Big thank you to Bitter Sweet Teller for helping me out with this chapter!
Later, inside a dark cave...
Kim woke up, groaning in pain over what happened. All she could remember was being knocked out by the blast of the missile. After that? Nothing much. Just blurs. She doesn't even remember being in front of the video camera with Tony while the terrorists dictated their demands. Well, maybe bits and pieces. But, it seemed too far from reality at the time. And, for Kim, that was saying something. She rationalized it to a nightmare. Just a nightmare. She then rubbed her head. It still ached. It still pounded. She groaned hard.
But, in a second, she was exploring her surroundings. She couldn't see that much, as there was not much light. What was there? Just two beds and more of the cave. Bright mining like lights. No mining equipment. One bed had Tony in it, who was hooked up to some kind of device that looked like a car battery. Kim then slowly but surely sat up. The blurs had faded as fast as they came when she came to. She saw a man standing next to a post with a mirror taped to it. He was shaving his facial hair.
"Ah..." the man said with an accent. "You're awake. Good to see that you're alive, Miss Possible."
Kim didn't really listen to what the man said. She had been captured by villains on missions before. She had even taken a ride on a reality TV cruise ship to get to a mission. But, this was much different. Kim gulped very nervously. She was getting teary eyed. But, she tried hard to put a brave face on. The cave, the being help captive by terrorists who have killed young American soldiers? None of it was just a nightmare. And it's only now Kim is beginning to fully realize it.
She and Tony almost died with some American soldiers, that day they were captured. She scrambled to find her Kimmunicator. The mysterious man could tell what Kim was looking for without saying much.
"Looking for this?" the man asked.
He was tossing a bag to Kim. Kim on reflex caught it easy. She very faintly smiled knowingly on that note. She quickly opened the bag. And her faint smile quickly was gone. The bad was full of fragments of the Kimmunicator, destroyed in the blast. Kim sighed heavily. She shook. She knew that she might never be able to talk to Wade for awhile, much less call for a rescue. She started to let her mind wander off, hoping to finally wake up.
After some long minutes though, Kim shakily shook her head to herself. She sniffled hard. Silent tears fell. After a long minute, Kim sighed deeply in self pity. She was looking down as she did. Another long minute went by.
As she got over her pity, Kim's mind rattled with many questions. Some stayed back. Some though? She began to speak them out loud.
"Who are you? What is this place? What is the freaking sitch with those guys?!" Kim asked with utmost urgency.
But, The man continued to casually shave.
"Don't worry. Your questions will all be answered soon." The man mysteriously replied.
Kim deeply sighed again. She instantly thought he probably wasn't gonna be much help. For all she knew, he was a terrorist mastermind playing mind games. Kim quickly pushed that thought away. She flopped down on the bed. She sighed hard into her hands. When she looked up, she heard groaning from the other side of the cave.
She saw that Tony was beginning to awaken. He was removing the surgical tubing from his nose. He then leaned over, trying to get a cup of water. The mysterious man saw it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He warned.
Tony then leaned to the other side of the bed. He saw the car battery. He then looked at the wires, which led right between the bandages covering his chest. Tony then ripped apart the bandages, revealing a device connected right where his heart is supposed to be.
It was almost like someone tried to make him a Frankenstein monster or a new Terminator. Tony couldn't help but faintly laugh to himself over that thought.
Kim winced. She saw what happened to Tony.
She's been in some pretty bad scrapes before. She got her brain switched with Ron and was left with quite some scrapes when she was switched back to her body. Ron was always unintentionally clumsy, Kim's body or not. Kim even had to get her appendix removed during a mission. But...never a injury much more horrifying than Tony's.
Tony breathed heavily as the shock came through him. After a long minute, he got over the shock. He too had many questions like Kim. But, Tony never held back his thoughts from anyone.
The mysterious man then finished shaving. He began to cook what appeared to be chili while whistling.
"Here. This...might help." Kim offered. She tossed Tony her cracked compact mirror.
"Thanks." Tony just said. The mirror allowed him to look at himself and his injuries in greater detail.
"What the freaking hell did you do to him?!" Kim asked in horror.
The mysterious man just chuckled some. But, the faint smile on his face left in seconds.
"What I did?!" He shot back in a low tone. "What I did was to save his life."
Tony just continued to look at himself.
"All right. Go ahead and tell us." Kim prompted.
