Kim was awakened by a gentle shake on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and saw Yori looking at her. "We are arriving at the mines, Possible-san. We should prepare ourselves," she said.
Nodding back, Kim turned on the Kimmunicator. "Wade, you've got anything for us about the mines?" she asked.
"Yeah. There's a particular mine that's most likely the center of activity. I've already placed a marker for it on the Kimmunicator so that you can look it up later. That mine has some very faint tremor readings coming from its deepest levels so that's probably where Antropy and his ants are. Hopefully you'll find Ron down there too. Oh and there isn't an actual map of the mine but I did upload an approximation of the mine's layout into the Kimmunicator so that should help a little," Wade said.
"Please and thank you. Is there anything else that I should know?"
"Oh yeah, Darnia told me to tell you that she's not going to let the two of you off for leaving her alone in Go City."
Kim laugh softly and said, "I'm looking forward to that then." The screen switched to black and she turned to Yori, who was busy checking on her gear. A chain with two weighted ends, two brand new fans, a lot of shurikens, several small leather bags and pellets. Rufus had already picked up one of the shuriken and was pretending that it was a sword of his size, slashing and stabbing at the air.
"Where do you find the space to keep all those stuff?" she asked.
"I have a ninja utility belt," Yori replied without missing a beat.
"Really?"
Yori looked at her, a slight twinkle in her eyes. "Perhaps."
"Okay...you know I'm not so sure if you're capable of sarcasm or not," Kim said guardedly. Yori simply smiled and returned her attention to her gear.
Minutes later, she was done and the gear had vanished, secreted somewhere about her person, although Kim didn't see where she had hidden them (she swore that some of the shurikens went up Yori's sleeves but she wasn't too sure). The pilot, dressed in a gray ninja uniform said something in Japanese and Yori nodded, translating it to Kim as "We have arrived."
The helicopter made a swift but gentle descent as it landed in front of a mining camp which looked like it had been abandoned for nearly a century. Kim whistled softly to Rufus and he scrambled up her leg and into her pocket where he was safe inside. As the two of them got out of the helicopter, the pilot called out to them: "Kouun wo inorimasu!"
Yori smiled at him. "Domo arigatou gozaimasu," she said and bowed to him as the helicopter took off, leaving them behind.
"Good luck?" Kim asked Yori as they turned to the mines and she turned on her Kimmunicator. A red arrow appeared on the screen to signify herself whereas a blue dot indicate the mine that they should travel to, which was several hundred yards to the north-east.
"Yes," she replied and pulled her hood over her head, looking very much like a ninja from most movies. "It is something that I suspect that we will need a lot of in the coming hour."
PB
Like before, it was an easy entry. The mine that was shown on the Kimmunicator was not sealed so Kim sent Rufus ahead with his little camera to scout ahead while the two girls prepared their low-light vision equipment.
Once they were ready, the two girls started to make their way into the mine. There was several rotted wooden supports still standing, with broken lanterns hanging from them every so often. Kim glanced down at the Kimmunicator and watched as Rufus' camera showed that it was a straight passage for another two hundred yards before there was a fork in the passage. She changed the view to the map that Wade had uploaded for her and consulted it for a moment.
"Rufus, go left. You should be going downwards after about fifty yards," she instructed him. The camera bobbed up and down to indicate that he understood her and he turned left as she had told him.
This went on for another twenty minutes before Rufus' camera picked up a strange gleam. "Rufus, what was that?" Kim called out to him. The camera stopped and spun around before focusing on the gleam. It was coming from a small crack in the wall and he moved up to it. It was just big enough for him to squeeze through it and he did so.
When he had done so, a sharp gasp escaped both Kim's and Yori's lips: Rufus had found a massive cavern, filled with gold-lined quartz. There were ants everywhere, giant and small ones, each striking at a piece of like it was a miner. There was a huge version of the device that Kim had destroyed two nights ago, half completed as it is.
However, it was the core of the device that held the two girls' attention: Ron was bound there, hands above his head and his shirt torn off. There was a strange symbol drawn (at least, Kim hoped it was drawn) on his chest and she didn't know if it was a trick of the light, but she could have sworn that it was glowing, resonating every second like a beating heart.
"Is he...is Ron-san still alive?" Yori whispered. The camera moved forward as if Rufus wanted to go and have a look himself.
