A/N. Am finally back up after the massive home painting. Thank you to everyone who read and especially those who reviewed. I am going to post the first two chapters over the next couple of days—then actually 'go' on vacation for a couple of weeks. Am still working on the aftermath of the climax as I have been without a computer for this whole time. Promise to get that done and get the rest of this posted just as fast as I can once I get back from my trip.
And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls—
The Start of Endgame
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Nervous police and fire personnel shifted about on their posts or apparatus. Pale faced agents in Global Justice utilities, rage or shock or grief lying like mines just below the surface of their expressions, stood about in small groups, dazed and despondent after a morning of hell. Grim faced men in 'raid jackets' with markings of various State and Federal agencies stalked about with counterparts decked out in military combat camys, attempting to look like they were getting a handle on the situation which would lead to decisive action—
But all of them were just waiting . . . on the orders of the grim faced black woman who stood outside of the Middleton Police Command Van and stared down past the blocking vehicles, down the long, deserted alley, trying to bore a hole through the walls of the nondescript warehouse at the far end.
She too was waiting—
And in the quiet, early morning air, in the distance, the sound of a siren slowly reached the level of human hearing.
And the black woman knew, that this part of the wait was almost over—
And parts of her dreaded that.
But other parts steadied themselves for the final round just had to be approaching—
In fact it arrived, under police motorcycle escort, in a Middleton PD Supervisors SUV with all lights flashing. There had been a delay in part because one of the arriving personnel had to be 'unhooked' from all the apparatus of a hospital bed, anther part being that a stop had to be made in order for 'mission clothes' and equipment to be obtained—
And so, all eyes about registered as the couple (actually a trio if the small creature riding on the shoulder of one of the pair was counted) got out in their signature outfits and many had looks of relief while a good number of others looked more apprehensive (having seen the results of massively exploding lairs before).
The look on 'Redoubt's' face was initially neutral, but then folded into a questioning one, as three others got out of the SUV as well—
'Redoubt' forced her eyes back into a narrow but neutral look as the group came up before her. She then wagged her head toward the non-descript private motorbus parked over in the corner. "Come with me please."
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Inside the far warehouse, the inside now dimly filled with a dusty gray light from the broken skylight, a soft 'beep' emitted for the panel. The Figure almost came out of its chair. After a tense, hesitant moment, the Figure slowly settled back down. The local sensor net had detected 'the chip' from one of those who mattered—
The Figures head turned to look at the right panel, and it seemed as if there was another moment's hesitation. Small flashes of what might be emotion deep, deep inside the glazed eyes. But the hesitation was only a moment. For the hand then reached out and pushed the second button on the panel—
More lights sprang out on the device as it moved into 'ready' mode.
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Kim and Ron (with Rufus) followed the black woman with a face of stone into the bus. Inside were several men monitoring screens and panels, a couple of others were looking like guards, and waiting in the 'dining area' with a look of stewing impatience was a 'scholarly' looking woman whose eyes were firing daggers at the black woman. The woman's eyes then scanned the newcomers . . . and froze when they apparently recognized one of them—
The black woman turned around as the rest of the group came in and once she heard the door click closed, "I am 'Redoubt', and I am pleased that Team Possible," she nodded to Kim, Ron and Rufus, " could make it so quickly considering their own circumstances." 'Redoubts' head then looked up behind the team, her look a little more challenging. "I might ask—"
"You might," MrsDrP responded. "At the moment, I trust 'the community' about as far as I can throw them and—"
'Redoubts' face turned stern and she held up a hand, "should you be talking like this in front of—"
MrsDrP waved a hand to the man standing directly at her side, one of his eyebrow raised very high as if he was considering 'Redoubt' like a lab specimen. "I was briefed by Doctor Director as well as having conversations with many of the Global Justice wounded. Several of the traps encountered apparently had the earmarks of—"
"Cybertronics ma'am," MrDrP said, his voice both grave and angry. "Once again Drew Lipsky, or whatever it is that he has become, is perverting my work to deadly ends. I will not stand for that! And I am here to make sure that no further damage is done by that kind of a device."
