KP – One Oh
One: Part XLIV - Mutant Combat
Instead of simply shoving them down the passageway on foot, two burly guards in plain gray uniforms simply slung them over their shoulders after securing their hands once more in thick zip-ties. If they had not been wearing gloves the plastic strips would have dug into their flesh, making them extremely thankful the soldiers who searched them had not simply taken them. There still seemed to be some unwritten code that uniforms were left intact, save for the equipment belt that had been taken from them. Of that, there was no sign. Granted, being slung over the shoulder of a large Henchman was not the best way to see the sights, and it was quite dark in the passageway. Whoever had outfitted it certainly scrimped on light bulbs, and where there actually were any, if they were anything more than sixty watt, they'd be monkey's uncles.
The pathway led steadily down. Kim kept thinking if she had a dime for every time a baddie built a subterranean lair, well, it wouldn't be Naco royalty money, but she could probably buy Ron a very nice car. Despite their predicament, she had to chuckle softly, still smarting for getting after him about that back around New Years. As another month rolled around, she made a point of trying to be nicer. It helped she really didn't have any symptoms that time around. After all, why did Ron really need his own car? Just because he liked to drive sometimes? Sure, he had only passed Barkin's test by the skin of his teeth, but the only way he was going to get better was to actually drive. So what if her car were actually worth millions on the open market. Only a select handful of people knew that and the only thing he had wrecked since getting a license was his motorcycle, and even that had not been his fault (unless you counted he fact he put off buying new tires for it until it was too late.)
The left the tunnel, emerging inside a gigantic space carved out of the inside of the mountain. If there had been any doubts before whose lair this was, it was erased immediately by the sight of groups of men, some in gray, some in magenta and white, working computer consoles, every now and then looking at giant monitors displayed above them. There was something about villain lairs. If they ever wanted to go legit, they could probably live well selling off those things as high definition widescreen televisions. That is, if they could actually find somebody with a home large enough to house them.
They walked up to a wall and, following current villain fashion (or at least what had be vogue since they were fifteen) they were once again shackled to a wall hanging from their wrists. This time, at least, the bonds weren't quite so far off the ground, so they could at least get their toes down to support some of their weight. Ron could almost put his feet flat on the floor. Being carried was actually a welcome respite, though later when they got out of their sitch, they were going to most def take turns giving each other backrubs. Considering the shape Ron must have been in, he was getting it first. Kim allowed herself a little grin that she had the confidence they would eventually figure a way out.
It did bother her that Ron wasn't saying much. Normally he would be cracking wise, like he had been earlier. His quietness alone was enough that she would likely get him to go to the Medical Center for some x-rays. All she had to do was hint to her mother that Ron might be hurt and she would probably bodily drag him there herself. Of course, that might mean she would be in for a battery of tests herself, but she hadn't been the one dropped down through a tree after an emergency bailout of their plane.
They hung that way for a few minutes before he finally said something. "You know, somebody's going to have to revoke their lair certificate. They don't have streams of vile green water flowing around in here."
"Ron, that was Drakken's lairs."
"No, not just Drakken. Falsetto Jones had the green water thing going on too."
"That was just green lights. I think that was acid in Drakken's lair."
He shook his head. "I don't think so. His sharks were swimming around in the stuff."
Kim managed to crane her neck around. "Sharks? They were swimming in that grotto in his original lair, before we blew it up a couple times. Remember?"
"No, I'm not talking about that one, I'm talking about the one we blew up his mega-what sis- generator thingy."
Confusion registered on her face. She knew the place he was talking about then. Only that wasn't Drakken, but Ron turned evil who had built the Mega-Weather-Generator. "I don't remember any sharks in there."
"Yeah, they were right there in the middle of the place under a retractable cover."
"Oh, how sweet. Zee hero/thief and her alleged fiancé at taking a stroll down memory lane WHEN THEY SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT ZERE OWN SKIN!" Dementor walked up to them, standing almost nose to nose with Kim.
"You're just upset we stopped you from getting away with that damp reactor Whosiewhatsis." Ron quipped, a little weakly.
"I'm upset? I'M UPSET? I AM ECSTATIC. I have once again capture the famous Kim Possible! If I were not busy with my work, I would celebrate with a bottle of liebfraumilch. Or perhaps some good hot cocoa."
"The time for celebration is later." Another, equally familiar voice broke in. "It was my men who shot down the aircraft, so it is I who claim responsibility for capturing Miss Possible and the "Non-factor'." Gemini stepped into the light. He was wearing a camouflage uniform of the same mottle green as his exterior scouts, though it was cut into the same double-breasted pattern of his more familiar magenta and white clothing.
"Sounds to me like somebody at GJ needs to do another security sweep, if you know that one." Kim quipped.
"Old news, my dear, which is what the two of you are." He turned to one of his men in the green camo. "How well were they searched?"
