Kim Possible: Mindwars
A FanFiction by P.C. Denton.
Authors Note: Short and sweet, check my profile for updates. Continuing from last chapter I'll just get right into it. Please, enjoy!
Chapter 2
September 6, 2006 8:03AM
Downtown Washington, Excelsior Skyscraper, street level
Blackness. A strange feeling, with muddy echoes of sounds all around. The sound of a heartbeat, the only thing crystal clear at the moment was audible, a steady beat.
A faint voice could be heard, almost like the person was far away in a long hallway. The strange echo effect from all the sounds surrounding her newly regained conscious form overwhelmed her senses.
"Hey. You alright?" A voice echoed and distorted, She had a hard time trying to filter out what was being said over all the ambient noise. It was all a fuzzy, jumbled mess. She felt someone grasp her shoulder, shaking it lightly. Flinching involuntarily at the sudden feeling of the touch, her eyes shot open, everything snapped into vivid focus. She observed that the sky directly above her was clear of clouds, although it looked like there was some kind of smoke in the air above. For some reason she was on the ground, a man kneeling over her with concern in his eyes.
"Ugh." she mumbled, squinting, trying to adjust her eyes to the unnaturally bright light. Eyeglasses? It's putting a strange tint to everything. She pulled them off with one hand, placing them on the ground. That's a little better. Everything still looked almost too sharp to her. At least my normal hearing has returned.
"Where am I?" She managed to say, her voice sounded shaky. Coughing, she tried to sit up. A weak attempt at best. The man hovering over her grasped her shoulder to steady her.
"Easy now." He said in a warm voice.
Who is this guy? I don't remember him... Her heartbeat quickened, not sure of what was happening.
He looked a little puzzled at the question. "Uh, downtown Washington, DC." He paused, taking a visible look over of the woman's condition. "I don't think you should move though. By the looks of things, you seem to have taken a pretty nasty spill."
She rubbed the back of her head. A dull throbbing in her temples was present. Washington? What am I doing here? Did I hit my head? Or maybe something hit me? She ran her gloved hand through her hair, checking any bumps or abrasions on her head. Upon finding nothing out of the ordinary she looked up towards the stranger. Nothing, so that's out. If I didn't hit my head, what the hell happened? She thought worriedly. "What happened?" Her voice felt like it was returning as well, if a little raspy. She leaned past the man, to get a better look across the street. A stream of people from the office building across the street was flooding out onto the road below. I Wonder what that's all about?
He shrugged, obviously just as out of the loop as she was over the situation. "I don't know honestly. I was walkin' down the street on my way to work. I hear an explosion above street level. Everybody around me scrambled for cover from the sound, I ducked into a doorway back there," He pointed back towards the crosswalk. "and I had seen you collapse to the ground a few paces away from me. I came over and made sure you hadn't been hit with any falling debris. I figured you might have, you kinda just went limp there on the sidewalk. That's pretty much the short version of it."
Explosion... What explosion? Everything in her mind felt fuzzy, like it was there but, well, it just wasn't quite touchable in her mind. "What are you talking about? Explosion?" I asked.
The businessman's expression turning grim, he simply pointed upwards to the building across the street. A gaping ragged hole on the side of the building could be seen from ground level, a huge fire and smoke billowing out the shredded exterior. It looked like it had destroyed a couple floors above and below as well. "It came out of nowhere, kaboom. Glass, chunks of steel, cement... the whole bit." He paused, his thoughts seemingly wandering. "I hope nobody got hurt."
Her eyes went wide in horror of the sight. She brought her hand to my mouth, managing to mutter "Jesus." How could something like that happen? Shifting her other arm from her side, it felt a bit sore too. She finally took notice that she had been griping a cellular phone quite tightly. My phone? Besides from a couple scuffs on the edges of the flip phone, probably from her apparent fall, it looked pretty much brand new. It looked like it had gone into standby mode, the green status light blinking every few seconds. Looks like it's still working at least. Thumbing the button on the side of the chassis, the screen winked to life. What was on the screen didn't make any sense to her. She had to read it a few times. DETONATION COMPLETE... What does that mean? She thought. It took a couple seconds to make the connection. The cold hard grip of shock overwhelmed her, it felt like somebody had just kicked me in the chest, hard. Does that mean... I did that? But.. I don't remember? Oh my god...
"Well, it looks like the cops are setting up roadblocks now." The man stood, towering over her. His gaze wandering from the burning wreck above, towards the emergency vehicles that had just pulled up along the side of the road. "I'm going to get you some help from the emergency crew."