'Redoubt' looked as MrDrP with penetrating eyes, searching, judging. Finally, "while you have a top security cleared Doctor, it's in military/commercial/scientific aerospace research and development. You are not cleared for . . . national security information and events—"
MrDrP's eyebrow went back up . . .
And with a sigh, 'Redoubt' finished, "but with this op, I'm not going to turn away any help or knowledge." The 'Redoubts' eyes shifted again and downright disapproval came into them. "and this one I remember for my initial situation briefing. What is she doing here?"
Monique shrinked back a half step, but kept her eyes level and steady in response to the woman's challenge. She started to open her mouth to make a reply—
"She's here because she needs to be," And both 'Redoubt' and Monique looked to the speaker with shock.
"She's my friend," Ron continued, he 'serious face' going full force. "She's Kim's Best Girlfriend. She's been screwed, shafted, abused and mangled by all that's been going on probably worse is some ways than either Kim or I, because at least we have each other, while Monique's boyfriend—" and Ron stopped as if carrying the thought forward was too painful.
After a moment, 'Redoubt' gave an acknowledging nod, "I know about the boy."
That seemed to give Ron the strength to carry on with, "Monique deserves the right to see this through just like Kim and I, Mr&MrsDrP and anyone else who has been affected by it. She needs to be here."
'Redoubt' eyed Ron for another moment, then gave Kim a glance, followed by MrsDrP before allowing her eyes to go back to Monique. Then, taking a deep breath, "okay, she can stay, but she can't hear what needs to be said in this bus right now. She'll have to wait outside for that."
Monique dropped her head into a contrite, understanding pose, shot Ron a very thankful look and turned, sliding out of the buses door.
"There's no time for any review," 'Redoubt' started, her tone and face once again turning to stone, "so here's where we're at." And with that, she held up a remote control device and pointed it at the big screen at the front of the bus under which the Possible's and Ron stood. They turned their heads/shoulders about as the screen lit and—
"Oh my God!" MrsDrP hissed, a hand coming up in front of her mouth.
"I think I need a new expression," Ron breathed as his eyes got the size of a large pizza. "Cause Sick and Wrong just don't match up to . . . that!"
Kim's face was pure, unadulterated speechless horror; her father's that of pure intent narrow-eyed scrutiny. After a moment, 'Redoubt' continued, "now you see what we face."
'Redoubt' clicked off the picture and turned to wave a hand at the dark-haired, bespectacled woman behind the dining table who was now clearly angry and anxious. "This is Doctor P.S. Yche. She was . . . in charge of development of . . . what was done to Mr. Lipsky when he was in the . . . mental health rehab facility."
They all turned about but the woman at the table turned red and hunched down her shoulders in a mad/stubborn pose when she saw the angry/disgusted rage blazing at her from the sapphire eyes of MrsDrP.
"Tell them," was 'Redoubts' hard-edged order.
The woman shook her head, her eyes, with fearful thoughts raging behind them, snapped back. "Not as long as she's (stabbing a finger at MrsDrP) here. I've heard about her. She'll find some way to get me sanctioned or my private civilian licenses revoked or something because she's so damn righteous when it comes to her precious ethics—"
'Redoubt' swung about, leaned in over the table right into the woman's face and snapped, "this is an ELE situation and I have a Code Zulu Zulu authorization and if you don't open that dammed mouth of yours right now, if we survive this, you wont need your licenses except to practice on your fellow inmates for the rest of your life!"
The woman's eyes blazed back at here. "So you say. But my section will protect me if I just keep my mouth shut so no deal."
