This whole missing Gill thing has me worried. Someone wanted Gill out, but why? Why would you arrange the transport of an unstable mutant bent on seeking revenge on a person who took all his craft time at camp while he swam all day in a toxic lake causing him to become what he is? This so makes no sense. Then again, since when do things in my life usually make sense?
She looks over at the young blonde sitting beside her. He stares out of the sedan's backseat window watching the scenery pass by. She just smiles as she stares at the answer to her question.
Just then the kimmunicator beeps, which draws Kim away from her moment. She reaches into her cargo pant pocket and pulls it out.
"Hey, Wade," answers Kim. "What do you have for me?"
Ron pulls himself away from the window and turns his attention to the kimmunicator as he leans in to get a better look at Wade.
"Nothing much," replies Wade. "I did perform a number of scans on this abandon airfield."
"And?"
"I found that the abandon part holds true."
"Maybe we'll find something doing a little detective work when we get there."
"Guys," Wade says in a serious mood, "I've been thinking about this whole mission and I'm thinking that Gill is the least of our worries. Someone arranged for Gill's release and in the subtle way no less. I do not like this at all."
"My thoughts exactly, Wade," Kim says. "There's definitely more layers to this cake."
"Mmmm, cake," Rufus eagerly squeaks as he pokes his head out of Ron's pocket.
"Sorry, buddy," Ron says as he brings Rufus out of his pocket and up to his face. "Kim was taking about metaphor cake, not actually cake,"
"Aw man," grumbles a disappointed Rufus.
"After we're done investigating this air hanger, we'll hit Buenos Nachos," Kim says as she offers Rufus a consoling smile, "my treat."
"Booyah!" exclaims a now excited Rufus.
Kim continues to smile but it slowly fades as she notices Ron lack of enthusiasm to her appealing offer.
"What's wrong, Ron?" asks Kim. "I mention Buenos Nachos and more importantly say I'm paying and I don't get a 'Booyah' or even a smile."
"I'm worried about the whole more layer thing about this mission," Ron says wearing a pensive look. "Maybe the whole point of breaking Gill out is to divert our focus away from the real point."
"If that's true, then what's the real point?"
"The million dollar question," Ron states as he looks at Kim.
"I guess we'll find out sooner or later," Kim says as her tone hardens. "Whatever it is, I totally know we won't like it."
"I'm going to explore the rumors floating around the net," Wade jumps in. "I might find something that might shed some light on this."
"Thanks, Wade," replies Kim.
Wade signs off causing the kimmunicator's screen to go black. Kim places it back into her pocket. She turns toward Ron and sees his head resting against the backseat's headrest. She just watches him breathe in and out as his eyes close due to a weariness that long travels have on some people and contents herself in watching him quickly fall asleep. She then closes her eyes and surrenders to the same weariness as the sedan carries them along a desolate dirt road toward an abandon airfield.
"So when are we going to get your plan off the ground?" asks the impatient Gill behind his glass container now filled with water from the toxic grotto of Lake Wannaweep. "If I stay in here any longer, I'll go nuts."
"When the hero comes to where I want," replies the Gill's annoyed liberator over his shoulder as he continues to work at his computer with his back toward Gill. "And if you didn't realize already… you are nuts."
Two days passed since the mysterious man arranged for Gill's transport out of Dr. Shea's lab. During that time he also transported some of the toxic water that had yet to be cleaned up from the little grotto near Lake Wannaweep in hopes of strengthening a weaken Gill. He added a few extra toxic ingredients to the green glowing water in order to aid in this goal. He figured that Gill couldn't get any worst than he already was. The first day after the water upgrade, a noticeable increase in Gill's size occurred. The man hoped this also resulted in an increase in Gill's strength, speed, and other abilities, but there was no way to determine this until the confrontation between Kim and Ron.
We'll have to just wait until then.
In the meantime, he immediately noticed an increase in Gill's complaining and descriptions of how Ron was going to get "his". Apparently, the new water also increased Gill's capacity to talk, which also meant his capacity to complain shot up in frequency and volume.
Well, can't have everything go your way.
"What do you mean I'm nuts?" questions Gill. "I'm not the one who wants to make a masterpiece out of someone's life."
"You make it sound like she would be flatter." The man swivels his chair and faces Gill. "Believe me, if she 'survives' what I have in store for her then she would be anything but flattered." The man stands up and takes a few steps toward Gill's glass container while maintaining eye contact with the mutant. "At least I don't have it in for her because she took up all my craft time in order to avoid swimming in a toxic lake while I practically lived in that same toxic lake all day, every day of camp. And then I become an oversized frog with gills and suddenly it's all her fault even though she never forced me into that lake in the first place. And I mean come on, if the fact that the water was green and giving off a funky odor wasn't enough of a clue that maybe I shouldn't be Ian Thropeing around in there, then most certainly the glowing three eyed fish should have at least given me some cause for concern."
