VIII
Agent Kirin was passing by the Possible residence on her way home. She didn't expect to find anything, but it wasn't far out of the way and the disappearance of the Possibles was a disturbing development to the progress that they had been making. She slowed as she passed, and then slowly sped up. She sighed, unusually gloomy, feeling like a failure for having lost all the Possibles by unknown means. At a stop sign, she saw in her rearview mirror that her blonde hair looked as crumpled as her uniform that she hadn't bothered to take off yet.
But a couple of miles later, when she took a curve, she frowned as she saw a dark green car stalled up ahead, one that she felt she'd seen very recently. The driver's door opened as she slowed and she was suddenly blinded by a green flash. Her air bag burst out, nearly pinning her to her seat. Then her windshield broke into shards, but before she could think what to do, a can of mace was suddenly thrown right beside her. Coughing, eyes tearing, she quickly got out. She pulled her cell phone out blindly but before she could call anyone, it was taken from her grasp. Focusing through her tears, she was stunned by what she saw. "Kim Possible?"
"And friends," Kim answered, before her foot found Agent Kirin's face, followed by a leg sweep that knocked her off her feet. She fell hard to the street, coughing and gasping as a van pulled up along side, one Agent Kirin recognized as having seen recently as well, and a masked Yori wearing protective goggles and a set of tight-fitting matte-black clothes stepped out and quickly subdued her with a wet cloth put over her face.
Ron lifted her limp body and put her in the van while Yori ran to the passenger side of Kirin's car, and replaced the car registration and insurance with false ones. In the few seconds it took her to do this, Shego had already destroyed both license plates and Ron and Rufus were haphazardly putting on new plates. It should buy them several hours before GJ realized one of their agents had been disappeared.
Then Yori and Ron piled into the van while Kim and Shego ran to the nearby dark green car. The entire kidnapping had taken barely over a minute, and there had been no witnesses. Their assault on GJ had begun.
--xx
An hour after the successful kidnapping, Shego was wearing a pair of gloves with the handprint of Agent Kirin, and special contacts that imitated her eyes. The gloves would be good for only a few hours, but that should be long enough. On the shoulder of the GJ uniform was Kirin's badge and ID. To match the picture, Shego wore an inglorious wig, close to the blondeness and style of Agent Kirin. Yori had carefully applied foundation and blush to Shego's face, to disguise her natural green. Shego had protested that Kim could pass for Kirin with less effort—she did not like being a rosy blonde--but the uniform fit her better than it did Kim, so she was to be the face of their infiltration. She also had Agent Kirin's cell phone and master key, along with a briefcase that held a portacomp.
Meanwhile, Agent Kirin was being flown to Japan to be interrogated and studied.
"Let's get this over with, already," griped Shego.
"Soon enough," said Kim. "Ron, Yori, you two will wait outside and call only if there is trouble."
"But Possible-san," said Yori, "I think it would be wise if I Ron and I accompanied you. You will need all the help you can get, and we at the Yamanouchi School have heard how you are helped by something called the 'Ron Factor'." She hid well the fear that Kim and Shego might fall under the influence of the nanites upon penetration of the facility.
"And the buffoon?" added Shego, "please, leave him behind."
"But if you need help, we will not be able to get to you in time."
"We don't need your help," said Shego dismissively.
"I don't know," said Kim. "They did very well with the extraction."
"Whatever," said Shego, not seeming to care, "but they shouldn't speak. Their voices don't sound right and they could blow the whole mission."
"Our voices?" asked Ron. "You and Kim were the ones coughing."
"Shego's right," said Kim. "I'm not sure what it is, but your voices sound funny to me, too. If you come in, you must not speak." She glared meaningfully at Ron.
"Not a problem," replied Ron, "I can be as quiet as a mouse."
"Until he screams like a woman giving birth," muttered Shego low enough that only Kim heard her.
"Ok, wear basic black, we are all the new recruits being shown around by Agent Kirin and being prepared for emergency field work."
"What if we run into someone who knows the, uh, person Shego is pretending to be?" asked Ron.
"Most who know her will be off like she's supposed to be off. We only need to bluff Global Justice for a little while, hopefully less than an hour."
Within a few moments, a spray made at the Yamanouchi School had turned Ron's blond locks into a carrot top, and Kim's hair became chestnut brown. While Shego wore the doctored contacts that gave her the eyes of Agent Kirin, the other 3 had their own special contacts, as well. Kim's were normal except they changed her eye color to blue, as well as altering any identifying marks to a scanner. Both Yori and Ron wore "smart contacts" that, in addition to altering their eyes, adjusted themselves to the lighting, complete with a flash protector. In Ron's case, they also changed his eyes to green as well. Kim also had fake freckles put on her that would last until washed off with a special solution, or lots of soap and water. They all had their own IDs that would pass cursory inspection.