"No they wont," said a voice like murderous ice. MrsDrP quietly slipped up next to 'Redoubt' and bent over the table as well. The woman reared back but the bench seat wouldn't let her get far enough away as Kim's mom got close enough to start whispering in the woman's ear—
In just a few moments, the woman was so pale and had such wide, unseeing eyes that it looked as if she was already dead—
MrsDrP then backed away from the table, but her eyes still holding those of the woman there, hers, round with fear and loathing, her mouth moving as if trying to speak but—
"You were saying doctor," MrsDrP prompted with as sarcastic a tone as was ever heard.
"L—L—Lipsky was programmed using an untried technique that I developed, a—a—an exotic mix of narcotics, behavioral modification—" ("otherwise known as shock therapy" MrsDrP growled) and forced hypnosis—"
"Explain that last part please," came another growl from Kim's mom.
The psychiatrist leaned back into the booth, her eyes closing as she took a deep, shaky breath, every indication in her body language that she was being forced into areas where she knew that she was digging her own grave.
"IF you please Doctor," came 'Redoubts' firm but neutral urging.
"It's a technique using a mind manipulation ray ("like the truth ray," muttered Kim) in conjunction with narcotics that overcomes any individuals resistance or inability to be subjected to hypnosis." The woman's head dropped down almost to the table and her voice grated with the strain of what she was admitting. "But while it makes any . . . suggestion planted absolutely irresistible, only single 'suggestions' can be planted at any one time. So . . . for an entire behavior to be imputed or an existing one modified, each . . . 'letter' of the script; that being the desired behavior that is the end result, has to be entered, like typing a novel with only a single finger of one hand. It's a very time consuming process—"
"And what behavior," Kim asked, amazed that her voice was calm and level with none of the revulsion and nausea that currently filled her creeping into it, "did you program into Drakken?"
"The 'target' mind set that we were shooting for," and the woman's voice was now stone cold dead, "was the suppression of all of Lipsky's impulsiveness, his monumental ego and need for approval, recognition and reward, modification of his inability to multitask to his full potential and an increase to his ability to think 'outside of the box' by modifying his scientific prejudices and perceptions." As if she knew that she was signing her death warrant, Yche paused . . . "and finally, harnessing his rage, his sense of violation . . . so that there was a change in his compulsion from trying to take over the world . . . to destroying it."
MrDrP's eyes were almost squinting with his intense concentration. "And you achieved all of that?" he asked.
The woman looked up, pure and naked hatred flaming from her eyes. "I hope that all of you know that you're all in very big trouble as you are not on 'The List' of having access to this information. Not even," she hissed as she looked directly at 'Redoubt', "your Zulu Zulu gives you the right to this profile. I'm dead and so are all of you because of—"
"Just answer Doctor Possible's question." 'Redoubt' advised, with a voice so cold that it caused the woman to shudder.
The woman's head again dropped down to the table . . . she never again looked up. "I don't have a clue just how the reprogramming went."
Ron blinked and wondered, "but how—"
"It was you development and your technique," MrsDrP injected in a voice even colder than 'Redoubts'. "You wrote the script to be programmed into Drakken and authored the instructions on how it was implemented into him. You were never there, you never even saw him as a patient. There was a cutout in place should it fail or go sideways and that cutout would protect you." Kim's mom gave a disbelieving shake of her head. "It was strictly on the staff of the psych ward at that government prison he was being held at to implement it all." MrsDrP then looked over at 'Redoubt', "we need to talk to however was the primary psyche care person for Drakken when he was there. Because if what I think happened—"
'Redoubt' was looking at MrsDrP but then understanding dawned behind her eyes and her head snapped about to look again at the woman. "Shego got Drakken out before the programming was complete." She rounded onto the woman and demanded, "where was he in the process? What effect on him could it have—?"
"I don't know and I don't care," came the harsh reply.
"You better—" 'Redoubt' started, then stopped, her head jerking about to find a hand from Kim's mom on her shoulder. "Don't bother because she doesn't know," MrsDrP said tightly. "Her cutout was in place and it's working. Once she forwarded the 'finished program' to the prison psych ward—"
"She was out of the loop," 'Redoubt' finished, her eyes going back to the woman. There was a look as if 'Redoubt' wanted to be disgusted . . . but she wasn't because she knew all too well herself just how this game was played. "No further contact, no progress reports." 'Redoubt' looked to one of the guards, then made a head nod toward the woman indicating that they were done with her. The guard collected the woman and took her out.
