Heavy
So The Drama References, which include spoilers! Heck, you're
probably reading this only if you've seen it. Also, I'm no
scientist with the deep explanation, so I hope it makes sense! And this is by NO means political!
"What on earth is she…?"
Kim had found a bathroom hidden inside the hangar, heavily vomiting. She obviously didn't have the stomach for something unexpected like this. It took her some time to finish, but she looked like hell, and Kim was still one to be a bit sensitive about her looks, even in the face of danger. She washed her face repeatedly, as well as her hair and various areas of her skin that was covered with smoke. She also tossed five breath mints into her mouth.
One second she felt like she was on a mission, and with that lifeless stare the corpse outside was giving her, she felt like nothing was real. It wasn't like her to lose a grip on reality, but this was the first time she saw anything so… vile. Even brain surgery at the hospital wasn't so… inhuman.
She stepped back outside where the others were waiting, unable to prevent herself from sharing eye contact with V's corpse. It was like the eye was still alive and staring at her no matter which direction she moved.
"Think you're finished?" Jen asked, who was sitting down on a metal crate, brushing all the smoke from her hair.
"I hope so…" Kim weakly answered. "I just haven't seen anything so wrongsick in my life."
Ron was laying down on the floor while Yori was applying a few herbs to his bandages.
He looked worse than Kim did before, but he was able to speak clearly now. "I'm surprised I wasn't the one who threw up first."
Kim still couldn't believe that Ron looked so relaxed. "That makes two of us… so… does anyone know what's going on? Now I'm confused. First we find out the nuke was a fake, and V's some kind of… terminator or something. Oh, if only..-"
BEEP BEEP BE BEEP
Kim froze.
BEEP BEEP BE BEEP
She quickly pulled out the Kimmunicator. "Wade?"
"Long time no see, Kim. Sorry I haven't been able to get through, but something was jamming the signal, and I'm guessing you just destroyed it."
"Wade, you have no idea how glad I am to see you!"
"Miss me, huh?"
"It's not fun being separated in the snow alone without any navigation, and then a bunch of things happen that don't make a lot of sense."
"Such as?"
"Okay, we took out all of Elurt's Hands, some kind of giant weapon, and the nuke was a fake. But about one of them… She's a… machine."
"And?"
"No Wade, she's like a machine with human body parts. Tissue, blood, organs, muscle, all except the skeleton and a few organs. The real deal."
"You're sure…?" Wade asked skeptically.
"If you don't believe me I can show you."
Kim quickly walked towards V's corpse and pointed the Kimmunicator at it.
"Oh, now that's just… gosh, what is that thing? I haven't seen anything like it before… Good thing I haven't eaten lunch yet… That's just sick."
"That's what I thought. So what now?"
Wade took the moment to perform a full scan on the bloody remains.
"Nev's been working on some kind of jet and he told me that he recently finished it. He might send it out there as a test run, now that we know where you're at. Are you in some kind of hangar?"
"Yup."
"How's everyone else?"
"Yori, Jen and I are okay. Ron's been injured, but… something puzzles me."
"What?"
"You see, he sealed V inside a small room with the bomb in it, and both went off, sending the doors flying straight into the walls, and he was still in front of it. The door pretty much crushed him like a fly, and I didn't even see it happen until I heard it."
"Something like that usually kills people…"
"Exactly, and he was bleeding all over, low pulse, wasn't breathing, all that, but he's fine now. But get this, not a single bone in his body is broken."
"Really? That's strange. I designed your survival suits to be a bit like body armor, but it can't withstand intense pressure like that."
"Yeah, it looks pretty beaten, but he seems okay for some reason."
"Fortunate, but strange."
"I know, I thought it was all over there, but he woke up after I gave him CPR and mouth-to-mouth."
"Well, he does have mystical monkey powers."
"I thought that only made him some kind of master in Tai Shing Peck Kwar."
"Key word being 'powers', Kim, as in supernatural, remember?"
"I have yet to see that, you don't suppose it made his body stronger?"
"That, or he drinks a whole lot of milk every day. So let me see if I've got everything… Your plane was shot down, you all survived, you took out all of Elurt's henchmen, one happens to be a machine, you took down some kind of weapon, and the nuke was a fake. What's this about some weapon?"
"It was some kind of giant walking tank."
"An MPAWV?"
"A what? Wade, I suck at acronyms now, thanks to Monique."
"A Military Power Assault Walking Vehicle. I've heard some rumors on it but it shouldn't be out on the market."
"Oh. I guess… V called it… Fafnir?"
"That's the codename given to a prototype! So you managed to take it out? That's insane! It was reported to be an ultimate weapon in both offense and defense, close-range and long. In fact, the one in Tibet was supposed to go into mass production in a couple of weeks, but I guess that's out of the picture. Well, your name isn't Kim Possible for nothing."
