Mission: Possible

XX

Brick sat on a rock and watched the rescue crew probing at the collapsed cave mouth. He had only narrowly escaped from the cave in. Sheets of rock had collapsed from the tunnel's ceiling after the explosions had gone off, and shards of stone had glanced off Brick's back as he raced his way out of the cave mouth. He was safe now, but unfortunately, Kim and Rufus were both trapped inside the abandoned mountain laboratory somewhere.

Brick felt guilty about leaving Kim behind, but she had already gone far enough into the laboratory itself that he could not have reached her. Rationally, he knew that escaping from the cave-in was more helpful to Kim than letting himself get caught along with her, but Brick couldn't shake the feeling that he had abandoned her. He didn't even have any idea whether she was alive or dead. Knowing Kim Possible, however, Brick was not ready to give up hope yet.

Brick was glad he had a cell phone – otherwise he would have had to climb all the way down the mountain to the nearby ski resort in order to get help. The rescue team had arrived after far too long a wait, in Brick's opinion. At first they had been making what looked like good progress as they dug their way through the collapsed earth. However, the earth had shifted ominously about half an hour ago, a deep rumble coming from the side of the mountain. Now the rescue crew seemed to be stalling.

Brick grew impatient. He stood up and paced aimlessly as he watched the rescue workers milling about the cave entrance. It had been late at night when he and Kim got to Amy's abandoned laboratory in Mount Middleton, and by the time the rescue team had arrived after Brick's call, it was already early morning. Brick looked up and saw that dawn was beginning to break. The rescue team was making slow progress.

Brick approached the leader of the team. "What's going on?"

The team leader glanced at Brick with a concerned expression, than back to the entrance of the cave. He led Brick over to the stone where he had been sitting and sat the teen down.

"Son, I have some bad news."

"What?"

"We've been trying to dig in further, but it looks like things are really unstable. Whatever happened in there, it damaged a lot of the structure of the tunnel leading down to that laboratory you were talking about, and I'm betting the laboratory itself isn't looking any better. If your friend is still alive, we might not be able to get to her without making things collapse even more."

Brick rubbed his forehead. Things just kept getting worse. Wade had called Brick on his cell phone shortly after the collapse, and the young boy was now communicating with the rescue team, but it sounded like there was not much Wade could do either. Brick was beginning to think he and Wade needed to work on some kind of alternate plan. As if in response to his thoughts, Brick's cell phone rang. It was Wade's number again. Brick answered the phone.

"Sitch me, dude."

XX

Monkey Fist cackled as he stared at his arch foe, Ron Stoppable, trapped helplessly behind a grid of blue laser beams. Ron was standing on top of a circular metal platform, in the center of which was a pole that rose up about ten feet in the air. The pole was topped by a metal sphere. Curved blue laser beams – at least, Monkey Fist thought they were lasers, he really had no idea – arced down from the sphere to meet the edges of the platform, creating a circular prison that contained his foe. It was large enough that Monkey Fist could fit several other captors inside the beams as well, should the need arise.

Monkey Fist thought the contraption looked remarkably similar to a large neon bell, or perhaps some kind of serving plate with a tall lid still placed on top. Ron being the main course, of course. Jack Hench had thrown the portable laser prison in as a free bonus gift with Monkey Fist's purchase of henchmen. It certainly seemed more effective than using ropes to tie his victims up.

"I don't see your red-headed rescuer around anywhere, Stoppable," laughed Monkey Fist as he gestured around himself. "Do you?"

"You're in a big hurry to get a fist to the face," said Ron. "Don't worry, she'll be here."

"I doubt that," said Monkey Fist. "Even if she managed to survive our little trap, there is no way she'll get the better of Amy's flying freak -"

"Cuddledactyl!" yelled an indignant voice from across the laboratory floor.

"Yes, that. Not to mention my giant monkey robot, once our brainy friend over there finishes her work."

Monkey Fist glanced at the hulking mechanical creature with a smirk as Justine fiddled with a control panel in its cage-like cranium. It had been surprisingly easy to get the girl to help his technically-trained henchmen finish their work. All Monkey Fist had needed to do was remind Justine of how easily he could pay her parents a visit, and she had agreed to finish the robot.

