'Yet neither by wolf, nor by Balrog, nor by Dragon, would Morgoth have achieved his end, but for the treachery of men.' – Of The Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad, 'The Silmarillion'
Part 3: Kyrie Eleison
Chapter VII: Divergent Paths
They tightened Ehrelin's bonds, and then gagged him, opting to leave him in the office for GJ to pick up. Ryo led Yori and Ron out of the office, with Seiji and Touma falling into place behind them. They walked towards the elevator, but Ron suddenly stopped, and looked back at the office. Yori could see that his face was troubled.
She told the three ninja to go on ahead and collect Shuu and Shin, and then go and bring the cars around to the factory. Ron absently handed Seiji the keys to his rental.
As the three ninja entered the elevator, Ron walked to the edge of the catwalk and leaned on the railing, surveying the damage below. Yori remained behind him, quiet and standing at a distance.
"This Concolor," she began after a moment, "he is the one who killed Possible-san?"
"Fought," Ron corrected, almost absently. "He fought Kim. I don't- I won't believe she's dead until I have some kind of proof."
"So Heinrich was correct. You do believe she is alive."
"Yes. And Concolor can tell me where she is."
Yori considered that for a moment.
"Though I was wrong about your motivations, Stoppable-san, it will still be our honor to help you. An even greater honor, now, since we know you still have hope."
Ron didn't respond, he just looked at the factory floor and seemed to sigh. Yori waited another few moments, and then walked up to stand next to him.
"Stoppable-san, what is wrong?"
He was silent for a moment.
"Have you ever considered doing something… then later wished you hadn't even thought of it?"
"I do not understand…"
"Back there, with Heinrich…" he said, then proceeded to tell her what he had considered. "I know I said I don't believe Kim is dead… but I understand that she might be, and even that possibility is bringing out something dark in me."
"Stoppable-san," Yori said with sudden understanding, "the way of the ninja is to move in shadows, to control and mask our passions. The way of the warrior requires that we must at times unmask and wield our dark sides like a sword, but it is a sword that can just as easily wield us if it is not controlled."
"How do I know how to control it?"
She reached over and placed a hand on his arm.
"That you agonize over having considered such a thing," she replied with a smile, "shows that your heart knows how, even if your mind does not. You have a strong heart, Stoppable-san. When the time comes, it will be enough to see you through. Do not be afraid."
"Yori…" he said with a grateful tone.
"If Possible-san is alive," she reiterated, "then it will be our honor to help you find her."
Ron was about to reply, but then they heard the noise of three cars pulling up outside the factory.
The ninja of the Yamanouchi School, it seemed, knew how to get around. Two cars, of considerably newer make than his rental, were parked next to Ron's.
"Traveling in style, Yori," he said with a grin.
"While it may be our honor to walk," she replied with her own smile, "feet do not always take us as fast as we need to go."
"Trust me," Ron said dryly, "that much, I do know. So, what's the plan?"
"Return to Alfeld," Yori replied. "There is a secure place where we can meet and plan the next move. Stoppable-san, will you need to return to your hotel?"
"Well, I guess I oughta go back and pay them…"
"Ah, I have missed the American-style jokes," Yori said with a laugh. "Ryo, lead the others back to the safe-house. I will accompany Stoppable-san."
Ryo bowed respectfully, and then the ninja split up into their respective vehicles.
"So," Ron said when the other two cars had started off down the road. "You drive or me drive?"
"It is your rental car, Stoppable-san."
Yori's knuckles were white, and her hands grasped firmly on whatever handhold they could find, as the car pulled into the lot of Ron's hotel. Rufus lay curled up in a cup holder, twitching in fear and refusing to come out.
"Oh, come on," Ron said to him, "there wasn't even a truck that time."
Rufus just whimpered, and Yori smiled nervously.
"Right…" Ron said. "Well, I'll go and get our stuff and then check out. Y'all wait here."
He got out of the car, leaving the ronnunicator behind, and walked into the hotel.
Fifteen minutes later, Ron left the hotel, having collected his travel bag and paid off the clerk. Immediately upon arrival at the car, he noticed that two things were different. The first was that Rufus had come out of the cup holder and was clearly at ease. The second was that Yori was sitting in the driver's seat.
"Now wait a minute," he said as he loaded the bag into the car trunk. "I thought I was driving."
"Ah, Stoppable-san," Yori said reasonably, "it is better that I drive now, since I know the way to the safe-house."
Ron looked at her with a narrowed eye and raised eyebrow.
"You just don't like my driving," he said suspiciously.
"Well, Stoppable-san," Yori said with a nervous chuckle, "you have a, how should I say it, an American-style misunderstanding of the metric system."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that kilometers per hour are slower than miles per hour, and you're using the wrong scale on the speedometer," Wade said from the ronnunicator. "Get in the car and let her drive."
Ron grumbled and groused as he got into the passenger's seat and buckled in.
"I am sorry to have ganged up on you like that, Stoppable-san," Yori said as she pulled away from the hotel. "But this really is the best plan."
"Eh, no big. KP used to-"
He stopped mid-sentence, the memories temporarily overwhelming him. Wisely, Yori said nothing further, but traded a slightly worried look with Rufus. There was wistfulness, and an almost unfathomable sadness, that was lying beneath those brown eyes.
It was the look of a man who was mourning someone that he could not let go of.
"Computer. Password. Tell. Now."
"Gehen Sie zur Hölle," Heinrich replied with a smirk.
Ron stood back and glared at Heinrich. As he tried to figure out what to do, he glanced around the office, and spied a large knife lying amongst the weapons that Ryo had found. It had a sharp edge, partially serrated. He saw it, and felt a thought began to take form in his head.
It wasn't a large thought, but the concept was very clear. He needed Heinrich to talk; the information on the computer might lead him to KP. He saw the knife, and the thought whispered to him in dark tones how he could make Heinrich talk. It was the shade with dark wings that had, during the fight on the factory floor, risen up from the part of his heart where he had always feared to go.
He gave in to the thought, embraced the concept, and took the knife.
For the first time, he saw real fear in Heinrich's eyes.
"What are you doing, Herr Stoppable?"
"Let me tell you the score, big guy," Ron said coldly. "You have information on that computer, information that I need. Now, I can get that password from you the easy way, or I can do it the hard way. It's up to you."
"You wouldn't," Heinrich said with a laugh. " I know your type, Herr Stoppable: too moral to resort to such unpleasantries. You won't go-"
Heinrich stopped when Ron placed the blunt edge of the knife on his neck, next to the left carotid artery.
"That is the wrong edge, Herr Stoppable," Heinrich said with a smirk.
"I'm just giving you a taste," Ron said, his eyes now icy enough to match his voice. "I doubt you want me to flip this knife over. So what's the password?"
"You are crazy."
"Crazy?" Ron said quietly as he began to walk around Heinrich, using the knife to trace an arc from carotid to carotid. "Maybe I am crazy, or maybe I'm more sane than I've been in a long time. The thing is, if you want to play this the hard way, then that's fine by me. So what's the password?"
