I do not own the rights to Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, nor those from other media that I may reference.
So, here I am again, trying to start writing again. I cannot honestly explain my lack of interest for so long, and hope there are still some people out there who liked my stuff before.
I am starting with a sequel to my biggest story, though this one will NOT reach that length if I can help it. Odd thing to say. I hopefully will remain interested long enough to get back to my Mayorverse stories, at least finishing Open Lair. Though I also have two other ideas in my head, 'Four Kidnappings and a Funeral', and 'The Beverly Hillvillains'. As further entries in that series, but cannot decide which order to put them in.
The chapter below was originally three smaller chapters, but when I saw how small they were...well, I had to combine them.
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The night sky was quite spectacular over Western Colorado, it being a clear night on a late summer evening. The stars were bright and clear, the winds calm, and only the occasional sounds made by the local wildlife could be heard.
Alongside a wide two-lane road running east-west sat a tourist attraction, a Trading Post dealing in a wide variety of locally produced merchandise, mostly of Native American origin, as well as food, drink, and gas.
It being just past midnight, the Post was closed, all lights extinguished save two, one over the front entrance and the other on the eastern side, illuminating the gas pumps. And there was no sign whatsoever that the owners were about to receive some special visitors.
A low rumble was suddenly heard from the sky overhead, like muted thunder. At first, there was no indication of the source, and it would have taken sharp eyes to notice that one or two stars had suddenly been obscured. And sharper still to follow the movement of the obscuring object as it descended towards the Post.
Not directly at the Post, but towards a point about fifty yards north of it. The object made no noise discernable to human ears in it's slow and steady descent. A car approached and passed without it's occupants noting anything out of the ordinary.
As it neared the ground, a mild shimmer might have been seen by someone with extraordinary night vision, covering an area of the desert's surface directly beneath the descending object. Or someone with excellent sensory equipment such as that mounted innocuously on a telephone pole one hundred yards west of the building, disguised as a power company transformer.
Twenty miles away in a high security compound, Two men had their attention drawn away from a previously recorded baseball game by a soft beep. They quickly shifted their attention to a different monitor which displayed the very area where the mystery object was about to touch down.
Both men wore the uniform of the United States Air Force. They were both in their thirties and both were in their second decade serving their country. One wore a Major's insignia, the other a Captain's. After studying the screen for a minute, the Captain made a redundant comment. "Late night visitors, I see."
The Major cast his eyes heavenward for a moment. "And when do they receive visitors at the 'Back' entrance any other time but night, Captain?"
The Captain winced, but kept his mind on the job. "Trying to get a clear image of their visitor, thermal isn't picking it up, and low-light is having trouble, even with the clear skies. But I think I have it now!"
The image of the descending object, obviously a ship, was now clear. And seeing it clearly brought frowns of disappointment to their faces. "Oh, it's just them." The Captain sourly commented. "Took them long enough, though!"
The Major nodded slowly. "Well, they were at the Memorial Services in Go City today. And we only know where some of them were for the last two weeks. At least now no one higher up will be hinting that they slipped past us!"
The Captain nodded in response. "Well, might as well go back to the game, we'll never see what happens inside."
On the screen the descending ship touched the ground. Technically. In fact the ship didn't stop descending, passing through the surface of the desert as if it wasn't there. But this was old news for the men who monitored the Post, and not worthy of special notice.
They did not of course fail to log the arrival of Team Possible at the Post.
00X0X0X0X0X0XX0
The fully sentient ship went by the name Thundagirl, or TG for short, once upon a time an eleven character alphanumeric sequence in an alien language 'translated' in such a way as to begin with those two letters from a thirty-two character original alphabet. Inside, seven people and one mutated Mole Rat were catching a catnap after an already long day. The aforementioned Memorial Service had been a chore, a highly emotional one, though surprisingly smooth due to the efforts of some unlikely people.
Mayor Hubert Dew Lewis of Go City had told his Press Secretary, Alvin Lusion, that his job rode on there being no disturbances caused by an insensitive reporter asking inflammatory or provocative questions to any member of Team Possible or Team Go, but especially Shego, who would probably be quite on edge, especially for her 'brother' Hego's internment. Or rather Henry Robinson Day, his real name, which the Mayor had personally made sure would be most prominent on his gravestone in order to fulfill a promise to honor Hego's last request.
And Al Lusion had worked overtime to insure that all possible trouble sources were warned, or threatened, to behave themselves and respect the occasion. This uncharacteristic behavior on his part had made quite an impact on said troublemakers, not to mention warnings already received by their own bosses.
