Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 25

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Author's note:

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I usually put these after the story but felt I needed this one time to put it before.

I want to make sure everyone understands that the following is in no way a political statement about any country in Africa, or a comment about race, creed or color. All country and tribal names are made up by me and as far as I know, do not exist in real life. If however, by some fluke I have used the name of a real tribe or political organization, it is purely coincidental and not a deliberate political statement.

I did set the incidents in the story in Africa but that is not to say that I believe the atrocities portrayed in the story only happen in that country. Sadly, man's inhumanity to man happens all over the global and knows no race, boundary or political alignment. As this story continues, Ron shall find and try to put an end to what he perceives as injustices everywhere. For the sake of the story, I had to have somewhere to start and I randomly chose Africa.

Again, this is just a story and not a political statement or judgment of any country.

Thank you for your understanding.

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The large weather machine, while considerably faster than a blimp, was still no speed demon when it came to flying. After all, it was made for controlling the weather, not breaking speed records so Ron found himself with a lot of time to kill and not many ways of doing it.

The weather machine was also built with practicality in mind. Meaning it was built to do a job and then move on, so there were no extra cabins or private rooms onboard, just one large storage room which was currently filled with Ivy's special plant seeds and the control room. Which fortunately was a little larger than the one Shego and Drakken had stolen when Drakken had pulled his great 'take over Canada' scheme so while the control room was not crowded with everyone onboard it also didn't leave a whole lot of space to stretch out in either.

Ron found himself sitting in one of the large seats with Shego and Bonnie sitting in his lap leaning against him while Harley and Ivy sat on the floor beside the chair. Shego in honor of Ron finally getting a chance to put his plans into action had dressed for the occasion in one of her normal black and green 'catsuits' she used to wear while working for Drakken. Bonnie also decided to wear a version of the costume she had designed when she went into a life of crime for her Master, the only difference was this version of her black leather costume was one that Shego had helped her to redesign. It still looked like leather but this version 'breathed' a bit easier than leather, thusly keeping her cooler in the extreme temperatures they were sure of finding in Africa. Harley and Ivy were also wearing versions of the costumes they had on the first time they had met Ron and Shego. Ivy's skintight costume of green and Harley's black and red harlequin costume, complete even down to her donning white face makeup and having her tasseled hood on.

A lesser man might have let the image of sitting in a basic throne like chair with two exotic dressed women in his lap while two more equally exotically costumed women lounged nearby go to his head but all Ron felt was a kind of warm contentment knowing his ladies was near him.

Across from Ron sitting in another chair, facing him was Dr. Drakken. He was dressed in his typical lab coat and had even donned the heavy rubber gloves. Indeed, it was his showing up dressed in the manner that Ron and Shego would always think of him that spurred the others on into donning their previous costumes as well. Harley had pronounced it as nostalgia day. Drakken also had his Bonnie and Shego Bebe bots sitting in his lap but while in Ron's case Shego and Bonnie had taken it upon themselves to sit in Ron's lap, Drakken had ordered his robots to sit in his lap in an deliberate attempt to mirror Ron. Which considering Drakken's 'ladies' were metallic, it was nearly crushing Drakken's poor legs under their combined weight but the blue skinned scientist was determined to not let the discomfort show. Slightly behind and on either side of Drakken's chair stood the last two Bebe robots, the Harley and original Bebe models.

Towards the back of the control room Dr. Mozenberg leaned against the cabin wall with his trusty Mantis by his side. Of all of them, he and Ron were simply dressed in the very expensive Italian designer suits that Ron had thoughtfully provided for him when he joined their group since neither he nor Ron never really had what one might call standard costumes.

Harley sitting on the floor next to Ron's chair resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she spoke to Drakken. "You know you are just being silly Dr. D. Those things must weigh a ton and that's gotta be crushing your legs. There is plenty of room left in here. Have them stand up or you won't be able to walk by the time we reach Africa."

Drakken even though almost wincing in pain still put his arms around the robots' waists. "Nonsense, I like having my ladies close." He said in an obvious attempt to imitate the way Ron talked about his group.

At this point Harley did roll her eyes. "You know this infantile desire to imitate Ron is not healthy."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Drakken scowled.

"Whatever, I just hope you can still have feeling below your waist by the time we reach where we are going."

Bonnie glanced down at Ron sitting underneath her. "Me and Shego are not cutting off your circulation are we?" She asked as she wiggled as she shifted her weight.

Ron managed to gulp audibly. "No. I can safely say you and Shego sitting on my lap is doing nothing to restrict the blood flow to any part of my body." He said his voice slightly husky.

Harley giggled slightly as Ron started to blush and tried to keep from staring at the pair of breasts that were directly in his face. Harley stopped giggling after a moment however. "You know… It.. should be me and Ivy sitting in your lap anyway. I mean Shego and Bonnie went with you to the Amazon. Me and Ivy stayed back home. If anyone should get this chance for a little Ronshine and fun time it should be me and Ivy this trip." Harley pointed out.

"Uh huh. No way. We called it first." Shego told her with a smirk.

Ron his voice slightly higher replied. "There isn't going to be any 'fun time' this trip. It is too crowded for that."

Harley glanced over at Drakken and Mozenberg. "I don't know. I don't mind them watching."

Drakken swallowed and his eyes grew wide. "Really?"

Harley laughed. "No not really. Sheesh, what kind of gal do you take me for? I'm just jerking your chain yet again. You know, to get a rise out of you." Harley said with a smirk, satisfied that once again she had successfully teased Drakken.

"Well I would thank you to stop constantly trying to jerk me off…" Drakken replied crossly and blinked as he realized what he had said. "What I meant was I would prefer you to stop trying to get me to rise!" Realizing that sounded just as bad and that once again Harley had managed to make him look like a fool; Drakken clamped his mouth shut and turned a darker blue as he blushed.

Ron could feel as Bonnie started to shake a little as she tried hard to suppress her laughter at Drakken's expense, which of course drew Ron's gaze to Bonnie's corseted covered beasts as they jiggled in front of him. "This is going to be a long trip." He breathed.

