Visigoth29527: Nice observation, though not one I consciously intended. And I'd argue the wisdom order is reversed.
DominusExMachina: This more a fusion of the Superman concept than of a particular telling of it (i.e. Smallville).
Lydia King: Thanks. I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'casual' unless you're referring to non-action sequences? Maybe you could drop me an email with a specific example.
Thanks to: Classic Cowboy, Triaxx2, campy, GargoyleSama, Spyke the Hedgehog, lady-of-tormentdeath, daywalkr82, FAH3, MrDrP, Darkcloud1, MatthewC, Wanderer3, mattb3671 and Akemi.
"Ready? Ok!"
The words echoed in the gymnasium of Middleton High School as the varsity cheer squad launched into another routine.
In and of itself there was nothing unusual about that. The squad was simply engaged in another session of practice, fine tuning a new cheer before the basketball game scheduled for the next evening.
What made things different was the fact that, for the first time in a long time, the words hadn't been spoken by Kim Possible. Instead, a brown haired junior named Hope Phillips was leading the squad, having been elected to the captaincy after Kim stepped down. In fact, Kim wasn't even on the squad any more. She had resigned in January after deciding that her missions took too much time away from practice, and even games.
"If I'm not going to be here, I should let someone who is have the honor of being the captain."
Kim did miss cheer squad, but not as much as she had been afraid she might. She missed the uniform more, at least the tank top/skirt version, partly because she'd worn it for so long, and partly because she'd learned that Ron had certain fantasies that involved it. Kim chuckled softly at the thought and leaned back against Ron, who was sitting with her in the bleachers watching the practice session. Sitting like they were, with their arms around each others waists, was a borderline violation of the school's 'No Public Displays of Affection' rule. Fortunately Mr. Barkin, the vice-principal (who wore many hats around the school, from substitute teacher to emergency janitor) had his 'assistant coach' hat on, and his attention was focused on the boys basketball team as it went through its warm up drills.
And it was a good thing it was, for Kim felt Ron's hand slide down from its place on her hip, and felt his fingers slide into the back pocket of her jeans. Kim stifled a giggle and rested her head on Ron's shoulder.
"You're being a naughty boy, Ron," she teased.
"I can't deny it," Ron admitted with a grin, his fingers flexing slightly.
Kim was about to risk a very against the rules kiss when her Kimmunicator chirped. With a slight frown of regret she plucked the device from her pocket and activated it.
"Go, Wade," she said languidly.
"You guys haven't been fooling around again, have you?" Wade demanded somewhat harshly. Kim and Ron both blushed, and Kim cast a quickly look around to see if anyone had overheard.
"No," she declaimed firmly. "We're in school, you know. That's not exactly the best place for that kind of thing."
Wade's own cheeks heated, and Kim giggled. Wade had just turned thirteen, and was starting to experience the wonderful world of puberty himself. His interest in girls, and in the things that made girls different from boys, had greatly intensified lately. And of course, there was the time he had called Kim, only to find her and Ron doing something her father really wouldn't have approved of. Kim and Ron hadn't even noticed the initial call, preoccupied as they were. Their first clue they were being observed had come when they heard his strangled cry of surprise and dismay, and had turned to see the Kimmunicator's auxiliary camera unfolded from its compartment and pointed right at them.
"Anyway," Wade continued, changing the subject, "I just wanted to bring you guys up to date on Drakken."
Kim sat up immediately, Ron following suit. Wade had been scanning the internet for information about the activities of potential enemies for years, but of late he'd been making an especially strong effort vis-à-vis Drakken and Shego. He'd acquired, then extensively modified, an heuristic neural net program: essentially a crude but functional Artificial Intelligence. It had no personality to speak of, and outside its field of expertise it was completely useless, but within that field...
"As you know," Wade began, "Drakken has been raising money a number of ways: selling information, selling stolen goods, selling his own inventions, and hiring out thugs and mercenaries to various criminal organizations and dictatorial governments around the world."
