Again, warn me if I get past the rating here. Thanks!
Also, if you didn't know already, the errors in the previous chapter were fixed. Thanks for the heads up to JPMod on that. Also, thanks to Zaratan for the advice on Yori's leg. Read away!
"So where are you now?"
"Inside the machine. They don't realize it, but they're approaching toward our location. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to shoot them down so close to the site."
"I'll keep that in mind next time. So you can confirm that 'the Fafnir' works?"
"Affirmative. It recently surpassed all of its military testing. The armor is almost impenetrable, the weapons are fully loaded, and it's now fully functional - Just as he said."
"It still astonishes me that we're working with him."
"Still, I'm not sure I trust him."
"When this is all over, I'll be on the best receiving end of the bargain. How is everything else?"
"The warhead is still protected. The only way they'll reach it is if they destroy the weapon and myself. The jamming amplifier on it is still working at full capacity. So far our own signal hasn't been affected, just the outgoing frequencies of their communication devices."
"Very good. How are the others doing?"
"Hard to say."
"I see. Well, keep me informed if anything happens."
"Right."
V scratched her head when she put the small device away. "That's not normal… That's the first time I ever lied to him…"
Then she stared at the objects in front of her. Two control sticks and a holographic display with two words blinking.
AWAITING COMMAND
She would have to wait longer.
Back inside the cave, Kim and Ron were taking a nap, Yori was sparring with a sharp rock that was a bit taller than she was, striking it with her good leg. She used the sword she brought with her as her support, as it still needed time to heal since it had been dislocated for nearly a day. Jen was taking pictures all over the cave, finding something new with each step. The spring was still hot, but everyone started feeling weird with all the heat after about fifteen minutes, and it was extremely cold the second they all stepped out, much worse than getting out of the shower. Imagine going straight from seventy degrees to minus-twenty! Fortunately, Rufus was the only one who didn't go inside the pool, so everyone had him drag their clothes near the pool, as well as aspirins in case their muscles went to shock because of the sudden temperature change, but that was well over an hour ago.
Yori couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. She had finally made her first kill, but didn't have the same reaction that Kim did.
"Hey, you okay?"
Yori turned around to find Jen behind her.
"Oh, Ferno-san. My leg seems to be doing much better, thank you."
"Not what I was referring to. I meant up here and here." Jen was pointing to her head and her chest, referring to her heart obviously.
"Oh, that. Well… I was just thinking about earlier. Oh, that's right, you were with Possible-san." Yori sounded depressed in her tone.
"Wanna talk about it, ninja girl?"
Yori continued to kick the rock in front of her, using a lot of motions Jen had never seen before, striking the rock in several places with one kick.
"It's… just that I made my first kill out there. I have been warned all my life that it may happen someday, but I do not feel too surprised, and that is what concerns me."
Jen sat on a nearby rock to observe Yori's moves. "Aren't ninjas supposed to be trained to take out their enemies swiftly, regardless of the method?"
Yori shook her head. "That's what some people are led to believe. Most people who wish to learn the martial arts seek out not only the physical skills but the mental and spiritual skills as well. Most practitioners of martial arts have peaceful minds. They learn to achieve an inner peace with themselves and then learn to appreciate the many things what life has to offer. It is not because of the moves or action movies, with the exception of entertainers, but they too usually have an inner peace in themselves and the world. But with the art of the ninja, there are practically no teachers who share the same peace, honor and wisdom as those who live by the art."
"I see, like the Shaolin Monks. They are not only skilled, but they also extremely peaceful. More of their training goes towards the mind and soul, and that's how they're able to develop several individual styles."
"That's accurate, and most people believe those are the only kinds of teachers that exist. However, there are also those who have bitterness and hatred in their soul, and those are usually the ones who teach the ninja arts, to be invisible killers. Sensei was different. First he teaches us to train our minds. Many students fail in that stage, and those who succeed can only then learn the true ninja arts. You see, most ninjas do not know peace and honor, and that is why most are known as mercenaries or hired assassins."
"So that's why you're the only ninja girl I know who acts on honor."
"I have Sensei's teachings to thank for that. Unfortunately, many graduates still succumb to the older ways and lose themselves, being possessed by the inner demons they were taught to diminish."
"And I'm guessing he taught you it was not honorable to kill."
"No. I am not one to make excuses, but I only did it because Stoppable-san's life was in danger and I was in no position to help him. If my leg was not injured, it would have been my honor to aid him in combat. It was not an act of selfishness, but it was not of honor either."
Jen disagreed. "In a way, it is, if you choose to sacrifice such an important part of your teachings to save one's life. For some people, me admittedly, it's only about duty."
By this time, the rock was pretty beaten, and Yori then did a series of swift kicks with her one good leg. They were so quick that her leg was almost rendered invisible. She then finished, completely turning around to Jen.
The rock behind her shattered like broken glass.
Yori's expression didn't change. "That is what Sensei also told me, to act on instinct only in a desperate situation. But the fact that I took two people's lives, I do not feel extremely concerned. That's what's bothering me, but they were like the ninjas Sensei used to tell me about. They didn't have honor or glory. They only craved the thought of taking someone's life…"
Jen got up from her position. "Look, everyone reacts differently based on the situation. The concept of death scares everyone. But let me ask you… did you enjoy it?"
"Absolutely not."
Jen quickly wrapped an arm around Yori in a friendly way. "Well, there you go then. Now when you do start to get a thrill out of it, then you have something to worry about. At least, that's what one of my comrade-turned-enemy-but-still-friends Violet Fox told me."
