CHAPTER 28 – Prom Night Part 5
Bueno Nacho HQ studio
Around the world, television viewers groaned in bored resignation as yet again their favorite programming was interrupted by a broadcast from a so-called supervillain. Their screens were filled with the blue figure of Doctor Drakken sitting at a desk, ermine-lined cape around his shoulders and a crown of laurels perched on his head.
In Middleton, Wade's attention was drawn from tracking Ron's progress through the building as his monitor suddenly showed the face of Kim's nemesis.
The camera focused close-in on Drakken's face. Perhaps a small number of viewers noticed the more professional set-up, with fixed camera, quality sound and a serious, determined look on Drakken's visage rather than the familiar comical posturing. Others may have wondered at the absence of the usual doomsday machine. Most viewers stared in amusement at the fancy-dress apparel and waited impatiently for service to return to normal.
"My name is Emperor Drakken," the blue-skinned villain announced, to the unheard merriment of most of his audience.
At Liz's house the members of the cheer squad were waiting for the authorities to arrive and explain what was going on after they had finally persuaded the local police chief that they were not conducting a Prom prank with their story of men-monsters who could be blinded with soda. They watched bemusedly as all screens in the house suddenly changed from Webmovies to a blueberry-colored weirdo with a scar across his face.
As the camera pulled back, Shego, Eric and Manfred came into view, flanking him.
Vivian, who had been keeping an eye on the besieging synthodrones on the Possibles' television, blinked as the image changed to that of Drakken. She called across to James and Anne. "I think you'd better see this," she advised. Leaving the tweebs to continue trying to extend the battery life of the force field, the elder Possibles sat down beside the blonde scientist.
"Welcome to your new world rulers," Drakken announced with a flourish.
At GJ headquarters, the defenders heaved a sigh of relief as the last of the assailant synthodrones had its moodulator deactivated by Can. Elizabeth wearily thanked her team and prepared to send a contingent of special forces to take Drakken's headquarters out. Until supposedly hack-proof computer monitors cleared to a camera-eye view of the villain himself, accompanied by Shego, a man she recognized from Wade's description as Kim's erstwhile boyfriend, and another who she recalled as one of Jack Hench's elite mercenaries. She signaled to Will and Can to wait.
"No doubt you are laughing at home at such a ridiculous claim," Drakken continued. "'Who are these crazy people?' I can hear you asking."
"Well let me show you," he declared.
The camera turned to a small plastic toy lying on the ground.
"It looks harmless, doesn't it?" came Drakken's voiceover. "Just a giveaway toy from Bueno Nacho: a Li'l Diablo. You've probably got one in your home – there are after all nearly eight million of them around the world."
The camera returned to Drakken.
"But let me demonstrate what happens when I initiate Phase 3 of Project Nemesis."
Drakken pressed a button on his desk as the camera moved to view again the Diablo. There were gasps from the studio and beyond as the Li'l Diablo rapidly grew, morphing until a ten-foot robot was standing there, wrist-lasers glowing as it powered up.
James was staring in horror at the colossal Diablo. "That's cybertronics! How did Drakken get hold of my work? And he's perfected it!"
"Your work?" Anne exclaimed. "You promised me you wouldn't do any more DoD work after the Centurion project!" she challenged. He looked uncomfortable under her gimlet stare.
Vivian listened in shock. We only had DoD clearance to work under supervision on cybertronic technology! Had James been conducting unauthorized experiments on his own?
Drakken smiled at the camera. "To demonstrate my seriousness, watch this screen." The view changed to the White House, observed from about a quarter of a mile away.
"Mr. President, you have your own Bueno Nacho on site. Which means that there are at least thirty Diablos in the building. Including, incidentally, two in your daughter's bedroom".
As the signal went out from Bueno Nacho headquarters, more than seven million Diablos around the world began to come to life, growing and morphing into weapons of mass destruction. The view of the White House showed tumbling masonry coming from the West Wing. Muffled screams could be heard from the building.
