Chapter 45: Moving into Place.
Warren the roving reporter had just arrived at his stake out point down the block from the Possibles' Residence. He adamantly refused to turn on his camera at this time. He was no paparazzo, he would follow Kim Possible until she did something newsworthy before filming and transmitting. He idly noted that more and more streetlights were coming back on when a large, boxy van pulled up to the house. Four people wearing Team Possible mission gear emerged from the house. They loaded a scooter into the van before piling in themselves. Warren let the van get a couple of blocks ahead before he started his motorcycle and followed.
More and more parents had shown up at the Middleton High Gym to pick up their kids. By the time the regular power had been restored, only a handful of students were left. This handful included Felix, Monique, and Bonnie. All of the kids were getting restive and several uprooted families had shown up to spend the night in the gym. Barkin refused to let and students leave without a proper guardian, even to answer the Mayor's call for volunteers to smash every diablo toy they could find. Finally, Felix had an idea.
"Mr. Barkin, " he asked, "can I go to the Distance Learning Room? It's in this building and we might be able to get some news. While the local stations are off line, we can use the satellite dish to get some national broadcasts and find out what's happening outside of Middleton."
Mr. Barkin considered this for a moment. "Sounds good to me, just no leaving the building."
"Thanks, Mr. B." Felix headed out, followed by Monique and after a few seconds hesitation, Bonnie.
The four teens made last minute adjustments to their plans.
"You two understand, don't you?" Kim stressed to Cindy and Oscar. "Just approach the fence and run along side. Once you see pursuit, or any sort of reaction, clear out."
"We understand," Cindy assured her.
"Who's driving?" Ron asked.
"I am," Cindy replied. "I own a motorcycle, so I'm the better driver." She looked at Oscar. "All you have to do is hold on and be careful where you're putting your hands, buster." She gave her boyfriend a mock glare.
"Speaking of who does what, you're going to have to shoot Wade's electro-frying thingy, KP." Ron informed her. Kim looked at him and he pointed to his left eye, which had swollen shut. "No depth perception. You're also going to have to guide me on the fly-in."
Kim nodded, and the four continued to plot and plan.
Warren followed the van for just over a half-hour, sometimes at breakneck speeds on the highway. Keeping up wasn't easy, especially considering that he had to keep his headlight off to keep from being noticed. Finally, the van stopped where a gravel road intersected the highway. The four people unloaded the scooter and two of them climbed on. The two on the scooter exchanged handshakes and hugs with the other two. Then the scooter took off at a very impressive clip, down the highway. The other two climbed in the van, which took the gravel road. Warren thought for a few seconds, then followed the scooter.
It took only a few minutes for the van to reach Kim and Ron's drop off point. The two teens put on their jet-glider packs and connected themselves together with a length of rope. They checked their watches and took off. They had to approach the compound from a different angle than Cindy and Oscar.
"What's the reactor capacity at this time?" Dr. Drakken demanded.
"Eighty-one percent," a technician answered.
Dr. Drakken smiled; it wouldn't be long now!
"Hey doc," Shego addressed her employer. "We've got more than enough juice to operate the local repeater, why not fire up your defense force?"
"Nervous, Shego?" Drakken taunted. "I intend to let Kim Possible make an appearance before I activate our local repeater. Let her come in, so that I do not need to worry where she may be. Until then, lets not warn the various armed forces around the world. They will think that Middleton was an isolated incident, but if I tip my hand too soon, they may go on full alert."
"Reactor at eighty-five percent capacity." The technician reported.
"There's a scooter approaching, it matches the description of Subject Two's vehicle." Another technician reported.
"On the viewing screen." Drakken ordered. Soon, everyone in the Control Room could see the oncoming scooter.
Cindy turned aside as she reached the main gate. Kim had told her to not go inside under any circumstances. I hope this works, she thought, and I hope that they try to catch us, not just blast us to smithereens.
"Why didn't she charge straight in? Drakken demanded. He turned to Eric. "Apparently you didn't make the proper impression. She should be rushing to your rescue at this moment."
"I'm only as good as my programmer." The synthodrone challenged. Drakken scowled at him.
"Or she could be taking readings and sending them back to her technical wizard." Shego suggested.
"That must be it!" Drakken concluded. "Activate the local repeater. Let's eliminate Team Possible before they can become a nuisance."
"They're active!" Wades voice sounded in four teenagers' helmets. "Cindy, Oscar, get clear! Kim, Ron, now's your chance!"
All around the perimeter, hidden diablos erupted to their fifteen-foot height and closed in on the scooter. Cindy spun the vehicle away from the fence and hit the red button. With a massive plume of flame, the scooter screamed away from the fence with diablos forming up into pursuit.
Kim and Ron, just skimming into the excavation, saw the chase. With a shock, they also saw three of the diablos flying! Cindy, Oscar, get out of there, be safe! The two teens unconsciously thought the same thing, even though they knew it was beyond their control at this time. They set down, Ron rather roughly, and quickly found the tunnel. They hurried inside and shucked their packs. While Ron started to scan for security devices, Kim keyed her Kimmunicator. "We're in the tunnel."