Once the door snapped closed behind her, 'Redoubt' started, "well, it just so happens that Drakken's . . . psych technician is on the way here," she glanced up at the wall clock, "should be here within a couple of hours if not sooner." 'Redoubt' then looked to Kim and Ron. "I don't know just how time-critical we are. We don't know if it's true, but the Diablo attack had all the earmarks of Drakken trying to goad us into an assault. He maybe becoming impatient." But then she glanced at Kim's parents, "but at the same time, I don't want you to go in until you're sure that you have everything you need."
Kim and Ron looked at each other—one could almost see the thoughts flowing between them. They then looked back to 'Redoubt', Kim as usual speaking for the both of them. "We don't see that we have much of a choice ma'am. We know that whatever he is right now, Drakken has to be more dangerous to this planet than he has ever been. And he's had too much time already." She looked back to Ron, their eyes meeting. "Shego is scared to death of him, that means we have to be as well. So we have to get in there and take him out before he can start—"
"Getting an increase in energy readings from inside of the building!" called one of the techs at a panel.
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Over in a corner of the 'secure' area set up by the Middleton Police Dept, sat a non-descript van, black with blacked out windows. It was said to be containing special equipment, not to be brought out unless needed—
But in fact, inside sat the driver, working at a monitoring panel of his own. His panel registered the rise of energy from the target as well. A discrete satellite antenna connected him to a database at a secret location. That database compared the energy reading with a set list of numbers/statistics/ratios and flashed back an answer to the driver's panel.
As the returning information matched one of the situations on his list . . . and not having any idea, what he was about to implement, the driver picked up his ultra-extreme secure phone—
An important man answered the phone—
The driver gave a code word—
And the important man hung up the phone.
The driver went back to his monitoring—
The important man picked up another phone and gave an order . . . which now that it was a true reality, shook him to his very bones, but which his staunch determination and sense of responsibility allowed him to do anyway.
And at an Air Force Base in Idaho, a phone rang . . .
Middleton Colorado had sixty minutes—
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After standing and looking at the bus monitor panel where the energy change has been detected (but not comprehending) for a few moments, Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator.
"Wade! What is the sitch on you net here in town?"
The boy genius was all intent, typing with each hand on two separate keyboards. "I'm still in the dark for a good portion of the city. But I've made a special effort in the area you're in and I should be in synch shortly. And I see what it is you guys are looking at. Not quite sure as of yet just what—"
"Wade," MrDrP interrupted in from over Kim's shoulder. She shifted so he and Wade could see each other better as, "I assume since you're picking this effect up that you're a go for energy scans. Keep an eye on the one you're watching right now but at the same time, run one for," MrDrP then gave Wade a complex sounding group of terms and numbers that almost hurt Kim's ears.
"Yes sir," was Wades response as both hands went into a blur on a single board. After a moment, Wade looked surprised and then frowned.
"What is it Wade," Kim urged.
"I have traces of what you're looking for sir, sewn in what looks to me as a sensor web surrounding that warehouse (a depiction of which came up on the Kimmunicators screen, developing into 3D so they could see just how extensive it was). But from the main room of the warehouse, where Drakken himself seems to be sitting, I'm starting to get clarification on the energy source that is building in there. Something else entirely different."
"Whatever mad device he's built," Ron speculated.
"What kind of readings are you getting from it Wade," Kim's dad asked. Wade's reply was more gibberish—
But to her surprise, there were terms and keywords . . . that Kim understood, or that at least triggered some ghost memories in her. Now why would I know something like that? she wondered.
She never got a chance to go on with the thought as he dad was speaking. "Wade, I need to be able to monitor that sensor net and anything else that crops up."