"No big, Wade. Well, actually it was, being about seventy feet tall. Once you get past the thick armor, it wasn't too bad. I gotta admit, I couldn't have done it without Ron, Yori and Jen. But right now I want details on what the heck V is, and any other information on any of the other Hands around the world."
"This could take a while. You guys might also want to leave that hangar, too. My computers indicate it's an official military hangar, and they won't be too pleased when they find out you've destroyed one of their top-secret weapons and nearly destroyed the place, even if it was an act of self-defense and saving the world. The fact that the nuke wasn't a real nuke won't help your argument, either. You know how the governments have been when a prototype weapon has been stolen and you wind up destroying it instead of returning it."
Kim nodded. "I know, it's happened in at least seven countries now, eight with this one, actually. But I understand. We'll rest in the cave we were at earlier. Besides, it's pretty dark and I don't intend to stay here all night. It's much warmer in the cave."
"Great. I'll check to see what's up with V, now that you've allowed me to scan those… you know. Unfortunately, I can't contact the other teams to make a move until we find out that kind of information."
"So they haven't struck yet?"
"They've been in position for the last two days, but they refuse to strike. So far they haven't reported anything suspicious, no attacks or anything, especially considering your plane was shot down and there was some kind of jamming signal amplifier somewhere, probably that bomb. Regardless, I'll look into everything."
"Please and thank you, Wade."
Inside the computer room of his laboratory, which was like a red version of Wade's room, Nev was typing up some information, looking at satellite photos of various areas of the world.
He became instantly distracted by a beeping image of Kim's Kimmunicator that appeared on the corner of his screen.
'Wade…'
As he clicked the icon, his screen turned into a video convo.
"Nev, great news. Kim at the team are all right."
Nev sighed out of relief. "Great. I was beginning to think they wouldn't survive out there in the cold. How is the mission going along?"
"We've run into a few complications…"
"Such as?"
"First, one of Elurt's hands fought with Tibet's MPAWV, the Fafnir Prototype. It's been completely destroyed."
Nev crossed his arms. "Hah, so much for the ultimate weaponry in attack and defense."
"Second, there was no nuke. It was just a regular bomb."
"You're kidding… So they went all the way out there for nothing…"
Wade shook his head. "Actually, they made an interesting discovery about one of Elurt's hands, which is the third thing… but it's pretty gruesome…"
"Show me."
It took a few seconds for Wade to send Nev the information regarding V's remains and what she was. When the pictures came up all over his screen, he froze in complete shock.
"No… It… can't be…"
He sounded and looked like he had seen a ghost. Not too far off.
"Sweet Jesus… I… It.."
"Nev?"
Nev almost destroyed his room by slamming his fists on the keyboard. "Son of a bitch it's a goddamned bio-mech! They're using goddamned bio-mechs! Sweet bloody hell…!"
"Bio-mechs? That was a Bio-Mech? That's impossible!"
"Not anymore! If they're using Bio-Mechs, that means…"
Nev took his time to do his research.
"Dammit, just as I thought. Wade, the situation has gotten much worse than I could dare imagine… You'd better call Kim. This is serious."
"Okay, okay, I'll call her."
BEEP BEEP BE BEEP
Kim picked it up as she usually did, just about to leave the hangar.
Wade seemed nervous. "Nev, talk. Now."
Nev came on. "Kim, the situation has gotten a hell of a lot more serious than ever before…"
Kim didn't look surprised. "I'm guessing this has to do with what V is…"
"Definitely. Elurt's hands… all of them… they're nothing more than bio-mechs!"
Kim could've sworn she heard the term before, but couldn't put her finger on it.
Nev continued anyway. "You all better listen up, because you're going to need to know the details."
"Okay, spill."
"What you just fought were another kind of abandoned military weapon prototype, a bio-mech. For the last four decades, since the Cold War, scientists have spent millions on trying to create the perfect soldier in combat. Of course, the technology was so limited back then, and they had no idea how they were to achieve this. Three concepts were approved: Clone and existing soldier, or create one from scratch. Unfortunately, some of the media slipped it out and many people were furious at the concept alone, but that was nothing. The methods used to gain the DNA usually involved assassinating top-name soldiers and stealing their DNA and blood, experimentation on soldiers, or using aborted fetuses. These kinds of records were forbidden from the public, and a news reporter was even assassinated for getting the story. Berlin, I think."
"Okay… so we're basically talking about trying to make the ultimate soldier for combat, and I'm guessing they wanted to mass-produce it."
"Correct. Now, at the time they were able to do nothing but cloning, and of course, that also pissed off a lot of people, and the protests were strong enough to drive some of the scientists to suicide because of all the pressure and confusion. Their colleagues said such things were done only in the name of science, and the protesters thought they were trying to play God. So the cloning ceased in the early 70's. So now, they wanted to attempt to create the ultimate human weapon from scratch, now that computers didn't have to be the size of refrigerators, or so engineers promised at the time. It took them almost ten years to create a robot with a human form, a DRONE. The only thing it was capable of was walking from point A to point B. They needed something that would allow it to go out into the Warfield and fight on its own. In the 90's the programming evolved to the point where it could make decisions on its own. The Japanese helped there."