The armored WWEE operative who had been trying to get Ron to shut up produced Kim's utility belt. "This is all they had on them when we found them."
"What about that vile animal the boy keeps with him?"
"T…there was no sign of it, sir."
Gemini narrowed his eyes at the man. "And who, pray tell, Scout Two One Five, is currently searching for it?"
"I…I don't know. Some of Professor Dementor's men were going to search the wreckage. I will go find out for you sir."
"Do not return without it. That creature is highly dangerous. I want it found, whether it is brought to me alive or you bring me its lifeless corpse. Am I understood?"
"Perfectly, sir!" He beat a hasty retreat before his employer could bring one of his nastier punishments to bear on the unfortunate man.
Ron seemed to go sullen again. He was more worried than he was trying to let on about Rufus. If the little guy hadn't found shelter by then, he was in as much danger as the two of them, if not more.
The two animals faced each other off. Rufus bared as much of his teeth as he could, though besides his massive buck incisors, the rest of his teeth were somewhat less than impressive. The same could not be said for his opponent. Whatever had been done to the formerly rat-sized dog had given him a set of choppers that belongs on a prehistoric creature, though he was intelligent enough to know that there never really was a creature called a saber-tooth Chihuahua.
Pepe backed up slightly, but he wasn't giving ground. Muscles bulged around his front legs as if he had been crossed with a bull-dog. The process apparently hadn't done as much for his hindquarters, as they seemed cartoonishly small compared to the rest of him. One thing was different, however. He no longer seemed to have any fear about him at all. Normally Rufus could intimidate most creatures with a display of un-rat-like ferocity. That didn't seem to be working this time.
Rufus considered his plight for a moment as they stood there growling at each other. He could easily run back the way he had come. There were plenty of holes he spotted along the way that would admit him and not Pepe. The problem was that didn't do anything to help Ron and Kim. Escape and safety was behind him. His humans were on the other side of that genetically manipulated canine monster.
That really wasn't a choice at all. With as much of a roar as his tiny throat could muster he charged the tan colored beast. Years spent watching Kim had taught him that a smaller fighter could bowl over a larger attacker if they were hit correctly. The 'bigger they are' axiom was well known to him. He also had something else working in his favor.
Razor sharp teeth snapped at him, but he was too fast. He jumped up and over the dog, latching his front claws into his shoulders as he passed over him. Pepe was yanked off his paws and sent sprawling. It didn't do any real damage, but the first fall went to Rufus.
However, this wasn't a GWA wrestling match. It didn't matter how many times the animal fell, if those teeth ever got a hold of him there wouldn't be much left. Pepe had the benefit of being the one playing for keeps.
The bulky body snapped around far faster than it seemed it should have been able to. In an instant he was back on his feet, this time charging Rufus. Instead of meeting the aggressor head on, he charged off to the side, taking advantage of the slight curvature of the wall to run right up it. There was a tiny claw-hold, allowing him to hang there a few moments, just out of reach of the snapping, snarling jaws.
His tiny mind was racing. He barely emerged from Ron's pocket the time he had gone up against Dementor's mutant dachshunds. The Bavarian stronghold was so high in the mountains it was permanently buried in snow and he knew better than to leave his nice warm home. Still, he knew pretty much what had been done to slow them down that time. Unfortunately, he was fresh out of Pixie Muffins. Of course, being what he was, he did stop to consider how good those things would taste right about then.
That wasn't doing anything to get him past Pepe, however. Using his hind legs in 'kangaroo rat' mode, he kicked out, sailing up and over the slathering purebred. The dog either had been granted an upgrade in his intelligence or simply guessed correctly, streaking along the floor of the tunnel to he could catch the mole rat in mid-jump.
Rufus was not so easily beaten. He twisted in midair, bringing his hind legs down in a flying kick. He caught the dog in the lower jaw, slamming his apple-sized head down into the rough hewn stone.
He was quickly back on his feet, shaking his rattled head to clear it. Rufus took full advantage of the momentary respite to rush the dog and yank him off his feet once more. He landed in a kung-fu pose, snarling and gnashing his teeth at his opponent. Yet, for all his bravado, he knew he had not done any lasting harm to the animal. Pepe wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice.
Rufus had to do something, and do it fast. He knew he could not keep it up all day and he had no idea what kind of stamina a mutant Chihuahua would have. For that matter he didn't know what he would have had in his normal state. They were locked in a stalemate for the moment, but he knew his own energy reserves were running low, considering the meager food he had. With his size and his metabolism, he burned up the energy pretty quickly.
Pepe charged once more and again the snapping teeth missed by only a whisker's breadth. If he had anything more than an ultra-fine coating of nearly invisible fuzz, he would have likely been snagged. He shoved the mental image of his little body being shaken about by a dog who, by all rights should have been shivering in fear and tried to calm himself.