"You know what I want to know is…" Harley began and everyone waited to see if she had a legitimate question or was going to bait Drakken again. "How did things get so bad in this African country anyway? What was its name again? Ethioswana? "

Ron nodded his head and started to answer her but stopped when the Harley Bebe took a step around Drakken's chair and answered for him. "I have detailed files on the political, economic and social issues of the country in question if you wish to hear them."

Harley really didn't want to go back to school but needing to kill some time and her first choice of sex being impossible because no matter how big a flirt she appeared, there was no way she was going to make out in front of Drakken or Mozenberg, well at least not go 'ALL" the way, she did have some restraint and modesty after all. She nodded her head at the robot image of herself. "Sure. Let's hear it."

"The country of Ethioswana is located near the exact center of the African continent. There were four ruling tribes each taking in turn the ruling of the entire country, changing every six years. The four tribes occupy the four cardinal points of the country, West, North, East and South. To the west was the Oolonga tribe, fierce warriors but smaller in numbers than the other tribes were. To the East was the Otunga tribe, mostly farmers. South was the tribe of Conso, mostly nomads that wandered their area never staying in one fixed location for any length of time. And to the North was the Tazo tribe. Twenty years ago, the Tazo tribe discovered vast gold and diamond deposits in their area of control. Using the money from their discovery, they purchased weapons, mercenaries and necessary political acceptance to topple the governing plan that had ruled their country for generations. They then set about to ethnically cleanse their country of all non Tazoian influence…."

"Ethnically cleanse?" Bonnie asked showing she too was paying attention. "That doesn't mean what I think it does, does it?"

The Harley Bebe turned its head to look at her. "The Tazoian government attempted to exterminate the other tribes. However, the United Nations threatened to invade if they did not stop that practice."

"So the tribe recently took the long term approach." Ron nearly growled. "They stopped attacking the other tribes directly but isolated them in their own areas and cut off all resources, leaving them to slowly starve to death in the country's blistering droughts."

The Harley Bebe inclined her head slightly in agreement. "The United Nations has drafted thirteen proclamations to help those tribes in need but…"

"The Tazoian government uses its wealth and military intimidations to make sure they are never carried out or undermine any efforts that make it past their restrictions." Ron added.

"Typical male dominated thinking. Kill everything instead of trying to find a peaceful solution. Women would have sought a more balanced natural solution. " Ivy muttered.

"Negative. The current Tazoian president is female." Harley/Bebe corrected her.

Ivy blinked. "Well I'm sure the first Tazoian in charge when they started this was male."

"Negative. The Tazoian tribe has always been governed by females, they are a matriarchal society."

"Ha!" Shouted Drakken. "So much for your belief that women would make better rulers, as any scientist could tell you, the female of the species is always the most deadly."

Mozenberg didn't say anything but he did nod his head in agreement. Ivy shot a look over at Ron to see if he was agreeing but Ron diplomatically and wisely kept all expression off of his face.

"Well of course we are the most deadly of the species doctors." Ivy replied to Drakken and Mozenberg. "We are also always the smartest and most effective of the species." Ivy stated with false sweetness.

Drakken started to open his mouth to reply but hesitated when he saw Harley looking at him and ever so slightly shake her head. One thing Harley had learned a long time ago was its not healthy for a male to argue with Ivy when she is explaining how females are superior to males.

"In any case…" Drakken finally started again. "Which of the tribes do you plan to help first? Are you just randomly acting out in a desire to prove your kindness and humanitarianism?"

Shego glared at Drakken and Ron could feel Bonnie tense up and her hand start to slide down to her waist where she kept the knife she had once threatened Drakken. Ron briefly tightened his grasp around both women's waists suggesting to them to let it go. "This has nothing to do with proving anything, either to myself or to the world Dr. D. This is about doing what is right and securing a possible stronghold if we need it in the future."

"Eh?"

Harley rolled her eyes at the man yet again. "What Ron is saying is he is doing it because it is the right thing to do but not only that but if we attempt to take over the world we may need a country that is favorable to us to retreat to if things get too hot. I mean what kind of idiot tries to take over the world but has nowhere to retreat to if things fall apart?"

The Bebe robots in Drakken's lap turned to look at him and Drakken looking up noticed the other two on either side of his chair were looking at him as well. "What?" He asked in annoyance.

To his surprise, they answered him. Bebe #1 replied. "Review of historical records show that you have made that error several times in the past."

Drakken would have risen to his feet in anger if he hadn't been pinned down by the weight of Bebe #3 and Bebe #4. "I do not make errors. I am the Leader, remember?" He shouted at the Bebes.

"Easy Dr. D." Ron called out to him. "Everyone makes mistakes. It is what helps us to learn and improve."

"Maybe for a buffoon." Drakken said dismissively. "But I refuse to admit I ever made a mistake. Er, I mean I never made any mistakes. My past failures to take over the world are always due to something beyond my control, machine malfunctions, henchpeople's failings or interference from certain people." He said glaring at Ron across from him.

Rufus who had climbed out of the breast pocket of Ron's suit blew a raspberry at him and took his spot on Ron's shoulder. Ron however just shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever dude. I just think if you refuse to see where you went wrong, how can you ever improve?"

Harley who had been staring at her Bebe counterpart noticed that the robots eyes glowed red for a moment and quickly looking at the other Bebes she noticed the same thing. She had already learned to associated that action with the Bebes' 'sharing a thought' and wonder what they made of Ron and Drakken's conversations. With that wacky and arrogant doctor's programming running through them, they were probably agreeing with their maker and leader that Ron was inferior to their precious leader. This worried Harley a great deal. If the robots acting on orders from Drakken were to attack Ron, she didn't know how her or Ivy would be able to protect him. From what she had seen those robots could moved lightning fast and she could only imagine the damage they could inflict.

A pinging noise from a console alerted Ron and the group to the fact they had arrived at their destination. "Um, which tribe are we going to help first?" Harley asked, being reminded that Ron had never had a chance to answer Drakken's earlier question.

"The Otunga tribe." Ivy answered instead of Ron.