"AI…"
"But maintenance was the biggest issue, and it was in 2000 that a chemical was developed in either Russia or Canada, can't remember. Not only could you program it into a specific shape, but you could control its density – how thick and soft it was. The problem was that it needed to be contained. But that problem was solved with a material that mimicked human skin. This new drone performed extremely well in weapons handling, decision making and hand-to-hand combat. It suffered one fatal flaw, however; penetration. It didn't concern the scientists at the time, but now that they were able to create a human-like weapon, they decided to give it a new name."
Something in Kim's mind rang. "Syntho-Drone."
"Created primarily with syntho-kinetic hydraulic containment acid. However, they began to lose interest in creating the body, becoming obsessed with the artificial intelligence. They were separated into series based on studies. Now that the AI had allowed the drone to think in combat situations, fight in hand-to-hand combat, and handle several kinds of weapons, they wanted more. So, more combat styles were studied and programmed, all kinds of weapons were programmed, and more situations. This went on for four years until the technology was perfected. With the late 800A and 800B-series prototype models, separate from the main syntho-drones, they wanted it so that the drone had human-like traits. The artificial intelligence had to be programmed so that the drone could easily pass as human not only in appearance but also in personality. The 800A prototypes were never activated, used to test appearance. Faces were created and planted on them, and as you would guess, they were able to make them look completely human. Eyes, ears, mouth, nose, everything. The 800B series were little more than AI tests to see how they would respond. Just when they were able to complete everything, the project was cancelled by the government. War was already going on and these weapons were not only long past budget, but because the scientists never figured out how to make the bodies stronger, the government considered the weapon useless. A prick of a needle and they would fall, terrible for weapons designed for mass production. But the night they were to all be destroyed, they were all gone - stolen."
"Shego…"
"Exactly. Drakken was able to steal not only the technology, but Shego also kidnapped the team of scientists so they could continue their work. They weren't concerned about their toys being used in the hands of evil, they were too obsessed with what they created. If word got out about the 800 series being used in public, they would be hunted down and executed by top spies. But since none of the technology was destroyed, they were finally able to go into the 900 series. Drakken was convinced they had something, but he needed to see a syntho-drone in action before reactivating some of the 800 series models. So, Syntho-Drone 900 was actually a clone of himself. Looked like him, acted like him, but he needed a guinea pig. I'll show you the footage."
FIND:
SHEGO DRESS
FOUND:
SD040405.mpeg
OPEN
FILE
PLAY
In Drakken's lair, he seems to be sitting down on the couch, watching an episode of Agony County.
"I still can't believe they're messing with us and thinking those two are going to get together! That would end the show!"
The door then bursts wide open, revealing Shego in a new green and black dress that she probably stole from the mall.
"Hey, Dr. D, I don't mean to intrude on your little mushy mushy soap operas, but… I can't believe I'm asking this… Does this thing make my butt look big?"
Drakken didn't seem to be impressed with what he saw. "Do you want me to be honest or do you want me to say what you want to hear?"
"Both…"
"Well, yes, it does. I actually haven't looked at your butt before, and it is kinda cute now that I think about it."
"'Cute'? What are you… are you asking for some kind of death wish or something?"
Drakken was ignoring her. "Quiet, Shego. I'm watching Agony County."
"Are you ignoring me? Oh, you're so gonna get it now!"
Drakken didn't seem impressed. "Talk to the hand, Shego."
Shego's hands turned into the crimson green blaze they were known for.
"Talk to these ones!"
Right after Shego leaves a brutal wound on Drakken's chest, he suddenly starts bleeding green and appears to be melting. In seconds he's nothing more than a blue pile of skin.
Shego went a shade more pale than she normally was. "D…Doctor D? Drak-… Drakken! What have—I mean… Wait, what the heck is going on here? Green blood?"
The real Drakken then comes out of the closet, laughing his head off. "Oh, Shego, you should have seen the expression on your face! You were all like, 'Oh my gosh, what have I done! Oh, Drakken, no! Why, God, why?'" all while pretending to cry. "Please, Shego, I didn't think you had a soft side in you."
Shego had her arms crossed. "I don't, and for the record, I wasn't crying or any of that. I gotta admit, I'm surprised. For a second I really thought it was you. But do you see any tears? Nooooo!"
Drakken walked around with a smug and confident look on his face. "Oh please, Shego." Then he went into a teasing melody. "I knoooow what I saaaaaw."
"Yeah, and you're known to make up stuff, too." Shego retorted. "So what the heck is that thing?"
"The next generation of syntho-drones! Now that I know these things can pass as everyday people, I have the most brilliant plan!"