"Omigod," Wade thought, his hands already punching up the Possible household as he watched a nightmare vision appear on camera. "Ron warned us about those things. Why didn't we trust his instincts?"
"If I were you, POTUS, I would seek cover right now - my Diablos don't like politicians or the military. Oh, and I would tell your daughter and anyone else not to touch any of them – the Diablos are programmed to kill anyone who tries to interfere with them … oops, too late!"
Vivian Porter grabbed the phone as it rang, tearing her eyes away from the scenes on television.
"Yes we're watching," she said before Wade could speak. "Has Ron arrived at BN?" she asked.
"Yes, but he hasn't found Kim yet," came the response.
The world watched appalled as an explosion occurred in one of the most highly-protected buildings on the planet. Staff members could be seen running out of the front door as three massive robots smashed their way out of the building and started firing their laser cannons indiscriminately at the fleeing men and women, several of whom fell to the ground and lay motionless. The sound of continuing blasts could be heard from the interior of the White House as plumes of smoke emerged from multiple locations.
Realization struck Wade. "This was Drakken's plan all along. Not the synthodrones."
James was wringing his hands. "Those things will be unstoppable – they'll be able to morph to deal with any threat!"
As more of the Diablos emerged from the smoking building, an ominous silence ensued.
"My god, they're all dead!" Will Du whispered.
Elizabeth, Will and Can watched in horror as the Diablos rose into the air and flew in formation southwards.
"They're going to attack the Pentagon," Elizabeth realized. "They'll be there in minutes."
The view returned to the studio. Drakken was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
"I have a message for the United Nations. I will unleash mass destruction on the world unless you hand over to me control of the planet within the next thirty minutes. For the moment my Diablos are confining their attacks to military and political targets to give you time to coordinate your response. But if your leaders are foolish enough to ignore my deadline, no-one will be safe from my Diablos. Don't try attacking this building either. It's protected by a force shield – and five hundred Diablos."
"Thirty minutes. After that every Diablo in the world will attack indiscriminately until I receive your unconditional surrender. And the resulting deaths will be on the conscience of every leader who holds out."
There was a crash, accompanied by the sound of falling brickwork.
The tweebs rushed in. "There's a robot in the den and it's growing!"
"Don't touch it," Anne screamed. "It's harmless if we don't threaten it."
She turned to James and Vivian. "What's been going on at MSC that you haven't told me about?" she demanded of the pair.
Drakken was ready to reveal his final surprise of the broadcast. He smiled silkily at the camera.
"Oh, and in case you're pinning your hopes on a certain teen hero … Kim Possible won't be coming to the rescue this time. Capturing her and breaking her spirit was the first part of my plan."
The camera panned to the right until the screen was filled with the tear-streaked, beaten look of the girl who used to be able to do anything, handcuffed between two synthodrones.
Anne gasped at the look of desolation on her daughter's face.
Drakken leaned into his prisoner. Kim turned her face away from his hot breath.
"You thought you were all that, Kim Possible," Drakken gloated. "But I have defeated you. Behold your total failure to stop me taking over the world. My Diablos are already destroying all opposition world-wide and Global Justice will surrender shortly or be wiped out."
James was shaking with fear for his beloved Kimmie-cub.
"Are you ready to beg for your life, schoolgirl?" the villain sneered at his prisoner.
In an act of defiance Kim spat in Drakken's face. "You won't succeed, Drakken, you never do," she croaked.
Drakken's face darkened as he wiped away the saliva.
"Still fighting I see. It's time to give up, cheer-leader. My victory over you is complete this time. Your boyfriend – a synthodrone of my creation – stole then broke your heart. Your sidekick is dead and your family and techie will soon be mine. And now you are all alone."
Kim stared back at him in desolation as the scale of her failure finally sunk in.
Drakken looked back at the camera. "Mr. and Mrs. Possible, I know you're watching. Say goodbye to your daughter. She will die tonight for daring to defy me."
"It's all my fault," James sobbed, head in his hands. Vivian tried to comfort his weeping wife, struggling to hold in her own despair.
The villain stretched out his right arm towards Kim and theatrically turned his thumb down.