Warren had hidden his bike, and himself, just in time. First the scooter came rushing back down the highway faster than a Formula 1 racecar, then came the pursuit of four rolling and three flying diablos. He picked up his camera and started to transmit. Once the pursuit flew by, he continued towards Bueno Nacho Headquarters. He just knew something big was going to happen there.
"Hey guys, I've got a video feed from someone trying to send to Channel 6." Felix reported. Monique and Bonnie both looked then stared. Monique quickly ran to fetch Mr. Barkin.
For the second time that night, Diablo robots roamed the streets of Middleton. However, this time there were very few. The good citizens had spent the intervening time crushing every one of the toys they could find. The half-dozen or so that remained concentrated on securing City Facilities, so there were no additional power outages. The diablos and the citizens settled into an uneasy standoff.
The Kimmunicator found a single motion detector, which they were able to disable. The tunnel wasn't even lined yet, just a circular tube, seven feet across, with a padlocked door at one end. Kim used her laser-lipstick cutter to remove the lock, and the teens quickly found themselves inside the main breaker room. The two teens opened the door to find a deserted hallway. Ron checked the ceiling; it was drop-in tile. Kim hopped up onto Ron's shoulders and Ron passed Rufus up to her. She lifted a tile and placed Rufus above the ceiling. The valiant rodent scurried off and the teens returned to the Breaker Room to wait. Wade hadn't been able to find plans for the remodeled headquarters, so they needed Rufus to scout.
One of the flying diablos landed ahead of the scooter, so Cindy turned off of the highway and onto a swerving, mountain road. The rolling diablos couldn't match her speed through the curves and the flying ones overshot the twisting road. Out of sight for the moment, Cindy slowed down enough for her and Oscar to jump off of the scooter. The two teens crawled into the underbrush as a diablo landed directly on top of the vehicle, crushing it. The other two flyers set down nearby then the three machines fanned out and started to stalk through the forest. Back the way they had come, four more of the machines showed up, spread out and advanced along the road.
They're hunting us, Oscar realized. While Oscar had never been hunted before, he had hunted pheasants, grouse, rabbits and other small game since he was twelve years old. And while the steep forest he found himself in tonight was much different than the North Dakota prairie where he had grown up, one vital fact remained true for the situation. The game that panics and runs gets shot, he recalled. While the game that keeps its head survives to pass on its genes. Oscar grimaced, where did that last thought come from? He glanced at Cindy, not the time to be thinking of that. He tapped her shoulder and motioned for her to follow him into the densest cover he could find, moving towards the advancing monstrosities.
Warren reached the Bueno Nacho Headquarters and climbed a small bluff overlooking the grounds. Once on top, he climbed a tree. Perfect! From here, he was hidden and could see the entire compound. He could even see the main building's roof. Now it was a waiting game.
"The scooter has been destroyed but Team Possible has not been eliminated." One of the technicians reported. "Seven units are searching at this time."
"Send a mobile security team," Drakken ordered. "I want Team Possible neutralized at all costs but I will accept a surrender."
"Surrender," Shego snorted, glaring at Eric. "If loverboy here would have done his job right, she wouldn't be out there right now. She'd be back at that dance with a stupid grin on her face, probably trying to sneak behind the bleachers with him. How'd you screw it up, plastic boy? We'd set her up prefectly for you."
"I was doing my job." Eric countered. "I had her isolating herself from her friends and was starting to break them up even more, like we had planned. It seems to me that a certain overconfident, loudmouthed hussy couldn't keep up her end! We copied your personality into a drop-dead gorgeous girl and unleashed her on a heartbroken, hormone-filled teenaged boy. All we got out of it was a single homework date! You couldn't get him to leave his friends or even fall for her. You're even pathetic in a sculpted body."
Shego's eyes went narrow. She fired up one of her hands. "Care to see how I do in this body?"
Eric dropped into a fighting stance. "Bring it on! I had to back away from that kid at the dance, so I wouldn't reveal myself, but you're fair game!"
"Silence, both of you!" Drakken was in no mood for bickering. "I would have preferred Kim Possible to be at her dance, oblivious to me but the advantage is still mine. Team Possible is ten miles away and running scared. The world's governments have no real concept about what will shortly strike them." The villain then grinned broadly, "and I discovered Kim Possible's greatest weakness!"
Shego rolled her eyes, "you found out she was boy-crazy? Not bad Doc, but I could have figured that out in a day, you spent months."
"Bah! Shego, you're shortsighted! Almost every teenager has a weakness for the opposite gender and Kim Possible is no different. While the boy-craziness is something I did exploit, it isn't her greatest weakness." The doctor's face stretched into a very smug grin. "Kim Possible's greatest weakness is her-"
"Doctor," a technician cut it. "The reactor is now at ninety percent capacity."
Doctor Drakken's face flashed immediately from smugness to triumph. "Excellent! This is the hour I have worked for months to achieve!" He stood up straight. "Activate the global network!"