I don't own these characters. Well, I own Trin, Shin, Shinichiro, Tashawna, and Bane but everyone else belongs to Disney.
3: Uninvited
Doctor Betty Director, the director of Global Justice, sat at her large desk. The lighting in her huge, dull office was dim and silence reigned. She stared at her desktop almost as if it would talk to her and tell her what she needed to do.
She had to make a decision. There was an agent of hers who had been missing for a few days. It was almost like she dropped off the face of the Earth when all she was supposed to be doing was a simple mission after going home for a moment. She never checked in for the mission and had not called in days. Betty had been looking around for her, but could not locate the agent. There were three options left to her: call one of the two contact numbers or go look for the agent on her own. The latter option was less annoying, but the former was less time consuming.
"Let me just go through these two, just in case," Betty muttered to herself as she picked up her phone. It would be better to do the more annoying thing if it meant she would not waste her time. She dialed the first number and found that it was busy. She sighed and tried the other, almost hoping it would be busy too.
"Hey," a male voice answered the phone.
"At least I know where your son gets it from. Is your wife with you?" Betty inquired, not bothering to hide the fact that she did not want to talk to the man.
"I have no clue where my wife is. Last I checked she was working, which would explain why I don't know where she is. You know, you have whole 'classified information' clause in her contract and everything," he replied, laughing to show he enjoyed being a smart-ass.
The director of Global Justice sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "She doesn't at least call you when she's out?"
"No. But, I gotta admit I'm a little worried with you calling me. If you're asking me where she's at, I gotta assume you don't know where she's at," he pointed out honestly. His voice sounded the same, but his heart worked a mile-a-minute now. It was not like his very responsible wife to go ghost on her boss. Something was wrong.
"No, Shinichiro, I will admit I don't know where she's at. She hasn't checked in yet," Betty informed him. She did not know what to make of the peculiar behavior and she had really hoped he would have some answers for her. Instead, talking to him made everything worse.
"That's not like her. After all, she's so professional," he commented and he was being sarcastic to a degree.
"Aside from marrying you, she's quite professional, which is why it bothers me that I haven't heard from her. I mean, it bothers me to the point that after only a couple of days of not hearing from her, I'm actually looking for her," Betty pointed out in a slightly irked tone. She did not think he was taking things as seriously as he should since it was his wife was missing.
"Well, have you called the boy? He probably knows something about it," he replied. Now, if the boy did not know anything, then he figured it was seriously time to worry. His wife would never drop all lines of communication without telling him, her boss, or at least their son.
"He didn't pick up."
"Give him another try. I'm call around for her. I mean, she's gotta be around here somewhere," he replied with a bit of a laugh, but it was not as lighthearted as it usually was. He hoped she was around. If something happened to her, a lot of people were going to be unhappy very soon, and he did not plan to be one of them. "I'll let you know if I find her."
"All right," Betty agreed.
They disconnected the call at the same time. She immediately dialed the first number again, but she found it was busy still. She frowned, wondering if that idiot boy was ignoring her call as if he somehow knew it was her calling, even though all calls from GJ HQ did not come up on caller ID. She started to think she was going to have to look for her missing agent. After all, Tashawna Toriyama was a very valuable employee.
-8-8-8-8-
Shin sighed as he disconnected several calls he had been engaged in. He checked his missed calls, knowing he had missed a couple because of the beeping that rang in his ear while he was on the phone with other people. He saw the number and person did not come up, which he knew happened when his mother called him from GJ HQ. He decided to call her back, but she did not pick up.
"Well, guys, I think my mom just called me," Shin reported with a little smile. He was relieved to know something horrible had not happened to his mother; not that that had been confirmed, but that was how he interpreted the call. He and the usual crew were still in the Possible family home trying to locate parents and brothers in the case of Trin and Kim.
"Well, that's one mystery solved," Kim commented and her shoulders dropped a bit, relief pushing out some tension. She had been worried about Tashawna, so it was good to know she tried to get in touch with Shin, leaving them to believe she was fine. It did not get Kim to sit down, though. She had been on her feet since coming back from Ron's.
"Doesn't solve where the tweebs are, though," Trin pointed out as she folded her arms across her chest from her spot against the wall.
Kim nodded with that one. They had called around their parents' jobs and found out they had left word with their jobs they would be away for a few days. But, no one knew where their parents went and they had not left any numbers where they could be reached. Making it worse, no one could tell the sisters where their parents took their brothers while going away. They could only assume their brothers were with their parents, but that did not explain to them where the family was. It did not answer why no one picked up a phone to let them know about the trip or to answer their calls now.