"How is that coming along, by the way?" he yelled to Justine.

"Fine."

Monkey Fist turned back to the laser cage in which his arch foe was trapped. "It's only a matter of time now, Stoppable, before I will be unstoppable. Your opposite, and your superior. I would dispose of you right now, but I might need you as a hostage just in case your friend Kim Possible is still alive. That, and what fun is it if you don't get to see my plans come to fruition?"

Ron nodded. "True. Bad guy tradition."

"Exactly, Stoppable."

"So what are you planning, Monkey Fist? Whatever happened to that Kinematic Continuum Disruptor?"

"Oh, that? We tried to release Amy's original creature, the Cuddlesaurus, but the device malfunctioned and got sucked into its own space-time tear."

"I knew it!" shouted Justine from her work station on top of the robot.

Monkey Fist snickered at his captor in the laser cage. "I hope you haven't been spending all this time trying to find that thing, Stoppable."

"Um, no. I'll have you know that we weren't really doing much of anything lately!"

Ron smiled triumphantly, but the smile reversed itself as he realized his retort could use some improving.

"As for our plans," said Monkey Fist, "I would have assumed that the giant robot and the flying creature speak for themselves," said Monkey Fist. "With the Transportulator, we can send the creature anywhere we want, letting it wreak havoc on its surroundings. That is, assuming Amy is right and it continues to grow larger. Then, we whisk the creature back to safety before anyone knows what happened.

"I can do the same thing with my robot, or I can simply arrive on the scene and mop things up after Amy's Cuddledactyl has finished its work." Monkey Fist's eyes glazed over at the thought of mopping up. "We'll be a mobile strike force. Unable to be tracked, unable to be defeated!"

Monkey Fist's rant was punctuated by several strange wheezing sounds coming from across the lab. He noticed Amy's creature was crouched over as Amy whispered to it soothingly. Something appeared to be wrong with the creature. Not now, Monkey Fist thought. Not when we're so close.

"What's going on, Amy?" he asked.

"Cuddledactyl is entering a new stage of his life."

"And what stage would that be?"

"The adult stage, sweetie!"

Monkey Fist took a step back as the creature's mottled skin seemed to ripple and bulge. The creature looked like it was in pain, or at least distressed. Whatever was happening, Monkey Fist thought it might be prudent to keep some distance.

"What's it doing?"

"It's about to go into its cocoon stage," explained Amy.

"Wait a minute. A cocoon stage? You mean it's going to be dormant?"

"That's right."

Monkey Fist groaned. Now was not the greatest time for the creature to be out of commission. Although he had no idea how Kim could have survived his trap, he had to admit that the plucky teen was resilient, and Monkey Fist always liked to be ready for surprises. Not to mention it was possible that Global Justice could decide to interfere with his plans, although they usually seemed to be slow on the uptake at best.

Monkey Fist watched as the creature folded its wings around itself. It was almost as if the creature's body was beginning to melt and fuse together. Monkey Fist found the process very unsettling. Amy led the wheezing creature over towards the back of the laboratory, directly across from the laser cage in which Ron was trapped. A large steel door, almost like a garage door in appearance, was set into the wall amongst lab machinery that stood to either side of it. Amy pulled the door up and led the creature into what looked like a large storage area beyond it. The creature settled down on the floor as Amy pulled the door back down and returned to the laboratory.

"And why are you putting your creature into storage, Amy?"

"It will be vulnerable in its cocoon stage, Monty. And we don't want it taking up room and shedding its organic detritus all over the laboratory floor, now do we!" Amy giggled.

Monkey Fist sighed. He only hoped that the creature would not spring any more surprises on them in the future. "At what point will it be leaving its cocoon stage?" he asked.

Amy looked over at the half-finished robot and flashed Justine a smile could cut glass.

"When it's grown up!"

XX

Brick crouched behind thick hedges and parted them with his hands as he spied on the house across the street. Various scents teased his nose: freshly mowed grass, and muggy air from the recently-passed storm. As Brick watched the house, he also smelled intrigue. Despite his friends' situations weighing on his mind, Brick couldn't help but feel a little excitement at playing the part of the undercover spy.

