked over to the bleachers, wheezing and holding his side after a particularly heavy blow from one of the linemen. At least he seemed to be getting better at catching the ball. And by now, he had the running thing down pretty well. He would have thought getting sacked by henchmen on a regular basis while he was on missions with Kim would harden him up, but one thing Ron had noticed through the years was that you never really got used to having someone twice your size smacking into you.
"Good practice, Stoppable!"
Mr. Barkin slapped him on the back, sending a fresh wave of pain through him. "Thanks, Mr. B," he said as he filled a paper cup with water from a gallon jug that Mr. Barkin had brought out to set by the bleachers. Being in gym had always been tough, but now that he was on the football team, his teacher was really ratcheting up the pace.
"Hey, Stoppable, nice catch back there," said one of his teammates. "Halfway across the field – that was awesome!"
"Thanks, dude."
Yet another slap on the back. Ron winced as his teammate walked off. At least the guy seemed to be pretty friendly; he and his teammates didn't always have that much in common, but they had been bonding a little since they were on the football team together. Ron sipped his cup, but jumped in fright and spilled water on his waist as a figure darted out from behind the bleachers.
"Kim? What are you doing back there?"
"Did you wet yourself?"
Ron looked down at his crotch. "No, just water."
"That's good!"
Ron looked at Kim Possible for a moment, wondering why she was suddenly being so friendly when the two of them had been avoiding each other all day at school, until he realized: this wasn't the real Kim. It was the synthodrone. He gasped and took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching before he grabbed the syntho-Kim by the arm and pulled her back under the bleachers. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I got bored at your house. I thought I'd come to school with you!"
"What? No no, you can't do that!"
"Why not? I thought I could see the real Kim."
"No, that's bad. I mean, maybe you'll meet her eventually – this time with clothes on - but we have to keep you a secret for now. You should stay at my house, okay?"
"You want me to go back now?"
"Yeah. But my dad will think it's weird if you're hanging out in my house all day. Er, just break through my window, okay? Hang out in my room. Read some books or something. Or go on the computer, but no matter what you do, don't look at my internet history."
"I don't know what that is!"
"Good."
The synthodrone looked like she was about to leave, but she stopped for a moment and pointed at a spot where the two of them stood in the shade beneath the bleachers. It didn't look different than any other spot, although the grass was a little flattened. "What is it?" asked Ron.
"Kim was here. The real Kim. With Shego."
"What? Seriously?"
"Yes. I saw them both run off into the forest just before I got here."
Ron looked in the direction of the trees, but he couldn't see his ex-girlfriend, or any green-skinned harlots he didn't care to name. He grumbled at the thought. Shego was visiting their school now? And from the sound of it, Kim was playing hooky again. He felt his mood drop like a stone as the synthodrone ran off in the direction of his neighborhood. He didn't know what was going on with Kim lately, but it scared him a little.
Sometimes, it was like he barely knew her anymore.
XX
Getting to the place had been difficult, but that wasn't really a strike against it. And Drakken had certainly chosen more remote locations for his lairs before. Some of his favorites were rocky crags on isolated islands, but those were a little hard to get sometimes. This mountain location would be a good spot for a new lair, especially since the temporary rent-a-lair he and Shego had been living in was not exactly well-hidden. He just hoped that he'd be able to take Shego with him once he got his new place started. But that depended on how certain things worked out.
He and Assad Sacke had been taking a breather after reaching the GPS coordinates. The two of them looked out over the jagged landscape of the Rockies. This was definitely a good location; far enough to the west of Middleton that he had some privacy, but not so far as to keep him from what he liked to consider his unofficial hometown. Well, technically his official hometown, in the sense that he was born there.
If Drakken wasn't mistaken, Cyrus Bortel's laboratory was actually quite close, too – maybe twenty or thirty minutes away by hovercraft, nestled into the crags of another mountain peak. The man had good taste, if he ever chose to a be a supervillain. Of course, the fact that Bortel had brazenly stolen his synthodrone technology was testament to his good taste as well, even if he didn't have the talent to back it up. Once Drakken got moved in, he supposed he could visit his neighbor sometime and steal back that technology, along with whatever tweaks and upgrades Bortel had tacked on. It was only fair.