Kim nodded silently. Shego was handling the information and stolen goods end of things for her boss, and for someone who had been an academic for most of her life was proving to be quite good at both stealing, whether it be data or hardware, then turning around and fencing her ill gotten gains. Drakken on the other hand had been busy in his laboratory, and had developed various 'enhancements' that he was offering for sale to anyone who wanted them. As a result the number of criminals with innate powers was rising. That made life difficult not only for Kim and Ron, but for the authorities as well, and finding ways to deal with metahumans was fast becoming law enforcement's greatest challenge.
Topping it all off were the soldiers-for-hire Drakken was providing. They were reportedly utterly loyal to their employers, completely remorseless in action, and totally without fear for their own safety. Those qualities seemed to make them highly effective, if the havoc they were wreaking in the Third World was any sign. The situation in central Africa alone was so bad now that the major powers were beginning to openly discuss the need for armed intervention.
"He's also set up a number of legitimate businesses here in the U.S., probably to launder money. I still can't prove that the companies I suspect are fronts actually are fronts, but I'm working on that."
"Is this just a background brief, or was there something specific you wanted to tell us, Wade?" Kim asked.
Wade blushed slightly and smiled in embarrassment. "Sorry, didn't mean to run like that," he apologized. "Yes, there is something specific."
"We're all ears, buddy," Ron broke in with a grin.
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, all ears!" Rufus piped, scampering up onto Ron's shoulder so he could look at the Kimmunicator's screen too.
"Well, I'm afraid it's not an immediate call to action," Wade clarified, and Ron's face fell. "What is happening is that e-mail traffic between various web sites I believe are associated with Drakken and his lairs has increased dramatically in the last two days."
"Meaning?" Kim probed.
"Something is brewing," Wade declared. "I don't know what just yet, but based on previous patterns I'd say we can expect a major move on Drakken's part within twenty-four hours."
"How bad is it?" Kim, her tone urgent, as she strode into the command center at Global Justice Headquarters, Ron on her heels.
A harried looking Dr. Elizabeth Director, the eye patch wearing head of Global Justice, glanced up from the tabletop display she'd been studying and regarded the new arrivals with her one good eye.
"Kim, Ron, thank God you're here," Dr. Director said, her face relaxing, her voice sounding much relieved. Then her expression and tone hardened again.
"Very bad," she went on, pointing at the tabletop. The entire surface was a video display, currently showing a map of the Caribbean Sea area. A flashing red ring surrounded a tiny speck of an island.
"This is Dog Island," Dr. Director said, pointing to the ring. "It's not far from Anguilla," she added, indicating a much larger island nearby. Anguilla was also highlighted, but by an orange ring.
"Apparently Dr. Drakken has a lair on Dog Island," Dr. Director explained, "and a fairly well developed one at that, because he seems to have used it as a staging area for an invasion of Anguilla!"
"Seems to have?" Kim and Ron asked as one.
Dr. Director nodded gravely.
"A few hours ago we picked up a transmission from an Anguillan patrol boat." She nodded at a comm-tech, who pressed a button on the edge of the table. The sound that followed was a crackling roar interspersed with loud booms. Barely discernable above the noise was a voice screaming that the ship was under attack and sinking. Then there was a fierce hiss, and silence.
"Then," Dr. Director went on, "Anguillan TV broadcast this..." The table top went to picture-in-picture mode. A grainy image appeared, a shot out to sea that showed something burning brightly and sending up a pillar of black smoke. Then the camera panned to the beach, where boats could be seen coming ashore. The camera zoomed in closer, and Kim and Ron could see armed figures leaping from the boats and heading inland. Over it all was the voice of someone who seemed to be a newscaster, pleading for help from the outside.
"That sure looks like an invasion," Ron agreed. "But what makes you think Drakken...?"
Dr. Director answered the question by nodding to the tech again. The invasion imagery was replaced by the blue-tinged face of Dr. Drakken.
"Greetings, Dr. Director," the recording of Drakken said cheerfully. "By now I'm sure you're aware that something is happening on the Caribbean island of Anguilla. Rest assured that it is I, Dr. Drakken, who am responsible. I'm calling to warn you to keep clear and not try any commando raids or military intervention. If you do, the people of Anguilla will pay a high price, for I assure you, I have no qualms about killing all of them if you cross me."
