Chapter 12: Sudden Mission

Ron tried to ignore the sounds of fighting behind him while he sprinted down the narrow cavern. The control center was ahead somewhere and he had a mission. It was hard to believe that it was just a little earlier this evening that he had snapped at Kim about the food chain. He was actually grateful for this mission. It let them do what they did so well.

Wade, working with Global Justice, had uncovered Drakken's latest scheme. He was apparently building some sort of device which could affect the earth's magnetic field in such a way that he would be able to subject any chosen part of the globe to intense electromagnetic fields. While this wouldn't injure people it could, in theory, destroy unprotected semiconductors in the chosen area. While this wouldn't cause direct casualties, the loss of microchip function would have disastrous military and economic consequences. This threat would then allow Drakken to extort whichever organization he wished.

With the plot unearthed, Global Justice sent in Team Possible to confirm and/or neutralize the threat. Kim and Ron had infiltrated deep into Drakken's current hideaway before running into Shego. Fortunately Ron had earlier talked Kim into having him carry a spare set of their demolition equipment. While she didn't trust him to not mess up, she relented when he pointed out that it wouldn't hurt to have a backup set. Kim had also been surprised at the amount of attention he had paid to the briefing. Because of this, when Kim engaged Shego, Ron skulked out of the combat zone, closing in on the point where the satellite telemetry had located the major power fluctuations. It was Ron's intention to locate the device and disable it before reinforcements could show up and help Shego overwhelm Kim.

Ron had to hurry, so when he swept through a narrow point and found himself in a control room with Drakken and two burly guards, he saw no need to scream and panic. He simply charged in and did his job. When the first guard closed on Ron, the teen quickly dropped into a very low crouch and delivered a straight kick to his opponent's knee, breaking the joint. Ron then jumped up and hit the second man with a knee strike to his chin, dropping him to the floor with glazed eyes. Drakken, who had his mouth open and no doubt ready to make some comment about 'The Buffoon,' observed how Ron had eliminated two guards in a matter of seconds, turned and ran.

Ron did a baseball slide maneuver and caught the mad scientist in a leg scissors. Drakken fell flat on his face. Ron was on him in a moment, pressing his face into the floor to keep him from getting up. Now Ron was faced with a dilemma: while he could handle injuring someone actively fighting him, like the guards, the thought of pounding on the helpless Drakken grated on his sense of honor. But he couldn't just let him loose, he needed a few undisturbed minutes to disable the device, which he could now see through an adjoining window.

Ron couldn't find anything that he could use to restrain the villain. Thinking quickly, he came up with an alternative.

Kim had been fighting Shego for only a few minutes when, from the passage Ron had slipped down, an unknown voice screamed in pain. Both Shego and Kim ignored the potential distraction. Then Drakken's voice came from the same direction.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOI…….AIEeeeeee!"

The last scream trailed away in volume, but rising in pitch. The first voice gasped out curses while Drakken babbled in an incomprehensible, soprano whine.

"Hold on, Princess!" Shego dropped into a defensive stance. "Just where is the buffoon?"

"I thought we just heard him squeal." Kim launched a combination side kick and back fist. Shego dodged the kick and blocked the fist.

"Oh, good one," Shego retorted, going back on the offensive. "Let me rephrase that one. Where's your distraction?"

"Can't find a date?"

"Catty, princess, very catty."

Shego clearly wanted to break off the fight and run down the passage, but Kim pressed the action until…

Ron burst out of the passageway, catching Shego off guard. The boy slammed the open end of a sack-like object over Shego's head and down her torso. Kim thought she recognized the 'sack' but she couldn't quite place it. Shego's angry face popped out of the top while Ron jumped clear.

"Mission complete, KP," he panted. "Extraction on site in ninety seconds."

Kim wasn't used to taking orders from Ron but decided to trust him. If there was one thing Ron was good at, it was breaking things. Kim turned and ran with him while Shego's bellowed threats mixed with Drakken's squeaks for assistance.

"What happened to Drakken?" She asked as they sprinted for the high ledge they had scoped out earlier.

"Long story, that coat isn't going to hold Shego for long."

"Right, we can debrief on the transport."

For some reason, Ron looked uncomfortable with the term 'debrief.'

The rest of the extraction was anti-climatic. Rufus was on the hovership, which pulled up close to a high ledge so that the two teens could vault from the ledge and into the side hatch. As soon as they were inside, the hatch slammed shut and the pilot hammered the throttles, getting them clear of the area.

The two teenagers took a few minutes to catch their breath, then asked each other about injuries. Once both were certain that there was nothing beyond the odd bruise and scrape, Ron dug through his cargo pockets while reporting to Kim.

"First, I connected Wade's extractor to the control console. According to the readout, it pulled all operational information out of Drakken's systems and downloaded the logic bomb."