The man continued to explain, "I removed all the shrapnel I could. You were easy to patch up. But, for you Tony Stark? There's...there's a lot left. And, it's headed into your atrial septum."
The man stopped cooking. He held up what appeared to be a vial containing some type of metal.
"Here, want to see? I have a souvenir. Take a look." The man offered.
He handed the vial to Tony. Tony saw that the man only removed about three pieces of shrapnel.
Kim started to question the mysterious man, "are you a doctor?"
"Why, yes. I am." The man replied.
He faintly chuckled. "Not as brilliant as your brain surgeon mother Ann Possible or getting you and Ronald's brains back in your bodies. But, just as good."
Kim's eyes went wide. How did this man know about Kim and her personal life? Only her best friends and a weapons guard knew about the brain switch episode.
"Anyway...I've seen wounds like that in my village. We call it 'The Walking Dead' because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs." The man reflected.
Tony was silent throughout what Kim and the doctor said. That is until this certain point. Finally, he asked, "What is this?"
He was referring to the device hooked up in his chest.
"That is an electromagnet..." The man explained. He moderately sighed."...hooked up to a car battery. And, it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart. Hmm?"
Basically, if it wasn't for the doctor, Tony would have been dead. Tony then zipped up the jacket that was given to him. He handed Kim her compact back.
Kim then looked up for a bit. She saw a security camera inside the cave. The full sight of it confirmed her suspicion.
"We're being watched." She pointed out with a whisper.
"That's right. Smile." The man kind of loudly said.
Tony and Kim still had many questions for the man who had saved Tony's life. Like how they got captured, and the group who captured them? Kim's face was puzzled. She knew the man's accent was familiar. She knew she heard it before. Maybe from someone she knew. But, she still couldn't pinpoint it.
The man smirked.
"Oh, I see. I sound familiar to you. Well...would it surprise you that I'm related to one of your arch foes? Professor Dementor, as he calls himself?" The man supposed.
Kim gasped. She remembered her German arch foe. He was a short guy, likes to yell a lot, and had a accent that was similar to this man in the cave. "You are?" Kim asked with a quiver.
"That's right. He and I are first cousins." The man explained.
Kim then growled from within. She was sharply glaring. She rarely ever growled at anyone. But, that was in high school. This whole cave reeked of a waking nightmare. The thought that the mysterious man was the one who put them in there was rearing its ugly head around.
"Don't worry young little lady! I...I am not evil like him. If I was, I wouldn't be trapped here like you and Mr. Stark." The man pleaded.
He was holding his hands behind his head as he did.
Kim deeply sighed with relief. She gave the man a sheepish smile.
"Sorry. Force of habit. And...I'm usually not in a living nightmare I haven't just woken up from." Kim admitted. She guilty laughed at her own growl.
Tony sighed in mixed relief.
"That is OK. It's normal for heroes like yourself anyway." The mysterious man said with a smile. Then he turned to Tony. "As for you, we met once, at a technical conference in Bern."
Tony thought hard as he tried to remember. He had gone to a lot of places and seen many faces. But, he just couldn't remember the man in the cave.
"Sorry. I don't remember." He pointed out.
"So typical of a billionaire." Kim thought kind of out loud. She smirked.
"Hey!" Tony annoyingly called back.
Kim just faintly giggled.
Tony started to glare. He was about to say something. "But... The mysterious man said something first.
"No, you wouldn't. If I had been that drunk, I wouldn't have been able to stand much less give a lecture on integrated circuits." The man continued.
He laughed as he remembered that night much more than Tony. Kim couldn't help but faintly giggle again.
"Where are we?" Tony finally asked.
"From the darkness and smells of this place... I'd say we're in some cave lair in the mountains. The same kind of lair al-Qaeda could be using to hide...Osama Bin..." Kim was saying. Her voice broke. She was crying. Tears began falling down her face.
The ride back with Tony, the sharp extractions of shrapnel from the back of her arms and legs, the ice packs, the exploding missile, the camera, the terrorists, a distant all too familiar voice she couldn't place...the broken glass pieces of her nightmares seemed to all come together. The mysterious man and Tony were shook.
Well, much more so Tony than the mysterious man. But, still. Some tears fell from the mysterious man's face. But, his face otherwise seemed extremely calm.
After a long minute, Kim finally stood up. She stormed over to Tony. And before he knew what was happening, Kim had pinned him to the wall.