And so the solemn occasion had passed without fireworks of the Shego kind. Though to be honest she might not have been the only one to have objected in a physical manner to inappropriate questions.
Now the seven people roused themselves, six in Thundagirl's aft compartment, one forward, along with said Mole Rat, Rufus. The reason for the segregation was due to the dress code necessary when the ship jumped from one location to another. Specifically, nothing was worn at all.
Thundagirl had not jumped directly from Go City, spending just short of a half hour in Northern Canada while her occupants slept. She would have preferred to give them longer, but they didn't know how long their current visit would last. Though in truth they would have no trouble leaving in broad daylight, since she could jump straight from their hiding place without appearing aboveground at all. Or so she thought. There might be countermeasures preventing that for their hosts' protection, after all.
"Wakey, wakey, all!" Her voice echoed through the ship for the second time, though it was truly only necessary up forward, where one occupant was proving difficult to wake.
"All right, already!" Shego groused as she sat up, or rather merely leaned forward on the inclined 'bed' she had made the jumps on. It was only fifteen degrees off the vertical, with a footrest below to keep her in place. It was also enclosed in an energy field to keep it's occupant comfortably warm.
Kim Possible regarded the older woman carefully. Shego had had to keep a lot bottled up through the day, which was not exactly her normal way of doing things, and Kim was worried something might still set her off.
She and the team had been alert for trouble all day, and they had not been the only ones. Kim had spotted a reporter for the Imposer Online, an Internet tabloid, trying to slip closer to Shego during the eulogy for the citizens and civil servants of Go City who had died in the recent crisis, which Team Possible, Team Go, and one or two Time Lords had managed to resolve.
But before any of the team could intercept the reporter, his path had been blocked by the aptly nicknamed Inspector Bennett 'The Wall' Ball. Even though he wore a Police dress uniform, it would not have been hard to imagine him in the football one he had worn while playing nose guard in college. And somehow the words 'First Amendment' just couldn't get past the reporter's lips.
A noise drew Kim's attention from Shego to Charley Cob as she stepped down from her travel couch, the name all the teammates had adopted for their jump accommodations. The short, dark haired girl stretched to loosen up her muscles, then turned to address her three friends, who along with her had been brought back to Earth by the Doctor after some considerable adventures off-planet. "What, are you getting slower as you get closer to 20? Let's go!" That drew two eye rolls and a raspberry.
Kim had stopped bothering trying to figure out how to behave towards Charley, who's real last name was Ward, and whose mother had been a Possible. But that had been a long time ago. Though she was biologically almost 18, Charley had been born in 1914, then abducted by aliens at age 14 along with the other 3, though from different locations. And her exact family relationship to Kim was a bit hard to determine.
But she had ceded command of the team to Kim without hesitation, despite having done well enough leading the other girls for some time previously.
"I'll bet that second call is for Ron." JJ Ko, or Jennifer Jasmine Kobayashi to give her full name, announced with a grin. She had bright red hair to go with her Asiatic features, with a permanent metallic blue streak through it from front to back, just left of center. Which continued somewhere else that Kim tried not to look at.
"No bet!" Responded Annibeth Reeder, as she and her twin sister Annabelle also stretched. Both blondes were taller than the other girls, and had very nice figures for their age. Charley just rolled her eyes in response, to Kim's amusement.
Then she got off her couch to grab her own clothes and begin dressing. The somber wardrobe from Go City had been folded and put away, and she now donned a loose long sleeved blouse and jeans. They had been warned their destination might be a bit cool inside and had chosen their dress accordingly.
Once all six were decent, they deactivated the privacy screen separating them from the ship's central compartment, where their mission gear was stowed. Though at the moment there was precious little of that, the Government having taken custody of all the stuff Charley and her team had brought back with them as well as some stuff manufactured for them by some friends of the Time Lord known as the Doctor.
And apparently lost it all the very next night, though Kim and the others had not learned this until a week later. Apparently, it had all simply 'vanished' overnight. At least the fact that they had not been made aware of it earlier seemingly implied that no one believed they were responsible in any way.
Rufus was already present. After ingesting something created by another Time Lord, the Rani, he had been transformed into a humanoid about forty-two inches tall and possessing some quite impressive musculature. His resemblance to something from one of Ron's stories had caused quite a bit of speculation, but no one had come up with an explanation other then sheer coincidence.
He now wore clothes, though due to difficulty manipulating buttons, among other things, he actually wore what appeared to be bib-fronted coveralls similar to those popular with some farmers, though with more numerous and specialized pockets. And slip-on sneakers, though finding ones wide enough for him had been a chore.