"Wade," Kim broke in, "my dad needs another Kimmunicator so that the two of you can coordinate while Ron and I go in. How long before—"
"Would you like this back?"
And their heads all snapped back around to see 'Redoubt' holding a Kimmunicator out toward Kim who started to say, "how—?"
"This is the one that was taken from you by the FBI supervisor at your high school." Kim took it. "How did you get it back?" she asked as she handed it over to her father. "I know that supervisor overheard my talk with Wade on it . . . which now that I think about it is probably what led . . . whoever to find that Drakken was here?"
"That's what they tried to infer," 'Redoubt' said tightly. 'The supervisor wanted to take the credit as using your communications device as his intelligence source in finding Drakken." But 'Redoubt' was shaking her head as if debunking that theory. "The fact of the matter is, that one of the junior FBI agents who was debriefing all of you're classmates afterwards, saw a cellphone video that one of them took. You acquaintance Rockwaller got that Ethome girl to spill it all—"
Oh my God! Kim felt a crashing wall of guilt going down inside her. They saw and used the video of Bonnie getting Carla to confess to lead them here, to Drakken. And then Kim's own mind went back to what she had seen on Marcella's boyfriends cell video the previous evening—remembered Carla's words— 'I set up a location where they could establish a base in town, one of the time-share warehouses that my father owns, right here in Middleton. The same one, just freshly rebuilt, from that weird army weapon thing that happened to Possible and Stoppable a year or so ago when they changed—'
Kim's eyes then shot to another monitor, one that was watching the warehouse at the far end of the alley. "Ron!" she breathed in disbelief as the recognition came to her. "This is the same villain time-share that Drakken used when he had the neutronaliser!"
"The brain-switch thingy!" Ron cried cringing.
"And—" and Bonnie is the one who got Carla, got her to talk, allowed us to find Drakken Kim thought, her stomach clenching/going sour as she did so.
Kim stood up straight, forcibly taking all other thoughts and forcing them out of her mind—
"Come on Ron, all things considering, we should know how to find our way into this place!" Kim's eyes narrowed dangerously, even as her throat went dry and the sourness in her stomach threatened— "If my guess is right, Drakken will have left the front door unlocked for us again."
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Kim and Ron worked their way up alongside one of the other warehouses off the main alley, having elected not to make a direct approach. They had gotten about three quarters of the way—
They were in full mission mode, acting and reacting as if no time or troubles had passed. It was a comfort and a reward to the both of them that they could, after so long, come back together seamlessly with Kim focused ahead of them, watching for traps and picking their best route, Ron just off her shoulder with his head on a swivel, trying to look in all directions at once, watching his girls back—
And with his attention moving so rapidly, he almost missed—but then his attention snapped back to—
"KKKKiiiiiiiimmmmmmm!!!!!!" Ron managed to make his terrified squeal no louder than a whisper—
Kim's head jerked around—
A pair of Diablo's were coming out from under the trash dumpster across the alley. Kim's attention came around expecting—
Three more from somewhere behind them—
Rufus jumped off of Ron's shoulder and assumed a martial arts stance facing the nearest ones but still—
Dadddddddyyyyyyy, Kim mentally hollered.
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"Sir!" Wade cried as the cybertonic frequencies peaked; his own memories of how his Diablo had ripped though his room coming back to him.
"No sweat!" MrDrP growled as he typed into the laptop he had brought. "Wade, rebroadcast these lines of computer code as I type them through the cybertonic transmitter at the Space Center."
"On it!" shot back the boy genius to the man genius.
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The little devils were within feet of them and Kim was just reaching into her holster for her grappler-hairdryer to get both her, Rufus and her boyfriend OUT when the Diablo's suddenly started to spin about like tops.
Faster and faster until they literally blurred. Then with the frying/snapping of burning components, they abruptly died into inert, smoking piles of plastic. Rufus ran over and give one a sniff, then turned back giving a 'thumbs up' to his two persons.
"Ohhhhhhh, sick and—" Ron started.