"Shego, take her out and finish her. Make it slow and painful."
The screen went blank.
A shaking Anne Possible, face twisted with grief and rage, turned to face her husband.
"If anything happens to Kim …. ," she whispered.
James recoiled from the unspoken words.
Ron
Slipping back out into the corridor, Ron strained to hear anything that might indicate where threats might lie, or better still, where Kim had been taken.
Hearing nothing he risked a whisper into his Ronnunicator.
"Wade, how do I activate the force field in this battle-suit?"
Team Possible's techie explained that it would activate automatically if a threat was detected, provided that the suit was powered up.
"But something you need to know, Ron. It will detect and stop projectile weapons like bullets or knives, but not energy weapons."
"Meaning .… ?" the freckled boy queried.
"Meaning it won't react to Shego's plasma: you'll be relying on the suit itself for that."
Ron looked confused.
"So if Shego fires plasma at me …?"
"You'll feel it like a water cannon hit, but it won't penetrate the suit. At least not the first couple of times."
Ron pondered this.
"So this suit of yours only has ten minutes of charge and three direct hits by Shego will kill me. Have I got that right?"
And I'm relying on this to survive?
Wade's face reddened.
"Sorry Ron, I told you it was only a prototype."
Ron sighed. "Well it's better than nothing I guess."
The sound of footsteps caught his attention as he heard a door open at the end of the corridor. He pressed himself into the shadows as he recognized Dr. Cyrus Bortel being led out of the door by two synthodrones.
Don't come this way!
He heaved a sigh of relief as the group turned away from him and headed towards the center of the building before pushing open another door and marching in. It looked to Ron as though Bortel was being taken against his will. As the door was closing, Ron could just make out Shego's voice saying "On in five, Doc" before the sound from the room was cut off.
If Drakken and Shego are in there, Kim can't be far away.
With no better choices, Ron decided to follow the group. Slowly he slid down the corridor, ears peeled for any sounds, his finger hovering over the activation button for the suit. As he approached the entrance they had used, he could see an illuminated sign above the doorway saying Recording in Progress – No Entry.
He glanced up and down the corridor. His luck was still holding. It seemed that the focus was on this room.
"Wade, something's happening. I'm going to take a look."
He paused. "I'm going to mute the Ronnunicator. Can't risk being heard. If you need to contact me, ping the vibrator."
"Understood, Ron. I'll be tracking you. Good luck."
ooOooOoo
Ron risked a look through the glass panel that constituted the top-third of the studio door. His view was restricted by the angle. He could see Drakken talking but was unable to make out the words or see anything else in the room except a video screen above Drakken's head which was displaying a close-up of the man and his companions. Ron recognized Shego and a smirking Eric. He tasted bile in his mouth as the proof of Kim's boyfriend's perfidy manifested itself.
The bastard was playing Kim from the start!
Drakken stopped talking and the video screen lit up. Ron recognized the building. His heart plummeted as he watched the scenes of destruction taking place. As one of the attackers came into close-up, a realization came to him.
These are grown-up Li'l Diablos! I knew they were bad road!
A horrified comprehension came to him.
I gave one of these to Kim to give to the tweebs!
As the screen returned to the studio, Drakken was talking again. It didn't need a Kim Possible to figure out what he was saying. Ron had seen too many take-over-the-world rants. But this time, Drakken had a look of seriousness that gave Ron the creeps
Ron thought of how many outlets Bueno Nacho had worldwide. If every one of them had given away the toys, then there must be … well millions … of the things. His blood ran cold. . Could the world defend itself against such an army?
And then he clamped his hand over his mouth to stop himself yelling as the screen showed a close-up of his best friend with a look of utter misery on her tear-stained face, restrained by two synthodrones, cringing as Drakken gloated.
"Don't give up KP," he tried to send a message to her telepathically. He had never seen her so beaten down before.
And gave a silent cheer as she spat in Drakken's face.
Which turned to fear as he watched Drakken give Kim the thumb-down.
He's going to kill her! I've got to stop him.
The screen went blank.