Now, however, it was time to take a tour at his new real estate. The two of them took a utility lift down into the caverns where his lair would soon be built.
"So why aren't we here with Shego?" asked Assad.
Drakken laughed and patted his henchman on the back. "It's like you read my mind," he said. "We can't take Shego because I don't know if I can trust her anymore."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. She's got my teen nemesis hanging out in our lair all the time now. What am I supposed to do, ask Kim to ignore me while I work on my next plan to take over the world?"
"I thought Shego said she could convert her."
Drakken had definitely heard that from Shego more than a few times now, but he wasn't convinced. It wasn't like he had ruled the possibility out – having Kim Possible on his side would be a huge coup, and he'd love to see the look on that buffoon's face when his ex-girlfriend ended up liking not just the ladies, but evil as well. But he didn't have the kind of faith Shego had in that teen. His brain wasn't addled by hormones, for one thing. And for all he knew, Kim Possible was there spying on him, biding her time until she could throw him back in the hoosegow.
"Shego can try to work her magic as much as she wants," said Drakken as the lift came to a halt, opening up into a large cavern with a gaping crack running through the middle of it. "In the meantime, I'll be working on my own plans. If we can get Kim Possible on our side, that's just wonderful. If not, hopefully we can trust Shego to keep her good sense and work with us when she realizes it's a lost cause. But it's possible she is thinking of going back to the old days of Team Go - if that's the case, we'll have to cut her loose. Which is why we need to keep this new lair a secret for now."
"Yes, sir."
Drakken stepped into the cavern, Assad stumbling behind him as he tried to hold a packed picnic lunch that the two of them would soon be eating. He looked over his future digs: not bad at all. The previous tenant had set up some basic lighting, so the whole of the cavern could be seen. There were a few scattered pieces of trash, some boards and carpentry supplies that had been left by the last owner after he had aborted an attempt to renovate the place, but he could have the dump looking like a high-tech lair in no time. He'd keep the cavernous look, of course – half the fun of building a lair in a place like this was the motif.
"So how did you get this place?" asked Assad. "I never understood how you could afford new lairs all the time. Especially after you were in prison for so long."
"I wasn't in prison that long," snapped Drakken.
"You said it felt like forever!"
"Did not! Anyway, I purchased this place on the cheap from a rich software developer. He thought it would be hip to get a home up in the mountains, but he failed to consider the fact that he would be miles from any human habitation. That, and the real estate agent failed to tell him about the gigantic underground rift running through what was supposed to be his living room. So he changed his mind. Bad for him, good for me. You can get a lot of prime lair locations because of things like that, if you keep an eye out for them."
"I always thought you just built a lair and hoped nobody noticed your zoning violations."
"Sometimes I do that too."
Drakken stepped up to the edge of the crack running through the cavern floor. He looked up at the cavern's roof; the crack also extended across the rock above them, as if some kind of invisible knife had come down from the sky and sliced through the mountain's interior, splitting the cave right through the middle. It was one reason he had chosen the spot. The crack went deep into the earth, and Drakken was hoping he could put the stolen Tunneler for the Utilization of Sub-Crustal Heat Induction and Energy to use, just as soon as he figured out exactly what it did. He should have demanded an instruction booklet from Hench before making off with it. Learning how to handle his TUSHIE had been trickier than he had expected.
And if he couldn't figure it out, that was alright - the gaping subterranean gorge had a certain aesthetic appeal, too. Maybe he could throw stuff into it and see if he heard it hit the bottom.
"Call some of the henchmen, Assad," said Drakken. "I think we shall begin setting up the new lair today. Make sure none of them let Shego or Kim Possible know what's going on."
"Can we eat lunch first?"
Drakken looked over at the picnic basket and folded red and white checkered tablecloth Assad was holding. "Oh, yes," he said. "Let's do that."