Yori sighed. "Perhaps you are right. Thank you."
"You know, you're not alone in all of this. Kim actually had her first kill out there as well, but it was an accident."
Yori took a step back. "Really? Possible-san?"
"The girl we fought was trying to snap my neck and choke me, and Kim did a palm smash on her neck to knock her off, but I suppose she underestimated her own power."
"And how did she feel about it?"
"Almost had a panic attack. I had to remind her that Elurt's hands are trained to kill, despite their age. The girl looked almost eight, but the profiles indicate the youngest one is thirteen. Then again, none of those are confirmed. But do me a favor and don't tell Ron, okay? Right now I'm doing anything I can to get her mind off it, and who knows how he'll react if he finds out."
"I understand. Speaking of whom, do you think he is going to be okay?"
Both girls looked at Ron, who was sleeping on a rock near Kim. He had a few bandages on his cheek and neck, but both were astonished as to how quickly he was healing.
"I injected him with an anti-freezing peptide to prevent hypothermia a while ago, just in case the cold gets to his injuries. I had to do the same with Kim earlier because she cut herself on the plane, and her clothes and helmet didn't protect the gash on her head. As long as he doesn't do anything sudden for a while, I think he'll be fine."
"What do you think about us? Do you think we will all survive?"
Jen almost laughed. "I'm pretty sure. I bet this is nothing to those two. I feel great actually, but why are you so worried?"
"A hunch, I suppose."
"That can't be good."
"It's… probably nothing." Yori tried to assure her, tensely.
Jen didn't respond to this, seeing that Yori was trying to hide something. Instead, she walked back toward her bag and pulled out four rations.
"I figure we should eat before heading back out there."
Yori weakly nodded.
It was about an hour later when Kim and Ron woke up, finding Yori asleep with a bit of a bloated stomach. They also found Jen staring at the glowing areas of the cave.
"How are you two feeling?" Jen didn't even have to look back to see that they were awake.
Kim yawned. "Feeling much better."
Ron moved his head to pop his neck. "Muy bueno." He was so calm, as if his earlier injuries didn't happen.
The couple stretched as they got up, moving in the same directions at the same time, almost like a mirror effect, but when they were done, they noticed a ration pack next to them.
"You two should eat before we start to pack things up," Jen told them.
Ron whined. "Aw, but it's so nice and cozy here."
Kim narrowed her eyes. "And dark and cold, too, Ron. Besides, we still have to stop the last Hand and prevent that nuke from going off."
"Right, right, so we can get back to Bay City, take down that assassin and go home! Is it okay to feel homesick, KP?"
Kim giggled. "I suppose so. How are your injuries?"
Ron tried to get a better view of his bandages, but wearing his survival gear he couldn't see most of them. "Itchy, but I think I'll survive."
Jen giggled to herself. 'Like someone dies of itchiness.'
After that, Ron decided to make a fire and heat up the rations. Both he and Kim exchanged muffled laughter when they saw how each other ate it, which was obviously different than how they consumed everything else for some strange reason. Once that was over, they went to see what Jen was looking at. From this view, the whole area was glowing. The hot spring, the walls, the small waterfalls, the diamond-like rocks on the ceiling, and a few statues far in the back. It was like a fantasy painting.
Kim giggled. "You know, this reminds me of when Ron and I were kids and looked up at the stars at night. When it wasn't cloudy, the stars would really shine. Remember that, Ron?"
"Sure do, KP," he sighed, "too bad we couldn't stay here and watch it."
All three of them could hear a bit of noise from behind them. Yori had woken up and was already packing her equipment. Because it wasn't much, she didn't take long.
"Shall we go now?" she asked with a warm smile.
Everyone nodded, but Jen took about five more pictures of the sight. Everything was packed, and now the team was ready to go.
They didn't even walk that long before something went off in Kim's pocket. Unfortunately, it wasn't the Kimmunicator again, but rather Kim's radar. Everyone leaned their heads in to see what was going on, barely giving the former cheerleader any room to breathe. Oddly enough, the reception on it was much clearer than before, and had a red dot that was beeping. Kim pressed a button to zoom in, and it appeared to be some kind of military storage facility built in the mountain.
"A military storage facility? What's it doing out here in the middle of nowhere? Hmm… That's not too far from here…" she came to realize.
Jen squeezed her head in more to take a better look. "I'm going to go on a limb here and say that's where our nuke is. Hey, maybe getting shot down a few miles away from our hotel wasn't so bad, if not for the battles and suffering part."
Kim put the device away and slightly shoved everyone out of the way. "I'm also going to go on a limb and say it's a trap. The warhead might be there, but they aren't going to just leave it there unprotected."
"Good point," Jen agreed. "If I were to steal a nuke and leave three colleagues to protect it, I'd probably have some kind of other backup in case they were taken out."
Everyone gave her a strange glare; Ron confused, Yori baffled, and Kim with her usual skepticism.
Jen didn't get what the big deal was. "Hey, gotta think like a baddie if you want to understand them. Well, I do anyway."
Kim sighed. "Regardless, we all got to be careful. Since we're some big team…" She took a moment to think out loud. "Okay… we'll need a distraction… backup… offense…"
Yori was the first to volunteer. "I can infiltrate the facility and see if there is any suspicious activity going on, and I assure you I won't be seen."
Ron volunteered himself. "I'll go in and assist Yori. If it's anything big, I'll come out to warn you guys."
Kim shrugged. "Works for me, but don't try to be a hero if it's some huge destructo-bot."