Drakken and Harley turned to look at the plant scientist turned villain after noticing Ron nodding his head in agreement. "How did you know?" Drakken asked.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious?" Seeing their blank stares, and sending a reprimanding glare at her lover Harley, Ivy held up her hand and started to tick off points on her fingers. "Government, warriors, nomads and…"

Harley brought one of her hands up to her forehead as if smacking it. "Doh of course, farmers, who else do you take plants to but farmers?"

As Shego and Bonnie got up from his lap and Ron rose to his feet, he nodded his head. "I figure they will be the most receptive to strange plants and realize their food potential the easiest. Once we have their fields producing a surplus of food they can make contact with the other tribes being persecuted by the Tazoian government and help them." Ron reaching a view screen overlooking the land turned to look back at Ivy. "Okay Ivy, you are our plant expert. What is the best way to seed their farmlands? Drop the seeds first and then make rain or the other way around?"

Ivy reached his side and looked down on the dusty wasteland that used to be the lush farmlands of the Otunga tribe. "Have this contraption make a very gentle rain. Too much water falling too fast and we'll wash away what little topsoil the winds and time haven't already taken. Once the soil is damp enough, we'll drop my special seeds and then you can have it gently rain again so the seeds can germinate and begin growing."

"Won't it at least take a day before that happens?" Drakken asked, having finally gotten feeling back into his legs after making his Bebe robots get up off of him and walking over to glance down as well.

Ivy snorted. "My babies grow almost instantly. I thought you had at least noticed that fact."

Shego maneuvered and pushed into a chair in front of the main console and she activated the switches necessary to send the proper commands to the weather machine to being producing a gentle light rain instead of the torrents that Drakken had once used in his bid to take over Canada so long ago.

After about ten minutes of rain, Ivy reached over and pressed the release on the storage room doors allowing her special seeds to fall to the fields below. In a matter of moments, the plants started to sprout and grow till they filled the fields with new green life.

Harley rather than push into what was quickly becoming a crowded control room settled for looking out a porthole in the side of the machine near the rear of the craft and watched as villagers began to leave their broken down hovels to come out into the rain. Her smile faded as she noticed the people below didn't dance in the rain or raise their hands excitedly into the air as she expected them to, but instead just stared up hopelessly into the skies letting the water wash their faces.

Her frown turned to a gasp as she noticed young children coming out to see the rain as well and that most of them were on crutches or being helped by other children as some of them were missing limbs. Here a missing leg, there a missing arm and in some cases, missing both legs and arms.

"You don't get that from malnutrition." She said shakily but low enough that the ones in the front cabin who were concentrating on making weather and growing plants didn't hear her or hadn't noticed the villagers yet.

"Affirmative." A Bebe voice said at her ear. Turning quickly Harley found Bebe #1 was standing behind her. That was the one with the blond hair shaped in a 50's style. "What?" Harley asked backing up a little to press against the side of the ship.

The Bebe robot cocked her head to the side as she studied Harley. "Increase in blood pressure and breathing indicated that you are fearfully of this Bebe."

"You startled me is all." Harley replied. "What were you saying affirmative to?"

"The missing limbs of the humans below are not from malnutrition. Bebe sensors detect the location of thirty four anti-personnel devices located at various spots surrounding the village and depressions in the land mass that suggest of twenty more already previously detonated devices."

Harley looked at the robot blankly for a moment before blinking. "You mean landmines?!"

"Affirmative. The village below us is surrounded by a perimeter of landmines."

Harley turned back to the porthole to stare at horror at the children dragging, scuttling in the rain. "Those children are the victims of …" Her voice faded at the horror of the realization.

"Landmines." Bebe #1 helpfully added.

"Ronnie!" Harley shouted as she raced to the front of the airship, only to arrive to see a grim faced Ron standing with his arms folded over his chest angrily. Next to him, Bebe #4, the one made to look like Bonnie, stood. It was obvious from the tense set of Ron's shoulders and the quivering of his jawline that Ron had already had the situation with the children below brought to his attention.

Ron was staring over Harley's shoulder at something behind her, so the young woman turned to look and found Mozenberg standing there.

"You knew?" Ron asked.

Mozenberg gave a shrug of his shoulders. "More like I expected it Herr Stoppable. I've followed the reports on the news about this country for the last few years, and even though they never mentioned anything about landmines, I wondered why the people remained in what is essentially a deathtrap? Why did they not seek refuge in surrounding countries? There was never a report on the news about such a thing occurring so I concluded they probably either couldn't bring themselves to leave their homeland or were being physically prevented from leaving this place." Mozenberg's blank expression gave way to one of extreme disgust. "And in my experience when a government wants to keep someone from leaving an area but doesn't want to be caught doing it, they do it with landmines."

There was silence in the airship for a moment as everyone in the group tried to accept the fact that one group of people could be so evil as to deliberately trap another group of people in a hopeless situation and then ring them with landmines to make sure they remained and suffered.

"You will allow me to help those unfortunates, Ja?" Doctor Mozenberg asked.

Ron opened his mouth to reply of course. What kind of man wouldn't but before he could Drakken spoke up.

"It's not our problem. We are feeding them at least, isn't that enough?"

Drakken became aware of the intense quiet of the airship and turning in the chair he had acquired he could see that everyone was looking at him in extreme disgust, well everyone except his Bebe robots. "It is not that I don't care about what has happened to the children of this village…" Drakken began to explain. "It is just that it will take time to heal that many victims and during that time we risk being found here."

A sudden bright glare of light hit the side of the cloaked weather machine and it immediately began listing to the side.

"What happened?" Shego shouted as she frantically hit switches trying to stabilize the airship. Outside they could see that the clouds they had created were being parted as if by a giant hand as intense beams of light lanced downwards vaporizing the clouds and moisture in the air.

"We are under attack." Bebe #4 calmly reported.

"How? Where?" Drakken asked as he frantically scanned the skies.

Another intense beam of light hit the front of the weather machine and it started to go down.

As the cloaked weather machine descended, it started to flicker and fade into view. Finally, as the machine came to a firm rest on the ground, the damaged cloaking field gave up the ghost and the invisibility field crashed and was gone completely.

"What the hell happened?" Drakken clutching a guard rail demanded once again.