"You won't get much from me by cutting my throat."
Ron moved the knife to even softer parts.
"What makes you think that's the first cut I was going to make? Tell me the password."
"Stoppable-san…"
"Not now, Yori," Ron snapped.
"Wake up, Stoppable-san…"
"What?"
"Wake up, Stoppable-san."
Ron's eyes snapped open, and his body went erect with a start. He could feel his heart racing in his chest, the hot tears on his cheeks, and the leather of the door handle that he was trying to crush. Slowly he pried his fingers off of the handle, and saw the indents that he had left in the material. He stared at his hands as they shook.
'Where did that come from? I didn't do any of that.'
'But you thought it,' his mind said.
"No…"
"Stoppable-san?"
He turned to face her, and saw the concern on her face.
"Are you alright?"
"I… guess I just dozed off, started dreaming. No… no big."
For a moment, they were silent. Ron studied his hands, and Yori looked on in concern.
"I saw what I'd considered at the warehouse," he said softly, after a time. "Not what did happen, but what could have."
"You were muttering in your sleep, Stoppable-san," Yori said quietly. "What I heard…"
He lowered his head.
"… was not something that the man I know would have done," she finished with a smile. "Again, your heart knows more than your mind does, Stoppable-san."
"Thank you, Yori," he said at last, and with a rueful smile. It was then that he noticed the car was no longer moving.
"Why did we stop?"
"Because we are here," Yori said, directing his attention to the house outside the car.
It wasn't a large building, just a single story, with five rooms total. What it lacked in total space, though, it more than made up for in absolute economy of design and utilization. Each square foot was optimized, the house made able to hold several individuals in comfortable, though undeniably spartan, circumstances. It also contained a fairly sophisticated communications/interception/scrambling equipment suite, which Wade promptly examined through the ronnunicator and pronounced 'passable'.
The Yamanouchi School, Yori explained to Ron, owned many such houses all over the world. They were places of refuge for the graduates of the school, a place where they could go to during a quest, or just if they needed to get away for a while. The one in Alfeld had proven to be fortuitously located.
It was in that safe-house that they held a council of war, for a war indeed it was, though none of them knew the full extent of their enemy.
"I've been searching through the records from the warehouse," Wade reported. "Sorry, Ron, no references to Kim."
"What about that guy Heinrich mentioned, 'Concolor'?" Ron asked in reply. He didn't comment on the lack of reference to Kim, as there was no comment that needed to be made.
"That's where it gets interesting," Wade said. "The computer recorded a visit that Concolor made to that warehouse, three days after you guys fought in the States. It said that he had acquired the final piece to something called the 'Phoenix Project'."
"What is that, Wade-san?" Yori asked.
"I don't know, the records don't say. All I do know is that it used parts from the 'Legacy Collection'… and that it worked."
"The 'Legacy Collection'…" Ron whispered. "You don't think it's…"
"Yup," Wade replied. "Drakken's Legacy."
"How much of it have they found?" Ron asked, now alarmed.
"Haven't figured that out yet," Wade said apologetically, "but I'm afraid that it's a lot."
"What else have you found, Wade-san?" Yori asked. She did not know what they meant by Drakken's Legacy, but decided that her questions could wait until later.
"Just the location of a few dozen other processing plants and half-way houses," Wade said with obvious pride. "It's not comprehensive, but we've got a pretty good summary here of where and how Panther moves arms and people across Europe."
"You lost Heinrich?" Dr. Director asked, sounding quite shocked.
"Trust me, Betty," Vice-Director Craven replied, "I'm just as ticked about this as you are. Four of my men are missing, including one of my best and most trusted. That's not the worst of my problems: I've had stations go off-line all over Europe for the past five days. We arrive to help, and find that they've been taken apart."
"Sorry about the men, Danny," she replied. "At least you got the computer, maybe it'll help you find who's been raiding you."
"Yeah, but we're supposed to be the ones raiding them. I take it the data upload was successful?"
"It was. We're going over the data now, and making sure the earlier source was accurate. When does the Bremerhaven operation start?"
"Ten minutes. I really should get back to the control center."
"Right. Sorry I snapped at you, Danny: Heinrich wasn't your fault. Good luck with the ships."
They had cleared off one of the tables in the main room and had covered it in maps of Europe. Due to the large number of targets that Wade had uncovered, it was decided that they would split up and each cover a specific set, then rendezvous in Paris in two week's time. It was two hours later when Wade called them again.
"Hey guys," he said, "sorry to interrupt, but I've some good news, and I've got some bad news."
"Good news first, Wade," Ron said with a sigh.
"Okay, the good news is, in five minutes Global Justice is going to hit the ships in Bremerhaven. Dr. Director promised to send me the take from the mission, so we can cross that one off the list."
Touma nodded and made the mark; he'd been tasked with hitting those ships first.
"So what's the bad news," Ron said, rubbing his forehead.
"The bad news is that the vehicle that was transporting Ehrelin Heinrich to GJEUR headquarters in Hameln is twenty minutes overdue."
"Uh-oh," Rufus squeaked.
"So that's… bad…" Ron said questioningly.
"Wade-san, has he escaped?" Yori asked quickly.
"Dr. Director didn't say for sure," Wade replied, "but that was the impression I got. Global Justice vehicles don't just disappear."
"We should move quickly, Yori-sensei," Ryo said after a moment.
"You all know how to contact me?" Wade asked. They all answered in the affirmative.
"We will make our way to Hanover," Yori said, "and disperse from there. Be honorable, my students."
The five ninja bowed in respect, both to Yori and to Ron.
"Good luck, guys," Ron said. "I really appreciate this."
"It is our honor to aide the legendary Stoppable-san," Touma replied with a smile. "The stories of your battles with Monkey Fist, and of your exploits alongside Kim Possible, were a source of inspiration to all of us."
"Oh," Ron replied, somewhat embarrassed by that, but not in a bad way. "Coolness, uh, Touma-san."
"Come," Yori said with a laugh. "As Ryo-san said, we must move quickly."
They divided at the airport in Hanover. Shin would make a short hop to Rome, and then to Venice, where he would attempt to infiltrate Panther's personnel conduit. Shuu was to travel to Barcelona, Spain. Touma would travel to Oslo, in Norway; Ron instructed him to beware the meat cakes, admitting of course that he didn't know why Touma should beware the meat cakes. Seiji would travel to Calais, in France. Ryo would travel to Durrës, in Albania.
Ron and Yori would travel to Vienna; the records from Alfeld had identified that as Concolor's next destination. Doubtlessly he'd already left, but it was a start.
Chapter VIII: Fidelity
Shuu had very quickly decided that he liked Spanish food. Easily the largest of the five ninja, he had never been a picky eater, but there were certain brands of food that appealed to him more than others. After just a day in Barcelona, he'd decided that Spanish food fit into the "definitely eat again" category.
Another thing he decided he liked about Spain, as he downed another piece of chicken, were the interesting sights one could see.