The "new recruits," along with "Agent Kirin," were ready for duty.
--xx
Walking into Global Justice was a cakewalk. Shego's doctored ID worked, and the one security guard that asked too many questions suddenly found himself very groggy after Yori "sneezed" that actually spit fine powder in his face. The guard seemed about to sound the alarm, but decided on a quick nap instead. If anyone tried to wake him, he'd be very disoriented, as if drunk or dead tired.
At the top levels, security was light, and they were quickly buzzed in when Shego knocked impatiently at a door. At a bank of five elevators, they piled into the middle one. Shego pulled the portacomp and quickly made her way to the upper part of the elevator and proficiently plugged it into the wiring, revealing years of practice at doing things like this. Then she directed the elevator to take them to the bottom floor and put the elevator to sleep. Hopefully, being late at night, no one would try to use this elevator, and if they tried, they'd simply take one of the other four instead of investigating.
An entrance to a lateral was beside them, and they silently entered the duct that was about the same size and material as the ones Kim and Ron had used at The Bermuda Triangle. Their eyes, improved by nanites or contacts, allowed them to see where they were going. Since Kim had been here before, she took the lead, and they waited for her when she went to check a vent. She finally said, "I see an office we need to get into. Someone is working there and they have their computer up. We should be able to download something useful from that."
"Sounds like paydirt," whispered Shego. Her hand began to glow, but Yori grabbed her wrist while putting a finger to her lips with her other hand. Shego frowned, but let the glow fade away while Yori went past her and opened a vent into a hallway, slid through, and landed gracefully. Kim, Shego, and Ron followed, and only Ron made a noise louder than a whisper when he landed.
Dusting herself off, Shego walked up to the door to the office they wanted and knocked loudly.
"Who is it?" came the voice from within.
"Agent Kirin," said Shego, almost cockily, as she turned the knob and found it unlocked. "I need to ask you a question." Shego walked in, and the rest followed behind, Yori closing the door behind her.
A bald man with a trim reddish brown beard frowned and blinked at the quartet entering his office. "Agent Kirin," he said stiffly, "you're not following proper protocols. Explain yourself."
"Yeah, yeah," replied Shego with a smile, "I would, but I'm bored now." And as the man reached under the desk, Shego blew him with a green blast that knocked him across the room in his chair, falling out of the chair as it crashed into the wall. He shook his head and began to stand, but Shego was on him too fast and a glowing fist made sure he wouldn't bother them for awhile. Then Shego cut off a sleeve and shoved it into his mouth, followed by grabbing an extension cord to tie him up with. She laughed quietly to herself, saying, "Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta."
Yori was already sitting at the desk and putting in a disc to the hard drive. "Shego-san," she said, "you should not have used your gift so recklessly, for we may still have needed Agent Kirin's prints on the gloves you wear."
Shego snorted as she finished hogtying the man. "Aren't ninjas supposed to be, like, quiet?" Yori showed no reaction to Shego's sarcasm.
"What is this?" asked Kim curiously, looking over Yori's shoulder.
"Schematics of some kind," answered Yori. She began studying the screen. "It looks like for a gun of some kind."
"Not a gun," replied Kim, "but a bullet."
"Yes, you are correct," said Yori with more attention. She blinked as she manipulated the data, and then her eyes opened wide. "Possible san!" she whispered urgently, "it's for a hollow point bullet with nanites within them!"
"Hollow point?" asked Shego. "You mean it penetrates, mushrooms, and then releases nanites?" She shook her head. "Why shoot someone to infect them? Couldn't they use a dart?"
Yori shook her head. "A dart would be too obvious. But someone wounded would be helped without suspicion of infection."
"Or of being tracked," added Kim grimly.
"The nanites affect the person shot and alert the invaders to their location, possibly leading to rebel hideouts," continued Yori, "and as the body is changed, the wounds are healed. If they seem tired it would appear to be due to the wound and whatever drugs others give the wounded. Then Global Justice has an agent within the hideout, one that can operate without suspicion!"
Kim's face hardened. "Or kill them by spitting into their food, through a blood transfusion, or…"
"Or kissing a lover," added Yori in a horrified whisper. "Most efficient," she said with a shudder.
"Oh, no!" gasped Ron. "The villainy!"
"What is it?" asked Yori, looking back at the screen. "What are Pixie muffins?"
Ron just shook his head. "How can they put such evil into such innocence?"
