Chapter 43: Prom Night, Part 3

"Dessie was a synthodrone?" Kim was flabbergasted. "Ron, are you sure?" Kim had just received a quick rundown on Ron's Prom Night adventures.

Ron turned his head as much as he could to look at the young woman on the scooter behind him. "Wade asked the same thing. Don't believe me? You can come over to my house, the kitchen looks like the Jolly Green Giant sneezed in there."

Kim flinched at the image. "But why would Drakken, and I'm assuming that it's Drakken, place a synthodrone in the school?"

"All I can tell you is what it told me, that I was supposed to fall in love with it and it would all be over in another week."

"And when it found out that you were suspicious, it called someone and received orders to take you to Bueno Nacho?"

"I guess so, it also said we were going to stay there for four hours. That was about forty-five minutes ago, so I think that whatever he's got planned is going to happen very soon. Here we are."

At the Middleton Bueno Nacho, the disgruntled manager was stalking through the building, dragging a shelving unit behind him. He had checked behind the counter and in his office and hadn't found a telephone. He looked around, muttering some imaginative alterations he intended to perform upon a blond-headed teenager's body, when his eyes fell on the pay phone in the parking lot.

At the Middleton High School Gymnasium, Eric had just finished dancing with another of Bonnie's posse. These girls were planning on telling Miss Kimmie how great a dancer her date was, come Monday. He made another attempt to find an exit, only to find Felix, Cindy, and Oscar heading him off. Every time he so much as looked at an exit, there they were. With a sigh, he accepted another girl's invitation to dance a tango.

Kim's father was waiting at his front door with his sons. "Boys, take Ron's scooter into the garage and perform the modifications we spoke about."

"What's that?" Ron knew that his scooter wasn't much, but it was his.

"I'm having the boys soup up your ride, Ronald. I think that you and Kim are going to need some fast transportation, from what Wade tells me. Come inside, both of you." The two teens followed the male Dr. Possible inside. Kim looked somewhat distracted. Once inside, James ushered them to the den. Wade's face was on the television screen and a Diablo toy was lying on some form of workbench. Mrs. Dr. P was also there.

"Ronald, could you give me the pendant that Wade told me about?" Ron dropped it in his waiting hand. "Kids, what I'm about to say is classified, but I think that it could be vital. The Hephaestus Project deals with reactive metal. Think of it as metallic muscle tissue. If your muscles receive a command, sent by your brain, and a power source, provided by your blood, they can move. If these toys are made out of Hephaestus metal, they will be able to respond to certain commands. Wade has sent me a spectrum analysis of the signal the Bueno Nacho sign emitted. This table will provide that same signal at a low level."

With that, Mr. Dr. P activated a switch on the side of the table. He studied the pendant for a moment then pressed its only button. Kim, Wade and both of the Dr.'s P shrieked when the toy climbed to its feet.

Fitting the shelving unit through the door had been a feat, but he had managed it. He had finally reached the pay phone in the parking lot. He reached into his pocket and grabbed…nothing. He checked all of his pockets, nothing. With a last desperate hope he checked the phone's coin return, nothing. Heaving a deep sigh, he dragged the shelving unit back to the restaurant, only to find that the door had locked behind him.

The Diablo toy just stood on the workbench. Ron took the pendant back from Mr. Dr. P and spoke into it. "Attack subject two." The toy's head spun around until it faced Ron. Then the toy turned its body towards the boy and advanced. Ron played a hunch and raised the pendant to his mouth again. "Attack subject one." The toy stopped, spun its head again and then advanced towards Kim.

The shelf had been of some use; the manager had used it as a battering ram to break through the door's glass pane. Once inside the building, he made his way to the cash register, only to find that Ned had locked it before leaving.

"Stop." The toy halted when Ron spoke his latest command into the pendant. He returned the pendant to MR. Dr. P, who dropped it into a strange contraption. The contraption, which looked like a metal shoebox with tiny engines, lifted off the ground and flew through an open window. Wade's carrier flyer, Ron realized. "Mr. Dr. P, I don't see the issue here. I mean, even if every one of the millions of those things that BN has given away can move like this one, they aren't all that bad. They had me on the run but if I had just had a sledge hammer, I could have dealt with them."