Such as, for instance, a German man with thin brown hair and gray tinted glasses.
"Hello, Ehrelin," Shuu whispered. "Let's see where you're going today."
The mountains outside of Barcelona provided many places of shadows, locations that could easily conceal whatever was contained within, especially at night. It was to one of these places that Ehrelin Heinrich traveled, less than two days after the events in Alfeld. He had made good time; a Global Justice vehicle, especially one with a spare set of license plates, was able to cross borders with a minimum of trouble.
He had found his trip across France quite boring. Not enough explosions.
The sun was setting fast, and Ehrelin found that he had to move quickly to make the rendezvous. At last he crossed a small field of rocks, and then dropped down into a bowl-like depression in the earth.
"Was die-"
The bowl, instead of being empty like he'd expected, contained the remains of a Roman-era building, and a fairly elaborate one at that. Several columns and arches were still standing; their lengthening shadows lending a nightmarish air to the locale.
"Do you like it?" came a voice from the shadows, and then Concolor stepped out from behind one of the columns. As was his custom for business, he was clad in a purple jumpsuit with black gloves and boots. A single Colt .45 rested in a holster slung on his right hip. Shadows concealed his face.
"What is it, mein Herr?"
"We are not entirely sure," Concolor replied. "Some believe that this was the unofficial homestead of a Roman Centurion, who would use it for entertaining guests outside of the garrison. Of course, it goes without saying that those guests were, generally, Spanish women. Welcome to Barcelona, Ehrelin. Though you have interrupted my vacation with your somewhat hysterical communiqué, so we shall now cease with the chit-chat and you will tell me what this is all about."
"My apologies, mein Herr," Ehrelin said fearfully. "The factory at Alfeld was attacked a short time ago. It is now in the hands of Global Justice. They read everything."
"I see. Who attacked you?"
"It was Ron Stoppable, mein Herr, and six ninja."
"Mr. Stoppable. I had wondered what the loss of Miss Possible would drive him to, and now I know. Is he a threat to us, Ehrelin?"
"Ja, mein Herr. He now has all the information that we had at Alfeld. He knows of the Legacy Collection, and the Phoenix Project."
"As well as the nature of all our shipping and smuggling activities in Europe. Which he has seemingly forwarded to Global Justice, if the raid in Bremerhaven was any indication."
"Handler sends his apologies for that."
"Of course. The sniveling fool decided that it could not be helped, that his position would have been compromised, yes? No need to answer, Ehrelin, that was rhetorical. It does not matter, really, for he continues to suborn GJEUR, and as such is still permitted to live.
"So tell me, Ehrelin. What else does Mr. Stoppable know? Does he know what Phoenix is?"
"Nein, mein Herr. Just that it exists."
"I see," Concolor said smoothly, and then snapped his fingers. A second figure stepped out of the shadows into the fading light. This one was covered from head to toe in a black one-piece suit; one that was form fitting yet concealed the form. Ehrelin could not tell if it was male or female, just that it was smaller than himself or Concolor, yet held itself in a way that suggested a deceptive power.
"So this is the Phoenix," he whispered.
"Yes," Concolor replied, sounding very pleased. "My own mythological firebird, whose worth in our line of work is already being proved. The GJ station in Vienna fell ever so quickly."
"Sehr gut, mein Herr."
"I assume that all you wished to tell me was that the factory has been captured, along with all the information contained inside, and that Mr. Stoppable is involved?"
"There is… one other thing, mein Herr."
"Oh?" Concolor said, the neutral tone of his voice indicating far more danger than any shouting ever could have.
"He knows that you are called Concolor, and will be attempting to track that name through the data."
"I see. And however did he discover that name?"
"I fear I let it slip out, mein Herr."
"Oh, Ehrelin," Concolor said, making a tsk-tsk sound, "that was most unwise of you."
He struck Ehrelin in the mouth, sending the younger man crashing into one of the ancient columns.
"Are you marked?"
"Nein. He did not touch me…"
"So you just mentioned my name during conversation over tea, hmm? Tell me, does he know my other name?"
"Nein, mein Herr. Apart from the title of Concolor, he knows nothing."
"That, at least, is in your favor. Very well. Your little slip has put Mr. Stoppable on the trail of me, and while I doubt it will lead to any trouble, as well as relish the thought of breaking a worthy opponent, I do not need to run afoul of him at this time. There is too much at stake."
"Forgive me, mein Herr."
"You are forgiven, for now, Ehrelin Heinrich. Just remember that you are on borrowed time."
Shuu cursed. He'd lost Heinrich somewhere on the outer edges of the city, and then didn't find him again until he spied the man leaving the mountains. He would have liked to know what that little jaunt was about, but would have to content himself with simply tailing Heinrich wherever he went.
"You wanted to see me, Dr. Director?" Agent Will Du asked as he stepped into Dr. Director's office. He'd been out of action for several weeks, having busted one of his legs during a training exercise. It had already healed, but Dr. Director seemed to be keeping him on a tight leash.
"Will, yes, come in. How soon can you be ready to travel?"
"Where to and for how long, ma'am?"
"We're going to Europe, Will," Dr. Director said. "The situation with Panther is getting out of hand, and I plan to get to the bottom of it."
"What about Vice-Director Craven?"
"Will, the last successful operation GJEUR had was in Bremerhaven. Every other action taken from the Alfeld data has met with disaster. A team ambushed in Prague: no survivors, the bodies found dumped outside the German Embassy. A raid in Sarejevo: only three survivors. As well as whatever it is that's been raiding the GJEUR stations.
"The only successes that anyone has had have been at the sites that Stoppable's team has hit. Which tells me that there is a mole in GJEUR, and that I don't know who I can trust there."
"I understand," Will replied. "Will you be needing me for any fieldwork while in Europe?"
Dr. Director shook her head.
"Ma'am, with all due respect. I'm the best agent here. I… I feel like I'm being wasted on paperwork when I can be out there doing some good."
"Will," she said, "you're right. You are the best agent I've got. Which is why I'll need you with me in Hameln. By day, you'll be my administrative aide. The rest of the time… I need someone who I can trust to track down the mole in GJEUR. That someone is you, Will. Can you do that?"
"Yes ma'am," he replied, actually sounding excited. Already his mind was going through the challenge of the assignment: low profile, skullduggery, computer hacking, the challenge of assembling all he clues he was likely to find… it gave him chills in anticipation.
"Excellent. We leave in the morning, so you'd best get ready. Dismissed, Agent Du."
He saluted sharply, and then turned and walked out the door, standing far straighter than he had in days. Dr. Director simply shook her head and picked up her phone.
"Bob?" she said after dialing. "It's Betty. I need you to do something for me…"
It had, despite the presence of so many dignitaries, actually been a beautiful funeral service, if such a thing can truly be said to exist.
Ron stood at the edge of the grave, looking down at the fresh dirt that covered the empty casket. He couldn't bring himself to look at the headstone; somehow, it felt like actually reading her name there would be final nail in the coffin of his hope. He did not believe her to be dead, and he didn't need any further reminder that he was likely the only one who thought so.