"They didn't have three eyes," corrects Gill. "And I'm over that. I just want revenge on the squeeb because he foiled my plan for world domination and …" An outburst of anger erupts from Gill. "He just has it too good."
The man holds his hands up. "I stand corrected."
"Look, you offered me a quick opportunity to get back at the squeeb, who, by the way, deserves what's coming to him," informs Gill. "I just want to point out that, unless I missed it, the 'quick' opportunity has not yet come."
"It's been two days," exclaims the man.
"Yeah, and I could have gotten to the squeeb by now."
"And you would have been easily defeated in your weaken state and sent back to that lab. Where as by agreeing to be an integral part of my plan, you have become bigger, stronger, and… well I can't think of anything else but you got two positives going for you right there."
"The only positive I care about is have my revenge on Ron Stoppable," Gill states through gritted teeth. "As of yet, your 'brilliant' plan has not given me that positive, has it?"
"I'm sorry," the man says as begins to ponder. "I know! I'll call the two heroes and asks them if they could meet us at the warehouse because Gill can't wait to get his… flippers... around Mr. Stoppable's neck while I will then proceed to describe in vivid detail what I hope to do to Miss Possible. Then I'll end the call with a 'Hope to see you there.' Would you like me to do that?" the man sarcastically says as he throws Gill a smile.
Taken aback, Gill just stares at the man. "That wouldn't work, would it?"
The smile fades from the man's face. "Well, we definitely won't be adding 'more intelligent' to that positive list."
Before an angry, insulted Gill can respond, a beeping sound emanates from the man's computer drawing the attention of the two. The man quickly takes his seat in front of the computer and rapidly types on his keyboard. A few seconds pass and he stares at a digital map of some location. A red dot moves along on what appears to be a representation of a long road. The red dot turns toward a flashing green dot and stops a few centimeters away from it. A small grin begins to form on the man's face. He swivels in his chair once more and again faces Gill still sporting that same grin.
"What?" asks an interested and slightly calmer Gill.
"That opportunity you so clearly want," the man says, "maybe fast approaching."
"Well, this is inviting," responds Kim as climbs out of the black sedan and gets her first look at the dilapidated, abandoned air hanger surrounded by bleak desert terrain, a run down, potholed filled air strip and a clear night dotted with numerous stars.
"I don't know KP," Ron says as he climbs out of the sedan and stands beside her. "After a touch of arson, the possibilities are endless."
A small smile escapes Kim's lips for a second until the sound of the passenger side door of the sedan slams shut. Turning around she sees a tall brown haired man in a black suit wearing sunglass and an eyepiece approach her.
"Thanks for the lift Agent Johnson," Kim says to the man.
"It's the least the agency could do after you help us with that secret project," replies the man.
Kim just smiles. She knows what to say next. "What secret project?"
A barely visible smirk escapes the man's otherwise deadpan face. "Exactly."
"A dude, why are you still wearing your sunglasses?" asks Ron. "There's no sun."
The man looks down at Ron through his sunglasses. "Part of the uniform."
Ron shrugs and looks back at Kim.
"We won't be long, Agent Johnson," Kim informs him.
"We will be here waiting to provide any assistance you may need," replies Agent Johnson.
"Please and thank you," says Kim who then turns toward Ron. "Come on Ron. Let's go Sherlock on this hanger."
She removes her backpack, unzips it, and pulls out a flashlight. Ron does the same as Rufus climbs onto his shoulder. The two then turn on their flashlights and proceed to the metal doors of the hanger. Kim glances down as she walks and notices two sets of identical tire tracks belonging to the delivery truck's two visits to the hanger. Following them with some attention, she becomes slightly startled as she almost walks into the doors.
"Whoops," Kim cries under her breath.
Ron witnesses the incident. "Careful, KP," Ron mockingly warns, "I've heard of incidents where doors sneak up on people that end extremely badly."
Kim just narrows her eyes and responds, "Funny."
"I try," Ron says as he smiles, "although that wasn't a great try."
"Just help me with these doors."
The two pull on one door, which opens rather easily despite the rust and apparent neglect. An abyss of darkness stares back at them beyond the threshold before they dispel it by shooting their flashlights' beams into it. They slowly enter the empty hanger as they sweep their light beams slowly around them catching their first glimpse of the hanger's inside, which is as bad as its outside.