"Whoa! Easy kiddo!" Tony said in defense.
"Take it easy?! Take it easy? This...this is all your fault!" Kim exploded in anger.
"How...how was this all my fault? I just...!" Tony argued.
"I know how easily distracted guys like you get. So, you better listen now!" Kim shot back.
"Shutting up now." Tony muttered uncomfortably.
"Thank you." Kim muttered under her breath. "Our capture, those soldiers dying...it's all on you. They were killed by your weapons! Trust me. I know missiles on their way from villains. That missile...that missile that landed right near us? That gave me a pretty damn clear picture who designed them!" She practically yelled at the last part. She finally let go of Tony.
In a second, Kim was putting her arms out and her kind of clenched hands upward to bring her point home.
Tony froze in now fully remembered what happened and how they got there. He just didn't want to fully face reality. Kim was right. The soldiers that died protecting them were killed by Stark Industries weapons. And he and Kim almost died due to the missile that landed near them and blew them away. That still left a glaring question though: How did those terrorists get Stark's weapons?
Just then, there was a knock on the metal door.
"Come on, stand up. Stand up!" The man said softly to Tony and Kim.
Kim fast walked over to her bed.
She stood there. She was expecting the terrorists to be less questionably if she did.
The man firmly grabbed Tony's arm.
"Just do as I do. Come on...both of you...put your hands up." The man instructed.
All three of them did just that.
Then, a group of terrorists carrying guns came into the room.
Tony recognized those guns as his own. Well, his company's at least.
"Those are my guns. How...how did they get my guns?" Tony asked in a dead serious tone. He had let his arms down as he did.
"I have no idea. But I was right. Now they're probably going to...going to try and...and kill us." Kim whispered. She couldn't help but sob some at the sheer thought of it.
Yet she kept her hands up like it was military school or something.
"Do you understand me? Do as I do." the man hissed to Tony.
Just then, a large portly man, who was leading the gun wielding terrorists, began to speak in Arabic. It was all with a cruel smile on his face. Tony and Kim looked confused.
"Do you speak Arabic?" Tony asked Kim.
"Not that much." Kim admitted.
She was fluent in some languages. But, not that much for the Middle Eastern regions.
"He says, 'Welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murder in the history of America. And welcome Kim Possible, the most famous hero and assassin, known worldwide.'" The man translated.
"Assassin? I'm not an assassin!" Kim pointed out.
She would never kill anyone in cold blood. It was not in her heroic DNA to do something so horrifying.
The leader continued to speak in Arabic while the man continued to translate.
"He is honored." the man said. The Ten Rings leader held out a picture of the Jericho missile and continued to speak. "He wants you both to build the missile. The Jericho missile that Tony demonstrated. This one."
He kind of nervously held out the picture of the missile for Kim and Tony to see at the same time.
Kim then glanced over at Tony, who was thinking the same thing as she was.
The Jericho missile was supposed to defend people from villain threats, not cause them. And now these terrorists were demanding that they build the most powerful weapon to be used to create terror throughout Asia and the Middle East. They couldn't let that happen. Both of them stood defiant with their arms down.
"We refuse." Tony said.
Kim glared tensely at the terrorists, daring them to do something. The Ten Rings leader yelled something in Arabic. And soon, the gun wielding terrorists approached Kim. She still stood defiant.
"Nice try to intimidate. But as you boys might already know...I know 16 styles of kung fu!" Kim pointed out, smirking wide.
She took down two terrorists with just some spin kicks in seconds. But that was all she could do.
Two terrorists overpowered her with two crudely built rusty grappling hooks. They were fired from grappling hook launchers strapped on their backs. Kim was instantly restrained against the cave wall by the rusty grappling hooks. Some sharp shooting pain flooded her shoulders. Some built up tears let loose. But, Kim put on a brave face regardless. Tony couldn't help but admire her brave face. He smirked for a bit.
Then, the terrorists kept Kim restrained by sheer numbers keeping the grappling hooks stationed.
"Hey! Let me go!" Kim cried out.
She struggled to break free. But, it was no use.
The Ten Rings leader shouted again. He nervously gulped. He just realized there are few terrorists left that aren't barely restraining Kim. The Ten Rings leader very reluctantly helped another terrorist shift a tub of cold water closer. He then drew out his own weapon. It was a exact match for the others. He kept a close eye himself on Tony in case he tried something.