Still, as Mr. Possible walked up behind him, he knelt down and laid a single rose on the grave.
"Ronald."
"Mr. Dr. P," Ron replied. Not lightly, but still using the nickname he'd long ago given Kim's father.
"You were supposed to save her."
Ron stood up, and turned to face him. There was anger on the face of James Timothy Possible, anger that simply masked the sorrow that was building inside him. He couldn't lash out at Panther, so he went after the only other person that he could.
"I know," Ron said softly.
"She trusted you," Mr. Possible continued, ignoring Ron's answer and getting right in his face. Tears now joined the anger, and he grabbed Ron's shoulders.
Ron let him talk.
"She trusted you," he repeated, his voice increasing from a placid anger to an infuriated roar. "She trusted you to be there to pull her out of the fire, and you always were, until it really mattered! You were supposed to protect her - that was your job! So, why is Kimmie… why is my little girl…"
He fell to his knees, the screams replaced by sobs. Ron followed him down, until he too was kneeling, there across from Kim's father.
"Why is my little girl dead, Ronald? She loved you. Why couldn't you save her?"
Ron awoke, and found himself staring out the window of the hotel. It was morning.
He didn't need to touch his face to feel the tears.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, just as he had to Mr. Possible that day, and then looked out over the city. Vienna really was beautiful, he had to admit, especially in the warm glow of a rising sun. He just hadn't paid much attention to it over the past two days. He'd been too busy tracking down every lead, every rumor, and every hint of large cats in the city.
So far he and Yori had managed to bust three drug rings, five petty thieves, and two prank callers, but aside from a wrecked Global Justice substation, there was no evidence that Concolor had ever been in Vienna. It was as if he'd vanished into the shadows; even Yori was perplexed.
Yori. She'd been a godsend to him, and he knew that his quest would have ended there in Alfeld had she not appeared. Still, and it ashamed him to think it, every time they'd run down a lead, every time they'd gotten into a fight, he couldn't help but wish that it had been KP there instead of her.
He'd been attracted to her at first, which made his current situation even harder. She'd been this exotic girl, beautiful and from an alien and mysterious (to him) culture, and now that he'd thought about it, just enough like Kim to pique his interest. She'd paid attention to him, held him up and supported him during his time at Yamanouchi, laughed at some of his jokes, and simply cared about him. She'd even kissed him, and only after a week!
It had taken Kim years before that time under the mistletoe, and while their relationship had developed even further than he'd ever hoped, he knew that there had been something between him and Yori.
He didn't know if it was there now; but he didn't want it to be there now, and felt as if to even consider it at this point would be a betrayal of Kim's memory. But-
'Ron, I never thought I'd say this to you before: you're thinking too much!'
Kim's voice, in memory, came into his head, and he had to smile at it. He wasn't sure she'd been right then, but she was definitely right now.
"Got it, KP," he muttered as he climbed out of bed and went to shower. "I got it."
He met Yori in the hallway outside their rooms.
"Good morning, Stoppable-san," she said brightly.
"Mornin', Yori," he said with a yawn.
"Where is Rufus-san?"
"Oh, he's asleep in my pocket," Ron said quietly. "Poor guy didn't get enough rest, I guess."
"Nor did you, it seems."
He shrugged.
"Haven't slept well for a while, Yori."
"So I see. Come, Stoppable-san. I have heard tale of an outdoor café near here, and it looks like you could use some breakfast.
It was a café like many others in Vienna. Tucked in a corner, most of the tables outside, each shielded with a quaint umbrella and possessed of an altogether charming atmosphere. Yori led him to a table on the outer edge of the seating area. Her gi and his mission clothes drew a few quick looks, but the patrons had seen stranger things.
"I dunno about this, Yori," Ron said, looking around.
"You are uncomfortable, Stoppable-san?" Yori said, as she sipped a cup of coffee.
"It… this just feels like a date or somethin', you know?"
Yori set her coffee down, and then stared at it.
"Do you really think me that much of a shrew, Stoppable-san," Yori said quietly, not looking at him, "that I would attempt something like that?"
"What? I…" Ron began, then trailed off, realizing what he'd just said. "Wait, Yori… I didn't mean it like that, I just… I'm sorry."
"Stoppable-san…"
"No, wait. I… don't know what I was saying. I don't even know what I'm doing half the time. Loosing KP… it's like my center's been knocked out of whack, and I don't know how to get it back. I didn't mean to say that you would try something, it's just that…"
"It's just that you are still faithful to her," Yori said quietly, looking at him again.
"Yes," he replied. "And I don't want to even look like I'm not."
"So long as we do not hold hands," she said, "I doubt that will become an issue."
Ron visibly relaxed, and even laughed at himself as he drank his own coffee.
"Yori…"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry if I ever sound ungrateful."
"Do not worry, Stoppable-san. It is just your American-style talking before your mind catches up with your mouth."
Before Ron could reply, the ronnunicator beeped.
"What's up, Wade? You look tired."
"Time difference, remember? Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that Shuu and Ryo called. Shuu ran into Ehrelin Heinrich in Barcelona, and he's going to try and tail him and see where he goes. Ryo hit one of the warehouses in Durrës, and found the address of a Panther facility there in Vienna. We confirmed it with the Bremerhaven data. You guys interested?"
"Just tell us where, Wade.".
"Dr. Director!" Vice-Director Craven called out as he watched her disembark from the jet.
"Danny," Dr. Director replied. "I'm sorry for having to drop in on you like this, but…"
"At least it's better than you going behind my back again," he said with a smile. "Who all did you bring?"
"Just my aid, Will Du," she said, pointing to the young man behind her. She did not mention the one hundred Global Justice agents that she had filtering into Hameln by airliner, not the others that she was slowly bringing into the rest of Europe.
"Fine, fine. We need to hurry."
"What's up? Besides the usual."
"I think we know what the Phoenix Project is."
"This came from Vienna?" Dr. Director asked, watching the security tape.
"Yes. We didn't find it until yesterday."
Dr. Director watched the carnage in silence. The lone figure in black took out the base personnel as if they had been little more than punching bags.
"And you think that's the Phoenix?"
"Almost positive, Betty. The beginning of the attacks coincides with the completion of the Project, according to the Alfeld records."
"Any idea what it could be, then?"
"No clue. Depending on what they got from Drakken's Legacy, it could be anything from a mind control victim to a synthodrone. The interesting part is here, though."
They watched it attack one last technician.
"It left him alive," Dr. Director whispered.
"It left all of them alive," Craven pointed out. "In a moment here it'll turn the security cameras off, but if you look closer, every one of our agents are still alive."
"So what happened to them?"
"When we arrived, they'd each been killed. Single shot to the head, .45 caliber."
The facility in Vienna was a way station for weapons smuggling. No assembly or manufacturing occurred there, but items manufactured in the eastern portion of the continent would pass through on their way to western ports, and vice-versa. Ron and Yori found it easy to penetrate, and the night guards easy to overcome. They couldn't call in follow-up forces, due to the loss of the GJEUR facility in Vienna, but they were able to access and download all the records stored at the facility.