She had a distinct sinking feeling at his statement. The police? "No!" She blurted out, almost yelling. Recovering quickly from her sudden outburst she tried her best to compose herself. " I'm fine, really." Thankfully she clasped the phone shut before he turned to give her a perplexed look.
"You aren't looking so great, you need to get checked out Miss..." he trailed off, expecting her to finish.
She thought hard, trying to block out the sirens that seemed to be blaring from all directions. My name, name... Uh... Her expression finally came up blank. "I... I don't remember."
The man frowned. "You must of taken quite a bump if you can't remember who you are." He glanced towards the emergency crews. "Hang on. I'll get help, you just stay put." He turned and started for the closest ambulance.
He's probably right, I should get help. But something doesn't feel right. I've got to get away from here until i can figure out what happened. Collecting the glasses off the ground that she had been wearing, she stuffed them in her pocket and managed to prop herself up on her own feet. Taking a couple wobbly steps, using the storefront's windows to her right as support, she almost collapsed again, landing heavily on the glass window. I can do this. She thought, drawing a deep breath. Exhaling she took one last glance back towards the paramedics, who had already started to set up a makeshift emergency treatment clinic. The good Samaritan was almost to them. The vertigo-like effect felt like it was wearing off, she could feel her balance returning. The only thing that felt odd now was the heels she was wearing, a feeling of resentment for wearing them lingered in the back of her mind. Filing the seemingly random thought for later analysis, she quickly turned the corner of the block – wandering past an entrance to a Beuno Nacho fast food restaurant. I've got to get out of here now! She did the first thing that came to her mind- she flagged at taxi down.
The first taxi that rolled by almost missed her completely, the driver was awestruck by the destruction past the roadblocks. He had almost hit a cop that was directing traffic away from the disaster area. He rolled to a stop, halfway down the side street, stopping in front of the woman in black.
She stepped in and sat down in the back seat, silently. The driver glanced back through his rear view mirror, his reflection was pretty rough, a permanent five o'clock shadow ingrained into his face. "Where to Miss?"
"Uhhh..." She reflected for a moment. Were the hell am I supposed to go?
The cabbie gave her the same perplexed look as the man that helped her on the street. "Miss?"
"Sorry." She mumbled. "Just drive please, anywhere but here." She looked back down the street, the smoke was making it's way past the disaster area. "I'll let you know when I do know." sshe murmured.
The driver shrugged. "Aye Miss." He put the car in gear, pulling back out onto the road.
September 6, 2006 8:15AM
Unknown Location
"...Unconfirmed reports are indicating that this explosion was caused by explosives located within the building. We have been unable to get an official statement from any law enforcement or of the owners of the affected portion of the building RES-INC or Hench Co. We will be covering this unfortunate disaster in real time, up to the moment. For up to the second news can check us-" Big green letters spelling MUTE appeared in the upper left corner of the screen, the reporter on the large plasma screen on the wall. A nice plush leather chair shifted forward, the individual occupying the very expensive leather chair had his fingers entwined in front of him. He seemed quite interested in what he had just witnessed.
He took a heavy, gruff breath. "It appears our little test was a success?" The man's perfectly spoken English was only overcast with a very slight Russian accent. He smiled.
A second man, who was standing absolutely still to the Russian's side looked down at his PDA. "Yes, Dr. Akulina. It appears that it went off, how would you say it 'without a hitch?'. Timing is perfect, execution was spotless. It was a clean operation." This man had a clearly American accent.
Dr. Akulina leaned forward and slid the television remote on top of his desk. The Doctor's name plate was a plated in a nice gold finish, it read Dr. Gleb Akulina. He reached for his keyboard and typed in his verification codes to unlock his terminal. "Has Alpha reported in as scheduled Mister Styles?" The Doctor absently scrolled through his unread messages on his terminal.
Edgar Styles took another look at his PDA. After a moment of tapping through the data constantly streaming in, a small frown formed on his features. "No sir, Alpha has not checked in, nor has she verified completion status with her handler. Shall I dispatch the retrieval unit?"
The Doctor leaned back, again entwining his hand and allowing his chin to rest on the cupped thumbs. After about a few seconds of thought he had made his decision. "Yes, just to be safe. Put him in contact with Alpha's handler and get them both out to retrieve Alpha. She's probably just on her way back to pick up her things. Nothing to worry about."
"Yes Doctor." Edgar nodded curtly and strode towards the huge frosted glass doors on the opposite side of the room.