"Nor will they be the only ones to suffer." The picture cut away to a series of shots of rockets in launch position in a variety of settings. "I have one hundred missiles," Drakken boasted. "Each carries two hundred liters of advanced chemical weapons in a dispersal system of my own design. Each missile can blanket a whole square kilometer with a lethal dose. If you fail to comply with my demands by the indicated time, I'll launch all of them." Drakken's face reappeared. "When Kim Possible arrives ("And I know you'll call her, Betty," he added snidely) contact me on this frequency immediately." Numbers flashed on the screen, then it went dark.
When they made contact with Drakken he fairly cackled with delight.
Kim, annoyed, cut him off with a severe, "What do you want, Lipsky?"
Drakken's face twitched violently, and he seemed to struggle to control his temper.
"Dr. Drakken," he insisted through clenched teeth.
"Fine," Kim acquiesced, feigning boredom, "What do you want, Drakken?"
"Oh, you teenagers and your sass!" Drakken snarled, once again struggling to control himself. He did so, then pasted a pleasant expression onto his face.
"You, Kim Possible, will come to these coordinates, where you will surrender yourself to the fate I have in store for you." He paused, apparently for drama's sake. When the pause failed to elicit any response Drakken scowled and went on. "You have six hours to comply. Fail to arrive in time, and I launch. Fail to come alone, and I launch. Savvy?"
"If I do what you want, you'll disarm the missiles?" Kim asked.
"Kim," Ron said, his voice low but insistent. She ignored him.
"Of course," Drakken said. "Not only that, but I'll withdraw from Anguilla and evacuate my lair so Global Justice can come in and clean up."
"And no tricks?"
"Kim," Ron repeated more forcefully. Kim silenced him with a raised hand.
"No tricks," Drakken assured, holding his hand up like he was taking an oath.
"I want your word as a scientist," Kim demanded.
"I give you my word as a scientist," Drakken promised.
"All right, I accept your terms," Kim.
"Hah!" Drakken laughed. "That's per..." He was interrupted by Shego leaning into the picture and whispering in his ear.
"Oh, right," Drakken agreed. Returning his attention to Kim, Drakken said, "I want you to promise that you won't pull any tricks, and that you will come alone, Ms. Possible. Hero's honor and all that."
"I promise, on my hero's honor, that I won't pull any tricks, and that I will come alone," Kim said solemnly.
"Perfect!" Drakken resumed gleefully. "I look forward to meeting you for the first, and last, time, Kimberly Ann."
Shego leaned into the picture again, but this time she spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Ya know, this won't actually be the first time you've met her, Dr. D," Shego pointed out. Drakken's face contorted again, and he broke the connection.
"Kim, you can't possibly be serious about..." Ron began. Kim put a finger on his lips to shut him up.
"Ron, I promised that I would go alone," she said, giving him a meaningful look.
Ron stared back for a while, then nodded once.
The GJ special transport slowed to subsonic speed as it approached Dog Island. In the tiny cargo bay Kim listened to the crew as they talked with base.
"Coming up on the DZ in five minutes. We are twenty-five nautical miles out, height twelve thousand feet," the pilot was saying. "Indicated airspeed five hundred knots and slowing. We are being tracked by fire control radar, but no direct hostile action has been taken against us." Kim smiled grimly. The pilot sounded awfully cool for someone who knew his aircraft was being tracked by anti-aircraft weapons that could open fire at any moment.
For her part Kim was nervous. She seemed to get stronger and tougher with each passing day, but on the other hand she had no idea what Drakken intended to try and do to her. That he intended to kill her seemed obvious. What means he would use toward that end were a mystery. 'Oh well,' she resolved. 'Risk goes with the territory.'