"Didn't you hear the first time?" Harley replied as she slid under the railing near him and then doing a forward flip landed on her feet in front of a console and tried to determine how much damage had been done to their ship. "We were attacked."

"Attacked? Impossible! I was monitoring the airspace around us the entire time and there was nothing there!"

"They must have been cloaked as we were." Ron said but more of as a question to Bebe #1 standing nearby.

"Affimative." Bebe #1 confirmed his suspicions. "Reverse path of beam that hit us confirms location. Their field isn't as efficient as ours was and now that Bebes know what to look for we are now capable of tracking them."

"Then launch a counterattack!" Drakken shouted at 'her'.

All the Bebes turned to look at him. "Using what form of weapons Leader? This airship is not armed with offensive capabilities."

Drakken spun to stare accusingly at Ron. "This is all your fault. Before you rushed off to try and save your precious village, you should have armed this thing! Now we are all going to die!"

"Shut up!" Ivy growled at Drakken. "I didn't hear you suggest anything like that before we left. You were just like the rest of us. We all assumed that the ruling government would be satisfied with starving their people, who knew they had cloaked military guarding them as well?"

Ron stood in the front of the weather machine's main window staring at the skies where bright flashes of light continued to shoot through the clouds, drying them up instantly of the life giving moisture they were trying to part with. "A cloaked military would make no sense." He said in a normal voice that yet carried to everyone on the ship.

"What? If it wasn't a military aircraft that shot us down genius, then what was it?" Drakken asked mockingly as he placed his hands on his hips.

"We weren't targeted Dr. D." Ron replied again calmly. "Didn't you hear the Bebes? They said our cloak was much better than the enemies, meaning they didn't even see us." Ron turned to look at the Bebe standing near him. "Have you analyzed what the beam is made up of?" He asked her.

"Affirmative. Focused solar energy."

"Huh?" Drakken asked.

"It's a sunbeam Doc." Ron answered. "Like a giant magnifying glass, the government is using a cloaked weather machine of their own, but in their case they are using it to dry up any moisture in the air. Our rain clouds triggered it and we just got hit a few times randomly as it tried to dry up our clouds."

Harley turned to stare at Ron. "You mean not only did the government leave some of their people to die in a drought…"

"They created the drought themselves." Ron said.

Drakken turned to his Bebes. "So the government cloaked weather machine is automated?"

"Random pattern of dispersing heat beams would indicate that is so."

"Then that means they don't know we are here yet! We can sneak off and they'll never know." Drakken replied happily.

"And Ivy's plants burn in the fields and the people stay hungry and dying." Ron said turning to stare him down.

"You heard the Bebes, we have no weapons. So how do you plan to take down the government weather machine?" Drakken replied smugly thinking he had Ron this time and this would prove that Ron was no leader and that Drakken was the best one to lead them all.

Ron looked thoughtful and glancing out the front window, he could see some of the villagers making their ways toward their craft now that it was down and they could see it. The sight of children dragging deformed limbs behind them was tearing him apart inside. Suddenly he blinked and turned to Bebe #4, which was closest to him at that moment.

"I need to ask you Bebes a question and I need you to consider your answer very carefully before answering me."

Bebe #4 eyes flashed and she nodded her head.

"The landmines that ring this village, using your super speeds, could you dig them out and throw them away before they detonated?"

Bebe #4 replied instantly. "Affirmative."

"Can you do that without causing harm to yourselves? I have an idea in mind but I won't even try it if it means one of you might become damaged."

The Bebe hesitated only a fraction of a second before replying. "Affirmative."

"Can you hurl the mine far enough away that no humans will be harmed by the shrapnel?"

"Affirmative."

Ron finally smiled. "And can you throw them high enough to hit that automated weather machine up there?"

All of the Bebe eyes flashed and as one, they turned and walked to the front of the airship to stare upwards through its front window. Their eyes tracking the government airship that was still invisible to the humans' eyes. "The automated government weather machine follows a rigid pattern. We Bebes could easily target it and throw the acquired landmines in its path." Bebe #1 answered for the group.

"Then there is our weapons to use against the government machine." Ron replied with a grim smile. "Fitting in a way, destroy one tool of the corrupt government with another of theirs. Will you Bebes please do this for me?"

The Bebes turned to look at Drakken as a nearby solar beam burned and dried instantly the damp ground near their grounded airship.

"Yes! Do whatever it takes to stop that machine before it fries us!" Drakken shouted and dove under the chair he had been sitting in. Ron and the rest of the group frowned and shook their heads at him.

The Bebes without a further word zipped into hyperspeed and disappeared from inside their weather machine. The only indication of what direction they had gone was the now swinging open door leading to the outside. Ron and the rest strolled over to the door and went outside to watch, leaving Drakken under his chair for a moment before he realized he was now alone.

Watching carefully Ron and the rest would just catch a glimpse of a Bebe on the outskirts of town as they paused for a brief moment next to a location of a landmine bend over and then moving their hands so fast they blurred, they would sweep the dirt back from the hidden infernal devices and pluck them out of the ground, stand up and hurl them upwards without pause.

Most people have the mistaken belief that a landmine explodes immediately upon being disturbed. This isn't true, almost all landmines have a 'lag time' between being activated and detonating, especially the chemical triggered types in use around this particular village.

These landmines work on a chemical reaction trigger. When someone steps on one, it breaks a glass vial that allows chemicals inside it to mix with the chemicals in the rest of the mine. The resulting chemical reaction causes the deadly explosion. The time between breaking the 'fuse' and the detonation of the mine is of course very minimal. Usually just long enough for a human to step on one, hear and feel the crunch of the trigger being depressed and know they are about to be blown up, a matter of seconds at most. But Bebes didn't work in seconds, in their hyperspeed modes they worked in a matter of milliseconds. Certainly long enough to uncover a mine, pick it up and get rid of it before the chemicals could even hope to mix.

Like an angry swarm of killer Frisbees, the freed mines flew up into the few remaining clouds in the sky, directly into the path of the automated government weather machine and exploded, ripping the cloaked aircraft to pieces. Ron, Shego and the rest watched as the now visible automated government airship slowly crashed into the nearby mountains, far away from the village it once had terrorized.

