Drop in Reality
Chapter 12: The Second Incursion
"Thank you for the fast ride, Mr. Nakisumi," Kim bowed to the elderly gentleman sitting beside his translator.
The man glanced at Kim, raising one finger before returning to his typing for a few moments. After he finished, he shut the lid of his laptop and then stretched his arms above his head with a soft groan before turning to her, light wrinkles highlighting his smile.
"It is no problem, Kim. If it wasn't for you, my whole company would have been destroyed. I can never thank you enough. It was very fortunate that I happened to be nearby at a conference."
"No big, Drakken comes up with hair-brained schemes all the time." Kim waved off his thanks, settling next to the man's seat, and gazed out the window. Below was a sea of rolling trees, several prominent rivers cutting through to join into a larger one that stretched off into the horizon. Various birds were mere specs above the canopy.
The scenery was beautiful, but Kim's eyes were glazed. She was doing what she had to do; to save the world, to save Ron. In the heat of the moment, it was just natural. Three problems, three Kims. Things got so confusing after. She would find a way to win and bring Ron back to her, but what happened afterward? Was she the real Kim or a clone? She examined her hand, lightly pinching it. She winced at the pain and spreading redness. She certainly felt real, but how would she know how a clone would feel?
If she was a clone, would her family accept her or would she be disposed of? She shivered at the thought. Her family hugging the real Kim leaving her alone. Unwanted.
She felt her arms gripping herself, visions of the possible future flittering through her mind. Research specimen? Garbage dump? Soda factory? A shiver ran down her spine.
"Ms. Possible?" Kim shook herself at Mr. Nakisumi's words, blinking several times before she turned to him. "If it is not too much of an intrusion, you appear troubled."
Kim's eyes looked past him, unfocused as she shuddered again. "It's…It's been… a long couple of weeks," she sighed, body slumped into the seat, with downcast eyes.
The weight of her recent thoughts added to the unbearable load of just what those few weeks entailed. She felt herself sinking, mired in them. Until… she felt a light touch on her shoulder.
She focused to find gentle eyes watching her.
"I have found in my long life that a problem's burden can often be lessened with the simple act of sharing. If you feel inclined, I am willing to listen."
Kim blinked again as if coming back to herself, sitting back straight in her seat, she swiveled to properly face him. Her eyes traced the lines of his face that spoke of a life of happiness and laughter.
She noticed his laptop beeping for his attention, but he calmly waited for her, appearing comfortable in the stretching silence despite his many responsibilities.
"You're right. Life is usually pretty intense, but there have been so many problems recently that I can't seem to solve no matter how hard I try."
He nodded for her to continue.
"You see, Ron…"
Boom
Kim whipped around to the noise. Peering out the window, she found smoke billowing from the engine. A long crimson line of missing steel wrapped around the wing half an inch deep. Beyond that, the wing wobbled wildly, each rotation more violent than the last. The grinding of metal on metal grew stronger until it stopped, and the entire wing tore away, fluttering into the air behind them. The familiar feeling in her stomach let her know they weren't flying anymore.
Frantic Japanese played across the speaker.
Kim ignored it, legs launching off against the side of the plane, her weightless body zipping straight to a panel labeled 'Emergency'. With a crack of her fist, the cover was off, floating away. She grabbed one parachute after the next, throwing them behind her. She turned to find the crew had them in their arms, surprise registering especially on those taken unaware out of their seats and were tumbling through the air, trying to grab anything they could with their other hand. She frowned when she realized Nakisumi's parachute floated end over end above him, his face frozen in terror.
With another push and Kim flew straight at the man, her deft hands had him in his parachute in moments. She grabbed his arm, dragging him to the exit. A quick fist against the release and they were flying. Blues and greens blurred around her in no rhyme or reason. She raised one arm, shifting their position precisely, the sky and forest becoming two separate entities, the forest near engulfing her vision. She put her face in front of Nakisumi's, eyes focused on his.
"Get to safety," There was no recognition in his expression, but she was out of time. Her hand pulled the release. The parachute popped out and she was in free fall again, the man zooming away above her.
Kim grimaced before turning around to face the oncoming forest canopy. Tapping her chest, a bright blue light lit up underneath her clothes, power radiating from her tense arms. Her eyes traced the trees zooming towards her. Two hands snaked out, latching to a branch. It gave way with a sickening crunch. Her feet landed on the next branch which also gave way beneath her. She threw the branch in her hand away to grab the one zooming past. It creaked dangerously but held. She sighed as the debris from her first two attempts fell around her.