They discovered that Concolor had visited that facility, and had indicated that his next stop was in Prague. For the next week and a half they traveled like that, running from city to city across the length and breadth of continental Europe, always a step behind the mysterious Concolor but always causing havoc and disruption to Panther's operations. Finally, the trail ended, coincidentally, where they had set the rendezvous: Paris, France.
In Hameln, Will Du completed his investigation into the identity of the mole in GJEUR. As he brought word of his findings to Dr. Director, she received confirmation that the arrival of known-loyal agents into Europe was complete.
In Middleton, Wade continued the work of forwarding information back and forth from Ron and the ninjas to Dr. Director. It was he, in fact, who confirmed that the figure in black was the Phoenix, by deducing that the attacks on the Global Justice facilities occurred at the same time as Concolor's visits to the cities in question.
The ninja wrapped up their own investigations, having communicated a wealth of information on Panther's European operation to Wade and Dr. Director. Along the way, they did the same as Ron and Yori, leading Concolor to grow very annoyed with all of them.
Shuu continued to track Ehrelin Heinrich from Barcelona, to Madrid, and then into France. After they had both stopped in Paris, Shuu decided that he liked Spanish food a lot more than he did French food.
And in an office in Hameln, the man known as Handler looked at a report he'd received. Several of his agents had spotted Ron Stoppable in Paris, and had tracked him to a house on the western edge of the city. Concolor's desire to put a stop to their rampage had reached him, and a simple phone call meant that Panther knew how and where to bring that desire to pass.
Chapter IX: Whom Do You Serve, and Whom Do You Trust?
"Is this heaven?" he said as he slowly came to. Shego's clothesline had knocked him cold.
Across the room, Kim Possible moaned. She was all right, mostly.
"KP! I thought you were down for the count!"
"Why couldn't I see that he was a fake?"
"Yeah, it doesn't get much faker than synthodrone… eww! You kissed a synthodrone!"
"I never kissed him."
His heart filled with hope at that. Maybe, just maybe, she hadn't really-
"…but I wanted to."
His face and heart fell. So, it hadn't been just another nightmare. It'd been real, what he'd seen between them, at least on her part. So much for that.
"Okay, too much info… So, what's the plan?"
"Ron, I… I got nothin'."
"That's my line, and what's worse that's quitter talk!"
He couldn't believe that Kim was giving up. It just wasn't in her nature, not from what he'd seen. But…things had been different, ever since the prom was announced. He knew she'd talked to Bonnie about something, but-
But it didn't click in his head until that moment, which he realized was for the best: now, what he wanted, and what he had to do, were finally one and the same. If it hadn't come this far, he might not have had the courage...
"Drakken finally won," she said despondently. "I should have stuck to babysitting."
"Okay, KP," he said firmly. "This pity fiesta is over. Drakken has not won: he played you, now it's payback time. And… there are guys out there who are better for you than Erik. Guys who are real, for one thing…"
"You really think there's a guy out there for me?" she asked desperately.
It all fit in his head, and he kicked himself for having not seen it before. She needed something more than a friend, and he wanted to be something more than a friend to her. She needed, wanted, desperately wanted, someone who loved her.
And he did.
"Out there… in here…" he said hesitantly, nervously, but his point was made.
"Oh? Really?" she said, her voice sounding almost as if she liked the idea.
"Sure, you know, guys like…"
"Hi!" said Rufus, as he suddenly popped up from within the ropes.
"Rufus?"
"Rufus? Rufus! You can save us!"
Rufus tried to chew through the ropes, but couldn't. Kim sent him to the lipstick in the backpack, and after having tried the real stick, he finally found the laser and cut through the ropes. Kim, now free of the ropes, pulled the disrupter gun from the pack and placed it in her holster.
"Let's go."
She was a different girl from the one who had hung, defeated, from the cactus.
"I've got your back, KP," Ron said.
"I know," she said with a smile. "I… I think that elevator will take us to the control room."
"Howdja know that?"
"Wade showed us the map when we left, remember?"
"Oh, yeah."
"C'mon, Ron," she said with a laugh. He followed her into the elevator, which they rode towards the president's office.
"KP," he said as the elevator started moving, "about… back there… what I was trying to say was-"
"Ron… I… I know."
"Oh. So…"
"So let's stop Drakken first," she said, not looking at him. "Then we'll have all the time in the world to figure this out."
He smiled.
"All the time in the world?"
"Yup. Ron," she asked, now turning and looking at him, something akin to uncertainty in her eyes. "Was… was it as awkweird as you'd thought?"
"You know," he said with a grin, "it really wasn't."
She smiled and nodded, and then the elevator reached the top, and they had to go to work. The main communications hub and president's office were on the same level, the hub itself at the other end of the hallway from the elevator. The door was open, and as Kim and Ron made their way to the confrontation with Drakken, they could hear him bragging about how he'd played them all.
Fury began to rise in Ron's heart. This man had played Kim, his Kim. He'd done so by fighting dirty, by messing with her heart, with the part of her that just wanted to be loved. He'd gotten to her, he'd hurt her, and it angered him.
He would make them pay for what they'd done to Kim; this he knew even as they stepped into the control room.
Then they were no longer in the control room, it was six years later, and he was again watching as the shadow held Kim by the throat in the room of fire. No matter how hard he tried, he could not move his feet, couldn't get to her, and couldn't help.
With agonizing slowness, the shadow brought up it's left hand and placed it on Kim's right shoulder. The shadows arms stiffened, then began to move apart, and her neck twisted in a way that no spine would have allowed-
"NO!" he yelled as he snapped awake. It was night, still, and cool, but he was covered in sweat.
'No…I didn't see that. That never happened…'
They'd arrived in Paris the previous day. It had been late in the afternoon by the time they'd made it to the Yamanouchi safe house, and he and Yori had elected to wait until morning to chase down the lead on Concolor. They were simply too tired.
Now it was two in the morning, and Ron could not sleep. Quickly throwing on some clothes (his mission suit, in this case), he stepped out on the balcony that his room had, and stared out over the sleeping city.
Paris. He remembered having dragged Kim there once, just to get him some hair goop. He wondered if that stylist was still in business, and if his poodle had recovered from the Bueno Nacho incident.
"You cannot sleep either, Stoppable-san?"
He turned and looked up, and saw Yori sitting on the roof above him.
"Something like that."
"Another dream?"
"A nightmare," he said, leaning against the railing.
They each remained there in silence, until Ron finally broke it.
"It started with the day that I finally asked Kim out," he said quietly, Yori having to strain to hear him. "It was when Drakken tried to take over the world using the Diablo toys."
"Yes, I remember that," Yori said. "We were called upon to try and help with the situation in Japan, but even our training was no use against the robots. We knew that you had stopped him, but we had not heard the whole story."
So Ron told her the whole story. He told her about Erik the synthodrone, all the drama surrounding the prom, and how they had finally wound up tied to Mexican-themed props in Bueno Nacho headquarters.
