Disney owns, I don't. Nuff said!
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Redemption – Picking Up the Pieces
Mego rushed into the cave, dreading what he would find. When Monkey Fist came flying out, it couldn't be good, and he feared he was the only one left alive. He had survived the death of his brothers, but if he had lost his sister as well… he didn't dare think like that. He had to find them, find some way to help them!
When he came upon the mangled body of Fukashima, he almost threw up right there. He covered his mouth with his hand and turned away. His eyes scanned the cave and saw the pile of rubble in the far corner of the room. It looked like a cave in, and after a quick look around, realized that was the only spot where they could be. He moved over to the rubble, hoping for some kind of sign, some reason to hope that they were still alive. That was when he heard noise, greatly muffled, but he could tell it was the sound of voices. He almost jumped for joy!
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Ron strained under the weight, feeling every pound of the rocks above his head. Only base instinct had saved him, converting the Lotus Blade into a shield over his head, and amping up the mystical monkey power to maximum. Even with all that, he didn't know how much longer her could hold it up, it felt like half the mountain was atop the shield. Bonnie had dove over Yori and Hirotaka, using the shield in her suit to protect them, while Shego lay to his other side.
Speaking was difficult, but Ron had to check. "Bonnie, you OK?"
Bonnie groaned, as she looked over. "I'm good! Suit functioned great, but I'm running low on power!"
"Then get Yori and Hirotaka over here, under the shield. We might need the suit's power to get out of here. Are they all right?"
He heard Hirotaka groan, but Yori still remained silent, as she was pulled beside him. Bonnie paused to turn off the shield, and rock fell into the gap where they had been. She then turned to check on the two ninja. "Hiro is fine, he's waking up now. Yori's still out, might be a concussion."
"All right, keep an eye on her, but check Shego as well. I think she went in head first when we got thrown against the wall."
Bonnie scrambled past him, trying not to jostle him in the confined space. She lay a hand on her throat, checking for a pulse. "Pulse is good, so's breathing. Almost afraid to move her though if she went in head first, might be spinal damage!"
"Rufus, how are you doing little buddy?"
A little pink head poked its head out of his pocket, giving him a thumbs up.
"All right, so any ideas on how we get out of here? This is starting to get very heavy!"
"Maybe I can help!"
Ron blinked as the young man grew before his eyes. "How did you get in here?"
"Shrinking has its advantages! There's only a few feet of rock on top of you, if we all push up at once, we should be able to get out."
Bonnie just shook her head. "It won't work. All we'd do is shift the rocks, and Yori and Shego would be unprotected. What about my suit? It could fire a beam and blow a hole in the smallest side?"
"It should work. Mego, which side would you say would be the easiest to get through?"
"Probably your right, where the rocks collapsed. Should only be a few feet on that side, if you focus high!"
"All right, stand by! This could get warm!" Bonnie and Hirotaka pulled Yori, so she was on the other side of Ron, and he used himself as a shield to protect Yori and Shego. Bonnie aimed at the blockage of rock, directing it for about two feet below the shield Ron was supporting. The air instantly got warm, as the beam struck the rock, and Ron felt the rocks above them shifting. It took several minutes, and almost completely drained the suit's charge, but a path finally cleared for them. Bonnie tested the tunnel with her hands, drawing back as it wasn't quite cool.
Ron was sweating up a storm, both under the labour he was enduring, and the fact that the temperature had risen considerably in their small space. "Mego, you go first, make sure the path is clear, and try to make sure there are no surprises waiting for us! Bonnie, you follow when he gives the all clear, while Hirotaka gets the others out to you. Oh, and take Rufus with you!"
Bonnie suddenly realized a real problem with their plan. "Ron, what about you? If you let go, it will probably collapse the tunnel!"
"We'll worry about that when we get everyone out, now get going!"
They got to work, and it was only minutes before they were all clear, but those were minutes where Ron felt that his arms were ready to drop. Bonnie stuck her head back in. "Ron, we have an idea. Can you turn that into a shield around you, to protect you?"
"I don't know, I've never tried that before."
"Well try it now! If you remove the shield over you with the exception of the space right above you, bring down by your sides around you as well, it should cause the pile to collapse around you, reducing the weight, and we can dig you out from there!"
"All right, I'll give it a try, back up."
Bonnie's head disappeared, and Ron said a silent prayer. The shield folded around him, and he could hear and feel the rocks shifting around him. He had never been particularly claustrophobic, probably the only thing he hadn't been afraid of at one time or another, but the close confines of the shield were definitely getting to him. He hoped they hurried!
Ron felt the shifting rocks above him, and he felt himself relax, no longer having to hold up so much rock. When he heard a knocking on the shield, he almost laughed. Slowly reducing the shield, so as to prevent the rocks around him from just crushing in on the side, he slowly made his way from the rubble. He smiled when he saw Yori sitting up, but then noticed Shego still unconscious.
"Have you contacted Wade yet? Has he got a bead on Monkey Fist?"