Ron smiled. "I remember what happened the last time, KP, so no worries there. I'm not getting my pants fall because of some laser gun."
Yori rolled her eyes, knowing Ron wouldn't back off any real threat, much like earlier.
Jen pulled out a machine gun from her bag. "If push comes to shove, I've got an entire weapons arsenal in my bag. Guns, grenades, body armor and the like."
Kim smiled. "Spankin. Well, everyone ready?"
Everyone nodded.
"Well, this is what we came here for."
The four continued to walk north as the radar had indicated. The clouds were starting to grow darker, probably being sunset, and the winds weren't calm but far from strong. It took them a half hour before they got a visual. Sure enough, there was some kind of weapons hangar built in the mountain, but the front door was wide open.
"Ugh," Kim groaned, "Open doors are an obvious sign of a trap. If they wanted to fool me they'd have the door closed."
"And you know someone's in there if the lights are on," Ron followed.
"I'm guessing the bad guys never learn, huh?" Jen asked with a sly curve on her lips.
"Nope," Jen, Kim and Ron said simultaneously, but Jen was the one to immediately follow with, "Jinx! You two owe me a soda!"
Both Kim and Ron pouted.
Jen tried to hold in her laughter. "Anyway, I guess you two have learned that on your endless missions, right?"
"Yep," all three answered, but this time Ron was the one who followed with, "Jinx, you both owe me a soda!"
Kim groaned. "I guess I'm paying, huh?"
"Oh yeah," they all answered, but Kim won the battle with another "Jinx, you both owe me a soda, and now we're even… with nothing." She pretty much cancelled out the deal.
Yori was confused out of her mind. She wasn't familiar with the whole jinx game. But she didn't take time to think on it, putting on a mask to hide her face.
"Come on, Stoppable-san. It's time."
"Right behind ya, Yori."
The storage facility was huge, appearing to be no more than some kind of tank or plane hangar. It was obviously some secret military site, but it was empty; abandoned with no guards. There was also no sign of an attack, except when they looked for any cameras.
Both of them found a camera staring right at them, and they had guns mounted.
Fortunately, every gun camera in the facility was broken.
Yori was inspecting the high areas, only using three of her four limbs, and left Ron to inspect the main floor. The discovery of the cameras was an eerie one. They weren't placed to observe the actions of the main hangar, but rather, they were placed to seek out intruders like Ron and Yori. What scared both of them was that when they looked back to retrace their steps, they had already walked past twenty cleverly-placed cameras, as if the person who placed them there knew exactly how they were going to come in. Yori was more surprised than Ron, being an expert in stealth and infiltration. Because they were destroyed and broken, it was the only thing giving them the upper hand. Otherwise they would've been at the gates of eternity.
"Stoppable-san? Do you think they were expecting us?"
Ron was on the other side, but didn't need to yell. "No, I'm guessing someone was here before we were and took out these cameras."
"Does it not disturb you that these were carefully placed in specific positions, as if they knew we were going to enter the way we did?"
"A bit, but at least they're destroyed," he replied calmly.
Typical Ron-san. If he's not scared and afraid, he's fearless and confident. He was never in the middle these days.
Suddenly, the whole place began to violently shake, as if an earthquake was happening. It was more than enough to knock Yori off from the ceiling, but Ron managed to catch her.
Yori would've used her chains to break the fall, but she knew Ron was going to catch her, and the thought of him carrying her was a pleasant one. Yori, Yori, Yori… it's becoming more hard to accept the truth and fight the fantasy…
Before she could thank him, he ran out of there as fast as he could, yelling, meeting Kim and Jen at the entrance.
Instead of the place falling apart, the entire floor opened up, and some kind of giant mechanism rose from underground. Kim had her share of seeing giant robots, but it had been a long time since she saw one that took up the entire hangar. This was Jen's first time, and Yori had not seen anything like it.
Ron on the other hand, "That would be so cool if that thing wasn't going to kill us."
This wasn't just a robot, however. It was some kind of giant military vehicle, armed with two tank guns on each side, the cockpit, machine guns in-between, and fully-functional legs. It was painted a dark grey color and animated like a stop-motion puppet from hell. The towering demon must've been seventy feet tall, probably twice as wide.
"Ooookay," Kim nervously chuckled, "So not the kind of trap I was expecting."
All four took the moment to take several steps back, as the machine took up every bit of their vision range. Ron also put Yori down on her feet, and she slowly took off her mask. She hadn't seen anything like this in her entire life. To everyone's surprise, instead of the demon weapon opening fire on them, the cockpit opened, revealing V inside. She quickly moved out of the control center and moved to its side, standing up and pointing at the team, but staring at one member in particular.
"Kim Possible! How dare you kill my comrades!"
"What?" Ron had no idea what V was talking about.
"Don't try to play stupid with me!" the crimson-eyed woman fumed. "I saw your girlfriend kill my sister and I saw the ninja kill my brothers with my very own eyes!"
Both Kim and Yori were silent. They were related?
"KP, what's she talking about?"
Kim decided to give Ron the answer, but not in the way he anticipated. Instead, her attention was toward the woman on the machine.
"It was an accident!" she cried. "I only tried to knock her out by hitting a pressure point on her neck! I'm not the kind of person that kills their enemy!"
Yori followed. "I only did what I needed to do to save Stoppable-san! It is also not in my nature to kill my enemies!"
V only let out a malicious laugh. "Bullshit! You make it sound like we're the enemy!"
Everyone froze at those words. What on earth was she talking about?
