Chapter 11: Playing Dead
Kim Possible woke up the next morning to the sound of her Kimmunicator. She was tired and groggy from staying up last night crying. Her make-up was ruined and her hair was a mess. Kim could care less about her physical appearance. If her looks were predicated on her emotions, she would be the saddest looking person in the world.
Kim answered the Kimmunicator in a more melancholy tone than usual, "Hey Wade, What's the sitch?"
Wade responded, "Hey, Kim! You don't look so good."
Kim replied with a more tense tone, "Wade, this is why you have trouble finding a girlfriend. What is the sitch?"
Wade realizing he had stepped into a minefield decided to tread carefully. He said, "I have message from the Middleton Space Center. It appears a new type of heat resistant metal that they have been working on has just been stolen. Knowing how you are from your father, they thought that you could help track it down."
"Why would anyone want to steal it?"
"It has a lot of possible technology implications that would make a company very rich."
"It shouldn't be too hard to get over there. I'm on my way."
"Good! I'll let them know you are coming and also call Ron to meet you…"
Before Wade could finish his sentence, Kim interjected with an emphatic, "NO!"
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"Ron and I had a fight last night and it is just too soon. Please just don't contact him."
"But Kim, Ron is your partner…"
"Wade! I still care deeply for Ron. I don't think our fight is going to end our relationship and definitely not our friendship. However, I would really think it is best for us to have a little space and wait until both of our emotions calm down before we see each other. Do you understand?"
"Yes, just let me know how I can help you on the case."
"Please and thank you!"
Kim talked to her dad and he was shocked by the theft. He lent Kim his car so that she could pursue the investigation.
Kim drove over in the car and couldn't get the fight from last night out of her head. She was so mad at Ron. How could he believe that she wanted a new boyfriend? Ron is her best friend. Outside of her family, Ron is the most important person in the world. Actually that's not true, Ron is as important as anyone in her family. Ron and she have a connection that goes deeper than most boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. If Ron didn't think that there was such a connection, maybe their relationship was not as meant to be as she had thought.
Kim arrived at the space center. Dr. Zaius, the man who ran the space center, came out to meet her. He was a slender, bespectacled gentleman. He wore a white lab coat. He had no distinguishing features of which to speak. He is so non-descript that it seemed his only function in this world was to show KP the crime scene and then fade into the background. Never to be seen again.
Kim greeted him, "Hello, Dr. Zaius."
Dr. Zaius replied, "Hello, Ms. Possible. It is nice to see you again, but I wish it were under different circumstances."
"I understand. Please show me the crime scene."
"Of course, please follow me!"
Kim followed the non-descript, expendable character to the crime scene.
Dr. Zaius said, "Here, we are. I'll leave you to your work. I have tedious paperwork tasks that will take me to my office as I have nothing useful to offer this story. I wish you good luck Kim Possible! We're all counting on you!"
Kim said, "Thanks!" She thought it was kind of weird that a person would talk about how useless he was; however, he wasn't going to interact with her again. The sooner he was forgotten the better.
Kim looked at the mural drawn by Child's Play. He used his sidewalk chalk to create his typical artwork of a family of stick people playing in the Sun. He had written a message in chalk that said:
"I had fun stealing from you!
You might want to update your security system.
Have a nice day! –Child's Play"
Kim got on her Kimmunicator to talk to Wade. She said, "Hey Wade! Give me all the information you have on a Child's Play."
Wade typed on his computer. He uploaded information on his computer to the Kimmunicator. He said, "Child's Play is a thief. He is known for stealing valuable memorabilia including: Super Bowl rings, rare comic books, and rare baseball cards. There is a rumor that he stole the secret formula from Coca-Cola. He is also considered kind of quirky as he wears pajamas when committing his capers."
"Has he stolen anything that wasn't some sort of memorabilia before?"
"No, this seems to be the first time and he has quite a rap sheet."
"I wonder why he would change him modus operandi to steal an experimental metal from NASA?"
"I don't know. I can tell you that he seems to be an expert in breaking security systems, safe cracking, digital keypad interference, and is an incredibly agile athlete. I'd be cautious with this one."
"Do you have any leads on this guy?"
"Normally, no; however, in this case somebody sent a tweet saying somebody dressed in pajamas was seen running into the old steel mill just outside of town last night."
"That's interesting! You said he was a great thief, but he got spotted pretty easily. He probably is already gone by now."
"I would agree with you. I would still check it out for more clues."
"Sounds like a plan! I'll talk to you later, Wade!"
Kim got into the car and headed over to the steel mill. She really didn't believe that Child's Play would be there. He seemed to be a professional and no self-respecting professional would be able to be caught so easily; however, it was the only lead that they had so it was worth a look.
Kim arrived at the steel mill. She got out of the car and approached the door. She could see that the lock had been broken which was a good sign that Child's Play was there recently. She opened the door and went inside. She was searching on the ground looking for clues when she saw shoe prints. She followed the prints into the next room where she heard a noise. Kim walked toward the room and said, "Who's there?"
When she got into the room, she saw Child's Play in the corner nervously clutching the experimental metal. She thought to herself, "Well, that was easy!" She said to Child's Play, "My name is Kim Possible. I was sent by NASA to test your metal and get back the….metal. Ok, that was bad! I didn't think that one through. Just give me what you have stolen and nobody will get hurt!"
Child's Play was very nervous. It was her. It was the terror that stalked in the night. It was the nightmare that haunted his dreams. It was Kim Possible. He clutched that metal tight as he was frozen in what to say or do. This was part of the plan but he was never truly mentally ready to confront it.
Child's Play tried his best to sound tough but the nervous inflections in his voice gave away his genuine fear as he said, "Hello, Kim Possible! I am Child's Play! I stole the experimental metal because I am ummmmm evil! I will use it to do evil things like ummmmm create inescapable puppy cages. Yeah, that's right! I hate puppies! And uhhhhhhh," he paused for a second and looked down at his hand, "there is nothing you can do to stop me! Mwahahaha!"
"Worst villain speech ever! Ok, it seems to me you are up a creek without a paddle so give me the metal and I will take you jail."
Right after Kim made her intentions known to Child's Play, she hears a voice behind her say, "I think I've got the paddle he needs!" She turns around to see Dead Eyes with a tranquilizer gun. Before she could move, he shot her with a tranquilizer dart. Kim tried to move around, but the powerful effect of the tranquilizer left her limbs weak and unable to move properly. She fell on her knees trying to use every muscle and once of strength to try to escape her fate. It was to no avail. Right before she passes out on the floor, she hears Dead Eyes say, "You have been the dream of this world for too long! It's time for you to see its nightmares!"