He needed something, something more than he usually brought to the fight. He had seen Ron do extraordinary things, things no human should have been able to do themselves, and he knew the same power resided in him. He knew it for certain the first time he held the Lotus Blade in his tiny claws. The power coursed through him, into the ancient weapon, shaping it to his will.
Blue light blazed around his little body. His whiskers, which normally drooped slightly, stood on end and he could see little bits of yellow light swirling around him. If the lights had not already been dim, he still would have been surrounded by blackness as his being spanned two worlds, one that he lived in and one that he had no way of understanding.
The power coursed through him and he stamped his tiny back paw on the floor. There was a sound like a thunderclap and a crack spread across the rock, straight at the dog. He was thrown from his feet as the floor beneath him turned into nothing but splintered pieces of rock.
Using his advantage to its fullest, Rufus lunged at him once more, only this time instead of grabbing onto his scruff, he landed on the crest of his back, digging in with his back claws. Holding his tiny paws to his mouth, he uttered a strange call, one he had heard only once before.
Dementor came closer to Kim, once more standing nose to nose with her, glaring at first into her eyes, then examining her from head to toe. Normally the short European abided by all the unwritten codes most villains adhered to, but she had the notion he was about to search her in a manner that, in the legal world, would require a female observer.
Fortunately he did not. Instead he reached up to where her hands were bound. For a moment she thought he may inexplicably be letting her loose from her bonds, but that hope was dashed when he pulled back the cuff of her glove. The reason became quickly apparent when he pulled her watch off, examining it closely.
"A micro-mini cutting laser. AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICES ZEEZE THINGS!" He bellowed at his men, who, to their credit, did not flinch at his diatribe like Gemini's lackeys would. He slammed the modified time piece to the ground and smashed it under the heel of his boot. Then he turned his attention to Ron and pulled off his watch was well, having a much harder time of it since the band of his dress watch was made of metal and had to be pulled over his hand. Ron grimaced slightly, as his captor was not interested in being gentle about it.
He spent a couple moments trying to figure out what, if anything it did. Kim had a bad moment, thinking it might have had some secret Wade had forgotten to inform them about, but he finally threw it down at Ron's feet in disgust, not finding anything save for a cheap analog watch with fake gold trim.
"Enough playing around. Professor." He rudely shoved him aside and leaned down, trying to get right in Kim's face. "I want to know how Global Justice found my newest headquarters."
"Why don't you ask them yourself. They're bound to know where we are by now."
Gemini laughed slightly. "If you are speaking of your vaunted multi-communications devices, I am afraid you are sadly mistaken. All communications in this area are completely jammed." He reached into a hidden pocket and produced Ron's silver colored unit. Apparently it had been found after they were captured. Brazenly he started hitting the send button over and over. The device chimed each time, but the screen remained blank. "Do not think the tracking devices hidden on your persons will avail you either, but just to be on the safe side."
His metal hand came up, glowing with crackling electrical energy. He touched Kim and Ron in turn, causing both of their bodies to writhe momentarily as the discharge coursed through their bodies. Kim knew the newer chips embedded in each of their necks were now shielded against just such procedures, but that didn't matter if all transmissions were being either jammed or intercepted. The devices were passive in nature and would only work if they received a special signal broadcast by one of the satellites Wade had access to. If help was coming at all, they would only have a general idea of where they had lost contact with the hoverjet.
"What about the pilot?" Kim rasped after she had recovered. She was grateful the discharge had not been too powerful, or she would have let loose with what she was intending to do when they were captured.
"He is currently our…guest. When he comes to, rest assured we will be asking him some of the same questions we are asking you. Now answer the question. How did you find this base?"
"You showed it to us yourself when your boys dragged us in here." Kim spat back at him.
"Do not play coy with me, Miss Possible. As you are well aware, I am not one to suffer fools gladly." With that, he pointed his right index finger straight at Ron's jaw. Four tiny fins sprang from the mini-missile at the tip, ready to fire at him point blank. She had no way of knowing whether it carried an explosive charge or was designed to merely incapacitate, but at that range, she was not willing to have that happen to him any more than she wanted an explosive going off.
"We don't know. GJ was supposed to brief us on the ground. We were only along for the ride. For all we know, we could have been going someplace else when you shot us down. Wouldn't that have been something if that were true. You could have been safe and sound. Now you're at least going to have to deal with search parties once they realize their plane was shot down."
He turned to face Ron. "What about you, Mister Ron Factor?" The finger moved from his face to Kim's. "Same question?"
"She's telling you the truth. It didn't even look like we were getting ready to land."
Dementor put a hand on his ally's arm, pulling it away from Kim's cheek. "Do not concern yourself over much, Herr Gemini." He looked up at Ron. "We have vays of making you talk."
"Um, news flash, short stuff. We're talking."