"Well, that didn't go as planned," Kim murmured, hanging from the tree. Glancing up, she noticed three parachutes silhouetted against the blazing sun.
Ding ding ding ding.
Kim flipped up onto the thick branch that had saved her from a nasty fall, pulling out the Kimmunicator.
"Good timing, Wade. I was just about to call."
"Kim! You need to exit the plane right now! Wait, are you in the jungle?" Wade asked, peering behind her.
"Yeah, something hit the plane and it went down. I think everyone made it out, but could you call in a rescue for them? Please and thank you."
"Yeah, no problem."
"So, what's the sitch?" Kim asked, leveraging her body up and over to land lightly on the sturdy branch. Her eyes traced the surroundings, finding an ocean of trees as far as she could see. She grunted with a shake of her head. "Also, I may need some coordinates as this place is a maze."
"I just got a powerful reading in your area. One moment nothing, the next boom. I'm not sure how he hid it from my scan. If it's from his base, Ron's coordinates are miles off.
"Wonderful, not sure how I'm going to make this up to Mr. Nakisumi. That wasn't a cheap plane," Kim winced as a boom from the plane crashing shook the foliage around her. The sounds of the jungle paused before coming back to life.
"Something we can look into later, world-saving first?" Wade asked, typing at his computer. "Which reminds me, what should I call you?"
Kim blinked before considering the question. "Well, I did get the power suit out of all of us, I suppose Kim Alpha works."
Wade blinked. "Oookay, I've pinpointed the energy signature's last location and marked it on your Kimmunicator."
"Thanks, Wade." Kim's finger tapped a few buttons and a holographic view of the jungle surroundings appeared around her. A few more and a green dot appeared along with a red. Her finger traced the map between the two causing a line to appear. She studied the terrain carefully before shutting the device down. The map and all of its lines vanished with a pop.
Her gaze focused unerringly along the same path beyond the tree. With a nod and a slight bounce in her toes, she slipped off her branch, easily catching another. It only took a quick flip with a hundred-foot drop, and another catch that shook the branch fiercely, but it held firm. Releasing it, she lightly slipped to the ground a few feet below.
She was about to start when an ominous growl echoed around her. Only a few meters away, a bush shuddered, and a black form creeped out, its eyes fixed on her as it hissed, blood dripping from its jaws. The head of a sloth poked out of the bush behind it.
"Ah, it looks like I disturbed your meal. Be a good kitty and I'll let you get back to that," Kim said, both hands set defensively ahead of her.
Unheeding her suggestion, the cat continued to circle.
"Or I guess there is always the hard way," Kim muttered as she flexed her fist, gesturing for the cat to come and get her. It paused at the gesture; its head crooked to one side. It took a long draw of the air, its eyes widening before it dashed into the underbrush away from her.
Kim stared after it, her gaze shifting between the prey and the cat that leaped over a small hill, showing no signs of stopping. "Ok, something seriously spooked it. Enough to abandon a kill…"
Her eyes circled around her, realizing that the usual noises of the jungle had gone very, very still all of a sudden. Her hand carefully pulled out the Kimmunicator as it vibrated at her side.
"Wade…" Her question went unasked as Wade's voice screamed in panic.
"KIM! That energy signature is moving and fast right for you!"
"Kind of got that impression, Wade. Any details on what's incoming?" She asked, slowly backing up to the tree she had landed in.
"I'm having a hard time getting a visual on it." His brows furrowed in concentration as he continued to type frantically. "It kind of looks like a…"
"A robotic naked mole rat," Kim finished for him as the night black beast twice the size of the leopard erupted from the ground at the edge of the clearing. Its hide did not reflect the sunlight, the beams seeming to coat the beast, swirling around it. It had two slits on its forehead that seemed to stand in for eyes. They didn't seem to work all that well as it tossed its head, not focusing on her.
"Looks like Ron's gone stereotype on the villainous Robo-beasts. Though I got to say, this one doesn't look nearly as intimidating as I would have expected. Wade, do you have a read on it? I don't think I've ever seen anything like that armor."
It stilled, its nose twitching as it scurried around to face her, hollowed eyes lifted to meet her own.