Feeling a breeze beside him, Ron glanced over to see the Harley sculpted Bebe standing next to him. "There are still ten mines left around this village. Would you like for us Bebes to continue to remove them and throw them far enough away from the village so they can no longer do damage to any humans?"

Ron smiled at her. "Yes, please and thank you."

The Bebe bot blurred and was gone as she returned to hyperspeed to continue to carry out Ron's will.

The villagers of course had not failed to notice the strange metallic women as they would appear, blur and then disappear again. One young girl about age six seeing one of the women appear at the edge of town near her started running in that direction to try and catch another glimpse of the strange 'angels' that seemed to be clearing her town of the deadly objects that had harmed so many of her friends. The girl while not missing any limbs like so many of the children, still was painfully thin.

Bebe #3 paused after removing yet another mine and quickly scanned the area she was in. There were only a few mines left to be removed and they were in her area so her fellow Bebe bots had left them for her to remove. Spotting another one, the Bebe bot started to blur into motion but paused as her sensors picked up a small human coming in her direction. Turning her optic sensors in that direction, the Shego Bebe noticed one of the unexploded mines lay directly in the young human's path. Faster than a human could blink, Bebe #3 analyzed the speed of the child, the maximum speed Bebe #3 could move and the distance between her and the child, and the child and the deadly mine and reached a conclusion. There was no way that she could reach the child before the child would step on the mine activating it. There was not even enough time for Bebe #3 to consult the other Bebes, even with their high speed network so Bebe #3 blurred into instant action.

The child named Sadaka paused as she heard a crunch underneath her foot. Her eyes started to grow wide in terror as she had heard that noise many a time before, never near her but near her friends, friends who had lost legs and arms while trying to forage for food for their families by venturing out away from the village to search. Sadaka knew that sound and knew it meant at the very least she was about to be in tremendous pain, if not die in the next moments.

As Bebe #3 raced across the ground moving so fast that no human eye could track her, she sent out a signal to her 'sister' Bebe #2, which was the closest to her. Leaving hyperspeed Bebe #3 didn't pause for a moment but boldly picked up the frozen child standing on the landmine she had activated and flung her away. Sadaka didn't even have time to open her mouth to scream as she felt herself lifted into the air and thrown. She thought the mine had exploded and had cast her into the air and was waiting for the pain she knew was coming to hit her when she suddenly found herself caught in mid air and was being held by one of the 'angels' clearing the fields. The angel had blond hair in pigtails and was wearing a sleeveless dark shirt of some kind. Her face was kind looking if strangely unmoving.

Bebe #2 stared down at the child she had caught out of mid air after having Bebe #3 hurl the girl in her direction. A loud explosion went off and Bebe #2 turned her back towards it to protect the small child in her arms from any shrapnel that might come their way. Turning to look back at the explosion site both the young African girl and the robot could see Bebe #3 lying on the ground twitching, its left leg lying a few feet away in one direction, while its right arm lay a few feet in another direction.

Sadaka took in a deep breath and tears started to form in her large brown eyes. She knew that the angel on the ground had saved her from being harmed by the landmine but had taken the damage herself.

"Why do you cry?" Bebe #2 asked her as she started to head over to her fallen 'sister's' side, all the while continuing to cradle the child in her metallic arms.

"The angel got hurt saving me." The girl replied in her native language. She hadn't understood the angel holding her words but was merely crying out loud, over what had occurred.

"We are not angels. We are Bebe." Bebe #2 replied perfectly in the girl's native language.

The child still sniffling looked up at her. "All of you are Bebe?"

Bebe #2 nodded her head.

"How do you tell each other apart?" The girl asked.

"I am number 2. The one that has become damaged rescuing you is number 3."

Being reminded that one of them had been hurt badly saving her made the young girl start to cry once again.

As Bebe #2 tried to decide what to do to calm the crying human, Ron and the rest of his group ran up.

"What happened Ron asked as he kneeled down to check on the damaged Bebe unit that looked so much like his love Shego. The damaged robot looked in his direction. She was missing one of her eyes and the other one seemed to have trouble focusing on him.

"This Bebe unit is damaged. Recommended course of action is to salvage whatever parts are still useable and scrap this unit." She said, her voice buzzing and slurring.

"Nonsense." Ron stated. "You can be repaired." Ron looked up as Drakken finally made it over to them. "Right?"

Drakken shrugged. "Why bother?"

"What?!" Ron shouted as he stood up to glare at Drakken.

"She is just a machine." Drakken replied as if talking to a slow witted child. "It's damaged." Reaching into a pocket on his lab coat Drakken pulled out a remote control with a button on the end. Clicking a dial on the device, he set it to the number of the damaged Bebe and started to press the button when Ron caught his hand.

"What are you doing?" Ron demanded.

"I'm destroying her. She's a failed prototype."

Neither of them noticed that they had been joined by the other Bebes and some of the villagers including a man with pure white hair who was watching what was going on curiously.

"I will not let you destroy her. She saved a child from injury. She deserves to be repaired for her service, not thrown heartlessly away for it!"

Before Drakken could point out how idiotically Ron was acting, the remote control detonator was taken from him by a glowing blue eyed Ron, who crushed the device in his bare hands before dropping it. Ron said nothing more to the blue skinned scientist but dropped down to his knees next to the badly damaged Bebe #3. "How are you?" he asked.

"Are you asking for a status report?" The robot asked as it once again tried to focus her optical units on his face.

"Yes."

"This Bebe unit is at 45% efficiency. Bipedal locomotion is damaged. Usage of one arm is damaged. Optical sensors are damaged…."

"But your mental capabilities are undamaged?" Ron asked her.

"Affirmative." The robot answered weakly.

"Your power source. How is that?" Ron answered.

"35% and failing."

Ron looked up at Bebe #1. "Can Bebe #3 be repaired with what we have on hand here?" He asked.

Bebe unit #1 turned slowly as her eyes scanned the village for anything that could be used to make repairs. Raising her arm, she pointed over to a wrecked and partially blown up car. "Temporary structural repairs could be attempted with metal from that destroyed vehicle. To stop degradation from failing power source, a secondary battery unit of some type would be required to help maintain mental processors until primary power unit could be repaired."

