The loud noise startled Shego out of her sleep. Though she at first
assumed it was something simple, a second thunderous noise caused her to
bolt upright. An explosion. She quickly wrapped herself in a robe and
headed towards the small submarine's command room, running towards the
henchman manning the watch and demanding an explanation from him.
Before the man could answer, another blast rocked the ship, causing the entire submarine to shudder.
Shego grabbed the henchman by the collar of his red uniform, hoisting the giant man into the air with her right hand. "Tell me what is going on!" she demanded. She brought her left hand within inches of the startled henchman's face, clenching it into a tight fist that glowed with radiant green energy.
"The right battery bank caught on fire, we're trying to contain it," the red-clad individual answered nervously.
"All right, get it fixed." Shego dropped the man back on his feet.
"Standby to surface," he yelled across the command center, causing Shego to immediately walk back to him.
"Dr. Drakken said we will not surface," she growled, her hands gleaming with a steady green glow. "Do you think you can just do whatever you want?"
"Please, ma'am, we need to ventilate the submarine, otherwise we'll all be incapacitated by the fumes from the burning batteries. The chemicals are highly toxic."
"All right, do it," she grumbled.
Kim was trying to sleep, but Ron, who was laying on the floor, was snoring far too loudly for her to even think about getting rest. She was almost glad when the communicator beeped, breaking the monotonous drone of her friend's heavy breathing.
"Wade," she answered quietly, "What's the sitch? Get into the satellite?"
"Not the one I wanted, but I just got a direct visual lock on Drakken's submarine with EXSat 12."
"How can you have a 'direct visual lock' or whatever on a submarine that's under hundreds of feet of water?" Kim asked.
"You can't. Drakken surfaced."
"He surfaced? That must mean he's getting ready to send out his TV signal. We need to get out there."
"That's the problem, Kim. It's not a great place to be jumping... if you miss the sub, you don't get a second chance. And no one we know has a chopper that can make a trip that long... he's a good 500 miles off the coast. There are only a few types of helicopters in the world that could get out there, let alone get back. By the way, can you do something about that noise? It's really loud and annoying."
"That's Ron."
"Really? I figured it was a faulty air conditioner or something. Anyway, you better get moving. You only have a few hours at, best if, Drakken is ready to start his operation. And you need to find a ride." Wade closed the connection, prompting Kim to pull herself out of bed, feeling very lightheaded and suffering from sleep deprivation. She nudged Ron gently with her foot, but there was no response.
She grabbed his shoulder and shook him, but there was still no response. Kim couldn't tell if he was playing or not, but either way, she was not in a mood for games, and gave Ron a swift kick in the stomach. He gagged and pulled himself upright, hitting his head on the sharp edge of the end table.
"KIM!" he shouted, staring at her angrily. He rubbed his hand through his blonde hair, trying in vain to soothe the pain that was ricocheting through his skull.
"I couldn't get you to wake up."
"It's two in the morning, that's why! I'm sleep deprived."
"Don't you dare complain. A freight train has been rolling through here all night long."
"Really? That's a long train." He paused for a moment, looking pensively at Kim. "And I don't remember any tracks next to the hotel."
"No, a metaphorical freight train."
"Metaphorical... that was a school word, right?"
Kim slapped her hand over her face. "Ron, you snore!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!" Kim yelled, with Rufus joining in. The small rodent was accustomed to Ron's snoring, but was still unwilling to give his habit a pass.
It was Ron's turn to groan. "All right, Kimmie cub, what is so important that you need to wake me an my naked mole rat?"
"We got Drakken."
"We did? Great, he's captured, all is well, lets go to bed?"
"I mean we know where he is, we didn't capture him," Kim responded, not sure if her weary sidekick was being sarcastic or serious—either way, she wasn't ammused.
"Yeah... right."
"He's in the North Atlantic, about four or five hundred miles off of Cape Cod."
"He swam out there? That's got to be uncomfortable. It's cold, and- "
"Ron, he has a submarine," Kim said in an annoyed tone.
"Yeah, riiiight... I forgot about the submarine. You see what happens when you wake me up early? My thinking skills ain't up to par yet."
"Ron, this is no different than normal."
"Is it Kim, IS IT!"
"Ron, calm down."
"I AM CALM!"
"Whoa, indoor voice there!"
Ron glared at her, but she ignored the look, preferring instead to attend to her makeup. When emerged from the bathroom, she was distressed to find Ron again sleeping peacefully. This time she bypassed the gentle shaking and went straight to the kick, setting off a chain reaction similar to before, culminating in Ron knocking the lamp off the end table.
"Ron, we need to find a way to get to Drakken's submarine."
"My head hurts."