"And creepy," Kim murmured under her breath.
"Now that it's surfaced, the reading is better, but something is still making it hard to analyze. I think it's the armor, I can't quite pin down what it is made of."
The thing opened its mouth and Kim shuddered as it lit up.
"I think I know what shot down the plane," Kim muttered as she jumped to the side, an inch-thick beam sliced by her. Leaves shook as Kim gasped and had to dodge a second time, neat handstands flowed into one another. A crackle and an ominous rustle echoed behind her. With a glance, Kim leaped to the side, her savior tree trying to squash her flat as it crashed with a bang that shook the area.
"I'm not getting any more readings from it, Kim," Wade sighed in relief, wiping his brow as he shifted his gaze to another screen. "I am getting another signal two miles from your current location."
In tandem with Wade's voice, Kim witnessed a huge flock of birds scatter in the distance as a large satellite dish appeared above the tree line, rapidly rising.
"I think I see it, Wade."
"LOOK OUT!"
Kim jumped up, narrowly dodging another beam from below the tree, slicing it clean in half. "Looks like this one isn't quite out of commission yet."
The beam petered out as the beast started to dive back into the ground.
"Oh no you don't!" Kim screamed, flipping down, and landing an axe kick on its head, her other hand whipped around knocking it against the shredded remains of the tree. Moments later, blue-coated fists pounded the beast one after the next.
A flash her only warning, Kim flipped out of the way of another beam.
Kim shook her hands. "That thing is tough, even with the suit, I felt those punches. At least it must be…" Clunk.
Kim's eyes widened as the dent all her efforts had made in its side popped out, not a blemish left.
"Tough may be an understatement."
The thing flipped to its feet; the little appendages scurried it into circles followed by a high whorl that cut off as it faced her.
She leaped into a flip, nearly missing the landing as she found the beast furiously tapping its feet, twisting and writhing with a high squeak of agony as inch by inch, its head moved away from her and pointed directly towards its own torso. A high piercing shriek shook the vegetation causing her to cover her ears and shrink away as the blast hit its own midsection. Kim wiped her eyes, the whole area a blur from the light show.
She found the thing's blast had flung it against another tree, leaving a burning outline. Finally, it lay there, one side fiercely bright, its nose poking at it before turning towards her, eyes lighting up red. She readied another leap when it dove into the ground and vanished.
"What the devil just happened?" Kim asked the suddenly vacant area, her ears ringing.
"That one was me," came Wade's voice from her side. Sweat beaded at his brow as his eyes flipped from one screen to another, fingers flying between three keyboards.
"I figured out it was receiving a signal; I managed to hijack and force it to fire on itself. Just a little more and I can force it back up so we can finish it… off… wait what?" He faded, his triumphant smile slowly dissolving into a frown as the typing level increased. "This thing's neural net is on a completely different level. It's somehow bypassing its hardwired control. That is beyond adaptive. Fortunately, this one is out of commission for now."
Shrieks echoed in the forest almost in answer to Wade's comments with another set responding in the far distance. "Kim, a couple more of those strange readings just popped up in the area. Based on the first, these things are far more adaptable than they look and may be difficult to take on yourself. If I can hack into the source of the signal giving them orders, I should be able to shut them down."
"On it," Kim replied, shaking her still smarting wrist. With a turn, she tore off booking it as fast as her legs could. The wail and shrieks became further and further distant as she continued to b-line it towards the tower.
"Nice," Kim whispered, sailing through the jungle, and across a wide river. A few disgruntled crocodiles were the only thing left in her path. Her breathing slowed, eyes focused, a twist on a branch, a leap from a tree, seemingly random actions circumvented all threats with ease and landed her in front of the tower, her breath hardly affected by the minor workout.
She glanced around but found no control box, no other sign that anything was even there. The construction had to be recent, the earth was level in a perfect circle some thirty meters around a slab made of the same material as that thing. There was not a single sign of foliage in that impossibly leveled zone. Her footprints seemed aberrations in the perfection
"Well, this is getting me nowhere fast," Kim mumbled, popping out her Kimmunicator again. "Wade? I need an entrance."
Screech.
Kim turned a full circle, eyeing the edges of the clearing as the nails to chalkboard sounds echoed, drawing near.