"Oh yeah," remarks Ron, "a spot of arson can definitely do wonders to this place." He looks down at the concrete floor. "Is this floor concrete or just a result of dust just piling up over the thousand years this place hasn't been in use?"
"Good," responds Kim.
"What?" Ron asks. "The dust? How is that good?"
Kim points her flashlight at the ground behind them. "See," Kim says as their footprints and the tire tracks leading into the hanger become bathed in the light. "It'll help us see footprints and tracks more easily."
"Oh," Ron says before the sensations of a sneeze start to become apparent. He prepares to let one loose as Rufus, still on Ron's shoulder, prepares himself for the violent reaction by applying a death grip on Ron's shirt.
"Ahhhhcooooo!"
Its echo ripples in the air of the hanger. Rufus, who almost loses his grip, stands back up on Ron's shoulder. "Bless you," he says to Ron.
"Bless you," Kim responds as well.
"Thanks," says Ron.
With Kim in the lead, they slowly continue to move deeper into the hanger. She follows the tire tracks left behind when Gill's container was delivered until they stop suddenly. A few feet away, Kim spots a large square mark on the floor indicating a large box of some kind had preoccupied the area some time ago.
"I'm going to guess this is where they placed Gill's transport container," Kim exclaims.
"How do you know that?" asks Ron, who has not noticed the spot yet. Kim points to the spot illuminated by her flashlight. Ron looks down and sees the clue. "Oh."
Kim moves slowly around the perimeter and notices two sets of footprints. She assumes they belong to Kevin and Rich. Suddenly, she notices another set of footprints. With her flashlight's beam, she follows the footprints back to their point of origin and sees that they start at a far corner away from the door they entered.
These can't belong to Kevin and Rich. They used the same door we did. Someone else was here.
Kim quickly takes out the kimmunicator and presses a button. Wade appears on the screen. "Wade, I need you to give me a 3D virtual model of the hanger," Kim tells him.
"Sure," replies Wade.
Wade types rapidly at his keyboard and within a few seconds a blue light emanates from the kimmunicator. As the light expands to a finite distance, a 3D virtual model of the hanger develops in front of Kim as the darkness in the hanger enhances the model's brightness. Kim, with her eyes, finds the hanger's door and moves her focus to the hanger's far corner as Ron, still carrying Rufus on his shoulder, walks up to the model.
"Wade, the delivery guys said they dropped off Gill in the hanger around late afternoon," informs Kim. "Can you make this model show where the shadows would have been around that time?"
"Shadows?" asks Ron.
"I'll explain shortly, Ron," Kim promises as she turns her attention back to Wade. "Can you do it?"
"Does the addition of relativity to quantum mechanics give us particle spin?" asks Wade.
A perplexed Kim and Ron just look at each other.
"The answer is yes," informs Wade. He types a few commands. "Done."
Kim and Ron turn their attention back to the 3D virtual model as shades of a darker but still transparent blue begins to develop in certain areas. Soon, a third of the model becomes a darker blue while the rest remain the same shade as before. Kim looks at the far corner. A small expression of realization and triumph forms on her face while Ron just stares at the model with a lost look plastered on his face.
"Okay, why did you want Wade to place shadows in the model?" asks Ron.
"Look," Kim tells him as she motions her head down toward the footprints on the ground. Ron looks down at them and follows them with his flashlight back to the far corner of the hanger. He then looks back at the model and finds the far corner engulfed in shadow.
"Oh, okay," Ron says as realization hits him. "I see. Someone was standing in the shadows."
"Yeah, a spectator to the delivery," says Kim. "What do you want to bet Gill's silent and shy liberator was standing right there while Kevin and Rich made the delivery?"
"So he or she walks up to Gill's container and… what? Tosses it on his or her back and strolls out of here."
"Highly doubt that," replies Kim. She turns off the virtual model and begins to investigate around the small area the container had preoccupied. Ron just stands in his spot and begins to ponder.
"If he or she simply lifted the container and carried it off," Ron thinks out loud, "then that implies super strength." He stops in thought before proceeding again. "Who do we know has super strength?"
"Hmmmm," ponders Rufus, who still stands on Ron's shoulder.
Suddenly, realization knocks and knocks hard. "KP, it's Hego!"
"Excuse me," Kim says as she stops her investigation. "Ah, Hego is a hero."
"Yeah, so was Shego. Who's to say that Hego wouldn't turn evil like she did? They are related. Of course I always thought that if anyone from Team Go would turn evil, it would be Mego. That guy seemed too full of himself to me."