Ron produced the electronic device, which was about the size of a hand calculator.

"We can send the data to Wade and Global Justice simultaneously."

"Good work, partner, how about the device itself?" Kim wanted to know.

"I set up the automatic camera and recorded myself placing and activating the thermite grenades."

Ron held up a digital camera.

"Trying to make a name for yourself?" Kim didn't want Ron to start getting bigheaded again.

"Not really, I see too much of me in the mirror every day. But we can send the video along with the data. Seeing me in the video will give the GJ experts a good size reference, and they'll be able to gauge the level of damage we've managed."

"I hadn't thought about that. Good idea, send the data and again, partner, good work."

"Thanks, boss. How'd you manage with Shego?"

Ron started connecting the two devices to the ship's transmitter while Kim answered.

"Quit calling me boss," Kim replied. "We did the usual. Inflicted a lot of scrapes and bruises on each other, traded a few nasty comments, but you finished before we had a chance to really get going. Was that Drakken's trench coat you used to bag her?"

"Yeah, I figured he'd have made it resistant to her plasma bolts. She's gonna really be mad at me now, isn't she?"

"Probably, but take it as a compliment."

"That I do," replied Ron, as he finished connecting the extractor and the camera to the communications console. "All I gotta do now is open a channel and send the info."

Kim watched him with something close to awe while he worked the controls. Half a year ago he wouldn't have had a clue as to what he was doing. While he wasn't exactly quick at the equipment he was at least going about the task in a deliberate manner. He was clearly trying to step up. "By the way," she continued, "what did you do to Drakken?"

"I…er….I….uh….Channel established! Starting data transmission."

"Ron." Kim was using a warning voice.

"I…er…I…uh." Was all Ron managed before the communication console indicated in incoming call.

"Shego's calling us," Ron noted. "What could she have to say?"

Kim stepped into the camera's pickup before connecting the incoming call. Ron stayed on the sidelines.

Shego's usual scowl was replaced with an amused smirk.

"Hey princess," she said. "Thought I'd pass a little bit of etiquette for your sidekick."

"And what's that, Shego?" Kim responded.

"Tell your distraction that wedgies are considered really low form at our level."

Kim spun to look at Ron who, although out of the camera's path, still looked decidedly uncomfortable.

Seeing her reaction, Shego made a deduction. "Hey hero," she said, "you must be where you can hear me! You're gonna pay for that trick with the trench coat, but I gotta admit, you've got style."

Her smirk burst into a full out grin. "Giving him the wedgie, and tying his hands and feet behind him with the waistband was some piece of work. Every time he's tried to move, something has either gotten chafed, or something else has slid up where it doesn't belong. But you're also gonna pay for the fact that I've seen more than enough blue butt to last a lifetime."

Ron stepped into the camera's range. "So how'd his debriefing go?" He asked.

"That pun is also low form for our level, but for your information it's going on now."

The mercenary looked to her left, to something out of her camera's view. Kim and Ron heard Drakken's soprano voice.

"Cut the band. Cut the band. Cut it. Cut it cut it cut it."

Snip.

SNAP!

"OWIEEEEeeeee!"

Shego's eyes bulged for a second or two, then Drakken's voice came back on.

"No, no! Don't pull that out. No, no, nononononono!"

"WHYYAHAHEIEEEEeeeeee…..Eeeeeeewwwwwww."

Shego's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"I…gotta...go." She muttered, reaching for her off button.

It took her three tries to find it.

Kim killed the line and gave Ron a hard look.

"Well….I…er…uh." Was all he could manage.

"Ron." Kim said in a measured voice.

"Um…eh….haha. Oh! Transmission to GJ and Wade is complete! Wade's got our ETA and he'll let our parents know." Ron busied himself disconnecting the extractor and the camera from the communications console and packing them away.

"RON STOPPABLE!" Kim wouldn't be sidetracked. "WHAT POSSESSED YOU TO PULL THAT STUNT?"

Ron took a calming breath. "It's like this," he said, "I had tackled Drakken but I needed time to deal with the device. I just couldn't hit him when he was down and I couldn't find anything to tie him up with. I was going to use his coat but then realized it would probably be better used on Shego. That's when it hit me."

Kim managed to glare at Ron for all of twelve seconds before breaking out in laughter.

"I've got to hand it to you," she gasped. "I was about to be real mad, thinking you were goofing off again while I was fighting. But that actually made sense and you finished the job faster than I had anticipated."

"Thanks, KP."

"What is our ETA for home?"

"Two hours, fifty-two minutes."

"Are you going to make some good use of this time?"

"I've got a history exam on Monday. I've got my books and want to spend about an hour or so studying. Then I think a major nap is in order." After all, he had a date tonight.

"You are getting more mature!"

"Thanks Boss."

"RON!"

"KP."