V continued. "You're in the middle of a battlefield and you expect me to believe you killed my own flesh and blood for the sole purpose of saving others? That's hardly an excuse for you, the real enemy in all of this! At least my brothers and sisters fought for a stronger purpose, for a future! It would be because of us that the world would be led in a new world order, one in which warriors such as you and I would be needed to protect the innocent, to ensure that the strong are in battle and those not qualified for battle are at home having a bunch of friends over enjoying Dave Chappelle and Carlos Mencia, playing Super Mario, or having a romantic dinner with their fiancée! But no, everyone's trying to play the hero thanks to your influence, and it's no surprise that because of someone like you, Kim Possible, those of the new generation are growing up thinking they can do what you do or fight you. Thanks to you, many teenagers have killed themselves attempting to do what you do, and more have been placed in jail because they thought it would be cool to play the villain!"
Kim hollered. "You're referring to the Ice Shadows, aren't you?"
"You really don't know everything that's going on around you, do you, little girl? You think you're helping people, but you're barely a positive role model! You think you're telling people that because you're doing your part, people should also do their part to help others! Let me ask you, do you live your life in some kind of delusion? In fact, what you're really doing is telling others to risk their lives so they can get attention and be on television!"
"No!" Kim cried, "Being on TV and getting attention has nothing to do with it! In fact, I tell people not to do what I do! I do it so others won't have to!"
"Hah!" V scoffed, "I refuse to accept that! Why else would someone who saves the world reveal their name to the public? Real heroes are never known in their time. They are mysterious legends, those who kept their lives secret so that they could protect others! You are no hero, Kim Possible! You never were, never have been, and never will be!"
V was either completely confused or a complete lunatic. Fortunately for Kim, the pig-tailed Hand wasn't able to play her like Bonnie and Drakken had before her, but one thing didn't make sense.
"If I'm the real enemy, why are you guarding a nuke?"
V was quick to catch onto what Kim was attempting to do, but instead of answering, she hopped back into the cockpit, locked herself in, and once again animated the giant walking tank.
"You are so naïve, Kim!" V yelled on a loudspeaker, "People like you are the reason rebellious teenagers are out there trying to exercise power they don't even have, abusing their free speech to express ignorant beliefs, trying to become political about issues they have no idea about, and trying to influence others for their own selfish desires! Some of these people shouldn't even have the right to exercise free speech if it is used in such a manner! Some of these people don't even deserve their rights at all! Such things were created for the sole purpose of allowing constructive ideas to be set in stone! It wasn't made so you could whine and bitch about things you don't understand! These are the people who will destroy our country, not politicians, not communist nations, not terrorists, not even those losers who plan to conquer the world! It will be the new generation of teenagers who will grow up to be the real villains of our time, and that includes all of you! Even you suffer from the ignorance as your peers! You honestly believe you're saving the world, but in fact you're playing a role in destroying it! For this, we, the future leaders of this inevitable war of ideas, we will need something to control those who wish to oppose us and destroy the life cycle further! We need weapons, we need power, we need control, we need technology! This is what we need to create a balance!"
Ron was confused out of his mind. "Pardon my language, but what the hell are you talking about?"
"Silence! I will prevent the apocalyptic future you will all be responsible for! I will also avenge my brothers and sister! Prepare to feel the wrath of the prototype weapon, Fafnir! Die!"
With that said, the giant machine started moving out toward them.
"Note to self," Ron thought out loud, "Keep your mouth shut and the enemy won't attack."
"Well," Kim sighed, "Now we've done it, she's pissed. Time to take down another doomsday machine."
With each step forward of the giant weapon, it sent debris everywhere, but everyone was far away outside, so nothing was sent near them. But when the Fafnir was making its way outside, it didn't fit through the doorway, destroying the front part of the hangar. Now that it was walking on snow, each step sent a ton of snow flying into the air and shook the ground completely. Everyone was prepared for the last move, jumping in the air with each step of the weapon to avoid being knocked down.
"May the Gods protect you!" V yelled as she aimed her guns toward the team.
With that, she quickly opened fire, but Kim managed to leap out of the way while the others evaded to the sides.
The sound of the guns almost deafened Kim. They weren't the usual laser guns.
"Geez! They aren't using lasers this time, they're using real bullets!"
"This isn't some fantasy duel, Kim!" V taunted. "This weapon is designed to destroy, and not by petty harmless weapons!"
V continued to open fire on Kim, focused entirely on the redhead. She wasn't even concerned with the others.
While Kim was evading the bullets, which weren't as fast as V had hoped, Jen was planting a few C2 remote-controlled bombs to go off near the feet. Yori tried to scale the machine from behind, Ron tried to think of what to do… support?
"Nice distraction, KP!" he hollered.
Kim dived into the snow and landed behind a huge rock, which soon became surrounded by sparks and empty bullet shells. "Distraction… right…"
"Fire in the hole!" Jen yelled.
With a press of a button, several bombs went off around the feet of the machine, but when the smoke cleared, it didn't appear to be any different than before.
"Oh, that's right…" V taunted. "I forgot to mention that this prototype weapon has some of the strongest armor ever created! Not even non-nuclear surface-piercing missiles can do any harm! I'd like to see you try to destroy this weapon that will lead the world into a new generation!"
Inside the cockpit, V adjusted the big cannons on the machine, aiming at the rock where Kim was hiding.
"Kim! Get the hell out of there, now!" Jen warned as she noticed the cannons on the walking tank were moving.
"Get a load of this!"
