Chapter 8: Shurikens, sacrifice, and secrets
Making her way through the lab's ducting with Rufus' help, Kim navigated through the labyrinthian twists and turns to the target and to the end of the mission. Scampering ahead, Rufus was doing his best to search for any sensors that were attached to the inside and disabling them. If he couldn't disable them, he at least wanted Kim to know about them and their location. As Rufus was looking for more sensors, he also took the time to look through the vents into the adjoining labs, looking for any indication that his friend and owner had indeed made it past the security.
Peeking through one of the vents, Rufus saw a figure with a black hood trying to break into a case holding a metallic arm. Chattering excitedly, Rufus rushed back to Kim, who was just rounding the corner. Seeing Rufus gesturing wildly to follow him, Kim went up to the vent to get a hold of her guide and quiet him down.
"What's up, Rufus?"Kim asked peering through the vent. Turning to look at Rufus, Kim saw Rufus pantomiming a mask with his paws. Then Rufus changed gestures to look like he was breaking into something to get out what was inside. Looking back, Kim saw a faint outline of a humanoid figure just outside of the light illuminating the keypad to the vault, presumably where the cybernetics were kept.
"That has to be Ron in his gear. I think he is playing it safe, or waiting for us, don't you agree?" Rufus nodded his agreement to Kim's statement and waited patiently for Kim to open the vent. Kim spent a couple of minutes searching along the outside edge, probing with her fingers, until she found the latch and popped it open, easing the vent open in order to not make a sound. Dropping to the floor quietly, Kim was going to sneak up on the figure when the lab lights turned on and Kim found herself on the business end of spears held by a group of diminutive ninjas with tails poking out of their garb, and 10 large men with suits on that had no identifying marks on them.
Crap.
Indeed that was an apt statement from the teen hero. Turning around slowly, the figure in Kim's view with his mask on and walked up out of arms reach to Kim. The Asian man moved with an economy of movement, similar to a predator's. His almond brown eyes betraying no emotion except for disdain, focused on Kim and her frozen stance in the middle of twelve spears pointed at various parts on her body, those spears being held by small monkeys clad in ninja garb.
"Konbawa, Possible-san," the mystery man replied, still focused on Kim. "It disheartens me that your sidekick wasn't the first here. I guess that his training still needs some work, or that his bleeding heart is treating the guards that I had injured in order to get here." Kim's eyes widened at the remark.
"Just who the hell are you? What do you mean, injured?" Kim demanded.
The figure turned around and went back to the keypad, trying to break through the lock.
"Ah! Sumimasen Possible-san. How could I be so rude? My chosen name is Shogun, but your buffoon of a partner knows me as my given name, Fukushima. As of injuring the guards, I am a ninja. As such I merely 'neutralize' my opposition as fast as possible. If they expire because of the injuries inflicted on them, it was their time to go." Shogun said, having not the slightest pity about mortally wounding the guards. "I must admit though I thank you for joining me."
"Join you? How so?" Kim said, still on guard.
Shogun laughed. "It was I that went onto your website claiming to be Dr. Renton. Did you really think that she would endanger her work in a top R&D facility so that her 'security' was absolute? It was all a very elaborate ruse to get easy access without getting involved too much and getting much out of the endeavor, Thank you again." Fukushima bowed mockingly to Kim.
"C'mon, You?" Kim scoffed trying to buy more time for Ron to get to her, "It seems that you are another villain du jour…" Kim trailed off.
"Me a villain? I fancy myself a mastermind since you both did what I wanted you both to do. No mind chips or mind control soap. Just knowledge of what you would do to help a friend. I caught you and have the cybernetics close in hand. I believe I won this round."
Kim just looked at Fukushima in contempt, knowing that she and Ron got played, hard.
Finally stabilizing the guards, Ron was running down the halls following the schematic that he had gotten from Wade's files. Getting to the doors that were outside the cybernetics lab, he heard the sounds from within. There were two people talking about something important. Easing open the door as to not attract attention, Ron slid into the lab only to see that a black clad figure was talking to Kim as he was attempting to open the vault that probably held the cybernetic prototypes and files. He focused on Kim and felt a chill go through him, seeing the monkey ninjas holding her at spear point. Monkeyfist had to be around here, but why would he have a top knot? Monty is too focused on monkeys to care about his hair … Ron was reviewing the very short list when the figure taunted Kim.
"Possible-San, when your lackey, the gaijin, comes to trip his way into saving you," Fukushima let out a snort, "I shall have my henchmen take care of you, and the simian ninjas, him." Ron realized from the voice that his fears proved true. It was Fukushima that was breaking in and that with holding Kim hostage, he had the upper hand. Moving from shadow to shadow created from the lab lights, Ron began to speak, having his voice echo around the room, making it seem to the people and animals listening that he was everywhere and nowhere at once.