"And then, the dream changed, Yori," he said. "We'd gotten loose, were going after Drakken… and then we were in that warehouse, and Concolor had her by the throat."
He stopped, his voice breaking.
"He had her," he continued after a moment, "and in my dream I saw him break her neck, but I know I didn't see that for real. I'm… just afraid."
Will Du was uncharacteristically nervous. A man of supreme self-confidence, which occasionally got on the nerves of those around him, there was nothing that he felt he could not do. Nor did he feel that he wasn't up to his current task. It just scared him to death.
He knocked on the office door of Vice Director Daniel Craven.
"Come in."
He opened the door and entered. Craven greeted him with a smile.
"Ah, Agent Du. How can I help you?"
"Sir," Will began, "I need to discuss something with you."
"Of course, come in. What is it? Does Betty have some other criticism of the way I've been running things?" he asked with a laugh.
"Ah, no sir," Will said, as he closed the door behind him. This was the dangerous part. "Sir, I need to inform you that over the past two weeks I have been investigating your division to find the mole."
"Oh really? So that's what Dr. Director brought her little protégé here for. How kind of her. So, how goes the investigation?"
"I know who your mole is, sir."
"Do you, now?" Craven asked, his voice completely neutral.
Shuu had trailed Heinrich to a warehouse in Paris. He had quickly begun to tire of warehouses, but accepted that they were the logical places for Panther to run their operations from. From what he'd seen, Heinrich had been given temporary control of this branch of the Paris operations. The German man seemed nervous, far more than normal, though Shuu attributed that to probable threats of retribution for his failure at Alfeld.
His attention returned to the present when another man stepped into view. Shuu was on the rooftop, looking in through a small skylight, and as such his field of view was limited, but he could make out that Heinrich was talking to a man, dressed in a purple jumpsuit, whose face was concealed in shadow. His build resembled that of the man Ron had described, the one who had fought Kim Possible.
He pulled out a listening device, and started to turn it on, when he felt a hand tap him on his shoulder.
Dr. Director had sent Wade a copy of the security footage from Vienna, and Wade had disseminated it to the ninja, so Shuu recognized, as he turned his head to look, the black-clad figure as the Phoenix.
It was six in the evening in Middleton, and Wade had completed the cataloging of the last batch of information from his friends in Europe. The differences in time zone meant that they had only a small window in which they were all awake, so much of the information management had to occur when they were out of contact. Fortunately, the communication equipment the ninja had was similar to his kimmunicator technology, so uploading the data for their later use was simple.
"What are you afraid of, Stoppable-san?"
"That Heinrich was telling the truth in Alfeld, and that I'll never see Kim again. I know I didn't see Concolor kill her, but that image is in my mind, and I don't know why," he said, as he hugged his arms to himself, and shivered in the cool of the Paris night.
"Tell me about her."
"What?"
"Tell me about her, Stoppable-san," Yori said with a smile. "I only knew her as your friend, and as a skilled fighter. I wish to know what she became to you."
"What for?"
"So long as you remember her, Stoppable-san, as she was in your life, she will never be gone. Memory can keep her by your side until you find her again, and sometimes the best way to recall a story is to tell it to someone else."
"I dunno, Yori," he said dubiously. "It can get boring."
"Ah, Stoppable-san," Yori laughed from the rooftop. "I have nothing better to do."
So he began to tell her.
"Vice-Director Daniel Craven," Will said formally, "by the authority of Director Doctor Bethany Director, which is granted to her by the Establishment Treaty, and duly delegated to me upon her authority, I am placing you under arrest for high treason against the United States and the Other Founders of Global Justice."
"Excellent work, Agent Du," Craven said with a smile. "I can see why Betty put her trust in you. You do understand, of course, that I have no intention of coming quietly."
"I figured as much."
Will raise his right arm and fired the taser leads. Quicker than he thought possible, Craven batted them out of the air with his left hand, and drew a silenced .45 automatic with his right.
The window shattered with the impact of his body, and Shuu fell through the air and landed on the warehouse floor. Phoenix followed him down, and he barely rolled away in time to keep its knee from crushing his skull. A quick flip brought him to his feet, just in time to parry a blow to his ribcage.
"Phoenix!" the shadow man cried. Shuu recognized his accent as British.
Heinrich began calling the workers forward, and Shuu recognized a bad situation when he saw one. He also recognized a door.
He blocked another set of blows by grabbing a worker and holding the poor man between him and the Phoenix, then ran for the door, having to crack together the heads of two workers who tried to get in his way. He threw their limp forms behind him, which had the added effect of tripping up the Phoenix, and then knocked the door down with a kick and ran into the darkened alley.
Phoenix was right behind him. He didn't hear Concolor order Heinrich to follow them.
'Reactive camouflage,' Wade thought as he surveyed the thermal imaging. There were two teams of twelve men in his backyard, which he could not see in daylight. Dr. Director would have told him if there were any Global Justice agents deployed around his house, and the fact that he didn't know who they were told all that he needed to know about their identity.
"Mom, Dad," he called down the stairs. "You guys need to get up here… now!"
"So after six years, and everything that happened, you still had not asked her to marry you?"
"I was about to," he said defensively. "Even had the ring, and everything. I was just… waiting."
"Waiting for what, Stoppable-san?"
He looked down at his mission clothes, at the safe house, and at the city.
"I was waiting until I had something better to offer her than this," he said quietly. "Until I could offer her a chance at a peaceful life, where we had more than just running off to save the world. That's what I was hopping to do with the restaurant, just to give us… something else. Some plan that turned out to be."
"Peace rarely comes to those who deserve it most, Stoppable-san," Yori said quietly. "Those who deserve it most are the ones who seek out trouble and keep it from disturbing the peace of others. That is what you and Possible-san did, and what you will continue to do. Your reward will be found elsewhere."
Will Du raised his hands in surrender.
"Smart move, Mr. Du," Craven replied. "I would not mind shooting you right here and now, but I want you to take me to Dr. Director first. I'm certain you've already shared your findings with her?"
"Of course he did, Danny," a voice came from the other side of the door.
Will Du jumped aside as Dr. Director kicked the door open and fired three times from her own silenced pistol. The first round shot Craven's gun from his hand. The second and third destroyed the emergency call button on his desk.
"Well played, Betty," Craven said, folding his hands on the desktop. "It seems you've got me."
She didn't reply. Instead, she fired a fourth shot into his right arm. He looked up at her in surprise and pain.
"Will," she said coldly, "let the record show that Vice-Director Daniel Craven was killed while resisting arrest."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Now, I want you go to my quarters and get in touch with the teams outside. Tell them to run operation Ocelot Blue. Also, close the door behind you. Danny and I are going to have a little chat."
Will nodded and left to carry out the orders. For a long moment, the Director and the traitor stared at each other.
"I trusted you," she said finally. "Your men trusted you."
"Trust is cheap, Betty," he replied. "And you know me, I like to be on the winning side."