Drakken still annoyed that Ron was interfering in his Bebes snorted. "Not much luck in this primitive village. I doubt they even know what electricity is."

The white haired African man frowned at him. "I will have you know that we have several batteries and a backup generator in our village. Until our recent plight with our fellow tribes we used to have a radio station and a television station." He said in perfect English.

Drakken blinked at him. "You speak English?"

"Well doh." Harley said shaking her head. "You just heard him didn't ya?"

The ancient looking man smiled down at Harley. "I was educated in Cambridge. Indeed twenty years ago I was president of this country."

His smile faded. "That was of course before my reign was ended abruptly by my opponent the Tazoian Serafina."

Ron stood up to face the man. "Sir, may we borrow the parts we need to repair our friend?"

The white haired man looked at Ron and then at the robot on the ground and raised an eyebrow. "It is obvious that is a machine. You consider her a friend?"

Ron nodded his head. "Yes, yes I do." He said passionately.

Harley once again noticed the other Bebes' eyes flash in unison.

"She saved me papa." The young girl still being held by Bebe #2 spoke. It was in her language so Ron and the rest of the human part of his group could not understand what she said but the Bebes did.

"Did she?" The white haired man asked in their language. "How did she do that?"

"I was running to see the angels here when I stepped on a landmine. She grabbed me and threw me to this angel and took the explosion meant for me papa." The girl replied and looked downward to avoid seeing the anger she knew would be coming from her father.

"How many times have I told you to not leave the edge of the village? How many of your friends have you seen mutilated by the mines Sadaka?" The old man sighed and when he spoke again, it was once again in flawless English. "My daughter tells me that the machine saved her life. Anything in the village you can use to repair it is yours for the taking."

Ron nodded at the Bebes and Harley couldn't help but notice this time the machines never once looked for authorization from Drakken before moving on Ron's orders. The one holding the young girl gently sat her down and kneeled down and said something to the girl in her own language before rising and joining her other 'sisters' in looking for parts to repair the fallen Bebe #3.

Turning the white haired village elder, who at one time was president of an entire country, looked over all the strange people in Ron's group. There were women with green tinted skin, one woman who was wearing a costume with a white face that if he hadn't been educated in the Western world, he would have assumed was some kind of tribal witchdoctor with her outlandish costume but having been classically taught he recognized the costume as a variant of a medieval jester's outfit of some type. And one of the green tinted women was dressed as if she was some kind of nature goddess. Then there were the metallic machine women that his daughter called angels and a strange man with a bald head wearing an expensive suit with the strangest looking object in the group standing next to him. It was obviously another machine but this one had an insect like head on it and instead of anything remotely human shaped. For a body it had a perfect round cylinder with no visible legs or arms.

As the group continued to stand, more and more villagers gathered to see the newcomers, including several badly handicapped children being pulled in carts by the other children.

The insect like machine suddenly moved forward causing the villagers to shrink back in fear.

"Nein Mantis, be still." Mozenberg spoke to his machine.

"But they are harmed." A woman's voice called out from the machine shocking Ron and the rest of his group whom had never heard the machine speak before and didn't even know it could. Mantis's voice was deep and husky and reminded Ron of some female lounge singers he had seen in France while on a mission with Kim. "They are harmed. Let me heal them please?" Mantis added with a very human sounding desperation in her voice.

The white haired village elder looked in surprise at Mozenberg and then glanced to where the machine was obviously looking and saw that the machine had been talking about the children that had been harmed by the landmines. "It can heal?"

"Ja." Mozenberg replied. "I mean yes. My Mantis can grow limbs and reattach them. She wants to help. Will you allow it?"

The old man eyed Mozenberg skeptically. "How can you grow limbs to replace those that have been lost for years?"

Ron stepped forward. "He can do it sir. I've seen his work and he is a great healer. Please let us help your people."

The elderly man's face grew hard. "And what will you require for this service?" He asked.

Ron looked confused. "I don't want anything sir. I just want to help the children."

The white haired elder shook his head. "I've been alive a long time young one. I've seen my own country's people smile and offer help, only to seal us off and try to kill us. I've seen Westerners show up telling how they will feed and protect my people, only to film their commercials to make money off of us and leave, leaving nothing but a few precious boxes of rations and never show up again to fulfill their promises of further food and help. Why should I believe your promises?"

Ivy stepped forward drawing attention to herself. "Because Ron is different." She stated.

"And how is he different?"

"He didn't promise to feed you someday and then fail to show up. He came and gave you food without making promises or asking for anything in return and if we hadn't been attacked you would never have known he had been here." Ivy said gesturing to the growing farm fields behind them. Her plants being bred to be extra hardy hadn't been too adversely affected by the concentrated sunbeams of earlier and were even now recovering and flourishing.

The elder wanted to ask how he knew the plants were safe to eat and not just another way to kill his people off but realized it was a fruitless question to ask as several of the villagers having been on the brink of starvation for years with only what food their desperate children could forge for them from the wilds or the scraps left by Westerners visiting his village as if it was some kind of grotesque amusement park , were already harvesting the mellons and root vegetable and were eating them as they watched.

The village elder opened his mouth to deny them their request but was stopped by Harley placing a hand on his arm. "Is there really any reason to prevent us from at least trying to help? Can we make their lives any worse than they are now?"

The old man turned to look at the children who were deformed and mutilated by the hands of what he had once considered his own people and sighed. "If you can indeed heal them, how can I refuse your offer?" He finally stated.

Mantis immediately began to move forward but once again, the villagers pulled away fearfully.

Perhaps it was because the Bebe lying damaged on the ground had been harmed in a way that so many of them had been and understood all too well or maybe it was because the children thought of her in the same way that Sadaka had, that she was an angel from the heavens to help them that caused the downed robot to be the center of attention by the children. Whatever the reason was, all the injured children had gathered around her body and were staring down at her. As Mantis tried to reach them, they like their parents tried to pull away in fear.

"Do not fear." Bebe #3 in their language managed to say. "The Mantis will not harm you."