Shego yawned. "Whoopie."
Drakken then cleared his throat, "Oh, and by the way, Shego, that dress doesn't make your butt look big."
"Aw, that's sweet of you, Dr. D." Shego's face quickly went from a smile to queasy. "God, why do I feel the sudden urge to gnaw my own hand off, hearing that just now? I knew I was going to regret this."
Drakken didn't pay attention to her. "Come, Shego! Before I set you on another kidnapping mission to Tokyo, I have tricked out the hovercraft! Come!"
Drakken then strutted his way out of the lair, leaving Shego rolling her eyes. "Tricked out the hovercraft? There goes another vehicle. I need a real job."
FEED END: 3:21.42
STOP
The feed then went into static.
Kim had been giggling the entire time. She never expected Shego to ask that one question (not that Kim hasn't asked that to Ron sometimes), and to Drakken out of all people.
Ron had also been bawling on the floor. "Can we get that on a DVD?"
"Sure, why not? Anyway, back on subject, more testing was to be done with the 800 series about their combat capabilities, including a few that were never developed. The scientists never did keep count. Sometimes they would create 837 and skip to 840 then 845, so they filled the gaps. However, behind the scenes, Drakken had them working on the second of the 900 series, number nine zero one."
Kim had an earlier memory: 'Here, I'm known as Syntho-Drone Number 901.'
She growled. "Erik…"
"The one Syntho-Drone that was made especially for you, Kim. He didn't even tell Shego, as you might guess. He told Shego he ordered personality upgrades, but the 900 series already had those. He just made Shego think he was going to use the obsolete ones in battle instead, as they lacked the personality upgrades. But Drakken wanted to live in the moment of playing you, the only reason he allowed 901 to betray you. I can only imagine what he would become if he was a human and not a syntho-drone."
"Okay, thanks for the reminder…" Kim sarcastically replied, "And we all know what happened that night, but what exactly happened to the syntho-drone production when that was over?"
"The team of scientists Shego had kidnapped told the authorities they only did what they did because they were threatened as hostages. Sadly, the authorities bought it and allowed them to resume their research. The team was good at keeping secrets, though. Drakken had no idea they were originally going to skip the 900 series, already working on the 1000 series for the last six months, only because some of the team members, the ones not obsessed with the AI, wanted to work on the body structure. It would no longer rely on syntho-goo. But Drakken did threaten them to create syntho-drones."
"Not surprised knowing Drakken."
"Also, the authorities of ten countries threatened that if a 900-series syntho-drone was ever found outside testing labs, they would relieve the scientists of their duties, permanently. Therefore it was considered an abandoned project by several militaries."
"Blackmail."
"Here's where things get ugly. The AI chip had been pretty much perfected, but they started from scratch on the body. Even without support from the military or Drakken, they still had the money to continue their work. Just this year they were able to create a human skeleton made entirely out of indestructible metal. They didn't want their creation to appear human just on the outside, but to ensure it passed as a human anywhere, from enemy hospitals, airports, arcades and at romantic dinners, they needed to create an exact replica of the human body internally; organs, blood, muscle, everything. And they succeeded, but not by the traditional means of creating everything. Some human organs and functions are impossible to replicate even with today's technology, and that's where they used real human ones…"
"Wrongsick."
"So once that was done, and the machine was able to come to life, appearing human, acting human, and doing any and every human thing he could, from eating, sleeping, being attracted to girls, playing sports, bungee jumping and driving a car, everything that involved physical use both minimal and maximum, it was confirmed. Outside, they have the same material used in Syntho-Drones for their skin and clothes, but now the inner body was just as strong as a normal human. No more leakage. Earlier this June, they had finally created the artificial human. Because of the technology, the weapon was given a new name: The Biomechanical Human Drone. In short, the term is Bio-Mech."
"So you're saying that every one of Elurt's hands are one of these?"
"Yes. I have no doubt about it."
Kim sighed in relief. She wasn't a killer after all, nor Yori. Also, things made a lot more sense, now. Elurt's hands were of all ages, races, and of both genders. Of course a bio-mech disguised as a small girl would throw someone off. This would also explain V's psychotic behavior and beliefs; she and the other fifteen were probably all programmed to be megalomaniacs.
"It's a bit more gruesome, but I don't see why that's so much worse than a nuke."
"It's a bit of a personal matter, too, but…"
"Okay, before you tell me anymore, you're going to tell me why you know all this and what the personal matter is. I won't let you chicken out of it either, Nev."
The two exchanged stares for some time. Whenever Kim demanded some information, she got it.
Nev groaned. "The Bio-Mech technology… it's the very thing that's keeping me alive!"
He slammed his head into the keyboard, losing the war and finally confessing his deepest secret. However, that wasn't going to be all of it.
"Whoa, back up…" Kim was confused. "How is that possible? You're not actually one of them, are you?"