"Ron! Focus! We need some way to get out there—fast—and pretty much drop onto a moving submarine."
"Just get some one to fly us out, then we do the jump deal, and we're golden... right?"
"Ron... we're talking about doing a spot landing in who knows what kind of weather on top of a slippery metal tube. I mean, it's a tough thing for anyone... and your not exactly a stunt skydiver..."
"Just because I've gotten hung up in a tree, and a flag pole-"
"And a stoplight," Kim added.
"And a stoplight, does not mean I'm not good at landings.
Kim suppressed the urge to laugh. She knew Ron could react strangely to things when he was tired... She had to proceed tactfully—at least until he woke up more.
"I don't feel safe doing it either, Ron. If we miss the sub, we're done for... there is no one out there to save us. We only get one shot."
"KP... I always thought skydiving was kinda a one shot deal, like, by definition?"
"Ron... I mean... never mind. We're just not doing it.
"OK," Ron hummed thoughtfully, "Bungee from a chopper?"
"Good idea... if you drop the bungee part."
"Ok, ok. So call up Dallas and lets roll!"
"No good Ron. We need a helicopter that can fly at least 500 miles out to the submarine... and, I think Dallas might want to make it home without getting his feet wet too. The traffic chopper isn't going to go a thousand miles on one tank of gas."
"So, we just need a different chopper?"
"As long as it can fly really far."
"No problem." Ron said with a smug grin. "I know just the place."
"SHEGO!" Drakken bellowed in a voice so loud it startled people throughout the small submarine. "Why are we on THE SURFACE!"
The slim, young woman poked her head out of a cabin, looking at the blue figure storming down the hallway towards her. "Doctor D... no need to yell. You gotta learn some anger management."
"Shego," Drakken began calmly, "I'm a mad scientist. I AM SUPPOSED TO BE ANGRY!"
"So do you want to know why we're on the surface, or do you just want to yell?"
"Go ahead. I'll yell more later," the evil mastermind replied in a softer but still irritated voice. Drakken leaned up against the wall and braced himself for bad news.
"There was a fire in the engine compartment... if we didn't surface to get some fresh air, the submarine would have filled with toxic fumes."
"And you surfaced for that," Drakken scowled, narrowing his eyes. "I didn't think you were that weak, Shego."
"We all would of died!" she yelled in frustration.
"Oh."
"We're almost there anyway. We should be on site soon enough."
Drakken's mouth curved into a smile, revealing his immense white teeth. "And Kim Possible is hundreds of miles away... with no way to stop me!"
Before the man could answer, another blast rocked the ship, causing the entire submarine to shudder.
Shego grabbed the henchman by the collar of his red uniform, hoisting the giant man into the air with her right hand. "Tell me what is going on!" she demanded. She brought her left hand within inches of the startled henchman's face, clenching it into a tight fist that glowed with radiant green energy.
"The right battery bank caught on fire, we're trying to contain it," the red-clad individual answered nervously.
"All right, get it fixed." Shego dropped the man back on his feet.
"Standby to surface," he yelled across the command center, causing Shego to immediately walk back to him.
"Dr. Drakken said we will not surface," she growled, her hands gleaming with a steady green glow. "Do you think you can just do whatever you want?"
"Please, ma'am, we need to ventilate the submarine, otherwise we'll all be incapacitated by the fumes from the burning batteries. The chemicals are highly toxic."
"All right, do it," she grumbled.
Kim was trying to sleep, but Ron, who was laying on the floor, was snoring far too loudly for her to even think about getting rest. She was almost glad when the communicator beeped, breaking the monotonous drone of her friend's heavy breathing.
"Wade," she answered quietly, "What's the sitch? Get into the satellite?"
"Not the one I wanted, but I just got a direct visual lock on Drakken's submarine with EXSat 12."
"How can you have a 'direct visual lock' or whatever on a submarine that's under hundreds of feet of water?" Kim asked.
"You can't. Drakken surfaced."
"He surfaced? That must mean he's getting ready to send out his TV signal. We need to get out there."
"That's the problem, Kim. It's not a great place to be jumping... if you miss the sub, you don't get a second chance. And no one we know has a chopper that can make a trip that long... he's a good 500 miles off the coast. There are only a few types of helicopters in the world that could get out there, let alone get back. By the way, can you do something about that noise? It's really loud and annoying."
"That's Ron."
"Really? I figured it was a faulty air conditioner or something. Anyway, you better get moving. You only have a few hours at, best if, Drakken is ready to start his operation. And you need to find a ride." Wade closed the connection, prompting Kim to pull herself out of bed, feeling very lightheaded and suffering from sleep deprivation. She nudged Ron gently with her foot, but there was no response.