"Oh really?"
"Please. You think you have a chance against Panther? They have Drakken's Legacy, Betty. The Doctor may have been a pathetic strategist, but his inventions… what came out of that year that he spent in hiding would have shook the world if only he'd known how to use them properly. Now, they are in the hands of those who do. The plans are already laid, Betty; everything is in motion, and there is nothing you can do to stop it."
They were engaged in a running battle through the back alleys and side streets of Paris. The Phoenix would catch up with Shuu, they would fight, Shuu would knock it down and then run away again, and then the Phoenix would chase him. Over and over again, for nearly twenty minutes, they ran and fought. Somehow, he knew that he was taking the worst of the damage.
The Phoenix was a fighter unlike any he'd every seen. The creature knew martial arts that he hadn't even heard of, seemed to employ them without conscience, without pity, and to deadly effect. He believed it could kill him with but a single blow. But it hadn't yet.
Why?
He didn't know. All he knew was that it was gaining on him, he was getting tired, and this was as good a place as any to make a stand. He saw a fire escape to his right, and proceeded to break off a portion of the railing to use as an impromptu staff. He spun around and swung it blindly, managing to force Phoenix to duck and abort its initial attack.
The Phoenix flipped away from him, skidded on its feet, and then charged again. They continued to fight, their blows slowly changing from all-out attacks into series of parries and ripostes. A few of the Phoenix's attacks got through, but none of Shuu's did.
He was simply out-classed, both in skill and in the ruthless application of the skill.
A kick to the stomach doubled him over, and he watched as Phoenix leapt into the air and aimed a flying kick at him.
He ducked down and rolled away, letting it fly over him. He then swiftly regained his footing and swung the railing, catching Phoenix in the back and off balance. It cried out and slammed into a wall, then fell to the ground.
With the Phoenix's cry, something clicked in Shuu's mind. He dropped the pole and drew his cell phone as he ran away again.
"Wade, what's all that racket about?" his mom asked. They'd run up to his room when he called them, and had barely gotten in the door when they heard a crash from downstairs.
"Close the door," he said quickly. "Right now, mom."
"Wade, what's going on?" his father demanded, as his mom shut the door.
"Dad, we've got trouble in the house," he said, pointing to the images from the security cams.
"Who are they?" his dad asked, looking at the images of twelve men with rifles pouring to his living room.
"Panther Enforcers, I think," Wade replied.
"Panther," his mom cried out. "The one's who killed Kim?"
"The same. I think they're after me this time, but…"
He smiled and pressed a button on his computer, activating the McHenry laser grid he'd had installed in the living room. The result wasn't pretty.
"Son," his dad said. "Why is there a laser security system, and cameras, in our living room?"
"Umm," Wade replied with a nervous smile, "because I put them there?"
"And what else have you rewired in my house?"
"Can we talk about this later?"
They had talked some more, about what Ron had hoped and planned for with the restaurant. It was to be a place to earn a living, and, he admited, to serve a base for fighting evil. Even in hoping for peace, he had always known that bad guys would continue to come out of the woodwork, the Panther Group being a particularly competent and dangerous variation on that theme, and that people like Kim (and himself, as Yori pointed out), would wind up fighting them. Standing up to evil was what good people did, even as they hoped for peace.
"Someday, Yori," he declared, "Kim and I will have a family of our own. I want those kids to have a good world to grow up on, and we'll keep on fighting to make that world."
'Sometimes you have to fight for the things you love.' The recorded voice of his grandfather, whom he'd never known, but who had known him, came to his mind. 'When you stop fighting, that's when they tattoo a number on your arm.'
He went quiet at that memory. It had been well after graduation from high school before his parents showed him the tapes and the photos of his maternal grandfather. He had died when Ron was only six months old, and hadn't had much to leave behind, except for certain bits of wisdom that had carried him through a tough time, and a single picture, showing a look of pure joy on his grandfather's face as he held his newborn grandson, the new life contrasting sharply with the number imprinted the older man's arm.
Yori leapt down from the roof, and she and Ron looked at each other.
"Sometimes," Ron said, "you have to fight for the things, for those, you love."
"Indeed, Stoppable-san. And your friends will always be here, to help you fight. So will Possible-san, for she is forever in your heart."
"Thank you, Yori," he said gratefully, and he meant it. The fear was gone, and there was maybe a little bit more hope in him than there had been before. Talking, as Yori said, was good for remembering things. And memory of missing loves can be good therapy for a hurting soul.
Yori folded her hands and bowed, then stood up when she heard the ronnunicator beeping. They traded a look and rushed inside.
"Wade?" Ron asked as he activated the device.
"Ron-san, Yori-san," came a static-filled transmission. "This… Shuu. Don't… can hear… jamming."
"Shuu-san," Yori asked. "Where are you?"
"I'm… Paris. Tracked… rich here from… ain. Listen,… olor and… enix are here! The Phoenix… chasing me. It's…" What he tried to say was cut off as the transmission dissolved into a ever louder static.
"Shuu, repeat that," Ron cried. "The Phoenix is what?"
"The Phoenix is here!" Shuu cried, the static clearing for a moment, and then returning. "…nearly on top of me, but you need… now… Phoenix… impossible!"
Then there was a cry, and the sound of a great many blows being delivered, and then a smooth male voice, and a muffled pop.
"Shuu-san! Shuu-san!" Yori cried into the ronnunicator, but there would be no reply.
Ron reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Yori."
"He was my student," she whispered, and let a few tears fall.
"I'm sorry. Can we track him?"
"What?"
"Can we track him," Ron asked. "He's here in Paris, so if we can find him, then maybe…"
"Yes, yes there is a tracking chip embedded in his boots," she replied, calming herself. "I believe Wade-san can locate the signal."
"Right," Ron said, and then tried to call Wade using the ronnunicator. There was no response.
"So what do you plan to do, Betty?" Craven asked as Dr. Director finished tying him to his desk chair. She had actually bandaged his wound, though she'd left the bullet in, for now.
"I'm going to ask you some questions, and then you're going to answer."
"Oh, really? How do you plan to ask, hmm? Politely, with tea and crumpets? Do you plan to torture me, Betty? Come now, I know how long I can resist that, and I'm pretty sure that's more time than you have, and more time than your conscience will allow."
Silently, she pulled from her utility belt a vial of a clear chemical, and a single syringe.
"Sodium pentathol?" he said with a laugh. "I've had the inoculations against that, just the same as you."
"Tell me, Danny," she said as she shook the chemical, causing it to glow yellow. "Have you ever heard of truth ray?"
"One of Drakken's inventions, it shut down the inhibitors in the brain that allowed lying and deception. I read Possible's report."
"This is it in chemical form. Acts faster, lasts longer, and skips the druggy side effects of standard truth serum."
"Please. You couldn't even back-engineer the original ray from the examination of Miss Possible and Mr. Stoppable, much less reduce it into chemical form."