V abruptly lowered the cannons and quickly fired. A huge explosion rocked the entire area, a few feet ahead of the rock Kim was hiding behind. The rock was completely destroyed, sending Kim and several rocks of debris flying back a few yards. The snow in the area softened the blow, and she didn't appear harmed.
"What's the matter, Kim? Afraid of a little warning shot? How about we get serious?"
Kim growled as she got up, pulling out some kind of bladed weapon and hurled it straight at the machine. She began to dart off towards another direction, and fortunately for her, V couldn't keep the cannons on her as easily as the machine guns. Not that it mattered, as V soon found a weapon shaped like a buzzsaw inches away from her nose. The glass of the cockpit was less impenetrable as the rest of the vehicle, but this weapon managed to get through it. The crack was probably half a millimeter wide. Because it blocked her vision, V kicked it as hard as she could with her boots, and while the broken glass gave her less of a clear view, as it was distorted, she could still see the blood vessels of Kim's eyes.
"Hah! It's about time you got motivated!"
Kim didn't know why V was so focused on her alone, not that she wanted to drag Yori into this for killing V's brothers. Besides, if she was the distraction, this would allow Ron, Jen and Yori to figure something out. But she wasn't the only one with this train of thought. The pilot of the Fafnir also came to realize this, moving outside further and firing the machine gun in various directions in an attempt to scare off anyone nearby, but she couldn't see them.
On the back of the machine, Yori was trying to cut into some kind of control terminal so she could slice the wires, but she couldn't even see the scratches from her sword. It got to the point where V could hear her, slamming the side of the machine into what was left of the hangar doors, knocking Yori off. She was quick to position herself so that she could land on the hangar door wreckage safely, and then leapt off it before V could slam into it some more. Her bad leg didn't seem to slow her down at all.
Jen refused to give up on firing and throwing any weapons she had on her. Surely this machine had to have some kind of weakness for this exact situation. If some big-name designer created a massive robot of destruction, surely he would have created a secret weak point in case it was in the wrong hands. Grenades of all kinds didn't work, chaff did nothing, and guns were completely useless. She needed something else, something stronger.
Ron on the other hand was running around and looking for any kind of weakness. If he could even find a ventilation vent, he could send Rufus in there to dismantle the behemoth from inside. But so far he couldn't find anything, not even on something this huge. Maybe even the designer of this giant knew of The Rufus Factor.
Kim realized what the others were doing, but it wouldn't be long before V realized it and fired at them. She was currently the distraction, and she needed a new one. She had been running away from the machine guns the whole time, and if she took a moment to relax, even in a safe position, V would fire the cannons at her again. A lot of Kim's weapons were designed for fighting people, and the only weapon that would assist her in a giant walking tank like this would be the Kimmunicator or an electromagnetic scrambler, but the Kimmunicator wasn't working properly due to the jamming signal, and she was out of scramblers. Then she found something in her utility belt; a smoke bomb. This time, she hurled it straight at the cockpit seconds before being fired upon again.
V realized what the weapon was as it came her way, but she didn't react properly and fired at it, detonating the device front of her. This completely blocked her vision, covering the entire window of the cockpit.
'Perfect,' Kim thought. Now she should have the advantage.
Instead, V continued to fire at Kim with accuracy, but all of the bullets were still landing long behind her.
"I don't think so, Kimmie! Like my brothers and sisters, I've also had adjustments made! I can see you perfectly through this smoke, and your little friends, too!"
The cannons started to animate, but instead of focusing on one target, each one moved into its own direction, and V pulled the trigger. One cannon fired where Jen was and one where Ron was. Because they were on the sides and out of visible range, neither explosion struck their intended target. However, the impact was strong enough to send both flying a few feet away.
Oddly enough, Ron was tossed back inside the hangar, but he remembered something. V was guarding a nuke. That's what he should be doing, trying to disarm the nuke while V was distracted by Kim! So he ran to the very back of the hangar as fast as he could and started looking. Jen noticed this as she got up, and decided to follow him. Every step of the Fafnir shook the entire area, but most of the damage was already done, so no more steel supports or equipment would fall on them. At the end of the hangar was a large steel door. Ron tried to put his fingers in-between and force it open, but with no luck.
Jen wasn't too far away from him, but knew how to open it.
"You've got to use the good stuff for that, Ron."
He moved out of her way, allowing her to place more C4 remote-controlled bombs on the center crack. She tried to put some as high as she could and a couple on the floor, but she didn't want V to hear the bombs go off. They were remote-controlled, but Jen had to time it when V did something loud.
Ron looked as Kim appeared to have stopped, panting for air. There was something peculiar about her, though. Her skin complexion was much darker, as with her hair. Something told him not to be afraid. Although he didn't realize it, Jen and Yori, wherever she was, had the same odd feeling.
V on the other hand had Kim right where she wanted her. In front, standing still, with both cannons locked onto her and ready to fire.
"What's wrong, Kim? Exhausted? Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to rest… in peace! Die!"
The second V fired both cannons at Kim, Jen pushed the detonator, blowing the steel door open.
When the smoke cleared outside, V was surprised to see no blood, but pieces of some kind of projector instead.
"What the hell?"
Suddenly, she found Kim in front of her, on the cockpit window.
"Hi!" the auburn girl waved, before placing some kind of bomb on the window. She was quick to somersault off of it before it exploded, but again, no damage was done to the glass. Either it was too strong, or the bomb was too weak. Both Kim and V leaned on the latter.
Yori was shaken on top, but had no luck finding any kind of port that could reveal a weakness to the walking death mobile.
"What was that about?" Jen asked as she covered her eyes from the smoke.