The two of them sat down and set up their picnic spread. As Drakken poured himself a mug of Cocoa Moo from a thermos, he thought about his new lair. It would be magnificent. Better than any of the others. And he'd build an amazing ray gun of some kind, despite Shego's nagging. Sometimes he just got into certain moods, that was all – and lately, he had been in the mood for ray guns and lasers. Nothing wrong with that.
"If we're going to make a new lair," said Assad, "do you think I can get back my old job as Chief Officer in charge of Kim Possible detection?"
"We both know Possible gets into our lairs one way or the other."
"Yes, but it did pay pretty well."
"What do you have to complain about? Aren't you union?"
Assad shook his head. "You told us if anyone joined the Henchman's Union, you'd personally throw us out of a hovercraft while we were a thousand feet over the ground."
"Did I? Boy, I must have been in a bad mood when I said that," said Drakken with a laugh. "Still, don't join the union."
Assad nodded meekly and bit into a cracker with cheese spread.
"You won't need to worry about money when I have the world clenched in my fist, Assad. And it's only a matter of time, especially after that Li'l Diablo scheme – we were so close! I just need to find my evil groove again. Kim Possible and Shego may turn against me, but if they know what's good for them, they'll join me. And then, Assad? Nothing will stop me!"
Drakken cackled and wrung his hands together between bites of his cheese-covered crackers. Crumbs flew from his mouth, and his mind flitted wildly between various half-formed schemes as he thought about the future. It would be interesting to have Kim Possible working with him. There was no way he could trust her right now, but maybe he needed to test her. Bring her along while he and Shego stole something, perhaps. Help Shego bring the teen over to the dark side. Drakken wouldn't belive it until he saw it, but still - if Possible was already willing to dip a toe into the deep end, maybe it wouldn't be long before she decided to take a dive.
XX
The Gestation Tank opened sideways, the glass front revolving sort of like a sliding glass door in order to allow the fluid inside to spill out in a torrent. Cyrus didn't step back in time – his pants were soaked as the wave of fluid came out of the vat, spilling across the floor and seeping through the grating. He made a mental note: upgrade the Gestation Tank design. At least he had settled on a cool name for them, something that sounded appropriate for a supervillain's lair. He watched with scientific interest as the bulky figure slumped out of the vat and rolled across the floor in a wet heap, gasping for breath.
Respiration, check.
The synthodrone lay on the ground for a few moments before it coughed loudly a few times to expel some excess fluid and began to breathe regularly. Another few moments of rest, and it slowly began to get up from the floor. It was shaky at first, but it stood up on its own two feet as it looked in confusion at the empty, open Gestation Tank.
Locomotion, check.
The synthodrone stared at him.
"Are you my mommy?"
Cyrus chuckled and pushed his glasses up a little as he gave the birth sheet on his clipboard another mark.
Speech, check.
"Not quite," he said. "But you could say that I am your father. Creator would be a better term."
"What's that?" asked the synthodrone, pointing at the open vat.
"That is your nest. Where you were born."
The synthodrone nodded as it looked around the production center, still getting a grip on its surroundings. It always took them a little while to recover from the gestation process, but still, it was a lot faster than any kind of organic birth, that was for sure. Cyrus made notes of the synthodrone's recovery time, its behavior, whether or not it seemed to have any dangerous intelligence levels. He was still tweaking his process, but it was already obvious; there was no need for henchmen from someone like Jack Hench. He could make them better, and faster, himself.
"What are your orders?" the synthodrone asked.
"I do not know. Go play cards in the lounge or something. But don't get the couch wet – dry yourself off first! There are some towels in the supply closet, right over there."
The synthodrone nodded and walked off as Cyrus watched him go. Already, the shakiness was gone – it walked with a purpose, balanced and nimble despite its hefty bulk. He didn't need to make a lot of them right now, but he already had a few at his command for around-the-lair tasks. He had dismissed the ones he had hired from Hench, mostly because he didn't want them having any questions of loyalty when they saw him dragging Hench into his lair, unconscious and bound. That was another useful point in favor of synthodrones: no questions of loyalty, if you programmed them right.
He had missed the boat with the syntho-Kim, but then, he knew her weakness: Shego. As long as he kept her hooked with promises of reuniting the two of them, she would be eating out of his hand, just like the newer, dumber models.