"Not so the drama Ron," Kim replied, not allowing herself to show just how close she had been to losing it as Rufus scampered back over. "Dad and Wade have our backs. Lets go."
With a whimper, Ron again started to follow Kim along, muttering, "as I said—"
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A single, loud whistle sounded in the room. The Figure, still huddled in the chair, seemed to draw even more inward, seemed to shrink even further into itself, as if it was being eaten from within.
She! He! They! were here. The time was at hand. Everything was ready and all that was needed was for everything to come into place.
And then . . . they would ALL be . . . all that!
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Monique and MrsDrP stood side by side just outside of the Police CP vehicle, grim faced, arms crossed, looking down the long alley at the warehouse. Monique's insides were so tight and knotted over so many things that she was boarding on despair. She knew that she really had no business being there, but she also knew that for some reason she had to be there. And after so long of so much of not having any control of her life, she could not refuse to heed that feeling.
MrsDrP was trying not to think at all. Deep inside she knew that she knew too much, knew by far, too many scenarios and possibilities for her own comfort and control. So she was just trying to blank her mind and wait, as she had been taught all those years ago in advanced stalking and evasion training. But even that wasn't helping much, for in that training, lurked the fact that you were patiently waiting, in thoughtless mediation, for your target to come along so that you could kill it—and right now, she could definitely do without that analogy.
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As had been predicted, the front door was unlocked.
Kim moved silently through it, reflecting in some bizarre way that it felt different to enter this building via this entrance while being in her own body. It was a deja vu with a twist . . . or twisted depending on ones outlook.
But right now they were looking for something/someone most definitely twisted. Kim felt Ron behind her, trembling for sure but that in itself was reassuring to her. Despite the fact that they had been in it for several minutes now, for the first time her thoughts and reflections hit on how it had been so long since they had been in mission mode together that it felt like another example of lost self recovered—and that in and of itself she found to be very reassuring.
Because right now, she needed all the reassuring she could get. Kim was use to facing villains and their strange, evil, dangerous beasts and devices. But deep inside her, Kim knew that a part of her was shuddering at the view of Drakken they had been shown. If she didn't have Ron to watch her back, she wasn't sure that she could have forced herself—
Kim pulled herself back upright against one of the stacks of unknown 'stuff' that was in storage. Directly in front of them was one of the burnt out probe robots, one of several that they had already passed. Memory told her that they were close to the main area. But unlike their previous visit, the interior was dark and very foreboding. There was a glimmer of gray light ahead of them—
There was nothing but to go for it—
"Well, Ron," Kim said after taking a deep breath. "Ready?"
"Are you kidding?" Ron replied in a trembling voice. "The Ronster was born ready . . . I've just never been sure for what."
"Yeah—what!" added in Rufus who had been down on his own on the floor ready to move if required.
Without turning her head, Kim's hand came back and grabbed Ron hard by the collar, dragging him to her as she swiveled her torso to him, a look so predatory on her face that Ron lost his fear of everything else at that moment.
"I know what you were born to do Ronster," Kim breathed at him in a voice so husky he almost didn't recognize it. Kim's eyes fell to a heavy lidded look that almost stopped Ron's heart. "So be careful and be safe my love, cause that day IS coming."
Ron's brain was trying to get back into gear and all it could manage was, "Kim, get your head in the game. Now is not the time—"
Kim released him and turned back away. "Now is exactly the time and my head is in the game Ron. That was just something that I had to say—" and then she faltered.
She's feeling fear Ron realized. Considering everything we know now about Drakken—
"Got your back KP," and that was all Ron could say.
"You always will," and that was all Kim could say.
Together, they moved down—
And gingerly into the main room—
And as the control booth/seat came into view on their left—
And as they saw it, as they continued to move into the room because they had too, the horror of it was drawing them like a magnet . . . . . .
. . . . . . and more of it became visible; they saw more and more of what was waiting for them . . . while not believing that they were really seeing it—
Rufus said it for them—"oh ++++!"