Wade had given Brick directions to Amy's house. Brick had not actually met this Amy character himself yet, but judging by the descriptions he had gotten from both Wade and Kim in the past, Amy's home looked like it fit her personality. The house was quaint and comfortable looking, surrounded by a white picket fence. Its front windows were blocked by garish pink curtains that were drawn shut.

Brick held his cell phone to his ear. "You get anything on your scans?" he asked Wade.

"No, not yet. I didn't get anything when Kim and Ron were over here either, but I must be missing something."

Brick kept watching the house, although he had not seen any activity. The flying creature confirmed that Amy was involved in some kind of scheme with Monkey Fist, and after asking a few of Amy's neighbors, a certain Mr. McNamara had confirmed that he had seen the creature coming from the vicinity of Amy's house. Brick suggested that Amy might have an underground laboratory, and Wade was trying to discover it.

"Hey Brick, what's up?"

Brick jumped at the feeling of cold metal across his shoulder. He stumbled back from his vantage point behind the hedges at the sight of a child-sized blue robot standing beside him. Wade's face was superimposed on a computer monitor that topped the robot.

"Wade? What is that?"

Wade spoke through the robot's monitor face. "This is the Wade-Bot. I thought it might be easier for me to tag along, maybe give you a little more hands-on assistance!" The robot waved its hands in demonstration. Brick got the point.

"Cool then. Don't sneak up on me like that though, dude. You totally freaked me out."

"My bad!"

"So," asked Brick, "find out anything new?"

"Yeah," said Wade. "I still can't find any anomalies under DNAmy's house using my scanning technology, but I looked through some online police records, and a few months ago, some of DNAmy's neighbors complained about noise coming from her house and trucks driving around late at night. It sounds like she was doing some construction a while ago. And I'm betting it wasn't your regular case of home improvement."

"Underground lair, you're thinking?"

"Seems like that's our best guess. I don't know where else she could be set up. Amy must be a lot better at blocking my scans than Drakken, or even Dementor."

Brick looked at the Wade-Bot's monitor as Wade continued to type furiously. "Oh, and guess what?" the boy said.

"What?"

"I just managed to break into DNAmy's credit card account."
"Nice, Wade! You're a computer genius!"

"Actually it wasn't that hard. Her password was 'Cuddle buddy'. Anyway, she's got a recent credit card purchase from – guess where – HenchCo. A group of discount henchmen with engineering, mechanical, and robotics experience. Even more confirmation Monkey Fist and DNAmy are working together – they must be building some kind of robot using those schematics they stole from Justine."

Brick returned to the hedges and watched the house. "You think we should try to break in?"

Wade's shook his head through the computer monitor. "I'm just starting to pick up some kind of booby traps set up in the yard and inside the house itself. The yard's covered with land mines or something. I wasn't detecting them when Kim and Ron were here the other day. It looks like she wants to keep people out, and she's beefed up security a little. After what happened at the cave, I think we should be a little cautious."

"Works for me. We need to do something before long, though. I just hope Kim is alright. I don't know if I can handle this stuff by myself."

"You're doing well so far," said Wade.

Brick thought about the creature that had swooped down and snatched Justine at the Middleton High School game. The creature had looked like it was noticeably larger than him, not even counting its wing span. Brick wondered how long it had taken Amy to raise something like that, or even how she had created it. Brick didn't know much about genetics, but he knew whatever it was that carried Justine away did not exist in nature.

Brick's mind wandered to the feeding habits of the creature. He tried to banish the morbid thought of the creature eating human beings. Amy and Monkey Fist would have been caught long ago if they had been feeding the creature humans, after all. At least Brick hoped so. Still, the creature had to eat something, and judging by its size, it must eat a lot.

"Hey Wade," said Brick, "what do you think that thing eats? They must be getting a lot of food from somewhere in order to feed it, right? That, and if Monkey Fist is working with DNAmy, he's got to feed his monkey minions too. And all those henchmen they hired."

The Wade-bot swiveled to face Brick.

"You're right," said Wade. "Hmm. Maybe I can look at security cameras and orders for local grocery stores, restaurants, stuff like that, see if anything looks suspicious." Wade frowned on the Wade-Bot's screen. "Why do you think that would be useful, exactly?"