"Wade, I think I'll need that way in sooner rather than later please, and thank you." Kim's voice raised in slight concern as another set of shrieks echoed from behind her.
Long seconds passed with no response, Kim's eyes shifted back and forth scanning for intruders.
SCREECH
Kim found herself in the air, her body reacting on its own as her last position sizzled.
"Not kidding, Wade, need help ASAP like right now," Kim's words were strained as she twisted unnaturally in the air, her back warmed as concentrated fire raced by.
Kim landed and spun to the ground, twin beams passing above her. It gave her just enough time to spot two of the things aiming at her and just her luck, a third cropping up from the ground.
"WADE! Help! Like Right NOW!" Her call was cut off as another blast flashed by, she dodged it by a hair's breadth in a backflip only to feel her world turn to fire. Something lanced into her back and spread like wildfire across all her senses. An agonized scream stretched impossibly long. Kim wondered whose scream it was, only to realize it was her own.
The white-hot intensity slowly lessened, her eyes frantically jerking one way to another. Half of her vision was filled on the left by the thick lid, the rest slowly coming into focus on a blue, blue sky and fluffy clouds. Her frazzled mind tried to move her arms, her legs, anything. Nothing responded. Every few moments, a limb would spasm painfully.
"Wade?" She managed to whisper. She had no idea where the device was, certainly not in the sky and her eyes refused to shift anywhere else.
"Please?" That feeling of helplessness that had so recently caught her bloomed. She had gotten careless. She didn't have any backup. No Rufus, no… no Ron.
"Is this how it ends?" Kim blinked, her vision going fuzzy, no, something was lancing through the air.
Blink
BOOM
The world was white filled with static.
"$#^# #%(*" She tried to speak. Maybe she succeeded. She heard none of it. Was she alive? God yes, she felt that intense heat suffuse her. The pain was her only constant in this blank new world of static.
"K#^#(m!"
Kim paused, had she heard something?
"Ki#$^#m!"
There, she heard it again.
There was no difference, but she closed her eyes, focusing her concentration.
"Kiiiiiiim!"
The girl jerked as she just made out her name that time. She could hear. A feeling aside from pain and terror flooded her, relief.
Iron resolve locked into place, her focus shifting through her body, the one she knew so well. Yes, there was a sensation. The ground? A tingle and she could feel her fingers moving across it twitching slightly from the spasms. Next, her hands shifted behind her. She shoved to spring to her feet only to find herself face-first in the dirt, her limp legs not catching her.
Kim panted, lifting herself slightly away allowing her to spit out the clumps of dirt and breathe once more. Finally, she blinked. Eyes recognizing a hazy brown.
"I'm not blind." She continued to blink, vision becoming clearer after each until she saw the faint outline of the area.
"KIM! Respond! Are you there!?"
Kim shook her hair spraying dirt everywhere like a wet dog. Her gaze settled on her faithful Kimmunicator, somehow still intact after the blast.
Far slower than she would have liked, she crawled to it, picking it up.
"Wade?" Her voice sounded hollow as if she hadn't had anything to drink in days. She swallowed. "What happened?" Kim murmured.
"KIM! Thank goodness, I'm so sorry! I lost her. And nearly lost you too! I couldn't do anything," A despondent voice replied.
Kim blinked. "What? What's going on, Wade? Didn't you send that beam or whatever that was?" Kim asked, sitting up finally and scanning the area. Finding the naked mole rat machines spasming themselves, their attention anywhere but on her. "If you didn't, I think I may have kicked the bucket."
The voice stopped for a moment. "Beam? You mean it didn't destroy the city?"
"City? You aren't making sense, Wade. I was literally on my back in spasms about to die when boom. Thankfully, it seems to have knocked them out as a bonus."
Kim carefully stood, her knees weak, but gaining strength. She took a better look and found that the tower and the dish it held simply no longer existed. In its place was a hole with exposed tubing that sparked angrily. She blinked as she realized the slab right next to her had vanished to reveal a stairwell. No, actually she spotted it. It must have been blown off its hinges and sailed right past her and slammed into the far trees, landing right on top of one of those things.
She turned back to her device as there was no response, just the constant furious typing echoing in her ears, uncomfortably close to the static that was her world for far too long.
"Wade, can I get some answers please?"
The typing cut off leaving the remains of that horrid static.
"Ron…did…something. I think the blast of power you felt kickstarted a reactor, except the power levels are beyond any I know of."