She grabbed his shoulder and shook him, but there was still no response. Kim couldn't tell if he was playing or not, but either way, she was not in a mood for games, and gave Ron a swift kick in the stomach. He gagged and pulled himself upright, hitting his head on the sharp edge of the end table.
"KIM!" he shouted, staring at her angrily. He rubbed his hand through his blonde hair, trying in vain to soothe the pain that was ricocheting through his skull.
"I couldn't get you to wake up."
"It's two in the morning, that's why! I'm sleep deprived."
"Don't you dare complain. A freight train has been rolling through here all night long."
"Really? That's a long train." He paused for a moment, looking pensively at Kim. "And I don't remember any tracks next to the hotel."
"No, a metaphorical freight train."
"Metaphorical... that was a school word, right?"
Kim slapped her hand over her face. "Ron, you snore!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!" Kim yelled, with Rufus joining in. The small rodent was accustomed to Ron's snoring, but was still unwilling to give his habit a pass.
It was Ron's turn to groan. "All right, Kimmie cub, what is so important that you need to wake me an my naked mole rat?"
"We got Drakken."
"We did? Great, he's captured, all is well, lets go to bed?"
"I mean we know where he is, we didn't capture him," Kim responded, not sure if her weary sidekick was being sarcastic or serious—either way, she wasn't ammused.
"Yeah... right."
"He's in the North Atlantic, about four or five hundred miles off of Cape Cod."
"He swam out there? That's got to be uncomfortable. It's cold, and- "
"Ron, he has a submarine," Kim said in an annoyed tone.
"Yeah, riiiight... I forgot about the submarine. You see what happens when you wake me up early? My thinking skills ain't up to par yet."
"Ron, this is no different than normal."
"Is it Kim, IS IT!"
"Ron, calm down."
"I AM CALM!"
"Whoa, indoor voice there!"
Ron glared at her, but she ignored the look, preferring instead to attend to her makeup. When emerged from the bathroom, she was distressed to find Ron again sleeping peacefully. This time she bypassed the gentle shaking and went straight to the kick, setting off a chain reaction similar to before, culminating in Ron knocking the lamp off the end table.
"Ron, we need to find a way to get to Drakken's submarine."
"My head hurts."
"Ron! Focus! We need some way to get out there—fast—and pretty much drop onto a moving submarine."
"Just get some one to fly us out, then we do the jump deal, and we're golden... right?"
"Ron... we're talking about doing a spot landing in who knows what kind of weather on top of a slippery metal tube. I mean, it's a tough thing for anyone... and your not exactly a stunt skydiver..."
"Just because I've gotten hung up in a tree, and a flag pole-"
"And a stoplight," Kim added.
"And a stoplight, does not mean I'm not good at landings.
Kim suppressed the urge to laugh. She knew Ron could react strangely to things when he was tired... She had to proceed tactfully—at least until he woke up more.
"I don't feel safe doing it either, Ron. If we miss the sub, we're done for... there is no one out there to save us. We only get one shot."
"KP... I always thought skydiving was kinda a one shot deal, like, by definition?"
"Ron... I mean... never mind. We're just not doing it.
"OK," Ron hummed thoughtfully, "Bungee from a chopper?"
"Good idea... if you drop the bungee part."
"Ok, ok. So call up Dallas and lets roll!"
"No good Ron. We need a helicopter that can fly at least 500 miles out to the submarine... and, I think Dallas might want to make it home without getting his feet wet too. The traffic chopper isn't going to go a thousand miles on one tank of gas."
"So, we just need a different chopper?"
"As long as it can fly really far."
"No problem." Ron said with a smug grin. "I know just the place."
"SHEGO!" Drakken bellowed in a voice so loud it startled people throughout the small submarine. "Why are we on THE SURFACE!"
The slim, young woman poked her head out of a cabin, looking at the blue figure storming down the hallway towards her. "Doctor D... no need to yell. You gotta learn some anger management."
"Shego," Drakken began calmly, "I'm a mad scientist. I AM SUPPOSED TO BE ANGRY!"
"So do you want to know why we're on the surface, or do you just want to yell?"
"Go ahead. I'll yell more later," the evil mastermind replied in a softer but still irritated voice. Drakken leaned up against the wall and braced himself for bad news.
"There was a fire in the engine compartment... if we didn't surface to get some fresh air, the submarine would have filled with toxic fumes."
"And you surfaced for that," Drakken scowled, narrowing his eyes. "I didn't think you were that weak, Shego."
"We all would of died!" she yelled in frustration.
"Oh."
"We're almost there anyway. We should be on site soon enough."
Drakken's mouth curved into a smile, revealing his immense white teeth. "And Kim Possible is hundreds of miles away... with no way to stop me!"