"Well, the lair is under Amy's house, her house is booby trapped, and you haven't detected any possible entrances. They have to be letting people in somehow. Maybe we can get in if we find one of their henchmen and figure out how they avoid their booby traps. Kind of like a surprise attack."

"Good idea. Wait, they've got the Transportulator," said Wade. "I bet that's how they're getting people in and out without being so obvious."

As Brick watched the robot's monitor, Wade appeared to be distracted by another screen in his room.

"Brick, hold on."

"What is it?"

"I'm getting a call from the Kimmunicator!"

XX

Kim was hemmed in on all sides by darkness. Her only illumination, which only barely revealed her surroundings, was the light from the Kimmunicator's screen. Just beyond the darkness rose walls of fallen earth and stone. The walls trapped Kim in an oppressive bubble of air.

Kim wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious, but she had woken up to the feeling of Rufus's tiny paws shaking her. She had been lucky to pick a spot that was partially shielded by heavy-duty lab equipment. Kim had narrowly avoided being crushed by the cave-in, although some rocks had still hit her. She felt very sore even though nothing appeared to be broken. Kim and Rufus were safe for now, but after a cursory look at the brand new earthen walls surrounding her, it became obvious that there were no exits large enough for them to wriggle out. Their rescue would have to come from outside.

"Okay?" the mole rat asked Kim.

"Yes, I'm okay Rufus. Thanks for waking me up."

The Kimmunicator beeped as Kim waited for Wade to answer her call. Fortunately, it had not been damaged in the cave-in either. Kim had no idea if Brick was safe; she hoped he was, but it was possible he was trapped as well. If she couldn't get a link to her tech genius friend and find out what was going on, Kim didn't know what she would do.

"Hello?"

Wade's face appeared on the Kimmunicator screen, cutting Kim's worries short.

"Wade, good lord am I happy to see you!"

"Kim, are you alright?"

"Yeah, just stuck. I have a pocket of air in here."

"Heya!" said Rufus, waving at the Kimmunicator's screen.

Kim watched as her Kimmunicator screen split in two – one side still showed her Wade in his usual bedroom control center, while the other screen showed a familiar face with wavy blond hair.

"Brick! You got out!"

"Hey Kim! Yeah, I just barely avoided getting trapped. Glad to see you're alright."

"Where are you right now?"

Kim watched the split screen and noticed that Brick appeared to be standing out in the open air somewhere, adjacent to a row of thick hedges.

"I'm at DNAmy's house. Me and Wade were checking the place out - we think Amy might have a lair underneath the house. He's got his Wade-Bot here with me."

Kim smiled. It looked like her temporary mission partner had gotten right down to business after escaping from the cave-in. Kim wondered if the former quarterback might be giving Ron a run for his money.

"Here's the deal," said Wade, "There's a rescue team outside the cave. They've been trying to dig their way in, but they think digging might end up making things collapse even more. They could end up crushing you in the process of rescuing you."

"Great," said Kim. "The good news just keeps coming. So, what's the plan?"

Wade and Brick both looked sheepish. Their expressions made it clear to Kim that they had about as many ideas as she did.

Kim sighed and looked at her surroundings. Some of the lab equipment which had helped hold up the collapsing debris and provide her with her pocket of safety was still standing behind her. The equipment was a little bruised and battered, but not broken. Kim took a closer look. They looked like heavy-duty metal racks, mounted with various computer servers. She didn't know how they would help her situation.

As she continued to look around her small enclosure, Rufus rushed about, sniffing and inspecting the collapsed rock walls that hemmed them in. Rufus stopped at one section of the wall and pointed.

Kim approached Rufus and noticed a faint glow coming from the rock, almost concealed by the massive slabs that had fallen from the ceiling. She inspected the source of the light more closely. It looked like there was some kind of red button attached to an object that was half-buried in the debris. Kim realized what it was. It was the box that had been sitting on the table in the middle of the laboratory. Kim had been walking towards the box to see what it was, just before the cave-in occurred.

Kim tried to clear away a little of the debris surrounding the box, but she didn't want to touch anything too much in case she caused the rock to tumble down around her.