"Rufus, no. Stay there and stay hidden. We're coming for you right now," Kim said and then she looked at Yori, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.
It didn't take them long to find the crack that Rufus had found earlier. There was no way they could squeeze through the hole but a quick scan of the approximation pointed out that the passage they were in looped around in a circle and lead to the chamber so they quickly and stealthily followed it. The approximation proved to be correct and soon they were in the chamber that Rufus had found earlier.
The naked mole rat ran up to them as soon as he found them and squeaked excitedly to Kim and Yori, pointing at Ron. Kim gave him a little smile and petted her pocket, which he immediately climbed into. "Give us a moment, little guy," she whispered. "We're going to get him back."
Yori glanced at her. "Possible-san, we need a plan," she said quietly.
"Yeah...I'm thinking of getting you play distraction while I go off and rescue Ron..." Kim said thoughtfully.
"So that you do not have to face the giant ants?"
"Yup."
Yori gave her a knowing smile and was about to step out when she noticed something. "Wait...someone is coming..." she said softly, gesturing in the direction of her gaze. Kim turned to take a look and her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Antropy."
He was walking in from an alcove high in the chamber's wall, literally, walking down the wall towards the device and towards Ron, his demeanor calm and thoughtful as if he was contemplating about something.
Kim felt her jaw tighten at the sight of him but then Yori placed her hand on hers and she calmed down a little. She gave her a tight-lipped smile and turned her attention back to Antropy who was now walking over to Ron.
"What's he doing?" she whispered, peering hard at them. At this point, she wished that Wade had set the goggles up for telescopic vision as well so that she could see what exactly Antropy was doing but as it were, it didn't. For now, she could see that he was leaning down and whispering something to him and Ron stirred weakly at his words.
He's alive, the words sprang up into her mind and she felt a small wave of relief wash through her body. Good to know that this was still going to be a rescue mission, she thought.
"Possible-san."
She turned back to Yori. "Hmmm?"
"Will there be a change of plans or do you want to rescue Ron-san now?" Yori asked.
She thought about it for a brief moment, looking around the cavern as she was thinking. She noticed something and the wheels in her head started turning ever so quickly.
"Slight change. You're still the distraction but keep to the shadows. If you're in trouble, use this." She handed Yori two of the insect smoke pellets that Wade had given her earlier. Rufus, go and free Ron while Yori is distracting the ants. You think you can handle that, little guy?" she asked.
"Uh huh. No problem," the naked mole rat proclaimed proudly.
"And what about you, Possible-san?"
"I'm going to start a cave-in," she said with a slow grin.
Yori looked hard at Kim. "You are quite possibly the most insane person that I have ever met, Possible-san...will you explain your plan to us?"
PB
"Well?" Kim said after she had explained her plan to the two of them. Rufus glanced at Yori who simply shrugged.
"It is feasible," she said. "But our timing has to be be perfect or we will all risk being trapped in here."
Kim grinned at them. "Are you saying that you can't do it?"
"Is that a challenge?" Yori asked, tensing up a little. "Because I accept it."
"Good," Kim turned back to the device where Ron was held. She could see that the ants were working at an extremely rapid pace. Another hour or two and the device would be finished from the looks of it. "Shall we get started on it then?" she asked, looking at Yori.
The other girl had already vanished.
"I'm going to have to ask her to teach me that trick one day," she grumbled to herself and turned her attention to the ants while Rufus scurried out into the dark, sneaking from cover to cover as he slowly made his way to Ron.
Yori's first strike happened moments later without warning; a giant ant collapsed suddenly and the quartz is was gathering scattered the ground with a loud tinkly crash. The other ants turned in its direction, their feelers twitching about curiously as they approached their fallen comrade.
The second strike dropped another giant ant, one that was inspecting the first ant, this time causing it to screech loudly as it thrashed about in its death throes, five shurikens embedded in its head. Antropy turned to look at the chaos and even from this distance, Kim could feel the anger radiating from him.
"They are here! Search for Kim Possible and her friend, my minions! Find them and rend them from limb to limb!" his voice echoed throughout the chamber.