"Let's get Wade to trace them," Kim suggested with a snap as that idea just came to mind. She was so worried her thought process was slower than usual, but then again, everyone else around her was the same since they had not thought of that either.
"Good idea," Shin replied, smiling and motioning to Kim with his hand for no reason.
Kim tried to get into contact with Wade, only to find out the tech genius was trying to be more outgoing. He was gone for Spring Break. She sighed in disbelief while her shoulders fell in defeat.
"He's gone for the break," Kim reported in a disappointed tone.
"Fine, we're going to have to go home to do this properly. Come on, let's move," Trin said. She wished she and Shin left at least some of their computer equipment at their homes back when they moved out. It would come in handy right now.
The group left the house, piling into their cars. Shego had her own ride and Kim hopped in with her while Shin and Trin got into their car. Shin kept on trying different numbers as did Kim while they started on the drive home. Trin joined in just to call Tatsu and check on her since everything was so weird. She found out Tatsu was not answering her cell phone.
"What the hell is going on?" Trin wondered aloud as she put her phone down. Shin glanced at her and at her discarded "Partner," which was what they called their communication devices. He then turned his attention back his task while wondering what the hell was going on right along with his evil twin. Something was decidedly hinky and they could not figure out where to start with this mystery.
"This is why we should just stay on vacation," Shin remarked.
"Or never go on vacation again." Leave it to Trin to see the downside.
-8-8-8-8-
"We got another one coming in," Bane reported, watching a monitor. He sat at a switchboard with his feet kicked up on the panel. There were several screens in front of him in a room very similar to what one would expect to security booth, but much larger.
"Is it that evil girl?" Drakken asked, fingernails in his mouth. He was ready for his revenge right now, even though he knew there was more to their plan before the guests' of honor showed up. He paced just behind Bane and stopped to look at the monitor to see who was coming.
"No, it's not the evil girl. It's another piece to the puzzle," Bane informed them, not bothering to look back at his partners in the scheme.
"How many is that?" Big Daddy Brotherson inquired. He was off to the side, the far end of the room, sitting at a table. He was eating an early dinner, despite the fact that he had eaten a late lunch about an hour ago. Bane wondered how long it would be before he had a heart attack. As long as it happened after their team up, he would not care.
"She would be the sixth one," Bane answered.
"Why'd it take her longer than the others to show up?" Brotherson asked before shoving a turkey leg in his mouth.
"Hell if I know," Bane replied with a shrug. He had sat there all day just like the fat man with him, so why the hell would he know why she had taken longer than the others, he wondered. What a stupid question. He expected more from someone who was supposed to be the king of the underground.
"Aren't your people supposed to be watching Middleton? You've got all your connections in and around there, after all. What good are they if you can't keep up with one dyke?" the obese man inquired, glaring at Bane. His angry words came out somewhat slurred since his big mouth was now full of turkey meat.
"Haven't they taken care of everything else?" Bane countered with a sneer and an attitude of his own. The partnership was not going to work out if the fat man kept talking in the manner he was, like Bane was a subordinate. They were equals here, regardless of what Brotherson thought.
"That doesn't excuse what they haven't taken care of," the large man commented without a pause between them.
Bane just frowned. He figured he held up his end of everything well. He was the one who planned the break out for Drakken and his people were the ones who got Drakken to the hideout. He was the one who got the packages to their pawns and made sure their pawns made it to their hideout. If anything, you fat ass blob Brotherson need to start pulling your freaking weight, as much of it as it is, Bane thought with a huff.
Bane definitely felt like he had more to do than either of his so-called partners. After all, all Brotherson did was collect information on the players and get the technology for Drakken, who created the pieces that turned a few players into their pawns. He had more to do than either of them in his opinion, but he was willing to do it to make sure those kids were out of his way. He did not want to have to deal with them, not after everything he heard about them.
"Just send someone to go pick up the latest piece while we wait for the last one," Bane commanded with a scowl after a few seconds.
"Are you two sure this'll work?" Drakken asked, his beady eyes squinting as he seemed to be having second thoughts.
"Oh, don't doubt the resourcefulness of those two demons. They'll fall right into our trap. This'll work and this'll be the worst thing we can do to them according to my sources," Brotherson assured the cerulean scientist, who twiddled his fingers together.
"We'll crush their spirits," Bane declared with a sinister grin. "And then maybe, we'll crush them completely." And he would not have a care in the world after.
Drakken did not totally get the implications behind that, but Brotherson got it. The fat man smiled, apparently agreeing with Bane. They would teach those two little bastards a thing or two about messing with them. Those kids were in the big leagues now and they did not think Trin and Shin were ready to play there. Those kids were small fish about to be devoured by big sharks.