Before he could figure out how to get through the door, he saw through the panel Shego dragging an uncuffed Kim towards an exit on the other side of the studio. Just before they disappeared through the doorway, Ron noticed a dull, intermittent flashing coming from the back of her neck.
Shego's been moodulated, he realized. That's why she killed Dementor!
I've got to get round there before it's too late!
Ron looked beyond the door. The corridor turned sharp-left beyond the studio.
That must lead to the other side.
Throwing caution to the wind, Ron started to run down the corridor, activating the battle-suit as he went.
ooOooOoo
"Okay," squeaked the naked mole-rat, pulling the last of Steve Barkin's bindings from his body. The teacher stood up, shaking the ropes off. "You're a pretty smart animal aren't you," he said musingly. "Always thought you were some kind of a mongrel."
"Hey," Rufus responded crossly.
"Sorry, no hard feelings," the teacher responded in a bemused fashion. Am I seriously having a conversation with a rat?
He turned to leave.
"Me too," chittered the rodent.
Barkin hesitated before reaching down and gingerly picking up the little creature, suppressing his distaste for the bare skin. Rufus climbed into his breast pocket and looked out. He sniffed the air.
"Ron." Pointing to the door he urged Barkin to leave.
The pair exited the room and continued down the corridor in the same direction that Ron had passed some minutes earlier.
As they reached a door on their left, Barkin stopped and gingerly looked through the glass panel that constituted the top third of the door. The room appeared silent, and empty apart from a television camera.
As he turned away from the door there was a sharp cry of pain from further into the building.
"Kim," the mole-rat responded urgently.
"No-one harms my students," Barkin said grimly as he started to pace down the corridor, eyes peeled for hostiles, while Rufus spurred him on.
ooOooOoo
Shego pushed Kim into the building's gym, following her in and slamming the door shut behind her. Kim stumbled and regained her balance.
"Ooh, I have been waiting for this day forever, Cupcake," the green-skinned villain grinned. "Kim Possible at my mercy. And I'm telling you, Pumpkin, I don't do mercy."
Kim quaked at the cruel words.
"We're going to play a game. It's called Hide and Seek. I give you ten seconds to hide, then I come and find you. If I catch you, you're dead."
Shego looked around. "Oh dear, there doesn't seem to be anywhere for you to hide! Never mind, we can just play Plasma Dodgeball. I think you can figure out the rules."
The villain smiled. "I wonder how long you'll be able to keep it up before you're too exhausted to continue."
Shego positioned herself in front of the door, preventing Kim from escaping.
She fired up her plasma and pointed her arm at Kim.
"Start running!"
ooOooOoo
As Ron ran down the corridor, several figures emerged from the studio entrance he had just vacated. While most turned back towards the control room, Cyrus Bortel was being escorted back to the temporary cell he had been taken from in order to witness Drakken's triumph.
Hearing footsteps, he glanced over his shoulder to see a recognizable blond head sprinting round the corner until he was out of sight.
"Stoppable," he thought. "Wasn't he supposed to be dead?"
He thought of drawing this to the attention of his guards but decided against it.
Drakken's lost it this time. Someone needs to stop him.
The sound of an explosion pierced the air and the building rattled.
We're under attack!
His jailors were distracted enough for him to yank his arms out of their hands.
Cyrus Bortel turned and ran in the opposite direction to the one taken by Ron Stoppable.
ooOooOoo
"We have incoming," reported Manfred as his monitor showed a plane heading in their direction.
"Of course. Their obvious response to my ultimatum." Drakken turned to Hank Perkins.
Have you put the shield up?" Drakken questioned.
"Yes, sir," came the reply.
"And the Diablos are in place?"
"Yes, sir," Manfred responded.
"Well let's watch the fun!"
The occupants of the control room watched on monitors as the stealth bomber flew towards the building, releasing a dark object that dropped towards the roof. As it made contact with the invisible force field there was a flash and a loud explosion that rocked the building but otherwise did no harm. As the flash died down, it was apparent that the bomb had had no impact on the building.