Noting the still active privacy screen to the forward compartment, where the cockpit of a normal aircraft would be, Kim smiled slightly and asked Rufus, loudly enough to be heard forward, "He is up, isn't he?"
Rufus chose to ignore the rhetorical question. After all, if Ron hadn't been up yet, Rufus would be busy waking him up, wouldn't he.
"I'm Up!" Came Ron Stoppable's exasperated voice from the cockpit, "Be right there! What's this place look like, anyway?"
"Boring, actually." Thundagirl responded. "And I can't scan outside the hangar's walls, but the sole corridor I can see exiting from here is identical as far as I can see. It's on the starboard side, by the way. And our welcoming committee is waiting, party of one."
"What do they look..." Ron asked as he entered the compartment, then broke off as the starboard hatch swung inward, giving him a clear view of said individual. "...oh." The others were already exiting, Charley and Kim in the lead.
Shego regarded their host critically. "Bit of a cliché, aren't we?" she commented archly.
"Thank You very much!" Was the reply, accompanied by a slight bow. Their host appeared to be a middle-aged Native American, a hefty specimen with a slight paunch. He wore a denim shirt, jeans, and a fringed buckskin jacket, as well as cowboy boots and a Stetson with an eagle feather thrust into the band. "It's the look I was going for!"
Shego wasn't sure if she was being played, but managed not to frown or otherwise show any expression. She did notice that Charley and her crew were really studying the man, as if looking for some kind of sign indicating what species of extraterrestrial he really was. If he was.
He regarded them all with a faint grin. "Fully human, believe it or not!" He started to turn away as he spoke. "Third generation to run this place! Now, we have a lot to look at and little time for it, so let's get to it!" He started striding off down the corridor with his eight visitors trailing after.
"I see what TG meant about boring." Belle Reeder commented, and her twin nodded agreement. The hangar and the corridor were completely featureless, with walls, floors and ceilings the same uniform shade of dull gray. There was no visible source of illumination, yet it was all comfortably lit. Charley noted that there appeared to be no shadows cast at all, and that Kim had apparently noticed the same thing. Or something entirely different, for all she knew.
"Can't afford an interior decorator?" The quip escaped Shego's mouth before she realized how lame it was, and winced.
"The cost of utility." Their host replied. "But in return we can reconfigure the whole thing anytime we want to accommodate practically anything. We even had a Brukalli starship...ah, got to watch the loose lips, there! Let's just say that your needs are far from a strain on this facility!"
After a left turn at the end of about forty feet of corridor, they walked into a much larger room, easily three times the size of the hangar where Thundagirl resided. To their immediate left were a row of tables that would not have looked out of place in any conventional hotel or conference center, with various items of gear laid out on them. Adjacent to each one was a mannequin of some kind, wearing a familiar outfit.
Charley and Kim frowned, but their verbal response to the sight was curtailed as their eyes swept the rest of the chamber, which appeared to be a combination firing range, obstacle course, and gymnasium. And not all the obstacles were on the floor, some were suspended from the ceiling above them.
"Whoa!" Was Ron's response, and some of the others nodded in agreement. "This is like that place the Ar'Ithane had us in to practice with the equipment they made us." He paused as he looked around, "Except we're really here this time, it isn't all in our heads!"
Charley nodded in acknowledgement, but then pointed at the nearest mannequin, which wore a suit in familiar colors, but different proportions. "We were hoping for gear that Governments wouldn't want to steal from us to study themselves, this looks...rather similar to our old armor!" A trio of dubious expressions displayed by her original companions resulted from that comment.
Their host smiled tolerantly. "This is exactly what you want, believe me!" Seeing some skepticism displayed, he raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Let me explain. All interested parties who are aware of us have been informed that all the equipment we are giving you is based on technology that cannot be recreated on Earth, or even analyzed with their own technology!" His smile widened. "And believe me, they know we mean that! The last time, they blew two years worth of 51's budget trying to analyze a mineral scanner, without even learning it's basic function! They'll leave your gear alone, trust me."
After a moment Charley nodded grudgingly. She then looked more closely at what the mannequin was wearing. Hers and her friends' original armor had consisted of a single color sheer bodysuit which could generate energy absorption matrixes that appeared as solid armored plates. The new suit appeared much thicker, with the armor plates represented by what appeared to be thin pieces of leather or hide with thin gaps between the pieces. She reached out and touched one of the 'plates', then nodded. "Zip Particles?"