"Let's see," said Bortel. "Things to do, things to do..."
He looked at a checklist attached to his clipboard. The syntho-Kim had uploaded a report earlier. Things seemed to be going well with Ron Stoppable. Just as he had expected, the boy was too kind to turn away someone in need, even if that someone was not real. Especially if that someone looked like his ex-girlfriend. Now that he had a mole in their midst, he could take Ron Stoppable or Kim Possible by surprise if he needed to - but for now, he wanted to wait and gather information.
Another bullet point in his daily schedule was concerned with Bill Vito, the mayor of Go City. The man had asked for some upgrades to his love-bot, Debra. Apparently she wasn't bendy enough for him. Some of Vito's clients really creeped him out, but when it came to a mail order sex-drone business, he supposed he didn't have much room to judge, especially if he wanted to keep customers. And Vito paid very well. He did seem to have some fondness for the drone, too, seeing as he had sent it on a first-class flight from Go City instead of just scrunching it up in a box and mailing it by air freight like other customers had. It was waiting around in one of his labs at this very moment.
He'd have to get around to that sooner or later, but he had to admit that the mail-order business was already boring him. He didn't want to let down his customers, but he had moved on from that, after all. Especially after the kidnapping. Cyrus Bortel was moving into the big leagues.
As Jack Hench was on his mind, Cyrus decided to pay the man a visit. He left the synthodrone production area and took an elevator down to a lower level, where he was in the process of building a number of jail cells in a little prison sublevel. A containment area seemed like an important feature for any good lair, and now that he had kidnapped someone, it was obviously going to come in handy. He could have just thrown Hench into his command center, tied to a chair or something, but it was best to do things by the book when he had some time to spare.
"Jack Hench," he said after leaving the elevator and arriving at the man's cell. Hench looked at him through the vertical rays of red-hot energy which locked him inside the prison cell. "I hope you are doing well? My henchmen got you your lunch?"
"Yes, they did. I noticed you don't have any of my henchmen anymore?"
"Possible security threat," Cyrus explained. "And I am making my own now."
"Is that Dr. Drakken's synthodrone technology you're using?"
"It is not," said Cyrus. "Or, it was, but I have made significant modifications, and it is now my own invention. I simply borrowed it from Drakken as a way to speed up the process a little. But I could have easily come up with the idea myself!"
"Okay, okay. Don't have to get testy."
Cyrus narrowed his eyes at his captive. He motioned for a couple of synthodrone guards to come over – both of which looked a little bored, although it was hard to tell if that was just the dull expression he had programmed them with. "You two," he said, disabling the cell's energy bars, "take Mr. Hench along with you and follow me. I wish to show him something."
Cyrus led his henchmen and captive back to the elevator, making their way back up to the main floor of the lair, where the synthodrone production center and central control room were located. The doors slid open, and Cyrus made his way to the control room first. Hench struggled a little against the tight grips in which his two guards were holding him, but the synthodones were far stronger than him. Cyrus laughed as he watched Hench's futile efforts.
"You know you're not going to get away with this," said Hench. "I've been missing for days now. My new secretary would have noticed by now, and Kim Possible is probably already on her way. But hey, don't feel bad - this was okay for a first effort at being a supervillain. I don't think I'll be giving you any discounts after kidnapping me, though. You shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you."
"No one is looking for you."
"What makes you think that?"
Cyrus pressed a button on a computer console. A voice rang out through the room.
Miss Harcourt? I just wanted to let you know that I've come down with a bit of the flu. I'll be out of the office for the next few days – hold my meetings, please. Thank you.
Hench listened with a confused look on his face. Cyrus laughed.
"Yes, that is your own voice. I was able to record your speech and reproduce its tone for the call. Miss Harcourt was not expecting you in the office over the last few days. And besides – I think your little touch of the flu has passed."
Hench looked even more confused, and Bortel pressed another button to bring up a viewing screen. He loved pressing buttons and bringing things up. It was less efficient than just having a viewing screen right there to view instead of making it pop out of a hidden compartment, but what he lost in efficiency, he gained in style points. An image played on the screen.