"Power? Didn't you say that whatever that beam was could destroy a city? How much stronger are we talking here?"
"More, a lot more. The kind of power that destroys a continent if something goes wrong."
"Oh," Kim gulped as she looked down at the unassuming stairway.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Kim whipped around at the jarring sound like steel being torn to shreds, focusing on the tunnel door that had hit the beast. The whole slab was shuddering back and forth. Her eyes widened as a hole appeared after another of those nerve-wracking crunches.
'It… is eating its way out!' Kim thought incredulously.
Its nose appeared and it circled around, expanding the opening before vanishing from view. It was replaced by two paw-like appendages that hefted it up and out of its enclosure. It turned several times almost as if excited before running to an edge and chomping down again. All the while, it paid her no mind, just single-mindedly focused on its meal. Glancing around, she found the other two had stopped moving, only this one was apparently saved from the full blast by the door as well.
She triple-blinked when she found the beast pausing, shivering violently. A few seconds later, a thin rod formed on its side, breaking off with a clink.
"What the…" Kim's eyes widened as the beast started eating again and the rod extended four needle-thin appendages, limping slowly towards the door and eating too, growing larger far too quickly.
"Kim, I think you'd better get inside right now!"
"Yeah, I have a really bad feeling about this."
Plunk, plunk, plunk, plunk
Rods fell one after the next as Kim leaped and dashed down the stairway. She hardly noticed the ancient stone blocks that formed the path as the light from above vanished in her haste.
"Kim? I think we are going to need help with this one." Kim didn't respond at first, launching off of a wall as the stairs circled back in the opposite direction.
"Wade, Ron said he'll trigger everything if Global Justice makes an appearance. Best to not worry, I've got this. We find the signal's source, hijack it, capture Ron, stop his evil plan and the sitch is solved. We WON'T need help," she finished with a growl.
She didn't notice the wince, nor the boy's eyes widening as he continued to type.
"Um, that slab is gone and there are eight more of them out there."
Kim glanced back even as she dashed down the next double back. "Looks like they ran out of food and eight isn't much more than we were dealing with before. As I said, we are well on our way to fixing the problem."
"Yeah… that problem may be getting a little bigger. They started eating everything else in the area. Whatever Ron did to generate all that energy, they seem to be tapping into it and… I can't believe this, changing the dirt into more of themselves. It's not nearly as fast, but I don't see them stopping. That can get out of hand quickly if you aren't able to get to the signal or something goes wrong. Are you sure we shouldn't…?"
"Stop, Wade, that's all the more reason to pull the plug and use the signal to get these things to self-destruct. There is always an option for that. Every villain we've ever faced has had one, we just need to find it."
"Right. I'll…I'll be right back; the other Kim needs help."
Kim didn't acknowledge his departure as she approached a light in the dim stairs revealing a cave-in. She carefully approached it as a rectangle had been cut straight into the wall a few feet above the last few steps. She peaked in to find a long corridor that trailed to the left and down only a few feet wide and seven high with two impossibly long panes stretched along each side. They thrummed almost like a heartbeat, shifting between a crimson to neon pink tinged by a sickly green in time with the sound. Pretty, except she noticed that the pulses were increasing in tempo.
She jogged ahead, her eyes scanning along the floor and ceiling for possible traps only to stop when she caught sight of the far doorway. Above it was a plain board with a frozen countdown timer. Scribbled underneath was a 'Times ticking'. Her mouth furrowed as the numbers snapped into life starting at one hour.
She glanced around but saw no cameras. To be safe, she set her watch in time with the countdown.
There was no clue aside from the ominous 'destroy the world' Ron had inferred.
'Ron...' Kim gulped half fearing that confrontation and half longing for it. She didn't have an attitudinator, but she could restrain him until they could get ahold of one. She would. He would be hers. A triumphant smirk flickered across her features before she nearly dropped, one hand stretched out to stop her fall, the other clutching her head.
"Ow, what was that?" The click, click, click of the clock caught her attention.
"No time for migraines, have to push forward." Kim staggered up, rushing past the clock and through the doorway finding it intersected another ancient stone stairway, one path leading down, and the one leading up was covered by a slab of steel. Placing a hand on it, she felt pressure on the other side. It seems another cave-in had happened and was only being held back by the plate. It was a small comfort, but the plat was firmly affixed to the sides, with no means to let it give way.