When the jump light turned from yellow to green Kim threw herself out of the jump door and went plummeting toward the jungle covered hill that was Dog Island. As she descended her eyes picked out signs of habitation: generator exhaust ports, access tunnels, weapons emplacements, and hovercraft takeoff and landing platforms. At three thousand feet Kim pulled the D-ring on her parachute harness and felt the sharp jerk as the canopy popped open and slowed her fall.
"A parachute?" Shego muttered, perplexed by the image on the security monitors. "What does she need a parachute for?"
Drakken looked puzzled too. "I don't know," he admitted. "After the ski resort incident last winter I thought..." He let his words trail off as his mind worked at the problem. What had happened to her supposed hovering ability? The reports from the resort had said she lowered trapped skiers without any visible use of equipment to do so. But the video evidence was too poor to verify or refute the claims, and eyewitness testimony was notoriously unreliable
Drakken suddenly felt a pang of doubt. How many of Kim's supposed extraordinary abilities were the result of gadgets, and how many were a product of her amazing DNA? Drakken had to admit he had no idea. He and Shego were a long way from advancing even tentative theories about how Kim's genes would express themselves. Had he invested huge amounts of money and time on massive overkill?
Drakken took a deep breath and shook his head. No, whether Kim's 'powers' were innate or artificial, she was still merely flesh and blood, and no flesh and blood could endure what he had planned. If it was overkill, so be it. At least Kim would no longer be around to interfere in his plans.
Landing, Kim shucked the parachute and started walking toward one of the entrance tunnels she had spotted. She noted video cameras tracking her movement, but ignored them.
"All right, time for part one," Drakken said as he watched Kim, in her gaudy blue and red uniform, approach. A gloved finger pressed a button.
Ahead of her, Kim saw hatches in the ground swing up, throwing aside the dirt and sand that had covered them. Two turrets, each mounting four fifty caliber machineguns, reared up and aimed themselves at her.
She kept walking.
The guns opened fire.
Drakkenlooked onas Kim kept coming, taking no more notice of the hundreds of huge bullets slamming into her than Drakken would of a sprinkle of rain. Her path took her between the gun turrets, which kept right on firing, at least until they destroyed each other.
"Interesting," Shego deadpanned.
Drakken pressed another button. The next two turrets mounted flame throwers that doused Kim in blazing napalm. She walked out of the inferno without so much as a singed eyebrow.
Drakken scoffed. Unable to resist, he activated the lair's public address system.
"You're bulletproof and fireproof, Possible, but I'm not impressed," he said mockingly. "Time for me to give you the cold shoulder."
While Shego rolled her eyes at the awful pun, Drakken pressed a third button, one that resulted in Kim being drenched in liquid nitrogen.
As the low temperature fluid evaporated it clouded the view with thick fog condensed from the humid tropical air. When the mist dispersed Drakken and Shego saw Kim entombed in a sheath of ice at least six inches thick.
"We have Kimcicle," Shego sneered. She started to grin, and Drakken had begun to laugh, when the ice cracked, then flew apart. Kim stepped out of what was left and kept right on coming.
Reaching the access tunnel Kim found it closed off by a heavy looking steel door. Reaching out with one hand she pushed gently. The door flexed slightly. Smiling, Kim began pushing more firmly.
A camera mounted inside that particular tunnel showed the door steadily bending inwards. Microphones picked up the groan of metal as it stretched and distorted.
"She is definitely coming," Shego quipped as the door gave way in a shower of broken concrete.
"This no time for flippancy, Shego!" Drakken snapped. "She's stronger than we thought. A lot stronger. And tougher, too. It's possible," he gulped, "that the trap won't work."
"And this is no time for second guessing ourselves!" Shego snapped in turn. "Besides," she added slyly, "If the trap doesn't work we still have our ace in the hole."
"That's true," Drakken allowed, relaxing. He keyed the PA system again. "All right, all right. You're really tough, so what?" he bellowed, addressing Kim as she moved deeper into the lair. "You said you'd surrender. One of my henchmen will show you where you need to go. Let me remind you that any failure to follow my instructions will result in the deaths of thousands of innocent people."