"Heh," Ron chuckled, "That was the Holo-Kim."
"Hologram, huh? Ever go on a couple of dates with that one?"
Ron sighed. "Unfortunately, yes, but that's when her parents made her fill out some college applications because we were more focused on going out every day of the week, and I kinda had that procrastinating effect on her. She used some kind of mind-relay control thingamabob to control it with her real thoughts, but it's kinda hard to hold your GF when she's, you know, not there."
"Weak."
"I know."
Finally, the smoke had completely cleared, but the doors were still in the way. Fortunately, they were weak enough for both Ron and Jen to pull them off. In the small room, two items sat there: A stinger missile launcher and the nuke, covered with wires.
Ron didn't recognize it. "Okay, the missile launcher I see, but what's this supposed to be, a snow-cone maker?"
Jen shook her head. "It's the nuke, Ron. So they really did manage to steal it. Try to disarm it while I help Kim!"
Ron got on his knees. "Rufus, go time!"
Rufus hopped out of Ron's pocket and did a small salute. "You got it!"
Jen didn't hesitate to take the missile launcher, but she stopped when she realized something was wrong:
The damn thing was empty, and there was no ammo in the hangar.
Yori had seen everything that happened, and realized she needed to be a distraction while Ron and Rufus tried to disarm the weapon.
Kim had been pretty exhausted, running the entire time, it had been clear for a while that this thing couldn't be destroyed from the outside. It somehow had to be destroyed from the inside, but there were no ports or panels to break through. She took a moment to observe and analyze the explosive cannons on the sides of the machine. The barrel of the cannon gun was the only way in, meaning…
THAT was the weak point. It was the only opening, but she needed something that would cause irreparable damage to it, and she needed something that could go to the very end of it.
"Jen! Frag grenade, now!"
Jen was still far away from the back of the tank, but heard the message. She quickly pulled out a grenade and tossed it to Kim.
"Here! Catch!"
Kim knew exactly what to do. If she could pull the pin and toss the grenade into the very end of the cannon barrel, at the same time that V fires, it could completely destroy it… but could the grenade fit?
Inside, Ron and Rufus tried to disarm the bomb, but they only made things worse. First, Rufus managed to activate the controls, which were similar to those on the jet. It was a HDCS (Holographic Display Control System), but with the touch of a button, Ron accidentally started the detonation sequence for twenty minutes. Rufus tried to snap some wires inside, only lowering the timer to ten minutes. He also checked the primary wires, which in the movies would be red, green or blue. This time, they were all painted blue. Rufus cut one, and it lowered them to five minutes.
"Oh!" Ron groaned. "Rufus, we've never had to dismantle a bomb like this! And this is a freaking nuke!"
Kim chanced it, pulling the pin of the grenade and hurled it straight into the cannon barrel. It was a precise aim; if Kim was off by one degree, it would have bounced off, but it flew right in. Just as she predicted, V foolishly fired the cannons, both. Kim forgot about the other one, but she soon came to realize nothing happened, as she was unharmed. Whatever shell was fired out of the other cannon was sliced in half by Yori, who was standing next to her with her sword in hand. The remains of what appeared to be some kind of explosive shell were nearby.
"Spankin' save, Yori."
Yori just smiled, keep firm in her stance. "You are welcome."
A huge explosion had already rocked the left cannon, which actually triggered a chain reaction of explosions inside the behemoth. Loud screams from the cockpit could also be heard.
"Damn you to hell, Possible! Gyaaahh!"
The machine staggered, but just when it looked like it was done, it rose up again, but the left side of it was limping and smoking.
"No! I won't let you walk out of here alive! Not you, not any of you!"
The machine guns went off again, forcing Kim and Yori to evade. To Kim's surprise, Yori swung the blade around in almost inhuman motions, actually blocking several of the bullets and slicing a few in half. Unfortunately, the machine guns themselves were mounted inside, or else Yori would have sliced them off, but the ninja girl actually got a different idea. Because the behemoth was leaning backward, she could stand on the front of the machine and probably still do damage. So she leapt onto the machine, ran to what was now the top of it, and located the machine guns. Much to V's misfortune, she couldn't see her because of the now-shattered cockpit window, and the impact of the explosions rocked her head all over the place, almost knocking her unconscious.
Yori had to chance it. She quickly pulled out her sword, pointed it toward the machine, and thrusted her sword into the machine guns themselves. There was a total of sixteen of them, which should have been more than enough to kill a target, but V didn't realize they were designed to be powerful, not fast. Had she actually struck Kim with just one bullet, it probably would have torn a limb off, if not destroy it completely. Yori was working quickly, thrusting her sword in, twisting it, pulling it out, and repeating it again. In two minutes she had completely destroyed the machine guns. The only weapons that V could use were the last cannon, or if anyone was dumb enough to get under one of the feet of the giant, that.
Jen finally reached Kim, who was hiding on the machine's side, holding a grenade with a pin still in it.
"This is my last one. You know what to do." Jen followed with a wink.
Kim grabbed it and darted off toward the second and last cannon, but V had fired it as Kim was getting closer. The explosion's impact sent Kim flying away from the battlefield, and worse of all, the grenade went into the snow. To make matters worse, it was getting windy again, and that would mean the snow would eventually bury the grenade forever.
"Shoot…"
"Woohoo!" Rufus cried.
"Okay, now we bumped it to eight minutes. Not a lot, but that'll give us some time." Ron groaned again, "Why couldn't they teach us how to disarm nukes in school?"