-8-8-8-8-
The crew got home, going their separate ways for a moment. Shego and Kim went to their apartment, finding a curious item waiting for them. There was a small white box sitting just inside their apartment. The tiny package was in the center of the short hall that went from their front door to their living room.
"What the hell?" Shego muttered as she looked down at the box. Her face twisted as she pondered the presence of the box, but that did not last long. A blaze of indignation and fury shot through her as she realized what the mysterious package meant.
"Someone was in here?" Kim said what her lover suspected.
"How is that possible? Stay here," Shego cautioned her girlfriend as she lit up one hand and started to walk into the apartment.
"Like hell I will," Kim replied, showing she picked up a lot of bad habits hanging out with Shego and the evil twins. Most people would never guess Kim Possible used curse words.
The couple inspected their apartment, not finding anything out of order. They checked everything, looking for any little clue that someone had been in the place. Kim came across a boot print on their wooden floor by a window.
"I think they came in this way," Kim reported, pointing to the shut window.
"How the hell did they do that?" Shego said with an arched eyebrow. She and the evil twins installed the security themselves and they were so certain that no one in a million years would have been able to get in without alerting them or the police. Shego inspected the window and scowled.
"I don't know. Maybe they fried the building's electricity to get in, shutting down the system, but it seems like an awful lot of trouble. They went through all of that and broke in to leave something instead of take something?" Kim pondered aloud as she walked back to the front door where the small white box waited for them. She looked down at it with an eyebrow arched in curiosity.
"Be careful, pumpkin," Shego warned her girl as she followed behind the redhead.
"I'm going to scan it," Kim replied while aiming her Kimmunicator at the box. She did a quick scan of it and raised an eyebrow again. "It's not a bomb or something, but it's not normal either."
"What is it?" the green-skinned woman asked while standing beside the hero.
Kim did not respond for a moment. She picked up the package and looked at the label on it. She was surprised to see it claimed to be from her big sister.
"What the hell?" the hero muttered with a frown.
"What?" Shego asked, pressing because she was curious as to what her lover knew.
"The thing says it's from Trin," Kim answered in disbelief.
"Why the hell would blondie send you something when not only do you live down the hall from her, but we were all just on vacation together?"
"Exactly. Besides, this isn't any regular gift."
"We're going down there, huh?" Shego asked. This day just got more and more bizarre and annoying.
"Well, we need to get to the bottom of this."
The former thief conceded that point. The couple looked around the apartment one more time before exiting the place. They walked to Trin and Shin's apartment. Kim used her key to get in and they went right to the office space, knowing the evil twins would be there, working their asses off as they were.
"How's things going?" Kim asked the pair as she stood between them.
"We can't find shit!" Shin complained with a groan. He looked ready to punch his keyboard, but he held off. He contemplated putting his fist through his flat-screen monitor, but since it would not help matters, he decided against it. Trin would be proud of his restraint if he cared to share, but he did not need her approval right now.
"Everybody's cell phones are now dead. Whatever Jim and Tim call their communicators, those are turned off now," Trin reported with a sigh as she looked away from her monitor. She pushed her glasses up and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She sat near the office door while her evil twin was opposite her by the lone window in the room.
"You two got any ideas on anything?" Shego inquired.
"I got nothing," Shin answered honestly, glaring at his screen, like it was the computer's fault. He turned around to be face the ladies since he was not getting anything from his computer anyway.
"I got a bad feeling," Trin replied in a low tone. It was not getting any better either since Tatsu was not answering her phone. In fact, Tatsu's phone was off, too. She was starting to get pissed since it seemed like everyone she cared about suddenly were offline at the same time.
"Well, I think I've got something that might add to it," Kim informed the pair as she held up the white box that had sat in her apartment.
"The hell is that?" Shin asked with an arched eyebrow.
"A package that claims to be from Trin," the redhead answered.
"Me?" Trin looked quite puzzled by that. "I didn't send anything to you."
"I figured as much considering what this gift is," Kim replied. Thanks to her earlier scan, she knew what was in the box and she knew for a fact that it was not from her big sister. "It doesn't help that it was waiting inside the apartment."
Shin sucked his teeth. "Yeah, well, that explains why the system is all screwed. They blew the power for the building and also managed to blow the power to our backup. It gave them about two minutes to get in and get out."
Shego shook her head. "More than enough time to drop a box off at our door."
"Open it… if it's safe," the blond told her little sister.
Kim nodded and put the box down on a clear space in the small room that was covered with computer equipment and books. Shego stepped slightly in front of her, as if to protect her in case something went wrong. Kim thought it was a sweet gesture, even though she knew nothing was going to happen. She tore open the box and pulled out a plain, thin pink wristband.