Just in case, she quickly descended the stairs, the temperature dropping by the step, bringing an unexpected shiver through her spine. It wasn't the last as she nearly fell back when a putrid smell assaulted her nose. Covering her mouth, she broke through the threshold to find a corridor. Each side had thick wooden poles sticking out of the ground similar to bars. There were eight sets of these unusual features, some broken, bits strewn about around them. The area was illuminated by lights pegged into the top of the ceiling. On the far wall was another artificial exit.
She walked quickly, to escape the stench, only casually glancing through the bars to discover they were cells. Several held skeletal arms shackled to the wall, their original owner little more than a heap of bones, some appearing outstretched others resting against the wall with scraped messages of their final words in a language long lost. They must have been there for centuries.
She found a little relief that they were far too old for Ron to have anything to do with. It was likely he found them by accident while setting up his little lair.
She was about to descend through the next exit when her head whipped around at a scrape against the floor. She backpedaled quietly, studying the cells a little closer as she searched for the source. She paused at the third from the last on the right side. Peering around the poles and past the thick walls of brick, she spotted movement in the shadows. She inched closer, only to backstep.
"Sara?" The question slipped past her lips. The noise caused a ripple of terror across the woman's features.
It really was the older woman Kim had met so long ago on the mission to hunt leads for Ron. But the proud woman running an up-and-coming company was gone. In its place was a broken woman, head hung limply. The once pristine business suit hung in tatters, long lacerations crisscrossing it, tinges of blood caked each. The woman herself was gaunt, eyes and cheeks sunken, skin a pasty white.
Kim frowned as the woman flinched at her voice, arm raised, eyes frantic as they blindly scanned the area.
"Pppplease, not again, I… I swear I'll be good, just don't… not again."
A lump formed in Kim's throat as the rambling woman covered her head and cried, only whispers of 'please' escaped her desperate whimpers.
Kim took a deep breath before crouching to the frightened woman's level.
"Sara, it's me, Kim Possible," Kim called softly. Her hand went to her face, shining a light blue that managed to highlight her features.
It took several minutes, but the other woman's panic did slow until she shook in a huddle. Only after even more long minutes did her arms split, eyes wild as she peaked at Kim through the slit. In a moment, she lunged forward, the chains causing her to land flat into the decayed hay yet those eyes never left hers.
"Are… are you… real? You're not… not another hallucination... are you?" she whispered, her voice cracked, eyes appearing to shine in hope.
Her fists balled; Kim's breath raced as she imagined the woman's existence up until now. She could throttle herself. If she had only searched harder, found the woman sooner, and done more, this once confident woman would not be in such a sorry state.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Kim released her grip, laying them in front of her, and resting back on her haunches, facing the woman who flinched at her every movement.
"Yes, Sara, it's me. I've come to get you out." Kim hid the revulsion of what she was seeing but it balled in the back of her throat.
Light blue fingers played across the pitted, aged bars in the door that separated them. Her mind couldn't help sending images of whips and knives coated in blood across her vision as she grasped two bars. Her body radiated blue and she grunted as she pulled against them. The ancient wood held only a second before bursting into splinters. The woman stared at her, awe replacing fear.
"It's going to be all right," Kim whispered slowly, scooting through the threshold. The awe transformed into panic as Sara scuffled back into the wall. Pain ached in her eyes as she curled up, her arms wrapped around her legs, tears leaving trails of grime as they traveled down her cheeks before splashing onto her legs to do the same.
A light blue hand raised to her but stopped as Kim's nose wrinkled at realizing the source of the room's foul odor. A glance caught sight of a cracked wash pan holding dozens of aged brown lumps. Her hand raised to her mouth before she stilled it, her stomach rolling at the mess.
'How could Ron do this? Changed or not he has a lot to answer for,' Kim thought, her fists clenched.
Another few inches and Kim reached the shivering woman. Her fingers lightly traced the manacles and links to the wall. Unlike the ancient bars, these were newish. The thick metal links wouldn't have been out of place in those westerns her father watched occasionally. They were tight, the skin long since marked by their chafing, but not tight enough to lose circulation.
She let her gaze slip around the woman, examining the four-foot-long chains that bound her to the wall. Giving an experimental tug, she discovered that they were well maintained. They held firm.