Now that the winds were picking up and it was starting to snow, Yori had a hard time seeing, but tried to keep V distracted while Kim went to look for the grenade. Jen was going in to follow her, but where the remaining cannon was at, she would've been knocked away if V fired it. Yori decided to play the distraction again, getting on top of the machine and trying to thrust her sword into the cockpit window.
She succeeded for the most part, but with all the smoke inside, she couldn't tell where she struck. She also lost her footing, the sword being her only support. Out of nowhere, another bladed weapon came from inside, and the tip was coming toward her neck quickly. Acting in reflex, Yori let go of the sword and jumped off before a sharp knife came through, rolling on the snowy surface to ease her fall, but using her elbows to prevent any muscle tear in her leg. But the distraction worked. Yori turned to where the other girls were, and Jen was already helping Kim.
"Here!"
Jen pulled some kind of device from her bag and hurled it to Kim.
"Jen, how's a golf club going to help me find the grenade?"
The blonde slapped her head. "Sorry!"
She then pulled out something with a similar appearance, but it had some kind of electronic display at the top of it.
Kim caught it single-handedly. "A metal detector! Now we're talking!"
It showed the grenade a few steps to Kim's side. She put her hand in the snow, felt it, and pulled it out. Both girls started freaking out when they noticed something was different.
The pin was missing.
In reflex, Kim tossed it without thinking, and it went toward the front of the Fafnir.
"Yori!" Kim cried out, "Incoming!"
Yori saw the black device coming in the air, and noticed V was aiming the cannon toward her. She got the right idea for finishing this fight. Just when the grenade came within reach, the cannon was a second or two away from firing.
Yori actually hit the grenade with the butt of her sword, ricocheting it straight into the end of the barrel. V didn't even see it. All she saw was Yori standing there, locked on and ready to fire.
"You'll pay for killing my brethren, ninja! See you in hell!"
Yori leapt away the instant V pulled the trigger, causing another massive explosion on the right side of the vehicle, followed by several more chain reactions, and now that the left side was destroyed, even more explosions went off from all over. Finally, it collapsed, even after V's efforts of trying to make it stand on its feet, which were interrupted by the explosions in the entire cockpit.
"NO! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH-!"
One more explosion silenced her, shattering the window of the cockpit. There was a long eerie silence as the three girls walked toward the front of the demon, but there was too much smoke coming from inside. They saw blood all over the shattered glass, too much for their tastes.
Kim sighed. "Sorry, V."
Yori bowed to the remains of the war machine. "It was not in our best interest to fight you to the death, but you would not have it any other way."
Jen on the other hand was looking past it. "Might want to see how Ron's doing with that nuke."
Kim almost fainted when she heard this. "Ron's trying to disarm a nuke? The nuke? Are you kidding me? What is he thinking?"
Jen let out a sheepish grin. "Actually, I thought he could handle it with his pet. Oops?"
Kim groaned. "Damn right 'oops'! Come on, let's help him before he blows us all up." She quickly jumped on and over the remains of the Fafnir and darted off toward the end of the hangar.
As much as Kim loved Ron, she wouldn't ever trust him with a nuke if her life depended on it, and that was pretty accurate for the current situation.
Jen leaned toward Yori. "Yikes. Not confident with the BF on bomb control, huh?"
Yori shrugged. "I suppose not. Come on, let us see how he is doing."
The two girls did exactly as Kim did, jumping over the remains and ran toward the end of the hangar.
Just as they disappeared, a loud groan could be heard, and a bloody mangled body fell out from the smoky and destroyed cockpit.
And it was breathing.
Inside, Ron appeared to be freaking out, trying to look all over the device for any kind of secret switch.
"Okay, we went back up to twenty and back down to four… there's got to be a way to get it back to zero…" Ron didn't even realize the three shadows lurking over him.
"Need some help there, Mr. Ronshine?"
Ron turned around. "Oh, hi KP, I-waaaaaaaaah!" His hair popped upward when he saw the girls.
The girls then came to realize they were a complete mess. Their hair was messed up, their clothes were torn and ripped, they had smoke all over their faces, as well as a few cuts.
Ron was quick to apologize, bowing down on his hands nervously. "Sorry, but I am so not used to that look. I've seen Kim with wrecked hair a few times, often with tree branches, but not with the battle damage and the smoky skin."
Kim smirked at the others, then rubbed all the smoke on her onto Ron's hair and his face.
"There, we're even."
Jen tapped Kim's shoulder. "Uh, Kim, hello? Bigger problem here."
All of them were quickly distracted by a loud scream coming from behind them, jumping out of the way before being struck with a sword. It was V, almost completely painted red and carrying the sword Yori carried.
"You…" she weakly growled.
Kim exchanged a look with Jen. "Nice eye."
Jen had a nervous smile. "Honestly, I had no idea she was behind us. I was talking about the nuke."
"Possible…" V weakly moaned, "You… won't… leave here… ever…"
Kim groaned. "Tell you what, let's deactivate that nuke and then we can fight, okay? Okay? Great."
V held the sword in a professional manner, leveling the sword with her eyes. "No… You will… die here… even if… I have to…"
Ron was between V and the nuke, grabbing Rufus, who whispered something into his ear.
"What?" Ron whispered. "The Holo-thingie went away but it said we have twenty seconds left? Oh crap…"
V heard Ron completely, letting out a weak smile, then was about to dart off toward Kim. Her hunt was interrupted when Ron grabbed her face and slammed it into the remains of the steel doors.
Kim was surprised. "Ron?"