"Dr. Drakken could," she said, drawing a dose of the chemical into the syringe, and then clearing air from the needle. "Really, Danny. You don't think Panther is the only group who've found pieces of Drakken's Legacy, do you?"
Before he could answer, she had approached him and injected the chemical into one of his veins.
"That'll kick in here in a minute or two," she said, sitting down opposite him. "So, lets begin. How badly does Panther have GJEUR infiltrated?"
He could have lied outright, of course, but he knew that Dr. Director wasn't bluffing about the chemicalized truth ray. She was too good of a strategist to pull a stunt like that. Therefore, then he knew that no matter what he did, he would have to tell her everything.
So, he did, and gained perverse enjoyment from the look that crossed Dr. Director's face.
"We are GJEUR."
"This is not good," Wade said nervously. The Panther Enforcers had somehow gotten their hands on a master key for the McHenry security system, and the second team had shut down the grid and locked the controls. He watched on the monitor as they made their way up the stairs and to his bedroom door.
The door opened into his holosuite.
"Man, what is this place?" one of the enforcers asked.
"They say this kid's some kind of genius, so who knows," another replied. "Ain't our business to analyze his stuff, we're just here to kill 'im."
"Stuff it, you two," the leader snapped. He was looking around, having heard the stories and tales from the henchmen they'd brought on, and he was justifiably nervous at poking around in the house of Wade Load. He turned his head to his left again, saw the boy, and then turned and opened fire.
The others all did the same.
"You cannot contact Wade-san?" Yori asked nervously.
"No, and I don't like that," Ron replied. "Yori, this is starting to-"
He was cut off by the sound of Rufus jumping up and down and squealing in fear. The naked mole rat was watching one of the security monitors, and pointed to a group of men coming up the central staircase of the safe house.
"Oh no," Ron said softly. "Those are Panther goons."
"Quickly, we must leave," Yori said, as she pushed a hidden panel in Ron's closet, revealing a secret ladder to the roof. "This way, Stoppable-san."
"Right," he said, collecting the ronunnicator, his equipment pack, and sticking Rufus in his pocket. "What about the guys on the stairs?"
"They will be dealt with," Yori replied as she began to climb up the ladder. Ron followed her, and soon they were on the roof of the building, listening as the goon's arrived in the rooms below them and began to search the place.
"How did they find us?" Ron asked.
"It does not matter," Yori replied. "We have to run, Stoppable-san."
They ran, and jumped, across the rooftops of the surrounding buildings, until they were three houses away, and Yori hid them behind a chimney. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a three-digit number. The feed from the safe-house's security system appeared on the cell's video screen.
"Excellent," she said. "They are still inside." Then she entered another number, and Ron heard and felt a series of loud bangs, as demolition charges hidden inside the safe house destroyed its foundation and brought the house to a crashing ruin, with the Panther Enforcers still inside.
"Remind me not to let my dad rate you for life insurance," Ron said after a moment.
Yori smiled, lightly.
"All of the safe-houses are equipped with such devices. This way, any of the others will know that we were compromised, and will proceed to a secondary location."
"I see."
"Stoppable-san, even though we cannot contact Wade-san, can you use that device to track Shuu?"
He tapped on his pocket, and Rufus stuck his head out.
"Rufus, we to do some tracking with the ronnunicator. Do your stuff, buddy."
"That," Wade said grimly, "was for what y'all did to Kim."
The holosuite had projected images of him onto each of the Panther Enforcers, who had simply shot each other. Wade just stared at the bodies in disgust, and then called Global Justice.
Rufus had reconfigured the ronnunicator to track Shuu's signal. It took them twenty minutes of travel through back alleys and over the rooftops, but they finally arrived at the spot where the signal said Shuu lay. All that was a dumpster, and several shadowed doorways.
With a feeling of trepidation, Yori lifted the cover of the dumpster. She let out a gasp.
"Shuu-san," she said quietly. His body had been dumped there, his eyes wide open, but in defiance, not fright. He had been wounded, that much was certain, but the cause of death was the bullet hole in his forehead.
"Do you like our work?" came an accented voice from one of the doorways.
"Heinrich," Ron said, whirling to face him.
"Ah, you remember me, Herr Stoppable. I am flattered. Oh, if you are looking for Phoenix, it has already left."
"You did this," Yori growled.
"Of course. He saw things he should not have, much like Frauline Possible did. Again, his fate was sealed the moment he found us here."
He had a gun out, a silenced .45, and was alternately pointing it at Yori and Ron. He thought it was a deterrent. He thought wrong.
In flash Yori was in front of him, inside his range, knocking the gun from his hand, and putting him in a headlock.
"All I have to do is twist," she hissed.
"And end your friend's quest here," he gasped. "Please… I can tell you where he is going!"
"Oh, so you're going to help us now," Ron said, walking up to the two of them. "Why should I believe that?"
"Because… I don't want to die…"
"Yet you seem so good at dealing it out to others. Sorry, don't think I believe you."
Yori tightened her hold, her arms constricting like the coils of a python.
"Wait!" Heinrich gasped. "Let me go, and I'll take you to him."
"Not good enough," Ron said coldly. "I know Concolor is here in Paris. Tell me where he is."
"He… he's not in Paris anymore! That's why Phoenix isn't here, she went with him!"
"Then where is he going," Ron asked.
"Let me go, and I'll tell you. Please!"
Ron looked at him for a long moment, then looked back at Yori and nodded. She released him, and he stood up and massaged his neck.
"He is returning to his home," Heinrich began, "in Eng-"
He was cut off by the impact of a small dart in his neck. A look of confusion crossed his face, and he pulled the dart out and looked at it. Then he smiled grimly, and let out one last bitter huff of air, and then he collapse in a limp heap, and would never move again.
Yori could already tell that he was dead.
Ron looked on in anger, and then looked to see where the shot had come from. Up above, on the roof, there was a man in a Global Justice uniform. Others were now pouring into the alleyway.
"Hey," he yelled. "The dude was about to tell us where Concolor was."
"We know, Mr. Stoppable," one of the men in the alley said.
Yori stood up and moved next to Ron. Both of them were picking up a bad vibe from the situation.
"What was in that dart?" Ron asked.
"Quite the potent little cocktail, Mr. Stoppable," the same GJ agent replied. "A mix of concentrated black mamba venom, a few other really nasty neurotoxins, and something specially cooked up for Mr. Heinrich himself."
"Why?"
"Why? The fool put you on the path of Concolor, that's why. And now, he was about to tell you where the Boss was going. Didn't know how to keep himself alive, I guess."
"But… but you are from Global Justice," Yori protested.
"Global Justice?" the man said with a laugh, then raised his rifle. "My dear, there is no Global Justice in Europe. We are Panther. I must admit, I am impressed; the ruckus that the two of you have raised has been enough to draw Concolor's personal interest. He considers you to be worthy opponents, but I doubt he'll complain if we get the kill."
"Wait just a-" Ron began to say, but the man cut him off with a gesture. The other double agents raised their own rifles and aimed them at Ron and Yori.
"Kill them," the man ordered.
End Part 3