"Wade, can you see this? What is it?"

Kim gave Wade a look at the box and then pointed the Kimmunicator in front of her. Wade sent a small beam out from the Kimmunicator and scanned the metal box.

"Interesting. It looks like the button sets off some kind of electronic signal."

Kim heard a flurry of typing come from the Kimmunicator as Wade analyzed the scan's results. "Yeah, it's connected to a fiber-optic cable, which must be buried under the fallen rock now. It looks like the box sends a signal out to some other connection when the button is pressed. Hold on.." The typing continued. "A phone number. It's programmed to dial a phone number."

Kim looked at the glowing red button. "So basically this thing is a telephone for dummies that only dials one number?"

"You got it."

Wade thought for a moment. "Wait a minute, obviously it's dialing the Transportulator! That must be how the trap was set up – that flying creature you guys were trailing ended up there at the abandoned laboratory and teleported itself to another location with Ron and Justine in tow!"

"The other location being the lair under Amy's house?"

"You got it," said Wade.

"Alright, then wish me luck. It's time for a house call!"

Before Wade could object, Kim placed Rufus in her pocket and reached out to press the red button – for some reason, just the thought of pressing a big red button was intensely satisfying. Kim held the button down, deciding to keep her hand on it in case some kind of sustained contact was needed to transport her.

After a moment, the sound of a telephone ring filled the small space in which Kim was trapped. The ringing continued several times, after which it abruptly cut off. Kim waited for a few moments. Nothing. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it was clear that nothing was happening. The air hung silent and heavy.

"Seriously Kim," said Wade, "you could have waited a minute. That might have just blown our element of surprise."

"Er, sorry. I'm just feeling a little claustrophobic in here."

"That was a bit of a Ron moment," said Wade with a smile.

"What are you implying?"

"Nothing. Just a little impulsive, maybe."

Kim smirked. "Still, you're making it sound like the rescue team won't be able to get me out of here. If that's the case, this button here is my only option."

"Yeah. My scan didn't find anything wrong with it – the box should be totally operational, and the call should have gone through. If it's connected to the Transportulator, we might need someone to let your call through on the other end, though. Otherwise, you could have followed right behind that creature into Amy's lair when it got to the cave, if you were fast enough."

"So you'd have to find the Transportulator first, you mean?"

"Yup."

Kim watched the Kimmunicator's glowing screen in the darkness. Wade continued to type and look at the various screens set up around his bedroom. After a moment, something on one of the screens seemed to catch the boy's interest.

"Hold on..."

Kim watched as Wade's face lit up with a new discovery. Brick, who had been sitting around and looking bored in the other split section of the Kimmunicator's screen, was also paying rapt attention to Wade.

"Kim," said Wade, "we were looking into various grocery stores and food places in the local area, since DNAmy has to be feeding that creature somehow. We were hoping maybe we could find some way to get into their lair by surprise, because DNAmy's house is totally wired and her lawn has land mines planted all over it. We were thinking that maybe if we followed one of their henchmen or something, we could get into the lair."

"And?"

"It looks like we're in luck."

Wade replaced his own image with a segment of surveillance camera footage, dated from the previous day. Someone who looked unmistakably like a henchman was standing in front of a counter, ordering what looked like a lot of food. Kim was glad henchmen always wore such distinctive uniforms. She recognized the building in which the henchman was standing almost immediately, and even recognized the scrawny young man behind the counter.

"Is that where I think it is?"

Wade nodded. "I'm sending Brick there right now. I'm cutting off for a while, but I'll call back soon. Beep me if you need anything."

"Gotcha."

"So hungry," complained Rufus. He had been watching the surveillance footage along with Kim, and the image of Nacos being ordered had inflamed his appetite. "Nacos, mm!"

"Soon enough, Rufus. Soon enough."

Kim sighed as she sat back and placed the Kimmunicator on the dusty laboratory floor. There was something almost poetic about the fact that Ron's arch foe, Monkey Fist, was sending his minions to get food from Bueno Nacho. Kim wondered how Ron would take it. Most likely there would be a lot of complaining about how such a fine establishment could be soiled by evil.

Kim smiled. Hopefully she would get to hear Ron complain again soon.