Nev pulled his head from the keyboard, looking like hell. "No. You see… I hate this story… I'm guessing Ron didn't tell you anything… Good."
Kim looked at Ron, who was laying down but listening.
"Didn't say a word, compadre!"
"Another story, I suppose…" Nev groaned. "Kim, have you ever wondered why I asked about you and Ron when we first met? Why you two got together?"
"I was curious at first, but I figured later it was just a way to get to know us. Then again, everyone was excited to see us together. I'm sure that wasn't the reason, though."
"You're right, it wasn't. It was because there was a time I liked a girl and… things didn't go well. I wanted to know what I did wrong."
"You had a crush on someone?"
Jen grinded her teeth when she heard this.
"It was a long time ago… three years. Anyway, like you and Ron, I had a friend who I had known since the second grade. I had a small crush on her when I first met her, but because I was young and naïve, I didn't understand the feeling, but as time went on, I met up with her every now and then, but I never had that strong friendship you and Ron have. It was only until after graduation that I really started to get to know her… so I thought. She never had any dedicated friends to take her out, so I decided to be a friend and take her out to a movie, a meal, that stuff. It was just a friendly gesture, honestly, and to be even more honest that's what I keep telling myself. She was very cute, nice, intelligent, artistically talented, an awesome cook, but she had that pure quality to her. She was clumsy as hell, and I honestly thought that made her more human, because she seemed depressed a lot."
"That was nice of you to do, but answer me this… why do most guys go for girls who seem all pure?"
The reason for this question was because most of the innocent girls seemed like damsels and weak, while she was a cheerleader, but a smart and strong one. Kim thought guys went for weak girls for control, but Nev didn't seem like the type.
"It's like a girl is crying for help, and the guy knows he can. It's not pig-headedness or and ego thing, most of the time, but sometimes you think you can help open up someone because they have an inner potential waiting to be unleashed. Not only in personality but what they can achieve."
"That makes sense, more of the protect the damsel in distress thing."
"I suppose. But after high school we started hanging out a lot, becoming good friends, hanging out every night and talking about things like movies, art, and the like, a lot of people hinted that she was crushing on me, and that's when I realized I was crushing on her, but I didn't believe she shared the same feelings, and for good reason, too. So, one night she asked me out on a real date, and it was no more than a damn setup. It was nothing more than some kind of test to become accepted into the real career she wanted to do: Villainy. To become the pupil of some big name villain, she was to kill someone important in her life, to prove how dedicated she was to her work. Armed with two swords, she practically tore my body apart and also my limbs. I should've died that night. In fact, she did kill me that night."
"Nev, t-that's terrible. I… I'm sorry."
Nev didn't listen. "I was in a coma for seven months after the incident, and I woke up some kind of machine. Whatever parts she destroyed were replaced with artificial organs, nerves were replaced with wires, blood vessels were replaced with tubes, basically my whole chest and stomach portions of my body are now… how should I say this… half of it's my original organs, half of it's mechanical, exactly like my heart. Half-mechanical, half human. I don't even know who saved me or how it happened. I didn't care, though. Christie betrayed me as a friend because her work was much more important to her. I found out she was influenced by Shego."
"Did she know her? Shego has trained a few people before."
"No. Christie downloaded a lot of videos of her, including one training video on the net Shego made before she joined up with Drakken. To her, Shego was the perfect woman of this generation: Cool, sexy, wild, and dangerous. After proving her loyalty to her duties, Christie got accepted into a group called RNA, who hire out assassins. She had one last mission before she was going to be accepted, though: Break out the RNA leader from prison and kill him."
"And?"
"Ripped to shreds from the gun cameras. She could kill but she was poor in infiltration. From what her family had told me, I was much better off than she was. She had a closed casket at the funeral, and it was chained up so someone wouldn't be a smartass and open it up. I only learned of the bio-mech technology a few months after leaving the hospital, and that's when I created my lab. To be honest, I was hoping the work would kill me so I wouldn't have to live like this, but no one seemed to notice anything different when I went out and bought stuff. It was only something the hospital and Christie's family know… and Ron… and now all of you. I would later spend my days on the computer, looking for something to take my mind off of it, to find a new hobby. That's also when I met our old friend, Val, and only a couple of months before, he was crushed by his girl."
Kim was speechless.
Jen wiped a tear from her eye. "That's why you hate girls, isn't it?"
"Never said that. I'm afraid to get into a relationship because I have this paranoid feeling that I'm going to be betrayed again. Honestly, Kim and Ron are the only ones I know in a relationship who haven't betrayed each other. That's why I chose to help them. But also, I can't help but become attracted to girls who look cute and have that innocent vibe, only to find out they're anything but. In fact, I haven't even found someone with that vibe who actually is pure of heart, body, mind and soul. It's always the same 'I look cute and innocent, but I'm anything but!' bullshit. Unfortunately, that reminds me of the past, and how some people can be so… conniving… pisses me of to no end."