"Oh please, like I would ever waste time sending something that cheap to someone, especially Mini-me," Trin muttered to herself, rolling her eyes.
"I would've figured that out myself, but the curious thing about is when I scanned it," Kim said.
"Oh?" three intrigued voices rang out and three eyebrows went up.
"There's wires and circuits running in it along with some kind of chemical," Kim reported.
"Chemicals sound like our department," Shin said to Trin with a smile.
"Tiny little circuits sound like something we can handle, too. Let's see if there is something going on," Trin commented and she cracked her knuckles. Shin rolled her shoulders.
"I think that one's a given, blondie," Shego remarked.
"Not now, old lady," Trin countered. Shego yielded that point. There was always later for teasing.
-8-8-8-8-
Doctor Director could not believe what she was doing, but she did not trust anyone else to do it. One of her top and most competent agents was missing and anyone else who she could have let go get her was out on an assignment. So, it was up to her to get back her valuable employee. Doing the tracking was not that difficult, but when she found out where the agent was, well, that was another matter.
A lot of things screamed "villainous lair" if one knew where to look and given her job, she was an expert at it. So, when she traced her agent's tiny GJ ID badge to a closed down factory that was in the middle of nowhere, she sort of knew something was not right. And now, she had to find out what that something was. I'm sure it has to do with Toriyama missing.
-8-8-8-8-
"I think we have company," Bane commented as lights started flashing in the control room. He was still at the panel with his feet hiked up on it, reclining as much as his chair would allow. He now occupied his time by fiddling with a butterfly knife, opening and closing it with flicks of his wrist.
"Is it that evil girl?" Drakken begged to know. He did not see the point of them collecting all these people instead of just getting that wicked teenager who hurt him so badly and got him imprisoned by GJ.
"I don't know who this is," Bane said, seeing the person on the monitor. They did not have plans for unknown players, so he was not sure what to do.
Brotherson turned to look at the screen and see what his partners were going on about. He remained calm, even though on the inside, his heart clenched. He was nervous, even though he was suspected that person showing up was a good thing. Surely their prey could not be far behind.
"Gentlemen, that is Doctor Betty Director, head of Global Justice. I believe our two little playmates work for her," Brotherson informed the pair. He assumed that based on the run-in he had with the mischievous duo in the past. He doubted they had been acting independently or for some other person because of the single file they had stolen from him so many years ago. They had to be GJ agents. It was not strange since GJ was known to hire some very young agents, which sparked a lot of rumors about them, but that was another matter entirely.
"Work for her?" Drakken echoed, taking in that information. It made sense considering the fact that he was pretty sure that devil girl had gotten him arrested by GJ, but it never crossed his mind that girl might be a GJ agent. She did not look like the type.
"What's GJ?" Bane inquired in a confused tone, shaking his head to show he was not following what they were going on about.
Brotherson sighed. "I wouldn't expect someone as insignificant and unsophisticated as you to know something quite elementary. There's already security set up for this, but we might want to get some place safe until the messy affair is over with."
"That security system should be able to hold off all of GJ until we spot that demon girl," Drakken proclaimed confidently, puffing out his chest, while Bane seethed over the fact that not only was he just insulted, but his question was not answered. How dare they treat him like a bit player when he was the one doing all the hard work?
"Now see here," Bane started, but was cut off.
"I think you'll be happy with my system and the additions I made to your suggestions," Drakken said to Brotherson, who only nodded.
Drakken had taken the time set up a security system with materials provided by Big Daddy Brotherson. They assumed at some point Global Justice would show up to ruin the party and they figured it would be good to have something to meet them with. After all, they did not think their guests of honor would show up empty-handed. The mad scientist had also taken the time to design some tools for a break-in for a security system something like theirs, but those were used earlier in the plan to drop off some of his other toys.
-8-8-8-8-
"Well, that was about the easiest thing I've done all this week," Shin remarked with a forced laugh. He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his eyes.
"This is no time to relax," Trin reminded him, leaning over to slap him soundly.
"Ow! I wasn't relaxing!" he complained while putting his hand up to defend his head in case she came in for another whack. Since when did rubbing his eyes count as relaxing?!
"We need an inside eye and then we need a plan," Kim said, pointing out the obvious due to anxiety.
"We need to figure out why before that," Trin corrected her sister.
"Why do we need to do that?" the redhead inquired, throwing her hand out a bit due to her nervous feeling. She wanted to get out there and solve whatever the hell was going on. She wanted to make sure their family was safe. She wanted to do something useful.