"Mister Styles?" Dr. Akulina said, raising his voice slightly.
"Sir?" Edgar replied, he had just made it to the door.
"Could you get Mr. Hench, Mrs. Dogget, and the rest of the board on conference call please, I want to get this unfortunate event off the table as quickly as possible."
"Yes Doctor." Edgar replied again. "Anything else I should ensure for you sir?"
Dr. Akulina reflected for a moment. "Yes, now that you mention it. Ensure that the team working on Beta is still on schedule for deployment for tomorrow's test."
"Yes Doctor." Edgar nodded again and swung the door open, slipping out of the Doctor's private office. Dr. Akulina watched as the door slowly closed on it's own, the RES-INC logo along the hallway wall disappearing from view. The moment the door closed, Dr. Akulina reactivated the sound stream on the television, reveling at the sight of the destruction caused, and what was yet to come.
September 6, 2006 8:35AM
Middleton – Stoppable Residence
Beep Beep Beep. The obnoxious sound of the alarm clock went off yet again in the otherwise silent household of the Stoppables. Ronald Stoppable raised his hand up lazily from his bed and slapped the snooze button one more time, he hit it again for good measure. He lay flat on his stomach, sprawled across his bed. Rufus was buried under the bedsheets.
Uhggh. What time is it? He thought, he flopped his head so he could get a better look at the alarm clock. He squinted, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. 8:36 AM. "Wonderful. Late again." Ron sat up, the bed covers shifted to reveal Rufus, who was sprawled on his stomach near the foot of the bed. "Not like it matters much anyway." he muttered. He couldn't help but smile at the sight, even if it was just a brief moment. He lazily slipped on his slippers and wandered out of his room, down the staircase. He wandered past the empty living room, towards the kitchen.
The house itself was quiet. As usual both of his parents had left for work over an hour ago, leaving Ron to be at school by eight sharp. He yawned again, slothing his way to the fridge in the far corner of the kitchen. What did Mr. Barkin say yesterday? He would let the tardiness slide a couple more days. Only because of the incident in Upperton. Ron placed one hand on the handle of the fridge, pausing for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Boy, did that change everyone... Ron forced the bad memories from his train of thought. Not know. This is the wrong time to show weakness... Everyone is looking to me as an example. I can't let them down.
Ron shook the thought away momentarily as he cracked the fridge open to grab a carton of half empty orange juice. He popped it open and took a swig of it as he sauntered into the living room to check out the morning news. Up until a few weeks ago, Ron wasn't a very big fan of the news. More important things I guess, like saving the world for one. He stood behind the coffee table, one hand held the orange juice, the other with the television remote. Ron flipped the channel to the local station in Middleton, the blond anchorwoman, Ms. Judy Storm was her name Ron recalled absentmindedly. He turned the volume up, it looked like there was a special report on.
"...emergency crews are being dispatched as we speak in Washington DC this morning. The explosion that shook up the downtown area just half an hour ago has not been confirmed as an accident or of other means." Ms. Storm paused for a moment, bringing a hand to her ear piece. She nodded slightly. "I've just received word that News Five has acquired amateur video footage of the explosion." Ron watched as the image on the TV shifted to an Asian man, a small woman, presumably his wife smiling as the camera man panned across the sidewalk to the rest of the group of people. A loud bang detonated in the background, muffling everything else that was happening in the background. The cameraman lazily panned the hand held camera towards the office building. He panned past people running away from the falling debris, past a woman in a black trench coat briefly appeared in the frame. She had braced herself hard on a window, 'Jake's Pawn' etched into the glass. The camera quickly shifted up towards the source of the explosion.
Ron froze, mid sip of his orange juice. The box sliding from his hands, hitting the floor, an orange puddle forming at his feet. He wasn't quite sure what he had just saw, wasn't sure if it was just his eyes playing tricks on him this early in the morning. He frantically started up the video recorder, just as the station replayed the entire video a second time for good measure. He froze the tape at what he had thought, and now confirmed he had seen. A face. The woman in black on the street, her head shifted towards the camera as she fell to the ground, she looked clearly in pain, as if something had hit her in the head. A face he had seen before, many times in fact. A face of a person that should be dead.
Ron made a mad grab for the cordless phone on the end table, the Kimmunicator was too far away, and every second will count if he was going to get to the bottom of this. He mashed in Wade's number as he ran up the stairs, two steps at a time. Before Wade could even greet Ron, Ron hurriedly blurted. "Wade, I need to be in Washington. Now."
EOC