"So that's why you haven't told me anything…" Jen quietly replied.
"I don't like to worry people with my own problems and issues, Jen. I know it's an old memory I need to let go of, but each time when I put on my clothes in the morning, I see the machines inside my body… what's left of it, anyway, and it's nothing more than a constant reminder of what Christie did to me. To this day I still don't understand how someone could be so manipulative. I'm just glad the bastard responsible for setting her up against me and sending her to die was found a month ago missing most of his own body. But still, what I have is incurable, and while I've been able to hide the appearance of it when I take off my shirt since my first encounter with Kim and Ron, I'll die if I try to perform surgery on myself. Now I find out the technology that keeps me alive is being used to destroy the world…"
"I… really don't know what to say toward your situation, Nev…" Kim weakly spoke, "That's the sickest story I've ever heard, but… What's the real threat of the bio-mechs?"
Nev sighed, trying to clear his mind. "The technology used on me is now considered outdated. Elurt's henchmen were originally syntho-drones, but I'm guessing whoever this Dive guy is managed to find some people to upgrade them into Bio-Mechs. The first time you fought Elurt's Hands, they were weakened by a Flash Grenade, because it also emits a radio frequency that's meant to tamper with camera equipment, but it's also the same frequency as their AI chips. So even if they look away, they're still affected. However, when they were upgraded when you and Ron had your problem, everything was different. It was all done within the course of two days, I believe. I don't know how, but now they aren't affected by any kind of electronic disrupting frequency. Otherwise, they would've killed themselves with that jamming signal that prevented communication between us. But they still had the same body structure weakness. Their skeleton is was thought to be indestructible, but the rest of their body isn't, and now I know their skeletons aren't either. You blew up V completely, so no worries, and by the metal detection I pick up in the area, the other three blew up as well. Explosions aren't their only weakness, but they also suffer from one more: The neck. It's no less fragile than the human neck."
"So that's why E died."
Yori spoke out loud. "As well as F and G… but they had self-destruct mechanisms on them… That's why the explosion that struck Stoppable-san was bigger than that of an ordinary bomb, because it hit whatever bomb V had on herself."
"Makes sense. I don't know why they had self-destruct mechanisms on them, but we'll worry about that later. Anyway, I did a little research after Wade told me, and I found out that the Bio-Mechs are still being upgraded, illegally I might add. Worse, they're in the wrong hands. If anything goes wrong now, your name is going to be blamed."
"What? How would that be? I don't know anything about how to create this kind of technology."
"Oh, I know. I'm not referring to Kim Possible. I'm referring to the name 'Possible'."
Kim was silent.
"Two words, Kim: Hephaestus Project."
Kim groaned. "Not again, but… how? After the Lil' Diablo fiasco my dad started working on it so that it would be difficult for it to be used in bad situations."
"That didn't stop Drakken from planning beforehand. Before he put his final operation in motion, he sold the technology, and with how much he got for it, he was able to buy a specific restaurant company…"
Ron growled. "Bueno Nacho…"
Kim rolled her eyes. "I'm guessing this potential buyer is working for Elurt and Dive now."
"When your dad created the project, he was working with limited resources. If he were a high name in the government or even congress, he would be allowed access to much more restricted materials, those banned from the public and even your dad. Somehow, this third person got access to them, including a metal created in the UK: Bradtosium, a metal that can be shaped into any form, have any density, was indestructible, and get this, it could repair itself."
Kim was extremely familiar with this, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "So…"
"Use the Hephaestus Technology to create some of the organs and skin, and mixed with the Bradtosium, now used to create the skeleton, you have a human-like weapon that can regenerate itself."
Ron realized something. "Wait, wait. Isn't the Hephaestus Project supposed to grow, too? Like how the Lil' Diablos turned huge?"
"It has many uses, but all of its features are optional. Also, from the encrypted reports, it looks like there's no need for a signal to control it anymore."
"Okay, that is bad. So we have to stop Elurt, Dive and this last guy before they go into mass production."
"Too late, Kim. Elurt's still in Bay City, in the very same building you encountered him in. He also has over a thousand of these new Bio-Mechs protecting all of the floors. This is why they sent you to fight obsolete ones, so they could prepare these ones without your interference. Unfortunately, I'm in no physical condition to go after them."
"They're obviously guarding something…" Kim then snapped her fingers. "The REAL nukes!... Wait, now I remember! Isn't Bradtosium the same metal used on my battle suit?"
Kim had a flashback to when she was fighting with Shego and her arm healed, also with her final fight with Val when it didn't heal.
Wade broke in. "Yes, it's the same material, and it can only heal or shape shift when something is powering it with electricity, which is why your suit didn't heal when it was powered down."