"All I get is static, must be too much energy in the cave. I thought we should get you out first."
"All right, let's get out of here then, and get in touch with Wade. Mego, how's your sister doing?"
The young man looked up. "I think she'll be fine, she heals quick, but she probably won't be waking up any time soon."
Ron just nodded. "OK, Mego, go get the plane ready. Hirotaka, you and I are going to have to carry her to the plane. Are you up to walking Yori?"
Yori just didn't seem to be paying attention, her eyes glued to something across the room. Ron followed her gaze, and felt sick to his stomach when he saw Fukashima's body lying there, greatly mangled. He tore his gaze away, and took a deep breath. "Yori? Can you walk?"
Yori snapped out of her daze, as she looked up at Ron. "Yes, I am good to walk, Ron-san."
"Good, then let's get out of here!"
Bonnie came running back in. "Ron, he's already at it! He's laying waste to a good chunk of Europe, demanding to be named ruler! Global Justice hasn't been able to do a thing, neither has the military!"
Ron face paled, as did most everyone's. "Damn! We have to move, do what we can to help."
Mego just looked incredulous. "What the hell can we do to help, if the God damn military can't do anything?"
"I don't know, all right? I don't know. But we have to do something!"
It was Bonnie who spoke up next. "Wade thinks that we might have a plan."
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"I hope to God he's right, because otherwise we've wasted several hours that Monkey Fist has full reign."
"When is Wade ever wrong?"
"I can think of a couple times," Ron mumbled, not loud enough for anyone to hear.
They stood outside the door to Drakken's hospital room, and they could see it was bustling with activity. Wade told them that, working together, they might have a device that could work, but there would be no way to test it until they faced Monkey Fist. But it was still being worked on, which was why they had to go to Calgary, where Drakken lay.
Ron ducked to the side as a couple people exited the room. Grabbing the door, he walked in, followed by Bonnie.
"No, you buffoon, the oscillator goes in the other way. And did you tune it to the frequency I asked for? This won't work if you don't have the right frequency! God, why did they send me such buffoons to work with?"
"I'm hurt Doc, I thought I was the buffoon!"
Drakken whirled in his seat, and winced as a stab of pain went through his body. Ron instantly regretted surprising him.
"Stoppable, glad you're here. The device is almost ready! How's Shego?"
"Shego's doing good Doc, woke up on the way here. She's just getting checked over by the docs right now. So, what's this thing supposed to do, anyways? Wade was a little light on the details."
Drakken looked up at him, and was surprised to find compassion in there, and that scared him just a little.
"When I scanned the artifacts, I found a base energy signature present. What this will do is tap into that energy bandwidth, and disperse those energies, basically creating a static field that will repel that energy signature. It should render Monkey Fist powerless."
"Sounds great! Doesn't explain why Wade wouldn't discuss that with me, sounds pretty simple. So what, just touch him with it?"
Drakken shook his head. "It's not quite that simple. For this to work there must be a conduit for the process to succeed, there must be a balance of equal forces. We need a mystical artifact of our own to counter-balance the frequencies, as well as someone with mystical abilities to wield it. You must also strike the ring he is wearing, as that is the only way to conduct the energy."
"OK, getting more difficult, but we have all the ingredients, I just have to be the one to do it. He should let me get close enough, the whole grudge thing and all."
Drakken just lowered his head, averting his eyes. "You still don't understand. Dispersing all those energies, there will be a great deal of… feedback. It is most likely a suicide mission!"
Ron face fell, and he felt Bonnie clutch his arm. The scientists in the room looked up at him with compassion before turning back to their work, as Ron just stood there, trying to process the information he had just been given. Drakken looked back up at him, a small tear in his eye.
"You heroes are all alike, so I already know what your decision is. The device won't be ready for another half hour. You should… take care of what you need to now!"
Ron just nodded, and turned away, heading out the door. Bonnie grabbed him by the arm. "No, there has to be another way! There has to be!"
Drakken just lowered his eyes. "There might be, but we don't have time to find it. You must have heard the reports, over 12,000 casualties in Rome alone! Every minute we waste, more people die! Never in my most vicious dreams of world conquest did I imagine something like this, and he's just getting started! This is the only way!"
Bonnie looked at Ron, pleadingly, almost begging him to reconsider, but it didn't matter. He knew what he had to do! At least he had time to take care of a few things first.
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Author's Notes – Not many reviews after just a few hours. I'll probably have another chapter up later tonight, where I will be leaving it at a very evil cliffhanger. I am a very evil man, but even I regret what I am going to have to do!
I'd like to thank the following for their feedback;
Campy – Yes, I didn't figure that would be a death anyone would regret. And your guess was right, shield tech rules!
Kpultimatefan – Ah, but that's the sitch. The good don't always live, and bad things happen to good people. In a Disney cartoon, they might be safe, but this ain't no cartoon! And now that at least two more kills are guaranteed, at least one good guy/girl is going to bite the dust, and maybe more! And by the looks of it, it's Ron!