"Diablos engage," Drakken ordered. Four Diablos appeared on the screen flying directly towards the attacking aircraft. Before the craft had a chance to take evasive action, lasers shot from the Diablos' wrists making contact with the attacker. In seconds, the craft was billowing smoke before a further volley of beams blew the plane to pieces.
"That'll give them something to think about," Drakken grinned. "Send a message to the Vice-President that any further attacks like that will result in the deadline being cancelled and all-out war commencing."
"What if they try using nukes?" Manfred ventured nervously.
"What, and destroy half their city? Let them try. My force field will stop anything short of a 20-megaton bomb."
ooOooOoo
"What are we going to do, gentlemen? We have less than fifteen minutes to stop this madman."
The man who had just found himself appointed President after the assumed death of his predecessor was facing his top military aides in a bunker deep below the now-devastated White House.
"Sir, we tried to bomb the place but failed – he has some sort of shield up. And he shot our plane down."
"Okay, don't tell me what we can't do – I want options! Matt, what's the situation?"
Five-star General Matthew Motors spoke up. "It appears that all military forces around the world are being badly beaten by these Diablos, Mister President. Conventional weapons have no effect on them. We've lost the Pentagon and Edwards Air Force Base and Global Justice has detected an assault team heading their way. Neither the Rooskies nor the Chinese are having any greater success. Two of their carriers have already been sunk."
"So what are our options?"
General Motors looked grim. "Unless we can find a way to disable the Diablos, we have only two realistic options. We can offer our surrender …".
"Never! And the other option?"
"We can nuke the place. But there's no guarantee that will pierce the shield either. And even if we only use a Hiroshima-scale device we're looking at a 15-20 kiloton yield in a highly-populated area. Reckon on twenty five to forty thousand deaths in the Tri-City area immediately and the same number within twelve months. And there's no time to evacuate the area."
The former Vice-President grimaced. "You want me to go down in history as the President who nuked his own country?"
Admiral Creighton raised his hand. "I don't see that we have much choice, sir. We can't let this lunatic win, however many deaths it takes to stop him."
"There is another option!"
Those present in the secure bunker turned to the screen where Elizabeth Director's face was showing.
"With respect, Ma'am, we are out of options," responded the admiral.
"No. We have two operatives inside the building. If they can disable the Diablos and lower the shield we can launch a frontal assault and take control. We know how to deal with the synthodrones and I have someone working on the shield right now."
Assuming that Wade got my message.
The Global Justice chief did not mention that one of her operatives might already be dead and the other would have no idea how to disable the Diablos, if he was even still alive.
The President considered. "How confident are you in your operatives? I hope you're not talking about Kim Possible – we all saw what happened on television. That poor kid is probably dead by now."
Until I see her body, I will still have faith in Kim. And Stoppable has an uncanny ability to be lucky when the chips are down. Elizabeth had learned not to discount the importance of luck. Something she'd been taught by her sensei many years ago.
"Sir, I'll stake my reputation on my operatives."
There was a long pause. "I'll give your operatives fifteen minutes to shut down the Diablos. After that we launch. You'd better be right about this else your reputation will be as dead as the inhabitants of the Tri-City area."
ooOooOoo
Elizabeth came off the phone looking grim.
"They want to nuke Bueno Nacho HQ! Didn't they hear what Drakken said? Tens of thousands of deaths and for nothing if his shield holds!"
"They were never going to take his word for it though, were they?" Will ventured.
Elizabeth shook off her apprehension. "I've persuaded them to hold off fifteen minutes to give Kim and Ron a chance to stop the Diablos from within. There has to be some sort of control signal being broadcast from there, some communications mast or internet server or similar."
"Shall I get onto Wade and see if he can locate a signal, ma'am?" Will queried.
She turned to her lieutenant. "No, I'll do that. Will, we're going to be under attack a second time any minute – from cybertronic Diablos. Get everyone as deep as possible and start praying. I have a feeling that soda won't be much use this time."
Will left the briefing room, leaving a pensive Doctor Director.
We've got to find a way to take down that shield.