Their host's face lit up. "Exactly!" He then went into what for all intents and purposes sounded like a sales pitch. "These are very flexible, and shouldn't hinder any activities at all. Two pieces instead of one bodysuit, but they meld together once on, no vulnerable seams! Once on, you can activate the full armor function mentally, though these..." He ran his fingers across one leather 'plate', "Will stop any handgun bullets currently made, as well as absorbing most of the blow. High velocity rounds, however..." He shrugged expansively.
"Should be avoided at all costs." Shego remarked, while keeping an eye on Kim, who was frowning as she listened. "She still doesn't like to think of her work ever involving bullets at all, she has to get past that!"
"Now this is what full armor looks like." Their host continued, while reaching to the back of the mannequin's neck. Though he didn't appear to manipulate anything, a swarm of bright pinpoints of light appeared over the plates and thickened quickly, after maybe fifteen seconds assuming the form of solid plates. He then reached to the wrist, which ended in a semi-rigid cuff. "Activate the 'gloves', which are actually more of a force field, by pressing here..." And he touched a spot clearly marked on the inside of the wrist. The hands were immediately covered by a layer of something with the visual texture of latex, the same color as the 'plates'. "If you had the strength, you could punch through steel with these without harming your hands at all. However take note that they do not make your hands 'hard', so they won't do any more damage then your bare fists or whatever when fighting."
Shego noted a definite relaxation in Kim's stance at that. Though it didn't last long.
"Head protection is the same as your original armor, a force field. Completely transparent, though capable of generating a holographic HUD for a variety of uses. The field can easily stop even a .50 caliber sniper bullet without the slightest inconvenience to you." And that caused Kim to tense up again.
Shego shook her head. And spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She looked quickly towards the spot, but whatever it was had vanished. Something small and purple...which reminded her of Mego, but Mego couldn't fly.
"And for the modest among you, if it matters, you can wear underwear under these, but it has to be really thin, and not cover a lot, even for underwear." Their host continued.
"I guess Kimmie will have to invest in a some thongs, then." Shego remarked with a wicked grin. She was testing Kim's reactions, even while thinking about what she thought she had seen.
Kim blushed even as her host shook his head. "Well, not quite that small, but...close enough, I suppose." Kim noticed the other girls regarding her with some amusement, which caused her blush to deepen, and she smiled ruefully before shooting a warning glare at Shego, but noticed the woman's attention was elsewhere, scanning the chamber in the direction of the obstacle course.
The suit being displayed had a black base. Inactivated, the plates had resembled gray leather. Activated, they looked like polished steel. This was Charley's old color scheme. All the gear on the adjacent table appeared to match that scheme where appropriate.
Each mannequin after that was placed between the tables. The next one was JJ's, red with polished gold plates when activated, or so they assumed. Then came a Navy Blue suit with silver plates for Belle, a Navy one with Gold for Beth, and then...
Shego moved down the row until she reached one with a base of Royal Blue. The plates she knew would be Emerald Green when activated, a bit duller as they were. She checked the next one, which had the reverse color scheme. That one was for Kim. And there were two more...but she turned to their host. "Wasn't sure you'd make one for me, not an official member of the Team."
"Actually, we were asked to make some for your brothers as well," He replied, "But they still have too much growing to do, so that should wait." He paused, "It was Miss Cob's request."
All eyes went to Charley, who blushed. And said blush deepened when she saw the look Ron was sending her way. He was standing in front of the next suit after Kim's. It was two different shades of gray, and rather then leather, the inactivated plates resembled some kind of ancient mail armor, composed of small diamond shaped scales. The final suit, obviously meant for Rufus, was the same. There was one other difference between these and the girl's suits, a hood with an integral mask.
Ron walked over to Charley, whose blush deepened even further as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Badical" He whispered, "Thanks!"
"Thanks for thinking of the boys too, Charley." Shego added, receiving a sharp, embarrassed nod in return.
"Speaking of 'boys'.." Their host spoke up, eyes fixed on Charley, "Where are yours, Miss Cob?" He was referring to the four skull shaped remote drones who had come to Earth with the girl. They were free-willed AIs, and she could see through their eyes at will, even all four at once while still processing her own sensory input with no difficulty.
The blush vanished as Charley returned the look with a faint smile. "Well, Roy and Ben aren't here, they have more important duties with regard to two little girls." She paused as she turned to scan the chamber. "And Fred and Saul are trying to find out why the Valeyard's four skulls are here..."
"What!" rang from four throats as all the members of Team Possible except Charley spun about and scanned the huge chamber while dropping into ready stances. Charley instead kept her eyes on their host, who blushed faintly.