Frowning, Kim went through her things. Only to find the Kimmunicator and some bandages. None of her usual gadgets. With a sigh, she recalled winning the paper-rock-scissor game for the super suit and distributing everything else amidst the others. She only had it and the original Kimmunicator. Lucky, but the saying 'one of those days' just didn't quite cover the rest of today.
Making her decision, her eyes locked with Sara cautiously peeking from behind her hands. "Sara, I don't have anything on me to unlock these. The manacles will have to stay on, but I can take off the chains."
The woman's lower lip began to tremble.
"It's going to be ok," Kim assured, hugging the woman and ignoring the rancid smell that suffused her. Kim settled next to her, taking a firm hold on the chain binding the arm. With a grunt, she strained against them. The thinner interlinking pieces warped before popping off. A quick flex of her arm caught an errant piece flying towards Sara's face, lightly flicking it away.
The other chain took only a moment longer.
"I'll get you free of these when we have more time," Kim whispered, lightly tapping the manacle still attached to her chafed wrists. "First, we need to deactivate the doomsday machine, and stem an unending tide of Robo-beasts," Kim told the woman, allowing her to hold the chain that once imprisoned her. Even as Sara's hands automatically took it, her eyes grew wide.
"Doomsday machine?! I heard them talking about some kind of construction, but I had no idea it was to destroy the world."
"You heard them? Do you know where it is?"
Sara's eyes scrunched as she thought before nodding. "If what they said was right, I think they took me through that room before leaving me here."
"Good, let's get going," Kim hurried out the door, stopping when there was a thump behind her. Turning, she found Sara in a groaning heap on the ground. Kim quickly crouched to notice the withered legs, likely caused by a lack of circulation for so long. With an understanding smile, Kim offered the woman a hand.
"I'm so sorry. Time is critical and I can't even walk," Sara murmured, suppressing a sob.
"It's all right, you've been through hell. Plus going directly to the machine will save a lot of time in this underground maze," Kim offered reassuringly. Her hands placed Sara's arm around her shoulder. Together they hobbled. Sara used her free hand to gesture to an artificial stairwell Kim hadn't noticed. If she hadn't stopped, she may have gone on a wild goose chase she could not afford.
It was tricky, but by taking the steps, in turn, they were able to navigate the stairs. Kim kept an eye on her watch which seemed to tick slightly faster every time she checked. By the time they had reached the next level, five minutes had slipped away.
"How much further is it, Sara?" Kim asked, worried. 'I may have to hide her until I settle things.'
Seeming to sense her thoughts, Sara frowned, "It's down this hallway, there aren't any more staircases to worry about. I'm also starting to get some feeling in my legs so I should be able to walk pretty soon."
Kim gritted her teeth as she noticed she was down to twenty minutes.
"I think we'll need to pick up the pace. Sorry in advance." With a hup, Sara let out an eep as she went airborne, finding herself clutched bridal style in the redhead's arms.
Her feet became a blur as they zoomed down the corridor. Even as she followed Sara's pointing finger, a sparkle caused her to glance at one of the adjacent rooms they were passing. The doorway was roughly hewn from the bedrock, but that wasn't what caught her attention. That would be the fortune in pile upon pile of gold nuggets all laying in heaps. The next room she passed contained zinc. The one after warped bars of that same metal those Robo-Rufus' were made of. Each room contained ever more wealth, roughly cut diamonds, emeralds and so much more.
'What could Ron possibly be planning to do with all this?' Kim thought to herself only to focus as the finger that had been pointing straight abruptly turned to the left. Following along, Kim kicked off the wall, maintaining her momentum and causing another muffled eep from the woman.
Kim felt an odd pressure build up before her as she continued. Glancing to the side, she found further openings to rooms. Unlike before, the air seemed distorted like peering into the depths of the ocean. What lay behind them wasn't precious metals. No, twenty floating disks surrounded a pillar of that odd material. One would pulse a deep maroon before a beam shot into the structure. It would flash and identical beams lanced into the others. They shook frantically before the energy was sent flashing into a black sphere embedded in the wall. Green pinpricks appeared on its surface before fading away. Then the whole process repeated itself. There was no way Kim could have caught this from a single room, but there appeared to be nearly a hundred of them in various stages of the same behavior.