He was serious all of a sudden, positioning himself between Kim and V. "You're not going to get near her until you get past me."
Kim turned red.
V got up weakly. "Stoppable… You're the one… the boss mentioned… the fool…"
But his seriousness would not last forever. "Okay, yeah, glad you know me, but I hope this blood doesn't stain my glove! It's kinda icky."
Kim covered her face.
"Idiot…" V hissed. "She'll be the end… of you… I'll finish you off… first."
With that, she let out a loud cry and ran at Ron with the sword, revealing another one hidden in her sleeve.
"DIE!"
Ron just stood there comfortably with little to no fear, then suddenly jumped in the air, spun in a 1080 spin before delivering a hard mid-air kick, more than strong enough to send V straight into the small room with the bomb in it. She appeared unconscious, but Ron quickly grabbed the steel doors to seal her in. All of the girls were surprised he was able to handle them so easily, seeing that they weighed so much. Mystical Monkey Power? Probably.
"And that, ladies, is where I say 'Booyah'." Ron took the moment to lean against the door with a smug expression.
Kim still had her face covered. "Uh, Ron… It's a nuke, meaning we're all going to die now."
Ron didn't appear worried. "See Kim, that's depressing. I'd rather die after a sweet victory than die in failure."
"Yeah, failure to dismantle a bomb."
Ron rubbed his head. "Oi. I give up."
Jen dropped to her knees. "Well, crap, this is it. If I'm going down, I'm going to leave a message!" She lifted her arms and her middle fingers. "Read'em and weep, boys!"
Yori just stood quietly, as if she were meditating. Unlike Jen, if she were to leave this world, she wanted to go peacefully.
Kim on the other hand just stood disappointed. Maybe Bonnie was right when she said that Ron would somehow destroy the world… or was that Shego?
Then, a long beep could be heard.
00:00:00.00
BOOM
"Ron? Ron! Can you hear me? Ron!"
"Un-freaking-believable."
"Is he…?"
"Ron… come on, show some kind of life…!"
"Kim, he's been… well, like that for fifteen minutes…"
"Dammit, Jen, he's not dead!"
"I didn't say he was, but give him some air after delivering CPR."
"I've got a pulse! But no breathing…"
"If I were you, Yori, I wouldn't watch."
"No, I need to see this."
"Here goes…!"
Kim's lips…
Air…
"Come on, dammit! Breathe!"
More of it…
"Ron! I know you can hear me, wake up!"
I can't move… So much… pain…
"Kim, being crushed between the wall and a door doesn't mean he's going to wake up just like that."
"Breathe, dammit!"
A familiar taste again…
"Ron! Please! I can't save the world without you!"
"Uh, Kim, he's breathing. Are you crying?"
"What does it look like?"
"Um, yes? Wow."
"Okay, his pulse is good and he's breathing… thank goodness. Yori, here, look for any kind of bandage, he's still bleeding…"
"Here's one."
"Thanks…"
COUGH
"I think he's coming to."
Ron woke up, coughing. "KP? Yori? Jen? What's… ow, my head."
Kim had tears in her eyes, "Don't you ever try something like that again!" She tried to look angry, but it was an uncontrollable smile. She couldn't help but plant a hard one on his lips, even if it meant tasting the blood on them.
Jen whistled and Yori tapped her foot.
The world famous teen hero had a huge smile on her face when she finally pulled it from Ron's. "Just lay back and relax…"
"What happened…?" Ron asked weakly. His entire body was feeling miserable, almost as if all the bones in his body were broken.
Kim tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. "The bomb went off, and before we knew it, the explosion sent the doors flying into the walls, with you in front of one. We thought it crushed you completely… You were bleeding all over, you weren't breathing, and your pulse was low… It took fifteen minutes, but you're finally awake…"
Ron coughed out a bit of blood. "But… the nuke…"
Jen had her arms crossed and 'pissed off' written all over her face. "It was a damn fake, nothing more than a weak dummy warhead. The self-destruct mechanism in V was more powerful. It looks like we were tricked once again. Another diversion tactic, I'm sure."
"So wait, a bomb still went off, sending the door and me toward the wall, and I was pretty much turned into a sandwich. Shouldn't something like that had to kill me?"
"Yes…" Kim weakly answered, then sniffed. "I could've sworn I heard your whole skeleton get crushed just by the sound of the door hitting the wall, but… you're still alive… and not a single broken bone for some reason…"
Kim's radar also seemed to act like an X-Ray as she scanned Ron's body, and his skeleton looked almost perfect.
"And Rufus?"
Yori was petting Rufus in her hand. "Rufus-san is shaken, since he flew out of your pocket before impact, but he will be okay."
While Jen didn't show it, she was also extremely relieved to see that Ron was alive, since the blood on the wall was a clear indication he was crushed like a fly. She wasn't good in 'moopy' scenes like this, so she decided to see what was left of the fake nuke and, as much as she didn't want to see it, V. From where the others were at, it looked like someone had blown up a red paint bucket in the small area. But when she took a closer look at the remains of the corpse, she realized something.
"Guys, you might want to see this!"
Kim and Yori both picked up Ron, all heading toward the back room where the room was painted red.
Whatever was left of V wasn't pretty. Everyone expected to see blood and gore everywhere, and that's what they saw, including some details they never dared to imagine. Most of V's skin and features had been blown off, painting the walls with blood, tissue and a couple of organs. But something didn't look right about her skeletal features at all.
It was painted silver, as in silver metal.
Also, some of her organs also appeared… mechanical.
She was a machine fused with human body parts.
Kim immediately threw up.