"That's Hench Co!" said Hench.
"Correct."
Someone appeared to be filming the interior of Hench Co – specifically, the little hallway leading from Jack Hench's office to the lobby outside. The camera view approached the end of the hallway and turned to reveal Miss Harcourt, sitting at the receptionist's desk. She was having a conversation on the phone, but after she hung up, she looked up directly at the camera. Cyrus and Hench watched as an arm appeared from the camera's view, reaching forward and laying a hand on the edge of the desk. Cyrus could see Hench's face twist in realization – it was not the cameraman's arm.
It was his own arm.
"Miss Harcourt," spoke a voice on the screen. "Any messages?"
"No, sir. But you missed that meeting the other day. I thought it was important."
The voice hesitated.
"I'll catch it later. Thank you."
The camera view turned back to the hallway, leaving the lobby and walking back to Jack Hench's office. Cyrus turned to his captive, unable to restrain his glee. He always liked showing off his inventions.
"Was that me?" asked Hench. "A – a synthodrone version of me?"
"That is correct! Why do you think I had my synthodrones talking to you in the cell over the last few days? Why do you think I kidnapped you in the first place? I've been observing your behavior, your appearance, so that I could make a new you, Mr. Hench. I am able to tap into the synthodrone's eyesight and see what they see. You have a replacement running Hench Co. And, by extension, I am running Hench Co. There is no need for me to pay for your expensive products anymore, not that a genius like myself needs many of them."
Hench looked worried for a moment, although he eventually gave Cyrus a grudging nod. "Not bad," he said. "Not bad at all. So what are you going to do with me now?"
"I had not thought about that. I suppose I do not really need you anymore. Perhaps I should dispose of you."
Hench gulped before laughing nervously.
"Hey, you don't want to do that!"
"Why not?"
"I could be useful."
"Or a liability. What if you escape? No, I think my idea is best - disposal seems safest. Synthodrones, take him to the giant garbage disposal!"
"Wait!"
Cyrus held up a hand, stopping the synthodrones before they dragged Hench away.
"If you kill me now," the man said, "you'll never know what meeting I missed."
Although it took Cyrus a moment to understand his comment, he remembered what Miss Harcourt had said on the live feed coming from Hench's synthodrone copy at Hench Co: something about missing an important meeting.
"Very well," he said. "You have my interest. What meeting?"
"I can't tell you."
Cyrus rolled his eyes. Clearly, he was being toyed with.
"Take him away."
"Wait, wait! Okay – it's a meeting with some very important people. I'm the member of an administrative board that you might want to gain access to. If you think Hench Co is useful, you don't know the half of it."
Cyrus definitely felt his interest being piqued. "Go on."
"Well, you know about Dr. Director, don't you?"
"I do."
"You didn't really think someone spending all their time here in Middleton would be the head of a multi-national crime-fighting organization, did you? She's an important figure, but she's not at the top."
Cyrus stared at Hench for a moment, trying to figure out whether or not he was telling the truth. It could be he was just using the comment from Miss Harcourt earlier as a way to buy himself some time. But if he wasn't lying, this sounded promising. Very promising. Maybe, just for now, Cyrus would keep his captive around.
"Tell me everything you know about this board, so that I can have your synthodrone contact them and infiltrate."
"Oh, no," said Hench. "I'm only useful as long as you have to deal with me."
Cyrus felt his eyelid twitch. Dealing with Jack Hench could be more irritating than he had anticipated. But then again, dealing with Betty Director could be irritating, too. Maybe he could kidnap her and make another copy. He got the feeling she'd be harder to bag than Jack Hench, but assuming the man wasn't lying about his connections, Cyrus might have just found a way in. He'd have to do some persuading to get Hench to start talking, but if he could gain access to the soft underbelly of Global Justice, well – the possibilities were limitless.
XX
Notes - I forgot to post this on Friday and then ended up having a pretty crappy weekend with work and a cold, but it's up now. Yay. Hope you guys liked it, reviews are appreciated.