"Ooo," added Shego, as the screen changed, "now that's something Drakken should've thought of."
Kim frowned and looked at the next item on the screen. "Cyber curs?"
"Not just cyber curs, Princess, but their saliva is either death or assimilation!" She crossed her arms as she added, "I hate these guys, but I do have to admire the details they think of."
They retrieved other data that would be of use to military officers and scientists, and saved them to 4 protected discs, and then each put one in an inside pocket.
"Now to make sure chrome dome doesn't say anything," said Shego darkly, as her right hand glowed green.
"No, Shego!" whispered Kim fiercely, grabbing Shego's wrist. She glared into Shego's frowning face. "There may be a cure. We're not killing anyone unless we absolutely have to!"
"In case you haven't noticed, Princess, we're at war with a technologically advanced civilization and most people on our world don't even know it yet."
"I said no." Kim and Shego exchanged glares.
Shego looked as she was going to ignore Kim, and then said, "Fine." But she twisted her hand against Kim's thumb, breaking out of her grip, and blew up the computer. "Then maybe they'll think we're vandals instead of spies." It didn't seem likely, but no one saw a point in pressing the issue.
They re-entered the ducts from the office and made their way back to the elevator. They climbed in from the top and Shego had the portacomp bring the elevator back to the first floor. There she pulled the portacomp, putting the elevator back into service. They left without incident.
Piling into the van, Kim congratulated them all. "Good work! This is sure to help us in undoing this sitch!"
"We didn't get any of the alien technology, other than the blonde we nicked," said Shego, having already taken off her blonde wig and tossed it aside.
"Shego is correct," said Yori, who was driving. "Our mission is not complete until we get some technology. But I saw no sign of anything at GJ. It looks more like they are going to build the technology rather than already having it."
Kim blinked. "Ron," she said, "tell Yori how to get to Wade's house. I have a feeling we'll find what we need there."
Ron swallowed his nervousness and did so.
--xx
Their van was parked down the street from Wade's house.
"Careful," Kim cautioned, "he probably has sensors even up to his house."
"Luckily, our disguises might still fool him," said Yoni optimistically. But she noticed that Ron and Kim's hair coloring was already starting to fade. Being water solvent, the slight sweat had been enough to begin undoing it. And Shego was refusing to wear that wig anymore.
They made it to Wade's ok, but Yori had to admit she couldn't find a way to sneak in. "Security is too tight." She tried using a "sneaky" that she said she got from a "grey hat" connected to their school, but despite its reputed efficiency, it simply could not adapt enough.
"I know how to break in," said Shego, her hands glowing.
"Shego!" hissed Kim, "No!"
While Kim was still saying no, Shego blasted out the door and ran in. Kim barely repressed a profanity as she ran in behind Shego, and Yori and Ron both followed.
Wade's mom jumped up, but Shego blasted her senseless before she could do anything. "Ok," said Shego, "where's the geek's room?"
Kim glared, but knew they didn't have time to do anything other than get Wade and then get out. She ran, silently seething, and the others followed.
But they stopped in amazement immediately after entering Wade's room. The room was several times larger than it ever had been, the ceiling at least 3 times as high. And while it looked like robotic jellyfish were flying in the air. Wade himself seemed to be in a trance at a terminal.
"No," gasped Kim in astonishment, as a detail she missed at first sank in. In between Wade and his terminal were several thin strands that connected him and the computer together.
From a speaker, they all heard Wade's voice. "Glad you could make it Kim. I can't wait to hear how you managed to disappear for so long, I had almost given up hope in finding you. But…first thing's first."
Then the jellyfish robots began swarming them and they all took defensive action. After tumbling out the way of one, Shego blasted at it, but found it went through it as if it didn't exist.
"Holograms!" shouted Shego. "Get the kid!" And then she screamed as several robotic tentacles wrapped around her, sending painful shocks through her. Then, hands glowing green, she blasted it apart.
"Only some of them are illusion!" shouted Yori, jumping from a robot's grasping tendrils.
Dodging another robot, Kim saw her more advanced Kimmunicator, the one with the magnet, and leaped, dodged, and tumbled her way to it. "Let's hope Wade got this fixed," she muttered to herself as she turned it on. Instantly, the tentacles of 2 robots were noticeably pulled toward the magnet while the rest were unaffected.
"Got you now," said Shego, supremely pleased, as she blew the 2 affected robots to smithereens. "Good work, Kimmie!" She didn't even flinch as the robot diving at her made contact and passed through her, like the hologram it was.
And then another hovering robot appeared, this one much bigger than the others and sporting what appeared to be a futuristic cannon on a turret. The square "head" of it had a screen that showed Wade's face. "Sorry, Kim, but play time is over. Surrender now, or you and your friends die." The turret aimed at her.