"I was wondering if you could somehow tell they were here." He said quietly, as Shego and Kim turned to face him as well. "Ah, well." He raised his voice to address the whole chamber. "Come on out! Now that they know you're here, you'll only make everyone nervous by staying cloaked!"
For a moment nothing happened, but then one by one the fist-sized skulls appeared. First the metallic purple one who Shego had caught a glimpse of earlier. She hadn't known there was a purple one, and hadn't focused on it in time to tell it's true shape, hence her indecision as to whether to mention what she saw. Then came Walt, who was white, George, green, and finally Goldie, obviously gold.
They were scattered throughout the chamber, and approached the clearly wary Team slowly. As they did, a polished black skull appeared over Charley's left shoulder, and another with the appearance of highly polished steel over her right. These were Fred and Saul, respectively.
"Before you ask, they came here after the destruction, or death if you prefer, of their former mistress, the copy of Miss Cob's mind that the Valeyard used to control them. With her gone, they had no interest in helping him." He looked around. "They sensed this place, even though their origin had nothing to do with the Cadres. They had nowhere else to go." The Cadres was the name of the race who had abducted Charley and her three friends in 1928, to turn them into soldiers. It wasn't their actual name, but humans couldn't pronounce the real one. The four girls had earned a return trip to Earth by the Cadres' rules as well as some substantial rewards which they were now here to collect.
"And they could have kept right on going, as far as I'm concerned!" Shego spat out venomously. "After what they did..."
"What they were forced to do, you mean?" Their host admonished her sternly, "By torturing their 'mistress' to gain their compliance? And I do believe they also saved you all at one point down in the Yucatan, when they were all temporarily free of control? And aided in the rescue of those people at Smarty World, when their mistress had free control?"
Shego frowned even though she acknowledged that fact in her head. She also wondered if their host knew the whole truth, that the Time Lord clone known as the Valeyard had been primarily a pawn of another entity. She figured some of the others might be wondering the same thing, but she decided not to bring that up. She still looked at the four skulls suspiciously as they formed in a row about twenty feet away.
"They can't teleport full grown adults anymore can they? Not without a boost, that is?" She asked their host.
"Actually they can." He replied, causing a twitch of alarm in several faces, "But only to a larger receiver, like your ship. We upgraded them, you see." That drew a lot of looks his way, a mix of surprised, curious and hostile. But these were ignored as he addressed Charley. "I would offer to do the same for yours, but they seem to already have it, despite us being informed that the Valeyard's skulls were exact duplicates?" He trailed off expectantly.
Charley shrugged. "Some friends of the Doctor improved their independent transport capacity, actually!"
Their host's eyes widened. "The Doctor? Name-dropping, are we?" Then he grinned. "I don't suppose you can reveal who these 'friends' were?" Seeing Charley's immediately regretful look, he shrugged in turn. "If you can't, you can't! IN any event, I want you to consider taking these four under your supervision. I know I can trust you with them, and vice versa!"
All eyes went to Kim and Charley, who both shifted uneasily, exchanging glances. Then Kim shrugged. "I'd have to know more about whatever 'personalities' they've developed before I could accept. We'd also need a way to interface with them in order for them to be useful."
"That has been anticipated, Miss Possible." Their host replied, "But until you reach a decision, we'll leave things at that. Let's have a look at the rest of the things we've made for you." He looked at Charley again. "I was under the impression you still had your Bracer, Miss Cob, your armor was tailored with that in mind."
Charley involuntarily glanced at her left forearm as she replied. "I do still have it, just didn't put it on. It's aboard Thundagirl."
"Ah! Well lets get on with this, then!" He indicated the table adjacent to Charley's mannequin. "Now, all the tables for the women have identical kit, Ron and Rufus have some additional things more suitable to their own specialty."
The first two things Kim noticed on the table were two guns. One resembled the KAPGuns they had gotten from the Doctor's friends. The other vaguely resembled a toy gun she had seen at a collectors fair once, though made from metal rather then plastic. It had a sleek appearance, with only one odd feature, a cylindrical magazine in front of the trigger guard.
Their host picked it up first. "This item was also suggested by Miss Cob, though the idea originated from a couple of her original teammates, I believe. It is issued to the Cadres version of Military Police." He picked a small black spherical object up from the table, about a centimeter in diameter. He then squeezed it, showing that it had a sponge-like texture. "The magazine holds 12 of these, compressed flat. Each of these can carry a charge. When fired, they discharge into the first object they hit. Despite their light weight as is, when charged they have nearly the same ballistic characteristics as a solid bullet. Yet they hit so lightly, they cannot damage even the most delicate tissue. And the charge numbs the contact point, so they function painlessly!"