Drakken's voice echoed in the narrow corridor. When it faded Kim heard the sounds of footsteps. She said nothing, either to Drakken, or to the henchman when he hove into view. The lackey gestured for her to follow, and Kim obeyed without a word.
Unbeknownst to Kim, Drakken was broadcasting events as they happened, and people all over the world were watching her in action.
Unbeknownst to Drakken and Shego, eyes throughout their lair were glued to the same broadcast.
The henchman led Kim into a vast, circular room with a high ceiling and a pit of some sort in the center. A large windowed booth overlooked the chamber, and Kim could make out the forms of Drakken and Shego, along with a number of henchmen, inside it.
"Ah, Kim Possible, we meet at last," Drakken said pleasantly.
Kim quirked an eyebrow at him. "I don't know, Drakken. We were a lot closer to each other in California, and you weren't hiding behind six inches of armored glass then."
"Be that as it may!" Drakken snapped irritably, giving Shego a brief, sour glance. "We aren't here to discuss the semantics of who met who when, we're here for you finishing surrendering yourself to me."
"Fine," Kim sighed. "What now?"
Drakken was clearly agitated, and part of Kim was enjoying tweaking him, but another part knew it would be unwise to push him too far.
"Walk down into the pit," Drakken commanded.
Kim obeyed. The pit's walls were sloped and cut into steps. At the bottom, in the center, was a metallic frame with heavy manacles attached to it.
"Place yourself in the restraining frame."
Kim complied, and the manacles snapped shut around her ankles, waist, wrists, torso and neck.
"Those bonds are made of a titanium alloy twice as strong as steel, Kim Possible. I fancy even you will find them difficult to break."
There was a whirring sound, and sections of the steps that ringed the pit dropped down to reveal nozzles of some sort.
"More flamethrowers, Drakken?" Kim asked.
"Not quite. These are just a little bit hotter. Hot enough, in fact, that I had to design those restraints with internal cooling systems to keep them from melting." Drakken leered down at her and Kim saw him reach out to push a button. Clicking sounds emerged from the vents. Kim had just enough time to take a deep breath before waves of white heat washed over her.
Drakken gazed down at the blazing firepit.
"Take a teen hero, roast at three thousand degrees for twelve hours, and see what's left afterward," he chortled.
There was a chime.
"Incoming call from Global Justice," Shego announced.
"Doctor Director," Drakkensaid to the woman who appeared on the main display.
"Well, Drakken," Dr. Director said, her voice trembling, "We gave you what you wanted. Now it's time for you to keep your end of the bargain."
Drakken chuckled. "Dr. Director," he said, shaking his head. "Give up my means to blackmail the world into bowing to my will? I don't think so."
Dr. Director's eye narrowed. "I had a feeling you wouldn't keep your word," she admitted.
"And yet you had no choice but to..." Drakken began to gloat, but was cut off by Dr. Director saying, "So we didn't keep ours, either."
Drakken started, his eyes bulging as he started back at the head of Global Justice.
Behind them adark shape dropped from the ceiling of the chamber, alighting between the booth and the still blazing pit, assuming a fighting stance.
"DRAKKEN!" a familiar voice rang.
'St-Stoppable?" Shego stammered.
"'Nd'me!" a smaller, higher, but equally power voice chirped, as a tiny pink blob appeared on one of the figure's shoulders.
"Fools!" Drakken raged. "You've condemned millions to..." He stopped mid-sentence as the pink blob raised a tiny electronic device.
"Go for it, Rufus!" Ron growled. With a hateful glare at Drakken, Rufus pushed the red button that was the device's only control.
Thunder rumbled through the lair.
Drakken shrieked in horrified surprise as his missiles began blowing up.
"While Kim was keeping you busy, Rufus and I were out planting bombs, Drakken," Ron said triumphantly.
Drakken was beside himself, twitching and jerking with rage. Ron could feel the intensity of the man's anger.
"Synthodrones to the execution chamber at once!" Drakken bellowed. Almost immediately doors around the perimeter of the room opened, and scores of armed figures streamed out of them.