"It's too late for that plan to surprise me, you traitor." Ron's voice growled, sounding like he was in every part of the lab at once.
"Ha! Outsider, again your buffoonery comes to light, even when in dire circumstances!" Fukushima chuckled out loud. "I cannot believe that you gave away the element of surprise, when you could have attacked me and ended this. What would sensei think about your actions?" Fukushima said, mockingly shaking his head in a pitying fashion. During her captor's taunting of Ron, Kim's eyes widened in realization of what Fukushima was saying. 'Ron and this creep had the same master?' More questions popped into her head. 'Why does Ron call him traitor?' Suddenly, a kunai flew from the shadows toward Fukushima, passing a millimeter from his face, catching the mask, and ripping it off. The Kunai, with the mask attached, embedded itself into the lab wall with a splintering of the wall at the point of impact.
"Nice attempt outsider, but you should have taken the upper hand when you had the chance. Everyone, attack!"
On his order, a dozen henchmen came out of hiding and started to bull rush Ron, planning to pile on top of him. Ron palmed a grenade from his vest, pulled the pin, waited a few seconds, and threw it at the charging men. The airborne projectile hit the lead aggressor in the head. Sending him to the floor, the other guards were tripping over the prone body when the grenade landed in front of the pile, releasing knockout gas in copious quantities, putting them out of the encounter. Running from the incapacitated group, Ron palmed another grenade and ran toward the group of monkeys that were holding back Kim. As he was pulling the pin, Ron yelled out to Kim, "FLASHBANG!"
Realizing what this meant, Kim closed here eyes and covered her ears as Ron ran by and dropped the flash bang grenade near where Kim was. A violent discharge of sound and white light followed, disorienting and distracting the monkeys, but also deafening Kim in the process. Ron knew that Kim was out of trouble for the moment, and so Ron focused his attention on Fukushima and saw that he finally had the vault door open and was getting the cybernetic limbs out of storage. Ron was running up to Fukushima when he tripped over one of the spears that were thrown from the monkey ninjas. Skidding on the floor, Ron caught Fukushima's attention. Seeing how close Ron was to getting a free shot, Fukushima looked around to see Kim getting free and ready to put some hurt on his body. Smirking, Fukushima threw some shuriken to injure Kim, or if he was lucky, kill her.
Ron saw the action and the shuriken in flight. He kipped up and ran in front of Kim and throwing two of his own kunai. Instead of aiming for Fukushima, the two kunai hit different targets. One hit the power supply for the mainframe that was still downloading the cybernetic info and the other hit the alarm to bring the authorities. In a split second, Ron's back was facing Kim, a look of grim determination on his face which turned into a visage of pain as Kim heard three loud thumps. Ron slumped onto Kim, who wrapped her arms around Ron to hold him up. A wet feeling started at her forearms and travelled down to her hands. Slightly moving her head, Kim saw her hands coated with thick crimson blood.
Laughing at the condition of the gaijin and his girl, Fukushima and his cohorts exited the lab through the door, keeping their weapons trained on the pair of crime fighters.
"I recommend that he get medical attention soon, lest he succumb to the poison…" Fukushima said, leaving quick, fast, and in a hurry. Laying Ron down with the points of the ninja stars still protruding from his chest, Kim frantically keyed Wade up on her communicator.
"Kim! How's…"
"Get a medivac to the Lab now, Wade! Ron's down!" She then turned the Kimmunicator toward Ron's body to show what happened to Wade. "On their way!" Wade said, signing off.
Kim held her friends' body closer to her, hoping that Ron would pull through.
The first thing that Ron noticed as consciousness hit him was the overwhelming antiseptic smell in the environment. Next was the beeping from a random machine close by. Finally, it was the overwhelming amount of pain coursing through his body, specifically in his chest region that woke him up.
"Someone get the number of the mack truck?" Ron groaned out, only moving his head around. Opening his eyes, the subdued lighting in what he could only assume was a hospital was nice but he could not make out anything else. Seeing the IV tubes coming from each arm, Ron started to move to a sitting position.
"Ron, you're awake," a voice said on the other side of the room near the right corner, the moonlight hiding the feminine voice. But Ron knew from her scent. A fiery red mane shone like foxfire in the silver glow. Kim leaned forward, with concern in her eyes, and a frown on her lips.
"Don't speak, whatever Fuku-whatsits coated the throwing stars with has evaporated. Wade couldn't isolate it, but you seem to have been able to shake it off. He also said that he trained with you. Who is this guy Ron?"
Leaning back into the bed, looking up into the white stucco ceiling, Ron recalled the transfer week that changed his life forever, and so he delved into his memory.