By now, Kim was too worn out from struggling to escape to keep struggling. One of the terrorists checked her pulse. He firmly nodded to the Ten Rings leader.
The Ten Rings leader shouted again. The terrorists began to dunk Kim's head in the tub of cold water as Tony and the man looked on in horror. The terrorists waterboarded Kim twice, leaving her a wet and gasping mess physically.
The man begged in Arabic for the terrorists to stop. The Ten Rings leader just chuckled with an evil smile.
But, Kim still stood defiant.
"You might want to rethink your terrorism and your whole life. You can't break me. And, when I break out, you'll all be...!" Kim was remarking.
The Ten Rings leader whispered something to one of the terrorists. The terrorist pulled out a small tub of water from under Kim's bed. The terrorists laughed hard some. For all cramped and all too eager to get out of the small tub of water was a big electric eel. Two terrorists all too easily dunked the small tub of water into the bigger one, letting the electric eel loose in it.
"You...you got to be freaking kidding me! That...that was under my bed here all along?!" Kim realized.
She was now shaking with terror. She was about to be electrocuted. She tried to break free from the terrorists' grasps. But it was no use. The waterboarding, the crude grappling hooks, it all was meant to wear her down for this cruel awaiting moment.
Tears kept falling from Kim's face.
She gulped very nervously.
Tony has already seen too much death. He couldn't just stand there and watch them kill Kim Possible. They almost had Kim's face back in the water before Tony cut in.
"Alright! We'll do it! Just please! Let her go!" Tony yelled.
The Ten Rings leader cruelly smirked in triumph. The terrorists complied with Tony's was still breathing heavily. She tried to walk over to Tony. But she just almost completely collapsed on the floor. Only her hands against the edge of the bed helped break her fall. Tony rushed over to her.
"Hey. Hey Kim! I'm...I'm so sorry for everything here. You...you OK?" Tony very nervously asked.
He was on the verge of tears himself.
After a long minute, Kim spoke.
"Yeah. I...I was hoping to hear you say all of that. Maybe different parts at different times. But...well... Yeah." Kim said. She was grateful that Tony stood up, saved her life, and went a step further with standing up to things.
Tony faintly chuckled. But, it's not like he'd say more out loud in front of the terrorist leader. Kim managed a weak smile.
"Thank you." Kim whispered.
The Ten Rings leader then spoke in Arabic again. The terrorists then put bags over Tony and Kim's heads. They were escorted with the man outside the cave. Once out into the fresh air, the terrorists then lifted the bags from their captives' heads to reveal that the outside of their hideout had almost every single one of Stark's weapons.
They then walked the land as they saw multiple missiles, guns, grenades, RPG launchers, and more weapons than any Army branch was supposed to have had in the history of the United States.
Tony was still shocked over what he was seeing. He just couldn't believe that those terrorists got his weapons.
Kim was still physically shook up with being near death so suddenly.
But, through the tour she put up a brave face.
The leader then muttered something in Arabic.
"He wants to know what you think." The man translated for Tony.
"I think you have a lot of my weapons." Tony simply stated.
Kim continued to look around at the stockpile of weapons. Numerous deadly possibilities swirled throughout her brain.
Half of them were cartoonish. The other half were far from it.
Kim started sighing a lot to herself in mixed feelings.
"any kind of group with... Can attack any...! What have I been letting stay secret in...?! So...so many military bases I've been in and helped save. I...I never realized how..." She kept murmuring to herself.
She kept pacing around a lot. Tears fell from her face. But, she seemed too drawn into her own thoughts to notice.
The Ten Rings leader continued to speak demands in Arabic.
"He says they have everything you two need to build the Jericho missile. He wants you to make the list of materials. He says for you two to start working immediately. And, when you're both done, he will set you both free." The man was translating.
At the last part, Kim finally broke out of her drawn into herself thoughts. She very awkwardly rushed over to stand alongside the mysterious man and Tony.
The Ten Rings leader chuckled some to himself over that. He then held out his hand as if to say "Do we have a deal?"
Tony then shook his hand first. He faintly smiled.
"No. He won't." Tony bluntly said. He just saw that the leader is lying through his teeth.
Kim then reluctantly shook the leader's hand.
"Well... Maybe I have a better chance one day." Kim said. She faintly smiled.
The Ten Rings leader laughed hard at this. He said something in Arabic.
"You said you can't be broken. Yet, here we are." The mysterious man very reluctantly translated.