He held the gun up higher. "The charge comes from this, obviously. The best way to describe it is as a sort of 'feedback' stun. No matter how big the target, one shot will bring it down. It just takes longer depending on how big the target is, and how well developed it's nervous system is. It will drop a full-sized man instantly, an elephant...maybe forty seconds."
He pointed to a selector level on the side. "It has to be set for Genus to be effective. This first position is mammal, the second reptile, the third plant...yes, plant, the fourth avian, and the last is for insects. The length of effect varies somewhat, with twenty minutes being a fair average." He held up the round again. "These are reusable, by the way, we'll give you a good supply, but try recovering any you can after use, if you please!" He turned and set both down on the table, then picked up the other gun. "As you can see, this is similar to the KAPGuns confiscated from you by the Government."
"Which subsequently vanished from their possession." Shego interjected, eyeing their host speculatively.
"Imagine that!" He responded noncommittally, then held the gun up. "As before, it works similarly to a revolver, by rotating five foci in front of a central power emitter. As to the available options, first you have the old Electromagnetic bolt. However there are only two power settings available. One will temporarily 'freeze' an electronic device's functions, the other will wreck it. You choose the latter setting by depressing this lever here with your thumb while firing."
"Secondly we have a tractor beam." He smiled at the raised eyebrows that caused. "It will cause the lighter of the two objects connected by the beam to fly towards the other, with the beam cutting out when it shortens to two feet. So you can pull objects to you, but be prepared to catch them, or you can pull yourself to something. You can even use it to get to the top of a building, but you had better hope you have enough momentum to reach something to hold on to, or..." He trailed off to allow several winces to pass. "And depressing the same lever as before causes it to work in reverse, pushing something away from you, or yourself away from something bigger. And when I refer to relative size, that means anything one object might be anchored to as well, if it wasn't obvious."
"Next we have two foci we will call 'heat' and 'cold', even though they cannot do the things that probably jump immediately to mind. It is the way they interact with water in all it's forms that counts. The so-called 'heat' bolt won't ignite anything. One will, however, instantly melt a quarter cubic ton of ice. Or, if you shoot a human being with it, or any living thing, you will immediately raise their core temperature by four degrees." He noted the particular interest in both Kim and Charley's eyes. "So it can be very useful for treating hypothermia or frostbite."
"Now the 'cold' version reverses that, so you can lower a fever, but it obviously won't remove the cause. But it is useful for some heat-related health problems." He paused to consider his next words. "It can be used lethally, however. But only under water. If fired there, it will literally create a 'lance' of ice that can actually punch through half an inch of steel plate, but it melts within seconds. The principle explaining that is a bit beyond you, so let's just say that this kind of ice isn't created the normal way."
Kim had her frown back again, but was clearly conflicted on this subject. The medical benefits versus...she shook her head. "I knew I had to make compromises sooner or later, and here's my first!"
Their host now continued. "Next we have this focus that destroys any metal or metallic substance. It will instantly disintegrate up to sixteen ounces of any metal. You can simply make it quietly cease to exist, or by depressing the lever, cause it's exit to be quite volatile, noise and light-wise. In other words, any metal object can be made the equivalent of a flashbang grenade." He focused on Kim. "And I know those can cause injury, so it's your choice how to use it."
"Lastly, you can load stun foci, if for instance you're not going to carry the dedicated stun gun for some reason. Again, a separate focus for each genus. And you can only have five choices loaded at a time!" He set the gun back down. "And you cannot reload in the field. Changes in your loadout have to be done in a special chamber we will place aboard your ship. For one thing, the actual foci are so fragile outside the gun that normal atmospheric pressure will crush them, so the loading has to be done in a complete vacuum. So you place the gun in the chamber, select your choices, and they will be loaded for you."
"Which calls for smart advance planning," Belle observed, "Which should be no problem for our genius bosses!"
Both Kim and Charley glowered at her, with Charley suddenly noting that Ron was grinning like the others. "What are you smiling at? Remember, you're second in command, you have to be the 'genius boss' sometimes, too!" Ron's grin gave way to a startled look, then returned in a much more sheepish form.
The next thing displayed was a mimetic weapon, or tool. Charley and her friends had had such weapons before, but lost them to the Government. Consisting of a two and a half foot shaft extending from a hilt designed for grip over appearance, it could assume the form of a sword, mace, climbing axe, and several other useful items on mental command. Kim couldn't object to that because it was just too darn useful.