One child sitting propped up in a cart being pulled by her brother because she was missing her legs reached out and touched the fallen angel on the ground's good hand. "We'll you stay with me while that thing is nearby?" She asked Bebe #3 in a timid voice in her own language.

Bebe #3 turned her head to look at the child with her one good optic sensor. "I will."

The child nodded her head and then looked at the nearby Mantis. "Then I am willing to be first."

Mantis moved over to where the child and Bebe #3 were, the crowd parting as it came. Reaching them the head lifted up, then lowered on a stalk like appendage till it was eyelevel with the child, and cocked its head side to side, as it analyzed all the damage done to the poor child. The child in spite of her confidence that the fallen angel next to her would protect her still flinched as a metallic arm extended from the surface of the smooth metal cylinder body of Mantis and weaved its way towards her. Bebe #3 gently squeezed the child's hand to let her know she was still with her and she would not let Mantis harm her.

Mantis 'hand' reached the child and gently pressed on a spot on the bare stub of her leg that was left after the landmine had nearly ripped her apart a few months ago. The child frowned as a slight hiss noise was heard from the metallic arm but she felt no sting or pain at all, just an almost gently sucking feeling as if a suction cup from a toy arrow had briefly touched her skin and then pulled away.

The village elder had moved closer to observe what the newcomers' machine was going to do and looked at the bald man that seemed to be the machine's creator.

Mozenberg sensing that the village's leader wanted answers said. "Mantis first samples the child's D.N.A. and now will genetically recreate the missing limb."

A slight popping noise was heard and everyone watching could see a slot open up on the Mantis's round body and a glass tube extended from inside it. Inside the glass tube could be seen something slowly forming in the clear liquid inside it. Many of the villagers recoiled in horror as the object grew and formed till it resembled a child's bare leg and foot. As the leg fully formed, it could be seen that it was the right size and shape for the one that the child had lost but was very pale. Another metallic appendage formed on the side of the Mantis robot body and gently reached in and pulled the wet leg out. Some of the village women made the symbol of the cross in front of them as the robot lowered the leg towards where the child lay. More appendages came out of the side of Mantis's body and as the leg neared the stump of the child, the other limbs circled. Bright lights flashed, so brightly none could look directly at the leg but when the lights shut off everyone could see the grown limb was now attached to the child. Most of the other appendages retracted into Mantis's body but one remained. From that one limb, multiple smaller appendages extended outwards. Some of the smaller worm like arms pressed on points of where the girl's stump had been and others pressed on the newly created leg.

"Mantis is now reattaching the nerves from the subject's body to the new limb." Mozenberg offered.

Finally, the smaller appendages retracted to the larger one and a bulb like tip formed on the end of it. A light once again shined on the leg but not as brightly as the others had been. Everyone could see the pale leg slowly darken in color till it matched the deep mahogany color of the rest of the child's body.

Everyone had been so enthralled with what was going on that no one had noticed that while all this had been happening, the glass tube had retracted back into Mantis's body and had then come out again. Another new leg had formed but this one a right leg instead of the left one that had been reattached. Once again, Mantis went through the steps she had done to the first leg and within ten minutes, the child now had two perfectly formed, natural looking legs and feet.

"Try them out." Mantis's voice called out to the child but since Mantis could not speak her language, she stared at the machine blankly until Bebe #3 translated for her. The child looked to where she was still clutching Bebe's hand.

"I cannot rise with you as I am still damaged." Bebe #3 explained. "You will have to rise on your own."

The child looked unsure but finally gripping the sides of the low cart she was sitting in, she tried to stand up and rose shakily to her feet as the people of the village watched with wide eyes.

"How do they feel?" Ron asked in a soft and yes, awed voice.

Bebe #3 translated for him.

The child took a few tentative steps and turned to look at Bebe #3. She excitedly rattled something off in her language.

"She says they tingle a bit like she had been sitting on them for too long but other than that they feel like her legs used to." Bebe #3 translated for Ron and his English speaking group.

The child with a happy cry ran over to a couple who had been watching with tears in their eyes and threw herself into their arms. Her brother who had pulled the cart for his sister these many months joined in the happy family hug. As everyone cheered and more injured children pressed forward to be healed by Mantis, the white haired village elder gestured for Ron to join him away from the crowd.

Ron trying to casually wipe the tears from his eyes joined him.

"You have brought us food and healed our lame. Again I ask what is it you wish in payment for these services?" The once proud but now nearly broken African gentlemen asked.

"I want nothing from you." Ron one again assured him.

"You are just a saint that just travels around with high tech equipment seeking to help those in need?" The man asked skeptically.

Ron smiled. "I'm no saint or savior, just a man that decided it was time for people to act like people instead of animals. If you feel like you must owe me something, owe me friendship and understanding."

The elder watched him closely for a moment and then slowly shook his head. "I have been alive a long time and many times I prayed to the gods to see someone like you come. I am happy I have lived long to see it."

Ron tried to resist the urge to shuffle his feet. He was getting uncomfortable with all the praise. Was it so hard to believe that someone would want to see starving people fed and children able to run again and not suspect they were doing it for an ulterior motive? And really, he didn't do anything. If anyone deserved praise, it was…

"You know I really didn't do anything." Ron said to the Elder. "Mozenberg is the creator of Mantis and Mantis did all the work. If you wish to honor or praise anyone for healing your children, you should praise Mantis and her creator. And I was not the one that created the food plants we have planted in your fields, that was Ivy over there. And the one who built the Bebes that have cleared your land of the landmines was Dr. Drakken. The blue skinned man over there."

The Elder looked at Ron out of the corner of his eye as he looked at the horizon. "And would this Mozenberg or Ivy or Dr. Drakken be here with his creations if not for you?"

"Maybe not today, but I believe Mozenberg would have eventually found his own way here without me. He cares for people a great deal and wants to heal. I just…. Helped a little I guess. And I know in my heart sooner or later Ivy would have learned about your village and her and Harley would have come to help."

"And your Dr. Drakken? Would he have found his way with his Bebes to my village on his own?"

Ron started to open his mouth to answer but then shut it again. After a moment, he replied. "He's really a decent person once you get to know him?"