Kim gulped very nervously at that. Some tears fell.
She still tried to put on a brave face. But, she was failing to now. Some of the terrorists laughed.
Tony looked about ready to punch one of them. That's when the Ten Rings leader quickly says something in Arabic.
"No. You two won't." The man translated.
It pretty much was confirming again Kim and Tony's fears. The Ten Rings leader continued to cruelly smile.
Tony then looked over the mountains to see a bunch of men overlooking the terrorist actions here. He also saw that one of the people was a pale woman wearing a green jumpsuit. Clearly, they're the ones in charge.
Kim started to look around. She thought she heard someone faintly familiar shouting something to the men overlooking everything. But, The Ten Rings leader pushed Kim back toward the cave before she could get a good look. Kim groaned hard from the returning sharp shooting pain in her shoulders.
Night has fallen over Afghanistan.
Kim and Tony were sitting around a small fire, looking rather depressed.
Kim was still wearing the same yellow shirt with blue star and blue pants she had when he had gotten captured. She has never given up before. But, from the mood on her and Tony's faces, things were looking rather extremely bleak.
All the while, the mysterious man just paced back and forth.
"I'm sure they're looking for both of you. But they will never find you in these mountains." The man said.
Just then, he was kind of uncomfortably staring at them face to face. When they said nothing, he knew he had to be blunt.
"Look. What you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work, in the hands of those murderers. And you, Miss Possible..." The man was saying. He moderately sighs. "They have beaten you up until weakness overcame you. If they exploit and ruin your legacies...they can use it to influence your enemies or worse. Soon, they will rule the world. They even are building their own Kimmunicators from reconstruction and what little salvaged inner workings were left. Is that how you both want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the amazing Kim Possible and the great Tony Stark? Or are you both going to do something about it?"
After a few seconds, Kim's bleak look was replaced with a look of rage, brightness, and determination. She then stood up.
"No. No! We're not giving up! We've got a world to save!" Kim declared.
That made the mysterious man smile. He knew that Kim was spiking the fire in people that he had heard about.
"We're all gonna get out of here. Not just the both of us. But you too. It's a hero thing." She said.
She pointed to the man on the last part. The man looked surprised and pleased.
For a second, Tony smirked.
"OK. We must work together to form a plan of three phases for us to escape. Tony, I'm going to need your technical genius help for..." Kim started laying out the plan.
"Why should we do anything, kid?" Tony asked. He was still looking bleak. "They're going to kill me, you, him, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week."
Kim deeply sighed. She knew she had to bring Tony out of his self pitying daze. But, she wasn't really sure how yet.
"Well then, this is a very important week for you. Isn't it? To go out a hero?" The man asked Tony.
Then, Kim faintly smiled knowingly to herself.
"Look Tony, when those goons were waterboarding me, you stepped up and helped me. Why? Because you knew it was the right thing to do. I may still be more than a little angry at you for your weapons being involved here. But, about you doing the right thing? I also mean that. And when you saw those terrorists with your weapons? You totally knew it was wrong. We can make this right though. Anything is Possible for a Possible. That's what my family has always lived by. If I can climb Mount Everest, swim through the Nile River, and brave the Arctic cold while still making it on time for math class, then we can escape from this terrorist captivity nightmare." Kim said.
Tony actually managed to hold on to a solemn smile for himself.
"I'm the teen hero world saver. He's the scientist and doctor here. And you're...well, not drunk. You're also the best mechanic we got and a technical genius and a CEO. All three of us will have to combine our strengths to cover our weaknesses for us to walk out of here okay. Well...mostly as we can anyway. So Tony...are you with us?" Kim finished.
Tony continued to smile.
"You know kid, I thought at first you were going to act like "just a kid" when they tried to...well, yeah. What was I...? Ohh. Right. You got serious spunk kid. I mean it." Tony said.
Kim blushed some under her smile. Tony was expecting her to quip back. But, it wasn't coming.
"I know you do." Kim just said.
"OK. I'm in. Let's do it." Tony finally concluded.
Kim then high fived Tony.
"And don't even think about coming on to me, mister playboy billionaire. I'm a teenager! And, I can still kick your butt." Kim warned. She slightly glared as well.
"Wasn't even thinking it." Tony sincerely added.
"I'm glad you're not. Now...let's move on to getting out of here." Kim said.
Then, the there of them started working on their plan to escape.