Next their host picked up what appeared to be a set of wings. Wings that reminded Kim of an early jet with unswept wings she'd seen pictures of. But at the tips instead fuel tanks were two very slender cylinders, maybe a foot long by two inches wide. Kim also noted that the wings were quite long, and if they were used as she assumed, would be very awkward in tight spaces.
"In conjunction with your suits, these will give you very limited flight, or perhaps skimming would be more appropriate, capabilities." He shrugged. "For horizontal flight, you have to remain within thirty feet of solid ground. For vertical, or anything at more than a fifty degree angle, within twenty feet of a solid surface. You can achieve up to 150 miles per hour with these, but if you're not in full armor mode you should wear one of these visors to protect yours eyes. Full visual spectrum available through them."
"Now, you notice that I said 'solid' ground? Flying over deep mud will reduce your height requirement and your speed drastically, and you cannot fly over water more then two feet deep." The last he spoke almost apologetically. "Also, only females can use them."
"Hey, no fair!" Ron exclaimed.
Their host smirked. "Well, perhaps I should have said only females and eunuchs can use them." That drew winces from more then just Ron. But then their host became serious. "It also means you can't rescue a male victim with them. Otherwise, you can lift up to three hundred pounds over your own weight, provided you can arrange the means to secure them or it." He then brought up the problem Kim had noticed. "As you can see from their width, when wearing them you may have difficulty maneuvering in tight spaces. However, you can switch your armor from inactive to active or vice versa while wearing them with no problems, as well as jettisoning the wings themselves if necessary."
He next picked up an item that they recognized at least partially. "This is similar to the vambrace mounted grappling line Miss Possible used in the rescue at Smarty World. The main difference is that the line is projected from the inside of the wrist, allowing it to be grabbed and held easier. One hundred fifty feet of line, 320 pound limit. Your armor weighs the same in either mode, by the way, when you do your calculations. Zip Particles have no weight whatsoever." He shrugged, "At least that we can measure."
"What's with the name, 'Zip Particles', I mean." Shego had meant to ask earlier, but with all the distractions...
Beth grimaced, "The actual name has more syllables in it then that word from Mary Poppins, Ana." She used Shego's real name, which had reverted to Anastasia Black* recently.
Shego's eyes widened, then she nodded. "Zip Particles it is, then." Then she turned her attention to their host, who was waiting patiently.
After a moment's hesitation, he spoke. "The rest of these items you are already familiar with. Now, before we start practicing with your new gear, we have to talk about options for modifying you."
Both Kim and Shego greeted the words of their host with wary looks. But Kim spoke the obvious question first. "Just what do you mean by 'modifying us', exactly?"
The man shook his head, a slight smile on his face. "Well, for instance, the interface in Miss Cob's brain, that allowed her to use a latent psychic ability to boost her Boys' teleport capacity before it was rudely removed? We can restore that easily enough! And then there is the means by which all four members of her original team can boost their strength in certain situations."
That caused those present not included in that description to stare curiously at the four. After frowning a moment, Charley's face brightened. "Oh! We never told you! I mean, Global Justice knew, we told them, so I thought...and you didn't see us doing those exercises when we were in the sphere..." She grinned sheepishly, red-faced. "That's one big omission!"
"And we all made it, Charley, so don't take it so hard!" JJ snapped, then addressed Kim. "There are these cells in our muscles that can form chains to reinforce said muscles provided we maintain the tension. So, we can use them to lift things, for instance. But if we lose muscle tension, even for a second, the chains instantly break up! So, we can't punch or kick harder, but we might deliver a mean bear hug if you don't break loose quickly!"
"Oh! Well, that's useful, but I think I'm fine as I am." Kim replied. She then looked at the four skulls still hovering nearby. "Can you put an interface in my head, that would allow me to use these skulls the way Charley does hers?" That caused Shego to look at her in alarm. And caused Charley to look unhappy in a way that told her the answer before she heard it spoken.
"Well, yes, we can do that." Their host responded, "But we cannot supply the specialized training you'd need to adjust to the multiple inputs and other associated phenomena, Miss Possible."
Kim was silent a moment, then shrugged. "It's No Big, just a thought." This caused Shego to relax, but she kept a wary eye on the girl. Even with the unintended Psychic bonding they had undergone due to the Rani, Kim still surprised her quite often. "And hopefully the reverse is true!" She thought with a slight smirk, which she banished when she realized that Kim had caught sight of it and was now giving her a mildly suspicious look.
"As for me..." Charley began, "I would like it back, but can you do it in a single night? I don't clearly remember receiving it the first time..." She trailed off doubtfully.