"That's true, Ronald," Mr. Dr. P answered. "But the Hephaestus metal has another property. If you provide it with massive amounts of energy the metal can expand by several times. We haven't been able to come up with a method of distributing the necessary energy at the Space Center, but if Drew has…"

He didn't know why the kitchen had a meat mallet. After all, they only prepared prepackaged ground beef but right now he wasn't complaining. The mallet made short work of the cash register and now he was dragging the shelf back out to the pay phone with a pocket full of quarters.

"Okay, I can understand most of it," Kim declared. "Drakken grabbed your research records so that he could create the metal. He strong-armed the Japanese Toy Company to build the Diablos. He tracked down Dr. Megahenry to send power to the Diablos. He took over Bueno Nacho to distribute the toys and to give him a repeater network. He also appears to have built a fusion reactor to provide a power source. But why the synthodrone?"

The manager had finally made the call. "Subject two overpowered me and has left the area. He knows about the mobile toys."

At Bueno Nacho Corporate Headquarters, Dr. Drakken stood in his new Control Room. He had just received the report from the Middleton Bueno Nacho manager. "What is the reactor capacity at this time?"

"Sixty-two percent," replied one of the technicians.

"Very well, bring the Middleton area on line immediately. Activate the Team Possible Contingency."

Ron took a deep breath. "Kim, Dessie the synthodrone was supposed to keep me distracted for another week, probably so that Drakken could complete his plans without being disturbed. If he created a drone to keep me occupied-"

"Whoa guys," Wade interrupted. "I've got a massive combined power and signal output from the BN Headquarters and the Middleton BN is repeating it. It—Yeoooow!"

Ron could agree with that attitude, because the Diablo toy in front of him had just grown to an eight-foot monster. The thing stood there for a long moment, then the pincer on one of its 'hands' unfolded and started to rotate, creating a cutting weapon. It lurched towards Mrs. Dr. P, who had the misfortune to be in front of it. Kim, her reflexes honed by years of freak fighting, tackled her mother out of its path. Ron hustled the male Dr. P out of the room, as well.

"Get the thing outside!" Kim shrieked, as she kicked off her heels and did some impressive tumbling around the robot, capturing its attention. A second robot, stumping down the stairs, nearly caught her. Apparently both of the tweebs had one of the toys. Kim caught Ron's eye and pointed at one of the robot's weapon and then at the other robot. Ron understood.

Kim tumbled between the two robots, keeping closer to one of them. The other robot swiped at her with its weapon. Ron had a good running start and slammed himself into the second robot's upper back. It lurched forward, impaling itself on the first robot's weapon. The impaled robot returned to normal size and was shredded by the other one's weapon. The two teens tumbled in crisscrossing patterns around the surviving robot, keeping it confused while Kim yelled for her family to stay hidden. On a signal from Kim, both teens broke for the front door. The robot spun around a couple more times, then followed them. Once outside, it expanded further to fifteen feet high.

"Maybe getting it outside wasn't such a great idea." Ron observed. Kim could only nod in agreement.

All over Middleton, cute Diablo toys suddenly turned into large, menacing robots. With very few exceptions, these robots did not harm anyone who did not hinder them but simply moved outside. Most converged on a handful of sites and facilities: Electrical substations, City Hall, Police Headquarters, TV and Radio stations and telephone switching stations. Several more patrolled the streets, broadcasting the same message over and over. "Stay inside. Do not resist. You will not be harmed if you obey."

At the Middleton High School Gymnasium, a custodian barged onto the stage causing the band to stop playing. He looked out at a sea of wide eyes and held up a portable TV. "The whole city is under some kind of attack!" He declared. There was silence for several long moments, then screams as all the lights went out. A few moments later, emergency lighting kicked on, providing dim illumination.

"ALLRIGHT PEOPLE, SETTLE DOWN!" Barkin's voice overrode the panic. "Everybody just find a seat and relax while I find out what's happening." Oscar offered Cindy his arm and escorted her to a chair. Once he had his date seated he looked around and couldn't see Eric. With a quick, whispered explanation to his girlfriend, he started searching.