"Yeah… before we consider your scenario," Kim says, "I have one of my own." She points her flashlight toward a spot a few feet away from her. Ron looks down and discovers another set of tire tracks heading off to the opposite end of the hanger. They both point their flashlights toward the hanger's opposite end and see another set of huge doors similar to the one they used to enter the hanger. "The spectator, who we'll assume does not have super powers, had a truck hidden so that no one could see it from the road. He or she then waited for the delivery to be completed, drove his or her truck in here through the other doors, loaded Gill's container in it using some kind of built-in lift, and drove the container away in the night."
"I'll have to go with Kim's scenario," Wade replies via the kimmunicator.
"Ah-huh, Kim," agrees Rufus.
"And what's wrong with my scenario?" asks a slightly annoyed Ron.
"Besides the fact that it's beyond believable," replies Kim.
Ron ponders for a moment. "Yeah, you're probably right.
"Wade, can you scan these tire tracks?" asks Kim. "Just yes or no will be fine."
"Yes I can, Kim," says a smiling Wade. "You know the drill."
"Point and shoot," Kim says as she aims her kimmunicator at the tire tracks. A red beam emanating from it engulfs the tracks and a digital image of the tracks appears on the kimmunicator's screen as well as on Wade's monitor.
"That's weird," Wade exclaims. "There's some sort of substance in the tracks."
"The plot thickens," states Kim raising an eyebrow.
Wade leans forward in his chair and types for a few seconds on his keyboard. "I think I can track it."
"Really?" asks Ron.
"Hold on," says Wade as he continues to type on his keyboard. "Whatever it is, it's easy to track if I upload the same scanner program of the kimmunicator into the GPS satellites." He rapidly types on his keyboard for several seconds. "All right program is uploaded and the satellites are scanning now. This might take a few minutes."
"Why do I get the feeling that we won't like what's waiting for us at the end of those tracks?" asks Ron.
"Because we won't," answers Kim.
"Definitely," Rufus adds.
The three wait for the completion of the scans in silent anticipation.
"Scans are done and looks like the trail leads to a warehouse in the small city of Lense, just an hour's drive from where you are," says Wade.
"A warehouse," Kim sarcastically says, "that's original."
"I can't remember the last time we were in a warehouse," says Ron.
"I'll continue to analyze this substance and get back to you," Wade says as he signs off.
Kim places the kimmunicator back into her pocket. "Come on," she says to Ron and Rufus. "If we hurry, we can get there with enough time to investigate that warehouse and make it back home in time for curfew."
Rufus climbs down into Ron's pocket as the two teens quickly exit the hanger and head back to the sedan waiting outside. Agent Johnson approaches them.
"Where to now?" he asks.
"Lense City," answers Kim, "a warehouse to be more specific."
"How original," remarks a deadpan Agent Johnson as he opens the sedan's back door for Ron and Kim.
"At least it's not an abandon factory," says Kim as she climbs into the back seat and buckles her seat belt. Agent Johnson closes the back seat and climbs into the passenger seat. He turns to his fellow agent, who wears an outfit similar to Agent Johnson, sitting in the driver's seat.
"City of Lense, Agent Jones," orders Agent Johnson.
Agent Jones nods, starts the sedan, and drives toward their new destination.
"A warehouse," Gill dryly says behind his glass, toxic water filled container as he sets his eyes upon the brightly lit place where he will soon obtain his coveted confrontation with Ron Stoppable. Huge stacks of wooden crates neatly line against both sides of the warehouse leaving an uncluttered spacious middle, which is where Gill's glass container sits. "Boy, you sure think outside the box," he sarcastically says.
"It was either this or the abandoned factory one block down," replies the man as he walks around the glass container and stops in front of Gill.
"Fine," replies Gill. He notices how excited the stranger seems. "What's up with you?"
"Oh, I just feel so giddy," the man says as he exaggerates a shiver. "It's exciting."
"Okay, I'm the mutant and you're starting to really creep me out," says an uncomfortable Gill. "You don't even know if it's them or not."
"I have great faith in Kim Possible's ability to show up to where she is supposed to. Besides, that vehicle that left the hanger made a bee line to this stink hole of a city after spending a good fifteen minutes there. I think she found the little bread crumbs I left for her to follow."
"And what if it's not her and the squeeb that found your little bread crumbs?" questions Gill. "What then?"
"We'll deal with that bridge when we get to it. Right now, let's assume it's them."
"Fine," replies Gill. "What's the plan?"
"I'm glad you asked," the man says with a pleasant tone.