Their host beamed at her. "We can do it in less then an hour, since we have all of your records! Plus, it will be replacing a previous, um, installation, which is much easier."
Charley tried not to frown at his choice of words as she replied, "Well, in that case, let me think about it while we get some practice in." Then she regarded the four skulls. "And we'll think about them, too."
Kim nodded agreement. "All right, I guess we get to work! Let's start with..." She broke off as she saw JJ and the Reeders starting to undress in front of their respective mannequins. "Hey guys?" When she had their attention, she pointed at Ron and their host.
Regarding Ron, JJ shrugged. "If he didn't see each of us naked at least once when we were in the sphere for those two months..." But she hid a grin as she said it, and did stop unbuttoning.
"And I thought I was the immodest one." Charley commented.
To which Belle replied, "Well, you we know he's seen naked!" Which caused both Charley and Ron to blush deeply. And to Shego's amusement, Kim as well.
Then their collective attention was drawn to partitions apparently growing out of the wall of the room, dividing each mannequin and it's associated table into a separate cubicle. Then they all remembered what their host had told them about the place being reconfigurable.
As the motion ceased, Beth rolled her eyes. "Well! If you must be so...provincial about the whole thing!" She spoke with a dramatic flourish. The twins' mother had been a Broadway actress when they were young.
Belle now rolled her eyes in response before everyone entered their separate cubicle and began changing.
Kim, however, felt a little self-conscious with the four strange skulls watching her. Then to her surprise, a brief hum emanated from Goldie, and they all spun about as one to face the opposite direction. "Well, well, what's that all about?" She wondered.
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After about an hour of practice, which Kim spent mostly testing the 'wings', Charley approached her. "I'm getting a new interface put in, it's just too useful to have." She said quietly. After Kim nodded agreement, Charley added, "It's not like I'm insecure or anything without it, of course!" She grinned as she said it.
Kim returned the grin. "Well, as long as it's safe for you, and what you really want, it is nice to have the extra...I'm not sure what word to use...'potential' in a rescue sitch?" As Charley nodded, Kim's gaze shifted to the Valeyard's skulls, now clustered together in one corner of the room, watching the activity. "And having the ability to teleport more people to safety even if you aren't there..." She trailed off as Charley followed her gaze.
Then the dark-haired girl shrugged. "Agreed. And I don't know what my boys would have done in a similar sitch, though in my case they could have ported me to safety if they had access, those four couldn't have moved...her, in the same way."
"No, I don't suppose they could." Both girls jumped at Shego's voice practically in their ears. They both spun around with stern looks on their faces, only to receive an 'oh please' look in return. She was wearing the wings on her suit, armor deactivated at the moment. Then she looked towards the subjects of discussion. "And with Ben keeping an eye on Milly, and Roy with Amy, we could use them if they're reliable." Then she started. "I mean, YOU can certainly use them, right?"
Kim smiled at Shego's sudden discomfiture. "Of course WE can!" She looked at Charley. "We'd better find our host and tell him, find out how we're going to interface with them."
"Well, hurry back, Possible, we're going to see who's the fastest through that obstacle course up there." Shego indicated her subject with her thumb. Then she looked up and grimaced. "Of course our last competition was in a form of virtual reality, where we couldn't actually get hurt, so...Okay, maybe not a race, when we're still new to these things." She then sighed before looking at the two girls to find them looking at her in astonishment. "What? I mean..." Then she saw Kim's 'astonishment' slip and the corners of her lips twitched. "Oh, you...that means that someday there will be a race, and I'm going to kick your ass, Possible!" She then spun on her heel to leave, only for one wingtip to hit a post supporting a balance beam with a loud 'clang'.
The language that trailed after her as she departed was not suitable for young audiences.
As Kim and Charley turned away, the redhead sighed. "I wish we had more time! With all this past summer's thrown at us...we have to find a place near the campus to stay, and we have to do it tomorrow! At least Ron and Rufus have a place, though sharing with Mr. Barkin's nephew might be a weird experience!"
Charley smiled. "He certainly is a character! But without him me and the girls wouldn't have passed our GED, and we'd be looking at High School instead of college!" As Kim winced in sympathy, Charley spotted the subject of their search. "There's our host, let's get this over with, we may still be able to practice some more..." A huge yawn interrupted her speech, "...provided our adrenaline doesn't run down!"
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* I am aware that there is an adult film actress with this name. I don't believe she was around when I first gave Shego this name, and I am disinclined to change it, considering how many references in my stories I would have to correct.
Well, that's it. Let's see how far I make it this time. Please Read and Review if you can.