"Because that will help lead to what kind of plan we can come up with. Intelligence is the key to success in more ways than one," the blond commented, hiding her anxiety under her usual stoic demeanor. It felt like there were ants under her skin, though. She was not sure what she might do if they did not solve this or if they found their family and someone was hurt or worse.
"Well, this is certainly a bit I can get in on," Shego volunteered. She wanted to help, but she also wanted something to do that involved more than standing around in a cramped room breathing stale air.
"Okay, you do the walk-around thing while the harpy and I cruise the information super-highway," Shin suggested.
"And what about me?" Kim asked, pointing to herself, eager to be a part of things.
"You've already done the most out of all of us thanks to your package. That found everyone," Shin pointed out with a smile. That cheap little wristband came in handy considering the fact that it came with an interesting frequency that it shared with only six other pieces of equipment that were conveniently located near Middleton, all in the same place.
"Go with Shego and keep her on point, Mini-me," Trin told herself.
Shego laughed a bit. "Don't you trust me, blondie?"
"I trust you to slack off. Go with her, Mini-me," Trin repeated.
Kim nodded and the couple exited the apartment while the friends tried to find out all that they could from home. It was never a dull day, they thought. It was always something.
-8-8-8-8-
"So, this is what the leader of Global Justice is reduced to?" Big Daddy Brotherson inquired as their newest prisoner was dragged into the office.
"I don't know what you're up to, but you're never going to get away with it. I don't know if you know who that GJ agent is that you've kidnapped," Betty growled, sporting a bruise on her chin. She held in place by three giant men, who still had trouble keeping a good grip on her, even though she had been worked over by several traps and other surprises in the lair. When she broke away from them, they would regret this, she silently vowed.
"GJ agent?" the three partners echoed.
"Hmm… wait a moment, Mister Bane, what does Tashawna Toriyama do for a living?" Brotherson inquired. Everyone else's vocation had been easy enough to find out, but he never was told what Shin's mother did for a living.
"I couldn't find that out. I just assumed she was unemployed," Bane answered.
"So, the mother and son are GJ agents," Brotherson commented with a rather amused smile on his face. It made sense to him.
"Wait, you're aware of Tashawna's family?" Betty asked. She looked ready to laugh. These guys were special types of fools.
"We're well aware of her demonic son," Brotherson replied.
Okay, that was enough for Doctor Director to actually start laughing. "You guys know who her son is and yet you kidnapped her? Oh, this is going to end just perfect," she remarked. While she understood the situation was serious considering the fact that she was caught and injured, but the fact that they knowingly kidnapped Shinichi's mother and Shinichiro's wife, well, that sort of solved the problem it created. She did not even need to add in this was Trin and Kim Possible's aunt. The fireworks would be epic when that crew showed up.
"What's so damn funny?" Bane demanded to know as he stormed over to the captured woman, who was still laughing as if they just told her a great joke. When he got in her face and scowled at her, she stopped chuckling enough to stare him dead in the face. Her glare gave him pause.
"You guys are going to regret this so badly… well, if you live long enough," she informed them quite seriously, a haunting look in her obsidian eye.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Bane growled menacingly down at her.
"You'll see," Betty replied, smirking like a devil. Oh, how they were going to regret what they had done.
Bane frowned. "I've had enough of this bitch. Put a band on her and throw her with the other pawns," he ordered.
"A band?" Betty echoed and before she knew what was happening a thin wristband was slipped onto her hand.
Doctor Director went limp for a moment, dropping her head down as if it weighed too much to lift on her own. After a few seconds, she lifted her head again and her eyes were totally white. Bane smiled smugly.
"Order her to go with the other pawns," Bane said.
Drakken went to the control panel and had to type in the orders. As soon as he was done, Betty stood up and marched off under her own power. The henchmen took their leave, so the three partners were alone again.
"What do you think all that laughing was about from that crazy bitch?" Bane asked Brotherson.
"She probably thinks Shin is going to be everyone's saving grace. Little does she know, when we finally let him and that girl in on things, we'll have them in the palm of our hands and they'll have to do everything we say. We just need to wait on the last pawn. But, I have to admit that Director showing up alone was a surprise. I don't like surprises," Brotherson commented. "Tighten security and I want someone to start watching Shin and Trin to make sure nothing's going on with them. They should stay in the dark until we decide to bring them into the light."
Bane nodded in agreement with that. They certainly did not want any more surprises, especially not if it involved law enforcement showing up. They lucked out that Doctor Director had come on her own and they also lucked out that she was bit out of practice when it came to sneaking into some place. But, now they knew to be careful. They did not want their guests showing up before they had the party completely ready, after all.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: information gathering and planning.