Nev then realized something. "Wait, if it can be that light… no doubt they would use it for the skin. I forgot it can also be colored and textured so that it feels like something else."
Kim remembered. "Right, it kind of felt like a metallic silk. I guess it's safe to assume Ron's was made out of the same thing."
Nev nodded. "I used a wider variety of materials, but the overall suit was made from it. But how to destroy Bradtos-"
"Electromagnetic scrambler?"
Wade broke in. "Sorry Kim, you're out of those and I've been waiting two weeks already to receive the parts necessary to make more. See, this is why I hate the UPS, the materials come from the state next door, and somehow it goes across the opposite side of the country first."
Nev then broke in. "I don't have any on me. Sorry."
"Darn…"
"I think I have just the thing…" Jen realized as she dug through her pockets. "Well, had the thing. Nev, you don't suppose an EFG would help?"
"An Electronic Flash Grenade? Perfect! Why didn't I think of that?"
Wade agreed. "Of course, the frequencies differ than that of Flash and Chaff grenades, and if my studies are correct, and EFG releases a chemical that permanently destroys outdated electronics in the area, which unfortunately is useless, but it also ceases Bradtosium Regeneration, even with a power source near."
Kim curved her eyes. "And you never told me about this weapon, Wade?"
He shook his head. "It's not a common weapon, in fact it's much, much, much older than today's jamming technologies. But I didn't want you to use this weapon if you had your battle suit on, because it would probably destroy it. That's why I didn't want to you take it out to fight Drakken on Prom night, but luckily no one was armed with an EFG that night."
"I see. Well, I don't have the battle suit on me, anyway. You don't suppose you can get me a few of these EFG's, do you?"
Wade then spoke. "I've been able to duplicate the technology, and they're already on their way to Nev so you can pick them up when you return to Bay City. Keep in mind it only affects regenerative metals. Most other metals these days are designed not to be affected, which is why if you used them out there, nothing happened."
Jen groaned. "Learned that the hard way."
Kim went on. "No big. So that's the new situation… A thousand new hardcore bio-mechs. Any more and Elurt can make an army that can regenerate and is indestructible, probably guarding the real nukes, and we still have Dive to deal with."
Yori popped the question. "So, Possible-san, what exactly is the new mission now?"
"Okay, we head back to Bay City, destroy the bio-mechs, capture Elurt and Dive, find and retrieve those nukes. After that, find out whoever is still tampering with the Bio-Mech technology and put a stop to their work. So Nev, how's that jet coming along?"
Nev chuckled. "Glad you asked. It'll be there in two hours. I've located that cave you four rested in earlier, so it'll land closeby."
Wade looked embarrassed. "I'd send the one I was also working on, but gas prices here are ridiculous!"
"AMEN!" Everyone shouted at once, except Yori. American-style humor.
"That's why I had mine filled long before gas prices went up. But I only just finished the navigation AI. Anyway, that's pretty much all the information, I think. I should probably drink something. But the military is on their way to see what the deal was, and they won't be happy to see a top-secret weapon of theirs destroyed. Don't worry about them detecting the plane. Stealth in both appearance and radar. Waka waka waka!"
"Ooooooookay…!" Kim nervously answered. "What are you going to do about the other teams?"
Wade answered. "Funny you should ask. I knew of the bio-mechs, so Nev's history story wasn't news to me, except the personal one. But while he was explaining, I told the teams to go in and told them what they were up against. Get this, the four places threatened by the nukes were actually the only four military bases on the planet that carried an MPAWV, and they've all been destroyed. The Hands in those locations are dead, and just as we suspected, they were all bio-mechs. The teams have also been notified of false nukes, so the warheads have been transferred to a proper bomb disposal facility for investigation. We're pretty much done here. My scan's not picking up any suspicious activity."
Kim rubbed her head. "Wow, that was quick. Okay, we'll head back to the cave, then. We'll wait for Nev's jet to arrive and we'll be on our way back."
"Later!"
Both cut their communication.
Kim grabbed her bag again, and the others took the time to stretch.
"Well, come on, team!"
Dive had to hold the phone at a distance.
"Dive! You scum, you've double-crossed me!"
That didn't prevent him from being calm. "What ever are you talking about, Elurt?"
"You promised me they would be indestructible! You only made them worse! Now they're all dead!"
"When you know how to work on such intricate technology, you try to do it. Until then, shut the hell up, old man."
"You…!"
"Regardless, they will be coming back here for you. Be thankful I've helped in the mass production of these new regenerative versions."
"They better not have their weaknesses, or else…"
"Or else what? There's no such thing as indestructible technology."
"I'm starting to regret my alliance with you."
"That's not a decision for you to make. You remember how we met, and even then your bodyguards couldn't help you. You had me at gunpoint and couldn't hurt me at all. What makes you think you're in any position to threaten me?"
Elurt groaned. He had nothing on Dive.