"Wade, fight it!" shouted Kim, "I know you can! We've done it!"
Wade's face on the screen shook his head, saying, "Kim, it's you who are fighting the salvation of the world. Don't you realize that the missionaries are here to help us to evolve, and better ourselves? Once we fix you, you'll love it! Please, Kim, let's not fight!"
"No," said Shego, "let's!" Then she blasted the robot. The turret instantly changed toward her and fired a red beam that created an actual hole where Shego had been standing a mere second before the robot had fired.
Kim ran towards Wade's body but quickly had to dodge more red beams.
And then Shego was blasting away at it again. But a force field erected itself that stopped Shego's blasts. However, when it fired another beam, the force field fell and Shego was able to blast it.
Ron screamed and fell. Suddenly, just as a beam focused on him, his own force field came on, stopping the beam. "Yeah, how do you like me now!" He crowed.
It fired again, but Ron's force field didn't break, and every time it fired, Shego timed her blasts to hit, and it was beginning to show damage. Shego's last blast actually scorched the turret itself.
And then it vanished.
"Huh," went Shego, her hands still glowing, "where did it go?"
And then, from behind Shego, came the red beam that hit her in the back, and she fell with a cry and lay still.
"Kim, the magnet!" shouted Yori.
Kim turned it on and took evasive action trying not to be an easy target. Yori also ran zig zag toward Kim, and as they came close, Yori threw a bag in the opposite way of the magnet, and the bag exploded suddenly, revealing a rough chalk outline around the invisible head and cannon of the robot.
"Nice trick!" shouted Kim grimly as she leapt away from the next blast.
They all were able to dodge, and Kim finally made it to Wade's body. She took out her taser and prepared to stun him when Wade's arm snaked out at superhuman speed that surprised even Kim, and with a strength that suggested Wade himself was a true cyborg with robotic parts.
Suddenly Ron screamed. "Something's got me!" He was lifted into the air, his force field no longer functioning. Then the robot reappeared and they all could see that the robot now had appendages that snaked out of it's body and was holding Ron in the air while the turret now aimed directly at him.
Wade's voice came over the speaker. "Shego is dying, Kim, and Ron will die instantly if I shoot. And I will unless you surrender now. But if you surrender, you all live. And you won't want to fight this anymore once we fix you."
"Fix me?" What really hurt Kim was that despite the regret she heard in his voice, there was also resolve and she didn't doubt he was willing to murder Ron before moving on to the rest of them. Kim dropped the taser. She gritted, "We surrender."
Suddenly, Kim felt a stunning force painfully overtake her, and choked as Wade's grip momentarily tightened and then suddenly went slack. Ron was suddenly freed and the robot slowly descended. All the holograms vanished, leaving a bare room that mostly looked like a holodeck, and there was a sensation of movement as the room went back to its original dimensions. The terminal Wade had been hooked into was down and Wade was out.
Kim shook her head, her entire body radiating pain, looked around briefly and saw the Ron and Yori were ok. She gasped as she saw blood pouring out of a prone Shego and ran towards her. Her adrenaline still flowed and had no trouble with Shego's weight as she examined her. She felt sick horror as she examined Shego's other side. While the beam had made a small entrance, it apparently expanded once inside like a cone, and a circular region on Shego's abs was blistered. What the hell did that thing do her internal organs?
Shego's words came back to her: "In case you haven't noticed, Princess, we're at war with a technologically advanced civilization and most people on our world don't even know it yet." Maybe Shego was right. If they were to have any chance at winning the coming war, maybe Shego's way was better.
Kim forced that out of her mind and yelled, "I need a bandage!"
Yori pulled out some black bandages and a cloth and tossed them to Kim who deftly caught them. She held the cloth to the small but bleeding wound in Shego's back and thought it looked as if it would staunch the bleeding. Then she began to wrap Shego, but was interrupted by Ron.
"Let me help you with that," said Ron as he started to lean down. He screamed as Kim unexpectedly kicked him in the chest, sending him flying across the room. "Ow!"
"Kim Possible!" shouted Yori, "what is the meaning of this?"
"Ron!" snarled Kim, "I told you, you cannot touch our bodily fluids! It's death or worse to you if you do! Can you get it through your head that you don't come near me or Shego when we're bleeding?"
"Yeah, I get it," said Ron, very hurt, as he got back up. "Don't have to tell me twice." Rufus, who had been hiding in Ron's pocket during the fighting, poked his head out and crossed his arms, making a noise of being offended. "I just thought you could use a little help in moving her body, given that she's bigger than you."