"No! Don't do anything to them!" she heard Ron call out weakly as he struggled to break free from his bonds. She gnawed her lower lip and stealthily moved out from her vantage point. As the noise from the ants grew louder, she fired a grappling hook up into the ceiling and reeled herself up quickly. She had spotted an alcove earlier when she was scanning the chamber and that was where she was headed to right now.
She arrived at the alcove without being spotted and glanced down to see what was happening on the ground. About every ten seconds, she could see another ant drop to the ground but as for Yori, she could barely catch a glimpse of her; perhaps a lightning fast steak as she darted from cover to cover, avoiding the ants and Antropy's gaze. She did manage to catch sight of Rufus though; he was on the device itself, making his way to Ron, who seemed to have noticed his pet but was wisely staying silent.
Good, so far so good. Everything was going well. Kim allowed herself the pleasure of a smile. She kept her eye trained on Ron and Rufus, watching as he was released from the device...which suddenly flare brightly as soon as he was free from it.
Too soon, she thought and quickly she aimed her Kimmunicator at the cavern's ceiling, at the group of stalactite that hung there and fired a sonic pulse at them, causing them to crack and fall down onto the ants below. There was the sound of cracking shell as the ants were crushed underneath the stalactites.
"Ron! Rufus! Yori! Get out of there!" she shouted down at the chamber as the ants were thrown into a chaotic frenzy. Then she looked up and fired another sonic pulse at the ceiling, bringing down another chunk of stalactite.
"Kim Possible!" Antropy roared in anger, his voice echoing in the cavern, making it sound like a hundred people with the same voice was calling out for her. "Colony, get her and tear her apart before she can ruin our plans!" The ants turned and started to march towards Kim.
Or at least they would have. Two clouds of smoke suddenly appearing, causing the ants inside them to thrash about wildly as they were suddenly blinded by the smoke.
"Alright, Yori!" Kim cried out jubilantly and she fired a third sonic pulse into the ceiling, this time dislodging a third set of stalactites that sent them crashing onto the device. Ron and Rufus were already clear of the device by then and the device was crushed underneath the falling stalactite before exploding, showering the ants in a hail of limestone, quartz and metal.
"Booyah!" Ron shouted as he picked himself up from the ground and looked around for Rufus, who ran up his leg and onto his shoulder before he began to guide him out of the cavern. Kim grinned fiercely and jumped off the alcove, anchoring a grappling line to the wall to slow her descent down. As she was descending, she heard the sound of a spit and hiss and suddenly she was falling uncontrollably, landing on the ground in an ungraceful thud. Acid-spitting ants, she thought groggily as she tried to get up to her feet.
"Kim Possible!" she heard Antropy call out her name again and she felt him lift her up. Another series of explosion rocked the entire cavern; the device was apparently non-OSHA compliant, she thought as she was brought up to face level with Antropy.
"You've destroyed the device! Freed the avatar of Monkey! Deprived us of the source of energy that we would use to power the device! The colony will not be able to claim this world as its own!" he hissed in anger, the veins in his face bulging in his rage before he gave her a hard punch in her face. She heard something break and there was the taste of iron in her lips.
"Pain will be your reward for this misdeed that you have inflicted upon the colony," he said, the echo still reverberating in his voice and raised his fist again. Something whipped out of nowhere and wrapped itself around his wrist, preventing him from hitting Kim again.
"What..." he looked down at the chain around his wrist. Yori suddenly appeared out of nowhere and plunged a shuriken into his side, causing him to drop Kim out of surprise. This time, she landed on her feet and she aimed her Kimmunicator at his chest.
"I'd hate to sound off and run..." she said and delivered a sonic pulse directly into him. The sounds of breaking bones reached her ear as Antropy was sent flying through the air and crashing into the wall far away from her.
"Really, Possible-san?" Yori asked, giving her a critical look as a third explosion rocked the entire cavern, causing the ground to shake beneath them.
"What?" Kim said, wiping the blood from her face. "It felt like the right thing to say..." She glanced at the Kimmunicator to make sure that the cool-down time was over before she aimed at the ceiling once more. Another sonic pulse fired up at the ceiling caused more of the ceiling to collapse on fall onto the ground, crushing many of the ants that were still inside the cavern.
Kim and Yori turned away and started to run, not turning their heads to look back even as the air was filled with the sounds of falling rocks and the death thrills of thousands of ants.