She called up Wade. The techie responded immediately.
"What's our status?" she asked.
"You saw Drakken's broadcast?"
She nodded. "Does Ron know? Can he protect Kim?"
Wade looked anguished. "I don't know. He's got the Ronnunicator on mute but I'm tracking him through the building. Kim's not with him yet."
Ronnunicator? Well why not I suppose, Elizabeth thought.
"Wade, what about the building shield?"
"I've been analyzing the light reflecting from the shield when the bomb detonated. Looks to me like this shield will stop pretty much anything," he replied.
"Including ionizing radiation?"
Wade started. "You mean a nuke?"
"Yes. The President intends a tactical nuclear attack in ten minutes unless we can get that shield down and take out the Diablos."
The techie looked stunned. "He won't be able to penetrate the shield. It'll have to be disabled from within."
"Warn Ron. He and Kim have to stop the Diablos."
He depressed the emergency signal to the Ronnunicator. To his dismay, all he could get was a snow of static.
"Something's blocking my signal!" he faltered. "And Ron's tracking chip."
"The shield?" Elizabeth queried.
"No," he responded. "This is new." He paused. "It's exactly like what was happening when I lost contact with Kim after she left the Prom."
Elizabeth understood. "It looks as though Ron has found Kim." Or her body, she thought. "Keep trying to get through to him before it's too late. For everybody."
ooOooOoo
Kim stumbled wearily as she was struck on her side by one of Shego's non-lethal but bruisingly-painful plasma balls. The villain was playing with her, hurting but not permanently damaging the girl, biding her time before she was ready to ramp up her plasma to a lethal level. For several minutes, Kim had been able to keep one step ahead of her tormentor and avoid being struck but the progress of this one-sided battle was inevitable, the girl tiring as the hits accumulated.
Her body ached all over from the direct hits to her legs and torso, now an angry red color.
"Had enough yet, Princess? Ready for me to put you out of your misery?"
Kim looked painfully at her tormentor. She shook her head.
"Shego, you don't need to do this," the girl pleaded.
"Oh but I do," Shego said, watching Kim's face as her plasma glow changed from green to orange.
"Ready for some real hot stuff, Cupcake?"
Kim flinched from a nova-strength plasma ball that missed her by inches, setting alight her crop-top sleeve. She beat out the flame with her hand, trying to ignore the burning pain.
"Get moving again. It's no fun when you stand still."
Kim zig-zagged in an attempt to put off Shego but her pace was pitiful. It was time to end this. With an evil grin, Shego unleashed a full blast at the girl. This one caught her left thigh, spinning her around and crashing her into the wall. She cried out as she fell to the ground, knowing that she had just suffered severe burns. She lay exhausted, her leg and hip in agony, no fight left in her.
Shego doused her glow and walked slowly towards the stricken girl. After years of fighting the teen hero to a stand-still, she had finally prevailed. Now that her defeated foe lay prostrate at her feet, her face betrayed a struggle as she tried to suppress a voice in her head urging her to make the girl suffer even more.
Shego kneeled down beside Kim. Her anger faded and an almost maternal look came into her eyes.
"You fought well, Princess, but it's time to give up. Drakken's won. There's no point in fighting on. You must be in agony: I can see it in your eyes. Just surrender and I'll make the pain go away. I promise you won't feel anything. I owe that to you after all the battles we've fought."
Kim turned an anguished face to her long-time foe. Shego saw the tell-tale look as her opponent resigned herself to her fate. The villain smiled gently, her hands reaching for either side of Kim's temple. A burst of plasma and Kim Possible would be history. And Drakken's victory would be complete.
Author's Note: There are two chapters to go in this story plus a coda/epilogue. The next chapter will appear next weekend. Thanks for all your insightful reviews, especially Purplegirl761 (who has just started a typically outstanding new story based on the 2019 movie, yay!), Drumboy100 (who has generously taken time from her exceptional HB/ND fanfics to get up to speed with StD for my story) and Mindless Violence Fan (yes, the aftermath of this sitch is not looking like happily ever after but perhaps …).