"You now have over a thousand bio-mechs to protect you. Also, the team may be no match for you should the mechs fail."
"You had better deliver on your promises, Dive. I don't feel comfortable with your secrecy and changing your name on me."
"Get used to it. But remember, Possible and Stoppable are mine. You can have Ferno and the Japanese girl."
"I have no interest in those two."
"Those are the terms. If you don't want Ferno or Yori, you don't have to have them. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you; Possible and Stoppable are mine."
"With how absolute you are, I fail to see how you were a former agent for the government."
"I'm not surprised, seeing that I'm the first you know."
"You really made it sound like this plan was flawless, but it's falling apart."
"Quite the contrary. In fact, everything is going as planned. You see, I didn't expect the team to be taken out by the Hands. In fact, I didn't even expect for them to be destroyed by the Fafnir."
"What do you mean? Why did you send my henchmen to places with a weapon of mass destruction if you knew they were going to fail?"
"They didn't fail. They did exactly as I instructed them to do."
"There was another motive for these four particular locations?"
"Did you honestly believe I was going to destroy such places? Please. The four locations I had your Hands… You do realize they were the exact locations where four out five of the world's only MPAWVs were. That's another threat out of the way."
"You're telling me you intended for those weapons to be destroyed?"
"Exactly. The governments of the world would surely use those against us. Why go through all the trouble to destroy them yourself if you can find others to do it?"
"So you lured them with a nuke, a fake one I might add. You didn't even tell us that they were fake. Why are you sparing me such important details?"
"Because… if you can't figure it out… they can't figure it out."
"So, is that it, then? You're just using any and everything I have in my wallet to do what you want?"
"I don't see what the crisis is. It wasn't like you were doing anything important, unless you consider parading around in your lair because you double-crossed one of your own colleagues as something important."
"You know they're also going to send all kinds of military commandos from around the world to capture me, now that they think the nukes are here. Are you just going to leave me behind?"
"Relax, the preparations have been made. You have ten bio-mechs on each floor, and I've had them install gun cameras on the outside. They won't be able to make an aerial landing unless they want their plane shot down and risk the deaths of witnessing innocents. If they can't cover it, that means trouble for them. There's also various traps I placed around the city should I need to disarm the guns on the IO building."
"So I just sit around hoping that the bio-mechs will be able to protect me?"
"Wait around for a while. If everything fails, I will provide an escape path on the roof. I'll take you out of danger forever."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"This is nothing more than an experiment. You know this as well as I."
"You mean I've spent over seventy million on this… 'experiment'?"
"The governments of the world spend ten times as much on more trivial things. We've achieved more in a week than their scientists have in a year. Besides, seventy million is less than half of what the real costs are. Making the preparations for taking over the military bases where the four MPAWVs were, covering up their destruction, upgrading your syntho-drones into bio-mech drones, the mass production of the new prototypes… I could go on. You're getting quite a bargain."
"Top Secret Military weapons… False nukes… Bio-mechs… stopping Team Possible…? What is it that you're really after?"
"Many, many things… but I also have unfinished business with the fox and the sloth."
"The sloth… how did you know he was going to be the one who would try to deactivate the bomb?"
"That's how their team works. While Possible is busy with the henchmen, Stoppable goes after what they're guarding. Sometimes they switch, but not with a giant 70-foot weapon."
"So you set him up to deal with a fake…"
"Fake? The one in Tibet was anything but…"
"Wait, you mean the bomb had another purpose…?"
"You're starting to catch on."
"What of the other locations?"
"They were fakes, but the one in Tibet had a… special purpose…"
"So…"
"I will not go into detail. There's always a chance this conversation will be tapped and monitored and we will be eavesdropped upon."
"Isn't this feed secure?"
"Now that they know you're here, they've probably got some of their best hackers coming in on us. I wouldn't be surprised that since we know of the existence of their MPAWV prototypes, they're going to send BDAs (Battle Damage Assessments) to investigate the four sites, especially knowing that there have been no casualties other than the pilot. The latest top-secret military stealth weapon, designed to travel in the air, on land and underwater… destroyed by four teenagers. Two ninjas, a sniper, and… a cheerleader. How embarrassing…"
"Incredible."
"Hardly. You're just making the same mistake I did once… underestimating them."
"What is your relationship with them, anyway? It sounds like revenge."
"Revenge? …It's nothing so petty as revenge. I just wish to see two friends again…"
"Friends…?"
"We have some catching up to do… Well, it's time I prepare for the next phase…"
"And what would that be?"
"Entertainment… I wish to give the girls a taste of things to come…"
"How? You're in an underground base."
"Oh, I have ways. "
Dive hung up the phone, and continued to spy on all four military sites in a pitch black room, lit only by four computer screens.
"I personally don't favor doing the same thing over and over again… but let's see if she can… catch on…"
He turned around and was looking into the eyes of the fifth and final MPAWV.
Harpuia.