The white haired village elder looked over to where more and more children were now running and grasping on to their families with legs and hands that until recently had been gone. He watched as some of the newly healed children ran to the fields and brought back the food plants that had grown there and fed their parents who were too weak to make the trip themselves. "Helped a little." He repeated Ron's words. "You and your companions have helped a great deal. You have given my village a new lease on life and new hopes for tomorrow and somehow I have the feeling if you had not gathered them and led them here, it would not have happened." The village elder held out his hand to Ron in a Western gesture for a handshake.

"My name is Tafiti, Tafiti Takata."

Ron grasped the man's hand. "My name is Ron, Ron Stoppable."

Tafiti raised an eyebrow. "That name…it is familiar to me. Did you not used to travel with a redhead by the name of Kim Possible?"

Tafiti noticed a look of pain crossed Ron's face before the young man nodded. "Once I did but now I travel with my friends here." Ron released the man's hand and pointed out each of the members of his group. "Ivy, Harley, Dr. Drakken, Mozenberg, Shego and of course Mantis and the Bebes."

Tafiti chuckled, making Ron glance at him to see what was funny. "No offense Ron Stoppable but I've never met a man before that introduces machines in the same manner as the people he knows."

Ron gave a half shrug. "Machines are people too. Well, sometimes anyway." Feeling tiny paws climbing up his jacket Ron resisted the urge to smack his forehead. "Oh and I almost forgot. This is Rufus."

"Ah. A naked molerat?" Tafiti stated leaning toward Ron to get a better look at Rufus. "Do be careful the other villagers do not see him."

Rufus frowned and folded his arms. "Why?" He squeaked almost insulted.

The village elder's eyebrow almost disappeared into the pure white hair of his head at hearing the molerat ask a very clear question and he appeared slightly nervous. "Food has been scarce here for years. My people have had to eat what they could find." He replied.

Rufus and Ron shared a look of confusion before Ron's eyes cleared and he looked horrified. "They have been eating….?"

Rufus squeaked, as his eyes grew wide with realization as well. "Molerat?" Without another word, Rufus scurried down Ron's chest back to his jacket pocket and disappeared inside.

Ron and Tafiti returned to the crowd to see that most of the children had been healed by Mantis and Bebe #3 was now standing. It was true that she was no longer as sleek or as attractive as she once had been but the other Bebes had done a marvelous job repairing her with what they had found. She now had a rough welded metal leg to replace the one she had lost and while it allowed her to move around, she would never be able to enter hyperspeed mode again and was reduced to human speeds only. A car battery was strapped to her back, helping to augment her damaged power supply.

In the now disused television station that had once been the center of the village, the Bebes had found a broken TV camera and had salvaged the lens from it and had managed to repair her eye. While a little disconcerting to see the lens instead of her normal eye, Ron took it in stride.

"You look as good as new." Ron told her/it.

Drakken snorted. "She looks like a cobbled together mess if you ask me."

"Well, no one asked ya." Harley growled at him.

"Yeah Dr. D. It is only temporary anyway. Once we get her back home you can repair her fully." Shego told him as she eyed her metallic mirror image that was now deformed.

Bebe #3's normal optical sensor flashed red for a moment and she awkwardly stepped towards Ron. "This Bebe has a request."

Ron glanced over at Drakken expecting the request would be directed at him but after a moment realized the robot was looking squarely at him. "Um, sure. What is it?"

"This Bebe unit would like to remain behind in this village."

Ron blinked. "Um, okay but why?"

"This Bebe unit has learned that the children have no teacher or schools due to government interference. This Bebe unit would like to remain to educate and protect."

Ron eyes widened. "You want to stay behind and become their teacher?"

"Affirmative."

Drakken stomped over to stand in front of Bebe #3. "Absolutely not!"

"What's the big deal?" Harley asked him annoyed once again.

"I am not leaving one of my Bebes behind unless it is destroyed. The government could seize it reverse engineer it!"

Everyone turned to look at Ron who had a hand up to his chin and was lost in thought. Finally, he looked up. "I screwed up didn't I?" He asked.

"What?" Shego asked in shock.

"We have fed and helped these people but what will stop their government from rolling in here and tearing up their fields and replacing the land mines again?" Ron sighed. "I'm afraid Dr. D. is right Bebe 3. You are damaged and if the military was to come in here, I don't think you could take them on all by yourself and they would manage to destroy you and then use your technology to build weapons. So…"

Ron got no farther as Bebe #2 and #4 stepped forward. "We shall remain to help defend this village and protect #3."

"But…But…" Drakken sputtered.

"With our connection to the hive mind, we will be able to hold off any human force long enough for reinforcements to be sent." Bebe #2, the one made to resemble Harley told him.

Bebe #4, the one that looked like Bonnie looked at Ron. "It will make all your efforts a waste of time if you do not leave us behind to protect the village."

"Um, it's not really my decision…" Ron started.

"The children will be harmed again." Bebe #4 pointed out in a softer tone, very unlike a Bebe.

"Right." Ron replied all doubts fading from his face. "If the village doesn't mind you Bebes being here, you will stay and teach and protect them and we will back often to visit."

"Excuse me?" Dr. Drakken shouted. "Are you forgetting that the Bebes are mine to command? I am their leader. Not you!"

Ron turned to look at Drakken. "That is true. But I purchased the weather machine and the equipment used to make the Bebes, so if you don't like their decision, you can stay here with your creations when the rest of us return home."

Drakken nearly purpling in rage suddenly backed down. "Very well. Bebe #2, 3, and 4 can remain here. Obviously they are failed prototypes anyway!" Turning his back on the group, he stormed off towards the weather machine with Bebe #1 trailing after him.

As soon as they were out of ear shot of the others, Drakken quietly said to Bebe #1. "Signal the hive mind to start the automated equipment to manufacture the ultra Bebes using the Luna stone. Tell them that they are to use your image as the model, since you alone were loyal to me. The first models off the line are to seek out and acquire material to continue building more Bebes. Do not stop the process until every ounce of the Luna stone is used up."

Bebe #1's eyes flashed but she didn't reply.

"We shall see once we get back, who it is that rules." Drakken promised quietly.