Yori put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Kim Possible is right, Stoppable-san," she said gently, "this is best left to her." Ron glared, his hurt feelings showing clearly while Yori rubbed his shoulder.
"So what happened anyway?" asked Kim.
"An EMP grenade," Yori answered. "It was my ace up my sleeve in case things got out of hand. We didn't know how it would affect the nanites, but Sensei thought there was a chance it would prove useful." Against you and Shego if needed. "As it is, it proved most useful against Wade's machines. I guess the shock of the connection being broken was enough to knock him unconscious."
"I think Wade may be more machine than man," Kim replied. "You and Ron see if you can find a small enough piece of one of the robots shattered to carry away and then get Wade. Bind him first." And hope he doesn't come to and instantly break free. Then looking at Ron, she asked, "Mind explaining the force field?"
"Oh, that," answered Ron dismissively. "I knew Drakken had one of these but didn't use it. I can't blame him, they run out of power way too fast." He sighed, and added to Rufus without his usual cheer, "Come on, Rufus, we got to get some parts to go."
With Rufus's help, Ron managed to get a piece of a robot mostly blown apart by Shego that held many odd circuits and components, as well as a piece from the robot that had been shooting at them. Meanwhile, Yori put on plasticuffs of unusual durability on Wade's wrists and ankles before gently putting a rag into his mouth. The rag had a tranquilizer in it that should dissolve in his mouth and help keep him asleep. Then she went out to Wade's parents and made sure they would remain asleep awhile longer and found their car keys. They took the recovered sample, Wade, and Shego to the car in the garage and then hit the button for the garage door to open.
The drove out and saw that a few neighbors were cautiously peeking out their windows while sirens were rapidly approaching. They had maybe 2 minutes before the police would arrive. But by then, they had transferred their load to the van and were driving out.
--xx
An hour later, a seeming medical chopper carried away Shego. It was, however, a ninja chopper, and they knew Shego was in good hands. Another chopper carried off a still bound and drugged Wade, as well as what the team had recovered from his room. Shego and Wade would be taken to a private plane on which they'd be flown to Japan.
"I'm sorry about kicking you, Ron," Kim said a little awkwardly. "The adrenaline, and fear that you could be killed, it freaked me out a little."
"I understand, KP" said Ron, though his tone said otherwise. "What are you going to do now? Since it would be, uh, dangerous for us to be close to you and all."
Kim sighed sadly. She had been planning to ride with them, but figured Ron needed some time alone. With Yori. No, I will NOT jell. "I'll take Shego's car to the airport." She faked a smile.
"Fine, KP," said Ron, turning away and getting into the van. Yori bowed respectfully to Kim and then went to the driver's side. Moments later, they were gone.
Sighing, Kim got into Shego's car and started it. She drove slowly, not wanting to get pulled over now, and wanting to think. The aftereffects of the adrenaline were also wearing her down. I hope Ron is ok. Why can't he understand? It disturbed her as she realized that of their team, only Shego had the ability to understand her now. And she's been hurt, badly. She shuddered as she contemplated how willing Wade had been to kill all of them. Could she ever trust him again?
Trying to get her mind off her sitch, she switched on the radio. It was in the middle of a news report on her and she blinked as she heard how she, Kim Possible, was now wanted for questioning by the FBI and GJ over the disappearance of Agent Kirin, terrorist activities carried out against GJ, and the kidnapping of Wade. Wade's mom made a brief statement about a "brown-haired Kim" attacking them with Shego. There was talk on Kim's family also being missing, and whether they were victims of Kim or accomplices. A spokesperson from Global Justice claimed that they found traces of methamphetamines in her room and believed that to keep up with her hectic life, that she'd been doing drugs, and may now be an addict, or even psychotic. To top it off, there was a 50,000 reward for information leading to her arrest.
"Crap," muttered Kim as she quickly checked her reflection in the rearview. Plenty of the chestnut brown spray had worn off, from the sweat no doubt, and she appeared reddish brown. Luckily, no mention of her freckles or blue eyes were made. I wonder how they even knew it was me, she wondered, but dismissed that as unimportant.
Still, she'd wait in Shego's car until just before takeoff and then hurry aboard. She hoped she wasn't forced to retreat, but if she was, Shego's car had the ability to heat its body, much like defrost for the windshields, and the heat caused a chemical reaction that turned the dark green paint job black. The license plates could rotate to new plates. It should be enough of an edge to help her escape if she must. She hoped she wouldn't have to. She felt very tired and just wanted to sleep. But she'd only allow herself to sleep once she was on the plane to Japan.