The pressure was intense even as she ran through the hallway. Whatever was keeping the energy in was very oppressive. Sweat beaded on her brow and she noticed Sara's head lull back, eyes nearly rolling into her head. Despite this, her finger stayed true, pointing ahead.
Just before she felt the woman's consciousness waver, Kim felt herself nearly falling on her face as she was spit out of the end. One hand caught herself on the next corner and her heels screeched to a stop. She took a moment to catch her breath from the unexpected explosive force before noticing the mammoth door made of more of that strange material that stood at least three times her height.
"It should be through there," Sara gasped from Kim's arms.
"Finally," Kim set Sara down, resting her back against the wall before studying the doors. An experimental shove did nothing. With a shake of her head, she stepped back a few feet before sprinting and launched into a kick that caused a loud creak on impact. Kim landed lightly, considering the door.
"Well, seems a light knock got its attention, maybe all we need is to knock a little harder?" she murmured under her breath. Glancing back, a small smile appeared.
"Be right back," she nodded to Sara before jogging straight back into the near soup. Just as the feeling equalized, Kim turned around, setting into a runner's stance. At an unheard gun, she was off, the barrier's momentum shooting her off like a rocket. With a flip, her feet smashed into the intersection's wall, causing cracks as she bounded off, one foot out and blasting towards the door.
A loud dong echoed through the corridor; a deep imprint of her foot was left behind.
"…Ow." The redhead hopped on one foot while massaging the tender appendage, examining her handiwork. The doors held firm, but her eyes narrowed. She cupped one ear as she noticed another sound. A crinkling that turned into a small series of snaps.
She smiled to herself before, lightly tapping the door. Both sides flopped to the ground with a dull thud. The room opened up as if to a grand entrance hall in an old castle. Like much of the area, it was formed as if out of an old lava tube that had been squared out. Now that she was stopped, she noticed the tooling wasn't too smooth, with long grooves almost like a hoe had been run along the walls.
It was barren save for a large computer screen with a tower next to it sitting on a plywood top with four two-by-fours keeping everything up, nails sticking out at their intersection.
Nothing was connected to either of the devices. Her mind didn't stay long on the mystery as she noticed the countdown on the screen… a full ten minutes ahead of her own.
Rushing forward, she started searching the tower. She was a little disappointed to see that there wasn't an obvious red button labeled self-destruct. She never understood why, but mad scientists just loved to add the feature to most of their designs. Kim fished out her Kimmunicator.
"Wade, I think I may have found the source of the signal and whatever else Ron may be up to, but it's ten minutes ahead of schedule and set to go off soon. What do I need to do to deactivate it and those Robo-Rufus outsides?" Kim asked, she hated it when saving the day came down to the wire like this.
Wade's image appeared on the screen. He took a quick look at the console, before returning his attention to Kim.
"It should be pretty easy, just plug in the Kimmunicator and I should be able to do it manually." Kim was all too happy to allow the cord to zip out and connect itself. The primary screen filled with various numbers randomly flicking from one to the next. As time progressed, the numbers stopped shifting, a 9 appearing here, a 5 there and all at once the primary time froze in place.
Kim sighed in relief, only 20 seconds to spare. "Well, that is one down," Kim said as she brought up the screen to see Wade. He found the boy frowning at his screen.
"Wait, that should have done it." His eyes widened as he frantically started typing, the numbers before her fuzzed, vanishing. The main countdown flashed once, twice and suddenly shot to 15 minutes and started counting down again.
"Sorry Kim, I'm locked out. That adaptive AI is a monster. I called Gl…" He glanced up only to freeze in terror "WATCH OUT!" Kim rolled, the Kimmunicator landing next to her, burned to ash as glaring green plasma engulfed it.
Author's notes:
Hello everyone. It's been a long time since I last posted. Things got in the way like life and a pandemic. Standard stuff. I've started doing a little each night so hopefully, new chapters will be a wee bit more frequent.
Big thanks MarkWarrior and Lili Love for both reviewing through and adding some sanity, but also introducing me to Grammarly. I've used it through the other chapters so hopefully, they aren't quite as riddled with errors as before.
As an aside, through an unlikely series of events, I received notes from my beta readers, made some modifications, and pushed them up to google docs in case anything else was unclear. Somehow word did not save and google doc added a ton of new lines all over the place. So it took hours just getting things back to the way they should have been for this chapter.