"You may have thwarted my plans this time, Stoppable," Drakken rasped, "But you won't catch me, not with an army of synthodrones between us and no Kim Possible to help you." He and Shego were already edging toward a door that probably led to an escape route of some kind. Ron grinned up at Drakken, an act that stopped the mad scientist in his tracks.
"No Kim?" Ron asked mockingly. "What makes you say that?"
Drakken felt his heart lurch in his chest. Behind the buffoon a dark shape was rising from the firepit. A dark shape with flowing hair. Wearing a blue and red suit with an 'S' on the chest.
"Impossible!" Drakken gasped.
"Dude, you left off the 'K'," Ron retorted.
Kim walked up next to Ron.
"Hey," she said calmly, never taking her eyes off the still paralyzed Drakken..
"Hey yourself," Ron replied with equal calm. "What say you take care of Drakken and Shego, while Rufus and I deal with the 'drones?" he suggested. Kim eyed the synthodrones, who were standing still, awaiting further orders.
"Are you sure you can handle all of them?" Kim asked.
Ron made a dismissive gesture. "Please, Kim. There's only a hundred and fifty of them."
"Okay then," Kim grinned. She gathered her legs and leapt up toward the booth. Even as the sound of shattering glass reached his ears, Ron assessed his adversaries. Synthodrones mimicked people quite closely, down to and including the way their brains worked. With sudden insight, Ron knew the mystical monkey would work just fine against them. In an aside to Rufus, still perched on his shoulder Ron said, "Ready to wreak some havoc, little buddy?"
"Hnk'ha!" Rufus affirmed.
Ron raised the Lotus Blade to an attack position. "Lets do it!"
Even as she crashed through the windows enclosing the booth Kim saw Shego and Drakken step through the door they had been headed toward earlier. It snapped shut behind them and the door, along with a circular section of the wall, raced away at high speed.
"Some sort of escape pod," Kim reasoned, charging down the tunnel the pod's departure had revealed. The door had a window in it, Kim noticed, and she could see Shego looking back at her, waving, a mocking grin on her face.
Kim ran faster.
"She's gaining on us!" Shego exclaimed in disbelief, even though she knew that by now, nothing about Kim Possible should surprise her. Drakken responded by opening the pod's throttle as far as it would go. The distance between them and their red haired nemesis opened again, but all too quickly the rate of gain slowed to nil, and Possible began to gain on them again.
"She's coming," Shego announced nervously.
"Not to worry, Shego, we're almost there," Drakken assured her, not quite able to keep his own voice from quavering.
There was a lurch, and the pod slowed briefly, then accelerated again. Bright sunlight flooded in as the pod became part of and was whisked away by an aircraft capable of hypersonic speeds. Shego looked down and back with relief as they climbed away. Even though Kim couldn't hear her Shego felt the need to vent.
"Hah, Kimmie! You lose, unless you can fly!"
A blue blur emerged from the end of the escape tunnel.
"Oh, crap," Shego swore softly. "She can fly!"
Dr. Director watched as Sheila Gogh and Andrew Lipsky were bundled aboard a GJ transport for the their trip back to the United States. While Kim and Ron had dealt with the main threat on Dog Island, she had led a GJ Strike Team against Lipsky's forces on Anguilla proper. The fight had been short but fierce. The synthodrones had fought to the death as a matter of course, but without much skill. Most of their human leaders had opted to be live cowards. Still, hundreds of Anguillans had been killed or wounded. On balance though, that was better than the thousands or millions who might have perished. Dr. Director glanced over to where a subdued Kim Possible was watching Ron Stoppable wash off the syntho-goo he'd been drenched in when she'd plucked him and his pet from Dog Island. She'd been ecstatic when she's swooped down on GJ Field Headquarters on Anguilla with Lipsky in one hand and Gogh in the other. Ecstatic, until she'd seen the devastation the villainous duo had left in their wake. That things could have been much worse but for her efforts was cold comfort to the teenager.
'You'd better get used to it, Kim,' Dr. Director thought silently, 'because no matter how hard you try, you won't always be able to save everyone, superpowers or no.'