Professor Dementor looked like he was about to backhand Ron for just a moment, but backed off. He conferred with Gemini for a moment in whispers. Kim strained, but could not understand what they were talking about. Moments later the taller man faced her once more.
"Where is Sherry Godfrey?"
"Don't you know? You're the one with all the little spy-flies."
"I was not enquiring as to what I may or may not know myself. I want to know where Shego, my erstwhile Agent Alpha is hiding."
"Like I'm supposed to know where she is. Maybe you didn't get the memo, but she and I aren't exactly the best of friends."
"Oh you're not? That seems surprising considering the fact you went out of your way to rescue her last fall. Perhaps all of those strange internet rumors are true after all."
Kim actually snarled at him. There was no way to know that there was a sort of truce between the two of them, nor why it existed in the first place, but to insinuate she had any kind of sexual relationship with the woman… For half a moment she considered doing to him what she had only ever done to another male. It wasn't something she liked to do, but given the circumstances, she would find the sight of him writhing on the floor, gripping the target of her considered attack in pain.
Perhaps sensing what she might do, he backed away slightly, out of range of her legs. "I will ask you again. Where is Agent Alpha?"
"Kinda funny you still call her that, since she's the one who pretty much told you which way you could stick it the last time she was around."
"What I do with my personnel is my own business." The hand came up once more, this time touching her chin. "Where is she?"
"Most def not in the same place I saw her last, which was in her home packing up everything she could carry, just in case somebody like you or Global Justice got it in their heads to come after her." That much was absolute truth. For the baby's sake she hoped she was still close enough that her mother could care for her, or at least had found another doctor willing to help her. She had to be getting very close to her due date.
Gemini clenched his teeth, as if he could not decide what he wanted to do next. Finally he backed off, the fins retracting into his fingertip. "Very well. Professor, I think we may have a new candidate for your mutagenic process. I do trust you remember his little…pets?"
Kim could only think of the two dachshunds Dementor had used to capture her and Bonnie Rockwaller when they raided his Bavarian lair. The dogs had been taken in for study, though after a few weeks they had returned to their normal state, and the last she had heard, had been taken into a loving household as pets after the scientists determined the process had no lingering effects on them.
Her breath caught in her throat as two burly Henchmen approached. Her panic got even worse when it was not her, but Ron they took down from his bonds.
"I told you we would make you talk, Hero/thief. This time, I have found out how to make this permanent. Say goodbye to your lover."
She could only watch as he was bundled off toward a strange machine. His eyes locked with hers as they strapped him down on a table much like the one DNAmy had used to merge Rufus with Steve Barkin so many years before.
That was when the lights went off.
With the exception of a couple very faintly glowing monitors, the entire chamber was thrown into utter and complete darkness as if they were swimming in opaque black ink. They were far enough under ground that no light, be it the sun or the nighttime stars could reach them. Something had cut the power so completely that not even the equipment had power.
It was only a matter of time before one of the armed soldiers inside the base realized their weapons were equipped with tactical lights, or some kind of backup power came on. She had to act quickly, but for the moment, she had no idea what she could do. Then she felt something small and light scamper up her body. In any other circumstance she would have yelped as something crawled over her chest, thick sweater or no, but she instantly realized what it was and smiled, though nobody could see her do so.
The bands holding her wrists snapped open and she almost fell, considering the only sense that could be relied on in the dark was her hearing and her sense of touch. Then several things happened at once.
Rufus dropped from the clamping mechanism onto her shoulder. She felt something else brush past her legs, almost knocking her down once more. Then the little mole rat on her shoulder let out the strangest sound, which seemed for all the world to sound just like the call Ron had used to control Dementor's dachshunds.
There was a surge of blue light nearby, though the shape was indistinct. Two eyes bobbed up and down and there was a crashing sound, then a crunch. Somebody, perhaps one of the Henchmen grunted loudly, followed by another, softer crash. All she could do was stand in place and wait. There were too many pitfalls in the underground chamber and she still couldn't see her hand in front of her face.
Somebody finally realized they had a flashlight mounted on their weapon. It surged to life like a brilliant star, momentarily blinding her. Fortunately, it also provided a target for the faint blue figure moving among the other combatants. Something large and dark collided with the rifle wielding soldier, obscuring the light and sending both of them down.
Dim red emergency lights came on, revealing the melee that had been taking place in pitch blackness. At least a dozen henchmen lay sprawled about the floor. Ron was standing on a platform about ten feet above the floor, his eyes glowing soft blue in the ruddy light. He held an unconscious seeming Henchman above his head, ready to pitch him into two oncoming attackers.
"SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED. ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. SELF DESTRUCT IN T-MINUS TWO MINUTES AND COUNTING." An electronic voice blared over the public address system.
Kim sprang into action. They had to get out NOW!
Kim Possible and all related characters © Disney