Wade hid between his bed and the wall while the eight-foot robot demolished his room. No, it wasn't actually destroying things on purpose; it was throwing things around like it was searching for something. Me, he thought. It must be looking for me. The young genius looked down and spotted his carrier flyer. He pocketed the pendant then gave the flyer some quick instructions. The flyer flew out the window and the robot, sensing movement, followed it outside. The young genius didn't waste any time. Once the robot was gone he was running for his basement, where he maintained a crude, secondary station. He had to get back on line!

Kim and Ron continued to run and tumble in crisscrossing patterns, keeping the Diablo from focusing on either one of them. The tactic had kept them alive so far, but they were starting to tire. Kim was about to suggest a combined high/low attack, in an effort to tip the thing over, when the garage door opened. "Kids," Kim's father's voice sounded from inside. "The boys are done upgrading the scooter. It's much faster now." Kim and Ron shared a few quick gestures then acted. Kim took the things attention while Ron broke for the garage. There, he took in some hurried explanations from the three Possible men before pulling outside. Kim spotted him and forced herself to circle the robot several more times, quickly. Then she linked up with Ron while it was still spinning. "Hang on!" He instructed, then pressed a new, red button.

The acceleration nearly tore her off the back of the scooter as flames plumed from the back. The tweebs must have been planning this upgrade for some time! The attacking robot was left far behind but she could see others in the streets around them. They must have had some form of communication, since they tried to close in on the scooter as the teens drew near. Luckily, they didn't seem to appreciate the speed and maneuverability that the scooter had.

"Where are we going?" Kim yelled directly into Ron's ear.

"Bueno Nacho, we've got to take down the antenna!" Ron yelled back.

"How do we do that?"

"No idea yet, but I don't know how to fight the robots, either. At least the antenna won't try to kill us!"

"Good point!"

Conversation broke off at that point as a much faster Diablo closed in. It apparently had wheels of some kind under its feet since it was moving, fast, without walking. The teens didn't know if all of the Diablos were equipped with wheels or not, only that this one was as fast as the scooter and its cutting weapon was swinging uncomfortably close.

Oscar continued to search for Eric, looking around all of the exits. Finally, he looked out of one and spotted his quarry, talking on something that looked like a handheld radio. Since the other boy wasn't going anywhere at the moment, Oscar remained hidden and observed. What he saw made his eyes bug out.

Bueno Nacho was just ahead. The teens could see diablos filing out of the door, growing, then marching off to who knows where. The rolling Diablo was only a few yards behind them. Ron had been swerving an evasive course, causing the robot to crush a number of cars and trees on the way. It's just as fast as we are but not as maneuverable, Kim mused. Then she looked forward at the Bueno Nacho sign. She thumped Ron's shoulder. When he glanced back she pointed first at the robot then the sign. He nodded.

Ron cut a few more evasive curves then beelined for the sign. He arced around the sign, putting it between the scooter and the robot even as the robots emerging from Bueno Nacho turned towards the teens. Ron turned hard again to escape this threat when the pursuing robot collided with the sign in a massive shower of sparks. Instantly, the Diablos shrunk to small, inert toys. Ron felt a moment of elation then…

"Nooooo, " he screamed. The sign tilted slightly, then farther and farther. Finally it crashed with a thunderous noise directly on top of Bueno Nacho. Ron buried his face in his hands.

Kim's hand was quickly on his shoulder. "Ron, we did it! We won!"

"Yes, Kim. But the cost! Oh Lord, the cost! Bueno Naco is gone and I left my mom's dress in there; I'm now an official dead man."

The Kimmunicator went off, sparing Kim the necessity of making a comment. "What's the sitch?"

"Good job guys," Wade congratulated them. "I've taken some damage here, but I'm getting back on line. All I can tell you is that most of the city is without power and most communications have been cut off." He paused. "Whoa, I'm getting an incoming from Drakken!"

"Patch it through!"

"You might have won this round Kim Possible." The villain sneered had her from the screen. "But I've got someone very special to you!" The view panned to show Eric, tied to a chair with Shego hovering behind him. "Kim, what's happening?" Eric blurted out in a panicked voice. The feed cut off.

Kim looked up at Ron. "It's Eric," she gasped. "They've got him. We've got to rescue him! He's…" Her eyes grew wider, her jaw went slack, and her shoulders slumped. "He's a synthodrone, isn't he?"